GIFT OF
SEELEY W. MUDD
and
GEORGE I. COCHRAN MEYER ELSASSER
DR. JOHN R. HAYNES WILLIAM L. HONNOLD
JAMES R. MARTIN MRS. JOSEPH F. SARTORI
to the
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
SOUTHERN BRANCH
This book is DUE on the last date stamped below
&'■
Form I- '-
University of California
At Los Angeles
The
Library
Form L 1
*DU
S7
N63
4*
SYDNEY, FROM THE SOUTH HEAD.
•
\
CONTENTS
SYDNEY : THE CITY.— E. P. FIELD. pads
The Approaches to the City — The Heads — The Harbour — The Gardens— Public Buildings — Hyde Park
— Captain Cook's Statue — The Streets— Steam Trams — Pitt and I. orge Streets — New Post Office —
i hinese Quarter— Circular Quay — History of Sydney Cove — The Tank Stream— The Town Hall—
Peel .Market 1
SYDNEY : THE SUBURBS.— E. P. Field.
Coogee Bay — Maroubra Bay — The North Head — The South Head — Long Bay — Botany Bay — Litl
Kay— Hospital for Lepers— Point Sutherland — Dlawarra — The University — Newton n— Parramatta — The
Champion Course — Ryde — Old Government House — Watson's Bay — The Gap — Wreck of the Dunbar
— Bfiddle Harbour — Manly -Doable Ua.v and Rose Bay 14
SYDNEX lis ORIGIN.— E. P. Field.
Discovery of Sydney Harbour— Botany Bay— Landing at Sydney Cove — 'akin The Aborigines —
Loss of the Siriux — Famine -Mania] Law- Despair — Relief — Better Days — Past and Present . . 29
MELBOURNE PROPER.— The Editob.
General Features of the City and the Suburbs— Elizabeth Street— Australian Creeks — The Cathedrals
—The Churches — Government Eon e Princes Bridge— The Town Hall— The Wards— The Hospital—
The Public Library— The Working Man- Collegi — The Old and the New Law Court — The Royal
Mint— Collins Street— Flinders Street— Little Collins Street— Bourke Street— The Post Office and the
I in Market — Parliament House — Little Bourke Street . . . 38
GREATER MELBOURNE.— The Editob.
Distinctive Features — Richmond Park— The Yarra Yarra— Rowing ( Lube ami River Pionics— Suburban
Municipalities— Means of 1.. (Yillingwood -Prahran — Ilothatn — Exhibition Building and
the "Zoo" — Tli i lonial Oolney Satoh — Toorak — South Yarra— St Hilda— Brighton — Flemington —
Public Holidays— The Ports ol Melbourne: Sandridge and Williamstown — Origin of Local Names —
ral Collingwood 56
LITTLE B01 RKE STREE1 Hi HE Nibbet.
Aun.ti the Chinese at Midnight— Lotteries Chh 3hop \ Typical Cookshop -"The Grand
-A Gambling Hell -A Barber at Work -"Nance" (bang Home— Opium Dens— Taking a
■I'm!! \ Pandemonium — Philosophy under Diflieulti D DC I B UBebreaker 7.".
LORD MELB01 RNE Tm Editob,
I'll, First Lord Mel " Daj First Lord Mell orne - In tie- House
oi' Con ii Home Secretary under Lord Grej Prime Minister ■" Kicked Ontl" — A United
Cabinet— Death oi William IV U
\ VANISHED WONDERLAND Pbofkbsob T. G Toi
The Hot Lakes \ Terrible Catastrophe— Oxford ami Cambrid irua— The Boiling Springs—
Ohinemutu— Whakarewarewa Wairoo La Tarawora Lake Rotomahana— The Wonderland— The
Whit i The Steam Demon— The Pink i ■ ed 1 — A New Wonderland . . .89
iv CONTENTS.
BRISBANE G. Washisgtoh Power
The Approach by River— North Brisbane — Victoria Bl si — The Breweries— The
Gaol — The Water Supply — Ciiy Charities -Oram Sol 1- -The B cal Gardens— Government
and Parliament Hour-.- -The Churches— Exhibition Buildings and Places of Amusement — News-
papers — 'Buses and Trams— The Ferries 101
UNTRODDEN TRACKS IX I'M I— G. Whabtoh Mabbiott.
Fiji— lis History — Suva — Government House— Cricket and Tinka — Armstrong's Point — The Botanical
Gardens— Yiti L vn Sugar Plantations — Nandronga — A Fijian Bouse— -Fijian Comestibles— A Dance
— Yangona — An Early Start — Refreshments — A Native Hut — Photographing — Mount Tumainivi —
Sairdressing — Halts — Tin- Summit— Na Matakula — Fijian Boats — A Moonlight Dane.. — A Fish Weir
— Levuka 116
VASAWA-I-LAU.— G. WHABTOH Marriott.
The Start — Fijian Hospitality — A Beautiful Cave— A Weird Scene — More Caves — Late Dinner —
"Mekes" 136
HOBART— R. D. Pouustt-Habbis.
Situation — Cape Pillar and Tasman's Island — Port Arthur — Cape Raoul — Franklin Island — The Der-
went — A General View — A Bird's-eye View — Main Road — Macquarie Street — The Royal Society's
Museum — Franklin Square — The First Australian Brewery — The Queen's Domain — Domain Road —
Government House — The Botanical Gardens — Distinguished Legislators — The High School — Liverpool
and Elizabeth Streets — The Bank of Van Diemeu's Land — Memorial Church — "Mr. Robinson's
House " — The Roman Catholic Cathedral 140
THE ENVIRONS OF HOBART— R. D. PouHSTT-HABBIS.
.Mount Wellington — Cook's Monument — A Magnificent Prospect — The Pinnacle — -The Organ Pipes " —
Lost on the Mountain — The Wellington Falls — Brown's River — Kingston — Queenborough — The Bonnet
Hill— Mount Nelson — Mount Direction — The Largest Man in the World — Risdon — A "Rupert of
Debate " — Kangaroo Point and Bellerive — Mount Rumney — Newtown — Elwick Racecourse — A Land-
slip—Austin's Ferry — Bridgewater Causeway — Newtown and Cornelian Bays 156
GOLD— M. Gaunt.
The First Rush— Victoria Deserted — The Reflux — Life at the Diggings — A Primitive Post Office —
Ingenuous Advertisements — Law and Order— The Composition of the Police — The Force of Nature
—'•Big Finds and Petty Squabbles "—Open Rebellion— " From the East and the West, and from the
North and the Sonth"— Murder and Rapine— The Murder at Indigo Creek— The Gold Escort Attacked
and Defeated— A Raid on a Ship— Sailors' Luck— The Mongol and his Tribulations— Boisterous Ex-
travagance — Pegging out a Claim — Mining Processes, Past and Present— Alluvial Mining — The
"Jewellers' Shops" — -Shepherding'' — Big Nuggets — Quartz Mining— A Novice's Impression pf a
Gold Mine — Mount Brown— Kimberley 168
NEW GUINEA: PORT MORESBY TO KEREPUNA.— Hr/ME NlSBET.
An Island with a Future — Missionaries and Traders — Port Moresby — Elevara — Native Occupations —
The s Fever — Funeral Customs — An Unexecuted Sentence — The Ascent of Mount I'ullen —
The Laloki and Goldie Rivers — The Guilelessness of the Natives— Their Treatment of Women —
Courtship and Marriage— Betel Chewing— Native Hunting— Kapa-Kapa— Hula— The Bau-bau— A
Clever Trickster— Kerepuna— Nature and Civilisation— Work Days and Rest Days— Festivities— Spirit-
seers— Canoe Makers— Fond Farewells— Rejoicings 196
CONTENTS. V
NEW GUINEA: KEREPIWA TO CAUTION POINT— Hoik Nisbet.
Cloudy Bay — South Capi — East Cape — Heath. Palm, and Dinner Islands — A High Sense of Honour —
Milne Bay — Cliffy and Teste Islands — A Nocturm — Caution Point — German New Guinea — An Expe-
dition up the Ami River 219
NEW GUINEA: YULE [SLAND AND THE TORRES STRAITS.— HUME NlSBl
Vulr Island — Motu-Motu — Across the Papuan Gulf — Darnley Island— The Murray Group — York
bland — Lotus-eaters --"
ADELAIDE— The Editor.
"A Model City" — The Plan of the City — South Adelaide — Victoria Square — King William Street —
The Post Office— The Town Hall— The Terraces— Hindley Street— North Adelaide— The Anglican
I thedial — A City of Churches — Religion and Morals — The River Torrcns and ite Bridg
Parliament Souse and New Parliament House— The Public Library, Museum, and Art Gallery — The
University — The Park-lands— The Suburbs — The Mails — Port Adelaide — Semaphore— Lai - Bay —
' ni'lg — Proclamation Tree — The First Government House — Brighton 231
BALLAEAT.— M. Gaunt.
Virgin Forest — The Gold Fever — Mounts Buninyong and Warrenheip — Black Hill — The City. The
Town, and The Borough— Si Streel -The Public Buildings— The "Corner"— The Town Hall-
Tin- Miners' City— "'Our Lake" — The Botanical Gardens — Ballarat East — Brid -The Chines*
Quarter — "Hunting il" — The Suburbs — Lal-Lal — Bakery Hill — Bungarei — An Iri>h Settle-
ment—Bits of Old England . . 247
Till. EUREKA STOCKADE.— M. Gaunt.
Bakery Hill — Desolation — Mutterings before the Storm — A Miscarriage of Justice — The Eate of
the Eureka Hotel — The Reform League — The Meeting on Bakery Hill — Declaration of War — 1
- ikade— The Night Attack— An Awful Scene— The Sequel
Tin: daii.v i. hi; OF THE BUSH.— O. Sawyer,
Stations ami Stations -Sheep or Cattle— General View of a Good Station— " Running In"— Bush
Hospitality — An Ardent Dancer — Loafers — " Mustering" — Stock Whips — Catholicism — " Sprees" — A
Thriving Drunkard — " Ton See" -Ti
DUNEDLN.— R. E. M. Twopenny.
n.w Zealand Towns First App -View of Dunedin : or r. Nature —
The l'eopU — Two Banke The Public Buildings— The Town B - to
— The University The I i Church— The 1 iraatic Asylum— The Hotels —
B - in Dunedin— The Harbon i Belt — The Suburbs -"Ocean Beach" >
ating Company - l>airy Farmii P y . 283
Till. V W.l.KY OF THE HUNTEB I Eippi a.
"Nobby's"- Newcastle Harbour N I nd— The Coal I hedral —
The Reseryi Lake M The Ship] River— H I Stroud— Miller's
Forest Morpeth The Patersoi Eg I and West U&itland Wollombi -Sinpletoi Huswellbroak —
Murrnrundj
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS,
Sydney : The Cn v.
The Heads", Sydni y II
Statue of Captain Cook .
Plan of Harbour
Governmenl 1 1 < >use .
Farm Cove
Athletic Sports, Moore I'.irk
Tram-oar ....
Public Buildings of Sydney
Plan Of the City
The Post Office
Vestibule of the Town Hall
Arrival of the English Mail at the Post Office
1
1
3
4
5
7
8
9
10
11
11
12
The Circular Quay 13
Sydney: The Suburbs.
A Regatta, Sydney Harbour .
Coogee Bay ....
All' i
The University
Clontarf. from Shell Cove
Mrs. Macqoarie's Chair .
Sydney Ferry Steamer .
Parramatta, from the Park
The Champion Course
Old Government House. Parramatta
Lighthouse on South Head
The "Gap" ....
Middle Harbour
Si n\;.i : 1 r- I ITtloiN.
The Botanical Gardens .
Double Bay ....
T!i.' I Ibeervatory
Rose Bay and shark Island
S am Ferry. Sydney Harbour
Garden [aland by M ilight .
14
16
17
20
21
21
21
21
22
23
21
25
28
29
32
33
:;.;
36
37
Melbourne Proper.
Distant Vi n of .Melbourne from Doncaster
38
Plan of the City of Melbourne . . :;:>
In the Botanical Gardens .... 40
A Melbourne Gutter in Earlier Days II
Burke and Wills Monument . . . .43
The Scots and independent Churches, Collins
Street 44
Government House, from Botanical Gardens . 15
The Town Hall 4«
Melbourne Proper— (cob*
Interior of the Town Hall
IS) Ibourne Public Library
.Melbourne Hospital
The New Law Courts
Melbourne University
The Old Law Courts
The Mint ....
Greater Melbourne.
In the Fitzroy Gardens ....
Map of Greater Melbourne
Cricket Match, Melbourne
On the Yarra Yarra
The "Eight Hours a Day" Procession passing
the Town Hall
The Drive. Albert Park .
The Lake by Moonlight ....
The Pier and Esplanade. St. Kilda .
The Ports of Melbourne .
Brighton Beach on a Public Holiday
FAOC
17
49
51
52
.",3
54
:,(
57
59
HO
61
64
65
66
68
69
73
Little Bourke Street.
A Typical Scene 77
At Play 81
At Work : A Chinese Kitchen . . .81
Chinese Opium Smokers 83
;land
Lord Melbourne.
Castle Street. Melbourne. Eng
Anns of Lord Melbourne
Lord Melbourne .
Melbourne Hall, Melbourne. Derbyshire
S4
S4
86
88
A Vanished Wonderland.
Ohinemutu 89
Waterfall at W'airoa 92
Fissure in Road near Tikitapu Hush, after
the Eruption 93
Lake Tarawera before the Eruption . 9(1
Lake Tarawera after the Eruption . . .97
The White Terrace. Rotomahana, before the
Eruption 100
Brisbane.
Brisbane, from Bowen Terrace . . . 101
Map of Brisbane 103
Steamer leaving Brisbane with Miners . . lo4
Public Buildings of Brisbane . . . 105
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
vn
Brisbane — (continued I. pace
Dry Dock. . . .... 107
The City from One Tree Hill .... 108
The River from One Tree Hill . . . i" s
View from the Botanical Gardens . . 109
In the Botanical Gardens . . . .11.'
A Bit of the Bush House, Acclimatisation
Gardens 113
Fountains 113
The Aviary 113
Sandgate Pier 11"'
HOB mit.
The City, from Kangaroo Point . . .140
Pillar 141
lii Franklin Monument, Franklin Square . Ill
The High School 145
Trinity Church 148
Port Arthur 149
Government House . . . .161
rnment Honse from Macquarie Point . 152
F.i i trance to the I Gardens ■ 153
I'M BODDl N TBACKS IX FlJI.
Ni ar Suva . . . . . . .116
View of the Rewa Eiver .
1 17
A Sugar-cane Plantation
120
Fijian Houses ....
IL'1
\ Fijian Village near Levuka
1 25
Head of a Fijian (Male) .
128
Yasaw \-i -1.
A 1 i ian 1. igoon, Mango 136
Ni.w i Post Moresby, to Cebepi
\ New Guinea Temple .... 196
Port Moresby 197
Native Swellings at Port Moresby.
Elevara 201
Another Native House 201
on of New Guinea (Plan) . . . 204
A Tree House 205
A Heathen Temple 205
A Lime Calabash
The 1 > ley Ranges, from the Sea . 209
The Bau-bau nil
Hula 212
Tujiu 213
A Battle ' 215
Wooden Sword and Drum . 215
Kerepnna 216
Chiefs' Houses, Eerepnna .... l'17
New Guinea War Shield 218
New Guinea : Kerepuna to Cautiok Point
Cloudy Bay
Dinner Island .
Trading \
P : ■ m Island
Cape
Native Hon e with Pahmi
Teste Island .
220
221
224
22 t
224
224
225
NEW .
Knox Church ....
The High School, from Roslyn
The Town Hall, as designed .
The Botanical Gardens .
Niohol's Creek Falls
Looking Across the Harbour from the South
West
PAOE
28S
288
289
292
293
295
\ The Valley of the Hunter.
Colliers leaving Newcastle Harhour . . 296
276
"Nobby's" ....
276
The Bathing Place. Newcastle
. 2!l!>
277
Newcastle Harbour
. 300
280
The Reserve, Newcastle .
. 300
281
Newcastle, from •• Nobby V
Watt Street, Newcastle .
A Bush Track, Murrurundi
. 301
. 804
. 305
283
284
Murrurundi
LIST OF PLATES.
Sydney, from the South Head . . Frontispiece
Sydney Harbour, from Belle Vue Hill .To foci- p. 30
The " Block," Collins Street, Mel-
bourne .">4
The Pink Terrace, Rotomahana . . . • .. 90
A Cocoa-nut Plantation. Fiji
132
Attack on the Gold Escort between
Mclvor and Melbourne . . . To face p. 182
Sunrise at York Island, Torres Straits 202
The Band Stand and Rotunda. Adelaide .. .. L'42
A Mob of Cattle 274
The Town Belt, Dunedin 294
We are indebted to the following photographers for the assistance our artists
hare derived from their photographs in preparing the illustrations on the pages
mentioned below : —
To Mr. H. King (Sydney), for those on pp. 1. 4. 9, 11. and 20 ; to Mr. Lindt
(Melbourne), on pp. 44, 51, 52, 53, 55 ; to Messrs. Lomer & Co. (Brisbane), on p.
105 ; to Messrs. Duftt Bros. (Levuka). on pp. 117, 133. 136 : to Mr. H. H. BAILEY
(Hobart). on pp. 152, 153 ; to Messrs. Anson Bros. (Hobart), on pp. 157, 160, 164 :
to Mr. Winter (Hobart), on p. Itij ; and also to Messrs. Burton Bros. (Dunedin).
CASSELL'S :
Picturesque Australasia.
SYDNEY: THE CITY.
The Approaches to the City — The Heads— The Harbour — The Gardens — Public Buildings— Hyde Park— Captain
Cook's Statue — The Streets — Steam Trams — Pitt and George Street — New I'ost Office — Chinese Quarter
—Circular Quay— History of Sydney Cove— The Tank Stream— The Town Hall— Peel Market.
HPHERE are two principal approaches to Sydney, the one by
• * -*- sea. the other by land. The express from Melbourne runs
H through, by way of Albury, in less than twentj hours, and t< «i-
JH those who sutler from sea-siekness the l'ailwa\ journey lias its
advantages. The entrance into Sydney by rail is, however,
dull, fiat, and unprofitable; whereas the approach bj sea is
full of interest, and creates a delight which ran never be
^i^A forgotten The North and South Eeads of Sydney Harbour
stand separated by a mile of troubled waters. On the south
the '/rev and yellow sandstone cliffs of the coasl trend to a
point of little altitude, while the North Head is a held and
almost perpendicular cliff, conspicuous at a great distance because
of its height and its peculiarly uncompromising appearance. As the
incoming vessel enters the Heads her bow points directly towards
another bold rocky point only Bome three-quarters of a mile distant from the South
Head. This is Middle Head, the southern point of the entrance to Middle Harbour. To
anyone looking in from the outside ocean, this last-menti d le.idl.md appears to mark
u-l \l\
2 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. (Sydney:
the limit of the land-locked waters, and it was this fact, probably, that led Captain Cook
to pass over the place as of small importance. Once inside the Heads, a wide and
apparently endless expanse of waters is disclosed, and as the vessel steams along the
channel to the south and west, innumerable wooded headlands, with their corresponding
hays, are passed in quick succession
No words can fitly describe the wonders of this magnificent scene; no pencil
can adequately picture its beauty. Anthony Trollope, writing of it, says: "I despair of
being able to convey to any reader my own idea of the beauty of Sydney Harbour. I
have seen nothing equal to it in the way of land-loeked scenery; nothing second to it.
Dublin Bay, the Bay of Spezia, New York, and the Cove of Cork, are all picturesquely
fine. Bantry Bay, with its nooks of sea running up to GlengarirV, is very lovely. But
they are not equal to Sydney, either in shape, in colour, or in variety ... It is so
inexpressibly lovely that it makes a man ask himself whether it would not he worth
his while to move his household gods to the eastern coast of Australia, in order that
he might look at it as long as he can look at anything."
The windings and turnings of this inland sea are virtually endless. The shore-line
is said to have been calculated, and to amount to not less than several hundred miles.
The map of Port Jackson also shows eighty-two well-marked hays and nine islands,
and each bay is a delight to the eyes, each island a jewel set in silver. Shark Island
is a beautiful spot, and of no inconsiderable size: hut, as it is used for a quarantine
ground for cattle, it is little visited and little known. Clark Island is a favourite pic-
nicking and fishing ground ; and a little nearer is the City Garden Island, which was once
truly a natural garden, but is now being fitted for a naval depot, and has lost much of
its beauty. Tradition has it that this was a favourite duelling ground in the old days
when the home regiments were stationed in Sydney, and it is said that certain skeletons
have been dug up here, which gives colour to the story.
Not far from Garden Island is Fort Denison, a small stone fort and Martello tower,
built on a low-lying reef; it is of no real value as a defence in these days of modern
improvements, and is no longer seriously reckoned among the harbour defences. The
best of these are stationed a little closer to the city, in Farm Cove, where the Nelson,
the Mini nda, and other men-of-war lie at anchor. Beyond the Nelson stretches the
north shore, and a few hundred yards astern of her peeps out a charming point of
land, which bears the curious name of Mrs. Macquarie's Chair, ^Irs. Macquarie being
the wife of one of our most popular early Governors.
The Botanical Gardens, of which a view is given on page 29, slope down gently
to the very edge of the water. These Gardens take their horseshoe form from the
Cove, and are among the most beautiful in the world, owing very much of their beauty
to Nature herself. Here may be seen almost every variety of plants of tropical and
semi-tropical growth, the magnificent Norfolk Island pine being specially prominent
Long, sloping, well-kept lawns of emerald-green invite repose, and, though the city is
not far distant, its noise is heard only as a gentle murmur, mingling pleasantly with the
wash of the sea on the low sea-wall which forms the northern border of the Gardens.
Just topping this wall may be seen the white wings of yachts, and the masts and
TlIK I'llV.
FARM COVE.
colours of the men-of-war beyond Between us and them many a bright flower-bed and
many a graceful shrub break the long stretch of sunlit green, and over the whole is
felt the happy influence of the azure waters, sparkling and brimming over with delight.
Truly the people of Sydney are blessed in the possession of these Gardens. And
the blessing appears to be well appreciated. < >n Saturdays and Sundays, when the
working world is at rest, hundreds of men, women, and children may be sen enjoying
themselves here, for the place, fortunately, is within easy access of almost every pari of
the city, and within fifteen minutes' walk of W'ooloomooloo, where many of the poorer
population live. The favourite
walk is through the Domain,
round Macquarie's Point, and
back through the < rardens. This
Domain is a very fine park,
some eighty or more acres in
extent, and as it lies higher than
the Botanical < rardens, it presents
many points from which distant,
views may be obtained. On its
eastern face lie the quiet waters
of W'ooloomooloo Hay, in which
are reflected the pleasant villas
and gardens of Potts Point. Here
also are the bathing grounds,
fenced off from the hateful
shark, the bete noin of Australian
bathers, by secure palisadings.
To the south of the Domain
another public park, named after
the Eyde Park of the mother
country. Btretches away, with its
leaf} avenues and flower-walks,
over an area of some fifty acres.
Aeain, on the north, the I lom.iin
is bounded by the Inner Domain, which includes the well-kepl grounds of Government
Eouse. Government House itself stands on the western point of Farm Cove, Mrs.
Macquarie's Chair occupying the eastern point, while the Botanical Gardens lie extended
between From every part of these grounds the views obtained of the water are perfect
in Loveliness.
It is extremely difficult — and, in truth, well-nigh impossible to convej to nn<
who lias not visited Sydney any adequate idea of the beauties of it- scene*] The
pencil of the artist has done what pencil can do, but the divine glories of the
Sydney skies do not allow of reproduction < »n a bright sunny morning, such
as is enjoyed on at least six days out of everj seven, the waters ol the Barbour
ri.W OF I HE 11 LBBOI B.
i A<-!'.I.I.s IMi'Tl-IJESQUE Al'STKALASIA.
ISvi.nev :
reflecl the brilliancy ami colour of the sky. Indeed, the colours are vivid to such a
degree that if we might imagine it possible for the artist to depict the very same
colours on lus canvas, the ordinary untravelled Englishman would denounce his painting
as unreal and such as cannot be seen in nature. But here they are repeated day after
day in all their glory.
" Tlio suu is warm, the sky is clear,
The waves arc dancing fast and bright;
Blue isles ami bluer mountains wear
The purple noon's transparent might;
The breath of the moist earth is light
Around its unexpended buds;
Like many a voice of one delight.
The winds.' the birds." the ocean floods.
The city's voice itself is soft like Solitude's."
This sunny gladness, this joy of earth and sky, is the one great characteristic of
life in Sydney. Nature here breathes this feeling of jubilancy into the hearts of men
continually, and it is not too much to say that the influence of her inspiration can
be discerned even amid the wear-and-tear of everyday life. How can it be otherwise
when she bestows such cheery greeting morning after morning as we go to work, and
blesses us as we return ?
This trait of genial brightness is everywhere noticeable, and if the Gardens and parks
are full of it, the famous Macquarie Street, which skirts them, is no less so. Macquarie
Street runs north and south from the water's edge past
the Government House Grounds and the Domain Gates,
and contains several important buildings. The Free
Public Library, the Colonial Secre-
tary's Office, the House of Assembly,
and the Legislative Council Chamber,
i
!' smoke, and darkness, and fog. Sometimes, indeed, there may be, to some tastes, a,
little too much sun: but, if there be, the long lines of verandah afford an excellent
protection From end t<> end of all the principal streets, and not only in the principal
streets but in many of the smaller lanes and byways, strong, substantial verandahs
of considerable height extend across the entire width of the pavements, so that in
the middle of summer, when the sun is highest, it is possible to walk for miles
without exposing oneself to its rays. in rainy weather also these awnings are a
great protection ; and under the heavy tropical rains which are not infrequent in Sydney
this is an important matter. These uses, however, are only incidental, for the chief
TUA.M-CAE.
object of the verandahs is, doubtless, to protect the goods displayed in the windows
of the tradespeople. The people themselves, of both sexes, conform closely to the
English fashions of dress, and present in this point no marked peculiarities for
observation. By the men, even in the summer months, tall black hats and black
coats are commonly worn, and those items which in England are generally regarded
as necessary parts of a Sydney outfit, viz., white ducks and helmet, are here seldom
seen. In the country, helmets and slouch hats are frequently worn ; but in Sydney
such a head-dress would at present be regarded as outre. Perhaps before long the
custom may change. At present, at any rate, the fact remains that in the general
view of a Sydney street these reminders of a warm climate are not by any means
conspicuous.
Probably, the best course for a visitor who wishes to understand the city of Sydney
is to take a view of it from the top of one of the many towers of large buildings
Of these the most remarkable is that belonging to the new Post Office, an immense
PI i-.i.ic BUILDINGS OF 81 I'M V
10
CASSELT/S I'K'TI'ItlCSQT-K AUSTRALASIA.
[SYDNKV :
structure of warm-tinted sandstone, with one face to George Street ariv. one to Pitt
Street The tower is some two hundred and fifty feet in height, and from the top,
which is easily reached, a most extensive view may he obtained both of the city
and of the harbour. George Street is overlooked for the greater part of its length,
and at its far extremity the extensive buildings of the Sydney University stand up
boldly against the sky. Should the ascent of the Post Office tower be considered too
$Val*er&
PLAN* OF THE CITY.
arduous an undertaking, similar views may be obtained from the tops of some of the
Large furniture warehouses, where a comfortable lift carries the visitor to his lofty point
of view.
At the northern end of George Street we come into what is known as Lower George
Street. Here it is that the Chinese residents most do congregate, and the locality has
thus come to bear the name of the Chinese Quarter. The roadway on both sides is
bordered by Chinese stores, alternating with English public-houses; and scattered here
and there, with entrances chiefly from the byways and alleys, are the opium dens.
Over these the authorities keep a constant and salutary supervision, checking in great
Tiif. City.]
THE CTRCULAB QUAY.
11
measure the habits for which
the < !hinese are noted Still,
gambling, opium-eating and
smoking, and vices of every
sort are continually carried
on, in spite of all the \ igi-
lance and activity of the
police, and, for those who
are interested in such
Tin: P0S1 OFFICE.
phenomena, constitute one of the sights of
Sydney. The foul plague of Leprosy now,
as in old time, perhaps the must fearful,
c riuiiily the most relentless, of diseases — has
been introduced by this people here, as in
America and in every other portion of the
globe in which they have been allowed to
settla But the Government medical au-
thorities are much on the alert, and on the
first suspicion of the disease, and before the
symptoms have had time to develop, the
patient is removed to the Little Hay Hos-
pital, and there secluded from all contact
with the outside world.
The northern end of Lower George
Street brings us to the Circular Quay,
close to that part of it where the Peninsular and Oriental steamers are usually
berthed. The sketch given on page L3 is taken from a part of Dawes Point which is
still further north than this, and shows the long reach of the Quay. This is the baj
known to the first colonists as Sydney Cove, and chosen bj them on account of its
depth and easy anchorage. Everywhere, close to the verj Bhore-line, the chart marks
not Less than four fathoms. In the immediate foreground is a portion of the old
and useless Dawes Poinl Battery. In the middle distance the Brisbane steamers
lie alongside, and in the background on the left of the picture, and on the
eastern hank of Sydnej Cove, stand some of the wool stores; behind these rise the
\ i -i 1BULE or Tin: TOWS n.w.i..
12
CASMXl.s 1'IOTHESQUE AUSTRALASIA.
[Sydney :
-~§S i|h
if*
■ ~~
1=1
-4
£S
■',
jj
i
i
j^E
turrets of Government Bouse and the Leafy grounds of the Domain. The Circular
Quay itself is always full of life. The large vessels of the Peninsular and Oriental
Company and the Messageries steamers, and the hundreds of small steamboats carrying
passengers from all parts of the Harbour, present a brilliant and pleasing scene.
After feasting the eye on
all this movement and busy
life, it is interesting to read
the account of the same Kay
given in the history pub-
lished in 1798 by David
Collins, a .Judge Advocate
and Secretary of the Colony.
According to the description
of this author, "the spot
chosen for the landing-place
was at the head of the Cove
(Sydney Cove), near the run
of fresh water, which stole
silently along through a very
thick wood, the stillness of
which had then, for the first
time since the Creation, been
interrupted by the rude
sound of the labourer's axe.''
The " run of fresh water "
here referred to, afterwards
called the Tank stream, is
shown in the plan of Sydney
Cove in Governor Phillip's
narrative of his voyage to
Botany Bay, published in
1789, nine years previous to
the account of David Collins.
This plan, which is dated
July, 1788, shows the waters
of the Harbour extending
much farther inland than they do at present — as far almost as the spot on which the
Sydney Morning EeroM Office now stands. Here, too, the Tank is seen flowing into the
Harbour waters, and forming a broad estuary, with sandy beaches. The whole of this, as
we have already said, has long since been covered with buildings, and, as far as physical
appearances go, no trace remains of what the place was in the past. Yet, alter reading
these descriptions of Sydney as it was, and examining the old pictures of the place, it is
easy, by paying attention to the natural slope of the ground, to trace the course of the old
ARRIVAL OF THE ENGLISH MAIL AT THE POST OFFICE.
Thk City.)
FESTIVITIES.
i::
Tank stream for at. least, a part of its distance. In Bridge Street the indications are
quite clear, for mi either side there is a slope down to where the old Bridge stood
.Must of the buildings of Sydney have already been described, but two still remain,
both of which deserve mention. The first is the Town Hall, the exterior of which
bas not secured universal admiration. The second is Peel Market, which presents a scene
full of human interest. Ibiv are not only buyers and sellers, but, disinterested spectators
who have no thought of buying, but go only to see and be seen. The climate of Sydney
tempts every one out of doors, and in the long evenings hundreds and thousands turn
out for a stroll. On summer evenings, and especially on Saturday, the crowds in the
principal streets are a sight worth seeing. On such nights the pavements are fax too
narrow to hold the people, who swarm out into the roadway till omnibus and cab
traffic is well-nigh stopped. At no time during the week are the streets so thronged,
for people come from all the surrounding suburbs, and swarm to see the various
street shows, and to listen to the music of the street bands, some of which are ly no
means to be despised. The scene is a gay one, and the hearts of the people are "lad,
and Sydney on these occasions, as on all others, maintains her character as the gaj
and joyous city of the South, whose pleasures cannot be understood until they are
experienced, nor its beauties realised until they are seen.
I III. CIKCl LAB '
K, ^y
A REGATTA, SYDNEY HARBOUR.
SYDNEY: THE SUBURBS.
Coogee Bay— Maroulira Ba.v— The North Head— The South Head
— Long Bay — Botany Bay — Little Bay — Hospital for Lepers
— Point Sutherland — Illawarra — The University — Newtown
— Parramatta — The Champion Course — Ryde — Old Govern-
ment House — "Watson's Bay — The Gap — Wreck of the Dun-
bar — Middle Harbour — Manly — Double Bay and Rose Bay.
r T , HE suburbs of Sydney are as varied as they arc
-*- numerous and delightful There are harbour
suburbs and river suburbs, inland suburbs and coast
suburbs, suburbs of wood and suburbs of brick and
mortar. They are so numerous that it is no easy
"ts^ task to remember them, and so varied that it is
impossible to give any idea of their beauties. It
would, indeed, be difficult to find an}- town so gifted as Sydney is in its surroundings.
London lias its Brighton, fifty miles distant, and yet highly appreciated. But Sydney
is surrounded with a number of miniature Brightens all within a distance of some
five or six miles. A circle drawn from the Post Office as a centre with a six mile
radius would take in Bondi and "Waverley, Congee, and all the coast between. Take
Coogee Bay as an example. The tram runs down from the City terminus, in Bridge
Street, in less than three-quarters of an hour, skirting two sides of Hyde Park, and
running through the entire length of Moore Park — a favourite resort of those who are
given to athletics — and then between the Race ('nurse and the Water Reserve, so that the
journey is a pleasure in itself. Passing through Randwick, which will be afterwards
described, the tram sunn commences to descend the easy slopes of the hills which run down
The Si-burim.) f'OOCEE. 15
to the sea. A sudden curve, and the beautiful Bay of Coogee is displayed. The beach
itself is small — barely half a mile in length — but composed of the finest golden -and, with
a gentle slope down to the water. Looking out to sea on the left, to the north of the
Bay, one sees a rocky promontory running out into the water. It is of no great height, but
is remarkable for its beauty. Under that overhanging ledge is a natural seat —a favourite
resort, where one may sit in safety and watch the huge breakers dashing themsi
upon the reef below. This reef runs out for some distance, and exactly parallel to it is
another ledge of rocks of equal length, distant from the first some hundred feet At the
seaward end of these reefs a line of sunken rocks serves as a barrier to keep out the
sharks and other things of danger, and within this, and between the reefs, lies the most
charming basin which it has ever been the writer's lot to behold. No such bathing-
places exists anywhere along this coast : and the old watering-places of the mother country,
Brighton and Eastings, Ramsgate, Scarborough, and Tenby, have no place that can be
compared with it. Whether in calm or storm this Coogee basin is equally delightful.
Art has assisted Nature, and years ago the rocks were cut and hollowed out, and the
depth of the basin much increased, so that now, even in the lowest tides, the bather
can dive off the rocks into a good depth of water, while in a high tide there is not
less, in some places, than from eighteen to twenty feet
But the best time to see the basin is when there is a good wind from the south and
east. After an easterly gale a long swell sets in, reaching right across the Bay from one
of its headlands to the other. .Mere than half a mile away the swell may be seen rolling
in, and as it sweeps onward, the reef forming the seaward barrier of the bathing-place seems
to brace itself up to receive the shock. The wave, upraised, dashes itself madly against
the rocks, the water shoots up to a height of thirty or forty feet, and falls in snow-white
foam into the basin Tens of water thus falling at a time, it requires a moderately good
swimmer to battle against the weight ; but after the first fall there is little risk, and it
is easy to avoid this first fall by diving to the bottom. New and then an incautious
or inexperienced bather is caught by such a wave, and is lifted like a straw and carried
over the landward reef; but accidents are very rate, and the basin will always retain
its supremacy over all the places along the coast. On the opposite side of the Bay is
the ladies' bathing-place, where a lamentable accident once occurred, three ladies being
washed out to sea b\ the rebound of a wave, and drowned. But all danger of such
a casualty has now been provided against Half a mile from the beach is a low rockj
island, over which, after a gale, the seas completely sweep; thus it forms a most
charming object in the genera] view. This island was evidently in former ages a part
of the headland just to the south of the Hay, and in low tides a sunken reel' may still
be observed connecting the two, and affording an unmistakable indication of the
extensive i •Ue|-o,|eh 1 1 Mill s of the sea Upon tile land at this spot.
Pleasant villas are dotted everywhere on the surrounding hills, and half-waj between
Coogee and Etandwick stands the palace of the Bishop of Sydney, nestling amid its leafy
surroundings. Coogee in years to come will doubtless be thickly built over, but at
present its residents have plenty of breathing space. All round it there are most
delightful walks and drives Take, i'or instance, the walk to the South Head of Maroubra
1G
CASSBLL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA.
[Sydney :
Bay. Both headlands of Maroubra Bay arc noted for the grandeur of their rock
scenery. The sandstone here is the same as it is along the coast to the north, but
tor some reason which it would be difficult to explain the sea has washed it into
more fantastic shapes and bolder faces. The North Head is fully three hundred feet
high, coming down sheer into deep water. At its base, in a position which is hardly
accessible even in the lowest tide, is a Large, low cavern, reaching far back into the
recesses of the rock, and the resort of creatures to which imagination may lend terrific
attributes. Above the entrance to this cave, and about half-way up the face of the rock,
is a sloping ledge, which juts out further than the rest of the promontory. This is the
favourite spot of the most, intrepid of the coast fishermen, for from this Ledge a man
may throw his weighted Line far into the depths of water, and into a well-known
fishing-ground. The wonder is that the man himself ever gets back alive, for, looked
at from one side, it appears impossible for him to keep his footing, and if he once lost
it nothing could save him. Not far above his head, at the very verge of the summit,
is a monumental stone to mark the spot where a woman slipped and was launched
into eternity. Many schnappers and other fish are caught both here and on the
Southern Headland, while the long stretch of sand between the two is the place for
mullet and whiting. The South Headland is barely so high as that to the North,
but is still more curiously marked; and whilst it is impossible, save to a man
with the agility of a goat or chamois, to pass round the face of the latter, in the
^
COOGEE BAY.
Tin: Suburbs.]
lox<; HAY.
17
name
viii<_r
A I IX.
~~] former a path,
cut by i h e
waves, wiiH Is
for a full half-
m Lie u n <1 e c
overhang] ng
mountains of
rock. There is
i\ one spur here
which is known
as •■ The B]
Lngs," and this
ly worthy of a visit.
a somewhat fanci-
the place poetically
designation from the
Liver spray which are
•■instantly falling here. The sandstone
Mocks arc jointed with great uniformity,
and have worked into immense masses, with
Hat faces, placed at right angles to each
The effect of this is that a huge perpendicular shoot has been formed, so that even
on a calm day, when there is but slight motion in the water, the waves rushing
against the faces of the rock rind here a vent, and are thrown up to a considerable
height, affording a beautiful sight as they fall and rise again. In rough weather it
is mis. if,- i,, go near the place, for the high seas sweep not only lure, bul tar overhead,
and the hare tables of water-worn rock above shov the height to which the water
reaches.
A steep climb now brings us to the top, ami a good scramble through the scrub
for something like a mile will suffice to reach tin- calmer shores of Long Bay. This,
as its name implies, is an inlet of unusual length, and somewhat narrow. In cons,,,!,
of its peculiar shape, the seas which lash the slimes of Maroubra, < 'oogee, ami Bondi Bays
are here somewhat quieted, and this circumstance ._rj\vs a peaceful character to the scenery.
The southern ami western shores are well wooded, ami through the woods a good
military road leads down to the verj In .eh. Thick beds of bracken line the sides of
the road, a small cottage or two peeping through the w Is show signs of encroaching
civilisation, and the fisherman's boats rock themselves invitingly upon the waters. Fol-
lowing the southern shore for a short distance, the visitor will find one of the few
memorials of the time, not very loir.'- ago, when all these shores, from South Eead to
Long Baj and beyond to Botany, were the favourite haunts of the aborigines. Bere,
under an overhanging ledge of sandstone, which crops out Strangely in the middle of a
grassy slop,, in the wo.nl. was the " gibber-gunyah," or stone dwelling, of the Mack fellows.
When, not long ago, the floor of this "gunyah" was dug up with pickaxe and shovel,
IS CASSELLS I'lCTURESyCE AUSTRALASIA. IBvdket:
many stone axes and spear-heads, together with bones of various descriptions, were
discovered. In all probability many still would be found there if close search were made.
At Bondi similar weapons, with skulls and other remains, have frequently been dug up;
and the collector of curiosities of this sort would find all this coast a good hunting-
ground.
Leaving the Gove behind, and following the coast-line, the visitor soon arrives
within sight of Little Bay, the smallest and prettiest of all the bays along this part of
the coast. The coast-line trends down on either side to a point, and when the two sides
have approached within thirty or forty yards of each other they suddenly open out on
the land side into the form of a lar^'o horseshoe, girdled with a strip of beautiful sand.
Bere the Coast Eospital has been built. Fronting the sea stand the neat wood and
iron buildings, with their broad verandahs, designed for the patients. The thought occurs
that here a man might make himself very much at home, and enjoy Ins quiet holiday,
even though in quarantine. The patients, indeed, do enjoy themselves, and find amuse-
ment in bathing, and also in fishing, for there is much of this to be done. One part
of the ground alone preserves a sombre and most melancholy interest, namely, that
devoted, to the lepers, who, fortunately, are few in number. The whole establishment,
at the time of my visit, consisted of some six individuals, all Chinese. These, in all stages
of the dread disease, live in small corrugated iron houses, and are supposed to cook and
generally manage for themselves. Those in the early stages of the malady would by the
ordinary observer be hardly recognised as ill at all, but the nervous twitchings and the
redd, ned skin drawn tightly over the joints tell their tale to the seeing eye. That old man
Lying on the bed has lost the use of his limbs, which are drawn together convulsively,
while the hands are bent and twisted into claws. His eyes start from their sockets in
agony, and his lips refuse all utterance, but still can mumble a doubtful prayer for rum.
Rum is a -feat treat to these poor outcasts, and they get a little of it every day. There
is no hope for them: the disease is absolutely incurable, and they know it.
Still on and on, over the breezy hill-sides knee deep in the ti-tree scrub, and in
less than an hour we are on the borders of Botany Bay. A few minutes' walk brings
us to the monument erected to the great French explorer, the brave, gallant, and sad-
fated La Perouse. This monument, standing on the very shores of the Bay, and
surrounded with trees and flowers, marks the last spot whence La Perouse was heard
of. Hard by lie the remains of the naturalist attached to the Astrolabe, the
scientific Abbe Receveur, who was one of the first white men wdro left their bones on
Australian soil.
From these memorial grounds an uninterrupted view is obtained of the larg
expanse of the Bay, with the immense length of Lady Robinson's Beach on the right
hand : opposite, on the far side of tic Hay, are the leafy knolls of the National Park,
and to the left of this the entrance between the Heads, while .just inside the South Head
is the historic Point Sutherland. After feasting the eyes on this extensive view, it is
interesting to refer to the account given by Governor Phillip of his landing in January,
1788. "At the very first landing," he writes, "an interview with the natives took place.
They were all armed, but on seeing the Governor approach with signs of friendship alone
The Suburbs.] ILLAWAIM! A. 19
;ii i* I unarmed, they readily returned his confidence by laying down their weaj They
were perfectly devoid of clothing, yet seemed fond of ornaments, putting the beads and
n-d baize that were given them on their beads or necks, and appearing pleased to wear
them." From other sources also we learn that the shores of this Bay were much
frequented in early times by the native's, whereas now, throughout the colony of New
South Wales, they have almost wholly disappeared. Very rarely are they seen any-
where along this coast or near Sydney, except on those periodical occasions when a
few of them come in to ohtain yearly gifts of blankets and other necessaries. Probably
in the old days they were attracted to this Day by the excellent fishing-grounds which
still exist.
Boats are kept at various places along its shores, and weather-beaten ancienl
mariners are constantly ready, for a valuable consideration, to show the inexperienced where
to throw the line. While in the boat it is well to row over to the other side and see
Point Sutherland, a place named after one of Captain Cook's seamen who happened to die
here. Eere it was that, in 1770, Cook first unfurled the British flag, and the spot is marked
by a small obelisk bearing as an inscription a short extract from the explorer's journal,
in the following words: "28th April, a.i>. 1770. We discovered a bay ami anchored
under the south shore, about two miles within the entrance, in six fathoms of water, the
south point bearing S.E. and the north point E." All the ground round this spot,
before many years ate past, will probably be covered by the rapidly approaching tide of
population Already large blocks of land have been cut tip and sold, and as the district
immediately surrounding the city is too much crowded, the surplus population is sure
to distribute itself along the shores. Between half a mile and a mile inland from the
western shore of Botany Hay runs the Illawarra Railway Line, ami all along this line,
as far as the National Park and the Waterfall, settlement has commenced, whilst,
llurstville and Kogarah have already grown into suburbs of no slighl importance.
It may be said of almost an}- of the suburbs of Sydney that thej aiv capable, in
a similar manner, of indefinite extension, and in this fact lies rich promise of future
greatness. To illustrate this characteristic of Sydney, imagine a common carriage-wheel
Let the axle represenl the waters of the Harbour, and the spoke-, so maii\ Ion- arms
of sea r unning up into the land, and the spaces between the spokes the land itself
Sydney and its suburbs are at present gathered close around tic axle, and all the
remainder of tic spaces is naturally perfectly adapted for expansion For example, this
Illawarra Railway has opened up the magnificent district of the Illawarra. with soil and
natural characteristics quite different from those of the country round Sydi
"Tin' Garden of New South Wales'' is the name which, by common consent, has
been given to this district, which consists of a more or less narrow strip of agricul-
tural and pastoral land, lying between tic- hills and the sea Its Qorthem end ina\
lie reckoned an g tic suburbs of Sydney. Stanwell Park, the northernmost part
of the Illawarra district, is a most delightful Bpot, Here the sandstone hills, instead
of descending by gradual decline to tic sea, send "in their bold faces from three to
six hundred feet or more in the sheer. Two of these bold promontories encli
gentle curve of silver} sand, which alone divides the boisterous sea from the still w.
20
r\"i:i.i.'s i'ic"iTi;i>nri; austkalasia.
[Sydney :
iif the lagoon (i.i tin- landward side. Standing on the sandy beach, and Looking to the
south, the eye can, on a clear day, easily discern the five rocky islands of Kiama on
the distant horizon. Between them and the spectator innumerable points of land oppose
themselves I i the snowy breakers, while hard by he sees the most dangerous part of the
coach road to Bulli, as it winds round the perpendicular face of the Coal Clin'. Let
him turn round now and look inland, to the west. The unrippled waters of the lagoon
reflect every detail of the sky and the well-timbered hills beyond: the tall, blue gums
point downwards to the apparently unfathomable depths, the fairy tree-ferns, the
brilliant cabbage palms, the giant lilies are all mirrored there; and so beautiful is the
fi M " ( ; VT\
If, I ■■' -
Milton:
M
uRH|
THE UNIVERSITY.
sight that the eye lingers, and hesitates to look beyond. But when the face is lifted
there are the hills, stately and supreme, capped with the forms of ruined battlements
and turrets, such as this sandstone so frequently assumes. Such a scene makes the
heart glad. As yet, too, the place possesses a charm which, it is to be feared, it
must shortly lose — the charm of perfect rest and quiet. Although it is only some thirty
or forty miles from Sydney, civilisation has not yet become obtrusive, and the dweller
in towns, harassed by the anxiety of business, can here obtain the repose of which
he stands in need. Certainly there is nothing like it anywhere nearer Sydney, for
the altogether sufficient reason that everywhere round Sydney the sandstone reigns
supreme.
But let us return to the city by rail, passing over the Cook's River Bridge, and
into the Sydney terminus, which lies in the middle of the suburb of Redfern. Hard
I. CLONTARF, PROM .-IIK1.I, COV] MRS MAI V UUES CHAIB 9 k SYDNEY PERRY STEAMER
I PARRAM \ l I \ I ROM mi P \KK.
22
I ISSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA.
[SVDNEY :
by stand the old Exhibition buildings, surrounded by the grounds of Prince Alfred
Park, and opposite to the <>M burying-ground of Sydney. The Part is much needed
here, for the whole surrounding districl is far too thickly populated, and many of the
houses of the poor are little better than hovels. About half a mile farther from Sydney arc
the University Grounds, enclosing the extensive University Buildings, which undoubtedly
deserve more than a mere casual mention. The building is in the Elizabethan style, and
consists of a large centre and wings. Placed on a slight, eminence, it is one of the
must remarkable objects presented to the eye in any general view of the city. The
Institution itself dates from the year 1850, when it was incorporated by Act of Parlia-
ment. Very large sums of money have already been spent upon it, and. while principally
endowed by the Mate, it has been must generously supported by private donations and
THE CHAMPION Col i
bequests, one bequest alone, that of Mr. Challis, amounting to no less than £180,000. To
any visitor the .Museum of Antiquities must prove an object of interest, and the Greal
Ball will always be a sight worth seeing. In it is a very fine, large organ, with some
three thousand pipes, and frequent recitals are given here on Saturday afternoons for
tic public benefit.
A very little distance south of the University Reserve is the suburb of Newtown, dusty
and populous; and beyond that again, Enmore, Petersham, and Marrickville, of all of
which little need be said; for, though these places may serve a useful purpose, they are
none of them picturesque or delightful to the eye. Probably, the chief reason why so many
people have come to live in these suburbs is that they are so readily accessible, tram-
ways, trains, and omnibuses all running there frequently. A little farther along the line
of the main Southern Railway lies Ashfield, then Burwood, and beyond that Parramatta,
Now in the old days this last was a place of considerable importance. It is almost
as old as Sydney itself, dating from the month of November, 17SS, when, as Collins
tells the story, "His Excellency the Governor, with the Surveyor-General, two officers,
and a small party of marines, went up to choose the spot, and to mark out the
'1 in Si
Tin: CHAMPION COURSE.
L>:i
OLD GOVERNMENT HOUSE, PAIiliAMATTA.
ground for a redoubt and
other necessary buildings :
and, two days after, a
party of ten convicts,
beine; chielly people who
understood the business
of cultivation, were sent
up to him, and a spot
upon a rising ground,
which His Excellency
named [lose Hill, was
ordered to be cleared for
the firsl habitations. The
soil at this spot was of a still'
clayey nature, free from that
rock which everywhere ob-
structed the surface at Sydney Cove,
will clothed with timber, and unob-
structed by underwood." The place
still presents the same characteristics,
ami the country immediately sur-
rounding is occupied by farms and
orchards and country seats in great numbers. But, though the distance from Sydney
is only some fifteen miles, and though a pleasanter place could not be desired,
Parramatta is not much used for residence by business men. because of the delays
of the journey. < 'n account of the d&our which the railway is compelled to make.
and because of the many intervening Stoppages, the trains take nearly three-cpiailers
of an hour to perform the journey, while the trip down the river by steamer, although
a \ery pleasant excursion, takes a lull hour and a half. Starting either from the
bottom of Kin- Street, or from the Circular Quay, the boat passes close to Goat Island,
rounds Long Nose Point, and then, taking a turn, skirts alone; by Cockatoo Island,
on which stands the reformatory for girls, nears Spectacle Island, with its powder
magazine, and soon enters on the waters of the Champion Course, the scene of the
BTOrld lamed sculling matches between llanlati and Beach. When such a race takes
place, the scene In re presented is almost unique, for everyone comes by water, and
hundreds of private steam launches and sailing yachts, with large public steamers,
rowing-boats, and every description of craft, croud up this river, which, about this
point, is from a quarter to bait a mile across, while tlie low, rockj shore-, on either
side are as one long ant-heap in appearance. Near here is a large iron bridge, con-
necting the two shores. On either bank pleasant villas, with long, si th, emerald
lawns, descending to the water are seen in considerable numbers, while in the back-
ground the large extent of country, covered with its original wood, gives some idea
of the quantity of space still left tor the encroachment of the Sydney population
24,
CASSBLL'S I'HTntKs.iri-: atstrala-i \.
[Sydney :
A little further up the river comes Etyde, a small village on the northern bank,
and here the eye is caught by the beautiful dark green of the orange orchards. \n
the orange season one is reminded of Andrew Marvell's line —
" Like golden lamps in a green night."
The river is widening out to a considerable breadth, and extensive growths of the
mangrove mark the many shallows. The steamer seems to turn towards every point
of the compass until mnv it appears as if there were no outlet; but as the vessel
advances an opening is perceived, and, passing through this, we arc soon at our
LIGHTHOUSE OX SOUTH HEAD.
destination. This, however, is not yet Parramatta. A small but comfortable private
tramway meets the steamer, and, after a run of a few minutes, lands the passengers in
the very heart of the town. This line ends at the gates of the Public Park, and, after
passing through these, a short walk along the pleasant avenue, by the water-side, brings
the pedestrian to the old Government House, now- degraded into a lodging-house. This
venerable place is pictured in Collins's History, and, putting aside the modern improve-
ments which have been made to the house, the general appearance of the site is very
similar now to what it was nearly a century ago
Soon the road curves and Lads back to the town, and now a short drive takes
us to the orange orchards. These orchards, which extend for a considerable distance
on both banks of the river, are all arranged on much the same pattern. The trees
The Suburbs.]
WATSON'S BAY.
25
are planted in regular rows, carefully dug and manured, and the dark green foliage
aided by the contrasted colour of the fruit, always makes a pleasing picture.
Returning to Sydney by train, all the principal railway suburbs are passed through;
but there is very little of beauty to be seen, and after the monotony of the journey, the
Tin: " G \i\
eye is delighted I ace more the azure blue of the watera Taking a passage in
one of tin- numerous small steam-launches which constantly pass from point to point,
ire are shortly landed at Wat-en's Bay, where the Barbour waters are divided from
the outside sea bj a narrow strip of land. The cliffs here trend down on either side
to .i lower point, and as the surf im. tantly on the outside shore and threat, ns
26 CASSELL'S PICTUEESQ1 E AUSTRALASIA. isvuxr.v ;
to force its way through, the place has received the name of the "'Gap," as prophetic,
probably, of what will be in years to come. This < i;q > is one of the few historical spots
around Sydney. To it will always attach a mournful interest, as the scene of perhaps
the most fearful wreck that lias ever occurred on this coast since tiist the colony was
founded It was in the month of August, in the year L857. On Thursday, the 20th.
about It) o'clock in the morning, the man on the look-out at the Smith Head descried
a sail in the offing, lr was the Dunbar. The people on board, who were chiefly
emigrants from the home country, gathered at the bulwarks to .see that land which
they had chosen for a new home. As the day wore on the land was approached
more nearly, and point after point disclosed to the view, until, at about seven o'cloek,
the light at the .South Head was seen. Previously to this the vessel had been lying
a course N.E. by N., and was coming along under easy sail, sail having been shortened
after the first sighting of the land. The weather was now thick with rain squalls,
the -wind blowing dead on land. Darkness had set in, yet many remained on deck,
expecting every moment to pass through the Heads into the smooth waters beyond,
and to see the lights of the city.
The light from the Lighthouse was shining brightly, hut served only to render the
surrounding darkness still more terrible, and nothing could be seen of the land hut a
dark mass looming on either bow. The captain of the vessel now judged that he was
well between the Heads, and a slight break in the darkness right ahead continued him
in this opinion. He accordingly gave the order to square the mainsail, and with the
wind right astern the large canvas filled out. The good ship lifted, and at the rate of
some fifteen knots an hour rushed headlong, and, ploughing up the white seas, and
dashing the swirling foam from her sides, hurled herself with one awful and gigantic
blow against the rocks. A moment longer, and the Dunbar had ceased to exist.
The masts went by the board, every timber was loosened, every plank parted, and in
the same instant of time several hundred souls, with all the dibria of the wreck, were
plunged into the water, with the black darkness overhead, and before them the
perpendicular cliff, which even here, at its lowest point, is some two hundred feet high.
A few seconds of time, a few weak cries for help where no help was, and all life
had fled from those already shapeless forms. One man alone crouched there under an
overhanging ledge of rock just beyond reach of the waves. This was Johnson, one
of the sailors, who, by some wonderful means — partly by the shock of the blow and
partly by the impetus of a huge wave — was cast up there while all the rest were
drowned Below him the battered corpses of his comrades float — welcome morsels for
the sharks, which pull them down and tear limb from limb. During the whole of
the Friday this continued, and from all sides these tigers of the sea, scenting the
pleasant least, hastened to join in the scramble. The next morning, Saturday, the
sea went down, and with its quiet repose tempted poor Johnson, who had been on
that ledge for some thirty hours without loud or water, and without rest or hope.
All seemed well-nigh over, and he thought that it was useless to struggle any longer
for his life. But in the meantime the planks and other portions of the wreck had
floated away on the waters and been sighted, and the news carried into Sydney, so
TueSi-bceim MIDDLE HABBOTTE. 27
that it became known that there had been a wreck along the coast Search parties
were sent out, and suddenly there is a shoul above, and then another, and Johnson,
looking up, sees whence the shouting comes, and a young man, risking his own life,
slides down a rope two hundred feet from the top, seizes the poor, famished, almost
senseless sailor, takes him in his arms, and both are raised to the top.
Any such calamity would now be well-nigh impossible, for a wonderful electric
flash light, which can always be seen for many miles around, is exhibited imme-
diately south of the Gap. The new lighthouse, in which this light is placed, is a
most substantial stone structure; and well it need be, for on stormy days, when the
gale is blowing from the south and east, the waves dash over the cliffs and over the
lighthouse too. Up on thai circular platform at the top, how glorious the riew ! — glorious
in its details, in the brightness of its colours, and in its extent. No words can
possibly describe the wonders and delights of the place: northward the hilly -round
round Broken Bay, and the shores about the mouth of the Hawkesbury River, are well
in sight ; westward lie all the familiar glories of the Harbour, with the blue mountains
beyond; and to the smith stretches point beyond point of all the picturesque eastern
t Bondi Bay is the nearest, with its sand-dunes and wide expanse of blown sand;
and. beyond that, Waverley and Randwick, and Coogee, Little Bay, and Botany, already
described
If, on returning, a row-boat bo taken from Watson's Bay across the Harbour, a good
opportunity is afforded of seeing Middle Harbour and the north shore. Of the Middle
Harbour scenery typical views are given on the following pages, one taken from a spot a
little inside the entrance in Hunter's Bay, and the other of Clontarf from Shell Cove. In
the immediate foreground of the former is a broad table of that sandstone which is
characteristic of the country round Sydney, cropping oul everywhere, and lying in boulders
and in huge slabs. On the right a point of land, part of the .Middle Head, covered with
thick bush, projects into the water, and in the left distance the North Head shows its bold
profile. A little to the left of this, as one Looks out to sea. lies Manly < love and the little
village of Manly. This, .>!' all the suburbs, can most be likened to the English Brighton
lb re settlement has advanced more quickly than in the other coast suburbs, so that the
is now becoming crowded Certainly it possesses immense natural advanl The
North Head itself is only a part, the extreme point, of a very large promontory, which at
Manly is nam. wed down to a small neck of land not more than a quarter of a mile across.
On either side, this neck is bordered by a pleasant sand} beach, one beach looking acrosi
the quiet waters of the Harbour, tl ther receiving the thundering surges of the ocean.
The neck itself is comparatively flat land, and is completely built over, and occupied
chiefly by business houses; but the gently-rising grounds on either side are d
with delightful villas and gardens. A little to the south-east is the site ..f a large
residence for the Head of the Roman Catholic Church in Sydney, and. still further
south, is the principal quarantine station of the port, occupying a beautiful site, ami
from a slight distance looking comfortable and tempting. From this point it is possible
to obtain an uninterrupted outlook tor some live mill's across the Harbour, and the
Middle Barbour on the west, and Double Bay and Rose Baj on the south and west.
28
CASSELLS PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA,
(Sydney.
are amply extended to the view. As a final word of praise, it may fairly be said,
at leasl of these wain- suburbs, that each one is a glory in itself In some eases
unqualified praise may seem to approach exaggeration, but to such an extent does this
f
MIDDLE HAKBOUR.
city and country seize hold of the very heart of a man, that the place almost assumes
the attribute of personality, and induces affection of the very strongest kind. Sydney
is a place which, to be loved, needs but to be seen.
/£
THE BOTANICAL GAEDEN8 Q).
SYDNEY: ITS ORIGIN.
Discovery of Sydney Harbour — Botany Bay — Landing at
Sydney Cov< — sic.-kiie.s-> — The Aborigine — Loss "f
the v Famine— Martial Law— Despair— Relief
— Better Days Pasi LPresi at
'
~—~ "~ ~— \ I'Tl'.l; what has been said of Sydney, it
•*-■*- will n.it be easy for the reader to
realise that in the pleasanl month of January, in the year L788, this favoured spot
of God's earth was unknown to civilised man. < in the 22nd of that month there
came three small boats sailing north from Botany Bay, and keeping almost under
the shallow of those rugged sandstone cliffs, until, as thej rounded the South Eead,
they loft behind them the heavy swell of the Pacific Ocean, and glided smoothly to
the west and smith over the wide waters of Sydnej Earbour. These boats were the
advance guard of that fleet consisting of the Sirius man-of-war and ten other
vessels, which in May of the preceding year had sailed from Portsmouth with
the express object of founding here a new penal settlement Botany Bay had been
visited by Captain Cook some eight years previously, and that great navigator had on
his return to England jjiven such a glowing account of tl ountry of Not South
Wales," as he himself had named it. that the Baj was chosen as the destination of
this tirst fleet. But Botan) Bay was found not all thai Cook's fancy had pictured. For
the purposes of a permanent settle nt it was altogether unfit, for although the Bay
30 CASSEIX'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Bydmev;
includes an immense expanse of waters, these waters are nol only too shallow for rho
anchorage of large vessels, bul are also exposed to the full force of the prevailing
winds. Captain Arthur Phillip, R.N., the commander of the first fleet and the Governor
of the uriv settlement, after making an examination of the surroundings of the Bay,
decided that the place was unsuitable to bis purpose. 11" therefore ordered the fleet to
remain al anchor, while he himself set out in an open boat to explore the coast and to
look for a home.
The undertaking was a bold one. The coast was wild and surf-beaten. Its dangers
were many and unknown. Immense rollers broke upon the rugged shore, and seemed
to leave no sale landing-place for any boat. The shores were peopled by unfriendly
natives, who, standing in large numbers on the tops of the cliffs, hurled threats and
defiance at the boats as they approached.
Suddenly, after sailing north for about twelve miles, there came a break in the
coast-line about a mile in length from headland to headland. Seen from the open sea,
this opening appeared of little size, but as the boats rounded the inner head the immense
extent of the harbour was displayed. Alter exploring the different bays, that which
showed the deepest soundings was selected. "The different coves of this harbour," says
Captain Phillip himself,* "were examined with all possible expedition, and the preference
was given to one which had the finest spring of water, and in which ships can anchor
so close to the shore that at a very small expense quays may be constructed at which
the largest vessels may unload. In honour of Lord Sydney the (Governor distinguished
it by the name of Sydney Cove." Two days afterwards Captain Phillip returned to
Botany Bay, and on the 25th of the same month, seven days after the arrival of the
Supply, he left Botany and sailed to Port Jackson.
As at that time it happened to be blowing a strong gale, the rest of the fleet was
left under convoy of the Sirius, with orders to proceed to Sydney as soon as the gale
abated. Scarcely were the leading vessels out of sight when a strange sight appeared.
"About daylight, just as they were preparing for a start," two strange sail showed
themselves on the horizon. These gradually approached, and as they came nearer it
was seen that they were the Boussole and Astrolabe, ships of the great French
explorer La Perouse.
On the 26th of the month, according to Captain Phillip, the transports and store-
ships under convoy of the Sirius finally evacuated Botany Bay, and as in a, fair
wind the journey only occupies a few hours they were soon all safely anchored in Sydney
Cove. Without any delay the disembarkation was commenced, and all persons able to
work were set to clear the ground for the camp and to cut wood for the buildings. The
clearing of the bush was then, as it has always been, a task of great difficulty. "The
labour." says the Governor, "which attended this necessary operation was greater
than can easily be imagined by those who were not spectators of it. The coast, as well
as the neighbouring country in general, is covered with wood, and though in this spot
the trees stood more apart, and were less encumbered with underwood than in many
* '• The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay, with an Account of the Establishment of the Colonies
of Port Jackson and Norfolk Island.'' London, 1789.
>
►J
pq
o
«
«
&
o
H
a
W
Q
CO
Its Origin.] DIFFICULTIES OF THE SETTLERS. . , I
other places, yet their magnitude was such as to render not only the felling but the
removal of them afterwards extremely difficult. By the habitual indolence of the convicts,
and the want of proper overseers to keep them to their duty, their labour was rendered
less efficient than it might have been. In the evening of the 20th the colours were
displayed on shore, and the Governor, with several of his principal officers and others,
assembled round the flagstaff, drank the King's health" (George III.), "and success
to the settlement." The first house to be completed was that of the Governor, the
materials and framework of which had been brought out ready-worked from England.
Other houses and huts of various sizes soon appeared, and all seemed fairly in progress,
when a dread enemy appeared in the midst of the camp.
On the voyage out there had been very little sickness, but now dysentery showed
itself, and soon took hold of a large number. Of the sufferers many died. Scurvy also
attacked the little colony, the members of which had fir months been deprived of fresh
food. Even after landing, fish or other fresh provisions or vegetables could rarely be
procured. For the dysentery the red gum was found to be useful, while for the scurvy
the chief thing that could be done was to grow vegetables and fruits with as little
delay as possible. Very little, however, could yet be done in this direction, and. mean-
while, recourse- was had to the various species of plants that were growing wild —
celery, spinach, and parsley — all of which, fortunately, were found in abundance round
the settlement.
At that time, according to the historians of the young colony, the public stock
consisted of one bull, four cows, one bull calf, one stallion, three mares, and three colts.
These were carefully preserved for breeding, and were shortly removed to the bay
adjoining Sydney Cove, which bay was none other than Farm Cove. Here, where the
Botanical Gardens now extend their pleasant glades, a small farm was started, from which
Farm Cove took its name. After strenuous efforts, matters began to improve a little,
and by the end of February or beginning of March the settlement was in fair progress.
The public Storehouses had been well begun, and although the stumps of the trees had
not been removed, the ground was cleared over a considerable extent, and Sydney town
was no longer a mere hope, but had become an accomplished fact.
Before this time, that is, very shortly alter the disembarkation, several of the convicts
had attempted to escape. On the very morning after the reading of the formal
proclamation nine convicts were found to be missing, and at various other times, owing
to the want of overseers, small batches of prisoners took themselves off Being without
provisions, and amongst hostile natives, the fugitives must soon have perished.
As to the dangers arising from the natives, many instances occurred to warn
die settlers. One evening a convicl who had been working as a labourer on
the farm was brought in seriously wounded. A barbed spear had entered his back
between the shoulders to about the depth of three inches. The account he Jfave of
the occurrence was thai having strayed beyond the limits of the farm with another
man, he had suddenly fell this wound in his back bul had seen no natives. The other
European had immediately run away. A day or two afterwards, adds Collins, the clothes
of the missing man were found, torn, bloody, and pierced with spears.
32
CASSELL'S PICTUBESQUE AUSTRALASIA.
[SYDNEY :
A similar incident is added, and is interesting as giving its name to what is now
o o o
a favourite and well-known part, of Sydney. " An officer who had been exploring the
Earbour came suddenly on the bodies of two convicts who had hccn employed for some
time in cutting rushes in what is now known as Rushcutters' Hay. These bodies were
pierced through in many places with spears, and the head of one was beaten to a jelly.
As it seemed improbable that, these murders should have been committed without
provocation, inmiiry was made. It then appeared that these unfortunate men had a
few days previously taken away a canoe belonging to the natives, for which act of
violence and injustice they paid with their lives."
Many similar instances are recorded in the old histories to which we have referred,
and there can be little doubt that the original number of the persons who landed,
namely, one thousand and thirty, was from this and other causes considerably reduced.
But as it was, the people were too many, and the supply of food too scanty. No
sufficient provision had been made for supplying food from the fruits of the land. Large
dependence had been placed on the storeships which had been anxiously looked for,
and were daily expected to arrive.
The seed- wheat that had been sown
turned out badly The Sirius and
the Goldt a Grove storeships had
been despatched for the purpose of
obtaining stores, and a week after
the departure of the former a fixed
deduction was, from motives of
economy, made from the public
rations. Shortly afterwards the
amount was still further reduced,
and as a consequence of "short
commons " various attempts were
made to commit thefts from the
general stores. The thieves were
brought up and severely dealt with.
The Sirius and Golden Grove re-
turned, bringing but small additions
to the public stock. " The Governor,
whose humanity was at all times
conspicuous, directed that no altera-
tion should be made in the ration
to be issued to the women. They
were already upon two-thirds of the
men's allowance, and many of them
either had children who could very
well have eaten their own and part
double bay ( t i. 21). of their mother's ration, or they had
Irs Okigik.J
FROM BAD TO WORSE.
33
THE OBSEKVATUKY.
children at the breast ; and
although they did not labour,
yet their appetites were never
so delicate as to have found
the full ration too much had it been
issued to them."
In this state of affairs, a great and
distressing calamity fell upon the little
community in the loss of the Sirius upon a reef at Norfolk Island. This vessel had been
again despatched to obtain relief for the already hunger-smitten people, and upon news
of this calamity being received, it became necessary to adopt the most stringent measures
in order to preserve the lives of the people.
A irdinedy, a Council was called by the Lieutenant-Governor, and important
resolutions were arrived at. We are told that it was unanimously determined "that
martial law should be proclaimed ; that all private stock, poultry excepted, should be
considered tin- property of the State; that justice should be administered by a court-
martial, to be composed of seven officers, five of whom were to concur in a sentence
of death; and that there should be two locks upon the door of tlie public store, whi
34 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Sydney :
one key was to be in the keeping of a person to be appointed by Captain Hunter on
behalf of the seamen, the other to be kept by a person appointed on behalf of the
military." The day after the meeting of this Council, the whole community — soldiers,
seamen, and convicts — were assembled ; these resolutions were publicly read, and all
present confirmed their acceptance of them, and their determination to abide by the
conditions. This was shown by all passing under the King's colours, which were displayed
on this occasion.
