As already intimated, characters which cannot bewhitewashed in England are often encouraged to emigrate to Australia. Originally such persons were sent hither by the courts; now they come by the persuasion of their friends. We believe there is enough of sterling worth and responsibility established in Australia to overrule the unfortunate elements thrown upon her shores by the inflow of questionable humanity. At all events such a class of immigration is the inevitable outgrowth of circumstances beyond the control of the colonists. They have so successfully lived down the early penal associations attached to their country, that the best result may be hoped for as regards this matter. Australia is certainly a good place to bring people to their true level. The shiftless and helpless quickly sink to the bottom, while energy and tact, whether in the low born or those from the higher walks of life, cause their possessors to rise to the surface and become a power in the land.
The author saw some examples of a sad and painful character in the cases of individuals who had been reared in luxury at home, in England, but who were nearly starving in Melbourne. They would willingly have worked their passage back to the old country, but as they could not be rated as able-bodied seamen, they could find no such chance. There is room and opportunity enough in Australia for any number of sober, hardy, frugal men and women who have a special business or regular calling. An industrious and worthy person is sure to make a good living there, and perhaps to realize a fortune; but he cannotpickitup,—he mustworkit up. That which comes by laborious effort and self-abnegation remains with us, and constitutes a lasting capital. The gold nuggets which are occasionally found here never amount to much as regards the benefit of the finder. It is upon the whole a fortunate day for the respectable immigrant who has any degree of ability, when he concludes to turn his back upon gold-digging and adopt some more legitimate business. The great elements of success are the same in Australia as in California, Africa, or Massachusetts; namely, steadiness of purpose, application, and temperance. One thing we would impress upon every one: let those who cannot resist the fascination of the bottle, avoid Australia; for it is the very hot-bed of dissipation, and no place for the weak and irresolute.
The laboring classes of Melbourne and Sydney especially make great efforts to prevent emigration from Europe, on the ground that it will have a tendency to reduce wages,—a view palpably narrow and contracted beyond all reason. There cannot be too many good immigrants; and any policy tending to limit their numbers is as short-sighted as most of the ignorant schemes of organized Labor Unions. Even a larger number of the despised Chinese would be desirable in the present state of things in Australia; but the landing fee of fifty dollars acts almost as prohibitory in regard to the Asiatic race, besides which all sorts of lawless impediments are instituted to operate against their well-being.
From Melbourne to Adelaide.—Capital of South Australia.—New Gold-Fields.—Agricultural Interests.—City Institutions.—Inducements to Immigrants.—Public Buildings.—A City of Churches.—Australian Ladies.—Interior of the Country.—Irrigation.—German Settlers.—The Botanical Gardens.—West Australia.—Perth the Capital.—The Pearl Fisheries.—Commercial Advantages Considered.
From Melbourne to Adelaide.—Capital of South Australia.—New Gold-Fields.—Agricultural Interests.—City Institutions.—Inducements to Immigrants.—Public Buildings.—A City of Churches.—Australian Ladies.—Interior of the Country.—Irrigation.—German Settlers.—The Botanical Gardens.—West Australia.—Perth the Capital.—The Pearl Fisheries.—Commercial Advantages Considered.
We shall now leave Victoria and take the reader into another colony, by no means less interesting than those already visited. The distance from Melbourne to Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, is about the same as that from Sydney to Melbourne,—say, six hundred miles. Australia is an immense territory, and its capital cities are a long way apart. The cars upon this route are constructed upon both the American and English plan, and one is not annoyed by having to change cars to accommodate a difference in the gauge, as upon the Sydney route, where for this purpose he is aroused at midnight on the borders of Victoria. On passing the limit of South Australia the traveller finds his watch to be twenty-five minutes too fast, and makes the necessary alteration to accommodate the local time in accordance with western longitude. It is a tiresome journey,—or at least wefound it so. There were few first-class passengers, none of whom particularly interested a stranger beyond general observation; moreover the road passes through what is called the Ninety-mile Desert, which is desolate and barren indeed. The miles seemed interminable; and it was a great relief at last when a wooded country was reached, and there came into view open, well-fenced fields, with here and there small groups of choice breeds of cattle and sheep, and an occasional neat homestead.
In the course of this journey the Murray Bridge was crossed. This iron structure spans the breadth of that great Australian water-way here known as the Murray River, but which finds its source thousands of miles to the north, in Queensland, where it is known as the Darling River. After leaving Murray Bridge two large engines were necessary to draw our train up the steep incline among the hills and mountains which separate Adelaide from her eastern territory. These mechanical giants puffed and panted with an almost human expression, in their vigorous struggle to drag the train forward,—now and again hovering upon the very verge of inability, and then, as it seemed to us, by putting forth renewed energy and extraordinary effort, pressing forward and finally surmounting the steep way. The aspect of the scenery rapidly changed for the better as we advanced, and our spirits rose accordingly. Everything looked bright and thrifty. Gardens, orchards, well-cultivated fields, and pleasant roadside stations, with thesummer residences of the citizens of Adelaide, were rapidly passed, until Mount Lofty station was reached and the descent toward the plains began. The traveller was soon gratified by a bird's-eye view of the capital of South Australia, lying spread out upon the plain, with the broad sea beyond glittering with mottled sunshine.
Adelaide is surrounded by an amphitheatre of wooded hills rearing their heads not far away from the city, and forms a very fine picture when thus approached. The capital is so perfectly level that to be seen to advantage it must be looked upon as a whole from some favorable elevation. Though this colony is called South Australia, it should be known as Central Australia in respect to its actual geographical position. It is destined in the near future to merit the name of the granary of the country, being already largely and successfully devoted to agriculture. This pursuit is followed in no circumscribed manner, but in a large and liberal style, like that of our best Western farmers. Immense tracts of land are also devoted to stock-raising, for the purpose of furnishing "dead beef" for shipment to England in fresh condition. South Australia contains nearly a million square miles, and is therefore ten times larger than Victoria, and fifteen times the size of England. It extends northward from the temperate zone, so that nearly one half of its area lies within the tropics, while it has a coast-line of five hundred miles along the great Southern Ocean. A vast portion of itsinterior is uninhabited and indeed unexplored. The total population of the whole colony is about four hundred thousand. Wheat, wool, wine, copper, and meat are at present the chief exports.
