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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/23995-8.txt b/23995-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8952820 --- /dev/null +++ b/23995-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9058 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Land of the Kangaroo, by Thomas Wallace +Knox, Illustrated by H. Burgess + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Land of the Kangaroo + Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey through the Great Island Continent + + +Author: Thomas Wallace Knox + + + +Release Date: December 26, 2007 [eBook #23995] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAND OF THE KANGAROO*** + + +E-text prepared by Roger Frank and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 23995-h.htm or 23995-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/3/9/9/23995/23995-h/23995-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/3/9/9/23995/23995-h.zip) + + + + + +THE LAND OF THE KANGAROO. + + * * * * * + +TRAVEL ADVENTURE SERIES. + +IN WILD AFRICA. The Adventures of Two Youths in the Sahara Desert. By +Thomas W. Knox. 325 pages, with six illustrations by H. Burgess. 12mo. +Cloth. $1.50. + +THE LAND OF THE KANGAROO. The Adventures of Two Youths in the Great +Island Continent. By Thomas W. Knox. 350 pages, with five illustrations +by H. Burgess. 12mo. Cloth. $1.50. + +Col. Knox's sudden death, ten days after completing "The Land of the +Kangaroo" leaves unfinished this series of travel stories for boys +which he had planned. The publishers announce that the remaining +volumes of this series will be issued, although the work will be +done by another's hand. + +Announcement concerning the remaining volumes of this series will be +made later. + + * * * * * + + +THE LAND OF THE KANGAROO. + +Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey Through +the Great Island Continent. + +by + +THOMAS W. KNOX. + +Author of "In Wild Africa," "The Boy Travelers," (15 Vols.) +"Overland through Asia," Etc., Etc. + +Illustrated By H. Burgess. + + + + + + + +[Illustration: "WE PASSED A SHIP BECALMED IN THE DOLDRUMS."] + + + +Boston, U. S. A. +W. A. Wilde & Company, +25 Bromfield Street. + +Copyright, 1896. +by W. A. Wilde & Co. +All rights reserved. + +The Land of the Kangaroo. + + + + +PREFACE. + +The rapidly increasing prominence of the Australian colonies during the +past ten or twenty years has led to the preparation of the volume of +which this is the preface. Australia has a population numbering close +upon five millions and it had prosperous and populous cities, all of +them presenting abundant indications of collective and individual +wealth. It possesses railways and telegraphs by thousands of miles, and +the productions of its farms, mines, and plantations aggregate an +enormous amount. It has many millions, of cattle and sheep, and their +number is increasing annually at a prodigious rate. + +Australia is a land of many wonders, and it is to tell the story of +these wonders and of the growth and development of the colonies of the +antipodes, that this volume has been written. + + T. W. K. + + + +CONTENTS. + + I. WEST COAST OF AFRICA--Adventure in the South Atlantic Ocean + II. THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE--The Southern Ocean--Australia + III. A LAND OF CONTRADICTIONS--Transportation to Australia + IV. STRANGE ADVENTURES--Australian Aboriginals + V. ACROSS AUSTRALIA--Tallest Trees in the World + VI. AUSTRALIAN BLACKS--Throwing the Boomerang + VII. ADELAIDE TO MELBOURNE--The Rabbit Pest--Dangerous Exotics + VIII. CANNIBAL BLACKS--Melbourne and its Peculiarities + IX. "THE LAUGHING JACKASS"--Australian Snakes and Snake Stories + X. THE HARBOR OF MELBOURNE--Convict Hulks and Bushrangers + XI. GEELONG--Australian Gold Mines--Finding a Big Nugget + XII. A SOUTHERLY BURSTER--Western Victoria + XIII. JOURNEY UP COUNTRY--Anecdotes of Bush Life + XIV. LOST IN THE BUSH--Australian Horses + XV. EXPERIENCES AT A CATTLE STATION--A Kangaroo Hunt + XVI. HUNTING THE EMU AND OTHER BIRDS--An Australian Sheep Run + XVII. FROM MELBOURNE TO SYDNEY--Crossing the Blue Mountains + XVIII. SIGHTS OF SYDNEY--Botany Bay and Paramatta + XIX. COAL MINES AT NEWCASTLE--Sugar Plantation in Queensland--The End + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS. + PAGE. + +"We passed a ship becalmed in the doldrums" Frontispiece. 18 +"Harry had obtained a map of Australia" 56 +A visit to the Zoological Garden 147 +"There they go!" shouted Mr. Syme 242 + + + + + +THE LAND OF THE KANGAROO. + +CHAPTER I. + +WEST COAST OF AFRICA--ADVENTURE IN THE SOUTH ATLANTIC OCEAN. + + +"We don't want to stay long in this place." + +"I don't think we do, sir," was the reply. + +"The sooner we leave it, the better." + +"That is so," said Harry; "I quite agree with you. I wonder how white +men manage to live here at all." + +This conversation occurred at Bonny, a trading station on one of the +mouths of the river Niger in Western Africa. In former times Bonny was a +famous resort for slave traders, and great numbers of slaves were sent +from that place to North and South America. In addition to slave +trading, there was considerable dealing in ivory, palm oils, and other +African products. Trade is not as prosperous at Bonny nowadays as it was +in the slave-dealing times, but there is a fair amount of commerce and +the commissions of the factors and agents are very large. Bonny stands +in a region of swamps, and the climate exhales at all times of the year +pestilential vapors which are not at all suited to the white man. Most +of the white residents live on board old hulks which are moored to the +bank of the river, and they find these hulks less unhealthy than houses +off shore, for the reason that they are less exposed to the vapors of +the ground. + +The parties to the conversation just quoted were Dr. Whitney and his +nephews, Ned and Harry; they had just arrived at Bonny, from a visit to +Lake Chad and Timbuctoo, and had made a voyage down the Niger, which has +been described in a volume entitled "In Wild Africa." + +One of the residents told Dr. Whitney that all the coast of the Bight of +Benin, into which the Niger empties by its various mouths, was quite as +unhealthy as Bonny. "We don't expect anybody to live more than three or +four years after taking up his residence here," the gentleman remarked, +"and very often one or two years are sufficient to carry him off. The +climate is bad enough, but it isn't the climate that is to blame for all +the mortality, by any means. The great curse of the whole region is the +habit of drinking. Everybody drinks, and drinks like a fish, too. When +you call on anybody, the servants, without waiting for orders, bring a +bottle of brandy, or whiskey, or something of the sort, and place it on +the table between the host and the visitor. You are expected to drink, +and the man who declines to do so is looked upon as a milksop. When one +rises in the morning, his first call is for brandy and soda, and it is +brandy, and whiskey, and champagne, or some other intoxicant, all the +day long. The climate is bad enough without any help, but the drinking +habit of the residents along the Bight of Benin is worse than the +climate, and everybody knows it; but, somehow or other, everybody is +reckless and continues to drink, knowing perfectly well what the result +will be." + +Dr. Whitney had already made observations to the same effect, and +remarked that he thought the west coast of Africa would be a good field +of labor for an advocate of total abstinence. His new acquaintance +replied that it might be under ordinary circumstances, but that the +conditions of the region where they were not ordinary. It was +necessary to remember that the men who went to West Africa for purposes +of trade were of a reckless, adventurous sort, having little regard for +the future and determined to make the most of the present. Men of this +class take very naturally to habits of dissipation, and would turn a +deaf ear to any advocate of temperance who might come among them. + +Fortunately for our friends, they were detained at Bonny only a single +day. A small steamer which runs between Bonny and Fernando Po took them +to the latter place, which is on an island in the Atlantic Ocean, and +has a mountain peak ten thousand feet high. This peak is wooded to the +summit with fine timber, and altogether the island is a very attractive +spot to the eye, in comparison with Bonny and the swampy region of the +lower Niger. + +Port Clarence, the harbor of Fernando Po, is said to be one of the +prettiest places of Western Africa. The town consists of a group of +houses somewhat irregularly placed, and guarded by a fort which could be +knocked down in a few hours by a fleet of modern warships. + +Our friends went on shore immediately after their arrival, and found +quarters in what Ned called an apology for a hotel. Fernando Po is the +property of Spain, and the island is one of the State prisons of that +country. Some of the prisoners are kept in hulks in the harbor, while +others are confined in the fort. Not infrequently prisoners escape and +find shelter among the Adyia, the tribe of natives inhabiting the +island. They are a peaceful people, but have a marked hatred for +civilization. They rarely come into the town, and none of them will +consent to live there. Their huts or villages are scattered over the +forests, and when visitors go among them they are kindly treated. The +town of Port Clarence is occupied by a few white men and a considerable +number of negroes from Sierra Leone, Liberia, and other regions along +the coast. + +"This will be as good a place to get away from as Bonny," the doctor +remarked to his nephews, as they were strolling about Port Clarence. + +"I have observed," said Harry, "that the wind is blowing directly from +the coast, and therefore is bringing with it the malarias of the swampy +region which we have just left." + +"That is quite true," the doctor answered, "and the circumstance you +mention makes a long stay here undesirable. Have you noticed that many +of the natives here seem to be suffering from skin diseases of one kind +or another?" + +"I observed that," replied Ned, "and was wondering what was the cause of +it." + +"I was told by a gentleman at the hotel," said the doctor, "that there +is an ulcer peculiar to this locality which is well-nigh incurable. The +slightest abrasion of the cuticle or even the bite of an insect is +sufficient to cause it. I was told that it sometimes happens that the +bite of a mosquito on the arm or leg will make amputation necessary, +and an instance of this kind occurred within the past three months. On a +first view of the island it looks like a delightful place, but a nearer +acquaintance dispels the illusion." + +"I wonder how long we will be obliged to stay here," Harry remarked. + +"According to the time-table," replied the doctor, "the mail steamer +will be here to-morrow; and if she comes, you may be sure we will take +passage on her." + +The steamer came according to schedule, and when she left she carried +the three travelers away from Fernando Po. She was an English steamer +bound for the Cape of Good Hope. There was hardly any wind blowing when +the great ship started out into the Atlantic and headed away to the +southward, but the movement of the vessel through the water was +sufficient to create a breeze, which our friends greatly enjoyed. They +sat beneath the awnings which covered the entire length and width of the +steamer, studied their fellow-passengers, and now and then cast their +eyes over the wide and desolate sweep of waters to the west and south. + +Not a sail was to be seen, a few craft were creeping along the coast, +but they were not numerous enough to add animation to the scene. + +We will take from Harry's notebook an incident or two of the voyage. + +"We found a mixed lot of passengers on board the steamer. There were a +few Englishmen going to South Africa for the first time,--young fellows +seeking their fortunes, and full of hope and ambition. One of them said +he was going up country on a hunting expedition, not for the sport only, +but for the money that could be made by the sale of hides, ivory, horns, +and other products of the chase. He was quite well informed concerning +the business on which he was bent, and told me that it was the custom +for two or more men, generally not above four, to buy wagons, oxen, +horses, and provisions in one of the towns on the coast or in the +interior, and then strike out into the wild country for an absence of +anywhere from three to six or seven months. Their provisions consisted +of flour, sugar, tea, pepper, salt, and a few other things. For meat +they relied upon what they killed; and he added that a great deal of +meat was needed, as there were from twenty-five to fifty natives +attached to a hunting party and all of them had ferocious appetites. + +"They shot anything that came in their way, elephants, buffaloes, +elands, gemsbok, and I don't know what else. It was a hard life and not +without risk, but it was healthy and full of good sport. He told us so +much about his business that Ned and I heartily wished to go with him +and have a share in the experience and fun. + +"Another young man was going out as a mining engineer and expected to +find employment in some of the newly opened gold mines in the +Johannesburg district. Another was to become the manager of a large farm +forty or fifty miles from Cape Town, which was owned by his uncle. +Another young man was going out with no particular object in view, and +said he was ready for anything that turned up. + +"Then there were Afrikanders who had been on a visit to England for +business, or pleasure, or both combined. One had been there for the +express purpose of finding a bride; he found her, and she was with him +as a passenger on the steamer. She and two others were the only lady +passengers on the ship; men greatly predominated among the passengers, +and we were told that such was always the case on board one of these +steamers. One of the passengers was a resident of Durban, the port of +Natal, and he gave us a cordial invitation to visit his place. 'You will +find Durban a very interesting spot,' said he, 'and the only bad thing +about it is getting ashore. There is a nasty sea breaking there most of +the time, and it is tedious work getting from a ship into a small boat +and then getting safe to land. You must come prepared to be soused with +salt water two or three times before you get your feet fairly planted on +the shore.' + +"Ned and I concluded that we would not make any special effort to get to +Durban, although we had received such a cordial invitation to go there. + +"We had a good breeze," continued Harry, "until we got to within four +degrees of the Equator; then the wind died out and left the sea as +smooth as glass, without the least motion upon it anywhere. We seemed to +be running through an enormous plate of glass, polished until it shone +like the most perfect mirror ever made. As we looked down from the rail +into the depths of the sea our faces were reflected, and there seemed to +be a counterfeit presentment of ourselves gazing at us from the depths +below, and, oh, wasn't it hot, blistering, burning hot! The sun poured +down so that the heat pierced our awnings as though no awnings had been +there, and the breeze which the ship created by her motion seemed like +the blast from a furnace. The pitch oozed from the seams of the planking +on the deck, and the deck itself became blistering hot to one's feet. +There was not the least stir of the sails and only the faintest motion +of the ship from side to side. Respiration became difficult, and, as I +looked about, I could see the passengers and sailors yawning and gaping +in the effort to draw in their breath. All the metal about the ship +became hot, especially the brass. If you touched it, it almost seemed to +raise a blister, and the spot with which you touched it was painful for +hours. + +"We passed a ship becalmed in the doldrums, as this region is called, +and she looked more like a painted ship upon a painted ocean than any +other craft I ever saw. Her sails were all hanging loose, and so were +all the ropes, and lines, and halyards from one end of the ship to the +other. She was as motionless as if she were tied up to a dock in harbor, +and there was very little sign of life about her anywhere. I asked one +of our officers how long that ship had probably been there and how long +she was liable to stay. + +"'That's a question, young man,' he replied, 'that I can't answer very +surely. She may have been there a day or two only, and may stay only a +day or so, and then, again, she may have been there a week or a month; +we can't tell without speaking her, and we are not particularly +interested in her, anyhow.'" + +Then he went on to explain that ships have been becalmed at the Equator +for two months and more, lying all the time in a dead calm, just like +the one through which we were passing. + +"Two weeks," he said, "is a fair time for a ship to stay in the +doldrums, and you can be sure it is quite long enough for passengers and +crew. + +"Passengers and crew sometimes die of the heat, and existence under such +circumstances becomes a burden. There are stories about ships that have +been in the doldrums six or eight months at a time, but I am not +inclined to believe them; for a man to stay in this terrific heat for +that length of time would be enough to drive him crazy. + +"The steamer was three days in the calm belt of the Equator before we +struck the southeast trades, and had a breeze again. I don't want to +repeat my experiences with the doldrums. + +"One day I heard a curious story about an incident on board an American +ship not far from the Cape of Good Hope. She was from Calcutta, and +bound to New York, and her crew consisted of American sailors, with the +exception of two Indian coolies who had been taken on board at Calcutta +because the ship was short-handed. One of these coolies had been put, +one in the starboard and the other in the port watch, and everything had +been quiet and peaceable on board the ship until the incident I am about +to describe. + +"One night the ship was sailing quietly along, and some of the men +noticed, or remembered afterwards, that when the watches were changed, +the coolie who had been relieved from duty remained on deck. Shortly +after the change of watch, the two mates of the ship were standing near +the lee rail and talking with each other, when the two coolies came +along and one of them made the remark that he was sick. This remark was +evidently a signal, for instantly one of the coolies drew a knife and +stabbed the first mate to the heart, while simultaneously the other +coolie sprang with a knife at the second officer and gave him several +stabs in the chest. + +"The first mate fell dead at the stroke of the knife, but the second +mate had sufficient strength left to crawl to the companionway leading +to the captain's room, where he called out, 'Captain Clark!' 'Captain +Clark!' and then ceased to breathe. + +"The captain sprang from his bunk, and rushed on deck in his +night-clothes. At the top of the companion-steps he was violently +stabbed on the head and seized by the throat; he was quite unarmed and +struck out with his fists at the face of his assailant, hoping to blind +him. The coolie continued to stab him, and the captain started back down +the steps until he slipped in the blood that covered them, and fell into +the cabin, with a terrible wound in his side. He then crawled to where +his revolver was, and started up the steps; when half way up, a man +rolled down the steps against him and knocked him over. + +"The captain thought it was the coolie, but it proved to be one of the +sailors, who was frightened half to death. All he could say was, to beg +of the captain to save him. + +"The captain had his wife and child on board, and his wife was roused by +the tumult. She came to her husband's aid and proceeded to bind up his +wounds. While she was doing this one of the coolies smashed in the +skylight, and would have jumped into the cabin had not the captain fired +at him with his revolver and drove him away. + +"The next thing the coolies did was to murder the man at the wheel and +fling his body overboard. Then they murdered the carpenter and a sailor +and disposed of them the same way. Including the two mates, five men +were slain and four others were wounded. The wounded men and the rest of +the crew barricaded themselves in the forecastle for protection, and +there they remained the rest of the night and all through the next day. +The captain and his wife and child stayed in the cabin. + +"The two coolies were in full possession of the ship from a little past +midnight until eight o'clock of the following evening. One of them, +venturing near the skylight, was shot in the breast by the captain, and +then the two coolies rushed forward and threw a spar overboard. One of +them jumped into the sea and clung to the spar, while the other dropped +down into the between-decks, where he proceeded to set the ship on fire. +Seeing this, the sailors who had barricaded themselves in the forecastle +broke out, and two of them proceeded to hunt the coolie down with +revolvers. They hunted him out and shot him in the shoulder, and then he +jumped overboard and joined his companion. Shots were fired at the two +men, and soon afterward they sank. + +"The fire got such headway that it could not be put out. Finally a boat +was provisioned and lowered; the crew entered it, and after waiting +about the ship during the night in the hope that the flames might bring +assistance, they put up a sail and headed for St. Helena. Thus was a +ship's crew of twenty-three people overawed and rendered helpless by two +slender coolies, whom any one of the Yankee crew could have crushed out +of existence in a very short space of time. + +"The steamer passed near Ascension Island, but did not stop there. This +island is entered in the British Navy List as a commissioned ship. It is +nearly three thousand feet high, very rocky and well supplied with fresh +water. Ships often stop there for a supply of water and such fresh +provisions as are obtainable. The climate is said to be very healthy, +and when the crews of British naval vessels are enfeebled by a long stay +on the African coast, they go to Ascension Island to recruit their +strength." + +Ned and Harry were very desirous of visiting the island of St. Helena, +which became famous as a prison and for many years the grave of +Napoleon. They were disappointed on ascertaining that the ship would not +stop there, and the officer of whom they made inquiry said there was +nothing to stop there for. "The island is not of much account," he said, +"and the natives have a hard time to make a living. In the days of +sailing ships it was a favorite stopping place and the inhabitants did a +good business. The general introduction of steamships, along with the +digging of the Suez Canal, have knocked their business all to pieces. + +"Where they used to have a dozen or twenty ships a month, they get about +half as many in a year. The buildings where Napoleon used to live are +all gone to ruin, and the sight of them does not pay for the journey +one has to make to get there." + +When it was announced that the vessel was nearing the Cape of Good Hope, +our young friends strained their eyes in a friendly competition to be +first to make it out. Harry was ahead of Ned in discerning the dim +outline of Table Mountain, which is well described by its name. It is a +flat-topped mountain fronting on the bay on which Cape Town stands. It +is about three thousand five hundred feet in height, and is guarded on +the left by the Lion's Head, and on the right by the Devil's Berg. The +harbor is reached by passing between a small island and the coast, the +island forming a very fair shelter for ships that lie inside of it. + +Here the voyage of the steamer came to an end, as she belonged to one of +the lines plying between England and the Cape. It became necessary for +our friends to look around for another ship to carry them to their +destination. They were not in any particular hurry about it, as they +were quite willing to devote a little time to the Cape and its +peculiarities. + +A swarm of boats surrounded the ship as soon as her anchor was down, and +everybody was in a hurry to get on shore. As soon as our friends could +obtain a boat, their baggage was passed over the side and they followed +it. The boat was managed by a white man, evidently of Dutch origin, who +spoke a mixture of Dutch, English, and Hottentot, and perhaps two or +three other native languages, in such a confused way that it was +difficult to understand him in any. Four negroes rowed the boat and did +the work while the Dutchman superintended it. The boatman showed a +laudable desire to swindle the travelers, but his intentions were curbed +by the stringent regulations established by the city authorities. + +As they neared the landing place, Ned called attention to a swarm of +cabs that seemed to be far in excess of any possible demand for them. +Harry remarked that he didn't think they would have any lack of vehicles +to take them to the hotel, and so it proved. The cab drivers displayed +great eagerness in their efforts to secure passengers, and their prices +were by no means unreasonable. + +We will listen to Ned as he tells the story of what he saw on landing in +Cape Town. + +"The thing that impressed me most was the varying complexion of the +inhabitants. They are not exactly of the colors of the rainbow, but they +certainly present all the shades of complexion that can be found in the +human face. You see fair-haired Englishmen, and English women, too, and +then you see negroes so black that charcoal 'would make a white mark on +their faces,' as one of my schoolmates used to say. Between these two, +so far as color is concerned, you see several shades of negro +complexion; and you also see Malays, coolies from India, Chinese, and I +don't know what else. The Malays or coolies have drifted here in search +of employment, and the same is the case with the Chinese, who are to be +found, so Dr. Whitney says, in every port of Asia and Africa. + +"Most of these exotic people cling to their native costume, especially +the natives of India, and the Malays, though a good deal depends on the +employment in which they engage. Some of the Malays drive cabs, and the +drivers usually adopt European dress or a modification of it. Among the +white inhabitants the Dutch hold a predominating place, and they are +said to outnumber the English; they are the descendants of the original +settlers at the Cape something more than two hundred years ago. They +observe their individuality and have an important voice in the local +affairs of the colony; but whenever the English authorities have their +mind made up to pursue a certain policy, whether it be for the +construction of railways in the interior or the building of docks or +breakwaters in the harbor of Cape Town, they generally do pretty much as +they please. + +"I observed that the people on the streets seem to take things easily +and move about with quite a languid air. This was the case with white +and colored people alike; probably the Dutch settlers set the example +years and years ago, and the others have followed it. Harry thinks that +it is the heat of the place which causes everybody to move about slowly. +Some one has remarked that only dogs and strangers walk rapidly; in Cape +Town the only people whom I saw walking fast were some of our +fellow-passengers from the steamer. I actually did see a negro running, +but the fact is, that another negro with a big stick was running after +him. As for the dogs, they seemed just as quiet as their masters. + +"We inquired for the best hotel in Cape Town, and were taken to the one +indicated as such. Harry says he thinks the driver made a mistake and +took us to the worst; and Dr. Whitney remarks that if this is the best, +he doesn't want to travel through the street where the worst one +stands. We have made some inquiries since coming to this house, and +find that it is really the best, or perhaps I ought to say the least +bad, in the place. The table is poor, the beds lumpy and musty, and +nearly every window has a broken pane or two, while the drainage is +atrocious. + +"We are told that the hotels all through South Africa are of the same +sort, and the only thing about them that is first class is the price +which one pays for accommodation. The hotel is well filled, the greater +part of the passengers from our steamer having come here; but I suppose +the number will dwindle down considerably in the next two or three days, +as the people scatter in the directions whither they are bound. Most +people come to Cape Town in order to leave it. + +"And this reminds me that there are several railways branching out from +Cape Town. There is a line twelve hundred miles long to Johannisburg in +the Transvaal Republic, and there are several other lines of lesser +length. The colonial government has been very liberal in making grants +for railways, and thus developing the business of the colony. Every year +sees new lines undertaken, or old ones extended, and it will not be very +long before the iron horse goes pretty nearly everywhere over the length +and breadth of South Africa. + +"We have driven along the principal streets of the city, and admired the +public buildings, which are both numerous and handsome. We took a +magnificent drive around the mountain to the rear of the city, where +there are some very picturesque views. In some places the edge of the +road is cut directly into the mountain side, and we looked almost +perpendicularly down for five or six hundred feet, to where the waters +of the Atlantic were washing the base of the rocks. From the mountain +back of Cape Town, there is a fine picture of the city harbor and lying +almost at one's feet; the city, with its rows and clusters of buildings +glistening in the sunlight, and the bright harbor, with its docks, +breakwaters, and forest of masts in full view of the spectator. From +this point we could see better than while in the harbor itself, the +advantages of the new breakwater. It seems that the harbor is exposed to +southeast winds, which are the prevailing ones here. When the wind +freshens into a gale, the position of the ships at anchor in the harbor +is a dangerous one, and the breakwaters have been constructed so as to +obviate this danger. When they are completed, the harbor will be fairly +well landlocked, and ships may anchor in Table Bay, and their masters +feel a sense of security against being driven on shore." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE--THE SOUTHERN OCEAN--AUSTRALIA. + + +"Would you like to visit an ostrich farm?" said Dr. Whitney, while our +friends were at breakfast, on the second morning after their arrival at +Cape Town. + +"I would, for one," said Harry; to which Ned replied, "and so would I." + +"Very well," continued the doctor. "I have an invitation to visit an +ostrich establishment, and we will start immediately after breakfast. +The railway will take us within about three miles of the farm, and the +gentleman who has given me the invitation, and included you in it, will +accompany us on the train, and his carriage will meet us at the +station." + +"That is capital!" exclaimed Harry. "He will be sure to give us a great +deal of information on the subject while we are on the train, so that we +can see the farm more intelligently than would otherwise be the case." + +"Yes, that is so," echoed Ned, "and as he is the proprietor of the +establishment, he will certainly know all about the business." + +At the appointed time the party assembled at the railway station in Cape +Town, and when the train was ready, our friends, accompanied by their +host, Mr. Shaffner, took their places and were soon whirling away +towards their destination. For a part of the way the train wound among +hills and low mountains, and for another it stretched away across the +level or slightly undulating plain. Mr. Shaffner entered at once upon +the subject of ostriches, and as he began his conversation, Harry asked +him if he had any objections to their taking notes of what he said. + +"Not in the least," was the reply; "you are welcome to take all the +notes you like, and if there is any point that I don't explain fully to +your satisfaction, please tell me, and I will be more explicit." + +The youths thanked him for his courtesy, and immediately brought out +their notebooks and pencils. + +"According to tradition," said Mr. Shaffner, "ostriches were formerly +very abundant, wild ones, I mean, all over this part of the country. In +the early part of this century they were so numerous in the neighborhood +of Cape Town, that a man could hardly walk a quarter of an hour without +seeing one or more of these birds. As late as 1858, a flock of twenty or +thirty were seen among hills about twenty miles from Cape Town, but +after that time they seemed to have disappeared almost entirely. Ostrich +farming is an enterprise of the past twenty years, and before it began, +the only way of procuring ostrich feathers was by hunting down and +killing the wild birds. The practise was cruel, and it was also the +reverse of economical. Thoughtful hunters realized this, and a rumor +went through the colony that ostriches had been domesticated in Algeria, +and were successfully raised for the production of feathers. When this +rumor or report went about, it naturally set some of us thinking, and +our thoughts were, 'Why can't ostriches be raised here, as well as in +Algeria?' Several enterprising men proceeded to make experiments. They +offered to pay a high price for live birds in good health and condition, +and the price they offered induced the natives to set about catching +them. + +"Of course we were all in the dark as to the proper method of taking +care of ostriches, as the business was entirely new to all of us. We +made many mistakes and lost a good many birds. The eggs became addled +and worthless, and for the first two or three years it looked as though +the experiments would be a failure. Our greatest difficulty was in +finding proper food for the birds. We tried them with various kinds of +grasses, and we studied as well as we could the habits of the wild bird +at home. We found that they needed a certain quantity of alkalies, and +they subsisted largely upon the sweet grasses, wherever they could find +them. The grass called lucerne seems the best adapted to them, and you +will find it grown on all ostrich farms for the special purpose of +feeding the birds. + +"We have got the business down so fine now that we understand all the +various processes of breeding, rearing, herding, feeding, plucking, and +sorting. We buy and sell ostriches just as we do sheep. We fence in our +flocks, stable them, grow crops for them, study their habits, and cut +their feathers as matters of business. We don't send the eggs to market +along with our butter and cheese, as they are altogether too dear for +consumption. It is true that an ostrich egg will make a meal for three +or four persons; but at five dollars an egg, which is the usual price, +the meal would be a dear one. + +"In fact, the eggs are so precious," he continued, "that we don't allow +them to be hatched out by the birds. For fear of accidents, as soon as +the eggs have been laid they are taken from the nests and placed in a +patent incubator to be hatched out. The incubator makes fewer mistakes +than the parent ostriches do. That is to say, if you entrust a given +number of eggs to the birds to be hatched out in the natural way, and +place the same number in an incubator, you will get a considerably +larger proportion of chicks from the latter than from the former. + +"The business of ostrich farming," Mr. Shaffner went on to say, "is +spread over the colony from the near neighborhood of Cape Town to the +eastern frontier, and from Albany to the Orange River. Ostrich farms +were scattered at no great distances apart, and some of the proprietors +had a high reputation for their success. He said it must not be +understood that ostrich farming was the great industry of the country; +on the contrary, the product of wool was far greater in value than that +of feathers, and the ostriches were to the sheep as one is to a +thousand." + +Harry asked if the birds were allowed to run at large, or were kept +constantly in enclosures. + +"Both plans are followed," said Mr. Shaffner, "and some of the farmers +allow their flocks to run at large, feeding them once a day on grain, +for which they must come to the home stable. The ostriches know the hour +of feeding as well as if they carried watches, and are promptly on hand +when their dinner time arrives. In this way they are kept under +domestication and accustomed to the presence of men, but occasionally +they stray away and disappear. The safer way is to keep a native boy or +man constantly with each herd of ostriches, and the herder is held +responsible for the loss of any bird. + +"Even then the flock may sometimes be frightened and scattered beyond +the ability of the herder to bring the birds together. On my farm, I +have the ground fenced off into fifty-acre lots. I divide my birds into +flocks of twenty-five or thirty, and put them successively in the +different lots of land. I sow the ground with lucerne, and do not turn a +flock into a field or paddock until the grass is in good condition for +the birds to eat. + +"You may put it down as a rule on ostrich farms, that plenty of space +and a good fence are essential to success. In every paddock you must +have a good shed, where the birds can take shelter when it rains. You +must also have a kraal or yard in each paddock, where you can drive the +birds whenever you want to select some of them for cutting their +feathers. It is proper to say, however, that a kraal in each paddock is +not necessary, as all that work can be done at the home station, where +you have the buildings for artificial hatching and for gathering the +feathers." + +Ned asked what kind of ground was best suited for the ostrich. + +"You must have ground where the soil and plants are rich in alkalies," +replied Mr. Shaffner, "and when this is not the case, care must be taken +to supply the needful element. Before this matter was understood there +was some melancholy failures in the business. A friend of mine started +an ostrich farm on a sandstone ridge. There was no limestone on the +farm, and most of the birds died in a few months, and those that lived +laid no eggs and produced very few feathers. Limestone was carted to the +farm from a considerable distance, and the birds would not touch it. +Bones were then tried and with admirable effect. What the birds required +was phosphate of lime, and the bones gave them that. They rushed at them +with great eagerness, and as soon as they were well supplied with bones +they began to improve in health and to lay eggs. On farms like the one I +mentioned, a quarter of a pound of sulphur and some salt is mixed with +two buckets of pulverized bones, and the birds are allowed to eat as +much of this mixture as they like. Where the rocks, grass, and soil +contain alkaline salts in abundance, the birds require very little, if +any, artificial food, and they thrive, fatten, pair, and lay eggs in the +most satisfactory manner." + +"According to the story books," said Harry, "the ostrich will eat +anything. But from what you say, Mr. Shaffner, it does not seem that +that is really the case." + +"The ostrich has a very good appetite, I must say," was the reply, "and +so far as green things are concerned, he will eat almost anything; +lucerne, clover, wheat, corn, cabbage leaves, fruit, grain, and garden +vegetables are all welcome, and he eats a certain quantity of crushed +limestone and bones, and generally keeps a few pebbles in his stomach to +assist him in the process of digestion. If he sees a bright sparkling +stone on the ground, he is very apt to swallow it, and that reminds me +of a little incident about two years ago. An English gentleman was +visiting my place, and while he was looking around he came close up to +the fence of a paddock containing a number of ostriches. An ostrich was +on the other side of the fence and close to it. The gentleman had a +large diamond in his shirt front, and while he was looking at the bird, +the latter, with a quick movement of his head, wrenched the stone from +its setting and swallowed it. I see that none of you wear diamonds, and +so it is not necessary for me to repeat the caution which I have ever +since given to my diamond-wearing visitors." + +"What became of the diamond?" Harry asked. + +"Oh! my visitor bought the bird and had it killed, in order to get the +diamond back again. He found it safe in the creature's stomach, along +with several small stones. It was a particularly valuable gem, and the +gentleman had no idea of allowing the bird to keep it." + +Ned wanted to know if ostriches lived in flocks like barnyard fowls, or +divided off into pairs like the majority of forest and field birds. + +"That depends a great deal upon the farmer," Mr. Shaffner answered. "The +pairing season is in the month of July, which is equivalent to the +English January. Some farmers, when the pairing time approaches, put a +male and female bird together in a pen; some put two females with a +male, and very often a male bird has five hens in his family. The birds +run in pairs or flocks, as the case may be. In August, the hens begin to +lay, and continue to deposit eggs for a period of six weeks. They do not +lay every day, like domestic fowls, but every second or third day. As I +have already told you, the eggs are taken as soon as laid and hatched +in an incubator. Sixteen birds out of twenty eggs is considered a very +fair proportion, while, if the bird is allowed to sit on the eggs, we +are not likely to get more than twelve out of twenty. There is another +advantage in hatching eggs by the incubator process, and that is, that +when the eggs are taken away the hen proceeds a few weeks later to lay +another batch of eggs, which she does not do if she has a family to care +for." + +"What do you do with the young birds when they are hatched?" + +"We put them in a warm room," was the reply, "and at night they are put +in a box lined with wool; they are fed with chopped grass suitable to +them, and as soon as they are able to run about they are entrusted to +the care of a small boy, a Kaffir or Hottentot, to whom they get +strongly attached. They grow quite rapidly and begin to feather at eight +months after hatching, but the yield at that time is of very little +value. Eight months later there is another and better crop, and then at +each season the crop improves until the birds are four or five years +old, when it reaches its maximum condition. Exactly how long an ostrich +will live, I don't know. There are some birds here in South Africa that +are twenty years old, and they are strong and healthy yet." + +Conversation ran on in various ways until the station was reached where +our friends were to leave the train. The carriage was waiting for them, +and the party drove at once to the farm, where Mr. Shaffner showed them +about the place, and called attention to the flocks of birds straying +about the different paddocks. It so happened that a flock had been +driven up that very morning for the purpose of cutting such of the +feathers as were in proper condition to be removed from the birds. + +While the men were driving the birds into the kraal, Mr. Shaffner +explained that there was a difference of opinion among farmers as to +whether the feathers should be plucked or cut. He said that when the +feather is plucked or pulled out at the roots it is apt to make a bad +sore, and at any rate cause a great deal of pain; while the feather that +grows in its place is apt to be twisted or of poor quality, and +occasionally the birds die, as a result of the operation. When a feather +is nipped off with pincers or cut with a knife the bird is quite +insensible to the operation. The stumps that are left in the flesh of +the ostrich fall out in the course of a month or six weeks, or can be +easily drawn out, and then a new and good feather grows in place of the +old one. The reason why plucking still finds advocates is that the +feathers with the entire quill bring a higher price in the market than +those that have been cut or nipped. + +Harry and Ned watched with much interest the process of removing +feathers from the birds. Here is the way Harry describes it. + +"The men moved around among the ostriches in a perfectly easy way, and +seemed to be on the best of terms with their charges. The foreman +selected a bird and indicated to one of the men that he wanted it +brought forward. Thereupon the man seized the bird by the neck and +pressed its head downward until he could draw a sack like a long and +very large stocking over it. + +"When blindfolded in this way the ostrich is perfectly helpless, and +will stand perfectly still. The man pushed and led the bird up to the +fence, and then the foreman, armed with his cutting nippers, selected +the feathers that he wanted and cut them off. When the operation was +ended the sack was removed, and the ostrich resumed his place among his +companions. He did not strike, or kick, or indicate in any way that he +was aware of what had happened to him. + +"During their breeding time the male ostriches are decidedly vicious, +and it is dangerous to go near them. Mr. Shaffner told us that several +serious accidents had happened to his men at such times. Occasionally a +bird shows more or less ugliness on being driven into a kraal, and when +this is the case caution must be used in approaching him. The ostrich's +favorite mode of fighting is to strike or kick with one leg, and he can +give a terrible blow in this way. + +"I asked Mr. Shaffner," said Harry, "what was the value of a good +ostrich. He replied that the question was one he could not answer in a +single phrase. He said that an egg was worth not less than five dollars, +and an ostrich chick, fresh from the egg, was worth twenty-five dollars. + +"After a few months it was double that value, and by the time it was a +year old it was worth two hundred and fifty dollars. Mr. Shaffner said +he would be unwilling to sell a pair of hens and a male ostrich for less +than two thousand dollars, but he explained that a great deal depended +upon the breeding and feather-producing qualities of the birds. + +"Then, I asked," continued Harry, "about the yield of feathers, and was +told that the average yield was about fifty dollars annually to a good +bird. The feathers ripen at the time of incubation and are injured by +the process, so that the artificial incubator, by releasing the birds +from duty on the nest, is of special value. + +"I remarked," said Harry, "that, considering the increase in the flocks +and the money obtained from the feathers, ostrich farming ought to be +very profitable." + +"Well, it is profitable in a general way," replied Mr. Shaffner, "but +that is not by any means the rule. There are farmers who have never made +anything by it, and it has its drawbacks, like everything else. The +birds are subject to diseases of various kinds, and there is a parasitic +worm on some farms that is very destructive. Wild beasts kill the birds, +and I myself have lost three fine ostriches this year in that way. I +know one farm on which eighty-five birds were originally placed. In the +very first year twenty-seven were lost, thirteen by cold and wet, three +by diphtheria, six killed by natives, three by fighting, and two by +falling into holes. Out of sixty eggs, nineteen were destroyed by crows. +These birds would take stones in their claws, fly to a point directly +over the nest, and then let the stones fall on the eggs, thus breaking +them, so that they could get at the contents of the shells. The +remaining eggs were sent to a neighboring farm to be artificially +incubated, but only ten of them hatched out. So, you see," the gentleman +continued, "ostrich farming has its hard times, like everything else." + +After inspecting the ostrich farm our friends were entertained at a +substantial dinner in the house of their host, and in the afternoon were +driven to the railway station, whence they returned to Cape Town, having +well enjoyed their first excursion. + +That evening Dr. Whitney received an invitation to visit a large sheep +farm about thirty miles from Cape Town, accompanied, as before, by his +two nephews. He accepted the invitation, and the trio took an early +train for their destination. They were met at the station by the owner +of the establishment, and were speedily shown through the entire place. +Sheep farming was less a novelty to our young friends than ostrich +farming, and consequently they had much less interest in seeing the +sights of the establishment. Harry wrote a brief account of their visit, +and we are permitted to copy from it. + +"Evidently the place was prosperous," said Harry, in his journal, "as we +found an abundance of substantial buildings, a luxurious house for the +owner, and substantial dwellings for the manager and his assistant. We +sat down to an excellent, though somewhat late breakfast. We had a good +appetite for it, as we had breakfasted very lightly before leaving Cape +Town. On the table we had broiled chickens, broiled ham, and lamb chops, +together with eggs, bread, and the usual concomitants of the morning +meal. + +"After breakfast we visited the sheds where the sheep are sheared, and +also the surrounding sheds and yards where the animals are driven up at +shearing time. We were sorry that it was not the time of the annual +shearing, so that we could witness the process. Our host told us that +the shearers travel about the country, and take contracts for shearing +the flocks at so much a head. In addition to their wages, they were +supplied with food, and he added that the shearers were a fastidious +lot, and nothing but the best table would suit them. + +"After inspecting the buildings, we were supplied with saddle horses and +rode over the farm. The sheep are divided into flocks of about three +hundred each, and every flock is in charge of two herders or shepherds. +Some of them come into the home stations at night, while others have +separate out stations of their own. The herders are either Hottentots or +Kaffirs; at any rate they are negroes. The two of them start out in the +morning with the flock, and go slowly along, allowing the sheep to feed, +and calculating time and distance so that they will reach a watering +place about noon. There the sheep are watered and then they start back +again towards the station, where they arrive an hour or so before +sunset, and are shut up in a yard for the night. + +"The shepherds do their own cooking, and once a week one of them comes +to the head station to be supplied with provisions. Our host explained +to us that one shepherd was sufficient for a flock, but the life was so +lonely that a man would not stick to it, if left alone, and they had to +have two men in order to keep each other company. I can well understand +how wearisome it would be to have nobody to speak to for days at a time, +and one of the last occupations I would wish to engage in is that of +shepherd. + +"Wool raising is a very large industry in Cape Colony, and it certainly +has been a very profitable one. Our host told us that if a man could +avoid accidents and misfortunes, he would find the business very +remunerative; but, of course, misfortunes are pretty sure to come. He +told us further, that nearly all the sheep farmers of South Africa had +started into the business as poor men, and, while none of them were +millionaires, there were some that were very near being so. He gave some +statistics of the wool trade, but I have mislaid the sheet of paper +containing them, and so cannot give them to you." + +On their return from the excursion to the sheep farm, our friends +learned that a steamer of the Orient line had just arrived, and would +leave at noon the next day for Australia. Dr. Whitney decided to take +passage on this steamer, and the matter was very quickly arranged. + +When the great ship left the harbor of Cape Town, our friends stood on +her deck and were deeply interested in the scene about them. As they +steamed out around the breakwater, they had a fine view of Table Bay and +the mountains that surround it. Then they passed a series of cliff-like +mountains, known as the Twelve Apostles, and after them some brightly +colored mountains that had a dazzling appearance in the bright sunlight. +Thirty miles from Cape Town they passed the famous Cape of Good Hope, +which is popularly but erroneously supposed to be the southern end of +the continent; the fact is that the point of Africa nearest to the South +Pole is Cape Agulhas, sixty or seventy miles away from the Cape of Good +Hope. + +Down to Cape Agulhas the steamer had followed the coast line. Now it +steered away from the coast, and gradually the mountains of the +southern end of Africa faded and became dim in the distance, and +gradually disappeared altogether from sight. Our friends were now upon +the great Southern Ocean, which sweeps entirely around this part of the +globe. + +"We have a long voyage before us now," said Harry to Ned; "we have +sixteen days of steaming, so one of the officers tells me, before we +reach the coast of Australia." + +"Well, if that is the case," Ned answered, "we have plenty of time to +become acquainted with the Southern Ocean. I wonder if it will be very +different from the Atlantic." + +"As to that," replied Harry, "I don't know, but I have no doubt it has +peculiarities of its own. We will see about that later." + +Flocks of birds accompanied the ship as it steamed away from the coast. +Some were familiar sights to our young friends, and some were new to +them, or comparatively so. The next day and the few succeeding days made +them acquainted with several birds that they had never seen, and the +boys were so interested in them that Harry wrote a description, which we +will presently consider. But before doing so, however, we will look at a +note which Ned made concerning the waves of the Southern Ocean. + +"The waves of this part of the boundless waste of waters that covers +three fourths of the globe," said Ned, in his journal, "are the largest +we have ever seen. The prevailing winds are westerly, and the captain +tells us that they drive a continuous series of waves right around the +globe. You have heard of the long swell of the Pacific, but it is not, +at least in the Northern Hemisphere, anywhere equal to the immense +swells of the Southern Ocean. I have never seen waves that began to be +as large. The captain says that the crests are often thirty feet high, +and three hundred and ninety feet apart. Sir James Ross, in his +Antartic expedition, measured waves thirty-six feet high, and said that +when two ships were in the hollows of two adjoining waves, their hulls +were completely concealed from each other by the crest of water between +them. This great steamer, measuring nearly five thousand tons, is rolled +and tossed as if it were nothing more than an egg-shell, and such of the +passengers as are liable to seasickness are staying below out of sight. +Fancy what it must be to sail on this ocean in a small craft of one +hundred or two hundred tons! I think I would prefer to be on shore." + +And now we come to Harry's account of the birds. He wrote as follows:-- + +"Dr. Whitney says that I must make a distinction between land birds, +coast birds, and ocean birds. Land birds are only at sea by accident; +coast birds are seen only in the neighborhood of the land, but ocean +birds go far out at sea, and rarely visit the land except during their +breeding season. When you see a land bird out of sight of the shore, you +can know that he has been driven there by the wind; perhaps in a squall +or rain storm. The doctor tells me that we can make a general +distinction between the three kinds of birds, by remembering that the +more the bird lives on the land, the more he flaps his wings, and most +land birds flap their wings constantly. A few, like the eagle, condor, +and other birds of prey, sail about and flap their wings occasionally, +but the true ocean birds, as a rule, flap their wings very little. + +"An interesting flyer that we have seen is the frigate bird, also called +the man-of-war bird, which appears to me to be a good deal of a pirate, +as it makes the most of its living by robbing others. When another bird +has caught a fish the frigate bird attacks him, and takes away his +prize, catching it in the air as it falls from the victim's claws. These +birds follow the steamer or fly in the air above it, and they seem to go +along very easily, although the ship is running at full speed. I am told +that, on the previous voyage of this ship, some of the sailors caught +two of these birds and marked them by attaching strips of white cloth to +their feet. Then the birds were set free, and they followed the steamer +four or five days without any apparent fatigue. + +"Of course we have seen 'Mother Carey's Chickens.' These tireless little +fellows, that never seem to rest, are found in all parts of the world of +waters. They have been constantly about us, flying around the ship but +never settling upon it, and dipping occasionally into the waters behind +us to gather up crumbs or particles of food. The other birds, which are +all much larger, would like to deprive them of their sustenance, but +they do not have the quickness of the little flyers on the wing. When +anything is thrown overboard, they dart as quick as a flash under the +noses of the larger and more clumsy birds, and pick up a mouthful or +two before the latter can reach them. Then there are whale birds, and +cape pigeons, and also the cape dove, which is somewhat larger than the +pigeon, and is also known as the 'fulmar petrel.' + +"But the most interesting as well as the largest of all the ocean birds +is the albatross. There are two or three kinds of this bird; the largest +of them has a spread of wing varying from twelve to fifteen feet, and +one has been caught measuring seventeen feet from tip to tip. With +outspread wings, his body, as he sails about in the air, looks as large +as a barrel, but when stripped of its feathers its size diminishes very +much. We offered to pay a good price to the sailors if they would catch +an albatross for us, but they declined our proposal to catch one, and +when a passenger one day wanted to shoot one which was directly over the +steamer, the sailors objected. We finally induced them to compromise the +matter by catching an albatross and letting it go unharmed. + +"They baited a hook with a piece of pork which was attached to a long +line, and then allowed to tow behind the steamer. We were doomed to +disappointment, as the albatross, that was then flying with the ship, +refused to touch the bait, and it was taken up by a frigate bird. It is +said that the albatross is very difficult to catch, as he is exceedingly +wary, and constantly on the lookout for tricks. I am told that a live +albatross standing on the deck of the ship is a very handsome bird. His +back is white, his wings are brown, he has a fine head, carries himself +with great dignity, and has a grand eye and countenance. The bird has a +pink beak and pretty streaks of a rose color on the cheeks. After death +these colors disappear, and are not to be seen in the stuffed specimens +such as are found in museums. A good-sized albatross weighs about twenty +pounds, though, as before stated, he looks very much larger. + +"The wonderful thing about this bird is the way he sustains himself in +the air. He sails along above the ship, though she may be steaming +fifteen or sixteen miles an hour, but he does it all with very little +motion. Three or four times in an hour he may give one or two flaps of +his wings, and that is all; the rest is all steady sailing. The +outspread wings sustain the bird, and carry him forward at the same +time. If any man ever invents a successful flying machine, I think he +will do so by studying the movements of the albatross. It is proper to +say that this bird is not at all courageous, and often gives up the fish +that he catches to the piratical frigate bird. It lives mostly on fish, +and is very fond of the carcass of a dead whale, and they tell me that +the longer the whale has been dead, the better does the albatross like +it. + +"The superstition of the sailors about its being bad luck to kill an +albatross is not by any means a new one. It is referred to by old +writers, and you will find it mentioned in Coleridge's 'Ancient +Mariner.' + +"We have seen a great many flying fish during our voyage, but as we have +seen them before, they are not a great curiosity. The flying motion of +this fish is more fanciful than real. He does not soar in the air like a +bird, but simply leaps from the crest of one wave to the crest of +another. He makes a single dash through the air, and that is all. +Sometimes, when a ship is in the hollow between two waves and the flying +fish is attempting to make his way across, he falls on the deck of the +vessel, but he rarely gets more than fifteen or eighteen feet into the +air, and therefore does not reach the deck of a big steamer like this. + +"Flying fish seem to fly when disturbed by big fishes, or, possibly, by +the commotion that a vessel creates in going through the water. There is +a good deal of dispute as to how long the flying fish can stay out of +water, and the longest time I have heard any one give to it is thirty +seconds. Some say that the flying fish can stay in the air only while +its wings are wet, but that is a point on which I do not care to give +any opinion, for the simple reason that I don't know." + +Ned and Harry had kept the nautical instruments which they carried over +the deserts of Northern Africa, and they amused themselves by taking +daily observations and calculating the ship's position. Sometimes they +were wrong, and sometimes they were right, Ned naively remarking that +"the wrongs didn't count." The first officer of the ship gave them some +assistance in their nautical observations, and, altogether, they got +along very well. + +Our friends made the acquaintance of some of their fellow-passengers and +found them very agreeable. The majority were residents of Australia or +New Zealand, who had been on visits to England and were now returning +home. The youths learned a great deal concerning the country whither +they were bound, and the goodly portion of the information they received +was of practical value to them. They made copious notes of what they +heard, and some of the information that they gleaned will appear later +in these pages. + +In due time they sighted the coast of Australia at its western +extremity, known as Cape Leeuwin, but the sight was not especially +picturesque, as the mountains around the cape are of no great height. +After passing Cape Leeuwin, the steamer held her course steadily to the +west, gradually leaving the shore out of sight. She was passing along +the front of what is called the Great Australian Bight, an indentation +in the land twelve hundred miles long, and bounded on the north by a +region of desolation. + +"It is a desolate coast," said one of the passengers to Harry, "and is +so destitute of water that no settlements have or can be made upon it. +Mr. Eyre, who was afterwards governor of Jamaica, endeavored to explore +that coast, and had a terrible time of it. He was an entire year making +the journey of twelve hundred miles, and suffered the most terrible +hardships." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +A LAND OF CONTRADICTIONS--TRANSPORTATION TO AUSTRALIA. + + +"How long is it since Mr. Eyre made this journey?" Harry asked. + +"It was a good while ago," the gentleman answered, "in the years 1839 +and 1840. Mr. Eyre had explored a portion of the western shore of +Spencer Gulf, and while doing so, determined to make the attempt to +travel along the shore of the Great Australian Bight. One of the first +difficulties that opposed him was the scarcity of fresh water. There +were numerous gullies, showing that in times of rain there was plenty of +water, but no rain had fallen for a long time and all these gullies were +dry. A few springs were found, but these were generally brackish and the +water was hardly drinkable. + +"Mr. Eyre tried the experiment of sinking a cask in the ground, near the +edge of the sea, in the hope of obtaining fresh water, but his +experiments in this direction were not successful. By the time he had +advanced two hundred miles, he had lost four of his horses. The +reduction in the number of his pack animals made it impossible for him +to carry sufficient provisions for his party, and he therefore sent back +his only white companion and three of his men. Then he continued his +journey with his overseer and three natives, one of the latter being his +personal servant. + +"In order to be sure of water, Mr. Eyre explored in advance of the +party, and sometimes was gone four or five days before finding any. One +by one the horses died of thirst, and the only way the men could keep +alive was by gathering the dew, which fell at night, by means of sponges +and rags. + +"The natives complained at their hardships, and one night the two men +took possession of the guns, killed the overseer, and ran away, leaving +Mr. Eyre with only his native servant and a very small stock of +provisions. They were then about midway on the journey; that is, they +had still six hundred miles to travel to reach the settled parts of West +Australia. The entire supply of provisions that they had was four +gallons of water, forty pounds of flour, and a portion of a dead horse. +They had to go nearly two hundred miles before finding any more water, +and lived on horse-flesh, with occasional game and fish, and a little +flour paste. Just as they were about to lie down and die in the desert +they saw a sail in the distance. + +"They built a fire on the beach as a signal, and, luckily for them, it +was observed. The vessel came in quite near the land and sent a boat to +their assistance. The ship proved to be an American whaler that was +cruising about the Australian Bight in pursuit of whales, and the +captain invited them to stay on board as long as they liked. They +remained there two weeks, and were then put ashore at the same spot +whence they had gone on board. The captain supplied them with all the +provisions and water they could carry. Mr. Eyre was determined to +complete his journey, if possible, and his faithful servant consented to +remain with him. They struggled on for two or three weeks longer, when +they reached the first of the settlements on King George's Sound." + +"Has anybody else ever tried to make the same journey?" Harry asked. + +"Not under the same circumstances," was the reply. "I believe that a +well-equipped exploring party was sent out some twelve or fifteen years +ago, to travel along the coast and look for gold. Water and provisions +were supplied every few days by a small steamer that kept near the shore +and went in when signaled by the travelers. In this way, suffering from +hunger and thirst was avoided and the animals of the expedition were +well supplied with forage. The enterprise was not a successful one so +far as the finding of gold was concerned, but I have little doubt that +one of these days gold will be discovered there; and if it should be, +some way will be found for softening the asperities of this desolate +coast." + +"I have heard," said Harry, "that a great part of Australia is destitute +of water. Is that really the case?" + +"Yes," the gentleman answered; "you have been correctly informed. +Australia, is a waterless country, or, at any rate, that is the case +with a great part of it. The interior has never been fully explored for +this reason, and there are thousands, I might say millions, of square +miles of Australian country where no human foot has ever trod. Many +attempts have been made to penetrate this desolate region, but all have +resulted in failure. + +"Water, as you know, is an absolute necessity for man and animals, and +there is a limit to the amount which an expedition can carry, just as +there is a limit to the food that one may take on a journey. There are +parts of Australia where rain seems never to fall, or, if it does, the +intervals are so rare and irregular that no reliance can be placed on +them. Explorers cannot stop to dig wells hundreds of feet in depth, and +it is certain that no ordinary amount of digging will procure water. The +atmosphere is dry, terribly dry, as all who have attempted to penetrate +into the interior will tell you. + +"Instruments, and cases made of the best seasoned wood--wood that has +been dried for years and years--crack and split and go to pieces in the +dry atmosphere of the interior of Australia. Leather becomes brittle, +and cracks and breaks when the slightest pressure is put upon it. One +exploring expedition was obliged to turn back in consequence of the +drying up and cracking of the wood contained in its instruments and +their cases. The evaporation from one's skin is very rapid under such +circumstances, and produces an agonizing thirst, which is no doubt +intensified by the knowledge of the scarcity of water and the necessity +of using the supply on hand with great care." + +"I have heard," said Ned, "that Australia is a land of contradictions as +compared with England and the United States. I read in a book somewhere +that nearly everything in nature was the reverse of what it was in the +countries I mentioned." + +"That is true," said the gentleman with whom they were conversing, "and +I will tell you several things to demonstrate the correctness of what +you say. In the first place Australia is on the other side of the world +from England and the United States, and that circumstance ought to +prepare you for the other peculiarities. Most countries are fertile in +their interior; but, as I have told you, the interior of Australia is a +land of desolation, where neither man nor beast can live. I have been +told that birds never fly in the interior of Australia; and certainly if +I were a bird, I would not fly there nor anywhere near it. + +"We have very few rivers, and none of them come from far in the +interior. Most of them are low in summer or altogether dried up. There +is only one river, the Murray, that can be relied upon to have any +reasonable depth of water in it throughout the entire year. The other +rivers dwindle almost to nothing, and, as I have said, entirely +disappear. The greater part of the country is absolutely without trees, +and the dense forests which you have in America are practically unknown. +We have summer when you have winter, and we have night when you have +day. When you are in your own country, and I am here, our feet are +nearer together than our heads; that is to say, our feet are pressing +the ground on opposite sides of the earth, and so we may be said to be +standing upon each other." + +"That is so," remarked Harry; "I was thinking of that this morning. I +noticed also that the ship's compass pointed to the south, and that the +sun was traveling along the northern heavens. I observed, too, that the +south wind was cold, and the north wind hot." + +"You are quite right," said the gentleman; "and if you have been +studying the barometer, you have found that it falls with the northerly +wind and rises with the southerly one. When you travel over the country, +you will find that the valleys are cool and the mountain tops warm. The +bees have no sting, and many of the beautiful flowers have no smell. The +leaves of the trees are nearly always perpendicular instead of +horizontal, as in your country, and consequently one gets very little +shade under an Australian tree." + +"I have heard," said Ned, "that the trees shed their bark instead of +their leaves. Is that really so?" + +"It is so with most of the trees," was the reply; "in fact, with nearly +all of them. A few shed their leaves every year, and on many of the +trees the leaves remain unchanged, while the bark is thrown off. One +tree is called the stringy bark, on account of the ragged appearance of +its covering at the time it is shed. + +"In your part of the world," the gentleman continued, "cherries grow +with the stones inside; but here in Australia we have cherries with the +stones on the outside. We have birds of beautiful plumage and very +little song; the owls are quiet at night, and screech and hoot in the +daytime, which certainly is not a characteristic of the English or +American owl. The geological formation of the country is also peculiar, +and the scientific men who have come here from England and America are a +good deal puzzled at the state of affairs they find in Australia. Would +it not surprise you to learn that we have coal in this country as white +as chalk?" + +"That is, indeed, a surprise," one of the youths remarked. "I wonder if +the conditions are continued so that your chalk is black." + +"The contrasts do not go quite so far as that," said the gentleman, with +a laugh, "as the chalk of Australia is as white as that of England. I +don't mean to say that all our coal is white, but only the coal of +certain localities. It generally takes the stranger by surprise to see a +grateful of white coal burning brightly, and throwing out smoke at the +same time. I must tell you that this coal is bituminous, and not +anthracite." + +"I hope," said Ned, "that men's heads do not grow out of their sides, or +from their breasts, and that they do not walk topsy-turvy, with their +feet in the air." + +"No, they are not as bad as that," was the reply; "but you will see some +queer things before you are through with Australia. Bear in mind that +the country contains no antiquities of any kind; it is a new land in +every sense, as it was first settled in 1788, and all these cities are +of modern foundation and growth." + +Our young friends thanked the gentleman for the information he had given +them, and said they would specially bear in mind the comparisons and +contrasts which he had indicated in their brief conversation. + +The first stopping place of the ship was at Adelaide, in South +Australia, from which place she proceeded around the coast to Melbourne. +Our friends decided to land at Adelaide, and go overland through that +city wherever the railway would take them. They thought that by so doing +they would be able to see a great deal more on their way to Melbourne +than if they continued aboard the ship. + +Harry had obtained a map of Australia on the day before their arrival +at Adelaide. He was busily engaged in studying it. + +"Just look a moment," said Harry to Ned, as he spread the map out on one +of the tables in the saloon; "here is another contradiction that our +friend didn't include. Look at it." + +"Well, what of it?" said Ned. "It is a map of Australia, is it not?" + +"Yes, it is, and just look at the provinces or colonies of Australia. +Here is West Australia, as its name indicates, at the western end of the +great island or continent. Here are Queensland, New South Wales, and +Victoria, and here is South Australia, where we are going to land. +Adelaide is its capital." + +"Well, what of it?" queried Ned, with an expression of curiosity on his +face. + +"Why, don't you see," said Harry, in a tone of impatience, "that South +Australia is not South Australia at all. Here is Victoria, which runs +further south than this colony, and then you see South Australia runs +clear across the continent to the northern side, and almost as far north +as the extreme point of Queensland. They ought to change the name of it, +or else divide it into two colonies, calling this one by its present +name, and the other North Australia." + +Ned admitted the force of the argument, and then joined his cousin in +studying the map. Strange to say, the middle section or unexplored +region had a singular fascination for both the youths, and each confided +to the other that he would like to undertake the exploration of that +part of the continent. They wondered whether Dr. Whitney would entertain +their proposal to do so, but finally concluded that the hardships would +be too great, and they would say nothing about their aspirations. + +[Illustration: "HARRY HAD OBTAINED A MAP OF AUSTRALIA."] + +In due time the steamer came to anchor at Port Adelaide. The harbor of +the capital city is not on the sea, but seven miles away from it, on the +banks of the small river Torrens. The railway connects the port with the +city, and shortly after getting ashore our friends were seated in a +train, which carried them quickly to the capital. One of the passengers +told Ned that the port was formerly quite shallow and difficult to +enter. The entrance at present is between two large shoals of sand, +which are marked by lighthouses. A great deal of money has been expended +in deepening and widening the harbor, so that it is now accessible for +large ships. + +A long pier extends into St. Vincent's Gulf, the body of water on which +the port stands, and this pier is quite popular as a promenade for the +people living at the port, and also for those who come down from the +city. + +Harry observed that the dock and pier accommodations were excellent. +There were immense sheds, and warehouses for the storage of grain, wool, +and other products of the country while awaiting shipment, and equally +extensive shelters for merchandise arriving at the port on its way to +the city and to other parts of the colony. There were dry docks and +repairing yards, and there were hospitals for sick sailors and others, +together with the usual public buildings of a prosperous seaport. +Immense quantities of wool and frozen meat are shipped from this port +to England, and the trade of the colony with the mother country is said +to be increasing every year. + +It was about the middle of the afternoon when our friends landed, and in +less than half an hour after landing they were in the city. One of their +steamer acquaintances had directed them to a hotel, and, in fact, +accompanied them to it, so that they had the advantage of his personal +guidance and introduction. Harry made a memorandum in his notebook that +they found the hotel quite a good one, certainly much better than the +hotel where they stopped at Cape Town. + +After settling themselves in the hotel the party went out for a stroll, +but, in consequence of the heat, they were not long in turning their +stroll into a drive. Here is what Ned says of their first day in +Adelaide:-- + +"This city recalls Chicago more than any other place I can think of. It +is on a level plain, with the exception of the portion to the north +where the ground rises a little, and the streets are laid out at right +angles, as though a chess-board had been taken as a model for the place. +We have wondered why it was called Adelaide instead of Mary Ann, Betsy, +or some other feminine name; Dr. Whitney has just told us that the city +was laid out in 1837 and named in honor of the queen of King William +IV., who was then the ruler of England. + +"Having named the place in honor of the queen, the founders of the city +felt that the next thing to do was to call the principal street after +the king. Thus it happens that the great street, the one most built +upon, and where the majority of the shops are concentrated, is King +William Street. It is a broad avenue running from south to north, and +divides the city almost equally. It is certainly a very handsome avenue, +and we greatly enjoyed our drive upon it. Most of the public buildings, +the town hall, post-office, government offices, and the like, are on +King William Street, and they are very handsome structures. + +"The people are very proud of these edifices, and well they may be, as +they would be ornaments to any city ten times as old and large as +Adelaide. The principal banks, newspaper offices, and business +structures generally are also on King William Street, and to judge by +the crowds of people that throng the sidewalks, one might conclude that +the population was a busy one. One thing that attracted our attention +was the great number of churches, which certainly gave us the impression +that the population of Adelaide is decidedly religious, and also that +its zeal in religion had led it to contribute freely to the erection of +places of worship. Our driver pointed out the various churches and told +us their denomination. Of course the Church of England was ahead of the +others, as is expected to be the case in a British colony." + +"I learned afterwards," said Ned, "that there were nearly one thousand +churches and chapels in the colony of South Australia, together with +nearly five hundred other buildings that are occasionally used for +religious worship. All the churches are supported by voluntary +contributions, there being no State aid to any of them. At the last +census of the colony there were 76,000 adherents of the Church of +England, 43,000 Roman Catholics, and 42,000 Methodists. Then came the +Lutherans, with 20,000; Presbyterians, with 18,000; Baptists, with +14,000; and about 10,000 each of primitive Methodists, Congregationalists, +and Bible Christians. There were several other denominations, but their +numbers were insignificant. We looked for pagodas while driving along +the street, but none of them were to be found, and we learned on inquiry +that the number of Chinese and Moslems in South Australia was hardly +worth mentioning. The colony has never been attractive to the Chinese, +and few of them have endeavored to find homes there. + +"We drove to the resident portion of the city and saw a goodly number of +private houses of the better sort. A great deal of taste has been +displayed in the construction of these houses, and we derived the +impression that Adelaide was a decidedly prosperous city. The +wheat-growing industry of South Australia is a very large one. Many of +the great farmers have their residences in Adelaide and spend only a +small portion of their time on their farms, leaving all details to their +managers. A considerable amount of American farming machinery finds its +way to South Australia, where it has attained a well-deserved +popularity." + +While our friends were at breakfast the next morning, Harry suggested +that if the others were willing, he would like to see one of the +Australian prisons containing convicts that had been transported from +England. + +The doctor smiled,--just a faint smile,--while Ned laughed. + +"Oh, you are all wrong, Harry," said Ned. "They gave up that business +long ago. I was under the same impression that you are, but learned +better from one of our fellow-passengers. I meant to tell you about it." + +"Well, I will acknowledge my mistake," said Harry. "We are all liable to +make blunders, and that is one of them." + +"Quite true," Dr. Whitney remarked. "Every visitor to a country that is +strange to him makes a great many mistakes, and the frank thing is to +acknowledge it." + +"The gentleman who corrected my blunder," said Ned, "told me that an +American visitor who was very fond of hunting landed once in Sydney, +fresh from the United States. The hunting fever was strong in him, and +before he was an hour on shore he asked the clerk of the hotel where he +could go to shoot Sydney ducks. He had heard of them, and would like to +bag a few brace." + +"What is the point of the joke?" said Harry; "I confess I cannot see +it." + +"That is exactly what I said to my informant," replied Ned, "and then he +went on and told me that in former times Australian convicts were spoken +of as Sydney ducks." + +"Oh! I see," said Harry, "that is a very good joke when you come to know +all about it. What did the clerk of the hotel say to the inquiring +stranger?" + +"I don't know," replied Ned, "but I presume he told him that Sydney +ducks had gone out of fashion, and were not being shot any more. +Probably he let the man down as gently as possible." + +"How did the convicts come to have the name of Sydney ducks?" Harry +asked. + +"I can't tell you, I am sure," said Ned, "you will have to ask the +doctor about it." + +"The name came, no doubt," said Dr. Whitney, "from the circumstance that +the first convicts who were brought to Australia were landed at Sydney, +and for a good many years Sydney was the principal depot of these +involuntary emigrants. The adoption of Australia as the place for +convict settlement was brought about by events in America, a statement +which may surprise you." + +"It certainly is surprising," Harry remarked. "How did it happen?" + +"It came about in this way," the doctor continued; "when America was +subject to England, offenders of various kinds, whether political or +criminal, were sent to the American colonies, principally to the +Southern States and the West Indies, where they were chiefly employed in +the cultivation of tobacco. The consumption of tobacco in England was +very large, and the revenue derived from it was considerable. +Consequently England was able to kill two birds with one stone; she got +rid of her criminals, at the same time, and made a large profit on their +work. + +"When the American colonies revolted in 1775, and gained their +independence eight years later, England found herself deprived of a +place to which she could send her convicts, and she looked around for +another. She tried the coast of Africa, and found it too unhealthy for +her purpose. Captain Cook had recently visited Australia and given a +glowing account of it, and the government officials thought that this +new country would be an excellent one for criminals. Orders were given +for sending out a fleet of ships for that purpose; and, accordingly, +eleven vessels, carrying more than one thousand people, sailed for +Portsmouth in the month of March, 1787, with orders to proceed to +Australia." + +"If England had known what was to happen," said Harry, "she need not +have been at the trouble of sending her criminals so far away; she might +have kept on with America with only slight interruptions. She is sending +us her criminals and paupers at present, though she does not designate +them properly when she ships them, and most of the continental nations +are doing the same thing. We are trying to prevent it, but I don't +believe we succeed to a very great extent." + +"Did they send a thousand convicts to Australia in this first batch?" +queried Ned. + +"There were about one thousand people altogether," said Dr. Whitney, +"including 757 convicts, and among the convicts were 190 women and +eighteen children. They had 160 soldiers to guard the prisoners, with a +sufficient number of officers, and forty of the soldiers were +accompanied by their wives. They had on the ships a goodly quantity of +cattle, sheep, horses, pigs, and goats, and a large quantity of seeds +from various parts of the world was sent out. It was not expected that +the colony would be self-supporting for some time, and so it was +arranged that supply ships laden with flour and other provisions should +be sent from England at regular intervals. A year or two after the +colony was founded one of these ships was wrecked on its way to +Australia, and the colonists suffered greatly for want of food. Among +the supplies taken by each ship there was usually a fresh batch of +convicts, and quite regularly convict ships were despatched from England +to Australia." + +Ned remarked that he thought a convict ship would not be a pleasant +craft to travel on. A good many people did not like crossing the +Atlantic on cattle ships, but he thought the cattle ship would be far +preferable to one laden with convicts. + +"And so it is," replied the doctor. "According to all accounts, the life +on board a convict ship from England to Australia was terrible. Remember +that in those days prisoners were treated with great harshness; they +were not supposed to have any feelings and were never spoken to kindly, +and in many instances an order was usually accompanied by a kick or a +blow. During the voyage the prisoners were allowed on deck one hour or +possibly two hours of each day, care being taken that only a small +number would be there at any one time. + +"For the rest of the twenty-four hours they were shut up in close, +stifling pens or cages, generally with nothing but a little straw to +sleep on, and they were fed with the coarsest and poorest food. Coffee +and tea with hard bread formed their breakfast; dinner was the same, +with sometimes the addition of a piece of heavily salted beef, so hard +that it was no easy matter to cut it into mouthfuls. Supper was the same +as breakfast, and this was kept up with hardly any variation. + +"The slightest infraction of the rules was punished with the lash, but +this did not deter the criminals from making trouble. Constantly the +boatswain and his assistants were kept busy in performing the floggings +that were ordered, and sometimes the cat-o'-nine-tails was in steady use +from sunrise to sunset. The more severe his discipline, the more highly +an officer was regarded by his superiors, and if he occasionally hanged +a few men, it rather advanced than retarded his promotion. A good many +died on the voyage from England to Australia, partly in consequence of +their scanty fare and the great heat of the tropics; but, according to +tradition, a very large proportion of the mortality was the result of +brutal treatment and privations. + +"The passengers on the convict ship," said Harry, "seem to have been +treated pretty much like those on slave ships." + +"You are not far wrong there," the doctor replied; "the sufferings of +convicts on their way to Australia were not altogether unlike those of +the unhappy negroes that were formerly taken from the coast of Africa to +North and South America. The convicts were not crowded quite as densely +into the holds of the ships as the slaves were, and the mortality among +them was not as great; still they were packed very thickly together, and +were treated quite as cruelly as the slave dealers used to treat their +human property. Occasionally it happened that the convicts formed a +conspiracy and endeavored to take possession of the ship. In nearly +every instance they were betrayed by one of their number, and when the +time came for action they were so closely guarded that any resistance +was useless. Then the conspirators were seized, and after a brief trial +were condemned to be hung or shot, generally the former, as it saved +ammunition and did not soil the decks of the ship with blood. When there +was an actual mutiny the mutineers were shot down without mercy, and +those who escaped the bullets were speedily disposed of by hanging at +the yard-arms." + +"Terrible times those must have been," remarked Ned; "the wonder is that +anybody survived." + +"Yes, indeed," said Harry; "but man has a tough constitution and can +endure a great deal." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +STRANGE ADVENTURES--AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINALS. + + +One of the youths asked how the convicts were employed after they came +to Australia. + +"At first," said the doctor, "they were employed almost entirely on +government works. A city was laid out, and of course it was necessary to +grade the streets, build bridges, and do other things in connection with +putting the place into shape. There were prisons, warehouses, wharves, +and other buildings necessary to a convict establishment to be erected. +Gardens and fields were to be laid out and planted, and altogether there +was no lack of work to be performed. The prisoners were required to work +under guard, and the worst of them were ornamented with ball and chain, +like the occupants of many a prison in different parts of the world. +They were treated just as rigorously as they had been on board the ships +that brought them out. Their lodgings were somewhat more spacious, but +by no stretch of fancy could they be called luxurious. The supply of +food in the colony was not large, and the fare of the prisoners was +scanty. + +"Free emigration to Australia began a few years after the convict +emigration, and most of the free emigrants came here with the view to +employ the convicts under contracts with the government. They were +principally men of capital, and the most of them established farms or +factories near Sydney and entered into agreements with the government +to supply them with labor. Where they were close to the city, the +convicts were sent out to their work in the morning and returned to +prison at night; but where the distance from the city was considerable, +other plans had to be followed. Sometimes soldiers were detailed to +guard the convicts at their working places, and in others the employer +himself supplied the guard. The convicts were also made to understand +very clearly that if they ran away they would be caught and severely +punished. + +"I should think they would run away in spite of all these threats, +especially where their sentences were for long terms," Harry remarked. + +"It was not so easy as it may seem for anybody to escape," said the +doctor. "A man could not stay around the colony more than a day or two, +or a few days at the farthest, without being discovered, and when found +he was sure to be severely flogged, put on bread and water, and shut up +in a dark cell. If he escaped into the bush, he was pretty certain to +starve to death unless found by the natives, in which case he was +generally murdered. Many a convict ran away to the bush and was never +heard of. Others remained there until starvation forced them to come in +and give themselves up." + +"Did the free settlers increase as fast as the convicts?" + +"Yes, they increased faster as the word went out through the British +Islands that Australia offered great possibilities for emigrants. For +twenty years the military and convicts were more numerous than the free +settlers; but by the end of thirty years the latter were in the +ascendency. In the year 1830, there were twenty-seven thousand convicts +in the colony, and forty-nine thousand others. + +"By 'others' I don't mean other settlers, altogether, though I do +mean free people. By that time a good many convicts had served out +their sentences and become free. They were known as 'emancipists,' +and consequently there were three kinds of people in the +colony,--emancipists, convicts, and free settlers. The free settlers +would not associate with the emancipists, and they in turn would not +associate with the convicts. The free settlers wanted the emancipists to +be deprived of all civil rights and kept practically in the same +position as the convicts. The officers of the government used to take +the side of the emancipists, and there were many bitter quarrels between +them and the free settlers in consequence." + +Here the doctor paused for a moment, and then asked:-- + +"Did you ever read about the mutiny of the _Bounty_?" + +"Oh, yes," replied Harry; "I read about it two or three years ago. The +crew of the ship _Bounty_ mutinied, and put the captain and others in an +open boat to take care of themselves the best way they could. The +_Bounty_ then cruised about the Pacific for awhile, and finally went to +Pitcairn's Island, where the mutineers landed and destroyed the ship. +Their fate was not known until nearly thirty years afterwards, when an +American ship touched at the island, and found it peopled by the +descendants of the mutineers, who had taken some women from Tahiti to +become their wives. Only one of those concerned in the mutiny was then +alive. The captain and his companions in the open boat made a voyage of +four thousand miles, enduring great hardships, and eventually reached +the Dutch settlements in the island of Timor." + +"A very good account for a brief one," said the doctor. "Do you remember +the name of the _Bounty's_ commander?" + +"Yes," replied Harry. "I believe it was Bligh; in fact, I am sure of +it." + +"Well, that same Captain Bligh was one of the early governors of New +South Wales, as the colony was then called. He caused the mutiny on the +_Bounty_ by want of tact and by undue severity, and the same spirit that +he showed on the deck of his ship caused a rebellion in New South Wales. +Of course, the convicts had no influence or part in the rebellion, but +the free settlers were very active in it, and so were a good many of the +officers. Bligh caused himself to be thoroughly disliked by interfering +with local trade, and also by his very intemperate talk concerning free +settlers and emancipists. He was deposed and sent to England, while a +temporary governor was installed in his place. To a certain extent he +triumphed over his enemies, as the officers who had taken part in the +rebellion were either reprimanded or dismissed. Governor Bligh came back +with the authority to assume the position of governor for just one +hour." + +"Not a very long term for a man to be governor," Ned remarked. + +"No, not by any means," was the reply; "but there was a technical +advantage in it which was very important. The governor did a great deal +in that one hour. He removed a good many officers and appointed new +ones in their places, and he made several changes in the administration +of the colony which were more or less embarrassing to his successor. + +"Governor Bligh was succeeded by Governor Macquarie. The quarrel between +the free settlers and the emancipists continued during Macquarie's +administration. The governor took the side of the emancipists, and at +one time there was a good prospect of another rebellion; but, happily, +the new chief of the colony possessed more tact than his predecessor, +and no rebellion was ever brought about. Governor Macquarie relaxed some +of the severity with which the convicts had been treated, and this, +together with his favoring the emancipists, gave him the title of the +'Prisoners' Friend.' + +"As time went on, the number of free settlers in the colony increased, +and so did the number of farms in the vicinity of Sydney. As I have +already told you, the convicts were hired out to work on the farms. Of +course a good many of them ran away, and then some of them got into the +bush, where they remained for various periods, but the majority of them +were caught and brought back within a few days. Dogs were used in +pursuing them, and several kennels of dogs were kept at the prisons for +the purpose of hunting out runaways. Some of the prisoners' beliefs in +regard to the country were very amusing. The idea got into the heads of +many that, by traveling overland for a few days, they would reach China, +and quite a number of them tried to do so. One man wandered for a month +around the bush country, until finally, driven by hunger, he ventured +to approach a house. There he saw a fellow-prisoner whom he knew, and +asked him how long he had been in China. He was very much surprised on +learning that he was not in China at all, but on a farm a few miles from +Sydney. While he was talking with the friend two soldiers happened along +and took him in charge, and then carried him back to the prison, where +he received the customary punishment. + +"In 1798 a good many Irishmen who had been concerned in the Irish +rebellion of that year were transported to Australia. They saw in the +mountains back of Sydney a close resemblance to the mountains of +Connaught, in their native country, and fancied that if they could cross +those mountains they would find themselves at home. Quite a number of +them ran away in consequence, but were doomed to disappointment. One man +on the voyage out to Australia had given a good deal of time to studying +the motions of the ship's compass, and he imagined that if he could only +get something of the kind he would be all right and could safely guide +himself through the forests of Australia. He watched his chance and +stole a book on navigation. One leaf of the book had a picture of a +mariner's compass. He tore out this leaf, and, thus equipped, took the +first opportunity of running away. + +"Speaking of these Irish rebels reminds me of something I must tell you. +They were convicted of treason, either for taking an active part in the +rebellion or sympathizing with it, and for this crime they were sent as +convicts to the other side of the world. No distinction was made between +political and criminal offenders, and the man who had loved his country +and tried to set her free treated with the same severity as the house +breaker and highwayman. + +"A great many men were sent to Australia for the crime of poaching. Many +a man was condemned to seven, ten, and fifteen years' exile at hard +labor because he had taken a trout out of a brook, or snared a +partridge. Offenses that in these times would only result in a fine were +then punished with great severity, and a considerable number of the +convicts sent to Australia in the first thirty years of the prevalence +of the system were men whose offenses had really been very light. It was +for this reason that Governor Macquarie and other high officials took +the position that they did in favor of the emancipists. They contended +that a man whose offense had been of a trivial sort, and who had shown +himself to be honest and industrious, ought to receive a helping hand, +instead of being placed under the ban." + +"I quite agree with them," said Harry; "and I wonder that the free +settlers were so severe against them." + +"But you must bear in mind," the doctor answered, "that the term +'convict' is always odious, no matter under what circumstances it may +have been obtained. It was not easy at all times for the free settlers +to make a distinction among emancipists, and so they came to a quick +conclusion by denouncing all. However, that state of society has all +passed away; convicts, emancipists, and free settlers of the first +quarter of this century are all dead and gone now, with, possibly, a few +exceptions. Time has healed the breach, and this subject is very little +talked of at the present day." + +"How about the descendants of the early colonists?" Ned inquired. "Do +the sins of the fathers descend upon the children, or are they all +forgotten?" + +"As to that," said the doctor, "I must give you a little explanation. It +is not considered polite in Australia to ask a man born in the country +who his father was, or how he happened to emigrate from England. That is +a subject that is ignored in polite society, and, in fact, in society of +all kinds. In political life, a man may abuse his opponent as much as he +pleases in all ways, except that should he venture in the anger of +debate to intimate that his opponent's father came to Australia as an +involuntary emigrant, he renders himself liable to heavy damages. I can +tell you of a case in point. + +"A prominent official in the government of Victoria is known to be the +son of a man who was transported for catching a pheasant. It is an open +secret; in fact, one could hardly say that it was a secret at all, as +every man who has any knowledge of public life is well aware of it. Once +while this man was running for office, his opponent, in a fierce debate +before a public meeting, mentioned the circumstance, whereupon the other +brought suit, and was awarded damages to the extent of fifty thousand +dollars. It is probable that the unlucky defendant of the suit has been +more careful in the use of his tongue ever since. + +"One of the convicts that escaped," continued the doctor, "had a most +remarkable experience. He wandered off into the bush or forests, and +kept traveling until the small amount of provisions he carried was +exhausted. Then for two or three days he lived upon roots and leaves +and on a bird that he killed with a club. + +"One day, while he was dragging himself along, he came to a mound of +earth, which had been freshly heaped up. Standing in this mound there +was a stick, and to help himself along he took possession of the stick, +which was like a long walking-cane. He observed, as he took possession +of it, that it seemed to have been used before, but he proceeded on his +way and thought no more about the matter. + +"After dragging himself along for half a mile or more, he suddenly came +upon a little encampment of native blacks or aborigines. They raised a +shout as they saw him and made a rush in his direction, brandishing +their spears and other weapons, and showing signs of hostility. + +"The poor fellow thought his last hour had come, as he had heard that +the blacks murdered every white man they came across. What was his +surprise when they suddenly lowered their weapons and changed their +demonstrations of hostility to those of respect! They gathered about him +in the most friendly manner imaginable, and tried to talk with him, but +he could not understand a word. They threw up a shelter for him larger +than any other shelter in the encampment, and installed him there, and +they treated him as though he were a princely ambassador. They brought +him food, which he ate ravenously, and they continued to place their +greatest delicacies before him until his appetite was fully satisfied. + +"Well, he remained among them for years, and as he was a man of fair +intelligence, he soon learned their language. It did not take him long +to comprehend that he was treated as the chief of the tribe, and had +been regarded as such from the very beginning. And what do you suppose +brought it about?" + +"I'm sure I can't tell," said both of the youths in a breath. + +"It came about in this way," explained the doctor. "The Australian +blacks believe, or, at any rate, many of the tribes do, that the white +man is nothing more nor less than a resurrected black man. Those of them +who speak English express it in these words: 'Tumble down, black fellow; +jump up, white fellow.' + +"It so happened that the tribe which he joined had just buried its +chief, and when they bury one of their dead they heap a mound of earth +above the spot, and upon the top of the mound some implement or weapon +belonging to the deceased. In this case they had stuck the old chief's +walking-staff in the top of the mound, and it was this very staff that +the white man took from the mound where the chief was buried, to help +him along on his way. When the blacks saw the man approaching they +proceeded to kill him after their custom, but as he came near and they +saw that he carried the staff of their chief, they at once concluded +that the chief had come to life again in the shape of the white fellow. +That is why they showed him so many honors and made him chief of their +tribe. It was in their minds a clear case of 'tumble down, black fellow; +jump up, white fellow.'" + +"I suppose he was quite contented to stay with them, and not return to +Sydney and its punishments?" remarked one of the youths. + +"Yes, indeed he was. For years rumors came to Sydney from time to time, +that there was a white man living in one of the aboriginal tribes as +their chief. Word was sent him several times by means of the blacks, +giving the governor's promise that he would not be molested if he would +come to Sydney and tell his story, but he was suspicious, and for a long +time refused to come. Finally an officer of the government went out, and +with a great deal of difficulty succeeded in having an interview with +him. He received the most solemn assurance that he would not be +interfered with, and finally said that if a full pardon were sent to +him, he would come. A full pardon was accordingly forwarded and he +ventured to Sydney, where he received a good deal of attention. His +story was taken down from his own lips, and afterward published in a +book. After a few months he became dissatisfied with civilization and +returned to his wanderings." + +"That is a curious idea of the blacks, that they become white after +their death," Ned remarked. + +"Yes, it is curious," said the doctor, "and they carry it out in forming +attachments for the white people who employed them. At a station where +quite a number of blacks were employed, one of the eldest of the women +used to say to the foreman of the place: 'You are my son, I your moder, +and I take care of you. My big boy tumble down, you white boy tumble up. +You my piccanniny.' After a time the man got married and brought his +wife to his home. The next day another woman of the tribe adopted and +laid claim to her as her child. The two women became very fond of each +other, and when, in the course of time, the black woman died, the white +one mourned exceedingly for her." + +"We will have an opportunity to see some of the aboriginals while we are +in the country, and then we will learn more about them," continued the +doctor; "but of one thing let me remind you, do not speak of them as +'natives.' In Australia, the term 'native' is applied to a white person +born in this country, while the real natives, as we ourselves would +speak of them, are termed 'blacks' or 'aborigines.'" + +The youths promised to bear the advice in mind, and then Harry asked how +the discontinuance of convict emigration was brought about. + +"It was brought about," the doctor replied, "through the hostility of +the Australians themselves. They protested repeatedly against receiving +convicts, and their protests were heeded to the extent that for awhile +the emigration ceased; but one day a ship appeared in the harbor of +Sydney with a fresh batch of convicts. Thereupon the local authorities +took vigorous action, and refused to allow the convicts to be landed. +The ship then went to Melbourne, with the same result. The people of +Melbourne would not have the undesirable emigrants, and the captain was +obliged to go around the southern coast to West Australia, where no +opposition was made to the human cargo being put on shore. Convict +emigration to New South Wales and Victoria ceased about 1840, and to +Tasmania in 1853, but it was continued to West Australia until 1858. +Since that time it has been entirely given up by the British government, +and the class of people that used to be sent here is now taken care of +in British prisons at home. + +"The old idea about transportation of criminals was, that it rendered +society at home better by removing the criminal class. In practise this +theory was found to be a mistaken one. Thievery and similar crimes were +found to be trades, and as fast as criminals were transported others +came up to take their places, so that, practically, no matter how many +criminals were sent away, their places were soon filled and the business +went on as before. France began the practise about the middle of this +century of transporting criminals to New Caledonia and other islands of +the Pacific; she still keeps it up, but, according to accounts, there is +no diminution of crime in France, nor is there likely to be. + +"It is proper to say in this connection that there was a considerable +party in Australia in favor of the transportation system, on account of +the money the government expended here in consequence. This was +particularly the case in Van Dieman's Land, which is now called +Tasmania. That island received a great number of convicts, and the +government expended a very large amount of money for their support and +for the construction of prison establishments. Many of the public works +of Tasmania were built by the convicts. For example, they built an +excellent road one hundred and twenty miles long, running across the +island from Hobart to Launceston. It is said to be the finest wagon and +carriage road in all the country, but is now comparatively little used, +having been superseded by a railway. + +"The ruins of a very extensive prison are still to be seen at Port +Arthur, about thirteen miles from Hobart; it stands on a peninsula +which is connected with the mainland by a very narrow neck. Across this +neck of land there were chained a lot of savage dogs, so near each other +that nobody could pass without being within reach of at least one of the +dogs. The water all around the peninsula abounded in sharks, so that if +a man attempted to swim across the bay he was liable to become the prey +of one, or perhaps a dozen, of these sea wolves. And yet a good many +men, first and last, managed to escape from Port Arthur and get into the +bush. + +"Generally the runaways were caught before being at large many days, and +when brought back many of them were condemned to death. At one time the +keeper who had charge of the prisons at Hobart complained to the +authorities of the inadequate facilities for putting men to death by +hanging. He said it was impossible to hang conveniently more than +thirteen men at once, and as the hangman had been very busy of late, he +thought that the facilities ought to be increased so that the work could +be performed with greater expedition." + +Dr. Whitney reminded his young friends that it was time for them to +start if they wished to employ the forenoon advantageously; accordingly, +a carriage was called and the party went out for a drive. They proceeded +in the direction of the lake, a pretty sheet of water in the northern +part of Adelaide--about two miles long and in some places half a mile +wide. The lake is an artificial one, and is formed by throwing a dam +across the river Torrens and restraining the waters which come down in +times of flood. For the greater part of the year the river is little +more than a dry bed of sand, and one of the inhabitants told Harry that +sprinkling-carts were driven through the bed of the river every morning +and evening to keep down the dust. The city is supplied with water from +this river; it is taken from a stream several miles above Adelaide, and +brought through heavy iron pipes. + +Harry wished to know the population of the city, and was told that it +was not far from sixty thousand. There is a considerable suburban +population, and the man from whom Harry obtained his information said he +thought there was fully another sixty thousand people living within a +radius of ten miles from City Hall. He said the whole population of the +colony of South Australia was not far from one hundred and thirty +thousand including about five thousand aboriginals. + +When the country was first settled it was thought that the aboriginals +numbered twelve or fourteen thousand, but contact with civilization had +reduced the figures very materially here, as in other parts of the +world. Where white men and aboriginals have come in contact, the latter +have suffered all over Australia; their relations have not changed in +New Zealand and Tasmania, and this is especially the case in the +last-named colony. Not a single aboriginal Tasmanian is now alive, the +last one having died in 1876. When the island was first occupied by the +English, the number of aboriginals was estimated at four or five +thousand. The story goes that when the British landed there the natives +made signs of peace, but the officer who was in charge of the landing +thought the signals were hostile instead of friendly. He ordered the +soldiers to fire upon the blacks, and thus began a war which lasted for +several years, and when it terminated only a few hundreds of the blacks +remained alive. In 1854, there were only fifteen of them left, and the +number gradually diminished, until the last one died as related. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +ACROSS AUSTRALIA--TALLEST TREES IN THE WORLD. + + +Our friends were invited to visit a large wheat farm twenty or thirty +miles north of Adelaide, and accepted the invitation with great +pleasure. Leaving the city early in the morning, the railway train took +them to a station a few miles from the farm, and there the owner met +them in his carriage. After a substantial breakfast at the owner's +residence, they were driven to the field, or, rather, to one of the +fields, where the work of harvesting was going on. + +It roused their national pride somewhat to find that American +reaping-machines were in use on the farm, and they also learned that the +plowing was done with American plows. The field stretched out to an +almost limitless extent, and it needed very little play of the +imagination for the youths to believe that they were on one of their own +western prairies instead of being at the antipodes. + +The farm seemed to be managed in a most systematic manner, and before +they departed the owner showed them a copy of the rules which the men +were required to sign when they were engaged. Before signing, the rules +were read to them line by line, and sentence by sentence, and each man +acknowledged that he had a full understanding of the documents to which +he affixed his signature. + +Perhaps it may interest our readers to know something about these +rules. Sixty men are employed on a farm throughout the whole year, and +in the busy season three times that number are engaged. Here is the +substance of the rules:-- + +"The bell rings at five o'clock in the morning, and this is the signal +for everybody to get up. Horses are groomed and fed before six o'clock, +and at that hour the men are served with breakfast. At seven o'clock the +teams are harnessed, and teams and men go to the field. At noon one hour +is allowed for rest and dinner, and then work goes on until five o'clock +in winter and six o'clock in summer. Then the teams return to the +stables, and the men get their suppers at seven o'clock. The horses are +fed and watered at eight o'clock, and by ten o'clock everybody must be +in bed." + +First-class hands on these farms receive twenty shillings ($5) per week, +and employees of other grades are paid in proportion. One clause in the +rules says that any man in charge of horses who abuses them or neglects +to care for them properly will be discharged at once, and forfeit all +wages that may be due him. Penalties are stated for every sort of +offense, all of them being in the shape of fines or loss of situation, +or both. Every laborer who begins in a low position is promised an +advance in pay and place as a reward of his industry and good conduct. + +"There are a good many farms of this sort in South Australia," said Ned +in his journal, "and we are sorry that time prevents our visiting all +those that we have been invited to see; but our regret is modified by +the recollection that one farm is very largely a repetition of another +farm, and so we accept the situation and say nothing more about it. +South Australia is a great wheat-growing country, and ships an immense +quantity of wheat to England. In good years it produces fully fifteen +millions of bushels for export, in addition to the quantity required for +home consumption. + +"Next in importance to the wheat crop in South Australia is the crop of +wool. There are nearly seven millions of sheep in the colony, and +between the wool and bread-stuffs, the income to the country is very +considerable. We now understand the uses of the immense sheds, and the +grain elevators that we saw when we landed at Port Adelaide. Large as +they are, the capacities of these places of storage must be taxed to +their utmost in busy times. + +"They have given considerable attention to the cultivation of the grape. +Grapes, apricots, peaches, and other fruits grow in great abundance, so +much so that in the fruit season they are retailed in the market of +Adelaide at a penny a pound, and all of them are delicious. Quite an +industry is being developed in canning fruits for exportation, and it +will probably increase gradually as the years go on." + +Our friends were invited to make a journey on the line of the Great +Northern Railway, which is ultimately intended to reach the northern +coast of Australia. The distance across Australia, from north to south, +is about seventeen hundred miles; about four hundred miles of the line +are completed, leaving thirteen hundred miles yet to be built. It will +cost a great deal of money to finish the railway, but the people are +ambitious, and will probably accomplish it in the course of time. + +They already have a telegraph line, running for the greater part of the +way through a very desolate region. For hundreds of miles there are no +white people, except the operators and repairers at the stations, and in +many places it is unlikely that there will ever be any inhabitants, as +the country is a treeless waste, and, at some of the stations, water has +to be brought from a considerable distance. Artesian wells have been +bored at many of the stations; at some of them successfully, while at +others it was impossible to find water. + +The railway official who invited our friends to make the journey, told +them that he was connected with the telegraph company at the time of its +construction, and he gave an interesting account of some of the +difficulties they encountered. + +"The desert character of the country," said the gentleman, "caused us a +great deal of inconvenience. We were obliged to haul or carry provisions +and material for long distances. Where it was practicable to use wagons +we used them, but where we could not do so we employed camels. Camels +were introduced into Australia forty or fifty years ago, and they have +been a great deal of use to us in parts of the country where water is +scarce. The conditions of Northern and Central Australia very much +resemble those of the regions of Northern Africa, where the camel had +its origin, or, at all events, where it abounds to-day in greatest +numbers. Had it not been for the 'Ship of the Desert,' it is possible +that we might not have been able to build the telegraph line across +Australia. The camel is so highly appreciated here that the government +has established several breeding stations for those ungainly creatures, +and their number is increasing every year. + +"You know already about the scarcity of water in the desert region. +Springs are few and far between, and rain is of rare occurrence. It was +frequently necessary to carry water thirty or forty miles, and on +account of the great heat it was impossible to carry it in skins or in +wooden cases, owing to the rapid evaporation. Cases or cans of +galvanized iron proved to be the best receptacles for water, so far as +evaporation was concerned, but they have the disadvantage of becoming +cracked and leaky in the rough treatment to which they are subjected. + +"Poles for the telegraph had to be hauled a long distance for a large +part of the way. Iron poles are generally used, owing to an insect that +destroys wood with great rapidity. I wonder if you have yet seen any of +the ravages of this little creature?" + +This last remark was made in the form of an interrogation, to which +Harry responded that he had not yet observed anything of the kind, nor +had his attention been called to it. Ned remarked that he had been told +of the destructiveness of this worm, but had not yet seen anything of +its work. + +"If you had seen it you would remember it," said the gentleman. "The +worm abounds more in the country districts than in the city, and it does +not seem to get so much into the city houses as it does into those of +the rural districts. Suppose you settle in South Australia, and build +yourself a house or buy one already built, and proceed to take your +comfort. Some day when you are sitting in your parlor you suddenly feel +a leg of your chair going through the floor, and down you go with a +crash. Somebody runs to your assistance, and the additional strain put +upon the floor causes the break to increase, and, together with the +person who has come to your aid, you go down in a heap through a yawning +chasm in the floor, no matter whether your room is carpeted or not. If +it is the former, the ravages of the worm have been quite concealed by +the carpet; while in the latter case the surface of the wood presents +the same appearance, while the whole interior of the plank or board has +been turned to dust. This sort of thing has happened in many an +Australian house, and will doubtless continue to happen." + +Harry asked if there was any way of preventing the ravages of this +destroyer. + +His informant replied that there were two or three kinds of wood which +these insects would not touch. Unfortunately, however, they were higher +priced than ordinary wood, and consequently the temptation was to use +the cheaper article. Houses could also be built of cement, brick, or +other substances which defied the wood worm, but these, again, were +expensive and could not be afforded by newly arrived emigrants, whose +capital was generally very limited. + +"Returning to the subject of the telegraph," the gentleman continued, +"we found a great deal of trouble with the insects destructive to wood, +and then, too, we had considerable difficulty with the blacks, though +less than we had anticipated. We managed to inspire them with a very +wholesome fear of the mysterious fluid that passed through the wires, +and though they have burned stations, and killed or wounded quite a +number of our people, they have never meddled with the wires." + +"How did you manage to inspire them with such fear?" queried Harry. + +"We did it in this way," was the reply. "Whenever a native visited us, +we managed to give him a shock of electricity, and if we could shock an +entire group at once it was so much the better. On several occasions we +got two or more of their chiefs at stations hundreds of miles apart, and +then let them talk with each other over the wires. Where they were well +acquainted, they were able to carry on conversations which none but +themselves could understand. Then we would have them meet half way +between the stations and compare notes, and the result was something +that greatly astonished them. Savage people generally attribute to the +devil anything they cannot understand, and they very quickly concluded +that 'His Satanic Majesty' was at the bottom of the whole business and +it would be well for them to let it carefully alone. + +"An amusing thing happened one day when we were putting up a portion of +the line. There was a crowd of native blacks watching us, and the +principal man among them walked for an hour or two along the line, +making a critical examination of the posts and wires and pacing the +distance between the posts. + +"When he had evidently made up his mind as to the situation he walked up +to the foreman of the working party and said, with an accent of +insolence:-- + +"'My think white fellow one big fool.' + +"When the foreman tried to find out his reason for expressing contempt +in that way, he pointed to the telegraph line and said:-- + +"'That piece of fence never stop cattle.' + +"Before the foreman could explain what the supposed thing was intended +for, he walked off with his nose very much in the air and never came +near the telegraph line again, as far as we know." + +After a short laugh over the incident, one of the youths asked how far +apart the stations were. + +"The distances vary considerably according to circumstances," said their +informant. "In some places they are within thirty or forty miles of each +other, and there are portions of the line where they are one hundred +miles apart. There are two operators and two repairers at each station. +These are all white men, and some of them have their families with them. +In addition to the white residents at the station, there are all the way +from two or three to eight or ten blacks. The blacks in our service are +generally faithful, and we put a great deal of dependence upon them. +Sometimes they are treacherous, but not often, as treachery is not a +part of their nature. + +"I was making a tour of inspection of the line shortly after it was +completed, and happened to be at one of the stations at a time when the +blacks were threatening trouble. One of the operators, Mr. Britton, was +accompanied by his wife. Her husband wanted her to go to a place of +greater safety, but she refused, and said she would stand by his side. +She was a good shot with the revolver, and promised that in case of +trouble she would put her abilities to a practical test. + +"The blacks came about the station to beg, and also to ascertain the +strength of the company, and one evening word came that they were going +to have a corroboree in a little patch of forest near the station. +Perhaps you don't know what a corroboree is." + +Both of the youths shook their heads and acknowledged their ignorance. + +"Well, it is a wild sort of dance, something like the dances among your +American Indians, with local variations to suit the climate and people. +The dancing is done by the men, who get themselves up in the most +fantastic manner imaginable with paint of various colors. They daub +their faces with pigments in streaks and patches, and trace their ribs +with white paint, so that they look more like walking skeletons than +like human beings. Generally at one of these dances they wear strips of +skin around their waists, and ornament their heads with feathers. + +"I said that the dancing was done by the men, though this is not +absolutely the rule, as there are certain dances in which the women take +part, though not a very conspicuous one. Generally the dances are by the +people of one tribe, though there are a few in which several tribes take +part. As a usual thing, however, this kind of a dance ends in a fight, +as the dancers work themselves up to a condition of frenzy, and if there +is any ill feeling among them it is sure to crop out. + +"The dances in the neighborhood of the telegraph station to which I +referred included men of several tribes, and we knew that mischief +would be likely to come of it. Two of our black fellows went as near to +the scene of the dance as they dared go, and from time to time brought +us particulars of the proceedings. + +"We got revolvers and rifles ready, Mrs. Britton taking possession of +one of the revolvers, and loading it very carefully. All along during +the evening we could hear the yelling of the natives at their dance, but +an hour or so before midnight the noise diminished, and one of our black +fellows came in to tell us that they were preparing to attack the +station. + +"The principal building of the station was a block house built for +defense against the blacks, and strong enough to resist any of their +weapons; but, of course, they would be able to overpower us by +surrounding the place and starving us out, though we had little fear of +that. The great danger was that they would come upon us in great +numbers, and as we were not sufficiently numerous to defend all parts of +the building at once, they could set it on fire and thus compel us to +come out and be slaughtered. + +"The warning brought by our black fellow proved to be correct. The men +who had been engaged in the dance had left the scene of their +jollification and moved in the direction of the station. We could hear +their voices as they approached, and it was much to our advantage that +the moon was of sufficient size to give a fairly good light. The station +was in such a position that no one could approach it without being seen. + +"In a little while we saw in the moonlight a mass of dark figures +crossing the open space to the south, and, judging by the ground they +covered, there were at least a hundred of them. They advanced quietly +about half way across the clearing and then broke into a run, while they +filled the air with yells. In a few moments they were all around the +building, and quite a number of them threw their spears at it--a very +foolish procedure, as the weapons could do no harm whatever to the thick +sides of the structure. It was our policy not to take life or even to +shed blood if we could possibly avoid it, as we were anxious to be on +friendly terms with the black people along our line. I had been thinking +the matter over in the evening, and suddenly hit upon a scheme that I +thought would save us from injuring anybody, and at the same time give +our assailants a thorough scare. + +"There happened to be in the station a package of rockets, which had +been brought along for signaling purposes during the work of +construction. Just as the crowd of blacks reached the station, I asked +Mr. Britton, the chief operator, to bring me one of the rockets. + +"He complied with my request, and I fixed the missile so that it would +go just above the heads of the crowd of yelling blacks. Then I touched a +match to the fuse, and away sailed the rocket through the night air. + +"Not one of those aboriginals had ever seen anything of the kind before. +They started not upon the order of their going, but went as though +pursued by wild tigers or guilty consciences. They could not have been +more astonished if the moon had dropped down and exploded among them. +They gave just one yell, and it was five times as loud as any yell they +had previously given. + +"In less than two minutes from the time the rocket was fired, there was +not a hostile black man around the station. Our own black fellows had +been trembling with fear, as they knew that, in case of capture, they +would share whatever fate was in store for us, the wild blacks being +greatly prejudiced against any one of their number who takes service +with the whites. The crowd fled in the direction of the scene of their +corroboree, but they did not stop there. We learned the next day that +they ran three or four miles before coming to a halt. + +"We saved the station and ourselves without shedding a drop of blood. +The story was told by the blacks far and wide that we 'shot a star at +them.' This gave us a hint on which we acted, and we took pains to +circulate the report that we had power to bring all the heavenly bodies +to our aid whenever we needed them. Several times we offered to chief of +the tribe to bring down the moon, or any of the stars that he might +designate, but for fear that he would take us at our word, we always +said that we would not be responsible for the consequences. In view of +these circumstances, he invariably asked us to leave the denizens of the +heavens alone. + +"All the attacks on our stations have not been as bloodless as the one I +have just described," the gentleman continued. "Three or four years +after the line was opened the blacks attacked a station about one +thousand miles north of Adelaide. One of the operators, Mr. Stapleton, +was mortally wounded, and so was one of the line repairers. Both the +other white men at the station were slightly wounded, and one of the +blacks in our service was killed. The attack lasted only a short time, +and the assailants were driven away by the well-directed fire of the +people at the station. + +"The mortally wounded operator, Mr. Stapleton, was placed on a couch, +while the other operator was telegraphing the news of the occurrence to +Adelaide. A doctor was called to the telegraph office in the city, and +on learning the nature of the wound he pronounced it mortal. Mr. +Stapleton's wife was a telegraph operator, and was then employed in the +station at Adelaide. A telegraph instrument was placed at the bedside of +the dying man, and connected with the instrument on his wife's desk. The +two exchanged loving messages for a few minutes, and then the husband +with his last efforts telegraphed an eternal good-by to his wife, +dropped the instrument from his hand, and fell back dead. I was in the +office at Adelaide at the time of this occurrence, and was one of those +in the room where Mrs. Stapleton sat. Nearly all of those present were +experienced operators, and could understand the clicking of the +instrument. Every eye was filled with tears, and every heart was full of +sympathy for the woman who had been so tragically widowed. As she +received the final message of farewell she fell from her chair in a dead +faint, from which she did not recover for hours." + +As the foregoing story was narrated to our young friends, their eyes, +too, were moist, and so were those of Dr. Whitney, who was sitting close +by them. Silence prevailed for several minutes, and then the +conversation turned to other subjects. + +The gentleman explained that the northern terminus of the telegraph +line was at Port Darwin, where connection was made with the telegraph +cable to Singapore, and thence to Europe. "I suppose, in time," said he, +"there will be other telegraph connections, but for the present this is +the only one that Australia has with the rest of the world. Undoubtedly +we shall one day have a cable to the United States, and that will +certainly greatly facilitate commerce. At present, telegrams coming from +your country to this must come by a very roundabout journey." + +Harry asked what course a telegram would be obliged to take in coming +from San Francisco to Adelaide. + +"Let me see," said the gentleman; "in the first place, it would be +telegraphed overland from San Francisco to New York, and then it would +go under the Atlantic Ocean through one of the transatlantic cables, and +then there would be two or three routes by which it could be sent. It +could go by submarine cable to the Straits of Gibraltar, thence under +the Mediterranean and Red Seas, and the Indian Ocean to Bombay, or it +could cross Europe by one of the land lines, and then go through Russia +and Persia to the north of India, reaching Bombay by the land route. +From Bombay it would be telegraphed across India to Madras, and thence +by submarine cable to Singapore, and from Singapore it would be sent by +cable to Port Darwin, and thence by the Australian overland line to +Adelaide. The message would be repeated six or seven times in the course +of its journey, and the fact that so few mistakes are made in the +numerous repetitions, many of them by people having an imperfect +knowledge of English, speaks volumes in praise of the telegraph system." + +Both of our young friends heartily indorsed this remark, and agreed with +their informant that the telegraph certainly performed excellent work. + +Our friends made the journey along the line of railway to which they had +been invited. They found it interesting though not altogether free from +monotony, as there was an excessive amount of sameness in the country +through which they traveled. They passed through a range of low +mountains which were not sufficiently broken to be picturesque. They +crossed several dry or slightly moistened beds of rivers, where +indications were clearly visible that in times of heavy rains these dry +beds or insignificant streams were turned to floods. Here and there the +line crossed immense sheep farms and also great wheatfields, but there +were wide stretches of land which seemed to have no occupants whatever. +Most of the country was open and free from trees. Then there were other +parts where the line passed for miles and miles through "scrub," and at +irregular intervals they came upon patches and stretches of Australian +forest. + +Harry noted that the forests through which they passed had very little +undergrowth, so that it was easy to ride in any direction among the +trees. Most of the trees that they saw were eucalypti, of which there +are many varieties. The eucalyptus is by far the most common tree of +Australia, and the best known variety is the one that is called "the +blue gum." It is said that fevers do not prevail where the eucalyptus +grows, and this theory seems to be developed into a well-established +fact. Decoctions and other extracts are made from the leaves, bark, +wood, and gum of the eucalyptus and are given to fever patients with +more or less success. The eucalyptus has been taken to foreign +countries, and where the climatic conditions are suitable it has +flourished and established itself. The French government introduced it +into Algeria and planted it at military stations, where the soldiers had +suffered much from malaria. At all those stations the malaria was long +ago driven away by the trees, and places that were once unhealthy are +now renowned for their salubrity. + +The youths observed that most of the eucalyptus trees were tall and +slender. The gentleman who accompanied them said that their trunks were +often found with a diameter of ten to twelve feet, and some had been +measured that were sixteen feet in diameter at a distance of ten feet +from the ground. The trees grow very rapidly, and their timber when +green is soft, so that they can be felled, split, and sawed very easily, +but when dry it becomes very hard. It is a very useful wood, as it is +adapted for many purposes. The bark contains a great deal of tannin, and +it has become to some extent an article of commerce. + +The leaves of the eucalyptus have a leathery appearance and generally +stand in a vertical position, so that one side receives as much light as +the other. A valuable aromatic oil is extracted from the leaves, and is +used for medicinal and other purposes. It is said to be very +objectionable to mosquitoes, and Harry was told that if he scattered a +few drops of eucalyptus oil on his pillow at night, he would not be +troubled with mosquitoes, even though there might be many of them in the +room. He promised to try the experiment at the first opportunity. + +Ned asked what variety of the eucalyptus was the tallest, and how tall +the highest tree of Australia was. + +"The giant gum, _Eucalyptus amygdalina_, is said to be the tallest tree +in the world," the gentleman replied. "I am not sure whether it is +really so or not, as you have some very tall trees in the United States, +and there are also some of great height in the valley of the Amazon +River. I have heard of giant gum trees five hundred feet high, but their +location has always been given very vaguely, and nobody knew by whom +they had been measured. There is one giant gum tree on Mount Baw-Baw, in +Gippsland, that has been officially measured by a surveyor and found to +be four hundred and seventy-one feet high. What its diameter is at the +base I am unable to say, but probably it is not less than fifteen or +sixteen feet. New forests and new groups of trees are being discovered +from time to time, and perhaps we will one day find a tree more than +five hundred feet high. + +"I will add," said their informant, "that the giant gum is also called +the 'silver stem,' because when it sheds its bark every year the new +surface of the tree, when the old one has come off, is as white as +silver. A group of these trees is a very pretty sight, as the trunks are +perfectly round, and very often the lowest limbs are fully two hundred +feet from the ground." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +AUSTRALIAN BLACKS--THROWING THE BOOMERANG. + + +"Those giant gums are not easy to climb," Ned remarked, as the gentleman +paused. + +"Not by any means," was the reply; "at least, not for a white man, but +the black fellow will climb one of them, or any other tree, with very +little trouble." + +"Why, how does he do it?" + +"He cuts notches in the trunk of the tree where he can place his feet, +and he goes on cutting notch after notch as he ascends, making a broad +spiral around the tree until he reaches the limbs. Sometimes he passes a +piece of rope, made out of twisted bark, around the body of the tree to +steady himself, but he is just as likely to take no rope along, and +trust entirely to keeping his balance with his feet in the notches." + +"Those black fellows are very accomplished in their way," remarked one +of the youths. + +"They are, indeed," was the reply; "and they do certain things that no +white man can ever do. For example, a black fellow employed on a cattle +estate will ride at full gallop and follow the track of a runaway cow or +steer without making a single mistake. A white man would be obliged to +go at a walk, or a very little better, and quite frequently would find +it necessary to dismount and examine the ground carefully. The black +fellows are fully equal to your American Indians in following a trail; +they can track men almost as well as bloodhounds can. In parts of +Australia we have a police force of blacks, and they perform splendid +service in hunting highwaymen and others who have committed crimes and +fled into the bush for concealment and safety." + +Harry asked if the blacks were honest in their dealings with white +people. + +"I regret to say that their reputation is not by any means the best in +the world," was the reply. "Like savages everywhere when brought into +contact with civilization, they seem to adopt its vices and reject its +virtues. They are generally faithful to those by whom they are employed, +and in this respect their characters are commendable. When it comes to +ordinary lying and stealing, they are very skillful. They resemble other +savages in their fondness for intoxicating drinks, and when they get a +little money their desire to go on a spree is very apt to be +uncontrollable. They will leave their work and go to the nearest place +where intoxicants can be bought, and they keep on buying and drinking +until their money is gone. Generally speaking, you cannot keep them in +your employ very long. As soon as one learns his business so that he is +really useful, he either quits or behaves in such a manner that he has +to be sent away." + +Just as this last remark was made, the train halted at a station, and as +our young friends looked through the window they saw a group of blacks. +They had seen a few black fellows on the wheat farm that they visited, +and some had come under their observation in the streets of Adelaide. +These, however, were dressed in civilized garments, and the group at the +station was the first they had seen in aboriginal dress. + +Harry noted the scantiness of their costume, which consisted chiefly of +a strip of cloth about the waist, and another strip thrown over the +shoulder or disposed of in some fantastic way. Their skins were black, +though not of the inky, coal-like color of the pure-blooded African +negro. Their hair was curly, but did not have a woolly crispness. The +features seemed to be more like those of the Malay than of the Negro +race, and Ned observed that the hair of the women hung down in wavy +plaits, which is not the case with the hair of the negro of the Congo or +the Nile. Every man in the party carried a spear, and Ned wondered why +they were not armed with bows and arrows. + +"That is for the very simple reason," said their informant, "that the +Australian aborigines have never used the bow and arrow; their only +weapons are the spear, club, knife, and boomerang. Their principal +weapon for fighting is the waddy or club, and each tribe has a peculiar +shape for its waddies. This weapon is made of hard wood, and is somewhat +suggestive of the night stick of a New York policeman, with the +difference that it has a knob on the end to enable it to be grasped with +greater security. There is a rule in fighting with the waddy, that you +must hit your antagonist on the head. It is not fair to strike him in +any other part of the body with these weapons, and the man who would do +so would not be regarded as a gentleman in aboriginal society. The +difference in the waddies is such that you can very often tell what +tribe a party belongs to by examining one of their clubs. + +"They are accustomed to spears from their childhood, and can throw them +very accurately for a distance of thirty or forty yards. I once saw a +considerable number of blacks together, and several white men of us got +up a competition in spear throwing. We chalked out the figure of a man +on the side of a building, and then paced off forty yards from it. We +offered a prize of one shilling to every black who would hit this figure +with the spear three times out of five at the distance indicated. We had +them take turns in succession, and when the competition was over we +found that we were obliged to give a shilling to every one of the +competitors, as all had hit it three times. Half of them did so four +times, and the other half the entire five times." + +Ned asked what the spears were made of. He learned, in reply, that +sometimes they were single shafts of wood tipped with stone, bone, or +iron. Others had heads of hard wood, while the shafts consisted of light +reeds which grow on the banks of the rivers and lakes. The spears are +usually from six to ten feet long, at least the fighting spears are. +Some of the tribes living along the rivers have spears fifteen or +eighteen feet long, intended for fishing purposes and not for war. + +Harry wanted to know what was the religious belief of the blacks, and +what were their ideas about the creation. + +"As to religion," the gentleman answered, "they don't seem to have much, +and the little they do have is of a very mixed character. Like all +savages, they believe in good and bad spirits, and they treat the bad +spirits with much more ceremony than they do the good ones; on the +ground, I presume, that it is necessary to propitiate the bad spirits to +save themselves from injury, while the good ones can be relied upon not +to do any harm. Some of the tribes believe in a Great Spirit or Supreme +Being, while others have no idea of the kind. They have a good many +superstitions, and, though not a people of much imagination, they have +quite a variety of mythical stories that originated a long time ago, and +have been handed down by tradition. It is a curious circumstance that +some of these myths repeat quite closely the story of the creation, the +fall, and the deluge, but where they came from nobody can tell." + +"Is there any book where we can find any of these traditions?" Harry +asked. + +"Oh, certainly; they have been collected and published, but I can give +you the principal ones from memory." + +"The story about the creation is, that one of the spirits that ruled the +world created two men out of the dust of the earth, and gave these two +men a very rich country to live in. Another spirit created two women and +gave one of them to each man. Then he gave spears to each of the men, +and told them to kill kangaroos with their weapons, and gave sticks to +the women, with which to dig roots out of the ground. Thus it came about +that men carry spears and clubs as weapons, while the women perform most +of the menial work. The men and women were commanded to live together, +and in this way the world in time became full of people. They grew so +numerous in the region where they were, that the great spirits caused +storms to arise and high winds to blow in order to scatter the people +over the globe. + +"The tradition about the first sin is, that the first man and woman were +ordered by the spirits not to go near a certain tree, as a bat lived +there which must not be disturbed. One of the women went too near the +tree, her curiosity having got the better of her, and the bat became +alarmed and flew away. After that death came into the world, having +before been unknown. + +"They have another tradition that at one time all the water in the earth +was contained in the body of an immense frog, where nobody could reach +it. The spirits held an investigation, and ascertained that if the frog +could be made to laugh the water would run out of his mouth when he +opened it, and the drought then prevailing would be broken. All the +animals of the world gathered together and danced and capered before the +frog in order to make him laugh, but all to no purpose. Then they called +up the fishes to see if they could accomplish anything, but the frog +preserved a solemn face until the eel began to wriggle. + +"The wriggling of the eel was too much for the frog and he laughed +outright. Immediately the waters flowed from his mouth and the earth was +covered with water. Many people were drowned, and all who could do so +sought the highest land. The pelican undertook to save the black people; +he made a great canoe and went around picking up the people, wherever he +could find them, and thus saved a great many. + +"They have a theory about the sun," the gentleman continued, "that is +certainly a very practical one. They say that as it gives out a great +deal of light during the daytime, it needs a supply of fuel, and it goes +at night to a place where it takes in fuel enough for its next day's +work. They say that it used to take in wood exclusively before white +people came to Australia, but since the arrival of the whites, and the +opening of coal mines, they think the sun takes in both coal and wood at +the place where it renews its supply. + +"They believe in dragons, great serpents, and other wonders, and if you +are inclined to laugh at them for their beliefs, you must remember that +all the rest of the world shared in them two or three hundred years ago. +The creature in which they have the greatest faith is the bun-yip, which +is supposed to haunt rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water, and +possesses remarkable powers. According to their description, he is like +a dragon; he devours black and white people indiscriminately, and can +cause all sorts of misfortune. Many natives, and also quite a number of +white men, claim to have seen him, and they certainly give some very +graphic accounts of his appearance and actions. Not long ago an account +appeared in one of the Australian newspapers, written by a white man and +certified to by another white man, who claim to have actually seen the +bun-yip in a small lake, and described him very minutely." + +"And was the story really true?" Harry asked. + +"Well, yes, I suppose it was. That is to say, I believe, as do many +others, that there is an amphibious animal living in some of the +Australian lakes and rivers of which no specimen has yet been taken. The +description of the bun-yip by those who claim to have seen him, and are +not carried away by their imaginations, is very much like that of a +Newfoundland dog or a seal. The seal exists in Australian waters, and I +think that is what the bun-yip will turn out to be if one ever allows +himself to be taken." + +At the station at the end of the line of railway there was an encampment +of blacks, about half a mile away, and our young friends were quite +curious to see it. + +Their curiosity was soon satisfied, as there was nothing particularly +attractive about the spot. The blacks were civilized enough to live in +tents, or, rather, they accepted the bounty of the government which +supplied them with tents, though it was evident that they did not intend +to give up their old way of living, inasmuch as they had two or three +bark shelters of the old-fashioned sort, in addition to the canvas house +supplied by the government. And we may remark here that the various +colonial governments provide for the support of all the aboriginals +living within their territory. Government officials take care of them, +supply them with food, clothing, and medical comforts, and assign +reservations of land to them, just as the Indian Department of the +United States assigns reservations to the red men. But with all the care +they receive, their number is steadily diminishing, and the day is not +far distant when the last of them will cease to exist. + +A man who could speak the language of the aboriginals accompanied our +young friends in their visit to the encampment. At Harry's request, he +arranged with the men to give an exhibition of their skill in throwing +the spear, and after that was over he asked them to throw the boomerang. +While they were getting ready for their performance the interpreter +explained that the boomerang was a great deal of a mystery. He said that +no white man, even after years of practise, had ever been able to throw +this weapon with any degree of accuracy, and that no Australian black +could explain how the weapon was handled. If you ask one of them to +explain about throwing the boomerang, he usually says, "You throw him, +that all"; and that seems to be all there is to it. + +Ned and Harry watched the performance with the greatest care, and they +afterwards said that they knew as much about it before they witnessed it +as they did afterwards, with the exception that they had seen with their +own eyes what could be done. + +"First, you must understand," said Ned afterwards, "that there are +several kinds of boomerangs, the difference being in size, weight, and +shape. The variations in shape are so slight that they are not readily +perceived by the stranger, though a black would have no difficulty in +determining them. The lightest of the boomerangs weigh from four to five +ounces, while the heaviest are double that weight. Harry happened to +have his spring letter-balance in his pocket, and we weighed one of the +boomerangs that we saw used. Its weight was about six ounces and our +interpreter said that he considered it rather a light one." + +"The heaviest boomerangs are used for fighting purposes and for killing +kangaroos, emus, and other large game. + +"The boomerang is a queerly shaped weapon. It is made of hard wood and +curved like a bow, the curve from point to point being about a quarter +of a circle. The piece of wood that forms the boomerang is about half an +inch thick, and in the middle it is two and one half inches wide, +narrowing steadily towards the end. I took it in my hand and made a +motion as if to throw it, whereupon the owner laughed, and indicated by +signs that I had seized it by the wrong end. + +"When he made ready to throw the weapon, the interpreter told us to +stand perfectly still, lest we might be injured. I asked how it could +happen, and he said that the performer always selected the spot to which +the boomerang returned, and by changing our positions, especially after +the weapon had been thrown, we might be struck by it when it came back. + +"Both before and after taking his position the performer carefully +observed the force and direction of the wind, as it has a great deal to +do with the flight of the boomerang. When he was quite ready he flung +the weapon almost straight into the air, where it circled about a few +times, and skimmed along near the ground until it was about three +hundred feet distant; then it turned, made a slight upward motion +through the air, and finally fell within an arm's length of where the +performer stood. The interpreter explained that this weapon was called +the return-boomerang. + +"The man repeated several times the performance with the weapon, +bringing it close to his feet on every occasion. Then a coin was placed +in the end of a split stick forty or fifty yards distant, at the +suggestion of the performer, who stipulated that he would knock the coin +out without disturbing the stick, on condition that he should have the +coin, a one-shilling piece, in case he succeeded. + +"He balanced the boomerang with great care and then threw it. It made +several gyrations in the air, and when it reached its destination it +knocked the coin from its place as neatly as one could have removed it +with his fingers. All who stood by applauded the performer, and he was +given the opportunity to win several more shillings in the same way. + +"I ought to mention that each time when he threw the boomerang he varied +his manner of throwing it. Sometimes he sent the weapon straight into +the air; next he skimmed it along the ground, and next he launched at an +angle of from forty to sixty degrees. Every time he threw it, it came +back to his feet, but when he threw it at the coins in the stick it did +not return. + +"The interpreter explained to us that the return-boomerang was more of a +toy than a weapon, as the regular boomerang cannot return when it has +hit something in its course. Wonderful stories have been told of the use +of this weapon in war,--how the black fellow will launch it two or three +hundred yards, and have it kill one or more of his enemies, and then +come back to his feet. A moment's thought will convince any one that the +two things together are impossible. In order to return to the place +whence it started, the boomerang must not encounter or even touch +anything in its way. When it is used for killing men, or wild animals, +it does not come back to the ground of its thrower. + +"From all accounts that I am able to obtain, the boomerang as a weapon +in the hands of a good thrower is very dangerous. It can be made to hit +a man concealed behind a tree, rock, or house, where a gun or a spear +could not possibly reach him. As a hunting weapon it is of great +utility, and many a kangaroo has fallen before it. The skillful thrower, +within reaching distance of a kangaroo or an emu, is as sure of his prey +as a white man would be with a Winchester rifle." + +Ned and Harry tried to learn from the performer when and by whom the +boomerang was invented, and all they could get from him was, "Long time +ago; who knows?" He threw a little light upon the subject by picking up +a leaf of the gum tree, holding it at arm's length, and then letting it +fall to the ground. It gyrated and changed its course as it descended. +Then he picked it up and threw it straight from him, when it gyrated +again and returned towards him. It is probable that the idea of the +boomerang may have been taken from the motions of a falling leaf, and +especially a leaf of the gum tree. As the weapon is known through all +the tribes of Australian blacks, it is not likely to have been a recent +invention. + +"I have read somewhere," said Harry, "that a weapon similar to the +boomerang was known to the ancient Egyptians, and that there is also +something of the same sort in use among a tribe of Indians in Arizona. +If it is true that the Egyptians of old times had this weapon, we may +well repeat the oft-quoted saying, 'There is nothing new under the sun,' +but it seems, at any rate, that the Australian boomerang is greatly +superior to the Arizona one, as it can be projected very much further +and with far more deadly effect." + +The performer with the boomerang was evidently very well satisfied with +his morning's work, and he was certainly very liberally paid for his +performances. He invited our friends to take dinner with him, at least, +so the interpreter said, though the youths were suspicious that the +invitation was all a joke. Anyhow, they did not accept it, as they +thought that the meal, with the surroundings which were visible, would +have no temptation either for the eye or the appetite. + +Harry heard the following story, which he duly entered in his +notebook:-- + +"Once a lawyer undertook the defense of a black fellow who had been +arrested for stealing a gold watch. The evidence was wholly +circumstantial, as the stolen property had not been found, and the +lawyer handled the case so well that the alleged thief was acquitted. A +few hours after the trial, the lawyer was seated on the verandah of the +principal hotel in the place, engaged in conversation with the +magistrate before whom the case was tried, when along came the black +fellow. + +"'Can I wear the watch now?' said the black, at the same time drawing it +forth from an inner pocket. + +"The magistrate burst into a loud and hearty laugh. The lawyer laughed, +too, but his laughter had a very hollow sound, and then he shouted an +emphatic 'No!' to the confiding aboriginal." + +Quite a little town had sprung up at the terminus of the railway, and +Dr. Whitney said it reminded him of the towns along the Pacific +railways of the United States during the course of their construction. +The comparison, he said, was favorable to the Australian town, as the +inhabitants seemed far more orderly than did those of the transitory +American settlements. During the time of their stay there was not a +single fight, and the coroner was not called upon to perform his usual +official duties. + +The terminus of the railway was in a valley which was dignified with the +name of a creek, but no creek was visible. Water was supplied by an +artesian well, driven to a depth of eight hundred feet. The water was +slightly brackish but quite drinkable, and when it was made into tea or +coffee the brackish flavor disappeared. + +Our friends returned to Adelaide by the way they had gone from it, and +after a day or two more in the capital of South Australia, they took the +train for Melbourne. Ned made note of the fact that had been mentioned +to him, that of all the money raised by taxation in South Australia, one +fifth of it is used for educational purposes. He further added that the +same was the case in all the colonies, and he thought it greatly to +their credit. Harry said he did not believe there was a State or city in +the whole American Union where such a large proportion of the public +money was spent for educational matters. + +The youths learned, in addition, that the schools throughout the +colonies are, generally speaking, of excellent quality and the +opportunities for higher education in academies, colleges, universities, +medical and scientific institutions, and similar seats of learning, are +of the best class. Ned made the following summary from the Education +Act of South Australia:-- + +"Schools will be established where there is a certain number of children +of school age, who will pay a moderate fee to the teachers; four pence +for children under seven, and six pence for older children, per child, +per week. In addition to the fees, the teachers will be paid by the +government from seventy-five pounds to two hundred pounds per annum. +Schoolhouses will be provided, and all the necessary educational +material. Four and one half hours constitute the school day. All +children of school age are required to be under instruction until a +certain standard is reached." + +Provision is made for the free instruction of children whose parents can +show that they are unable to pay for it, but fees can be enforced in all +cases where inability to pay them has not been proved. Large grants have +been made by the legislature for school buildings, teachers' salaries, +etc., in order to efficiently aid in the development of a thorough and +comprehensive system of education for the young. + +South Australia has a goodly number of schools for higher education, and +it also has a university which is well attended. The majority of those +who can afford it send their children to private schools rather than to +the government ones, believing, and no doubt correctly, that the +educational facilities are greater in the private institutions than in +the public ones. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +ADELAIDE TO MELBOURNE--THE RABBIT PEST--DANGEROUS EXOTICS. + + +The distance from Adelaide to Melbourne is about six hundred miles. Our +friends found that the journey was made very leisurely, the trains +averaging not more then eighteen or twenty miles an hour. For quite a +distance out of Adelaide the train ascends an incline as far as Mount +Lofty station, where the hill or mountain of that name is situated. On +the way up the last of the incline our friends watched with a great deal +of interest the plains stretching out below them, and the city which +they had just left lying at their feet like a section of carpet laid off +into ornamental squares. Beyond Mount Lofty station the route descended +into the valley of the Murray River, whose waters could be seen winding +like a thread through the yellow soil. + +"This is the longest river in Australia, is it not?" queried Ned. + +"Yes," replied the doctor, "it is the longest and largest river, and, as +you have already learned, it is the only one that remains a real river +throughout the year. Its mouth is not many miles from Adelaide, and a +considerable part of its course is through South Australia." + +"I wonder they didn't establish the capital city at the mouth of the +Murray," remarked Harry; "they would have had the advantage of a +navigable stream, which they have not in the present location." + +"Yes, that is quite true," Dr. Whitney replied; "and they would have +illustrated the saying of a philosopher, that great rivers nearly always +run past large cities, but there was a practical difficulty in the way, +of which you are not aware." + +"What is it?" + +"The Murray at its mouth has a bar that is very difficult and dangerous +to cross, and a large area at its entrance consists of shallow water. +The mouth of the river, furthermore, is swept by southerly winds, which +bring in great waves that have their origin in the neighborhood of the +South Pole. Consequently it was concluded that the location of the city +at the place with the largest entrance into the sea would not be +advantageous, and a location on Spencer's Gulf was considered +preferable." + +"Very good reasons," said Ned, "and I have no doubt that the founders of +Adelaide acted wisely. They certainly have a very prosperous city where +they are, although their seaport is several miles away." + +The train increased its speed as it descended the incline, and the +youths found plenty of occupation and amusement in studying the scenery +on each side of them, and noting the handsome residences of the +merchants and other well-to-do inhabitants of Adelaide. The river was +crossed by means of an iron bridge, a substantial structure which was +evidently built to last. After crossing the Murray, the railway +proceeded for awhile along its valley, and gradually left it to enter a +region of long-continued monotony. + +"For hours in succession," said Harry in his journal, "we had little +else but scrub. I imagine that when the surveyors laid out the railway +line, they took their bearings by observation of the moon and stars, and +laid it directly across from one side of the scrub country to the other. +Scrub land is land covered with bushes. There are not many varieties of +bushes, and this fact helps along the monotony. There is one bush that +looks like an umbrella turned bottom upwards, and another that resembles +an umbrella standing upright, as one holds it to keep off the rain. Then +there are bushes and trees, some of them shaped like bottles, others +like sugar loaves, and some like nothing else that I can think of at +this moment. They vary from three or four feet in height up to fifteen +and twenty feet, and sometimes we found them of a height of thirty feet +or more. + +"Mile after mile it is the same. I have heard what a terrible thing it +is to be lost in the scrub. I can well understand that it is terrible, +and can also understand how easily such a calamity could be brought +about. One mile of scrub is exactly like another mile, or so very nearly +like it that it is next to impossible to tell the difference. I have +heard that people who stepped only a few yards from the side of the road +have wandered for days before finding their way again, or have been +sought for by many people before they were found. Many a man has lost +his way in the scrub and never been heard of again, or perhaps years +after his bones were discovered bleaching at the foot of a tree, where +he had sat or lain down for his last rest when he could go no further." + +A portion of the road from Adelaide to Sydney is called "the +ninety-mile desert," in distinction from the rest of the scrub region. +It was a great relief to any one to get out of this desert country, and +reach the region of farms, and fences, cattle or sheep pastures, and +cultivated fields. In some of the districts through which our travelers +passed they saw great numbers of rabbits, and on calling attention to +them, a gentleman who was in the railway carriage told them something +about the rabbit pest from which the Australian colonies are suffering. + +"If you want to make a fortune," said the gentleman, "find some way for +destroying the rabbits in Australia. There is a standing reward of +twenty-five thousand pounds (one hundred and twenty-five thousand +dollars of your money) for any method that proves successful. The reward +is offered by the colony of New South Wales, and the other colonies will +pay as much more." + +"Were there rabbits in this country when it was first discovered?" Harry +asked. + +"There were no rabbits here," was the reply; "nor any animals like them. +In 1851, a gentleman living near Dunedin, New Zealand, was on a visit to +the old country, and it occurred to him that it would be a nice thing to +have rabbits in New Zealand, so that they could amuse themselves by +chasing the little creatures with dogs. On his return from England he +brought seven rabbits, and they were the progenitors of all the rabbits +in New Zealand, Australia, and Tasmania. For a few years, as fast as +rabbits were obtainable they were distributed throughout the colonies, +but it was not long before the distributors found out their mistake. + +"The rabbits increased and multiplied at a terrific rate. How many +there are now in the colonies, nobody can tell, as it is impossible to +take a census of them, but they certainly amount to many millions. They +have destroyed millions of acres of sheep pasturage, so that many farms +which once supported great numbers of sheep have been deserted in +consequence of the rabbits. Let me give you an illustration that I know +about, as I was one of the sufferers by these vermin. Fifteen years ago, +I owned an interest in a sheep run on the bank of the Murray River in +the colony of Victoria. Our holding extended back into the dry and +comparatively worthless country. + +"The rabbits got in there, and gradually the sheep were starved out. +Year by year the number diminished, and five years ago I sold my +interest in the run for a very small sum. From two hundred thousand +sheep, the number had diminished to twenty-five hundred, and these were +dying in the paddock for want of food. The rabbits were the cause of the +whole destruction. They had eaten up all the grass and edible bushes, +and it was some consolation to know that they were themselves being +starved out, and were dying by the hundreds daily. When the rabbits +there are all dead the place can be fenced in, so that no new ones can +get there, and it is possible that the grass will grow again, and the +run once more become a place of value. + +"The story I have just told you," the gentleman continued, "is the story +of a great many sheep and cattle runs all over Australia and New +Zealand. All sorts of means have been resorted to to get rid of the +pest, and while some have been partially successful, none have been +wholly so. The best plan is the old one, to lock the stable before the +horse is stolen; that is, enclose the place with rabbit-proof fences +before any rabbits have been introduced. The Australian rabbit is a +burrowing animal, and unless the fence is set well into the ground, he +is very apt to dig under it. Thus it has happened that many an estate +has become infested, even though the owners had gone to the expense of +enclosing it. + +"Most of the cities of Australia and New Zealand have a rabbit-skin +exchange, just as you have a cotton exchange in New York. At these +exchanges ten or fifteen millions of rabbit skins are sold every year, +or an aggregate perhaps of fifty or sixty millions, and yet the number +does not decrease perceptibly. Factories have been established for +preserving the meat of the rabbits in tin cans, and sending it to market +as an article of food. It was thought that this would certainly reduce +the number of rabbits, but it has not yet succeeded in doing so. + +"Various kinds of apparatus have been devised for filling the dens of +the rabbits with noxious gases that kill them, but the process is too +expensive for general introduction; and, besides, it does not work well +in rocky ground. Rewards are given both by the government and by the +owners of land for the destruction of rabbits, and these rewards have +stimulated men, who go about the country with packs of dogs to hunt down +the rabbits for the sake of the bounty. Sometimes the whole population +turns out in a grand rabbit hunt and thousands of rabbits are killed. +Pasteur, the celebrated French chemist, proposed to destroy the rabbit +population by introducing chicken cholera among them; he thought that +by inoculating a few with the disease he could spread it among the +others, so that they would all be killed off. He admitted that the +chicken population would be killed at the same time, but none of us +would object to that if we could get rid of the rabbits, as we could +easily reintroduce domestic fowls." + +Ned said that he wondered why the rabbits increased so rapidly in the +Australian colonies and not in the United States or England. + +"Here is the reason of it," said the gentleman. "In America there are +plenty of wild animals, like wolves, weasels, foxes, ferrets, and the +like, to keep down the rabbit population, but here there is not a single +animal to interfere with them. They have no natural enemies whatever, +and consequently have things entirely their own way. They breed several +times a year and begin to breed very young, so that a pair of rabbits +let loose in a given locality will in a few years amount to thousands or +even to millions. There, look at that piece of ground and see what you +think of it." + +The boys looked where the gentleman indicated, and saw what seemed to be +a field of tall grass or grain waving in the wind. A nearer inspection +showed that the ground was covered with rabbits, and it was the +movements of the animals that caused the illusion just described. + +"Rabbits are not the only pests from which the colonies have suffered," +the gentleman continued; "I will tell you about more of them. + +"You must bear in mind," said their informant, "that when Australia was +settled it contained very few of the products, either animal or +vegetable, of other parts of the world. Among the animals there were no +noxious ones except the dingo, or wild dog, which was found in various +parts of the country. His origin has been a matter of conjecture, some +believing that he is descended from dogs which were left here by those +who discovered the continent, while others think he is indigenous to the +soil. All the other animals, and they were not numerous, were harmless +in their character. There are eight kinds of kangaroos, all of them +herbivorous. They are, as you are doubtless aware, marsupials, that is, +they carry their young in a pouch until they are able to run about by +themselves. The dingo lived by feeding on the kangaroos, and thus kept +down the number of those animals. + +"Horned cattle, horses, and sheep were introduced and successfully +raised. The wild dogs killed sheep and calves, and therefore the +inhabitants set about killing them. As the dogs decreased in number the +kangaroos increased, and they threatened to drive the sheep to +starvation by eating up all the grass. Many a sheep run was rendered +worthless by the kangaroos, and so it became necessary to establish +methods of reducing the number of the latter. Battues or hunts were +organized, the people gathering from all directions at an appointed time +and place, and driving the kangaroos into pens or yards, where they were +slaughtered by the thousand. You will probably have an opportunity of +seeing a kangaroo hunt before you leave Australia. + +"There were very few native fruits, and we introduced the fruits of +England and other parts of the world very successfully. We introduced +garden plants and vegetables in great numbers, and nearly all of them +turned out to our satisfaction, though this was not uniformly the case. + +"You know that innocent and very acceptable plant called the watercress, +which is sold in great quantities for table use in London, New York, and +other English and American cities. Well, we brought the watercress to +the Australian colonies, and it grew and thrived wonderfully. It grew +altogether too well and thrived a great deal more than we could have +wished, as it has choked our rivers, and caused freshets and floods +which have devastated farms and fields to a large extent, and on several +occasions have been destructive to human life. + +"We introduced the sweet briar, thinking it would form an ornament and +fill the air with its perfume. Instead of being ornamental, it has +become an impenetrable bush, which neither man nor cattle can go +through. It has become a nuisance, spreading over the ground and +destroying pasturage, and we heartily wish that not a twig of it was +ever brought here. + +"When we began to grow fruits we found ourselves annoyed by insects of +various kinds, the same sort of insects that are known to fruit growers +everywhere. In order to get rid of them, we brought the English sparrow +here. He is of great use to the fruit grower in the old country, as he +lives principally on insects, or at any rate has the reputation of doing +so, and he does not often attack the fruit. + +"Well, we got the sparrow here, and he increased and multiplied until +he became very numerous, and what do you suppose the little wretch did? + +"He did not do anything that we wanted him to do. He abandoned his +English practise of eating insects, and lived wholly upon grain and +fruit. In the fruit season he is a perfect terror in the devastation he +makes among our fruit trees. A flock of sparrows will make its +appearance in a cherry garden where there are twenty, fifty, or perhaps +a hundred cherry trees bending beneath a burden of fruit just about ripe +enough to be picked. They save the owner the trouble and expense of +picking his fruit, as they take entire charge of it, and in a few days +the whole crop is ruined. Other fruit suffers in the same way, and the +testimony is the same from all parts of Australia. One of the colonial +governments had an investigation of the subject at one time, and the +testimony was something appalling. The sparrows abound here in countless +millions, all of them descended from fifty birds that were imported +about the year 1860. The owners of vineyards, as well as the fruit +farmers, complain of the ravages of the sparrows, and at the official +investigation that I mentioned one vine grower testified that his crop +of grapes the previous year would have been two tons, but the sparrows +destroyed the entire lot. + +"Another bird almost as destructive as the sparrow is the _mina_ or +_mino_, a bird which was brought here from India. It is quite a handsome +bird, and can learn to talk almost as readily as the parrot, and that is +why it was brought here. It lives on fruits and vegetables, and has very +nearly the same habits as the sparrow. The colonial government have +placed a bounty upon the heads and eggs of the sparrow, and also on +those of the mina. A great many boys and men, too, make a fairly good +revenue in killing the birds or plundering their nests. The birds are +trapped, shot, or poisoned, but their number does not seem to diminish. + +"Somebody brought a daisy to Australia, as it is a very popular flower +in England, and was expected to remind the English settler of his old +home. It has spread very rapidly, and on thousands upon thousands of +acres it has rooted out the native grasses and taken full possession of +the soil. Another plant has a history which would be ludicrous if it +were not so serious, and that is the thistle." + +"You mean the regular thistle, such as is known in England and the +United States?" + +"I refer particularly to the Scotch thistle," said the gentleman, "which +is not particularly unlike the other thistles with which we are +familiar. You know that the thistle is the emblem of Scotland, and may +be said to be worshipped by all patriotic Scotchmen. Well, it happened +that a Scotch resident of Melbourne, while visiting the old country, +took it into his head to carry a thistle with him on his return to +Australia. So he placed the plant in a pot and watered it carefully +every day during the voyage from London to Melbourne. When he arrived +his performance was noticed in the newspapers, and a subscription dinner +was arranged in honor of the newly arrived plant. About two hundred +Scotchmen sat down to the dinner, at which the thistle was the +centerpiece and the great object of attraction. Speeches were made, and +the festivities continued to a late hour of the night. The next day the +thistle was planted with a great deal of ceremony, and more speeches in +the public garden at Melbourne, and it was carefully watched and tended +by the gardener, who happened to be a Scotchman. + +"Well, the thistle blossomed and everybody rejoiced. You know how the +seeds of that plant are provided with down, that enables them to float +on the wind. The seeds of that thistle were borne on the breezes, and +all over the colony of Victoria they found a lodging in the soil, grew +and prospered, and sent out more seeds. That thistle has been the cause +of ruin to many a sheep and cattle run all over Australia. Thousands, +yes, millions, of acres of grass have been destroyed by that pernicious +weed. Anathemas without number and of the greatest severity have been +showered upon the thick-headed Scotchman who brought the plant to +Australia, and the other thick-headed Scotchmen who placed it in the +public garden. + +"While I am on this subject," the gentleman continued, "I may as well +tell you of a very curious circumstance in New Zealand." + +"What is that?" + +"When the sheep farmers first established their business in the mountain +regions of New Zealand, they observed flocks of parrots occupying the +forest, and living entirely upon fruits and vegetables. They were very +pretty birds and nobody thought that any harm would come from them, in +view of their habits of life. The farmers used to kill some of their +sheep for food purposes, and leave the meat hanging out over night in +the cool air. It was observed that the parrots got in the habit of +coming down to the meat frames and picking off the layers of fat, +particularly those around the kidneys. Their fondness for this kind of +food seemed to increase as time went on, and they finally became such a +nuisance as to compel the herders to give up their practise of leaving +the meat out of doors in the night-time. + +"After a while the farmers occasionally found the fattest and best of +their sheep dead or dying of wounds across the smaller part of the back +directly in the region of the kidneys. Nobody could tell how the wounds +were made, but it was evident that the mischief-makers were numerous, as +a good many sheep, always the finest of the flock, were killed. Finally, +one of the men employed about a sheep run ventured to suggest that it +must be done by the parrots. His suggestion was ridiculed so earnestly +that the man was sorry he had made it, but he gave as his reason for it +the fact that he had seen a parrot perched on the back of a sheep and +the bird flew away when he approached. + +"Watchers were set over the sheep, and the suggestion of the man proved +to be the correct one. How the birds ever connected the existence of the +fat which they tore from the carcases on the meat frames with the +location of the same fat in the living animal, no one can tell, but +certain it is that they did so. It was found that a parrot bent on +securing a meal, would fasten his claws in the wool of the sheep, and +then with his powerful beak he would tear away the skin and flesh until +he reached the fat of which he was in search around the kidneys of the +struggling animal. It was impossible for the sheep to shake him off; +whether it ran or lay down and writhed in its agony, the bird retained +its hold until its object was accomplished." + +"Of course this led to a war of extermination against the parrots, did +it not?" + +"Certainly it did. As soon as the fact was well established the colonial +government offered a reward of one shilling for each parrot's head, and +the business of hunting these birds began at once. Formerly they used to +come freely into the presence of man, but now they shun him, and it is +very difficult to find them. They live in the forest, concealing +themselves in the daytime, and only coming out at night. In fact, their +depredations were committed in the night-time, and that is the reason +why their offences continued so long without being discovered." + +"Did they cause great destruction among the flocks of sheep?" + +"Yes, until they were found out and the war began against them they were +terribly destructive. One man lost two hundred sheep out of three +hundred, another lost nineteen out of twenty, and several others in the +same proportion. Even now, although the number of parrots is diminished +enormously, the flocks in the region where they abound lose at least two +per cent. every year from that cause." + +"Is there any way of exterminating them by poison?" + +"No way has been discovered as yet, as the birds are very cunning and +cannot be readily induced to take poisoned food. They are more wary in +this respect than rabbits and sparrows, as both of these creatures can +be poisoned, though the danger is that in attempting to poison them the +food is apt to be taken by domestic animals or fowls." + +"Speaking of poisoning reminds me of an instance in Queensland some +years ago, where there was a large number of blacks inhabiting the +forest near a sheep station. + +"The owner of the station had been greatly annoyed by the blacks, who +had killed many of his sheep, and in several instances had threatened +the shepherds with death, and driven them from their places. He +determined to get even with them, and this is the way he did it. He +loaded a cart with provisions such as flour, sugar, bacon, tea, and +other things, which were distributed to the shepherds once a week. Then +the cart started apparently on its round. Near the place where the +blacks were congregated one of the wheels of the cart came off, and at +the same time the vehicle became stuck in a gully. The driver took his +horses from the shafts and rode back to the station for help, leaving +the cart and its load unguarded. + +"Here was a fine opportunity for the blacks to exercise their thieving +propensities, and they did not miss it. In less than an hour the cart +was stripped of everything edible, flour, sugar, and everything else +being carried away. When the driver returned, he found only the empty +vehicle with which to continue his journey. + +"That afternoon the blacks had a grand feast over the stolen property. +All the members of the tribe came together and took part in the feast, +about two hundred in all. It so happened that everything edible had been +dosed with strychnine before the cart was loaded, and in a few hours +all who had partaken of the feast were dead. Much as the white people +around there had been annoyed by the blacks, there were few, if any, to +approve of this wholesale poisoning which the sheep owner had undertaken +entirely on his own responsibility." + +"I suppose it is due in some measure, at least, to performances of this +sort that the blacks are diminishing in number," Dr. Whitney remarked. + +"No doubt that has a good deal to do with the matter," was the reply. "I +don't know of any other instances than this of wholesale poisoning, but +I do know that in a good many instances, black men have been shot down +by whites for the reason that they had speared cattle or committed other +depredations. The blacks have been treated very much the same way as +your American Indians, and generally with as little provocation; but, +beyond all this, it is well known that the number of births among them +every year is considerably less than the number of deaths from natural +causes. Some people believe that the blacks are addicted to infanticide, +and that many of their children are put to death to save the expense of +bringing them up. Understand me, nobody knows positively that this is +the case, but only surmises it." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +CANNIBAL BLACKS--MELBOURNE AND ITS PECULIARITIES. + + +"I have heard," said one of the youths, "that Australian blacks are +cannibals. I wonder if that is really so?" + +"Perhaps all the tribes in the country are not cannibals, but it is +pretty certain that some of them are. They know that the white man is +prejudiced against eating human flesh, and consequently they conceal +very carefully their performances in this line. In former times they +were not so particular, and there was the most positive proof that they +devoured their enemies killed in battle, and also killed and devoured +some of their own people. They were not such epicures in cannibalism as +the inhabitants of the Feejee Islands formerly were, and did not make as +much ceremony as the Feejeeans over their feasts of human flesh. Some of +the tribes that indulged in the practise have given it up, but the +belief is that those in the interior still adhere to it." + +"What do they live upon when they do not eat human flesh?" queried Ned. + +"As to that," was the reply, "they live upon pretty nearly everything +they can lay their hands on. They hunt the kangaroo and are fond of its +flesh, and they are also fond of the flesh of cattle and sheep. In fact, +they commit a good many depredations upon the flocks and herds. They +eat snakes, lizards, toads, and, in fact, anything that lives and moves, +and they are not at all particular about the condition of the meat when +they eat it. It is all the same to them whether it is fresh or putrid. A +man would need have a very strong stomach to accept an invitation to +take dinner with a family of uncivilized blacks, or even with one that +had become civilized." + +While this conversation was going on the train was speeding on its way, +and Harry observed that the houses were becoming more numerous, and the +country more densely occupied, as they came nearer to Melbourne. +Occasionally they caught sight of a house which looked like a +gentleman's residence rather than like an ordinary farmhouse, and he +called attention to the circumstance. + +"We are approaching Melbourne," said their traveling companion, "and +from this point on you will find a good many country seats of gentlemen +who do business in the city. It is cooler here in summer than in +Melbourne, and a great many people have established their summer homes +in this region. It is so much the fashion, that it has become obligatory +for the well-to-do citizen to have a town residence and a country one, +and his establishment is considered incomplete unless he possesses both. +A good many people occupy their country homes for the greater part of +the year, going back and forth by railway according to the requirements +of their business. It is the same in New York, London, and other great +cities all over the world. Melbourne considers itself just as important +as any other city, and I believe it claims to be the tenth city of the +world in point of population." + +Ned asked what the population of the city was. + +To this the gentleman replied that he did not have the exact figures at +hand, but he believed the last census gave the number of inhabitants as +very nearly half a million. "Including the suburbs," said he, "I think +it is fully that, and if it had not been for the dullness of business +for the last two or three years, caused very largely by the labor +strikes and other disturbances of trade, I think we would now exceed the +half million figure." + +While he was saying this, Ned called attention to a large house on a +little eminence about half a mile away, which resembled a palace more +than it did a private dwelling. As Ned pointed towards it and told Harry +to look in that direction, the gentleman said:-- + +"That house was built ten or twelve years ago by a millionaire merchant +of Melbourne. He spent a great deal of money upon it, being determined +to have the finest house in the country. About the time of its +completion he met with heavy losses in business, and was unable to carry +out his plans concerning the grounds around the building. It was his +original intention to have a park, in which he would enclose specimens +of all the animals of Australia, and an artificial lake, with specimens +of all the fishes of the country. He has never carried out this part of +the scheme, but declares that he will do so whenever his wealth returns +to him." + +"A very good scheme, indeed," said one of the youths, "and I hope the +gentleman will be able to carry it out." + +"Yes; and I hope so, too," was the reply. "The place would be made +interesting if he should do so, but, after all, you can see the same +thing in the parks of the principal cities of Australia. Each has, I +believe, collections of the animals of the country, together with many +animals of other countries, and any one is at full liberty to go and see +them." + +Houses became more numerous, and towns and villages made their +appearance as the train went along. Harry observed that in some of the +towns which they passed through there were imposing buildings, which +seemed rather out of proportion to the number of dwelling-houses. + +Their impromptu guide explained that this was the outgrowth of +Australian politics. "Every town in Australia," said he, "is desirous of +having some of the public money spent within its limits. It wants a +courthouse, jail, or some other public edifice, and in order to secure +his election to the legislature, a candidate is compelled to promise +that he will obtain the desired appropriation. These appropriations are +secured by what you call in America 'logrolling.' That is, Smith of one +town makes an arrangement with Brown, Jones, Robinson, and I don't know +how many others of as many other towns that he will vote for their +appropriations, provided they will vote for his. In this way a town of +five hundred inhabitants gets a courthouse and jail large enough for a +population of five thousand, or perhaps twice that number. A great deal +of government money has been wasted in this way, but there is no help +for it as long as human nature remains as it is." + +This led to a little talk on Australian politics, in which the youths +learned that the people were divided into parties very much as in +England and the United States, and their quarrels were just as fierce. +The party in power is always bitterly denounced by the party out of +power, and the outs can always demonstrate how much better they could +manage public affairs than the ins are doing it. The great questions +usually before the people are the tariff and public improvements, and +the fiercest fights are usually those concerning the tariff. + +Protectionists and free traders are just as skillful and just as earnest +as the same parties in the United States, and each can demonstrate +mathematically how much better its own system is than that of the other +side. The colonies are themselves divided on the subject of tariff, all +of them favoring protection with the exception of New South Wales, where +the free traders are in the majority. + +There has been a great deal of talk about a federation of the colonies, +but the stumbling-block in the way of it is the difference in the +colonial tariff. Federation would have been brought about years ago had +it not been for New South Wales and its free trade policy. + +Ned and Harry started to take some notes on the subject of the tariff, +but the doctor reminded them that they had better leave the subject +alone, as it was a dangerous one to touch. Consequently they have not +given us the benefit of their notes upon it, and we are unable to say +what conclusion they reached. + +At its appointed time the train reached Melbourne, and our friends found +themselves in the spacious station of the railway company. + +As soon as they could get their baggage, our friends proceeded to a +hotel which had been recommended to them, and which they found quite +satisfactory. After securing rooms they went out for a stroll, having +been advised to take a promenade along Collins Street. Harry said he was +sure that the street had been named after somebody who was prominent in +the early history of the colony, at least, he felt that such was the +case if Melbourne had followed the example of Adelaide. + +"Melbourne was founded before Adelaide was," said Dr. Whitney, "as the +first settlement was made here in 1835, a year before the first +settlement was made in Adelaide; but, all the same, your theory is +correct. Collins Street was named after Colonel Collins, who established +a convict settlement in this vicinity as far back as 1803, but for some +reason he gave it up a year or two later, and transferred his convicts +and their guards to Tasmania." + +"The next street parallel to this," said Ned, "is Bourke Street. I +wonder who Bourke was?" + +"Bourke was the governor of the colony in 1836," the doctor replied, +"and that is why he was honored with a street." + +"We know about Captain Flinders," said Harry, "after whom Flinders +Street was named. He was a daring explorer who accompanied Captain Bass +when the latter discovered Bass's Strait, that separates Australia from +Tasmania. There is also a range of mountains named after him." + +"Captain Lonsdale, who was in command of some of the troops at the time +that the city was laid out," said the doctor, "was honored with a +street, and Swanston Street commemorates one of the early settlers. Then +there are King Street, Queen Street, William Street, Elizabeth Street, +which explain themselves, as they indicate the feelings of the early +settlers towards the royal family." + +"This street is certainly as attractive to the eye as Broadway or Fifth +Avenue in New York," Ned remarked, as they strolled slowly along Collins +Street. "See these magnificent buildings. You have only to shut your +eyes and imagine yourself on Broadway, and when you open them again the +illusion does not require a great stretch of the imagination. And all +this has grown up since 1835. Just think of it!" + +"Yes," replied the doctor; "it was about the middle of 1835 that one +John Batman came here with a small sailing vessel, and made a bargain +with the chief of the tribe of blacks then occupying this neighborhood, +by which he purchased about twelve hundred square miles of ground for a +quantity of goods worth, perhaps, one hundred dollars." + +"That beats the purchase of Manhattan Island for twenty-four dollars," +remarked Harry as the doctor paused. + +"Yes, it does," was the reply; "the government afterwards repudiated +Batman's trade, and took possession of the ground he had purchased." + +"A pretty mean piece of business, wasn't it?" queried Harry. + +"As to that," said the doctor, "there are arguments on both sides of the +question. Batman felt that he had been unfairly dealt with, although the +government paid him about thirty-five thousand dollars for his claim. At +the time they paid the money to him the land was worth very much more +than that amount." + +"Did he stay here and go to building a city at once?" queried one of +the youths. + +"No; he went back to Tasmania, whence he had come, in order to get a +fresh supply of provisions, and while he was gone John Fawkner came here +with a schooner called the _Enterprise_, and made a settlement. His +party consisted, if we may include the quadrupeds, of five men, two +pigs, one cat, two horses, and three dogs. When Batman came back he was +very angry, and as long as both the men lived there was a bitter quarrel +between them which threatened several times to result in a shooting +affray. Batman died in 1839; his heirs and partners took up the quarrel, +and traces of it are said to exist to the present day. The people of +Melbourne have erected a monument to Batman's memory, but Fawkner is +generally regarded as the founder of Melbourne, as he made the first +permanent settlement, and the colony may properly be considered to have +begun on the date of his arrival." + +When the conversation had reached this point, the party found themselves +at the corner of Elizabeth Street, which intersects Collins Street at +right angles. + +"You observe," said the doctor, "that this street, Elizabeth, is the +dividing line of the city. That is to say, from it the streets are +called east and west just as they are so called in New York. At Fifth +Avenue, East Forty-second Street and West Forty-second Street begin. In +the same way we have here Collins Street, East, and Collins Street, +West; Bourke Street, East, and Bourke Street, West; and so on through +the whole list. They put the word designating the point of compass after +the name of the street, while in New York we do just the opposite." + +"Oh, yes, I see," Harry remarked, with a twinkle in his eye. "Melbourne +is on the other side of the world from New York, and so they name the +streets in the reverse manner. So, then, there is another proof that +Australia is a land of contradictions." + +Ned laughed, and made no reply other than to ask if the great number of +deaths that occurred here during the gold excitement had any allusion to +the name of the city. Harry looked at him with a puzzled expression, and +asked what he meant. + +"Why, I was thinking," said Ned, "that possibly Melbourne might have +been 'the bourne whence no traveler returns,' mentioned by Shakespeare." + +"Oh, that is old," said the doctor; "and while you are on this subject, +I will inform you that the city obtained its name from Lord Melbourne, +who was Prime Minister of Great Britain at the time that the place was +laid out." + +"The surveyor who laid out the city," remarked Harry, "had a 'level' +head, as well as a leveling one. See what wide streets he gave it." + +"Yes, that is so," replied Ned. "They must be one hundred feet wide, at +least that is what I would guess." + +"You guessed very closely," said the doctor, "as they are ninety-nine +feet (one chain and a half) wide, and the tradition is that Melbourne +was laid out by an American surveyor. The city, as originally planned, +was one mile square, but it has received numerous additions, so that it +now covers a great deal more than a square mile. It really occupies, +with its suburbs, an area of nearly one hundred square miles, and every +year sees a new suburb added. Of course, when population is mentioned, +the whole of the suburbs should be included, and the inhabitants claim, +with a great deal of reason, that within a radius of ten miles from the +city hall, there are fully four hundred thousand people residing." + +"That is certainly a very rapid growth," said one of the youths. "All +that population since 1835! It is the most rapid growth of any city that +I know of, is it not?" + +"Yes, I think it is," replied the doctor. "Neither San Francisco nor +Chicago can show a growth equal to that of Melbourne in the first fifty +years of its existence. Chicago is now a much larger city, but fifty +years from its foundation it could not boast of as many inhabitants as +could Melbourne when it was half a century old." + +To the eyes of our young friends Melbourne presented a very busy +appearance. Cabs and carriages were rushing hither and thither. Crowds +of people were on the sidewalks, and other crowds filled the tram-cars +and omnibuses. Harry observed that Melbourne was sufficiently up with +the times to be provided with electric cars, and that she also had cable +lines, as well as the more primitive street cars. It was near the close +of the afternoon, when the great majority of the population are seeking +their homes, and the scene of busy life reminded the youths of lower +Broadway, near the end of the day in New York. + +The doctor explained that a very large part of the working population +resembled the well-to-do portion, by having their homes in the suburbs, +and, consequently, that a great many people required transportation. +Hence the rush for the tram-cars and other public means of travel on the +part of the great mass of the public, while those with better-lined +purses patronized the cabs and carriages. Cab fares are high, being +about one third more than in London, but not so high as in New York. In +the days of the gold rush the most ordinary carriages could not be hired +for less than fifteen dollars a day, and five dollars was the price for +an hour or two. + +There is a story in circulation that a gold miner was once bargaining +for a carriage for which the driver demanded twelve pounds (sixty +dollars) for a day's hire. The miner said he would not pay it: he handed +a ten-pound note to the driver, and said he must be satisfied with that. +The driver assented, and there was no further discussion on the subject. + +Prices of all sorts of things throughout Melbourne are somewhat above +London figures, but they have been established a long time and nobody +complains of them. + +Our friends continued their walk to the Yarra River, up whose waters +Batman and Fawkner sailed when they came here to found the city. Its +native name is Yarra-Yarra, but the double word is rarely used by the +inhabitants of Melbourne in speaking of the stream. Of itself, it is not +a river of much consequence, as originally all but very small vessels +had difficulty in ascending it. It has been dredged and deepened, so +that craft drawing not more than sixteen feet of water can ascend it to +Prince's Bridge, the spot where our friends reached the stream. Vessels +requiring more water than that must remain at Fort Melbourne, about +three miles further down. There are several other bridges crossing the +river at different points. Near Prince's Bridge our friends saw several +passenger steamers crowded with people, on their way to their homes down +the bay. + +On their return towards the hotel our friends loitered among the shops, +and especially among those in what are called the Arcades, of which +there are four, modeled after the Arcades of London and the "Passages" +of Paris. They are delightful places to lounge in, whether one is in +search of purchases or not, and the three strangers were in no hurry to +get through them. + +One of the arcades is known as the Book Arcade, and the shops inside of +it are almost wholly devoted to the sale of books. Harry remarked that +he judged the Melbourne people to be a reading one, otherwise there +would not be so much space devoted to the sale of books. The youths had +a brief conversation with one of the proprietors, who told them that it +was one of the largest book stores in the world, in fact, he did not +know of any other as large as that. "We can give you anything you want," +said he; "everything is so arranged that we know just where to lay our +hands on any book that a customer wants." + +Melbourne is a great source of supply for all the interior of Victoria. +In the wholesale shops there were great quantities of goods intended for +up-country use. "There were," said Harry, "tons and tons of clothing +destined for the mines or for sheep and cattle runs, and great +quantities of tea, sugar, and other provisions, together with saddlery, +harnesses, and ironmongery in great quantity and variety." + +"We observed," wrote Ned, "that between every two wide streets there is +a narrow street running in the same direction. I believe you will find +the same arrangement in many parts of Philadelphia, and also in the new +part of Boston. The original intention of the surveyor was that these +small streets should be used as back entrances for the buildings on the +larger ones, but this intention has not been carried out in the +development of the city. Formerly these narrow streets took the name of +the wide ones, with the prefix 'Little'; for example, the one between +Collins and Bourke Street being known as Little Collins Street. Most of +them are now called lanes, and are spoken of as Collins Lane, Latrobe +Lane, and the like, and many of them are devoted to special lines of +trade. Flinders Lane, between Flinders and Collins Streets, is the +principal locality of the wholesale dealers in clothing, and Bourke Lane +is largely occupied by Chinese. We are told that the renting prices of +stores along these lanes are very high, probably greater than either +Batman or Fawkner ever dreamed they could be in their wildest moments. + +"When we returned to the hotel we found an invitation for us to dine at +one of the clubs, the gentleman who gave the invitation having called +during our absence. We dressed as quickly as possible, and went at once +to the club house, where we dined on the best that the city afforded. +Melbourne is a great place for clubs, quite as much so as London or New +York. Nearly everybody belongs to a club, and many gentleman have two, +three, or more clubs on their lists. Nearly all of the clubs have +lodging rooms for bachelor members, and the popularity of the +institution is shown by the fact that most of these rooms are constantly +occupied. + +"Life at a club is somewhat expensive, though less so than at a +first-class hotel. One gentleman probably stated the case very clearly +when he said that life in a club house is pretty much as each individual +chooses to make it. He could live economically or expensively, according +to his preference. He could dine on the choicest or on the plainest +food, and could entertain liberally or frugally. 'There is no +necessity,' he added, 'for a man to waste his money because he lives at +a club, but there is no denying the fact that a club affords temptation +and opportunity to do so.' + +"During dinner the subject of horse racing came up, and our host said +that he did not believe there was any city in the world where so large a +proportion of the population was interested in equine sports as +Melbourne. 'On Cup Day,' said he, 'that is, on the day of the annual +race for the cup which is given by the city of Melbourne, people come +here from all parts of Australia.' + +"'Everybody who can afford the time and expense is reasonably sure to +visit Melbourne, and a great many come here who can hardly afford to do +so. Hotels and lodging houses are crowded to their fullest capacities +for several days before the great event. When Cup Day comes, it is like +the Derby Day in England. Half the population of Melbourne goes to +Flemington, when the race is run, and nearly all the scenes of the great +Derby Day in England are repeated. The winner of the Melbourne cup is +greeted with the heartiest cheers at the close of the race, and if he +is put up for sale on the spot, he is sure to bring an enormous price.' + +"'I asked if the horses competing for the cup were limited to those +raised in the colony of Victoria?' + +"'Oh, not by any means,' the gentleman answered; 'horses from any of the +colonies can be entered for the great race. They come from New South +Wales, South and West Australia, and also from Queensland, and sometimes +we have them from New Zealand or Tasmania. In some years it has happened +that not one of the racers was bred in the colony of Victoria. There is +never any lack of competitors, their number being usually quite equal to +that in the race for the Derby. The race track is a little more than a +mile from the center of the city, so that the public has not far to go. +Vehicles of every kind command high prices on Cup Day, and many +thousands of people go to the race on foot. For weeks before the event +little else is talked of, and the great question on every tongue is, +"What horse will win the cup?"' + +"Melbourne is very fond of athletic sports, and there are numerous clubs +devoted to baseball, football, cricket, golf, and the like. There are +also rowing clubs, and their favorite rowing place is along the part of +the Yarra above Prince's Bridge. The course is somewhat crooked, but +there is a good view of it from the banks, and a rowing match between +two of the crack clubs is sure to attract a large crowd." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +"THE LAUGHING JACKASS"--AUSTRALIAN SNAKES AND SNAKE STORIES. + + +Our friends returned to their hotel, but, before leaving them, their +host arranged to call for them after breakfast the next morning, for a +drive among the parks and around the suburbs of the city. + +The drive came off as agreed upon, and a very pleasant one it was. They +visited the Botanic Garden, which is on the banks of the Yarra, and +seemed to contain specimens of nearly all the trees on the habitable +globe. Harry said he wondered how elms and oaks could have attained the +size of some that he saw, when he remembered that the city had its +beginning in 1835. It was explained that all exotic trees grew with +great rapidity in the climate of Melbourne, and not only exotics but +natives. The climate seems adapted to almost any kind of vegetable +production. + +Our friends found cork trees and palms growing almost side by side with +the birch, the pine, and the spruce. Among other things, their attention +was attracted to some beautiful fern trees, which were fully twenty feet +high, and there were climbing plants in great profusion, some of them +clinging to the trees, and others fastened to trellis work. + +[Illustration: TO THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDEN.] + +Almost every kind of tropical fruit tree was represented in the garden, +and the gentleman who led the party said that the garden had been of +great use in distributing exotic fruit trees through the colony, after +first settling the question whether they would exist in the climate of +Victoria. Every variety of orange was there, and the orange is among the +most abundant of the fruits growing in the colony. Apricots, peaches, +pears, mangosteens, the custard apple, mangoes, and other fruits have +found a home in Victoria, and demonstrated that they can exist within +its limits. + +"We were unwilling," said Harry in his journal, "to leave the Botanic +Garden and go elsewhere, as there were so many attractive things to be +seen, but time pressed, and whenever our host gave the word we proceeded +with him. From the Botanic Garden we went to the Fitzroy Gardens, which +are situated in the eastern part of the town, and were to some extent a +repetition of the Botanic Garden, though not entirely so. The Fitzroy is +more like a park than a garden; it is beautifully laid out with walks +and drives, and is rendered picturesque by means of rocky hills, +miniature lakes, and occasional fountains. + +"We afterwards went to the Carlton Gardens and also to the Zoological +Garden, the latter being situated in the Royal Park. The 'Zoo,' as it is +popularly called, contains a fine collection of animals from all parts +of the world, including elephants, lions, tigers, and the like, and also +specimens of the animals of Australia. Of course it has a cage full of +monkeys,--what Zoo is ever without them?--and they look just exactly +like the collections of monkeys that we have elsewhere in various parts +of the world. + +"There is a very fair collection of birds, and we were particularly +interested in the specimens of the birds of Australia. And that reminds +me of an amusing experience, as we came around to where the aviary +stands. + +"We heard somebody laughing very loudly, and a queer sort of a laugh it +was. Ned remarked that somebody must be feeling very happy, and I agreed +with him. Our host smiled, and so did Dr. Whitney, but nothing further +was said, as the laugh died away. + +"When we got close to the door we again heard the laugh, which came from +the inside of the bird house. + +"'The fellow is at it again,' said Ned. 'Wonder if we can't share in the +fun?' + +"I said that I hoped so, as I had not seen anything to laugh at since we +started out from the hotel. When we got inside we looked around for the +man who had been making the noise, but there was nobody visible except a +very solemn-faced keeper, who did not look as if he had laughed for a +month. + +"I remarked to Ned that the old fellow had put on a serious face now +because company had come in, to which Ned nodded assent. Just as he did +so the laughing began again, and it was such a funny laugh that both of +us joined in it. + +"The old fellow's face did not move a muscle, and we saw that he was not +the humorous one of the place. We looked in the direction of the +laughter and saw that it came, not from a man, but from a bird. In spite +of our astonishment we burst out laughing, and the doctor and our host +joined us in doing so. + +"Our host then explained that the bird which was amusing us was known as +the 'laughing jackass.' We had heard of the creature before, but this +was our first view of him. We took a good look, and while we were doing +so he laughed again, right in our faces. The laugh is almost exactly +like that of a human being. It is not musical but is very comical, and, +somehow, it has a tendency to set everybody laughing who is within sound +of it. + +"The bird is about the size of a full-grown pigeon, perhaps a little +larger. He is not handsomely proportioned, his head being too large for +his body and his tail very small. His feathers are white and black, and +he has a comical appearance that harmonizes well with his humorous +manner. He is easily domesticated, and will learn to talk quite as +readily as the parrot does. + +"The laughing jackass is a friend of the bushman, as he foretells wet +weather. When the air is dry and clear, he is a very lively bird, and +fills the air with the sound of his laughter; but if rain is coming, or +especially if it has come, he is the very picture of misery and +unhappiness. He mopes on his perch, whether it be in a cage, or on the +limb of a tree, or in the open air, with his feathers ruffled, and a +very bedraggled appearance, like a hen that has been caught in a shower. +In the forest he will imitate the sound of an axe cutting at a tree, and +many a man has been deceived into walking a mile or more in the +expectation of finding somebody at work. + +"The bird belongs to the kingfisher family, but does not hunt much for +fishes, his favorite food being snakes. It makes no difference to him +whether the snakes are poisonous or not, as his attacks upon them are +limited only by their size. Large snakes he cannot handle, but small +ones are his delight. He drops down upon them with the quickness of a +flash, seizes them just back of the head, and then flies up in the air a +hundred feet to drop them upon the hardest piece of ground he can find. + +"The fall breaks their backs, and he keeps up this performance until +life is extinct, when he devours his prey. His services as a +snake-killer are known all over the country, and consequently he is +never shot or trapped. He is intelligent enough to understand his +immunity from attack, and comes fearlessly about the houses of the +people in the country districts. + +"Speaking of snakes reminds me that they have a very good collection in +the Zoo. We asked the keeper to indicate to us the snakes peculiar to +Australia, and he did so. The largest of them is known as the carpet +snake, and the specimen that we saw was about ten feet long. It belongs +to the constrictor family, being perfectly harmless so far as its bite +is concerned, but it has powers of constriction that might be very +serious to the person around whom the creature has wound itself. One +traveler in Australia tells how he was visiting a cattle station in +Queensland, and when he went to bed the first night of his stay, he +found a carpet snake lying on the outside of his couch. He called loudly +for some one to come and kill the serpent. + +"His call was heard by the proprietor, who shouted to him not to kill +the snake, as it was one of the family pets, and then the man came and +seized the creature by the neck and carried it to a barrel where he said +the snake belonged. I hope they won't have any pets of that sort around +any house that I visit during my stay in Australia. + +"There are eighty-three distinct species of snakes peculiar to +Australia, of which sixty are venomous, and fifteen amphibious. The most +common of the deadly serpents are the death adder, black snake, brown +snake, tiger snake, and diamond snake. The latter is so called on +account of the color of his skin, which is laid out in lozenges of a +diamond shape, alternately brown and white. The death adder, so the +keeper told us, is the most dangerous of all the Australian snakes, as +it never tries to escape. It lies perfectly still when approached, but +the instant one touches it, it darts its head and delivers, if possible, +a fatal bite. The poison speedily accomplishes its purpose, and unless +an antidote can be had in a few minutes death is the inevitable result. + +"People who go about much in the region where this snake abounds wear +high-top boots as a protection against these serpents. The black snake +and the brown snake are the most common of the deadly serpents. The +brown one is the largest of them, and frequently attains a length of +eight or nine feet. The tiger snake seems to be related to the +'_Cobra-di-Capello_,' of India, as it has the same power of flattening +and extending its neck when irritated. + +"I asked what were the antidotes used for snake bites in Australia? + +"To this our host replied that there were various ways of counteracting +the effects of a snake bite. One was to cut out the wound and take away +the flesh from each side of it for half an inch or so. Another was to +swallow large quantities of brandy and whiskey, and the third and most +common way was to use a hypodermic injection of ammonia. The last-named +antidote is regarded as almost certain, and a great many people, such as +stockmen, wood-cutters, farmers, and the like, carry in their pockets a +hypodermic syringe, charged and ready for use. + +"'On that subject I can tell you an interesting story,' said our host. +'There was at one time a man named Underwood, who discovered a positive +antidote for the bite of the most venomous serpent. He gave several +exhibitions in which he permitted himself to be bitten by snakes in full +possession of all their venomous powers, a fact which was established by +the immediate deaths of dogs, chickens, and other small animals, which +were bitten by the snakes after they had tried their fangs on Underwood. +He carried a supply of his antidote about him, and used it whenever he +was thus bitten.' + +"'Underwood's remedy was a secret known only to himself. He was trying +to sell it to the government, the latter intending to make it public for +the sake of saving life. One day Underwood gave an exhibition in which +he allowed himself, as usual, to be bitten by a venomous snake. He was +intoxicated at the time, and in consequence of his intoxication was +unable to find his antidote; the result was that he died within an hour, +and carried away the secret of his antidote forever.' + +"Newly arrived emigrants in Australia have a great fear of snakes. For +the first few weeks they are startled whenever they hear the least +rustling in the bushes, but after a time they get accustomed to it, and +think no more about snakes than they do about dragons. It makes a great +difference in what part of Australia you are. There are some regions +where the snake is rarely seen, while in others great precautions are +necessary. Low, swampy districts are said to be the worst, and men who +walk around in such localities are very careful of their steps. + +"Some of the snakes of Australia have an unpleasant habit of coming +around the houses, and this is particularly the case with the tiger +snake, which in this respect seems to possess the same characteristics +as his relative the 'cobra,' of India. Our host told us a story which he +said he knew to be a true one, the incident having occurred in a family +with which he was acquainted. There was an invalid daughter in the +family, and one afternoon, when she was sleeping in a hammock on the +veranda, she suddenly waked with the feeling of something cold, and +moist, and heavy near her neck. She raised her hand and happened to +grasp the neck of a snake just back of the head. In her paroxysm of +terror, she clutched it with terrific force to tear it away. + +"She gave a piercing cry that summoned her father and other members of +the family, and immediately after the cry she fainted. But she still +continued to clutch at the snake's neck, and although she was utterly +unconscious of anything surrounding her, she grasped it with such force +that the reptile was fairly strangled by her fingers. Her father +realized that it would be impossible to free her hand until +consciousness returned, and the indications were that it would not be +speedy in coming. So they released her fingers one by one, with a piece +of the hammock cord, and removed the dead body of the snake so that it +should be out of sight when she revived. Luckily, the creature had not +bitten her before she grasped it. + +"It is not at all unusual for a man sleeping on the ground at night to +find, on waking, that a serpent has crawled in by his side, or curled +itself up on his breast for the sake of the warmth that his body +supplies. I have heard a story of a man who thus entertained an +unwelcome visitor. He waked during the night while lying flat on his +back, and felt something heavy and cold on his chest. He moved a little +as he waked, and his movement caused the snake that was lying on him to +raise its head. By the light of the camp fire the man saw his +predicament. His hair stood on end, and he could feel the blood +stiffening in his veins. He knew it would be some time before daylight, +and felt that he would lose his mind before morning, or perhaps die of +fear. He carried a knife in his belt, and decided, after careful +consideration, that his best plan was to reach for the weapon and kill +the snake where it lay. + +"Slowly, very slowly, he worked his hand to his waist and drew his +knife. He could not avoid making some movement in doing so, and at each +movement the snake raised its head to ascertain the cause of the +disturbance; then the man became perfectly still until the reptile +subsided again. + +"After the lapse of what seemed to be many hours, the man got his knife +and arm in readiness for action. Then he moved his body a little, +causing the serpent to lift its head once more. As it did so, the man +made a quick movement of his hand, and he declares that he never made a +quicker one in all his life. The snake's head was severed by the blow; +it fell to one side and the writhing body of the creature followed it. +At the same instant the man was on his feet, and he says that he danced +for a few minutes in a wild paroxysm of joy, and then fell to the ground +in a fainting fit, caused by the sudden reaction in his feelings. The +snake that he killed was of a poisonous kind,--the tiger snake, which +has already been mentioned. When stretched out to its full length, it +measured very nearly five feet. + +"They have scorpions and centipedes in Australia, and their bite is just +as deadly as that of the same creatures elsewhere. They have a black +spider about as large as a pea,--black all over except a red spot on its +back,--which is found in decaying logs, and, unhappily, has a fondness +for living in houses. It is aggressive in its nature, as it does not +wait to be disturbed before making an attack, and it has been known to +cross a room towards where a person was sitting in order to bite him. +Its bite is as bad as that of the scorpion or centipede. Sometimes its +victims are permanently paralyzed for the rest of their lives, or become +hopeless lunatics, and, not infrequently, death results from this +spider's bite. + +"One gentleman told me how he was once bitten by one of these spiders on +the calf of the leg. He immediately cut out the wound and injected some +ammonia close by the side of it, but in spite of these precautions he +suffered intense pains in the leg for several days. The limb swelled to +twice its natural size, and became as soft as putty. At the spot where +the wound was a suppurating sore formed and it discharged for several +months. He fully expected that amputation would be necessary, and the +doctor whom he called to attend him said the chances were five to one +that he would lose the leg altogether. Greatly to his and the doctor's +surprise and delight, he managed to save it, but for fully a year after +the wound had healed the limb did not resume its normal size, and he +suffered frequent pains like rheumatism. + +"'You will naturally conclude,' said our friend, 'that as we have +spiders here we ought to have flies, and we have them in sufficient +abundance to prevent life from becoming monotonous. They are worse in +the interior than on the coast; in the latter region they are only +troublesome during the autumn months, while for the rest of the year +they are not at all numerous, or may be absent altogether; but in the +interior they are always bad, the only difference being that they are +worse at some times than at others. In parts of the interior everybody +wears a veil when going about the country, and it is often necessary to +do so while in the house. On some of the interior plains you can see a +man before you see him, as an Irishman might put it. You see in the +distance a small black cloud hovering just over the road. It is a cloud +of flies around the head of some unfortunate traveler, who is +approaching on horseback. They stick to him like a troubled conscience +and go with him wherever he goes. If another traveler happens to be +going in the opposite direction, the clouds about their heads mingle as +the individuals meet, and when they separate the flies move on with +them, as before.' + +"Flies in the houses are very troublesome, as they are fond of loitering +about the table, just like flies in America and other countries. They +are a nuisance to which nobody ever gets accustomed, and in some +localities they almost render the country uninhabitable. Mosquitoes +abound in most parts of the country, especially along the rivers and +lakes and in swampy regions, and every traveler who expects to be out at +night carries a mosquito net with him." + +From the Zoo our friends continued their drive through other parks and +along some of the principal streets, passing several public buildings, +all of which were spacious and attractive. The town hall, post-office, +government house, and other public structures of Melbourne would do +honor to any city and evince the taste and good judgment of those who +planned and erected them. The numerous parks and gardens are a great +ornament to the city and give an abundance of breathing space for the +people. Our young friends were loud in their praise of what they saw, +and their comments were well received by their host. The people of +Melbourne are fond of hearing their city commended, and their pride in +it is certainly well justified. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE HARBOR OF MELBOURNE--CONVICT HULKS AND BUSHRANGERS. + + +In the afternoon the party visited Port Melbourne, formerly known as +Sandridge. Properly speaking, this is the harbor of Melbourne, and it is +situated near the mouth of the Yarra, where that stream enters Hobson's +Bay, the latter being an arm of Port Philip Bay. It is a busy place and +contains the usual sights of a harbor. Ships were discharging or +receiving their cargoes, some at the piers which jut out into the water, +while some were anchored away from the shore and were performing the +same work by means of lighters. On the other side of Hobson's Bay is +Williamstown, which is a sort of rival of Sandridge. A great deal of +shipping business is done there, and Williamstown contains, also, +graving docks and building yards where many vessels engaged in local +trade along the coast have been constructed. The gentleman who +accompanied our friends called their attention to the railways which +connect Williamstown and Sandridge with the city, and remarked that +times had changed since the gold rush in the early fifties. + +"At the present time," said he, "you can go between Sandridge and +Melbourne for threepence or sixpence, according to the class you select, +but in the time of the gold rush prices were very much higher. If you +wanted a carriage from here to the city, you would be lucky to escape +for a sovereign, and a dray load of baggage drawn by a single horse +would cost fifteen dollars. There used to be an omnibus line that +carried passengers for two shillings and sixpence, but it was somewhat +irregular in its movements, and could not be relied on. Nowadays the +omnibus will carry you for threepence. + +"When a ship arrived and anchored in the bay the passengers had to pay +three shillings each to be put on shore, and very often the boatman +raised the tariff to five shillings whenever he thought he could induce +or compel the passengers to pay it. The charge for baggage was a +separate one, and sometimes it cost more to take a quantity of baggage +from Sandridge to Melbourne than it had cost to bring it all the way +from London to Sandridge, a distance of thirteen thousand miles." + +"It was a golden harvest for the boatmen and everybody else engaged in +the transportation business," Harry remarked. + +"Indeed, it was," said the gentleman; "and a great many people had the +sense to perceive that they had a better chance for a fortune by +remaining right here than by going to the mines, where everything was +uncertain." + +"I suppose everything else was in proportion, was it not?" queried Ned. + +"That was exactly the case," was the reply. "When goods were brought on +shore they were loaded into carts for transportation to Melbourne, and +the cart was not allowed to move out of the yard until three pounds +sterling had been paid for taking the load to the city. The travelers +protested and said they would not pay, but they generally did, as there +was no other alternative. When they got to the city they found the same +scale of prices. + +"The poorest kind of a room without any furniture would bring ten +dollars a week, and a stall in the stable of a hotel which would +accommodate two men rented readily for ten shillings a night. +Hotel-keepers made fortunes, or at least some of them did, and others +might have done so if they had taken care of their money. I have heard +of one hotel-keeper who had his house crammed full of patrons, none of +them paying less than ten shillings a night for their lodging, while he +had seventy-five lodgers in his stables, each of them paying five +shillings apiece. + +"A great many people spread tents on the waste ground outside of the +city to save the expense of lodgings. They did not succeed altogether in +doing so, as the government required them to pay at the rate of sixty +dollars a year for the privilege of putting up a tent. Everybody was +anxious to get away from Melbourne as quickly as possible, but they +underwent great delays in getting their goods out of the ships." + +"I suppose you had no railways at that time to facilitate travel," one +of the youths remarked. + +"No; there were no railways and the only way of travel was by the +ordinary route, and very ordinary it was in many places. It was not a +graded and macadamized road such as you find in England, but simply a +rough pathway, principally of nature's manufacture. It was full of ruts +and gullies, very muddy in the rainy season, and terribly dusty in the +dry times. Travelers went to the mines in all sorts of ways, some on +foot, and some by ox and horse wagons, and if they had plenty of money, +and were determined to have luxury and speed at whatever cost, they +traveled by stage-coach. An American firm, Cobb & Company, came here in +the early days and established lines of stage-coaches, first from +Melbourne to the mines, and afterwards all over Australia. Cobb's +coaches are still running on some of the interior routes that are not +covered by railway, but wherever the locomotive has put in its +appearance it has forced them out of the way." + +"I have read somewhere," said Harry, "that traveling on the road to the +mines was not very safe in those days." + +"That depended somewhat on the way one was going," was the reply. +"Travelers going towards the mines were not very liable to attack, as +they were not supposed to have any money, but it was not so with those +coming from the mines to the coast. The natural supposition was that an +individual moving in the direction of Melbourne had 'made his pile' and +was on his way home. The country was infested with ex-convicts and men +who had escaped from convict service in Australia and Tasmania. They +were known as 'bushrangers,' and great numbers of them were along the +routes to the mines. They lived in caves among the hills, or in the open +air, and occasionally took shelter in out stations on sheep runs. They +supplied themselves with food by stealing sheep and cattle from the +ranches, and by robbing wagons laden with provisions on their way to the +mines. Clothing they obtained by the same system of plunder, and +whenever the haunt of a gang was discovered by the police it was almost +invariably found to be well stocked with provisions and clothing. + +"These were the fellows that made life miserable to the miners returning +to the coast. The bushrangers traveled in gangs of all the way from five +to fifteen or twenty, and sometimes more, and each gang was led by the +most desperate man among them. They used to 'stick up' solitary +travelers, or travelers in groups of a dozen or more. They lay in wait +at turnings of the road or near the summits of hills, and generally took +their victims by surprise. If a man submitted quietly to be robbed, he +was generally left unharmed, but if he made any resistance, he was +knocked senseless or shot down without the least compunction. Sometimes +these gangs were so numerous that hardly a traveler escaped them. Then +there would be a lull in the business for a time and the road would be +particularly safe. + +"Once a week or so, gold was sent down from the mines by the government +authorities; and of course it was accompanied by a strong and well-armed +escort of police. Many people entrusted their gold to the escort, paying +a high premium for the guarantee of safe delivery in Melbourne. A good +many people used to accompany the escort for the protection it afforded, +but the number became so great and troublesome that the government at +length refused to permit travelers to go in that way unless they paid +the same premium on the gold that they carried as was paid by those who +shipped the precious metal. Not infrequently the bushrangers attacked +the government escort, and on several occasions they were successful. + +"It was a piece of good fortune that, as a general thing, the +bushrangers were never able to agree with each other very long. After a +gang had been organized and selected its leader, dissensions arose very +speedily, particularly as to the division of the spoil. The leader +always believed that he ought to have a larger share of the plunder than +anybody else, while all the subordinate members believed just as +earnestly that their stealings should be divided equally. In this way +quarrels took place. The captain would be deposed and another one +selected, and he in time would share the fate of his predecessors. + +"Some of the bushrangers were quite famous for their bravery and daring, +and they used to give the police a great deal of hard fighting. On the +other hand, the police acquired a high reputation for their skill in +fighting and capturing bushrangers. They were instructed to bring in +their captives alive, if possible, but it did not injure their +reputations at all if they killed the scoundrels on the spot. The +government wanted to be rid of the rascals, and frequently offered +rewards for their capture, 'dead or alive.' + +"Whenever the bushrangers made a haul of gold dust it was divided as +soon as possible, each man taking his share and doing with it what he +pleased. They generally hid their booty in spots known only to +themselves, and when any of the bushrangers were captured, the police +usually proceeded to draw from them the information as to where their +gold was concealed. Naturally, the fellows were unwilling to say, and if +they refused to tell, various means were resorted to to make them give +up the desired information. Singeing their hair, pinching their fingers +and toes, or submitting them to other physical tortures, were among the +means commonly used. + +"When ordinary methods failed, a favorite device was to tie the +bushranger hand and foot, and then place him on an ant hill. The black +ant of Australia has a bite that is very painful, and when hundreds of +thousands of ants are biting a man all at once, the feeling is something +fearful. The ant-hill torture was generally successful. After submitting +to it for a time, the bushranger generally gave up the secret of the +whereabouts of his gold. I do not mean to say that all the police +officials indulged in this harsh treatment, but it is certain that many +of them did. + +"It is probable that a great deal of stolen gold is concealed in the +country bordering the road from Melbourne to the gold diggings which +will never be found. Many of the bushrangers were killed while fighting +with the police, died of their wounds, or in prison, or managed to flee +the country without giving up the secret which would have enabled the +authorities to find where their treasures were concealed. Occasionally +one of their deposits is found by accident, but there are doubtless +hundreds which nobody will ever come upon. + +"There was a great deal of lawlessness in and around Melbourne in those +days. One afternoon a band of robbers took possession of the road +between Melbourne and Sandridge, and 'stuck up' everybody who attempted +to pass. People were tied to trees and robbed, and for an hour or two +the bandits were in full possession of the road. They had one of their +number on watch who gave the signal when the police approached, and +thus they were enabled to get away in good time, leaving their victims +fastened to the trees. + +"Once a ship was anchored in the harbor, ready to sail for England, with +several thousand ounces of gold on board. She was to leave the next +forenoon, and was to receive her crew and passengers early in the +morning. There were only some ten or twelve persons on board. Along +about midnight a boat came to the side of the ship, and, when hailed by +the lookout, the answer was given that two passengers were coming on +board. Two men came up the side of the ship dressed like ordinary +passengers, and without any suspicious appearance about them. + +"While they were in conversation with the lookout and asking about the +location of their rooms, they suddenly seized and bound him, and put a +gag in his mouth to prevent his making an outcry. Then several other men +came up the side of the ship very quickly, and one by one all on board +were bound and gagged so quietly and speedily that they could not give +the least alarm. The robbers then opened the treasure-room, took +possession of the gold, lowered it into their boat and rowed away. They +were not on the ship more than half an hour, and as no one came to +ascertain the state of affairs and give the alarm until the next +morning, the robbers succeeded in getting away with all their plunder. +It was a very bold performance, but from that time such a careful watch +was kept on board of the ships that it could not be repeated. + +"A fair proportion of the successful miners kept their money and went +home with it, but there was a large number who seemed to believe that +the best use to be made of gold was to get rid of it as quickly as +possible, and they found plenty of people ready and willing to help them +in this work; and it was not infrequently the case that miners were +killed for the sake of their gold, and their bodies disposed of in the +most convenient way. Most of the men who thus disappeared had no +relatives or intimate friends in the country, and consequently their +disappearance caused no inquiries to be made concerning them. If the +waters of Hobson's Bay would give up their dead, and the dead could +speak, there would be a long series of fearful tales." + +"Those bushranger fellows must have been terrible men," remarked Harry +as the gentleman paused. "What did the authorities do with them whenever +they caught any?" + +"They disposed of them in various ways," was the reply. "Those who had +been guilty of murder or an attempt at it were hanged, while those +against whom murder could not be proved were sent to the hulks for life +or for long terms of imprisonment." + +"What were the hulks? I don't know as I understand the term." + +"Oh, the hulks were ships, old ships that had been pronounced +unseaworthy and dismantled. They were anchored in Hobson's Bay after +being fitted up as prisons, and very uncomfortable prisons they were. A +most terrible system of discipline prevailed on board of these hulks. +The man who established the system, or rather, the one who had +administered it, was beaten to death by a gang of desperate convicts, +who rushed upon him one day on the deck of one of the hulks, with the +determination to kill him for the cruelties they had suffered. Before +the guards could stop them they had literally pounded the life out of +him and flung his body overboard." + +"How long did they keep up that system?" one of the youths asked. + +"From 1850 to 1857," their informant replied. "In the last-named year +the practise of imprisonment on board of the hulks was discontinued and +the convicts were put into prisons on shore. Four of the hulks were sold +and broken up, and the fifth, the _Success_, was bought by speculators +and kept for exhibition purposes. She was shown in all the ports of +Australia for many years, and was at last taken to England and put on +exhibition there. She was five months making the voyage from Australia +to England, and at one time fears were entertained for her safety; but +she reached her destination all right, and has probably reaped a harvest +of money for her exhibitors. She was built in India in 1790, her hull +being made of solid teak-wood. She was an East Indian trader for more +than forty years, then she was an emigrant ship, and finally, in 1852, a +convict hulk. + +"The convicts on board these hulks, or at any rate the worst of them, +were always kept in irons, but this did not deter them from jumping +overboard and trying to swim to the shore. Very few of these ever +succeeded in reaching the land, as they were either carried to the +bottom by the weight of the irons, or were captured by the guard boats +that constantly surrounded the hulks. Most of the convicts were +confined in separate cells, and the 'history' of each convict was posted +on the door of his cell. + +"Nearly the whole interior of the ship was thus divided into cells, and +when candles and lanterns were removed the places were in pitchy +darkness. I went on board the _Success_ one day, while she was on +exhibition here, long after she had given up her old occupation, and as +a matter of curiosity, I had myself shut up in one of the cells and the +light removed. I told them to leave me in for ten minutes only, not +longer. + +"It was on the lower deck, where not a ray of light could come in, and +the place where they locked me in was one of the 'black holes' in which +prisoners were confined from one to twenty-eight days on bread and +water. + +"As soon as they had locked me in and went away, I regretted that I had +made the suggestion. You have heard of its being so dark that you could +feel the darkness; well, that was the case down there. I felt the +darkness pressing upon me, and the air was very thick and heavy. I felt +an overwhelming desire to light a match, and discovered that I had no +matches in my pocket. + +"One, two, three, and four minutes passed away, and I had had all I +wanted. I kicked and hammered at the thick door, and when it was opened +and I went out of the hold and up on deck, I was nearly blinded. How in +the world a man could stay in one of those places for a single day, let +alone twenty-eight days, without losing his reason is more than I can +understand." + +Harry asked if all the prisoners were kept in solitary cells on board of +these hulks. + +"Most, but not all, of them were confined in this way. There is a space +at the stern, and another in the center of the ship, heavily barred with +iron, where those who were considered utterly irreclaimable were huddled +together. It would almost seem as though the authorities deliberately +put them there in order that they should kill each other, as fights +among them were very frequent and not a few were murdered by their +companions. They did not work, they were simply in prison, that was all. + +"The punishments that the convicts received were various. They had the +dark cells and bread and water of which I have told you, and then they +had floggings, and plenty of them, too. They were tied up by the thumbs +so that their toes just touched the deck, and they were compelled to +sustain the weight of the body either on their thumbs or their toes for +hours at a time. They were 'bucked,' 'gagged,' and 'paddled,' and +'cold-showered,' and treated to other brutalities which have been known +in the English army and navy for a long time. In spite of their +liability to punishment, many of them paid little attention to the +rules, and some were continually yelling in the most horrible manner, +and day and night the sound of their voices was heard. + +"Over the hatchway was a wheel by which the food of the convicts was +lowered into the hold at morning, noon, and night; at other times it was +used for raising in an iron cage, from the lower decks, convicts who +were allowed exercise, but the weight of whose irons prevented their +ascending by the companionways. Many of them wore 'punishment balls' +attached to their irons. The punishment balls and chain together +weighed about eighty pounds, and frequently bowed the prisoner double. + +"The heaviest leg irons weighed thirty-five pounds, and some of them +forty pounds. You will readily understand why it was that men who tried +to escape by swimming, with such weights about them, were almost +invariably drowned in the attempt. + +"A good many famous criminals were confined on board of the _Success_ +and her four sister hulks. Among them was the notorious Captain +Melville, who for several years haunted the country between Melbourne +and Ballarat, and was credited with many murders and countless +robberies. When he was finally caught he admitted that his own share of +the gold he had stolen amounted to not less than two hundred and fifty +thousand dollars, and he claimed that he had hidden it in a place known +only to himself. For the last forty years people have been trying in +vain to find out where Melville hid his ill-gotten gold. He was in the +habit of riding to the top of Mount Boran, whence, by the aid of a +powerful field-glass, he was able to see the returning gold miners on +the road. Consequently, it is believed that Melville's treasure must be +hidden in the neighborhood of Mount Boran, but all attempts to find it +have proved fruitless. + +"Melville was tried and convicted and condemned to be imprisoned for +thirty-two years on board the _Success_. He watched his opportunity, and +formed a conspiracy with a number of his fellow-convicts to rush upon a +boat and the keeper in charge of it and take possession. The plan +succeeded and the escaped convicts pulled to the shore in safety, +although fired upon by all the hulks and war ships in the harbor. +Melville was soon recaptured, and at his trial he defended himself +brilliantly, relating in burning words the horrors of the penal system +on board the hulks. + +"The speech was published in the Melbourne papers and caused a great +sensation. A great mass meeting of the citizens was held, and +resolutions were passed in favor of abolishing the convict hulks. The +popular feeling aroused against them was so strong and general that, +although the government had sentenced Melville to death for killing the +keeper in his attempt to escape, it was compelled to commute the +sentence to imprisonment for life. He was not sent back to the +_Success_, but was incarcerated in the jail at Melbourne. According to +the official report, he committed suicide there, but the unofficial +version of the affair is that he was strangled to death by a keeper +during a struggle in which the prisoner was trying to escape. + +"Melville at one time had eighty men in his gang, the largest number of +bushrangers at any time under a single leader. Another scoundrel who was +confined on the _Success_ was Henry Garrett, who, in broad daylight, +'stuck up' the Ballarat bank and robbed it of 16,000 pounds. One of his +tricks consisted in wearing a suit of clothes of clerical cut, a white +necktie, and broad-brimmed hat. On one occasion he walked into the bank +dressed in this manner, stepped up to the safe and began to plunder it. +He was a man of good education, and varied robbery with the pursuit of +literature. He used to write essays and other articles, which he sent to +the newspapers, and on one occasion he wrote an essay on crime. + +"One man, William Stevens, helped Melville and his gang in their +attempt to escape from the _Success_. He struck down a warder with a +stone-cutter's axe and jumped overboard. He was never seen again, and +the authorities were always in doubt whether he escaped or went to the +bottom, the prevailing opinion being in favor of the latter result. +Another famous bushranger was Captain Moonlight, who served his time and +became a respectable citizen. Another prisoner, after serving for +fifteen years, was given the position of 'guide' upon the vessel by her +owners, and made a comfortable income by showing visitors around." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +GEELONG--AUSTRALIAN GOLD MINES--FINDING A BIG NUGGET. + + +When they had finished with Williamstown and Sandridge our friends went +to St. Kilda, which may be called the Coney Island of Melbourne, as it +is very popular with those who are fond of salt-water bathing. Harry and +Ned remarked that there were hotels, restaurants, and other places of +resort and amusement such as are usually found at seaside watering +places, and Ned thought it would require no great stretch of the +imagination to believe that they were at the famous bathing place of New +York. Ned observed that there were fences consisting of posts set in the +ground, not more than ten or twelve inches apart, extending a +considerable distance out into the water and completely enclosing the +bathing place. + +He asked why the fences were placed there, and was informed that it was +because the bay abounded in sharks, and people who came there to bathe +had a prejudice against being eaten up by these sea-wolves. "If we +should take away the fences," said one of the attendants at the bathing +house, "we would not do any more business here, and you may be sure that +we are very careful to keep the fences in order." + +Sharks abound all through the waters of Australia. They have caused not +a few deaths, and everybody who understands about them is careful not to +venture into the water at any place where the creatures are liable to +come; but occasionally one hears of an incautious or ignorant person +falling a prey to these monsters of the deep. When sailboats and other +craft are overturned in storms or sudden squalls and their occupants are +thrown into the water, they suffer fearful peril. Not long ago a small +sailboat was overturned in Port Philip Bay with two gentlemen and a lady +on board, in addition to the boatman and his boy. Before help could +reach them the whole five had fallen victims to the sharks. + +Port Philip Bay, into which Hobson's Bay opens, is a grand sheet of +water between thirty and forty miles wide, and navigable for ships of +all sizes, and the bay affords anchoring space for all the ships in the +world, in case they should come there at the same time. The entrance to +the bay is about thirty miles from Melbourne, and at Queenscliff near +the entrance there is a fine watering place, which is reached both by +railway and by steamboat. It has the advantage of St. Kilda in standing +on the shore of the ocean, while the former place has only the waters of +the bay in front of it. Many Melbourneites go to Queenscliff to enjoy +the ocean breezes and watch the surf breaking on the shore. While St. +Kilda may be called the Coney Island of Melbourne, Queenscliff is fairly +entitled to be considered its Long Branch. + +On their return to Melbourne, the youths found at their hotel an +invitation to make a trip on the following day to Geelong. When Dr. +Whitney read the invitation to the youths, Harry asked where Geelong +was. + +"Oh, I know about that," said Ned; "I happened to be reading about it +this morning." + +"Well, where is it?" + +"Geelong is a town forty-five miles from Melbourne," replied Ned, "and +it is a fairly prosperous town, too. It is not quite as old as +Melbourne, but at one time the inhabitants thought that their town would +outstrip Melbourne completely." + +"How is that?" + +"The town stands on Corio Bay, an arm of Port Philip Bay, and has a good +harbor; in fact, the harbor at that time was better than that at +Melbourne. The people of Geelong went to work and built a railway from +their city to Melbourne, with the idea that if they did so, all the wool +that was being shipped from Melbourne would be sent to Geelong for +shipment, while the cargoes of foreign goods that landed at Melbourne +would be landed at Geelong." + +"The plan did not work as they expected, did it?" + +"Not by any means. As soon as the railway was built, wool coming into +Geelong was sent to Melbourne for shipment, and goods that were intended +for Geelong were landed at Melbourne and sent over by railway. In this +way the measures they had taken to increase their trade worked exactly +the other way and diminished it." + +"Don't they have any foreign commerce at all at Geelong?" Harry asked. + +"Oh, yes, they have some, but nothing in comparison with Melbourne. We +will learn something about it when we go there." + +As there are three passenger steamers running between Geelong and +Melbourne daily, the party went by railway and returned by water. In the +railway journey they had a pleasant ride along the shore of Port Philip +Bay, and arrived at their destination in a little more than two hours +from the time of starting. They found the town pleasantly situated on +Corio Bay, being laid out on ground sloping to the bay on the north and +to the Barwon River on the south. Along the streets were fine shops, +attractive stores, and every indication of an industrious and prosperous +population. + +In the suburbs, where they were taken in a carriage by the gentleman who +accompanied them, they found numerous private residences, many of them +of a superior character. The gentleman told them that Geelong was famous +for its manufactures of woolens and other goods, and that it built the +first woolen mill in Victoria. Iron foundries, wood-working +establishments, and other industrial concerns were visited, so that our +friends readily understood whence the prosperity of Geelong came. Their +host told them that Geelong had long since given up its ideas of rivalry +with Melbourne, and had settled down with the determination to develop +itself in every feasible way and let things take care of themselves. + +Our young friends thought they would like to see something of the gold +mines of Victoria, and asked Dr. Whitney about them. He readily +assented, and the trip to Ballarat was speedily arranged, and also one +to Sandhurst, which is the present name of Bendigo of gold-mining days. +Ballarat was the most important place of the two, and its placer mines +gave a greater yield of gold than did those of Bendigo. At both places +the placer mines were exhausted long ago, but gold is still taken from +the rocks and reefs which underlie the whole region. + +The mining establishments of Ballarat are outside of the city itself, +and when the visitors reached the place and rode through the town they +could hardly believe they were in a gold-mining region. The streets are +wide, and most of them well shaded with trees, while some of them are so +broad that they deserve the name of avenues rather than that of streets. +There are substantial public buildings and a goodly number of churches, +a botanical garden, and all the other features of a quiet and +well-established city, and it was quite difficult for them to believe +that they were in a place whose chief industry was the extraction of +gold from the ground. All the lawless features of the Ballarat of +gold-rush days had disappeared, and the town was as peaceful as any one +could wish to find it. + +Our friends brought a letter of introduction to a gentleman of Ballarat, +who kindly consented to show them about the place and answer any +questions that they wished to ask. + +Harry's first question was, whether the first discoveries of gold in +Australia were made at Ballarat or elsewhere. + +"It is very difficult to say exactly," the gentleman answered, "where +the first discoveries were made, but certainly they were not made at +this spot. According to history and tradition, gold was discovered in +the mountains behind Sydney about the year 1814, but the news of the +finding of the precious metal was kept a secret by the government. At +intervals of a few years from that time small deposits of gold were +found at various places in New South Wales and Victoria, but these were +also kept a secret, the individuals who found the deposits being in one +way or another under the control of the government. + +"In the early part of 1851 a miner from California, named Hargreaves, +discovered gold at Lewis Pond Creek in New South Wales, and about the +middle of the same year another California miner, named Esmond, found a +deposit of gold at Clunes, sixteen miles from Ballarat. Before the +government could take any steps for suppressing it the news had spread +and the excitement began. The stories were greatly exaggerated, and many +people came here believing that they had only to shovel the gold from +the ground into barrels and boxes, and send it away to be converted into +coin. That was the beginning of the gold rush, and a rush it was, you +may be sure. + +"From all over Australia people flocked to the new El Dorado. Mechanics +of all kinds left their employments; shepherds deserted their flocks; +merchants and clerks fled from their counting-houses; farmers quit their +fields and gardens, doctors and lawyers their offices, and the whole +country seemed to have gone mad about gold. Youth and age got the fever +alike; boys of sixteen and men of seventy walked side by side on their +way to the mines. Melbourne and Sydney were deserted, and the +prediction was made that before the end of the year grass would be +growing in the principal streets of those cities. + +"Provisions, clothing, and miners' tools and equipments rose to an +enormous price. Picks or shovels worth four or five shillings apiece in +the sea-coast cities were sold for ten pounds apiece at the mines. Nails +for building sluices sometimes brought their weight in gold. Bacon and +flour were worth a dollar a pound, and not always to be procured at that +figure. The most ordinary shelter was worth ten shillings a night, and +the rental price of a house for a month was the equivalent of its cost. + +"The government refused to permit anybody to work at mining without a +license, and the miners were so numerous that the revenue from the +licenses issued was a large one. The money thus obtained was expended in +organizing a strong police force and preserving order. Whereever mining +fields were opened, a gold commissioner with a police escort at his back +made his appearance as soon as possible, and insured a certain degree of +safety. Miners could leave their gold with the commissioner, either on +deposit, to be called for whenever they liked, or for transportation to +Melbourne. I presume you already know about the bushrangers and how they +used to plunder the homeward-bound miners." + +"Were the early miners successful in finding large deposits of gold?" +one of the youths asked. + +"The question is a difficult one to answer directly," was the reply. "A +great many were successful, but, on the other hand, a great many had +very poor luck in the mines and hardly succeeded in making a bare +living. We always hear of the rich finds in the mining district, but +rarely of the many failures. This has always been the case in gold +mining the world over, and Ballarat and the region around it were no +exception to the rule. I will tell you of some of the rich discoveries, +and leave you to remember that the fortunate miners were in small number +compared to the unfortunate ones. It may be safely said that the early +yield of the Ballarat mines exceeded that of the best days of +California. + +"Some claims eight feet square yielded, each of them, from fifty +thousand to sixty thousand dollars. One mine, which was owned by several +men in common, was worked about four months and yielded eighty thousand +dollars to each man. One tubful of earth which was taken from the bottom +of a claim where the bed rock was scraped yielded nearly ten thousand +dollars, and one claim which was supposed to have been worked out, and +was abandoned, was again taken up by two men who obtained forty thousand +dollars from it in two weeks. Up to the present time it is estimated +that very nearly two billion dollars' worth of gold have been taken out +of Australian mines." + +Ned asked in what shape the gold was found; that is, was it in large +pieces or small ones, fine dust or nuggets? + +"It embraced everything between the large nugget and fine dust or +flakes," the gentleman replied. "A great deal of the gold was in little +lumps like bird shot; a great deal of it was in scales, and then, again, +it took the shape of dust so fine that the particles were almost +invisible to the naked eye. Nuggets the size of hens' eggs were not +very unusual, while those the size of pigeons' and sparrows' eggs were +much more numerous. The great nuggets were the ones most sought for, and +of course they were the rarest found. + +"One nugget, resembling in shape and size a leg of mutton, and weighing +one hundred and thirty-five pounds, was found a long distance below the +surface, where some miners were tunneling to reach the bed rock; and +another nugget was found in such a remarkable way that I must tell you +the story of it. + +"A man who was wandering about the scrub in the neighborhood of Ballarat +one day, sat down at the foot of a tree to rest. While sitting there he +took out his knife to cut a stick, and finding the knife was dull, he +proceeded to sharpen it by rubbing it upon a stone that lay almost +completely imbedded in the ground. As he rubbed, he found that the +surface of the stone became yellow. He was greatly surprised at this, +and then he dug around the stone with his knife, scraping it in several +places, and then trying to lift it. He might as well have tried to lift +a horse. Do what he could, he could not budge it an inch, and for a good +reason, as it was a mass of solid gold. + +"He felt his head swimming and his wits leaving him. He pinched his +cheeks and pulled his ears to make sure that he was not dreaming. Here +he was with a fortune in his possession and he could not move it! Then +he sat down again and wondered what was best to do. + +"Even if he could move it and started for the camp, he might be robbed +before he got there, as bushrangers infested the country, and he was +just as liable to come upon them as upon honest men. He could not stay +and watch it, as he had no provisions; and he was afraid to leave it, +for fear that somebody might come upon it during his absence. But there +was no help for it, as leave it he must, and after thinking the matter +over he acted about as sensibly as he could have done. + +"He covered the nugget up very carefully, replacing the earth and +sprinkling it with leaves so that there was no indication that the spot +had been disturbed. Then he stripped the shirt from his back and tied it +to a neighboring tree, wisely concluding that it was not judicious to +hang the garment on the tree beneath which he had sat. Then, on his way +out of the scrub, he marked the trees here and there so that he could +find the place again, and as soon as he was in sight of the diggings he +went straight to the tent of the gold commissioner and told the story of +his discovery. The commissioner immediately sent the man back again with +a strong escort to secure the valuable find. The man received for the +nugget, after deducting all charges and commissions, the sum of +fifty-one thousand dollars. + +"A great many fortunes were taken out of the earth around Ballarat +before the placer mines were exhausted. The news of the discovery of +gold in Australia spread to other countries, and thousands of people +came from all parts of the world to search for it. Nearly every +nationality was represented, and they came in great numbers. Just before +the gold discovery there were seventy-seven thousand inhabitants in the +colony of Victoria. The population doubled in a single year, and three +years after the discovery the colony had two hundred and thirty-six +thousand inhabitants. The gold rush properly ended when the placer mines +were exhausted, although in the meantime new mines had been discovered +in several localities, principally at Bendigo and Castlemaine. Ballarat +was nearly deserted for a time after the placer mining gave out, and the +same was the case at the other places mentioned. Then the reefs and +ledges were attacked; crushing machinery was erected, and the form of +work which you call quartz mining in America had its beginning. It has +gone on steadily ever since and gives employment to a great many people. +It also employs a great deal of money, as quartz mining requires +capital, while placer mining does not. To get a fortune by quartz mining +you must have a fortune to begin with, while in placer mining you need +nothing more than a pick and shovel. + +"Australia will continue to produce gold for a great many years to +come," the gentleman continued. "New discoveries are made almost every +year, and in some years half a dozen fields will be opened. The +government has changed its tactics in regard to gold discoveries. It +rewarded Hargreaves and Esmond for their discoveries in 1851, and it has +rewarded the discoveries of other gold fields. Most of the colonial +governments have a standing offer of a handsome pecuniary reward to +anybody who discovers a gold field, provided there are not fewer than +two hundred men working in that field six months after its discovery. +This, you see, bars out all those finds that are exhausted in a few +weeks, which is the case with the majority of them. + +"Every little while there is an excitement over a new discovery, +companies are formed for working the mines, and their stock is placed on +the market. It is safe to say that, in the majority of instances, more +money is made by shrewd speculators in Melbourne and Sydney manipulating +the stock than is taken from the mines. A few years ago there was a wild +speculation in mines in what is called the 'Broken Hill' district of +Victoria, and at present there is an excitement about gold discoveries +in Western Australia. According to the latest accounts from the +last-named region, there is a difficulty in working the mines there on +account of the scarcity of water. You cannot work a mine any more than +you can run a steam-engine without water, and many people have paid very +dearly to ascertain this fact." + +From Ballarat our friends went to Sandhurst, which was formerly called +Bendigo. They found there a mining region resembling Ballarat in its +general features, but not in all of them. At Ballarat the mines are not +in the town but in its suburbs, while at Sandhurst they are directly in +the town itself. One of the residents remarked that there was a gold +mine in every back yard, and our friends found that this was not very +far from the truth. + +Mining operations were carried on in the rear or by the side of the +houses, and it was said that sometimes the dust of the streets was +gathered up and washed to obtain the gold in it. An individual who +certainly appeared credible, said that the first brick house ever built +in Bendigo was torn down and the bricks crushed in order to obtain the +gold in them; this gold amounted to three ounces per ton, and not only +the house but its chimney yielded handsomely of the precious metal. + +Bendigo yielded enormously to the placer miners of the early days. When +the placer mines were exhausted the place was nearly deserted, and then +came the era of quartz mining the same as at Ballarat. Thousands of men +are employed at Sandhurst and in its neighborhood, working in the gold +mines or in the crushing establishments connected with them. The quartz +mines thus give employment to a great number of people. Some of the +mines have been pushed to a great depth, one of them being twenty-six +hundred feet below the surface. There seems to be an inexhaustible +supply of gold-bearing rock, and it is a common saying in Victoria that +a true ledge has never been exhausted. + +Harry made some inquiries as to the amount of gold annually produced in +Victoria, and learned that it was not far from five million pounds +sterling, or twenty-five million dollars. He was further told that the +cost of production amounted to very nearly the same figure; that is, +including the cost of the mining machinery, the wages of laborers, and +the many other expenses. It was admitted that the best mines showed a +fair profit on the investment, but not enough to make a fortune in a +short time. + +The youths came to the conclusion that gold mining had been most +profitable to the people that never engaged in it. In this number he +included the brokers, bankers, storekeepers, farmers, and others who +kept out of the actual business of digging gold but profited by their +dealings with those who were engaged in it. Nothing so delights the +owner of a large farm in Australia as to learn of a gold discovery a few +miles from his place. He knows that it will give him a good market for +all he has to sell, though there may be occasional thefts from his horse +or cattle paddocks. Traders of all kinds get an enormous profit at the +mines, and as for the brokers and bankers, there is no doubt of their +ability to take care of themselves. + +When Harry made the remark contained in the foregoing paragraph, Ned +said that it reminded him of a story. + +"Well, please tell it," said Dr. Whitney; "we are always ready for good +stories." + +Thus encouraged, Ned spoke as follows:-- + +"I was reading a day or two ago about a man who had a large cattle run +in a part of Australia where he had been for several years without any +near neighbors. Gold was discovered about ten miles from his place, and +a good many people flocked there. The gold mines furnished an excellent +market for his beef and for all the vegetables he chose to grow on his +place; but, on the other hand, he suffered somewhat by the depredations +of lawless characters. Horse stealing seemed to be the popular amusement +among the people at the mines, and quite often horses disappeared from +the estate and were never seen again. + +"But they had one horse, called Stepney, that was a perfect treasure. He +was kept for carriage purposes and would never let anybody mount on his +back. He would stand perfectly still while being saddled, and while +anything was being attached to the saddle, but the instant anybody got +on his back he was thrown, and there was not a rider in Australia who +could stay in the saddle more than a few seconds. + +"About once in a fortnight Stepney would be missing from the paddock, +but he always turned up in a day or two, and almost invariably with a +saddle on his back, generally a new one, and a miner's 'swag' attached +to it, and on most of the occasions the swag contained a goodly amount +of gold. Once he came back with a brand new saddle and six hundred +dollars' worth of gold, which nobody ever came to claim. The owner said +that Stepney was the most profitable horse he ever owned. He paid for +himself several times over, and whenever they ran short of saddles, all +they had to do was to use Stepney as a trap and 'set' him in the +paddock, with entire confidence that he would catch a saddle within a +day or two." + +"That recalls a story about the way the miners used to try to deceive +the bushrangers," said the doctor; "I refer particularly to those who +were on their way to the coast with gold in their possession. They used +to bore holes in the shafts or frames of their carts and conceal the +gold in these holes, and sometimes they managed to hide quantities of +gold dust between the inner and outer soles of their boots. One miner +took the padding out of his horse's collar and inserted eighty ounces of +gold in the hollow. He jogged along the road to Melbourne, suffering a +good deal of trepidation at first, but finally arrived within twenty +miles of the city with his treasure, and began to feel safe. + +"While he was driving slowly along with his cart he was overtaken by a +man on horseback, who explained that he was in a hurry, as the police +were after him for a fight he had been concerned in with another man. +His horse was exhausted and he would give the miner ten pounds to +exchange horses. + +"As the animals were of about equal value, the miner assented and +proceeded to unharness his horse. When he took off the collar the other +man seized it, put it on his horse and jumped into the saddle, which he +had not removed; then he rode away, to the astonishment of the angry +miner, waving his hand and saying by way of farewell:-- + +"'The collar is all I wanted, friend. I don't care to make any horse +trade now.' + +"You are doubtless aware," said their Ballarat friend, "of the +operations of the bushrangers, and how the police used sometimes to +torture those that they captured in order to make them reveal the secret +of the hiding place of their gold. They tell a story of a fight between +a gang of bushrangers and the police in which the leader of the robbers, +known as 'Kangaroo Jack,' was mortally wounded. He was lying on the +ground dying; there could be no mistake about that. The police captain, +I will call him Smith, but that wasn't his name, sat down by his side +and said:-- + +"'Come, Jack, you are going to die and there is no help for you. Tell me +where your gold is.' + +"'I won't do it,' replied Jack. 'I won't tell you or anybody else!' + +"Smith pressed him, but Jack was obstinate. Smith continued to urge and +Jack to refuse until death sealed the bandit's lips. + +"Smith was afterward telling the story to one of his fellow-officers, +and remarked in conclusion:-- + +"'I think it was downright mean of Jack that he wouldn't tell me where +his gold was. I know he had at least fifty thousand dollars' worth +stowed away somewhere. He knew he couldn't take it with him, and it +couldn't do him any good, and it would have been a very tidy sum for me. +He couldn't have any personal ill-will to me, as I didn't shoot him +myself. I think it was downright mean, don't you?' + +"His friend agreed with him, and no doubt he would have been willing to +share the plunder if it could have been found." + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +A SOUTHERLY BURSTER--WESTERN VICTORIA. + + +The day after their return to Melbourne, our friends were treated to an +entertainment which, as Harry said, "was not down on the bills." It was +what the Melbourneites called a "southerly burster," a storm which is +peculiar to Australia, and particularly to the southern portion of it. +They had already experienced showers of such force that the gutters of +the streets were filled to a depth of a foot and more, and sometimes the +whole street was covered. Most of the street crossings are bridged so +that the water can run away with comparative ease. + +The water at such times flows with terrific force. Men attempting to +cross the gutters, who make a misstep, are lifted off their feet and are +instantly swept down by the current, and in case they should be carried +under one of the crossings they are liable to be drowned. + +We will listen to Harry as he described in his journal their experience +with a southerly burster. + +"When we arose in the morning," said Harry, "the weather was delightful +and we thought it would be a fine day for an excursion. There was not a +cloud in the sky and the breeze was blowing from the northeast. A +barometer hung in the hallway of the hotel, and Dr. Whitney remarked, as +he came out from breakfast, that it was falling rapidly. A gentleman +who was standing by his side heard the remark and said:-- + +"'I think we are going to have a burster; that is the way it usually +begins. If you have any engagements to go out to-day and they are not +absolutely imperative, you had better postpone them.' + +"Ned and I overheard what he said and wondered what a burster was. We +said nothing, however, as we expected to find out by practical +experience. + +"All through the forenoon the barometer continued to fall. The sky +remained clear until a little past noon, and the wind blew gently from +the northeast as before. Suddenly we saw a white cloud rolling up from +the northeast and spreading over the heavens until they were completely +covered. Masses of dust came with the wind, which increased in force for +a time and then lulled a little. + +"Suddenly the wind went around to the south and blew a gale, yes, a +hurricane. It started off at about thirty miles an hour, but before it +ended its visit it was blowing fully seventy miles an hour, at least +that is what the papers said next day. I am told it sometimes reaches a +velocity of one hundred miles an hour, and has even been known to exceed +one hundred and forty miles. These tremendous winds do a great deal of +damage. They drive ships ashore or overwhelm them at sea; they devastate +fields and forests and level a great many buildings. + +"The barometer fell rapidly in the forenoon, as I have mentioned; it was +the thermometer's turn in the afternoon. The mercury stood at about +ninety degrees Fahrenheit in the middle of the forenoon, and it remained +so until the wind chopped around to the south. An hour after the change +of wind it stood at seventy degrees, and an hour later at fifty. I am +told that it sometimes drops thirty degrees in half an hour, but such +occurrences are unusual. + +"This is a good place to say that sudden changes in the temperature are +very common in Australia, and that the change from midday to midnight is +far greater than any to which we are accustomed in the United States. +When we have a change of twenty or thirty degrees in a single day we +regard it as unusual. What would you say to one hundred and ten degrees +at noon and fifty degrees at midnight? This is quite common in the +interior of Australia and not at all infrequent on the coast. + +"The thermometer runs very high in this country, and it is not at all +rare for it to indicate one hundred and twenty-five or one hundred and +thirty degrees Fahrenheit. One traveler has a record of one hundred and +thirty-nine degrees in the shade and one hundred and seventy-two in the +sun. I am told that in South Melbourne the thermometer once made an +official record of one hundred and eleven degrees in the shade and one +hundred and seventy-nine degrees in the sun. + +"So great is the heat of the sun at midday that travelers generally try +to avoid it if they can do so. It is the plan of most people who travel +on horseback, in wagons, or on foot, to start before daylight, and keep +going until nine or ten o'clock. Then they halt and rest until three or +four o'clock in the afternoon, when they move on and continue until late +in the evening. Of course, the railways are not run on that principle, +as the locomotive is not supposed to be affected by the outside +temperature. + +"But I am getting away from the southerly burster. The wind blew like a +hurricane. It kept up this rate for about three hours, filling the air +with dust so that we could not see across the street. Though the doors +and windows were tightly closed, the dust found its way inside the house +and was present everywhere; every article of furniture was covered with +it. + +"We found it in the food, we found it in our beds, and the next day when +I opened my trunk to take out some articles of clothing, I actually +found that the dust had worked its way inside in a perceptible quantity. +One of the waiters of the hotel said, that always after a burster they +found dust inside of bottles of mineral water which had been tightly +corked up to the time of opening. I am inclined to doubt the truth of +his assertion, particularly as he offered no documentary evidence to +confirm it. + +"Along towards night it came on to rain, and, oh, how it did rain! It +poured as though the flood gates of the skies had all been opened at +once. It rained not only cats and dogs, as the old expression has it, +but lizards, scorpions, snakes, and I don't know what else, at least it +did figuratively. The gutters of the streets were filled, and then we +were able to see how easy it was for a man, and especially for a child, +to be drowned in them. I have seen it rain hard in a good many places, +but am sure I never saw it rain harder than it did at the end of that +southerly burster. + +"I remarked as much to a gentleman whose acquaintance we had made in +the hotel, and he answered:-- + +"'Oh, nonsense. That is no rain at all.' + +"'No rain at all,' I answered. 'Do you have worse rains than this in +Australia?' + +"'Why, certainly we do,' he replied. 'I have known it to rain so hard +that this would be a sprinkle by comparison. I remember the 25th of +February, 1873, when nine inches of rain fell here in Melbourne inside +of nine hours. An inch of rain in an hour is a good deal, isn't it?' + +"Ned and I admitted that it was, and then our informant continued:-- + +"'I happened to be in Newcastle early in 1871, when they had the +greatest rainfall that I ever saw or heard of in any country. In less +than three hours ten and a half inches of rain fell, and the story was +that it was so thick that the fishes in the harbor could not distinguish +between the rain cloud and the bay, and actually swam up half a mile or +so into the air. One man said that he had a barrel with both ends +knocked out, and the rain went in at the bung hole faster than it could +run out at the ends.' + +"I asked the gentleman how long the storm lasted, and he said that +twenty-one hours elapsed between the beginning and the end of it, and +during that time twenty inches of water fell, and the streets of +Newcastle were like small rivers. + +"The gentleman remarked, in conclusion, that it was a great pity the +rainfall was not distributed more evenly, both in time and amount, than +it is. Some parts of the coast get a great deal more rain than they +have any use for. The floods destroy a large amount of property, and the +superfluous rain flows away in the rivers, inundating large areas of +ground and doing more harm than good, but through the greater part of +the interior the rainfall is far less than the land requires. The ground +becomes parched, the streets dry up, and the grasses wither, and the +whole face of nature presents a scene of sterility. Sometimes there is +no rain for long periods. There have been times when not a drop of rain +fell for two years, and but for the heavy dews at night, a vast extent +of land would have been absolutely turned to a desert. Cattle and sheep +perished by the million, of starvation and thirst. The production of +grain fell off enormously and the whole country was very seriously +affected. + +"Ned asked if no remedy had ever been found or proposed for this state +of affairs. + +"A remedy had been suggested, said the gentleman, which would save herds +of cattle and flocks of sheep, but it would not save from destruction +the crops in the fields. + +"'What is that?' Ned asked. + +"'It is a system of storing water throughout the interior of the country +so as to save the precious fluid when the rainfall is excessive. There +are many places, great numbers of them, where nature has so formed the +ground that the storage of water would be comparatively easy. I have +already begun it on my sheep run, and other sheep owners have done the +same thing. It is an expensive work, but I believe it will pay in the +end.' + +"'There are three places on my land where broad valleys terminate at +their lower ends between hills forty or fifty feet high. Now, by +building a dam from one of these hills to the other, I can flood any one +of these valleys to any depth I choose up to the height of the hills. It +was only recently that I finished work at one of these places, and I +have gangs of men busy with the other two. For the present I shall make +my dams thirty feet high, and this will give me at each of the three +places a lake of fresh water with about forty acres of surface area. If +I can fill these lakes every winter with water, I think I will have +enough to keep my sheep through the dry season, after making liberal +allowance for loss by evaporation and in other ways. Of course, such a +system of storing water is only practicable where the owner of a place +has sufficient capital for the purpose. The poor man, with his small +flock of sheep, can hardly undertake it.' + +"'Preliminary surveys have been made in places where it is proposed that +the colonial governments should build extensive works for saving water +on a grand scale. The government would be repaid, in part at least, by +selling the water to private landholders in the same way that water is +sold in California, New Mexico, and other parts of the United States. I +am confident that you will see a grand system of water storage in full +operation in Australia before many years.'" + +While on the subject of rainfall, Harry asked Ned if he knew where the +heaviest annual rainfall in the world was. + +Ned said he did not know, but he thought that Dr. Whitney might be able +to inform them. + +The question was appealed to the doctor, who paused a moment, and then +said that "what might be considered a heavy rain in one place would be a +light one in another. In Great Britain, if an inch of rain fell in a day +it was considered a heavy rain; but in many parts of the Highlands of +Scotland three inches not infrequently fall in one day. Once in the isle +of Skye twelve inches of rain fell in thirteen hours, and rainfalls of +five and seven inches are not uncommon. Thirty inches of rain fell in +twenty-four hours at Geneva, in Switzerland, thirty-three inches at +Gibraltar in twenty-six hours, and twenty-four inches in a single night +on the hills near Bombay. + +"The heaviest annual rainfall on the globe," continued the doctor, "was +on the Khasia Hills, in India, where six hundred inches, or fifty feet, +fell in a twelvemonth. Just think of it; a depth of fifty feet of water +yearly, and of this amount five hundred inches fell in seven months, +during the southwest monsoons." + +"How do they account for such heavy rains?" Ned asked. + +"It is accounted for," the doctor replied, "by the abruptness of the +mountains which face the Bay of Bengal, from which they are separated by +low swamps and marshes. The winds arrive among the hills heavily charged +with the vapor they have absorbed from the wide expanse of the Indian +Ocean. When they strike the hills and are forced up to a higher +elevation, they give out their moisture with great rapidity, and the +rain falls in torrents. As soon as the clouds have crossed the mountains +the rain diminishes very much. Twenty miles further inland it drops +from six hundred to two hundred inches annually, and thirty miles +further inland it is only one hundred inches. The same conditions +prevail to a certain extent in Australia. The mountain chains are near +the coast. On the side next the ocean there is a liberal rainfall, but +on the other side, towards the interior, the rainfall is light. As the +clouds charged with vapor come from the sea to the mountains they yield +their moisture freely, but, after passing the mountains, they have +little left to yield." + +The burster died away along in the evening, and, though the streets were +wet in many places, our friends went out for a stroll. During their walk +their attention was naturally drawn to the sky, which was now bright +with stars. Naturally, their conversation turned to the difference +between the night skies of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, which +had not escaped their observation during their voyage from the east +coast of Africa down to the Equator, and thence in the Southern Ocean. +On this subject Harry wrote at one time in his journal as follows:-- + +"We found the famous Southern Cross a good deal of a disappointment. In +the first place, it requires a considerable amount of imagination to +make a cross out of it; very much more than is needed to make 'The Great +Dipper' out of the constellation so called in the Northern Hemisphere. +The Southern Cross consists of three stars of the first magnitude, one +of the fourth magnitude, and three of the fifth, and, look at them +whichever way you may, you can't make a real cross out of them, either +Greek or Roman. Before I investigated the subject, I thought the +Southern Cross was over the south pole, but found it is not so. The +constellations of the Southern Hemisphere altogether are not as +brilliant as those in the northern one. If the principal object of a +traveler in this region is to see the heavens, he had better stay at +home. + +"An interesting feature of the southern heavens is 'The Magellan +Clouds,' two white spots in the sky like thick nebulæ of stars. They are +nearer to the pole than the Southern Cross is, and are much used by +mariners in taking observations. Quite near the pole is a star of the +fifth magnitude, called 'Octantis,' and this also is used for +observation purposes. It isn't so brilliant, by any means, as the pole +star of the north, which is of the second magnitude; and, by the way, +that reminds me of what Dr. Whitney told me in the desert of Sahara, +that what we called the polar star in the north is not directly over the +pole, but nearly a degree away. The real polar star is a much smaller +one and stands, as we look at it, to the left of the star, which I had +always believed to be the proper one." + +Melbourne has a Chinese quarter like San Francisco and New York, and our +friends embraced an opportunity to visit it. They found the shops +closely crowded together and apparently doing an active business. There +were temples, shops, and a good many stores, some of them very small and +others of goodly size. The sidewalks were thronged with people, mostly +Chinese, and they hardly raised their eyes to look at the strangers who +had come among them. Our friends took the precaution to be accompanied +by a guide, and found that they had acted wisely in doing so. The guide +took them into places where they would have been unable to make their +way alone, and where, doubtless, they would have found the doors closed +against them. + +The Chinese are very unpopular in Australia and in all the colonies. The +laws against them are decidedly severe, from a Mongolian point of view. +Every Chinaman landing in Victoria must pay fifty dollars for the +privilege of doing so, and after getting safe on the soil he finds +himself restricted in a business way, and subject to vexatious +regulations. John is satisfied with very little and he usually manages +to get it. He is a keen trader and always an inveterate smuggler. He is +very skillful in evading the custom house, and as soon as one trick is +discovered he invents another and his ingenuity seems to be boundless. + +One of the industries in which the Chinese excel is that of market +gardening. In driving in the suburbs of Melbourne, our friends observed +numerous market gardens cultivated by Chinese, and in every instance +they remarked that the cultivation was of the most careful kind. John +can make more out of a garden than anybody else. He pays a high rental +for his ground, but unless something very unusual happens he is pretty +sure to get it back again, with a large profit in addition. + +In some of the colonies the restrictions are more severe than in others. +In New South Wales the laboring class of white men are politically in +control of the legislature, and have enacted anti-Chinese laws of great +severity. The tax upon immigrant Chinese in that colony is one hundred +pounds sterling, or five hundred dollars. The naturalization of Chinese +is absolutely prohibited, and ships can only bring into the ports of New +South Wales one Chinese passenger for every three hundred tons of +measurement. The restrictions in regard to residence and trading are +very severe. The country is laid out into districts, and in each +district not more than five trading Chinese are allowed to live and +transact business. Steamers and sailing vessels having Chinese stewards +or sailors on board are subject to seizure and fines on their arrival at +Sydney, and so great have been the annoyances to this class of vessels, +that they have been compelled to leave in some other port, before coming +to Australia, all their Chinese employees. + +The hostility to Chinese labor in Australia is similar to that on the +Pacific coast of the United States, and in the States of the Rocky +Mountain region. It will doubtless increase as time goes on, as it +increased in the United States, until it culminated in the Chinese +Exclusion Act of a few years ago. Eventually, the Chinese in Australia +will be shut out from all occupations, and expelled or excluded from the +country. A good many intelligent Australians deprecate the hostility to +the Chinese, but when it comes to voting, this class of citizens is in +the minority. + +During a part of the gold rush, great numbers of Chinese found their way +to the mines, where they were perfectly contented to work in abandoned +mines and wash the earth, which had already been washed by the white +men. Owing to the prejudice against them and the likelihood of +interference, they rarely took up fresh claims, but contented +themselves with what the white man had left. Even this form of work was +considered an encroachment by the white miners, who frequently attacked +the Mongolians and drove them out at the point of the pistol. Many of +these attacks were accompanied by bloodshed, and if the history of +Australian mining were written in full, it would contain many a story of +oppression, accompanied with violence. + +Our friends made a visit to the famous lake district of Victoria, where +they found some very pretty scenery, and from the summit of one hill +counted no fewer than fifteen lakes, some of them of no great size, +while the largest measured ninety miles in circumference. Harry made +note of the fact that this largest lake was called the Dead Sea. It is +said to be not as salt as the famous Dead Sea near Jerusalem, but it is +a great deal salter than the ocean, and no fish of any kind lives in it. + +"I asked a resident of the neighborhood," said Harry, "if they had ever +tried the plan of putting fish from the ocean into this Australian Dead +Sea. They said they had done so, but the fish thus transported always +died in a few hours, and the experiment of stocking the lake had been +given up long ago. + +"A curious thing that we found regarding the lakes in this part of +Victoria," Harry continued, "is that some of them are salt and some +fresh, and sometimes the salt lakes and the fresh ones are quite close +to each other, and on the same level. We were puzzled how to account for +the peculiarity and tried to learn about it. How the circumstances +happened, nobody knows exactly, but the theory is that the salt in the +salt lakes comes from the drainage of the rocks, and as the lakes have +no outlets, the superfluous waters are carried off by evaporation. They +told us that in summer these lakes sink a good deal below the level of +other times of the year, and when they did so the ground left dry was +thickly encrusted with salt, which the people gathered in large +quantities. The market of Melbourne is supplied with salt from these +lakes, and you can readily understand that it is very cheap. + +"Another peculiarity of this part of Victoria is the large quantities of +potatoes that are grown there. The land often yields from twenty to +thirty tons of potatoes to the acre, and an acre of ground for raising +potatoes will frequently sell for four hundred dollars, while it will +rent for twenty-five dollars yearly. Most of the coast ports of +Australia, including the great ones of Melbourne, Adelaide, and Sydney, +are supplied with potatoes from this region. + +"The potatoes are among the finest we ever saw. They are large, rich, +and mealy, and when properly cooked they are simply delicious. No other +part of Australia can compete with this district in potato cultivation. +The excellence of this vegetable is supposed to come from the volcanic +nature of the soil. All the country round here was once in a high state +of ebullition, and the lakes I have mentioned are the craters of extinct +volcanoes." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +JOURNEY UP COUNTRY--ANECDOTES OF BUSH LIFE. + + +Our friends accepted an invitation to go up country to visit a cattle +station and also a sheep run, and to spend a week or so in the bush. +They went by train as far as the railway could carry them, and were met +at the station by a wagon which enabled them to finish their journey. +They arrived at the station late in the afternoon, after a delightful +drive through the gum-tree forest and across a small plain. It was not +strictly a plain, however, as the ground was undulating, and in the +hollows between the ridges there was generally a growth of trees from a +quarter to a half a mile in width which broke the monotony of the +landscape. The road was not the smoothest in the world, and before they +had gone half way Harry and Ned both remarked that they would have +excellent appetites for supper, and hoped that the meal would not be +long delayed after their arrival at the cattle station. + +The party received a cordial welcome from their host, Mr. Syme, who had +preceded them a day in advance and sent his younger brother to the +railway to meet them. About half a mile from the house they saw three or +four men lying on the ground by the roadside, evidently taking a rest or +waiting for something. They reminded our young friends of the +individuals frequently seen in the United States, and known as +"tramps," and after getting out of earshot of the party Ned asked their +new acquaintance, who was escorting them, what those men were. + +"Oh! those are sundowners," was the reply, and then there was a pause. + +"Sundowners!" exclaimed Harry. "What is a sundowner?" + +"A sundowner is what you call a tramp in America," was the reply; "and +he gets his name from one of his peculiarities. It is the custom all +over Australia--I mean in the country districts--to feed and lodge +anybody who comes along, and if he has no money there is no charge for +his entertainment. He is expected to move on in the morning the first +thing after breakfast, unless we happen to have work for him and can +give him employment at regular wages. If he comes along anywhere in the +afternoon before sunset, he is expected to do any odd work that may be +handy until supper, as a payment in part, at least, for his night's +entertainment. + +"Most of these fellows don't like to work," he continued, "and so they +take good care not to arrive at a place before sunset. If they find they +are getting too near it, they sit or lie down on the ground and wait +until the sun has disappeared below the horizon. That is why we call +them sundowners, as they turn up just after the sun has gone down." + +"It is certainly very liberal on the part of the people in the country +to feed and lodge all comers," remarked Ned. + +"Well, we think it's not illiberal. It is the custom of the country +which has grown up from the early days when farms were far apart and +travelers were few in number. When the custom first began, the number of +this sort of travelers would not exceed a dozen in a month. Nowadays we +often lodge that number in a single night, and sometimes it is a pretty +heavy tax on us. I don't think it will be many years before we have laws +that will restrict these wanderers somewhat, just as you have tramp laws +in many of the States of your Union. There is a very large number of +idlers going about the country and subsisting in this way. They always +pretend to be searching for employment, but whenever employment is +offered, it is not the kind that they want. They are like an American +tramp I heard of once, who was always looking in winter for a job at +hay-making, and in summer he wanted to find employment at cutting ice. +When one of these fellows gets to a sheep station, he says he knows +nothing about sheep, but understands everything about cattle; at the +cattle station he reverses his story, and wants a job at shepherding." + +"Don't you have trouble with them sometimes?" one of the youths +remarked. "Are they willing to accept what you offer them, or do they +demand something better?" + +"As to that," was the reply, "there is a good deal of difference among +them. We don't feed them with the best that the place affords, and the +majority of them accept the situation and take what we choose to give. +Cold meat and bread are their usual fare, and there is always enough of +that. Sometimes they make a row, and demand to be fed just in the same +way that we feed our own farm hands. For instance, only last evening I +was called into the men's dining-room to quell a disturbance caused by +a sundowner. The travelers' table was supplied with cold meat, bread, +and tea, while the table of our farm hands had on it bread and hot roast +mutton. The sundowner had a knife in his hand and was threatening to +kill the kitchen maid unless she gave him hot mutton instead of cold." + +"What did you do about it?" + +"I told him that if he could not eat cold meat he was not hungry enough +to eat anything, and if he did not put that knife away one of our men +would knock his head off. He became quiet at once and sat down to his +supper, muttering something about not being treated like a gentleman. We +would like to shut our doors altogether against this class of fellows, +but there are difficulties in the way. We would be liable at times to +turn away honest and deserving men who were really in search of +employment, and furthermore, the revengeful scoundrels would set our +buildings on fire during the night, or perhaps kill our cattle and +horses. They would be less likely to do the latter than the former, as +the destruction of our buildings by fire would be much easier and safer +than the other proceeding. We certainly need some kind of legal +restriction over these sundowners, and we will get it in the course of +time." + +The house at which our friends arrived was large and spacious, and its +external appearance, as they approached it, betokened hospitality. It +covered a considerable area of ground but was only a single story in +height, with the exception of one end, where there was an upper story +occupied by the female servants. The men employed at the place ate and +slept in a building in the rear of the principal house, the two being +connected by a kitchen and a shed. The house was substantially +constructed of wood, the sides being double walled with planking, while +the roof sloped gently to the front. There were gutters at the eaves to +catch all the water which came down in the form of rain, and convey it +to a large cistern just in the rear of the main dwelling. Their host +explained that they had a fine spring close to the house, from which +they usually obtained their supply of water. "This spring sometimes +gives out in seasons of excessive dryness," said he, "and then we fall +back upon the cistern." + +"You have been long enough in Australia," he continued, "to learn the +full value of water, and we are obliged to be careful in the use of it +and in selecting a location for our house. In the great drought, when we +had no rain for two years, we suffered exceedingly and a great many of +my cattle perished for thirst. Since then I have built a reservoir for +storing water, and if another drought should come, I don't think my +herds will suffer as much as they did." + +Dr. Whitney and our young friends were shown to the rooms they were +expected to occupy during their stay. Dr. Whitney was assigned to a +good-sized bedroom, while the youths were placed in another bedroom +close to it and equipped with two beds. They made a brief survey of the +room and concluded that they would be very comfortable. Harry remarked +that it was quite as good as any room they had thus far occupied in +Australian hotels. They devoted a short time to removing the dust of +travel and putting themselves in a condition of cleanliness, and +shortly after they appeared on the veranda, where their host was +awaiting them, and dinner was announced. + +The size of the dining-room indicated that the place was an hospitable +one, as the table was capable of accommodating not fewer than twenty +people without crowding. Harry took note of the menu which comprised +their meal, and according to his memorandum it was as follows:-- + +"Soup of kangaroo tail, mutton pie, roast beef, potatoes, cauliflower +and parsnips, hot and cold bread, plum pudding and tea. There were also +some canned apricots of home production. Altogether it was a very +substantial meal, excellent in quality, liberal in quantity, and well +cooked throughout." + +The evening was passed in front of a big fire in the large sitting-room. +As the night was chilly and somewhat damp, the fire was very welcome. +The time was passed in conversation concerning the cattle business, +interspersed with stories of Australian life. Harry and Ned asked the +permission of their host to make use of their notebooks, and their +request was readily granted. Accordingly, they kept their pencils in +their hands, and placed on paper anything which seemed to them +particularly interesting. + +Harry made note of a statement of their host concerning the cattle +business and its ups and downs. One of his notes reads as follows:-- + +"To go into the cattle business, one ought to have a capital of not less +than fifty thousand dollars, and he could use one hundred thousand to +advantage. His first step is to secure a tract of land, and this he +does by getting a grant from the government allowing him to occupy an +area of ground several miles square at a rental of ten or twenty +shillings annually for each square mile. His next step is to secure +location, and to do this he travels a great deal through the interior, +visiting ground that has not been taken up, and exercising his judgment +as to the choice of ground. He must take care to find a place where +there is good grass and good water; he wants a certain amount of timber +on his land, but not too much, and the water holes must be at suitable +distances apart. Many a man has come to grief in the cattle business +owing to his bad selection of a location. + +"A man who takes a large area of ground in this way is called a +'squatter.' You can put this down in your notebooks, young men, that a +squatter in Australia is just the reverse of the same individual in +America. In your country, the squatter is a man who lives upon a small +tract of land which he cultivates himself, while here he is a man, as I +said before, who takes a large area of ground for pastoral purposes. The +equivalent of the American squatter is here called a 'selector,' and +between the selectors and the squatters there is a perpetual warfare, as +the selector is allowed by law to select a location for a farm on any +government land, whether occupied by a squatter or not. The selectors +give the squatters a great deal of trouble, and many of us think that +the colonial governments have treated us very badly. + +"Well, after getting our ground we proceed to stock it, and with fifty +thousand dollars we can buy about twenty-five hundred head of cattle. +Then we put up our buildings, employ our stockmen, and set to work. If +we have good luck we can pay our expenses, almost from the beginning, by +sending fat cattle to market. For the first five years we sell only fat +cattle; at the end of that time we have doubled our original stock, and +then we begin to sell ordinary cattle as well as fat ones. From that +time on, if no mishap befalls us, we can sell twelve or fifteen thousand +dollars' worth of cattle every year, including all kinds. At this rate +the profits are satisfactory, and in fifteen or twenty years, a man who +has started out with fifty thousand dollars can retire on eight or ten +times that amount." + +Harry asked what were the drawbacks to the cattle business; that is, +what were the kinds of bad luck that could happen to a man who engaged +in it. + +"As to that," replied Mr. Syme, "there are several things which it is +not possible to foresee or prevent. In the first place, nobody can +foresee a great drought when cattle perish of thirst and starvation; +added to this danger is that of diseases to which cattle are subject, +especially pleuro-pneumonia. Whole herds may be carried away by this +disease, and if it once gets established among the cattle of an estate +it is very difficult to eradicate it. Sometimes it is necessary to kill +off an entire herd in order to get rid of the disease, and I have heard +of cattle runs that were depopulated successively two or three times by +pleuro-pneumonia, and their owners ruined. Sometimes the market is very +low in consequence of an over-supply, and the price cattle furnish is a +very poor remuneration to stock raisers. + +"Sheep farming is more profitable, on the whole, than cattle farming," +he continued; "but the risks are somewhat greater in consequence of the +greater liability of sheep to disease. There are several diseases +peculiar to sheep which carry them off in great numbers, and they are +affected by drought quite as much as cattle are. A sheep run can be +started with a small capital, and you might almost say with no capital +at all. For instance, a man with very little money, or practically with +none at all, can find a location and squat upon it, and then go to one +of the cities, and if he is known to be a respectable, honest, and +industrious man and free from vicious habits, he can find somebody who +will supply the capital for buying a few hundred sheep. With these sheep +he can make a start, and if he is industrious and attentive to business, +and has no bad luck with his flocks, he will make money rapidly. In ten +years he will have a comfortable fortune; but, on the other hand, he is +liable at any time to be ruined by two successive bad seasons of drought +and disease. Sometimes the price of wool is so low that it leaves very +little profit to the sheep farmer after paying for shepherds, shearers, +and other employees, and the expense of taking his wool to the +sea-coast." + +Their host remarked, in conclusion, that he was afraid the good days of +cattle and sheep farming had gone and would never come again. "Land has +become dear," he said, "and labor unions compel us to pay high prices +for stockmen and shearers, especially the latter, and the prices of wool +are not as good as they used to be. The wool market of the world is low, +and so is the cattle market. Since the practise of freezing beef and +mutton and carrying the frozen meat to England has come into vogue the +prices of meat have improved, but the supply is so abundant and the +sources of it so numerous that we have not been greatly benefited by the +new process. There still remains enough in either business to encourage +those who are in it to continue, but the inducements for new enterprises +of this kind are not great." + +Some of the stories that were told about experience on cattle and sheep +runs were so interesting to our young friends that they made note of +them. One of the party told of the dangers surrounding the life of the +stock-riders, the men who look after the herds on a cattle estate. + +"He has some hard duties to perform," said the narrator. "He gets his +breakfast early in the morning and starts out at once, mounted on +horseback, and with a horse that is more or less unruly. Each +stock-rider, or stockman, as we call him, has a particular part of the +run assigned to him, and every morning he goes along the boundary of it, +and if his own cattle have strayed across the line, he drives them back +again; likewise, if he finds his neighbor's cattle have strayed into his +territory, he drives them out. He is expected to show himself to his +cattle at least once a day, to accustom them to the sight of men, and +also to train them to go where they are wanted whenever he cracks his +whip and rides in among them. + +"The group of cattle belonging to each stockman is called a 'herd,' and +he is expected to train them so that they will recognize his authority. +A bunch of fifty or so is called a 'mob,' and it takes several mobs to +make up a herd. All over the run, at intervals of two or three miles, +are places where the cattle assemble when they hear the stockman's whip. +These places are called 'cattle camps'; they are open spaces of level +ground and are always near water; in fact, many of them are used as +regular watering places for the mobs and herds of cattle. Occasionally +the animals are driven into these camps, either for the purpose of +branding the calves or selecting cattle to be sent to market. You will +have an opportunity of seeing one of these to-morrow, as a man arrived +here to-night who is buying cattle to take to Melbourne. + +"Well, the stock-rider is on horseback for the greater part of the day. +Sometimes he takes his dinner with him and sometimes he comes back to +the station to get it, and in the afternoon goes to a different part of +his section. Sometimes he does not come back at all, and the next +morning a search is made for him. Of course there is now and then a man +who runs away and leaves his employment, but this is rarely the case, as +there is no occasion for him doing so unless he has committed some +offense." + +The youths listened in breathless silence, waiting for what would come +next. + +"There really ought to be two men riding together at all times, so that +if a mishap occurs to one of them, the other can help him out of his +trouble, and, if unable to do so, can go for assistance; and we +generally send out a black boy on horseback with each stockman. A few +months ago one of our stockmen, who had gone out alone, failed to come +home at night, and we were at once apprehensive that something had +happened to him. His horse came back along about midnight, and the next +morning several of us started out to find him. We tried to make use of +the intelligence of the horse to guide us to the place where he had left +his master, but, unfortunately, it was an animal that he had ridden only +a few times and there was no attachment whatever between man and beast. +We rode along the boundary where we knew he was accustomed to go, but +did not find him. We spread out over all the ground we could cover and +shouted continually, in the hope that he would hear us and answer. We +made a complete circuit of the portion of the run in his charge, and, +finding no traces of him, we struck off haphazard across the middle of +it. We kept up our shouting and finally heard a faint answer. + +"Then we rode in the direction of the sound, and in fifteen or twenty +minutes we reached the man's side. It seems that his horse had stumbled +over a fallen log so violently as to pitch the rider over his head. In +falling, the man had the misfortune to break his leg. The horse stood +and looked at him a few minutes while he tried to call the animal to his +side, but to no purpose. The beast threw his head and then his heels +into the air and trotted off. He was soon out of sight in the bush and +the stockman was left alone, disabled in the way I tell you. + +"There was no water in this vicinity and he had no food with him, and he +could not walk or stand on account of his broken leg. He could crawl +slowly, but only a short distance at a time. He knew that he was out of +the regular track of riders, and it might be days or weeks before he +would be discovered. He suffered great pain in his injured limb, and +very soon the tortures of thirst began, to be followed later in the day +by those of hunger. + +"All the rest of the day and all through the night he lay there in great +suffering and wondering if relief would ever come. Along towards morning +he heard a rustling in the grass near him, and then other similar +sounds, which he soon concluded were caused by snakes. When daylight +came he found that his fears and horrors were realized. Moving around +him were several serpents, and they manifested a tendency to approach +nearer and nearer. Some of them went away as the sun rose and the full +light of day shone upon him, but others remained in his immediate +neighborhood. He beat the ground with the butt of his whip in the hope +of scaring them away; his effort was partially successful but not wholly +so. One large snake came close to his side and actually traversed his +body. He dared not make a motion, for fear the serpent would turn upon +him and inflict a fatal bite. He lay there as still as a block of marble +till the snake, having satisfied his curiosity, glided away into the +grass. + +"All through the afternoon and until we found him, the reptiles remained +there. They seemed to understand that the man was disabled, and +evidently they were determined to take their own time in enjoying his +sufferings. This was the state of affairs when we found him. He said +that when he heard our call he almost feared to reply, lest it should +rouse his unpleasant neighbors and cause them to take the aggressive. + +"We killed two of the snakes not a dozen yards from where the man was +lying, and if we had made a vigorous search, it is probable that we +could have despatched more of them. We brought the man to the house as +quickly as possible, improvising a rude sort of litter, which was +carried, with the man upon it, by two of our blacks. Two of us relieved +them occasionally, when they were wearied of carrying the burden. In a +short time the man was well again, but he said that the horrors of that +night were too much for him, and he would seek some other occupation +than that of stock-rider. He left us as soon as he recovered, and I +don't know what became of him." + +"That reminds me," said another of the party, "of the case of a man who +met with a similar accident, being thrown from his horse and getting a +broken leg. The place where he fell happened to be near a large ant +hill, and in a few moments he was covered with the terrible black ants +that we have here in Australia. He was horribly bitten by them all over +his body, but principally on head and hands, the other parts being +somewhat protected by his clothing. After two or three hours of torture +he managed to crawl away from his awful position, but for several hours +afterwards the ants continued their attacks; and when he was found by +one of his fellow-stockmen, his face was so swollen that he could not +see, and he was barely able to articulate. Face and hands became a mass +of sores, and it was weeks before he recovered. When he got well, his +face was pitted like that of the victim of an attack of smallpox, and he +suffered for a long time with a partial paralysis of his limbs. I have +heard of one or two other instances of the same sort, and can hardly +imagine anything more terrible." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +LOST IN THE BUSH--AUSTRALIAN HORSES. + + +"Another of the gentlemen," wrote Harry in his notebook, "told us a +story about a young woman, with a child in her arms and an older child +at her side, being lost in the bush." She had been on a visit to an +acquaintance who lived about four miles away, and was to start for home +in the afternoon of a certain Friday, having gone there in the forenoon +of the same day. She did not reach home in the evening, and it was +thought at first that she had concluded to remain until Saturday. Not +until Sunday did her husband go to the house where she had been +visiting, and there he ascertained that she had left the place on Friday +afternoon, as agreed, and carried no provisions except a pound of butter +which she was taking home for her husband. + +"It was at once concluded," said the gentleman, "that she had missed her +way and been lost in the bush; and when one is thus lost, it is very +hard to find the way out again. The general features of the landscape +are so similar that it is very difficult to distinguish one part from +another, and the alarm and perplexity natural on finding oneself in such +a situation increases the danger which attends it by robbing the +wanderer of the presence of mind which is so necessary in such an +emergency. When the sun is obscured by clouds the most experienced +traveler is liable to stray and become lost, and even when the sun is +shining it is not every one who can take advantage of its position to +guide him out of trouble. The course of the streams in a well-watered +country is of great use in guiding an inexperienced traveler, but +Australian streams, like most others, wind about a great deal, and make +the road along their banks a very long one. + +"It was the rainy season of the year when this woman was lost, and the +streams were flooded. If she had followed the creek which would have led +her to her home, she would have been compelled to keep to the high +ground on either side of its valley, as the low, flat land was covered +with water. The weather was cold and wet and the winds were keen and +piercing. There was not the least supply of nourishment to be obtained +in the bush, and when we heard late on Monday what had happened, we all +felt that the unhappy wanderers must have perished from hunger and cold. +Still, there was a possibility that they might yet survive, and, as it +was too late for us to start that day, we determined to set out on +Tuesday morning in search of them. We sent off to the nearest police +station and obtained the assistance of several blacks who had been +trained to the police service. You have probably heard about the +wonderful skill of these people in following a track, and as soon as +they arrived on the ground we set them at work. + +"All day Tuesday these native trackers sought diligently to find traces +of the missing ones, but none could be discovered. Then on Wednesday +morning we renewed the search, covering as much ground as possible and +examining it with the greatest care, occasionally discharging a revolver +in the hope that its sound might be heard, and frequently shouting the +Australian 'coo-ee,' which can be heard at a great distance. We returned +home completely discouraged and gave up the wanderers for dead, being +satisfied that any further search would be useless. + +"But on reaching home we heard news that gave us encouragement. A +woodchopper returning from his work told us that he found on a hill, +some distance away, a rude mia-mia or wind shelter made of the branches +of a wild cherry tree. He said it was not like those usually put up by +the blacks, nor were there any traces of fire near it, which would +certainly have been the case if it had been a native mia-mia. We started +at once, under the guidance of the workman, to inspect the place for +ourselves, and on examining the shelter carefully we felt sure that it +had been put up by the lost woman. A few pieces of a Melbourne newspaper +were lying on the ground and a strip of calico had been fastened to the +bushes, evidently in the hope of attracting attention. + +"We collected these little articles carefully and took them to the +husband, who instantly identified the strip of calico as belonging to a +gown his wife had worn, and he also remembered that she had taken a +Melbourne newspaper with her. He was greatly excited at the sight of the +articles, and so were we. It was too late to do anything that day; in +fact, it was dark before we reached home, and so we made all +preparations for an early start on Thursday morning. We were on the way +soon after daylight, and the native trackers expressed the fullest +confidence in their ability to find the missing wanderers, now that they +were able to start on the track. + +"We first went to the mia-mia, or wind shelter, and then took a course +to the northeast, walking over a succession of low ranges and shallow +gullies where the water often reached up to our knees. The trackers were +much disappointed, as the amount of water which spread over the country +made it impossible for them to follow the trail. We passed through thick +scrubs and prickly plants, and over sharp rocks which were rough walking +even for men; what must they have been for the woman and her children? + +"We continued our search for several hours, and had almost resolved to +give it up, when one of our party fired at a kangaroo which he had +disturbed, and which fled before us. The animal fell wounded, and as we +were advancing towards it, we thought we heard a distant coo-ee. We +stood still to listen, and faintly, yet quite distinctly, it was +repeated. We walked on with great eagerness in the direction whence the +sound appeared to come, and every little while we coo-eed and waited for +an answer to assure us that we were on the right track. We did not get +an answer every time, and when we did it was not a strong one; but there +was no mistaking the sound, and we realized each time that we were +getting nearer the spot where it was made. + +"We reached the edge of a gully thickly overgrown with tangled scrub +about twelve feet high. We pressed forward through this scrub, wading +occasionally through the water, and pushing aside the last bushes, +found ourselves at the edge of a small open plain. There we saw, +standing at a little distance, a gaunt, ragged woman with a child in her +arms. As she caught sight of us she turned and fled; either she mistook +us for black fellows, or the surprise and relief of obtaining help had +turned her brain. We shouted loudly to her to stop, and as our voices +fell on her ear she stood still and we approached. She looked at us with +a half-crazed expression in her eager, gleaming eyes; her cheeks were +thin and sunken, and her whole appearance was one of great wretchedness. + +"We gave her some tea which she drank greedily, and it revived her +somewhat. Seeing that she had only one of her children with her, the +youngest, we asked where the other was, and she led us to a large, +hollow tree in which she placed the little girl. The poor child's feet +were so cruelly cut and blistered that she could no longer walk, and the +mother, hoping to reach home and find help, had thought best to leave +her and travel on with the other child. She had built up the opening of +the tree with logs and brush-wood in the hope of protecting the child +against the attacks of the wild dogs, but when her preparations were +complete the little girl wept so piteously that the distracted mother +could not consent to leave her alone. So she made up her mind to stay +there and die with her children. + +"Just as she had reached this conclusion she heard the report of the +rifle, and with all her remaining strength she uttered the coo-ee which +brought relief to her. She did not faint or lose her self-possession, +and she astonished us all by her strength. She would not wait to allow +us to send for a dray or other conveyance, but insisted that she could +walk with us; it was a walk of seven miles, but she went on bravely, +carrying her boy, who would not leave her arms. The men by turns carried +the little girl, and offered to take the boy, but she would not give him +up. + +"She solemnly declared that neither she nor the children had found +anything to eat during the time they were in the bush. On the first +night, she divided the pound of butter between the children, and ate +nothing herself. Her only sustenance for the whole time had been water, +and it was the only sustenance of the children after the butter was +consumed. Every morning they had begun to wander, hoping to reach home +before night; and every night, as the darkness closed in, they huddled +together, cold, and hungry, and footsore, on the wet ground, and with no +shelter except a few scanty bushes. + +"The children slept fairly well, but the mother said she listened +through the greater part of every night, hearing the howling of the wild +dogs around them, and constantly dreading their attacks. She said she +heard the report of our rifles on the first day of our search, but +unhappily the wind was blowing directly from us towards her, and +consequently we were unable to hear her answering calls, though she had +strained her voice to the utmost to make herself heard. She had been +almost frantic with despair, knowing that help was so near at hand and +yet beyond her reach. She thought, and we agreed with her, that another +day in the bush would have ended their lives, or at any rate that of the +little girl." + +As the narrator paused, Harry asked if the woman recovered her health +and strength completely. + +"She recovered her strength very soon," was the reply, "but her mind was +affected by her exposure and sufferings, and she was never quite herself +again, mentally. The children recovered completely after a few weeks of +nourishment, and the little girl who was so near dying in that hollow +tree has since grown up and married." + +"I think it is time for a story of less mournful character," said one of +the party. + +"By all means," said another; "let us have one." + +"Well, here it is," was the reply. + +"At the station of a wealthy squatter a party assembled one evening for +a good time and a supper. There were young men and young women, as well +as men and women who were not altogether young, who had been invited for +miles around, and they had a jolly time, you may well believe me. Some +of the young fellows, wishing to have some fun, disguised themselves in +rough clothes, blackened their faces, and frowzed up their hair in the +roughest kind of way. Then they suddenly appeared at the door of the +large room, and the cry of 'Bushrangers!' was raised. Some of the ladies +fainted in alarm, and all were more or less frightened. The joke was not +kept up very long, as the counterfeit bushrangers were not good +impersonators, and were speedily detected by their friends. There was a +great deal of fun and laughter over the trick that had been played, and +then the performers in the scheme resumed their ordinary dress and +continued in the games with the others. + +"An hour or so later, rough voices were heard outside of the house, and +soon there appeared in the doorway six or eight rough-looking men with +begrimed faces, untrimmed hair, and very shabby-looking garments, who +entered the hall with a very determined manner. Some of the party burst +out laughing, and exclaimed, 'Bushrangers again!' declaring that they +would not be fooled a second time. Some of the others had an instinctive +perception that this time the bushrangers were real ones." + +The narrator paused, and Harry asked if that was the case. + +"It was exactly," was the reply. "The men were notorious bushrangers who +had been troubling that part of the country for some time. The robbers +drew revolvers and ordered the men to 'bail up!' (hold up their hands) +which they did in a hurry, and then they were commanded to stand in a +row with their faces next to the wall. + +"Then the bushrangers ordered the ladies to provide them with +refreshments, while one was commanded to sit at the piano and entertain +them with music. No one was allowed to leave the room except under the +escort of a bushranger, for fear that word would be sent to the police. + +"The scoundrels ate and drank freely, and then took possession of all +the watches, jewelry, money, and other valuables in the possession of +the party. After making their collection they left the place. Word was +sent to the police as soon as possible, but as the police station was +several miles away, the information was of no practical value." + +"Were the scoundrels ever caught?" inquired Ned. + +"Yes, they were eventually caught and hanged," was the reply. "They +troubled that region for some time. The inhabitants dared not pursue +them, for fear of their vengeance, though all wanted to be rid of them. +Four men came from Melbourne with authority for taking these robbers, +dead or alive, and with the promise of a large reward. It was impossible +to keep their errand a secret, and none of the people dared give them +any assistance in consequence of their dread of what the bushrangers +might do if they heard of it. I know of one instance where these four +men applied to a squatter for a night's lodging and supper. He dared not +let his family know about the men being there, but lodged them in an +out-building, and with his own hands carried the food to them for their +supper." + +"And did these four men capture the bushranger gang?" queried Harry. + +"Not by any means," was the reply. "They were riding one day along the +road, when they suddenly found themselves face to face with the +bushrangers. A fight followed as a matter of course, and every one of +the four was killed. When the corpses were discovered, one of them was +found in a kneeling posture, as though he had died in the act of begging +for mercy. A ten-pound bank note was found sticking in a wound in his +breast, and evidently the bushrangers put it there, to show that in this +instance, at least, their object was revenge and not plunder. + +"That the bushrangers were a bad lot," continued the gentleman, "no one +will deny, but in many instances they showed chivalry and appreciation +of bravery. It was rare, indeed, that they ill-treated women or +children, and it was also very rarely the case that they committed +murder except in self-defense or for revenge. This led a good many +sentimental people to regard them rather in the light of dashing heroes +than that of downright criminals. You have probably heard of Captain +Melville, have you not?" he asked, turning to Harry and Ned. + +The youths nodded, and said the name of that famous bushranger was +familiar to them. + +"Well, it once happened," said their informant, "that Captain Melville +had in his power a man whom, of all others, he had most occasion to +dread,--an officer of high standing in the police force, at that time +engaged in pursuit of the robber, whom he declared he would take alive +or dead. This officer was riding one day alone and slightly armed, when +he suddenly met Melville with his entire gang. The police uniform +readily told the rank of the officer, and it happened that Melville and +several of his men were familiar with the officer's face. + +"He was immediately surrounded and disarmed; his hands were tied behind +his back, and his captives took him triumphantly to their camp. When the +camp was reached, the prisoner was bound to a wagon wheel while his +captors held a counsel to decide what to do with him. The officer was +noted for his courage, and when Melville came near him, he was taunted +by his captive for his cowardice in taking him at the time when he was +defenseless and alone. + +"Melville became angry at the taunt, and, walking towards his prisoner, +he placed a loaded revolver at his head and said, 'Say another word and +I'll blow your brains out.' + +"'You dare not do it,' replied the officer, and he looked with an +unflinching eye at the robber. + +"Melville's eyes glared, and probably the slightest show of fear on the +part of the officer would have provoked a fatal shot. + +"Melville held the pistol at the prisoner's head for a few seconds and +then lowered it, saying, as he did so, 'You are too brave a man to be +shot,' and then he turned and walked away. The officer afterwards +managed to escape and reach Melbourne safely. The supposition is that he +was assisted in escaping by one of the bushrangers who was tired of life +on the road and desirous of leaving it. The officer was able to promise +him immunity from punishment in return for his service in aiding the +latter's escape." + +"That reminds me of a story I heard not long ago," said Harry. + +"A lawyer in Australia was once defending a man whose family antecedents +and record were anything but good. Ignoring this, he made a most +touching plea about the gray-haired parents in England waiting to +celebrate Christmas with their returned wanderer. The jury found the man +guilty, however, and the judge, after sentencing him, remarked that the +learned counsel would have his wish; the convicted client was going to +the same prison where father and mother were already serving sentences. +Their Christmas would be passed under the same roof." + +Other stories were told during the course of the evening, but we have no +room for any more of them. When the last story was given, the youths +looked at their watches and were surprised to find the hour so late. +They immediately retired to their room and slept soundly, or at least +Ned did. Harry said he was disturbed somewhat by dreams of snakes, +bushrangers, unruly cattle, and horses, and of being lost in the bush. +Evidently the disturbance was not serious, as he was out at an early +hour with Ned to investigate the place and learn the peculiarities of an +up-country station in Australia. Here is what he wrote concerning what +he saw and heard before the announcement of breakfast:-- + +"The sights and sounds were not altogether unlike those of a farm in New +England, but there were many more of them, in consequence of the greater +size of the station. A farm in New England covering two or three hundred +acres of ground would be considered a large one. This station covers an +area ten miles square, or one hundred square miles. They have five +thousand head of cattle upon it and more than one hundred horses. Most +of the cattle, in fact, nearly all of them, are fully half wild. The +domesticated ones comprise a few yokes of oxen and a small herd of milch +cows, and even the cows are nowhere near as tame as the same animals +would be in New England. We went out to the milking yard and witnessed +the operation of milking three or four cows which had been driven in +from the paddock. Not one of the creatures would stand quietly to be +milked, as a well-mannered cow should do, and each one had to be driven, +led, or pulled into a frame or cage something like the frame in which +oxen are shod. When the cow was thoroughly secured in this way, with +one fore leg tied up so that she could not lift either of her hind legs, +the milkmaid, who was a big, rough-looking man, proceeded to milk the +animal. When the operation was concluded, another cow was brought up and +put through the same process. + +"I asked if they had any cows that would stand peaceably and submit to +the milking process. They answered me that they had such cows +occasionally, but not often; and the man with whom I talked seemed to be +rather proud of the circumstance, that Australian cows were more +high-spirited than American ones. + +"The stockmen had had their breakfast and were about starting for their +daily rounds. Some fifty or sixty horses had been driven in from a +paddock and enclosed in a yard large enough for five times their number. +A man went into the yard to select his horse for the day's riding, and +having singled out the animal, he made several ineffectual attempts to +capture him. When he approached the group, it divided and started off +for a different part of the yard. Then the man was joined by another, +and the horses at once concluded that it was time for their fun to +cease. They submitted quietly to being bridled and saddled, and one +after another they were led out of the yard as soon as this operation +was complete. + +"One of the stockmen remarked that he would like to see one of us +youngsters go in there and get a horse. + +"I replied that I had heard too many stories of the character of +Australian horses to induce me to make the attempt. + +"You are very wise not to do so," he answered. "They would have fun +with you by the hour, and then you would not be able to lay hands on one +of them. Whenever we get a new chum that is a green hand, we have a +jolly time seeing him work. He goes inside with one of the black boys, +and between them they manage to get a horse off into a corner. Then the +new chum takes his bridle over his arm and approaches the horse, talking +to him all the time. Australian horses don't understand that sort of +thing, and you might as well talk to the surf on the sea-coast as to one +of them. Just as the new chum gets up to within about four feet of the +horse's neck, the beast spins around on his hind legs, and is off like a +shot. He kicks and prances, and sometimes he lies down and rolls, and +all the time he is saying to himself, 'What a jolly time I am having.' + +"Then the new chum and the black fellow try it on again, and with the +same result. All the old hands sit around the fence and have a good +laugh, and we let the new chum keep at it until our sides are sore. +After awhile we agree that we have had enough of it, and then we turn in +and catch the horse and saddle him in about half no time. + +"But there is more fun to come," continued the stockman, "and that is +when the new chum tries to ride. He gets into the saddle, and just as he +gets fairly seated the horse begins to buck-jump. Perhaps you don't know +what buck-jumping is?" + +"I have heard of it," I said. "In fact, I have seen what was said to be +a very good performance of it, and that was in Buffalo Bill's show." + +"How high up in the air did the horses throw the fellows in the show?" + +"Oh, a little ways," I answered; "enough to pitch them out of the +saddles and bring them to the ground." + +"Oh, nonsense," said the stockman; "you wait till you see an Australian +horse send a new chum up into the air. I've seen a fellow tossed up so +high that he didn't look bigger than a dog. He must have gone up fifty +feet, at least, and he came down astraddle of the horse again." + +The man said this with all possible gravity, but I thought I could see a +twinkle at the corner of his eye. I smiled politely, as I did not want +to contradict him, and, at the same time, did not wish him to believe +that I swallowed his preposterous story. + +"Some of our horses," he continued, "will stand still and allow +themselves to be saddled, and then they will take a long breath, swell +themselves up with air, burst the girths, and throw the saddle up at +least twenty feet above them, and all this in one motion." + +"Seems to me, I have heard of something of the kind in America," I +remarked. "As I remember the story, they first fed the horse with +self-raising flour, and then gave him a pail of water to drink." + +The man stood silent for a moment, and then said, "You'll do, youngster; +you ought to stay in Australia." + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +EXPERIENCES AT A CATTLE STATION--A KANGAROO HUNT. + + +"They breed good horses in Australia," continued Harry in his journal. +"As a general thing, however, the horses of this part of the world are +vicious, and it is no wonder, when we consider that they are harshly +treated all their lives, and very rarely hear a kind word. The owner of +the cattle run gave orders that the gentlest animals should be reserved +for the visitors to ride, and I have no doubt that they were so +reserved. We found them anything but gentle, from our point of view, but +managed to get through the day without being thrown out of the saddles. +They danced and pirouetted more than was to our liking when we first +mounted, and it was only after we had ridden several miles that their +behavior was what might be called quiet. + +"The process of breaking horses to the saddle here is interesting, +though it is rough and cruel. The horses are kept all together in a +large paddock; some of them already broken, and some that have never +known saddle, bridle, or halter. Every morning they are driven up by the +black boys. Selections are made of the animals required for the day's +riding, and then the remainder are turned loose into the paddock again. +The daily visit to the paddock accustoms the younger horses to the +presence of men, so that they are not altogether wild when they are +taken in hand for breaking. + +"There is a class of men going about the country whose business it is to +break horses at so much a head; usually two pounds, or ten dollars. The +whole herd is driven into the yard, and then the horse breaker proceeds +to his work. With the aid of two or three black fellows he lassoos a +horse and puts a strong halter on him. Then, while the black fellows +hold the animal, he is saddled and bridled, and the breaker gets on his +back. The halter is gathered up around the horse's neck, and at the word +of command the black fellows jump away from him. + +"Then begins a lively performance of bucking and jumping, the rider all +the time clinging to the saddle with his knees. Sometimes the horse +tries to lie down and roll in order to free himself from his +incumbrance; he succeeds occasionally, but as a general thing he does +not. Even should he manage to shake off his ride, the latter is on the +creature's back again before he gets fairly on his feet, and then the +kicking and jumping are renewed. The rider keeps at the horse until he +has subdued him and ridden him several times around the yard; possibly +he may take a spin out into the paddock and back again, but he does not +always do so. The great point is to conquer at the first riding, and a +good horse-breaker never stops until he has done so. + +"After this lesson is over the horse is left with the saddle on his +back, and it is not taken off until he is turned into the paddock at +night. The next day he receives another lesson of the same sort, and +after a few days of this kind of training he is pronounced properly +broken, and fit 'for a lady to ride.' I shouldn't want any lady of my +acquaintance to venture on the back of such an animal. + +"I mustn't forget a trick that these horse-breakers have, and that is, +of getting on the back of a bucking steed, placing a half-crown piece +between each thigh and the saddle, and allowing the animal to go through +all the performance she chooses to, without once displacing the coins. +Exactly the same thing is done by the rough riders of our western States +and Territories, with the difference that they use half dollars instead +of half crowns. + +"We found the morning air around the station very agreeable. A gentle +breeze was blowing, and we caught the odor of the fragrant eucalyptus +mingled with that of the numerous flowers which ornamented and +brightened the grounds near by. We could hear the notes of several +birds, and louder than all the rest of their voices was that of the +laughing jackass, which has already been described. One of these birds +perched on the fence of the yard where the men were catching horses, and +Ned and I approached within twenty feet of him before he flew away. +Before doing so he treated us to a very jolly laugh, and both of us +laughed, too, in concert with him. + +"Breakfast was announced, and we went in to enjoy it. We had oatmeal, +mutton chops, and ham and eggs, with plenty of bread and butter, and +honey. I looked around the table for coffee, but saw none. There was a +large pot of tea, and Ned and I took it without a word of objection, +though we would have preferred coffee. We were already aware that +coffee is but little used in the country districts of Australia, tea +being the almost universal beverage, for the reason that it is more +stimulating than coffee and better for a steady diet. It is carried +about and prepared much more easily than coffee, and this, no doubt, is +one cause of its popularity. In the old days of placer mining, every +miner carried at his waist a 'billy,' or tin cup for drinking purposes, +and he regarded a billy of tea as a very important part of any meal. At +the present day, a goodly proportion of sundowners and other Australian +pedestrians carry billies at their waist belts and treasure them with +great care." + +We will listen to Ned as he tells the story of their ride among the +cattle. + +"While we were at breakfast," said Ned in his journal, "the horses were +saddled and bridled and brought up to the front of the house. There were +seven of us altogether. Our host, Mr. Syme, and his two brothers, a +black fellow called Jack, Dr. Whitney, Harry, and myself. Our host and +the doctor led the way; John, the elder of his brothers, rode with +Harry, the younger, William, with me, and the black fellow by himself. +That is to say, the black fellow, Jack, brought up the rear, to be ready +for use in case of an emergency. We found our companions well informed, +and ready to give us any information in their power. + +"For a mile or so we rode through an open, undulating region where the +grass was fairly abundant, though not densely so. One of our escorts +explained that the season had been a little dry, and the grass was not +appearing as well as usual. After passing this open stretch we entered +a forest principally of gum trees, whose white stems extended up a long +distance into the air before throwing out any limbs. From the gum forest +we passed into a stretch of scrub, and then entered a valley, through +which ran a small stream. The banks of the stream were fringed with +trees, and the open parts of it were thickly covered with grass. A mob +of some fifty or sixty cattle was grazing in this valley, and by the +orders of our host, the black fellow rode in among them, cracking his +whip loudly, and starting them off with heads and tails in the air. + +"'They'll go straight to the cattle camp,' said Mr. Syme, 'and that's +where we want them.' + +"I asked if each herd had its own cattle camp, and whether it was +possible to drive the animals to two or more different camps. + +"'We never try to do that,' said the young man at my side; 'we think it +quite sufficient if they will go to one camp only. You must remember +they don't have much chance for education, and there is a limit to their +powers of understanding.' + +"We chatted on various topics as we rode along, and in two hours from +the time of starting we reached the cattle camp. There was a herd there +of several hundred cattle, which pretty well filled the open space +forming the camp. Half a dozen stockmen were there with as many black +fellows, and there was also the Melbourne cattle dealer with two or +three assistants. + +"At one side of the camp there was a little hill or mound, and Harry and +I went there, as it afforded a better view of the camp than the lower +ground. It was a very interesting sight that we had from the mound. The +mass of cattle was moving about uneasily; the bulls were bellowing, and +pawing, and having an occasional fight; the cows were lowing for their +calves, from which they had become separated, and the young bullocks +were making mild disturbances in the ways peculiar to the bovine race. +The stockmen and black fellows were kept busy in preventing the straying +of the animals, but even with all their vigilance a refractory animal +would occasionally break away and disappear in the scrub. The cattle +dealer had already begun to select his purchases, and we watched with a +good deal of interest the process of separating them from their +companions, and this is the way they did it:-- + +"They cut out a small mob of cattle, perhaps a dozen or twenty animals, +and drove them off to one side. This was called the draft mob, or rather +it was the beginning of the draft mob. The cattle that were picked out +from the rest of the herd were put with these in order to keep them +quiet while the operation was going on, and then the original of the +draft mob were allowed to go back to the rest of the herd. + +"The cattle selected by the dealer were mostly young and fat bullocks, +possessing a good deal of strength and tempers of their own. They were +what is called 'rowdy' in this country, that is, they were badly +behaved, and it was no easy job for the stockmen to handle them. + +"The cattle dealer would indicate an animal that he wanted, and then two +of the stockmen would bring the creature out. Generally the bullock was +disinclined to go, and made things pretty lively for the stockmen. Each +man was mounted on a horse that knew his business and had done the same +kind of work many times before. The horses stuck to their work just as +earnestly as did the riders, and whenever a bullock tried to run away +they ran after him, and kept up with him, too. I wonder that horse and +riders did not break their necks in this performance, and one of the +young gentlemen with us said that accidents were by no means infrequent. +He said that sometimes the bullocks showed a tendency to use their horns +and charge upon the men and their horses just as the bull does in a +Spanish bull-fight. No accident happened while we were looking on, and +for this I am very thankful. + +"One by one, the cattle which the dealer wanted were separated from the +herd and placed in the draft mob until their number amounted to eighty. +Then the animals originally constituting the draft mob were allowed to +rejoin the herd, and the herd was permitted to scatter wherever it +liked. The draft animals were then taken in charge by the stockmen and +started on the road to Melbourne; perhaps I ought to say that they were +started for the nearest railway station and completed their journey with +the aid of steam. + +"By the time the drafting was completed the sun was past the meridian, +and Harry and I were as 'hungry as hunters,' to use the old expression. +We thought we would have to ride back to the station to get our +luncheon, and were agreeably disappointed when we found that a black +fellow had just arrived with a hamper, or rather a bag of provisions, +tied behind his saddle. Our host led the way to a well-shaded nook where +there was a spring of water, and we gathered around the spring at the +indication of our host, and prepared to do justice to the food that had +made such a welcome appearance. + +"A fire was kindled near by, and soon a steaming pot of tea was ready. +Tin cups made their appearance along with tin plates and knives and +forks, and I had a realizing sense of the delicious taste of a cup of +tea in the open air when one is hungry. The luncheon was a cold one, but +it was abundantly satisfying, and we thanked our host for his +thoughtfulness in providing it. + +"When we were near the end of our meal, one of the stockmen came in and +said something in a low tone to Mr. Syme. + +"The latter nodded briefly, and said, 'All right,' and then the stockman +went away. + +"Then Mr. Syme remarked, turning to us:-- + +"'On our way back to the station we'll go by a different road, and I +think I can show you something that will be new to you.' + +"He said nothing more, and left us to wonder what the new sight would +be. + +"I forgot to mention that when we started from the station we were +accompanied by several dogs. They had a good time ranging around over +the plain and through the forest after the manner of dogs when let +loose, and seemed to enjoy themselves thoroughly. They were large and +rather lank animals, and capable of making high speed when necessary. We +asked our entertainer what they were specially used for, and were told +that the animals were kangaroo dogs. + +"'We use them for hunting kangaroos,' said the young man who +accompanied me; 'and a well-trained kangaroo dog is a valuable piece of +property to have. The kangaroo is an ungainly looking creature, but he +can get over the ground with wonderful rapidity. He goes fourteen or +sixteen feet at a jump, and he can jump at a very lively rate. Ordinary +fences are nothing to him, as he can clear a six-foot fence at a single +bound.' + +"While we were at luncheon the dogs were close about us on a keen +lookout for any scraps or slices of meat that came in their way. + +"The remains of the luncheon were given to them after the black fellow +Jack had been duly cared for, but there wasn't enough of the provisions +remaining to give the animals an overdose. + +"When all was ready we mounted our horses, and our host led the way, +first announcing that he would show us some wild kangaroos. We came out +on the plain, and after riding three or four miles, approached a clump +of low trees and bushes, which was pointed out by the stockman whom I +mentioned. + +"'There are the kangaroos,' said Mr. Syme; 'we will go in on one side of +the clump, and give them a chance to make a run.' + +"Following his directions, we spread out into a somewhat extended line +and approached the bunch of timber from the northern side. The dogs +began to show uneasiness, but were held in check by their young masters, +who spoke to them in very emphatic tones. + +"We advanced a short distance into the bushes, keeping in line as well +as we could. Suddenly there was a great stir and a series of sounds, as +though some one was pounding violently on the ground with a club. + +"'There they go!' shouted Mr. Syme. 'Let off the dogs!' + +"Evidently the dogs understood what he said, as they did not wait for +the permission of their young masters. Away they went at full speed +after the kangaroos. There must have been twenty or thirty of the latter +making off across the plain in a southerly direction, but run as fast as +they did, the dogs could not keep up with those high-jumping creatures. +The speed was something prodigious. Our whole party started in full +gallop behind the dogs, the horses seeming to enter into the spirit of +the race quite as much as did their riders. + +"There wasn't much chance for conversation during this run, but the +young man who was acting as my escort managed to tell me that we would +have a race of about three miles. 'The kangaroo always runs for water,' +he said; 'and the nearest water in that direction is about three miles +away. They'll fetch up at a small pond and make a stand there.' + +[Illustration: "THERE THEY GO!" SHOUTED MR. SYME.] + +"I learned afterward that this was a peculiarity of the kangaroo, to +seek water whenever he is pursued. The country over which we rode was +not the smoothest in the world, being broken in some places by rocks, +and encumbered by fallen timber in others. Here is where the jumping +powers of the kangaroo came in handily, as he could clear rocks and logs +with the utmost facility, and he had the ability to select a +comparatively smooth spot to come down upon. His jumping is done with +the muscles of his very powerful hind legs. He doesn't use his fore legs +at all in walking or jumping, employing them principally as hands and +arms, very much as the American squirrel uses his paws. He can give a +tremendous hug with his fore legs, and that is one of his methods of +fighting. + +"This is a good place to say something about the natural history of the +kangaroo. + +"Australia is, emphatically, the home of this animal, as he is found in +a wild state in no other part of the world. Nearly all of the Australian +animals are marsupials; that is, they have pouches in which their young +are carried until able to take care of themselves. Of the large kangaroo +there are eight species, and the largest of them are fully six feet in +height and weigh one hundred and fifty pounds or more. Geologists say +that at one time there were, in Australia, marsupial animals closely +resembling the kangaroo but equaling the rhinoceros in size. They must +have been formidable fellows to attack! + +"The largest of all the kangaroos is the red one, and he is the one that +we hunted. Of the small kangaroos, weighing, say from ten to fifteen +pounds, there are seventeen species. Away in the interior of Australia +there are some silky-haired kangaroos about the size of an ordinary +rabbit, and there are several varieties still smaller, until you get +down to those about as large as an ordinary squirrel. All of them are +easily domesticated if taken when young, and they are very gentle pets. +They tell me that they had two at this station last year, and the dogs, +whose business it was to hunt the kangaroo, clearly understood that +they must leave these pet ones alone. Not only did they not harm the +animals, but got on very good terms with them, so that it was no +uncommon sight to see the kangaroos and the dogs lying down together in +a very well-mannered group. But one day, while the pets were in the +front of the house, a pack of strange dogs happened along and killed +them. + +"We didn't overtake the kangaroos until they reached the water; in fact, +we heard the loud barking of the dogs before we came in sight of the +pond. One of the largest males, commonly denominated here as an 'old +man,' was on a little mound of earth just even with the surface of the +water, while around him was a depth of about four feet. The dogs in +front of him were at a respectful distance, as they had a great dread of +and respect for his hind feet, which are a part of his fighting +equipment. The kangaroo's hind foot has three very strong toes, the +center one especially so. His method is to seize his assailant with his +fore paws, and rip him to death with his hinder ones, and sometimes he +drowns a dog by holding him under water. Many an incautious or verdant +dog has been killed in this way, and occasionally men have fallen +victims to the powerful hind feet of these animals. + +"The 'old man' kangaroo was defending himself bravely, and he had his +assailants at an advantage. The water was too deep for them to wade in. +Some were swimming about in front of him, carefully keeping out of +reach, while others were assailing his back. All of the dogs kept up a +loud barking, and kept looking around for human help. + +"The kangaroo was more than fifty feet from the shore of the pond or +pool, and when our party reached it, the animal was despatched by means +of a rifle in the hands of one of our party. The carcass was brought to +the shore and skinned, and a portion of the meat was fed to the dogs as +a reward for their exertions, and they ate it with avidity. In addition +to the 'old man,' we killed a young kangaroo, and the carcass, after +being disemboweled, was placed on the black fellow's horse and sent to +the station. + +"We had kangaroo steaks for dinner, and very toothsome they were, +reminding us more of mutton than any other meat. These steaks came from +the young kangaroo I just mentioned. The flesh of the 'old man' is too +rank for human food, though it is sometimes eaten when no other food is +to be had. The flesh of the young kangaroo is put up at meat-canning +establishments for transportation to England, and they also export large +quantities of soup made from kangaroo tails. Some people think this soup +is preferable to ox tail, or even to turtle. I asked one of our friends +about it, and he said, with a smile, that it was better when you +couldn't get either of the others. It is certainly an excellent soup, +and it's a pity that so much of the raw material goes to waste. + +"In returning from our hunt we crossed a portion of the ground where we +had chased the kangaroos. One of the dogs scented something in the +grass, and barked in a manner to attract the attention of his owners. +The men hastened to the spot and found a 'joey,' or baby kangaroo, +which its mother had taken out of her pouch and laid upon the soft +grass, intending to return and pick it up after the danger was over. It +was a pretty little creature, about a foot long, and covered with soft, +silky hair. One of the young men took charge of it and carried it +carefully to the station, his intention being to raise it and make a pet +of it, as he had made pets of the kangaroos that they lost the year +before. When taken at this age, the kangaroo becomes perfectly docile, +and never shows the least desire for a wild life. + +"Our host told us that when the kangaroos are hunted, and there is no +water within reach, an 'old man,' if cornered, will place his back +against a tree and sell his life as dearly as possible. It is very +dangerous to go near him when he is thus defending himself, and it is +considered a fortunate circumstance in a fight of this kind if none of +the dogs are killed or injured. + +"When the first settlements were made in Australia the kangaroos were +not especially numerous, though they were probably more abundant than +any other animals. Their numbers were kept down by the aboriginals, who +used to hunt them for food and clothing, for which the kangaroo skin was +used, and they were also kept down by the dingoes, or wild dogs. The +dingoes were then abundant, and unhappily they were fond of mutton, and +when sheep were brought to Australia the flocks were very much reduced +by the operations of the wild dogs. Of course, the sheep raisers took +vengeance on the dingoes, and poisoned them in great numbers. + +"At the same time, the aboriginals diminished steadily in number, owing +to causes previously stated, and those that remained preferred to live +upon mutton and beef obtained from the settlers rather than take the +trouble of hunting the kangaroo. Thus, the two natural enemies of that +animal were removed, and with their immunity from destruction the +kangaroos increased at a terrific rate. Their flocks and herds blackened +the fields for miles. They were frequently to be seen feeding among the +sheep, and as one kangaroo eats as much grass as three sheep, it will +readily be understood that the sheep farmer's flocks were in danger of +being starved out. + +"Millions of acres of land were thus rendered unfit for sheep or cattle +pasturage. The settlers presented their case to the colonial +governments, and the latter placed a bounty on kangaroo scalps. +Meantime, it was found that the skins were worth something, and then the +slaughter of the creatures began. + +"Hunting with dogs in the way I have already described was altogether +too slow, and a quicker method was devised and found successful. This is +the way of it:-- + +"A clump of trees a few acres in extent is selected as a central point. +Among these trees a stout yard is built, with a fence not less than ten +feet high and strong enough to resist any attack the kangaroo can make. +From the entrance of this yard two diverging fences of a somewhat +lighter character are built out upon the plain, the point of the fences +where they terminate being not less than a mile apart. When all is +ready, a day is appointed for the hunt, and notice is sent to everybody +within thirty or forty miles. The hunt is in charge of one of the oldest +settlers, and everybody is bound to obey his orders. + +"The day before the hunt or drive is to take place, the principal men to +engage in it meet at the house of the leader and receive their orders. +All the squatters and other settlers who can do so come to the hut, and +with them all their stockmen and black fellows who can be spared from +their daily work. Sometimes as many as a hundred people take part in the +drive, and they are spread out in such a way as to include a very large +area of ground. + +"At the appointed hour, they begin to move in a long line in the +direction of the clump of bushes where the yard is located, or rather in +the direction of the jaws of the extended fences. Whatever kangaroos +there may be in the area of the country enclosed by the hunters are +driven in the direction of the yard, and the driving is done very +quietly, to avoid alarming the animals before the ends of the line of +men reach the ends of the diverging fence. When this takes place the +drive is pushed more rapidly, and the thoroughly frightened animals make +rapid leaps in the direction of the clump of timber, not suspecting that +in doing so they are going to their death. Before they are aware of it +they are inside the yard, and as the last of the drove enters, the gate +is closed and the animals are hopelessly imprisoned. + +"Sometimes thousands of kangaroos are taken in a single drive, and the +bounty obtained from the government, added to the value of the hides, is +divided among those who have participated in the hunt, or it may be +applied to some needed public work in the neighborhood. + +"The hides are pegged out and dried, and after being packed into bales +they are shipped to various parts of the world. There is an increasing +demand in the United States for kangaroo leather, as you are doubtless +aware. Kangaroo flesh is put into tin cans for the market, but by far +the greater part of the meat obtained from a single drive is left on the +ground. + +"Mr. Syme tells us that when the aboriginals used to hunt the kangaroos, +they killed them with the boomerang or the spear. In hunting with the +boomerang, they would creep up very slowly until within range, and +whenever they threw the weapon, it was generally with fatal effect. In +hunting with the spear, a native used to dress up so as to look like a +bush, by surrounding himself with twigs and vines. He carried his spear +in an upright position, so that it appeared to form an apex of the bush. +Then he walked slowly along, standing perfectly still when the kangaroo +raised its head to look around, and only moving while the animal grazed. +In this way, and by taking plenty of time, he would get up within +spear-throwing distance, and the rest of the story tells itself." