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diff --git a/39322-8.txt b/39322-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..35fe9eb --- /dev/null +++ b/39322-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8454 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Australian Pictures, by Howard Willoughby + +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: Australian Pictures + Drawn with Pen and Pencil + +Author: Howard Willoughby + +Release Date: April 1, 2012 [EBook #39322] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AUSTRALIAN PICTURES *** + + + + +Produced by Nick Wall and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: A list of changes is detailed at the end of +the book. + + + + +[Illustration: MOUNT KOSCIUSKO. + +_From the picture by J. S. Bowman, M.A._] + + + + + Australian Pictures + Drawn with Pen and Pencil + + BY + HOWARD WILLOUGHBY + OF 'THE MELBOURNE ARGUS' + + _WITH A MAP AND ONE HUNDRED AND SEVEN ILLUSTRATIONS FROM + SKETCHES AND PHOTOGRAPHS, ENGRAVED BY E. WHYMPER AND OTHERS._ + + LONDON + THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY + 56 Paternoster Row and 164 Piccadilly + 1886 + + + + + LONDON: + PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, + STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. + + + + +[Illustration: IN THE MOUNTAINS, FERNSHAW.] + + + + +PREFACE. + + +In one respect this work differs from its predecessors. The companion +volumes were written by travellers to the lands which they described, +but AUSTRALIAN PICTURES are by an Australian resident. Hence, when +praise is required, the author has often preferred to quote some +traveller of repute rather than to state his own impressions. Thanks +have to be given to the Government of Victoria, which kindly placed all +its works at the disposal of the author. The official history of the +aborigines compiled by Mr. Brough Smyth is especially a valuable +storehouse of facts for future writers. The proprietors of the +_Melbourne Argus_ liberally gave the use of the views and pictures of +their illustrated paper, the _Australian Sketcher_, and the offer was +gratefully and largely taken advantage of. Mr. R. Wallen, a President of +the Art Union of Victoria, gave permission for the reproduction of any +of the works of art published by the society during his term of office. +Australia is a large place, and it will be seen that, where the author +could not refresh his memory by a personal visit, he has here and there +availed himself of the willing aid of literary friends. + +[Illustration: THE SCOTS' CHURCH, COLLINS STREET, MELBOURNE.] + + + + +CONTENTS. + + Mount Kosciusko _Frontispiece_ + In the Mountains, Fernshaw 5 + The Scots' Church, Collins Street, Melbourne 6 + + + + + SECTION I.--INTRODUCTORY. + + + CHAPTER I. + + INTRODUCTION. + + AREA OF AUSTRALIA--ENGLAND'S HERITAGE--NATURAL + RICHES--POPULATION--PRESENT PROSPECTS OF IMMIGRANTS--THE SIX + COLONIES--FACILITIES OF TRAVEL--CHARACTER OF PEOPLE. 11-16 + + _Illustrations_: + + A Native Climbing a Tree for Opossum 12 + A Road through an Australian Forest 13 + Coranderrk Station 16 + + + CHAPTER II. + + CONFIGURATION AND CLIMATE. + + DIMENSIONS OF AUSTRALIA--MOUNT KOSCIUSKO--THE MURRAY RIVER + SYSTEM--WIND LAWS--THE HOT WIND--INTENSE HEAT PERIODS--THE EARLY + EXPLORERS--STURT'S EXPERIENCE--BLACKS AND BUSH + FIRES--DROUGHTS--UNEXPLORED AUSTRALIA. 17-26 + + _Illustrations_: + + The Giant Gum-tree 18 + Railroad through the Gippsland Forest 19 + Junction of Murray and Darling Rivers 20 + The National Museum, Melbourne 26 + + + CHAPTER III. + + THE AUSTRALIAN PEOPLE. + + AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRACIES--THE FEDERAL MOVEMENT--IMMIGRATION--CURRENT + WAGES--COST OF LIVING--ABSENCE OF AN ESTABLISHED CHURCH--RELIGION + IN THE RURAL DISTRICTS--A TYPICAL SERVICE--SUNDAY OBSERVANCE--MISSION + WORK--CHURCH BUILDING. 27-34 + + _Illustrations_: + + Statue of Prince Albert in Sydney 28 + The Bower-Bird 29 + The Independent Church, Collins Street, Melbourne 33 + + + + + SECTION II.--BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF THE COLONIES. + + + CHAPTER IV. + + VICTORIA. + + PORT PHILLIP--EARLY SETTLEMENT AND ABANDONMENT--THE PIONEERS + HENTY, BATMAN AND FAWKNER--SIZE OF VICTORIA--MELBOURNE--ITS + APPEARANCE--PUBLIC BUILDINGS--STREETS--RESERVES--PRIDE OF ITS + PEOPLE--UNEARNED INCREMENT--SANDHURST--BALLARAT--THE CAPITAL OF + THE INTERIOR--GEELONG--THE WESTERN DISTRICT--VIEW OF THE + LAKES--PORTLAND--THE WHEAT PLAINS--SHEPPERTON--THE + MALLEE--GIPPSLAND--MOUNTAIN RANGES--SCHOOL SYSTEM--COBB'S + COACHES--FACTS AND FIGURES. 35-72 + + _Illustrations_: + + Semi-Civilised Victorian Aborigines 36 + Government House, Melbourne 37 + Melbourne, 1840 40 + A Railway Pier in Melbourne in 1886 41 + A Melbourne Suburban House 44 + Bird's-eye View of Melbourne showing Public Office 46 + Bird's-eye View of Melbourne looking Southwards 47 + Bird's-eye View of Central Melbourne 50 + Bourke Street, Melbourne, looking East 51 + University, Melbourne 52 + The Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne 53 + The Yarra Yarra, near Melbourne 55 + Bird's-eye View of Sandhurst 58 + On Lake Wellington 63 + A Victorian Lake 65 + The Upper Goulbourn, Victoria 66 + Waterfall in the Black Spur 68 + A Victorian Forest 69 + Staging Scenes 71 + A Sharp Corner 72 + + + CHAPTER V. + + NEW SOUTH WALES. + + SURVEY OF THE COLONY--SYDNEY AND ITS HARBOUR--THE GREAT + WEST--THE BLUE MOUNTAINS--THEIR GRAND SCENERY--AN AUSTRALIAN + SHOW PLACE--THE FISH RIVER CAVES--DUBBO TO THE DARLING--THE + GREAT PASTURES--THE NORTHERN TABLELAND--THE BIG SCRUB + COUNTRY--TROPICAL VEGETATION. 73-96 + + _Illustrations_: + + Views in Sydney: Government House, + the Cathedral, and Sydney Heads 74 + Government Buildings, Macquarie Street, Sydney 75 + Statue of Captain Cook at Sydney 77 + The Post Office, George Street, Sydney 80 + Sydney Harbour 82 + Macquarie Street, Sydney 83 + The Town Hall, Sydney 85 + Emu Plains 88 + The Valley of the Grose 89 + Zigzag Railway in the Blue Mountains 91 + Fish River Caves 92 + Waterfall at Govett 93 + + + CHAPTER VI. + + SOUTH AUSTRALIA. + + CONFIGURATION--THE LAKE COUNTRY--HEAT IN + SUMMER--FRUIT--GLENELG--ADELAIDE--MOUNT LOFTY RANGE--PARKS AND + BUILDINGS--MOSQUITO PLAIN CAVES--CAMELS--THE OVERLAND TELEGRAPH + LINK LINE--PEAKE STATION--THE NORTHERN TERRITORY--EARLY + MISFORTUNES--PRESENT PROSPECTS--INSECT + LIFE--ALLIGATORS--BUFFALOES. 97-114 + + _Illustrations_: + + Overland Telegraph Party 98 + Government House and General Post Office, Adelaide 99 + Waterfall Gully, South Australia 100 + A Murray River Boat 101 + Adelaide in 1837 102 + King William Street, Adelaide 104 + An Adelaide Public School 105 + Reaping in South Adelaide 106 + Camel Scenes 108 + Peake Overland Telegraph Station 109 + Collingrove Station, South Australia 111 + Sheep in the Shade of a Gum-tree 112 + The Botanical Gardens, Adelaide 114 + + + CHAPTER VII. + + QUEENSLAND. + + SIZE AND CONFIGURATION--EARLY SETTLEMENT--BRISBANE ISLAND AND + COAST TOWNS--GLADSTONE--ROMA--GYMPIE--TOOWOOMBA--TOWNSVILLE-- + COOKTOWN--SQUATTING--THE CATTLE STATION--THE SHEEP STATION--THE + QUEENSLAND FOREST--THE NETTLE-TREE--SUGAR PLANTING--POLYNESIAN + NATIVES--STOPPAGE OF THE LABOUR TRADE--GOLD MINING--THE + PALMER--SILVER, TIN, AND COPPER. 115-130 + + _Illustrations_: + + Brisbane 116 + A Village on Darling Downs 117 + Valley of the River Brisbane, Queensland 120 + Townsville, North Queensland 124 + Sugar Plantation, Queensland 127 + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + WESTERN AUSTRALIA. + + EARLY SETTLEMENT--MISTAKEN LAND SYSTEM--CONVICT LABOUR--THE + SYSTEM ABANDONED--POISON PLANTS--PERTH--KING GEORGE'S + SOUND--CLIMATE--PEARLS--PROSPECTS. 131-140 + + _Illustrations_: + + Sheep-Shearing 132 + Perth 133 + Government House, Perth 137 + Albany 139 + + + CHAPTER IX. + + TASMANIA. + + A HOLIDAY RESORT FOR AUSTRALIANS--LAUNCESTON--THE NORTH AND + SOUTH ESK--MOUNT BISCHOFF--A WILD DISTRICT--THE OLD MAIN + ROAD--HOBART--THE DERWENT--PORT ARTHUR--CONVICTS--FACTS AND + FIGURES. 141-152 + + _Illustrations_: + + View of Mount Wellington, Tasmania 142 + Corra Linn, Tasmania 143 + On the South Esk, Tasmania 145 + Views in Tasmania 147 + Launceston 148 + Hell Gate, Tasmania 149 + On the River Derwent 152 + + + + + SECTION III.--AUSTRALIAN LIFE AND PRODUCTS. + + + CHAPTER X. + + HEROES OF EXPLORATION. + + TRAGIC STORIES--FLINDERS AND BASS--ADVENTURES IN A SMALL + BOAT--DISCOVERIES--DISAPPEARANCE OF BASS--DEATH OF + FLINDERS--EYRE'S JOURNEY--LUDWIG LEICHHARDT--DISAPPEARANCE OF + HIS PARTY--THEORY OF HIS FATE--THE KENNEDY CATASTROPHE--THE + BURKE AND WILLS EXPEDITION--ACROSS THE CONTINENT--THE DESERTED + DEPÔT--SLOW DEATH BY STARVATION--LATER EXPEDITIONS. 153-164 + + _Illustrations_: + + Native Encampment 154 + A New Clearing 155 + Splitters in the Forest 157 + After Stray Cattle 160 + Monument to Burke and Wills in Melbourne 163 + + + CHAPTER XI. + + A GLANCE AT THE ABORIGINES. + + FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH THE BLACKS--MISUNDERSTANDINGS--NARRATIVE OF + A PIONEER--CLIMBING TREES--THE BLACKS' DEFENCE--DECAY OF THE + RACE--WEAPONS--THE NORTHERN TRIBES--A NORTHERN + ENCAMPMENT--CORROBOREE--BLACK TRACKERS--BURIAL--MISSION + STATIONS. 165-178 + + _Illustrations_: + + A Corroboree 166 + A Waddy Fight 167 + Civilised Aborigines 169 + A Boomerang 173 + A Native Encampment in Queensland 174 + A Native Tracker 175 + Church, Schoolhouse, and Encampment at Lake Tyers 176 + + + CHAPTER XII. + + SOME SPECIMENS OF AUSTRALIAN FAUNA AND FLORA. + + MARSUPIALS--THE 'TASMANIAN DEVIL'--DINGOES--KANGAROO + HUNTING--THE LYRE-BIRD--BOWER-BIRD--THE GIANT KINGFISHER--EMU + HUNTING--SNAKES--THE SHARK--ALLEGED MONOTONY OF + VEGETATION--TROPICAL VEGETATION OF COAST--THE GIANT GUM--THE + ROSTRATA--THE MALLEE SCRUB--FLOWERS AND SHRUBS. 179-202 + + _Illustrations_: + + Australian Tree-Ferns 180 + Dingoes 181 + The _Sarcophilus_ or 'Tasmanian Devil' 182 + Bass River Opossum 183 + A Kangaroo Battue 184 + The Platypus 186 + The Lyre-Bird 187 + The Giant Kingfisher, or Laughing Jackass 189 + The Emu 190 + The Tiger-Snake 192 + Australian Trees 195 + Silver-stem Eucalypts 198 + The Bottle-Tree 201 + Grass-Trees 202 + + + CHAPTER XIII. + + THE SQUATTER AND THE SETTLER. + + PRESENT MEANING OF THE WORD 'SQUATTER'--CATTLE-RAISING--CAPITAL + HAS CONFIDENCE IN SQUATTING NOW--ORIGIN OF MERINO + SHEEP-BREEDING--MANAGEMENT OF A RUN--DROUGHT--BOX-TREE + CLEARINGS--MODERN ENTERPRISE--SHEEP-SHEARING--'SUNDOWNERS'--FARMING + PROSPECTS--CHEAP LAND--EASY HARVESTING--SMALL CAPITAL--SELECTION + CONDITIONS--BUSH FIRES--BLACK THURSDAY--THE OTWAY DISASTER--LOST + IN THE BUSH--MISSING CHILDREN. 203-219 + + _Illustrations_: + + Driving Cattle 203 + A Merino Sheep 206 + Ring Barking 209 + A Bush Welcome 213 + Before and After the Fire 216 + Found! 218 + A Squatter's Station 219 + + + APPENDIX 220 + + INDEX 221 + + + + +SECTION I. + +INTRODUCTORY. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +INTRODUCTORY. + + AREA OF AUSTRALIA--ENGLAND'S HERITAGE--NATURAL + RICHES--POPULATION--PRESENT PROSPECTS OF IMMIGRANTS--THE SIX + COLONIES--FACILITIES OF TRAVEL--CHARACTER OF PEOPLE. + +[Illustration: A NATIVE CLIMBING A TREE FOR OPOSSUM] + +[Illustration: A ROAD THROUGH AN AUSTRALIAN FOREST.] + + +'Australian Pictures' must necessarily consist of peeps at Australia. It +seems presumptuous at first to ask that great island-continent to creep +into a single volume. But sketches of parts and bird's-eye views will +often reveal more to the stranger than a minute and fatiguing survey of +the whole. These pages, though few in number, will, it is hoped, convey +to the reader some idea of that vast new world where Saxons and Celts +are peacefully building up another Britain. + +Some of the early errors about Australia must have already faded away. +Few can now believe that her birds are without voice and her flowers +without perfume, and that the continent itself is a desert fringed by a +habitable seaboard. Yet it is perhaps hardly realised by the many how +grand is the heritage secured in Australia for the British race. The +extent of territory is enormous. Twenty-five kingdoms the size of Great +Britain and Ireland could be carved out of this giant island and its +appendages, and still there would be a remainder. Its total area, +2,983,200 square miles, is only a little less than the area of Europe. + +At first it was supposed that only a limited portion of this enormous +tract would be available for settlement, but this fear is dying out. The +central desert, that bugbear of a past generation, has an existence, but +man is pushing it farther and farther back. Where the explorer perished +through thirst a few years ago we now have the homestead and the +township; water is conserved, flocks are fed, the property, if it has to +be offered for sale, is described as 'that valuable and well-known +squatting block.' The tales that were first told were true enough, but +man, as he advances, subdues the country and ameliorates the climate. + +Already Australia exports to the markets of the world the finest wheat, +the finest wool, and the finest gold. Her produce in these lines +commands the highest prices, and no test of superiority could be more +conclusive. In two at least of these items the export could be +indefinitely increased, and meat and wine can be added to the list. On +such articles as these man subsists, and they are produced here with a +minimum of expense and effort. + +The total population of Australia is 2,800,000. The settlers have drawn +about themselves over 1,100,000 horses, 8,000,000 cattle, and 70,000,000 +sheep. But three millions of men and tens of millions of creatures fail +to occupy; they do little more than dot the corners of the great lone +island. In the north-west of the continent there are tracts of country +which the white man has not yet penetrated. Tribes still roam there who +may have heard of the European stranger, but who have never seen him. +Adventurous spirits are now pushing into these distant regions, but +there will be pioneering work for many a long term of years, and after +the pioneer has had his day the task of settlement begins. Even in +Victoria and New South Wales, the most thickly populated of the +colonies, there are many fertile hillsides and valleys as yet untrodden +by man. The population has sought the plains, where the least +expenditure was required to make the earth bring forth its increase. +Some of the richest land in both colonies has yet to be appropriated, +the settler having neglected it because it has to be cleared. The giant +eucalypt of the uplands frightened the colonist away to the lightly +timbered, park-like plains; but now, thanks to the extension of the +railways, the mountain ash, the red gum, and the blackwood, with their +companions, are found to be sources of wealth. Thus, in the old states +and in the new territories alike, openings exist for the agriculturist +and the grazier as favourable as have ever been offered. More fortunes +have been made in Australia within the past ten years than have ever +been accumulated before. The labourer has put more money than ever into +the savings-bank or the building society. The farmer has more rapidly +become a comfortable, well-to-do personage; the grazier or squatter has +seen his income swell. The value of city property has increased as if by +magic. It may be truly said that the chances and prospects of the new +arrival are greater to-day, and are likely to be greater for years to +come, than they were even in the feverish flush of the gold era. + +Australia is for the present divided into six colonies. As time rolls on +we may expect six times this number of states. If some of the larger +provinces were at all thickly populated they would be absolutely +unmanageable for administrative purposes. The states are named Victoria, +New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland, Western Australia and +Tasmania. They will be noticed in these pages in turn. Victoria, with an +area of 87,000 square miles, has a population of a little more than +1,000,000. Thus it is the most densely peopled of the group. +Agriculture, gold mining and wool growing are its prominent industries, +and it is the colony in which manufactures are most developed. New South +Wales has also a population of 1,000,000, with an area of 309,000 square +miles. She is a pastoral colony. Queensland, with an area of 668,000 +square miles, has less than 350,000 people, a circumstance that shows +how little she has been developed. Her industries are pastoral and gold +mining; and in the far north sugar plantations have been established +under somewhat unhappy auspices. South Australia has an area of 903,000 +square miles, and a population under 350,000. Much of her territory is +absolutely unexplored. Her little community is clustered about Adelaide, +and has relied so far upon the export of wool, copper and, above all, +wheat. Last of the continental states comes Western Australia, the +Cinderella of the group. Her population is only 35,000, her area is no +less than 975,000 square miles, much of it being absolutely unknown, +while the greater part has no other occupants than the black man, the +emu and the marsupial. Tasmania, the little island colony, has a +population of 135,000, and an area of 26,000 square miles. + +All the capitals are on the seaboard, and, setting the Western +Australian Perth aside, the traveller can proceed from one to the other +either by the magnificent liners of the Peninsular and Oriental, the +Orient, and the British India Steam Navigation Companies, or he can +avail himself of splendid Clyde-built steamers run by local enterprise. +Very shortly he will be able to land at either Adelaide or Brisbane, and +journey from the one point to the other by rail, as the iron chain is +almost continuous now, and missing links are being rapidly completed. +Whichever capital he lands at, he will find a network of railways +branching into the interior, and seated behind the locomotive he can +visit places where a few years back the explorers perished! Only if he +is very ambitious of sight-seeing need he have recourse to coach, horse, +or the popular American--but acclimatised--buggy. + +So far as the people are concerned, he will find that he is still in the +old country. Traveller after traveller, Mr. Archibald Forbes and Lord +Rosebery in turn, and a host of others, affirm that the typical +Australian is apt to be more English than the Englishman. There is no +aristocracy, it is true, and no National Church. Each state is a +democracy pure and simple, under the English flag. But the Queen has +nowhere more devoted and loyal subjects, and nowhere are the Churches +more numerous, more active, and apparently more blessed in results. The +traveller meets with English manners, English sympathies, and a frank +hospitality which, the compilers of books and the deliverers of lectures +affirm, is peculiar to Australia. But he finds the race amid novel +surroundings, amid scenery whose peculiarity is vastness, with a +distinctive vegetation unlike any other, with seasons which have little +resemblance to those of the old country; and the occupations of the +people, he discovers, are also often new. When a writer undertakes to +sketch the scene, it must be his fault if he has nothing of interest to +relate. + +[Illustration: CORANDERRK STATION.] + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +CONFIGURATION AND CLIMATE. + + DIMENSIONS OF AUSTRALIA--MOUNT KOSCIUSKO--THE MURRAY RIVER + SYSTEM--WIND LAWS--THE HOT WIND--INTENSE HEAT PERIODS--THE EARLY + EXPLORERS--STURT'S EXPERIENCE--BLACKS AND BUSH + FIRES--DROUGHTS--UNEXPLORED AUSTRALIA. + +[Illustration: THE GIANT GUM-TREE. [_See p. 196_] + +[Illustration: RAILROAD THROUGH THE GIPPSLAND FOREST.] + + +It is not possible to understand Australia without a glance at the +physical conditions of the continent. A good angel and a bad, an evil +influence and a beneficial, are ever in contention in nature here. From +the surrounding sea come cool and grateful clouds; from the heated +interior come hot blasts, licking up life and absorbing the watery +vapours which would otherwise fall as rain. Sea and land are ever in +conflict. + +[Illustration: JUNCTION OF MURRAY AND DARLING RIVERS.] + +Australia measures from north to south 1700 miles, and from east to west +2400 miles--the total area being somewhat greater than that of the +United States of America, and somewhat less than the whole of Europe. +The peculiarity is that all its mountain ranges worth taking notice +of--all that are factors in the climate--are comparatively near the +coast. Thus the main dip is rather inland than outward, and this +formation is fatal to great rivers. An interior mountain chain such as +the New Zealand Alps would have transformed the country. The enormous +coast-line from Spencer's Gulf to King George's Sound is not broken by +the mouth of any stream. Such rainfall as there is in this district must +drain either into the sea by subterranean channels, or into the inland +marshy depressions called Lake Eyre, Lake Gairdner, and Lake Amadeus, +which are sometimes extremely shallow sheets of water, sometimes grassy +plains, and sometimes desert. The best land is that between the various +ranges and the sea, because there most rain falls. And the greatest of +the ranges is that which runs from north to south along the east coast +of the island, passing through Queensland, New South Wales, and +Victoria, and culminating in Mount Kosciusko, whose peak is 7120 feet +high, and whose ravines always contain snow. Only at Kosciusko does snow +lie all the year round in Australia, though the mountains near it, about +6000 feet high, are also almost always covered. To this range we owe the +one river system at all worthy of the continent. The waters from the +western side of the Queensland mountains--there called the Dividing +Range--flow down the Warrego into the Darling. Here they are joined by +the waters from the higher ranges of New South Wales and Victoria, +called the Australian Alps. These waters have been brought down by the +Murray, the Murrumbidgee, and the Goulburn, and the united floods fall +into the sea, through Lake Alexandrina, between Melbourne and Adelaide. + +On paper this river system shows well. The Darling has been navigated up +to Walgett, which is 2345 miles from the sea, and this distance entitles +the Australian stream to rank third among the rivers of the world, only +the Mississippi and the Amazon coming before it. But the facts are not +so good as they seem. The Darling depends upon flood waters. Sometimes +these flood waters will come down in sufficient volume to enable the +stream to run from end to end, and sometimes they fail half-way. The +river is never open to navigation all the year round, and frequently it +is not open to navigation from year's end to year's end. The occasional +failure of the Darling for so long a period upsets all calculations. The +colonists will take this stream and the river Murray in hand some day, +and will lock both and preserve their storm waters, and the +south-eastern corner of the continent will then have a grand river +communication. Stores will then be sent up, and wool will be brought +down with certainty, where now all is doubt and speculation. Commissions +to consider the subject have been appointed both by the Victorian +Government and the Government of New South Wales, and conferences are +this year (1886) being held upon it and cognate subjects. Unhappily, +there are no other streams in Australia that can be so dealt with, +though it should be added that the last has not yet been heard of the +rivers of Northern Australia. We are ignorant of their capacities, +though a good guess can be made about them. + +Taking Australia from east to west, we find a high range skirting the +coast on the east, and supporting a dense sub-tropical vegetation, and +giving rise to an extensive but uncertain river system. Next comes a +more sterile interior, composed of desert, of shallow salt lakes, and of +higher steppes in unknown proportions. Approaching the west coast we +meet ranges again, and rivers and fertile country. + +Mr. H. C. Russell, Government Astronomer for New South Wales, in his +valuable pamphlet on the 'Physical Geography and Climate of New South +Wales,' points out that 'if water flowed over the whole of the +Australian continent, the trade wind would then blow steadily over the +northern portions from the south-east, and above it the like steady +return current would blow to the south-east, while the "brave west +winds" and southerly would hold sway over the other half--conditions +which now exist a short distance from the coast. Into this system +Australia introduces an enormous disturbing element, of which the great +interior plains form the most active agency in changing the directions +of the wind currents. The interior, almost treeless and waterless, acts +in summer like a great oven with more than tropical heating power, and +becomes the great motor force on our winds, by causing an uprush, and +consequent inrush on all sides, especially on the north-west, where it +has power sufficient to draw the north-east trade over the equator, and +into a north-west monsoon, in this way wholly obliterating the +south-east trade belonging to the region, and bringing the monsoon with +full force on to Australia, where, being warmed, and receiving fresh +masses of heated air, it rises and forms part of the great return +current from the equator to the south.' + +The 'hot winds' of the colonists are produced by the sinking down to the +surface of the heated current of air, which in summer is continually +passing overhead; and when this wind blows in force upon a clear +summer's day things are not pleasant. The thermometer from time to time +indicates a degree of heat which is almost incredible. In Southern +Melbourne the official record gives a reading of 179 degrees in the sun, +and 111 in the shade, and at the inland town of Deniliquin, the official +register in the shade is 121 degrees. Man and beast and vegetation +suffer on these days. The birds drop dead from the trees, the fruit is +scorched and rendered unfit for market. The leaves of the English trees, +such as the plane and the elm, drop in profusion, so that in early +summer it will seem as if autumn had set in. The sick, especially +children, are terribly affected, and the doctors attending an infant +sufferer will say that nothing can be done except to pray for a change +of wind. Happily, such days as these are rare. The hot blast will not +often send the temperature up to more than 100 to 105 degrees, and the +duration of the heated wind is limited to three days, and often it +prevails during only one, sunset bringing with it a cool southern gale. + +A moderate hot wind is relished by many people, for the air is dry and +even exhilarating to the strong for a while; and the claim is made that +it destroys noxious germs and effluvia. Sometimes the hot wind will +gradually die out, but on other occasions a rushing storm will come up +from the south, driving the north wind before it, and in that case the +welcome conflict will be preceded by whirling and blinding clouds of +dust, and will be accompanied by thunder and lightning and torrents of +rain. The fall of the temperature will be something marvellous. The +thermometer will be standing at 150° in the sun; then the wind will +change, rain will fall, and in the evening the register will be 50°, +making a difference of 100 degrees in seven or eight hours. + +That these days are exceptional is shown by the manner in which +vegetation generally flourishes, and by the admiration which each +colonist has for the climate of that particular part of Australia in +which he resides. 'The Swan Settlements,' says the Western Australian, +'are the pick of the country. No hot winds there.' At Adelaide the +visitor is told: 'Yes, we are often hotter by ten degrees in the sun +than they are in Melbourne, but ours is a dry, not a moist heat.' In +Melbourne the tale is reversed: 'Sydney is muggy,' it is averred; 'you +cannot stand that. A dry heat is the thing, but those poor beggars at +Adelaide have it too hot altogether.' + +No doubt many mistakes occurred in the descriptions of Australia given +by the early explorers. Brave and intelligent as they were, they were +'new chums,' and certainly not born bushmen. Transplanted from a small +island, continental features overpowered them. Forests which took weeks +to traverse; plains, like the ocean, horizon-bounded; the vast length of +our rivers when compared to those of England, often flowing immense +distances without change or tributary--now all but dry for hundreds of +miles, at other times flooding the countries on their banks to the +extent of inland seas--wearied them. Then we know that our cloudless +skies, the mirage, the long-sustained high range of the thermometer in +the central portion of the continent, troubled them a good deal more +than they do us, and helped to make them look on the dark side of +things. Hence, as a rule, their reports were unfavourable. + +Sturt's account of his detention at Depôt Glen is enough to frighten +anybody, and cannot be read to this day without emotion. Here, 'stuck +up' by want of water, he dug an underground room, and he and his men +passed a terrible summer. The heat was sometimes as high as 130 degrees +in the shade, and in the sun it was altogether intolerable. They were +unable to write, as the ink dried at once on their pens; their combs +split; their nails became brittle and readily broke; and if they touched +a piece of metal it blistered their fingers. Month after month passed +without a shower of rain. Sometimes they watched the clouds gather, and +they could hear the distant roll of thunder, but there fell not a drop +to refresh the dry and dusty desert. The party began to grow thin and +weak; Mr. Poole, the second in command, became ill with scurvy. At +length, when the winter was approaching, a gentle shower moistened the +plain; and preparations were being made to send the sick man quickly to +the Darling, when Poole died, and the mournful cavalcade returned, +leaving a grave in the wilderness. Yet this locality proved in time to +be a very good sheep-run, differing in nothing from others around it; +and eventually was found to be a gold-field, and was extensively worked. +Runs about the spot are commonly advertised in the Melbourne or Sydney +papers as carrying immense flocks, and as valued with the stock at from +£50,000 to £100,000. The explorer was, in fact, within a few miles of +Cooper's Creek. + +This process of conquering the interior is still going on. Man modifies +all countries, and Australia is no exception to the rule. Even the +blacks played their part, and it was a mischievous one. They had an +instrument in their hands by which they influenced the whole course of +nature. This was the fire-stick. With this implement the aborigines were +constantly setting fire to the grass and trees, both accidentally and +systematically, for hunting purposes, and probably in their day almost +every part of New Holland was swept over by a fierce fire on an average +once in five years. Hence the baked, calcined condition of the ground in +many parts of the continent, the character of our vegetation, and the +comparative scarcity of animal life. The eucalypts survived the fiery +ordeal, because of the hardness of their bark; and, when every other +creature perished, or had to abandon its litter, the marsupials leaped +over the flames with their young in their pouches. Strange as the +assertion may appear in the first instance, it may be doubted whether +any section of the human race has exercised a greater influence on the +physical condition of a large portion of the globe than the wandering +savages of Australia. The white man is working in an entirely opposite +direction. By clearing the forest he limits the area of the bush fire. +He constructs reservoirs, dams rivers, sinks wells in order to bring +subterranean water to the surface, and irrigates land, so that a spot +where even the hardiest scrub failed to grow in its natural state, is +covered with luxuriant crops. Province after province has been rescued +from the wilderness already, and the grand work is likely to go on. +Those who look at what has been done in the way of reclaiming territory +in Australia will be in no hurry to set bounds as to what man is likely +to perform. + +It is not wonderful that the first inquiry of the practical settler +should be as to the rainfall of the country he proposes to occupy. The +map most eagerly scanned in Australia is the 'rainfall' map, prepared by +the Government, and issued by the leading weekly papers. A glance at +this production reveals the tale which it tells. The coast-line is shown +in a dark blue, to indicate the heavy rainfall of from thirty to seventy +inches. A pleasant blue represents a moderate rainfall on the interior +belt of plains, averaging from fifteen to twenty-five inches. Then comes +a faint tint spread over what is called the 'never, never' country, +where the rainfall is five or ten inches per annum, and where the rain +will descend at once, or for two years there will be none, and then the +whole average supply will drop from the clouds in one rushing downpour. +Under such circumstances it will be readily imagined that the terror of +the Australian settler is a drought. Even in the moments of his utmost +prosperity he has his anxieties about the next season. A district which +has been rainless for a year or two years is a pitiful spectacle of +desolation. The grass disappears; the wind carries with it whirling +columns of dust; the trees of the dreary plain become more sombre and +mournful than ever. If there is a little water left in any dam or +reservoir, it is rendered putrid by the carcases of sheep and cattle, +for the wretched animals become so weak that, once they fall or stick, +they are unable to rise or to extricate themselves. The sun rises in +heat, sails through a cloudless sky, and sets a ball of fire. The nights +are dewless. The moon only renders more ghastly the depressing +panorama. + +Mr. Russell complains that pictures of the drought are usually +exaggerated, and it may be well therefore to quote official figures. In +two years, according to Mr. Dibbs, Treasurer and Premier of New South +Wales (November 1885), the drought in New South Wales has killed 200,000 +horses, 1,500,000 head of cattle, and 13,500,000 sheep. A loss which is +estimated at from £10,000,000 to £15,000,000 has fallen upon a single +colony, and a single industry in that colony! But this drought was felt +with equal severity in parts of South Australia and of Queensland, and +it would be no exaggeration therefore to double the figures communicated +to Parliament by Mr. Dibbs. And when 400,000 horses, 3,000,000 cattle, +and 27,000,000 sheep die miserably of hunger and thirst, it is certain +that scenes must occur the gloom and wretchedness of which can hardly be +over-painted. One squatting company in the north lost 150,000 sheep out +of 250,000 in the drought in question, and the survivors were kept alive +with difficulty. Scrub was cut down for them. The living gnawed the +bones of the dead. The company's shares went down to two shillings in +the pound, and other squatting property similarly situated was equally +depreciated, when one January morning, 1886, the Melbourne, Sydney, +Brisbane, and Adelaide papers gave prominence to the welcome news of the +break-up of the drought. From this place, that place, and the other, all +down the line, came telegrams of the fall of three inches, four inches, +five inches, and six inches of rain, the water saturating the ground, +filling the dams, and sending the price of pastoral property up as +though by magic. + +The drought disaster, of course, is most felt in the newly taken-up +country. Here a state of nature obtains, while, as time rolls on, and +profits are made, water is conserved, and the run is practically made +drought-proof. A minimum quantity of stock can be kept, and the +remainder can be travelled to a district which is not smitten. The +recuperative powers of the country are enormous; and if the squatter is +afflicted one year he holds on, with the consciousness that with three +or four good seasons in succession he is a made man. + +How little we yet know of Australia as a whole has been brought under +the popular notice by an address delivered by Mr. Ernest Favenc at a +meeting of the Australian Geographical Society, held at Sydney in +January 1886. South Australia alone has an area of 250,000 square miles +unexplored, and Western Australia has an enormous tract of 500,000 +square miles, which has been just rushed through, and no more, by three +explorers, Messrs. Forrest, Giles, and Warburton. Here is a total of +unknown area equivalent to the heart of Europe--say to Germany, France, +Switzerland, Austria, and Hungary, with Italy thrown in. Of course the +country to the west of the Overland Telegraph Line, being for the most +part unknown, is all described as hopeless desert, but Mr. Favenc doubts +the story, and no one is better qualified to express an opinion upon the +subject than this gentleman. He stands in the first rank of practical +pioneers. The facts that go to support the idea of the existence of +large belts of rich prairie land in this huge area are these: In the far +interior the transition from barren desert country to rolling downs is +sudden and abrupt; without warning, you step from one to the other. The +good and the bad country lie very much in bands; and an explorer making +an easterly and westerly track might travel in a bad band continuously, +if he had the misfortune to strike one. + +Mr. Favenc's suggestion is that a well-supplied party should start from +a station on the Overland Telegraph Line, and should strike for Perth, +making, however, extensive excursions on both sides of their route. The +bee-line business is almost useless. It would be well if the Australian +Geographical Society could take up the idea, for it is somewhat of a +reproach to the three millions of inhabitants that Australia should be +less mapped out than Africa; and there is pleasure also in reducing to +its narrowest limits that bugbear of the youth of the colonies, the +great fiery untamed Central Desert. + +If, however, no more exploration be resolved upon, the work will only be +postponed, and not abandoned. As one coral insect builds over the other, +or as one wave on a rising tide overlaps its predecessor on the shore, +so the last outlying pastoral station is speedily passed by one just +beyond it. In this way settlement creeps on. Progress, though slow and +unsensational, is sure. + +[Illustration: THE NATIONAL MUSEUM, MELBOURNE.] + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE AUSTRALIAN PEOPLE. + + AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRACIES--THE FEDERAL MOVEMENT--IMMIGRATION--CURRENT + WAGES--COST OF LIVING--ABSENCE OF AN ESTABLISHED CHURCH--RELIGION + IN THE RURAL DISTRICTS--A TYPICAL SERVICE--SUNDAY + OBSERVANCE--MISSION WORK--CHURCH BUILDING. + +[Illustration: STATUE OF PRINCE ALBERT IN SYDNEY.] + +[Illustration: THE BOWER-BIRD.] + + +The Australian colonies are, one and all, democracies of the most +advanced type. Annual Parliaments have been advocated, though at present +triennial legislatures are the rule. Payment of members, it should be +added, is not adopted by all the states, but the principle seems to be +spreading. Two Houses are established in each colony, a Legislative +Assembly and a Legislative Council. The former is always elected by +manhood suffrage; the latter, as in Victoria and South Australia, may be +an elected body, or, as in New South Wales and Queensland, it may be +composed of members nominated by the Crown. How the second chamber +should be constituted is one of the problems of the day. Every now and +then one or the other of the colonies is treated to 'a deadlock' between +the two bodies; and more than once in Victoria public payments have been +suspended in consequence, and popular passion has run high. + +The Australian democracy has worked well upon the whole, and has given +security to life and property. The best proof of this is the rapid rise +of colonial securities in the public favour. When New South Wales, South +Australia, and Victoria commenced to build their national railways in +1857-1860, they were glad to sell six per cent. debentures at par in +London, and now they float four per cent. loans at a premium. + +The colony of Victoria is altogether protectionist, and South Australia +has given in a partial adherence to the system. To the author the policy +seems to be wrong in theory and practice, but the belief is widespread +that, even if sacrifices are made, the resources of the colony are thus +developed. + +Twenty years back the populations of the various colonies did not touch +each other: each colony spread from its own centre; but now this +isolation has disappeared. Settlement is contiguous with settlement, and +trade and intercourse are accelerated accordingly. The colonies can no +longer ignore each other, and hence the movement for federation has +gathered strength. + +The first Federal Council met in Hobart in January 1886, but +unfortunately jealousies had crept in, and the new body was shorn of its +fair proportions. Federalists cannot help feeling greatly disappointed +that the results hitherto have been so small, and yet probably there is +much more to rejoice over than to be downcast about. + +Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania and Western Australia were represented at +the Council, and such laws as it can pass will thus affect three-fifths +of the area of the continent. The absence of South Australia is +understood to be accidental. She is really one of the parties to the +federal bond, having agreed to the terms, and having invited the +Imperial Parliament to pass the Enabling Act, and her early adhesion is +expected with confidence. No continental state will then remain outside +except New South Wales, and it is fairly to be presumed that she will +not be insensible to the pressure of public opinion, both in Australia +and throughout the Empire, especially as care is being taken to soothe +the local susceptibilities that are now offended. The Federal Council +meets for the present at Hobart, the chief town of Tasmania, and this +town may, for the present, be called the 'federal capital.' + +The immigration into Australia is about eighty thousand men and women +yearly. If double or treble that number came, they could well be +accommodated. The labourer of to-day is the employer of to-morrow; and +as soon as a man acquires landed property his chief complaint is the +paucity of hands to improve his holding. + +A few specimens of wages may be taken from the official list of Mr. H. +H. Hayter, Government Statist of Victoria. On the whole, labour is more +in request in Victoria than in most of the sister states, and the +figures may be taken as representing fair average rates for Australia +generally. Servants, with board, coachmen, and grooms, 20_s._ to 30_s._ +per week; female cooks, £40 to £65 per annum; laundresses, £35 to £52 +per annum; general servants, 10_s._ to 14_s._ per week (these figures +are for 1884, and there has been a heavy rise in 1885-6); ploughmen, +25_s._ per week and board; blacksmiths, 10_s._ to 14_s._ per day; +boiler-makers, 10_s._ to 14_s._ per day; plumbers, £3 to £3 10_s._ per +week; lumpers, 10_s._ to 12_s._ per day; masons, carpenters, bricklayers +and plasterers, 10_s._ to 12_s._ per day. + +On the other hand, the necessaries of life are cheap. Bread is 6_d._ the +4lb. loaf, and beef and mutton are retailed at from 3_d._ to 8_d._ per +lb.; butter varies from 9_d._ to 1_s._ 6_d._ according to the season; +milk is 4_d._ to 6_d._ per quart; potatoes 2_s._ 6_d._ to 4_s._ per +cwt.; tea 1_s._ 6_d._ to 2_s._ 6_d._ per lb.; rabbits are sold at 1_s._ +per pair, and hares at 2_s._ each. + +In the Australian colonies there is neither an Established Church, nor +is any aid given by the State to the cause of religion. The +denominations are now entirely dependent upon the voluntary exertions of +their members for support. A strong feeling has grown up both among +politicians and the people in Australia that the State ought not to +interfere in ecclesiastical matters upon any pretext. The Churches, +therefore, are simply corporations empowered to hold property upon +certain conditions, and at liberty to manage their own affairs as they +think fit. + +There are, however, great difficulties in the way of maintaining +religious services regularly. In many of the country districts the +population is sparse and scattered; and, however willing the people may +be, the paucity of their numbers renders it hard for them to support a +church. Only a mere handful can be gathered together, most of whom have +a hard struggle in their private lives; for, although they own the land +which they cultivate, they have to wait until it is cleared for the +expected return. The difficulty is enhanced by the fact that each +denomination wishes to have a footing in every village, in order to meet +the wants of its own people. In many townships where there is room for +one strong and self-supporting Protestant congregation, there are three +or four, each of which is embarrassed by its own weakness. Some attempt +has been made to prevent the weaknesses of disunion by co-operation +among the Churches. The Episcopalians and the Presbyterians combine to +support a society which is intended to supply the religious wants of the +rural population. The money that is thus raised is spent principally in +the erection of buildings, which are used alternately by clergymen of +each denomination, so that the preferences of the people for their own +form of service are gratified at the least cost, and without any +rivalry. + +By such means the Churches have spread their network well over the land. +There is not a township of any importance that cannot boast of two or +three neat and substantial edifices dedicated to the service of God. +There is not a district that is not visited at intervals by ministers or +agents of the different denominations, some of whom have to ride long +distances in order to overtake every part. The vast plains that stretch +between the rivers Darling and Murray are traversed by clergymen who +visit from station to station. The deep forests of Gippsland and the +Otway ranges, inhabited by a hardy race of farmers whose lives are +spent in clearing the jungle, are not left unprovided for. Though +everything is not done that could be desired, it may be said with +perfect truth that the Churches strive earnestly to keep pace with the +continual migration of the people towards the backwoods of the country. + +It is a pleasant thing to attend a rural service on a typical Australian +day, when the sun is hot and the sky cloudless, and the whole landscape +steeped in peace and quiet. Driving along the road, we see the sheep +couched in the grass, or we pass a clearing where wheat and oats are +growing among the blackened stumps of fallen trees; and nothing disturbs +the stillness of the scene save, perhaps, the lazy motion of a crow, or +the rush of a startled native bear, a sleepy, gentle, little animal, an +enlarged edition of the opossum. The church stands a little apart from +the few houses that form the infant township. It is generally built of +wood, and surrounded by tall gum-trees, which, however, afford a very +scanty shade from the burning heat. Here is gathered on the Sunday +morning a collection of buggies and horses, for the people come long +distances, and it is necessary in Australia to drive or ride. The +congregation stand in groups before the door, chatting over the week's +news, and waiting for the clergyman to arrive. The Day of Rest is the +only day in the week in which they have an opportunity of meeting, and +many come early and loiter with their neighbours till the service +begins. They are all browned and tanned by scorching suns, but they +speak with the self-same accent that they learnt at home. There are +Scotchmen of whom, to judge by their speech and appearance, it is hard +to believe that they have not very recently left their native glens, and +Irishmen whose brogue is wholly uncorrupted by change of climate. Most +of them, however, have been settled for many years on the land, +retaining their old customs in the solitude of the bush, and among the +rest a due regard for the worship of God. The children have caught, to +some extent, the tone of their parents, and one could almost imagine +oneself in a remote parish of Britain. The service itself heightens the +illusion. The hymn-tunes are old and familiar, and sung very slowly to +the accompaniment of a harmonium. The exhortation of the preacher is +brief, telling the old and yet ever new story of the Saviour's love, and +it is listened to with evident attention. One hour suffices for the +whole worship, and the audience contentedly disperse, and turn their +faces towards their lonely homes. + +In the towns the organisation of the different Churches is effective. +Their agencies are at work in the poorer quarters of the large cities, +where the evils that exist in the Old World are showing themselves on a +smaller scale. They have stood out strenuously for the observance of the +Lord's Day, and with marked success. Sunday observance, if not so strict +as it is in Scotland, is more general than in England. There is no +postal delivery. Trains are not run on the main lines, and a limited +suburban traffic is alone allowed. All movements for restricting labour +on the Sunday meet with cordial sympathy and practical support. + +[Illustration: THE INDEPENDENT CHURCH, COLLINS STREET, MELBOURNE.] + +Though now independent in their government of the Churches in England by +which they were originally founded, and which they continue to +represent, the colonial Churches maintain a close relationship with the +mother-country. Bishops, and the best preachers, are still brought from +home to the colonies. All the important congregations send to England +for a minister when there happens to be a vacancy, and all the men who +have made a deep impression on the community have been trained there. +The whole religious and spiritual life of the colonies is inspired and +stimulated by that of England, both in the sense that they naturally +lean upon the stronger thought of English writers, and that they are +guided by ministers who have studied in British universities. There are +colleges connected with the more important denominations, which, it is +hoped, will gradually grow till they rival those of other lands. As yet +they are incompletely equipped, and one or two men have to bear the +brunt of work that is usually divided among four or five. + +In a new country, which attracts to itself all sorts and conditions of +men, nearly every form of belief is represented. Many of the sects, +however, are very small, and may be said to be practically confined to +the metropolitan cities. The Catholic Apostolic Church, the +Swedenborgians, Lutherans, Moravians, Unitarians, and various bodies of +unattached Protestants, are thus limited. The Episcopalians, the Roman +Catholics, the Presbyterians and Methodists have by far the largest hold +on the people, while Independents and Baptists are fairly numerous and +influential. Altogether, the Churches provide accommodation for more +than one-half of the people, and the ordinary attendance at their +principal weekly service amounts to fully one-third. + +Sunday-schools flourish in every part of the country. The total number +of children attending them is returned in Victoria as 73-1/2 per cent. +of the whole who are at the school age, and the average is not much less +in any other colony. When allowance is made for the children who are +kept at home by parents that prefer to give their own instruction, and +for those in the country who cannot well attend a Sunday-school, it is +evident that there are comparatively few who receive no religious +education at all. + +The love of church building, which every nation has displayed, is by no +means wanting among the Australians. In every town the ecclesiastical +edifices are the chief features, and in the larger cities some of them +are imposing structures. Cathedrals are gradually rising in different +places. Even the Churches which are not usually credited with paying +much respect to outward appearance are inclined to beautify their +buildings. + +It would be too much to expect that the denominations could lay aside +their differences and unite. But a very kindly feeling exists for the +most part between them, whether it be due to their equality, or to the +novel circumstances in which they were placed when they began their +work. That it may continue and tend to further co-operation is the +earnest wish of all. + +Statistics, giving the most recent facts about the condition of the +various Churches in the colonies, will be found in the Appendix. + + + + +SECTION II. + +BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF THE COLONIES. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +VICTORIA. + + PORT PHILLIP--EARLY SETTLEMENT AND ABANDONMENT--THE PIONEERS HENTY, + BATMAN AND FAWKNER--SIZE OF VICTORIA--MELBOURNE--ITS + APPEARANCE--PUBLIC BUILDINGS--STREETS--RESERVES--PRIDE OF ITS + PEOPLE--UNEARNED INCREMENT--SANDHURST--BALLARAT--THE CAPITAL OF THE + INTERIOR--GEELONG--THE WESTERN DISTRICT--VIEW OF THE + LAKES--PORTLAND--THE WHEAT PLAINS--SHEPPERTON--THE + MALLEE--GIPPSLAND--MOUNTAIN RANGES--SCHOOL SYSTEM--COBB'S + COACHES--FACTS AND FIGURES. + +[Illustration: SEMI-CIVILISED VICTORIAN ABORIGINES.] + +[Illustration: GOVERNMENT HOUSE, MELBOURNE.] + + +It is strange that Victoria should be one of the youngest of the +colonies, for Port Phillip was amongst the places first noticed by the +early settlers of the continent. Lieutenant Grant, commanding the little +brig _Lady Nelson_, observed the inlet in the year 1800, when _en route_ +for Sydney. In 1802 Governor King, of New South Wales, dispatched the +_Lady Nelson_, under Lieutenant Murray, to explore and report. The +account given was most favourable of the extent of the bay, the security +of its anchorages, and the beauty and apparent fertility of its shores. +The result was that it was decided to establish a convict settlement on +the shores of the gulf, and in 1803 Colonel Collins and a party of +prisoners, with their guards, landed at the site of the now fashionable +seaside resort, which has been called Sorrento at the instance of Sir +Charles Gavan Duffy, one of the first landowners there. To the lover of +beauty the scene, gazing from Sorrento down Capel Sound, is fair; the +blue sea ripples at your feet; the high hills around Dromana, draped +with the rich ultramarine blue not to be found outside of Australia, +form a charming background on which one can gaze and gaze again. But the +prose of the situation for Governor Collins was that he was landed on a +well-nigh waterless sand-spit, the most sterile portion of the district, +the resort to-day of the admirers of loveliness, but shunned even to-day +by the practical settler. The citizen in his Sorrento villa is lulled by +the roar of the league-long surf which ever breaks on the rocky ocean +beach, scarcely a mile away. But circumstances alter human views, and +the historian of the expedition reports that the monotonous booming of +the breakers irritated and depressed both soldiers and convicts, and +made a miserable company still more wretched. A search was made for +water that was not brackish, but the right places were missed, and at +last, happily for all concerned, the settlement was abandoned in favour +of the Hobart colony. Governor Collins rejoiced to get away from the +spot, the soldiers rejoiced, and the convicts also, and posterity will +never leave off rejoicing that Victoria was left to be a 'free colony' +from its inception. + +The bad name given to the Port Phillip district clung to it for nearly a +generation. The great central desert was supposed to extend to the +sea-coast in this direction; but gradually the real district was +discovered by 'overlanders' from New South Wales, and at last, in 1824, +Hovell and Hume crossed the Murray river, skirted the Australian Alps, +and struck the shores of Port Phillip between Geelong and Melbourne. +Later on the Messrs. Henty, crossing from Tasmania, established a +whaling-station in Portland Bay, and began cultivation also. So the new +land was more and more talked about in the existing settlements, just as +the new country in North-western Australia is being talked of in Sydney +and Melbourne to-day. Tasmania sent the first batch of colonists, an +association, with Mr. John Batman at its head, being formed to take up +land there. In one sense Batman did take up land on an enormous scale. +He landed in May, 1835. He says in a despatch to the Governor of +Tasmania: 'After some time and full explanation, I found eight chiefs +amongst them who possessed the whole of the territory near Port Phillip. +Three brothers, all of the same name, were the principal chiefs, and two +of them, men six feet high, very good-looking; the other not so tall, +but stouter. The chiefs were fine men. After explanation of what my +object was, I purchased five large tracts of land from them--about +600,000 acres, more or less--and delivered over to them blankets, +knives, looking-glasses, tomahawks, beads, scissors, flour, &c., as +payment for the land; and also agreed to give them a tribute or rent +yearly. The parchment the eight chiefs signed this afternoon, delivering +to me some of the soil, each of them, as giving me full possession of +the tracts of land.' How the blacks could sign a parchment is somewhat +of a mystery. Batman seems to have recognised that a performance of this +kind would be laughed at, and so he goes on to describe another signing +away which took place. He travelled about with the natives, marking +boundary trees. + +Batman was a hardy bushman, and acquired great fame in Tasmania by his +courage in capturing a notorious convict desperado; but if he imagined +that these deeds and purchases would ever be recognised, he was as +simple as the blacks themselves. As a matter of fact, no one ever took +any notice of them. Within a few weeks after the transaction, the second +or Fawkner party of settlers were on the river Yarra, had landed in the +gully now called Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, and the future capital had +been founded. When the deeds were shown to the new arrivals, they +laughed and declined to move on, but proceeded to clear away the site of +the city. Batman died from the effects of a severe cold in 1839, and +'Batman's Hill,' where he built his hut, has been cleared away to make +room for the great Spencer Street railway station. John Batman would +probably have become a rich man had he lived, but his estate was +frittered away, and his grandchildren are now working in the mass for +their living. Quite recently, a subscription having been organised for +the purpose, a suitable monument was placed over the grave of the +pioneer in the old Melbourne cemetery. The blacks would certainly have +very much liked the terms which Batman made with them to have been +respected, for Batman spoke of a yearly rent, and no one afterwards ever +dreamed of such a provision. + +The rival pioneer was much more fortunate. John Pascoe Fawkner lived to +a ripe old age, became a member of the Legislative Council, and +'Fawkner's Park,' a handsome city reserve, perpetuates his name; while +his portrait is in the Victorian National Gallery. The last time the +author met the shrewd old man was in 1870, when he had stopped his +carriage on the Eastern Hill to gaze wistfully at the scene, and was +ready to talk with animation about the changes that had passed over it. +Those changes had been great indeed. On the whole, the lieutenant of the +convoy ship _Calcutta_ was not exactly happy in his prophecy, when he +wrote as he sailed away: 'The kangaroo now reigns undisturbed lord of +the Port Phillip soil, and he is likely to retain his dominion for +ages.' Sir Thomas Mitchell was more felicitous when, being commissioned +by the Sydney Government to explore and report on the country to the +south of the Murray, he wrote back in 1836-7: 'A land more favourable +for colonisation could not be found. This is _Australia Felix_.' + +[Illustration: MELBOURNE, 1840. (_From the original sketch by Mr. S. H. +Haydon._)] + +The surface of this south-eastern corner of Australia is strangely +diversified, and hence its charm. Its own south-eastern region is +occupied by the Australian Alps. Hundreds of peaks rising from 4000 to +7000 feet in height secure here an abundant rainfall, and in the +sheltered gullies a noble vegetation is to be found; then come the +uplands sloping down to the Murray plains. And back from the western +seaboard stretches the beautiful so-called Western District, composed of +open rolling plains studded with lakes, and with the isolated cones of +extinct volcanoes. A grand and terrible sight they must have presented +when these agents were at work sending forth fire, ashes and water, but, +happily for man, their powers have departed long, long ago. Mount +Franklin shows no sign of becoming a second Vesuvius, and the volcanic +deposit has secured for the west a wonderful luxuriance of growth--such +a growth as the grazier dearly loves. The beauty of the eastern district +of Victoria is of the kind that delights the artist; the pleasant +western spectacle is grateful to the banker. The capitalist will +build a cottage home in the one, but he will advance money freely on the +acres of the other. The gold-fields are the least picturesque of any +portion of the Austral region, though as gold-fields they possess a +romance of their own. + +[Illustration: A RAILWAY PIER IN MELBOURNE IN 1886.] + +But, turning from the country to the town, we have first and foremost +that special pride of Victoria, the great city of Melbourne. Batman +proclaimed the site 'a good spot for a village,' and the village has +become a metropolis. We give an engraving showing what Melbourne was +like in 1840, and as a contrast, one of a railway pier in the same city +forty-six years later. Its population of over 350,000 puts Melbourne +into the rank of the first score of the cities of the empire. And if +area were considered as the test, the city would not easily be +surpassed, except by London itself, for a ten miles' radius from the +Post Office is required to cover it all. There is much filling in to be +done, of course, but Brighton, Oakleigh, Surrey Hills, and other of the +long distance suburbs have not only been built up to, but are being +passed by the spreading population. The city itself is a compact mass of +about a mile and a half square, encircled by large parks and gardens, +all the property of the people, and permanently reserved for their use. +Built upon a cluster of small rolling hills, the views of Melbourne are +pleasantly interrupted, and yet it is possible to obtain frequent +glimpses from commanding points, either of the whole or of parts of the +whole. You will turn a corner and come upon a panoramic peep of streets, +of sea and of spires that takes one's breath away. Near Bishopscourt you +have one of these 'coigns of vantage.' You see the busy town below, and +hear its hum. On the one side are the suburbs where artisan and clerk +and small tradesman have their long rows of cottages and houses, costing +from £200 to £2,000 each, while on the other side are the high lands of +Malvern and Toorak, where the successful squatter, speculator, and +storekeeper have erected mansions, standing in at present prices from +£5,000 to £50,000. Government House, the residence of His Excellency, +the representative of the Crown, is a conspicuous object to the south; +to the north is the handsome Exhibition Building, in which the gathering +of 1880 was held. Numerous places of amusement speak of a +pleasure-loving people. The two or three spires upon every hill proclaim +a Christian community not averse to spending money and making sacrifices +for its religion. There is no veneer. The cottage is usually of brick; +the public buildings, from the twin cathedrals of the Roman and Anglican +Churches downwards, are of stone, which is costly here. The mushroom +Melbourne of 1857 has been exchanged for Mr. G. A. Sala's 'Marvellous +Melbourne' of the present year of grace, 1886. + +[Illustration: A MELBOURNE SUBURBAN HOUSE.] + +Melbourne streets are wide--a chain and a half or ninety-nine feet in +all--and they are busy. The shops seem 'squat' to most visitors from the +Old World, for two stories high was the rule until within the last few +years; but as the price of land goes up, so does the height of the +buildings. Nothing would be built in the city now under four or five +stories, and there are tradesmen's places and stores and 'coffee +palaces' that run up to six and seven stories, and are more than a +hundred feet above the level of the roadway. Thus the complaint of +squatness will speedily disappear. Not only are the streets wide, but +they are also regular. Some run north and south; others east and west. +Thus the city is something of a gridiron, or rather, giants could play +games of chess upon its plan. Usually towns have been built on the +tracks of the cows of the first inhabitants, but Melbourne is a +surveyor's city. All the streets are straight, and none would be narrow +but that lanes intended by the original designers as back entrances for +the residents of the main roads have been eagerly seized upon, and are +utilised as business frontages. The importers of 'soft goods'--that is, +of articles of apparel--have taken possession of one of these streets, +Flinders Lane, and as 'the lane' it is known everywhere throughout +Australia, without the need of any distinctive affix. Further north, +dilapidated buildings in another 'lane,' with their shutters up and a +profuse display of blue banners with golden hieroglyphics, proclaim +that Little Bourke Street has been converted into a Chinese quarter. The +main streets run their mile and more east and west. They are five in +number, with four lanes, while nine broad streets run north and south. +Of the five, Flinders Street is adjacent to the wharves and great +warehouses, and is commercial in character. + +[Illustration: BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF MELBOURNE, SHOWING PUBLIC OFFICES AND +GARDENS: ST. KILDA IN THE DISTANCE.] + +[Illustration: BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF MELBOURNE, LOOKING SOUTHWARDS TO THE +SEA.] + +Collins Street runs from the public offices in the east to the country +railway-station in the west. The one end is given up to the fashionable +doctors and the favoured dentists, handsome churches and prosperous +chemists filling in the interstices. From the Town Hall corner, Collins +Street is gay with carriages and with pedestrians who come to see or to +shop. Farther on we enter the region of the banks, the exchange, the +offices of barristers and solicitors, and the rooms of the auctioneers. +Here men of business are hurrying about. The flutter about the tall +building on the left tells of some mining excitement. Farther on, a +bearded, sun-burned, but well-dressed group will attract attention. +'Scott's' is the squatters' hotel, and it has been selected as the place +for submitting to auction those 'well-known and extensive pastoral +properties entitled the "Billabong Blocks," within easy distance of +market (say eight hundred miles), together with all improvements and +stock.' The conversation is whether the station will bring £300,000 or +not--for it is a large property; whether a better sale could have been +effected in Sydney, and so on; and next day you read in your _Argus_ +that 'the biddings reached £290,000, when the lot was passed in, and was +subsequently sold at a satisfactory price, withheld.' Last of all, in +Collins Street come Assurance Companies' offices, the buildings of +merchants, and great wool stores. + +In Bourke Street, commencing again at the west, where the new Houses of +Parliament stand, we have first shops, hotels, and theatres, then hotels +and mews, and finally a region of hotels (now less frequent), and of +offices and stores. Lonsdale Street is in a transitive condition. La +Trobe Street is not recognised. Standing on the midway flat you see two +hills: the western hill is commercial, the eastern hill is social. After +six o'clock Flinders Street and Collins Street are deserted. In place of +busy scenes of life there is gloom and solitude, while Eastern Bourke +Street, where the theatres and concert halls are, is lit up and is +thronged. Leisured people who can promenade in the daytime use Collins +Street as their lounge; the toiling multitude, who must promenade in the +evening or not at all, patronise Bourke Street. On Saturday nights the +Bourke Street block is great; the footways will not accommodate the +crowds. + +Another Melbourne feature is the rush from the city from four to six +o'clock P.M., and the inrush from eight to ten o'clock in the morning. +It is enormous, but it is easily met. There is an extensive suburban +railway system, the property of the Government--as all railways in +Victoria are. Omnibuses and waggonettes are numerous, the latter taking +the place of the London cab; and now there are gliding through the +streets the successful and popular cable trams, a company having +obtained a concession to put down fifty miles of these costly roadways. +Let a heavy shower of rain fall at or about six P.M., however, and the +rush is too great for the accommodation, and those 'too late' have to +wait for return vehicles, and to bewail their misfortune. + +[Illustration: BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF CENTRAL MELBOURNE.] + +[Illustration: BOURKE STREET, MELBOURNE, LOOKING EAST.] + +In public buildings Melbourne would be really great, if all that have +been begun were finished. But few are. The citizens are not running up +miserable flimsy structures, but are building for posterity. Final +contracts have been taken for the Houses of Parliament, which are to be +finished with a newly-discovered stone of a beautiful whiteness, but +expensive to work. From first to last half a million of money will be +spent on these halls of legislation. They will crown the eastern hill. +The Law Courts, which cost nearly £300,000, are finished, and constitute +a handsome pile on the western hill. St. Patrick's Cathedral, on the +eastern hill, will be a marvel, and it is slowly creeping on. The +Anglican Cathedral, founded by Bishop Moorhouse, is in the heart of the +city, and is making more rapid progress. The Public Library is a noble +institution, containing 150,000 volumes, and is open without restraint +to all comers. So is a National Picture Gallery which is attached, and +which contains specimens of the work of many of the best modern masters. +There is a National Museum, in which the Australian fauna is admirably +represented, and the Melbourne University is near at hand. This +institution, beautifully situated and handsomely endowed, grants degrees +which are recognised throughout the Empire, and its doors are open to +male and to female students alike. Ladies have taken B.A. and M.A. +degrees already, and the number of the softer sex entering is on the +increase. Not a ladies' school of repute but has its matriculation +class. The Town Hall, where 2,000 people can sit to listen to the +organ--one of the world's great organs--is not to be passed over. The +Botanic Gardens are another show spot. They are well within the civic +bounds, and by visiting them you obtain a series of lovely views, and +become acquainted with the flora of the Australian continent, for +everything that can be coaxed to grow here has been provided by the +director, Mr. Guilfoyle, with a suitable home. There is a gully for the +graceful Gippsland ferns, a spot for the gorgeous Illawarra flame-tree, +a guarded receptacle for the great northern nettle-bush, which is here +twelve or fifteen feet in height, and which no one would presume to +handle. Cycads, palms, and palm lilies represent Queensland in one +division; a mass of foliage of a bright metallic green speaks of New +Zealand in another. Of no place is the Melbournite more proud than of +the Gardens, which Mr. Guilfoyle has only had in hand about twelve +years, but which he has transformed from a waste into a Paradise. + +[Illustration: UNIVERSITY, MELBOURNE.] + +Melbourne has a grand system of water supply. The river Plenty, a +tributary of the Yarra, is dammed twenty miles away, and the huge +reservoir when full contains nearly a two years' supply. The +reticulation allows of a supply of eighty gallons per head to each +consumer; but in hot days the demand for baths and for the Garden are so +great that this quantity is not found to be half enough, and +improvements are to be effected. The Yan Yean system has cost +£2,000,000, and now the Watts River is to be brought in, and as the +engineers speak of £750,000 being necessary, the presumption is that +£1,000,000 will be required. It is a grand spectacle to see a full head +of Yan Yean turned on to a fire, say at night, when there is no strain +to abate the maximum pressure. The flames are not so much put out as +they are smashed out of existence. On a wooden building the jet will act +like a battering-ram, sending everything flying. No engine is required +in these cases; the hose is wound on a light big-wheeled reel, and the +instant an alarm is given a brigade can start off at racing speed and +come into action on the moment of arrival. + +[Illustration: THE FITZROY GARDENS, MELBOURNE.] + +As to industries, a list would be wearisome. A hundred tall chimneys +make known to the observer the fact that Melbourne is becoming a great +manufacturing centre. + +The reserves between the city and its suburbs must ever be the greatest +charm of Melbourne. To leave Melbourne on the south, you must pass +through the mile-long Albert Park, with its ornamental water and its +handsome carriage drives, or you must saunter through Fawkner Park or +the Domain. Yarra Park and the Botanic Gardens are to the south-east, +and they link with the beautiful Fitzroy Gardens. Carlton Gardens crown +the city to the north, and communicate by smaller reserves, such as +Lincoln Square, to the 1,000 acre Royal Park, in which, among other +attractions, are the well-stocked gardens of the Zoological Society, +open to the public on certain days, in consideration of a Government +subsidy, free of cost. + +The Yarra Park, lying between Melbourne and Richmond, contains the +principal cricket grounds of the city. Here the Melbourne Cricket Club +has its head-quarters, and much its sward and its grand stand and its +pavilion are praised by our cricketing friends from the Old World. In +the season the big matches, All England _v._ Australia, or New South +Wales _v._ Victoria, will draw their tens of thousands of spectators, +and on other occasions the area is utilised for moonlight concerts, for +flower-shows, and for pyrotechnics. + +A jealous eye is kept upon these reserves. Once or twice a minister, +eager to increase the land revenue, has made a dash at a city park, and +has essayed to sell a slice, but so great has been the uproar that no +Government is likely to indulge in the effort again. Indeed, in almost +all cases, the alienation has now been rendered impossible except by +means of an Act of Parliament, which could never be obtained. The belt +of reserves--5,000 acres in all--is secure, and it must grow in beauty +yearly, continually adding to the attractions of the town. As it is +within a stone's throw of city life, you can wander into cool glens and +sequestered shades, and hear the thrush sing, or study the beauties of a +fern gully. To the pedestrian the walk to business in the morning or +from it in the evening is thus rendered delightful; but if the ordinary +Australian can possibly avoid it he never does walk. You meet curious +traces in these reserves of that former time when the eucalypts +sheltered not the inevitable perambulator and nursemaid at noon, nor the +equally inevitable 'young people' at the 'billing and cooing' stage in +the evening, but rather the kangaroo and the black fellow. In the Yarra +Park an inscription on a green tree calls attention to the fact that a +bark canoe has been taken from the trunk. The canoe shape being evident +in the stripped portion, and the marks of the stone hatchet being still +visible on the stem. The blacks would find their way to the river +impeded now by a treble-track railway that runs close to their old camp, +carrying passengers to a station which three hundred trains enter and +leave daily. + +Melbourne has a river. One knows this mostly by crossing the bridges, as +otherwise the Yarra plays but a small part in the social arrangements of +the community. The lower portion of the stream is being greatly +improved. It is to be straightened and deepened, so that the largest +liners are to come up to the city, as already do 2000-ton intercolonial +steamers. The works, which will cost millions, are now (1886) about +half-way through. Near Melbourne the stream is muddy and nasty. Sluicers +use the water for gold-washing purposes twenty miles away, and factories +were allowed years back to be started upon its banks, and though new +tanneries and new fellmongeries are forbidden, the old evil-smelling +establishments remain. Few who look upon the sluggish ditch at +Melbourne would imagine that five and forty miles away it is a brisk and +sparkling river, parrots and satin birds and kingfishers floating about +it, ferns bending over and hiding its waters, and the giant gum rising +from its banks to double the height of any city spire. The improvements +will make the Yarra below the city a grand stream, bearing the commerce +of the world on its bosom, and one may look forward to the time when the +city portion itself will be purified, and the river made worthy of its +romantic mountain home. + +[Illustration: THE YARRA YARRA, NEAR MELBOURNE.] + +The city has its drawbacks. There is dust in the summer, which the +water-carts seek in vain to control; and there is mud in winter, which +no raving against the Corporation appears to affect; and the less said +on the drainage question the better. Again, as to weather, there are +people who protest against the suddenness of the change when the wind in +January chops round from north to south, and after panting in the +morning you begin to think of a fire at night. But the three hundred +delightful days of the year, when existence is a pleasure, are to be +remembered, and not the odd sixty-five when ills have to be endured. A +favourable impression is usually made upon visitors by the city with its +charm of suburbs, its wealth and reserves, its crowds of well-dressed +people, always busy about either their pleasure or their business, +always obliging, the poorest showing no signs of poverty, nor yet the +lowest of the influence of drink. And if a visitor had ideas of his own +he would withhold any adverse dictum until he was away, and would not +seek to wound the feelings of his hospitable hosts. With them, at any +rate, it is a cardinal principle of faith that their much-loved home is +entitled to the proud appellation of the 'Queen City of the South.' + +An 'unearned increment,' such as would satisfy the most glowing dreams +of the most ardent speculator, has occurred in the capital. One instance +may be given. One of the few original half-acre blocks now in possession +undisturbed--not cut up--of the family of the original purchaser is +situated in a good part of Collins Street. The colonist whose executors +are now holding the property gave £20 for it in 1837. To-day the +sixty-six feet frontage to Collins Street is worth £1,150 per foot; the +Flinders Lane frontage is worth £350 per foot. A little ciphering brings +out a sum total of £99,000 as the present value of the original £20 +investment. And for decades the income derived from the block has been +counted by many thousands per annum. The £20 has by this time earned at +least £200,000 in all. In many country places a £5 lot will bring £500 +when a decade has passed. But then the place may not become a centre, +and your 'unearned increment' will be no more substantial than the +evening cloud. There is a reverse to this shield, as to all others. + +[Illustration: BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF SANDHURST.] + +From Melbourne it is easy to journey to the two great gold-fields of +Victoria--Ballarat and Sandhurst. The latter is due north, and is +reached by a double-track railway, built in the early days at a cost of +£40,000 per mile. Single-track railways, costing £4,000 per mile, are +now the order of the day. Sandhurst is the Bendigo of old days. It has +had many ups and downs; has been deserted, and has been ruined; but the +result is the fine city of to-day, with its broad, tree-lined streets, +its splendid buildings, and high degree of commercial activity. As a +recent writer puts it: 'What vicissitudes has not the place undergone! +From enormous wealth to the verge of bankruptcy, from the pinnacle of +prosperity to the direst adversity; from financial soundness to +commercial rottenness; and yet, with that wonderful elasticity and +buoyancy which characterises our gold-fields, the falling ball has +rebounded, the sunken cork has again come to the surface, and Sandhurst, +after all her reverses, is perhaps now richer and on a safer basis than +ever--a city whose wide, well-watered streets are perfect avenues of +trees, bordered by handsome buildings and well-stocked shops, +brilliantly lighted by gas; whose hotel accommodation is proverbially +good, whose civic affairs are admirably regulated, whose citizens are +busy, hospitable, and prosperous.' There is no mistake about the +character of the town. Miles and miles of country before you enter it +have been excavated and upturned by the alluvial digger. And there are +few more desolate sights to be met with than a worked-out and deserted +diggings, for often Nature refuses to lend her assistance, and does not +hide the violated tract with trees or verdure. Ugly gravel heaps, +staring mounds of 'pipe-clay,' deposits of sludge, a surface filled with +holes, broken windlasses, the wrecks of whims, all combine to make a +hideous picture as they stand revealed in the pitiless sunshine. +Alluvial digging of the shallow type is a curse to the unhappy country +operated upon. But alluvial mining has long had its little day, and +ceased to be in and about Sandhurst, and the town lives now by deep +quartz mining. You come upon the 'poppet-heads' and the batteries +everywhere, even in the beautiful reserve which is the centre of the +city. Sandhurst contains 30,000 inhabitants, 8,000 of whom are miners, +while the value of the mining machinery and plant is three-quarters of a +million sterling. + +Old Bendigo had busy scenes, but never did it witness such excitement as +when a share mania broke out in 1871. Then it was that the richness of +the so-called 'saddle reefs' was demonstrated. The old-established +companies were paying well, and the Extended Hustlers exhibited one cake +of 2,564 ozs. as the result of a crushing of 260 tons. This was just the +spark wanted to set the market aflame. From being unduly neglected, +Sandhurst was unduly exalted; new companies were projected in every +direction where a line of reefs could be imagined; existing 'claims' +were subdivided, and in a few months £500,000 was invested in Sandhurst +mines. Of course there was a reaction; but though the speculators lost +money to sharpers, there really were auriferous reefs in Sandhurst to be +honestly worked, and no town seems more likely to hold its own in +Victoria than the great quartz city. Foundries and potteries are +springing up in its midst, or rather have sprung up; vineyards and +orchards are found to be successes in its neighbourhood, and the visitor +is grateful for the tree planting in the broad streets, appreciates the +water supply, is duly dazed if he enters a battery chamber, and is +delighted when 1,500 feet below the surface he is allowed to break off +some fragment of glittering quartz. + +Ballarat lies 100 miles to the north-east of Melbourne, or at least it +is that distance by rail, viâ Geelong, but a direct line will soon +reduce it to a distance of seventy miles. An upland plateau, with a +fringe of hills all around, some of these now denuded of their timber, +and glittering white, cold, and bare in the sun, the earth pitted with +holes and gullies, scarified as if by some gigantic rooster, +'mullock'-heaps, 'poppet-heads,' and engine-stacks everywhere. This is +one's first impression of Ballarat. Gold-fields are very much like each +other all over the world. 'Substitute pines for eucalypti,' says Mr. +Julian Thomas, 'and I could imagine this to be California. But when one +first drives from the station and sees the magnificent width of Sturt +Street, with the avenue of trees planted along the centre, the public +buildings, banks, and churches--you are possessed with astonishment that +this is a mining town. Ballarat is indeed a great inland capital. The +difference between this and Sandhurst is that at the latter the mines +obtrude themselves everywhere. One cannot go half a block but one has +mullock-heaps and poppet-heads in view. There is a mine in every +back-yard. At Sandhurst it is gold--nothing but gold! Small nuggets are +occasionally, so say the truthful inhabitants, picked up by +sharp-visioned pedestrians in the public streets. There is gold or +evidences of it all around, even in the very bricks of the houses in +which we live, for the old men tell that the first brick building ever +erected in Sandhurst was pulled down and crushed, yielding three ounces +to the ton! In Ballarat it is all different. Walk up Sturt Street, or +along Lydiard Street, and one sees nothing but substantial buildings and +avenues of trees. The mines are in the suburbs, and do not deface the +town, as at Sandhurst. After an experience of the plains the city is a +perfect Arcadia. Embowered in trees, the homes of the people are +surrounded with gardens. There is verdure and vegetation in every +street. One mentally associates an amount of roughness and coarseness +with a mining town. Here it is quite other than so. There is everything +to bring light and culture and sweetness home to the people. Sandhurst +is superior in one respect--that its public gardens are right in the +centre of the town, running by the side of old Bendigo Creek; but there +is nothing in the colonies to surpass Wendouree Lake, the walks around +it, and the adjacent reserves and Botanical Gardens. An easy walk from +the town, and you embark on one of the fleet of elegant little +steamers--perfect yachts--furnished with luxurious cushions and rugs as +protection from the spray. Here everything is calm and peaceful. There +is no dust, no noise, no smells. Sailing boats and rowing boats are +plentiful; in little punts fishermen are bobbing for perch. This is a +lung which gives health and happiness to the inhabitants of Ballarat. +And when, after crossing the lake, you land under the shade of English +oak trees, and the air is perfumed with the scent of new-mown hay, you +feel that in no other mining community in the world have the people such +privileges as here. The Botanical Gardens are always beautiful, and are +a model to other establishments of the same kind in much larger +communities.' + +It was here, early in August 1851, that alluvial gold was discovered at +a bend in the Yarrowee Creek, renamed Golden Point, where the toil of +some of the earlier diggings yielded from twenty to fifty pounds weight +of gold per day. In some spots, indeed, the gold lay almost on the +surface, amidst the roots of the bush grass, to be turned up by the +wheels of the passing bullock-drays, or picked out by hand after heavy +showers. At first it was thought that the auriferous deposit did not +extend beyond the commencement of the pipe-clay stratum, and most of the +diggers moved further afield as soon as they had turned over the bare +skin, so to speak, of the ground; but one digger, more persistent than +the rest, dug beyond the clay, and was richly rewarded by finding that +here lay the true home of the precious metal, here were the 'pockets' so +dear to the heart of the true digger. The deserted 'claims' were quickly +reoccupied, fresh thousands of diggers poured to the locality, and in a +couple of months Ballarat was more vigorous than ever. + +Then for a time it was thought that the golden riches lay solely in the +alluvial stratum; but more modern research led to the discovery of a +number of quartz reefs, from which large quantities of gold have been +taken. Amongst the leading mines at present being worked are the +celebrated 'Block Hill,' the 'Band and Albion,' 'Redan,' 'Washington,' +'Koh-I-Noor,' 'Band of Hope,' 'Victoria United,' 'Llanberis,' 'Smith's +Freehold,' 'Williams' Freehold,' together with scores of others, +employing upwards of three hundred steam engines, with an aggregate of +about ten thousand horse-power, besides numerous machines worked by +horses. The total value of the plant and machinery in use is nearly a +million sterling, and the number of miners engaged in active operations +is returned as nine thousand, of whom nearly one-seventh are Chinese. +The total number of quartz reefs proved to be auriferous is between 350 +and 400, while the extent of auriferous ground worked upon in the +district is 187 square miles. + +But, in addition to its mines, Ballarat is renowned for its pastoral and +agricultural advantages, the Ballarat farmers being always large +prize-takers at the various annual shows. The town is delightfully +situated at an elevation of 1,413 feet above the sea-level, and is +correspondingly healthy for all rejoicing in fairly robust +constitutions. In winter the weather is sometimes of an ultra-bracing +quality with sharp frosts, and even an occasional fall of snow, but on +the whole the climate is very good. + +'The Corner' is a local institution. It was at the Corner in olden days +that a sort of open-air Stock Exchange was established, and here do +speculators of all degrees still delight to come. Many are the stories +of the fortunes that have here changed hands at a word--of the +Midas-like touch of some, the Claudian fatality of withering blight +possessed by others. Here, in the maddest times of the gold fever, was a +scene of gambling pure and simple, as reckless as ever broke a Homburg +bank. Here was the _auri sacra fames_ in its most maddening and +tantalising intensity. And here, even in these more prosaic times, are +sudden flashes of the old spirit, that keep gesticulating crowds surging +over the pavement, and the busy wires working hence to Melbourne, +Sandhurst, and other commerce-hives. + +Now and again we read of half-a-ton or so of gold being sent by one or +other of the Ballarat banks to its Melbourne head office, and then we +may be sure, there is a bubbling over of excitement at the Corner. But +it soon calms down to the ordinary seething of the cauldron, to which +the shares of the various mining companies bob up and down with a +regularity that can be almost reduced to a certainty. + +Anthony Trollope said of Ballarat: 'It struck me with more surprise than +any other city in Australia. It is not only its youth, for Melbourne is +also very young; nor is it the population of Ballarat which amazes, for +it does not exceed a quarter of that of Melbourne; but that a town so +well built, so well ordered, endowed with present advantages so great in +the way of schools, hospitals, libraries, hotels, public gardens, and +the like, should have sprung up so quickly with no internal advantages +of its own other than that of gold. The town is very pleasant to the +sight.' And with these pleasant words we may leave the great mining +capital. + +If cities, like men, could enforce their rights by suits of equity, +Geelong would be the capital of the colony of Victoria, and many +heartburnings, past and present, would have been avoided. But as matters +stand, Geelong has to be content with third place in the list of +Victorian extra-metropolitan cities, and with a population of about +21,000. The claims of the town to greater consideration lie in its +situation on the shores of Corio Bay, thus nearer to the sea than +Melbourne, its central position as regards the first cultivated and most +fertile district of the colony, and its early settlement. John Bateman, +the pioneer, with his party of three white men and four Sydney blacks, +landed at Indented Head on May 29, 1835, and would have 'squatted' +thereabouts permanently had it not been for the proceedings of the +aboriginals. As it was, Geelong was really founded as far back as 1837, +when its site was planned by the then Surveyor-General, Robert Hoddle, +and in 1849, or before the golden days, it was incorporated into a town. +But fine harbour, excellent geographical position, and rich country at +its back, were not enough to enable Geelong to compete in the race with +Melbourne, Ballarat, and Sandhurst. It has grown truly, and the growth +has been of the steady nature which gives flavour and solidity; but +lacking the fertilising medium of gold, there is no luxuriance, no +profusion. In the glorious future--the good time coming--this may prove +to have been an advantage. At present it is regarded as a drawback. The +town is in almost hourly communication with Melbourne, both by rail and +steamer, and presents many other features showing it to be instinct with +vitality of the best sort, and ready at any time to forge its way to the +front. + +Geelong exports goods, principally wool and produce, to the value of +three-quarters of a million sterling per annum, and sends cargoes direct +to London and Liverpool. To accommodate shipping three substantial +jetties have been built at an expenditure of nearly one hundred thousand +pounds, and the bar at the entrance of the harbour is kept clear to the +depth of twenty-two feet. Another feature which strikes the eye of the +visitor as he glances admiringly round the beautiful bay, on the shores +of which the town sits enthroned, is the number of bathing +establishments. There are no less than four of these, all of large size +and comfortable appointments. + +[Illustration: ON LAKE WELLINGTON.] + +Geelong tweed has achieved a high reputation in many markets, and the +shawls and blankets made in the town are also widely known. + +After inspecting the gold-fields there can be no greater change for the +visitor than to proceed to that Western District, far famed in Australia +for the richness of its soil, the fineness of its pasture, and the soft +beauty of its scenery. It is easily reached, for the railway now runs +into its heart at Colac and Camperdown. This is the lake country of +Victoria. An easy climb takes you to the top of the mount at Colac, and +once there you can appreciate the description which Mr. Julian Thomas, +the most popular descriptive writer of the Australian press, gives of +the scene:-- + +'This lake country of Victoria,' says Mr. Thomas, 'possesses distinct +features, distinct beauties, as yet unsung and unheard of except by the +few. As I sit on a fragment of igneous rock and look around me, I indeed +feel that "the singer is less than his themes." I feel that I cannot do +justice to this magnificent view, I cannot describe all the pleasure it +gives me. My readers must come and judge for themselves. We are on the +edge of the extinct crater of an enormous volcano. Below us a number of +lakes. Fresh and salt, some fifteen can be counted from this spot. They +vary in size from the little mountain tarn filling up one of the mouths +of the crater to the great dead sea, Corangamite, more than 90 miles +round, and covering 49,000 acres. This lake is salter than the sea--no +fish will live in its waters. From the Stony Rises on the south to +Foxhow on the north its shores are outlined with jutting +promontories--quaint and picturesque rocky curves, which give it +additional beauty. Corangamite Lake is studded with islands, which +increase its attractions by the variety of their form. On these, I am +told, the pelicans, so numerous here, build their nests. Light and +shadow are depicted in the reflections of passing clouds. The shores are +white with accumulations of salt. Away in the north-west the dim, blue +line of the Grampians. All around, hills and mountains--the Otway +Ranges, Noorat, Leura, Porndon--are clearly defined. The park-like +plains stretching away to the horizon are dotted with trees, under which +thousands of cattle and sheep are sheltering from the rays of the +noonday sun. Here and there pleasant homesteads, green cultivation +patches, and fields of golden grain. But the especial glory of the scene +is in the variety and number of the smaller lakes filling the craters +below us. The yellow tints of the bracken covering the slopes are varied +with green glints from the foliage of choice ferns on the steep banks, +other colours being supplied by the mosses on the rocks. We have here +light and shade, form, outline, colour--everything which makes up beauty +in a landscape. And beyond that there is the wonderful interest in +thinking of the past. Of the age when the numerous volcanoes in the west +blazed forth their liquid fire over the land. Of the succeeding ages, +when the craters, cooled and filled by springs, for century after +century, shone in all their glory of lake and tarn under the actinic +rays of the morning sun, which darkened the skin of the few black +fellows camped on their banks. Now Coc Coc Coine, last King of the +Warrions, has gone. We possess the land, with none to dispute our right +to this earthly paradise. But the track of the serpent is even here. The +enemy of mankind has now taken the form of the rabbit, which swarms +around the Red Rock by the thousand. + +[Illustration: A VICTORIAN LAKE.] + +'A strange feature in the lakes here is that they are alternately +fresh and salt. Of five within gunshot of where we stand, three are +salt and two fresh, yet they are separated only by narrow isthmuses. +They vary also considerably in their height above sea-level. Corangamite +is higher than Colac--these crater-tarns higher than Corangamite. There +is a very high percentage of salt in some of these lakes. The saline +properties are caused by the drainage from the basalt rocks, "the water +being kept down by vaporisation, while the quantity of salt continually +increases." In the summer the lakes fall by evaporation considerably +below winter level, leaving on the banks large quantities of native salt +in crystals, the gathering of which forms a remunerative occupation to +many in the district. Cattle love this native salt, but Corangamite and +its fellows are avoided by mankind. None bathe in their waters; no boats +sail upon them. The large lake itself has not even been surveyed or +sounded. I am surprised that this has not been used for navigation. In +the United States there would be steamers towing flat-bottomed barges; +live stock and fire and pit wood, as well as passengers, would be +conveyed from north to south and east to west; for, although shallow in +places, there is ample depth for boats built on the American model. +There was a tradition amongst the blacks that Corangamite and Colac were +once dry, and again that at one time the lakes were all connected in one +running stream. But whether the water privileges are sufficiently +utilised or not, the lake scenery remains unequalled by anything I have +yet seen. + +[Illustration: THE UPPER GOULBOURN, VICTORIA.] + +The ports of this district are Warnambool and Belfast and Portland, and +near the two first-named places is land of an exceptional richness that +has gone far to make the locality wealthy. Here the potatoes of the +continent are grown. Warnambool and Belfast supply the Melbourne, the +Sydney, the Brisbane, and the Adelaide markets. There is no successful +competition, for nowhere do quantity and quality go so well together. A +maximum yield of twenty and thirty tons per acre has been obtained. The +land has been sold at £80 per acre. One landowner lets 1200 acres at £5 +10s. per acre per annum. These are the 'top' prices, but they establish +the fact that the volcanic formation of the Western District gives +patches with a marvellous producing power. A small estate in _Australia +Felix_--for it was this region which Mitchell so named--is a large +fortune. + +Portland Bay is the only harbour of refuge for hundreds of miles along +the coast of Australia. As we steam in, Cape Grant shuts out the new +lighthouse on Cape Nelson, the long swell is dashing with violence +against the sides of Lawrence Rocks, whose peaks are the home of the +gannet and other sea fowl. To the right at the extreme north is the +flourishing rural township of Narrawong. Above this the green slopes of +Mount Clay merge into the thickly-timbered forest land not yet cleared. +Ahead there is a lighthouse, a signal post, a few houses embowered in +trees, high cliffs of white limestone or dark basalt, and then, as we +round the promontory into the harbour, the quaint yet lovely town is all +before us, extending along the bluffs above the shore, the only natural +depression being where a stream flows into the sea from a lagoon in a +valley at the back of the town. The beauty of this crescent-shaped bay, +with its outlines of bold headlands, is striking. As to the town, the +white cliffs, the stone-built churches and houses, give it an English +look. It recalls many spots on the Sussex coast. It is not Australian in +any of its outer characteristics. The spirit of the English pioneer, +Edward Henty, seems stamped upon it. + +Victoria is traversed for its greater part from east to west by a +mountain chain, which is lofty in the south-east corner. Gippsland, +takes the form of mere high land at the back of Melbourne, rises again +in the Pyrenees, and dies out in the Western District. Usually the chain +is about seventy miles from the seaboard. From the Gippsland sea-coast +it presents a grand sight, often of snow-topped summits. Going to the +north from Melbourne, you pass over the crest, which is 1700 feet high, +without being aware of the rise. But all the water on the one side flows +to the sea, and on the other to the river Murray. Crossing the range +from Melbourne to the north and the north-east, the country slopes to +the level Murray plains. Here you enter upon the wheat-growing district. +The level ground is fenced into fields which bear this one crop. +Shepparton, the agricultural centre of the north-east, aspires to be the +Australian Chicago, and may be mentioned as an instance of the rapid +changes which are possible in Australia. In a pictorial work published +seven years ago, Mr. E. C. Booth writes; 'The township of Shepparton +lies on the east bank of the Goulbourn. It gains its chief importance +from the pound of the district being within its borders, and it will be +remembered for years to come on account of the long and weary journeys +to it undertaken by bullock-drivers and carriers in search of their +strayed cattle.' How far off are those days now! Shepparton is to-day a +local capital, busy and self-important. Its streets are lined with shops +and houses; there are five banks, several assurance agencies, a handsome +town-hall, and a busy traffic. + +What is said of Shepparton in the north-east applies to Horsham in the +north-west. Horsham, the newly-created capital of the Wimmera District, +is entitled 'the Prairie City.' The Wimmera climate is hot and dry, and +there were doubts as to whether the farmer would hold his own on these +arid plains; but the settlement is now twelve years old, and is +increasing mightily. This Wimmera District tapers off into the mallee +scrub, the old desert of Victoria, which has lain neglected for years, +while Victorians have opened up country 2000 miles away. Here the dingo +found his last refuge, and to the infinite joy of the dingo, as it may +be supposed, the rabbit appeared upon the scene. When the rabbit came, +the few squatters who were trying to turn the mallee scrub to account +gave up in despair, for first the rabbits devoured the scant grass on +which the sheep fed, and then the dingoes feeding on the rabbits grew +more numerous and strong. The mallee went begging in blocks of 100,000 +acres, at an annual rental of £5 per block; and at last the district had +to be specially taken in hand by the State, and long leases have been +granted to tenants on favourable terms, on condition that they destroy +the 'vermin,' for that is the title bestowed upon rabbits here. Several +rivers strive to flow from the ranges through or by the mallee to the +Murray, but none succeed. The Avon, the Richardson, and the Wimmera all +collapse and disappear on their way. The Loddon has a watercourse for +the whole distance, but at its best in summer it will be but a chain of +water-holes. Yet crop after crop is taken off these plains; the farmers +all appear to make money, and now that works for conserving water for +irrigation are to be undertaken, the spirits of these sunburnt toilers +are of the highest. + +[Illustration: WATERFALL IN THE BLACK SPUR.] + +All this district is intersected by 'wheat lines' of railway, over which +in December, January, and February the crop is rushed to the seaboard. +Great are the blocks that occur, and indignant is the grumbling because +the whole yield cannot be carried at once. Horsham is hot with anger, +and Shepparton refuses to be satisfied, and the lot of the Chairman of +the Railway Commissioners is not at this period to be envied. The +railways run also to the mountains of the east. One line will take the +traveller to Beechworth, a charming town in the north-east; another line +will convey him to Sale--and soon to Bairnsdale--right away in +Gippsland. Beechworth should be visited because of the beauty of its +surroundings. And if the visitor is a pedestrian, he can accomplish a +grand and quite a fashionable walking tour through the Alps into +Gippsland, striking the railway either at Bairnsdale or Sale. He is in +the neighbourhood of romantic ravines, picturesque waterfalls, and grand +fern scenery. Lyre-birds, bower birds and parrots will be his +companions, and if he chooses to diverge a little from the route, he may +break into virgin solitudes, and may measure giant gums unheard of +before. + +[Illustration: A VICTORIAN FOREST.] + +One feature is common alike to all Victorian towns and the bush--the +State school. In the towns the State school is a political structure. In +the bush let there be twenty or thirty children in a three-mile radius, +and there will be a wooden erection for the young people to attend. In +some cases, where the children cannot be otherwise reached, the teacher +will meet two or three families at intervals at certain houses. With a +population of a million the State has 230,000 children on its school +books. The instruction is 'free, compulsory, and secular,' and about +this latter provision there is a great stir. It is not, however, +advisable to stray into vexed issues here. Suffice it that there is no +more general picture in Victoria, than that of the children trooping to +and from their lessons, and that many a parent feels his existence +brightened by the assurance that, come what may, 'schooling' is provided +for. + +Where there are no railways which the tourist can use, he may depend +upon being able to proceed by 'Cobb.' 