Though gold has been found in this province to a very large extent, it is not so abundant here as in other parts of Australia,—and yet since these notes were begun new gold-fields have been discovered in this section which are reported to be exceedingly rich. Statistics show that somewhat over seventeen million pounds sterling in gold have been exported from South Australia since its first discovery here. One mine alone, known as the Moonta, has paid its shareholders in dividends the large sum of twelve hundred thousand pounds sterling. Gold-digging as a business, however, grows less and less attractive in the colony, though the precious metal must continue to be produced here for many years to come, by well-organized companies who possess ample machinery for raising and crushing the quartz rock. But good wages, equalling the average earned by miners, are now paid here by a dozen easier and more legitimate occupations,—among the rest the large vineyards which produced last year over three million gallons of pure native wine. The great trouble is to procure laborers at all, notwithstanding the liberal scale of wages paid. No community or section of country has ever yet reached a permanent success, according to the usually accepted idea of success, upon what may in this connection be denominated a gold basis."Let us cherish no delusions," said a San Francisco preacher on a certain occasion; "no society has ever been able to organize itself in a satisfactory manner on gold-bearing soil. Even Nature herself is deceitful: she corrupts, seduces, and betrays man; she laughs at his labors, she turns his toil into gambling and his word into a lie!" The preacher's deductions have proved true in California, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia. And yet we have freely admitted in these pages that the finding of gold mines has stimulated labor, immigration, and manly activity in many directions, and has thus indirectly been the agent of good in other than its own field.
As we find gold king in Victoria, so in Adelaide we have pastoral millionnaires. Some of the men who have become enriched by this means possess fortunes of over two million pounds sterling, and have gone back to England to enjoy their wealth in their native land; others, and these are the larger portion of the successful settlers, still remain here, promoting the local interests of the colony.
Adelaide, thus named for the queen of William IV., we found to be the depot of a large and growing trade in wool and grain especially derived from the fertile agricultural district of which it is the capital, and is furnished with numerous arterial railways to bring these products to market. We were told by reliable parties here that there are at present about four million acres of land under the plough. Preference is universally given to the grain produced in this colony,because of its uniform excellence. New South Wales and Victoria hamper their people in the use of this grain by the imposition of most unreasonable and aggravating tariff laws. "Protection," said an earnest citizen of Melbourne to us, "does anything but protect; it makes much of our food cost us twenty per cent more than it would naturally if the ordinary laws of trade were permitted to adjust themselves." The mass of the people favor free-trade, but the leaders and the officials favor high tariff, for they realize a living through the collecting of dues that arise under its provisions. It was admitted to the author by local political economists that it costs fifty per cent of the aggregate sum collected to keep "the machine" moving,—a fact which alone forms a strong argument against the entire system.
Adelaide, with a population of a hundred and fifty thousand, has a noble University, quite equal in standing to that of any city in the country. When we remember how youthful she is, it becomes a matter of no small surprise that Adelaide has achieved such a condition of progress in all the appointments and possessions which go to make up a great city of modern times. This remark will apply indeed to all the Australian capitals, none of which are deficient in hospitals, libraries, schools, asylums, art galleries, and charitable institutions generally. Few of the European cities of twice the size of these in Australia can boast a more complete outfit in all that goes to promote a true civilization. We must not forget,however, that a city established in the nineteenth century has a lamp to guide its feet in the experience of all who have gone before,—thus enabling it to start upon a wise and proper basis from the very outset.
Though South Australia presents little of the glamour of auriferous fields to attract new settlers, those who come here are as a rule of the best class. This colony offers officially the most liberal inducements to new-comers, while the natural advantages of its agricultural and stock-raising districts are unsurpassed in either of the other colonies. A land-order is given gratuitously to every qualified person upon his arrival at Adelaide, which is good for one hundred dollars for each adult, and fifty dollars for each child, at the Government Land Office; besides which other liberal inducements are offered that are calculated to interest representatives especially of the agricultural class of Great Britain.
King William Street is a broad and elegant thoroughfare, the principal one of the city. It is lined on either side with grand palatial buildings,—banks, insurance offices, warehouses, shops, and hotels. On this street also are the Post-Office and the Town Hall. One looks about at the solid and pleasing architectural effect of all these buildings with no small degree of surprise. Everywhere within the limits of the city, especially extending eastward and westward of the Post-Office, spacious edifices are to be found, either completed and occupied or in course ofconstruction. The material used for building purposes consists very largely of a handsome white stone, which produces a remarkably cheerful general effect. By ascending North Adelaide Hill one gets an admirable view of all the space between Mount Lofty and the city proper, which space is dotted with villas, gardens, and pleasant domestic surroundings, and profusely ornamented with trees. There is an aspect of thrift and business prosperity in the very atmosphere; civic and suburban improvement is the order of the day. The churches of all denominations are numerous and handsome. Comparisons may be odious, and especially so as regards different portions of these colonies, between which there is rampant a spirit of exaggerated and endless jealousy; but we cannot refrain from saying that to the casual observer Adelaide manifests greater evidences of enterprise and rapid growth than either Sydney, Melbourne, or Brisbane. The citizens are especially alive to all educational interests. There is here a Minister of Education, a Training and Model School, three Colleges, and an ample number of common and primary schools. The South Australian Institute and Museum is designed for the promotion of art studies, science, and philosophy.
King William Street is nearly two miles long, certainly rivalling in many respects Collins Street in Melbourne, and is more elegant and effective as a whole than George Street in Sydney. Some enterprising parties should introduce a few hundredHansom cabs into the city, to take the place of the hideous four-wheeled vehicles which are drawn about town by two horses. Victoria Square, situated in the very heart of Adelaide, is a busy quarter, where at a single glance one has a view of the principal public buildings, including the Town Hall, a noble structure, the colonnade of which is built over the surrounding foot-way. Opposite this building is the General Post-Office, the main features of which are like the Post-Office of Sydney,—a tall square tower rising from the centre, which seemed in both instances quite out of place. The city is remarkable for the compactness of its business centre. Queen Street runs from bank to bank of the river, so that the masts of the shipping are visible from either end of the thoroughfare.
The city proper is separated from its suburbs by a wide belt of park lands, and all the approaches are lined with thrifty ornamental trees. Great liberality and good judgment presided over the laying out of Adelaide. All the streets are broad and regular, running north and south, east and west. There are no mysterious labyrinths, dark lanes, or blind alleys in the city; all the avenues cross each other at right angles and are uniform in width. Somehow we missed the irregular ways of old European cities and those of the far East, where one can get delightfully lost and bewildered now and then.
Adelaide has been called the city of churches, and as already intimated it certainly is well supplied inthat respect; but it is still better entitled to be called the city of public parks.
There was a grand Industrial Exhibition open at Adelaide during our visit, to which all the sister colonies had contributed; and hosts of strangers were consequently attracted to the town, imparting a business aspect to everything and a general life to its streets which doubtless was not its normal condition. Still, be this as it may, the capital of South Australia is growing steadily in population and material wealth. The present Exhibition Building stands in the Adelaide Park lands, fronting North Terrace, adjacent to the Botanical Gardens. A direct line of railway, seven miles long, connects the Exhibition with the wharves at Port Adelaide, where ships of the largest tonnage can lie at the pier and discharge their cargoes. The completeness, thorough organization, and amazing variety of this Exhibition of Industries here in the South Seas was a subject of great surprise and admiration to us. It is not, however, our intention to go into a description of the Exhibition, but it was certainly worthy of all commendation.