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +HUNTING THE EMU AND OTHER BIRDS--AN AUSTRALIAN SHEEP RUN. + + +It was pretty well along in the afternoon when the party reached the +station on its return. Our friends agreed that they had had an excellent +day, and the sights they had witnessed were full of interest. + +Mr. Syme asked the doctor and our young friends if they were good shots +with the rifle or shot-gun. They modestly and truthfully answered that +they had had very little experience in shooting, but were willing to +make a trial of their skill. + +"Very well," said the host, "we will go out to-morrow and make an effort +to obtain some birds. We will begin with the largest bird of Australia, +the emu, and see what luck we can have with him." + +"I've read about that bird," said Harry; "he doesn't fly, but he can run +very fast. I have read that he will outrun a horse; is that really so?" + +"Yes," was the reply; "he can outrun most horses; in fact, it requires +an exceedingly fleet steed to overtake him. It is very little use to try +to run him down by a dead chase after him. The best way is to station +the horses along in a line about half a mile or so apart, and then chase +the bird in their direction. Each horseman takes up the chase with a +fresh animal until the emu is tired out, and then the dogs are sent in +to finish the work." + +Our young friends slept well that night, the result of their exercise on +horseback in the open air; in fact, they didn't care to sit up late, and +retired much earlier than on the previous evening. + +The next morning the party started very soon after breakfast, and the +way was taken to an open plain, three or four miles across, and fringed +with timber. When they neared the plain they met a black fellow, who had +been sent out early in the morning to find the game. He had found it, +and informed his master where it was. + +Then the horsemen were spread out in the manner already mentioned, and +the bird was started out of a little clump of timber where they had +taken shelter. Harry and Ned were surprised to see the manner in which +he ran. He seemed to be ready to drop with exhaustion, and Harry +confidently predicted that he would fall dead from fright before going a +mile. But somehow he managed to keep in advance of his pursuers, and +whenever they quickened their pace he quickened his, but all the time +keeping up the appearance of weariness. The last of the horsemen, +however, approached within two hundred yards of the emu, who was by this +time really tired. Then the dogs were turned loose, and they speedily +overtook the bird and pulled him down. One of the dogs was quite +severely injured in the fight with the bird, but his wounds were dressed +and bandaged, and his owners said he would soon be well again. + +The emu is called the Australian ostrich, and he resembles that bird in +being unable to fly, running with great rapidity and using his feet for +fighting purposes. He strikes a heavy blow with his foot, and a single +stroke of it is sufficient to disable a dog or break a man's leg. The +young man who accompanied Harry told him that he knew of an instance +where an emu was chased and overtaken by a man on horseback, accompanied +by dogs. The bird became desperate at finding he could not escape. As +the horse approached, the bird threw itself on its back and kicked +savagely, ripping the side of the animal with its claws. The horse was +so badly lacerated that it was necessary to shoot him. + +If caught when young or hatched out from an egg, the emu can be easily +domesticated, but he is a dangerous pet to have about the premises. Like +the ostrich, it has a love for bright things, and has been known to +swallow silver spoons and other shining articles. One day a stranger, +standing close to the fence of a yard where a tame emu was kept, took +out his gold watch to ascertain the time. The bird was attracted by the +glittering object, and with a quick motion he seized it and dropped it +down his throat. Several black fellows were called, who secured the bird +with some difficulty, poured a powerful emetic into his stomach, and +then hung him up by the feet. This heroic treatment had the desired +effect, and restored the watch to its owner. + +The eggs of the emu are in demand as great curiosities, and Australian +jewelers work them into various ornamented articles and sell them +readily at a high price. The perpetual hunt for the eggs, which is kept +up by the blacks, is steadily diminishing the number of these birds, +and, in course of time, there is danger that they will become extinct. + +Another bird that was seen by our friends, but not captured, is the one +known as the native companion. It is a large bird, belonging to the +crane family. Its head stands about three feet from the ground, its legs +are long, and its plumage is a lavender gray. It is rarely seen alone, +there being generally two of them together, and very often a dozen or +more. In this instance there were two birds, which went away rapidly on +their wings and were soon lost to sight. When there is a large number of +them together, they indulge in a series of evolutions which have a close +resemblance to the movements of accomplished dancers. They advance, +recede, turn, return, and go through a variety of figures like dancers +in the quadrille or the minuet. Sometimes they keep up these +performances for an hour or more, and seem to indulge in them entirely +for the sake of amusement. + +Harry asked if they would have an opportunity to see the famous lyre +bird of Australia. "We saw two of them," said he, "in the Zoo at +Melbourne, and therefore, know what their appearance is, but we would +like very much to see them in their wild state." + +"The lyre bird is getting very scarce in Australia," said their young +friend, "and I have never seen one in this locality. The bird frequents +mountainous regions where the forests are somewhat dense, and very +rarely comes out into the open plain. It is about the size of an +ordinary barnyard fowl, but looks much larger, owing to its beautiful +tail, which is very long, and grows exactly in the shape of the +instrument after which it is named. It is a very clever mocking bird, +and will reproduce the notes of all its forest companions, but it is +very shy and difficult to get at, and unless it is got when very young +it cannot be domesticated. + +"We have wild turkeys here," continued their informant; "and they are +very good eating; perhaps some of our party will be fortunate enough to +bring down a turkey or two before we go back. There is one fowl here +called the mallee bird, about the size of the pheasant, and resembling +him in many ways. He generally lives near the edge of the mallee scrub, +and his flesh is very much esteemed by all who have eaten it. The mallee +is a gregarious bird, and at the breeding season large numbers of them +come together. They collect great heaps of dry leaves, among which a +number of hen birds lay their eggs, indiscriminately taking care to +cover them up warmly. + +"They don't take any trouble to hatch their eggs, but leave that for the +heat of the dry and decaying vegetable matter. When the time approaches +for the chicks to break the shell, the male birds hover about on the +watch for their appearance, and snakes, also, like to come around, in +the hopes of securing a few of the tender birds as they emerge into +daylight. When the chick comes out from the egg, his skin is pink and +bare, and hardly a sign of a feather is visible; but within twenty-four +hours, during which the feathers spread so rapidly that you can almost +see their growth, the bird is fully fledged and feathered, and able to +take care of itself." + +An amusing circumstance happened during the day's excursion. Ned was +the victim of it, and he did not consider it at all amusing until after +it was all over. This was the way of it:-- + +While the party was halted at one time, discussing where next they would +go, the dogs disturbed something, but neither of our young friends could +make out what it was. They were in the open country at the time, though +not far from the edge of the bush. The something that the dogs had +disturbed came directly towards the party, and Ned happened to be nearer +to it than anybody else. The creature looked like a small alligator, and +that's what Ned and Harry thought it was. Ned had dismounted from his +horse and was standing by the animal's head, waiting for the decision +about their movements. The animal came directly up to Ned and climbed up +his side. It was about five feet long, and a very formidable-looking +creature. The youth immediately began fighting the animal, and shouted +for his friends to pull him off. + +"Lie down on the ground," said one of the Australians; "lie down on the +ground, and he will leave you at once. He is just as much frightened as +you are." + +Ned flung his horse's bridle to one of his friends, and then obeyed +instructions. He dropped to the ground, and immediately as he did so the +horrid-looking creature left him. + +"What in the world is that?" said Ned, as he rose to his feet again and +regained his composure. + +"That's an iguana, or lizard," was the reply. "It is perfectly harmless +as long as you know how to deal with it. When it is pursued by dogs, it +runs to its hole if it can; if its hole is not available, it climbs a +tree until it is out of reach of its pursuers, and if no tree is at +hand, it will climb on a man or a horse. It selected you as a place of +shelter, and I warrant it was more scared than you were." + +"It might be easily mistaken for an alligator," said Ned, surveying the +animal as it was stretched on the ground, having been killed by a blow +on the head from the butt of a stockman's whip. + +"Yes, it is often mistaken for a young alligator. I have known of an +iguana to appear in a party of pleasure seekers, picnicking in the +woods, and make quite a serious disturbance. The ladies screamed and +fled and some of them fainted. Some of the men fled, too, but those who +knew about the creature quickly despatched him." + +"Is it useful for food?" + +"Yes; the blacks use it, and are very fond of it, but white men don't +'hanker after it,' as your American phrase is. However, those who have +been bold enough to taste it assert that, when well cooked, the flavor +is excellent." + +"Well, it doesn't look very inviting," Ned remarked; "and I don't think +I would care for iguana for dinner." + +"You may not care for it," was the reply, "but the black fellows will. +Here, Jack," he continued, addressing the aboriginal, "you can have +this." + +Jack needed no second invitation. With a smile on his face, he quickly +took possession of the huge lizard and strapped it to his saddle. No +doubt the meat of the iguana gave the blacks at the station a supper +that they greatly enjoyed. + +Another day was spent at the cattle station, Harry and Ned going out +with one of the stockmen and accompanying him on his morning round. Dr. +Whitney thought he did not care for any more horseback exercise just +then, and spent the day around the station. The youths enjoyed their +ride very much, and returned to the house in time for luncheon. + +It had been arranged that our young friends should visit a sheep run +about twenty miles away, and on the morning of the fourth day Mr. Syme +took them in his covered wagon to their destination. The road was not a +very smooth one, but the wagon, which was well built, suffered no +injury, and as for the passengers, they did not mind a little jolting. +They reached their destination with very sharp appetites, and evidently +their new host, Mr. Johnson, was aware of what their condition would be, +as a substantial meal was on the table a few minutes after their +arrival; and you may be sure that it received ample attention from the +strangers. + +After the meal was over, the party went out for a stroll among the +buildings connected with the station. The house where the owner lived +was a solidly built affair, not unlike the one they had sojourned in for +a few days at the cattle station. There was this difference, however, +that it was elevated on posts about six feet from the ground, giving +free circulation of air beneath it, and furnishing a good place of +storage for various things connected with the station. + +In reply to an inquiry by Harry, Mr. Johnson said that this arrangement +of the building was a good one to keep out snakes. "It doesn't keep them +out altogether," said he, "as there are snakes that will climb posts, +but ordinarily serpents do not attempt that performance. When I first +came to Australia, I lived in a house which stood right on the ground. +The region was a snaky one, and every little while we would find a snake +in the house, and have a lively time driving him out or killing him. +None of the family was ever bitten by a snake, but we certainly had some +narrow escapes. When I came here and built this house, I determined to +have a dwelling which these unpleasant visitors could not easily enter." + +Harry remarked that a snake-proof house was certainly quite to his +liking, and he hoped the building would continue to display its +admirable qualities as long as he remained there. + +The youths were impressed with the size and extent of the wool shed +belonging to the establishment, and Ned remarked that they must have a +very active time during the shearing season. + +"It is our most active time," was the reply; "the busiest of all the +year. Ordinarily the life on a sheep run is quiet and humdrum, but when +shearing time begins everything is lively. We engage the shearers as +they come along, in parties or gangs. They are a difficult lot of men to +deal with, as they have a very powerful trade union which stands by its +members, with little regard to right or wrong. The shearing is done by +piece work. We used to pay three pence for shearing a sheep, or rather +we paid five shillings a score. A good shearer can do fourscore in a +day, and consequently he earns twenty shillings or one sovereign. That's +pretty good pay, isn't it?" + +"Seems to me that it is," replied Harry. "Do you board the shearers, or +do they find themselves?" + +"Oh, we have to board them, of course, and we have to board their +horses, as most of the shearers travel on horseback. But the feed of a +horse isn't of much consequence, as we simply turn him into the paddock +and let him graze there. Sometimes we hire a fiddler to play for the men +while they are at work in the shearing house, and also in the evening, +when they are off duty. Sometimes a gang of shearers brings along its +own cook. They pay the cook's wages themselves, but the employer +supplies the material out of which the shearers' meals are made. These +fellows are very particular as to their treatment, and if they feel that +they are ill-used in any way, they are liable to quit work and go away." + +"They ought to earn a very nice little sum of money during the shearing +season," observed Harry. + +"They certainly do," was the reply; "especially as, for the last two +years, they have demanded four pence and even five pence for each sheep +sheared. I expect they'll get it up in time so as to take most of the +profits of the business. It makes little difference to the great +majority of them how much they get for their work, as it is generally +gone by the end of the shearing season." + +"That reminds me," said Mr. Johnson, "of the visit of a gentleman from +Melbourne to a sheep station up country. He went there with a friend, +reaching the station about dinner time. He was introduced to the owner +of the station, who greeted him cordially enough, and invited the two of +them to remain at dinner, which would be ready shortly. He strolled +about the buildings for a little while, and when dinner was announced, +he went in and joined the others at table. + +"The table was well supplied, and he had no occasion to complain of the +quality or quantity of the food set before him; but he was somewhat +surprised to find that no one spoke to him, except in the briefest +manner, and that every one seemed desirous of being rid of him as soon +as possible. In fact, there was very little conversation at the table, +anyway, and as soon as they were through dinner he suggested to his +friend that they had better be moving. Their team was brought out, and +they continued their journey, their temporary hosts not even taking the +trouble to say good-day to him. + +"When they were out of earshot of the place, the Melbourne gentleman +remarked to his companion, who, by the way, was a good deal of a +practical joker:-- + +"'I don't think much of your friends from a civility point of view. They +were as rude to me as a party of savages could be.' + +"'I don't wonder at it,' was the reply. 'Just for the fun of the thing, +I told them you were president of the Sheep Shearers' Union.' + +"'If you told them that outrageous lie,' said the other, 'I am not at +all surprised that they treated me as they did, but please don't do it +again.' + +"I don't believe that the president of the Shearers' Union would +receive a hearty welcome at any sheep run in Australia. Sheep farmers +have good reason for a serious grudge against the whole concern; but, +after all, it is no worse than most of the other trade unions. Nearly +all of them are oppressive to a high degree, and are a great injury to +business and commercial prosperity." + +Ned and Harry were especially interested in the place where the shearing +was done. The building was a large structure of quadrangular shape, with +a bulkhead running across the middle of it and dividing it into two +portions. There is a platform for the shearers around one of the +enclosures formed, and by the bulkhead at shearing time; this is always +kept full of sheep; in fact, it is crowded full, so that the shearer can +lay hands on a sheep at any time without the necessity of running after +it. The shearers stand at their work. They have tried various devices +for sitting down or for placing sheep on a bench or table so as to avoid +bending their backs, but none of the experiments have succeeded, and the +old process remains in use. It is decidedly fatiguing for a beginner, +but in course of time one gets used to it, as to everything else. + +"What is that little door for, and the little yard outside of it?" +queried Ned, as he pointed to one of a series of low, small doors at the +outside of the shearers' platform, opposite the enclosure. + +"Oh, that is for the shearer to let out his sheep after he has removed +the fleece. He takes the animal to be sheared out of the enclosure, as I +told you, and then when he has sheared it, he lets it out through this +door into the little yard; that is to enable us to count the men's work +in a way to avoid all disputes. In the early days of Australian sheep +farming, the men who gathered up the fleece kept the accounts of the +shearers, but there were constant disputes on the subject, which led to +the adoption of the present system. You see there isn't any chance for +misunderstanding now." + +"Certainly, you have it now beyond question," remarked Harry; "and I am +sure that every shearer is very careful about letting his sheep out +through his own door." + +"That he is," was the reply; "and we never have any complaints about +unfair counting. At the end of the day's work everybody can count up for +himself." + +"I suppose," said Ned, "that the shearers occasionally cut the sheep +while shearing them." + +"Occasionally!" was the reply; "you had better say frequently, or very +often; and some of them are much worse than others. We have proposed to +the Shearers' Union to establish a system of fines for 'tomahawking' +sheep, but the union refuses to do anything about it. We always have a +boy here, and sometimes two boys, while the shearing is going on. The +boy is provided with a tar bucket and brush. Whenever a shearer cuts the +skin of a sheep he calls out 'Tar!' not stopping a moment in his work. +At the sound of that word, the boy runs forward with his bucket and +brush and covers the wounded spot with tar, which keeps the flies away +from it. Tar is the best thing we can find for this purpose, and is in +use on all the sheep runs in the country. + +"Many of the shearers," continued their host, "pride themselves on the +skill with which they perform their work. The shearer places the sheep +between his knees with its head upwards; he begins at the throat and +shears downward, so that, when his work is completed, the fleece drops +off in a single piece. As fast as the sheep are sheared, the fleeces are +gathered by the man whose duty it is to collect them. They are then +taken to the baling house, and, when a sufficient quantity has been +obtained, the fleeces are made into bales, in much the same way that +cotton is baled on an American plantation." + +Mr. Johnson then led the way to the baling house, or rather the baling +room, as it was in the same building where the shearing is carried on. +The baling apparatus proved to be a simple affair, nothing more than a +press, very much like a cotton or hay press, and handled in the same +way. The bales of wool usually weigh about four hundred pounds, and are +manipulated with hooks, just as cotton bales are handled. + +Ned asked if it was necessary to have the wool perfectly dry when +packing it. + +"Yes, indeed," was the reply; "and for that reason all work in the wool +shed must stop during wet weather. The fleeces, when taken from the +sheep, must be absolutely dry, and if the sheep are caught out in a +rain, it takes two or three days to dry them thoroughly. It is a serious +loss of time when we have occasional rainy days, as we lose not only the +rainy day itself, but not less than one or two clear days afterwards in +order to have the fleeces in proper condition for baling." + +Other observations were made around the wool shed, and about the time +that they were concluded a flock of sheep came in from its day's +pasturage. There were about five hundred sheep in the flock, accompanied +by the shepherd and his dog. They were not driven to the wool shed, but +to a yard a little distance away from it. The sheep were in good +condition and evidently well cared for. + +Harry remarked as much to the owner, who answered that the man in charge +of them was a very faithful shepherd, and he added that he might well be +so, as he was constantly under the eye of his employer. + +After looking at the flock and visiting several other buildings of the +establishment, the party returned to the house, and in due course of +time sat down to dinner. The entertainment was very much like that of +the cattle station. The cooking was good, the host was attentive, the +meal was enlivened by stories of sheep-farming life, and altogether the +occasion was a pleasant one. + +The next morning Mr. Johnson accompanied his guests in a horseback ride +over a portion of his grounds. As the sheep run covered an area of about +one hundred square miles, it was too much to expect that they would +examine the whole of it. They visited two or three of the out-stations, +and saw the shepherds caring for their flocks. Each of the out-stations +that they visited consisted of a hut for two men, and two yards where +the sheep were kept at night. As already mentioned in our account of the +visit of the party to a sheep farm in South Africa, each shepherd +started out in the morning with his flock, moving it slowly along so as +to reach water about noon, and then slowly feeding it back again, +reaching the station about nightfall. + +Nearly every shepherd has a sheep dog, partly for the sake of +companionship and partly for assistance. A good sheep dog is a very +useful and valuable animal. He aids the shepherd in keeping the flock +together whenever any of them show a disposition to straggle, and the +sheep speedily learn to know him and regard him as their friend. He +never injures them, though he frequently makes a great pretense of doing +so. Sometimes he takes a refractory sheep by the ear, or seizes it by +the wool on his neck, but the case is exceedingly rare where he +perpetrates an actual bite. + +The favorite dog for the shepherd is the collie, but other kinds are +employed, and many an ordinary cur has been trained by an intelligent +master so that he made an excellent sheep dog, though he can never +attain the excellence of the genuine collie. The real shepherd dog will +accomplish more than would be possible for a man under the same +circumstances. He will drive a flock from place to place, gather them +together to be counted, and take them from one field to another much +quicker than a man could do it. A story is told of an instance that +happened in Scotland, to James Hogg, known in literature as "The Ettrick +Shepherd." Seven hundred sheep broke loose one night from his charge, +and scampered off in three divisions across the plain. It was too dark +to see anything for any appreciable distance, and the shepherd supposed +he would have to wait until morning, and then take his chances of +collecting his animals. Shortly afterwards he missed his dog. In the +morning he went out to look for the sheep, but saw no sign of them until +he reached the edge of a ravine and looked over the side. There he saw +the dog guarding the entire flock, not one of the seven hundred being +missing. How he ever managed to collect them in the dark, his owner +could not imagine. A dozen, or even a hundred men, would have failed +where he succeeded. + +Near the end of the last century there was a sheep stealer in Scotland, +who was finally discovered and hanged for his crimes, who used to carry +on his trade by the aid of his dog. He traveled about the country under +pretense of buying sheep, though he rarely bought any. While looking at +a flock, he would pick one of the fattest and give a secret signal to +his dog, indicating the animal. That night the dog would come to the +flock where the sheep belonged, often traveling several miles to do it; +then would pick out the identical animal and drive it to his master. If +he happened, at any time, to meet his master on the road while going on +one of his stealing expeditions, the dog would give no sign of +recognition, and treat his master as a perfect stranger. When the man's +guilt was discovered, and he was tried and condemned for his crime, the +dog was also condemned to be hanged; but it was afterwards concluded +that the dog was simply an instrument, in the hands of his owner, and +not responsible for his actions. He was given to a shepherd, who kept +the animal as long as he lived; and, according to the shepherd's +account, the dog was never afterwards guilty of any crime. + +During their ride among the out-stations of the sheep run, our young +friends learned several things connected with the industry of raising +wool for the market. + +One fact which they learned was, that for a portion of the year, a great +many sheep farmers are in debt to the bankers at the ports where they +send their wool. They have a considerable amount of money to pay out +during the course of the year before shearing time, and consequently +they require advances from their bankers. It is not at all difficult to +obtain money in advance on a crop of wool, and in this respect a sheep +run has an advantage over a cattle run. Even when the sheep farmer is +growing rich, and has money laid by, he often prefers to obtain advances +on his wool crop rather than use his own money for carrying on business. +When the crop comes in, all the indebtedness is paid off, and there is +usually a good balance left. This may be set aside and invested, or it +may remain at the banker's, to be drawn whenever wanted. + +Sheep farmers keep very little money at their stations in the country +districts for fear of attracting bushrangers, or other individuals, +whose ideas of the rights of property do not harmonize with those of +society in general. In many cases laborers are paid off by check, and +not in cash, and it is no uncommon sight to see a laboring man, in an +Australian town or village, flourishing a check previous to turning it +into money, which he proceeds to spend with a liberal hand. + +Another point that they learned was, that there are certain portions of +Australia between the mountains and the coast, particularly in +Queensland, that are not adapted to sheep, though they make excellent +pasturage for cattle. In these localities there is a grass that has a +barb on its edges, and when once it becomes attached to the wool of the +sheep, it steadily works its way inward until it pierces the skin of the +animal, and eventually causes its death. Cattle are not affected by this +grass, as it does not penetrate their skins. They walk in it and feed +upon it with impunity, and in any of the regions where this grass is +found there is no attempt at rearing sheep, but the land is devoted to +cattle raising. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +FROM MELBOURNE TO SYDNEY--CROSSING THE BLUE MOUNTAINS. + + +When their visit to the sheep run was concluded, our friends returned to +Melbourne, where they spent two or three days, and then proceeded to +Sydney. Two ways were open to them, one by sea, and the other by land; +they chose the latter, as it would give them an opportunity to see more +of the country than if they went by water. The water journey is mostly +made by night, and consequently they would be deprived of a sight of the +picturesque coast which lies between the two cities. + +The railway out of Melbourne runs through a picturesque country, as it +ascends the slope of the dividing range of mountains in the neighborhood +of the city. There are many country residences of gentlemen concerned in +business in Melbourne, and the country has a prosperous appearance. +Further away on the slope of the range, our friends passed through large +wheat fields, sheep and cattle runs, occasional patches of forest, and +not infrequently crossed small rivers flowing on their way to the sea. +They also crossed a goodly number of dry beds of rivers, which had every +appearance of being full and running over in the season of heavy rains. +The side of the range next the coast receives more rain than the other +side of it, and the reasons therefor have been given in a previous +chapter. + +After the train had passed the crest of the range, it rolled along +through a broken and undulating country, largely devoted to sheep and +cattle raising, and having many stretches of blue gum forest. In some +places great numbers of rabbits were visible, but this was a sight to +which the eyes of our young friends had become accustomed. As they +approached the frontier of the colony of Victoria, Dr. Whitney remarked +that they would spend the rest of the day and the night at Albury, so as +to have another view of the Murray River, and study the peculiarities of +the colonial frontier. + +"I believe," said Harry, "that we have our baggage examined at the +frontier, just as it is examined at the frontiers of the empires and +kingdoms of Europe." + +"Yes," replied the doctor, "that is the case; and I suppose the +examination will be a light one for us, as we are going out of a +protection colony into a free trade one. If we were going the other way, +the custom house officials would be more particular." + +"How is that?" Ned asked. + +"Why, don't you see?" the doctor answered, "a protection country is on +the lookout for goods that may interfere with its manufacturing +interests; the free trade one has no such care for its manufacturing +industries, but levies its duties on articles of luxury principally. +When you come into the United States, your baggage is examined much more +carefully than when you go into England. England is a free trade +country, while our own is a protection one; at least it has been for +the greater part of the time since it began its existence." + +"It is rather a strange circumstance," remarked Ned, "that two colonies +of the same country, lying side by side, and one of them an offshoot of +the other, should be so radically different in their tariff laws. How do +you account for it, sir?" + +"We are treading on dangerous ground," replied the doctor, "as it is not +prudent for a traveler in foreign lands to talk politics; but as we are +quite by ourselves, we may be permitted to discuss the subject a little. +Victoria, as you are aware, is an offshoot from the colony of New South +Wales, from which it was separated in August, 1851. I don't know +anything about the matter, but presume that the origin of the +differences in tariffs between the two colonies grew out of the +opposition of the new to the old. There has always been a great deal of +jealousy between them, and as New South Wales had a free trade policy, +it was the most natural thing in the world that the jealous young colony +of Victoria should adopt a protection one. In each of the colonies there +is a strong party opposed to its tariff policy; in Victoria there is a +goodly number of free-traders, while in New South Wales there is an +equally good number of protectionists. Whatever a man's views are, in +regard to free trade or protection, it is generally useless to attempt +to change them by argument; and if he is a skilled debater, he can give +you facts and figures to demonstrate, with great clearness, the +correctness of his views. On that point I can tell you what was to me an +amusing story." + +"What was that?" + +"Several years ago, when the financial authorities of the two colonies +had made their annual reports, the two documents were taken by a free +trade writer for an English magazine, and out of them, by the use of the +figures and facts that they contained, there was constructed an +admirable article, demonstrating, with great clearness, the advantages +of free trade in New South Wales. Almost simultaneously in an American +newspaper appeared a similar article, drawn from the same facts and +figures, which demonstrated with equal clearness and with equal +conclusiveness the advantages of protection in Victoria. There was not a +weak point in either of the articles, and the curious thing was that +they were drawn from the same sources. Each writer showed that the +colony whose tariff policy he had favored was far more prosperous than +the other, and was making progress steadily, while the other was running +behind." + +"It's pretty much the same in our own country, is it not?" queried +Harry. "It seems to me that I have read articles in the New York +_Tribune_ and the New York _Evening Post_ that were flatly contradictory +of each other on the subject of the tariff." + +"Yes; that is quite likely the case, as both of the papers you name are +ready to debate the subject, and it is evident that the writers upon +both sides of the question believe what they say. I don't think it worth +our while to enter into the abstract question here, and so we'll drop it +for something else. You are aware, I presume, that we have to make a +change of train at the frontier on account of the different gauges of +the railways of the two colonies." + +"Yes, sir, I was aware of that," said Harry; "one track is six inches +wider than the other." + +"Yes; that is another indication of the hostility between the two +colonies. When the railway between Sydney and Melbourne was projected, +it was impossible for the opposing interests to agree upon a uniform +track for the whole distance, and consequently each colony did as it +chose. The result was, that the Victorian line was of one gauge, and +that of New South Wales of another. Neither passenger nor freight cars +can run through from one city to the other, but all passengers and +freight must be transferred at the frontier." + +"Let me call your attention to another thing while we are on the subject +of colonial disagreements," the doctor remarked. "Each of the colonies +has its own postal system and each its own postage stamp. In New South +Wales, a Victorian stamp would be of no use, any more than would a +British postage stamp in the United States Post-office. You can prepay +letters from one colony to the other in the stamps of the colony where +you happen to be, but if you post a letter in Sydney with a Victorian +stamp upon it, I am afraid it would go to the dead letter office, just +as if it had borne no stamp at all." + +"What a pity it is," said Harry, "that the colonies cannot reconcile +their differences and come together." + +"You are not the first one, by any means, who has thought so," was the +reply. "Statesmen have been for a considerable time discussing the +question of a federation of all the colonies in the same way that the +British American colonies are federated. Federation would have been +accomplished long ago, at least it is so claimed by the others, had it +not been for New South Wales, which stands aloof from the rest +principally on account of the tariff question. All the other colonies +are in favor of the protection of home industries, while New South +Wales, as before stated, favors a free trade policy. I saw, while in +Melbourne, a cartoon representing several young women standing in a +circle. All were dressed in white and wreathed with roses, and the +various members of the circle were marked with the names of Victoria, +Tasmania, Queensland, South Australia, New Zealand, and West Australia. +A little in the background, and leaning against the wall with one finger +in her mouth as though she were angry, was a young woman dressed in +black, and labeled 'New South Wales.' The others were evidently trying, +but without success, to induce her to join the circle. + +"I presume," he continued, "that federation will come in time, and an +Australian gentleman told me the other day that he believed it would be +a step towards independence. He thought, as do many other Australians, +that the long distance from the mother country and their diversity of +interests would tend, as the years go on, to weaken the bonds between +Great Britain and her Australian colonies, and that separation would be +sure to come. The colonies realize their great danger in case Great +Britain should become involved in a foreign war, and especially with a +power possessing a powerful navy. The colonies have a military force on +the volunteer system, which could no doubt do efficient service in time +of war. The British government maintains a certain number of warships in +Australian waters, but neither they nor the volunteer troops provided by +the colonies would be of much avail against a powerful force sent here +by a first-class power." + +There was further conversation upon various topics of which we have no +record, and in due course of time the train reached Wodonga, the +frontier terminus of the line. It halted a few minutes in the station, +and then moved on to Albury, in New South Wales, crossing the Murray +River on an iron bridge; Harry remarking, as they did so, that it was +the same Murray, though not the same bridge, that they crossed between +Adelaide and Melbourne. + +Harry learned, on inquiry, that the railway line from Melbourne reached +Wodonga in 1873, but the line from Sydney did not arrive at the northern +bank of the Murray until eight years later. There were disagreements +between the management of the two concerns, so that for three years the +ends of the two railway lines were not brought together. Passengers were +transferred by coaches or omnibuses, and baggage and freight by wagons, +between Wodonga and Albury, a distance of two miles. At last, however, +the quarrels came to an end. A bridge was built, the lines of railway +were completed, and since then everything has been harmonious. +Passengers from New South Wales cross the river in the train by which +they have arrived, and alight in the station at Wodonga. Passengers from +Victoria cross the river, and make their change of cars on the +territory of New South Wales in the Albury station. + +After the custom-house examination was concluded, and it was by no means +severe, our friends found a fairly good hotel where they put up for the +night. Then they took a carriage and drove around the town, which was +evidently a prosperous one, and had the usual paraphernalia of public +institutions, such as churches, hospitals, jail, town hall, etc. It is +said to be the home and the place of business of a considerable number +of smugglers, whose occupation is invited by the long frontier line +which separates Victoria from New South Wales. A resident of Albury, +with whom our friends fell into conversation, admitted that a good deal +of smuggling was carried on there, and added that it would take the +whole male population of Victoria to guard the frontier efficiently. Of +course, smuggling, like the same business everywhere else, relates +chiefly to goods where high values can be included in small parcels. No +one would think it worth his while to smuggle bulky articles of small +value, since it would not pay to carry them long distances on men's +backs, as most of the smuggled articles are carried. + +Albury stands on the bank of the Murray River, five hundred and +thirty-one feet above the sea; it is about three hundred miles from the +source of that stream, and six hundred above its mouth. During the rainy +season, when the Murray is at its height, steamers run up to Albury, but +ordinarily the river is not navigable to that place. As our friends +drove along the edge of the stream, below the two bridges which span it, +they saw a small steamboat tied up at the bank, and having an +appearance of idleness about it. They stopped the carriage for a few +moments to inspect the boat, and found that it had been left there by a +sudden fall of the river, and was waiting for the next flood to come. + +"It is a very light draft steamboat," said Harry in his notebook; "and +makes me think of those they talk about in the western part of the +United States, that can run on a heavy dew, or where a man goes ahead of +them with a sprinkling pot. It is a side-wheel boat, the wheels being +very large, but not dipping far into the water. The engine seems rather +small for such a large pair of wheels, but I suppose the boat was not +built for speed so much as for general utility. She has a saloon over +the engines, with cabins opening out of it, and there are quarters on +the main deck for the officers and crew. The rooms in the upper cabin +are intended for passengers, and as there are only ten of them on each +side, you can readily understand that the accommodations are limited. +They told me that the steamer was built at one of the towns lower down +the river, her engines having been made in Adelaide, and brought +overland to the place where the hull was constructed. They also told me +that the first steamer which ever ascended the Murray was named the +_Albury_, and arrived in the year 1855. I infer, from the name of the +boat, that it was owned by people living here, but on that point my +informant was unable to say anything definite." + +When the party returned to the hotel for dinner, they were regaled with +a fish which was new to them. At Melbourne they had fish from the sea +almost daily, but when visiting the cattle and sheep stations they had +none at all, for the reason that no fish were to be obtained in those +localities, and it would be an expensive matter to bring them there from +the sea with the strong probability of their being unfit for eating at +the time of their arrival. As they were not looking for fish in any +inland town, they naturally inquired what it was before them. + +"That is the Murray cod, sir, or cod-perch, as we call it," said the +waiter, in reply to Ned's question. "It is a fish caught in the Murray +River, and I think you'll like it, gentlemen." + +They did like it, all three of our friends pronouncing it quite +toothsome. It is a fish somewhat resembling the American perch, both in +appearance and in taste, and probably belongs to the same family. +Australia is poorly supplied with fresh water fishes. Many of the lakes +contain no fish whatever, and the few that are found there are poor +eating. There are trout in the mountainous districts, but they are not +numerous. Attempts have been made to stock the rivers with European +salmon, carp, and other food fishes, but thus far the experiments have +not been especially successful. Once in a while a fisherman catches a +small salmon in one of the streams, and paragraphs concerning his +performance are circulated far and wide in the newspapers. The habit of +most of the Australian rivers of running dry at certain portions of the +year is a serious discouragement to the industry of fish culture. + +At Albury our friends found themselves in one of the mountainous +districts of Australia. Mount Kosciusco, the highest peak in Australia, +was not far away, though not visible from the town, but other mountain +peaks were in sight of the place. Kosciusco is not a very high mountain, +as mountains go, as its summit is only 7,308 feet above the level of the +sea. It is quite picturesquely situated, forming one of a group of +several mountains, and the journey to its summit is by no means an easy +matter. + +Athletic young men, with a fondness for adventure, occasionally make up +parties for an excursion to the top of the mountain, and if the weather +is good they come back with their spirits high, their shoes or boots +well worn, and their clothing more or less damaged. Traveling facilities +are limited, and anybody who climbs Mount Kosciusco must expect to +"rough it." The town nearest to the mountain is Tumberumba, and the +excursion is made partly on horseback and partly on foot. It is forty +miles from Tumberumba to the mountain, and in order to reach that town +it is necessary to travel by coach a distance of seventy-four miles, +from Calcairn, which is the nearest station on the railway. + +Travelers who have visited Switzerland before going to Australia say +that the region around Mount Kosciusco is quite Alpine in character, as +it has deep gorges and ravines, and the streams plunge for long +distances over precipitous rocks. The Murray River takes its rise among +these mountains, and a great contrast is offered between the country +around its head waters and that through which it flows in the latter +part of its course. The country is too rough around these mountains for +sheep and cattle stations. There is a considerable amount of tillable +land among them, which is principally devoted to the growing of oats +and wheat. + +At their appointed time, our friends proceeded by train in the direction +of Sydney. They found the railway running for much of the way through a +mountainous region, some of it very mountainous indeed. The railway +engineering on many parts of the route evoked their admiration, and +certainly it deserves a great deal of praise. There are numerous tunnels +on the way, gorges and ravines are traversed by bridges high up in the +air, and nowhere in the world can be found better examples of +engineering skill in mountain work. A gentleman who was in the carriage +with them said they would find equally good work on the western line of +railway, the one on which they were traveling being the southern. + +"The range of mountains that winds around the whole coast of Australia," +said the gentleman, "has made our railways cost us very dearly. To go +any distance at all into the interior, we had to traverse the mountains, +and for a long time it was believed that it would be absolutely +impossible to get through them. The first railway line in New South +Wales was surveyed about 1847, and ground for it was broken in July, +1850. The obstacles which the Blue Mountains presented retarded the work +very much, but finally, after they were passed, we got along well +enough. You will see for yourself how difficult they were." + +"From what we had already seen," wrote Harry, "we fully agreed with the +gentleman in his statement, and were not surprised to learn that the +engineers were considerably discouraged when they began their work. +After a pause, he described to us some of the interesting points of the +western line, as it is called, and said he hoped we would be able to +make a journey over that part of the railway system of New South Wales. +He assured us that we would never regret it, and that we would see some +of the most magnificent sights to be obtained anywhere in railway +travel. + +"When you have crossed the crest of the Blue Mountains," the gentleman +continued, "you will see a piece of railway engineering which has never +been undertaken, as far as I know of, anywhere else in the world." + +"What is that?" one of the party asked. + +"It is the accomplishment of a feat that has always been disastrous in +every other part of the globe, that of two trains passing each other on +a single track." + +"It certainly results in disaster as far as I have ever known," Dr. +Whitney answered. "I have never heard of two trains trying to pass each +other on a single track without both of them coming to grief." + +"Well, you know that Australia is a land of contradictions," was the +reply; "and why shouldn't we be contradictory in this as well as many +other things? The way we perform this trick is this:-- + +"The railway climbs the mountain by means of zigzags, running first one +way, and then the other, and all the time making an ascending grade. At +the end of each zigzag the track is prolonged sufficiently to hold two +railway trains. When an ascending train sees a descending one coming, +the engine driver runs his train to the end of this prolonged track and +stops. Then the descending one comes down, runs upon the track, is +switched off down the mountain, and the way is then clear for the +ascending train to proceed. There is no double track anywhere, and yet +the trains have passed each other, and safely too." + +"Very simple when you know what it is," said Harry, and the others +echoed his remark. + +When they crossed the Blue Mountains they found the zigzags, readily +recognizing them from the description. On seeing the rugged character of +the mountains, they were not at all surprised that the engineers were +appalled at the difficulties before them. Neither did they wonder that +the officers in command of the first convict settlement at Sydney for a +long time regarded the Blue Mountains as impassable, and believed that +escaped convicts traveling in that direction would be stopped by this +formidable barrier. The Blue Mountains were not crossed and the country +beyond them explored until 1813, although the settlement at Sydney was +founded in 1788. + +Mountain regions are always considered healthy places to live in, and +this is especially the case with the region of the Blue Mountains. A +fellow-passenger in the train told our friends that it was a favorite +saying in the country that nobody ever dies in the Blue Mountains; he +simply dries up and disappears. Another passenger said that once, when a +town was founded in the Blue Mountain district, the people wanted to +start a graveyard, and took along an elderly man who was in the last +stages of consumption. They had agreed to pay his expenses and give him +a grand funeral, on the condition that he lived until he reached the +site of the town. Not only did he live until he got there, but he +continued to live for many years, and finally dried up and blew away. +The people felt that they had been defrauded, and if the man had left +anything in the way of property, they would have brought suit for the +recovery of damages. + +Harry recorded the above anecdote in his notebook, adding to it the +words, "Interesting, but of doubtful authenticity." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +SIGHTS OF SYDNEY----BOTANY BAY AND PARAMATTA. + + +After leaving the Blue Mountains behind them, our friends were whirled +onward through a more fertile country than the one they had traversed on +the western slope. As they approached Sydney, they found the country +dotted with pleasant residences and diversified with fields and forest +in a very picturesque way. At the appointed hour the train rolled into +the station at Sydney, and landed the strangers in that ancient city; +ancient from an Australian point of view, as it is the oldest settlement +on the island continent, but exceedingly modern when compared with +London, Paris, and other European capitals. + +As our friends drove in the direction of the hotel where they intended +to stay, they were struck by the narrowness of the streets, which seemed +to them very narrow indeed, after the wide streets of Melbourne. + +Harry wondered how the difference of the streets of the two cities could +be accounted for. + +"Oh, I understand," said Ned. "Sydney was laid out by an English +surveyor, and Melbourne by an American. Being a native of the little +island called England, the Britisher felt that he must make the most of +the land he had, while the American, coming from his own wide-spreading +country, took all the room that he wanted. That's the way of it, I'm +sure." + +"Well, that will do for an explanation," said Harry, "until we get at +the real facts in the case." + +"The probabilities are," the doctor remarked, "that as Sydney was +originally a convict settlement, the officers that came out in charge of +the expedition felt that it should be made as compact as possible for +the greater facility of guarding the convicts. In this way the +narrowness of the streets may be accounted for." + +"They didn't foresee the tramways in the streets, and the steam cars +running upon them," said Harry, as a noisy little steam engine drawing +two passenger cars passed close to their carriage. + +"No, indeed," responded Ned. "Street cars had not been invented at the +time Sydney was founded, and the locomotive was unknown. One would think +that steam cars, running through crowded streets like this, would cost a +considerable loss of life every year." + +"I have heard that they do so," said Dr. Whitney. "You observe that they +have flagmen at some of the crossings, and that the trains do not stop +wherever passengers want to get on, but only at certain designated +points. There must be great danger to pedestrians, many of whom, in all +cities, are careless, and I wonder the authorities do not abolish this +steam traffic in the streets, and adopt the cable or the trolly." + +"We'll take good care that they don't run over us while we are in +Sydney," remarked Harry, and there the tramway subject was dropped. + +Our friends followed the same plan here as in the other cities they had +visited, of going out for a drive or stroll immediately after arranging +for their accommodations at the hotel, and removing the dust of travel +from their clothing. They thought there was less bustle and activity in +the streets of Sydney than in those of Melbourne, and accounted for the +difference that Sydney was the older and more dignified place of the +two, had a smaller population, and was not so much given over to +speculations in gold mines and other matters. They found it well +equipped with public buildings, most of them fully equal to the +corresponding edifices in the rival city. The city hall especially +roused their admiration, and they passed several churches which would do +honor to any city of Europe. The doctor remarked that the people of +Sydney had constructed their public buildings with a liberal hand, and +Harry answered that the liberal hand had been directed by excellent +taste. + +"I am impatient to see the famous harbor of Sydney," Ned remarked soon +after they started on their drive. "You know it is the one thing we have +heard about more than any other." + +"We will have an opportunity of seeing it in two or three ways," the +doctor remarked. Then he called to the driver, and told him to stop in +front of the city hall. + +After giving a hasty glance at the interior of the building, the party +climbed to the cupola, which is one hundred and fifty feet above the +level of the street below. From their point of observation they had a +fine view in every direction. The whole city was in sight, and also a +good deal of the surrounding country. The magnificent harbor, too, was +at their feet. Fifteen miles to the westward, they could see the pretty +town of Paramatta, which is a favorite resort for Sydney merry-makers; +while to the eastward, the broad line of the Pacific Ocean was spread +before their gaze. They remained there for half an hour or so in the +cupola, taking in the view in general, and also in many of its details. + +As they were about to descend, Ned remarked that the harbor fully met +his expectations, and in some points exceeded them. Afterward he wrote +as follows in his notebook:-- + +"The harbor may be said to consist of a series of coves or bays, uniting +together in a single body of water, which opens to the sea between two +promontories, called The Heads. Whether viewed from an elevation like +that of the tower of the city hall, or from points along its shores, or +from the deck of a vessel passing over it, Sydney harbor presents a most +admirable view." + +After leaving the city hall, our friends drove to Circular Quay, whose +character in one respect is described by its name, as it is of +semicircular shape, and encloses the most important of the divisions of +Sydney harbor. Harry and Ned were unable to say whether the amount of +shipping at Sydney was greater than that at Melbourne or not, but in one +thing they were agreed, that neither city had a right to be jealous of +the other on the score of marine business. There were ships of all +nations at Melbourne, and there were also ships of all nations at +Sydney. Sydney has the advantage of being the terminus of most of the +great steamship lines, and consequently their vessels are in port at +Sydney for a longer time than at Melbourne. There were great steamers +of the Orient line, of the Peninsular and Oriental (familiarly known as +the "P. & O."), the French line, or Messageries Maritimes, the North +German Lloyd, and other lines of lesser note. There was a steamer there, +from San Francisco, and there were several vessels belonging to the +Australian Steam Navigation Company. + +As our friends were looking at the forest of masts and funnels, Harry +was the first to break the silence. + +"You could start from here," he remarked, "for almost any other part of +the world. You could set out for Greenland's icy mountains or India's +coral strand with very little ease." + +"I don't know about Greenland's icy mountains," said Ned, "as I don't +believe there is any line running to them from Sydney, but the P. & O. +boat and several other boats will take you to India's coral strand; of +that I am sure." + +Circular Quay was formerly called Sydney Cove, and it was at the head of +this little cove that the first settlement was made. It is the principal +one of the coves or harbors where ships can lie, though Darling Cove is +nearly as important as the one just mentioned. The sheet of water into +which these coves open is called Port Jackson, and extends inland some +twenty miles from The Heads. Islands of various sizes are scattered +through Port Jackson, some of them occupied, and some remaining in a +state of nature. Our friends planned, while strolling about Circular +Quay, to make an excursion up the harbor as soon as they could do so +conveniently, and then, as it was getting pretty late in the afternoon, +they returned to their hotel. + +On their arrival at the house they met a gentleman to whom they had a +letter of introduction. He had heard of their arrival, and came to hunt +them up without waiting for the delivery of their letter. This +circumstance led Harry to write as follows in his journal:-- + +"Wherever we go we are received with the most open-handed hospitality. +Persons who are entire strangers to us are always civil, ready to answer +any question we ask, and every one of them seems quite willing to go out +of his way to serve us. We have made the acquaintance of men in railway +trains and around the hotels, or elsewhere, who have ended up a brief +conversation by inviting us to visit their country places, their sheep +or cattle stations, if they have any, or their business establishments +in the city, and this, too, without knowing anything about us other than +that we are strangers in Australia. Those to whom we have letters throw +their houses open to us, and in every instance urge us to a longer stay +whenever we intimate that we must depart. Those to whom we are +introduced by these people are equally courteous and equally ready to +show us any hospitality. The whole country seems open to us, and if we +could and would accept half the invitations that have been given to us, +we should remain in Australia for years, perhaps for a decade or two. + +"Many Australians, some of them born here of English parents, together +with natives of England who have lived here many years, complain that +when they go back to the old country they are received very coldly. It +is no wonder they feel that English customs are very frigid, when they +contrast them with the general kindness and liberal hospitality that +universally prevails throughout this island continent. Men who have +received strangers as freely as is the custom here, must have a +sensation of having ice water poured down their backs when they go to +London or New York, and are greeted with the formality customary to +those two cities. + +"I have been told that it is not infrequently the case that an old +Australian who goes to England with the intention of spending not less +than a year there, is back in the antipodes in less than six months. The +cold formality is not at all to his liking, and, as one man expressed +it, he feels as though a southerly burster had dropped on him all at +once; and yet his English friends are no doubt glad to see him, and have +no thought whatever of giving the least offense. + +"They are only adhering to the customs of centuries, and unless they +themselves have been in Australia, which is very rarely the case, they +cannot understand why the stranger should feel that he is being unkindly +treated. I am told that thirty years ago there was the same contrast +between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States, but since +railways have traversed the American continent, and communication is +made easier, the forms of hospitality of the peoples of the two sections +have become pretty much the same. + +"Of one thing you may be sure: we shall never forget the courtesies that +we have received, and when we leave the shores of Australia we shall +treasure long in our memories the warm hospitality which we have +encountered since the day we first set foot upon Australian soil." + +That evening the party visited one of the clubs where all three were +"put up" for the time of their stay in Sydney, their host intimating to +Dr. Whitney that, as his nephews were under age, they would not be +expected to visit the club, except in his company. Before they had been +in town twenty-four hours, our friends had received the offer of the +hospitality of no fewer than four clubs, together with several +invitations to dinner. The three agreed that Sydney was certainly a very +hospitable place, and that a stranger suffering from indigestion, or in +poor health, generally would find it too much for him. + +The next day our friends were taken on a drive through some of the +parks, of which Sydney has a liberal supply. Most of the parks are of +considerable extent, one of them, called the Domain, occupying one +hundred acres of ground on the shore of one of the coves. Other parks +are projected, and it was evident to Harry and Ned that the authorities +of Sydney were thorough believers in having plenty of breathing space +for the people. + +The drive included the Botanical Gardens, which proved to be full of +interest. Nearly every plant and tree of the whole of Australia is +represented in the Botanical Gardens, and there are many trees and +plants there from other parts of the world. Everything planted in these +gardens seems to thrive, the products of high latitudes growing side by +side to those of very low ones. + +The Botanical Gardens are not of recent origin, some of the trees they +contain having been planted there seventy or eighty years ago. Among +these trees are Norfolk pines, which have attained a height of one +hundred feet, and a diameter of five feet at the base. Dr. Whitney had +visited the pine forests of California, and said that the specimens in +the Botanical Gardens at Sydney reminded him of the magnificent trees of +the Golden State. + +At one place during their visit to the gardens Ned observed the smell of +musk, and looked around to ascertain whence it came. The gentleman who +accompanied him noted his curiosity and said:-- + +"I think you are looking for the musk tree. Here it is." + +And there it was, sure enough. The tree is a product of Australia, and +has the peculiarity of constantly giving out the odor of musk, which is +perceptible at quite a distance. Ned asked if any perfume was +manufactured from the tree or its leaves, and was answered in the +negative. + +All the parks of the city appeared to be tastefully laid out and well +kept. Ned recalled the numerous parks that they saw at Melbourne, and +remarked that neither city had occasion to be jealous of the other in +the matter of pleasant resorts for the people. + +Our young friends asked if any of the prisons or other buildings that +were erected at the time of the settlement of Sydney were still in +existence. + +"There is hardly a trace of any of them," was the reply. "As the city +has grown, the old buildings have been destroyed, to make place for new +ones of a more substantial character. One of the churches occupies the +site of the original cemetery which was established soon after the +foundation of the city, and a business house covers the ground where the +principal prison stood. There is no desire on the part of any of us to +preserve the buildings of the original settlement, as they recall +unpleasant memories. + +"We want to forget as much as we can," he continued, "all that is +disagreeable in the history of Sydney, just as an individual usually +wants to forget anything unpleasant about his own origin or history. The +subject comes up occasionally, and we have no squeamishness about +discussing it, and the history of the colony is well known to every +intelligent inhabitant of the place. Transportation to this colony +ceased about fifty years ago, and consequently there are few men now +living in New South Wales who came here as involuntary emigrants. The +old disputes between Emancipists and Free Settlers were ended long ago, +and the questions that greatly agitated the population of the first half +of the century have now become matters of history." + +As the gentleman paused, Harry thanked him for his information, and then +asked if Port Jackson and Botany Bay were the same thing. + +"They are quite distinct from each other," was the reply. "Botany Bay is +situated a little to the south of Port Jackson and opens into the +Pacific Ocean. It is a singular circumstance that Captain Cook missed +the entrance of Port Jackson, which he does not seem to have discovered +at all. It is only five miles across the land from one body of water to +the other, and it is evident that he did not venture very far inland, or +he would have found Port Jackson an infinitely better harbor than Botany +Bay. + +"It was in Botany Bay," continued the gentleman, "that the first +expedition to form a settlement in Australia cast anchor. Captain +Phillip, who commanded the expedition, and some of his officers examined +the land around Botany Bay, and found it quite unfit for a settlement. +While making their examinations they discovered Port Jackson, and +immediately perceived its superior advantages. The ships were at once +moved around to this harbor, and then the convicts and the soldiers who +guarded them were brought on land for the first time. But the name of +Botany Bay clung to the settlement for a long while, and became a name +of terror to the criminal classes of England." + +"It is a very pretty name when divested of its association," remarked +Harry. "I wonder how Captain Cook happened to hit upon it." + +"He gave it that name," was the reply, "on account of the great number +of flowers and flowering plants which he found all around the bay. Quite +likely he would have given the same name to Port Jackson if he had +discovered it, as there were just as many flowers here as at the other +place." + +On another day our friends took a drive to Botany Bay, which is only +five miles from Sydney. They found quite a pretty place, and were not +surprised to learn that it is a favorite resort of the residents of +Sydney. Their attention was called to the monument which marks the spot +where Captain Cook landed in 1770, and took possession of Australia in +the name of the British government. + +Another trip that they made was to Paramatta, going there by rail and +returning by water. Of this excursion Harry wrote as follows:-- + +"The journey is a short one, as Paramatta is only fifteen miles from +Sydney. It is on what they call the Paramatta River, which isn't really +a river, but simply an arm of the bay, and is a favorite place for +rowing races. Next to Sydney, it is the oldest town in the colony. +Governor Phillip, the first governor of New South Wales, laid it out in +1788, his object being to utilize the labors of the convicts in farming. +The first grain fields were established here, being cultivated by +convict labor, and the governor had a space of ground cleared, and a +house erected for his country residence. + +"The experiment of cultivating grain was so successful during the first +year, that it was continued on a larger scale during the second and +subsequent years. Free settlers took up ground at Paramatta, which was +then called Rosehill, the name which the governor gave to the little +elevation where his house was built. Settlers who came out to Sydney of +their own accord received allotments of land, and were supplied with a +sufficient number of convicts to do their work. + +"These were known as assigned servants, and the practise of having +assigned servants spread everywhere and became very popular, as the +parties to whom the convicts were assigned got their labor for +practically nothing. Sometimes the wives of convicts came out as +passengers in the same ships with their husbands, or followed them +later. When they arrived and set up housekeeping, they would apply for +servants to be assigned to them, and would name their husbands as the +men they preferred. The plan was found to work very well in nearly all +cases, and the government encouraged the practise. Sometimes, though, it +happened that the husbands were inclined to abuse and beat their wives, +but this did not happen often, as the wives had the power, like other +employers of assigned servants, of sending their husbands to be flogged. + +"Whenever, in the early days, the sentence of a convict expired, he was +given a farm at Paramatta, or in its neighborhood, and in this way quite +a farming community grew up. The agricultural features of Paramatta have +continued down to the present time, and all about it there are pretty +farms and gardens, which make the place look very much like an English +town of the same size. It is regularly laid out, the principal street +extending about a mile back from the landing place, with a width of two +hundred feet. Many business men of Sydney have their residences here, +and there is a goodly number of public buildings, including hospitals, +asylums, churches, and the like. + +"Our attention was called to several manufactories, but we were less +interested in them than we were in the orange groves and orchards, which +are numerous and extensive. They showed us some orange trees which they +claim are the largest in the world, but whether that is the case or not, +I am unable to say. They showed us one tree from which ten thousand +oranges had been taken in a single year, and after we had looked at the +orange groves, we were shown through several flower gardens, which +seemed to be literally masses of flowers. When we returned to Sydney by +the boat, we observed that the banks of the river were lined with flower +gardens, and were not surprised to learn that almost the entire flower +market of Sydney is supplied from Paramatta. + +"We were unfortunate in not being here in the season of fruits, as they +told us that the Paramatta oranges are among the finest in the world, +and the same could be said of the other fruits grown in the place. I +think we have said before that the climate of Australia is very +favorable to the cultivation of fruits, those of the tropics as well as +those of the temperate zones showing a universal tendency to thrive in +the genial atmosphere." + +Dr. Whitney and his young companions spent two or three days at some of +the country residences in the neighborhood of Sydney, and were charmed +with the warmth of the hospitality and the beauty of the places that +they visited. It was impossible for them to accept a tenth part of the +invitations they received, as their time was limited, and they were +anxious to press on to the northward. So one day they bade farewell to +their friends and took the train for Newcastle, the principal point of +the coal-mining industry of the colony. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +COAL MINES AT NEWCASTLE--SUGAR PLANTATION IN QUEENSLAND--THE END. + + +"The region between Sydney and Newcastle," wrote Ned in his journal, "is +a diversified one. Here and there are forests interspersed with open +country. Some of the ground is level, and some of it very much broken +and mountainous. Most of it is fertile, and we passed through many +fields of wheat and other grain. Some of it is devoted to cattle raising +and some to the production of wool, though it is not generally regarded +as a good country for raising sheep. In places the mountains come quite +close to the sea-coast, and there we found the railway winding over a +very tortuous course, where the rocks that rose on either hand, and the +tunnels through which we were occasionally whirled, convinced us that +the building of the railway must have cost a great deal of money. At +several places coal mining was in progress, and it was evident that +Newcastle didn't have an entire monopoly of the coal-producing business. + +"Newcastle is quite as much devoted to the coal business as the English +city from which it was named. More than two million tons of coal are +shipped from this port every year, and the engineers who have carefully +examined the coal seams say that there is enough coal under Newcastle +to keep up the supply at the present rate for more than five hundred +years. + +"We were first taken to the harbor where the shipments are made. There +we found admirable facilities for loading vessels with the products of +the mines. They claim that they can handle twenty-five thousand tons of +coal daily, and that a good-sized coal steamer can leave port with her +cargo six hours after entering. I'm not an expert in such matters, and +therefore don't know, but from what I saw it seems to me that there is +no difficulty about it. + +"The harbor of Newcastle was not a very good one originally, but they +have made it so by extending into the sea a breakwater, which shelters +it from the gales that formerly swept it. It is not a large harbor, but +an excellent one for its purpose. + +"We visited some of the coal sheds and coal breakers, and went into one +of the mines. They would gladly have taken us through all the mines in +the place, but as one mine is very much like another, we declined to +make the rounds of all of them. The one that we entered was about four +hundred feet underground. We were lowered in a cage to the bottom of the +mine, and then walked through a tunnel to where the men were at work, +dodging on our way several loaded cars that were going towards the +shaft, as well as empty ones coming from it. The cars were pushed along +by men, each of them carrying a little lantern on the front of his hat; +in fact, every man whom we saw working underground had one of these +lights for his guidance. The tunnel itself was lit up with electric +lights, extending from the shaft to the front of the working; and in +addition to these, each of us carried a lantern, which was of material +assistance in showing us where to place our feet. We had a few stumbles +on the way, but nobody experienced a fall. + +"When we reached the front of the working, the sight was a curious one. +A dozen men--I think there must have been that number at least--were +attacking the coal seam, most of them lying on their sides and digging +away with picks at the lower part of it. Some of them had worked their +way in two or three feet, and were almost out of sight, and I shuddered +to think of the possibility that the mass above might fall upon and +crush them. I asked our guide if this did not happen sometimes. + +"'Unfortunately, yes,' he replied. 'It does happen now and then, and the +men on whom the coal falls are more or less severely injured, and +perhaps killed. We have to watch the miners constantly, to see that they +do not run too great a risk. If we let them have their own way, +accidents would be much more frequent than they are.' + +"'Why do they burrow under the coal in that way?' I asked. 'Couldn't +they get it out in some manner less dangerous than that?' + +"'That is the way to which they have been accustomed,' the guide +answered, 'and it is difficult to get them to change. Most of these +people come from the coal-mining districts of England, and they are very +conservative. Machines have been invented for doing this kind of work, +and they are in use in some of the mines, but the men are opposed to +them, and in some instances they have disabled or destroyed the +machines.' + +"Then he went on to explain that the miner makes an opening below the +mass of coal in the manner that we saw, and then drills a hole some +distance above it, in which to explode a charge of powder. This brings +down all the coal below the locality of the explosion. Sometimes it is +broken up into lumps that a man can handle, and sometimes it comes down +in a single block, which requires another blast to break it up, and then +the cars are brought up as near as possible. The coal is loaded into +them, and pushed away to the shaft. Each man is paid according to the +amount of coal he gets out, and some of them receive large wages. There +are about five thousand people employed in the coal mines here, and the +probabilities are that the business will be extended, and the coal +product of Newcastle increased within a year or two from the present +time." + +From Newcastle our friends continued their journey northward to +Brisbane, the capital of Queensland. They traveled all the way by rail, +changing trains at Stanthorpe, on the frontier. During the delay +subsequent upon the change of trains, Harry made the following +memorandum in his notebook:-- + +"It seems to me that it is a great misfortune for Australia that each +colony insists upon having its own particular gauge of track, thus +preventing the running of through trains without change of cars. Some +day the people will find out their mistake, and I believe some of them +realize it already. Dr. Whitney says that there was at one time in the +United States several different gauges of track from four feet, eight +inches and one half up to six feet, and that the railway managers +generally agreed upon four feet, eight inches as the standard gauge. +Since that agreement all other tracks have been changed to make the +tracks uniform. Now any railway car can be run all over the United +States, with the exceptions of a few special lines where the gauge is +three feet, six inches. + +"Three feet, six inches is the gauge of the railways of Queensland. That +of New South Wales is four feet, eight and one half inches, while that +of Victoria is five feet, three inches. In South Australia some of the +lines are of five feet, three inches gauge, and others have the same +gauge as the Queensland railways. The narrow gauge is especially adapted +to mountain regions, and also to thinly populated districts. On lines +where the business is light and the distances are not long, this gauge +answers all requirements, but on many lines, especially those having +considerable business, it is not at all advantageous." + +During their railway ride our friends observed the strange combination +of aboriginal and English names, and called Dr. Whitney's attention to +it. "Here are Coolongolook and Coonabarabran," said Harry, "and next +come Clarkeville and Smithville. Here are Cootramundra and Illawarra and +Murrumbidgee close by Orange and Richmond. Here are Curabubula and +Waggawagga, with Warwrick and Union Camp. I could go on indefinitely +with those names, and it seems to me that the aboriginal ones are about +as numerous as those of British origin. They are picturesque and perhaps +interesting, but they are very difficult to pronounce." + +"Isn't it possible that you will find the same state of things at +home?" queried Dr. Whitney. + +"Quite possible; I have never thought of that. Let me see." + +"Why, certainly," said Ned. "Go to Maine and New Hampshire and run over +some of the Indian names of lakes, rivers, mountains, and towns in those +States. Think of Kennebec and Penobscot, Winnipesaukee, Pemigewasset, +Passaconaway, and a good many others that I could name. I think it is an +excellent policy to preserve these old names and not let them die out. +Piscataqua is a much prettier name for a river than Johnston or +Stiggins, and Monadnock sounds better as the name of a mountain than +Pike's Peak or Terry's Cliff. The more the native names are preserved, +the better I like it." + +"I agree with you," replied Harry; "but I wish they would make the +orthography of those native names a little easier. That's the only fault +I have to find with them." + +The region through which our friends traveled was devoted to +agricultural and pastoral pursuits, as the numerous flocks of sheep, +herds of cattle, and fields of grain that they saw gave evidence. They +were told that it was also rich in minerals,--the few surveys that had +been made resulting in discoveries of gold, tin, silver, antimony, and +other metals. Some of the passengers whom they met on the train were +under the impression that Dr. Whitney was looking for a place in which +to invest money, and they were very anxious that he should stop and +investigate their promising properties. Several fine specimens of +gold-bearing quartz rock were exhibited, and the fortunate owners of +these specimens said that the ground was covered with them in the +locality where they were obtained. Dr. Whitney politely declined to +delay his journey, and assured his zealous acquaintances that he was not +looking for any new investments. + +When our friends were out of earshot of the would-be speculators, Dr. +Whitney said that their statement reminded him of an incident which once +occurred at a town in California, where a quartz mill was in successful +operation. Harry and Ned pressed the doctor to give them the story, +whereupon he related as follows:-- + +"There were many speculative individuals around that town who were +constantly endeavoring to discover deposits of ore. One day one of these +speculators was standing on a street corner, when a solemn-faced Indian +came along, stopped in front of the man, and, after looking around in +all directions to make sure that nobody was observing him, he produced +from under his blanket a piece of gold-bearing quartz. Without saying a +word, he held the bit of rock before the eyes of the speculator. + +"The speculator grasped the specimen with great eagerness. Sure enough +it was gold-bearing rock, and no mistake. It was generally believed in +the town that the Indians knew of valuable deposits, but were very +unwilling to divulge their location to the white men." + +"'Where did you get this?' the speculator asked. + +"The Indian made a sweep of his arm that embraced two thirds of the +horizon, but said not a word. + +"'Is there any more where this came from?' queried the speculator. + +"'Yes; heaps, heaps more,' and the red man made a circle with his arm +that might mean anything from a mole hill to a mountain. + +"'Will you show me where you got this?' said the speculator. + +"The Indian said nothing except to pronounce the words 'five dollar.' + +"Unlike many of his associates, the speculator happened to have some +money about him. He thrust his hand into his pocket, drew out a +five-dollar gold piece, and placed it in the extended palm of the red +man. + +"The latter examined the coin very carefully, even to the extent of +biting it between his teeth. Then he placed it in some mysterious +receptacle under his blanket and said:-- + +"'You with me come. You with me go share.' + +"The Indian led his new partner a long walk, going out of the town on +the side opposite the quartz mill, making a circuit of a mile or two +among hills, and finally fetching up at the dump pile of the mill. The +dump pile, it is proper to explain, is the pile of ore as it is brought +from the mine to be crushed. Having reached the foot of the pile, the +Indian paused and said:-- + +"'Me get him here. Heaps more here, too.' + +"A more disgusted individual than that speculator was at that moment +could rarely be found in the town. He had been completely outwitted, in +fact, sold, and by a savage who couldn't read or write." + +From Stanthorpe on the frontier of Queensland the country was much the +same as that through which our friends had traveled from Newcastle, +except that its character was more tropical the further they went +northward. They reached Brisbane in the evening, and were out +immediately after breakfast on the following morning to view the sights +of the place, which were fewer than those of Sydney and Melbourne, as +the city is not as large as either of the others mentioned. The entire +population of Brisbane and its suburbs does not exceed one hundred +thousand. It is named after Sir Thomas Brisbane, who was Governor of the +colony at the time the city was founded. In some respects it may be +called an inland city, as it lies on a river twenty-five miles from the +entrance of that stream into Moreton Bay, which opens into the Pacific +Ocean. It is on a peninsula enclosed by a bend in the river, so that it +has an excellent water front. + +Harry made note of the fact that Brisbane resembles Sydney in the +narrowness of its streets, but he added that the surveyors had some +excuse for restricting the amount of land reserved for the streets, +inasmuch as the space between the rivers was limited. The youths were +reminded of New York City when they noted that the streets of Brisbane +ran from the river on one side to the river on the other, just as do the +numbered streets on Manhattan Island. They had a further reminder when +an island in the river was pointed out to them as the site of a prison +during the convict period, just as Blackwell's Island of New York City +is the location of a prison to-day. + +Queen Street is to Brisbane as George Street is to Sydney or Collins +Street to Melbourne. The principal shops and several of the public +buildings are located along Queen Street, and our friends observed that +wide verandas extended across the sidewalks from one end of the street +to the other. These verandas enable pedestrians to walk in the shade at +all times, a very wise provision to avoid sunstroke. It must be +remembered that Brisbane is considerably nearer the Equator than either +Melbourne or Sydney, and consequently has a warmer climate. Dr. Whitney +said that he was reminded of New Orleans by the temperature, and on +inquiry he ascertained that Brisbane is fully as warm as the great city +near the mouth of the Mississippi. + +There is a fine bridge of iron which crosses the river between North and +South Brisbane. It is more than one thousand feet long, and has a draw +in the center to permit the passage of ships. Ned and Harry strolled +across this bridge when they reached the end of Queen Street, and on +arriving at its farther end they turned around and retraced their steps. +When back again in the principal part of the city, they continued to the +end of the peninsula, where they had expected to find huge warehouses +and places of business fronting the river. Instead of these edifices +they found the Botanical Gardens and other parks occupying the point of +land where the river makes its bend. It was an agreeable surprise to +them, and they remained in and about the gardens for an hour or more. + +Whenever they came to any of the public buildings during their stroll, +they ascertained the name of each edifice from some by-stander or +shop-keeper. They observed that all the buildings were handsome and of +good construction, with the exception of the court house, which had a +very low and mean appearance. The curiosity of the youths was roused by +this circumstance, and Harry spoke to a good-natured cab driver to +ascertain how it happened. + +"That's easy to tell, when you know," the driver answered. + +"Well," said Harry, "if you know, won't you kindly tell us?" + +"Certainly, sir," the driver responded. "You see this is the way of it. +That court house there used to be the female prison in the old times, +and for years it was crowded with women that the government had sent out +here to punish 'em. They were lifers, most of 'em, and I suppose they +are pretty near all dead now. If any of 'em is alive, they're pretty +old. Them that was kept in prison had to do hard work, making clothes +and that sort of thing, but a good many of 'em went out as assigned +servants to do housework, and they had to work in the fields, too; but +those days is gone now, and all the prisons we have in Brisbrane in +these times is for them that commits crimes right here on the spot." + +"Do you mind that round building up there with the mast on it," said the +cab driver, pointing to a structure that looked like a windmill with the +arms of the mill removed. + +"Yes, I see it," said Harry; "what about it?" + +"We call it the Observatory," was the reply, "and that's what it is. +That mast there is for signaling ships when they come into the harbor. +In the old times there was a windmill there, where they used to grind +grain into flour and meal for the convicts to eat, and I guess other +folks ate it, too. When the wind blew the arm went round and round, the +machinery worked, and the stones revolved and ground out the meal. +Sometimes they didn't have no wind, because it didn't blow, but they had +a treadmill there, and then they used to bring up a string of convicts, +and put them on the treadmill to run the machinery and keep up the +grinding of the grain. I suppose you know what a treadmill is?" + +"I have heard about a treadmill," said Harry, "but I never saw one." Ned +nodded, and said that he was in the same predicament. + +"Well," said the driver, "I have seen one in the old country; I never +saw the one here, because it was gone before I came to Brisbane. What I +saw was a wheel in the shape of a long cylinder with twenty-four steps +around the circumference of it; in fact, it didn't look much unlike the +paddle-wheel of a steamboat, where the men stood to turn it. Each one of +'em was boarded off from his neighbor so that they couldn't talk to each +other. There was a hand rail for them to hang on to. The weight of the +prisoners' bodies on the steps caused the wheel to turn, and they sent +it around about twice a minute. A man on a treadmill has got to work, he +can't get out of it. If he tries to avoid stepping, he's got to hang his +weight on the hand rail with his arms, and after he has tried that for a +minute or so he's glad to go back to stepping again." + +"I should think," said Ned, "that it would be difficult to adapt it to +the weight of different individuals, and also to their height. While it +might not be too much for a strong man, it might be for a weak one; and +if the position of steps and rail were adapted to a tall man, they +wouldn't be for a short one." + +"I believe that's just the trouble they found with it in the old +country," was the reply; "and it's mostly been given up there. They've +got a machine in the place of it which they call 'the Crank,' which can +be adapted to anybody. It's a wheel with paddles to it, and turns inside +a box. They put gravel in the box, graduated to the strength of the man +who is to turn it, and the prisoner's hard labor consists in turning the +crank." + +"It doesn't serve any useful purpose, as the treadmill does, I presume?" +said Harry. + +"No; there is no useful purpose about it. A man has to turn that crank +because he's been sentenced to hard labor, and there's nothing else they +can put him to, that's all. And they don't by any means use the +treadmill all the time for turning machinery and grinding grain, or +doing some other work. Most of the treadmills I ever knew anything about +in the old country were just treadmills, and that was all." + +Our friends were invited to visit a sugar plantation in Northern +Queensland. They accepted the invitation, and one morning embarked on a +steamer which took them in the direction which they wished to go. The +steamer called at several places on the coast, including Rockhampton, +Bowen, Mackay, Keppel Bay, and Somerset; the last-named place was their +destination, and it was here that they landed. + +"We utilized the time of stoppage at each port by going on shore," said +Harry in his journal. "Except for the exercise of the trip, we might +about as well have stayed on board, as there was very little to be seen +at any of the places. The coast towns of Queensland are pretty much all +alike. They have from one to two thousand inhabitants each, and though +they're pretentiously laid out, they consist of little more than a +single street. On the streets, other than the principal one, there are +scattered houses, where the owners of land have endeavored to increase +the value of their property by putting up buildings, but generally with +poor success. For pavement the natural earth is obliged to answer, as +most of these towns are too poor to afford anything better. The streets +are very dusty in dry weather, and very muddy after a rain. At one of +the places where we landed there had been a heavy shower the night +before, and the main street was a great lane of mud. Ned said the street +was a mile long, eighty feet wide, and two feet deep; at least, that was +his judgment concerning it. + +"One thing that impressed us in these towns was that hardly a man in any +of them had a coat on. Everybody was in his shirt sleeves, and if he had +a coat with him, he carried it on his arm. For the novelty of the thing, +we took dinner at a hotel in Mackay, more with a view of seeing the +people that went there, than with an expectation of a good meal. There +were squatters from the back country, planters, clerks, merchants, +lawyers, and doctors, all with their coats off, and we were told that +this habit of going without coats is universal. One man who had lived +there a good while said, 'You may go to a grand dinner party, and find +the ladies dressed in the height of fashion, and the gentlemen in their +shirt sleeves.' I don't wonder that they have adopted this plan, as the +climate is very warm. The region is decidedly tropical, the air is damp +and oppressive, and in the daytime especially the heat is almost +insupportable. I wonder, though, that they don't adopt the white linen +jacket for dinner purposes, just as the Europeans living in China and +Japan have done. + +"Somerset, where we landed, is principally a pearl-fishing station, and +the pearl fishers who live there are a very rough-looking lot. The +business is very profitable, those engaged in it estimating that the +pearls pay all the expenses of their enterprise and a little more, while +the _nacre_, or mother-of-pearl, the smooth lining of the shells, is a +clear profit. The exportation of shells from Queensland is worth, +annually, about half a million dollars. The pearl shells sell ordinarily +for about one thousand dollars a ton. They are gathered by black divers +under the superintendence of white men. + +"These white men own the sloops and schooners devoted to the pearl +fishery, and they go out with these craft, taking along a lot of black +men as divers. The diving is done in the same way as in pearl fisheries +all over the world, so that there is no necessity of describing it. The +shells are like large oyster shells; in fact, they are oyster shells and +nothing else. They are about twenty inches long, and from twelve to +fifteen inches from one side to the other; so, you see, it doesn't take +many oysters to make a load for a diver. The divers are paid according +to the number of shells they gather, and not by fixed wages. A man +familiar with the business said, that if you paid the men regular wages, +you would be lucky if you got one dive out of them daily. + +"I tried to ascertain the value of some of the pearls obtained here," +continued Harry, "but my information was not very definite. They told me +that several pearls worth five thousand dollars each had been taken, but +they were not very common, the value ordinarily running from a few +dollars up to one hundred or two hundred dollars each. My informant said +that the best pearls were found on the coast of West Australia, but that +the fishery in that locality was more dangerous than on the coast of +Queensland. He said that the sea in that locality was subject to +hurricanes, and sometimes an entire fleet of pearl-fishing boats would +be overwhelmed and sunk, hardly a man escaping. 'These disasters,' he +said, 'do not deter those who survive from taking the risk over again, +and there are always plenty of black men who go out as divers there +whenever a boat is ready to start.'" + +To go to the sugar plantation to which our friends were invited, they +had to make a journey inland, in a wagon over a rough road about forty +miles long. The plantation was located on both sides of a small river, +and employed, at the time of their visit, about one hundred and fifty +men. One of the owners was there, and exerted himself to his fullest +ability to make the strangers comfortable and have them see all that was +to be seen. They visited the crushing mills and the boiling rooms, and +learned a great deal about the process of manufacturing sugar from the +sugar cane. + +"We may say briefly," said Ned, "that the cane-stalks are crushed +between rollers, and the juice is caught in vats, whence it flows in +troughs or pipes to the evaporating house. Here it is boiled till it is +reduced to syrup, and then it is boiled again, until it is ready for +granulation. Then it is placed in perforated cylinders which revolve +with tremendous rapidity. By means of centrifugal force all the moisture +is expelled and the dry sugar remains behind." + +Our friends visited the fields where the luxuriant cane-stalks were +growing, but they were quite as much interested in the men they saw at +work there as in the fields themselves. Harry remarked that the men +seemed to be different from any of the Australian blacks they had yet +seen in their travels. + +"These are not Australian blacks at all," said their guide; "they are +foreigners." + +"Foreigners! Of what kind?" + +"They are South Sea Islanders principally from the Solomon Islands; some +of them are from the New Hebrides and some from the Kingsmill group." + +"You import them to work on the plantations, I suppose?" + +"Yes; that's the way of it. You see this country is too hot for white +men to work in the field, just as your sugar-growing States in America +are too hot for him to work in. The blacks are the only people that can +stand it, and as for the Australian blacks, they're no good. There are +not enough of them anyway, and even if there were, we couldn't rely upon +them. An Australian black will never stay in one place for any length +of time, as you have doubtless learned already. He is liable to quit at +any moment, and that sort of thing we can't stand on a sugar plantation. +We must have men to work steadily, and the only way we can get them is +by hiring them under contract from some of the Pacific Islands." + +"I think I have read about that somewhere," remarked Harry. "You send +small ships out among the islands to pick up the men, and the business +is called 'black-birding,' is it not?" + +"Yes, that is the name of it, or rather used to be," was the reply. +"Black-birding," along in the seventies, was an outrageous piece of +business no better than slave-stealing on the coast of Africa. In fact, +it was slave-stealing and nothing else. A schooner would appear off an +island, drop anchor and wait for the natives to come out in their +canoes, which they were sure to do. Then forty or fifty of them would be +enticed on board, and perhaps invited one by one into the cabin, whence +a door had been cut through into the hold. They were shoved along one by +one until a sufficient number had been obtained and imprisoned below, +and then the schooner set sail and left the island. + +"Sometimes one of the officers was dressed up like a clergyman, with a +white necktie, broad-brimmed hat, and blue spectacles, and wrapped in a +long black cloak. He carried a large book under his arm, and was a very +good counterfeit of a missionary. He was rowed to the shore, where he +would inform the natives that their old friend, Rev. Dr. Williams, was +on board the vessel and would like to see them, and he would very much +like some fresh fruit. He explained the doctor's failure to come on +shore by saying that he had fallen on deck and broken his leg the day +before, and was then confined to his cabin. + +"The natives would hasten to gather a large supply of fruit and take it +on board the schooner. Their fruit was piled on deck, and one by one +they were taken below, ostensibly to see their disabled friend, but +really to shove them forward into the hold in the manner I have +described. When a sufficient number had been entrapped the schooner +sailed away, and there was little probability that the deceived natives +would ever see their island again. + +"That was the method formerly in vogue for supplying labor to the sugar +plantations in Queensland. The matter became so notorious that the +government investigated it and put a stop to 'black-birding.' At present +the business of obtaining men from the Pacific Islands is fairly well +conducted. On every ship that goes out for that purpose there is a +government officer whose duty it is to see that no deception or trickery +is practised, and that the contracts with the natives are fully +understood on both sides before they are signed. + +"We hire these people for three years, and when that period has expired +we are obliged to return them to their homes. Formerly, they had the +option of renewing their contracts here without going away, and a good +many planters were careful to see that the men were heavily in debt at +the expiration of their term of service, so that they would be obliged +to engage again in order to get themselves out of debt, which they never +did. Now the government regulation forbids the renewal of a contract +here, and in order to have the agreement a valid one, it must be made +in the island whence the man was brought. Of course this is a hardship +where a man really does not want to go home, but, on the whole, it is +for the best." + +Harry asked how they managed to get along with the natives of the +different islands, and if they proved to be good laborers. + +"As to that," was the reply, "there is a great deal of difference among +them. The most of them are industrious and do fairly well, but nearly +all need a little urging. We don't flog them, as flogging is forbidden +by law, but the overseers generally carry long, supple sticks which they +know how to handle. They have to be careful, though, in using these +sticks, as some of the Kanakas, as we call the South Sea Islanders, are +revengeful, and they're very handy with knives. + +"The men from the Solomon Islands are the worst to deal with, as they +have ugly dispositions; they are inclined to resent what they believe to +be an insult, and they are a strong, wiry race. They are quarrelsome +among themselves, and probably their tendency to quarrel is increased by +the fact that many of them are cannibals. Sometimes we miss one of these +fellows, and though we hunt everywhere, it is impossible to find him. +There are vague rumors that he has been eaten by his friends. The whole +business is carefully concealed from us, and it is very rarely the case +that we are able to get at the facts. It generally turns out, when we +ascertain anything about it, that the man was killed in a fight, and was +then cooked and eaten, to prevent his being wasted." + +Harry remarked that the Solomon Islanders, as he saw them on the +plantation, were not a prepossessing lot of people, and he would not +care to be among them even for a single day. + +The natives of the Kingsmill group were much more attractive in their +appearance, but even they were nothing to be fond of. On the whole, +neither of the youths took a liking to the laborers on the sugar +plantation, and as the place was said to be infested with snakes, they +were quite willing to cut their visit short and return to the coast. + +THE END. + + + * * * * * + + +W. A. Wilde & Co., Publishers. + +ABOVE THE RANGE. A Story for Girls. By Theodora R. Jenness. 315 pp. +Illustrated. Cloth. 12mo. $1.25. + +An Indian story for girls. A mission school for the daughters of the +Dakota tribes is most interestingly described. The strange ideas and +beliefs of these wild people are woven into the thread of the story, +which tells how a little white girl was brought up as an Indian child, +educated at a mission school, and was finally discovered by her parents. + +SERAPH, THE LITTLE VIOLINISTE. By Mrs. C. V. Jamison. 298 pp. +Illustrated. Cloth, $1,50. + +A most charming and delightful story of a little girl who had inherited +a most remarkable musical talent, which found its natural expression +through the medium of the violin. The picturesqueness of Mrs. Jamison's +stories is remarkable, and the reader unconsciously becomes Seraph's +friend and sympathizer in all her trials and triumphs. + +ORCUTT GIRLS; or, One Term at the Academy. By Charlotte M. Vaile. 316 +pp. Illustrated. Cloth, $1.50. + +Mrs. Vaile gives us a story here which will become famous as a +description of a phase of New England educational history which has now +become a thing of the past--with an exception here and there. The +Academy, once the pride and boast of our fathers, has given way to the +High School, and girls and boys of to-day know nothing of the +experiences which "The Orcutt Girls" enjoyed in their "One Term at the +Academy." + +MALVERN. A Neighborhood Story. By Ellen Douglas Deland. 341 pp. +Illustrated. Cloth, $1.50. + +A most attractive and interesting story by a writer who has won a vast +audience of young people by her stories. Malvern is a small suburban +town in New Jersey. The neighborhood furnishes a queer assortment of +boys and girls. How they felt and acted, what they did, and how they did +it, forms an interesting narrative. + +LADY BETTY'S TWINS. By E. M. Waterworth. With 12 illustrations. 116 +pp. Cloth, 75 cents. + +A quaint little story of a girl--a little girl--who had a propensity for +getting into trouble, because she had not learned the lesson of +obedience. She masters this, however, as the story tells, and in doing +so she and her brother have a number of experiences. + +THE MOONSTONE RING. By Jennie Chappell. With 6 full-page +illustrations. 116 pp. Cloth, 75 cents. + +An old ring plays an important part in this charming little story. It +brings together a spoiled child, the granddaughter of a rich and +indulgent old lady, and a happy little family of three, who, though +poor, are contented with their lot. This acquaintance proves to be of +mutual advantage. + +THE MARJORIE BOOKS. 6 vols. Edited by Lucy Wheelock. About 200 +illustrations. Price of set, $1.50. + +A new set of books for the little ones, better, if possible, than even +Dot's Library, which has been so popular. Full of pictures, short +stories, and bits of poetry. + +Boston: W. A. Wilde & Co., 25 Bromfield Street. + + * * * * * + +W. A. Wilde & Co., Publishers. + +WAR OF THE REVOLUTION SERIES. +By Everett T. Tomlinson. + +THREE COLONIAL BOYS. A Story of the Times of '76. 368 pp. Illustrated. +Cloth, $1.50. + +It is a story of three boys who were drawn into the events of the times; +is patriotic, exciting, clean, and healthful, and instructs without +appearing to. The heroes are manly boys, and no objectionable language +or character is introduced. The lessons of courage and patriotism +especially will be appreciated in this day.--Boston Transcript. + +THREE YOUNG CONTINENTALS. A Story of the American Revolution. 364 pp. +Illustrated. Cloth, $1.50. + +The second volume of the War of the Revolution Series gives a vivid +and accurate picture of, and the part which our "Three Colonial Boys" +took in, the events which led up to the "Battle of Long Island," which +was thought at the time to be a crushing defeat for the Continental +Army, but which in fact was the means of arousing the Colonies to more +determined effort. + +OTHER VOLUMES IN PREPARATION. + +TRAVEL ADVENTURE SERIES. +By Col. Thos. W. Knox. + +IN WILD AFRICA. Adventures of Two Boys in the Sahara Desert. 325 pp. +Illustrated. Cloth, $1.50. + +This story is a fascinating and instructive one, and we cheerfully +commend the book to parents and teachers who have the responsibility of +choosing the reading for young readers.--The Religious Telescope, +Dayton. + +THE LAND OF THE KANGAROO. Adventures of Two Boys in the Great Island +Continent. 318 pp. Illustrated. Cloth, $1.50. + +The late Col. Thos. W. Knox was a famous traveler and writer of boys' +books of travel and adventure. His last book (finished only ten days +before his sudden death) describes a portion of the world in which he +took a vast interest, and of which little is known in this country. +Australia, the great island continent, the land of the kangaroo, and a +country of contradictions, is most interestingly described. + +OTHER VOLUMES IN THIS SERIES ANNOUNCED LATER. + +QUARTERDECK & FOK'SLE. By Molly Elliot Seawell, author of "Decatur and +Somers," etc. 272 pp. Illustrated. $1.25. + +Miss Seawell is exceptionally gifted in the line of instructing and +amusing young people at the same time, and many a boy pricks up his ears +at the sound of her name, in the hope of another of her lively, and at +the same time instructive and high-spirited volumes. This one will +sustain her reputation well, and will be read with eager +interest.--Congregationalist, Boston. + +Boston: W. A. Wilde & Co., 25 Bromfield Street. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAND OF THE KANGAROO*** + + +******* This file should be named 23995-8.txt or 23995-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/3/9/9/23995 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. 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Burgess</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: The Land of the Kangaroo</p> +<p> Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey through the Great Island Continent</p> +<p>Author: Thomas Wallace Knox</p> +<p>Release Date: December 26, 2007 [eBook #23995]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAND OF THE KANGAROO***</p> +<p> </p> +<h3 class="pg">E-text prepared by Roger Frank<br /> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (http://www.pgdp.net)</h3> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> + +<p class='c b' style='font-size:2em;'>The Land of the Kangaroo.</p> + +<hr class="spacer" /> + +<table summary="" style="border-collapse:collapse; border: 1px solid black; font-size:small;" width="350" > +<col style="width:5%;" /> +<col style="width:90%;" /> +<col style="width:5%;" /> +<tr><td colspan="3"> </td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="3" style="text-align:center; font-size: large;">TRAVEL ADVENTURE SERIES.</td></tr> +<tr><td></td><td colspan="3"><hr class="shortad" /></td><td></td></tr> +<tr> + <td></td> + <td class="tdleft"> + <b>IN WILD AFRICA. The Adventures of Two Youths in the Sahara Desert.</b> By + <span class="smcap">Thomas W. Knox</span>. 325 pages, with six illustrations by <span class="smcap">H. Burgess</span>. 12mo. + Cloth. $1.50. + </td> + <td></td> +</tr> +<tr><td colspan="3"> </td></tr> +<tr> + <td></td> + <td class="tdleft"> + <b>THE LAND OF THE KANGAROO. The Adventures of Two Youths in the Great + Island Continent.</b> By <span class="smcap">Thomas W. Knox</span>. 350 pages, with five illustrations + by <span class="smcap">H. Burgess</span>. 12mo. Cloth. $1.50. + </td> + <td></td> +</tr> +<tr><td></td><td colspan="3"><hr class="shortad" /></td><td></td></tr> +<tr> + <td></td> + <td class="tdleft"> + <i><span style="font-size:x-small"><sup>*</sup>*<sup>*</sup></span> Col. Knox’s sudden death, ten days after completing + “The Land of the Kangaroo” leaves unfinished this series of travel + stories for boys which he had planned. The publishers announce that the + remaining volumes of this series will be issued, although the work will + be done by another’s hand.</i><br /><br /> + <i>Announcement concerning the remaining volumes of this series will be + made later.</i> + </td> + <td></td> +</tr> +<tr><td colspan="3"> </td></tr> +</table> + +<hr class="spacer" /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width:355px"> +<a name="illus-000" id="illus-000"></a> +<img src="images/ausfpc.jpg" alt=""WE PASSED A SHIP BECALMED IN THE DOLDRUMS."" title="" width="355" /><br /> +<span class="caption">“WE PASSED A SHIP BECALMED IN THE DOLDRUMS.”</span> +</div> + +<hr class="spacer" /> + +<table style="margin: auto; border: black 1px solid;" summary=""> +<col style="width:10%;" /> +<col style="width:80%;" /> +<col style="width:10%;" /> +<tr><td></td><td> +<p style="margin:3em auto 0.5em auto">THE</p> +<p style="font-size:2em; margin-bottom:1em">Land of the Kangaroo.</p> +<p class="xs" style="margin-bottom:2em">ADVENTURES OF TWO YOUTHS IN A JOURNEY THROUGH<br />THE GREAT ISLAND CONTINENT.</p> +<p class="s" style="margin-bottom:0.5em">BY</p> +<p style="margin-bottom:1em">THOMAS W. KNOX.</p> +<p class="xs" style="margin-bottom:3em">AUTHOR OF “IN WILD AFRICA,” “THE BOY TRAVELERS,”<br />(15 VOLS.) “OVERLAND THROUGH<br /> ASIA,” ETC., ETC.</p> +<p class="s" style="margin-bottom:2em">ILLUSTRATED BY H. BURGESS.</p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-emb.png" alt="" /></div> +<p class="sc" style="margin-top:2em"><span class="smcap">Boston</span>, U. S. A.</p> +<p>W. A. WILDE & COMPANY,</p> +<p class="sc" style="margin-bottom:2em">25 <span class="smcap">Bromfield Street</span>.</p> +</td><td></td></tr> +</table> + +<hr class="spacer" /> + +<p class="s c">COPYRIGHT, 1896.</p> +<p class="c s sc">By W. A. WILDE & CO.</p> +<p class="c s i">All rights reserved.</p> +<p class="c s" style="margin-top:2em;">THE LAND OF THE KANGAROO.</p> + +<hr class="spacer" /> + +<div style='width:30em; margin:auto;'> +<p class="c">PREFACE.</p> + +<p>The rapidly increasing prominence of the Australian colonies during the +past ten or twenty years has led to the preparation of the volume of +which this is the preface. Australia has a population numbering close +upon five millions and it had prosperous and populous cities, all of +them presenting abundant indications of collective and individual +wealth. It possesses railways and telegraphs by thousands of miles, and +the productions of its farms, mines, and plantations aggregate an +enormous amount. It has many millions, of cattle and sheep, and their +number is increasing annually at a prodigious rate.</p> + +<p>Australia is a land of many wonders, and it is to tell the story of +these wonders and of the growth and development of the colonies of the +antipodes, that this volume has been written.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right">T. W. K.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="spacer" /> + +<h2 class="toc"><a name="Contents" id="Contents"></a>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<hr class="shortad" /> + +<table border="0" width="500" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto"> +<col style="width:15%;" /> +<col style="width:5%;" /> +<col style="width:70%;" /> +<col style="width:10%;" /> +<tr> +<td align="right"><span style="font-size:x-small">CHAPTER</span></td> +<td></td> +<td></td> +<td align="right"><span style="font-size:x-small">PAGE</span></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdright">I.</td> + <td></td> + <td class="tdleft">West Coast of Africa—Adventure in the South Atlantic Ocean.</td> + <td class="tdright"><a href="#WEST_COAST_OF_AFRICAmdashADVENTURE_IN_THE_SOUTH_ATLANTIC_OCEAN_187">11</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdright">II.</td> + <td></td> + <td class="tdleft">The Cape of Good Hope—the Southern Ocean—Australia.</td> + <td class="tdright"><a href="#THE_CAPE_OF_GOOD_HOPEmdashTHE_SOUTHERN_OCEANmdashAUSTRALIA_647">28</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdright">III.</td> + <td></td> + <td class="tdleft">A Land of Contradictions—Transportation to Australia.</td> + <td class="tdright"><a href="#A_LAND_OF_CONTRADICTIONSmdashTRANSPORTATION_TO_AUSTRALIA_1217">49</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdright">IV.</td> + <td></td> + <td class="tdleft">Strange Adventures—Australian Aboriginals.</td> + <td class="tdright"><a href="#STRANGE_ADVENTURESmdashAUSTRALIAN_ABORIGINALS_1721">67</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdright">V.</td> + <td></td> + <td class="tdleft">Across Australia—Tallest Trees in the World.</td> + <td class="tdright"><a href="#ACROSS_AUSTRALIAmdashTALLEST_TREES_IN_THE_WORLD_2142">83</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdright">VI.</td> + <td></td> + <td class="tdleft">Australian Blacks—Throwing the Boomerang.</td> + <td class="tdright"><a href="#AUSTRALIAN_BLACKSmdashTHROWING_THE_BOOMERANG_2616">100</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdright">VII.</td> + <td></td> + <td class="tdleft">Adelaide to Melbourne—the Rabbit Pest—Dangerous Exotics.</td> + <td class="tdright"><a href="#ADELAIDE_TO_MELBOURNEmdashTHE_RABBIT_PESTmdashDANGEROUS_EXOTICS_3037">115</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdright">VIII.</td> + <td></td> + <td class="tdleft">Cannibal Blacks—Melbourne and Its Peculiarities.</td> + <td class="tdright"><a href="#CANNIBAL_BLACKSmdashMELBOURNE_AND_ITS_PECULIARITIES_3477">131</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdright">IX.</td> + <td></td> + <td class="tdleft">“the Laughing Jackass”—Australian Snakes and Snake Stories.</td> + <td class="tdright"><a href="#THE_LAUGHING_JACKASSmdashAUSTRALIAN_SNAKES_AND_SNAKE_STORIES_3905">146</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdright">X.</td> + <td></td> + <td class="tdleft">The Harbor of Melbourne—Convict Hulks and Bushrangers.</td> + <td class="tdright"><a href="#THE_HARBOR_OF_MELBOURNEmdashCONVICT_HULKS_AND_BUSHRANGERS_4240">158</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdright">XI.</td> + <td></td> + <td class="tdleft">Geelong—Australian Gold Mines—Finding a Big Nugget.</td> + <td class="tdright"><a href="#GEELONGmdashAUSTRALIAN_GOLD_MINESmdashFINDING_A_BIG_NUGGET_4640">173</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdright">XII.</td> + <td></td> + <td class="tdleft">A Southerly Burster—Western Victoria.</td> + <td class="tdright"><a href="#A_SOUTHERLY_BURSTERmdashWESTERN_VICTORIA_5100">190</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdright">XIII.</td> + <td></td> + <td class="tdleft">Journey Up Country—Anecdotes of Bush Life.</td> + <td class="tdright"><a href="#JOURNEY_UP_COUNTRYmdashANECDOTES_OF_BUSH_LIFE_5492">204</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdright">XIV.</td> + <td></td> + <td class="tdleft">Lost in the Bush—Australian Horses.</td> + <td class="tdright"><a href="#LOST_IN_THE_BUSHmdashAUSTRALIAN_HORSES_5875">218</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdright">XV.</td> + <td></td> + <td class="tdleft">Experiences At a Cattle Station—a Kangaroo Hunt.</td> + <td class="tdright"><a href="#EXPERIENCES_AT_A_CATTLE_STATIONmdashA_KANGAROO_HUNT_6289">233</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdright">XVI.</td> + <td></td> + <td class="tdleft">Hunting the Emu and Other Birds—an Australian Sheep Run.</td> + <td class="tdright"><a href="#HUNTING_THE_EMU_AND_OTHER_BIRDSmdashAN_AUSTRALIAN_SHEEP_RUN_6759">250</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdright">XVII.</td> + <td></td> + <td class="tdleft">From Melbourne to Sydney—Crossing the Blue Mountains.</td> + <td class="tdright"><a href="#FROM_MELBOURNE_TO_SYDNEYmdashCROSSING_THE_BLUE_MOUNTAINS_7274">269</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdright">XVIII.</td> + <td></td> + <td class="tdleft">Sights of Sydney——Botany Bay and Paramatta.</td> + <td class="tdright"><a href="#SIGHTS_OF_SYDNEYmdashmdashBOTANY_BAY_AND_PARAMATTA_7666">284</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdright">XIX.</td> + <td></td> + <td class="tdleft">Coal Mines At Newcastle—Sugar Plantation in Queensland—the End.</td> + <td class="tdright"><a href="#COAL_MINES_AT_NEWCASTLEmdashSUGAR_PLANTATION_IN_QUEENSLANDmdashTHE_END_8057">298</a></td> +</tr> +</table> + +<hr class="spacer" /> + +<h2 class="loi"><a name="Illustrations" id="Illustrations"></a>ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2> + +<hr class="shortad" /> + +<table border="0" width="500" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Illustrations" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto"> +<col style="width:80%;" /> +<col style="width:20%;" /> +<tr><td class="tdleft">“We Passed a Ship Becalmed in the Doldrums.” <i>Frontispiece</i></td><td class="tdright"><a href="#illus-000">18</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdleft">“Harry had Obtained a Map of Australia.”</td><td class="tdright"><a href="#illus-001">56</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdleft">To the Zoological Garden.</td><td class="tdright"><a href="#illus-002">146</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdleft">“There They Go!” Shouted Mr. Syme.</td><td class="tdright"><a href="#illus-003">242</a></td></tr> +</table> + +<hr class="spacer" /> + +<h1>THE LAND OF THE KANGAROO.</h1> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_11" id="pg_11">11</a></span> +<a name="WEST_COAST_OF_AFRICAmdashADVENTURE_IN_THE_SOUTH_ATLANTIC_OCEAN_187" id="WEST_COAST_OF_AFRICAmdashADVENTURE_IN_THE_SOUTH_ATLANTIC_OCEAN_187"></a> +<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> +<h3>WEST COAST OF AFRICA—ADVENTURE IN THE SOUTH ATLANTIC OCEAN.</h3> +</div> + +<p>“We don’t want to stay long in this place.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t think we do, sir,” was the reply.</p> + +<p>“The sooner we leave it, the better.”</p> + +<p>“That is so,” said Harry; “I quite agree with you. I wonder how white +men manage to live here at all.”</p> + +<p>This conversation occurred at Bonny, a trading station on one of the +mouths of the river Niger in Western Africa. In former times Bonny was a +famous resort for slave traders, and great numbers of slaves were sent +from that place to North and South America. In addition to slave +trading, there was considerable dealing in ivory, palm oils, and other +African products. Trade is not as prosperous at Bonny nowadays as it was +in the slave-dealing times, but there is a fair amount of commerce and +the commissions of the factors and agents are very large. Bonny stands +in a region of swamps, and the climate exhales at all times of the year +pestilential vapors which are not at all suited to the white man. Most +of the white residents live on board old hulks which are moored to the +bank of the river, and they find these hulks less unhealthy <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_12" id="pg_12">12</a></span>than houses +off shore, for the reason that they are less exposed to the vapors of +the ground.</p> + +<p>The parties to the conversation just quoted were Dr. Whitney and his +nephews, Ned and Harry; they had just arrived at Bonny, from a visit to +Lake Chad and Timbuctoo, and had made a voyage down the Niger, which has +been described in a volume entitled “In Wild Africa.”</p> + +<p>One of the residents told Dr. Whitney that all the coast of the Bight of +Benin, into which the Niger empties by its various mouths, was quite as +unhealthy as Bonny. “We don’t expect anybody to live more than three or +four years after taking up his residence here,” the gentleman remarked, +“and very often one or two years are sufficient to carry him off. The +climate is bad enough, but it isn’t the climate that is to blame for all +the mortality, by any means. The great curse of the whole region is the +habit of drinking. Everybody drinks, and drinks like a fish, too. When +you call on anybody, the servants, without waiting for orders, bring a +bottle of brandy, or whiskey, or something of the sort, and place it on +the table between the host and the visitor. You are expected to drink, +and the man who declines to do so is looked upon as a milksop. When one +rises in the morning, his first call is for brandy and soda, and it is +brandy, and whiskey, and champagne, or some other intoxicant, all the +day long. The climate is bad enough without any help, but the drinking +habit of the residents along the Bight of Benin is worse than the +climate, and everybody knows it; but, somehow or other, everybody is +reckless and continues to drink, knowing perfectly well what the result +will be.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_13" id="pg_13">13</a></span>Dr. Whitney had already made observations to the same effect, and +remarked that he thought the west coast of Africa would be a good field +of labor for an advocate of total abstinence. His new acquaintance +replied that it might be under ordinary circumstances, but that the +conditions of the region where they were not ordinary. It was +necessary to remember that the men who went to West Africa for purposes +of trade were of a reckless, adventurous sort, having little regard for +the future and determined to make the most of the present. Men of this +class take very naturally to habits of dissipation, and would turn a +deaf ear to any advocate of temperance who might come among them.</p> + +<p>Fortunately for our friends, they were detained at Bonny only a single +day. A small steamer which runs between Bonny and Fernando Po took them +to the latter place, which is on an island in the Atlantic Ocean, and +has a mountain peak ten thousand feet high. This peak is wooded to the +summit with fine timber, and altogether the island is a very attractive +spot to the eye, in comparison with Bonny and the swampy region of the +lower Niger.</p> + +<p>Port Clarence, the harbor of Fernando Po, is said to be one of the +prettiest places of Western Africa. The town consists of a group of +houses somewhat irregularly placed, and guarded by a fort which could be +knocked down in a few hours by a fleet of modern warships.</p> + +<p>Our friends went on shore immediately after their arrival, and found +quarters in what Ned called an apology for a hotel. Fernando Po is the +property of Spain, and the island is one of the State prisons of that +country. Some <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_14" id="pg_14">14</a></span>of the prisoners are kept in hulks in the harbor, while +others are confined in the fort. Not infrequently prisoners escape and +find shelter among the Adyia, the tribe of natives inhabiting the +island. They are a peaceful people, but have a marked hatred for +civilization. They rarely come into the town, and none of them will +consent to live there. Their huts or villages are scattered over the +forests, and when visitors go among them they are kindly treated. The +town of Port Clarence is occupied by a few white men and a considerable +number of negroes from Sierra Leone, Liberia, and other regions along +the coast.</p> + +<p>“This will be as good a place to get away from as Bonny,” the doctor +remarked to his nephews, as they were strolling about Port Clarence.</p> + +<p>“I have observed,” said Harry, “that the wind is blowing directly from +the coast, and therefore is bringing with it the malarias of the swampy +region which we have just left.”</p> + +<p>“That is quite true,” the doctor answered, “and the circumstance you +mention makes a long stay here undesirable. Have you noticed that many +of the natives here seem to be suffering from skin diseases of one kind +or another?”</p> + +<p>“I observed that,” replied Ned, “and was wondering what was the cause of +it.”</p> + +<p>“I was told by a gentleman at the hotel,” said the doctor, “that there +is an ulcer peculiar to this locality which is well-nigh incurable. The +slightest abrasion of the cuticle or even the bite of an insect is +sufficient to cause it. I was told that it sometimes happens that the +bite of a <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_15" id="pg_15">15</a></span>mosquito on the arm or leg will make amputation necessary, +and an instance of this kind occurred within the past three months. On a +first view of the island it looks like a delightful place, but a nearer +acquaintance dispels the illusion.”</p> + +<p>“I wonder how long we will be obliged to stay here,” Harry remarked.</p> + +<p>“According to the time-table,” replied the doctor, “the mail steamer +will be here to-morrow; and if she comes, you may be sure we will take +passage on her.”</p> + +<p>The steamer came according to schedule, and when she left she carried +the three travelers away from Fernando Po. She was an English steamer +bound for the Cape of Good Hope. There was hardly any wind blowing when +the great ship started out into the Atlantic and headed away to the +southward, but the movement of the vessel through the water was +sufficient to create a breeze, which our friends greatly enjoyed. They +sat beneath the awnings which covered the entire length and width of the +steamer, studied their fellow-passengers, and now and then cast their +eyes over the wide and desolate sweep of waters to the west and south.</p> + +<p>Not a sail was to be seen, a few craft were creeping along the coast, +but they were not numerous enough to add animation to the scene.</p> + +<p>We will take from Harry’s notebook an incident or two of the voyage.</p> + +<p>“We found a mixed lot of passengers on board the steamer. There were a +few Englishmen going to South Africa for the first time,—young fellows +seeking their fortunes, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_16" id="pg_16">16</a></span>and full of hope and ambition. One of them said +he was going up country on a hunting expedition, not for the sport only, +but for the money that could be made by the sale of hides, ivory, horns, +and other products of the chase. He was quite well informed concerning +the business on which he was bent, and told me that it was the custom +for two or more men, generally not above four, to buy wagons, oxen, +horses, and provisions in one of the towns on the coast or in the +interior, and then strike out into the wild country for an absence of +anywhere from three to six or seven months. Their provisions consisted +of flour, sugar, tea, pepper, salt, and a few other things. For meat +they relied upon what they killed; and he added that a great deal of +meat was needed, as there were from twenty-five to fifty natives +attached to a hunting party and all of them had ferocious appetites.</p> + +<p>“They shot anything that came in their way, elephants, buffaloes, +elands, gemsbok, and I don’t know what else. It was a hard life and not +without risk, but it was healthy and full of good sport. He told us so +much about his business that Ned and I heartily wished to go with him +and have a share in the experience and fun.</p> + +<p>“Another young man was going out as a mining engineer and expected to +find employment in some of the newly opened gold mines in the +Johannesburg district. Another was to become the manager of a large farm +forty or fifty miles from Cape Town, which was owned by his uncle. +Another young man was going out with no particular object in view, and +said he was ready for anything that turned up.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_17" id="pg_17">17</a></span>“Then there were Afrikanders who had been on a visit to England for +business, or pleasure, or both combined. One had been there for the +express purpose of finding a bride; he found her, and she was with him +as a passenger on the steamer. She and two others were the only lady +passengers on the ship; men greatly predominated among the passengers, +and we were told that such was always the case on board one of these +steamers. One of the passengers was a resident of Durban, the port of +Natal, and he gave us a cordial invitation to visit his place. ‘You will +find Durban a very interesting spot,’ said he, ‘and the only bad thing +about it is getting ashore. There is a nasty sea breaking there most of +the time, and it is tedious work getting from a ship into a small boat +and then getting safe to land. You must come prepared to be soused with +salt water two or three times before you get your feet fairly planted on +the shore.’</p> + +<p>“Ned and I concluded that we would not make any special effort to get to +Durban, although we had received such a cordial invitation to go there.</p> + +<p>“We had a good breeze,” continued Harry, “until we got to within four +degrees of the Equator; then the wind died out and left the sea as +smooth as glass, without the least motion upon it anywhere. We seemed to +be running through an enormous plate of glass, polished until it shone +like the most perfect mirror ever made. As we looked down from the rail +into the depths of the sea our faces were reflected, and there seemed to +be a counterfeit presentment of ourselves gazing at us from the depths +below, and, oh, wasn’t it hot, blistering, burning hot! The sun <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_18" id="pg_18">18</a></span>poured +down so that the heat pierced our awnings as though no awnings had been +there, and the breeze which the ship created by her motion seemed like +the blast from a furnace. The pitch oozed from the seams of the planking +on the deck, and the deck itself became blistering hot to one’s feet. +There was not the least stir of the sails and only the faintest motion +of the ship from side to side. Respiration became difficult, and, as I +looked about, I could see the passengers and sailors yawning and gaping +in the effort to draw in their breath. All the metal about the ship +became hot, especially the brass. If you touched it, it almost seemed to +raise a blister, and the spot with which you touched it was painful for +hours.</p> + +<p>“We passed a ship becalmed in the doldrums, as this region is called, +and she looked more like a painted ship upon a painted ocean than any +other craft I ever saw. Her sails were all hanging loose, and so were +all the ropes, and lines, and halyards from one end of the ship to the +other. She was as motionless as if she were tied up to a dock in harbor, +and there was very little sign of life about her anywhere. I asked one +of our officers how long that ship had probably been there and how long +she was liable to stay.</p> + +<p>“‘That’s a question, young man,’ he replied, ‘that I can’t answer very +surely. She may have been there a day or two only, and may stay only a +day or so, and then, again, she may have been there a week or a month; +we can’t tell without speaking her, and we are not particularly +interested in her, anyhow.’”</p> + +<p>Then he went on to explain that ships have been becalmed <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_19" id="pg_19">19</a></span>at the Equator +for two months and more, lying all the time in a dead calm, just like +the one through which we were passing.</p> + +<p>“Two weeks,” he said, “is a fair time for a ship to stay in the +doldrums, and you can be sure it is quite long enough for passengers and +crew.</p> + +<p>“Passengers and crew sometimes die of the heat, and existence under such +circumstances becomes a burden. There are stories about ships that have +been in the doldrums six or eight months at a time, but I am not +inclined to believe them; for a man to stay in this terrific heat for +that length of time would be enough to drive him crazy.</p> + +<p>“The steamer was three days in the calm belt of the Equator before we +struck the southeast trades, and had a breeze again. I don’t want to +repeat my experiences with the doldrums.</p> + +<p>“One day I heard a curious story about an incident on board an American +ship not far from the Cape of Good Hope. She was from Calcutta, and +bound to New York, and her crew consisted of American sailors, with the +exception of two Indian coolies who had been taken on board at Calcutta +because the ship was short-handed. One of these coolies had been put, +one in the starboard and the other in the port watch, and everything had +been quiet and peaceable on board the ship until the incident I am about +to describe.</p> + +<p>“One night the ship was sailing quietly along, and some of the men +noticed, or remembered afterwards, that when the watches were changed, +the coolie who had been relieved from duty remained on deck. Shortly +after the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_20" id="pg_20">20</a></span>change of watch, the two mates of the ship were standing near +the lee rail and talking with each other, when the two coolies came +along and one of them made the remark that he was sick. This remark was +evidently a signal, for instantly one of the coolies drew a knife and +stabbed the first mate to the heart, while simultaneously the other +coolie sprang with a knife at the second officer and gave him several +stabs in the chest.</p> + +<p>“The first mate fell dead at the stroke of the knife, but the second +mate had sufficient strength left to crawl to the companionway leading +to the captain’s room, where he called out, ‘Captain Clark!’ ‘Captain +Clark!’ and then ceased to breathe.</p> + +<p>“The captain sprang from his bunk, and rushed on deck in his +night-clothes. At the top of the companion-steps he was violently +stabbed on the head and seized by the throat; he was quite unarmed and +struck out with his fists at the face of his assailant, hoping to blind +him. The coolie continued to stab him, and the captain started back down +the steps until he slipped in the blood that covered them, and fell into +the cabin, with a terrible wound in his side. He then crawled to where +his revolver was, and started up the steps; when half way up, a man +rolled down the steps against him and knocked him over.</p> + +<p>“The captain thought it was the coolie, but it proved to be one of the +sailors, who was frightened half to death. All he could say was, to beg +of the captain to save him.</p> + +<p>“The captain had his wife and child on board, and his wife was roused by +the tumult. She came to her husband’s aid and proceeded to bind up his +wounds. While <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_21" id="pg_21">21</a></span>she was doing this one of the coolies smashed in the +skylight, and would have jumped into the cabin had not the captain fired +at him with his revolver and drove him away.</p> + +<p>“The next thing the coolies did was to murder the man at the wheel and +fling his body overboard. Then they murdered the carpenter and a sailor +and disposed of them the same way. Including the two mates, five men +were slain and four others were wounded. The wounded men and the rest of +the crew barricaded themselves in the forecastle for protection, and +there they remained the rest of the night and all through the next day. +The captain and his wife and child stayed in the cabin.</p> + +<p>“The two coolies were in full possession of the ship from a little past +midnight until eight o’clock of the following evening. One of them, +venturing near the skylight, was shot in the breast by the captain, and +then the two coolies rushed forward and threw a spar overboard. One of +them jumped into the sea and clung to the spar, while the other dropped +down into the between-decks, where he proceeded to set the ship on fire. +Seeing this, the sailors who had barricaded themselves in the forecastle +broke out, and two of them proceeded to hunt the coolie down with +revolvers. They hunted him out and shot him in the shoulder, and then he +jumped overboard and joined his companion. Shots were fired at the two +men, and soon afterward they sank.</p> + +<p>“The fire got such headway that it could not be put out. Finally a boat +was provisioned and lowered; the crew entered it, and after waiting +about the ship during the night in the hope that the flames might bring +assistance, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_22" id="pg_22">22</a></span>they put up a sail and headed for St. Helena. Thus was a +ship’s crew of twenty-three people overawed and rendered helpless by two +slender coolies, whom any one of the Yankee crew could have crushed out +of existence in a very short space of time.</p> + +<p>“The steamer passed near Ascension Island, but did not stop there. This +island is entered in the British Navy List as a commissioned ship. It is +nearly three thousand feet high, very rocky and well supplied with fresh +water. Ships often stop there for a supply of water and such fresh +provisions as are obtainable. The climate is said to be very healthy, +and when the crews of British naval vessels are enfeebled by a long stay +on the African coast, they go to Ascension Island to recruit their +strength.”</p> + +<p>Ned and Harry were very desirous of visiting the island of St. Helena, +which became famous as a prison and for many years the grave of +Napoleon. They were disappointed on ascertaining that the ship would not +stop there, and the officer of whom they made inquiry said there was +nothing to stop there for. “The island is not of much account,” he said, +“and the natives have a hard time to make a living. In the days of +sailing ships it was a favorite stopping place and the inhabitants did a +good business. The general introduction of steamships, along with the +digging of the Suez Canal, have knocked their business all to pieces.</p> + +<p>“Where they used to have a dozen or twenty ships a month, they get about +half as many in a year. The buildings where Napoleon used to live are +all gone to ruin, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_23" id="pg_23">23</a></span>the sight of them does not pay for the journey +one has to make to get there.”</p> + +<p>When it was announced that the vessel was nearing the Cape of Good Hope, +our young friends strained their eyes in a friendly competition to be +first to make it out. Harry was ahead of Ned in discerning the dim +outline of Table Mountain, which is well described by its name. It is a +flat-topped mountain fronting on the bay on which Cape Town stands. It +is about three thousand five hundred feet in height, and is guarded on +the left by the Lion’s Head, and on the right by the Devil’s Berg. The +harbor is reached by passing between a small island and the coast, the +island forming a very fair shelter for ships that lie inside of it.</p> + +<p>Here the voyage of the steamer came to an end, as she belonged to one of +the lines plying between England and the Cape. It became necessary for +our friends to look around for another ship to carry them to their +destination. They were not in any particular hurry about it, as they +were quite willing to devote a little time to the Cape and its +peculiarities.</p> + +<p>A swarm of boats surrounded the ship as soon as her anchor was down, and +everybody was in a hurry to get on shore. As soon as our friends could +obtain a boat, their baggage was passed over the side and they followed +it. The boat was managed by a white man, evidently of Dutch origin, who +spoke a mixture of Dutch, English, and Hottentot, and perhaps two or +three other native languages, in such a confused way that it was +difficult to understand him in any. Four negroes rowed the boat and did +the work while the Dutchman superintended it. The boatman <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_24" id="pg_24">24</a></span>showed a +laudable desire to swindle the travelers, but his intentions were curbed +by the stringent regulations established by the city authorities.</p> + +<p>As they neared the landing place, Ned called attention to a swarm of +cabs that seemed to be far in excess of any possible demand for them. +Harry remarked that he didn’t think they would have any lack of vehicles +to take them to the hotel, and so it proved. The cab drivers displayed +great eagerness in their efforts to secure passengers, and their prices +were by no means unreasonable.</p> + +<p>We will listen to Ned as he tells the story of what he saw on landing in +Cape Town.</p> + +<p>“The thing that impressed me most was the varying complexion of the +inhabitants. They are not exactly of the colors of the rainbow, but they +certainly present all the shades of complexion that can be found in the +human face. You see fair-haired Englishmen, and English women, too, and +then you see negroes so black that charcoal ‘would make a white mark on +their faces,’ as one of my schoolmates used to say. Between these two, +so far as color is concerned, you see several shades of negro +complexion; and you also see Malays, coolies from India, Chinese, and I +don’t know what else. The Malays or coolies have drifted here in search +of employment, and the same is the case with the Chinese, who are to be +found, so Dr. Whitney says, in every port of Asia and Africa.</p> + +<p>“Most of these exotic people cling to their native costume, especially +the natives of India, and the Malays, though a good deal depends on the +employment in which they engage. Some of the Malays drive cabs, and the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_25" id="pg_25">25</a></span>drivers usually adopt European dress or a modification of it. Among the +white inhabitants the Dutch hold a predominating place, and they are +said to outnumber the English; they are the descendants of the original +settlers at the Cape something more than two hundred years ago. They +observe their individuality and have an important voice in the local +affairs of the colony; but whenever the English authorities have their +mind made up to pursue a certain policy, whether it be for the +construction of railways in the interior or the building of docks or +breakwaters in the harbor of Cape Town, they generally do pretty much as +they please.</p> + +<p>“I observed that the people on the streets seem to take things easily +and move about with quite a languid air. This was the case with white +and colored people alike; probably the Dutch settlers set the example +years and years ago, and the others have followed it. Harry thinks that +it is the heat of the place which causes everybody to move about slowly. +Some one has remarked that only dogs and strangers walk rapidly; in Cape +Town the only people whom I saw walking fast were some of our +fellow-passengers from the steamer. I actually did see a negro running, +but the fact is, that another negro with a big stick was running after +him. As for the dogs, they seemed just as quiet as their masters.</p> + +<p>“We inquired for the best hotel in Cape Town, and were taken to the one +indicated as such. Harry says he thinks the driver made a mistake and +took us to the worst; and Dr. Whitney remarks that if this is the best, +he doesn’t want to travel through the street where the worst one +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_26" id="pg_26">26</a></span>stands. We have made some inquiries since coming to this house, and +find that it is really the best, or perhaps I ought to say the least +bad, in the place. The table is poor, the beds lumpy and musty, and +nearly every window has a broken pane or two, while the drainage is +atrocious.</p> + +<p>“We are told that the hotels all through South Africa are of the same +sort, and the only thing about them that is first class is the price +which one pays for accommodation. The hotel is well filled, the greater +part of the passengers from our steamer having come here; but I suppose +the number will dwindle down considerably in the next two or three days, +as the people scatter in the directions whither they are bound. Most +people come to Cape Town in order to leave it.</p> + +<p>“And this reminds me that there are several railways branching out from +Cape Town. There is a line twelve hundred miles long to Johannisburg in +the Transvaal Republic, and there are several other lines of lesser +length. The colonial government has been very liberal in making grants +for railways, and thus developing the business of the colony. Every year +sees new lines undertaken, or old ones extended, and it will not be very +long before the iron horse goes pretty nearly everywhere over the length +and breadth of South Africa.</p> + +<p>“We have driven along the principal streets of the city, and admired the +public buildings, which are both numerous and handsome. We took a +magnificent drive around the mountain to the rear of the city, where +there are some very picturesque views. In some places the edge of the +road is cut directly into the mountain side, and we looked <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_27" id="pg_27">27</a></span>almost +perpendicularly down for five or six hundred feet, to where the waters +of the Atlantic were washing the base of the rocks. From the mountain +back of Cape Town, there is a fine picture of the city harbor and lying +almost at one’s feet; the city, with its rows and clusters of buildings +glistening in the sunlight, and the bright harbor, with its docks, +breakwaters, and forest of masts in full view of the spectator. From +this point we could see better than while in the harbor itself, the +advantages of the new breakwater. It seems that the harbor is exposed to +southeast winds, which are the prevailing ones here. When the wind +freshens into a gale, the position of the ships at anchor in the harbor +is a dangerous one, and the breakwaters have been constructed so as to +obviate this danger. When they are completed, the harbor will be fairly +well landlocked, and ships may anchor in Table Bay, and their masters +feel a sense of security against being driven on shore.”</p> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="THE_CAPE_OF_GOOD_HOPEmdashTHE_SOUTHERN_OCEANmdashAUSTRALIA_647" id="THE_CAPE_OF_GOOD_HOPEmdashTHE_SOUTHERN_OCEANmdashAUSTRALIA_647"></a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_28" id="pg_28">28</a></span> +<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<h3>THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE—THE SOUTHERN OCEAN—AUSTRALIA.</h3> +</div> + +<p>“Would you like to visit an ostrich farm?” said Dr. Whitney, while our +friends were at breakfast, on the second morning after their arrival at +Cape Town.</p> + +<p>“I would, for one,” said Harry; to which Ned replied, “and so would I.”</p> + +<p>“Very well,” continued the doctor. “I have an invitation to visit an +ostrich establishment, and we will start immediately after breakfast. +The railway will take us within about three miles of the farm, and the +gentleman who has given me the invitation, and included you in it, will +accompany us on the train, and his carriage will meet us at the +station.”</p> + +<p>“That is capital!” exclaimed Harry. “He will be sure to give us a great +deal of information on the subject while we are on the train, so that we +can see the farm more intelligently than would otherwise be the case.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, that is so,” echoed Ned, “and as he is the proprietor of the +establishment, he will certainly know all about the business.”</p> + +<p>At the appointed time the party assembled at the railway station in Cape +Town, and when the train was ready, our friends, accompanied by their +host, Mr. Shaffner, took their <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_29" id="pg_29">29</a></span>places and were soon whirling away +towards their destination. For a part of the way the train wound among +hills and low mountains, and for another it stretched away across the +level or slightly undulating plain. Mr. Shaffner entered at once upon +the subject of ostriches, and as he began his conversation, Harry asked +him if he had any objections to their taking notes of what he said.</p> + +<p>“Not in the least,” was the reply; “you are welcome to take all the +notes you like, and if there is any point that I don’t explain fully to +your satisfaction, please tell me, and I will be more explicit.”</p> + +<p>The youths thanked him for his courtesy, and immediately brought out +their notebooks and pencils.</p> + +<p>“According to tradition,” said Mr. Shaffner, “ostriches were formerly +very abundant, wild ones, I mean, all over this part of the country. In +the early part of this century they were so numerous in the neighborhood +of Cape Town, that a man could hardly walk a quarter of an hour without +seeing one or more of these birds. As late as 1858, a flock of twenty or +thirty were seen among hills about twenty miles from Cape Town, but +after that time they seemed to have disappeared almost entirely. Ostrich +farming is an enterprise of the past twenty years, and before it began, +the only way of procuring ostrich feathers was by hunting down and +killing the wild birds. The practise was cruel, and it was also the +reverse of economical. Thoughtful hunters realized this, and a rumor +went through the colony that ostriches had been domesticated in Algeria, +and were successfully raised for the production of feathers. When this +rumor or report went about, it <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_30" id="pg_30">30</a></span>naturally set some of us thinking, and +our thoughts were, ‘Why can’t ostriches be raised here, as well as in +Algeria?’ Several enterprising men proceeded to make experiments. They +offered to pay a high price for live birds in good health and condition, +and the price they offered induced the natives to set about catching +them.</p> + +<p>“Of course we were all in the dark as to the proper method of taking +care of ostriches, as the business was entirely new to all of us. We +made many mistakes and lost a good many birds. The eggs became addled +and worthless, and for the first two or three years it looked as though +the experiments would be a failure. Our greatest difficulty was in +finding proper food for the birds. We tried them with various kinds of +grasses, and we studied as well as we could the habits of the wild bird +at home. We found that they needed a certain quantity of alkalies, and +they subsisted largely upon the sweet grasses, wherever they could find +them. The grass called lucerne seems the best adapted to them, and you +will find it grown on all ostrich farms for the special purpose of +feeding the birds.</p> + +<p>“We have got the business down so fine now that we understand all the +various processes of breeding, rearing, herding, feeding, plucking, and +sorting. We buy and sell ostriches just as we do sheep. We fence in our +flocks, stable them, grow crops for them, study their habits, and cut +their feathers as matters of business. We don’t send the eggs to market +along with our butter and cheese, as they are altogether too dear for +consumption. It is true that an ostrich egg will make a meal for three +or four <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_31" id="pg_31">31</a></span>persons; but at five dollars an egg, which is the usual price, +the meal would be a dear one.</p> + +<p>“In fact, the eggs are so precious,” he continued, “that we don’t allow +them to be hatched out by the birds. For fear of accidents, as soon as +the eggs have been laid they are taken from the nests and placed in a +patent incubator to be hatched out. The incubator makes fewer mistakes +than the parent ostriches do. That is to say, if you entrust a given +number of eggs to the birds to be hatched out in the natural way, and +place the same number in an incubator, you will get a considerably +larger proportion of chicks from the latter than from the former.</p> + +<p>“The business of ostrich farming,” Mr. Shaffner went on to say, “is +spread over the colony from the near neighborhood of Cape Town to the +eastern frontier, and from Albany to the Orange River. Ostrich farms +were scattered at no great distances apart, and some of the proprietors +had a high reputation for their success. He said it must not be +understood that ostrich farming was the great industry of the country; +on the contrary, the product of wool was far greater in value than that +of feathers, and the ostriches were to the sheep as one is to a +thousand.”</p> + +<p>Harry asked if the birds were allowed to run at large, or were kept +constantly in enclosures.</p> + +<p>“Both plans are followed,” said Mr. Shaffner, “and some of the farmers +allow their flocks to run at large, feeding them once a day on grain, +for which they must come to the home stable. The ostriches know the hour +of feeding as well as if they carried watches, and are promptly on <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_32" id="pg_32">32</a></span>hand +when their dinner time arrives. In this way they are kept under +domestication and accustomed to the presence of men, but occasionally +they stray away and disappear. The safer way is to keep a native boy or +man constantly with each herd of ostriches, and the herder is held +responsible for the loss of any bird.</p> + +<p>“Even then the flock may sometimes be frightened and scattered beyond +the ability of the herder to bring the birds together. On my farm, I +have the ground fenced off into fifty-acre lots. I divide my birds into +flocks of twenty-five or thirty, and put them successively in the +different lots of land. I sow the ground with lucerne, and do not turn a +flock into a field or paddock until the grass is in good condition for +the birds to eat.</p> + +<p>“You may put it down as a rule on ostrich farms, that plenty of space +and a good fence are essential to success. In every paddock you must +have a good shed, where the birds can take shelter when it rains. You +must also have a kraal or yard in each paddock, where you can drive the +birds whenever you want to select some of them for cutting their +feathers. It is proper to say, however, that a kraal in each paddock is +not necessary, as all that work can be done at the home station, where +you have the buildings for artificial hatching and for gathering the +feathers.”</p> + +<p>Ned asked what kind of ground was best suited for the ostrich.</p> + +<p>“You must have ground where the soil and plants are rich in alkalies,” +replied Mr. Shaffner, “and when this is not the case, care must be taken +to supply the needful element. Before this matter was understood there +was some <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_33" id="pg_33">33</a></span>melancholy failures in the business. A friend of mine started +an ostrich farm on a sandstone ridge. There was no limestone on the +farm, and most of the birds died in a few months, and those that lived +laid no eggs and produced very few feathers. Limestone was carted to the +farm from a considerable distance, and the birds would not touch it. +Bones were then tried and with admirable effect. What the birds required +was phosphate of lime, and the bones gave them that. They rushed at them +with great eagerness, and as soon as they were well supplied with bones +they began to improve in health and to lay eggs. On farms like the one I +mentioned, a quarter of a pound of sulphur and some salt is mixed with +two buckets of pulverized bones, and the birds are allowed to eat as +much of this mixture as they like. Where the rocks, grass, and soil +contain alkaline salts in abundance, the birds require very little, if +any, artificial food, and they thrive, fatten, pair, and lay eggs in the +most satisfactory manner.”</p> + +<p>“According to the story books,” said Harry, “the ostrich will eat +anything. But from what you say, Mr. Shaffner, it does not seem that +that is really the case.”</p> + +<p>“The ostrich has a very good appetite, I must say,” was the reply, “and +so far as green things are concerned, he will eat almost anything; +lucerne, clover, wheat, corn, cabbage leaves, fruit, grain, and garden +vegetables are all welcome, and he eats a certain quantity of crushed +limestone and bones, and generally keeps a few pebbles in his stomach to +assist him in the process of digestion. If he sees a bright sparkling +stone on the ground, he is very apt to swallow it, and that reminds me +of a little incident about <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_34" id="pg_34">34</a></span>two years ago. An English gentleman was +visiting my place, and while he was looking around he came close up to +the fence of a paddock containing a number of ostriches. An ostrich was +on the other side of the fence and close to it. The gentleman had a +large diamond in his shirt front, and while he was looking at the bird, +the latter, with a quick movement of his head, wrenched the stone from +its setting and swallowed it. I see that none of you wear diamonds, and +so it is not necessary for me to repeat the caution which I have ever +since given to my diamond-wearing visitors.”</p> + +<p>“What became of the diamond?” Harry asked.</p> + +<p>“Oh! my visitor bought the bird and had it killed, in order to get the +diamond back again. He found it safe in the creature’s stomach, along +with several small stones. It was a particularly valuable gem, and the +gentleman had no idea of allowing the bird to keep it.”</p> + +<p>Ned wanted to know if ostriches lived in flocks like barnyard fowls, or +divided off into pairs like the majority of forest and field birds.</p> + +<p>“That depends a great deal upon the farmer,” Mr. Shaffner answered. “The +pairing season is in the month of July, which is equivalent to the +English January. Some farmers, when the pairing time approaches, put a +male and female bird together in a pen; some put two females with a +male, and very often a male bird has five hens in his family. The birds +run in pairs or flocks, as the case may be. In August, the hens begin to +lay, and continue to deposit eggs for a period of six weeks. They do not +lay every day, like domestic fowls, but every second or third day. As I +have already told you, the eggs are taken as <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_35" id="pg_35">35</a></span>soon as laid and hatched +in an incubator. Sixteen birds out of twenty eggs is considered a very +fair proportion, while, if the bird is allowed to sit on the eggs, we +are not likely to get more than twelve out of twenty. There is another +advantage in hatching eggs by the incubator process, and that is, that +when the eggs are taken away the hen proceeds a few weeks later to lay +another batch of eggs, which she does not do if she has a family to care +for.”</p> + +<p>“What do you do with the young birds when they are hatched?”</p> + +<p>“We put them in a warm room,” was the reply, “and at night they are put +in a box lined with wool; they are fed with chopped grass suitable to +them, and as soon as they are able to run about they are entrusted to +the care of a small boy, a Kaffir or Hottentot, to whom they get +strongly attached. They grow quite rapidly and begin to feather at eight +months after hatching, but the yield at that time is of very little +value. Eight months later there is another and better crop, and then at +each season the crop improves until the birds are four or five years +old, when it reaches its maximum condition. Exactly how long an ostrich +will live, I don’t know. There are some birds here in South Africa that +are twenty years old, and they are strong and healthy yet.”</p> + +<p>Conversation ran on in various ways until the station was reached where +our friends were to leave the train. The carriage was waiting for them, +and the party drove at once to the farm, where Mr. Shaffner showed them +about the place, and called attention to the flocks of birds straying +about the different paddocks. It so happened that a flock <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_36" id="pg_36">36</a></span>had been +driven up that very morning for the purpose of cutting such of the +feathers as were in proper condition to be removed from the birds.</p> + +<p>While the men were driving the birds into the kraal, Mr. Shaffner +explained that there was a difference of opinion among farmers as to +whether the feathers should be plucked or cut. He said that when the +feather is plucked or pulled out at the roots it is apt to make a bad +sore, and at any rate cause a great deal of pain; while the feather that +grows in its place is apt to be twisted or of poor quality, and +occasionally the birds die, as a result of the operation. When a feather +is nipped off with pincers or cut with a knife the bird is quite +insensible to the operation. The stumps that are left in the flesh of +the ostrich fall out in the course of a month or six weeks, or can be +easily drawn out, and then a new and good feather grows in place of the +old one. The reason why plucking still finds advocates is that the +feathers with the entire quill bring a higher price in the market than +those that have been cut or nipped.</p> + +<p>Harry and Ned watched with much interest the process of removing +feathers from the birds. Here is the way Harry describes it.</p> + +<p>“The men moved around among the ostriches in a perfectly easy way, and +seemed to be on the best of terms with their charges. The foreman +selected a bird and indicated to one of the men that he wanted it +brought forward. Thereupon the man seized the bird by the neck and +pressed its head downward until he could draw a sack like a long and +very large stocking over it.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_37" id="pg_37">37</a></span>“When blindfolded in this way the ostrich is perfectly helpless, and +will stand perfectly still. The man pushed and led the bird up to the +fence, and then the foreman, armed with his cutting nippers, selected +the feathers that he wanted and cut them off. When the operation was +ended the sack was removed, and the ostrich resumed his place among his +companions. He did not strike, or kick, or indicate in any way that he +was aware of what had happened to him.</p> + +<p>“During their breeding time the male ostriches are decidedly vicious, +and it is dangerous to go near them. Mr. Shaffner told us that several +serious accidents had happened to his men at such times. Occasionally a +bird shows more or less ugliness on being driven into a kraal, and when +this is the case caution must be used in approaching him. The ostrich’s +favorite mode of fighting is to strike or kick with one leg, and he can +give a terrible blow in this way.</p> + +<p>“I asked Mr. Shaffner,” said Harry, “what was the value of a good +ostrich. He replied that the question was one he could not answer in a +single phrase. He said that an egg was worth not less than five dollars, +and an ostrich chick, fresh from the egg, was worth twenty-five dollars.</p> + +<p>“After a few months it was double that value, and by the time it was a +year old it was worth two hundred and fifty dollars. Mr. Shaffner said +he would be unwilling to sell a pair of hens and a male ostrich for less +than two thousand dollars, but he explained that a great deal depended +upon the breeding and feather-producing qualities of the birds.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_38" id="pg_38">38</a></span>“Then, I asked,” continued Harry, “about the yield of feathers, and was +told that the average yield was about fifty dollars annually to a good +bird. The feathers ripen at the time of incubation and are injured by +the process, so that the artificial incubator, by releasing the birds +from duty on the nest, is of special value.</p> + +<p>“I remarked,” said Harry, “that, considering the increase in the flocks +and the money obtained from the feathers, ostrich farming ought to be +very profitable.”</p> + +<p>“Well, it is profitable in a general way,” replied Mr. Shaffner, “but +that is not by any means the rule. There are farmers who have never made +anything by it, and it has its drawbacks, like everything else. The +birds are subject to diseases of various kinds, and there is a parasitic +worm on some farms that is very destructive. Wild beasts kill the birds, +and I myself have lost three fine ostriches this year in that way. I +know one farm on which eighty-five birds were originally placed. In the +very first year twenty-seven were lost, thirteen by cold and wet, three +by diphtheria, six killed by natives, three by fighting, and two by +falling into holes. Out of sixty eggs, nineteen were destroyed by crows. +These birds would take stones in their claws, fly to a point directly +over the nest, and then let the stones fall on the eggs, thus breaking +them, so that they could get at the contents of the shells. The +remaining eggs were sent to a neighboring farm to be artificially +incubated, but only ten of them hatched out. So, you see,” the gentleman +continued, “ostrich farming has its hard times, like everything else.”</p> + +<p>After inspecting the ostrich farm our friends were entertained <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_39" id="pg_39">39</a></span>at a +substantial dinner in the house of their host, and in the afternoon were +driven to the railway station, whence they returned to Cape Town, having +well enjoyed their first excursion.</p> + +<p>That evening Dr. Whitney received an invitation to visit a large sheep +farm about thirty miles from Cape Town, accompanied, as before, by his +two nephews. He accepted the invitation, and the trio took an early +train for their destination. They were met at the station by the owner +of the establishment, and were speedily shown through the entire place. +Sheep farming was less a novelty to our young friends than ostrich +farming, and consequently they had much less interest in seeing the +sights of the establishment. Harry wrote a brief account of their visit, +and we are permitted to copy from it.</p> + +<p>“Evidently the place was prosperous,” said Harry, in his journal, “as we +found an abundance of substantial buildings, a luxurious house for the +owner, and substantial dwellings for the manager and his assistant. We +sat down to an excellent, though somewhat late breakfast. We had a good +appetite for it, as we had breakfasted very lightly before leaving Cape +Town. On the table we had broiled chickens, broiled ham, and lamb chops, +together with eggs, bread, and the usual concomitants of the morning +meal.</p> + +<p>“After breakfast we visited the sheds where the sheep are sheared, and +also the surrounding sheds and yards where the animals are driven up at +shearing time. We were sorry that it was not the time of the annual +shearing, so that we could witness the process. Our host told us <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_40" id="pg_40">40</a></span>that +the shearers travel about the country, and take contracts for shearing +the flocks at so much a head. In addition to their wages, they were +supplied with food, and he added that the shearers were a fastidious +lot, and nothing but the best table would suit them.</p> + +<p>“After inspecting the buildings, we were supplied with saddle horses and +rode over the farm. The sheep are divided into flocks of about three +hundred each, and every flock is in charge of two herders or shepherds. +Some of them come into the home stations at night, while others have +separate out stations of their own. The herders are either Hottentots or +Kaffirs; at any rate they are negroes. The two of them start out in the +morning with the flock, and go slowly along, allowing the sheep to feed, +and calculating time and distance so that they will reach a watering +place about noon. There the sheep are watered and then they start back +again towards the station, where they arrive an hour or so before +sunset, and are shut up in a yard for the night.</p> + +<p>“The shepherds do their own cooking, and once a week one of them comes +to the head station to be supplied with provisions. Our host explained +to us that one shepherd was sufficient for a flock, but the life was so +lonely that a man would not stick to it, if left alone, and they had to +have two men in order to keep each other company. I can well understand +how wearisome it would be to have nobody to speak to for days at a time, +and one of the last occupations I would wish to engage in is that of +shepherd.</p> + +<p>“Wool raising is a very large industry in Cape Colony, and it certainly +has been a very profitable one. Our host <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_41" id="pg_41">41</a></span>told us that if a man could +avoid accidents and misfortunes, he would find the business very +remunerative; but, of course, misfortunes are pretty sure to come. He +told us further, that nearly all the sheep farmers of South Africa had +started into the business as poor men, and, while none of them were +millionaires, there were some that were very near being so. He gave some +statistics of the wool trade, but I have mislaid the sheet of paper +containing them, and so cannot give them to you.”</p> + +<p>On their return from the excursion to the sheep farm, our friends +learned that a steamer of the Orient line had just arrived, and would +leave at noon the next day for Australia. Dr. Whitney decided to take +passage on this steamer, and the matter was very quickly arranged.</p> + +<p>When the great ship left the harbor of Cape Town, our friends stood on +her deck and were deeply interested in the scene about them. As they +steamed out around the breakwater, they had a fine view of Table Bay and +the mountains that surround it. Then they passed a series of cliff-like +mountains, known as the Twelve Apostles, and after them some brightly +colored mountains that had a dazzling appearance in the bright sunlight. +Thirty miles from Cape Town they passed the famous Cape of Good Hope, +which is popularly but erroneously supposed to be the southern end of +the continent; the fact is that the point of Africa nearest to the South +Pole is Cape Agulhas, sixty or seventy miles away from the Cape of Good +Hope.</p> + +<p>Down to Cape Agulhas the steamer had followed the coast line. Now it +steered away from the coast, and gradually <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_42" id="pg_42">42</a></span>the mountains of the +southern end of Africa faded and became dim in the distance, and +gradually disappeared altogether from sight. Our friends were now upon +the great Southern Ocean, which sweeps entirely around this part of the +globe.</p> + +<p>“We have a long voyage before us now,” said Harry to Ned; “we have +sixteen days of steaming, so one of the officers tells me, before we +reach the coast of Australia.”</p> + +<p>“Well, if that is the case,” Ned answered, “we have plenty of time to +become acquainted with the Southern Ocean. I wonder if it will be very +different from the Atlantic.”</p> + +<p>“As to that,” replied Harry, “I don’t know, but I have no doubt it has +peculiarities of its own. We will see about that later.”</p> + +<p>Flocks of birds accompanied the ship as it steamed away from the coast. +Some were familiar sights to our young friends, and some were new to +them, or comparatively so. The next day and the few succeeding days made +them acquainted with several birds that they had never seen, and the +boys were so interested in them that Harry wrote a description, which we +will presently consider. But before doing so, however, we will look at a +note which Ned made concerning the waves of the Southern Ocean.</p> + +<p>“The waves of this part of the boundless waste of waters that covers +three fourths of the globe,” said Ned, in his journal, “are the largest +we have ever seen. The prevailing winds are westerly, and the captain +tells us that <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_43" id="pg_43">43</a></span>they drive a continuous series of waves right around the +globe. You have heard of the long swell of the Pacific, but it is not, +at least in the Northern Hemisphere, anywhere equal to the immense +swells of the Southern Ocean. I have never seen waves that began to be +as large. The captain says that the crests are often thirty feet high, +and three hundred and ninety feet apart. Sir James Ross, in his +Antartic expedition, measured waves thirty-six feet high, and said that +when two ships were in the hollows of two adjoining waves, their hulls +were completely concealed from each other by the crest of water between +them. This great steamer, measuring nearly five thousand tons, is rolled +and tossed as if it were nothing more than an egg-shell, and such of the +passengers as are liable to seasickness are staying below out of sight. +Fancy what it must be to sail on this ocean in a small craft of one +hundred or two hundred tons! I think I would prefer to be on shore.”</p> + +<p>And now we come to Harry’s account of the birds. He wrote as follows:—</p> + +<p>“Dr. Whitney says that I must make a distinction between land birds, +coast birds, and ocean birds. Land birds are only at sea by accident; +coast birds are seen only in the neighborhood of the land, but ocean +birds go far out at sea, and rarely visit the land except during their +breeding season. When you see a land bird out of sight of the shore, you +can know that he has been driven there by the wind; perhaps in a squall +or rain storm. The doctor tells me that we can make a general +distinction between the three kinds of birds, by remembering that the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_44" id="pg_44">44</a></span>more the bird lives on the land, the more he flaps his wings, and most +land birds flap their wings constantly. A few, like the eagle, condor, +and other birds of prey, sail about and flap their wings occasionally, +but the true ocean birds, as a rule, flap their wings very little.</p> + +<p>“An interesting flyer that we have seen is the frigate bird, also called +the man-of-war bird, which appears to me to be a good deal of a pirate, +as it makes the most of its living by robbing others. When another bird +has caught a fish the frigate bird attacks him, and takes away his +prize, catching it in the air as it falls from the victim’s claws. These +birds follow the steamer or fly in the air above it, and they seem to go +along very easily, although the ship is running at full speed. I am told +that, on the previous voyage of this ship, some of the sailors caught +two of these birds and marked them by attaching strips of white cloth to +their feet. Then the birds were set free, and they followed the steamer +four or five days without any apparent fatigue.</p> + +<p>“Of course we have seen ‘Mother Carey’s Chickens.’ These tireless little +fellows, that never seem to rest, are found in all parts of the world of +waters. They have been constantly about us, flying around the ship but +never settling upon it, and dipping occasionally into the waters behind +us to gather up crumbs or particles of food. The other birds, which are +all much larger, would like to deprive them of their sustenance, but +they do not have the quickness of the little flyers on the wing. When +anything is thrown overboard, they dart as quick as a flash under the +noses of the larger and more clumsy birds, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_45" id="pg_45">45</a></span>and pick up a mouthful or +two before the latter can reach them. Then there are whale birds, and +cape pigeons, and also the cape dove, which is somewhat larger than the +pigeon, and is also known as the ‘fulmar petrel.’</p> + +<p>“But the most interesting as well as the largest of all the ocean birds +is the albatross. There are two or three kinds of this bird; the largest +of them has a spread of wing varying from twelve to fifteen feet, and +one has been caught measuring seventeen feet from tip to tip. With +outspread wings, his body, as he sails about in the air, looks as large +as a barrel, but when stripped of its feathers its size diminishes very +much. We offered to pay a good price to the sailors if they would catch +an albatross for us, but they declined our proposal to catch one, and +when a passenger one day wanted to shoot one which was directly over the +steamer, the sailors objected. We finally induced them to compromise the +matter by catching an albatross and letting it go unharmed.</p> + +<p>“They baited a hook with a piece of pork which was attached to a long +line, and then allowed to tow behind the steamer. We were doomed to +disappointment, as the albatross, that was then flying with the ship, +refused to touch the bait, and it was taken up by a frigate bird. It is +said that the albatross is very difficult to catch, as he is exceedingly +wary, and constantly on the lookout for tricks. I am told that a live +albatross standing on the deck of the ship is a very handsome bird. His +back is white, his wings are brown, he has a fine head, carries himself +with great dignity, and has a grand eye and countenance. The bird has a +pink beak and pretty <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_46" id="pg_46">46</a></span>streaks of a rose color on the cheeks. After death +these colors disappear, and are not to be seen in the stuffed specimens +such as are found in museums. A good-sized albatross weighs about twenty +pounds, though, as before stated, he looks very much larger.</p> + +<p>“The wonderful thing about this bird is the way he sustains himself in +the air. He sails along above the ship, though she may be steaming +fifteen or sixteen miles an hour, but he does it all with very little +motion. Three or four times in an hour he may give one or two flaps of +his wings, and that is all; the rest is all steady sailing. The +outspread wings sustain the bird, and carry him forward at the same +time. If any man ever invents a successful flying machine, I think he +will do so by studying the movements of the albatross. It is proper to +say that this bird is not at all courageous, and often gives up the fish +that he catches to the piratical frigate bird. It lives mostly on fish, +and is very fond of the carcass of a dead whale, and they tell me that +the longer the whale has been dead, the better does the albatross like +it.</p> + +<p>“The superstition of the sailors about its being bad luck to kill an +albatross is not by any means a new one. It is referred to by old +writers, and you will find it mentioned in Coleridge’s ‘Ancient +Mariner.’</p> + +<p>“We have seen a great many flying fish during our voyage, but as we have +seen them before, they are not a great curiosity. The flying motion of +this fish is more fanciful than real. He does not soar in the air like a +bird, but simply leaps from the crest of one wave to the crest of +another. He makes a single dash through the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_47" id="pg_47">47</a></span>air, and that is all. +Sometimes, when a ship is in the hollow between two waves and the flying +fish is attempting to make his way across, he falls on the deck of the +vessel, but he rarely gets more than fifteen or eighteen feet into the +air, and therefore does not reach the deck of a big steamer like this.</p> + +<p>“Flying fish seem to fly when disturbed by big fishes, or, possibly, by +the commotion that a vessel creates in going through the water. There is +a good deal of dispute as to how long the flying fish can stay out of +water, and the longest time I have heard any one give to it is thirty +seconds. Some say that the flying fish can stay in the air only while +its wings are wet, but that is a point on which I do not care to give +any opinion, for the simple reason that I don’t know.”</p> + +<p>Ned and Harry had kept the nautical instruments which they carried over +the deserts of Northern Africa, and they amused themselves by taking +daily observations and calculating the ship’s position. Sometimes they +were wrong, and sometimes they were right, Ned naively remarking that +“the wrongs didn’t count.” The first officer of the ship gave them some +assistance in their nautical observations, and, altogether, they got +along very well.</p> + +<p>Our friends made the acquaintance of some of their fellow-passengers and +found them very agreeable. The majority were residents of Australia or +New Zealand, who had been on visits to England and were now returning +home. The youths learned a great deal concerning the country whither +they were bound, and the goodly portion of the information they received +was of practical value to <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_48" id="pg_48">48</a></span>them. They made copious notes of what they +heard, and some of the information that they gleaned will appear later +in these pages.</p> + +<p>In due time they sighted the coast of Australia at its western +extremity, known as Cape Leeuwin, but the sight was not especially +picturesque, as the mountains around the cape are of no great height. +After passing Cape Leeuwin, the steamer held her course steadily to the +west, gradually leaving the shore out of sight. She was passing along +the front of what is called the Great Australian Bight, an indentation +in the land twelve hundred miles long, and bounded on the north by a +region of desolation.</p> + +<p>“It is a desolate coast,” said one of the passengers to Harry, “and is +so destitute of water that no settlements have or can be made upon it. +Mr. Eyre, who was afterwards governor of Jamaica, endeavored to explore +that coast, and had a terrible time of it. He was an entire year making +the journey of twelve hundred miles, and suffered the most terrible +hardships.”</p> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="A_LAND_OF_CONTRADICTIONSmdashTRANSPORTATION_TO_AUSTRALIA_1217" id="A_LAND_OF_CONTRADICTIONSmdashTRANSPORTATION_TO_AUSTRALIA_1217"></a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_49" id="pg_49">49</a></span> +<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<h3>A LAND OF CONTRADICTIONS—TRANSPORTATION TO AUSTRALIA.</h3> +</div> + +<p>“How long is it since Mr. Eyre made this journey?” Harry asked.</p> + +<p>“It was a good while ago,” the gentleman answered, “in the years 1839 +and 1840. Mr. Eyre had explored a portion of the western shore of +Spencer Gulf, and while doing so, determined to make the attempt to +travel along the shore of the Great Australian Bight. One of the first +difficulties that opposed him was the scarcity of fresh water. There +were numerous gullies, showing that in times of rain there was plenty of +water, but no rain had fallen for a long time and all these gullies were +dry. A few springs were found, but these were generally brackish and the +water was hardly drinkable.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Eyre tried the experiment of sinking a cask in the ground, near the +edge of the sea, in the hope of obtaining fresh water, but his +experiments in this direction were not successful. By the time he had +advanced two hundred miles, he had lost four of his horses. The +reduction in the number of his pack animals made it impossible for him +to carry sufficient provisions for his party, and he therefore sent back +his only white companion and three of his men. Then he continued his +journey with his overseer and three natives, one of the latter being his +personal servant.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_50" id="pg_50">50</a></span>“In order to be sure of water, Mr. Eyre explored in advance of the +party, and sometimes was gone four or five days before finding any. One +by one the horses died of thirst, and the only way the men could keep +alive was by gathering the dew, which fell at night, by means of sponges +and rags.</p> + +<p>“The natives complained at their hardships, and one night the two men +took possession of the guns, killed the overseer, and ran away, leaving +Mr. Eyre with only his native servant and a very small stock of +provisions. They were then about midway on the journey; that is, they +had still six hundred miles to travel to reach the settled parts of West +Australia. The entire supply of provisions that they had was four +gallons of water, forty pounds of flour, and a portion of a dead horse. +They had to go nearly two hundred miles before finding any more water, +and lived on horse-flesh, with occasional game and fish, and a little +flour paste. Just as they were about to lie down and die in the desert +they saw a sail in the distance.