These stringent measures could merely check, not remedy, the evil, and at one
time it seemed as if the unfortunate colonists had little to look forward to but a
lingering and miserable death from starvation. The rations were still further reduced,
and now the amount was no more than two pounds and a half of Hour, two pounds
of pork, one pint of peas, and one pound of rice for each person for seven days. " Was
this," exclaims the historian of that day, "a ration for a labouring man? The two
pounds of pork when boiled, from the length of time it had been in store, shrank
away to nothing, and when divided among seven people for their day's sustenance
barely afforded three or four mouthfuls to each." The natural result was that labour
ended. The men were too weak to work, and matters at length reached such a pass
that even the convicts, such was their physical prostration, were permitted to remain
idle. Amid such extreme privation, it became necessary in the interest of the public
safety to inflict very severe penalties on all who attempted to steal from the public
stores. Many received for such offences three hundred, four hundred, and as many as
five hundred lashes. Yet even these most severe punishments failed altogether to check
the crimes to which these poor people were impelled by the dire necessities ot their
position. " The latter part of 1788," writes one historian, " and the first four
months of the following year, was one of the darkest periods ever experienced in the
history of the settlement. The gloomy prospect before the people, the decrease in their
rations, the severity and frequency of their punishments, and the strictness with which
the Governor found it necessary to husband every resource, bred in the minds of the
thoughtless and improvident feelings of recklessness and despair. The stock of pro-
visions brought out from England was well-nigh exhausted ; the few head of cattle also
brought out had disappeared, no one knew where; and nothing eatable had yet been
produced in the colony, with the exception of a few vegetables. Many of the prisoners
straying into the bush to search for edible roots or herbs were killed by the natives.
Seven soldiers detected in the act of plundering the public stores were hanged without
mercy. The case of the young settlement was daily becoming desperate."
All this time Governor Phillip was behaving with great generosity, and setting
the people a wonderful example of self-denial. Collins seems never tired of recording
this disinterested and self-sacrificing behaviour on the part of the Governor. " The
Governor," he writes in one place, "from a motive that did him immortal honour in
this season of general distress, gave up three hundredweight of flour that was his
Excellency's private property, declaring that he wished not to see any more at his
table than the ration which was received in common from the public store, without
any distinction of persons. To this resolution he rigidly adhered, wishing that if
Its Origin.] ARRIVAL OF STORESHIPS. :).",
a convict complained he might see that want was not unfelt even at Government
House."
So excellent and noble an example was certainly not without its effect in assisting
many to keep heart and to struggle manfully through their distresses. And sunn the
unexpected arrival of two storeships from England infused new hope and vigour into
the almost starving people.
About half-past three in the afternoon of the 3rd of June, "to the inexpressible
satisfaction of every heart in the settlement," a sail was sighted from the South Head.
At mice, although a very strong wind was blowing, the Governor's secretary and two
other officers went off, and at considerable risk — for there was a heavy sea running
through the Heads — reached the ship, and brought her in safety into Spring Cove. She
proved to be the Lady Juliana, from London. She had been much delayed, having
been not less than ten months on the voyage. The Guardian, a much larger vessel,
which had sailed from England about the same time, had been wrecked on an iceberg
in 45° south, and all her stores lost. About a fortnight after the arrival of the J alia mi
the storeship Justinian also arrived, rive months out from England. The stores brought
by these two vessels altogether altered the complexion of affairs, and the more immediate
fear of starvation being removed, the people were enabled again to go about their proper
business, to till and improve the land, and by various met bods to gain a subsistence
from the soil. It seemed that a more friendly fortune was smiling upon the colony;
but there were still further difficulties at that very time approaching the shores of
the settlement. Three transports, the Surprise, the Neptune, and the Scarborough, arrived,
one after the other, with large numbers of convicts, and with much sickness prevailing
amongst them. By the 13th of the next month there were no fewer than four hundred
and eighty-eight persons laid up under medical treatment at the hospital.
Among some new regulations issued about this time by the Governor was one the
object of which was to enforce the attendance of the people at Divine Service on
Sundays. A large proportion of the rations was deducted from the share of each person
who absented himself from prayers on that day. Up to this time no very serious evils
had arisen from intercourse with the natives. A few stragglers, ami some who had
wantonly interfered with the goods or persons of the aboriginal inhabitants, had lost
their lives, hut as a rule the intercourse had been more or less of an amicable
description The Governor had especially endeavoured t iciliate the blacks, and to
show them that he wished above all things to he their friend. Two young natives,
.me of whom was named Bennilong, had been taken by him into his own house,
and kept there for some little time, in order that they might learn something of tin
habits atal comforts of civilised lite. Both, however, preferred liberty to everything
els,', and took an early opportunity to escap.-. The Governor, after this, hearing that
Bennilong had been seen in company with some natives in one of the numerous
coves of tin' Barbour, determined, regardless of the personal risk, to visit and again
endeavour to conciliate him. The cove was lull of natives allured by the attractions
of a whale least, for a whale a short time before had entered the Harbour and hen
unable to find its way out again. The Governor had distributed various tomahawks
36
CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA.
[Sydney :
and other articles as presents to the natives, and he was approaching one man with
arms extended in a friendly manner; but the black, misunderstanding his intentions, and
probably imagining that the Governor was intending to seize him, raised his spear, and
hurriedly bringing his throwing-stick into use, hurled the weapon at Captain Phillip. He
had employed such force that the spear went through the Governor's body, entering a
little above the collar-bone, and coming through on the other side 1 . Several other
spears were thrown at the rest of the party, but fortunately without doing much
STEAM FEKEY.
By his means
ROSE BAY AND SHARK ISLAXD (pp. 2 and |2S).
injury. The spears, though barbed, as is usual
with the native weapons, was satisfactorily re-
moved, and in some six weeks the Governor
had quite recovered. This adventure was not
without good effect, for Bennilong, grateful for
past favours, displayed much anxiety about Captain Phillip's well-being,
friendly communication was afterwards opened up with the natives.
It is worthy of record that in March of the year 1191 James Ruse, the first man
to whom land had been granted by the Government, announced to the Governor that
he would from that time be able to live on the fruits of his land without assistance
from the public stores. At the end of the same year it was found that there were in
all some thousand acres under cultivation, giving good promise for the years to come.
Four years later, in 1795, it was calculated that there were five thousand acres cultivated,
and after that the quantity steadily increased. There was no more fear of general
Its Ouiuin.]
THEN" AND Now.
37
starvation, but the early privations of the settlers will never be forgotten. A wealthy
citizen, who arrived in the colony as a free person, told l>r. Lanj, r , who "ives 1 1 « » •
statement in his "History of New South Wales," that "his ration for a long period
was merely a cob or single head of maize or Indian corn a day, and that fur three
years be had lived in the colony in the constant belief that he should one day perish
of hunger."
But these old times have long been left behind ; privation, and the tear of it. are
things of the past. It will, however, always interest an English people, whether in New-
South Wales, or in the old country, or elsewhere, to read of the early struggles of the
founders of this flourishing city; and the interest is increased when one considers the
singularly rapid progress which it has made in commerce and in every other feature
of civilisation. To prosecute a careful inquiry into its history is not our present object,
nor would the general reader greatly care for an account of the reigns of the different
(iovernors, or of the rise and fall of political Administrations. Suffice it to say, that
the mutiny of the convicts, the deposition and expulsion of Governor Bligh by the
New South Wales corps, and the first discoveries of gold, form the most important
events in the city's career.
G \ i: 1 1 1 '. ;-i. imi BY UOONLIOB I.
910'];]
1USTAST VIEW OF MELBOURNE FKuM DONCASTER TOWER.
Melbourne proper.
General Features of the City and the Suburbs — Elizabeth Street — Australian Creeks — The Cathedrals — The
Churches — Government House — Princes Bridge — The Town Hall — The Wards — The Hospital — The Public
Library — The Working Plan's College — The Old and the New Law Courts — The Royal Mint— Collins
Street — Flinders Street — Little Collins Street — Bourke Street — The Post Office and the Eastern Market
— Parliament House — Little Bourke Street.
TO the visitor who comes to Melbourne after Sydney, and to the reader who has been
hearing of the beauties of Sydney Harbour, it is necessary at once to say that on
the score of natural beauty Melbourne must own its inferiority to Sydney. The shores
of Port Phillip are not interesting in themselves, and they can ill bear comparison with
the infinite variety of coast-line, the constant interchange of point and cove that forms
the charm of Sydney Harbour, so different to the flat, low-lying expanses of sand that
skirt the upper end of Port Phillip, known as Hobson's Bay. Friends of Melbourne may
fairly contend that it has its pretty spots, and some even that seem fairly blessed by
nature, as, for instance, the Botanical Gardens ; but without the hand of the gardener
making smooth, sloping lawns. vTacvful curves, and richly-coloured flower-beds, even the
charming situation of the ground would have escaped the observation of ordinary eyes.
In Melbourne it is man's work, not nature's, that invites admiration; and it is from this
point of view that a traveller characterised Melbourne as "marvellous." No two places,
be tbey regarded as rivals or as sisters, could present greater contrasts than Melbourne
and Sydney. Some cities are founded, others grow. Some seem to have been arranged
and built according to a plan, others to grow according to their needs, seemingly
following their own sweet will. With certain limitations, Melbourne belongs to the
former class ; Sydney, from the very nature of its position, to the latter.
The City of Melbourne has been so carefully and regularly laid out that it is very
easy for a stranger to remember its plan, and to find his way about. It may be said
Melbourne Proper.]
THE CITY AXD THL SUBURBS.
39
PLAN OF THE CITY OF MELBOUH.NE,
to consist of
a square and
two offshoots.
Uno of these
is the only
suburb lying
wholly within
the municipal
b lunds of the
city, the fa-
shionable Bub-
urb of East
Mel bou rii e,
held at arm's length from the city by the beautiful Fitzroy
Gardens. Here is Bishopscourt, the residence of the Anglican
bishop, and here, too, stand many comfortable villas and large
private houses. The other offshoot is south of the Yarra,
and consists of the Domain which includes the Botanical
Gardens, and of the Fawkner Park. A small portion of
the suburb, also fashionable, of South Yarra, is thus included
in the city for municipal purposes, though, curiously enough,
this fragment is in the Parliamentary borough of St. Hilda
Probably the reason for earning the boundary of the city so
far to the south is to secure that the richest municipality
should retain its share of the burden of park-maintenance.
East Melbourne and South Yarra are places of residence, whereas what may be
called Melbourne proper is chiefly a place of business. Business, however, is not
quite so absorbing as in London, for the chief hotels, the theatres, and the clubs, fall
within this business area The larger the size of a town, the mon mplete is
likely to be the division between the functions of its different quarters. The "City" of
London is wholly given up to shops, warehouses, banks, and places of business. When
these are closed, the City is deserted. On a Sunday, if it were not for the attractions
of St. Paul's Cathedral, there would be hardly a soul in the City except the caretakers.
Melbourne is never so completely deserted as this. It has well-marked divisions into
quarters, but these lie cheek by jowL Yet Melbourne proper is nol a place of resi-
dence In old days a tradesman lived over his shop, but modern conveniences of travel
enable him to live in a suburb, to surround himself with a garden, and separate himself
each evening from the outward signs of his business. A jolting in the train, lasting
each morning and evening from ten to fortj minutes, as the case may be, is the price
that he pays for the fresh air and the freedom.
Melbourne proper was to have been one mile square. Bight streets, running north
and south, divide the more famous streets that run east and west < ollins and Bourke
Streets are exactly a mile long, and each block in them is one-eighth of a mile. The
.'. Gmemmtnt Offices Pi
'IJ. Jtisttcf':
ij Easthielb-Crit
It'aUer e>BautaIts*
40
CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA.
[Melbourne
pedestrian can time himself on a measured mile. Even the very names begin most
regularly, and as if to form a memoria technica — King, William, Queen, Elizabeth; but
here the limits of mnemonic invention appear, and distinguished colonists, and even
those not veiy well known, claim their due. When we turn the other way the symmetry
is not so complete, but a new element comes in. The southernmost street, more or less
parallel to the river Yarra, is Flinders Street, called after the navigating explorer, famous
in early Australian history. Between Flinders and the next street, Collins, rumes Little
Flinders Street, otherwise called Flinders Lane. So, also, Collins and Bourke Streets
have each a little namesake lying to the immediate north. The idea in the original
scheme was that these should be really lanes leading to the back doors of the houses
in the larger streets. But land became too valuable for this luxury, and the smaller
streets soon won an existence of their own. Their narrowness, thus explained by their
history, forms an exception to the general rule of wide and airy streets so charac-
teristic of Melbourne.
Elizabeth Street, which, continued northwards though not exactly in a straight
line, becomes the Sydney Road, divides Melbourne proper into two nearly equal parts.
There is no doubt that the lower end of Elizabeth Street was originally a creek or small
brook, a branch of the Yarra. If a man takes his stand at the crossing of Collins and
Elizabeth Streets, the most crowded and busiest cross-
ing in Melbourne, on each side he looks up-hill. It
is not very long since each Melbourne street had
very wide gutters on each side, with wooden bridges
across them for the use of foot passengers wishing
to pass into the roadway. In the more important
streets there has been lately substituted a complete
system of underground drainage.
Before this change, however, there
was plenty of evidence that Elizabeth
Street occupied the place of a stream.
Whenever a shower of rain fell, the
water came streaming down this street.
All the streets that led out of it were
contributory, and the gutters were
soon full. When the rain was heavier
than a shower, and the town was fa-
voured with long rain or a tropical
downpour, it very soon became im-
possible to cross the road. So swift
ran the stream in the gutters, that
in the early days, when the streets
were not full of people, the drown-
ing of a child in a gutter is said to
ix the botanical gaedexs. have been no uncommon occurrence.
Pboper.]
AUSTRALIAN CREEKS.
41
The swollen streams in the gutters sometimes even joined across the roadway, and
for a while the street hecame a river again. Shopkeepers naturally complained, and
this ultimately led the city authorities to adopt the underground drainage. It was
long argued that no pipes would be large enough to carry off the storm water, and
an arrangement has been made by which an overflow from the pipes will, it' necessary,
still be carried along the modem and moderate-sized gutters. The sight of this main
street flooded will be rarer in the future than in the past, but a very heavy rain will
probably yet enable it to be seen. Nothing less like an Australian creek debouching
A MELBOl'UNi: (UTTER IN EAHLIEl: 1>A\>.
into a river could well !"■ imagined than this prosperous street, with its large and lofty
houses, ended by a spacious but no1 very sightly railway station. Yet those who know
what Australian creeks are like ought not to find a difficulty in bringing back the
scene. Scattered over the bush there are thousands of them. Generally, where the
English language is spoken, a creek means a small inlel of the sea, but in Australia
a creek is literally what it is etymologically, a crack in the ground. In dry weather
there is very little water; perhaps in the height of summer the Btream altogether
ceases to run, and the creek becomes a string of water holes; but when the hea
arc opened, and the rain falls, it reappears a river. All around, the ground is uneven,
and smaller creeks drain into the larger. Great ''"aunt gum-trees till up the landscape.
It comes natural to cities to swallow up streams, and to turn brooks into main drains.
Melbourne lias only dour with tliis nameless creek whal London did with the Fleet
and with the ly-bum. Londoners grumble because their streets are always "up" for
repairs, and Melbourne people make the same complaint <*n one occasion a eurious
42 CASSELL'S PICTUREsyfK AUSTRALASIA. i> ™t
relic of antiquity was brought to light by the picks of the workmen. At some distance
below tlic level cif the road the wooden planks were found that used to form the simple
bridge by which the early settlers crossed this very creek An interested crowd soon
collected, and many of the bystanders cul themselves chips to serve as mementoes.
Fancy the excitement among English antiquaries if such a find had been made
of an old bridge across the Fleet or the Ty ! But in the ease of Melbourne, it is not
forty years since the simple bridge was in use, and an antiquary is hardly needed.
If the old idea be adopted, and the possession of a cathedral and a bishop be
regarded as that which constitutes a city, then is Melbourne fortunate, for it has two
cathedrals. The Roman Catholic oathedral on the summit of the Eastern Hill has the
pride of place. It is already a beautiful Gothic church, and, when finished, it will be
certainly the chief architectural ornament of the city. The architect is Mr. WardeU,
who is allowed by all who know anything of the subject to have a true feeling for the
beautiful iii Gothic, architecture. With respect to the site of the Anglican cathedral,
which was commenced much more recently, a very fierce hat tie was waged There
were those wdio maintained that a cathedral ought always to be built upon a hill ; and
these were divided into two parties, advocates for the Eastern Hill and advocates for
the western heights. Others maintained that the cathedral should be in the true
centre of city life, and it was this part)-, strengthened by the vigorous eloquence of
Dr. Moorhouse, the then Bishop, since transferred to the see of Manchester, England,
as successor to Dr. Fraser — that carried the clay. The St. Paul's site, which was then
selected, is undeniably in the flattest part of the city, but the fact remains that it is
in the centre, if by centre we mean the point most easily accessible from all parts of
Greater Melbourne, that is, Melbourne and its suburbs. It is very close to two railway
stations to which gathers the traffic from by far the larger number of suburbs, and it
is not far from the starting-point of the northern omnibus and tramway systems.
Standing opposite the great bridge over the Yarra, it is at the entrance of the city by
its chief southern road. There is no site to which on week-days so many business
men could so easily collect, whether for a few minutes of quiet devotion or to listen
to an eloquent preacher ; no site to which on Sundays so many could so easily gather
by rail or road from their more distant homes. Arguments like these prevailed, and
the lowness of the position was atoned for by an instruction to the architect to make
the building itself lofty.
There are great differences of opinion with respect to the architecture, which is
strongly characteristic of the eminent English architect who designed it. " Oh, if
Butterfield is building your cathedral, he will afflict you with many stripes," was the
comment of a Rugby master, whose knowdedge of what Melbourne might expect was
drawn from the magnificent school chapel which Mr. Butterfield built at Rugby. In the
selection of materials for the Melbourne Cathedral, the architect took the utmost pains,
having large specimens of the stone sent to him, but there are many unaccustomed
to the variety introduced who regard with a feeling almost of horror the different
coloured bands of which the pillars are composed, and the diaper work in the gables.
It is unfortunate that disagreements arose at an early period between the architect
Pbopbb.]
MELBOURNE CHURCHES.
43
and the building committee, with the result that Mr. Butterfield declined to have any-
thing further to do with the building. It is necessary to mention this dispute beca
Mr. Butterfield cannot be held wholly responsible for a building for which he only
furnished general designs, and the (•(instruction of which he only superintended up to
a certain point The local architects, who have taken up the work of construction,
maintain that they have sufficient clue for the completion of the building in keeping
with the design; and, at any rate, it is not the first cathedral begun under one archi-
tect and finished under very different superintendence.
Many of the Melbourne churches are the reverse of beautiful. They were built
after the revival of Gothic architecture
in England, but before that influence
was very widely spread. It must be
allowed that the times just before Pugin
and Gilbert Scott were specially bad
times for church architecture. More-
over, intercourse with England was much
more rare and difficult then than now,
and the early days of a colony cannot
bo expected to be days of good taste;
Nature has first to be conquered, and
necessaries come before ornaments. But
much more attention is now being paid
to ecclesiastical architecture. The lead-
ing denominations are very evenly
matched in numbers and wealth, and
they vie with each other in their church
building, as in other matters. After the
cathedral, St. Francis is the best of the
Roman Catholic churches, both for
architecture and music. Wesley Church,
in Lonsdale Street, is a very good
building, well proportioned throughout, and with a beautiful spire: but, probably, most
people will consider the Scots Church, in Collins Street, the gem of church architecture
in Melbourne. The style of architecture is Early English ; the material, a brown free-
stone, laced with a white stone from Kakanui, in New Zealand. The spire has very
graceful proportions, and its 212 feel of height make it the tallest in .Melbourne and
Suburbs. Inside the church there is an air of great wealth and comfort. Its carpi
passages and well-upholstered pews make it a drawing-room amongsl churches The
floor rises gradually to the end furthest from the pulpit This fact, and the central
position of the handsome pulpit, show a visitor at once that pulpit ministrations occupy
the most important place in the services of the church There is a tine organ, however,
and the music, until differences unhappily arose which divided the congregation into
sections, had a great reputation evidence of a change in l'reshyn rianism since the
lU'llKK AM) WILLS )ln\l MENT.
44
CASSLLLS I'H'TrKESyl'E AUSTRALASIA.
(Melbourne
days when an organ was condemned as a " kist o' whustles." The Independent Church
does not look very much like an ecclesiastical editice, but it has the great advantage
of being admirably adapted for hearing. Wicked wags say that the intention of the
founder was to turn the building to some other purpose, if it failed as a church. Of
such failure there seems little prospect ; the pulpit of this church has had some of
the best preachers of the colony.
At the intersection of the streets, opposite these two churches, used to stand the
Burke and Wills monument, but the exigencies of the tramways drove it from its
position. The old site was certainly splendidly central ; the new site for this monu-
ment is in Spring Street, at the north-eastern corner of the city. .Melbourne is not at
all rich in statues, and cannot afford to put a tine monument like this out of the way.
A history of the exploring expedition in LSGO, in commemoration of which this monu-
ment was erected, will be found elsewhere in this work. The preparations for the
exploration, and its fatal termination, caused a great excitement in the public mind.
At a later day, the enthusiasm that was created in Victoria by the heroic endurance
and manly Christian character of General Gordon led to the determination to give to
the Melbourne streets a second statue, worthy of its predecessor.
Government House, which occupies a fine site in the Domain, to the south of the
city, is a building not much admired by people of taste. It has often been compared
THE SCOTS AND INDEPENDENT CHURCHES, COLLINS STREET.
Proper.]
GOVERNMENT HOUSE.
45
GOVERNMENT HOUSE, FROM BOTANICAL GARDENS.
to a workhouse or to a factory. The story goes that Mr. Wardell, then the architect of
the Public Works Department, prepared a beautiful design for a Gothic house, bul the
Prime .Minister of the day, like Lord Palmerston, did not appreciate Gothic architecture
for domestic purposes. Ee was one of those who think thai Gothic is all very well
for churches, possibly even for public halls, bul is not suitable for private buildings.
So he exclaimed " Bring me a book of designs," and on the first page there happened
to be a picture of Osborne, of which he said, in a manner that some mi-ln call
despotic, some vigorous, "That's the sort of house we want: build a house like that"
Certainly the, present, (iovernraent House is a fair general imitation of Osborne. Bul
there is this difference. Osbome has a background of trees, and a slighl elevation;
the Melbourne Government Bouse, built on the top of a rising ground, has its outline
brought out l ■ \ a clear and often cloudless sky. The Governor's residence is certainly
not beautiful; it must be reckoned a lost opportunity, for the position is splendid, and
commands one of the finesl views of the city of Melbourne. The most that can be
said for the appearan I the house is that it is not equally had from all points of
view. The worst vi. us are those of the whole length : the I k - 1 are those, as from the
Yana or the Botanical Gardens, where the building is seen marly end-wise. It' not
beautiful, it is certainly commodious, and seme people would say that is better. The
state apartments, dining-room, and drawing room are very rooms, and the ball-room is
46
CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA
[MEL1»
THE TOWN II ILL.
one of the largest in the world It is said of the Town Hall that instructions
were given to the architect to make it a little larger every way than the Guildhall in
London. Similar instructions are not known to have been given in the case of Government
Bouse, but it is often repeated with pride that the dimensions are larger, even if only
a little larger, than those of the ball-room at Windsor. The danger for a Governor of
Victoria is rather that he should he over-housed than have too little accommodation,
but that is a fault on the right side for one who, from the nature of his position, must
entertain many visitors The
proportions of the ball-room
are admirable, and it is a
magnificent sight to see the
apartment crowded on a ball
night with handsomely dressed
guests, the bright uniforms of
many officers mingling with
the varied colours of the ladies'
dresses. In this room, too, the
Governor holds a levee on the
Queen's birthday in each year,
when more than a thousand
citizens usually attend to show
their loyalty.
Princes Bridge is a convenient starting-point for a walk through Melbourne. It is
the entrance byroad from the south, and it lies close to two railway stations, one called
after itself, the Princes Bridge Station, and not very long built ; the other named
Hobson's Bay Station. There used to be a short railway that led to the Bay ; and the
name still clings to the station, though the lines of the company which worked it
have been absorbed into the State system of railways. Old Princes Bridge, which
spanned the Yarra with one fine arch, 150 feet wide, was long the pride of Melbourne.
It was opened with great pomp and ceremony, but after thirty years it was thought
too narrow and inadequate. Tiresome restrictions had to be placed on the traffic
crossing the bridge. It was at length determined to have a new and broader bridge,
with a viaduct to keep the roadway at the level that it has a few yards to the north
and a tew hundred yards to the south. Not without great regret did many of the
inhabitants of Melbourne see the fine old arch pulled down. Swanston Street is in a
fine with the St. Kilda Boad, and on nearly the same level. The Anglican Cathedral
stands on the' immediate right. The Town Hall is at the corner, where Collins crosses
Swanston Street. Further to the north, the side of the Melbourne Hospital, and the
front of the Public Library, are features in the same street.
The Town Hall is very spacious, as has already been implied. It is a fine sight
when the Town Hall is thronged for a public meeting, and the audience is held
spell-bound by an orator ; or when it is occupied for a concert by a company of ladies
and gentlemen in evening attire ; or, again, filled with gay masqueraders at a fancy
Proper.)
THE T(i\V.\ HALL.
47
dress balL It is generally said that the room will hold four thousand: ii mosl assuredly
will not seat that number. But when the public mind is agitated upon some political
question, for instance, the German occupation of New Guinea, no doubt fully four
thousand manage to find standing room. About two thousand four hundred can be
comfortably seated for a concert. One of the musical societies, known here by the
German name of Liedertafel, has sometimes a pretty way of arranging the room, breaking
up the long lines of seats by tree-ferns and pot-plants, and grouping the scats round
small tables. The acoustic properties of the room cannot conscientiously be praised, bul
architects generally, whether of churches or of lecture-halls, do not seem to pay enough
attention to the laws of acoustics. The best advice that can Vie given to one who has to
speak in the Town Hall is "Hold up your head, and speak straight to the further end
of the room ; do not turn to right or left in the course of your speech, and do net
try to speak too loud." Two speakers nut of three, however, even when these rules are
followed, will not be heard in large portions "I' the room. The Town Hall has other
smaller rooms, the offices of the Corporation, as well as a very handsome and well-
proportioned Council Chamber, ornamented with portraits of municipal celebrities.
The city of Melbourne, it may here be mentioned, is divided into seven wards,
each represented by an alderman and three councillors. The names of the wards
exhibit a combination of loyalty to the Crown with colonial patriotism. Victoria ami
All" it, need no explanation.
Lonsdale and Latrobe were
Governors of Victoria, Bourke
and (iipps, of New South
Wales, when what is now Vic-
toria was yet unseparated from
the parent colon)'. Smith was
a public-spirited man, seven
times Mayor oi Melbourne, and
of him it is remembered that
he imported the first jackass
(not laughing) into the colony.
Lovers of euphonious names,
however, cannot repress a feel-
ing that Smith ward is not to
lie regarded as a su ss in
INTERIOR er i in. rOWK IIAI.l..
nomenclature. The Mayor of
Melbourne bolds SO important ,i position that many can be found to think he ought to
receive the distinctive title of " Lord Mayor
The Melbourne Eospital was founded in 1846. It is a good specimen of what is
known as the Queen Anne order of architecture. It looks very roomy, and stands
in grounds of its own. which, for a town site, ar rtainly extensive; but it has
been the subject of rery serious complaints, partly the revolt of overcrowding. Opon
high medical authority it is said to be "saturated with septic poison," and whether
48 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Mslboohkb Pbopeb.
this strong statement can be proved or not, it is quite certain that the hospital is not
large enough, and not such as would be constructed in the present day.
Beyond the hospital stands the Public Library, with its fine fagade. This institution
consists of four departments, under the control of the same body of trustees, though
one of the four, the Natural History .Museum, is situated elsewhere, being at the back
of the University. The three departments housed on this large block of ground are
the Public Library, the National Gallery, and the Industrial Museum. The Library has
two large- reading-rooms, the Queen's and the Barry Hall, besides a newspaper-room.
It is much frequented, the average attendance numbering considerably over one
thousand a day. Boast is made that it is the freest library in the world. Any one is
admitted without recommendation or restriction, and readers are permitted to help
themselves to books from the shelves, the only exceptions being with respect to expensive
works of art and medical books. The collection is very extensive, and, according to the
article on "Libraries" in the " Encylopsedia Britannica" (ninth edition), there are only
nine larger libraries in the United Kingdom. The National Gallery is a collection of
modern pictures, amongst which many old favourites at the Royal Academy may be
seen. Long's "Esther" and Webb's "Rotterdam" are probably the most admired by
those who know, and Mrs. Butler's " Quatre Bras " is, through engravings, the most widely
known; but an enormous picture called the "Brigands" is the favourite with the genera]
public. The gallery also possesses portraits, some of great interest in early Australian
history, which are soon to be housed in separate rooms, and some reproductions of the
most famous statues and busts. Attached to the gallery is a school of painting, which
is already beginning to produce good fruit. The Industrial Museum is after the pattern
of South Kensington, and contains models of the fruits of the earth, models of mining
apparatus, and specimens of domestic appliances. As is natural in a young museum, articles
of this sort are better represented than curiosities, except in the matter of aboriginal
weapons and implements, Australian and from the South Sea Islands, of which the
collection is one of the best in the -world. An institution of this kind must grow
slowly, and on every side an air of incompleteness hangs about the exterior of the
buildings.
Across the street, from the back of the territory of the Public Library, stand the
Working Man's College and the old Supreme Court. The Working Man's College is
chiefly due to the liberality of one citizen, the Hon. Francis Ormond, who in this as
in other ways has shown a wise interest in the progress of education. An unfortunate
mistake was made by the Council responsible for its management, in not commencing
the institution with lectures and teaching, and waiting to proceed with a building
when the need of one was proved ; nor is it quite clear whether the college is to be
of a technical nature, or, like its London prototype, is to fill up the gaps in general
education. At any rate, it is most satisfactory that on its finished side the building
looks handsome, and that it is most conveniently arranged.
It would not be easy to find two buildings with the same purpose presenting a
stronger contrast than the Old and the New Law Courts. The latter might fairly be
described by the French name, " the Palace of Justice." No doubt it is right and
Pbopsr.]
CHANCERY LANE.
51
there are palatial establishments in which modern banks delight to do their busi]
Banks, it, must bo mentioned, are a greal element in Australian life. There is no
country in the world in which, in proportion to the population, such a large banking
business is done or so many accounts kept, What with branches in very small town-
ships, and palaces in the large towns, this business has outward and visible signs which
cannot be overlooked. From a few minutes after six in the evening until eight in the
morning, and for the whole of Sunday, Collins Street is almost deserted
Other parts of
Melbourne have their
special characters. At
the west end of Flin-
ders St rort there is a
strong nautical flavour.
The houses there are
opposite the wharves.
though at a consider-
able interval : and it
is natural that the
sailors should frequenl
them, and that the
shops should "cater"
for the tastes of sailor-,.
Little flinders Street
or Flinders Lane, or
" the Lane," as it is
sometimes fondly
called, is the street
for large wholesale
warehouses of ready-
made clothing, woollen
g Is, ami the like.
The local name lor all
ibis is - soft-goods."
North of Collins Street is Little Collins Street, a part of which, lying well v..
the centre, is known as Chancery Lane. It need hardlj be explained that this is where
the barristers' chambers are. On one side goes forth Temple Court, which has. however,
of late been nearly deserted in favour ol a sel of chambers, more modern and more
commodious, mi the other side of Chancery Lane, called after Lord Chancellor Selbome,
equally well known as sir Roundel! Palmer. Besides being more commodious, these
chambers are somewhat nearer to the new Courts.
Bourke Street has a character of its own. It is a streel devoted both to husin. ss
an. I to pleasure. It has mam large shops; but it is more important to notice that
here are the theatres, and the caffo and the shops devoted to the theatre liepi, i,
MKI.Iilll'HXr. HnslTI M,
52
CASSELL's PICTUBESQTTE A.USTEAXASIA.
[MtLBOLRNE
THE XEW LAW COURTS.
In half the streel —the eastern half — there is as much traffic an hour before midnight
as at any period of the day. In the centre of Bourke Street is the General Post
< »tlice, from the
tower of which
the arrival of
mails from Ens?-
land is notified
by flags in the
day-time and
by lanterns at
night. The
Post Office is
not a small
building ; but
it gradually be-
came too small
for its work,
which, as in
England, in-
cludes the Tele-
graph and Sa-
vings Hanks, and must soon also include the carriage of parcels. In England the
Post Office is a source of profit to the general revenue. In the colonies, because of
sparser population and great distances, it is not. This colony, therefore, has no penny
postage ; but a generation that has seen the reduction on English letters from a
shilling to half that price, with a proportionate increase in speed, lives in hope of
further postal improvements. From the Post Office, by the way, distances are
measured; the number on a milestone after "to Melbourne" meaning the number of
miles to this centre.
Bourke Street has other sights. To the west of Elizabeth Street, the space for
some distance seems devoted to horses. There are saddlers' shops in a row, and then
great yards for the sale of horses, carriages, and carts. In the morning horses are
being trotted in the street to show their paces. Nearly opposite the Post Office stands
Cole's Book Arcade, an interesting place, with a brilliant-coloured rainbow for a sign
By the attractions of music people are encouraged to frequent the shop, and to read
books in the hope that they will buy them. Mr. Fronde was most struck with the
number of young men engaged in skimming shilling dreadfuls and exciting novels. But
had he known the shop well he would have found much else, solid food for the intellect
as well as stimulants for the imagination. Passing further up Bourke Street, towards the
Houses of Parliament, the visitor comes to the Eastern Market, a comparatively recent
ion on the part of the City Corporation. This is commodious, and complete with
modern appliances, including the electric light; and yet there are found those who regret
the old and rougher Paddy's Market, Saturday night was the time to visit this in all
Psoras.]
PADDYS MARKET.
53
its glory, when side by side with the genuine marketers there were found the quacks and
the conjurers, who formed the attraction of an old English fair. But even though the
fun may not now be so fast and furious, there is much that will interest a visitor to
the Eastern Market. Even in the day-time it is well frequented ; at night there is a
much larger attendance; on Saturday it is so crowded that locomotion is difficult, and
with the crowd there is such a noise that a lover of quiet had better stay away. Am
one who wants a dog, or a canary, or a parrot, or any of the many Australian birds,
can here find what he seeks. Every kind of article is being sold by cheap jacks, who
shout at the top of then- voices. Here men are trying then strength by blows upon a
machine ; others are testing their lungs, or being weighed. A little further on a man
has charge of an electric machine, and is prepared to give a shock for a consideration.
Vendors of vegetable pills, and other quack medicines, seem to be doin^ a roaring trade:
and here stands an ardent disciple of phrenology, who, for a very small sum, is prepared
to feel your bumps and tell your character therefrom, or will tell you how to educate
your children in accordance with bump-lore, until one is reminded of the father of
Mr. Midshipman Easy.
Leaving behind us — may we hope '. — everything in the nature of nostrums, quackery,
and the art of gulling fellow-creatures, we come to Parlia-
ment House. When this pile is completed, according to
Ml LBOUBNE INIVERSITY.
54
CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA.
|Mi:l i
THIS DLI) LAW COURTS,
Jgf*
THE MINT.
its design, the groat bus}' street will "be
worthily closed. On the granting of
Parliamentary government to the colony,
it was determined to have a noble plan
for a building, and to carry out parts
of the design. Melbourne has often
been described as a city of unfinished buildings. The charge is true, but the incom-
pleteness is based upon worthy reasons and a care for posterity. Better a part of a
good design, than a whole building executed upon a plan which must in after days
prove too small or too mean. The present generation sutlers, but posterity gains.
Parliament Bouse has long looked very ugly, because unfinished. The inside has been
attended to first, and the two Houses of Legislature have handsome debating chambers,
separated by a very spacious and handsome lobby, with a well-arranged and well-
stocked library. With the exception of their debating chambers all the arrangements
of the building — library, refreshment-rooms, billiard-rooms, and the like — are shared in
common by the members of both Houses. Following the precedent of the Lords, the
Upper House has a far more gaily decorated apartment than the Lower: in it the
ceremonies of opening and closing Parliament by His Excellency the Governor take place.
In addition to the billiard-room, Parliament House has an open asphalt tennis-court
and a large garden When the tennis-court was first proposed, much fun was made of
the proposal, which easily lends itself to ridicule. But, the idea is the same as in the
PSOFI i'.. I
THE CHINESE QUARTER.
55
case «it' a billiard-room — that it is desirable to keep members in the precincts of the
House, though not necessarily in the House itself, when their attendance may at am
time be required Many would expect better legislation from legislators fresh from
tennis, than from legislators fresh from billiards.
Nut far from Parliament House are the Public Offices, with resnect to which the
question will arise whether they are not too large for a young country with a population
of a million. When the answer is given thai every nook and corner of the building
is occupied, doubt still finds place whether the colony be not over-governed Architecturally
the old Treasury is the handsomest of the offices. As a building it is too thin, bur. it
has an excellent front
One other street in Melbourne has a very special character — Little Bourke Street,
the Chinese quarter. There arc a great many Chinese in Australia, and some tew have
risen to the position of wealthy merchants. As a rule which knows tew exceptions,
they are very industrious, and render good service to housekeepers as hawkers of fish
and vegetables. In mining places they can make a living where no Englishman can.
Put they are' not good colonists, because they come with the intention of saving as
much money as they can scrape together, and then returning to China. Moreover,
they bring no women with them, and by providing temptations to gambling, and in
other ways, are the cause of not a little immorality. Our artists, under the protection
of two policemen, ventured into the Chinese haunts in Little Bourke Street, and have
reproduced some features of the strange life which is daily going on there within a feu
hundred yards of the Chambers of Legislature. But this .subject is so strange and
S] ial that we have devoted to it a separate chapter.
a ► .-■
EXHIBITION BUILDINGS, MELBOURNE.
56
GREATER MELBOURNE.
Distinctive Features — Richmond Park — The Yarra Yarra — Rowing Clubs and River Picnics — Suburban
.Municipalities — Means of Locomotion — Collingwood — Prahran — Hotham — Exhibition Building and the
"Zoo" — The Colonial Colney Hatch — Toorak — South Yarra — St. Kilda — Brighton — Flemington — Public
Holidays — The Ports of Melbourne : Sandridge and Williamstown — Origin of Local Names — Admiral
Collingwood.
[~T will be of interest to consider what are the distinctive features of Melbourne. And
-*- herein we are sneaking not only of the city, but of the city together with its suburbs.
of what, following the precedent of the popular name "Greater Britain," lias been called
Greater Melbourne. The two features that will strike every stranger are spaciousness
and variety. The first of these shows itself in the great extent of ground that is
covered, the width of the streets and main roads, the large number of public parks
and gardens by which over-building has been prevented, or, at any rate, its inconveniences
modified. The width of the streets helps to give the city proper an air of magnificence.
Wlniv the traffic is considerable, a feeling of satisfaction arises that ample provision
has been made for it. But the roads are too wide. In a country where violent wind
is not unknown, and where dust rises even to the magnitude of a plague, very broad
roads and wide street spaces are a real inconvenience. It is true that the dust nuisance
would be much mitigated, though not altogether removed, whilst a decided improvement
would be made in the general aspect, if the roads, being far too wide for the traffic,
were made narrower by plantations of trees along their sides. These plantations should
be fenced for the protection of the trees, and inside the enclosure there should be grass.
This has been done with good effect at various points, but the misfortune of Melbourne
roads lies in the variety of municipal government, and in the need of some central
authority or metropolitan board of works.
It is unfortunately true that in the decade after 1876 little or no progress
was made. One road which was formerly splendidly smooth has become a byword
and a disgrace. The St. Kilda Road was kept in admirable order in the days of
tolls, but tolls were abolished by the legislature without providing a substitute.
This road suffers from a divided jurisdiction, for the division line between the city
of Melbourne and Emerald Hill (or South Melbourne) is the middle of this road, and
though the people of Melbourne are famed for their practical business qualities, they seem
unable to discover a method of keeping this particular road in good repair. There are
several places near Melbourne where the road is so broad as to be a simple nursery
of dust, and where a wise municipality would have made a central plantation, circular
or triangular. In Paris such spaces would have been seized for a little garden, with a
fountain playing in the midst, and pleasant seats for the wayfarer. These little neglected
opportunities arc the more to be regretted because Melbourne has beautiful gardens
on the large scale. The wise foresight which almost encircled Melbourne proper with
public gardens, driving future suburbs further afield, and the skill with which these
gardens have been laid out, have provided Melbourne with admirable places of public
Greater Mii.bourne.1
FITZROY GARDENS.
57
resort Some of them are as delightful as any gardens in the world. There is shade
in summer heat ; there are spacious and inviting lawns ; there are flowers and trees to
charm the eye.
Tin; view of the Fitzroy Gardens given below was taken on a lovely moonlight
night worthy of the tropics, when it was so light that the artist could without difficulty
IN Tin: FITZROY <■ \ i: I >i. ns.
see to sketch. "Weeping willows," to use his own words, "giants compared with English
willows, wen- trailing their branches; there were deep shadows with tender lull tones;
the grass and fern-tree gully were filled with mystery; whilst glintings of silver, or
rather golden, moonlight fell on edges of trunks, fronds, and leaves; and the whole
scene was made musical by the plashing of a tiny Stream hidden from view under a
spreading greenery."
58 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Gbkateb
Passing, however, from poetry to measurements, the ordinary width of main roads
is three chains, and an exaggerator, with a touch of American humour, once said that
iok him half a day to cross the St. Kilda Road, which in parts is even wider than
the orthodox three chains. Side mads often reach to two chains, and a man lias
been heard to urge it, as a reproach against another that he " lived in a one-chain
mail" in much the same spirit as that in which tin; American tourist upbraided the
Oxford traveller who stopped at the ancient city of Trent with "Surely y<>n are not
going to visit such a one-horse place!"
Although land is very expensive in the near neighbourhood of the city, and fetches
a good price throughout the suburbs, private gardens abound, especially along the main
highways. Villas stand in what Anglo-Indians call a "compound" This is a com-
ion of shrubbery and garden ; sometimes there is a grassy lawn, oftener a lawn-tennis
ground, here generally, in spite of the. prefix "lawn," laid in asphalt. The result of
these large spaces is that the suburbs are far apart. One of the Americian cities is
known as " the city of magnificent distances." A name of the kind would be not
inappropriate to Melbourne; and the tax upon the ladies of visit-paying, which modern
society demands, is made much heavier because of the distances that have to be tra-
versed between friend and friend.
The second feature in the appearance of Melbourne is its diversity. A poor house
stands side by side with a good house, a cottage, one might almost say a hovel, in
close proximity to a palace. It is only fair to say that there is nothing in Melbourne
like the "lonn'. unlovely street " of London, nothing so hideous as Cower Street or Har-
le\ Street, neither of which expresses more, as has been caustically remarked, than "the
impotence of the architect to express anything." There is nothing like Regent Street
in London or the Rue Rivoli in Paris, for in the streets there has been very little con-
tinuous building, or building in a block upon the plans of a single architect. Subject
to certain municipal restrictions, each man has built as seemed good in his own eyes
or in the eyes of his architect. There are handsome individual buildings, some few
in admirable taste, but the general effect is often marred by the surroundings. The eye
at once marks a great difference in the height of the houses as well as in their
architectural st \ le.
In 1882 a traveller remarked that in this city there were no houses with more than
two storeys, but. on account of the expense of the land, some of the newer shops in
Melbourne proper have been built very tall, reminding a visitor of houses in older cities;
and these shops have a tendency to look absurd, because their neighbours are so much
-hoitcr in stature. In time much of this inequality will be removed. The rapid growth
of .Melbourne partially explains it. But then it is not all new cities, or new parts of
cities, that are built irregularly. The buildings that have been run up in the last
decade in new parts of Paris, lor example, are as regular as the houses in the older
quarters of the city. We must seek the difference rather in the character of the
people. The Victorians are great lovers of independence, and are. many of them,
sprung from a stock that chsrished as its principle what Burke describes as the
" dissidence of dissent, and the Protestantism of our Protestant " character. And yet,
Melbou.sk.] suburban .MUNICIPALITIES. 63
early years spoke the native language fluently, maintains that this is a popular delusion,
and that the name means " 1% Gum Trees." Unfortunately, the native languages are
fast disappearing and will soon he "dead" in a sense other than that in which we apply
this epithet to the classics.
Within the circuit of Greater Melbourne no fewer than seventeen boroughs are
included of these, five are classed as cities, one is a town, and eleven are only
boroughs. It may he asked wherein the distinction lies. If hi England, according
to the old doctrine, a bishop and cathedral made a city, what makes it in Victoria '
Tic Local (iovernment Act requires that a borough shall not exceed in area six square
miles, that no point in such area shall be more than six miles distant from any other,
and that there shall be not less than 300 inhabitant householders. All towns and
,-ities are boroughs, distinguished from other boroughs by the amount of gross municipal
revenue in the year preceding the declaration of them as such by the Governor in
Council. A gross revenue of £10,000 makes a town, one of £20,000 a city.
The live cities are South Melbourne, or Emerald Hill (population, 32,500), l'rah-
ran (^7,000), Richmond (26,503), Collingwood (25,500), and Fitzroy (23,500). Many
an ancient and historic city in England has a smaller population than any of these.
Eotham, with a population of a little under 20,000, is the solitary "town." And the
eleven suburban boroughs, in order of population, are St. Kilda, Williamstown, Port
Melbourne, or Sandridge, Brunswick, Hawthorn, Footscray, Kew, Brighton, Essendon,
Fleming-ton, with Kensington, whilst the latest declared is Northcote. Each of these has
a mayor and corporation, with all the appurtenances of municipal government. Upon
public occasions, as at a Governor's levee, the furs of mayors and aldermen are verj
conspicuous. These, with the wigs of judges and barristers, give rise to the reflection
that tic English are a very conservative race, or in a new country they would have
devised new emblems. The tall black hat is still our badge of respectability, whilst
furs and wifiTS have often to be worn in a summer heat which makes them quite
intolerable. Another visible sign of municipal government is the large number of
handsome town-halls, useful for public meetings, concerts, and balls, though dancers
naturally object to a floor lately trodden by the ordinary working boot With these
town-halls are combined the municipal offices and council chambers. The neigh-
bourhood of Melbourne reminds one of Belgium for the pride which is taken in the
externals of municipal government.
We have already noticed the way in which towns expand into suburbs. Business
ami domestic life are nowadays quite distinct. This separation was common with the
merchanl before it was tine of the tradesman, but now it is pretty general with all
classes. The barrister lives away from his chambers, the solicitor from his office, ami
even in some cases the doctor from his consulting rooms. Melbourne is singularly well
supplied witli residential suburbs. Railway lines go out in different directions, and
along all these lines there run many full up-trains in the i -nine and down-trains in
the later part of the afternoon There are no fewer than fifty suburban railway stat
and some fifteen more which lie a little beyond the radius that can be fairl\ called
suburban. As far as Richmond m\ lines abreast (/.-.. three up ami three down) have
64
CASSELLS PICTl-RKSyn-: AUSTRALASIA.
[Greater
been laid, and at certain periods in the day, though trains run every ten minutes,
every train is crowded
I '..^ides the trains, locomotion is assisted by omnibuses, trams, and cabs. In former
THE "BIGHT HOTJBS A DAY PROCESSION PASSING THE TOWN HALL.
davs tlic Melbourne cab was a kind of Irish ear, popularly known as a "jingle." Most
of the cab-drivers are still Irish, but the jingle has been ousted by the one-horse
waggonette, holding six persons. These can either be hired separately or used in
common as a kind of small omnibus. To many of the suburbs there is a line of
waggonettes running at regular intervals, each passenger paying only threepence. In the
AlELUUUBXE.]
.MEANS OF LOCOMOTION'.
65
THE LAKK 11V MOONLIGHT.
chief streets there arc stands of conifortahle hansoms. Stands of drays and Eurniture-
waggons also are to be found. That Melbourne omnibuses do a good business is shown
by tin; high price thai shares in the Company fetch. The ordinary omnibus is in many
cases being replaced by tram-cars. These are pulled by a continuous rope. Under-
ground, between the tram-lines, is a cylinder in which a strong steel rope works.
Near the middle of cadi line there is an engine-house, the steam machinery in
which causes the rope to colli iu uously revolve. Kadi passenger car is preceded bj
what, is called a dummy, iii which there is a gripping apparatus. When this has
hold of tlie rope underneath, the car goes forward, at the same pace up-hill and
down-hill. As the rope is let go, a break is put on. and tin' car stops. Since the
break is very powerful, a car can he stopped in a very lew feet The gravest risk
of accident is that when two cars are passing each other otic may he hidden behind
the other. A warning hell is. therefore, frequent!} employed, ami at night verj
brilliant lights also.
66 CASSELL'S PICTUBESQOX AISTRALASIA. [Greater
The different suburbs have characters of their own. The working-men are most at
home in Collingw 1. Prahran, and Hotham. In certain streets in those places the
cheapest shops arc situated In Collingwood the inhabitants are most crowded together,
and some of the streets are as narrow as in an old English town. Prahran has in
the last few years made greal strides. Large spaces which had not a house are now
covered Many of the houses are small; but at the eastern end, at Eawksburn and
Armadale, there arc more of the kind described by auctioneers as desirable villa resi-
dences. Even the small houses of an Australian town do not in their variety look so
mean as the rows of small houses in such towns as Sunderland or Hartlepool, or as
the acres upon acres of monotonous rows that occupy the east and south-east of
London. The houses of the Melbourne working-men have some little individuality :
and though the extensive use of corrugated iron is not a picturesque feature of them,
the verandas e-ive a character lacking in the London houses. It is at once noted
that a great mam' are built of wood, which is a clean material when new, but implies
that long life is not intended for the house. Fires are frequent, and in the chief
suburbs there are watch-towers erected, where a bell is rung the moment that a fire
is seen ; and devices are used in ringing the bell to denote the quarter in which
the fire has been seen. Wood has the great advantage of cooling quickly. When
a hot wind blows, as it sometimes does for three days, a stone or brick house is
at first a great protection, but in the end it is an oven, and remains one for long
alter the wind has changed A wooden house becomes quickly hot, but cools as
evening comes on ; and to be cool at night is of course a great boon. Hotham is
a large working-men's suburb on the north-west of Melbourne. The Benevolent Asylum
is partly in Hotham and partly in the city. Carlton and Fitzroy may be described
as middle-class or bourgeois suburbs. Emerald Hill and Richmond might fall under
the head either of middle-class or working-class cities. Between Emerald Hill and
the St. Hilda Road is a large tract of low-lying land, on which Canvas Town used
to stand. When the gold rush took place, enormous crowds came from all parts of
the world to Melbourne. There were not sufficient houses to accommodate the new
arrivals. Canvas Town, as its name implies, was a collection of tents, and many a
one of the new-comers was sdad enough to secure a tent, and sfround on which to
pitch it. The ground on which Canvas Town stood more than thirty years later was
not occupied with houses, because the situation is so low that it is sometimes flooded
by the Varra. But it is hoped that Sir John Coode's improvements will prevent
floods in the future. At the south side of Emerald Hill stands the Albert Park. This
has a lagoon, partly natural, partly artificial, which gives opportunities for sailing and
rowing. Un certain days in the summer a fashionable gathering of carriages and riders
assembles in the Albert Park, and resales itself with the music of a band. Some have
tried to ,<, r ive to this assemblage the name of Rotten Row, but the name is exotic,
and it is a question whether the institution will take root.
Carlton is a large suburb in the north of Melbourne. Part of it is becoming the
smokiest of all quarters of Melbourne. There are huge factory chimneys which do not
by any means consume their own smoke. Fortunately, they are rather intermittent in
mklikwrne.] the "Zoo." 67
their action, but at times they send forth into the air volumes of smoke which threaten,
unless legislation intervene, a reproduction of the English " black country." Here dweU
the workers in iron, and here are certain very huge mills, and there is a monster
brewery, the proprietor of which is a public benefactor, who has set up a large town
cluck. Melbourne is becoming smoky, and sometimes the atmosphere, if the whole
truth must be teld, is positively murky. But let us add that it is only open to
that grave accusation on exceptional occasions, for we should hardly like our English
readers to think that we always, or even often, live in such an atmosphere as that.
As a rule, Melbourne skies can be compared, for clearness, to Italian, but this
character will not long be preserved unless something be soon done in the way of
smoke prevention.
Carlton is a suburb that includes many institutions within its bound. Of these
the largest is the Exhibition Building, in which the successful Victorian Exhibition of
1880 and 1881 was held. It occupies the middle of the large Carlton Gardens. The
greater part of the building then erected was permanent, though for the Exhibition there
were extensive annexes of a temporary nature. In the interval between exhibitions the
great hall is used for various purposes— for monster bazaars, for dog and poultry shows,
for very large meetings. Part of it has been used as a Government printing office, the
former office having been burnt down, and part has been fitted up as an aquarium.
In Carlton also the visitor will find the Cemetery, the University, and the Women's
Hospital The Cemetery is like unto most large town cemeteries, carefully portioned out
amongst religious denominations, so that those who have been divided in life may lie
divided also in death. Beyond the University and its affiliated colleges, on the north-
west of Melbourne, is the loyal Park, standing high and healthy. A portion of it has
been set apart as the ground of the Acclimatisation Society, generally known as " the
Zoo." The collection of animals to be seen here is well worth a visit. It is, of course,
especially strong in native specimens. Most of the creatures have plenty of space.
Kangaroos and wallaby may be seen in a paddock, and rabbits are not kept in hutches,
nor rats in cages. Wild animals, however, are still housed in dens that must be to
them inconveniently small. As London and Paris have been surpassed in the space
given to many animals, it may be hoped that the lions and tigers will he granted
spare as large as they have in London, and perhaps a return compliment might be
paid to our friends the kangaroos. Those in the Gardens in Regent's Park are so
miserably cramped that they are much to he pitied.
Amongst Other suburbs of a different character, Hawthorn and Kew may he mentioned
as very pleasant residential suburbs, rich in villas and gardens. In Kew two lunatic
asylums are situated, one called alter the suhiirh. and the other Yarra Bend In popular
conversation the latter, perhaps from its peculiar name, lakes the place occupied in
England by Colney Hatch or Hanwell— "a joke worthy of yarra Bend," 'conduct of
which no one would l>e guilty, except an inmate of Yarra Bend." Of the two asylums,
ono is a barrack, anil the other is divided mi the cottage system.
The suburb with the most magnificent mansions is Toorak. which is largely affected
by wealthy squatters, especially successful Scotchmen. The question is often asked why
68
CASSELL'S PICTUBESQUE AUSTRALASIA.
[GilEATEU
Australia does not devise an architecture suited to its mvn wants. Perhaps some day
it will, and in sneh aivhiteeture of tlie future the verandah and the balcony will be
found to play a prominent part. An outward sign of wealth can be seen in the two
spires that ornament Toorak Hill. The place is still embosomed in trees that stand
THE PIEU AND ESPLANADE,
round the big houses. The native name certainly has a somewhat uncouth sound, and
the wife of a Presbyterian minister coming here from Scotland created some amusement
by deploring that her husband was being "sent to a place called Toorak," when really
the lines had fallen to them in about the pleasantest place in the colony. South Yarra,
which has no independent municipal existence, has upon high authority been described
as the place of residence of " curled darlings." Lying just beyond the precincts of
Melbourne.]
BRIGHTOX.
69
Government House, this suburb may be thought to gain some reflected glory from
proximity to vice-royalty. St. Hilda is a favourite seaside place within easy reach of
Melbourne, is provided with large hotels, and is proud of its baths, pier, and esplanade.
The young Australian,
it is well known, is not
easily abashed, and a
story is told of one on
a visit to England who>
being shown Brighton,
with its four consecutive
miles of substantia]
houses, only remarked
to his host, " You shouli
see St Hilda." St. Hilda
is within a very short
distance of Melbourne,
and its pier is a
favourite resort on
Sundays, its baths
on any hot day in
summer.
Brighton lies
further off, and is
generally a quiet
pli , covering a
large area, but with
houses somewhat
sparsely scattered
over it. A man
might still move
out from a crowded
suburb to Brighton to enjoj "three acres and a cow." No less than five suburban
railway stations use the name of Brighton surely a mark of poverty oi invention.
The parts of the Brighton district that lie furthest away from the sea are much
affected by market gardeners, whose carts move marketwards in the night, especially
of Fridays, returning laden with stable manure on Saturday afternoons. I'm the
PORTS OF U
70 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Greater
tii i 10 to see Brighton is on a public holiday, when it is the favourite place of popular
resort The beach thronged with holiday-makers is a subject for an artist like Frith.
The Chinaman in the foreground of the accompanying view is an Australian speciality;
otherwise the scene might well be laid at some English watering-place. By-the-bye,
the term " watering-place " is not generally used in this sense in the colony, but liter-
ally for a place where horses arc taken to drink. A thoughtful boy once asked his
master whether horses in England drank salt water, because he found in his geography
that the watering-places were at the seaside.
On public holidays the trains are crowded in a way that, to an Englishman brings
back reminiscences of the Handel Festival at the Crystal Palace. He would be a churl
indeed who objected to five additional persons standing in a railway compartment that
has its usual complement of ten. It is often said that in Australia there are more public
holidays than in England, and that when opportunities offer of holiday-making they
are not neglected. Perhaps it is the sunnier climate, perhaps the higher average of
prosperity, but loyalty gives two genuine holidays in Melbourne, where in England one
only is observed, and that partially. Australians celebrate not only the Queen's birthday,
but also that of the Prince of Wales. Many Englishmen do not even know when the
Prince of Wales's birthday falls, but no Australian is ignorant of the date. The Lord
Mayor's Show falls in London's foggiest month, but "the ninth" is in our bonny spring.
( Ihurch festivals are respected by many who pay attention to no other ordinance of the
Church. Christmas ;uid New Year fall at a time of year when the weather is usually
fine, tempting men out of doors. Up country, a race meeting is an excuse for the pro-
clamation of a local holiday, and on the occasion of the Melbourne Cup all the shops,
and most of the schools in Melbourne, are closed. Fancy an English school with a
holiday for Derby Day ! Here the practice is defended on the ground that discipline
is sure to be broken by parents talcing some of the children with them ; and parents
who think races dangerous have holidays themselves, and take their children else-
where to avoid contamination. It should be added that in our holiday crowds there is
a good deal of noise and merriment, but that few of the pleasure-seekers are seen under
the influence of alcohol.
Tne most horsey part of the neighbourhood of Melbourne is Flemington, where is
the meat racecourse, that has been so often favourably compared with the English
racecourses. Trainers and training stables are not far off. Of late years a second racing
colony has appeared at the other side of Melbourne, near the racecourse at Caultield.
To a non-racing man it seems as if every week there were some races or other at no
great distance from Melbourne. Almost every Saturday little boys in the streets solicit
him to buy "correct cards."
At Klemington great attention is paid to the comfort of visitors. A magnificent
grand stand has been erected, capable of holding 15,000 spectators, and in front of it a
large and prettily-arranged lawn The great day in the year is the Melbourne Cup, a
race which does not depend on any ecclesiastical festival, but is generally run on the
first Tuesday in November. Visitors come from all parts of the colonies, from Queens-
land, New Zealand, Western Australia ; and many go to the races on that day who
Melbourne.) THE PORTS OF MELBOURNE. 71
never attend a racecourse on any other day in the year. Ignorant even of the horses'
names, some go to meet friends, or to see the spectators. The ladies' dresses are observed
quite as much as the races, and many ladies spend fabulous sums on the toilets that
are there closely inspected. Mr. Worth, of Paris, is believed to know the importance of
the Melbourne Cup. In the year 1885 it was estimated that 123,000 persons were
present. The Racing Club gives away annually no less a sum than £19,000 ; and since
the establishment of the Club a total of £217,900 has through its agency been
distributed.
It would be absurd to describe either Sandridge or Williamstown as simply a
suburb of Melbourne, yet both are very important adjuncts to the city. They are the
ports of Melbourne, though it must be remembered that Melbourne is itself a port. It
lias been already stated that the advice of the distinguished engineer. Sir John Coode,
has been obtained by the Melbourne Harbour Trust; and that when all his improve-
ments have been carried out, the passage up the Yarra will be made easier, and open
to larger vessels. These at present stay at Williamstown or .Sandridge, the large
steamers, as a rule, at the former place, and the large sailing-vessels at the latter.
The large ocean steamers belonging to the Peninsular and Oriental Company, those
of the Orient line, and the French Messagerie steamers, all of which cany mails, now
eome alongside the Williamstown Pier. When one of the mail steamers is departing,
especially if it carries away some very popular citizen, the pier is even dangerously
crowded, and the whole scene singularly animated. Not a few tears have been shed on
Williamstown Pier ; and it has been the place of not a few joyous meetings. When a popu-
lar sailing ship departs, it is generally drawn oft' into the open roadstead of Hobson's bay.
and those who wish to see their friends off go to and fro in a small steamer. A charge
of a florin damps the enthusiasm, and diminishes, if it does not altogether prevent,
overcrowding. And if the departing guest be very popular, with a reputation for horses
or dogs, or is son,,' " potent voice of Parliament." a special tug or steamer will be hired by
lib friends. Ami if he be of Scotch extraction, the bagpipes will be requisitioned for
flic occasion, to the discomfiture of mere Saxons. Sandridge is nearer Melbourne, but
Williamstown has the advantage of its rival in the possession of a large dry dock, into
which so large a ship as H.M.S. Nelson can pass, and there be thoroughly overhauled
Not only Williamstown, but all Melbourne, may lie proud of tliis dry dock Its proper
title is the Alfred Graving Dock It is the first sight that, on arrival, many a visitor is
taken to see. On a Sunday a great crowd always gathers at both the ports. Sight-
seers now claim it as a right to be allowed to ■_•• over the ships and steamers that lie
alongside the piers. The result is that they swarm over them, sometimes not quietly, nor
without mischief Sunday is by no means a popular day with captains and officers
in port.
At Williamstown there is to I.,- seen a little white tower, formerlj a lighthouse,
and now used chiefly to mark the time by the descent of a ball when the hour of
noon is telegraphed from the Melbourne Observatory.
Probablj most visitors reach Melbourne ly one of the mail steamers, and therefore
approach by way of Williamstown, and thence by rail. Unfortunately, the railway
7:2 UASSBLL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Greater Melbourne.
journey from Williamstown is tedious, because the line has to skirt round the north of
Eobson's Bay, and through country bo dull and uninteresting that the visitor is to be
congratulated who makes his first acquaintance with it after dark. The must thriving
suburbs through which the line runs are Yarraville and Footscray. Though not amongst
the most fashionable, they arc yel very prosperous places. The former name is an
unsatisfactory compound of French with the aboriginal language, and permits the
inhabitants to pass under the unfortunate soubriquet of " Yarravillains."
The names of the suburbs can be grouped under four heads — native names, names
of places elsewhere, names of people, and fancy nanus. Of these, the first are the best
and must distinctive, but there are, unfortunately, very few of them — Prahran, Toorak,
ami South Varra. The first of these used to be accented on the first syllable; the accent
now always falls on the last. Some say the waggonette drivers hailing for passengers
altered the pronunciation, rinding the name easier to pronounce with the accent on the
second syllable. The names of places elsewhere are the least satisfactory, for they invite
comparison, or at least introduce associations, and seem generally due to poverty oi
invention on the part of the namer. Such English names ;i s Windsor and Kew make
a new arrival look out for the castle or the famous gardens. Brighton, Malvern, and
Richmond suggest comparisons which cannot be sustained. Sometimes we have foreign
towns like Coburg and Brunswick. Balaclava is one of a batch of Crimean names that
mark the date of the laying out of the suburb; others, applied to roads and streets,
are Alma, Inkerman, and Redan. Balaclava has been promoted from a road to a
district. Amongst the fanciful names are Hawthorn, (called after the bush, and not
after the American novelist), Hawksburn, Armadale, and St. Kilda. There is good
authority for saying that the last of these was named after a yacht, The Lady of St.
Kilda, the property of Sir Thomas Acland, and not directly after the seldom-visited
island that lies beyond the Western Hebrides.
Two suburbs with fanciful, but distinctive designations, Emerald Hill and Sandridge,
have lately thought it worth while to shed their names, and ring confusing changes on
the name of Melbourne. It rnay be quite true that the former was no longer on a
green hill, just as Newcastle dates from the time of William Rufus. But " South Mel-
bourne," the new style and title of Emerald Hill, sounds like a denial of the separate
existence of the suburb. Port Melbourne, the new name for Sandridge, seems to sug-
gest that when the weary traveller to Melbourne has reached the pier he has reached
his goal, which is not quite the case.
Williamstown is evidently named from Queen Victoria's predecessor. Hotham and
Fitzroy are called after Governors of the colony : Northcote, after Sir Stafford Northcote,
the late Lord Iddesleigh. One of the most populous of the suburban cities has honoured
itself by assuming the name of a great English sailor. The name of Nelson is used fre-
quently in these colonies, and so is that of Wellington; they stand for towns and
provinces in New Zealand, and for legislative provinces in Victoria. Wellington is a
mountain in Tasmania, as well as a small town in New South Wales.
Nelson's companion in arms is held in memory in the city of Collingwood ; and as
this worthy's memory seems to be growing somewhat dim with this later generation, it
75
LITTLE BOURKE STREET.
Among the Chinese at Midnight — Lotteries — Chinese Shops — A Typical Cookshop — " The Grand Secret " — A
Gambling Hell — A Barber at Work — "Nance" going Home — Opium Dens — Taking a ''Pull" — Vice in a
Veil — Pandemonium — Philosophy under Difficulties — A Devoted Housebreaker.
ITTLE BOURKE STREET is a world apart from the city
of Melbourne, and the race which occupies its
crowded courts seems to have no connection with
the other people who by day or night promenade
along the pavements of Bourke Street proper.
Few Victorians who look with just pride upon
the vast, clean-kept streets and lofty buildings of
their monster city know or dream of the life so
far removed from all their ideals of home com-
fort which is seething quietly a few feet from
where they are walking and laughing in happy
ignorance. Bet me begin by lifting a single
comer of the veil which nicely covers up all,
and show a scene or two from the Chinese quarter.
With two detectives as our guides, for no sane man would think of venturing into
those quarters alone, particularly at night, we did the round, and as might be expected
under the circumstances, saw everything couleur de ruse. Our visit had evidently been
expected Men talk of the advances of civilisation, of telephones, and the like, but the
rapidity with which news can circulate through thieves' quarters surpasses all the
inventions of modern science. We began our walk at 9 p.m.. having made our arrange-
ments with the courteous head of the police about rive hours before; but we had not
advanced ten yards into the streel before a woman hailed one of the guides with the
cheerful words, "They all know you are coming down to-night with two gentlemen, so
you won't see iiiu.'h fun." Possibly we had been seen and watched coming from the
dete, -tive station, and so the password had travelled to and through the whole district
First we visited the shops where lottery tickets are' sold to the Chinese. The
law prohibits any being sold to Europeans, therefore we had no chance of testing
Dame Fortune, but the system was thoroughly explained by our friends, and the Lottery
vendors were "child-like and bhmd." most politely allowing us to see and handle every-
thing, regarding us the while with thai placid air and gentle smile SO characteristic of
the Celestials. The mysteries of the lottery ticket systems are too intricate to enter
upon tew, but everything seemed fair and above board Regret would cross the mind
that we were not permitted to purchase a few -a regret which was somewhat diminished
when we heard so much of the losses, and so little of the gains, of this very open-
handed game of Chinese lottery. It seems a strange combination, but all the Chinese
gamble, and all smoke opium, yet they are industrious and cleanly, rising early and
76 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Lima
working late, and on Saturdays their week's savings go to the Lottery Hank or the
Kan-Taii Some people deny the cleanliness, but writing from personal experiences of the
Melbourne Chinese, I boldly affirm that cleanly they are.
Some of these Chinese shops are delicious in colour and picturesqueness — lanterns
swinging about, throwing down soft light on the assembled figures; jars and grotesque
china monsters standing on the shelves ; bills, boxes, and packages : vermilion labelled
with (piaint Chinese characters; rice books set before the markers, who were dotting
off tickets with their vermilion or black paint pots and pointed poonah-brushes.
Groups of forbidding-looking Europeans, or rather a conglomeration of nationalities,
half-castes and white men, were lounging about, casting scowling, yet timid, hangdog
glances on the intruders, muttering sounds like maledictions, yel nol plain enough
to be resented. Above the counter-top stood an altar-piece with its hideous god,
or rather complex symbol of Nature, and before it the daily ottering, a cup of tea,
which no European is allowed to touch. All was cleanly and sweet-smelling, except
when the filthy European mongrels chewed tobacco and spat about the floor. The shop-
keepers and their friends, open-faced and placid, wore a cpiiet and unobtrusive air.
whether clad in their own blue nankeens, or in English fashion, showing a neatness of
attire very different from the Europeans around. We prefer to see them in the costume
of their own country : like a cooked tomato, a Chinaman a VAnglaise is a Chinaman spoilt.
From the lottery ticket-shop, with its jacket-loafers, we next enter the cookshops,
and watch the dough being rolled into long, thin ribbons, and afterwards chopped
up into squares so exactly correct in size that it seems a marvel how such skill can be
acquired One man made the dough on a flat table, and rolled it out by the yard about
an inch wide, another cut it into little squares, while a third filled each square with
pork and folded it up into rolls. This is next put into a pot by the cook and made
into delicious soup; long soup they called it. Up aloft are berths like ship-bunks.
the sleeping quarters of the Chinese, and inside are the dining-rooms. It is wonderful
what a limited space can hold these people. In a room about twelve feet square a
dozen Chinamen can exist comfortably. We went into one house, a hovel from the
outside, with little windows like pigeon-holes, yet inside clean and comfortable. It was
one o'clock on Good Friday morning, and these were decent, hard-working fellows, at
least, Chinese who had never been convicted. One lay in a bed like a shelf, tired, as
the other Chinamen observed, while our informant was just beginning to hang his
line across the five-feet general apartment preparatory to doing his daily washing; and
above him, reaching to a little loft, were placed rows of shelves, the couches of Chinamen
not yet home. The detectives told me that these were good specimens, and that this
one now awake would be up by daybreak and away on his rounds with his pack — he is
a licensed bawdier — that from early morning of the day before till late at night he
had been tramping over miles of ground, and from late at night till this hour had
been summing up his day's expenses and gains, and sorting his merchandise against the
morrow; thai he would do his washing before going to bed, and perhaps scrub out his
cabin; and all this from Monday till Saturday, week after week, and year after year.
