UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS HENRY CORNISH m * * * * * From the Library of __ uo~p.reAvo4 uoijB.iapisuu..) puB anouoq q}{A\j B ABUI suoi)Bu autt} jo 9S.IUOO ut sdsqaadi oc; -9S[9 SutqjA'uB aq o} uiaqj o} anooo !)ou saop i] asnBoaq ^nq 'uBtuaoqod aq} xBaj A"aq} asnBoaq ^ou (< '}sauoq -ut >f aaB A'aqj, '8At[ -aq} qotqAA. ut oq} jo |[iAvpoo3 {B.iauaS aq; o; ui.iojuoo aq 'uaui ^soj\ ^[pn^uaAa vw sjenptAtpui UOUIG qotqAV ti ^onpuoo [enjtqBq jo pasp q^ a>[t[ Sutq^auios ^Bqj sadoq auop "I B H P JO T '[BAoaddB jmpaoo q;iAv ^sa qotqA\ qooads aq^ ut qonui !jqnop on si jo ^utod stq^ UIQJJ jo ^uaraa^^s [BIU.IOJ B SB B ut raaq; Sutpcaj jo ^^t aqj 9ABi{ \\i\\. oqAV 'iG^j-tqs-uen^ Sutprqo -ut) PJJOAV pasqtAio aq^ jo sa^e^ua^od aq) o; papajyp A'jjEaj aaaA\ X!aq^ ^eq; auinsse o; aaB aA\ ^nq 'aeg; umpBUB'j puB uBouauiy oq; jo sjaquiatu 9qj oj paaa^n ajaA\ spjOA\ 'SuojAv o.tOA\ OA\ sraaas ^t 'uotpe aAt^tuuap o; peo^ o; usq; {u.touoS o^etounua O!} papua^ut sotqp ]t?uot^Buaa;ui uo sjpBiuaa siq p'je 'uotssajojd UAVO stq jo aouatpne o} ^si.mf pus ^uapn;s B SB gui^jB} SBM aq uoissajduit oq; aapun aanpa^ pjoq; pBaa sn jo ^soj\[ 'A\B( ao Aio^stq jBuot)n}t}suoo uo !)aadxa UB acf o; UAVOU>[ ^jw^aaoag uStaaoj paqsqdiuoooB ano si aou 'uotstAjadns aic^ jo '^nauaq aq) paAiaoaa qoiqAv osanoostp aqi jo )aBd siqj 'auinsaad 8A\ '^ou SBA\ ^j .Cjinba jo sjanoo aq} jo uot;rqoA9 aq; puB i saijinbijuB \vlo\ uo Aessa a;ypn.ia UB uioaj ADqod uStaaoj uo uoivBjBjoap B ajSuejua -sip o.) aABq o; ^.jtpiorq o; pua} ^ou saop ^j s)uoui).tBduioo ajB.iBdas u[ soi^qod siq A'qd'osojrqd stq ;do>[ aq jt ajqystApB aq }nq '. uBiusa)B}s SutpBdf B SB .Toqdosojtqd ^BaaS B st auBp[Bjj p-wq -o[dip AVOU aqj jo ^uauido[3Aap ;sa;Bj stq} u: ajuo'.uaAuoout araos 'pa^iuipB aq jstnu }t 'si aaaq^ aouBoutuSis |BOi}qod ogtoads DUB anrTann UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. BY HENRY CORNISH. MADKAS i PRINTED AT THE "MAIL" PRESS, BY j. j. CRAEIT, 1879. PREFACE. + THE following notes of a holiday tour in Australia appeared originally in the columns of the Madras Mail, and it is at the suggestion of some of the subscribers to that journal that they are now reproduced in the present form. In view of the more frequent communi- cation between India and Australia which will be brought about by the fortnightly mail service, to be inaugur- ated in January next, it is not improbable that many residents in India will be tempted to spend an occa- sional holiday in the colonies instead of journeying to England, as now, whenever a change of climate is sought for the benefit of health. The voyage from Galle to Melbourne occupies about the same time as that from Bombay to London, via Brindisi ; it is free from the heat-discomforts and risks to health incidental to the passage through the Bed Sea ; and, lastly, it is not expensive, the return passage between Bombay and Mel- bourne by P. and O. Steamer being <72. The infor- mation given in these pages will, it is hoped, direct attention to the advantages of a closer intercourse, com- mercial and otherwise, between India and Australia. The Bombay Chamber of Commerce, in inviting con- tributions for the Melbourne International Exhibition in 1880, remark : " The Committee of the Chamber of Commerce are of opinion that this movement is of great importance to India, whose products and manufactures are practically unknown in Australia. It appears to them that there is probably no other country in the world where these products would be more appreciated, or which offers a wider field for their con- sumption ; and they believe that the isolation of that country from the commerce of India is entirely due to the fact that no effort has yet been made and no facilities yet afforded for PREFACE. trading with it. As an illustration, it may be mentioned that about 15,000,000 Ibs. of China tea go annually to Australia, but none from India, although the navoiir of the ludinn teas is generally preferred by consumers. Indian manufactures are also unknown there, and the same may be said of Indian cotton, seeds, spices, and oilier natural products, to say nothing of the potteries, embroideries, jewellery, blackwood furniture, and other art products in which India is unrivalled." I observe with satisfaction that the opinions express- ed in these pages regarding the possible development of an important trade between India and Australia are shared by an influential public body like the Bombay Chamber of Commerce. The summary of the Land and Mining regulations, which appears in the appendix, is taken from that useful publication The Handbook of Australia, issued annually by Messrs. Gordon and Gotch of Melbourne. MADRAS, July, 1879. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. The " Gibraltar of the East." PAGE. Aden Its uninviting appearance : " You must stay hero a week, Sir!" Its strategical importance Political significance of the dispatch of Indian troops to Europe The defences Shipwrecks in the Bed Sea and near Cape Guard afui More light-houses wanted Defences of Perim Its first occupation by the East ludia Com- pany The Red Sea as a trade route Local trade Large imports of Coal Deterioration of coal by exposure to the sun Cultivation of Mokha Coffee The trade in Ostrich feathers How the wild Ostrich is captured. ... ... ... ... .. 1-10 CHAPTER II. Life at Aden. The climate of Aden not so bad as it is painted Absence of vegetation Efforts of Government to cultivate vegetables for soldiers Gardening under difficulties The rain-fall and water-supply The famous tanks Use of condensed sea-water Servants' wages paid partly in water The Somalis A diver's earnings Opening of a Cafe Chantant Things not to be seen at Aden Schools and Churches. ...11-20 CHAPTER in. Bound for Australia. From Galle to King George's Sound The Trade-winds Readings of the thermometer A good change of climate for invalids from India Advantages of a holi- day trip to Australia The P. and O. steamer Assam Our Australian Passengers A Melbourne politician CONTENTS. PAGE. Loyalty of the Colonists Political aims of Young Australia Danger of too much interference from the Home Government Prospects of federation for pur- poses of defence The revival of Protection A politi- cian's and merchant's views contrasted Climate of Western Australia Political condition of the colony Advantages of transportation to " gentlemen" con- victs. . ...21-32 CHAPTER IV. A Glance at Western Australia. King George's Sound, the " finest harbour in the world" A first greeting from Australia The representatives of the Press A race for the Telegraph Office Th> town of Albany Proposed railway to Perth Sir John Coode's proposed harbour at Fremantlc A Governor's view of the political needs of the Colony The Colo- nists' demand for responsible government Convict element in the population Agricultural condition of the Colony The Pearl-fisheries and trade in pearl- shells The natives as pearl-divers Convict labour Travelling with a convicted murderer A convict Editor Some failings of the Colonists A bright future in store. ... ...33-49 CHAPTER V. First Impressions of Melbourne. The port for Adelaide Want of harbour accommodation at Glenelg Kangaroo island and the Back-Stairs passage Dangerous navigation of the Australian Coast The " Loch Ard" wreck Want of more Lighthouses Port Phillip Heads and Hobson's Bay Arrival at Williamstown pier "What do you think of Mel- bourne ?" Anxiety of the 'colonists to know what strangers think of them Midwinter in June Unin- viting appearance of suburbs Rapid growth of Melbourne The present value of land Systematic plan of the city Principal public buildings Hotels and clubs Cost of living The suburb of St. Kilda A summary of impressions Commercial depression in CONTENTS. vii PAGE. the colony The "larrikin" dissected "Doing the block" at Melbourne " We've some good-looking women, sir, in this city." ... ... ,,,50-65 CHAPTER VI. Victorian Politics and Politicians. State of political feeling Mr. Berry and his opponents- Local meaning of " Liberal" and " Conservative" A " National Reformer" The revival of Protection- Fostering colonial industries by a protective tariff: Ministerial arguments for manufacturing iron pipes in the colony, and for clothing the Police in colonial- made cloth " Bursting up" large landed estates- Effects of free-trade in land Production of gold A Protectionist's and a Freetrader's views of the situa- tion compared The farmers and the tax on agricul- tural machinery A visit to some local manufactories A few samples of protective duties Probable collapse of Protection The quarrel between the two Houses of Legislature Ministers in private life " Parliament men" Qualifications for members and voters in the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council respectively The quarrel of labour with capital. ... ... ... ... ,.,66-79 CHAPTER VII. Sports and Pastimes. The Australians a sport-loving people Enthusiasm about their champion cricketers in England The amuse- ments of the day Theatrical and operatic perform- ances Admiration of the colonists for Charles Kean, Walter Montgomery, Charles Mathews and G. V. Brooke A testimonial to Mr. Lyster The colonial game of football Kreitmeyer's wax- works exhibition A gallery of colonial portraits Martyrdom of Bishop Patterson Some notable bush-rangers The tragic deaths of Morgan and Ben Hall Probability of the bush-rangers becoming the Jack Shoppards and Dick Turpins of drama and romance Wisdom of the Home Government in putting a stop to transportation CONTENTS. PAGE. A race-meeting at Caulfield The Victoria Amateur Turf Club and its objects The performances of Aus- tralian race-horses compared with those of English race-horses Importation of English stallions Proba- ble further improvements of Australian horses Flemington Race Course The Victoria Turf Club and its rules The standard weights for age in the colonies. ...80-97 CHAPTER VIII. The Founders of Victoria. A forecast of the future of Australia What our children may witness fifty years hence Amor patrice of the colonists The late Edward Wilson His work in connection with the Victorian Press The separation movement The first Australian Parliament Port Phillip elects Earl Grey, the Duke of Wellington, Lord Palmerston and Sir Robert Peel members of the Sydney Legislature The colonists refuse to receive English convicts Port Phillip constituted a separate colony known as Victoria Patriotism and administra- tive capacity of the early settlers Edward Wilson's labours in acclimatisation Extraordinary increase of rabbits, hares and sparrows A " Rabbit Suppression Bill" passed by the Legislative Assembly Melbourne as it was thirty years ago The present drainage system Successful application of town sewage to agri- culture Melbourne a sewerless but healthy city. ...98-113 CHAPTER IX. Among the Australian Farmers. The best farming districts in Victoria The overland route between Melbourne and Adelaide The railway joumey to Hamilton A political discussion on the road Tho views of a landholder and a professional man contrast- ed Threats of a sanguinary revolution The secret of Mr. Berry's influence An unsound commercial policy the rock ahead Geelong and its grievance Ballarat and its gold-mines Chinamen as Colonists The de- mand for house-servauta from India Sir Samuel CONTENTS. PAGE. Wilson's estates near Burnimbeet Lake Beaufort Ararat Stawell Gold-mining 2,000 feet below the surface The Grampian Hills without young " Norval" Reminiscences of Scotland The Australian Dun- keld A specimen of the aborigines of Australia Hamilton Introduction to the squatters An impor- tant Parliamentary election A Radical returned in the stronghold of Conservatism How the young squatters amuse themselves. ... ... ...114-131 CHAPTER X. In a Squatter's Home. What is a " Squatter ?" The privileges of a " free-selec- tor" Squatters and free-selectors natural enemies- Searching for an old acquaintance Suspected of being a " loafer" The charms of rural life in Australia No home-sickness amongst settlers A visit to a sheep- run The Australian buggy Civilization in the bush Our amusements at Langford The Victoria Land Tax Act, and the squatters' objections to it The cost of fencing estates The wages of sheep-shearers- Scarcity of black population No dependence to be placed on native labour The rule for valuing sheep- stations Particulars of some estates recently sold An Australian father making provision for his sons as sheep-farmers Farming on borrowed capital The Banks and the squatters An illustration of the bene- fits of a practical knowledge of sheep-farming The class of men who make money in Australia. ...132-148 CHAPTER XL Gold-Mining. Ballarat " A hundred millions worth of gold were found here" A nugget of 1,217 ounces The development of the gold-mining industry Disputes between the Government and the miners The present number of miners and the value of mining plant Falling-off in the production of gold Average earnings of alluvial and quartz miners Going down a gold-mine The history of the New Koh-i-noor Company The process CONTENTS. PAGB. of quartz-crushing Difficulty of extracting gold "Cleaning-up" the batteries Averages of gold -yield per ton of quartz Ballarat and Wynaad quartz compared A payable yield of gold in Australia The treatment of pyrites Professor Liversidge's experiments- Enormous waste of gold in " tailings" The Victoria Commission on the treatment of pyritous quartz- Desirability of having gold bearing quartz-reefs in India examined by competent mining authorities. ...149-166 CHAPTER XII. In a Famous Wine District. The land journey from Melbourne to Sydney The railways and their gauges Prevalence of English names of places Newmarket, Donnybrook, Craigieburn, Broad- meadows, &c. A region of gum-trees Things to be seen along the railway The Valley of the Murray "Wodonga and Albury Australian wines An inspec- tion of Mr. Fallon's cellars The quality and price of different wines Why Australians do not drink their own wines The history of vine-culture Obligations to German vignerons who have settled in the colony- Great natural strength of Australian wines, with statis- tics regarding proof -spirit Area of vine cultivation in South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria Progress of cultivation checked by absence of export trade Efforts made to obtain a reduction of wine duty in England Suitability of Australian wines for blending purposes, and probability of wine becoming a staple export Chinese or Indian labour wanted to produce the wine cheaper Appearance of the Phylloxera Vastatrix in the vineyards, and proposed remedies. ,., ... ... ... ...167-186 CHAPTER XIII. Coaching through the Bush. Waiting for the Coach A dispute about an inside seat The first stage A halt for breakfast Roads through the bush Our horses Our passengers How to sleep safely outside a coach Tho anatomy of an Australian CONTENTS. xi PAGE. coach Coaches and coachmen importations from America A lively bit of road A story illustrative of the danger of travelling in a chimney-pot hat The old Corduroy Road between Geelong and Ballarat A famous Wagga-Wagga whip Talk about " Tich- borne" Letter-boxes in the bush A bush romance A halt for repairs The discomforts of coaching ...187-198 CHAPTER XIV. The " Claimant's" Australian Home. Reasons for thinking that young Tichborne was never an Australian butcher Local evidence adverse to the claimant Dr. Guy on " personal identity," in reference to the Tichborne case Wagga-Wagga as it is to-day Board and lodging for sixteen shillings a week- The Riverina trade Disadvantages of two gauges on the railways "Tichborne House" now a draper's shop The counterpart of the claimant's home The newspapers of Wagga-Wagga Mrs. Leo Hunter on the opening of the railway The character of Wagga-Wagga, past and present A suspicious dis- appearance. ... ... ... ... ...199-208 CHAPTER XV. At Sydney. From Wagga-Wagga to Sydney A Pullman's Car A Chinese Doctor The town of Goulburn The Govern- ment tariff for railway refreshments Arrival at Sydney Capabilities of Port Jackson The climate of New South Wales Healthy appearance of the people Trickett the Champion sculler The beauty of Sydney harbour Streets and public buildings The Botanic Gardens Government House and the Parks Open- air picnics Sydney newspapers The Theatres Im- pressions of Sydney. ... ... ... ,..209-224 CHAPTER XVI. Botany Bay. Port Jackson's sponsor Cook's landing at Botany Bay The first convict settlement now a favourite retreat for picnic and wedding parties The first batch of cou- xii CONTENTS. PAGE. victs The object of the British Government in deport- ing convicts to Australia Glimpses of early days at Botany Bay Selecting a wife Rum as a standard of value Severe punishments An Irish rebellion and its results Convict theatricals The deposition of Governor Bligh Norfolk Island, as a penal settlement The first clergyman, church and school Marsden as a Missionary Bishop Broughton and his labours for the church in Australia The first newspapers Immi- gration of free-men Rapid growth of the convict settlement. ,. 