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diff --git a/39322-h/39322-h.htm b/39322-h/39322-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..664639c --- /dev/null +++ b/39322-h/39322-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9031 @@ + + +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Australian Pictures Drawn with Pen and Pencil, by Howard Willoughby. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; +} /* page numbers */ + +.linenum { + position: absolute; + top: auto; + left: 4%; +} /* poetry number */ + +.blockquote { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +.chapterheader { + margin-left: 15%; + margin-right: 15%; +} + + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.right {text-align: right;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.captionpadding {padding-left: 2em; padding-right: 2em;} + + +/* Images */ +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + +.figleft { + float: left; + clear: left; + margin-left: 0; + margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-right: 1em; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + +.figright { + float: right; + clear: right; + margin-left: 1em; + margin-bottom: + 1em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-right: 0; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + + +/* Poetry */ + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i6 {display: block; margin-left: 6em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + + +.poem span.io { + display: block; + margin-left: -.2em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3.2em; + +} + +h1 { text-align:center; line-height:1.5; } +p.title { text-align:center; text-indent:0; + font-weight:bold; font-variant:small-caps; + line-height:1.4; margin-bottom:3em; } +small { font-size:60%; } +big { font-size:140%; } + + +.trn {border: solid 1px; margin: 3em 15%; padding: 1em; text-align: justify;} + + +div.index { /* styles that apply to all text in an index */ + font-size: 90%; /*small type for compactness */ +margin: auto; width: 30em; + } +ul.IX { + list-style-type: none; + font-size:inherit; /* i.e. from the div class="index" container */ + } +.IX li { /* list items in an index: compressed vertically */ + margin-top: 0; + } + +.toca { + margin-left: 20%; + margin-right: 20%; +} + +.tocpn { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 75%; + text-align: right; +} + + + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +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.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="trn"> +<p><strong>TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:</strong> A list of changes is detailed at the <a href="#endtn">end of the book.</a></p> +</div> + + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_frontis" id="illus_frontis"></a><img src="images/illus_002_small.jpg" width="353" height="500" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Mount Kosciusko</span>.<br /> +<span class="captionpadding"><i>From the picture by J. S. Bowman, M.A.</i></span></div> + +<h1> +<big>Australian Pictures</big><br /> +Drawn with Pen and Pencil</h1> + +<p class="title">BY<br /> +HOWARD WILLOUGHBY<br /> +OF 'THE MELBOURNE ARGUS<a name="argus" id="argus"></a><ins title="Original Missing Closing '">'</ins></p> + +<p class="title"><i>WITH A MAP AND ONE HUNDRED AND SEVEN ILLUSTRATIONS FROM SKETCHES<br /> +AND PHOTOGRAPHS, ENGRAVED BY E. WHYMPER AND OTHERS.</i></p> + +<p class="title"> +LONDON<br /> +THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY<br /> +56 Paternoster Row and 164 Piccadilly<br /> +1886</p> + +<p class="title"> +LONDON:<br /> +PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, <span class="smcap">Limited</span>,<br /> +STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_005" id="illus_005"></a><img src="images/illus_005_small.jpg" width="500" height="459" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">In the Mountains, Fernshaw.</span></div> + +<h2>PREFACE.</h2> + + +<p>In one respect this work differs from its predecessors. The companion +volumes were written by travellers to the lands which they described, +but <span class="smcap">Australian Pictures</span> 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 +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>proprietors of the <i>Melbourne Argus</i> liberally gave the use of the views and +pictures of their illustrated paper, the <i>Australian Sketcher</i>, 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.</p> + + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_006" id="illus_006"></a><img src="images/illus_006_small.jpg" width="379" height="500" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">The Scots' Church, Collins Street, Melbourne.</span></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" width="40%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="3" summary=""> + +<tr><td align='left'>Mount Kosciusko</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_frontis"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>In the Mountains, Fernshaw</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_005">5</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Scots' Church, Collins Street, Melbourne</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_006">6</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + + +<div class="center"><big><br /><br />Section I.—Introductory.</big><br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='center'><strong>CHAPTER I.</strong><br /> +<strong>INTRODUCTION.</strong></div> + + +<div class="toca"><br /><span class="smcap">Area of Australia—England's Heritage—Natural Riches—Population—Present Prospects of Immigrants—The +Six Colonies—Facilities of Travel—Character of People.</span> +<span class="tocpn"><i>pages</i> <a href="#Page_11">11</a>-<a href="#Page_16">16</a></span></div> + +<p><br /></p> + +<div class='center'><i>Illustrations</i>:</div> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" width="40%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="3" summary=""> + +<tr><td align='left'>A Native Climbing a Tree for Opossum</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_012">12</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>A Road through an Australian Forest</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_013">13</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Coranderrk Station</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_016">16</a></td></tr> + +</table></div> + +<p><br /></p> + + +<div class='center'><strong>CHAPTER II.<br /> +CONFIGURATION AND CLIMATE.</strong></div> + + +<div class="toca"><br /><span class="smcap">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.</span> <span class="tocpn"><i>pages</i> <a href="#Page_17">17</a>-<a href="#Page_26">26</a></span></div> + +<p><br /></p> + +<div class='center'><i>Illustrations</i>:</div> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" width="40%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="3" summary=""> + +<tr><td align='left'>The Giant Gum-tree</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_018">18</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Railroad through the Gippsland Forest</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_019">19</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Junction of Murray and Darling Rivers</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_020">20</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The National Museum, Melbourne</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_026">26</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><br /></p> + +<div class='center'><strong>CHAPTER III.<br /> +THE AUSTRALIAN PEOPLE.</strong></div> + + +<div class="toca"><br /><span class="smcap">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.</span> <span class="tocpn"><i>pages</i> <a href="#Page_27">27</a>-<a href="#Page_34">34</a></span></div> + +<p><br /></p> + +<div class='center'><i>Illustrations</i>:</div> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" width="40%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="3" summary=""> + +<tr><td align='left'>Statue of Prince Albert in Sydney</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_028">28</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Bower-Bird</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_029">29</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Independent Church, Collins Street, Melbourne</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_033">33</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + + + +<p><br /></p> + +<div class="center"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span><big>Section II.—Bird's-eye View of the Colonies.</big></div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><strong>CHAPTER IV.<br /> + +VICTORIA.</strong></div> + + +<div class="toca"><br /><span class="smcap">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.</span> +<span class="tocpn"><i>pages</i> <a href="#Page_35">35</a>-<a href="#Page_72">72</a></span></div> + +<p><br /></p> + + +<div class='center'><i>Illustrations</i>:</div> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" width="40%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="3" summary=""> + +<tr><td align='left'>Semi-Civilised Victorian Aborigines</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_036">36</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Government House, Melbourne</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_037">37</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Melbourne, 1840</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_040">40</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>A Railway Pier in Melbourne in 1886</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_041">41</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>A Melbourne Suburban House</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_044">44</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Bird's-eye View of Melbourne showing Public Office</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_046">46</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Bird's-eye View of Melbourne looking Southwards</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_047">47</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Bird's-eye View of Central Melbourne</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_050">50</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Bourke Street, Melbourne, looking East</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_051">51</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>University, Melbourne</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_052">52</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_053">53</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Yarra Yarra, near Melbourne</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_055">55</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Bird's-eye View of Sandhurst</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_058">58</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>On Lake Wellington</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_063">63</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>A Victorian Lake </td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_065">65</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Upper Goulbourn, Victoria</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_066">66</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Waterfall in the Black Spur</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_068">68</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>A Victorian Forest</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_069">69</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Staging Scenes</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_071">71</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>A Sharp Corner</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_072">72</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><br /></p> + +<div class='center'><strong>CHAPTER V.<br /> + +NEW SOUTH WALES.</strong></div> + +<div class="toca"><br /><span class="smcap">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.</span> +<span class="tocpn"><i>pages</i> <a href="#Page_73">73</a>-<a href="#Page_96">96</a></span></div> + +<p><br /></p> + +<div class='center'><i>Illustrations</i>:</div> + +<div class='center'> + +<table border="0" width="40%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="3" summary=""> + +<tr><td align='left'>Views in Sydney: Government House, the Cathedral, and Sydney Heads</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_074">74</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Government Buildings, Macquarie Street, Sydney</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_075">75</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Statue of Captain Cook at Sydney</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_077">77</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Post Office, George Street, Sydney</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_080">80</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Sydney Harbour</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_082">82</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Macquarie Street, Sydney</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_083">83</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Town Hall, Sydney</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_085">85</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Emu Plains</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_088">88</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Valley of the Grose</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_089">89</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Zigzag Railway in the Blue Mountains</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_091">91</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Fish River Caves</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_092">92</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Waterfall at <a name="govett" id="govett"></a><ins title="Original had Gowett">Govett</ins> </td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_093">93</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p><br /></p> + + +<div class='center'><strong>CHAPTER VI.<br /> +SOUTH AUSTRALIA.</strong></div> + + +<div class="toca"><br /><span class="smcap">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.</span> +<span class="tocpn"><i>pages</i> <a href="#Page_97">97</a>-<a href="#Page_114">114</a></span></div> + +<p><br /></p> + +<div class='center'><i>Illustrations</i>:</div> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" width="40%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="3" summary=""> + +<tr><td align='left'>Overland Telegraph Party</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_098">98</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Government House and General Post Office, Adelaide</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_099">99</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Waterfall Gully, South Australia</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_100">100</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>A Murray River Boat</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_101">101</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Adelaide in 1837</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_102">102</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>King William Street, Adelaide</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_104">104</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>An Adelaide Public School</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_105">105</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Reaping in South Adelaide</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_106">106</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Camel Scenes</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_108">108</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Peake Overland Telegraph Station</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_109">109</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Collingrove Station, South Australia</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_111">111</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Sheep in the Shade of a Gum-tree</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_112">112</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Botanical Gardens, Adelaide</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_114">114</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p><br /></p> + + +<div class='center'><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span><strong>CHAPTER VII.<br /> +QUEENSLAND.</strong></div> + +<div class="toca"><br /><span class="smcap">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.</span> +<span class="tocpn"><i>pages</i> <a href="#Page_115">115</a>-<a href="#Page_130">130</a></span></div> + +<p><br /></p> + +<div class='center'><i>Illustrations</i>:</div> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" width="40%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="3" summary=""> + +<tr><td align='left'>Brisbane</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_116">116</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>A Village on Darling Downs</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_117">117</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Valley of the River Brisbane, Queensland</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_120">120</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Townsville, North Queensland</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_124">124</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Sugar Plantation, Queensland</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_127">127</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p><br /></p> + + +<div class='center'><strong>CHAPTER VIII.<br /> +WESTERN AUSTRALIA.</strong></div> + +<div class="toca"><br /><span class="smcap">Early Settlement—Mistaken Land System—Convict Labour—The System Abandoned—Poison +Plants—Perth—King George's Sound—Climate—Pearls—Prospects.</span> +<span class="tocpn"><i>pages</i> <a href="#Page_131">131</a>-<a href="#Page_140">140</a></span></div> + +<p><br /></p> + +<div class="center"><i>Illustrations</i>:</div> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" width="40%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="3" summary=""> + +<tr><td align='left'>Sheep-Shearing</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_132">132</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Perth</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_133">133</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Government House, Perth</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_137">137</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Albany</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_139">139</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p><br /></p> + + +<div class='center'><strong>CHAPTER IX.<br /> +TASMANIA.