"lint how can they stand the strain and want of sleep?"
Bourke Street j
A COOK-HOUSE.
77
" Opium, that's the grand secret. Of course they don't last long, and don't want to."
The kitchen of the cook-house was a rare treat for us, and the cook an object nut
to be easily forgotten. On one stove pots were bubbling away, some tilled with water,
others with long and short soup, l'cside the oven stood the cook, shrivelled and lean,
\ r y pn \ i
with parchment visage and lank pigtail. On another side st 1 an immense 1 toiler, and
near by bung the carcass of a pig very carefully scraped, and entire. Chinamen are
splendid customers to the butchers, bul the} must have their pigs killed and dressed in
their own way. Le„ with the head, and all complete and undamaged. On the ground
was placed a low iron stove with tea, a free gift to any one coming in, and always
ready delicious tea, taken without sugar or milk, and always fresh drawn, without
78 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Uttlb
much colour. Two or three Chinese sat on the ground squatting and sucking their
opium pipes.
"By whom arc these shops mostly patronised?"
"Thieves, garrotters, housebreakers, pickpockets, and women of all sorts, most of
them being addicted to the habit."
" What habit '."
"Opium; but you'll sec presently."
As we passed out of the shop we saw in one little den a Celestial regaling himself
on the lone' soup : it was boiling hot, yet he supped it up without pausing. Further
down the passages we gained a glimpse of another room where two genteel-looking, well-
dressed young ladies sat eating a plate of cut chicken. They nodded to the detective
as we passed, and he remarked laconically, "Clever girls, these, both thieves." The
outside shop was crammed with quaint jars, ornamental vases, bottles of sauce and
pickles ; and on the ground, counters, and low shelves, were splendid vegetables —
cabbages, leeks, parsnips, potatoes, &c, of such development as we could find in no
other place than a Chinese vegetable shop.
Our next visit was to the Fan-Tan shop, where heavy stakes are laid and lost, or
won. Here a large crowd was assembled, mostly Chinese, with a Blight sprinkling of
the wolf and jackal species of white men, and a few darkies. The excitement was great.
We stood in the shadow watching the faces and backs of the players. The light above
the coin-covered table was bright, and streamed upon the yellow heads of the banker
and his colleagues, with their coiled-up black plaits, on the shining, evil faces of the
gamblers, on the gold, silver, and copper coins, and strings of leaden counters before the
hanker ; the wall was bare and whitewashed, and the ceiling was destitute of ornament,
and by no means clean. Between us and the bright gaslights most expressive backs
could be seen in shadow relief.
Passing through the lobby into the street, we came upon the barber waiting at this
early hour on customers, and as we repassed the window outside in the dark lane we
saw the barber standing, and his customer sitting, with a luminous glow of colour, framed
by the blackness of that little window-sash. The barber stood behind the chair plaintively
unplaiting the tail, and laying on one side the horsehair additions, while the customer
sat with drooping, melancholy head, the coloured lantern above his head, and on the
wall gay-coloured Chinese designs on screens. Although it was early morning, there
seemed no signs of shutting up.
Into alleys where no one could dream of finding a passage we stumbled, every
little hole and corner laden with its own burden of depravity and crime. Here, in a
dark cornel-, with fearful-looking, tumble-down sheds on three sides of the yard, and
the damps and chills of foulness underground, one of my guides had lain a whole
night watching for some daring burglars, and had been rewarded by catching them.
Lighting a match, he pointed out to me strange dens and hiding-places. In one an old
sack and some straw flung in a corner on the bare floor told us that the birds had
not yet forsaken their vile nest. In another alley the policeman showed us where he
had recovered a large " plant " of jewellery. In capturing the Chinese receiver he
&
Bourke Street.) OPIUM DENS. 79
had nearly been killed by a blow on the head with a cleaver. As we were standing
listening a figure slid softly past, yet not too softly to evade the sharp ears of the
detective, who called out the name, and received in reply, " Good night." Shifting a
loose paling aside, our guide crushed through; we followed, and lo, another land lay
revealed. It was no longer Little Bourke Street, but a vast territory of horrible dens
of infamy. What we saw was vile enough, but yet innocence itself to what we could
not see, as our visit had been notified, and the inmates were mostly out, or if in,
hiding and pretending to be out. Most of these dens had Chinese characters upon
the lintels ; and as we went on we passed shambling, indistinct figures, who kept to
the shadow side of the wall, and tried to move past unseen, yet all had to announce
some errand to the vigilant policeman. The graceful outline of a well-dressed girl
brushed me in passing, and she tendered her excuse for coming against me in a
soft tone and educated accent. " Going home, Nance ? " inquired the detective. " Yes,
sir," sweetly returned the young girl, and became lost in the obscurity. " That girl
is a perfect slave to the opium-habit," I was informed by my guides.
Presently we came to another wooden building, on its last legs, or, rather, piles. It
slanted down sideways amidst the mud, and rags filled up the holes of windows, while
the thin morning breeze flapped some loose boards with a dismal sound. A loud
knock against the door, to which no reply was given; then a rough shove, and the
door yielded, and we entered an apartment pitch-dark.
"Take care of your feet," muttered our guides, "and walk softly." We groped our
way along until a turn revealed to us a low light burning in a far-off room, like a
candle in a fog, while the pungent odour of opium-smoke filled our nostrils with its
rather pleasant perfume. On we went, and presently entered quickly upon the scene
where the habit was being indulged. Here we saw a hideous, yellow-visaged, shrunken-
eyed Chinaman, and a young woman about twenty, neatly dressed and comely, while
between them stood a tiny oil-lamp, the light of which had shown us the way in,
and near the lamp a little saucer with a dark, treacly substance at the bottom. She
held the long opium-pipe to her lips, and waited; he slowly extracted a small quantity
of the glutinous liquor from the saucer on the point of a needle, and, rolling it round
like a pea, held it over the lamp-flame. He rolled it round and round until it frizzled,
swelled, and then became reduced in size, so as to lit into the tiny aperture of the pipe
which the woman held glued to her lipa As he pushed it in, and held the tilled
pipe over the flame, the girl inhaled one long, sucking breath, which she swallowed.
and then it. was all over -to begin again alter we left, pipe alter pipe — one long suck
to cadi elaborately-prepared pipe.
We went into other dens. In some we saw Englishmen indulging in the pernicious
habit : in others young females, with sweet, pure looking faces and gentle manners, who
would have deceived me as to their vocation ii seen elsewhere Yel others there were
in which Chinese alone congregated, to prepare and smoke their evil pipes; and these
dens were invariably clean. In one I tried lour pipes; hut evidently I had not done
the business right, for I felt none ot the delightful sensations which I >e Quincej so
vividly describes. I only rose with a dry, nasty taste in my month, feeling nothing
80 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA [Little
more than I felt before; and the taste was only in a measure removed by a visit to
the cookshop, and a plate of Long soup, with the native sauce added to it, followed
by a saucer of cut chicken. The Chinese, it should be mentioned, cut their chickens
in! i square pieces, bones and all, and roast them perfectly, but do not indulge in
stuffing. This feast, cost us the sum of sixpence per head.
In one English house which we entered — tilled to the door with harsh-voiced women
and coarse-looking men — I seemed to recognise for the first time the noisy vice of
London slums. In all the other places we had seen refinement and gentleness —
the gentleness of demons — an air of courtesy and education which appalled me more
than the worst language of Billingsgate. We are accustomed to associate vice with
curses and blasphemy; but it seemed more hideous and revolting when accompanied
l>\ -vntle tone's and educated language. Victoria swarms with State schools and free
education, and yet villainy is not stamped out, but rather intensified, by the power
which books have given. There were no brutal ruffians in the dens I saw, with the
exception of this one house. I heard no vulgar jests or blood-curdling oaths. Those
of English race spoke gently, as the Chinese did, and in set phrases, the men looking
like world-worn gentlemen, while the women spoke like blase ladies, with modest attire
and girlish figures; only here and there in the lanes might be seen a recognisable
blackguard, smoking coarse tobacco, or a bloated, unmistakable night-bird; and these
were merely the prowlers of the dark outside. Inside, refinement and villainy blent
too readily not to be suggestive of a poetic ideal of the damned.
Hut in this one dark-covered house were assembled larrikins and females with coars6
features and corresponding figures. Here were arms tattooed, scowling faces, unkempt
locks. We were prepared at a glance for anything, from the garrotter down to the
kinchin-layer, and left with the feeling that all the surroundings were in accordance
with the proper fitness of natural laws outraged. This was ordinary vice, and about
it we thought no more. Does not the poet say
" Viee is a monster of so frightful mien,
As, to be hated, needs but to be seen"?
And this was a case in point. But the Chinese lepers of morality gave us more concern.
We could not but wish Little Bourke Street demolished and the plague-spot wiped
out altogether, warehouses built in the dilapidated quarter, crime crushed and the
vermin driven out.
How calmly and philosophically these Chinese bear losses and gains ! In one
house, called a lodging-house, we found the keeper, a splendidly-developed animal of a
Chinaman. We were told that he had broken the banks several times, and only last
week had lost at Fan-Tan over £2,000, his whole filthy earnings. He showed us over
his premises, kept and cleaned by him alone, and looking like a man-of-war for order
and neatness, with one narrow stair like an upright ladder. Men could be pitched
down, and their necks broken very easily. He was proud of his establishment, and showed
no regret over his losses. " As well spend it that way as any other : a man cannot take
it with him when he leaves this world." Thus the creed of Confucius consoled him, and
BoDBKE STREET.]
A SAD SCENE.
M
Vb^-^-^^
rendered him happy and con-
tented even in poverty and utter
vice.
It was growing very near day-
light, and we were utterly tired out,
and disgusted to the heart's core with
our eight hours' experiences, lit the
last house thai we visited, we saw on
one bed of the opium den three young
colonials Lying making up their own
pills, and languidly sucking at the
pipe-stems one after another. Here
also we saw a Chinaman anil a loveh
girl el' ahoul sixteen years, while her
companion, also aboul the same age,
with a bundle of purchases at her
side, was sitting down. Behind the
door on a chair, in halt' shadow, sat a
6
82 CASSl'.I.I.s PICTURESQUE AISTRALASIA. [Little
most lady-like woman of about twenty-five. As our eyes grew accustomed to the dim
light, we saw a blear-eyed old hag with a face wrinkled and marked like a parchment
record of iniquity, and, most pathetic sight of all. a young man tenderly nursing a
baby.
"Ha! Tom. lad. is the youngster any better?" inquired one of the detectives.
- Not much, sir," quietly replied the young man. " Vet sine : Nelly came out he
has been easier with his cough."
-So y<>n are there, Null.'" asked the detective, looking at the woman behind the
door.
" Yos, sir."
" Nine girl, isn't she, gentlemen," lie continued, waving his hand carelessly, with the
air of the proprietor of a wild beast show, "and the smartest pickpocket in Melbourne,
ay, or the world either, for that part, as I think we can nearly heat Creation in the way
of (he under professions."
- Yes, 1 think I have seen more of real blackguardism to-night than in my previous
lilt's experience, and I have seen a few places pretty had.''
The woman sat with her hands folded on her knees, and gently smiled, while the
three young colonials made a motion as if to rise.
" Don'1 stir, gentlemen, we are going in a moment."
The three young men sank back languidly on the bed, and prepared another
opium puff.
"Where is the pleasure in this?" I asked one of the pleasantest faced, as he lay
hack looking passively at me with half-closed eyelids.
"Well, you see, when a working man like myself" — he certainly did not appear like
a hard worker — " comes home of a night too tired to eat or sleep, we come here and
take a pipe or two, and feel as if we could go fresh to work once again without needing
either to sleep or to eat. You have read De Quineey, haven't you'"
" Yes," I replied, feeling a sudden interest in this opium victim.
" Well, ho tells you all about it."
"But are you all working men?"
" I ertainly," replied the other two young fellows, who had not spoken before.
" None of your lies!" harshly broke in one of the detectives, with a sudden scowl;
and at his voice the young man seemed to shrivel up. "I'll tell you what they are.
That fellow you have been speaking to is not two days out of gaol for a case of
burglary and violence. The other two were in the same haul, only we hadn't evidence
enough to convict them. Better luck next time. This young man is a sort of all-
round man, although I know his tricks best in shoplifting. He is the friend of Nelly
over there, and the baby he is nursing is hers, before she took up "with him."
" And the ethers '"
" < >ld Mother .Murphy, with crimes enough to sink a frigate, past all use event
Opium-SUcking now: and these two on the bed — well, they are called ladies by day,
and keep a villa in one of the fashionable outskirts of Melbourne ; only they cannot
exist without their pipe, and come here under cover of the night to enjoy it quietly."
Lord Melbourne.]
THE FIRST LORD.
85
Sir Peniston Lamb had two country seats, Brocket Hall, near Hertford, afterwards
famous as the seat of Lord Palmerston, and one in Derbyshire, near a village which,
fortunately for us, bears the melodious name of Melbourne. His first title was Lord
Melbourne of Melbourne, in Ireland, whereas, we believe, there is no place called Melbourne
in Ireland ; but sometimes, when an Englishman was rewarded with an Irish peerage,
it was the practice for him to take bis title from some place in England, representing
it as " in Ireland." This was in the days before the Union, and it was manifestly unfair
that a peerage should be given for services that had nothing to do with Ireland, with
l.nKl) MELBOURNE.
which country it seems that Lord Melbourne had no connection. It' the Irish peerage
roll had not been unfairly stuffed, it would not, perhaps, at the Union have born neces-
sary to resort to the expedient of representative peers,
lu 1815, the Waterloo year, Sir Peniston was made a peer of the United Kingdom,
Viscount Melbourne, of Melbourne, in the county of Derby. His son, William Lamb,
our Lord Melbourne, was educated at Eton, from which he passed to Trinity Coll
Cambridge. As the English Universities in those days made no provision for education
beyond classics and mathematics, he passed from Cambridge to Glasgow, in order to
study law and political science under an eminenl professor at that University.
In L805 he entered the Bouse of Commons, being elected for Leominster. He
86 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. CLo™
ranked himself amongst the Whigs under the leadership of Charles James Fox, a
brilliant phalanx but in a decided minority. One may almost say that during the whole
of George lll.'s reign, and until the passing of the Reform Bill, in L832, the Tories
in office. Now and thou, of course, there were short breaks. From Waterloo,
however, to the Reform Bill, the Whigs were growing in trength. Winn Lord Liverpool,
in L827, was struck with paralysis and compelled to resign, King George IV., after much
hesitation, and what with a loss exalti onage would be called "shilly-shallying,"
appointed .Mr. Canning Premier. Mr. Canning, clever, brilliant, witty, was little prepared
to join those who blindly resisted all change. Ho was therefore distasteful to high
Tories such as the Duke of Wellington, who held aloof from him, but, obtaining the
support of many Whigs, he formed a ministry from the moderate men. Mr. Lamb
joined him, accepting the office of Secretary for Ireland. Carrning was soon worn out
1>\ tin- labours, anxieties, and annoyances of office. Four months of it killed him. After
a short interval of government in the weak hands of Lord Goderich, in January, 1828,
the Duke of Wellington became Prime .Minister. During all these changes Mr. Lamb
remained in office, hut the Duke did not like the more Liberal or Canningite section
of his Cabinet, and quarrelled with them : and in May of that year Mr. Huskisson, Lord
Palmerston, and others resigned, amongst these others being Mr. Lamb, who soon after-
wards succeeded his father, and became Lord Melbourne.
The particular matter which caused a split in the Tory Cabinet was a question of
Parliamentary Reform. Two boroughs, convicted of corruption, having been condemned
to lose their representatives, Mr. Huskisson and the so-called Canningites voted that
the right of election should be transferred to Manchester. Indeed, the feeling for Par-
liamentary Reform was growing in the public mind. The Duke of Wellington, the Prime
Minister, said that the representation could not possibly be improved, and, as a result,
the Ministry was upset. The Canningites mostly joined Lord Grey, in whose adminis-
tration, formed in the autumn of that year, Viscount Melbourne was Home Secretary
and Lord Palmerston Secretary for Foreign Affairs. Mr. Huskisson was no more.
Two months previously he had attended the opening of the Manchester and Liverpool
Railway, the first passenger line opened in England Seeing the Duke of Wellington,
with whom he had not been on friendly terms since the split in the Ministry, he
stepped out of the railway carriage to shake bands, and was killed by an engine
coming up suddenly — the first of a long list of victims to accidents on English
railways.
For four years Melbourne remained at the head of the Home Office, and during
that time the great Reform Hill was carried About his administration of his office
there is a great difference of opinion. It was a time of great excitement. Reformers
called Lord Grey's coming into office "the year One of the people's cause." Expecting
too much — a sort of return of the Golden Age — they were naturally disappointed, and
have vented their disappointment on ministers for ills that they could not cure. It
was creditable to English good sense that, with much excitement, there was little dis-
turbance; but there were riots in some towns, and rick-burnings in various parts of the
country. The maintenance of order is in the hands of the Home Secretary, and the
MELBontsK] LORD MELBOURNE'S MEANNESS. 87
friends of order complained, but apparently without much ground, that Lord Melbourne
lacked vigour in this work.
In August, 1834, Lord Melbourne became Prime Minister. William IV.. who
had supported the Whigs in the matter of reform, was beginning to turn against
them: and Lord Melbourne accepted office upon the resignation of his late chief. Lord
(irey, because the majority in Parliament were prepared to support him, and not
because he had the confidence of the king. In December the king, in summary, almost
in sailor fashion, dismissed his Ministers, and consulted the Duke of Wellington about
tiie formation of a Tory Ministry. " H. 15.," the great caricaturist of the day, has a
picture of a Cabinet meeting, into which Lord Melbourne rushes, m great excitement,
shouting, " We're kicked out! we're kicked out:" By way of salve for the sore that the
kick produced, my lord was ottered an Earldom and a Garter, fait he had the self-
respect to decline both.
The Duke of Wellington advised King William to make Sir Robert Peel Prime
Minister; but la; was enjoying a holiday in Italy, and had to be sent for. Meanwhile,
how was the king's Government to be carried on? Always fertile in resource, and not
caring what people thought or said, the Iron Duke took the whole government on
himself. Ai rdingly " H. l'>." lias another picture of a Cabinet meeting, with the duke
himself occupying all the chairs. It was a very united Cabinet — in fact, literally
unanimous.
Sir Robert Peel, on returning to England, became Premier, and, to help him.
Parliament was dissolved But the new Parliament still showed a majority against
him, angry at the way in which the Whigs had been treated, and Peel finding it quite
impossible to remain in office, Lord Melbourne was reinstated in April, 1835, and
remained in power until September, L841.
In June, 1837, William IV. died, and was succeeded by his niece, the presenl Queen.
It is said that, her Majesty liked her first Prime Minister very much, but out of doors
his popularity was not, great. He was careless in his manner of receiving deputations.
When bis visitors were discoursing learnedly and gravely, he would blow a feather into
the air and watch it with delight ; or he would place a cushion on his knee and seem
to concentrate all his attention on nursing it. The imnetus of reform was spent, and
Melbourne's star was waning before the growing influence of Peel. In May, 1839, on
an important division on a colonial question, the ministers could onhj obtain a majority
of five in the House of Commons and therefore resigned. This led to what is known
as the ■■ Bedchamber Question." The great ladies ol the Queen's household, appointed
a: her a ssion, were relatives of the retiring ministers. Sir Robert Peel informed the
Queen that he < hi not take office unless he were permitted to change these. The
Queen refused, and Lord Mell ne and his colleagues, " sheltered behind the petticoats
of their wives and sisters," returned to office for two and a half more years, when, at
length, their opponents, the followers of Sir Robert Peek had so large a majority that
the\ had to give up office. Melbourne now practically retired from politics, although
he did not die until November, 1848.
One cannot finish this sketch without a quotation from Sydney Smiths famous
ss
-IXL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA.
|LuUD UELBOUBHE.
character, which may stand in place of estimate of our own. "If the truth must he
told," says the wittj dean of St Paul's,"our Viscount is somewhat of an impostor. Every-
thing about him seems to betoken careless desolation: any one would suppose from his
manner that he was playing at chuck-farthing with human happiness: that he would
giggle away the Great Charter, and decide by the method of teetotum whether my
lords the bishops should or should not retain their seats in the House of Lords. I am
sorry to hurt any man's feelings, and to brush away the magnificent fabric of levity
and gaiety that he has reared; but I accuse our minister of honesty and diligence;
1 d.ny that he is careless or rash. He is nothing more than a man of good under-
standing and good principle, disguised in the eternal and somewhat wearisome affecta-
tion of a political roa6."
HELBOUHNE HALL, MELBOURNE, ENGLAND.
OHINEMUTU.
(From a Photograph i>n Messrs. I^n-lon Bros., Dinted in.)
A VANISH KM WONDERLAND.
The Hot Lakes — A Terrible Catastrophe — Oxford and Cambridge — Rotorua — The Boiling Springs — Ohinemutu
— Whakarewarewa — Wairoa — Lake Tarawera — Lake Rotomahana — The Wonderland — The White Terrace
— The Steam Demon — The Pink Terrace — Vanished ! — A New Wonderland.
f I MIH Hot, Lake district of Now Zealand lies in the Auckland province, about one
-*- hundred and fifty miles south-east of the city of that name, and forty-five miles
south from the port of Tauranga, on the Bay of Plenty. Setting aside the giant lake
of Taupo, which should be treated alone, the thermal region includes Lakes Rotorua,
Roto-iti, Roto-ehu, Roto-ma, Tarawera, and numerous other rotos of smaller extent. All
these have their charms of position or of shape, if not their volcanic wonders, but the large
lake of Rotorua and the little lake of Rotomahana are the chief centres of interest.
There are two inducements to visit the region, cure-seeking and sight-seeing. For the
former purpose the township of Ohinemutu, on Rotorua, with its hot-springs and
sulphur-baths, is the special resort ; for the latter all the interest culminates upon
the terraces and geysers of Rotomahana. Or rather did culminate ; for though Rotorua
and its medicinal springs remain very much as they were, Rotomahana, with its terraces
and fumaroles, is now represented, so tar as can be ascertained, by a vast and
awful crater, <>r assemblage of craters, active and unapproachable.
All the world has heard of the marvels of this mysterious region, and all the
world has heard, too, of the catastrophe which befell it on June Huh. 1886. < >n that day
Mounl Tarawera, a hill some two thousand feet in height, and situated at the south-
easl corner of the lake of the same name, suddenly hurst into violent eruption. It
Startled the g I people from their beds in Auckland, a hundred and fifty miles away.
It strewed the earth with a thick coat of ashes all along the Bay of Plenty, forty or
lit;\ miles distant. It vomited mud and scoria in tons overall the surrounding country,
90 CASSELL'S PICTTTEESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [A Vakished
burying the European village of Wairoa, nine miles off, and blotting from the face of the
earth several picturesque Maori hamlets, along with their luckless inhabitants. Standing,
as it did.just behind the famous terraces of Lake Rotomahana, it naturally enough i
an end of those wonders which Nature had been accumulating for thousands of years.
The whole region was for some time turned into a scene of panic and of the wildest
desolation But at length we arc in a fair position to estimate what has been lost,
even if we cannot as yel say definitely what has been gained in its place. Such
volcanic outbreaks, however, seldom destroy without also creatine-.
Those who had the good fortune to visit the Wonderland of New Zealand before
this awful calamity robbed it of its most delightful, if not of its nmst marvellous,
features, will be more overwhelmed by the present reality of the catastrophe than
astonished at the fact that it should have occurred at all. No one gifted with the least
imagination could walk warily among those seething cauldrons, those pools of boiling
mud. and those unnumbered jets of steam, without realising something of what was
going on beneath : and occasionally a disturbing thought would steal into the mind,
and grow and grow — "What if this should be the moment of an outburst?" Yet
familiarity bred contempt, and whenever at Rotorua a new mud-spring burst up
suddenly through a cottage floor, it would cause but a mild surprise, and in a da\ or
two the occupant of the domicile would be utilising it for the cooking of his potatoes
or the curing of his rheumatism. At rare intervals a human being, a cow, or a horse
would through some slight inadvertence fall into a boiling pool, and only be recovered
thence in ghastly shreds. A newspaper paragraph might record the fact, the Maories
would hold a tangi, and then men and women would go on cooking their food in
convenient holes, and the children would go on playing upon isthmuses of questionable
thickness which separated cauldrons unquestionably fatal. And all this was perfectly
natural. Any accidents which occurred had been due to carelessness. Mother Earth
herself had never been treacherous; she had, indeed, occasionally developed a new hole
here and a fresh pipe of steam there, but she had let the roads and townships alone.
And even now. after the warning which was given on the 10th of June, and after
finding day turned into night, and feeling all the thin earth beneath quake and shiver
for hour alter hour, the ordinary resident goes about his avocations, and the tourists
flock to the scene, just as if the event had been one of a century ago.
There are two routes to Ohinemutu, which is the central starting-point for viewing
the whole district. The one is overland from Auckland, the other by sea to Tauranga,
ami thence b road. It was only a few short months before the catastrophe that the
presenl writer was amid the scene. We chose the overland route, which is now
admittedly superior to that by way of Tauranga. The latter is not indeed without
very great attractions, passing as it does through many miles of magnificent bush, and
through the Mangarewa Gorge. Vet the sea voyage to Tauranga in a comparatively
small vessel, and on a rough coast, is apt to be unpleasant and monotonous. The
railway, on the contrary, passes through varied scenery in the plain of the large
Waikato River, which was once the great field of campaigning, but now smiles with
prosperous agriculture. Cattle may be seen browsing quietly by the remains of the
o
- FOREST NMMKVAL."
.Mauri pa and the British redoubt; and Maori faces may be seen grinning a c]
recognition where once they gloated over the slain.
Fur those who would make the journey with the greatest comfort and satisfai
the way li^s by rail from Auckland to Cambridge, distant about a hundred miles;
and thence by special vehicle through Oxford to Ohinemutu, the main township of the
Lake District, which Lies upon Lake Rotorua, fifty-five miles distant. Of the al
named places, Cambridge is but a Little agricultural village, and Oxford but a place of
entertainment for man and beast; but where there is a Cambridge there must be an
Oxford, and no doubt both will in due time become places <>i importance. The carriage
drive from < >xford to < >hinemutu is itself worth all the trouble, the road being diversified
enough for every taste. The besl part of it is, perhaps, the eleven miles <■( "forest
primeval," where on both sides of the winding track there is an infinity of druse jungle,
full of that luxuriant growth which distinguishes the North Island >A' New Zealand.
The tall kauris, the puriri, the rimu, the stealthy merciless rata-vine, winding itself
a baleful serpent round the trees from which it sucks the life-blood, the
thick undergrowth <>f raupo and turn -all this reminded one more of the Amazon or
the Orinoco than of anything else in Australasia. Gigantic tree-ferns and grai
nikau-palms edged the road, while curious parasites bulged out here and there upon
the tree-trunks, as if the growth were not already thick enough without them. Sometimes
the buggy would sway for a mile or so along the edge of the precipice, where we could,
if we had nerve enough, gaze down upon gullies which were the consummation *m ■ aware of numerous small columns of steam rising h\ the
roadside, or issuing here ami there amid tin' ti-trees, and these grow more and mure
frequent as we near the town. An exaggi rated idea may perhaps he entertained <>( the
size and appearance of the boiling springs, whose presence these columns of steam
betoken In size and shape they are like an ordinary pool which forms itself in the
fields after heavy rain, being of an irregular edge, and of all sizes, from a squan
to many square yards Somewhere towards the middle ef them bubbles m.i\ be dot
rising from a "pipe" which communicates with an unknown depth anic mysl
92
CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA.
[A Yammikd
Sometimes one of them steams away all alone, like an exile, far away in the scrub, but
rally they are in clusters, with only a foot or two of ground between, and how solid
that ground may be no man knoweth.
The little township, half native, half European, stood calmly that day amid the
springs, jusl as if they were things thai "no family should be without," Between house
and house a disregarded cauldron or two steamed and steamed, so that the general
appearance of the settlement from a distance was as if every householder were burning
WATEIiFALL AT WAIKOA.
)
a few heaps of garden rubbish. The springs were not provided with any fence, and
the tourist had need to accept the warnings he received at his hotel to keep his eyes well
upon the ground, never to wander from the main road after dark, and to beware of
putting an enemy into his mouth to steal away his control over his feet Accidents
did occur from time to time, but fencing was no one's business in particular, and as
no Cabinet Minister or bishop had ever been boiled alive, the danger was allowed to
remain. It may be observed that the "hot" springs are really hot, the water having
a genuine record of 212 degrees. The first sensation in walking amid all these
wonders was rather disappointing, for the simple reason that there was so much
Wohdkoahd.] THE LOBSTER-BATH. 93
of them, and the residents took all so much as a matter of course. They went to
their baths— especially to tl ne which turned them red, and which was called the
lobster-bath — and they discussed the effect on their rheumatism or sciatica, but nothing
PI8SI BE l\ ROAD M M: THE TIKM Mi 1.1 3H, M Ml: THE 1:1:1 PTIOJJ.
was said of the wonder or 1 1 1« - awe. Even the new-comer was more amused with dropping
o sixpence into a shallow pool, and fishing it oul again as Mark as ink, than astonished
al these marvels of Vulcan.
94 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. |a v
Though many of the springs keep at nothing less than boiling point, others are of
a milder temperature. Nature seems to have graduated them tc suit all requirements)
balneatory or culinary. But by a peculiar c incidence, the hottest and largest pools are
; i be mel with exactly where they are likely to prove most dangerous. From a
medicinal point of view, the merits of some of the baths constructed from these natural
thermal springs are incapable of exaggeration The faith in their potency displayed by
sufferers from all parts of the world must be most unaccountable if it is baseless, most
touching if it is a delusion. The Government has declared its belief in them by
establishing a sanatorium on Sulphur Point .Many a cripple is said ti> have been able
to take up his bed and walk after due treatment in the baths of Rotorua.
There arc, therefore, good hotels at Ohinemutu, and much company of a cosmo-
politan nature. There is, moreover, a delightful blending of civilisation and barbarism.
As one roams through the village, keeping a wary eye upon the ground, he stumbles
against old .Maori carvings of the most, grotesque description He will not be surprised
to behold an English church here, an English store there, and a Maori wkare, or a Maori
meeting-house, in another direction. ( fhinemutu was one of the earliest fields of missionary
work, and a Maori may he beheld conducting a service or a catechism, in bis soft native
tone-tie, inside a building which was once used for councils of war and other pagan
purposes. All around, the rudely-carved figures of Maori ancestors, with eyes of shell,
protruding tongues, and three-fingered hands crossed over the stomach, look on benignant l\ ,
if leeringly. The visitor will not he astonished to meet with a neatly-railed tomb,
which sets forth, by means of its headstone, how "Helen Hinemoa Wilson was accidentally
scalded to death" in such and such a year. He will, if he takes care of his steps,
arrive safely on a little promontory, where stand the tokens of an old jm, which formerly
stood high and dry. hut lies now beneath the water. The point has sunk still lower of
late, and its total disappearance is but a question of time.
Beyond curiosities such as these, and its medicinal advantages, Ohinemutu otters
no charms to detain the visitor. It is the head-quarters of the whole district, and it,
gives a foretaste of the expected marvels: hut the air is heavy with sulphur, and the
scenery of little value. As a starting-point for expeditions on Rotorua, to the island
of Mokoia, rich in legend, to Roto-Iti on the north-east, and to Rotomahana east by
south, the town is something as Keswick is to the English lakes, though without any
pretensions to the beauty of that place.
We mount our buggy again, and as the sulphurous odour grows fainter and fainter
behind us, we make, for Wairoa, over the hills. Wairoa is the settlement which has
played the part of Pompeii in the late catastrophe. We have some eleven miles up
and down hill to drive, and the last half of them shall not yield the palm of beauty
to any Trosachs or Vosemites you can name.
The tirst half of the journey is not interesting. A little to the right we pass
Whakarewarewa, with its mud-pools and geysers. Whakarewarewa is a Maori hamlet
of a size by no means commensurate with that of its name. Its mud-springs form
an agreeable change from the Ohinemutu fumaroles. They are more alive, and show
more varied phenomena than those everlasting water-holes. Generally speaking, they
Wootsblakd.] BY DAY AND BY NIGHT. 95
□able so many porridge-pots, sel over a slow fire. To sit up to the neck in a
bath of the battery mud, thai laps and hugs the limbs with a plea anl tenacity, is
a luxury highly appreciated by the natives, and nol altogether despised of the
European. The same mud is said to be edible, and the Maori smacks his lips and
cries "Kapai" ("First-rate") as he attempts to swallow if. Jt appears, however, to
be caviare to the general. Unfortunately our recollections of Whakarewarewa are
ii'ii of the must, pleasant. It is a kind of private reserve, whose owners are absurdly
extortionate natives; for be it known that the Maori soon learns to higgle for the means
wherewith to purchase gin.
The journey to Wairoa should be made both by day and by night No more
bewitching drive can be imagined in the broad light of day than to plunge downward
through the dim twilight of the Tikitapu • bush, and then out upon the read which
winds by the shores of Tikitapu, the lake whose waters are blue, and Etotokakahi,
the lake whose waters an; green The Blue and Green lakes are undeniably what they
call themselves, yet, beautiful as they are. there is something weird about them ; an air
of mystery, suggesting a secret preserved from a wondrous past. And what of the future '
During the late outburst the road alone- which we passed was rent across with
a yawning gulf, the hush was overwhelmed and broken down with a foul weighl oi
mud and ashes, and the shores of the lakes were stripped of all their marge of verdure,
till Tikitapu 1 ame desolate as Avernus.
Then the drive at night, with a faint moon peering through the arboreal canopy!
Nothing was ever more fascinating. Along tin' roadside, under the ferns, tins of
thousands of little lanterns were brightly burning. They were only the glow-worms,
but the Laid; was as beautiful as if strewn with diamonds. And now the bush
is -uprooted." ami all the foliage and the glow-worms covered with scoria and mud.
Alone- we go, under the moon, with the Blue lake and the Green turned each to
burnished silver, anil finally, through a noisy crowd of natives, we dash up to the d ■
of that hospitable hotel whieh we now know is " wrecked," and its surroundings buried
Under ten feet of blue mud and ashes
It is inconceivable. The little township of Wairoa. almost entirely native, lay in
a narrow glen some hundred feet or so above the head of I. tike Tarawera. It was one
of the most picturesque spots in the world, with its half-civilised inhabitants grouped
about in their parti-coloured attire, with its wattled wkarea built on the hillsides amid
the eternal green, and with its haka danees and tangi wakes. And now many of these
tatt I denizens are overwhelmed, the vegetation and the wliares are ten feet deep in
mud: a foid-smelling, desolate stretch of ashes covers the most romantic spot on the
earth! Where is the genial M'Crae, our guide, philosopher, and friend' Where is
the sturdy guide Kate, with her Humane Society's medal ' Their occupation has
gone for many a day, unless thej are following it in other fields of wonder and
mystery. A beautiful spot was this Wairoa, with its waterfall in the bush, its peeps
through frames of foliage on to the lake Tarawera below, its jovial Maori life, its
apparent separation from all the rest of the world and the world's cares. No d
in a few years the mud will have cleared away, the vegetation will have been renewed,
96
(ASSKI.I.K I'lCTURKSljrE AUSTRALASIA
[A Vanished
and that most charming nook will again be filled with a joyous, cureless population of
the two races,
Descending in the curly mom along a winding path, we reach an arm of Tarawera
Lake, whereon we emhark in a boat manned by eight stalwart Maoris. The lake broadens
LAKE TARAWERA BEFORE THE ERUPTION'.
(From a Photograph by Messrs. Burton B I
into a little sea, rimmed in with harmless-looking hills, but we keep always near the
shore on our right, under the pohutukawas which hang tenaciously from the fire-seared
rocks. Our Maoris chant as they row, and over and anon stop to perform a rhythmical
gesticulation, which vastly amuses them and does not hurt us.
Two-thirds of the journey are over whin we touch at a tiny native settlement called
Te Moura — now, alas! swept away, along with its little population of thirty. To have
refused to call there would have been to violate all the traditions. Ever since strangers
first rowed across Tarawera, they have by prescription been compelled to purchase at
Te Moura a certain kind of diminutive crayfish. These provisions are subsequently to
be cooked in the boiliiiLT water close by the Ten-aces, and their consumption is a
necessary part of the programme. There are hundreds of people in every part of the
world who will recollect and grieve for the sociable people of this little place of call.
Its place knows it no more, and they would not so much as recognise the sheltered
corner in which it stood.
Wonderland.]
THE WHITE TEBBACE.
97
Another chant, a short race with a rival boat, and at eight miles from Wairoa we
reach another now vanished settlement called Te Ariki. At the mouth of a tepid little
stream we disembark. The stream runs out of Lake Rotomahana, which is but half a
mile distant, and it is usual to descend it in a canoe, but as the current is strong, and
the course winding, tourists in going upwards make a short cut on foot through the
scrub. Suddenly we come on the crest of a little hill, and lo! the Wonderland of the
World lies before us. The scene has often been described, but never hi such a way as
to fully satisfy those who have beheld it. We cannot here do it justice, and must
content ourselves with an outline, necessarily inadequate even as a sketch.
Before us, towards the right, lies a lake of something over a mile in diameter, and
just at our feet is what may be called the bottom step of the belauded and bepoemed
Te Tarata, the White Terrace. It is only separated from us by the little stream afore-
mentioned Stretching away along the shore of the lake is the realisation partly of
Inferno, partly of Paradise. The awe, perhaps, exceeds the beauty. The White Terrace,
LAKE TARAWBBA \1 111: Tin: i.ia PTION.
' Photagrofh by Heart. Burton • I
a mass of silica, rises tier above tier, and culminates in an impenetrable m\
of strain. To the right of it the low hills are all alive with jets of vapour. The
whole side of the range seems to smoke We must look at the terrace from every
part, and the neanr the better hi, ever} stage of its white surface there are pools
98 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [A Vanished
of water of a celestial blue, while the edge of each platform is emhroidered with curious
incrustations, and its sin-tan' strewn with petrifactions of much beauty. Higher and
higher we mount, and the water that trickles over grows hotter and hotter, until we
reach the topmost level, and there take our stand on the edge of a boiling horror.
We cannot see across it for the dense .steam; we cannot sound it; we can only gaze
in wonder. Well do we remember two figures which had approached from a different
side, and had taken up their position upon a peak of rock, where the}' loomed of
more than mortal size: Dante and Virgil to the life, from Dore's cartoons. Then
we turn and gaze down upon the ever-widening expanse of white and blue below us,
and we feel that we never knew colour before, and that the beauty, the grandeur, the
awfulness, are too much for the soul to feel at once.
The impressions formed of the Terrace from different points of view were very
various. At one time it seemed as if we were walking over snow, marked with those
curious and fantastic patterns which frost creates. Here we took delight in the more
minute work, the little silicious fretworks spread over the surface of a platform, or the
delicate laccwork which fell over its edge. In another place it was the regular sweep
of the arcs, as sta^e rose above stasre, that called forth our admiration. Again, we
met with a space which seemed broken up into a series of pockets, whose white depths
were filled with baths of azure Avater of every degree of temperature. Nearer the
summit the gradation was less regular, the formations less symmetrical, and buttresses
had formed themselves upon the vertical walls. And this we might expect, for at
different times the angle of ejection of the silicated water inclined in different directions ;
and while this would give irregularity to the shape of the upper platforms, the lower
and wider stages would receive a more even distribution of the deposit.
Perhaps the English language never was so ransacked as for terms adequate to the
description of this Terrace. How shall we give a simple understanding of the formation
as a whole ? Perhaps thus : From the summit downwards it spread itself, in shape like
an enormous fan, in build like a vast flight of alabaster steps rising to a throne — the
throne of Nature; not the benignant, life-giving Nature, but the Titanic Nature which sent
its giant brood to war with the gods at Phlegra. W 7 here the throne should stand, was a
hissing cauldron, and the scorching vapour hid the ruling majesty from human sight
These vast steps had taken myriads of years to form, for the plebeian names
which those pigmy barbarians Smith and .Jones inscribed, according to their Vandal
wont, upon these great white platforms in the year 1SG0, were to the last as visible as
when they were first scrawled: a quarter of a century had not contrived to blot them
out with an appreciable fraction of an inch of deposit.
< >ver all the steps a film of water, as soft to the touch as satin, glides incessantly,
and trickles into the lake till it gives it its name, Rotomahana — the Warm Lake.
Descending, and entering the neighbouring scrub, we pass warily among holes in which
mud boils and leaps up, subsides again, again leaps up, and forms huge bubbles,
which explode with a "flopping" sound. We stand beside a basin of rock in whose depths
we hear ominous rumblings and seethings. Suddenly comes a rush of water, and we
flee to a safe distance, turning round in time to see a column of water spout up and
WraDERiuiD.] THE 1'IXK TERRACE. 99
fall again with a most gruesome swirl. Yet further, and we become conscious i
loud and sustained roaring, like that of a hoarse steam-whistle, proceeding from a
hole or tube of rock some two or three yards square. There is no water or steam
visible, but 1 know nothing more fearsome than that bole. Von can look into it, and
hear the roaring deeper and deeper down. The suggestion is of an unfathomable depth,
but that hoarse voice of the steam demon is the most terrible of earthly sounds.
And all the while a muffled nnise is heard as if a diabolic steam-hammer were working
deep, deep down in the earth.
Standing mi the side of this ridge, putting our fingers in our ears, and turning
our backs upon the screaming depth, we look out through the trees over the peaceful
little lake and its brilliant shore, thinking it a scene of retirement tit for a Sans-Soud.
lint turn once more, and there are the steaming breath and the horrible yell of the
volcanic demon. The sounds and sights are apt to haunt one's dreams tor many a day.
It took long t<> examine all these things so new and strange; and it was nut un-
common for tourists to camp for some days upon the scene. When curiosity was
appeased on this side, it was customary to enter a canoe and be shot swiftly across a
corner of the lake to the Pink Terrace, Otukapuarangi, in all respects like the White,
except in colour and size. It is smaller, more comprehensible, so to speak. Compared
with the White Terrace, it was a toy; yet it was necessary to complete the picture.
It derived its name from a coloured deposit found among the white silica, and to
be seen in perfection it, required one of the brightest, of New Zealand days. Ah!
its sapphire ] Is were the most delicious baths that man ever knew, soothing the
sense, and yet, filling the soid with ecstasy! Now a frightful cavern is belching
and vomiting where that work of beauty was. Let us row off into the lake, and
post ourselves where we call see on the one hand the White Terrace, and mi the
other the Pink. An azure sky is above us, the sun-lit lake before us ; the leafage
around is of a glorious green, and here and there we catch sight of a native in
gay attire. Let no man deny the truth of any painting he may hereafter see of
the terraces of which New Zealand was so proud. Imagination deserts us when we
think of them as gone, and tor ever. Yonder .Mount Tarawera looked as if his day
was done; but so did Vesuvius in the year of grace 79. Yet Pompeii and Herculaneum
were hut commonplace cities, and might, perhaps, have been spared The terraces of
New Zealand were unique, unparalleled. They are now only, or little more than, a
tradition. That awful roaring in the "Devil's Mole" meant something, a perpetual
warning, as awful as it sounded. Little did we think, as we paddled down the stream on
our way back from Rotomahana, trying to think we had fullj appreciated what was
appreciation, that another year would see the whole of this wonder and magnificence
wiped from the face of the earth. Nature truly is cruel to her own works. One
who has never visited the scei an scarcely understand the grief and wonder of the
New Zealander who knows it well. The Wairoa Valley, the little tepid stream, the
terraces, all the wonderful places, sights, ami sounds, gone, and something, perhaps
more awful, hut not for centuries as beautiful, left in its place! The children of the
future will see the terraces only in pictures, which thej will call exaggerated. Truly
100
CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUST1! AI.ASIA.
IA VAKI8BED WONDERLAND.
this was the event of a century. Similar events will no donlit occur in time to come.
The Maoris have Long had traditions of Lost mountains and other wondrous changes, and a
Maori tradition always rests upon some basis. Yet we may imagine that the feeling of
awe will soon subside, and that the neighbourhood will quickly become inhabited again.
Since the above words were written there comes the news that another Wonderland
has been discovered, or rather opened up. A few miles to the south of the old
Wonderland, and within the same immediate volcanic radius, lies a mysterious valley
THE WHITE TERRACE, ROTOMAHANA, BEFORE THE ERUPTION.
(From a Photograph by Messrs. Burton Bros.)
named Waiotapu, winch, though known to surveyors, was otherwise unvisited of white
That it had its volcanic phenomena was suspected, as being a matter of course, yet,
Lying away from the broad and beaten road, it was neglected for its inconvenience sake,
lint when such a loss as the one we have been describing befalls a country, it is not
to be expected that the enterprising explorer will sit still. The colonist is confident of
his resources, and therein he is justified. This solitary valley, guarded by two hills of the
awe-inspiring names of Maungaongaonga and Maungakakaramea, is, we are told, as full
of its geysers and its "Devil's Holes" as were the shores of Rotomahana. Nay, it even
possesses its incipient terrace ; and there is every reason to expect that " Ichabod " will
sound but for a little while in the province of Auckland, and that " Eureka " will
triumph in its stead.
BRISBANE FROM BOWEN TERRACE.
BRISBANE.
The Approach by River— North Brisbane — Victoria Bridge— Stanley Street— The Breweries— The Gaol— The
Water Supply — City Charities— Grammar Schools — The Botanical Gardens — Government and Parliament
Houses — The Churches — Exhibition Buildings and Places of Amusement — Newspapers — 'Buses and Trams
— The Ferries.
FN the visitor reaching Brisbane by steamer, the first object that excites attention and
-*- elicits admiration is the noble stream on which the city stands, and after which it
is named. From the mouth of the river, at the township of Lytton, the distance to the
wharves is about fifteen miles. After the halfway point is reached, not far below
the Hamilton Pavilion, the stream begins to narrow to a breadth of about a quarter
of a mile, whilst the swampy mangrove banks give place to high ridges, rising here and
there into pretty wooded crests, on which are perched many handsome private residences.
Owing to some sharp bends in the river, the |ourney up from Breakfast I about
four miles from town) occupies more than half-an-hour. Rounding the last corner, we
see to the right some imposing residences; on the left is the Kangaroo Point slip.
and further on, facing the stone quarries that nestle beneath the heights of Bowen
Ten-ace. the new Immigration l>e]>ot Reserve. With some difficulty, and at a very slow
pace the vessel swings round Kangaroo Point Corner, and the main portion of the city
is before us. The British India Steam Navigation Company, which is subsidised by
the Queensland Government to carry the European mails ,■/,»' Torres Straits, has lately
built the only wharf on the Kangaroo Point side. With the exception of the narrow
tongue of land that constitutes the " Point " proper, this bank is too steep to be
favourable for wharf construction, and the river frontage is chiefly occupied by private
residences. <>n the opposite side are the wharves of Howard. Smith, and Co., of Gibbs,
Bright, and Co., of the Queensland Shipping Company, and the two Australian St
Navigation wharves, in tl rder named. Further on is the office of the rnspi
of Harbours and Rivers, with a small wharf attached ; and the Botanical Gardens end the
reach. In the next one is the Government House Domain on the north side, and further
up, about two hundred yards below the Victoria Bridge, is the wharf of the Government
i / inda, in which the members of the Ministry are wont to hold cabinet
102 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Brisbane.
meetings and picnics. On the opposite or South Brisbane bank a tine wharf has
been erected for the Corporation, mar the Dry Dock; hard by is the terminus of the
South Brisbane Railway, which brings coal down to the vessels from the neighbourhood
of Ipswich
The city of North Brisbane proper lies in an almost perfect triangle, of which two sides
are formed by the river, and the third by Ann Street, which runs from Pefrie's Bight,
opposite the Kangaroo Point Corner, to a point on the river about two hundred yards
above the Victoria Bridge. If we cut off from this triangle the smaller triangle
embracing the Botanical Gardens and the land attached to Government House and the
Parliament Buildings, we have left a figure with two parallel sides — Ann and Alice
its. The principal thoroughfare is Queen Street ; all the streets parallel with it
are named after ladies whose surnames have not been preserved, and are, on the north,
Ann and Adelaide Streets; on the south, Elizabeth, Charlotte, Mary, Margaret, and Alice
Streets. The cross streets are, starting from the west, William, George, Albert, Edward,
Creek, and Eagle Streets. The last-named, however, is not at right angles to Queen
Street, but runs alongside the wharves. For breadth, the streets will compare favourably
with those of Sydney, though this, perhaps, is not saying a great deal. From Queen
Street to Ann Street there is a gradual rise, which continues till we reach the Ob-
servatory Hill and Wickham Terrace. Brisbane, surrounded as it is by hills, possesses
a series of what are called "Terraces," high ridges surmounted each by a winding road.
on one side of which (the upper) are long rows of private houses. Of these, Wickham
Terrace is nearest, to the city. In the hollow between "Wickham and Petrie Terraces are
a public park and the Railway Station Reserve; the Sandgate railway passes by the
Grammar School into Victoria Park, through which it rims. The Southern and
Western Railway runs between Petrie Terrace on the right, and the North Quay,
which lies on the river's bank to the left, and so passes westwards towards Milton
and Towong, where One-tree Hill stands out clearly in the distance.
At the western extremity of Queen Street is the Victoria Bridge, a magnificent
structure, spanning the river between North and South lirisbane. It is nearly a quarter
of a mile long, and was only completed after many futile attempts to obtain a safe
foundation. More than once during its erection the strong floods which at that time
flushed the river, undermined the piles; and though begun in the year 180:3, it was not
finished until LS75. For the first year after its opening a toll was levied on traffic,
but the bridge is now entirely supported by the Corporation funds. It was fitted with
a swinging girder to allow the passage of vessels with tall masts; beyond this point,
however, the river is now navigated only by small craft, and at the time when
tramway lines were laid across the bridge, this girder was permanently fixed. In the
"good old times" before the extension of the railway system to Brisbane, the greater
part of the traffic to Ipswich and the interior went by water, and this beautiful stretch
of forty miles was a second Mississippi, with small Mississippi steamers doing a brisk
and profitable trade.
The chief street in South Brisbane is that nearest to the bridge, and running along
the river bank — Stanley Street. Melbourne Street is the one leading to the bridge;
KANE. ]
STANLEY STREET.
103
it stretches out in the direction of West End. Stanley Street is the business centre of
South Brisbane; the others are mostly occupied by private houses. At its southern
end are the Dry I lock and the terminus of the South Coast and Oxley Railways. Near
the hailwav Station it is crossed by Vulture Street, which runs along the chain of hills
that Hanks this portion of the city, and leads into River Terrace, where the beetling
cliffs tower over Government House Domain and the Botanical Gardens on the opposite
side of the river. River Terrace terminates in Main Street, which runs downhill to
Kangaroo Point Corner; and
now there is only the river
between us and Ann Street.
We have supposed a visitor
coming to Brisbane. His first
care is to select his hotel; and
we shall find that in de-
scribing Brisbane its hotels
constitute a good starting-point.
The difficulty in choosing an
hotel arises more from an
embarras de richesses than
iVoin any other cause, the
number of such establishment 3
being very large ; larger, pro-
bably, in proportion to the
population than in Sydney and
Melbourne. For Brisbane in the
summer is. indeed, a thir
place, and the breweries do a
fine trade. I fntil the year L878
Perkins' < lity Brewery was the
onlj one in existence. It i
dow a compact pile of build-
ings, with capacious cellarage,
extending fr Mary Street to Margaret Street, in a wide block, and with a five-
storeyed tower for the brewing process. In tin' year mentioned, Messrs. Fitzgerald, of
the Castlemaine Brewery Company, erected premises tor brewing purposes at Milton.
about a mile from the city, on the Southern and Western Railway. Still later (about
L884), the Queensland Brewing Company commenced operations on the river hank
at Bulimba, mar Breakfast Creek Besides the hotels there are clubs, where bachelors
can tind accommodation — the newlj erected Queensland Club, the town-house of
squatters, ami of country members of Parliament, who are here situated close to the
scene of their labours; the Union, in Charlotte Street; and the Johnsonian (Literary),
in William Street, presided over 1>\ Australia's foremost living poet, Mr. .1. Brut
Stephens.
-
MAT el' BRISB Wi:.
104
CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA.
[Bm '
In Brisbane the working man holds a strong position. He works eight hours on
five days dt the week, five on Saturdays, and has a special annual holiday (Eight
Hours' day) all to himself. On this occasion he makes a -rand display, and walks in
a procession, with numerous banners. The chief trades of the city are represented by
iron foundries, shipbuilding yards, saw-mills, masonry and rope-works: ice-works also are
naturally numerous. The wood and coal consumed in the city come chiefly by rail
from the neighbourhood of Oxley and of Ipswich. The absence of fish in the river
for some years past has been attributed to the effect on the river water of the refuse
from the gasworks.
The prisoners formerly had their home near the Police Barracks on Petrie Terrace,
STEAMER LEAVING BRISBANE WITH MINERS.
until it was transferred to a position near Woolloongabba, South Brisbane, where it
is the scene of a variety of industries ; while the penal establishment at St. Helena,
a small island in Moreton Bay, set apart for long-sentence prisoners, bears evidence, in
its flourishing crops of sugar-cane, and in a pier erected for the accommodation of
steamers, of the enforced diligence of its population. Its insular position and con-
siderable distance from the mainland have not prevented escapes being frequently
attempted and sometimes accomplished. The venturesome swimmer has, however,
more than once fallen a victim to the sharks that abound in the locality.
The Brisbane water supply is drawn from an artificial lake at Enoggera, about
eight miles north-west of the city. This lake is fed by a number of pretty creeks that
flow down from the range of mountains by which it is encircled Some years ago it
was the favourite haunt of the sportsman who was lucky enough to come armed with a
permit from the Board of Waterworks, which licensed him to use the official boat and
VXE.]
THE SCHOOLS.
107
schools of the colony. The competitors must be under the age of fourteen. A number
of scholarships are awarded annually by the Grammar School Trustees (al the Brisbane
Grammar School the number is six), by which the term of the State School Scholar-
ship is continued for two years longer, so that the foremost boys obtain five years'
grammar-school education free of charge. Finally, three exhibitions (each worth £300),
are annually awarded by the Government, and are open for competition to those
under the age of nineteen who wish to proceed from any grammar-school to any
university.
The chief Primary School in Brisbane is the "Normal School," a stone building at
the corner of Edward and Adelaide Streets, which has a daily attendance of over five
hundred. There are other large primary schools in both North and South Brisbane. The
Boys' and Girls' Grammar Schools are in close
proximity in the Victoria Park, opposite
Gregory Terrace. The Boys' School was built
in L880, when it was found that the old
building in Roma Street would be needed by
the railway authorities; the Girls' School is
still more recent The former is a handsome
brie, >e in the Gothic style, and consists
of a main building, with two cross buildings
at its ends and a large hall across the centre.
The hall is fitted with two large stained-glass
windows, one of which contains pictures of
the Queen and prominent English worthies.
The grounds are attractively planted with
English and tropical flowers and trees; two
Moreton Hay figs, planted by the two sons of
the Prince of Wales on their visit in 1881, are especially handsome, and thrive vigorously.
In the school ground are a gymnasium and several lawn-tennis courts, while at the other
side of the Sandgate Railway, about three hundred yards off, is a tinted cricket ground.
Not far away, further round Gregory Terrace, is the Christian Brothers' Catholic
School, a flourishing institution with about two hundred pupils There are innumerable
pi ,: chools in town and suburbs for the education of both sexes; one of the most
important being All Hallows' Convent, which is built on perhaps the finest of the many
tine sites iii Brisbane, situate at the river end of Bowen Terrace, the convent towns
over Petrie's Bight and Kangaroo Point Corner on the opposite side of the river; it
is visible from almost every part of the town, and is the first object in the eit\ that
bs the eye of the visitor who arrives by steamer. It is a two-storeyed building, in
the simplest possible style.
[mportant adjuncts to a popular education exist in the School of Arts and the
Museum. The former is a spacious building, with wide verandas suitable to the
climate, and is situate in Ann Street The upper Boor is occupied by ladies' and
gentlemen's reading-rooms, where Colonial and English newspapers are to be found.
DRY DOCK.
10S
CASSELL'S PICTUBESQUB AUSTRALASIA.
[Brisbane.
1 THE CITY FROM ONE TREE HILL.
2. THE RIVER FROM ONE TREE HILL.
Downstairs
is a circu-
lating library
of several
thousand vol-
umes. The
Museum is in Wil
Ham Street, on the
river's bank, below
the bridge ; its speci-
mens of mineralogy and
natural history, its stuffed
quadrupeds and bipeds,
and the live cobras in
their glass cases always
attractive to the country
Almost next door to this
building is the Immigration Depot,
a scene of great bustle and ex-
citement when every fresh batch of
immigrants arrives, and would-be
prove
visitor.
Brisbake.]
THE BOTANICAL GARDEN'S.
10!)
masters and mistresses assemble to select or be selected by their future "assistants
the term goes.
The chief place of recreation in the city is the Botanical Gardens. The portii
these gardens nearest to the city is called the Queen's Park, and is not planted like
VIEW FUOM Till: BOTANIl \! GARDENS,
tlie rest, but kept as a reserve for tennis, cricket, ami football Upon entering by the
principal gate (a1 the end of Albert Street), the visitor is under a huge canopy of the
evergreen baml , which affords in summer delightful shade to the wean eitizen and
his untiring companion the mosquito. To the right is a small lake, whose bank is
lined with baml s, and whose surface is decked with pink and white water-lilies;
beyond this are the tennis courts, where the bank clerk and the Law student may be
110 CASSELLS PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Brisbake.
seen taking their exercise between four and six in the afternoon. To the left of the
entrance is a wide spare, turfed in the centre, where three cricket clubs practise in
the summer months; during the winter it serves the same purpose for footballers.
Brisbane produces some good footballing talent, and has bravebj held its own with
Sydney during the last few years; but cricket is not what it should be, owing partly
to the inferior quality of the wickets, which results chiefly from the lengthened
droughts, and partly, perhaps, to the enervating effect on the players of a Queensland
summer. There are various other cricket and football grounds at a little distance
from the town — the Union Ground at Toowong, the Albert Sports Ground at Bowen
Hills, and Kcdron Park, near Lutwyche; all of these are well patronised on Saturday
afternoons.
The possession of such a splendid river ought to be a great incentive to rowing
men, and there are some half-dozen rowing clubs in Brisbane ; but the city has not
yet produced a Beach or a Laycock, and does not seem likely to, for training in the
summer months would be too great a punishment even for the athlete. Sailing,
however, is extremely popular, and many delightful trips are made to the Bay for
fishing purposes between Saturday and Monday. There are several fine yachts on the
river, and the Brisbane larrikin, when he hoists his shoulder-of-mutton sail on his flat-
bottomed and square-nosed ':punt," may be seen scudding before the wind at a high
rate of speed. But let us go back to the Gardens.
The ground occupied by the Botanical and Government House Gardens, and the
land attached to the Houses of Legislature, occupies the river frontage for a distance
of about two miles. The Botanical Gardens are tastefully laid out with walks, flower-
beds, shrubberies, and groves of trees, native and tropical trees being predominant. The
whole of what now forms these Gardens was once an immense swamp, of which the
only remaining relics are some half-dozen pretty lakes, overgrown with lilies, and hidden
beneath clumps of the umbrageous bamboo. The curator's house stands on a gentle
rise at the far end; between it and the river is a small aviary. Altogether, these Gardens,
though small in comparison with some in the southern colonies, are in point of situation
and general attractiveness surpassed by none.
Government House Domain is entered by way of George Street — the lodge is just
beside the Parliament Buildings. Government House itself is pretty, but exceedim/lv
small ; indeed, from the cliff, on the opposite side of the river, it looks quite insignificant
As a matter of fact, the extensive hospitality demanded from it has on several in-
teresting occasions of late years caused the erection of marquees and annexes. The
Governor has a summer residence at Southport, while his predecessor bestowed some
eclat on Toowoomba by selecting his summer seat near that town, on the summit of
the Main Range.
Parliament House is a substantial block of stone buildings, rising to three storeys,
and capped with little turrets of galvanised iron. Resides the two Legislative Chambers,
with their galleries for reporters and the public, there is a. magnificent Parliamentary
Library, and also a dining-hall.
Two important public buildings stand close together in George Street — the Land
BwsBure.] PLACES OF AMUSEMENT. Ill
Office and the Supreme Court. The former is a brick building, chiefly noticeable to
one walking along the street by reason of the large clock which stands out from the
front door. The Supreme Court buildings are well removed from the street, and occupy
the whole block between George and William Streets. The courts proper are on the
second floor; downstairs are comfortable chambers for the three judges and their
associates, as well as for the registrar and other functionaries.
There is one cathedral in Brisbane, and one pro-cathedral, besides a goodly number
of churches. St. Stephen's Roman Catholic Cathedral is in Elizabeth Street, opposite the
City Police Court, and behind the Post Office: it is a handsome stone biulding, with an
elegant steeple and artistic stained-glass windows. It is especially noted for possessing
a fine choir. St. John's Anglican Pro-Cathedral, between George and William Streets,
has attached to it a splendid peal of eight bells, which is heard to great advantage,
e pecially by those in the immediate neighbourhood, on Sundays, and on one evening
in the week, when there is a practice. The other principal Anglican Church is
All Saints, at the junction of Creel; Street and Wickham Terrace, and next to it is a
Presbyterian church; this denomination possesses another further down Creek Street,
with a, spire one hundred and twenty feet high. St. Mary's (Anglican), Kangaroo
Point, is a pretty little church, perilled on the high cliff that rises from the water's
edge.
The chief places of amusement in town are the Theatre Royal, in Elizabeth Street,
and the Albert Hall, in Adelaide Street. The latter is much used for concerts and balls;
the theatre, though an immense improvement on the wretched wooden building that did
duty in that capacity less than eight years ago, is still not good enough to satisfy the
growing theatrical taste of the Brisbane public. Shakespearean representations, and
tin- better class of comedy, are at present rarely put upon the boards. The chief
English and Comic Opera Companies, however, generally spend a couple of months in
the year at Brisbane. The Exhibition Building, apart from the prominence into which
it rises every August, when the Queensland National Association holds its annual
show, is much used for tea-meetings and large balls, such as the Mayor's annual ball.
The Brisbane people, perhaps because the community is small — the last census returns
show a population of fifty-two thousand inhabitants- are extremelj sociable, ami
notwithstanding tin' warm weather that prevails even in the winter months, the
"season" lasts for more than six months of the year. At Christmas and Easter
many of the citizens proceed to Southport and Sandgate, to recruit themselves with
sea-breezes and salt-water, and at these places, even in the middle of summer, dancing
is not unknown.
Tin 1 chief of tl it\ streets is Queen Street ; and this we have left to form the
conclusion of our sketch of Brisbane. At tic- corner of G ge and Queen Streets
stands the Hank of New South Wales, the first of a series of banks thai we shall meet.
Further down Queen Street, on the left hand side, is the Town Hall, a building of
considerable age, and showing signs of wear. The upper floor, at the rear of the
building, is occupied ly barristers' chambers. On the ground floor is an open quad-
rangle, around which are the small offices of ; untantS and commission agents;
112
CASSKLLS riCTl'RESyrE AUSTRALASIA.
[Brisbane.
those of the mayor and the other municipal authorities are nearer the street The
acoustic properties of the large hall are very deficient, though it is chiefly used for
public meetings; and a site for a new Town Hall has been selected at the corner of
Albert and Roma Streets (the latter
is a wide thoroughfare leading out
to the railway station). ( >n the
same side of Queen Street, and
at the comer of Albert Street, is
a pile of buildings that would do
credit to any city in Australasia,
occupied by shops of drapers, hook-
sellers, and photographers. Passing
"---.
IX THE BOTANICAL GARDENS.
on, still eastwards, at the corner
of Queen and Edward Streets we
have four important buildings. The
first is the largest draper's shop in
Brisbane. The second, on the opposite side of Queen Street, is the recently-erected
Brisbane Arcade, which runs in a curve from Queen Street to Edward Street. The
lower storey is divided, as is the manner of arcades, into a number of tasteful shops;
the upper balcony opens into the offices of various commission agents. On one of
IiKIM
THE SHOPS.
L13
the two remaining corners are the premises of the Australian .Mutual Providenl
Society; on the other is the immense seven-storeyed pile of the Brisbane Newspaper
Company. This Company issues three papers- -The Brisbane Courier (price 2d), the onlj
morning daily, of which the Observer is an evening edition (price Id.), intended chiefly
'
m ■
■t-M
"-*
i
i n OF THE BUSH HOI SE M CL] M \ i ISATIOS G \ i:e
I 'il M \INS. in:
i'nv the working man. as a rival to the Liberal organ, 7 7- « Daity Telegraph ; the weekly
journal of the Company is the Queenslander. Further down, on our left ately
block containing the shops of a jeweller, a tailor and an ironmonger; further still is the
Joinl Stock Bank Opposite the 'Royal"are the Posl and Telegraph Offices, The locale
"l the latter was formerly in William Street, bul some ■■ o it was found more
8
114. CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Brisbabk.
convenient to have the two establishments together, and a second building was erected
alongside the first, and a facsimile of it. There is often e the most interesting to visit, and I applied for per-
mission i ' travel there — for no one can do so without permission of the Government,
I was given the necessary, authorisation by the Acting Colonial Secretary, who at the
same time conveyed to me a gracious invitation from the Hon. J. 11. Thurston, the
A SDGAE-CANE PLANTATH '.V
(From a Photograph by Messrs. Burton
Administrator, to accompany him, as he was going to visit the district, and, if possible,
make the ascent of Tomainivi, the highest mountain in the Fiji group.
On the morning we were to start I met Mr. Thurston at Government House, and
at tin' jetty below we wore joined by the Chief Justice (Mr. Fielding Clarke) and
Lieutenant Malan, R.N. Half-a-dozen of the native constabulary soon pulled us out to
the Clyde, the Government steamer. Our plan was to go some sixty miles down the
i land, and cross the island from south to north, stopping at Fort Carnarvon, in
the middle of the island, for a few days, and ascending Tomainivi on our way from the
Fort to the coast, where the Clyde was to meet us.
Fiji. J
SKCAR PLANTATIONS.
121
After coasting slowly along for two or three hours, most of the time inside the reef,
and with the captain or one ot the men most uncomfortably perched on an iron bar
nsarly at the top of the foremast, looking out for isolated patches of reef, we reached
Naitonitoni, and went ashore to visit the sugar plantations near the mouth of the Navuo
river. "We first passed
through one which had
tailed, and was a melan-
choly sight, with the cane
not properly attended to,
and costly tramrails, ma-
chinery, and buildings
to ruin. We
then crossed the river
by boat to the flour-
ishing sugar plan-
tation of the Fiji
SugarCompany. Here
ri.UAN HOUSES
everything Looked prosperous and well managed. In this plantation there are seme
seven hundred acres ol cane, bul cane from mere than twice that number of
acres is crushed here. The lal r employed is chiefly thai of coolies; the number of
in Fiji is surprising, and one would 'nave supposed that the large popula-
tion of these islands, and of the countless islands of the Pacific, would have suf-
ficed. But as one cannol "indenture" the natives for a term of years, and so insure
1-22 CASSELL'S PICTTJRESQUE AUSTBALASIA. tFui
regular labour, the Government imports coolies from India, who are indentured for
ten years to the planters. They have to give £21 for each coolie, find hospitals and
1 idgings, and pay wages. The pay averages about one shilling a day for men, and
ninepence for women We got on a sugar truck, and were run gaily up the planta-
ti m behind a little engine of French make. There was cane ready to cut, eane cut,
and cane being planted, everything apparently going on at once. The soil was red and
hard, like burnt clay, so that it was presumably of comparatively recent volcanic origin
We had a pretty view looking over a considerable extent of sugar-cane and fields, with
the coolies working like bees below, the bends of the river visible here and there, and
hilly country in the dista
The next day we made an* early start, and steamed most of the time just outside
tin' reef, and though apparently there was hardly any swell, and there were no waxes
where we were, on the reef there were fine breakers, which rose in some places several
feet, and then fell on the reef in splendid cataracts of foam. Opposite Nandronga,
a native town, there was an entrance in the reef, and we were "pulled" in by some of
the native constabulary in the galley, and a hard pull they had, for we had t<> go
between a small island and the mainland, and the tide was racing out of the channel.
We landed at a little jetty near Nandronga. Round the town was a high
bamboo fence, but over the entrance one or two bamboos were tied at a height of
about four or rive feet. I thought this an inconvenient sort of entrance, but was told
it was to insure everybody's stooping on entering, as a mark of respect to the chief
We found the latter — the roko> of Nandronga is his title — and the principal men of
the town sitting on the ground, or on their heels; on the Administrator approaching
they "tamaed" to him. The "tama" is a mark of respect, and varies in different parts
of the colony. Here the natives- give guttural noises like "Oe, ugh," pronounced slowly,
and then hit their hands together — I can hardly call it clapping them — striking the
palm of the left hand rather slowly, and all at the same time.
Then the roko rose and shook hands, a custom to which the natives have taken
very kindly. Sometimes it is amusing to see them shaking hands with one another,
and also to see them dawdling down the streets at Suva or Levuka, one man with
his little ringer linked in that of another.
After the interchange of a few words we went to the roko's house and shook
hands with his wife, who was lying full length on the floor with her little boy beside
her; and then we all sat down on the floor, or lay down and gazed up at the roof.
There are quantities of cocoanut leaves under the mats, and on a hot day one can lie
there, taking no notice of anything, for aq hour or two with great comfort, and at
the same time with the happy consciousness that he is doing the right thing. Mr.