</p> + +<p>“They built a fire on the beach as a signal, and, luckily for them, it +was observed. The vessel came in quite near the land and sent a boat to +their assistance. The ship proved to be an American whaler that was +cruising about the Australian Bight in pursuit of whales, and the +captain invited them to stay on board as long as they liked. They +remained there two weeks, and were then put ashore at the same spot +whence they had gone on board. The captain supplied them with all the +provisions and water they could carry. Mr. Eyre was determined to +complete his journey, if possible, and his faithful servant consented to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_51" id="pg_51">51</a></span>remain with him. They struggled on for two or three weeks longer, when +they reached the first of the settlements on King George’s Sound.”</p> + +<p>“Has anybody else ever tried to make the same journey?” Harry asked.</p> + +<p>“Not under the same circumstances,” was the reply. “I believe that a +well-equipped exploring party was sent out some twelve or fifteen years +ago, to travel along the coast and look for gold. Water and provisions +were supplied every few days by a small steamer that kept near the shore +and went in when signaled by the travelers. In this way, suffering from +hunger and thirst was avoided and the animals of the expedition were +well supplied with forage. The enterprise was not a successful one so +far as the finding of gold was concerned, but I have little doubt that +one of these days gold will be discovered there; and if it should be, +some way will be found for softening the asperities of this desolate +coast.”</p> + +<p>“I have heard,” said Harry, “that a great part of Australia is destitute +of water. Is that really the case?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” the gentleman answered; “you have been correctly informed. +Australia, is a waterless country, or, at any rate, that is the case +with a great part of it. The interior has never been fully explored for +this reason, and there are thousands, I might say millions, of square +miles of Australian country where no human foot has ever trod. Many +attempts have been made to penetrate this desolate region, but all have +resulted in failure.</p> + +<p>“Water, as you know, is an absolute necessity for man and animals, and +there is a limit to the amount which an <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_52" id="pg_52">52</a></span>expedition can carry, just as +there is a limit to the food that one may take on a journey. There are +parts of Australia where rain seems never to fall, or, if it does, the +intervals are so rare and irregular that no reliance can be placed on +them. Explorers cannot stop to dig wells hundreds of feet in depth, and +it is certain that no ordinary amount of digging will procure water. The +atmosphere is dry, terribly dry, as all who have attempted to penetrate +into the interior will tell you.</p> + +<p>“Instruments, and cases made of the best seasoned wood—wood that has +been dried for years and years—crack and split and go to pieces in the +dry atmosphere of the interior of Australia. Leather becomes brittle, +and cracks and breaks when the slightest pressure is put upon it. One +exploring expedition was obliged to turn back in consequence of the +drying up and cracking of the wood contained in its instruments and +their cases. The evaporation from one’s skin is very rapid under such +circumstances, and produces an agonizing thirst, which is no doubt +intensified by the knowledge of the scarcity of water and the necessity +of using the supply on hand with great care.”</p> + +<p>“I have heard,” said Ned, “that Australia is a land of contradictions as +compared with England and the United States. I read in a book somewhere +that nearly everything in nature was the reverse of what it was in the +countries I mentioned.”</p> + +<p>“That is true,” said the gentleman with whom they were conversing, “and +I will tell you several things to demonstrate the correctness of what +you say. In the first <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_53" id="pg_53">53</a></span>place Australia is on the other side of the world +from England and the United States, and that circumstance ought to +prepare you for the other peculiarities. Most countries are fertile in +their interior; but, as I have told you, the interior of Australia is a +land of desolation, where neither man nor beast can live. I have been +told that birds never fly in the interior of Australia; and certainly if +I were a bird, I would not fly there nor anywhere near it.</p> + +<p>“We have very few rivers, and none of them come from far in the +interior. Most of them are low in summer or altogether dried up. There +is only one river, the Murray, that can be relied upon to have any +reasonable depth of water in it throughout the entire year. The other +rivers dwindle almost to nothing, and, as I have said, entirely +disappear. The greater part of the country is absolutely without trees, +and the dense forests which you have in America are practically unknown. +We have summer when you have winter, and we have night when you have +day. When you are in your own country, and I am here, our feet are +nearer together than our heads; that is to say, our feet are pressing +the ground on opposite sides of the earth, and so we may be said to be +standing upon each other.”</p> + +<p>“That is so,” remarked Harry; “I was thinking of that this morning. I +noticed also that the ship’s compass pointed to the south, and that the +sun was traveling along the northern heavens. I observed, too, that the +south wind was cold, and the north wind hot.”</p> + +<p>“You are quite right,” said the gentleman; “and if <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_54" id="pg_54">54</a></span>you have been +studying the barometer, you have found that it falls with the northerly +wind and rises with the southerly one. When you travel over the country, +you will find that the valleys are cool and the mountain tops warm. The +bees have no sting, and many of the beautiful flowers have no smell. The +leaves of the trees are nearly always perpendicular instead of +horizontal, as in your country, and consequently one gets very little +shade under an Australian tree.”</p> + +<p>“I have heard,” said Ned, “that the trees shed their bark instead of +their leaves. Is that really so?”</p> + +<p>“It is so with most of the trees,” was the reply; “in fact, with nearly +all of them. A few shed their leaves every year, and on many of the +trees the leaves remain unchanged, while the bark is thrown off. One +tree is called the stringy bark, on account of the ragged appearance of +its covering at the time it is shed.</p> + +<p>“In your part of the world,” the gentleman continued, “cherries grow +with the stones inside; but here in Australia we have cherries with the +stones on the outside. We have birds of beautiful plumage and very +little song; the owls are quiet at night, and screech and hoot in the +daytime, which certainly is not a characteristic of the English or +American owl. The geological formation of the country is also peculiar, +and the scientific men who have come here from England and America are a +good deal puzzled at the state of affairs they find in Australia. Would +it not surprise you to learn that we have coal in this country as white +as chalk?”</p> + +<p>“That is, indeed, a surprise,” one of the youths remarked. <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_55" id="pg_55">55</a></span>“I wonder if +the conditions are continued so that your chalk is black.”</p> + +<p>“The contrasts do not go quite so far as that,” said the gentleman, with +a laugh, “as the chalk of Australia is as white as that of England. I +don’t mean to say that all our coal is white, but only the coal of +certain localities. It generally takes the stranger by surprise to see a +grateful of white coal burning brightly, and throwing out smoke at the +same time. I must tell you that this coal is bituminous, and not +anthracite.”</p> + +<p>“I hope,” said Ned, “that men’s heads do not grow out of their sides, or +from their breasts, and that they do not walk topsy-turvy, with their +feet in the air.”</p> + +<p>“No, they are not as bad as that,” was the reply; “but you will see some +queer things before you are through with Australia. Bear in mind that +the country contains no antiquities of any kind; it is a new land in +every sense, as it was first settled in 1788, and all these cities are +of modern foundation and growth.”</p> + +<p>Our young friends thanked the gentleman for the information he had given +them, and said they would specially bear in mind the comparisons and +contrasts which he had indicated in their brief conversation.</p> + +<p>The first stopping place of the ship was at Adelaide, in South +Australia, from which place she proceeded around the coast to Melbourne. +Our friends decided to land at Adelaide, and go overland through that +city wherever the railway would take them. They thought that by so doing +they would be able to see a great deal more on their way to Melbourne +than if they continued aboard the ship.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_56" id="pg_56">56</a></span>Harry had obtained a map of Australia on the day before their arrival +at Adelaide. He was busily engaged in studying it.</p> + +<p>“Just look a moment,” said Harry to Ned, as he spread the map out on one +of the tables in the saloon; “here is another contradiction that our +friend didn’t include. Look at it.”</p> + +<p>“Well, what of it?” said Ned. “It is a map of Australia, is it not?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, it is, and just look at the provinces or colonies of Australia. +Here is West Australia, as its name indicates, at the western end of the +great island or continent. Here are Queensland, New South Wales, and +Victoria, and here is South Australia, where we are going to land. +Adelaide is its capital.”</p> + +<p>“Well, what of it?” queried Ned, with an expression of curiosity on his +face.</p> + +<p>“Why, don’t you see,” said Harry, in a tone of impatience, “that South +Australia is not South Australia at all. Here is Victoria, which runs +further south than this colony, and then you see South Australia runs +clear across the continent to the northern side, and almost as far north +as the extreme point of Queensland. They ought to change the name of it, +or else divide it into two colonies, calling this one by its present +name, and the other North Australia.”</p> + +<p>Ned admitted the force of the argument, and then joined his cousin in +studying the map. Strange to say, the middle section or unexplored +region had a singular fascination for both the youths, and each confided +to the other that he would like to undertake the exploration of that +part of the continent. They wondered whether Dr. Whitney would entertain +their proposal to do so, but finally concluded that the hardships would +be too great, and they would say nothing about their aspirations.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width:357px"> +<a name="illus-001" id="illus-001"></a> +<img src="images/aus056.jpg" alt=""HARRY HAD OBTAINED A MAP OF AUSTRALIA."" title="" width="357" /><br /> +<span class="caption">“HARRY HAD OBTAINED A MAP OF AUSTRALIA.”</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_57" id="pg_57">57</a></span>In due time the steamer came to anchor at Port Adelaide. The harbor of +the capital city is not on the sea, but seven miles away from it, on the +banks of the small river Torrens. The railway connects the port with the +city, and shortly after getting ashore our friends were seated in a +train, which carried them quickly to the capital. One of the passengers +told Ned that the port was formerly quite shallow and difficult to +enter. The entrance at present is between two large shoals of sand, +which are marked by lighthouses. A great deal of money has been expended +in deepening and widening the harbor, so that it is now accessible for +large ships.</p> + +<p>A long pier extends into St. Vincent’s Gulf, the body of water on which +the port stands, and this pier is quite popular as a promenade for the +people living at the port, and also for those who come down from the +city.</p> + +<p>Harry observed that the dock and pier accommodations were excellent. +There were immense sheds, and warehouses for the storage of grain, wool, +and other products of the country while awaiting shipment, and equally +extensive shelters for merchandise arriving at the port on its way to +the city and to other parts of the colony. There were dry docks and +repairing yards, and there were hospitals for sick sailors and others, +together with the usual public buildings of a prosperous seaport. +Immense quantities of wool and frozen meat are shipped from this port +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_58" id="pg_58">58</a></span>to England, and the trade of the colony with the mother country is said +to be increasing every year.</p> + +<p>It was about the middle of the afternoon when our friends landed, and in +less than half an hour after landing they were in the city. One of their +steamer acquaintances had directed them to a hotel, and, in fact, +accompanied them to it, so that they had the advantage of his personal +guidance and introduction. Harry made a memorandum in his notebook that +they found the hotel quite a good one, certainly much better than the +hotel where they stopped at Cape Town.</p> + +<p>After settling themselves in the hotel the party went out for a stroll, +but, in consequence of the heat, they were not long in turning their +stroll into a drive. Here is what Ned says of their first day in +Adelaide:—</p> + +<p>“This city recalls Chicago more than any other place I can think of. It +is on a level plain, with the exception of the portion to the north +where the ground rises a little, and the streets are laid out at right +angles, as though a chess-board had been taken as a model for the place. +We have wondered why it was called Adelaide instead of Mary Ann, Betsy, +or some other feminine name; Dr. Whitney has just told us that the city +was laid out in 1837 and named in honor of the queen of King William +IV., who was then the ruler of England.</p> + +<p>“Having named the place in honor of the queen, the founders of the city +felt that the next thing to do was to call the principal street after +the king. Thus it happens that the great street, the one most built +upon, and where the majority of the shops are concentrated, is King +William <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_59" id="pg_59">59</a></span>Street. It is a broad avenue running from south to north, and +divides the city almost equally. It is certainly a very handsome avenue, +and we greatly enjoyed our drive upon it. Most of the public buildings, +the town hall, post-office, government offices, and the like, are on +King William Street, and they are very handsome structures.</p> + +<p>“The people are very proud of these edifices, and well they may be, as +they would be ornaments to any city ten times as old and large as +Adelaide. The principal banks, newspaper offices, and business +structures generally are also on King William Street, and to judge by +the crowds of people that throng the sidewalks, one might conclude that +the population was a busy one. One thing that attracted our attention +was the great number of churches, which certainly gave us the impression +that the population of Adelaide is decidedly religious, and also that +its zeal in religion had led it to contribute freely to the erection of +places of worship. Our driver pointed out the various churches and told +us their denomination. Of course the Church of England was ahead of the +others, as is expected to be the case in a British colony.”</p> + +<p>“I learned afterwards,” said Ned, “that there were nearly one thousand +churches and chapels in the colony of South Australia, together with +nearly five hundred other buildings that are occasionally used for +religious worship. All the churches are supported by voluntary +contributions, there being no State aid to any of them. At the last +census of the colony there were 76,000 adherents of the Church of +England, 43,000 Roman Catholics, and 42,000 Methodists. Then came the +Lutherans, with 20,000; Presbyterians, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_60" id="pg_60">60</a></span>with 18,000; Baptists, with +14,000; and about 10,000 each of primitive Methodists, Congregationalists, +and Bible Christians. There were several other denominations, but their +numbers were insignificant. We looked for pagodas while driving along +the street, but none of them were to be found, and we learned on inquiry +that the number of Chinese and Moslems in South Australia was hardly +worth mentioning. The colony has never been attractive to the Chinese, +and few of them have endeavored to find homes there.</p> + +<p>“We drove to the resident portion of the city and saw a goodly number of +private houses of the better sort. A great deal of taste has been +displayed in the construction of these houses, and we derived the +impression that Adelaide was a decidedly prosperous city. The +wheat-growing industry of South Australia is a very large one. Many of +the great farmers have their residences in Adelaide and spend only a +small portion of their time on their farms, leaving all details to their +managers. A considerable amount of American farming machinery finds its +way to South Australia, where it has attained a well-deserved +popularity.”</p> + +<p>While our friends were at breakfast the next morning, Harry suggested +that if the others were willing, he would like to see one of the +Australian prisons containing convicts that had been transported from +England.</p> + +<p>The doctor smiled,—just a faint smile,—while Ned laughed.</p> + +<p>“Oh, you are all wrong, Harry,” said Ned. “They gave up that business +long ago. I was under the same <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_61" id="pg_61">61</a></span>impression that you are, but learned +better from one of our fellow-passengers. I meant to tell you about it.”</p> + +<p>“Well, I will acknowledge my mistake,” said Harry. “We are all liable to +make blunders, and that is one of them.”</p> + +<p>“Quite true,” Dr. Whitney remarked. “Every visitor to a country that is +strange to him makes a great many mistakes, and the frank thing is to +acknowledge it.”</p> + +<p>“The gentleman who corrected my blunder,” said Ned, “told me that an +American visitor who was very fond of hunting landed once in Sydney, +fresh from the United States. The hunting fever was strong in him, and +before he was an hour on shore he asked the clerk of the hotel where he +could go to shoot Sydney ducks. He had heard of them, and would like to +bag a few brace.”</p> + +<p>“What is the point of the joke?” said Harry; “I confess I cannot see +it.”</p> + +<p>“That is exactly what I said to my informant,” replied Ned, “and then he +went on and told me that in former times Australian convicts were spoken +of as Sydney ducks.”</p> + +<p>“Oh! I see,” said Harry, “that is a very good joke when you come to know +all about it. What did the clerk of the hotel say to the inquiring +stranger?”</p> + +<p>“I don’t know,” replied Ned, “but I presume he told him that Sydney +ducks had gone out of fashion, and were not being shot any more. +Probably he let the man down as gently as possible.”</p> + +<p>“How did the convicts come to have the name of Sydney ducks?” Harry +asked.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_62" id="pg_62">62</a></span>“I can’t tell you, I am sure,” said Ned, “you will have to ask the +doctor about it.”</p> + +<p>“The name came, no doubt,” said Dr. Whitney, “from the circumstance that +the first convicts who were brought to Australia were landed at Sydney, +and for a good many years Sydney was the principal depot of these +involuntary emigrants. The adoption of Australia as the place for +convict settlement was brought about by events in America, a statement +which may surprise you.”</p> + +<p>“It certainly is surprising,” Harry remarked. “How did it happen?”</p> + +<p>“It came about in this way,” the doctor continued; “when America was +subject to England, offenders of various kinds, whether political or +criminal, were sent to the American colonies, principally to the +Southern States and the West Indies, where they were chiefly employed in +the cultivation of tobacco. The consumption of tobacco in England was +very large, and the revenue derived from it was considerable. +Consequently England was able to kill two birds with one stone; she got +rid of her criminals, at the same time, and made a large profit on their +work.</p> + +<p>“When the American colonies revolted in 1775, and gained their +independence eight years later, England found herself deprived of a +place to which she could send her convicts, and she looked around for +another. She tried the coast of Africa, and found it too unhealthy for +her purpose. Captain Cook had recently visited Australia and given a +glowing account of it, and the government officials thought that this +new country would be an excellent <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_63" id="pg_63">63</a></span>one for criminals. Orders were given +for sending out a fleet of ships for that purpose; and, accordingly, +eleven vessels, carrying more than one thousand people, sailed for +Portsmouth in the month of March, 1787, with orders to proceed to +Australia.”</p> + +<p>“If England had known what was to happen,” said Harry, “she need not +have been at the trouble of sending her criminals so far away; she might +have kept on with America with only slight interruptions. She is sending +us her criminals and paupers at present, though she does not designate +them properly when she ships them, and most of the continental nations +are doing the same thing. We are trying to prevent it, but I don’t +believe we succeed to a very great extent.”</p> + +<p>“Did they send a thousand convicts to Australia in this first batch?” +queried Ned.</p> + +<p>“There were about one thousand people altogether,” said Dr. Whitney, +“including 757 convicts, and among the convicts were 190 women and +eighteen children. They had 160 soldiers to guard the prisoners, with a +sufficient number of officers, and forty of the soldiers were +accompanied by their wives. They had on the ships a goodly quantity of +cattle, sheep, horses, pigs, and goats, and a large quantity of seeds +from various parts of the world was sent out. It was not expected that +the colony would be self-supporting for some time, and so it was +arranged that supply ships laden with flour and other provisions should +be sent from England at regular intervals. A year or two after the +colony was founded one of these ships was wrecked on its way to +Australia, and the colonists <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_64" id="pg_64">64</a></span>suffered greatly for want of food. Among +the supplies taken by each ship there was usually a fresh batch of +convicts, and quite regularly convict ships were despatched from England +to Australia.”</p> + +<p>Ned remarked that he thought a convict ship would not be a pleasant +craft to travel on. A good many people did not like crossing the +Atlantic on cattle ships, but he thought the cattle ship would be far +preferable to one laden with convicts.</p> + +<p>“And so it is,” replied the doctor. “According to all accounts, the life +on board a convict ship from England to Australia was terrible. Remember +that in those days prisoners were treated with great harshness; they +were not supposed to have any feelings and were never spoken to kindly, +and in many instances an order was usually accompanied by a kick or a +blow. During the voyage the prisoners were allowed on deck one hour or +possibly two hours of each day, care being taken that only a small +number would be there at any one time.</p> + +<p>“For the rest of the twenty-four hours they were shut up in close, +stifling pens or cages, generally with nothing but a little straw to +sleep on, and they were fed with the coarsest and poorest food. Coffee +and tea with hard bread formed their breakfast; dinner was the same, +with sometimes the addition of a piece of heavily salted beef, so hard +that it was no easy matter to cut it into mouthfuls. Supper was the same +as breakfast, and this was kept up with hardly any variation.</p> + +<p>“The slightest infraction of the rules was punished with the lash, but +this did not deter the criminals from making <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_65" id="pg_65">65</a></span>trouble. Constantly the +boatswain and his assistants were kept busy in performing the floggings +that were ordered, and sometimes the cat-o’-nine-tails was in steady use +from sunrise to sunset. The more severe his discipline, the more highly +an officer was regarded by his superiors, and if he occasionally hanged +a few men, it rather advanced than retarded his promotion. A good many +died on the voyage from England to Australia, partly in consequence of +their scanty fare and the great heat of the tropics; but, according to +tradition, a very large proportion of the mortality was the result of +brutal treatment and privations.</p> + +<p>“The passengers on the convict ship,” said Harry, “seem to have been +treated pretty much like those on slave ships.”</p> + +<p>“You are not far wrong there,” the doctor replied; “the sufferings of +convicts on their way to Australia were not altogether unlike those of +the unhappy negroes that were formerly taken from the coast of Africa to +North and South America. The convicts were not crowded quite as densely +into the holds of the ships as the slaves were, and the mortality among +them was not as great; still they were packed very thickly together, and +were treated quite as cruelly as the slave dealers used to treat their +human property. Occasionally it happened that the convicts formed a +conspiracy and endeavored to take possession of the ship. In nearly +every instance they were betrayed by one of their number, and when the +time came for action they were so closely guarded that any resistance +was useless. Then the conspirators were seized, and after a brief trial +were condemned to be hung or shot, generally the former, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_66" id="pg_66">66</a></span>as it saved +ammunition and did not soil the decks of the ship with blood. When there +was an actual mutiny the mutineers were shot down without mercy, and +those who escaped the bullets were speedily disposed of by hanging at +the yard-arms.”</p> + +<p>“Terrible times those must have been,” remarked Ned; “the wonder is that +anybody survived.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, indeed,” said Harry; “but man has a tough constitution and can +endure a great deal.”</p> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="STRANGE_ADVENTURESmdashAUSTRALIAN_ABORIGINALS_1721" id="STRANGE_ADVENTURESmdashAUSTRALIAN_ABORIGINALS_1721"></a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_67" id="pg_67">67</a></span> +<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<h3>STRANGE ADVENTURES—AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINALS.</h3> +</div> + +<p>One of the youths asked how the convicts were employed after they came +to Australia.</p> + +<p>“At first,” said the doctor, “they were employed almost entirely on +government works. A city was laid out, and of course it was necessary to +grade the streets, build bridges, and do other things in connection with +putting the place into shape. There were prisons, warehouses, wharves, +and other buildings necessary to a convict establishment to be erected. +Gardens and fields were to be laid out and planted, and altogether there +was no lack of work to be performed. The prisoners were required to work +under guard, and the worst of them were ornamented with ball and chain, +like the occupants of many a prison in different parts of the world. +They were treated just as rigorously as they had been on board the ships +that brought them out. Their lodgings were somewhat more spacious, but +by no stretch of fancy could they be called luxurious. The supply of +food in the colony was not large, and the fare of the prisoners was +scanty.</p> + +<p>“Free emigration to Australia began a few years after the convict +emigration, and most of the free emigrants came here with the view to +employ the convicts under contracts with the government. They were +principally men of capital, and the most of them established farms or +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_68" id="pg_68">68</a></span>factories near Sydney and entered into agreements with the government +to supply them with labor. Where they were close to the city, the +convicts were sent out to their work in the morning and returned to +prison at night; but where the distance from the city was considerable, +other plans had to be followed. Sometimes soldiers were detailed to +guard the convicts at their working places, and in others the employer +himself supplied the guard. The convicts were also made to understand +very clearly that if they ran away they would be caught and severely +punished.</p> + +<p>“I should think they would run away in spite of all these threats, +especially where their sentences were for long terms,” Harry remarked.</p> + +<p>“It was not so easy as it may seem for anybody to escape,” said the +doctor. “A man could not stay around the colony more than a day or two, +or a few days at the farthest, without being discovered, and when found +he was sure to be severely flogged, put on bread and water, and shut up +in a dark cell. If he escaped into the bush, he was pretty certain to +starve to death unless found by the natives, in which case he was +generally murdered. Many a convict ran away to the bush and was never +heard of. Others remained there until starvation forced them to come in +and give themselves up.”</p> + +<p>“Did the free settlers increase as fast as the convicts?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, they increased faster as the word went out through the British +Islands that Australia offered great possibilities for emigrants. For +twenty years the military and convicts were more numerous than the free +settlers; <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_69" id="pg_69">69</a></span>but by the end of thirty years the latter were in the +ascendency. In the year 1830, there were twenty-seven thousand convicts +in the colony, and forty-nine thousand others.</p> + +<p>“By ‘others’ I don’t mean other settlers, altogether, though I do +mean free people. By that time a good many convicts had served out +their sentences and become free. They were known as ‘emancipists,’ +and consequently there were three kinds of people in the +colony,—emancipists, convicts, and free settlers. The free settlers +would not associate with the emancipists, and they in turn would not +associate with the convicts. The free settlers wanted the emancipists to +be deprived of all civil rights and kept practically in the same +position as the convicts. The officers of the government used to take +the side of the emancipists, and there were many bitter quarrels between +them and the free settlers in consequence.”</p> + +<p>Here the doctor paused for a moment, and then asked:—</p> + +<p>“Did you ever read about the mutiny of the <i>Bounty</i>?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, yes,” replied Harry; “I read about it two or three years ago. The +crew of the ship <i>Bounty</i> mutinied, and put the captain and others in an +open boat to take care of themselves the best way they could. The +<i>Bounty</i> then cruised about the Pacific for awhile, and finally went to +Pitcairn’s Island, where the mutineers landed and destroyed the ship. +Their fate was not known until nearly thirty years afterwards, when an +American ship touched at the island, and found it peopled by the +descendants of the mutineers, who had taken some women from Tahiti to +become their wives. Only one of those concerned in the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_70" id="pg_70">70</a></span>mutiny was then +alive. The captain and his companions in the open boat made a voyage of +four thousand miles, enduring great hardships, and eventually reached +the Dutch settlements in the island of Timor.”</p> + +<p>“A very good account for a brief one,” said the doctor. “Do you remember +the name of the <i>Bounty’s</i> commander?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” replied Harry. “I believe it was Bligh; in fact, I am sure of +it.”</p> + +<p>“Well, that same Captain Bligh was one of the early governors of New +South Wales, as the colony was then called. He caused the mutiny on the +<i>Bounty</i> by want of tact and by undue severity, and the same spirit that +he showed on the deck of his ship caused a rebellion in New South Wales. +Of course, the convicts had no influence or part in the rebellion, but +the free settlers were very active in it, and so were a good many of the +officers. Bligh caused himself to be thoroughly disliked by interfering +with local trade, and also by his very intemperate talk concerning free +settlers and emancipists. He was deposed and sent to England, while a +temporary governor was installed in his place. To a certain extent he +triumphed over his enemies, as the officers who had taken part in the +rebellion were either reprimanded or dismissed. Governor Bligh came back +with the authority to assume the position of governor for just one +hour.”</p> + +<p>“Not a very long term for a man to be governor,” Ned remarked.</p> + +<p>“No, not by any means,” was the reply; “but there was a technical +advantage in it which was very important. The governor did a great deal +in that one hour. He removed <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_71" id="pg_71">71</a></span>a good many officers and appointed new +ones in their places, and he made several changes in the administration +of the colony which were more or less embarrassing to his successor.</p> + +<p>“Governor Bligh was succeeded by Governor Macquarie. The quarrel between +the free settlers and the emancipists continued during Macquarie’s +administration. The governor took the side of the emancipists, and at +one time there was a good prospect of another rebellion; but, happily, +the new chief of the colony possessed more tact than his predecessor, +and no rebellion was ever brought about. Governor Macquarie relaxed some +of the severity with which the convicts had been treated, and this, +together with his favoring the emancipists, gave him the title of the +‘Prisoners’ Friend.’</p> + +<p>“As time went on, the number of free settlers in the colony increased, +and so did the number of farms in the vicinity of Sydney. As I have +already told you, the convicts were hired out to work on the farms. Of +course a good many of them ran away, and then some of them got into the +bush, where they remained for various periods, but the majority of them +were caught and brought back within a few days. Dogs were used in +pursuing them, and several kennels of dogs were kept at the prisons for +the purpose of hunting out runaways. Some of the prisoners’ beliefs in +regard to the country were very amusing. The idea got into the heads of +many that, by traveling overland for a few days, they would reach China, +and quite a number of them tried to do so. One man wandered for a month +around the bush country, until finally, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_72" id="pg_72">72</a></span>driven by hunger, he ventured +to approach a house. There he saw a fellow-prisoner whom he knew, and +asked him how long he had been in China. He was very much surprised on +learning that he was not in China at all, but on a farm a few miles from +Sydney. While he was talking with the friend two soldiers happened along +and took him in charge, and then carried him back to the prison, where +he received the customary punishment.</p> + +<p>“In 1798 a good many Irishmen who had been concerned in the Irish +rebellion of that year were transported to Australia. They saw in the +mountains back of Sydney a close resemblance to the mountains of +Connaught, in their native country, and fancied that if they could cross +those mountains they would find themselves at home. Quite a number of +them ran away in consequence, but were doomed to disappointment. One man +on the voyage out to Australia had given a good deal of time to studying +the motions of the ship’s compass, and he imagined that if he could only +get something of the kind he would be all right and could safely guide +himself through the forests of Australia. He watched his chance and +stole a book on navigation. One leaf of the book had a picture of a +mariner’s compass. He tore out this leaf, and, thus equipped, took the +first opportunity of running away.</p> + +<p>“Speaking of these Irish rebels reminds me of something I must tell you. +They were convicted of treason, either for taking an active part in the +rebellion or sympathizing with it, and for this crime they were sent as +convicts to the other side of the world. No distinction was made between +political and criminal offenders, and the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_73" id="pg_73">73</a></span>man who had loved his country +and tried to set her free treated with the same severity as the house +breaker and highwayman.</p> + +<p>“A great many men were sent to Australia for the crime of poaching. Many +a man was condemned to seven, ten, and fifteen years’ exile at hard +labor because he had taken a trout out of a brook, or snared a +partridge. Offenses that in these times would only result in a fine were +then punished with great severity, and a considerable number of the +convicts sent to Australia in the first thirty years of the prevalence +of the system were men whose offenses had really been very light. It was +for this reason that Governor Macquarie and other high officials took +the position that they did in favor of the emancipists. They contended +that a man whose offense had been of a trivial sort, and who had shown +himself to be honest and industrious, ought to receive a helping hand, +instead of being placed under the ban.”</p> + +<p>“I quite agree with them,” said Harry; “and I wonder that the free +settlers were so severe against them.”</p> + +<p>“But you must bear in mind,” the doctor answered, “that the term +‘convict’ is always odious, no matter under what circumstances it may +have been obtained. It was not easy at all times for the free settlers +to make a distinction among emancipists, and so they came to a quick +conclusion by denouncing all. However, that state of society has all +passed away; convicts, emancipists, and free settlers of the first +quarter of this century are all dead and gone now, with, possibly, a few +exceptions. Time has healed the breach, and this subject is very little +talked of at the present day.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_74" id="pg_74">74</a></span>“How about the descendants of the early colonists?” Ned inquired. “Do +the sins of the fathers descend upon the children, or are they all +forgotten?”</p> + +<p>“As to that,” said the doctor, “I must give you a little explanation. It +is not considered polite in Australia to ask a man born in the country +who his father was, or how he happened to emigrate from England. That is +a subject that is ignored in polite society, and, in fact, in society of +all kinds. In political life, a man may abuse his opponent as much as he +pleases in all ways, except that should he venture in the anger of +debate to intimate that his opponent’s father came to Australia as an +involuntary emigrant, he renders himself liable to heavy damages. I can +tell you of a case in point.</p> + +<p>“A prominent official in the government of Victoria is known to be the +son of a man who was transported for catching a pheasant. It is an open +secret; in fact, one could hardly say that it was a secret at all, as +every man who has any knowledge of public life is well aware of it. Once +while this man was running for office, his opponent, in a fierce debate +before a public meeting, mentioned the circumstance, whereupon the other +brought suit, and was awarded damages to the extent of fifty thousand +dollars. It is probable that the unlucky defendant of the suit has been +more careful in the use of his tongue ever since.</p> + +<p>“One of the convicts that escaped,” continued the doctor, “had a most +remarkable experience. He wandered off into the bush or forests, and +kept traveling until the small amount of provisions he carried was +exhausted. Then for <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_75" id="pg_75">75</a></span>two or three days he lived upon roots and leaves +and on a bird that he killed with a club.</p> + +<p>“One day, while he was dragging himself along, he came to a mound of +earth, which had been freshly heaped up. Standing in this mound there +was a stick, and to help himself along he took possession of the stick, +which was like a long walking-cane. He observed, as he took possession +of it, that it seemed to have been used before, but he proceeded on his +way and thought no more about the matter.</p> + +<p>“After dragging himself along for half a mile or more, he suddenly came +upon a little encampment of native blacks or aborigines. They raised a +shout as they saw him and made a rush in his direction, brandishing +their spears and other weapons, and showing signs of hostility.</p> + +<p>“The poor fellow thought his last hour had come, as he had heard that +the blacks murdered every white man they came across. What was his +surprise when they suddenly lowered their weapons and changed their +demonstrations of hostility to those of respect! They gathered about him +in the most friendly manner imaginable, and tried to talk with him, but +he could not understand a word. They threw up a shelter for him larger +than any other shelter in the encampment, and installed him there, and +they treated him as though he were a princely ambassador. They brought +him food, which he ate ravenously, and they continued to place their +greatest delicacies before him until his appetite was fully satisfied.</p> + +<p>“Well, he remained among them for years, and as he was a man of fair +intelligence, he soon learned their language. It did not take him long +to comprehend that he <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_76" id="pg_76">76</a></span>was treated as the chief of the tribe, and had +been regarded as such from the very beginning. And what do you suppose +brought it about?”</p> + +<p>“I’m sure I can’t tell,” said both of the youths in a breath.</p> + +<p>“It came about in this way,” explained the doctor. “The Australian +blacks believe, or, at any rate, many of the tribes do, that the white +man is nothing more nor less than a resurrected black man. Those of them +who speak English express it in these words: ‘Tumble down, black fellow; +jump up, white fellow.’</p> + +<p>“It so happened that the tribe which he joined had just buried its +chief, and when they bury one of their dead they heap a mound of earth +above the spot, and upon the top of the mound some implement or weapon +belonging to the deceased. In this case they had stuck the old chief’s +walking-staff in the top of the mound, and it was this very staff that +the white man took from the mound where the chief was buried, to help +him along on his way. When the blacks saw the man approaching they +proceeded to kill him after their custom, but as he came near and they +saw that he carried the staff of their chief, they at once concluded +that the chief had come to life again in the shape of the white fellow. +That is why they showed him so many honors and made him chief of their +tribe. It was in their minds a clear case of ‘tumble down, black fellow; +jump up, white fellow.’”</p> + +<p>“I suppose he was quite contented to stay with them, and not return to +Sydney and its punishments?” remarked one of the youths.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_77" id="pg_77">77</a></span>“Yes, indeed he was. For years rumors came to Sydney from time to time, +that there was a white man living in one of the aboriginal tribes as +their chief. Word was sent him several times by means of the blacks, +giving the governor’s promise that he would not be molested if he would +come to Sydney and tell his story, but he was suspicious, and for a long +time refused to come. Finally an officer of the government went out, and +with a great deal of difficulty succeeded in having an interview with +him. He received the most solemn assurance that he would not be +interfered with, and finally said that if a full pardon were sent to +him, he would come. A full pardon was accordingly forwarded and he +ventured to Sydney, where he received a good deal of attention. His +story was taken down from his own lips, and afterward published in a +book. After a few months he became dissatisfied with civilization and +returned to his wanderings.”</p> + +<p>“That is a curious idea of the blacks, that they become white after +their death,” Ned remarked.</p> + +<p>“Yes, it is curious,” said the doctor, “and they carry it out in forming +attachments for the white people who employed them. At a station where +quite a number of blacks were employed, one of the eldest of the women +used to say to the foreman of the place: ‘You are my son, I your moder, +and I take care of you. My big boy tumble down, you white boy tumble up. +You my piccanniny.’ After a time the man got married and brought his +wife to his home. The next day another woman of the tribe adopted and +laid claim to her as her child. The two women became very fond of each +other, and when, in the course of <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_78" id="pg_78">78</a></span>time, the black woman died, the white +one mourned exceedingly for her.”</p> + +<p>“We will have an opportunity to see some of the aboriginals while we are +in the country, and then we will learn more about them,” continued the +doctor; “but of one thing let me remind you, do not speak of them as +‘natives.’ In Australia, the term ‘native’ is applied to a white person +born in this country, while the real natives, as we ourselves would +speak of them, are termed ‘blacks’ or ‘aborigines.’”</p> + +<p>The youths promised to bear the advice in mind, and then Harry asked how +the discontinuance of convict emigration was brought about.</p> + +<p>“It was brought about,” the doctor replied, “through the hostility of +the Australians themselves. They protested repeatedly against receiving +convicts, and their protests were heeded to the extent that for awhile +the emigration ceased; but one day a ship appeared in the harbor of +Sydney with a fresh batch of convicts. Thereupon the local authorities +took vigorous action, and refused to allow the convicts to be landed. +The ship then went to Melbourne, with the same result. The people of +Melbourne would not have the undesirable emigrants, and the captain was +obliged to go around the southern coast to West Australia, where no +opposition was made to the human cargo being put on shore. Convict +emigration to New South Wales and Victoria ceased about 1840, and to +Tasmania in 1853, but it was continued to West Australia until 1858. +Since that time it has been entirely given up by the British government, +and the class of people that used to be sent here is now taken care of +in British prisons at home.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_79" id="pg_79">79</a></span>“The old idea about transportation of criminals was, that it rendered +society at home better by removing the criminal class. In practise this +theory was found to be a mistaken one. Thievery and similar crimes were +found to be trades, and as fast as criminals were transported others +came up to take their places, so that, practically, no matter how many +criminals were sent away, their places were soon filled and the business +went on as before. France began the practise about the middle of this +century of transporting criminals to New Caledonia and other islands of +the Pacific; she still keeps it up, but, according to accounts, there is +no diminution of crime in France, nor is there likely to be.</p> + +<p>“It is proper to say in this connection that there was a considerable +party in Australia in favor of the transportation system, on account of +the money the government expended here in consequence. This was +particularly the case in Van Dieman’s Land, which is now called +Tasmania. That island received a great number of convicts, and the +government expended a very large amount of money for their support and +for the construction of prison establishments. Many of the public works +of Tasmania were built by the convicts. For example, they built an +excellent road one hundred and twenty miles long, running across the +island from Hobart to Launceston. It is said to be the finest wagon and +carriage road in all the country, but is now comparatively little used, +having been superseded by a railway.</p> + +<p>“The ruins of a very extensive prison are still to be seen at Port +Arthur, about thirteen miles from Hobart; it <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_80" id="pg_80">80</a></span>stands on a peninsula +which is connected with the mainland by a very narrow neck. Across this +neck of land there were chained a lot of savage dogs, so near each other +that nobody could pass without being within reach of at least one of the +dogs. The water all around the peninsula abounded in sharks, so that if +a man attempted to swim across the bay he was liable to become the prey +of one, or perhaps a dozen, of these sea wolves. And yet a good many +men, first and last, managed to escape from Port Arthur and get into the +bush.</p> + +<p>“Generally the runaways were caught before being at large many days, and +when brought back many of them were condemned to death. At one time the +keeper who had charge of the prisons at Hobart complained to the +authorities of the inadequate facilities for putting men to death by +hanging. He said it was impossible to hang conveniently more than +thirteen men at once, and as the hangman had been very busy of late, he +thought that the facilities ought to be increased so that the work could +be performed with greater expedition.”</p> + +<p>Dr. Whitney reminded his young friends that it was time for them to +start if they wished to employ the forenoon advantageously; accordingly, +a carriage was called and the party went out for a drive. They proceeded +in the direction of the lake, a pretty sheet of water in the northern +part of Adelaide—about two miles long and in some places half a mile +wide. The lake is an artificial one, and is formed by throwing a dam +across the river Torrens and restraining the waters which come down in +times of flood. For the greater part of the year the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_81" id="pg_81">81</a></span>river is little +more than a dry bed of sand, and one of the inhabitants told Harry that +sprinkling-carts were driven through the bed of the river every morning +and evening to keep down the dust. The city is supplied with water from +this river; it is taken from a stream several miles above Adelaide, and +brought through heavy iron pipes.</p> + +<p>Harry wished to know the population of the city, and was told that it +was not far from sixty thousand. There is a considerable suburban +population, and the man from whom Harry obtained his information said he +thought there was fully another sixty thousand people living within a +radius of ten miles from City Hall. He said the whole population of the +colony of South Australia was not far from one hundred and thirty +thousand including about five thousand aboriginals.</p> + +<p>When the country was first settled it was thought that the aboriginals +numbered twelve or fourteen thousand, but contact with civilization had +reduced the figures very materially here, as in other parts of the +world. Where white men and aboriginals have come in contact, the latter +have suffered all over Australia; their relations have not changed in +New Zealand and Tasmania, and this is especially the case in the +last-named colony. Not a single aboriginal Tasmanian is now alive, the +last one having died in 1876. When the island was first occupied by the +English, the number of aboriginals was estimated at four or five +thousand. The story goes that when the British landed there the natives +made signs of peace, but the officer who was in charge of the landing +thought the signals were hostile instead of friendly. He ordered <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_82" id="pg_82">82</a></span>the +soldiers to fire upon the blacks, and thus began a war which lasted for +several years, and when it terminated only a few hundreds of the blacks +remained alive. In 1854, there were only fifteen of them left, and the +number gradually diminished, until the last one died as related.</p> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="ACROSS_AUSTRALIAmdashTALLEST_TREES_IN_THE_WORLD_2142" id="ACROSS_AUSTRALIAmdashTALLEST_TREES_IN_THE_WORLD_2142"></a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_83" id="pg_83">83</a></span> +<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2> +<h3>ACROSS AUSTRALIA—TALLEST TREES IN THE WORLD.</h3> +</div> + +<p>Our friends were invited to visit a large wheat farm twenty or thirty +miles north of Adelaide, and accepted the invitation with great +pleasure. Leaving the city early in the morning, the railway train took +them to a station a few miles from the farm, and there the owner met +them in his carriage. After a substantial breakfast at the owner’s +residence, they were driven to the field, or, rather, to one of the +fields, where the work of harvesting was going on.</p> + +<p>It roused their national pride somewhat to find that American +reaping-machines were in use on the farm, and they also learned that the +plowing was done with American plows. The field stretched out to an +almost limitless extent, and it needed very little play of the +imagination for the youths to believe that they were on one of their own +western prairies instead of being at the antipodes.</p> + +<p>The farm seemed to be managed in a most systematic manner, and before +they departed the owner showed them a copy of the rules which the men +were required to sign when they were engaged. Before signing, the rules +were read to them line by line, and sentence by sentence, and each man +acknowledged that he had a full understanding of the documents to which +he affixed his signature.</p> + +<p>Perhaps it may interest our readers to know something <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_84" id="pg_84">84</a></span>about these +rules. Sixty men are employed on a farm throughout the whole year, and +in the busy season three times that number are engaged. Here is the +substance of the rules:—</p> + +<p>“The bell rings at five o’clock in the morning, and this is the signal +for everybody to get up. Horses are groomed and fed before six o’clock, +and at that hour the men are served with breakfast. At seven o’clock the +teams are harnessed, and teams and men go to the field. At noon one hour +is allowed for rest and dinner, and then work goes on until five o’clock +in winter and six o’clock in summer. Then the teams return to the +stables, and the men get their suppers at seven o’clock. The horses are +fed and watered at eight o’clock, and by ten o’clock everybody must be +in bed.”</p> + +<p>First-class hands on these farms receive twenty shillings ($5) per week, +and employees of other grades are paid in proportion. One clause in the +rules says that any man in charge of horses who abuses them or neglects +to care for them properly will be discharged at once, and forfeit all +wages that may be due him. Penalties are stated for every sort of +offense, all of them being in the shape of fines or loss of situation, +or both. Every laborer who begins in a low position is promised an +advance in pay and place as a reward of his industry and good conduct.</p> + +<p>“There are a good many farms of this sort in South Australia,” said Ned +in his journal, “and we are sorry that time prevents our visiting all +those that we have been invited to see; but our regret is modified by +the recollection that one farm is very largely a repetition of another +farm, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_85" id="pg_85">85</a></span>and so we accept the situation and say nothing more about it. +South Australia is a great wheat-growing country, and ships an immense +quantity of wheat to England. In good years it produces fully fifteen +millions of bushels for export, in addition to the quantity required for +home consumption.</p> + +<p>“Next in importance to the wheat crop in South Australia is the crop of +wool. There are nearly seven millions of sheep in the colony, and +between the wool and bread-stuffs, the income to the country is very +considerable. We now understand the uses of the immense sheds, and the +grain elevators that we saw when we landed at Port Adelaide. Large as +they are, the capacities of these places of storage must be taxed to +their utmost in busy times.</p> + +<p>“They have given considerable attention to the cultivation of the grape. +Grapes, apricots, peaches, and other fruits grow in great abundance, so +much so that in the fruit season they are retailed in the market of +Adelaide at a penny a pound, and all of them are delicious. Quite an +industry is being developed in canning fruits for exportation, and it +will probably increase gradually as the years go on.”</p> + +<p>Our friends were invited to make a journey on the line of the Great +Northern Railway, which is ultimately intended to reach the northern +coast of Australia. The distance across Australia, from north to south, +is about seventeen hundred miles; about four hundred miles of the line +are completed, leaving thirteen hundred miles yet to be built. It will +cost a great deal of money to finish the railway, but the people are +ambitious, and will probably accomplish it in the course of time.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_86" id="pg_86">86</a></span>They already have a telegraph line, running for the greater part of the +way through a very desolate region. For hundreds of miles there are no +white people, except the operators and repairers at the stations, and in +many places it is unlikely that there will ever be any inhabitants, as +the country is a treeless waste, and, at some of the stations, water has +to be brought from a considerable distance. Artesian wells have been +bored at many of the stations; at some of them successfully, while at +others it was impossible to find water.</p> + +<p>The railway official who invited our friends to make the journey, told +them that he was connected with the telegraph company at the time of its +construction, and he gave an interesting account of some of the +difficulties they encountered.</p> + +<p>“The desert character of the country,” said the gentleman, “caused us a +great deal of inconvenience. We were obliged to haul or carry provisions +and material for long distances. Where it was practicable to use wagons +we used them, but where we could not do so we employed camels. Camels +were introduced into Australia forty or fifty years ago, and they have +been a great deal of use to us in parts of the country where water is +scarce. The conditions of Northern and Central Australia very much +resemble those of the regions of Northern Africa, where the camel had +its origin, or, at all events, where it abounds to-day in greatest +numbers. Had it not been for the ‘Ship of the Desert,’ it is possible +that we might not have been able to build the telegraph line across +Australia. The camel is so highly appreciated here that the government +has established several breeding stations for those <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_87" id="pg_87">87</a></span>ungainly creatures, +and their number is increasing every year.</p> + +<p>“You know already about the scarcity of water in the desert region. +Springs are few and far between, and rain is of rare occurrence. It was +frequently necessary to carry water thirty or forty miles, and on +account of the great heat it was impossible to carry it in skins or in +wooden cases, owing to the rapid evaporation. Cases or cans of +galvanized iron proved to be the best receptacles for water, so far as +evaporation was concerned, but they have the disadvantage of becoming +cracked and leaky in the rough treatment to which they are subjected.</p> + +<p>“Poles for the telegraph had to be hauled a long distance for a large +part of the way. Iron poles are generally used, owing to an insect that +destroys wood with great rapidity. I wonder if you have yet seen any of +the ravages of this little creature?”</p> + +<p>This last remark was made in the form of an interrogation, to which +Harry responded that he had not yet observed anything of the kind, nor +had his attention been called to it. Ned remarked that he had been told +of the destructiveness of this worm, but had not yet seen anything of +its work.</p> + +<p>“If you had seen it you would remember it,” said the gentleman. “The +worm abounds more in the country districts than in the city, and it does +not seem to get so much into the city houses as it does into those of +the rural districts. Suppose you settle in South Australia, and build +yourself a house or buy one already built, and proceed to take your +comfort. Some day when you are sitting in <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_88" id="pg_88">88</a></span>your parlor you suddenly feel +a leg of your chair going through the floor, and down you go with a +crash. Somebody runs to your assistance, and the additional strain put +upon the floor causes the break to increase, and, together with the +person who has come to your aid, you go down in a heap through a yawning +chasm in the floor, no matter whether your room is carpeted or not. If +it is the former, the ravages of the worm have been quite concealed by +the carpet; while in the latter case the surface of the wood presents +the same appearance, while the whole interior of the plank or board has +been turned to dust. This sort of thing has happened in many an +Australian house, and will doubtless continue to happen.”</p> + +<p>Harry asked if there was any way of preventing the ravages of this +destroyer.</p> + +<p>His informant replied that there were two or three kinds of wood which +these insects would not touch. Unfortunately, however, they were higher +priced than ordinary wood, and consequently the temptation was to use +the cheaper article. Houses could also be built of cement, brick, or +other substances which defied the wood worm, but these, again, were +expensive and could not be afforded by newly arrived emigrants, whose +capital was generally very limited.</p> + +<p>“Returning to the subject of the telegraph,” the gentleman continued, +“we found a great deal of trouble with the insects destructive to wood, +and then, too, we had considerable difficulty with the blacks, though +less than we had anticipated. We managed to inspire them with a very +wholesome fear of the mysterious fluid that passed <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_89" id="pg_89">89</a></span>through the wires, +and though they have burned stations, and killed or wounded quite a +number of our people, they have never meddled with the wires.”</p> + +<p>“How did you manage to inspire them with such fear?” queried Harry.</p> + +<p>“We did it in this way,” was the reply. “Whenever a native visited us, +we managed to give him a shock of electricity, and if we could shock an +entire group at once it was so much the better. On several occasions we +got two or more of their chiefs at stations hundreds of miles apart, and +then let them talk with each other over the wires. Where they were well +acquainted, they were able to carry on conversations which none but +themselves could understand. Then we would have them meet half way +between the stations and compare notes, and the result was something +that greatly astonished them. Savage people generally attribute to the +devil anything they cannot understand, and they very quickly concluded +that ‘His Satanic Majesty’ was at the bottom of the whole business and +it would be well for them to let it carefully alone.</p> + +<p>“An amusing thing happened one day when we were putting up a portion of +the line. There was a crowd of native blacks watching us, and the +principal man among them walked for an hour or two along the line, +making a critical examination of the posts and wires and pacing the +distance between the posts.</p> + +<p>“When he had evidently made up his mind as to the situation he walked up +to the foreman of the working party and said, with an accent of +insolence:—</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_90" id="pg_90">90</a></span>“‘My think white fellow one big fool.’</p> + +<p>“When the foreman tried to find out his reason for expressing contempt +in that way, he pointed to the telegraph line and said:—</p> + +<p>“‘That piece of fence never stop cattle.’</p> + +<p>“Before the foreman could explain what the supposed thing was intended +for, he walked off with his nose very much in the air and never came +near the telegraph line again, as far as we know.”</p> + +<p>After a short laugh over the incident, one of the youths asked how far +apart the stations were.</p> + +<p>“The distances vary considerably according to circumstances,” said their +informant. “In some places they are within thirty or forty miles of each +other, and there are portions of the line where they are one hundred +miles apart. There are two operators and two repairers at each station. +These are all white men, and some of them have their families with them. +In addition to the white residents at the station, there are all the way +from two or three to eight or ten blacks. The blacks in our service are +generally faithful, and we put a great deal of dependence upon them. +Sometimes they are treacherous, but not often, as treachery is not a +part of their nature.</p> + +<p>“I was making a tour of inspection of the line shortly after it was +completed, and happened to be at one of the stations at a time when the +blacks were threatening trouble. One of the operators, Mr. Britton, was +accompanied by his wife. Her husband wanted her to go to a place of +greater safety, but she refused, and said she would stand by his side. +She was a good shot with the revolver, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_91" id="pg_91">91</a></span>promised that in case of +trouble she would put her abilities to a practical test.</p> + +<p>“The blacks came about the station to beg, and also to ascertain the +strength of the company, and one evening word came that they were going +to have a corroboree in a little patch of forest near the station. +Perhaps you don’t know what a corroboree is.”</p> + +<p>Both of the youths shook their heads and acknowledged their ignorance.</p> + +<p>“Well, it is a wild sort of dance, something like the dances among your +American Indians, with local variations to suit the climate and people. +The dancing is done by the men, who get themselves up in the most +fantastic manner imaginable with paint of various colors. They daub +their faces with pigments in streaks and patches, and trace their ribs +with white paint, so that they look more like walking skeletons than +like human beings. Generally at one of these dances they wear strips of +skin around their waists, and ornament their heads with feathers.</p> + +<p>“I said that the dancing was done by the men, though this is not +absolutely the rule, as there are certain dances in which the women take +part, though not a very conspicuous one. Generally the dances are by the +people of one tribe, though there are a few in which several tribes take +part. As a usual thing, however, this kind of a dance ends in a fight, +as the dancers work themselves up to a condition of frenzy, and if there +is any ill feeling among them it is sure to crop out.</p> + +<p>“The dances in the neighborhood of the telegraph station to which I +referred included men of several tribes, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_92" id="pg_92">92</a></span>we knew that mischief +would be likely to come of it. Two of our black fellows went as near to +the scene of the dance as they dared go, and from time to time brought +us particulars of the proceedings.</p> + +<p>“We got revolvers and rifles ready, Mrs. Britton taking possession of +one of the revolvers, and loading it very carefully. All along during +the evening we could hear the yelling of the natives at their dance, but +an hour or so before midnight the noise diminished, and one of our black +fellows came in to tell us that they were preparing to attack the +station.</p> + +<p>“The principal building of the station was a block house built for +defense against the blacks, and strong enough to resist any of their +weapons; but, of course, they would be able to overpower us by +surrounding the place and starving us out, though we had little fear of +that. The great danger was that they would come upon us in great +numbers, and as we were not sufficiently numerous to defend all parts of +the building at once, they could set it on fire and thus compel us to +come out and be slaughtered.</p> + +<p>“The warning brought by our black fellow proved to be correct. The men +who had been engaged in the dance had left the scene of their +jollification and moved in the direction of the station. We could hear +their voices as they approached, and it was much to our advantage that +the moon was of sufficient size to give a fairly good light. The station +was in such a position that no one could approach it without being seen.</p> + +<p>“In a little while we saw in the moonlight a mass of dark figures +crossing the open space to the south, and, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_93" id="pg_93">93</a></span>judging by the ground they +covered, there were at least a hundred of them. They advanced quietly +about half way across the clearing and then broke into a run, while they +filled the air with yells. In a few moments they were all around the +building, and quite a number of them threw their spears at it—a very +foolish procedure, as the weapons could do no harm whatever to the thick +sides of the structure. It was our policy not to take life or even to +shed blood if we could possibly avoid it, as we were anxious to be on +friendly terms with the black people along our line. I had been thinking +the matter over in the evening, and suddenly hit upon a scheme that I +thought would save us from injuring anybody, and at the same time give +our assailants a thorough scare.</p> + +<p>“There happened to be in the station a package of rockets, which had +been brought along for signaling purposes during the work of +construction. Just as the crowd of blacks reached the station, I asked +Mr. Britton, the chief operator, to bring me one of the rockets.</p> + +<p>“He complied with my request, and I fixed the missile so that it would +go just above the heads of the crowd of yelling blacks. Then I touched a +match to the fuse, and away sailed the rocket through the night air.</p> + +<p>“Not one of those aboriginals had ever seen anything of the kind before. +They started not upon the order of their going, but went as though +pursued by wild tigers or guilty consciences. They could not have been +more astonished if the moon had dropped down and exploded among them. +They gave just one yell, and it was five times as loud as any yell they +had previously given.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_94" id="pg_94">94</a></span>“In less than two minutes from the time the rocket was fired, there was +not a hostile black man around the station. Our own black fellows had +been trembling with fear, as they knew that, in case of capture, they +would share whatever fate was in store for us, the wild blacks being +greatly prejudiced against any one of their number who takes service +with the whites. The crowd fled in the direction of the scene of their +corroboree, but they did not stop there. We learned the next day that +they ran three or four miles before coming to a halt.</p> + +<p>“We saved the station and ourselves without shedding a drop of blood. +The story was told by the blacks far and wide that we ‘shot a star at +them.’ This gave us a hint on which we acted, and we took pains to +circulate the report that we had power to bring all the heavenly bodies +to our aid whenever we needed them. Several times we offered to chief of +the tribe to bring down the moon, or any of the stars that he might +designate, but for fear that he would take us at our word, we always +said that we would not be responsible for the consequences. In view of +these circumstances, he invariably asked us to leave the denizens of the +heavens alone.</p> + +<p>“All the attacks on our stations have not been as bloodless as the one I +have just described,” the gentleman continued. “Three or four years +after the line was opened the blacks attacked a station about one +thousand miles north of Adelaide. One of the operators, Mr. Stapleton, +was mortally wounded, and so was one of the line repairers. Both the +other white men at the station were slightly wounded, and one of the +blacks in our service was killed. <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_95" id="pg_95">95</a></span>The attack lasted only a short time, +and the assailants were driven away by the well-directed fire of the +people at the station.</p> + +<p>“The mortally wounded operator, Mr. Stapleton, was placed on a couch, +while the other operator was telegraphing the news of the occurrence to +Adelaide. A doctor was called to the telegraph office in the city, and +on learning the nature of the wound he pronounced it mortal. Mr. +Stapleton’s wife was a telegraph operator, and was then employed in the +station at Adelaide. A telegraph instrument was placed at the bedside of +the dying man, and connected with the instrument on his wife’s desk. The +two exchanged loving messages for a few minutes, and then the husband +with his last efforts telegraphed an eternal good-by to his wife, +dropped the instrument from his hand, and fell back dead. I was in the +office at Adelaide at the time of this occurrence, and was one of those +in the room where Mrs. Stapleton sat. Nearly all of those present were +experienced operators, and could understand the clicking of the +instrument. Every eye was filled with tears, and every heart was full of +sympathy for the woman who had been so tragically widowed. As she +received the final message of farewell she fell from her chair in a dead +faint, from which she did not recover for hours.”</p> + +<p>As the foregoing story was narrated to our young friends, their eyes, +too, were moist, and so were those of Dr. Whitney, who was sitting close +by them. Silence prevailed for several minutes, and then the +conversation turned to other subjects.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_96" id="pg_96">96</a></span>The gentleman explained that the northern terminus of the telegraph +line was at Port Darwin, where connection was made with the telegraph +cable to Singapore, and thence to Europe. “I suppose, in time,” said he, +“there will be other telegraph connections, but for the present this is +the only one that Australia has with the rest of the world. Undoubtedly +we shall one day have a cable to the United States, and that will +certainly greatly facilitate commerce. At present, telegrams coming from +your country to this must come by a very roundabout journey.”</p> + +<p>Harry asked what course a telegram would be obliged to take in coming +from San Francisco to Adelaide.</p> + +<p>“Let me see,” said the gentleman; “in the first place, it would be +telegraphed overland from San Francisco to New York, and then it would +go under the Atlantic Ocean through one of the transatlantic cables, and +then there would be two or three routes by which it could be sent. It +could go by submarine cable to the Straits of Gibraltar, thence under +the Mediterranean and Red Seas, and the Indian Ocean to Bombay, or it +could cross Europe by one of the land lines, and then go through Russia +and Persia to the north of India, reaching Bombay by the land route. +From Bombay it would be telegraphed across India to Madras, and thence +by submarine cable to Singapore, and from Singapore it would be sent by +cable to Port Darwin, and thence by the Australian overland line to +Adelaide. The message would be repeated six or seven times in the course +of its journey, and the fact that so few mistakes are made in the +numerous repetitions, many of them by <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_97" id="pg_97">97</a></span>people having an imperfect +knowledge of English, speaks volumes in praise of the telegraph system.”</p> + +<p>Both of our young friends heartily indorsed this remark, and agreed with +their informant that the telegraph certainly performed excellent work.</p> + +<p>Our friends made the journey along the line of railway to which they had +been invited. They found it interesting though not altogether free from +monotony, as there was an excessive amount of sameness in the country +through which they traveled. They passed through a range of low +mountains which were not sufficiently broken to be picturesque. They +crossed several dry or slightly moistened beds of rivers, where +indications were clearly visible that in times of heavy rains these dry +beds or insignificant streams were turned to floods. Here and there the +line crossed immense sheep farms and also great wheatfields, but there +were wide stretches of land which seemed to have no occupants whatever. +Most of the country was open and free from trees. Then there were other +parts where the line passed for miles and miles through “scrub,” and at +irregular intervals they came upon patches and stretches of Australian +forest.</p> + +<p>Harry noted that the forests through which they passed had very little +undergrowth, so that it was easy to ride in any direction among the +trees. Most of the trees that they saw were eucalypti, of which there +are many varieties. The eucalyptus is by far the most common tree of +Australia, and the best known variety is the one that is called “the +blue gum.” It is said that fevers do not prevail where the eucalyptus +grows, and this theory seems to be <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_98" id="pg_98">98</a></span>developed into a well-established +fact. Decoctions and other extracts are made from the leaves, bark, +wood, and gum of the eucalyptus and are given to fever patients with +more or less success. The eucalyptus has been taken to foreign +countries, and where the climatic conditions are suitable it has +flourished and established itself. The French government introduced it +into Algeria and planted it at military stations, where the soldiers had +suffered much from malaria. At all those stations the malaria was long +ago driven away by the trees, and places that were once unhealthy are +now renowned for their salubrity.</p> + +<p>The youths observed that most of the eucalyptus trees were tall and +slender. The gentleman who accompanied them said that their trunks were +often found with a diameter of ten to twelve feet, and some had been +measured that were sixteen feet in diameter at a distance of ten feet +from the ground. The trees grow very rapidly, and their timber when +green is soft, so that they can be felled, split, and sawed very easily, +but when dry it becomes very hard. It is a very useful wood, as it is +adapted for many purposes. The bark contains a great deal of tannin, and +it has become to some extent an article of commerce.</p> + +<p>The leaves of the eucalyptus have a leathery appearance and generally +stand in a vertical position, so that one side receives as much light as +the other. A valuable aromatic oil is extracted from the leaves, and is +used for medicinal and other purposes. It is said to be very +objectionable to mosquitoes, and Harry was told that if he scattered a +few drops of eucalyptus oil on his pillow at <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_99" id="pg_99">99</a></span>night, he would not be +troubled with mosquitoes, even though there might be many of them in the +room. He promised to try the experiment at the first opportunity.</p> + +<p>Ned asked what variety of the eucalyptus was the tallest, and how tall +the highest tree of Australia was.</p> + +<p>“The giant gum, <i>Eucalyptus amygdalina</i>, is said to be the tallest tree +in the world,” the gentleman replied. “I am not sure whether it is +really so or not, as you have some very tall trees in the United States, +and there are also some of great height in the valley of the Amazon +River. I have heard of giant gum trees five hundred feet high, but their +location has always been given very vaguely, and nobody knew by whom +they had been measured. There is one giant gum tree on Mount Baw-Baw, in +Gippsland, that has been officially measured by a surveyor and found to +be four hundred and seventy-one feet high. What its diameter is at the +base I am unable to say, but probably it is not less than fifteen or +sixteen feet. New forests and new groups of trees are being discovered +from time to time, and perhaps we will one day find a tree more than +five hundred feet high.</p> + +<p>“I will add,” said their informant, “that the giant gum is also called +the ‘silver stem,’ because when it sheds its bark every year the new +surface of the tree, when the old one has come off, is as white as +silver. A group of these trees is a very pretty sight, as the trunks are +perfectly round, and very often the lowest limbs are fully two hundred +feet from the ground.”</p> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="AUSTRALIAN_BLACKSmdashTHROWING_THE_BOOMERANG_2616" id="AUSTRALIAN_BLACKSmdashTHROWING_THE_BOOMERANG_2616"></a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_100" id="pg_100">100</a></span> +<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2> +<h3>AUSTRALIAN BLACKS—THROWING THE BOOMERANG.</h3> +</div> + +<p>“Those giant gums are not easy to climb,” Ned remarked, as the gentleman +paused.</p> + +<p>“Not by any means,” was the reply; “at least, not for a white man, but +the black fellow will climb one of them, or any other tree, with very +little trouble.”</p> + +<p>“Why, how does he do it?”</p> + +<p>“He cuts notches in the trunk of the tree where he can place his feet, +and he goes on cutting notch after notch as he ascends, making a broad +spiral around the tree until he reaches the limbs. Sometimes he passes a +piece of rope, made out of twisted bark, around the body of the tree to +steady himself, but he is just as likely to take no rope along, and +trust entirely to keeping his balance with his feet in the notches.”</p> + +<p>“Those black fellows are very accomplished in their way,” remarked one +of the youths.</p> + +<p>“They are, indeed,” was the reply; “and they do certain things that no +white man can ever do. For example, a black fellow employed on a cattle +estate will ride at full gallop and follow the track of a runaway cow or +steer without making a single mistake. A white man would be obliged to +go at a walk, or a very little better, and quite frequently would find +it necessary to dismount and examine the ground carefully. The black +fellows are fully equal <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_101" id="pg_101">101</a></span>to your American Indians in following a trail; +they can track men almost as well as bloodhounds can. In parts of +Australia we have a police force of blacks, and they perform splendid +service in hunting highwaymen and others who have committed crimes and +fled into the bush for concealment and safety.”</p> + +<p>Harry asked if the blacks were honest in their dealings with white +people.</p> + +<p>“I regret to say that their reputation is not by any means the best in +the world,” was the reply. “Like savages everywhere when brought into +contact with civilization, they seem to adopt its vices and reject its +virtues. They are generally faithful to those by whom they are employed, +and in this respect their characters are commendable. When it comes to +ordinary lying and stealing, they are very skillful. They resemble other +savages in their fondness for intoxicating drinks, and when they get a +little money their desire to go on a spree is very apt to be +uncontrollable. They will leave their work and go to the nearest place +where intoxicants can be bought, and they keep on buying and drinking +until their money is gone. Generally speaking, you cannot keep them in +your employ very long. As soon as one learns his business so that he is +really useful, he either quits or behaves in such a manner that he has +to be sent away.”</p> + +<p>Just as this last remark was made, the train halted at a station, and as +our young friends looked through the window they saw a group of blacks. +They had seen a few black fellows on the wheat farm that they visited, +and some had come under their observation in the streets of <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_102" id="pg_102">102</a></span>Adelaide. +These, however, were dressed in civilized garments, and the group at the +station was the first they had seen in aboriginal dress.</p> + +<p>Harry noted the scantiness of their costume, which consisted chiefly of +a strip of cloth about the waist, and another strip thrown over the +shoulder or disposed of in some fantastic way. Their skins were black, +though not of the inky, coal-like color of the pure-blooded African +negro. Their hair was curly, but did not have a woolly crispness. The +features seemed to be more like those of the Malay than of the Negro +race, and Ned observed that the hair of the women hung down in wavy +plaits, which is not the case with the hair of the negro of the Congo or +the Nile. Every man in the party carried a spear, and Ned wondered why +they were not armed with bows and arrows.</p> + +<p>“That is for the very simple reason,” said their informant, “that the +Australian aborigines have never used the bow and arrow; their only +weapons are the spear, club, knife, and boomerang. Their principal +weapon for fighting is the waddy or club, and each tribe has a peculiar +shape for its waddies. This weapon is made of hard wood, and is somewhat +suggestive of the night stick of a New York policeman, with the +difference that it has a knob on the end to enable it to be grasped with +greater security. There is a rule in fighting with the waddy, that you +must hit your antagonist on the head. It is not fair to strike him in +any other part of the body with these weapons, and the man who would do +so would not be regarded as a gentleman in aboriginal society. The +difference <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_103" id="pg_103">103</a></span>in the waddies is such that you can very often tell what +tribe a party belongs to by examining one of their clubs.</p> + +<p>“They are accustomed to spears from their childhood, and can throw them +very accurately for a distance of thirty or forty yards. I once saw a +considerable number of blacks together, and several white men of us got +up a competition in spear throwing. We chalked out the figure of a man +on the side of a building, and then paced off forty yards from it. We +offered a prize of one shilling to every black who would hit this figure +with the spear three times out of five at the distance indicated. We had +them take turns in succession, and when the competition was over we +found that we were obliged to give a shilling to every one of the +competitors, as all had hit it three times. Half of them did so four +times, and the other half the entire five times.”</p> + +<p>Ned asked what the spears were made of. He learned, in reply, that +sometimes they were single shafts of wood tipped with stone, bone, or +iron. Others had heads of hard wood, while the shafts consisted of light +reeds which grow on the banks of the rivers and lakes. The spears are +usually from six to ten feet long, at least the fighting spears are. +Some of the tribes living along the rivers have spears fifteen or +eighteen feet long, intended for fishing purposes and not for war.</p> + +<p>Harry wanted to know what was the religious belief of the blacks, and +what were their ideas about the creation.</p> + +<p>“As to religion,” the gentleman answered, “they don’t seem to have much, +and the little they do have is of a very <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_104" id="pg_104">104</a></span>mixed character. Like all +savages, they believe in good and bad spirits, and they treat the bad +spirits with much more ceremony than they do the good ones; on the +ground, I presume, that it is necessary to propitiate the bad spirits to +save themselves from injury, while the good ones can be relied upon not +to do any harm. Some of the tribes believe in a Great Spirit or Supreme +Being, while others have no idea of the kind. They have a good many +superstitions, and, though not a people of much imagination, they have +quite a variety of mythical stories that originated a long time ago, and +have been handed down by tradition. It is a curious circumstance that +some of these myths repeat quite closely the story of the creation, the +fall, and the deluge, but where they came from nobody can tell.”</p> + +<p>“Is there any book where we can find any of these traditions?” Harry +asked.</p> + +<p>“Oh, certainly; they have been collected and published, but I can give +you the principal ones from memory.”</p> + +<p>“The story about the creation is, that one of the spirits that ruled the +world created two men out of the dust of the earth, and gave these two +men a very rich country to live in. Another spirit created two women and +gave one of them to each man. Then he gave spears to each of the men, +and told them to kill kangaroos with their weapons, and gave sticks to +the women, with which to dig roots out of the ground. Thus it came about +that men carry spears and clubs as weapons, while the women perform most +of the menial work. The men and women were commanded to live together, +and in this way the world in time became full <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_105" id="pg_105">105</a></span>of people. They grew so +numerous in the region where they were, that the great spirits caused +storms to arise and high winds to blow in order to scatter the people +over the globe.</p> + +<p>“The tradition about the first sin is, that the first man and woman were +ordered by the spirits not to go near a certain tree, as a bat lived +there which must not be disturbed. One of the women went too near the +tree, her curiosity having got the better of her, and the bat became +alarmed and flew away. After that death came into the world, having +before been unknown.</p> + +<p>“They have another tradition that at one time all the water in the earth +was contained in the body of an immense frog, where nobody could reach +it. The spirits held an investigation, and ascertained that if the frog +could be made to laugh the water would run out of his mouth when he +opened it, and the drought then prevailing would be broken. All the +animals of the world gathered together and danced and capered before the +frog in order to make him laugh, but all to no purpose. Then they called +up the fishes to see if they could accomplish anything, but the frog +preserved a solemn face until the eel began to wriggle.</p> + +<p>“The wriggling of the eel was too much for the frog and he laughed +outright. Immediately the waters flowed from his mouth and the earth was +covered with water. Many people were drowned, and all who could do so +sought the highest land. The pelican undertook to save the black people; +he made a great canoe and went around picking up the people, wherever he +could find them, and thus saved a great many.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_106" id="pg_106">106</a></span>“They have a theory about the sun,” the gentleman continued, “that is +certainly a very practical one. They say that as it gives out a great +deal of light during the daytime, it needs a supply of fuel, and it goes +at night to a place where it takes in fuel enough for its next day’s +work. They say that it used to take in wood exclusively before white +people came to Australia, but since the arrival of the whites, and the +opening of coal mines, they think the sun takes in both coal and wood at +the place where it renews its supply.</p> + +<p>“They believe in dragons, great serpents, and other wonders, and if you +are inclined to laugh at them for their beliefs, you must remember that +all the rest of the world shared in them two or three hundred years ago. +The creature in which they have the greatest faith is the bun-yip, which +is supposed to haunt rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water, and +possesses remarkable powers. According to their description, he is like +a dragon; he devours black and white people indiscriminately, and can +cause all sorts of misfortune. Many natives, and also quite a number of +white men, claim to have seen him, and they certainly give some very +graphic accounts of his appearance and actions. Not long ago an account +appeared in one of the Australian newspapers, written by a white man and +certified to by another white man, who claim to have actually seen the +bun-yip in a small lake, and described him very minutely.”</p> + +<p>“And was the story really true?” Harry asked.</p> + +<p>“Well, yes, I suppose it was. That is to say, I believe, as do many +others, that there is an amphibious animal living <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_107" id="pg_107">107</a></span>in some of the +Australian lakes and rivers of which no specimen has yet been taken. The +description of the bun-yip by those who claim to have seen him, and are +not carried away by their imaginations, is very much like that of a +Newfoundland dog or a seal. The seal exists in Australian waters, and I +think that is what the bun-yip will turn out to be if one ever allows +himself to be taken.”</p> + +<p>At the station at the end of the line of railway there was an encampment +of blacks, about half a mile away, and our young friends were quite +curious to see it.</p> + +<p>Their curiosity was soon satisfied, as there was nothing particularly +attractive about the spot. The blacks were civilized enough to live in +tents, or, rather, they accepted the bounty of the government which +supplied them with tents, though it was evident that they did not intend +to give up their old way of living, inasmuch as they had two or three +bark shelters of the old-fashioned sort, in addition to the canvas house +supplied by the government. And we may remark here that the various +colonial governments provide for the support of all the aboriginals +living within their territory. Government officials take care of them, +supply them with food, clothing, and medical comforts, and assign +reservations of land to them, just as the Indian Department of the +United States assigns reservations to the red men. But with all the care +they receive, their number is steadily diminishing, and the day is not +far distant when the last of them will cease to exist.</p> + +<p>A man who could speak the language of the aboriginals accompanied our +young friends in their visit to the encampment. At Harry’s request, he +arranged with the men to <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_108" id="pg_108">108</a></span>give an exhibition of their skill in throwing +the spear, and after that was over he asked them to throw the boomerang. +While they were getting ready for their performance the interpreter +explained that the boomerang was a great deal of a mystery. He said that +no white man, even after years of practise, had ever been able to throw +this weapon with any degree of accuracy, and that no Australian black +could explain how the weapon was handled. If you ask one of them to +explain about throwing the boomerang, he usually says, “You throw him, +that all”; and that seems to be all there is to it.</p> + +<p>Ned and Harry watched the performance with the greatest care, and they +afterwards said that they knew as much about it before they witnessed it +as they did afterwards, with the exception that they had seen with their +own eyes what could be done.</p> + +<p>“First, you must understand,” said Ned afterwards, “that there are +several kinds of boomerangs, the difference being in size, weight, and +shape. The variations in shape are so slight that they are not readily +perceived by the stranger, though a black would have no difficulty in +determining them. The lightest of the boomerangs weigh from four to five +ounces, while the heaviest are double that weight. Harry happened to +have his spring letter-balance in his pocket, and we weighed one of the +boomerangs that we saw used. Its weight was about six ounces and our +interpreter said that he considered it rather a light one.”</p> + +<p>“The heaviest boomerangs are used for fighting purposes and for killing +kangaroos, emus, and other large game.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_109" id="pg_109">109</a></span>“The boomerang is a queerly shaped weapon. It is made of hard wood and +curved like a bow, the curve from point to point being about a quarter +of a circle. The piece of wood that forms the boomerang is about half an +inch thick, and in the middle it is two and one half inches wide, +narrowing steadily towards the end. I took it in my hand and made a +motion as if to throw it, whereupon the owner laughed, and indicated by +signs that I had seized it by the wrong end.</p> + +<p>“When he made ready to throw the weapon, the interpreter told us to +stand perfectly still, lest we might be injured. I asked how it could +happen, and he said that the performer always selected the spot to which +the boomerang returned, and by changing our positions, especially after +the weapon had been thrown, we might be struck by it when it came back.</p> + +<p>“Both before and after taking his position the performer carefully +observed the force and direction of the wind, as it has a great deal to +do with the flight of the boomerang. When he was quite ready he flung +the weapon almost straight into the air, where it circled about a few +times, and skimmed along near the ground until it was about three +hundred feet distant; then it turned, made a slight upward motion +through the air, and finally fell within an arm’s length of where the +performer stood. The interpreter explained that this weapon was called +the return-boomerang.</p> + +<p>“The man repeated several times the performance with the weapon, +bringing it close to his feet on every occasion. Then a coin was placed +in the end of a split stick forty or <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_110" id="pg_110">110</a></span>fifty yards distant, at the +suggestion of the performer, who stipulated that he would knock the coin +out without disturbing the stick, on condition that he should have the +coin, a one-shilling piece, in case he succeeded.</p> + +<p>“He balanced the boomerang with great care and then threw it. It made +several gyrations in the air, and when it reached its destination it +knocked the coin from its place as neatly as one could have removed it +with his fingers. All who stood by applauded the performer, and he was +given the opportunity to win several more shillings in the same way.</p> + +<p>“I ought to mention that each time when he threw the boomerang he varied +his manner of throwing it. Sometimes he sent the weapon straight into +the air; next he skimmed it along the ground, and next he launched at an +angle of from forty to sixty degrees. Every time he threw it, it came +back to his feet, but when he threw it at the coins in the stick it did +not return.</p> + +<p>“The interpreter explained to us that the return-boomerang was more of a +toy than a weapon, as the regular boomerang cannot return when it has +hit something in its course. Wonderful stories have been told of the use +of this weapon in war,—how the black fellow will launch it two or three +hundred yards, and have it kill one or more of his enemies, and then +come back to his feet. A moment’s thought will convince any one that the +two things together are impossible. In order to return to the place +whence it started, the boomerang must not encounter or even touch +anything in its way. When it is used for killing men, or wild animals, +it does not come back to the ground of its thrower.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_111" id="pg_111">111</a></span>“From all accounts that I am able to obtain, the boomerang as a weapon +in the hands of a good thrower is very dangerous. It can be made to hit +a man concealed behind a tree, rock, or house, where a gun or a spear +could not possibly reach him. As a hunting weapon it is of great +utility, and many a kangaroo has fallen before it. The skillful thrower, +within reaching distance of a kangaroo or an emu, is as sure of his prey +as a white man would be with a Winchester rifle.”</p> + +<p>Ned and Harry tried to learn from the performer when and by whom the +boomerang was invented, and all they could get from him was, “Long time +ago; who knows?” He threw a little light upon the subject by picking up +a leaf of the gum tree, holding it at arm’s length, and then letting it +fall to the ground. It gyrated and changed its course as it descended. +Then he picked it up and threw it straight from him, when it gyrated +again and returned towards him. It is probable that the idea of the +boomerang may have been taken from the motions of a falling leaf, and +especially a leaf of the gum tree. As the weapon is known through all +the tribes of Australian blacks, it is not likely to have been a recent +invention.</p> + +<p>“I have read somewhere,” said Harry, “that a weapon similar to the +boomerang was known to the ancient Egyptians, and that there is also +something of the same sort in use among a tribe of Indians in Arizona. +If it is true that the Egyptians of old times had this weapon, we may +well repeat the oft-quoted saying, ‘There is nothing new under the sun,’ +but it seems, at any rate, that the Australian boomerang is greatly +superior to the Arizona one, as it can be <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_112" id="pg_112">112</a></span>projected very much further +and with far more deadly effect.”</p> + +<p>The performer with the boomerang was evidently very well satisfied with +his morning’s work, and he was certainly very liberally paid for his +performances. He invited our friends to take dinner with him, at least, +so the interpreter said, though the youths were suspicious that the +invitation was all a joke. Anyhow, they did not accept it, as they +thought that the meal, with the surroundings which were visible, would +have no temptation either for the eye or the appetite.</p> + +<p>Harry heard the following story, which he duly entered in his +notebook:—</p> + +<p>“Once a lawyer undertook the defense of a black fellow who had been +arrested for stealing a gold watch. The evidence was wholly +circumstantial, as the stolen property had not been found, and the +lawyer handled the case so well that the alleged thief was acquitted. A +few hours after the trial, the lawyer was seated on the verandah of the +principal hotel in the place, engaged in conversation with the +magistrate before whom the case was tried, when along came the black +fellow.</p> + +<p>“‘Can I wear the watch now?’ said the black, at the same time drawing it +forth from an inner pocket.</p> + +<p>“The magistrate burst into a loud and hearty laugh. The lawyer laughed, +too, but his laughter had a very hollow sound, and then he shouted an +emphatic ‘No!’ to the confiding aboriginal.”</p> + +<p>Quite a little town had sprung up at the terminus of the railway, and +Dr. Whitney said it reminded him of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_113" id="pg_113">113</a></span>towns along the Pacific +railways of the United States during the course of their construction. +The comparison, he said, was favorable to the Australian town, as the +inhabitants seemed far more orderly than did those of the transitory +American settlements. During the time of their stay there was not a +single fight, and the coroner was not called upon to perform his usual +official duties.</p> + +<p>The terminus of the railway was in a valley which was dignified with the +name of a creek, but no creek was visible. Water was supplied by an +artesian well, driven to a depth of eight hundred feet. The water was +slightly brackish but quite drinkable, and when it was made into tea or +coffee the brackish flavor disappeared.</p> + +<p>Our friends returned to Adelaide by the way they had gone from it, and +after a day or two more in the capital of South Australia, they took the +train for Melbourne. Ned made note of the fact that had been mentioned +to him, that of all the money raised by taxation in South Australia, one +fifth of it is used for educational purposes. He further added that the +same was the case in all the colonies, and he thought it greatly to +their credit. Harry said he did not believe there was a State or city in +the whole American Union where such a large proportion of the public +money was spent for educational matters.</p> + +<p>The youths learned, in addition, that the schools throughout the +colonies are, generally speaking, of excellent quality and the +opportunities for higher education in academies, colleges, universities, +medical and scientific institutions, and similar seats of learning, are +of the best class. Ned made <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_114" id="pg_114">114</a></span>the following summary from the Education +Act of South Australia:—</p> + +<p>“Schools will be established where there is a certain number of children +of school age, who will pay a moderate fee to the teachers; four pence +for children under seven, and six pence for older children, per child, +per week. In addition to the fees, the teachers will be paid by the +government from seventy-five pounds to two hundred pounds per annum. +Schoolhouses will be provided, and all the necessary educational +material. Four and one half hours constitute the school day. All +children of school age are required to be under instruction until a +certain standard is reached.”</p> + +<p>Provision is made for the free instruction of children whose parents can +show that they are unable to pay for it, but fees can be enforced in all +cases where inability to pay them has not been proved. Large grants have +been made by the legislature for school buildings, teachers’ salaries, +etc., in order to efficiently aid in the development of a thorough and +comprehensive system of education for the young.</p> + +<p>South Australia has a goodly number of schools for higher education, and +it also has a university which is well attended. The majority of those +who can afford it send their children to private schools rather than to +the government ones, believing, and no doubt correctly, that the +educational facilities are greater in the private institutions than in +the public ones.</p> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="ADELAIDE_TO_MELBOURNEmdashTHE_RABBIT_PESTmdashDANGEROUS_EXOTICS_3037" id="ADELAIDE_TO_MELBOURNEmdashTHE_RABBIT_PESTmdashDANGEROUS_EXOTICS_3037"></a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_115" id="pg_115">115</a></span> +<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2> +<h3>ADELAIDE TO MELBOURNE—THE RABBIT PEST—DANGEROUS EXOTICS.</h3> +</div> + +<p>The distance from Adelaide to Melbourne is about six hundred miles. Our +friends found that the journey was made very leisurely, the trains +averaging not more then eighteen or twenty miles an hour. For quite a +distance out of Adelaide the train ascends an incline as far as Mount +Lofty station, where the hill or mountain of that name is situated. On +the way up the last of the incline our friends watched with a great deal +of interest the plains stretching out below them, and the city which +they had just left lying at their feet like a section of carpet laid off +into ornamental squares. Beyond Mount Lofty station the route descended +into the valley of the Murray River, whose waters could be seen winding +like a thread through the yellow soil.</p> + +<p>“This is the longest river in Australia, is it not?” queried Ned.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” replied the doctor, “it is the longest and largest river, and, as +you have already learned, it is the only one that remains a real river +throughout the year. Its mouth is not many miles from Adelaide, and a +considerable part of its course is through South Australia.”</p> + +<p>“I wonder they didn’t establish the capital city at the mouth of the +Murray,” remarked Harry; “they would <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_116" id="pg_116">116</a></span>have had the advantage of a +navigable stream, which they have not in the present location.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, that is quite true,” Dr. Whitney replied; “and they would have +illustrated the saying of a philosopher, that great rivers nearly always +run past large cities, but there was a practical difficulty in the way, +of which you are not aware.”</p> + +<p>“What is it?”</p> + +<p>“The Murray at its mouth has a bar that is very difficult and dangerous +to cross, and a large area at its entrance consists of shallow water. +The mouth of the river, furthermore, is swept by southerly winds, which +bring in great waves that have their origin in the neighborhood of the +South Pole. Consequently it was concluded that the location of the city +at the place with the largest entrance into the sea would not be +advantageous, and a location on Spencer’s Gulf was considered +preferable.”</p> + +<p>“Very good reasons,” said Ned, “and I have no doubt that the founders of +Adelaide acted wisely. They certainly have a very prosperous city where +they are, although their seaport is several miles away.”</p> + +<p>The train increased its speed as it descended the incline, and the +youths found plenty of occupation and amusement in studying the scenery +on each side of them, and noting the handsome residences of the +merchants and other well-to-do inhabitants of Adelaide. The river was +crossed by means of an iron bridge, a substantial structure which was +evidently built to last. After crossing the Murray, the railway +proceeded for awhile along its valley, and gradually left it to enter a +region of long-continued monotony.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_117" id="pg_117">117</a></span>“For hours in succession,” said Harry in his journal, “we had little +else but scrub. I imagine that when the surveyors laid out the railway +line, they took their bearings by observation of the moon and stars, and +laid it directly across from one side of the scrub country to the other. +Scrub land is land covered with bushes. There are not many varieties of +bushes, and this fact helps along the monotony. There is one bush that +looks like an umbrella turned bottom upwards, and another that resembles +an umbrella standing upright, as one holds it to keep off the rain. Then +there are bushes and trees, some of them shaped like bottles, others +like sugar loaves, and some like nothing else that I can think of at +this moment. They vary from three or four feet in height up to fifteen +and twenty feet, and sometimes we found them of a height of thirty feet +or more.</p> + +<p>“Mile after mile it is the same. I have heard what a terrible thing it +is to be lost in the scrub. I can well understand that it is terrible, +and can also understand how easily such a calamity could be brought +about. One mile of scrub is exactly like another mile, or so very nearly +like it that it is next to impossible to tell the difference. I have +heard that people who stepped only a few yards from the side of the road +have wandered for days before finding their way again, or have been +sought for by many people before they were found. Many a man has lost +his way in the scrub and never been heard of again, or perhaps years +after his bones were discovered bleaching at the foot of a tree, where +he had sat or lain down for his last rest when he could go no further.”</p> + +<p>A portion of the road from Adelaide to Sydney is <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_118" id="pg_118">118</a></span>called “the +ninety-mile desert,” in distinction from the rest of the scrub region. +It was a great relief to any one to get out of this desert country, and +reach the region of farms, and fences, cattle or sheep pastures, and +cultivated fields. In some of the districts through which our travelers +passed they saw great numbers of rabbits, and on calling attention to +them, a gentleman who was in the railway carriage told them something +about the rabbit pest from which the Australian colonies are suffering.</p> + +<p>“If you want to make a fortune,” said the gentleman, “find some way for +destroying the rabbits in Australia. There is a standing reward of +twenty-five thousand pounds (one hundred and twenty-five thousand +dollars of your money) for any method that proves successful. The reward +is offered by the colony of New South Wales, and the other colonies will +pay as much more.”</p> + +<p>“Were there rabbits in this country when it was first discovered?” Harry +asked.</p> + +<p>“There were no rabbits here,” was the reply; “nor any animals like them. +In 1851, a gentleman living near Dunedin, New Zealand, was on a visit to +the old country, and it occurred to him that it would be a nice thing to +have rabbits in New Zealand, so that they could amuse themselves by +chasing the little creatures with dogs. On his return from England he +brought seven rabbits, and they were the progenitors of all the rabbits +in New Zealand, Australia, and Tasmania. For a few years, as fast as +rabbits were obtainable they were distributed throughout the colonies, +but it was not long before the distributors found out their mistake.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_119" id="pg_119">119</a></span>“The rabbits increased and multiplied at a terrific rate. How many +there are now in the colonies, nobody can tell, as it is impossible to +take a census of them, but they certainly amount to many millions. They +have destroyed millions of acres of sheep pasturage, so that many farms +which once supported great numbers of sheep have been deserted in +consequence of the rabbits. Let me give you an illustration that I know +about, as I was one of the sufferers by these vermin. Fifteen years ago, +I owned an interest in a sheep run on the bank of the Murray River in +the colony of Victoria. Our holding extended back into the dry and +comparatively worthless country.</p> + +<p>“The rabbits got in there, and gradually the sheep were starved out. +Year by year the number diminished, and five years ago I sold my +interest in the run for a very small sum. From two hundred thousand +sheep, the number had diminished to twenty-five hundred, and these were +dying in the paddock for want of food. The rabbits were the cause of the +whole destruction. They had eaten up all the grass and edible bushes, +and it was some consolation to know that they were themselves being +starved out, and were dying by the hundreds daily. When the rabbits +there are all dead the place can be fenced in, so that no new ones can +get there, and it is possible that the grass will grow again, and the +run once more become a place of value.</p> + +<p>“The story I have just told you,” the gentleman continued, “is the story +of a great many sheep and cattle runs all over Australia and New +Zealand. All sorts of means have been resorted to to get rid of the +pest, and while some <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_120" id="pg_120">120</a></span>have been partially successful, none have been +wholly so. The best plan is the old one, to lock the stable before the +horse is stolen; that is, enclose the place with rabbit-proof fences +before any rabbits have been introduced. The Australian rabbit is a +burrowing animal, and unless the fence is set well into the ground, he +is very apt to dig under it. Thus it has happened that many an estate +has become infested, even though the owners had gone to the expense of +enclosing it.</p> + +<p>“Most of the cities of Australia and New Zealand have a rabbit-skin +exchange, just as you have a cotton exchange in New York. At these +exchanges ten or fifteen millions of rabbit skins are sold every year, +or an aggregate perhaps of fifty or sixty millions, and yet the number +does not decrease perceptibly. Factories have been established for +preserving the meat of the rabbits in tin cans, and sending it to market +as an article of food. It was thought that this would certainly reduce +the number of rabbits, but it has not yet succeeded in doing so.</p> + +<p>“Various kinds of apparatus have been devised for filling the dens of +the rabbits with noxious gases that kill them, but the process is too +expensive for general introduction; and, besides, it does not work well +in rocky ground. Rewards are given both by the government and by the +owners of land for the destruction of rabbits, and these rewards have +stimulated men, who go about the country with packs of dogs to hunt down +the rabbits for the sake of the bounty. Sometimes the whole population +turns out in a grand rabbit hunt and thousands of rabbits are killed. +Pasteur, the celebrated French chemist, proposed to destroy the rabbit +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_121" id="pg_121">121</a></span>population by introducing chicken cholera among them; he thought that +by inoculating a few with the disease he could spread it among the +others, so that they would all be killed off. He admitted that the +chicken population would be killed at the same time, but none of us +would object to that if we could get rid of the rabbits, as we could +easily reintroduce domestic fowls.”</p> + +<p>Ned said that he wondered why the rabbits increased so rapidly in the +Australian colonies and not in the United States or England.</p> + +<p>“Here is the reason of it,” said the gentleman. “In America there are +plenty of wild animals, like wolves, weasels, foxes, ferrets, and the +like, to keep down the rabbit population, but here there is not a single +animal to interfere with them. They have no natural enemies whatever, +and consequently have things entirely their own way. They breed several +times a year and begin to breed very young, so that a pair of rabbits +let loose in a given locality will in a few years amount to thousands or +even to millions. There, look at that piece of ground and see what you +think of it.”</p> + +<p>The boys looked where the gentleman indicated, and saw what seemed to be +a field of tall grass or grain waving in the wind. A nearer inspection +showed that the ground was covered with rabbits, and it was the +movements of the animals that caused the illusion just described.</p> + +<p>“Rabbits are not the only pests from which the colonies have suffered,” +the gentleman continued; “I will tell you about more of them.</p> + +<p>“You must bear in mind,” said their informant, “that <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_122" id="pg_122">122</a></span>when Australia was +settled it contained very few of the products, either animal or +vegetable, of other parts of the world. Among the animals there were no +noxious ones except the dingo, or wild dog, which was found in various +parts of the country. His origin has been a matter of conjecture, some +believing that he is descended from dogs which were left here by those +who discovered the continent, while others think he is indigenous to the +soil. All the other animals, and they were not numerous, were harmless +in their character. There are eight kinds of kangaroos, all of them +herbivorous. They are, as you are doubtless aware, marsupials, that is, +they carry their young in a pouch until they are able to run about by +themselves. The dingo lived by feeding on the kangaroos, and thus kept +down the number of those animals.</p> + +<p>“Horned cattle, horses, and sheep were introduced and successfully +raised. The wild dogs killed sheep and calves, and therefore the +inhabitants set about killing them. As the dogs decreased in number the +kangaroos increased, and they threatened to drive the sheep to +starvation by eating up all the grass. Many a sheep run was rendered +worthless by the kangaroos, and so it became necessary to establish +methods of reducing the number of the latter. Battues or hunts were +organized, the people gathering from all directions at an appointed time +and place, and driving the kangaroos into pens or yards, where they were +slaughtered by the thousand. You will probably have an opportunity of +seeing a kangaroo hunt before you leave Australia.</p> + +<p>“There were very few native fruits, and we introduced <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_123" id="pg_123">123</a></span>the fruits of +England and other parts of the world very successfully. We introduced +garden plants and vegetables in great numbers, and nearly all of them +turned out to our satisfaction, though this was not uniformly the case.</p> + +<p>“You know that innocent and very acceptable plant called the watercress, +which is sold in great quantities for table use in London, New York, and +other English and American cities. Well, we brought the watercress to +the Australian colonies, and it grew and thrived wonderfully. It grew +altogether too well and thrived a great deal more than we could have +wished, as it has choked our rivers, and caused freshets and floods +which have devastated farms and fields to a large extent, and on several +occasions have been destructive to human life.</p> + +<p>“We introduced the sweet briar, thinking it would form an ornament and +fill the air with its perfume. Instead of being ornamental, it has +become an impenetrable bush, which neither man nor cattle can go +through. It has become a nuisance, spreading over the ground and +destroying pasturage, and we heartily wish that not a twig of it was +ever brought here.</p> + +<p>“When we began to grow fruits we found ourselves annoyed by insects of +various kinds, the same sort of insects that are known to fruit growers +everywhere. In order to get rid of them, we brought the English sparrow +here. He is of great use to the fruit grower in the old country, as he +lives principally on insects, or at any rate has the reputation of doing +so, and he does not often attack the fruit.</p> + +<p>“Well, we got the sparrow here, and he increased and <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_124" id="pg_124">124</a></span>multiplied until +he became very numerous, and what do you suppose the little wretch did?</p> + +<p>“He did not do anything that we wanted him to do. He abandoned his +English practise of eating insects, and lived wholly upon grain and +fruit. In the fruit season he is a perfect terror in the devastation he +makes among our fruit trees. A flock of sparrows will make its +appearance in a cherry garden where there are twenty, fifty, or perhaps +a hundred cherry trees bending beneath a burden of fruit just about ripe +enough to be picked. They save the owner the trouble and expense of +picking his fruit, as they take entire charge of it, and in a few days +the whole crop is ruined. Other fruit suffers in the same way, and the +testimony is the same from all parts of Australia. One of the colonial +governments had an investigation of the subject at one time, and the +testimony was something appalling. The sparrows abound here in countless +millions, all of them descended from fifty birds that were imported +about the year 1860. The owners of vineyards, as well as the fruit +farmers, complain of the ravages of the sparrows, and at the official +investigation that I mentioned one vine grower testified that his crop +of grapes the previous year would have been two tons, but the sparrows +destroyed the entire lot.</p> + +<p>“Another bird almost as destructive as the sparrow is the <i>mina</i> or +<i>mino</i>, a bird which was brought here from India. It is quite a handsome +bird, and can learn to talk almost as readily as the parrot, and that is +why it was brought here. It lives on fruits and vegetables, and has very +nearly the same habits as the sparrow. The colonial government have +placed a bounty upon the heads and eggs <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_125" id="pg_125">125</a></span>of the sparrow, and also on +those of the mina. A great many boys and men, too, make a fairly good +revenue in killing the birds or plundering their nests. The birds are +trapped, shot, or poisoned, but their number does not seem to diminish.</p> + +<p>“Somebody brought a daisy to Australia, as it is a very popular flower +in England, and was expected to remind the English settler of his old +home. It has spread very rapidly, and on thousands upon thousands of +acres it has rooted out the native grasses and taken full possession of +the soil. Another plant has a history which would be ludicrous if it +were not so serious, and that is the thistle.”</p> + +<p>“You mean the regular thistle, such as is known in England and the +United States?”</p> + +<p>“I refer particularly to the Scotch thistle,” said the gentleman, “which +is not particularly unlike the other thistles with which we are +familiar. You know that the thistle is the emblem of Scotland, and may +be said to be worshipped by all patriotic Scotchmen. Well, it happened +that a Scotch resident of Melbourne, while visiting the old country, +took it into his head to carry a thistle with him on his return to +Australia. So he placed the plant in a pot and watered it carefully +every day during the voyage from London to Melbourne. When he arrived +his performance was noticed in the newspapers, and a subscription dinner +was arranged in honor of the newly arrived plant. About two hundred +Scotchmen sat down to the dinner, at which the thistle was the +centerpiece and the great object of attraction. Speeches were made, and +the festivities continued to a late hour of the night. The next day the +thistle <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_126" id="pg_126">126</a></span>was planted with a great deal of ceremony, and more speeches in +the public garden at Melbourne, and it was carefully watched and tended +by the gardener, who happened to be a Scotchman.</p> + +<p>“Well, the thistle blossomed and everybody rejoiced. You know how the +seeds of that plant are provided with down, that enables them to float +on the wind. The seeds of that thistle were borne on the breezes, and +all over the colony of Victoria they found a lodging in the soil, grew +and prospered, and sent out more seeds. That thistle has been the cause +of ruin to many a sheep and cattle run all over Australia. Thousands, +yes, millions, of acres of grass have been destroyed by that pernicious +weed. Anathemas without number and of the greatest severity have been +showered upon the thick-headed Scotchman who brought the plant to +Australia, and the other thick-headed Scotchmen who placed it in the +public garden.</p> + +<p>“While I am on this subject,” the gentleman continued, “I may as well +tell you of a very curious circumstance in New Zealand.”</p> + +<p>“What is that?”</p> + +<p>“When the sheep farmers first established their business in the mountain +regions of New Zealand, they observed flocks of parrots occupying the +forest, and living entirely upon fruits and vegetables. They were very +pretty birds and nobody thought that any harm would come from them, in +view of their habits of life. The farmers used to kill some of their +sheep for food purposes, and leave the meat hanging out over night in +the cool air. It was observed <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_127" id="pg_127">127</a></span>that the parrots got in the habit of +coming down to the meat frames and picking off the layers of fat, +particularly those around the kidneys. Their fondness for this kind of +food seemed to increase as time went on, and they finally became such a +nuisance as to compel the herders to give up their practise of leaving +the meat out of doors in the night-time.</p> + +<p>“After a while the farmers occasionally found the fattest and best of +their sheep dead or dying of wounds across the smaller part of the back +directly in the region of the kidneys. Nobody could tell how the wounds +were made, but it was evident that the mischief-makers were numerous, as +a good many sheep, always the finest of the flock, were killed. Finally, +one of the men employed about a sheep run ventured to suggest that it +must be done by the parrots. His suggestion was ridiculed so earnestly +that the man was sorry he had made it, but he gave as his reason for it +the fact that he had seen a parrot perched on the back of a sheep and +the bird flew away when he approached.</p> + +<p>“Watchers were set over the sheep, and the suggestion of the man proved +to be the correct one. How the birds ever connected the existence of the +fat which they tore from the carcases on the meat frames with the +location of the same fat in the living animal, no one can tell, but +certain it is that they did so. It was found that a parrot bent on +securing a meal, would fasten his claws in the wool of the sheep, and +then with his powerful beak he would tear away the skin and flesh until +he reached the fat of which he was in search around the kidneys of the +struggling <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_128" id="pg_128">128</a></span>animal. It was impossible for the sheep to shake him off; +whether it ran or lay down and writhed in its agony, the bird retained +its hold until its object was accomplished.”</p> + +<p>“Of course this led to a war of extermination against the parrots, did +it not?”</p> + +<p>“Certainly it did. As soon as the fact was well established the colonial +government offered a reward of one shilling for each parrot’s head, and +the business of hunting these birds began at once. Formerly they used to +come freely into the presence of man, but now they shun him, and it is +very difficult to find them. They live in the forest, concealing +themselves in the daytime, and only coming out at night. In fact, their +depredations were committed in the night-time, and that is the reason +why their offences continued so long without being discovered.”</p> + +<p>“Did they cause great destruction among the flocks of sheep?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, until they were found out and the war began against them they were +terribly destructive. One man lost two hundred sheep out of three +hundred, another lost nineteen out of twenty, and several others in the +same proportion. Even now, although the number of parrots is diminished +enormously, the flocks in the region where they abound lose at least two +per cent. every year from that cause.”</p> + +<p>“Is there any way of exterminating them by poison?”</p> + +<p>“No way has been discovered as yet, as the birds are very cunning and +cannot be readily induced to take poisoned food. They are more wary in +this respect than rabbits and sparrows, as both of these creatures can +be <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_129" id="pg_129">129</a></span>poisoned, though the danger is that in attempting to poison them the +food is apt to be taken by domestic animals or fowls.”</p> + +<p>“Speaking of poisoning reminds me of an instance in Queensland some +years ago, where there was a large number of blacks inhabiting the +forest near a sheep station.</p> + +<p>“The owner of the station had been greatly annoyed by the blacks, who +had killed many of his sheep, and in several instances had threatened +the shepherds with death, and driven them from their places. He +determined to get even with them, and this is the way he did it. He +loaded a cart with provisions such as flour, sugar, bacon, tea, and +other things, which were distributed to the shepherds once a week. Then +the cart started apparently on its round. Near the place where the +blacks were congregated one of the wheels of the cart came off, and at +the same time the vehicle became stuck in a gully. The driver took his +horses from the shafts and rode back to the station for help, leaving +the cart and its load unguarded.</p> + +<p>“Here was a fine opportunity for the blacks to exercise their thieving +propensities, and they did not miss it. In less than an hour the cart +was stripped of everything edible, flour, sugar, and everything else +being carried away. When the driver returned, he found only the empty +vehicle with which to continue his journey.</p> + +<p>“That afternoon the blacks had a grand feast over the stolen property. +All the members of the tribe came together and took part in the feast, +about two hundred in all. It so happened that everything edible had been +dosed with strychnine before the cart was loaded, and in a few hours +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_130" id="pg_130">130</a></span>all who had partaken of the feast were dead. Much as the white people +around there had been annoyed by the blacks, there were few, if any, to +approve of this wholesale poisoning which the sheep owner had undertaken +entirely on his own responsibility.”</p> + +<p>“I suppose it is due in some measure, at least, to performances of this +sort that the blacks are diminishing in number,” Dr. Whitney remarked.</p> + +<p>“No doubt that has a good deal to do with the matter,” was the reply. “I +don’t know of any other instances than this of wholesale poisoning, but +I do know that in a good many instances, black men have been shot down +by whites for the reason that they had speared cattle or committed other +depredations. The blacks have been treated very much the same way as +your American Indians, and generally with as little provocation; but, +beyond all this, it is well known that the number of births among them +every year is considerably less than the number of deaths from natural +causes. Some people believe that the blacks are addicted to infanticide, +and that many of their children are put to death to save the expense of +bringing them up. Understand me, nobody knows positively that this is +the case, but only surmises it.”</p> + +<hr class="major" /> +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="CANNIBAL_BLACKSmdashMELBOURNE_AND_ITS_PECULIARITIES_3477" id="CANNIBAL_BLACKSmdashMELBOURNE_AND_ITS_PECULIARITIES_3477"></a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_131" id="pg_131">131</a></span> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> +<h3>CANNIBAL BLACKS—MELBOURNE AND ITS PECULIARITIES.</h3> +</div> + +<p>“I have heard,” said one of the youths, “that Australian blacks are +cannibals. I wonder if that is really so?”</p> + +<p>“Perhaps all the tribes in the country are not cannibals, but it is +pretty certain that some of them are. They know that the white man is +prejudiced against eating human flesh, and consequently they conceal +very carefully their performances in this line. In former times they +were not so particular, and there was the most positive proof that they +devoured their enemies killed in battle, and also killed and devoured +some of their own people. They were not such epicures in cannibalism as +the inhabitants of the Feejee Islands formerly were, and did not make as +much ceremony as the Feejeeans over their feasts of human flesh. Some of +the tribes that indulged in the practise have given it up, but the +belief is that those in the interior still adhere to it.”</p> + +<p>“What do they live upon when they do not eat human flesh?” queried Ned.</p> + +<p>“As to that,” was the reply, “they live upon pretty nearly everything +they can lay their hands on. They hunt the kangaroo and are fond of its +flesh, and they are also fond of the flesh of cattle and sheep. In fact, +they commit a good many depredations upon the flocks and <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_132" id="pg_132">132</a></span>herds. They +eat snakes, lizards, toads, and, in fact, anything that lives and moves, +and they are not at all particular about the condition of the meat when +they eat it. It is all the same to them whether it is fresh or putrid. A +man would need have a very strong stomach to accept an invitation to +take dinner with a family of uncivilized blacks, or even with one that +had become civilized.”</p> + +<p>While this conversation was going on the train was speeding on its way, +and Harry observed that the houses were becoming more numerous, and the +country more densely occupied, as they came nearer to Melbourne. +Occasionally they caught sight of a house which looked like a +gentleman’s residence rather than like an ordinary farmhouse, and he +called attention to the circumstance.</p> + +<p>“We are approaching Melbourne,” said their traveling companion, “and +from this point on you will find a good many country seats of gentlemen +who do business in the city. It is cooler here in summer than in +Melbourne, and a great many people have established their summer homes +in this region. It is so much the fashion, that it has become obligatory +for the well-to-do citizen to have a town residence and a country one, +and his establishment is considered incomplete unless he possesses both. +A good many people occupy their country homes for the greater part of +the year, going back and forth by railway according to the requirements +of their business. It is the same in New York, London, and other great +cities all over the world. Melbourne considers itself just as important +as any other city, and I believe it claims to be the tenth city of the +world in point of population.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_133" id="pg_133">133</a></span>Ned asked what the population of the city was.</p> + +<p>To this the gentleman replied that he did not have the exact figures at +hand, but he believed the last census gave the number of inhabitants as +very nearly half a million. “Including the suburbs,” said he, “I think +it is fully that, and if it had not been for the dullness of business +for the last two or three years, caused very largely by the labor +strikes and other disturbances of trade, I think we would now exceed the +half million figure.”</p> + +<p>While he was saying this, Ned called attention to a large house on a +little eminence about half a mile away, which resembled a palace more +than it did a private dwelling. As Ned pointed towards it and told Harry +to look in that direction, the gentleman said:—</p> + +<p>“That house was built ten or twelve years ago by a millionaire merchant +of Melbourne. He spent a great deal of money upon it, being determined +to have the finest house in the country. About the time of its +completion he met with heavy losses in business, and was unable to carry +out his plans concerning the grounds around the building. It was his +original intention to have a park, in which he would enclose specimens +of all the animals of Australia, and an artificial lake, with specimens +of all the fishes of the country. He has never carried out this part of +the scheme, but declares that he will do so whenever his wealth returns +to him.”</p> + +<p>“A very good scheme, indeed,” said one of the youths, “and I hope the +gentleman will be able to carry it out.”</p> + +<p>“Yes; and I hope so, too,” was the reply. “The place would be made +interesting if he should do so, but, after all, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_134" id="pg_134">134</a></span>you can see the same +thing in the parks of the principal cities of Australia. Each has, I +believe, collections of the animals of the country, together with many +animals of other countries, and any one is at full liberty to go and see +them.”</p> + +<p>Houses became more numerous, and towns and villages made their +appearance as the train went along. Harry observed that in some of the +towns which they passed through there were imposing buildings, which +seemed rather out of proportion to the number of dwelling-houses.</p> + +<p>Their impromptu guide explained that this was the outgrowth of +Australian politics. “Every town in Australia,” said he, “is desirous of +having some of the public money spent within its limits. It wants a +courthouse, jail, or some other public edifice, and in order to secure +his election to the legislature, a candidate is compelled to promise +that he will obtain the desired appropriation. These appropriations are +secured by what you call in America ‘logrolling.’ That is, Smith of one +town makes an arrangement with Brown, Jones, Robinson, and I don’t know +how many others of as many other towns that he will vote for their +appropriations, provided they will vote for his. In this way a town of +five hundred inhabitants gets a courthouse and jail large enough for a +population of five thousand, or perhaps twice that number. A great deal +of government money has been wasted in this way, but there is no help +for it as long as human nature remains as it is.”</p> + +<p>This led to a little talk on Australian politics, in which the youths +learned that the people were divided into parties very much as in +England and the United States, and their quarrels were just as fierce. +The party in power is always <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_135" id="pg_135">135</a></span>bitterly denounced by the party out of +power, and the outs can always demonstrate how much better they could +manage public affairs than the ins are doing it. The great questions +usually before the people are the tariff and public improvements, and +the fiercest fights are usually those concerning the tariff.</p> + +<p>Protectionists and free traders are just as skillful and just as earnest +as the same parties in the United States, and each can demonstrate +mathematically how much better its own system is than that of the other +side. The colonies are themselves divided on the subject of tariff, all +of them favoring protection with the exception of New South Wales, where +the free traders are in the majority.</p> + +<p>There has been a great deal of talk about a federation of the colonies, +but the stumbling-block in the way of it is the difference in the +colonial tariff. Federation would have been brought about years ago had +it not been for New South Wales and its free trade policy.</p> + +<p>Ned and Harry started to take some notes on the subject of the tariff, +but the doctor reminded them that they had better leave the subject +alone, as it was a dangerous one to touch. Consequently they have not +given us the benefit of their notes upon it, and we are unable to say +what conclusion they reached.</p> + +<p>At its appointed time the train reached Melbourne, and our friends found +themselves in the spacious station of the railway company.</p> + +<p>As soon as they could get their baggage, our friends proceeded to a +hotel which had been recommended to them, and which they found quite +satisfactory. After <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_136" id="pg_136">136</a></span>securing rooms they went out for a stroll, having +been advised to take a promenade along Collins Street. Harry said he was +sure that the street had been named after somebody who was prominent in +the early history of the colony, at least, he felt that such was the +case if Melbourne had followed the example of Adelaide.</p> + +<p>“Melbourne was founded before Adelaide was,” said Dr. Whitney, “as the +first settlement was made here in 1835, a year before the first +settlement was made in Adelaide; but, all the same, your theory is +correct. Collins Street was named after Colonel Collins, who established +a convict settlement in this vicinity as far back as 1803, but for some +reason he gave it up a year or two later, and transferred his convicts +and their guards to Tasmania.”</p> + +<p>“The next street parallel to this,” said Ned, “is Bourke Street. I +wonder who Bourke was?”</p> + +<p>“Bourke was the governor of the colony in 1836,” the doctor replied, +“and that is why he was honored with a street.”</p> + +<p>“We know about Captain Flinders,” said Harry, “after whom Flinders +Street was named. He was a daring explorer who accompanied Captain Bass +when the latter discovered Bass’s Strait, that separates Australia from +Tasmania. There is also a range of mountains named after him.”</p> + +<p>“Captain Lonsdale, who was in command of some of the troops at the time +that the city was laid out,” said the doctor, “was honored with a +street, and Swanston Street commemorates one of the early settlers. Then +there are King Street, Queen Street, William Street, Elizabeth <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_137" id="pg_137">137</a></span>Street, +which explain themselves, as they indicate the feelings of the early +settlers towards the royal family.”</p> + +<p>“This street is certainly as attractive to the eye as Broadway or Fifth +Avenue in New York,” Ned remarked, as they strolled slowly along Collins +Street. “See these magnificent buildings. You have only to shut your +eyes and imagine yourself on Broadway, and when you open them again the +illusion does not require a great stretch of the imagination. And all +this has grown up since 1835. Just think of it!”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” replied the doctor; “it was about the middle of 1835 that one +John Batman came here with a small sailing vessel, and made a bargain +with the chief of the tribe of blacks then occupying this neighborhood, +by which he purchased about twelve hundred square miles of ground for a +quantity of goods worth, perhaps, one hundred dollars.”</p> + +<p>“That beats the purchase of Manhattan Island for twenty-four dollars,” +remarked Harry as the doctor paused.</p> + +<p>“Yes, it does,” was the reply; “the government afterwards repudiated +Batman’s trade, and took possession of the ground he had purchased.”</p> + +<p>“A pretty mean piece of business, wasn’t it?” queried Harry.</p> + +<p>“As to that,” said the doctor, “there are arguments on both sides of the +question. Batman felt that he had been unfairly dealt with, although the +government paid him about thirty-five thousand dollars for his claim. At +the time they paid the money to him the land was worth very much more +than that amount.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_138" id="pg_138">138</a></span>“Did he stay here and go to building a city at once?” queried one of +the youths.</p> + +<p>“No; he went back to Tasmania, whence he had come, in order to get a +fresh supply of provisions, and while he was gone John Fawkner came here +with a schooner called the <i>Enterprise</i>, and made a settlement. His +party consisted, if we may include the quadrupeds, of five men, two +pigs, one cat, two horses, and three dogs. When Batman came back he was +very angry, and as long as both the men lived there was a bitter quarrel +between them which threatened several times to result in a shooting +affray. Batman died in 1839; his heirs and partners took up the quarrel, +and traces of it are said to exist to the present day. The people of +Melbourne have erected a monument to Batman’s memory, but Fawkner is +generally regarded as the founder of Melbourne, as he made the first +permanent settlement, and the colony may properly be considered to have +begun on the date of his arrival.”</p> + +<p>When the conversation had reached this point, the party found themselves +at the corner of Elizabeth Street, which intersects Collins Street at +right angles.</p> + +<p>“You observe,” said the doctor, “that this street, Elizabeth, is the +dividing line of the city. That is to say, from it the streets are +called east and west just as they are so called in New York. At Fifth +Avenue, East Forty-second Street and West Forty-second Street begin. In +the same way we have here Collins Street, East, and Collins Street, +West; Bourke Street, East, and Bourke Street, West; and so on through +the whole list. They put the word designating the point of compass after +the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_139" id="pg_139">139</a></span>name of the street, while in New York we do just the opposite.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, yes, I see,” Harry remarked, with a twinkle in his eye. “Melbourne +is on the other side of the world from New York, and so they name the +streets in the reverse manner. So, then, there is another proof that +Australia is a land of contradictions.”</p> + +<p>Ned laughed, and made no reply other than to ask if the great number of +deaths that occurred here during the gold excitement had any allusion to +the name of the city. Harry looked at him with a puzzled expression, and +asked what he meant.</p> + +<p>“Why, I was thinking,” said Ned, “that possibly Melbourne might have +been ‘the bourne whence no traveler returns,’ mentioned by Shakespeare.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, that is old,” said the doctor; “and while you are on this subject, +I will inform you that the city obtained its name from Lord Melbourne, +who was Prime Minister of Great Britain at the time that the place was +laid out.”</p> + +<p>“The surveyor who laid out the city,” remarked Harry, “had a ‘level’ +head, as well as a leveling one. See what wide streets he gave it.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, that is so,” replied Ned. “They must be one hundred feet wide, at +least that is what I would guess.”</p> + +<p>“You guessed very closely,” said the doctor, “as they are ninety-nine +feet (one chain and a half) wide, and the tradition is that Melbourne +was laid out by an American surveyor. The city, as originally planned, +was one mile square, but it has received numerous additions, so that it +now covers a great deal more than a square mile. It <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_140" id="pg_140">140</a></span>really occupies, +with its suburbs, an area of nearly one hundred square miles, and every +year sees a new suburb added. Of course, when population is mentioned, +the whole of the suburbs should be included, and the inhabitants claim, +with a great deal of reason, that within a radius of ten miles from the +city hall, there are fully four hundred thousand people residing.”</p> + +<p>“That is certainly a very rapid growth,” said one of the youths. “All +that population since 1835! It is the most rapid growth of any city that +I know of, is it not?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, I think it is,” replied the doctor. “Neither San Francisco nor +Chicago can show a growth equal to that of Melbourne in the first fifty +years of its existence. Chicago is now a much larger city, but fifty +years from its foundation it could not boast of as many inhabitants as +could Melbourne when it was half a century old.”</p> + +<p>To the eyes of our young friends Melbourne presented a very busy +appearance. Cabs and carriages were rushing hither and thither. Crowds +of people were on the sidewalks, and other crowds filled the tram-cars +and omnibuses. Harry observed that Melbourne was sufficiently up with +the times to be provided with electric cars, and that she also had cable +lines, as well as the more primitive street cars. It was near the close +of the afternoon, when the great majority of the population are seeking +their homes, and the scene of busy life reminded the youths of lower +Broadway, near the end of the day in New York.</p> + +<p>The doctor explained that a very large part of the working population +resembled the well-to-do portion, by having their homes in the suburbs, +and, consequently, that <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_141" id="pg_141">141</a></span>a great many people required transportation. +Hence the rush for the tram-cars and other public means of travel on the +part of the great mass of the public, while those with better-lined +purses patronized the cabs and carriages. Cab fares are high, being +about one third more than in London, but not so high as in New York. In +the days of the gold rush the most ordinary carriages could not be hired +for less than fifteen dollars a day, and five dollars was the price for +an hour or two.</p> + +<p>There is a story in circulation that a gold miner was once bargaining +for a carriage for which the driver demanded twelve pounds (sixty +dollars) for a day’s hire. The miner said he would not pay it: he handed +a ten-pound note to the driver, and said he must be satisfied with that. +The driver assented, and there was no further discussion on the subject.</p> + +<p>Prices of all sorts of things throughout Melbourne are somewhat above +London figures, but they have been established a long time and nobody +complains of them.</p> + +<p>Our friends continued their walk to the Yarra River, up whose waters +Batman and Fawkner sailed when they came here to found the city. Its +native name is Yarra-Yarra, but the double word is rarely used by the +inhabitants of Melbourne in speaking of the stream. Of itself, it is not +a river of much consequence, as originally all but very small vessels +had difficulty in ascending it. It has been dredged and deepened, so +that craft drawing not more than sixteen feet of water can ascend it to +Prince’s Bridge, the spot where our friends reached the stream. Vessels +requiring more water than that must remain at <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_142" id="pg_142">142</a></span>Fort Melbourne, about +three miles further down. There are several other bridges crossing the +river at different points. Near Prince’s Bridge our friends saw several +passenger steamers crowded with people, on their way to their homes down +the bay.</p> + +<p>On their return towards the hotel our friends loitered among the shops, +and especially among those in what are called the Arcades, of which +there are four, modeled after the Arcades of London and the “Passages” +of Paris. They are delightful places to lounge in, whether one is in +search of purchases or not, and the three strangers were in no hurry to +get through them.</p> + +<p>One of the arcades is known as the Book Arcade, and the shops inside of +it are almost wholly devoted to the sale of books. Harry remarked that +he judged the Melbourne people to be a reading one, otherwise there +would not be so much space devoted to the sale of books. The youths had +a brief conversation with one of the proprietors, who told them that it +was one of the largest book stores in the world, in fact, he did not +know of any other as large as that. “We can give you anything you want,” +said he; “everything is so arranged that we know just where to lay our +hands on any book that a customer wants.”</p> + +<p>Melbourne is a great source of supply for all the interior of Victoria. +In the wholesale shops there were great quantities of goods intended for +up-country use. “There were,” said Harry, “tons and tons of clothing +destined for the mines or for sheep and cattle runs, and great +quantities of tea, sugar, and other provisions, together with saddlery, +harnesses, and ironmongery in great quantity and variety.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_143" id="pg_143">143</a></span>“We observed,” wrote Ned, “that between every two wide streets there is +a narrow street running in the same direction. I believe you will find +the same arrangement in many parts of Philadelphia, and also in the new +part of Boston. The original intention of the surveyor was that these +small streets should be used as back entrances for the buildings on the +larger ones, but this intention has not been carried out in the +development of the city. Formerly these narrow streets took the name of +the wide ones, with the prefix ‘Little’; for example, the one between +Collins and Bourke Street being known as Little Collins Street. Most of +them are now called lanes, and are spoken of as Collins Lane, Latrobe +Lane, and the like, and many of them are devoted to special lines of +trade. Flinders Lane, between Flinders and Collins Streets, is the +principal locality of the wholesale dealers in clothing, and Bourke Lane +is largely occupied by Chinese. We are told that the renting prices of +stores along these lanes are very high, probably greater than either +Batman or Fawkner ever dreamed they could be in their wildest moments.</p> + +<p>“When we returned to the hotel we found an invitation for us to dine at +one of the clubs, the gentleman who gave the invitation having called +during our absence. We dressed as quickly as possible, and went at once +to the club house, where we dined on the best that the city afforded. +Melbourne is a great place for clubs, quite as much so as London or New +York. Nearly everybody belongs to a club, and many gentleman have two, +three, or more clubs on their lists. Nearly all of the clubs have +lodging rooms for bachelor members, and the popularity <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_144" id="pg_144">144</a></span>of the +institution is shown by the fact that most of these rooms are constantly +occupied.</p> + +<p>“Life at a club is somewhat expensive, though less so than at a +first-class hotel. One gentleman probably stated the case very clearly +when he said that life in a club house is pretty much as each individual +chooses to make it. He could live economically or expensively, according +to his preference. He could dine on the choicest or on the plainest +food, and could entertain liberally or frugally. ‘There is no +necessity,’ he added, ‘for a man to waste his money because he lives at +a club, but there is no denying the fact that a club affords temptation +and opportunity to do so.’</p> + +<p>“During dinner the subject of horse racing came up, and our host said +that he did not believe there was any city in the world where so large a +proportion of the population was interested in equine sports as +Melbourne. ‘On Cup Day,’ said he, ‘that is, on the day of the annual +race for the cup which is given by the city of Melbourne, people come +here from all parts of Australia.’</p> + +<p>“‘Everybody who can afford the time and expense is reasonably sure to +visit Melbourne, and a great many come here who can hardly afford to do +so. Hotels and lodging houses are crowded to their fullest capacities +for several days before the great event. When Cup Day comes, it is like +the Derby Day in England. Half the population of Melbourne goes to +Flemington, when the race is run, and nearly all the scenes of the great +Derby Day in England are repeated. The winner of the Melbourne cup is +greeted with the heartiest cheers at the close of the race, and if he +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_145" id="pg_145">145</a></span>is put up for sale on the spot, he is sure to bring an enormous price.’</p> + +<p>“‘I asked if the horses competing for the cup were limited to those +raised in the colony of Victoria?’</p> + +<p>“‘Oh, not by any means,’ the gentleman answered; ‘horses from any of the +colonies can be entered for the great race. They come from New South +Wales, South and West Australia, and also from Queensland, and sometimes +we have them from New Zealand or Tasmania. In some years it has happened +that not one of the racers was bred in the colony of Victoria. There is +never any lack of competitors, their number being usually quite equal to +that in the race for the Derby. The race track is a little more than a +mile from the center of the city, so that the public has not far to go. +Vehicles of every kind command high prices on Cup Day, and many +thousands of people go to the race on foot. For weeks before the event +little else is talked of, and the great question on every tongue is, +“What horse will win the cup?”’</p> + +<p>“Melbourne is very fond of athletic sports, and there are numerous clubs +devoted to baseball, football, cricket, golf, and the like. There are +also rowing clubs, and their favorite rowing place is along the part of +the Yarra above Prince’s Bridge. The course is somewhat crooked, but +there is a good view of it from the banks, and a rowing match between +two of the crack clubs is sure to attract a large crowd.”</p> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="THE_LAUGHING_JACKASSmdashAUSTRALIAN_SNAKES_AND_SNAKE_STORIES_3905" id="THE_LAUGHING_JACKASSmdashAUSTRALIAN_SNAKES_AND_SNAKE_STORIES_3905"></a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_146" id="pg_146">146</a></span> +<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2> +<h3>“THE LAUGHING JACKASS”—AUSTRALIAN SNAKES AND SNAKE STORIES.</h3> +</div> + +<p>Our friends returned to their hotel, but, before leaving them, their +host arranged to call for them after breakfast the next morning, for a +drive among the parks and around the suburbs of the city.</p> + +<p>The drive came off as agreed upon, and a very pleasant one it was. They +visited the Botanic Garden, which is on the banks of the Yarra, and +seemed to contain specimens of nearly all the trees on the habitable +globe. Harry said he wondered how elms and oaks could have attained the +size of some that he saw, when he remembered that the city had its +beginning in 1835. It was explained that all exotic trees grew with +great rapidity in the climate of Melbourne, and not only exotics but +natives. The climate seems adapted to almost any kind of vegetable +production.</p> + +<p>Our friends found cork trees and palms growing almost side by side with +the birch, the pine, and the spruce. Among other things, their attention +was attracted to some beautiful fern trees, which were fully twenty feet +high, and there were climbing plants in great profusion, some of them +clinging to the trees, and others fastened to trellis work.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width:354px"> +<a name="illus-002" id="illus-002"></a> +<img src="images/aus147.jpg" alt="TO THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDEN." title="" width="354" /><br /> +<span class="caption">TO THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDEN.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_147" id="pg_147">147</a></span>Almost every kind of tropical fruit tree was represented in the garden, +and the gentleman who led the party said that the garden had been of +great use in distributing exotic fruit trees through the colony, after +first settling the question whether they would exist in the climate of +Victoria. Every variety of orange was there, and the orange is among the +most abundant of the fruits growing in the colony. Apricots, peaches, +pears, mangosteens, the custard apple, mangoes, and other fruits have +found a home in Victoria, and demonstrated that they can exist within +its limits.</p> + +<p>“We were unwilling,” said Harry in his journal, “to leave the Botanic +Garden and go elsewhere, as there were so many attractive things to be +seen, but time pressed, and whenever our host gave the word we proceeded +with him. From the Botanic Garden we went to the Fitzroy Gardens, which +are situated in the eastern part of the town, and were to some extent a +repetition of the Botanic Garden, though not entirely so. The Fitzroy is +more like a park than a garden; it is beautifully laid out with walks +and drives, and is rendered picturesque by means of rocky hills, +miniature lakes, and occasional fountains.</p> + +<p>“We afterwards went to the Carlton Gardens and also to the Zoological +Garden, the latter being situated in the Royal Park. The ‘Zoo,’ as it is +popularly called, contains a fine collection of animals from all parts +of the world, including elephants, lions, tigers, and the like, and also +specimens of the animals of Australia. Of course it has a cage full of +monkeys,—what Zoo is ever without them?—and they look just exactly +like the collections <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_148" id="pg_148">148</a></span>of monkeys that we have elsewhere in various parts +of the world.</p> + +<p>“There is a very fair collection of birds, and we were particularly +interested in the specimens of the birds of Australia. And that reminds +me of an amusing experience, as we came around to where the aviary +stands.</p> + +<p>“We heard somebody laughing very loudly, and a queer sort of a laugh it +was. Ned remarked that somebody must be feeling very happy, and I agreed +with him. Our host smiled, and so did Dr. Whitney, but nothing further +was said, as the laugh died away.</p> + +<p>“When we got close to the door we again heard the laugh, which came from +the inside of the bird house.</p> + +<p>“‘The fellow is at it again,’ said Ned. ‘Wonder if we can’t share in the +fun?’</p> + +<p>“I said that I hoped so, as I had not seen anything to laugh at since we +started out from the hotel. When we got inside we looked around for the +man who had been making the noise, but there was nobody visible except a +very solemn-faced keeper, who did not look as if he had laughed for a +month.</p> + +<p>“I remarked to Ned that the old fellow had put on a serious face now +because company had come in, to which Ned nodded assent. Just as he did +so the laughing began again, and it was such a funny laugh that both of +us joined in it.</p> + +<p>“The old fellow’s face did not move a muscle, and we saw that he was not +the humorous one of the place. We looked in the direction of the +laughter and saw that it came, not from a man, but from a bird. In spite +of our <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_149" id="pg_149">149</a></span>astonishment we burst out laughing, and the doctor and our host +joined us in doing so.</p> + +<p>“Our host then explained that the bird which was amusing us was known as +the ‘laughing jackass.’ We had heard of the creature before, but this +was our first view of him. We took a good look, and while we were doing +so he laughed again, right in our faces. The laugh is almost exactly +like that of a human being. It is not musical but is very comical, and, +somehow, it has a tendency to set everybody laughing who is within sound +of it.</p> + +<p>“The bird is about the size of a full-grown pigeon, perhaps a little +larger. He is not handsomely proportioned, his head being too large for +his body and his tail very small. His feathers are white and black, and +he has a comical appearance that harmonizes well with his humorous +manner. He is easily domesticated, and will learn to talk quite as +readily as the parrot does.</p> + +<p>“The laughing jackass is a friend of the bushman, as he foretells wet +weather. When the air is dry and clear, he is a very lively bird, and +fills the air with the sound of his laughter; but if rain is coming, or +especially if it has come, he is the very picture of misery and +unhappiness. He mopes on his perch, whether it be in a cage, or on the +limb of a tree, or in the open air, with his feathers ruffled, and a +very bedraggled appearance, like a hen that has been caught in a shower. +In the forest he will imitate the sound of an axe cutting at a tree, and +many a man has been deceived into walking a mile or more in the +expectation of finding somebody at work.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_150" id="pg_150">150</a></span>“The bird belongs to the kingfisher family, but does not hunt much for +fishes, his favorite food being snakes. It makes no difference to him +whether the snakes are poisonous or not, as his attacks upon them are +limited only by their size. Large snakes he cannot handle, but small +ones are his delight. He drops down upon them with the quickness of a +flash, seizes them just back of the head, and then flies up in the air a +hundred feet to drop them upon the hardest piece of ground he can find.</p> + +<p>“The fall breaks their backs, and he keeps up this performance until +life is extinct, when he devours his prey. His services as a +snake-killer are known all over the country, and consequently he is +never shot or trapped. He is intelligent enough to understand his +immunity from attack, and comes fearlessly about the houses of the +people in the country districts.</p> + +<p>“Speaking of snakes reminds me that they have a very good collection in +the Zoo. We asked the keeper to indicate to us the snakes peculiar to +Australia, and he did so. The largest of them is known as the carpet +snake, and the specimen that we saw was about ten feet long. It belongs +to the constrictor family, being perfectly harmless so far as its bite +is concerned, but it has powers of constriction that might be very +serious to the person around whom the creature has wound itself. One +traveler in Australia tells how he was visiting a cattle station in +Queensland, and when he went to bed the first night of his stay, he +found a carpet snake lying on the outside of his couch. He called loudly +for some one to come and kill the serpent.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_151" id="pg_151">151</a></span>“His call was heard by the proprietor, who shouted to him not to kill +the snake, as it was one of the family pets, and then the man came and +seized the creature by the neck and carried it to a barrel where he said +the snake belonged. I hope they won’t have any pets of that sort around +any house that I visit during my stay in Australia.</p> + +<p>“There are eighty-three distinct species of snakes peculiar to +Australia, of which sixty are venomous, and fifteen amphibious. The most +common of the deadly serpents are the death adder, black snake, brown +snake, tiger snake, and diamond snake. The latter is so called on +account of the color of his skin, which is laid out in lozenges of a +diamond shape, alternately brown and white. The death adder, so the +keeper told us, is the most dangerous of all the Australian snakes, as +it never tries to escape. It lies perfectly still when approached, but +the instant one touches it, it darts its head and delivers, if possible, +a fatal bite. The poison speedily accomplishes its purpose, and unless +an antidote can be had in a few minutes death is the inevitable result.</p> + +<p>“People who go about much in the region where this snake abounds wear +high-top boots as a protection against these serpents. The black snake +and the brown snake are the most common of the deadly serpents. The +brown one is the largest of them, and frequently attains a length of +eight or nine feet. The tiger snake seems to be related to the +‘<i>Cobra-di-Capello</i>,’ of India, as it has the same power of flattening +and extending its neck when irritated.</p> + +<p>“I asked what were the antidotes used for snake bites in Australia?</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_152" id="pg_152">152</a></span>“To this our host replied that there were various ways of counteracting +the effects of a snake bite. One was to cut out the wound and take away +the flesh from each side of it for half an inch or so. Another was to +swallow large quantities of brandy and whiskey, and the third and most +common way was to use a hypodermic injection of ammonia. The last-named +antidote is regarded as almost certain, and a great many people, such as +stockmen, wood-cutters, farmers, and the like, carry in their pockets a +hypodermic syringe, charged and ready for use.</p> + +<p>“‘On that subject I can tell you an interesting story,’ said our host. +‘There was at one time a man named Underwood, who discovered a positive +antidote for the bite of the most venomous serpent. He gave several +exhibitions in which he permitted himself to be bitten by snakes in full +possession of all their venomous powers, a fact which was established by +the immediate deaths of dogs, chickens, and other small animals, which +were bitten by the snakes after they had tried their fangs on Underwood. +He carried a supply of his antidote about him, and used it whenever he +was thus bitten.’</p> + +<p>“‘Underwood’s remedy was a secret known only to himself. He was trying +to sell it to the government, the latter intending to make it public for +the sake of saving life. One day Underwood gave an exhibition in which +he allowed himself, as usual, to be bitten by a venomous snake. He was +intoxicated at the time, and in consequence of his intoxication was +unable to find his antidote; the result was that he died within an hour, +and carried away the secret of his antidote forever.’</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_153" id="pg_153">153</a></span>“Newly arrived emigrants in Australia have a great fear of snakes. For +the first few weeks they are startled whenever they hear the least +rustling in the bushes, but after a time they get accustomed to it, and +think no more about snakes than they do about dragons. It makes a great +difference in what part of Australia you are. There are some regions +where the snake is rarely seen, while in others great precautions are +necessary. Low, swampy districts are said to be the worst, and men who +walk around in such localities are very careful of their steps.</p> + +<p>“Some of the snakes of Australia have an unpleasant habit of coming +around the houses, and this is particularly the case with the tiger +snake, which in this respect seems to possess the same characteristics +as his relative the ‘cobra,’ of India. Our host told us a story which he +said he knew to be a true one, the incident having occurred in a family +with which he was acquainted. There was an invalid daughter in the +family, and one afternoon, when she was sleeping in a hammock on the +veranda, she suddenly waked with the feeling of something cold, and +moist, and heavy near her neck. She raised her hand and happened to +grasp the neck of a snake just back of the head. In her paroxysm of +terror, she clutched it with terrific force to tear it away.</p> + +<p>“She gave a piercing cry that summoned her father and other members of +the family, and immediately after the cry she fainted. But she still +continued to clutch at the snake’s neck, and although she was utterly +unconscious of anything surrounding her, she grasped it with such force +that the reptile was fairly strangled by her fingers. <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_154" id="pg_154">154</a></span>Her father +realized that it would be impossible to free her hand until +consciousness returned, and the indications were that it would not be +speedy in coming. So they released her fingers one by one, with a piece +of the hammock cord, and removed the dead body of the snake so that it +should be out of sight when she revived. Luckily, the creature had not +bitten her before she grasped it.</p> + +<p>“It is not at all unusual for a man sleeping on the ground at night to +find, on waking, that a serpent has crawled in by his side, or curled +itself up on his breast for the sake of the warmth that his body +supplies. I have heard a story of a man who thus entertained an +unwelcome visitor. He waked during the night while lying flat on his +back, and felt something heavy and cold on his chest. He moved a little +as he waked, and his movement caused the snake that was lying on him to +raise its head. By the light of the camp fire the man saw his +predicament. His hair stood on end, and he could feel the blood +stiffening in his veins. He knew it would be some time before daylight, +and felt that he would lose his mind before morning, or perhaps die of +fear. He carried a knife in his belt, and decided, after careful +consideration, that his best plan was to reach for the weapon and kill +the snake where it lay.</p> + +<p>“Slowly, very slowly, he worked his hand to his waist and drew his +knife. He could not avoid making some movement in doing so, and at each +movement the snake raised its head to ascertain the cause of the +disturbance; then the man became perfectly still until the reptile +subsided again.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_155" id="pg_155">155</a></span>“After the lapse of what seemed to be many hours, the man got his knife +and arm in readiness for action. Then he moved his body a little, +causing the serpent to lift its head once more. As it did so, the man +made a quick movement of his hand, and he declares that he never made a +quicker one in all his life. The snake’s head was severed by the blow; +it fell to one side and the writhing body of the creature followed it. +At the same instant the man was on his feet, and he says that he danced +for a few minutes in a wild paroxysm of joy, and then fell to the ground +in a fainting fit, caused by the sudden reaction in his feelings. The +snake that he killed was of a poisonous kind,—the tiger snake, which +has already been mentioned. When stretched out to its full length, it +measured very nearly five feet.</p> + +<p>“They have scorpions and centipedes in Australia, and their bite is just +as deadly as that of the same creatures elsewhere. They have a black +spider about as large as a pea,—black all over except a red spot on its +back,—which is found in decaying logs, and, unhappily, has a fondness +for living in houses. It is aggressive in its nature, as it does not +wait to be disturbed before making an attack, and it has been known to +cross a room towards where a person was sitting in order to bite him. +Its bite is as bad as that of the scorpion or centipede. Sometimes its +victims are permanently paralyzed for the rest of their lives, or become +hopeless lunatics, and, not infrequently, death results from this +spider’s bite.</p> + +<p>“One gentleman told me how he was once bitten by one of these spiders on +the calf of the leg. He immediately <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_156" id="pg_156">156</a></span>cut out the wound and injected some +ammonia close by the side of it, but in spite of these precautions he +suffered intense pains in the leg for several days. The limb swelled to +twice its natural size, and became as soft as putty. At the spot where +the wound was a suppurating sore formed and it discharged for several +months. He fully expected that amputation would be necessary, and the +doctor whom he called to attend him said the chances were five to one +that he would lose the leg altogether. Greatly to his and the doctor’s +surprise and delight, he managed to save it, but for fully a year after +the wound had healed the limb did not resume its normal size, and he +suffered frequent pains like rheumatism.</p> + +<p>“‘You will naturally conclude,’ said our friend, ‘that as we have +spiders here we ought to have flies, and we have them in sufficient +abundance to prevent life from becoming monotonous. They are worse in +the interior than on the coast; in the latter region they are only +troublesome during the autumn months, while for the rest of the year +they are not at all numerous, or may be absent altogether; but in the +interior they are always bad, the only difference being that they are +worse at some times than at others. In parts of the interior everybody +wears a veil when going about the country, and it is often necessary to +do so while in the house. On some of the interior plains you can see a +man before you see him, as an Irishman might put it. You see in the +distance a small black cloud hovering just over the road. It is a cloud +of flies around the head of some unfortunate traveler, who is +approaching on horseback. They stick to him <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_157" id="pg_157">157</a></span>like a troubled conscience +and go with him wherever he goes. If another traveler happens to be +going in the opposite direction, the clouds about their heads mingle as +the individuals meet, and when they separate the flies move on with +them, as before.’</p> + +<p>“Flies in the houses are very troublesome, as they are fond of loitering +about the table, just like flies in America and other countries. They +are a nuisance to which nobody ever gets accustomed, and in some +localities they almost render the country uninhabitable. Mosquitoes +abound in most parts of the country, especially along the rivers and +lakes and in swampy regions, and every traveler who expects to be out at +night carries a mosquito net with him.”</p> + +<p>From the Zoo our friends continued their drive through other parks and +along some of the principal streets, passing several public buildings, +all of which were spacious and attractive. The town hall, post-office, +government house, and other public structures of Melbourne would do +honor to any city and evince the taste and good judgment of those who +planned and erected them. The numerous parks and gardens are a great +ornament to the city and give an abundance of breathing space for the +people. Our young friends were loud in their praise of what they saw, +and their comments were well received by their host. The people of +Melbourne are fond of hearing their city commended, and their pride in +it is certainly well justified.</p> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="THE_HARBOR_OF_MELBOURNEmdashCONVICT_HULKS_AND_BUSHRANGERS_4240" id="THE_HARBOR_OF_MELBOURNEmdashCONVICT_HULKS_AND_BUSHRANGERS_4240"></a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_158" id="pg_158">158</a></span> +<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2> +<h3>THE HARBOR OF MELBOURNE—CONVICT HULKS AND BUSHRANGERS.</h3> +</div> + +<p>In the afternoon the party visited Port Melbourne, formerly known as +Sandridge. Properly speaking, this is the harbor of Melbourne, and it is +situated near the mouth of the Yarra, where that stream enters Hobson’s +Bay, the latter being an arm of Port Philip Bay. It is a busy place and +contains the usual sights of a harbor. Ships were discharging or +receiving their cargoes, some at the piers which jut out into the water, +while some were anchored away from the shore and were performing the +same work by means of lighters. On the other side of Hobson’s Bay is +Williamstown, which is a sort of rival of Sandridge. A great deal of +shipping business is done there, and Williamstown contains, also, +graving docks and building yards where many vessels engaged in local +trade along the coast have been constructed. The gentleman who +accompanied our friends called their attention to the railways which +connect Williamstown and Sandridge with the city, and remarked that +times had changed since the gold rush in the early fifties.</p> + +<p>“At the present time,” said he, “you can go between Sandridge and +Melbourne for threepence or sixpence, according to the class you select, +but in the time of the gold rush prices were very much higher. If you +wanted <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_159" id="pg_159">159</a></span>a carriage from here to the city, you would be lucky to escape +for a sovereign, and a dray load of baggage drawn by a single horse +would cost fifteen dollars. There used to be an omnibus line that +carried passengers for two shillings and sixpence, but it was somewhat +irregular in its movements, and could not be relied on. Nowadays the +omnibus will carry you for threepence.</p> + +<p>“When a ship arrived and anchored in the bay the passengers had to pay +three shillings each to be put on shore, and very often the boatman +raised the tariff to five shillings whenever he thought he could induce +or compel the passengers to pay it. The charge for baggage was a +separate one, and sometimes it cost more to take a quantity of baggage +from Sandridge to Melbourne than it had cost to bring it all the way +from London to Sandridge, a distance of thirteen thousand miles.”</p> + +<p>“It was a golden harvest for the boatmen and everybody else engaged in +the transportation business,” Harry remarked.</p> + +<p>“Indeed, it was,” said the gentleman; “and a great many people had the +sense to perceive that they had a better chance for a fortune by +remaining right here than by going to the mines, where everything was +uncertain.”</p> + +<p>“I suppose everything else was in proportion, was it not?” queried Ned.</p> + +<p>“That was exactly the case,” was the reply. “When goods were brought on +shore they were loaded into carts for transportation to Melbourne, and +the cart was not allowed to move out of the yard until three pounds +sterling had been paid for taking the load to the city. The <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_160" id="pg_160">160</a></span>travelers +protested and said they would not pay, but they generally did, as there +was no other alternative. When they got to the city they found the same +scale of prices.</p> + +<p>“The poorest kind of a room without any furniture would bring ten +dollars a week, and a stall in the stable of a hotel which would +accommodate two men rented readily for ten shillings a night. +Hotel-keepers made fortunes, or at least some of them did, and others +might have done so if they had taken care of their money. I have heard +of one hotel-keeper who had his house crammed full of patrons, none of +them paying less than ten shillings a night for their lodging, while he +had seventy-five lodgers in his stables, each of them paying five +shillings apiece.</p> + +<p>“A great many people spread tents on the waste ground outside of the +city to save the expense of lodgings. They did not succeed altogether in +doing so, as the government required them to pay at the rate of sixty +dollars a year for the privilege of putting up a tent. Everybody was +anxious to get away from Melbourne as quickly as possible, but they +underwent great delays in getting their goods out of the ships.”</p> + +<p>“I suppose you had no railways at that time to facilitate travel,” one +of the youths remarked.</p> + +<p>“No; there were no railways and the only way of travel was by the +ordinary route, and very ordinary it was in many places. It was not a +graded and macadamized road such as you find in England, but simply a +rough pathway, principally of nature’s manufacture. It was full of ruts +and gullies, very muddy in the rainy season, and terribly <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_161" id="pg_161">161</a></span>dusty in the +dry times. Travelers went to the mines in all sorts of ways, some on +foot, and some by ox and horse wagons, and if they had plenty of money, +and were determined to have luxury and speed at whatever cost, they +traveled by stage-coach. An American firm, Cobb & Company, came here in +the early days and established lines of stage-coaches, first from +Melbourne to the mines, and afterwards all over Australia. Cobb’s +coaches are still running on some of the interior routes that are not +covered by railway, but wherever the locomotive has put in its +appearance it has forced them out of the way.”</p> + +<p>“I have read somewhere,” said Harry, “that traveling on the road to the +mines was not very safe in those days.”</p> + +<p>“That depended somewhat on the way one was going,” was the reply. +“Travelers going towards the mines were not very liable to attack, as +they were not supposed to have any money, but it was not so with those +coming from the mines to the coast. The natural supposition was that an +individual moving in the direction of Melbourne had ‘made his pile’ and +was on his way home. The country was infested with ex-convicts and men +who had escaped from convict service in Australia and Tasmania. They +were known as ‘bushrangers,’ and great numbers of them were along the +routes to the mines. They lived in caves among the hills, or in the open +air, and occasionally took shelter in out stations on sheep runs. They +supplied themselves with food by stealing sheep and cattle from the +ranches, and by robbing wagons laden with provisions on their way to the +mines. Clothing they obtained by the same system of plunder, and +whenever the haunt of a gang <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_162" id="pg_162">162</a></span>was discovered by the police it was almost +invariably found to be well stocked with provisions and clothing.</p> + +<p>“These were the fellows that made life miserable to the miners returning +to the coast. The bushrangers traveled in gangs of all the way from five +to fifteen or twenty, and sometimes more, and each gang was led by the +most desperate man among them. They used to ‘stick up’ solitary +travelers, or travelers in groups of a dozen or more. They lay in wait +at turnings of the road or near the summits of hills, and generally took +their victims by surprise. If a man submitted quietly to be robbed, he +was generally left unharmed, but if he made any resistance, he was +knocked senseless or shot down without the least compunction. Sometimes +these gangs were so numerous that hardly a traveler escaped them. Then +there would be a lull in the business for a time and the road would be +particularly safe.