225-243 CHAPTER XVII. Bapid Growth of a Colony. Progress in New South Wales Population Revenue Expenditure Public Debt Agricultural returns- Area of land leased to squatters Returns of live-stock Fine quality of Sheep and Cattle Some facts about " Walers" Production of Coal Large area of gold- bearing quartz Mineral wealth of the colony Manu- facturing industries Rapid growth of commerce The San Francisco route and trade with America- Australian wool shipped via the Suez Canal. ...244-258 CHAPTER XYHL The land for "Poor "Whites." " Queensland as it is" Climate Rainfall Agriculture- Sugar cultivation Enormous sheep-runs Mining- Education Suitability of Queensland for Em-asian emigrants Government aid to immigration The class of people wanted in the colony Eurasian emigration to Sydney in 1854, and its results Probability of future commerce between India and A^^stralia A new market for Indian tea and coffee The Torres Straits route, and its convenience for commerce and passenger traffic From Singapore to Sydney. ... ...259-278 CHAPTER XIX. Some Facts about Tasmania. Statistics about Tasmania Population Trade Prospects of gold-mining Revenue, taxation and public debt CONTENTS. x iii PAGE. Pauperism and public charities Savings' Banks The use of the telegraph and railway Successful acclima- tisation of English fish Average price of land in town and country Yield per acre of principal crops Re- turns of live-stock Signs of improved farming- Birth, death and marriage statistics Personal experi- ences of an Indian officer settled in Tasmania Rise of prices in the last seven years A concise statement of the advantages and disadvantages connected with settling in the colony The failure of the " Castra scheme" State and private schools The demand for small farms suitable for settlers from India Dearth of domestic servants Probable emigration of Hindoos to Australia Tasmania a dull country Its two chief advantages, (1) climate (2) possibility of making pro- vision for " the boys."... ... ... ...279-298 CHAPTER XX. State Education. State education in Victoria : free, undenominational and compulsory Subjects necessary for a standard educa- tion Fees for extra subjects The duties of Boards of Advice in connection with State schools A visit to a State school in Melbourne Subjects taught in the six classes The appointment, salaries and qualifications of teachers Some educational statistics for the year 1876 Opinions on the working of the Victorian system State aid to education in New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, Queensland and Western Australia, where religious instruction is per- missible under certain conditions. ... ...299-315 CHAPTER XXI. The Aborigines of Australia. The Aborigines Protection Society Sparseness of the native population Causes of its decrease since Euro- pean colonisation Reasons for believing the Abori- gines will be extinguished in Yictoria as they have been in Tasmania Are the Aborigines an off -shoot from an Aryan race ? Their physical characteristics- x iv CONTENTS. PAGE. Illustrations of their skill, strength and agility- Marriage customs Infanticide and cannibalism The Corrobboree dance The Australian boomerang The Australian weapon not the same as that used by the Egyptians and Dravidian races in India Hunting tho kangaroo Prospects of Missionary work amongst the Aborigines. ... ... ... ... ...316-331 APPENDIX. Emigration. Emigration to the several Australian Colonies from 1838 to 1875. ,, 335 Land Regulations. New South Wales Victoria South Australia Northern Territory Queensland Western Australia Tasmania New Zealand : Land districts of Auckland, Taranaki, Wellington, Hawkes Bay, Nelson, Marlborough, Can- terbury, Westland, and Otago. ... ...336-359 Mining Regulations. Gold and other Minerals : New South Wales Victoria- South Australia Queensland West Australia Tas- maniaNew Zealand... ...360-367 Statistical Information. Comparative Statistics of the Australian Colonies for the year 1875. 368 & 369 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. CHAPTER I. THE "GIBRALTAR OF THE EAST." Aden Ita uninviting appearance " You must stay here a week, Sir !" Ita strategical importance Political significance of the dispatch of Indian troops to Europe The defences Shipwrecks in the Red Sea and near Cape Guardafui More light-houses wanted Defences of Perim Its first occupation by the East India Company The Bed Sea as a trade route Local trade Large imports of Coal Deterioration of coal by exposure to the sun Cultivation of Mokha Coffee The trade in Ostrich feathers How the wild Ostrich is captured. " HAVE a dive ! Have a dive !" What Anglo-Indian with experiences of the overland route will not associate these words with the grinning, curly-headed, amphibious vagabonds who disport themselves round the steamers anchored at Aden ? I am prepared to admit that, viewed from the deck of a steamer, Aden is not a pleasant place to look at. A visit of a few hours to see the tanks, the camp, the fortifications, and the Parsee shops in the town, is, however, enjoyable enough, especially to passengers who have become a little weary of board- ship life. But I must confess that when I was told that, owing to some delay in the arrival of a steamer, I, a perfect stranger to the place, should have to live a whole week at Aden, the announcement caused me no little consternation. I naturally began to inquire about the hotels. "O yes, there were some hotels," replied my in- formant, but not in reassuring tones. " There was the Hotel De , and the Hotel De , kept by foreigners." He knew nothing about the cooking in these establish- ments, nor whether the management was otherwise un- 2 UNDEE THE SOUTHEBN CEOSS. [CHAP. r. exceptionable, but he thought I should find the hotels warm, and not very comfortable in other respects. He had noted in one establishment that Monsieur le Di- recteur generally appeared in the forenoon in pyjamas, and that Madame, his spouse, was also given to wearing somewhat scanty apparel. My friend's report was not altogether encouraging, and when he undertook to intro- duce me to an English resident who lived in a large, cool house, situated on a prominent rock, I felt grateful to him, more especially when my newly made acquaint- ance insisted on rny partaking of his hospitality during my unavoidable stay at Aden. Being detained at Aden, then, it occurred to me that I might as well "have a dive," as the Somali boys say, into its past and present history, with a glance at its institutions and the most prominent features of its social life. I was enabled to do this the more readily after reading a proof copy of an interesting monograph on the " British Settlement of Aden" by Captain F. M. Hunter, Bombay Staff Corps, and Assistant Political Resi- dent, which has been prepared for Dr. Hunter's Imperial Gazetteer of India. Captain Hunter has collected a good deal of useful information about Aden and its neighbour- hood, and the manners and customs of the inhabitants ; and I am glad to hear that his monograph is to appear intact as an appendix to the Gazetteer. The im- portance of Aden, since the opening of the Suez Canal, has been made patent to the world. It has become the chief coaling and watering station for steamers in the Eastern seas. The prospect of a war in Europe, in the epiing of last year, may be said to have at once opened the eyes of the British Government to the fact that, in the event of hostilities between England and Russia, Aden must be made a second Gibraltar. I was at Aden at the time the Indian troops were steaming up the Red Sea, when the local authorities were seriously con- sidering the desirability and possibility of converting the CHAP, i.j UNDER THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. 3 present "Camp," which guards the little peninsula from invasion from the mainland, into a large fortress capable of holding a garrison of 10,000 men. At the same time, it was announced that Socotra was to be " annexed," or rather re-annexed, for this island formed a portion of the East India Company's dominions in for- mer days. That Socotra would form a healthier and pleasanter station than Aden for British troops, there can be no doubt, and it is surprising that the question of garrisoning the island was never considered before. It is generally admitted that Aden, like Gibraltar, ought to be practically impregnable, and for that reason some con- eiderable extension of the fortifications is likely to be made. Europe was staggered by the recent illustration of the fact that England can, at any moment, draw on the vast military resources of India to defend her interests, if need be, in Europe. The political effect of the dispatch of Indian troops to Malta cannot be gainsayed ; and the success with which the expedition was carried out only adds to the strategical importance of Aden. Apart from strategical considerations, let us glance for a moment at the commercial importance of Aden. Occupied originally as a coaling station for the steamers of the Peninsular and Oriental Company engaged in carrying mails and passengers between England, India and China, it has now become the centre to which all the trade between Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia converges. Even in the days of Ptolemy it was a Kotnan "emporium." What must it become now that the Suez Canal enables the largest steamers to voyage direct from east to west ? It is impossible here to give the value of the trade now conducted through the Ked Sea, but the importance of the new trade route has been set beyond all possibility of dispute. The mere transhipment trade at Aden in 1876-7 was valued at .2,000,000 ; while the actual trade of the port UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. [CHAP. i. itself has trebled since the Canal was opened, the imports and exports in 1875-6 aggregating about three and half millions sterling. Contrast these figures with those of the early days of our settlement in Aden, and it will be seen what vast changes have taken place. From 1839, when the British occupation took place, till 1850, " the settlement did not at first fulfil the promise its geographical position warranted in regard to the deve- lopment of trade, and it was found impossible to divert traffic from its ancient channels, notwithstanding the increased safety to the persons and property of the mer- chants frequenting Aden. Mokha and Hodaida continued to monopolise the valuable trade of Arabia and Africa ; and to remedy this, Aden was declared a free port in 1850 by an Act of the Government of India." The trade of the port then rapidly increased, though it was re- served for the opening of the Suez Canal to demonstrate fully the capabilities and uses of Aden. The following figures show the number of vessels that entered the port in the year 1875-6 : Eoyal Navy Her Majesty's troop ships Indian Government vessels Merchant steamers Foreign ships of War Foreign troop ships Merchant sailing ships 23 5 21 846 19 39 46 999 In the face of these suggestive figures we may smile at Captain Hunter's naive remark that " a vessel of war of some size should always be stationed at Aden." He adds that the Egyptians have seven or eight, and the Turks three or four, men-of-war always in the vicinity. During the early part of 1878 Admiral Corbett was stationed there with the frigate Undaunted, and a corvette which was employed in cruising in the Red Sea. It is doubtful, however, if the defences of the port are adequate to the occasion, remembering the still threatening aspect of CHAP, i.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 5 affairs in Europe. Aden is at present garrisoned by one regiment of British infantry, two batteries of Royal Artillery, a regiment of Bombay Native Infantry, and a local troop of Aden borse, all under tbe command of the Eesident, Brigadier General Loch. Some 12-ton guns have recently been placed in the batteries commanding the sea, and a company of Sappers is hard at work in blasting rock on an island in the harbour, on which it is intended to erect another powerful battery. On the land side the isthmus is guarded " by massive lines of defence, strengthened by a broad ditch, bastions, demi- bastions, redans, and casements, armed with what was formerly considered heavy ordnance ; this line is divided into two parts by a hill which is pierced by a tunnel. A line of scarps running along the Munsoorie range of hills, defended by batteries and towers, connects the two ends of the isthmus defences, and completes the enceinte of the defensible position. Within it are located an arsenal, magazine, barracks for a portion of the garrison, a condenser, capacious water tanks, wells, and a few public buildings. A tunnel 350 yards long connects the isthmus position, as it is called, wi.th the Crater." It may be added that "little Aden," the rock on the opposite side of the entrance to the harbour, is the property of the British Government, and could be easily fortified. The harbour itself might, with some little expenditure on dredging, be made capacious enough for the anchorage of a large fleet. There can be no doubt that Aden might be made a very strong position ; but hitherto money has been expended on its defences somewhat grudgingly, owing to the fact that the place is a heavy burden on the finances of India. In fact it costs India .150,000 a year to keep up. It is a question deserving of consideration, however, whether the vast overland trade of China and Australia might not be fairly asked to contribute something, in the shape of ships' dues, towards its defence. 6 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. i. Apart from the importance of Aden as a strategical point for a naval and military station, it is conveniently situated for rendering assistance to ships in danger or distress in the difficult navigation of the Red Sea, or round Cape Guardafui. An official return of " wrecks and casualties" in the neighbourhood of Aden, since the opening of the Suez Canal, is very instructive in this respect. In 1870 the following casualties occurred. The steamer John Dryden was wrecked on Eas Hafoon : the crew were picked up by a French steamer and brought to Aden, and the Indian Govern- ment steamer Sind saved 1,565 bales of cotton. The steamer Iscander Shah, with 150 pilgrims on board, grounded off Perim : she was hauled off by the Sind, and brought to Aden. The Morning Star, which ran ashore at Guardafui, was also rescued by the Sind. The steamer Harvester was burnt off the Arabian Coast. The steamer Beacon Light was burnt at sea ; but the crew were saved, and brought to Aden. In 1871 the steamers Diamond and Peiho had a collision : both vessels repaired damages at Aden. In 1872, the steamer Bengal grounded three miles east of Aden, and was towed off by another steamer. The Isa was beached at Socotra on account of a leak ; the crew were saved and taken to Aden. The Parnassus was wrecked at Guardafui ; the crew were saved and brought to Aden, and a Government steamer recovered some of the cargo. The Cedric grounded near Perim, but was hauled off by the Govern- ment steamer Kwantung. In 1873 the Woeung, with a cargo valued at .350,000, was wrecked on the island of Kitoma in the Eed Sea ; the Kwantung despatched from Aden, saved a good deal of her cargo. The Singapore was wrecked at Guardafui and sixteen lives were lost ; the Government steamer Dalhousie, sent to the scene of the disaster, rescued the survivors. The Azalea, wrecked off Perim, had much of her cargo saved by the Dalhousie, sent to her assistance. The Quangchow, wrecked at CHAP, i.