Thurston conversed with the roko, and some of the older men came in and sat at a
respectful distance and listened. Smoking goes on on these occasions, with the aid of
seleukas, as they are called, of native tobacco, rolled up into a piece of banana leaf,
and handed to you in a split reed; one often sees a native with one or two ready
in advance, stuck through the hole in his ear. The house is built on a very
high platform of stones, eight feet above the ground, with a log placed at an angle of
Pot.] A "MANGETE." 123
about forty -live derives reaehiny up to the entrance. There were niches cut in it for
the feet, and in this case the unusual help of a long pole stuck in the ground was
provided, but even thus one had to be careful, for a fall from near the top would be
no slight matter. The house is oblong, with a roof-tree supported on two big posts,
one near each end of the dwelling. The measurements would be about forty feet long
by twenty wide, and perhaps thirty high.
Near the coast the houses are generally oblong, with a ridge, and the roof-tree or
ridge-pole sometimes projects a .yard at each end, and is very often ornamented with
large white cowrie shells. In the interior they are generally nearly square, with rounded
corners; they have a huge post in the centre, inside, and the roof rises in a conical
shape to a great height, while the sides or walls, of a sort of wicker- work, are not more
than about live fret high. There are no nails used in building, but the houses are put
together either with creepers bound round where the timbers, poles, or bamboos join or
abut against each other, or with sinnet, which is a stout string made by the natives.
Tlie hot house which I saw had walls — as 1 must call them, though they were made
of fords — interwoven with sinnet. with sixteen posts ol greenwood inside, to which the
wall-plates were tied Then near each end of the house were two large posts tapering
to the top, and about two toot in diameter, supporting a long roof-tree nearly a foot
in diameter, which projected about three feet beyond the roof outside the thatch, and
the ralters, in this case of poles, but very commonly of bamboo, were tied at one end
to the wall-plate, and at the top to the roof-tree, and supported at three diffen nt
points by purlins. Wherever two pieces of timber cross one another they are bound
together by black and yellow .sinnet, wound round so that the colours form hold
patterns. The doorways are closed by mats hung on sinnet, and the roof is covered
with a broad-leaved grass, with wild sugar-cane plaited on the inside, and the walls
outside with reddish-brown leaves ah nit the size and shape of Spanish chestnut leaves.
The floors are covered with mats spread on cocoanut leaves. Better mats indicate the
sleeping-place, while a hollow sunk in the floor, and a frame round it of heavy wood,
with smoke wreathing slowly upwards, mark the fireplace.
In the evening we had a present of food called a mangete, and after that a
yangona tneke, or formal yangona drinking. Yangona, or kava, is the rool of the
yangona tree, and a very important ceremony is made of drinking it. All the principal
men in the Tillage came in, and sat down on the floor at the sides and one end of
the house, while tin' Administrator it at the other end on a chair, and we round
him. A yangona howl, a big wooden basin on lour dwarf legs, with a rope attached to
one side, was broughl out and placed at the end >>\' the house furihesl from us, with
tic' rope carefully arranged so that tie- end should point towards .Mr. Thurston A
matter of particular importance is this of the rope, and we were told that in tin' old
days an\ passing between the chief and the howl, or across the rope, would have
received a finishin g touch with a club. A root of yangona, which was presented with
great ceremony, was then scraped and cut int i greal mouthfuls 1>\ one ft the men.
and handed to some young men to chew. They sat near the yangona howl at the
end, slowly munching away at their enormous mouthfuls, and when they had done this
124 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. U''' J '.
for some time, they took the chewed root out of their mouths and placed it in the
howl. Water was then added, being ladled into the howl in a cup made of coeoanut
shell, and the yangona maker commenced In-, apparently arduous labours.
Two men now began to sing, and after they had Bung a few words, the strain
was repeated by the rest, while all swayed their bodies, first in one direction, then in
another, stretching out their arms, and striking their hands together at intervals, and
all simultaneously, and ending the chorus with a sort of grunt At the same time a
tinkling was made on a drum, which consisted of a length of bamboo. Then there
was a pause for a minute or so. when the two men began again, and the rest struck
in as before.
All the time this was going on, the man at the bowl was working hard stirring
the yangona about with a swab made of fibre. When it was ready to he drunk
there was a great noise, the lali, or wooden drum, which is a piece of a big tree with a
hole dug out of it with an adze, being beaten, and conches, which look like gigantic
whelk shells, being blown. The fine deep note of these shells can be heard a great
distance. A cup of coeoanut shell was next tilled, and a man carried it, half-stooping
and half-crawling, until he came within about five feet of Mr. Thurston, when, resting
on his knees and one hand, he stretched the other with the yangona towards Mr. Thurston,
who by dint of a great stretch got hold of it and drank it oft'. Afterwards we came
in for our cup, and then the natives, hi order of precedence, except the J'oung men,
who are not allowed to drink it, as it is apt to excite them and lead to mischief.
There is, by-the-bye, a heavy tine for supplying the natives with intoxicating liquor,
which seems to have a good effect.
I had made up my mind to drink yangona, though, of course, one is not pre-
possessed in its favour by witnessing the mode of its preparation. The cup, half of an
enormous coeoanut shell, nearly full, was handed to me by the native sprawling below
me. I just saw that the liquid was thick-looking, like coffee, with a little milk in it
— sighed, breathed an inward aspiration that I might behave like a dauntless English-
man, took a deep inhalation, so as to finish it at one draught if I could, as that is
the correet thing, and went at it. I was agreeably relieved at finding it of a dean,
subacid nature, without much flavour, and finishing it, took the cup between my finger
and thumb, and gave it a little spin on the mats near my grovelling friend. A few
claps followed, which I took as applause, though, of course, they were not meant so, and
then I began to experience a rather pleasant astringent feeling in the throat. Many
Europeans are very fond of yangona, as it has a slightly exhilarating effect, and is a
decided "pick-me-up," they say, for a tired person. Two or three cups, however, produce
intoxication, if that may be called intoxication which does not attack the brain. The
head is perfectly clear and unclouded, but is made only too well aware, if it directs a
movement, that it has absolutely no control over the legs. Continued excess in yangona
drinking — and some Europeans drink half a gallon a day — sometimes destroys the eye-
sight, and usually causes a deplorable wreck of the whole system. One doctor told me
he considered persistent yangona drinking worse than the excessive use of opium or of
alcohol.
2!
12G CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Fin.
The following morning we made an earbj start, and a fine procession we were, ourselvo3
and Mr. Thompson the magistrate from Nandronga — with horses, then some halt' a
score of nativ astabulary from Suva, with the Administrator's master of ceremonies, as
I must call him, and his servant, a native who could cook a little, and about thirty
prisoners sent down with one or two constables from Fort Carnarvon as carriers. We
had to furnish ourselves with rugs and mosquito nets, native mats for sleeping on, some
clothes, and a large amount of biscuits, tinned meal and soup, bacon, whisky, and tea.
As enough provisions had to ho taken for a fortnight, and all this had to be carried
swung "ii bamboos between two men over narrow paths, often very steep, our escorl
can hardly 1"' thought excessive. We started in heavy rain, and as we left the
village we saw the yellow flowers of the cotton plant, the remains of an old plantation.
At one time everybody was to make his fortune with cotton. And this is all that
is left :
After skirting th i shore for some way, our path led inland across rather hare
undulating ground, hut presently we saw the river and village of Singatoka below us,
with its plantations of plantains and its thatched roofs, overshadowed with cocoa palms.
Here we had a, maugete presented to us. The arrival of the Administrator is greeted
by the " tama," or double grunt, and the formal clapping of hands alter it. He shakes
hands with the chief, and then we have to sit down, very often on the edge of the
raised platform surrounding a house, or on a log. Perhaps the first thing that is
offered is a young cocoanut for each of us to drink. Oh ! how dcliciously cool this
draught is after a hot ride. If the nuts are not ready, up goes an agile fellow, not
swarming, but almost, walking, up the rough bark of the bare stem, and throws them
down; then the outer rind is struck on the end of a pointed stick, and torn off with
hands and teeth, then four taps with the edge of a long knife, and a neat little piece
is cut out of the top, and it is ready. Now the women appear, with cooked yams
and taro, the root of a sort of lily (Calm/in m esc uh-n turn). How funny they look
with either a sulu or a niko, or fringe of fibre, from a few inches up to, perhaps,
eighteen inches wide, tied round them. They come bending forward, carrying the food,
put it on the ground, then fold their arms behind their backs, and go away, still
bending, as a mark of respect. Next come men with great wooden trays with cooked
pigs — enormous pigs, and little pigs, and pigs of all sorts and sizes, but all looking
ghastly. The bones of their snouts are all bare from being cooked, and huge bits of
stone and leaves have been placed inside them to keep them warm. The men bring
forward the things the women have borne in, and pile them up, and. perhaps, bring a
couple of ghastly boiled fowls, with long, headless necks, one leg resting peacefully on
its breast, and the other pointing wildly to the sky; these are for our special delecta-
tion. Very likely there are also some yangona roots. A man now comes forward
stooping, and sits down near us on his heels and presents the mangete. Our master of
ceremonies receives it with clapping of hands, and then proceeds to divide the food,
keeping a certain amount for our escort, and leaving the rest for the villagers who
have provided it. Our fellows get hold of immense chunks of pig and huge yams, and
till themselves as full as they can, eating on until we really think they are drunk
F"|.] A FIJIAN HOUSE. 1 27
with it, they In -come so stupid. What a time those prisoners had! What Fijian
would not be a prisoner in like circumstances? — for the natives do not think it much
of a disgrace to he prisoners. The natives of the village walked off with their share
to their houses.
Alter the mangete there was an inspection of the school children in the native
church We suspected that several of them were children for that occasion only, as
they must have been quit eighteen years old, but, of course, they helped to make a
show. They sang a "nieke" or sort of song, descriptive of a disease they had been suf-
fering from, and its cure by means of sulphur. From this village we followed the course
of the river Singatoka, there being a road, or, rather, a narrow footpath, all the
way. This is often bordered by, or passes through, native gardens, or plantations of
plantains or taro, and at other times runs through low hush or high grass, something
like Pampas grass, which effectually prevents one from leaving the path or taking short
cuts. In the afternoon we reached Raiwanka, a tine village with a broad "rara" —
a street or open place — in the middle, ami en each side two rows of houses, with, as
usual, plenty of cocoanuts. I shall not again describe the mangete. Suffice it to
say. we had one presented at every village we passed through, and occasionally it was
brought to us on the road when we passed near a village without entering it. At
Raiwanka we had a very good native house allotted to us. At first it seemed an in-
convenient mode of living, hut afterwards one gets used to it, and ultimately enjoys its
perfect simplicity.
One enters on hands and knees into a dark interior — I say dark, because it is
generally pretty late when one finishes the day's travel, and even at midday a house
with no windows, and only one or two xcry small entrances, seems dark after the
glare outride. Presently one discovers a big post in the centre, and two or three
wooden pillows, or rather head-rests, generally made of a piece of bamboo. We each
choose a spot to sleep upon, ami put our ho.xes near it, and the provision boxes are
placed between tin: roof-pole and the door. We get hold of a candle, and make it
stick on a box, and then we all sprawl aboul on the floor and vote what we will
have for dinner, and wait patiently while it. is cooking, or if there he a bathing-place,
as there generally is where we stop, we have a hath. Winn dinner comes we sit on
tin- floor; plates, knives, forks, ami spoons are strewn round us; and our cook brings
in preserved soup boiled and served in its own tin, then some meat treated in the same
way, with, perhaps, sonic yams and taro from the mangete ami we finish up with
bread and jam, and drink either tea. cooked in a "billy," c ia, or whisky. Alter a
while we tie up our mosquito nets, and get our rugs and turn in. We rise early the next
day, take iap, toothbrush, and even razor and looking-glass down to the river, and
perform our toilet there. Then have a cup of tea ami some hiscuits, and having packed
up, we are off We stop for breakfast about ten, or later, to take our midday rest
It. was a verv pretty scene, our leaving Raiwanka We Bhook hands with son f
tin- principal men, and then started ahead of our long line of attendants. All the
village, of course, took care to see us start, the women keeping in the background, and
I ring out of the houses, the children looking wide-eyed at us. tlie very small ones stark
128
CASSELL'S I'll I i i;l> H'E AUSTRALASIA.
II. H.
naked. A laughing, merry group from the village follows us sonic distance. We made
a short sta\ at Vunavuvundra, crossed the river, which was about up to the waist, and
then reached Matinavato, a grand pile of rocks, with a precipitous lace on one side,
from underneath which a clear, cold spring came forth The path most of the wa\ was
arched over with a sort of mulberry, a row having been planted on each side. We saw
a -rcat quantity of castor-oil plants on our way, and late in the afternoon, as we
approached the village of
Baimana, passed a very fine
banyan tree.
On entering this village
we met the magistrate from
Fort Carnarvon, who had
come down to meet us. The
chief here was the proud
owner of a rather good
heifer, about half-grown. I
suppose it was a fancy of
his, for there were no others
in the place. It was com-
pletely master of the village,
but luckily it was very quiet;
whenever it walked in any
direction, the natives, how-
ever hie' and burly, cleared
out, and it seemed very
much surprised and hurt
that we would not budge
for it, or acknowledge its rule.
Next morning there was
quite a gay scene in the
village, for wc took a phot >-
graph or two of the place,
and some of the people, in-
cluding certain of the wo-
men, understood what wc were about, and came out specially smart in consequence,
some with green garlands thrown gracefully across their shoulders, and others with
decorations of leaves over their stilus. The women, however, do not "take" very well.
I '.ei,,e- photographed is rather a. solemn thing at the best of times, and when a
Fijian woman is standing up before a white man with a (piecr instrument, and the
whole village is looking on, no wonder if she feels as if she was about to be
martyred, and loses her pleasant, genial, half-smiling expression.
A ten-mile ride under a hot sun brought us to Fort Carnarvon, where there is a
handful of native constabulary, well drilled and armed, with between two and threescore
lll'.AI) OF A FIJIAN (MALE).
Fiji.]
A BATHE.
129
prisoners. The fort is on the summit of a mound which slopes down to the
Singatoka, about two or three hundred yards off, with mountain ranges a few
away in every direction. It is surrounded with a
bamboo fence, overhung in many parts with mul-
berries, and surrounded in its turn with a ditch.
There are a good many dwellings inside the fence for
the native constables, the native officer, the prisoners,
and the magistrate, who has five houses
for his quarters, each house, however,
river
miles
i:l\ EH BATH] S
i •! 1 1 \ consisting of one room. There was a splendid
bathing-place in the river below, and as Baimana
had no such accommodation, we were vr\ glad to pay it a visit On Sunday I
wont to church in the morning. The native clergyman, or reader, had on a white
shirt, not badly washed and ironed, and a sulu A white shirt is the distinctive mark
of a teacher or clergyman here, apparently. He road the prayers and lessons in Fijian,
with -ie.it distinctness 1 should say. and read oul a hymn, each line, after he said it.
being sun-' very Loudly to a wondrous variation of the old Hundredth One of the
native constables led, and the others gave their ideas of the tune at the same time.
L30 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Fiji.
Another Sunday when I was presenl the magistrate's bulldog, Tiger, sal immediately
opposite the reading-desk, and seemed aever to take his eyrs off the preacher. I never
ire saw a dog apparently so much impressed, or so reverent in church The next day
we had a great array of school children from the villages near. As before, several were
rather advanced in years. They wire put through their paces in reading and writing
and some simple sums, which they did on slates in the orthodox fashion. They were
spread out in two long lines inside the fort, and we sat above them on the stone front,
of the house; altogether then' were about a hundred and seventy of them.
The next day the Administrator, Lieutenant Malan, the magistrate, and 1,
ed on an expedition to the top of Tomainivi I was mounted on a very old grey
horse, and had to get off and scramble up all steep bits, as 1 was afraid of knocking
him up, and I often let him help me by holding on to his tail, much to the amusement
of the natives. We crossed the river, and soon reached Matuwalu, where they sent a
man or two aloft for cocoanuts, which we soon finished. We had pigs, yangona, yams,
and sugar-cane in the mangete here. Most of the older women have their lips, and
all the space between their noses and chins, tattooed a uniform blue colour. The
men are not much given to this form of decoration, though many of them are latt id
a little about the body and limbs, but it seems to be just according to the fancy of
the individual. We saw here a man who had the bad reputation of having murdered
a whole family on a plantation not far off.
From this place we ascended by a path, from which we got, lovely views. Our
way lay through parched grass, and high stuff like Pampas grass, until we readied
the forest, which was at a height of about 1,300 feet. It was full of ferns, one sort
having fronds twenty feet long. The wild ginger is very effective amidst the other
foliage, for it has perfectly straight reddish-brown stems, and at the top great leaves
pointing upwards, these leaves being between three and four feet long and a foot broad,
and the stem and leaves together reaching a height of from twenty to perhaps thirty
feet. Then, besides sarsaparilla and shaddocks, the latter covered with the fruit, and
the ground below strewn with it in every stage, from ripeness to rottenness, there were
le. nous, caladiums, dracsenas, tree ferns, climbing ferns, rattans, various flowering shrubs,
and a great variety of ferns. We reached a height of nearly three thousand feet, but
afterwards descended some thousand feet to a stream, where we camped in the middle
of the forest. We had sent some men on in front, and they bad made us a capital
shelter of small poles, covered entirely, sides and roof, with wild ginger leaves, tied on
with creepers, and the floor strewn with grass. There were a good many men waiting
to receive us with a mangete. Some of them had their faces painted: one had all
bis face below the eyes black, with a broad streak of black down the middle of his
forehead: another appeared with his nose painted red, red spots on his forehead, and
the i - est of his face black. Most of the men shave ; they take a great deal more
trouble with their hair than any other men I ever met, and are very particular about
polishing up their arm-rings of shell, which they wear just above the elbow; and there
is a great deal of quiet swagger in the way some of them walk. I was told that they
shave with flakes of glass, and the following petition, which I saw on a slate, was
Fin.] EVERY MAX HIS OWN HAIRDRESSER. 131
translated to me: — "Be of a good mind like unto a (love, and give me a razor to
shave myself, as it hurts me to shave with glass." A Fijian's hair is a study. And one
such varieties of ways of dressing it. Many have huge, shock heads of hair, but
must carefully combed, sticking out straight away from the head all round, and beauti-
fully trimmed at the ends. Others have the same arrangement in front, while behind
a number of little corkscrew curls hang down to the neck, each tied at the end.
Yet others have their hair sticking out in all directions, but hi locks, like locks of
wool Then there are so many colours of hair, from red to dark brown, and sometimes,
owing to the use of lime, two or three tints are to be seen on one head. Very often
you notice a man or woman with hair like a well-powdered flunkey's, being plastered
e to the head with lime, while others have a poudrd appearance.
The next morning we started pretty early, and found it pleasantly cool in the
forest. We had lunch at a place where we found natives waiting for us with a mangete.
Opportunity was taken to photograph the chief Rawabalavu, who looks well enough
pleased at the operation, and perhaps at the compliment of being included in the same
picture as the Administrator. These natives had come from the town of Xalmtautau,
one of the last strongholds of the "rebel" mountaineers. All the way occasional
glimpses of the valleys on each side below us, and also of distant mountains, were
to be had. We were in the forest nearly all day, and then went down a steep decline
to the Singatoka river, and came to the little town of Nandrow, a village of some
score of houses. We had placed at our service a small house, which was rather
difficult to get into, and still more difficult to get out of, the entrance was so narrow,
and not. more than two feet nine inches high. One could manage to crawl in, hut
in cia\\ line out, the Hour being one or two feet above the level of the ground out-
side, curious gymnastics had to he resorted to. This town lies right at the bottom ol
a gorge with an ahrupl face of rock opposite, ami the river makes a great noise.
The bub' (or chief) is a tine, tall old man, who walks aboul holding a stall' about,
seven feel long.
Next day. up we had to go some seven hundred feet by an excessively Steep path;
the horses we had sent, round ly a long detour. We reached Nangatangata about
ten, hut did not, enter the village. It, was amusing to watch an incipient flirtation
between a girl from the village and oik' of our attendants. Me gave her a tine reeking
chunk of pig and some yam from the mangete in a banana leaf, and as she took it
she put her hand below and pressed his. The children were much amused and
astonished at, the horses, and were delighted when we Opened their mouths and showed
then- teeth. Probably no horses had been in this part before. After going through the
forest for some way, we descended to Na Bilia, a village consisting of thirteen houses,
which, like most, of the houses about here, look like small, had haystacks, for they are
thatched to the ground, and are nearly round, hut with the sides slightly flattened, and
generally a little raised on stones. In the mangete here were some howls of fresh-
water prawns and small fish, mixed up and floating in liquid ; hut. dearlj as we all
loved prawns, the whole thing looked too nasty for us, so I contented myself with
sitting under an orange-tree and drinking quantities of water. Another steep pull
L32 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE At'STRALASIA. [Fiji.
up a hill that Looked impossible for horses, but which they managed to climb,
although it consisted of a slippery rock tilted sideways, and then the forest was again
reached. Here Mr. Thurston found what he believed to be a new variety of fig, some
of the bunches of which are over five feet long, with a small, insipid fruit about, an
inch in diameter, some red and ripe, and others green. The tree grows to a height of
from twenty to thirty feet.
After a rest, at, Xa Matakula we started for the base of Tomainivi, leaving our
horses, and only taking food for a day or two. We had only about three miles to do,
but it was up and down a steep hill through the forest. After going about half the
distance we had a beautiful view of the valley below us, with wooded hills all round,
and the highest point of Tomainivi opposite and well above us, though we were up
some three thousand feet. The only sign of man anywhere to be seen was the little
grass hut they had prepared for us a mile or so further on. After a very steep
descent, we reached a stream falling over rocks like a mountain stream in Scotland, and
then crossed a level plain of grass which had been formerly cultivated for taro, ami
arrived at our camping place, where the men soon made shelters for themselves.
Next morning we were off by six, and after half a mile in the open entered the
forest. We found a very rare climbing pineapple and a new creeper with bell-shaped
flowers of a waxy white, some of them with a pink tinge. A path had been cut for us
nearly to the top of the mountain, which we reached about nine o'clock. The forest
was very thick all the way to the summit, which we found was about five thousand
feet above the level of the sea. It was rather foggy at first; but after breakfast, which
we took there, the fog cleared off, and gave us a tine view on three sides — in one
direction right away t<> sea, where we could make out several islands, including
the Yasawas and Mamanuea, while nearer we had magnificent views over the
island, and saw several distant peaks, such as Mount Pickering, Mount Evans, and
M ni-T.ido. Before descending we drank the Queen's health, and formally named the
highest point of Tomainivi Mount Victoria We got back to our camp late in the
afternoon.
We were off early next day, and breakfasted at Xa Matakula. A native had
picked up one of our empty green cartridge eases, and put it through the hole in his
ear, and it was no doubt admired as a pleasing variety in ear ornaments. The native
eye perhaps tires of seeing old round tin match-boxes, and occasionally small empty
medicine bottles used as ear ornaments. Xa. Matakula is at the head of a charming valley
of park-like ground with hanging woods on the slopes on each side, and the valley
itself lias great stretches of grass, interspersed with trees here and there, and with
forests at t!ie northern end. As it is at a considerable elevation it would make a
splendid sanatorium for Fiji. In crossing a little bridge — made of three or four poles
with earth on them — over a nearly dry watercourse, my horse, which I was leading, put
his foot through, and then tumbled over about six feet bcloAV on his back into mud
and water, but luckily was not hurt. Passing through the forest for three or four
miles, and several times crossing and recrossing a nearly dry stream edged with ferns,
we emerged into the open at a dip in the top of a high range of mountains, which
F'j'.l LEVUKA. 135
a ccrt.;i in position, and at others every other performer would fall into an almost sitting
posture, while the intermediate ones would lift high their clubs, and hold them up a
if about to brain a conquered foe, both sots staying perfectly motionless for a while,
when they would change to some other graceful movement.
The next day our party separated 1 could not tear myself away so easily from
uncivilised life, and so, while the rest of the party went, hack to Suva, I turned inland
once more to spend a little more time in the Tholo district, and returned to Nailanga a
month later, when tin; manager of the Now Zealand Sugar Company's plantation at this
place was obliging enough to allow me to go in their S.S. Rarawei to Levuka The trade'
wind was dead against us, hut. it was pleasantly cool in consequence. We anchored for
the night at Ellington, close to the mainland, and to leeward of a small island, and,
finding tin- night hot, slept on deck, sheltered with an awning. The next day we
entered Vita Levu Bay, and were much interested in seeing a fish-weir which the
natives had put up. There were two long fences of reeds eight feet high fastened to
posts; these were about a hundred yards long, and converging to a point thus, A. At
the apex was a circular fence, making a trap about twelve yards across, into which the
fish were guided hy the fences, but from which they could not easily escape.
In the afternoon we approached the island of Ovalau, and soon after saw Levuka,
a much prettier town than Suva, The hills rise to a considerable height immediately
behind it, leaving very little room for houses between them and the shore; and Ha'
whole u covered with trees to the water's edge, the n Te at number of cocoa palms and
breadfruit trees looking very pretty. There is a road all along the shore, and even at
low water the sea comes up to it. On the land side of the road are the shops and
houses and hotels, while a little to the right and left of the town are native villages,
and to your right, as you look seaward from tin; town, the old Government House, but
it is round a projecting space of mountain, so that you cannot sec it from the town.
Levuka seemed to me a cooler place than Suva, as at the former place the trade wind
blows directly ashore, while at Suva it blows rather along the coast They have a
pleasant club here, righl down by the sea Levuka was the capita] of Fiji until recently,
when it was supplanted by Suva, although Levuka is much more centrally situated.
After a, short stay. I went on to Suva. On the voyage we saw the greater part of the
hull of the Syria on a coral reef, with her stern reclining a few yards further ot't.
She was i olie ship, and when she was wrecked about fifty coolies perished; close by
the sharp black tin of a big shark appeared above the water as he swam slowly along.
A FIJIAN LAGOON (MANGO).
YASAWA-I-LAU.
The Start — Fijian Hospitality — A Beautiful Cave — A Weird Scene — More Caves — Late Dinner — " Melees."
/^\NE of the most charming expeditions which the traveller in Fiji can make is to a
^-^ group of islands called Yasawa-i-lau, about forty miles from Ba, in Vita Levu (the
vowels are pronounced as in Italian, and the last letter, as the diphthong in the English
word "loud"). We went in two cutters, one Act Vulori {The Flora), of about ten tons,
the other, the Kathleen, somewhat larger. They were decked boats, with tiny cabins,
and the crews were Fijian. Our party consisted of Mr. Alexander Eastgate (whom wo
called the Commodore, as he commanded the squadron), Mr. Le Hunte, Mi - . Marriott,
in)- sister, and myself. We dropped down at the mouth of the Ba river one evening,
so as to be ready for an early start next morning, when we had a delicious sail across,
and cruised about among the islands, passing exquisite little bays, edged with gleaming
coral sand, the luxuriant vegetation growing right down to it, and the native houses
peeping out from groves of bananas and cocoanut palms. We dropped anchor off one
of these native towns about five o'clock, and went ashore, where we found houses
ready for us, a native magistrate having landed beforehand to prepare the inhabitants
for our arrival. In all our travels we found the Fijians very hospitable. They always
prepared houses for us with plenty of clean mats, and would bring a present of food, Le.,
pigs, cooked whole, with piles of yams, besides dainties, such as boiled chicken, tare,
bananas, and cocoanuts ; in general, the women would bring the food in procession,
crouching as they walked, in token of respect.
The next day we embarked about ten o'clock, and went to another island for the
Yasawa-i-i.au.]
A WEIRD SCENE.
1.S7
night, and on the third morning made a very early start for the one containing
the caves, of which we had heard .so much. Having landed, and while breakfast was
being prepared, we went to see one cave that was close by, a most beautiful one, quite
Gothic in structure — paving, arches, and pinnacles in the Early English style; at the
bottom clear, blue-green water, of great depth. The Eijians at mice jumped in, and
began swimming and diving, and one could see them when quite near the bottom, so ex-
quisitely clear was the water. The cave was a very large one, with entrances from it
into Others; and when the natives shrieked and groaned in these adjoining caverns, we
could bear the voices dying away, and sounding very demoniacal. Altogether, the scene
was quite weird, when peopled with dusky figures, either in the water, or clambering
about the rocks and jumping from great heights into the water — the highest leap was
over forty feet. They generally come down feet foremost, dividing the water with them,
instead of with the hands,
as one is accustomed to see
done. The light came from
an opening very high up,
but we could not sec it
from where wo stood.
After gazing our till, we
returned to breakfast, and
enjoyed a native dish called
loti, which our Commodore
had got a party of men to
come over and make for us,
bringing the necessary im-
plements and materials in
their canoe. It was brewed
in a huge "go-ashore," as
tho Maoris call it, or three-
legged iron pot, is stirred
with tho stem of a cocoanut
leaf, is poured out with a
ladle made of a cocoanut
shell lashed to a reed, and is
served in banana leaves laid
on trays of plaited cocoanut
leaf. The kitchen was the
seashore, so that the scene
was quite picturesque. The
loti is made with bananas and cocoanuts, and is
very delicious. After breakfast we stalled to climb
the hill, in quest of more caves, and a \< rv rough
and steep climb it was 0V6X SCOria, making us \, i\
L38 ( \sm:i.i.-s picturesque austealasia. [yasawa-i-lao.
hot, and, therefore, most grateful for the cool shelter of the caves when we reached
them, and for draughts of cocoanut milk from the nuts which the natives had thought-
fully carried up. The first cave we came to was like the interior of a splendid church,
with fine arches, niches for saints, a magnificent pulpit, side chapels, tombs, places for
holy water, &c. It was not difficult, even, for the fancy to discover gas-pipes in
the roots of the haka-trcc (a sort of banyan), which ran perfectly straight down the
walls, and along the ground. There was also a long creeper, banging clear from the
roof, which did for the bell-rope. The walls and groined roof were of white, tinged
in parts with blue and green Some places looked like a bridecake, lavishly iced, with
the sugar running over.
From this cavern, we made our way to another through passages in which we had
to crawl, one, indeed, being so very narrow that it was a mercy none of its were Stout
This second cave was a very lofty one, and the bright light shining through a rift in
the roof, a great way up, gave the effect of moonlight or limelight: indeed we, some
of us unintentionally, grouped ourselves quite dramatically, two of the party reclining
on a bank of the lovely white marble-like formation, under the full strength of the
light, whilst a group of natives lurked close by in shadow. After leaving this cave, we
had a fearful scramble up steep rocks, with very insecure foothold; indeed, in cue
place, 1 was panic-struck when told to climb over a shoulder of reck overhanging a
steep descent, and shrank into a cleft, feeling I must end my days there, being unable
to retreat or advance, but the Fijians arc ready and clever, and thej seen gol me over
the perdous place, some hoisting me up, and one crouching down so that I could make
a step of his back. After this clamber we sat t a height nearlj equal to thai of Cape Pillar. This is named Tasman's Island,
and as we round it we see a series of basaltic columns rising directlj from the water,
and Looking so graceful anil fragile that their endurance of wind ami weather seems
almost marvellous. The sight of Cape Pillar and Tasman's Island is singularly
striking, ami as we proceed westward the same character of rugged majesty prevails.
Sunn we pass the mouth "f a deep bay encircled l>\ mountains, which look blue in
the distance. This is tbr far-famed Port Arthur, associated In the minds ol men with
142 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. IHo..m:t.
all that was most hateful in the history of Van Diemen's Land, at the time when the
island was one vasl prison. Passing the mouth of the bay, we conic to another head-
land, correspondent to Cape Pillar, and similar in character. This is Cape Raoul, 750
feet high. Here also a beautiful set of basaltic rocks extends outwards from the cape,
and tonus one of the noteworthy sights of the southern coast. The beauty of these
rocks was somewhat impaired in the early part of the year 1884 by the wanton incon-
siderateness of the captain of one of the ships of the Australian squadron, who, by way
of exercising his men in gunnery practice, directed them to aim at the heads of these
columns. Fortunately they had been repeatedly photographed before this stupid outrage
was committed, so that we know how they used to look while they were still
uninjured.
A little less than two hours' run from Cape Raoul brings us to a small wooded
island rising high out of the water, and known officially as Franklin Island, but more
familiarly as Betsy's Island.* It lies near the head of Storm Bay, and at the mouth of
Frederick Henry Fay, close to a strangely-shaped promontory known as South Arm.
This island was the private property of Lady Franklin till about twenty years ago.
In those days a mania prevailed for the acclimatisation of all sorts of English birds and
animals, useful and useless. An Acclimatisation Society was formed Some of the older
members of it had been in correspondence with Lady Franklin ever since her husband
ceased to be Governor of Tasmania. At their suggestion she was duced to make
a present of the island to the Society. Hares, partridges, pheasants, and other I irds
and animals dear to the sportsman were introduced, and the little island was soon
overrun with their offspring. An old Scotchman was placed in charge as gamekeeper,
and for a while all lovers of sport rejoiced in the existence of a preserve so well
suited, apparently, for supplying live game to all parts of the colony. The affair, how-
ever, proved a failure, and the Acclimatisation Society is now remembered chiefly in
connection with the names of two men, of whom one was an enthusiast in natural
history, and the other no less an enthusiast in all that related to field sports. Both
of these gentlemen are now dead. One of them was a son of John AVoodcock
Graves, the Cumberland poet, who wrote the most spirited and popular hunting-song
in the English language, "D'ye ken John Peel?" Old sportsmen who have heard this
song sung by their fathers more than sixty years ago will be surprised and interested
to learn that the author was still alive and residing in Hobart in the year L886. He
died in the month of August of that year, and although he was not, as the newspaper
obituaries stated, in his hundredth year, he had reached the ripe age of ninety-one.
A short distance to the west of Franklin Island is a lighthouse, popularly
known as the Iron Pot. The Government have now given it the more euphonious
name of the Derwent Lighthouse. It is erected on a smooth reef of low shelving
rocks, and serves as a guard against a very serious danger to ships entering the
estuary of the Derwent. Here it is that Storm Bay may be considered as ending : and
from this point onwards the scenery changes its character, as we sail up the Derwent
* The correct name is Betts's Island, the first owner having been a person of the name of Betts.
Popular usage has sanctioned a different" spelling.
Hobabt.i A GENERA! Vli:\V. I }:{
estuary. Due west of the lighthouse lies Denne's Point, the northern headland oi
Bruny Island. Between Bruny and the mainland lies D'Entrecasteaux Channel On
the further side of the channel, in a line with Denne's Point, and overlooking it from
the top of seme commanding cliffs, are the bouses of the two pilots, who act under
the authority of the Marine Board. No vessel can pass the lighthouse unseen by them,
and it, is their duty, in turns, to board everj ship entering the Derwent, with the
exception of those strainers or coasting vessels which bold exemptions fr pilotage.
From this part onward the Derwent is about two miles wide' up to the imme-
diate vicinity of Huhart. The town itself is not visible till we get within aboul a
mile of it, when a bend in the beach-line brings it lull in view. It is beautifully
situated on the lower slopes of Mount Wellington The visitor who approaches it by
water gees "it his right hand a series of hays and inlets backed ly a line of bigh
wooded hills, which terminate beyond the town in one of commanding beight and
beautiful contour, known as Mounl Direction. Close to this is another of peculiar
shape, called the Quoin, and these, with a third named Grass-tree Hill, close the
view tn the right, as seen in our approach by water. Then, carrying our eye to the
left, wo sec Governmenl Eouse standing on a bright green promontory, which shuts
off the view of the higher bends of the river. This is a remarkably fine building,
flirted of the excellent freestone of the colony. It is milch the hands, n nest, of
all the vice-regal residences of Australia, though not nearly so large as thai of
Melbourne Immediately to the left of Government Eouse rises the Queen's Domain,
or People's Park, which, as seen from the water, presents the appearance of a hill of
considerable height but gentle slope, wooded to the summit Then in the foreground
ee the wharves and shipping, and at the hack of them, <>n the edge of the
Domain, Christ's College, popularly known as the High School, standing at the head
of a line, sloping lawn of two acre-, surrounded ly beautiful shrubberies; and above
the college the new houses of Glebe Town, piled in apparent confusion, and standing
out white and bright against a dark background In the foreground, as the eye
travels to the left, we have a foresl of mast>, and in the background Trinity Church,
with Perpendicular Gothic tower, standing on the apex of one of the numerous hills
whirl nstilute the site of Ih.liait, Thi, is the only rhinvh in the island which
rejoices in the possession of a peal of bells. further to the left we see in the
foreground a mass of line public buildings, and in the background a series of hills, up
which the streets of the suburbs seem to run almost into tin- regi f cloudland
The view is closed to the left ly Mount Wellington, rising more than 4,000 feet above
i!i lea level.
Such is the aspect of Hobart a- seen from the hay. A still higher appreciation
of the beaut] of its situation may 1 btained by crossing the river to Bellerive in
one of the little steamers which ply thither at half hour intervals. From this point ol
view Mount Wellington forms the background, rising far above the highest parts ol
the city, which we now see encircling a deep and lovelj bay. Tin- i- a sight on
which the eve can least for hours without satiety. Hut if we wish to know what
the town itself is like, there is no view to be compared with that which is obtainable
14-i
CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA.
[HORABT.
from the terrace of Christ's College. All the handsomest and largest public buildings
are seen close at hand from this position; and for a town of its size, Hobart has a
large share of handsome public edifices. The college is so situated that the view all
round from its terrace forms a magnificent panorama. We here face the bay, and in
consequence have Mount Wellington on the extreme right. The range already
mentioned as lying at the back of Sandy Bay stretches forward on the right till it
terminates in Mount Nelson. Nearer, and still on the right, is St. George's Hill,
covered with houses, and surmounted by a church, with a tall tower terminating in a
sort of cupola. Still somewhat to our right, and much nearer, we look down upon a
mass of handsome public buildings, as already mentioned. Most of these are of the
Italian style of architecture, and built of the fine freestone of the colony. In the
immediate vicinity ot Hobart an admirable freestone of slightly yellowish tinge is
obtainable in large quantities; and at Bellerive, on the opposite side of the river, there
are quarries of a perfectly white stone, which has been largely used for building purposes
in the other colonies, as well as in Tasmania. The view in full front commands the
bay, which here seems to be shut in by South Arm and Betsy's Island. The
panorama terminates to the left in Kangaroo Point (Bellerive), on the other side of
the river, and in the Domain Hill on the Hobart side. Domain Hill rises close to the
left of the college grounds, and shuts off the view on that side.
While, however, the view from the college terrace is that which shows Hobart
to best advantage, it is not the one which best enables ns to see the plan of the town
and the direction of the hills. To get a comprehensive
bird's-eye view we must ascend one or other of the streets
( which run up the sides of Knocklofty, a hill on the west
of the city, one of the lower spurs of Mount Wel-
lington. Several of the streets of Hobart run parallel to
one another, and terminate in steep ascents on the side of
this hill. From the top of Liverpool Street or
Goulborn Street, or, best of all, from Lansdown
< Irescent, which
lies high up on
the side of the
hill, one gets a
fine and exten-
sive view, com-
prehending the
whole of the city
and the harbour.
( >n a tine day the
white buildings,
the deep blue
water, and the
THE FRANKLIN MONUMENT, FRANKLIN SQUARE. OTOWn WOOUe
HOBA]
THE STREETS.
145
hills beyond Bellerive, add to the other beauties of the scene the charm which results
from contrast in colour.
The streets in Hobart are not so wide as those of Melbourne and of other Austra-
lasian towns of later date. They cross one another in nearly parallel sets, but not
absolutely at right angles. The extremely uneven character of the ground has from the
first prevented the monotonous regularity which characterises so many colonial towns.
The busiest thoroughfares of the city are Liverpool and Elizabeth Streets. Must of
the best shops in the town are to be found hi these two streets. At its eastern end
Liverpool Street runs out into the Domain, while on the west it runs far up into the
hills, and terminates in a series of villa residences. Elizabeth Street crosses it almost
at right angles, extending to the wharves on the south and far out along the Main
Road to the north. The name of Main Road is given to the very fine coach read,
nM Wl»llWimWWB«llHmitlMl , «PMIMH»tCHBWrc:ilW' ■ I'M. I 1 ' '". rcniHUWMHIMIF B
THE HIGH SCHOOL.
made by convict labour, which runs from Eobart to Launceston, and passes through
several of the principal townships of the island.
Of all the streets in the town, Macquarie Street is especially noticeable to the
lover of the picturesque. It is a streel of line public buildings and handsome private
resiliences. It runs from the Queen's Domain up to the foot of Mount Wellington.
From the lower end of it one can see more than a mile in a straight line, until the
view is shut in by a slight bend, which seems to lead into a region of gardens and
cultivated woodland before it is closed by the mountain background. At the Domain
end it crosses the railway and the Town Creek, between which lie the gas company's
works. A little beyond the creek, and on the right side, we pass the New Market, a sort
of arcade running from Macquarie Street into Collins Street. On the left, proceeding
upwards, we have the Royal Society's Museum, a handsome stone building, containing
good collections of all thai one expects to find in a museum, together with a \.
In front of the pedestal is a large bronze cannon captured during the Crimean War.
and presented to the colony by the British Government. Just beyond Franklin
Square, and on the same side of the street, are the Tost Office and other Government
buildings, containing the offices of all beads of departments. On the opposite side of
the road is the Church of England Cathedral, a massive stone building, in a somewhat
incomplete condition, since it has neither chancel nor tower.
We now come to a region of banks and offices, and a little way further on to a
house which has an historical interest, not only as being itself one of the oldest
houses in the colony, but as immediately adjoining the spot on which stood the very
first dwelling erected in Hobart. It is a tall, flat-faced house, of a style of domestic
architecture common in England about the beginning of the present century. For
many years it was the principal hotel in Hobart, and though it has not been used as
such for fully thirty years, the name of Macquarie Hotel still clings to it by per-
sistent tradition. It is now a private residence. Many persons who were alive within
the last ten years remembered when this was the only house on its own side of
the sti'eet.
There are two other objects of historical interest in this street. One is the
Hutchins School, noteworthy in the history of the colony as the first grammar-school
established in Tasmania; the other, nearly a mile further on, and at the extreme end
of Macquarie Street, is the Cascade Brewery — important not merely in the history of
Tasmania, but in that of Australia at large, as the first brewery erected in any of the
Australian colonies. It is of this that Sydney Smith speaks in a clever article on
Australia, published in The Edinburgh Review in 1823. "What two ideas," he says,
"are more inseparable than Beer and Britannia' What event more awfully important
to an English colony than the erection of its first brewhouse? And yet it required
in Van Diemen's Land the greatest solicitation to the Government and ail the
influence of Mr. Bigge to get it effected."
The above passage, indeed, gives but a faint notion of the hard battle which the
founder of the brewery had to fight against the Government of the colony before he
Hobakt.1 GOVERNMENT HOUSE. 147
was enabled to take possession of a suitable site and to obtain the water privilege
essential to Ins operations. His life was an eventful one. A native of France, dri ei
thence in early life by the terrors of the Revolution; Mr. Degraves took refuge in
England became a naturalised subject, then a colonist, and ultimately the founder of
the most famous brewery in the Australian colonies. The original building has long
given place to a handsome, massive edifice of grey stone, most picturesquely situated
at the foot of a richly-wooded hill, which forms one "I' the lower slopes of Mount
Wellington.
.Mention has already been made of the Queen's Domain. This, the chief re-
creation-ground of the city, is situated on the eastern side of it, between the town
and the Derwent, with a frontage looking out <>u the hay. Suppose a pear sliced
Lengthwise from the stalk, and one of the halves placed on its Hat side — that half pear
would give a tolerably correct notion of the general contour of the Domain; the
smaller end heing the one nearest the city, and the larger end representing the
wooded height A road runs round this hill near its base. Following the road, you
come back to your starting-point, after a delightful drive of about a mile and a half
tliroiiv.il a wooded region, sufficiently open to show a charming succession of views.
The part of the road along the river-side' is on a lower level than the portion which
overlooks tin' town. Going out by the lower road, anil enjoying the view of the bright
blue waters of the Derwent, which is here about a mile wide, we soon arrive at the
entrance gates of Government House.
Thirty years ago the residence of the Governor of Tasmania was a long, low
wooden building situate in Macquarie Street, running across the end of Elizabeth
Street, so as to shut off the view of the hay, and, with its garden, occupying the
whole space included in the sites of Franklin Square and the Town Hall. The present
building was commenced during the period of exceptional prosperity which succeeded
the discovery of gold in Victoria, and was completed in the year 1858, Sir Henry Fox
Young being Governor at the time. Its architectural beauty deserves great praise.
The hall-room, dining-room, and drawing-room will not easilj he forgotten by anyone
who has seen them, and the gardens, st retching down to the river, owe SOmethh
their beauty to the g 1 taste of each successive Governor. Following the Domain
Road for a short distance, we come to the Royal Society's Gardens, also called tho
Botanical Gardens. They immediately adjoin the gardens of Government House, and
are beautifully situated on the slope of the Domain, between the road and the i
The Main Line Railway runs through the gardens near the waterside, and is crossed
i ornamental bridge. The -rounds are well kept They are planted with trees.
Bowers, and fruit from everj part of the world, and are under the management of the
Royal Society of Tasmania, a society established in L844 for the purpose of developing
and illustrating the natural history, the productions, and the physical character of the
island Great taste has been shown in laying out the grounds; and for the ace mo-
dation of the public numerous garden seats have been placed in positions which
command lovely views of the hioad. hhie Derwent, with its hrown background ot
wooded hills.
L48
I \"i:i.L's PICTl RESQl i: A.TJSTB LLASIA.
[HoBUIT.
Following the Domain Road Erom the gardens, we find it rising gradually, till it
has rounded the broader end of the hill. Here we gel a magnificent view of the
valley of the Derwent, extending many miles, till it is shut in by hills looking faintly
blue in the far distance. Saving rounded the end of the hill, we arrive at a gate,
which leads out inwards Newtown, one of the suburbs of Eobart. A little way outside
this gate we sit a handsome private residence, with a tine garden and grounds. This
belongs t" the family df the Hon. T. D. Chapman, by whom it was built, and who
died here suddenly in the early part of the year 1884 For more than thirty years
Mr. Chapman had been one of the most prominent and distinguished of Tasmanian
legislators. Before the introduction of constitutional government he had been amongst
the most active opponents of the transportation system, and from the time when the
Parliamentary system was established in Tas-
mania, Mr. Chapman was always a leader, either
on the Ministerial or the Opposition side of the
House. He held office in several administrations,
and no man could be named who has occupied
such a conspicuous position in the political his-
tory of the colony, or who has so influenced its
legislation.
Proceeding past the gate just mentioned,
but not through it, we soon arrive at the highest
point of the Domain Road The slojie
is now downwards. On our right we
catch frequent glimpses of the town
through openings in the trees. Ere
,'r TASMANIA.
THE ENVIRONS OF HOBART.
Mount Wellington — Cook's Monument — A Magnificent Prospect — The Pinnacle — "The Organ Pipes" — Lost
on the Mountain — The Wellington Falls— Brown's River — Kingston — Queenborough — The Bonnet Hill —
Mi mnt Nelson — Mount Direction — The Largest Man in the World — Risdon — A "Rupert of Debate'' —
Kangaroo Point and Bellerive — Mount Rumney — Newtown — Ehvick Racecourse — A Landslip — Austin's
Ferry — Bridgewater Causeway — Newtown and Cornelian Bays.
VERY prorninenl amongsl the surroundings of Hobart, both for beauty and for gran-
deur, is Mount Wellington There are other mountains in Tasmania which rise to a
greater height above the sea, but there is not one which looks so lofty. Its lower slopes
extend to the water's edge, and thus its whole height of 4,166 feet is seen at a glance,
and no part of its grandeur is lost, by any imperceptibly-ascending approaches. It is
generally the first object of interest to visitors, and no one willingly leaves the city
without having made the ascent of the mountain The distance from the Post Office
to the summit is about seven miles. The toil of the ascent lias been much lessened
by the construction of the Huon Road, since by it one can drive nearly tour miles, and
save the effort of scaling a very steep hill. The old ascent was along Macquarie Street,
past the Cascade brewery, and on by some wood-cutters' tracks. To a g 1 pedestrian
tins is still the most interesting way of seeing the mountain, since it leads through
some magnificent forest land containing fine specimens of the giant eucalyptus, tor which
.Mount Wellington is famous. But since the construction of the Euon Road this i
of ascent has been little used.
To enjoy the excursion thoroughly, a day should be chosen which seems likely to
be fine but not very hot The starl should be made as soon as possible after breakfast
Luncheon baskets should be provided Then, having made all requisite preparations, we
drive out to the end of Davey Street, a distan »f al I a mile, and emerge upon the
lluon Road This runs along the mountain side, with a gradient of one foot in fifty,
is admirably constructed, and is a fine specimen of engineering skill A drive of about
150 CASSELI/S PICTI'IiESiirE ATTSTRAT.ASTA I rvn
three miles brings us to a wayside hostelry, known as the Fern-tree Tun. Here the
vehicles may be left, and, taking our luncheon-baskets, we follow a track leading to the
waterworks, whence the city receives its copious supply of fresh, clear water. Here is seen
a structure popularly designated "Cook's Monument," It, is not, however, a monument of
the great navigator, nor, in fact, of anyone else, but a memorial structure, recording
the inauguration in the year 1861 of the waterworks and reservoir constructed by the
Corporation of Hobart, during the .Mayoralty of Mr. Henry Cook. It is situated in a
beautiful grove of fern-trees, known as the Bower. Here are benches and roughly-
constructed tables, eminently convenient for picnic parties. A finger-post indicates the
commencement of the "Mountain Road." It is a steep path, quite impracticable for
vehicles, though not absolutely so for a well-mounted horseman. On gaining the
summit of the first acclivity, we arrive at a tolerably level bit of road. Proceeding
along this for about a quarter of a mile, we come to a steep much more fatiguing than
the last. Several breathless halts will generally be demanded before the top of this
second acclivity is reached. We are now at the part known as "The Springs"; and by
this time the exertion of the walk will probably have produced a craving for a draught
of the bright, tempting water which here gurgles over white pebbles in a narrow channel.
From this part of the mountain-side a wonderful panorama meets the eye. No
description can do justice to it. In front and away to the left is seen the winding
course of the noble Derwent — now diminished in the distance to a mere streamlet,
now spreading out into a lake, and anon peeping out in azure patches among the
countless hills and mountains extending tier after tier into the faint blue of the far
distance. Plains green with verdure, and dotted with villages and homesteads, are to be
seen at intervals, while the city itself nestles far below at the foot of the mountain ;
and away to the right we look over and beyond the bay, and see the open ocean sloping
upward to the line of the horizon. Near " The Springs " is a hut occupied by an old
couple, from whom cooking utensils, plates, and teacups can be hired if we wish to
take our luncheon here on our way up, or a cup of tea on our way down. Proceeding
from the hut along the watercourse, we are not long in arriving at the last of the
steep ascents. A resolute effort soon brings us to the top of this, and here we find a
wooden structure with a heavy sloping roof, covered with turf and brushwood. This
is known as the ice-house. It contains snow gathered from the mountain-top during
the winter months, and tightly packed, to be used by the confectioners in Hobart
in the preparation of ice-creams. Just beyond the ice-house stretches a vast plain,
consisting of enormous rounded boulders firmly wedged together. This is the far-
famed "Ploughed Field." It requires some care in crossing, since it is often necessary
to jump from one boulder to another: but there is no danger of serious accidents
After it is crossed, there is a long but easy ascent to the wide table-land at the
summit. Nothing in the appearance of the mountain has prepared us to suspect the
existence of such a plain at its top, and the sight of it always comes as a surprise to
those who make the ascent for the first time.
The soil of this elevated plain is soft and spongy. It strikes cold to the feet, even
in the warmest weather, though at this elevation the air is never very hot The cold
OF HOUART. )
THE ORGAN PIPES.'
157
moisture of the turf is due to the melted snow. For nearly half the year snow
lies unmelted on tin' top of the mountain, ami for some distance down its sides.
and it is this which keeps the springs running, and renders the supply of water
continuous. Keeping near the edge of the table-land for about a mile, we come to the
\iiy highest point of the mountain. It, is known as "The Pinnacle," and is marked by a
square pile of logs, which can easily be climbed by men, and without much difficulty
by any ladies who are anxious to feel that they have "done" the mountain thoroughly.
k \\i. LROO POINT, PEOM HOBAHT.
Tic pili' of logs was erected as a landmark b\ ill.- men engaged in the firsl trigono-
metrical survey of the island. Not far from the base of the pinnacle is an abrupt and
deep precipice, where, in ancienl days, part of the mountain must have fallen away
laying bare a perpendicular fai f rockj columns, known a- "The Organ Pipes," This
forms oi E the most marked peculiarities of the mountain as seen bom below; but
we can scarcely form, even approximately, an estimate of the heighl of the columns till
we look down ami see lmw \.rv I. if below tis lie ['he Ploughed field'' and other
parts of the mountain at the fool of the precipice.
The view from the pinnacle is bewildering from its extent, but is scarcely equal
158 CASSEIX'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Erviroot
in beauty and interest to the one which we obtain trom "The Springs." Distance does
in it always lend enchantment to the view. It will sometimes happen that a hank of
clouds lies between the top of the mountain and its lower slopes, intercepting the
view beneath, while the atmosphere above is quite unclouded It will even chance
at times that showers tall from those clouds while the sun is shining brightly on the
summit ; and on such occasions we see the curious phenomenon of a rainbow tar down
beneath our feet. It is this descent of cloud which s dimes causes persons to lose
their way on the mountain side. What is cloud at a distance is dense toe; when one
is actually in it. Even on good roads there is nothing so bewildering as tog; and in
the perplexing labyrinth of forest tracks the attempl to rind one's way is hopeless
when the mist has descended on the mountain.
Occasionally a member of an excursion party gets left behind, and does not return
at nightfall, or some schoolboys go up the mountain and have not returned home by
the next morning. In such cases search parties are organised, a code of signals is
arranged, and an energetic search instituted. This is generally successful: but it will
happen at times that the wanderer has unconsciously passed to the back of the
mountain, and emerges, to his great surprise, at New Norfolk, or on the northern side
at Bridgewater, or on the southern side at the Huon. It is many years since any-
one has actually perished through losing his way on the mountain. The last case of
the sort was that of a Dr. Smith, who hail taken a passage to Hobart as surgeon on
board the ship Derwentwater. He went up the mountain on the 23rd of January,
L858, in company with some of his shipmates, but was missing when they returned
His companions went in search of him next day. The mountain tracks were not
nearly so well defined or so well known then as they have since become, and when
two days had elapsed without bringing any news of the wanderer, the whole community
became alarmed. Numerous search parties were organised by persons well acquainted
with the mountain. The Freemasons especially bestirred themselves in the matter,
since Dr. Smith was one of the fraternity. The search was continued till the 28th
of the month. On that day his dead body was found near the edge of "The Ploughed
Field," where he had perished from fatigue and exposure. A small monumental structure
marks the spot where he last drew breath, but his remains were brought down from
the mountain and interred in St. David's churchyard. A tombstone erected by the
Masonic brotherhood records the date and manner of his death.
The Wellington Falls are amongst the attractions of the mountain. They lie
towards the back of it, on the southern slope, and may be reached by a walk of four
miles from "The Springs." The water falls 210 feet, and the scenery around is very im-
posing The view extends southward as far as the townships of Franklin and Victoria
Among the pleasant excursions which may be made in the neighbourhood of
Hobart few are more popular than that to Brown's River. This name, which belonged
originally to a little stream discharging itself into a small bay, has been extended to
the bay itself and to the township which has grown up about the banks of the river,
and wdiicb is officially known as Kingston. The town lies about ten miles south of
Hobart. The chief attraction of the place is a beautiful bit of coast and a beach of
ofHobart.) A CONSl'hTors LANDMARK. 159
tine sand, generally displaying a large and varied accumulation of shells heaped in a
curved line near the high-water mark. The beach, with its firm sand and its low, flat-
topped reeks, is one of the pleasantest places imaginable for a lounge, and a few hours
may always lie spent there delightfully in reading, smoking, or simply enjoying the
sunshine and scenery. Not far from the beach lies "The Blowhole," which is an object
of unusual interest. In a Held at the top of some cliffs on the southern bend of the
bay is an opening of considerable width and formidable depth. Looking down, we
see water below in a constant state of flux and reflux. The sea has worked a tunnel
through the cliffs, and a fall of earth from above has opened out this dangerous chasm.
There are many pleasant walks in the neighbourhood of Kingston. It. is a favourite
honeymoon resort, and a week at Brown's River is the immediate sequence of a large
proportion of the marriages contracted in Hobart. But apart from the attractions of
the place itself, the mere journey to and fro well repays the time devoted to it. The
mad from Hobart to Kingston is one of the "Teat works of Colonel Arthur's govern-
nient. A better made road cotdd hardly be found, even in England. Starting from
the city, we pass through the pretty suburb of Sandy Bay, gradually descending till we
reach a point at which the road is very little above high-water mark. On our way
we pass the Queenborough cemetery, a large oblong enclosure sloping down towards
the road, and conspicuous from its white headstones and monuments. Soon the lowesl
level of the road is reached. The water is now very close to us. On our left is the
long, sandy beach, whence the district is named; on our right are highly cultivated
lands, stretching back to the Nelson range of hills.
About a furlong of level road brings us to the commencement of an ascent which
is continuous for nearly all the rest of the journey. We pass through the village of
Queenborough, which gives its name to a large electoral district. The road then leads
us by the foot of Mount Nelson and runs up the side of some hills which form pari of
the Nelson range, being so admirably graduated that we are scarcely conscious of
ascending till we look back and see how far below iis are the parts which we traversed
ten minutes previously. Then, too, it winds round the head of ravines, showing gullies,
watercourses, and openings extending far back into the hills, while on tin 1 other side
the view of the estuary, with its islands, promontories, and inlets, increases in extenl
and beauty as we rise higher and higher. Within about two miles of the highest part
of the road is Mr. Moir's shot-tower, the only one in tin' Australia*, we believe. It in-
built of the line white stone so plentiful in Tasmania, and standing as it does on one
of tin' lo|'t\ cliffs which skirt the bay. it forms a grand landmark conspicuous tor many
miles. Close to the tower is the owner's residence, a pretty stone building in a well-
kepi garden extending from the road to the edge of the cliff. The tower is 17ti feel
high from the ground, but the fall for the molten metal within i-. about 200 feet
The road continues to rise till it rounds the end of the hill that terminates the
range, and which from tin- peculiarity of its shape is called the Bonnel Hill. Then
comes a rapid and well-graduated descent to the Kingston township. At tin' foot of
the hill is an inn, where horse and gig can be left while we go for uiir stroll on the
beach. The excursion, by the way, may be made b\ means of a public conveyance
L60
CASSELL'S PKTrUEsnrK AUSTRALASIA.
[l'.s\ iui-n, ,i| HOBABT.
which leaves the Eobarl Post Office at nine every morning, and the Kingston Hotel at
tour in the afternoon.
Mount Nelson, which has been referred to in the previous article, is a conspicuous
ul.jeet from the town, and has special importance as a signal station. Ships
whether from east or west, can be seen from the
pass I ape Raoul on the one side, or the more
on the other. Information is at once transmitted
nearer station on St. George's Hill, and this in its
entering Sturm Bay,
top as soon as they
distant Tasman's Head
by telegragh to a
THE SHOT-TOWER, BIIWS S KIVER ROAD.
turn hoists a flag, which indicates the character of the coming ship and the
port whence it sails. The code of signals is published in the various local directories
and almanacks. The height of the Mount is 1.191 feet It lies about threc-and-a-
half miles south of Hobart. The walk to the top is not arduous, and may be shortened
by aid of the Sandy Bay omnibus. The prospect is very fine. On the one side we
have an excellent view of the city, on the other of the estuary, the lighthouse, the
islands, the channel, and Storm Bay, opening out to the ocean. The station officer
is generally willing to allow visitors to use a large standing telescope of long range,
which shows distant objects with remarkable clearness.
On the northern side of the city, across the river, and about four miles distant, lies
.Mount Direction. There is no regular conveyance to it, but a cab will take the visitor
11
162 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Enviboot
as far as Risdon Kerry. The ferry-boal is worked by a wheel and rope. It has a wide
platform, and is sufficiently strong and large to take a heavily loaded waggon and horses
across the river. It was worked for many years by .Mr. Jennings, now landlord of the
Harvest Home Inn, on the Newtown Road, and supposed to he the largesl man in the
world. Mr. Jennings had not then acquired the excessive corpulence which has made
him one of the memorable sights of Tasmania The visitor to Mount, Direction can
either take bis cab across the river or leave it at the ferry-house. The terry lands him
oii the Richmond Road. Following this for about half-a-mile he comes to a gate leading
to a causeway across a narrow inlet of the river. Turning to the left, at the end of
the causeway, and following a road winding along the beach, he comes to another gate
opening on a private road, which leads to the residence of the lady who owns the Lower
slope of the mountain, and from whom leave ought to he obtained before commencing
the ascent. The height of the hill is 1,212 feet; it is much steeper than Mount Nelson,
and the ascent is rather toilsome, hut the view from the top amply repays the exertion.
A more lovely combination of landscape, mountain, and river scenery could hardly be
found in any part of the world. It may he mentioned incidentally that in the veranda
of a house near the foot of the mountain is suspended a series of copperplate engrav-
ings of remarkable historical interest. They represent the military exploits of Louis
the Fourteenth of France in his great campaign of 1672. It is a striking instance
of the persistence of family likeness that the face of the Grand Monarque, as delineated
in this very interesting series, bears a strong resemblance to that of Louis Philippe, the
last Bourbon ruler of France.
Near the foot of Mount Direction lies the scattered hamlet of Risdon Tins has
importance in the annals of the colony as being the spot on which the first encampment
was made, when the Government of New South Wales, in the year L803, decided on
occupying Van Dicmcn's Land as a settlement for doubly convicted prisoners. It was
here also that the first hostilities with the natives took place. A large hunting party
of the blacks had driven a herd of kangaroo before them, and were emerging towards the
camp. There was nothing to indicate hostile intention, hut the officer in command of the
soldiers was unfortunately absent, the men took alarm, ami fired into the approaching line of
natives, killing women and children as well as men, and thus commencing that lament-
able war of extermination which every successive Government endeavoured to prevent,
but which none was able to control.
It is commonly hut erroneously supposed that the name Risdon is an abridged
form of Rest-down, as indicating the spot where the first set of immigrants rested. As
a fact, the name, in its present form, was given by a Captain Hayes, who explored the
shores of Storm Lavas early as 1794, and went a considerable distance up the Derwent.
In a chart of the coast which he prepared, the Risdon Creek is somewhat exaggerated
in size, and is marked as Risdon Liver.
Later on Risdon hail celebrity of another sort as the residence of Mr. Thomas
George Gregson, who for nearly fifty years was one of the foremost public characters
of the colony. He was one of an important class of gentlemen colonists who Mere
attracted to Van Diemen's Land about the years 1819 and Ls2() by a system, which
ofUobabt.] KANGAROO POIXT AND MOUNT RIWIXEY. In:}
Governor Sorell inaugurated, of giving grants oi land, varying in extent according
to the amount of capital brought by the individual settlers. Mr. Gregson was an
eager politician, a man of great natural eloquence, and of an impetuosity which made
liini quite a "Rupert of debate." When responsible government was conceded to the
colonies he became Premier of the second administration framed under the new
system. The pretty cottage which he inhabited stands on a small hill facing the
causeway which leads to Mount Direction. It is said to have been the residence of
the first Lieutenant-Governor, when Van Diemen's hand was still a dependency ol
New South Wales, and there is a tradition that an old ivy-covered chimney standing
in the -arden of the cottage was the first piece of brickwork ever erected in Tasmania
For many years Mr. (Jivgstm's cottage was the scene of the most genial hospitality.
In his later years health and spirits broke down under the pressure of overwhelming
calamities, but to the last he retained the warm attachment of not a few devoted
friends.
Mention has already been made of Kangaroo Point, or Bellerive. The latter is
the name of the pretty little township which has arisen on the Point : the former
name dates from an early period of the colony. At the first settlement of Van
Diemen's Land the new colony had to rely almost wholly for it.s food on supplies
from New South Wales. But in the year LS06 a disastrous overflow of the Ifawkes-
bury River destroyed the crops in New South Wales, and thus the elder colony
was too straitened in its own means to send any supplies to its offshoot At this
period of distress the younger colony was almost entirely dependent on kangaroo
hunting. The forests on the left bank of the Derwent furnished a large supply of
kangaroo and wallaby. The carcases used to be brought down to the Point, and
borne across in beats to llobart Town. Hence the little promontory derived its
name. It lies across the river, opposite to the south-eastern edge of the Domain.
Steamers start from each side every halt-hour, and as the crossing occupies little more
than ten minutes, a visit to Bellerive may be paid at any hour, and without any
special preparation. The convenience of easy access renders it a favourite place of
residence to persons having business establishments in town. It is also a favourite
resort tor parents with young children. On that side of the promontory which is not
visible from the town there is a tine beach of firm white sand more than a mile long,
where a family of young children will find amusement for hours together, digging
with their wooden spades, or dabbling with bare feet in the gentle surf It has
already In. a remarked that the view of the town and mountain from Bellerive is the
grandest and most comprehensive that can be obtained anywhere.
Within easy distance of Bellerive is Mount Rumney, 1,236 feet in height Of
late years it has come greatlj into vogue as a favourite resort of lovers of the
picturesque. Following the road which leads from Kangaroo Point to Sorell, a walk
of four miles brings us to a ivd -ate. Passing through this, three I".hU are seen
branching off in different directions. The middle one leads i . > Mount Rumney. It
is a bush track, with a good many deviations; but as the trees along the direct route
b'ave been "blazed," there is little danger of losing one's way The \i«w from the top
lli+
CASSKLL'S PinTUESQUK AUSTRALASIA.
[EKVIRONd
is magnificent. It includes the Wellington range
and Hobart on one side, while in other directions
the eye ranges over the tine coast scenery of
Pittwater, Storm Bay, Norfolk Bay, Tasman's
Peninsula, Forestier's Peninsula, and Bruny Island.
It is estimated that more than 300 miles of varied eoast line are seen from this
point at one view, so deep are the indentations of the coast, so numerous the smaller
islands and peninsulas, and so vast the ex tint of sea and land visible from the top of
Mount Rumney.
Newtown is a very favourite residential suburb of Hobart. On the hillside stand
handsome villa residences, with fine gardens. A well-known authoress, describing it.
forty years ago, wrote thus: — "The scenery around Newtown (where many of the
wealthier merchants, Government officers, and professional men have tasteful resi-
dences), is the most beautiful I have seen on this side of the world, very much
resembling that of the Cumberland Lakes. The broad and winding estuary of the
Derwent flows amid lofty and picturesque hills and mountains clothed with forests,
whilst, at their feet lie level lawn-like slopes, green to the water's edge. But the must,
English, and therefore the most beautiful, things 1 saw there were the hawthorn
hedges. It seemed like being on the right side of the world again to see rosy
children with boughs of flowery ' May,' and to feel its full, luscious perfume wafted
across me." Such did Newtown appear in the eyes of a new arrival forty years ago,
and such might stand as its description in the pre, out day. More houses have 1 n
built since then, more orchards and gardens planted, more "bush" cleared, but in all
salient points it is the same — as English, and as beautiful.
A stretch of level road leads us to the Elwick racecourse. All is lovely here, and
ofIIuhart.i A GREAT LANDSLIP. 1G5
the Elwick course is probably the most beautiful for situation of any m the world.
On one side is the broad river, dominated by .Mount Direction, on the other, the
glorious range which culminates in Mount Wellington. It lies on a promontory,
washed on two sides by the waters *|lffll||f'p
timiolis rains swelled Hum- JHT 1} I 'I'lljU hii" ' ' __.
ph.vy's Wivulet and its affluents, - >^«fMtf '' < '^TTFrF^
and saturated a considerable ex- -
tent el' the upper side of the •^ !S *?5s^ T ; • fW
mountain, where the almost V^*
impenetrable scrub was inter- rm: , :I: \ N ,, stand, elwick racecoi
spersed with enormous gum-
trees, and the gravelly s,.il easily absorbed the water till ii reached the underlying
rock. Then, owing to the steepness of the hillside, a strip of land one hundred acres
in extent, thus Loosened by the rain, slid down into the narrow bed of the rivulet,
taking with it a perfeel foresl of trees, some of them forty or fifty tons in weight,
and with them a mass of undergrowth and boulders, thus completely damming up the
rivulet and keeping back its swelling waters. This dam increased until it Mas sixty
ieet high, forming a lake three hundred yards wide and nearly sixty feet deep, and
so completely choking off the flow of water that the rivulet almost ceased flowing, in
166 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. IEkvi
spile of the heavy rain. At ten o'clock on the night of the 4th oi .liinc an appalling
sound, like the explosion of a powder magazine, was heard lor many miles. So terrific
was the crash, that persons residing at Risdon, six miles off across the river, sprang
out oi' lied, thinking that the roofs of their houses had fallen in. The dam hail
given way, and this immense mas<. urged by the weight of a million tons of water,
was borne down the mountain side like an avalanche, sweeping everything before it.
Only one life was lost, but buildings, gardens, and orchards wore hopelessly de-
stroyed It is estimated that the amount of earth, rock, and timber broughl down
by the landslip would have been sufficient to construct a causeway across the 1 »c rwent
at the part where the rivulet discharges itself into the larger river.
Beyond this lies a cultivated district, with just sufficient woodland to add charm
and variety to the landscape. Several tine country houses are passed; and one I
of farm-buildings standing near the road may be considered a model of its kind. It.
has also a further interest, as indicating the position of what was once known as Austin's
Ferry — the connecting-link between the northern and southern portions of the main
road before the Bridgewater Causeway was constructed. The road rises gradually for
some miles, until at a certain point we find ourselves at the brow of the acclivity, and
look down upon a stretch of road extending two miles, parallel to and near the river,
which has widened out very considerably at this part. The Bridgewater Causeway is
seen nearly at. the end of our view, for the river bends a little distance above tin- ('arse-
way, and a high mountain, named the Dromedary, cuts oft' the view in that direction.
As we descend the hill, we see on our left a little chapel peeping out amidst trees on
a private estate. We learn that this estate is called Hestercomhe — a name which will
excite warm interest in the mind of anyone who has lived in West Somersetshire, since
it is the name of one of the loveliest spots jn the beautiful valley of Taunton J lean. It
appears also that the original owner of the estate was a Mr. Govett, and this is a peculiarly
Somersetshire name. At the end of the descent there is a stretch of straight road as
far as the Causeway. The railway at this part runs parallel with the main road, between
it and the river. A sharp bend brings coach or train on to the Causeway, which lies
across the river at right angles with the direction of the road.