'Cobb' is the general name for the +stage coach of the colonies, no matter who owns the vehicle, where it +runs, what are its dimensions. Any one who has not travelled by Cobb has +not properly 'done' Australia; and yet the fate of the black man and the +marsupial will, one plainly sees, be the fate of Cobb. He will be +improved out of existence, and thus another element of romance will fade +away. Our illustrations tell their own tale of moving incidents by field +and flood. Mr. Anthony Trollope wrote: 'A Victorian coach, with six or +perhaps seven or eight horses, in the darkness of the night, making its +way through a thickly timbered forest at the rate of nine miles an hour, +with the horses frequently up to their bellies in mud, with the wheels +running in and out of holes four or five feet deep, is a phenomenon +which I should like to have shown to some of those very neat mail-coach +drivers whom I used to know at home in the old days. I am sure that no +description would make any one of them believe that such feats of +driving were possible. I feel that nothing short of seeing it would have +made me believe it. The passengers inside are shaken ruthlessly, and are +horribly soiled by mud and dirt. Two sit upon the box outside, and +undergo lesser evils. By the courtesy shown to strangers in the colonies +I always got the box, and found myself fairly comfortable as soon as I +overcame the idea that I must infallibly be dashed against the next +gum-tree. I made many such journeys, and never suffered any serious +misfortune.' + +[Illustration: STAGING SCENES.] + +Why 'Cobb'? it may be asked. Freeman Cobb was an American driver of some +New York express company, who came to Victoria in 1853 or 1854, and, +seeing his opportunity, sent for some brother drivers and started +coaches to Castlemaine and Sandhurst. For the hundred miles the fare was +£8, and the money was well earned. Other coaches followed in all +directions. No Americans were needed to drive. It was found that the +colonial-born youth had all the nerve and the spirit for dashing down +the side of a gully, for steering along a siding, for fording a +questionable creek, or for dodging fallen timber. Happily for the +tourist, visits to some of the show places of Melbourne are still partly +paid by coach. To see the romantic falls of the Stevenson and the silver +eucalypts of the Black Spur, a partial coach journey is necessary. At +Loutit Bay Waterfalls, the ocean and the big trees are all brought +together, and to reach this favoured and favourite spot the coach must +be utilised. It was well for the nerves of Mr. Anthony Trollope that he +was not required to perform this particular journey, Lorne or Loutit Bay +not having been opened up when he was on the land. The coaches cross a +succession of ranges running up to 2000 feet in height, and they had to +shave with remarkable closeness some of those gums whose nearness +alarmed the English author. One rush down a steep siding was made +between two giant eucalypts. There was just room to pass, but so little +to spare that the axle on the off side had cut a track through the one +tree by the process of frequent touching. If it had touched too hard the +passengers would have picked themselves up after a drop of several +hundred feet. Or they might have had a grand flight through the air into +the midst of the fern jungle that hid a purling stream far, far below. +The rush through the twin eucalypts was exhilarating; the steerer of +Cobb, a native of the place, cool and confident, enjoyed it immensely. + +[Illustration: A SHARP CORNER.] + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +New South Wales. + + SURVEY OF THE COLONY--SYDNEY AND ITS HARBOUR--THE GREAT WEST--THE + BLUE MOUNTAINS--THEIR GRAND SCENERY--AN AUSTRALIAN SHOW PLACE--THE + FISH RIVER CAVES--DUBBO TO THE DARLING--THE GREAT PASTURES--THE + NORTHERN TABLELAND--THE BIG SCRUB COUNTRY--TROPICAL VEGETATION. + +[Illustration: VIEWS IN SYDNEY: GOVERNMENT HOUSE, THE CATHEDRAL, +AND SYDNEY HEADS.] + +[Illustration: GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS, MACQUARIE STREET, SYDNEY.] + + +New South Wales is the mother colony of Australia, and though, after the +gold discovery, she was for a time thrown into the shade by the prowess +of her former dependency, Victoria, she is making rapid strides to +recover; in fact, she may be said to have regained her old premier +position. Her eastern boundary is the Pacific Ocean, which washes a +coast-line of 800 miles, bold in its outline and studded with numerous +harbours. Imaginary lines divide her from Victoria to the south, +Queensland to the north, and South Australia to the west. The greatest +length of New South Wales is 900 miles; its greatest breadth about 850 +miles; mean breadth, 600 miles. The superficial area is 309,100 square +miles. That is to say, the colony is as extensive as the German Empire +and Italy combined, or as France and the United Kingdom. The million of +population which the colony contains is thinly scattered about this vast +territory, the country districts obtaining the less, because more than a +third of the people are congregated at Sydney, the capital, and at +Newcastle, the coal port adjacent to the metropolis. High mountain +ranges are found in New South Wales, lofty table-land, and vast +low-lying plains, with the result that great variety of climate is +obtained. For instance, on a certain day in November, 1885, the +newspapers state that between the Warrego and the Paroo, north of the +Darling, one thousand out of five thousand sheep had dropped dead upon a +rough day's journey, wasted by the hunger and drought, and killed by +heat; that two out of a party of three travellers perished of thirst in +the Lechlan back blocks, and the third alone, naked and half mad, +reached a station to tell the tale; that on the lower reaches of +Clarence and Richmond rivers travellers saw cattle in the last stages of +starvation, dying in the mud of the river banks, while down upon the +Shorehaven a roaring spate was heaving haystacks to the sea; that while +enterprising tourists were chilled with ice and sleet upon Ben Lomond, +and snow was flattening crops of wheat in the gullies above Tumat, +Sydney, despite the coolness of the daily inflow of ocean water, was +suffering under a heavy sweltering heat. And while variations like these +are the exception and not the rule, yet all these varied experiences may +be endured in the colony on one and the same day. + +New South Wales was discovered and named by Captain Cook, who landed in +Botany Bay, a few miles north of Port Jackson, on the 28th of April, +1770. A penal settlement was formed the following year, and four days +after the arrival of the little fleet, a French expedition, under the +ill-fated M. de la Pérouse, cast anchor in the bay. The officer in +command, Captain Arthur Phillip, soon recognised that Botany Bay was in +many respects unsuitable for a principal settlement; and having examined +Port Jackson, and found it to be 'one of the finest harbours in the +world,' he did not hesitate to substitute it as the position from which +to commence Australian colonisation. On the 26th of January, 1788, the +fleet and all the people were transferred to Port Jackson; a landing was +made at the head of Sydney Cove (the Circular Quay), and the colony of +New South Wales was formally declared to be founded. The first settlers +in all numbered 1030, of whom 504 were male exiles and 192 female +exiles. On the 7th of February Arthur Phillip, Captain-General and +Governor-in-Chief of the new territory, established a regular form of +government; and, in his address to the assembled colonists, expressed +his conviction that the State, of which he had laid the foundation, +would, ere many generations passed away, become the 'centre of the +southern hemisphere--the brightest gem of the Southern Ocean.' The +peculiar audience which he addressed did not share his enthusiasm, but +the prediction has been abundantly realised. The convict stage is now +forgotten as a dream. To-day New South Wales contains almost a third of +the population of all the colonies, has an annual import and export +trade of nearly £50,000,000, and raises annually £9,000,000 of revenue. +The colony has already constructed 1727 miles of railway, and is +constructing 416 miles, and Parliament has authorised the construction +of 1282 miles, and there are 19,000 miles of telegraph wires open. The +value of its annual export of wool is, in normal seasons, worth +£10,000,000; its sheep number 35,000,000; its horses, 350,000; its +horned cattle, 1,500,000; and its swine, 220,000. The land under crop is +1,000,000 acres; the annual out-put of coal is 3,000,000 tons, of which +nearly two-thirds are exported. The mines of gold, silver, tin, copper, +and manganese, are also very rich, and their export is great. The city +of Sydney and its suburbs have a population of 270,000. + +[Illustration: STATUE OF CAPTAIN COOK AT SYDNEY.] + +The following general description of Sydney and the colony is +contributed by Mr. F. H. Myers:-- + +'Naturally any notice of the colony of New South Wales begins with +Sydney and its harbour-- + + "Like some dark beauteous bird whose plumes + Are sparkling with unnumbered eyes," + +wrote Moore, as he looked up aloft at the sky by night, and found +companionship in the soul of beauty there. Often has the image occurred +to me when entering, on a summer's night, the harbour gates of Beautiful +Sydney, or looking down upon the stillness of the sleeping coves from +any of the surrounding hills. Lights are spread upon the blackness of +the hills--straight lines, crescents, squares, and marvellous +configurations--lights rise up from the harbour depths, straight shafts +and twisted columns, pillars and spires and trees of light, wherever +from ship's mast, or yard, or port, rays of white or blue or red strike +the waters, and straightway seem to grow as plants of fire. Along the +shores may be seen the blue gleams of electric fire, the duller green +and red of the oil lamps on the ships, still and bright in the quiet +water; alternating, mingling, shifting, blending, as the surface is only +slightly stirred. Every calm night brings such illumination. + +'A traveller entering Sydney Harbour upon any still night sees this +panorama opening to him; and if he have the good fortune to be detained +in quarantine till morning, he may see a far more beautiful picture by +rising with the rising sun. The city and the harbour lie spread out +before him, the spires and towers standing out in the distance, clear +and shining in the morning sunlight. The long land arms run out on +either hand, while the blue sea, unruffled and smooth, forms a fine +contrast to rock and foliage and sky. + +'To see Sydney well in the clear broad daylight, it is needful to travel +by the cable tram to the heights of North Shore, and walk thence by the +military road to the head of Morsman's Bay. A splendid view point is +thus obtained, above and opposite to the length and breadth of the city. +You see the light-tower upon the Moth Head, and following the coast-line +south you look along all the heights of Woolahra, Waverly, and +Paddington to Randwick. Between that ocean coast and the inner line of +the harbour are the homes of a quarter of a million of people. You may +see thence the spires of St. Philip's, and St. James', and St. David's, +and St. Patrick's, the towers of St. Andrew's Cathedral, and, through +the heavy foliaged trees of the domain, the high walls of the yet +unfinished St. Mary's. In the distance, and partly obscured by the smoke +of the University buildings, the various colleges are grouped, almost +joined by the distance. Near them are the Prince Alfred Hospital, and +the deaf, dumb, and blind institutions. + +[Illustration: SYDNEY HARBOUR.] + +[Illustration: THE POST OFFICE, GEORGE STREET, SYDNEY.] + +[Illustration: MACQUARIE STREET, SYDNEY.] + +'In the dense centre of city buildings rises the new tower of the +General Post Office. It overlooks everything, and waves its flag of +practical utility in the sight of the whole city. Very near to it +appears the Town Hall, small by comparison, though more elaborate, and +between them and the water the heavy masses of commercial buildings +fringed by the unbroken line of masts. The city yet to be on the North +Shore looks very small, and you are not surprised that no suspension +bridge overhangs the water. You must look into the future for that. + +'Complete your picture of the present by a glance up the long estuaries +of the Paramatta and Lane Cove rivers, and a look across the rolling +woodlands westward to the giant barrier of the Blue Mountains. Look also +across the harbour, where right below you the round tower of Fort +Dennison stands in mid-channel, and a little lower down the perfect half +moon of Rose Bay, blue as the sky above. Look down to the Heads, where a +dozen craft are entering upon the long huge rollers which break upon +bluff Dobroyd opposite, or die down to ripples upon the innumerable +beaches of Middle Harbour. Watch the many lights and colours of the +water, the ultramarine of the mid-channel, the indigo in the shadow of +the hills, the emerald of a strip close beneath the cliff, where no wind +moves, nor any pulse of tide or ocean stir is felt; the glories of opal +and amber, where fierce sun rays burn about rocky shores. + +'Take in all the greatness and beauty of the present, and then try to +realise the picture in the square miles of buildings already raised. You +can see how they are growing, how far away to south and west, and +through the forest and beside the waters of the north coast, houses and +establishments of various kinds are rising like _avant couriers_ of the +compact masses whose advance is by no means slow. Look from them to a +point of the city where roofs and chimneys are most closely packed, +where the smoke of the labour of human life seems ascending perpetually, +and you may see a succession of white puffs, and hear a louder, sharper +pulse of toil pierce the low murmur of distant and multitudinous sounds, +and you know that you look upon the present centre of the railway system +of the colony; you have fixed your eye upon the focussing point of two +thousand miles of railways. These are the feeders of the city; these +reaching out divide and grip and drain the colony. They gather its +produce, the results of its labour, and bring them down to this city, +which stands without rival or competitor along 800 miles of coast. + +[Illustration: THE TOWN HALL, SYDNEY.] + +'Let us travel along each of these lines, radiating somewhat as the +fingers of a spread hand from south to north. + +'The South Coast Railway, the most recently opened and not yet completed +line, runs down the south coast to Kiama. This line is a purveyor of +many luxuries and necessaries of life, leading out first to broad +suburban breathing grounds on the country between the southern bank of +Port Jackson and Botany Bay, making a hundred square miles of good +building country accessible, crossing the historic bay three miles up +the tidal estuary of George River, crossing a somewhat barren plateau, +and arriving at the National Park. It penetrates next vast forests and +overruns tremendous gorges, winding about precipices, and getting down +by a way of its own to the country at the foot of the Bulb Pass. All the +seaward slopes and ravines of this pass are as a vast natural +conservatory. They take all the morning sun, they are never touched by +western or southern wind, they are plentifully watered with regular +rains, and they nurse and produce a beauty unfamiliar to the latitude. +Take a few steps over the brow of the hill on the old road, and look +down. You see tropical verdure and bloom, palms rising a hundred feet, +and spreading feathery plumes upon lance-like stems; myrtle and coral +trees, figs and lily-pillies, with a sheen upon their leaves like the +light on a summer sea; bowers and arches and impenetrable jungles of +great vines, trailing tendrils fifty feet long, and swinging masses of +perfumed bloom a hundred feet from the ground. There is nothing of the +old familiar Australian bush about it. You are 1,200 feet above the sea, +which stretches away to the world's rim beneath and before you. Below, +past all the wonderland of the bush, is the white tower of Woolongong, +and beyond that the fringe of white beach and snowy breakers, the Fern +Islands, set in sapphire. Far, far away goes the coast land. + +'Between coast-line and mountains lies the fertile land, the strip of +country that serves and feeds the great city. The train comes here to be +laden with the rich produce--milk, butter, and cheese--which by tons +upon tons is taken in and distributed in Sydney every day. Out of the +bowels of the mountains the line brings also coal and iron and shale and +other mineral products, and from the dense forest pour down the little +coast rivers. + +[Illustration: EMU PLAINS.] + +'Halting at Kiama first, it will render all the beauties of the +Illawarra district proper accessible, as all its rich products +available; but in a very few years it must pass on across Shoalhaven and +Bega, and over the rugged country of the Victorian border beyond Eden +and Boyd Town. + +'Our next finger, The Great West, is a mighty one in every sense, 574 +miles in length, and crossing in that length a fair section of the whole +colony, and enclosing in the triangle of which it forms the northern +side, with the Southern and South-Western line and Murrumbidgee river +opposite, and the Darling for base, the wildest mountains, the richest +agricultural acres, and the broadest pastures of the colony. By +Paramatta, Castle Hill, and Toongabbie, the earliest agricultural +settlements the colony knew, which, however, seem rather to have reached +senility than perfect development, the North-Western line strikes out +for the rampart of the famous Blue Mountains--now one of the show-places +of Australia. Very soon the traveller perceives the great barrier +stretched right across the plain. Behind the dark green trees of the +middle distance it looms as the wall of some forbidden land. And nearer +the deep blue river at its feet looks like a moat specially made for +purposes of defence. Long indeed was the barrier effective, before the +strong right arm of civilization put down the stone pillars and carried +over the platform of the railway-bridge across which the train thunders +now, the great engines puffing and snorting, their force conserved for +the present, but ready to be expended by-and-by in the charge up the +mountain. + +[Illustration: THE VALLEY OF THE GROSE.] + +'The upward view from that bridge should never be missed. It is a long +glassy sheet of water, coming from the bold and densely timbered gate of +the hilly shore miles away, and flowing down to the bridge, past the +sleepy old town, between grassy banks or drooping willows, or groves of +whispering oaks. There is no perceptible current, the water-lilies sleep +on the surface, and if a boat be pulling upwards the ripples of the +water break gently on either bank. You may note so much in the rapid +transit of the train, which ten minutes after its departure from Penrith +station is fairly at the feet of the mountains. There are little knolls +there, lightly grassed and gracefully timbered, looking down upon + + "Long fields of barley and of rye." + +Very soon we pass these fields; we are rising fast. The plains sink and +extend beneath us. The white stones of the little grave-garden at Emu +Plains glisten beside the tall black cypress trees, the river shines +like a band of steel, and the reflection of the willows and oaks are +faintly seen.' + +Penrith looks as a child's toy village; and Windsor and Richmond, far +away, are but indistinct white dots. All quiet, tame, prosperous, and +very simply beautiful below; all above and beyond wild and rugged, and, +in the commercial sense, unprofitable. As marvellous a contrast as could +be imagined, the beginning and the end apparently of new orders, the +results of different forces, the work of the earth spent in opposite +moods. One must needs marvel in contrasting such scenes, and more +profound becomes the marvel and the wonderment, as with every mile a +vaster, wilder, grander region is found. Cliff-faces leagues long, and a +thousand feet perpendicular; huge basins, like veritable gulfs in space, +where a firmament of blue gathers between the rocky mountain head and +the forest growth below, isolated rocks that dwarf all monuments reared +in any city of old; deep calling unto deep in innumerable waterfalls, +and through all the summer months frequent thunder, as if the spirits +who had wrought their marvels below were still toiling at some other +labour in mid-air. The meanest mind becomes expanded in wonder, and the +least philosophical instinct begins to speculate and inquire. There has, +indeed, been much deep speculation, much zealous and competent inquiry +as to the phenomena of these mountains, and the startling contrast upon +their southern front. Tennison-Woods studied and wrote of them, and more +recently Dr. J. E. Taylor has, in a few graphic sentences, expressed his +opinions of the geological changes which have taken place, particularly +of the changes and causes which have produced the fertile plains and the +hills, whose chief present product is ozone, with the river rolling +between. Having touched lightly upon the facts generally known of the +Hawkesbury sandstone formation, overlaid on a great breadth of the +county of Cumberland by the Wianamatta shales, he says:-- + +'But the continuity of both the Hawkesbury sandstones and the overlying +and usually accompanying Wianamatta shales is interfered with on a +magnificent scale at Emu Plains. The entire country from this point to +Sydney Heads has been slowly let down by one of those great earth +movements known as a "downthrow fault." The downthrow was not the work +of one single act of disturbance--it went on for ages. Meantime the +Wianamatta shales, which overlaid the Hawkesbury sandstones of the Blue +Mountains, were denuded off, or nearly so, for there is only a small +patch now remaining, right on the top, after we have ascended by the +first zigzag, to show that they were once continuous with those of the +plains more than 2,000 feet below.' + +There is infinite variety in the mountains. Even though wearied of the +grandeur and wildness of the gorges, the vastness of the basins, whose +great forest carpets appear but as robes of green evenly spread, or the +grotesquely piled rocks, and the bold and beautiful flora of the +table-lands and mountain heads, the traveller need not hasten back to +town, imagining he has seen all. Let him find his way down from +Blackheath to the entrance of a valley known as the Mermaid's Cave--a +great grey rock that juts out and almost blocks the valley, dividing a +somewhat arid gorge above from a lovely dell below. He passes through a +rock-cleft, and there before him is a scene beautiful as new. There +indeed,-- + + 'A vale of beauty, lovelier + Than all the valleys of the greater hills.' + +Yes, this is the fairy land of the mountains. Tall, feathery-foliaged, +golden-blossomed wattles rise side by side with the olive-green +turpentines, and through them runs the mountain brook in cataract after +cataract. Upon the edge of the wattle-grove the tree-ferns grow, and +beyond them is a carpet of bracken--a broad slope at the hill-foot, rich +dark green with tips of pink, and shadows and hollows of russet and +brown, where new growths display yet their dainty shades, or dead leaves +have taken the rich autumnal brown. There is deep, grateful shade here +in the heat of the day, for no sunbeam penetrates the roof of wattle and +palm-like fern, and the water seems to bring down coolness from its +higher springs. + +[Illustration: ZIGZAG RAILWAY IN THE BLUE MOUNTAINS.] + +A bolder valley, one of the great gorges of the world, is the Lithgow, +the road to the western slopes and the long-locked interior. It was down +this great ravine that the first explorers looked awe-stricken at the +marvellous road that nature had prepared for them; and who can gaze +without awe and wonder and broadening conceptions of nature and nature's +work as he looks down that entrance way to Australia's heart, and +realizes the manner and the period of its making? The ages that have +clothed the mountain sides with forests are but as seconds to years by +comparison with those which have worn the world's crust away, and by +comparison with these stupendous results of natural forces, what pigmy +work appears the zigzag down which goes the inland train! This Lithgow +Vale is usually considered the western limit of the Blue Mountains, +though in their further northward range, notably about Capertee on the +Mudgee line, they rise again and display forms of rugged grandeur. + +[Illustration: FISH RIVER CAVE.] + +Beyond the mountains the artistic surveyor may travel fast. Branching +off at Walerawang, he may find the mountain scenery he has just left +repeated on the line to Mudgee, but there is another turn, and not by +rail, which he must not miss. It is at Tarana, in the Fish River Caves, +newly christened Jenola. The road runs off to the southward, a distance +of forty miles, to the west of a wild country on the western slopes of +the Blue Mountains, and then by a grim cavern in the hillside is entry +found to a natural temple, which travellers affirm has no equal in the +wide, wide world. The old guardian and guide of the place, who alone can +walk safely amid the labyrinth, tells us that we have hardly begun to +explore the caves so far, for every year some new grotto is discovered. +He plods his careful way along some dripping track through the tall +stalagmites, standing as monuments of the dead in fairy-land, feels some +fissure in the mountain side, works the point of his staff through, and +discovers--vacuity; makes carefully a small hole, introduces a thread of +magnesium wire, sets it ablaze, and in the long glow learns that he has +discovered another cathedral vaster than St. Peter's, with a dome that +mocks St. Paul's. By-and-by he will open a way to it; will add it to his +catalogue; will say to a party of visitors: 'I have found another cave, +and will flash light upon the glory which, could it be transported to +London or Paris, would be worth a million sterling.' How many more caves +remain to be discovered it is impossible to say; they may run miles into +the mountains. Future days may see mimic electric cars running through +the caves, and brilliant globes of light flashing like suns upon the +summits of tall lone columns ten miles from the entrance. Now there is +no tramway nor riding way whatever within the caves, but difficult +foot-paths and painful steps, and slightly hazardous creeping places, +and ladders to ascend, and narrow parts to pass, and a good deal of +labour to be performed to see even a little of the treasures which have +so far been unlocked. There are, to the traveller who has leisure and +who is content to live hard and sleep hard, so that he may delight his +more refined faculties, four days' good sight-seeing in the caves--four +days through which the world and all the things therein may be left +behind, and glories as of a kingdom of old may be fully enjoyed--four +days through which he may imagine himself entering into such a land as +that held by Lytton's 'Coming Race,' domes of the world above you vast +as the dome of heaven without. Far down below the strange black river, +running-- + + 'Through measureless caverns to the sea;' + +mysterious echoes meeting you, great white ghostly figures appearing +suddenly in the fitful illumination, alabaster lakes, pools, baths, +spotless, stainless marble sanctuaries, and palace halls, which, lit by +the sudden flash from the magnesium wire, seem bespangled more thickly +and gorgeously than any royal crown with glittering jewels. You are +filled rather with wonderment than admiration, and the whole world +without seems utterly contemptible to you, whenever you return to the +cave's mouth. + +[Illustration: WATERFALL AT GOVETT.] + +There are green fields at the bases of great timbered hills all the way +to Bathurst, where the oldest and most considerable of all inland cities +of the colony sits beside the Macquarie river, on the crown of the down +country which rolls, rich with grass or grain, for leagues around. On +the long north-eastern flight we may hover a while over Bathurst, may +note with pleasure the fair country homes amongst the gardens and +bowers, the church spires of the city, and the many fair buildings. We +shall not find another such town as Bathurst, though country fair enough +is beneath us by Blayney and Orange, and southward thence through many +villages and little mining towns to Forbes. And almost due north to the +Wellington valley, and out to Dubbo, which is the gate of the great +pastures, the country is of the same character. + +On leaving Dubbo we reach the magnificent distances of Australia, the +land of the mirage and the great drought, the land of marvellous flocks +and herds. There on the vast bush plain or amongst the box forest are +great hosts of cattle, one or two or three thousand head, already six or +nine months on the road, hoping to make the port or the trucking station +in three months more. Strange men are with them, white as to colour--as +white in pluck and endurance, but as uncivilised as the one or two +trackers who watch the horses. In this region during the bad seasons you +cross bare and bone-strewn plains. At a wretched homestead you may find +a man in the lowest deep of despair. Well-to-do a couple of years ago, +hoping to be rich before the decade had closed, he is lord now of twenty +thousand skeletons lying upon the soil, which looks as if indeed cursed, +and so effectively that it will never bear grass or herb again. You may +see river-beds of baked mud, and glistening veins of sand that once were +running creeks. Here grow brigalow and mulga, gaunt and weird as the +dragon-tree of the Soudan. Hundreds of miles stretches this dreary land, +the Lachlan winding through it from east to west, the least significant +stream in a dry or ordinary season that ever served as the watercourse +for so broad a land. + +Out in its centre lies a village, Cohan, grown about a mountain of +copper, and along the Darling are other villages, Bourke, Bremoroma, +Welcanna, Wentworth, lingering on when no rain falls, and blossoming +with a dripping month as rapidly almost as the herbage of the black +flats. I never saw anything beautiful in them except the self-devotion +of some few good women who shine as stars amongst the general blackness. +But when the rain has fallen, particularly in the pleasant winter after +a genial autumn, it cannot be said that the land lacks beauty. I +remember winter days a hundred miles north and south from the Darling +river at Bourke, when the face of nature seemed to shine in open placid +beauty and to break into the tenderest imaginable smile with each dying +day; mornings in June, when, awakened by the glowing log to see the +flush of dawn through an oak hut or over a pine-ridge that seemed to +rise mysteriously with the sun, and, as though actually molten down by +the increasing heat, to vanish utterly in the full glow of day. There +was no painful mockery in the mirage that hung at noon on the horizon, +with its flat-crowned trees rooted apparently in the still blue +water--for by any clump of broad-leaved colane or drooping myall there +was water in abundance, water clear and cool in every hollow; and grass, +herbage and flowers knee-deep over all the land, when the spotted leaf +and trees were all abloom and the quandongs were heavily fruited, and +the nardoo with its life-saving seed ripened and decayed unheeded. Often +at eventide in that winter did the whole landscape seem pure and perfect +as a single crystal, the sky just after sunset of the palest primrose or +the colour of the neck of a wheat-stalk when the ear is just ripe; the +flood water through the lignum bushes glassy still; not a leaf of any +tree stirring nor a grass-blade or herb-bloom moving upon all the plain. +From the multitudinous flowers of the sand-ridge comes a rare sweet +fragrance mingling with the balsamic odour of the pines. There would be +noise and tumult a little later, as the crested galahs came cackling +homeward to rest, and then the long and solemn hush of night, with sound +enough and yet no lack of peace. The whistle of the wild duck's wing and +sharp blow of her descent on the water, the dull thunder of the wings of +great birds--pelicans, native companions, swan, ibis, and crane--rising +in hurried flight, scared by some movement of 'possum or night-feeding +kangaroo. Always the tinkle of the horse-bell and the prattle of the +flame-tongues within the little circle of heat and light. Beauty enough +in the inner lands in such a year, a marvellous contrast to the +ghostliness, the abomination of desolation, of the year when no rain +falls and all life dies. + +The northern table-land is intersected by the Great Northern Railway, +and is bounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Macpherson range, the +Dumaresque and Darling rivers, and the Great Western line. The third +division of the colony contains upwards of 100,000 square miles of +country, of mountain and plain and wild forest and fertile down, and +infinite variety of scenery. Near to the coast, and south and west from +the line leaving Newcastle for the north, such country as we have seen +about Orange and Albany, but with the green in foliage and verdure which +comes from a somewhat warmer and more genial climate. Farther inland +there are more of the great pastures, and in the extreme north a +prosperous agriculture and a beginning of tropical industry, which +afford a pleasant contrast to all that we have seen before. We shall not +linger long here to look upon any New England villages or prosperous +towns. We shall not concern ourselves with the marvellous richness of +the Breeza plains--where in the wet summers grass grows so tall that +horses and bullocks are lost; and stockmen tell of patches where they +have had the long seed-stalks above their heads, and they on +horseback--but visit the north-eastern corner of the colony, where the +three sugar rivers come down from the mountains. + +All their surroundings are tropical and rich, and never so rich perhaps +as in the heart of the country lying about the heads of the Richmond, +and northward towards the Tweed River. There we find the vegetation +whose density and glory and magnificence must be seen to be realised. It +is the country known as the Big Scrub, where everything is gigantic, +compared with ordinary Australian vegetation. The river flows deep and +navigable for small craft between low banks of rich deep soil, +chocolate loam, decomposed trap rock, spouted in remote ages from the +mountains whose high wild crests overlook the Queensland country, a +hundred miles to the north. The dense scrub growth covered all a +half-century ago, and the huge cedar-trees towering above the jungle +overhung the river; but now along many a mile the scrub has been cleared +away, and the cane-fields surround the settlers' houses. Wonderfully +delicate and fair look the canes beside the dark scrub, bright green or +pale yellow, as varied in tint as wheat-fields between the time of the +bloom and the harvest. They give grand evidence of the power of the +soil, and fully justify the wisdom of those bold speculators who built +the great mills lower down. + +Quickly changes the foliage as the ascent to the table-land is made; +vines and flowers and orchids are left behind. Pine and cedar give place +to gum, box, and ironbark, while in the gullies are ferns of a hardier +growth, and trickling water that seems of near relationship to the +mountain snows. Higher and higher, and colder and fresher becomes the +air; and, turning now, the panoramic view below spreads broad and fair, +the half-dozen branches of the Richmond seen flashing at times through +the trees, the corn and cane patches but bright green dots in the dense +forest, and braids of a lighter green beside the broader stream, a +reflection of the ocean upon the farthest sky; and last, upon the +heights the distant northern mountains are seen the giant warders of the +Great Divide. Mount Lindsay is the grandest of all, lifting crags and +ramparts more than 5,000 feet from the downs below, as rugged in +appearance as any escarpment of the Blue Mountains, and of a vaster +height and bulk. The rich pasture-lands about his feet are buried in +haze, and occasional lagoons sparkle like flakes of silver or eyes of a +well-contented earth-spirit looking up to the sky. Waiting there till +evening, you may see Mount Lindsay afire with the floods of light which +catch his summit when all the trees below are dark; and farther south, +where the Clarence River springs, the tall gaunt peak of the Nightcap +will only lose the light before the mightier mountain. Both stand out +above all neighbours, though joining them is a mighty chain, with +beauties innumerable, stretching right along the line which separates +the tropic land of Queensland from the beautiful and prosperous colony +of New South Wales. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +SOUTH AUSTRALIA. + + CONFIGURATION--THE LAKE COUNTRY--HEAT IN + SUMMER--FRUIT--GLENELG--ADELAIDE--MOUNT LOFTY RANGE--PARKS AND + BUILDINGS--MOSQUITO PLAIN CAVES--CAMELS--THE OVERLAND TELEGRAPH + LINE--PEAKE STATION--THE NORTHERN TERRITORY--EARLY + MISFORTUNES--PRESENT PROSPECTS--INSECT + LIFE--ALLIGATORS--BUFFALOES. + +[Illustration: J. A. G. LITTLE. R. G. PATERSON. C. TODD. A. J. MITCHELL. + +OVERLAND TELEGRAPH PARTY.] + +[Illustration: GOVERNMENT HOUSE AND GENERAL POST OFFICE, ADELAIDE.] + + +South Australia should rather be called Central Australia, for it lies +half-way between the western and the eastern seaboard, and the colony +runs right through the continent from north to south. It is an enormous +tract, 2,000 miles in length and 700 in breadth. The total area is +903,000 square miles, of which at present barely a tenth is in +occupation, though exploration has already made known the existence of +millions of acres of magnificent pasture-land ready for settlement. In +the colonies, when you speak of South Australia, you are understood to +mean the district of which Adelaide is the centre. If you referred to +the inland portion, you would speak of the 'far north;' and again, if +you meant the Port Darwin--Gulf of Carpentaria country--you would use +the term 'Northern Territory.' The original South Australia is first to +be noticed. + +[Illustration: WATERFALL GULLY, SOUTH AUSTRALIA.] + +No part of Australia is more strongly marked with Australian +peculiarities than this. The Murray is the only river, and this stream +brings down the waters of the ranges of the south-eastern colonies; the +other streams are merely courses in which, under favourable conditions, +water may be looked for, and not otherwise. The ranges are few in +number, and are of no great elevation. But the grass plains and the +scrub plains are immense. Gazing round from an eminence, the impression +produced by the equal height of the vegetation, and the dull glaucous +colour of the foliage, is that you are looking upon the open rolling +illimitable ocean. South Australia contains whole principalities of the +ordinary park-like bush of Australia; the eucalypts standing in grass +without any undergrowth, either singly or in clumps, as though planted +by a landscape gardener. If an expert were whisked during his +sleep--like another Bedreddin Hassan--and dropped from Europe, Asia, +Africa or America anywhere in these regions, he would exclaim the moment +he opened his eyes--''Tis Australia.' A glance at the map would lead to +the conclusion that the colony is well supplied with lakes. On paper, +Lake Torrens, Lake Eyre, Lake Gardiner, Lake Amadeus, cover large areas, +but unfortunately an antipodean meaning must be attached to the term; +for the most part these lakes are either muddy reed-covered swamps, or +salt marshes unfitted for navigation in winter, and evaporating into +vast glittering clay pans in summer. The level of several of these +extensive depressions is believed to be below that of the sea, and the +cutting of a canal to unite them to Spencer's Gulf, the deepest +indentation on the southern coast, has been suggested, and will probably +some day be carried into effect, and then there may be changes worked in +the climate. + +[Illustration: A MURRAY RIVER BOAT.] + +At present, however, South Australia is decidedly hot during its summer +months of December, January and February. The thermometer runs up to 110 +and 112 and 116 degrees. 'But then,' says the typical South Australian, +taking you by the buttonhole, 'it is a dry heat, and really you do not +feel it; there is no enervating aqueous vapour about;' and there +certainly is not. No complaints of wet and sloppy weather are ever to +be heard. On the contrary, when the south-easter brings a heavy bursting +bank of cloud with it, there is a general rubbing of hands and utterance +of congratulatory remarks. 