The Australian ladies of this section are essentially unlike their sisterhood of the colonies in general. They are characterized by a bright, buoyant, piquant manner which charms and captivates the stranger who is so fortunate as to enjoy their proverbial hospitality. Without being in the least flippant, they are debonair and winsome in the display of their many accomplishments, which always embracemusic, drawing, and dancing. They are more like the women of America in height and general figure than their English progenitors. They have none of the English stoutness which indicates a plethora of blood and vigor; indeed, there was a marked delicacy generally apparent in the matter of health, which is to be attributed doubtless to climatic influences,—and yet statistics show a low scale of mortality in Adelaide, as in most parts of Australia. Regarding amusements, dancing is a favorite one, quite as much so here as among the ladies of Spain. Among gentlemen belonging to what is termed the best society in Adelaide, it is a fact worth remarking that one finds no idlers; all have some legitimate calling, and would evidently feel ill at ease without it. Idling is not popular; each citizen is expected to contribute in some form to the general condition of thrift and progress, as well as to do his share toward developing the natural resources of the State. This is imperative in a youthful colony, and not out of place in any community.
It is believed that the interior of the continent, which is largely embraced within the territory of South Australia, was at a comparatively recent period covered by a great inland ocean. Here are found the mammoth bones of animals of the marsupial species, now extinct, which have afforded much interest to scientists. On some portions of these plains it is said that the heat absorbed from the sun in the daytime is radiated from the soil at night to such adegree as to be insufferable to human beings. The soil is represented to be at such times like burning coal; and when the air moves over it, an effect is produced as from a furnace, or from a sirocco blowing off the coast of Africa. The effect of these winds is occasionally felt in Sydney and Melbourne; and while it lasts, humanity becomes inert, and exertion impossible. It rarely continues, however, more than three days, and in the vicinity of Adelaide is seldom experienced more than twice in a season.
Several lakes are represented to exist in the interior, as shown by maps of Australia,—among them Lake Torrens, Lake Eyre, Lake Gardiner, and Lake Amadeus, apparently covering large areas; but these localities are little more than muddy swamps or salt marshes, which are completely dried up in summer. Their level is believed to be considerably below that of the sea; and it has been proposed to cut a canal from Torrens to Spencer Gulf: if that proved advantageous, then Lake Eyre could be connected with comparatively little labor. Spencer Gulf is the deepest indentation upon the south coast, and would flood these swamps with permanent water, rendering them not only navigable, but producing a favorable change in the climate. At present, during the summer season the thermometer rises in the lake region to 110° and even to 115° Fahrenheit.
This district is regarded as a desert waste because of its want of a permanent supply of water, being "eaten up," to use a local phrase, with drought. And yet thiswant of water at certain seasons while there is an abundance at others is a matter so obviously within the ability of the people to remedy, that one cannot sympathize much with them in their present deprivation. Why the intelligent means of irrigation so well known and so thoroughly tested elsewhere are not adopted here, it is difficult to understand. We heartily agree with the position assumed in regard to this matter by a certain English Bishop, of whom we were told. He came to Australia to make it his home; and being applied to in a dry season to issue a circular-prayer for rain, he answered that a fair average quantity of water fell upon the land already, and that he declined to petition the Almighty to work a miracle until the colonists had themselves done what they could to preserve the rains by constructing proper reservoirs and sinking artesian wells. These people must not expect that Hercules will help them, unless they first put their own shoulders to the wheel.
The river Darling shows well upon paper, and judged by its aspect on the map it is a river which might rank with the Volga and the Amazon. But the truth is that it forms a watercourse dependent at present upon floods, admitting of navigation for hundreds of miles at certain seasons, and at others being as dry as the Arno at Florence or the Manzanares at Madrid. By a series of dams and canals this river might be navigable all the year round. The same remark applies to several of its tributaries, and to rivers generally running toward the inland centresand flowing into the Murray. The governments of the several colonies have long realized the importance and the necessity of a grand and comprehensive system of irrigation. They seem to be never tired of talking about the matter; but the time has now come for action. Some of the most enterprising of the pioneers as they have advanced inland have built dams on the small tributaries of the two rivers named, and have found it to pay them tenfold. Some have sunk artesian wells, and have in their turn reaped commensurate advantages. We were shown great reaches of country where ten years ago cattle would have starved had they been turned out to find a living there, but which now support large herds of domestic animals.
Africa's interior is scarcely less mapped out and explored than Central Australia. There are thousands of square miles upon which the foot of a white man has never trod. Tartary has its steppes, America its prairies, Egypt its deserts, and Australia its "scrub." The plains so called are covered by a low-growing bush, compact and almost impenetrable in places, composed of a dwarf eucalyptus. The appearance of a large reach of this scrub is desolate indeed, the underlying soil being a sort of yellow sand which one would think could surely produce nothing else. We were told of one large section of South Australia ten thousand miles square, which is solely covered with this scrub. "Yet," said our informant, himself an agriculturist of experience anda large landholder, "experiment has shown that if a watercourse were turned upon this ground and the scrub cleared away, it would give us a soil nearly as fertile as the valley of the Nile." And he added: "After a year or two more of useless talk, irrigation will be applied in all directions."
The climate of Adelaide and the surrounding country is of much greater warmth than that of the region about Brisbane, Sydney, or Melbourne. It is not uncommon for the thermometer to register 100° in the shade during the summer months. The vegetable products are almost identical with those of South Africa, and the soil is equally productive, yielding crop after crop with no signs of exhaustion. The food of the common people is cheap, abundant, and good. Mutton and beef do not cost one tenth as much as is charged for them in England or America, while bread is but four cents per pound. The flour produced here we were told won prizes wherever it was exhibited, and was considered as ranking with the very best manufactured anywhere. All kinds of vegetables are also cheap, and thanks to the Chinamen they are also in good supply: no one but John pretends to raise them. Everybody eats meat three times a day, rich and poor; but of the cooking,—well, as we cannot say anything complimentary about it, we will not dilate upon this theme.
The large number of German residents in and about Adelaide is particularly observable, and whole villages were found to exist in South Australia whereGerman was the one language spoken. This people form the best class of settlers, for they come hither with a well-considered purpose, almost always in the direction of agricultural enterprise; and this they pursue undeviatingly. Many of them are from the Rhine districts of Germany, and interest themselves in the planting and culture of the grape and in winemaking, having brought with them a special and valuable experience obtained in their native land.
The large, well-kept parks which surround this capital of South Australia form a magnificent drive, eight or ten miles long, outside of which are the villas and pleasant flower-gardens of the citizens, where one sees tropical fruits growing in great abundance,—including the orange, lemon, citron, pineapple, and the like. Some of the floral displays were truly gorgeous, embracing the flaring warratah and the glowing banksias, decked with curious and lovely foliage. Here and there were to be seen the Norfolk Island Pine, of which one never tires, and which is a great favorite all over this country. It branches straight out from the trunk with a succession of hard prickly leaves inclining upward at the ends. Its color is always of the deepest green.