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 7 Guardafui, had her crew rescued by the Dalhousie. In 1874, the Tenasserim, wrecked off Guardafui, had her crew, which had been well cared for by the Somalis, brought to Aden by the Kwantung. The crew of the Royal Family, wrecked near the same place, were also brought to Aden in safety. In 1875, the Kwantung went to the assistance of two wrecked steamers, the Hong Kong, off Socotra, and the Thomas Bayne, off the Somali Coast. In 1876, the Galatea, which took fire off Aden, was towed into port by the Dalhousie, scuttled, and ultimately saved. The wrecks of the Meikong and Cashmere are too recent to require notice of what was done towards rescuing their passengers and crews. It is tolerably clear from the above list of casual- ties that Aden has become a very important station for the relief of wrecked or disabled steamers in the intricate navigation about Cape Guardafui and the southern end of the Red Sea. The question may well be asked whether the Government ought not to take some steps to prevent these accidents, either by erecting more light-houses, or stationing signal vessels at Guardafui and in the Bed Sea. With a moderate expenditure, it is certain that the majority of the above casualties might have been prevented. With regard to Perim, it should be pointed out that, both for strategic purposes and as a means of signalling the movements of merchant steamers, it ought to be con- nected with Aden by a telegraph wire. It is garrisoned by fifty sepoys from the Native regiment stationed at Aden, who are under the command of a European officer. The detachment is relieved every two months, when practicable. It is a fact that Perim was first occupied by the East India Company in 1799, when Buonaparte had sent an army to Egypt with the intention of ultimately getting to India to effect an alliance with Tippoo Sahib ; so the commotion that was made by the French twenty years ago, when the island was reoccupied by our troops, was 8 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. i. hardly reasonable. The Perim light-house was finished in 1861. The highest point on the island is about 245 feet above the sea ; all attempts to procure water on the island have failed. Until a condensing apparatus was intro- duced, considerable difficulty was sometimes experienced in furnishing the necessary supplies to the troops. Perim is situated a mile and a half from the Arabian, and eleven miles from the African coast. It thus forms an admirable watch-tower to the southern en- trance to the Eed Sea. The trade of Aden is confined principally to coals, coffee, cotton goods, dyes, feathers, gums, skins, shells, silk, spices, sugar and tobacco. In 1875-6 nearly 95,000 tons of coal were imported, the cost of which was about ,2 3s. per ton, put free on board. Coal deteriorates when left for more than a few months in the sun, especially during the hot months, when the gases evaporate, and the coal loses in quality and weight. Great facilities exist for shipping coal, and a steamer can easily take a hundred tons on board in two or three hours. The principal districts where coffee is grown are Lohaia, Hodaida, Kaukaban, Sanna, Hajariya, and Taffai. The Arabian coffee is known in Aden by the name of " Jebeli." The following description of its cultivation may interest planters in other parts of the world. " Coffee is cultivated in the hilly districts of Yemen, and ' there are three distinct states in its culture. First the ' preparation of the seed ; second, the sowing ; and third, ' the bedding out of the plant. The seed is prepared by ' removing the shell or pericarp ; it is then mingled with ' wood-ashes and dried in the shade. Seed thus prepared ' is frequently purchased by planters who seek to avoid ' the trouble of preparation. The seed is planted in pre- ' pared beds of rich Soil, mingled with manure consisting ' of cattle and sheep dung. The beds are covered with ' the branches of trees to protect young plants from the 'heat of the sun during October, Novembei', and CHAP. i.J UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 9 'December. They are watered every six or seven 'days. After about six or seven weeks, the plants ' are carefully removed from the ground in the early ' morning, placed in mat bags, and carried to the 'field or gardens, which are always in the vicinity of ' springs of water. The plants are placed in rows, at a ' distance of from two to three feet from each other, and ' are watered every fortnight ; if necessary the soil is ' manured. After about two, or sometimes three or even ' four years, the tree begins to yield." The quantity of coffee brought to Aden, chiefly on the backs of what Madame Rachel used to advertise as " swift dromedaries," now amounts to about 80,000 cwts. a year. About 7,000 camel loads passed the barrier in the year 1875-6. The value of coffee now exported is something over .300,000 a year, and of the 57,000 cwts. exported in 1875-6, one half went to France. Cotton goods are imported chiefly from Bombay, owing to most of the business being carried on by Parsees ; but the Somalis prefer Bombay-made goods to those of Manchester, and pay an anna per lb. more for them. The fastidious " diver," in private life, objects to a mildewed cloth. Indigo plants grow in abundance in Arabia, but the natives do not manufacture a good dye, and in fact import this article from Madras. The trade in ostrich feathers is valued at some .30,000 a year. Most of the feathers are shipped to England, but a few go to Trieste and Egypt. The feathers come chiefly from Berbera and other ports on the Somali coast, and are plucked from the bird after death. The follow- ing is the ingenious method of capturing the wild ostrich. A female domesticated bird is taken out by the hunter, and when another ostrich is seen in the distance, the man conceals himself as well as he can under the wing of the decoy, and endeavours to approach the wild bird, which usually displays no fear. When the hunter is sufficiently near he shoots his game with a poisoned arrow, and plucks it immediately, The feathers are 2 10 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. i. cleaned by first immersing them in lime water, to destroy the animal oil, after which they are dried in a well ventilated room, where there is a current of air. The business of feather-cleaning is entirely in the hands of the Jews, who are said to make a great mystery of the above simple process. The retail price of the best white feathers ought not to be more than 20 to 30 rupees for a bunch of four a price to which the wily hawkers with the cork-screw ringlets do not always confine themselves, when they do business with newly- arrived passengers from England or Australia. The gum trade is considerable, and perhaps Aden is the only place where the frankincense and myrrh so often referred to in the Bible may be seen in reality. Aden, by the way, is historically connected by Captain Hunter with the verse in the 27th chapter of Ezekiel which runs : " Haran and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilrnad were thy merchants." Among the skins offered for sale by the Arab merchants are those of lions, panthers, zebras, and monkeys, which are not articles that can be picked up readily in more civilized parts of the world. CHAP, n.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 11 CHAPTER II. LIFE AT ADEN. The climate of Aden not so bad as it is painted Absence of vegetation Efforts of Government to cultivate vegetables for soldiers Gardening under difficulties The rain-fall and water-supply The famous tanks Use of condensed sea- water Servants' wages paid partly in water The Somalia A diver's earnings Opening of a Cafe Chantant Things not to be seen at Aden Schools and Churches. THE climate of Aden, like the complexion of a certain personage who must be nameless, is not nearly so black as it is painted. The absence of vegetation gives the place an unusually barren and uninviting ap- pearance to travellers whose eyes are fresh from the contemplation of European or tropical landscapes, and hence a notion is prevalent that the heat must be intense, and the conditions of residence here almost intole- rable. A study of the statistics of the climate will soon remove this erroneous impression. The readings of the thermometer in the Camp at Aden, in the years 1873-4, 1874-5, and 1875-6, showed a mean temperature of 86-3, 83-8 and 82'6, respectively. The greatest heat occurs in May, June, and July, when the readings range from 90 to 102 in the shade ; and the coolest weather is in January, when the thermometer ranges from 66 to 77. The temperature at " Steamer Point," or the harbour, averages two or three degrees below that of the Camp during the hot months, due to the fact of this locality being always open to the sea breezes. In the north-east monsoon the climate is generally cool and pleasant, but during the changes of the mon- soons in May and September, the air becomes very close and oppressive, and the mosquitoes remarkably 12 UNDEE THE SOUTHEEN CEOSS. [CHAP. n. active. Medical men do not consider Aden an un- healthy climate ; and the fact that the mortality amongst Europeans, even including the deaths of sick passengers landed from steamers, averages only 23 per mille, warrants this verdict of the faculty. Experience has shown, however, that both Europeans and natives of India suffer in health from a prolonged residence in the place, and that recovery from any disease or wound, in such a climate, is unusually tedious. When, therefore, symptoms of failing health occur, the doctors do not hesitate to recommend the early removal of their patients to a more genial climate. The exceptionally depressing conditions of residence for soldiers in Aden (it is said there are more suicides here than in any other Indian station) induced the Government to limit the period of service for European regiments to one year, and for Native troops to two years. I have referred to the absence of vegetation. In no place inhabited by Europeans is vegetation more conspi- cuous by its absence. The peninsula does not produce a stick for fire-wood, nor a blade of grass for fodder. And yet it supports a population of some 20,000 people, and considerable numbers of beasts of burden, in the shape of horses, camels, and donkeys. It may be said broadly that the whole food supply for man and beast has to be imported, either from inland or from across the sea. Cut off the supplies brought on camels' backs from the interior, or by ships from the coast and distant ports, and it is not a difficulty to see that the whole population could be starved into capitulation by an enemy. Considerable numbers of sheep, yielding very good mutton, are imported from Berbera on the African coast, while the little "Aden cows," which, however, Aden does not produce, have a reputation of their own both for milk and beef. The difficulty of procuring vegetables is one of long standing, and has occupied the attention of even great minds. That CHAP. II. J UNDEE THE SOUTHEEN CEOSS. 13 "Bayard of India," Sir James Outram, induced the Govern- ment in his day to establish a garden, where green food might be raised for the troops, who were found to suffer from scurvy. Some native gardeners were brought from India ; a piece of ground was selected for cultivation on the northern shore of the harbour ; earth was imported from Lahej, and seeds from England ; and after much trouble, and not a little expense, some celery, lettuce, and knol-khol were produced. In a few years, however, the garden was abandoned, and the gardeners sent to Lahej to instruct the natives in the art of cultivating English vegetables. This experiment succeeded, and some 20,000 Ibs. of vegetables were obtained annually from the Lahej district, whose Sultan was regularly supplied with seed by the authorities at Aden. In 1863 Colonel Mere- wether determined to re-establish the garden at Aden, as also to open another at Alhantah, in a piece of ground of three acres in extent obtained from the Sultan. In 1866, the two gardens produced 37,182 Ibs. of vegetables, which were supplied to the garrison. In 1872, three more acres were placed under cultivation at Lahej, and at present the gardens are actually worked at a profit. Almost every description of European and native vegetable can be grown there ; and in 1875-6 nearly 60,000 Ibs. of vegetables were supplied to the Commissariat department, while 800 Ibs. were sold to the public. Most of the gardeners are sepoys of the Native Infantry regiment stationed at Aden. From the same district of Lahej the principal sup- plies of fodder are obtained ; a camel-load of grass, weighing about three maunds, costs about 2-| rupees ; a similar load of green jowaree or barjee stalks is sold for about 2 rupees. Fire-wood is obtained from the same district, and is very dear, as may be imagined. An at- tempt was recently made to grow the casuarina tree in Aden, but it failed, and General Schneider reported that it was doubtful whether abundant vegetation would 14 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. u. prove an altogether unmixed benefit, as it might render the climate more moist. The difficulties connected with the cultivation of any green thing in Aden, were well illustrated in the house in which I was residing. My kind host, having a decided taste for horti- culture, had attempted to convert a small plot of his court-yard, which, like his house, is " founded on a rock," into a home for some exotic shrubs. None but a man of a naturally contented mind could be satisfied with the results. He of course had to import his soil from, beyond the peninsula I am not sure that some of it did not come from Bombay by P. and 0. boats, and in the absence of rain-water he has to refresh his plants with condensed sea-water. A few cactus plants actually thrive under these horticultural difficulties, but, speaking generally, the shrubs presented a stunted and shabby appearance, such as would ensure a sentence of uproot- ing, and immediate conversion to fire-wood, in a well- regulated garden elsewhere. Some ferns, caladiums, and crotons, imported in pots, looked fairly well, though I doubt if they will live long on condensed water only. About the water supply of Aden, a good deal might be, and has been, written. Nature has at no time been generous to this little peninsula in the matter of its rainfall, or the famous tanks tor storing water would never have been cut out of the rocks many hundreds of years ago. Registers of rainfall have not been regularly kept, but it appears that in the eleven years preceding 1871, the average yearly fall was only 2'45 inches. The maximum fall was 8'3 inches in 1870 ; in 1871 only 24 cents were registered. When a heavy fall occurs, the tanks are filled, and the water is kept in store for use in deficient seasons. The tanks have recently been restored at a cost of about .40,000, but have only been completely filled on three occasions during the last fourteen years, namely in May 1864, May 1870, and Sep- tember 1877. They are capable of holding nearly CHAP. n. J UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 15 8,000,000 gallons. The following description of the tanks is interesting as suggesting what might be done in India in the way of storing water in hill districts, for purposes of irrigation in the plains : " The range of tills which forms the wall of the crater is nearly circular ; on the western side the hills are precipitous, and the rainwater descending from them is carried rapidly to the sea by means of a number of long narrow valleys unconnected with each other. On the interior or eastern side, the hills are quite as abrupt, but the descent is broken by a large table-land occur- ring midway between the summit and the sea level, which occu- pies about one-fourth of the entire superficies of Aden. The plateau is intersected with numerous ravines, nearly all of which converge into one valley, which thus receives a large proportion of the drainage of the peninsula. The steepness of the hills, the hardness of the rocks, and the scarceness of the soil upon them, all combine to prevent any great amount of absorption, and thus a very moderate fall of rain suffices to send a stupendous torrent