The Bridgewater Causeway is one of the most remarkable of that fine series of
public works which was commenced during the rule of Colonel Arthur, and carried out
by bis successors, at a time when the Government had an unlimited supply of prison
labour at its disposal. The construction of the Causeway is said to have been suggested
by a prisoner of inventive talent, who was working on the road near Bridgewater. At
this point the river is nearly a mile wide, hut it is very shallow for a considerable
distance from the right bank, deepening progressively towards the left hank, along
which there is a deep channel, available for navigation In the shallow portion of the
river a roadway was constructed by means of many thousand cartloads of earth and
rubbish, emptied into the water until the mound rose to a suitable height above the
surface. Then a W-w yards were Hanked with stonework, and a secure road formed for
carrying the work a little further. Thus, hit by hit. a strong and permanent roadway
was constructed for about three-quarters of the whole distance. The deeper portion was
" Kobabt.] THE CORNELIAN BAY CEMETERY. L67
spanned by a bridge on piles, as far as the deep channel; here the communication is
completed by a drawbridge, which is opened when steamers or other vessels require to
pass through. The main road from Hobart to Launceston crosses the Derwenl bj
means of the Causeway. It was opened for traffic by Sir William Denison in L849
and contributed greatly to the progress of the colony, by increasing the facilities oi
communication between Hobart and the midland and northern districts of the island
The Main Line Railway also uses the Causeway up to the deep water, but has its own
set of piles and drawbridge.
The story of the manner in which the idea n\' the Causeway originated seems rather
a tradition than an ascertained historical fact. It is certain, however, that the Hobari
Town Mechanics' Institute used to possess a very pretty model of this Causeway, and
this was said to be the work of the prisoner who suggested the notion of it. The storj
further states that he obtained a conditional pardon as a reward tor Ids ingenuity.
At Newtown the Risdon road branches off to the right from the lowesl point of
the suburb. If we take tins turn we pass for about a quarter of a mile' througli
a succession of pretty villas and gardens to an inlet of the Derwent, known as New
l'.a\ ; and if, instead of proceeding along the Risdon road, we round the head of the
bay, we arrive at a large cemetery situated on a promontory formed by the Newtown
Bay, and by another, named Cornelian Bay. The latter, as the uearer to Hobart, has
given its name to this burial-ground, which is generally spoken of as the Cornelian
Baj Cemetery. The firsl interments tooi place here in 1s7l>. an Act of the I.,
lature having previously closed all graveyards within the town boundaries, and pro-
hibited what it rather inaccurately designated intramural interments. The cem<
has been neatly laid out with walks and shrubberies, and some parts of it are thickly
studded with monuments and headstones, but it is so spacious that it will hardl\ hi
overcrowded a hundred years hence
L68
GOLD.
The First Bash — Victoria Deserted — The Reflux — Life at the Diggings— A Primitive Post Office — Ingenuous
Advertisements — Law and Order — The Composition of the Police — The Force of Nature — " Big Finds and
Petty Squabbles " — Open Rebellion — "From the East and the West, and from the .North and the South " —
Murder and Rapine — The Murder at Indigo Creek — The Gold Escort Attacked and Defeated — A Raid
(■u a Ship — Sailors' Luck — The Mongol and his Tribulations — Boisterous Extravagance — Pegging out a
Claim — Mining Processes, Past and Present — Alluvial Mining — The " Jewellers' Shops " — "Shepherding"
— Big Nuggets — Quartz Mining — A Novice's Impression of a Gold Mine — Mount Brown — Kimberley.
OR years before Eargreaves' discovery of gold in
Australia there had been reports and rumours of
the fabulous wealth that lay hidden beneath the
surface of the earth. The aborigines had found gold;
the lonely shepherd, whose lot in life lay far from tin-
busy haunts of men, had found it ; the convicts had
found it. Still, these stories were few and far between,
and but little credence was given to them. Men were
not seeking gold ; the hopes of the majority were
centred in pastoral pursuits. They had no desire to
see their peaceful pastures invaded by a throng of
eager gold-seekers, and many, doubtless, shared the
freely-expressed opinion of one of the first Governors
— that the finding of gold and the consequent rush
of free immigrants woidd be the ruin of colonies
intended solely for convicts and their keepers.
It was hardly likely, however, that so much
wealth would remain hidden for long before the advancing tide of civilisation. The
gold discoveries in America took the world by storm, and Australia sent her quota
of emigrants — some 300 — to seek their fortunes among the rocky sierras and deep
canons of California So it happened that Edward Hammond Hargreaves, an English-
man of thirty-three, who had spent more than half his life in Australia, while
prospecting among the hills of California, was struck by their similarity in contour,
outline, and geological characteristics to those about his home at Bathurst, and on
his return to New South Wales he informed the Government that for a consideration
ho would show them where to find gold. The times were changed, his offer was
accepted, and in February, 1851, the business of gold-mining in Australia may be
said to have fairly begun.
As soon as it was known that gold had been found a rush took place, and nearly
half the male population of Sydney were to be found washing for gold at Summer Hill
Creek. Bathurst, or on the way thither. The quiet little gully became the scene of
busy life, and men of all ages and all ranks might be seen crowding along the banks
of the creek anxiously searching for the precious metal. The news soon spread far and
wide, and thither came eager gold-seekers from all parts of Australia, but more par-
ticularly from the neighbouring colony of Victoria
THE WHIM.
Gold.]
REDUCED TO EXTREMITY.
109
Victoria, it will be remembered, had just succeeded in procuring separation from
New South Wales, and now the sudden exodus of her population threatened her very
existence. Clearly the only way to cheek this wholesale emigration was to find gold
\ 001 i' Rl SH.
within her own boundaries, and accordingly a reward was offered for the discovery
paying gold-field near Melbourne. Rumours of the presence of gold in Victoria had
not been wanting, A convicl shepherd had found it in the Pyrenees; someone
had found it al Chines, afterwards a paying gold-field; in fact, it had been found all
over the colony, but nowhere in sufficient quantities to attract attention Now, however,
170 c.vssei.i.s I'lcrruKsQrK Australasia.
that a reward was offered, the whole country was overrun with anxious prospectors (the
ordinary term for men who go out expressly to look for gold in new ground), many of
whom had the vaguest notions of what they had come out to seel;. Soon gold was
discovered in the valley of the 1'lenty, near Melbourne, and an eager rush took place.
It, was not, however, very rich, and when, in August, L851, came news of the discovery
of gold by a man named Hiscocks, near the little township of Buninyong, the tickle
crowd deserted the Plenty, and before Ion- over 10,000 men were turning up the earth
:it what is now the prosperous and rising town of Ballarat Afterwards -old was dis-
covered in large quantities on the Bendigo Creek, now Sandhurst, at .Mount Alexander,
afterwards called Castlemaine, and also iu the Ovens district. In New South Wales, too.
mining at Bathurst continued to pay, and fresh fields were discovered, but in the
matter of gold the glory of New South Wales pales before that of her younger sister,
and in an article on gold-mining it is chiefly of Victoria that we must speak.
Victoria at first, like the rest of the colonies, was a purely pastoral country. Men
counted their wealth, like the patriarchs of old, by their cattle, and lived a peaceful,
uneventful life, settled quietly in what they hoped were to be their homes for years to
come. In Melbourne, too, life flowed on calmly as in a well-to-do country town.
Among these quiet people the knowledge of the wealth hidden away in their midst,
to be had, perhaps, for the mere scraping of the earth, by one whose only stock-in-
trade was a pick and spade and tin dish, came like a bombshell. Straightway the
desire for gold took hold upon every Member of the community. The clerk left his
desk and the merchant his office, the doctor his patients and the lawyer his clients.
the tradesman deserted his shop and the carpenter his bench: all ranks of society
were seized with the same thirst for gold, and all alike were to he found on the now
well-beaten tracks that led to the newly-discovered -old-fields.
Property in Melbourne went down, till, according to the expression, it could be
bought for a mere song. Those who were wise in their generation bought up all they
could, and waited for the turn of the tide that came only too quickly, but the majority
were eager to be off'. It was well-nigh impossible to get any work whatsoever done; the
streets in the earliest gold-mining days were empty and deserted — the very policemen
had gone to the diggings.
Meanwhile, in the gold-fields all was busy life. At every rush the course of events
was much the same. In those days they never dreamt of quartz batteries, deep sinking
diamond drills, and all the wonderful and expensive machinery that is now used to
get at the precious metal. A man, having come to the conclusion that his particular
claim was played out, or arriving late on the scene, and perhaps finding all the likely
spots taken up, shouldered his "swag" and set out in search of "pastures new." Some-
times he had a mate or mates, sometimes he went alone, but as a rule a party of
prospectors was composed of half-a-dozen old miners who knew what they were going
out to look for. Meanwhile the "green hands" and " new chums" stayed with the
crowd. Generally the prospectors possessed a dray, in which were packed their tools
and a few stores, and then, heavily armed, they went out into the wilderness to seek
their fortunes.
Qou>J A "RUSH" OX BALLARAT. 171
The greater part of Victoria was a wilderness in those days, but of danger there
was Little, save that every-day danger of the Australian bush, want of water. An
occasional wandering tribe of aborigines, too, might prove troublesome, but that hazard
was lessening daily. They had never been very numerous, and the squatters bad from
the first been waging continual war againsl the dark-skinned denizens of the bush, who,
now reduced to half their original numbers, entertained a wholesome tear of the white
man's firearms. Into the virgin forest, then, went these prospectors, among the hills
and into the gullies, where the foot of civilised man had never yel trod. What if they
did disturb the ferns and the trailing creepers, and turn the pretty silver creeks rushing
down the rocky hillsides into dirty, yellow-tinged streams, and the fern-clad gully into a
desolate waste ' No one ever saw the beauty they spoiled, no one very likely ever would
have seen it, and these men, selfish as they no doubt were, have helped to build up a
mighty colony.
It, was along the banks of the creeks and water-worn gullies thai these pros-
pectors first sought gold For of the two sorts of gold-niining, viz., alluvial and quartz,
alluvial was the one first in vogue, being the easiest, and requiring little or no technical
knowledge. The newest ••chum" could trace the bed of a. dry creek above ground.
Equally easily recognised was the bed rock, though it might be a hundred feet below
the surface; and the water-worn gravel and sand, which the diggers washed for gold,
and consequently termed wash-dirt, was nothing, in point of fact, but the bed of an
ancient, creek, which in olden days had carried down the gold from its home in the
quartz hills. Having found what they sought, their natural desire was to keep it to
themselves. lint this was well-nigh impossible. It began to be whispered in the
nearest township that So-and-So's party had struck gold in paying quantities at such-
and-such a place, and within a week thousands of men had "rushed" the creek, which
a few days before the little party of prospectors had called their own.
A "rush" on the early gold-fields was like nothing else in the world. One day the
lovely gully, the wild, dense bush-land, untouched by the hand of man. and in less than
a week a place thronged with busy life. Rushes varied in size, sometimes consisting onlj
ol a few hundred men, while at others there were thousands in the field The new-
comers mi their arrival hastened to "peg out" their "claims" in what appeared to them
the most desirable spots, or took gratefully what the first comers had Left for them
The ring of the axe was heard, the great forest trees fell before strong and sinewy
arms that had Learned to wield the axe in the forests of California For miles around
the land was denuded of timber, tent-poles, firewood, and timber for the new claim
being an absolute necessity.
The climate of Victoria is mild compared with that of England, and the summer
is very hot hotter, perhaps, thirty years ago than it is now- but, south oi the dividing
range, at least, there are certainly three months of bitterly cold weather, when some
shelter is n ssary from the cutting wind and the driving rain. Consequently, as h\
magic, in less than a week a largo canvas-and-bark town bad sprung into existence.
A somewhat ramshackle and tumble-down town it was, certainly, for each man was in
haste to be rich, and gave little thought t" his personal comfort meanwhile. '1 he
172
CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA.
[Gold.
great aim of all was to have the dwelling close to the claim. This, of course,
was not possible where the ground was rich and the claims lay dose together,
and. accordingly, there sprang up a long, irregular line of huts and tents. Tents
were most in favour, as being the simplest and easiest shelter to provide; but hark and
slab huts were by no means uncommon. Uniformity there was none: each man built
his house according to his own taste. Here was a frail bark hut, through the holes and
crannies of which the cold wind must have whistled full often; then: a neat white tent,
the property of some new "chum" who had been fortunate enough to get it safe up
country. In marked contrast would be the tent next door — a piece of tattered canvas,
so old and ragged and brown that it is surprising it held together at all. Farther
down the embryo street might be seen a neat hut built of slabs, with a weather-proof
bark roof: the property of an old bushman, this. He and his mate understand how to
make themselves comfortable, and the axe, which the new "chum" next door — residing
in a tumble-down mia-mia, a mere shelter of boughs or bark, of which a black fellow
would be ashamed — finds an unconquerable difficulty in using, is in his deft hands a
powerful and useful
tool.
Inside these huts
and tents very little
furniture was
to be seen.
The floor, of
course, was the
bare earth, and a stand-
ing bed-place or bunk
was generally con-
sidered a necessity, but
there was very little
else. Some luxurious
soul might make him-
self a rough wooden
table, or rig up a few
convenient shelves, but
this was rare. Boxes
and the flour-barrel, as
a rule, did duty as seats,
and the early digger's
sole possessions were
his mining imple-
ments, his blankets,
a tin billy, and
a frying-pan. All
prospecting. else was considered
sssJM.HATHEHEU—
Golp.]
MAX MUST DRINK."
173
■,«
w.
K'\THE?E.WU- V »
i -OFFICE AT THE DIGGINGS.
superfluous, and looked upon
as luxurious. The digger
himself was usually attired
in a blue or red shirt, mole-
skin trousers tucked into
high I ts, and a slouch hat, while at
his waist were pistols and knife, with-
out which weapons of defence and
offence no man was seen. In the middle
of the camp was the inevitable grog
shanty and general store, a place where
anything was to be bought, from a
needle to a sheet anchor, from the digger's tenl to the chamois leather bag in which
he carried his gold. The owner had found, in the sale of had liquor at exorbitant prices,
a surer r<>ad to wealth than any gold-mine in tin lony. "Man must drink." might
have been written of the earlj digger; and if he can't drink good liquor, he will drink bad,
and it' even that Tails him, he will console himself with Worcester Sauce or Friar's Balsam.
The practice of "shouting," or treating, was thru common, far commoner even
than it is at the present time, and it was not unusual lor a lucky digger to spend
£loo. or even £200, in "shouting," not only lor his friends, hut for am strangers who
happened to he hanging aboul the bar. It is onlj fair to add, so extraordinary wen 1
the prices, that hi' received for this outlay perhaps E10 worth of liquor. Thus it
happened that the grog shanty usually a large tent with a counter down the middle,
the stock-in-trade on one side and the customers on the other was generally,
1 74 CASSBLL'S PICTUEESQTIE AUSTRALASIA. [Gold.
especially in the evening, crowded with men drinking, fighting, quarrelling, playing
cards, exchanging their hard-won gold lor the necessaries of lite — one and all aiding the
publican to pile up lor himself a snug fortune. If the "rush" were large there were
often three or four of these stores, but, as a rule, the Impassable state of the roads
and the high price paid both for stores and cartage required a large capital, and
practically forbade competition.
As soon as the "rush" became an undoubted fact a. post-office was established,
and, though it was primitive in the extreme, and letter-carriers were, of course,
unknown, it was an undoubted boon to the inhabitants. Kelly, the author of "Life in
Victoria," gives the following description of the first Ballarat post-office, which bears
a strong family resemblance to those on all the diggings in the colonies in the old
days :—
"The St. Martin's-le-Grand of Ballarat was a very primitive establishment, con-
tained within a moderate-sized log-cabin, the greater portion of which, even after
subtracting the household corner, was devoted to general business, and the person
who wanted an ounce of tobacco was attended to before the man in quest of letters.
The whole exterior of the edifice was papered over witli quaintly-worded and
ingeniously-spelled advertisements in writing. If you could find a vacant space you
were at liberty to occupy it, but woe betide you if caught either in pulling off or over-
riding a previously posted notice, which, under pick and shovel law, were allowed to
remain till they fell off. I annex a few as a general specimen: —
"'If this should meet the eye of John Tims be will hear of his shipmate at
Pennyweight Flat, next tent to the tub and cradle.'
"The sign of a store, I presume; but if not so understood, rather a vague direction
in a district like Pennyweight Flat, where some thousands were at work, each party
with a tub and cradle.
'"James dakin notyces the publik agin thrustin his wife.'
"'Pat Flynn calls on biddy to return to the tint forninst the cross roads.'
"'Ten pounds reward for my black marc. Xo questions asked nor ideas
insinuated.'
" But no indication where the reward was payable.
"'For sale several householt an kulenary articles as also a numerous frackshun
of odils & ends at the Tent oppsite the Frenchman's store at the Ureka.' "
Soon after the "breaking out of the gold" the Government had seen the absolute
necessity of putting someone in authority to ch.eck the lawlessness of the nondescript
crowd gathered together on a gold-fields' "rush," and accordingly on every diggers'
camp was a field Commissioner, and if it were large, there were three, and sometimes
four. The Commissioner's camp was invariably set on a little eminence overlooking
the diggers', and presented a marked contrast to it. Down there every man was as
good as Ids neighbour, were he peer of the realm or foul-mouthed convict from the
reeking gaols of New South Wales or Van Diemen's Land; but up in the police camp
the old order prevailed ; each man had his well-defined rank, and the Commissioner was
lord of all. In front of the camp, so as to be plainly visible to all, was the flagstaff,
•Gold.] TEE MEN WHO KEPT THE PEACE. 175
from which floated the emblem of British rule, the Union Jack, and facing tliat
wen- the Commissioner's tents, usually lour in number — a mess tent, an office tent, a
bed tint, and another for Ids clerk. These, in contrast with the diggers', were all
floored with hard wood, carefully lined with green baize, and furnished with every
luxury — as luxuries were then understood. At tin/ back were the tents of the twenty
or thirty troopers in form of a square, and behind them again were the stables lor the
horses.
Close behind the Commissioner's quarters was the all-important gold tent, guarded
day and night by two armed sentries. In it were strong cedar boxes, and here was
deposited the surplus wealth of the diggers' camp. Every man broughl his gold, were
the quantity great, or .small, in a leather or canvas hag, and handed it over to be placed
in the strong box. A ticket with his name on it was attached to the parcel, and lie
received a receipl signed by the Commissioner, who was thenceforward responsible for
the .safety of the gold. When Sufficient quantity was collected, usually from GO to
90 11 is. weight, the escort started with it for Melbourne. In the early days, when
the roads were well-nigh inipassalilc, all tin- gold had to he carried on the hacks of pack-
bor es, and the precious metal heing (fad weight, and apt to give the horses sore hacks,
from 20 to 2o Lbs. weight was considered a fair load tor each horse. The gold
was packed in leather bags made something after the manner of old fashioned purses;
these were carefully locked in the middle by the Commissioner himself and then slung
across the pack-saddle. The day on which the escort started was a great day in the
camp, and crowds turned out to see them set off Usually the escort consisted of from
ten to twelve men. four pack-horses -aboul the usual number— required a man apiece
to lead them, ami as these men were necessarily much hampered, six heavily-armed
troopers formed a, guard. The Commissioner or an officer of police commanded the
escort, ami was responsible I'm' the safety of the gold, and generally there was the sergeant,
twelve men in all.
A line body of men were the police of those days. They were all young, or a;
least men in the mtv prime of life, and though their uniform was much the same as
that of the present, trouper, their orderliness, their natty get-up, their well-kepi horses
and shining accoutrements, contrasted forcibly with the careless and ofttimes frowsy
attire of tin- diggers in the camp below. The Gold Commissioner wore as uniform a
cavalry officer's undress, namely, a dark braided frock-coat, with a cap bound with
gold lace, and, of course, the usual boots and hive. lies. He and his clerk were gentlemen
by birth and breeding, hut most of the policemen were drawn from the working classes.
In the early days, however, many young men. the sons of gentlemen, came out to the
colonies with the very laudable object of making their fortunes. The only question
was "how'" That, question was at firsl easilj answered, " By gold digging, of curse."
hm gold getting in theory ami gold getting in practice were two wry different things
and many of these young men. unaccustomed to manual labour, and with no practical
knowledge t<> guide them, not merely found gold digging unprofitable, hut in very many
cases starvation absolutely stared them in the face, clad enough, then, were they to
Secure a "billet in the police three, where they were well paid and the work was not
170
i VSSKLL'S PICT! RESyt'E Al STRALAS] \
1
hard, or beyond their powers. These young fellows were formed into a separate body,
called "cadets," the only difference between them and the regular police being that
they were supposed to be eligible for promotion. Some few, indeed, did rise to the
rank of superintendent or inspector, but the majority, as the country became more
settled, drifted away into other paths of life more suited to their status and education,
while the few who remained were merged in the ordinary police force, never rose
beyond the rank of senior constable or sergeant, and were fain to confess that their
emigration to the "new and happy land" had in all probability ruined their lives.
Another class of peace preserver to be seen in the Commissioner's camp was the
black trooper. These men weri' recruited from the aborigines of the Murray District,
and, strange to say, although coming from the midst of savagery of the very lowest
type, they made most excellent policemen. Among men where discipline was most
strict, where accoutrements, horses, clothes had to be kept in the very highest, state of
perfection, the black fellow was no whit behind his white comrade. Tall and slight,
often good looking, a splendid horseman, managing his horse with grace and ease, this
son of that race which is truly counted one of the most degraded in the world was the
beau ideal of a trooper. Unfortunately there was a reverse side to the medal. It, was
utterly impossible to civilise the black man. After three months or so of civilised life
he would beg a holiday,
and return for a little to
his own people. Then,
should anyone pay a
visit to the blacks' camp,
a mile or so down the
creek, there might be
seen prone on the ground,
or crouching beneath a
wretched mia-mia, that
hardly served to keep out
the weather, a dirty, un-
kempt savage, stark-naked,
save for an opossum rug
or a filthy blanket, sur-
rounded by gnawed bones,
light ing do;_,-. and all the
conglomerate filth of a
blacks' camp. And this,
alas : was the manner in
which the smart black
trooper spent his leave.
Over and over again the
experiment has been made,
BREAKFAST OS THE GOLD-FIEI.DS. Only tO pi'OVC that it IS
Gold.]
• TO ARMS ! "
177
utterly impossible to civilise the Australian black fellow. The smartest man in the
troop would have pined and died if he had not occasionally gone back to his
original savagery, whence he returned to his duties with a fresh stock of eners
and life. About 1855, however, recruiting from the blacks was discontinued, chiefly
because, although they made good troopers, they were hardly to be relied upon, ami
in any case the dignity of a white man was always terribly outraged if lie was run in
by a black fellow. One or two, however, were for many years kept attached to each
camp, where their services as trackers were invaluable; and when we think how often,
even at the present time, when law and order rule' supreme, and the country is rapidly
becoming settled and civilised, the services of the black tracker are put in requisition,
it will be seen bow trebly necessary they were in the early
days of which we speak.
For the first two or three years the history of the gold-
fields may be summed up briefly as a record of big finds
and of petty squabbles be-
tween the diggers and those
who were supposed to be
their guardians. On whose
side the fault, lay it is
perhaps difficult to say
after this lapse of time,
but it is very evident that
the law of the land was a
good deal to blame. The
licence-fee and its collec-
tion were a standing griev-
ance. No man might dig
until be bad taken out a
licence, fur which be paid
at tirst .",0s. a month, after-
wards E3, and then again
:!i)s. Even this lower amount was a most exorbitant sum for a poor man to pay, though,
doubtless, man} could have paid it quite easily. This Licence the digger was required to
produce whenever and wherever a trooper might ask for it, or be ran the risk of being
arrested there and then, and spending the night in the "logs," as tin' lock-up »;b termed.
faults there were on both sides, of course, am! if the police were arbitrary, the diggers
were most certainly lawless. "Joe, Joe! traps, traps ! " shouted the populace in scorn and
derision whenever they were beyond the reach of the arms of tin' law. - Traps, boj s, traps '
yah! Joe, Joe!" cried even the children, with hatred at their hearts, as the trooper trotted
past them. It is little wonder that matters came to ;i crisis towards the end of L854,
when the diggers of Ballarat, who certainly had more to complain of than those on the neigh-
bouring fields, rose in open rebellion, ami were utterly defeated at the Eureka Stockade.
Alter this lamentable event, of which an account is given in a later article (p. 263),
12
A BLACK TROOPEB.
178 CASSELL'S l'lCITIIESuri; A I STKALASIA.
the licence-fee was done away with, an export tax on gold levied, and the Miner's
Right substituted, so that for XI a year a man had the right to dig for gold, and,
what was still more valued, this .Miner's Right carried the franchise along with it.
Gold Commissioners were dune away with, at least in name, and an officer, called a
warden, substituted, whose duties, however, were practically exactly the same as those
of the obnoxious Commissioner-— the administration of justice on the gold-fields, and the
hearing and settling of all eases that, might arise between partners, also cases of en-
croachment, trespass, and disputed boundaries. For many years there were no courts,
and cases were heard by the warden, generally on the very spot where the dispute
arose; it is only of late that these eases on the gold-fields have been determined in the
ordinary court-houses.
Gold is the magnet that attracts all, old and young, rich and poor, good and
bad alike, and by the end of 1851 the fame of the Victorian gold-fields had spread to
the uttermost parts of the earth; the tide of immigration had commenced, and from
all parts of the world came emigrants for Victoria. They came by hundreds and
thousands, men from every nation under the sun. First came those from the neigh-
bouring colonies, and South Australia was nearly emptied of her male population;
they poured across the border from New South Wales ; they crossed Bass's Strait from
Tasmania; they came, not only white men, but Maoris, across the stormy seas from
New Zealand. Then from England arrived ship-load after ship-load of emigrants who,
as they passed through the Heads, cheered lustily for "the new and happy land." The
news spread farther afield, and all sorts and conditions of men came from Europe and
America; even the dark races of India and the East were moved by the impulse,
and from China came the yellow-faced Mongolians, not by tens or hundreds, but by
thousands. So great was the rush that in one year the population of Victoria, was
doubled, and yet the cry was "Still they come!" Amongst so many it was hardly
likely that all the immigrants would be desirable colonists. Ribbonmen from Inland,
Chartists from England, Socialists from Germany, Communists from France, Carbonari
from Italy, the disaffected from all lands, met on the gold-fields. But the worst evil lay
close at home. From the neighbouring colonies of New South Wales and Tasmania
came the offscourings of their reeking gaols — ticket-of-leave men, men whose time had
expired, men who had escaped, conditional-pardon men, all well versed in crime, past
masters in every iniquity under tin; sun. The natural result followed : murder and
rapine were rife on the gold-fields. Bushranging was common; every man went heavily
armed, and no man's life was safe: while the prevalence of such names in Victoria as
Murderer's Gully and Deadman's Flat tells its own miserable tale. In the grog-shanties
many a cruel scheme was hatched which the lonely gullies and desolate bush tracks
saw pnt into execution. " Bail up, throw up your hands ! " — the Australian equivalent
for "Stand and deliver ! " — was a common cry, and since dead men tell no tales, murder
was often added to robbery, or, with a cold-blooded cruelty such as was to be met with
only among the "old hands.'' the victim would be beaten badly, rendered incapable of
moving, and then left to take his chance of life, or, perhaps, still worse, would bo
bound to a tree and left to die by inches. One who has written of Victoria's early
A TYPICAL CRIME. 179
days, tells how he, with a companion, was lost on the ranges near Ballan. His mate
knocked up entirely, and earnestly praying not to be left to die alone in the bush, he,
as a forlorn hope, climbed a tree and "cooeyed" at the top of his voice. Much to the
surprise of both men, there came across the tree-tops an answer so faint that at first
thej feared it might lie an echo. Another COOey and another answer set all doubt ai
rest, and so raised the hopes of the well-nigh dying man that he made another effort,
and accompanied his friend in the direction whence the sound proceeded. After pro-
ceeding some little distance, to their intense astonishmenl thej came upon two men
hound back to hack to a tree. Hastily loosening their bonds, they asked how they
came there, and were told they were two diggers who, on leaving Ballan the day
before, had been "stuck up" and relieved of their little store of gold-dust. Naturally
they had offered some resistance, but had been overpowered, and one was badly shot
in the leg. Not content with appropriating their hard-earned gains, the cold-blooded
thieves had tied them so firmly to a tree that their death would have been certain
had no one passed by, of which there was little chance. Almost certain, too, bul for
this opportune meeting, would have been the death of the two travellers, for though
the little township was scarcely a mile away, tin: chances were a hundred to one
against their hitting the track.
Even dose to the camps, too, murder might be done with hut little fear of detection.
It was so easy — so very easy. Shouts and cries were but little heeded on a rowdy
diggers' cam]); and as for pistol shots, every man carried a revolver, and made a
regular practice of tiring it, off every evening, in order to clean it; so that the report
of a pistol attracted no attention at all.
The murder of the German on the [ndigo Creek is a case in point. The land round
the creek, though rich in gold, was barren and sterile: the cully lay low, and by October
the ground was baked hard and dry, so that the diggers on the camp were even
more dependent than usual on the neighbouring townships for their supplies. Upon the
ranges at Wboragee, near Beechworth, dwelt a German, who, having found the land about
his new home rich and fertile, had made tbr himself a large market-garden, disposing of
his surplus vegetables among the diggers' camps around; and. since cabbages in those
days were worth from two to three shillings apiece, laying up for himself , we have little
doubt, a comfortable independence. Periodically he, with his bullock-team and dray
laden with fresh green vegetables, visited the camp at the [ndigo, where he (bund
a ready sale for his wares. One hot, still evening, just at dusk, the German,
having disposed ot his vegetables, stopped his emptj dray at the gro I ) known
as "Forty's," because the Forty Thieves were popularly supposed to congregate there.
Little he cared for the bad reputation of the place, lie did uot propose to stay there,
but tossed off his "nobbier," paid for it out of the little store of gold-dusl be had
that day received, called out in his broken English a cheery good-night to the men
standing at the "pen door, and, shouting to his team, moved off slowly along the track
into the darkening night No one bul his murderer ever saw the poor fellow alive
again. A man named Ryan, an "old hand" from Van Diemen's Land, noticing the
empty dray, and inferring, consequently, the lull pockets, slipped unnoticed from the
180
CASSELL'S PICTtrRESQtnE AUSTRALASIA.
shanty, followed the team, stole softly up behind the vegetable hawker, and, almost
within sight, certainly within hearing, of the Commissioner's camp, shot him through the
bead, robbed the dead body, and was back at Forty's, smoking and drinking with the
rest, before his short absence had been noticed. By-and-by some belated traveller — or
digger whose claim was farther out — noticed a team of bullocks with an empty dray
straving from the track, and, recognising 7
this vessel, one of Messrs. Green's line of clippers, sailed away from Eobson's Hay, with a
rich cargo of specie, and was never afterwards heard of. By-and-by her name appeared
on that saddest list of all, "Missing," and then the rumour spread — whence it arose no
man could tell— that the miscreants who had " stuck up" the escort at the " Mia-Mia " had
either secreted themselves on board the ship, or else, in the dearth of men, had been
hired as part of the crew. Then, when the vessel was fairly at sea, they came out in
their true colours, overpowered, and very probably, if the
story be true, drowned the rest of the crew and passengers,
scuttled the ship off the coast of America, and. with the
Stores of gold they thus made their own, began life afresh
in California, or perhaps in some of the Republics of South
America.
Another gold robbery which occasioned a great stir at
the time was that of the ship Nelson as she lav in
Hobson's Bay, close to the shore. Her crew had deserted
her, no uncommon thing during the first few years after
the "breaking
out ' of the gold,
and though she
lay ready for sea,
no men could he
found willing to
work her. The
captain, in de-
spair, had gone
off to seek re-
emits, and the
ship was left ill
charge of two
men. At mid-
night there stole
V'i*
*&*
a ii i r
L82 CASSELLS PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. (Gold.
a boat from tlio shore, which made softly and silently for the Nelson. Quietly her
crew stole aboard, and before the sleepy watchman could give the alarm, both he and
his mate were overpowered and hound; the gold was quickly taken out of the hold,
and before the pair had recovered from their astonishment, the boat and its eivw were
ashore again. The gold was hidden in the sand, and next day was taken to Melbourne
in an open buggy. Very little was afterwards recovered, and the daring robbery was
never brought home to anybody, only, as was but natural, the outcry against the old
hands from Tasmania and New South Wales became louder than ever. Decidedly these
were not a desirable class of immigrants, and it was little wonder that the Government
had done its best to check their incoming. This was by the Convicts' Prevention A.ct,
which Victoria, in despair, and in defiance of all precedent, passed, compelling all persons
coming from the neighbouring colonies of New South Wales, Tasmania, and the more
distant Western Australia, to prove, not only that they were free, but also that they
had never been convicts.
As we have said, it was no uncommon thing for ships to lie idle in the bay for
lack of hands to work them home again. Their crews deserted wholesale, coming out,
in fact, for that very purpose, for the gold-fields seem to have had an irresistible charm
for the sailor, and the number of ''Sailors' Gullies" that are even now in existence bears
witness to the large number of this class there must have been at one time on the
diggings. So great did the evil become, and so hopeless was it to think of preventing
the men from rushing for a share in the gold harvest, that at last it became a
regular practice for ship-masters to divide their men, one-half going up to the diggings
under his charge to try their luck for a month or six weeks, and then returning to
give the mate and the rest a turn. As a rule, at the end of the appointed time, the
crew returned to then duties cheerfully, even gladly foregoing any further chance of a
fortune, for digging was work to which they were unaccustomed ; it was toilsome in
the extreme, whilst they, with no technical knowledge to guide them, were exceedingly
likely to be taken in by the designing men who swarmed at that time on the gold-
fields. Vet sailors' luck is proverbial. Kelly tells a story of a party of sailors he met
at Ballarat with their captain in charge, in whose case the proverb was certainly
exemplified. These men, thinking it hardly worth while to sink a hole on their own
account, bought for £15 one which its former owner, having sunk to 45 feet without
finding gold, was anxious to be rid of. Accordingly he had carefully salted it, and the
sailors, seeing gold glittering in the dirt, gleefully concluded the bargain, rigged a
windlass, and unsuspectingly set to work. In a few- days they were down NO feet, and
had struck a fresh gutter of rich wash-dirt, which yielded them an average of an
ounce to a tub, or an aggregate of over £3,300.
Another class of immigrants came in such numbers that special laws were
enacted for their benefit, not only to govern them, but to keep them out of the
colony. These were the Chinese, who, as has been previously said, once the news of
the discovery of gold had been bruited abroad poured into the colony in one never-
ceasing stream. They were thrifty, they were sober, they were industrious, they could
live where a European would starve, and, for the most part, they did live upon what
kjNMW^UUv-- **a^
ATTACK OS THB GOLD B3CORT BETWEEN M iv.iu and MELBOURNE.
Goli.j DOING HIS DUTY. 183
the white men abandoned as useless; and yet there went a cry over the colony that
Ishmael was taking the portion intended for Isaac — a cry for protection from t
strangers. Accordingly a poll-tax of £10 was set on every Chinaman who landed in
the colony, and rigidly enforced, although many came from Hong Kong, and were,
therefore, to all intents and purposes British subjects. But the patient new-comers
from the Flowery hand were not so easily "done." II they did not choose, or
had not sufficient money, to pay the heavy tax, they disembarked at Sydney, and
painfully made their way from the Braidwood and Kiandra gold-fields, high among the
snowy Alps, down to the Murray, and thence into Victoria, or else they went round to
South Australia, and by toilsome marches crossed the dreary desert that lay between
them and the land of promise.
Loud protestations arose from the white men. These strangers settled among them
in 4 of them, they were mere birds of passage; they brought nothing into the
country, while they lived on the merest pittance, saving all they could to return to
their own land: not even, could they help it, were their very bones allowed to rest in
an alien soil.
li is true these immigrants were drawn from the very lowest ranks of society—
for the most part from the river-folk 01 Canton. They were not very cleanly, nor,
perhaps, very honest if temptation were put in their way. They were addicted to
opium-smoking, and they brought with them leprosy and other diseases common to
Eastern nations. Still, the white men were hardly so immaculate themselves that they
might venture to sit in judgment The Chinaman had no friends. Wherever he was
he was beaten and ill-treated, and at one period riots against the Chinese were
common all over the colony. On the slightest pretext, or on no pretext at all, the
Chinese camp would lie rushed, and the unfortunate occupants driven from their tents
and huts. ()n one occasion the diggers, among whom was a large sprinkling of the
Yankee element, at a rush on the Buckland River, celebrated the glorious Fourth by
an unprovoked attack on the unoffending Chinese camp. There were about 800 China-
men and let a quarter as many white men; but the Celestials made little or no
attempt to defend their household gods, and tied out into the bush, pursued tor some
distance by the valorous diggers. Word of the state of affairs at the Buckland was
soon brought to the nearest Gold Commissioner, about ninety miles away, lie at once
down with twenty troopers at his back lb- was too late, however, for many of
the Celestials. As the little band of troopers rode through the bush on that bitter
-Inly night, they came across unfortunate Chinamen lying alone, dead and dung,
wantonly murdered by the drunken rioters. Some were hidden away in the scrub,
shivering with cold and fright, to. terrified almost to move, while others, in little
parties, crouching round a handful of fire, endeavoured to shelter themselves from the
keen winter's wind. Short and sharp was tin' Commissioner's justice. He and his
troopers promptlj reinstated the Chinamen, and if it was whispered that, in the re-
distribution of claims, the lion's share, or, more properly speaking, the best holes, tell
to tlu- foreigners, few will be found to blame the Commissioner now, and none dared
do so then.
1N4
CASSELLS l'|riri:i:s(i|i: AUSTRALASIA
[Gold.
Tin' Buckland men, however, in those days found many who sympathised with
them and would gladly have followed their example. lint in spite of all opposition,
the Chinamen, patient, long-suffering, and industrious, made their way. Their camps
were little towns, often contain-
ing 4,000 or 5,000 inhabitants.
They had their own theatres,
their own shops, their joss-houses,
or temples, and then, as now,
they were governed by their
own laws among themselves
though outwardly they were
amenable to the laws of the
land in which they sojourned.
Their secret societies or guilds
were then, as they are at. the
present time, powerful and wide-
spread. A Chinese interpreter
soon became a necessary addi-
tion to the Government stall' en
every diggers' camp ; and the
Chinese were a recognised evil
throughoul the land.
Those were the days of
sudden and unexpected for-
tunes, and consequently of lavish
expenditure and reckless extra-
vagance. The lucky digger, who,
in England, had Imped for no-
thing hotter than 15s. or £1 a
week, i nice such easily wen
wealth was his, spent it right
royally. "Lightly come, lightly
go," runs the proverb, and it
was more than exemplified
during the first lew years of
the gold rushes. Did any actress
" possiCKDfG." take the popular fancy, she was
nightly showered with nuggets
instead of bouquets, and the very sweepings of the theatre were worth a small fortune
to the caretaker. Did the digger fancy a game at skittles, he set up bottles of
champagne as ninepins, when champagne was LI a bottle, and howled against them till
evcrv one was smashed. AVas he hungry, then it struck his fancy that he would have
a sandwich, in which a £1 or even a £5 note took the place of the more ordinary
Gold.]
WASHING THE GOLD.
L8S
and much more digestible and nutritious beef or ham; and it is related that when the
diggers first elected a member for the Ovens, so overjoyed were they that they actually
shod his horse with gold, and, forming a procession, escorted him from the Woolshed to
Beechworth in noisy triumph.
In the early days a claim was twelve feet by twelve for each man, and this
space, accordingly, tin; digger on his arrival on the gold-field proceeded to peg out. Of
course, there were other ways by which a man might become possessed of a claim ; he
CRADLING ami PANNING
mighl buy one already in working order, or he might fake one abandoned by someone
else, but the mOSl usual way was to peg out a new claim for himself. Then lie and
his mate— as a rule the early diggers worked in pairs— if they were not "shepherds," a
alang term for men who waited to discover the laj of the gutter began sinking their
shaft, [f thej c ■ on the wash-dirt within a few feet of the surface, well and good;
this simplified matters exceedingly. The wash-dirt was taken out and put in a tub, i
was poured on it, and the still' clay puddled with a spade until it was thoroughly
mixed with the water, when all the more liquid portions were poured away. .More
water was poured on, and the process repeated, not once, but again and again, till at
the bottom of the tub remained only the heavier sand and gravel containing the gold,
which was, in fact, the heaviest of all. The residue was then put into a dish remarkably
18G CASSELL'S HiTUlKSQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Gold.
Like the domestic milk-pun, water was poured on it, and a few twists and turns sufficed
to separate the gold from the dirt, and to show the anxious digger whether he had
in his nan a small fortune, or not oven "the colour." that is, not the minutest particles,
of gold. This last operation, called panning off or out, required some niceness and
dexterity in turning the wrist, as an awkward twist might succeed in upsetting the
pan. The. first day or so on a "rush;' tubs and pans, or even pans alone, would be the
only means used for washing the gold, as it was utterly impossible that a digger should
burden himself with much impedimenta on his way to the diggings, but as soon as the
"field" became an established fact "cradles" made their appearance on the scene, and
rows of them might be seen linimr the banks of the creek. The cradle was used
midway between the tub and the pan, and was a wooden box shaped like a cradle set on
rockers, and having an upright handle fixed at one end with which it was rocked, while
inside were shelves and obstructions to catch the gold, the water and mud making
their way out through an opening at the bottom. It will be seen that a cradle was by
no means a perfect machine, as the shelves, unless very carefully looked after anil
frequently cleaned, were apt to become covered with a smooth coating of sand and
mud, and much of the gold was then carried away with the mud and water. It has now
been almost entirely given up, and for the thousands that once were rocked along the
banks of the creeks on every gold-field, hardly one is to be seen. Sluices, or "long toms,"
as they are called, or else the puddling machine, have entirely taken their place. The
long torn, which bears a family resemblance to a cradle, is a long narrow box, with an
iron bottom, and a grating, or "hopper," as it is called, at one end. The stuff is put in
the long torn and washed down it by a strong stream of water, the force of which
separates the gold from the dirt, while any lighter particles that are carried off with the
escaping mud and water are caught by a "ripple," that is, a small wooden bar fixed across
the end of the box, and should any escape that, it is caught on the " blanket," usually a
piece of green baize fixed on an inclined plane outside the long torn. The long torn
cannot, however, invariably he used in alluvial mining, for in some soils the water, instead
of separating the gold and dirt, cakes it all together in one hard ball, which succeeding
washing only serves to make more compact, and then it becomes necessary to substitute
the puddling machine for the long torn.
The puddling machine is a circular contrivance, the bottom and sides consisting
either of iron or of hard wood, while fixed in the centre of the circle is a horizontal
beam, to which are attached two harrows. This beam is moved usually by horse-power,
but not infrequently, in these later days, by steam, and dragging round with it the
harrows, it thoroughly mixes the clay and water. The water is brought in at one side,
and the mud, or "sludge," as it is called, is carried off by a gutter or pipe at the other.
The gold remaining at the bottom of the machine is finally cleared by panning off
In the present day, when gold getting has been brought to the highest state of
perfection, it is a matter of course that not a particle of the precious metal is allowed
to be wasted, but iii the old days it was not so, and both through ignorance and from
carelessness much was cast away that is now counted valuable. Many men, both Chinese
and Europeans, make comfortable livings picking over abandoned claims, or washing
Gold.) THE JEWELLERS' SHOPS. 1 S?
once more the sludge from old puddling machines and the refuse from quartz batteries,
usually called "tailings." These men are always known as " fossickers," and are said to
be " fossicking."
As we have said, when the ancient river-bed was within a few feet of the surface,
gold-digging was neither toilsome nor expensive, but when sinking to 30, 60, 200, or
300 feet became necessary, matters assumed a different aspect The dirt Lad to 1 >e got
out of the drives somehow, and various devices were used for tin- purpose. The
commonest was the ordinary windlass and bucket, or if the shafl were a large one there
might be two buckets, one at each end of the rope, one being drawn up as the o
was let down. The "whip," too, was a good deal used in the early digging da\ s, and
was made by fixing a stake about twenty feet long firmly in the ground, so that it
started at an angle of about forty-five degrees, the end projecting over the mouth
of the shaft. In this end was fixed a grooved wheel, round which ran a rope with a
bucket attached t<> it, this bucket being raised and lowered by a horse travelling
backwards ami forwards. Hand whips were also used, hut it is obvious that whips are
at the hest both clumsy and awkward contrivances.
Far more useful, and, at the same time, more complicated, is tin' " whim," also worked
by a horse. This is a structure of strong timber, keeping in position a horizontally-
working drum, round which the ropes attached to the bucket are wound. Underneath
the drum is a long beam with shafts, to which the horse is harnessed. In these days
of big companies, of quartz reefs and deep-sinking, huge poppet-heads are erected over
the mouth of the shaft, and the heavy cages are raised ami lowered by steam, much
in the same manner as in the coal mines in England In some few mines ladders are
used for the purposes of ascent and descent, a practice brought into vogue by the
Cornish miners, but never in very high favour with Australians.
In the early gold-field days, as has before been said, only alluvial mining was puisne!],
and probably the richest alluvial claims in any part of Australia, or, for that matter, in
in; part of tin- world, were to he found on Ballarat Along the Buninyong Road,
especially, were some of such extraordinary richness that they were known as the
"Jewellers' Shops." The history of one of these, called the Blacksmith's claim, because its
first owner belonged to that craft, reads like a page of romance. The blacksmith, with
a part} of eight, all novices, sank the shaft in so irregular and unworkman-like a manner
that it was absolutely at tie- risk of his lite that a man made the descent to the
bottom. Without opening out a regular drive, they washed all the stuff within reach,
ami, after realising idi'vio, offered it for sale; hut so wet and rotten was the ground,
so badly sunk the shaft, that at first no purchaser could be found. At last a party
of ten plucked Up courage, ami bought all right and title to the claim and '
for '.'77. 'Ilex entered into possession at noon one Saturday, and long before the sui
had in their possession £2,000 worth of gold By working day ami night in spells
till the following Monday, they raised this to E10.000. Then, after the usual reckless
manmr of lucky diggers, they let this mine of wealth, and went on the spree tor a
week. Their tenants made good use of the time at their disposal: they opened up two
drives, ami. before the week was out were the happy possessors of El 1 K)0 all ;
188
cassklls PICTUBESQtTE \r>Ti; Al.AslA.
i<.
out of tlic claim. The other party then returned, and after a week's work, during which
they realised £9,000, they sold oul to a storekeeper for £100, who pul in a gang to
work in shares, and these, labouring in desultory fashion for a fortnight, took out £5,000.
At the end of thai time one of the party, an old hand from Van Diemen's Land, under-
mined the props, and next morning, on returning to work, the men found the whole of
the workings had fallen in. The rest of the party appear to have taken this misfortune
very calmly, and to have completely abandoned the claim, for no mention is made oi
their further proceedings; but it is related how the author of the mischief coolly marked
out a claim twenty-four feet square on top of the ruin, and, working with a hired party,
sunk a shaft straight as a die for the gutter. The first tubful of wash-dirt they raised turned
out 40 11 is.' weight of srold, and the next two averaged 10 lbs. each; and, as Ballarat gold
was, and is, superior to any other at all times, fetching at least £4 an ounce, those three
bucketfuls of earth were worth £2,880 to their fortunate possessor. Altogether, out of
that small area, hardly larger than a good-sized room, was taken in a few weeks gold
worth nearly £60,000 — "an amount," says Kelly, "unequalled in the annals of gold-
digging, and which may never again be paralleled" There were other claims among the
"shops"- — all, it was said, equally rich: but lucky diggers seldom kept account of their
Gold J
• SHEPHERDING."
IS!)
gains, and even if they had, it would be monotonous to recount them one by
much is certain, that after these claims were considered worked out, a party
of the five acres on which they stood,
and realised a large fortune by wash-
ing up what the first diggers had lefl
behind them. Even at this time
fossickcrs, both European and China-
men, may be seen picking over the old
"Jewellers' Shops, " and in spite of bye-
laws, the sweepings of the Buninyong
lload are regularly washed for gold.
As the alluvial gold was found in
the ancient river-beds, it was the aim
and object of every man to discover,
one. This
JOt a lease
it' possible, the lie of the gutter I
sinking a shaft, as it was little use sinking
if there were no probability of striking
the wash-dirt This then gave rise to
the curious practice called ' shepherding."
It was impossible to ti\ by law how miieli work a man should do in order no
Forfeit his claim; therefore the shepherd would take em ,, i, . spadefuls, and then
contentedly sit and watch to see if lus neighbour succeeded in finding the gutter.
190 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE A.USTBALASIA. Qoli
Of course, as soon as the latter had struck wash-dirt,, the gentle shepherd at once
began sinking, while should the first man find no bottom, the shepherd had been spared
a great deal of unnecessary labour. It not unfrequently happened, however, that the
shepherd lost by his waiting, for, having reached the gutter, he would find that
his neighbour had driven underground and taken away the valuable wash-dirt — a
thing easily enough done, for permission to go down a shall was seldom accorded in
the early days, and a refusal would have excited no surprise. Of course, gold-fields'
law in such a case would punish the dishonest, digger, if it could catch him, hut he
had in all probability cleared out by that time. In later days shepherding was done
away with by the law known as the frontage system, which enacted that when a
cutler was discovered the miner should take up a frontage of undetermined width on
the course of the lead, so that, if a shaft were sunk and the gutter not found, his
labour was not lost, for he still had a right to work to the right or to the left, as the
course of the gutter might lie.
It is in alluvial mining only that nuggets are found, although pieces so rich in
gold that they are called by this term are frequently broken off the parent rock.
The "Welcome Nugget" was discovered by a party of twenty-four at Bakery Hill,.
Ballarat, at, a depth of 180 feet, on the 15th June, 1858, and weighed over L80 lbs..
or in avoirdupois weight, 1 cwt. 1 qr. 12 lbs., of which about 10 lbs. consisted of
quartz and clay. It was sold by its fortunate owners for £10,500, which proved a
little above its value, for, on being resold in Melbourne, it only brought £9,325, at
£4 4s. lid. an ounce. The "Blanche Barkly" was found by a party of four, quite by
itself, at Kingower, Victoria, at a depth of thirteen feet, and within five or six feet of
holes that had been dug three years before. It, was twenty-eight inches in length, and
ten inches in its widest part, weighed 145 lbs. 3 OZ. 13 dwt., and was worth £6,905 1 2s. 9d.
Its peculiar brightness and beauty (only 2 lbs. out of the 145 being quartz) made it
exceedingly valuable, for it was taken to England, and its fortunate owners were at one
time drawing £50 a week by showing it at the Crystal Palace.
Four seems to have been a fortunate number. That was the number of the party
of men who found at Canadian Cully, Ballarat, either in 1852 or 1853, the nugget
■which takes the third place on the list. It, weighed 134 lbs. 11 <>/., and was worth
£5,532 7s. 4d., hut, unlike the "Blanche Barkly," was not attractive-looking, both
gold and quart/, being dark-coloured, and we presume the gold was not so pure, or
else the precious metal was cheaper at Ballarat in these days, for its value is
calculated at £3 17s. 9d. per ounce.
An aboriginal hoy found a prize he little expected, and perhaps hardly valued,
when, in July, 1851, among a heap of quartz on the surface of the ground, about fifty
miles from Bathurst, New South Wales, he unearthed a nugget weighing 106 lbs. troy
weight It was in three separate pieces, hut has always been considered as one nugget.
It could, however, hardly have been so beautiful as later specimens, for it contained
a large proportion of quartz.
But the nuggel before which all others pale was the "Welcome Stranger," found
at Dunolly, Victoria, by two men on the 5th February, 1869. It was close to the
Gold.]
QUARTZ MINING.
i'H
surface, being barely covered with earth, and was within two feel of the bed rock, [ts
weight was never correctly ascertained, as before bringing it to the bank its finders
appear to have endeavoured to melt it down, in order to get ri±=
ri..
L92
CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA.
'
genera! rule, however, twenty are found amply sufficient to crush the quartz raised from
one claim. At the Black Hill Company, Ballarat, they have the largest battery in the
colonies, which consists of forty stampers. The quartz is placed in hoppers, and carried
down to the stamper-box by shoots, and there crushed to a powder so fine that it is
washed by the constantly-running water through a grating or sieve containing 100
■timbering."
holes to the square inch. Every five heads will crush five tons in eight hours, and to
do that properly they require eight gallons of water per minute. Every eight hours a
thimbleful of quicksilver is put in the stamper-box, and this amalgamates all the gold,
save a little so fine that it escapes through the grating along with the crushed quartz.
It is not, however, wasted, for the quartz is washed over copper plates carefully prepared
with quicksilver, which catches all the -old that has escaped from the battery. The
gold is afterwards cleared from the quicksilver by retorting. The hattery works
day and night, from one o'clock on Monday morning till twelve on Saturday night,
Gold.)
A RICH YIKLD.
193
and the noise, as might be expected, is deafening. So accustomed to it, however, do
the dwellers around become that the unexpected stoppage of a battery will waken a
whole township from its peaceful slumbers.
Gold can, of course, be extracted from the quartz by the very rudest, contrivances
if only time is of no consequence and the stone is rich enough Two small boys at
Bendigo once, so the story goes, came to the owner of a battery with about 20 lbs.'
weighl of quartz on their backs and asked leave to use the pestle and mortar he
kept for testing samples, heave being readily given, they set to work, and, by dint
of patient labour crushing the whole of their load, they were rewarded, to the intense
teetulpa e.oi.n-ni'i.n.
astonishment of the bystanders, by very nearly 13 lbs.' weighl "oi pure gold The locality
where they found this treasure-trove these fortunate urchins, with a shrewdness not
uncommon to young Australia, kept a profound secret, and ten days after came again
with a harrow load, which musl certainly have yielded them over £1,200. The el
nf these young "millionaires of the future" could not, says the narrator of the story,
have been over twelve years of age.
Gold-mining at the presenl time is a very different thing from what it was thirty
ago. All the large mines are owned by greal companies, and minin g is recognised
a- an mpoirtant industry. The great "rushes" of former years are either utterly deserted,
lonelier, perhaps, than ever before, for the slight tokens that man has left of his
presence, or else thej have In ie thriving towns, differing after all hut little from
13
194 CASSELLS l'!( 1TKKSQUE AUSTUAI.ASIA. I'
English t o^\iis of the same size. Mounds of earth, indeed, red, white, ami yellow, are
seen everywhere, and towering above them arc the poppet-heads of the claims in work,
while tin: clay-daubed miner with his tin billy is as common a sight as a collier in
Northumberland
Globe trotters and strangers from all parts of the world come to the great gold-
centres and desire above all things to inspect the mines, hut, after all, there is net much
to sec. In seme mines the visitor, in order to save his garments, puts upon him others
that are kept for the purpose. In many, however, this kind attention is forgotten,
and not lonsr ago a visitor, described as an "awful swell," had to roll down a
"jump-up" in the only ordinary suit of clothes he has with him. History records
thai he finished his visit in his dress suit. The stranger is placed on the cage, an
old miner is put in charge of him, and he descends 100, 200, 1,000, or even 2,000
feet, as a rule in pitch darkness, for the candles, after guttering a great ileal, go out
in consequence of the draught. Arrived at the bottom, he has his candle relighted,
and finds himself standing at the bottom of a shaft, with drives branching out to all
points of the compass, along one of which he is taken. It is always dirty, generally
muddy, and he is lucky indeed if it be not in some places ankle-deep in water, lie
goes down "jump-ups" and up "winzes." He sees men at work in all kinds of un-
comfortable attitudes, their candles stuck by mud against the walls. He squeezes close
up against the wall as a truck laden with quartz or "mullock" comes rushing past;
and he is shown, of course, some of the richest stone in the colony, which, to his in-
experienced eye, presents not a trace of the precious metal, while he is constantly
stopping, to the no small amusement of his guide, to inspect more closely tin' mica
or mundik which glitters in the candle-light. At the end of the drive he will come
upon the " stope," which is a boring following the descent of one of the veins of
quartz, with small shafts at intervals, through which the quartz is lowered to the level
below. The air, even though the mine be well ventilated, is hot and close, and the
miners look pale and ghastly in the artificial light. Still, he is told that the miner's
is not an unhealthy life, and is well paid, for the mere pitmen earn £3 a week for
eight hours' labour per day, while men in responsible positions, engine-drivers and
others, get more. The stranger breathes more freely when he regains the light of
day, politely tells everyone he lias been charmed, delighted, and deeply interested, and
L;-oes away feeling firmly coiwinced that the interior of a gold-mine is not a place a
man need see more than once.
There is plenty of gold in Australia yet, though the old days when every man
sought for himself have almost passed away/ Diamond drills have of late years come
into use, and fresh leads are by their agency being discovered every day. We have said
nothing of the gold-fields in Queensland, Tasmania, and New Zealand, though they are
by no means to be despised. Still, gold-niining goes through much the same phases all
the world over, and mining in Victoria remarkably resembles mining in any other colony.
Some of the gold-fields of New South Wales deserve special mention, because at
Mount Brown, north of the Darling, at which place there was a ereat rush in 1880,
quite a new process — new, at least, to Australasians — of separating the gold from the
Gold.) MOUNT BROWN AND KLUBERLEY. 195
surrounding alluvial, prevailed — one, however, not much in vogue, nor ever likely to be
wherever water is fairly plentiful. At Lihbaborough — one of the fields at Mounl Brown
— however, and in all that district, water is conspicuous, as a rule, by its absence. Men
had little enougb for their own use — none whatever for washing gold, h is necessary,
thru, under these circumstances, to break up the wash-dirt as fine sible, and on
some day when the wind is high to pour it rapidly backwards and forwards from one
tin dish to another. By degrees, the greater part of the dirt blows away in the form
of dust — red dust it was at Mount Brown — and is thus got rid of. The heavier portions
which contain tin; gold are then again crushed, and the same process gone through
again ami again, till at last so little remains that the digger is able to clear his pan by
blowing the dust, away, ami whal gold there is can be clearly seen in the bottom oi
the dish.
At Mount Brown, on a windy day — and such days are the rule, not the exception,
since the country for miles towards the north, including Stint's Desert, is one vast arid
plain, over which the scorching hot winds blow for weeks together in the summer sea on
— with five or six hundred men at work " dry-blowing " dirt, the whole plain for miles
was enveloped in one vast cloud of dust. Worse; Still, even after the gold was secured
few men could indulge in the expensive luxury of a hath, hut remained, perforce, with
all tin' signs of their toil thick upon them. Mount Brown in 1880 was hardlj a desirable,
or even an ordinarily-pleasant place in winch to reside. In the latitude of, and barely forty
miles distant from, Sturt's Depdt Glen, the heat in summer is always very great, and with
water at three shillings a bucket, as it was in those days, it must have been something
appalling. Flour, too, rose till it reached two shillings and sixpence a pound; and
when an ordinary loaf cost ten shillings, it will easily he seen that only extraordinarily
rich yields could make the field pay. Soon, however, the rush there melted away, and
the place assumed the ordinary aspect of a small and unimportant mining township.
In Kimherlev alone, in the north of Western Australia, the old order still prevails.
There, where the gold-fields are Dearly three hundred miles in the interior, men croi
from all parts of Australasia, bringing with them, since it is a fare and d land,
all the a !i ssaries of life, even as thej did thirty years ago in Victoria. On the
road, or, rather, rough track, were seen all manner of con from the rich man's
bullock-dray to the modesl hand-carl or still more humble wheelbarrow. Hut. in spite
of the promise of greal things, there are signs that the glory of Kimherlev has already
departed. The drawbacks are numerous, and the field must be rich, indeed, that could
stand them, for the water is scarce, the blacks are troubli i Lunate is
tropical and unsuited to the white man, and, above all, the gold firsl found in the gullies
and flats is alreadj worked oul and there are nol appliances for further search, for
Kimherlev itself is beyond the very outskirts of civilisation, and it soon promises to
become thai abomination of desolation, a deserted gold-field. Teetulpa, in S
Australia, it may be added, is the in fields, having only come into
in Novi ml" r, L886.
A NEW GUINEA TE-MTLE.
NEW GUINEA: PORT MORESBY TO KEREPUNA.
An Island with a Future — Missionaries and Traders — rort Moresby — Elevara —Native Occupations — The Sources
of Fever — Funeral Customs — An Unexecuted Sentence — The Ascent of Mount Pullen — The Laloki and
Goldie Rivers — The Guilelessness of the Natives — Their Treatment of Women — Courtship and Marriage —
Betel Chewing — Native Hunting — Kapa-Kapa — Hula — The Bau-bau — A Clever Trickster — Kerepuna —
Nature and Civilisation — Work Days and Rest Days — Festivities — Spirit-seers — Canoe Makers — Fond
Fa n'wells — Rejoicings.
IN New Guinea, a mighty island, generously productive, basking under the rays of
a fiery sun, yet fanned by the balmy monsoon, with all the conditions of health
and happiness within its range, waits with its many attendant isles, as the best
portions of Upper Queensland also wait, jipon the coming of civilisation. A mighty
island it truly is. and it is surrounded by others ever varying, and bewildering in
their loveliness, while beyond these are yet others, protected in most parts by
gigantic ban-'nr walls of coral-reef from the boisterous ocean, which perpetually lashes
and roars outside — barrier walls with splendid gateways every few miles opening
from the turbulent ocean — for the Papuan Gulf and (.'oral Sea are ever more or
less tumultuous — to the mirrordike lagoons inside, where ships of all sizes may
venture, and ride out the wildest storm in safe and quiet anchorage. Then there
are wide bays and peaceful harbours, with smooth, shell-strewn shores of golden sand,
fringed with fruit-weighted banana, palm, and mammy-apple trees; and beyond these,
indented mountains, reaching far above the rain-clouds which they gather about their
steep sides.
Without wishing to understate any of the real difficulties which must attend
either a visit to, or a stay in this country, it must be said that, hi comparison with
New Qdxkea.1
PORT MOHESISY.
197
what it has been, Now Guinea is safe and open to the foot of the European, and
that this comparative safety is due to the heroic and unselfish labours of the mis-
sionaries and the no less heroic, if more interested, exertions of the dauntless traders
who have from time to time settled upon these coasts.
'The first point of attractioD to which all travellers tend is the English head-
quarters — Port Moresby. Vet this is by no means the most interesting portion of
British New Guinea, although interesting enough to the new arrival, who sees for the
first time the naked, copper-tinted
savages paddling aboul the ships
in their catamarans and canoes.
A feeling as of cold water run-
nine' down the hack is apt to
take possession of one when the
first half-dozen stalwart, mop-
headed young natives leap aboard,
for they are treacherous and re-
morseless in avenging wrongs,
real or fancied; but this sensa-
tion quickly passes away as we
look upon their mild, intelligenl
laces and shapely limbs while
the\ come up and stand gazing
about them wonderingly.
A lone- line of native houses,
built upon piles, stretches in front
of ns, partly in the water, and
with the entrances facing the
shore; at the other side, and
above them, wave the feathery
fronds of palm-trees, and dotting
the hillside aii' tin- few wooden
houses belonging to the white
residents. At present these houses
can he easily counted. Bere is
the Bungalow, or Government Residence, a small cottage with a veranda in
raised on piles, with a fence round it : and here is the hut buill lor the surveying
party who are planning out. the site of the iirv, city. Grenville it is to he called,
although why so, with such a lovelj native name ; is "Elevara" to hand, is i
than I can imagine. The Messrs. Eunter, twin brothers, who mighl well take the
part of the two Dromios, from the exact resemblance each hears to the other, act
as interpreters ami mediators between the Governmenl and the natives. The white
portion of port Moresbj consists of their house, of Mr. Goldie's store and residence,
and of the mission and native school houses, these last occupying the lull ahove the
UOKESBY.
front,
I OS CASSELL'S TICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [New
little sea village ot Elevara. To these, perhaps, should be added the new gaol, which
is being built on the new city site on the other side of the bay.
The village of Elevara lies directly under the hill upon which the mission-house
is lmilt, ami is separated by an open space of about 400 yards from the other
village of Hanuabada, The natives of these villages appear to live in amity with one
another, although they belong to distinct races, called the Motu ami Coitapu tribes.
The principal occupation of the natives at Moresby is the making of earthenware
vessels and pots for cooking purposes. This manufacture of "hodu," as it is called,
is chiefly in the hands of the women. The men fish, and go out to friendly tribes
and villages along the coast as well as inland with the crockeryware, exchanging it
for commodities which they themselves recpiire. The women are also the gardeners;
and although they merely scratch the surface of the ground, and insert the seeds or
shoots which they wish to grow, the generous nature of the soil is such that the
result is all that could be desired. Outside the villages, and behind the mangrove
and croton bush, gardens and orchards are found in a state of picturesque confusion,
the ground strewn with a litter of dead banana and palm-leaves, whilst out of this
chaos of decayed vegetable matter rise flourishing groves of palm and other fruit
trees. Here the women — that is, the old women and matrons — labour during the
day, trimming, planting, and gathering, while the maids and boys bask in the sun, or
work about the houses, preparing the cocoanuts, yams, and taros for the home-coming
of their fathers and mothers. Each garden is protected by fences of twig palisades
from five to seven feet in height.
The neglected and decaying debris of orchards, mingling with the dead vegetable
accumulation of ages, is partly the cause of the malaria and fever that sap the
energy of natives and Europeans alike. The breeze which night and morning comes
without 1'ail from the valleys and inland mountains, bears upon what ought to be
health-giving wings these blood-poisoning exhalations. Another, and, I think, the
most dangerous, source of the fever is to be found in the filthy habits of the natives,
and their very abominable burial customs and superstitions. They are an intelligent,
hardworking race, open to conviction and quick at imitation, but as yet they have
not been taught the necessity of altering these old customs, and so one or two deaths
in a village are quite sufficient as a start to spread a general plague. The natives
observe the rites of burial and pay respect to the dead to such purpose that one
dead ancestor is almost enough to slay not only all his or her descendants, but all their
friends, and, indeed, all their enemies to boot, for miles around. While the remains
last, the departed themselves cannot possibly be overlooked or forgotten. Every breath of
that fatal land-breeze wafts them potently, not only before the remembrance, but right
down the throat. To enter a village even months after the death of a villager is an
experience which can be neither imagined nor described ; and to meet a full-fledged
mourner is about the most awful trial the olfactory senses can possibly experience.
Amongst the New Guinea natives in their present stage of social development one
might deem it a blessing to be deprived altogether of the sense of smell.
There had lately been an increase of the death-rate at Kerepuna and Moresby,
Giinea.j PICTURESQUE VILLAGE. 199
and in consequence, Elevara and Hanuabada were tilled with sable-coated mouriicrs,
and the air was laden with fever germs. To call New Guinea essentially unhealthy,
when the causes are so vividly apparent, is to write an unwarranted libel on the
country. It is, in fact, too mountainous to he in itself insanitary; while the winds
by day sweep through the gullies, laden with ozone from the surrounding ocean, and
by night return to the sea from the mountain-crested clouds. The conditions seem
to be all on the side of health, and ready to the hand of man whenever he likes to
work out the problem of sanitation in the tropics.
The main, or, rather, only, street in the native village at Moresby runs along the
sands of tin' bay for about half-a-mile, the native huts being built upon the seaside
in such fashion that, when the tide is high, they are nearly surrounded with water.
These huts, well thatched with palm-leaves, and firmly secured by ropework fastenings,
have only one outlet at, either end. In front of each doorway broad platforms, made
up raft-fashion, and joined together with cross pieces of timber, are raised on the' piles,
the whole being, on the land side, five or six feet from the ground. As the shore
slopes upward between eight and ten feel above the level of the flood, each house is
separate from the others, yet all are so closely adjoining that it is quite easy for one
neighbour to pass from his platform to the one next door, and so on along the whole
village. Each house has its own rustic ladder placed against the platform and doorway.
They are all substantially built, the piles being very closely placed together; some
straight, some twisted and forked, all being rough, undressed limbs and branches of
gum and cotton trees. The effect of the whole is decidedly picturesque. The small
canoes float upon the water, or lie grounded between the piles when the tide is out.
These canoes are made from trunks of trees, and are ten to twenty feel in length, with
the inside chipped and hollowed out; and there is no attempt at ornamentation, except
the outriggers, which balance them when sailing. They never upset, no matter how
crowded, and go along remarkably fast, whether propelled by the paddles or under
.sail.
Here and there, as you walk along the village, you will come upon an old man
chipping away with his stone or iron adze at a rough trunk, making a nevt canoe.
It is a labour of time, but these suns of Nature are gifted with greal patience. I have
heard it said that i< takes them twelve months to sharpen their green-Stone axe-.,
and yet they will part with one for eighl or ten sticks of trading toba
In front of the houses sit the old women making their earthenware jars and pots,
with wood tires near at hand to dry and harden them when wrought into shape.
Very deft they are at this work; and they generally cut rough ornamental borders
round the edges. The pots are black, and when completed look like ironware. It
is a pretty sight to see the women at work, with the thin vapour from the burning
wood curling up amongst the tree shadows and mingling with the purple fumes of the
setting sun
Inside the houses it is always twilight, for there are no windows, and as you
Look in at the doors a thing the inmates do not like strangers to do you
a^ soon as the eye gets accustomed to the dim obscurity, that everything is clean
200
GASSELL'S PICTTJRESQUE AUSTRALASIA.
I N I-: \t
aad neat. Mothers and children are sitting or reclining on the bamboo floors, with
spears and shields, &c, ranged along the walls, making delightful Etembrandtesque
pictures.
On the other side of the street are planted thick groves of palm and banana
trees. In these groves — or, rather, by the side of the street, sometimes in the very
centre of it — you may stumble upon little bamboo-protected mounds with planks laid
across, and palm-leaves covering them. These mounds are graves, placed opposite the
NATIVE DWELLINGS AT TORT MORESBY.
houses which the deceased occupied when alive. It is from these mounds that the
odours issue that so constantly remind the stranger of the family bereavement. Long-
snouted pigs, assisted in their investigations by hundreds of mongrel-looking native
dogs, snort and burrow about the graves until they are driven from their pastime by
the ash-blackened widow, husband, son, or daughter, left behind to mourn.