The Botanical Gardens of Adelaide cover a hundred and thirty acres, the hedges of which are formed of a picturesque variety of yellow cactus, acacias, magnolias, and myrtles. Here we first saw the Australian bottle-tree, which is native only to these colonies. It receives its name from its resemblance inshape to a junk-bottle. This tree has the property of storing up water in its hollow trunk,—a well-known fact, which has often proved a providential supply for thirsty travellers in a country so subject to drought. Here also was seen the correa, with its stiff stem and prickly leaves, bearing a curious string of little delicate pendulous flowers, red, orange, and white, not unlike the fuchsia in form. The South Sea myrtle was especially attractive, appearing in flower with round clustering bunches, spangled with white stars. The styphelia, a heath-like plant, was a surprise to us, with its green flower, the first of its species the author had seen. We were shown a specimen of the sandrach-tree from Africa, which is almost imperishable, and from which the ceilings of mosques are exclusively made; it is supposed to be the shittim-wood of Scripture. The Indian cotton-tree loomed up beside the South American aloe, this last with its bayonet-like leaves, ornamented in wavy lines like the surface of a Toledo blade. The groupings of these exotics, natives of regions so far apart upon the earth's surface, yet quite domesticated and acclimated here, formed an incongruous picture and an interesting theme for contemplation.
West Australia, of which Perth is the capital, is eight hundred miles in width and thirteen hundred long from north to south, actually covering about one third of the continent. It embraces all that portion lying to the westward of the one hundred and twenty-ninth meridian of east longitude, having an area ofabout one million square miles,—or, to make a familiar comparison, it is eight times as large as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It has but few towns, ports, or settled districts, and Perth itself has less than eleven thousand inhabitants. The city is represented to be an attractive place, possessing a fine climate. Its oranges and tropical fruits generally are said to be excellent. It is situated on the Swan River, better known locally as Perth Waters. This river runs from Fremantle to Perth, and is a noble water-way, commercially spoiled however by a dangerous ledge of rocks about six feet under water, which shuts off the entrance from the sea. Of course, in due time dynamite will settle the business for that ledge.
The population of the entire colony known as West Australia is at the present writing hardly forty thousand, scattered along the seaboard or within a hundred miles of it. The results accomplished by this small number of inhabitants show very clearly of what the country is capable, and indicate what it would doubtless yield under more generous cultivation. The colony exported last year over a million dollars' worth of wool, besides copper, sandal-wood, timber, cattle, and so on. Late statistics show that there are over two millions of sheep in this section of the country, and we were told that it could support as many more as are found in Queensland and New South Wales united.
Pearl-oysters abound on the coast of WestAustralia, and pearl-shells are a ready source of income to the people, being exported in large quantities. These are most freely procured at the north. There are merchants in Sydney who annually fit out boats of from six to ten tons each, and send them to this locality for the pearl-oyster fishing. This is best prosecuted nearest to Torres Strait, which separates Australia from New Guinea. Next to the great island-continent itself, New Guinea is the largest island in the world, being three hundred and sixty miles wide by thirteen hundred miles in length; but while Australia as a whole is so remarkably healthy, not even the African Gold Coast is so dangerous to health as New Guinea. Its flat, densely-wooded, swampy coast is simply deadly to white men, and even the natives suffer constantly from low fever. These natives are probably the most barbaric of any savages living in this nineteenth century; they have no notion of even the rudest agricultural operations, living altogether on fish, berries, and roots.
The pearl-fisheries of which we were speaking give employment to a singular class of laborers, consisting of Malays, Lascars, South Sea Islanders, Australian aborigines, runaway sailors, and West Indian negroes. Formerly the oysters were raised from four or five fathoms' depth solely by divers, but dredging has lately been adopted with good success. The pearl-oyster is a large mollusk, the shell weighing sometimes as much as eight pounds. The divers are paid fair wages, and whatever pearls they find become theirperquisites, it being the shells alone that the employer seeks to secure. These, when properly dried and cleansed, he ships to Europe, where they bring an average of five hundred dollars per ton. When diving is depended upon for raising the oysters, a boat is very fully equipped, and the captain, who is the diver, descends in a full set of armor. Air-pumps supply the necessary atmosphere to enable him to remain for half an hour and more under water, during which time he fills the canvas bags which are sent down to him empty and drawn up by those remaining in the boat. Considerable capital is embarked in this business. One enemy the divers have to look out for is the shark. These dreadful creatures do not swarm on the coast of West Australia, but are nevertheless sometimes seen there; and when that is the case the diver signals his crew to draw him to the surface, for though he is armed with a long knife, he could hardly cope with these ravenous monsters in their own element.
The coast-line of the colony is set down as being three thousand miles in length on the Indian Ocean, and some hundreds upon the Southern Ocean. The country is known to be auriferous, but to what extent it is impossible to say. There are two or three hundred miles of railroad here belonging to the Government, and more is under contract to be built in this year of 1888, covering short routes between comparatively populous points. Immigration is encouraged by liberal appropriations, and the populationis increasing steadily if not rapidly. The late discovery of gold-fields at the Kimberly district on the Fitzroy River has already turned public attention thither, and settlers and adventurers are sure to follow fast. Government survey has shown that on the territory traversed by the Mary, Margaret, Elvira, and Ord rivers an immense number of gold-bearing quartz-reefs exist, besides surface diggings along the river courses and valley from which "good color," as miners express it, can be got from the sand almost anywhere. Already diggers have gone to work successfully in this region, where it seems the country is well-watered most of the year, and where the Government surveyors say there is no trouble in storing water against possible drought. All these facts simply signify that Perth, the western capital of the colonies, is in the near future to go through the same experience as have Melbourne, Adelaide, Ballarat, and Brisbane, and that she is sure by and by to become like them a great and prosperous city. What is called a "rush" in the colonies has not yet taken place in the Kimberly district, but there is a steady trend of gold-miners thither, and one or two extraordinary "finds" would draw to this part of the country as eager a throng as ever swarmed in New South Wales or Victoria bent upon the same errand.
Were we to write more in detail of West Australia it would be simply from what we learned through intelligent persons at Melbourne, Sydney, and Adelaide. We did not visit Perth. A glance at the mapwill show the reader how great are the distances between the capitals of Australia, over which we traversed hither and thither three thousand miles and more. From Adelaide to Perth, overland, would be a distance of fifteen hundred miles, which would require to be accomplished mostly on horseback. By water across the Australian Bight and Indian Ocean, it would be a voyage of about the same length.
The climate of West Australia was represented to us as being extremely fine; and one great pride of the people there is the variety and abundance of the wild-flowers which cover hill and dale near the coast-line of the entire colony. The pearl-fisheries to which we have alluded produce some of the most valuable gems that find their way to the markets of the world; for though by general consent the choicest pearls come from Ceylon and the Persian Gulf, those found on the west coast of Australia are deemed by many equal to the best. Beautiful specimens were shown to us in Melbourne which we could not recognize as in any way inferior to the Oriental gems that bring such fabulous prices in Paris and London. In a jeweller's shop on Collins Street we saw several which had come from the region near Torres Strait, and which were valued at a hundred pounds sterling each, and one which on account of its size was prized at two hundred pounds, it having already been sold for that sum.