</p> + +<p>“Once a week or so, gold was sent down from the mines by the government +authorities; and of course it was accompanied by a strong and well-armed +escort of police. Many people entrusted their gold to the escort, paying +a high premium for the guarantee of safe delivery in Melbourne. A good +many people used to accompany the escort for the protection it afforded, +but the number became so great and troublesome that the government at +length refused to permit travelers to go in that way unless they paid +the same premium on the gold that they carried as was paid by those who +shipped the precious metal. Not infrequently the bushrangers attacked +the government escort, and on several occasions they were successful.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_163" id="pg_163">163</a></span>“It was a piece of good fortune that, as a general thing, the +bushrangers were never able to agree with each other very long. After a +gang had been organized and selected its leader, dissensions arose very +speedily, particularly as to the division of the spoil. The leader +always believed that he ought to have a larger share of the plunder than +anybody else, while all the subordinate members believed just as +earnestly that their stealings should be divided equally. In this way +quarrels took place. The captain would be deposed and another one +selected, and he in time would share the fate of his predecessors.</p> + +<p>“Some of the bushrangers were quite famous for their bravery and daring, +and they used to give the police a great deal of hard fighting. On the +other hand, the police acquired a high reputation for their skill in +fighting and capturing bushrangers. They were instructed to bring in +their captives alive, if possible, but it did not injure their +reputations at all if they killed the scoundrels on the spot. The +government wanted to be rid of the rascals, and frequently offered +rewards for their capture, ‘dead or alive.’</p> + +<p>“Whenever the bushrangers made a haul of gold dust it was divided as +soon as possible, each man taking his share and doing with it what he +pleased. They generally hid their booty in spots known only to +themselves, and when any of the bushrangers were captured, the police +usually proceeded to draw from them the information as to where their +gold was concealed. Naturally, the fellows were unwilling to say, and if +they refused to tell, various means were resorted to to make them give +up the desired information. <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_164" id="pg_164">164</a></span>Singeing their hair, pinching their fingers +and toes, or submitting them to other physical tortures, were among the +means commonly used.</p> + +<p>“When ordinary methods failed, a favorite device was to tie the +bushranger hand and foot, and then place him on an ant hill. The black +ant of Australia has a bite that is very painful, and when hundreds of +thousands of ants are biting a man all at once, the feeling is something +fearful. The ant-hill torture was generally successful. After submitting +to it for a time, the bushranger generally gave up the secret of the +whereabouts of his gold. I do not mean to say that all the police +officials indulged in this harsh treatment, but it is certain that many +of them did.</p> + +<p>“It is probable that a great deal of stolen gold is concealed in the +country bordering the road from Melbourne to the gold diggings which +will never be found. Many of the bushrangers were killed while fighting +with the police, died of their wounds, or in prison, or managed to flee +the country without giving up the secret which would have enabled the +authorities to find where their treasures were concealed. Occasionally +one of their deposits is found by accident, but there are doubtless +hundreds which nobody will ever come upon.</p> + +<p>“There was a great deal of lawlessness in and around Melbourne in those +days. One afternoon a band of robbers took possession of the road +between Melbourne and Sandridge, and ‘stuck up’ everybody who attempted +to pass. People were tied to trees and robbed, and for an hour or two +the bandits were in full possession of the road. They had one of their +number on watch who gave the signal <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_165" id="pg_165">165</a></span>when the police approached, and +thus they were enabled to get away in good time, leaving their victims +fastened to the trees.</p> + +<p>“Once a ship was anchored in the harbor, ready to sail for England, with +several thousand ounces of gold on board. She was to leave the next +forenoon, and was to receive her crew and passengers early in the +morning. There were only some ten or twelve persons on board. Along +about midnight a boat came to the side of the ship, and, when hailed by +the lookout, the answer was given that two passengers were coming on +board. Two men came up the side of the ship dressed like ordinary +passengers, and without any suspicious appearance about them.</p> + +<p>“While they were in conversation with the lookout and asking about the +location of their rooms, they suddenly seized and bound him, and put a +gag in his mouth to prevent his making an outcry. Then several other men +came up the side of the ship very quickly, and one by one all on board +were bound and gagged so quietly and speedily that they could not give +the least alarm. The robbers then opened the treasure-room, took +possession of the gold, lowered it into their boat and rowed away. They +were not on the ship more than half an hour, and as no one came to +ascertain the state of affairs and give the alarm until the next +morning, the robbers succeeded in getting away with all their plunder. +It was a very bold performance, but from that time such a careful watch +was kept on board of the ships that it could not be repeated.</p> + +<p>“A fair proportion of the successful miners kept their <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_166" id="pg_166">166</a></span>money and went +home with it, but there was a large number who seemed to believe that +the best use to be made of gold was to get rid of it as quickly as +possible, and they found plenty of people ready and willing to help them +in this work; and it was not infrequently the case that miners were +killed for the sake of their gold, and their bodies disposed of in the +most convenient way. Most of the men who thus disappeared had no +relatives or intimate friends in the country, and consequently their +disappearance caused no inquiries to be made concerning them. If the +waters of Hobson’s Bay would give up their dead, and the dead could +speak, there would be a long series of fearful tales.”</p> + +<p>“Those bushranger fellows must have been terrible men,” remarked Harry +as the gentleman paused. “What did the authorities do with them whenever +they caught any?”</p> + +<p>“They disposed of them in various ways,” was the reply. “Those who had +been guilty of murder or an attempt at it were hanged, while those +against whom murder could not be proved were sent to the hulks for life +or for long terms of imprisonment.”</p> + +<p>“What were the hulks? I don’t know as I understand the term.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, the hulks were ships, old ships that had been pronounced +unseaworthy and dismantled. They were anchored in Hobson’s Bay after +being fitted up as prisons, and very uncomfortable prisons they were. A +most terrible system of discipline prevailed on board of these hulks. +The man who established the system, or rather, the one who had +administered it, was beaten to death by a <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_167" id="pg_167">167</a></span>gang of desperate convicts, +who rushed upon him one day on the deck of one of the hulks, with the +determination to kill him for the cruelties they had suffered. Before +the guards could stop them they had literally pounded the life out of +him and flung his body overboard.”</p> + +<p>“How long did they keep up that system?” one of the youths asked.</p> + +<p>“From 1850 to 1857,” their informant replied. “In the last-named year +the practise of imprisonment on board of the hulks was discontinued and +the convicts were put into prisons on shore. Four of the hulks were sold +and broken up, and the fifth, the <i>Success</i>, was bought by speculators +and kept for exhibition purposes. She was shown in all the ports of +Australia for many years, and was at last taken to England and put on +exhibition there. She was five months making the voyage from Australia +to England, and at one time fears were entertained for her safety; but +she reached her destination all right, and has probably reaped a harvest +of money for her exhibitors. She was built in India in 1790, her hull +being made of solid teak-wood. She was an East Indian trader for more +than forty years, then she was an emigrant ship, and finally, in 1852, a +convict hulk.</p> + +<p>“The convicts on board these hulks, or at any rate the worst of them, +were always kept in irons, but this did not deter them from jumping +overboard and trying to swim to the shore. Very few of these ever +succeeded in reaching the land, as they were either carried to the +bottom by the weight of the irons, or were captured by the guard boats +that constantly surrounded the hulks. Most of the convicts <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_168" id="pg_168">168</a></span>were +confined in separate cells, and the ‘history’ of each convict was posted +on the door of his cell.</p> + +<p>“Nearly the whole interior of the ship was thus divided into cells, and +when candles and lanterns were removed the places were in pitchy +darkness. I went on board the <i>Success</i> one day, while she was on +exhibition here, long after she had given up her old occupation, and as +a matter of curiosity, I had myself shut up in one of the cells and the +light removed. I told them to leave me in for ten minutes only, not +longer.</p> + +<p>“It was on the lower deck, where not a ray of light could come in, and +the place where they locked me in was one of the ‘black holes’ in which +prisoners were confined from one to twenty-eight days on bread and +water.</p> + +<p>“As soon as they had locked me in and went away, I regretted that I had +made the suggestion. You have heard of its being so dark that you could +feel the darkness; well, that was the case down there. I felt the +darkness pressing upon me, and the air was very thick and heavy. I felt +an overwhelming desire to light a match, and discovered that I had no +matches in my pocket.</p> + +<p>“One, two, three, and four minutes passed away, and I had had all I +wanted. I kicked and hammered at the thick door, and when it was opened +and I went out of the hold and up on deck, I was nearly blinded. How in +the world a man could stay in one of those places for a single day, let +alone twenty-eight days, without losing his reason is more than I can +understand.”</p> + +<p>Harry asked if all the prisoners were kept in solitary cells on board of +these hulks.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_169" id="pg_169">169</a></span>“Most, but not all, of them were confined in this way. There is a space +at the stern, and another in the center of the ship, heavily barred with +iron, where those who were considered utterly irreclaimable were huddled +together. It would almost seem as though the authorities deliberately +put them there in order that they should kill each other, as fights +among them were very frequent and not a few were murdered by their +companions. They did not work, they were simply in prison, that was all.</p> + +<p>“The punishments that the convicts received were various. They had the +dark cells and bread and water of which I have told you, and then they +had floggings, and plenty of them, too. They were tied up by the thumbs +so that their toes just touched the deck, and they were compelled to +sustain the weight of the body either on their thumbs or their toes for +hours at a time. They were ‘bucked,’ ‘gagged,’ and ‘paddled,’ and +‘cold-showered,’ and treated to other brutalities which have been known +in the English army and navy for a long time. In spite of their +liability to punishment, many of them paid little attention to the +rules, and some were continually yelling in the most horrible manner, +and day and night the sound of their voices was heard.</p> + +<p>“Over the hatchway was a wheel by which the food of the convicts was +lowered into the hold at morning, noon, and night; at other times it was +used for raising in an iron cage, from the lower decks, convicts who +were allowed exercise, but the weight of whose irons prevented their +ascending by the companionways. Many of them wore ‘punishment balls’ +attached to their irons. The <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_170" id="pg_170">170</a></span>punishment balls and chain together +weighed about eighty pounds, and frequently bowed the prisoner double.</p> + +<p>“The heaviest leg irons weighed thirty-five pounds, and some of them +forty pounds. You will readily understand why it was that men who tried +to escape by swimming, with such weights about them, were almost +invariably drowned in the attempt.</p> + +<p>“A good many famous criminals were confined on board of the <i>Success</i> +and her four sister hulks. Among them was the notorious Captain +Melville, who for several years haunted the country between Melbourne +and Ballarat, and was credited with many murders and countless +robberies. When he was finally caught he admitted that his own share of +the gold he had stolen amounted to not less than two hundred and fifty +thousand dollars, and he claimed that he had hidden it in a place known +only to himself. For the last forty years people have been trying in +vain to find out where Melville hid his ill-gotten gold. He was in the +habit of riding to the top of Mount Boran, whence, by the aid of a +powerful field-glass, he was able to see the returning gold miners on +the road. Consequently, it is believed that Melville’s treasure must be +hidden in the neighborhood of Mount Boran, but all attempts to find it +have proved fruitless.</p> + +<p>“Melville was tried and convicted and condemned to be imprisoned for +thirty-two years on board the <i>Success</i>. He watched his opportunity, and +formed a conspiracy with a number of his fellow-convicts to rush upon a +boat and the keeper in charge of it and take possession. The plan +succeeded and the escaped convicts pulled to the shore in <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_171" id="pg_171">171</a></span>safety, +although fired upon by all the hulks and war ships in the harbor. +Melville was soon recaptured, and at his trial he defended himself +brilliantly, relating in burning words the horrors of the penal system +on board the hulks.</p> + +<p>“The speech was published in the Melbourne papers and caused a great +sensation. A great mass meeting of the citizens was held, and +resolutions were passed in favor of abolishing the convict hulks. The +popular feeling aroused against them was so strong and general that, +although the government had sentenced Melville to death for killing the +keeper in his attempt to escape, it was compelled to commute the +sentence to imprisonment for life. He was not sent back to the +<i>Success</i>, but was incarcerated in the jail at Melbourne. According to +the official report, he committed suicide there, but the unofficial +version of the affair is that he was strangled to death by a keeper +during a struggle in which the prisoner was trying to escape.</p> + +<p>“Melville at one time had eighty men in his gang, the largest number of +bushrangers at any time under a single leader. Another scoundrel who was +confined on the <i>Success</i> was Henry Garrett, who, in broad daylight, +‘stuck up’ the Ballarat bank and robbed it of 16,000 pounds. One of his +tricks consisted in wearing a suit of clothes of clerical cut, a white +necktie, and broad-brimmed hat. On one occasion he walked into the bank +dressed in this manner, stepped up to the safe and began to plunder it. +He was a man of good education, and varied robbery with the pursuit of +literature. He used to write essays and other articles, which he sent to +the newspapers, and on one occasion he wrote an essay on crime.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_172" id="pg_172">172</a></span>“One man, William Stevens, helped Melville and his gang in their +attempt to escape from the <i>Success</i>. He struck down a warder with a +stone-cutter’s axe and jumped overboard. He was never seen again, and +the authorities were always in doubt whether he escaped or went to the +bottom, the prevailing opinion being in favor of the latter result. +Another famous bushranger was Captain Moonlight, who served his time and +became a respectable citizen. Another prisoner, after serving for +fifteen years, was given the position of ‘guide’ upon the vessel by her +owners, and made a comfortable income by showing visitors around.”</p> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="GEELONGmdashAUSTRALIAN_GOLD_MINESmdashFINDING_A_BIG_NUGGET_4640" id="GEELONGmdashAUSTRALIAN_GOLD_MINESmdashFINDING_A_BIG_NUGGET_4640"></a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_173" id="pg_173">173</a></span> +<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2> +<h3>GEELONG—AUSTRALIAN GOLD MINES—FINDING A BIG NUGGET.</h3> +</div> + +<p>When they had finished with Williamstown and Sandridge our friends went +to St. Kilda, which may be called the Coney Island of Melbourne, as it +is very popular with those who are fond of salt-water bathing. Harry and +Ned remarked that there were hotels, restaurants, and other places of +resort and amusement such as are usually found at seaside watering +places, and Ned thought it would require no great stretch of the +imagination to believe that they were at the famous bathing place of New +York. Ned observed that there were fences consisting of posts set in the +ground, not more than ten or twelve inches apart, extending a +considerable distance out into the water and completely enclosing the +bathing place.</p> + +<p>He asked why the fences were placed there, and was informed that it was +because the bay abounded in sharks, and people who came there to bathe +had a prejudice against being eaten up by these sea-wolves. “If we +should take away the fences,” said one of the attendants at the bathing +house, “we would not do any more business here, and you may be sure that +we are very careful to keep the fences in order.”</p> + +<p>Sharks abound all through the waters of Australia. <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_174" id="pg_174">174</a></span>They have caused not +a few deaths, and everybody who understands about them is careful not to +venture into the water at any place where the creatures are liable to +come; but occasionally one hears of an incautious or ignorant person +falling a prey to these monsters of the deep. When sailboats and other +craft are overturned in storms or sudden squalls and their occupants are +thrown into the water, they suffer fearful peril. Not long ago a small +sailboat was overturned in Port Philip Bay with two gentlemen and a lady +on board, in addition to the boatman and his boy. Before help could +reach them the whole five had fallen victims to the sharks.</p> + +<p>Port Philip Bay, into which Hobson’s Bay opens, is a grand sheet of +water between thirty and forty miles wide, and navigable for ships of +all sizes, and the bay affords anchoring space for all the ships in the +world, in case they should come there at the same time. The entrance to +the bay is about thirty miles from Melbourne, and at Queenscliff near +the entrance there is a fine watering place, which is reached both by +railway and by steamboat. It has the advantage of St. Kilda in standing +on the shore of the ocean, while the former place has only the waters of +the bay in front of it. Many Melbourneites go to Queenscliff to enjoy +the ocean breezes and watch the surf breaking on the shore. While St. +Kilda may be called the Coney Island of Melbourne, Queenscliff is fairly +entitled to be considered its Long Branch.</p> + +<p>On their return to Melbourne, the youths found at their hotel an +invitation to make a trip on the following day to <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_175" id="pg_175">175</a></span>Geelong. When Dr. +Whitney read the invitation to the youths, Harry asked where Geelong +was.</p> + +<p>“Oh, I know about that,” said Ned; “I happened to be reading about it +this morning.”</p> + +<p>“Well, where is it?”</p> + +<p>“Geelong is a town forty-five miles from Melbourne,” replied Ned, “and +it is a fairly prosperous town, too. It is not quite as old as +Melbourne, but at one time the inhabitants thought that their town would +outstrip Melbourne completely.”</p> + +<p>“How is that?”</p> + +<p>“The town stands on Corio Bay, an arm of Port Philip Bay, and has a good +harbor; in fact, the harbor at that time was better than that at +Melbourne. The people of Geelong went to work and built a railway from +their city to Melbourne, with the idea that if they did so, all the wool +that was being shipped from Melbourne would be sent to Geelong for +shipment, while the cargoes of foreign goods that landed at Melbourne +would be landed at Geelong.”</p> + +<p>“The plan did not work as they expected, did it?”</p> + +<p>“Not by any means. As soon as the railway was built, wool coming into +Geelong was sent to Melbourne for shipment, and goods that were intended +for Geelong were landed at Melbourne and sent over by railway. In this +way the measures they had taken to increase their trade worked exactly +the other way and diminished it.”</p> + +<p>“Don’t they have any foreign commerce at all at Geelong?” Harry asked.</p> + +<p>“Oh, yes, they have some, but nothing in comparison <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_176" id="pg_176">176</a></span>with Melbourne. We +will learn something about it when we go there.”</p> + +<p>As there are three passenger steamers running between Geelong and +Melbourne daily, the party went by railway and returned by water. In the +railway journey they had a pleasant ride along the shore of Port Philip +Bay, and arrived at their destination in a little more than two hours +from the time of starting. They found the town pleasantly situated on +Corio Bay, being laid out on ground sloping to the bay on the north and +to the Barwon River on the south. Along the streets were fine shops, +attractive stores, and every indication of an industrious and prosperous +population.</p> + +<p>In the suburbs, where they were taken in a carriage by the gentleman who +accompanied them, they found numerous private residences, many of them +of a superior character. The gentleman told them that Geelong was famous +for its manufactures of woolens and other goods, and that it built the +first woolen mill in Victoria. Iron foundries, wood-working +establishments, and other industrial concerns were visited, so that our +friends readily understood whence the prosperity of Geelong came. Their +host told them that Geelong had long since given up its ideas of rivalry +with Melbourne, and had settled down with the determination to develop +itself in every feasible way and let things take care of themselves.</p> + +<p>Our young friends thought they would like to see something of the gold +mines of Victoria, and asked Dr. Whitney about them. He readily +assented, and the trip to Ballarat was speedily arranged, and also one +to <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_177" id="pg_177">177</a></span>Sandhurst, which is the present name of Bendigo of gold-mining days. +Ballarat was the most important place of the two, and its placer mines +gave a greater yield of gold than did those of Bendigo. At both places +the placer mines were exhausted long ago, but gold is still taken from +the rocks and reefs which underlie the whole region.</p> + +<p>The mining establishments of Ballarat are outside of the city itself, +and when the visitors reached the place and rode through the town they +could hardly believe they were in a gold-mining region. The streets are +wide, and most of them well shaded with trees, while some of them are so +broad that they deserve the name of avenues rather than that of streets. +There are substantial public buildings and a goodly number of churches, +a botanical garden, and all the other features of a quiet and +well-established city, and it was quite difficult for them to believe +that they were in a place whose chief industry was the extraction of +gold from the ground. All the lawless features of the Ballarat of +gold-rush days had disappeared, and the town was as peaceful as any one +could wish to find it.</p> + +<p>Our friends brought a letter of introduction to a gentleman of Ballarat, +who kindly consented to show them about the place and answer any +questions that they wished to ask.</p> + +<p>Harry’s first question was, whether the first discoveries of gold in +Australia were made at Ballarat or elsewhere.</p> + +<p>“It is very difficult to say exactly,” the gentleman answered, “where +the first discoveries were made, but <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_178" id="pg_178">178</a></span>certainly they were not made at +this spot. According to history and tradition, gold was discovered in +the mountains behind Sydney about the year 1814, but the news of the +finding of the precious metal was kept a secret by the government. At +intervals of a few years from that time small deposits of gold were +found at various places in New South Wales and Victoria, but these were +also kept a secret, the individuals who found the deposits being in one +way or another under the control of the government.</p> + +<p>“In the early part of 1851 a miner from California, named Hargreaves, +discovered gold at Lewis Pond Creek in New South Wales, and about the +middle of the same year another California miner, named Esmond, found a +deposit of gold at Clunes, sixteen miles from Ballarat. Before the +government could take any steps for suppressing it the news had spread +and the excitement began. The stories were greatly exaggerated, and many +people came here believing that they had only to shovel the gold from +the ground into barrels and boxes, and send it away to be converted into +coin. That was the beginning of the gold rush, and a rush it was, you +may be sure.</p> + +<p>“From all over Australia people flocked to the new El Dorado. Mechanics +of all kinds left their employments; shepherds deserted their flocks; +merchants and clerks fled from their counting-houses; farmers quit their +fields and gardens, doctors and lawyers their offices, and the whole +country seemed to have gone mad about gold. Youth and age got the fever +alike; boys of sixteen and men of seventy walked side by side on their +way to the mines. Melbourne and Sydney were deserted, and the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_179" id="pg_179">179</a></span>prediction was made that before the end of the year grass would be +growing in the principal streets of those cities.</p> + +<p>“Provisions, clothing, and miners’ tools and equipments rose to an +enormous price. Picks or shovels worth four or five shillings apiece in +the sea-coast cities were sold for ten pounds apiece at the mines. Nails +for building sluices sometimes brought their weight in gold. Bacon and +flour were worth a dollar a pound, and not always to be procured at that +figure. The most ordinary shelter was worth ten shillings a night, and +the rental price of a house for a month was the equivalent of its cost.</p> + +<p>“The government refused to permit anybody to work at mining without a +license, and the miners were so numerous that the revenue from the +licenses issued was a large one. The money thus obtained was expended in +organizing a strong police force and preserving order. Whereever mining +fields were opened, a gold commissioner with a police escort at his back +made his appearance as soon as possible, and insured a certain degree of +safety. Miners could leave their gold with the commissioner, either on +deposit, to be called for whenever they liked, or for transportation to +Melbourne. I presume you already know about the bushrangers and how they +used to plunder the homeward-bound miners.”</p> + +<p>“Were the early miners successful in finding large deposits of gold?” +one of the youths asked.</p> + +<p>“The question is a difficult one to answer directly,” was the reply. “A +great many were successful, but, on the other hand, a great many had +very poor luck in the mines and hardly succeeded in making a bare +living. <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_180" id="pg_180">180</a></span>We always hear of the rich finds in the mining district, but +rarely of the many failures. This has always been the case in gold +mining the world over, and Ballarat and the region around it were no +exception to the rule. I will tell you of some of the rich discoveries, +and leave you to remember that the fortunate miners were in small number +compared to the unfortunate ones. It may be safely said that the early +yield of the Ballarat mines exceeded that of the best days of +California.</p> + +<p>“Some claims eight feet square yielded, each of them, from fifty +thousand to sixty thousand dollars. One mine, which was owned by several +men in common, was worked about four months and yielded eighty thousand +dollars to each man. One tubful of earth which was taken from the bottom +of a claim where the bed rock was scraped yielded nearly ten thousand +dollars, and one claim which was supposed to have been worked out, and +was abandoned, was again taken up by two men who obtained forty thousand +dollars from it in two weeks. Up to the present time it is estimated +that very nearly two billion dollars’ worth of gold have been taken out +of Australian mines.”</p> + +<p>Ned asked in what shape the gold was found; that is, was it in large +pieces or small ones, fine dust or nuggets?</p> + +<p>“It embraced everything between the large nugget and fine dust or +flakes,” the gentleman replied. “A great deal of the gold was in little +lumps like bird shot; a great deal of it was in scales, and then, again, +it took the shape of dust so fine that the particles were almost +invisible to <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_181" id="pg_181">181</a></span>the naked eye. Nuggets the size of hens’ eggs were not +very unusual, while those the size of pigeons’ and sparrows’ eggs were +much more numerous. The great nuggets were the ones most sought for, and +of course they were the rarest found.</p> + +<p>“One nugget, resembling in shape and size a leg of mutton, and weighing +one hundred and thirty-five pounds, was found a long distance below the +surface, where some miners were tunneling to reach the bed rock; and +another nugget was found in such a remarkable way that I must tell you +the story of it.</p> + +<p>“A man who was wandering about the scrub in the neighborhood of Ballarat +one day, sat down at the foot of a tree to rest. While sitting there he +took out his knife to cut a stick, and finding the knife was dull, he +proceeded to sharpen it by rubbing it upon a stone that lay almost +completely imbedded in the ground. As he rubbed, he found that the +surface of the stone became yellow. He was greatly surprised at this, +and then he dug around the stone with his knife, scraping it in several +places, and then trying to lift it. He might as well have tried to lift +a horse. Do what he could, he could not budge it an inch, and for a good +reason, as it was a mass of solid gold.</p> + +<p>“He felt his head swimming and his wits leaving him. He pinched his +cheeks and pulled his ears to make sure that he was not dreaming. Here +he was with a fortune in his possession and he could not move it! Then +he sat down again and wondered what was best to do.</p> + +<p>“Even if he could move it and started for the camp, he <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_182" id="pg_182">182</a></span>might be robbed +before he got there, as bushrangers infested the country, and he was +just as liable to come upon them as upon honest men. He could not stay +and watch it, as he had no provisions; and he was afraid to leave it, +for fear that somebody might come upon it during his absence. But there +was no help for it, as leave it he must, and after thinking the matter +over he acted about as sensibly as he could have done.</p> + +<p>“He covered the nugget up very carefully, replacing the earth and +sprinkling it with leaves so that there was no indication that the spot +had been disturbed. Then he stripped the shirt from his back and tied it +to a neighboring tree, wisely concluding that it was not judicious to +hang the garment on the tree beneath which he had sat. Then, on his way +out of the scrub, he marked the trees here and there so that he could +find the place again, and as soon as he was in sight of the diggings he +went straight to the tent of the gold commissioner and told the story of +his discovery. The commissioner immediately sent the man back again with +a strong escort to secure the valuable find. The man received for the +nugget, after deducting all charges and commissions, the sum of +fifty-one thousand dollars.</p> + +<p>“A great many fortunes were taken out of the earth around Ballarat +before the placer mines were exhausted. The news of the discovery of +gold in Australia spread to other countries, and thousands of people +came from all parts of the world to search for it. Nearly every +nationality was represented, and they came in great numbers. Just before +the gold discovery there were seventy-seven <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_183" id="pg_183">183</a></span>thousand inhabitants in the +colony of Victoria. The population doubled in a single year, and three +years after the discovery the colony had two hundred and thirty-six +thousand inhabitants. The gold rush properly ended when the placer mines +were exhausted, although in the meantime new mines had been discovered +in several localities, principally at Bendigo and Castlemaine. Ballarat +was nearly deserted for a time after the placer mining gave out, and the +same was the case at the other places mentioned. Then the reefs and +ledges were attacked; crushing machinery was erected, and the form of +work which you call quartz mining in America had its beginning. It has +gone on steadily ever since and gives employment to a great many people. +It also employs a great deal of money, as quartz mining requires +capital, while placer mining does not. To get a fortune by quartz mining +you must have a fortune to begin with, while in placer mining you need +nothing more than a pick and shovel.</p> + +<p>“Australia will continue to produce gold for a great many years to +come,” the gentleman continued. “New discoveries are made almost every +year, and in some years half a dozen fields will be opened. The +government has changed its tactics in regard to gold discoveries. It +rewarded Hargreaves and Esmond for their discoveries in 1851, and it has +rewarded the discoveries of other gold fields. Most of the colonial +governments have a standing offer of a handsome pecuniary reward to +anybody who discovers a gold field, provided there are not fewer than +two hundred men working in that field six months <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_184" id="pg_184">184</a></span>after its discovery. +This, you see, bars out all those finds that are exhausted in a few +weeks, which is the case with the majority of them.</p> + +<p>“Every little while there is an excitement over a new discovery, +companies are formed for working the mines, and their stock is placed on +the market. It is safe to say that, in the majority of instances, more +money is made by shrewd speculators in Melbourne and Sydney manipulating +the stock than is taken from the mines. A few years ago there was a wild +speculation in mines in what is called the ‘Broken Hill’ district of +Victoria, and at present there is an excitement about gold discoveries +in Western Australia. According to the latest accounts from the +last-named region, there is a difficulty in working the mines there on +account of the scarcity of water. You cannot work a mine any more than +you can run a steam-engine without water, and many people have paid very +dearly to ascertain this fact.”</p> + +<p>From Ballarat our friends went to Sandhurst, which was formerly called +Bendigo. They found there a mining region resembling Ballarat in its +general features, but not in all of them. At Ballarat the mines are not +in the town but in its suburbs, while at Sandhurst they are directly in +the town itself. One of the residents remarked that there was a gold +mine in every back yard, and our friends found that this was not very +far from the truth.</p> + +<p>Mining operations were carried on in the rear or by the side of the +houses, and it was said that sometimes the dust of the streets was +gathered up and washed to obtain the gold in it. An individual who +certainly appeared credible, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_185" id="pg_185">185</a></span>said that the first brick house ever built +in Bendigo was torn down and the bricks crushed in order to obtain the +gold in them; this gold amounted to three ounces per ton, and not only +the house but its chimney yielded handsomely of the precious metal.</p> + +<p>Bendigo yielded enormously to the placer miners of the early days. When +the placer mines were exhausted the place was nearly deserted, and then +came the era of quartz mining the same as at Ballarat. Thousands of men +are employed at Sandhurst and in its neighborhood, working in the gold +mines or in the crushing establishments connected with them. The quartz +mines thus give employment to a great number of people. Some of the +mines have been pushed to a great depth, one of them being twenty-six +hundred feet below the surface. There seems to be an inexhaustible +supply of gold-bearing rock, and it is a common saying in Victoria that +a true ledge has never been exhausted.</p> + +<p>Harry made some inquiries as to the amount of gold annually produced in +Victoria, and learned that it was not far from five million pounds +sterling, or twenty-five million dollars. He was further told that the +cost of production amounted to very nearly the same figure; that is, +including the cost of the mining machinery, the wages of laborers, and +the many other expenses. It was admitted that the best mines showed a +fair profit on the investment, but not enough to make a fortune in a +short time.</p> + +<p>The youths came to the conclusion that gold mining had been most +profitable to the people that never engaged in it. In this number he +included the brokers, bankers, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_186" id="pg_186">186</a></span>storekeepers, farmers, and others who +kept out of the actual business of digging gold but profited by their +dealings with those who were engaged in it. Nothing so delights the +owner of a large farm in Australia as to learn of a gold discovery a few +miles from his place. He knows that it will give him a good market for +all he has to sell, though there may be occasional thefts from his horse +or cattle paddocks. Traders of all kinds get an enormous profit at the +mines, and as for the brokers and bankers, there is no doubt of their +ability to take care of themselves.</p> + +<p>When Harry made the remark contained in the foregoing paragraph, Ned +said that it reminded him of a story.</p> + +<p>“Well, please tell it,” said Dr. Whitney; “we are always ready for good +stories.”</p> + +<p>Thus encouraged, Ned spoke as follows:—</p> + +<p>“I was reading a day or two ago about a man who had a large cattle run +in a part of Australia where he had been for several years without any +near neighbors. Gold was discovered about ten miles from his place, and +a good many people flocked there. The gold mines furnished an excellent +market for his beef and for all the vegetables he chose to grow on his +place; but, on the other hand, he suffered somewhat by the depredations +of lawless characters. Horse stealing seemed to be the popular amusement +among the people at the mines, and quite often horses disappeared from +the estate and were never seen again.</p> + +<p>“But they had one horse, called Stepney, that was a perfect treasure. He +was kept for carriage purposes and would never let anybody mount on his +back. He would <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_187" id="pg_187">187</a></span>stand perfectly still while being saddled, and while +anything was being attached to the saddle, but the instant anybody got +on his back he was thrown, and there was not a rider in Australia who +could stay in the saddle more than a few seconds.</p> + +<p>“About once in a fortnight Stepney would be missing from the paddock, +but he always turned up in a day or two, and almost invariably with a +saddle on his back, generally a new one, and a miner’s ‘swag’ attached +to it, and on most of the occasions the swag contained a goodly amount +of gold. Once he came back with a brand new saddle and six hundred +dollars’ worth of gold, which nobody ever came to claim. The owner said +that Stepney was the most profitable horse he ever owned. He paid for +himself several times over, and whenever they ran short of saddles, all +they had to do was to use Stepney as a trap and ‘set’ him in the +paddock, with entire confidence that he would catch a saddle within a +day or two.”</p> + +<p>“That recalls a story about the way the miners used to try to deceive +the bushrangers,” said the doctor; “I refer particularly to those who +were on their way to the coast with gold in their possession. They used +to bore holes in the shafts or frames of their carts and conceal the +gold in these holes, and sometimes they managed to hide quantities of +gold dust between the inner and outer soles of their boots. One miner +took the padding out of his horse’s collar and inserted eighty ounces of +gold in the hollow. He jogged along the road to Melbourne, suffering a +good deal of trepidation at first, but finally arrived within twenty +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_188" id="pg_188">188</a></span>miles of the city with his treasure, and began to feel safe.</p> + +<p>“While he was driving slowly along with his cart he was overtaken by a +man on horseback, who explained that he was in a hurry, as the police +were after him for a fight he had been concerned in with another man. +His horse was exhausted and he would give the miner ten pounds to +exchange horses.</p> + +<p>“As the animals were of about equal value, the miner assented and +proceeded to unharness his horse. When he took off the collar the other +man seized it, put it on his horse and jumped into the saddle, which he +had not removed; then he rode away, to the astonishment of the angry +miner, waving his hand and saying by way of farewell:—</p> + +<p>“‘The collar is all I wanted, friend. I don’t care to make any horse +trade now.’</p> + +<p>“You are doubtless aware,” said their Ballarat friend, “of the +operations of the bushrangers, and how the police used sometimes to +torture those that they captured in order to make them reveal the secret +of the hiding place of their gold. They tell a story of a fight between +a gang of bushrangers and the police in which the leader of the robbers, +known as ‘Kangaroo Jack,’ was mortally wounded. He was lying on the +ground dying; there could be no mistake about that. The police captain, +I will call him Smith, but that wasn’t his name, sat down by his side +and said:—</p> + +<p>“‘Come, Jack, you are going to die and there is no help for you. Tell me +where your gold is.’</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_189" id="pg_189">189</a></span>“‘I won’t do it,’ replied Jack. ‘I won’t tell you or anybody else!’</p> + +<p>“Smith pressed him, but Jack was obstinate. Smith continued to urge and +Jack to refuse until death sealed the bandit’s lips.</p> + +<p>“Smith was afterward telling the story to one of his fellow-officers, +and remarked in conclusion:—</p> + +<p>“‘I think it was downright mean of Jack that he wouldn’t tell me where +his gold was. I know he had at least fifty thousand dollars’ worth +stowed away somewhere. He knew he couldn’t take it with him, and it +couldn’t do him any good, and it would have been a very tidy sum for me. +He couldn’t have any personal ill-will to me, as I didn’t shoot him +myself. I think it was downright mean, don’t you?’</p> + +<p>“His friend agreed with him, and no doubt he would have been willing to +share the plunder if it could have been found.”</p> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="A_SOUTHERLY_BURSTERmdashWESTERN_VICTORIA_5100" id="A_SOUTHERLY_BURSTERmdashWESTERN_VICTORIA_5100"></a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_190" id="pg_190">190</a></span> +<h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2> +<h3>A SOUTHERLY BURSTER—WESTERN VICTORIA.</h3> +</div> + +<p>The day after their return to Melbourne, our friends were treated to an +entertainment which, as Harry said, “was not down on the bills.” It was +what the Melbourneites called a “southerly burster,” a storm which is +peculiar to Australia, and particularly to the southern portion of it. +They had already experienced showers of such force that the gutters of +the streets were filled to a depth of a foot and more, and sometimes the +whole street was covered. Most of the street crossings are bridged so +that the water can run away with comparative ease.</p> + +<p>The water at such times flows with terrific force. Men attempting to +cross the gutters, who make a misstep, are lifted off their feet and are +instantly swept down by the current, and in case they should be carried +under one of the crossings they are liable to be drowned.</p> + +<p>We will listen to Harry as he described in his journal their experience +with a southerly burster.</p> + +<p>“When we arose in the morning,” said Harry, “the weather was delightful +and we thought it would be a fine day for an excursion. There was not a +cloud in the sky and the breeze was blowing from the northeast. A +barometer hung in the hallway of the hotel, and Dr. Whitney remarked, as +he came out from breakfast, that <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_191" id="pg_191">191</a></span>it was falling rapidly. A gentleman +who was standing by his side heard the remark and said:—</p> + +<p>“‘I think we are going to have a burster; that is the way it usually +begins. If you have any engagements to go out to-day and they are not +absolutely imperative, you had better postpone them.’</p> + +<p>“Ned and I overheard what he said and wondered what a burster was. We +said nothing, however, as we expected to find out by practical +experience.</p> + +<p>“All through the forenoon the barometer continued to fall. The sky +remained clear until a little past noon, and the wind blew gently from +the northeast as before. Suddenly we saw a white cloud rolling up from +the northeast and spreading over the heavens until they were completely +covered. Masses of dust came with the wind, which increased in force for +a time and then lulled a little.</p> + +<p>“Suddenly the wind went around to the south and blew a gale, yes, a +hurricane. It started off at about thirty miles an hour, but before it +ended its visit it was blowing fully seventy miles an hour, at least +that is what the papers said next day. I am told it sometimes reaches a +velocity of one hundred miles an hour, and has even been known to exceed +one hundred and forty miles. These tremendous winds do a great deal of +damage. They drive ships ashore or overwhelm them at sea; they devastate +fields and forests and level a great many buildings.</p> + +<p>“The barometer fell rapidly in the forenoon, as I have mentioned; it was +the thermometer’s turn in the afternoon. The mercury stood at about +ninety degrees Fahrenheit in the middle of the forenoon, and it remained +so until <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_192" id="pg_192">192</a></span>the wind chopped around to the south. An hour after the change +of wind it stood at seventy degrees, and an hour later at fifty. I am +told that it sometimes drops thirty degrees in half an hour, but such +occurrences are unusual.</p> + +<p>“This is a good place to say that sudden changes in the temperature are +very common in Australia, and that the change from midday to midnight is +far greater than any to which we are accustomed in the United States. +When we have a change of twenty or thirty degrees in a single day we +regard it as unusual. What would you say to one hundred and ten degrees +at noon and fifty degrees at midnight? This is quite common in the +interior of Australia and not at all infrequent on the coast.</p> + +<p>“The thermometer runs very high in this country, and it is not at all +rare for it to indicate one hundred and twenty-five or one hundred and +thirty degrees Fahrenheit. One traveler has a record of one hundred and +thirty-nine degrees in the shade and one hundred and seventy-two in the +sun. I am told that in South Melbourne the thermometer once made an +official record of one hundred and eleven degrees in the shade and one +hundred and seventy-nine degrees in the sun.</p> + +<p>“So great is the heat of the sun at midday that travelers generally try +to avoid it if they can do so. It is the plan of most people who travel +on horseback, in wagons, or on foot, to start before daylight, and keep +going until nine or ten o’clock. Then they halt and rest until three or +four o’clock in the afternoon, when they move on and continue until late +in the evening. Of <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_193" id="pg_193">193</a></span>course, the railways are not run on that principle, +as the locomotive is not supposed to be affected by the outside +temperature.</p> + +<p>“But I am getting away from the southerly burster. The wind blew like a +hurricane. It kept up this rate for about three hours, filling the air +with dust so that we could not see across the street. Though the doors +and windows were tightly closed, the dust found its way inside the house +and was present everywhere; every article of furniture was covered with +it.</p> + +<p>“We found it in the food, we found it in our beds, and the next day when +I opened my trunk to take out some articles of clothing, I actually +found that the dust had worked its way inside in a perceptible quantity. +One of the waiters of the hotel said, that always after a burster they +found dust inside of bottles of mineral water which had been tightly +corked up to the time of opening. I am inclined to doubt the truth of +his assertion, particularly as he offered no documentary evidence to +confirm it.</p> + +<p>“Along towards night it came on to rain, and, oh, how it did rain! It +poured as though the flood gates of the skies had all been opened at +once. It rained not only cats and dogs, as the old expression has it, +but lizards, scorpions, snakes, and I don’t know what else, at least it +did figuratively. The gutters of the streets were filled, and then we +were able to see how easy it was for a man, and especially for a child, +to be drowned in them. I have seen it rain hard in a good many places, +but am sure I never saw it rain harder than it did at the end of that +southerly burster.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_194" id="pg_194">194</a></span>“I remarked as much to a gentleman whose acquaintance we had made in +the hotel, and he answered:—</p> + +<p>“‘Oh, nonsense. That is no rain at all.’</p> + +<p>“‘No rain at all,’ I answered. ‘Do you have worse rains than this in +Australia?’</p> + +<p>“‘Why, certainly we do,’ he replied. ‘I have known it to rain so hard +that this would be a sprinkle by comparison. I remember the 25th of +February, 1873, when nine inches of rain fell here in Melbourne inside +of nine hours. An inch of rain in an hour is a good deal, isn’t it?’</p> + +<p>“Ned and I admitted that it was, and then our informant continued:—</p> + +<p>“‘I happened to be in Newcastle early in 1871, when they had the +greatest rainfall that I ever saw or heard of in any country. In less +than three hours ten and a half inches of rain fell, and the story was +that it was so thick that the fishes in the harbor could not distinguish +between the rain cloud and the bay, and actually swam up half a mile or +so into the air. One man said that he had a barrel with both ends +knocked out, and the rain went in at the bung hole faster than it could +run out at the ends.’</p> + +<p>“I asked the gentleman how long the storm lasted, and he said that +twenty-one hours elapsed between the beginning and the end of it, and +during that time twenty inches of water fell, and the streets of +Newcastle were like small rivers.</p> + +<p>“The gentleman remarked, in conclusion, that it was a great pity the +rainfall was not distributed more evenly, both in time and amount, than +it is. Some parts of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_195" id="pg_195">195</a></span>coast get a great deal more rain than they +have any use for. The floods destroy a large amount of property, and the +superfluous rain flows away in the rivers, inundating large areas of +ground and doing more harm than good, but through the greater part of +the interior the rainfall is far less than the land requires. The ground +becomes parched, the streets dry up, and the grasses wither, and the +whole face of nature presents a scene of sterility. Sometimes there is +no rain for long periods. There have been times when not a drop of rain +fell for two years, and but for the heavy dews at night, a vast extent +of land would have been absolutely turned to a desert. Cattle and sheep +perished by the million, of starvation and thirst. The production of +grain fell off enormously and the whole country was very seriously +affected.</p> + +<p>“Ned asked if no remedy had ever been found or proposed for this state +of affairs.</p> + +<p>“A remedy had been suggested, said the gentleman, which would save herds +of cattle and flocks of sheep, but it would not save from destruction +the crops in the fields.</p> + +<p>“‘What is that?’ Ned asked.</p> + +<p>“‘It is a system of storing water throughout the interior of the country +so as to save the precious fluid when the rainfall is excessive. There +are many places, great numbers of them, where nature has so formed the +ground that the storage of water would be comparatively easy. I have +already begun it on my sheep run, and other sheep owners have done the +same thing. It is an expensive work, but I believe it will pay in the +end.’</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_196" id="pg_196">196</a></span>“‘There are three places on my land where broad valleys terminate at +their lower ends between hills forty or fifty feet high. Now, by +building a dam from one of these hills to the other, I can flood any one +of these valleys to any depth I choose up to the height of the hills. It +was only recently that I finished work at one of these places, and I +have gangs of men busy with the other two. For the present I shall make +my dams thirty feet high, and this will give me at each of the three +places a lake of fresh water with about forty acres of surface area. If +I can fill these lakes every winter with water, I think I will have +enough to keep my sheep through the dry season, after making liberal +allowance for loss by evaporation and in other ways. Of course, such a +system of storing water is only practicable where the owner of a place +has sufficient capital for the purpose. The poor man, with his small +flock of sheep, can hardly undertake it.’</p> + +<p>“‘Preliminary surveys have been made in places where it is proposed that +the colonial governments should build extensive works for saving water +on a grand scale. The government would be repaid, in part at least, by +selling the water to private landholders in the same way that water is +sold in California, New Mexico, and other parts of the United States. I +am confident that you will see a grand system of water storage in full +operation in Australia before many years.’”</p> + +<p>While on the subject of rainfall, Harry asked Ned if he knew where the +heaviest annual rainfall in the world was.</p> + +<p>Ned said he did not know, but he thought that Dr. Whitney might be able +to inform them.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_197" id="pg_197">197</a></span>The question was appealed to the doctor, who paused a moment, and then +said that “what might be considered a heavy rain in one place would be a +light one in another. In Great Britain, if an inch of rain fell in a day +it was considered a heavy rain; but in many parts of the Highlands of +Scotland three inches not infrequently fall in one day. Once in the isle +of Skye twelve inches of rain fell in thirteen hours, and rainfalls of +five and seven inches are not uncommon. Thirty inches of rain fell in +twenty-four hours at Geneva, in Switzerland, thirty-three inches at +Gibraltar in twenty-six hours, and twenty-four inches in a single night +on the hills near Bombay.</p> + +<p>“The heaviest annual rainfall on the globe,” continued the doctor, “was +on the Khasia Hills, in India, where six hundred inches, or fifty feet, +fell in a twelvemonth. Just think of it; a depth of fifty feet of water +yearly, and of this amount five hundred inches fell in seven months, +during the southwest monsoons.”</p> + +<p>“How do they account for such heavy rains?” Ned asked.</p> + +<p>“It is accounted for,” the doctor replied, “by the abruptness of the +mountains which face the Bay of Bengal, from which they are separated by +low swamps and marshes. The winds arrive among the hills heavily charged +with the vapor they have absorbed from the wide expanse of the Indian +Ocean. When they strike the hills and are forced up to a higher +elevation, they give out their moisture with great rapidity, and the +rain falls in torrents. As soon as the clouds have crossed the mountains +the rain diminishes very much. Twenty miles further inland it <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_198" id="pg_198">198</a></span>drops +from six hundred to two hundred inches annually, and thirty miles +further inland it is only one hundred inches. The same conditions +prevail to a certain extent in Australia. The mountain chains are near +the coast. On the side next the ocean there is a liberal rainfall, but +on the other side, towards the interior, the rainfall is light. As the +clouds charged with vapor come from the sea to the mountains they yield +their moisture freely, but, after passing the mountains, they have +little left to yield.”</p> + +<p>The burster died away along in the evening, and, though the streets were +wet in many places, our friends went out for a stroll. During their walk +their attention was naturally drawn to the sky, which was now bright +with stars. Naturally, their conversation turned to the difference +between the night skies of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, which +had not escaped their observation during their voyage from the east +coast of Africa down to the Equator, and thence in the Southern Ocean. +On this subject Harry wrote at one time in his journal as follows:—</p> + +<p>“We found the famous Southern Cross a good deal of a disappointment. In +the first place, it requires a considerable amount of imagination to +make a cross out of it; very much more than is needed to make ‘The Great +Dipper’ out of the constellation so called in the Northern Hemisphere. +The Southern Cross consists of three stars of the first magnitude, one +of the fourth magnitude, and three of the fifth, and, look at them +whichever way you may, you can’t make a real cross out of them, either +Greek or Roman. Before I investigated the subject, I <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_199" id="pg_199">199</a></span>thought the +Southern Cross was over the south pole, but found it is not so. The +constellations of the Southern Hemisphere altogether are not as +brilliant as those in the northern one. If the principal object of a +traveler in this region is to see the heavens, he had better stay at +home.</p> + +<p>“An interesting feature of the southern heavens is ‘The Magellan +Clouds,’ two white spots in the sky like thick nebulæ of stars. They are +nearer to the pole than the Southern Cross is, and are much used by +mariners in taking observations. Quite near the pole is a star of the +fifth magnitude, called ‘Octantis,’ and this also is used for +observation purposes. It isn’t so brilliant, by any means, as the pole +star of the north, which is of the second magnitude; and, by the way, +that reminds me of what Dr. Whitney told me in the desert of Sahara, +that what we called the polar star in the north is not directly over the +pole, but nearly a degree away. The real polar star is a much smaller +one and stands, as we look at it, to the left of the star, which I had +always believed to be the proper one.”</p> + +<p>Melbourne has a Chinese quarter like San Francisco and New York, and our +friends embraced an opportunity to visit it. They found the shops +closely crowded together and apparently doing an active business. There +were temples, shops, and a good many stores, some of them very small and +others of goodly size. The sidewalks were thronged with people, mostly +Chinese, and they hardly raised their eyes to look at the strangers who +had come among them. Our friends took the precaution to be accompanied +by a guide, and found that they had acted <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_200" id="pg_200">200</a></span>wisely in doing so. The guide +took them into places where they would have been unable to make their +way alone, and where, doubtless, they would have found the doors closed +against them.</p> + +<p>The Chinese are very unpopular in Australia and in all the colonies. The +laws against them are decidedly severe, from a Mongolian point of view. +Every Chinaman landing in Victoria must pay fifty dollars for the +privilege of doing so, and after getting safe on the soil he finds +himself restricted in a business way, and subject to vexatious +regulations. John is satisfied with very little and he usually manages +to get it. He is a keen trader and always an inveterate smuggler. He is +very skillful in evading the custom house, and as soon as one trick is +discovered he invents another and his ingenuity seems to be boundless.</p> + +<p>One of the industries in which the Chinese excel is that of market +gardening. In driving in the suburbs of Melbourne, our friends observed +numerous market gardens cultivated by Chinese, and in every instance +they remarked that the cultivation was of the most careful kind. John +can make more out of a garden than anybody else. He pays a high rental +for his ground, but unless something very unusual happens he is pretty +sure to get it back again, with a large profit in addition.</p> + +<p>In some of the colonies the restrictions are more severe than in others. +In New South Wales the laboring class of white men are politically in +control of the legislature, and have enacted anti-Chinese laws of great +severity. The tax upon immigrant Chinese in that colony is one hundred +pounds sterling, or five hundred dollars. The naturalization <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_201" id="pg_201">201</a></span>of Chinese +is absolutely prohibited, and ships can only bring into the ports of New +South Wales one Chinese passenger for every three hundred tons of +measurement. The restrictions in regard to residence and trading are +very severe. The country is laid out into districts, and in each +district not more than five trading Chinese are allowed to live and +transact business. Steamers and sailing vessels having Chinese stewards +or sailors on board are subject to seizure and fines on their arrival at +Sydney, and so great have been the annoyances to this class of vessels, +that they have been compelled to leave in some other port, before coming +to Australia, all their Chinese employees.</p> + +<p>The hostility to Chinese labor in Australia is similar to that on the +Pacific coast of the United States, and in the States of the Rocky +Mountain region. It will doubtless increase as time goes on, as it +increased in the United States, until it culminated in the Chinese +Exclusion Act of a few years ago. Eventually, the Chinese in Australia +will be shut out from all occupations, and expelled or excluded from the +country. A good many intelligent Australians deprecate the hostility to +the Chinese, but when it comes to voting, this class of citizens is in +the minority.</p> + +<p>During a part of the gold rush, great numbers of Chinese found their way +to the mines, where they were perfectly contented to work in abandoned +mines and wash the earth, which had already been washed by the white +men. Owing to the prejudice against them and the likelihood of +interference, they rarely took up fresh claims, but contented +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_202" id="pg_202">202</a></span>themselves with what the white man had left. Even this form of work was +considered an encroachment by the white miners, who frequently attacked +the Mongolians and drove them out at the point of the pistol. Many of +these attacks were accompanied by bloodshed, and if the history of +Australian mining were written in full, it would contain many a story of +oppression, accompanied with violence.</p> + +<p>Our friends made a visit to the famous lake district of Victoria, where +they found some very pretty scenery, and from the summit of one hill +counted no fewer than fifteen lakes, some of them of no great size, +while the largest measured ninety miles in circumference. Harry made +note of the fact that this largest lake was called the Dead Sea. It is +said to be not as salt as the famous Dead Sea near Jerusalem, but it is +a great deal salter than the ocean, and no fish of any kind lives in it.</p> + +<p>“I asked a resident of the neighborhood,” said Harry, “if they had ever +tried the plan of putting fish from the ocean into this Australian Dead +Sea. They said they had done so, but the fish thus transported always +died in a few hours, and the experiment of stocking the lake had been +given up long ago.</p> + +<p>“A curious thing that we found regarding the lakes in this part of +Victoria,” Harry continued, “is that some of them are salt and some +fresh, and sometimes the salt lakes and the fresh ones are quite close +to each other, and on the same level. We were puzzled how to account for +the peculiarity and tried to learn about it. How the circumstances +happened, nobody knows exactly, but the theory is <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_203" id="pg_203">203</a></span>that the salt in the +salt lakes comes from the drainage of the rocks, and as the lakes have +no outlets, the superfluous waters are carried off by evaporation. They +told us that in summer these lakes sink a good deal below the level of +other times of the year, and when they did so the ground left dry was +thickly encrusted with salt, which the people gathered in large +quantities. The market of Melbourne is supplied with salt from these +lakes, and you can readily understand that it is very cheap.</p> + +<p>“Another peculiarity of this part of Victoria is the large quantities of +potatoes that are grown there. The land often yields from twenty to +thirty tons of potatoes to the acre, and an acre of ground for raising +potatoes will frequently sell for four hundred dollars, while it will +rent for twenty-five dollars yearly. Most of the coast ports of +Australia, including the great ones of Melbourne, Adelaide, and Sydney, +are supplied with potatoes from this region.</p> + +<p>“The potatoes are among the finest we ever saw. They are large, rich, +and mealy, and when properly cooked they are simply delicious. No other +part of Australia can compete with this district in potato cultivation. +The excellence of this vegetable is supposed to come from the volcanic +nature of the soil. All the country round here was once in a high state +of ebullition, and the lakes I have mentioned are the craters of extinct +volcanoes.”</p> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="JOURNEY_UP_COUNTRYmdashANECDOTES_OF_BUSH_LIFE_5492" id="JOURNEY_UP_COUNTRYmdashANECDOTES_OF_BUSH_LIFE_5492"></a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_204" id="pg_204">204</a></span> +<h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> +<h3>JOURNEY UP COUNTRY—ANECDOTES OF BUSH LIFE.</h3> +</div> + +<p>Our friends accepted an invitation to go up country to visit a cattle +station and also a sheep run, and to spend a week or so in the bush. +They went by train as far as the railway could carry them, and were met +at the station by a wagon which enabled them to finish their journey. +They arrived at the station late in the afternoon, after a delightful +drive through the gum-tree forest and across a small plain. It was not +strictly a plain, however, as the ground was undulating, and in the +hollows between the ridges there was generally a growth of trees from a +quarter to a half a mile in width which broke the monotony of the +landscape. The road was not the smoothest in the world, and before they +had gone half way Harry and Ned both remarked that they would have +excellent appetites for supper, and hoped that the meal would not be +long delayed after their arrival at the cattle station.</p> + +<p>The party received a cordial welcome from their host, Mr. Syme, who had +preceded them a day in advance and sent his younger brother to the +railway to meet them. About half a mile from the house they saw three or +four men lying on the ground by the roadside, evidently taking a rest or +waiting for something. They reminded our young friends of the +individuals frequently seen in the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_205" id="pg_205">205</a></span>United States, and known as +“tramps,” and after getting out of earshot of the party Ned asked their +new acquaintance, who was escorting them, what those men were.</p> + +<p>“Oh! those are sundowners,” was the reply, and then there was a pause.</p> + +<p>“Sundowners!” exclaimed Harry. “What is a sundowner?”</p> + +<p>“A sundowner is what you call a tramp in America,” was the reply; “and +he gets his name from one of his peculiarities. It is the custom all +over Australia—I mean in the country districts—to feed and lodge +anybody who comes along, and if he has no money there is no charge for +his entertainment. He is expected to move on in the morning the first +thing after breakfast, unless we happen to have work for him and can +give him employment at regular wages. If he comes along anywhere in the +afternoon before sunset, he is expected to do any odd work that may be +handy until supper, as a payment in part, at least, for his night’s +entertainment.</p> + +<p>“Most of these fellows don’t like to work,” he continued, “and so they +take good care not to arrive at a place before sunset. If they find they +are getting too near it, they sit or lie down on the ground and wait +until the sun has disappeared below the horizon. That is why we call +them sundowners, as they turn up just after the sun has gone down.”</p> + +<p>“It is certainly very liberal on the part of the people in the country +to feed and lodge all comers,” remarked Ned.</p> + +<p>“Well, we think it’s not illiberal. It is the custom of the country +which has grown up from the early days <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_206" id="pg_206">206</a></span>when farms were far apart and +travelers were few in number. When the custom first began, the number of +this sort of travelers would not exceed a dozen in a month. Nowadays we +often lodge that number in a single night, and sometimes it is a pretty +heavy tax on us. I don’t think it will be many years before we have laws +that will restrict these wanderers somewhat, just as you have tramp laws +in many of the States of your Union. There is a very large number of +idlers going about the country and subsisting in this way. They always +pretend to be searching for employment, but whenever employment is +offered, it is not the kind that they want. They are like an American +tramp I heard of once, who was always looking in winter for a job at +hay-making, and in summer he wanted to find employment at cutting ice. +When one of these fellows gets to a sheep station, he says he knows +nothing about sheep, but understands everything about cattle; at the +cattle station he reverses his story, and wants a job at shepherding.”</p> + +<p>“Don’t you have trouble with them sometimes?” one of the youths +remarked. “Are they willing to accept what you offer them, or do they +demand something better?”</p> + +<p>“As to that,” was the reply, “there is a good deal of difference among +them. We don’t feed them with the best that the place affords, and the +majority of them accept the situation and take what we choose to give. +Cold meat and bread are their usual fare, and there is always enough of +that. Sometimes they make a row, and demand to be fed just in the same +way that we feed our own farm hands. For instance, only last evening I +was <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_207" id="pg_207">207</a></span>called into the men’s dining-room to quell a disturbance caused by +a sundowner. The travelers’ table was supplied with cold meat, bread, +and tea, while the table of our farm hands had on it bread and hot roast +mutton. The sundowner had a knife in his hand and was threatening to +kill the kitchen maid unless she gave him hot mutton instead of cold.”</p> + +<p>“What did you do about it?”</p> + +<p>“I told him that if he could not eat cold meat he was not hungry enough +to eat anything, and if he did not put that knife away one of our men +would knock his head off. He became quiet at once and sat down to his +supper, muttering something about not being treated like a gentleman. We +would like to shut our doors altogether against this class of fellows, +but there are difficulties in the way. We would be liable at times to +turn away honest and deserving men who were really in search of +employment, and furthermore, the revengeful scoundrels would set our +buildings on fire during the night, or perhaps kill our cattle and +horses. They would be less likely to do the latter than the former, as +the destruction of our buildings by fire would be much easier and safer +than the other proceeding. We certainly need some kind of legal +restriction over these sundowners, and we will get it in the course of +time.”</p> + +<p>The house at which our friends arrived was large and spacious, and its +external appearance, as they approached it, betokened hospitality. It +covered a considerable area of ground but was only a single story in +height, with the exception of one end, where there was an upper story +occupied by the female servants. The men employed at <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_208" id="pg_208">208</a></span>the place ate and +slept in a building in the rear of the principal house, the two being +connected by a kitchen and a shed. The house was substantially +constructed of wood, the sides being double walled with planking, while +the roof sloped gently to the front. There were gutters at the eaves to +catch all the water which came down in the form of rain, and convey it +to a large cistern just in the rear of the main dwelling. Their host +explained that they had a fine spring close to the house, from which +they usually obtained their supply of water. “This spring sometimes +gives out in seasons of excessive dryness,” said he, “and then we fall +back upon the cistern.”</p> + +<p>“You have been long enough in Australia,” he continued, “to learn the +full value of water, and we are obliged to be careful in the use of it +and in selecting a location for our house. In the great drought, when we +had no rain for two years, we suffered exceedingly and a great many of +my cattle perished for thirst. Since then I have built a reservoir for +storing water, and if another drought should come, I don’t think my +herds will suffer as much as they did.”</p> + +<p>Dr. Whitney and our young friends were shown to the rooms they were +expected to occupy during their stay. Dr. Whitney was assigned to a +good-sized bedroom, while the youths were placed in another bedroom +close to it and equipped with two beds. They made a brief survey of the +room and concluded that they would be very comfortable. Harry remarked +that it was quite as good as any room they had thus far occupied in +Australian hotels. They devoted a short time to removing the dust of +travel <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_209" id="pg_209">209</a></span>and putting themselves in a condition of cleanliness, and +shortly after they appeared on the veranda, where their host was +awaiting them, and dinner was announced.</p> + +<p>The size of the dining-room indicated that the place was an hospitable +one, as the table was capable of accommodating not fewer than twenty +people without crowding. Harry took note of the menu which comprised +their meal, and according to his memorandum it was as follows:—</p> + +<p>“Soup of kangaroo tail, mutton pie, roast beef, potatoes, cauliflower +and parsnips, hot and cold bread, plum pudding and tea. There were also +some canned apricots of home production. Altogether it was a very +substantial meal, excellent in quality, liberal in quantity, and well +cooked throughout.”</p> + +<p>The evening was passed in front of a big fire in the large sitting-room. +As the night was chilly and somewhat damp, the fire was very welcome. +The time was passed in conversation concerning the cattle business, +interspersed with stories of Australian life. Harry and Ned asked the +permission of their host to make use of their notebooks, and their +request was readily granted. Accordingly, they kept their pencils in +their hands, and placed on paper anything which seemed to them +particularly interesting.</p> + +<p>Harry made note of a statement of their host concerning the cattle +business and its ups and downs. One of his notes reads as follows:—</p> + +<p>“To go into the cattle business, one ought to have a capital of not less +than fifty thousand dollars, and he could use one hundred thousand to +advantage. His first step is to <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_210" id="pg_210">210</a></span>secure a tract of land, and this he +does by getting a grant from the government allowing him to occupy an +area of ground several miles square at a rental of ten or twenty +shillings annually for each square mile. His next step is to secure +location, and to do this he travels a great deal through the interior, +visiting ground that has not been taken up, and exercising his judgment +as to the choice of ground. He must take care to find a place where +there is good grass and good water; he wants a certain amount of timber +on his land, but not too much, and the water holes must be at suitable +distances apart. Many a man has come to grief in the cattle business +owing to his bad selection of a location.</p> + +<p>“A man who takes a large area of ground in this way is called a +‘squatter.’ You can put this down in your notebooks, young men, that a +squatter in Australia is just the reverse of the same individual in +America. In your country, the squatter is a man who lives upon a small +tract of land which he cultivates himself, while here he is a man, as I +said before, who takes a large area of ground for pastoral purposes. The +equivalent of the American squatter is here called a ‘selector,’ and +between the selectors and the squatters there is a perpetual warfare, as +the selector is allowed by law to select a location for a farm on any +government land, whether occupied by a squatter or not. The selectors +give the squatters a great deal of trouble, and many of us think that +the colonial governments have treated us very badly.</p> + +<p>“Well, after getting our ground we proceed to stock it, and with fifty +thousand dollars we can buy about twenty-five <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_211" id="pg_211">211</a></span>hundred head of cattle. +Then we put up our buildings, employ our stockmen, and set to work. If +we have good luck we can pay our expenses, almost from the beginning, by +sending fat cattle to market. For the first five years we sell only fat +cattle; at the end of that time we have doubled our original stock, and +then we begin to sell ordinary cattle as well as fat ones. From that +time on, if no mishap befalls us, we can sell twelve or fifteen thousand +dollars’ worth of cattle every year, including all kinds. At this rate +the profits are satisfactory, and in fifteen or twenty years, a man who +has started out with fifty thousand dollars can retire on eight or ten +times that amount.”</p> + +<p>Harry asked what were the drawbacks to the cattle business; that is, +what were the kinds of bad luck that could happen to a man who engaged +in it.</p> + +<p>“As to that,” replied Mr. Syme, “there are several things which it is +not possible to foresee or prevent. In the first place, nobody can +foresee a great drought when cattle perish of thirst and starvation; +added to this danger is that of diseases to which cattle are subject, +especially pleuro-pneumonia. Whole herds may be carried away by this +disease, and if it once gets established among the cattle of an estate +it is very difficult to eradicate it. Sometimes it is necessary to kill +off an entire herd in order to get rid of the disease, and I have heard +of cattle runs that were depopulated successively two or three times by +pleuro-pneumonia, and their owners ruined. Sometimes the market is very +low in consequence of an over-supply, and the price cattle furnish is a +very poor remuneration to stock raisers.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_212" id="pg_212">212</a></span>“Sheep farming is more profitable, on the whole, than cattle farming,” +he continued; “but the risks are somewhat greater in consequence of the +greater liability of sheep to disease. There are several diseases +peculiar to sheep which carry them off in great numbers, and they are +affected by drought quite as much as cattle are. A sheep run can be +started with a small capital, and you might almost say with no capital +at all. For instance, a man with very little money, or practically with +none at all, can find a location and squat upon it, and then go to one +of the cities, and if he is known to be a respectable, honest, and +industrious man and free from vicious habits, he can find somebody who +will supply the capital for buying a few hundred sheep. With these sheep +he can make a start, and if he is industrious and attentive to business, +and has no bad luck with his flocks, he will make money rapidly. In ten +years he will have a comfortable fortune; but, on the other hand, he is +liable at any time to be ruined by two successive bad seasons of drought +and disease. Sometimes the price of wool is so low that it leaves very +little profit to the sheep farmer after paying for shepherds, shearers, +and other employees, and the expense of taking his wool to the +sea-coast.”</p> + +<p>Their host remarked, in conclusion, that he was afraid the good days of +cattle and sheep farming had gone and would never come again. “Land has +become dear,” he said, “and labor unions compel us to pay high prices +for stockmen and shearers, especially the latter, and the prices of wool +are not as good as they used to be. The wool market of the world is low, +and so is the cattle market. <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_213" id="pg_213">213</a></span>Since the practise of freezing beef and +mutton and carrying the frozen meat to England has come into vogue the +prices of meat have improved, but the supply is so abundant and the +sources of it so numerous that we have not been greatly benefited by the +new process. There still remains enough in either business to encourage +those who are in it to continue, but the inducements for new enterprises +of this kind are not great.”</p> + +<p>Some of the stories that were told about experience on cattle and sheep +runs were so interesting to our young friends that they made note of +them. One of the party told of the dangers surrounding the life of the +stock-riders, the men who look after the herds on a cattle estate.</p> + +<p>“He has some hard duties to perform,” said the narrator. “He gets his +breakfast early in the morning and starts out at once, mounted on +horseback, and with a horse that is more or less unruly. Each +stock-rider, or stockman, as we call him, has a particular part of the +run assigned to him, and every morning he goes along the boundary of it, +and if his own cattle have strayed across the line, he drives them back +again; likewise, if he finds his neighbor’s cattle have strayed into his +territory, he drives them out. He is expected to show himself to his +cattle at least once a day, to accustom them to the sight of men, and +also to train them to go where they are wanted whenever he cracks his +whip and rides in among them.</p> + +<p>“The group of cattle belonging to each stockman is called a ‘herd,’ and +he is expected to train them so that they will recognize his authority. +A bunch of fifty or so is called a ‘mob,’ and it takes several mobs to +make up a herd. All <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_214" id="pg_214">214</a></span>over the run, at intervals of two or three miles, +are places where the cattle assemble when they hear the stockman’s whip. +These places are called ‘cattle camps’; they are open spaces of level +ground and are always near water; in fact, many of them are used as +regular watering places for the mobs and herds of cattle. Occasionally +the animals are driven into these camps, either for the purpose of +branding the calves or selecting cattle to be sent to market. You will +have an opportunity of seeing one of these to-morrow, as a man arrived +here to-night who is buying cattle to take to Melbourne.</p> + +<p>“Well, the stock-rider is on horseback for the greater part of the day. +Sometimes he takes his dinner with him and sometimes he comes back to +the station to get it, and in the afternoon goes to a different part of +his section. Sometimes he does not come back at all, and the next +morning a search is made for him. Of course there is now and then a man +who runs away and leaves his employment, but this is rarely the case, as +there is no occasion for him doing so unless he has committed some +offense.”</p> + +<p>The youths listened in breathless silence, waiting for what would come +next.</p> + +<p>“There really ought to be two men riding together at all times, so that +if a mishap occurs to one of them, the other can help him out of his +trouble, and, if unable to do so, can go for assistance; and we +generally send out a black boy on horseback with each stockman. A few +months ago one of our stockmen, who had gone out alone, failed to come +home at night, and we were at once apprehensive that something had +happened to him. His horse came <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_215" id="pg_215">215</a></span>back along about midnight, and the next +morning several of us started out to find him. We tried to make use of +the intelligence of the horse to guide us to the place where he had left +his master, but, unfortunately, it was an animal that he had ridden only +a few times and there was no attachment whatever between man and beast. +We rode along the boundary where we knew he was accustomed to go, but +did not find him. We spread out over all the ground we could cover and +shouted continually, in the hope that he would hear us and answer. We +made a complete circuit of the portion of the run in his charge, and, +finding no traces of him, we struck off haphazard across the middle of +it. We kept up our shouting and finally heard a faint answer.</p> + +<p>“Then we rode in the direction of the sound, and in fifteen or twenty +minutes we reached the man’s side. It seems that his horse had stumbled +over a fallen log so violently as to pitch the rider over his head. In +falling, the man had the misfortune to break his leg. The horse stood +and looked at him a few minutes while he tried to call the animal to his +side, but to no purpose. The beast threw his head and then his heels +into the air and trotted off. He was soon out of sight in the bush and +the stockman was left alone, disabled in the way I tell you.</p> + +<p>“There was no water in this vicinity and he had no food with him, and he +could not walk or stand on account of his broken leg. He could crawl +slowly, but only a short distance at a time. He knew that he was out of +the regular track of riders, and it might be days or weeks before he +would be discovered. He suffered great pain <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_216" id="pg_216">216</a></span>in his injured limb, and +very soon the tortures of thirst began, to be followed later in the day +by those of hunger.</p> + +<p>“All the rest of the day and all through the night he lay there in great +suffering and wondering if relief would ever come. Along towards morning +he heard a rustling in the grass near him, and then other similar +sounds, which he soon concluded were caused by snakes. When daylight +came he found that his fears and horrors were realized. Moving around +him were several serpents, and they manifested a tendency to approach +nearer and nearer. Some of them went away as the sun rose and the full +light of day shone upon him, but others remained in his immediate +neighborhood. He beat the ground with the butt of his whip in the hope +of scaring them away; his effort was partially successful but not wholly +so. One large snake came close to his side and actually traversed his +body. He dared not make a motion, for fear the serpent would turn upon +him and inflict a fatal bite. He lay there as still as a block of marble +till the snake, having satisfied his curiosity, glided away into the +grass.</p> + +<p>“All through the afternoon and until we found him, the reptiles remained +there. They seemed to understand that the man was disabled, and +evidently they were determined to take their own time in enjoying his +sufferings. This was the state of affairs when we found him. He said +that when he heard our call he almost feared to reply, lest it should +rouse his unpleasant neighbors and cause them to take the aggressive.</p> + +<p>“We killed two of the snakes not a dozen yards from where the man was +lying, and if we had made a vigorous <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_217" id="pg_217">217</a></span>search, it is probable that we +could have despatched more of them. We brought the man to the house as +quickly as possible, improvising a rude sort of litter, which was +carried, with the man upon it, by two of our blacks. Two of us relieved +them occasionally, when they were wearied of carrying the burden. In a +short time the man was well again, but he said that the horrors of that +night were too much for him, and he would seek some other occupation +than that of stock-rider. He left us as soon as he recovered, and I +don’t know what became of him.”</p> + +<p>“That reminds me,” said another of the party, “of the case of a man who +met with a similar accident, being thrown from his horse and getting a +broken leg. The place where he fell happened to be near a large ant +hill, and in a few moments he was covered with the terrible black ants +that we have here in Australia. He was horribly bitten by them all over +his body, but principally on head and hands, the other parts being +somewhat protected by his clothing. After two or three hours of torture +he managed to crawl away from his awful position, but for several hours +afterwards the ants continued their attacks; and when he was found by +one of his fellow-stockmen, his face was so swollen that he could not +see, and he was barely able to articulate. Face and hands became a mass +of sores, and it was weeks before he recovered. When he got well, his +face was pitted like that of the victim of an attack of smallpox, and he +suffered for a long time with a partial paralysis of his limbs. I have +heard of one or two other instances of the same sort, and can hardly +imagine anything more terrible.”</p> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="LOST_IN_THE_BUSHmdashAUSTRALIAN_HORSES_5875" id="LOST_IN_THE_BUSHmdashAUSTRALIAN_HORSES_5875"></a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_218" id="pg_218">218</a></span> +<h2>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> +<h3>LOST IN THE BUSH—AUSTRALIAN HORSES.</h3> +</div> + +<p>“Another of the gentlemen,” wrote Harry in his notebook, “told us a +story about a young woman, with a child in her arms and an older child +at her side, being lost in the bush.” She had been on a visit to an +acquaintance who lived about four miles away, and was to start for home +in the afternoon of a certain Friday, having gone there in the forenoon +of the same day. She did not reach home in the evening, and it was +thought at first that she had concluded to remain until Saturday. Not +until Sunday did her husband go to the house where she had been +visiting, and there he ascertained that she had left the place on Friday +afternoon, as agreed, and carried no provisions except a pound of butter +which she was taking home for her husband.</p> + +<p>“It was at once concluded,” said the gentleman, “that she had missed her +way and been lost in the bush; and when one is thus lost, it is very +hard to find the way out again. The general features of the landscape +are so similar that it is very difficult to distinguish one part from +another, and the alarm and perplexity natural on finding oneself in such +a situation increases the danger which attends it by robbing the +wanderer of the presence of mind which is so necessary in such an +emergency. When the sun is obscured by clouds the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_219" id="pg_219">219</a></span>most experienced +traveler is liable to stray and become lost, and even when the sun is +shining it is not every one who can take advantage of its position to +guide him out of trouble. The course of the streams in a well-watered +country is of great use in guiding an inexperienced traveler, but +Australian streams, like most others, wind about a great deal, and make +the road along their banks a very long one.</p> + +<p>“It was the rainy season of the year when this woman was lost, and the +streams were flooded. If she had followed the creek which would have led +her to her home, she would have been compelled to keep to the high +ground on either side of its valley, as the low, flat land was covered +with water. The weather was cold and wet and the winds were keen and +piercing. There was not the least supply of nourishment to be obtained +in the bush, and when we heard late on Monday what had happened, we all +felt that the unhappy wanderers must have perished from hunger and cold. +Still, there was a possibility that they might yet survive, and, as it +was too late for us to start that day, we determined to set out on +Tuesday morning in search of them. We sent off to the nearest police +station and obtained the assistance of several blacks who had been +trained to the police service. You have probably heard about the +wonderful skill of these people in following a track, and as soon as +they arrived on the ground we set them at work.</p> + +<p>“All day Tuesday these native trackers sought diligently to find traces +of the missing ones, but none could be discovered. Then on Wednesday +morning we renewed <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_220" id="pg_220">220</a></span>the search, covering as much ground as possible and +examining it with the greatest care, occasionally discharging a revolver +in the hope that its sound might be heard, and frequently shouting the +Australian ‘coo-ee,’ which can be heard at a great distance. We returned +home completely discouraged and gave up the wanderers for dead, being +satisfied that any further search would be useless.</p> + +<p>“But on reaching home we heard news that gave us encouragement. A +woodchopper returning from his work told us that he found on a hill, +some distance away, a rude mia-mia or wind shelter made of the branches +of a wild cherry tree. He said it was not like those usually put up by +the blacks, nor were there any traces of fire near it, which would +certainly have been the case if it had been a native mia-mia. We started +at once, under the guidance of the workman, to inspect the place for +ourselves, and on examining the shelter carefully we felt sure that it +had been put up by the lost woman. A few pieces of a Melbourne newspaper +were lying on the ground and a strip of calico had been fastened to the +bushes, evidently in the hope of attracting attention.</p> + +<p>“We collected these little articles carefully and took them to the +husband, who instantly identified the strip of calico as belonging to a +gown his wife had worn, and he also remembered that she had taken a +Melbourne newspaper with her. He was greatly excited at the sight of the +articles, and so were we. It was too late to do anything that day; in +fact, it was dark before we reached home, and so we made all +preparations for an early start on Thursday morning. We were on the way +soon after <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_221" id="pg_221">221</a></span>daylight, and the native trackers expressed the fullest +confidence in their ability to find the missing wanderers, now that they +were able to start on the track.</p> + +<p>“We first went to the mia-mia, or wind shelter, and then took a course +to the northeast, walking over a succession of low ranges and shallow +gullies where the water often reached up to our knees. The trackers were +much disappointed, as the amount of water which spread over the country +made it impossible for them to follow the trail. We passed through thick +scrubs and prickly plants, and over sharp rocks which were rough walking +even for men; what must they have been for the woman and her children?</p> + +<p>“We continued our search for several hours, and had almost resolved to +give it up, when one of our party fired at a kangaroo which he had +disturbed, and which fled before us. The animal fell wounded, and as we +were advancing towards it, we thought we heard a distant coo-ee. We +stood still to listen, and faintly, yet quite distinctly, it was +repeated. We walked on with great eagerness in the direction whence the +sound appeared to come, and every little while we coo-eed and waited for +an answer to assure us that we were on the right track. We did not get +an answer every time, and when we did it was not a strong one; but there +was no mistaking the sound, and we realized each time that we were +getting nearer the spot where it was made.</p> + +<p>“We reached the edge of a gully thickly overgrown with tangled scrub +about twelve feet high. We pressed forward through this scrub, wading +occasionally through <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_222" id="pg_222">222</a></span>the water, and pushing aside the last bushes, +found ourselves at the edge of a small open plain. There we saw, +standing at a little distance, a gaunt, ragged woman with a child in her +arms. As she caught sight of us she turned and fled; either she mistook +us for black fellows, or the surprise and relief of obtaining help had +turned her brain. We shouted loudly to her to stop, and as our voices +fell on her ear she stood still and we approached. She looked at us with +a half-crazed expression in her eager, gleaming eyes; her cheeks were +thin and sunken, and her whole appearance was one of great wretchedness.</p> + +<p>“We gave her some tea which she drank greedily, and it revived her +somewhat. Seeing that she had only one of her children with her, the +youngest, we asked where the other was, and she led us to a large, +hollow tree in which she placed the little girl. The poor child’s feet +were so cruelly cut and blistered that she could no longer walk, and the +mother, hoping to reach home and find help, had thought best to leave +her and travel on with the other child. She had built up the opening of +the tree with logs and brush-wood in the hope of protecting the child +against the attacks of the wild dogs, but when her preparations were +complete the little girl wept so piteously that the distracted mother +could not consent to leave her alone. So she made up her mind to stay +there and die with her children.</p> + +<p>“Just as she had reached this conclusion she heard the report of the +rifle, and with all her remaining strength she uttered the coo-ee which +brought relief to her. She did not faint or lose her self-possession, +and she astonished us <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_223" id="pg_223">223</a></span>all by her strength. She would not wait to allow +us to send for a dray or other conveyance, but insisted that she could +walk with us; it was a walk of seven miles, but she went on bravely, +carrying her boy, who would not leave her arms. The men by turns carried +the little girl, and offered to take the boy, but she would not give him +up.</p> + +<p>“She solemnly declared that neither she nor the children had found +anything to eat during the time they were in the bush. On the first +night, she divided the pound of butter between the children, and ate +nothing herself. Her only sustenance for the whole time had been water, +and it was the only sustenance of the children after the butter was +consumed. Every morning they had begun to wander, hoping to reach home +before night; and every night, as the darkness closed in, they huddled +together, cold, and hungry, and footsore, on the wet ground, and with no +shelter except a few scanty bushes.</p> + +<p>“The children slept fairly well, but the mother said she listened +through the greater part of every night, hearing the howling of the wild +dogs around them, and constantly dreading their attacks. She said she +heard the report of our rifles on the first day of our search, but +unhappily the wind was blowing directly from us towards her, and +consequently we were unable to hear her answering calls, though she had +strained her voice to the utmost to make herself heard. She had been +almost frantic with despair, knowing that help was so near at hand and +yet beyond her reach. She thought, and we agreed with her, that another +day in the bush would have ended their lives, or at any rate that of the +little girl.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_224" id="pg_224">224</a></span>As the narrator paused, Harry asked if the woman recovered her health +and strength completely.</p> + +<p>“She recovered her strength very soon,” was the reply, “but her mind was +affected by her exposure and sufferings, and she was never quite herself +again, mentally. The children recovered completely after a few weeks of +nourishment, and the little girl who was so near dying in that hollow +tree has since grown up and married.”</p> + +<p>“I think it is time for a story of less mournful character,” said one of +the party.</p> + +<p>“By all means,” said another; “let us have one.”</p> + +<p>“Well, here it is,” was the reply.</p> + +<p>“At the station of a wealthy squatter a party assembled one evening for +a good time and a supper. There were young men and young women, as well +as men and women who were not altogether young, who had been invited for +miles around, and they had a jolly time, you may well believe me. Some +of the young fellows, wishing to have some fun, disguised themselves in +rough clothes, blackened their faces, and frowzed up their hair in the +roughest kind of way. Then they suddenly appeared at the door of the +large room, and the cry of ‘Bushrangers!’ was raised. Some of the ladies +fainted in alarm, and all were more or less frightened. The joke was not +kept up very long, as the counterfeit bushrangers were not good +impersonators, and were speedily detected by their friends. There was a +great deal of fun and laughter over the trick that had been played, and +then the performers in the scheme resumed their ordinary dress and +continued in the games with the others.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_225" id="pg_225">225</a></span>“An hour or so later, rough voices were heard outside of the house, and +soon there appeared in the doorway six or eight rough-looking men with +begrimed faces, untrimmed hair, and very shabby-looking garments, who +entered the hall with a very determined manner. Some of the party burst +out laughing, and exclaimed, ‘Bushrangers again!’ declaring that they +would not be fooled a second time. Some of the others had an instinctive +perception that this time the bushrangers were real ones.”</p> + +<p>The narrator paused, and Harry asked if that was the case.</p> + +<p>“It was exactly,” was the reply. “The men were notorious bushrangers who +had been troubling that part of the country for some time. The robbers +drew revolvers and ordered the men to ‘bail up!’ (hold up their hands) +which they did in a hurry, and then they were commanded to stand in a +row with their faces next to the wall.</p> + +<p>“Then the bushrangers ordered the ladies to provide them with +refreshments, while one was commanded to sit at the piano and entertain +them with music. No one was allowed to leave the room except under the +escort of a bushranger, for fear that word would be sent to the police.</p> + +<p>“The scoundrels ate and drank freely, and then took possession of all +the watches, jewelry, money, and other valuables in the possession of +the party. After making their collection they left the place. Word was +sent to the police as soon as possible, but as the police station was +several miles away, the information was of no practical value.”</p> + +<p>“Were the scoundrels ever caught?” inquired Ned.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_226" id="pg_226">226</a></span>“Yes, they were eventually caught and hanged,” was the reply. “They +troubled that region for some time. The inhabitants dared not pursue +them, for fear of their vengeance, though all wanted to be rid of them. +Four men came from Melbourne with authority for taking these robbers, +dead or alive, and with the promise of a large reward. It was impossible +to keep their errand a secret, and none of the people dared give them +any assistance in consequence of their dread of what the bushrangers +might do if they heard of it. I know of one instance where these four +men applied to a squatter for a night’s lodging and supper. He dared not +let his family know about the men being there, but lodged them in an +out-building, and with his own hands carried the food to them for their +supper.”</p> + +<p>“And did these four men capture the bushranger gang?” queried Harry.</p> + +<p>“Not by any means,” was the reply. “They were riding one day along the +road, when they suddenly found themselves face to face with the +bushrangers. A fight followed as a matter of course, and every one of +the four was killed. When the corpses were discovered, one of them was +found in a kneeling posture, as though he had died in the act of begging +for mercy. A ten-pound bank note was found sticking in a wound in his +breast, and evidently the bushrangers put it there, to show that in this +instance, at least, their object was revenge and not plunder.</p> + +<p>“That the bushrangers were a bad lot,” continued the gentleman, “no one +will deny, but in many instances they showed chivalry and appreciation +of bravery. It was rare, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_227" id="pg_227">227</a></span>indeed, that they ill-treated women or +children, and it was also very rarely the case that they committed +murder except in self-defense or for revenge. This led a good many +sentimental people to regard them rather in the light of dashing heroes +than that of downright criminals. You have probably heard of Captain +Melville, have you not?” he asked, turning to Harry and Ned.</p> + +<p>The youths nodded, and said the name of that famous bushranger was +familiar to them.</p> + +<p>“Well, it once happened,” said their informant, “that Captain Melville +had in his power a man whom, of all others, he had most occasion to +dread,—an officer of high standing in the police force, at that time +engaged in pursuit of the robber, whom he declared he would take alive +or dead. This officer was riding one day alone and slightly armed, when +he suddenly met Melville with his entire gang. The police uniform +readily told the rank of the officer, and it happened that Melville and +several of his men were familiar with the officer’s face.</p> + +<p>“He was immediately surrounded and disarmed; his hands were tied behind +his back, and his captives took him triumphantly to their camp. When the +camp was reached, the prisoner was bound to a wagon wheel while his +captors held a counsel to decide what to do with him. The officer was +noted for his courage, and when Melville came near him, he was taunted +by his captive for his cowardice in taking him at the time when he was +defenseless and alone.</p> + +<p>“Melville became angry at the taunt, and, walking towards his prisoner, +he placed a loaded revolver at his <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_228" id="pg_228">228</a></span>head and said, ‘Say another word and +I’ll blow your brains out.’</p> + +<p>“‘You dare not do it,’ replied the officer, and he looked with an +unflinching eye at the robber.</p> + +<p>“Melville’s eyes glared, and probably the slightest show of fear on the +part of the officer would have provoked a fatal shot.</p> + +<p>“Melville held the pistol at the prisoner’s head for a few seconds and +then lowered it, saying, as he did so, ‘You are too brave a man to be +shot,’ and then he turned and walked away. The officer afterwards +managed to escape and reach Melbourne safely. The supposition is that he +was assisted in escaping by one of the bushrangers who was tired of life +on the road and desirous of leaving it. The officer was able to promise +him immunity from punishment in return for his service in aiding the +latter’s escape.”</p> + +<p>“That reminds me of a story I heard not long ago,” said Harry.</p> + +<p>“A lawyer in Australia was once defending a man whose family antecedents +and record were anything but good. Ignoring this, he made a most +touching plea about the gray-haired parents in England waiting to +celebrate Christmas with their returned wanderer. The jury found the man +guilty, however, and the judge, after sentencing him, remarked that the +learned counsel would have his wish; the convicted client was going to +the same prison where father and mother were already serving sentences. +Their Christmas would be passed under the same roof.”</p> + +<p>Other stories were told during the course of the evening, but we have no +room for any more of them. When the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_229" id="pg_229">229</a></span>last story was given, the youths +looked at their watches and were surprised to find the hour so late. +They immediately retired to their room and slept soundly, or at least +Ned did. Harry said he was disturbed somewhat by dreams of snakes, +bushrangers, unruly cattle, and horses, and of being lost in the bush. +Evidently the disturbance was not serious, as he was out at an early +hour with Ned to investigate the place and learn the peculiarities of an +up-country station in Australia. Here is what he wrote concerning what +he saw and heard before the announcement of breakfast:—</p> + +<p>“The sights and sounds were not altogether unlike those of a farm in New +England, but there were many more of them, in consequence of the greater +size of the station. A farm in New England covering two or three hundred +acres of ground would be considered a large one. This station covers an +area ten miles square, or one hundred square miles. They have five +thousand head of cattle upon it and more than one hundred horses. Most +of the cattle, in fact, nearly all of them, are fully half wild. The +domesticated ones comprise a few yokes of oxen and a small herd of milch +cows, and even the cows are nowhere near as tame as the same animals +would be in New England. We went out to the milking yard and witnessed +the operation of milking three or four cows which had been driven in +from the paddock. Not one of the creatures would stand quietly to be +milked, as a well-mannered cow should do, and each one had to be driven, +led, or pulled into a frame or cage something like the frame in which +oxen are shod. When the cow was thoroughly secured <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_230" id="pg_230">230</a></span>in this way, with +one fore leg tied up so that she could not lift either of her hind legs, +the milkmaid, who was a big, rough-looking man, proceeded to milk the +animal. When the operation was concluded, another cow was brought up and +put through the same process.</p> + +<p>“I asked if they had any cows that would stand peaceably and submit to +the milking process. They answered me that they had such cows +occasionally, but not often; and the man with whom I talked seemed to be +rather proud of the circumstance, that Australian cows were more +high-spirited than American ones.</p> + +<p>“The stockmen had had their breakfast and were about starting for their +daily rounds. Some fifty or sixty horses had been driven in from a +paddock and enclosed in a yard large enough for five times their number. +A man went into the yard to select his horse for the day’s riding, and +having singled out the animal, he made several ineffectual attempts to +capture him. When he approached the group, it divided and started off +for a different part of the yard. Then the man was joined by another, +and the horses at once concluded that it was time for their fun to +cease. They submitted quietly to being bridled and saddled, and one +after another they were led out of the yard as soon as this operation +was complete.</p> + +<p>“One of the stockmen remarked that he would like to see one of us +youngsters go in there and get a horse.</p> + +<p>“I replied that I had heard too many stories of the character of +Australian horses to induce me to make the attempt.</p> + +<p>“You are very wise not to do so,” he answered. “They <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_231" id="pg_231">231</a></span>would have fun +with you by the hour, and then you would not be able to lay hands on one +of them. Whenever we get a new chum that is a green hand, we have a +jolly time seeing him work. He goes inside with one of the black boys, +and between them they manage to get a horse off into a corner. Then the +new chum takes his bridle over his arm and approaches the horse, talking +to him all the time. Australian horses don’t understand that sort of +thing, and you might as well talk to the surf on the sea-coast as to one +of them. Just as the new chum gets up to within about four feet of the +horse’s neck, the beast spins around on his hind legs, and is off like a +shot. He kicks and prances, and sometimes he lies down and rolls, and +all the time he is saying to himself, ‘What a jolly time I am having.’</p> + +<p>“Then the new chum and the black fellow try it on again, and with the +same result. All the old hands sit around the fence and have a good +laugh, and we let the new chum keep at it until our sides are sore. +After awhile we agree that we have had enough of it, and then we turn in +and catch the horse and saddle him in about half no time.</p> + +<p>“But there is more fun to come,” continued the stockman, “and that is +when the new chum tries to ride. He gets into the saddle, and just as he +gets fairly seated the horse begins to buck-jump. Perhaps you don’t know +what buck-jumping is?”</p> + +<p>“I have heard of it,” I said. “In fact, I have seen what was said to be +a very good performance of it, and that was in Buffalo Bill’s show.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_232" id="pg_232">232</a></span>“How high up in the air did the horses throw the fellows in the show?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, a little ways,” I answered; “enough to pitch them out of the +saddles and bring them to the ground.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, nonsense,” said the stockman; “you wait till you see an Australian +horse send a new chum up into the air. I’ve seen a fellow tossed up so +high that he didn’t look bigger than a dog. He must have gone up fifty +feet, at least, and he came down astraddle of the horse again.”</p> + +<p>The man said this with all possible gravity, but I thought I could see a +twinkle at the corner of his eye. I smiled politely, as I did not want +to contradict him, and, at the same time, did not wish him to believe +that I swallowed his preposterous story.</p> + +<p>“Some of our horses,” he continued, “will stand still and allow +themselves to be saddled, and then they will take a long breath, swell +themselves up with air, burst the girths, and throw the saddle up at +least twenty feet above them, and all this in one motion.”</p> + +<p>“Seems to me, I have heard of something of the kind in America,” I +remarked. “As I remember the story, they first fed the horse with +self-raising flour, and then gave him a pail of water to drink.”</p> + +<p>The man stood silent for a moment, and then said, “You’ll do, youngster; +you ought to stay in Australia.”</p> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="EXPERIENCES_AT_A_CATTLE_STATIONmdashA_KANGAROO_HUNT_6289" id="EXPERIENCES_AT_A_CATTLE_STATIONmdashA_KANGAROO_HUNT_6289"></a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_233" id="pg_233">233</a></span> +<h2>CHAPTER XV.</h2> +<h3>EXPERIENCES AT A CATTLE STATION—A KANGAROO HUNT.</h3> +</div> + +<p>“They breed good horses in Australia,” continued Harry in his journal. +“As a general thing, however, the horses of this part of the world are +vicious, and it is no wonder, when we consider that they are harshly +treated all their lives, and very rarely hear a kind word. The owner of +the cattle run gave orders that the gentlest animals should be reserved +for the visitors to ride, and I have no doubt that they were so +reserved. We found them anything but gentle, from our point of view, but +managed to get through the day without being thrown out of the saddles. +They danced and pirouetted more than was to our liking when we first +mounted, and it was only after we had ridden several miles that their +behavior was what might be called quiet.</p> + +<p>“The process of breaking horses to the saddle here is interesting, +though it is rough and cruel. The horses are kept all together in a +large paddock; some of them already broken, and some that have never +known saddle, bridle, or halter. Every morning they are driven up by the +black boys. Selections are made of the animals required for the day’s +riding, and then the remainder are turned loose into the paddock again. +The daily visit to the paddock accustoms the younger horses to the +presence <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_234" id="pg_234">234</a></span>of men, so that they are not altogether wild when they are +taken in hand for breaking.</p> + +<p>“There is a class of men going about the country whose business it is to +break horses at so much a head; usually two pounds, or ten dollars. The +whole herd is driven into the yard, and then the horse breaker proceeds +to his work. With the aid of two or three black fellows he lassoos a +horse and puts a strong halter on him. Then, while the black fellows +hold the animal, he is saddled and bridled, and the breaker gets on his +back. The halter is gathered up around the horse’s neck, and at the word +of command the black fellows jump away from him.</p> + +<p>“Then begins a lively performance of bucking and jumping, the rider all +the time clinging to the saddle with his knees. Sometimes the horse +tries to lie down and roll in order to free himself from his +incumbrance; he succeeds occasionally, but as a general thing he does +not. Even should he manage to shake off his ride, the latter is on the +creature’s back again before he gets fairly on his feet, and then the +kicking and jumping are renewed. The rider keeps at the horse until he +has subdued him and ridden him several times around the yard; possibly +he may take a spin out into the paddock and back again, but he does not +always do so. The great point is to conquer at the first riding, and a +good horse-breaker never stops until he has done so.</p> + +<p>“After this lesson is over the horse is left with the saddle on his +back, and it is not taken off until he is turned into the paddock at +night. The next day he receives another lesson of the same sort, and +after a few days of <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_235" id="pg_235">235</a></span>this kind of training he is pronounced properly +broken, and fit ‘for a lady to ride.’ I shouldn’t want any lady of my +acquaintance to venture on the back of such an animal.</p> + +<p>“I mustn’t forget a trick that these horse-breakers have, and that is, +of getting on the back of a bucking steed, placing a half-crown piece +between each thigh and the saddle, and allowing the animal to go through +all the performance she chooses to, without once displacing the coins. +Exactly the same thing is done by the rough riders of our western States +and Territories, with the difference that they use half dollars instead +of half crowns.</p> + +<p>“We found the morning air around the station very agreeable. A gentle +breeze was blowing, and we caught the odor of the fragrant eucalyptus +mingled with that of the numerous flowers which ornamented and +brightened the grounds near by. We could hear the notes of several +birds, and louder than all the rest of their voices was that of the +laughing jackass, which has already been described. One of these birds +perched on the fence of the yard where the men were catching horses, and +Ned and I approached within twenty feet of him before he flew away. +Before doing so he treated us to a very jolly laugh, and both of us +laughed, too, in concert with him.</p> + +<p>“Breakfast was announced, and we went in to enjoy it. We had oatmeal, +mutton chops, and ham and eggs, with plenty of bread and butter, and +honey. I looked around the table for coffee, but saw none. There was a +large pot of tea, and Ned and I took it without a word of objection, +though we would have preferred coffee. We were <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_236" id="pg_236">236</a></span>already aware that +coffee is but little used in the country districts of Australia, tea +being the almost universal beverage, for the reason that it is more +stimulating than coffee and better for a steady diet. It is carried +about and prepared much more easily than coffee, and this, no doubt, is +one cause of its popularity. In the old days of placer mining, every +miner carried at his waist a ‘billy,’ or tin cup for drinking purposes, +and he regarded a billy of tea as a very important part of any meal. At +the present day, a goodly proportion of sundowners and other Australian +pedestrians carry billies at their waist belts and treasure them with +great care.”</p> + +<p>We will listen to Ned as he tells the story of their ride among the +cattle.</p> + +<p>“While we were at breakfast,” said Ned in his journal, “the horses were +saddled and bridled and brought up to the front of the house. There were +seven of us altogether. Our host, Mr. Syme, and his two brothers, a +black fellow called Jack, Dr. Whitney, Harry, and myself. Our host and +the doctor led the way; John, the elder of his brothers, rode with +Harry, the younger, William, with me, and the black fellow by himself. +That is to say, the black fellow, Jack, brought up the rear, to be ready +for use in case of an emergency. We found our companions well informed, +and ready to give us any information in their power.</p> + +<p>“For a mile or so we rode through an open, undulating region where the +grass was fairly abundant, though not densely so. One of our escorts +explained that the season had been a little dry, and the grass was not +appearing as well as usual. After passing this open stretch we entered +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_237" id="pg_237">237</a></span>a forest principally of gum trees, whose white stems extended up a long +distance into the air before throwing out any limbs. From the gum forest +we passed into a stretch of scrub, and then entered a valley, through +which ran a small stream. The banks of the stream were fringed with +trees, and the open parts of it were thickly covered with grass. A mob +of some fifty or sixty cattle was grazing in this valley, and by the +orders of our host, the black fellow rode in among them, cracking his +whip loudly, and starting them off with heads and tails in the air.</p> + +<p>“‘They’ll go straight to the cattle camp,’ said Mr. Syme, ‘and that’s +where we want them.’</p> + +<p>“I asked if each herd had its own cattle camp, and whether it was +possible to drive the animals to two or more different camps.</p> + +<p>“‘We never try to do that,’ said the young man at my side; ‘we think it +quite sufficient if they will go to one camp only. You must remember +they don’t have much chance for education, and there is a limit to their +powers of understanding.’</p> + +<p>“We chatted on various topics as we rode along, and in two hours from +the time of starting we reached the cattle camp. There was a herd there +of several hundred cattle, which pretty well filled the open space +forming the camp. Half a dozen stockmen were there with as many black +fellows, and there was also the Melbourne cattle dealer with two or +three assistants.</p> + +<p>“At one side of the camp there was a little hill or mound, and Harry and +I went there, as it afforded a better view of the camp than the lower +ground. It was a very <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_238" id="pg_238">238</a></span>interesting sight that we had from the mound. The +mass of cattle was moving about uneasily; the bulls were bellowing, and +pawing, and having an occasional fight; the cows were lowing for their +calves, from which they had become separated, and the young bullocks +were making mild disturbances in the ways peculiar to the bovine race. +The stockmen and black fellows were kept busy in preventing the straying +of the animals, but even with all their vigilance a refractory animal +would occasionally break away and disappear in the scrub. The cattle +dealer had already begun to select his purchases, and we watched with a +good deal of interest the process of separating them from their +companions, and this is the way they did it:—</p> + +<p>“They cut out a small mob of cattle, perhaps a dozen or twenty animals, +and drove them off to one side. This was called the draft mob, or rather +it was the beginning of the draft mob. The cattle that were picked out +from the rest of the herd were put with these in order to keep them +quiet while the operation was going on, and then the original of the +draft mob were allowed to go back to the rest of the herd.</p> + +<p>“The cattle selected by the dealer were mostly young and fat bullocks, +possessing a good deal of strength and tempers of their own. They were +what is called ‘rowdy’ in this country, that is, they were badly +behaved, and it was no easy job for the stockmen to handle them.</p> + +<p>“The cattle dealer would indicate an animal that he wanted, and then two +of the stockmen would bring the creature out. Generally the bullock was +disinclined to go, and made things pretty lively for the stockmen. Each +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_239" id="pg_239">239</a></span>man was mounted on a horse that knew his business and had done the same +kind of work many times before. The horses stuck to their work just as +earnestly as did the riders, and whenever a bullock tried to run away +they ran after him, and kept up with him, too. I wonder that horse and +riders did not break their necks in this performance, and one of the +young gentlemen with us said that accidents were by no means infrequent. +He said that sometimes the bullocks showed a tendency to use their horns +and charge upon the men and their horses just as the bull does in a +Spanish bull-fight. No accident happened while we were looking on, and +for this I am very thankful.</p> + +<p>“One by one, the cattle which the dealer wanted were separated from the +herd and placed in the draft mob until their number amounted to eighty. +Then the animals originally constituting the draft mob were allowed to +rejoin the herd, and the herd was permitted to scatter wherever it +liked. The draft animals were then taken in charge by the stockmen and +started on the road to Melbourne; perhaps I ought to say that they were +started for the nearest railway station and completed their journey with +the aid of steam.</p> + +<p>“By the time the drafting was completed the sun was past the meridian, +and Harry and I were as ‘hungry as hunters,’ to use the old expression. +We thought we would have to ride back to the station to get our +luncheon, and were agreeably disappointed when we found that a black +fellow had just arrived with a hamper, or rather a bag of provisions, +tied behind his saddle. Our host led the way to a well-shaded nook where +there was a spring of water, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_240" id="pg_240">240</a></span>and we gathered around the spring at the +indication of our host, and prepared to do justice to the food that had +made such a welcome appearance.</p> + +<p>“A fire was kindled near by, and soon a steaming pot of tea was ready. +Tin cups made their appearance along with tin plates and knives and +forks, and I had a realizing sense of the delicious taste of a cup of +tea in the open air when one is hungry. The luncheon was a cold one, but +it was abundantly satisfying, and we thanked our host for his +thoughtfulness in providing it.</p> + +<p>“When we were near the end of our meal, one of the stockmen came in and +said something in a low tone to Mr. Syme.</p> + +<p>“The latter nodded briefly, and said, ‘All right,’ and then the stockman +went away.</p> + +<p>“Then Mr. Syme remarked, turning to us:—</p> + +<p>“‘On our way back to the station we’ll go by a different road, and I +think I can show you something that will be new to you.’</p> + +<p>“He said nothing more, and left us to wonder what the new sight would +be.</p> + +<p>“I forgot to mention that when we started from the station we were +accompanied by several dogs. They had a good time ranging around over +the plain and through the forest after the manner of dogs when let +loose, and seemed to enjoy themselves thoroughly. They were large and +rather lank animals, and capable of making high speed when necessary. We +asked our entertainer what they were specially used for, and were told +that the animals were kangaroo dogs.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_241" id="pg_241">241</a></span>“‘We use them for hunting kangaroos,’ said the young man who +accompanied me; ‘and a well-trained kangaroo dog is a valuable piece of +property to have. The kangaroo is an ungainly looking creature, but he +can get over the ground with wonderful rapidity. He goes fourteen or +sixteen feet at a jump, and he can jump at a very lively rate. Ordinary +fences are nothing to him, as he can clear a six-foot fence at a single +bound.’</p> + +<p>“While we were at luncheon the dogs were close about us on a keen +lookout for any scraps or slices of meat that came in their way.</p> + +<p>“The remains of the luncheon were given to them after the black fellow +Jack had been duly cared for, but there wasn’t enough of the provisions +remaining to give the animals an overdose.</p> + +<p>“When all was ready we mounted our horses, and our host led the way, +first announcing that he would show us some wild kangaroos. We came out +on the plain, and after riding three or four miles, approached a clump +of low trees and bushes, which was pointed out by the stockman whom I +mentioned.</p> + +<p>“‘There are the kangaroos,’ said Mr. Syme; ‘we will go in on one side of +the clump, and give them a chance to make a run.’</p> + +<p>“Following his directions, we spread out into a somewhat extended line +and approached the bunch of timber from the northern side. The dogs +began to show uneasiness, but were held in check by their young masters, +who spoke to them in very emphatic tones.</p> + +<p>“We advanced a short distance into the bushes, keeping <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_242" id="pg_242">242</a></span>in line as well +as we could. Suddenly there was a great stir and a series of sounds, as +though some one was pounding violently on the ground with a club.</p> + +<p>“‘There they go!’ shouted Mr. Syme. ‘Let off the dogs!’</p> + +<p>“Evidently the dogs understood what he said, as they did not wait for +the permission of their young masters. Away they went at full speed +after the kangaroos. There must have been twenty or thirty of the latter +making off across the plain in a southerly direction, but run as fast as +they did, the dogs could not keep up with those high-jumping creatures. +The speed was something prodigious. Our whole party started in full +gallop behind the dogs, the horses seeming to enter into the spirit of +the race quite as much as did their riders.</p> + +<p>“There wasn’t much chance for conversation during this run, but the +young man who was acting as my escort managed to tell me that we would +have a race of about three miles. ‘The kangaroo always runs for water,’ +he said; ‘and the nearest water in that direction is about three miles +away. They’ll fetch up at a small pond and make a stand there.’</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width:353px"> +<a name="illus-003" id="illus-003"></a> +<img src="images/aus242.jpg" alt=""THERE THEY GO!" SHOUTED MR. SYME." title="" width="353" /><br /> +<span class="caption">“THERE THEY GO!” SHOUTED MR. SYME.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_243" id="pg_243">243</a></span>“I learned afterward that this was a peculiarity of the kangaroo, to +seek water whenever he is pursued. The country over which we rode was +not the smoothest in the world, being broken in some places by rocks, +and encumbered by fallen timber in others. Here is where the jumping +powers of the kangaroo came in handily, as he could clear rocks and logs +with the utmost facility, and he had the ability to select a +comparatively smooth spot to come down upon. His jumping is done with +the muscles of his very powerful hind legs. He doesn’t use his fore legs +at all in walking or jumping, employing them principally as hands and +arms, very much as the American squirrel uses his paws. He can give a +tremendous hug with his fore legs, and that is one of his methods of +fighting.</p> + +<p>“This is a good place to say something about the natural history of the +kangaroo.</p> + +<p>“Australia is, emphatically, the home of this animal, as he is found in +a wild state in no other part of the world. Nearly all of the Australian +animals are marsupials; that is, they have pouches in which their young +are carried until able to take care of themselves. Of the large kangaroo +there are eight species, and the largest of them are fully six feet in +height and weigh one hundred and fifty pounds or more. Geologists say +that at one time there were, in Australia, marsupial animals closely +resembling the kangaroo but equaling the rhinoceros in size. They must +have been formidable fellows to attack!</p> + +<p>“The largest of all the kangaroos is the red one, and he is the one that +we hunted. Of the small kangaroos, weighing, say from ten to fifteen +pounds, there are seventeen species. Away in the interior of Australia +there are some silky-haired kangaroos about the size of an ordinary +rabbit, and there are several varieties still smaller, until you get +down to those about as large as an ordinary squirrel. All of them are +easily domesticated if taken when young, and they are very gentle pets. +They tell me that they had two at this station last year, and the dogs, +whose business <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_244" id="pg_244">244</a></span>it was to hunt the kangaroo, clearly understood that +they must leave these pet ones alone. Not only did they not harm the +animals, but got on very good terms with them, so that it was no +uncommon sight to see the kangaroos and the dogs lying down together in +a very well-mannered group. But one day, while the pets were in the +front of the house, a pack of strange dogs happened along and killed +them.</p> + +<p>“We didn’t overtake the kangaroos until they reached the water; in fact, +we heard the loud barking of the dogs before we came in sight of the +pond. One of the largest males, commonly denominated here as an ‘old +man,’ was on a little mound of earth just even with the surface of the +water, while around him was a depth of about four feet. The dogs in +front of him were at a respectful distance, as they had a great dread of +and respect for his hind feet, which are a part of his fighting +equipment. The kangaroo’s hind foot has three very strong toes, the +center one especially so. His method is to seize his assailant with his +fore paws, and rip him to death with his hinder ones, and sometimes he +drowns a dog by holding him under water. Many an incautious or verdant +dog has been killed in this way, and occasionally men have fallen +victims to the powerful hind feet of these animals.</p> + +<p>“The ‘old man’ kangaroo was defending himself bravely, and he had his +assailants at an advantage. The water was too deep for them to wade in. +Some were swimming about in front of him, carefully keeping out of +reach, while others were assailing his back. All of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_245" id="pg_245">245</a></span>dogs kept up a +loud barking, and kept looking around for human help.</p> + +<p>“The kangaroo was more than fifty feet from the shore of the pond or +pool, and when our party reached it, the animal was despatched by means +of a rifle in the hands of one of our party. The carcass was brought to +the shore and skinned, and a portion of the meat was fed to the dogs as +a reward for their exertions, and they ate it with avidity. In addition +to the ‘old man,’ we killed a young kangaroo, and the carcass, after +being disemboweled, was placed on the black fellow’s horse and sent to +the station.</p> + +<p>“We had kangaroo steaks for dinner, and very toothsome they were, +reminding us more of mutton than any other meat. These steaks came from +the young kangaroo I just mentioned. The flesh of the ‘old man’ is too +rank for human food, though it is sometimes eaten when no other food is +to be had. The flesh of the young kangaroo is put up at meat-canning +establishments for transportation to England, and they also export large +quantities of soup made from kangaroo tails. Some people think this soup +is preferable to ox tail, or even to turtle. I asked one of our friends +about it, and he said, with a smile, that it was better when you +couldn’t get either of the others. It is certainly an excellent soup, +and it’s a pity that so much of the raw material goes to waste.</p> + +<p>“In returning from our hunt we crossed a portion of the ground where we +had chased the kangaroos. One of the dogs scented something in the +grass, and barked in a manner to attract the attention of his owners. +The men <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_246" id="pg_246">246</a></span>hastened to the spot and found a ‘joey,’ or baby kangaroo, +which its mother had taken out of her pouch and laid upon the soft +grass, intending to return and pick it up after the danger was over. It +was a pretty little creature, about a foot long, and covered with soft, +silky hair. One of the young men took charge of it and carried it +carefully to the station, his intention being to raise it and make a pet +of it, as he had made pets of the kangaroos that they lost the year +before. When taken at this age, the kangaroo becomes perfectly docile, +and never shows the least desire for a wild life.</p> + +<p>“Our host told us that when the kangaroos are hunted, and there is no +water within reach, an ‘old man,’ if cornered, will place his back +against a tree and sell his life as dearly as possible. It is very +dangerous to go near him when he is thus defending himself, and it is +considered a fortunate circumstance in a fight of this kind if none of +the dogs are killed or injured.</p> + +<p>“When the first settlements were made in Australia the kangaroos were +not especially numerous, though they were probably more abundant than +any other animals. Their numbers were kept down by the aboriginals, who +used to hunt them for food and clothing, for which the kangaroo skin was +used, and they were also kept down by the dingoes, or wild dogs. The +dingoes were then abundant, and unhappily they were fond of mutton, and +when sheep were brought to Australia the flocks were very much reduced +by the operations of the wild dogs. Of course, the sheep raisers took +vengeance on the dingoes, and poisoned them in great numbers.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_247" id="pg_247">247</a></span>“At the same time, the aboriginals diminished steadily in number, owing +to causes previously stated, and those that remained preferred to live +upon mutton and beef obtained from the settlers rather than take the +trouble of hunting the kangaroo. Thus, the two natural enemies of that +animal were removed, and with their immunity from destruction the +kangaroos increased at a terrific rate. Their flocks and herds blackened +the fields for miles. They were frequently to be seen feeding among the +sheep, and as one kangaroo eats as much grass as three sheep, it will +readily be understood that the sheep farmer’s flocks were in danger of +being starved out.</p> + +<p>“Millions of acres of land were thus rendered unfit for sheep or cattle +pasturage. The settlers presented their case to the colonial +governments, and the latter placed a bounty on kangaroo scalps. +Meantime, it was found that the skins were worth something, and then the +slaughter of the creatures began.</p> + +<p>“Hunting with dogs in the way I have already described was altogether +too slow, and a quicker method was devised and found successful. This is +the way of it:—</p> + +<p>“A clump of trees a few acres in extent is selected as a central point. +Among these trees a stout yard is built, with a fence not less than ten +feet high and strong enough to resist any attack the kangaroo can make. +From the entrance of this yard two diverging fences of a somewhat +lighter character are built out upon the plain, the point of the fences +where they terminate being not less than a mile apart. When all is +ready, a day is appointed for the hunt, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_248" id="pg_248">248</a></span>and notice is sent to everybody +within thirty or forty miles. The hunt is in charge of one of the oldest +settlers, and everybody is bound to obey his orders.</p> + +<p>“The day before the hunt or drive is to take place, the principal men to +engage in it meet at the house of the leader and receive their orders. +All the squatters and other settlers who can do so come to the hut, and +with them all their stockmen and black fellows who can be spared from +their daily work. Sometimes as many as a hundred people take part in the +drive, and they are spread out in such a way as to include a very large +area of ground.</p> + +<p>“At the appointed hour, they begin to move in a long line in the +direction of the clump of bushes where the yard is located, or rather in +the direction of the jaws of the extended fences. Whatever kangaroos +there may be in the area of the country enclosed by the hunters are +driven in the direction of the yard, and the driving is done very +quietly, to avoid alarming the animals before the ends of the line of +men reach the ends of the diverging fence. When this takes place the +drive is pushed more rapidly, and the thoroughly frightened animals make +rapid leaps in the direction of the clump of timber, not suspecting that +in doing so they are going to their death. Before they are aware of it +they are inside the yard, and as the last of the drove enters, the gate +is closed and the animals are hopelessly imprisoned.</p> + +<p>“Sometimes thousands of kangaroos are taken in a single drive, and the +bounty obtained from the government, added to the value of the hides, is +divided among those <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_249" id="pg_249">249</a></span>who have participated in the hunt, or it may be +applied to some needed public work in the neighborhood.</p> + +<p>“The hides are pegged out and dried, and after being packed into bales +they are shipped to various parts of the world. There is an increasing +demand in the United States for kangaroo leather, as you are doubtless +aware. Kangaroo flesh is put into tin cans for the market, but by far +the greater part of the meat obtained from a single drive is left on the +ground.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Syme tells us that when the aboriginals used to hunt the kangaroos, +they killed them with the boomerang or the spear. In hunting with the +boomerang, they would creep up very slowly until within range, and +whenever they threw the weapon, it was generally with fatal effect. In +hunting with the spear, a native used to dress up so as to look like a +bush, by surrounding himself with twigs and vines. He carried his spear +in an upright position, so that it appeared to form an apex of the bush. +Then he walked slowly along, standing perfectly still when the kangaroo +raised its head to look around, and only moving while the animal grazed. +In this way, and by taking plenty of time, he would get up within +spear-throwing distance, and the rest of the story tells itself.”</p> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="HUNTING_THE_EMU_AND_OTHER_BIRDSmdashAN_AUSTRALIAN_SHEEP_RUN_6759" id="HUNTING_THE_EMU_AND_OTHER_BIRDSmdashAN_AUSTRALIAN_SHEEP_RUN_6759"></a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_250" id="pg_250">250</a></span> +<h2>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> +<h3>HUNTING THE EMU AND OTHER BIRDS—AN AUSTRALIAN SHEEP RUN.</h3> +</div> + +<p>It was pretty well along in the afternoon when the party reached the +station on its return. Our friends agreed that they had had an excellent +day, and the sights they had witnessed were full of interest.</p> + +<p>Mr. Syme asked the doctor and our young friends if they were good shots +with the rifle or shot-gun. They modestly and truthfully answered that +they had had very little experience in shooting, but were willing to +make a trial of their skill.</p> + +<p>“Very well,” said the host, “we will go out to-morrow and make an effort +to obtain some birds. We will begin with the largest bird of Australia, +the emu, and see what luck we can have with him.”</p> + +<p>“I’ve read about that bird,” said Harry; “he doesn’t fly, but he can run +very fast. I have read that he will outrun a horse; is that really so?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” was the reply; “he can outrun most horses; in fact, it requires +an exceedingly fleet steed to overtake him. It is very little use to try +to run him down by a dead chase after him. The best way is to station +the horses along in a line about half a mile or so apart, and then chase +the bird in their direction. Each horseman takes up the chase <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_251" id="pg_251">251</a></span>with a +fresh animal until the emu is tired out, and then the dogs are sent in +to finish the work.”</p> + +<p>Our young friends slept well that night, the result of their exercise on +horseback in the open air; in fact, they didn’t care to sit up late, and +retired much earlier than on the previous evening.</p> + +<p>The next morning the party started very soon after breakfast, and the +way was taken to an open plain, three or four miles across, and fringed +with timber. When they neared the plain they met a black fellow, who had +been sent out early in the morning to find the game. He had found it, +and informed his master where it was.</p> + +<p>Then the horsemen were spread out in the manner already mentioned, and +the bird was started out of a little clump of timber where they had +taken shelter. Harry and Ned were surprised to see the manner in which +he ran. He seemed to be ready to drop with exhaustion, and Harry +confidently predicted that he would fall dead from fright before going a +mile. But somehow he managed to keep in advance of his pursuers, and +whenever they quickened their pace he quickened his, but all the time +keeping up the appearance of weariness. The last of the horsemen, +however, approached within two hundred yards of the emu, who was by this +time really tired. Then the dogs were turned loose, and they speedily +overtook the bird and pulled him down. One of the dogs was quite +severely injured in the fight with the bird, but his wounds were dressed +and bandaged, and his owners said he would soon be well again.</p> + +<p>The emu is called the Australian ostrich, and he resembles <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_252" id="pg_252">252</a></span>that bird in +being unable to fly, running with great rapidity and using his feet for +fighting purposes. He strikes a heavy blow with his foot, and a single +stroke of it is sufficient to disable a dog or break a man’s leg. The +young man who accompanied Harry told him that he knew of an instance +where an emu was chased and overtaken by a man on horseback, accompanied +by dogs. The bird became desperate at finding he could not escape. As +the horse approached, the bird threw itself on its back and kicked +savagely, ripping the side of the animal with its claws. The horse was +so badly lacerated that it was necessary to shoot him.</p> + +<p>If caught when young or hatched out from an egg, the emu can be easily +domesticated, but he is a dangerous pet to have about the premises. Like +the ostrich, it has a love for bright things, and has been known to +swallow silver spoons and other shining articles. One day a stranger, +standing close to the fence of a yard where a tame emu was kept, took +out his gold watch to ascertain the time. The bird was attracted by the +glittering object, and with a quick motion he seized it and dropped it +down his throat. Several black fellows were called, who secured the bird +with some difficulty, poured a powerful emetic into his stomach, and +then hung him up by the feet. This heroic treatment had the desired +effect, and restored the watch to its owner.</p> + +<p>The eggs of the emu are in demand as great curiosities, and Australian +jewelers work them into various ornamented articles and sell them +readily at a high price. The perpetual hunt for the eggs, which is kept +up by the blacks, is steadily diminishing the number of these birds, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_253" id="pg_253">253</a></span>and, in course of time, there is danger that they will become extinct.</p> + +<p>Another bird that was seen by our friends, but not captured, is the one +known as the native companion. It is a large bird, belonging to the +crane family. Its head stands about three feet from the ground, its legs +are long, and its plumage is a lavender gray. It is rarely seen alone, +there being generally two of them together, and very often a dozen or +more. In this instance there were two birds, which went away rapidly on +their wings and were soon lost to sight. When there is a large number of +them together, they indulge in a series of evolutions which have a close +resemblance to the movements of accomplished dancers. They advance, +recede, turn, return, and go through a variety of figures like dancers +in the quadrille or the minuet. Sometimes they keep up these +performances for an hour or more, and seem to indulge in them entirely +for the sake of amusement.</p> + +<p>Harry asked if they would have an opportunity to see the famous lyre +bird of Australia. “We saw two of them,” said he, “in the Zoo at +Melbourne, and therefore, know what their appearance is, but we would +like very much to see them in their wild state.”</p> + +<p>“The lyre bird is getting very scarce in Australia,” said their young +friend, “and I have never seen one in this locality. The bird frequents +mountainous regions where the forests are somewhat dense, and very +rarely comes out into the open plain. It is about the size of an +ordinary barnyard fowl, but looks much larger, owing to its beautiful +tail, which is very long, and grows exactly <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_254" id="pg_254">254</a></span>in the shape of the +instrument after which it is named. It is a very clever mocking bird, +and will reproduce the notes of all its forest companions, but it is +very shy and difficult to get at, and unless it is got when very young +it cannot be domesticated.</p> + +<p>“We have wild turkeys here,” continued their informant; “and they are +very good eating; perhaps some of our party will be fortunate enough to +bring down a turkey or two before we go back. There is one fowl here +called the mallee bird, about the size of the pheasant, and resembling +him in many ways. He generally lives near the edge of the mallee scrub, +and his flesh is very much esteemed by all who have eaten it. The mallee +is a gregarious bird, and at the breeding season large numbers of them +come together. They collect great heaps of dry leaves, among which a +number of hen birds lay their eggs, indiscriminately taking care to +cover them up warmly.</p> + +<p>“They don’t take any trouble to hatch their eggs, but leave that for the +heat of the dry and decaying vegetable matter. When the time approaches +for the chicks to break the shell, the male birds hover about on the +watch for their appearance, and snakes, also, like to come around, in +the hopes of securing a few of the tender birds as they emerge into +daylight. When the chick comes out from the egg, his skin is pink and +bare, and hardly a sign of a feather is visible; but within twenty-four +hours, during which the feathers spread so rapidly that you can almost +see their growth, the bird is fully fledged and feathered, and able to +take care of itself.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_255" id="pg_255">255</a></span>An amusing circumstance happened during the day’s excursion. Ned was +the victim of it, and he did not consider it at all amusing until after +it was all over. This was the way of it:—</p> + +<p>While the party was halted at one time, discussing where next they would +go, the dogs disturbed something, but neither of our young friends could +make out what it was. They were in the open country at the time, though +not far from the edge of the bush. The something that the dogs had +disturbed came directly towards the party, and Ned happened to be nearer +to it than anybody else. The creature looked like a small alligator, and +that’s what Ned and Harry thought it was. Ned had dismounted from his +horse and was standing by the animal’s head, waiting for the decision +about their movements. The animal came directly up to Ned and climbed up +his side. It was about five feet long, and a very formidable-looking +creature. The youth immediately began fighting the animal, and shouted +for his friends to pull him off.</p> + +<p>“Lie down on the ground,” said one of the Australians; “lie down on the +ground, and he will leave you at once. He is just as much frightened as +you are.”</p> + +<p>Ned flung his horse’s bridle to one of his friends, and then obeyed +instructions. He dropped to the ground, and immediately as he did so the +horrid-looking creature left him.</p> + +<p>“What in the world is that?” said Ned, as he rose to his feet again and +regained his composure.</p> + +<p>“That’s an iguana, or lizard,” was the reply. “It is perfectly harmless +as long as you know how to deal with <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_256" id="pg_256">256</a></span>it. When it is pursued by dogs, it +runs to its hole if it can; if its hole is not available, it climbs a +tree until it is out of reach of its pursuers, and if no tree is at +hand, it will climb on a man or a horse. It selected you as a place of +shelter, and I warrant it was more scared than you were.”</p> + +<p>“It might be easily mistaken for an alligator,” said Ned, surveying the +animal as it was stretched on the ground, having been killed by a blow +on the head from the butt of a stockman’s whip.</p> + +<p>“Yes, it is often mistaken for a young alligator. I have known of an +iguana to appear in a party of pleasure seekers, picnicking in the +woods, and make quite a serious disturbance. The ladies screamed and +fled and some of them fainted. Some of the men fled, too, but those who +knew about the creature quickly despatched him.”</p> + +<p>“Is it useful for food?”</p> + +<p>“Yes; the blacks use it, and are very fond of it, but white men don’t +‘hanker after it,’ as your American phrase is. However, those who have +been bold enough to taste it assert that, when well cooked, the flavor +is excellent.”</p> + +<p>“Well, it doesn’t look very inviting,” Ned remarked; “and I don’t think +I would care for iguana for dinner.”</p> + +<p>“You may not care for it,” was the reply, “but the black fellows will. +Here, Jack,” he continued, addressing the aboriginal, “you can have +this.”</p> + +<p>Jack needed no second invitation. With a smile on his face, he quickly +took possession of the huge lizard and strapped it to his saddle. No +doubt the meat of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_257" id="pg_257">257</a></span>iguana gave the blacks at the station a supper +that they greatly enjoyed.</p> + +<p>Another day was spent at the cattle station, Harry and Ned going out +with one of the stockmen and accompanying him on his morning round. Dr. +Whitney thought he did not care for any more horseback exercise just +then, and spent the day around the station. The youths enjoyed their +ride very much, and returned to the house in time for luncheon.</p> + +<p>It had been arranged that our young friends should visit a sheep run +about twenty miles away, and on the morning of the fourth day Mr. Syme +took them in his covered wagon to their destination. The road was not a +very smooth one, but the wagon, which was well built, suffered no +injury, and as for the passengers, they did not mind a little jolting. +They reached their destination with very sharp appetites, and evidently +their new host, Mr. Johnson, was aware of what their condition would be, +as a substantial meal was on the table a few minutes after their +arrival; and you may be sure that it received ample attention from the +strangers.</p> + +<p>After the meal was over, the party went out for a stroll among the +buildings connected with the station. The house where the owner lived +was a solidly built affair, not unlike the one they had sojourned in for +a few days at the cattle station. There was this difference, however, +that it was elevated on posts about six feet from the ground, giving +free circulation of air beneath it, and furnishing a good place of +storage for various things connected with the station.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_258" id="pg_258">258</a></span>In reply to an inquiry by Harry, Mr. Johnson said that this arrangement +of the building was a good one to keep out snakes. “It doesn’t keep them +out altogether,” said he, “as there are snakes that will climb posts, +but ordinarily serpents do not attempt that performance. When I first +came to Australia, I lived in a house which stood right on the ground. +The region was a snaky one, and every little while we would find a snake +in the house, and have a lively time driving him out or killing him. +None of the family was ever bitten by a snake, but we certainly had some +narrow escapes. When I came here and built this house, I determined to +have a dwelling which these unpleasant visitors could not easily enter.”</p> + +<p>Harry remarked that a snake-proof house was certainly quite to his +liking, and he hoped the building would continue to display its +admirable qualities as long as he remained there.</p> + +<p>The youths were impressed with the size and extent of the wool shed +belonging to the establishment, and Ned remarked that they must have a +very active time during the shearing season.</p> + +<p>“It is our most active time,” was the reply; “the busiest of all the +year. Ordinarily the life on a sheep run is quiet and humdrum, but when +shearing time begins everything is lively. We engage the shearers as +they come along, in parties or gangs. They are a difficult lot of men to +deal with, as they have a very powerful trade union which stands by its +members, with little regard to right or wrong. The shearing is done by +piece work. We used to pay three pence for shearing a sheep, or <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_259" id="pg_259">259</a></span>rather +we paid five shillings a score. A good shearer can do fourscore in a +day, and consequently he earns twenty shillings or one sovereign. That’s +pretty good pay, isn’t it?”</p> + +<p>“Seems to me that it is,” replied Harry. “Do you board the shearers, or +do they find themselves?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, we have to board them, of course, and we have to board their +horses, as most of the shearers travel on horseback. But the feed of a +horse isn’t of much consequence, as we simply turn him into the paddock +and let him graze there. Sometimes we hire a fiddler to play for the men +while they are at work in the shearing house, and also in the evening, +when they are off duty. Sometimes a gang of shearers brings along its +own cook. They pay the cook’s wages themselves, but the employer +supplies the material out of which the shearers’ meals are made. These +fellows are very particular as to their treatment, and if they feel that +they are ill-used in any way, they are liable to quit work and go away.”</p> + +<p>“They ought to earn a very nice little sum of money during the shearing +season,” observed Harry.</p> + +<p>“They certainly do,” was the reply; “especially as, for the last two +years, they have demanded four pence and even five pence for each sheep +sheared. I expect they’ll get it up in time so as to take most of the +profits of the business. It makes little difference to the great +majority of them how much they get for their work, as it is generally +gone by the end of the shearing season.”</p> + +<p>“That reminds me,” said Mr. Johnson, “of the visit of a gentleman from +Melbourne to a sheep station up <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_260" id="pg_260">260</a></span>country. He went there with a friend, +reaching the station about dinner time. He was introduced to the owner +of the station, who greeted him cordially enough, and invited the two of +them to remain at dinner, which would be ready shortly. He strolled +about the buildings for a little while, and when dinner was announced, +he went in and joined the others at table.</p> + +<p>“The table was well supplied, and he had no occasion to complain of the +quality or quantity of the food set before him; but he was somewhat +surprised to find that no one spoke to him, except in the briefest +manner, and that every one seemed desirous of being rid of him as soon +as possible. In fact, there was very little conversation at the table, +anyway, and as soon as they were through dinner he suggested to his +friend that they had better be moving. Their team was brought out, and +they continued their journey, their temporary hosts not even taking the +trouble to say good-day to him.</p> + +<p>“When they were out of earshot of the place, the Melbourne gentleman +remarked to his companion, who, by the way, was a good deal of a +practical joker:—</p> + +<p>“‘I don’t think much of your friends from a civility point of view. They +were as rude to me as a party of savages could be.’</p> + +<p>“‘I don’t wonder at it,’ was the reply. ‘Just for the fun of the thing, +I told them you were president of the Sheep Shearers’ Union.’</p> + +<p>“‘If you told them that outrageous lie,’ said the other, ‘I am not at +all surprised that they treated me as they did, but please don’t do it +again.’</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_261" id="pg_261">261</a></span>“I don’t believe that the president of the Shearers’ Union would +receive a hearty welcome at any sheep run in Australia. Sheep farmers +have good reason for a serious grudge against the whole concern; but, +after all, it is no worse than most of the other trade unions. Nearly +all of them are oppressive to a high degree, and are a great injury to +business and commercial prosperity.”</p> + +<p>Ned and Harry were especially interested in the place where the shearing +was done. The building was a large structure of quadrangular shape, with +a bulkhead running across the middle of it and dividing it into two +portions. There is a platform for the shearers around one of the +enclosures formed, and by the bulkhead at shearing time; this is always +kept full of sheep; in fact, it is crowded full, so that the shearer can +lay hands on a sheep at any time without the necessity of running after +it. The shearers stand at their work. They have tried various devices +for sitting down or for placing sheep on a bench or table so as to avoid +bending their backs, but none of the experiments have succeeded, and the +old process remains in use. It is decidedly fatiguing for a beginner, +but in course of time one gets used to it, as to everything else.</p> + +<p>“What is that little door for, and the little yard outside of it?” +queried Ned, as he pointed to one of a series of low, small doors at the +outside of the shearers’ platform, opposite the enclosure.</p> + +<p>“Oh, that is for the shearer to let out his sheep after he has removed +the fleece. He takes the animal to be sheared out of the enclosure, as I +told you, and then when he has sheared it, he lets it out through this +door into the little <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_262" id="pg_262">262</a></span>yard; that is to enable us to count the men’s work +in a way to avoid all disputes. In the early days of Australian sheep +farming, the men who gathered up the fleece kept the accounts of the +shearers, but there were constant disputes on the subject, which led to +the adoption of the present system. You see there isn’t any chance for +misunderstanding now.”</p> + +<p>“Certainly, you have it now beyond question,” remarked Harry; “and I am +sure that every shearer is very careful about letting his sheep out +through his own door.”</p> + +<p>“That he is,” was the reply; “and we never have any complaints about +unfair counting. At the end of the day’s work everybody can count up for +himself.”</p> + +<p>“I suppose,” said Ned, “that the shearers occasionally cut the sheep +while shearing them.”</p> + +<p>“Occasionally!” was the reply; “you had better say frequently, or very +often; and some of them are much worse than others. We have proposed to +the Shearers’ Union to establish a system of fines for ‘tomahawking’ +sheep, but the union refuses to do anything about it. We always have a +boy here, and sometimes two boys, while the shearing is going on. The +boy is provided with a tar bucket and brush. Whenever a shearer cuts the +skin of a sheep he calls out ‘Tar!’ not stopping a moment in his work. +At the sound of that word, the boy runs forward with his bucket and +brush and covers the wounded spot with tar, which keeps the flies away +from it. Tar is the best thing we can find for this purpose, and is in +use on all the sheep runs in the country.</p> + +<p>“Many of the shearers,” continued their host, “pride <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_263" id="pg_263">263</a></span>themselves on the +skill with which they perform their work. The shearer places the sheep +between his knees with its head upwards; he begins at the throat and +shears downward, so that, when his work is completed, the fleece drops +off in a single piece. As fast as the sheep are sheared, the fleeces are +gathered by the man whose duty it is to collect them. They are then +taken to the baling house, and, when a sufficient quantity has been +obtained, the fleeces are made into bales, in much the same way that +cotton is baled on an American plantation.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Johnson then led the way to the baling house, or rather the baling +room, as it was in the same building where the shearing is carried on. +The baling apparatus proved to be a simple affair, nothing more than a +press, very much like a cotton or hay press, and handled in the same +way. The bales of wool usually weigh about four hundred pounds, and are +manipulated with hooks, just as cotton bales are handled.</p> + +<p>Ned asked if it was necessary to have the wool perfectly dry when +packing it.</p> + +<p>“Yes, indeed,” was the reply; “and for that reason all work in the wool +shed must stop during wet weather. The fleeces, when taken from the +sheep, must be absolutely dry, and if the sheep are caught out in a +rain, it takes two or three days to dry them thoroughly. It is a serious +loss of time when we have occasional rainy days, as we lose not only the +rainy day itself, but not less than one or two clear days afterwards in +order to have the fleeces in proper condition for baling.”</p> + +<p>Other observations were made around the wool shed, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_264" id="pg_264">264</a></span>and about the time +that they were concluded a flock of sheep came in from its day’s +pasturage. There were about five hundred sheep in the flock, accompanied +by the shepherd and his dog. They were not driven to the wool shed, but +to a yard a little distance away from it. The sheep were in good +condition and evidently well cared for.</p> + +<p>Harry remarked as much to the owner, who answered that the man in charge +of them was a very faithful shepherd, and he added that he might well be +so, as he was constantly under the eye of his employer.</p> + +<p>After looking at the flock and visiting several other buildings of the +establishment, the party returned to the house, and in due course of +time sat down to dinner. The entertainment was very much like that of +the cattle station. The cooking was good, the host was attentive, the +meal was enlivened by stories of sheep-farming life, and altogether the +occasion was a pleasant one.</p> + +<p>The next morning Mr. Johnson accompanied his guests in a horseback ride +over a portion of his grounds. As the sheep run covered an area of about +one hundred square miles, it was too much to expect that they would +examine the whole of it. They visited two or three of the out-stations, +and saw the shepherds caring for their flocks. Each of the out-stations +that they visited consisted of a hut for two men, and two yards where +the sheep were kept at night. As already mentioned in our account of the +visit of the party to a sheep farm in South Africa, each shepherd +started out in the morning with his flock, moving it slowly along so as +to reach water about noon, and then <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_265" id="pg_265">265</a></span>slowly feeding it back again, +reaching the station about nightfall.</p> + +<p>Nearly every shepherd has a sheep dog, partly for the sake of +companionship and partly for assistance. A good sheep dog is a very +useful and valuable animal. He aids the shepherd in keeping the flock +together whenever any of them show a disposition to straggle, and the +sheep speedily learn to know him and regard him as their friend. He +never injures them, though he frequently makes a great pretense of doing +so. Sometimes he takes a refractory sheep by the ear, or seizes it by +the wool on his neck, but the case is exceedingly rare where he +perpetrates an actual bite.</p> + +<p>The favorite dog for the shepherd is the collie, but other kinds are +employed, and many an ordinary cur has been trained by an intelligent +master so that he made an excellent sheep dog, though he can never +attain the excellence of the genuine collie. The real shepherd dog will +accomplish more than would be possible for a man under the same +circumstances. He will drive a flock from place to place, gather them +together to be counted, and take them from one field to another much +quicker than a man could do it. A story is told of an instance that +happened in Scotland, to James Hogg, known in literature as “The Ettrick +Shepherd.” Seven hundred sheep broke loose one night from his charge, +and scampered off in three divisions across the plain. It was too dark +to see anything for any appreciable distance, and the shepherd supposed +he would have to wait until morning, and then take his chances of +collecting his animals. Shortly afterwards <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_266" id="pg_266">266</a></span>he missed his dog. In the +morning he went out to look for the sheep, but saw no sign of them until +he reached the edge of a ravine and looked over the side. There he saw +the dog guarding the entire flock, not one of the seven hundred being +missing. How he ever managed to collect them in the dark, his owner +could not imagine. A dozen, or even a hundred men, would have failed +where he succeeded.</p> + +<p>Near the end of the last century there was a sheep stealer in Scotland, +who was finally discovered and hanged for his crimes, who used to carry +on his trade by the aid of his dog. He traveled about the country under +pretense of buying sheep, though he rarely bought any. While looking at +a flock, he would pick one of the fattest and give a secret signal to +his dog, indicating the animal. That night the dog would come to the +flock where the sheep belonged, often traveling several miles to do it; +then would pick out the identical animal and drive it to his master. If +he happened, at any time, to meet his master on the road while going on +one of his stealing expeditions, the dog would give no sign of +recognition, and treat his master as a perfect stranger. When the man’s +guilt was discovered, and he was tried and condemned for his crime, the +dog was also condemned to be hanged; but it was afterwards concluded +that the dog was simply an instrument, in the hands of his owner, and +not responsible for his actions. He was given to a shepherd, who kept +the animal as long as he lived; and, according to the shepherd’s +account, the dog was never afterwards guilty of any crime.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_267" id="pg_267">267</a></span>During their ride among the out-stations of the sheep run, our young +friends learned several things connected with the industry of raising +wool for the market.</p> + +<p>One fact which they learned was, that for a portion of the year, a great +many sheep farmers are in debt to the bankers at the ports where they +send their wool. They have a considerable amount of money to pay out +during the course of the year before shearing time, and consequently +they require advances from their bankers. It is not at all difficult to +obtain money in advance on a crop of wool, and in this respect a sheep +run has an advantage over a cattle run. Even when the sheep farmer is +growing rich, and has money laid by, he often prefers to obtain advances +on his wool crop rather than use his own money for carrying on business. +When the crop comes in, all the indebtedness is paid off, and there is +usually a good balance left. This may be set aside and invested, or it +may remain at the banker’s, to be drawn whenever wanted.</p> + +<p>Sheep farmers keep very little money at their stations in the country +districts for fear of attracting bushrangers, or other individuals, +whose ideas of the rights of property do not harmonize with those of +society in general. In many cases laborers are paid off by check, and +not in cash, and it is no uncommon sight to see a laboring man, in an +Australian town or village, flourishing a check previous to turning it +into money, which he proceeds to spend with a liberal hand.</p> + +<p>Another point that they learned was, that there are certain portions of +Australia between the mountains and the coast, particularly in +Queensland, that are not adapted to <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_268" id="pg_268">268</a></span>sheep, though they make excellent +pasturage for cattle. In these localities there is a grass that has a +barb on its edges, and when once it becomes attached to the wool of the +sheep, it steadily works its way inward until it pierces the skin of the +animal, and eventually causes its death. Cattle are not affected by this +grass, as it does not penetrate their skins. They walk in it and feed +upon it with impunity, and in any of the regions where this grass is +found there is no attempt at rearing sheep, but the land is devoted to +cattle raising.</p> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="FROM_MELBOURNE_TO_SYDNEYmdashCROSSING_THE_BLUE_MOUNTAINS_7274" id="FROM_MELBOURNE_TO_SYDNEYmdashCROSSING_THE_BLUE_MOUNTAINS_7274"></a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_269" id="pg_269">269</a></span> +<h2>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> +<h3>FROM MELBOURNE TO SYDNEY—CROSSING THE BLUE MOUNTAINS.</h3> +</div> + +<p>When their visit to the sheep run was concluded, our friends returned to +Melbourne, where they spent two or three days, and then proceeded to +Sydney. Two ways were open to them, one by sea, and the other by land; +they chose the latter, as it would give them an opportunity to see more +of the country than if they went by water. The water journey is mostly +made by night, and consequently they would be deprived of a sight of the +picturesque coast which lies between the two cities.</p> + +<p>The railway out of Melbourne runs through a picturesque country, as it +ascends the slope of the dividing range of mountains in the neighborhood +of the city. There are many country residences of gentlemen concerned in +business in Melbourne, and the country has a prosperous appearance. +Further away on the slope of the range, our friends passed through large +wheat fields, sheep and cattle runs, occasional patches of forest, and +not infrequently crossed small rivers flowing on their way to the sea. +They also crossed a goodly number of dry beds of rivers, which had every +appearance of being full and running over in the season of heavy rains. +The side of the range next the coast receives more rain than <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_270" id="pg_270">270</a></span>the other +side of it, and the reasons therefor have been given in a previous +chapter.</p> + +<p>After the train had passed the crest of the range, it rolled along +through a broken and undulating country, largely devoted to sheep and +cattle raising, and having many stretches of blue gum forest. In some +places great numbers of rabbits were visible, but this was a sight to +which the eyes of our young friends had become accustomed. As they +approached the frontier of the colony of Victoria, Dr. Whitney remarked +that they would spend the rest of the day and the night at Albury, so as +to have another view of the Murray River, and study the peculiarities of +the colonial frontier.</p> + +<p>“I believe,” said Harry, “that we have our baggage examined at the +frontier, just as it is examined at the frontiers of the empires and +kingdoms of Europe.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” replied the doctor, “that is the case; and I suppose the +examination will be a light one for us, as we are going out of a +protection colony into a free trade one. If we were going the other way, +the custom house officials would be more particular.”</p> + +<p>“How is that?” Ned asked.</p> + +<p>“Why, don’t you see?” the doctor answered, “a protection country is on +the lookout for goods that may interfere with its manufacturing +interests; the free trade one has no such care for its manufacturing +industries, but levies its duties on articles of luxury principally. +When you come into the United States, your baggage is examined much more +carefully than when you go into England. England is a free trade +country, while our own is a protection <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_271" id="pg_271">271</a></span>one; at least it has been for +the greater part of the time since it began its existence.”</p> + +<p>“It is rather a strange circumstance,” remarked Ned, “that two colonies +of the same country, lying side by side, and one of them an offshoot of +the other, should be so radically different in their tariff laws. How do +you account for it, sir?”</p> + +<p>“We are treading on dangerous ground,” replied the doctor, “as it is not +prudent for a traveler in foreign lands to talk politics; but as we are +quite by ourselves, we may be permitted to discuss the subject a little. +Victoria, as you are aware, is an offshoot from the colony of New South +Wales, from which it was separated in August, 1851. I don’t know +anything about the matter, but presume that the origin of the +differences in tariffs between the two colonies grew out of the +opposition of the new to the old. There has always been a great deal of +jealousy between them, and as New South Wales had a free trade policy, +it was the most natural thing in the world that the jealous young colony +of Victoria should adopt a protection one. In each of the colonies there +is a strong party opposed to its tariff policy; in Victoria there is a +goodly number of free-traders, while in New South Wales there is an +equally good number of protectionists. Whatever a man’s views are, in +regard to free trade or protection, it is generally useless to attempt +to change them by argument; and if he is a skilled debater, he can give +you facts and figures to demonstrate, with great clearness, the +correctness of his views. On that point I can tell you what was to me an +amusing story.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_272" id="pg_272">272</a></span>“What was that?”</p> + +<p>“Several years ago, when the financial authorities of the two colonies +had made their annual reports, the two documents were taken by a free +trade writer for an English magazine, and out of them, by the use of the +figures and facts that they contained, there was constructed an +admirable article, demonstrating, with great clearness, the advantages +of free trade in New South Wales. Almost simultaneously in an American +newspaper appeared a similar article, drawn from the same facts and +figures, which demonstrated with equal clearness and with equal +conclusiveness the advantages of protection in Victoria. There was not a +weak point in either of the articles, and the curious thing was that +they were drawn from the same sources. Each writer showed that the +colony whose tariff policy he had favored was far more prosperous than +the other, and was making progress steadily, while the other was running +behind.”</p> + +<p>“It’s pretty much the same in our own country, is it not?” queried +Harry. “It seems to me that I have read articles in the New York +<i>Tribune</i> and the New York <i>Evening Post</i> that were flatly contradictory +of each other on the subject of the tariff.”</p> + +<p>“Yes; that is quite likely the case, as both of the papers you name are +ready to debate the subject, and it is evident that the writers upon +both sides of the question believe what they say. I don’t think it worth +our while to enter into the abstract question here, and so we’ll drop it +for something else. You are aware, I presume, that we have to make a +change of train at the frontier on account <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_273" id="pg_273">273</a></span>of the different gauges of +the railways of the two colonies.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir, I was aware of that,” said Harry; “one track is six inches +wider than the other.”</p> + +<p>“Yes; that is another indication of the hostility between the two +colonies. When the railway between Sydney and Melbourne was projected, +it was impossible for the opposing interests to agree upon a uniform +track for the whole distance, and consequently each colony did as it +chose. The result was, that the Victorian line was of one gauge, and +that of New South Wales of another. Neither passenger nor freight cars +can run through from one city to the other, but all passengers and +freight must be transferred at the frontier.”</p> + +<p>“Let me call your attention to another thing while we are on the subject +of colonial disagreements,” the doctor remarked. “Each of the colonies +has its own postal system and each its own postage stamp. In New South +Wales, a Victorian stamp would be of no use, any more than would a +British postage stamp in the United States Post-office. You can prepay +letters from one colony to the other in the stamps of the colony where +you happen to be, but if you post a letter in Sydney with a Victorian +stamp upon it, I am afraid it would go to the dead letter office, just +as if it had borne no stamp at all.”</p> + +<p>“What a pity it is,” said Harry, “that the colonies cannot reconcile +their differences and come together.”</p> + +<p>“You are not the first one, by any means, who has thought so,” was the +reply. “Statesmen have been for a considerable time discussing the +question of a federation <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_274" id="pg_274">274</a></span>of all the colonies in the same way that the +British American colonies are federated. Federation would have been +accomplished long ago, at least it is so claimed by the others, had it +not been for New South Wales, which stands aloof from the rest +principally on account of the tariff question. All the other colonies +are in favor of the protection of home industries, while New South +Wales, as before stated, favors a free trade policy. I saw, while in +Melbourne, a cartoon representing several young women standing in a +circle. All were dressed in white and wreathed with roses, and the +various members of the circle were marked with the names of Victoria, +Tasmania, Queensland, South Australia, New Zealand, and West Australia. +A little in the background, and leaning against the wall with one finger +in her mouth as though she were angry, was a young woman dressed in +black, and labeled ‘New South Wales.’ The others were evidently trying, +but without success, to induce her to join the circle.</p> + +<p>“I presume,” he continued, “that federation will come in time, and an +Australian gentleman told me the other day that he believed it would be +a step towards independence. He thought, as do many other Australians, +that the long distance from the mother country and their diversity of +interests would tend, as the years go on, to weaken the bonds between +Great Britain and her Australian colonies, and that separation would be +sure to come. The colonies realize their great danger in case Great +Britain should become involved in a foreign war, and especially with a +power possessing a powerful navy. The colonies have a <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_275" id="pg_275">275</a></span>military force on +the volunteer system, which could no doubt do efficient service in time +of war. The British government maintains a certain number of warships in +Australian waters, but neither they nor the volunteer troops provided by +the colonies would be of much avail against a powerful force sent here +by a first-class power.”</p> + +<p>There was further conversation upon various topics of which we have no +record, and in due course of time the train reached Wodonga, the +frontier terminus of the line. It halted a few minutes in the station, +and then moved on to Albury, in New South Wales, crossing the Murray +River on an iron bridge; Harry remarking, as they did so, that it was +the same Murray, though not the same bridge, that they crossed between +Adelaide and Melbourne.