When a death occurs in the family the friends assemble and lament. Then they
dig a hole, either under the house or in front of it. If near the water, the grave is
dug about two feet deep. The bottom of it, is spread over with palm-leaves, upon
which the body is placed; more leaves are added, and over these twigs and planks
are laid. This is the custom of the Motu tribes, and along the coast. Inland the sur-
vivors hang dead bodies upon trees, and observe practices which are too horrible to
be related.
From Mr. Andrew Goldie's journal, of which he kindly permitted me to make use,
I take the following extract regarding the funeral ceremonies : — " About three hundred
GriM \.|
FUNERAL CEREMONIES.
:><)]
natives were assembled Two men and two women carried the body, which was that
of a woman, out of the house to the grave, which was a few feel in front of the
house, and only eighteen inches deep. There was a mat laid in the grave, upon which
the corpse was placed. The husband was then dragged out of the house in great
grief, and, throwing himself down upon Ins dead wife, wept pitebusly. Her daughters
and near relatives stood over the grave crying with great violence, and tearing their
hair and lares with their hands. The other natives stood quietly looking on — thai is,
with the exception of about twenty young men, who were ranged in a straight line,
with drums in their hands, beating time to a very solemn chant which they sang.
After about an hour of this ceremony, the relatives were removed, and the body
covered over with matting, two heavy hoards of old canoes being laid on the top. so
that the pigs might not get at it, and so the dead was for the time lefl alone. The
near relatives went into mourning by blackening their bodies all over with ashes. As
soon as anyone dies in the village a large drum is beaten at regular intervals, some-
thing like our village bells at home." Mr. Goldie, I may add, is a safe authority
on New Guinea, having lived long and
travelled extensively in the country in
which he has vowed to spend the re-
mainder of his life.
It may here be mentioned that at
Vide Island, to the west of Port Moresby
I met a hoy going into the woods at
sundown. His body was smeared over
with ashes, and in bis hand was a fire-
brand, which he was blowing to keep alight
ANOTHER NATIVE Hi
IRA.
202 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [New
as he walked along. He Looked miserable in the extreme, and upon my stopping him
to ask what was the matter (Father Verjuice, a 1 i b priest, acting as interpreter), he
informed me that his lather had lately died, and, being the eldest son, he was compelled
to go and sleep in the woods alone every tughl for six months. The firebrand was to
light a fire with when he got there, to keep away the wild beasts and the ghosts.
He confessed that lie «ras horribly frightened at the idea .it' ghosts, and he looked it.
At Kerepuna 1 passed a tomb where three widows of a chief were imprisoned.
An enclosure had been built over the grave about the size of a large rabbit-hutch It
could not have been more than three feet high and four or live feet square, and this
spaee was completely covered, except that there were spaces between the planks for
ventilation. As we passed the bereaved ones, each stretched out a skinny, blackened
arm and hand through the cracks for "koko" (tobacco). The hushand had hen dead
nine months, and during those dreary months these jwor widows had not been per-
mitted to go outside their prison. The relatives fed them by pushing yams through
the crevices, and thus they were forced to stay, willing or otherwise, over the decom-
posing remains of their late lord and master for a period of three years.
At Aroma a ghastly widower made great friends with me, and wanted to embrace
me, which honour I energetically declined. Feeling lonely, no doubt, and longing
for company, he was good enough to choose me as his friend, but there was too
strong a savour of the cemetery about him to excite my complete sympathy.
For utility in the way of harbourage, Port Moresby is nearly all that could be
desired. The Government authorities have made a wise choice in the site of the
new township, to windward of the native villages, and protected by the hill behind
it, with deep water close up to the beach, and a considerable area of flat ground.
I went with the Government surveyor over his new site — through native gardens,
with the road cut in a straight line, and fruit trees cast down where they inter-
fered with the line of direction. The natives made a great outcry over the destruction
of their gardens, and demanded a life or two as compensation. However, they were
fain at last to be content with payment in the current coin of the land — " koko."
The surveyor, who with others of his party had been condemned to death, worked
on, perfectly indifferent to threats and dark glances. It was hard work to clear
these roads, the ants constantly tormenting the men, and the under-bush being
very dense. The plan has, however, been carried out successfully; and as we passed
through the clear-cut roadways, fenced with the dead timber, amid avenues of crotons,
mangroves, castor-oil trees, sago, betel palm, and stunted gum-trees, hearing the
surveyor explain his designs, we felt that although the gaol was early on the
ground, more agreeable consequences of civilisation would quickly follow.
From Mount Pullen. the highest point i n Moresby, a splendid view of the port
and harbour, as well as of some of the country inland, can be obtained. Like all the
mountains. Mount Pullen is exceedingly steep, and to climb to its top is to achieve
quite a feat. Getting a little Motu boy as my guide, I started off one morning
a little after sunrise. When we were past the garden fences, my guide struck out at
a rate which I could hardly keep up, and with an ease and utter unconsciousness
Gu.v'ea.1 OX THE MOUNTAIN TOP. 203
of fatigue that astonished me. Ho never paused, except when I was breathlessly
forced to ask him, and then he looked with wonder at the tired white follow.
Our route lay up a pathway made by the natives, the highway, so far, to the
interior. At the point where the track left the path, just as I had emerged
from a thick copse, I came suddenly upon a party of mountain natives, armed with
shields, spears, hows and arrows, decorated with feathers, and painted with designs in
white, red, and black, looking altogether very formidable. Having heard much of
native treachery, and not knowing whether these were enemies or friends, I felt
somewhat uneasy, and looked at my revolver. However, I became reassured on
seeing my young friend walk on towards them calmly and address seme words to
them, upon which they drew to one side and permitted me to pass. My boy told
me that these men had come down with birds and plants, orchids and crotons, &c.,
to trade with the white people in the village on the coast, and that they always
travelled ready for fighting, as they never knew the moment when they might he
attacked.
At length, after many rests, and much panting on my part, we reached the top.
Beside me grew a large cotton-tree with tortuous limbs and snaky branches, devoid
of leaves, and twisted ami gleaming like dried, bleached bones, but with the scarlet
blossom festooning the bare limbs here and there, like bits of red rag tied round
a dead tree. Behind the cotton-tree lay a dense scrub, with interlacing bush, and
tendrils crossing backward and forward, and up and down, like trellis-work. Where
the lives were not, tall grass between six and eight feet in height was growing —
silvery, shining grass, which, where the sunshine fell, looked almost like snow. From
these bowers, as I tried to force my way through them, myriads of amber-coloured
ants fell upon me, getting down my neck, and covering me with vicious bites
Through a parting on the thin side of this lovely natural trellis-work I looked towards
the far-away mountains and valleys of the interior. Tier behind tier they rose,
some beneath me where 1 stood, like sugar-loaves or pyramids, with straight, steep
sides, mostly grass-covered, although here and there dense forests of trees v . en
pread out; the valleys were so deep that the purple shadows hid their details:
between the cones were' vistas of plains, with miles of forests yet to he chared away
when tin' European takes possession and transforms these vast tracts into rice and
sugar plantations. Amid the lofty rugged ranges <>i' which 1 have spoken fkrw the
Laloki and Groldie Rivers, the junction of which was discovered bj the gentleman
after whom the latter stream is named, lie speaks of it as very treacl with
shifting bottom, and swarming with alligators, The hanks in some parts are very
precipitous, in others Hat and densely wooded, the jungle being so dm-,' that to get
through means a very five use of the axe. Supple-jacks and tendrils, ant-infested,
mesh about the traveller like a close network, prickles and thorns tearing the skin
and clothes at every step: these, with palm-trees in many varieties, and clumps of
fern-trees, over twenty feet in height, make up a truly tropical scene < f untrammelled
nature, with butterflies of every shade and size on the wing, carrying patches of the
glowing sunshine into deep recesses of shadow.
204
CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA.
[New
The Laloki lies about four hours' hard walking past the village of Mourmia, and
ahoul thirteen or fourteen miles from Pert Moresby. At the junction of the two rivers
the scenery is very pretty and open, the Goldie winding along by the foot of the
mountain, with trees drooping over the banks. About here a little gold lias been
found, and it is believed to lie in great quantities in the heart of these volcanic
ri< Iges.
The Laloki is a fine river, fed by numerous streams rising in the Astrolabe
ranges. It has very precipitous cliffs and banks, and at some points it is a hard
£\' S '' \llatliugtll
■h Miles o^ f %A
c
II a/it r t> i:„„l*U sc.
SECTION OF NEW GUINEA.
matter to follow the stream up, rapids occurring here and there both above and below
the great falls, which Mr. Goldie and Mr. Chalmers agree in considering indescribably
grand. The mountains run at a sharp angle on both sides, and in some places hate
cliffs, one to two thousand feet high, tower above the mighty trees in the gloomy
depth of the gorges below.
For many miles a full body of clear water leaps down deep shelves and over
huge rocks, 1 "'tween time-worn precipices. Then there is a clear space, where it
surges round a wooded island in the centre of the stream, smooth with the velocity
of its deadly race. Next it takes a mighty leap of about a thousand feet clear,
only broken in its course by a huge block of nigged boulder in about the middle
of its fall, and then into the tree-hidden, boiling cauldron it flings its vast strength
with a thunderous din; anon breaking over cliffs and rocks in foamy masses, far
below where the eye or the ear can follow, while up in the air, above the cedar tops,
OUUIEA.]
THE FAR VIEW.
205
the mist-clouds float, sun-pierced, with the rainbow hovering perpetually within the
gauze-like fumes.
From where I stand, on Mount Pullen, 1 turn to the wide expanse of ocean
which lies in its amethyst repose. I can look through the fathoms of water that
cover the snowy beds of coral, and see
the pale green and the intense violel of
the deep passages betwi i q. Away Dear the
horizon-line are the gleaming fangs that
ever gnaw at the hidden reefs. Nearer,
jut out the dark brown and grey rock pro-
montories, which spread round like a cres-
cent moon, forming the almost land-locked
bay. Two or three small craft are rocking
in the deeper waters, Beche-de-mer and copra
boats come into the port for provisions. The
Governor Cairns is waiting upon his Excellency,
the Hon. John Douglas, and the tiny mail steam-
tug, The Victory, upon us, a shoal of canoes with
water-tanks on hoard surrounding the latter,
and crowds of natives filling her barrels. The
tide is far out, and the shallow waters are
with little black dots wading — native
A TREE HOI 3E
boys and girls basking in the sun, or
fishing with their nets and many-pointed
fishing-spears. There lies Elevara, with
the picturesque, Gibraltar-like rock-mound
behind it which T saw last evening purple
under the setting sun. And there is
Hanuabada, fringing the sands, the white
settlers' huts and cottages overtopping
both villages. The shining sides .it' the
hills opposite me are while in the fore-
i n rays, strongly in contrasl with the
violet shadows of the distant ranges; and
altogether it is a bewitching scene of rest and beauty, the gardens breaking the monotony
with their lovely bewilderment of tangle Before long all this natural confusion, and
these picturesque if fever-infested huts, will be done away with, and that grassy and
tree-covered lair, where the kangaroo and wallaby now hide, will be covered with
A HEATHEN TEMPLE.
20G CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE ATTSTRAT.ARTA, [Nsw
square-built streets and trim wooden erections, while white helmets and duck pants
will replace the dusky skins of the natives
The danger of the levers of which I have spoken lies along the sea-shores, and in
the valley swamps; but on the mountain ridges it is impossible to catch malaria, while
the tribes to be met there, like all mountaineers, are live from some of the vices of
the lowland natives — more honest, although dishonesty is a vice which T, for my part,
never encountered, even on the coast; they are also truthful, and generous in their
intercourse with strangers. Hunters who have gone up in search of game have told
me that, they felt no insecurity when amongst these hill tribes; they were tenderly
looked after, and all their goods guarded jealously during their absence, and restored
to them intact upon their return. Furthermore, the presence of a white man with
firearms is regarded as a boon to be appreciated and taken great care of. Constantly
in danger as they are of surprises from hostile tribes, they look upon the visitor as a
protection, since he is dreaded by their foes. Apart, therefore, from the unavoidable
risks which attend the ignorance of language and customs, a man who trusts the
natives implicitly, and sets aside fear of treachery, will find that the further inland he
travels the greater is his safety. I would advise all future visitors to this country to
boldly strike out for the interior.
Whatever may be said against the burial customs of the natives, enough cannot
be told in praise of their treatment of their women, or of the high standard of
morality between the sexes. Before marriage woman is treated as a queen; her will
is paramount, and often she abuses her privileges, and behaves very harshly to the
humble aspirant to her hand. Young men have to stand back and wait till she shows
her preference, and after the happy youth is so far favoured, and has then shown, to
the satisfaction of the family, that he is rich enough to pay what, they demand for
the bride, he must go through a month of probation, obeying all the lady's whims
and caprices while she is examining his points critically, and studying his character.
Doubtless, at times Love sits in the scales and favours him during his period of
probation; but the ladies seem as a rule to go into the contract with the sedateness
and method of a French courtship, except that the woman has the principal "say"'
in the matter, and appears to calculate with a coolness and acumen which seem
almost incompatible with partiality or passion.
Here is an amusing incident which occurred while I was at Moresby, and which
illustrates this very methodical system of courtship. A youth, whom we called the
" Larrikin," because he was always in mischief, fell in love with one of the belles of
Hanuabada; and, selecting him from amongst all her other hibiscus-adorned suitors —
for the village dandies decorate their dyed and frizzled "mops" with hibiscus blossoms
— she graciously permitted herself to be engaged to him, that is, she took him on
approval. According to custom, "Larrikin" became a guest in the house of the
maiden, ate with its inmates, went out fishing with her. and made himself generally
d and agreeable to the intended father-in-law. In fact, he became both a slave
and a prisoner in the house of his lady love: the father going about with the lovers
constantlv. never leaving them for an instant alone together, and devoting his whole
Guinea.]
•HAKI) TO PLEASE."
207
time to the task of watching over his daughter. For three weeks all went fairly
well, Larrikin much subdued and snubbed (luring that interval. A splendid fellow he
was, worthy of the love of any maid, and as a specimen of humanity worth
twenty of the girl he was fawning upon, for sin- was undersized, and as nearly ugly
as a New Guinea girl of sixteen could be; and I daresay he was just congratulating
himself that his troubles were nearly over, when the maiden suddenly discovered a
wart on his little toe, and ignominiously dismissed him from her presence taking
Straightway the next best favoured rival on the same terms.
Poor Larrikin, for this slight and only blemish, became an outcast, without the
chance of getting a wife in that village, for no other girl would have him after his
rejection, .leered and scoffed at by everyone wherever lie appeared, he' was forced to
take up with ns whites for company ; and he
retaliated by playing pranks all round. lie was a
good i' tnpered young Adonis, and was only humor-
ously cynical towards the scornful fair one, pretending
that lie did not, care nitieh about his rejection, and
wearing more hibiscus flowers than ever in his hair,
out of bravado, 1 suppose; but 1 noticed that he
smoked a great deal at the bau-bau, and chewed,
nearly constantly, the betel-nut.
When all has gone well, and in a manner
satisfactory to the lady, the final ceremony takes
place; that i-, the young man brings his pig, and
what else has 1 leen demanded from him as purchase-
money for his wife, and a feast is held, after the
ceremony of blessing the two mail te has been
performed, lint the troubles of the poor bridegroom
are not, nearly over yet. He has got the daughter,
hut the father has now to he conciliated. He is the master of the husband, who
must reverence him and bend before him each time he passes, and obej all his orders.
until he receives permission to take 1 ie his wife and fall into (he ordinary routine
ol life, hut even after that, a <[iialTel will send his wile home to her parents, and more
presents have to he rendered up before he can have her home again, so that
the husband who would not he ruined must he affable, and stand always on his
behaviour.
The women all work, and do not consider this a hardship, tor industry is one
of the virtues they practise, and idleness would he regarded as a vice. Alter the little
period of petty tyranny which has been described, husband and wife settle down to
the duties of life, rearing children, ; umulating property, and raising pigs. The natives
tire very fond of their pigs and dogs, and sleep with them, attending to them with quite
as much tenderness as they show towards their own offspring.
young girls tattoo one another by degrees until they are complete^ covered to
the waist with scroll-work; they also, when in a genial mood, frizzle the lock
A LI .Mi. CA1.A 1: AS !!
208 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [N«w Gdisei.
their young men and brothers. Only the women are tattooed or dressed, the men
and boys being perfectly nude, with the exception of a cord round the Loins.
To strangers, the habit of betel chewing is very obnoxious. You will meet
old and young, male and female, with the lime calabash hung about the neck,
and with lips Mood-red and teeth jet-black, where not entirely worn down to ugly
stumps through this indulgence. Probably, it' you are in favour with some native, he
will present you with a nut and a bite at his pepper-stick, and then as naturally as
an old Scotchman may hand you his snuff-box, he will pass over his little calabash,
with spoon attached, this spoon most likely cut from some small human hone, in order
that you may help yourself to a lick or two of the lime powder. They will tell you
that it is good for the fever. Perhaps it is; but that it is not good for the teeth, a
look at the mumbling, toothless old men and women will at once convince you. Yet it
is astonishing how quickly the European gets accustomed to betel chewing and bau-bau
smoking, many of the traders presenting the same appearance about the lips and teeth
as the natives. Fortunately the latter have not yet taken to the tire-water, all the
spirits which come into the country being entirely consumed by the white residents.
Some of the calabashes are very beautiful in design, made from cocoa-nut
gourds, and the ornament cut through the fibre and then burnt in with a fine-pointed
firebrand, the lines being symmetrical and in parts very delicate, as are those upon
the musical instruments, war implements, and pipes, or as they call them, "bau-baus."
Leaving Moresby while yet the silvery morning vapours hung over the villages and
softened the outlines of the lofty mountains behind, we take our course along the
coast-line inside the reefs, for outside the sea is very rough; and although the steering
is difficult and dangerous, since we are surrounded on all sides by coral hummocks and
sandbanks, yet here the water is pleasant and calm, while the coast is so close at hand
that we can see the villages and natives distinctly as we steam slowly along.
Our pilot has climbed to the mast-head, and clings with bare feet to the rope-
work as he looks keenly ahead, guiding the man at the wheel with his hand, zigzag,
as if we were in a cab winding about a narrow, crowded street ; while the sun shines
down on the mottled-coloured waves and palm-fringed shores. We first pass Pyramid
Point, bold and tawny tinted, with ranges lost in the white lustre of the clouds, and
villages peeping from the bottom of deep gullies, half concealed in the large-leafed
bowers, and next, Bootless Inlet, threading our way very gingerly, and lost in admiration
of the ever-changing beauty of the scene.
As we sail along we can see our channel winding about the hummocks, and seeming
to be closed up a few yards ahead. We do not make great progress, as we have often
to hack out and find another passage. Round us the sea is clothed with delicate shades
of green, varied by sapphire threads of deep water. As we look shorewards, we see
natives wading about with their nets and many-pronged spears, or marching along the
shores with their burdens on their backs; while at some points volumes of blue smoke
wreathe up above the tree-tops, and show us wdiere they are burning out the wallabies
and kangaroos.
When the natives set out upon a hunt, they do it on a large scale, going to the
mniiiiiiiiini' ' .
THJB Ofl i\l wi.l.s B \m.i 3 i ROM THI
14
210 CASSEIX'S PICTUKBSQUE AUSTRALASIA. [New
ground, fasting, in single file, and in (lead silence — for it is a sign of bad luck if a single
word be spoken. They fix upon a bollow, surrounded by steep ridges; they then attach
a chain of nets to stakes round this amphitheatre, leaving three open spaces, at which
some of the bunters wait, hidden by the long grass, which also conceals the kangaroo.
After this arrangement is complete, they sel fire to the grass, which, being dry in
bunting seasons, burns quickly. This is the cause of the clouds of smoke that we
see. As the grass flames up, the hunters yell wildly, and utter strange sounds, the
effect seemingly being to stupefy their victims, who try in vain to escape from the snare.
Those that make towards the open parts are instantly speared by the hunters waiting
for them there.
Daylight is nearly over; we are still winding about, and at last decide to anchor
on a reef near Kapa-Kapa, where we have a view of the Owen-Stanley ranges, with
Round Head, a most glorious sun gilding sea, and sky. After some dodging about to
find a safe hold for the anchor, we brought to just as the sun was dipping behind
the distant reefs, the dark blue tumble of waters beyond the white surf-line cutting
it in half. Sunsets are always beautiful, if short-lived, in the tropics, but we had
lately been having a storm, which was still raging outside ; and with the haze which
a storm brines with it, this sunset was doubly beautiful. The sun floated in a violet
veil, orange lustred, with a scarlet glow above the haze ; only a I'^w feather-shaped
wreaths broke upon the graduating tints, mellowing from purple at the horizon through
the changes of orange, scarlet, gold, green, to an indescribable opal, which covered the
upper space with translucent beauty. Through this we seem to feel tin 1 dawning of
the coming stars, as we take our eyes away from the burnish upon the wavelets close
at hand and glance overhead. Then comes the hush of the evanescent twilight, and
with the eyes of heaven looking down upon us, we turn our naze shorewards, to where
Mount Owen-Stanley would be visible, had we light enough to perceive it, and were
there an upper space sufficiently free from mist. To-night the mountain is completely
shrouded behind the grey wall, and only portions of the nearer ranges can be caught,
with the village tires of Kapa-Kapa dotting the shores. The only chance we have of
viewing these stupendous ranges, rearing themselves nearly 14,000 feet above the level
of the sea, and as yet unexplored by the feet of civilised man. is during the few
minutes immediately before sunrise. We watched our chance, and fortune favoured us
next morning by giving us a (dear sky, and for a brief space we had an unimpeded
glimpse, such as is not often obtained from this point.
Completing another stage of our journey, we land at the village of Hula, and arc
well treated by Kema, a native trader, who acts as interpreter between us and the
natives. Kema has been educated by the missionaries, and sinus us hymns in the
South Sea language, while he sees that we are not overreached by the men and
women who bring their spears, nets, and ornaments to traffic with us. He is the only
man among them who is dressed, and he is vvvy loudly costumed in a coat of bright
yellow, with red and black spots. To Ins house the girls and old women came in great
crowds, without the reserve which the women show in other parts, and here we had to
taste the betel-nut and smoke the ban-ban. an attempt over which we nearly choked.
Guinea.] SHARP PRACTICE. ^11
The bau-bau is a long and thick bamboo cane, with one end stopped up and the
other left open. A little bole is made near the closed end, into which the tobacco is
inserted, wrapped in a leaf, cigarette fashion,. A man lights the tobacco, while one
of the girls sucks at the large open end until the. hollow tube is filled with smoke,
after which the plug is withdrawn, and the pipe passes round, each one sucking a
mouthful ni' smoke and swallowing ii !
It is a lovely walk along the smooth white sands, scattered over with pieces of
branch coral, and shells of all shapes and colours. I can hardly move forward for
stooping to pick up specimens spider shells, cowries, large and small, exquisitelj
shaped and delicately tinted. But the natives laugh at me lor wasting time over
such rubbish, even while they are good-natured enough to ease me of the labour
of carrying it. The sea is on one side, and the jungle a few yards on the other, a
jungle formed of a variety of trees -the erythrina, or coral-tree, covered with scarlet
blossoms, the umbrella-tree, with its great leaves, crotons of all colours, palms and
bananas. There is also a most, luxuriant, undergrowth of creepi i - s, and
shrubs. The houses are like the Motu buildings, square, with sloping roofs and high
Tin: BAT7-B ir OB npr.
piles. The women are taller and finer-looking than those of the Motu tribe. Some
we see blackened over, showing us that Death has been busy, hut those who are not
SOOl mated are very fail-, and all are lively and merry.
The women here are said to he less shy in their intercourse with strangers than
those df any other part. This is only true of the unmarried; after marriage the)
become rerj reserved. Mr. Goldie tells a story of one girl at Hula who played him
a smart trick while he was buying lish from her. She came to him with a basket-
load, and he bought one after a long bargaining, and gave it to his man, who
placed it iii a bag behind him. The girl disappeared for a moment, and brought
out another, and then others. The purchaser, who appears to have been looking more
at her than at her lish. hail boughl about half-a-dozen, when. Struck by the \.i\
re aarkable resemblance of the seventh lish in size and shape to the other six. In
watched her as she disappeared, and caught her in the verj acl ol abstracting it
from his bag. She had sold him the same lish seven times over, and Ian
heariilv h hen caught in her trick, making good the bargain h\ giving i,j, n the
contents of her basket.
The natives enjoy practical joking, and nothing delights them s,, much as the
thought of over-reaching you in a bargain. A whole crowd will laugh uproariousrj
if tlie\ see you offering more than tiny expect for an article which they brie
sell. They will pat you on the back, and cry out "Oh! < >h ' Koi-koi!' which
means that thc\ have gammoned you, and are writing you down an ass.
0|->
c ISSELL'S PICT1 RESQUE AUSTRALASIA.
[Kkw
We once more go on board, and pass Hood's Bay. The
natives here arc said to be unfriendly, so, except at Pira-
matta, where there is a mission-station, and at Aroma, both
thriving and thickly-populated villages; we do not go ashore,
luil keep on our course to what might well be called a New
Guinea city — Kerepuna, the largest native town which we
had as yet seen along the coast. The natives
here are the finest-looking specimens of
humanity which I have ever beheld outside
a gallery of antique sculpture. The boys
are tall, with beautiful faces, large, soft, ex-
pressive eyes, fair skins, and limbs the per-
fection of suppleness and grace, due of them
walked as my friend through the town, in a
(State of nudity, and like some rare and
delicate statue of bronze freshly cast. There
was not a flaw upon him "from top to toe."
His movements also were full of lithe -race, quiet and stately, yet indolently unstudied.
When he leaned against a tree, waiting upon me as I sketched, I could hardly keep
my eyes off him, and yet he was only one of many equally noble examples of the
most perfect work of creation- man.
As we landed, three natives came forward to greet us, the tallest nearly seven feet,
and handsomely proportioned He good-naturedly offered me his broad shoulders as a
seat. There was room for two men as big as I to sit upon those brawny shoulders,
A STATE OF NATURE.
213
while he had strength enough to carry a dozen. Be lazily leaned upon a huge
branch of gum-tree, which he carried about with him as a staff His two companions
were each over six feet, but not quite so good-looking as he, and both much darker in
colour. They were all perfectly nude, as the males always are, except for their
waist-bell of twin.', and they were without a single trace el' self-consciousness. So Adam
might have stood in the garden before the angels when Eve rose up from her first
l l I'l SELEI.
sleep ami saw thai she was qoI alone, Only by paying a visit to Ken-puna can
members of civilised races tell how much we must have degenerated.
At Kerepuna there are steeple-like structures that appeal- to be used as places for
keeping watch. Inside all was dark and empty, while on the platforms, raised high
in fronl of ilu in, by which you enter, we found large stains of Mood, as it' they were
used tor slaughterhouses. High into the air these spires rise, sixty, eighty, a hundred,
and in some eases over two hundred feel with pons projecting outwards, and extending
upwards far above the thatched portion. These poles have streamers flying from them
— woven grass and palm-leaves, and in their slender tracery and confusion
appear very Lighl and graceful. The b are built facing one another, as at
Tupuselei, with a narrow street of sand between. The streets as ba ■, village of
214 OASSELL'S I'll TlKDSQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Not
olden times, offer vistas down which the delighted eye wanders. Deep shadows lie under
the piles and broad raves, while the lull glare of a tropical sun bleaches the hot sands
and the grey silver bark of the beams. The thatch of palm-fronds is of a grej
stone colour, Thus in this picture of light and shade, except when a gay-coloured
parrot Hits across the scene, or a gorgeously-tinted butterfly lights it up, there is little
positive colour, until the glance of your eye reaches the bright green and russet, Leaves
of the banana, in all its various stages of whole and tattered flutterings, or alights
upon the deeper tones of the Papuan apple-tree, its top weighted down by its generous
load of i'ri lit . Of these you catch glimpses over the roofs of brown-grey thatch
in the distance, for Kerepuna is placed in the centre of gardens. Occasionally there
passes a brown male figure or a tattooed female, the one with his fishing gear or
hunting spears, the other, it may he, with two water-jars, going to or coming from
the wells; or it may be that as you turn a corner you will come upon a group of
women preparing the taro and yams for dinner, or young mothers playing with their
brown babies, while on verandas tame parrots and cockatoos are nibbling away in
sleepy contentment.
Two rest-days are observed in every six, the people dividing their time by working
two days and resting on the third. On working-days you will find the township quiet,
and open to inspection, but on play-days it presents quite a different appearance.
Then the streets are crowded with workmen, hunters, warriors, women, and children
tho young girls decked out with gaily-striped grass petticoats, or " raniuas," stained red,
yellow, and Mack, while the men are decorated with their hornbills, shark-teeth neck-
laces, and twisted cane or hah armlets. The feathers of the cassowary hang over their
breasts, and scarlet tufts of the bird of paradise are stuck in their hair. They are
also adorned with breastplates of mother-of-pearl (very precious to them), with love-
tokens consisting of boars' tusks, spun (doth, heads, and fine feathers, and with pink
coral nose-sticks, their frizzed hair standing out all round their heads, while their ears
are hung with strings of fine shells. The warriors will parade armed with their
carved battle-axes and spears, their bows and arrows, their war-clubs, their richly-
cut w leii swords, large and small, and their tall wooden shields, some quaintly carved,
others mat-covered ami embroidered with leather and shell. The fishermen play with
their fish-prongs, while the young boys practise the throwing of the spear, their sires
looking on anil encouraging them in their exercises.
All day long, on these Sabbaths, it is a festive scene of life and movement, big
feasts being prepared by the women, while the men lounge about or hold their games
Even on festive occasions the latter are temperate. In their general behaviour they are
grave and silent, only giving a guttural grunt of satisfaction when a point has been
scored, or, it may he, a loud laugh of derision over some mistake perpetrated or
jest achieved. It is a most ordinary sight to see two or three brother-dandies or
braves walking along with beads erect, their arms Hung lovingly about one another's
necks. 1 'urinu' the day they will hardly speak to the "iris, the men keeping much
to themselves, and leaving tin- women to congregate and gossip together.
In the same affectionate manner do the men treat a stranger when he has been
Gi-un * I
THi; HAN-TRAP.
■nr,
A BATTLE-AXE
approved of. It is a case of I 'avid and Jonathan. Your friend will put his arms
round your neck, and draw yours round his, and will proudly take you amongst his
relatives. They lay aside suspicion very quickly, and give full trust and confidence
•when once they have become friends.
Of course, betel-nul and lime chewing and bau-bau smoking are the order of the
day during these festivals. It is only at such times that I
ever saw the men speak to the women. Generally a man will
hold out his bamboo pipe to some girl whom he is passing,
and she, taking hold of it, helps him to light it, sucking it
for him, and then handing it bark when full of smoke, and
quietly resuming her seat and her task of peeling the yam or
sp innin g the matting. When they are tired out with their
spear-throwing, wrestling, man-trap practice, and other amuse-
ments, they gather to their own family eireles, and begin to
least. The man-trap, by the way, is a very formidable weapon,
composed of a long, sharp-pointed stick, with a hoop attached
to the end. The sharp point projects into about a third of
the hoop, leaving plenty of room for the pursuing hunter to
fling it over the head of the running victim. The hoop
catches him under the chin, and jerks back his head against
the sharp point at the nape of the neck, pithing
him as oxen are pithed in the shambles.
When night comes on tires are lighted in the
streets, and songs are sung, dances danced, and
merriment made within the ruddy glow, or under
the pale lustre of the moon. And what glori.ni>
nights they are in this tropic land, when the moon
is full and streaming down over the roof-tops, making
ebony and silver of the platforms and the post-,: In
the warmth of the wood tire-, lie the old men and
women, the fathers and mothers, while the young
men and maidens dance to the sound of the drum
and rattle, or of the reed pipe-, shaped after the
pattern of Pan's. I sam some of these pipes, and
wondered to find that they were not a whit different
from the reed pipes which we used to see in England
at fail-, tied to the breast of the drum-beating show-
man, or which we see in the hands of Greek fauns.
< >t' course there will be love-making on these gala-nights, in spite of all rules anil
regulations, Young girls will steal out from the shadow of their homes, and find
their way through the trellised lanes into the dewy gardens and w Is to meet those'
whom they are beginning to like well enough to put into purgatory. In these gardens
and woods, in the pale light of the great moon, the dusky nymphs and fauns are
WOODEN SWORDS W>
DEI M.
21G
i v-si:li;s picTURKsyn-: atstkalasia.
gliding about through the dead banana-leaves and dew-
drenched grass. The reed"raumas" of the nymphs
will not be any the worse for the dew-drenching, and
the fauns wear nothing to spoiL The fireflies dash
in the black shadows, and drips of lustre filter bc-
tween palm-fronds and mammy-leaves, making patches
of tarnished silver on the corrugated trunks, or gleam-
ing in diamond sparkles upon the gauze-like spider
webs which float from branch to branch
in the soft nighl gale.
At times the spirit-seers come into
the village, and then wild expectation
is raised. They are melancholy men.
these wizards, and hold
a faith somewhat akin to
that of the
spiritualists of
England and
,'• - _ J~g£-£.
KI'.KEPUNA.
Guinea.]
"FROM GRAVE TO GAT.
217
America. They say that they are possessed by the souls of the departed, who speak
through them, and tell what, is going to happen. The people have great faith in
these spirit-men, and evidently hold some kind of religious ceremonies, and believe in
a future existence. Their ghostly visitors do not depend alone upon verbal demon-
strations, but have masks and other disguises with which to terrifj the credulous
villagers, who, however, seem to know that it is all humbug, since they are read;
sell the spectre-masks to strangers for " koko," although while the performance lasts they
believe in the spirit which boo-boos behind the mask, and seem to he horribly frightened
We saw some very tine canoe-making at Kerepuna. All round the coast, latakois
are to be seen, double decked, with single, double, or triple sails, with handsome out-
riggers and carved prows,
fringed round tin: gun-
wale with cowrie shells
and birds' plumage, with
Ornaments at the mast-
heads, and streamers il\ -
ing from all points —
els which can be
handled with great dex-
terity, and which fly anil
tack before the wind like
sea-birds. They are some-
times from a hundred
to two hundred feet, in
length, although they
mostly range from fifty
to sixty feet. They are
usually the common property of a village, all helping to build and work them, so that
the loss of a latakoi is a calamity to the whole community. Towards the end of the dry
season the men make an annual trip round the coast lor trading purposes; and
when they are ready to go, the wizards are called in to predict the future, first
there is solemn music, while the Kates are being propitiated, alter which, it the
predictions are favourable, a universal farewell feast is held when all make merry.
While the women dance and sing, the young men show off by tacking and manoeuvring
their vessels in front of the dancers by the sea-shore, accompanied 1>\ their sweethearts.
gaily dressed, their breasts and heads covered with rare orchids and scarlet hibiscus-
blossoms. The ladies beal upon their drums which are covered with iguana and
alligator skins hake their hone and shell rattles, and laugh at the jests of the
young men.
Each trailer is a warrior, and goes all prepared to fight tor his rights, for then-
are pirates to he encountered, and enemies who may kill and cat him. Where). .re he
and his comrades cany the full complement of palm-wood spears and war-hows, with
stacks of poisoned wood arrow-. The wind is boisterous in some parts, and may
CHIEFS HOUSES, Kia:l :
218
OASSBLL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA
INevv GlINtA.
blow them ashore on a land where only death or torture awaits them. They depart
on their voyages with the same anticipations with which a soldier goes forth to a
foreign campaign, and when the canoes part from the latakois the tears are plentiful
But when the south-east monsoon has ceased to Now, and the north-west monsoon
comes with its drenching rainfall, the women know that their husbands will soon be
home, it' they arc coming at all, and they prepare accordingly. II disease has broken
the ranks, or disaster overtaken the cargo, then there are heard wild weepings and
wailings, for they know that the next months must, be full of privation ; bul it' the
cruise lias been successful, then out with the drums and on with the hibiscus-blossoms.
The sun has no need to shine to make them merry ; they can dance in the pouring
rain.
They will know well enough when they sec the first speck of sail rounding the
far-off headland. Ships can crawl when dejected, as they can ny when successful, and
an empty vessel does not grip the water like a full one. Here they come, and not a
streamer wanting. With a slanting swine' they heave round the promontory, jaunty
and with the sails low, sweeping the roughened waves. They know full well that they
are watched by that anxious crowd of women and old men on the shore, and it is
not in human nature for tbem not to show off, so they tack till they nearly run the
carved nose against the bluff, and then again to seaward, with a jerking of ropes
and a reckless swinging of sails.
'■ Aha ! they have got the sago 1 " and each woman darts indoors to put on her
best " rauma," while the old men haul out the canoes through the white surf and
shallow waters ; then out come the jwomen adorned with their best, carrying their carved
paddles, and leaping about. They dash over the curling waves towards the daring
sailors — away under that rain-bulging sky, with the white-crested waves breaking
over their faces. The lithe arms are active with the carved paddles and with the cocoa-
nut scoop that clears out the water as it washes in; and the lagoon is covered with
those tiny, women-worked craft, all heading towards the flying crescent-shaped double
sails, while the moist air is filled with glad shouts of welcome.
NATIVE WAR SHIELD.
219
NEW GUINEA: KEREPUNA TO CAUTION POINT.
Cloudy Bay— South Cape — East Cape- Heath, Palm, and Dinner Islands -A High Sense of Honour— Milne
Hay — Cliffy and Teste island — A Nocturne — Caution Point — German New Guinea— An Expedition up
i li i A in! River.
rTX) describe the houses of Kerepuna is to describe nearly all the bouses along the
-L coast from tins point to East Cape and Teste [sland No two villages, howi
are exactly alike in design; and there is hardly a single tribe that has not quite a
different language. This circumstance, by the way, makes it difficult to travel among
the natives of New Guinea, although none of the languages are in themselves
difficult to learn.
Leaving II I's Hay, in wbieh stand Piramatta, Aroma, Kerepuna, and many other
native towns and villages, we sail along towards Cloudy Hay. past Cape Rodney, Baxter
Bay, Table Point and May. As we pass the lofty ranges on our left, they take
upon them the varied lights and shadows of the day as it advances from morning to
midday, and on to the golden greys of afternoon and the royal purple of evening.
We gained glimpses of Mounts Suckling and Obree, with numerous unnamed ranges
towering between us and them, all grand and all abruptly rising up one from the other;
of dense forests and hare cliffs, and chasms down which we could look till sight was
lost in the purple obscurity ; of hill-sides, seamed with stream-courses and broken by
waterfalls ; of gullies where the alligator was lurking with her young, and the wild
boars were wandering in droves. We passed long cane-grass, tall enough to hide a
man on horseback, and patches of jungle where the rifle bird and the laughing jackass
roosted. Across Cloudy Bay we sailed, with the sky piled up with rain-clouds, and
the mountains dark and blurred. The savages bere are very ferocious, and slay and
i tbey can catch. As we pass Amazon and other bays, including Oran-
gerie Bay, the scenery grows hourly more rugged, and. at the same time, more sylvan;
then come more islands, ami points, and hays, until, leaving behind Mounts Suckling
and Simpson, we get round South Cape and the North Foreland.
Next morning the sun rose over South Cape with the lints and some of the
weird and fantastic outlines of that picture of Turner's, "Ulysses." The mountains
looked like giants waking up from sleep and flinging up violet arms out of rose-
tinted into saffron-col ■ed hazes. There were vasl rocks standing up clear from the
mountain sides like spires and battlements — pinnacles from a thousand to four
thousand feel in air. Great cones rose from the water's edge at sharp angles, hnt
covered to ihe mia summit with native gardens and zigzag paths, along which women
blithely bore their laden baskets. No mountains can I .pared to these for diver-
sity <>f shape and stupendous grandeur, or tor the fearsome hollows where the morning
shadow sleeps. It looked like Dante's land, onlj that it was too fertile and to,, highly
cultivated
At South < 'ape there are many villages, not far from the mission station, and as
.is a Sunday morning, we saw the gaily-attired procession of converted native
220
i u/s i'ii Trui.sijri; .wstualasta.
[New
_— , —
CLOUDY hay.
filing into church. Gowns of all shades passed along
the silent beach, and gleamed fitfully between the
fruit trees — white, cream-tinted, yellow, rose-hued,
scarlet, crushed strawberry, browns, and varied depths
of bine and green. The rainbow was fully repre-
sented this quiet Sunday morning while the stalwart South Sea Island teacher was
beating upon an empty tin can which did duty for bell or gong. It is true that
the natives might have supplied him with a better instrument to call to prayer, but the
tin can represented civilisation, as did tins.- many-tinted gowns, while the iguana-skin
drum and cassowary fringes would have looked heathen.
Going ashore, and to church also, we were honoured with a place beside the
teacher and his wife, one of the most lovely South Sea Island women I ever beheld.
We could follow the airs sung, although we could not keep up with the words.
Beyond the teacher's house is a beautiful water-pool, with a fall coming from a high
rock, the whole densely hung with tropical foliage. On the beach many canoes
were drawn up, with matting over them to keep them from the sun; there were
also crowds of natives, who sat beside the canoes and huts, minus gown or dress. I
have no doubt the entire drapery of the (ape was then being steamed in church,
while the nude portion of the community patiently waited their turn.
Returning to our boat, we go on through China Straits, passing close to many
islands, with great walls of solid rock in some places sheer from the sea, guarding
fright coves and inlets. As we left, East (ape behind, the sun was fully up, and
vouchsafed to us rare treats of light and shade. Of course it. was very hot, even
with a head-wind, under such rays. Our costume consisted of very thin pyjamas, and
light canvas shoes to keep our feet from contact with the hot deck or the burning sands
A few moments in the sun burns blisters on our arms and feet, and when we pass
from under the awning it is like standing upon a heated oven. Yet it is astonishing
Guinea.]
I1KATII ISLAM).
221
how quickly the human frame becomes accustomed to tropical skies. Already 1 like
the heat, ami prefer the sunshine to the shade; and after being blistered over once
or twice the skin gets tanned, ami the sun no longer hums, but only warms. A night
which would lie midsummer at borne makes one shiver with cold. Even the mos-
quitoes seem to be less t rouhlesi mie, and tu stah one with more leniency than they
did before.
Heath Island now bursts upon us as we round a promontory of rock and beautiful
vegetation — Heath Island, with a deep translucent bay and snowy sands, with over-
hanging branches, and trees shooting up into the azure space and halt' covering the
hill sides, with masses of rock peering nut from hanks of rich tropica] flowers -altogether
the perfection of an island. Frmn beetling cliffs, reflecting themselves in tip- deep,
clear, smooth waters, trail parasites and creepers, covered with blossoms of all hues.
DINNER ISLAND.
At the extremity of tl one a hut appears, emptj and going to pieces. It was raised
her by an unfortunate trader who net long ago was attacked and slaughtered by
the natives.
Another turn, and Palm Island lies mi our left, with Dinner Island in front of us,
where we dmp anchor ami go ashore. Bere we met Tom, a South Sea teacher, coal-
black and massive, who is to go with US up Milne l'.a\ to settle a dispute, and conciliate
the natives of Gile-Gile, who have been ill-treated in some way, and want a life.
He explains the eallse of the diseontellt as we steam Up Millie Bay, or rathe]-
Gulf, as it oughl to le called. It appears that a man who was iii charge of the
222 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Nmr
Copra station had stolon some Inns, which had been left there b} the missionary. The
natives regarded them as a sacred trust The man. hearing thai thej were going to
murder him, had decamped, and was now staving at Dinner Island. Tom was going
up to claim the Inns, and inform the natives that he was satisfied, and so ought
they to be. But they were not easily brought to reason, their honour as protei tors
having been wounded. One of our party told them, through Tom. thai the liens
were their own property, not Tom's, because after they had been left behind they
were the property of those who lived on the land. He also offered to settle the
question once for all by paying the full price of the poultry in tobacco, but neither
Tom nor the simple-minded savages could grasp the subtleties of this legal quirk. The
original hens belonged to Tom, so he and the chief agreed that all the progenj must
still belong to him, and doggedly stuck to these simple lines of possession. At last
the gentleman who represented the intricate honesty of refined civilisation was fain to
leave the savage chief and the half-savage tea. her to settle the matter according to
their own simple code of morality. Tom, as a truthful man, translated the remarks
of the representative, but did it sulkily — remarks which the chief received with lower-
ing brows. Tom then stated his own case, in his own way, of which the chief saw
t lie force, and at last consented to leave vengeance alone, finishing up by saying.
"Hens belong to you, not to me; and I will not kill white thief unless he comes to
Gile-Gile ! "
Milne Bay has not yet been much traversed by vessels, and the shores have 1 ecu
little visited, the natives here being cannibals — cannibals, indeed, of a peculiarly
desperate kind. As I walked about sketching, with these facts in my mind, I did
not feel over comfortable, nor was I very sorry when we turned our backs upon
these specimens of savage life. Somewhere about this part, I am given to understand.
there is an inland tribe who go about in bands to trap unwary travellers. They do
not attack parties, but lie in wait for single victims, whom, when caught, they kill
and cut up, carrying the pieces about for trade purposes amongst the native villages,
much as butchers do with sheep and cattle at home. They are the professional
butchers of New Guinea.
Gile-Gile lies at the head of Milne Gulf, with houses on both sides of the Hay.
A large river runs into the Gulf at this point, and the native houses on the other side
are built upon the neck of land between the Bay and the river. Ahead of us the
water narrows in winding passages towards a chain of high mountains, with over-
hanging banks of foliage. The effect of these mountains, through this leafy frame-
work, is very soft, and as rain falls nearly every day throughout the year the
cloud effects from Gile-Gile, looking up and down that broad sheet of water, which
spreads out like a lake, surrounded by lofty and rugged mountains with silvery-grey
distances and cool shadows, are beautiful and ever-i hanging.
From China Straits, as we return, we get a fine view of Mount Cloudy in the
distance — a single cone, abruptly rising to an immense height from pyramidal-shaped
sides. A quick run past headlands and smooth bays, and for a short time we get
lear of land, to bring up before long at Teste Island, which lies off the coast of East
Gome*.] A PERILOUS PASSAGE. 223
Cape— a large, fertile, and beautifully situated isle, forming the centre of a clu
Sere we find Cliffy, Bell, West, Boat, and other islands, all extending seaward
and shoreward, dotting the bosom of the open ocean with most marvellous formations.
It is night before we reach Teste Island, an hour or so before moomiso, but our
pilot knows the way well, and so, through the shoals and treacherous reef's, he drives
straight along, like a London cabman who knows how to handle his horse. He does
not fear to skirt the extreme limits of safety, almost grazing those deadly, wave-
covered walls of coral Once on these, there could be no getting off again. The
delicate coral branches, fan-shaped and ruse-shaped, so slight and tender that the
least pressure breaks them off in Hakes, appear harmless enough, as we lift them
gingerly in our hands for fear we should break off a petal of thai snowy, or amber-
tinted, or rosy sea-flower. But they will tear in an instant through the strong sheets
of copper which line the bottom of the ship, crunching through beams and planks like the
sharp teeth of rats, and leaving ghastly holes for the water to rush through A heave
of a high wave, or the white surf that is always lashing over the outside barrier, will
land a vessel on their tops, and the next return may heave her off again; but between
that wave and wave the deed has heen don.', and almosl before a boat can be lowi red
the ship has sunk to limitless depths.
Fortunately for our peace of mind, our pilot knows the passage, although there
are no charts yet made which can he relied upon. A phosphorescent rush of tire-
sparks is furrowed up as we plough alone, and a pale, dull whiteness, with a narrow
thread of blue-black close alongside, at times shows us t'he proximity of a reef. The
round dome of heaven, like a punctured canvas roof, with denser patches of darkness
where the smoke rolls from the funnel, meets our eyes as we glance up from the star-
reflecting oeean to the star-tilled sky. The gentle breezes humming through the
cordage and through the grass dresses which we have hung over the rail to air. lull
ii- into reposeful inattention to all things material. But we duck our heads, and wake
up quickly, as a thick blackness seems to fall suddenly upon us, and while we leek
up. startled, great cliffs and rm-ks, with intense black shadows, seem to lie sliding
down upon us. We are so close that it seems as if we could touch them witll our
hands, while they overhang so much as to give the impression that they musl fall anil
crush us to pieces.
We are now grazing the sides of Cliffy Island, an immense reek, perforated with
caves, where myriads of sea-birds make their hemes, and with a water-worn line
cut clean all round it at its base. Trees and luxuriant herbage deck the top, hut in
the lower part all is Steep, or rather projecting, precipice From the side we are
rounding, the island shelves inwards wry abruptly, giving a decided top-heavy ap-
pearance, Beyond it, ami aboul two miles distant, looms the dusk} outline of tin'
Bell Rock, rising hell-shaped out of the sea, ami over four hundred feel in air. Hut
to-night all its lines are indistinct, and only visible where they intercept the stars.
Ten minutes longer, and we bring ourselves to anchor as near Teste Island as
we dare approach, and a- soon as ma\ I-.' we an' over the side, into the dingey, and
pulling tor the shore, with canoes ami natives alongside showing the way. As
224
CASSELL'S PICTUEESQUB AUSTRALASIA.
I N j w
we strike the beach, the moon rises over the eastern edge of the island, just where the
palms and houses of the natives are placed. A promontory shelters these houses
from the sea gales, and forms a secluded cove fringed by layers of coral reefs, s<>
thai the pool within lies almost without a ripple even while the waters are tossing
outside or moaning at the liar. It is a pretty, irregularly-built village, with palm-
trees growing by the sides of the houses and lining the sands. As we waded over
the .shadow places, and walked towards the trader's house, we watched the moon lit'l
itself above that dark promontory — the broad golden disc fringed and zigzagged 1>\
the tops of hushes and trees. Softly it rose and paled its tires, the sands growing
whiter as the light strengthened and objects became more sharply defined— thatched
houses on piles, with palms, breaking the straight lines and casting dark shadows along
the beach— a canoe rocking with upright mast in the bay, the waters of which, as
they catch the gleaming moon-shafts, appear to become more ripply. The solemnity
i »reat silence was over all, for this was one of the working days, and now in
the evening everyone seemed to be asleep.
Even the natives who were with us when we
landed had glided away silently and gone
to bed, leaving their curiosity, now that
they were satisfied we were not
enemies, to be indulged on the
morrow. We went to one of the
houses, and peered into the
darkness within. 1 >eep breath-
ing, and a grunl or so, told us
that all were asleep except the
watchers, who had grunted
their disapproval at our im-
pertinence : then we went back
to the trader's bungalow, and
were shown a spare room into
which our guides had gone. It
was a large apartment, some-
thing like a barn, with a cane
floor raised, as usual, from the
ground, about forty young men
and hoys being huddled to-
gether, and asleep: there they
lay at sixes and sevens, their
limbs in all sorts of positions.
The wonder is that some of
the lesser fry were not squeezed
out of existence beneath the
3. PALM ISLAND.
1. NATIVE HOUSE WITH PALMS. Weight ol tllC eldel'S j yet tliey
l. ti:ai>im: \ essels.
'J. SOUTH CAPE.
1
A DAZZLING MORNING.
■2-ir,
all seemed comfortable, ami not even the light, held over their faces, disturbed their
slumbers. These young Spartans have worked hard all day, and arc tired out, but
to-morrow tiny will be up at dawn to begin again; they want neither couch nor
covering to make them sleep, nor will they grumble it' awakened suddenly, as they
were at our arrival. They are accustomed to surprises; and he who sleeps alter the
first warning to wake up dues not live kme'.
We slept that night much in the manner of the country, and, albeit troubled a
good ileal by hosts of mosquitoes, found our quarters on the whole comfortable. Next
: i. ISLAND.
morning we took our bath in the crystal lagoon. No danger of sharks hen-, for
it is well protected b\ the reefs. It is a dazzling morning; the natives are plunging
about beside us. and the islands seems afloat on the sapphire sea. Bell Rock, with its
fissures and rosy lights, or amber where the mass grows on its shelves and tops.
turns out to he a vast upheaval of basalt, over four hundred feel to its pinnacle;
Cliffy Island, looking as if it had once received a buffet on this side which had sent
Li all agee, has a perfect cloud of birds soaring about its dark purple sides; West
Island, with its grassy slopes slanting from us. is bathed in the gilding of the rising
sun; and Boal Island resembles some huge hippopotamus fallen asleep. Over the
reels, flying fish, dolphins, and other ocean denizens, are sporting in the cooling thud:
there are also ereseetil -haped tins floating quietly about, as near as they dare conic
15
~2±o CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [New Guivba.
to our bathing-place; while the white loam breaks merrily against the fretted under-
ledges of the rocky cliffs.
Ash, ire, the parrots and cockatoos arc chattering noisily amongst the branches.
Near the copra traders' sheds a great tamarind tree grows, with corrugated trunk and
half-exposed roots, its gnarled branches twisted round each other, or Hung far apart,
and dense with leafage, under the shelter of which crowds of men, women, and chil-
dren sit, with their mats, calabashes, baskets, and other curiosities, waiting until we
co to buy from them. Behind them are groves of deliciously green fruit-trees, cool
shadow-spots, where the grasses, long and fresh, are all misty with the sheen of heavy
dewdrops. It is a golden idyll of tropic life, from which we must tear ourselves
before we are nearly satisfied, to hurry away on the swift wings of the monsoon.
Our easterly limit was Caution Point, which we reached by way of Cape Moresby,
Collingwood and Dyke-Acland Bays. This brings us to the German division of
New Guinea Of this I may say, from inquiries made, that it is a very large slice of
the island. One of the most recent explorers, who was with me on the voyage down to
Brisbane, tells me that the cases of fever arc very mild in this part of the country,
and quickly cured, and that already they have begun to colonise. He explored most
of the level country, and found the Augusta River navigable for large vessels for a
distance of 310 miles — a broad, smooth river, ten to fifteen fathoms deep all the
way, and over 1,000 feet broad. The land on both sides was open country from thirty
to fifty miles deep, and would make splendid sugar and coffee plantations. The natives
■were numerous and fairly friendly, open to conviction, and not at all difficult to
manage. These details were kindly imparted to me by \h: Knappe, German Consul at
.Samoa, who had been exploring New Guinea for his Government.
Since the above was written, I have had intelligence of a most successful expe-
dition up the Aird River, which will go far to open the hitherto almost unknown
interior of this land, and which proves that it may be pcneti-ated with impunity. This
expedition was organised entirely at the expense of the enterprising firm of A Iessrs.
Burns, Phelp, and Co., for the purpose of discovering an easy way into the interior,
with a view to future trading enterprise, and was placed under the leadership of
.Mr. Theodore F. Beven, an able New Guinea explorer. He writes: — "We steamed in
■the Victor;/, seventy miles from Cape Blackwood as the crow flies, in a northerly
direction into the mountainous ranges, finding a broad channel which carried three to
seven fathoms of water right into the Aird River. Alter following it up, we found it
was only one of the many mouths of a great fresh-water river coming from the ranees
inland, a magnificent stream which we followed to the head, eighty miles in direct line
from the coast, carrying good water all the way to the mountains. On returning down
the river we struck a fresh branch and came out in Deception Bay; going hence to
Motu-.Motu, and returning, searching the coast, we found a magnificent new river, with
an entrance over three miles wide, close to Bald Head. We proceeded up this river one
hundred and ten miles, passing through ranges and gorges, in places 1,500 feet high
The country is splendid scrub country, with very rich agricultural land on both rivers."
227
NEW GUINEA: YULE ISLAND AND THE TORRES STRAITS.
Yule Island — Motu-Motu — Across the Papuan Gulf — Damley Island— The Murray Group— Yorke Island—
Lon.
AFTER returning to Port Moresby from the east, which wo did in a day or so,
-£^- we bore towards Yule Island and the wesl of British New Guinea, Yule Island
lies about sixty miles from Port Moresby, and is separated from the mainland by a
narrow strip of sea. I should say. from what 1 saw, that it is one of the healthiest
places along the coast, for Europeans. Here we walked through fields of eane-
grass twelve to fifteen feet high, so that we had to keep hard mi the heels of our
guide, or we should soon have been hopelessly lust. On the hills it dees not grow so
tall, and as we ascend walking becomes easier, excepl for dense patches oJ jungle
here and there, the lair of the wild boar and of other game. From the hillside we
had a fine view of the sea and the mainland, with Mount Sule and other hills, and
dense forests — jungles of sago, cedar, cotton, eucalyptus, and umbrella trees. Crotons
and castor-oil plants meet us at every turn, and orchids exquisitely shaped and tinted
cling wherever they can find a dead branch to beautify.
Hospitably received by the three French priests who have here taken up their
abode, also by the Protestant native teachers, who are living in unity with them, we
explored the island, and saw two native villages, beautifully built in the centre of palm-
groves, with the grey sand swept carefully every day, and the roads kept like garden
walks. There is here a lovely smooth shore, with rugged promontories jutting out;
and as we turn corners we find ever fresh treats tor the eye — dark openings in the
mangrove jungle, caves, and arches, shells jingling against one another as the white
surf-line laps amongst them.
Our last stoppage on the mainland is the important township ol Motu-Motu, the
besl point on tin' highway inland towards Mount Yule. Here Mr. Eidelfelt has taken
up his post, with his plucky young wile, and means to prosecute his botanical and other
studies on this scientifically fertile mountain. During his former stay he was
strictly vegetarian, and had perfect health, although taking no precautions against
fever, his immunity from which, however, may he due to his living as much as
possible on the ranges and as little as possible on th iast The town of Motu-Motu
lies in Freshwater Bay, hut the coast is difficult of approach The surf was to,.
heavy for the dingey to be broughl out, and through our -lass,s we saw three canoes
swamped as the natives tried to launch them. At last we anchored in the lagoon
at the mouth of the river, and got ashore by a circuitous route.
It was night when, bidding farewell t" New Guinea, we lifted our anchor and
steamed across the tempestuous Papuan Gulf a nighl of clouds and gloom, with waves
running wickedly past us, and curling up into white crests, like snarling black dogs
showing their teeth. The "Gulf" is like the I'.av ol' Biscay always, or nearly
always, rough. We had steam, so we passed over it in comparative case, al-
though in one part we stu.k last on a sand-hank, and had to wail for high tide to
228
ELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA.
| rORBBS
get off again. We also had many miles' dodging about to find our right, route before
we sighted Bramble Cay. From this point all wenl smoothly. We soon sighted the
magnificent Island of Darnley. As Mr. Norton, now curator of the Hobart
Museum, an old explorer in these parts, says, it is "one of the largest, and most.
fertile of this fruitful archipelago; an undulating sea of tropical verdure clothes lofty
MURRAY ISLAND
DARXLEY ISLAND.
hills and tranquil valleys, broken only by rugged cliffs and crags of sombre-tinted
rock, and bore and there a scanty patch of bright-foliaged bananas, papopaws, and
sugar-cane, flourishing freely among the yams and taro in the rudely-cultivated planta-
tions of the miserable remnant of a once-powerful race, whose silent and deserted
villages may still be seen nestling under the evergreen canopy of the cocoa-nut groves,
fringing the small snow-white beaches dotted at frequent intervals along the reef-
encircled foreshore of this island."
MUKRAY ISLAND.
229
From Darnley to the Murray group of islands the sea is filled with shoals and
, so that it must be traversed by day. One of the natives acted as pilol —a tall,
handsome, brown fellow, who glanced with wounded pride when the captain doubted
his directions, the captain being one of the old school, and strongly objecting to receiv-
ing orders in his own ship from a "nigger." However, the native knew his way, and
l'\ sundown wo were anchored safely before the mission-station, and were welcomed on
shore.
The native kins of the island came out to meet us with his boat's crow
o
MOT! -Mi I'll
dressed in hill naval uniform, bis cutter carrying the Union -lack, and his crew like a
( 'ustom I [ouse crow on State sen ice.
This island is one of the principal stations of the Mission Society, and is very
finely situated in the centre of Meer and Dower islands. Fertile, as all the islands
are, Murray is composed of a large volcanic hill, with the crater visible from the sea
The mission-houses are buill upon terraces, and provided with gardens, along the
sheltered side of the hill. We walked through the plantations and gardens, and up
a winding pathway, verj beautiful, to the mission-house. Bere we were mosl kindrj
treated by the missionaries, one of whom acted as our guide, and showed us over the
island. It appears to !»■ healthy, although the missionary's wife has suffered much
from fever, while their two pretty children are rather fragile-looking, hut. like the
native children with whom the\ play, they seem to live halt' their lives in the sea
and swim like ducks, talking the native language even b< tter than their mother-
tongue. The description of Darnley applies equally to Murray, which we left with a
230
ILL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA.
• UrAllS.
profound feeling of respect for the solitary and delicate lady who lives and works with
her husband and children amongsl these only half-tamed savages. Another ten hours'
steaming, and we anchor at Ybrke Island. The stars are rising, and the effecl is pecu-
liarly beautiful, though not more so than thai of the sunrise which greeted us next
morning. Here we find the beche-de-mer being prepared for the Japan and China
markets, with the iron sheds where it is smoked, and the natives who work and pre-
pare it for the trader. They permit him to stay with them, and they help him with
bis work, in return for which he keeps them all. Life is easy on these islands, the
natives working only when inclined, and this style suits the present trader, who finds
it best for his own interests, and not opposed to his inclinations, to let them have their
own way. The native king is the best dressed man on the island: he comes out. when
strangers arrive, with an old red soldier's jacket and cap. The trader himself possesses
one pair of trousers, much patched, and portions of a red flannel shirt, the patches
artistically, if not scientifically, put on by the king's sister, whom the trader has
married — a coal-black, stalwart Torres Strait queen The island is almost Hat, hut
richly wooded, and well guarded by reefs — the ideal pirates' isle : and when we turned
wist ward we felt as if it would not he very difficult to become reconciled to this
aimless but happy lotus-eating life.
PROW OF A NEW GUINEA CANOE.
231
ADELAIDE.
■•A Mode] City"— The Plan of the Ci i b Adelaide -Victoria Square— King William Street— The Post
Office— The Town Hall— The Town Clerk— The Terraces— Hindley Street— North Adelaide— The Anj
Cathedral — A City of Churches — Religion and Morals —The River Torrens and it- I'.ml -r- -Old Parliament
House and New Parliament House — The Public Library, Museum, and Art Gallery — The University —
The Park-lands — The Suburbs— The .Mails — Port Adelaide — Semaphore— Largs Bay — Glenelg— Proclamation
Tree— The First Government House— Bi
ADELAIDE, besides possessing tin- nicknames of the "farinaceous village" and the
•-^A. "city of churches," has been described in the columns of a will-known London
paper as "a model city" — and in many respects it deserves the complin
Many Australian cities have been carefully planned and laid out, but it may be
doubted whether in any other case such skill has been shown. The g 1 p
of Adelaide have reason to be proud of Colonel Light, the officer of the Royal En-
gineers credited with the design of the city, and to treasure Lis portrait and hi
statue. Like till large cities, Adelaide has a great many suburbs, and with th< m
covers a una* space of ground; but there is no modern city in which the distinction
between city and suburbs is so clearly marked. It is as clear as in the ease of cities
of old time, which were walled about. The Adelaide walls are park-lands, which are
highly valued, and which will be more and more valued as time goes on. According
to the familar illustration, they are the lungs of the city. One accustomed to the
crowding of English towns might think that, it' anything; Adelaide was over-provided
with Lungs; but he would also hold that this is a fault, if fault it be, on the right
side The park-lands are in most part still waste lands. Their extenl has been too
greal for them to be laid out as yet, bul they cannot be built over.
Adelaide proper consists of two main divisions, North and South Adelaide,
separated by the river Ton-ens and the uneven ground on its banks. Each division
lias a separate and independent plan, and the park-lands, which surround the whole.
also intervene in rich profusion between the two. This intervening space has
used for large public institutions, many of them standing in their own grounds — the
railway station, Parliament Souse, Government House, the Public Library, the University,
the Hospital. These, however may be said to belong to South Adelaide, because they are
on the south side of the Tori-ens, though they lie outside its plan. South Adelaide
is an oblong— one mile on the shorter side, and one-third of a mile mor i the loi
but any appearance of stiffness in this arrangement is avoided by a prolongation
of the southern side and a kind of bulge in the south-eastern corner; yet of tins
corner it, is true, as Mr. Troilope observes, that there is "a regularity even in the
irregularity. This terrace, on the map of the town takes the form of a flight of
steps, for nothing so irregular .-is a sloping or diagonal Line has been permitted in the
arrangement of the streets." The streets, as in so many colonial ci are laid out
regularly, on the Philadelphia model, parallel and rectangular, and the meridian Line
lias been strictly preserved The streets run strict north and south, .strict east and
west. But streets of a mile long, crossed by streets more than a mile long, without
any variety, would be intolerably stilt, and an attempt has been ■ avoid such
232
ELL'S I'M rritESQUE AUSTRALASIA
1 Am I.A1DE.
stiffness by tin; introduction of certain squares, which are public gardens — not like
London squares, the preserves of families thai enjoy a private key. Of these. Victoria
Square — at the onicr of which stand the Government Offices— is in the very centre
of South Adelaide, and the four other squares, with their outward corners rounded,
divide the space between the central square and the corners of the town. The five
squares are arranged like a card with five pips.
The central street of Adelaide is King William Street, and it is quite appropriate
that, the main street should be called after William IV., seeing that the city took its
KIXc; WILLIAM STREET.
name from his consort. It is written that the original designer meant King William
Street to be rather a residential than a business street, but designers cannot alwa} r s
have their way, and bushiess has gravitated towards King William Street, and now
all the chief banks and insurance offices, as well as the Post Office and the Town
Hall, are to be found there. As elsewhere, the banks vie with one another in the
splendour of their buildings. For a long time, some of them were content to be
housed in very poor quarters, but the force of competition has compelled all, one after
another, to spend large sums of money upon architecture, to the very great advantage
of the appearance of the city.
The two most conspicuous buildings in this part of the town — the Post Office and
the Town Hall — demand some description. The foundation-stone of the Victoria Tower
of the former was laid by the Huke of Edinburgh on the 5th of November, 18C7, upon
234 CASSBLL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA.
the occasion of his first visit to Australia. The Post Office is very handsome, as it, oughl
to be, for ii cost a great dea] of money. There is a large central hall for the use of the
public, round which the offices are grouped to which those who have dealings with officials
need access. <>n its suitability to its purpose let us hearken to the opinion of a business
man, Mr. II. G. Turner, of Melbourne: — "The central hall, which is ninety feet by thirty-
five feet, and sixty-five feel high, is abundantly lighted from the d and paved
with Minton's tiles. Cool in summer, and protected in wet weather, ii presents the
beau ideal of a place lot- the public to do business in; and all requisite information,
meteorological, postal, and nautical, is displayed with lavish abundance and electrical
promptitude. There are probably not half-a-dozen buildings in all the colonies that
can surpass it for architectural merit, and not one for adaptability to its objects."
The building is of the Palladian order of architecture, with a tower, to the top
of which visitors are taken by zealous residents to see the view. As the lantern
for signalling the arrival of the mails at night stands over 150 feet from the ground,
there are a good many steps to ascend in order to reach it, but the exertion is
amply rewarded, especially if the visitor should desire to understand the geography of
his surroundings. The whole plain is visible, from the sea to the Mount Lofty Range,
whilst Adelaide, with its suburbs, lies at the feet like a map. The Adelaide Post
Office, it should be mentioned, is enriched with a pleasant chime of bells. Loth the
Post Office and the Town Hall are built of a beautiful white freestone, which is
brought from quarries about fifteen miles from the city.
The second tower that is at once seen in Adelaide belongs to the Town Hall, on the
other side of King William Street. Here there is a large room used for public meetings
and entertainments, and there are the municipal offices. In the Council Chamber there
are portraits of some of the early explorers, governors, and city magnates ; and the Town
Clerk has, with some trouble, made a record of the persons, without a. single exception,
after whom the streets and squares of the city are named. It has been well said that
this functionary, Mr. Thomas Worshop, is, in a literary sense, the true Recorder of tin
( ity. He has published an excellent " History of the City of Adelaide." to which all
who desire to write adequately about Adelaide must acknowledge obligations.
In many cases Adelaide is the first Australian city visited by tourists from
Europe. Visitors will be interested to notice the importance attached to municipal
institutions in the colonies. .Stately town-halls and spacious municipal offices are the
outward tokens of this importance. These will be found, not only in the capital cities,
such as Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney but in much smaller places. The visitor will
soon remark the buildings in the numerous suburban cities that cluster round each capital.
In this matter Australia may be compared in her newness with the old cities of the
Low Countries, though it has not fallen to her lot to have such rare architects as
those who built the Hotel de Ville at Lonvain, or that at Ghent. It is in the zeal to
exalt city government, and to house it handsomely, that the point of the comparison
lies. It is df interest to dwell on this further, for Adelaide was not only the first city
in Australia to have a municipality, but, in the proud language of Mr. Wbrsnop, it is
"the birthplace of municipal government in the whole British Colonial Empire."
""I THE TERRACES. 235
King William Street is probably the broadest street in any lai n in
Australia with tin' single exception of Stmt Street, Ballarat, and. at its northern end,
one of the handsomest streets that can be seen anywhere. In former days it
was divided into two parts by Victoria Square, though the square was always bisi
by the street that runs from east to west. Traffic was diverted to the righl hand
ami to the left in a manner that was more picturesque than convenient. In a
struggle, however, between the picturesque and the convenient the latter always pre-
vails, and now the great central square of tl ity has been cut up into four small
squares, and the broad King William Stn | 3 through its midst. No little regret
was felt at the destruction of trees, for trees take long w. It certainly seems a
pity that all the trees were cut down, and that no compromise was effected by preserv-
ing at least si. me of them in belts. Even now, for the sake of the future, the read
crossing the square should be replanted with all convenient speed. Australians, ac-
customed to the freedom and space of the bush, take an especial pride iii broad str
which are often much wider than is at all necessary. Due care is. no doubt, being
taken for the future needs of traffic: but it should be remembered that broad sti
in order to bring oul their full beauty, must he planted Otherwise, the broader tin;
Btreet, the more the dust.
The boundaries of South Adelaide, en each of its four sides, are called Terraces,
though the houses are net in a continuous row as in a London terrace. In Adelaide
a "terrace" means that there are houses on one side of the road but not on the other.