of water down the valley, which ere it reaches the sea, not unfre- quently attains the proportions of a river. To collect and store this water, the reservoirs are constructed. They are extremely fantastic in their shapes ; some are formed by a dyke being built across the gorge of a valley; in others the soil in front of a re- entering angle on the hill has been removed, and a salient angle, or curve of masonry built in front of it ; while every feature of the adjacent rocks has been taken advantage of, and connected by small aqueducts to ensure no water being lost. The overflow of one tank has been conducted into the succeeding one, and thus a complete chain has been formed reaching to the town." The Government felt from the first that it was not safe to trust to the tanks for an unfailing water-supply, and in 1867 a convention was entered into with the Sultan of Lahej for constructing an aqueduct from two of the best wells in his village of Shaik Othman, seven miles distant from the Camp. This aqueduct cost nearly .30,000 ; add this sum to the =40,000 spent on the restoration of the tanks, and we see that the Government has been liberal in the expenditure on water supply. These figures, however, are insignificant in comparison with the value of the water consumed, as may be gathered when I men- tion that condensed water now sells at Aden for about 3 rupees for 100 gallons. The condensing apparatus has of course added materially to the certainty of supply, and it is a satisfaction to be told that the present stock of condensers, belonging both to Government and private 16 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. n. companies, could produce 46,000 gallons a day, or about 5 gallons a day per man for an army of 10,000 men. The supply is capable of indefinite extension. At present the Government have three condensers producing about 22,000 gallons a day, and worked at the moderate cost of <1,800 a year. This does not, however, in- clude expenditure on coal, which averages about 3 rupees for every 100 gallons of condensed wa,ter. The P. and O. Company's condenser makes about 9,000 gallons a day. Their water is preserved in a large covered cistern, from which it is drawn into a water-boat, when a steamer arrives in port and wants her water-supply replenished. The firms of Luke Thomas and Co., Cowasjee Dinshaw, and Eduljee Maneckjee and Sons, have also condens- ing machines in operation. The water is distributed over Aden in leathern bags, carried on the backs of donkeys and camels. Should your own donkeys turn obstinate and unmanageable on the road, or should the supply at the condensing establishment run short, it may happen, and sometimes does, that you have to go without your morning " tub." In fact it may be laid down as an axiom in Aden, that your ablutions depend on the condenser and the donkey combined. It may happen sometimes that you will not get your bath till late in the day, sometimes not at all. But even this state of things is a vast improvement on twenty years ago. An officer serving here assured me that the Government used to limit his supply of fresh water to five gallons a day, with which he was expected to quench his thirst, cook his food, and keep himself clean. Amusing stories are told in connection with this deficient water supply. A gallant Irishman, now holding a high command in Her Majesty's army, when stationed at Aden, used to implore his neighbours not to use soap in washing, as he wanted their bath-water for his horse ! To this day young subalterns can only afford to allow their dhobies (washermen) twenty-four gallons of water for washing purposes, and the dhoby himself expects a monthly wage CHAP, ii.] UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. 17 of fifteen or twenty rupees. Thus the problem how to keep clean and comfortable in Aden is surrounded with difficulties. The value of fresh water is strikingly brought home to you when you find that all your domestic ser- vants, even to the coolies who pull your punkahs, insist on a portion of their monthly wages being paid in that indispensable commodity. A proposition has been submit- ted to the Bombay Government by Major Ducat, R. E., to bring a supply of fresh water to Aden from the Missana spring, situated forty-three miles distant, and 440 feet above the sea ; but the Government did not feel justified in going to the expense of so much iron piping for the purpose. In the opinion of many of the residents, Major Ducat's scheme would be the cheapest way of supplying Aden with water. I must not forget to mention, in con- nection with this subject, that excellent ice is manu- factured here from the condensed water, and sold to tho public at one anna per Ib. It has all the clearness and firmness of American ice, to which it would be a for- midable competitor in India. The accidental circumstance of having to rise from my seat to throw a newspaper we can't afford water for such a purpose at the sleepy Somali boy who is pulling the punkah, reminds me to say a few words about the curly-headed, copper-coloured, white-teethed individuals who form such an interesting feature in Aden scenery, as viewed from the deck of a steamer. The Somalia are not literally sons of the soil, but immigrants from the African continent over the way. The Somali does not make a good settler in foreign territory, though, while abroad, he has the knack of making himself per- fectly at home. He has no objection to marry, or to beget a family of curly-headed urchins, to perpetuate the diving business round steamers (worth I am credibly informed from 12 to 25 rupees per month to each diver) ; but no sooner has he saved a little money than he deserts his work, his wife, and belongings, without 3 18 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. n. compunction, and returns to his happy hunting grounds, somewhere around Cape Guardafui. The Somalis make excellent boatmen, and take kindly to donkey-driving, and other like exciting occupations ; but they do not care much for continuous hard work, like carrying coal. This labour falls on the Arab and Egyptian coolies, who can easily earn eight annas, or one shilling, a day. The shipping agents complain of the high rates of wages, and seem to think that the Government is anxious to restrict the further importation of foreign labour to the port. When I mention that a " Cafe Chantant" has recently been opened at Aden, it may be inferred that, in Parlia- mentary phrase, we may " report progress," in more ways than one. The company of performers contained nine females and five or six males, all Germans, who played and sang, together or singly, with considerable skill. All the first fiddles and the violincello were played by women, while the wind instruments were worked by the men. A " grand ball" was given one night on the occasion when a French steamer with Mauritius passen- gers had arrived. Of course all the young men in Aden assembled to take part in this " revelry by night." The centre of the Cafe is an open court, with the moon and stars shining brightly overhead. The court is surrounded by covered verandahs where tables are arranged for the accommodation of visitors. At one end there is a raised platform on which the per- formers are seated. There is a considerable foreign element in the audience, which, however, does not contain more than three ladies, one elderly. The band strikes up a lively tune: "Mossoo" cannot repress the emotions awakened by the music, and either bursts out in song, or indulges in fragmentary pas seuls, while the fumes of cigar and cigarette rise in denser clouds than ever. A gentleman with much dark hair on his face, and whose head might serve as a model for a fashionable hair- CHAP, ii.] UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. 19 dresser's window, leads out Madame the proprietress of the Cafe, and begins to polk with effusion : no slurring over the little steps, mind you, but good honest ac- tion, and plenty of it throughout. He is followed by another gentleman in canvas slippers and with a scarf tied loosely round his neck, as though he was suffering from cold, who leads out lady No. 2 to join in the polka. The elderly lady sticks to the refreshment table, and attends to the conversation of a cavalier who gesticulates violently, as though the subject of conversation was of vital importance. Presently the dancing ceases ; half- naked Somali waiters run about, and invite the audience to partake of refreshments ; languishing " subs," come in from the cantonment for an evening's dissipation, and who have been ogling the first fiddles for the last half hour, now advance to the platform, and enter into conversation with, and stand treats to, the fair performers, who show no disinclination to partake of Curacoa, or Bavarian beer. Presently the dance is resumed, to be followed by more refreshments, and yet more dancing. At what hour the " ball" ceased rolling I do not know, though I did learn before leaving, that on a suggestion being made to the director of the band that some of his lady performers should dance instead of play, he remarked that he could not permit his artistes to make such an innovation without charging 40 rupees extra per night for their services. This keen appreciation of art promises well for Aden. No wonder that the Cafe became a nine days wonder, and that men when they met in the evening at Mr. Cowasjee Dinshaw's establishment club, bank, and general emporium, combined to gossip and smoke, should discuss its doings with almost as much interest as they did the telegrams about the political situation in Europe. It has occurred to me that a tolerably long list might be made of things that are not to be seen at Aden. But perhaps the peculiarities of the place, in this respect, are most strikingly illustrated when I say that 20 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. n. there are no sparrows or crows here. One can understand that the crow would not feel at home in a place where he could, literally, never find himself up a tree, but it is strange that the faithful companion of man, the sparrow, should regard Aden as unfit for habitation. If the sparrows could only chirp an explanation, they would pro- bably tell us that the deficient and uncertain supply of rain-water is, from their point of view, an insuperable objection to the place as a permanent home for birds of decent and domesticated habits. Kites sail about as plentifully as they do in India ; they are not over particular, however, about their food, while as regards drink they may perhaps be total abstainers. It is satisfactory to find that the Indian Government has not been unmindful of its responsibilities to the poorer native residents of Aden in the matter of education. The school opened by Colonel Merewether in 1866 now contains some 60 pupils, including such diverse religious denominations as Parsees, Banians, Khojas, Mehmons, Boras, Jews, Mahomedans, and Native Christians. In addition to the above educational establishment, there are the Government military schools and the Roman Catholic Mission schools. The pretty little church, erected from contributions made by P. and O. passengers, meets the ecclesiastical wants of the Protestants, and a Eoman Catholic chapel those of the Catholic inhabitants ; and the Camp is provided with church accommodation on the spot. CHAP. ni.J UNDEE THE SOUTHEEN CEOSS. 21 CHAPTEE m. BOUND FOR AUSTRALIA. From Galle to King George's Sound The Trade-winds Eead- ings of the thermometer A good change of climate for invalids from India Advantages of a holiday trip to Australia The P. and O. steamer Assam Our Australian Passengers A Melbourne Politician Loyalty of the Colonists Political aims of Young Australia Danger of too much interference from the Home Government Prospects of federation for purposes of defence The revival of Protection A politician's and merchant's views contrasted Climate of Western Australia Political condition of the colony Advan- tages of transportation to " gentlemen" convicts. I AM on board the Peninsular and Oriental Com- pany's steamer Assam, bound from Galle to King George's Sound, a straight, unbroken run, in a south-easterly direction, of 3,330 miles the longest road without a turning I have ever travelled over. It is, moreover, a lonely sea route, few sailing ships having occasion to frequent it, while the only steamers ever seen here are those carrying the monthly mails to and from Eng- land and Australia. Indeed, the only familiar object about these latitudes is the beautiful constellation of the Southern Cross which, at nights, appears high in the heavens, instead of being down low on the horizon as at Madras. "Can't make out why I am so squeamish to-day; always thought I was a good sailor before," I groan as I sway backwards and forwards in my berth, in response to the graceful but uncomfortable motions of the ship. "It's the Trades," mumbles my neighbour in the upper berth, a stout man who is half asleep. His berth creaks ominously after this effort of conversation : if it 22 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. in. came down it would flatten me to a pancake. I am in that state of indifference, however, that I contemplate this awful possibility with calmness. "It is not the Trades," I answer somewhat petu- lantly. " A man who has crossed the Bay of Biscay in a gale, and was none the worse for it, is not likely to be knocked over by a paltry blow like this." And yet, on further reflection, I feel the Trades must have something to do with my unhappy condition, or why did the fat of that boiled mutton yesterday look KO sickly yellow, and the capers so sickly green ? The " Trades" referred to in the above conversation require explanation. People familiar with the sea-routes of the southern hemisphere talk thus familiai'ly of the south-east trade winds. At Galle, I noticed that most of the passengers bound for Australia spoke with a certain pride and fondness of these winds, as though they had a proprietary right in them. I had been prostrated by fever after leaving Aden. " The Trades will soon set you to rights again," says one passenger cheerily. " A blow off Cape Leuwin will be just the thing for you," says another. " In three days from Galle," re- marked the doctor argumentatively, " you will find yourself in a cooler climate, and in a fortnight you can be enjoying an Australian winter." What wonder, then, that I form favourable antici- pations of the trade winds, and feel an anxiety to be off to the south ? We have not long to wait. The transfer from the Southampton steamer of the comparatively small amount of cargo for Australia is made in a few hours, and by 8 o'clock on Thursday evening, the 30th May 1878, the Assam is steaming cautiously out of Galle Harbour, the buoys being lighted up to facilitate our navigation from this dangerous port. A good south-west breeze is blow- ing, and we start off at a speed which promises great things in the way of a rapid passage to Australia. By noon next day, or in fifteen hours, we have run 188 miles. The CHAP, in.] UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. 23 monsoon wind is still stronger the day after, and, being in our favour, the Captain puts on all sail, and we score a run of 306 miles in twenty-four hours. On the same day, the 1st of June, we " cross the line," (an event that has lost all importance on board steamers,) get beyond the influence of the south-west monsoon, and encounter a slight wind coming from the south or south east our friend the " trades." Our run in the next twenty-four hours is reduced to 258 miles ; the next day we register 280, the next 241, the next less than 200, and by and bye we dwindle down to about 180. In short, thanks to the strength of the trade winds, we find, after being at sea a week, that we have not got over much more than half of our journey, and that we shall be two or three days longer in getting to King George's Sound than we had calculated on. So much for the effect of an ill-timed south-east trade wind on the progress of a steamer bound from Galle to Australia : a wind that, while it is singularly soft, fresh, and invigorating to passen- gers, is almost as formidable an object for a steamer to contend against as is the south-west monsoon in the Indian Ocean. Now for the other side of the picture. Considering the sufferings many invalids undergo in crossing the Indian Ocean and Red Sea, before getting to Europe, the rapid change of temperature that may be ensured, at this season of the year, by a few days' journey to the south, is well deserving the attention of Indian doctors. In many cases of sickness a cool temperature is one of the chief aids to recovery ; and this being so, it is worth inquiring whether the sea voyage to Australia might not be oftener prescribed with advantage both to the patient's health and purse. The following readings of the thermometer, taken from the official log of the Assam, will best illustrate what I mean. It is only necessary to say the thermometer is hung in a small room by the Captain's cabin, sheltered, like the whole of the quarter 24 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. in. deck, by the usual canvas awning, and that it therefore fairly represents the temperature in the shade. HEADINGS OF THE THERMOMETER BETWEEN GALLE AND KING GEORGE'S SOUND. 