</strong></div> + +<div class="toca"><br /><span class="smcap">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.</span> +<span class="tocpn"><i>pages</i> <a href="#Page_141">141</a>-<a href="#Page_152">152</a></span></div> + +<p><br /></p> + +<div class='center'><i>Illustrations</i>:</div> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" width="40%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="3" summary=""> + +<tr><td align='left'>View of Mount Wellington, Tasmania</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_142">142</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Corra <a name="linn-a" id="linn-a"></a><ins title="Original had Lynn">Linn</ins>, Tasmania</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_143">143</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>On the South Esk, Tasmania</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_145">145</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Views in Tasmania</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_147">147</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Launceston</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_148">148</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Hell Gate, Tasmania</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_149">149</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>On the River Derwent</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_152">152</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p><br /></p> + +<div class="center"><big>Section III.—Australian Life and Products.</big></div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><strong>CHAPTER X.<br /> +HEROES OF EXPLORATION.</strong></div> + +<div class="toca"><br /><span class="smcap">Tragic Stories—Flinders and Bass—Adventures in a Small Boat—Discoveries—Disappearance of +Bass—Death of Flinders—Eyre's Journey—Ludwig <a name="leichhardt-a" id="leichhardt-a"></a><ins title="Original had Leichardt">Leichhardt</ins>—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.</span> +<span class="tocpn"><i>pages</i> <a href="#Page_153">153</a>-<a href="#Page_164">164</a></span></div> + +<p><br /></p> + + + +<div class="center"><i>Illustrations</i>:<br /></div> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" width="40%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="3" summary=""> + +<tr><td align='left'>Native Encampment</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_154">154</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>A New Clearing</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_155">155</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Splitters in the Forest</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_157">157</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>After Stray Cattle</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_160">160</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Monument to Burke and Wills in Melbourne</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_163">163</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><br /></p> + +<div class='center'><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span><strong>CHAPTER XI.<br /> +A GLANCE AT THE ABORIGINES.</strong></div> + + + +<div class="toca"><br /><span class="smcap">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.</span> +<span class="tocpn"><i>pages</i> <a href="#Page_165">165</a>-<a href="#Page_178">178</a></span></div> + +<p><br /></p> + + +<div class="center"><i>Illustrations</i>:</div> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" width="40%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="3" summary=""> + +<tr><td align='left'>A Corroboree</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_166">166</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>A Waddy Fight</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_167">167</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Civilised Aborigines</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_169">169</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>A Boomerang</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_173">173</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>A Native Encampment in Queensland</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_174">174</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>A Native Tracker</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_175">175</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Church, Schoolhouse, and Encampment at Lake Tyers </td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_176">176</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p><br /></p> + + +<div class='center'><strong>CHAPTER XII.<br /> +SOME SPECIMENS OF AUSTRALIAN FAUNA AND FLORA.</strong></div> + +<div class="toca"><br /><span class="smcap">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.</span> +<span class="tocpn"><i>pages</i> <a href="#Page_179">179</a>-<a href="#Page_202">202</a></span></div> + +<p><br /></p> + + +<div class="center"><i>Illustrations</i>:</div> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" width="40%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="3" summary=""> + +<tr><td align='left'>Australian Tree-Ferns</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_180">180</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Dingoes</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_181">181</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The <i>Sarcophilus</i> or 'Tasmanian Devil'</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_182">182</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Bass River Opossum</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_183">183</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>A Kangaroo Battue</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_184">184</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Platypus</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_186">186</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Lyre-Bird</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_187">187</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Giant Kingfisher, or Laughing Jackass</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_189">189</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Emu</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_190">190</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Tiger-Snake</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_192">192</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Australian Trees</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_195">195</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Silver-stem Eucalypts</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_198">198</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Bottle-Tree</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_201">201</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Grass-Trees</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_202">202</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p><br /></p> + + +<div class='center'><strong>CHAPTER XIII.<br /> +THE SQUATTER AND THE SETTLER.</strong></div> + +<div class="toca"><br /><span class="smcap">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.</span> +<span class="tocpn"><i>pages</i> <a href="#Page_203">203</a>-<a href="#Page_219">219</a></span></div> + +<p><br /></p> + +<div class='center'><i>Illustrations</i>:</div> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" width="40%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="3" summary=""> + +<tr><td align='left'>Driving Cattle</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_203">203</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>A Merino Sheep</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_206">206</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Ring Barking</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_209">209</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>A Bush Welcome</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_213">213</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Before and After the Fire</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_216">216</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Found!</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_218">218</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>A Squatter's Station</td> <td align='right'><a href="#illus_219">219</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p><br /></p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" width="40%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="3" summary=""> + +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Appendix</span></td> <td align='right'><a href="#Page_220">220</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Index</span></td> <td align='right'><a href="#Page_221">221</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="SECTION_I" id="SECTION_I"></a>SECTION I.<br /><br /> +INTRODUCTORY.</h2> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.<br /><br /> + +<span class="smcap">Introductory.</span></h3> + +<div class="chapterheader"><span class="smcap">Area of Australia—England's Heritage—Natural Riches—Population—Present Prospects of +Immigrants—The Six Colonies—Facilities of Travel—Character of People.</span></div> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" width="50%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" summary="Illustration Placeholder"> + +<tr><td align='right'><a name="illus_012" id="illus_012"></a><div class="figleft"><img src="images/illus_012_small.jpg" width="251" height="350" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">A Native Climbing a Tree for Opossum</span></div></td> + +<td align='left'><a name="illus_013" id="illus_013"></a><div class="figright"><img src="images/illus_013_small.jpg" width="350" height="293" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">A Road through an Australian Forest.</span></div></td></tr> + +</table></div> + + +<p>'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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_016" id="illus_016"></a><img src="images/illus_016_small.jpg" width="500" height="284" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Coranderrk Station.</span></div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.<br /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Configuration and Climate.</span></h3> + +<div class="chapterheader"><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span><span class="smcap">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.</span></p></div> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" width="50%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" summary="Illustration Placeholder"> + +<tr><td align='right'><a name="illus_018" id="illus_018"></a><div class="figleft"><img src="images/illus_018_small.jpg" width="253" height="350" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">The Giant Gum-Tree.</span> [<i>See p. <a href="#Page_196">196</a></i>]</div></td> + +<td align='left'><a name="illus_019" id="illus_019"></a><div class="figright"><img src="images/illus_019_small.jpg" width="345" height="350" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Railroad through the Gippsland Forest.</span></div></td></tr> + +</table></div> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_020" id="illus_020"></a><img src="images/illus_020_small.jpg" width="500" height="373" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Junction of Murray and Darling Rivers.</span></div> + +<p>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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> +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.'</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> +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.'</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 gentle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>man. +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_026" id="illus_026"></a><img src="images/illus_026_small.jpg" width="500" height="274" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">The National Museum, Melbourne.</span></div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.<br /><br /> +<span class="smcap">The Australian People.</span></h3> + +<div class="chapterheader"><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span><span class="smcap">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.</span></p></div> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" width="50%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" summary="Illustration Placeholder"> + +<tr><td align='right'><a name="illus_028" id="illus_028"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus_028_small.jpg" width="232" height="350" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Statue of Prince Albert in Sydney.</span></div></td> + +<td align='left'><a name="illus_029" id="illus_029"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus_029_small.jpg" width="409" height="350" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">The Bower-Bird.</span></div></td></tr> + +</table></div> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The Australian democracy has worked well upon the whole, and has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.'</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<i>s.</i> to 30<i>s.</i> per week; female cooks, +£40 to £65 per annum; laundresses, £35 to £52 per annum; general +servants, 10<i>s.</i> to 14<i>s.</i> per week (these figures are for 1884, and there has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> +been a heavy rise in 1885-6); ploughmen, 25<i>s.</i> per week and board; black-smiths, +10<i>s.</i> to 14<i>s.</i> per day; boiler-makers, 10<i>s.</i> to 14<i>s.</i> per day; plumbers, +£3 to £3 10<i>s.</i> per week; lumpers, 10<i>s.</i> to 12<i>s.</i> per day; masons, carpenters, +bricklayers and plasterers, 10<i>s.</i> to 12<i>s.</i> per day.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, the necessaries of life are cheap. Bread is 6<i>d.</i> +the 4lb. loaf, and beef and mutton are retailed at from 3<i>d.</i> to 8<i>d.</i> per lb.; +butter varies from 9<i>d.</i> to 1<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> according to the season; milk is 4<i>d.</i> to +6<i>d.</i> per quart; potatoes 2<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> to 4<i>s.</i> per cwt.; tea 1<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> to 2<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> +per lb.; rabbits are sold at 1<i>s.</i> per pair, and hares at 2<i>s.</i> each.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> +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.</p> + + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_033" id="illus_033"></a><img src="images/illus_033_small.jpg" width="382" height="500" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">The Independent Church, Collins Street, Melbourne.</span></div> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Sunday-schools flourish in every part of the country. The total number +of children attending them is returned in Victoria as 73½ 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Statistics, giving the most recent facts about the condition of the +various Churches in the colonies, will be found in the <a href="#Page_220">Appendix.</a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="SECTION_II" id="SECTION_II"></a>SECTION II.<br /><br /> + +BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF THE COLONIES.</h2> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.<br /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Victoria.</span></h3> + +<div class="chapterheader"><p><span class="smcap">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.</span></p></div> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" width="50%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" summary="Illustration Placeholder"> + +<tr><td align='right'><a name="illus_036" id="illus_036"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus_036_small.jpg" width="233" height="350" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Semi-Civilised Victorian Aborigines.</span></div></td> + +<td align='left'><a name="illus_037" id="illus_037"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus_037_small.jpg" width="372" height="350" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Government House, Melbourne.</span></div></td></tr> + +</table></div> + + +<p>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 <i>Lady Nelson</i>, +observed the inlet in the year 1800, when <i>en route</i> for Sydney. In 1802<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> +Governor King, of New South Wales, dispatched the <i>Lady Nelson</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Calcutta</i> 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> +in 1836-7: 'A land more favourable for colonisation could not be found. +This is <i>Australia Felix</i>.'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_040" id="illus_040"></a><img src="images/illus_040_small.jpg" width="500" height="372" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Melbourne, 1840.</span><br /> +(<i>From the original sketch by Mr. S. H. Haydon.</i>)</div> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_041" id="illus_041"></a><img src="images/illus_041_small.jpg" width="500" height="347" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">A Railway Pier in Melbourne in 1886.</span></div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_044" id="illus_044"></a><img src="images/illus_044_small.jpg" width="500" height="408" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">A Melbourne Suburban House.</span></div> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>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 +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>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.</p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" width="50%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" summary="Illustration Placeholder"> + +<tr><td align='right' valign='top'><a name="illus_046" id="illus_046"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus_046_small.jpg" width="253" height="350" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Bird's-Eye View of Melbourne, Showing Public Offices and Gardens: St. Kilda in the Distance.</span></div></td> + +<td align='left' valign='top'><a name="illus_047" id="illus_047"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus_047_small.jpg" width="252" height="350" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Bird's-Eye View of Melbourne, Looking Southwards to the Sea.</span></div></td></tr> + +</table></div> + +<p>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 <i>Argus</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Another Melbourne feature is the rush from the city from four to six +o'clock <span class="smcap">P.M.</span>, 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> +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 <span class="smcap">P.M.</span>, 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.