'Splendid rain to-day,' is the usual phrase; +and 'How far north does it extend?' is the current query. But, admitting +that the South Australian summer is hot, it must be added that the +climate during the other eight months is delightful. One enthusiast +declares that the pure soft balmy air is such as one would expect to +blow over 'the plains of heaven;' and at any rate there is first-class +medical testimony that for people with weak lungs there are few more +hopeful resorts. The 'far north' is subject to droughts and to floods, +and the Northern Territory has a weather system of its own. As the +description of its climate suggests, South Australia is a grand fruit +country. Grapes, peaches, apricots and oranges, grow practically without +cultivation, and attain perfection in the open air. In the season there +are few tables in Adelaide on which piles of grapes and plates of +apricots and peaches are not to be regularly found. The fruit can be +purchased in the market at a penny a pound, so that at current wages +there is no occasion for the poorest of the working classes to stint in +these luscious products of the soil. + +[Illustration: ADELAIDE IN 1837.] + +Adelaide, the metropolis of South Australia, called after the wife of +William IV., was founded in 1836. To-day, with its suburbs, it contains +about 170,000 inhabitants. On the 28th of December, 1836, Captain +Hindmarsh, who had served under Nelson at the Nile, landed from H.M.S. +Buffalo at Holdfast Bay, in St. Vincent's Gulf, and beneath the shade of +a patriarchal gum-tree, and in presence of a few officials, read his +commission as the first Governor of South Australia. The anniversary of +that event is observed as a public holiday by all classes in the +community, while the old gum-tree has become a source of solicitude, and +is reverently cared for by the municipal authorities of Glenelg--a +fashionable watering-place which has grown up within sight of Governor +Hindmarsh's landing-place. + +And indeed this Glenelg is a fitting entrance to the fair city of +Adelaide, with which it is connected by two lines of railway. Facing the +dazzling white beach are the seaside residences of squatting kings, +wealthy merchants, and other successful colonists; while the bay itself +is studded with yachts and other pleasure craft, with perchance a +man-of-war, or two or three mail steamers, at anchor in the offing, for +all the ocean-borne mails are either landed or shipped at Glenelg. +During the summer evenings the sands and long jetty are thronged with +visitors from the capital, who have come down to enjoy the fresh cool +breezes, or to listen to the various bands of music. + +Adelaide itself is laid out on a gently sloping ground, from 96 to 176 +feet above the sea-level, on both sides of the Torrens, which is spanned +by three large handsome bridges. The part out north is called North +Adelaide, to distinguish it from 'the City,' which lies on the other +side of the river. The streets are all unusually broad, even for +Australian cities, and run at right angles, many of them being bordered +with rows of trees, the shade of which is very refreshing in the hot +summer days. One of the features of the place is the number and extent +of its beautiful public squares and park lands. In this respect it +transcends even Melbourne. The squares in each quarter of the city are +reserves of several acres in extent, embellished with flowers, trees, +and fountains; while the parks are extensive reservations, surrounding +the city on every side, separating it from the suburbs. + +Adelaide, with ordinary care, can never be other than a healthy city. +Moreover, it can never extend its boundaries. This fact accounts for the +high prices obtained for city property. Land originally bought for eight +or ten shillings an acre has recently changed hands at £1000 a foot. Its +surroundings are the charms of the city. On the west is the sea. Four or +five miles to the east is the thickly wooded Mount Lofty range, so +called from the highest peak, 2400 feet above the sea-level, which, +trending away to the southward, closes in on that side the undulating +plain on which the city is built. To the northward the range takes a +more easterly direction for twenty or forty miles. These hills, which +are reached from Adelaide by railways and tram-lines, and excellent +carriage-roads, are a favourite summer resort of those citizens who can +afford to avail themselves of the coolness and seclusion which they +offer. + +[Illustration: KING WILLIAM STREET, ADELAIDE.] + +The buildings in Adelaide show well. A very white freestone has entered +largely into the more recent erections; and, as there are comparatively +few large factories in the city, and no shipping nearer than Port +Adelaide, they lose but little of their pristine freshness by smoke and +grime. Then the unpleasant effect produced by the sight of a hovel +adjoining a palatial bank or pile of warehouses several storeys high, is +of rare occurrence, while the broad streets offer the most advantageous +conditions for the display of the various architectural styles employed. +The town has been called 'the city of churches;' and the number of +ecclesiastical edifices which it contains places its pretensions to that +distinction beyond question. The Anglican Cathedral of St. Peter is a +large and imposing building, a portion of which is still uncompleted, +occupying an elevated position in the southern portion of North +Adelaide. The Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. Francis Xavier is in the +south, and recalls the early days of the colony, when the prophecies of +its future importance were few in number. All the other great religious +bodies are also creditably represented. + +Nearly all the Government departments are in the vicinity of Victoria +Square, an ornamental reserve, through which King William Street, one of +the most handsome thoroughfares in Australia, has been carried. No +traveller should leave Adelaide without spending some hours in the +Botanical Garden. To omit that lovely resort would be an error indeed. + +[Illustration: AN ADELAIDE PUBLIC SCHOOL.] + +South Australia contains a little over 300,000 inhabitants. Its chief +industries are agricultural, pastoral, and mining. Very early in its +history it became the granary of the colonies, and, although it can no +longer claim that distinction, it is still one of the few places in the +world where the visitor can travel over three hundred miles in the same +direction between fields of waving yellow corn. Despite the small +returns from wheat-growing, the area under cultivation is enlarged every +year, and is now not less than two million acres. More attention is +being paid to scientific farming, thanks to the influence of the +recently established Agricultural College at Roseworthy, thirty miles +north of Adelaide, experimental farms in various parts of the colony, +and the lectures delivered in the chief agricultural centres. The yield +is so dependent on the rainfall that the average for the colony rarely +exceeds ten bushels per acre, and occasionally falls below three. The +subject of irrigation has lately been warmly taken up by the +agricultural community, and the next few years will see not only a more +rational system of farming, but the adoption of means to render that +community less dependent on the uncertain rainfall. At the London +Exhibition a splendid sample of wheat grown at Mount Barker--a +beautifully situated township amongst the hills, twenty miles south-east +of Adelaide--obtained the highest award. + +[Illustration: REAPING IN SOUTH ADELAIDE.] + +Of the show places of South Australia none are more interesting than the +curious caves of the Mosquito Plains. They have been described at length +by the naturalist Tennison Woods, in his _Geological Observations of +South Australia_: 'In the midst of a sandy, swampy country, a series of +caves is found, whose internal beauty is at strange variance with the +wildness of the scenery around. The entrance is merely a round hole on +the top of a hill, which leads to a small sloping path under a shelf of +rock. Descending this for about twenty-five feet, one gets a first +glimpse of the magnificence enshrined below. The observer finds himself +at the entrance of a large oblong square chamber, low, but perfectly +lighted by an aperture at the opposite end; and all around, above and +below, the eye is bewildered by a profusion of ornaments and decorations +of Nature's own devising. It resembles an immense Gothic cathedral, and +the numbers of half-finished stalagmites, which rise from the ground +like kneeling or prostrate forms, seem worshippers in that silent and +solemn place. At the farther end is an immense stalactite, which appears +like a support to the whole roof; not the least beautiful part of it +being that it is tinted by almost every variety of colour, one side +being of a delicate azure, with passages of blue, green, and pink +intermingled; and again it is snowy white, finally merging into a golden +yellow. The second cave or chamber is so thickly studded with +stalactites that it seems like a carefully arranged scene, which, from +the interminable variety of form and magic effect of light and shade, +might easily be taken to represent some fairy palace. Very soon the +cavern becomes as dark as night, and further exploration to the numerous +chambers and fissures beyond has to be made by the assistance of +torches. On leaving the last chamber, we return to the light; a narrow +passage, richly wreathed with limestone, is observed on the right hand +going out. Proceeding a little way down, a large vaulted chamber is +reached, so perfectly dark and obscure that even torches can do but +faint justice to its beauty. Here, above all other portions of the +caves, has Nature been prodigal of the fantastic ornament with which the +whole place abounds. There are pillars so finely formed, and covered +with such delicate trellis-work, there are droppings of lime making such +scroll-work, that the eye is bewildered with the extent and variety of +the adornment. It is like a palace of ice with frozen cascades and +fountains all round.' + +A special feature of the settlers' life in the 'far north' is the +increasing use of camels. At Beltana a camel-breeding establishment has +been in existence for nearly twenty years. Sir Thomas Elder introduced +the animals first from Afghanistan, and, as they are found to be well +adapted for work in Central Australia, they are now largely used. They +are broken in to draw drays, or to trot with a buggy behind them; and +the 'belle of Beltana' uses one for a hack. Nearly a thousand camels +have been provided from this establishment for hauling stores and for +doing the every-day work of bullock and horses. The ordinary team is +composed of six camels. A team of eight will drag a dray with three tons +of goods through the heaviest sand. The animals wear large leather +collars, and their harness is in other respects very similar to that +used for horse teams. No great difficulty has been experienced in +training the camel to this novel sort of work. But the Australian +bushman would not hesitate about putting a hippopotamus into harness. + +[Illustration: CAMEL SCENES.] + +For pluck in public works South Australia has a character of her own. +One of her great enterprises was the construction of the 'Overland +Telegraph Line' from Adelaide on the one side to Port Darwin on the +other side of the continent, to meet the cable laid from Singapore to +that place, and thus to establish direct communication with Great +Britain. Two years were spent in this arduous undertaking. The country +was awkward; materials and stores had to be transported across the +desert as the work went on. For months the parties were stopped by +floods; some perished from thirst, and the blacks harassed others. When +at last the line was up it was found that the white ants had destroyed +the poles in the Northern Territory, and they had to be replaced with +iron columns. One contractor and one officer after another gave up in +despair, and at last Mr. Charles Todd, Superintendent of Telegraphs, who +was responsible for the scheme, had to leave his city office; and, +though he had no bush experience, his zeal and his intelligence were +rewarded with success. An engraving is given on page 98 of Mr. Todd and +three of his most energetic colleagues in the work: Messrs. Paterson, +Mitchell, and Little. The work was begun in 1870, and on August 22, +1872, the first message was sent over the 1700 miles of wire. It was +feared that the blacks would never let the line stand, but, though they +have 'stuck up' the stations occasionally and killed operators, they +have never interfered with the wires. While the line was being +constructed the operators gave every black who visited them the +opportunity of enjoying a gratuitous electric shock. The peculiar +sensation vividly affected their nerves and their imagination, and thus +a wholesome awe was engendered of what they called 'the white-fellow's +devil.' The illustration given on this page represents Peake Telegraph +Station, situated over seven hundred miles north of Adelaide. The large +building in the centre is the telegraph station and Government +buildings; to the right is a cattle station. The hills in the background +are mostly of a stony character common to Central Australia, with a +slight growth of bushes here and there. Round about the station there +are large numbers of blacks camped, and the officers have to go about +heavily armed. The station at Barrow Creek, farther north, was 'stuck +up' by the blacks a few years ago, and two of the officers killed. At +every station there are usually two operators and four line repairers. +As the adjacent station is 150 or 200 miles away, and there are no +nearer neighbours, the little garrisons lead a lonely life. Whenever a +breakage occurs two men start from either station between which the +fault exists; each party takes, besides a supply of wire, a field +instrument, and at every thirty miles a 'shackle' is put down, and the +party communicates with its own station, and so each proceeds until one +or the other finds and repairs the defect. Communication being restored, +the news is conveyed to the other party, and both take up their +instruments and retrace their steps without having seen each other. + +[Illustration: PEAKE OVERLAND TELEGRAPH STATION.] + +At the Barrow Creek station, a party of the employés were surprised in +1875 by the blacks, when they had left the building to indulge in a +bathe. They had to run for their lives through a volley of spears to +regain the shelter of their loop-holed home. Mr. Stapleton and a line +repairer were mortally wounded, and two others were badly hurt. Mr. +Stapleton was found to be sinking rapidly. The news was flashed to +Adelaide. In one room of the city stood the doctor and Mrs. Stapleton, +listening to the 'click, click' of the messages. A thousand miles away +in the desert, in a lonely hut beleaguered by the blacks, lay the dying +man with an instrument brought to his bedside. He received the doctor's +message that his case was hopeless. He heard his wife's adieus, and he +telegraphed an eternal farewell. It is easy to believe that the +affecting spectacle moved those around the group in Adelaide to tears. + +South Australia's next great feat is to run a railway across the +continent. Already the line is completed a distance of nearly four +hundred miles northwards towards Strangeways Springs. Camels imported by +Mr. H. J. Scott are used to carry stores, rations and water to the men +employed in advance, whilst, from the other end, the Palmerston and Pine +Creek line, 150 miles in length, is in the hands of the contractors. It +is hoped that within the next ten years the transcontinental railway +will be completed, thereby uniting Australia and the east. + +[Illustration: COLLINGROVE STATION, SOUTH AUSTRALIA.] + +When John McDouall Stuart at last crossed the continent from sea to +sea and from north to south, there was great enthusiasm in Adelaide. The +explorer received £5000 from Parliament, and the colony obtained +permission to push its bounds up to the Indian Ocean, thus annexing a +nice little tract of 531,402 square miles. Thus, in the year 1863, was +the Northern Territory acquired. It was resolved at once to form a +settlement in the new country. The Imperial Government from time to time +had endeavoured to colonise North Australia, settlements being formed in +turn at Melville Island, Raffles Bay, and Port Essington; but each place +in turn was abandoned. Undeterred by these failures, the South +Australian authorities sold land, marked out a township, appointed an +official staff, and invited colonisation. And then South Australia went +through its painful experience. The owners of land warrants complained +that they had been 'sold' as well as the land; the expected colonists +did not put in an appearance; while the members of the staff were +quarrelling, the blacks made a raid and stole and destroyed nearly all +the stores, and finally many of the Government officers took to open +boats and escaped after a hazardous sea voyage to Western Australia. For +years and years the Northern Territory was a source of expense and +anxiety to the good people of Adelaide; but a colonist--and least of all +a South Australian colonist--never despairs. The party that counselled +abandonment was looked upon with scorn, and after every disaster a new +staff was sent up to Port Darwin, and more and more attractive land +offers were made. But the Adelaide Government was taught the lesson all +larger and more important Governments have yet to acquire: namely, that +you cannot force colonisation, that the one condition of success is a +natural growth. Times have changed recently. The overlanders, having +accounted for Queensland, pushed into the Northern Territory, and +consequent upon their favourable reports runs have been taken up in all +directions, and in immense areas, and in all probability the Northern +Territory is on the eve of a great development. In the last two or three +years tens of thousands of cattle have been moved from Queensland and +New South Wales into the new country, and at the Roper and Macarthy +rivers bush townships have been established, and the town of Palmerston +(Port Darwin) has witnessed a large increase in private and substantial +buildings. Prospectors have opened up gold, copper and tin mines. The +gold export is now £75,000 per annum, and copper mines are being +energetically worked; and a railway which is about to be constructed to +the present mineral centre is expected to effect a revolution, as the +want of carriage has hitherto checked mining progress. + +[Illustration: SHEEP IN THE SHADE OF A GUM-TREE.] + +Residents in the Northern Territory speak hopefully about the climate. +That the white man cannot perform the same amount of constant work in +tropical Australia that he can in his own climes and countries is +admitted, but still, it is contended, he can work and be healthy and +happy. There is an absence amongst the population of the enervation so +conspicuous in India, Java, Singapore, and Ceylon. Artisans ply their +callings on the eight hours system, as elsewhere in Australia, without +special precautions against the sun. The climate is, in fact, more +Australian than it is tropical. But at Port Darwin itself there is much +to remind the traveller that he is in the tropics, and is nearer to the +equator than to Capricorn. Mingled with the characteristic flora of +Australia are the palms, bamboos, rattan canes, and wild nutmeg-trees, +and other flora of the adjacent Spice Islands. The ground, the +vegetation, and the atmosphere are alive with insect life. Linnaeus has +eleven orders of insects, but, as one settler facetiously remarks, had +the eminent naturalist in question visited the Northern Territory, he +might have classified one hundred and eleven orders. Fire-flies flit +about; beetles display their metallic brilliancy; radiant moths and +butterflies fleck the gloom. The observant man admires and marvels; but +not always does the view charm, for myriads of mosquitoes and sand-flies +have at him, and the bung-fly, attacking the eyelid, will cause a +swelling that will close up the eye for several days. Ants are found +literally in legions. In the houses some amusement is to be derived from +watching the ant-eating lizard, who is allowed to run up and down the +walls without molestation, and is, indeed, welcomed as a highly useful +domestic animal. In the bush surprise is excited by the enormous +ant-hills. Some are twenty-five feet in height, and six or eight feet in +diameter; but usually they are from six to twelve feet high, and about +four feet in diameter; and along a belt of country extending perhaps one +hundred miles, they may stand apart but fifty or a hundred feet. To +level these cunningly devised cellular structures, occasionally, would +prove far more costly than levelling the ground of timber. In other +places the 'meridional' ant-hill is met with. These edifices are from +three to six feet high, and more. They are broad at the base, and taper +to a point at the summit. The form therefore is that of a long wedge, +and the peculiarity is that all the summit lines are true north and +south, as though laid down by a surveyor. + +In the rivers the traveller is introduced to the alligator. Many are the +tales of horror and of escape related in connection with these saurians. +One member of the original exploring party of the South Australian +Government, a man named Reid, fell asleep in a boat on the Roper river, +with his leg hanging carelessly over the side of the craft. An alligator +seized the limb and dragged the man out of the boat, his screams too +late calling attention to his fate. The alligator is found right down +the Queensland coast. While writing, the following telegram appears in +the _Argus_ (Melbourne, March 10, 1886): 'A girl named Margaret Gordon, +the daughter of a dairyman on Cattle Creek, thirty miles from +Townsville, has been devoured by an alligator. She went with a +servant-girl to the creek for water, when a large alligator rushed at +her and carried her off. The occurrence was witnessed by the girl's +father, who was unable to render any assistance.' + +The one trace left of the early settlements of Raffles Bay and Port +Essington is that herds of buffaloes are to be met with in the districts +in question, and also some Timor ponies. Both animals were introduced +from Timor, and when the settlements were abandoned males and females +were left to run wild. The buffaloes have spread along the north coast, +nearly, if not quite, to the Gulf of Carpentaria, and to the south as +far as the bottom of Van Diemen's Gulf. They are generally found +congregated in herds of twenty to fifty, under the guidance of a single +full-grown male, oftentimes of enormous size. But stragglers are often +met with far beyond these limits. The young males are turned out of the +herd by the patriarch as soon as they approach maturity, becoming +wanderers for life unless they can re-establish themselves, or gain a +footing in other herds; and this can only be done by killing or driving +off the leading bull. Of course many are doomed to a solitary life, and +roam far from the haunts of their fellows. There is no danger of the +buffaloes mixing with the herds of the settlers, as the antagonism +between these cattle races is pronounced and insurmountable. + +[Illustration: THE BOTANICAL GARDENS, ADELAIDE.] + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +QUEENSLAND. + + SIZE AND CONFIGURATION--EARLY SETTLEMENT--BRISBANE ISLAND AND COAST + TOWNS--GLADSTONE--ROMA--GYMPIE--TOOWOOMBA--TOWNSVILLE--COOKTOWN-- + SQUATTING--THE CATTLE STATION--THE SHEEP STATION--THE QUEENSLAND + FOREST--THE NETTLE-TREE--SUGAR PLANTING--POLYNESIAN NATIVES-- + STOPPAGE OF THE LABOUR TRADE--GOLD MINING--THE PALMER--SILVER, + TIN, AND COPPER. + +[Illustration: BRISBANE.] + +[Illustration: A VILLAGE ON DARLING DOWNS.] + + +The following sketch of the great colony of Queensland is from the pen +of Mr. Carl A. Feilberg of Brisbane. + +In order to form a just idea of Queensland it is necessary to bear in +mind the broad divisions of its territory. First, there is the coast +country, which is often spoken of as a strip, though in reality it has +at some points a depth of over two hundred miles. A glance at the map +will show innumerable rivers finding their way into the sea along the +whole east and north coasts of the colony, and it is the country which +forms the watersheds of these rivers which is spoken of as the coast. +West and south of this bordering tract lies the great central plateau, +which is mainly a huge plain, where the surface, which sometimes rises +into rolling downs and sometimes spreads out in apparently limitless +flats, is only broken by a few ranges of low hills. From this great +plateau the whole surface drainage is to the south and south-west, a +small portion finding its way into the Darling, but the greater part +flowing by a network of channels through the thirsty sands which lie to +the north of the lakes, or more properly the huge swamps of South +Australia. In the coast country the rainfall in ordinary seasons is +sufficient in quantity and sufficiently spread over the year to permit +of agriculture. The rivers and creeks generally contain running streams +of water, and the air is moist enough to permit the fall of dew at +night. In the interior the rivers are watercourses that seldom contain +running streams, being during the greater part of the year merely chains +of pools, or 'water holes,' as they are locally called. Rain falls at +long and uncertain intervals: the annual total is small; night-dews are +not common, and agriculture is virtually impossible unless assisted by +irrigation. To this general description there is, however, one important +exception. In the southern part of the colony the table-land approaches +to within seventy or eighty miles of the seaboard, and therefore enjoys +a comparatively moist climate. The district so situated, known as the +Darling Downs, lies immediately to the west of Brisbane, and is the seat +of the most important agricultural settlement of the colony. The moister +climate of the Darling Downs changes almost imperceptibly as they +stretch to the westward, and it is difficult to fix on the point where +agriculture, carried on in the usual way, without irrigation, may be +regarded as a hopeless task. + +The occupation of the territory now included in Queensland began almost +simultaneously at two points. Pioneer squatters, pushing northward from +the interior of New South Wales, discovered the fertile plains of the +Darling Downs, and the Sydney authorities determined to form a convict +station on the shores of the remote almost unexplored sheet of +land-locked water known as Moreton Bay. The convict station was founded +in 1826, and in the first instance on the coast at a place since known +as Humpy Bong, meaning, in the language of the blacks, 'dead huts or +houses.' This settlement was soon abandoned, as the water-supply was +precarious, and there was insufficient shelter for shipping. A site was +subsequently chosen about twenty miles up the channel of the principal +river emptying into Moreton Bay, which had been named after Sir Thomas +Brisbane; and 'The Settlement,' as it was at first called, soon came to +be known by the name of the river, and the decaying buildings of the +first attempted lodgment caused the wandering blacks to give the +locality the name it now bears. + +At first, of course, there were nothing but the necessary buildings for +the convicts--dangerous characters who had been convicted for fresh +crimes in the land of their exile, and were therefore relegated to what +was then the safe isolation of Moreton Bay--and for the warders and +others in charge of the prisoners. Meanwhile, as we have said, pioneer +squatters had spied out the pastoral wealth of the Darling Downs, and +some bold adventurers had pushed overland with their flocks to occupy +it. These pioneers at first kept up communication by bush trails with +far distant Sydney, but, hearing that a new settlement had been formed +on the coast, they sought to open communication with it. A pass--known +as Cunningham's Gap--was found in 1832 through the ranges which form the +eastern flanks of the great plateau, and communication was opened with +the settlement. Townships were formed. Near the verge of the Darling +Downs plateau the seed of what is now the thriving and important town of +Toowoomba was sown by the carriers making a halting-place before +attempting the toilsome and dangerous descent through the ravines of the +thickly wooded range, which then swarmed with bold and hostile savages. +Another such halting-place was the spot where travellers, having emerged +from the broken country and having passed the great scrubs or jungles at +the foot of the hills--now a populated and thriving farming +district--first struck the navigable waters of the Bremer, the principal +affluent of the Brisbane. At that point the town of Ipswich came into +existence, and for many years it rivalled Brisbane in importance, +because the goods brought to the capital by sea-going ships were taken +in river craft to the former town, which was thus the point of departure +for all land carriage. + +Brisbane grew slowly. There was no special attraction to induce people +to leave the more populated districts of New South Wales, and bury +themselves in so remote a settlement. There was the fever which attacks +settlers in all newly opened settlements, the blacks were dangerous, and +that the place was a station for doubly and trebly convicted felons told +against it. But the rich Darling Downs came to be regarded as a pastoral +paradise, and squatting occupation spread rapidly in the interior, so +that its expansion told slowly but surely on the outpost. The convict +establishment was in time closed. The plot of ground formerly cultivated +by the convicts is now occupied partly by a fine public garden, and +partly by the domain surrounding the Governor's residence. + +Brisbane is a fast-growing city, with a population, including the +suburbs, of between 50,000 and 60,000, its growth since the census of +1881 having been so rapid that it is not possible to furnish more than +an approximate estimate of the number. Originally built on a flat, +partly enclosed by an abrupt bend of the river, the town has climbed the +bordering ridges, crossed the stream and spread out in all directions. +The principal street--Queen Street--runs across the neck of the original +river-side 'pocket;' at one end it touches the wharves, at the other it +meets the winding river at right angles, and the roadway is carried on +by a long iron bridge across to the important suburb of South Brisbane. +Queen Street, which is the combined Collins and Bourke Streets of +Brisbane, promises to be a fine-looking thoroughfare. Already it +possesses shops and bank buildings which may challenge comparison with +those of any Australian city, and every year the older buildings are +giving way to new and more imposing structures. On one side of the +thoroughfare the cross-streets lead through the oldest part of the city; +through blocks of buildings where fine warehouses and tumbledown hovels +are strangely intermixed with the Parliament Houses, the public gardens, +and the wharves. On the other side of Queen Street the same +cross-streets climb steep ridges to the terraces, where high and broken +ground offer cool breezy sites for streets filled with dwelling-houses. + +The diversified surface of the ground over which the town of Brisbane +has spread itself, the broad noble river which winds through it, +doubling back almost on itself, as if loth to quit the city it has +called into existence, and the picturesque range of wooded hills which +closes the view to the westward, constitute a scene of great beauty. An +artist roaming round the town would find objects of interest everywhere. +From the elevated terraces he could look down on the main town, with the +river, a broad band of silver, winding through it, and his horizon would +include the blue peaks of the main range to the westward, and the +shimmer of the sunlight on the great land-locked sheet of Moreton Bay to +the eastward. + +[Illustration: VALLEY OF THE RIVER BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND.] + +One of the sights of Brisbane is the Garden of the Acclimatisation +Society--a body supported partly by private subscription and partly by +Government endowment. In these Gardens are collected a vast number of +trees and plants selected for their use and beauty, and the +sub-tropical position of Brisbane allows the propagation of the +vegetable products of almost every zone. The 'bush house' in these +gardens, a huge structure consisting of a rough framework roofed with +dried bushes, covers several acres, and is stocked with a most +interesting collection of ferns, lycopods, orchids, dracænas, colans, +begonias, &c. There is a public museum, which is well stocked, and its +specimens of natural history are well arranged. + +The use of timber for buildings is very general in Brisbane. Pine is +abundant on the coast of Queensland, and the easily worked timber is +cheap. The climate is very mild, and their weatherboard walls are quite +sufficient to keep out the very moderate cold experienced in winter; +almost all the dwelling-houses, and many of the stores in the suburbs, +are therefore wooden buildings. The dwelling-houses also are nearly all +detached, standing each one in an allotment of its own, so that the +residential part of the town straggles over an immense area, stretching +out in fragmentary streets for miles from the main city. There are +hundreds of neat cottages and trim villas scattered over the low hills +and valleys, on the river bank, or nestling under the range of hills +which lie to the west of the town. It should be remembered, however, +that in the climate of Brisbane the 'verandah is the best room in the +house,' and people live as much as possible in the open air; the family +group gathers on the verandah in the evening instead of, as in a colder +climate, congregating indoors. + +The extended coast-line of Queensland, and the peculiar position of +Brisbane in the extreme south, has prevented it from concentrating the +social and commercial life of the colony, as is done by Sydney, +Melbourne and Adelaide. It is by far the largest coast town, the centre +of government, and its commerce is larger than that of all the remaining +ports put together, but these ports are many of them also real capitals +and commercial cities. The first important town on the coast going +northward is Maryborough, on the banks of the Mary River, a town +containing probably 10,000 inhabitants, and the commercial capital of a +rich agricultural and mineral district, of somewhat limited extent. +Maryborough disputes with Brisbane the possession of the most extensive +ironworks in the colony, the demand for sugar and mining machinery +having called them into existence. Rockhampton, near the mouth of the +Fitzroy, is a town of equal if not greater population than Maryborough, +but it is a far finer and better built city. Being the west terminus of +the central system of trunk railways, it is essentially a commercial +capital, and a busy, thriving place. Agricultural operations are not as +yet very extensively carried on in the surrounding district, neither +sugar-growing nor general cultivation having at present helped to +increase the prosperity of Maryborough, nor is there any successful +gold-field in the vicinity, though one phenomenally rich mine, Mount +Morgan, is being worked in the neighbourhood. Rockhampton has grown and +prospered by trade, and as it is the outlet for over 100,000 square +miles of territory, it should have a very prosperous career before it. + +The towns named are the most important on the coast-line of sub-tropical +Queensland. There are also the thriving little towns of Bundaberg, at +the mouth of the Burnett river, the outlet for a rich tract of +agricultural land, and Gladstone, a few miles to the south of the mouth +of the Fitzroy. The last-named township is next after Brisbane the +oldest settlement in Queensland, but it has never prospered. Hidden away +at the head of a great land-locked sheet of deep water--probably after +Sydney the finest natural harbour on the east coast of Australia--it +slumbers peacefully without any visible trade: a bush village, supported +by the stockmen employed on the neighbouring cattle stations, and +occasionally galvanised into life by a promising discovery among the +rich but fragmentary and erratic mineral lodes found in the volcanic +country in its vicinity. These constitute all the coast towns worth +mentioning. + +Inland, on the line of trunk railway running westward from Brisbane, are +Ipswich and Toowoomba, both agricultural centres, but the latter the +more important of the two, with a population of eight or nine thousand +people. Just beyond Toowoomba, a branch of the railway curving to the +south runs to Warwick, another pretty country town of some four thousand +people, surrounded by rich soil and thriving farmers, and enjoying, from +its elevation, a pleasantly cool climate. Continuing, the branch railway +reaches Stanthorpe, near the border, mentioned elsewhere, and the line +is being continued to effect a junction with the New South Wales railway +system. After leaving Toowoomba, the main line continues in a nearly +direct line westward, passing through Dalby, a rather stagnant little +bush town of some two thousand people, set down in the midst of vast +plains more suited by reason of the climate for pasture than +agriculture. These plains may be regarded as the limit of the Darling +Downs. Beyond them the railway runs through a desolate tract of +scrub--not the fertile jungle of the coast districts, but an arid tract +closely filled with stunted trees, hard and gnarled by their long +struggle for existence. Emerging from this belt, the railway reaches +another open tract, consisting of the true pastoral downs country, and +runs into the pleasant little town of Roma, where from three to four +thousand persons find employment in supplying the wants of the +surrounding pastoral region. Still continuing, the railway is being +pushed on westward towards the great pastoral area of the interior--the +fertile wilderness which Burke and Wills first traversed, and where they +died, which now is being filled by millions of sheep, and adding rapidly +to the wealth of the colony. There are bush townships in the track of +the advancing railway which will no doubt become towns, but as yet they +are in no way noticeable. The same may be said of the townships reached +by the Central Trunk Railway running westward from Rockhampton and its +branches. The country through which it runs has not a climate very +suitable for agriculture--at least no agricultural settlement has taken +place--and with the exception of Clermont, a little town of about two +thousand inhabitants, which grew into some importance by means of +mineral discoveries in its vicinity, there are only bush townships of +varying sizes in the central districts. The thriving town of Gympie, +with five thousand inhabitants, the second gold-field of Queensland, and +also the centre of a thriving and spreading agricultural settlement, +lies about seventy miles to the south of Maryborough, with which it is +connected by railway. + +The line of the Tropic of Capricorn runs close to the town of +Rockhampton; sub-tropical Queensland ends there. The first place of +importance on the coast going north is Mackay, a town of some three or +four thousand people, supported by a small rich district which has +become the chief centre of sugar cultivation in the colony. The Mackay +district is in a sense isolated, having little or no trade connection +with the interior. Next after Mackay comes Bowen, a sleepy, decaying +settlement of some one thousand inhabitants, occupying a most beautiful +site on a sheet of water land-locked by a ring of picturesque islands. +There is no prettier town on the coast of Queensland, no place which +seems more fitted for the site of a great city than Bowen; but trade +left it soon after its foundation, and it has mouldered half-forgotten +ever since. + +From Bowen northward the coast of Queensland is sheltered by the line of +the Barrier Reef and a long chain of romantic and beautiful islands. The +traveller on this coast enjoys a perpetual feast of the eye. On the one +side the islands in the line of reef present every variety of form and +colour--the green of the timber or vegetation clothing them, the varying +lines of their fantastic, weather-beaten, rocky cliffs, and the dazzling +white coral sand of their beaches. On the other side, the mountains of +the coast range approach closely to the shore, sometimes apparently +springing upwards from the very beach; and their imposing masses, +clothed with dense vegetation to the very summits, smile rather than +frown on the blue sparkling wavelets of the sheltered water, which seems +to lave their feet. At various points the mountains fall back, opening, +as it were, avenues to the interior of the country. At the entrance to +one of these openings is Townsville, the chief commercial centre and the +virtual capital of the north. This fast-growing city is built on the +actual sea-coast; and though to some extent sheltered by islands, its +harbour is shallow and exposed. A breakwater, however, is being +gradually made, and in various ways an artificial harbour is being +formed. Townsville, which now contains probably a population of nine or +ten thousand people, is the terminus of the Northern Trunk line. +Immediately to the west of it are the great gold-fields of Charters +Towers and Ravenswood, and the railway is being pushed far to the +westward, traversing the northern portion of the pastoral plateau of the +west, and tapping the verge of the great plains which slope gradually to +the shore of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Townsville promises to be a very +fine city; and, although it is too new a settlement to contain many +buildings of special note, it will not long be without them. + +[Illustration: TOWNSVILLE, NORTH QUEENSLAND.] + +Still following the coast, and passing the little mountain-bound port of +Cardwell, which nestles at the feet of great hills which, by cutting it +off from inland traffic, have stunted its growth, and by the ports of +Cairns and Port Douglas, which dispute between them the lucrative +position of outlet for the mineral fields on the elevated mountain +plateau lying just behind them, we come to Cooktown. This town, built at +the mouth of the Endeavour River, on the spot where Captain Cook +careened his vessel after the discovery of Australia, was called into +existence by the great gold rush of the Palmer, described elsewhere. Its +fortunes waxed with the rush, and waned as the alluvial field became +exhausted; so that its population, Chinese and European, is now probably +not more than two thousand souls. There is, however, a future before it, +because a railway, now in course of construction, will soon link it with +the Palmer gold-field, where there are hundreds of gold-reefs awaiting +cheaper carriage and more certain communication with the coast for their +full development. In the meantime Cooktown is becoming a centre for the +nascent New Guinea trade, and a certain amount of settlement is taking +place in its vicinity. This is the best port on the mainland of the Cape +York peninsula, but at its extremity there is the port of Thursday +Island, a shipping centre, and the northern outpost of Australia. At +Thursday Island there is a Government resident, charged with the control +of the pearling fleet, which has its head-quarters there, and the +government of the scattered islands in Torres Straits, which are under +the jurisdiction of Queensland. Thursday Island is a port of call for +all vessels passing through Torres Straits, and several thousand tons of +coal are always stored there. + +On the Gulf of Carpentaria are two small ports. The principal one, +Normanton, on the Norman River, is a growing town of over a thousand +inhabitants, and will probably be the terminus of a line of railway. +Burketown, on the Albert River, is a place which is reviving after a +strange history. About twenty years ago, when the pioneer squatters +first drove their herds into the Gulf country, a township was located +there; but the settlers formed their settlement and lived in such +reckless defiance of all sanitary rules that a fatal fever broke out, +which decimated them. The place was after this entirely abandoned, and +the grass hid the rotting posts of the mouldering houses, which rapidly +decayed in that hot, moist climate. A few years ago, however, the +attempt to form a town was renewed, and this time with more care. +Burketown is now quite as healthy as any tropical settlement; and as it +is surrounded by vast plains of exceptional fertility, abundantly +watered by flowing streams, it will probably become a place of some +importance. This completes the list of towns on the coast of Northern +Queensland. + +Queensland is pre-eminently the cattle colony, possessing no less than +4,266,172 head of horned stock in 1884. Experience has shown that sheep +do not thrive in the coast districts, especially in the north. The +merino breed of sheep will thrive, in spite of an exceedingly high +summer temperature, provided the heat is dry, but not when the warmth is +accompanied by moisture; so that in Queensland sheep-raising is +practically confined to the table-lands of the interior. Cattle, on the +other hand, do as well on the short scanty grasses, and in the dry pure +air of the uplands, as on the rank luxuriant herbage and in the steamy +atmosphere of the great plains which lie sweltering in the sun round the +shores of the Gulf of Carpentaria. The whole colony is therefore +available for cattle, while probably not more than half, or at the +utmost two-thirds, can be used by the sheep-grazier. It is not possible, +however, to lay down any definite boundaries between the sheep and +cattle countries, because at many points the one melts insensibly into +the other, and prolonged experience is sometimes required to fix the +dividing line with any degree of accuracy. + +The sheep-owner comes when the wilderness has been partly subdued, the +blacks tamed and reduced to idle drunken loafers, and the facilities and +cost of carriage greatly reduced. He must either be a capitalist or have +the command of large sums of money, for he has to subdivide his country +with great paddocks inclosed by wire fences; he must supplement the +natural stores of water by scooping out reservoirs, sinking wells, or +damming creek channels; and he must erect costly buildings as +wool-sheds, stores, huts, &c. The term squatter is quite misapplied to +the wool kings of the present day, who are here men of business, +watching the markets and the seasons, eager to utilise to its utmost +every crop of grass which a good rain yields, and to turn it into mutton +and wool, and buying and selling stock so as to profit by every turn of +the market. + +A good deal of the sheep farming of the colony is now carried on not by +individuals, but by joint-stock companies with capitals of many hundred +thousands of pounds. In fact, the old-time squatter--the type depicted +in such books as Henry Kingsley's stories--is as extinct as the dodo in +Queensland, so far as the sheep districts are concerned. + +The cultivation of cereals and crops such as are grown in the southern +colonies is only practised in Queensland on a considerable scale in the +district of Darling Downs, where the comparatively cool climate of the +inland plateau is accompanied by a sufficient rainfall to permit of +ordinary farming. Wheat is grown, but not to any great extent, the total +area under wheat in 1884 being less than 16,000 acres. The soil is very +fertile, and the yield of grain per acre is decidedly above the +Australian average; but for some reason red rust is a perfect scourge to +the farmer. + +It is on the fertile scrub land that the most successful agriculture is +carried on. These scrubs are generally found on the banks of rivers, +although in certain localities broad areas, containing hundreds of +square miles, are clothed with scrub. The soil is a deep alluvial +deposit; and the close-growing trees on it spring straight and tall in +the struggle to reach the upper atmosphere and light, for the leafy roof +allows no sun to penetrate to the damp ground, soft with mouldering +leaves, but makes a cool green gloom even on the most fiery summer day. +There is something very solemn in the quietude of a scrub untouched by +the axe of the lumberer or settler. There is no undergrowth, properly +speaking, though delicate little ferns and fairy-like mosses nestle +close to the feet of the trees. But there is a wealth of parasitical +life. Giant lianas twine from tree to tree, hanging in great loops and +folds and contortions, suggesting the idea of huge vegetable monsters +writhing in agony. Much more graceful are the lovely shy orchids hiding +in crannies, and the bolder ferns, springing from great root-masses +attached to the stems of the trees, the graceful shape and curve of the +leaves, and their pure pale-green colour, undisturbed and undimmed by +wind or sun. Among the wilderness of trees may be noticed the victims of +the treacherous fig, the dead trunk of the original tree still visible, +but enveloped in the interlacing stem of the robber, which has seized it +in its cruel embrace, sucked life and marrow out of it, and reared +triumphantly its crown of glossy green leaves far above in the bright +sunlight. On all these beautiful or strange or weird objects one gazes +in a stillness which seems to be intensified by the continuous murmur of +the breeze in the leafy roof--a quiet so great that one is almost +startled by the timid thud of the tiny scrub marsupial, which, after a +gaze of fascinated terror at the intruder, hurries away, or by the +clatter of a scrub pigeon or turkey far up in the overarching foliage, +or the strange snoring call of the Australian sloth, or native bear. + +In the tropical scrub the lianas, the creeping canes and creepers of +every description, bind the trees into compact masses of vegetation; and +it is a vegetation which, if one may be allowed the term, is of a +fiercer type than in the south. Every creeper seems to be armed with +thorns, to tear the clothes and lacerate the flesh of the rash intruder, +and poisonous and stinging plants abound. Chief among these must be +placed the nettle-tree, a shrub with broad green, soft-looking leaves, +covered with a down that carries torture in every tiny fibre. Even +horses brushed by these treacherous leaves go mad with pain. But in the +north, as in the south, the timber-getter rifles the scrub of its +treasures of timber, and the sugar planter clears all before him, and +skims with his cane-crops the incalculable store of fertility +accumulated in the soil. + +[Illustration: SUGAR PLANTATION, QUEENSLAND.] + +It is in connection with sugar-growing that the labour difficulty, +common in Australia, becomes unusually severe in Queensland. The +difficulty is two-fold--climatic and economical. Field work in the +tropics is everywhere shunned by white men, and in Queensland, north of +Mackay, it has not as yet been found possible to induce Europeans to +engage in it. Some of the work connected with cane-growing, also, is +peculiarly exhausting, because the canes, when they reach a height of +six or seven feet, shut out every breeze, and the heat between the rows +is stifling. Then a large staff of labourers is required on a +plantation, because during the planter's harvest--the crushing season, +which extends over some months--a considerable number of additional +hands are required. In a colony where labour is well paid and work +abundant there is practically no floating population to furnish these +temporary supplies. It follows therefore that the planter must keep all +the year round a staff equal to his harvest requirements, and the +expense of doing this, if the men employed were paid at the high rate of +wages current for white men, would be crushing. The difficulty has been, +up to the present time, solved by the importation of South Sea +Islanders, who are generally speaking good and docile labourers, not +affected by heat, and comparatively cheap. They are engaged for terms of +three years, at a wage in cash of £6 a year; but their employers have to +feed and clothe them, and to pay for the cost of their introduction and +their return to their homes when the engagements are terminated. It is +reckoned that the cost of Kanaka labourers, including everything, equals +from £25 to £35 a year for each 'boy' employed, though that of course is +very much less than the £1 a week, with food and lodging, generally paid +to white labourers. + +The labour trade, as the procuring of Kanakas is termed, is, however, to +be stopped in 1890. In spite of rigid regulations and the care exercised +by the Government of the colony, it is a trade which, from its very +nature, is liable to abuse, and it has been abused. Vessels trading to +islands where the natives knew nothing of the colony or of regular work +endeavoured by fraud and misrepresentation, and sometimes, though +rarely, by actual violence to procure cargoes of labourers. It must be +remembered that the Queensland labour trade has been ever since its +establishment the bone of contention in fierce party disputes, and the +usual unscrupulousness of party politicians has been displayed alike in +attacking and defending it. + +Taking a general view of agriculture, it must be admitted that +Queenslanders have not, except in regard to sugar, taken advantage of +their great opportunities. Sugar-growing, until the recent crisis in the +labour difficulty, was progressing rapidly. The yield for 1885, though +not officially stated, is computed by reliable experts at 50,000 tons of +sugar, which is nearly all of a high quality, and worth probably about a +million sterling. The wheat yield, as has been seen, is insignificant, +and even of maize--which grows freely in every part of the colony--there +is not enough produced to supply home consumption. In the tropical coast +districts some attention is being paid to the cultivation of fruit for +export. Pine-apples and bananas grow luxuriantly in all parts of the +colony, but in the north they attain great size and develop a very fine +flavour. These fruits, with mangoes, are now sent south in yearly +increasing quantities. Arrowroot growing and manufacture is spreading in +the districts round Brisbane, where the soil and climate seem to be +especially suitable to the tuber. Coffee has been grown experimentally +at several points on the coast, but nowhere in quantity, though the +experiments have been highly successful. Cotton growing, which at one +time was vigorously fostered by the Government in the southern coast +districts, flourished so long as a bonus was paid on every bale +exported, but when that support was withdrawn it was killed by the +labour difficulty. Olives, almonds, figs, and fruits especially suited +to a sub-tropical climate flourish in the same southern coast districts, +but no attempt has been made to cultivate them on a commercial scale. An +effort was made to establish silk production, and it resulted in the +production of just enough silk to secure the promised bonus, and there +the industry stopped. In fact, agriculture throughout the colony is +crippled by its very prosperity. The high rate of wages prevalent, and +the demand for labour in other fields, precludes the possibility of +pursuing any agricultural industry which requires many hands, unless the +product is exceptionally high-priced. + +The mineral wealth of Queensland is surprising. Its gold-fields are of +vast extent, and as yet hardly touched. There are innumerable copper +lodes; stream and lode tin are being successfully worked; silver ores +abound, and are being mined now; iron has been found in great +quantities; extensive coal-fields exist, and are being worked in the +vicinity of Brisbane and Maryborough; lead, nickel, cobalt, and bismuth +ores have been found. The gold prospectors found their way to Queensland +soon after the great alluvial fields of the south began to show signs of +exhaustion, but for many years they found little to reward their +efforts. There was, however, a prevailing idea among regular +gold-miners--who, very soon after the first discoveries, began to form a +distinct class in the population--that rich finds would be made in the +northern colony. This belief led to the Canoona 'rush' in 1858, probably +the most remarkable wild-goose chase in which the excitable Australian +miners ever engaged. There was a report that gold had been found near +the shores of Keppel Bay, then occupied only by a few cattle stations, +and at once all the miners of Australia became excited. Steamers and +sailing vessels, filled with eager men, discharged their living freights +on the desolate shore, and in an incredibly short space of time many +thousands of miners, scantily provided with the necessaries of life, had +ascertained that the rush was a 'duffer'--that there was no gold--and +were spreading over the face of the country, prospecting it in all +directions. They found no gold, and were reduced to such straits that +the Government of New South Wales, which then included Queensland, was +compelled to charter craft to carry them away. But if they found no +gold, they discovered and made known the value of the country, and laid +the foundation of what is now the thriving town of Rockhampton. Gold was +found in sufficient quantities to repay mining at Peak Downs, about two +hundred miles inland from Rockhampton, where, it may be mentioned, the +proprietors discovered a wonderfully rich lode of copper ore that was +afterwards mined and produced many thousand tons of metal. + +The gold yield of Queensland, however, for many years after separation +was only trifling. In 1860 the whole gold export of the colony was only +4127 ounces, and in 1862 it sunk to 189 ounces. But in 1868 a prospector +named Nash, travelling through the broken hilly country which forms the +upper watershed of Mary River, found 'prospects' in a gully, which +induced him to stay and try it. In a few days he rode into the sleepy +seaport of Maryborough--then a stagnant township with grass-grown +streets--and startled it by applying for a prospector's claim. In a few +weeks the colony rang with the news that a really rich alluvial +gold-field had been found, and in a few months from twelve to fifteen +thousand people had congregated in the field of Gympie. It was a very +rich but a limited field, and, though other neighbouring patches were +opened out and worked, the alluvial deposits were soon exhausted. But +there was better than alluvial gold at Gympie. The ridges were seamed +with quartz reefs, which were proved to be richly impregnated with +metal; and the gold yield from these reefs has been constant and +increasing ever since. In 1884 Gympie yielded 112,051 ounces of gold, +and it has given since it was first opened 1,043,131 ounces. + +The last great gold discovery in Queensland was that of the Palmer in +1874. In the preceding year, Mr. (now Sir Arthur) Palmer, being Premier, +sent out an exploring expedition to examine the unknown interior of the +Cape York peninsula. In this report the explorers mentioned that they +had found 'the colour' in the bed of a river which they named after the +Premier. A party of four well-equipped northern miners acted on the +hint. Carrying with them plenty of provisions and spare horses, they set +out to examine the Palmer country, and soon found that the sand which +overlays its rocky bed and the gullies running into it were impregnated +with gold. A great rush ensued, and, though no very remarkable nuggets +were discovered, and no specially rich finds were made, the gold was +everywhere near the surface, and large quantities were unearthed. From +its discovery to the end of 1884 the Palmer yielded 1,243,691 ounces. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +WESTERN AUSTRALIA. + + EARLY SETTLEMENT--MISTAKEN LAND SYSTEM--CONVICT LABOUR--THE + SYSTEM ABANDONED--POISON PLANTS--PERTH--KING GEORGE'S + SOUND--CLIMATE--PEARLS--PROSPECTS. + +[Illustration: SHEEP-SHEARING.] + +[Illustration: PERTH.] + + +Western Australia, as its name implies, is the tract of country lying +upon the western side of the great island continent of the south. A +glance at the map shows that the eastern side of the island, and much of +the southern, is occupied by the colonies of South Australia, Victoria, +New South Wales, and Queensland, the land in which is taken up by +squatters, by agriculturists and miners for hundreds of miles inland, +while the coast-line is studded with large cities, like Melbourne, +Sydney, and Adelaide, and with numerous flourishing settlements. On the +other side is the enormous tract of Western Australia, 1300 miles in +length from north to south, and 800 miles in breadth, thus embracing in +extent one-third of the continent. Here, instead of ports, of towns, +and of settled districts, we find only a few scattered settlements, and +this is the case though the colony is an old one, and one for which much +has been done. By virtue of seniority of settlement, it ranks next to +New South Wales. It was founded in 1829, under Government auspices, and +with a great flourish of trumpets, mainly in consequence of a very +favourable report prepared by Captain Stirling, R.N., afterwards Sir +James Stirling, first Governor of the colony. To induce settlement, +enormous grants of land were made to men of influence and capital, who +in return were to bring out a proportionate number of labourers, and +perform other 'location duties.' Thus a Mr. Peel, a relative of Sir +Robert Peel, obtained 250,000, Colonel Latour 103,000, and Sir James +Stirling 100,000 acres. + +It appears now to be agreed that this grant system was as injudicious as +it was lavish. Middle-class capitalists came to reside on their estates, +and not to work, and the settler of humbler but more useful pretensions +was led to believe that the colony was closed to him. The settlement was +hapless from the first. Old colonists give lively descriptions of how +ladies, blood horses, pianos, and carriages, were landed on a desolate +coast, while no one knew where his particular allotment lay. The +settlers found that they had no control whatever over the men they +brought out, and in some instances they were left to establish their +homes in the wilderness as they best could by themselves. Many, deciding +from the arid appearance of the place that there was no prospect of +success, abandoned it. Some who believed at one time that the Garden of +Eden lay on the banks of the Swan River, and that colonisation was a +perpetual picnic, returned wiser, poorer, and sadder, to the more +congenial sphere of settled and civilised England. Others, like the +Messrs. Henty, sought more favourable fields, and ultimately, in +_Australia Felix_, acquired both riches and reputation. Many of those +who remained do not seem to have possessed the stuff the real settler is +made of, but thought more of giving entertainments and seeking pleasure +than of work. When the supplies they had brought from England ran out, +they were very nearly starved, and they had to expend much of their +capital in importing provisions. + +In after years their numbers were but little increased. Considerable +doubt existed about their progress being sure, and none whatever about +its being slow. Never well-to-do, they felt very severely the depression +general throughout Australia in 1848. People looked to their +money-chests only to see if they had sufficient left to take them away. +Casting about for relief, the York Agricultural Society suggested that +convicts should be applied for, and the proposal found favour with the +people. Backsliding seems as easy with communities as with individuals. +The colonists who had met more than their share of difficulties and +obstruction, while proceeding in the straight-forward path of +settlement, found everything prepared for them when they turned aside. +It so happened that, just before this time, the effects produced by the +vast influx of convicts into Tasmania had shocked the British public, +and provoked a spirit of resentment and resistance in the Australian +colonies such as had never existed before. The whole of the eastern +settlements stood arrayed against the mother country, and the conclusion +was forced upon the Imperial Government that the system must be +terminated. Earl Grey, who was then in office, and who had initiated +important improvements in the management of convicts, endeavoured to +find for the flood of British criminals a new outlet where these plans +could be tested. He addressed a circular on the subject to the colonies +of New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia, New Zealand, the +Cape, the Mauritius, and Ceylon, explaining the improvements it was +proposed to make in the management of the convicts, promising to send a +free emigrant for every convict shipped, and asking whether, under these +conditions, the colonies would consent to receive criminals. The answer +was "No" in each instance, with the single exception of Western +Australia. Her reply was favourable, and a bargain was soon struck. +Western Australia entered into the contract upon the understanding that +the annual imperial expenditure should be sufficiently large to be of +importance to the colony, and in the hope that cheap labour would +attract capital to it. + +The system was continued until 1868, when, in deference to the protests +of the sister states, and because also expectation had been greatly +disappointed as to the results, convict importation was finally closed +and determined. The protest was carried so far that it was proposed by +one Government to exclude from the ports of the free colonies ships that +had come from the convict settlement; and this decision would have shut +out the mail steamers. And Western Australia found that, while it +obtained convict labour, it frightened away free men, while immigrants +avoided the place as though it were a plague-spot. Now it may be said +the past is forgotten, the taint is dying away, and Western Australia is +awakening into life. + +The country is being opened to the northward, but up to within the past +few years the bulk of the settlement was in the south-western corner of +the colony, in the neighbourhood of the Swan River--a stream which +possesses the peculiarities of being short, broad, and shallow, and +which, in consequence of its bar and its flats, is well-nigh useless as +far as navigation is concerned. At the mouth of the river lies +Fremantle, with a population of about 5000--the seaport of the colony. +Ten miles higher up is Perth, the capital city, possessing 2000 more +inhabitants than Fremantle. A like distance farther on is pretty +Guildford, and seventy miles from the seaboard, separated from it by the +Darling ranges, are the agricultural settlements in the Avon valley. The +town of Bunbury lies on the western sea-coast; and Albany, a settlement +of equal size on the southern coast, is indebted for its existence to +its harbour--King George's Sound--being a place of call for the mail and +numerous other steamers. Geraldton and Roebourne are northern ports--the +latter the centre of the pearl fishery trade. + +Looking at its vast size, and the dispersion of its thin population--the +whole not equal to that of a Melbourne suburb--Western Australia can +only be described by one image--it is the giant skeleton of a colony. + +A clever Yankee once described the colony of Western Australia as having +been run through an hour-glass. The American, however, possessed the +failing common to many humorists: he economised the truth for the sake +of uttering a smart saying. It is only to be expected that in a country +like Western Australia, possessing an area of a million square miles, +that sandy tracts are to be met with; but to assert that the colony is a +vast sandy waste--a Sahara--is to convey a wrong impression of its +physical features. In the far north the richest of Australian tropical +vegetation exists; fine rivers flow through tracts of splendidly grassed +territory, and the conformation of the country is bold. It is farther +south, where the tropical growth gives place to level plains and bush +vegetation, that the dreary sandy plains exist in parts, though not to +the extent sometimes imagined. + +Along the south-west coast, however, where the splendid forests of +jarrah and other varieties of eucalypts are found, the soil is richer +and better watered, but the prevalence of dangerous poison plants +renders it less useful for pastoral purposes. Some districts are +infested with strong quick-growing bushes, the juices of which are fatal +to animal life. There are no less than fourteen known varieties of these +plants, but only four are commonly pointed out. These are the York-road, +the heart-leaf, the rock, and the box-scrub--the _Gastrolobium bilobum_, +the _Gastrolobium calycinum_, _Gastrolobium callistachys_, and the +_Gastrolobium anylobiaides_. The most common is the York-road plant, a +low bushy scrub, with narrow fresh green leaves, and a light coloured +stem. After a bush fire this plant is the first to spring up. Its young +shoots have a particularly green and attractive appearance; the sheep +feed eagerly upon it, swell to a great size, and die in a few hours. A +single mouthful at this period is sufficient to destroy them. The plant +is also very dangerous when in blossom, as then also the sap is fresh +and plentiful. In summer, when it is dried up, the sheep do not care +about it, and may even be fed on country where it is not very thick. It +is destructive to horned cattle, but it does not affect horses much. +Millions of acres are overrun with this poison shrub, which, however, +when cleared, may be profitably occupied. For instance, in the mahogany +forests about the Darling ranges, there is a coarse grass growing which +would support sheep well, but, in consequence of the prevalence of +poison, at present the land remains unproductive and unoccupied. As one +goes north the poison plants disappear, and the flocks which Victoria +and Queensland and New South Wales are now pouring into the new pastures +there feed as securely as they would in the Western District of +Victoria, or on the famous Darling Downs. + +The city of Perth is built in a picturesque situation above the broad +reach of the Swan River known as Perth Waters. Its streets are broad and +well defined, and, considering that it only contains a population of +some seven thousand souls, it is a remarkably compact town. The Town +Hall, built by convict labour, is a pretentious structure, and within +easy distance of it are to be found the Legislative Assembly Chamber and +the commodious offices devoted to the use of the civil servants. The +principal buildings are to be found in St. George's Terrace, a fine wide +street lined with beautiful trees. The soil of Perth is admirably suited +to the growth of many varieties of fruits and flowers, and the love of +the residents for these gifts of nature is indicated by the well-kept +gardens that surround most of the houses. Indeed, no colony can produce +finer fruit than Western Australia. + +[Illustration: GOVERNMENT HOUSE, PERTH.] + +Fremantle, the principal port of the colony, is a modest little town +with narrow streets nestling at the mouth of the Swan River. Here was +maintained for many years the great convict depôt of the colony, and the +many public conveniences the residents possess are due to the efforts of +prison labour. The most remarkable feature about Fremantle is the +whiteness of its streets and buildings. This arises from the almost +universal employment of limestone as a building and road material. The +glare on a bright summer's day is both extremely dazzling and hurtful +to the eyesight. The Swan, which runs from Fremantle to Perth, is a +noble river. It opens out into splendid reaches of varying width. Its +banks are fringed with veteran gum-trees, whose rugged outlines are +reflected with mirror-like sharpness in the clear waters beneath. The +misfortune is that such a fine stream cannot be made practical use of +without considerable expenditure; but all entrance to it from the sea is +barred by a ridge of sandstone, which stretches, some six feet under +water, completely across its mouth. + +The southern portion of the colony is singularly unfortunate in +possessing very few harbours. Fremantle is now an open roadstead, but +the State proposes by the expenditure of a large sum of money to give +effect to a scheme formulated by Sir John Goode, the eminent engineer, +which, it is believed, will render the port perfectly safe in all +weathers. King George's Sound, however, has been exceptionally favoured +by nature. The entrance to it is by either of the two passages which +surround the massive rock, appropriately named Breaksea, that rises up +with rugged abruptness in the centre of the channel. At the rear of +Breaksea the inlet opens into a grand harbour, where the largest ships +can lie with perfect safety in the roughest weather. The scenery along +the shores is diversified and beautiful, and no more charming place of +call could be found for the ocean mail steamers, which anchor there +regularly every fortnight. The little town of Albany is situated upon +the rising boulders of granite at the head of the sound; but its +isolated position has told against the prosperity of the place. The +harbour has been aptly stated to be the front gate of the colony, with a +blank wall behind it. That blank wall consists of the long tract of +dismal country lying between Albany and Perth; but the colonists hope, +with the aid of an English syndicate who have contracted to construct a +railway to join the Government system at Beverley, to abolish the +barrier which now cuts them off from Albany. They will then be able to +utilise the harbour and to elevate it to the position it should occupy. +Of late years the strategical importance of King George's Sound in case +of warfare has commanded the attention of Imperial and Colonial +statesmen. + +The climate of Western Australia is decidedly salubrious. For years past +the residents have sought to induce the Indian authorities to make it +their sanatorium for invalid officers, but so far nothing definite has +resulted from their representations. Sport is plentiful in every part of +the province, and the homely hospitable character of the people renders +a visit to the colony a most enjoyable experience. The great pride of +Western Australians is in the wild flowers that cover their plains in +the spring time. The surface of the earth is then carpeted with an +endless variety of the most beautiful forms of the floral creation. +Every crevice and cranny is filled with blossoms, whose bright colours +contrast vividly with the more delicate hues of the 'everlastings' that +abound in the more level country. + +The pearl fisheries off the coast of West Australia, and especially at +Shark Bay, produce the true pearl oyster, the _Avicula margaritifera_. +For a long time this shell was supposed to be valueless, on account of +its thin and fragile structure; but now there is a great demand for it, +both in Europe and America. It is especially prized by French and German +artists for fine inlaid cabinet work. During the year 1883, 619 tons of +pearl shell were exported from Western Australia, valued at $4000, and +the value of the pearls exported during the same period was $20,500. +Several of these pearls were of extraordinary size and beauty, one +weighing 234 grains. A mass of pearls in the form of a perfect cross was +found at Nickol Bay, West Australia, in the early part of last year, +each pearl being about the size of a large pea, and perfect in form and +colour. + +[Illustration: ALBANY.] + +The oysters in the West Australian fisheries are generally removed by +passing an iron-wire dredge over the banks, but divers are also +employed, the diving being carried on from the end of September to the +end of March. Pearl oysters are gregarious in their habits, and whenever +one is met with it is almost certain that vast numbers of others will be +found in the immediate neighbourhood. + +Writing of Western Australia, Sir F. Napier Broome, C.M.G., says: 'Many +of the farmsteads I visited in the country districts are such as their +owners may well be proud of. They represent years of arduous toil, and +of courageous struggle with many difficulties. I find in some of them +the grey-haired, sturdy early settlers of the colony, still strong and +hale, after nearly a half-century of colonisation, now able, I was +rejoiced to see, to rest from their labours, and to enjoy growing +comforts and easier circumstances, while the farm or the sheep station +was looked to by the stalwart sons. Wherever I went, I perceived that +Western Australia, though not a country of richness, was nevertheless a +land in which an honest worker of shrewd wit has rarely failed to gather +round him, as years went on, the possessions which constitute a modest +competence, and perhaps something more, enjoyed amidst the affections +and the ties of a home in which he can take life easily in the evening +of his days, and from which he can see his children marry and go forth +to such other homes of their own. I did not find the feverish, +brand-new, shifting and disjointed communities of a wealthy colony, but +I found a people amongst whom ties of kindred are numerous and much +thought of, who have dwelt side by side with each other all their lives, +and who have preserved among themselves a unity and friendly feeling +most pleasant to encounter, and social characteristics natural and +agreeable in their unaffectedness, simplicity and heartiness. Each +little township resembles an English village rather than the colonial +assortment of stray atoms one is familiar with elsewhere. The more one +sees and knows of Western Australia and its people, the more they win on +one.' + +The most important circumstance in connection with the Western Australia +of to-day is the discovery that the north-western corner contains fine +pasture-land, permanent rivers, and good harbours. Explorers from the +east have visited the place, and have reported favourably upon its +prospects, and now there is a good deal of _bonâ fide_ squatting +enterprise being displayed. Companies have been formed, and syndicates +and flocks and herds have been sent from Melbourne and Sydney by sea, +and cattle are also being pushed across from Queensland. If these +ventures have only half the success which is predicted for them, there +is a great future in store for this part of Western Australia. And +recent reports from the colony disclose the fact that there is every +indication that an extensive gold-field exists in the country between +King Sound and Cambridge Gulf. A 'rush' has set in, and there is +considerable excitement throughout Australia about the matter. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +TASMANIA. + + A HOLIDAY RESORT FOR AUSTRALIANS--LAUNCESTON--THE NORTH AND SOUTH + ESK--MOUNT BISCHOFF--A WILD DISTRICT--THE OLD MAIN + ROAD--HOBART--THE DERWENT--PORT ARTHUR--CONVICTS--FACTS AND + FIGURES. + +[Illustration: VIEW OF MOUNT WELLINGTON, TASMANIA.] + +[Illustration: CORRA LINN, TASMANIA.] + + +This island is the smallest of the Australian colonies, and the lover of +the picturesque pronounces it to be the fairest of them all. It is a +land of mountain and of flood--another Scotland, but with a perennial +blue sky and an Italian climate. Now that there is a leisured and a +wealthy class in Australia, this wealth of scenery is becoming a real +fortune to Tasmania. A twenty hours' run takes the holiday-maker from +Melbourne wharves to Launceston, and then the island, with its streams, +its hills and its fisheries, is open to him. The rush of excursionists +to enjoy the cool weather and the romantic views has become greater and +greater with successive years; and, though New Zealand is the +Switzerland of the colonies, yet Tasmania, being so much nearer the +mainland, and having so many native charms, is sure to hold its own as a +holiday resort. + +Moreover Tasmania is held in affectionate regard by thousands of +Australians whose birthplace she is. Her material prosperity is not so +great as that of her neighbours, and consequently her youth are lured to +the mainland, where they usually establish themselves successfully, and +where they also acquire such substance as enables them at frequent +intervals to revisit the old land. So great is the migration of the +young men that it would have fared ill with the damsels of the isle but +for a compensatory influence. Their own youth were lured away to seek +for wealth and to woo wives in other lands; but the Tasmanian clime +enriches the fair sex with complexions which are the despair of their +more sallow sisters of the north, and the deserted maidens have always +had their revenge by captivating and winning their visitors. His lady +friends tremble for the Australian bachelor who spends a leisure month +across the straits. And then there are many territorial families in +Victoria and New South Wales whose sires emigrated from Tasmania in the +early days of colonisation. It is not surprising therefore that there is +a strong attachment between the rich sons and the poorer motherland +which it will take much to sever. + +Bass Straits separate Tasmania from Australia, but the journey is easily +made in large well-equipped steamers which leave Melbourne regularly, +and which speedily reach the smooth water of the Tamar. This river +debouches on the north coast, and is a noble stream forty miles in +length, coursing through alluvial stretches backed in the far distance +by grand tiers of mountain ranges. Along its banks there are dots of +settlement, but, as they are at wide intervals, the traveller +appreciates the charm of navigating what appears to be an unexplored +tract. But for the beacons and buoys to mark the shoals there is little +to indicate the presence of man. Given a clear day--and all days are +more or less clear in Tasmania--a bracing breeze from the south, and a +trip up the Tamar cannot be excelled; and if it be that the traveller +comes in the early spring, before the snow has quite disappeared from +the highest hills beyond, and while the freshness of the new vegetation +still makes the near landscape glorious, he will wish for no better +communion with nature. + +Launceston, on the Tamar, is the second city of the island--second in +point of picturesque surroundings, second also in political importance, +because Hobart, in the south, is the capital; but first in the material +aspect, from which point of view even lovers of the beautiful are +content to pay some homage. It is decidedly a pretty town. At its +wharves two rivers, the North Esk and South Esk, meet, and in their +mingling form the Tamar. The North Esk comes down over crags and +precipices, through a striking gorge, whose bold sheer cliffs frown at +each other and on the deep silent stream below. The most romantic spot +of all is Corra Linn, on the South Esk, where the river dashes over +boulders through a gateway of basalt, changes into a quiet restful +stream, reflecting foliage and rock in its peaceful depths, and then +dashes on again, falling and falling and falling, cataract after +cataract, whirlpool after whirlpool, until its force is expended in the +deep Tamar, and its bosom becomes dotted with the 'white-winged +messengers' of commerce. The South Esk flows through rich agricultural +country, where the land has been farmed for more than a generation, and +where the hedged fields on the hillsides recall Kent and Sussex to the +mind of the Englishman, and give the average Australian, whose knowledge +of farm landscape is made unpleasant by the recollection of mile after +mile of rail fencing, a splendid idea of how husbandry may be made to +present a charming aspect. + +[Illustration: ON THE SOUTH ESK, TASMANIA.] + +A fine railway runs through fertile country to the town of Deloraine, on +the River Meander, and on to the north-west coast to the mouth of the +Mersey, a distance of eighty miles. It passes large properties devoted +to the breeding of high-class sheep, which have served to make the +colony famous throughout Australia, because the flocks which now supply +a vast proportion of the world's wool have been bred from studs imported +from these areas. + +The train passes through glades and over plains, round mountain sides +and over streams; and at Deloraine the traveller is delighted by the +bold appearance of Quamby Bluff, jutting from the end of a long range +against the blue sky. The Mersey has beauties, and so have the Don, the +Cam, the Forth, and numberless other limpid streams which 'bring down +music from the mountains to the sea'--this music being particularly +grateful to the visitor who, it may be, has just left the parched plains +of Central Australia. + +Back from this coast, through wild country to wilder, lies Mount +Bischoff, the richest tin mine in the world. This prize was secured, +unhappily not for himself, by an old gentleman voted eccentric by his +neighbours, but so strongly inspired with the belief that rich tin +deposits must exist in the interior that for months and months he would +wander through the bush prospecting under conditions of hardship +scarcely conceivable--a long way from the tracks of humanity, absolutely +self-reliant and thoroughly confident. At last, where a pretty river, +the Waratah, turns a prominent hill and runs over a high precipice, he +found the long sought-for treasure. He also found on his return to the +haunts of men that his story was not believed, that 'Philosopher Smith,' +as he was designated, was not able to easily secure the assistance +requisite for the development of his discovery. In time, however, he +succeeded, and the Mount Bischoff Company was formed, and started upon +its career. Mr. Smith held his allotment of stock through the early +years of work, but gradually he was compelled to realise in the market +at ridiculously low rates. Twelve years ago the shares went almost +begging at thirty shillings each, and they have since ruled as high as +eighty pounds. It is difficult, on looking at the mine, to conjecture +when the lode will be exhausted. The 'faces' being worked from part of +the mountain, and as the material is brought under treatment, of course, +the picturesqueness of the scene has to suffer. + +When 'Philosopher Smith' broke upon it he must, if he was anything of a +philosopher, have been greatly impressed with its magnificence, for then +not only were the mountains lofty, but they bore magnificent forests, +and the babbling streams were delightfully pure. Now the traveller can +only admire the mountains, which are still high, unless, of course, he +is also impressed by the enterprise which has drawn the wealth from the +hillside, albeit that in so doing the forests have suffered and the +waters have been stained. + +Beyond Mount Bischoff the woods grow denser, and traffic through them to +newer tin-fields on the west coast is infrequent and hazardous. Twelve +or fifteen years ago very few men visited that district, and even now +nobody goes there unless impelled by strong business reasons. When you +stand on Mount Bischoff and look across the hills which rise in this +wild region, you are presented with a grand spectacle, and you wonder if +the day can ever come when clearings and cultivation will be where now +the bush appears to be impenetrable. + +[Illustration: VIEWS IN TASMANIA.] + +From Launceston, in an easterly direction, the traveller finds much to +interest him, particularly in that quarter where stand Ben Lomond and +other mountains, each upwards of 5000 feet high. St. Mary's Pass is a +natural gateway through the ranges, and the coaches which traverse the +road rattle along alarming ridges; but pleasure and surprise are so +strongly excited that there is no time for a thought of danger. Through +to Fingal, and on to St. Helen's at George's Bay, on the east coast, the +variations of scene are endless. And then the cliffs are reached; and, +gazing on the broad blue ocean once more, it is vividly brought home to +the continental Australian that he is on an island, and a beautiful +island also. Tin and gold mines have been worked in this division of the +colony more or less successfully; but the interests were not permanent, +and the attention of investors has long since been diverted to finer +fields. + +[Illustration: LAUNCESTON.] + +Launceston is connected with Hobart by one of the finest macadamised +roads--120 miles in length--in the world, and by a narrow-gauge railway +of 132 miles. The railway is a comparatively new institution, but the +road has stood for years, and will stand for ages. In 'the old days,' as +the past is happily and conveniently termed in Tasmania, there were only +two settlements--Hobart and Launceston; and it became as necessary to +establish others as to connect them. At that time hundreds of convicts +were being landed from England, and the additional necessity to find +employment for them induced the governing authorities to embark upon the +enterprise of making the road and making new towns. It cost more than a +railway would cost nowadays, for prison labour has always been +expensive. But it is thoroughly substantial, and has the great +advantages of passing through the richest agricultural and pastoral +lands of the colony, and the great charm of running over many bold hills +and of crossing many of the most beautiful streams of the island. +Thirteen hours were required to perform the journey between the two +towns when coaches were running, and there are many who, while +thoroughly appreciating the quicker transit of the railway, nevertheless +sigh for the good old invigorating coach-ride, and the rests at the old +hostelries--just such as would be found on an English turnpike. The +railway had to be constructed along a devious course, and consequently +traffic was diverted from the direct road, and from the ancient hamlets +to newer settlements, where everything is spick and span. The old +resting-places have not yet disappeared, but many of them are decaying, +and present striking contrasts to the new order of things on the rail +route. 'For a young country you have an elegant supply of ruins,' was +the comment of an American who was driven over this road. He was quite +right, but the ruins are revered by all who remember the traffic when it +was at its best. They are not signs of national decay, but the result of +a change of transit. As they stand now even they are not unprofitable. +Without them many a picturesque scene would be less interesting. + +[Illustration: HELL GATE, TASMANIA.] + +Hobart is a lovely city. It has been made beautiful by nature, and it +will become famous by the act of man, for it is the spot where the first +Federal Council of Australasia met in January 1886. It is rather +inverting the order of things to first dwell upon the newest +characteristic of the town, but the departure is justified by the +promise of the great good which must follow the establishment of the +Union. In due course the federal spirit must expand, and when +Australians, in years to come, revert to the starting-point of their +national life, they will think kindly of Hobart. + +The city of 'balmy summers and cheerful winters' stands on the +big-volumed Derwent. The river rises far inland, up among high +mountains, where Lake St. Clair and Lake Sorell reflect the snowy peaks +of their basaltic guardians. It runs through rich country, where +settlement has become permanent, down to New Norfolk, where it bends and +twists, and skirts lofty cliffs, passes through hop-fields, whose golden +crops in the autumn make the landscape beautiful and the air fragrant, +develops into a noble course a little farther on, and at Hobart is in +some places seven miles in width, and in no place less than a mile. +There are high mountains on both sides, and the valleys are +exceptionally productive. The city is seated on seven hills; behind it +is Knocklofty, a respectable eminence; and behind that again Mount +Wellington, 4166 feet in height, forms a grand background. The +population numbers about thirty thousand, and the citizens are tolerably +thrifty, although not so enterprising nor so wealthy as the colonists of +the mainland. The city was established early in the century, and for +very many years it was the _entrepôt_ for the thousands of wretched +convicts expatriated from Great Britain. It was an important military +station, and its palmiest days were thirty-five years ago, when the +Imperial Government spent £1000 a day in the maintenance of the gaols +and the barracks. At that time the city was an important place, but the +curse of transportation was upon it. In 1851 the last convict ship +discharged its cargo, and since then the system has gradually run down, +and is now very little more than a memory. The traces must necessarily +linger, but their ultimate effacement is only a question of time. It is +a pity that so fair a spot was ever used for so ill a purpose. + +Being the capital, Hobart possesses all the usual official institutions: +a Government House in a beautiful garden on the Derwent, in which +resides a well-paid representative of Her Majesty; Parliament Houses, in +which sit two Chambers, who legislate upon the most approved +constitutional plan; a Supreme Court, Civil Service Court, and other +accessories suited to the requirements of the colony. Its monetary and +trading institutions are sound, and its commercial relations with other +ports expanding. The harbour is lined with well-built wharves, and the +depth of water is astonishing. Twelve miles down the river are the +Heads. The Southern Pacific is beyond; and so easy is the navigation +that vessels very rarely have to employ pilots. Reefs and shoals are +unknown. + +A two or three hours' trip seawards to the south-east enables one to +reach the famed Port Arthur, in a land-locked bay hedged by bluff +promontories whose aspect is so stern that the beneficent calm within is +made the more beautiful when they are passed. Port Arthur was the centre +of convictism for many years, and the prisons stand now, though the +place has long since been given up as a penal settlement. It is on the +southern point of a peninsula, which is connected with the mainland by a +narrow strip, not more than one hundred yards wide, called Eaglebank +Neck. This was, and is, the only means of communication by land with the +outer world, and the authorities devised stringent if inhuman means to +prevent the escape of prisoners. Fierce dogs were chained at such +intervals that it would be impossible for a man to pass between them, +and they kept watch by night, while armed men were on guard by day. It +was a straight and narrow path, but no one ever passed that way. To swim +through the water on either side was equally hazardous, because of the +risk of being attacked by sharks, and consequently the number of escapes +was extremely small. The only authenticated break away from bondage was +performed by three men--Martin Cash, Cavanagh, and Jones, who swam +Pirates' Bay in the night, reached a farm-house before morning, equipped +themselves for highwaymen's work, and defied arrest for some years. The +last prisoners were removed from Port Arthur in 1876, and the +magnificent buildings, than which there are none better in the world, +have been allowed to decay, the rich fields and meadows, which were +pictures in the busy days of the establishment, are fast becoming +obliterated, and desolation promises to encompass all. Slowly but surely +Nature is reclaiming her own, and is effacing the memorials of an infamy +which none care to look back upon. Chapter after chapter might be +written upon the annals of Port Arthur, but they would be inconsonant +with the tone attempted to be given to these pages. + +On the west of the mouth of the Derwent is a magnificent channel +forty-five miles in length, deep and beautiful. It is called +D'Entrecasteaux Channel, after an early French navigator, and is a +passage-way to Hobart for ships coming from the westward. It is lined +with fine harbours, and among other rivers receives the Heron, which +comes down through dense forests from the region referred to in the +remarks made concerning the view from Mount Bischoff. This is indeed a +wild country, but hardy adventurers have made homes among the giant +trees and slowly cleared patches for fruit-gardens and farms. Far back +on the west coast is Macquarie Harbour, which was a convict station +before Port Arthur, and whose history is willingly being forgotten. + +Tasmania contains an area of 26,300 square miles, so that she is a +little smaller than Scotland, and a little larger than Greece. Her +population on January 1st, 1885, was 130,541. Her total revenue was +£549,000. She had 215 miles of railway open, and she was constructing +160 miles. Her exports were valued at £1,475,000, and her imports at +£1,656,000. All English fruits--such as the strawberry, the raspberry, +and the apple--grow with a marvellous profusion, and the hop industry +flourishes. + +[Illustration: ON THE RIVER DERWENT.] + + + + +SECTION III. + +AUSTRALIAN LIFE AND PRODUCTS. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +HEROES OF EXPLORATION. + + TRAGIC STORIES--FLINDERS AND BASS--ADVENTURES IN A SMALL + BOAT--DISCOVERIES--DISAPPEARANCE OF BASS--DEATH OF FLINDERS--EYRE'S + JOURNEY--LUDWIG LEICHHARDT--DISAPPEARANCE OF HIS PARTY--THEORY OF + HIS FATE--THE KENNEDY CATASTROPHE--THE BURKE AND WILLS + EXPEDITION--ACROSS THE CONTINENT--THE DESERTED DEPÔT--SLOW DEATH BY + STARVATION--LATER EXPEDITIONS. + +[Illustration: NATIVE ENCAMPMENT.] + +[Illustration: A NEW CLEARING.] + + +The story of Australian exploration is for the most part of a tragic +character. Great geographical results have been achieved, but the price +has been paid in great sacrifices. The records of success are saddened +by many episodes of disaster and of death. + +The tale of heroism and suffering begins with Bass and Flinders, two +young men who have left their names writ large upon the map for ever. +They went out in 1795 with the second Governor of New South Wales, Bass +as surgeon of the ship Reliance, and Flinders as midshipman. The two +were soon friends; they had an equal love of adventure, and the new +circumstances in which they were placed fired their ardent imagination +with the hope of discoveries that should benefit mankind, if not bring +reputation to themselves. Never did enthusiasts set to work with more +scanty material. With a little boat eight feet long, and a boy to help, +they cleared Sydney Heads, and faced the unknown Southern Ocean, and +mapped out a section of the Australian coast. They used to row or sail +as far as they could in the day, and at night throw out a stone, which +served them as an anchor, and lie at these primitive moorings till +daylight. Many were their narrow escapes by sea and shore. + +Once they were upset near the shore; their powder was wet, and they lost +their supply of fresh water. On reaching land and righting the boat, a +body of natives came down upon them, and, as the savages were well armed +and were hostile in their demeanour, it looked as if the defenceless +party would be sacrificed. But after a hurried consultation Bass spread +the powder out on the rocks to dry, and went off to a creek to fill the +keg with fresh water, while Flinders, trading on the personal vanity of +the blacks, and their love for hair-dressing, trimmed the beards of the +chiefs with a pair of pocket-scissors. He had no lack of candidates. +Long before he had finished his task, Bass had repacked the dry powder, +had loaded the muskets, and the two friends with a rush regained their +boat, leaving many would-be customers lamenting, and disappointing +probably some would-be slayers. A few weeks afterwards a vessel called +the Sydney Cove was wrecked in the unsurveyed Tasman seas, the escaping +boats were thrown ashore in a storm near Cape Howe, and this very tribe +massacred most of the crew. + +Ingenuity and boldness rescued the adventurers from one peril after +another. As their exploits attracted attention, their friend Governor +Hunter helped the discoverers to some small extent. Flinders had to sail +with his vessel to Norfolk Island, but Bass obtained a whaleboat and a +crew of six men, and with this aid he pushed boldly along the coast of +what is now the colony of Victoria, discovered Corner Inlet and Western +Port, and proved that Tasmania was an island, and not, as was then +supposed, a part of the mainland. The separating strait rightly bears +his name to this day. + +On the return of Flinders, Governor Hunter placed a small sloop, the +Norfolk, at the service of the friends, and with it they surveyed the +entire coast of Tasmania, Flinders preparing the charts. Their +discoveries were numerous, the river Tamar being among them. This, alas, +was the last joint expedition of the gallant comrades! Bass was tempted +to join in some trading speculation to South America, and unhappily his +vessel was confiscated by the Spaniards for a breach of the customs +laws. Bass was sent as a prisoner to work in the silver mines, and was +never heard of more. Well can it be imagined that many a hope, many a +bright career, many a noble aspiration, have perished in those living +tombs, but surely they never closed over a bolder or more unhappy victim +than Bass. + +Flinders for a time continued his successful career. He visited England, +and was raised to the rank of lieutenant, and he was authorised to +proceed with his surveys in a vessel called the Investigator. A passport +was obtained for him from the French Government, exempting him from +capture during the time of war. At the same time, however, the French +Government sent out an expedition under M. Baudin. With characteristic +energy, Flinders did his work in advance of his French rival, who was +driven by scurvy to Sydney. Flinders was returning home when the state +of his rotten vessel forced him to put into the Mauritius, which then +belonged to France. Here, despite his passport, his ship was seized, and +he was thrown into prison. M. Baudin called at the Mauritius soon +afterwards, and he is accused by history of a great treachery. Certainly +there is much that charity finds it difficult to explain in M. Baudin's +conduct. It is written that he copied the charts and papers of the +prisoner. This seems to be an incredible meanness; but it is certain +that he connived at the detention, and that on his return to France he +published a work anticipating all that Flinders could say, ignoring the +labours of the prisoner, and representing himself as the great +Australian discoverer of the day. + +[Illustration: SPLITTERS IN THE FOREST.] + +More than six years elapsed before Flinders was released; and, upon +reaching England, he found that the discoveries he intended to announce +had been given to the world, and that the public was familiar with them. +Exposure, hardships, and, above all, the long weary years in the French +prison, had all told upon him. He set to work to bring out his book and +his charts, and just managed to complete his task, but sank immediately +afterwards. It is a mournful chapter. But the fame of Flinders survives +and is growing. In Australian annals no name is more justly honoured. + +Very soon the colonists began to push inland from their settlements on +the coast, feeling their way, and gradually becoming acquainted with the +novel features of their new abode. There was great joy when, after many +endeavours, a Sydney party discovered a pass through the extraordinary +precipices of the Blue Mountains, which had long hemmed in the infant +colony. The adventures of Oxley, who thought that he was stopped by an +inland sea, of Sturt, who nearly perished in the Central Desert, and of +Mitchell, who opened up the Western District of Victoria, have already +been incidentally mentioned in these pages. + +One of the first efforts to reach the centre of the continent was made +by Edward John Eyre, in after-days Governor of Jamaica. He left Adelaide +in 1840, his party consisting of five Europeans and three natives, with +thirteen horses. But the year was one of drought. The great marsh, now +called Lake Torrens, was a sheet of glittering salt. The horses broke +through the crust, and a hideous and tenacious black mud oozed out. +Advance on this line was impossible; and, upon taking a more westerly +route, the explorer was stopped by the still larger marsh now called +Lake Eyre, which was also a deceptive sheet of salt. Disappointed, Eyre +returned to the head of Spencer's Gulf, and decided to make a dash at +Western Australia, following the line of the cliffs in order to +intercept any rivers. Alas, there were none to intercept! The party had +to depend for subsistence upon the chance of finding water-holes not +dried up, and the little clay pans formed by the aborigines, and called +native wells. + +At an early stage Eyre sent all his party back, except his overseer +Baxter, his black boy Wylie, and two natives. The farther he went the +more sterile the country became, and the worse was his position. The +burning sand suffocated the travellers, and day after day passed without +water. Most of the horses died. Eyre was watching the remnant feeding on +some scanty vegetation one night, and was musing on his gloomy +prospects, when he heard a musket shot. The two natives had murdered the +overseer, decamped with the stores, and left Eyre and his boy Wylie to +their fate! The night was dark, and Eyre gives a vivid description of +his feelings as he sat in the gloom by the side of the corpse of his +friend, expecting every moment that the treacherous blacks would use +their muskets upon him and Wylie. He could not bury the body, for the +ground was hard rock, and he had no tools. Day after day he plodded on. +Had Wylie deserted him he must have perished, for in the boy's quickness +in detecting traces of the natives and indications of their 'wells' lay +the only chance of safety. At last, when nearly exhausted, Eyre saw two +boats at sea. They belonged to a French whaler. Eyre was taken on board, +was well fed, was supplied with stores and ammunition; and, after a rest +of eleven days, he and Wylie continued their journey, and, the country +improving, they reached King George's Sound in safety. + +Thirty years after this journey was made it was repeated from the +opposite side by Mr. John Forrest, a fine young West Australian +explorer, who with a small party passed over it with but little +inconvenience or difficulty. Mr. Forrest again and again camped on +Eyre's old camping ground, which he recognised at once, and which seemed +to have remained undisturbed from the time Eyre and Wylie left it. + +Next comes the tale of the explorer over whose fate a veil of mystery +and romance has fallen. In 1844 Ludwig Leichhardt was an eager young +German botanist. He set his heart upon exploration. His first trip was +most successful, as, starting from Sydney, he made his way to the Gulf +of Carpentaria, and discovered many of the fine rivers of Northern +Queensland. So much enthusiasm was occasioned by these revelations of a +grand country in tropical Australia that the Sydney people subscribed +£1500 for Leichhardt, and the Government presented him with £1000. After +a short trip of seven months in the Queensland bush, Leichhardt +organised an expedition to cross Australia from west to east, a feat +which no man has yet performed, though explorers from the west have met +the tracks of those coming from the east. His party consisted of H. +Classen, six white men, and two blacks, with cattle and sheep. His last +letter, which was dated from McPherson's Station, Cogoon, April 3rd, +1848, concluded in the following words: 'Seeing how much I have been +favoured in my present progress, I am full of hopes that our Almighty +Protector will allow me to bring my darling scheme to a successful +termination.' + +The hope was not realised. He has been tracked to the