30th May, 1878 at Galle i 31st at sea, Lat 3N 1 June on Line 2 Lat 4S 3 8 4 11 5 14 6 16 7 19 8 22 9 94 10 27 11 30 12 33 13 (off the Sound) 35 Range it i 24 hours. min. 80 to 90 max. 83 88 84 , 85 80 , 85 80 , 84 80 , 82 80 , 83 77 , 80 76 , 80 74 , 75 66 , 72 70 , 76 65 , 74 60 , , 70 60 , , 68 The temperature at Galle was unusually low for the season of the year, to be accounted for perhaps by the rains they had just been having there ; but, taking the above figures as they stand, they demonstrate plainly enough that, at this season of the year, an invalid voyaging from Galle to the South can in a fortnight get into a temperature twenty degrees cooler than that of India. I do not pretend to say what are the advantages or disadvantages of this change of temperature ; that is a matter for the doctors ; I am content with pointing out the possibility of obtaining the change, and recording its beneficial effect in my own person. "If I were an Indian officer," said an Australian gentleman to me, " I should spend my two months' furlough every year by running down to Australia and back." Making some allowances for the preju- dices in favour of his own country, there is really a good deal to be said in favour of his argument. No hill retreat in India supplies such a gradual and yet thorough change of temperature as a voyage to Austra- CHAP, in.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 25 lia and back must give. The voyage can be done well within the sixty days, for this steamer, which left Bom- bay on the 24th May, is due at that port again about the end of July, and, in the meantime, will give such passen- gers as return by her to India an opportunity of spending three weeks in Australia. This means an opportunity of taking a hasty glance at Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, and Tasmania, and of hunting up any friends and acquaintances one may have in the colonies. The cost of the trip can hardly be considered excessive. The return fare, first class, from Bombay to Melbourne is .72, which, it should be borne in mind, includes the cost of board and lodging for about forty- five days out of the sixty days which military men can claim as their furlough. On the whole, perhaps a man would live as cheap on a P. and O. steamer as he could at an Indian hill station in the fashionable season of the year. It is scarcely necessary to say anything about the merits or demerits of P. and O. boats. It should be men- tioned, however, that two of the steamers on the Aus- tralian line, the Assam and Siam, each about 3,000 tons burden, are of somewhat different construction to the Company's ordinary fleet. These were built about five years ago by Messrs. Caird and Co., of Greenock, for the German Lloyds Company, and ran for some time between Bremen and New York, engaged principally in the emi- gration trade. German emigration, however, is much slacker than it used to be, and Lloyds Company deter- mined to sell some of their steamers. The P. and O. Company became the purchasers of the sister boats, the Von Molike and the Von Boon, and converted them into the Assam and Siam respectively, the former being com- manded by Captain N. Stewart and the latter by Captain Hector. Having been built chiefly for passenger traffic, the steamers are well adapted for the Australian mail route, over which but little cargo is carried. The boats, 1 26 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. in. howevei', have plenty of room for cargo, should it be forthcoming, as the lower decks which, across the Atlantic, used to be devoted to the accommodation of second class passengers, have been converted into storage rooms. But cargo is not a necessity as ballast for these steamers. The third steamer on the route is the Tanjore, com- manded by Captain Fentiman, and well known on the Indian side. It speaks well for the general seawor- thiness of the P. and 0. boats, and the skill and care with which they are commanded, that no steamer has ever been lost on the route between Galle and Australia, though the Company has been carrying the mails now for a period of over twenty years. The old Ceylon once had the misfortune to break her screw in mid ocean, and turned up at Melbourne about three weeks after she was due, and when many feared she was at the bottom of the sea ; but this is the most serious accident that has ever occurred on the Australian line. Yet the steamers now and then encounter very heavy weather in these waters, especially off Cape Leuwin, or between the Cape and Melbourne. During the present voyage, however, the weather, off the Cape, has been the mildest and most enjoyable we have had, the sea being smooth and the temperature as genial as it is in the Mediterranean. The accommodation for first class passengers in the Assam is everything that can be desired. The cabins are as lofty and well ventilated as those in the Peshawur and Khedive, and the port-holes are so high from the water that it is rarely necessary to close them. The saloon is a beautiful room, fitted up in gorgeous style with polished maple and oak, and the door-pillars and cornices covered with gilt. The Australian gold-miner must feel quite at home in the midst of such glitter. One marked peculiarity in the decorations is a scries of large oval pictures, in massive gilt frames, fitted securely against the sides of the saloon. These pictures, painted in oil and covered with glass, CHAP, in.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CEOS3. 27 are supposed to illustrate leading incidents in Count Moltke's life, some of the battle pieces being re- presentations of events in the late Franco-German war. The sky-lights are not so large as in the ordinary steamers, nor is it necessary they should be so in this climate. There is a pleasant little room for passengers of both sexes to sit in at the top of the companion ladder, and the gentlemen are provided with a capital smoking room " for'ard." It is hardly neces- sary to add that the steamer is provided with a piano and other sources of recreation and amusement. The 'table' is invariably good, being liberally supplied with good Australian beef and mutton, not the tinned article, but fresh from the ship's butcher. I notice, how- ever, there are no Australian wines on boai'd. The in- ternal economy of the ship is in the hands of an excellent purser, and should be left there if the Company is desirous of studying the comfort of passengers. An attempt has recently been made to do without pursers on board some steamers, the duties of supervision devolv- ing on a head steward and the Captain. The result, so far as I have seen and heard, is not satisfactory. A head steward has not sufficient influence over his subordinates to preserve the necessary amount of order ; and though the Captain, under the new system, is expected to receive any complaints from passengers, as a matter of fact passengers do not like to trouble him. One does not care to confide to the ancient mariner in charge of our very lives trivial grievances about the loss of a shirt stud, or the flavour of the morning tea. I venture to predict that P. and O. passengers will generally vote for the re-establishment of pursers. The passenger freight of this steamer alone, on her last voyage from Australia, was over .10,000, a proof that passengers' interests are worth consulting. Our passengers may be regarded as fairly repre- sentative of Australian life and character. We have 28 UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CKOSS. [CHAP. irr. a leading politician in the shape of a member of the Victorian Parliament, and a former cabinet minister, who has a good deal to say in favour of pro- tection as against free trade, who sees advantages in paid members of Parliament, and upholds the recent Crom- wellian proceedings of Mr. Berry's government. One gathers in conversation with him some glimmerings ef the aspirations of Young Australia. Absolute separation from the mother country is not to be thought of j at least ninety-five per cent, of the people would be opposed to such an idea. But the political tie should be of the slightest texture, and nominal rather than real. Above all, the reins of control should not be pulled so vexatiously by a few clerks in the London Colonial Office, who, as a rule, are ignorant of, or indifferent to, the feelings of the colonists. There will be always danger of a break in the relations between the colonies and mother country so long as colonial Governors are subject to the various whims and orders of Whig and Tory secretaries of state, holding, it may be, divergent views on colonial as on other politics. What the colonists desire is that their Governor should be an officer appointed, like a judge of a supreme court of judicature, to carry out certain Acts of Parliament, and not merely to act as a political agent of the Colonial Office. The colonists are willing to trust to the impartiality of a Governor who is left un- trammelled by the Colonial Office, but they will always regard him with distrust when they have cause to feel he is the tool of a cabinet minister in London. This is a view of colonial politics deserving of more attention than it has yet received in England. As a small but not uninfluential section in the Victorian Parliament is pledged not to accept office while a colonial ministry is liable to have its acts over- ridden by a Secretary of State, it is not improbable that the present political relations between the mother country and her colonies will have to undergo some CHAP. ni.J UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 29 modification at no distant date. Where, however, both mother country and colonies are so well dis- posed towards each other, there should be no serious obstacle to removing the present causes of irritation in the latter. In reply to an inquiry as to the course the colonists would adopt in the event of a war between England and Russia, my informant stated 1 that the chief colonies had already taken active steps in the direction of self-defence. A regular and paid force of artillery is already in existence in Victoria for manning the forts and vessels of war j and this force could be sup- plemented by strong bodies of efficient volunteers. In case of necessity the volunteer force could Jje largely increased ; and old volunteers have been constituted into- a reserve force. Altogether, if a Russian expedition ever reached Australia, it would find a difficulty in landing near any of the chief cities ; if it did land anywhere,, it would meet with a determined resistance. Australia being an island whose entire sea-coast is colonised by the English race, there would never be any serious difficulty in arranging for its defence from a. foreign power. The colonies would form a federation for purposes of defence ; and a few years hence they will probably possess a sufficiently powerful fleet of their own for the protection of their coast. It is encouraging to- find the colonists acknowledging their self-dependence, and so confident in their ability to defend themselves.? * The Australian Colonies are no longer garrisoned by Queen' a regiments. The volunteer forces of Victoria include cavalry, artillery,, engineer and torpedo corps, and riflemen, and on 31st December 1876 amounted to 3,298 men, 173 commissioned officers and 216 non-com- missioned officers. There were 7 troops of cavalry, 10 corps of artillery, 1 engineer corps, 1 torpedo and signal corps, and 12 corps of riflemen. The naval forces consist of the turret ship Cerberus and the old line of battle ship Nelson, now being converted into an armour-clad. There- is a naval-reserve of about 250 men. The expenditure on the land forces in 1876 was .40,698-10-3, and on the naval forces .17,535-14-2. In New South Wales, the volunteer forces comprise a naval brigade of 240 men, 18 cadets, 17 superior officers and 24 petty officers ; 11 batteries of artillery, numbering 779 of all ranks ; 2 battalions of riflemen in Sydney, 1,132 strong ; 17 country corps of 1,435 men, and 9 cadet corps with a strength of 925. The total force of the colony, including staff, is 4,695. men. In South Australia tke enrolment o citizens as soldiers only 30 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. HI. A Melbourne merchant, on the other hand, takes different views of internal colonial affairs to those above enunciated. He protests that the policy of protection which the Victorian Parliament has deliberately adopted is an unwise policy, the evil effects of which are already seen in a diminished foreign trade, and a falling-off in immigration. High protective duties must, in the long run, injure the colony by driving the people to cheaper markets ; the encouragement given to a few woollen manufactures, as against the importation of foreign made goods, is contrary to sound principles of economy ; a few local manufacturers benefit by the arrangem ent, but the mass of consumers must suffer. Finally, he thinks the protective system is the off-spring of the paid " Parliament men," who generally represent agricultural as against com- mercial interests, and of whom he speaks with as much contempt as Samuel Pepys does of the members of the British House of Commons in the days of Charles II. From all this I gather that there are two views of politics in Victoria as elsewhere. Among other passengers are two gentlemen con- nected with the horse trade from Austi-alia to India and Singapore ; the family of an old Indian officer settling in New Zealand ; three or four Indian officials of sorts going on leave, or for the benefit of their health ; a manager of an Australian bank returning from leave to England ; two professional began in 1877. About 1,000 men are now under military instruction, and the present Governor, Sir William Jervois, who is understood to have prepared a plan of defence for all the colonies, is giving a considerable impetus to the volunteer movement. The volunteer forces of Queensland number 1,200, comprising 2 batteries of artillery, 6 companies of riflemen, a company of engineers, and a cadet corps. Several companies of light cavalry are also in course of organization, and a naval brigade and a torpedo corps are being formed. In New Zealand, the volunteer forces are : cavalry 626, artillery 587, engineers 149, riflemen 2,916, naval forces 350, cadets 1,452, making a total of 6,080. In addition, there is, in the north island, the armed constabulary force, numbering in officers and men 728. Tasmania, though it has so many old military officers settled in the Colony, has not yet organized her volunteers. Western Australia has 1 troop of horse artillery, 2 companies of cavalry, and 4 companies of riflemen, a total of about 450 men. CHAP, in.] UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. 