</p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" width="50%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" summary="Illustration Placeholder"> + +<tr><td align='right'><a name="illus_050" id="illus_050"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus_050_small.jpg" width="350" height="352" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Bird's-eye View of Central Melbourne.</span></div></td> + +<td align='left'><a name="illus_051" id="illus_051"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus_051_small.jpg" width="403" height="352" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Bourke Street, Melbourne, looking East.</span></div></td></tr> + +</table></div> + + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>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,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_052" id="illus_052"></a><img src="images/illus_052_small.jpg" width="500" height="275" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">University, Melbourne.</span></div> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> +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.</p> + + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_053" id="illus_053"></a><img src="images/illus_053_small.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">The Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne.</span></div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>v.</i> Australia, or New South Wales <i>v.</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> +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.</p> + + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_055" id="illus_055"></a><img src="images/illus_055_small.jpg" width="500" height="416" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">The Yarra Yarra, near Melbourne.</span></div> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> +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.'</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_058" id="illus_058"></a><img src="images/illus_058_small.jpg" width="500" height="353" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Bird's-eye View of Sandhurst.</span></div> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> +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.'</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>'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 <i>auri +sacra fames</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> +less than four of these, all of +large size and comfortable appointments.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_063" id="illus_063"></a><img src="images/illus_063_small.jpg" width="388" height="500" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">On Lake Wellington.</span></div> + +<p>Geelong tweed has achieved +a high reputation in many markets, and the +shawls and blankets made in the town are +also widely known.</p> + +<p>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,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> +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:—</p> + +<p><a name="Thomas" id="Thomas"></a>'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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_065" id="illus_065"></a><img src="images/illus_065_small.jpg" width="500" height="364" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">A Victorian Lake.</span></div> + +<p>'A strange feature in the lakes here is that they are alternately fresh<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_066" id="illus_066"></a><img src="images/illus_066_small.jpg" width="500" height="441" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">The Upper Goulbourn, Victoria.</span></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>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 <i>Australia Felix</i>—for +it was this region which Mitchell so named—is a large fortune.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_068" id="illus_068"></a><img src="images/illus_068_small.jpg" width="345" height="500" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Waterfall in the Black Spur.</span></div> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_069" id="illus_069"></a><img src="images/illus_069_small.jpg" width="377" height="500" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">A Victorian Forest.</span></div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.'</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_071" id="illus_071"></a><img src="images/illus_071_small.jpg" width="360" height="500" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Staging Scenes.</span></div> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> +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.</p> + + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_072" id="illus_072"></a><img src="images/illus_072_small.jpg" width="402" height="500" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">A Sharp Corner.</span></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p> +<h3>CHAPTER V.<br /><br /> + +<span class="smcap">New South Wales.</span></h3> + +<div class="chapterheader"><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span><span class="smcap">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.</span></p></div> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" width="50%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" summary="Illustration Placeholder"> + +<tr><td align='right'><a name="illus_074" id="illus_074"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus_074_small.jpg" width="240" height="350" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Views in Sydney: Government House, the Cathedral, and Sydney Heads.</span></div></td> + +<td align='left'><a name="illus_075" id="illus_075"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus_075_small.jpg" width="490" height="350" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Government Buildings, Macquarie Street, Sydney.</span></div></td></tr> + +</table></div> + + + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>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.</p> + + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_077" id="illus_077"></a><img src="images/illus_077_small.jpg" width="362" height="500" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Statue of Captain Cook at Sydney.</span></div> + +<p>The following general description of Sydney and the colony is contributed +by Mr. F. H. Myers:—</p> + +<p>'Naturally any notice of the colony of New South Wales begins with +Sydney and its harbour—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<span class="io">"Like some dark beauteous bird whose plumes</span> +<span class="i0">Are sparkling with unnumbered eyes,"</span> +</div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>'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.</p> + +<p>'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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_082" id="illus_082"></a><img src="images/illus_082_small.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Sydney Harbour.</span></div> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" width="50%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" summary="Illustration Placeholder"> + +<tr><td align='right'><a name="illus_080" id="illus_080"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus_080_small.jpg" width="415" height="363" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">The Post Office, George Street, Sydney.</span></div></td> + +<td align='left'><a name="illus_083" id="illus_083"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus_083_small.jpg" width="350" height="363" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Macquarie Street, Sydney.</span></div></td></tr> + +</table></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>'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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>'Complete your picture of the present by a glance up the long estuaries +of the Paramatta and <a name="lanecove" id="lanecove"></a><ins title="Original had Lan">Lane</ins> 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.</p> + +<p>'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 <i>avant couriers</i> 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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_085" id="illus_085"></a><img src="images/illus_085_small.jpg" width="346" height="500" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">The Town Hall, Sydney.</span></div> + +<p>'Let us travel along each of these lines, radiating somewhat as the fingers +of a spread hand from south to north.</p> + +<p>'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 +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>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.</p> + +<p>'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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_088" id="illus_088"></a><img src="images/illus_088_small.jpg" width="495" height="500" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Emu Plains.</span></div> + +<p>'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 <a name="Bega" id="Bega">Bega</a>, and over the rugged country +of the Victorian border beyond Eden and Boyd Town.</p> + +<p>'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.</p> + + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_089" id="illus_089"></a><img src="images/illus_089_small.jpg" width="493" height="500" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">The Valley of the Grose.</span></div> + + +<p>'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 +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>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</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<span class="i0">"Long fields of barley and of rye."</span> +</div> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> +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.'</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> +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:—</p> + + + +<p>'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.'</p> + +<p>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,—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<span class="i6">'A vale of beauty, lovelier</span> +<span class="i0">Than all the valleys of the greater hills.'</span> +</div> + +<p>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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> +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.</p> + + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_091" id="illus_091"></a><img src="images/illus_091_small.jpg" width="500" height="344" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Zigzag Railway in the Blue Mountains.</span></div> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_092" id="illus_092"></a><img src="images/illus_092_small.jpg" width="327" height="500" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Fish River Cave.</span></div> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> +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—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<span class="i0">'Through measureless caverns to the sea;'</span> +</div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_093" id="illus_093"></a><img src="images/illus_093_small.jpg" width="341" height="500" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Waterfall at Govett.</span></div> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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 <a name="mulga" id="mulga">mulga</a>, 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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span></p> +<h3>CHAPTER VI.<br /><br /> +<span class="smcap">South Australia.</span></h3> + +<div class="chapterheader"><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span><span class="smcap">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.</span></p></div> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" width="50%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" summary="Illustration Placeholder"> + +<tr><td align='right'><a name="illus_098" id="illus_098"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus_098_small.jpg" width="350" height="234" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">J. A. G. Little. R. G. Paterson. C. Todd. A. J. Mitchell.<br /> +Overland Telegraph Party.</span></div></td> + +<td align='left'><a name="illus_099" id="illus_099"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus_099_small.jpg" width="350" height="246" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Government House and General Post Office, Adelaide.</span></div></td></tr> + +</table></div> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_100" id="illus_100"></a><img src="images/illus_100_small.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Waterfall Gully, South Australia.</span></div> + +<p>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,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_101" id="illus_101"></a><img src="images/illus_101_small.jpg" width="500" height="372" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">A Murray River Boat.</span></div> + +<p>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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_102" id="illus_102"></a><img src="images/illus_102_small.jpg" width="500" height="376" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Adelaide in 1837.</span></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_104" id="illus_104"></a><img src="images/illus_104_small.jpg" width="500" height="373" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">King William Street, Adelaide.</span></div> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_105" id="illus_105"></a><img src="images/illus_105_small.jpg" width="500" height="369" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">An Adelaide Public School.</span></div> + +<p>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 Rose<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>worthy, +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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_106" id="illus_106"></a><img src="images/illus_106_small.jpg" width="500" height="385" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Reaping in South Adelaide.</span></div> + +<p>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 <i>Geological Observations of +South Australia</i>: 'In the midst of a sandy, swampy country, a series of +caves is found, whose internal beauty is at strange variance with the wildness<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> +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.'</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_108" id="illus_108"></a><img src="images/illus_108_small.jpg" width="500" height="467" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Camel Scenes.</span></div> + +<p>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 <a href="#illus_098">page 98</a> 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 +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_109" id="illus_109"></a><img src="images/illus_109_small.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Peake Overland Telegraph Station.</span></div> + +<p>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 <a name="beleaguered" id="beleaguered"></a><ins title="Original had beleagured">beleaguered</ins> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_111" id="illus_111"></a><img src="images/illus_111_small.jpg" width="500" height="370" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Collingrove Station, South Australia.</span></div> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>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;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_112" id="illus_112"></a><img src="images/illus_112_small.jpg" width="500" height="377" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Sheep in the shade of a Gum-tree.</span></div> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Argus</i> (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.'</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_114" id="illus_114"></a><img src="images/illus_114_small.jpg" width="500" height="348" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">The Botanical Gardens, Adelaide.</span></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p> +<h3>CHAPTER VII.<br /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Queensland.</span></h3> + +<div class="chapterheader"><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span><span class="smcap">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.</span></p></div> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" width="50%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" summary="Illustration Placeholder"> + +<tr><td align='right'><a name="illus_116" id="illus_116"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus_116_small.jpg" width="350" height="231" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Brisbane.</span></div></td> + +<td align='left'><a name="illus_117" id="illus_117"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus_117_small.jpg" width="402" height="231" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">A Village on Darling Downs.</span></div></td></tr> + +</table></div> + +<p>The following sketch of the great colony of Queensland is from the pen +of Mr. Carl A. Feilberg of Brisbane.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 tumble<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>down +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_120" id="illus_120"></a><img src="images/illus_120_small.jpg" width="500" height="374" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Valley of the River Brisbane, Queensland.</span></div> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> +for over 100,000 square miles of territory, it should have a very prosperous +career before it.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_124" id="illus_124"></a><img src="images/illus_124_small.jpg" width="500" height="283" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Townsville, North Queensland.</span></div> + +<p>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,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_127" id="illus_127"></a><img src="images/illus_127_small.jpg" width="500" height="320" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Sugar Plantation, Queensland.</span></div> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span></p> + +<h3>CHAPTER VIII.<br /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Western Australia.</span></h3> + +<div class="chapterheader"><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span><span class="smcap">Early Settlement—Mistaken Land System—Convict Labour—The System Abandoned—Poison +Plants—Perth—King George's Sound—Climate—Pearls—Prospects.</span></p></div> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" width="50%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" summary="Illustration Placeholder"> + +<tr><td align='right'><a name="illus_132" id="illus_132"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus_132_small.jpg" width="350" height="233" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Sheep-Shearing.