<>n this account the terraces are popular, and land along them commands a high
price. Sere we will borrow a description from an account by the literary Melbourne
hanker before quoted, Mr. II. <;. Turner: —
" From the West Terrace there is a tine expansive view over the breezy plains
stretching to the ocean beach, and which takes in the shore from Glenelg to Larg's
Bay, with the shimmering waters of the gulf beyond. The onlj encroachments on
the park-lands facing this terrace are a reserve for cemetery purposes, which is not
maintained in a- good order as it should he. and the buildings connected with the
Observatory On the reserves facing South Terrace there are no buildings, while on
those fronting tin' East a rerj excellent racecourse has been laid out, with a oom-
modious grand stand and the other appurtenances of this popular sport.
"The view from the East Terra-.- is probably the finest in the city, and
many of the houses upon it are indicative of the wealth and : their owners.
The ever-varying light and shade which animates the picturesque outlines of the
Mount l...ti\ Ranges, facing this terrace, is a continuous delight to the eye. Tin-
dark foliage of tl live plantations, contrasting with the brighter green of the orange
groves; the sombre eucalyptus and the verdant (dump of English deciduous trees, the
brightness of the freshly growing crop, shaded oil' into the darkness of the adjacent
gully, and the park like aspect of the intervening lands, make up a picture of simple
Arcadian beauty. In no other city in Australia is the ins in n, -In so ible, and
to those accustomed to the Yankee-like stir and bustle of Melbourne, it seems
incredible that such a peaceful panorama can he enjoyed within almost a stone*s-
236
CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA.
[Al'KLAtl'E.
throw of streets that rival some of the shopkeeping centres of trade in the capital of
Victoria."
The most fashionahle of the terraces, however, is North Terrace. Indeed, by a
bull which is perhaps permissible, it has been said that the "West End" of Adelaide
is the north. North Terrace is the chief place for professional men, especially doctors.
What a number of doctors there seems to be in Adelaide, and how well they appear to
THE KOSARY, BOTANICAL GARDENS.
flourish ! On the North Terrace also is situated the Adelaide Club. To the hospitality
there so kindly shown many a visitor feels himself indebted.
The streets that run parallel to North Terrace, and nearest to it, are important
from a business point of view — Hindley and Rundle for shops and retail trade, Gren-
fell and Currie for warehouses and wholesale places of business. It may be noted that
each of these pairs makes really a single street, for, except King William, no name
for a si net is carried right through this part of Adelaide. As compared with the
breadth of King William Street, these streets are scarcely wide enough for the business
done in them: whilst the pavement is certainly too narrow. Some of the shops arc
large and excellent Hindley and Rundle Streets have the glory of being the first
streets in Adelaide in the order of formation. In Hindley Street is situated the
Adelaide Theatre, which was described only three years ago as "undoubtedly the
prettiest and best in Australia." Even if it cannot now be rated quite so high, it
will hold a forward place, for it is excellently planned and elegantly decorated.
Adelaide J
THE ANGLICAN CATHEDRAL.
237
Whilst South Adelaide has more and more a tendency to become nothing but a
place of business, like the City in London, North Adelaide is, and will must likely
continue, a place for residence. It, stands higher than the other part of the city, and
ri^es somewhat abruptly from the valley of the Torrens. The eminence is not great in
itself, but as in the city of the blind
tl e ryi\ man was king, so in a flat
city advantage is naturally taken of
rising ground, and the southern edge
of North Adelaide is very valuable.
Pleasant, views can be obtained thence,
and from a sanitary point of view the
rise in the ground is treasured. The
greater part of North Adelaide is laid
out. in an irregular parallelogram, with
a square in tin; centre, called after the
Duke of Wellington. At its south-east
corner are two excrescences, two other
parallelograms, the lines of which bear
no relation to the lines of the main
parallels. There are thus produced a
lew curves pleasant to the eye. As a
ride, the parallels in North Adelaide
are not too regular, but yet preserve
their characteristic.
The Anglican Cathedral (St. Peter's;
stands near the entrance to North
Adelaide. It is very lofty, and, when
completed, will he a tine ( rothic church,
especially as seen from the inside. The
outside is spoilt by the deplorable
meanness of the tower, and will re-
main spoilt unless some sudden aco
siou to the church funds should enable
the authorities to build a worthier tower.
There is often a difference in the way
of regarding a cathedral church; that
of the worshippers is differenl from that
of some who are willing to help, hut might he described in the words Lord Eldon is said
to have used of himself, when he explained that he was "not a pillar of the church, hut
a buttress— a supporter, hut one that acver went inside." The former want a church, good
for hearing, good for music, suit a hie for crowded services and majestic (unctions ; the latter
want namenl for the city, [f the two objeel cannot he combined, it may reasonably
be conceded that the former \ieu has the better claim to exclusive consideration.
I "I MAIN IN Till: BOTANIC M. G M
238 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Adelaide
Adelaide is especially strong in the matter of churches. There is. as we have seen,
an Anglican Cathedral— St. Peter's; there is a Roman Catholic Cathedral, of stately
proportions, dedicated to St. Francis Xayier; and lioth the Anglicans and Roman
('at holies have plenty of other churches. Moreover, all the denominations are well
represented. Perhaps the Presbyterians are not so strong as in some other colonies, for
Adelaide is by no means a Scotch colony. There are Scotchmen there, as everywhere
else in the world, and, of course, prosperous Scotchmen, but not in any preponderance.
Indeed, Adelaide is a well-mixed community, and there is no disproportion either of
nationality or of religion.
One of the cardinal ideas of those who founded the colony of South Australia
was that it should enjoy the most perfect religious freedom. This idea has been fully
carried out. There are those in England who fancy that the absence of an Establishment
would produce an absence of religion. A visit to Australia would convince such of their
error. To no place can they be recommended to pay their visit sooner than to Adelaide,
for in none could they learn the lesson quicker. A glance at the streets of Adelaide
shows at once that there has been a rivalry of churches, which, desiring an outward and
visible sign of progress and prosperity, have built spacious edifices that are in many cases
ornaments to the town, and, where they are not handsome, are very useful Most
of the colonists belonged to the gi-eat English middle class, and the denominations
specially recruited from that class — the Wesleyans, the Congregationalists, and the
Baptists — have numerous adherents, adequate funds, and vigorous life. If one denomina-
tion be stronger than another, it is probably the Wesleyan. But it is not only in build-
ings that religion shows its strength in Adelaide. An Adelaide Sunday is a Puritan
Sunday — probably it is more Puritan than in any other Australasian city, except those
that are distinctively Scotch. In other matters also, such as having a vigilance com-
mittee to look after the morality of young men, Adelaide inclines, not without pro-
tests, to this Puritan side in religion. The city, like the colony generally, is quite
satisfied with religious equality, and has no hankering after the principle of an Establish-
ment. Even the Anglicans, who hold the same doctrines as the Established Church
in England, do not wish it, though they have at times difficulties as to funds that
may make them desire endowment.
The intervening space between North and South Adelaide is the part of the city
which can lay most claim to beauty. The river Torrens is not in itself a. tine river.
It has the weakness of many Australian rivers, and seems unable to make a channel
for itself all the way to the sea. If reproached upon the score of deficiency of beauty,
the river Torrens might well urge in its defence that it has always been very useful
to the people of Adelaide. Not thirty years ago the citizens used to rely upon the
river for their supply of water, which was retailed by water-cask at a charge of a
florin or half-a-crown a load. This very primitive water-supply was superseded by a
regular system, the river Torrens being tapped higher up ; and this diversion of a
stream never very strong naturally diminished its volume. The constant growth in
the size of the city has made it necessary that a fresh and larger reservoir
should be built. The original dam is about eight miles off; the new reservoir is in
Adelaide.] THE TORRENS AMi lis BRIDGES.
the park-lands. It may. however be conceded thai formerly the Torrens, at the part
between North and South Adelaide, was nol beautiful, and that Mr. Trollope was right
in repudiating a laudatory expression which he had heard employed — that it was a
pretty stream, lint a few years since Adelaide- was blessed with a remarkably energetic
mayor, who summoned art to the assistance of nature. Just below the town the river
has been dammed in such a way as to give the appearance of a broad river, or almost
of a lake, to that which used to be an Australian creek The main mad that unites
the heart of South to the heart of North Adelaide, itself in a line with King William
Street, crosses the Torrens bj a fine bridge, with a very broad span. Boating-clubs
have been established, and rowing is very popular. Just beyond the river is an oval,
used as a cricket and football-ground. On a Saturday great crowds gather there, though
the interest taken in athletic sports is hardly so keen as in Melbourne. Besides this
central Adelaide Bridge, the river is also crossed by two other bridges, at convenient
distances above and below. The lower is called after the Queen— Adelaide is nothing
if not loyal— and the higher after the Prince Consort. The latter is not far from
the Zoological Gardens; the Victoria Bridge occupies the site of the Ford where, in
former days -i.e., before 1861, when the waterworks were completed — the watermen
filled their carts. It is described as having been a specially busy spot on the occasion
of a fire, when the sum of £5 was awarded to the man who first brought his full
water-cart to the scene of the fire.
South of the river, opposite North Terrace, there is a series of institutions,
standing in grounds of considerable size. Let us begin at the west end, anil take
them in turn. The railway-station is not beautiful — few are; it has, however, the
greal advantage of being central, and is conveniently arranged, old Parliament House
and New Parliament, House stand side by side, and form a great contrast. Simplicity
marks the old, ami splendour will mark the new, when it is finished Some hold that
the expense of tiie new building is a burden on the shoulders of the colony greater
than it is fairly able to bear, tor the cost is estimated at over £100,000. This ex-
penditure will certainly give a magnincenl building, worthy of any legislative body.
The outside is to 1 f Kapunda marble. Surely, if we take pride in our Parliamentary
system oi government, the Parliament of a country ought to be well housed On the
other side of the road stands Government House, surrounded by pleasant gardens.
According to law, the "Public Library, Museum, ami Art Gallery of South
Australia" only came into existence on July 1st, L884. That was the date fixed
by the Act of Parliament for its t imencement, but the institutions with the con-
glomerate title had reall\ existed much earlier under the title of the South Australian
Institute. In the final report of the Board of Governors of the Institute, mention is
made of the twenty eighl years of its existence, and a claim put forward which no
one will refuse to acknowledge— "that the South Australian Institute hail done good
work in its day, and had been instrumental in scattering the seeds of intellectual
cultivation and development far and wide over the colony. The Board hands over the
trust to its successors with the earnest hope and full confidence that in the future,
with a higher prestige and larger means, the} will realise to the utmost the ends for
CASSELL • PK li RESQUE AUSTRALASIA.
City
OP
Adelaide
which the South Australian Institute was established in 1856." Tli<' South Australian
Institute was the product of a society founded in London only a few days after the
establishment of the colony. This society, under the title of "the South Australian
Literary and Scientific Association,'' chose eighty-two hooks in London, and senl this
handsome library to the colony. Though hooks wore dearer in L834 than fifty years
later, probably many an individual settler had a larger collection : and having per-
formed this difficult task, the London society seems to have disappeared. These
eighty-two hooks went to a .Mechanics'
Institute founded to receive thena, and
the Mechanics' Institute underwent,
various chances. First it nourished,
then it succumbed to a rival sub-
scription library: then there was an
amalgamation, and at length, in 1856,
by Act of Parliament, the Institute
was established. Its first local habi-
tation was in a building in King
William Street. As time went on,
a better building was erected on North
Terrace. As time went on further,
newer buildings were required. The
very handsome Museum was erected,
part of which is now used for the
Public Library. A portion of the
work of the Institute is continued
in the old building by the Adelaide
( 'initiating Library, the books in the
Public Library never being allowed
to circulate. In the Art Gallery there
is already the nucleus of a good
collection of pictures.
The next building is the University of Adelaide, a description of which will be
given under the head of Australian Education. Beyond the University, and in a close
proximity to it, which must be very convenient for the medical student, stands the
hospital.
In every direction, as the visitor walks about Adelaide, he will in a short time
reach the park-lands. This article began with park-lands, and to them must now
return. These park-lands are indeed the distinctive feature of Adelaide. There is a
total of about 2.000 acres. Those that go round the two parts of the city average
about half-a-mile in width. Those that, intervene between the two parts are much
wider, but also much more irregular in shape. The park-lands arc reserved in per-
petuity tor the use of the people. No private house can ever be built within their
bounds, but portions of them are used for public purposes. In the intervening park-
Walker G-Boul
Adelaide.]
THE EXHIBITION-.
241
lands, various public buildings arc established, and parts arc marked off for the use and
advantage of clubs and other sections of the people. The last of these institutions is
the Exhibition. The Great Exhibition of 1851 in London was only permitted to be
built in Hyde Park
on condition that at
the close of the Ex-
hibition the building
should be entirely
removed No such
condition has been
made in the present
case, but the land
round Adelaide is not "v .A
yet quite so valuable
as that in London.
For all that, the park-lands arc zeal-
ously watched .More than once
there has been a political crisis in
South Australia, with a singularly
empty exchequer, but no politician
has been found to propose the sale oi
a portion of the people's city domain
in order to replenish it. The lands
bring in a small revenue, for citizens
are allowed to depasture cattle on
payment of a small lee. Bu1 the
glory of the park-lands, it' nol of all
Adelaide, is the Botanical Gardens.
All modern cities have many
suburbs, and Adelaide does not
prove the rule by exception People
like living away from their busi-
ness, and enjoying country air. as
i lern conveniences of locomotion
readily permit Adelaide has the
pr I pre eminence of being t lie
tirst Australian citj to really adopt the tram: but, always modest, she has kept
herself to the horse-train, whilst Sydney has steam motors, an«l Melbourne, much
later in the field, uses the com inn oiis cable .system. Some of the Adelaide suburbs
are commonplace ome are exceeding y. It is unfortunate that, as a rule, the
native names have not been preserved. Medindie stands almost alone as keeping such
a name. Most of tin- oames of suburbs are Cocknej reminiscences, and often ol quite
middle-class parts of London, such as Islington and Hackney; Norw 1. Brompton,
16
TOBRENS i
242
JELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA.
I Am i mi i:.
and Kensington are rather more fashionable names. The rlrsl settlers in Adelaide
must have been very fond oi London. But there is a worse thing in nomen-
clature than borrowing the names of second-rate London suburbs. Some designations
are made in the ridiculous American fashion of adding viUe to a proper name, with
deplorable results. Ye gods! fancy Walkerville!
TOUT ADELAIDE LIGHTHOUSE.
From a commercial and business point ot view, the suburbs that serve Adelaide as
seaports claim most attention. Adelaide is the Brindisi of the Australian Continent;
,ll; " ,s '" s:,v - " is the place at which the mails arrive, and are thence distributed by
railway through the colonies. By landing the mails at Adelaide, at least a day is
saved to Sydney and Melbourne correspondents. Of course, it is easy to imagine places
which would give quicker mails— for instance, Port Darwin; but, in spite of the remark-
able enterprise of South Australia, it must be many .wars before the northern territory
can be connected by rail with the southern parts of Australia. No doubt a day will
come when all Australian letters from Euro],,, will be landed on the northern shore,
Adelaide.] GLENELG AND SEMAPHORE. '2V- y ,
and that will probably be before the time, which also is surely coming, when the
Indian and Australian mails will be conveyed from Calais overland to India, but it.
need hardly be said that that day has not yel dawned.
In Port Adelaide the city lias a splendid harbour. It is perfectly land-locked, and
therefore very safe, but unfortunately it is by no means easy of access. Sailing ships
which air nut in a. hurry use the services of a tug and go round to Port Adelaide
but steamers, in connection with which time seems always an object, avoid the Port.
With respect to the best place for steamers there is a bitter dispute. One of the greal
lines that run to Australia uses Glenelg, and the other Semaphore. Not a little
jealousy exists between the Orient and the P. and 0. lines, and a similar jealousy
has been established between their two ports of call. It may be said at once that
both seem very pleasant places, rich in seaside villas and baths, just the spots for
heat-oppressed citizens to seek ozone — and in the summer season Adelaide can be
very hot — but it must be added that neither is a satisfactory port of call. Each
is an open roadstead, sometimes acquainted with very rough weather, when passengers,
especially ladies, have to be hoisted on board. Each has a long jetty, but in neither
case can ocean-going steamers coin.- alongside. In the contest it is generally believed
that ultimately Semaphore will win. Glenelg stands by itself. .Semaphore has Port
Adelaide behind it, and the influence of the Port in all matters maritime is ex-
ceedingly strong. A semaphore is properly a signal-post, and, in the days before
raphs, the arrival of ships used to be signalled across to Port Adelaide by means
of flags hoisted a: the semaphore, but although this particular method of signalling is
now unnecessary and almost obsolete, the whole place has retained the peculiar name.
The name, by the way. had once a very good chance of wide fame, as the authors
of the well-known operetta H.M.S. Pinafore have said that their play was origin-
ally christened Semaphore. Semaphore is now a QCE AUSTRALASIA.
Ballakat.
murdered, in cold blood, any solitary hut-keeper or lonely shepherd they happened to
come across.
In lsol ^old was discovered by a man named Hiscocks, in the little gully near
Buninyong which still boars his name, and. as by magic, the low lands round the
Yarrowee Creek were crowded by adventurers eager to find the precious metal.
They came by thousands and tens of thousands, from all parts of the colonies, and from
the uttermost parts of the earth, until soon the whole of the valley was white with their
tents. Their watehtiros by night lit up the lonely forest, and their presence scared
away for ever the dingo and the kangaroo from their wonted haunts, liallarat, or more
MOUNT BUNINYONG, FROM I..U,-LAL.
properly Ballaarat, in aboriginal speech, means a resting-place, but it was a resting-
place no longer. He who came in the old diggings days came not to rest, but to
work, to work untiringly, from break of day to sunset, sometimes, perhaps, to be rewarded
with wealth beyond the wildest dreams of the avaricious, oftener to slave for the meresl
pittance, still hoping on, if not for a fortune, at least for enough to enable him to go
back and live in comfort in his own land. No one came to settle at liallarat, every
man was but a bird of passage, and, at first, no man dreamt of making a home here.
Slowly, but surely, this transitory character of the population passed away. The surface
diggings were worked out, and men could no longer start on their own account.
The claims were sunk deeper and deeper, more capital was required, and more special
Ballarat.]
THE HILLS.
249
knowledge. Companies were formed, and gold-mining became a recognised industry,
carried on as regularly as cloth-making or coal-mining. Moreover, the land around
proved fertile, and suitable for agriculture, and soon
every acre was settled, mostly by men of tbe farmer
class. Ballarat became not only a mining centre, but
also tbe market of a large and prosperous agricultural
district.
It is a pretty town — a very pretty town — strangers
declare. Standing in Stun Street, and look-
ing east, one sees it is set in an amphitheatre
of low eucalyptus-clad ranges, with two largi c
bills, that serve to break the monotony.
Mounts Buninyong and Warrenheip are about
two thousand feet above the sea-level, ami
/ \
i s
some seven miles
apart, rising
from the ranges
— square, soli<
looking bills,
covered with for-
est. They an;
remarkably alike
in contour, and ^*(v— -r —
hardly to be distinguished one from the other.
The inhabitants of Ballarat and the surrounding
districts for a long time fondly cherished the idea that these mountains
were extinct \ i 'lea i n ii 's, and proudly showed to visitors the outlines of the
old craters. When a popular science lecturer pointed out their error, he
was hardly thanked for tearing away the halo of romance which they had
contrived to thmw around their hills ; and forthwith other authorities were
consulted, wlio confirmed the first dews upon the subject.
•■ It is not true thai b ml thoughts are best,
But first and third, which are a riper first, '
From the top of either Warrenheip or Buninyong, a splendid bird's-eye view is to
be had of Ballarat, and a capital idea is to he -aincd of the straggling waj in which
250 I LSSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [B*llabat.
the town is built The ranges which surround the town are for some reason, best known
to the earlj settlers, nol called by the quaint, and often pretty, native names, bul rejoice
respectively in such appellations as the Dead Eorse, W'liite Horse, Black Horse, and
Magpie Ranges. A spur of the Dead Eorse runs right up into the town itself, less than
a mile, in fact, from its very centre. Forty years ago Black Hill, as it is called, reared
its dark crest, clothed in dense forest, over the lonely gully where now stands Ballarat
East, and its steep sides were untouched by the foot of civilised man. But those steep
slopes proved rich in gold. The forest lias long since disappeared, and the hillside has
been tunnelled through and through, burrowed into, cut away, and turned over, till
half tit' it has disappeared Its former shape has been entirely lost, and Black Hill
presents to the town a scarred white face, precipitous in some parts, with mounds of
earth, old mining machinery, and heaps of quartz and "mullock,"* which gleam white
and look Dot unpicturesque in the sunshine
Ballarat is divided into three parts — Ballarat West, Ballarat East, and Sebastopo] -
the city, the town, and the borough. The West is the aristocratic and business portion
of the town. Here are all the best shops, and the best hotels, the lawyers' offices, and the
min ing exchange. Here, too, are the principal churches — the Anglican and the Roman
Catholic Cathedrals, the Presbyterian Kirk, and the new Wesleyan Chapel; and here,
too, are all the handsomest houses. A visitor is struck with the neatness of the broad,
straight, well-kept streets, running at right angles to one another, and carefully planted
with trees — oaks, elms, Oriental plane-trees, Californian pines, and, of course, the blue
gum. Sturt Street, the principal street, and one of the three chain mads of the colony,
bears off the palm for beauty. It has kept its original width of two hundred feet
nearly throughout, and is broader than most of the famous streets of the world. As with
the "Unter den Linden," at Berlin, a handsome avenue runs straight up the middle
of the street for fully a mile. It strikes one at first as being all of gum-trees, tall and
straight, with thick, close foliage, for they have been carefully pollarded in their youth,
and not allowed to straggle and grow ragged and untidy, as is the wont of trees of their
kind when left to their own devices ; hut on a second glance it is seen that each gum
alternates with a deciduous tree — an oak or an elm, or an Oriental plane-tree. Very
pretty and cool this avenue looks in the early summer, before the hot winds have withered
and shrivelled the leaves of the foreign trees: and their delicate green makes a lovely
contrast to the darker hue of the eucalyptus. These, too, are covered with white blossoms,
which fill the air with their aromatic perfume, and which bring into the town great
flocks of parrots, rosellas, in all the glory of their gorgeous plumage, blue and green,
red and yellow, and parroquets, all clothed in vivid green. These birds whirl in screaming
flocks round the gum-trees, feeding on the white blossoms, and, in their turn, proving
a soie temptation to the young colonial, who, satchel on hack, is wending his way slowly
to school, unwilling to leave the bright sunshine. Parrots are easily brought down by
" shanghais "—the name in this part of the world for a catapult ; hut a wise Town Council,
having a due regard for the windows, not to say for the persons, of the citizens, has for-
* " Mullock," the heaps of waste earth at the mouth of a shaft.
Ballabat.] THE "CORNEE." 251
bidden the use of all shanghais within the town, and many a small boy, in the first flush
of joy and pride at a successful shot, is compelled to flee from Nemesis in the shape of a
stalwart Irish policeman, who, armed with all the terrors of the law, swoops down upon
him. In the summer evenings, too, this avenue is much frequented by another set of
people. It appears to be the favoured place of the lads and lasses of Ballarat for
courting, and the old, old story must have hern told again and again under those gum-
trees in Sturt Street.
In this street are most of the shops and principal buildings. At the intersection
of Lydiard Street, right in the centre of the town, is a monument to the ill-fated
explorers, Uurke and Wills, a nondescript erection, originally a fountain, but now a
lamp-post ; and a little farther down, opposite the Post Office, has recently been placed
a handsome statue, in white marble, of the poet Burns. What Burns had to do with
Ballarat no one seems exactly to know; but since he is there, and much admired,
there seems every probability that Tom Moore, also in white marble, will soon join
him. The Post Office, on the north side of the street, close to the Burke and Wills
monument, is a square white building, to which extensive additions are being made. On
the south side is the Mining Exchange — the "Corner," as it is popularly called. Here
the sharebrokers maybe seen transacting their business in the open street, and on busy
days stretching right across to the gardens that adorn the middle, buying and selling,
shouting and gesticulating as if their lives depended on it, as their livelihood most
undoubtedly do. Unluckily, it is not always busy times on the Corner, ami on a day
when shares are down and stocks arc dull, the Corner men arc hard put to it to employ
their time. A Chinaman trudging along, under the heavy weight of bis baskets full of
vegetables, is eagerly seized upon, and his cauliflowers and cabbages put up to auction,
while John himself sip tats down on the pavement, a smile on his stolid, yellow countenance,
for he knows that whatever the result he will be a gainer by the transaction. The dark
Indian trader from Cashmere, plodding patiently along with bis great white bundle on
his back, can now do a brisk business, while a load of wood — be it the humble one horse
load, or a great waggon that requires at least six horses to bring it down from the ranges —
is a perfect godsend, offering as it does excellent opportunities for a raffle, the driver
meanwhile, leaning carelessly against the wheel, cracking his long whip in a most artistic
manner to wile away the time pending the completion of the bargain. The bone}
merchant and the bird hawker, too, find for their wares a ready sale among the good
humoured ( lomer men.
Eigher up is the Town Haifa fine building with a lofty tower, from which a splendid
view of the surrounding country can be obtained; and higher up still are the Roman
Catholic Cathedral and the principal Presbyterian Church. Both of these are substantial
buildings of bluestone, whose dinginess is relieved in the case of the latter by a spire
and facings of white freestone, while round St. Patrick's Cathedral are hands,, me. well-
grown English trees. The Hospital, still farther Up Sturt Street, is a large white building,
set in a pretty, well-kept garden, and is rerj old, as buildings go in Ballarat, having been
begun just after the Eureka riots in ls;,.y The Deed of some place for the sick and
wounded was then sorely felt, and this Id to steps being taken for the erection
252 CASSELL'S PICTURES! ill; AUSTRALASIA. (Ballakat.
of a hospital. The site chosen, though only three-quarters of a mile from the presenl
Post ottice, in the very heart of the town, was then in such thick bush that, strange
as it may seem to a modern traveller on the well-kept highway, it is recorded thai main
persons lost their way between it and the little township on the hanks of the creek.
All up Sturt Street, are simps and houses and buildings; and improvements are going
on everywhere. The streets are full of busy life, though not the life of a metropolis;
rather it. is the ordinary traffic of a well-to-do, up-country town — loads of hay and
straw from the agricultural districts of Learmonth and Windermere, carts laden with
potatoes from Buninyong and Warrenheip, and great leads of wood on creaking waggons
thai require at least six or eight horses to move them. An occasional bullock-dray,
laden with wool hales or wattlebark, drawn by its patient team, reminds one of the
outlying stations, whilst a great locomotive moving from the foundry where it was
manufactured, to he delivered at the railway station in Lydiard Street, connects the old
life with the new.
Everywhere are evidences of the chief industry of the town, and a. stranger cannot
help feeling that I'.allarat was made by the miner, and is still, to a certain extent, the
miner's city. Here and there, in all directions, even in Sturt Street itself, are mounds of
upturned earth, red and white, and not unpicturesque in themselves, hut often grass-
grown and deserted. Sometimes the remnants of the old wooden buildings that protected
the mouth of the shaft arc still left standing, utterly dilapidated and moss-grown, but
yet oftener even that has disappeared, and all that remains is an old iron truck, or a
chain or two, eaten away by rust, and the tall mound, twenty, thirty, or even fifty
feel high. Sometimes, particularly in Ballarat East, these wrought-out workings are
just those "of the surface diggings, and there the ground — acres of it — has been turned
over ami over. No shafts have been sunk very deep, so there are no tall mounds of
gravel and quartz to glisten in the sunshine, hut the whole surface presents the ap-
pearance of some desolate graveyard, where no kindly hand has planted gardens, or
raised monuments to the dead.
Many of the workings, both old and new, are of great extent, and many ['arts of
Ballarat are tunnelled under by drives, where, far below the surface, the miner earns his
daily bread. Many of these drives are deserted, but others are in full swing. Generally
they are far enough below the surface for the safety of those above, but not always, and
it is no uncommon thing to see houses out of the perpendicular, and going to rack and
ruin, because the earth has given way beneath them. Sites may be observed where no
attempt has been made to build, because the ground is rotten and unsafe. In Ballarat
East, St. Paul's Anglican Church has twice come to grief. Once the whole body of the
church went, and left the tower standing alone. It was rebuilt on the other side of
the tower, and, then, to the astonishment and disgust of the congregation, the earth
opened, and if it did not exactly swallow up the chancel, it at least dropped it down
too many feet below the rest of the church to allow of a comfortable celebration of Divine
Service. And at the present moment the destruction of St. Paul's is again threatened
by m inin g operations. The old Supreme Court, in Lydiard Street, was another place
that suffered, and had to be abandoned, as it was impossible to add to it, on account
LAKE WEND01
254 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Ballaiut.
of its foundations being undermined Appropriately enough, it is now used as the School
of Mines. Those wrought-out workings, which are near the centre of the town, arc last.
being levelled and carted away, as the demand for building sites becomes greater, and
pretty cottages and M oing gardens take their place. Ballarat is sometimes called the
Garden City, and seeing thai it- chief industry is gold-mining, this might seem strange,
were it not that nowhere do shrubs, Bowers, and trees flourish so well as on the levelled
workings of the wrought-out claims, where the ground has been trenched and dug over
and over again. Mining is now generally carried on by large companies, which employ
hundreds of men. and machinery in itself worth a small fortune. Digging by one man,
or by small parties, is not often seen within the precincts of the town. And yet this
mining on a small scale has not been quite abandoned in Ballarat. In the .Main Road,
Ballarat East, there may yet he seen small parties of men working in co-operation, and
leading that independent life which appears to possess a vast charm for the old gold-
mine
Going west, up Stmt Street, the shops gradually grow fewer and fewer, till when
the avenue comes to an end, even the smallest of them have disappeared altogether,
and villa residences take their place. Here the character of the street changes. In the
town the City Council have laid it. out with an avenue in the centre, and two roads,
one on each side. Here, beyond the shops, are two avenues, one on each side,
with a road in the middle, which runs for another mile — quite, in fact, into the open
country. These avenues are of Canadian elms and silver poplars, and as yet are young,
but they promise to be in time as handsome as their well-grown sisters in the centre
of the town.
To the west of Ballarat, within the bounds of the city, lies what in the eyes of
its inhabitants is its greatest attraction. On arrival, the first question asked of a
Stranger is not "Have yon seen the mines'" but "Have you seen our lake?" And
yet, after all, "our lake" is but a small sheet of water. Lake Wendouree (accent on
first and third syllables), known in the old days as Yuille's Swamp, is about four miles
round, and not more than a mile across : but, though not a lare-e lake, it is certainly
a very pretty one. It is enclosed in a reserve well planted with a variety of trees, while
all round the margin of the lake itself are rows of weeping willows, which thrive
wonderfully. On the eastern or town side of the lake are most of the boathouses, the
number of which shows how much this sheet of water is appreciated Twenty or thirty
small yachts are there, miniature steamboats ply for hire, and on a public holiday the
little lake is crowded with every imaginable kind of craft, from the tiny canoe with its
solitary occupant, to the steamer crowded with men, women, and children, of a more
sociable disposition. Strange to say. the lake lies higher than a great part of Ballarat,
so that from the deck of one of the steamers there is on a tine day a glorious view.
The town itself, save for the houses that, surround the lake, is barely visible, but the
hills beyond stand out clearly, and bound the horizon. To the north is Mount Rowan,
a conical, treeless hill, whose softly rounded outlines and vivid -lven form a pleasing
contrast to the stern squareness of Buninyong and Warrenheip, and the darker eucalyptus-
clad ranges which bound the picture on the east. In the foreground the white cliff's
ballaru.] gondola breeding. 255
of Black Hill gleam in the sunlight, and nearer still arc the weeping willows at the
water's edge. Un the western side are the Botanical Gardens, where foliage of every
shade and hue meets the eve. Greal care has been exercised in laving out these gar-
dens, and though the oldest oak there has barely reached his majority, trees grow more
quickly in Victoria than in their native England, and oaks and elms, poplars and ash-
trees, begin to make a good show. Much of the grounds is, strictly speaking, not
garden at all, hut park-like land, carefully planted with trees. Here mi Sundays
and other holidays the good people of Ballarat come to hold high festival, to picnic.
and to thoroughly enjoy themselves. Every variety of deciduous tree ia found, and
numbers of the fir tribe of all descriptions, and from every part of the world, lh re
and there, too, remain, by way of contrast, an old gum-tree, or a she-oak, the latter in
its ragged greyness looking strangely out of place among the brighter-hued trees from
other lands. Right at the back of the gardens is an avenue of -olden wattles, which,
in the springtime, make the air heavy with their delicious perfume
As we look round on the pretty scene, it is hardly possible for us to conceive
that, thirty years ago these gardens were thick hush land, the haunt of the dingo and
the kangaroo, and that the bright little lake was a dismal swamp overgrown with reeds
and rushes, looked on askance by the blacks as the reputed home of the mysterious
"bunyip," and a place where the digger from the canvas township down by the creel*
might be sure of bagging a black swan or a wild duck for his evening's meal. The
wild duck and the black swan still visit Wendouree periodically, and are carefully
ptot,, led by the City Council, which makes every endeavour not only to preserve
the native birds and animals that already make the lake their home, but to add
fresh specimens to the list, and in every way to increase the attractiveness of the lake.
There is a story told that, one of the City fathers, who, having been to Europe, had
seen the wonders of the Old World, was desirous of introducing Venetian gondolas,
which he thought would pay well, and prove a great attraction. At a meeting of the
City Council, without describing a gondola, except by name, he proposed that they
should import at least a dozen. Then arose another Councillor. He also was in
favour of progress, and highly approved of the idea, being as anxious as anyone to
add to the attractions of the lake; but. like John Gilpin's wife, be had a frugal mind,'
and thought a dozen far too many to import at once the climate might not agree with
them let the City Council import a couple to begin with, and then they might breed!
This novel description of breeding has not yet been attempted at Ballarat, and the lake
has no gondolas.
Beyond the Corner, Stun Street si. .pes steeply down, and at the bottom of the
hill Ballarat West comes to an end and Ballarat East begins. The change from the
new to the old town is most striking. Bridge Street, the principal stret I of Ballarat
Mast, is a continuation of Sturt Street, but is onlj a third of its width, and is consequently
far too narrow to admit of any ornamentation in the shape of trees or gardens, such as
adorn it- younger rivaL It consists almost solely of shops, where ■< great deal of business
is done. On Saturday night market-day so dense is the crowd from end to end, that
vehicles arc not permitted to pass down the street. Near the middle it is cut in hall'
256
CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA.
[Uallauat.
I\ the Yarroweo Creek, once a limpid mountain stream, known as the river Leigh, rushing
down from the hills amidst rocks and terns, creepers and mosses, but now a huge gut-
ter, well hoarded over, ">^!\s ; ] v rr> * nto ^ vn ''' u ''"' drainage of city and
town is emptied
fact, the
I ? '"" Bridge Street lies very Low — is,
' lowest part of Ballarat, and in the
v k - THE LAL-LAL FALLS.
• J>v v J \ olden days was visited periodically by floods, which swept out the
shops, and drove the inhabitants into their upper storeys. At first,
beyond an abundant use of profane language, not by the way an un-
common thing on a gold-field even without a flood, nothing seems to
have been done, but of late years the Water Commission has built a large
lam across a gully about four miles from Ballarat, and so created at the
Gong-Gong a pretty reservoir for the storage of water and relieved the people of
Ballarat of their annual flood. Ballarat East being the site of the old mining camp,
Ballarat.)
THE CHINESE CAMP.
257
the streets do not preserve the same regularity as in the city, for having followed the
lines of the diggers' tents, they twist and turn, and bisect one another without respect bo
order or convenience. Bridge Street branches off into two streets, Victoria Street — or
the Melbourne Road, as it is generally called — and the Main Road. Going up the latter,
which is a copy of Bridge Street, only dingier, we come to the Chinese quarter. There
are about two thousand Chinamen " on " Ballarat — let the reader notice the use of the
preposition; on a gold-field, therefore on Ballarat — and they are, of course, common
enough in all parts of the town, for the yellow-faced, blue-bloused vegetable hawker,
with his neatly-coiled pigtail and his eternal smile, is an everyday visitant in most
households, where he is hailed with delight by the children, and trusted implicitly by
the house-mistress, who vaunts the superiority of her John over everybody else's John.
Here, down in Ballarat East, is John's abiding-
place. The Chinese 'camp itself is simply a
collection of tumble-down bark huts, built with-
out the slightest attempt at regularity, and
sadly in need of repair.
From the ridge-poles of most of the huts
are to be seen long strips of meat and fish
drying in the sun, while the family utensils,
scanty in the extreme, are ranged outside the
doors. There are plenty of children playing
about, for though there are no Chinese women,
a certain class of Europeans seem to have no
objection to John Chinaman as a spouse, and
the little half-caste children are, as a ride,
very good looking The Chinese are not con-
fined to the camp, but all along the Main Road
their shops are to be seen full of china, common English ornaments, and unsavoury-
looking eatables; outside swings the sign, a long coloured board, on which, in quaint
Chinese characters, are painted the owner's name and occupation. John Chinaman makes,
but lie does not mend. Many of these shops have their shutters up, and the whole
place has a generally tumble-down, uncared-for appearance. You may, and often do, see
spruce, (dean, neat Chinamen, but their houses arc invariably out oi repair, and sadly
in need of the coat of paint which they aiv never likely to get.
In former days there was at Ballarat a .loss-house, and the Joss was sumptu-
ously lodged among gold and scarlet banners, and much tinsel-coloured paper, and
sweet -scented sauila I- woods, bur the whole, being very combustible, cue day caught
lire and was burned to the ground, the -loss himself being consumed in the flames.
Since then the new .loss has been much more humbly lodged, the Chinese being of
opinion that as he could not take care of bis finery, it was hardly worth while supplying
him with more of it.
A (piaint Chinese custom, called Hunting the Devil," is thus described in one of the
local papers: 'The Chinese residing in the district had a high time of it at midnight
17
THE POST OFFICE.
258 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Baluu
on Sunday, the occasion being the annual ceremony known as 'hunting the devil.' A
huge fire was lit in the yard of the Joss-house at Golden Point, and two «>r three cooks
were in an adjoining shed engaged in fashioning the many mysterious dishes of which
the Orientals are so fond, one, it is said, being a pie of roasted tom-cat, which is believed
to confer on those partaking of it many virtues, The priest chanted some Chinese poetrj
in a weird sort of way, and several others accompanied him on the tom-tom and other
musical (?) instruments. The scene was such an extraordinary one as might well have
been calculated to frighten his Satanic Majesty away did he happen to be in the
neighbourhood. The festivities were taken part in by about one hundred Celestials,
who frequently adjourned to the Joss-house and bowed to Joss; then adjourning to a
couple of adjoining rooms for a smoke of opium. After all was over, about £30 worth
of poultry, pastry, &c, subscribed for by the richer Chinese, was distributed amongst
their poorer countrymen, who came from far and near to receive the luxuries.'
In Ballarat East are many worked-out diggings, notably along the Buninyong Road,
In the old days, so rich were these diggings that they were known as the Jewellers' Shops,
and it is related, as a proof of their wealth, that two men working for six weeks in one
of these claims made, os imi it.
behind the houses the red turned-up earth and the deserted workings still bear wifa
to the industry of the early miners. Here among the worked-out and abandoned claims,
about half a mile behind the Orphan Asylum, is situated the Eureka Stockade reserve
— a reserve set apart by the Town Council as a memorial of the historic fight between
the diggers and the authorities on the morning of Sunday, old of December, 1 s.~> 1. Uncared
for, and enclosed only by a white picket-fence, sadly in need of a coat of paint, there
is Qothing to mark the reserve from the surrounding diggings, but close to the street —
Eureka Street — which in the old days was the track followed by the bullock-drays t'r
Melbourne, stands a blue stone monument, whose only beauty consists in its severe
simplicity and solid strength. Seemingly the Town Council have already more than
half repented the building of that monument, for it is unfinished and neglected, and
the guns which are to stand at the four corners have never even been placed on their
carriages, but lie rusting and half buried in the grass-grown earth. There is no beauty
about the place; the native trees have lone' since disappeared, no kindly hand has planted
others, and even the grass finds but scanty nourishment among the stones and rubble
thrown up by the miners. No one lives there, i'vw people go there, and only the old
residents remember the early days when gold first 'broke out" at Ballarat A stranger
may show a passing interest in the place, and I hen for his benefit is told once again the
half-forgotten story of the Eureka Stockade.
Lou-- before the fight at Ballarat there had been murmurings and discontent on
the gold-fields. The license fee was bigh at first, 30s. a month, then double that, and
afterwards 30s. again, besides which the digger was required to produce his fici use
v :. : lever it was demanded b\ the < lommissioner, or by any of i he troopers. Thirty shillings
a month was an exorbitant sum; many a man could not make so much at such uncertain
and untrustworthy work as gold-digging, and have enough for his necessarj expenses,
though doubtless many could have paid it easily. Then arose the difficulty of collecting
this unpopular poll-tax. .Men would not pay willingly, and the troopers therefore had
\<< collect it by force. It is laid to their charge that they Used more violei than uas
absolutely necessary. Certain it is thai the difficulty of collecting the License fees became
greater ami greater as time went on. Armed troopers, in small parties, swooped down
■ hi the diggers at unexpected times, and a cry of " Traps ! traps ! " was sufficient t" send
everj man flying tor refuge to his claim, with intenl to there remain hidden b\ friendly
mother earth till the coast uas clear. Matters were in this strained state ii"t oiil\ at
Ballarat, but on everj gold-field throughout the colony, when a new police magistral
204 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Tire Burbka
Ballarat, or rather, as it was then called, the "district ( .f Buninyong." was appointed.
He was a tall, ffood-lookin^ man. with the manners and address of a gentleman, but
was utterly unscrupulous, and in fact was. as the diggers declared, a "thorough
had Int."
On Specimen Hill, a little ascent ever against Bakery Hill, was a small hotel, or rather
shanty, hall' wood and half calico, kept by a man named Bentley. This place was in no
good repute, but offering as it did the attractions of bowling-alley, skittles, billiards, and
unlimited liquor so long as there was money to pay for it, it was much patronised by
the dingers, and was open, as a rule, and generally crowded, both day and night. Much,
of course, of the diggers' hard-won gains found its way into Bentley's pocket, but beyond
bestowing a few hearty curses on the money-grubbing publican, they would not have
grumbled at that. Bentley, however, was generally believed — and the popular impression
has never been contradicted — to be the creature of the gentlemanly Police .Magistrate,
who received most of his profits, or at the very least shared them. To this shanty,
then dignified by the name of the Eureka Hotel, there came one night a young man
named Scobie, who to his surprise found it shut up. As this was contrary to custom,
he beat at the doors, shouted, and created such a disturbance as finally had the effect
of bringing out not only the landlord, but two or three other men. A scuffle ensued,
Scobie was assaulted, and died soon afterwards of his wounds. Then Bentley and
the others who had taken part in the disturbance were brought before the police
magistrate and the two resident Commissioners, and, in spite of the remonstrance of
the junior Commissioner, and to the astonishment and disgust of the diggers, were ac-
quitted
So high ran the popular indignation at this miscarriage of justice, that on the
12th October, 1854, a public meeting was called to consider the best method of
bringing the culprits to justice. The meeting was held just outside the Eureka Hotel,
and on the very spot where Scobie had met his death. A large crowd collected,
and the camp officials, not unnaturally fearing some act of violence, sent a guard of
police to protect the hotel, with its obnoxious landlord. Several men rose up and
addressed the diggers. At first it seemed as if things might pass off quietly, but
the speeches grew more and more inflammatory, the crowd increased rapidly, and at
last Bentley, who evidently considered discretion was the better part of valour, was
seen to leave the back of the building, mount his horse, and set off at full gallop
for the police camp, with the intention both of saving his life, which he evidently
considered in danger, and of sending more help to the police stationed at his hotel.
His flying figure and terror-stricken face as he raced down the gully which separated
Specimen Hill and Bakery Hill from the camp on the opposite plateau attracted the
attention of those diggers who had not attended the meeting, and leaving their holes
and their tents, they joined the crowd in front of the Eureka Hotel, which must by
that time have numbered nearly ten thousand men. For a moment the issue seemed
doubtful. But the slightest thing sways a crowd. A boy, thoughtlessly, more in sport
than in earnest, took up a stone, and flung it at the glass lain]) which hung in front of
the hotel, smashing it to atoms. The fate of the Eureka Hotel was decided. As the
STOCKAUt:.]
WRECKING THE HOTEL.
265
glass fell jingling down on the stones beneath, from a hundred throats burst the cry,
"Down with the place! down with it! Burn the whole place!" And the excited mob
rushed on the house. It was carried in a moment : such a multitude was irresistible.
The police gave way at once, and the place swarmed with men whose blood was
up, and who in their indignation wrecked the house in less than five minutes. Then
one man, to finish the work, gathered an armful of paper and other combustibles, and
set light to them in the windward corner of the bowling-alley. In one moment
the place, built as it was of canvas and wood, dry as tinder now with the suns of early
summer, was one mass of flames, and in less than a quarter of an hour not a vestige
■?/*
V* WAT'-". lOV, L *— *
THE EUREKA STOCKADE MONUMENT (FROM THE DESIGNS).
remained. Then the diggers, hearing the tramp of the soldiers and police coming to
the rescue quietly dispersed, fully satisfied with the vengeance they had taken.
But the Government could hardlj let this flagrant act of disorder pass unnoticed.
It was impossible to punish eight thousand men, yel the difficulty was to find the
ringleaders. It was no easy task to pick them out from amen-' so many, and yet some
there must have been who were more to Manic than the rest
Finally, three n w.-iv pitched up.>n. It was urged by the rioters that tins was an
unfair choice, for though one of them had ■been present at Bentley's I! I far
from assisting, he had used his best endeavours to dissuade the people from taking the
law into their own hands; and that, as for the other two, they had uever been there
at all. What was the truth upon this subject it is impossible to say after this space
of time, but the magistrates disagreed with popular "pinion, and the three men were
committed for trial Bail was 3peedily found, and a large crowd, awaiting the prisoners
266 CASSBLL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA IThb Bdbeka
opposite tlic police camp, escorted them back to the township in the gully with main
shouts of defiance, and much firing of pistols into the air.
Meanwhile the authorities in Melbourne, serin.,'- thai something was seriously wrong
"ii the Ballarat gold-fields, sent a special Board of Commissioners w> inquire into the
affray by which Scobie lost his life, the result being that the police magistrate was
dismissed, whilst Bentley and his associates were sentenced to three years mi the roads.
The diggers, however, were nol satisfied with this tardy justice. Thej wanted manhood
suffrage; they wanted short Parliaments; and, above all, they wanted the abolition of
the license fee, and the liberation or acquittal of the three prisoners. These three men
were -wisely, perhaps, considering the state of popular feeling — brought to trial in
Melbourne, and as the jury recommended them to mercy, were sentenced to terms of
imprisonment varying from three to six months.
At this, indignation in Ballarat knew no bounds. A Reform League had been formed
to air the grievances of the diggers, of which League the Secretary, Mr. Eumffray, was
a man of moderate views, sincerely desirous of attaining reasonable ends by moderate
means. But there were wilder spirits than bis in the League, disaffected irishmen and
foreigners — Italians, Frenchmen, and Germans— who would stick at nothing, and by
them the Secretary was regarded with dislike and suspicion. As soon as the conviction
of the prisoners was known in Ballarat, Humffray went to Melbourne and procured an
interview with Governor Hotham, who intimated that if a proper memorial were sent
to tin' Government the prisoners might be released. But the turbulent spirits in the
League, distrusting Eumffray, sent delegates of their own, and on the 25th of November
two men, an Irishman and an Englishman, arrived in Melbourne to demand the release
of the prisoners. Such a demand was, of course, refused by Governor Hotham and
his Ministers. Anxiously the diggers at Ballarat awaited the return of their delegates,
and a monster meeting was called for the 29th of November, on Bakery Hill, so that
the members of the League, and all others interested, might hear their reports.
Bakery Hill on the 29th presented a scene of the wildest excitement. The sky
was cloudless, and the sun shone warm and brilliant. To the east was Warrenheip, its
virgin forest still untouched, while to the west, on the opposite plateau, could be seen
the white tents of the Government camp peeping between the trees. All the trees were
gone by this time from Bakery Hill. Here and there might be seen a stump burnt
and blackened, but the surface of the hill itself was covered with upturned earth
thrown out from the claims, while here and there was a digger's tent, with his simple
hius, hold possessions ranged outside. Down in the gully beneath were the soldiers and
police, drawn up in order, ready, in ease of any outbreak, to at once quell it. On top
of the hill a platform bad been erected, and over this, for the first time, floated the
insurgent flag, the stars of the Southern Cross on a blue ground. On this platform the
chief members of the League took their stand with the delegates, who were to deliver
their reports, and around it surged a crowd of over twelve thousand people, men from
every nation under the sun. whom lust of gold had brought to this out-of-the-way
corner of the earth. Fair-haired Swedes and dark-eyed Italians, ricrv Frenchmen and
phlegmatic Germans, canny Scotchmen and reckless Irishmen, miners from the tin mines
Stockade.] RAISING THE STANDARD. 267
of Cornwall, and pickpockets from the slums of London, together with "old hands" from
Van Diemen's Land and New South Wales. The majority were young, or men in the
prime of life, and almost all were diggers, clad alike in the ordinary garb of a digger, the
flannel shirt, trousers tucked into their long hoots, and slouch hat, while all, or almost
all, carried arms — revolvers and long knives. The meeting was a turbulent one ; the
diggers were wild with a sense of injustice and injury, and the speeches from the platform
were not calculated to calm them. Peter Lalor addressed the meeting, and so did the
returned delegates from Melbourne. Speeches were also made by Frederic Vem. a
Hanoverian by birth, and a little red-haired Italian named Carboni Raffaello, to whose
being conspiracy was essential, and whom, on account of his gift of tongues, Peter
Lalor, the undoubted leader, made his aide-de-camp, as he (Lalor) knew no language
but his own, whilst many of his followers were foreigners in like predicament. Humffray,
who was a Welshman, brought down the wrath of the meeting on his head by still
counselling moral force, and was stigmatised as a trimmer. One man in the crowd,
having raised his voice in favour of constitutional action, was hardly saved from the
infuriated diggers by the influence of the chairman and his associates. Several resolu-
tions were proposed, and carried unanimously. Another meeting was called for Sunday,
the 3rd of December, to choose a committee for the Reform League, and before dispersing
the crowd made bonfires of their licenses, and all the arms and ammunition were
distributed that the rebels could lay their hands on. Such was the declaration of war,
and it was much to the surprise of the troops in the gully that the meeting of the
^!Jth of November passed oft' without any open violence
Acting under the orders of Governor Hotham, wdio, stout old sailor as he was,
thought he could manage these turbulent diggers as in the old days he had done his
ship's crew, the authorities on the 30th made another effort to collect the license fees.
The whole force, both soldiers and police, turned out, and the diggers fled before them.
Once or twice they made a slight attempt at resistance, and shot-, were tired, and stones
thrown at the advancing troops. Some few prisoners were made, and then the force
returned to camp. But now the most desperate among the diggers, with Lalor as their
leader, and Vera ami Raffaello as his coadjutors, hoisted the insurgent flag once more
on Bakery Hill, and, kneeling around it, swore, with right hands uplifted, mutual defence.
When the rebels were about a thousand strong tiny marched in procession, bearing the
flag before them, to the site of the present Eureka monument, close to the old Melbourne
I and established themselves in an entrenched camp, or rather stockade. It is a
fact to be in , ted that although twelve thousand people bad been present at the meeting
the day before, had applauded the most seditious speeches, ami had openly burned
their licenses, yet now- that war was actually declared, ami Lalor ami his friends were
in arms against the Government, the number of their followers had dwindled to a
thousand, while later on, on Sunday morning, when the soldiers attacked the Stockade,
their strength from one cause and another had actualh decreased to about three
hundred. All work on liallarat ceased, and the people were in a state of the wildest,
excitement, all waiting, as it seemed, the issue of this daring rebellion.
Though many Would not join the insurgents, still the majority sympathised with
268 OASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. ITbe Eubbka Stockade.
tin i i i to ii certain extent, and nunc were found willing to help the soldiers or the police.
It seems incredible thai any man in his senses could for one moment have seriously
contemplated the overthrow of a Government, and the establishment of a republic, with
a handful of men, not, a thousand strong, the half of whom were armed with picks ami
shovels, and pikes made of pieees of steel tixed mi to long poles. That Lalor and his
associates did contemplate this is evident, and Lalor's "minister of war" drew up a
Declaration of Independence, in which this is distinctly stated. The insurgent camp,
the Kitreka Stockade, as it was called, was situated on the top of Bakery Hill, and
was surrounded by a rude fence of slabs, strengthened wherever they thought necessary
by overturned carts, boxes, barrels, and anything, in fact, they could lay their hands
on. The rebels were no engineers, and the ground enclosed was over an acre in extent
— far too large for their purpose.
Drilling went on with vigour, and small armed parties were sent out to forage, for
the rebels were not only short of arms, ammunition, and supplies, but of money as well.
This difficulty was surmounted by giving the storekeepers written receipts, certifying
that the goods had been received, payment to be expected when the new republic was
firmly established. These pioneers — the would-be founders of another nation — were not
clever, apparently, with the pen. Here is one of the precious receipts which have come
down to us: — "Received from the Ballarat store 1 Pistol for the Cointee X. Hugh
M'Carty. Hurras for the people." Another. — "The Reform Lege Comete — 4 drinks,
fouer chillings, 4 pie for fower of the neight watch patriots. — X. P." Whether the
proprietor of the Ballarat store ever realised on that transaction is extremely doubtful,
but at the rate charged, his losses on the " neight watch patriots' " supper must soon
have been made up.
Meanwhile, at the Government camp, Captain Thomas, the commanding officer, had
not been unmindful of the treasonable proceedings that were going on around. There
were two companies of the 12th and 40th Regiments stationed at Ballarat, together with
nearly a hundred policemen. Reinforcements were hourly expected from Melbourne
under the command of the Major-General, Sir Robert Nickle; and Captain Thomas, while
waiting, put his camp into a state of defence. The women and children were placed in
a building supposed to be shot-proof, and the men were kept under arms night and
day. These precautions were very necessary, as the Government officials had no means
of arriving at any clear idea of the exact number of the rebels. That they, if only
unanimous, must far outnumber the soldiers and police seemed certain. The suspense
grew very wearing, and the men waited impatiently the moment when they should either
attack or be attacked. On Saturday, the 2nd of December, although the troops from
Melbourne had not yet arrived, Captain Thomas decided to wait no longer, but to endeavour
to crush the insurrection at one blow. To do this he knew he must carry the Stockade
by storm. He dared not attack in the daytime, because he had no force to leave behind
to protect his own camp, but a night surprise, and especially a Saturday night surprise,
would, he felt sure, be effective. On Saturday night, as he knew, many of the diggers
would be away, some at their own homes, and more in the drinking and gambling
saloons, of which there were enough and to spare in the little township down in the
DISTANT VIEW OP BAIXAKAT, FROM MOUNT w \i:i:i \ III IP
270 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [The Eureka
gully between the two ramps. And of those who remained in the Stockade, many, he
knew, would not be so modesl in their libations as the "fower neight watch patriots"
who shared "4 drenks" among them. There was little sleep in the Government camp
that night, and long before the first faint streaks of the earlj summer dawn appeared
in the sky Captain Thomas bad his little army — in all nearly three hundred police
and soldiers fairly on the march.
The Eureka was not above two miles away, bul to reach it the little force were
obliged to steal down the gully, and through the sleeping town. Silently they marched,
one hundred and seventy-six foot and one hundred mounted men, through the spectral
white tents, past the claims, deserted now. and up the steep incline of the opposite
hillside. So well was the project, carried out, that they had encircled the Stockade
on all save the southern side before the rebels discovered their proximity. As soon
as the alarm was given in the Stockade, a volley was tired in the direction of the
advancing troops. It cheeked them not a moment, and they came on little the worse
for it. "For," says one of his historians. "Captain Thomas knew that undisciplined
men firing upon a body of men advancing up a steep incline were sure to tire over
their heads." The event proved the correctness of his theory, and, with a shout and
a cheer, the Government men reached the Stockade, and in spite of the stoul re-
sistance of a body of pikemen, and the sharp but desultory fire of the other rebels,
carried it, The foot police entered first, and were met by a body of pikemen who
stood their ground sturdily, but the soldiers ably supported their allies, and the fight
was continued hand to hand within the palings. For a few minutes the insurgents
held their own bravely, then their ammunition began to fail, and they tell back before
the steady advance of Captain Thomas's men. The flagstaff in the centre was soon
reached, and the soldiers tore down the Southern Cross and trampled it under loot.
Then it was each man for himself: the rebels turned and fled, dashing down the
hillside, taking refuge in the holes, fleeing away to the ranges, tor the Republic of
Victoria was utterly crushed at its very birth, and its supporters were in no wise anxious
to answer for its deeds. In less than tive-and-twenty minutes, before the rising sun had
dispersed the shadows and mists of the early morning, Captain Thomas found himself
master of the Stockade on the top of Bakery Hill.
This result had not been gained without bloodshed < laptain Wise, the second in
command, lay mortally wounded. Lieutenant Paul] was also hurt. Four of the soldiers
were dead, and about a dozen more wounded, while no less than fifteen of the rebels lay
dead, and as many more were wounded, many of whom afterwards died. About a
dozen of the rebels, seeing no chance of escape, surrendered — among them Raffaello,
Laior's aide-de-camp — and were marched by their captors down the gully to the Govern-
ment camp, and then put in the lock-up, the soldiers sparing neither jeers nor taunts
by the way. All the tents and the barricades, everything, in fact, that would burn, was
tired by the attacking party, and soon the site of the Eureka Stockade, the stronghold
of the Republic of Victoria, was covered with smoking ruins. The soldiers, having
taken away their dead and wounded, left the camp, which was immediately "rushed"
by the friends and relatives of the diggers. An eye-witness thus describes what followed : —
Stockade.] COWED. 271
"The scene was awful — twos and threes gathered together, and all felt stupefied.
[ went with R to the barricade. The tents all around were in a blaze. 1 was about
to go inside, when the cry was raised that the troopers were coming again. They did
come, with carts to take away the bodies. I counted fifteen dead. <>w G , a fine,
well-educated man, and a great favourite. I counted fifteen others, but the spectacle
was sn ghastly that I feel loathing at the remembrance. They all lay in a small space
with their faces upwards, looking like lead. Several of them were still heaving, and at
every rise of their breasts the blood snouted out of their wounds, or just bubbled out
and trickled away. One man, a stout-chested, fine fellow, apparently about forty years
old, lay with a. pike beside him. ... I counted fifteen wounds in that single carcase.
Some were bringing handkerchiefs, others bed-furniture and matting, to cover up the
laces of the dead. Oh, God! sir, it was a sight for a Sabbath morn that I humbly
implore heaven may never he seen again. Poor women, crying for absent husbands, and
children frightened into quietness. ... A little terrier sat on the breast of the man
I spoke of, and kept up a continuous howl. It was removed, but always returned to
the same spot, and when his master's body was huddled, with the other corpses, into the
cart, tin' little dog jumped in after him, and lying on his dead master's breast, began
howling again."
The leaders of the rebellion escaped, and the authorities, though they had a greal
many prisoners, found they were ignorant men, for the most part of no account, who
had been led away, and were more .sinned against than sinning. Peter Lalor, the leader,
had been shot down early in the tight, and, as he lay on the ground, some friendly hand
covered him from sight with slabs. After the fight was over he was taken away to the
ranges, and afterwards smuggled into Ballarat. to the house of a certain Father Smythe,
a Roman Catholic priest, who had more than sympathised with the rioters. Here Lalor's
arm was amputated, and though a reward of £200 was on his head, and the secret of
his hiding-place was known to many people, lie was never caught. For Veni's appre-
hension a. reward of £500 was offered, the authorities erroneously supposing him to be
the leader of the riot, and £200 was also offered tor that of another of the leaders.
Great black and white placards containing full descriptions of the three men were
printed, and fastened on trees in and aboul Ballarat, hut, although the whereabouts of
ili.' men was widely known, none betrayed them.
Ballarat was like a greal swarm of bees which lias been rudelj disturbed, and
Captain Thomas kept his little force close within the precincts of the camp, anxiously
awaiting the arrival of sir Roberl Nickle, the Major-General, who was hourly expected
lint the diggers were utterly crushed. Those who were coming from Creswick to join
the rebels returned quietly to their work, and the men at Ballarat, though they buried
their dead with all the pomp and ceremony they could command, gave up all idea of
openly opposing tin' < tovernment
All Sunday and Monday the men in the cam]) remained under arms, and on the
.Monday some sho; s were exchanged between them and the diggers. So strained were
their relations, that probabbj it was a relief to both sides uhen early on the morning
of the 5th the advance guards of sir Robert Nickle's force were -ecu defiling from the
272
CASSELI/S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA.
ITllt El'KEKA
ranges, and long before nightfall eight hundred men, with four field-pieces, and a large
butly of blue-jackets from 1 1. .M.S. Ehrtra, were in camp. Next, day martial law was
proclaimed, and in obedience to a general order many of the inhabitants brought in arms
and ammunition, but it was very evident that Captain Thomas had utterly crushed the
insurrection, and in less than a month, all further apprehension of an outbreak having
ceased, the Major-General, with the guns
and the sailors, marched back to Mel-
bourne, leaving about eight hundred men
as a guard at Ballarat
Not till the 1st April, L855, were the
State prisoners brought to trial on a
charge of high treason, and acquitted,
amidst the cheers of the people. After
this the rewards for the capture of Lalor
and the other leaders were withdrawn,
and the three were once more free men.
And so ended the Ballarat riot — a foolish,
wanton waste of life, by which nothing
was gained, for the amendment of the
mining laws and abolition of the license
fee would most certainly have been
attained quite as easily without blood-
shed. That the diggers were wronged
bitterly wronged — there is no doubt, and
a number of disaffected Irishmen and
foreigners, the sweepings of Germany,
Frame, and Italy, to whom all rule was
obnoxious, seized the opportunity to stir
them up to strife. Governor Hotham
was not far out when he stigmatised the
leaders of the rioters "as designing men
who had ulterior views, and who hoped
to profit by anarchy and confusion," and
as "men who wen' not suffered to remain
in their own countries in consequence of the violence of their characters, and the deeds
they had done."
It is an old story hi Ballarat now. The t »wn has extended its arms right round
the lonely bush cemetery, where soldiers and insurgents alike sleep) their last, long sleep,
and when.' monuments, of which we give illustrations, have been raised to their memory.
The gully, where nestled the tents of the diggers, the steep hillside up which the soldiers
charged, and the plateau on which was the Government camp, are now thick with houses.
A peaceful and prosperous city has taken the place of the old turbulent gold-fields
township, and the Eureka Stockade is all but forgotten.
, ;
= '
.- >
I
MONUMENT TO DIGGERS WHO WEltE KILLED IN
THE RISING.
Stockade.]
A STRANGE CHANGE..
■r,-.\
"The whirligig of time brings in his revenges," and Mr. Peter Lalor is now the
Speaker "I the Victorian Lower House. Curiously enough, the leader of the Eureka
rioters is in these days the strictest advocate of law and order, and is acknowledged by
all to be the best Speaker who lias ever presided over the deliberations of the Legis-
lative Assembly.
MOXU.MI.NT TO Sill.MKUS \\ 1 1 ■ > 1'EI.L AT Till: STOCK ADI'.
18
l'74
THE DAILY LIFE OF THE BUSH.
Stations and Stations— Sheep or Cattle General View ol a ition—" Running [n" Bush Hospitality —
An Ank'iit Dancer — Loafers --.Mustering:" — Stock Whips — Catholicism — " Sprees " — A Thriving Drunkard
"YOU Sit."
"T~\I|) you not find it terribly 'lull in the bush?" is a query thai very frequently
-*—^ greets the country visitor on his arrival in town. Like must other questions,
this admits of more than one answer. As Addison's shrewd old knight observed, there is
much to he said cm both sides. Much, of course, depends upon the tastes and mental
resources of the individual ; much on the society, surroundings, and thousand and one
ether circumstances which go to make anj place pleasant, or the reverse, residentially.
Speaking broadly, however, and supposing the individual to be a person of average
mental and bodily activity, a life in the wild bush, or in "the hack blocks," as
it is called, is not by any means so dull as might at first be supposed, even to
one who has been bred and educated in a town. By a "bush life" is meant chiefly
life on a sheep or cattle-station, or on a reunite seleetiun ; the life of the Australian
hush township is in many respects different, and to most people far less agreeable,
hut of this a more detailed account will be given later on.
The term "station" or "run" is a pretty comprehensive one, and may include
nearly anything, from the large country house and estate in the neighbourhood of Mel-
bourne or Sydney, almost English in its comfort and even luxury, to the "slab"
or "wattle and dab" hut far away in the hack country, where the pioneer squatter
who has just taken up fresh land, with perhaps two or three white assistants
and a few blacks, leads a life of unceasing toil and watchfulness, and carefully
tends his few sheep in the wilderness. Then, again, it may be either a sheep
or a cattle station, or a combination of the two, and the life on each of these
differs considerably from that mi the others. As a rule, the country when first
occupied is used to run cattle, and as things are gradually got into order sheep are
either wholly or in part substituted, being at first shepherded, and afterwards allowed
to roam at large in enclosed paddocks, from a few acres to many square miles in
extent. Accordingly a greater degree of comfort is usually found on a sheep than
on a cattle station.
The homestead, or "station" par excellence, is generally a wooden building, large
and straggling, and, in parts where the heat is extreme, supported on piles driven into
the ground. It is usually built in the shape of a hollow square, with the fourth
side open, or closed only with a low fence. It, is almost invariably surrounded, on
two or three sides at least, with a broad veranda, beneath which the greater part
of the "indoor" life is spent, especially during the summer months. Besides this,
there are generally numerous detached buildings, the kitchen, bachelors' quarters, billiard,
play, or lumber-rooms, stahles, a store, offices, men's hut, and a wool-shed, at distances
from the main building varying from a few yards to a mile or more. All these are
almost invariably of a single storey. A two-storeyed house in the hush is a veritable
rant avix, and is evidence of a high stage of civilisation.
Daily Lin a Bi ».| A SQUATTER'S HOUSE. 275
At a little distance is the stockyard, where the horses or cattle are "run in," and also
the slaughter-yards, fowl-houses, and piggeries, with the miscellaneous sheds inseparable
from a country bouse in all parts of the world. Although there are almost always stables
of some sort, the reader must uol imagine that the borses on a station are usually kept
in them, as they are in England. Commonly, our or two are kepi either in the stable
or in a small paddock, where they can be easily caught in case of em . and for
the purpose of "running in" the rest. This "running in" is effected in the following
way: A man mounts the stabled horse and rides after the others, which are scattered
over the horse-paddock, feeding. The horse-paddock is often lour or five square
miles in extent, and is frequently intersected with gullies, clumps of ti-tree, and
other timber. As soon as the rider sees the horses that he wants, be 'jots in front
of them, rounds them up, and drives them before him towards the yards. Any
recalcitrant animal that endeavours to break away is soon brought to reason with
the terrible stockwhip. Arrived at the yard, in which a gap lias been left by taking
down slip panels, the horses rush in pell-mell. The panels arc then replaced, the
horses required arc caught and bridled, and then the rest are turned out again to
graze once mere. It is nol always an easy thing to catch your borse even in the
yards; but, though here and there an ill-conditioned brute will always remain trouble-
some, after a little practice you can catch most borses easily enough. Only it is well
to watch, lest, as you are making lor your own horse, some other animal's heels come
into unpleasant neighbourhood with your head.
The squatter's house, built where possible on the banks of a river, lagoon, or
creek, s'amls in a large garden well stocked with vegetable and fruit-trees, and
a lady's hand is often visiUe in the profusion of flowers. Frequently, too, vi
honeysuckle, and creepers are trained over verandas and walls: a lawn, more or less
level, suggests tennis; and there is a boat, or punt, upon the water in the distance.
There are generally at least two "living" rooms, besides the "office," where the
squatter makes up his account,, pays his men, writes his letters, and keeps his guns.
The rest oi tin' house is occupied by his wiie and family, governess, servants, and
visitors from town or from neighbouring stations, who are sure of a hearty welcome;
for the hospitality of the luish is proverbial. Indeed, it is often remarked that a
house there is never so full bul that it will hold half-a-dozen more When all the
beds in all the bedrooms are occupied, 'shake downs" arc made up en sofas, billiard-
tables, and camp bedsteads, on and under tables, and on the floor. When there is
no more room inside, the residue of the guests sleep on the veranda, whilst the late
arrival, who can find no vacant space to spread his blanket even there, will find a
comfortable "camping-ground" in the harness-room. A place is found for everyone,
even if everyone is not always in his place. As may he imagined, some ol these
places of rest are not quite so luxurious as the proverbial bed of down; but the
fatigue induced by exercise iii the pure, stioii- air of the hush makes the visitor ready
to sleep soundly even on the bare ground.
The elasticity of a hush house is prettj thoroughly tested on th icasion >>\ any
social gathering, such as a wedding, kangaroo battue, or ball. Indeed, the /est with
276
CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE A.USTRALASIA.
[Daili I
which Australian country people enter into amusements of all sorts, and the enormous
distances they will travel to attend them, arc notorious. There is a story extant oi
a young squatter who was anxious t<> attend a ball at a neighbouring station, but was
unable to get away from his work until nine o'clock on the morning of the dance.
The place was seventy miles away. But that, was a trifle Mounting bis best horse, with
the valise contain-
ing his dress-clothes
strapped in front oi
him, he started on
V/.V/Wcu-r
mi
his long ride.
Rain had fallen,
and the going
was heavy, but
by dark he had almost
reached his destination,
only to find that, in Antipo-
dean phrase, the river was
" down," a l>road sheet of
water lying between him
and the "haven where
he would be." Nothing
daunted, however, he first
unsaddled his horse, and,
hobbling him by the fore
feet in the usual manner,
turned him loose to craze.