31 musicians (ladies) going on a musical tour ; two or three young married couples, Australians by birth or residence, who have been on visits of pleasure to Europe ; a young merchant bound for Port Darwin, where he has established himself successfully in business ; an- other young merchant, the head of an old Hamburg house, established at Samoa in the South Seas ; a jolly- looking sheep-farmer, hailing from the Lincolnshire fens, but settled, like Eobinson Crusoe as regards sur- roundings, in an out-of-the-way region known as Nicholl Bay, on the north coast of Western Australia ; and, lastly, an Indian "loafer," put on board in a coatless and generally dilapidated condition, and with strong evidences about his person of being the possessor of only one shirt. The indifference of Australians to long distances is well illustrated by the sheep-farmer bound for Western Australia. After landing at King George's Sound he will have to travel, by coach or on horse-back, right across the colony from south to north, a distance of some 1,500 miles. In short, he will return to a tropical region again. This gentleman speaks in warm terms of the splendid climate of a great portion of that colony, which is protected alike from the hot land winds of the north, and the keen sea winds of the south, which tell to the disadvantage of the climate of Victoria. Politically, Western Australia is the most backward of all the colonies ; in fact it is still in part a " Crown Colony," that is, a colony governed by the Colonial Office without the aid of local representative institutions. True, it possesses a Legislative Council, but as the Government reserves the right of nominating a certain number of the members, the colonists feel that they are still, as it were, in leading strings. This precaution is observed (though the late Governor, Mr. Weld, thought it unnecessary) on account of the strong convict element in the population. No convicts are now sent out from England, but a con- siderable number of the old life-convicts are still main- 32 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. in. tained in the colony. Most of these are at large on what is known as " conditional pardon," which forbids their ever returning to the United Kingdom. Many conditional pardon men have become successful settlers. The renowned Redpath, author of the great railway forgeries some years ago, was enabled under this system to start in life again at Fremantle by keeping a school. He has now left for Germany, but while in the colony he maintained his reputation for the good manners and gentlemanly appearance which charac- terised him as a railway clerk years ago ; for a traveller, staying at a Perth hotel, having inquired who his agreeable but unknown partner was who had cut in at a game of whist one evening, found, to his amaze- ment, it was Redpath, the quondam forger. Some of the old convicts are connected by blood ties with very high families in England, most of them having been trans- ported for the aristocratic crime of forgery. Considering the opportunities that convicts have in a colony like Western Australia of forgetting, and atoning for, their past errors of life, in some healthy and honest occu- pation where the labourer is worthy of his hire, one cannot regret, for their sakes, that they were sent across the sea, instead of being confined, like the " un- fortunate nobleman" of twenty-six stone celebrity, within the dreary and hopeless precincts of Dartmoor or Portland. Erring gentlemen now pining in English prisons have good reason to regret that the days of transportation to Botany Bay and Swan River have gone by, never to return. CHAP, iv.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 33 CHAPTEE IV. A GLANCE AT WESTERN AUSTRALIA. King George's Sound, the " finest harbour in the world" A first greeting from Australia The representatives of the Press A race for the Telegraph Office The town of Albany Proposed railway to Perth Sir John Coode's proposed har- bour at Fremantle A Governor's view of the political needs of the Colony The Colonists' demand for responsible government Convict element in the population Agricul- tural condition of the Colony The pearl-fisheries and trade in pearl-shells The natives as pearl-divers Convict labour Travelling with a convicted murderer A convict Editor Some failings of the Colonists A bright future in store. THE moon was shining brightly as the Assam steamed full speed past the island light-house which marks the entrance to King George's Sound. The fact that the harbour can be entered so easily at night may be regard- ed as one of its many advantages. Others are that it is protected from every wind, that it is well situated for a harbour of refuge, that it is large enough to afford shel- ter, if necessai-y, to the whole fighting fleet of Great Britain, and that, at a moderate outlay, it could be made impregnable from the sea. In short, Nature's handiwork at King George's Sound is complete, and one can only marvel at the mysterious dispensations of Providence by which a position of such importance, commercially and strategically, should be found in a locality where, at all events at present, it is of such little service to man. The Sound may be described roughly as of oval shape, about thirteen miles in length and nine in breadth. Over nearly the whole of this area deep water is found, where the largest ships can anchor in security. Two islands situated at the entrance, or southern end, of the Sound, act as breakwaters, and protect the anchorage from the heavy 5 34 UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. [CHAP. iv. seas, to which it would be otherwise exposed during a gale from the south ; from every other direction it is protected by the surrounding high lands. These islands and a headland could be easily fortified, and with a few heavy guns posted 011 them, the Sound would be unapproachable to an enemy. At its northern end is a narrow strait, through which ships can pass into an inner harbour, of smaller dimensions, (about six miles in length by three in breadth) but admirably adapted for commer- cial purposes. Ships of the largest size can enter the smaller harbour, known as the " Princess Royal harbour," and two sailing craft, loading with sandal wood, were lying alongside the pier which runs out from the shore into nearly twenty feet of water. There is nothing to pre- vent this pier being extended into still deeper water, so as to accommodate the largest vessels. In some parts of this inner harbour the water is so deep, even close to shore, that dockyards for building and repairing ships could be easily constructed, and the country around, extending right away to Cape Leuwin, is thickly wooded with timber well adapted for ship-building purposes. In short, King George's Sound has all the capabilities of being made the Portsmouth or Plymouth of Australia. It was not till we neared the entrance to the inner harbour that the Assam slackened speed, on espying a dark object on the water which proved to be the pilot boat. Presently a voice comes from an up-turned face under the bows : " Captain Stewart." "Sir." "Have you any infectious or contagious disease?" (The ques- tion seemed to be addressed to the Captain individually, but was doubtless meant for the ship.) " None whatever," replies our Captain decidedly. This was our first gi'eeting from Australia. In a few moments the pilot had scramb- led up the side of the boat, when he was immediately surrounded by a crowd of passengers eager to know the latest news. " Was there going to be war ?" " Had the Congress settled anything ?" " Who won the CHAP, iv.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 35 Derby ?" With a hasty explanation that the telegrams would be sent on board, the pilot disappeared on the bridge, and steered us into the inner harbour. The anchor had hardly been dropped when the steamer was invaded by three or four excited individuals inquiring wildly for the purser. They were news-agents, the repre- sentatives of the principal Australian papers, and were all equally anxious to be the first served with the tele- grams and summaries of mail news sent down from Galle for distribution, by telegraph wire, to the chief Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney papers, which would be able to publish them the following morning. There was quite an exciting race among these gentlemen in getting to shore, each trying to reach the Telegraph Office first. The man in the winning boat told me afterwards, with a smile of triumph, that he had won by twenty seconds, and had thus secured the exclusive use of the telegraph line for a period of two hours. The Australian papers spend a good deal of money in having mail news telegraphed from King George's Soimd, the Melbourne Argus having two or three columns of such news forwarded by every mail. As the steamer from the Sound takes about four days to run to Adelaide, six or seven to Melbourne, and nine to Sydney, the advantage of using the telegraph wire is sufficiently obvious. The Australian Governments have wisely encouraged newspaper proprietors to employ the telegraph as much as possible, by fixing a very liberal tariff for press messages. A private telegram of ten words from King George's Sound to Adelaide, a distance of over 1,000 miles, costs only two shillings, and to Melbourne three shillings; a reduction of seventy-five per cent, on these charges is made for press telegrams, so that a press message of two thousand words can be sent from the Sound to Adelaide for ^85. The night being beautifully clear, and the water in the harbour as smooth as a mill-pond, I determined to explore Albany, as the township that has grown up at 36 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. [CHAP. iv. one end of the inner harbour is called, late as it is. A bargain is soon struck with a fat, burly boatman, a favour- able advertisement of the salubrity of the colony, but whose bullet-like head and hard features are irresistibly suggestive of the treadmill, who agrees to take a party of ten to shore at four shillings a head. The distance being so short we demur to the charge, but on being informed that it is the tariff fixed by the local authorities for night work, we bow to the inevitable, and descend into the boat. The fat boatman pulls off his coat to row, and reveals a shirt of a particular Scotch plaid which is at once detected by one of our number as that worn by the 42nd Highlanders. We find on inquiry that the boatman belonged to that regiment from 1854 to 1857, but he does not tell us why he left it to come to Western Australia. To ask him this question point blank would be, perhaps, treading on delicate ground. One of the disadvantages of living in the colony must be the suspi- cion with which strangers regard you : though a perfectly harmless and innocent being, you may be mentally put down as a cut-throat in disguise. Whatever his previous history, the boatman seems happy enough now ; he sings snatches of Burns's song " A man's a man for a' that" as he and his mate pull us to shore, and informs us that he was born at a village close by John O'Groats. It is pleasant to notice, too, that he is a law-abiding man, for when on our return journey some additional passengers wanted to enter our boat, he steadily refused to take them. " Let 'em come in, feyther ; the gentlemen wont say anything," pleaded a young man on the pier. " I aint a goin to break the law for the sake of a few shillins," replied the 'feyther', with what seemed a nice discrimination of the nature of the position. We remarked that the Port regulations appeared strict. " Strict," said the boatman, rather contemp- tuously, " a mate o' mine was fined four pounds tother day for carrying over his licensed number. Lor' CHAP. iv.J UNDEE THE SOUTHEEN CEOSS. 37 bless, you Sir, a man cant take a drop o' drink here without havin' the police down on him, when he is sure to be fined or locked up by the magistrate." Curiously enough this man's complaint constitutes what may be called a colonial grievance, for the local Parliment is now urging on the Government the reduction of the Police force, on the ground that it is too elaborate and costly, too military in its organisation, and too strict with the people. Landing at a fine jarrah-wood pier, we find a number of young men of provincial aspect and gait loitering about, probably with the object of having a stare at the passen- gers. After visiting the Post Office and Telegraph Office, which, with the other public offices, are conveniently situ- ated at the head of the pier, we stroll up the principal street. In the soft moonlight we see a number of bright- looking houses, mostly two storeyed, but some without any upper storey. Most of the houses have gardens or yards attached, and there is a good deal of sawn timber about. Before we have proceeded a hundred yards, we pass three inns, a church, and the police station. We enter the " London Hotel," where a buxom English matron serves us with some bottled stout and excellent bread and butter. She presides over a comfortable and well manag- ed house of entertainment. We proceed next to a small grocery shop to seek for Melbourne newspapers. Though it is mid-winter in these parts, and near mid-night, the proprietor is serving behind the counter in his shirt sleeves. Not only can he furnish us with Melbourne newspapers a month old, but with excellent apples and oranges grown in the neighbourhood of the Sound. His shop is crowded, like a country grocer's in England, with a varied assortment of articles, not forgetting that mild effervescing beverage known as ginger-beer. A fire shines brightly in the Police station, across the street, and as we approach, a member of the force, dressed in a neat semi-military uniform, comes out, and politely 38 UNDER THE SOTJTHEEN CROSS. [CHAP. iv. informs us that there are eight policemen stationed at Albany, that the population of the place is about fourteen hundred, and that it is the head-quai'ters of a magistrate, who is the chief Government official, in both judicial and administrative affairs, of the district in which Albany is situated. I soon discover, indeed, that Albany is a more important place than it has been represented to be. I was told to expect a miserable-looking village of about half-a-dozen houses, and as many coal yards ; but I find a small busy-looking town, not unlike some of the seaside places on the Kentish coast. A resident, who was born in the place in 1846, whose birth stands third on the re- gister of the district, who has lived there all his life, and is now one of the principal merchants, tells me that Albany is growing in importance every year, that its own trade, import and export, irrespective of the trade that passes through it to the rest of the colony, is valued at over ,200,000 ; that it already has one bank, and is about to have another ; that it has made three attempts to start a newspaper, and one attempt to work a gold mine ; that the residents are generally well-to-do, and one of them is worth at least =10,000 a year; and that it possesses one of the finest climates in the world, in which the residents rarely suffer from any more serious ailment than colds. Its healthy and agreeable climate makes it a favourite resort in the hot season for residents in the northern districts, who journey to the Sound for change of air and sea-bathing ; and it is argued, not without reason, that it would make an excellent sanitarium for India. The settlers in the district sur- rounding the Sound are also fast increasing, there being sixty stations now where ten years ago there were only eight. One circumstance that has retarded the growth of the southern part of the colony is the compara- tive barrenness of the soil, and the prevalence of a poison- ous plant in the pasturage, which has proved very des- CHAP, iv.] TTNDEE THE SOUTHEBN CEOSS. 