</span></div></td> + +<td align='left'><a name="illus_133" id="illus_133"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus_133_small.jpg" width="350" height="260" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Perth.</span></div></td></tr> + +</table></div> + +<p>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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>Australia Felix</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>Gastrolobium bilobum</i>, the <i>Gastrolobium calycinum</i>, <i>Gastrolobium +callistachys</i>, and the <i>Gastrolobium anylobiaides</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>The city of Perth is built in a picturesque situation above the broad<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_137" id="illus_137"></a><img src="images/illus_137_small.jpg" width="500" height="353" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Government House, Perth.</span></div> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>The pearl fisheries off the +coast of West Australia, and +<a name="especially" id="especially"></a><ins title="Original had expecially">especially</ins> at Shark Bay, produce +the true pearl oyster, the +<i>Avicula <a name="margaritifera" id="margaritifera"></a><ins title="Original had margaratifera">margaritifera</ins></i>. 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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_139" id="illus_139"></a><img src="images/illus_139_small.jpg" width="500" height="182" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Albany.</span></div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>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.'</p> + +<p>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 <i>bonâ fide</i> 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.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span></p> + +<h3>CHAPTER IX.<br /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Tasmania.</span></h3> + +<div class="chapterheader"><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span><span class="smcap">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.</span></p></div> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" width="50%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" summary="Illustration Placeholder"> + +<tr><td align='right'><a name="illus_142" id="illus_142"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus_142_small.jpg" width="350" height="254" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">View of Mount Wellington, Tasmania.</span></div></td> + +<td align='left'><a name="illus_143" id="illus_143"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus_143_small.jpg" width="350" height="304" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Corra <a name="linn-b" id="linn-b"></a><ins title="Original had Lynn">Linn</ins>, Tasmania.</span></div></td></tr> + +</table></div> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_145" id="illus_145"></a><img src="images/illus_145_small.jpg" width="500" height="356" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">On the South Esk, Tasmania.</span></div> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Beyond Mount Bischoff the woods grow denser, and traffic through them +to newer tin-fields on the west coast is infrequent and hazardous. Twelve<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_147" id="illus_147"></a><img src="images/illus_147_small.jpg" width="500" height="377" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Views In Tasmania.</span></div> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> +interests were not permanent, and the attention of investors has long since +been diverted to finer fields.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_148" id="illus_148"></a><img src="images/illus_148_small.jpg" width="500" height="424" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Launceston.</span></div> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> +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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> +As they stand now even they are not unprofitable. Without them many a +picturesque scene would be less interesting.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_149" id="illus_149"></a><img src="images/illus_149_small.jpg" width="352" height="500" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Hell Gate, Tasmania.</span></div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>entrepôt</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> +easy is the navigation that vessels very rarely have to employ pilots. Reefs +and shoals are unknown.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_152" id="illus_152"></a><img src="images/illus_152_small.jpg" width="500" height="398" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">On the River Derwent.</span></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span></p> + +<h2>SECTION III.<br /><br /> +AUSTRALIAN LIFE AND PRODUCTS.</h2> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span></p> + +<h3>CHAPTER X.<br /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Heroes of Exploration.</span></h3> + +<div class="chapterheader"><p><span class="smcap">Tragic Stories—Flinders and Bass—Adventures in a Small Boat—Discoveries—Disappearance of +Bass—Death of Flinders—Eyre's Journey—Ludwig <a name="leichhardt-b" id="leichhardt-b"></a><ins title="Original had Leichardt">Leichhardt</ins>—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.</span></p></div> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" width="50%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" summary="Illustration Placeholder"> + +<tr><td align='right'><a name="illus_154" id="illus_154"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus_154_small.jpg" width="350" height="250" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Native Encampment.</span></div></td> + +<td align='left'><a name="illus_155" id="illus_155"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus_155_small.jpg" width="448" height="252" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">A New Clearing.</span></div></td></tr> + +</table></div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_157" id="illus_157"></a><img src="images/illus_157_small.jpg" width="500" height="438" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Splitters in the Forest.</span></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Next comes the tale of the explorer over whose fate a veil of mystery +and romance has fallen. In 1844 Ludwig <a name="leichhardt-c" id="leichhardt-c"></a><ins title="Original had Leichardt">Leichhardt</ins> 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 <a name="leichhardt-e" id="leichhardt-e"></a><ins title="Original had Leichardt">Leichhardt</ins>, +and the Government presented him with £1000. After a short trip of seven +months in the Queensland bush, <a name="leichhardt-f" id="leichhardt-f"></a><ins title="Original had Leichardt">Leichhardt</ins> 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.'</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, <a name="leichhardt-g" id="leichhardt-g"></a><ins title="Original had Leichardt">Leichhardt</ins> 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_160" id="illus_160"></a><img src="images/illus_160_small.jpg" width="500" height="494" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">After Stray Cattle.</span></div> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>cache</i>, 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> +natives—just at the moment when another day would have rewarded them +with the sight of Mount Hopeless on the horizon.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_163" id="illus_163"></a><img src="images/illus_163_small.jpg" width="380" height="500" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Monument to Burke and Wills in Melbourne.</span></div> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></p> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.<br /><br /> + +<span class="smcap">A Glance at the Aborigines.</span></h3> + +<div class="chapterheader"><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span><span class="smcap">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.</span></p></div> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" width="50%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" summary="Illustration Placeholder"> + +<tr><td align='right'><a name="illus_166" id="illus_166"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus_166_small.jpg" width="350" height="246" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">A Corroboree.</span></div></td> + +<td align='left'><a name="illus_167" id="illus_167"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus_167_small.jpg" width="350" height="259" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">A Waddy Fight.</span> (<i>See p. <a href="#Page_168">168.</a></i>)</div></td></tr> + +</table></div> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_169" id="illus_169"></a><img src="images/illus_169_small.jpg" width="500" height="299" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Civilised Aborigines.</span></div> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> +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.'</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Mr. E. M. Carr, Chief Inspector of Stock in Victoria, in his interesting +and valuable <i>Recollections of Squatting in Victoria</i>, 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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> +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.'</p> + +<p>In another chapter Mr. Carr shows his friends in an unamiable light.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>'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.</p> + +<p>'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.</p> + +<p>'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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> +Altogether it was a ghastly, horrible scene that the pale moon looked down +on that night at Thule.'</p> + +<p>Mr. Carr describes the agility displayed by the men in such feats as +mounting the trees for opossums, &c., and the illustration on <a href="#illus_012">page 12</a> tells +the story of one of these hunts.</p> + +<p>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 <i>sui generis</i>. 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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_173" id="illus_173"></a><img src="images/illus_173_small.jpg" width="500" height="170" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">A Boomerang.</span></div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> +painting a shield. The curiously-shaped huts of the North Australian blacks +form characteristic objects in the engraving.</p> + +<p>The engraving on <a href="#illus_166">page 166</a> 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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_174" id="illus_174"></a><img src="images/illus_174_small.jpg" width="500" height="352" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">A Native Encampment in Queensland.</span></div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The idea of employing black trackers was mooted, and some of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_175" id="illus_175"></a><img src="images/illus_175_small.jpg" width="442" height="500" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">A Native Tracker.</span></div> + +<p>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 +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>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,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> +state school teacher; and a native camp, occupied by natives who decline +the accommodation of the huts.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_176" id="illus_176"></a><img src="images/illus_176_small.jpg" width="498" height="500" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Church, Schoolhouse, and Encampment at Lake Tyers.</span></div> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<div class="blockquote"> +<p><span class="smcap">Aboriginal Mission Station, Ramahyuck, Gippsland,</span></p> + +<p><i>January 30, 1886</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>,—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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + + +<div class="center">I remain, dear sir, yours very truly,</div> + +<div class="right"><span class="smcap">F. A. Hagenauer.</span></div> + +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span></p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XII.<br /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Some Specimens of Australian Fauna and Flora.</span></h3> + +<div class="chapterheader"><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span><span class="smcap">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.</span></p></div> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" width="50%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" summary="Illustration Placeholder"> + +<tr><td align='right'><a name="illus_180" id="illus_180"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus_180_small.jpg" width="350" height="244" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Australian Tree-Ferns.</span></div></td> + +<td align='left'><a name="illus_181" id="illus_181"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus_181_small.jpg" width="350" height="244" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Dingoes.</span></div></td></tr> + +</table></div> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> +tree will be found a family of the <i>Dasyuridæ</i> 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 <a href="#illus_183">page 183</a> 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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_182" id="illus_182"></a><img src="images/illus_182_small.jpg" width="500" height="491" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">The</span> <i>Sarcophilus</i> <span class="smcap">or 'Tasmanian Devil.'</span></div> + +<p>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 <i>Thylacinus</i> or +'tiger-wolf,' and the <i>Sarcophilus</i> 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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_183" id="illus_183"></a><img src="images/illus_183_small.jpg" width="334" height="500" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Bass River Opossum.</span></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>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</p> + +<p><span class="blockquote"> +The wolf's long howl from Oonalastra's shore. +</span></p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> +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 <a href="#illus_181">page 181.</a></p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_184" id="illus_184"></a><img src="images/illus_184_small.jpg" width="500" height="359" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">A Kangaroo Battue.</span></div> + +<p>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;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Ornithorhynchus</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>Australia is rich in the abundance and variety of birds of the parrot<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_186" id="illus_186"></a><img src="images/illus_186_small.jpg" width="500" height="378" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">The Platypus.</span></div> + +<p>One of the most interesting birds of Australia is the so-called lyre-bird, +the <i>Menura Victoriæ</i> 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.'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_187" id="illus_187"></a><img src="images/illus_187_small.jpg" width="401" height="500" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">The Lyre-Bird.</span></div> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> +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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_189" id="illus_189"></a><img src="images/illus_189_small.jpg" width="500" height="500" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">The Giant Kingfisher, or Laughing Jackass.</span></div> + +<p>The largest game bird is the emu, but it is not pursued by sportsmen.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_190" id="illus_190"></a><img src="images/illus_190_small.jpg" width="405" height="500" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">The Emu.</span></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Smaller game is abundant everywhere. The snipe, as nearly as possible<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_192" id="illus_192"></a><img src="images/illus_192_small.jpg" width="500" height="311" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">The Tiger-Snake.</span></div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_195" id="illus_195"></a><img src="images/illus_195_small.jpg" width="203" height="500" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Australian Trees.</span></div> + +<p>In vegetation as in other matters Australia +delights in the vast, sometimes in the <i>outré</i>, +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,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> +uneatable by horse or ass, or, I believe, by camel, and apt to wound the feet +of the unfortunate animal that journeys over it.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Livistonia</i> +attaining in suitable places a height of eighty feet. The musk-tree and the +<i>Pittosporum</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Sequoia gigantea</i> has had to retire in favour of the <i>Eucalyptus +amygdalina</i>, 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:—</p> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" width="60%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="3" summary=""> + +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'>The elm </td> <td align='left' valign='top'>60 feet to 80 feet.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'>The oak</td> <td align='left' valign='top'>60 feet to 100 feet.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Pinus insignis</i></td> <td align='left' valign='top'>60 feet to 100 feet.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Himalayan cedar</td> <td align='left' valign='top'> 200 feet.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Sequoia gigantea</i>, or 'big tree' of California</td> <td align='left' valign='top'>200 feet to 325 feet.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Eucalyptus amygdalina</i>, or giant gum</td> <td align='left' valign='top'>250 feet to 480 feet.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'></td> <td align='left' valign='top'></td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> +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 <i>Sequoia</i> 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 <i>Sequoia</i> in existence, the Mount Baw-Baw +eucalypt would still overlook the three.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>In his <i>Goldfields of Victoria</i> 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 <i>Sequoias</i>. 