He then disencumbered
himself of his boots and superfluous garments, and, having firmly strapped his valise
upon his head, entered the water, swam across, and presented himself at the house
en deahdbillA — like the character in The StraTiger, "not, indeed, dead, hut very
wet." It is added that, having danced all night, he re-swam the river in the morning,
and was hack in time to start shearing on the following day. Some people hint,
however, that in this exploit he was actuated by another fair and goodly reason,
over and above a passion for the waltz. It is pleasing to he able to add that
the young gentleman's dancing days are not by any means over, and that the
1. A HORSE ASD CATTLE STATION. ■_'. MILKING.
of thi: Bush.]
LOAFING.
277
fair loadstone who exercised such a magnetic attraction upon him became in due time
his wife.
Dancing, however, is by no means the only amusement, though a "hop" is almost
in variably the culminating point of riding-parties, kangaroo hunts, and other festivities,
for dwellers in the bush will organise a carpet-dance on the smallest provocation
and at ten minutes' notice.
But the reader must not imagine that station life is nothing but one round <>f
enjoyment. There is work — and hard work too — to be done, and even visitors rind
".
A STOCK} u;i>.
themselves, after a few days, joining in the daily routine of the station. In the bush
there is no sympathy for the "loafer." Indeed, the word there carries with it a
meaning far more odious than to the oars of a townsman. And yel 'bo breed does
unfortunately exisl even away in the " Never Never Country," the wilds of Queensland
The affable traveller is by no moans unknown who will ride up and. introducing him-
self in the blandesl of tones as Mr, De Courcy Montmorency (bis real name being
Muggins), ask for a - shako-down " for the night, Ids horse, as he explains, having
"knocked up." On the following day he makes no proposal to move from Ids com-
fortable quarters, and will hang on sometimes for months- sitting at the squatter's
table, drinking bis wine, smoking bis tobacco, and boring his friends, disregarding
the br lesl hints, until at last the master of the house, grown desperate, informs
him that bis liorso will bo ai the door at a certain hour the nexl morning. Even
278 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Daili
then it is ten to one if he does not, on some excuse, hang on a few days Ion
and if finally be bas not to be almosl pushed out of the door. It is men of this class
thai are the pests of society in the bush, abusing, us they do, that spirit of free and
open-handed hospitality which is one of its chief charms. The bushman's hospitality
transcends thai of the Arab. The writer lias known a squatter sit for several evenings
in his bedroom, smoking in gloomy solitude, rather than have to endure the odious
society of one of these loafers in his sitting-room; and yel he would nol tell the
man in plain words to go. " I can't turn the fellow out," he said ; " it seems so
inhospitable." The man had come withoul an invitation, and had already been Staying
five weeks without moving so much as a finger to make himself useful
In the morning, immediately after breakfast, the horses are nm in from the horse-
paddock into the' yard — lor no one in the hush will walk if he can help it ; he will
rather spend halt' a day trying to catch a horse in the paddock, under a broiling sun.
than walk a couple of miles. Once in the yard, each man catches his horse, ami.
having bridled and saddled him. sets out on his day's work, often remaining out from
daylight till eight or nine al night. Only the ladies, and perhaps a man or two who
have work aboul the plac \ remain at home. The rest, will, in an hour's time, he
scattered in all directions — some riding along fences, to see that they are sheep or
cattle-proof; some off to distant paddocks, to draft sheep, or to run in fresh
horses for the work of the station; some to clear out water-holes, or to distribute
the rock-salt for the stock. Occasionally, when "mustering" has to he done, yen
will see ten or a dozen mounted men start off at daybreak, and see them return at
nightfall with jaded horses, driving before them, with "a. running lire of stock-whips,"
a mob of perhaps five or six hundred cattle. These stock-whips, by-the-bye, are very
formidable weapons in the hands of a man who knows how to use them, though a
"new chum" is more likely than not to cut out his own eye if he attempts to crack
one. With about a foot and a half of handle, and a lash from ten to sixteen feel
long, they can be made to resound with a crack considerably louder than the report
of a pistol, so that the noise can he heard under some circumstances at a distance of
a mile or more, whilst on occasion the stockman can literally "cut. a piece" out of a
refractory beast. The reader can imagine the noise that is made when a dozen of
these whips are all being cracked at once. For it is the sound, and not the lash,
that is chiefly relied on, the cattle flying from the crack of the whip far more than
from its sting.
The social life of the hush, in all its freedom and simplicity, is well illustrated by the
character of its religious observances, which are eminently suited to the circumstances
of the case. Tin' bushman, as a rule, has the greatest respect for religion in the
abstract, and the very haziest notion of the dogmas peculiar to any particular creed,
though, as a rule, he professes adherence to one of the leading sects; for there is no
Established Church in any of the Australian colonies. He considers it a point of honour
to attend the service, or, as he calls it, the "preaching" of any clergyman who
comes round to the station where he happens to he working. The writer, when stay-
ing at a small station, was present at a service conducted by an itinerant minister "t
oi i> Bi -.i.i THE BUSH PARSON. 21 9
the Bible Christians. It was held in the dining-room. There were present the master
and mistress of the house, who were Presbyterians; the governess, an [rvingite; the
overseer, a member of the Church of England; two Roman Catholic women servants;
a Chinese gardener, and five men from the "hut," not one of whom was of the same
creed as the parson They all, hicluding the Chinaman, took part in the service with
the greatest decorum, and would have regarded it as a gross breach of bush etiquette
it' they had not done so. The effect was singular. After service the minister smoked
a pipe with the squatter, and they discussed whisky-and-water and the Land Act until
the small hours.
Even the bush, however, is not entirely free from religious bickerings and in-
tolerance, and tliis is more especially the case in the small towns, or, as tiny are
usually called, "bush townships." There the different denominations quarrel and cavil
to their hearts' content. There is more joy over one not particularly clean 'cross-breed"
entieed from the opposition told, than over ninety and nine snow-white merinos that
have n ver belonged to the heretical Hock. The quarrelling, however, does not usually
set in until the township has become thoroughly established ami fairly prosperous;
tor in the first days <>l settlement everybody has too much on his hands to find
time for it; and Presbyterian, Anglican, Wcsleyan, ;m ,| j ew w ;n : ,i] unite in further-
ance of the Fancy Fair to lmild the Catholic Church, which, a few years afterwards,
some of them would be almost ready to pull down. Nor is it only in religious
matters that these petty bickerings are aroused: municipal and social differences excite
the wildest animosity, and politics lend a helping hand, until in some places one half
of ih'' township is not on speaking terms with the other half. It is only fair to
add that a case oi' real distress will unite for the nonce all denominations, cliques,
and political parties in the cause of charity.
The hush parson, of whatever denomination, makes his head-quarters at some
country town, and from this centre makes pastoral excursions into the surrounding dis-
trict, visiting remote selections and splitters' camps away back, riding imi tense distances
and undergoing great hardships often for a mere pittance. Especially is this the case
in very sparsely-populated country, such as the districl of Queensland known as the
"Never Never Country "—presumably because a person who has oi been there in-
variably asseverates, with more or less solemnity, that he will -never, never," on any
consideration, go hack. The creed chiefly represented in the grazing districts is the
Presbyterian, a large percentage of tin- squatters being North Britons; hut other de-
Dominations also have their ministers. The standard of education among bush parsons
is not as a rule high — a fact that can hardly be wondered at. considering the small
opportunities afforded them for study; hut brilliant exceptions are occasionally met
with, and the writer has overtaken on a hush track a traveller in shirt-sleeves and
a Cabbage-tree hat. mounted upon the sorriest of weeds, who has proved to be a
cultivated scholar and polished gentleman, and whose conversation has beguiled many
a weary mile. Amusing stories are told of the adventures of "new chum" parsons,
and hoaxes and practical jokes upon them ate not unknown, but these are generally
considered unfair. For the most part tiny are treated with consideration and respect.
I'M I
CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA.
[Daiu Lin
The great vice of the bush is drinking. Not that as a rule bushmen drink when
at work, but it only too often happens that ;it periods varying from two months to a
year they obtain a cheque for the full amount of their earnings, ride into the nearest
township, hand their cheque to the publican, and remain in a state of intoxication
until that worthy declares that their money is exhausted and pushes them out into
the street, or, as an exceptional favour, allows them to sleep off the effects of the
poison upon the tap-room floor. This is called, in bush vernacular, " a spree." As
soon as his "spree" is over, the bushman will return to his work, and for the next
A TWO-STORETED HOUSE IX THE BUSH.
six months touch nothing stronger than tea. What makes these orgies the more
injurious is the poison supplied to the unfortunate men. Provided that it burns the
palate and intoxicates the brain, the bushman is not very particular as to the taste
of his drink, and no stuff is too vile to use for the laudable purpose of emptying his
packets. In the absence of other liquor he has been known to "spree" on "Pain-
killer." The intelligent reader may perhaps infer from these remarks that the bush
publican is not, as a rule, a model member of the commonwealth, and in this surmise
he would be tolerably correct. Yet the rule is not without its exception, and many
bush hotels are conducted as decently and honestly as need be. Push publicans
sometimes make large fortunes, turn squatters, and become eminently respectable
members of society: but more often they themselves succumb to the vice upon which
they have thriven, and die in poverty.
Hard drinking is by no means confined to the labouring men; most neighbourhoods
■ I THE D -ii 1
THE FORCE OF NATURE."
28]
can point to shocking examples in the way of drinking squatters and settlers.
These, having larger opportunities, drink more persistently and continually than the
si. i ion -hands." It is hardly n ssary to say that their affairs usually go from bad
A STOCKS I
to u irse, until they end ly losing stock, Station, and all. Sometimes, however, nature
is too bountiful for them, and thej thrive in spite of themselves. A story is told of
a Queensland Squatter which well illustrates this. Some years ago In' and Ins
brother, members of a good English family, had taken up a run a long distance
"back," /.- .. far in the interior. Their drays hail been down to Rockhampton with wool,
282 CASSELL'S I SQUE AUSTRALASIA. ">■ Busb.
and were returning with stores for the station, ALmongsl other things ordered was a
five-hundred-gallon tank, ami Mr. Bibulus, thinking it a pity thai this should come u]>
empty, gave orders that it, should be filled with rum. On its arrival, a general orgie
of all hands took place, until the liquor was exhausted A friend of the writer
chanced to call at the station the day after its arrival, and was greeted by the pro-
prietor— "Oh, come in, Mr. Blank — come in. Delighted to see you! I'm drunk, my
brother's drunk, the overseer's drunk, and all the men arc drunk: and still the station
pays!" Generally, however, the squatter, at all events when at home and at work,
is a most sober and temperate man. rising early, and generally eating the bread of
carefulness; for in spite of the boast of the hero of the above story, backed by the
popular idea of the enormous profits of squatting, it is only by tin- greatest energy,
care, and economy, that station properties nowadays can be got to pay, and even then
the risk from drought and other causes is considerable.
To the student of character, a residence in the Australian bush is by no means
uninteresting, the solitary life and want of society producing the most eccentric speci-
mens of the genus man. There may be met with, fossilised, as it were, and en-
crusted with a coating of bush habits and ideas, characters that almost seem to have
stepped from the pages of Fielding or Smollett, More especially is this seen in the
old pioneer colonists from the north of the Tweed, many of whom retain almost un-
impaired the ideas and prejudices of forty years ago: and you may occasionally hear,
in George Street, Sydney, or in Collins Street, Melbourne, language almost identical
with that which Scott puts into the mouth of the Bailie Nicol Jarvie. The news
papers literally teem with good stories anent these old "identities," and some, which
the reader would suspect were inventions, or at least gross exaggerations, are
literally true. For the most part, they illustrate precisely the same traits of character
as their subjects would have shown in their own "land of the leal," as an eminent
statesman called North Britain in one of his bursts of oratory. There is one
illustrative at once of the shrewd mother-wit of the average Scot, and of the personal
peculiarity of its subject, which is perhaps worth setting down. Mr. McPanel (may
he live a thousand years!) is in the habit of adding the words "you see" to every
remark he makes, a custom which is well known, and is the subject of no little
amusement in the neighbourhood of his station. One day his wood-shed was burned
to the ground, by an incendiary fire, as was supposed, lighted by a " swagsman,"
or tramp, who had been refused a supper. A few weeks alter Mr. Med', discovered,
carved upon a gum-tree, the following: — "Mr. McPanel, 3 T ou see, if you had assisted
the poor traveller, you see, you wouldn't have had your shed burnt, you see!" The
■111 gentleman carefully took out his pocket-knife, adjusted his spectacle's, and for some
time was observed to he very busy, when it, was ascertained that he had carved
underneath the following words : — " You're a (forcible but unparliamentary adjective)
fool, you see; the place was insured, you see; and we're going to build a better one
with the money, you see!" And he did.
2s;J
DUNEDIN.
New Zealand Towns— First Appearances— View of Dunedin from the Bay— The Surveyor <•. Xature— The
People— Two Banks— The Public Buildings— The Town Hall— The Athenaeum— The High Schools— The
University — The Churches — First Church — Knox Church — The Lunatic Asylum— The Hotels— Bumm.--
in Dunedin— The Harbour— The Town Belt— The Suburbs— "Ocean Beach" — The Refrigerating Company
— Dairy Farming — General Prosperity.
THE lout;-, narrow shape of the islands of Xc-w Zealand
naturally breaks up the colony into a series or chain of
districts, each link of which has its own outlet-port or focus.
Hence population is more evenly distributed than is usual in
colonies. Wellington, with some 30,000 inhabitants, is the
political capital, but Auckland is almost twice its size, with
Dunedin and Christchurch, in the order in which the names
appear, separating them. For a quarter of a century Dunedin
JOtX was the largest city, and though Auckland has recently over-
- .\ jJm i '4tifaL - hauled it in the number of inhabitants, it still retains many
claims to the premiership. So far as buildings go it is
advanced, and its commercial interests are still mere important
Its educational institutions are on a larger scale, and its
churches look more substantial than those of Auckland.
For the last five years things have been almost stationary in
Dunedin, and this gives it a more settled aspect than Auckland,
where the large buildings arc mostly of recent erection, and
seem scarcely to have shaken down into their places. Going further back, Dunedin,
which is Gaelic for Edinburgh, was founded by Scotch Presbyterians with malice afore-
thought, and derived -grand" ideas from the gold-fields which built up its prosperity,
whilst Auckland, like Topsy, has "growed" somehow, deriving scant advantage from
having been the scat of Government in early days. If one may be allowed yet other
odious comparisons, I would add that Auckland has been largely affected by Sydney, and
Dunedin by Melbourne, ideas, whilst semi-ecclesiastical Christchurch bears a distinct re-
semblance to Adelaide. K<>r Wellington we cannol find a parallel nearer than Washington.
Auckland and Dunedin are essentially commercial cities, though the churches ol
Dunedin hint at the origin of the settlement. Christchurch is rather the country
town where business plays second fiddle, and the squatter and tanner support the
cathedral, which forms the central point. Government Bouse, Parliament Buildings, and
the Government Offici s, give the key to the character of Wellington, though the
rapidly extending wharves also point to its growing importance as a distributing centre.
Even the Victorian, who is popularly supposed by other colonists to look upon
London as representing quantity without quality in comparison with Melbourne, always
recognises that Dunedin is a city, and a tine city The first appearance of the town
is much in its favour. Whether yon land at the wharf from the Australian steamer,
or have come by rail from Port Chalmers, where the ocean steamers stop, you
284
CASSELL'S PICTUKEsgriO AUSTRALASIA.
|H M I'!-..
at once face the heart of Otago, as tin.' district of which Dunedin is the capital
is called. A vacant space, soon to he made a thing of beauty, gives an open
\ieu to a row of fine warehouses forming the righl side of a triangle, with the
railway station for its base, and the wharf, or rather the street containing the
wharf, for it-- left side. At the apex is a fountain, erected to the memory of Captain
Cargill, the founder of the province, which marks the centre of the city. Flight and
left runs Princes Street. At the corners are two palatial hanks, and in front is the
Grand Hotel, the largest and most imposing in Australasia.
I'KINCKS STREET.
(From a Photograph by Burton Bros.)
And the sights that precede the business-like scene round the Cargill Fountain put
the visitor in a humour to he pleased. Unless he has made the journey overland
from Invercargill, in which case he traverses a fertile but not very interesting
district, he must come up the Otago harbour, the meanderings of which are pretty
enough to delight everybody except the Sydneian, for whom there is but one harbour,
and all those who live around it are its prophets. The view of Dunedin from the
bay is attractive. It is a long narrow town, winding along the base and slopes of a
range of bills, the lower portion of which is known as the " Flat," having been re-
claimed from the bay. A belt of grass and bush land, on which building is
prohibited, forms a dark background, which throws up the town as viewed from the
bay, and divides it from suburbs extending along the top of the hills. Behind these
Ill KEDXN. I
UP HILL AND DOWN.
285
rise higher hills, forming a branch of the Southern Alps, and separated from those on
which the town is laid out by a narrow valley which cannot be seen from the bay.
In front of the town, the bay stretches for about a mile across to the opposite penin-
sula, a high-lying plateau, which rises almost precipitously from the water, in the
distance one catches a glimpse of the open ocean across a narrow neck of low land.
A more picturesque situation it would be difficult to conceive; it is much more
picturesque, indeed, than convenient, for enormous have been the sums spent in levelling
a tract of ground sufficient to lay out
a main street at the toot of the hills,
in cutting out tracks up the hillside
and. as the town grew more populous,
in reclaiming land from the water to
provide room for expansion. One fea-
ture that strikes attention as you ap-
proach, is thai several of the streets
ascend the hills in a direct line, and
are crossed by terraces laid out hori-
zontally. It is said, with what truth
I am not prepared So vouch, that the
useless expense and inconvenience of
these steep streets arose from the town
having I n laid out on the rectangular
plan in Edinburgh before the pioneers
started, under the supposition that the
site would be level, or nearly so.
When no level site was obtainable,
it came to a choice between altering
the plan, or making out a new one
with the usual zigzag ascents of a
town built on the side of the hill.
But the surveyor was not prepared to
depart from his instructions on his own
responsibility, and thus nature was made to bend to the Edinburgh plan. In latter
davs these hills have proved admirably titted lor cable tramways, of which Dimedin
constructed the first in Australasia. Indeed, Dunedin is generally considered to be
as enterprising a place as could well be found. The first settlement was established
in 1848 under the auspices of members of the free Kirk of Scotland, who did not
welcome other creeds and nationalities, and took lite hardly, without making much
material progress. Bui iii 1861, the discover] oi gold-fields at Gabriel's Gull} now the
pretty township of Lawrence about seventy-two miles from the town, flooded the pro-
vince with an adventurous population principally hailing from the Victorian gold-fields
the yields from which Were then slackening. These •new iniquities," as they Were
called by the "old identities," soon made a little Melbourne of I'unedin, but without
KNOX CHI ttCH.
2Mi CASSELL'S PICTURESQl E AUSTRALASIA. [Donhmh.
altogether destroying its fundamentally serious character. The graft of the adventurous
Victorian upon the stout and canny Scotch stork lias been very successful. The moral
fibre of Otago will stand comparison with that of most i munities; and if. Dunedin
has led the way in commercial enterprise, its long-headed pioneers introduced a good
system of education at the first, and established a university directly the void flowed
in. which university still maintains its pride of place.
The traveller who comes from Australia, or lias been to other parts of New
Zealand, will notice that the Otago type of humanity is distinct What sailors rail
the "cut of the jib" bespeaks the origin of the settlement at once. Probably scarcely
half the present population are Scotch by birth or descent, yet you could not mistake
them for any other nationality, the Scotch having given the lead to the rest. The
superior stamp of the working classes is specially remarkable. A more intelligent-
looking population it would be hard to find. There is a general sharpness of feature
and angularity of bodj as compared with the average English croud; not, much
animation, hut an occupied air. Country visitors are tew. This is essentially a town,
and the passers-by townsmen. The buildings around, and the style of the shops, are
certainly superior to what would he found in an English town of the same size.
It is obvious, too, that the enormous, well-built warehouses supply a much larger
population than that of the province, although you will learn later that direct steam
communication with England has rendered it inexpedient to keep large stocks in
hand nowadays, and many of the warehouses are larger than is now necessary. Nice
fresh faces the people have, not so fresh as at home, but delightful after the sallow
Australian complexions, and not so different from the English as to strike attention.
The proportion of young people, however, is noticeable, and also the general healthy
appearance. Everybody is well, though rather carelessly, dressed, much after the
Scottish fashion. Beards are much worn. The business man is in a black frock-coat
and tall hat; clerks and the generality in more modest, tweeds and round hats. Few
have gloves with them, and of these not half wear them. After all, it is very much
like Glasgow, only rather "more so."
The banks by which the Cargill Monument is flanked on either side are the
Bank of New Zealand and the Colonial Bank of New Zealand. And here one must
own that strangers will at first find some difficulty in discriminating between banks
and insurance companies which rejoice in similar names. The want of inventive power
in this direction presents a striking contrast to the American fertility of nomenclature.
In the States the value of a distinctive name for advertising purposes is too well
appreciated tor similar names to he adopted ; in Australasia one might think that new
companies were trying how near they could get to the name of some old establish-
ment without infringing the law. But to return to the hanks in question. The
Colonial Hank, with its clock tower and handsome arcade, looks far more like a town-
hall than a hank. It was built in the days when Otago enjoyed Home Bide, and was
to he the seat of the provincial authority, hut when the Provincial Governments were
abolished, the Provincial Buildings, as they were called, were sold to the Colonial
Bank of New Zealand, an institution horn in Dunedin and managed there. The Dank
DoNmm.] AIM'IHTKCTrUAL. 287
of New Zetland (without the "Colonial") has its bead-quarters in Auckland It is the
principal financial house in the colony, and keeps the Government account. The
Dunedin establishment is only a branch office, but this doe nol prevenl it from being
the handsomesl building in the town, admirably suited to its purpose, and c astructed
with exc iste in every detail.
A remarkable ttructure is the head office of the Union Steamship Company — the
company which enjoys the monopoly of the inter-colonial and coast traffic. The
architect has succeeded in giving the building a maritime air, by means of a
number of little turrets surmounted by weathercocks. There are many more fine
commercial buildings: insurance offices on a much larger scale than a prudent share-
holder can approve; warehouses than which there are none larger in Melbourne and
Sydney. But buildings of this type arc all very much like each other, and a di
scription of the petty differences which distinguish them could only weary the reader.
Somewhat out of the ordinary, however, is the interior of Messrs. Sievwright, Stent.
and Co.'s office. These gentlemen arc lawyers, but they have cast aside the old-
world traditions as to legal offices, and built theirs after the model of a bank, there
being a large central hall, into which the light is let through a stained -lass roof,
with a large counter at the end of the ground floor, and offices round.
But we ought to see the public buildings first. Walking up Princes Street, we
eoine to the Octagon, an eight-sided "square," which might be mad very pretty if it
were entrusted to the care of a good gardener. On the upper side of the Octagon
is the Town Hull, or rather its facade, for the hall itself is not likely to be built
for many a year to come. Nevertheless, the front is very imposing, and the chances
are that you do net notice the posterior deficiencies of the building unless some apolo-
getic cicerone calls attention to them. This Town Hall is no bad emblem of the
history of the province, with its "grand" ideas and love of putting its best foot
foremost In the sixties and seventies everyone thought that Dunedin was -nine to
be a little London, but the eighties have changed all that, and many are the citizens
w ho ha\e begun their private town-halls in the sanguine belief of indefinite progress,
and were stopped short in the building by subsequent -bad times." On the lower
side of the Octagon is the Athenaeum, of which no Dunedin citizen cans to have
,n,, re notice taken than he can help- I' is the only approach Ao a public library
that this line town can beast, but it is an approach carefully guarded from tl
wlm most need it by a guinea subscription, whilst both the quality and the condition
f the books leave something to be desired There is. however, a reading-room with
newspapers and magazines, to which visitors to the town can have free access by
giving their names to the librarian. At the University there is a librarj containing
seme good bonks, hut it has ben starved ever since the depression set iii. Iii the
Supreme Court, again, there is a legal library, to which one can get access without
much difficulty. But it remains the darkest blot upon the fair fame of Dunedin that
it has no public library
Although laid out on level ground, the public gardens are pretty, but un-
fortunately they are situated at the northern extremity of the town, practically
288
cyssells i>irrn:i:s<>ri; ai'stualasia.
[DVNKDIN.
beyond the reach of two-thirds <>l the population. The Museum also is too far
north to lie conveniently accessible. Hut it is well arranged, and quite worth a visit,
though neither so large uor so popular in character as the famous museum at Christ-
church. The building in which it is located is remarkahk: for simple good taste.
Probably the largest public building is the Sigh School, a pretentious structure,
unpleasantly heavy but decidedly striking, standing out, well on the brow of the hill.
It is a building which conveys the just impression that the community values
higher education Nor have the school endowments been expended merely on out-
ward show, for school inspectors declare the interior arrangements to be a model of
convenience. "The boys are dratted and yarded easier than sheep," was the expres-
sion in which this intelligence was conveyed to the writer; and ample sums have
been provided to secure efficient, teaching. The school is attended by over three
hundred pupils, whose blue cricket caps with white facings are to be seen out,
of school hours in every epiarter of the town.
Not far from the Boys' High School
is the modest building which they pre-
viously inhabited, now turned over to the
girls. Such is our degenerate chivalry ! But
the girls are as well taught as the boys,
which was scarcely the case in the days
of "Place aux dames." One of the most
THE HIGH SCHOOL, PEOM nosi.YX.
(From Burton liros.)
Dl'NEDIN.]
THIi L'XIVERSITY.
289
interesting sights in the town is that of the High School girls going through the
gymnastic exercises which form part of the school course.
It would be a weary task to count the number of primary schools in this land
of free, secular, and compulsory education. Over halt' a million sterling a year is
spent upon education by a population of just half a million. Wherever, out of the
business streets, you see a good-sized building, it is sale to put it down to be a State
school; and one must, add that as a rule these school buildings are respectable in
architecture, and admirable in their interior arrangements. They form a fitting
antidote to the overpowering
materialism of the business
quarters of the town, which
are calculated to give the im-
pression that colonists think of
nothing but money-making, and
devote much more care to the
glorification of their places of
business than they are worth.
In a tine open space on
the banks of the Water of Leith,
a stream which runs into the
harbour at the north-eastern
end of the town, stands
the University, a fine but
not exactly handsome
stone building, attended
by two scholastic-looking
red-brick double houses,
the residences of four of
the professors. This is the
oldest University in the
colony, and, although af-
filiated to the New Zea-
land University— which, like that of London, is a purely examining bodj it has been
allowed to retain the designation of the Otago University, whereas its neighbours in
Canterbury and Auckland have to content themselves with the title of Universit}
College. The Universitj ma\ reasonably be considered well equipped in the matter of
professors, and on the average about a hundred students attend the lectures. The
medical scl I lias been specially successful and attractive. Besides the I niversity,
the lli.u'h School, and the primarj schools, there is a normal school in Dunedin
which serves for the whole district.
The hospital is an ugly building, with nice gardens round it ; it was originally con-
structed to hold an International Exhibition, and therefore is perhaps not verj suitable
for its present purpose. Bui the large empty central hall lias at least the advantag
19
THE l'n» n ii a 1,1 , as i) i SIGN] D
(From a
290 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Dckbdik.
affording ample ventilation. The dormitories contain nearly 200 beds, and are lofty
and admirably kept, though in the male wards male nurses are employed. AmongSl
other charitable institutions in and about the town are the Industrial School for
Destitute Children, the Benevolent Institution, and the Church Orphanage. Nor
amongst public buildings ought one to omit mention of the Supreme Court, the Post
Office, the Custom House, all unpretending, useful buildings, massed round the Cargill
Monument, or of the Garrison Hall, the largest building of the kind in Australasia.
Churches, as previously noted, form a striking feature in the panorama of the
town. There is one on the eminence opposite the railway station, which every stranger
takes for the Cathedral, owing to the prominence of its site and the pretentiousness
of its architecture, which one can only describe as "wedding-cake" Gothic. It is the
Presbyterian " First Church," so called, not because it was the first church built in
the town, for it was not, hut from its being the leading church. Another large
Presbyterian place of worship in the Gothic style is the Knox Church, at the northern
end of the town. A little way up the Roslyn cable tramway is the Roman Catholic.
I ' ithedral, certainly the prettiest of Dunedin churches. Both this and Knox Church,
like the University and the High School, are built of a gloomy dark blue stone found
near Port Chalmers, faced with a handsome white freestone which abounds in the
Oamaru district. When fresh, this white stone can be carved with the greatest ease.
and thus lends itself readily to ornamentation ; but, unfortunately, it speedily loses its
colour. St. Matthew's, southward, is a large edifice belonging to the Church of England,
larger than can easily he filled by the Churchmen of the neighbourhood, and unattractive
both without and within.
The inevitable Lunatic Asylum, generally the handsomest building of colonial
cities, may be sought in vain. You will see it from the railway, about fifteen or
twenty miles out of Dunedin on the way north, at Seacliff, where it makes up for
its distance from town by the magnificence of its proportions and the luxury of its
architectural embellishments. In the old world palaces are built for kings : in the
new, for idiots.
The town is well paved, well lighted with gas, and well kept. Many of the streets
are named after those of Edinburgh. They are mostly of good width, and recently a
splendid boulevard, Cumberland Avenue, has been laid out after the most approved
French fashion. The water supply is ample, but occasionally of questionable quality
in summer, and never so good as a water-drinker would wish. Of the footpaths one
cannot speak too highly ; throughout the town they are asphalted, and even in the
most out-of-the-way suburban lane comfortable provision is made for " Shanks's " mare.
The ocean breezes keep Dunedin amongst the healthiest towns in the world ; hut
this is more than its citizens deserve, for the sj'stem of drainage extends over a
veiy limited area, and the sanitary arrangements generally are deplorable.
Cabs and hotels are practically the stranger's first want on arrival, and should
perhaps, therefore, have been dealt with earliei. Waggonettes are the kind of cab most
used — primitive ramshackle boxes on wheels, with leather coverings: but excellent
hansoms and livery carriages are easily obtainable. The tares are about twenty-five per
Dwedin. THE BUSINESS EXD. 2! 11
cent, higher than London prices. Of the hotels, the largest and besi arranged is the
"Grand," but "Wain's," the front of which is pretty, is also comfortable, and old-
fashioned folk still keep to the "Criterion" There is likewise an excellent club, situated
in charming grounds on Fern Hill. The best means of getting about arc the horse
tramways, which run the whole length of the town at the foot of the hills. There are
also cable tramways to Roslyn and Mornington up the two hills nearest the centre.
These lines ascend the most formidably steep places, sending nervous strangers' hearts
into their mouths.
The business part of the town is on the Hat, close to the Cargill Monument .
the manufactories lie mostly northwards. It is the proud boast of Dunedin to be the
most advanced of all New Zealand towns in her industries, which include woollen and
clothing factories, iron-works, tanneries, breweries, oil-mills, soap and candle-making,
the manufacture of coffee and spices, furniture-making, brass and iron-work, coach-
building, confectionery and jam manufacture, chemical works, paper-mills, and meat
refrigeration. A visit, to the New Zealand clothing manufactory is specially to be
recommended. It astonishes everybody by the excellence of its arrangements for
the convenience and health of the hands employed, presenting, unfortunately, a
great contrast iii this respect to the majority of Australasian factories. In shops, too
Dunedin can claim the pre-eminence, and her connection with Melbourne has taught
her tradesmen the art of dressing their windows to advantage. Among other
characteristics of the town is the excellence of its medical practitioners, which is
probably due to the circumstance that the medical school in connection with the
University attracts good men. The extent to which the telephone is used may be
quoted as another illustration of the enterprise of the citizens. The number of houses
connected with the wire is far larger than in any other New Zealand town. .May one
also without treason hint that in the important department of ladies' dress Dunedin
claims the first place' In the matter of theatres and public amusements, how
Auckland has of late surpassed her, though she has two theatres and half-a-d
fair-sized public halls.
liefore going out to the suburbs, a word must he said with fear and trembling
about the harbour. If you were to believe what you hear in every other port in the
colony, it is a hole, or at best a ditch, scooped out by lavish expenditure, which will
s i be tilled up again by sand, and is not yet tit to admit any decent-sized ship.
Nevertheless, steamers of over two thousand tons burthen come up every clay to
Dunedin, and two ships drawing nineteen feet of water are at the time of writing
at the wharf, whilst the large ocean steamers of 5,000 t"li- come deeply laden as
far as Port Chalmers. On,' must admit the existence of a bar, but its surface has
been dredged off, and by means of a mole, constructed by the advice of sir John
Coode, it has already been shifted a considerable way out to sea, and may be
shortly to disappear altogether. As regards the upper harbour, it also is improving,
and we need not despair of seeing the ocean steamers lying aloi Dunedin
wharves before mam years are over. There lias been a large and not invariably
economical expenditure in dredging, reclamation, and other works for the improvement
292
CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA.
[Ill SI DIN.
of the harbour, but it is improving almost daily, and the principal work which
remains is to improve its reputation, for it is only two years since the inter-colonial
oers have been able to come up to Dunedin, and in 1883 the colony stood
aghast at the daring of the captain who broughl the first ocean steamer over the
dreaded bar to Port Chalmers, the little town about eight miles from Dunedin, where,
until recently, all but the small coasting vessels used to lie.
So much from the practical point of view. From the aesthetic, it would he hard
to praise the Otago harbour too highly. Auckland claims superiority by reason of the
richer colour of a semi-tropical climate, and the superb dominant feature of Rangitoto,
the island volcano; hut there is a greater variety of scenery to he obtained in the
Otago harbour, though no one of the views is so impressive.
The squares, reserves, and parks, like the streets, are kept in excellent condition
To balance the botanic garden at the north-east end of the town, there are several
cricket-grounds to the south-west, and also the town-belt, which divides the suburbs
on the hills from the town. Some of the original "hush," which once covered the
whole hillside, is to he found on this belt, giving one the idea that the scene has
been shorn of much of its beauty by the clearance that has been effected No visitor
should miss the view of the city and harbour from the <\>ueen's Drive, which runs
along the middle of this belt, or tail to ascend by
cable tramway to Mornington and Roslyn, the pretty
suburbs on the top of the hill, where Ik 1 will soon
learn that the wind is given to blowing very stronglj
in New Zealand. It is only a fair price to
pay tor such glorious views as the residents
of Roslyn and Mornington enjoy, ami
the wind is fresh and healthy.
Tin; ItiiTAXIeAI. OAUDKXS.
" Photograph by Bitrton Bros.)
AX UNPLEASANT LOCALITY.
293
Going southwards from the Cargill Monument, the hills soon recede, and o
to the genuine flat, where the town broadens into the suburbs of South Dunedin, St.
Kild.i, and Caversham, mainly inhabited by artizans, who may. with a little exaggeration,
be said to live with one foot in the water and the other in the <, r rave. At present
constant strong winds keep these suburbs fairly healthy, bul they are almost on a
NICIC'l. a CREEK PALL.
(From a J
level with the sea, subjecl to frequent floods, ami without any system of drab
It is nut rash to prophesy that soi lay these parts will he visited with a calamity.
Ai the southernmost end of tin' hills lie-, the township >>t' St. ('lair, which promises
to become a fashionable watering-place. It is built partlj en the flat, which is a little
higher in this direction, and partly on the "rise." A prettj hit of rock gives character
to the place, and there are a primitive esplanade, and a bathing place scooped out of
the rock. Thence eastward the sand} beach stretches, some three miles in length,
:>'.»4 CASSELL'S PICTTOESQUE AUSTRALASIA. Ddkkddi.
past the Forbury Race-course, where meetings arc held lour or five times a year,
and the "Ocean I'.each," about half-way between St. ('lair and Lawyer's Head. The
ocean is only divided from the upper end of the harbour by some five or six
hundred yards of low-lying sandy country, the neck of the peninsula The harbour
side of this peninsula is the most pleasant part of the district to live in, everywhere
facing more or less to the north, and mostly sheltered from the southern winds. This
is the place for beautiful gardens; there is plenty of sun, and the town commands a
lovely view over the bay of Dunedin, which should be seen by night as well as by
day. The season on this side of the harbour is three weeks earlier than in town.
The drive round the peninsula, as well as that up the North East Valley, across
the hill to Blueskin, is not to be missed. It is a hilly country for driving and
riding, but for variety of charming walks the neighbourhood of Dunedin is not easily
surpassed. In every direction the scenery is different. Prettiest of all the walks is that
tip Nichol's Creek to the Waterfall Gully, the last part of which is through an arcade
of ferns and foliage, with a torrent rushing through the rocks, over which rocks you
pick your way to the waterfall. Of the harbour scenery, the finest view is obtained
from the hills which divide the town from Port Chalmers, close to what is known
as the Junction Hotel, because the Port Chalmers and Blueskin roads meet there.
A ramble through the bush on the town-belt is no bad way of spending an after-
noon. In short, Dunedin has many attractions as a summer resort, and it is strange
that it is not more used as such. From Christinas to Easter the weather is generally
beautiful, and the air always bright and clear. Certainly no other town in Aus-
tralasia presents so many advantages of climate, scenery, and situation during the
summer months.
At Burnside, about four miles out of town, are the Refrigerating Company's
works, where about three hundred sheep can be killed and frozen in a day. Some
six miles further west lies the township of Mosgiel, the seat of the largest and most
successful woollen factory in Australasia. Mosgiel tweeds are sold in Australia in
spite of the terrible duty upon them, and the chief fault that can be found with
them is that they never wear out. The blankets fetch about twenty-five per cent,
more than the best English blankets in the shops, and the difference in warmth is
most remarkable. The reason of course is that it would not pay to mix cotton
with the wool, which is obtainable on the spot, of the best quality and at prices con-
siderably lower than in Australia. The factory is well worth a visit, being solidly
built, admirably arranged, and lighted throughout by electricity. What is more, this
is one of the few industries which continued to flourish through tin' worst of the bad
times, extending its operations yearly.
Mosgiel is easily accessible by rail or road. The district around, known as the
Taieri, is admirably adapted for dairy farms, and supplies Dunedin with butter which
cannot be excelled. Hitherto each farm has made its own butter, and the market
has been restricted to the neighbouring towns, but during the last two years, since
wheat farming has proved less profitable than of yore, dairy-farming has received a
great impetus, and factories are now springing up on every side, to which the milk
'A
DUNBDIN.]
BUTTER FOR ENGLAND.
I".!.",
from the farms is sent to be made into butter and cheese, principally exported to
Australia. As soon as the Australian demand is satisfied, it is intended to send the
butter to England in refrigerating chambers, so that there is practically no limit to
the extension of this industry.
At Green Island, just beyond Burnside, on the road to Mosgiel, a sort of lignite
coal is worked, and at Kaitangita, some fifty miles to the south-west, a little oti' the
Invcrcartrill route, there is abundance of excellent coal of the same kind Its
peculiarity is that it burns to a white ash. which smoulders for two or three days,
occasioning many a fire in wooden houses. These lignite coals do not burn well in
the ordinary English fireplaces and ranges, so that special kinds of stoves are made
locally, which can only burn such coals.
And now we have seen most of what is worth seeing in Dunedin and its im-
mediate neighbourhood. In a walk or drive round, it will be noticed that the
residences of the citizens are well built, often with some architectural pretension,
some of the smaller houses being perched on precipitous rocks, seemingly inaccessible.
Everywhere there is an air of comfort, and an absence of all appearance of poverty,
somewhat in contradiction to the grumblings about "the depression" which fill the
hotels and streets. No doubt there are fewer carriages kept here than formerly, and
the richer classes have suffered considerable loss by the fall of prices, which has told
also upon the middle class; but the working-man still commands as good a wage as
in any other part of Australasia, and no one seriously doubts that good times will
ivt i irn ere long, and the city once more begin to progress.
LOOKING A.OBOSS Tin: BAKBOtTR, FROM THE BOUTH-\
(From a 1'tiolograyh by Ihntou Bros.)
■
COLLIERS LEAVING NEWCASTLE HARBOUR.
THE VALLEY OF THE HUNTER.
" Nobby V — Newcastle Harbour — Newcastle — The Business End — The Coal Centre — The Cathedral — The
Reserve — Lake Macquarie — The Shipping — The River — Raymond Terrace — Stroud — Miller's Fori
Morpeth — The Patcrson — East and West Maitland — Wollombi — Singleton — Muswellbrook — Scone —
Murrurundi.
|j ENTRANCE to the region it is now our purpose to describe is gained, from the sea,
-L-^ at Newcastle. The voyager sees standing out conspicuously, as a gate-post, the pro-
montory which in early maps is marked Nobby's Island. On the northern side the
doorway has no such feature. There lies a low, sandy beach, curving far away into a
distance which leads the eye to the blue projections on the horizon that are known as Port
Stephen's Heads. " Nobby's," no longer an island, is a rugged, storm-beaten, rust-stained
mass of rock, wherein strata of cord may be traced. The influences which reduced ii to
its present proportions still operate; time's effacing fingers will one day banish it from
among the things that are. < hie may suppose that it was once the extreme point of
the s.a cliff', from which, by the action of the waves, it was separated, and entitled
to the designation island. By artificial means the beach has been once more closed.
Between Flagstaff or Signal Hill and Nobby's, when the Hunter River was discovered
in 1797, by Lieutenant Shortland, the waves of the Pacific had free course. And even
now, under the stress of a southerly gale, they dash wildly against the barrier, and
throw over it masses of spume. The preliminary essential to making the estuary
of the Hunter a harbour was, therefore, the closing of the pip. Convict labour was
employed to quarry huge Mocks of stone, and cast them into the waters that raved over
the sunken foundation of the cliff which had been fretted away. A somewhat lengthened
conflict with an ocean not easily quelled, in spite of its name, ended in the erection of
a small sea-wall, firm and faithful. In later days advanced engineering skill, free labour,
and improved appliances were brought to the work. On the structure thus raised, wind
and wave beat ceaselessly; films of the stone disappear constantly under their action.
so that the barrier is confessed to be hut temporary. Yet there are the railway and
The Valley of the Hunter.]
GENERAL VIEW OF NEWCASTLE.
297
the quarry, and necessity and man's determination, and the Pacific must own
beaten.
The work of filling in the gap between Nobby's and the mainland did not, however
make the harbour secure, and it. was not until a breakwater extending into the sea beyond
Nobby's had been constructed that the mouth of the harbour was rendered impregnable
to southerly and south-easterly -airs. On the northern shore, also, a breakwater of
less formidable dimensions has been eonstriieted. which has had th of increasing
the scour in the harbour mouth.
Observed from Nobby's, Newcastle presents the appearance of a city built on
irregular terraces. Extending along the harbour front, is a level space, but behind it
the houses rise up the sides to the top of a ridge, so steep in parts that some <<( the
streets are inaccessible save to foot traffic. On the left side, in the foreground, is
Flagstaff Hill, where a fortification has recently been completed. The fort has been
excavated, so that the heavier guns are below the surface of the soil, and are raised
by machinery to the embrasures, discharged, and lowered for reloading. In a deeper
excavation is placed the magazine. About the fort there is nothing frowning. It
presents small token of the grimness of its purposes; it is, indeed, surmounted by
antiquated pieces of obsolete artillery for show, but beneath these engines of war stretch
slopes of green turf, which conceal the place where lurk the real weapons of defence.
M \\r 1ST] E,
The business part of Newcastle is circumscribed. It is situated on the level
which begins below Fortification Hill, ami spreads along to where bake Macquarie road
in one direction, and the road to Wickham in another, branch off; it includes the
harbour front of the city, the terminus of the Great Northern Railway, and Hunter
298 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. [Toe Valley of
Street. Within it are placed the Custom House and the Colliery and Shipping Offices; in
Hunter Street all the principal shops and hotels will be found, also the city market
From the point at which deep water begins, at the southern end of the harbour, all
along the frontage extends a continuous line of wharf, whereon are erected the steam
cranes used in loading coal. Branches from the railway run beside the- wharf, as the
means whereby the laden trucks are brought beneath the cranes. The steamers' wharf is
in the same line further inland ; next to it is a small harbour made specially for boats.
This is a scene of activity in the sale of farm produce, fish, and the like. Besides the
cranes other modes of loading coal are employed. Development of the coal trade in
late years has called into existence a second series of cranes up the harbour, on what
was called Bullock Island. The place has been re-named Carrington, in compliment to
the popular Governor of New South Wales.
Newcastle is the centre of the coal-mining activity of the north. All about it are
settlements depending solely on that industry. Planted originally in the wilderness,
they are gradually passing from a condition of rugged slovenliness to a state of order
and some beauty. For the most part they are under the local government of a
mayor and councillors, and improve under it. They contribute to the city its chief
support; it is, indeed, becoming a part of the nearest of them, by the progress of
building over the intervening space ; and Hunter Street, its main thoroughfare, always
lively on pay Saturday night — the fortnightly occasion on which all workmen in the
district receive their wages — is then the channel of a many-coloured stream of human
existence, flowing from seven o'clock till eleven without ceasing. The mines, the ships,
the factories, the houses of the city, all send tribute to the stream.
Above this busy thoroughfare are the parts of Newcastle wherein it leads its
quieter life. Watt Street, which crosses the head of Hunter Street at right angles,
leads thither. All the churches are on the side of the ridge, or on its summit.
Newcastle is the scat of an Anglican bishop, who could boast of possessing the very
ugliest cathedral in the world, a brick structure, erected in 1817 by the building Governor,
Macquarie, as an inscription on its front testified. The foundations of a nobler edifice
are, however, laid, and the site is one to which the finest building will but add a
charm. It commands on one side the Pacific, stretching away till sky meets sea,
whereon, on most days, may be descried the white wings of ocean-going ships ; on
another, the city, sloping to the harbour, which bears on its bosom numberless craft of
varied rig and character; to the north and south the coast-line is distinguished, till the
most remote headland fades away in a blue mist ; while inland, in every direction, are
displayed the daughter settlements of Newcastle, with railways winding in and out
among them. Beyond lies an expanse of forest, whose surface varies with every change
of cloud ; and, lastly, there is outlined against the sky a mountain range, with which
we shall make a closer acquaintance hereafter.
The city is growing fast on this hill. The Obelisk, set up to serve as a waymark
to mariners, is surrounded by private residences, and house is monthly added to house.
Newcastle is not rich in public grounds, but the forethought of early rulers of the
colony has here supplied it with a recreation enclosure, the value of which cannot be
THE II
THE RESERVE.
299
easily over-estimated. The Reserve is a section of the sea-cliff, where it dips to form
a great gulch, at the bottom of which a stream of fresh water constantly trickles.
From one end of the bank of the gully to the other, and rounding its head, a semi-
circular walk has been formed, while beneath it, on the slope, is a continuous plantation
of ornamental trees. The Reserve — variously called the Horseshoe, from the shape of
the path, ami the Lovers' Walk, from the opportunities it supplies for that seclusion
in which two are company — inter-
venes between Shepherd's Hill, a
higher elevation, looking seaward, of
the plateau on which the domestic
portion of the city is built, and that
portion of the cliff which ends at the
fortifications. Landward, the ground
from the top of Shepherd's Hill de-
scends in a long slope to Lake
Macquarie Road; coast wards the hill
overlooks a series of rocky shelves
stretching into the sea, but opening
here and there to small sandy beaches.
On one of these the fair of Newcastle
ami the district take their sea-baths,
while the bathing-place for men is
below Shepherd's Hill.
With holiday-makers from inland
the beaches and rocks are a favourite
resort. Newcastle folk who desire
change, on the other hand, repair to the
green fields in the upper part of the
Hunter Valley, or betake themselves to
a noble inlet of the sea, about twelve
miles disi. nit alone' the southern coasl
— Lake Macquarie. To pass a few
days in fern-embroidered dells, or in
sailing in ami out of the hundred Lovely bays that diversify the coast-line, or in
fishing, is the Newcastle man's ideal of bliss. .Many of the more wealthy citizens
have acquired land ami built houses on the shores of this tine sheet of water. Here
they retire to banish care. The region is traversed by the railway line in construction
between the northern district and Sydney, and will thus become generally accessible
It. will be a sanatorium. Abundant supplies of coal underlie its whole surface, it
has immense agricultural capabilities, its stores of valuable timber are vasl ; and eventu-
ally a large population must here find occupation and livelihood.
Newcastle Harbour is at all seasons of the year full of \essek The chief
commodity that tiny seek makes it a place of necessary resort It is true that latterly
Tin: BATHING-PLACE, NEWCASTLE.
300
casselL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA.
[Tut Vaii t \ or
a direct trade in merchandise with
England, and the export at Newcastle
of much of the wool grown in the
northern part of New South
Wales, have increased the ship-
ping. Still, coal is the principal
merchandise of the port. The
dust of the city is black, so
much do particles of coal pervade it,
and at evening hands of men are met
with grimy faces set homewards,
whose occupation has been " lumping "
coal — adjusting it in the holds of ships.
From all quarters of the compass come
vessels for coal, but the great develop-
ment of the trade has occurred within
the lifetime of many persons yet in their prime. Old denizens
of Newcastle can remember when small vessels, coming at long
intervals, were laden by barrow-loads taken across planks by
convict workmen. The contrast is great between such an export and appliances, on
the one hand, and the 2,113,372 tons sent away from Newcastle in 1885, and the
perfection of the various modern means of loading, on the other.
THE n
GENERAL I'EATUnX
30J
Above Newcastle the Hunter is for mam- miles a broad stream, embracing numer-
ous small islands. The larger of these are under cultivation; the largest, named Ash
Island, is situate about ten miles from the city. The river flows between banks for
the most part, low, muddy, and shaded with mangrove trees, but here and there bits
NEWC ISTLE, FBOH " NOBBY 3.
of charming woodland scenery relieve the eyes of the voyager. Hexham a settlement
cm the bank above Ash Island, is fasl going to decay. From this point to Raymond
Terrace the hanks of the river rise; well-cultivated farms appear, principally on
the left-hand bank, and the character of the country has visibly changed. Usually,
the farmhouse is .-lose to the river, which is the principal highway A boal is always
an adjunct, and a rude jetty, in most cases, juts out into the stream. A.1 these primitive
302 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE AUSTRALASIA. lint Vu.i
wharves small river strainers stop to deliver or receive cargo. Hero, too, fanners load
their boats with produce, to be taken to Newcastle for sale. The oars are plied some-
times by the sturdy arms of men. but not, infrequently by those of tanner lasses, strong
by dint of life in open air, and much exercise of muscle and lung.
Raymond Terrace is an old and thriving settlement on the right hank of the
river. In this neighbourhood Kinross vineyard is situate, famed for its white wine, of
the character of a hock. About the designation Raymond Terrace a story is told In
the olden days a surveyor, named Raymond, was despatched to the Hunter on professional
work. He did the work, and sent the results to head-quarters. But being allured by
the situation of this locality, he stopped there till his death — hence the site was
called Raymond Terrace. The story is bald, but that is all there is of it.
The road from Maitland to the eastern coast territory passes through Raymond
Terrace, where a steam ferry crosses the river. The first settlement is Stroud, twenty-
eight miles away, the entrance to the estate of the Australian Agricultural Company
The village of Stroud is distinguished as the only "fenced" city in New South Wales.
A mile square was set apart and enclosed by the Company, and within the boundary-
its servants were permitted to occupy building lots. At each entrance to the enclosure
gates were erected, and the government of the settlement was rigorous. Each villager
was, fur instance, obliged to cultivate a flower-garden about his cottage. This was long
ago. The Company failed in this attempt to acclimatise English habits, as well as in
many other efforts. The modern Stroud is the property of settlers who have bought
their freeholds of the Company, and are emancipated from its rule.
At Raymond Terrace the traveller first sees the fertile region which justly entitles
the Lower Hunter Valley to be called the garden of New Smith Wales. Over against
the village, across the river, lies Miller's Forest, a spacious alluvial plain, once clothed
with a dense wood, but now wholly cleared, traversed by roads, dotted with farmhouses.
and smiling with lucerne and maize crops. The Hunter embraces this plain in an
immense bend, separatine- it from another expanse of agricultural land, called Nelson's
Plains. This latter area is drained by the first great affluent of the Hunter, the Williams,
which discharges its waters a short distance above Raymond Terrace. The Williams is
navigable by large ocean steamers as far as Clarence Town, and is the medium of a
-cat export trade in hardwood timber, brought from forests inland.
Morpeth is situate on the left bank of the Hunter, about eight or nine miles above
Raymond Terrace, and at the head of the more important navigation. At Morpeth the
Sydney steamers receive the greater part of their burdens of wool, hay. and other
produce. Here the second great tributary of the Hunter, the Paterson, joins the larger
stream at Hinton. just where the river is crossed by a steam ferry. The Paterson has
its rise in mountains to the east of Scone, and drains an extensive area. Its course is
everywhere distinguished by rare beauty. In its upper parts the river flows with sungilt
ripples over pebbly strands: in places it laves the feet of shaggy mountains, and
nourishes gay green trees and gorgeous flowers, which contrast with the sombre clothing
of tlie hillside: ever and anon bands of rock extending from bank to bank make foamy
cascades, which day and night sing a sweet entrancing lullaby. When the stream nears
iheHodtkr.] MORPETH. 303
the haunts of men, wild loveliness is exchanged for softer charms. The channel broadens,
its course winds, willows and water-oaks, the cedar, the native hibiscus, and the wild
grape-vine grow in unchecked vigour on each bank, and mirror themselves in the
placid waters. That is the aspect of the river for mile after mile, while the landscape
on its borders varies. Open foresl above well-grassed slopes, broad level tracts under
cultivation, meadows with undulating surface, orange groves, vineyards, and orchards,
are the elements. Paterson town is built on a hilly site where the surroundings <■( the
stream begin to change their look. An elevation immediately opposite, rising almost
directly from the water's edge, is called Hungry Hill. This ominous name is derived
from a legend that, in the old convict times, an adventurous prisoner who had escaped
was starved to death on this inhospitable eminence.
Morpeth, to which it is time for us to return, would probably have become one oi
the chief inland towns on the Hunter had the early rulers of New Smith Wales enjoyed
any distinct foresight. As it was, they effectually handicapped the settlement. The
site, called then the Green Hills, with a considerable portion of the valley river front
was granted to a worthy gentleman who had served his country with distinction in the
Peninsula War. The Anglican church at Morpeth owes its existence to the gratitude
of this gentleman. During an engagement in Spain he was in extreme peril, and was
saved from death in circumstances which he viewed as providential. He vowed that,
if ever he were able, he would build a church as a memorial of his rescue. The
opportunity came at length. Lieutenant ('lose was the grantee of Morpeth in New
South Wales. He performed his vow, and the church is the monument of his thank-
fulness. For many years prior to its erection he weekly read the service of the Church
of England in a house in Morpeth. After the church was completed, he provided
the stipend of the clergyman for a lengthened season, and likewise made permanent
provision for paying the incumbent.
The site of East Maitland, which is the next place we come to, is admirably fitted for
the position of a great town. It is elevated, so that the sea-breezes play over it ; it
commands a prospect of the valley of the Hunter, where that valle) is broadest and
most fertile. A large part of the site overlooks the plain, which at morning and evening
is obscured in river mists. The facilities for drainage are great, and the eucalyptus
forest grows around it, which breathes balmy influences. In the early days of the
place, although land was open tor sale, red tape restrictions. Govemmenl regulations
bordering on the absurd, slowness of survey, and a genera] state of muddle, made the
acquisition of allotments no easy matter. Unhappily, in the near vicinity land «;e
obtainable at a cheap rate, and with little formality. The site of Maitland— many of
the older denizens of the town repudiate the distinctive title Bast : there is onlj one
Maitland, they say is divided from a portion oi the valley by a water-COlirse, called
Wallis's (r.ek. or Brook, the term creek being used in Australia for am small stream
or rivulet* A huge slice of the area lying in an angle, this creek and the rivi r forming the
sides, had been granted to an old soldier, who is remembered onlj as -loo the Marine,
and to his paramour, one Moll] Morgan The grant made a fair estate of immense
• Set II.
304
CASSETJ/S I'lCTUnKSyri- A1STKALASIA.
[Valley OB THE QOMTBB.
prospective value. But Joe and Molly, being well-stricken in years, childless, and fond
ill' rum. chose t<> enjoy tlir present. They were eager to sell, and stories run that many
a fine allotment changed hands, a bottle of nun being the equivalent for "lawful British
money." As land could be easily got, West Maitland grew with comparative rapidity
Dii both sides of the Great Northern Road, and has at the present date a population
of over six thousand inhabitants. East Maitland, favoured by State patronage, by the
residence of Government officials, by the distinction, for many years enjoyed, of being
the only assize town in the northern district, and by an incomparably superior site
was, for a time, by dint of
these circumstances, the chief
town, hut lost "'round as the
district became more populous,
and lias never been able to
outstrip its very much bet-
ter halt on the other side of
Wallis's Creek. Bast Mait-
land has a population now
exceeding two thousand souls.
In West Maitland are found
the great business establish-
ments, whose trade vies with
that of the metropolis. The
larger churches are in West
.Maitland: it is also the home of
a convent of Dominican nuns,
and of the chief State sehools.
Within its precincts all
gatherings representative of
the district take place. Eere
are found the head-quarters of the parent agricultural society of New South Wales —
the Hunter River Agricultural and Horticultural Association. West Maitland is the
chief cattle and horse market of the north of New South Wales; it is the seat of many
mills and manufactories; and works are being constructed to supply its inhabitants, and
those of all the settlements down to the sea, including Newcastle, with water drawn from
the Hunter.
The spectator standing on the Stockade hill sees East Maitland clustering imme-
diately below him on the right hand, and rising and spreading on the gaol-crowned
height opposite. Beyond stretches the river valley, wherein the winding course of the
stream may he discerned. At one bend we get a gleam of its surface. In mid-distance
appears the village of Largs, built on a point of high land hounding the valley on the
northern side, and further still to the right a distant view is gained of the hills facing
Morpeth. The landscape is pleasantly diversified — cultivation, woodland, pasture, vary
it. The hill-slopes are scantily clothed with trees, and farmhouses and barns here, as
WATT STREET, NEWCASTLE.
'.•■>^w.;vs %
V"
'A v
< I
■ > -
20
A IUSII TKACK. mi 1:1.1 1:1 MH.
306 CASSELL'S PICTURESQUE A.TJSTRALASIA. [Tn« Vallby of
everywhere in the valley, indicate the presence of human life and activity. To the left
lies West Maitland, from this point of view a compact town, apparently tilling up the
whole breadth of the valley. In reality it occupies onbj one bank of the river. Above the
housetops gleam the church spires; in what seems a suburb the dwellings are shaded by
tree-, aineiie- which the tall poplar is conspicuous. Almost at the feet of the spectator,
and just seen over the curve of the hill, runs the brook, Wallis's (reek, which divides
Maitland into West, and East. Its course is defined by willows and other trees, and its
boundary to the south of West Maitland is an alluvial plain Hen.' we have the typical
Lower Hunter scenery. Squares and oblongs of freshly-ploughed soil alternate with
squares and oblongs of land under lucerne crop — patches of green and patches of dark
brown, to which in due season are added fields of Indian corn and potato rows,
thin threads of green across the dark texture. Lucerne grows so luxuriantly in this
deep mould — the deposit of ages, enriched from time to time by inundation — that it
ma\ be cut from four to six times a year. The aspect of the whole expanse is that of
a huge, well-tilled garden. Here and there an orchard rises above the level of cultivation,
but the staple products are lucerne and maize. The farmer is always engaged either
in gathering these crops, or in preparing his land for them. This Australian soil is
truly well-nigh rich enough to justify Douglas Jerrold in saying that you need hut
tickle it with a hoe to make it laugh with a harvest.
The farther boundary of the scene we are describing is a region of hilly and
broken country which comes into view at the right hand, and extends round till it
dips above West Maitland. Range rises behind ranee in gradual elevation, the sight
distinguishes each by noting how. as the distance increases, the trees on the hillsides
cease to he definable, and how the blue tint deepens, till at last against the sky a solid
outline may he traced, hut no details. In this hilly territory many hundreds of miles
are embraced. It is among these elevations that the Paterson pursues its lovely way,
and on clear daj-s, in the extreme distance, through a gap in a nearer range may be
descried the mountain top where the infant Hunter rises. A stretch of comparatively
low woodland lies beyond West Maitland to the north-west, hut over the trees can he
seen the blue crown of part of the Wollombi ran^e, which to the south-west rises boldly
against the sky, and continues round to the rear of the spectator. This range divides
the water-sheds of the coast; on its sea side vegetation is luxuriant, thanks to a moisture
never absent. Ferns abound, vines embrace giant trees in wild tangles, the rock lily in
its season burdens the air with its powerful odour, in springtime gorgeous blooms adorn
and spangle the hillside, and in profusion grows a giant red flower, made up of a
cluster of chalice-shaped blossoms, wherein lurks a sweet compound to which bush-
bees repair with eagerness. On the land side the range presents the ordinary aridity
of bush vegetation, but in deep gorges, shaded from the sun, threaded by brooks
trickling and brattling over water-worn rocks, are treasured rare beauties of tree and
flower. Commonly, the Australian bush is silent. But here, from mom till eve, the air
thrills with the note of the bell-bird, varied now and then by one resembling the sharp
crack of a stock whip. The perpetual joyous tingling in the traveller's ears on a
bright day gives him the impression that the sunshine has taken voice, an impression
mi. Hi mi:k. 1
A SCENE OF DKSOLATIOX.
307
deepened by the fact that though you may hear the bird's note quivering in the air
close to you, the nimble songster eludes the quickest eye. The baunl of the bell-bird
is a green shade; trees make' an embroidered roof, through which the sun's rays are
filtered; the ground is always damp, and in these favouring circumstances terns of all
kinds flourish The)- carpet yards of ground; staghorns drape grey-lichened and i
grown rocks with their tender green; on trees and boulders the bird's-nest fern with its
Long palm-like fronds attains splendid proportions; on the slopes which the sun
the clematis bloom displays its fleece-like beauty; ami timber-treeSj fed by soils enriched
by centuries of vegetable decay, tower majestically above a troubled sea of verdure. In
such a haunt as this Wallis's (reek has its source. The spring is on the range. The
young stream passes in a slender thread over mighty stones, and scoops out for itself
many a hollow where the water lies in still pools, darkened by the shade of foresl oak
and myrtle, and at last, gaining in size, it flows deviously through a valley ever widening,
till at West .Maitland its waters are poured into the Hunter.
The expanse, with its varied beauty, which wc have been surveying from Stockade Hill,
has at times presented another and sadder appearance. When the Hunter comes
down in flood, the environs of Maitland are a spectacle of desolation The
yellow tide spreads over miles of fertile land, defeats the farmer's hopes.
destroys the fruit of his labour, and ousts him for the time from his
habitation. Fatal incidents have not usually accompanied Hunter tl Is;
and sincethe telegraph has been available, residents in places liable to
inundation may receive warning to remove in time to avert inconveni-
ence. In Maitland there are two flood-boat services, means of rescue
in times of necessity, and of food supply to such persons as may be
islanded in their houses, but are not driven from home. West
Maitland is in flood seasons partially under water, and boats ply
in the principal thoroughfare. In one direction, in the valley
drained by Wallis's ('reek, it is possible to take a boat with per-
fect safetj some thirteen
miles iii a straight line.
Cattle and other stock
may be transported to
high land, but. of course,
growing crops are lost
wholly, and garnered
crops also, unless the far-
mer be prudent enough
to be active in early
removal Floods are a
calamity under which
the region about Mait-
land suffered olmo I
yearly in the interval
308 CASSELL'S PICTTJEESQUB AUSTRALASIA. [Thb Vaixbv or
between 1856 and L876, but since the latter year the visitations have been infrequent,
and nut alarming. In their evil there is a sou] of goodness. To their recurrence in
past ages the soil owes its unrivalled richness, which their modern visits serve un-
doubtedly to renew. The value of agricultural land ranges between £50 and £100 pel-
acre — -it has been purchased at such prices by the industrious farmers who till it — and
it has attained that value because it is built up, as it were, of flood deposits.
Wollombi is a village on the Wollombi Brook, situate about forty miles from
Maitland, on the road to Sydney. The thoroughfare to the Wollombi passes through
Cessnock, a half-way settlement which forms an outlet to an immense vine-growing
district. Vineyards clothe the slopes of the ranges, for the soil is a vegetable mould
on a basis of limestone, and eminently adapted for the production of light and whole-
some wines. Wollombi, a small collection of houses spread over low hills, depends for
existence on the through traffic of stock, and on a limited agricultural industry.
The stream above Maitland soon shrinks; fords are numerous, alternating with
long, deep pools. The borders, though not so fertile as those lower down, enriched by
long-retained flood waters, are prolific; farm, vineyard, orchard, and pasture lands are
the constituents of the landscape, while the uplands and hills which hem in the valley
on each side are the haunts of valuable herds. Seven miles from Maitland is Lochin-
var, and five miles further is situate Greta, and between the two places the road
crosses Harper's Hill half-way up the steep slope of the eminence, into the side of
which it is cut. The thoroughfare overlooks a scene of agricultural loveline
Thousands of feet below, seen over the tops of the trees, are green fields, among
which the winding course of the river may be traced. Kaloudah vineyard, famed
among those of the Hunter, lies close to Lochinvar; and near Branxton, seven miles
farther on, is a still more noted vineyard — Dalwood.
Thirty miles from Maitland stands the town of Singleton, the centre of a pro-
gressive and thriving district. Herein are carried on with vigour and enterprise the
industries of cattle and horse breeding, wine making, and tobacco and wheat growing.
Some of the most famed racehorse studs in New South Wales are found in this
locality. Here, too, Durham and Hereford cattle of the highest strains charm the eye
of the stock connoissewr; and the viticuLturist who stood nexl to the winner of the
German Emperor's prize for wine at the Victorian International Exhibition carries on
his operations close to Singleton. The town is situate on the bank of the Hunter, in
Patrick's Plains. That name was bestowed by the discoverer, one Howe, an Irishman,
who emerged from the bush on this wide extension of the river valley on St. Patrick's
Day in 1818, or thereabouts. Before leaving Singleton, we may say that its population
is about 2,000, and that of the police district, 7,022.
From Singleton to its source the Hunter drains a district mainly pastoral, and
possessing the same general characteristics throughout Vest by north from Singleton
lies Denman, where the largest inland tributary of the river, the Goulburn, joins it.
Muswellbrook is the next considerable settlement above Singleton. This is a pic-
turesque town of nearly 2,000 inhabitants. It lies at the junction of the north-western
road from the Goulburn with the great northern road, and is also a station of the
THE IIlNTER.]
MUSWKLLUKOOK.
309
Great Northern Railway. The town is built upon the high south bank of the
Hunter, and overlooks a fertile plain on the opposite shore. lis main feature is
the Anglican church, St Alban's, built of white stone after designs by the late Sir
Gilbert Scott, and noted as one of the most attractive specimens of church architecture
in the northern part of New South Wales. About nine miles above Muswellbrook the
river takes the waters of an affluent, the Page, which has its source in the Liverpool
Range above Murrurundi. Above the railway bridge the river is a shallow stream
which frequent obstructions in its bed break into rapids and even into cascades. The
country it drains is wild, broken, and mountainous; but among the hills are valleys
of rare verdure, and tree-shaded dells of infinite charm. One of the marvels of the
rsr** 9
:
MI KIM Kl S
region is a brook, which flows on the top of a hill, and disappears in the soil; and
another is a lakelet which gems a mountain's breast, and never in the driest season
fails or even materially shrinks. On the margin of the river the land is invariably rich.
Scone, a town of some six hundred souls, is situate on Kingdon Ponds, a stream
feeding the Page. The traveller by rail at this place traverses TuranvUle, a grazing
estate which skill and taste have transferred into a model of what can be done in the
Australian bush, by cultivation, to increase production and create beauty. Beyond
Scone, the railway re-enters a region of mountains which embrace valleys— " peace n
posing in the bosom of strength." Near Wingen, a wayside village, the traveller is
told of a burning mountain, whose top maj be descried This mountain long enjoyed
the reputation of a volcano, bul is now known to be the seal of a perpetually-burning
eo, ( l seam. A coal mine is in fact worked in this locality. When the country opens
again it is the valley of the Upper Page, much of which is under cultivation At the
head of the valley stands Murriirundi. beneath, and in the embrace of, the Liverpool
Range, which dominates the landscape everywhere. Many picturesque knolls al the
:;i<> CASSBLL'S PICTUBESQTJE A r> 11; A I.ASIA. [Valley of the Hukter.
four are crowned with trim cottages, and brightened by orchards, flower gardens, or
green crops. Over miles of its surface the valley is dotted with farmhouses, for agri-
culturists have for long years established themselves here and share (airly with the
grazier the industry of the Locality. Eere the Page river is a stream which lias cut
its wa\ through the shallow alluvium resting on a bed of gravel Being close to its
mountain source, and subject to receipt of the immediate drainage of the surrounding
hills, ir is sudden and quick in flood, but the overflow runs off as rapidly as it rises.
The stream has no grandeur as a river, hut some of its clear, deep pools, shaded by
swamp oak, are pleasant to see. Unquestionably the finest, view of Murrurundi and of the
valley beyond it is gained from the railway line, a few hundred yards from the mouth
of a tunnel which pierces the mountain. Far below is seen the town, compactly
ranked between the towering range on one side and some lower hills on the other.
Beyond it extends the plain, fair and green, with river and road winding through it:
and the eye follows the expanse till in the distance hills rise in terraces on the horizon,
and fade away until the distinction between earth and sky is lost.
Near .Murrurundi the wayfarer will notice huge mounds of stone, weather-worn,
and still fretting away under the influence of wind and wet. Some arc unmistakably
natural, and bear trees on their summits, although no soil is apparent which may yield
nutriment to vegetation But others bear a strong resemblance to antique castles of
thi' old world, and the imagination has no difficulty in investing them with the attri-
butes of buildings which owe their existence to human labour.
The territory between Singleton and Murrurundi is mainly in pastoral occupation.
It is the region of some of the great estates of New South Wales, rich in flocks
and herds, but seldom cultivated by the plough. The most wealthy men of the
colony reside in this area.
We have thus passed from the mouth of the Hunter at Newcastle to the northern
extremity of the valley of which it is the principal drain, and have endeavoured to
indicate its varied characteristics. The territory under notice comprises a portion of
New South Wales which ranks high for beauty, fertility, enterprise, and progress,
and it is no exaggeration to sa}' that this fruitful tract, under wise and energetic labour,
could be made to feed the whole of New South Wales bounteously — to satisfy, indeed,
the wants both of man and of beast.
END OF VOL. I.
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