39 tractive to sheep and cattle. It is now being found that acclimatized cattle refuse to eat this plant, and hence the gradual occupation of the land by settlers, and the in- crease in the trade of the Sound. In fact the inhabitants of Albany are beginning to hold up their heads ; they already talk largely of possessing the only natural port of the colony; they pooh-pooh Sir John Coode's scheme for a breakwater at Fremantle, the port of Perth, the capital, and maintain that it would be far better to spend the money on a railway from Perth to the Sound. The distance between the two places is about 260 miles. The present road to Perth is the one over which the overland mails are carried, and by which passengers by P. and O. steamers have to travel. It is a tedious journey, the country being very sparsely inhabited, the stages long, and the resting-houses uncomfortable. One passenger informs me that he drove over the road with a pair of horses and a buggy in six days ; and he had to sleep two nights under a gum tree, his horses being too exhausted to reach the required resting-houses. Another passenger on board, being permitted to use horses belonging to the Police stations along the march, rode from Perth to the Sound in four days, only using five horses. The cost of a pair of horses and buggy for the journey is <30. It is estimated that a railway from Perth to the Sound could be constructed, on the narrow gauge, for .3,000 a mile, and such a railway would open up a most fertile part of the country, giving an outlet to the magnificent forests of jarrah, red gum, and mahogany, which are found over a great portion of the colony. Sir John Coode re- cently visited the Sound and may have something to say to this scheme, more especially as there seems but little likelihood of either of his breakwater plans for Freman- tle, (one estimated to cost about ,200,000, the other .630,000) being adopted, on account of the outlay they would involve being larger than the colony can afford. 40 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. iv. The engineer of the Plymouth breakwater could hardly fail to be impressed with all the natural advantages of King George's Sound as a harbour and port, and it is hoped that one result of his visit will be to impress on the Home and Colonial Governments the necessity of effectually securing such an advantageous position, in the event of war between England and any other maritime power. At present there is not a gun to protect King George's Sound from being occupied by a hostile cruiser. To allow this fine harbour to fall into the hands of an enemy, would be a piece of folly that England and her Australian Colonies might rue for many a day. Sir H. Ord, E. E., the present Governor of Western Australia, in opening his last Parliament, read an address which may be supposed to give a fair view of the political situation around him, as seen from the stand- point of an official who feels he is, above all, the servant of the Colonial Office in London, rather than of the 'thirty thousand colonists whom he rules. The Governor dwelt at considerable length on the subject of public works. The colony had now been connected with the outer world by means of the telegraph ; he did not anticipate this costly work would at once repay the colony, though he believed it would prove remunerative in the long run. The railway between Geraldton and Northampton would be opened for traffic by the end of the year. The proposed line for connecting the port of Fremantle with Perth and Guildford had been sanction- ed by the Colonial Office ; and he asked the House to pass a Bill enabling him to raise the necessary capital 011 loan for executing the work. He suggested that the railways already completed in the northern districts should be called the Northern Railway, and those about to be constructed in the eastern districts the Eastern Railway not a matter of over- whelming importance, perhaps. The unsatisfactory condition of the roads in the colony had attracted his attention from the first, CHAP, iv.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 41 and he had suggested to the Secretary of State the propriety of raising a loan to expend on their improve- ment. He invited the earnest attention of Parlia- ment to this subject, as also to the report of Sir John Coode on the proposed Fremantle harbour. The colony had expressed its willingness to spend .100,000 on a harbour project, but Sir John Coode is of opinion that nothing can be done in the way of providing a harbour for less than <240,000 ; while the scheme he would prefer to see adopted is estimated to cost ,638,000. The Governor suggested certain modifications in the organization of the Police, but warned the Parlia- ment against the dangers of reducing the force. He suggested the necessity of improving the mail communi- cation with the neighbouring colonies. The scheme of assisted immigration had, in accordance with the wishes of the House, been discontinued, the selection of emi- grants not having been made satisfactorily. His govern- ment had made arrangements for the disposal of the guano deposits on the Lacepede islands, where some 40,000 tons of manure were available for export. The Governor expressed his satisfaction with the condition of the Volunteer force, and would be glad to see it still further developed. Finally, he announced various Bills for the consideration of his Parliament, most of them being merely amendments to acts already in force. In this programme the vital question in West Aus- tralian politics is not even alluded to. "Why should we be deprived of responsible Government?" is the complaint of four-fifths of the politicians in the colony. Under the present constitution the colony has a Legislative Council about half of whose members are nominated by the Governor, and the rest elected by the tax-payers. In such a Chamber the Gover- nor will, practically, always command a majority ; and hence the indictment that the Government does not rule in accordance with the views of the representatives 6 42 UNDEE THE SOUTHEEN CEOSS. [CHAP. iv. of the people. What the tax-payers demand is responsi- ble ministers, whom they can call to account in an assembly elected by themselves ; and they argue, with some show of reason, that it is unfair to withhold privi- leges from their colony which have been granted, pre- sumably with satisfactory results, to all the neighbouring colonies. The stereotyped answer to this demand of the would-be reformers is that the population of the colony is too small, and too much scattered over a large un- wieldy area, to render a House of Assembly necessary, or practicable.* Another objection, though it is not ad- vanced in public, is that the population is still too much tainted with crime to be entrusted with full political liberty .f The views of the two political parties were well illustrated at a recent public meeting in Perth. Sir Luke Leake, one of the members for the city, met his constituents to give an account of his steward- ship. Sir Luke is speaker of the present Legislative Council, is besides a local magnate, and was lately knighted by the Queen. He may be put down as a Con- * The estimated area of Western Australia is 978,000 square miles, or eight times the size of the United Kingdom. The estimated area of cultivated land in the Colony in 1876 was about 46,000 acres only. t The history of Western Australia up to 1850 contains little of interest. Cut off from communication with the other Colonies, the few settlers laboured under the disadvantage of having no market for their agricultural produce, and no labotir to develop the natural resources of the country. Shortly after this period, the settlers petitioned the Home Government to make Swan Eiver a convict settlement ; this was promptly acceded to, and several ship-loads of convicts were sent to the Colony. In the nine years between 1850 and 1859, 5,169 convicts were introduced, with 6,364 other persons, many of them families of the prisoners. It was the neighbouring Colonies that first appealed to the Home Govern- ment to discontinue transportation to West Australia, on the plea, that convicts made their way from that Colony to Adelaide and Melbourne- Transportation ceased altogether in 1868. It is said that by that time Western Australia had absorbed nearly 10,000 of England's criminal population, and that " undesirable as such a class of immi- grants as this may be, it must be conceded that since their introduction the Colony has progressed year by year, exports have increased, the settlers have a market for their stock and produce, public works are progressing, and the statistics of crime show an immunity from trans- gression against property that could hardly have been anticipated." As the popiilation of the Colony is now about 30,000, it will be seen that there is some truth in the statement that it is considerably tainted with convictism, though its dangerous eleineiita seein to have beeu soon eradicated by residence iu the Colony. CHAP, iv.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 43 servative in politics ; lie sees much to be satisfied with in the present order of things ; and he regards the proposal to have a second house of legislature as a puerile attempt " to play at Parliament." The reformers, as may be imagined, have some scathing things to say about this taunt. A Mr. Parker, who presided at Sir Luke's meet- ing of constituents, and is a shining light among reformers, took a rather unfair advantage of his position as chair- man to boldly challenge Sir Luke's views. He called upon the meeting which Sir Luke had just addressed to divide themselves into two bodies at the end of the room, the one in favour of a responsible system of Government, the other against it. The report adds that, while nearly the whole meeting showed they held the same views as the chairman, only eight supported Sir L. Leake. What the new-fledged knight said, or did, under these circum- stances is not stated ; but it is presumable at least that he felt not particularly charitable towards Mr. Parker. The same Parker a few days afterwards was triumphantly elected a member of the Legislative Council, defeating his only opponent in a very ignominious fashion, though the opponent's faction, at the hustings, sarcastically demanded "Who stood tripe suppers ?" and made other disparaging remarks tending to convey the base insinuation that the Parkerian victory had not been obtained without recourse to bribery and corruption. As Mr. Parker has gone to the Legislative Council with a mission, the political world in Western Australia will possibly be a good deal agitated for the future with this burning question of responsible government. The agricultural condition of the colony is not pro- gressing as satisfactorily as might be desired. This is due in great measure to the profitable character of the export trade in wool, timber, and pearl-shells. Practi- cally the farmers find it more profitable to fell timber, and carry it to the port of shipment, than to grow cereals, which they can buy cheaper from the neighbouring colony 44 UNDER, THE SOUTHEEN CROSS. [CHAP. iv. of South Australia. While sandal-wood, which is ship- ped in large quantities to China, fetches 7 per ton at the port of shipment, it will not pay the settlers to open up the large plains adapted for wheat cultivation. The people cannot be blamed for following the industries that pay them best. That the export trade brings con- siderable capital into the colony is proved by the nature of the business transacted at the Banks. A manager of twenty years' experience of Australian banks tells me that the banks in Western Australia do very little exchange business, transactions between settlers in the interior and store-keepers at the ports and chief towns being carried on chiefly by means of barter. The settler brings down wool and timber, and takes away station stores ; and, hence, the Banks are used chiefly for depositing savings at interest. The unprogressive state of agricul- ture, which naturally causes some anxiety in the colony, is thus commented on by a Perth newspaper : " One half of the population may be said to live on imported food. The country imports bacon, butter, cheese, potatoes, onions, and even flour nay, barley, oats, and hay. It grows about one half the food it wants, and the rest it obtains from abroad, and pays for it in hard cash. All this it has to do with the proceeds of its exports its wool principally and its accumulated capital. This, of course, as every one must see, is a very unhealthy condition of affairs in a country with millions of acres of virgin soil, and capable in one part or other of producing all the necessaries, and many of the luxuries of life." The difficulty here referred to will probably right itself in time, especially when the labour supply has become more abundant. The pearl fisheries on the north-west coast are yearly becoming more valuable to the colony. In 1875 the value of pearls and pearl-shells exported was .65,000, in 1876 74,143. Some 30,000 worth of pearl-shells alone were fished up from Champion and Nicholl Bays last CHAP, iv.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 45 year and shipped to Europe, for manufacture into buttons, knife-handles, &c. Some valuable pearls are also being discovered in the oysters. One was sold at Perth the other day for .215, and I have seen another worn in a scarf-ring by a gentleman who has earned the reputation of being the "lucky pearler" of the colony, which must be worth nearly as much, being as big as a small nut. Three years ago a pearl valued at ,1,500 was fished up. Shark's Bay, in the 25th degree of south latitude, is the locality where the best pearls are found ; it is here where the true pearl oyster, the avicula margaritifera, an oyster not much larger than its European congener, has made a home. A good many Malays, imported from the Dutch islands in the Eastern Archipelago, are engaged in pearl-fishing, but the best divers are the natives of Australia, who, it is satisfactory to learn, are not dying out in the west as they are in the more civilized parts of the country. The pearl shells are found in from two to nine fathoms of water, and the native divers will go to this depth with the greatest ease. They are des- cribed as a quiet, tractable race of men, satisfied with a very moderate wage, so long as they are kindly treated. I am told that a considerable demand for the small straw- colored pearls is coming from India ; the white pearl, on the other hand, is the favourite in Europe. Pearl shells are worth now about <140 per ton ; and as the oyster- beds seem almost illimitable, the pearl-fishing should continue to be a profitable industry. As the Home Government has discontinued send- ing convicts to the colony, the prison establishments have been gradually broken up and dispersed, a sub- ject of regret still to the contractors and others who fattened on the expenditure of the Imperial Government on its transported criminal population. All patriotic colonists, however, take a pardonable pride in having relieved the colony of the stigma of being a 43 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. [CHAP. iv. receptacle for the mother country's worst criminals. There still remain about fifteen hundred convicts under supervision, but they are nearly all at large on ticket-of- leave. Convict labour is, therefore, largely availed of throughout the colony, and travellers have occasionally some strange experiences to relate of their accidental association with this class of men. My friend who drove from Perth the other day in a buggy, had a very decent, civil, man with him to look after the horses. After travelling together for two or three days, master and man became communicative, and the latter at last confided to my friend the startling intelligence that he was a convicted murderer who had had his sentence commuted into transportation for life. His story was simple enough, and probably true, though there was no opportunity to verify it. Twelve years ago, the man said, he and his wife kept a small public house at Deal. One night, just when they were about to close the house, a young officer, in a semi-inebriated state, came in, and asked for liquor. Seeing the condition he was in, the woman refused to serve him, when the young lieute- nant reached across the bar, and struck her a blow in the face that knocked her down. He then walked out of the house. Hearing the disturbance in the bar, the woman's husband came out to see what was the matter. She briefly explained what had occurred. The enraged husband seized a thick walking stick, and rushed into the street, to seek for the man who had so grossly- insulted his wife. Presently some one approaches, and asks where he can get something to drink. He is accu- sed of having committed the assault upon the woman, admits the charge, squares his fists, and threatens to punish the husband as well. Before he can carry out his intention, however, the stick descends with a heavy thud on the wretched officer's skull. He drops on his knees, nnd tumbles over on the pavement, and the revenged CHAP, iv.] UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. 