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 <a href="#illus_016">page 16</a> of the Gippsland railway running +through a cleared track gives some idea of a primæval forest in Victoria.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Of the other gums the pride of place must be awarded to the noble +<i><a name="Eucalpytus" id="Eucalpytus"></a><ins title="Original had Ecalpytus">Eucalpytus</ins> rostrata</i>, or red gum of the colonists. Fine specimens are still to +be found near Melbourne, though the value of its wood has marked them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> +out for destruction in the neighbourhood of towns and cities. The <i>Rostrata</i> +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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_198" id="illus_198"></a><img src="images/illus_198_small.jpg" width="500" height="497" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Silver-stem Eucalypts.</span></div> + +<p>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,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> +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 <i>Teredo navalis</i>. 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 <i>Eucalyptus ficifolia</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>The mallee (<i>Eucalyptus dumosa</i>) 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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>The tree most favoured for this purpose is the blue gum, or <i>Eucalyptus +globus</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Leptospermum</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>Inland the shea-oak (<i>Casuarina striata</i>) 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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_201" id="illus_201"></a><img src="images/illus_201_small.jpg" width="378" height="500" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">The Bottle-Tree.</span></div> + +<p>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' (<i>Sterculia acerifolia</i>). 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> +the tree has veritably the appearance of a fire. Cycads and palm-lilies are +picturesque wherever they are met with.</p> + +<p>The grass-trees (<i>Xanthorrhœa</i>) 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 +<i>Xanthorrhœa</i> 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 <a name="boronia" id="boronia">boronia</a>, with +its powerful perfume, will be admired by the visitor; the <i>Araucarias</i> 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.'</p> + +<p>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.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span></p> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.<br /><br /> +<span class="smcap">The Squatter and the Settler.</span></h3> + + +<div class="chapterheader"><p><span class="smcap">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.</span></p></div> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" width="50%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" summary="Illustration Placeholder"> + +<tr><td align='right'><a name="illus_202" id="illus_202"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus_202_small.jpg" width="273" height="350" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Grass-Trees.</span></div></td> + +<td align='left'><a name="illus_203" id="illus_203"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus_203_small.jpg" width="350" height="248" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Driving Cattle.</span></div></td></tr> + +</table></div> + + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The following remarks on squatting are contributed by <a name="Brown" id="Brown">Mr. G. A. +Brown</a>, author of the standard work, <i>Sheep Breeding in Australia</i>: 'It is +curious that the first settlers in Australia firmly believed the country to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> +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<i>s.</i> 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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_206" id="illus_206"></a><img src="images/illus_206_small.jpg" width="457" height="500" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">A Merino Sheep.</span></div> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>'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.</p> + +<p>'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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>'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.</p> + +<p>'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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> +Surveyor-General of the colony declared was not worth 2<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> 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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_209" id="illus_209"></a><img src="images/illus_209_small.jpg" width="500" height="354" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Ring Barking.</span></div> + +<p>'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,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>'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.</p> + +<p>'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.</p> + +<p>'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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>'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.'</p> + +<p>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 +<i>Australasian</i> 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:—</p> + +<p>'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.</p> + +<p>'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.'</p> + +<p>Mr. Dow is an enthusiastic irrigationist, and it is pleasant to hear him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>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<i>d.</i> to 4<i>d.</i> per acre, for a +period of fourteen years, after which it reverts to the Crown, an allowance +up to 10<i>s.</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The settler has few enemies. The only two worth naming are drought<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_213" id="illus_213"></a><img src="images/illus_213_small.jpg" width="352" height="500" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">A Bush Welcome.</span></div> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>'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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>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 '<i>Argus</i> 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p>'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."</p> + +<p>'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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> +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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> +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."</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><a name="illus_216" id="illus_216"></a><img src="images/illus_216_small.jpg" width="359" height="500" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Before and After the Fire.</span></div> + +<p>'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.'</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> +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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>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.</p> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" width="50%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" summary="Illustration Placeholder"> + +<tr><td align='right'><a name="illus_218" id="illus_218"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus_218_small.jpg" width="325" height="350" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">Found!</span></div></td> + +<td align='left'><a name="illus_219" id="illus_219"></a><div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus_219_small.jpg" width="350" height="236" alt="" /><br /> +<span class="smcap">A Squatter's Station.</span></div></td></tr> + +</table></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span></p> + +<h3><a name="APPENDIX" id="APPENDIX"></a>APPENDIX.<br /><br /> + +THE RELIGIOUS STATISTICS OF THE CHIEF COLONIES.</h3> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Victoria.</span>—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.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">New South Wales.</span>—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.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">South Australia.</span>—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. +57,311.2</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p> + +<h2>INDEX.</h2> + +<div class="index"> + +<ul class="IX"> + +<li><span class="smcap">Aborigines</span>: +<ul class="IX"> +<li>appearance, <a href="#Page_167">167;</a></li> +<li>life, <a href="#Page_168">168;</a></li> +<li>fighting, <a href="#Page_168">168;</a></li> +<li>Mr. Moore's narrative about, <a href="#Page_169">169;</a></li> +<li>customs, <a href="#Page_169">169;</a></li> +<li>dress, <a href="#Page_170">170;</a></li> +<li>Mr. Carr's story, <a href="#Page_170">170;</a></li> +<li>Ngooraialum and Bangerang tribes, <a href="#Page_170">170;</a></li> +<li>weapons, <a href="#Page_173">173;</a></li> +<li>fierceness of Northern blacks, <a href="#Page_173">173;</a></li> +<li>Corroboree, a, <a href="#Page_174">174;</a></li> +<li>cannibalism, <a href="#Page_174">174;</a></li> +<li>trackers, their usefulness as, <a href="#Page_174">174;</a></li> +<li>Mission stations, <a href="#Page_175">175;</a></li> +<li>Lake Tyers station, <a href="#Page_176">176;</a></li> +<li>Hagenauer, Rev. F. A., letter of, about, <a href="#Page_177">177;</a></li> +</ul></li> + + +<li>Acacia, <a href="#Page_200">200</a></li> + +<li><span class="smcap">Adelaide</span>: +<ul class="IX"> +<li>founding, <a href="#Page_103">103;</a></li> +<li>Glenelg, <a href="#Page_103">103;</a></li> +<li>houses, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>,<a href="#Page_104">104;</a></li> +<li>streets and parks, <a href="#Page_103">103;</a></li> +<li>surroundings, <a href="#Page_103">103;</a></li> +<li>churches, <a href="#Page_104">104;</a></li> +<li>Victoria Square, <a href="#Page_105">105;</a></li> +<li>King William Street, <a href="#Page_105">105;</a></li> +<li>Botanical Gardens, <a href="#Page_105">105;</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li>Albany, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> + +<li>Albert, river, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> + +<li>Alligator stories, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li> + +<li>Amadeus, lake, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> + +<li>Araucarias, <a href="#Page_202">202</a></li> + +<li>Argus snipe, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li> + +<li><span class="smcap">Australia</span>: +<ul class="IX"> +<li>former errors about, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23;</a></li> +<li>exports, <a href="#Page_14">14;</a></li> +<li>population, <a href="#Page_14">14;</a></li> +<li>prosperity, <a href="#Page_14">14;</a></li> +<li>colonies, <a href="#Page_15">15;</a></li> +<li>capitals, <a href="#Page_15">15;</a></li> +<li>people, <a href="#Page_16">16;</a></li> +<li>area, <a href="#Page_19">19;</a></li> +<li>mountains, <a href="#Page_20">20;</a></li> +<li>snow, <a href="#Page_20">20;</a></li> +<li>river system, <a href="#Page_20">20;</a></li> +<li>physical geography, <a href="#Page_21">21;</a></li> +<li>climate, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138;</a></li> +<li>hot winds, <a href="#Page_22">22;</a></li> +<li>temperature, <a href="#Page_22">22;</a></li> +<li>storms, <a href="#Page_22">22;</a></li> +<li>natives, <a href="#Page_23">23;</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167;</a></li> +<li>fires, <a href="#Page_23">23;</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213;</a></li> +<li>rainfall, <a href="#Page_24">24;</a></li> +<li>drought, losses by, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208;</a></li> +<li>not yet fully explored, <a href="#Page_25">25;</a></li> +<li>democracy, <a href="#Page_29">29;</a></li> +<li>securities, rise in, <a href="#Page_30">30;</a></li> +<li>federation movement, <a href="#Page_30">30;</a></li> +<li>immigration, <a href="#Page_30">30;</a></li> +<li>wages, <a href="#Page_30">30;</a></li> +<li>prices, <a href="#Page_31">31;</a></li> +<li>religion, <a href="#Page_31">31;</a></li> +<li>service, a rural, <a href="#Page_32">32;</a></li> +<li>Sunday observance, <a href="#Page_32">32;</a></li> +<li>sects, <a href="#Page_34">34;</a></li> +<li>Sunday schools, <a href="#Page_34">34;</a></li> +<li>church building, <a href="#Page_34">34;</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li><i>Australia Felix</i>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></li> + +<li>Australian Alps, the, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></li> + +<li>Avon, river, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Bairnsdale</span>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li> + +<li><span class="smcap">Ballarat</span>: + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>impressions, <a href="#Page_59">59;</a></li> +<li>Botanical Gardens, <a href="#Page_60">60;</a></li> +<li>discovery of gold, <a href="#Page_60">60;</a></li> +<li>situation, <a href="#Page_61">61;</a></li> +<li>the Corner, <a href="#Page_61">61;</a></li> +<li>Trollope on, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> +</ul></li> + + +<li>Barcoo, river, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> + +<li>Barrier Reef, the, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> + +<li>Barrow Creek, station at, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> + +<li>Bass, story of, <a href="#Page_155">155</a></li> + +<li>Bass's Straits, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> + +<li>Bathurst, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li> + +<li>Batman, settlement of, in Victoria, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> + +<li>Baudin, M., treachery of, <a href="#Page_157">157</a></li> + +<li>Baxter, murder of, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> + +<li>Bear, native, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> + +<li>Beechworth, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li> + +<li>Belfast, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></li> + +<li>Ben Lomond, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> + +<li>Bendigo, <i>see</i> <span class="smcap"><a href="#index_sandhurst">Sandhurst</a></span>.</li> + +<li>Big Scrub, New South Wales, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li> + +<li>Birds of Paradise, <a href="#Page_186">186</a></li> + +<li>Bishopscourt, view from, Melbourne, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li> + +<li>Black boy, <a href="#Page_202">202</a></li> + +<li>Black-fish, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li> + +<li>Black Spur, the, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li> + +<li>Black Thursday in South Australia, <a href="#Page_213">213;</a> + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>in Victoria, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li>Blackheath, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> + +<li>Blayney, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> + +<li>Blue gum, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>200</li> + +<li>Blue Mountains, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> + +<li>Blue wren, <a href="#Page_186">186</a></li> + +<li>Boomerang, the, <a href="#Page_173">173</a></li> + +<li>Booth, Mr. E. C., on Shepparton, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> + +<li>Boroina, <a href="#Page_202">202</a></li> + +<li>Bosisto, Mr. J., on Eucalyptus, <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li> + +<li>Botany Bay, discovery of, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> + +<li>Bottle-tree, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> + +<li>Bourke Street, Melbourne, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> + +<li>Bourke, New South Wales, <a href="#Page_94">94;</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li>a winter day at, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li>Bowen, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> + +<li>Box-tree, <a href="#Page_208">208</a></li> + +<li>Bower bird, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li> + +<li>Box-scrub, the, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> + +<li>Bream, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> + +<li>Breeza plains, <a href="#Page_95">295</a></li> + +<li>Bremer, river, <a href="#Page_119">119</a></li> + +<li>Bremoroma, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> + +<li>Brighton, a suburb of Melbourne, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li> + +<li><span class="smcap">Brisbane</span>, population, <a href="#Page_119">119;</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li>site, <a href="#Page_119">119;</a></li> +<li>streets, <a href="#Page_119">119;</a></li> +<li>beauty, <a href="#Page_120">120;</a></li> +<li>garden of Acclimatisation Society, <a href="#Page_120">120;</a></li> +<li>houses, <a href="#Page_121">121;</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li>Broome, Sir F. N., on life in Western Australia, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></li> + +<li>Brown, Mr. G. A., on sheep breeding, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> + +<li>Buffaloes, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li> + +<li>Bulmer, Rev. J., at Lake Tyers, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li> + +<li>Bundaberg, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li> + +<li>Bunbury, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li> + +<li>Burke, R. O'Hara, expedition of, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li> + +<li>Burketown, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> + +<li>Burnett, river, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> + +<li>Bustard, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> + +<li><span class="smcap">Cairns</span>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li> + +<li>Caldwell, Mr. W. H., on the platypus, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li> + +<li>Cam, river, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> + +<li>Camels at Beltana, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></li> + +<li>Canoona rush, the, in Queensland, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> + +<li>Cape Grant, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> + +<li>Cape Nelson, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> + +<li>Cape Otway ranges, fire at, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li> + +<li>Capertee, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> + +<li>Capitals, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li> + +<li>Cardwell, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li> + +<li>Carr, Mr. E. M., on the