On preparing to leave Australia proper, some facts were noted as deduced from careful observation anddiligent inquiry. It seems that this country can command the markets of the world in three articles at least,—wool, meat, and wine. For producing these she has the advantages of breadth of territory, of climate, and of general adaptation beyond those of any other land. At the present writing it would be safe to add gold to the other three staples, since Australia, in combination with Tasmania and New Zealand, is producing more of it annually than any other country in the world. In competition with the United States in the home market,—that is, in England,—Australia is handicapped by some eight thousand miles of distance, and must therefore count just so much relative additional cost of transportation. But Australia can produce two of the special articles named,—meat and wool,—at least ten per cent cheaper than our own country. As regards cereals, Australia is capable of raising at present double the amount of grain which she can consume. In that staple, however, the United States and some other countries can compete with her for reasons which favor them, independent of the additional distance she must overcome to reach a market.
From Australia to Tasmania.—The River Tamar.—Bird Life.—City of Launceston.— Aborigines of the Island.—Tattooing.—Van Diemen's Land.—A Beautiful Country.—Rich Mines.—Mount Bischoff.—Down in a Gold Mine.—From Launceston to Hobart.—Rural Aspects.—Capital of Tasmania.—Street Scenes.—A Former Penal Depot.—Mount Wellington.—Personal Beauty.—An Unbecoming Fashion.
From Australia to Tasmania.—The River Tamar.—Bird Life.—City of Launceston.— Aborigines of the Island.—Tattooing.—Van Diemen's Land.—A Beautiful Country.—Rich Mines.—Mount Bischoff.—Down in a Gold Mine.—From Launceston to Hobart.—Rural Aspects.—Capital of Tasmania.—Street Scenes.—A Former Penal Depot.—Mount Wellington.—Personal Beauty.—An Unbecoming Fashion.
From Adelaide and Perth let us turn our steps toward another of this group of British colonies in the South Sea. To reach Tasmania one takes a coasting steamer at Melbourne, passing down the river Yarra-Yarra, the muddiest of water-ways, until Bass Strait is reached, across which the course is due south for a hundred and twenty miles. This is a reach of ocean-travel which for boisterousness and discomfort can be said to rival the English Channel. As the coast of Tasmania is approached, a tall light-house, one hundred and forty feet in height, first attracts the attention,—designating the mouth of the Tamar River. The land formed a lee for the steamer as we approached it, giving us smooth water at last, whereupon the strained muscles of the body gradually relaxed, and it was delightful to be once more upon an even keel. At sea the human body is constantly struggling in the vain effort to preserve its equilibrium.During our short but tumultuous voyage across Bass Strait our steamer was often surrounded by a great variety of sea-birds,—among which were the Cape-pigeon, the stormy petrel, and the gannet, which last is the largest of ocean birds next to the albatross. On drawing still nearer to the shore flocks of pelicans were observed upon the rocks, and that most awkward of birds, the penguin, was seen in idle groups. The penguin is a good swimmer, but his apologetic wings are not intended for flying. As these birds stand upright, they always suggest the unpleasant idea of men with arms amputated above the elbows.
The winding Tamar with its tree-covered islands, green headlands, and bold background of undulating hills affords a varied and beautiful picture. Beyond the nearest range of hills was seen a second and much higher series, whose tops were covered with snow. Our passage of the Strait had been partly made in the night, and as we entered the mouth of the river the sun rose, turning these frosty peaks into sparkling crowns. The rise and fall of the tide in the Tamar is quite remarkable, being characterized by a difference of some fourteen feet.
It is singular that no enthusiastic traveller has written of the great beauty of this river of Tasmania, which deserves the highest appreciation for its natural loveliness and interesting variety of scenery. True, it has the disadvantage of extreme tides, which at one hour of the day expand it into broad, lake-like proportions, and at another reduce it to a narrow,intricate channel, disfigured by unsightly mud-banks and half-submerged ledges; but nevertheless, for a large portion of the twenty-four hours it is a scene of diversified beauty. Even when the receding tide has left so much of rock and soil uncovered, one is rendered picturesque by varied birdlife, and the other by large reaches of bright-green sea-vegetation. Here and there isolated houses dot the shore, surrounded by well-cultivated fields,—not temporary cabins, such as prevail through the inland districts of Australia, but neat and permanent structures, consisting of comfortable dwellings and large barns, with other appropriate buildings. These barns signify the necessity in Tasmania of affording a shelter in winter for domestic animals, while at the north we had not seen such a structure in the entire country from Brisbane to Adelaide.
We pass up the Tamar River through its winding channel for a distance of forty miles before coming in sight of the harbor and town of Launceston. The many tall, smoking chimney-shafts which meet the eye indicate that the town is busy smelting ores dug from the contiguous mineral hills and valleys. Approaching it in the same manner in which we first came to Parametta, at the head of river navigation, it was natural to compare the aspect of that drowsy though picturesque place with this vigorous, wide-awake community. Launceston is no Sleepy Hollow, but is a pleasant and thrifty little city, slightly addicted to earthquakes and their attendantinconveniencies. The place is named for a town in Cornwall, England, and the Tamar from a river of the same name also in that country. At our hotel numerous cracks in the walls and ceilings were silent but significant tokens of what might be expected to occur at almost any moment; but it was observed that the residents do not give this subject a second thought.
We have left Australia proper far behind, but the Bass Strait which separates that country from Tasmania is evidently of comparatively modern formation. The similarity of the vegetation, minerals, fauna, and flora of the two countries shows that this island must at some time in the long-past ages have been connected with the mainland. And yet the aborigines of Tasmania were a race quite distinct from those of Australia,—so different, indeed, as only to resemble them in color. They were a well-formed, athletic people, with brilliant eyes, curly hair, flat noses, and elaborately tattooed bodies. This ingenious and barbaric ornamentation of the body, practised by isolated savage races, seems to have been universal among the inhabitants of the Pacific Islands, though the great distances which separate them, as well as the lack of all ordinary means of intercommunication, would lead to the belief that they could not have borrowed the idea from one another. We are also reminded that singularly enough the rite of circumcision has been found to exist among some of the most completely isolated tribes of the Pacific, which causes the ethnologist toexclaim in wonder whence these savages could have got the idea. The isolation of the Samoans is so complete that one is half inclined to believe their own tradition that they originally sprang from the sea; and yet this people are even more elaborately tattooed than the natives of the Feejee Islands.
The Tasmanian aborigines "wore no clothing whatever when first discovered, leaving even those parts of the person exposed which an innate sense of decency causes most savages to conceal. They hunted the kangaroo with spears, and brought down birds with a heavy whirling stick," says an old chronicler; but whether he means by "a heavy whirling stick" to indicate the boomerang, we cannot say. If these savages possessed that ingenious instrument, it would show that they must have been more or less intimate with the Australian aborigines, who doubtless invented it. They are said to have been low in the scale of barbarism; but they were not stupid, lighting fires by the friction of two pieces of dry wood, and roasting their fowls, fish, and prisoners of war before eating them. They were openly addicted to cannibalism to the very last, until association with the whites gradually ended this barbarism. They however secretly practised infanticide until formally interfered with by the laws of the white invaders.