banks of the +Flinders, in Northern Australia, but his fate is unknown. The +disappearance of his party has been absolute, and the Australian +imagination has dwelt long, anxiously and lovingly upon the mystery. No +theory has been so wild but that it has found some eager adherents; +every straw of hope has been grasped at. Expedition after expedition has +sallied forth to rescue the living or to bury the dead, but all in vain: +the tales have proved false, and slowly hope has faded away. + +The explanation now generally accepted is that the party was surprised +in low country by some tropical flood, in which all perished. A capital +bushman, Leichhardt was not likely to starve. And if he had died from +thirst, or if he had been murdered by the natives, some of his animals +would probably have escaped, or some weapon or some piece of their +equipment would have been found, and would have furnished a clue to the +mystery. But the earth gives no more trace of him than the deep sea of a +vessel that has foundered, or the air of a bird that has passed by. + +[Illustration: AFTER STRAY CATTLE.] + +The Kennedy disaster was on a large scale. Edmund Kennedy had explored +the course of the Barcoo with success, and in 1838 he was landed with +twelve men at Rockingham Bay, to strike across country, to a schooner at +Cape York. The dense jungle of the tropical bush and the vast swamps +checked their progress. He left eight men at Weymouth Bay, and proceeded +with three men and a black boy, Jacky, on his journey to the schooner. +The blacks were numerous and hostile, and the bush gave them shelter. +Kennedy was speared by an unseen hand, and died in the arms of Jacky. +The three men were never heard of, and only two of the other party of +eight escaped. Jacky, however, turned up at the schooner with the papers +confided to his care, a living skeleton. He is one of the many instances +of the fidelity of the Australian black when once he has become attached +to his master. + +The rush to the gold-fields checked exploration for a time. All thoughts +were directed to the auriferous treasure. But after the new population +had settled down somewhat, a strong desire manifested itself to discover +the secret of the continent. The South Australian Government offered a +reward of two thousand pounds to the first person who should cross the +continent from south to north, and the intrepid John McDouall Stuart was +soon in the field to earn the money and to secure the fame. Stuart had +been one of the officers in Sturt's last party, and he had discovered +for South Australian employers a fine belt of pastoral territory beyond +the salt lakes that had discomfited Eyre. In Victoria the public +subscribed a large sum of money, which the Government doubled. The +Government also sent for camels, at a great expense, and the Royal +Society appointed a committee to organise the expedition. The command +was given to Robert O'Hara Burke; Landells, who had brought over the +camels, was second; and a young man from the Melbourne Observatory, W. +J. Wills, was placed in charge of the instruments. The dash and energy +of O'Hara Burke, and the talent and Christian fortitude shown by Wills, +have endeared the memory of both these leaders to the country; but the +admission must be reluctantly made that the tragic issue was due to +Burke's unfitness for the command. He was no bushman, and was too eager +and impulsive for a leader. As a second in command he would have been +invaluable; as a chief he was overweighted. + +The expedition left Melbourne August 20, 1860. Burke's orders were to +take his stores up to Cooper's Creek, and, when he had established his +depôt there, to start for Carpentaria. On the way up Burke quarrelled +with Landells, who resigned, Wills taking his place. At the same time +Burke met with a man named Wright, who struck his fancy, and this +stranger, utterly unqualified for the post, was placed in an important +command. Burke left the bulk of the stores and most of the party on the +Darling in charge of Wright, who was to bring them on with all possible +speed, while the leader made a forced march with a light party to +Cooper's Creek. Days passed without Wright's appearing; and, instead of +returning to hasten up his stores, Burke, with characteristic boldness, +resolved to make a dash for Carpentaria. He divided his party and his +stores, leaving Brahe and three men at the creek to wait for Wright, and +started with Wills, King and Gray, on December 16, with six camels and a +horse. + +The party made a rapid journey through fair and good country. Box +forests and well-grassed plains--a good squatting country--was +traversed, and finally the explorers struck a fine stream, the +Concherry, running to the north, whose banks were clothed with palms +and tropical vegetation. They were greatly pleased, for they knew they +had but to follow this river to reach the northern sea. But the camels +broke down. Leaving them in charge of Gray and King, the leaders +proceeded on foot, and came with exultation to an inlet of the great +Northern Gulf. + +Their task was done; they could turn back. But this was their last +moment of joy, troubles thickening afterwards to the end. Their rapid +travelling over broken country under a tropical sun, with scanty +rations, began to tell upon all. There was no time for rest nor for +hunting. The party must push on and on to reach the depôt where food +awaited them. Gray complained of a failure of all his powers, and in +particular of an inability to use his legs. It was thought he was +shamming, and he was punished and hurried on; but soon afterwards he +laid down and died, and the same symptoms attacked them all, Burke +bitterly regretting his severity. They began to kill their camels, and, +scarcely sustained by this food, they pushed on, their pace dwindling to +a crawl, and then to a totter. On April 21 they came in sight of the +depôt, and a grateful 'Thank God!' burst from their lips. They fired a +gun. It was not answered, and they found the place deserted. Wright, +with the stores, had never reached the creek, and Brahe, seeing week +after week elapse, had fallen back to ascertain what was the matter in +his rear, leaving half of his remaining provisions for Burke and Wills. + +When the three travellers entered the desolate depôt they gazed round in +dismay, and Burke threw himself on the ground to conceal his +feelings--they had expected safety, and they were confronted by death. +But a tree marked 'Dig' caught their eyes, and they came upon the buried +provisions. A rest for a couple of days was indispensable. And then +Burke came to the decision not to strike for the Darling, as Wills +desired, but to make for a pioneer cattle station at Mount Hopeless on +the South Australian border. This was a fatal choice, the camp being a +few miles away. The same day Brahe, who had met Wright, rode back to the +depôt. By one of those fatalities which mark the expedition, Burke had +buried his despatches in the _cache_, and had taken some pains to +restore it to its original condition, and so Brahe thought it had not +been disturbed. It was clear that some disaster had happened to Burke. +But Wright, who was in command of the stores, decided to fall back on +the Darling to report matters to the committee. Thus were Burke and +Wills abandoned. Wright and Brahe, when at the depôt, were within two +hours' journey of the perishing leaders. Growing weaker and weaker, the +forlorn and deserted trio struggled on. The country became worse and +worse. They struck the wretched desert where Sturt suffered so severely. +Water failed there, and all vegetation disappeared, and all hope of +food, from the country. Their torn and rotten clothing dropped from +their backs. They killed their last camel. In despair they walked back +to Cooper's Creek, on the chance of finding the natives--just at the +moment when another day would have rewarded them with the sight of Mount +Hopeless on the horizon. + +[Illustration: MONUMENT TO BURKE AND WILLS IN MELBOURNE.] + +When they regained the creek their provisions were gone. The blacks +showed the hapless men how to gather the little black seeds of a grass +called the nardoo, on which they mostly lived themselves. The white men +hoped that it would support them, but could only starve upon it. An +effort was made to reach the depôt to see if relief had arrived, but +the strength of Burke and of Wills gave out. Wills was the first to +sink. As he could travel no farther, Burke and King left him in a native +hut with nardoo seed and water by his side, while they sought assistance +from the blacks, who had given Wills a meal of fish a few days before. +When King returned a few days later with three crows which he had shot, +the pure and gentle spirit of Wills had taken its flight. Burke had only +tottered a few miles from the hut. He laid down to die, asking King to +place his pistol in his hand, and not to bury him. The strong man had +become as a child. He sent many messages to friends. Then he was silent; +and the early morn saw the earthly end of a generous, ardent, manly +leader, whose faults were of the head and are forgotten, while his +virtues were of the heart and endear his memory. + +King made his way to the natives, with whom he lived many months, until +he was rescued. The Government granted him a substantial pension. A +married sister devoted herself to his care. But those who looked upon +his face saw his fate there. Thirst, hunger, and privation had smitten +him too severely, and very soon he also fell asleep. + +Great energy was shown in sending expeditions to the relief of Burke and +Wills, when Wright returned to the Darling without them. One party under +M'Kinlay started from Adelaide, another under Walker from Queensland; +Landsborough led a third, which was landed at the Gulf of Carpentaria to +reach Melbourne, and Howitt proceeded from Melbourne viâ Cooper's Creek. +The knowledge these expeditions gave of the country was great, and when +McDouall Stuart, in 1862, crossed the continent, interest in exploration +lapsed. Ten years afterwards a series of efforts were made by Giles, +Gosse, Lewis, Forrest and Colonel Warburton, to cross from South +Australia to the western seaboard. Forrest pushed his way through from +the west, and Warburton from the east. This latter party had a terrible +battle for life, and without the camels, and without an intelligent +black fellow who hunted for the native clay-pans, all must have +perished. The men abandoned everything, even their clothing, down to +shirts and trousers; and Warburton arrived, strapped to a camel's back, +rapidly sinking from exhaustion. + +Still there are vast territories in Australia untrodden by the foot of +the white man, but the task of filling up the blanks is now left to the +pioneer settler. One squatter pushes out beyond another, as the coral +insect builds on its predecessor's cell. Without any stir a district +that was once in the desert is occupied, and then the blocks beyond are +attached. The process is sure, though without sensation. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +A GLANCE AT THE ABORIGINES. + + FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH THE BLACKS--MISUNDERSTANDINGS--NARRATIVE OF A + PIONEER--CLIMBING TREES--THE BLACKS' DEFENCE--DECAY OF THE + RACE--WEAPONS--THE NORTHERN TRIBES--A NORTHERN + ENCAMPMENT--CORROBOREE--BLACK TRACKERS--BURIAL--MISSION STATIONS. + +[Illustration: A CORROBOREE.] + +[Illustration: A WADDY FIGHT. (_See p. 168._)] + + +From large portions of the continent the native has now been absolutely +swept away. The immigrant who intends to settle in the populated parts +of South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania and Queensland, +will have no more to do with the natives than he would have to do with +the Redskins if he visited Ohio or Pennsylvania. The aborigines, unless +in the harmless guise of mission blacks, are not to be found except in +the far-off outlying parts where the pioneer squatter is prosecuting his +labours, and there the old sad tale of plunder and of murder by the +tribes, and of revenge by the white man--too often on guilty and +innocent alike--is still repeated. + +The blacks of Australia differ in appearance and in size greatly, quite +as much as do the inhabitants of Europe. There are poorly fed tribes who +are correctly described by Dampier, while on the other hand men of a +splendid physique can be found amongst them. It may be said at once that +the tales that deny their intelligence and which degrade them almost to +the level of brutes are unfounded. They live in their natural state, +without care or responsibility, very much as children, and they have +the cleverness and the uncertain tempers and the mercurial happiness of +children. They could live, it must be remembered, with a minimum of +exertion. So long as a country was not over-populated, opossums, fish +and roots were obtained with little labour, and there was no occasion +for house-building. As animals like the sheep and the horse flourish in +the open in most parts of Australia without artificial shelter, so man +can 'camp out' with comparative ease. Thus the black was not, and is +not, called upon to exercise his higher faculties. Food was too scarce +to enable him to multiply and to form permanent settlements. Yet, such +as it was, its collection did not brace him up to any mighty efforts. +His life was never in danger from wild animals. If he found many +opossums, he indulged in a surfeit; if marsupials, lizards, birds and +roots were scarce, he pinched for a time. If the black had discovered +agriculture, his state might have been very different, but of +cultivation he never had the slightest idea. Once when a tribe was +induced by an enthusiastic settler to plant potatoes, the men and women +rose in the night and dug up the seed and feasted upon it. It was +inconceivable to them why the white man should desire to bury good food. + +Thus the black man wandered in one sense aimlessly over vast tracts of +country, living on its chance fruits: a restless nomad, with no apparent +prospect of rising on the social scale. Even in Victoria, the garden of +Australia, it took 18,000 acres to maintain a black. It must be admitted +that this waste of power was too great. The European had a right to +conceive that the land was not in an occupation that need be respected, +though more consideration for the original tenants might have been and +ought to have been shown. The mischief was that colonisation was +unsystematic. No one knew how to deal with the blacks. The blacks did +not know how to establish friendly relations with the white man. + +We give two illustrations here of Victorian natives. The likeness in +profile is that of a civilised black, and is strongly characteristic of +the Victorian race. The woman is also a good representative of the +Victorian lubra. In civilised races the woman eclipses the man in +beauty, but the rule reads backwards in savage races. The Australian +black man is often stately and picturesque--his mate is generally +hideous. + +An offence committed within a tribe was generally settled by the +disputants fighting the issue out with spears or with waddies until the +elders thought that justice was satisfied. Terrible wounds would be +given and received, but to the healthy black man, cuts, smashes, and +bruises that would be fatal to the white are as nothing. + +Although many pioneer settlers lived on friendly terms with the blacks, +yet their sheep would be stolen, and then there were reprisals. Here and +there all the hands on a station would be sacrificed. When the settlers +were at all near each other, it was the custom in Victoria to fix heavy +bells on posts near the house, and thus the warning of an attack was +passed through a district, and a force would be brought together to +relieve the white men and to punish the black. So it has been in turn in +all the settlements. + +[Illustration: CIVILISED ABORIGINES.] + +Mr. G. F. Moore, when Advocate-General at the Swan, gave the following +narrative of a defence made to him by a black, who for his crimes had +been outlawed: 'A number of armed native men had surrounded the house, +when Mr. Moore went to the door to speak to them, having his fire-arms +close at hand. He soon recognised Yagan, but the natives near the door +denied that he was present. However, when the outlaw perceived that he +was known, he stepped boldly and confidently up, and, resting his arm on +Mr. Moore's shoulder, looked him earnestly in the face, and addressed +him, as the first law officer of the Crown, to the following effect: +"Why do you white people come in ships to our country and shoot down +poor black fellows who do not understand you? You listen to me! The wild +black fellows do not understand your laws; every living animal that +roams the country and every edible root that grows in the ground are +common property. A black man claims nothing as his own but his cloak, +his weapons, and his name. Children are under no restraint from infancy +upwards; a little baby boy, as soon as he is old enough, beats his +mother, and she always lets him. When he can carry a spear, he throws it +at any living thing that crosses his path; and when he becomes a man his +chief employment is hunting. He does not understand that animals or +plants can belong to one person more than another. Sometimes a party of +natives come down from the hills, tired and hungry, and fall in with +strange animals you call sheep; of course, away flies the spear, and +presently they have a feast! Then you white men come and shoot the poor +black fellows!" Then, with his eagle eye flashing, and holding up one of +his fingers before Mr. Moore's face, he shouted out--"For every black +man you white fellows shoot, I will kill a white man!" And so with "the +poor hungry women: they have always been accustomed to dig up every +edible root, and when they come across a potato garden, of course, down +goes the wanna (yam-stick), and up comes the potato, which is at once +put into the bag. Then you white men shoot at poor black fellows. I will +take life for life!" And so far as in him lay Yagan kept his word.' + +Generally speaking, the colour of the natives is a chocolate brown; +their dress is of the simplest kind: the opossum cloak, the strips of +skin worn round the loins and the apron of emu feathers constitute their +wardrobe. The aboriginal is essentially a hunter. His hands reveal his +occupation at once, as they exclude the idea of manual labour. An +English ploughman, it has been said, might squeeze two of his fingers in +the hole of an Australian shield, but he could do no more. Like most +nomads, the objection of the natives to steady work is insuperable. In +pursuit of game, in stalking an emu or a kangaroo, they will concentrate +their attention for hours, and will occasionally undergo great fatigue, +but without some excitement or object they will do nothing. No black man +will ever stoop to lift an article if he can raise it with his toe. And +the big toe of the black man in the bush is almost as useful and as +flexible as the thumb. The missionaries at the blacks' stations have +achieved wonders with their pupils, but the one thing they cannot do is +to induce the pure aboriginal to labour in any such way as the white man +works. Give him a horse, however, and he is happy. + +Mr. E. M. Carr, Chief Inspector of Stock in Victoria, in his interesting +and valuable _Recollections of Squatting in Victoria_, brings the daily +life and the customs of the blacks vividly before the reader. His father +took up country so far back as 1839, in the Moira district; and Mr. +Carr, though a stripling, was left in charge. He came in contact with +the blacks therefore when they were absolutely in a state of nature. He +gives a long and interesting account of some matrimonial negotiations +carried on between the Ngooraialum and Bangerang tribes. We have space +for only a small part of his graphic story. The young people are +betrothed to each other years before the time of marriage, and, of +course, have no voice whatever in the arrangements. While Mr. Carr was +staying with the Ngooraialum tribe, the Bangerang, preceded by one of +their number named Wong, arrived. 'The Bangerang, after they had +satisfied themselves by a glance that it was really Wong, continued as +if entirely unconcerned at his arrival; taking care, however, to keep +their eyes averted from the direction in which he was coming. This +little peculiarity, I may notice, is very characteristic of the blacks, +who never allow themselves to give way to any undue curiosity as regards +their fellow-countrymen, and as a rule refrain from staring at any one. +Wong, when he arrived within twenty or thirty yards of the camp, slowly +put his bag off his shoulder without saying a word, gazed around him for +a moment in every direction save that of the Bangerang camp, and sat +down with his side face towards his friends, and quietly stuck his +spears one by one into the ground beside him, with the air of a man who +was unconscious of any one being within fifty miles of him; the +Bangerang, in the meantime, smothering all signs of impatience. Probably +five minutes passed in this way, when an old lubra, on being directed in +an undertone by her husband, took some fire and a few sticks, and, +approaching the messenger, laid them close before him, and walked slowly +away without addressing him. Old Wong, as if the matter hardly +interested him, very quietly arranged his little fire, and, as the wood +was dry, with one or two breaths blew it into a blaze. Not long after, +an old fellow got up in the camp, and, with his eyes fixed on the +distance, walked up majestically to the new-comer and took his seat +before his fire. Though these men had known each other from childhood, +they sat face to face with averted eyes, their conversation for some +time being constrained and distant, confined entirely to monosyllables. +At length, however, they warmed up; other men from the camp gradually +joined them; the ice was broken, and complete cordiality ensued; and +Wong having given the message of which he was the bearer, that the +long-expected Ngooraialum were coming, the conference broke up, the +new-comer being at liberty to take his seat at any camp-fire, at which +there was no women, which might suit his fancy. The next evening, from +amongst the branches of a tree in which they were playing, some young +urchins announced the arrival of the Ngooraialum. The bachelors, being +unencumbered, arrived first; next, perhaps, couples without children; +then the old and decrepit; and, lastly, the families in which there was +a large proportion of the juvenile element. As they arrived they formed +their camps, each family having a fire of its own, some half-dozen yards +from its neighbour's; that of the bachelors, perhaps, being rather +further off, and somewhat isolated from the rest. After the strangers +had arranged their camps (which, as the weather was fine, consisted +merely of a shelter of boughs to keep off the sun), and each group had +kindled for itself the indispensable little fire, which the aboriginal +always keeps up even in the warmest weather, they began to stroll about. +On this occasion two or three Bangerang girls found husbands amongst the +Ngooraialum, who returned the compliment by making as many Bangerang men +happy. In every instance it was noticeable that the husband was +considerably older than the wife, there being generally twenty +years--often much more--between them; indeed, as I frequently noticed, +few men under thirty years of age had lubras, whilst the men from forty +to fifty had frequently two, and occasionally three better halves.' + +In another chapter Mr. Carr shows his friends in an unamiable light. +One of the warriors of the tribe died. 'Pepper' was buried with all +honours; but, as usual, the great question was who had bewitched him. +The common practice was resorted to for discovering the enemies. + +'Shortly after sunrise the men, spear in hand (for no one ever left the +camp without at least one spear), went over to the new grave. Entering +its enclosure, they scanned with eager eyes the tracks which worms and +other insects had left on the recently-disturbed surface. There was a +good deal of discussion, as, in the eyes of the blacks, these tracks +were believed to be marks left by the wizard whose incantations had +killed the man, and who was supposed to have flown through the air +during the night to visit the grave of his victim. The only difficulty +was to assign any particular direction to the tracks, as in fact they +wandered to and from every point of the compass. At length one young +man, pointing with his spear to some marks which took a north-westerly +direction, exclaimed, in an excited manner: "Look here! Who are they who +live in that direction? Who are they but our enemies, who so often have +waylaid, murdered, and bewitched Bangerang men? Let us go and kill +them." As Pepper's death was held to be an act particularly atrocious, +this outburst jumped with the popular idea of the tribe, and was +welcomed with a simultaneous yell of approval which was heard at the +camp, whence the shrill voices of the women re-echoed the cry. + +'A war-party, fifteen in number, proceeded stealthily, and chiefly by +night marches, to the neighbourhood of Thule station, visiting on their +way those spots (known to one of the volunteers) at which parties of the +doomed tribe were likely to be found. After several days' wandering from +place to place, subsisting on a few roots hurriedly dug up, and +suffering considerably from hunger and fatigue, they caught sight, as +they were skulking about towards sundown, of a small encampment, without +being themselves seen, upon which they retired and hid in a clump of +reeds. About two o'clock in the morning the war-party left their +hiding-place and returned to the neighbourhood of the camp, and having +divested themselves of every shred of clothing, and painted their faces +with pipe-clay, they clutched their spears and clubs, and, walking +slowly and noiselessly on, soon found themselves standing over their +sleeping victims. + +'According to native custom, no one was on watch at the camp, and I have +often heard the blacks say that their half starved dogs seldom give the +alarm in cases of strange blacks, though they would bark if the +intruders were white men. They gently raised the rugs a little from the +chests of the doomed wretches, and at a given signal, with a +simultaneous yell, plunged their long barbed spears into the bosoms or +backs of the sleepers. Then from the mia-mias, which were quickly +overturned, came the shrieks of the dying, the screams of the women and +children, blows of clubs, the vociferation of the prostrate, who were +trying to defend themselves; the barking of the dogs and the yells of +the assailants, who numbered fully three to one. Altogether it was a +ghastly, horrible scene that the pale moon looked down on that night at +Thule.' + +Mr. Carr describes the agility displayed by the men in such feats as +mounting the trees for opossums, &c., and the illustration on page 12 +tells the story of one of these hunts. + +Of Australian weapons the most interesting is the boomerang. Mr. Brough +Smyth, in his work on the aborigines, discredits the idea that there is +any connection between the boomerang and the throwing or crooked stick +of the Dravidian races of India, as has been contended, and insists that +it is _sui generis_. Its peculiar action depends upon a twist in the +wood, the twist of the screw, which may be imperceptible to the careless +observer, but which is always there. + +[Illustration: A BOOMERANG.] + +When a skilful thrower takes hold of a boomerang with the intention of +throwing it, he examines it carefully (even if it be his own weapon, and +if it be a strange weapon still more carefully), and, holding it in his +hand, almost as a reaper would hold a sickle, he moves about slowly, +examining all objects in the distance, heedfully noticing the direction +of the wind, as indicated by the moving of the leaves of the trees and +the waving of the grass, and not until he has got into the right +position does he shake the weapon loosely, so as to feel that the +muscles of his wrist are under command. More than once, as he lightly +grasps the weapon, he makes the effort to throw it. At the last moment, +when he feels that he can strike the wind at the right angle, all his +force is thrown into the effort: the missile leaves his hand in a +direction nearly perpendicular to the surface; but the right impulse has +been given, and it quickly turns its flat surface towards the earth, +gyrates on its axis, makes a wide sweep, and returns with a fluttering +motion to his feet. This he repeats time after time, and with ease and +certainty. When well thrown, the farthest point of the curve described +is usually distant one hundred or one hundred and fifty yards from the +thrower. It can be thrown so as to hit an object behind the thrower, but +this cannot be done with certainty. The slightest change in the +direction of the wind affects the flight of the missile to some extent; +but the native is quick in observing any possible causes of +interference. + +The northern blacks are the southern blacks, but are 'much more so.' +They are finer and fiercer men; more given to slaughter, building better +houses, more intractable. The engraving on the next page depicts an +encampment of blacks on the shore, at the mouth of Wreck Creek, +Rockingham Bay, Queensland. The figure to the right of the picture is +engaged painting a shield. The curiously-shaped huts of the North +Australian blacks form characteristic objects in the engraving. + +The engraving on page 166 of a corroboree in the far north is from a +photograph by Mr. P. Foelsche, at Port Essington. The males group +themselves as shown in our illustration, and stamp the ground with both +feet simultaneously, making a peculiar sound, and keeping tune with a +guttural exclamation. The first who sounds a false note or misses a beat +leaves the group amidst the ridicule of the bystanders, and this process +is continued until the number of performers is reduced to a pair, who +divide the honours. These northern tribes are guilty of revolting acts +of cannibalism. + +[Illustration: A NATIVE ENCAMPMENT IN QUEENSLAND.] + +No keener observers of nature in the world are to be found than the +Australian blacks. Their gaze is microscopic rather than extensive. They +have no appreciation of natural beauty and taste; but their attention is +directed to the broken twig, the crushed grass, the displaced stone, the +light impression--to anything and everything that may reveal the +proximity of a foe or the presence of food. No such trackers exist +anywhere. Celebrity has recently been thrust upon them. In 1880 a gang +of marauders took to the bush in Victoria. They committed many daring +crimes, and the police were unable to check or to capture them, though +the best men in the force were employed, and tens of thousands of pounds +were spent. + +The idea of employing black trackers was mooted, and some of the +Victorian aborigines were first tried. But civilisation dulls the +instinct. Trackers were obtained from the far north, who did their work +well. The criminals were surprised and brought to bay. Three were killed +in the conflict, and the leader, who was captured severely wounded, was +hanged in Melbourne Gaol. It was acknowledged on all hands that the +presence of the trackers paralysed the gang, and a few blacks have been +kept about Melbourne ever since. + +[Illustration: A NATIVE TRACKER.] + +So soon as the black has been dispossessed, and has ceased to be +dangerous, the heart of the white man relents towards him, and he +proceeds to look after the remnants of the tribes. Philanthropists, lay +and clerical, find liberal support from the state and from individuals. +Thus Government stations and mission stations are called into existence +in Victoria, in South Australia, in New South Wales, and in Western +Australia, where the blacks have homes provided for them and food, and +where strenuous efforts are made to improve their morals and to +Christianise them. They are taught to grow hops and to look after cattle +and to repair their fences, but it is all essential that reserves and +streams should be at hand in which they can hunt and wander. Under these +favourable circumstances the full-blooded black is dying out; and, as +there is a movement to distribute all half-castes amongst the general +population, the time will come when these institutions will be closed, +owing to a lack of inmates. The visitor should not miss the opportunity +of inspecting one of the establishments, most of which are easily +reached. Illustrations are given here of the Lake Tyers station, which +is under the charge of the Rev. J. Bulmer. A railway journey of a +hundred miles to the town named Sale, and steamer thence to the entrance +of the Gippsland lakes, brings the visitor to the spot, and he is sure +of a hospitable reception. The upper view represents the mission church, +a handsome building, constructed of wood, and erected by the Rev. Mr. +Bulmer. Service is held morning and evening. Other sketches show the +school building, in which the aboriginal children are taught by Mr. +Morriss, state school teacher; and a native camp, occupied by natives +who decline the accommodation of the huts. + +[Illustration: CHURCH, SCHOOLHOUSE, AND ENCAMPMENT AT LAKE TYERS.] + +There are many missions to the blacks. How far is the race capable of +Christianity? On such an issue only one who has closely studied the +natives can pronounce an opinion. If there is any one person who is more +entitled to be heard on the subject than another, it is the Rev. F. A. +Hagenauer, who has had nearly a thirty years' experience with the +Australian black. Mr. Hagenauer came to Australia in 1858 as a Moravian +missionary to the aborigines, and has been engaged in his self-denying +labours ever since. Recently he has associated with the Presbyterian +Church of Victoria, and he has acted--without any stipend from the +state--as manager of the Government aboriginal station, Ramahyuck. The +following letter speaks for itself:-- + + ABORIGINAL MISSION STATION, RAMAHYUCK, GIPPSLAND, + _January 30, 1886_. + + DEAR SIR,--I gladly comply with your desire, to furnish you with + some reliable information as to my views and experiences among the + aborigines in reference to their capability of understanding and + receiving Christianity as a power to change the hearts and lives of + these people. + + The beneficial influence of true Christianity, through the progress + of education and civilisation, has worked a wonderful change in the + lives, manners and customs of the blacks. Any one not acquainted + with their former cruel and most abominable habits, but knowing + them only as now settled in peaceable communities, would scarcely + believe that the description of heathen life which the apostle Paul + gives in the Epistle to the Romans was a correct picture of their + mode of life. Given to the continual licentiousness of their carnal + minds, they were slaves to their lusts and passions, which, working + with their superstitious and cruel nature, made them ever ready, + and their feet swift, to shed blood. Without a settled home, they + wandered about from place to place in a most miserable and depraved + condition, adding to their native vices drunkenness and other + evils, which they had learned from white people. The different + tribes, either from superstitions or family quarrels, or from + violation of tribal territory and the sacred surroundings of their + dead, were at continual warfare; and their fear of revenge by + secret enemies was sometimes terrible to behold. Their howling + noises for many days and weeks before and after the deaths of their + friends and relatives, which told but too plainly that they were + without hope in this world, were most pitiful to hear, and the + disgusting scenes in connection with their nocturnal corroborees + cannot be fully described. Added to this came the tormenting custom + to which some of them were subjected at their peculiar native + festivities, and especially the barbarous treatment of females by + their tribal lords. It is not necessary to refer to the many + atrocities and crimes committed by them in days gone by, for it is + well known that they gave trouble to the earlier settlers, and were + a terror to lonely women and children in the bush; nor need I say + anything about their loathsome diseases, which were prevalent among + them in consequence of their immoral lives and habits. Having lived + for so many years among them as a close observer, I can testify + that the above statements give only a faint picture of what + actually took place, for there is not one hour of the night or day + in which I did not witness one or other of their cruel customs. + + In the midst of their quarrels and bloody fights, at their ghastly + corroborees, and during the time of their most pitiful cries around + their sick and dead ones, we have been able to bring to them the + Gospel of life and peace, and many times did they throw down their + weapons and stop their nocturnal dances in order to listen to the + Word of God and the joyful news of salvation through our Lord Jesus + Christ. In the beginning of 1860 a remarkable awakening amongst the + blacks began with earnest cries to God for mercy, and sincere tears + of repentance, which was followed by a striking change in their + lives, manners and habits. The wonderful regenerating power of the + Gospel among the lowest of mankind worked like leaven in their + hearts, and, through patient labour and the constraining love of + Jesus, we were soon privileged to see a small Christian church + arise and a civilised community settled around us. To the glory of + God it can be said that a comparatively large number of the remnant + of this rapidly decreasing race has been brought to the knowledge + of the truth, and a good many honoured the Lord by their humble + Christian life for many years, and a still greater number died in + full assurance of eternal happiness through faith in Jesus Christ. + + The old manners and customs of the blacks have changed even among + the remaining heathen under the influence of the Word of God. The + war-paints and weapons for fights are seen no more, the awful + heathen corroborees have ceased, the females are treated with + kindness, and the lamentable cries, accompanied with bodily + injuries, when death occurred, have given place to Christian sorrow + and quiet tears for their departed friends. With very few + exceptions, all the wanderers have settled down as Christian + communities on the various stations, and, where they are kept under + careful guidance and religious instruction, the change from former + days is really a most remarkable one. + + Whilst, on the one hand, we have reason to rejoice that God has + blessed His work to such an extent, we feel sorrow at stating that + our joy is often mingled with disappointment, in so far that so + very many of these people pass away either through the consequences + of their former diseases, or for some unknown reason. The Lord does + what seemeth good in His sight; and we have reason to thank Him for + so many tokens of His grace, and for the triumphs of the Gospel in + the redemption of those members who passed away in peace to their + eternal home, to be for ever with the Lord. + + The carrying out of the Saviour's commandment to His Church, to + preach the Gospel to every creature, has accomplished that which + was considered by many an impossibility; for the influence of the + Word of God proved its Divine power, and many of these poor + depraved blacks soon began to sit at the feet of Jesus, 'clothed, + and in their right mind.' General civilisation and education, in + and out of school, for young and old, followed step by step as a + fruit of true Christianity, and showed in reality a greater + progress than we ourselves could have expected in accordance with + the generally adopted opinion in reference to the capability of the + aborigines. + + I may state here that in every case of conversion we have been most + careful and cautious not to administer the ordinance of baptism too + soon, but only after long trials and careful instruction in the + Word of God. Some of the converts have honoured their confession of + faith by most honest, faithful, and consistent lives from beginning + to end; some have been, and still are, weak in their Christian + course, whilst others have often to be reminded, and have even had + to be put under Christian discipline, in consequence of + backslidings and sins; but even of those it can be stated + truthfully that, though weak, they did cling to Jesus for + salvation, and cried for mercy to Him who alone can forgive sins. + + To enter into particulars of individual conversions and triumphs of + faith would be out of place in such a short statement as this; but + there are very many instances, both of young people, and of the + very oldest aborigines, who lived and died as faithful humble + Christians. On the whole, I believe that there is not any great + difference between these blacks and any new converts from the + heathen in other lands, or even among some classes of white people. + It may also be stated that many people here and elsewhere at once + expect the converted aborigines to be model Christians, whilst they + forget that Christianity truly teaches all to grow in grace and in + truth, and with patience and perseverance to press forward to the + great aim; and this certainly is carried out by the converted + aborigines in this colony. + + I remain, dear sir, yours very truly, + F. A. HAGENAUER. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +SOME SPECIMENS OF AUSTRALIAN FAUNA AND FLORA. + + MARSUPIALS--THE 'TASMANIAN DEVIL'--DINGOES--KANGAROO HUNTING--THE + LYRE-BIRD--BOWER-BIRD--THE GIANT KINGFISHER--EMU + HUNTING--SNAKES--THE SHARK--ALLEGED MONOTONY OF + VEGETATION--TROPICAL VEGETATION OF COAST--THE GIANT GUM--THE + ROSTRATA--THE MALLEE SCRUB--FLOWERS AND SHRUBS. + +[Illustration: AUSTRALIAN TREE-FERNS.] + +[Illustration: DINGOES.] + + +No large carnivorous animals roam over the Australian plains, to +endanger the life of man or to destroy his flocks and herds. Australia +is the mother country of the meek and mild marsupial, which is found in +abundance, varying in size from the great red 'old man' kangaroo, which +stands between six and seven feet high, to the marsupial mouse, which +will sleep in a good sized pill-box. There is the stupid, heavy wombat, +which seems a mere animated ball of flesh, which burrows in the ground, +and which apparently cannot move a mile an hour when it appears on the +surface, though its pace is really better than that. On the other hand, +there is the elegant flying fox, or rather flying opossum, which by +means of a bat-like membrane glides through the air at night, +astonishing the traveller, who sees hundreds of large forms sweep +noiselessly by. Great fruit-eaters are these flying foxes, and there is +tribulation when a horde visits a settled district. The native bear, as +a marsupial sloth is termed, is the most innocent-looking of animals, +and the most harmless, feeding on the leaves of the gum. It swarms in +the various colonies. In the next tree will be found a family of the +_Dasyuridæ_ or native cats, beautiful spotted creatures, the size of a +half-grown cat, whose sharp face and continuous activity betray at once +a restless and a wicked disposition. It is carnivorous, fierce and +intractable. The marsupial pictured on page 183 is a specimen of an +elegant variety of the common opossum, found principally in the +neighbourhood of the Bass River, Victoria. The common opossum is found +everywhere. + +[Illustration: THE _Sarcophilus_ OR 'TASMANIAN DEVIL.'] + +While the native cat is the only mischievous carnivorous marsupial on +the Australian mainland, Tasmania is possessed of two much larger and +more destructive animals, the _Thylacinus_ or 'tiger-wolf,' and the +_Sarcophilus_ or 'Tasmanian devil;' the former is nearly as large as a +wolf, and is shapely and handsomely marked with stripes on the flanks. +The latter is a smaller animal. It has been described as 'an ugly +bear-like cat.' It is a thick-set creature, black in colour, with white +patches, and its hideous appearance and its untameable ferocity quite +entitle it to its popular designation. Both 'tiger' and 'devil' are +nocturnal, and both have been so hunted and trapped by the settlers, +whose sheep and poultry they killed, as now to be very scarce. Neither +has ever been known to attack man. At one time, as geological +examination shows, the marsupial 'devil' and his relative were both +found in Australia, and the wonder is that they should have so +completely disappeared from the scene as they have done. + +[Illustration: BASS RIVER OPOSSUM.] + +An animal that stands entirely apart from the marsupials in Australia is +the wild dog. The dingo is one of the mysteries. Whence did he come? He +is allied to the wild dogs of India, but why should this Indian animal +be in Australia--his form on the surface and his bones in ancient +deposits--while no other representative of the fauna of the Old World is +known? Leaving science to unravel this problem, it may be said of the +dingo that he is a good-looking but an ill-behaved animal. He is +compared to the sheep-dog, to the wolf, and to the fox, and, in fact, he +has a dash of each of these creatures in his appearance. He is about two +feet high, is well-proportioned, with erect ears and a bushy tail. He +stands firmly on his legs, and shows a good deal of strength in his +well-constructed body. His colour varies from a yellowish-tawny to a +reddish-brown, growing lighter towards the belly; and the tip of his +brush is generally white. He cannot bark like other dogs, but he can +howl, and he does howl with a soul-chilling effect. His note is to be +likened unto + +The wolf's long howl from Oonalastra's shore. + +Campbell's melodious line conveys the idea of misery, and discomfort and +uneasiness are engendered when the slumbers of the sleeper in the bush +are disturbed by the blood-curdling cry of these breakers of the +nocturnal peace. The blacks used to catch the puppies of the wild dog, +and then train them to hunt, but they found the European dog sufficient +for their purposes, and much more docile and affectionate. As dingoes +worry sheep, the first task of a squatter is to get rid of them. When +they breed in shelter and a semi-settled district--if they can issue +from mallee scrub--a handsome reward is always offered for their heads. +In parts of Victoria as much as £2 per head is paid. An engraving of the +creature is given on page 181. + +[Illustration: A KANGAROO BATTUE.] + +Man has to be fed, and therefore game has to be shot and fish has to be +caught. The animal life of Australia had little rest when the blacks +roamed over the country, but it has still less, now that the white man +is in possession. The kangaroo hunt varies from a necessary slaughter of +the blue and red kangaroos of the plains, to an exciting run and +desperate fight for life at the finish of it, when the game is the big +dark forester living in the timber belts that line most of the +Australian streams. The battue of kangaroos is often rendered imperative +by the rapid increase of the marsupials after the disappearance of their +old enemies, the aborigines and the dingo. As regards the kangaroo, +matters are apt to become very serious for the grazier. On an average, +these animals consume as much grass as a sheep, and where a few score +originally existed there soon come to be a thousand. In some places they +have threatened to jostle the sheep and his master out of the land; and, +in consequence, energetic and costly steps have to be taken to reduce +their numbers. In a battue of this description a whole neighbourhood +joins. It may seem hard that this aboriginal should be ruthlessly +destroyed in favour of the sheep, because he has no wool; but then, if +he could reflect, he would see that, fed and cared for as the merino is, +yet his fate would usually be the butcher at last. + +The battue is not so welcome to the sportsman as the chase of the +forester. The 'old man,' when finally run down, backs like a stag into a +convenient corner, perhaps the hollow of a great gum-tree, the trunk of +which has been partly burned away with a bush fire, and there, with a +calm no-surrender expression in his mute face, and just the merest blaze +in the big deer-like eyes, waits for the enemy like the splendidly +resolute old veteran he is. If he can find a water-pool or river in +which to 'stick up,' so much the better for him and the worse for those +who attack him. He wades in until only his nervous fore-arms and head +are above water, and in this position can keep even a half-dozen dogs +from coming to quarters. The forester, standing six feet high, has the +advantage over the dogs that, while he stands upon his hind-legs, they +must swim. + +Of the amphibious platypus everybody has heard. The creature has been +playfully likened unto a creditor, because it is a 'beast with a bill'; +but its peculiarities do not stop here. As a survival, or a 'connecting +link,' it has other qualities that render it an object almost of +veneration to the naturalist. It is a mammal, suckling its young, and +yet it lays eggs. This fact was long known to bushmen, but it was +doubted by the scientific world, and Mr. W. H. Caldwell, 'travelling +bachelor,' of Cambridge, visited Australia in 1884-5, to specially study +the subject, and his researches proved that, as the bushmen had +declared, the platypus is oviparous. On the one hand, the platypus, with +its duck's bill and its webbed feet, connects the beast with the bird, +and, on the other hand, its peculiar oviparian qualities are held to +establish a relationship with the reptile. The name once given it, +'water-mole,' indicates its size, though certainly the platypus has +considerably the advantage of the mole. It is larger, indeed, than the +largest water-rat. When the first specimens were taken to Europe a hoax, +we are told, was suspected, the idea being that the bill and the feet +had been cunningly attached to the body; but the platypus is too common +a creature for the idea to be long entertained, and so its existence was +officially acknowledged, and it received the title _Ornithorhynchus_. +The platypus is a 'survival,' and it is likely to survive for many a +generation. It breeds in security in a chamber at the end of a long +passage which it constructs from the river banks. It is sensitive to +sound, and, as it dives with alacrity, and swims with only its beak +above water, a shot is no easy matter. As it is still to be obtained in +streams so well visited as the Yarra and the Gippsland Avon, it may be +imagined that its existence in other rivers is perfectly secure. Yet its +skin is much valued. As a fur it is equal to the sealskin; and if the +animal were only larger it would be systematically hunted for its +covering. + +Australia is rich in the abundance and variety of birds of the parrot +tribe, and in the occurrence of peculiar species of the feathered race. +She possesses the birds of Paradise, the king parrot, the blue +mountain-parrot, the lories, parroquets and love-birds. The plumage of +other birds is often of the gayest