natives, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li> + +<li>Carriers, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> + +<li>Castle hill, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> + +<li><i>Casuarina Striata</i>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a></li> + +<li>Cats, native, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> + +<li>Cattle-raising, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li> + +<li>Cattle, number of, in Australia, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li> + +<li>Central Trunk Railway, Queensland, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> + +<li>Charters Towers, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> + +<li>Churches, the, state of, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li> + +<li>Clarence, river, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> + +<li>Clermont, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> + +<li>Climate, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> + +<li>Coaching, Trollope on, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> + +<li>Cobb, who he was,<a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> + +<li>Cockatoo, <a href="#Page_186">186</a></li> + +<li>Cohan, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> + +<li>Colac lake, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li> + +<li>Collins lands at Sorrento, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> + +<li>Collins Street, Melbourne, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> + +<li>Concherry, river, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li> + +<li>Cook, Captain, discovers Botany Bay, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> + +<li>Cooktown, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li> + +<li>Cooper's Creek, native settlement at, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> + +<li>Corangamite lake, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li> + +<li>Corra Linn, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li> + +<li>Corroboree, a, <a href="#Page_174">174</a></li> + +<li>Cotton growing in Queensland, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> + +<li>Crosbie, Clara, story of, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></li> + +<li>Cunningham's Gap, <a href="#Page_119">119</a></li> + +<li>Cutting out cattle, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li> + +<li>Cycads, <a href="#Page_202">202</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Dalby</span>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> + +<li>Darling Downs, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a></li> + +<li>Darling, river, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> + +<li><i>Dasyuridæ</i>, the, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> + +<li>Deloraine, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li> + +<li>Democracy, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li> + +<li>D'Entrecasteaux Channel, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> + +<li>Depôt Glen, Sturt at, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> + +<li>Derwent, river, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> + +<li>Devil, Tasmanian, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> + +<li>Dibbs, Mr., on losses by drought, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> + +<li>Dingo, <a href="#Page_183">183</a></li> + +<li>Dog, wild, <a href="#Page_183">183</a></li> + +<li>Don, river, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> + +<li>Dow, Mr. T. K., on farming, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></li> + +<li>Drought, losses by, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a></li> + +<li>Dubbo, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> + +<li>Ducks, wild, <a href="#Page_191">191;</a> + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>mountain duck, <a href="#Page_191">191;</a></li> +<li>black duck, <a href="#Page_191">191;</a></li> +<li>wood duck, <a href="#Page_191">191;</a></li> +<li>teal, <a href="#Page_191">191;</a></li> +<li>widgeon, <a href="#Page_191">191;</a></li> +<li>blue wing, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> +</ul></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Eaglebank Neck</span>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> + +<li>Elder, Sir Thomas, introduces camels, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></li> + +<li>Emu, chase of, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li> + +<li>Emu Plains, <a href="#Page_88">88;</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Dr. J. E. Taylor on, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li>Eucalypt, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li> + +<li><i>Eucalyptus amygdalina</i>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> + +<li><i>E. dumosa</i>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li> + +<li><i>E. ficifolia</i>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li> + +<li><i>E. globus</i>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a></li> + +<li><i>E. rostrata</i>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li> + +<li><span class="smcap">Exploration</span>: +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Sturt's exploration, <a href="#Page_23">23;</a></li> +<li>Bass and Flinders, story of, <a href="#Page_155">155;</a></li> +<li>Baudin, M., treachery of, <a href="#Page_157">157;</a></li> +<li>Eyre, E. J., travels of, <a href="#Page_158">158;</a></li> +<li>Forrest, J., journey of, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164;</a></li> +<li><a name="leichhardt-h" id="leichhardt-h"></a><ins title="Original had Leichardt">Leichhardt</ins>, L., story of, <a href="#Page_159">159;</a></li> +<li>Kennedy disaster, the, <a href="#Page_160">160;</a></li> +<li>Stuart, J. McDougall, journey of, <a href="#Page_161">161;</a></li> +<li>Burke's expedition, <a href="#Page_161">161;</a></li> +<li>M'Kinlay's party, <a href="#Page_164">164;</a></li> +<li>Landsborough's party, <a href="#Page_164">164;</a></li> +<li>Walker's party, <a href="#Page_164">164;</a></li> +<li>Howitt's party, <a href="#Page_164">164;</a></li> +<li>Warburton's party, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li>Exports of Australia, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li> + +<li>Eyre, E. J., explorations of, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> + +<li>Eyre, lake, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Farming</span>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></li> + +<li><span class="smcap">Fauna</span>: + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>alligators, <a href="#Page_113">113;</a></li> +<li>buffaloes, <a href="#Page_113">113;</a></li> +<li>pearls, <a href="#Page_139">139;</a></li> +<li>kangaroo, 'old men,' <a href="#Page_181">181;</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185;</a></li> +<li>marsupial mouse, <a href="#Page_181">181;</a></li> +<li>wombat, <a href="#Page_181">181;</a></li> +<li>flying fox, <a href="#Page_181">181;</a></li> +<li>native bear, <a href="#Page_181">181;</a></li> +<li>Bass River opossum, <a href="#Page_182">182;</a></li> +<li>Tasmanian tiger-wolf, <a href="#Page_182">182;</a></li> +<li>Tasmanian devil, <a href="#Page_182">182;</a></li> +<li>dingo, <a href="#Page_183">183;</a></li> +<li>platypus, <a href="#Page_185">185;</a></li> +<li>birds, <a href="#Page_185">185;</a></li> +<li>parrots, <a href="#Page_185">185;</a></li> +<li>birds of Paradise, <a href="#Page_185">185;</a></li> +<li>king parrot, <a href="#Page_186">186;</a></li> +<li>blue mountain parrot, <a href="#Page_186">186;</a></li> +<li>lories, <a href="#Page_186">186;</a></li> +<li>parroquets, <a href="#Page_186">186;</a></li> +<li>love-birds, <a href="#Page_186">186;</a></li> +<li>blue wren <a href="#Page_186">186;</a></li> +<li>cockatoos, <a href="#Page_186">186;</a></li> +<li>lyre-birds, <a href="#Page_186">186;</a></li> +<li>bower birds, <a href="#Page_188">188;</a></li> +<li>laughing jackass, <a href="#Page_188">188;</a></li> +<li>emu, <a href="#Page_188">188;</a></li> +<li>bustard, <a href="#Page_190">190;</a></li> +<li>native companion, <a href="#Page_191">191;</a></li> +<li>wild ducks, <a href="#Page_191">191;</a></li> +<li>black swan, <a href="#Page_191">191;</a></li> +<li>snipe, <a href="#Page_191">191;</a></li> +<li>quail, <a href="#Page_192">192;</a></li> +<li>wonga-wonga, <a href="#Page_192">192;</a></li> +<li>bronze-wing pigeon, <a href="#Page_192">192;</a></li> +<li>snakes, <a href="#Page_192">192;</a></li> +<li>shark catching, <a href="#Page_193">193;</a></li> +<li>trout, <a href="#Page_193">193;</a></li> +<li>salmon, <a href="#Page_193">193;</a></li> +<li>perch, <a href="#Page_193">193;</a></li> +<li>bream, <a href="#Page_193">193;</a></li> +<li>Murray cod, <a href="#Page_193">193;</a></li> +<li>sea salmon, <a href="#Page_193">193;</a></li> +<li>Murray-perch, <a href="#Page_193">193;</a></li> +<li>golden-perch, <a href="#Page_193">193;</a></li> +<li>black-fish, <a href="#Page_194">194;</a></li> +<li>whiting, <a href="#Page_194">194;</a></li> +<li>schnapper, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li>Favenc, Mr. E., on exploration, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> + +<li>Fawkner, settlement of, in Victoria, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li> + +<li>Fawkner's Park, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li> + +<li>Federation movement, the, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> + +<li>Feilberg, Mr. C. A, on Queensland, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></li> + +<li>Ferns, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> + +<li>Fig-tree, the, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li> + +<li>Fingal, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> + +<li>Fires, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li> + +<li>Fish River caves, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> + +<li>Fitzroy, river, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> + +<li>Flame-tree, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> + +<li><span class="smcap">Flora</span>: + +<ul class="IX"> +<li>nettle-tree, <a href="#Page_127">127;</a></li> +<li>poisonous plants, <a href="#Page_136">136;</a></li> +<li>box scrub, <a href="#Page_136">136;</a></li> +<li>rock plant, <a href="#Page_136">136;</a></li> +<li>heart-leaf plant, <a href="#Page_136">136;</a></li> +<li>York road plant, <a href="#Page_136">136;</a></li> +<li>wild flowers, <a href="#Page_138">138;</a></li> +<li>eucalypt, <a href="#Page_194">194;</a></li> +<li>mallee scrub, <a href="#Page_195">195;</a></li> +<li>giant gums, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197;</a></li> +<li>spinifex, <a href="#Page_195">195;</a></li> +<li>ferns, <a href="#Page_196">196;</a></li> +<li>palm-tree, <a href="#Page_196">196;</a></li> +<li>musk-tree, <a href="#Page_196">196;</a></li> +<li><i>Pittosporum</i>, <a href="#Page_196">196;</a></li> +<li>silver gum, <a href="#Page_197">197;</a></li> +<li>red gum, <a href="#Page_197">197;</a></li> +<li>jarrah, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198;</a></li> +<li>blue gum, <a href="#Page_200">200;</a></li> +<li>acacia or wattle, <a href="#Page_200">200;</a></li> +<li>tea-tree scrub, <a href="#Page_200">200;</a></li> +<li>shea-oak, <a href="#Page_200">200;</a></li> +<li>bottle-tree,<a href="#Page_201">201;</a></li> +<li>flame-tree, <a href="#Page_201">201;</a></li> +<li>cycads, <a href="#Page_202">202;</a></li> +<li>palm lilies, <a href="#Page_202">202;</a></li> +<li>grass-trees, <a href="#Page_202">202;</a></li> +<li>warratah, <a href="#Page_202">202;</a></li> +<li><a name="boronia2" id="boronia2">boronia</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202;</a></li> +<li>araucarias, <a href="#Page_202">202;</a></li> +<li>heaths, <a href="#Page_202">202;</a></li> +<li>grapes, <a href="#Page_202">202;</a></li> +<li>Mitchell grass, <a href="#Page_205">205;</a></li> +<li>box-tree, <a href="#Page_208">208</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li>Flinders, story of, <a href="#Page_155">155</a></li> + +<li>Flinders' Lane, Melbourne, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li> + +<li>Flying fox, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> + +<li>Forbes, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> + +<li>Forrest, John, journey of, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> + +<li>Firth, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> + +<li>Fremantle, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul class="IX"> +<li><i>Gastrolobium anylobiaides</i>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> + +<li><i>G. bilobum</i>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> + +<li><i>G. callistachys</i>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> + +<li><i>G. calycinum</i>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> + +<li>Gardiner, lake, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> + +<li><span class="smcap">Geelong</span>, founding, <a href="#Page_62">62;</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li>growth, <a href="#Page_62">62;</a></li> +<li>exports, <a href="#Page_62">62;</a></li> +<li>tweeds of, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li>Geraldton, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li> + +<li>Gippsland, scenery of, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> + +<li>Gladstone, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> + +<li>Glenelg, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> + +<li>Golden perch, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> + +<li>Golden Point, discovery of gold at, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> + +<li>Gould on Australian birds, <a href="#Page_186">186</a></li> + +<li>Grant, Lieut., discovers Port Phillip, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></li> + +<li>Grapes, <a href="#Page_202">202</a></li> + +<li>Grass-trees, <a href="#Page_202">202</a></li> + +<li>Gray, story of, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li> + +<li>Great Divide, the, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> + +<li>Great West Railway, New South Wales, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> + +<li>Grey, Earl, circular of, on convicts, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li> + +<li>Guildford, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li> + +<li>Guilfoyle, Mr., director of the Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li> + +<li>Gulf of Carpentaria, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> + +<li>Gums, giant, <a href="#Page_195">195;</a> height of, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li> + +<li><a name="gympie-a" id="gympie-a"></a><ins title="Original had Gympsie">Gympie</ins>, <a href="#Page_123">123;</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li>discovery of gold field at, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> +</ul></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Hagenauer</span>, Rev. F. A., on the aborigines, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li> + +<li>Harvesting system, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></li> + +<li>Hawkesbury sandstone, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> + +<li>Hayter, Mr. H. H., on wages, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> + +<li>Heart-leaf, the, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> + +<li>Heaths, <a href="#Page_202">202</a></li> + +<li>Henty, Messrs., in Portland Bay, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> + +<li>Heron, river, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> + +<li>Heytesbury forest, <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li> + +<li>Hindmarsh, Captain, first governor of South Australia, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> + +<li>Hobart, description of, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> + +<li>Hoddle, Robert, lays out Geelong, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> + +<li>Holdfast Bay, first landing at, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> + +<li>Horses, number of, in Australia, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li> + +<li>Horsham, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> + +<li>Hospitality, <a href="#Page_207">207</a></li> + +<li>Hot winds, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> + +<li>Hovell arrives at Port Phillip, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> + +<li>Howitt, party of, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> + +<li>Hume arrives at Port Phillip, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> + +<li>Hurleys, the, at the fire at Otway ranges, <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Immigration</span>, extent of, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> + +<li>Ipswich, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Jacky</span>, the black, fidelity of, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> + +<li>Jarrah forests, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a></li> + +<li>Jenola, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Kanakas</span>, the, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> + +<li>Kangaroo, old man, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li> + +<li>Kangaroo hunting, <a href="#Page_184">184</a></li> + +<li>Kennedy, Edmund, story of, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> + +<li>Kiama, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> + +<li>King, story of, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li> + +<li>King George's Sound, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> + +<li>Kingfisher, or laughing jackass, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li> + +<li>Knocklofty, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Lake St. Clair</span>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> + +<li>Lake Sorell, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> + +<li>Lake Tyers Mission Station, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li> + +<li>Landells, story of, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li> + +<li>Landsborough, expedition of, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> + +<li>Laughing jackass, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li> + +<li>Launceston, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> + +<li><a name="leichhardt-d" id="leichhardt-d"></a><ins title="Original had Leichardt">Leichhardt</ins>, Ludwig, story of, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></li> + +<li><i><a name="Leptospermum" id="Leptospermum"></a><ins title="Original had Leptospernum">Leptospermum</ins></i>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a></li> + +<li>Lithgow Vale, New South Wales, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> + +<li><i>Livistonia</i> palm, the <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> + +<li>Loddon, river, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> + +<li>Lories, <a href="#Page_186">186</a></li> + +<li>Lorne, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li> + +<li>Lost in the bush, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></li> + +<li>Loutit Bay, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li> + +<li>Love-birds, <a