So late as sixty years ago there were three or four thousand of these people still in existence in Tasmania, but to-day not one soul is living to represent the race; civilization to them has indeed proved to bean active agent of destruction. They were bold and independent, prompt to resent an injury, but very poorly provided with the means of avenging themselves. Their weapons were mere toys when compared with the fire-arms of the whites. The war constantly waged between the two races was most unequal, and ended only in the extermination of the natives. These savages had to deal largely with escaped prisoners and ex-convicts, who were hardly less savage, thinking no more of shooting a black man than they would of shooting a kangaroo; and it is affirmed that this class of whites banded together and hunted the aborigines as they would wild beasts. No wonder that the natives retaliated in kind, and that when they found an unprotected family of whites they savagely destroyed women and children, and burned down their homes. Thus mutual destruction went on, the whites being annually reinforced by numbers from across the sea, and the barbaric natives dwindling rapidly away.
When the country cast off the disgrace of being a penal colony, the name it bore was very judiciously changed from Van Diemen's Land to that of Tasmania, in honor of its first discoverer, Abel Janssen Tasman, the famous Dutch navigator of the seventeenth century. We should perhaps qualify the words "first discoverer." Tasman was the first accredited discoverer, but he was less entitled to impart his name to this beautiful island than were others. Captain Cook, with characteristic zeal and sagacity,explored, surveyed, and described it, whereas Tasman scarcely more than sighted it. However, any name was preferable to that of Van Diemen's Land, which had become the synonym for a penal station, and with which is associated the memory of some of the most outrageous and murderous acts of cruelty for which a civilized government was ever responsible.
The whole island has now a population of about one hundred and thirty thousand, and a total area of over twenty-four thousand square miles, being really as much a part of Australia as Ceylon is of India, and sustaining the same relative geographical position. As Ceylon is called the pearl of the continent it so nearly adjoins, so Tasmania may justly be called the jewel of Australia. The climate is so equable and healthy that it bears the name among the Australians of the Eden of the Colonies. Its size is not quite that of Ireland, one hundred and seventy miles long by a hundred and sixty in width. There are no extremes of heat and cold, the winter mean being 47° Fahrenheit, and that of summer 65°. Lying so much nearer the Antarctic Circle it is of course cooler than the continent, but the influence of its sea surroundings renders its climate more equable. For many years it has formed a popular summer resort for the citizens of Sydney and Melbourne, as well as of other portions of the mainland. It may be the result of a local prejudice, but it is universally admitted that its native-born women are remarkable for personal beauty: we mean those born here of European parents.
The general aspect of the country is that of being occupied by thrifty farmers of advanced ideas, such as carry on their calling understandingly, much more like well-populated America than like Australia. Our native fruits—apples, peaches, pears, and the like—thrive here in such abundance as to form a prominent item in the exports, besides promoting a large and profitable industry in the packing of preserved fruits, which are in universal use in Australia and New Zealand. These canned fruits have an excellent and well-deserved reputation, there being an extensive demand for them on shipboard. Here also we saw enormous trees, with a circumference of eighty feet near the ground and a height of three hundred and fifty feet. Fern-trees, with their graceful palm-like formation, are frequently seen thirty feet in height. The country is well wooded, and traversed by pleasant watercourses; is singularly fertile, and rich in good harbors, especially upon the eastern coast. In short its hills, forests, and plains afford a pleasing variety of scenery, while its rich pastures invite the stock-breeder to reap a goodly harvest in the easiest and most profitable manner. The familiar description which occurs in Deuteronomy seems to apply exactly to this favored island: "For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land; a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig-trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil-olive and honey; a land wherein thou shalteat bread without scarceness,—thou shalt not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass."
Tasmania is already largely occupied for the purpose of sheep-runs and wool-raising, and is studded with lovely homesteads carefully fenced in, the grounds being covered with fruit and ornamental trees. There seemed to us scarcely an acre of waste land to be seen in passing through the country upon travelled routes. The roads in many districts are lined with thrifty hedges symmetrically trimmed, consisting sometimes of the brilliant yellow gorse, and often of the double, stocky species of geranium in scarlet bloom. This species, which is not particularly fragrant, grows almost like a wild scrub here, requiring little or no cultivation; the more it is trimmed down the more stocky it becomes, until a hedge of it is quite impenetrable.
The interior of Tasmania develops into a mountain range of from two to five thousand feet in height, while its valleys and plains give support and ample pasturage to two million five hundred thousand sheep, not to enumerate the large herds of horned cattle which also abound. The wool produced upon the island has long been a favorite in the market on account of its uniformity and general excellence, always commanding the best prices. In and about the mountain ranges, gold, tin, silver, copper, and coal abound, so that the land teems with undeveloped mineral wealth, besides being full of beautiful lakes and fertile valleys.
Tasmania indeed might well be the Elysium depicted by Hesiod and Pindar, the Island of the Blest in the far Western Ocean. As a whole it pleased us greatly. The women were handsome, the children bright-eyed and rosy-cheeked, the men dignified and intelligent. The dwellings were neat and substantial, the grounds and gardens trim and picturesque. The walls were ivy-grown, and the fields divided by hedges. Prosperity and good taste were observable everywhere, presenting a succession of landscapes like those of populous New England. The roads are equal to the best European highways, having been built at great expense by convict labor, winding through fields that recall, as we have said, the finest of American rural scenery, presenting at the same time scarcely a shade of newness. The people who have built such complete cottage homes here have surely done so with the intention of staying. The very sunshine seemed more golden, the trees more green and graceful, and the skies clearer and bluer than on the continent left behind. Indeed, Tasmania might be a big slice detached from England and drifted into the South Sea. The rural scenery of Kent or Surrey is not more charming, while the thrifty hop-fields here heighten the general resemblance. Gold-mining, though followed to a certain extent in Tasmania, has not seemed to demoralize the people, and is really a secondary occupation to others that pay better both in a moral and a pecuniary sense.
As we have shown, Launceston is situated at the head of navigation on the Tamar River, where the town nestles in the lap of a valley surrounded by hills. The population numbers about twelve thousand. It is regularly laid out in broad streets lighted by gas, and has a good water-supply brought from St. Patrick's River fifteen miles east of the city. There are numerous substantial public buildings of brick and stone, and everything bears a thorough business aspect indicating great prosperity. There is a Public Library containing over ten thousand volumes, and there are also five or six well-appointed schools of the several grades. The Town Hall is a very fine and substantial building of dressed stone, and several large brick buildings for business purposes were observed to be in course of erection. The city is not without its Botanical Garden, embracing twelve or fifteen acres of land near the centre of the town. The walks and drives in and about the neighborhood are quite attractive. The North and South Elk rivers rise on different sides of Ben Lomond, and after flowing through some romantic plains and gorges, they join each other at Launceston. This sky-reaching mountain is worthy of its Scotch counterpart; between it and Launceston is some of the finest river and mountain scenery in all Tasmania. Ben Lomond is the chief object in the landscape wherever one drives or walks in this part of the island.