type. Thus, the blue wren is common +about Nutbourne; and this bird, says Gould, is hardly surpassed by any +of the feathered tribe, certainly by none but the humming-birds of +America. The cockatoo, with white, black, or rosy crest, flies in +flocks, and few sights in the world are prettier than one of these +flights. When they finally settle on a tree, they cover it as with a +snow-drift. Noisy they are, and clever, never feeding in the settled +districts without posting sentinels to warn the rest of the approach of +the human enemy. + +[Illustration: THE PLATYPUS.] + +One of the most interesting birds of Australia is the so-called +lyre-bird, the _Menura Victoriæ_ of the naturalist, the 'pheasant' of +the settler, and the 'bullard-bullard' of the aborigines, the two words +somewhat resembling the native note of the graceful creature. Gould was +strongly of opinion that the lyre-bird, and not the emu, should be +selected as the emblem of Australia, since it is very beautiful, +strictly peculiar to the country, and 'an object of the highest +interest.' + +[Illustration: THE LYRE-BIRD.] + +The lyre-bird is about the size of the pheasant, and is valued because +of the magnificent tail of the male bird. The tail is about three feet +long. The outer feathers are beautifully marked, and form the lyre from +which the bird takes its name. There are also curious narrow centre +feathers crossing each other at the base, and curving gracefully +outwards at the top. The habitat of the lyre-bird is the romantic fern +country of South-eastern Australia, and the creature is in accord with +its lovely surroundings. It has many peculiarities. Thus, the male bird +forms a mound of earth, on which it promenades, displaying its tail to +its utmost advantage, and uttering its liquid notes for the benefit of +its female audience--for the female, dowdy as she is in comparison with +her lord, has to be wooed and won. Then they are the best of +mocking-birds. They imitate with precision the notes of the laughing +jackass, the parrot, the solemn mopoke, and moreover they reproduce +every sound made by man. Every splitter on the mountain-side has his +story of endeavouring in vain to discover the users of a cross-cut saw +in the neighbourhood, until he found that a 'pheasant' was mocking him; +and another favourite topic is the perplexity of the 'new chum' settler, +who hears an invisible mate chopping wood on his allotment, with an +invisible but barking dog at his heels. The lyre-bird is slow of flight, +and he would have a poor chance of escape from the shot-gun were his +haunt not in the thick fern vegetation; but this jungle protects him. +The birds are not so common as they once were in the ranges immediately +about Melbourne, but in the fastnesses of Gippsland they are met with in +their old numbers. + +The satin or bower-bird is another of Australia's wonders. It not only +builds a 'bower,' but decorates the structure with the most +gaily-coloured articles that can be collected, such as the blue +tail-feathers of the rose-bill and Pennantian parrots, bleached bones, +the shells of snails, &c. Some of the feathers are stuck in among the +twigs, while others, with the bones and shells, are strewed about near +the entrances. The propensity of these birds to pick up and fly off with +any attractive object is so well known to the natives that they always +search the runs for any small missing article, such as the bowl of a +pipe, that may have been accidentally dropped in the bush. In the +spotted bower-bird the approaches are decorated with shells, skulls, and +bones, especially those which have been bleached white by the sun; and +as these birds feed almost entirely upon seeds and fruits, the shells +and bones cannot have been collected for any other purpose than +ornament. + +Another bird peculiar to Australia is the 'giant kingfisher,' or 'piping +crow,' or 'musical magpie,' or 'settler's clock,' or, to use the term +everywhere applied, 'the laughing jackass.' Its extraordinary note, and +insane and yet good-humoured prolonged and loud cachinnation is unique, +and so is the appearance of the bird. It is a great Australian +favourite, is never shot, and as a consequence is tolerant of man. It is +called the 'settler's clock' in the bush by virtue of its regular +hilarious uproar at noon-tide and of its far-heard 'salutation to the +moon,' and it will equally make any city reserve lively with its note. A +dog-show was recently held in the Melbourne Exhibition. Five hundred +dogs naturally made themselves audible. But above all the discord was +heard the laugh of the giant kingfisher, intimating that he had secured +a golden perch from the pond, and was disposed to rejoice accordingly. +It is doubtful whether the laughing jackass destroys snakes. His critics +deny the assertion, which is made on his behalf. His admirers cling to a +belief which is widespread and has earned for the jackass the immunity +from destruction which he enjoys. + +[Illustration: THE GIANT KINGFISHER, OR LAUGHING JACKASS.] + +The largest game bird is the emu, but it is not pursued by sportsmen. +The chase is cruel, and is only indulged in by stockmen and Bohemians of +the plain, who traffic in the skins, for which, unfortunately for the +emu, there is a good commercial demand. Before a horse can be of any +service as an emu hunter he must become accustomed to the peculiar +rustling sound of the long light tail-feathers when the bird is in rapid +motion. Further, he must be sound of wind and limb to keep alongside an +emu; and these virtues are centred in some of the veteran stock-horses, +which by long practice have become accustomed to tread closely upon the +heels of a racer while the rider uses his long stock-whip. Swerve as the +hunted animal may, the old stock-horse never leaves the line. In this +way the emu is generally run down, only horse and whip being used. At +first he runs with a long clean swinging stride, but as he tires the +legs bend outward and get farther apart, until the movement is more akin +to the waddle of a fat barn-yard goose. He struggles along bravely until +every fragment of strength is gone, and then falls never to rise again. + +[Illustration: THE EMU.] + +The finest game-bird in Australia is the bustard, or wild turkey, which +is found all over the continent, but more plentifully in the Western +District of Victoria. On those clear frosty winter mornings peculiar to +the interior you may see them standing rigidly out in the centre of the +plain, as though the cold of the night had frozen them into +bird-statues. As they avoid the timber, and keep almost constantly to +the open, it is only by artifice that the sportsman can get within +range. For generations they have been stalked by the blacks, and have +thus inherited a dread of man when on foot. They are shot without much +difficulty from the saddle or a vehicle, the usual method being to drive +round the bird in narrowing circles until within range. + +The native companion, a bird of very much the same habits and size as +the wild turkey, but very different from him in plumage and appearance, +also frequents the plains, and is often found in very large flocks. +Although not generally esteemed as a table bird, he sometimes finds his +way into the game market, plucked and dressed, and masquerading as a +turkey. An occasional blue feather beneath the wing instead of the +spangled grey of the turkey now and again betrays the deception, but, as +the birds at table are accepted by all except experts as being genuine +wild turkeys, the difference in the flavour of the bird is not very +marked. + +Wild ducks are almost universal in Australia. The finest of them all is +the beautiful mountain duck, found all over the continent, but which +seems more closely associated with the woods and waters of Lake George, +in New South Wales. On this broad sheet of water they float in countless +thousands, and nest in the thickets upon its banks. Next to them in size +comes the black duck, a long low bird as seen in the water, and one of +the finest of Australian wild ducks. The wood-duck is, according to +strict scientific classification, a diminutive goose. It has the head, +bill, and body of a goose, and yet in popular estimation it is, and +always will be, a wild duck, and one of the most beautifully plumaged of +Australian ducks. The drakes have some of the brilliant tints of the +English mallard, and the neck and head are a rich velvet brown, while +the breast-feathers are beautifully spangled. The Australian teal is +much larger than the English bird, but otherwise not unlike it. These +four varieties are the best known, but the widgeon and blue-wing are +also plentiful, and outside these are at least half a dozen varieties +less familiar to Australian sportsmen. + +The black swan can hardly be called a game bird, but it is shot on all +the lakes and swamps along the southern coast. In the Gippsland lakes it +is not an uncommon thing to find thousands of swans in a single flock, +and when these rise for a flight, striking the water with feet and +wings, the noise can be heard for miles across the lake. When means have +been taken to get rid of a rather rank flavour, just as the taste of the +gum-leaves is removed from opossum flesh, the swan is occasionally eaten +as game. Both swans and ducks are very largely shot from light punts, +and for many years punt and swivel guns were used with terrible +destruction by men whose business it was to supply the game markets of +the large cities. In Victoria the Legislature has by enactment declared +the swivel gun an illegal instrument, and since its abolition the ducks +are returning in hundreds to their old breeding-grounds. + +Smaller game is abundant everywhere. The snipe, as nearly as possible a +prototype of the British bird, provides good shooting, more especially +in Gippsland. British epicures would be shocked at the uses to which the +bird is put in rough bush cookery, where its virtues are held in small +esteem. An Irish recipe for cooking a snipe is merely to burn its bill +in a candle, but some Australian cooks go to the other extreme. One +recipient of a present of a few brace 'just fried them with steak.' The +heresy as regards the steak was bad enough, but such treatment of snipe +was altogether unpardonable. The Argus snipe is a rare but rather +beautiful bird, the markings on its back and wings being exceptionally +fine. Of Australian quail there are at least a dozen varieties, ranging +from a small partridge down to the little king quail. In some parts of +the colony, without the slightest efforts being made at game +preservation, enormous bags are frequently made. + +[Illustration: THE TIGER-SNAKE.] + +Amongst the game of southern forests the wonga-wonga and bronze-wing +pigeons are two really splendid birds, the latter as large as an +ordinary blue-rock, and the former making all varieties of the pigeon +tribe look like mere dwarfs beside them. They keep closely to the +thickets. It requires a quick eye to detect them. + +Snakes are often considered a drawback in Australia, but then it must be +remembered that a man may live ten years in a snaky part of the country +and never see one of these reptiles. Now that rational ideas of +treatment are gaining ground, death from snake-bites will not average +above one per million of the population per annum. + +The most vicious as well as the most dangerous of these reptiles is the +tiger-snake, so called from its tawny, cross-banded colouring. Like its +near ally, the cobra di capello of India, when irritated it flattens and +extends its neck to twice its natural size. A full-sized tiger-snake in +the summer season, when it secretes its maximum amount of poison, can +inject a dose that is speedily fatal. + +The treatment in snake-bite cases is still in dispute. The Indian +doctors reject ammonia, and are followed by the Central Board of Health +(Victoria), which has issued notices recommending excision and the use +of the ligature. Spirits are given in abundance by some medical men. +Walking the sufferer about to avert sleep and coma is a popular +procedure. It is the general use of the excision treatment, however, +that has reduced the death-rate so wonderfully. If a schoolboy is bitten +now he pulls out his knife and excises the bitten part, or he sacrifices +the joint of a finger. Keep the poison out of the system, and no harm is +possible, and the bitten person now directs his energies to carry out +that, instead of wasting his time in running after a doctor, who cannot +repair the neglect. + +One sport there is in Australia which can be most heartily enjoyed by +all. This is shark-catching. The shark is a worse terror than the snake. +Every harbour contains some monsters fourteen, sixteen, and eighteen +feet long, and every year there is some tale of horror. The catching of +one of these creatures is a popular event, men rejoicing over the +destruction of a dreaded enemy. + +To the angler Australian waters offer great attractions. Trout were long +ago established in the streams of Tasmania and New Zealand, and within +the last few years they have become very plentiful in Victorian rivers. +Within twenty miles of Melbourne good trout-fishing may now be had. The +fish are slightly more sluggish than in British waters--a fact no doubt +accounted for by the warmer climate; and experts say that at table +something is lost in flavour also. The Californian salmon have also been +acclimatised with fair success. There are several varieties of perch in +the colonies; but those of the Gippsland rivers, discarding the +traditions of their kind all the world over, rise eagerly to the fly, +and give splendid sport. To kill fifty a day with the fly, many of them +going up to five pounds, is not an uncommon feat. The bream in all the +southern rivers and lakes are strong, lusty fellows, that make the reels +whistle in a style that is sweetest music to the angler's ear; but if +one wants a bag, he must use double-gutted hooks. Gamer or better fish +than these bream no fisherman could desire. The triton of Australian +sweet-water streams is the Murray cod; but he has nothing but his size +to recommend him. Along the coast and in the tidal rivers the so-called +sea-salmon is another source of gratification to the fly-fisher, for he +rises freely, and the largest ones make quite a gallant rush when +struck. In the lagoons bordering on the chief of Australian rivers, +there are large Murray perch that at certain times bite voraciously. But +the handsomest of his kind in Australia is undoubtedly the golden perch, +found in the Murray and its tributaries. Its scales have the beautiful +burnished gleam of old gold, and when a big one is brought to bank it is +something to admire. Judged from the standard of the epicure alone, the +black-fish is perhaps the finest of all Australian fresh-water fish, its +flesh being snow-white, and of a remarkably fine flavour. The fish is +found to greatest perfection in the clear mountain streams that come +tumbling down from the Otway ranges, in the southern part of Victoria; +but he is of sluggish habits, and by no means the angler's ideal. When +these streams are discoloured by storm water very good fishing may be +had through the day; but if the water is clear the black-fish comes from +his hiding-place only when the shadows from the hill-tops begin to +deepen over the water. + +In some few rivers widening into the sea whiting are caught at certain +periods of the year. The best sea-fishing is perhaps that to be had with +the schnapper in Port Phillip Bay, where the fish are plentiful about +the lines of reef, and range in weight up to forty pounds. +Notwithstanding the merits of some of the native fish, the traditional +love for trout has risen superior to every other inclination with the +anglers of Victoria and Tasmania. The trout in many places have worked +themselves so far up the streams that man can only follow with the +greatest difficulty, and the scrub is so thick that an angler would find +it hopeless to attempt a cast. With these natural preserves extending +for miles, the supply of trout in colonial rivers is inexhaustible. In +fly-fishing for trout in the colonies it has been found, however, that +the most sacredly observed rules of British angling are entirely +useless. Flies that were deadly in the old country are impotent here; +and, as far as the Australian is concerned, all the main tenets of the +fly-fisher's faith must be absolutely cast aside, and a new angling +creed built upon the basis of colonial insect life and the changed +habits of the trout as we know them in Australia. + +Australian vegetation is sometimes considered monotonous in appearance. +But this is the criticism of the stranger, and not of the resident. The +first idea of the observer is one of uniformity. When the Chinese +originally came to Australia, no one could see any difference between +the units of the Mongolian horde. Often did robbers of fowl-houses +escape punishment from the inability of the prosecutor to identify the +men he had chased and lost sight of, and frequently, it is to be feared, +was the wrong wearer of the pigtail stoutly sworn to. The yellow skin, +the round face and the flat nose conveyed the idea of identity. And to +Chinamen all Europeans were alike. The puzzled Celestial could not +distinguish between Englishman and German, and still less between +individual beef-eaters. + +But Australian vegetation has distinctive features that quickly catch +the eye. The eucalypt is always the eucalypt, with its sombre green and +its peculiar adjustment of foliage. The leaves do not spread out +horizontally, but depend vertically from the boughs, an arrangement +which minimises the shade afforded in the daytime, but gives beautiful +effects in the gloaming, when the tree, not obscuring the light, +becomes a network of elegant tracery. Viewed in the daytime in +juxtaposition to oak or elm, and the confession must be made that the +average gum of the plains is scraggy; but in the moonlight the oak or +elm will be a black blotch, when the eucalypt is transformed into a +wonder of light and shade and of graceful outlines. An acquaintance with +the bush soon dispels the notion of monotony. The eucalypts are found to +differ one from another; the handsome Banksias, the curious Casuarinas, +or shea-oaks, the graceful acacias, all claim attention and +individualise the scene, while palms, grass-trees and tree-ferns add +charm and character to many a landscape. + +[Illustration: AUSTRALIAN TREES.] + +In vegetation as in other matters Australia delights in the vast, +sometimes in the _outré_, often in the contrast of extremes. Dwarf scrub +will cover whole regions. One tract of the mallee scrub, shared between +Victoria and South Australia, covers an area of nearly 9000 square +miles. The mallee is just high enough to render it impossible for a man +on horseback to look over it. And on the mountain ranges in the same +colony are to be found long stretches and avenues of the 'giant gums,' +whose pure white silvery columns seem as though intended to support the +sky. Between these two extremes is to be found a pleasantly-wooded +country presenting a park-like appearance. Farther afield are the +interior plains, covered often with the terrible spinifex, or porcupine +grass, a hard, coarse and spiny grass, uneatable by horse or ass, or, I +believe, by camel, and apt to wound the feet of the unfortunate animal +that journeys over it. + +Different indeed from these treeless, waterless steppes are the valleys +and mountains of the seaboard. In these regions, protected from hot +winds and favoured by a heavy rainfall, we have a luxuriant and elegant +vegetation. Beginning with the gullies of the Dandenong ranges, near +Melbourne, the traveller can proceed from fairy scene to fairy scene +along the coast to far-away Carpentaria and Papua, the vegetation +preserving its identity, and yet slowly changing from a sub-tropical to +a tropical character. In the Victorian region there are rivulets of +clear water hidden from sight by the tree-ferns which flourish on their +banks. Journeying northwards, the vegetation thickens. Parasitical +ferns--the staghorns of the conservatory--depend from every branch. +Palm-trees make their appearance, the noble _Livistonia_ attaining in +suitable places a height of eighty feet. The musk-tree and the +_Pittosporum_ scent the air, and lovely twining plants help to form an +impenetrable foliage. On reaching the ranges of New South Wales, the +luxuriance is found to have further developed. From some hill-top you +gaze upon a verdant lawn gay with flowers and studded with shrubs. +Descending, you find that the surface is a vegetable canopy formed by +stout and hardy creepers and climbers that spread from tree to tree, +only the tops of the lofty eucalypts appearing above this mid-air +canopy. Lower down, fern-trees and cabbage-palms form a second roof, +while the soil supports an undergrowth of mosses, lichens and ferns. + +But the gum-tree is as distinctive of Australia as are the emu and the +kangaroo. It pleases Australians greatly that their country contains the +'tallest tree in the world.' For years it was believed that Nature had +done her utmost in the big trees of California, but experts and visitors +admit that this belief must be abandoned. The two countries have the +issue to themselves; but the _Sequoia gigantea_ has had to retire in +favour of the _Eucalyptus amygdalina_, or giant gum. The following list +of generally accepted heights will show how completely the indigenous +vegetation of other lands is put out of court:-- + + The elm 60 feet to 80 feet. + The oak 60 feet to 100 feet. + _Pinus insignis_ 60 feet to 100 feet. + Himalayan cedar 200 feet. + _Sequoia gigantea_, or + 'big tree' of California 200 feet to 325 feet. + _Eucalyptus amygdalina_, + or giant gum 250 feet to 480 feet. + +The giant gum is rich in a peculiar volatile oil, and it supplies a +splendid timber for shingles, palings, &c. Hence, in all accessible +parts, the fine specimens are doomed to early destruction by the +splitter. The woodman does not spare the tree. The more huge the round, +straight, polished, and beautiful stem, the more likely he is to mark it +as his own. Confident statements have been made that in favoured spots +the giant gum attains the height of 500 feet; just as equally confident +assertions have been published that the _Sequoia_ of California runs up +to 450 feet. The highest gum of which there is authentic record is +growing on Mount Baw-Baw, Gippsland. Mr. Clement Hodgkinson, C.E., gives +the official measurement as 471 feet. The highest tree now standing in +California is 325 feet, so that the eucalypt is the taller by 146 feet. +If two tall elms, 70 feet high, were placed on the top of the tallest +_Sequoia_ in existence, the Mount Baw-Baw eucalypt would still overlook +the three. + +The Fernshaw or Black Spur timber is famous because it is easily reached +from Melbourne, but the trees themselves are not the head of their clan. +A gum felled in the Otway ranges, at the instance of the late Professor +Wilson, measured 378 feet to the spot where its top had been broken off, +and, allowing for the average taper, 40 feet had been carried away. A +gum felled at Dandenong, and measured by Mr. D. Boyle, measured 420 +feet. And the quantity of the timber supported by the soil where these +large trees are found is very remarkable. The secretary of the State +Forest Board noted the growth on one acre of ground in the Upper Yarra +district, and he found that the plot contained twenty eucalypts of a +height of 350 feet, and thirty-eight saplings of a height of 50 feet, +these trees emerging from a dense undergrowth of fern and musk trees. + +In his _Goldfields of Victoria_ Mr. Brough Smith photographs a tree 69 +feet in circumference, and 330 feet in height, and of greater +proportions therefore than the greatest of the _Sequoias_. This tree, +with hundreds of others, was felled for splitting purposes. The +Australian giants abound, and new discoveries are constantly made; and +it is quite possible that in some one of the valleys yet to be broken +into by man the real giant of the globe will be discovered. The picture +on page 16 of the Gippsland railway running through a cleared track +gives some idea of a primæval forest in Victoria. + +Mention has been made of the silver columns of the giant gum. The tree +sheds its bark annually, and the new skin is of a pure and dazzling +whiteness. As the stem is perfectly cylindrical, and as the huge fabric +towers 200 and 250 feet high without a branch, the sight of a group of +these monarchs is at these times especially beautiful. Below are the +tree-ferns and a lovely bush undisturbed by the wind, which may be heard +rustling the far-off tops of the grove. The elegant lyre-birds will be +drinking at a spring. Parrots of gorgeous plumage flit by. Few can gaze +upon such a scene without emotion, without realising with silent awe +that this fair spot is Nature's temple. And then the oppressed heart, +acknowledging the charm, will turn from all that Nature gives to what +she must bring. + +Of the other gums the pride of place must be awarded to the noble +_Eucalpytus rostrata_, or red gum of the colonists. Fine specimens are +still to be found near Melbourne, though the value of its wood has +marked them out for destruction in the neighbourhood of towns and +cities. The _Rostrata_ has an enormous spreading upper growth. Some of +the limbs rival in size the parent stem, and will be gnarled and +contorted in a manner recalling the writhings of the Laocoon. It should +be studied from a distance, for their enormous weight sometimes causes +the branches to snap suddenly without the slightest warning, to the ruin +of all below. + +[Illustration: SILVER-STEM EUCALYPTS.] + +The rival of the red gum as a timber tree is the jarrah, an eucalypt +peculiar to Western Australia, where it grows in forests. Seen in its +home on the Darling range, or the hills of Geographe Bay, the jarrah is +a magnificent tree, running up to a hundred feet before it branches, and +reminding the spectator sometimes of the rostrata, and sometimes of the +giant gum. The specialty of the jarrah is its power to defy the ravages +of the insect world and of the sea. This is complete. An examination +recently made of a pier at Banjoewangie, which was constructed thirty +years ago of jarrah, showed that the piles were as sound as the day they +were put in, although the seas of Java swarm with the _Teredo navalis_. +The official examination made by a select committee of Parliament in +South Australia, in 1870, of the Port Adelaide bridge, erected in 1858, +disclosed the fact that while every other timber employed below water +'had been completely destroyed by the teredo and other submarine +insects, the jarrah remained unscathed,' and had apparently saved the +work from collapse. In point of beauty many award the palm amongst the +gums to the _Eucalyptus ficifolia_, or scarlet flowering gum. It is met +with in groups. The tufts of bright scarlet blossom contrast well with +the dark-green foliage, and the tree adds greatly to the attraction of +the West Australian bush. + +The mallee (_Eucalyptus dumosa_) is one of the strangest products of a +strange country. The root is a globular mass, varying in size from a +child's head to a huge mass which a man can hardly carry. From this bulb +a tap root descends to a great depth to reach moist ground below, while +other roots spread more horizontally. Above ground a few saplings shoot +out to a maximum height of about twenty feet, each sapling having a tuft +of leaves at its top. The appearance is that of a skeleton umbrella, +with the central stick or handle removed. No surface water is to be +obtained in the mallee district; its silence is only disturbed by the +melancholy wail of the dingo. Miserable is the fate of the luckless +wretch who wanders into such tracts as these. Unable to discern his way, +or to gain any point of vantage, and suffering from thirst, the man's +reason often succumbs, and he perishes a maniac. Yet the Victorian +mallee district is now being cleared by energetic colonists, who aver +that when they have exterminated the rabbit, and poisoned the dingo, and +got rid of the scrub--which succumbs to treatment--these plains will +prove the most fertile in Australia. + +Here allusion may be made to the question whether or not the eucalyptus +is a fever-destroying tree. The subject has been thoroughly investigated +and discussed by Mr. Joseph Bosisto, M.P., Commissioner for Victoria at +the Colonial and Indian Exhibition, 1886, and his decision is in favour +of the utility of the eucalypt. Mr. Bosisto dwells specially upon the +fact that malarious diseases are not native to Australia, and that +imported fevers are believed to diminish in virulence; and he directly +connects the absence of malarious disease with the presence of a +peculiar aroma-diffusing vegetation. Mr. Bosisto mentions the powerful +root action of the eucalyptus, which, being an evergreen, is continually +at work, absorbing humidity from the earth, and upon its large leaf +exudation of oil and acid. His contention is that the volatile oil +thrown off by the eucalyptus absorbs atmospheric oxygen, and transforms +it into ozone. This much is certain: that if a small quantity of any of +the eucalyptus oils be sprinkled in a sick room, the pleasure of +breathing an improved air is realised at once. And as Mr. Bosisto +contends that he has established the diffusion of volatile oil by the +eucalyptus, and the chemical consequences of such diffusion, he submits +with a calm confidence that 'there is an active agency in Australian +vegetation unknown in other countries,' and that the eucalyptus is +rightly described as an anti-fever tree. + +The tree most favoured for this purpose is the blue gum, or _Eucalyptus +globus_. The blue gum is extensively cultivated outside of Australia, +because experiment shows that it produces the most timber in the least +time. The rapidity with which the Australian forest recovers itself +after apparent destruction is indeed one of its marvels. In conversation +a landed proprietor of Benambra mentioned how, twenty-five years back, +there were places in his district in which scarce a stick could be +seen--then diggers had cut down every tree for firewood and for their +workings. But the diggers have gone, and now there is again the original +dense forest. + +Next to the eucalypt the tree most prized in Australia is the graceful +acacia, varieties of which flourish throughout the continent. The tall +slender stem of the 'wattle'--as the tree is termed--supporting a +feathery foliage is everywhere to be met with in the south-eastern +colonies. In the spring-time the valleys and their river-courses are lit +up with the golden bloom which the tree bears in rare profusion, and the +perfume scents the air. In a room the odour of a mere twig of the wattle +will often be found to be overpowering. In England the young people can +'go a-Maying,' and in Australia they have no happier time than when they +go 'to bring the wattle home.' The quotation is the refrain of a song +which the sentiment made popular. Not only is the wattle 'a thing of +beauty' in itself, but the circumstance that its bark is one of the most +powerful tanning agencies in the world, and has a high commercial value +accordingly, renders it to its possessor 'a joy for ever.' The tree is +now being extensively planted in Victoria, where the valuable varieties +flourish, not by landscape gardeners, but by shrewd agriculturists +intent upon netting £10 per ton from the bark. + +A world of other vegetation demands notice. The seaboard has a +characteristic shrub of its own in the so-called tea-tree scrub, +described by Baron von Mueller as a 'myrtle-like _Leptospermum_, of tall +stature, with half-snowy, half-rosy flowers.' It is the best of +sand-binders. No tract is so inhospitable but that the tea-tree will +flourish there. It fights the ocean to its edge. On some jutting +promontory on which not a rush will grow, exposed to every storm and +swept by spray, the tea-tree will be found, stunted and deserted, but +still battling bravely for existence against sea and breeze. + +Inland the shea-oak (_Casuarina striata_) attracts attention. It is +scattered over the continent, and once seen is always remembered. The +tree is well shaped, but is leafless, long thin thongs taking the place +of foliage. The dark and gloomy appearance of the tree impresses itself +upon the spectator, and so, if he camps near it at night, does the +melancholy moaning of the wind through its pendent whip-like +branchlets. + +[Illustration: THE BOTTLE-TREE.] + +Small space has been left for a notice of such marvels as the +bottle-tree, and such beauties of Australian vegetation as the +flame-tree. The Sydney or Queensland visitor in the summer season may +see in full bloom, in the Illawarra bush, the local 'flame-tree' +(_Sterculia acerifolia_). The tree bears a profusion of scarlet racemes +of flowers, and of large bright green leaves. The foliage sheds itself +to make room for the profuse inflorescence, so that the tree has +veritably the appearance of a fire. Cycads and palm-lilies are +picturesque wherever they are met with. + +The grass-trees (_Xanthorrhoea_) are peculiar to Australia, and in some +places cover myriads of acres. I have seen them in valleys in Western +Australia growing so thickly that it was impossible to push a horse +through their ranks. A rugged resinous stem five to ten feet high +supports a drooping plume of wiry foliage, from which a flowering +bulrush springs. The 'black boy,' as the grass-tree is called in the +west, is often weird, and is essentially Australian. Useful advice to a +settler would be, 'Be chary of buying land where the grass-tree grows,' +for, though there are exceptions, the _Xanthorrhoea_ has a weakness +for the desert. The warratah, with its single stem of six feet, bearing +a crimson blossom resembling a full-blown peony, is one of the most +popular of the wild flowers of New South Wales. The boronia, with its +powerful perfume, will be admired by the visitor; the _Araucarias_ have +here their home. The heaths are beautiful; and it may be said of them in +their place and season, 'You scarce can see the grass for flowers.' For +a long time the wild flowers of the country were neglected, but now in +some places shows are exclusively devoted to them. The dictum of Mr. A. +A. Wallace is not to be lightly challenged, and it is that 'no country +in the world affords a greater variety of lovely flowers than Australia, +nor more interesting forms of vegetable life.' + +The grape is providing us with a national industry; the orange-groves of +Sydney, Perth, and other districts are amongst the sights of the place. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE SQUATTER AND THE SETTLER. + + PRESENT MEANING OF THE WORD 'SQUATTER'--CATTLE-RAISING--CAPITAL HAS + CONFIDENCE IN SQUATTING NOW--ORIGIN OF MERINO + SHEEP-BREEDING--MANAGEMENT OF A RUN--DROUGHT--BOX-TREE + CLEARINGS--MODERN ENTERPRISE--SHEEP-SHEARING--'SUNDOWNERS'--FARMING + PROSPECTS--CHEAP LAND--EASY HARVESTING--SMALL CAPITAL--SELECTION + CONDITIONS--BUSH FIRES--BLACK THURSDAY--THE OTWAY DISASTER--LOST IN + THE BUSH--MISSING CHILDREN. + +[Illustration: GRASS-TREES.] + +[Illustration: DRIVING CATTLE.] + + +The terms 'squatter' and 'squatting' are now misleading. They cover a +number of different occupations, and perhaps the words 'grazier' and +'grazing' ought to be substituted. The original squatter paid his £10 +licence fee, and he was at liberty to go where he pleased and to take up +as much land as he required for his sheep and for two years' increase. +Whether he had five hundred sheep or five thousand did not matter. +Australia was large, and the adventurous pioneer was at liberty to pick +and choose. The flocks were 'shepherded'--that is, were not confined +between fences, but were looked after by men who drove them to their +feed during the day, and placed them inside hurdles at head-quarters at +night. But, as land was taken up, the squatter obtained a particular run +for a term of years. He subdivided it by fences into paddocks, and so +reduced his number of herds and conducted his operations more +scientifically. + +When a new run is taken up, it is pretty sure, in the first instance, to +be stocked with cattle. Cattle-raising requires no heavy outlay of +capital, because, beyond horses for the men, yards to work the stock, +and perhaps one or two paddocks to enclose young heifers and separate +them from the general herd, no buildings have to be erected. Then the +produce of a cattle station--the fat stock--can be cheaply driven to +market. Travelling with stock through the bush costs no more than the +wages of the men employed, and, if carefully driven, the bullocks do not +deteriorate. Last but not least among the advantages possessed by the +cattle squatter is the fact that he can make shift with comparatively +few water-holes. Cattle can feed their way to water much more readily +than sheep. + +At first cattle are not happy on a new country, and will make frequent +efforts to break away. Often have the stockmen left a herd quietly +grazing at night, and found not a hoof in the morning, whereupon comes a +fine gallop after the runaways, who always head straight for home. +Nevertheless skilful herding of the cattle on the run, and extra +vigilance for a few months, suffice to accustom the animals to their new +home. Once 'broken in to the run,' as it is called, the cattle remain on +it, and can indeed hardly be driven away. They select their +camps--generally tracts of open country, with trees growing in groups, +and near water--and the choice is often directed by the stockmen when +first they are brought on to the country. On these camps the cattle +assemble in the heat of the day, lying lazily in the shade, and moving +off to feed at night and in the afternoon and morning. They are easily +trained to assemble on the camp whenever hunted up, and the crack of a +stock-whip anywhere on a cattle-run, with a well-broken herd, will set +all the animals within hearing moving off to the camp. Mustering is +attended to at frequent intervals on a well-worked cattle station. The +stockmen ride round, hunting up all stray groups, and direct them to the +central camp, where they assemble in a great compact herd. When thus +gathered together, the animals required for any special purpose--fat +bullocks for market, or cows and calves for branding--are ridden out of +the mass by the stockmen on their well-trained horses, and collected in +a separate herd. + +There is no more interesting sight than this 'cutting out,' as it is +called. The stockman rides into the mass of animals, which opens out +uneasily as he enters. A touch of the stock-whip on the selected beast +indicates him to the intelligent horse, whose rider practically leaves +to him the rest of the work. The selected beast tries to escape by +wedging himself into masses of his companions; but the horse, who +apparently enters thoroughly into the fun of the thing, turns and twists +with surprising rapidity, and, before the hunted animal knows what is +happening to him, he finds himself edged outside of the main herd, and +driven to a separate little group. Other men guard this group, and +prevent them from rejoining the mass, plying their stock-whips with +terrible effect on any refractory beast. When the selection is complete, +the chosen herd is driven towards the head station yards, and the main +body of cattle allowed to disperse again. + +Cattle-raising is a pursuit full of excitement and danger. Chasing the +wild animals through the bush or down the steep sides of precipitous +hills is work that requires sure feet on the part of the horse, and cool +heads and firm seats on the part of the riders. Even more perilous is +drafting in the yards. The men who enter the great enclosures full of +angry frightened animals, to separate and drive them into different +compartments, often run quite as much risk as the Spanish bull-fighters. +But they have quick feet, sharp eyes, and cool heads, and fatal +accidents seldom occur; though it often happens that a charging cow or +bullock will send all the men in the yard scrambling precipitately to +the top rail of the strong high timber enclosure. + +Drought is the great enemy that these pioneers have to dread. Nature has +fitted the grasses and herbage of the interior to withstand prolonged +dry periods. By many beautiful adaptations the herbs growing on the +plain are enabled to flower and mature their seed with great rapidity; +so that even one soaking downpour will often suffice for the lifetime of +a plant, and allow it to shed its ripened seed, which lies hidden in the +cracks of the arid, sun-baked soil till the next favourable season +occurs. The principal grasses have a remarkable power of remaining in +what seems like a state of suspended animation. This is especially +noticeable in the case of the Mitchell grass, which becomes white and +apparently dead, but still retains nourishment for stock in its dried +leaves, and vitality in its apparently withered stems. + +One great reason why the squatter is better off now than he ever was +before is that capital has confidence in the occupation. Thus the +individual is more secure than he was. And large institutions have been +formed that make it their business to finance for the squatter. These +institutions have their one, two, or three millions of English and +Scotch capital, and they are managed by men of great colonial +experience, who know it is bad policy to do other than support a +deserving pioneer right through. Their capital is indeed subscribed for +the purpose of making stations drought-proof, and their record shows +that the system is highly profitable. An enormous amount of the +annexation of the desert which is now going on has English and Scotch +gold as its basis; and this union of home capital and of colonial +enterprise is as happy and as effectual a form of federation as can be +desired. + +The following remarks on squatting are contributed by Mr. G. A. Brown, +author of the standard work, _Sheep Breeding in Australia_: 'It is +curious that the first settlers in Australia firmly believed the country +to be quite unfitted for rearing wool-bearing sheep. For fully a +quarter of a century the hairy sheep of India and the Cape of Good Hope +were bred by the colonists; and it was not till Captain McArthur sold +Australian grown merino wool in the London market at the rate of 5_s._ +per lb., that the sheep-owners became aware of the splendid industry +that awaited development. Merino sheep then became the rage, and large +sums of money were spent in importing the finest specimens of the breed +from the purest flocks in Germany. In a few years Australia took her +place at the head of the list of fine wool-producing countries, and has +held it ever since. The world never before saw merino wool so soft, so +bright, or so long in staple. It produced a revolution in the +manufacture of woollen fabrics, and it brought within the reach of the +artisan cloths of a quality that only the wealthy could afford in the +previous century. This great work has been effected by the Australian +squatters. + +[Illustration: A MERINO SHEEP.] + +The management of live-stock in the old squatting days was thoroughly +patriarchal. The sheep were kept in flocks varying from 800 to 2000 +head, according to the character of the country, tended all day by +shepherds, and inclosed at night in hurdle yards. As a further +protection against lurking blackfellow or prowling dingo, a man slept in +a small wooden portable cabin, called a watch-box, close by the sheep. +It was no uncommon thing for the men to be roused up two or three times +during the night; but, as they had plenty of time to sleep during the +day, this was thought no great hardship. The shepherds led an +inexpressibly dreary life; they were out at daybreak, and, having turned +their sheep in the proper direction, they followed them all day, seldom +exchanging a word with a human being till they returned to the hut at +night. Many of them became eccentric, or, as the working bushmen called +it, "cranky," and were quite unfit for any other occupation. As the +stock increased, the whole flock could not be fed from the home station, +round which the grass was usually reserved for the horses and working +bullocks; huts were then erected from three to ten miles or even farther +away, according to the size of the station or run, as the leaseholds +were called. At these huts, known as out-stations, generally two flocks +of sheep were kept, a hut-keeper being employed to cook for the +shepherds and shift the hurdle yards every day, so that the sheep might +have a clean bed. + +'In the old days the country was all unenclosed from one end to the +other. Vehicles were scarce--there were few coaches, and occasionally a +gig would be seen on a main road. The ordinary mode of travelling +through the country was on horseback. On arriving at a station the usual +plan was to ride up to the principal hut, ask for the proprietor, and +announce your name; an invitation to stay all night followed as a matter +of course. Hospitality was a duty that was most religiously performed by +almost every squatter. There were a few exceptions, and they were +branded with the prefix of "hungry" attached to their names, and, being +known, were avoided alike by horsemen and footmen. + +'Improvements in bush life were being steadily made when the discovery +of gold brought the country prominently under the notice of European +countries. The old pastoral life, with all its rustic charm and +quietude, disappeared as thoroughly as if it had never been. In the rush +and turmoil that ensued many of the old squatters were ruined, while +others, more lucky, succeeded in making immense fortunes. Over the +greater portion of Victoria and a considerable area of New South Wales +the land has been converted into freeholds, and squatting is confined to +Queensland, and the vast sultry plains of Northern, Central and Western +Australia. In these countries the areas held under leasehold from the +Crown are of immense size, many of them being capable of carrying +300,000 sheep in good seasons. These great runs are all fenced in and +subdivided by wire fences. The sheep are run in paddocks often +containing over 20,000 acres. As there are few watercourses the stock +are watered by means of immense excavations, called tanks, containing an +area of 10,000 cubic yards of water when filled. Large as they are many +of them were dried up by the long drought of 1885 and 1886. The result +has been that the holders of these great pastoral properties have +suffered heavy losses. I passed by one cattle station in Queensland, +four years ago, on which 60,000 head of cattle were grazing. Since then, +so severe has been the drought, the stock has been reduced by deaths +from starvation to 20,000 head. The deaths of stock on the sheep +stations in the same district have been equally heavy. When the seasons +have a fair average rainfall in these hot districts everything goes +well, and squatting is the most profitable occupation in the colonies, +but when a series of dry years set in the squatter's lot is a +heartrending one. He can do nothing for the poor creatures he sees +slowly starving to death, while overhead, month after month--ay, and +year after year--there is the cruel clear sky and the bright hot sun +steadily withering up all life. The birds and wild animals die in +thousands, and the few that still live are so feeble that their wild +nature seems gone out of them. This last drought is not an exceptional +event. Since Central and Northern Australia have been known, the country +has suffered from periodical droughts; but every year the skill of the +squatter is exercised in providing fresh supplies of water for his +stock, and that is the great requisite in this climate. Given a good +supply of water, and it is wonderful what a little food will keep sheep +alive on the plains of Central Australia. I have seen sheep in excellent +condition on country that to all appearance was absolutely bare of +grass. A stranger would not believe that any animal could support life +on such scanty pastures. + +'Under the new order of things that followed the discovery of gold many +large freehold estates were put together by the old squatters, and then +it was found that a different style of management was required to make +the properties pay interest on the capital expended on them. The runs +were fenced and subdivided, dams were constructed on the watercourses, +and where the country was too flat for dams tanks were made for +supplying the stock with water. Good houses were built, and fine gardens +and pleasure-grounds formed. As the proprietors of these estates became +wealthy, they erected houses that for size, style and convenience would +rival the pleasant homes of the country gentlemen of England. Often in a +country that a score of years ago was considered a remote district in +the back country, one will now meet with a handsome mansion surrounded +by extensive gardens, pleasure-grounds and plantations. Where in the old +squatting days water was often very scarce, there is now ample to +irrigate a garden, and indeed water is usually laid on all over the +modern squatter's establishment. + +'Over a large area of New South Wales and Victoria the surface of the +country was covered by a dense forest of the eucalypt called the +box-tree. They were of medium size, and their timber was of little or no +value. Having surface roots, they robbed the soil of all substance, and +the result was that the box-forest country was always bare of grass. It +was noticed by a few observant bushmen that the soil in these forests +was excellent, and a few experiments were made in the way of clearing +the land. The result was satisfactory, but felling the trees was too +expensive to practise on a large scale, while the stumps were very apt +to throw up a number of vigorous shoots that did as much harm as the +parent tree. What use to make of the box-forest country was a puzzle, +and most people regarded it as worthless. At this time a firm of +squatters astonished their neighbours by purchasing a block of 20,000 +acres of box-forest, at £1 per acre, that the Surveyor-General of the +colony declared was not worth 2_s._ 6_d._ per acre. The plan they +adopted for killing the box-trees was one that had only lately been +tried. It consisted in cutting a notch round the tree through the bark +and into the sap wood, to prevent the sap rising. This plan, called +'ring barking,' when performed at the proper season, effectually kills +the tree, and it has since come into general practice all over +Australia. I have ridden over the estate in the box-forest that was +formed by the squatting firm mentioned, and where, years ago, there was +not a blade of grass to be seen, is now a fine pasture, that even in +indifferent years will keep a sheep to the acre. + +[Illustration: RING BARKING.] + +'Drought does not always ruin the squatter, and there are many instances +of their surviving the hard time. A squatter of my acquaintance embarked +in a heavy purchase in Central Australia. The run was of vast size, and +the soil admirable, but soon after he purchased the property a severe +drought set in, water was scarce, and grass almost entirely disappeared. +There was no disposing of a portion of the sheep, for every one