href="#Page_186">186</a></li> + +<li>Lyre-bird, <a href="#Page_186">186</a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Macarthy, River</span>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li> + +<li>Mackay, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> + +<li>Macquarie Harbour, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> + +<li>Macquarie, river, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li> + +<li>Magpie, musical, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li> + +<li>Mallee scrub, rabbits in, <a href="#Page_68">68;</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li>extent of, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li>Mary, river, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> + +<li>Maryborough, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> + +<li><span class="smcap">Melbourne</span>: +<ul class="IX"> +<li>site, <a href="#Page_43">43;</a></li> +<li>population, <a href="#Page_43">43;</a></li> +<li>area, <a href="#Page_43">43;</a></li> +<li>description, <a href="#Page_43">43;</a></li> +<li>houses, <a href="#Page_43">43;</a></li> +<li>Government House, <a href="#Page_43">43;</a></li> +<li>Exhibition Building, <a href="#Page_43">43;</a></li> +<li>streets, <a href="#Page_43">43;</a></li> +<li>Flinder's Lane, <a href="#Page_44">44;</a></li> +<li>Collins Street, <a href="#Page_49">49;</a></li> +<li>Scott's, <a href="#Page_49">49;</a></li> +<li>Bourke Street, <a href="#Page_49">49;</a></li> +<li>inrush and outrush, <a href="#Page_49">49;</a></li> +<li>railways, <a href="#Page_49">49;</a></li> +<li>public buildings, <a href="#Page_50">50;</a>;</li> +<li>university, <a href="#Page_52">52;</a></li> +<li>botanic gardens, <a href="#Page_52">52;</a></li> +<li>water supply, <a href="#Page_52">52;</a></li> +<li>reserves, <a href="#Page_53">53;</a></li> +<li>cricket, <a href="#Page_54">54;</a></li> +<li>the Yarra, <a href="#Page_54">54;</a></li> +<li>drawbacks, <a href="#Page_55">55;</a></li> +<li>climate, <a href="#Page_55">55;</a></li> +<li>unearned increment, <a href="#Page_56">56</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li><a name="Meander" id="Meander"></a><ins title="Original had Menada">Meander</ins>, river, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li> + +<li><i>Menura Victoriæ</i>, the, <a href="#Page_186">186</a></li> + +<li>Merino sheep, <a href="#Page_206">206</a></li> + +<li>Mermaid's Cave, the, New South Wales, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> + +<li>Mersey, river, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li> + +<li>Mitchell, Sir Thomas, verdict of, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li> + +<li>Mitchell grass, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> + +<li>M'Kinlay, expedition of, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> + +<li>Moreton Bay, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li> + +<li>Moore, Mr. G. F., on aborigines, <a href="#Page_169">169</a></li> + +<li>Morriss, Mr., school teacher to the blacks, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li> + +<li>Morsman's Bay, view from, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> + +<li>Mosquito Plains, caves of the, <a href="#Page_106">106</a></li> + +<li>Mount Barker, <a href="#Page_106">106</a></li> + +<li>Mount Baw-Baw eucalypt, height of, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li> + +<li>Mount Bischoff tin mine, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> + +<li>Mount Clay, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> + +<li>Mount Franklin, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></li> + +<li>Mount Kosciusko, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + +<li>Mount Lindsay, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> + +<li>Mount Lofty range, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> + +<li>Mount Wellington, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> + +<li>Mountain system, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + +<li>Mouse, marsupial, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> + +<li>Mudgee line, New South Wales, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> + +<li>Mueller, Baron von, on tea-tree scrub, <a href="#Page_200">200</a></li> + +<li>Murray cod, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> + +<li>Murray perch, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> + +<li>Murray plains, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> + +<li>Murray, river, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> + +<li>Musk-tree, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> + +<li>Myers, Mr. F. H., on Sydney, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Narrawong</span>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> + +<li>Nash discovers <a name="gympie-b" id="gympie-b"></a><ins title="Original had Gympsie">Gympie</ins> gold-field, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> + +<li>Native companion, the, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> + +<li>Natives, destructiveness of, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> + +<li>Nettle-tree, the, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li> + +<li>New Norfolk, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> + +<li><span class="smcap">New South Wales</span>: +<ul class="IX"> +<li>area, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75;</a></li> +<li>population, <a href="#Page_15">15;</a></li> +<li>losses by drought, <a href="#Page_25">25;</a></li> +<li>climate, <a href="#Page_76">76;</a></li> +<li>drought, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94;</a></li> +<li>settlement, <a href="#Page_76">76;</a></li> +<li>Port Jackson, <a href="#Page_76">76;</a></li> +<li>statistics, <a href="#Page_79">79;</a></li> +<li>Sydney, <a href="#Page_79">79;</a></li> +<li>South Coast Railway, <a href="#Page_84">84;</a></li> +<li>Kiama, <a href="#Page_87">87;</a></li> +<li>Great West Railway, <a href="#Page_87">87;</a></li> +<li>Paramatta, <a href="#Page_87">87;</a></li> +<li>Castle Hill, <a href="#Page_87">87;</a></li> +<li>Toongabbie, <a href="#Page_87">87;</a></li> +<li>Blue Mountains, <a href="#Page_87">87;</a></li> +<li>Emu Plains, <a href="#Page_88">88;</a></li> +<li>Penrith, <a href="#Page_89">89;</a></li> +<li>Windsor, <a href="#Page_89">89;</a></li> +<li>Richmond, <a href="#Page_89">89;</a></li> +<li>geology, <a href="#Page_90">90;</a></li> +<li>Blackheath, Mermaid's Cave, <a href="#Page_90">90;</a></li> +<li>Lithgow Vale, <a href="#Page_91">91;</a></li> +<li>Capertee, <a href="#Page_91">91;</a></li> +<li>Mudgee line, <a href="#Page_91">91;</a></li> +<li>Walerawang, <a href="#Page_91">91;</a></li> +<li>Tarana, <a href="#Page_91">91;</a></li> +<li>Fish River caves, <a href="#Page_91">91;</a></li> +<li>Jenola, <a href="#Page_91">91;</a></li> +<li>Bathurst, <a href="#Page_93">93;</a></li> +<li>Blayney, <a href="#Page_94">94;</a></li> +<li>Orange, <a href="#Page_94">94;</a></li> +<li>Forbes, <a href="#Page_94">94;</a></li> +<li>Wellington Valley, <a href="#Page_94">94;</a></li> +<li>Dubbo, <a href="#Page_94">94;</a></li> +<li>cattle, <a href="#Page_94">94;</a></li> +<li>Darling, the, <a href="#Page_94">94;</a></li> +<li>Cohan, <a href="#Page_94">94;</a></li> +<li>Bourke, <a href="#Page_94">94;</a></li> +<li>Bremoroma, <a href="#Page_94">94;</a></li> +<li>Welcanna, <a href="#Page_94">94;</a></li> +<li>Wentworth, <a href="#Page_94">94;</a></li> +<li>Great Northern Railway, <a href="#Page_95">95;</a></li> +<li>Newcastle, <a href="#Page_95">95;</a></li> +<li>Breeza Plains, <a href="#Page_95">95;</a></li> +<li>Richmond, the, <a href="#Page_95">95;</a></li> +<li>Tweed, the, <a href="#Page_95">95;</a></li> +<li>Big Scrub, <a href="#Page_95">95;</a></li> +<li>Cane fields, <a href="#Page_96">96;</a></li> +<li>Great Divide, the, <a href="#Page_96">96;</a></li> +<li>Mount Lindsay, <a href="#Page_96">96;</a></li> +<li>Clarence, the, <a href="#Page_96">96;</a></li> +<li>Nightcap, the, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li>Newcastle, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li> + +<li>Nightcap, the, New South Wales, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> + +<li>Norman, river, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> + +<li>Normanton, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> + +<li>North Esk, river, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> + +<li>Northern Territory, <i>see</i> S. Australia.</li> + +<li>Northern Trunk Line of Queensland, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Oakleigh</span>, a suburb of Melbourne, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li> + +<li>Opossum, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> + +<li>Orange, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> + +<li><i>Ornithorhynchus</i>, the, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li> + +<li>Overland Telegraph Line, <a href="#Page_108">108</a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Palm-lilies</span>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a></li> + +<li>Palm-trees, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> + +<li>Palmer gold-field, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> + +<li>Palmerston, mines of, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li> + +<li>Palmerston and Pine Creek line, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li> + +<li>Paramatta, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> + +<li>Parrots, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li> + +<li>Parroquets, <a href="#Page_186">186</a></li> + +<li>Peake Telegraph Station, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> + +<li>Pearl fisheries of Western Australia, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li> + +<li>Penrith, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> + +<li>Perch, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> + +<li>Pérouse, expedition of, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> + +<li>Perth, description of, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> + +<li>Phillip, Captain Arthur, governor at Port Jackson, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> + +<li>Physical geography, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></li> + +<li>Pigeon, bronze-wing, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li> + +<li>Piping crow, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li> + +<li><i>Pittosporum</i>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> + +<li>Platypus, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li> + +<li>Poole, death of, at Depôt Glen, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> + +<li>Population of Australia, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li> + +<li>Porcupine grass, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></li> + +<li>Port Arthur, convicts at, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> + +<li>Port Darwin, vegetation at, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li> + +<li>Port Douglas, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li> + +<li>Port Essington, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li> + +<li>Port Jackson, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> + +<li><span class="smcap">Port Phillip</span>: +<ul class="IX"> +<li>discovery, <a href="#Page_37">37;</a></li> +<li>beauty, <a href="#Page_38">38;</a></li> +<li>Howell and Hume arrive at, <a href="#Page_38">38;</a></li> +<li>settlement, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li>Portland, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></li> + +<li>Portland Bay, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> + +<li>Potatoes, yield of, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></li> + +<li>Power, Mrs., at the fire at Otway ranges, <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li> + +<li>Prices, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Quail</span>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li> + +<li>Quamby Bluff, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> + +<li><span class="smcap">Queensland</span>: +<ul class="IX"> +<li>area and population, <a href="#Page_15">15;</a></li> +<li>description, <a href="#Page_117">117;</a></li> +<li>settlement, <a href="#Page_118">118;</a></li> +<li>convicts there, <a href="#Page_118">118;</a></li> +<li>Toowoomba, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122;</a></li> +<li>Bremer, the, <a href="#Page_119">119;</a></li> +<li>Ipswich, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122;</a></li> +<li>Brisbane, <a href="#Page_119">119;</a></li> +<li>Maryborough, <a href="#Page_121">121;</a></li> +<li>Rockhampton, <a href="#Page_121">121;</a></li> +<li>Bundaberg, <a href="#Page_122">122;</a></li> +<li>Gladstone, <a href="#Page_122">122;</a></li> +<li>Warwick, <a href="#Page_122">122;</a></li> +<li>Stanthorpe, <a href="#Page_122">122;</a></li> +<li>Dalby, <a href="#Page_122">122;</a></li> +<li>Roma, <a href="#Page_122">122;</a></li> +<li>Central Trunk Railway, <a href="#Page_122">122;</a></li> +<li>Clermont, <a href="#Page_123">123;</a></li> +<li>Gympie, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130;</a></li> +<li>Mackay, <a href="#Page_123">123;</a></li> +<li>Bowen, <a href="#Page_123">123;</a></li> +<li>Barrier Reef, the, <a href="#Page_123">123;</a></li> +<li>Townsville, <a href="#Page_123">123;</a></li> +<li>Charters Towers, <a href="#Page_123">123;</a></li> +<li>Ravenswood, <a href="#Page_123">123;</a></li> +<li>Northern Trunk Line, <a href="#Page_123">123;</a></li> +<li>Cardwell, <a href="#Page_124">124;</a></li> +<li>Cairns, <a href="#Page_124">124;</a></li> +<li>Port Douglas, <a href="#Page_124">124;</a></li> +<li>Palmer gold field, <a href="#Page_124">124;</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130;</a></li> +<li>Cooktown, <a href="#Page_124">124;</a></li> +<li>Thursday Island, <a href="#Page_124">124;</a></li> +<li>Gulf of Carpentaria, <a href="#Page_125">125;</a></li> +<li>Normanton, <a href="#Page_125">125;</a></li> +<li>Burketown, <a href="#Page_125">125;</a></li> +<li>cattle, <a href="#Page_125">125;</a></li> +<li>sheep farming, <a href="#Page_125">125;</a></li> +<li>agriculture, <a href="#Page_126">126;</a></li> +<li>scrublands, <a href="#Page_126">126;</a></li> +<li>vegetation, <a href="#Page_126">126;</a></li> +<li>labour question, the, <a href="#Page_127">127;</a></li> +<li>sugar growing, <a href="#Page_128">128;</a></li> +<li>exports, <a href="#Page_128">128;</a></li> +<li>cotton growing, <a href="#Page_129">129;</a></li> +<li>olives, <a href="#Page_129">129;</a></li> +<li>almond, <a href="#Page_129">129;</a></li> +<li>figs, <a href="#Page_129">129;</a></li> +<li>silk, <a href="#Page_129">129;</a></li> +<li>mineral wealth, <a href="#Page_129">129;</a></li> +<li>coal, <a href="#Page_129">129;</a></li> +<li>Canoona rush, the, <a href="#Page_129">129;</a></li> +<li>Nash discovers Gympie gold field, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> +</ul></li> +</ul> + +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Rabbits, curse of</span>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> + +<li>Raffles Bay, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li> + +<li>Railways in Victoria, <a href="#Page_49">49;</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li>in Sydney, <a href="#Page_84">84;</a></li> +<li>in Tasmania, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li> +</ul></li> + + +<li>Rainfall, <a href="#Page_24">24;</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li>in Sydney, <a href="#Page_84">84;</a></li> +<li>in Tasmania, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li>Rainfall, taking advantage of, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li> + +<li>Ravenswood, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> + +<li>Red gum, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li> + +<li>Richardson, river, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> + +<li>Richmond, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> + +<li>Richmond, river, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li> + +<li>Ring barking, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li> + +<li>River system, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + +<li>Rock plant, the, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> + +<li>Rockhampton, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> + +<li>Roeburne, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li> + +<li>Roma, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> + +<li>Roper, river, <a href="#Page_111">111;</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li>alligators in, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li>Russell, Mr. H. C., on physical geography and climate of Australia, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">St. Helens</span>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> + +<li>St. Mary's Pass, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> + +<li>Sale, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li> + +<li>Salmon, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> + +<li><a name="index_sandhurst" id="index_sandhurst"></a>Sandhurst, ups and downs of, <a href="#Page_56">56;</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li>gold in, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li><i>Sarcophilus</i>, the, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> + +<li>Satin bird, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li> + +<li>Schools of Victoria, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> + +<li>Schnapper, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li> + +<li>Scott's, Melbourne, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> + +<li>Sea-salmon, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> + +<li>Selectors, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li> + +<li>Service, a rural, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li> + +<li>Settler's clock, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li> + +<li>Shark catching, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> + +<li>Shea-oak, <a href="#Page_200">200</a></li> + +<li>Sheep, number of, in Australia, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li> + +<li>Sheep breeding, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> + +<li>Sheep runs, <a href="#Page_207">207</a></li> + +<li>Sheep shearing, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> + +<li>Shepherds, life of, <a href="#Page_206">206</a></li> + +<li>Shepparton, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> + +<li>Silk cultivation in Queensland, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> + +<li>Silver gum, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li> + +<li>Smith, philosopher, story of, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> + +<li>Smyth, Mr. B., on native weapons, <a href="#Page_173">173;</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li>on gum-trees, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li>Snakes, <a href="#Page_192">192;</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li>treatment for bites of, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li>Snow, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + +<li>Snipe, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> + +<li>Sorrento