</p> + +<p>Harry learned, on inquiry, that the railway line from Melbourne reached +Wodonga in 1873, but the line from Sydney did not arrive at the northern +bank of the Murray until eight years later. There were disagreements +between the management of the two concerns, so that for three years the +ends of the two railway lines were not brought together. Passengers were +transferred by coaches or omnibuses, and baggage and freight by wagons, +between Wodonga and Albury, a distance of two miles. At last, however, +the quarrels came to an end. A bridge was built, the lines of railway +were completed, and since then everything has been harmonious. +Passengers from New South Wales cross the river in the train by which +they have arrived, and alight in the station at Wodonga. Passengers from +Victoria cross the river, and make their <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_276" id="pg_276">276</a></span>change of cars on the +territory of New South Wales in the Albury station.</p> + +<p>After the custom-house examination was concluded, and it was by no means +severe, our friends found a fairly good hotel where they put up for the +night. Then they took a carriage and drove around the town, which was +evidently a prosperous one, and had the usual paraphernalia of public +institutions, such as churches, hospitals, jail, town hall, etc. It is +said to be the home and the place of business of a considerable number +of smugglers, whose occupation is invited by the long frontier line +which separates Victoria from New South Wales. A resident of Albury, +with whom our friends fell into conversation, admitted that a good deal +of smuggling was carried on there, and added that it would take the +whole male population of Victoria to guard the frontier efficiently. Of +course, smuggling, like the same business everywhere else, relates +chiefly to goods where high values can be included in small parcels. No +one would think it worth his while to smuggle bulky articles of small +value, since it would not pay to carry them long distances on men’s +backs, as most of the smuggled articles are carried.</p> + +<p>Albury stands on the bank of the Murray River, five hundred and +thirty-one feet above the sea; it is about three hundred miles from the +source of that stream, and six hundred above its mouth. During the rainy +season, when the Murray is at its height, steamers run up to Albury, but +ordinarily the river is not navigable to that place. As our friends +drove along the edge of the stream, below the two bridges which span it, +they saw a small <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_277" id="pg_277">277</a></span>steamboat tied up at the bank, and having an +appearance of idleness about it. They stopped the carriage for a few +moments to inspect the boat, and found that it had been left there by a +sudden fall of the river, and was waiting for the next flood to come.</p> + +<p>“It is a very light draft steamboat,” said Harry in his notebook; “and +makes me think of those they talk about in the western part of the +United States, that can run on a heavy dew, or where a man goes ahead of +them with a sprinkling pot. It is a side-wheel boat, the wheels being +very large, but not dipping far into the water. The engine seems rather +small for such a large pair of wheels, but I suppose the boat was not +built for speed so much as for general utility. She has a saloon over +the engines, with cabins opening out of it, and there are quarters on +the main deck for the officers and crew. The rooms in the upper cabin +are intended for passengers, and as there are only ten of them on each +side, you can readily understand that the accommodations are limited. +They told me that the steamer was built at one of the towns lower down +the river, her engines having been made in Adelaide, and brought +overland to the place where the hull was constructed. They also told me +that the first steamer which ever ascended the Murray was named the +<i>Albury</i>, and arrived in the year 1855. I infer, from the name of the +boat, that it was owned by people living here, but on that point my +informant was unable to say anything definite.”</p> + +<p>When the party returned to the hotel for dinner, they were regaled with +a fish which was new to them. At Melbourne they had fish from the sea +almost daily, but when <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_278" id="pg_278">278</a></span>visiting the cattle and sheep stations they had +none at all, for the reason that no fish were to be obtained in those +localities, and it would be an expensive matter to bring them there from +the sea with the strong probability of their being unfit for eating at +the time of their arrival. As they were not looking for fish in any +inland town, they naturally inquired what it was before them.</p> + +<p>“That is the Murray cod, sir, or cod-perch, as we call it,” said the +waiter, in reply to Ned’s question. “It is a fish caught in the Murray +River, and I think you’ll like it, gentlemen.”</p> + +<p>They did like it, all three of our friends pronouncing it quite +toothsome. It is a fish somewhat resembling the American perch, both in +appearance and in taste, and probably belongs to the same family. +Australia is poorly supplied with fresh water fishes. Many of the lakes +contain no fish whatever, and the few that are found there are poor +eating. There are trout in the mountainous districts, but they are not +numerous. Attempts have been made to stock the rivers with European +salmon, carp, and other food fishes, but thus far the experiments have +not been especially successful. Once in a while a fisherman catches a +small salmon in one of the streams, and paragraphs concerning his +performance are circulated far and wide in the newspapers. The habit of +most of the Australian rivers of running dry at certain portions of the +year is a serious discouragement to the industry of fish culture.</p> + +<p>At Albury our friends found themselves in one of the mountainous +districts of Australia. Mount Kosciusco, the highest peak in Australia, +was not far away, though not <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_279" id="pg_279">279</a></span>visible from the town, but other mountain +peaks were in sight of the place. Kosciusco is not a very high mountain, +as mountains go, as its summit is only 7,308 feet above the level of the +sea. It is quite picturesquely situated, forming one of a group of +several mountains, and the journey to its summit is by no means an easy +matter.</p> + +<p>Athletic young men, with a fondness for adventure, occasionally make up +parties for an excursion to the top of the mountain, and if the weather +is good they come back with their spirits high, their shoes or boots +well worn, and their clothing more or less damaged. Traveling facilities +are limited, and anybody who climbs Mount Kosciusco must expect to +“rough it.” The town nearest to the mountain is Tumberumba, and the +excursion is made partly on horseback and partly on foot. It is forty +miles from Tumberumba to the mountain, and in order to reach that town +it is necessary to travel by coach a distance of seventy-four miles, +from Calcairn, which is the nearest station on the railway.</p> + +<p>Travelers who have visited Switzerland before going to Australia say +that the region around Mount Kosciusco is quite Alpine in character, as +it has deep gorges and ravines, and the streams plunge for long +distances over precipitous rocks. The Murray River takes its rise among +these mountains, and a great contrast is offered between the country +around its head waters and that through which it flows in the latter +part of its course. The country is too rough around these mountains for +sheep and cattle stations. There is a considerable amount of tillable +land <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_280" id="pg_280">280</a></span>among them, which is principally devoted to the growing of oats +and wheat.</p> + +<p>At their appointed time, our friends proceeded by train in the direction +of Sydney. They found the railway running for much of the way through a +mountainous region, some of it very mountainous indeed. The railway +engineering on many parts of the route evoked their admiration, and +certainly it deserves a great deal of praise. There are numerous tunnels +on the way, gorges and ravines are traversed by bridges high up in the +air, and nowhere in the world can be found better examples of +engineering skill in mountain work. A gentleman who was in the carriage +with them said they would find equally good work on the western line of +railway, the one on which they were traveling being the southern.</p> + +<p>“The range of mountains that winds around the whole coast of Australia,” +said the gentleman, “has made our railways cost us very dearly. To go +any distance at all into the interior, we had to traverse the mountains, +and for a long time it was believed that it would be absolutely +impossible to get through them. The first railway line in New South +Wales was surveyed about 1847, and ground for it was broken in July, +1850. The obstacles which the Blue Mountains presented retarded the work +very much, but finally, after they were passed, we got along well +enough. You will see for yourself how difficult they were.”</p> + +<p>“From what we had already seen,” wrote Harry, “we fully agreed with the +gentleman in his statement, and were not surprised to learn that the +engineers were considerably <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_281" id="pg_281">281</a></span>discouraged when they began their work. +After a pause, he described to us some of the interesting points of the +western line, as it is called, and said he hoped we would be able to +make a journey over that part of the railway system of New South Wales. +He assured us that we would never regret it, and that we would see some +of the most magnificent sights to be obtained anywhere in railway +travel.</p> + +<p>“When you have crossed the crest of the Blue Mountains,” the gentleman +continued, “you will see a piece of railway engineering which has never +been undertaken, as far as I know of, anywhere else in the world.”</p> + +<p>“What is that?” one of the party asked.</p> + +<p>“It is the accomplishment of a feat that has always been disastrous in +every other part of the globe, that of two trains passing each other on +a single track.”</p> + +<p>“It certainly results in disaster as far as I have ever known,” Dr. +Whitney answered. “I have never heard of two trains trying to pass each +other on a single track without both of them coming to grief.”</p> + +<p>“Well, you know that Australia is a land of contradictions,” was the +reply; “and why shouldn’t we be contradictory in this as well as many +other things? The way we perform this trick is this:—</p> + +<p>“The railway climbs the mountain by means of zigzags, running first one +way, and then the other, and all the time making an ascending grade. At +the end of each zigzag the track is prolonged sufficiently to hold two +railway trains. When an ascending train sees a descending one coming, +the engine driver runs his train to the end of <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_282" id="pg_282">282</a></span>this prolonged track and +stops. Then the descending one comes down, runs upon the track, is +switched off down the mountain, and the way is then clear for the +ascending train to proceed. There is no double track anywhere, and yet +the trains have passed each other, and safely too.”</p> + +<p>“Very simple when you know what it is,” said Harry, and the others +echoed his remark.</p> + +<p>When they crossed the Blue Mountains they found the zigzags, readily +recognizing them from the description. On seeing the rugged character of +the mountains, they were not at all surprised that the engineers were +appalled at the difficulties before them. Neither did they wonder that +the officers in command of the first convict settlement at Sydney for a +long time regarded the Blue Mountains as impassable, and believed that +escaped convicts traveling in that direction would be stopped by this +formidable barrier. The Blue Mountains were not crossed and the country +beyond them explored until 1813, although the settlement at Sydney was +founded in 1788.</p> + +<p>Mountain regions are always considered healthy places to live in, and +this is especially the case with the region of the Blue Mountains. A +fellow-passenger in the train told our friends that it was a favorite +saying in the country that nobody ever dies in the Blue Mountains; he +simply dries up and disappears. Another passenger said that once, when a +town was founded in the Blue Mountain district, the people wanted to +start a graveyard, and took along an elderly man who was in the last +stages of consumption. They had agreed to pay his expenses and give him +a <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_283" id="pg_283">283</a></span>grand funeral, on the condition that he lived until he reached the +site of the town. Not only did he live until he got there, but he +continued to live for many years, and finally dried up and blew away. +The people felt that they had been defrauded, and if the man had left +anything in the way of property, they would have brought suit for the +recovery of damages.</p> + +<p>Harry recorded the above anecdote in his notebook, adding to it the +words, “Interesting, but of doubtful authenticity.”</p> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="SIGHTS_OF_SYDNEYmdashmdashBOTANY_BAY_AND_PARAMATTA_7666" id="SIGHTS_OF_SYDNEYmdashmdashBOTANY_BAY_AND_PARAMATTA_7666"></a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_284" id="pg_284">284</a></span> +<h2>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> +<h3>SIGHTS OF SYDNEY——BOTANY BAY AND PARAMATTA.</h3> +</div> + +<p>After leaving the Blue Mountains behind them, our friends were whirled +onward through a more fertile country than the one they had traversed on +the western slope. As they approached Sydney, they found the country +dotted with pleasant residences and diversified with fields and forest +in a very picturesque way. At the appointed hour the train rolled into +the station at Sydney, and landed the strangers in that ancient city; +ancient from an Australian point of view, as it is the oldest settlement +on the island continent, but exceedingly modern when compared with +London, Paris, and other European capitals.</p> + +<p>As our friends drove in the direction of the hotel where they intended +to stay, they were struck by the narrowness of the streets, which seemed +to them very narrow indeed, after the wide streets of Melbourne.</p> + +<p>Harry wondered how the difference of the streets of the two cities could +be accounted for.</p> + +<p>“Oh, I understand,” said Ned. “Sydney was laid out by an English +surveyor, and Melbourne by an American. Being a native of the little +island called England, the Britisher felt that he must make the most of +the land he had, while the American, coming from his own wide-spreading +country, took all the room that he wanted. That’s the way of it, I’m +sure.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_285" id="pg_285">285</a></span>“Well, that will do for an explanation,” said Harry, “until we get at +the real facts in the case.”</p> + +<p>“The probabilities are,” the doctor remarked, “that as Sydney was +originally a convict settlement, the officers that came out in charge of +the expedition felt that it should be made as compact as possible for +the greater facility of guarding the convicts. In this way the +narrowness of the streets may be accounted for.”</p> + +<p>“They didn’t foresee the tramways in the streets, and the steam cars +running upon them,” said Harry, as a noisy little steam engine drawing +two passenger cars passed close to their carriage.</p> + +<p>“No, indeed,” responded Ned. “Street cars had not been invented at the +time Sydney was founded, and the locomotive was unknown. One would think +that steam cars, running through crowded streets like this, would cost a +considerable loss of life every year.”</p> + +<p>“I have heard that they do so,” said Dr. Whitney. “You observe that they +have flagmen at some of the crossings, and that the trains do not stop +wherever passengers want to get on, but only at certain designated +points. There must be great danger to pedestrians, many of whom, in all +cities, are careless, and I wonder the authorities do not abolish this +steam traffic in the streets, and adopt the cable or the trolly.”</p> + +<p>“We’ll take good care that they don’t run over us while we are in +Sydney,” remarked Harry, and there the tramway subject was dropped.</p> + +<p>Our friends followed the same plan here as in the other cities they had +visited, of going out for a drive or stroll <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_286" id="pg_286">286</a></span>immediately after arranging +for their accommodations at the hotel, and removing the dust of travel +from their clothing. They thought there was less bustle and activity in +the streets of Sydney than in those of Melbourne, and accounted for the +difference that Sydney was the older and more dignified place of the +two, had a smaller population, and was not so much given over to +speculations in gold mines and other matters. They found it well +equipped with public buildings, most of them fully equal to the +corresponding edifices in the rival city. The city hall especially +roused their admiration, and they passed several churches which would do +honor to any city of Europe. The doctor remarked that the people of +Sydney had constructed their public buildings with a liberal hand, and +Harry answered that the liberal hand had been directed by excellent +taste.</p> + +<p>“I am impatient to see the famous harbor of Sydney,” Ned remarked soon +after they started on their drive. “You know it is the one thing we have +heard about more than any other.”</p> + +<p>“We will have an opportunity of seeing it in two or three ways,” the +doctor remarked. Then he called to the driver, and told him to stop in +front of the city hall.</p> + +<p>After giving a hasty glance at the interior of the building, the party +climbed to the cupola, which is one hundred and fifty feet above the +level of the street below. From their point of observation they had a +fine view in every direction. The whole city was in sight, and also a +good deal of the surrounding country. The magnificent harbor, too, was +at their feet. Fifteen miles to the westward, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_287" id="pg_287">287</a></span>they could see the pretty +town of Paramatta, which is a favorite resort for Sydney merry-makers; +while to the eastward, the broad line of the Pacific Ocean was spread +before their gaze. They remained there for half an hour or so in the +cupola, taking in the view in general, and also in many of its details.</p> + +<p>As they were about to descend, Ned remarked that the harbor fully met +his expectations, and in some points exceeded them. Afterward he wrote +as follows in his notebook:—</p> + +<p>“The harbor may be said to consist of a series of coves or bays, uniting +together in a single body of water, which opens to the sea between two +promontories, called The Heads. Whether viewed from an elevation like +that of the tower of the city hall, or from points along its shores, or +from the deck of a vessel passing over it, Sydney harbor presents a most +admirable view.”</p> + +<p>After leaving the city hall, our friends drove to Circular Quay, whose +character in one respect is described by its name, as it is of +semicircular shape, and encloses the most important of the divisions of +Sydney harbor. Harry and Ned were unable to say whether the amount of +shipping at Sydney was greater than that at Melbourne or not, but in one +thing they were agreed, that neither city had a right to be jealous of +the other on the score of marine business. There were ships of all +nations at Melbourne, and there were also ships of all nations at +Sydney. Sydney has the advantage of being the terminus of most of the +great steamship lines, and consequently their vessels are in port at +Sydney for a longer <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_288" id="pg_288">288</a></span>time than at Melbourne. There were great steamers +of the Orient line, of the Peninsular and Oriental (familiarly known as +the “P. & O.”), the French line, or Messageries Maritimes, the North +German Lloyd, and other lines of lesser note. There was a steamer there, +from San Francisco, and there were several vessels belonging to the +Australian Steam Navigation Company.</p> + +<p>As our friends were looking at the forest of masts and funnels, Harry +was the first to break the silence.</p> + +<p>“You could start from here,” he remarked, “for almost any other part of +the world. You could set out for Greenland’s icy mountains or India’s +coral strand with very little ease.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t know about Greenland’s icy mountains,” said Ned, “as I don’t +believe there is any line running to them from Sydney, but the P. & O. +boat and several other boats will take you to India’s coral strand; of +that I am sure.”</p> + +<p>Circular Quay was formerly called Sydney Cove, and it was at the head of +this little cove that the first settlement was made. It is the principal +one of the coves or harbors where ships can lie, though Darling Cove is +nearly as important as the one just mentioned. The sheet of water into +which these coves open is called Port Jackson, and extends inland some +twenty miles from The Heads. Islands of various sizes are scattered +through Port Jackson, some of them occupied, and some remaining in a +state of nature. Our friends planned, while strolling about Circular +Quay, to make an excursion up the harbor as soon as they could do so +conveniently, and then, as it <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_289" id="pg_289">289</a></span>was getting pretty late in the afternoon, +they returned to their hotel.</p> + +<p>On their arrival at the house they met a gentleman to whom they had a +letter of introduction. He had heard of their arrival, and came to hunt +them up without waiting for the delivery of their letter. This +circumstance led Harry to write as follows in his journal:—</p> + +<p>“Wherever we go we are received with the most open-handed hospitality. +Persons who are entire strangers to us are always civil, ready to answer +any question we ask, and every one of them seems quite willing to go out +of his way to serve us. We have made the acquaintance of men in railway +trains and around the hotels, or elsewhere, who have ended up a brief +conversation by inviting us to visit their country places, their sheep +or cattle stations, if they have any, or their business establishments +in the city, and this, too, without knowing anything about us other than +that we are strangers in Australia. Those to whom we have letters throw +their houses open to us, and in every instance urge us to a longer stay +whenever we intimate that we must depart. Those to whom we are +introduced by these people are equally courteous and equally ready to +show us any hospitality. The whole country seems open to us, and if we +could and would accept half the invitations that have been given to us, +we should remain in Australia for years, perhaps for a decade or two.</p> + +<p>“Many Australians, some of them born here of English parents, together +with natives of England who have lived here many years, complain that +when they go back to the old country they are received very coldly. It +is no wonder <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_290" id="pg_290">290</a></span>they feel that English customs are very frigid, when they +contrast them with the general kindness and liberal hospitality that +universally prevails throughout this island continent. Men who have +received strangers as freely as is the custom here, must have a +sensation of having ice water poured down their backs when they go to +London or New York, and are greeted with the formality customary to +those two cities.</p> + +<p>“I have been told that it is not infrequently the case that an old +Australian who goes to England with the intention of spending not less +than a year there, is back in the antipodes in less than six months. The +cold formality is not at all to his liking, and, as one man expressed +it, he feels as though a southerly burster had dropped on him all at +once; and yet his English friends are no doubt glad to see him, and have +no thought whatever of giving the least offense.</p> + +<p>“They are only adhering to the customs of centuries, and unless they +themselves have been in Australia, which is very rarely the case, they +cannot understand why the stranger should feel that he is being unkindly +treated. I am told that thirty years ago there was the same contrast +between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States, but since +railways have traversed the American continent, and communication is +made easier, the forms of hospitality of the peoples of the two sections +have become pretty much the same.</p> + +<p>“Of one thing you may be sure: we shall never forget the courtesies that +we have received, and when we leave the shores of Australia we shall +treasure long in our memories <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_291" id="pg_291">291</a></span>the warm hospitality which we have +encountered since the day we first set foot upon Australian soil.”</p> + +<p>That evening the party visited one of the clubs where all three were +“put up” for the time of their stay in Sydney, their host intimating to +Dr. Whitney that, as his nephews were under age, they would not be +expected to visit the club, except in his company. Before they had been +in town twenty-four hours, our friends had received the offer of the +hospitality of no fewer than four clubs, together with several +invitations to dinner. The three agreed that Sydney was certainly a very +hospitable place, and that a stranger suffering from indigestion, or in +poor health, generally would find it too much for him.</p> + +<p>The next day our friends were taken on a drive through some of the +parks, of which Sydney has a liberal supply. Most of the parks are of +considerable extent, one of them, called the Domain, occupying one +hundred acres of ground on the shore of one of the coves. Other parks +are projected, and it was evident to Harry and Ned that the authorities +of Sydney were thorough believers in having plenty of breathing space +for the people.</p> + +<p>The drive included the Botanical Gardens, which proved to be full of +interest. Nearly every plant and tree of the whole of Australia is +represented in the Botanical Gardens, and there are many trees and +plants there from other parts of the world. Everything planted in these +gardens seems to thrive, the products of high latitudes growing side by +side to those of very low ones.</p> + +<p>The Botanical Gardens are not of recent origin, some of the trees they +contain having been planted there <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_292" id="pg_292">292</a></span>seventy or eighty years ago. Among +these trees are Norfolk pines, which have attained a height of one +hundred feet, and a diameter of five feet at the base. Dr. Whitney had +visited the pine forests of California, and said that the specimens in +the Botanical Gardens at Sydney reminded him of the magnificent trees of +the Golden State.</p> + +<p>At one place during their visit to the gardens Ned observed the smell of +musk, and looked around to ascertain whence it came. The gentleman who +accompanied him noted his curiosity and said:—</p> + +<p>“I think you are looking for the musk tree. Here it is.”</p> + +<p>And there it was, sure enough. The tree is a product of Australia, and +has the peculiarity of constantly giving out the odor of musk, which is +perceptible at quite a distance. Ned asked if any perfume was +manufactured from the tree or its leaves, and was answered in the +negative.</p> + +<p>All the parks of the city appeared to be tastefully laid out and well +kept. Ned recalled the numerous parks that they saw at Melbourne, and +remarked that neither city had occasion to be jealous of the other in +the matter of pleasant resorts for the people.</p> + +<p>Our young friends asked if any of the prisons or other buildings that +were erected at the time of the settlement of Sydney were still in +existence.</p> + +<p>“There is hardly a trace of any of them,” was the reply. “As the city +has grown, the old buildings have been destroyed, to make place for new +ones of a more substantial <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_293" id="pg_293">293</a></span>character. One of the churches occupies the +site of the original cemetery which was established soon after the +foundation of the city, and a business house covers the ground where the +principal prison stood. There is no desire on the part of any of us to +preserve the buildings of the original settlement, as they recall +unpleasant memories.</p> + +<p>“We want to forget as much as we can,” he continued, “all that is +disagreeable in the history of Sydney, just as an individual usually +wants to forget anything unpleasant about his own origin or history. The +subject comes up occasionally, and we have no squeamishness about +discussing it, and the history of the colony is well known to every +intelligent inhabitant of the place. Transportation to this colony +ceased about fifty years ago, and consequently there are few men now +living in New South Wales who came here as involuntary emigrants. The +old disputes between Emancipists and Free Settlers were ended long ago, +and the questions that greatly agitated the population of the first half +of the century have now become matters of history.”</p> + +<p>As the gentleman paused, Harry thanked him for his information, and then +asked if Port Jackson and Botany Bay were the same thing.</p> + +<p>“They are quite distinct from each other,” was the reply. “Botany Bay is +situated a little to the south of Port Jackson and opens into the +Pacific Ocean. It is a singular circumstance that Captain Cook missed +the entrance of Port Jackson, which he does not seem to have discovered +at all. It is only five miles across the land <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_294" id="pg_294">294</a></span>from one body of water to +the other, and it is evident that he did not venture very far inland, or +he would have found Port Jackson an infinitely better harbor than Botany +Bay.</p> + +<p>“It was in Botany Bay,” continued the gentleman, “that the first +expedition to form a settlement in Australia cast anchor. Captain +Phillip, who commanded the expedition, and some of his officers examined +the land around Botany Bay, and found it quite unfit for a settlement. +While making their examinations they discovered Port Jackson, and +immediately perceived its superior advantages. The ships were at once +moved around to this harbor, and then the convicts and the soldiers who +guarded them were brought on land for the first time. But the name of +Botany Bay clung to the settlement for a long while, and became a name +of terror to the criminal classes of England.”</p> + +<p>“It is a very pretty name when divested of its association,” remarked +Harry. “I wonder how Captain Cook happened to hit upon it.”</p> + +<p>“He gave it that name,” was the reply, “on account of the great number +of flowers and flowering plants which he found all around the bay. Quite +likely he would have given the same name to Port Jackson if he had +discovered it, as there were just as many flowers here as at the other +place.”</p> + +<p>On another day our friends took a drive to Botany Bay, which is only +five miles from Sydney. They found quite a pretty place, and were not +surprised to learn that it is a favorite resort of the residents of +Sydney. Their attention was called to the monument which marks the spot +where <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_295" id="pg_295">295</a></span>Captain Cook landed in 1770, and took possession of Australia in +the name of the British government.</p> + +<p>Another trip that they made was to Paramatta, going there by rail and +returning by water. Of this excursion Harry wrote as follows:—</p> + +<p>“The journey is a short one, as Paramatta is only fifteen miles from +Sydney. It is on what they call the Paramatta River, which isn’t really +a river, but simply an arm of the bay, and is a favorite place for +rowing races. Next to Sydney, it is the oldest town in the colony. +Governor Phillip, the first governor of New South Wales, laid it out in +1788, his object being to utilize the labors of the convicts in farming. +The first grain fields were established here, being cultivated by +convict labor, and the governor had a space of ground cleared, and a +house erected for his country residence.</p> + +<p>“The experiment of cultivating grain was so successful during the first +year, that it was continued on a larger scale during the second and +subsequent years. Free settlers took up ground at Paramatta, which was +then called Rosehill, the name which the governor gave to the little +elevation where his house was built. Settlers who came out to Sydney of +their own accord received allotments of land, and were supplied with a +sufficient number of convicts to do their work.</p> + +<p>“These were known as assigned servants, and the practise of having +assigned servants spread everywhere and became very popular, as the +parties to whom the convicts were assigned got their labor for +practically nothing. Sometimes the wives of convicts came out as +passengers <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_296" id="pg_296">296</a></span>in the same ships with their husbands, or followed them +later. When they arrived and set up housekeeping, they would apply for +servants to be assigned to them, and would name their husbands as the +men they preferred. The plan was found to work very well in nearly all +cases, and the government encouraged the practise. Sometimes, though, it +happened that the husbands were inclined to abuse and beat their wives, +but this did not happen often, as the wives had the power, like other +employers of assigned servants, of sending their husbands to be flogged.</p> + +<p>“Whenever, in the early days, the sentence of a convict expired, he was +given a farm at Paramatta, or in its neighborhood, and in this way quite +a farming community grew up. The agricultural features of Paramatta have +continued down to the present time, and all about it there are pretty +farms and gardens, which make the place look very much like an English +town of the same size. It is regularly laid out, the principal street +extending about a mile back from the landing place, with a width of two +hundred feet. Many business men of Sydney have their residences here, +and there is a goodly number of public buildings, including hospitals, +asylums, churches, and the like.</p> + +<p>“Our attention was called to several manufactories, but we were less +interested in them than we were in the orange groves and orchards, which +are numerous and extensive. They showed us some orange trees which they +claim are the largest in the world, but whether that is the case or not, +I am unable to say. They showed us one tree from which ten thousand +oranges had been taken in <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_297" id="pg_297">297</a></span>a single year, and after we had looked at the +orange groves, we were shown through several flower gardens, which +seemed to be literally masses of flowers. When we returned to Sydney by +the boat, we observed that the banks of the river were lined with flower +gardens, and were not surprised to learn that almost the entire flower +market of Sydney is supplied from Paramatta.</p> + +<p>“We were unfortunate in not being here in the season of fruits, as they +told us that the Paramatta oranges are among the finest in the world, +and the same could be said of the other fruits grown in the place. I +think we have said before that the climate of Australia is very +favorable to the cultivation of fruits, those of the tropics as well as +those of the temperate zones showing a universal tendency to thrive in +the genial atmosphere.”</p> + +<p>Dr. Whitney and his young companions spent two or three days at some of +the country residences in the neighborhood of Sydney, and were charmed +with the warmth of the hospitality and the beauty of the places that +they visited. It was impossible for them to accept a tenth part of the +invitations they received, as their time was limited, and they were +anxious to press on to the northward. So one day they bade farewell to +their friends and took the train for Newcastle, the principal point of +the coal-mining industry of the colony.</p> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em"> +<a name="COAL_MINES_AT_NEWCASTLEmdashSUGAR_PLANTATION_IN_QUEENSLANDmdashTHE_END_8057" id="COAL_MINES_AT_NEWCASTLEmdashSUGAR_PLANTATION_IN_QUEENSLANDmdashTHE_END_8057"></a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_298" id="pg_298">298</a></span> +<h2>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> +<h3>COAL MINES AT NEWCASTLE—SUGAR PLANTATION IN QUEENSLAND—THE END.</h3> +</div> + +<p>“The region between Sydney and Newcastle,” wrote Ned in his journal, “is +a diversified one. Here and there are forests interspersed with open +country. Some of the ground is level, and some of it very much broken +and mountainous. Most of it is fertile, and we passed through many +fields of wheat and other grain. Some of it is devoted to cattle raising +and some to the production of wool, though it is not generally regarded +as a good country for raising sheep. In places the mountains come quite +close to the sea-coast, and there we found the railway winding over a +very tortuous course, where the rocks that rose on either hand, and the +tunnels through which we were occasionally whirled, convinced us that +the building of the railway must have cost a great deal of money. At +several places coal mining was in progress, and it was evident that +Newcastle didn’t have an entire monopoly of the coal-producing business.</p> + +<p>“Newcastle is quite as much devoted to the coal business as the English +city from which it was named. More than two million tons of coal are +shipped from this port every year, and the engineers who have carefully +examined the coal seams say that there is enough coal under Newcastle +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_299" id="pg_299">299</a></span>to keep up the supply at the present rate for more than five hundred +years.</p> + +<p>“We were first taken to the harbor where the shipments are made. There +we found admirable facilities for loading vessels with the products of +the mines. They claim that they can handle twenty-five thousand tons of +coal daily, and that a good-sized coal steamer can leave port with her +cargo six hours after entering. I’m not an expert in such matters, and +therefore don’t know, but from what I saw it seems to me that there is +no difficulty about it.</p> + +<p>“The harbor of Newcastle was not a very good one originally, but they +have made it so by extending into the sea a breakwater, which shelters +it from the gales that formerly swept it. It is not a large harbor, but +an excellent one for its purpose.</p> + +<p>“We visited some of the coal sheds and coal breakers, and went into one +of the mines. They would gladly have taken us through all the mines in +the place, but as one mine is very much like another, we declined to +make the rounds of all of them. The one that we entered was about four +hundred feet underground. We were lowered in a cage to the bottom of the +mine, and then walked through a tunnel to where the men were at work, +dodging on our way several loaded cars that were going towards the +shaft, as well as empty ones coming from it. The cars were pushed along +by men, each of them carrying a little lantern on the front of his hat; +in fact, every man whom we saw working underground had one of these +lights for his guidance. The tunnel itself was lit up with electric +lights, extending from the shaft to the front of <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_300" id="pg_300">300</a></span>the working; and in +addition to these, each of us carried a lantern, which was of material +assistance in showing us where to place our feet. We had a few stumbles +on the way, but nobody experienced a fall.</p> + +<p>“When we reached the front of the working, the sight was a curious one. +A dozen men—I think there must have been that number at least—were +attacking the coal seam, most of them lying on their sides and digging +away with picks at the lower part of it. Some of them had worked their +way in two or three feet, and were almost out of sight, and I shuddered +to think of the possibility that the mass above might fall upon and +crush them. I asked our guide if this did not happen sometimes.</p> + +<p>“‘Unfortunately, yes,’ he replied. ‘It does happen now and then, and the +men on whom the coal falls are more or less severely injured, and +perhaps killed. We have to watch the miners constantly, to see that they +do not run too great a risk. If we let them have their own way, +accidents would be much more frequent than they are.’</p> + +<p>“‘Why do they burrow under the coal in that way?’ I asked. ‘Couldn’t +they get it out in some manner less dangerous than that?’</p> + +<p>“‘That is the way to which they have been accustomed,’ the guide +answered, ‘and it is difficult to get them to change. Most of these +people come from the coal-mining districts of England, and they are very +conservative. Machines have been invented for doing this kind of work, +and they are in use in some of the mines, but the men are opposed to +them, and in some instances they have disabled or destroyed the +machines.’</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_301" id="pg_301">301</a></span>“Then he went on to explain that the miner makes an opening below the +mass of coal in the manner that we saw, and then drills a hole some +distance above it, in which to explode a charge of powder. This brings +down all the coal below the locality of the explosion. Sometimes it is +broken up into lumps that a man can handle, and sometimes it comes down +in a single block, which requires another blast to break it up, and then +the cars are brought up as near as possible. The coal is loaded into +them, and pushed away to the shaft. Each man is paid according to the +amount of coal he gets out, and some of them receive large wages. There +are about five thousand people employed in the coal mines here, and the +probabilities are that the business will be extended, and the coal +product of Newcastle increased within a year or two from the present +time.”</p> + +<p>From Newcastle our friends continued their journey northward to +Brisbane, the capital of Queensland. They traveled all the way by rail, +changing trains at Stanthorpe, on the frontier. During the delay +subsequent upon the change of trains, Harry made the following +memorandum in his notebook:—</p> + +<p>“It seems to me that it is a great misfortune for Australia that each +colony insists upon having its own particular gauge of track, thus +preventing the running of through trains without change of cars. Some +day the people will find out their mistake, and I believe some of them +realize it already. Dr. Whitney says that there was at one time in the +United States several different gauges of track from four feet, eight +inches and one half <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_302" id="pg_302">302</a></span>up to six feet, and that the railway managers +generally agreed upon four feet, eight inches as the standard gauge. +Since that agreement all other tracks have been changed to make the +tracks uniform. Now any railway car can be run all over the United +States, with the exceptions of a few special lines where the gauge is +three feet, six inches.</p> + +<p>“Three feet, six inches is the gauge of the railways of Queensland. That +of New South Wales is four feet, eight and one half inches, while that +of Victoria is five feet, three inches. In South Australia some of the +lines are of five feet, three inches gauge, and others have the same +gauge as the Queensland railways. The narrow gauge is especially adapted +to mountain regions, and also to thinly populated districts. On lines +where the business is light and the distances are not long, this gauge +answers all requirements, but on many lines, especially those having +considerable business, it is not at all advantageous.”</p> + +<p>During their railway ride our friends observed the strange combination +of aboriginal and English names, and called Dr. Whitney’s attention to +it. “Here are Coolongolook and Coonabarabran,” said Harry, “and next +come Clarkeville and Smithville. Here are Cootramundra and Illawarra and +Murrumbidgee close by Orange and Richmond. Here are Curabubula and +Waggawagga, with Warwrick and Union Camp. I could go on indefinitely +with those names, and it seems to me that the aboriginal ones are about +as numerous as those of British origin. They are picturesque and perhaps +interesting, but they are very difficult to pronounce.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_303" id="pg_303">303</a></span>“Isn’t it possible that you will find the same state of things at +home?” queried Dr. Whitney.</p> + +<p>“Quite possible; I have never thought of that. Let me see.”</p> + +<p>“Why, certainly,” said Ned. “Go to Maine and New Hampshire and run over +some of the Indian names of lakes, rivers, mountains, and towns in those +States. Think of Kennebec and Penobscot, Winnipesaukee, Pemigewasset, +Passaconaway, and a good many others that I could name. I think it is an +excellent policy to preserve these old names and not let them die out. +Piscataqua is a much prettier name for a river than Johnston or +Stiggins, and Monadnock sounds better as the name of a mountain than +Pike’s Peak or Terry’s Cliff. The more the native names are preserved, +the better I like it.”</p> + +<p>“I agree with you,” replied Harry; “but I wish they would make the +orthography of those native names a little easier. That’s the only fault +I have to find with them.”</p> + +<p>The region through which our friends traveled was devoted to +agricultural and pastoral pursuits, as the numerous flocks of sheep, +herds of cattle, and fields of grain that they saw gave evidence. They +were told that it was also rich in minerals,—the few surveys that had +been made resulting in discoveries of gold, tin, silver, antimony, and +other metals. Some of the passengers whom they met on the train were +under the impression that Dr. Whitney was looking for a place in which +to invest money, and they were very anxious that he should stop and +investigate their promising properties. Several fine specimens of +gold-bearing quartz rock were exhibited, and the fortunate <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_304" id="pg_304">304</a></span>owners of +these specimens said that the ground was covered with them in the +locality where they were obtained. Dr. Whitney politely declined to +delay his journey, and assured his zealous acquaintances that he was not +looking for any new investments.</p> + +<p>When our friends were out of earshot of the would-be speculators, Dr. +Whitney said that their statement reminded him of an incident which once +occurred at a town in California, where a quartz mill was in successful +operation. Harry and Ned pressed the doctor to give them the story, +whereupon he related as follows:—</p> + +<p>“There were many speculative individuals around that town who were +constantly endeavoring to discover deposits of ore. One day one of these +speculators was standing on a street corner, when a solemn-faced Indian +came along, stopped in front of the man, and, after looking around in +all directions to make sure that nobody was observing him, he produced +from under his blanket a piece of gold-bearing quartz. Without saying a +word, he held the bit of rock before the eyes of the speculator.</p> + +<p>“The speculator grasped the specimen with great eagerness. Sure enough +it was gold-bearing rock, and no mistake. It was generally believed in +the town that the Indians knew of valuable deposits, but were very +unwilling to divulge their location to the white men.”</p> + +<p>“‘Where did you get this?’ the speculator asked.</p> + +<p>“The Indian made a sweep of his arm that embraced two thirds of the +horizon, but said not a word.</p> + +<p>“‘Is there any more where this came from?’ queried the speculator.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_305" id="pg_305">305</a></span>“‘Yes; heaps, heaps more,’ and the red man made a circle with his arm +that might mean anything from a mole hill to a mountain.</p> + +<p>“‘Will you show me where you got this?’ said the speculator.</p> + +<p>“The Indian said nothing except to pronounce the words ‘five dollar.’</p> + +<p>“Unlike many of his associates, the speculator happened to have some +money about him. He thrust his hand into his pocket, drew out a +five-dollar gold piece, and placed it in the extended palm of the red +man.</p> + +<p>“The latter examined the coin very carefully, even to the extent of +biting it between his teeth. Then he placed it in some mysterious +receptacle under his blanket and said:—</p> + +<p>“‘You with me come. You with me go share.’</p> + +<p>“The Indian led his new partner a long walk, going out of the town on +the side opposite the quartz mill, making a circuit of a mile or two +among hills, and finally fetching up at the dump pile of the mill. The +dump pile, it is proper to explain, is the pile of ore as it is brought +from the mine to be crushed. Having reached the foot of the pile, the +Indian paused and said:—</p> + +<p>“‘Me get him here. Heaps more here, too.’</p> + +<p>“A more disgusted individual than that speculator was at that moment +could rarely be found in the town. He had been completely outwitted, in +fact, sold, and by a savage who couldn’t read or write.”</p> + +<p>From Stanthorpe on the frontier of Queensland the country was much the +same as that through which our <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_306" id="pg_306">306</a></span>friends had traveled from Newcastle, +except that its character was more tropical the further they went +northward. They reached Brisbane in the evening, and were out +immediately after breakfast on the following morning to view the sights +of the place, which were fewer than those of Sydney and Melbourne, as +the city is not as large as either of the others mentioned. The entire +population of Brisbane and its suburbs does not exceed one hundred +thousand. It is named after Sir Thomas Brisbane, who was Governor of the +colony at the time the city was founded. In some respects it may be +called an inland city, as it lies on a river twenty-five miles from the +entrance of that stream into Moreton Bay, which opens into the Pacific +Ocean. It is on a peninsula enclosed by a bend in the river, so that it +has an excellent water front.</p> + +<p>Harry made note of the fact that Brisbane resembles Sydney in the +narrowness of its streets, but he added that the surveyors had some +excuse for restricting the amount of land reserved for the streets, +inasmuch as the space between the rivers was limited. The youths were +reminded of New York City when they noted that the streets of Brisbane +ran from the river on one side to the river on the other, just as do the +numbered streets on Manhattan Island. They had a further reminder when +an island in the river was pointed out to them as the site of a prison +during the convict period, just as Blackwell’s Island of New York City +is the location of a prison to-day.</p> + +<p>Queen Street is to Brisbane as George Street is to Sydney or Collins +Street to Melbourne. The principal shops and several of the public +buildings are located along Queen <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_307" id="pg_307">307</a></span>Street, and our friends observed that +wide verandas extended across the sidewalks from one end of the street +to the other. These verandas enable pedestrians to walk in the shade at +all times, a very wise provision to avoid sunstroke. It must be +remembered that Brisbane is considerably nearer the Equator than either +Melbourne or Sydney, and consequently has a warmer climate. Dr. Whitney +said that he was reminded of New Orleans by the temperature, and on +inquiry he ascertained that Brisbane is fully as warm as the great city +near the mouth of the Mississippi.</p> + +<p>There is a fine bridge of iron which crosses the river between North and +South Brisbane. It is more than one thousand feet long, and has a draw +in the center to permit the passage of ships. Ned and Harry strolled +across this bridge when they reached the end of Queen Street, and on +arriving at its farther end they turned around and retraced their steps. +When back again in the principal part of the city, they continued to the +end of the peninsula, where they had expected to find huge warehouses +and places of business fronting the river. Instead of these edifices +they found the Botanical Gardens and other parks occupying the point of +land where the river makes its bend. It was an agreeable surprise to +them, and they remained in and about the gardens for an hour or more.</p> + +<p>Whenever they came to any of the public buildings during their stroll, +they ascertained the name of each edifice from some by-stander or +shop-keeper. They observed that all the buildings were handsome and of +good construction, with the exception of the court house, which had a +very low and mean appearance. The curiosity <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_308" id="pg_308">308</a></span>of the youths was roused by +this circumstance, and Harry spoke to a good-natured cab driver to +ascertain how it happened.</p> + +<p>“That’s easy to tell, when you know,” the driver answered.</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Harry, “if you know, won’t you kindly tell us?”</p> + +<p>“Certainly, sir,” the driver responded. “You see this is the way of it. +That court house there used to be the female prison in the old times, +and for years it was crowded with women that the government had sent out +here to punish ’em. They were lifers, most of ’em, and I suppose they +are pretty near all dead now. If any of ’em is alive, they’re pretty +old. Them that was kept in prison had to do hard work, making clothes +and that sort of thing, but a good many of ’em went out as assigned +servants to do housework, and they had to work in the fields, too; but +those days is gone now, and all the prisons we have in Brisbrane in +these times is for them that commits crimes right here on the spot.”</p> + +<p>“Do you mind that round building up there with the mast on it,” said the +cab driver, pointing to a structure that looked like a windmill with the +arms of the mill removed.</p> + +<p>“Yes, I see it,” said Harry; “what about it?”</p> + +<p>“We call it the Observatory,” was the reply, “and that’s what it is. +That mast there is for signaling ships when they come into the harbor. +In the old times there was a windmill there, where they used to grind +grain into flour and meal for the convicts to eat, and I guess other +<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_309" id="pg_309">309</a></span>folks ate it, too. When the wind blew the arm went round and round, the +machinery worked, and the stones revolved and ground out the meal. +Sometimes they didn’t have no wind, because it didn’t blow, but they had +a treadmill there, and then they used to bring up a string of convicts, +and put them on the treadmill to run the machinery and keep up the +grinding of the grain. I suppose you know what a treadmill is?”</p> + +<p>“I have heard about a treadmill,” said Harry, “but I never saw one.” Ned +nodded, and said that he was in the same predicament.</p> + +<p>“Well,” said the driver, “I have seen one in the old country; I never +saw the one here, because it was gone before I came to Brisbane. What I +saw was a wheel in the shape of a long cylinder with twenty-four steps +around the circumference of it; in fact, it didn’t look much unlike the +paddle-wheel of a steamboat, where the men stood to turn it. Each one of +’em was boarded off from his neighbor so that they couldn’t talk to each +other. There was a hand rail for them to hang on to. The weight of the +prisoners’ bodies on the steps caused the wheel to turn, and they sent +it around about twice a minute. A man on a treadmill has got to work, he +can’t get out of it. If he tries to avoid stepping, he’s got to hang his +weight on the hand rail with his arms, and after he has tried that for a +minute or so he’s glad to go back to stepping again.”</p> + +<p>“I should think,” said Ned, “that it would be difficult to adapt it to +the weight of different individuals, and also to their height. While it +might not be too much for a <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_310" id="pg_310">310</a></span>strong man, it might be for a weak one; and +if the position of steps and rail were adapted to a tall man, they +wouldn’t be for a short one.”</p> + +<p>“I believe that’s just the trouble they found with it in the old +country,” was the reply; “and it’s mostly been given up there. They’ve +got a machine in the place of it which they call ‘the Crank,’ which can +be adapted to anybody. It’s a wheel with paddles to it, and turns inside +a box. They put gravel in the box, graduated to the strength of the man +who is to turn it, and the prisoner’s hard labor consists in turning the +crank.”</p> + +<p>“It doesn’t serve any useful purpose, as the treadmill does, I presume?” +said Harry.</p> + +<p>“No; there is no useful purpose about it. A man has to turn that crank +because he’s been sentenced to hard labor, and there’s nothing else they +can put him to, that’s all. And they don’t by any means use the +treadmill all the time for turning machinery and grinding grain, or +doing some other work. Most of the treadmills I ever knew anything about +in the old country were just treadmills, and that was all.”</p> + +<p>Our friends were invited to visit a sugar plantation in Northern +Queensland. They accepted the invitation, and one morning embarked on a +steamer which took them in the direction which they wished to go. The +steamer called at several places on the coast, including Rockhampton, +Bowen, Mackay, Keppel Bay, and Somerset; the last-named place was their +destination, and it was here that they landed.</p> + +<p>“We utilized the time of stoppage at each port by going <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_311" id="pg_311">311</a></span>on shore,” said +Harry in his journal. “Except for the exercise of the trip, we might +about as well have stayed on board, as there was very little to be seen +at any of the places. The coast towns of Queensland are pretty much all +alike. They have from one to two thousand inhabitants each, and though +they’re pretentiously laid out, they consist of little more than a +single street. On the streets, other than the principal one, there are +scattered houses, where the owners of land have endeavored to increase +the value of their property by putting up buildings, but generally with +poor success. For pavement the natural earth is obliged to answer, as +most of these towns are too poor to afford anything better. The streets +are very dusty in dry weather, and very muddy after a rain. At one of +the places where we landed there had been a heavy shower the night +before, and the main street was a great lane of mud. Ned said the street +was a mile long, eighty feet wide, and two feet deep; at least, that was +his judgment concerning it.</p> + +<p>“One thing that impressed us in these towns was that hardly a man in any +of them had a coat on. Everybody was in his shirt sleeves, and if he had +a coat with him, he carried it on his arm. For the novelty of the thing, +we took dinner at a hotel in Mackay, more with a view of seeing the +people that went there, than with an expectation of a good meal. There +were squatters from the back country, planters, clerks, merchants, +lawyers, and doctors, all with their coats off, and we were told that +this habit of going without coats is universal. One man who had lived +there a good while said, ‘You may go to a grand <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_312" id="pg_312">312</a></span>dinner party, and find +the ladies dressed in the height of fashion, and the gentlemen in their +shirt sleeves.’ I don’t wonder that they have adopted this plan, as the +climate is very warm. The region is decidedly tropical, the air is damp +and oppressive, and in the daytime especially the heat is almost +insupportable. I wonder, though, that they don’t adopt the white linen +jacket for dinner purposes, just as the Europeans living in China and +Japan have done.</p> + +<p>“Somerset, where we landed, is principally a pearl-fishing station, and +the pearl fishers who live there are a very rough-looking lot. The +business is very profitable, those engaged in it estimating that the +pearls pay all the expenses of their enterprise and a little more, while +the <i>nacre</i>, or mother-of-pearl, the smooth lining of the shells, is a +clear profit. The exportation of shells from Queensland is worth, +annually, about half a million dollars. The pearl shells sell ordinarily +for about one thousand dollars a ton. They are gathered by black divers +under the superintendence of white men.</p> + +<p>“These white men own the sloops and schooners devoted to the pearl +fishery, and they go out with these craft, taking along a lot of black +men as divers. The diving is done in the same way as in pearl fisheries +all over the world, so that there is no necessity of describing it. The +shells are like large oyster shells; in fact, they are oyster shells and +nothing else. They are about twenty inches long, and from twelve to +fifteen inches from one side to the other; so, you see, it doesn’t take +many oysters to make a load for a diver. The divers are paid according +to the number of shells they gather, and not by fixed <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_313" id="pg_313">313</a></span>wages. A man +familiar with the business said, that if you paid the men regular wages, +you would be lucky if you got one dive out of them daily.</p> + +<p>“I tried to ascertain the value of some of the pearls obtained here,” +continued Harry, “but my information was not very definite. They told me +that several pearls worth five thousand dollars each had been taken, but +they were not very common, the value ordinarily running from a few +dollars up to one hundred or two hundred dollars each. My informant said +that the best pearls were found on the coast of West Australia, but that +the fishery in that locality was more dangerous than on the coast of +Queensland. He said that the sea in that locality was subject to +hurricanes, and sometimes an entire fleet of pearl-fishing boats would +be overwhelmed and sunk, hardly a man escaping. ‘These disasters,’ he +said, ‘do not deter those who survive from taking the risk over again, +and there are always plenty of black men who go out as divers there +whenever a boat is ready to start.’”</p> + +<p>To go to the sugar plantation to which our friends were invited, they +had to make a journey inland, in a wagon over a rough road about forty +miles long. The plantation was located on both sides of a small river, +and employed, at the time of their visit, about one hundred and fifty +men. One of the owners was there, and exerted himself to his fullest +ability to make the strangers comfortable and have them see all that was +to be seen. They visited the crushing mills and the boiling rooms, and +learned a great deal about the process of manufacturing sugar from the +sugar cane.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_314" id="pg_314">314</a></span>“We may say briefly,” said Ned, “that the cane-stalks are crushed +between rollers, and the juice is caught in vats, whence it flows in +troughs or pipes to the evaporating house. Here it is boiled till it is +reduced to syrup, and then it is boiled again, until it is ready for +granulation. Then it is placed in perforated cylinders which revolve +with tremendous rapidity. By means of centrifugal force all the moisture +is expelled and the dry sugar remains behind.”</p> + +<p>Our friends visited the fields where the luxuriant cane-stalks were +growing, but they were quite as much interested in the men they saw at +work there as in the fields themselves. Harry remarked that the men +seemed to be different from any of the Australian blacks they had yet +seen in their travels.</p> + +<p>“These are not Australian blacks at all,” said their guide; “they are +foreigners.”</p> + +<p>“Foreigners! Of what kind?”</p> + +<p>“They are South Sea Islanders principally from the Solomon Islands; some +of them are from the New Hebrides and some from the Kingsmill group.”</p> + +<p>“You import them to work on the plantations, I suppose?”</p> + +<p>“Yes; that’s the way of it. You see this country is too hot for white +men to work in the field, just as your sugar-growing States in America +are too hot for him to work in. The blacks are the only people that can +stand it, and as for the Australian blacks, they’re no good. There are +not enough of them anyway, and even if there were, we couldn’t rely upon +them. An Australian black will never stay in <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_315" id="pg_315">315</a></span>one place for any length +of time, as you have doubtless learned already. He is liable to quit at +any moment, and that sort of thing we can’t stand on a sugar plantation. +We must have men to work steadily, and the only way we can get them is +by hiring them under contract from some of the Pacific Islands.”</p> + +<p>“I think I have read about that somewhere,” remarked Harry. “You send +small ships out among the islands to pick up the men, and the business +is called ‘black-birding,’ is it not?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, that is the name of it, or rather used to be,” was the reply. +“Black-birding,” along in the seventies, was an outrageous piece of +business no better than slave-stealing on the coast of Africa. In fact, +it was slave-stealing and nothing else. A schooner would appear off an +island, drop anchor and wait for the natives to come out in their +canoes, which they were sure to do. Then forty or fifty of them would be +enticed on board, and perhaps invited one by one into the cabin, whence +a door had been cut through into the hold. They were shoved along one by +one until a sufficient number had been obtained and imprisoned below, +and then the schooner set sail and left the island.</p> + +<p>“Sometimes one of the officers was dressed up like a clergyman, with a +white necktie, broad-brimmed hat, and blue spectacles, and wrapped in a +long black cloak. He carried a large book under his arm, and was a very +good counterfeit of a missionary. He was rowed to the shore, where he +would inform the natives that their old friend, Rev. Dr. Williams, was +on board the vessel and would like to see them, and he would very much +like some fresh <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_316" id="pg_316">316</a></span>fruit. He explained the doctor’s failure to come on +shore by saying that he had fallen on deck and broken his leg the day +before, and was then confined to his cabin.</p> + +<p>“The natives would hasten to gather a large supply of fruit and take it +on board the schooner. Their fruit was piled on deck, and one by one +they were taken below, ostensibly to see their disabled friend, but +really to shove them forward into the hold in the manner I have +described. When a sufficient number had been entrapped the schooner +sailed away, and there was little probability that the deceived natives +would ever see their island again.</p> + +<p>“That was the method formerly in vogue for supplying labor to the sugar +plantations in Queensland. The matter became so notorious that the +government investigated it and put a stop to ‘black-birding.’ At present +the business of obtaining men from the Pacific Islands is fairly well +conducted. On every ship that goes out for that purpose there is a +government officer whose duty it is to see that no deception or trickery +is practised, and that the contracts with the natives are fully +understood on both sides before they are signed.</p> + +<p>“We hire these people for three years, and when that period has expired +we are obliged to return them to their homes. Formerly, they had the +option of renewing their contracts here without going away, and a good +many planters were careful to see that the men were heavily in debt at +the expiration of their term of service, so that they would be obliged +to engage again in order to get themselves out of debt, which they never +did. Now the government regulation forbids the renewal of a contract +here, <span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_317" id="pg_317">317</a></span>and in order to have the agreement a valid one, it must be made +in the island whence the man was brought. Of course this is a hardship +where a man really does not want to go home, but, on the whole, it is +for the best.”</p> + +<p>Harry asked how they managed to get along with the natives of the +different islands, and if they proved to be good laborers.</p> + +<p>“As to that,” was the reply, “there is a great deal of difference among +them. The most of them are industrious and do fairly well, but nearly +all need a little urging. We don’t flog them, as flogging is forbidden +by law, but the overseers generally carry long, supple sticks which they +know how to handle. They have to be careful, though, in using these +sticks, as some of the Kanakas, as we call the South Sea Islanders, are +revengeful, and they’re very handy with knives.</p> + +<p>“The men from the Solomon Islands are the worst to deal with, as they +have ugly dispositions; they are inclined to resent what they believe to +be an insult, and they are a strong, wiry race. They are quarrelsome +among themselves, and probably their tendency to quarrel is increased by +the fact that many of them are cannibals. Sometimes we miss one of these +fellows, and though we hunt everywhere, it is impossible to find him. +There are vague rumors that he has been eaten by his friends. The whole +business is carefully concealed from us, and it is very rarely the case +that we are able to get at the facts. It generally turns out, when we +ascertain anything about it, that the man was killed in a fight, and was +then cooked and eaten, to prevent his being wasted.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_318" id="pg_318">318</a></span>Harry remarked that the Solomon Islanders, as he saw them on the +plantation, were not a prepossessing lot of people, and he would not +care to be among them even for a single day.</p> + +<p>The natives of the Kingsmill group were much more attractive in their +appearance, but even they were nothing to be fond of. On the whole, +neither of the youths took a liking to the laborers on the sugar +plantation, and as the place was said to be infested with snakes, they +were quite willing to cut their visit short and return to the coast.</p> + +<p style="margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:3em; text-align:center;">THE END</p> + +<hr class='spacer' /> + +<p class="i c">W. A. Wilde & Co., Publishers.</p> +<hr style="width: 100%; margin-bottom: 1em; border:none; border-bottom:1px solid silver;" /> + +<p><i>ABOVE THE RANGE. A Story for Girls.</i> By <span class="smcap">Theodora R. Jenness</span>. 315 pp. +Illustrated. Cloth. 12mo. $1.25.</p> + +<p class="s">An Indian story for girls. A mission school for the daughters of the +Dakota tribes is most interestingly described. The strange ideas and +beliefs of these wild people are woven into the thread of the story, +which tells how a little white girl was brought up as an Indian child, +educated at a mission school, and was finally discovered by her parents.</p> + +<p><i>SERAPH, THE LITTLE VIOLINISTE.</i> By Mrs. <span class="smcap">C. V. Jamison</span>. 298 pp. +Illustrated. Cloth, $1,50.</p> + +<p class="s">A most charming and delightful story of a little girl who had inherited +a most remarkable musical talent, which found its natural expression +through the medium of the violin. The picturesqueness of Mrs. Jamison’s +stories is remarkable, and the reader unconsciously becomes Seraph’s +friend and sympathizer in all her trials and triumphs.</p> + +<p><i>ORCUTT GIRLS; or, One Term at the Academy.</i> By <span class="smcap">Charlotte M. Vaile</span>. 316 +pp. Illustrated. Cloth, $1.50.</p> + +<p class="s">Mrs. Vaile gives us a story here which will become famous as a +description of a phase of New England educational history which has now +become a thing of the past—with an exception here and there. The +Academy, once the pride and boast of our fathers, has given way to the +High School, and girls and boys of to-day know nothing of the +experiences which “The Orcutt Girls” enjoyed in their “One Term at the +Academy.”</p> + +<p><i>MALVERN. A Neighborhood Story.</i> By <span class="smcap">Ellen Douglas Deland</span>. 341 pp. +Illustrated. Cloth, $1.50.</p> + +<p class="s">A most attractive and interesting story by a writer who has won a vast +audience of young people by her stories. Malvern is a small suburban +town in New Jersey. The neighborhood furnishes a queer assortment of +boys and girls. How they felt and acted, what they did, and how they did +it, forms an interesting narrative.</p> + +<p><i>LADY BETTY’S TWINS.</i> By <span class="smcap">E. M. Waterworth</span>. With 12 illustrations. 116 +pp. Cloth, 75 cents.</p> + +<p class="s">A quaint little story of a girl—a little girl—who had a propensity for +getting into trouble, because she had not learned the lesson of +obedience. She masters this, however, as the story tells, and in doing +so she and her brother have a number of experiences.</p> + +<p><i>THE MOONSTONE RING.</i> By <span class="smcap">Jennie Chappell</span>. With 6 full-page +illustrations. 116 pp. Cloth, 75 cents.</p> + +<p class="s">An old ring plays an important part in this charming little story. It +brings together a spoiled child, the granddaughter of a rich and +indulgent old lady, and a happy little family of three, who, though +poor, are contented with their lot. This acquaintance proves to be of +mutual advantage.</p> + +<p><i>THE MARJORIE BOOKS.</i> 6 vols. Edited by <span class="smcap">Lucy Wheelock</span>. About 200 +illustrations. Price of set, $1.50.</p> + +<p class="s">A new set of books for the little ones, better, if possible, than even +<i>Dot’s Library</i>, which has been so popular. Full of pictures, short +stories, and bits of poetry.</p> + +<hr style="width: 100%; margin-bottom: 0em; border:none; border-bottom:1px solid silver;" /> +<p class="c i">Boston: W. A. Wilde & Co., 25 Bromfield Street.</p> + +<hr style="width: 100%; margin: 3em auto 3em 0; border:none; border-bottom:2px solid white;" /> + +<p class="i c">W. A. Wilde & Co., Publishers.</p> +<hr style="width: 100%; margin-bottom: 1em; border:none; border-bottom:1px solid silver;" /> + +<p class="c b i">WAR OF THE REVOLUTION SERIES.</p> + +<p class="c">By <span class="smcap">Everett T. Tomlinson</span>.</p> + +<p><i>THREE COLONIAL BOYS. A Story of the Times of ’76.</i> 368 pp. Illustrated. +Cloth, $1.50.</p> + +<p class="s">It is a story of three boys who were drawn into the events of the times; +is patriotic, exciting, clean, and healthful, and instructs without +appearing to. The heroes are manly boys, and no objectionable language +or character is introduced. The lessons of courage and patriotism +especially will be appreciated in this day.—<i>Boston Transcript.</i></p> + +<p><i>THREE YOUNG CONTINENTALS. A Story of the American Revolution.</i> 364 pp. +Illustrated. Cloth, $1.50.</p> + +<p class="s">The second volume of the <i>War of the Revolution</i> Series gives a vivid +and accurate picture of, and the part which our “Three Colonial Boys” +took in, the events which led up to the “Battle of Long Island,” which +was thought at the time to be a crushing defeat for the Continental +Army, but which in fact was the means of arousing the Colonies to more +determined effort.</p> + +<p class="c s"><sup>*</sup><span class="xs">*</span><sup>*</sup> <i>OTHER VOLUMES IN PREPARATION.</i></p> + +<hr class="shortad" /> + +<p class="c b i">TRAVEL ADVENTURE SERIES.</p> + +<p class="c">By <span class="smcap">Col. Thos. W. Knox</span>.</p> + +<p><i>IN WILD AFRICA. Adventures of Two Boys in the Sahara Desert.</i> 325 pp. +Illustrated. Cloth, $1.50.</p> + +<p class="s">This story is a fascinating and instructive one, and we cheerfully +commend the book to parents and teachers who have the responsibility of +choosing the reading for young readers.—<i>The Religious Telescope, +Dayton.</i></p> + +<p><i>THE LAND OF THE KANGAROO. Adventures of Two Boys in the Great Island +Continent.</i> 318 pp. Illustrated. Cloth, $1.50.</p> + +<p class="s">The late Col. Thos. W. Knox was a famous traveler and writer of boys’ +books of travel and adventure. His last book (finished only ten days +before his sudden death) describes a portion of the world in which he +took a vast interest, and of which little is known in this country. +Australia, the great island continent, the land of the kangaroo, and a +country of contradictions, is most interestingly described.</p> + +<p class="c s"><sup>*</sup><span class="xs">*</span><sup>*</sup> <i>OTHER VOLUMES IN THIS SERIES ANNOUNCED LATER.</i></p> + +<hr class="shortad" /> + +<p><i>QUARTERDECK & FOK’SLE.</i> By <span class="smcap">Molly Elliot Seawell</span>, author of “Decatur and +Somers,” etc. 272 pp. Illustrated. $1.25.</p> + +<p class="s">Miss Seawell is exceptionally gifted in the line of instructing and +amusing young people at the same time, and many a boy pricks up his ears +at the sound of her name, in the hope of another of her lively, and at +the same time instructive and high-spirited volumes. This one will +sustain her reputation well, and will be read with eager +interest.—<i>Congregationalist, Boston.</i></p> + +<hr style="width: 100%; margin-top: 1em; border:none; border-bottom:1px solid silver;" /> + +<p class="c i">Boston: W. A. Wilde & Co., 25 Bromfield Street.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAND OF THE KANGAROO***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 23995-h.txt or 23995-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/3/9/9/23995">http://www.gutenberg.org/2/3/9/9/23995</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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Burgess + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Land of the Kangaroo + Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey through the Great Island Continent + + +Author: Thomas Wallace Knox + + + +Release Date: December 26, 2007 [eBook #23995] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAND OF THE KANGAROO*** + + +E-text prepared by Roger Frank and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 23995-h.htm or 23995-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/3/9/9/23995/23995-h/23995-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/3/9/9/23995/23995-h.zip) + + + + + +THE LAND OF THE KANGAROO. + + * * * * * + +TRAVEL ADVENTURE SERIES. + +IN WILD AFRICA. The Adventures of Two Youths in the Sahara Desert. By +Thomas W. Knox. 325 pages, with six illustrations by H. Burgess. 12mo. +Cloth. $1.50. + +THE LAND OF THE KANGAROO. The Adventures of Two Youths in the Great +Island Continent. By Thomas W. Knox. 350 pages, with five illustrations +by H. Burgess. 12mo. Cloth. $1.50. + +Col. Knox's sudden death, ten days after completing "The Land of the +Kangaroo" leaves unfinished this series of travel stories for boys +which he had planned. The publishers announce that the remaining +volumes of this series will be issued, although the work will be +done by another's hand. + +Announcement concerning the remaining volumes of this series will be +made later. + + * * * * * + + +THE LAND OF THE KANGAROO. + +Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey Through +the Great Island Continent. + +by + +THOMAS W. KNOX. + +Author of "In Wild Africa," "The Boy Travelers," (15 Vols.) +"Overland through Asia," Etc., Etc. + +Illustrated By H. Burgess. + + + + + + + +[Illustration: "WE PASSED A SHIP BECALMED IN THE DOLDRUMS."] + + + +Boston, U. S. A. +W. A. Wilde & Company, +25 Bromfield Street. + +Copyright, 1896. +by W. A. Wilde & Co. +All rights reserved. + +The Land of the Kangaroo. + + + + +PREFACE. + +The rapidly increasing prominence of the Australian colonies during the +past ten or twenty years has led to the preparation of the volume of +which this is the preface. Australia has a population numbering close +upon five millions and it had prosperous and populous cities, all of +them presenting abundant indications of collective and individual +wealth. It possesses railways and telegraphs by thousands of miles, and +the productions of its farms, mines, and plantations aggregate an +enormous amount. It has many millions, of cattle and sheep, and their +number is increasing annually at a prodigious rate. + +Australia is a land of many wonders, and it is to tell the story of +these wonders and of the growth and development of the colonies of the +antipodes, that this volume has been written. + + T. W. K. + + + +CONTENTS. + + I. WEST COAST OF AFRICA--Adventure in the South Atlantic Ocean + II. THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE--The Southern Ocean--Australia + III. A LAND OF CONTRADICTIONS--Transportation to Australia + IV. STRANGE ADVENTURES--Australian Aboriginals + V. ACROSS AUSTRALIA--Tallest Trees in the World + VI. AUSTRALIAN BLACKS--Throwing the Boomerang + VII. ADELAIDE TO MELBOURNE--The Rabbit Pest--Dangerous Exotics + VIII. CANNIBAL BLACKS--Melbourne and its Peculiarities + IX. "THE LAUGHING JACKASS"--Australian Snakes and Snake Stories + X. THE HARBOR OF MELBOURNE--Convict Hulks and Bushrangers + XI. GEELONG--Australian Gold Mines--Finding a Big Nugget + XII. A SOUTHERLY BURSTER--Western Victoria + XIII. JOURNEY UP COUNTRY--Anecdotes of Bush Life + XIV. LOST IN THE BUSH--Australian Horses + XV. EXPERIENCES AT A CATTLE STATION--A Kangaroo Hunt + XVI. HUNTING THE EMU AND OTHER BIRDS--An Australian Sheep Run + XVII. FROM MELBOURNE TO SYDNEY--Crossing the Blue Mountains + XVIII. SIGHTS OF SYDNEY--Botany Bay and Paramatta + XIX. COAL MINES AT NEWCASTLE--Sugar Plantation in Queensland--The End + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS. + PAGE. + +"We passed a ship becalmed in the doldrums" Frontispiece. 18 +"Harry had obtained a map of Australia" 56 +A visit to the Zoological Garden 147 +"There they go!" shouted Mr. Syme 242 + + + + + +THE LAND OF THE KANGAROO. + +CHAPTER I. + +WEST COAST OF AFRICA--ADVENTURE IN THE SOUTH ATLANTIC OCEAN. + + +"We don't want to stay long in this place." + +"I don't think we do, sir," was the reply. + +"The sooner we leave it, the better." + +"That is so," said Harry; "I quite agree with you. I wonder how white +men manage to live here at all." + +This conversation occurred at Bonny, a trading station on one of the +mouths of the river Niger in Western Africa. In former times Bonny was a +famous resort for slave traders, and great numbers of slaves were sent +from that place to North and South America. In addition to slave +trading, there was considerable dealing in ivory, palm oils, and other +African products. Trade is not as prosperous at Bonny nowadays as it was +in the slave-dealing times, but there is a fair amount of commerce and +the commissions of the factors and agents are very large. Bonny stands +in a region of swamps, and the climate exhales at all times of the year +pestilential vapors which are not at all suited to the white man. Most +of the white residents live on board old hulks which are moored to the +bank of the river, and they find these hulks less unhealthy than houses +off shore, for the reason that they are less exposed to the vapors of +the ground. + +The parties to the conversation just quoted were Dr. Whitney and his +nephews, Ned and Harry; they had just arrived at Bonny, from a visit to +Lake Chad and Timbuctoo, and had made a voyage down the Niger, which has +been described in a volume entitled "In Wild Africa." + +One of the residents told Dr. Whitney that all the coast of the Bight of +Benin, into which the Niger empties by its various mouths, was quite as +unhealthy as Bonny. "We don't expect anybody to live more than three or +four years after taking up his residence here," the gentleman remarked, +"and very often one or two years are sufficient to carry him off. The +climate is bad enough, but it isn't the climate that is to blame for all +the mortality, by any means. The great curse of the whole region is the +habit of drinking. Everybody drinks, and drinks like a fish, too. When +you call on anybody, the servants, without waiting for orders, bring a +bottle of brandy, or whiskey, or something of the sort, and place it on +the table between the host and the visitor. You are expected to drink, +and the man who declines to do so is looked upon as a milksop. When one +rises in the morning, his first call is for brandy and soda, and it is +brandy, and whiskey, and champagne, or some other intoxicant, all the +day long. The climate is bad enough without any help, but the drinking +habit of the residents along the Bight of Benin is worse than the +climate, and everybody knows it; but, somehow or other, everybody is +reckless and continues to drink, knowing perfectly well what the result +will be." + +Dr. Whitney had already made observations to the same effect, and +remarked that he thought the west coast of Africa would be a good field +of labor for an advocate of total abstinence. His new acquaintance +replied that it might be under ordinary circumstances, but that the +conditions of the region where they were not ordinary. It was +necessary to remember that the men who went to West Africa for purposes +of trade were of a reckless, adventurous sort, having little regard for +the future and determined to make the most of the present. Men of this +class take very naturally to habits of dissipation, and would turn a +deaf ear to any advocate of temperance who might come among them. + +Fortunately for our friends, they were detained at Bonny only a single +day. A small steamer which runs between Bonny and Fernando Po took them +to the latter place, which is on an island in the Atlantic Ocean, and +has a mountain peak ten thousand feet high. This peak is wooded to the +summit with fine timber, and altogether the island is a very attractive +spot to the eye, in comparison with Bonny and the swampy region of the +lower Niger. + +Port Clarence, the harbor of Fernando Po, is said to be one of the +prettiest places of Western Africa. The town consists of a group of +houses somewhat irregularly placed, and guarded by a fort which could be +knocked down in a few hours by a fleet of modern warships. + +Our friends went on shore immediately after their arrival, and found +quarters in what Ned called an apology for a hotel. Fernando Po is the +property of Spain, and the island is one of the State prisons of that +country. Some of the prisoners are kept in hulks in the harbor, while +others are confined in the fort. Not infrequently prisoners escape and +find shelter among the Adyia, the tribe of natives inhabiting the +island. They are a peaceful people, but have a marked hatred for +civilization. They rarely come into the town, and none of them will +consent to live there. Their huts or villages are scattered over the +forests, and when visitors go among them they are kindly treated. The +town of Port Clarence is occupied by a few white men and a considerable +number of negroes from Sierra Leone, Liberia, and other regions along +the coast. + +"This will be as good a place to get away from as Bonny," the doctor +remarked to his nephews, as they were strolling about Port Clarence. + +"I have observed," said Harry, "that the wind is blowing directly from +the coast, and therefore is bringing with it the malarias of the swampy +region which we have just left." + +"That is quite true," the doctor answered, "and the circumstance you +mention makes a long stay here undesirable. Have you noticed that many +of the natives here seem to be suffering from skin diseases of one kind +or another?" + +"I observed that," replied Ned, "and was wondering what was the cause of +it." + +"I was told by a gentleman at the hotel," said the doctor, "that there +is an ulcer peculiar to this locality which is well-nigh incurable. The +slightest abrasion of the cuticle or even the bite of an insect is +sufficient to cause it. I was told that it sometimes happens that the +bite of a mosquito on the arm or leg will make amputation necessary, +and an instance of this kind occurred within the past three months. On a +first view of the island it looks like a delightful place, but a nearer +acquaintance dispels the illusion." + +"I wonder how long we will be obliged to stay here," Harry remarked. + +"According to the time-table," replied the doctor, "the mail steamer +will be here to-morrow; and if she comes, you may be sure we will take +passage on her." + +The steamer came according to schedule, and when she left she carried +the three travelers away from Fernando Po. She was an English steamer +bound for the Cape of Good Hope. There was hardly any wind blowing when +the great ship started out into the Atlantic and headed away to the +southward, but the movement of the vessel through the water was +sufficient to create a breeze, which our friends greatly enjoyed. They +sat beneath the awnings which covered the entire length and width of the +steamer, studied their fellow-passengers, and now and then cast their +eyes over the wide and desolate sweep of waters to the west and south. + +Not a sail was to be seen, a few craft were creeping along the coast, +but they were not numerous enough to add animation to the scene. + +We will take from Harry's notebook an incident or two of the voyage. + +"We found a mixed lot of passengers on board the steamer. There were a +few Englishmen going to South Africa for the first time,--young fellows +seeking their fortunes, and full of hope and ambition. One of them said +he was going up country on a hunting expedition, not for the sport only, +but for the money that could be made by the sale of hides, ivory, horns, +and other products of the chase. He was quite well informed concerning +the business on which he was bent, and told me that it was the custom +for two or more men, generally not above four, to buy wagons, oxen, +horses, and provisions in one of the towns on the coast or in the +interior, and then strike out into the wild country for an absence of +anywhere from three to six or seven months. Their provisions consisted +of flour, sugar, tea, pepper, salt, and a few other things. For meat +they relied upon what they killed; and he added that a great deal of +meat was needed, as there were from twenty-five to fifty natives +attached to a hunting party and all of them had ferocious appetites. + +"They shot anything that came in their way, elephants, buffaloes, +elands, gemsbok, and I don't know what else. It was a hard life and not +without risk, but it was healthy and full of good sport. He told us so +much about his business that Ned and I heartily wished to go with him +and have a share in the experience and fun. + +"Another young man was going out as a mining engineer and expected to +find employment in some of the newly opened gold mines in the +Johannesburg district. Another was to become the manager of a large farm +forty or fifty miles from Cape Town, which was owned by his uncle. +Another young man was going out with no particular object in view, and +said he was ready for anything that turned up. + +"Then there were Afrikanders who had been on a visit to England for +business, or pleasure, or both combined. One had been there for the +express purpose of finding a bride; he found her, and she was with him +as a passenger on the steamer. She and two others were the only lady +passengers on the ship; men greatly predominated among the passengers, +and we were told that such was always the case on board one of these +steamers. One of the passengers was a resident of Durban, the port of +Natal, and he gave us a cordial invitation to visit his place. 'You will +find Durban a very interesting spot,' said he, 'and the only bad thing +about it is getting ashore. There is a nasty sea breaking there most of +the time, and it is tedious work getting from a ship into a small boat +and then getting safe to land. You must come prepared to be soused with +salt water two or three times before you get your feet fairly planted on +the shore.' + +"Ned and I concluded that we would not make any special effort to get to +Durban, although we had received such a cordial invitation to go there. + +"We had a good breeze," continued Harry, "until we got to within four +degrees of the Equator; then the wind died out and left the sea as +smooth as glass, without the least motion upon it anywhere. We seemed to +be running through an enormous plate of glass, polished until it shone +like the most perfect mirror ever made. As we looked down from the rail +into the depths of the sea our faces were reflected, and there seemed to +be a counterfeit presentment of ourselves gazing at us from the depths +below, and, oh, wasn't it hot, blistering, burning hot! The sun poured +down so that the heat pierced our awnings as though no awnings had been +there, and the breeze which the ship created by her motion seemed like +the blast from a furnace. The pitch oozed from the seams of the planking +on the deck, and the deck itself became blistering hot to one's feet. +There was not the least stir of the sails and only the faintest motion +of the ship from side to side. Respiration became difficult, and, as I +looked about, I could see the passengers and sailors yawning and gaping +in the effort to draw in their breath. All the metal about the ship +became hot, especially the brass. If you touched it, it almost seemed to +raise a blister, and the spot with which you touched it was painful for +hours. + +"We passed a ship becalmed in the doldrums, as this region is called, +and she looked more like a painted ship upon a painted ocean than any +other craft I ever saw. Her sails were all hanging loose, and so were +all the ropes, and lines, and halyards from one end of the ship to the +other. She was as motionless as if she were tied up to a dock in harbor, +and there was very little sign of life about her anywhere. I asked one +of our officers how long that ship had probably been there and how long +she was liable to stay. + +"'That's a question, young man,' he replied, 'that I can't answer very +surely. She may have been there a day or two only, and may stay only a +day or so, and then, again, she may have been there a week or a month; +we can't tell without speaking her, and we are not particularly +interested in her, anyhow.'" + +Then he went on to explain that ships have been becalmed at the Equator +for two months and more, lying all the time in a dead calm, just like +the one through which we were passing. + +"Two weeks," he said, "is a fair time for a ship to stay in the +doldrums, and you can be sure it is quite long enough for passengers and +crew. + +"Passengers and crew sometimes die of the heat, and existence under such +circumstances becomes a burden. There are stories about ships that have +been in the doldrums six or eight months at a time, but I am not +inclined to believe them; for a man to stay in this terrific heat for +that length of time would be enough to drive him crazy. + +"The steamer was three days in the calm belt of the Equator before we +struck the southeast trades, and had a breeze again. I don't want to +repeat my experiences with the doldrums. + +"One day I heard a curious story about an incident on board an American +ship not far from the Cape of Good Hope. She was from Calcutta, and +bound to New York, and her crew consisted of American sailors, with the +exception of two Indian coolies who had been taken on board at Calcutta +because the ship was short-handed. One of these coolies had been put, +one in the starboard and the other in the port watch, and everything had +been quiet and peaceable on board the ship until the incident I am about +to describe. + +"One night the ship was sailing quietly along, and some of the men +noticed, or remembered afterwards, that when the watches were changed, +the coolie who had been relieved from duty remained on deck. Shortly +after the change of watch, the two mates of the ship were standing near +the lee rail and talking with each other, when the two coolies came +along and one of them made the remark that he was sick. This remark was +evidently a signal, for instantly one of the coolies drew a knife and +stabbed the first mate to the heart, while simultaneously the other +coolie sprang with a knife at the second officer and gave him several +stabs in the chest. + +"The first mate fell dead at the stroke of the knife, but the second +mate had sufficient strength left to crawl to the companionway leading +to the captain's room, where he called out, 'Captain Clark!' 'Captain +Clark!' and then ceased to breathe. + +"The captain sprang from his bunk, and rushed on deck in his +night-clothes. At the top of the companion-steps he was violently +stabbed on the head and seized by the throat; he was quite unarmed and +struck out with his fists at the face of his assailant, hoping to blind +him. The coolie continued to stab him, and the captain started back down +the steps until he slipped in the blood that covered them, and fell into +the cabin, with a terrible wound in his side. He then crawled to where +his revolver was, and started up the steps; when half way up, a man +rolled down the steps against him and knocked him over. + +"The captain thought it was the coolie, but it proved to be one of the +sailors, who was frightened half to death. All he could say was, to beg +of the captain to save him. + +"The captain had his wife and child on board, and his wife was roused by +the tumult. She came to her husband's aid and proceeded to bind up his +wounds. While she was doing this one of the coolies smashed in the +skylight, and would have jumped into the cabin had not the captain fired +at him with his revolver and drove him away. + +"The next thing the coolies did was to murder the man at the wheel and +fling his body overboard. Then they murdered the carpenter and a sailor +and disposed of them the same way. Including the two mates, five men +were slain and four others were wounded. The wounded men and the rest of +the crew barricaded themselves in the forecastle for protection, and +there they remained the rest of the night and all through the next day. +The captain and his wife and child stayed in the cabin. + +"The two coolies were in full possession of the ship from a little past +midnight until eight o'clock of the following evening. One of them, +venturing near the skylight, was shot in the breast by the captain, and +then the two coolies rushed forward and threw a spar overboard. One of +them jumped into the sea and clung to the spar, while the other dropped +down into the between-decks, where he proceeded to set the ship on fire. +Seeing this, the sailors who had barricaded themselves in the forecastle +broke out, and two of them proceeded to hunt the coolie down with +revolvers. They hunted him out and shot him in the shoulder, and then he +jumped overboard and joined his companion. Shots were fired at the two +men, and soon afterward they sank. + +"The fire got such headway that it could not be put out. Finally a boat +was provisioned and lowered; the crew entered it, and after waiting +about the ship during the night in the hope that the flames might bring +assistance, they put up a sail and headed for St. Helena. Thus was a +ship's crew of twenty-three people overawed and rendered helpless by two +slender coolies, whom any one of the Yankee crew could have crushed out +of existence in a very short space of time. + +"The steamer passed near Ascension Island, but did not stop there. This +island is entered in the British Navy List as a commissioned ship. It is +nearly three thousand feet high, very rocky and well supplied with fresh +water. Ships often stop there for a supply of water and such fresh +provisions as are obtainable. The climate is said to be very healthy, +and when the crews of British naval vessels are enfeebled by a long stay +on the African coast, they go to Ascension Island to recruit their +strength." + +Ned and Harry were very desirous of visiting the island of St. Helena, +which became famous as a prison and for many years the grave of +Napoleon. They were disappointed on ascertaining that the ship would not +stop there, and the officer of whom they made inquiry said there was +nothing to stop there for. "The island is not of much account," he said, +"and the natives have a hard time to make a living. In the days of +sailing ships it was a favorite stopping place and the inhabitants did a +good business. The general introduction of steamships, along with the +digging of the Suez Canal, have knocked their business all to pieces. + +"Where they used to have a dozen or twenty ships a month, they get about +half as many in a year. The buildings where Napoleon used to live are +all gone to ruin, and the sight of them does not pay for the journey +one has to make to get there." + +When it was announced that the vessel was nearing the Cape of Good Hope, +our young friends strained their eyes in a friendly competition to be +first to make it out. Harry was ahead of Ned in discerning the dim +outline of Table Mountain, which is well described by its name. It is a +flat-topped mountain fronting on the bay on which Cape Town stands. It +is about three thousand five hundred feet in height, and is guarded on +the left by the Lion's Head, and on the right by the Devil's Berg. The +harbor is reached by passing between a small island and the coast, the +island forming a very fair shelter for ships that lie inside of it. + +Here the voyage of the steamer came to an end, as she belonged to one of +the lines plying between England and the Cape. It became necessary for +our friends to look around for another ship to carry them to their +destination. They were not in any particular hurry about it, as they +were quite willing to devote a little time to the Cape and its +peculiarities. + +A swarm of boats surrounded the ship as soon as her anchor was down, and +everybody was in a hurry to get on shore. As soon as our friends could +obtain a boat, their baggage was passed over the side and they followed +it. The boat was managed by a white man, evidently of Dutch origin, who +spoke a mixture of Dutch, English, and Hottentot, and perhaps two or +three other native languages, in such a confused way that it was +difficult to understand him in any. Four negroes rowed the boat and did +the work while the Dutchman superintended it. The boatman showed a +laudable desire to swindle the travelers, but his intentions were curbed +by the stringent regulations established by the city authorities. + +As they neared the landing place, Ned called attention to a swarm of +cabs that seemed to be far in excess of any possible demand for them. +Harry remarked that he didn't think they would have any lack of vehicles +to take them to the hotel, and so it proved. The cab drivers displayed +great eagerness in their efforts to secure passengers, and their prices +were by no means unreasonable. + +We will listen to Ned as he tells the story of what he saw on landing in +Cape Town. + +"The thing that impressed me most was the varying complexion of the +inhabitants. They are not exactly of the colors of the rainbow, but they +certainly present all the shades of complexion that can be found in the +human face. You see fair-haired Englishmen, and English women, too, and +then you see negroes so black that charcoal 'would make a white mark on +their faces,' as one of my schoolmates used to say. Between these two, +so far as color is concerned, you see several shades of negro +complexion; and you also see Malays, coolies from India, Chinese, and I +don't know what else. The Malays or coolies have drifted here in search +of employment, and the same is the case with the Chinese, who are to be +found, so Dr. Whitney says, in every port of Asia and Africa. + +"Most of these exotic people cling to their native costume, especially +the natives of India, and the Malays, though a good deal depends on the +employment in which they engage. Some of the Malays drive cabs, and the +drivers usually adopt European dress or a modification of it. Among the +white inhabitants the Dutch hold a predominating place, and they are +said to outnumber the English; they are the descendants of the original +settlers at the Cape something more than two hundred years ago. They +observe their individuality and have an important voice in the local +affairs of the colony; but whenever the English authorities have their +mind made up to pursue a certain policy, whether it be for the +construction of railways in the interior or the building of docks or +breakwaters in the harbor of Cape Town, they generally do pretty much as +they please. + +"I observed that the people on the streets seem to take things easily +and move about with quite a languid air. This was the case with white +and colored people alike; probably the Dutch settlers set the example +years and years ago, and the others have followed it. Harry thinks that +it is the heat of the place which causes everybody to move about slowly. +Some one has remarked that only dogs and strangers walk rapidly; in Cape +Town the only people whom I saw walking fast were some of our +fellow-passengers from the steamer. I actually did see a negro running, +but the fact is, that another negro with a big stick was running after +him. As for the dogs, they seemed just as quiet as their masters. + +"We inquired for the best hotel in Cape Town, and were taken to the one +indicated as such. Harry says he thinks the driver made a mistake and +took us to the worst; and Dr. Whitney remarks that if this is the best, +he doesn't want to travel through the street where the worst one +stands. We have made some inquiries since coming to this house, and +find that it is really the best, or perhaps I ought to say the least +bad, in the place. The table is poor, the beds lumpy and musty, and +nearly every window has a broken pane or two, while the drainage is +atrocious. + +"We are told that the hotels all through South Africa are of the same +sort, and the only thing about them that is first class is the price +which one pays for accommodation. The hotel is well filled, the greater +part of the passengers from our steamer having come here; but I suppose +the number will dwindle down considerably in the next two or three days, +as the people scatter in the directions whither they are bound. Most +people come to Cape Town in order to leave it. + +"And this reminds me that there are several railways branching out from +Cape Town. There is a line twelve hundred miles long to Johannisburg in +the Transvaal Republic, and there are several other lines of lesser +length. The colonial government has been very liberal in making grants +for railways, and thus developing the business of the colony. Every year +sees new lines undertaken, or old ones extended, and it will not be very +long before the iron horse goes pretty nearly everywhere over the length +and breadth of South Africa. + +"We have driven along the principal streets of the city, and admired the +public buildings, which are both numerous and handsome. We took a +magnificent drive around the mountain to the rear of the city, where +there are some very picturesque views. In some places the edge of the +road is cut directly into the mountain side, and we looked almost +perpendicularly down for five or six hundred feet, to where the waters +of the Atlantic were washing the base of the rocks. From the mountain +back of Cape Town, there is a fine picture of the city harbor and lying +almost at one's feet; the city, with its rows and clusters of buildings +glistening in the sunlight, and the bright harbor, with its docks, +breakwaters, and forest of masts in full view of the spectator. From +this point we could see better than while in the harbor itself, the +advantages of the new breakwater. It seems that the harbor is exposed to +southeast winds, which are the prevailing ones here. When the wind +freshens into a gale, the position of the ships at anchor in the harbor +is a dangerous one, and the breakwaters have been constructed so as to +obviate this danger. When they are completed, the harbor will be fairly +well landlocked, and ships may anchor in Table Bay, and their masters +feel a sense of security against being driven on shore." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE--THE SOUTHERN OCEAN--AUSTRALIA. + + +"Would you like to visit an ostrich farm?" said Dr. Whitney, while our +friends were at breakfast, on the second morning after their arrival at +Cape Town. + +"I would, for one," said Harry; to which Ned replied, "and so would I." + +"Very well," continued the doctor. "I have an invitation to visit an +ostrich establishment, and we will start immediately after breakfast. +The railway will take us within about three miles of the farm, and the +gentleman who has given me the invitation, and included you in it, will +accompany us on the train, and his carriage will meet us at the +station." + +"That is capital!" exclaimed Harry. "He will be sure to give us a great +deal of information on the subject while we are on the train, so that we +can see the farm more intelligently than would otherwise be the case." + +"Yes, that is so," echoed Ned, "and as he is the proprietor of the +establishment, he will certainly know all about the business." + +At the appointed time the party assembled at the railway station in Cape +Town, and when the train was ready, our friends, accompanied by their +host, Mr. Shaffner, took their places and were soon whirling away +towards their destination. For a part of the way the train wound among +hills and low mountains, and for another it stretched away across the +level or slightly undulating plain. Mr. Shaffner entered at once upon +the subject of ostriches, and as he began his conversation, Harry asked +him if he had any objections to their taking notes of what he said. + +"Not in the least," was the reply; "you are welcome to take all the +notes you like, and if there is any point that I don't explain fully to +your satisfaction, please tell me, and I will be more explicit." + +The youths thanked him for his courtesy, and immediately brought out +their notebooks and pencils. + +"According to tradition," said Mr. Shaffner, "ostriches were formerly +very abundant, wild ones, I mean, all over this part of the country. In +the early part of this century they were so numerous in the neighborhood +of Cape Town, that a man could hardly walk a quarter of an hour without +seeing one or more of these birds. As late as 1858, a flock of twenty or +thirty were seen among hills about twenty miles from Cape Town, but +after that time they seemed to have disappeared almost entirely. Ostrich +farming is an enterprise of the past twenty years, and before it began, +the only way of procuring ostrich feathers was by hunting down and +killing the wild birds. The practise was cruel, and it was also the +reverse of economical. Thoughtful hunters realized this, and a rumor +went through the colony that ostriches had been domesticated in Algeria, +and were successfully raised for the production of feathers. When this +rumor or report went about, it naturally set some of us thinking, and +our thoughts were, 'Why can't ostriches be raised here, as well as in +Algeria?' Several enterprising men proceeded to make experiments. They +offered to pay a high price for live birds in good health and condition, +and the price they offered induced the natives to set about catching +them. + +"Of course we were all in the dark as to the proper method of taking +care of ostriches, as the business was entirely new to all of us. We +made many mistakes and lost a good many birds. The eggs became addled +and worthless, and for the first two or three years it looked as though +the experiments would be a failure. Our greatest difficulty was in +finding proper food for the birds. We tried them with various kinds of +grasses, and we studied as well as we could the habits of the wild bird +at home. We found that they needed a certain quantity of alkalies, and +they subsisted largely upon the sweet grasses, wherever they could find +them. The grass called lucerne seems the best adapted to them, and you +will find it grown on all ostrich farms for the special purpose of +feeding the birds. + +"We have got the business down so fine now that we understand all the +various processes of breeding, rearing, herding, feeding, plucking, and +sorting. We buy and sell ostriches just as we do sheep. We fence in our +flocks, stable them, grow crops for them, study their habits, and cut +their feathers as matters of business. We don't send the eggs to market +along with our butter and cheese, as they are altogether too dear for +consumption. It is true that an ostrich egg will make a meal for three +or four persons; but at five dollars an egg, which is the usual price, +the meal would be a dear one. + +"In fact, the eggs are so precious," he continued, "that we don't allow +them to be hatched out by the birds. For fear of accidents, as soon as +the eggs have been laid they are taken from the nests and placed in a +patent incubator to be hatched out. The incubator makes fewer mistakes +than the parent ostriches do. That is to say, if you entrust a given +number of eggs to the birds to be hatched out in the natural way, and +place the same number in an incubator, you will get a considerably +larger proportion of chicks from the latter than from the former. + +"The business of ostrich farming," Mr. Shaffner went on to say, "is +spread over the colony from the near neighborhood of Cape Town to the +eastern frontier, and from Albany to the Orange River. Ostrich farms +were scattered at no great distances apart, and some of the proprietors +had a high reputation for their success. He said it must not be +understood that ostrich farming was the great industry of the country; +on the contrary, the product of wool was far greater in value than that +of feathers, and the ostriches were to the sheep as one is to a +thousand." + +Harry asked if the birds were allowed to run at large, or were kept +constantly in enclosures. + +"Both plans are followed," said Mr. Shaffner, "and some of the farmers +allow their flocks to run at large, feeding them once a day on grain, +for which they must come to the home stable. The ostriches know the hour +of feeding as well as if they carried watches, and are promptly on hand +when their dinner time arrives. In this way they are kept under +domestication and accustomed to the presence of men, but occasionally +they stray away and disappear. The safer way is to keep a native boy or +man constantly with each herd of ostriches, and the herder is held +responsible for the loss of any bird. + +"Even then the flock may sometimes be frightened and scattered beyond +the ability of the herder to bring the birds together. On my farm, I +have the ground fenced off into fifty-acre lots. I divide my birds into +flocks of twenty-five or thirty, and put them successively in the +different lots of land. I sow the ground with lucerne, and do not turn a +flock into a field or paddock until the grass is in good condition for +the birds to eat. + +"You may put it down as a rule on ostrich farms, that plenty of space +and a good fence are essential to success. In every paddock you must +have a good shed, where the birds can take shelter when it rains. You +must also have a kraal or yard in each paddock, where you can drive the +birds whenever you want to select some of them for cutting their +feathers. It is proper to say, however, that a kraal in each paddock is +not necessary, as all that work can be done at the home station, where +you have the buildings for artificial hatching and for gathering the +feathers." + +Ned asked what kind of ground was best suited for the ostrich. + +"You must have ground where the soil and plants are rich in alkalies," +replied Mr. Shaffner, "and when this is not the case, care must be taken +to supply the needful element. Before this matter was understood there +was some melancholy failures in the business. A friend of mine started +an ostrich farm on a sandstone ridge. There was no limestone on the +farm, and most of the birds died in a few months, and those that lived +laid no eggs and produced very few feathers. Limestone was carted to the +farm from a considerable distance, and the birds would not touch it. +Bones were then tried and with admirable effect. What the birds required +was phosphate of lime, and the bones gave them that. They rushed at them +with great eagerness, and as soon as they were well supplied with bones +they began to improve in health and to lay eggs. On farms like the one I +mentioned, a quarter of a pound of sulphur and some salt is mixed with +two buckets of pulverized bones, and the birds are allowed to eat as +much of this mixture as they like. Where the rocks, grass, and soil +contain alkaline salts in abundance, the birds require very little, if +any, artificial food, and they thrive, fatten, pair, and lay eggs in the +most satisfactory manner." + +"According to the story books," said Harry, "the ostrich will eat +anything. But from what you say, Mr. Shaffner, it does not seem that +that is really the case." + +"The ostrich has a very good appetite, I must say," was the reply, "and +so far as green things are concerned, he will eat almost anything; +lucerne, clover, wheat, corn, cabbage leaves, fruit, grain, and garden +vegetables are all welcome, and he eats a certain quantity of crushed +limestone and bones, and generally keeps a few pebbles in his stomach to +assist him in the process of digestion. If he sees a bright sparkling +stone on the ground, he is very apt to swallow it, and that reminds me +of a little incident about two years ago. An English gentleman was +visiting my place, and while he was looking around he came close up to +the fence of a paddock containing a number of ostriches. An ostrich was +on the other side of the fence and close to it. The gentleman had a +large diamond in his shirt front, and while he was looking at the bird, +the latter, with a quick movement of his head, wrenched the stone from +its setting and swallowed it. I see that none of you wear diamonds, and +so it is not necessary for me to repeat the caution which I have ever +since given to my diamond-wearing visitors." + +"What became of the diamond?" Harry asked. + +"Oh! my visitor bought the bird and had it killed, in order to get the +diamond back again. He found it safe in the creature's stomach, along +with several small stones. It was a particularly valuable gem, and the +gentleman had no idea of allowing the bird to keep it." + +Ned wanted to know if ostriches lived in flocks like barnyard fowls, or +divided off into pairs like the majority of forest and field birds. + +"That depends a great deal upon the farmer," Mr. Shaffner answered. "The +pairing season is in the month of July, which is equivalent to the +English January. Some farmers, when the pairing time approaches, put a +male and female bird together in a pen; some put two females with a +male, and very often a male bird has five hens in his family. The birds +run in pairs or flocks, as the case may be. In August, the hens begin to +lay, and continue to deposit eggs for a period of six weeks. They do not +lay every day, like domestic fowls, but every second or third day. As I +have already told you, the eggs are taken as soon as laid and hatched +in an incubator. Sixteen birds out of twenty eggs is considered a very +fair proportion, while, if the bird is allowed to sit on the eggs, we +are not likely to get more than twelve out of twenty. There is another +advantage in hatching eggs by the incubator process, and that is, that +when the eggs are taken away the hen proceeds a few weeks later to lay +another batch of eggs, which she does not do if she has a family to care +for." + +"What do you do with the young birds when they are hatched?" + +"We put them in a warm room," was the reply, "and at night they are put +in a box lined with wool; they are fed with chopped grass suitable to +them, and as soon as they are able to run about they are entrusted to +the care of a small boy, a Kaffir or Hottentot, to whom they get +strongly attached. They grow quite rapidly and begin to feather at eight +months after hatching, but the yield at that time is of very little +value. Eight months later there is another and better crop, and then at +each season the crop improves until the birds are four or five years +old, when it reaches its maximum condition. Exactly how long an ostrich +will live, I don't know. There are some birds here in South Africa that +are twenty years old, and they are strong and healthy yet." + +Conversation ran on in various ways until the station was reached where +our friends were to leave the train. The carriage was waiting for them, +and the party drove at once to the farm, where Mr. Shaffner showed them +about the place, and called attention to the flocks of birds straying +about the different paddocks. It so happened that a flock had been +driven up that very morning for the purpose of cutting such of the +feathers as were in proper condition to be removed from the birds. + +While the men were driving the birds into the kraal, Mr. Shaffner +explained that there was a difference of opinion among farmers as to +whether the feathers should be plucked or cut. He said that when the +feather is plucked or pulled out at the roots it is apt to make a bad +sore, and at any rate cause a great deal of pain; while the feather that +grows in its place is apt to be twisted or of poor quality, and +occasionally the birds die, as a result of the operation. When a feather +is nipped off with pincers or cut with a knife the bird is quite +insensible to the operation. The stumps that are left in the flesh of +the ostrich fall out in the course of a month or six weeks, or can be +easily drawn out, and then a new and good feather grows in place of the +old one. The reason why plucking still finds advocates is that the +feathers with the entire quill bring a higher price in the market than +those that have been cut or nipped. + +Harry and Ned watched with much interest the process of removing +feathers from the birds. Here is the way Harry describes it. + +"The men moved around among the ostriches in a perfectly easy way, and +seemed to be on the best of terms with their charges. The foreman +selected a bird and indicated to one of the men that he wanted it +brought forward. Thereupon the man seized the bird by the neck and +pressed its head downward until he could draw a sack like a long and +very large stocking over it. + +"When blindfolded in this way the ostrich is perfectly helpless, and +will stand perfectly still. The man pushed and led the bird up to the +fence, and then the foreman, armed with his cutting nippers, selected +the feathers that he wanted and cut them off. When the operation was +ended the sack was removed, and the ostrich resumed his place among his +companions. He did not strike, or kick, or indicate in any way that he +was aware of what had happened to him. + +"During their breeding time the male ostriches are decidedly vicious, +and it is dangerous to go near them. Mr. Shaffner told us that several +serious accidents had happened to his men at such times. Occasionally a +bird shows more or less ugliness on being driven into a kraal, and when +this is the case caution must be used in approaching him. The ostrich's +favorite mode of fighting is to strike or kick with one leg, and he can +give a terrible blow in this way. + +"I asked Mr. Shaffner," said Harry, "what was the value of a good +ostrich. He replied that the question was one he could not answer in a +single phrase. He said that an egg was worth not less than five dollars, +and an ostrich chick, fresh from the egg, was worth twenty-five dollars. + +"After a few months it was double that value, and by the time it was a +year old it was worth two hundred and fifty dollars. Mr. Shaffner said +he would be unwilling to sell a pair of hens and a male ostrich for less +than two thousand dollars, but he explained that a great deal depended +upon the breeding and feather-producing qualities of the birds. + +"Then, I asked," continued Harry, "about the yield of feathers, and was +told that the average yield was about fifty dollars annually to a good +bird. The feathers ripen at the time of incubation and are injured by +the process, so that the artificial incubator, by releasing the birds +from duty on the nest, is of special value. + +"I remarked," said Harry, "that, considering the increase in the flocks +and the money obtained from the feathers, ostrich farming ought to be +very profitable." + +"Well, it is profitable in a general way," replied Mr. Shaffner, "but +that is not by any means the rule. There are farmers who have never made +anything by it, and it has its drawbacks, like everything else. The +birds are subject to diseases of various kinds, and there is a parasitic +worm on some farms that is very destructive. Wild beasts kill the birds, +and I myself have lost three fine ostriches this year in that way. I +know one farm on which eighty-five birds were originally placed. In the +very first year twenty-seven were lost, thirteen by cold and wet, three +by diphtheria, six killed by natives, three by fighting, and two by +falling into holes. Out of sixty eggs, nineteen were destroyed by crows. +These birds would take stones in their claws, fly to a point directly +over the nest, and then let the stones fall on the eggs, thus breaking +them, so that they could get at the contents of the shells. The +remaining eggs were sent to a neighboring farm to be artificially +incubated, but only ten of them hatched out. So, you see," the gentleman +continued, "ostrich farming has its hard times, like everything else." + +After inspecting the ostrich farm our friends were entertained at a +substantial dinner in the house of their host, and in the afternoon were +driven to the railway station, whence they returned to Cape Town, having +well enjoyed their first excursion. + +That evening Dr. Whitney received an invitation to visit a large sheep +farm about thirty miles from Cape Town, accompanied, as before, by his +two nephews. He accepted the invitation, and the trio took an early +train for their destination. They were met at the station by the owner +of the establishment, and were speedily shown through the entire place. +Sheep farming was less a novelty to our young friends than ostrich +farming, and consequently they had much less interest in seeing the +sights of the establishment. Harry wrote a brief account of their visit, +and we are permitted to copy from it. + +"Evidently the place was prosperous," said Harry, in his journal, "as we +found an abundance of substantial buildings, a luxurious house for the +owner, and substantial dwellings for the manager and his assistant. We +sat down to an excellent, though somewhat late breakfast. We had a good +appetite for it, as we had breakfasted very lightly before leaving Cape +Town. On the table we had broiled chickens, broiled ham, and lamb chops, +together with eggs, bread, and the usual concomitants of the morning +meal. + +"After breakfast we visited the sheds where the sheep are sheared, and +also the surrounding sheds and yards where the animals are driven up at +shearing time. We were sorry that it was not the time of the annual +shearing, so that we could witness the process. Our host told us that +the shearers travel about the country, and take contracts for shearing +the flocks at so much a head. In addition to their wages, they were +supplied with food, and he added that the shearers were a fastidious +lot, and nothing but the best table would suit them. + +"After inspecting the buildings, we were supplied with saddle horses and +rode over the farm. The sheep are divided into flocks of about three +hundred each, and every flock is in charge of two herders or shepherds. +Some of them come into the home stations at night, while others have +separate out stations of their own. The herders are either Hottentots or +Kaffirs; at any rate they are negroes. The two of them start out in the +morning with the flock, and go slowly along, allowing the sheep to feed, +and calculating time and distance so that they will reach a watering +place about noon. There the sheep are watered and then they start back +again towards the station, where they arrive an hour or so before +sunset, and are shut up in a yard for the night. + +"The shepherds do their own cooking, and once a week one of them comes +to the head station to be supplied with provisions. Our host explained +to us that one shepherd was sufficient for a flock, but the life was so +lonely that a man would not stick to it, if left alone, and they had to +have two men in order to keep each other company. I can well understand +how wearisome it would be to have nobody to speak to for days at a time, +and one of the last occupations I would wish to engage in is that of +shepherd. + +"Wool raising is a very large industry in Cape Colony, and it certainly +has been a very profitable one. Our host told us that if a man could +avoid accidents and misfortunes, he would find the business very +remunerative; but, of course, misfortunes are pretty sure to come. He +told us further, that nearly all the sheep farmers of South Africa had +started into the business as poor men, and, while none of them were +millionaires, there were some that were very near being so. He gave some +statistics of the wool trade, but I have mislaid the sheet of paper +containing them, and so cannot give them to you." + +On their return from the excursion to the sheep farm, our friends +learned that a steamer of the Orient line had just arrived, and would +leave at noon the next day for Australia. Dr. Whitney decided to take +passage on this steamer, and the matter was very quickly arranged. + +When the great ship left the harbor of Cape Town, our friends stood on +her deck and were deeply interested in the scene about them. As they +steamed out around the breakwater, they had a fine view of Table Bay and +the mountains that surround it. Then they passed a series of cliff-like +mountains, known as the Twelve Apostles, and after them some brightly +colored mountains that had a dazzling appearance in the bright sunlight. +Thirty miles from Cape Town they passed the famous Cape of Good Hope, +which is popularly but erroneously supposed to be the southern end of +the continent; the fact is that the point of Africa nearest to the South +Pole is Cape Agulhas, sixty or seventy miles away from the Cape of Good +Hope. + +Down to Cape Agulhas the steamer had followed the coast line. Now it +steered away from the coast, and gradually the mountains of the +southern end of Africa faded and became dim in the distance, and +gradually disappeared altogether from sight. Our friends were now upon +the great Southern Ocean, which sweeps entirely around this part of the +globe. + +"We have a long voyage before us now," said Harry to Ned; "we have +sixteen days of steaming, so one of the officers tells me, before we +reach the coast of Australia." + +"Well, if that is the case," Ned answered, "we have plenty of time to +become acquainted with the Southern Ocean. I wonder if it will be very +different from the Atlantic." + +"As to that," replied Harry, "I don't know, but I have no doubt it has +peculiarities of its own. We will see about that later." + +Flocks of birds accompanied the ship as it steamed away from the coast. +Some were familiar sights to our young friends, and some were new to +them, or comparatively so. The next day and the few succeeding days made +them acquainted with several birds that they had never seen, and the +boys were so interested in them that Harry wrote a description, which we +will presently consider. But before doing so, however, we will look at a +note which Ned made concerning the waves of the Southern Ocean. + +"The waves of this part of the boundless waste of waters that covers +three fourths of the globe," said Ned, in his journal, "are the largest +we have ever seen. The prevailing winds are westerly, and the captain +tells us that they drive a continuous series of waves right around the +globe. You have heard of the long swell of the Pacific, but it is not, +at least in the Northern Hemisphere, anywhere equal to the immense +swells of the Southern Ocean. I have never seen waves that began to be +as large. The captain says that the crests are often thirty feet high, +and three hundred and ninety feet apart. Sir James Ross, in his +Antartic expedition, measured waves thirty-six feet high, and said that +when two ships were in the hollows of two adjoining waves, their hulls +were completely concealed from each other by the crest of water between +them. This great steamer, measuring nearly five thousand tons, is rolled +and tossed as if it were nothing more than an egg-shell, and such of the +passengers as are liable to seasickness are staying below out of sight. +Fancy what it must be to sail on this ocean in a small craft of one +hundred or two hundred tons! I think I would prefer to be on shore." + +And now we come to Harry's account of the birds. He wrote as follows:-- + +"Dr. Whitney says that I must make a distinction between land birds, +coast birds, and ocean birds. Land birds are only at sea by accident; +coast birds are seen only in the neighborhood of the land, but ocean +birds go far out at sea, and rarely visit the land except during their +breeding season. When you see a land bird out of sight of the shore, you +can know that he has been driven there by the wind; perhaps in a squall +or rain storm. The doctor tells me that we can make a general +distinction between the three kinds of birds, by remembering that the +more the bird lives on the land, the more he flaps his wings, and most +land birds flap their wings constantly. A few, like the eagle, condor, +and other birds of prey, sail about and flap their wings occasionally, +but the true ocean birds, as a rule, flap their wings very little. + +"An interesting flyer that we have seen is the frigate bird, also called +the man-of-war bird, which appears to me to be a good deal of a pirate, +as it makes the most of its living by robbing others. When another bird +has caught a fish the frigate bird attacks him, and takes away his +prize, catching it in the air as it falls from the victim's claws. These +birds follow the steamer or fly in the air above it, and they seem to go +along very easily, although the ship is running at full speed. I am told +that, on the previous voyage of this ship, some of the sailors caught +two of these birds and marked them by attaching strips of white cloth to +their feet. Then the birds were set free, and they followed the steamer +four or five days without any apparent fatigue. + +"Of course we have seen 'Mother Carey's Chickens.' These tireless little +fellows, that never seem to rest, are found in all parts of the world of +waters. They have been constantly about us, flying around the ship but +never settling upon it, and dipping occasionally into the waters behind +us to gather up crumbs or particles of food. The other birds, which are +all much larger, would like to deprive them of their sustenance, but +they do not have the quickness of the little flyers on the wing. When +anything is thrown overboard, they dart as quick as a flash under the +noses of the larger and more clumsy birds, and pick up a mouthful or +two before the latter can reach them. Then there are whale birds, and +cape pigeons, and also the cape dove, which is somewhat larger than the +pigeon, and is also known as the 'fulmar petrel.' + +"But the most interesting as well as the largest of all the ocean birds +is the albatross. There are two or three kinds of this bird; the largest +of them has a spread of wing varying from twelve to fifteen feet, and +one has been caught measuring seventeen feet from tip to tip. With +outspread wings, his body, as he sails about in the air, looks as large +as a barrel, but when stripped of its feathers its size diminishes very +much. We offered to pay a good price to the sailors if they would catch +an albatross for us, but they declined our proposal to catch one, and +when a passenger one day wanted to shoot one which was directly over the +steamer, the sailors objected. We finally induced them to compromise the +matter by catching an albatross and letting it go unharmed. + +"They baited a hook with a piece of pork which was attached to a long +line, and then allowed to tow behind the steamer. We were doomed to +disappointment, as the albatross, that was then flying with the ship, +refused to touch the bait, and it was taken up by a frigate bird. It is +said that the albatross is very difficult to catch, as he is exceedingly +wary, and constantly on the lookout for tricks. I am told that a live +albatross standing on the deck of the ship is a very handsome bird. His +back is white, his wings are brown, he has a fine head, carries himself +with great dignity, and has a grand eye and countenance. The bird has a +pink beak and pretty streaks of a rose color on the cheeks. After death +these colors disappear, and are not to be seen in the stuffed specimens +such as are found in museums. A good-sized albatross weighs about twenty +pounds, though, as before stated, he looks very much larger. + +"The wonderful thing about this bird is the way he sustains himself in +the air. He sails along above the ship, though she may be steaming +fifteen or sixteen miles an hour, but he does it all with very little +motion. Three or four times in an hour he may give one or two flaps of +his wings, and that is all; the rest is all steady sailing. The +outspread wings sustain the bird, and carry him forward at the same +time. If any man ever invents a successful flying machine, I think he +will do so by studying the movements of the albatross. It is proper to +say that this bird is not at all courageous, and often gives up the fish +that he catches to the piratical frigate bird. It lives mostly on fish, +and is very fond of the carcass of a dead whale, and they tell me that +the longer the whale has been dead, the better does the albatross like +it. + +"The superstition of the sailors about its being bad luck to kill an +albatross is not by any means a new one. It is referred to by old +writers, and you will find it mentioned in Coleridge's 'Ancient +Mariner.' + +"We have seen a great many flying fish during our voyage, but as we have +seen them before, they are not a great curiosity. The flying motion of +this fish is more fanciful than real. He does not soar in the air like a +bird, but simply leaps from the crest of one wave to the crest of +another. He makes a single dash through the air, and that is all. +Sometimes, when a ship is in the hollow between two waves and the flying +fish is attempting to make his way across, he falls on the deck of the +vessel, but he rarely gets more than fifteen or eighteen feet into the +air, and therefore does not reach the deck of a big steamer like this. + +"Flying fish seem to fly when disturbed by big fishes, or, possibly, by +the commotion that a vessel creates in going through the water. There is +a good deal of dispute as to how long the flying fish can stay out of +water, and the longest time I have heard any one give to it is thirty +seconds. Some say that the flying fish can stay in the air only while +its wings are wet, but that is a point on which I do not care to give +any opinion, for the simple reason that I don't know." + +Ned and Harry had kept the nautical instruments which they carried over +the deserts of Northern Africa, and they amused themselves by taking +daily observations and calculating the ship's position. Sometimes they +were wrong, and sometimes they were right, Ned naively remarking that +"the wrongs didn't count." The first officer of the ship gave them some +assistance in their nautical observations, and, altogether, they got +along very well. + +Our friends made the acquaintance of some of their fellow-passengers and +found them very agreeable. The majority were residents of Australia or +New Zealand, who had been on visits to England and were now returning +home. The youths learned a great deal concerning the country whither +they were bound, and the goodly portion of the information they received +was of practical value to them. They made copious notes of what they +heard, and some of the information that they gleaned will appear later +in these pages. + +In due time they sighted the coast of Australia at its western +extremity, known as Cape Leeuwin, but the sight was not especially +picturesque, as the mountains around the cape are of no great height. +After passing Cape Leeuwin, the steamer held her course steadily to the +west, gradually leaving the shore out of sight. She was passing along +the front of what is called the Great Australian Bight, an indentation +in the land twelve hundred miles long, and bounded on the north by a +region of desolation. + +"It is a desolate coast," said one of the passengers to Harry, "and is +so destitute of water that no settlements have or can be made upon it. +Mr. Eyre, who was afterwards governor of Jamaica, endeavored to explore +that coast, and had a terrible time of it. He was an entire year making +the journey of twelve hundred miles, and suffered the most terrible +hardships." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +A LAND OF CONTRADICTIONS--TRANSPORTATION TO AUSTRALIA. + + +"How long is it since Mr. Eyre made this journey?" Harry asked. + +"It was a good while ago," the gentleman answered, "in the years 1839 +and 1840. Mr. Eyre had explored a portion of the western shore of +Spencer Gulf, and while doing so, determined to make the attempt to +travel along the shore of the Great Australian Bight. One of the first +difficulties that opposed him was the scarcity of fresh water. There +were numerous gullies, showing that in times of rain there was plenty of +water, but no rain had fallen for a long time and all these gullies were +dry. A few springs were found, but these were generally brackish and the +water was hardly drinkable. + +"Mr. Eyre tried the experiment of sinking a cask in the ground, near the +edge of the sea, in the hope of obtaining fresh water, but his +experiments in this direction were not successful. By the time he had +advanced two hundred miles, he had lost four of his horses. The +reduction in the number of his pack animals made it impossible for him +to carry sufficient provisions for his party, and he therefore sent back +his only white companion and three of his men. Then he continued his +journey with his overseer and three natives, one of the latter being his +personal servant. + +"In order to be sure of water, Mr. Eyre explored in advance of the +party, and sometimes was gone four or five days before finding any. One +by one the horses died of thirst, and the only way the men could keep +alive was by gathering the dew, which fell at night, by means of sponges +and rags. + +"The natives complained at their hardships, and one night the two men +took possession of the guns, killed the overseer, and ran away, leaving +Mr. Eyre with only his native servant and a very small stock of +provisions. They were then about midway on the journey; that is, they +had still six hundred miles to travel to reach the settled parts of West +Australia. The entire supply of provisions that they had was four +gallons of water, forty pounds of flour, and a portion of a dead horse. +They had to go nearly two hundred miles before finding any more water, +and lived on horse-flesh, with occasional game and fish, and a little +flour paste. Just as they were about to lie down and die in the desert +they saw a sail in the distance. + +"They built a fire on the beach as a signal, and, luckily for them, it +was observed. The vessel came in quite near the land and sent a boat to +their assistance. The ship proved to be an American whaler that was +cruising about the Australian Bight in pursuit of whales, and the +captain invited them to stay on board as long as they liked. They +remained there two weeks, and were then put ashore at the same spot +whence they had gone on board. The captain supplied them with all the +provisions and water they could carry. Mr. Eyre was determined to +complete his journey, if possible, and his faithful servant consented to +remain with him. They struggled on for two or three weeks longer, when +they reached the first of the settlements on King George's Sound." + +"Has anybody else ever tried to make the same journey?" Harry asked. + +"Not under the same circumstances," was the reply. "I believe that a +well-equipped exploring party was sent out some twelve or fifteen years +ago, to travel along the coast and look for gold. Water and provisions +were supplied every few days by a small steamer that kept near the shore +and went in when signaled by the travelers. In this way, suffering from +hunger and thirst was avoided and the animals of the expedition were +well supplied with forage. The enterprise was not a successful one so +far as the finding of gold was concerned, but I have little doubt that +one of these days gold will be discovered there; and if it should be, +some way will be found for softening the asperities of this desolate +coast." + +"I have heard," said Harry, "that a great part of Australia is destitute +of water. Is that really the case?" + +"Yes," the gentleman answered; "you have been correctly informed. +Australia, is a waterless country, or, at any rate, that is the case +with a great part of it. The interior has never been fully explored for +this reason, and there are thousands, I might say millions, of square +miles of Australian country where no human foot has ever trod. Many +attempts have been made to penetrate this desolate region, but all have +resulted in failure. + +"Water, as you know, is an absolute necessity for man and animals, and +there is a limit to the amount which an expedition can carry, just as +there is a limit to the food that one may take on a journey. There are +parts of Australia where rain seems never to fall, or, if it does, the +intervals are so rare and irregular that no reliance can be placed on +them. Explorers cannot stop to dig wells hundreds of feet in depth, and +it is certain that no ordinary amount of digging will procure water. The +atmosphere is dry, terribly dry, as all who have attempted to penetrate +into the interior will tell you. + +"Instruments, and cases made of the best seasoned wood--wood that has +been dried for years and years--crack and split and go to pieces in the +dry atmosphere of the interior of Australia. Leather becomes brittle, +and cracks and breaks when the slightest pressure is put upon it. One +exploring expedition was obliged to turn back in consequence of the +drying up and cracking of the wood contained in its instruments and +their cases. The evaporation from one's skin is very rapid under such +circumstances, and produces an agonizing thirst, which is no doubt +intensified by the knowledge of the scarcity of water and the necessity +of using the supply on hand with great care." + +"I have heard," said Ned, "that Australia is a land of contradictions as +compared with England and the United States. I read in a book somewhere +that nearly everything in nature was the reverse of what it was in the +countries I mentioned." + +"That is true," said the gentleman with whom they were conversing, "and +I will tell you several things to demonstrate the correctness of what +you say. In the first place Australia is on the other side of the world +from England and the United States, and that circumstance ought to +prepare you for the other peculiarities. Most countries are fertile in +their interior; but, as I have told you, the interior of Australia is a +land of desolation, where neither man nor beast can live. I have been +told that birds never fly in the interior of Australia; and certainly if +I were a bird, I would not fly there nor anywhere near it. + +"We have very few rivers, and none of them come from far in the +interior. Most of them are low in summer or altogether dried up. There +is only one river, the Murray, that can be relied upon to have any +reasonable depth of water in it throughout the entire year. The other +rivers dwindle almost to nothing, and, as I have said, entirely +disappear. The greater part of the country is absolutely without trees, +and the dense forests which you have in America are practically unknown. +We have summer when you have winter, and we have night when you have +day. When you are in your own country, and I am here, our feet are +nearer together than our heads; that is to say, our feet are pressing +the ground on opposite sides of the earth, and so we may be said to be +standing upon each other." + +"That is so," remarked Harry; "I was thinking of that this morning. I +noticed also that the ship's compass pointed to the south, and that the +sun was traveling along the northern heavens. I observed, too, that the +south wind was cold, and the north wind hot." + +"You are quite right," said the gentleman; "and if you have been +studying the barometer, you have found that it falls with the northerly +wind and rises with the southerly one. When you travel over the country, +you will find that the valleys are cool and the mountain tops warm. The +bees have no sting, and many of the beautiful flowers have no smell. The +leaves of the trees are nearly always perpendicular instead of +horizontal, as in your country, and consequently one gets very little +shade under an Australian tree." + +"I have heard," said Ned, "that the trees shed their bark instead of +their leaves. Is that really so?" + +"It is so with most of the trees," was the reply; "in fact, with nearly +all of them. A few shed their leaves every year, and on many of the +trees the leaves remain unchanged, while the bark is thrown off. One +tree is called the stringy bark, on account of the ragged appearance of +its covering at the time it is shed. + +"In your part of the world," the gentleman continued, "cherries grow +with the stones inside; but here in Australia we have cherries with the +stones on the outside. We have birds of beautiful plumage and very +little song; the owls are quiet at night, and screech and hoot in the +daytime, which certainly is not a characteristic of the English or +American owl. The geological formation of the country is also peculiar, +and the scientific men who have come here from England and America are a +good deal puzzled at the state of affairs they find in Australia. Would +it not surprise you to learn that we have coal in this country as white +as chalk?" + +"That is, indeed, a surprise," one of the youths remarked. "I wonder if +the conditions are continued so that your chalk is black." + +"The contrasts do not go quite so far as that," said the gentleman, with +a laugh, "as the chalk of Australia is as white as that of England. I +don't mean to say that all our coal is white, but only the coal of +certain localities. It generally takes the stranger by surprise to see a +grateful of white coal burning brightly, and throwing out smoke at the +same time. I must tell you that this coal is bituminous, and not +anthracite." + +"I hope," said Ned, "that men's heads do not grow out of their sides, or +from their breasts, and that they do not walk topsy-turvy, with their +feet in the air." + +"No, they are not as bad as that," was the reply; "but you will see some +queer things before you are through with Australia. Bear in mind that +the country contains no antiquities of any kind; it is a new land in +every sense, as it was first settled in 1788, and all these cities are +of modern foundation and growth." + +Our young friends thanked the gentleman for the information he had given +them, and said they would specially bear in mind the comparisons and +contrasts which he had indicated in their brief conversation. + +The first stopping place of the ship was at Adelaide, in South +Australia, from which place she proceeded around the coast to Melbourne. +Our friends decided to land at Adelaide, and go overland through that +city wherever the railway would take them. They thought that by so doing +they would be able to see a great deal more on their way to Melbourne +than if they continued aboard the ship. + +Harry had obtained a map of Australia on the day before their arrival +at Adelaide. He was busily engaged in studying it. + +"Just look a moment," said Harry to Ned, as he spread the map out on one +of the tables in the saloon; "here is another contradiction that our +friend didn't include. Look at it." + +"Well, what of it?" said Ned. "It is a map of Australia, is it not?" + +"Yes, it is, and just look at the provinces or colonies of Australia. +Here is West Australia, as its name indicates, at the western end of the +great island or continent. Here are Queensland, New South Wales, and +Victoria, and here is South Australia, where we are going to land. +Adelaide is its capital." + +"Well, what of it?" queried Ned, with an expression of curiosity on his +face. + +"Why, don't you see," said Harry, in a tone of impatience, "that South +Australia is not South Australia at all. Here is Victoria, which runs +further south than this colony, and then you see South Australia runs +clear across the continent to the northern side, and almost as far north +as the extreme point of Queensland. They ought to change the name of it, +or else divide it into two colonies, calling this one by its present +name, and the other North Australia." + +Ned admitted the force of the argument, and then joined his cousin in +studying the map. Strange to say, the middle section or unexplored +region had a singular fascination for both the youths, and each confided +to the other that he would like to undertake the exploration of that +part of the continent. They wondered whether Dr. Whitney would entertain +their proposal to do so, but finally concluded that the hardships would +be too great, and they would say nothing about their aspirations. + +[Illustration: "HARRY HAD OBTAINED A MAP OF AUSTRALIA."] + +In due time the steamer came to anchor at Port Adelaide. The harbor of +the capital city is not on the sea, but seven miles away from it, on the +banks of the small river Torrens. The railway connects the port with the +city, and shortly after getting ashore our friends were seated in a +train, which carried them quickly to the capital. One of the passengers +told Ned that the port was formerly quite shallow and difficult to +enter. The entrance at present is between two large shoals of sand, +which are marked by lighthouses. A great deal of money has been expended +in deepening and widening the harbor, so that it is now accessible for +large ships. + +A long pier extends into St. Vincent's Gulf, the body of water on which +the port stands, and this pier is quite popular as a promenade for the +people living at the port, and also for those who come down from the +city. + +Harry observed that the dock and pier accommodations were excellent. +There were immense sheds, and warehouses for the storage of grain, wool, +and other products of the country while awaiting shipment, and equally +extensive shelters for merchandise arriving at the port on its way to +the city and to other parts of the colony. There were dry docks and +repairing yards, and there were hospitals for sick sailors and others, +together with the usual public buildings of a prosperous seaport. +Immense quantities of wool and frozen meat are shipped from this port +to England, and the trade of the colony with the mother country is said +to be increasing every year. + +It was about the middle of the afternoon when our friends landed, and in +less than half an hour after landing they were in the city. One of their +steamer acquaintances had directed them to a hotel, and, in fact, +accompanied them to it, so that they had the advantage of his personal +guidance and introduction. Harry made a memorandum in his notebook that +they found the hotel quite a good one, certainly much better than the +hotel where they stopped at Cape Town. + +After settling themselves in the hotel the party went out for a stroll, +but, in consequence of the heat, they were not long in turning their +stroll into a drive. Here is what Ned says of their first day in +Adelaide:-- + +"This city recalls Chicago more than any other place I can think of. It +is on a level plain, with the exception of the portion to the north +where the ground rises a little, and the streets are laid out at right +angles, as though a chess-board had been taken as a model for the place. +We have wondered why it was called Adelaide instead of Mary Ann, Betsy, +or some other feminine name; Dr. Whitney has just told us that the city +was laid out in 1837 and named in honor of the queen of King William +IV., who was then the ruler of England. + +"Having named the place in honor of the queen, the founders of the city +felt that the next thing to do was to call the principal street after +the king. Thus it happens that the great street, the one most built +upon, and where the majority of the shops are concentrated, is King +William Street. It is a broad avenue running from south to north, and +divides the city almost equally. It is certainly a very handsome avenue, +and we greatly enjoyed our drive upon it. Most of the public buildings, +the town hall, post-office, government offices, and the like, are on +King William Street, and they are very handsome structures. + +"The people are very proud of these edifices, and well they may be, as +they would be ornaments to any city ten times as old and large as +Adelaide. The principal banks, newspaper offices, and business +structures generally are also on King William Street, and to judge by +the crowds of people that throng the sidewalks, one might conclude that +the population was a busy one. One thing that attracted our attention +was the great number of churches, which certainly gave us the impression +that the population of Adelaide is decidedly religious, and also that +its zeal in religion had led it to contribute freely to the erection of +places of worship. Our driver pointed out the various churches and told +us their denomination. Of course the Church of England was ahead of the +others, as is expected to be the case in a British colony." + +"I learned afterwards," said Ned, "that there were nearly one thousand +churches and chapels in the colony of South Australia, together with +nearly five hundred other buildings that are occasionally used for +religious worship. All the churches are supported by voluntary +contributions, there being no State aid to any of them. At the last +census of the colony there were 76,000 adherents of the Church of +England, 43,000 Roman Catholics, and 42,000 Methodists. Then came the +Lutherans, with 20,000; Presbyterians, with 18,000; Baptists, with +14,000; and about 10,000 each of primitive Methodists, Congregationalists, +and Bible Christians. There were several other denominations, but their +numbers were insignificant. We looked for pagodas while driving along +the street, but none of them were to be found, and we learned on inquiry +that the number of Chinese and Moslems in South Australia was hardly +worth mentioning. The colony has never been attractive to the Chinese, +and few of them have endeavored to find homes there. + +"We drove to the resident portion of the city and saw a goodly number of +private houses of the better sort. A great deal of taste has been +displayed in the construction of these houses, and we derived the +impression that Adelaide was a decidedly prosperous city. The +wheat-growing industry of South Australia is a very large one. Many of +the great farmers have their residences in Adelaide and spend only a +small portion of their time on their farms, leaving all details to their +managers. A considerable amount of American farming machinery finds its +way to South Australia, where it has attained a well-deserved +popularity." + +While our friends were at breakfast the next morning, Harry suggested +that if the others were willing, he would like to see one of the +Australian prisons containing convicts that had been transported from +England. + +The doctor smiled,--just a faint smile,--while Ned laughed. + +"Oh, you are all wrong, Harry," said Ned. "They gave up that business +long ago. I was under the same impression that you are, but learned +better from one of our fellow-passengers. I meant to tell you about it." + +"Well, I will acknowledge my mistake," said Harry. "We are all liable to +make blunders, and that is one of them." + +"Quite true," Dr. Whitney remarked. "Every visitor to a country that is +strange to him makes a great many mistakes, and the frank thing is to +acknowledge it." + +"The gentleman who corrected my blunder," said Ned, "told me that an +American visitor who was very fond of hunting landed once in Sydney, +fresh from the United States. The hunting fever was strong in him, and +before he was an hour on shore he asked the clerk of the hotel where he +could go to shoot Sydney ducks. He had heard of them, and would like to +bag a few brace." + +"What is the point of the joke?" said Harry; "I confess I cannot see +it." + +"That is exactly what I said to my informant," replied Ned, "and then he +went on and told me that in former times Australian convicts were spoken +of as Sydney ducks." + +"Oh! I see," said Harry, "that is a very good joke when you come to know +all about it. What did the clerk of the hotel say to the inquiring +stranger?" + +"I don't know," replied Ned, "but I presume he told him that Sydney +ducks had gone out of fashion, and were not being shot any more. +Probably he let the man down as gently as possible." + +"How did the convicts come to have the name of Sydney ducks?" Harry +asked. + +"I can't tell you, I am sure," said Ned, "you will have to ask the +doctor about it." + +"The name came, no doubt," said Dr. Whitney, "from the circumstance that +the first convicts who were brought to Australia were landed at Sydney, +and for a good many years Sydney was the principal depot of these +involuntary emigrants. The adoption of Australia as the place for +convict settlement was brought about by events in America, a statement +which may surprise you." + +"It certainly is surprising," Harry remarked. "How did it happen?" + +"It came about in this way," the doctor continued; "when America was +subject to England, offenders of various kinds, whether political or +criminal, were sent to the American colonies, principally to the +Southern States and the West Indies, where they were chiefly employed in +the cultivation of tobacco. The consumption of tobacco in England was +very large, and the revenue derived from it was considerable. +Consequently England was able to kill two birds with one stone; she got +rid of her criminals, at the same time, and made a large profit on their +work. + +"When the American colonies revolted in 1775, and gained their +independence eight years later, England found herself deprived of a +place to which she could send her convicts, and she looked around for +another. She tried the coast of Africa, and found it too unhealthy for +her purpose. Captain Cook had recently visited Australia and given a +glowing account of it, and the government officials thought that this +new country would be an excellent one for criminals. Orders were given +for sending out a fleet of ships for that purpose; and, accordingly, +eleven vessels, carrying more than one thousand people, sailed for +Portsmouth in the month of March, 1787, with orders to proceed to +Australia." + +"If England had known what was to happen," said Harry, "she need not +have been at the trouble of sending her criminals so far away; she might +have kept on with America with only slight interruptions. She is sending +us her criminals and paupers at present, though she does not designate +them properly when she ships them, and most of the continental nations +are doing the same thing. We are trying to prevent it, but I don't +believe we succeed to a very great extent." + +"Did they send a thousand convicts to Australia in this first batch?" +queried Ned. + +"There were about one thousand people altogether," said Dr. Whitney, +"including 757 convicts, and among the convicts were 190 women and +eighteen children. They had 160 soldiers to guard the prisoners, with a +sufficient number of officers, and forty of the soldiers were +accompanied by their wives. They had on the ships a goodly quantity of +cattle, sheep, horses, pigs, and goats, and a large quantity of seeds +from various parts of the world was sent out. It was not expected that +the colony would be self-supporting for some time, and so it was +arranged that supply ships laden with flour and other provisions should +be sent from England at regular intervals. A year or two after the +colony was founded one of these ships was wrecked on its way to +Australia, and the colonists suffered greatly for want of food. Among +the supplies taken by each ship there was usually a fresh batch of +convicts, and quite regularly convict ships were despatched from England +to Australia." + +Ned remarked that he thought a convict ship would not be a pleasant +craft to travel on. A good many people did not like crossing the +Atlantic on cattle ships, but he thought the cattle ship would be far +preferable to one laden with convicts. + +"And so it is," replied the doctor. "According to all accounts, the life +on board a convict ship from England to Australia was terrible. Remember +that in those days prisoners were treated with great harshness; they +were not supposed to have any feelings and were never spoken to kindly, +and in many instances an order was usually accompanied by a kick or a +blow. During the voyage the prisoners were allowed on deck one hour or +possibly two hours of each day, care being taken that only a small +number would be there at any one time. + +"For the rest of the twenty-four hours they were shut up in close, +stifling pens or cages, generally with nothing but a little straw to +sleep on, and they were fed with the coarsest and poorest food. Coffee +and tea with hard bread formed their breakfast; dinner was the same, +with sometimes the addition of a piece of heavily salted beef, so hard +that it was no easy matter to cut it into mouthfuls. Supper was the same +as breakfast, and this was kept up with hardly any variation. + +"The slightest infraction of the rules was punished with the lash, but +this did not deter the criminals from making trouble. Constantly the +boatswain and his assistants were kept busy in performing the floggings +that were ordered, and sometimes the cat-o'-nine-tails was in steady use +from sunrise to sunset. The more severe his discipline, the more highly +an officer was regarded by his superiors, and if he occasionally hanged +a few men, it rather advanced than retarded his promotion. A good many +died on the voyage from England to Australia, partly in consequence of +their scanty fare and the great heat of the tropics; but, according to +tradition, a very large proportion of the mortality was the result of +brutal treatment and privations. + +"The passengers on the convict ship," said Harry, "seem to have been +treated pretty much like those on slave ships." + +"You are not far wrong there," the doctor replied; "the sufferings of +convicts on their way to Australia were not altogether unlike those of +the unhappy negroes that were formerly taken from the coast of Africa to +North and South America. The convicts were not crowded quite as densely +into the holds of the ships as the slaves were, and the mortality among +them was not as great; still they were packed very thickly together, and +were treated quite as cruelly as the slave dealers used to treat their +human property. Occasionally it happened that the convicts formed a +conspiracy and endeavored to take possession of the ship. In nearly +every instance they were betrayed by one of their number, and when the +time came for action they were so closely guarded that any resistance +was useless. Then the conspirators were seized, and after a brief trial +were condemned to be hung or shot, generally the former, as it saved +ammunition and did not soil the decks of the ship with blood. When there +was an actual mutiny the mutineers were shot down without mercy, and +those who escaped the bullets were speedily disposed of by hanging at +the yard-arms." + +"Terrible times those must have been," remarked Ned; "the wonder is that +anybody survived." + +"Yes, indeed," said Harry; "but man has a tough constitution and can +endure a great deal." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +STRANGE ADVENTURES--AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINALS. + + +One of the youths asked how the convicts were employed after they came +to Australia. + +"At first," said the doctor, "they were employed almost entirely on +government works. A city was laid out, and of course it was necessary to +grade the streets, build bridges, and do other things in connection with +putting the place into shape. There were prisons, warehouses, wharves, +and other buildings necessary to a convict establishment to be erected. +Gardens and fields were to be laid out and planted, and altogether there +was no lack of work to be performed. The prisoners were required to work +under guard, and the worst of them were ornamented with ball and chain, +like the occupants of many a prison in different parts of the world. +They were treated just as rigorously as they had been on board the ships +that brought them out. Their lodgings were somewhat more spacious, but +by no stretch of fancy could they be called luxurious. The supply of +food in the colony was not large, and the fare of the prisoners was +scanty. + +"Free emigration to Australia began a few years after the convict +emigration, and most of the free emigrants came here with the view to +employ the convicts under contracts with the government. They were +principally men of capital, and the most of them established farms or +factories near Sydney and entered into agreements with the government +to supply them with labor. Where they were close to the city, the +convicts were sent out to their work in the morning and returned to +prison at night; but where the distance from the city was considerable, +other plans had to be followed. Sometimes soldiers were detailed to +guard the convicts at their working places, and in others the employer +himself supplied the guard. The convicts were also made to understand +very clearly that if they ran away they would be caught and severely +punished. + +"I should think they would run away in spite of all these threats, +especially where their sentences were for long terms," Harry remarked. + +"It was not so easy as it may seem for anybody to escape," said the +doctor. "A man could not stay around the colony more than a day or two, +or a few days at the farthest, without being discovered, and when found +he was sure to be severely flogged, put on bread and water, and shut up +in a dark cell. If he escaped into the bush, he was pretty certain to +starve to death unless found by the natives, in which case he was +generally murdered. Many a convict ran away to the bush and was never +heard of. Others remained there until starvation forced them to come in +and give themselves up." + +"Did the free settlers increase as fast as the convicts?" + +"Yes, they increased faster as the word went out through the British +Islands that Australia offered great possibilities for emigrants. For +twenty years the military and convicts were more numerous than the free +settlers; but by the end of thirty years the latter were in the +ascendency. In the year 1830, there were twenty-seven thousand convicts +in the colony, and forty-nine thousand others. + +"By 'others' I don't mean other settlers, altogether, though I do +mean free people. By that time a good many convicts had served out +their sentences and become free. They were known as 'emancipists,' +and consequently there were three kinds of people in the +colony,--emancipists, convicts, and free settlers. The free settlers +would not associate with the emancipists, and they in turn would not +associate with the convicts. The free settlers wanted the emancipists to +be deprived of all civil rights and kept practically in the same +position as the convicts. The officers of the government used to take +the side of the emancipists, and there were many bitter quarrels between +them and the free settlers in consequence." + +Here the doctor paused for a moment, and then asked:-- + +"Did you ever read about the mutiny of the _Bounty_?" + +"Oh, yes," replied Harry; "I read about it two or three years ago. The +crew of the ship _Bounty_ mutinied, and put the captain and others in an +open boat to take care of themselves the best way they could. The +_Bounty_ then cruised about the Pacific for awhile, and finally went to +Pitcairn's Island, where the mutineers landed and destroyed the ship. +Their fate was not known until nearly thirty years afterwards, when an +American ship touched at the island, and found it peopled by the +descendants of the mutineers, who had taken some women from Tahiti to +become their wives. Only one of those concerned in the mutiny was then +alive. The captain and his companions in the open boat made a voyage of +four thousand miles, enduring great hardships, and eventually reached +the Dutch settlements in the island of Timor." + +"A very good account for a brief one," said the doctor. "Do you remember +the name of the _Bounty's_ commander?" + +"Yes," replied Harry. "I believe it was Bligh; in fact, I am sure of +it." + +"Well, that same Captain Bligh was one of the early governors of New +South Wales, as the colony was then called. He caused the mutiny on the +_Bounty_ by want of tact and by undue severity, and the same spirit that +he showed on the deck of his ship caused a rebellion in New South Wales. +Of course, the convicts had no influence or part in the rebellion, but +the free settlers were very active in it, and so were a good many of the +officers. Bligh caused himself to be thoroughly disliked by interfering +with local trade, and also by his very intemperate talk concerning free +settlers and emancipists. He was deposed and sent to England, while a +temporary governor was installed in his place. To a certain extent he +triumphed over his enemies, as the officers who had taken part in the +rebellion were either reprimanded or dismissed. Governor Bligh came back +with the authority to assume the position of governor for just one +hour." + +"Not a very long term for a man to be governor," Ned remarked. + +"No, not by any means," was the reply; "but there was a technical +advantage in it which was very important. The governor did a great deal +in that one hour. He removed a good many officers and appointed new +ones in their places, and he made several changes in the administration +of the colony which were more or less embarrassing to his successor. + +"Governor Bligh was succeeded by Governor Macquarie. The quarrel between +the free settlers and the emancipists continued during Macquarie's +administration. The governor took the side of the emancipists, and at +one time there was a good prospect of another rebellion; but, happily, +the new chief of the colony possessed more tact than his predecessor, +and no rebellion was ever brought about. Governor Macquarie relaxed some +of the severity with which the convicts had been treated, and this, +together with his favoring the emancipists, gave him the title of the +'Prisoners' Friend.' + +"As time went on, the number of free settlers in the colony increased, +and so did the number of farms in the vicinity of Sydney. As I have +already told you, the convicts were hired out to work on the farms. Of +course a good many of them ran away, and then some of them got into the +bush, where they remained for various periods, but the majority of them +were caught and brought back within a few days. Dogs were used in +pursuing them, and several kennels of dogs were kept at the prisons for +the purpose of hunting out runaways. Some of the prisoners' beliefs in +regard to the country were very amusing. The idea got into the heads of +many that, by traveling overland for a few days, they would reach China, +and quite a number of them tried to do so. One man wandered for a month +around the bush country, until finally, driven by hunger, he ventured +to approach a house. There he saw a fellow-prisoner whom he knew, and +asked him how long he had been in China. He was very much surprised on +learning that he was not in China at all, but on a farm a few miles from +Sydney. While he was talking with the friend two soldiers happened along +and took him in charge, and then carried him back to the prison, where +he received the customary punishment. + +"In 1798 a good many Irishmen who had been concerned in the Irish +rebellion of that year were transported to Australia. They saw in the +mountains back of Sydney a close resemblance to the mountains of +Connaught, in their native country, and fancied that if they could cross +those mountains they would find themselves at home. Quite a number of +them ran away in consequence, but were doomed to disappointment. One man +on the voyage out to Australia had given a good deal of time to studying +the motions of the ship's compass, and he imagined that if he could only +get something of the kind he would be all right and could safely guide +himself through the forests of Australia. He watched his chance and +stole a book on navigation. One leaf of the book had a picture of a +mariner's compass. He tore out this leaf, and, thus equipped, took the +first opportunity of running away. + +"Speaking of these Irish rebels reminds me of something I must tell you. +They were convicted of treason, either for taking an active part in the +rebellion or sympathizing with it, and for this crime they were sent as +convicts to the other side of the world. No distinction was made between +political and criminal offenders, and the man who had loved his country +and tried to set her free treated with the same severity as the house +breaker and highwayman. + +"A great many men were sent to Australia for the crime of poaching. Many +a man was condemned to seven, ten, and fifteen years' exile at hard +labor because he had taken a trout out of a brook, or snared a +partridge. Offenses that in these times would only result in a fine were +then punished with great severity, and a considerable number of the +convicts sent to Australia in the first thirty years of the prevalence +of the system were men whose offenses had really been very light. It was +for this reason that Governor Macquarie and other high officials took +the position that they did in favor of the emancipists. They contended +that a man whose offense had been of a trivial sort, and who had shown +himself to be honest and industrious, ought to receive a helping hand, +instead of being placed under the ban." + +"I quite agree with them," said Harry; "and I wonder that the free +settlers were so severe against them." + +"But you must bear in mind," the doctor answered, "that the term +'convict' is always odious, no matter under what circumstances it may +have been obtained. It was not easy at all times for the free settlers +to make a distinction among emancipists, and so they came to a quick +conclusion by denouncing all. However, that state of society has all +passed away; convicts, emancipists, and free settlers of the first +quarter of this century are all dead and gone now, with, possibly, a few +exceptions. Time has healed the breach, and this subject is very little +talked of at the present day." + +"How about the descendants of the early colonists?" Ned inquired. "Do +the sins of the fathers descend upon the children, or are they all +forgotten?" + +"As to that," said the doctor, "I must give you a little explanation. It +is not considered polite in Australia to ask a man born in the country +who his father was, or how he happened to emigrate from England. That is +a subject that is ignored in polite society, and, in fact, in society of +all kinds. In political life, a man may abuse his opponent as much as he +pleases in all ways, except that should he venture in the anger of +debate to intimate that his opponent's father came to Australia as an +involuntary emigrant, he renders himself liable to heavy damages. I can +tell you of a case in point. + +"A prominent official in the government of Victoria is known to be the +son of a man who was transported for catching a pheasant. It is an open +secret; in fact, one could hardly say that it was a secret at all, as +every man who has any knowledge of public life is well aware of it. Once +while this man was running for office, his opponent, in a fierce debate +before a public meeting, mentioned the circumstance, whereupon the other +brought suit, and was awarded damages to the extent of fifty thousand +dollars. It is probable that the unlucky defendant of the suit has been +more careful in the use of his tongue ever since. + +"One of the convicts that escaped," continued the doctor, "had a most +remarkable experience. He wandered off into the bush or forests, and +kept traveling until the small amount of provisions he carried was +exhausted. Then for two or three days he lived upon roots and leaves +and on a bird that he killed with a club. + +"One day, while he was dragging himself along, he came to a mound of +earth, which had been freshly heaped up. Standing in this mound there +was a stick, and to help himself along he took possession of the stick, +which was like a long walking-cane. He observed, as he took possession +of it, that it seemed to have been used before, but he proceeded on his +way and thought no more about the matter. + +"After dragging himself along for half a mile or more, he suddenly came +upon a little encampment of native blacks or aborigines. They raised a +shout as they saw him and made a rush in his direction, brandishing +their spears and other weapons, and showing signs of hostility. + +"The poor fellow thought his last hour had come, as he had heard that +the blacks murdered every white man they came across. What was his +surprise when they suddenly lowered their weapons and changed their +demonstrations of hostility to those of respect! They gathered about him +in the most friendly manner imaginable, and tried to talk with him, but +he could not understand a word. They threw up a shelter for him larger +than any other shelter in the encampment, and installed him there, and +they treated him as though he were a princely ambassador. They brought +him food, which he ate ravenously, and they continued to place their +greatest delicacies before him until his appetite was fully satisfied. + +"Well, he remained among them for years, and as he was a man of fair +intelligence, he soon learned their language. It did not take him long +to comprehend that he was treated as the chief of the tribe, and had +been regarded as such from the very beginning. And what do you suppose +brought it about?" + +"I'm sure I can't tell," said both of the youths in a breath. + +"It came about in this way," explained the doctor. "The Australian +blacks believe, or, at any rate, many of the tribes do, that the white +man is nothing more nor less than a resurrected black man. Those of them +who speak English express it in these words: 'Tumble down, black fellow; +jump up, white fellow.' + +"It so happened that the tribe which he joined had just buried its +chief, and when they bury one of their dead they heap a mound of earth +above the spot, and upon the top of the mound some implement or weapon +belonging to the deceased. In this case they had stuck the old chief's +walking-staff in the top of the mound, and it was this very staff that +the white man took from the mound where the chief was buried, to help +him along on his way. When the blacks saw the man approaching they +proceeded to kill him after their custom, but as he came near and they +saw that he carried the staff of their chief, they at once concluded +that the chief had come to life again in the shape of the white fellow. +That is why they showed him so many honors and made him chief of their +tribe. It was in their minds a clear case of 'tumble down, black fellow; +jump up, white fellow.'" + +"I suppose he was quite contented to stay with them, and not return to +Sydney and its punishments?" remarked one of the youths. + +"Yes, indeed he was. For years rumors came to Sydney from time to time, +that there was a white man living in one of the aboriginal tribes as +their chief. Word was sent him several times by means of the blacks, +giving the governor's promise that he would not be molested if he would +come to Sydney and tell his story, but he was suspicious, and for a long +time refused to come. Finally an officer of the government went out, and +with a great deal of difficulty succeeded in having an interview with +him. He received the most solemn assurance that he would not be +interfered with, and finally said that if a full pardon were sent to +him, he would come. A full pardon was accordingly forwarded and he +ventured to Sydney, where he received a good deal of attention. His +story was taken down from his own lips, and afterward published in a +book. After a few months he became dissatisfied with civilization and +returned to his wanderings." + +"That is a curious idea of the blacks, that they become white after +their death," Ned remarked. + +"Yes, it is curious," said the doctor, "and they carry it out in forming +attachments for the white people who employed them. At a station where +quite a number of blacks were employed, one of the eldest of the women +used to say to the foreman of the place: 'You are my son, I your moder, +and I take care of you. My big boy tumble down, you white boy tumble up. +You my piccanniny.' After a time the man got married and brought his +wife to his home. The next day another woman of the tribe adopted and +laid claim to her as her child. The two women became very fond of each +other, and when, in the course of time, the black woman died, the white +one mourned exceedingly for her." + +"We will have an opportunity to see some of the aboriginals while we are +in the country, and then we will learn more about them," continued the +doctor; "but of one thing let me remind you, do not speak of them as +'natives.' In Australia, the term 'native' is applied to a white person +born in this country, while the real natives, as we ourselves would +speak of them, are termed 'blacks' or 'aborigines.'" + +The youths promised to bear the advice in mind, and then Harry asked how +the discontinuance of convict emigration was brought about. + +"It was brought about," the doctor replied, "through the hostility of +the Australians themselves. They protested repeatedly against receiving +convicts, and their protests were heeded to the extent that for awhile +the emigration ceased; but one day a ship appeared in the harbor of +Sydney with a fresh batch of convicts. Thereupon the local authorities +took vigorous action, and refused to allow the convicts to be landed. +The ship then went to Melbourne, with the same result. The people of +Melbourne would not have the undesirable emigrants, and the captain was +obliged to go around the southern coast to West Australia, where no +opposition was made to the human cargo being put on shore. Convict +emigration to New South Wales and Victoria ceased about 1840, and to +Tasmania in 1853, but it was continued to West Australia until 1858. +Since that time it has been entirely given up by the British government, +and the class of people that used to be sent here is now taken care of +in British prisons at home. + +"The old idea about transportation of criminals was, that it rendered +society at home better by removing the criminal class. In practise this +theory was found to be a mistaken one. Thievery and similar crimes were +found to be trades, and as fast as criminals were transported others +came up to take their places, so that, practically, no matter how many +criminals were sent away, their places were soon filled and the business +went on as before. France began the practise about the middle of this +century of transporting criminals to New Caledonia and other islands of +the Pacific; she still keeps it up, but, according to accounts, there is +no diminution of crime in France, nor is there likely to be. + +"It is proper to say in this connection that there was a considerable +party in Australia in favor of the transportation system, on account of +the money the government expended here in consequence. This was +particularly the case in Van Dieman's Land, which is now called +Tasmania. That island received a great number of convicts, and the +government expended a very large amount of money for their support and +for the construction of prison establishments. Many of the public works +of Tasmania were built by the convicts. For example, they built an +excellent road one hundred and twenty miles long, running across the +island from Hobart to Launceston. It is said to be the finest wagon and +carriage road in all the country, but is now comparatively little used, +having been superseded by a railway. + +"The ruins of a very extensive prison are still to be seen at Port +Arthur, about thirteen miles from Hobart; it stands on a peninsula +which is connected with the mainland by a very narrow neck. Across this +neck of land there were chained a lot of savage dogs, so near each other +that nobody could pass without being within reach of at least one of the +dogs. The water all around the peninsula abounded in sharks, so that if +a man attempted to swim across the bay he was liable to become the prey +of one, or perhaps a dozen, of these sea wolves. And yet a good many +men, first and last, managed to escape from Port Arthur and get into the +bush. + +"Generally the runaways were caught before being at large many days, and +when brought back many of them were condemned to death. At one time the +keeper who had charge of the prisons at Hobart complained to the +authorities of the inadequate facilities for putting men to death by +hanging. He said it was impossible to hang conveniently more than +thirteen men at once, and as the hangman had been very busy of late, he +thought that the facilities ought to be increased so that the work could +be performed with greater expedition." + +Dr. Whitney reminded his young friends that it was time for them to +start if they wished to employ the forenoon advantageously; accordingly, +a carriage was called and the party went out for a drive. They proceeded +in the direction of the lake, a pretty sheet of water in the northern +part of Adelaide--about two miles long and in some places half a mile +wide. The lake is an artificial one, and is formed by throwing a dam +across the river Torrens and restraining the waters which come down in +times of flood. For the greater part of the year the river is little +more than a dry bed of sand, and one of the inhabitants told Harry that +sprinkling-carts were driven through the bed of the river every morning +and evening to keep down the dust. The city is supplied with water from +this river; it is taken from a stream several miles above Adelaide, and +brought through heavy iron pipes. + +Harry wished to know the population of the city, and was told that it +was not far from sixty thousand. There is a considerable suburban +population, and the man from whom Harry obtained his information said he +thought there was fully another sixty thousand people living within a +radius of ten miles from City Hall. He said the whole population of the +colony of South Australia was not far from one hundred and thirty +thousand including about five thousand aboriginals. + +When the country was first settled it was thought that the aboriginals +numbered twelve or fourteen thousand, but contact with civilization had +reduced the figures very materially here, as in other parts of the +world. Where white men and aboriginals have come in contact, the latter +have suffered all over Australia; their relations have not changed in +New Zealand and Tasmania, and this is especially the case in the +last-named colony. Not a single aboriginal Tasmanian is now alive, the +last one having died in 1876. When the island was first occupied by the +English, the number of aboriginals was estimated at four or five +thousand. The story goes that when the British landed there the natives +made signs of peace, but the officer who was in charge of the landing +thought the signals were hostile instead of friendly. He ordered the +soldiers to fire upon the blacks, and thus began a war which lasted for +several years, and when it terminated only a few hundreds of the blacks +remained alive. In 1854, there were only fifteen of them left, and the +number gradually diminished, until the last one died as related. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +ACROSS AUSTRALIA--TALLEST TREES IN THE WORLD. + + +Our friends were invited to visit a large wheat farm twenty or thirty +miles north of Adelaide, and accepted the invitation with great +pleasure. Leaving the city early in the morning, the railway train took +them to a station a few miles from the farm, and there the owner met +them in his carriage. After a substantial breakfast at the owner's +residence, they were driven to the field, or, rather, to one of the +fields, where the work of harvesting was going on. + +It roused their national pride somewhat to find that American +reaping-machines were in use on the farm, and they also learned that the +plowing was done with American plows. The field stretched out to an +almost limitless extent, and it needed very little play of the +imagination for the youths to believe that they were on one of their own +western prairies instead of being at the antipodes. + +The farm seemed to be managed in a most systematic manner, and before +they departed the owner showed them a copy of the rules which the men +were required to sign when they were engaged. Before signing, the rules +were read to them line by line, and sentence by sentence, and each man +acknowledged that he had a full understanding of the documents to which +he affixed his signature. + +Perhaps it may interest our readers to know something about these +rules. Sixty men are employed on a farm throughout the whole year, and +in the busy season three times that number are engaged. Here is the +substance of the rules:-- + +"The bell rings at five o'clock in the morning, and this is the signal +for everybody to get up. Horses are groomed and fed before six o'clock, +and at that hour the men are served with breakfast. At seven o'clock the +teams are harnessed, and teams and men go to the field. At noon one hour +is allowed for rest and dinner, and then work goes on until five o'clock +in winter and six o'clock in summer. Then the teams return to the +stables, and the men get their suppers at seven o'clock. The horses are +fed and watered at eight o'clock, and by ten o'clock everybody must be +in bed." + +First-class hands on these farms receive twenty shillings ($5) per week, +and employees of other grades are paid in proportion. One clause in the +rules says that any man in charge of horses who abuses them or neglects +to care for them properly will be discharged at once, and forfeit all +wages that may be due him. Penalties are stated for every sort of +offense, all of them being in the shape of fines or loss of situation, +or both. Every laborer who begins in a low position is promised an +advance in pay and place as a reward of his industry and good conduct. + +"There are a good many farms of this sort in South Australia," said Ned +in his journal, "and we are sorry that time prevents our visiting all +those that we have been invited to see; but our regret is modified by +the recollection that one farm is very largely a repetition of another +farm, and so we accept the situation and say nothing more about it. +South Australia is a great wheat-growing country, and ships an immense +quantity of wheat to England. In good years it produces fully fifteen +millions of bushels for export, in addition to the quantity required for +home consumption. + +"Next in importance to the wheat crop in South Australia is the crop of +wool. There are nearly seven millions of sheep in the colony, and +between the wool and bread-stuffs, the income to the country is very +considerable. We now understand the uses of the immense sheds, and the +grain elevators that we saw when we landed at Port Adelaide. Large as +they are, the capacities of these places of storage must be taxed to +their utmost in busy times. + +"They have given considerable attention to the cultivation of the grape. +Grapes, apricots, peaches, and other fruits grow in great abundance, so +much so that in the fruit season they are retailed in the market of +Adelaide at a penny a pound, and all of them are delicious. Quite an +industry is being developed in canning fruits for exportation, and it +will probably increase gradually as the years go on." + +Our friends were invited to make a journey on the line of the Great +Northern Railway, which is ultimately intended to reach the northern +coast of Australia. The distance across Australia, from north to south, +is about seventeen hundred miles; about four hundred miles of the line +are completed, leaving thirteen hundred miles yet to be built. It will +cost a great deal of money to finish the railway, but the people are +ambitious, and will probably accomplish it in the course of time. + +They already have a telegraph line, running for the greater part of the +way through a very desolate region. For hundreds of miles there are no +white people, except the operators and repairers at the stations, and in +many places it is unlikely that there will ever be any inhabitants, as +the country is a treeless waste, and, at some of the stations, water has +to be brought from a considerable distance. Artesian wells have been +bored at many of the stations; at some of them successfully, while at +others it was impossible to find water. + +The railway official who invited our friends to make the journey, told +them that he was connected with the telegraph company at the time of its +construction, and he gave an interesting account of some of the +difficulties they encountered. + +"The desert character of the country," said the gentleman, "caused us a +great deal of inconvenience. We were obliged to haul or carry provisions +and material for long distances. Where it was practicable to use wagons +we used them, but where we could not do so we employed camels. Camels +were introduced into Australia forty or fifty years ago, and they have +been a great deal of use to us in parts of the country where water is +scarce. The conditions of Northern and Central Australia very much +resemble those of the regions of Northern Africa, where the camel had +its origin, or, at all events, where it abounds to-day in greatest +numbers. Had it not been for the 'Ship of the Desert,' it is possible +that we might not have been able to build the telegraph line across +Australia. The camel is so highly appreciated here that the government +has established several breeding stations for those ungainly creatures, +and their number is increasing every year. + +"You know already about the scarcity of water in the desert region. +Springs are few and far between, and rain is of rare occurrence. It was +frequently necessary to carry water thirty or forty miles, and on +account of the great heat it was impossible to carry it in skins or in +wooden cases, owing to the rapid evaporation. Cases or cans of +galvanized iron proved to be the best receptacles for water, so far as +evaporation was concerned, but they have the disadvantage of becoming +cracked and leaky in the rough treatment to which they are subjected. + +"Poles for the telegraph had to be hauled a long distance for a large +part of the way. Iron poles are generally used, owing to an insect that +destroys wood with great rapidity. I wonder if you have yet seen any of +the ravages of this little creature?" + +This last remark was made in the form of an interrogation, to which +Harry responded that he had not yet observed anything of the kind, nor +had his attention been called to it. Ned remarked that he had been told +of the destructiveness of this worm, but had not yet seen anything of +its work. + +"If you had seen it you would remember it," said the gentleman. "The +worm abounds more in the country districts than in the city, and it does +not seem to get so much into the city houses as it does into those of +the rural districts. Suppose you settle in South Australia, and build +yourself a house or buy one already built, and proceed to take your +comfort. Some day when you are sitting in your parlor you suddenly feel +a leg of your chair going through the floor, and down you go with a +crash. Somebody runs to your assistance, and the additional strain put +upon the floor causes the break to increase, and, together with the +person who has come to your aid, you go down in a heap through a yawning +chasm in the floor, no matter whether your room is carpeted or not. If +it is the former, the ravages of the worm have been quite concealed by +the carpet; while in the latter case the surface of the wood presents +the same appearance, while the whole interior of the plank or board has +been turned to dust. This sort of thing has happened in many an +Australian house, and will doubtless continue to happen." + +Harry asked if there was any way of preventing the ravages of this +destroyer. + +His informant replied that there were two or three kinds of wood which +these insects would not touch. Unfortunately, however, they were higher +priced than ordinary wood, and consequently the temptation was to use +the cheaper article. Houses could also be built of cement, brick, or +other substances which defied the wood worm, but these, again, were +expensive and could not be afforded by newly arrived emigrants, whose +capital was generally very limited. + +"Returning to the subject of the telegraph," the gentleman continued, +"we found a great deal of trouble with the insects destructive to wood, +and then, too, we had considerable difficulty with the blacks, though +less than we had anticipated. We managed to inspire them with a very +wholesome fear of the mysterious fluid that passed through the wires, +and though they have burned stations, and killed or wounded quite a +number of our people, they have never meddled with the wires." + +"How did you manage to inspire them with such fear?" queried Harry. + +"We did it in this way," was the reply. "Whenever a native visited us, +we managed to give him a shock of electricity, and if we could shock an +entire group at once it was so much the better. On several occasions we +got two or more of their chiefs at stations hundreds of miles apart, and +then let them talk with each other over the wires. Where they were well +acquainted, they were able to carry on conversations which none but +themselves could understand. Then we would have them meet half way +between the stations and compare notes, and the result was something +that greatly astonished them. Savage people generally attribute to the +devil anything they cannot understand, and they very quickly concluded +that 'His Satanic Majesty' was at the bottom of the whole business and +it would be well for them to let it carefully alone. + +"An amusing thing happened one day when we were putting up a portion of +the line. There was a crowd of native blacks watching us, and the +principal man among them walked for an hour or two along the line, +making a critical examination of the posts and wires and pacing the +distance between the posts. + +"When he had evidently made up his mind as to the situation he walked up +to the foreman of the working party and said, with an accent of +insolence:-- + +"'My think white fellow one big fool.' + +"When the foreman tried to find out his reason for expressing contempt +in that way, he pointed to the telegraph line and said:-- + +"'That piece of fence never stop cattle.' + +"Before the foreman could explain what the supposed thing was intended +for, he walked off with his nose very much in the air and never came +near the telegraph line again, as far as we know." + +After a short laugh over the incident, one of the youths asked how far +apart the stations were. + +"The distances vary considerably according to circumstances," said their +informant. "In some places they are within thirty or forty miles of each +other, and there are portions of the line where they are one hundred +miles apart. There are two operators and two repairers at each station. +These are all white men, and some of them have their families with them. +In addition to the white residents at the station, there are all the way +from two or three to eight or ten blacks. The blacks in our service are +generally faithful, and we put a great deal of dependence upon them. +Sometimes they are treacherous, but not often, as treachery is not a +part of their nature. + +"I was making a tour of inspection of the line shortly after it was +completed, and happened to be at one of the stations at a time when the +blacks were threatening trouble. One of the operators, Mr. Britton, was +accompanied by his wife. Her husband wanted her to go to a place of +greater safety, but she refused, and said she would stand by his side. +She was a good shot with the revolver, and promised that in case of +trouble she would put her abilities to a practical test. + +"The blacks came about the station to beg, and also to ascertain the +strength of the company, and one evening word came that they were going +to have a corroboree in a little patch of forest near the station. +Perhaps you don't know what a corroboree is." + +Both of the youths shook their heads and acknowledged their ignorance. + +"Well, it is a wild sort of dance, something like the dances among your +American Indians, with local variations to suit the climate and people. +The dancing is done by the men, who get themselves up in the most +fantastic manner imaginable with paint of various colors. They daub +their faces with pigments in streaks and patches, and trace their ribs +with white paint, so that they look more like walking skeletons than +like human beings. Generally at one of these dances they wear strips of +skin around their waists, and ornament their heads with feathers. + +"I said that the dancing was done by the men, though this is not +absolutely the rule, as there are certain dances in which the women take +part, though not a very conspicuous one. Generally the dances are by the +people of one tribe, though there are a few in which several tribes take +part. As a usual thing, however, this kind of a dance ends in a fight, +as the dancers work themselves up to a condition of frenzy, and if there +is any ill feeling among them it is sure to crop out. + +"The dances in the neighborhood of the telegraph station to which I +referred included men of several tribes, and we knew that mischief +would be likely to come of it. Two of our black fellows went as near to +the scene of the dance as they dared go, and from time to time brought +us particulars of the proceedings. + +"We got revolvers and rifles ready, Mrs. Britton taking possession of +one of the revolvers, and loading it very carefully. All along during +the evening we could hear the yelling of the natives at their dance, but +an hour or so before midnight the noise diminished, and one of our black +fellows came in to tell us that they were preparing to attack the +station. + +"The principal building of the station was a block house built for +defense against the blacks, and strong enough to resist any of their +weapons; but, of course, they would be able to overpower us by +surrounding the place and starving us out, though we had little fear of +that. The great danger was that they would come upon us in great +numbers, and as we were not sufficiently numerous to defend all parts of +the building at once, they could set it on fire and thus compel us to +come out and be slaughtered. + +"The warning brought by our black fellow proved to be correct. The men +who had been engaged in the dance had left the scene of their +jollification and moved in the direction of the station. We could hear +their voices as they approached, and it was much to our advantage that +the moon was of sufficient size to give a fairly good light. The station +was in such a position that no one could approach it without being seen. + +"In a little while we saw in the moonlight a mass of dark figures +crossing the open space to the south, and, judging by the ground they +covered, there were at least a hundred of them. They advanced quietly +about half way across the clearing and then broke into a run, while they +filled the air with yells. In a few moments they were all around the +building, and quite a number of them threw their spears at it--a very +foolish procedure, as the weapons could do no harm whatever to the thick +sides of the structure. It was our policy not to take life or even to +shed blood if we could possibly avoid it, as we were anxious to be on +friendly terms with the black people along our line. I had been thinking +the matter over in the evening, and suddenly hit upon a scheme that I +thought would save us from injuring anybody, and at the same time give +our assailants a thorough scare. + +"There happened to be in the station a package of rockets, which had +been brought along for signaling purposes during the work of +construction. Just as the crowd of blacks reached the station, I asked +Mr. Britton, the chief operator, to bring me one of the rockets. + +"He complied with my request, and I fixed the missile so that it would +go just above the heads of the crowd of yelling blacks. Then I touched a +match to the fuse, and away sailed the rocket through the night air. + +"Not one of those aboriginals had ever seen anything of the kind before. +They started not upon the order of their going, but went as though +pursued by wild tigers or guilty consciences. They could not have been +more astonished if the moon had dropped down and exploded among them. +They gave just one yell, and it was five times as loud as any yell they +had previously given. + +"In less than two minutes from the time the rocket was fired, there was +not a hostile black man around the station. Our own black fellows had +been trembling with fear, as they knew that, in case of capture, they +would share whatever fate was in store for us, the wild blacks being +greatly prejudiced against any one of their number who takes service +with the whites. The crowd fled in the direction of the scene of their +corroboree, but they did not stop there. We learned the next day that +they ran three or four miles before coming to a halt. + +"We saved the station and ourselves without shedding a drop of blood. +The story was told by the blacks far and wide that we 'shot a star at +them.' This gave us a hint on which we acted, and we took pains to +circulate the report that we had power to bring all the heavenly bodies +to our aid whenever we needed them. Several times we offered to chief of +the tribe to bring down the moon, or any of the stars that he might +designate, but for fear that he would take us at our word, we always +said that we would not be responsible for the consequences. In view of +these circumstances, he invariably asked us to leave the denizens of the +heavens alone. + +"All the attacks on our stations have not been as bloodless as the one I +have just described," the gentleman continued. "Three or four years +after the line was opened the blacks attacked a station about one +thousand miles north of Adelaide. One of the operators, Mr. Stapleton, +was mortally wounded, and so was one of the line repairers. Both the +other white men at the station were slightly wounded, and one of the +blacks in our service was killed. The attack lasted only a short time, +and the assailants were driven away by the well-directed fire of the +people at the station. + +"The mortally wounded operator, Mr. Stapleton, was placed on a couch, +while the other operator was telegraphing the news of the occurrence to +Adelaide. A doctor was called to the telegraph office in the city, and +on learning the nature of the wound he pronounced it mortal. Mr. +Stapleton's wife was a telegraph operator, and was then employed in the +station at Adelaide. A telegraph instrument was placed at the bedside of +the dying man, and connected with the instrument on his wife's desk. The +two exchanged loving messages for a few minutes, and then the husband +with his last efforts telegraphed an eternal good-by to his wife, +dropped the instrument from his hand, and fell back dead. I was in the +office at Adelaide at the time of this occurrence, and was one of those +in the room where Mrs. Stapleton sat. Nearly all of those present were +experienced operators, and could understand the clicking of the +instrument. Every eye was filled with tears, and every heart was full of +sympathy for the woman who had been so tragically widowed. As she +received the final message of farewell she fell from her chair in a dead +faint, from which she did not recover for hours." + +As the foregoing story was narrated to our young friends, their eyes, +too, were moist, and so were those of Dr. Whitney, who was sitting close +by them. Silence prevailed for several minutes, and then the +conversation turned to other subjects. + +The gentleman explained that the northern terminus of the telegraph +line was at Port Darwin, where connection was made with the telegraph +cable to Singapore, and thence to Europe. "I suppose, in time," said he, +"there will be other telegraph connections, but for the present this is +the only one that Australia has with the rest of the world. Undoubtedly +we shall one day have a cable to the United States, and that will +certainly greatly facilitate commerce. At present, telegrams coming from +your country to this must come by a very roundabout journey." + +Harry asked what course a telegram would be obliged to take in coming +from San Francisco to Adelaide. + +"Let me see," said the gentleman; "in the first place, it would be +telegraphed overland from San Francisco to New York, and then it would +go under the Atlantic Ocean through one of the transatlantic cables, and +then there would be two or three routes by which it could be sent. It +could go by submarine cable to the Straits of Gibraltar, thence under +the Mediterranean and Red Seas, and the Indian Ocean to Bombay, or it +could cross Europe by one of the land lines, and then go through Russia +and Persia to the north of India, reaching Bombay by the land route. +From Bombay it would be telegraphed across India to Madras, and thence +by submarine cable to Singapore, and from Singapore it would be sent by +cable to Port Darwin, and thence by the Australian overland line to +Adelaide. The message would be repeated six or seven times in the course +of its journey, and the fact that so few mistakes are made in the +numerous repetitions, many of them by people having an imperfect +knowledge of English, speaks volumes in praise of the telegraph system." + +Both of our young friends heartily indorsed this remark, and agreed with +their informant that the telegraph certainly performed excellent work. + +Our friends made the journey along the line of railway to which they had +been invited. They found it interesting though not altogether free from +monotony, as there was an excessive amount of sameness in the country +through which they traveled. They passed through a range of low +mountains which were not sufficiently broken to be picturesque. They +crossed several dry or slightly moistened beds of rivers, where +indications were clearly visible that in times of heavy rains these dry +beds or insignificant streams were turned to floods. Here and there the +line crossed immense sheep farms and also great wheatfields, but there +were wide stretches of land which seemed to have no occupants whatever. +Most of the country was open and free from trees. Then there were other +parts where the line passed for miles and miles through "scrub," and at +irregular intervals they came upon patches and stretches of Australian +forest. + +Harry noted that the forests through which they passed had very little +undergrowth, so that it was easy to ride in any direction among the +trees. Most of the trees that they saw were eucalypti, of which there +are many varieties. The eucalyptus is by far the most common tree of +Australia, and the best known variety is the one that is called "the +blue gum." It is said that fevers do not prevail where the eucalyptus +grows, and this theory seems to be developed into a well-established +fact. Decoctions and other extracts are made from the leaves, bark, +wood, and gum of the eucalyptus and are given to fever patients with +more or less success. The eucalyptus has been taken to foreign +countries, and where the climatic conditions are suitable it has +flourished and established itself. The French government introduced it +into Algeria and planted it at military stations, where the soldiers had +suffered much from malaria. At all those stations the malaria was long +ago driven away by the trees, and places that were once unhealthy are +now renowned for their salubrity. + +The youths observed that most of the eucalyptus trees were tall and +slender. The gentleman who accompanied them said that their trunks were +often found with a diameter of ten to twelve feet, and some had been +measured that were sixteen feet in diameter at a distance of ten feet +from the ground. The trees grow very rapidly, and their timber when +green is soft, so that they can be felled, split, and sawed very easily, +but when dry it becomes very hard. It is a very useful wood, as it is +adapted for many purposes. The bark contains a great deal of tannin, and +it has become to some extent an article of commerce. + +The leaves of the eucalyptus have a leathery appearance and generally +stand in a vertical position, so that one side receives as much light as +the other. A valuable aromatic oil is extracted from the leaves, and is +used for medicinal and other purposes. It is said to be very +objectionable to mosquitoes, and Harry was told that if he scattered a +few drops of eucalyptus oil on his pillow at night, he would not be +troubled with mosquitoes, even though there might be many of them in the +room. He promised to try the experiment at the first opportunity. + +Ned asked what variety of the eucalyptus was the tallest, and how tall +the highest tree of Australia was. + +"The giant gum, _Eucalyptus amygdalina_, is said to be the tallest tree +in the world," the gentleman replied. "I am not sure whether it is +really so or not, as you have some very tall trees in the United States, +and there are also some of great height in the valley of the Amazon +River. I have heard of giant gum trees five hundred feet high, but their +location has always been given very vaguely, and nobody knew by whom +they had been measured. There is one giant gum tree on Mount Baw-Baw, in +Gippsland, that has been officially measured by a surveyor and found to +be four hundred and seventy-one feet high. What its diameter is at the +base I am unable to say, but probably it is not less than fifteen or +sixteen feet. New forests and new groups of trees are being discovered +from time to time, and perhaps we will one day find a tree more than +five hundred feet high. + +"I will add," said their informant, "that the giant gum is also called +the 'silver stem,' because when it sheds its bark every year the new +surface of the tree, when the old one has come off, is as white as +silver. A group of these trees is a very pretty sight, as the trunks are +perfectly round, and very often the lowest limbs are fully two hundred +feet from the ground." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +AUSTRALIAN BLACKS--THROWING THE BOOMERANG. + + +"Those giant gums are not easy to climb," Ned remarked, as the gentleman +paused. + +"Not by any means," was the reply; "at least, not for a white man, but +the black fellow will climb one of them, or any other tree, with very +little trouble." + +"Why, how does he do it?" + +"He cuts notches in the trunk of the tree where he can place his feet, +and he goes on cutting notch after notch as he ascends, making a broad +spiral around the tree until he reaches the limbs. Sometimes he passes a +piece of rope, made out of twisted bark, around the body of the tree to +steady himself, but he is just as likely to take no rope along, and +trust entirely to keeping his balance with his feet in the notches." + +"Those black fellows are very accomplished in their way," remarked one +of the youths. + +"They are, indeed," was the reply; "and they do certain things that no +white man can ever do. For example, a black fellow employed on a cattle +estate will ride at full gallop and follow the track of a runaway cow or +steer without making a single mistake. A white man would be obliged to +go at a walk, or a very little better, and quite frequently would find +it necessary to dismount and examine the ground carefully. The black +fellows are fully equal to your American Indians in following a trail; +they can track men almost as well as bloodhounds can. In parts of +Australia we have a police force of blacks, and they perform splendid +service in hunting highwaymen and others who have committed crimes and +fled into the bush for concealment and safety." + +Harry asked if the blacks were honest in their dealings with white +people. + +"I regret to say that their reputation is not by any means the best in +the world," was the reply. "Like savages everywhere when brought into +contact with civilization, they seem to adopt its vices and reject its +virtues. They are generally faithful to those by whom they are employed, +and in this respect their characters are commendable. When it comes to +ordinary lying and stealing, they are very skillful. They resemble other +savages in their fondness for intoxicating drinks, and when they get a +little money their desire to go on a spree is very apt to be +uncontrollable. They will leave their work and go to the nearest place +where intoxicants can be bought, and they keep on buying and drinking +until their money is gone. Generally speaking, you cannot keep them in +your employ very long. As soon as one learns his business so that he is +really useful, he either quits or behaves in such a manner that he has +to be sent away." + +Just as this last remark was made, the train halted at a station, and as +our young friends looked through the window they saw a group of blacks. +They had seen a few black fellows on the wheat farm that they visited, +and some had come under their observation in the streets of Adelaide. +These, however, were dressed in civilized garments, and the group at the +station was the first they had seen in aboriginal dress. + +Harry noted the scantiness of their costume, which consisted chiefly of +a strip of cloth about the waist, and another strip thrown over the +shoulder or disposed of in some fantastic way. Their skins were black, +though not of the inky, coal-like color of the pure-blooded African +negro. Their hair was curly, but did not have a woolly crispness. The +features seemed to be more like those of the Malay than of the Negro +race, and Ned observed that the hair of the women hung down in wavy +plaits, which is not the case with the hair of the negro of the Congo or +the Nile. Every man in the party carried a spear, and Ned wondered why +they were not armed with bows and arrows. + +"That is for the very simple reason," said their informant, "that the +Australian aborigines have never used the bow and arrow; their only +weapons are the spear, club, knife, and boomerang. Their principal +weapon for fighting is the waddy or club, and each tribe has a peculiar +shape for its waddies. This weapon is made of hard wood, and is somewhat +suggestive of the night stick of a New York policeman, with the +difference that it has a knob on the end to enable it to be grasped with +greater security. There is a rule in fighting with the waddy, that you +must hit your antagonist on the head. It is not fair to strike him in +any other part of the body with these weapons, and the man who would do +so would not be regarded as a gentleman in aboriginal society. The +difference in the waddies is such that you can very often tell what +tribe a party belongs to by examining one of their clubs. + +"They are accustomed to spears from their childhood, and can throw them +very accurately for a distance of thirty or forty yards. I once saw a +considerable number of blacks together, and several white men of us got +up a competition in spear throwing. We chalked out the figure of a man +on the side of a building, and then paced off forty yards from it. We +offered a prize of one shilling to every black who would hit this figure +with the spear three times out of five at the distance indicated. We had +them take turns in succession, and when the competition was over we +found that we were obliged to give a shilling to every one of the +competitors, as all had hit it three times. Half of them did so four +times, and the other half the entire five times." + +Ned asked what the spears were made of. He learned, in reply, that +sometimes they were single shafts of wood tipped with stone, bone, or +iron. Others had heads of hard wood, while the shafts consisted of light +reeds which grow on the banks of the rivers and lakes. The spears are +usually from six to ten feet long, at least the fighting spears are. +Some of the tribes living along the rivers have spears fifteen or +eighteen feet long, intended for fishing purposes and not for war. + +Harry wanted to know what was the religious belief of the blacks, and +what were their ideas about the creation. + +"As to religion," the gentleman answered, "they don't seem to have much, +and the little they do have is of a very mixed character. Like all +savages, they believe in good and bad spirits, and they treat the bad +spirits with much more ceremony than they do the good ones; on the +ground, I presume, that it is necessary to propitiate the bad spirits to +save themselves from injury, while the good ones can be relied upon not +to do any harm. Some of the tribes believe in a Great Spirit or Supreme +Being, while others have no idea of the kind. They have a good many +superstitions, and, though not a people of much imagination, they have +quite a variety of mythical stories that originated a long time ago, and +have been handed down by tradition. It is a curious circumstance that +some of these myths repeat quite closely the story of the creation, the +fall, and the deluge, but where they came from nobody can tell." + +"Is there any book where we can find any of these traditions?" Harry +asked. + +"Oh, certainly; they have been collected and published, but I can give +you the principal ones from memory." + +"The story about the creation is, that one of the spirits that ruled the +world created two men out of the dust of the earth, and gave these two +men a very rich country to live in. Another spirit created two women and +gave one of them to each man. Then he gave spears to each of the men, +and told them to kill kangaroos with their weapons, and gave sticks to +the women, with which to dig roots out of the ground. Thus it came about +that men carry spears and clubs as weapons, while the women perform most +of the menial work. The men and women were commanded to live together, +and in this way the world in time became full of people. They grew so +numerous in the region where they were, that the great spirits caused +storms to arise and high winds to blow in order to scatter the people +over the globe. + +"The tradition about the first sin is, that the first man and woman were +ordered by the spirits not to go near a certain tree, as a bat lived +there which must not be disturbed. One of the women went too near the +tree, her curiosity having got the better of her, and the bat became +alarmed and flew away. After that death came into the world, having +before been unknown. + +"They have another tradition that at one time all the water in the earth +was contained in the body of an immense frog, where nobody could reach +it. The spirits held an investigation, and ascertained that if the frog +could be made to laugh the water would run out of his mouth when he +opened it, and the drought then prevailing would be broken. All the +animals of the world gathered together and danced and capered before the +frog in order to make him laugh, but all to no purpose. Then they called +up the fishes to see if they could accomplish anything, but the frog +preserved a solemn face until the eel began to wriggle. + +"The wriggling of the eel was too much for the frog and he laughed +outright. Immediately the waters flowed from his mouth and the earth was +covered with water. Many people were drowned, and all who could do so +sought the highest land. The pelican undertook to save the black people; +he made a great canoe and went around picking up the people, wherever he +could find them, and thus saved a great many. + +"They have a theory about the sun," the gentleman continued, "that is +certainly a very practical one. They say that as it gives out a great +deal of light during the daytime, it needs a supply of fuel, and it goes +at night to a place where it takes in fuel enough for its next day's +work. They say that it used to take in wood exclusively before white +people came to Australia, but since the arrival of the whites, and the +opening of coal mines, they think the sun takes in both coal and wood at +the place where it renews its supply. + +"They believe in dragons, great serpents, and other wonders, and if you +are inclined to laugh at them for their beliefs, you must remember that +all the rest of the world shared in them two or three hundred years ago. +The creature in which they have the greatest faith is the bun-yip, which +is supposed to haunt rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water, and +possesses remarkable powers. According to their description, he is like +a dragon; he devours black and white people indiscriminately, and can +cause all sorts of misfortune. Many natives, and also quite a number of +white men, claim to have seen him, and they certainly give some very +graphic accounts of his appearance and actions. Not long ago an account +appeared in one of the Australian newspapers, written by a white man and +certified to by another white man, who claim to have actually seen the +bun-yip in a small lake, and described him very minutely." + +"And was the story really true?" Harry asked. + +"Well, yes, I suppose it was. That is to say, I believe, as do many +others, that there is an amphibious animal living in some of the +Australian lakes and rivers of which no specimen has yet been taken. The +description of the bun-yip by those who claim to have seen him, and are +not carried away by their imaginations, is very much like that of a +Newfoundland dog or a seal. The seal exists in Australian waters, and I +think that is what the bun-yip will turn out to be if one ever allows +himself to be taken." + +At the station at the end of the line of railway there was an encampment +of blacks, about half a mile away, and our young friends were quite +curious to see it. + +Their curiosity was soon satisfied, as there was nothing particularly +attractive about the spot. The blacks were civilized enough to live in +tents, or, rather, they accepted the bounty of the government which +supplied them with tents, though it was evident that they did not intend +to give up their old way of living, inasmuch as they had two or three +bark shelters of the old-fashioned sort, in addition to the canvas house +supplied by the government. And we may remark here that the various +colonial governments provide for the support of all the aboriginals +living within their territory. Government officials take care of them, +supply them with food, clothing, and medical comforts, and assign +reservations of land to them, just as the Indian Department of the +United States assigns reservations to the red men. But with all the care +they receive, their number is steadily diminishing, and the day is not +far distant when the last of them will cease to exist. + +A man who could speak the language of the aboriginals accompanied our +young friends in their visit to the encampment. At Harry's request, he +arranged with the men to give an exhibition of their skill in throwing +the spear, and after that was over he asked them to throw the boomerang. +While they were getting ready for their performance the interpreter +explained that the boomerang was a great deal of a mystery. He said that +no white man, even after years of practise, had ever been able to throw +this weapon with any degree of accuracy, and that no Australian black +could explain how the weapon was handled. If you ask one of them to +explain about throwing the boomerang, he usually says, "You throw him, +that all"; and that seems to be all there is to it. + +Ned and Harry watched the performance with the greatest care, and they +afterwards said that they knew as much about it before they witnessed it +as they did afterwards, with the exception that they had seen with their +own eyes what could be done. + +"First, you must understand," said Ned afterwards, "that there are +several kinds of boomerangs, the difference being in size, weight, and +shape. The variations in shape are so slight that they are not readily +perceived by the stranger, though a black would have no difficulty in +determining them. The lightest of the boomerangs weigh from four to five +ounces, while the heaviest are double that weight. Harry happened to +have his spring letter-balance in his pocket, and we weighed one of the +boomerangs that we saw used. Its weight was about six ounces and our +interpreter said that he considered it rather a light one." + +"The heaviest boomerangs are used for fighting purposes and for killing +kangaroos, emus, and other large game. + +"The boomerang is a queerly shaped weapon. It is made of hard wood and +curved like a bow, the curve from point to point being about a quarter +of a circle. The piece of wood that forms the boomerang is about half an +inch thick, and in the middle it is two and one half inches wide, +narrowing steadily towards the end. I took it in my hand and made a +motion as if to throw it, whereupon the owner laughed, and indicated by +signs that I had seized it by the wrong end. + +"When he made ready to throw the weapon, the interpreter told us to +stand perfectly still, lest we might be injured. I asked how it could +happen, and he said that the performer always selected the spot to which +the boomerang returned, and by changing our positions, especially after +the weapon had been thrown, we might be struck by it when it came back. + +"Both before and after taking his position the performer carefully +observed the force and direction of the wind, as it has a great deal to +do with the flight of the boomerang. When he was quite ready he flung +the weapon almost straight into the air, where it circled about a few +times, and skimmed along near the ground until it was about three +hundred feet distant; then it turned, made a slight upward motion +through the air, and finally fell within an arm's length of where the +performer stood. The interpreter explained that this weapon was called +the return-boomerang. + +"The man repeated several times the performance with the weapon, +bringing it close to his feet on every occasion. Then a coin was placed +in the end of a split stick forty or fifty yards distant, at the +suggestion of the performer, who stipulated that he would knock the coin +out without disturbing the stick, on condition that he should have the +coin, a one-shilling piece, in case he succeeded. + +"He balanced the boomerang with great care and then threw it. It made +several gyrations in the air, and when it reached its destination it +knocked the coin from its place as neatly as one could have removed it +with his fingers. All who stood by applauded the performer, and he was +given the opportunity to win several more shillings in the same way. + +"I ought to mention that each time when he threw the boomerang he varied +his manner of throwing it. Sometimes he sent the weapon straight into +the air; next he skimmed it along the ground, and next he launched at an +angle of from forty to sixty degrees. Every time he threw it, it came +back to his feet, but when he threw it at the coins in the stick it did +not return. + +"The interpreter explained to us that the return-boomerang was more of a +toy than a weapon, as the regular boomerang cannot return when it has +hit something in its course. Wonderful stories have been told of the use +of this weapon in war,--how the black fellow will launch it two or three +hundred yards, and have it kill one or more of his enemies, and then +come back to his feet. A moment's thought will convince any one that the +two things together are impossible. In order to return to the place +whence it started, the boomerang must not encounter or even touch +anything in its way. When it is used for killing men, or wild animals, +it does not come back to the ground of its thrower. + +"From all accounts that I am able to obtain, the boomerang as a weapon +in the hands of a good thrower is very dangerous. It can be made to hit +a man concealed behind a tree, rock, or house, where a gun or a spear +could not possibly reach him. As a hunting weapon it is of great +utility, and many a kangaroo has fallen before it. The skillful thrower, +within reaching distance of a kangaroo or an emu, is as sure of his prey +as a white man would be with a Winchester rifle." + +Ned and Harry tried to learn from the performer when and by whom the +boomerang was invented, and all they could get from him was, "Long time +ago; who knows?" He threw a little light upon the subject by picking up +a leaf of the gum tree, holding it at arm's length, and then letting it +fall to the ground. It gyrated and changed its course as it descended. +Then he picked it up and threw it straight from him, when it gyrated +again and returned towards him. It is probable that the idea of the +boomerang may have been taken from the motions of a falling leaf, and +especially a leaf of the gum tree. As the weapon is known through all +the tribes of Australian blacks, it is not likely to have been a recent +invention. + +"I have read somewhere," said Harry, "that a weapon similar to the +boomerang was known to the ancient Egyptians, and that there is also +something of the same sort in use among a tribe of Indians in Arizona. +If it is true that the Egyptians of old times had this weapon, we may +well repeat the oft-quoted saying, 'There is nothing new under the sun,' +but it seems, at any rate, that the Australian boomerang is greatly +superior to the Arizona one, as it can be projected very much further +and with far more deadly effect." + +The performer with the boomerang was evidently very well satisfied with +his morning's work, and he was certainly very liberally paid for his +performances. He invited our friends to take dinner with him, at least, +so the interpreter said, though the youths were suspicious that the +invitation was all a joke. Anyhow, they did not accept it, as they +thought that the meal, with the surroundings which were visible, would +have no temptation either for the eye or the appetite. + +Harry heard the following story, which he duly entered in his +notebook:-- + +"Once a lawyer undertook the defense of a black fellow who had been +arrested for stealing a gold watch. The evidence was wholly +circumstantial, as the stolen property had not been found, and the +lawyer handled the case so well that the alleged thief was acquitted. A +few hours after the trial, the lawyer was seated on the verandah of the +principal hotel in the place, engaged in conversation with the +magistrate before whom the case was tried, when along came the black +fellow. + +"'Can I wear the watch now?' said the black, at the same time drawing it +forth from an inner pocket. + +"The magistrate burst into a loud and hearty laugh. The lawyer laughed, +too, but his laughter had a very hollow sound, and then he shouted an +emphatic 'No!' to the confiding aboriginal." + +Quite a little town had sprung up at the terminus of the railway, and +Dr. Whitney said it reminded him of the towns along the Pacific +railways of the United States during the course of their construction. +The comparison, he said, was favorable to the Australian town, as the +inhabitants seemed far more orderly than did those of the transitory +American settlements. During the time of their stay there was not a +single fight, and the coroner was not called upon to perform his usual +official duties. + +The terminus of the railway was in a valley which was dignified with the +name of a creek, but no creek was visible. Water was supplied by an +artesian well, driven to a depth of eight hundred feet. The water was +slightly brackish but quite drinkable, and when it was made into tea or +coffee the brackish flavor disappeared. + +Our friends returned to Adelaide by the way they had gone from it, and +after a day or two more in the capital of South Australia, they took the +train for Melbourne. Ned made note of the fact that had been mentioned +to him, that of all the money raised by taxation in South Australia, one +fifth of it is used for educational purposes. He further added that the +same was the case in all the colonies, and he thought it greatly to +their credit. Harry said he did not believe there was a State or city in +the whole American Union where such a large proportion of the public +money was spent for educational matters. + +The youths learned, in addition, that the schools throughout the +colonies are, generally speaking, of excellent quality and the +opportunities for higher education in academies, colleges, universities, +medical and scientific institutions, and similar seats of learning, are +of the best class. Ned made the following summary from the Education +Act of South Australia:-- + +"Schools will be established where there is a certain number of children +of school age, who will pay a moderate fee to the teachers; four pence +for children under seven, and six pence for older children, per child, +per week. In addition to the fees, the teachers will be paid by the +government from seventy-five pounds to two hundred pounds per annum. +Schoolhouses will be provided, and all the necessary educational +material. Four and one half hours constitute the school day. All +children of school age are required to be under instruction until a +certain standard is reached." + +Provision is made for the free instruction of children whose parents can +show that they are unable to pay for it, but fees can be enforced in all +cases where inability to pay them has not been proved. Large grants have +been made by the legislature for school buildings, teachers' salaries, +etc., in order to efficiently aid in the development of a thorough and +comprehensive system of education for the young. + +South Australia has a goodly number of schools for higher education, and +it also has a university which is well attended. The majority of those +who can afford it send their children to private schools rather than to +the government ones, believing, and no doubt correctly, that the +educational facilities are greater in the private institutions than in +the public ones. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +ADELAIDE TO MELBOURNE--THE RABBIT PEST--DANGEROUS EXOTICS. + + +The distance from Adelaide to Melbourne is about six hundred miles. Our +friends found that the journey was made very leisurely, the trains +averaging not more then eighteen or twenty miles an hour. For quite a +distance out of Adelaide the train ascends an incline as far as Mount +Lofty station, where the hill or mountain of that name is situated. On +the way up the last of the incline our friends watched with a great deal +of interest the plains stretching out below them, and the city which +they had just left lying at their feet like a section of carpet laid off +into ornamental squares. Beyond Mount Lofty station the route descended +into the valley of the Murray River, whose waters could be seen winding +like a thread through the yellow soil. + +"This is the longest river in Australia, is it not?" queried Ned. + +"Yes," replied the doctor, "it is the longest and largest river, and, as +you have already learned, it is the only one that remains a real river +throughout the year. Its mouth is not many miles from Adelaide, and a +considerable part of its course is through South Australia." + +"I wonder they didn't establish the capital city at the mouth of the +Murray," remarked Harry; "they would have had the advantage of a +navigable stream, which they have not in the present location." + +"Yes, that is quite true," Dr. Whitney replied; "and they would have +illustrated the saying of a philosopher, that great rivers nearly always +run past large cities, but there was a practical difficulty in the way, +of which you are not aware." + +"What is it?" + +"The Murray at its mouth has a bar that is very difficult and dangerous +to cross, and a large area at its entrance consists of shallow water. +The mouth of the river, furthermore, is swept by southerly winds, which +bring in great waves that have their origin in the neighborhood of the +South Pole. Consequently it was concluded that the location of the city +at the place with the largest entrance into the sea would not be +advantageous, and a location on Spencer's Gulf was considered +preferable." + +"Very good reasons," said Ned, "and I have no doubt that the founders of +Adelaide acted wisely. They certainly have a very prosperous city where +they are, although their seaport is several miles away." + +The train increased its speed as it descended the incline, and the +youths found plenty of occupation and amusement in studying the scenery +on each side of them, and noting the handsome residences of the +merchants and other well-to-do inhabitants of Adelaide. The river was +crossed by means of an iron bridge, a substantial structure which was +evidently built to last. After crossing the Murray, the railway +proceeded for awhile along its valley, and gradually left it to enter a +region of long-continued monotony. + +"For hours in succession," said Harry in his journal, "we had little +else but scrub. I imagine that when the surveyors laid out the railway +line, they took their bearings by observation of the moon and stars, and +laid it directly across from one side of the scrub country to the other. +Scrub land is land covered with bushes. There are not many varieties of +bushes, and this fact helps along the monotony. There is one bush that +looks like an umbrella turned bottom upwards, and another that resembles +an umbrella standing upright, as one holds it to keep off the rain. Then +there are bushes and trees, some of them shaped like bottles, others +like sugar loaves, and some like nothing else that I can think of at +this moment. They vary from three or four feet in height up to fifteen +and twenty feet, and sometimes we found them of a height of thirty feet +or more. + +"Mile after mile it is the same. I have heard what a terrible thing it +is to be lost in the scrub. I can well understand that it is terrible, +and can also understand how easily such a calamity could be brought +about. One mile of scrub is exactly like another mile, or so very nearly +like it that it is next to impossible to tell the difference. I have +heard that people who stepped only a few yards from the side of the road +have wandered for days before finding their way again, or have been +sought for by many people before they were found. Many a man has lost +his way in the scrub and never been heard of again, or perhaps years +after his bones were discovered bleaching at the foot of a tree, where +he had sat or lain down for his last rest when he could go no further." + +A portion of the road from Adelaide to Sydney is called "the +ninety-mile desert," in distinction from the rest of the scrub region. +It was a great relief to any one to get out of this desert country, and +reach the region of farms, and fences, cattle or sheep pastures, and +cultivated fields. In some of the districts through which our travelers +passed they saw great numbers of rabbits, and on calling attention to +them, a gentleman who was in the railway carriage told them something +about the rabbit pest from which the Australian colonies are suffering. + +"If you want to make a fortune," said the gentleman, "find some way for +destroying the rabbits in Australia. There is a standing reward of +twenty-five thousand pounds (one hundred and twenty-five thousand +dollars of your money) for any method that proves successful. The reward +is offered by the colony of New South Wales, and the other colonies will +pay as much more." + +"Were there rabbits in this country when it was first discovered?" Harry +asked. + +"There were no rabbits here," was the reply; "nor any animals like them. +In 1851, a gentleman living near Dunedin, New Zealand, was on a visit to +the old country, and it occurred to him that it would be a nice thing to +have rabbits in New Zealand, so that they could amuse themselves by +chasing the little creatures with dogs. On his return from England he +brought seven rabbits, and they were the progenitors of all the rabbits +in New Zealand, Australia, and Tasmania. For a few years, as fast as +rabbits were obtainable they were distributed throughout the colonies, +but it was not long before the distributors found out their mistake. + +"The rabbits increased and multiplied at a terrific rate. How many +there are now in the colonies, nobody can tell, as it is impossible to +take a census of them, but they certainly amount to many millions. They +have destroyed millions of acres of sheep pasturage, so that many farms +which once supported great numbers of sheep have been deserted in +consequence of the rabbits. Let me give you an illustration that I know +about, as I was one of the sufferers by these vermin. Fifteen years ago, +I owned an interest in a sheep run on the bank of the Murray River in +the colony of Victoria. Our holding extended back into the dry and +comparatively worthless country. + +"The rabbits got in there, and gradually the sheep were starved out. +Year by year the number diminished, and five years ago I sold my +interest in the run for a very small sum. From two hundred thousand +sheep, the number had diminished to twenty-five hundred, and these were +dying in the paddock for want of food. The rabbits were the cause of the +whole destruction. They had eaten up all the grass and edible bushes, +and it was some consolation to know that they were themselves being +starved out, and were dying by the hundreds daily. When the rabbits +there are all dead the place can be fenced in, so that no new ones can +get there, and it is possible that the grass will grow again, and the +run once more become a place of value. + +"The story I have just told you," the gentleman continued, "is the story +of a great many sheep and cattle runs all over Australia and New +Zealand. All sorts of means have been resorted to to get rid of the +pest, and while some have been partially successful, none have been +wholly so. The best plan is the old one, to lock the stable before the +horse is stolen; that is, enclose the place with rabbit-proof fences +before any rabbits have been introduced. The Australian rabbit is a +burrowing animal, and unless the fence is set well into the ground, he +is very apt to dig under it. Thus it has happened that many an estate +has become infested, even though the owners had gone to the expense of +enclosing it. + +"Most of the cities of Australia and New Zealand have a rabbit-skin +exchange, just as you have a cotton exchange in New York. At these +exchanges ten or fifteen millions of rabbit skins are sold every year, +or an aggregate perhaps of fifty or sixty millions, and yet the number +does not decrease perceptibly. Factories have been established for +preserving the meat of the rabbits in tin cans, and sending it to market +as an article of food. It was thought that this would certainly reduce +the number of rabbits, but it has not yet succeeded in doing so. + +"Various kinds of apparatus have been devised for filling the dens of +the rabbits with noxious gases that kill them, but the process is too +expensive for general introduction; and, besides, it does not work well +in rocky ground. Rewards are given both by the government and by the +owners of land for the destruction of rabbits, and these rewards have +stimulated men, who go about the country with packs of dogs to hunt down +the rabbits for the sake of the bounty. Sometimes the whole population +turns out in a grand rabbit hunt and thousands of rabbits are killed. +Pasteur, the celebrated French chemist, proposed to destroy the rabbit +population by introducing chicken cholera among them; he thought that +by inoculating a few with the disease he could spread it among the +others, so that they would all be killed off. He admitted that the +chicken population would be killed at the same time, but none of us +would object to that if we could get rid of the rabbits, as we could +easily reintroduce domestic fowls." + +Ned said that he wondered why the rabbits increased so rapidly in the +Australian colonies and not in the United States or England. + +"Here is the reason of it," said the gentleman. "In America there are +plenty of wild animals, like wolves, weasels, foxes, ferrets, and the +like, to keep down the rabbit population, but here there is not a single +animal to interfere with them. They have no natural enemies whatever, +and consequently have things entirely their own way. They breed several +times a year and begin to breed very young, so that a pair of rabbits +let loose in a given locality will in a few years amount to thousands or +even to millions. There, look at that piece of ground and see what you +think of it." + +The boys looked where the gentleman indicated, and saw what seemed to be +a field of tall grass or grain waving in the wind. A nearer inspection +showed that the ground was covered with rabbits, and it was the +movements of the animals that caused the illusion just described. + +"Rabbits are not the only pests from which the colonies have suffered," +the gentleman continued; "I will tell you about more of them. + +"You must bear in mind," said their informant, "that when Australia was +settled it contained very few of the products, either animal or +vegetable, of other parts of the world. Among the animals there were no +noxious ones except the dingo, or wild dog, which was found in various +parts of the country. His origin has been a matter of conjecture, some +believing that he is descended from dogs which were left here by those +who discovered the continent, while others think he is indigenous to the +soil. All the other animals, and they were not numerous, were harmless +in their character. There are eight kinds of kangaroos, all of them +herbivorous. They are, as you are doubtless aware, marsupials, that is, +they carry their young in a pouch until they are able to run about by +themselves. The dingo lived by feeding on the kangaroos, and thus kept +down the number of those animals. + +"Horned cattle, horses, and sheep were introduced and successfully +raised. The wild dogs killed sheep and calves, and therefore the +inhabitants set about killing them. As the dogs decreased in number the +kangaroos increased, and they threatened to drive the sheep to +starvation by eating up all the grass. Many a sheep run was rendered +worthless by the kangaroos, and so it became necessary to establish +methods of reducing the number of the latter. Battues or hunts were +organized, the people gathering from all directions at an appointed time +and place, and driving the kangaroos into pens or yards, where they were +slaughtered by the thousand. You will probably have an opportunity of +seeing a kangaroo hunt before you leave Australia. + +"There were very few native fruits, and we introduced the fruits of +England and other parts of the world very successfully. We introduced +garden plants and vegetables in great numbers, and nearly all of them +turned out to our satisfaction, though this was not uniformly the case. + +"You know that innocent and very acceptable plant called the watercress, +which is sold in great quantities for table use in London, New York, and +other English and American cities. Well, we brought the watercress to +the Australian colonies, and it grew and thrived wonderfully. It grew +altogether too well and thrived a great deal more than we could have +wished, as it has choked our rivers, and caused freshets and floods +which have devastated farms and fields to a large extent, and on several +occasions have been destructive to human life. + +"We introduced the sweet briar, thinking it would form an ornament and +fill the air with its perfume. Instead of being ornamental, it has +become an impenetrable bush, which neither man nor cattle can go +through. It has become a nuisance, spreading over the ground and +destroying pasturage, and we heartily wish that not a twig of it was +ever brought here. + +"When we began to grow fruits we found ourselves annoyed by insects of +various kinds, the same sort of insects that are known to fruit growers +everywhere. In order to get rid of them, we brought the English sparrow +here. He is of great use to the fruit grower in the old country, as he +lives principally on insects, or at any rate has the reputation of doing +so, and he does not often attack the fruit. + +"Well, we got the sparrow here, and he increased and multiplied until +he became very numerous, and what do you suppose the little wretch did? + +"He did not do anything that we wanted him to do. He abandoned his +English practise of eating insects, and lived wholly upon grain and +fruit. In the fruit season he is a perfect terror in the devastation he +makes among our fruit trees. A flock of sparrows will make its +appearance in a cherry garden where there are twenty, fifty, or perhaps +a hundred cherry trees bending beneath a burden of fruit just about ripe +enough to be picked. They save the owner the trouble and expense of +picking his fruit, as they take entire charge of it, and in a few days +the whole crop is ruined. Other fruit suffers in the same way, and the +testimony is the same from all parts of Australia. One of the colonial +governments had an investigation of the subject at one time, and the +testimony was something appalling. The sparrows abound here in countless +millions, all of them descended from fifty birds that were imported +about the year 1860. The owners of vineyards, as well as the fruit +farmers, complain of the ravages of the sparrows, and at the official +investigation that I mentioned one vine grower testified that his crop +of grapes the previous year would have been two tons, but the sparrows +destroyed the entire lot. + +"Another bird almost as destructive as the sparrow is the _mina_ or +_mino_, a bird which was brought here from India. It is quite a handsome +bird, and can learn to talk almost as readily as the parrot, and that is +why it was brought here. It lives on fruits and vegetables, and has very +nearly the same habits as the sparrow. The colonial government have +placed a bounty upon the heads and eggs of the sparrow, and also on +those of the mina. A great many boys and men, too, make a fairly good +revenue in killing the birds or plundering their nests. The birds are +trapped, shot, or poisoned, but their number does not seem to diminish. + +"Somebody brought a daisy to Australia, as it is a very popular flower +in England, and was expected to remind the English settler of his old +home. It has spread very rapidly, and on thousands upon thousands of +acres it has rooted out the native grasses and taken full possession of +the soil. Another plant has a history which would be ludicrous if it +were not so serious, and that is the thistle." + +"You mean the regular thistle, such as is known in England and the +United States?" + +"I refer particularly to the Scotch thistle," said the gentleman, "which +is not particularly unlike the other thistles with which we are +familiar. You know that the thistle is the emblem of Scotland, and may +be said to be worshipped by all patriotic Scotchmen. Well, it happened +that a Scotch resident of Melbourne, while visiting the old country, +took it into his head to carry a thistle with him on his return to +Australia. So he placed the plant in a pot and watered it carefully +every day during the voyage from London to Melbourne. When he arrived +his performance was noticed in the newspapers, and a subscription dinner +was arranged in honor of the newly arrived plant. About two hundred +Scotchmen sat down to the dinner, at which the thistle was the +centerpiece and the great object of attraction. Speeches were made, and +the festivities continued to a late hour of the night. The next day the +thistle was planted with a great deal of ceremony, and more speeches in +the public garden at Melbourne, and it was carefully watched and tended +by the gardener, who happened to be a Scotchman. + +"Well, the thistle blossomed and everybody rejoiced. You know how the +seeds of that plant are provided with down, that enables them to float +on the wind. The seeds of that thistle were borne on the breezes, and +all over the colony of Victoria they found a lodging in the soil, grew +and prospered, and sent out more seeds. That thistle has been the cause +of ruin to many a sheep and cattle run all over Australia. Thousands, +yes, millions, of acres of grass have been destroyed by that pernicious +weed. Anathemas without number and of the greatest severity have been +showered upon the thick-headed Scotchman who brought the plant to +Australia, and the other thick-headed Scotchmen who placed it in the +public garden. + +"While I am on this subject," the gentleman continued, "I may as well +tell you of a very curious circumstance in New Zealand." + +"What is that?" + +"When the sheep farmers first established their business in the mountain +regions of New Zealand, they observed flocks of parrots occupying the +forest, and living entirely upon fruits and vegetables. They were very +pretty birds and nobody thought that any harm would come from them, in +view of their habits of life. The farmers used to kill some of their +sheep for food purposes, and leave the meat hanging out over night in +the cool air. It was observed that the parrots got in the habit of +coming down to the meat frames and picking off the layers of fat, +particularly those around the kidneys. Their fondness for this kind of +food seemed to increase as time went on, and they finally became such a +nuisance as to compel the herders to give up their practise of leaving +the meat out of doors in the night-time. + +"After a while the farmers occasionally found the fattest and best of +their sheep dead or dying of wounds across the smaller part of the back +directly in the region of the kidneys. Nobody could tell how the wounds +were made, but it was evident that the mischief-makers were numerous, as +a good many sheep, always the finest of the flock, were killed. Finally, +one of the men employed about a sheep run ventured to suggest that it +must be done by the parrots. His suggestion was ridiculed so earnestly +that the man was sorry he had made it, but he gave as his reason for it +the fact that he had seen a parrot perched on the back of a sheep and +the bird flew away when he approached. + +"Watchers were set over the sheep, and the suggestion of the man proved +to be the correct one. How the birds ever connected the existence of the +fat which they tore from the carcases on the meat frames with the +location of the same fat in the living animal, no one can tell, but +certain it is that they did so. It was found that a parrot bent on +securing a meal, would fasten his claws in the wool of the sheep, and +then with his powerful beak he would tear away the skin and flesh until +he reached the fat of which he was in search around the kidneys of the +struggling animal. It was impossible for the sheep to shake him off; +whether it ran or lay down and writhed in its agony, the bird retained +its hold until its object was accomplished." + +"Of course this led to a war of extermination against the parrots, did +it not?" + +"Certainly it did. As soon as the fact was well established the colonial +government offered a reward of one shilling for each parrot's head, and +the business of hunting these birds began at once. Formerly they used to +come freely into the presence of man, but now they shun him, and it is +very difficult to find them. They live in the forest, concealing +themselves in the daytime, and only coming out at night. In fact, their +depredations were committed in the night-time, and that is the reason +why their offences continued so long without being discovered." + +"Did they cause great destruction among the flocks of sheep?" + +"Yes, until they were found out and the war began against them they were +terribly destructive. One man lost two hundred sheep out of three +hundred, another lost nineteen out of twenty, and several others in the +same proportion. Even now, although the number of parrots is diminished +enormously, the flocks in the region where they abound lose at least two +per cent. every year from that cause." + +"Is there any way of exterminating them by poison?" + +"No way has been discovered as yet, as the birds are very cunning and +cannot be readily induced to take poisoned food. They are more wary in +this respect than rabbits and sparrows, as both of these creatures can +be poisoned, though the danger is that in attempting to poison them the +food is apt to be taken by domestic animals or fowls." + +"Speaking of poisoning reminds me of an instance in Queensland some +years ago, where there was a large number of blacks inhabiting the +forest near a sheep station. + +"The owner of the station had been greatly annoyed by the blacks, who +had killed many of his sheep, and in several instances had threatened +the shepherds with death, and driven them from their places. He +determined to get even with them, and this is the way he did it. He +loaded a cart with provisions such as flour, sugar, bacon, tea, and +other things, which were distributed to the shepherds once a week. Then +the cart started apparently on its round. Near the place where the +blacks were congregated one of the wheels of the cart came off, and at +the same time the vehicle became stuck in a gully. The driver took his +horses from the shafts and rode back to the station for help, leaving +the cart and its load unguarded. + +"Here was a fine opportunity for the blacks to exercise their thieving +propensities, and they did not miss it. In less than an hour the cart +was stripped of everything edible, flour, sugar, and everything else +being carried away. When the driver returned, he found only the empty +vehicle with which to continue his journey. + +"That afternoon the blacks had a grand feast over the stolen property. +All the members of the tribe came together and took part in the feast, +about two hundred in all. It so happened that everything edible had been +dosed with strychnine before the cart was loaded, and in a few hours +all who had partaken of the feast were dead. Much as the white people +around there had been annoyed by the blacks, there were few, if any, to +approve of this wholesale poisoning which the sheep owner had undertaken +entirely on his own responsibility." + +"I suppose it is due in some measure, at least, to performances of this +sort that the blacks are diminishing in number," Dr. Whitney remarked. + +"No doubt that has a good deal to do with the matter," was the reply. "I +don't know of any other instances than this of wholesale poisoning, but +I do know that in a good many instances, black men have been shot down +by whites for the reason that they had speared cattle or committed other +depredations. The blacks have been treated very much the same way as +your American Indians, and generally with as little provocation; but, +beyond all this, it is well known that the number of births among them +every year is considerably less than the number of deaths from natural +causes. Some people believe that the blacks are addicted to infanticide, +and that many of their children are put to death to save the expense of +bringing them up. Understand me, nobody knows positively that this is +the case, but only surmises it." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +CANNIBAL BLACKS--MELBOURNE AND ITS PECULIARITIES. + + +"I have heard," said one of the youths, "that Australian blacks are +cannibals. I wonder if that is really so?" + +"Perhaps all the tribes in the country are not cannibals, but it is +pretty certain that some of them are. They know that the white man is +prejudiced against eating human flesh, and consequently they conceal +very carefully their performances in this line. In former times they +were not so particular, and there was the most positive proof that they +devoured their enemies killed in battle, and also killed and devoured +some of their own people. They were not such epicures in cannibalism as +the inhabitants of the Feejee Islands formerly were, and did not make as +much ceremony as the Feejeeans over their feasts of human flesh. Some of +the tribes that indulged in the practise have given it up, but the +belief is that those in the interior still adhere to it." + +"What do they live upon when they do not eat human flesh?" queried Ned. + +"As to that," was the reply, "they live upon pretty nearly everything +they can lay their hands on. They hunt the kangaroo and are fond of its +flesh, and they are also fond of the flesh of cattle and sheep. In fact, +they commit a good many depredations upon the flocks and herds. They +eat snakes, lizards, toads, and, in fact, anything that lives and moves, +and they are not at all particular about the condition of the meat when +they eat it. It is all the same to them whether it is fresh or putrid. A +man would need have a very strong stomach to accept an invitation to +take dinner with a family of uncivilized blacks, or even with one that +had become civilized." + +While this conversation was going on the train was speeding on its way, +and Harry observed that the houses were becoming more numerous, and the +country more densely occupied, as they came nearer to Melbourne. +Occasionally they caught sight of a house which looked like a +gentleman's residence rather than like an ordinary farmhouse, and he +called attention to the circumstance. + +"We are approaching Melbourne," said their traveling companion, "and +from this point on you will find a good many country seats of gentlemen +who do business in the city. It is cooler here in summer than in +Melbourne, and a great many people have established their summer homes +in this region. It is so much the fashion, that it has become obligatory +for the well-to-do citizen to have a town residence and a country one, +and his establishment is considered incomplete unless he possesses both. +A good many people occupy their country homes for the greater part of +the year, going back and forth by railway according to the requirements +of their business. It is the same in New York, London, and other great +cities all over the world. Melbourne considers itself just as important +as any other city, and I believe it claims to be the tenth city of the +world in point of population." + +Ned asked what the population of the city was. + +To this the gentleman replied that he did not have the exact figures at +hand, but he believed the last census gave the number of inhabitants as +very nearly half a million. "Including the suburbs," said he, "I think +it is fully that, and if it had not been for the dullness of business +for the last two or three years, caused very largely by the labor +strikes and other disturbances of trade, I think we would now exceed the +half million figure." + +While he was saying this, Ned called attention to a large house on a +little eminence about half a mile away, which resembled a palace more +than it did a private dwelling. As Ned pointed towards it and told Harry +to look in that direction, the gentleman said:-- + +"That house was built ten or twelve years ago by a millionaire merchant +of Melbourne. He spent a great deal of money upon it, being determined +to have the finest house in the country. About the time of its +completion he met with heavy losses in business, and was unable to carry +out his plans concerning the grounds around the building. It was his +original intention to have a park, in which he would enclose specimens +of all the animals of Australia, and an artificial lake, with specimens +of all the fishes of the country. He has never carried out this part of +the scheme, but declares that he will do so whenever his wealth returns +to him." + +"A very good scheme, indeed," said one of the youths, "and I hope the +gentleman will be able to carry it out." + +"Yes; and I hope so, too," was the reply. "The place would be made +interesting if he should do so, but, after all, you can see the same +thing in the parks of the principal cities of Australia. Each has, I +believe, collections of the animals of the country, together with many +animals of other countries, and any one is at full liberty to go and see +them." + +Houses became more numerous, and towns and villages made their +appearance as the train went along. Harry observed that in some of the +towns which they passed through there were imposing buildings, which +seemed rather out of proportion to the number of dwelling-houses. + +Their impromptu guide explained that this was the outgrowth of +Australian politics. "Every town in Australia," said he, "is desirous of +having some of the public money spent within its limits. It wants a +courthouse, jail, or some other public edifice, and in order to secure +his election to the legislature, a candidate is compelled to promise +that he will obtain the desired appropriation. These appropriations are +secured by what you call in America 'logrolling.' That is, Smith of one +town makes an arrangement with Brown, Jones, Robinson, and I don't know +how many others of as many other towns that he will vote for their +appropriations, provided they will vote for his. In this way a town of +five hundred inhabitants gets a courthouse and jail large enough for a +population of five thousand, or perhaps twice that number. A great deal +of government money has been wasted in this way, but there is no help +for it as long as human nature remains as it is." + +This led to a little talk on Australian politics, in which the youths +learned that the people were divided into parties very much as in +England and the United States, and their quarrels were just as fierce. +The party in power is always bitterly denounced by the party out of +power, and the outs can always demonstrate how much better they could +manage public affairs than the ins are doing it. The great questions +usually before the people are the tariff and public improvements, and +the fiercest fights are usually those concerning the tariff. + +Protectionists and free traders are just as skillful and just as earnest +as the same parties in the United States, and each can demonstrate +mathematically how much better its own system is than that of the other +side. The colonies are themselves divided on the subject of tariff, all +of them favoring protection with the exception of New South Wales, where +the free traders are in the majority. + +There has been a great deal of talk about a federation of the colonies, +but the stumbling-block in the way of it is the difference in the +colonial tariff. Federation would have been brought about years ago had +it not been for New South Wales and its free trade policy. + +Ned and Harry started to take some notes on the subject of the tariff, +but the doctor reminded them that they had better leave the subject +alone, as it was a dangerous one to touch. Consequently they have not +given us the benefit of their notes upon it, and we are unable to say +what conclusion they reached. + +At its appointed time the train reached Melbourne, and our friends found +themselves in the spacious station of the railway company. + +As soon as they could get their baggage, our friends proceeded to a +hotel which had been recommended to them, and which they found quite +satisfactory. After securing rooms they went out for a stroll, having +been advised to take a promenade along Collins Street. Harry said he was +sure that the street had been named after somebody who was prominent in +the early history of the colony, at least, he felt that such was the +case if Melbourne had followed the example of Adelaide. + +"Melbourne was founded before Adelaide was," said Dr. Whitney, "as the +first settlement was made here in 1835, a year before the first +settlement was made in Adelaide; but, all the same, your theory is +correct. Collins Street was named after Colonel Collins, who established +a convict settlement in this vicinity as far back as 1803, but for some +reason he gave it up a year or two later, and transferred his convicts +and their guards to Tasmania." + +"The next street parallel to this," said Ned, "is Bourke Street. I +wonder who Bourke was?" + +"Bourke was the governor of the colony in 1836," the doctor replied, +"and that is why he was honored with a street." + +"We know about Captain Flinders," said Harry, "after whom Flinders +Street was named. He was a daring explorer who accompanied Captain Bass +when the latter discovered Bass's Strait, that separates Australia from +Tasmania. There is also a range of mountains named after him." + +"Captain Lonsdale, who was in command of some of the troops at the time +that the city was laid out," said the doctor, "was honored with a +street, and Swanston Street commemorates one of the early settlers. Then +there are King Street, Queen Street, William Street, Elizabeth Street, +which explain themselves, as they indicate the feelings of the early +settlers towards the royal family." + +"This street is certainly as attractive to the eye as Broadway or Fifth +Avenue in New York," Ned remarked, as they strolled slowly along Collins +Street. "See these magnificent buildings. You have only to shut your +eyes and imagine yourself on Broadway, and when you open them again the +illusion does not require a great stretch of the imagination. And all +this has grown up since 1835. Just think of it!" + +"Yes," replied the doctor; "it was about the middle of 1835 that one +John Batman came here with a small sailing vessel, and made a bargain +with the chief of the tribe of blacks then occupying this neighborhood, +by which he purchased about twelve hundred square miles of ground for a +quantity of goods worth, perhaps, one hundred dollars." + +"That beats the purchase of Manhattan Island for twenty-four dollars," +remarked Harry as the doctor paused. + +"Yes, it does," was the reply; "the government afterwards repudiated +Batman's trade, and took possession of the ground he had purchased." + +"A pretty mean piece of business, wasn't it?" queried Harry. + +"As to that," said the doctor, "there are arguments on both sides of the +question. Batman felt that he had been unfairly dealt with, although the +government paid him about thirty-five thousand dollars for his claim. At +the time they paid the money to him the land was worth very much more +than that amount." + +"Did he stay here and go to building a city at once?" queried one of +the youths. + +"No; he went back to Tasmania, whence he had come, in order to get a +fresh supply of provisions, and while he was gone John Fawkner came here +with a schooner called the _Enterprise_, and made a settlement. His +party consisted, if we may include the quadrupeds, of five men, two +pigs, one cat, two horses, and three dogs. When Batman came back he was +very angry, and as long as both the men lived there was a bitter quarrel +between them which threatened several times to result in a shooting +affray. Batman died in 1839; his heirs and partners took up the quarrel, +and traces of it are said to exist to the present day. The people of +Melbourne have erected a monument to Batman's memory, but Fawkner is +generally regarded as the founder of Melbourne, as he made the first +permanent settlement, and the colony may properly be considered to have +begun on the date of his arrival." + +When the conversation had reached this point, the party found themselves +at the corner of Elizabeth Street, which intersects Collins Street at +right angles. + +"You observe," said the doctor, "that this street, Elizabeth, is the +dividing line of the city. That is to say, from it the streets are +called east and west just as they are so called in New York. At Fifth +Avenue, East Forty-second Street and West Forty-second Street begin. In +the same way we have here Collins Street, East, and Collins Street, +West; Bourke Street, East, and Bourke Street, West; and so on through +the whole list. They put the word designating the point of compass after +the name of the street, while in New York we do just the opposite." + +"Oh, yes, I see," Harry remarked, with a twinkle in his eye. "Melbourne +is on the other side of the world from New York, and so they name the +streets in the reverse manner. So, then, there is another proof that +Australia is a land of contradictions." + +Ned laughed, and made no reply other than to ask if the great number of +deaths that occurred here during the gold excitement had any allusion to +the name of the city. Harry looked at him with a puzzled expression, and +asked what he meant. + +"Why, I was thinking," said Ned, "that possibly Melbourne might have +been 'the bourne whence no traveler returns,' mentioned by Shakespeare." + +"Oh, that is old," said the doctor; "and while you are on this subject, +I will inform you that the city obtained its name from Lord Melbourne, +who was Prime Minister of Great Britain at the time that the place was +laid out." + +"The surveyor who laid out the city," remarked Harry, "had a 'level' +head, as well as a leveling one. See what wide streets he gave it." + +"Yes, that is so," replied Ned. "They must be one hundred feet wide, at +least that is what I would guess." + +"You guessed very closely," said the doctor, "as they are ninety-nine +feet (one chain and a half) wide, and the tradition is that Melbourne +was laid out by an American surveyor. The city, as originally planned, +was one mile square, but it has received numerous additions, so that it +now covers a great deal more than a square mile. It really occupies, +with its suburbs, an area of nearly one hundred square miles, and every +year sees a new suburb added. Of course, when population is mentioned, +the whole of the suburbs should be included, and the inhabitants claim, +with a great deal of reason, that within a radius of ten miles from the +city hall, there are fully four hundred thousand people residing." + +"That is certainly a very rapid growth," said one of the youths. "All +that population since 1835! It is the most rapid growth of any city that +I know of, is it not?" + +"Yes, I think it is," replied the doctor. "Neither San Francisco nor +Chicago can show a growth equal to that of Melbourne in the first fifty +years of its existence. Chicago is now a much larger city, but fifty +years from its foundation it could not boast of as many inhabitants as +could Melbourne when it was half a century old." + +To the eyes of our young friends Melbourne presented a very busy +appearance. Cabs and carriages were rushing hither and thither. Crowds +of people were on the sidewalks, and other crowds filled the tram-cars +and omnibuses. Harry observed that Melbourne was sufficiently up with +the times to be provided with electric cars, and that she also had cable +lines, as well as the more primitive street cars. It was near the close +of the afternoon, when the great majority of the population are seeking +their homes, and the scene of busy life reminded the youths of lower +Broadway, near the end of the day in New York. + +The doctor explained that a very large part of the working population +resembled the well-to-do portion, by having their homes in the suburbs, +and, consequently, that a great many people required transportation. +Hence the rush for the tram-cars and other public means of travel on the +part of the great mass of the public, while those with better-lined +purses patronized the cabs and carriages. Cab fares are high, being +about one third more than in London, but not so high as in New York. In +the days of the gold rush the most ordinary carriages could not be hired +for less than fifteen dollars a day, and five dollars was the price for +an hour or two. + +There is a story in circulation that a gold miner was once bargaining +for a carriage for which the driver demanded twelve pounds (sixty +dollars) for a day's hire. The miner said he would not pay it: he handed +a ten-pound note to the driver, and said he must be satisfied with that. +The driver assented, and there was no further discussion on the subject. + +Prices of all sorts of things throughout Melbourne are somewhat above +London figures, but they have been established a long time and nobody +complains of them. + +Our friends continued their walk to the Yarra River, up whose waters +Batman and Fawkner sailed when they came here to found the city. Its +native name is Yarra-Yarra, but the double word is rarely used by the +inhabitants of Melbourne in speaking of the stream. Of itself, it is not +a river of much consequence, as originally all but very small vessels +had difficulty in ascending it. It has been dredged and deepened, so +that craft drawing not more than sixteen feet of water can ascend it to +Prince's Bridge, the spot where our friends reached the stream. Vessels +requiring more water than that must remain at Fort Melbourne, about +three miles further down. There are several other bridges crossing the +river at different points. Near Prince's Bridge our friends saw several +passenger steamers crowded with people, on their way to their homes down +the bay. + +On their return towards the hotel our friends loitered among the shops, +and especially among those in what are called the Arcades, of which +there are four, modeled after the Arcades of London and the "Passages" +of Paris. They are delightful places to lounge in, whether one is in +search of purchases or not, and the three strangers were in no hurry to +get through them. + +One of the arcades is known as the Book Arcade, and the shops inside of +it are almost wholly devoted to the sale of books. Harry remarked that +he judged the Melbourne people to be a reading one, otherwise there +would not be so much space devoted to the sale of books. The youths had +a brief conversation with one of the proprietors, who told them that it +was one of the largest book stores in the world, in fact, he did not +know of any other as large as that. "We can give you anything you want," +said he; "everything is so arranged that we know just where to lay our +hands on any book that a customer wants." + +Melbourne is a great source of supply for all the interior of Victoria. +In the wholesale shops there were great quantities of goods intended for +up-country use. "There were," said Harry, "tons and tons of clothing +destined for the mines or for sheep and cattle runs, and great +quantities of tea, sugar, and other provisions, together with saddlery, +harnesses, and ironmongery in great quantity and variety." + +"We observed," wrote Ned, "that between every two wide streets there is +a narrow street running in the same direction. I believe you will find +the same arrangement in many parts of Philadelphia, and also in the new +part of Boston. The original intention of the surveyor was that these +small streets should be used as back entrances for the buildings on the +larger ones, but this intention has not been carried out in the +development of the city. Formerly these narrow streets took the name of +the wide ones, with the prefix 'Little'; for example, the one between +Collins and Bourke Street being known as Little Collins Street. Most of +them are now called lanes, and are spoken of as Collins Lane, Latrobe +Lane, and the like, and many of them are devoted to special lines of +trade. Flinders Lane, between Flinders and Collins Streets, is the +principal locality of the wholesale dealers in clothing, and Bourke Lane +is largely occupied by Chinese. We are told that the renting prices of +stores along these lanes are very high, probably greater than either +Batman or Fawkner ever dreamed they could be in their wildest moments. + +"When we returned to the hotel we found an invitation for us to dine at +one of the clubs, the gentleman who gave the invitation having called +during our absence. We dressed as quickly as possible, and went at once +to the club house, where we dined on the best that the city afforded. +Melbourne is a great place for clubs, quite as much so as London or New +York. Nearly everybody belongs to a club, and many gentleman have two, +three, or more clubs on their lists. Nearly all of the clubs have +lodging rooms for bachelor members, and the popularity of the +institution is shown by the fact that most of these rooms are constantly +occupied. + +"Life at a club is somewhat expensive, though less so than at a +first-class hotel. One gentleman probably stated the case very clearly +when he said that life in a club house is pretty much as each individual +chooses to make it. He could live economically or expensively, according +to his preference. He could dine on the choicest or on the plainest +food, and could entertain liberally or frugally. 'There is no +necessity,' he added, 'for a man to waste his money because he lives at +a club, but there is no denying the fact that a club affords temptation +and opportunity to do so.' + +"During dinner the subject of horse racing came up, and our host said +that he did not believe there was any city in the world where so large a +proportion of the population was interested in equine sports as +Melbourne. 'On Cup Day,' said he, 'that is, on the day of the annual +race for the cup which is given by the city of Melbourne, people come +here from all parts of Australia.' + +"'Everybody who can afford the time and expense is reasonably sure to +visit Melbourne, and a great many come here who can hardly afford to do +so. Hotels and lodging houses are crowded to their fullest capacities +for several days before the great event. When Cup Day comes, it is like +the Derby Day in England. Half the population of Melbourne goes to +Flemington, when the race is run, and nearly all the scenes of the great +Derby Day in England are repeated. The winner of the Melbourne cup is +greeted with the heartiest cheers at the close of the race, and if he +is put up for sale on the spot, he is sure to bring an enormous price.' + +"'I asked if the horses competing for the cup were limited to those +raised in the colony of Victoria?' + +"'Oh, not by any means,' the gentleman answered; 'horses from any of the +colonies can be entered for the great race. They come from New South +Wales, South and West Australia, and also from Queensland, and sometimes +we have them from New Zealand or Tasmania. In some years it has happened +that not one of the racers was bred in the colony of Victoria. There is +never any lack of competitors, their number being usually quite equal to +that in the race for the Derby. The race track is a little more than a +mile from the center of the city, so that the public has not far to go. +Vehicles of every kind command high prices on Cup Day, and many +thousands of people go to the race on foot. For weeks before the event +little else is talked of, and the great question on every tongue is, +"What horse will win the cup?"' + +"Melbourne is very fond of athletic sports, and there are numerous clubs +devoted to baseball, football, cricket, golf, and the like. There are +also rowing clubs, and their favorite rowing place is along the part of +the Yarra above Prince's Bridge. The course is somewhat crooked, but +there is a good view of it from the banks, and a rowing match between +two of the crack clubs is sure to attract a large crowd." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +"THE LAUGHING JACKASS"--AUSTRALIAN SNAKES AND SNAKE STORIES. + + +Our friends returned to their hotel, but, before leaving them, their +host arranged to call for them after breakfast the next morning, for a +drive among the parks and around the suburbs of the city. + +The drive came off as agreed upon, and a very pleasant one it was. They +visited the Botanic Garden, which is on the banks of the Yarra, and +seemed to contain specimens of nearly all the trees on the habitable +globe. Harry said he wondered how elms and oaks could have attained the +size of some that he saw, when he remembered that the city had its +beginning in 1835. It was explained that all exotic trees grew with +great rapidity in the climate of Melbourne, and not only exotics but +natives. The climate seems adapted to almost any kind of vegetable +production. + +Our friends found cork trees and palms growing almost side by side with +the birch, the pine, and the spruce. Among other things, their attention +was attracted to some beautiful fern trees, which were fully twenty feet +high, and there were climbing plants in great profusion, some of them +clinging to the trees, and others fastened to trellis work. + +[Illustration: TO THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDEN.] + +Almost every kind of tropical fruit tree was represented in the garden, +and the gentleman who led the party said that the garden had been of +great use in distributing exotic fruit trees through the colony, after +first settling the question whether they would exist in the climate of +Victoria. Every variety of orange was there, and the orange is among the +most abundant of the fruits growing in the colony. Apricots, peaches, +pears, mangosteens, the custard apple, mangoes, and other fruits have +found a home in Victoria, and demonstrated that they can exist within +its limits. + +"We were unwilling," said Harry in his journal, "to leave the Botanic +Garden and go elsewhere, as there were so many attractive things to be +seen, but time pressed, and whenever our host gave the word we proceeded +with him. From the Botanic Garden we went to the Fitzroy Gardens, which +are situated in the eastern part of the town, and were to some extent a +repetition of the Botanic Garden, though not entirely so. The Fitzroy is +more like a park than a garden; it is beautifully laid out with walks +and drives, and is rendered picturesque by means of rocky hills, +miniature lakes, and occasional fountains. + +"We afterwards went to the Carlton Gardens and also to the Zoological +Garden, the latter being situated in the Royal Park. The 'Zoo,' as it is +popularly called, contains a fine collection of animals from all parts +of the world, including elephants, lions, tigers, and the like, and also +specimens of the animals of Australia. Of course it has a cage full of +monkeys,--what Zoo is ever without them?--and they look just exactly +like the collections of monkeys that we have elsewhere in various parts +of the world. + +"There is a very fair collection of birds, and we were particularly +interested in the specimens of the birds of Australia. And that reminds +me of an amusing experience, as we came around to where the aviary +stands. + +"We heard somebody laughing very loudly, and a queer sort of a laugh it +was. Ned remarked that somebody must be feeling very happy, and I agreed +with him. Our host smiled, and so did Dr. Whitney, but nothing further +was said, as the laugh died away. + +"When we got close to the door we again heard the laugh, which came from +the inside of the bird house. + +"'The fellow is at it again,' said Ned. 'Wonder if we can't share in the +fun?' + +"I said that I hoped so, as I had not seen anything to laugh at since we +started out from the hotel. When we got inside we looked around for the +man who had been making the noise, but there was nobody visible except a +very solemn-faced keeper, who did not look as if he had laughed for a +month. + +"I remarked to Ned that the old fellow had put on a serious face now +because company had come in, to which Ned nodded assent. Just as he did +so the laughing began again, and it was such a funny laugh that both of +us joined in it. + +"The old fellow's face did not move a muscle, and we saw that he was not +the humorous one of the place. We looked in the direction of the +laughter and saw that it came, not from a man, but from a bird. In spite +of our astonishment we burst out laughing, and the doctor and our host +joined us in doing so. + +"Our host then explained that the bird which was amusing us was known as +the 'laughing jackass.' We had heard of the creature before, but this +was our first view of him. We took a good look, and while we were doing +so he laughed again, right in our faces. The laugh is almost exactly +like that of a human being. It is not musical but is very comical, and, +somehow, it has a tendency to set everybody laughing who is within sound +of it. + +"The bird is about the size of a full-grown pigeon, perhaps a little +larger. He is not handsomely proportioned, his head being too large for +his body and his tail very small. His feathers are white and black, and +he has a comical appearance that harmonizes well with his humorous +manner. He is easily domesticated, and will learn to talk quite as +readily as the parrot does. + +"The laughing jackass is a friend of the bushman, as he foretells wet +weather. When the air is dry and clear, he is a very lively bird, and +fills the air with the sound of his laughter; but if rain is coming, or +especially if it has come, he is the very picture of misery and +unhappiness. He mopes on his perch, whether it be in a cage, or on the +limb of a tree, or in the open air, with his feathers ruffled, and a +very bedraggled appearance, like a hen that has been caught in a shower. +In the forest he will imitate the sound of an axe cutting at a tree, and +many a man has been deceived into walking a mile or more in the +expectation of finding somebody at work. + +"The bird belongs to the kingfisher family, but does not hunt much for +fishes, his favorite food being snakes. It makes no difference to him +whether the snakes are poisonous or not, as his attacks upon them are +limited only by their size. Large snakes he cannot handle, but small +ones are his delight. He drops down upon them with the quickness of a +flash, seizes them just back of the head, and then flies up in the air a +hundred feet to drop them upon the hardest piece of ground he can find. + +"The fall breaks their backs, and he keeps up this performance until +life is extinct, when he devours his prey. His services as a +snake-killer are known all over the country, and consequently he is +never shot or trapped. He is intelligent enough to understand his +immunity from attack, and comes fearlessly about the houses of the +people in the country districts. + +"Speaking of snakes reminds me that they have a very good collection in +the Zoo. We asked the keeper to indicate to us the snakes peculiar to +Australia, and he did so. The largest of them is known as the carpet +snake, and the specimen that we saw was about ten feet long. It belongs +to the constrictor family, being perfectly harmless so far as its bite +is concerned, but it has powers of constriction that might be very +serious to the person around whom the creature has wound itself. One +traveler in Australia tells how he was visiting a cattle station in +Queensland, and when he went to bed the first night of his stay, he +found a carpet snake lying on the outside of his couch. He called loudly +for some one to come and kill the serpent. + +"His call was heard by the proprietor, who shouted to him not to kill +the snake, as it was one of the family pets, and then the man came and +seized the creature by the neck and carried it to a barrel where he said +the snake belonged. I hope they won't have any pets of that sort around +any house that I visit during my stay in Australia. + +"There are eighty-three distinct species of snakes peculiar to +Australia, of which sixty are venomous, and fifteen amphibious. The most +common of the deadly serpents are the death adder, black snake, brown +snake, tiger snake, and diamond snake. The latter is so called on +account of the color of his skin, which is laid out in lozenges of a +diamond shape, alternately brown and white. The death adder, so the +keeper told us, is the most dangerous of all the Australian snakes, as +it never tries to escape. It lies perfectly still when approached, but +the instant one touches it, it darts its head and delivers, if possible, +a fatal bite. The poison speedily accomplishes its purpose, and unless +an antidote can be had in a few minutes death is the inevitable result. + +"People who go about much in the region where this snake abounds wear +high-top boots as a protection against these serpents. The black snake +and the brown snake are the most common of the deadly serpents. The +brown one is the largest of them, and frequently attains a length of +eight or nine feet. The tiger snake seems to be related to the +'_Cobra-di-Capello_,' of India, as it has the same power of flattening +and extending its neck when irritated. + +"I asked what were the antidotes used for snake bites in Australia? + +"To this our host replied that there were various ways of counteracting +the effects of a snake bite. One was to cut out the wound and take away +the flesh from each side of it for half an inch or so. Another was to +swallow large quantities of brandy and whiskey, and the third and most +common way was to use a hypodermic injection of ammonia. The last-named +antidote is regarded as almost certain, and a great many people, such as +stockmen, wood-cutters, farmers, and the like, carry in their pockets a +hypodermic syringe, charged and ready for use. + +"'On that subject I can tell you an interesting story,' said our host. +'There was at one time a man named Underwood, who discovered a positive +antidote for the bite of the most venomous serpent. He gave several +exhibitions in which he permitted himself to be bitten by snakes in full +possession of all their venomous powers, a fact which was established by +the immediate deaths of dogs, chickens, and other small animals, which +were bitten by the snakes after they had tried their fangs on Underwood. +He carried a supply of his antidote about him, and used it whenever he +was thus bitten.' + +"'Underwood's remedy was a secret known only to himself. He was trying +to sell it to the government, the latter intending to make it public for +the sake of saving life. One day Underwood gave an exhibition in which +he allowed himself, as usual, to be bitten by a venomous snake. He was +intoxicated at the time, and in consequence of his intoxication was +unable to find his antidote; the result was that he died within an hour, +and carried away the secret of his antidote forever.' + +"Newly arrived emigrants in Australia have a great fear of snakes. For +the first few weeks they are startled whenever they hear the least +rustling in the bushes, but after a time they get accustomed to it, and +think no more about snakes than they do about dragons. It makes a great +difference in what part of Australia you are. There are some regions +where the snake is rarely seen, while in others great precautions are +necessary. Low, swampy districts are said to be the worst, and men who +walk around in such localities are very careful of their steps. + +"Some of the snakes of Australia have an unpleasant habit of coming +around the houses, and this is particularly the case with the tiger +snake, which in this respect seems to possess the same characteristics +as his relative the 'cobra,' of India. Our host told us a story which he +said he knew to be a true one, the incident having occurred in a family +with which he was acquainted. There was an invalid daughter in the +family, and one afternoon, when she was sleeping in a hammock on the +veranda, she suddenly waked with the feeling of something cold, and +moist, and heavy near her neck. She raised her hand and happened to +grasp the neck of a snake just back of the head. In her paroxysm of +terror, she clutched it with terrific force to tear it away. + +"She gave a piercing cry that summoned her father and other members of +the family, and immediately after the cry she fainted. But she still +continued to clutch at the snake's neck, and although she was utterly +unconscious of anything surrounding her, she grasped it with such force +that the reptile was fairly strangled by her fingers. Her father +realized that it would be impossible to free her hand until +consciousness returned, and the indications were that it would not be +speedy in coming. So they released her fingers one by one, with a piece +of the hammock cord, and removed the dead body of the snake so that it +should be out of sight when she revived. Luckily, the creature had not +bitten her before she grasped it. + +"It is not at all unusual for a man sleeping on the ground at night to +find, on waking, that a serpent has crawled in by his side, or curled +itself up on his breast for the sake of the warmth that his body +supplies. I have heard a story of a man who thus entertained an +unwelcome visitor. He waked during the night while lying flat on his +back, and felt something heavy and cold on his chest. He moved a little +as he waked, and his movement caused the snake that was lying on him to +raise its head. By the light of the camp fire the man saw his +predicament. His hair stood on end, and he could feel the blood +stiffening in his veins. He knew it would be some time before daylight, +and felt that he would lose his mind before morning, or perhaps die of +fear. He carried a knife in his belt, and decided, after careful +consideration, that his best plan was to reach for the weapon and kill +the snake where it lay. + +"Slowly, very slowly, he worked his hand to his waist and drew his +knife. He could not avoid making some movement in doing so, and at each +movement the snake raised its head to ascertain the cause of the +disturbance; then the man became perfectly still until the reptile +subsided again. + +"After the lapse of what seemed to be many hours, the man got his knife +and arm in readiness for action. Then he moved his body a little, +causing the serpent to lift its head once more. As it did so, the man +made a quick movement of his hand, and he declares that he never made a +quicker one in all his life. The snake's head was severed by the blow; +it fell to one side and the writhing body of the creature followed it. +At the same instant the man was on his feet, and he says that he danced +for a few minutes in a wild paroxysm of joy, and then fell to the ground +in a fainting fit, caused by the sudden reaction in his feelings. The +snake that he killed was of a poisonous kind,--the tiger snake, which +has already been mentioned. When stretched out to its full length, it +measured very nearly five feet. + +"They have scorpions and centipedes in Australia, and their bite is just +as deadly as that of the same creatures elsewhere. They have a black +spider about as large as a pea,--black all over except a red spot on its +back,--which is found in decaying logs, and, unhappily, has a fondness +for living in houses. It is aggressive in its nature, as it does not +wait to be disturbed before making an attack, and it has been known to +cross a room towards where a person was sitting in order to bite him. +Its bite is as bad as that of the scorpion or centipede. Sometimes its +victims are permanently paralyzed for the rest of their lives, or become +hopeless lunatics, and, not infrequently, death results from this +spider's bite. + +"One gentleman told me how he was once bitten by one of these spiders on +the calf of the leg. He immediately cut out the wound and injected some +ammonia close by the side of it, but in spite of these precautions he +suffered intense pains in the leg for several days. The limb swelled to +twice its natural size, and became as soft as putty. At the spot where +the wound was a suppurating sore formed and it discharged for several +months. He fully expected that amputation would be necessary, and the +doctor whom he called to attend him said the chances were five to one +that he would lose the leg altogether. Greatly to his and the doctor's +surprise and delight, he managed to save it, but for fully a year after +the wound had healed the limb did not resume its normal size, and he +suffered frequent pains like rheumatism. + +"'You will naturally conclude,' said our friend, 'that as we have +spiders here we ought to have flies, and we have them in sufficient +abundance to prevent life from becoming monotonous. They are worse in +the interior than on the coast; in the latter region they are only +troublesome during the autumn months, while for the rest of the year +they are not at all numerous, or may be absent altogether; but in the +interior they are always bad, the only difference being that they are +worse at some times than at others. In parts of the interior everybody +wears a veil when going about the country, and it is often necessary to +do so while in the house. On some of the interior plains you can see a +man before you see him, as an Irishman might put it. You see in the +distance a small black cloud hovering just over the road. It is a cloud +of flies around the head of some unfortunate traveler, who is +approaching on horseback. They stick to him like a troubled conscience +and go with him wherever he goes. If another traveler happens to be +going in the opposite direction, the clouds about their heads mingle as +the individuals meet, and when they separate the flies move on with +them, as before.' + +"Flies in the houses are very troublesome, as they are fond of loitering +about the table, just like flies in America and other countries. They +are a nuisance to which nobody ever gets accustomed, and in some +localities they almost render the country uninhabitable. Mosquitoes +abound in most parts of the country, especially along the rivers and +lakes and in swampy regions, and every traveler who expects to be out at +night carries a mosquito net with him." + +From the Zoo our friends continued their drive through other parks and +along some of the principal streets, passing several public buildings, +all of which were spacious and attractive. The town hall, post-office, +government house, and other public structures of Melbourne would do +honor to any city and evince the taste and good judgment of those who +planned and erected them. The numerous parks and gardens are a great +ornament to the city and give an abundance of breathing space for the +people. Our young friends were loud in their praise of what they saw, +and their comments were well received by their host. The people of +Melbourne are fond of hearing their city commended, and their pride in +it is certainly well justified. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE HARBOR OF MELBOURNE--CONVICT HULKS AND BUSHRANGERS. + + +In the afternoon the party visited Port Melbourne, formerly known as +Sandridge. Properly speaking, this is the harbor of Melbourne, and it is +situated near the mouth of the Yarra, where that stream enters Hobson's +Bay, the latter being an arm of Port Philip Bay. It is a busy place and +contains the usual sights of a harbor. Ships were discharging or +receiving their cargoes, some at the piers which jut out into the water, +while some were anchored away from the shore and were performing the +same work by means of lighters. On the other side of Hobson's Bay is +Williamstown, which is a sort of rival of Sandridge. A great deal of +shipping business is done there, and Williamstown contains, also, +graving docks and building yards where many vessels engaged in local +trade along the coast have been constructed. The gentleman who +accompanied our friends called their attention to the railways which +connect Williamstown and Sandridge with the city, and remarked that +times had changed since the gold rush in the early fifties. + +"At the present time," said he, "you can go between Sandridge and +Melbourne for threepence or sixpence, according to the class you select, +but in the time of the gold rush prices were very much higher. If you +wanted a carriage from here to the city, you would be lucky to escape +for a sovereign, and a dray load of baggage drawn by a single horse +would cost fifteen dollars. There used to be an omnibus line that +carried passengers for two shillings and sixpence, but it was somewhat +irregular in its movements, and could not be relied on. Nowadays the +omnibus will carry you for threepence. + +"When a ship arrived and anchored in the bay the passengers had to pay +three shillings each to be put on shore, and very often the boatman +raised the tariff to five shillings whenever he thought he could induce +or compel the passengers to pay it. The charge for baggage was a +separate one, and sometimes it cost more to take a quantity of baggage +from Sandridge to Melbourne than it had cost to bring it all the way +from London to Sandridge, a distance of thirteen thousand miles." + +"It was a golden harvest for the boatmen and everybody else engaged in +the transportation business," Harry remarked. + +"Indeed, it was," said the gentleman; "and a great many people had the +sense to perceive that they had a better chance for a fortune by +remaining right here than by going to the mines, where everything was +uncertain." + +"I suppose everything else was in proportion, was it not?" queried Ned. + +"That was exactly the case," was the reply. "When goods were brought on +shore they were loaded into carts for transportation to Melbourne, and +the cart was not allowed to move out of the yard until three pounds +sterling had been paid for taking the load to the city. The travelers +protested and said they would not pay, but they generally did, as there +was no other alternative. When they got to the city they found the same +scale of prices. + +"The poorest kind of a room without any furniture would bring ten +dollars a week, and a stall in the stable of a hotel which would +accommodate two men rented readily for ten shillings a night. +Hotel-keepers made fortunes, or at least some of them did, and others +might have done so if they had taken care of their money. I have heard +of one hotel-keeper who had his house crammed full of patrons, none of +them paying less than ten shillings a night for their lodging, while he +had seventy-five lodgers in his stables, each of them paying five +shillings apiece. + +"A great many people spread tents on the waste ground outside of the +city to save the expense of lodgings. They did not succeed altogether in +doing so, as the government required them to pay at the rate of sixty +dollars a year for the privilege of putting up a tent. Everybody was +anxious to get away from Melbourne as quickly as possible, but they +underwent great delays in getting their goods out of the ships." + +"I suppose you had no railways at that time to facilitate travel," one +of the youths remarked. + +"No; there were no railways and the only way of travel was by the +ordinary route, and very ordinary it was in many places. It was not a +graded and macadamized road such as you find in England, but simply a +rough pathway, principally of nature's manufacture. It was full of ruts +and gullies, very muddy in the rainy season, and terribly dusty in the +dry times. Travelers went to the mines in all sorts of ways, some on +foot, and some by ox and horse wagons, and if they had plenty of money, +and were determined to have luxury and speed at whatever cost, they +traveled by stage-coach. An American firm, Cobb & Company, came here in +the early days and established lines of stage-coaches, first from +Melbourne to the mines, and afterwards all over Australia. Cobb's +coaches are still running on some of the interior routes that are not +covered by railway, but wherever the locomotive has put in its +appearance it has forced them out of the way." + +"I have read somewhere," said Harry, "that traveling on the road to the +mines was not very safe in those days." + +"That depended somewhat on the way one was going," was the reply. +"Travelers going towards the mines were not very liable to attack, as +they were not supposed to have any money, but it was not so with those +coming from the mines to the coast. The natural supposition was that an +individual moving in the direction of Melbourne had 'made his pile' and +was on his way home. The country was infested with ex-convicts and men +who had escaped from convict service in Australia and Tasmania. They +were known as 'bushrangers,' and great numbers of them were along the +routes to the mines. They lived in caves among the hills, or in the open +air, and occasionally took shelter in out stations on sheep runs. They +supplied themselves with food by stealing sheep and cattle from the +ranches, and by robbing wagons laden with provisions on their way to the +mines. Clothing they obtained by the same system of plunder, and +whenever the haunt of a gang was discovered by the police it was almost +invariably found to be well stocked with provisions and clothing. + +"These were the fellows that made life miserable to the miners returning +to the coast. The bushrangers traveled in gangs of all the way from five +to fifteen or twenty, and sometimes more, and each gang was led by the +most desperate man among them. They used to 'stick up' solitary +travelers, or travelers in groups of a dozen or more. They lay in wait +at turnings of the road or near the summits of hills, and generally took +their victims by surprise. If a man submitted quietly to be robbed, he +was generally left unharmed, but if he made any resistance, he was +knocked senseless or shot down without the least compunction. Sometimes +these gangs were so numerous that hardly a traveler escaped them. Then +there would be a lull in the business for a time and the road would be +particularly safe. + +"Once a week or so, gold was sent down from the mines by the government +authorities; and of course it was accompanied by a strong and well-armed +escort of police. Many people entrusted their gold to the escort, paying +a high premium for the guarantee of safe delivery in Melbourne. A good +many people used to accompany the escort for the protection it afforded, +but the number became so great and troublesome that the government at +length refused to permit travelers to go in that way unless they paid +the same premium on the gold that they carried as was paid by those who +shipped the precious metal. Not infrequently the bushrangers attacked +the government escort, and on several occasions they were successful. + +"It was a piece of good fortune that, as a general thing, the +bushrangers were never able to agree with each other very long. After a +gang had been organized and selected its leader, dissensions arose very +speedily, particularly as to the division of the spoil. The leader +always believed that he ought to have a larger share of the plunder than +anybody else, while all the subordinate members believed just as +earnestly that their stealings should be divided equally. In this way +quarrels took place. The captain would be deposed and another one +selected, and he in time would share the fate of his predecessors. + +"Some of the bushrangers were quite famous for their bravery and daring, +and they used to give the police a great deal of hard fighting. On the +other hand, the police acquired a high reputation for their skill in +fighting and capturing bushrangers. They were instructed to bring in +their captives alive, if possible, but it did not injure their +reputations at all if they killed the scoundrels on the spot. The +government wanted to be rid of the rascals, and frequently offered +rewards for their capture, 'dead or alive.' + +"Whenever the bushrangers made a haul of gold dust it was divided as +soon as possible, each man taking his share and doing with it what he +pleased. They generally hid their booty in spots known only to +themselves, and when any of the bushrangers were captured, the police +usually proceeded to draw from them the information as to where their +gold was concealed. Naturally, the fellows were unwilling to say, and if +they refused to tell, various means were resorted to to make them give +up the desired information. Singeing their hair, pinching their fingers +and toes, or submitting them to other physical tortures, were among the +means commonly used. + +"When ordinary methods failed, a favorite device was to tie the +bushranger hand and foot, and then place him on an ant hill. The black +ant of Australia has a bite that is very painful, and when hundreds of +thousands of ants are biting a man all at once, the feeling is something +fearful. The ant-hill torture was generally successful. After submitting +to it for a time, the bushranger generally gave up the secret of the +whereabouts of his gold. I do not mean to say that all the police +officials indulged in this harsh treatment, but it is certain that many +of them did. + +"It is probable that a great deal of stolen gold is concealed in the +country bordering the road from Melbourne to the gold diggings which +will never be found. Many of the bushrangers were killed while fighting +with the police, died of their wounds, or in prison, or managed to flee +the country without giving up the secret which would have enabled the +authorities to find where their treasures were concealed. Occasionally +one of their deposits is found by accident, but there are doubtless +hundreds which nobody will ever come upon. + +"There was a great deal of lawlessness in and around Melbourne in those +days. One afternoon a band of robbers took possession of the road +between Melbourne and Sandridge, and 'stuck up' everybody who attempted +to pass. People were tied to trees and robbed, and for an hour or two +the bandits were in full possession of the road. They had one of their +number on watch who gave the signal when the police approached, and +thus they were enabled to get away in good time, leaving their victims +fastened to the trees. + +"Once a ship was anchored in the harbor, ready to sail for England, with +several thousand ounces of gold on board. She was to leave the next +forenoon, and was to receive her crew and passengers early in the +morning. There were only some ten or twelve persons on board. Along +about midnight a boat came to the side of the ship, and, when hailed by +the lookout, the answer was given that two passengers were coming on +board. Two men came up the side of the ship dressed like ordinary +passengers, and without any suspicious appearance about them. + +"While they were in conversation with the lookout and asking about the +location of their rooms, they suddenly seized and bound him, and put a +gag in his mouth to prevent his making an outcry. Then several other men +came up the side of the ship very quickly, and one by one all on board +were bound and gagged so quietly and speedily that they could not give +the least alarm. The robbers then opened the treasure-room, took +possession of the gold, lowered it into their boat and rowed away. They +were not on the ship more than half an hour, and as no one came to +ascertain the state of affairs and give the alarm until the next +morning, the robbers succeeded in getting away with all their plunder. +It was a very bold performance, but from that time such a careful watch +was kept on board of the ships that it could not be repeated. + +"A fair proportion of the successful miners kept their money and went +home with it, but there was a large number who seemed to believe that +the best use to be made of gold was to get rid of it as quickly as +possible, and they found plenty of people ready and willing to help them +in this work; and it was not infrequently the case that miners were +killed for the sake of their gold, and their bodies disposed of in the +most convenient way. Most of the men who thus disappeared had no +relatives or intimate friends in the country, and consequently their +disappearance caused no inquiries to be made concerning them. If the +waters of Hobson's Bay would give up their dead, and the dead could +speak, there would be a long series of fearful tales." + +"Those bushranger fellows must have been terrible men," remarked Harry +as the gentleman paused. "What did the authorities do with them whenever +they caught any?" + +"They disposed of them in various ways," was the reply. "Those who had +been guilty of murder or an attempt at it were hanged, while those +against whom murder could not be proved were sent to the hulks for life +or for long terms of imprisonment." + +"What were the hulks? I don't know as I understand the term." + +"Oh, the hulks were ships, old ships that had been pronounced +unseaworthy and dismantled. They were anchored in Hobson's Bay after +being fitted up as prisons, and very uncomfortable prisons they were. A +most terrible system of discipline prevailed on board of these hulks. +The man who established the system, or rather, the one who had +administered it, was beaten to death by a gang of desperate convicts, +who rushed upon him one day on the deck of one of the hulks, with the +determination to kill him for the cruelties they had suffered. Before +the guards could stop them they had literally pounded the life out of +him and flung his body overboard." + +"How long did they keep up that system?" one of the youths asked. + +"From 1850 to 1857," their informant replied. "In the last-named year +the practise of imprisonment on board of the hulks was discontinued and +the convicts were put into prisons on shore. Four of the hulks were sold +and broken up, and the fifth, the _Success_, was bought by speculators +and kept for exhibition purposes. She was shown in all the ports of +Australia for many years, and was at last taken to England and put on +exhibition there. She was five months making the voyage from Australia +to England, and at one time fears were entertained for her safety; but +she reached her destination all right, and has probably reaped a harvest +of money for her exhibitors. She was built in India in 1790, her hull +being made of solid teak-wood. She was an East Indian trader for more +than forty years, then she was an emigrant ship, and finally, in 1852, a +convict hulk. + +"The convicts on board these hulks, or at any rate the worst of them, +were always kept in irons, but this did not deter them from jumping +overboard and trying to swim to the shore. Very few of these ever +succeeded in reaching the land, as they were either carried to the +bottom by the weight of the irons, or were captured by the guard boats +that constantly surrounded the hulks. Most of the convicts were +confined in separate cells, and the 'history' of each convict was posted +on the door of his cell. + +"Nearly the whole interior of the ship was thus divided into cells, and +when candles and lanterns were removed the places were in pitchy +darkness. I went on board the _Success_ one day, while she was on +exhibition here, long after she had given up her old occupation, and as +a matter of curiosity, I had myself shut up in one of the cells and the +light removed. I told them to leave me in for ten minutes only, not +longer. + +"It was on the lower deck, where not a ray of light could come in, and +the place where they locked me in was one of the 'black holes' in which +prisoners were confined from one to twenty-eight days on bread and +water. + +"As soon as they had locked me in and went away, I regretted that I had +made the suggestion. You have heard of its being so dark that you could +feel the darkness; well, that was the case down there. I felt the +darkness pressing upon me, and the air was very thick and heavy. I felt +an overwhelming desire to light a match, and discovered that I had no +matches in my pocket. + +"One, two, three, and four minutes passed away, and I had had all I +wanted. I kicked and hammered at the thick door, and when it was opened +and I went out of the hold and up on deck, I was nearly blinded. How in +the world a man could stay in one of those places for a single day, let +alone twenty-eight days, without losing his reason is more than I can +understand." + +Harry asked if all the prisoners were kept in solitary cells on board of +these hulks. + +"Most, but not all, of them were confined in this way. There is a space +at the stern, and another in the center of the ship, heavily barred with +iron, where those who were considered utterly irreclaimable were huddled +together. It would almost seem as though the authorities deliberately +put them there in order that they should kill each other, as fights +among them were very frequent and not a few were murdered by their +companions. They did not work, they were simply in prison, that was all. + +"The punishments that the convicts received were various. They had the +dark cells and bread and water of which I have told you, and then they +had floggings, and plenty of them, too. They were tied up by the thumbs +so that their toes just touched the deck, and they were compelled to +sustain the weight of the body either on their thumbs or their toes for +hours at a time. They were 'bucked,' 'gagged,' and 'paddled,' and +'cold-showered,' and treated to other brutalities which have been known +in the English army and navy for a long time. In spite of their +liability to punishment, many of them paid little attention to the +rules, and some were continually yelling in the most horrible manner, +and day and night the sound of their voices was heard. + +"Over the hatchway was a wheel by which the food of the convicts was +lowered into the hold at morning, noon, and night; at other times it was +used for raising in an iron cage, from the lower decks, convicts who +were allowed exercise, but the weight of whose irons prevented their +ascending by the companionways. Many of them wore 'punishment balls' +attached to their irons. The punishment balls and chain together +weighed about eighty pounds, and frequently bowed the prisoner double. + +"The heaviest leg irons weighed thirty-five pounds, and some of them +forty pounds. You will readily understand why it was that men who tried +to escape by swimming, with such weights about them, were almost +invariably drowned in the attempt. + +"A good many famous criminals were confined on board of the _Success_ +and her four sister hulks. Among them was the notorious Captain +Melville, who for several years haunted the country between Melbourne +and Ballarat, and was credited with many murders and countless +robberies. When he was finally caught he admitted that his own share of +the gold he had stolen amounted to not less than two hundred and fifty +thousand dollars, and he claimed that he had hidden it in a place known +only to himself. For the last forty years people have been trying in +vain to find out where Melville hid his ill-gotten gold. He was in the +habit of riding to the top of Mount Boran, whence, by the aid of a +powerful field-glass, he was able to see the returning gold miners on +the road. Consequently, it is believed that Melville's treasure must be +hidden in the neighborhood of Mount Boran, but all attempts to find it +have proved fruitless. + +"Melville was tried and convicted and condemned to be imprisoned for +thirty-two years on board the _Success_. He watched his opportunity, and +formed a conspiracy with a number of his fellow-convicts to rush upon a +boat and the keeper in charge of it and take possession. The plan +succeeded and the escaped convicts pulled to the shore in safety, +although fired upon by all the hulks and war ships in the harbor. +Melville was soon recaptured, and at his trial he defended himself +brilliantly, relating in burning words the horrors of the penal system +on board the hulks. + +"The speech was published in the Melbourne papers and caused a great +sensation. A great mass meeting of the citizens was held, and +resolutions were passed in favor of abolishing the convict hulks. The +popular feeling aroused against them was so strong and general that, +although the government had sentenced Melville to death for killing the +keeper in his attempt to escape, it was compelled to commute the +sentence to imprisonment for life. He was not sent back to the +_Success_, but was incarcerated in the jail at Melbourne. According to +the official report, he committed suicide there, but the unofficial +version of the affair is that he was strangled to death by a keeper +during a struggle in which the prisoner was trying to escape. + +"Melville at one time had eighty men in his gang, the largest number of +bushrangers at any time under a single leader. Another scoundrel who was +confined on the _Success_ was Henry Garrett, who, in broad daylight, +'stuck up' the Ballarat bank and robbed it of 16,000 pounds. One of his +tricks consisted in wearing a suit of clothes of clerical cut, a white +necktie, and broad-brimmed hat. On one occasion he walked into the bank +dressed in this manner, stepped up to the safe and began to plunder it. +He was a man of good education, and varied robbery with the pursuit of +literature. He used to write essays and other articles, which he sent to +the newspapers, and on one occasion he wrote an essay on crime. + +"One man, William Stevens, helped Melville and his gang in their +attempt to escape from the _Success_. He struck down a warder with a +stone-cutter's axe and jumped overboard. He was never seen again, and +the authorities were always in doubt whether he escaped or went to the +bottom, the prevailing opinion being in favor of the latter result. +Another famous bushranger was Captain Moonlight, who served his time and +became a respectable citizen. Another prisoner, after serving for +fifteen years, was given the position of 'guide' upon the vessel by her +owners, and made a comfortable income by showing visitors around." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +GEELONG--AUSTRALIAN GOLD MINES--FINDING A BIG NUGGET. + + +When they had finished with Williamstown and Sandridge our friends went +to St. Kilda, which may be called the Coney Island of Melbourne, as it +is very popular with those who are fond of salt-water bathing. Harry and +Ned remarked that there were hotels, restaurants, and other places of +resort and amusement such as are usually found at seaside watering +places, and Ned thought it would require no great stretch of the +imagination to believe that they were at the famous bathing place of New +York. Ned observed that there were fences consisting of posts set in the +ground, not more than ten or twelve inches apart, extending a +considerable distance out into the water and completely enclosing the +bathing place. + +He asked why the fences were placed there, and was informed that it was +because the bay abounded in sharks, and people who came there to bathe +had a prejudice against being eaten up by these sea-wolves. "If we +should take away the fences," said one of the attendants at the bathing +house, "we would not do any more business here, and you may be sure that +we are very careful to keep the fences in order." + +Sharks abound all through the waters of Australia. They have caused not +a few deaths, and everybody who understands about them is careful not to +venture into the water at any place where the creatures are liable to +come; but occasionally one hears of an incautious or ignorant person +falling a prey to these monsters of the deep. When sailboats and other +craft are overturned in storms or sudden squalls and their occupants are +thrown into the water, they suffer fearful peril. Not long ago a small +sailboat was overturned in Port Philip Bay with two gentlemen and a lady +on board, in addition to the boatman and his boy. Before help could +reach them the whole five had fallen victims to the sharks. + +Port Philip Bay, into which Hobson's Bay opens, is a grand sheet of +water between thirty and forty miles wide, and navigable for ships of +all sizes, and the bay affords anchoring space for all the ships in the +world, in case they should come there at the same time. The entrance to +the bay is about thirty miles from Melbourne, and at Queenscliff near +the entrance there is a fine watering place, which is reached both by +railway and by steamboat. It has the advantage of St. Kilda in standing +on the shore of the ocean, while the former place has only the waters of +the bay in front of it. Many Melbourneites go to Queenscliff to enjoy +the ocean breezes and watch the surf breaking on the shore. While St. +Kilda may be called the Coney Island of Melbourne, Queenscliff is fairly +entitled to be considered its Long Branch. + +On their return to Melbourne, the youths found at their hotel an +invitation to make a trip on the following day to Geelong. When Dr. +Whitney read the invitation to the youths, Harry asked where Geelong +was. + +"Oh, I know about that," said Ned; "I happened to be reading about it +this morning." + +"Well, where is it?" + +"Geelong is a town forty-five miles from Melbourne," replied Ned, "and +it is a fairly prosperous town, too. It is not quite as old as +Melbourne, but at one time the inhabitants thought that their town would +outstrip Melbourne completely." + +"How is that?" + +"The town stands on Corio Bay, an arm of Port Philip Bay, and has a good +harbor; in fact, the harbor at that time was better than that at +Melbourne. The people of Geelong went to work and built a railway from +their city to Melbourne, with the idea that if they did so, all the wool +that was being shipped from Melbourne would be sent to Geelong for +shipment, while the cargoes of foreign goods that landed at Melbourne +would be landed at Geelong." + +"The plan did not work as they expected, did it?" + +"Not by any means. As soon as the railway was built, wool coming into +Geelong was sent to Melbourne for shipment, and goods that were intended +for Geelong were landed at Melbourne and sent over by railway. In this +way the measures they had taken to increase their trade worked exactly +the other way and diminished it." + +"Don't they have any foreign commerce at all at Geelong?" Harry asked. + +"Oh, yes, they have some, but nothing in comparison with Melbourne. We +will learn something about it when we go there." + +As there are three passenger steamers running between Geelong and +Melbourne daily, the party went by railway and returned by water. In the +railway journey they had a pleasant ride along the shore of Port Philip +Bay, and arrived at their destination in a little more than two hours +from the time of starting. They found the town pleasantly situated on +Corio Bay, being laid out on ground sloping to the bay on the north and +to the Barwon River on the south. Along the streets were fine shops, +attractive stores, and every indication of an industrious and prosperous +population. + +In the suburbs, where they were taken in a carriage by the gentleman who +accompanied them, they found numerous private residences, many of them +of a superior character. The gentleman told them that Geelong was famous +for its manufactures of woolens and other goods, and that it built the +first woolen mill in Victoria. Iron foundries, wood-working +establishments, and other industrial concerns were visited, so that our +friends readily understood whence the prosperity of Geelong came. Their +host told them that Geelong had long since given up its ideas of rivalry +with Melbourne, and had settled down with the determination to develop +itself in every feasible way and let things take care of themselves. + +Our young friends thought they would like to see something of the gold +mines of Victoria, and asked Dr. Whitney about them. He readily +assented, and the trip to Ballarat was speedily arranged, and also one +to Sandhurst, which is the present name of Bendigo of gold-mining days. +Ballarat was the most important place of the two, and its placer mines +gave a greater yield of gold than did those of Bendigo. At both places +the placer mines were exhausted long ago, but gold is still taken from +the rocks and reefs which underlie the whole region. + +The mining establishments of Ballarat are outside of the city itself, +and when the visitors reached the place and rode through the town they +could hardly believe they were in a gold-mining region. The streets are +wide, and most of them well shaded with trees, while some of them are so +broad that they deserve the name of avenues rather than that of streets. +There are substantial public buildings and a goodly number of churches, +a botanical garden, and all the other features of a quiet and +well-established city, and it was quite difficult for them to believe +that they were in a place whose chief industry was the extraction of +gold from the ground. All the lawless features of the Ballarat of +gold-rush days had disappeared, and the town was as peaceful as any one +could wish to find it. + +Our friends brought a letter of introduction to a gentleman of Ballarat, +who kindly consented to show them about the place and answer any +questions that they wished to ask. + +Harry's first question was, whether the first discoveries of gold in +Australia were made at Ballarat or elsewhere. + +"It is very difficult to say exactly," the gentleman answered, "where +the first discoveries were made, but certainly they were not made at +this spot. According to history and tradition, gold was discovered in +the mountains behind Sydney about the year 1814, but the news of the +finding of the precious metal was kept a secret by the government. At +intervals of a few years from that time small deposits of gold were +found at various places in New South Wales and Victoria, but these were +also kept a secret, the individuals who found the deposits being in one +way or another under the control of the government. + +"In the early part of 1851 a miner from California, named Hargreaves, +discovered gold at Lewis Pond Creek in New South Wales, and about the +middle of the same year another California miner, named Esmond, found a +deposit of gold at Clunes, sixteen miles from Ballarat. Before the +government could take any steps for suppressing it the news had spread +and the excitement began. The stories were greatly exaggerated, and many +people came here believing that they had only to shovel the gold from +the ground into barrels and boxes, and send it away to be converted into +coin. That was the beginning of the gold rush, and a rush it was, you +may be sure. + +"From all over Australia people flocked to the new El Dorado. Mechanics +of all kinds left their employments; shepherds deserted their flocks; +merchants and clerks fled from their counting-houses; farmers quit their +fields and gardens, doctors and lawyers their offices, and the whole +country seemed to have gone mad about gold. Youth and age got the fever +alike; boys of sixteen and men of seventy walked side by side on their +way to the mines. Melbourne and Sydney were deserted, and the +prediction was made that before the end of the year grass would be +growing in the principal streets of those cities. + +"Provisions, clothing, and miners' tools and equipments rose to an +enormous price. Picks or shovels worth four or five shillings apiece in +the sea-coast cities were sold for ten pounds apiece at the mines. Nails +for building sluices sometimes brought their weight in gold. Bacon and +flour were worth a dollar a pound, and not always to be procured at that +figure. The most ordinary shelter was worth ten shillings a night, and +the rental price of a house for a month was the equivalent of its cost. + +"The government refused to permit anybody to work at mining without a +license, and the miners were so numerous that the revenue from the +licenses issued was a large one. The money thus obtained was expended in +organizing a strong police force and preserving order. Whereever mining +fields were opened, a gold commissioner with a police escort at his back +made his appearance as soon as possible, and insured a certain degree of +safety. Miners could leave their gold with the commissioner, either on +deposit, to be called for whenever they liked, or for transportation to +Melbourne. I presume you already know about the bushrangers and how they +used to plunder the homeward-bound miners." + +"Were the early miners successful in finding large deposits of gold?" +one of the youths asked. + +"The question is a difficult one to answer directly," was the reply. "A +great many were successful, but, on the other hand, a great many had +very poor luck in the mines and hardly succeeded in making a bare +living. We always hear of the rich finds in the mining district, but +rarely of the many failures. This has always been the case in gold +mining the world over, and Ballarat and the region around it were no +exception to the rule. I will tell you of some of the rich discoveries, +and leave you to remember that the fortunate miners were in small number +compared to the unfortunate ones. It may be safely said that the early +yield of the Ballarat mines exceeded that of the best days of +California. + +"Some claims eight feet square yielded, each of them, from fifty +thousand to sixty thousand dollars. One mine, which was owned by several +men in common, was worked about four months and yielded eighty thousand +dollars to each man. One tubful of earth which was taken from the bottom +of a claim where the bed rock was scraped yielded nearly ten thousand +dollars, and one claim which was supposed to have been worked out, and +was abandoned, was again taken up by two men who obtained forty thousand +dollars from it in two weeks. Up to the present time it is estimated +that very nearly two billion dollars' worth of gold have been taken out +of Australian mines." + +Ned asked in what shape the gold was found; that is, was it in large +pieces or small ones, fine dust or nuggets? + +"It embraced everything between the large nugget and fine dust or +flakes," the gentleman replied. "A great deal of the gold was in little +lumps like bird shot; a great deal of it was in scales, and then, again, +it took the shape of dust so fine that the particles were almost +invisible to the naked eye. Nuggets the size of hens' eggs were not +very unusual, while those the size of pigeons' and sparrows' eggs were +much more numerous. The great nuggets were the ones most sought for, and +of course they were the rarest found. + +"One nugget, resembling in shape and size a leg of mutton, and weighing +one hundred and thirty-five pounds, was found a long distance below the +surface, where some miners were tunneling to reach the bed rock; and +another nugget was found in such a remarkable way that I must tell you +the story of it. + +"A man who was wandering about the scrub in the neighborhood of Ballarat +one day, sat down at the foot of a tree to rest. While sitting there he +took out his knife to cut a stick, and finding the knife was dull, he +proceeded to sharpen it by rubbing it upon a stone that lay almost +completely imbedded in the ground. As he rubbed, he found that the +surface of the stone became yellow. He was greatly surprised at this, +and then he dug around the stone with his knife, scraping it in several +places, and then trying to lift it. He might as well have tried to lift +a horse. Do what he could, he could not budge it an inch, and for a good +reason, as it was a mass of solid gold. + +"He felt his head swimming and his wits leaving him. He pinched his +cheeks and pulled his ears to make sure that he was not dreaming. Here +he was with a fortune in his possession and he could not move it! Then +he sat down again and wondered what was best to do. + +"Even if he could move it and started for the camp, he might be robbed +before he got there, as bushrangers infested the country, and he was +just as liable to come upon them as upon honest men. He could not stay +and watch it, as he had no provisions; and he was afraid to leave it, +for fear that somebody might come upon it during his absence. But there +was no help for it, as leave it he must, and after thinking the matter +over he acted about as sensibly as he could have done. + +"He covered the nugget up very carefully, replacing the earth and +sprinkling it with leaves so that there was no indication that the spot +had been disturbed. Then he stripped the shirt from his back and tied it +to a neighboring tree, wisely concluding that it was not judicious to +hang the garment on the tree beneath which he had sat. Then, on his way +out of the scrub, he marked the trees here and there so that he could +find the place again, and as soon as he was in sight of the diggings he +went straight to the tent of the gold commissioner and told the story of +his discovery. The commissioner immediately sent the man back again with +a strong escort to secure the valuable find. The man received for the +nugget, after deducting all charges and commissions, the sum of +fifty-one thousand dollars. + +"A great many fortunes were taken out of the earth around Ballarat +before the placer mines were exhausted. The news of the discovery of +gold in Australia spread to other countries, and thousands of people +came from all parts of the world to search for it. Nearly every +nationality was represented, and they came in great numbers. Just before +the gold discovery there were seventy-seven thousand inhabitants in the +colony of Victoria. The population doubled in a single year, and three +years after the discovery the colony had two hundred and thirty-six +thousand inhabitants. The gold rush properly ended when the placer mines +were exhausted, although in the meantime new mines had been discovered +in several localities, principally at Bendigo and Castlemaine. Ballarat +was nearly deserted for a time after the placer mining gave out, and the +same was the case at the other places mentioned. Then the reefs and +ledges were attacked; crushing machinery was erected, and the form of +work which you call quartz mining in America had its beginning. It has +gone on steadily ever since and gives employment to a great many people. +It also employs a great deal of money, as quartz mining requires +capital, while placer mining does not. To get a fortune by quartz mining +you must have a fortune to begin with, while in placer mining you need +nothing more than a pick and shovel. + +"Australia will continue to produce gold for a great many years to +come," the gentleman continued. "New discoveries are made almost every +year, and in some years half a dozen fields will be opened. The +government has changed its tactics in regard to gold discoveries. It +rewarded Hargreaves and Esmond for their discoveries in 1851, and it has +rewarded the discoveries of other gold fields. Most of the colonial +governments have a standing offer of a handsome pecuniary reward to +anybody who discovers a gold field, provided there are not fewer than +two hundred men working in that field six months after its discovery. +This, you see, bars out all those finds that are exhausted in a few +weeks, which is the case with the majority of them. + +"Every little while there is an excitement over a new discovery, +companies are formed for working the mines, and their stock is placed on +the market. It is safe to say that, in the majority of instances, more +money is made by shrewd speculators in Melbourne and Sydney manipulating +the stock than is taken from the mines. A few years ago there was a wild +speculation in mines in what is called the 'Broken Hill' district of +Victoria, and at present there is an excitement about gold discoveries +in Western Australia. According to the latest accounts from the +last-named region, there is a difficulty in working the mines there on +account of the scarcity of water. You cannot work a mine any more than +you can run a steam-engine without water, and many people have paid very +dearly to ascertain this fact." + +From Ballarat our friends went to Sandhurst, which was formerly called +Bendigo. They found there a mining region resembling Ballarat in its +general features, but not in all of them. At Ballarat the mines are not +in the town but in its suburbs, while at Sandhurst they are directly in +the town itself. One of the residents remarked that there was a gold +mine in every back yard, and our friends found that this was not very +far from the truth. + +Mining operations were carried on in the rear or by the side of the +houses, and it was said that sometimes the dust of the streets was +gathered up and washed to obtain the gold in it. An individual who +certainly appeared credible, said that the first brick house ever built +in Bendigo was torn down and the bricks crushed in order to obtain the +gold in them; this gold amounted to three ounces per ton, and not only +the house but its chimney yielded handsomely of the precious metal. + +Bendigo yielded enormously to the placer miners of the early days. When +the placer mines were exhausted the place was nearly deserted, and then +came the era of quartz mining the same as at Ballarat. Thousands of men +are employed at Sandhurst and in its neighborhood, working in the gold +mines or in the crushing establishments connected with them. The quartz +mines thus give employment to a great number of people. Some of the +mines have been pushed to a great depth, one of them being twenty-six +hundred feet below the surface. There seems to be an inexhaustible +supply of gold-bearing rock, and it is a common saying in Victoria that +a true ledge has never been exhausted. + +Harry made some inquiries as to the amount of gold annually produced in +Victoria, and learned that it was not far from five million pounds +sterling, or twenty-five million dollars. He was further told that the +cost of production amounted to very nearly the same figure; that is, +including the cost of the mining machinery, the wages of laborers, and +the many other expenses. It was admitted that the best mines showed a +fair profit on the investment, but not enough to make a fortune in a +short time. + +The youths came to the conclusion that gold mining had been most +profitable to the people that never engaged in it. In this number he +included the brokers, bankers, storekeepers, farmers, and others who +kept out of the actual business of digging gold but profited by their +dealings with those who were engaged in it. Nothing so delights the +owner of a large farm in Australia as to learn of a gold discovery a few +miles from his place. He knows that it will give him a good market for +all he has to sell, though there may be occasional thefts from his horse +or cattle paddocks. Traders of all kinds get an enormous profit at the +mines, and as for the brokers and bankers, there is no doubt of their +ability to take care of themselves. + +When Harry made the remark contained in the foregoing paragraph, Ned +said that it reminded him of a story. + +"Well, please tell it," said Dr. Whitney; "we are always ready for good +stories." + +Thus encouraged, Ned spoke as follows:-- + +"I was reading a day or two ago about a man who had a large cattle run +in a part of Australia where he had been for several years without any +near neighbors. Gold was discovered about ten miles from his place, and +a good many people flocked there. The gold mines furnished an excellent +market for his beef and for all the vegetables he chose to grow on his +place; but, on the other hand, he suffered somewhat by the depredations +of lawless characters. Horse stealing seemed to be the popular amusement +among the people at the mines, and quite often horses disappeared from +the estate and were never seen again. + +"But they had one horse, called Stepney, that was a perfect treasure. He +was kept for carriage purposes and would never let anybody mount on his +back. He would stand perfectly still while being saddled, and while +anything was being attached to the saddle, but the instant anybody got +on his back he was thrown, and there was not a rider in Australia who +could stay in the saddle more than a few seconds. + +"About once in a fortnight Stepney would be missing from the paddock, +but he always turned up in a day or two, and almost invariably with a +saddle on his back, generally a new one, and a miner's 'swag' attached +to it, and on most of the occasions the swag contained a goodly amount +of gold. Once he came back with a brand new saddle and six hundred +dollars' worth of gold, which nobody ever came to claim. The owner said +that Stepney was the most profitable horse he ever owned. He paid for +himself several times over, and whenever they ran short of saddles, all +they had to do was to use Stepney as a trap and 'set' him in the +paddock, with entire confidence that he would catch a saddle within a +day or two." + +"That recalls a story about the way the miners used to try to deceive +the bushrangers," said the doctor; "I refer particularly to those who +were on their way to the coast with gold in their possession. They used +to bore holes in the shafts or frames of their carts and conceal the +gold in these holes, and sometimes they managed to hide quantities of +gold dust between the inner and outer soles of their boots. One miner +took the padding out of his horse's collar and inserted eighty ounces of +gold in the hollow. He jogged along the road to Melbourne, suffering a +good deal of trepidation at first, but finally arrived within twenty +miles of the city with his treasure, and began to feel safe. + +"While he was driving slowly along with his cart he was overtaken by a +man on horseback, who explained that he was in a hurry, as the police +were after him for a fight he had been concerned in with another man. +His horse was exhausted and he would give the miner ten pounds to +exchange horses. + +"As the animals were of about equal value, the miner assented and +proceeded to unharness his horse. When he took off the collar the other +man seized it, put it on his horse and jumped into the saddle, which he +had not removed; then he rode away, to the astonishment of the angry +miner, waving his hand and saying by way of farewell:-- + +"'The collar is all I wanted, friend. I don't care to make any horse +trade now.' + +"You are doubtless aware," said their Ballarat friend, "of the +operations of the bushrangers, and how the police used sometimes to +torture those that they captured in order to make them reveal the secret +of the hiding place of their gold. They tell a story of a fight between +a gang of bushrangers and the police in which the leader of the robbers, +known as 'Kangaroo Jack,' was mortally wounded. He was lying on the +ground dying; there could be no mistake about that. The police captain, +I will call him Smith, but that wasn't his name, sat down by his side +and said:-- + +"'Come, Jack, you are going to die and there is no help for you. Tell me +where your gold is.' + +"'I won't do it,' replied Jack. 'I won't tell you or anybody else!' + +"Smith pressed him, but Jack was obstinate. Smith continued to urge and +Jack to refuse until death sealed the bandit's lips. + +"Smith was afterward telling the story to one of his fellow-officers, +and remarked in conclusion:-- + +"'I think it was downright mean of Jack that he wouldn't tell me where +his gold was. I know he had at least fifty thousand dollars' worth +stowed away somewhere. He knew he couldn't take it with him, and it +couldn't do him any good, and it would have been a very tidy sum for me. +He couldn't have any personal ill-will to me, as I didn't shoot him +myself. I think it was downright mean, don't you?' + +"His friend agreed with him, and no doubt he would have been willing to +share the plunder if it could have been found." + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +A SOUTHERLY BURSTER--WESTERN VICTORIA. + + +The day after their return to Melbourne, our friends were treated to an +entertainment which, as Harry said, "was not down on the bills." It was +what the Melbourneites called a "southerly burster," a storm which is +peculiar to Australia, and particularly to the southern portion of it. +They had already experienced showers of such force that the gutters of +the streets were filled to a depth of a foot and more, and sometimes the +whole street was covered. Most of the street crossings are bridged so +that the water can run away with comparative ease. + +The water at such times flows with terrific force. Men attempting to +cross the gutters, who make a misstep, are lifted off their feet and are +instantly swept down by the current, and in case they should be carried +under one of the crossings they are liable to be drowned. + +We will listen to Harry as he described in his journal their experience +with a southerly burster. + +"When we arose in the morning," said Harry, "the weather was delightful +and we thought it would be a fine day for an excursion. There was not a +cloud in the sky and the breeze was blowing from the northeast. A +barometer hung in the hallway of the hotel, and Dr. Whitney remarked, as +he came out from breakfast, that it was falling rapidly. A gentleman +who was standing by his side heard the remark and said:-- + +"'I think we are going to have a burster; that is the way it usually +begins. If you have any engagements to go out to-day and they are not +absolutely imperative, you had better postpone them.' + +"Ned and I overheard what he said and wondered what a burster was. We +said nothing, however, as we expected to find out by practical +experience. + +"All through the forenoon the barometer continued to fall. The sky +remained clear until a little past noon, and the wind blew gently from +the northeast as before. Suddenly we saw a white cloud rolling up from +the northeast and spreading over the heavens until they were completely +covered. Masses of dust came with the wind, which increased in force for +a time and then lulled a little. + +"Suddenly the wind went around to the south and blew a gale, yes, a +hurricane. It started off at about thirty miles an hour, but before it +ended its visit it was blowing fully seventy miles an hour, at least +that is what the papers said next day. I am told it sometimes reaches a +velocity of one hundred miles an hour, and has even been known to exceed +one hundred and forty miles. These tremendous winds do a great deal of +damage. They drive ships ashore or overwhelm them at sea; they devastate +fields and forests and level a great many buildings. + +"The barometer fell rapidly in the forenoon, as I have mentioned; it was +the thermometer's turn in the afternoon. The mercury stood at about +ninety degrees Fahrenheit in the middle of the forenoon, and it remained +so until the wind chopped around to the south. An hour after the change +of wind it stood at seventy degrees, and an hour later at fifty. I am +told that it sometimes drops thirty degrees in half an hour, but such +occurrences are unusual. + +"This is a good place to say that sudden changes in the temperature are +very common in Australia, and that the change from midday to midnight is +far greater than any to which we are accustomed in the United States. +When we have a change of twenty or thirty degrees in a single day we +regard it as unusual. What would you say to one hundred and ten degrees +at noon and fifty degrees at midnight? This is quite common in the +interior of Australia and not at all infrequent on the coast. + +"The thermometer runs very high in this country, and it is not at all +rare for it to indicate one hundred and twenty-five or one hundred and +thirty degrees Fahrenheit. One traveler has a record of one hundred and +thirty-nine degrees in the shade and one hundred and seventy-two in the +sun. I am told that in South Melbourne the thermometer once made an +official record of one hundred and eleven degrees in the shade and one +hundred and seventy-nine degrees in the sun. + +"So great is the heat of the sun at midday that travelers generally try +to avoid it if they can do so. It is the plan of most people who travel +on horseback, in wagons, or on foot, to start before daylight, and keep +going until nine or ten o'clock. Then they halt and rest until three or +four o'clock in the afternoon, when they move on and continue until late +in the evening. Of course, the railways are not run on that principle, +as the locomotive is not supposed to be affected by the outside +temperature. + +"But I am getting away from the southerly burster. The wind blew like a +hurricane. It kept up this rate for about three hours, filling the air +with dust so that we could not see across the street. Though the doors +and windows were tightly closed, the dust found its way inside the house +and was present everywhere; every article of furniture was covered with +it. + +"We found it in the food, we found it in our beds, and the next day when +I opened my trunk to take out some articles of clothing, I actually +found that the dust had worked its way inside in a perceptible quantity. +One of the waiters of the hotel said, that always after a burster they +found dust inside of bottles of mineral water which had been tightly +corked up to the time of opening. I am inclined to doubt the truth of +his assertion, particularly as he offered no documentary evidence to +confirm it. + +"Along towards night it came on to rain, and, oh, how it did rain! It +poured as though the flood gates of the skies had all been opened at +once. It rained not only cats and dogs, as the old expression has it, +but lizards, scorpions, snakes, and I don't know what else, at least it +did figuratively. The gutters of the streets were filled, and then we +were able to see how easy it was for a man, and especially for a child, +to be drowned in them. I have seen it rain hard in a good many places, +but am sure I never saw it rain harder than it did at the end of that +southerly burster. + +"I remarked as much to a gentleman whose acquaintance we had made in +the hotel, and he answered:-- + +"'Oh, nonsense. That is no rain at all.' + +"'No rain at all,' I answered. 'Do you have worse rains than this in +Australia?' + +"'Why, certainly we do,' he replied. 'I have known it to rain so hard +that this would be a sprinkle by comparison. I remember the 25th of +February, 1873, when nine inches of rain fell here in Melbourne inside +of nine hours. An inch of rain in an hour is a good deal, isn't it?' + +"Ned and I admitted that it was, and then our informant continued:-- + +"'I happened to be in Newcastle early in 1871, when they had the +greatest rainfall that I ever saw or heard of in any country. In less +than three hours ten and a half inches of rain fell, and the story was +that it was so thick that the fishes in the harbor could not distinguish +between the rain cloud and the bay, and actually swam up half a mile or +so into the air. One man said that he had a barrel with both ends +knocked out, and the rain went in at the bung hole faster than it could +run out at the ends.' + +"I asked the gentleman how long the storm lasted, and he said that +twenty-one hours elapsed between the beginning and the end of it, and +during that time twenty inches of water fell, and the streets of +Newcastle were like small rivers. + +"The gentleman remarked, in conclusion, that it was a great pity the +rainfall was not distributed more evenly, both in time and amount, than +it is. Some parts of the coast get a great deal more rain than they +have any use for. The floods destroy a large amount of property, and the +superfluous rain flows away in the rivers, inundating large areas of +ground and doing more harm than good, but through the greater part of +the interior the rainfall is far less than the land requires. The ground +becomes parched, the streets dry up, and the grasses wither, and the +whole face of nature presents a scene of sterility. Sometimes there is +no rain for long periods. There have been times when not a drop of rain +fell for two years, and but for the heavy dews at night, a vast extent +of land would have been absolutely turned to a desert. Cattle and sheep +perished by the million, of starvation and thirst. The production of +grain fell off enormously and the whole country was very seriously +affected. + +"Ned asked if no remedy had ever been found or proposed for this state +of affairs. + +"A remedy had been suggested, said the gentleman, which would save herds +of cattle and flocks of sheep, but it would not save from destruction +the crops in the fields. + +"'What is that?' Ned asked. + +"'It is a system of storing water throughout the interior of the country +so as to save the precious fluid when the rainfall is excessive. There +are many places, great numbers of them, where nature has so formed the +ground that the storage of water would be comparatively easy. I have +already begun it on my sheep run, and other sheep owners have done the +same thing. It is an expensive work, but I believe it will pay in the +end.' + +"'There are three places on my land where broad valleys terminate at +their lower ends between hills forty or fifty feet high. Now, by +building a dam from one of these hills to the other, I can flood any one +of these valleys to any depth I choose up to the height of the hills. It +was only recently that I finished work at one of these places, and I +have gangs of men busy with the other two. For the present I shall make +my dams thirty feet high, and this will give me at each of the three +places a lake of fresh water with about forty acres of surface area. If +I can fill these lakes every winter with water, I think I will have +enough to keep my sheep through the dry season, after making liberal +allowance for loss by evaporation and in other ways. Of course, such a +system of storing water is only practicable where the owner of a place +has sufficient capital for the purpose. The poor man, with his small +flock of sheep, can hardly undertake it.' + +"'Preliminary surveys have been made in places where it is proposed that +the colonial governments should build extensive works for saving water +on a grand scale. The government would be repaid, in part at least, by +selling the water to private landholders in the same way that water is +sold in California, New Mexico, and other parts of the United States. I +am confident that you will see a grand system of water storage in full +operation in Australia before many years.'" + +While on the subject of rainfall, Harry asked Ned if he knew where the +heaviest annual rainfall in the world was. + +Ned said he did not know, but he thought that Dr. Whitney might be able +to inform them. + +The question was appealed to the doctor, who paused a moment, and then +said that "what might be considered a heavy rain in one place would be a +light one in another. In Great Britain, if an inch of rain fell in a day +it was considered a heavy rain; but in many parts of the Highlands of +Scotland three inches not infrequently fall in one day. Once in the isle +of Skye twelve inches of rain fell in thirteen hours, and rainfalls of +five and seven inches are not uncommon. Thirty inches of rain fell in +twenty-four hours at Geneva, in Switzerland, thirty-three inches at +Gibraltar in twenty-six hours, and twenty-four inches in a single night +on the hills near Bombay. + +"The heaviest annual rainfall on the globe," continued the doctor, "was +on the Khasia Hills, in India, where six hundred inches, or fifty feet, +fell in a twelvemonth. Just think of it; a depth of fifty feet of water +yearly, and of this amount five hundred inches fell in seven months, +during the southwest monsoons." + +"How do they account for such heavy rains?" Ned asked. + +"It is accounted for," the doctor replied, "by the abruptness of the +mountains which face the Bay of Bengal, from which they are separated by +low swamps and marshes. The winds arrive among the hills heavily charged +with the vapor they have absorbed from the wide expanse of the Indian +Ocean. When they strike the hills and are forced up to a higher +elevation, they give out their moisture with great rapidity, and the +rain falls in torrents. As soon as the clouds have crossed the mountains +the rain diminishes very much. Twenty miles further inland it drops +from six hundred to two hundred inches annually, and thirty miles +further inland it is only one hundred inches. The same conditions +prevail to a certain extent in Australia. The mountain chains are near +the coast. On the side next the ocean there is a liberal rainfall, but +on the other side, towards the interior, the rainfall is light. As the +clouds charged with vapor come from the sea to the mountains they yield +their moisture freely, but, after passing the mountains, they have +little left to yield." + +The burster died away along in the evening, and, though the streets were +wet in many places, our friends went out for a stroll. During their walk +their attention was naturally drawn to the sky, which was now bright +with stars. Naturally, their conversation turned to the difference +between the night skies of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, which +had not escaped their observation during their voyage from the east +coast of Africa down to the Equator, and thence in the Southern Ocean. +On this subject Harry wrote at one time in his journal as follows:-- + +"We found the famous Southern Cross a good deal of a disappointment. In +the first place, it requires a considerable amount of imagination to +make a cross out of it; very much more than is needed to make 'The Great +Dipper' out of the constellation so called in the Northern Hemisphere. +The Southern Cross consists of three stars of the first magnitude, one +of the fourth magnitude, and three of the fifth, and, look at them +whichever way you may, you can't make a real cross out of them, either +Greek or Roman. Before I investigated the subject, I thought the +Southern Cross was over the south pole, but found it is not so. The +constellations of the Southern Hemisphere altogether are not as +brilliant as those in the northern one. If the principal object of a +traveler in this region is to see the heavens, he had better stay at +home. + +"An interesting feature of the southern heavens is 'The Magellan +Clouds,' two white spots in the sky like thick nebulae of stars. They are +nearer to the pole than the Southern Cross is, and are much used by +mariners in taking observations. Quite near the pole is a star of the +fifth magnitude, called 'Octantis,' and this also is used for +observation purposes. It isn't so brilliant, by any means, as the pole +star of the north, which is of the second magnitude; and, by the way, +that reminds me of what Dr. Whitney told me in the desert of Sahara, +that what we called the polar star in the north is not directly over the +pole, but nearly a degree away. The real polar star is a much smaller +one and stands, as we look at it, to the left of the star, which I had +always believed to be the proper one." + +Melbourne has a Chinese quarter like San Francisco and New York, and our +friends embraced an opportunity to visit it. They found the shops +closely crowded together and apparently doing an active business. There +were temples, shops, and a good many stores, some of them very small and +others of goodly size. The sidewalks were thronged with people, mostly +Chinese, and they hardly raised their eyes to look at the strangers who +had come among them. Our friends took the precaution to be accompanied +by a guide, and found that they had acted wisely in doing so. The guide +took them into places where they would have been unable to make their +way alone, and where, doubtless, they would have found the doors closed +against them. + +The Chinese are very unpopular in Australia and in all the colonies. The +laws against them are decidedly severe, from a Mongolian point of view. +Every Chinaman landing in Victoria must pay fifty dollars for the +privilege of doing so, and after getting safe on the soil he finds +himself restricted in a business way, and subject to vexatious +regulations. John is satisfied with very little and he usually manages +to get it. He is a keen trader and always an inveterate smuggler. He is +very skillful in evading the custom house, and as soon as one trick is +discovered he invents another and his ingenuity seems to be boundless. + +One of the industries in which the Chinese excel is that of market +gardening. In driving in the suburbs of Melbourne, our friends observed +numerous market gardens cultivated by Chinese, and in every instance +they remarked that the cultivation was of the most careful kind. John +can make more out of a garden than anybody else. He pays a high rental +for his ground, but unless something very unusual happens he is pretty +sure to get it back again, with a large profit in addition. + +In some of the colonies the restrictions are more severe than in others. +In New South Wales the laboring class of white men are politically in +control of the legislature, and have enacted anti-Chinese laws of great +severity. The tax upon immigrant Chinese in that colony is one hundred +pounds sterling, or five hundred dollars. The naturalization of Chinese +is absolutely prohibited, and ships can only bring into the ports of New +South Wales one Chinese passenger for every three hundred tons of +measurement. The restrictions in regard to residence and trading are +very severe. The country is laid out into districts, and in each +district not more than five trading Chinese are allowed to live and +transact business. Steamers and sailing vessels having Chinese stewards +or sailors on board are subject to seizure and fines on their arrival at +Sydney, and so great have been the annoyances to this class of vessels, +that they have been compelled to leave in some other port, before coming +to Australia, all their Chinese employees. + +The hostility to Chinese labor in Australia is similar to that on the +Pacific coast of the United States, and in the States of the Rocky +Mountain region. It will doubtless increase as time goes on, as it +increased in the United States, until it culminated in the Chinese +Exclusion Act of a few years ago. Eventually, the Chinese in Australia +will be shut out from all occupations, and expelled or excluded from the +country. A good many intelligent Australians deprecate the hostility to +the Chinese, but when it comes to voting, this class of citizens is in +the minority. + +During a part of the gold rush, great numbers of Chinese found their way +to the mines, where they were perfectly contented to work in abandoned +mines and wash the earth, which had already been washed by the white +men. Owing to the prejudice against them and the likelihood of +interference, they rarely took up fresh claims, but contented +themselves with what the white man had left. Even this form of work was +considered an encroachment by the white miners, who frequently attacked +the Mongolians and drove them out at the point of the pistol. Many of +these attacks were accompanied by bloodshed, and if the history of +Australian mining were written in full, it would contain many a story of +oppression, accompanied with violence. + +Our friends made a visit to the famous lake district of Victoria, where +they found some very pretty scenery, and from the summit of one hill +counted no fewer than fifteen lakes, some of them of no great size, +while the largest measured ninety miles in circumference. Harry made +note of the fact that this largest lake was called the Dead Sea. It is +said to be not as salt as the famous Dead Sea near Jerusalem, but it is +a great deal salter than the ocean, and no fish of any kind lives in it. + +"I asked a resident of the neighborhood," said Harry, "if they had ever +tried the plan of putting fish from the ocean into this Australian Dead +Sea. They said they had done so, but the fish thus transported always +died in a few hours, and the experiment of stocking the lake had been +given up long ago. + +"A curious thing that we found regarding the lakes in this part of +Victoria," Harry continued, "is that some of them are salt and some +fresh, and sometimes the salt lakes and the fresh ones are quite close +to each other, and on the same level. We were puzzled how to account for +the peculiarity and tried to learn about it. How the circumstances +happened, nobody knows exactly, but the theory is that the salt in the +salt lakes comes from the drainage of the rocks, and as the lakes have +no outlets, the superfluous waters are carried off by evaporation. They +told us that in summer these lakes sink a good deal below the level of +other times of the year, and when they did so the ground left dry was +thickly encrusted with salt, which the people gathered in large +quantities. The market of Melbourne is supplied with salt from these +lakes, and you can readily understand that it is very cheap. + +"Another peculiarity of this part of Victoria is the large quantities of +potatoes that are grown there. The land often yields from twenty to +thirty tons of potatoes to the acre, and an acre of ground for raising +potatoes will frequently sell for four hundred dollars, while it will +rent for twenty-five dollars yearly. Most of the coast ports of +Australia, including the great ones of Melbourne, Adelaide, and Sydney, +are supplied with potatoes from this region. + +"The potatoes are among the finest we ever saw. They are large, rich, +and mealy, and when properly cooked they are simply delicious. No other +part of Australia can compete with this district in potato cultivation. +The excellence of this vegetable is supposed to come from the volcanic +nature of the soil. All the country round here was once in a high state +of ebullition, and the lakes I have mentioned are the craters of extinct +volcanoes." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +JOURNEY UP COUNTRY--ANECDOTES OF BUSH LIFE. + + +Our friends accepted an invitation to go up country to visit a cattle +station and also a sheep run, and to spend a week or so in the bush. +They went by train as far as the railway could carry them, and were met +at the station by a wagon which enabled them to finish their journey. +They arrived at the station late in the afternoon, after a delightful +drive through the gum-tree forest and across a small plain. It was not +strictly a plain, however, as the ground was undulating, and in the +hollows between the ridges there was generally a growth of trees from a +quarter to a half a mile in width which broke the monotony of the +landscape. The road was not the smoothest in the world, and before they +had gone half way Harry and Ned both remarked that they would have +excellent appetites for supper, and hoped that the meal would not be +long delayed after their arrival at the cattle station. + +The party received a cordial welcome from their host, Mr. Syme, who had +preceded them a day in advance and sent his younger brother to the +railway to meet them. About half a mile from the house they saw three or +four men lying on the ground by the roadside, evidently taking a rest or +waiting for something. They reminded our young friends of the +individuals frequently seen in the United States, and known as +"tramps," and after getting out of earshot of the party Ned asked their +new acquaintance, who was escorting them, what those men were. + +"Oh! those are sundowners," was the reply, and then there was a pause. + +"Sundowners!" exclaimed Harry. "What is a sundowner?" + +"A sundowner is what you call a tramp in America," was the reply; "and +he gets his name from one of his peculiarities. It is the custom all +over Australia--I mean in the country districts--to feed and lodge +anybody who comes along, and if he has no money there is no charge for +his entertainment. He is expected to move on in the morning the first +thing after breakfast, unless we happen to have work for him and can +give him employment at regular wages. If he comes along anywhere in the +afternoon before sunset, he is expected to do any odd work that may be +handy until supper, as a payment in part, at least, for his night's +entertainment. + +"Most of these fellows don't like to work," he continued, "and so they +take good care not to arrive at a place before sunset. If they find they +are getting too near it, they sit or lie down on the ground and wait +until the sun has disappeared below the horizon. That is why we call +them sundowners, as they turn up just after the sun has gone down." + +"It is certainly very liberal on the part of the people in the country +to feed and lodge all comers," remarked Ned. + +"Well, we think it's not illiberal. It is the custom of the country +which has grown up from the early days when farms were far apart and +travelers were few in number. When the custom first began, the number of +this sort of travelers would not exceed a dozen in a month. Nowadays we +often lodge that number in a single night, and sometimes it is a pretty +heavy tax on us. I don't think it will be many years before we have laws +that will restrict these wanderers somewhat, just as you have tramp laws +in many of the States of your Union. There is a very large number of +idlers going about the country and subsisting in this way. They always +pretend to be searching for employment, but whenever employment is +offered, it is not the kind that they want. They are like an American +tramp I heard of once, who was always looking in winter for a job at +hay-making, and in summer he wanted to find employment at cutting ice. +When one of these fellows gets to a sheep station, he says he knows +nothing about sheep, but understands everything about cattle; at the +cattle station he reverses his story, and wants a job at shepherding." + +"Don't you have trouble with them sometimes?" one of the youths +remarked. "Are they willing to accept what you offer them, or do they +demand something better?" + +"As to that," was the reply, "there is a good deal of difference among +them. We don't feed them with the best that the place affords, and the +majority of them accept the situation and take what we choose to give. +Cold meat and bread are their usual fare, and there is always enough of +that. Sometimes they make a row, and demand to be fed just in the same +way that we feed our own farm hands. For instance, only last evening I +was called into the men's dining-room to quell a disturbance caused by +a sundowner. The travelers' table was supplied with cold meat, bread, +and tea, while the table of our farm hands had on it bread and hot roast +mutton. The sundowner had a knife in his hand and was threatening to +kill the kitchen maid unless she gave him hot mutton instead of cold." + +"What did you do about it?" + +"I told him that if he could not eat cold meat he was not hungry enough +to eat anything, and if he did not put that knife away one of our men +would knock his head off. He became quiet at once and sat down to his +supper, muttering something about not being treated like a gentleman. We +would like to shut our doors altogether against this class of fellows, +but there are difficulties in the way. We would be liable at times to +turn away honest and deserving men who were really in search of +employment, and furthermore, the revengeful scoundrels would set our +buildings on fire during the night, or perhaps kill our cattle and +horses. They would be less likely to do the latter than the former, as +the destruction of our buildings by fire would be much easier and safer +than the other proceeding. We certainly need some kind of legal +restriction over these sundowners, and we will get it in the course of +time." + +The house at which our friends arrived was large and spacious, and its +external appearance, as they approached it, betokened hospitality. It +covered a considerable area of ground but was only a single story in +height, with the exception of one end, where there was an upper story +occupied by the female servants. The men employed at the place ate and +slept in a building in the rear of the principal house, the two being +connected by a kitchen and a shed. The house was substantially +constructed of wood, the sides being double walled with planking, while +the roof sloped gently to the front. There were gutters at the eaves to +catch all the water which came down in the form of rain, and convey it +to a large cistern just in the rear of the main dwelling. Their host +explained that they had a fine spring close to the house, from which +they usually obtained their supply of water. "This spring sometimes +gives out in seasons of excessive dryness," said he, "and then we fall +back upon the cistern." + +"You have been long enough in Australia," he continued, "to learn the +full value of water, and we are obliged to be careful in the use of it +and in selecting a location for our house. In the great drought, when we +had no rain for two years, we suffered exceedingly and a great many of +my cattle perished for thirst. Since then I have built a reservoir for +storing water, and if another drought should come, I don't think my +herds will suffer as much as they did." + +Dr. Whitney and our young friends were shown to the rooms they were +expected to occupy during their stay. Dr. Whitney was assigned to a +good-sized bedroom, while the youths were placed in another bedroom +close to it and equipped with two beds. They made a brief survey of the +room and concluded that they would be very comfortable. Harry remarked +that it was quite as good as any room they had thus far occupied in +Australian hotels. They devoted a short time to removing the dust of +travel and putting themselves in a condition of cleanliness, and +shortly after they appeared on the veranda, where their host was +awaiting them, and dinner was announced. + +The size of the dining-room indicated that the place was an hospitable +one, as the table was capable of accommodating not fewer than twenty +people without crowding. Harry took note of the menu which comprised +their meal, and according to his memorandum it was as follows:-- + +"Soup of kangaroo tail, mutton pie, roast beef, potatoes, cauliflower +and parsnips, hot and cold bread, plum pudding and tea. There were also +some canned apricots of home production. Altogether it was a very +substantial meal, excellent in quality, liberal in quantity, and well +cooked throughout." + +The evening was passed in front of a big fire in the large sitting-room. +As the night was chilly and somewhat damp, the fire was very welcome. +The time was passed in conversation concerning the cattle business, +interspersed with stories of Australian life. Harry and Ned asked the +permission of their host to make use of their notebooks, and their +request was readily granted. Accordingly, they kept their pencils in +their hands, and placed on paper anything which seemed to them +particularly interesting. + +Harry made note of a statement of their host concerning the cattle +business and its ups and downs. One of his notes reads as follows:-- + +"To go into the cattle business, one ought to have a capital of not less +than fifty thousand dollars, and he could use one hundred thousand to +advantage. His first step is to secure a tract of land, and this he +does by getting a grant from the government allowing him to occupy an +area of ground several miles square at a rental of ten or twenty +shillings annually for each square mile. His next step is to secure +location, and to do this he travels a great deal through the interior, +visiting ground that has not been taken up, and exercising his judgment +as to the choice of ground. He must take care to find a place where +there is good grass and good water; he wants a certain amount of timber +on his land, but not too much, and the water holes must be at suitable +distances apart. Many a man has come to grief in the cattle business +owing to his bad selection of a location. + +"A man who takes a large area of ground in this way is called a +'squatter.' You can put this down in your notebooks, young men, that a +squatter in Australia is just the reverse of the same individual in +America. In your country, the squatter is a man who lives upon a small +tract of land which he cultivates himself, while here he is a man, as I +said before, who takes a large area of ground for pastoral purposes. The +equivalent of the American squatter is here called a 'selector,' and +between the selectors and the squatters there is a perpetual warfare, as +the selector is allowed by law to select a location for a farm on any +government land, whether occupied by a squatter or not. The selectors +give the squatters a great deal of trouble, and many of us think that +the colonial governments have treated us very badly. + +"Well, after getting our ground we proceed to stock it, and with fifty +thousand dollars we can buy about twenty-five hundred head of cattle. +Then we put up our buildings, employ our stockmen, and set to work. If +we have good luck we can pay our expenses, almost from the beginning, by +sending fat cattle to market. For the first five years we sell only fat +cattle; at the end of that time we have doubled our original stock, and +then we begin to sell ordinary cattle as well as fat ones. From that +time on, if no mishap befalls us, we can sell twelve or fifteen thousand +dollars' worth of cattle every year, including all kinds. At this rate +the profits are satisfactory, and in fifteen or twenty years, a man who +has started out with fifty thousand dollars can retire on eight or ten +times that amount." + +Harry asked what were the drawbacks to the cattle business; that is, +what were the kinds of bad luck that could happen to a man who engaged +in it. + +"As to that," replied Mr. Syme, "there are several things which it is +not possible to foresee or prevent. In the first place, nobody can +foresee a great drought when cattle perish of thirst and starvation; +added to this danger is that of diseases to which cattle are subject, +especially pleuro-pneumonia. Whole herds may be carried away by this +disease, and if it once gets established among the cattle of an estate +it is very difficult to eradicate it. Sometimes it is necessary to kill +off an entire herd in order to get rid of the disease, and I have heard +of cattle runs that were depopulated successively two or three times by +pleuro-pneumonia, and their owners ruined. Sometimes the market is very +low in consequence of an over-supply, and the price cattle furnish is a +very poor remuneration to stock raisers. + +"Sheep farming is more profitable, on the whole, than cattle farming," +he continued; "but the risks are somewhat greater in consequence of the +greater liability of sheep to disease. There are several diseases +peculiar to sheep which carry them off in great numbers, and they are +affected by drought quite as much as cattle are. A sheep run can be +started with a small capital, and you might almost say with no capital +at all. For instance, a man with very little money, or practically with +none at all, can find a location and squat upon it, and then go to one +of the cities, and if he is known to be a respectable, honest, and +industrious man and free from vicious habits, he can find somebody who +will supply the capital for buying a few hundred sheep. With these sheep +he can make a start, and if he is industrious and attentive to business, +and has no bad luck with his flocks, he will make money rapidly. In ten +years he will have a comfortable fortune; but, on the other hand, he is +liable at any time to be ruined by two successive bad seasons of drought +and disease. Sometimes the price of wool is so low that it leaves very +little profit to the sheep farmer after paying for shepherds, shearers, +and other employees, and the expense of taking his wool to the +sea-coast." + +Their host remarked, in conclusion, that he was afraid the good days of +cattle and sheep farming had gone and would never come again. "Land has +become dear," he said, "and labor unions compel us to pay high prices +for stockmen and shearers, especially the latter, and the prices of wool +are not as good as they used to be. The wool market of the world is low, +and so is the cattle market. Since the practise of freezing beef and +mutton and carrying the frozen meat to England has come into vogue the +prices of meat have improved, but the supply is so abundant and the +sources of it so numerous that we have not been greatly benefited by the +new process. There still remains enough in either business to encourage +those who are in it to continue, but the inducements for new enterprises +of this kind are not great." + +Some of the stories that were told about experience on cattle and sheep +runs were so interesting to our young friends that they made note of +them. One of the party told of the dangers surrounding the life of the +stock-riders, the men who look after the herds on a cattle estate. + +"He has some hard duties to perform," said the narrator. "He gets his +breakfast early in the morning and starts out at once, mounted on +horseback, and with a horse that is more or less unruly. Each +stock-rider, or stockman, as we call him, has a particular part of the +run assigned to him, and every morning he goes along the boundary of it, +and if his own cattle have strayed across the line, he drives them back +again; likewise, if he finds his neighbor's cattle have strayed into his +territory, he drives them out. He is expected to show himself to his +cattle at least once a day, to accustom them to the sight of men, and +also to train them to go where they are wanted whenever he cracks his +whip and rides in among them. + +"The group of cattle belonging to each stockman is called a 'herd,' and +he is expected to train them so that they will recognize his authority. +A bunch of fifty or so is called a 'mob,' and it takes several mobs to +make up a herd. All over the run, at intervals of two or three miles, +are places where the cattle assemble when they hear the stockman's whip. +These places are called 'cattle camps'; they are open spaces of level +ground and are always near water; in fact, many of them are used as +regular watering places for the mobs and herds of cattle. Occasionally +the animals are driven into these camps, either for the purpose of +branding the calves or selecting cattle to be sent to market. You will +have an opportunity of seeing one of these to-morrow, as a man arrived +here to-night who is buying cattle to take to Melbourne. + +"Well, the stock-rider is on horseback for the greater part of the day. +Sometimes he takes his dinner with him and sometimes he comes back to +the station to get it, and in the afternoon goes to a different part of +his section. Sometimes he does not come back at all, and the next +morning a search is made for him. Of course there is now and then a man +who runs away and leaves his employment, but this is rarely the case, as +there is no occasion for him doing so unless he has committed some +offense." + +The youths listened in breathless silence, waiting for what would come +next. + +"There really ought to be two men riding together at all times, so that +if a mishap occurs to one of them, the other can help him out of his +trouble, and, if unable to do so, can go for assistance; and we +generally send out a black boy on horseback with each stockman. A few +months ago one of our stockmen, who had gone out alone, failed to come +home at night, and we were at once apprehensive that something had +happened to him. His horse came back along about midnight, and the next +morning several of us started out to find him. We tried to make use of +the intelligence of the horse to guide us to the place where he had left +his master, but, unfortunately, it was an animal that he had ridden only +a few times and there was no attachment whatever between man and beast. +We rode along the boundary where we knew he was accustomed to go, but +did not find him. We spread out over all the ground we could cover and +shouted continually, in the hope that he would hear us and answer. We +made a complete circuit of the portion of the run in his charge, and, +finding no traces of him, we struck off haphazard across the middle of +it. We kept up our shouting and finally heard a faint answer. + +"Then we rode in the direction of the sound, and in fifteen or twenty +minutes we reached the man's side. It seems that his horse had stumbled +over a fallen log so violently as to pitch the rider over his head. In +falling, the man had the misfortune to break his leg. The horse stood +and looked at him a few minutes while he tried to call the animal to his +side, but to no purpose. The beast threw his head and then his heels +into the air and trotted off. He was soon out of sight in the bush and +the stockman was left alone, disabled in the way I tell you. + +"There was no water in this vicinity and he had no food with him, and he +could not walk or stand on account of his broken leg. He could crawl +slowly, but only a short distance at a time. He knew that he was out of +the regular track of riders, and it might be days or weeks before he +would be discovered. He suffered great pain in his injured limb, and +very soon the tortures of thirst began, to be followed later in the day +by those of hunger. + +"All the rest of the day and all through the night he lay there in great +suffering and wondering if relief would ever come. Along towards morning +he heard a rustling in the grass near him, and then other similar +sounds, which he soon concluded were caused by snakes. When daylight +came he found that his fears and horrors were realized. Moving around +him were several serpents, and they manifested a tendency to approach +nearer and nearer. Some of them went away as the sun rose and the full +light of day shone upon him, but others remained in his immediate +neighborhood. He beat the ground with the butt of his whip in the hope +of scaring them away; his effort was partially successful but not wholly +so. One large snake came close to his side and actually traversed his +body. He dared not make a motion, for fear the serpent would turn upon +him and inflict a fatal bite. He lay there as still as a block of marble +till the snake, having satisfied his curiosity, glided away into the +grass. + +"All through the afternoon and until we found him, the reptiles remained +there. They seemed to understand that the man was disabled, and +evidently they were determined to take their own time in enjoying his +sufferings. This was the state of affairs when we found him. He said +that when he heard our call he almost feared to reply, lest it should +rouse his unpleasant neighbors and cause them to take the aggressive. + +"We killed two of the snakes not a dozen yards from where the man was +lying, and if we had made a vigorous search, it is probable that we +could have despatched more of them. We brought the man to the house as +quickly as possible, improvising a rude sort of litter, which was +carried, with the man upon it, by two of our blacks. Two of us relieved +them occasionally, when they were wearied of carrying the burden. In a +short time the man was well again, but he said that the horrors of that +night were too much for him, and he would seek some other occupation +than that of stock-rider. He left us as soon as he recovered, and I +don't know what became of him." + +"That reminds me," said another of the party, "of the case of a man who +met with a similar accident, being thrown from his horse and getting a +broken leg. The place where he fell happened to be near a large ant +hill, and in a few moments he was covered with the terrible black ants +that we have here in Australia. He was horribly bitten by them all over +his body, but principally on head and hands, the other parts being +somewhat protected by his clothing. After two or three hours of torture +he managed to crawl away from his awful position, but for several hours +afterwards the ants continued their attacks; and when he was found by +one of his fellow-stockmen, his face was so swollen that he could not +see, and he was barely able to articulate. Face and hands became a mass +of sores, and it was weeks before he recovered. When he got well, his +face was pitted like that of the victim of an attack of smallpox, and he +suffered for a long time with a partial paralysis of his limbs. I have +heard of one or two other instances of the same sort, and can hardly +imagine anything more terrible." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +LOST IN THE BUSH--AUSTRALIAN HORSES. + + +"Another of the gentlemen," wrote Harry in his notebook, "told us a +story about a young woman, with a child in her arms and an older child +at her side, being lost in the bush." She had been on a visit to an +acquaintance who lived about four miles away, and was to start for home +in the afternoon of a certain Friday, having gone there in the forenoon +of the same day. She did not reach home in the evening, and it was +thought at first that she had concluded to remain until Saturday. Not +until Sunday did her husband go to the house where she had been +visiting, and there he ascertained that she had left the place on Friday +afternoon, as agreed, and carried no provisions except a pound of butter +which she was taking home for her husband. + +"It was at once concluded," said the gentleman, "that she had missed her +way and been lost in the bush; and when one is thus lost, it is very +hard to find the way out again. The general features of the landscape +are so similar that it is very difficult to distinguish one part from +another, and the alarm and perplexity natural on finding oneself in such +a situation increases the danger which attends it by robbing the +wanderer of the presence of mind which is so necessary in such an +emergency. When the sun is obscured by clouds the most experienced +traveler is liable to stray and become lost, and even when the sun is +shining it is not every one who can take advantage of its position to +guide him out of trouble. The course of the streams in a well-watered +country is of great use in guiding an inexperienced traveler, but +Australian streams, like most others, wind about a great deal, and make +the road along their banks a very long one. + +"It was the rainy season of the year when this woman was lost, and the +streams were flooded. If she had followed the creek which would have led +her to her home, she would have been compelled to keep to the high +ground on either side of its valley, as the low, flat land was covered +with water. The weather was cold and wet and the winds were keen and +piercing. There was not the least supply of nourishment to be obtained +in the bush, and when we heard late on Monday what had happened, we all +felt that the unhappy wanderers must have perished from hunger and cold. +Still, there was a possibility that they might yet survive, and, as it +was too late for us to start that day, we determined to set out on +Tuesday morning in search of them. We sent off to the nearest police +station and obtained the assistance of several blacks who had been +trained to the police service. You have probably heard about the +wonderful skill of these people in following a track, and as soon as +they arrived on the ground we set them at work. + +"All day Tuesday these native trackers sought diligently to find traces +of the missing ones, but none could be discovered. Then on Wednesday +morning we renewed the search, covering as much ground as possible and +examining it with the greatest care, occasionally discharging a revolver +in the hope that its sound might be heard, and frequently shouting the +Australian 'coo-ee,' which can be heard at a great distance. We returned +home completely discouraged and gave up the wanderers for dead, being +satisfied that any further search would be useless. + +"But on reaching home we heard news that gave us encouragement. A +woodchopper returning from his work told us that he found on a hill, +some distance away, a rude mia-mia or wind shelter made of the branches +of a wild cherry tree. He said it was not like those usually put up by +the blacks, nor were there any traces of fire near it, which would +certainly have been the case if it had been a native mia-mia. We started +at once, under the guidance of the workman, to inspect the place for +ourselves, and on examining the shelter carefully we felt sure that it +had been put up by the lost woman. A few pieces of a Melbourne newspaper +were lying on the ground and a strip of calico had been fastened to the +bushes, evidently in the hope of attracting attention. + +"We collected these little articles carefully and took them to the +husband, who instantly identified the strip of calico as belonging to a +gown his wife had worn, and he also remembered that she had taken a +Melbourne newspaper with her. He was greatly excited at the sight of the +articles, and so were we. It was too late to do anything that day; in +fact, it was dark before we reached home, and so we made all +preparations for an early start on Thursday morning. We were on the way +soon after daylight, and the native trackers expressed the fullest +confidence in their ability to find the missing wanderers, now that they +were able to start on the track. + +"We first went to the mia-mia, or wind shelter, and then took a course +to the northeast, walking over a succession of low ranges and shallow +gullies where the water often reached up to our knees. The trackers were +much disappointed, as the amount of water which spread over the country +made it impossible for them to follow the trail. We passed through thick +scrubs and prickly plants, and over sharp rocks which were rough walking +even for men; what must they have been for the woman and her children? + +"We continued our search for several hours, and had almost resolved to +give it up, when one of our party fired at a kangaroo which he had +disturbed, and which fled before us. The animal fell wounded, and as we +were advancing towards it, we thought we heard a distant coo-ee. We +stood still to listen, and faintly, yet quite distinctly, it was +repeated. We walked on with great eagerness in the direction whence the +sound appeared to come, and every little while we coo-eed and waited for +an answer to assure us that we were on the right track. We did not get +an answer every time, and when we did it was not a strong one; but there +was no mistaking the sound, and we realized each time that we were +getting nearer the spot where it was made. + +"We reached the edge of a gully thickly overgrown with tangled scrub +about twelve feet high. We pressed forward through this scrub, wading +occasionally through the water, and pushing aside the last bushes, +found ourselves at the edge of a small open plain. There we saw, +standing at a little distance, a gaunt, ragged woman with a child in her +arms. As she caught sight of us she turned and fled; either she mistook +us for black fellows, or the surprise and relief of obtaining help had +turned her brain. We shouted loudly to her to stop, and as our voices +fell on her ear she stood still and we approached. She looked at us with +a half-crazed expression in her eager, gleaming eyes; her cheeks were +thin and sunken, and her whole appearance was one of great wretchedness. + +"We gave her some tea which she drank greedily, and it revived her +somewhat. Seeing that she had only one of her children with her, the +youngest, we asked where the other was, and she led us to a large, +hollow tree in which she placed the little girl. The poor child's feet +were so cruelly cut and blistered that she could no longer walk, and the +mother, hoping to reach home and find help, had thought best to leave +her and travel on with the other child. She had built up the opening of +the tree with logs and brush-wood in the hope of protecting the child +against the attacks of the wild dogs, but when her preparations were +complete the little girl wept so piteously that the distracted mother +could not consent to leave her alone. So she made up her mind to stay +there and die with her children. + +"Just as she had reached this conclusion she heard the report of the +rifle, and with all her remaining strength she uttered the coo-ee which +brought relief to her. She did not faint or lose her self-possession, +and she astonished us all by her strength. She would not wait to allow +us to send for a dray or other conveyance, but insisted that she could +walk with us; it was a walk of seven miles, but she went on bravely, +carrying her boy, who would not leave her arms. The men by turns carried +the little girl, and offered to take the boy, but she would not give him +up. + +"She solemnly declared that neither she nor the children had found +anything to eat during the time they were in the bush. On the first +night, she divided the pound of butter between the children, and ate +nothing herself. Her only sustenance for the whole time had been water, +and it was the only sustenance of the children after the butter was +consumed. Every morning they had begun to wander, hoping to reach home +before night; and every night, as the darkness closed in, they huddled +together, cold, and hungry, and footsore, on the wet ground, and with no +shelter except a few scanty bushes. + +"The children slept fairly well, but the mother said she listened +through the greater part of every night, hearing the howling of the wild +dogs around them, and constantly dreading their attacks. She said she +heard the report of our rifles on the first day of our search, but +unhappily the wind was blowing directly from us towards her, and +consequently we were unable to hear her answering calls, though she had +strained her voice to the utmost to make herself heard. She had been +almost frantic with despair, knowing that help was so near at hand and +yet beyond her reach. She thought, and we agreed with her, that another +day in the bush would have ended their lives, or at any rate that of the +little girl." + +As the narrator paused, Harry asked if the woman recovered her health +and strength completely. + +"She recovered her strength very soon," was the reply, "but her mind was +affected by her exposure and sufferings, and she was never quite herself +again, mentally. The children recovered completely after a few weeks of +nourishment, and the little girl who was so near dying in that hollow +tree has since grown up and married." + +"I think it is time for a story of less mournful character," said one of +the party. + +"By all means," said another; "let us have one." + +"Well, here it is," was the reply. + +"At the station of a wealthy squatter a party assembled one evening for +a good time and a supper. There were young men and young women, as well +as men and women who were not altogether young, who had been invited for +miles around, and they had a jolly time, you may well believe me. Some +of the young fellows, wishing to have some fun, disguised themselves in +rough clothes, blackened their faces, and frowzed up their hair in the +roughest kind of way. Then they suddenly appeared at the door of the +large room, and the cry of 'Bushrangers!' was raised. Some of the ladies +fainted in alarm, and all were more or less frightened. The joke was not +kept up very long, as the counterfeit bushrangers were not good +impersonators, and were speedily detected by their friends. There was a +great deal of fun and laughter over the trick that had been played, and +then the performers in the scheme resumed their ordinary dress and +continued in the games with the others. + +"An hour or so later, rough voices were heard outside of the house, and +soon there appeared in the doorway six or eight rough-looking men with +begrimed faces, untrimmed hair, and very shabby-looking garments, who +entered the hall with a very determined manner. Some of the party burst +out laughing, and exclaimed, 'Bushrangers again!' declaring that they +would not be fooled a second time. Some of the others had an instinctive +perception that this time the bushrangers were real ones." + +The narrator paused, and Harry asked if that was the case. + +"It was exactly," was the reply. "The men were notorious bushrangers who +had been troubling that part of the country for some time. The robbers +drew revolvers and ordered the men to 'bail up!' (hold up their hands) +which they did in a hurry, and then they were commanded to stand in a +row with their faces next to the wall. + +"Then the bushrangers ordered the ladies to provide them with +refreshments, while one was commanded to sit at the piano and entertain +them with music. No one was allowed to leave the room except under the +escort of a bushranger, for fear that word would be sent to the police. + +"The scoundrels ate and drank freely, and then took possession of all +the watches, jewelry, money, and other valuables in the possession of +the party. After making their collection they left the place. Word was +sent to the police as soon as possible, but as the police station was +several miles away, the information was of no practical value." + +"Were the scoundrels ever caught?" inquired Ned. + +"Yes, they were eventually caught and hanged," was the reply. "They +troubled that region for some time. The inhabitants dared not pursue +them, for fear of their vengeance, though all wanted to be rid of them. +Four men came from Melbourne with authority for taking these robbers, +dead or alive, and with the promise of a large reward. It was impossible +to keep their errand a secret, and none of the people dared give them +any assistance in consequence of their dread of what the bushrangers +might do if they heard of it. I know of one instance where these four +men applied to a squatter for a night's lodging and supper. He dared not +let his family know about the men being there, but lodged them in an +out-building, and with his own hands carried the food to them for their +supper." + +"And did these four men capture the bushranger gang?" queried Harry. + +"Not by any means," was the reply. "They were riding one day along the +road, when they suddenly found themselves face to face with the +bushrangers. A fight followed as a matter of course, and every one of +the four was killed. When the corpses were discovered, one of them was +found in a kneeling posture, as though he had died in the act of begging +for mercy. A ten-pound bank note was found sticking in a wound in his +breast, and evidently the bushrangers put it there, to show that in this +instance, at least, their object was revenge and not plunder. + +"That the bushrangers were a bad lot," continued the gentleman, "no one +will deny, but in many instances they showed chivalry and appreciation +of bravery. It was rare, indeed, that they ill-treated women or +children, and it was also very rarely the case that they committed +murder except in self-defense or for revenge. This led a good many +sentimental people to regard them rather in the light of dashing heroes +than that of downright criminals. You have probably heard of Captain +Melville, have you not?" he asked, turning to Harry and Ned. + +The youths nodded, and said the name of that famous bushranger was +familiar to them. + +"Well, it once happened," said their informant, "that Captain Melville +had in his power a man whom, of all others, he had most occasion to +dread,--an officer of high standing in the police force, at that time +engaged in pursuit of the robber, whom he declared he would take alive +or dead. This officer was riding one day alone and slightly armed, when +he suddenly met Melville with his entire gang. The police uniform +readily told the rank of the officer, and it happened that Melville and +several of his men were familiar with the officer's face. + +"He was immediately surrounded and disarmed; his hands were tied behind +his back, and his captives took him triumphantly to their camp. When the +camp was reached, the prisoner was bound to a wagon wheel while his +captors held a counsel to decide what to do with him. The officer was +noted for his courage, and when Melville came near him, he was taunted +by his captive for his cowardice in taking him at the time when he was +defenseless and alone. + +"Melville became angry at the taunt, and, walking towards his prisoner, +he placed a loaded revolver at his head and said, 'Say another word and +I'll blow your brains out.' + +"'You dare not do it,' replied the officer, and he looked with an +unflinching eye at the robber. + +"Melville's eyes glared, and probably the slightest show of fear on the +part of the officer would have provoked a fatal shot. + +"Melville held the pistol at the prisoner's head for a few seconds and +then lowered it, saying, as he did so, 'You are too brave a man to be +shot,' and then he turned and walked away. The officer afterwards +managed to escape and reach Melbourne safely. The supposition is that he +was assisted in escaping by one of the bushrangers who was tired of life +on the road and desirous of leaving it. The officer was able to promise +him immunity from punishment in return for his service in aiding the +latter's escape." + +"That reminds me of a story I heard not long ago," said Harry. + +"A lawyer in Australia was once defending a man whose family antecedents +and record were anything but good. Ignoring this, he made a most +touching plea about the gray-haired parents in England waiting to +celebrate Christmas with their returned wanderer. The jury found the man +guilty, however, and the judge, after sentencing him, remarked that the +learned counsel would have his wish; the convicted client was going to +the same prison where father and mother were already serving sentences. +Their Christmas would be passed under the same roof." + +Other stories were told during the course of the evening, but we have no +room for any more of them. When the last story was given, the youths +looked at their watches and were surprised to find the hour so late. +They immediately retired to their room and slept soundly, or at least +Ned did. Harry said he was disturbed somewhat by dreams of snakes, +bushrangers, unruly cattle, and horses, and of being lost in the bush. +Evidently the disturbance was not serious, as he was out at an early +hour with Ned to investigate the place and learn the peculiarities of an +up-country station in Australia. Here is what he wrote concerning what +he saw and heard before the announcement of breakfast:-- + +"The sights and sounds were not altogether unlike those of a farm in New +England, but there were many more of them, in consequence of the greater +size of the station. A farm in New England covering two or three hundred +acres of ground would be considered a large one. This station covers an +area ten miles square, or one hundred square miles. They have five +thousand head of cattle upon it and more than one hundred horses. Most +of the cattle, in fact, nearly all of them, are fully half wild. The +domesticated ones comprise a few yokes of oxen and a small herd of milch +cows, and even the cows are nowhere near as tame as the same animals +would be in New England. We went out to the milking yard and witnessed +the operation of milking three or four cows which had been driven in +from the paddock. Not one of the creatures would stand quietly to be +milked, as a well-mannered cow should do, and each one had to be driven, +led, or pulled into a frame or cage something like the frame in which +oxen are shod. When the cow was thoroughly secured in this way, with +one fore leg tied up so that she could not lift either of her hind legs, +the milkmaid, who was a big, rough-looking man, proceeded to milk the +animal. When the operation was concluded, another cow was brought up and +put through the same process. + +"I asked if they had any cows that would stand peaceably and submit to +the milking process. They answered me that they had such cows +occasionally, but not often; and the man with whom I talked seemed to be +rather proud of the circumstance, that Australian cows were more +high-spirited than American ones. + +"The stockmen had had their breakfast and were about starting for their +daily rounds. Some fifty or sixty horses had been driven in from a +paddock and enclosed in a yard large enough for five times their number. +A man went into the yard to select his horse for the day's riding, and +having singled out the animal, he made several ineffectual attempts to +capture him. When he approached the group, it divided and started off +for a different part of the yard. Then the man was joined by another, +and the horses at once concluded that it was time for their fun to +cease. They submitted quietly to being bridled and saddled, and one +after another they were led out of the yard as soon as this operation +was complete. + +"One of the stockmen remarked that he would like to see one of us +youngsters go in there and get a horse. + +"I replied that I had heard too many stories of the character of +Australian horses to induce me to make the attempt. + +"You are very wise not to do so," he answered. "They would have fun +with you by the hour, and then you would not be able to lay hands on one +of them. Whenever we get a new chum that is a green hand, we have a +jolly time seeing him work. He goes inside with one of the black boys, +and between them they manage to get a horse off into a corner. Then the +new chum takes his bridle over his arm and approaches the horse, talking +to him all the time. Australian horses don't understand that sort of +thing, and you might as well talk to the surf on the sea-coast as to one +of them. Just as the new chum gets up to within about four feet of the +horse's neck, the beast spins around on his hind legs, and is off like a +shot. He kicks and prances, and sometimes he lies down and rolls, and +all the time he is saying to himself, 'What a jolly time I am having.' + +"Then the new chum and the black fellow try it on again, and with the +same result. All the old hands sit around the fence and have a good +laugh, and we let the new chum keep at it until our sides are sore. +After awhile we agree that we have had enough of it, and then we turn in +and catch the horse and saddle him in about half no time. + +"But there is more fun to come," continued the stockman, "and that is +when the new chum tries to ride. He gets into the saddle, and just as he +gets fairly seated the horse begins to buck-jump. Perhaps you don't know +what buck-jumping is?" + +"I have heard of it," I said. "In fact, I have seen what was said to be +a very good performance of it, and that was in Buffalo Bill's show." + +"How high up in the air did the horses throw the fellows in the show?" + +"Oh, a little ways," I answered; "enough to pitch them out of the +saddles and bring them to the ground." + +"Oh, nonsense," said the stockman; "you wait till you see an Australian +horse send a new chum up into the air. I've seen a fellow tossed up so +high that he didn't look bigger than a dog. He must have gone up fifty +feet, at least, and he came down astraddle of the horse again." + +The man said this with all possible gravity, but I thought I could see a +twinkle at the corner of his eye. I smiled politely, as I did not want +to contradict him, and, at the same time, did not wish him to believe +that I swallowed his preposterous story. + +"Some of our horses," he continued, "will stand still and allow +themselves to be saddled, and then they will take a long breath, swell +themselves up with air, burst the girths, and throw the saddle up at +least twenty feet above them, and all this in one motion." + +"Seems to me, I have heard of something of the kind in America," I +remarked. "As I remember the story, they first fed the horse with +self-raising flour, and then gave him a pail of water to drink." + +The man stood silent for a moment, and then said, "You'll do, youngster; +you ought to stay in Australia." + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +EXPERIENCES AT A CATTLE STATION--A KANGAROO HUNT. + + +"They breed good horses in Australia," continued Harry in his journal. +"As a general thing, however, the horses of this part of the world are +vicious, and it is no wonder, when we consider that they are harshly +treated all their lives, and very rarely hear a kind word. The owner of +the cattle run gave orders that the gentlest animals should be reserved +for the visitors to ride, and I have no doubt that they were so +reserved. We found them anything but gentle, from our point of view, but +managed to get through the day without being thrown out of the saddles. +They danced and pirouetted more than was to our liking when we first +mounted, and it was only after we had ridden several miles that their +behavior was what might be called quiet. + +"The process of breaking horses to the saddle here is interesting, +though it is rough and cruel. The horses are kept all together in a +large paddock; some of them already broken, and some that have never +known saddle, bridle, or halter. Every morning they are driven up by the +black boys. Selections are made of the animals required for the day's +riding, and then the remainder are turned loose into the paddock again. +The daily visit to the paddock accustoms the younger horses to the +presence of men, so that they are not altogether wild when they are +taken in hand for breaking. + +"There is a class of men going about the country whose business it is to +break horses at so much a head; usually two pounds, or ten dollars. The +whole herd is driven into the yard, and then the horse breaker proceeds +to his work. With the aid of two or three black fellows he lassoos a +horse and puts a strong halter on him. Then, while the black fellows +hold the animal, he is saddled and bridled, and the breaker gets on his +back. The halter is gathered up around the horse's neck, and at the word +of command the black fellows jump away from him. + +"Then begins a lively performance of bucking and jumping, the rider all +the time clinging to the saddle with his knees. Sometimes the horse +tries to lie down and roll in order to free himself from his +incumbrance; he succeeds occasionally, but as a general thing he does +not. Even should he manage to shake off his ride, the latter is on the +creature's back again before he gets fairly on his feet, and then the +kicking and jumping are renewed. The rider keeps at the horse until he +has subdued him and ridden him several times around the yard; possibly +he may take a spin out into the paddock and back again, but he does not +always do so. The great point is to conquer at the first riding, and a +good horse-breaker never stops until he has done so. + +"After this lesson is over the horse is left with the saddle on his +back, and it is not taken off until he is turned into the paddock at +night. The next day he receives another lesson of the same sort, and +after a few days of this kind of training he is pronounced properly +broken, and fit 'for a lady to ride.' I shouldn't want any lady of my +acquaintance to venture on the back of such an animal. + +"I mustn't forget a trick that these horse-breakers have, and that is, +of getting on the back of a bucking steed, placing a half-crown piece +between each thigh and the saddle, and allowing the animal to go through +all the performance she chooses to, without once displacing the coins. +Exactly the same thing is done by the rough riders of our western States +and Territories, with the difference that they use half dollars instead +of half crowns. + +"We found the morning air around the station very agreeable. A gentle +breeze was blowing, and we caught the odor of the fragrant eucalyptus +mingled with that of the numerous flowers which ornamented and +brightened the grounds near by. We could hear the notes of several +birds, and louder than all the rest of their voices was that of the +laughing jackass, which has already been described. One of these birds +perched on the fence of the yard where the men were catching horses, and +Ned and I approached within twenty feet of him before he flew away. +Before doing so he treated us to a very jolly laugh, and both of us +laughed, too, in concert with him. + +"Breakfast was announced, and we went in to enjoy it. We had oatmeal, +mutton chops, and ham and eggs, with plenty of bread and butter, and +honey. I looked around the table for coffee, but saw none. There was a +large pot of tea, and Ned and I took it without a word of objection, +though we would have preferred coffee. We were already aware that +coffee is but little used in the country districts of Australia, tea +being the almost universal beverage, for the reason that it is more +stimulating than coffee and better for a steady diet. It is carried +about and prepared much more easily than coffee, and this, no doubt, is +one cause of its popularity. In the old days of placer mining, every +miner carried at his waist a 'billy,' or tin cup for drinking purposes, +and he regarded a billy of tea as a very important part of any meal. At +the present day, a goodly proportion of sundowners and other Australian +pedestrians carry billies at their waist belts and treasure them with +great care." + +We will listen to Ned as he tells the story of their ride among the +cattle. + +"While we were at breakfast," said Ned in his journal, "the horses were +saddled and bridled and brought up to the front of the house. There were +seven of us altogether. Our host, Mr. Syme, and his two brothers, a +black fellow called Jack, Dr. Whitney, Harry, and myself. Our host and +the doctor led the way; John, the elder of his brothers, rode with +Harry, the younger, William, with me, and the black fellow by himself. +That is to say, the black fellow, Jack, brought up the rear, to be ready +for use in case of an emergency. We found our companions well informed, +and ready to give us any information in their power. + +"For a mile or so we rode through an open, undulating region where the +grass was fairly abundant, though not densely so. One of our escorts +explained that the season had been a little dry, and the grass was not +appearing as well as usual. After passing this open stretch we entered +a forest principally of gum trees, whose white stems extended up a long +distance into the air before throwing out any limbs. From the gum forest +we passed into a stretch of scrub, and then entered a valley, through +which ran a small stream. The banks of the stream were fringed with +trees, and the open parts of it were thickly covered with grass. A mob +of some fifty or sixty cattle was grazing in this valley, and by the +orders of our host, the black fellow rode in among them, cracking his +whip loudly, and starting them off with heads and tails in the air. + +"'They'll go straight to the cattle camp,' said Mr. Syme, 'and that's +where we want them.' + +"I asked if each herd had its own cattle camp, and whether it was +possible to drive the animals to two or more different camps. + +"'We never try to do that,' said the young man at my side; 'we think it +quite sufficient if they will go to one camp only. You must remember +they don't have much chance for education, and there is a limit to their +powers of understanding.' + +"We chatted on various topics as we rode along, and in two hours from +the time of starting we reached the cattle camp. There was a herd there +of several hundred cattle, which pretty well filled the open space +forming the camp. Half a dozen stockmen were there with as many black +fellows, and there was also the Melbourne cattle dealer with two or +three assistants. + +"At one side of the camp there was a little hill or mound, and Harry and +I went there, as it afforded a better view of the camp than the lower +ground. It was a very interesting sight that we had from the mound. The +mass of cattle was moving about uneasily; the bulls were bellowing, and +pawing, and having an occasional fight; the cows were lowing for their +calves, from which they had become separated, and the young bullocks +were making mild disturbances in the ways peculiar to the bovine race. +The stockmen and black fellows were kept busy in preventing the straying +of the animals, but even with all their vigilance a refractory animal +would occasionally break away and disappear in the scrub. The cattle +dealer had already begun to select his purchases, and we watched with a +good deal of interest the process of separating them from their +companions, and this is the way they did it:-- + +"They cut out a small mob of cattle, perhaps a dozen or twenty animals, +and drove them off to one side. This was called the draft mob, or rather +it was the beginning of the draft mob. The cattle that were picked out +from the rest of the herd were put with these in order to keep them +quiet while the operation was going on, and then the original of the +draft mob were allowed to go back to the rest of the herd. + +"The cattle selected by the dealer were mostly young and fat bullocks, +possessing a good deal of strength and tempers of their own. They were +what is called 'rowdy' in this country, that is, they were badly +behaved, and it was no easy job for the stockmen to handle them. + +"The cattle dealer would indicate an animal that he wanted, and then two +of the stockmen would bring the creature out. Generally the bullock was +disinclined to go, and made things pretty lively for the stockmen. Each +man was mounted on a horse that knew his business and had done the same +kind of work many times before. The horses stuck to their work just as +earnestly as did the riders, and whenever a bullock tried to run away +they ran after him, and kept up with him, too. I wonder that horse and +riders did not break their necks in this performance, and one of the +young gentlemen with us said that accidents were by no means infrequent. +He said that sometimes the bullocks showed a tendency to use their horns +and charge upon the men and their horses just as the bull does in a +Spanish bull-fight. No accident happened while we were looking on, and +for this I am very thankful. + +"One by one, the cattle which the dealer wanted were separated from the +herd and placed in the draft mob until their number amounted to eighty. +Then the animals originally constituting the draft mob were allowed to +rejoin the herd, and the herd was permitted to scatter wherever it +liked. The draft animals were then taken in charge by the stockmen and +started on the road to Melbourne; perhaps I ought to say that they were +started for the nearest railway station and completed their journey with +the aid of steam. + +"By the time the drafting was completed the sun was past the meridian, +and Harry and I were as 'hungry as hunters,' to use the old expression. +We thought we would have to ride back to the station to get our +luncheon, and were agreeably disappointed when we found that a black +fellow had just arrived with a hamper, or rather a bag of provisions, +tied behind his saddle. Our host led the way to a well-shaded nook where +there was a spring of water, and we gathered around the spring at the +indication of our host, and prepared to do justice to the food that had +made such a welcome appearance. + +"A fire was kindled near by, and soon a steaming pot of tea was ready. +Tin cups made their appearance along with tin plates and knives and +forks, and I had a realizing sense of the delicious taste of a cup of +tea in the open air when one is hungry. The luncheon was a cold one, but +it was abundantly satisfying, and we thanked our host for his +thoughtfulness in providing it. + +"When we were near the end of our meal, one of the stockmen came in and +said something in a low tone to Mr. Syme. + +"The latter nodded briefly, and said, 'All right,' and then the stockman +went away. + +"Then Mr. Syme remarked, turning to us:-- + +"'On our way back to the station we'll go by a different road, and I +think I can show you something that will be new to you.' + +"He said nothing more, and left us to wonder what the new sight would +be. + +"I forgot to mention that when we started from the station we were +accompanied by several dogs. They had a good time ranging around over +the plain and through the forest after the manner of dogs when let +loose, and seemed to enjoy themselves thoroughly. They were large and +rather lank animals, and capable of making high speed when necessary. We +asked our entertainer what they were specially used for, and were told +that the animals were kangaroo dogs. + +"'We use them for hunting kangaroos,' said the young man who +accompanied me; 'and a well-trained kangaroo dog is a valuable piece of +property to have. The kangaroo is an ungainly looking creature, but he +can get over the ground with wonderful rapidity. He goes fourteen or +sixteen feet at a jump, and he can jump at a very lively rate. Ordinary +fences are nothing to him, as he can clear a six-foot fence at a single +bound.' + +"While we were at luncheon the dogs were close about us on a keen +lookout for any scraps or slices of meat that came in their way. + +"The remains of the luncheon were given to them after the black fellow +Jack had been duly cared for, but there wasn't enough of the provisions +remaining to give the animals an overdose. + +"When all was ready we mounted our horses, and our host led the way, +first announcing that he would show us some wild kangaroos. We came out +on the plain, and after riding three or four miles, approached a clump +of low trees and bushes, which was pointed out by the stockman whom I +mentioned. + +"'There are the kangaroos,' said Mr. Syme; 'we will go in on one side of +the clump, and give them a chance to make a run.' + +"Following his directions, we spread out into a somewhat extended line +and approached the bunch of timber from the northern side. The dogs +began to show uneasiness, but were held in check by their young masters, +who spoke to them in very emphatic tones. + +"We advanced a short distance into the bushes, keeping in line as well +as we could. Suddenly there was a great stir and a series of sounds, as +though some one was pounding violently on the ground with a club. + +"'There they go!' shouted Mr. Syme. 'Let off the dogs!' + +"Evidently the dogs understood what he said, as they did not wait for +the permission of their young masters. Away they went at full speed +after the kangaroos. There must have been twenty or thirty of the latter +making off across the plain in a southerly direction, but run as fast as +they did, the dogs could not keep up with those high-jumping creatures. +The speed was something prodigious. Our whole party started in full +gallop behind the dogs, the horses seeming to enter into the spirit of +the race quite as much as did their riders. + +"There wasn't much chance for conversation during this run, but the +young man who was acting as my escort managed to tell me that we would +have a race of about three miles. 'The kangaroo always runs for water,' +he said; 'and the nearest water in that direction is about three miles +away. They'll fetch up at a small pond and make a stand there.' + +[Illustration: "THERE THEY GO!" SHOUTED MR. SYME.] + +"I learned afterward that this was a peculiarity of the kangaroo, to +seek water whenever he is pursued. The country over which we rode was +not the smoothest in the world, being broken in some places by rocks, +and encumbered by fallen timber in others. Here is where the jumping +powers of the kangaroo came in handily, as he could clear rocks and logs +with the utmost facility, and he had the ability to select a +comparatively smooth spot to come down upon. His jumping is done with +the muscles of his very powerful hind legs. He doesn't use his fore legs +at all in walking or jumping, employing them principally as hands and +arms, very much as the American squirrel uses his paws. He can give a +tremendous hug with his fore legs, and that is one of his methods of +fighting. + +"This is a good place to say something about the natural history of the +kangaroo. + +"Australia is, emphatically, the home of this animal, as he is found in +a wild state in no other part of the world. Nearly all of the Australian +animals are marsupials; that is, they have pouches in which their young +are carried until able to take care of themselves. Of the large kangaroo +there are eight species, and the largest of them are fully six feet in +height and weigh one hundred and fifty pounds or more. Geologists say +that at one time there were, in Australia, marsupial animals closely +resembling the kangaroo but equaling the rhinoceros in size. They must +have been formidable fellows to attack! + +"The largest of all the kangaroos is the red one, and he is the one that +we hunted. Of the small kangaroos, weighing, say from ten to fifteen +pounds, there are seventeen species. Away in the interior of Australia +there are some silky-haired kangaroos about the size of an ordinary +rabbit, and there are several varieties still smaller, until you get +down to those about as large as an ordinary squirrel. All of them are +easily domesticated if taken when young, and they are very gentle pets. +They tell me that they had two at this station last year, and the dogs, +whose business it was to hunt the kangaroo, clearly understood that +they must leave these pet ones alone. Not only did they not harm the +animals, but got on very good terms with them, so that it was no +uncommon sight to see the kangaroos and the dogs lying down together in +a very well-mannered group. But one day, while the pets were in the +front of the house, a pack of strange dogs happened along and killed +them. + +"We didn't overtake the kangaroos until they reached the water; in fact, +we heard the loud barking of the dogs before we came in sight of the +pond. One of the largest males, commonly denominated here as an 'old +man,' was on a little mound of earth just even with the surface of the +water, while around him was a depth of about four feet. The dogs in +front of him were at a respectful distance, as they had a great dread of +and respect for his hind feet, which are a part of his fighting +equipment. The kangaroo's hind foot has three very strong toes, the +center one especially so. His method is to seize his assailant with his +fore paws, and rip him to death with his hinder ones, and sometimes he +drowns a dog by holding him under water. Many an incautious or verdant +dog has been killed in this way, and occasionally men have fallen +victims to the powerful hind feet of these animals. + +"The 'old man' kangaroo was defending himself bravely, and he had his +assailants at an advantage. The water was too deep for them to wade in. +Some were swimming about in front of him, carefully keeping out of +reach, while others were assailing his back. All of the dogs kept up a +loud barking, and kept looking around for human help. + +"The kangaroo was more than fifty feet from the shore of the pond or +pool, and when our party reached it, the animal was despatched by means +of a rifle in the hands of one of our party. The carcass was brought to +the shore and skinned, and a portion of the meat was fed to the dogs as +a reward for their exertions, and they ate it with avidity. In addition +to the 'old man,' we killed a young kangaroo, and the carcass, after +being disemboweled, was placed on the black fellow's horse and sent to +the station. + +"We had kangaroo steaks for dinner, and very toothsome they were, +reminding us more of mutton than any other meat. These steaks came from +the young kangaroo I just mentioned. The flesh of the 'old man' is too +rank for human food, though it is sometimes eaten when no other food is +to be had. The flesh of the young kangaroo is put up at meat-canning +establishments for transportation to England, and they also export large +quantities of soup made from kangaroo tails. Some people think this soup +is preferable to ox tail, or even to turtle. I asked one of our friends +about it, and he said, with a smile, that it was better when you +couldn't get either of the others. It is certainly an excellent soup, +and it's a pity that so much of the raw material goes to waste. + +"In returning from our hunt we crossed a portion of the ground where we +had chased the kangaroos. One of the dogs scented something in the +grass, and barked in a manner to attract the attention of his owners. +The men hastened to the spot and found a 'joey,' or baby kangaroo, +which its mother had taken out of her pouch and laid upon the soft +grass, intending to return and pick it up after the danger was over. It +was a pretty little creature, about a foot long, and covered with soft, +silky hair. One of the young men took charge of it and carried it +carefully to the station, his intention being to raise it and make a pet +of it, as he had made pets of the kangaroos that they lost the year +before. When taken at this age, the kangaroo becomes perfectly docile, +and never shows the least desire for a wild life. + +"Our host told us that when the kangaroos are hunted, and there is no +water within reach, an 'old man,' if cornered, will place his back +against a tree and sell his life as dearly as possible. It is very +dangerous to go near him when he is thus defending himself, and it is +considered a fortunate circumstance in a fight of this kind if none of +the dogs are killed or injured. + +"When the first settlements were made in Australia the kangaroos were +not especially numerous, though they were probably more abundant than +any other animals. Their numbers were kept down by the aboriginals, who +used to hunt them for food and clothing, for which the kangaroo skin was +used, and they were also kept down by the dingoes, or wild dogs. The +dingoes were then abundant, and unhappily they were fond of mutton, and +when sheep were brought to Australia the flocks were very much reduced +by the operations of the wild dogs. Of course, the sheep raisers took +vengeance on the dingoes, and poisoned them in great numbers. + +"At the same time, the aboriginals diminished steadily in number, owing +to causes previously stated, and those that remained preferred to live +upon mutton and beef obtained from the settlers rather than take the +trouble of hunting the kangaroo. Thus, the two natural enemies of that +animal were removed, and with their immunity from destruction the +kangaroos increased at a terrific rate. Their flocks and herds blackened +the fields for miles. They were frequently to be seen feeding among the +sheep, and as one kangaroo eats as much grass as three sheep, it will +readily be understood that the sheep farmer's flocks were in danger of +being starved out. + +"Millions of acres of land were thus rendered unfit for sheep or cattle +pasturage. The settlers presented their case to the colonial +governments, and the latter placed a bounty on kangaroo scalps. +Meantime, it was found that the skins were worth something, and then the +slaughter of the creatures began. + +"Hunting with dogs in the way I have already described was altogether +too slow, and a quicker method was devised and found successful. This is +the way of it:-- + +"A clump of trees a few acres in extent is selected as a central point. +Among these trees a stout yard is built, with a fence not less than ten +feet high and strong enough to resist any attack the kangaroo can make. +From the entrance of this yard two diverging fences of a somewhat +lighter character are built out upon the plain, the point of the fences +where they terminate being not less than a mile apart. When all is +ready, a day is appointed for the hunt, and notice is sent to everybody +within thirty or forty miles. The hunt is in charge of one of the oldest +settlers, and everybody is bound to obey his orders. + +"The day before the hunt or drive is to take place, the principal men to +engage in it meet at the house of the leader and receive their orders. +All the squatters and other settlers who can do so come to the hut, and +with them all their stockmen and black fellows who can be spared from +their daily work. Sometimes as many as a hundred people take part in the +drive, and they are spread out in such a way as to include a very large +area of ground. + +"At the appointed hour, they begin to move in a long line in the +direction of the clump of bushes where the yard is located, or rather in +the direction of the jaws of the extended fences. Whatever kangaroos +there may be in the area of the country enclosed by the hunters are +driven in the direction of the yard, and the driving is done very +quietly, to avoid alarming the animals before the ends of the line of +men reach the ends of the diverging fence. When this takes place the +drive is pushed more rapidly, and the thoroughly frightened animals make +rapid leaps in the direction of the clump of timber, not suspecting that +in doing so they are going to their death. Before they are aware of it +they are inside the yard, and as the last of the drove enters, the gate +is closed and the animals are hopelessly imprisoned. + +"Sometimes thousands of kangaroos are taken in a single drive, and the +bounty obtained from the government, added to the value of the hides, is +divided among those who have participated in the hunt, or it may be +applied to some needed public work in the neighborhood. + +"The hides are pegged out and dried, and after being packed into bales +they are shipped to various parts of the world. There is an increasing +demand in the United States for kangaroo leather, as you are doubtless +aware. Kangaroo flesh is put into tin cans for the market, but by far +the greater part of the meat obtained from a single drive is left on the +ground. + +"Mr. Syme tells us that when the aboriginals used to hunt the kangaroos, +they killed them with the boomerang or the spear. In hunting with the +boomerang, they would creep up very slowly until within range, and +whenever they threw the weapon, it was generally with fatal effect. In +hunting with the spear, a native used to dress up so as to look like a +bush, by surrounding himself with twigs and vines. He carried his spear +in an upright position, so that it appeared to form an apex of the bush. +Then he walked slowly along, standing perfectly still when the kangaroo +raised its head to look around, and only moving while the animal grazed. +In this way, and by taking plenty of time, he would get up within +spear-throwing distance, and the rest of the story tells itself." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +HUNTING THE EMU AND OTHER BIRDS--AN AUSTRALIAN SHEEP RUN. + + +It was pretty well along in the afternoon when the party reached the +station on its return. Our friends agreed that they had had an excellent +day, and the sights they had witnessed were full of interest. + +Mr. Syme asked the doctor and our young friends if they were good shots +with the rifle or shot-gun. They modestly and truthfully answered that +they had had very little experience in shooting, but were willing to +make a trial of their skill. + +"Very well," said the host, "we will go out to-morrow and make an effort +to obtain some birds. We will begin with the largest bird of Australia, +the emu, and see what luck we can have with him." + +"I've read about that bird," said Harry; "he doesn't fly, but he can run +very fast. I have read that he will outrun a horse; is that really so?" + +"Yes," was the reply; "he can outrun most horses; in fact, it requires +an exceedingly fleet steed to overtake him. It is very little use to try +to run him down by a dead chase after him. The best way is to station +the horses along in a line about half a mile or so apart, and then chase +the bird in their direction. Each horseman takes up the chase with a +fresh animal until the emu is tired out, and then the dogs are sent in +to finish the work." + +Our young friends slept well that night, the result of their exercise on +horseback in the open air; in fact, they didn't care to sit up late, and +retired much earlier than on the previous evening. + +The next morning the party started very soon after breakfast, and the +way was taken to an open plain, three or four miles across, and fringed +with timber. When they neared the plain they met a black fellow, who had +been sent out early in the morning to find the game. He had found it, +and informed his master where it was. + +Then the horsemen were spread out in the manner already mentioned, and +the bird was started out of a little clump of timber where they had +taken shelter. Harry and Ned were surprised to see the manner in which +he ran. He seemed to be ready to drop with exhaustion, and Harry +confidently predicted that he would fall dead from fright before going a +mile. But somehow he managed to keep in advance of his pursuers, and +whenever they quickened their pace he quickened his, but all the time +keeping up the appearance of weariness. The last of the horsemen, +however, approached within two hundred yards of the emu, who was by this +time really tired. Then the dogs were turned loose, and they speedily +overtook the bird and pulled him down. One of the dogs was quite +severely injured in the fight with the bird, but his wounds were dressed +and bandaged, and his owners said he would soon be well again. + +The emu is called the Australian ostrich, and he resembles that bird in +being unable to fly, running with great rapidity and using his feet for +fighting purposes. He strikes a heavy blow with his foot, and a single +stroke of it is sufficient to disable a dog or break a man's leg. The +young man who accompanied Harry told him that he knew of an instance +where an emu was chased and overtaken by a man on horseback, accompanied +by dogs. The bird became desperate at finding he could not escape. As +the horse approached, the bird threw itself on its back and kicked +savagely, ripping the side of the animal with its claws. The horse was +so badly lacerated that it was necessary to shoot him. + +If caught when young or hatched out from an egg, the emu can be easily +domesticated, but he is a dangerous pet to have about the premises. Like +the ostrich, it has a love for bright things, and has been known to +swallow silver spoons and other shining articles. One day a stranger, +standing close to the fence of a yard where a tame emu was kept, took +out his gold watch to ascertain the time. The bird was attracted by the +glittering object, and with a quick motion he seized it and dropped it +down his throat. Several black fellows were called, who secured the bird +with some difficulty, poured a powerful emetic into his stomach, and +then hung him up by the feet. This heroic treatment had the desired +effect, and restored the watch to its owner. + +The eggs of the emu are in demand as great curiosities, and Australian +jewelers work them into various ornamented articles and sell them +readily at a high price. The perpetual hunt for the eggs, which is kept +up by the blacks, is steadily diminishing the number of these birds, +and, in course of time, there is danger that they will become extinct. + +Another bird that was seen by our friends, but not captured, is the one +known as the native companion. It is a large bird, belonging to the +crane family. Its head stands about three feet from the ground, its legs +are long, and its plumage is a lavender gray. It is rarely seen alone, +there being generally two of them together, and very often a dozen or +more. In this instance there were two birds, which went away rapidly on +their wings and were soon lost to sight. When there is a large number of +them together, they indulge in a series of evolutions which have a close +resemblance to the movements of accomplished dancers. They advance, +recede, turn, return, and go through a variety of figures like dancers +in the quadrille or the minuet. Sometimes they keep up these +performances for an hour or more, and seem to indulge in them entirely +for the sake of amusement. + +Harry asked if they would have an opportunity to see the famous lyre +bird of Australia. "We saw two of them," said he, "in the Zoo at +Melbourne, and therefore, know what their appearance is, but we would +like very much to see them in their wild state." + +"The lyre bird is getting very scarce in Australia," said their young +friend, "and I have never seen one in this locality. The bird frequents +mountainous regions where the forests are somewhat dense, and very +rarely comes out into the open plain. It is about the size of an +ordinary barnyard fowl, but looks much larger, owing to its beautiful +tail, which is very long, and grows exactly in the shape of the +instrument after which it is named. It is a very clever mocking bird, +and will reproduce the notes of all its forest companions, but it is +very shy and difficult to get at, and unless it is got when very young +it cannot be domesticated. + +"We have wild turkeys here," continued their informant; "and they are +very good eating; perhaps some of our party will be fortunate enough to +bring down a turkey or two before we go back. There is one fowl here +called the mallee bird, about the size of the pheasant, and resembling +him in many ways. He generally lives near the edge of the mallee scrub, +and his flesh is very much esteemed by all who have eaten it. The mallee +is a gregarious bird, and at the breeding season large numbers of them +come together. They collect great heaps of dry leaves, among which a +number of hen birds lay their eggs, indiscriminately taking care to +cover them up warmly. + +"They don't take any trouble to hatch their eggs, but leave that for the +heat of the dry and decaying vegetable matter. When the time approaches +for the chicks to break the shell, the male birds hover about on the +watch for their appearance, and snakes, also, like to come around, in +the hopes of securing a few of the tender birds as they emerge into +daylight. When the chick comes out from the egg, his skin is pink and +bare, and hardly a sign of a feather is visible; but within twenty-four +hours, during which the feathers spread so rapidly that you can almost +see their growth, the bird is fully fledged and feathered, and able to +take care of itself." + +An amusing circumstance happened during the day's excursion. Ned was +the victim of it, and he did not consider it at all amusing until after +it was all over. This was the way of it:-- + +While the party was halted at one time, discussing where next they would +go, the dogs disturbed something, but neither of our young friends could +make out what it was. They were in the open country at the time, though +not far from the edge of the bush. The something that the dogs had +disturbed came directly towards the party, and Ned happened to be nearer +to it than anybody else. The creature looked like a small alligator, and +that's what Ned and Harry thought it was. Ned had dismounted from his +horse and was standing by the animal's head, waiting for the decision +about their movements. The animal came directly up to Ned and climbed up +his side. It was about five feet long, and a very formidable-looking +creature. The youth immediately began fighting the animal, and shouted +for his friends to pull him off. + +"Lie down on the ground," said one of the Australians; "lie down on the +ground, and he will leave you at once. He is just as much frightened as +you are." + +Ned flung his horse's bridle to one of his friends, and then obeyed +instructions. He dropped to the ground, and immediately as he did so the +horrid-looking creature left him. + +"What in the world is that?" said Ned, as he rose to his feet again and +regained his composure. + +"That's an iguana, or lizard," was the reply. "It is perfectly harmless +as long as you know how to deal with it. When it is pursued by dogs, it +runs to its hole if it can; if its hole is not available, it climbs a +tree until it is out of reach of its pursuers, and if no tree is at +hand, it will climb on a man or a horse. It selected you as a place of +shelter, and I warrant it was more scared than you were." + +"It might be easily mistaken for an alligator," said Ned, surveying the +animal as it was stretched on the ground, having been killed by a blow +on the head from the butt of a stockman's whip. + +"Yes, it is often mistaken for a young alligator. I have known of an +iguana to appear in a party of pleasure seekers, picnicking in the +woods, and make quite a serious disturbance. The ladies screamed and +fled and some of them fainted. Some of the men fled, too, but those who +knew about the creature quickly despatched him." + +"Is it useful for food?" + +"Yes; the blacks use it, and are very fond of it, but white men don't +'hanker after it,' as your American phrase is. However, those who have +been bold enough to taste it assert that, when well cooked, the flavor +is excellent." + +"Well, it doesn't look very inviting," Ned remarked; "and I don't think +I would care for iguana for dinner." + +"You may not care for it," was the reply, "but the black fellows will. +Here, Jack," he continued, addressing the aboriginal, "you can have +this." + +Jack needed no second invitation. With a smile on his face, he quickly +took possession of the huge lizard and strapped it to his saddle. No +doubt the meat of the iguana gave the blacks at the station a supper +that they greatly enjoyed. + +Another day was spent at the cattle station, Harry and Ned going out +with one of the stockmen and accompanying him on his morning round. Dr. +Whitney thought he did not care for any more horseback exercise just +then, and spent the day around the station. The youths enjoyed their +ride very much, and returned to the house in time for luncheon. + +It had been arranged that our young friends should visit a sheep run +about twenty miles away, and on the morning of the fourth day Mr. Syme +took them in his covered wagon to their destination. The road was not a +very smooth one, but the wagon, which was well built, suffered no +injury, and as for the passengers, they did not mind a little jolting. +They reached their destination with very sharp appetites, and evidently +their new host, Mr. Johnson, was aware of what their condition would be, +as a substantial meal was on the table a few minutes after their +arrival; and you may be sure that it received ample attention from the +strangers. + +After the meal was over, the party went out for a stroll among the +buildings connected with the station. The house where the owner lived +was a solidly built affair, not unlike the one they had sojourned in for +a few days at the cattle station. There was this difference, however, +that it was elevated on posts about six feet from the ground, giving +free circulation of air beneath it, and furnishing a good place of +storage for various things connected with the station. + +In reply to an inquiry by Harry, Mr. Johnson said that this arrangement +of the building was a good one to keep out snakes. "It doesn't keep them +out altogether," said he, "as there are snakes that will climb posts, +but ordinarily serpents do not attempt that performance. When I first +came to Australia, I lived in a house which stood right on the ground. +The region was a snaky one, and every little while we would find a snake +in the house, and have a lively time driving him out or killing him. +None of the family was ever bitten by a snake, but we certainly had some +narrow escapes. When I came here and built this house, I determined to +have a dwelling which these unpleasant visitors could not easily enter." + +Harry remarked that a snake-proof house was certainly quite to his +liking, and he hoped the building would continue to display its +admirable qualities as long as he remained there. + +The youths were impressed with the size and extent of the wool shed +belonging to the establishment, and Ned remarked that they must have a +very active time during the shearing season. + +"It is our most active time," was the reply; "the busiest of all the +year. Ordinarily the life on a sheep run is quiet and humdrum, but when +shearing time begins everything is lively. We engage the shearers as +they come along, in parties or gangs. They are a difficult lot of men to +deal with, as they have a very powerful trade union which stands by its +members, with little regard to right or wrong. The shearing is done by +piece work. We used to pay three pence for shearing a sheep, or rather +we paid five shillings a score. A good shearer can do fourscore in a +day, and consequently he earns twenty shillings or one sovereign. That's +pretty good pay, isn't it?" + +"Seems to me that it is," replied Harry. "Do you board the shearers, or +do they find themselves?" + +"Oh, we have to board them, of course, and we have to board their +horses, as most of the shearers travel on horseback. But the feed of a +horse isn't of much consequence, as we simply turn him into the paddock +and let him graze there. Sometimes we hire a fiddler to play for the men +while they are at work in the shearing house, and also in the evening, +when they are off duty. Sometimes a gang of shearers brings along its +own cook. They pay the cook's wages themselves, but the employer +supplies the material out of which the shearers' meals are made. These +fellows are very particular as to their treatment, and if they feel that +they are ill-used in any way, they are liable to quit work and go away." + +"They ought to earn a very nice little sum of money during the shearing +season," observed Harry. + +"They certainly do," was the reply; "especially as, for the last two +years, they have demanded four pence and even five pence for each sheep +sheared. I expect they'll get it up in time so as to take most of the +profits of the business. It makes little difference to the great +majority of them how much they get for their work, as it is generally +gone by the end of the shearing season." + +"That reminds me," said Mr. Johnson, "of the visit of a gentleman from +Melbourne to a sheep station up country. He went there with a friend, +reaching the station about dinner time. He was introduced to the owner +of the station, who greeted him cordially enough, and invited the two of +them to remain at dinner, which would be ready shortly. He strolled +about the buildings for a little while, and when dinner was announced, +he went in and joined the others at table. + +"The table was well supplied, and he had no occasion to complain of the +quality or quantity of the food set before him; but he was somewhat +surprised to find that no one spoke to him, except in the briefest +manner, and that every one seemed desirous of being rid of him as soon +as possible. In fact, there was very little conversation at the table, +anyway, and as soon as they were through dinner he suggested to his +friend that they had better be moving. Their team was brought out, and +they continued their journey, their temporary hosts not even taking the +trouble to say good-day to him. + +"When they were out of earshot of the place, the Melbourne gentleman +remarked to his companion, who, by the way, was a good deal of a +practical joker:-- + +"'I don't think much of your friends from a civility point of view. They +were as rude to me as a party of savages could be.' + +"'I don't wonder at it,' was the reply. 'Just for the fun of the thing, +I told them you were president of the Sheep Shearers' Union.' + +"'If you told them that outrageous lie,' said the other, 'I am not at +all surprised that they treated me as they did, but please don't do it +again.' + +"I don't believe that the president of the Shearers' Union would +receive a hearty welcome at any sheep run in Australia. Sheep farmers +have good reason for a serious grudge against the whole concern; but, +after all, it is no worse than most of the other trade unions. Nearly +all of them are oppressive to a high degree, and are a great injury to +business and commercial prosperity." + +Ned and Harry were especially interested in the place where the shearing +was done. The building was a large structure of quadrangular shape, with +a bulkhead running across the middle of it and dividing it into two +portions. There is a platform for the shearers around one of the +enclosures formed, and by the bulkhead at shearing time; this is always +kept full of sheep; in fact, it is crowded full, so that the shearer can +lay hands on a sheep at any time without the necessity of running after +it. The shearers stand at their work. They have tried various devices +for sitting down or for placing sheep on a bench or table so as to avoid +bending their backs, but none of the experiments have succeeded, and the +old process remains in use. It is decidedly fatiguing for a beginner, +but in course of time one gets used to it, as to everything else. + +"What is that little door for, and the little yard outside of it?" +queried Ned, as he pointed to one of a series of low, small doors at the +outside of the shearers' platform, opposite the enclosure. + +"Oh, that is for the shearer to let out his sheep after he has removed +the fleece. He takes the animal to be sheared out of the enclosure, as I +told you, and then when he has sheared it, he lets it out through this +door into the little yard; that is to enable us to count the men's work +in a way to avoid all disputes. In the early days of Australian sheep +farming, the men who gathered up the fleece kept the accounts of the +shearers, but there were constant disputes on the subject, which led to +the adoption of the present system. You see there isn't any chance for +misunderstanding now." + +"Certainly, you have it now beyond question," remarked Harry; "and I am +sure that every shearer is very careful about letting his sheep out +through his own door." + +"That he is," was the reply; "and we never have any complaints about +unfair counting. At the end of the day's work everybody can count up for +himself." + +"I suppose," said Ned, "that the shearers occasionally cut the sheep +while shearing them." + +"Occasionally!" was the reply; "you had better say frequently, or very +often; and some of them are much worse than others. We have proposed to +the Shearers' Union to establish a system of fines for 'tomahawking' +sheep, but the union refuses to do anything about it. We always have a +boy here, and sometimes two boys, while the shearing is going on. The +boy is provided with a tar bucket and brush. Whenever a shearer cuts the +skin of a sheep he calls out 'Tar!' not stopping a moment in his work. +At the sound of that word, the boy runs forward with his bucket and +brush and covers the wounded spot with tar, which keeps the flies away +from it. Tar is the best thing we can find for this purpose, and is in +use on all the sheep runs in the country. + +"Many of the shearers," continued their host, "pride themselves on the +skill with which they perform their work. The shearer places the sheep +between his knees with its head upwards; he begins at the throat and +shears downward, so that, when his work is completed, the fleece drops +off in a single piece. As fast as the sheep are sheared, the fleeces are +gathered by the man whose duty it is to collect them. They are then +taken to the baling house, and, when a sufficient quantity has been +obtained, the fleeces are made into bales, in much the same way that +cotton is baled on an American plantation." + +Mr. Johnson then led the way to the baling house, or rather the baling +room, as it was in the same building where the shearing is carried on. +The baling apparatus proved to be a simple affair, nothing more than a +press, very much like a cotton or hay press, and handled in the same +way. The bales of wool usually weigh about four hundred pounds, and are +manipulated with hooks, just as cotton bales are handled. + +Ned asked if it was necessary to have the wool perfectly dry when +packing it. + +"Yes, indeed," was the reply; "and for that reason all work in the wool +shed must stop during wet weather. The fleeces, when taken from the +sheep, must be absolutely dry, and if the sheep are caught out in a +rain, it takes two or three days to dry them thoroughly. It is a serious +loss of time when we have occasional rainy days, as we lose not only the +rainy day itself, but not less than one or two clear days afterwards in +order to have the fleeces in proper condition for baling." + +Other observations were made around the wool shed, and about the time +that they were concluded a flock of sheep came in from its day's +pasturage. There were about five hundred sheep in the flock, accompanied +by the shepherd and his dog. They were not driven to the wool shed, but +to a yard a little distance away from it. The sheep were in good +condition and evidently well cared for. + +Harry remarked as much to the owner, who answered that the man in charge +of them was a very faithful shepherd, and he added that he might well be +so, as he was constantly under the eye of his employer. + +After looking at the flock and visiting several other buildings of the +establishment, the party returned to the house, and in due course of +time sat down to dinner. The entertainment was very much like that of +the cattle station. The cooking was good, the host was attentive, the +meal was enlivened by stories of sheep-farming life, and altogether the +occasion was a pleasant one. + +The next morning Mr. Johnson accompanied his guests in a horseback ride +over a portion of his grounds. As the sheep run covered an area of about +one hundred square miles, it was too much to expect that they would +examine the whole of it. They visited two or three of the out-stations, +and saw the shepherds caring for their flocks. Each of the out-stations +that they visited consisted of a hut for two men, and two yards where +the sheep were kept at night. As already mentioned in our account of the +visit of the party to a sheep farm in South Africa, each shepherd +started out in the morning with his flock, moving it slowly along so as +to reach water about noon, and then slowly feeding it back again, +reaching the station about nightfall. + +Nearly every shepherd has a sheep dog, partly for the sake of +companionship and partly for assistance. A good sheep dog is a very +useful and valuable animal. He aids the shepherd in keeping the flock +together whenever any of them show a disposition to straggle, and the +sheep speedily learn to know him and regard him as their friend. He +never injures them, though he frequently makes a great pretense of doing +so. Sometimes he takes a refractory sheep by the ear, or seizes it by +the wool on his neck, but the case is exceedingly rare where he +perpetrates an actual bite. + +The favorite dog for the shepherd is the collie, but other kinds are +employed, and many an ordinary cur has been trained by an intelligent +master so that he made an excellent sheep dog, though he can never +attain the excellence of the genuine collie. The real shepherd dog will +accomplish more than would be possible for a man under the same +circumstances. He will drive a flock from place to place, gather them +together to be counted, and take them from one field to another much +quicker than a man could do it. A story is told of an instance that +happened in Scotland, to James Hogg, known in literature as "The Ettrick +Shepherd." Seven hundred sheep broke loose one night from his charge, +and scampered off in three divisions across the plain. It was too dark +to see anything for any appreciable distance, and the shepherd supposed +he would have to wait until morning, and then take his chances of +collecting his animals. Shortly afterwards he missed his dog. In the +morning he went out to look for the sheep, but saw no sign of them until +he reached the edge of a ravine and looked over the side. There he saw +the dog guarding the entire flock, not one of the seven hundred being +missing. How he ever managed to collect them in the dark, his owner +could not imagine. A dozen, or even a hundred men, would have failed +where he succeeded. + +Near the end of the last century there was a sheep stealer in Scotland, +who was finally discovered and hanged for his crimes, who used to carry +on his trade by the aid of his dog. He traveled about the country under +pretense of buying sheep, though he rarely bought any. While looking at +a flock, he would pick one of the fattest and give a secret signal to +his dog, indicating the animal. That night the dog would come to the +flock where the sheep belonged, often traveling several miles to do it; +then would pick out the identical animal and drive it to his master. If +he happened, at any time, to meet his master on the road while going on +one of his stealing expeditions, the dog would give no sign of +recognition, and treat his master as a perfect stranger. When the man's +guilt was discovered, and he was tried and condemned for his crime, the +dog was also condemned to be hanged; but it was afterwards concluded +that the dog was simply an instrument, in the hands of his owner, and +not responsible for his actions. He was given to a shepherd, who kept +the animal as long as he lived; and, according to the shepherd's +account, the dog was never afterwards guilty of any crime. + +During their ride among the out-stations of the sheep run, our young +friends learned several things connected with the industry of raising +wool for the market. + +One fact which they learned was, that for a portion of the year, a great +many sheep farmers are in debt to the bankers at the ports where they +send their wool. They have a considerable amount of money to pay out +during the course of the year before shearing time, and consequently +they require advances from their bankers. It is not at all difficult to +obtain money in advance on a crop of wool, and in this respect a sheep +run has an advantage over a cattle run. Even when the sheep farmer is +growing rich, and has money laid by, he often prefers to obtain advances +on his wool crop rather than use his own money for carrying on business. +When the crop comes in, all the indebtedness is paid off, and there is +usually a good balance left. This may be set aside and invested, or it +may remain at the banker's, to be drawn whenever wanted. + +Sheep farmers keep very little money at their stations in the country +districts for fear of attracting bushrangers, or other individuals, +whose ideas of the rights of property do not harmonize with those of +society in general. In many cases laborers are paid off by check, and +not in cash, and it is no uncommon sight to see a laboring man, in an +Australian town or village, flourishing a check previous to turning it +into money, which he proceeds to spend with a liberal hand. + +Another point that they learned was, that there are certain portions of +Australia between the mountains and the coast, particularly in +Queensland, that are not adapted to sheep, though they make excellent +pasturage for cattle. In these localities there is a grass that has a +barb on its edges, and when once it becomes attached to the wool of the +sheep, it steadily works its way inward until it pierces the skin of the +animal, and eventually causes its death. Cattle are not affected by this +grass, as it does not penetrate their skins. They walk in it and feed +upon it with impunity, and in any of the regions where this grass is +found there is no attempt at rearing sheep, but the land is devoted to +cattle raising. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +FROM MELBOURNE TO SYDNEY--CROSSING THE BLUE MOUNTAINS. + + +When their visit to the sheep run was concluded, our friends returned to +Melbourne, where they spent two or three days, and then proceeded to +Sydney. Two ways were open to them, one by sea, and the other by land; +they chose the latter, as it would give them an opportunity to see more +of the country than if they went by water. The water journey is mostly +made by night, and consequently they would be deprived of a sight of the +picturesque coast which lies between the two cities. + +The railway out of Melbourne runs through a picturesque country, as it +ascends the slope of the dividing range of mountains in the neighborhood +of the city. There are many country residences of gentlemen concerned in +business in Melbourne, and the country has a prosperous appearance. +Further away on the slope of the range, our friends passed through large +wheat fields, sheep and cattle runs, occasional patches of forest, and +not infrequently crossed small rivers flowing on their way to the sea. +They also crossed a goodly number of dry beds of rivers, which had every +appearance of being full and running over in the season of heavy rains. +The side of the range next the coast receives more rain than the other +side of it, and the reasons therefor have been given in a previous +chapter. + +After the train had passed the crest of the range, it rolled along +through a broken and undulating country, largely devoted to sheep and +cattle raising, and having many stretches of blue gum forest. In some +places great numbers of rabbits were visible, but this was a sight to +which the eyes of our young friends had become accustomed. As they +approached the frontier of the colony of Victoria, Dr. Whitney remarked +that they would spend the rest of the day and the night at Albury, so as +to have another view of the Murray River, and study the peculiarities of +the colonial frontier. + +"I believe," said Harry, "that we have our baggage examined at the +frontier, just as it is examined at the frontiers of the empires and +kingdoms of Europe." + +"Yes," replied the doctor, "that is the case; and I suppose the +examination will be a light one for us, as we are going out of a +protection colony into a free trade one. If we were going the other way, +the custom house officials would be more particular." + +"How is that?" Ned asked. + +"Why, don't you see?" the doctor answered, "a protection country is on +the lookout for goods that may interfere with its manufacturing +interests; the free trade one has no such care for its manufacturing +industries, but levies its duties on articles of luxury principally. +When you come into the United States, your baggage is examined much more +carefully than when you go into England. England is a free trade +country, while our own is a protection one; at least it has been for +the greater part of the time since it began its existence." + +"It is rather a strange circumstance," remarked Ned, "that two colonies +of the same country, lying side by side, and one of them an offshoot of +the other, should be so radically different in their tariff laws. How do +you account for it, sir?" + +"We are treading on dangerous ground," replied the doctor, "as it is not +prudent for a traveler in foreign lands to talk politics; but as we are +quite by ourselves, we may be permitted to discuss the subject a little. +Victoria, as you are aware, is an offshoot from the colony of New South +Wales, from which it was separated in August, 1851. I don't know +anything about the matter, but presume that the origin of the +differences in tariffs between the two colonies grew out of the +opposition of the new to the old. There has always been a great deal of +jealousy between them, and as New South Wales had a free trade policy, +it was the most natural thing in the world that the jealous young colony +of Victoria should adopt a protection one. In each of the colonies there +is a strong party opposed to its tariff policy; in Victoria there is a +goodly number of free-traders, while in New South Wales there is an +equally good number of protectionists. Whatever a man's views are, in +regard to free trade or protection, it is generally useless to attempt +to change them by argument; and if he is a skilled debater, he can give +you facts and figures to demonstrate, with great clearness, the +correctness of his views. On that point I can tell you what was to me an +amusing story." + +"What was that?" + +"Several years ago, when the financial authorities of the two colonies +had made their annual reports, the two documents were taken by a free +trade writer for an English magazine, and out of them, by the use of the +figures and facts that they contained, there was constructed an +admirable article, demonstrating, with great clearness, the advantages +of free trade in New South Wales. Almost simultaneously in an American +newspaper appeared a similar article, drawn from the same facts and +figures, which demonstrated with equal clearness and with equal +conclusiveness the advantages of protection in Victoria. There was not a +weak point in either of the articles, and the curious thing was that +they were drawn from the same sources. Each writer showed that the +colony whose tariff policy he had favored was far more prosperous than +the other, and was making progress steadily, while the other was running +behind." + +"It's pretty much the same in our own country, is it not?" queried +Harry. "It seems to me that I have read articles in the New York +_Tribune_ and the New York _Evening Post_ that were flatly contradictory +of each other on the subject of the tariff." + +"Yes; that is quite likely the case, as both of the papers you name are +ready to debate the subject, and it is evident that the writers upon +both sides of the question believe what they say. I don't think it worth +our while to enter into the abstract question here, and so we'll drop it +for something else. You are aware, I presume, that we have to make a +change of train at the frontier on account of the different gauges of +the railways of the two colonies." + +"Yes, sir, I was aware of that," said Harry; "one track is six inches +wider than the other." + +"Yes; that is another indication of the hostility between the two +colonies. When the railway between Sydney and Melbourne was projected, +it was impossible for the opposing interests to agree upon a uniform +track for the whole distance, and consequently each colony did as it +chose. The result was, that the Victorian line was of one gauge, and +that of New South Wales of another. Neither passenger nor freight cars +can run through from one city to the other, but all passengers and +freight must be transferred at the frontier." + +"Let me call your attention to another thing while we are on the subject +of colonial disagreements," the doctor remarked. "Each of the colonies +has its own postal system and each its own postage stamp. In New South +Wales, a Victorian stamp would be of no use, any more than would a +British postage stamp in the United States Post-office. You can prepay +letters from one colony to the other in the stamps of the colony where +you happen to be, but if you post a letter in Sydney with a Victorian +stamp upon it, I am afraid it would go to the dead letter office, just +as if it had borne no stamp at all." + +"What a pity it is," said Harry, "that the colonies cannot reconcile +their differences and come together." + +"You are not the first one, by any means, who has thought so," was the +reply. "Statesmen have been for a considerable time discussing the +question of a federation of all the colonies in the same way that the +British American colonies are federated. Federation would have been +accomplished long ago, at least it is so claimed by the others, had it +not been for New South Wales, which stands aloof from the rest +principally on account of the tariff question. All the other colonies +are in favor of the protection of home industries, while New South +Wales, as before stated, favors a free trade policy. I saw, while in +Melbourne, a cartoon representing several young women standing in a +circle. All were dressed in white and wreathed with roses, and the +various members of the circle were marked with the names of Victoria, +Tasmania, Queensland, South Australia, New Zealand, and West Australia. +A little in the background, and leaning against the wall with one finger +in her mouth as though she were angry, was a young woman dressed in +black, and labeled 'New South Wales.' The others were evidently trying, +but without success, to induce her to join the circle. + +"I presume," he continued, "that federation will come in time, and an +Australian gentleman told me the other day that he believed it would be +a step towards independence. He thought, as do many other Australians, +that the long distance from the mother country and their diversity of +interests would tend, as the years go on, to weaken the bonds between +Great Britain and her Australian colonies, and that separation would be +sure to come. The colonies realize their great danger in case Great +Britain should become involved in a foreign war, and especially with a +power possessing a powerful navy. The colonies have a military force on +the volunteer system, which could no doubt do efficient service in time +of war. The British government maintains a certain number of warships in +Australian waters, but neither they nor the volunteer troops provided by +the colonies would be of much avail against a powerful force sent here +by a first-class power." + +There was further conversation upon various topics of which we have no +record, and in due course of time the train reached Wodonga, the +frontier terminus of the line. It halted a few minutes in the station, +and then moved on to Albury, in New South Wales, crossing the Murray +River on an iron bridge; Harry remarking, as they did so, that it was +the same Murray, though not the same bridge, that they crossed between +Adelaide and Melbourne. + +Harry learned, on inquiry, that the railway line from Melbourne reached +Wodonga in 1873, but the line from Sydney did not arrive at the northern +bank of the Murray until eight years later. There were disagreements +between the management of the two concerns, so that for three years the +ends of the two railway lines were not brought together. Passengers were +transferred by coaches or omnibuses, and baggage and freight by wagons, +between Wodonga and Albury, a distance of two miles. At last, however, +the quarrels came to an end. A bridge was built, the lines of railway +were completed, and since then everything has been harmonious. +Passengers from New South Wales cross the river in the train by which +they have arrived, and alight in the station at Wodonga. Passengers from +Victoria cross the river, and make their change of cars on the +territory of New South Wales in the Albury station. + +After the custom-house examination was concluded, and it was by no means +severe, our friends found a fairly good hotel where they put up for the +night. Then they took a carriage and drove around the town, which was +evidently a prosperous one, and had the usual paraphernalia of public +institutions, such as churches, hospitals, jail, town hall, etc. It is +said to be the home and the place of business of a considerable number +of smugglers, whose occupation is invited by the long frontier line +which separates Victoria from New South Wales. A resident of Albury, +with whom our friends fell into conversation, admitted that a good deal +of smuggling was carried on there, and added that it would take the +whole male population of Victoria to guard the frontier efficiently. Of +course, smuggling, like the same business everywhere else, relates +chiefly to goods where high values can be included in small parcels. No +one would think it worth his while to smuggle bulky articles of small +value, since it would not pay to carry them long distances on men's +backs, as most of the smuggled articles are carried. + +Albury stands on the bank of the Murray River, five hundred and +thirty-one feet above the sea; it is about three hundred miles from the +source of that stream, and six hundred above its mouth. During the rainy +season, when the Murray is at its height, steamers run up to Albury, but +ordinarily the river is not navigable to that place. As our friends +drove along the edge of the stream, below the two bridges which span it, +they saw a small steamboat tied up at the bank, and having an +appearance of idleness about it. They stopped the carriage for a few +moments to inspect the boat, and found that it had been left there by a +sudden fall of the river, and was waiting for the next flood to come. + +"It is a very light draft steamboat," said Harry in his notebook; "and +makes me think of those they talk about in the western part of the +United States, that can run on a heavy dew, or where a man goes ahead of +them with a sprinkling pot. It is a side-wheel boat, the wheels being +very large, but not dipping far into the water. The engine seems rather +small for such a large pair of wheels, but I suppose the boat was not +built for speed so much as for general utility. She has a saloon over +the engines, with cabins opening out of it, and there are quarters on +the main deck for the officers and crew. The rooms in the upper cabin +are intended for passengers, and as there are only ten of them on each +side, you can readily understand that the accommodations are limited. +They told me that the steamer was built at one of the towns lower down +the river, her engines having been made in Adelaide, and brought +overland to the place where the hull was constructed. They also told me +that the first steamer which ever ascended the Murray was named the +_Albury_, and arrived in the year 1855. I infer, from the name of the +boat, that it was owned by people living here, but on that point my +informant was unable to say anything definite." + +When the party returned to the hotel for dinner, they were regaled with +a fish which was new to them. At Melbourne they had fish from the sea +almost daily, but when visiting the cattle and sheep stations they had +none at all, for the reason that no fish were to be obtained in those +localities, and it would be an expensive matter to bring them there from +the sea with the strong probability of their being unfit for eating at +the time of their arrival. As they were not looking for fish in any +inland town, they naturally inquired what it was before them. + +"That is the Murray cod, sir, or cod-perch, as we call it," said the +waiter, in reply to Ned's question. "It is a fish caught in the Murray +River, and I think you'll like it, gentlemen." + +They did like it, all three of our friends pronouncing it quite +toothsome. It is a fish somewhat resembling the American perch, both in +appearance and in taste, and probably belongs to the same family. +Australia is poorly supplied with fresh water fishes. Many of the lakes +contain no fish whatever, and the few that are found there are poor +eating. There are trout in the mountainous districts, but they are not +numerous. Attempts have been made to stock the rivers with European +salmon, carp, and other food fishes, but thus far the experiments have +not been especially successful. Once in a while a fisherman catches a +small salmon in one of the streams, and paragraphs concerning his +performance are circulated far and wide in the newspapers. The habit of +most of the Australian rivers of running dry at certain portions of the +year is a serious discouragement to the industry of fish culture. + +At Albury our friends found themselves in one of the mountainous +districts of Australia. Mount Kosciusco, the highest peak in Australia, +was not far away, though not visible from the town, but other mountain +peaks were in sight of the place. Kosciusco is not a very high mountain, +as mountains go, as its summit is only 7,308 feet above the level of the +sea. It is quite picturesquely situated, forming one of a group of +several mountains, and the journey to its summit is by no means an easy +matter. + +Athletic young men, with a fondness for adventure, occasionally make up +parties for an excursion to the top of the mountain, and if the weather +is good they come back with their spirits high, their shoes or boots +well worn, and their clothing more or less damaged. Traveling facilities +are limited, and anybody who climbs Mount Kosciusco must expect to +"rough it." The town nearest to the mountain is Tumberumba, and the +excursion is made partly on horseback and partly on foot. It is forty +miles from Tumberumba to the mountain, and in order to reach that town +it is necessary to travel by coach a distance of seventy-four miles, +from Calcairn, which is the nearest station on the railway. + +Travelers who have visited Switzerland before going to Australia say +that the region around Mount Kosciusco is quite Alpine in character, as +it has deep gorges and ravines, and the streams plunge for long +distances over precipitous rocks. The Murray River takes its rise among +these mountains, and a great contrast is offered between the country +around its head waters and that through which it flows in the latter +part of its course. The country is too rough around these mountains for +sheep and cattle stations. There is a considerable amount of tillable +land among them, which is principally devoted to the growing of oats +and wheat. + +At their appointed time, our friends proceeded by train in the direction +of Sydney. They found the railway running for much of the way through a +mountainous region, some of it very mountainous indeed. The railway +engineering on many parts of the route evoked their admiration, and +certainly it deserves a great deal of praise. There are numerous tunnels +on the way, gorges and ravines are traversed by bridges high up in the +air, and nowhere in the world can be found better examples of +engineering skill in mountain work. A gentleman who was in the carriage +with them said they would find equally good work on the western line of +railway, the one on which they were traveling being the southern. + +"The range of mountains that winds around the whole coast of Australia," +said the gentleman, "has made our railways cost us very dearly. To go +any distance at all into the interior, we had to traverse the mountains, +and for a long time it was believed that it would be absolutely +impossible to get through them. The first railway line in New South +Wales was surveyed about 1847, and ground for it was broken in July, +1850. The obstacles which the Blue Mountains presented retarded the work +very much, but finally, after they were passed, we got along well +enough. You will see for yourself how difficult they were." + +"From what we had already seen," wrote Harry, "we fully agreed with the +gentleman in his statement, and were not surprised to learn that the +engineers were considerably discouraged when they began their work. +After a pause, he described to us some of the interesting points of the +western line, as it is called, and said he hoped we would be able to +make a journey over that part of the railway system of New South Wales. +He assured us that we would never regret it, and that we would see some +of the most magnificent sights to be obtained anywhere in railway +travel. + +"When you have crossed the crest of the Blue Mountains," the gentleman +continued, "you will see a piece of railway engineering which has never +been undertaken, as far as I know of, anywhere else in the world." + +"What is that?" one of the party asked. + +"It is the accomplishment of a feat that has always been disastrous in +every other part of the globe, that of two trains passing each other on +a single track." + +"It certainly results in disaster as far as I have ever known," Dr. +Whitney answered. "I have never heard of two trains trying to pass each +other on a single track without both of them coming to grief." + +"Well, you know that Australia is a land of contradictions," was the +reply; "and why shouldn't we be contradictory in this as well as many +other things? The way we perform this trick is this:-- + +"The railway climbs the mountain by means of zigzags, running first one +way, and then the other, and all the time making an ascending grade. At +the end of each zigzag the track is prolonged sufficiently to hold two +railway trains. When an ascending train sees a descending one coming, +the engine driver runs his train to the end of this prolonged track and +stops. Then the descending one comes down, runs upon the track, is +switched off down the mountain, and the way is then clear for the +ascending train to proceed. There is no double track anywhere, and yet +the trains have passed each other, and safely too." + +"Very simple when you know what it is," said Harry, and the others +echoed his remark. + +When they crossed the Blue Mountains they found the zigzags, readily +recognizing them from the description. On seeing the rugged character of +the mountains, they were not at all surprised that the engineers were +appalled at the difficulties before them. Neither did they wonder that +the officers in command of the first convict settlement at Sydney for a +long time regarded the Blue Mountains as impassable, and believed that +escaped convicts traveling in that direction would be stopped by this +formidable barrier. The Blue Mountains were not crossed and the country +beyond them explored until 1813, although the settlement at Sydney was +founded in 1788. + +Mountain regions are always considered healthy places to live in, and +this is especially the case with the region of the Blue Mountains. A +fellow-passenger in the train told our friends that it was a favorite +saying in the country that nobody ever dies in the Blue Mountains; he +simply dries up and disappears. Another passenger said that once, when a +town was founded in the Blue Mountain district, the people wanted to +start a graveyard, and took along an elderly man who was in the last +stages of consumption. They had agreed to pay his expenses and give him +a grand funeral, on the condition that he lived until he reached the +site of the town. Not only did he live until he got there, but he +continued to live for many years, and finally dried up and blew away. +The people felt that they had been defrauded, and if the man had left +anything in the way of property, they would have brought suit for the +recovery of damages. + +Harry recorded the above anecdote in his notebook, adding to it the +words, "Interesting, but of doubtful authenticity." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +SIGHTS OF SYDNEY----BOTANY BAY AND PARAMATTA. + + +After leaving the Blue Mountains behind them, our friends were whirled +onward through a more fertile country than the one they had traversed on +the western slope. As they approached Sydney, they found the country +dotted with pleasant residences and diversified with fields and forest +in a very picturesque way. At the appointed hour the train rolled into +the station at Sydney, and landed the strangers in that ancient city; +ancient from an Australian point of view, as it is the oldest settlement +on the island continent, but exceedingly modern when compared with +London, Paris, and other European capitals. + +As our friends drove in the direction of the hotel where they intended +to stay, they were struck by the narrowness of the streets, which seemed +to them very narrow indeed, after the wide streets of Melbourne. + +Harry wondered how the difference of the streets of the two cities could +be accounted for. + +"Oh, I understand," said Ned. "Sydney was laid out by an English +surveyor, and Melbourne by an American. Being a native of the little +island called England, the Britisher felt that he must make the most of +the land he had, while the American, coming from his own wide-spreading +country, took all the room that he wanted. That's the way of it, I'm +sure." + +"Well, that will do for an explanation," said Harry, "until we get at +the real facts in the case." + +"The probabilities are," the doctor remarked, "that as Sydney was +originally a convict settlement, the officers that came out in charge of +the expedition felt that it should be made as compact as possible for +the greater facility of guarding the convicts. In this way the +narrowness of the streets may be accounted for." + +"They didn't foresee the tramways in the streets, and the steam cars +running upon them," said Harry, as a noisy little steam engine drawing +two passenger cars passed close to their carriage. + +"No, indeed," responded Ned. "Street cars had not been invented at the +time Sydney was founded, and the locomotive was unknown. One would think +that steam cars, running through crowded streets like this, would cost a +considerable loss of life every year." + +"I have heard that they do so," said Dr. Whitney. "You observe that they +have flagmen at some of the crossings, and that the trains do not stop +wherever passengers want to get on, but only at certain designated +points. There must be great danger to pedestrians, many of whom, in all +cities, are careless, and I wonder the authorities do not abolish this +steam traffic in the streets, and adopt the cable or the trolly." + +"We'll take good care that they don't run over us while we are in +Sydney," remarked Harry, and there the tramway subject was dropped. + +Our friends followed the same plan here as in the other cities they had +visited, of going out for a drive or stroll immediately after arranging +for their accommodations at the hotel, and removing the dust of travel +from their clothing. They thought there was less bustle and activity in +the streets of Sydney than in those of Melbourne, and accounted for the +difference that Sydney was the older and more dignified place of the +two, had a smaller population, and was not so much given over to +speculations in gold mines and other matters. They found it well +equipped with public buildings, most of them fully equal to the +corresponding edifices in the rival city. The city hall especially +roused their admiration, and they passed several churches which would do +honor to any city of Europe. The doctor remarked that the people of +Sydney had constructed their public buildings with a liberal hand, and +Harry answered that the liberal hand had been directed by excellent +taste. + +"I am impatient to see the famous harbor of Sydney," Ned remarked soon +after they started on their drive. "You know it is the one thing we have +heard about more than any other." + +"We will have an opportunity of seeing it in two or three ways," the +doctor remarked. Then he called to the driver, and told him to stop in +front of the city hall. + +After giving a hasty glance at the interior of the building, the party +climbed to the cupola, which is one hundred and fifty feet above the +level of the street below. From their point of observation they had a +fine view in every direction. The whole city was in sight, and also a +good deal of the surrounding country. The magnificent harbor, too, was +at their feet. Fifteen miles to the westward, they could see the pretty +town of Paramatta, which is a favorite resort for Sydney merry-makers; +while to the eastward, the broad line of the Pacific Ocean was spread +before their gaze. They remained there for half an hour or so in the +cupola, taking in the view in general, and also in many of its details. + +As they were about to descend, Ned remarked that the harbor fully met +his expectations, and in some points exceeded them. Afterward he wrote +as follows in his notebook:-- + +"The harbor may be said to consist of a series of coves or bays, uniting +together in a single body of water, which opens to the sea between two +promontories, called The Heads. Whether viewed from an elevation like +that of the tower of the city hall, or from points along its shores, or +from the deck of a vessel passing over it, Sydney harbor presents a most +admirable view." + +After leaving the city hall, our friends drove to Circular Quay, whose +character in one respect is described by its name, as it is of +semicircular shape, and encloses the most important of the divisions of +Sydney harbor. Harry and Ned were unable to say whether the amount of +shipping at Sydney was greater than that at Melbourne or not, but in one +thing they were agreed, that neither city had a right to be jealous of +the other on the score of marine business. There were ships of all +nations at Melbourne, and there were also ships of all nations at +Sydney. Sydney has the advantage of being the terminus of most of the +great steamship lines, and consequently their vessels are in port at +Sydney for a longer time than at Melbourne. There were great steamers +of the Orient line, of the Peninsular and Oriental (familiarly known as +the "P. & O."), the French line, or Messageries Maritimes, the North +German Lloyd, and other lines of lesser note. There was a steamer there, +from San Francisco, and there were several vessels belonging to the +Australian Steam Navigation Company. + +As our friends were looking at the forest of masts and funnels, Harry +was the first to break the silence. + +"You could start from here," he remarked, "for almost any other part of +the world. You could set out for Greenland's icy mountains or India's +coral strand with very little ease." + +"I don't know about Greenland's icy mountains," said Ned, "as I don't +believe there is any line running to them from Sydney, but the P. & O. +boat and several other boats will take you to India's coral strand; of +that I am sure." + +Circular Quay was formerly called Sydney Cove, and it was at the head of +this little cove that the first settlement was made. It is the principal +one of the coves or harbors where ships can lie, though Darling Cove is +nearly as important as the one just mentioned. The sheet of water into +which these coves open is called Port Jackson, and extends inland some +twenty miles from The Heads. Islands of various sizes are scattered +through Port Jackson, some of them occupied, and some remaining in a +state of nature. Our friends planned, while strolling about Circular +Quay, to make an excursion up the harbor as soon as they could do so +conveniently, and then, as it was getting pretty late in the afternoon, +they returned to their hotel. + +On their arrival at the house they met a gentleman to whom they had a +letter of introduction. He had heard of their arrival, and came to hunt +them up without waiting for the delivery of their letter. This +circumstance led Harry to write as follows in his journal:-- + +"Wherever we go we are received with the most open-handed hospitality. +Persons who are entire strangers to us are always civil, ready to answer +any question we ask, and every one of them seems quite willing to go out +of his way to serve us. We have made the acquaintance of men in railway +trains and around the hotels, or elsewhere, who have ended up a brief +conversation by inviting us to visit their country places, their sheep +or cattle stations, if they have any, or their business establishments +in the city, and this, too, without knowing anything about us other than +that we are strangers in Australia. Those to whom we have letters throw +their houses open to us, and in every instance urge us to a longer stay +whenever we intimate that we must depart. Those to whom we are +introduced by these people are equally courteous and equally ready to +show us any hospitality. The whole country seems open to us, and if we +could and would accept half the invitations that have been given to us, +we should remain in Australia for years, perhaps for a decade or two. + +"Many Australians, some of them born here of English parents, together +with natives of England who have lived here many years, complain that +when they go back to the old country they are received very coldly. It +is no wonder they feel that English customs are very frigid, when they +contrast them with the general kindness and liberal hospitality that +universally prevails throughout this island continent. Men who have +received strangers as freely as is the custom here, must have a +sensation of having ice water poured down their backs when they go to +London or New York, and are greeted with the formality customary to +those two cities. + +"I have been told that it is not infrequently the case that an old +Australian who goes to England with the intention of spending not less +than a year there, is back in the antipodes in less than six months. The +cold formality is not at all to his liking, and, as one man expressed +it, he feels as though a southerly burster had dropped on him all at +once; and yet his English friends are no doubt glad to see him, and have +no thought whatever of giving the least offense. + +"They are only adhering to the customs of centuries, and unless they +themselves have been in Australia, which is very rarely the case, they +cannot understand why the stranger should feel that he is being unkindly +treated. I am told that thirty years ago there was the same contrast +between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States, but since +railways have traversed the American continent, and communication is +made easier, the forms of hospitality of the peoples of the two sections +have become pretty much the same. + +"Of one thing you may be sure: we shall never forget the courtesies that +we have received, and when we leave the shores of Australia we shall +treasure long in our memories the warm hospitality which we have +encountered since the day we first set foot upon Australian soil." + +That evening the party visited one of the clubs where all three were +"put up" for the time of their stay in Sydney, their host intimating to +Dr. Whitney that, as his nephews were under age, they would not be +expected to visit the club, except in his company. Before they had been +in town twenty-four hours, our friends had received the offer of the +hospitality of no fewer than four clubs, together with several +invitations to dinner. The three agreed that Sydney was certainly a very +hospitable place, and that a stranger suffering from indigestion, or in +poor health, generally would find it too much for him. + +The next day our friends were taken on a drive through some of the +parks, of which Sydney has a liberal supply. Most of the parks are of +considerable extent, one of them, called the Domain, occupying one +hundred acres of ground on the shore of one of the coves. Other parks +are projected, and it was evident to Harry and Ned that the authorities +of Sydney were thorough believers in having plenty of breathing space +for the people. + +The drive included the Botanical Gardens, which proved to be full of +interest. Nearly every plant and tree of the whole of Australia is +represented in the Botanical Gardens, and there are many trees and +plants there from other parts of the world. Everything planted in these +gardens seems to thrive, the products of high latitudes growing side by +side to those of very low ones. + +The Botanical Gardens are not of recent origin, some of the trees they +contain having been planted there seventy or eighty years ago. Among +these trees are Norfolk pines, which have attained a height of one +hundred feet, and a diameter of five feet at the base. Dr. Whitney had +visited the pine forests of California, and said that the specimens in +the Botanical Gardens at Sydney reminded him of the magnificent trees of +the Golden State. + +At one place during their visit to the gardens Ned observed the smell of +musk, and looked around to ascertain whence it came. The gentleman who +accompanied him noted his curiosity and said:-- + +"I think you are looking for the musk tree. Here it is." + +And there it was, sure enough. The tree is a product of Australia, and +has the peculiarity of constantly giving out the odor of musk, which is +perceptible at quite a distance. Ned asked if any perfume was +manufactured from the tree or its leaves, and was answered in the +negative. + +All the parks of the city appeared to be tastefully laid out and well +kept. Ned recalled the numerous parks that they saw at Melbourne, and +remarked that neither city had occasion to be jealous of the other in +the matter of pleasant resorts for the people. + +Our young friends asked if any of the prisons or other buildings that +were erected at the time of the settlement of Sydney were still in +existence. + +"There is hardly a trace of any of them," was the reply. "As the city +has grown, the old buildings have been destroyed, to make place for new +ones of a more substantial character. One of the churches occupies the +site of the original cemetery which was established soon after the +foundation of the city, and a business house covers the ground where the +principal prison stood. There is no desire on the part of any of us to +preserve the buildings of the original settlement, as they recall +unpleasant memories. + +"We want to forget as much as we can," he continued, "all that is +disagreeable in the history of Sydney, just as an individual usually +wants to forget anything unpleasant about his own origin or history. The +subject comes up occasionally, and we have no squeamishness about +discussing it, and the history of the colony is well known to every +intelligent inhabitant of the place. Transportation to this colony +ceased about fifty years ago, and consequently there are few men now +living in New South Wales who came here as involuntary emigrants. The +old disputes between Emancipists and Free Settlers were ended long ago, +and the questions that greatly agitated the population of the first half +of the century have now become matters of history." + +As the gentleman paused, Harry thanked him for his information, and then +asked if Port Jackson and Botany Bay were the same thing. + +"They are quite distinct from each other," was the reply. "Botany Bay is +situated a little to the south of Port Jackson and opens into the +Pacific Ocean. It is a singular circumstance that Captain Cook missed +the entrance of Port Jackson, which he does not seem to have discovered +at all. It is only five miles across the land from one body of water to +the other, and it is evident that he did not venture very far inland, or +he would have found Port Jackson an infinitely better harbor than Botany +Bay. + +"It was in Botany Bay," continued the gentleman, "that the first +expedition to form a settlement in Australia cast anchor. Captain +Phillip, who commanded the expedition, and some of his officers examined +the land around Botany Bay, and found it quite unfit for a settlement. +While making their examinations they discovered Port Jackson, and +immediately perceived its superior advantages. The ships were at once +moved around to this harbor, and then the convicts and the soldiers who +guarded them were brought on land for the first time. But the name of +Botany Bay clung to the settlement for a long while, and became a name +of terror to the criminal classes of England." + +"It is a very pretty name when divested of its association," remarked +Harry. "I wonder how Captain Cook happened to hit upon it." + +"He gave it that name," was the reply, "on account of the great number +of flowers and flowering plants which he found all around the bay. Quite +likely he would have given the same name to Port Jackson if he had +discovered it, as there were just as many flowers here as at the other +place." + +On another day our friends took a drive to Botany Bay, which is only +five miles from Sydney. They found quite a pretty place, and were not +surprised to learn that it is a favorite resort of the residents of +Sydney. Their attention was called to the monument which marks the spot +where Captain Cook landed in 1770, and took possession of Australia in +the name of the British government. + +Another trip that they made was to Paramatta, going there by rail and +returning by water. Of this excursion Harry wrote as follows:-- + +"The journey is a short one, as Paramatta is only fifteen miles from +Sydney. It is on what they call the Paramatta River, which isn't really +a river, but simply an arm of the bay, and is a favorite place for +rowing races. Next to Sydney, it is the oldest town in the colony. +Governor Phillip, the first governor of New South Wales, laid it out in +1788, his object being to utilize the labors of the convicts in farming. +The first grain fields were established here, being cultivated by +convict labor, and the governor had a space of ground cleared, and a +house erected for his country residence. + +"The experiment of cultivating grain was so successful during the first +year, that it was continued on a larger scale during the second and +subsequent years. Free settlers took up ground at Paramatta, which was +then called Rosehill, the name which the governor gave to the little +elevation where his house was built. Settlers who came out to Sydney of +their own accord received allotments of land, and were supplied with a +sufficient number of convicts to do their work. + +"These were known as assigned servants, and the practise of having +assigned servants spread everywhere and became very popular, as the +parties to whom the convicts were assigned got their labor for +practically nothing. Sometimes the wives of convicts came out as +passengers in the same ships with their husbands, or followed them +later. When they arrived and set up housekeeping, they would apply for +servants to be assigned to them, and would name their husbands as the +men they preferred. The plan was found to work very well in nearly all +cases, and the government encouraged the practise. Sometimes, though, it +happened that the husbands were inclined to abuse and beat their wives, +but this did not happen often, as the wives had the power, like other +employers of assigned servants, of sending their husbands to be flogged. + +"Whenever, in the early days, the sentence of a convict expired, he was +given a farm at Paramatta, or in its neighborhood, and in this way quite +a farming community grew up. The agricultural features of Paramatta have +continued down to the present time, and all about it there are pretty +farms and gardens, which make the place look very much like an English +town of the same size. It is regularly laid out, the principal street +extending about a mile back from the landing place, with a width of two +hundred feet. Many business men of Sydney have their residences here, +and there is a goodly number of public buildings, including hospitals, +asylums, churches, and the like. + +"Our attention was called to several manufactories, but we were less +interested in them than we were in the orange groves and orchards, which +are numerous and extensive. They showed us some orange trees which they +claim are the largest in the world, but whether that is the case or not, +I am unable to say. They showed us one tree from which ten thousand +oranges had been taken in a single year, and after we had looked at the +orange groves, we were shown through several flower gardens, which +seemed to be literally masses of flowers. When we returned to Sydney by +the boat, we observed that the banks of the river were lined with flower +gardens, and were not surprised to learn that almost the entire flower +market of Sydney is supplied from Paramatta. + +"We were unfortunate in not being here in the season of fruits, as they +told us that the Paramatta oranges are among the finest in the world, +and the same could be said of the other fruits grown in the place. I +think we have said before that the climate of Australia is very +favorable to the cultivation of fruits, those of the tropics as well as +those of the temperate zones showing a universal tendency to thrive in +the genial atmosphere." + +Dr. Whitney and his young companions spent two or three days at some of +the country residences in the neighborhood of Sydney, and were charmed +with the warmth of the hospitality and the beauty of the places that +they visited. It was impossible for them to accept a tenth part of the +invitations they received, as their time was limited, and they were +anxious to press on to the northward. So one day they bade farewell to +their friends and took the train for Newcastle, the principal point of +the coal-mining industry of the colony. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +COAL MINES AT NEWCASTLE--SUGAR PLANTATION IN QUEENSLAND--THE END. + + +"The region between Sydney and Newcastle," wrote Ned in his journal, "is +a diversified one. Here and there are forests interspersed with open +country. Some of the ground is level, and some of it very much broken +and mountainous. Most of it is fertile, and we passed through many +fields of wheat and other grain. Some of it is devoted to cattle raising +and some to the production of wool, though it is not generally regarded +as a good country for raising sheep. In places the mountains come quite +close to the sea-coast, and there we found the railway winding over a +very tortuous course, where the rocks that rose on either hand, and the +tunnels through which we were occasionally whirled, convinced us that +the building of the railway must have cost a great deal of money. At +several places coal mining was in progress, and it was evident that +Newcastle didn't have an entire monopoly of the coal-producing business. + +"Newcastle is quite as much devoted to the coal business as the English +city from which it was named. More than two million tons of coal are +shipped from this port every year, and the engineers who have carefully +examined the coal seams say that there is enough coal under Newcastle +to keep up the supply at the present rate for more than five hundred +years. + +"We were first taken to the harbor where the shipments are made. There +we found admirable facilities for loading vessels with the products of +the mines. They claim that they can handle twenty-five thousand tons of +coal daily, and that a good-sized coal steamer can leave port with her +cargo six hours after entering. I'm not an expert in such matters, and +therefore don't know, but from what I saw it seems to me that there is +no difficulty about it. + +"The harbor of Newcastle was not a very good one originally, but they +have made it so by extending into the sea a breakwater, which shelters +it from the gales that formerly swept it. It is not a large harbor, but +an excellent one for its purpose. + +"We visited some of the coal sheds and coal breakers, and went into one +of the mines. They would gladly have taken us through all the mines in +the place, but as one mine is very much like another, we declined to +make the rounds of all of them. The one that we entered was about four +hundred feet underground. We were lowered in a cage to the bottom of the +mine, and then walked through a tunnel to where the men were at work, +dodging on our way several loaded cars that were going towards the +shaft, as well as empty ones coming from it. The cars were pushed along +by men, each of them carrying a little lantern on the front of his hat; +in fact, every man whom we saw working underground had one of these +lights for his guidance. The tunnel itself was lit up with electric +lights, extending from the shaft to the front of the working; and in +addition to these, each of us carried a lantern, which was of material +assistance in showing us where to place our feet. We had a few stumbles +on the way, but nobody experienced a fall. + +"When we reached the front of the working, the sight was a curious one. +A dozen men--I think there must have been that number at least--were +attacking the coal seam, most of them lying on their sides and digging +away with picks at the lower part of it. Some of them had worked their +way in two or three feet, and were almost out of sight, and I shuddered +to think of the possibility that the mass above might fall upon and +crush them. I asked our guide if this did not happen sometimes. + +"'Unfortunately, yes,' he replied. 'It does happen now and then, and the +men on whom the coal falls are more or less severely injured, and +perhaps killed. We have to watch the miners constantly, to see that they +do not run too great a risk. If we let them have their own way, +accidents would be much more frequent than they are.' + +"'Why do they burrow under the coal in that way?' I asked. 'Couldn't +they get it out in some manner less dangerous than that?' + +"'That is the way to which they have been accustomed,' the guide +answered, 'and it is difficult to get them to change. Most of these +people come from the coal-mining districts of England, and they are very +conservative. Machines have been invented for doing this kind of work, +and they are in use in some of the mines, but the men are opposed to +them, and in some instances they have disabled or destroyed the +machines.' + +"Then he went on to explain that the miner makes an opening below the +mass of coal in the manner that we saw, and then drills a hole some +distance above it, in which to explode a charge of powder. This brings +down all the coal below the locality of the explosion. Sometimes it is +broken up into lumps that a man can handle, and sometimes it comes down +in a single block, which requires another blast to break it up, and then +the cars are brought up as near as possible. The coal is loaded into +them, and pushed away to the shaft. Each man is paid according to the +amount of coal he gets out, and some of them receive large wages. There +are about five thousand people employed in the coal mines here, and the +probabilities are that the business will be extended, and the coal +product of Newcastle increased within a year or two from the present +time." + +From Newcastle our friends continued their journey northward to +Brisbane, the capital of Queensland. They traveled all the way by rail, +changing trains at Stanthorpe, on the frontier. During the delay +subsequent upon the change of trains, Harry made the following +memorandum in his notebook:-- + +"It seems to me that it is a great misfortune for Australia that each +colony insists upon having its own particular gauge of track, thus +preventing the running of through trains without change of cars. Some +day the people will find out their mistake, and I believe some of them +realize it already. Dr. Whitney says that there was at one time in the +United States several different gauges of track from four feet, eight +inches and one half up to six feet, and that the railway managers +generally agreed upon four feet, eight inches as the standard gauge. +Since that agreement all other tracks have been changed to make the +tracks uniform. Now any railway car can be run all over the United +States, with the exceptions of a few special lines where the gauge is +three feet, six inches. + +"Three feet, six inches is the gauge of the railways of Queensland. That +of New South Wales is four feet, eight and one half inches, while that +of Victoria is five feet, three inches. In South Australia some of the +lines are of five feet, three inches gauge, and others have the same +gauge as the Queensland railways. The narrow gauge is especially adapted +to mountain regions, and also to thinly populated districts. On lines +where the business is light and the distances are not long, this gauge +answers all requirements, but on many lines, especially those having +considerable business, it is not at all advantageous." + +During their railway ride our friends observed the strange combination +of aboriginal and English names, and called Dr. Whitney's attention to +it. "Here are Coolongolook and Coonabarabran," said Harry, "and next +come Clarkeville and Smithville. Here are Cootramundra and Illawarra and +Murrumbidgee close by Orange and Richmond. Here are Curabubula and +Waggawagga, with Warwrick and Union Camp. I could go on indefinitely +with those names, and it seems to me that the aboriginal ones are about +as numerous as those of British origin. They are picturesque and perhaps +interesting, but they are very difficult to pronounce." + +"Isn't it possible that you will find the same state of things at +home?" queried Dr. Whitney. + +"Quite possible; I have never thought of that. Let me see." + +"Why, certainly," said Ned. "Go to Maine and New Hampshire and run over +some of the Indian names of lakes, rivers, mountains, and towns in those +States. Think of Kennebec and Penobscot, Winnipesaukee, Pemigewasset, +Passaconaway, and a good many others that I could name. I think it is an +excellent policy to preserve these old names and not let them die out. +Piscataqua is a much prettier name for a river than Johnston or +Stiggins, and Monadnock sounds better as the name of a mountain than +Pike's Peak or Terry's Cliff. The more the native names are preserved, +the better I like it." + +"I agree with you," replied Harry; "but I wish they would make the +orthography of those native names a little easier. That's the only fault +I have to find with them." + +The region through which our friends traveled was devoted to +agricultural and pastoral pursuits, as the numerous flocks of sheep, +herds of cattle, and fields of grain that they saw gave evidence. They +were told that it was also rich in minerals,--the few surveys that had +been made resulting in discoveries of gold, tin, silver, antimony, and +other metals. Some of the passengers whom they met on the train were +under the impression that Dr. Whitney was looking for a place in which +to invest money, and they were very anxious that he should stop and +investigate their promising properties. Several fine specimens of +gold-bearing quartz rock were exhibited, and the fortunate owners of +these specimens said that the ground was covered with them in the +locality where they were obtained. Dr. Whitney politely declined to +delay his journey, and assured his zealous acquaintances that he was not +looking for any new investments. + +When our friends were out of earshot of the would-be speculators, Dr. +Whitney said that their statement reminded him of an incident which once +occurred at a town in California, where a quartz mill was in successful +operation. Harry and Ned pressed the doctor to give them the story, +whereupon he related as follows:-- + +"There were many speculative individuals around that town who were +constantly endeavoring to discover deposits of ore. One day one of these +speculators was standing on a street corner, when a solemn-faced Indian +came along, stopped in front of the man, and, after looking around in +all directions to make sure that nobody was observing him, he produced +from under his blanket a piece of gold-bearing quartz. Without saying a +word, he held the bit of rock before the eyes of the speculator. + +"The speculator grasped the specimen with great eagerness. Sure enough +it was gold-bearing rock, and no mistake. It was generally believed in +the town that the Indians knew of valuable deposits, but were very +unwilling to divulge their location to the white men." + +"'Where did you get this?' the speculator asked. + +"The Indian made a sweep of his arm that embraced two thirds of the +horizon, but said not a word. + +"'Is there any more where this came from?' queried the speculator. + +"'Yes; heaps, heaps more,' and the red man made a circle with his arm +that might mean anything from a mole hill to a mountain. + +"'Will you show me where you got this?' said the speculator. + +"The Indian said nothing except to pronounce the words 'five dollar.' + +"Unlike many of his associates, the speculator happened to have some +money about him. He thrust his hand into his pocket, drew out a +five-dollar gold piece, and placed it in the extended palm of the red +man. + +"The latter examined the coin very carefully, even to the extent of +biting it between his teeth. Then he placed it in some mysterious +receptacle under his blanket and said:-- + +"'You with me come. You with me go share.' + +"The Indian led his new partner a long walk, going out of the town on +the side opposite the quartz mill, making a circuit of a mile or two +among hills, and finally fetching up at the dump pile of the mill. The +dump pile, it is proper to explain, is the pile of ore as it is brought +from the mine to be crushed. Having reached the foot of the pile, the +Indian paused and said:-- + +"'Me get him here. Heaps more here, too.' + +"A more disgusted individual than that speculator was at that moment +could rarely be found in the town. He had been completely outwitted, in +fact, sold, and by a savage who couldn't read or write." + +From Stanthorpe on the frontier of Queensland the country was much the +same as that through which our friends had traveled from Newcastle, +except that its character was more tropical the further they went +northward. They reached Brisbane in the evening, and were out +immediately after breakfast on the following morning to view the sights +of the place, which were fewer than those of Sydney and Melbourne, as +the city is not as large as either of the others mentioned. The entire +population of Brisbane and its suburbs does not exceed one hundred +thousand. It is named after Sir Thomas Brisbane, who was Governor of the +colony at the time the city was founded. In some respects it may be +called an inland city, as it lies on a river twenty-five miles from the +entrance of that stream into Moreton Bay, which opens into the Pacific +Ocean. It is on a peninsula enclosed by a bend in the river, so that it +has an excellent water front. + +Harry made note of the fact that Brisbane resembles Sydney in the +narrowness of its streets, but he added that the surveyors had some +excuse for restricting the amount of land reserved for the streets, +inasmuch as the space between the rivers was limited. The youths were +reminded of New York City when they noted that the streets of Brisbane +ran from the river on one side to the river on the other, just as do the +numbered streets on Manhattan Island. They had a further reminder when +an island in the river was pointed out to them as the site of a prison +during the convict period, just as Blackwell's Island of New York City +is the location of a prison to-day. + +Queen Street is to Brisbane as George Street is to Sydney or Collins +Street to Melbourne. The principal shops and several of the public +buildings are located along Queen Street, and our friends observed that +wide verandas extended across the sidewalks from one end of the street +to the other. These verandas enable pedestrians to walk in the shade at +all times, a very wise provision to avoid sunstroke. It must be +remembered that Brisbane is considerably nearer the Equator than either +Melbourne or Sydney, and consequently has a warmer climate. Dr. Whitney +said that he was reminded of New Orleans by the temperature, and on +inquiry he ascertained that Brisbane is fully as warm as the great city +near the mouth of the Mississippi. + +There is a fine bridge of iron which crosses the river between North and +South Brisbane. It is more than one thousand feet long, and has a draw +in the center to permit the passage of ships. Ned and Harry strolled +across this bridge when they reached the end of Queen Street, and on +arriving at its farther end they turned around and retraced their steps. +When back again in the principal part of the city, they continued to the +end of the peninsula, where they had expected to find huge warehouses +and places of business fronting the river. Instead of these edifices +they found the Botanical Gardens and other parks occupying the point of +land where the river makes its bend. It was an agreeable surprise to +them, and they remained in and about the gardens for an hour or more. + +Whenever they came to any of the public buildings during their stroll, +they ascertained the name of each edifice from some by-stander or +shop-keeper. They observed that all the buildings were handsome and of +good construction, with the exception of the court house, which had a +very low and mean appearance. The curiosity of the youths was roused by +this circumstance, and Harry spoke to a good-natured cab driver to +ascertain how it happened. + +"That's easy to tell, when you know," the driver answered. + +"Well," said Harry, "if you know, won't you kindly tell us?" + +"Certainly, sir," the driver responded. "You see this is the way of it. +That court house there used to be the female prison in the old times, +and for years it was crowded with women that the government had sent out +here to punish 'em. They were lifers, most of 'em, and I suppose they +are pretty near all dead now. If any of 'em is alive, they're pretty +old. Them that was kept in prison had to do hard work, making clothes +and that sort of thing, but a good many of 'em went out as assigned +servants to do housework, and they had to work in the fields, too; but +those days is gone now, and all the prisons we have in Brisbrane in +these times is for them that commits crimes right here on the spot." + +"Do you mind that round building up there with the mast on it," said the +cab driver, pointing to a structure that looked like a windmill with the +arms of the mill removed. + +"Yes, I see it," said Harry; "what about it?" + +"We call it the Observatory," was the reply, "and that's what it is. +That mast there is for signaling ships when they come into the harbor. +In the old times there was a windmill there, where they used to grind +grain into flour and meal for the convicts to eat, and I guess other +folks ate it, too. When the wind blew the arm went round and round, the +machinery worked, and the stones revolved and ground out the meal. +Sometimes they didn't have no wind, because it didn't blow, but they had +a treadmill there, and then they used to bring up a string of convicts, +and put them on the treadmill to run the machinery and keep up the +grinding of the grain. I suppose you know what a treadmill is?" + +"I have heard about a treadmill," said Harry, "but I never saw one." Ned +nodded, and said that he was in the same predicament. + +"Well," said the driver, "I have seen one in the old country; I never +saw the one here, because it was gone before I came to Brisbane. What I +saw was a wheel in the shape of a long cylinder with twenty-four steps +around the circumference of it; in fact, it didn't look much unlike the +paddle-wheel of a steamboat, where the men stood to turn it. Each one of +'em was boarded off from his neighbor so that they couldn't talk to each +other. There was a hand rail for them to hang on to. The weight of the +prisoners' bodies on the steps caused the wheel to turn, and they sent +it around about twice a minute. A man on a treadmill has got to work, he +can't get out of it. If he tries to avoid stepping, he's got to hang his +weight on the hand rail with his arms, and after he has tried that for a +minute or so he's glad to go back to stepping again." + +"I should think," said Ned, "that it would be difficult to adapt it to +the weight of different individuals, and also to their height. While it +might not be too much for a strong man, it might be for a weak one; and +if the position of steps and rail were adapted to a tall man, they +wouldn't be for a short one." + +"I believe that's just the trouble they found with it in the old +country," was the reply; "and it's mostly been given up there. They've +got a machine in the place of it which they call 'the Crank,' which can +be adapted to anybody. It's a wheel with paddles to it, and turns inside +a box. They put gravel in the box, graduated to the strength of the man +who is to turn it, and the prisoner's hard labor consists in turning the +crank." + +"It doesn't serve any useful purpose, as the treadmill does, I presume?" +said Harry. + +"No; there is no useful purpose about it. A man has to turn that crank +because he's been sentenced to hard labor, and there's nothing else they +can put him to, that's all. And they don't by any means use the +treadmill all the time for turning machinery and grinding grain, or +doing some other work. Most of the treadmills I ever knew anything about +in the old country were just treadmills, and that was all." + +Our friends were invited to visit a sugar plantation in Northern +Queensland. They accepted the invitation, and one morning embarked on a +steamer which took them in the direction which they wished to go. The +steamer called at several places on the coast, including Rockhampton, +Bowen, Mackay, Keppel Bay, and Somerset; the last-named place was their +destination, and it was here that they landed. + +"We utilized the time of stoppage at each port by going on shore," said +Harry in his journal. "Except for the exercise of the trip, we might +about as well have stayed on board, as there was very little to be seen +at any of the places. The coast towns of Queensland are pretty much all +alike. They have from one to two thousand inhabitants each, and though +they're pretentiously laid out, they consist of little more than a +single street. On the streets, other than the principal one, there are +scattered houses, where the owners of land have endeavored to increase +the value of their property by putting up buildings, but generally with +poor success. For pavement the natural earth is obliged to answer, as +most of these towns are too poor to afford anything better. The streets +are very dusty in dry weather, and very muddy after a rain. At one of +the places where we landed there had been a heavy shower the night +before, and the main street was a great lane of mud. Ned said the street +was a mile long, eighty feet wide, and two feet deep; at least, that was +his judgment concerning it. + +"One thing that impressed us in these towns was that hardly a man in any +of them had a coat on. Everybody was in his shirt sleeves, and if he had +a coat with him, he carried it on his arm. For the novelty of the thing, +we took dinner at a hotel in Mackay, more with a view of seeing the +people that went there, than with an expectation of a good meal. There +were squatters from the back country, planters, clerks, merchants, +lawyers, and doctors, all with their coats off, and we were told that +this habit of going without coats is universal. One man who had lived +there a good while said, 'You may go to a grand dinner party, and find +the ladies dressed in the height of fashion, and the gentlemen in their +shirt sleeves.' I don't wonder that they have adopted this plan, as the +climate is very warm. The region is decidedly tropical, the air is damp +and oppressive, and in the daytime especially the heat is almost +insupportable. I wonder, though, that they don't adopt the white linen +jacket for dinner purposes, just as the Europeans living in China and +Japan have done. + +"Somerset, where we landed, is principally a pearl-fishing station, and +the pearl fishers who live there are a very rough-looking lot. The +business is very profitable, those engaged in it estimating that the +pearls pay all the expenses of their enterprise and a little more, while +the _nacre_, or mother-of-pearl, the smooth lining of the shells, is a +clear profit. The exportation of shells from Queensland is worth, +annually, about half a million dollars. The pearl shells sell ordinarily +for about one thousand dollars a ton. They are gathered by black divers +under the superintendence of white men. + +"These white men own the sloops and schooners devoted to the pearl +fishery, and they go out with these craft, taking along a lot of black +men as divers. The diving is done in the same way as in pearl fisheries +all over the world, so that there is no necessity of describing it. The +shells are like large oyster shells; in fact, they are oyster shells and +nothing else. They are about twenty inches long, and from twelve to +fifteen inches from one side to the other; so, you see, it doesn't take +many oysters to make a load for a diver. The divers are paid according +to the number of shells they gather, and not by fixed wages. A man +familiar with the business said, that if you paid the men regular wages, +you would be lucky if you got one dive out of them daily. + +"I tried to ascertain the value of some of the pearls obtained here," +continued Harry, "but my information was not very definite. They told me +that several pearls worth five thousand dollars each had been taken, but +they were not very common, the value ordinarily running from a few +dollars up to one hundred or two hundred dollars each. My informant said +that the best pearls were found on the coast of West Australia, but that +the fishery in that locality was more dangerous than on the coast of +Queensland. He said that the sea in that locality was subject to +hurricanes, and sometimes an entire fleet of pearl-fishing boats would +be overwhelmed and sunk, hardly a man escaping. 'These disasters,' he +said, 'do not deter those who survive from taking the risk over again, +and there are always plenty of black men who go out as divers there +whenever a boat is ready to start.'" + +To go to the sugar plantation to which our friends were invited, they +had to make a journey inland, in a wagon over a rough road about forty +miles long. The plantation was located on both sides of a small river, +and employed, at the time of their visit, about one hundred and fifty +men. One of the owners was there, and exerted himself to his fullest +ability to make the strangers comfortable and have them see all that was +to be seen. They visited the crushing mills and the boiling rooms, and +learned a great deal about the process of manufacturing sugar from the +sugar cane. + +"We may say briefly," said Ned, "that the cane-stalks are crushed +between rollers, and the juice is caught in vats, whence it flows in +troughs or pipes to the evaporating house. Here it is boiled till it is +reduced to syrup, and then it is boiled again, until it is ready for +granulation. Then it is placed in perforated cylinders which revolve +with tremendous rapidity. By means of centrifugal force all the moisture +is expelled and the dry sugar remains behind." + +Our friends visited the fields where the luxuriant cane-stalks were +growing, but they were quite as much interested in the men they saw at +work there as in the fields themselves. Harry remarked that the men +seemed to be different from any of the Australian blacks they had yet +seen in their travels. + +"These are not Australian blacks at all," said their guide; "they are +foreigners." + +"Foreigners! Of what kind?" + +"They are South Sea Islanders principally from the Solomon Islands; some +of them are from the New Hebrides and some from the Kingsmill group." + +"You import them to work on the plantations, I suppose?" + +"Yes; that's the way of it. You see this country is too hot for white +men to work in the field, just as your sugar-growing States in America +are too hot for him to work in. The blacks are the only people that can +stand it, and as for the Australian blacks, they're no good. There are +not enough of them anyway, and even if there were, we couldn't rely upon +them. An Australian black will never stay in one place for any length +of time, as you have doubtless learned already. He is liable to quit at +any moment, and that sort of thing we can't stand on a sugar plantation. +We must have men to work steadily, and the only way we can get them is +by hiring them under contract from some of the Pacific Islands." + +"I think I have read about that somewhere," remarked Harry. "You send +small ships out among the islands to pick up the men, and the business +is called 'black-birding,' is it not?" + +"Yes, that is the name of it, or rather used to be," was the reply. +"Black-birding," along in the seventies, was an outrageous piece of +business no better than slave-stealing on the coast of Africa. In fact, +it was slave-stealing and nothing else. A schooner would appear off an +island, drop anchor and wait for the natives to come out in their +canoes, which they were sure to do. Then forty or fifty of them would be +enticed on board, and perhaps invited one by one into the cabin, whence +a door had been cut through into the hold. They were shoved along one by +one until a sufficient number had been obtained and imprisoned below, +and then the schooner set sail and left the island. + +"Sometimes one of the officers was dressed up like a clergyman, with a +white necktie, broad-brimmed hat, and blue spectacles, and wrapped in a +long black cloak. He carried a large book under his arm, and was a very +good counterfeit of a missionary. He was rowed to the shore, where he +would inform the natives that their old friend, Rev. Dr. Williams, was +on board the vessel and would like to see them, and he would very much +like some fresh fruit. He explained the doctor's failure to come on +shore by saying that he had fallen on deck and broken his leg the day +before, and was then confined to his cabin. + +"The natives would hasten to gather a large supply of fruit and take it +on board the schooner. Their fruit was piled on deck, and one by one +they were taken below, ostensibly to see their disabled friend, but +really to shove them forward into the hold in the manner I have +described. When a sufficient number had been entrapped the schooner +sailed away, and there was little probability that the deceived natives +would ever see their island again. + +"That was the method formerly in vogue for supplying labor to the sugar +plantations in Queensland. The matter became so notorious that the +government investigated it and put a stop to 'black-birding.' At present +the business of obtaining men from the Pacific Islands is fairly well +conducted. On every ship that goes out for that purpose there is a +government officer whose duty it is to see that no deception or trickery +is practised, and that the contracts with the natives are fully +understood on both sides before they are signed. + +"We hire these people for three years, and when that period has expired +we are obliged to return them to their homes. Formerly, they had the +option of renewing their contracts here without going away, and a good +many planters were careful to see that the men were heavily in debt at +the expiration of their term of service, so that they would be obliged +to engage again in order to get themselves out of debt, which they never +did. Now the government regulation forbids the renewal of a contract +here, and in order to have the agreement a valid one, it must be made +in the island whence the man was brought. Of course this is a hardship +where a man really does not want to go home, but, on the whole, it is +for the best." + +Harry asked how they managed to get along with the natives of the +different islands, and if they proved to be good laborers. + +"As to that," was the reply, "there is a great deal of difference among +them. The most of them are industrious and do fairly well, but nearly +all need a little urging. We don't flog them, as flogging is forbidden +by law, but the overseers generally carry long, supple sticks which they +know how to handle. They have to be careful, though, in using these +sticks, as some of the Kanakas, as we call the South Sea Islanders, are +revengeful, and they're very handy with knives. + +"The men from the Solomon Islands are the worst to deal with, as they +have ugly dispositions; they are inclined to resent what they believe to +be an insult, and they are a strong, wiry race. They are quarrelsome +among themselves, and probably their tendency to quarrel is increased by +the fact that many of them are cannibals. Sometimes we miss one of these +fellows, and though we hunt everywhere, it is impossible to find him. +There are vague rumors that he has been eaten by his friends. The whole +business is carefully concealed from us, and it is very rarely the case +that we are able to get at the facts. It generally turns out, when we +ascertain anything about it, that the man was killed in a fight, and was +then cooked and eaten, to prevent his being wasted." + +Harry remarked that the Solomon Islanders, as he saw them on the +plantation, were not a prepossessing lot of people, and he would not +care to be among them even for a single day. + +The natives of the Kingsmill group were much more attractive in their +appearance, but even they were nothing to be fond of. On the whole, +neither of the youths took a liking to the laborers on the sugar +plantation, and as the place was said to be infested with snakes, they +were quite willing to cut their visit short and return to the coast. + +THE END. + + + * * * * * + + +W. A. Wilde & Co., Publishers. + +ABOVE THE RANGE. A Story for Girls. By Theodora R. Jenness. 315 pp. +Illustrated. Cloth. 12mo. $1.25. + +An Indian story for girls. A mission school for the daughters of the +Dakota tribes is most interestingly described. The strange ideas and +beliefs of these wild people are woven into the thread of the story, +which tells how a little white girl was brought up as an Indian child, +educated at a mission school, and was finally discovered by her parents. + +SERAPH, THE LITTLE VIOLINISTE. By Mrs. C. V. Jamison. 298 pp. +Illustrated. Cloth, $1,50. + +A most charming and delightful story of a little girl who had inherited +a most remarkable musical talent, which found its natural expression +through the medium of the violin. The picturesqueness of Mrs. Jamison's +stories is remarkable, and the reader unconsciously becomes Seraph's +friend and sympathizer in all her trials and triumphs. + +ORCUTT GIRLS; or, One Term at the Academy. By Charlotte M. Vaile. 316 +pp. Illustrated. Cloth, $1.50. + +Mrs. Vaile gives us a story here which will become famous as a +description of a phase of New England educational history which has now +become a thing of the past--with an exception here and there. The +Academy, once the pride and boast of our fathers, has given way to the +High School, and girls and boys of to-day know nothing of the +experiences which "The Orcutt Girls" enjoyed in their "One Term at the +Academy." + +MALVERN. A Neighborhood Story. By Ellen Douglas Deland. 341 pp. +Illustrated. Cloth, $1.50. + +A most attractive and interesting story by a writer who has won a vast +audience of young people by her stories. Malvern is a small suburban +town in New Jersey. The neighborhood furnishes a queer assortment of +boys and girls. How they felt and acted, what they did, and how they did +it, forms an interesting narrative. + +LADY BETTY'S TWINS. By E. M. Waterworth. With 12 illustrations. 116 +pp. Cloth, 75 cents. + +A quaint little story of a girl--a little girl--who had a propensity for +getting into trouble, because she had not learned the lesson of +obedience. She masters this, however, as the story tells, and in doing +so she and her brother have a number of experiences. + +THE MOONSTONE RING. By Jennie Chappell. With 6 full-page +illustrations. 116 pp. Cloth, 75 cents. + +An old ring plays an important part in this charming little story. It +brings together a spoiled child, the granddaughter of a rich and +indulgent old lady, and a happy little family of three, who, though +poor, are contented with their lot. This acquaintance proves to be of +mutual advantage. + +THE MARJORIE BOOKS. 6 vols. Edited by Lucy Wheelock. About 200 +illustrations. Price of set, $1.50. + +A new set of books for the little ones, better, if possible, than even +Dot's Library, which has been so popular. Full of pictures, short +stories, and bits of poetry. + +Boston: W. A. Wilde & Co., 25 Bromfield Street. + + * * * * * + +W. A. Wilde & Co., Publishers. + +WAR OF THE REVOLUTION SERIES. +By Everett T. Tomlinson. + +THREE COLONIAL BOYS. A Story of the Times of '76. 368 pp. Illustrated. +Cloth, $1.50. + +It is a story of three boys who were drawn into the events of the times; +is patriotic, exciting, clean, and healthful, and instructs without +appearing to. The heroes are manly boys, and no objectionable language +or character is introduced. The lessons of courage and patriotism +especially will be appreciated in this day.--Boston Transcript. + +THREE YOUNG CONTINENTALS. A Story of the American Revolution. 364 pp. +Illustrated. Cloth, $1.50. + +The second volume of the War of the Revolution Series gives a vivid +and accurate picture of, and the part which our "Three Colonial Boys" +took in, the events which led up to the "Battle of Long Island," which +was thought at the time to be a crushing defeat for the Continental +Army, but which in fact was the means of arousing the Colonies to more +determined effort. + +OTHER VOLUMES IN PREPARATION. + +TRAVEL ADVENTURE SERIES. +By Col. Thos. W. Knox. + +IN WILD AFRICA. Adventures of Two Boys in the Sahara Desert. 325 pp. +Illustrated. Cloth, $1.50. + +This story is a fascinating and instructive one, and we cheerfully +commend the book to parents and teachers who have the responsibility of +choosing the reading for young readers.--The Religious Telescope, +Dayton. + +THE LAND OF THE KANGAROO. Adventures of Two Boys in the Great Island +Continent. 318 pp. Illustrated. Cloth, $1.50. + +The late Col. Thos. W. Knox was a famous traveler and writer of boys' +books of travel and adventure. His last book (finished only ten days +before his sudden death) describes a portion of the world in which he +took a vast interest, and of which little is known in this country. +Australia, the great island continent, the land of the kangaroo, and a +country of contradictions, is most interestingly described. + +OTHER VOLUMES IN THIS SERIES ANNOUNCED LATER. + +QUARTERDECK & FOK'SLE. By Molly Elliot Seawell, author of "Decatur and +Somers," etc. 272 pp. Illustrated. $1.25. + +Miss Seawell is exceptionally gifted in the line of instructing and +amusing young people at the same time, and many a boy pricks up his ears +at the sound of her name, in the hope of another of her lively, and at +the same time instructive and high-spirited volumes. This one will +sustain her reputation well, and will be read with eager +interest.--Congregationalist, Boston. + +Boston: W. A. 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