was +short of grass, and there were no buyers. Before the drought broke up he +had lost eighty thousand sheep from starvation, and the remainder of the +flock were in a very emaciated condition. At last the welcome rain set +in--not in a heavy shower, but in a continued downfall that lasted for +several days. Such an ample rain at that time of the year meant +abundance of food and water for the next twelve months. The squatter was +a man of quick perception and prompt to act in an emergency. His station +was in telegraphic communication with Melbourne, and, knowing how to +operate, he purchased through the stock agents about ninety thousand +ewes to lamb from the best flocks in the country. The story is told that +he walked up and down his verandah watching the rainfall, and as each +successive inch was registered over a certain point he telegraphed to +Melbourne to purchase ten thousand more sheep. He got the season's +lambing and the fleece from the sheep he bought, and then sold the +greater portion for nearly double what he paid for them a few months +before. That splendid rain made all the difference between ruin and +wealth. + +'Sheep-farming is carried on everywhere in Australia, while squatting on +Crown lands, as we have said, is confined to the vast area of Central +Australia and Western Australia. The shearing on one of the great +stations in the interior is a most important operation, there being a +small army of men employed while it lasts. Some of the wool-sheds are of +great extent, and provide shelter for seven thousand sheep. I have seen +as many as a hundred shearers at work at once. They work very hard, and +earn a considerable amount of money during the season. They form bands +of from forty to eighty men, and start in Queensland in July, gradually +working their way south. During shearing-time the wool-shed presents a +very busy and interesting scene. A hundred shearers are all working as +if for a wager, for the element of rivalry enters largely into the work; +a dozen half-clad blacks, male and female, are picking up the fleeces +and carrying them to the wool tables, where they are skirted, rolled up, +sorted and thrown into their several bins. Immediately behind the +wool-bins are the presses, in which the wool is packed into bales, and +at the rear the waggons are loading with bales for the distant railway +station. Outside the shed men are engaged in branding the sheep after +each man's work has been counted from his yard. + +'The waggons load heavily, and have often teams of twenty bullocks each, +while there are always a few spare bullocks travelling loose to be used +as required, when one of the team gets a sore neck or knocks up. The +carriers form a distinct class in the back country. They generally +travel in bands of four or six teams, which are often owned by one man, +who generally accompanies the caravan in a buggy, or, if unable to +afford that comfort, drives one of the teams. + +'A peculiar feature in station life in Australia is the existence of a +class of wanderers known as "swagmen," or "sundowners," who wander over +the face of the country under the pretence that they are looking for +work; but they seldom accept it when offered. They lead a lazy, careless +life, making for the shelter of some station towards the close of the +day, when they go through the formula of asking for work, after which +follows the usual inquiry for accommodation for the night. On some +stations these men are such a nuisance that huts are put up for their +accommodation; and, instead of permitting them to mingle with the men at +their meals, they are given a certain quantity of flour, and sometimes +meat. During the day they camp by the side of a creek where there is +shelter from the sun, whence they do not stir till it is time to start +for the station where they intend passing the night, timing their +arrival about sunset. Once a man becomes a "sundowner" he is useless for +any honest employment. + +'The life of a successful squatter is a very pleasant one, with a large +freehold estate in a settled part of the country, and an extensive +mansion in which to entertain his friends, he can pass a few months very +enjoyably in the country; but his real home is in one of the most +aristocratic suburbs of Melbourne or Sydney, where he lives in a house +that cost fully five times the value of his squatting run in the old +pioneer days. The pioneers deserve rest and prosperity. They did good +work in their day, and their successors are emulating their example in +the great sultry plains of Central Australia.' + +In due course everywhere the Australian squatter gives way to the +agriculturist. The sheep become a secondary agent to the plough. In +place of the squatter we have the 'selector.' Land is not given away by +the state in Australia to the immigrant, and yet it is unusually +easy--even for a new country--for the poor man to start farming. This +remark is made on the authority of Mr. T. K. Dow, the agricultural +'special' of the _Australasian_ newspaper, with whom the writer +conversed on the subject for the purposes of this volume. Mr. Dow had +just returned to the colonies after a tour through America, made for the +purpose of procuring information on agricultural matters, and he could +thus speak as an expert. He says:-- + +'In Australia a man selects a piece of land; he pays the survey fee, and +then he pays for the fee-simple by annual instalments. But nearly all +the land so selected is fit for the plough. The man gets a crop off it +the very first year, so that he can pay his way as he goes. The land you +get for nothing in other countries is worth nothing in the first +instance. It has to be made valuable. There are expensive improvements +that have to be effected, and so you want more money to start with there +than you do in Australia. It is surprising with how little capital men +do start here. + +'The Australian harvesting system is the cheapest in the world, and is +peculiar to the country. There is a dryness about the crops of the +northern plains, on which the bulk of the wheat in South Australia and +Victoria is grown, and this enables the "stripper" to be used. The +stripper is an Australian invention. It is described by its name. It +squeezes the corn out, and leaves the stalk standing. The corn is +threshed upon the straw, and the straw is afterwards burnt off or is +ploughed in.' + +Mr. Dow is an enthusiastic irrigationist, and it is pleasant to hear +him converse about what is to be the future of farming in Victoria, +when water has been systematically impounded, in order to flood the land +in due season. Our farmers, it is to be noted, have hitherto sought the +plains, where the timber was not more than was required for firewood, +and where they could sow and reap at once. But the value of the forest +country is now being appreciated. There is heavy clearing to be done, no +doubt; but then the land is rich, and gives astonishing root crops, and +fattens many sheep to the acre. And when a railway is run into the +forest it is found that the timber pays for itself, and for the land +also, and is as good a crop as the selector is ever likely to take off +the soil. + +The following are the present conditions under which land can be +selected in Victoria: The best unsold portions of the public estate, +amounting in the aggregate to 8,712,000 acres, are divided into 'grazing +areas,' not exceeding 1000 acres in size, each of which is available for +the occupation of one individual, who is entitled to select, within the +limits of his block, an extent not exceeding 320 acres, for purchase in +fee simple at £1 per acre, payment of which may extend over twenty +years, without interest. The selected portion is termed an 'agricultural +allotment,' and of it the selector is bound to cultivate one acre in +every ten acres, and make other improvements amounting to a total value +of at least £1 per acre. The unselected portion of the original area is +intended for pastoral purposes, and for this the occupier obtains a +lease, at a rental of from 2_d._ to 4_d._ per acre, for a period of +fourteen years, after which it reverts to the Crown, an allowance up to +10_s._ per acre being made the lessee for any improvements he may have +effected calculated to improve the stock-carrying capabilities of the +land. In New South Wales, Queensland, and South Australia, and Western +Australia, the facilities are greater than in Victoria. But it is better +to state the minimum than the maximum advantage. All classes go on the +lands with success, because 'high farming' or 'scientific culture' is +not attempted in the bush--only in exceptional instances near the towns. +A county prize for the best-kept farm was recently awarded to a +freeholder whose culture and whose crops were highly commended by the +judges. 'You were trained in a good school, evidently,' said one of the +judges to the prize-taker. 'Not at all, sir,' was the reply; 'until I +took up this land I was serving all my life behind a linen-draper's +counter.' A handsome endowment has, however, just been made for the +establishment of Agricultural Colleges in Australia. + +Without a wife the settler's is but a lonely lot. There are bachelors, +of course. Our picture represents a forlorn individual returning to his +home. He will have a warmer welcome no doubt some day from wife and +weans than that which he receives from the cockatoo which he has taught +and tamed. + +The settler has few enemies. The only two worth naming are drought and +fire. The systematic storage of water throughout the country is in part +mitigating the one, and already in Victoria no selector is more than +three miles from permanent water for his stock. And as irrigation is +coming apace, the fire risk, such as it is, will be diminished. Even now +it is not serious. Not one farmer will be burned out, but at the same +time a watch is required to see that no flame gets the upper hand. When +a man burns off stubble he must give notice to his neighbours. + +[Illustration: A BUSH WELCOME.] + +Some of the most dramatic incidents of bush life occur when an alarm of +fire has been given, and the entire neighbourhood turns out to beat down +the conflagration with bushes. The males form a line and work with all +their energy to stamp out the flames, and the women and children help by +supplying the toilers with refreshments and with a fresh stock of boughs +and bushes. + +'Black Thursday' (February 5, 1851), the memorable day of the colonies, +would be impossible now. On that dread occasion Southern Australia was +all ablaze, there was a sad loss of life, and the lurid atmosphere was +noticeable as far away as New Zealand. Bishop Selwyn (who was afterwards +translated to Lichfield) told the writer that he was in his yacht off +the New Zealand coast at the time, and he was struck by the appearance +of a fiery glow in the sky towards the island continent. + +But the year 1886 unexpectedly witnessed a 'Black Thursday' on a small +scale. In one corner of Victoria are situated the Cape Otway ranges, +which are covered by fine forests and are the scene of a new and sparse +settlement--hardy pioneers venturing in advance of the railways which +they expect in due course to come up to them. The summer of 1886 opened +with great heat: 100° F. was registered in the shade, and over 150° in +the sun. And soon the news spread in the towns and cities of a disaster +at the Otway. Steamers coming into port reported that they had passed +through a pitchy darkness in the straits. One of their log records +reads: 'Off Cape Otway at noon the darkness became so intense that it +was necessary to light the binnacle lamp. The gloom was caused by smoke. +A considerable quantity of ashes and charred sticks fell upon the deck.' +This smoky volume rolled across the straits to Tasmania, and it +proclaimed the fact that the forest was on fire. Fortunately to the +south there is nothing behind the forest but the sea. The northerly +wind, which alone fans these conflagrations, blew smoke and fire, not +over parched tracts ready to burst into flame, but across the straits +towards Tasmania, and the enveloped ships were not put in jeopardy, as +hamlets would have been. At first it was almost forgotten that the +forest was no longer lonely, but was showing here and there patches of +occupation; but so it was, and a sad tale of ruin was soon told. Mr. S. +H. Whittaker, who was on the heels of the flames as an '_Argus_ +special,' kindly supplies the following narrative: 'The night before the +great fire was an anxious one in the forest. There was an ominous +deep-red glow at sunset--a redness deepened by smoke rising from distant +hills. The settlers, as they watched the smoke from the highest points +near their selections, fervently hoped for a change of wind, for the +country, scorched by the heat of midsummer, was ready to burst into a +blaze. Daybreak brought with it the fierce north wind, fiery as the +blast of a furnace, and strong as a gale. The bush fires could be +plainly seen from many a homestead, but there was at first no +apprehension of a general calamity. Some damage is done in the forest +every year by fire, but never before has one hundred miles of country +been left a smoking ruin. Never before have the selectors been driven +half-blinded from their houses, which they had vainly sought to save, to +find refuge only for their lives in their small green patches of +cultivation. The settlers had seen brushwood fires, had fought the +flames and conquered them after suffering some loss, and, profiting by +the experience, had cleared the brushwood around their homesteads. The +whole forest ablaze, the sky red with lighted fragments flying before +the high wind over cleared spaces, creeks, and roads, and igniting, like +the torches of a thousand incendiaries, fences, orchards, farms, crops, +and buildings in many places at once, had happily never been seen +before. The people vividly remember the scenes of that terrible day--how +the smoke made the day blacker than night, until the flames got nearer; +how these made "leaps and bounds" from tree to tree, and the terrified +wallaby, dogs, cattle, fowls, and kangaroo helplessly crowded among the +people, seeking shelter and protection from the common danger. + +'The struggle to save the home is sometimes touchingly told. Mrs. Hurley +was alone on the selection at Cowley's Creek with her seven children, +her husband being away cutting grass-seed to plant in the autumn. The +eldest children were a boy of fourteen and a girl of twelve. She said: +"When I saw the fire coming I sent the children to the water-hole to get +water in the bucket and dipper and everything that would hold it. We put +the water on the fence and houses. The children all worked till they +were ready to drop to save the place, even the youngest. The boy was on +the roof of the house pouring water on the rafters, and the girl was on +the shed. The fire came quick and scorched us. It burned in the tree +branches more than on the ground. The wind blew the big sparks right at +us and burned our clothes, but the little ones and myself kept going to +the water-hole with the dippers and pans to keep the house wet. The boy +kept the house well soaked on the roof, and I thought we might keep it +safe, when one of the girls cried out, 'Mother, it's alight inside.' +Then the place went all up on fire, and we couldn't get anything out. +The sheds and the reaper and binder and thresher went just after, and +the orchards and fences as well. The children asked me to run with them +to Mrs. M'Donald, our neighbour's. I told them to run on ahead, as one +of the boys had a bad foot, and I had to help him. The other children +got to Mrs. M'Donald's all right, but before I could get through with +the boy the forest was all burning, and the branches were coming down in +showers. My boots were burnt off my feet, and I have not been able to +wear a boot since. Mrs. M'Donald and the neighbours kindly helped me to +put some things on the children, and Bob Cowley gave me the tent we're +living in now." + +'The cry, "The house is alight inside," was the despairing message from +many a watcher to those who, mounted on the ridge, were striving in the +blinding smoke and scorching heat to beat back the fire from the +dwelling. The high wind blew live coals underneath the shingles to +enkindle the canvas lining, and then the exhausted settler, foiled in +his endeavour to save his or his neighbour's home, could only throw +himself face downwards in his potato crop to get a breath of fresh air. +But Mrs. Power, of Curdie's River, was more fortunate, and it was +impossible to belie the simple and unaffected sincerity with which she +devoutly ascribed her escape to the direct interposition of Providence. +Her husband, like too many other selectors in the wild and inhospitable +Heytesbury forest--inhospitable until by laborious toil it has been +reclaimed--was away at other work when the fire happened. The holding +was directly in the track of the fire. "It was on the hill yonder," said +Mrs. Power, "that we were burned out seven years ago--I mean there where +the scrub is as thick as ever, which shows how hard the scrub in this +forest is to kill. After we lost our first home we came to this side of +the creek, and got on a little better. On the Tuesday morning the fire +got all about us, in spite of my boys cutting down a tree and putting +water on the fences and houses to keep them from burning. They said we +had better go away; but wherever I looked there was fire; and I said, +'Where shall we go? We might as well be burnt here, beside the old +place, as anywhere else.' So I got the boys around me, and I dropped on +my knees just here and prayed to the Almighty God that it should be His +will to spare us, and not leave us again without a home over our heads. +The clothes of one of the boys caught fire, as you see, so did the +pigstye, and the eighteen bags of grass-seed that I had put in the +little garden in front of the house. I expected it to go every minute, +but the house stood through it all. It took fire in four places inside +and out, but it did not burn, and the roof was left to cover us, in +answer to my prayer. It was too hot to go into the house, and I stayed +under the blackwood tree; and the wind changed, and the drenching rain +came and doused the fire. If the rain had not come, there is no knowing +where the fire would have stopped." + +[Illustration: BEFORE AND AFTER THE FIRE.] + +'The rain, which will be remembered as one of the greatest downpours +ever experienced in the colony, did indeed save the forest selectors +from annihilation. It came just when the fire was at its height, when +the trees were crashing to the ground in all directions, and when the +fire, not merely scorching and singeing the bark of trees, as bush fires +usually do, was consuming thousands of huge boles to charcoal, and the +ground, as can still be seen, was at white heat, like a smelter's +crucible. The mournfulness of the gaunt, weird scene which the fire has +left is peculiarly striking and depressing. Such a mingling of night and +day as the sunlight lighting the pitchy blackness of the landscape, as +far as the eye can reach, is indescribably grotesque and desolate. It is +hard to conceive anything like this contrast of the sunshine sparkling +brightly upon the wide, inky, silent waste. It is almost like a smile +upon a ghastly death's-head. There is not a bird to flutter a wing or to +break the oppressive silence with a single note. There is no sign of +life or what has been life, except here and there the roasted carcase of +a wallaby or kangaroo. The dense forest of straight black bare boles +alone reveals the might and fury of a bush fire.' + +More frequent than the fire, and as thrilling, is the episode in bush +life of 'the lost children.' This is a drama that is constantly enacted +in the one place or the other. Australian children are quick, and they +learn in a wonderful way how to travel about country, but still, where +there is scrub in the neighbourhood or much undergrowth of any kind, the +younger members of the family are terribly apt to go astray. The father +or mother returns home to learn that 'little Johnny and the girl' were +playing about, and did not come in for their evening meal. They could +not have tumbled into the water-hole, for that is fenced off. They have +not found their way to neighbour Dean's. There is no time to be lost. +The biggest boy jumps on the colt and rides in hot haste to the nearest +police-station, and rouses up neighbours on his way. The policeman +telegraphs all about for aid, but faster still 'the bush telegraph' +spreads the intelligence that 'Big Giles, of Wattle Tree flat, is in +trouble. Two of his little ones are astray.' Then it is that human +fellowship shows to advantage. All business is laid aside. The sheep +that were being bargained for are neither bought nor sold; the hay is +left unstacked; the reaping is discontinued. Nothing can be done that +night beyond searching around the homestead, but all night long the +clatter of horses' hoofs will tell of new arrivals, and the morning will +witness a couple of hundred men ready to be divided into parties and to +take care that no portion of the country is unsearched. From east and +west parties will return disconsolate and silent; but the joyous +'Coo-e-e!' of the returning horsemen on the southern hill-top will tell +its own tale of rescue. But rarely does a second night elapse before the +distracted mother has her children with her again, and one night in the +Australian bush is not likely to have injured the little ones much. + +One of the most singular cases on record is that of the girl Clara +Crosbie, who was lost for twenty days in the depth of winter in the +Victorian uplands, where frosts will set in and where snow will fall, +and who lived without food during that time. Clara was a town-bred girl, +twelve years of age. Her mother took a situation in the year 1885 as +housekeeper to a Lilydale farmer, some twenty-five miles away from +Melbourne towards the mountains. Clara was left at a neighbour's house +after she had been a few days in the district, but before she was +fetched she wanted to go to her mother, and so she slipped out, got off +the track easily enough, and was soon hopelessly involved in the reedy +fens with which this part of the country is intersected. + +[Illustration: FOUND!] + +[Illustration: A SQUATTER'S STATION.] + + + + +APPENDIX. + +THE RELIGIOUS STATISTICS OF THE CHIEF COLONIES. + + +Numbers are but poor tests of the religious condition and progress of a +country, but they have their value, and many of the readers of this +volume may find the following facts interesting. It has not been found +possible to get the information respecting Queensland and Western +Australia. It is quite evident at a glance that there is a large number +of trained men who are engaged in the great work of the Gospel, and that +their efforts are supported by a very considerable section of the +Australian people. + +VICTORIA.--There being no State religion in Victoria, and no money voted +for any religious object, the clergy are supported by the efforts of the +denomination to which they are attached. The ministers in all sections +of the Church number 828, of whom 185 belong to the Church of England, +121 to the Roman Catholic Church, 177 to the Presbyterian Church, 161 to +the Methodist Churches, 54 to the Independent Church, 38 to the Baptist +Church, 29 to the Bible Christian Church, 56 to other Christian +Churches, and 7 to the Jewish Church. Besides these there are other +officials connected with these bodies, who, without being regularly +ordained, perform the functions of clergymen, and are styled lay +readers, lay assistants, local preachers, mission agents, &c. The number +of these is not known, but it no doubt materially swells the ranks of +religious instructors in the colony. The buildings used for public +worship throughout Victoria number at the present time (1886) about +3700, of which 2000 are regular churches and chapels, 400 school-houses, +and 1400 public or private buildings. Accommodation is provided for +500,000 persons, but the number attending the principal weekly services +is said not to exceed 315,000. More than 304,000 services are performed +during the year. Of the whole number of buildings used for religious +worship, 764 belong to the Church of England, 618 to the Roman +Catholics, 906 to the Presbyterians, 962 to the Methodists, 76 to +Independents, 99 to the Baptists, 154 to the Bible Christians, 146 to +other Christians, and 6 to the Jews. The Salvation Army have erected +their "barracks" in various localities, and sometimes rent edifices for +Divine Service, but no statistics of their operations have yet been +obtained. + +NEW SOUTH WALES.--With regard to religion, all the Churches stand on the +same level of equality, there being no Established or State Church. +These Churches are supported entirely by voluntary subscriptions, as all +State aid ceased in 1862, except some small outstanding liabilities to +the then existing incumbents. Roughly speaking, out of a population of +950,000 there are some 600,000 Protestants, the great majority belonging +to the Church of England, and about 280,000 Roman Catholics, the +remainder being made up of various denominations. At the taking of the +census of 1881 the numbers were as follows: Church of England, 342,359; +Lutherans, 4836; Presbyterians, 72,545; Wesleyan Methodists, 57,049; +other Methodists, 7303; Congregationalists, 14,328; Baptists, 7307; +Unitarians, 828; other Protestants, 9957; total Protestants, 516,512; +Roman Catholics, 207,020: Catholics undescribed, 586; total Catholics, +207,606; Hebrews, 3266; other persuasions, 1042; unspecified +persuasions, 13,697; Pagans, 9345. In 1883 there were 770 ministers of +religion and 1521 churches, with an average attendance at public worship +of 243,369 persons. The Sunday Schools have 105,162 scholars on their +registers. + +SOUTH AUSTRALIA.--Of this Colony the only facts obtainable are the +following round numbers. The number of churches or chapels existing in +1884 was 928; the number of sittings provided was 200,123; the number of +Sunday schools was 727; teachers, 6729; scholars. 57,311. + + + + +INDEX. + + + ABORIGINES: + appearance, 167; + life, 168; + fighting, 168; + Mr. Moore's narrative about, 169; + customs, 169; + dress, 170; + Mr. Carr's story, 170; + Ngooraialum and Bangerang tribes, 170; + weapons, 173; + fierceness of Northern blacks, 173; + Corroboree, a, 174; + cannibalism, 174; + trackers, their usefulness as, 174; + Mission stations, 175; + Lake Tyers station, 176; + Hagenauer, Rev. F. A., letter of, about, 177 + + Acacia, 200 + + ADELAIDE: + founding, 103; + Glenelg, 103; + houses, 103, 104; + streets and parks, 103; + surroundings, 103; + churches, 104; + Victoria Square, 105; + King William Street, 105; + Botanical Gardens, 105 + + Albany, 138 + + Albert, river, 125 + + Alligator stories, 113 + + Amadeus, lake, 101 + + Araucarias, 202 + + Argus snipe, 192 + + AUSTRALIA: + former errors about, 14, 23; + exports, 14; + population, 14; + prosperity, 14; + colonies, 15; + capitals, 15; + people, 16; + area, 19; + mountains, 20; + snow, 20; + river system, 20; + physical geography, 21; + climate, 21, 76, 101, 112, 138; + hot winds, 22; + temperature, 22; + storms, 22; + natives, 23, 167; + fires, 23, 213; + rainfall, 24; + drought, losses by, 25, 76, 94, 208; + not yet fully explored, 25; + democracy, 29; + securities, rise in, 30; + federation movement, 30; + immigration, 30; + wages, 30; + prices, 31; + religion, 31; + service, a rural, 32; + Sunday observance, 32; + sects, 34; + Sunday schools, 34; + church building, 34 + + _Australia Felix_, 40 + + Australian Alps, the, 40 + + Avon, river, 68 + + + BAIRNSDALE, 69 + + BALLARAT: + impressions, 59; + Botanical Gardens, 60; + discovery of gold, 60; + situation, 61; + the Corner, 61; + Trollope on, 62 + + Barcoo, river, 164 + + Barrier Reef, the, 123 + + Barrow Creek, station at, 109 + + Bass, story of, 155 + + Bass's Straits, 144 + + Bathurst, 93 + + Batman, settlement of, in Victoria, 38 + + Baudin, M., treachery of, 157 + + Baxter, murder of, 158 + + Bear, native, 181 + + Beechworth, 69 + + Belfast, 66 + + Ben Lomond, 147 + + Bendigo, _see_ SANDHURST. + + Big Scrub, New South Wales, 95 + + Birds of Paradise, 186 + + Bishopscourt, view from, Melbourne, 43 + + Black boy, 202 + + Black-fish, 194 + + Black Spur, the, 72 + + Black Thursday in South Australia, 213; + in Victoria, 214 + + Blackheath, 90 + + Blayney, 94 + + Blue gum, 200 + + Blue Mountains, 87 + + Blue wren, 186 + + Boomerang, the, 173 + + Booth, Mr. E. C., on Shepparton, 67 + + Boroina, 202 + + Bosisto, Mr. J., on Eucalyptus, 199 + + Botany Bay, discovery of, 76 + + Bottle-tree, 201 + + Bourke Street, Melbourne, 49 + + Bourke, New South Wales, 94; + a winter day at, 94 + + Bowen, 123 + + Box-tree, 208 + + Bower bird, 188 + + Box-scrub, the, 136 + + Bream, 193 + + Breeza plains, 95 + + Bremer, river, 119 + + Bremoroma, 94 + + Brighton, a suburb of Melbourne, 43 + + BRISBANE, population, 119; + site, 119; + streets, 119; + beauty, 120; + garden of Acclimatisation Society, 120; + houses, 121 + + Broome, Sir F. N., on life in Western Australia, 140 + + Brown, Mr. G. A., on sheep breeding, 205 + + Buffaloes, 113 + + Bulmer, Rev. J., at Lake Tyers, 176 + + Bundaberg, 112 + + Bunbury, 135 + + Burke, R. O'Hara, expedition of, 161 + + Burketown, 125 + + Burnett, river, 122 + + Bustard, 190 + + + CAIRNS, 124 + + Caldwell, Mr. W. H., on the platypus, 185 + + Cam, river, 146 + + Camels at Beltana, 107 + + Canoona rush, the, in Queensland, 129 + + Cape Grant, 67 + + Cape Nelson, 67 + + Cape Otway ranges, fire at, 214 + + Capertee, 91 + + Capitals, 15 + + Cardwell, 124 + + Carr, Mr. E. M., on the natives, 170 + + Carriers, 210 + + Castle hill, 87 + + _Casuarina Striata_, 200 + + Cats, native, 182 + + Cattle-raising, 204 + + Cattle, number of, in Australia, 14 + + Central Trunk Railway, Queensland, 122 + + Charters Towers, 123 + + Churches, the, state of, 31 + + Clarence, river, 96 + + Clermont, 123 + + Climate, 21, 76, 101, 112, 138 + + Coaching, Trollope on, 70 + + Cobb, who he was, 70 + + Cockatoo, 186 + + Cohan, 94 + + Colac lake, 65 + + Collins lands at Sorrento, 38 + + Collins Street, Melbourne, 49 + + Concherry, river, 162 + + Cook, Captain, discovers Botany Bay, 76 + + Cooktown, 124 + + Cooper's Creek, native settlement at, 164 + + Corangamite lake, 64 + + Corra Linn, 145 + + Corroboree, a, 174 + + Cotton growing in Queensland, 129 + + Crosbie, Clara, story of, 219 + + Cunningham's Gap, 119 + + Cutting out cattle, 204 + + Cycads, 202 + + + DALBY, 122 + + Darling Downs, 118, 119 + + Darling, river, 21, 94 + + _Dasyuridæ_, the, 182 + + Deloraine, 145 + + Democracy, 29 + + D'Entrecasteaux Channel, 151 + + Depôt Glen, Sturt at, 23 + + Derwent, river, 150 + + Devil, Tasmanian, 182 + + Dibbs, Mr., on losses by drought, 25 + + Dingo, 183 + + Dog, wild, 183 + + Don, river, 146 + + Dow, Mr. T. K., on farming, 211 + + Drought, losses by, 25, 76, 94, 208 + + Dubbo, 94 + + Ducks, wild, 191; + mountain duck, 191; + black duck, 191; + wood duck, 191; + teal, 191; + widgeon, 191; + blue wing, 191 + + + EAGLEBANK NECK, 151 + + Elder, Sir Thomas, introduces camels, 107 + + Emu, chase of, 188 + + Emu Plains, 88; + Dr. J. E. Taylor on, 90 + + Eucalypt, 194 + + _Eucalyptus amygdalina_, 196 + + _E. dumosa_, 199 + + _E. ficifolia_, 199 + + _E. globus_, 200 + + _E. rostrata_, 197 + + EXPLORATION: + Sturt's exploration, 23; + Bass and Flinders, story of, 155; + Baudin, M., treachery of, 157; + Eyre, E. J., travels of, 158; + Forrest, J., journey of, 159, 164; + Leichhardt, L., story of, 159; + Kennedy disaster, the, 160; + Stuart, J. McDougall, journey of, 161; + Burke's expedition, 161; + M'Kinlay's party, 164; + Landsborough's party, 164; + Walker's party, 164; + Howitt's party, 164; + Warburton's party, 164 + + Exports of Australia, 14 + + Eyre, E. J., explorations of, 158 + + Eyre, lake, 101 + + + FARMING, 211 + + FAUNA: + alligators, 113; + buffaloes, 113; + pearls, 139; + kangaroo, 'old men,' 181, 185; + marsupial mouse, 181; + wombat, 181; + flying fox, 181; + native bear, 181; + native cats, 182; + Bass River opossum, 182; + Tasmanian tiger-wolf, 182; + Tasmanian devil, 182; + dingo, 183; + platypus, 185; + birds, 185; + parrots, 185; + birds of Paradise, 185; + king parrot, 186; + blue mountain parrot, 186; + lories, 186; + parroquets, 186; + love-birds, 186; + blue wren 186; + cockatoos, 186; + lyre-birds, 186; + bower birds, 188; + laughing jackass, 188; + emu, 188; + bustard, 190; + native companion, 191; + wild ducks, 191; + black swan, 191; + snipe, 191; + quail, 192; + wonga-wonga, 192; + bronze-wing pigeon, 192; + snakes, 192; + shark catching, 193; + trout, 193; + salmon, 193; + perch, 193; + bream, 193; + Murray cod, 193; + sea salmon, 193; + Murray-perch, 193; + golden-perch, 193; + black-fish, 194; + whiting, 194; + schnapper, 194 + + Favenc, Mr. E., on exploration, 25 + + Fawkner, settlement of, in Victoria, 39 + + Fawkner's Park, 39 + + Federation movement, the, 30 + + Feilberg, Mr. C. A, on Queensland, 117 + + Ferns, 196 + + Fig-tree, the, 126 + + Fingal, 147 + + Fires, 23, 213 + + Fish River caves, 91 + + Fitzroy, river, 122 + + Flame-tree, 201 + + FLORA: + nettle-tree, 127; + poisonous plants, 136; + box scrub, 136; + rock plant, 136; + heart-leaf plant, 136; + York road plant, 136; + wild flowers, 138; + eucalypt, 194; + mallee scrub, 195; + giant gums, 195, 197; + spinifex, 195; + ferns, 196; + palm-tree, 196; + musk-tree, 196; + _Pittosporum_, 196; + silver gum, 197; + red gum, 197; + jarrah, 136, 198; + blue gum, 200; + acacia or wattle, 200; + tea-tree scrub, 200; + shea-oak, 200; + bottle-tree, 201; + flame-tree, 201; + cycads, 202; + palm lilies, 202; + grass-trees, 202; + warratah, 202; + boroina, 202; + araucarias, 202; + heaths, 202; + grapes, 202; + Mitchell grass, 205; + box-tree, 208 + + Flinders, story of, 155 + + Flinders' Lane, Melbourne, 44 + + Flying fox, 181 + + Forbes, 94 + + Forrest, John, journey of, 159, 164 + + Firth, 146 + + Fremantle, 137 + + + _Gastrolobium anylobiaides_, 136 + + _G. bilobum_, 136 + + _G. callistachys_, 136 + + _G. calycinum_, 136 + + Gardiner, lake, 101 + + GEELONG, founding, 62; + growth, 62; + exports, 62; + tweeds of, 63 + + Geraldton, 135 + + Gippsland, scenery of, 67 + + Gladstone, 122 + + Glenelg, 103 + + Golden perch, 193 + + Golden Point, discovery of gold at, 60 + + Gould on Australian birds, 186 + + Grant, Lieut., discovers Port Phillip, 37 + + Grapes, 202 + + Grass-trees, 202 + + Gray, story of, 161 + + Great Divide, the, 96 + + Great West Railway, New South Wales, 87 + + Grey, Earl, circular of, on convicts, 135 + + Guildford, 135 + + Guilfoyle, Mr., director of the Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, 52 + + Gulf of Carpentaria, 125 + + Gums, giant, 195; height of, 196, 197 + + Gympie, 123; + discovery of gold field at, 130 + + + HAGENAUER, Rev. F. A., on the aborigines, 177 + + Harvesting system, 211 + + Hawkesbury sandstone, 90 + + Hayter, Mr. H. H., on wages, 30 + + Heart-leaf, the, 136 + + Heaths, 202 + + Henty, Messrs., in Portland Bay, 38 + + Heron, river, 151 + + Heytesbury forest, 215 + + Hindmarsh, Captain, first governor of South Australia, 103 + + Hobart, description of, 150 + + Hoddle, Robert, lays out Geelong, 62 + + Holdfast Bay, first landing at, 103 + + Horses, number of, in Australia, 14 + + Horsham, 67 + + Hospitality, 207 + + Hot winds, 22 + + Hovell arrives at Port Phillip, 38 + + Howitt, party of, 164 + + Hume arrives at Port Phillip, 38 + + Hurleys, the, at the fire at Otway ranges, 215 + + + IMMIGRATION, extent of, 30 + + Ipswich, 119, 122 + + + JACKY, the black, fidelity of, 160 + + Jarrah forests, 136, 198 + + Jenola, 91 + + + KANAKAS, the, 128 + + Kangaroo, old man, 181, 185 + + Kangaroo hunting, 184 + + Kennedy, Edmund, story of, 160 + + Kiama, 87 + + King, story of, 161 + + King George's Sound, 138 + + Kingfisher, or laughing jackass, 188 + + Knocklofty, 150 + + + LAKE ST. CLAIR, 150 + + Lake Sorell, 150 + + Lake Tyers Mission Station, 176 + + Landells, story of, 161 + + Landsborough, expedition of, 164 + + Laughing jackass, 188 + + Launceston, 144 + + Leichhardt, Ludwig, story of, 159 + + _Leptospermum_, 200 + + Lithgow Vale, New South Wales, 91 + + _Livistonia_ palm, the 196 + + Loddon, river, 68 + + Lories, 186 + + Lorne, 72 + + Lost in the bush, 217 + + Loutit Bay, 72 + + Love-birds, 186 + + Lyre-bird, 186 + + + MACARTHY, RIVER, 111 + + Mackay, 123 + + Macquarie Harbour, 151 + + Macquarie, river, 93 + + Magpie, musical, 188 + + Mallee scrub, rabbits in, 68; + extent of, 195 + + Mary, river, 121 + + Maryborough, 121 + + MELBOURNE: + site, 43; + population, 43; + area, 43; + description, 43; + houses, 43; + Government House, 43; + Exhibition Building, 43; + streets, 43; + Flinder's Lane, 44; + Collins Street, 49; + Scott's, 49; + Bourke Street, 49; + inrush and outrush, 49; + railways, 49; + public buildings, 50; + university, 52; + botanic gardens, 52; + water supply, 52; + reserves, 53; + cricket, 54; + the Yarra, 54; + drawbacks, 55; + climate, 55; + unearned increment, 56 + + Meander, river, 145 + + _Menura Victoriæ_, the, 186 + + Merino sheep, 206 + + Mermaid's Cave, the, New South Wales, 90 + + Mersey, river, 145 + + Mitchell, Sir Thomas, verdict of, 39 + + Mitchell grass, 205 + + M'Kinlay, expedition of, 164 + + Moreton Bay, 118 + + Moore, Mr. G. F., on aborigines, 169 + + Morriss, Mr., school teacher to the blacks, 176 + + Morsman's Bay, view from, 80 + + Mosquito Plains, caves of the, 106 + + Mount Barker, 106 + + Mount Baw-Baw eucalypt, height of, 197 + + Mount Bischoff tin mine, 146 + + Mount Clay, 67 + + Mount Franklin, 40 + + Mount Kosciusko, 20 + + Mount Lindsay, 96 + + Mount Lofty range, 103 + + Mount Wellington, 150 + + Mountain system, 20 + + Mouse, marsupial, 181 + + Mudgee line, New South Wales, 91 + + Mueller, Baron von, on tea-tree scrub, 200 + + Murray cod, 193 + + Murray perch, 193 + + Murray plains, 67 + + Murray, river, 21, 100 + + Musk-tree, 196 + + Myers, Mr. F. H., on Sydney, 79 + + + NARRAWONG, 67 + + Nash discovers Gympie gold-field, 130 + + Native companion, the, 191 + + Natives, destructiveness of, 23 + + Nettle-tree, the, 127 + + New Norfolk, 150 + + NEW SOUTH WALES: + area, 15, 75; + population, 15; + losses by drought, 25; + climate, 76; + drought, 76, 94; + settlement, 76; + Port Jackson, 76; + statistics, 79; + Sydney, 79; + South Coast Railway, 84; + Kiama, 87; + Great West Railway, 87; + Paramatta, 87; + Castle Hill, 87; + Toongabbie, 87; + Blue Mountains, 87; + Emu Plains, 88; + Penrith, 89; + Windsor, 89; + Richmond, 89; + geology, 90; + Blackheath, Mermaid's Cave, 90; + Lithgow Vale, 91; + Capertee, 91; + Mudgee line, 91; + Walerawang, 91; + Tarana, 91; + Fish River caves, 91; + Jenola, 91; + Bathurst, 93; + Blayney, 94; + Orange, 94; + Forbes, 94; + Wellington Valley, 94; + Dubbo, 94; + cattle, 94; + Darling, the, 94; + Cohan, 94; + Bourke, 94; + Bremoroma, 94; + Welcanna, 94; + Wentworth, 94; + Great Northern Railway, 95; + Newcastle, 95; + Breeza Plains, 95; + Richmond, the, 95; + Tweed, the, 95; + Big Scrub, 95; + Cane fields, 96; + Great Divide, the, 96; + Mount Lindsay, 96; + Clarence, the, 96; + Nightcap, the, 96 + + Newcastle, 95 + + Nightcap, the, New South Wales, 96 + + Norman, river, 125 + + Normanton, 125 + + North Esk, river, 144 + + Northern Territory, _see_ S. Australia. + + Northern Trunk Line of Queensland, 123 + + + OAKLEIGH, a suburb of Melbourne, 43 + + Opossum, 182 + + Orange, 94 + + _Ornithorhynchus_, the, 185 + + Overland Telegraph Line, 108 + + + PALM-LILIES, 202 + + Palm-trees, 196 + + Palmer gold-field, 124, 130 + + Palmerston, mines of, 111 + + Palmerston and Pine Creek line, 110 + + Paramatta, 87 + + Parrots, 185 + + Parroquets, 186 + + Peake Telegraph Station, 109 + + Pearl fisheries of Western Australia, 139 + + Penrith, 89 + + Perch, 193 + + Pérouse, expedition of, 76 + + Perth, description of, 136 + + Phillip, Captain Arthur, governor at Port Jackson, 76 + + Physical geography, 21 + + Pigeon, bronze-wing, 192 + + Piping crow, 188 + + _Pittosporum_, 196 + + Platypus, 185 + + Poole, death of, at Depôt Glen, 23 + + Population of Australia, 14 + + Porcupine grass, 195 + + Port Arthur, convicts at, 151 + + Port Darwin, vegetation at, 111 + + Port Douglas, 124 + + Port Essington, 113 + + Port Jackson, 76 + + PORT PHILLIP: + discovery, 37; + beauty, 38; + Howell and Hume arrive at, 38; + settlement, 38 + + Portland, 66 + + Portland Bay, 67 + + Potatoes, yield of, 66 + + Power, Mrs., at the fire at Otway ranges, 215 + + Prices, 31 + + + QUAIL, 192 + + Quamby Bluff, 146 + + QUEENSLAND: + area and population, 15; + description, 117; + settlement, 118; + convicts there, 118; + Toowoomba, 119, 122; + Bremer, the, 119; + Ipswich, 119, 122; + Brisbane, 119; + Maryborough, 121; + Rockhampton, 121; + Bundaberg, 122; + Gladstone, 122; + Warwick, 122; + Stanthorpe, 122; + Dalby, 122; + Roma, 122; + Central Trunk Railway, 122; + Clermont, 123; + Gympie, 123, 130; + Mackay, 123; + Bowen, 123; + Barrier Reef, the, 123; + Townsville, 123; + Charters Towers, 123; + Ravenswood, 123; + Northern Trunk Line, 123; + Cardwell, 124; + Cairns, 124; + Port Douglas, 124; + Palmer gold field, 124, 130; + Cooktown, 124; + Thursday Island, 124; + Gulf of Carpentaria, 125; + Normanton, 125; + Burketown, 125; + cattle, 125; + sheep farming, 125; + agriculture, 126; + scrublands, 126; + vegetation, 126; + labour question, the, 127; + sugar growing, 128; + exports, 128; + cotton growing, 129; + olives, 129; + almond, 129; + figs, 129; + silk, 129; + mineral wealth, 129; + coal, 129; + Canoona rush, the, 129; + Nash discovers Gympie gold field, 130 + + + RABBITS, CURSE OF, 68 + + Raffles Bay, 113 + + Railways in Victoria, 49; + in Sydney, 84; + in Tasmania, 152 + + Rainfall, 24; + in Sydney, 84; + in Tasmania, 152 + + Rainfall, taking advantage of, 209 + + Ravenswood, 123 + + Red gum, 197 + + Richardson, river, 68 + + Richmond, 89 + + Richmond, river, 95 + + Ring barking, 209 + + River system, 20 + + Rock plant, the, 136 + + Rockhampton, 121 + + Roeburne, 135 + + Roma, 122 + + Roper, river, 111; + alligators in, 113 + + Russell, Mr. H. C., on physical geography and climate of Australia, 21 + + + ST. HELENS, 147 + + St. Mary's Pass, 147 + + Sale, 69 + + Salmon, 193 + + Sandhurst, ups and downs of, 56; + gold in, 60 + + _Sarcophilus_, the, 182 + + Satin bird, 188 + + Schools of Victoria, 70 + + Schnapper, 194 + + Scott's, Melbourne, 49 + + Sea-salmon, 193 + + Selectors, 212 + + Service, a rural, 32 + + Settler's clock, 188 + + Shark catching, 193 + + Shea-oak, 200 + + Sheep, number of, in Australia, 14 + + Sheep breeding, 205 + + Sheep runs, 207 + + Sheep shearing, 210 + + Shepherds, life of, 206 + + Shepparton, 67 + + Silk cultivation in Queensland, 129 + + Silver gum, 197 + + Smith, philosopher, story of, 146 + + Smyth, Mr. B., on native weapons, 173; + on gum-trees, 197 + + Snakes, 192; + treatment for bites of, 193 + + Snow, 20 + + Snipe, 191 + + Sorrento occupied by Collins, 38; + beauty of, 38 + + SOUTH AUSTRALIA: + Area, 15, 99; + population, 15; + divisions, 99; + Murray, the, 100; + scenery, 100; + Lake Torrens, 101; + Lake Eyre, 101; + Lake Gardiner, 101; + Lake Amadeus, 101; + climate, 101; + fruits, 102; + Adelaide, 103; + Mount Lofty range, 103; + industries, 105; + wheat, 106; + Mount Barker, 106; + Caves of the Mosquito Plains, 106; + camels at Beltana, 107; + Overland Telegraph Line, 108; + Peake Telegraph Station, 109; + Barrow Creek 'stuck up' at, 109; + railway construction, 110; + Northern Territory: history, 110; + settlement, 111; + climate, 112; + Roper, the, 111; + Macarthy, the, 111; + alligators, 113; + buffaloes, 113; + Black Thursday, 213 + + South Coast Railway, N. S. Wales, 84 + + South Esk, river, 144 + + South Sea Islanders in Queensland, 128 + + Spinifex, 195 + + SQUATTERS AND SETTLERS: + Description, 203; + cattle raising, 204; + cutting out, 204; + sheep breeding, 205; + merino sheep, 206; + hospitality, 207; + mode of travelling, 207; + sheep runs, 207; + drought, 208; + houses, 208; + sheep shearing, 210; + carriers, 210; + swagmen or sundowners, 210; + farming, 211; + harvesting system, 211; + stripper, the, 211; + selecting, + mode of, 212; + fires, 213; + lost in the bush, 217 + + Staghorn fern, 196 + + Stanthorpe, 122 + + Stapleton, Mr., murder of, 110 + + _Sterculia acerifolia_, 201 + + Stevenson, falls of the, 72 + + Stirling, Sir James, in Western Australia, 134 + + Storms, 22 + + Strangways Springs, 110 + + Stripper, the, 211 + + Stuart, J. M. D., travels of, 110, 161 + + Sturt's detention at Depôt Glen, 23 + + Sunday observance, 32 + + Sundowners, 210 + + Surrey Hills, a suburb of Melbourne, 43 + + Swagmen, 210 + + Swan, black, 191 + + Swan, river, 135, 138 + + SYDNEY: + harbour, 79; + North Shore, 79; + view from Morsman's Bay, 80; + churches, 80; + public buildings, 80; + railways, 84 + + Sydney Cove, 76 + + + TAMAR, river, 144 + + Tarana, 91 + + TASMANIA: + a holiday resort for Australians, 143; + Tamar, the, 144; + Launceston, 144; + North Esk, the, 144; + South Esk, the, 144; + Corra Linn, 145; + Deloraine, 145; + Menada, the, 145; + Mersey, the, 145; + sheep, 145; + Quamby Bluff, 146; + Don, the, 146; + Cam, the, 146; + Forth, the, 146; + Mount Bischoff, 146; + Waratah, the, 146; + Ben Lomond, 147; + St. Mary's Pass, 147; + Fingal, 147; + St. Helen's, 147; + macadamised road, the great, 148; + Hobart, 150; + Derwent, the, 150; + Lake St. Clair, 150; + Lake Sorell, 150; + New Norfolk, 150; + convicts at Port Arthur, 151; + Eaglebank Neck, 151; + D'Entrecasteaux Channel, 151; + Heron, the, 151; + Macquarie Harbour, 151; + area, 151; + population, 152; + revenue, 152; + railways, 152; + exports and imports, 152 + + Taylor, Dr. J. E., on Geology of Emu Plains, 90 + + Tea-tree scrub, 200 + + Temperature, 22 + + Tennison Woods on the caves of the Mosquito Plains, 106 + + Thomas, Mr., on Lake District of Victoria, 64 + + Tiger snake, 192 + + Tiger-wolf, Tasmanian, 182 + + Thursday Island, 124 + + _Thylacinus_, the, 182 + + Todd, Mr. Charles, and the Overland Telegraph Line, 108 + + Toongabbie, 87 + + Toowoomba, 119, 122 + + Torrens, lake, 101 + + Trackers, black, 174 + + Townsville, 123 + + Trollope, Anthony, on Ballarat, 62; + on coaching, 70 + + Trout, 193; + fly-fishing for, 194 + + Turkey, wild, 190 + + Tweed, river, 95 + + + VICTORIA: + area, 15; + population, 15; + protectionist, 30; + foundation, 37; + convicts there, 38; + bad name given to, 38; + settlement, 38; + mountains, 40; + Melbourne, 43; + railways, 49, 56; + Sandhurst, 56; + Ballarat, 59; + Wendouree, lake, 60; + discovery of gold at Golden Point, 60; + Geelong, 62; + Corangamite, lake, 64; + Lake Colac, 65; + Warnambool, 66; + Belfast, 66; + Portland, 66; + potatoes, 66; + Portland Bay, 67; + mountains, 67; + Gippsland, 67; + Murray plains, 67; + Shepparton, 67; + Wimmera District, 67; + rabbits, 68; + Avon, the, 68; + Richardson, the, 68; + Wimmera, the, 68; + Loddon, the, 68; + wheat lines of railway, 68; + Beechworth, 69; + Sale, 69; + Bairnsdale, 69; + State schools, 70; + Cobb, story of, 70; + coaching, 70; + Falls of the Stevenson, 72; + Black Spur, the, 72; + Loutit Bay, 72; + Lorne, 72; + Black Thursday, 214 + + + WAGES, 30 + + Walerawang, 91 + + Walker, expedition of, 164 + + Wallace, Mr. A. A., on flowers of Australia, 138 + + Waratah, river, 146 + + Warburton, expedition of, 164 + + Warratah, 202 + + Warwick, 122 + + Wattle, 200 + + Welcanna, 94 + + Wellington Valley, 94 + + Wendouree, lake, 60 + + Wentworth, 94 + + WESTERN AUSTRALIA: + area, 15, 133; + population, 15; + foundation of the colony, 134; + large estates in, 134; + convicts, 135; + Swan, river, 135; + Fremantle, 135; + Perth, 135; + Guildford, 135; + Bunbury, 135; + Albany, 135; + Geraldton, 135; + Roeburne, 135; + vegetation, 136; + jarrah forests, 136; + poisonous plants, 136; + King George's Sound, 138; + climate, 138; + wild flowers of, 138; + Sir F. N. Broome on life there, 140; + gold discoveries, 140 + + Western District of Victoria, 40, 63; + Mr. Thomas on, 64 + + Wheat lines of Wimmera, 68 + + Whittaker, Mr. S. H., on fire at Otway ranges, 214 + + Whiting, 194 + + Wianamatta Shales, the, 90 + + Wills, W. J., story of, 161 + + Windsor, 89 + + Wimmera District, 67; + rabbits in, 68; + wheat lines of, 68 + + Wimmera, river, 68 + + Winter day at Bourke, New South Wales, 94 + + Wombat, 181 + + Wonga-wonga, 192 + + Wornambool, 66 + + Wreck Creek, native encampment at, 173 + + Wright, story of, 161 + + Wylie, the black boy, faithfulness of, 158 + + + _Xanthorrhoea_, 202 + + + YAGAN, an aborigine, story of, 169 + + Yarra Park, Melbourne, 54 + + Yarra, river, 54 + + York-road plant, the, 136 + + + + +LONDON: WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, STAMFORD STREET AND +CHARING CROSS. + + + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: + +Punctuation has been standardised. + +Unexpected spelling has been retained as it appears in the original +publication for Lechlan (which might be meant to be Lachlan), Morsman's +Bay (possibly now Mosman's Bay), Woolahra (Woollahra), Walerawang +(Wallerawang), Wornambool (Warnambool). + +Both Goldfields and Gold-fields have been retained as they appear in the +original. + +The following changes have been made: + +Title Page - Add closing ' to 'The Melbourne Argus' + +Page 8 - Waterfall at Gowett changed to Waterfall at Govett + +Page 9 - Corra Lynn, Tasmania changed to Corra Linn, Tasmania + +Page 9 - Ludwig Leichardt changed to Ludwig Leichhardt + +Page 64 - There is no indication in the original publication where the +quotation starting "This lake country ..." attributed to Mr. Julian Thomas ends + +Page 84 - Paramatta and Lan Cove changed to Paramatta and Lane Cove + +Page 87 - Begar changed to Bega + +Page 94 - brigalow and nulga changed to brigalow and mulga + +Page 110 - lonely hut beleagured changed to lonely hut beleaguered + +Page 139 - expecially at Shark Bay changed to especially at Shark Bay + +Page 139 - Avicula margaratifera changed to Avicula margaritifera + +Page 143 - Corra Lynn, Tasmania changed to Corra Linn, Tasmania + +Page 155 - Ludwig Leichardt changed to Ludwig Leichhardt + +Page 159 - Ludwig Leichardt changed to Ludwig Leichhardt (3 instances) + +Page 197 - Ecalpytus rostrata, or red gum changed to Eucalyptus +rostrata, or red gum + +Page 202 - The boroina, with change to The boronia, with + +Page 206 - There is no indication in the original publication where +the quotation attributed to Mr. G. A. Brown in Sheep Breeding in +Australia ends + +Index - boroina, 202; change to boronia, 202; + +Index - Gympsie, 123; changed to Gympie, 123; + +Index - Leptospernum, 200 changed to Leptospermum, 200 + +Index - Leichardt changed to Leichhardt (2 instances) + +Index - Menada, river, 145 changed to Meander, river, 145 + +Index - Nash discovers Gympsie changed to Nash discovers Gympie + +Index - Tennisson Woods on the caves of the Masquito Plains, 106; +changed to Tennison Woods on the caves of the Mosquito Plains, 106; + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Australian Pictures, by Howard Willoughby + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AUSTRALIAN PICTURES *** + +***** This file should be named 39322-8.txt or 39322-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/3/2/39322/ + +Produced by Nick Wall and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +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. 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