One of the first places of interest in this vicinityto which the attention of the visitor is invited, is a locality reached by a drive of four or five miles from Launceston called Cora Linn, which is notable for its romantic scenery. It consists of a deep gorge, through which the North Elk River rushes noisily, forming seething cascades and dashing waterfalls of a grand character. To reach this spot one passes through the pretty village of St. Leonard, where there is a neat little Wesleyan chapel and plenty of handsome villas most home-like in aspect.
The winter is here like that of Nice and Mentone, while the summer is much like that of New England, though not subject to such extremes. One sees many bronze-winged pigeons here, a very fine domestic bird, blazing with color under the sun's rays.
Of all the vast mineral wealth of Tasmania, the most thoroughly developed enterprise is that of the Mount Bischoff tin mine, which is situated about one hundred and fifty miles from Launceston. It is accessible from the city either by land or water. The land-route passes through a highly interesting district, diversified by river and mountain scenery, pleasant homesteads, cultivated fields, and some of the largest sheep-runs on the island. The quartz or tin-bearing rock of this mine may be said to form the entire hill to the height of three hundred feet,—Mount Bischoff itself being three thousand feet above sea-level. Several shafts have been sunk to a depth of a hundred feet each, showing that the metallic deposit reaches to that depth with a "breast" (asminers term it) as broad as the hill itself. The deposit is therefore practically inexhaustible, and of such value that it has already greatly enriched its stockholders. The tin is shipped direct to England in the form of "pigs," and the demand from that country seems to absorb the entire product of this mine. The price for tin ore is said to be as uniform as that for gold. The company's pay-roll at the mine averages twenty thousand dollars a month, the men receiving from two dollars a day upwards, none, however, exceeding two dollars and a half as day-laborers.
This mountain of tin, for that is really what it is, has been tunnelled through its greatest dimension, showing it to be equally rich in all parts. It is a busy place, but so well organized in every department that there is no confusion, each man working intelligently and to the best advantage. We were told by the superintendent that the shares of this mine originally cost five dollars each; to-day they are selling for three hundred dollars per share, and not always to be had at that price. They are almost wholly owned in this neighborhood, and on them the owners receive monthly dividends. We were told of other tin mines in this island, but Mount Bischoff isthetin mine of Tasmania.
A view from the summit of Mount Bischoff across the wild forest and densely-covered hills is a picture to be long remembered. The query suggested itself, Is it possible that this immense wild tract of country,these miles upon miles of seemingly impenetrable forest, will ever be cleared and dotted with the homes of settlers? Being in the heart of a rich mineral district, where not tin alone but gold also is found, doubtless it is destined, in the near future, to have a similar experience to that which transformed Ballarat and Sandhurst from deserts into cities.
A trip to the Beaconsfield gold mine, which is situated some thirty miles from Launceston, will well repay the traveller from other lands. The town of Beaconsfield ranks next to those of Hobart and Launceston in importance, and has a rapidly increasing population. It is of quite recent establishment, and owes its rise solely to the discovery of the attractive metal within that district.
The Tasmanian mine, so called, is considered one of the most valuable and prolific on the island, possessing also a very perfect "plant" in machinery and the usual appliances for quartz mining. Before descending the main shaft of the mine one must assume suitable clothing, as mud and water are to be encountered in extraordinary quantities. The great difficulty to be overcome in working nearly all of these subterranean mines is the profuse influx of water, often involving the necessity for a steam-pumping apparatus of immense power, which must be worked night and day in order to keep the various sections of the mine sufficiently dry for working. Armed with candles, we descended two hundred feet by the "lift" to the first level, or drift, forming a passage just highenough and wide enough for a man to swing a pick in, but as wet as a river, one being often over shoes in water and mud. From the far end of this passage we got now and then a breath of fresh air, which seemed to come down a ventilating shaft. A few dismal-looking laborers were seen chipping off the rock amid the misty shadows caused by the fitful light. What a place to work in day after day,—and all for gold, "saint-seducing gold"! After a short exploration on this level, we descended still another two hundred feet, penetrating a second drift almost identical with the first in size and general character. Here some Chinamen were engaged with picks, drills, and shovels,—dark, mysterious figures, who seemed to glare at us from out the uncertain rays of light as though they were brooding over some fancied wrong, for which they would gladly avenge themselves then and there. The quartz rock which they break away from the walls of the drift is all the time being hoisted to the surface of the mine to be crushed and passed through various processes to extract the precious metal. The next gallery was still two hundred feet lower down the shaft,—that is, six hundred feet from the surface. Here, after passing through the same experiences as above, we mildly but firmly declined to go any farther into the bowels of the earth simply for the sake of saying that we had done so, since there was really nothing to be seen essentially different from what had already been examined. It was no slight relief to get once more to the surface,and to see the light of day. On looking about us and reflecting on the network of galleries we had threaded far below this upper earth, there was seen a quarter of a mile away, on the other side of the lagoon, the ventilating shaft which gave air to the mine.
The name of another successful mine in this immediate vicinity is the Florence Nightingale mine, very similar to the Tasmanian, and therefore requiring no description. The gold-workings are mostly of the quartz, though there are some paying alluvial diggings along the banks of running streams, where it would seem as though some Midas had bathed, and filled the sand with scales of gold,—places the sight of which at once recalled that far-away river Pactolus of the Lydian country.
Many fortunes are staked and lost in the sinking of these deep shafts, where the indications have been so promising at the surface, but which not being thoroughly understood have led to operations ending in great disappointment. As a rule, however, the miners have become sufficiently experienced to work unerringly; and when a quartz-bearing vein has once been discovered, they can follow its course, or strike it at various levels, almost with certainty.
The trip from Launceston to Hobart, a distance of one hundred and twenty miles more or less, takes us into the centre of the island,—the direction being from north to south through lovely glades, over broad plains, across rushing streams, and around the base of abrupt mountains. The narrow-gauge railroadwhich connects the two cities is owned and operated by a private company, whose charge for carrying a passenger over the short distance named is six dollars. The cars are so poorly constructed, so narrow, and so meanly upholstered, as to appear like worn-out omnibuses built forty years ago. To add to the traveller's discomfort, the road-bed is as bad as it can be and not derail the cars constantly. One fellow-traveller suggested that there should be printed upon each passenger's ticket the condition that the holder would be expected to walk round all the sharp curves, and to help push the train up the steep grades. The engine seemed to be of that minimum capacity which always left a doubt upon the mind whether it would not give out altogether at the next up grade. In short, this railroad is a disgrace to Tasmania. Travellers, however, must learn not only to carry ample change of clothing with them, but also an ever ready stock of patience and forbearance,—better currency with which to insure comfort than even silver and gold.