occupied by Collins, <a href="#Page_38">38;</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li>beauty of, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li><span class="smcap">South Australia</span>: +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Area, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99;</a></li> +<li>population, <a href="#Page_15">15;</a></li> +<li>divisions, <a href="#Page_99">99;</a></li> +<li>Murray, the, <a href="#Page_100">100;</a></li> +<li>scenery, <a href="#Page_100">100;</a></li> +<li>Lake Torrens, <a href="#Page_101">101;</a></li> +<li>Lake Eyre, <a href="#Page_101">101;</a></li> +<li>Lake Gardiner, <a href="#Page_101">101;</a></li> +<li>Lake Amadeus, <a href="#Page_101">101;</a></li> +<li>climate, <a href="#Page_101">101;</a></li> +<li>fruits, <a href="#Page_102">102;</a></li> +<li>Adelaide, <a href="#Page_103">103;</a></li> +<li>Mount Lofty range, <a href="#Page_103">103;</a></li> +<li>industries, <a href="#Page_105">105;</a></li> +<li>wheat, <a href="#Page_106">106;</a></li> +<li>Mount Barker, <a href="#Page_106">106;</a></li> +<li>Caves of the Mosquito Plains, <a href="#Page_106">106;</a></li> +<li>camels at Beltana, <a href="#Page_107">107;</a></li> +<li>Overland Telegraph Line, <a href="#Page_108">108;</a></li> +<li>Peake Telegraph Station, <a href="#Page_109">109;</a></li> +<li>Barrow Creek 'stuck up' at, <a href="#Page_109">109;</a></li> +<li>railway construction, <a href="#Page_110">110;</a></li> +<li>Northern Territory: history, <a href="#Page_110">110;</a></li> +<li>settlement, <a href="#Page_111">111;</a></li> +<li>climate, <a href="#Page_112">112;</a></li> +<li>Roper, the, <a href="#Page_111">111;</a></li> +<li>Macarthy, the, <a href="#Page_111">111;</a></li> +<li>alligators, <a href="#Page_113">113;</a></li> +<li>buffaloes, <a href="#Page_113">113;</a></li> +<li>Black Thursday, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li>South Coast Railway, N. S. Wales, <a href="#Page_84">84</a></li> + +<li>South Esk, river, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> + +<li>South Sea Islanders in Queensland, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> + +<li>Spinifex, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></li> + +<li><span class="smcap">Squatters and Settlers</span>: +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Description, <a href="#Page_203">203;</a></li> +<li>cattle raising, <a href="#Page_204">204;</a></li> +<li>cutting out, <a href="#Page_204">204;</a></li> +<li>sheep breeding, <a href="#Page_205">205;</a></li> +<li>merino sheep, <a href="#Page_206">206;</a></li> +<li>hospitality, <a href="#Page_207">207;</a></li> +<li>mode of travelling, <a href="#Page_207">207;</a></li> +<li>sheep runs, <a href="#Page_207">207;</a></li> +<li>drought, <a href="#Page_208">208;</a></li> +<li>houses, <a href="#Page_208">208;</a></li> +<li>sheep shearing, <a href="#Page_210">210;</a></li> +<li>carriers, <a href="#Page_210">210;</a></li> +<li>swagmen or sundowners, <a href="#Page_210">210;</a></li> +<li>farming, <a href="#Page_211">211;</a></li> +<li>harvesting system, <a href="#Page_211">211;</a></li> +<li>stripper, the, <a href="#Page_211">211;</a></li> +<li>selecting, mode of, <a href="#Page_212">212;</a></li> +<li>fires, <a href="#Page_213">213;</a></li> +<li>lost in the bush, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li>Staghorn fern, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> + +<li>Stanthorpe, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> + +<li>Stapleton, Mr., murder of, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li> + +<li><i>Sterculia acerifolia</i>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> + +<li>Stevenson, falls of the, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li> + +<li>Stirling, Sir James, in Western Australia, <a href="#Page_134">134</a></li> + +<li>Storms, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> + +<li>Strangways Springs, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li> + +<li>Stripper, the, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></li> + +<li>Stuart, J. M. D., travels of, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li> + +<li>Sturt's detention at Depôt Glen, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> + +<li>Sunday observance, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li> + +<li>Sundowners, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> + +<li>Surrey Hills, a suburb of Melbourne, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li> + +<li>Swagmen, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> + +<li>Swan, black, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> + +<li>Swan, river, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> + +<li><span class="smcap">Sydney</span>: +<ul class="IX"> +<li>harbour, <a href="#Page_79">79;</a></li> +<li>North Shore, <a href="#Page_79">79;</a></li> +<li>view from Morsman's Bay, <a href="#Page_80">80;</a></li> +<li>churches, <a href="#Page_80">80;</a></li> +<li>public buildings, <a href="#Page_80">80;</a></li> +<li>railways, <a href="#Page_84">84</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li>Sydney Cove, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Tamar</span>, river, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> + +<li>Tarana, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> + +<li><span class="smcap">Tasmania</span>: +<ul class="IX"> +<li>a holiday resort for Australians, <a href="#Page_143">143;</a></li> +<li>Tamar, the, <a href="#Page_144">144;</a></li> +<li>Launceston, <a href="#Page_144">144;</a></li> +<li>North Esk, the, <a href="#Page_144">144;</a></li> +<li>South Esk, the, <a href="#Page_144">144;</a></li> +<li>Corra Linn, <a href="#Page_145">145;</a></li> +<li>Deloraine, <a href="#Page_145">145;</a></li> +<li>Menada, the, <a href="#Page_145">145;</a></li> +<li>Mersey, the, <a href="#Page_145">145;</a></li> +<li>sheep, <a href="#Page_145">145;</a></li> +<li>Quamby Bluff, <a href="#Page_146">146;</a></li> +<li>Don, the, <a href="#Page_146">146;</a></li> +<li>Cam, the, <a href="#Page_146">146;</a></li> +<li>Forth, the, <a href="#Page_146">146;</a></li> +<li>Mount Bischoff, <a href="#Page_146">146;</a></li> +<li>Waratah, the, <a href="#Page_146">146;</a></li> +<li>Ben Lomond, <a href="#Page_147">147;</a></li> +<li>St. Mary's Pass, <a href="#Page_147">147;</a></li> +<li>Fingal, <a href="#Page_147">147;</a></li> +<li>St. Helen's, <a href="#Page_147">147;</a></li> +<li>macadamised road, the great, <a href="#Page_148">148;</a></li> +<li>Hobart, <a href="#Page_150">150;</a></li> +<li>Derwent, the, <a href="#Page_150">150;</a></li> +<li>Lake St. Clair, <a href="#Page_150">150;</a></li> +<li>Lake Sorell, <a href="#Page_150">150;</a></li> +<li>New Norfolk, <a href="#Page_150">150;</a></li> +<li>convicts at Port Arthur, <a href="#Page_151">151;</a></li> +<li>Eaglebank Neck, <a href="#Page_151">151;</a></li> +<li>D'Entrecasteaux Channel, <a href="#Page_151">151;</a></li> +<li>Heron, the, <a href="#Page_151">151;</a></li> +<li>Macquarie Harbour, <a href="#Page_151">151;</a></li> +<li>area, <a href="#Page_151">151;</a></li> +<li>population, <a href="#Page_152">152;</a></li> +<li>revenue, <a href="#Page_152">152;</a></li> +<li>railways, <a href="#Page_152">152;</a></li> +<li>exports and imports, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li>Taylor, Dr. J. E., on Geology of Emu Plains, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> + +<li>Tea-tree scrub, <a href="#Page_200">200</a></li> + +<li>Temperature, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> + +<li><a name="Tennison-Woods" id="Tennison-Woods"></a><ins title="Original had Tennisson">Tennison</ins> Woods on the caves of the <a name="Mosquito" id="Mosquito"></a><ins title="Original had Masquito">Mosquito</ins> Plains, <a href="#Page_106">106</a></li> + +<li>Thomas, Mr., on Lake District of Victoria, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li> + +<li>Tiger snake, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li> + +<li>Tiger-wolf, Tasmanian, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> + +<li>Thursday Island, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li> + +<li><i>Thylacinus</i>, the, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> + +<li>Todd, Mr. Charles, and the Overland Telegraph Line, <a href="#Page_108">108</a></li> + +<li>Toongabbie, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> + +<li>Toowoomba, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> + +<li>Torrens, lake, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> + +<li>Trackers, black, <a href="#Page_174">174</a></li> + +<li>Townsville, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> + +<li>Trollope, Anthony, on Ballarat, <a href="#Page_62">62;</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li>on coaching, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li>Trout, <a href="#Page_193">193;</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li>fly-fishing for, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li>Turkey, wild, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> + +<li>Tweed, river, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Victoria</span>: +<ul class="IX"> +<li>area, <a href="#Page_15">15;</a></li> +<li>population, <a href="#Page_15">15;</a></li> +<li>protectionist, <a href="#Page_30">30;</a></li> +<li>foundation, <a href="#Page_37">37;</a></li> +<li>convicts there, <a href="#Page_38">38;</a></li> +<li>bad name given to, <a href="#Page_38">38;</a></li> +<li>settlement, <a href="#Page_38">38;</a></li> +<li>mountains, <a href="#Page_40">40;</a></li> +<li>Melbourne, <a href="#Page_43">43;</a>;</li> +<li>railways, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56;</a></li> +<li>Sandhurst, <a href="#Page_56">56;</a></li> +<li>Ballarat, <a href="#Page_59">59;</a></li> +<li>Wendouree, lake, <a href="#Page_60">60;</a></li> +<li>discovery of gold at Golden Point, <a href="#Page_60">60;</a></li> +<li>Geelong, <a href="#Page_62">62;</a></li> +<li>Corangamite, lake, <a href="#Page_64">64;</a></li> +<li>Lake Colac, <a href="#Page_65">65;</a></li> +<li>Warnambool, <a href="#Page_66">66;</a></li> +<li>Belfast, <a href="#Page_66">66;</a></li> +<li>Portland, <a href="#Page_66">66;</a></li> +<li>potatoes, <a href="#Page_66">66;</a></li> +<li>Portland Bay, <a href="#Page_67">67;</a></li> +<li>mountains, <a href="#Page_67">67;</a></li> +<li>Gippsland, <a href="#Page_67">67;</a></li> +<li>Murray plains, <a href="#Page_67">67;</a></li> +<li>Shepparton, <a href="#Page_67">67;</a></li> +<li>Wimmera District, <a href="#Page_67">67;</a></li> +<li>rabbits, <a href="#Page_68">68;</a></li> +<li>Avon, the, <a href="#Page_68">68;</a></li> +<li>Richardson, the, <a href="#Page_68">68;</a></li> +<li>Wimmera, the, <a href="#Page_68">68;</a></li> +<li>Loddon, the, <a href="#Page_68">68;</a></li> +<li>wheat lines of railway, <a href="#Page_68">68;</a></li> +<li>Beechworth, <a href="#Page_69">69;</a></li> +<li>Sale, <a href="#Page_69">69;</a></li> +<li>Bairnsdale, <a href="#Page_69">69;</a></li> +<li>State schools, <a href="#Page_70">70;</a></li> +<li>Cobb, story of, <a href="#Page_70">70;</a></li> +<li>coaching, <a href="#Page_70">70;</a></li> +<li>Falls of the Stevenson, <a href="#Page_72">72;</a></li> +<li>Black Spur, the, <a href="#Page_72">72;</a></li> +<li>Loutit Bay, <a href="#Page_72">72;</a></li> +<li>Lorne, <a href="#Page_72">72;</a></li> +<li>Black Thursday, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li> +</ul></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Wages</span>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> + +<li>Walerawang, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> + +<li>Walker, expedition of, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> + +<li>Wallace, Mr. A. A., on flowers of Australia, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> + +<li>Waratah, river, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> + +<li>Warburton, expedition of, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> + +<li>Warratah, <a href="#Page_202">202</a></li> + +<li>Warwick, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> + +<li>Wattle, <a href="#Page_200">200</a></li> + +<li>Welcanna, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> + +<li>Wellington Valley, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> + +<li>Wendouree, lake, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> + +<li>Wentworth, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> + +<li><span class="smcap">Western Australia</span>: +<ul class="IX"> +<li>area, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133;</a></li> +<li>population, <a href="#Page_15">15;</a></li> +<li>foundation of the colony, <a href="#Page_134">134;</a></li> +<li>large estates in, <a href="#Page_134">134;</a></li> +<li>convicts, <a href="#Page_135">135;</a></li> +<li>Swan, river, <a href="#Page_135">135;</a></li> +<li>Fremantle, <a href="#Page_135">135;</a></li> +<li>Perth, <a href="#Page_135">135;</a></li> +<li>Guildford, <a href="#Page_135">135;</a></li> +<li>Bunbury, <a href="#Page_135">135;</a></li> +<li>Albany, <a href="#Page_135">135;</a></li> +<li>Geraldton, <a href="#Page_135">135;</a></li> +<li>Roeburne, <a href="#Page_135">135;</a></li> +<li>vegetation, <a href="#Page_136">136;</a></li> +<li>jarrah forests, <a href="#Page_136">136;</a></li> +<li>poisonous plants, <a href="#Page_136">136;</a></li> +<li>King George's Sound, <a href="#Page_138">138;</a></li> +<li>climate, <a href="#Page_138">138;</a></li> +<li>wild flowers of, <a href="#Page_138">138;</a></li> +<li>Sir F. N. Broome on life there, <a href="#Page_140">140;</a></li> +<li>gold discoveries, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></li> +</ul></li> + + +<li>Western District of Victoria, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63;</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Mr. Thomas on, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li>Wheat lines of Wimmera, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> + +<li>Whittaker, Mr. S. H., on fire at Otway ranges, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li> + +<li>Whiting, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li> + +<li>Wianamatta Shales, the, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> + +<li>Wills, W. J., story of, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li> + +<li>Windsor, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> + +<li>Wimmera District, <a href="#Page_67">67;</a> +<ul class="IX"> +<li>rabbits in, <a href="#Page_68">68;</a></li> +<li>wheat lines of, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li>Wimmera, river, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> + +<li>Winter day at Bourke, New South Wales, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> + +<li>Wombat, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> + +<li>Wonga-wonga, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li> + +<li>Wornambool, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></li> + +<li>Wreck Creek, native encampment at, <a href="#Page_173">173</a></li> + +<li>Wright, story of, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li> + +<li>Wylie, the black boy, faithfulness of, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul class="IX"> +<li><i>Xanthorrhœa</i>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Yagan</span>, an aborigine, story of, <a href="#Page_169">169</a></li> + +<li>Yarra Park, Melbourne, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> + +<li>Yarra, river, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> + +<li>York-road plant, the, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> +</ul> + +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div class="center">LONDON: WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.</div> + + +<div class="trn"> +<a name="endtn" id="endtn"></a> +<strong>TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:</strong> + +<p>Punctuation has been standardised.</p> + +<p>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).</p> + +<p>Both Goldfields and Gold-fields have been retained as they appear in the +original.</p> + +<p>The following changes have been made:</p> + +Title Page - Add closing ' to <a href="#argus">'The Melbourne Argus'</a><br /><br /> + +Page 8 - Waterfall at <a href="#govett">Gowett</a> changed to Waterfall at Govett<br /><br /> + +Page 9 - Corra <a href="#linn-a">Lynn</a>, Tasmania changed to Corra Linn, Tasmania<br /><br /> + +Page 9 - Ludwig <a href="#leichhardt-a">Leichardt</a> changed to Ludwig Leichhardt<br /><br /> + +Page 64 - There is no indication in the original publication where the +quotation staring "This lake coutnry ..." attributed to <a href="#Thomas">Mr. Julian Thomas</a> ends<br /><br /> + +Page 84 - Paramatta and <a href="#lanecove">Lan</a> Cove changed to Paramatta and Lane Cove<br /><br /> + +Page 87 - <a href="#Bega">Begar</a> changed to Bega<br /><br /> + +Page 94 - brigalow and <a href="#mulga">nulga</a> changed to brigalow and mulga<br /><br /> + +Page 110 - lonely hut <a href="#beleaguered">beleagured</a> changed to lonely hut beleaguered<br /><br /> + +Page 139 - <a href="#especially">expecially</a> at Shark Bay changed to especially at Shark Bay<br /><br /> + +Page 139 - Avicula <a href="#margaritifera">margaratifera</a> changed to Avicula margaritifera<br /><br /> + +Page 143 - Corra <a href="#linn-b">Lynn</a>, Tasmania changed to Corra Linn, Tasmania<br /><br /> + +Page 155 - Ludwig <a href="#leichhardt-b">Leichardt</a> changed to Ludwig Leichhardt<br /><br /> + +Page 159 - Ludwig <span class="u">Leichardt</span> changed to Ludwig Leichhardt - <a href="#leichhardt-c">1st instance</a>, <a href="#leichhardt-e">2nd</a>, <a href="#leichhardt-f">3rd </a>, <a href="#leichhardt-g">4th</a><br /><br /> + +Page 197 - <a href="#Eucalpytus">Ecalpytus</a> rostrata, or red gum changed to Eucalyptus rostrata, or red gum<br /><br /> + +Page 202 - The <a href="#boronia">boroina</a>, with changed to The boronia, with<br /><br /> + +Page 206 - There is no indication in the original publication where +the quotation attributed to <a href="#Brown">Mr. G. A. Brown</a> in Sheep Breeding in +Australia ends<br /><br /> + +Index - <a href="#boronia2">boroina</a>, 202; change to Boronia, 202;<br /><br /> + +Index - <a href="#gympie-a">Gympsie</a>, 123; changed to Gympie, 123;<br /><br /> + +Index - <a href="#Leptospermum">Leptospernum</a>, 200 changed to Leptospermum, 200<br /><br /> + +Index - <span class="u">Leichardt</span> changed to Leichhardt- <a href="#leichhardt-h">1st instance</a>, <a href="#leichhardt-d">2nd</a><br /><br /> + +Index - <a href="#Meander">Menada</a>, river, 145 changed to Meander, river, 145<br /><br /> + +Index - Nash discovers <a href="#gympie-b">Gympsie</a> changed to Nash discovers Gympie<br /><br /> + +Index - <a href="#Tennison-Woods">Tennisson</a> Woods on the caves of the <a href="#Mosquito">Masquito</a> Plains, 106; changed to Tennison Woods on the caves of the Mosquito Plains, 106; + +</div> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Australian Pictures, by Howard Willoughby + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AUSTRALIAN PICTURES *** + +***** This file should be named 39322-h.htm or 39322-h.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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