It was mid-winter in Tasmania, and yet ploughing, sowing, and harrowing were going on at the same time along the route,—an agricultural anomaly rather puzzling to a stranger. The road passes through many pleasant though small villages. Ben Lomond, with its white crest, overlooks the scene for many miles after leaving Launceston. This grand mountain is in the north of the island what Mount Wellington is in the south,—the pride ofthe residents who live beneath its shadow. It is prolific in mineral deposits, including gold and coal; but at the present time mining operations are only prosecuted for the purpose of producing a domestic supply of the latter article.
About thirty miles from Launceston the traveller arrives at Campbelltown, which is the centre of a pastoral district. The place lies embosomed in hills, the highest point being Mount Campbell,—an elevation rising twenty-three hundred feet above sea-level. Next the town of Ross is passed,—a pretty little village, beautified by ornamental trees, and having a long arched stone bridge and lovely rural surroundings. Tunbridge, which follows, is half-way between the two cities, and seemed to be a very thrifty settlement. This, as we were told, was the nearest point to what is known as the Lake District of Tasmania, where a series of large and permanent deposits of water, lying three thousand feet above the average inhabited portions of the island, form a centre of considerable interest. It is proposed to tap these lakes in the best engineering style, for the purpose of irrigating hundreds of square miles of soil,—the country here, as upon the mainland, being subject to occasional droughts.
As we proceeded southward the picturesqueness of the scenery increased, now winding through valleys or creeping over mountain passes. Wherever the valleys widen into plains there are seen numberless rural homes, substantial and attractive, surrounded byfertile fields, cultivated gardens, and large fruit-orchards,—the latter leafless at this season, though the general foliage of the country is evergreen. Thrifty gorse hedges are prominent everywhere, blazing with yellow blossoms which lighted up and warmed the landscape like sunshine. Oatlands, Jericho, and Melton Mowbry follow one another,—each a thriving town graced with substantial buildings, often constructed of white freestone wrought from neighboring quarries. All the way the tall mountain ranges are in full sight, with patches of snow here and there high up on their sides. At the town of Brighton the river Derwent is first seen not far away, shining under the sun's rays like silver; after which Hobart is soon reached, and we are relieved from the imprisonment of the uncomfortable cars.
Hobart was so named by Colonel Collins, its founder, in 1804, in honor of Lord Hobart, who was then Secretary of State for the Colonies. It is surrounded by hills and mountains on all sides except where the Derwent opens into lake form, making a deep and well-sheltered harbor, whence it leads the way into the Southern Ocean. Among the lofty hills in this vicinity Mount Wellington towers grandly forty-two hundred feet above the others, so close to the city on the northwest side as to seem almost within rifle-range. The shape of the town is square, built upon a succession of low hills, being very much in this respect like Sydney. It has broad streets intersecting one another at right angles, lined with handsomewell-stocked stores serving an active and enterprising population of thirty thousand or more. Of these shops, two or three spacious and elegant bookstores deserve special mention, being such as would do credit to any American or European city. Their shelves and counters were found to contain a remarkably full assortment of both modern and classic literature. There must be many cultured and intelligent people here to afford sufficient support to such admirable establishments.
Many fine public buildings were observed, with elaborate façades, nearly all built of light freestone; while quite a number of handsome edifices, both for public and private use, were noticed as in course of construction of the same material. Churches, banks, insurance offices, and the like, all in this bright cheerful stone, give not only an imposing aspect to the thoroughfares of the city, but one always pleasing whether viewed under cloud-shadows or in the rays of the sun. And yet Hobart has hardly outlived the curse of the penal associations which clustered about its birth. Thirty or forty years ago the British Government expended here five thousand dollars per day in support of jails and military barracks. The last convict ship from England discharged her cargo at Hobart in 1851, since which year the system has gradually disappeared. The loss of a large, profitable, and regular business incidental to a penal depot, however objectionable in some of its associations, gave the place a check from which it has taken aseries of years to recover; but its far more legitimate and agreeable growth is now one in which the citizens may and do take a commendable and natural pride. The past history of the place, so characterized by official cruelties, brutalities, and crimes, will not bear recall or exposure to the light of day. What Cayenne was to France, Hobart was to England; namely, the convict's purgatory, where order was maintained only by the lash, the halter, and the bullet; where official murder formed a part of the daily routine. What a broad contrast exists between that picture of the past and the surroundings of the present; between the penal life that reigned here in 1840, and the healthy, contented existence characterizing the Hobart in which the author is writing these notes!
The view from Mount Wellington is justly famed for its varied and comprehensive character. The city with its gracefully undulating conformation, lying at the visitor's feet, is framed by a three-quarter circle of tree-covered hills, relieved by the river Derwent, which conducts the eye seaward by its bright, sparkling, and winding stream. Turning to the view inland, there lies beneath a beautiful blue sky, just touched here and there by fleecy clouds, a fair and lovely land diversified by rivers, lakes, forests, villages, and towns,—some of the latter in the valleys, some on the open plains, some perched on the mountain-sides, and all together forming a most fascinating, far-reaching picture of the fairest section of Australasia.
Hobart also has its Botanical Garden, covering an area of over twenty acres near the centre of the town. It is filled with ornamental trees, flowers, and fruit-trees from every part of the world, the sweet-scented shrubs rendering the dewy morning atmosphere fragrant even in mid-winter. Geraniums, cacti, tiger-lilies, and many creeping plants were flowering as though in a tropical climate, not at all abashed by the snow-caps upon some of the mountain ranges in sight. This garden slopes down in beautiful form to the waters of the harbor, and is washed by the blue Derwent. The city is supplied with good drinking-water from a copious, never-failing crystal spring, situated half-way up Mount Wellington. The street scenes have the usual local color; like those of Launceston, they embrace the typical miner, with his rude kit upon his shoulder, consisting of a huge canvas-bag, a shovel and pick. The professional chimney-sweep, with blackened face and hands begrimed, whom we lost sight of years ago in Boston and London, is seen here pursuing his vocation. Market-men have the same singular mode of delivering purchases to their customers as we noted elsewhere, and are seen constantly galloping upon little wiry horses, bearing upon their arms large well-filled baskets. Women with scores of slaughtered rabbits cry them for sale at sixpence a pair, besides which they realize a bounty for killing the pests. Let us not forget to mention the lovely, rosy-cheeked children and handsome maidens metat every few steps going to or coming from school, with their glowing promise of health and beauty.
It is remarkable how certain communities are characterized by handsome girls and boys, together with lovely children, while another locality, either far away or near at hand, is notable for the almost painful plainness of its rising generation. Such experiences are sure to force themselves upon the notice of the traveller in foreign lands, personal beauty being oftenest encountered where least expected, and usually under such circumstances as to be the more impressive. The same inclination to cut the hair short like that of boys, which we had noticed among women single and married still farther north, prevails here to even a greater extent. Though it was so common, it nevertheless repeatedly suggested their late possible recovery from some serious and depleting fever.