47 husband returns to his home. Presently the police pick up the officer in a dying state. The husband was seized and tried for murder at Maidestone Assizes, and though he paid Mr. Sergeant Ballantine .100 to defend him, was convicted of wilful murder and sentenced to be hanged. There being, however, extenuating circumstances in the case, and no evidence of previous malice against him, the sentence was commuted to transportation for life. The above story was told in one of the most lonely parts of the road between Perth and King George's Sound, and was hardly calculated to make a traveller strange to the colony feel more at ease. All that my friend could do under the circumstances was to assure the convict that -he would not have con- curred in such a verdict as that given by the jury at Maidstone. I had the following story from a resident at Albany. Some little time ago, the leading inhabitants made a determined effort to start a newspaper. The iiecessaiy capital was forthcoming, and type and printing machine were procured from Melbourne. The only diffi- culty was in finding a competent editor. At last a gen- tlemanly, educated, man offered his services to the pro- prietors. He was a convict, and his employers knew it, but, they argued, there was no reason why he should not turn out an "able editor." The first number of the paper appeared and gave great satisfaction, to the whole community ; so did the second, third and following numbers. The proprietors were so {pleased with the success of the paper, that they consented to advance a quarter's salary to their editor. A few days after- wards neither editor nor paper made an appeai-ance. An inquiry by the Police authorities resulted in the discovery that he had quietly taken passage to South America in a vessel that had put into the Sound for a few days. The Albany paper did not survive this heartless desertion. 48 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. iv. Perhaps we shall not be far wrong in putting down the social vices of drunkenness and wife-beating, which are so prevalent, to the criminal taint that was neces- sarily imported into the colony with the convicts them- selves. I read as follows in a Perth newspaper now before me, dated 28th May : " It was but the other day that the Chief Magistrate of the city directed attention in the columns of a contemporary to the prevalence of the offence (wife beating.) We believe that scarcely a week passes without charges of abuse on the part of ruffianly husbands oil their wretched wives in the solitude of domestic privacy, coming to the notice of the police. The length to which the offence is extending is positively humiliating. And no man with the slightest respect for the female sex, or with a spark of manliness left in his soul, can fail to arrive at the conclusion that to allow this sort of thing to continue, to practically wink at the offence any longer, is to do a gross wrong to woman, and to connive at a crime which has a tendency to demoralise the whole community." The writer then recommends Government to legislate in the matter, and thinks im- prisonment and flogging should be prescribed for the offence. In connection with the question of di-unkenness, one is struck with the number of advertisements in the local papers containing notices of application for licenses to sell spirituous and fermented liquors in town-ships or at way-side inns. This looks as though some control was exercised over the sale of intoxicating drinks, though the Government seems powerless to prevent drunken- ness or its evil effects. Indifference to financial obligations is not an uncom- mon failing among those who drink " not wisely but too well." The dedicate way in which this characteristic of colonial life is alluded to in the following lines is amus- ing, and at the same time suggestive of the manners and customs of the colonists. The lines appear in the adver- CHAP, iv.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 49 tisement of a furniture dealer at Perth, who, after parti- cularising his wares, proceeds to the following details of his mode of doing business : " I paid by instalments for all that I got, And I never was pestered or pressed ; For G is no skinflint who gives it you ' hot,' When he finds things dont look at their best. If you take my advice, you will G patronise, And spend with him all that you can ; It behoves us in fact to show by such aot, That we value good things in a man. " When once into debt, some people forget Their creditors ever to pay ; But all must admit it's a very mean trick With a man who, like G., ne'er says ' nay* When asked by the needy to do a good turn, And assist them a neat home to get, I think that with me in this you'll agree, Such kindness we should not forget." Notwithstanding these blemishes of character in some classes of her population, he would be a rash man who would deny that Western Australia has not a brilliant future in store. The sins of the first generation do not, thank God, always descend to the second, and there is every reason to hope that the present colonists will be succeeded by a race which, reared in a purer atmosphere of social life, and amidst fewer temptations to commit crime, will be proudly welcomed as kinsmen in the great brotherhood of the British Empire. 50 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. v. CHAPTER V. FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF MELBOURNE. The port for Adelaide Want of harbour accommodation at Glenelg Kangaroo island and the Back-Stairs passage Dangerous navigation of the Australian Coast The " Loch Ard" wreck Want of more Lighthouses Port Phillip Heads and Hobson's Bay Arrival at Williamstown pier " What do you think of Melbourne?" Anxiety of the colonists to know what strangers think of them Midwinter in June Uninviting appearance of suburbs Rapid growth of Melbourne The present value of land Systematic plan of the city Principal public buildings Hotels and clubs Cost of living The suburb of St. Kilda A summary of impressions Commercial depression in the colony The " larrikin" dissected " Doing the block" at Melbourne " We've some good-looking women, sir, in this city." GLENELG, which acts as the port of Adelaide, has the distinction of being more like Madras than any place I have seen in these latitudes. It has an open roadstead in which heavy seas are the prevailing characteristic, large vessels being compelled to anchor a mile or so from the shore, on which the surf beats with great fury ; it has a wooden pier which can only be approached by row- ing boats, lighters, and steamers of miniature propor- tions ; and, finally, it contemplates constructing a break- water, or harbour, somewhat after the Madras pattern. Here the resemblance ends. Glenelg, which is only three or four miles from Adelaide city, is backed by a most picturesque range of hills known as the "Lofty range," though they are not very high reminding one irresistibly of an English landscape. These hills are studded with farm-steads and country-houses, which stand out in bold relief on a back- ground of ever- green forests and fields, and altogether present such a home- like scene that, in looking at them for the first time, you CHAP, v.] UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. 51 might be pardoned for imagining yourself in the neigh- bourhood of Malvern in spring time. This illusion might possibly be dispelled on closer inspection ; but as the mail steamer stays only six hours at Glenelg, and four of these (in the present instance) were between the hours of 2 and 6 A. M., there was no opportunity to take any other than a superficial view of the scenery around Adelaide. Add to this the further disadvantage, that the sea was so rough that our Adelaide passengers had to be lowered in a tub from the Assam into the cockle- she\l of a boat that landed them, and I need say no more of the difficulties of the situation from an inquiring traveller's point of view. However, the sight of seven or eight vessels anchored in the distance outside the bar of the small river on which the city stands, coupled with the appearance of Glenelg itself, served to show that the early settlers had made a mistake in selecting such a situation for their capital. Port Ade- laide might have been able to afford shelter to the small craft that visited the settlement sixty or seventy years ago, but it can offer no accommodation to the mighty vessels that plough the seas in our days. Thus the colony of South Australia, so rich in agricultural produce, has as yet no decent port from which her large surplus stores of wheat can be conveniently shipped to foreign markets.* * The success which has attended wheat cultivation in the Colony of South Australia is one of the marvels of modern agriculture. The total population of the Colony at the present time is about 210,000 only, and over 200,000 tons of bread-stuffs are exported annually, the bulk to Great Britain. Mr. Harcus gives the following description of the system of cultivation : " Tickle the land with a hoe, and it laughs with a harvest,' is almost literally true here. Virgin soil is ploughed up three or four inches deep, and often without even fallowing it, the seed is thrown in, and should the season be moderately favourable, a fair crop rewards the small labour of the husbandman. This goes on from year to year : anything like a rotation of crops is never attempted. There are farms in South Australia, which have been annually cropped with wheat for twenty or twenty-five years, and yet last harvest they produced as abundantly as ever." Eeaping and threshing is done by a machine which " reaps and threshes the wheat by one simple process." The agricultural condition of South Australia is thus summarised : 50,000 men, supporting thrice their number of women and children, occupy 200,000 square miles of pastoral country, and possess 6,000,000 sheep, 6;000,000 acres of land, grow 12,000,000 bushels of wheat, con- duct an external commerce of ^9, 000, 000, and raise 1, 000, 000 of revenue a year. 52 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. v. From Glenelg to Melbourne is a run of forty-eight hours. The steamer skirts the coast sufficiently close to enable us now and then to catch glimpses of a picturesque and generally cultivated country. Passing through the straits known as the Back-Stairs Passage, we get a fine view of the coast, not only on the mainland but on Kangaroo island, where flocks of sheep, and the homesteads of settlers, could be easily distinguished with the aid of a glass. This island is under the jurisdiction of the Governor of South Australia, and has now a good number of European inhabitants. Formerly the P. and 0. Steamer used to land the mails for Ade- laide at Chambers' Bay on this island, whence the mails were carried in a small boat across to the mainland. This was before Glenelg was established as the port for Adelaide, which had no safe means of communication with the mail steamers in boisterous weather. Numerous ship-wrecks, some of a very melancholy character, attest the fact that the navigation of the Australian coast is attended with considerable risk. The coast line between Adelaide and Melbourne, besides being subject to fogs, is broken by numerous Capes, such as Cape Jervis, Cape Northumberland, Cape Nelson, and Cape Otway, which present formidable difficulties to inexperienced navigators. The recent loss of the emigrant ship Loch Ard at Cape Otway, with only two survivors to tell the tale of the terrible disaster, has only served to remind people of the dangers of their coast navigation, and of the culpable neglect of the governing authorities in failing to erect a sufficient number of light-houses. As Captain Almond, of the P. and 0. Steamer Avoca, has now publicly called attention to the necessity of more lights along the Australian sea-board, it is to be hoped the various Governments will hasten to relieve themselves from the implied stigma, which now attaches to them, of being somewhat indifferent to the safety of tra- vellers by sea, CHAP, v.j UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 53 " Now, what is your impression of Melbourne ?" demanded a fellow passenger, a wealthy and well- known Victorian " squatter," as the train was rattling us along from Port Williamstown to the heart of Melbourne. I was unprepared for the question. The pilot had boarded us outside Port Phillip heads at about 3 o'clock in the morning ; heavy rain and darkness sent the most enthusiastic sightseers below, with the conviction that the berth offered a more cheering pros- pect than the deck under such circumstances. Going above again at half past five, I notice in the dim morning twilight, on one side, two lights, a pier, and some white buildings on the shore. This is Queenscliff. On the other side is a dark headland running out to sea. This is Point Nepean, now being fortified with monster guns, in accordance with the recommendations of Sir William Jervois. The fortifications at QueensclifE and Point Nepean will in fact guard the sea passage to Melbourne. Away in front is a light-ship which marks the course we are now running at full speed ; in the distance, further ahead, another light ship ; the only other pros- pect is sea all around us. We are in a large bay, some thirty miles long by forty broad, on whose shores Geelong, Williamstown, Sandridge, Melbourne, Brighton, and other townships, holding probably nearly one-half of the total population of Victoria, are situated. By eight o'clock we are well within sight of a small forest of ship- ping, anchored near the Williamstown and Sandridge piers ; and by nine we have dropped anchor within easy gun-shot range of the unsightly turret-ship Cerberus, the sole guardian at present of Victorian commerce, though she will soon be aided by the Nelson, now being rapidly converted into a heavy gun frigate in yonder dock. A small steamer is alongside us before our anchor has ceased to bubble, and a score of men are engaged in carrying off the huge piles of mail-bags arranged on our deck, and shunting them down to the small steamer 54 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. v. below. The Australian mail is an enormous one ; the small steamer puffs away to Sandridge pier with some- thing like a cone of mail bags raised on her deck ; the bags for New South Wales, Tasmania, and New Zealand still remain with us. One marvels where all the people are who read these heaps of letters and newspapers, for Melbourne, owing partly to haze, hardly reveals herself as yet in her real grandeur. The local mail being dispatched, we proceed to anchor alongside Williamstown pier. Here the friends of the Australian passengers are congregated, waving pocket-handkerchiefs, and shouting greetings of welcome long before the steamer comes to a stand-still. One is struck even here with the universal beardedness of the men, and the ruddy complexions of the young women. During the next few minutes, we are boarded with a rush, such as would have gladdened Nelson's heart if it had only been directed against an enemy : ladies capsize carpet-bags, and men stumble over portmanteaus, or graze their shins against angular trunks, in their anxiety to be kissing, or hand-shaking ; it is a moment of the wildest confusion and delight, which a stranger with no friend to greet his arrival can only regard with envy or regret. It is but a step from the pier to the train, which is drawn up ready to convey us and our belongings into Melbourne. I had not been in the train five minutes, and we had not gone further than the station which a chorus of small boys riding playfully on a gate sang out as " North Williams-te-own," (with a Yankee-like twang on the town), when my fellow-passenger abruptly put the above query as to my impressions about Melbourne. In all the bustle and confusion of landing I had really formed no impression. So I fenced his question by saying that I had seen so little of the place as yet. " But let me hear your impressions of what you have already seen," was the stern rejoinder. There was no escaping this demand. A tall factory chimney, from CHAP, v.] UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. fig which a dense cloud of smoke was issuing, and the recol- lection of the activity in the harbour, gave me a sudden inspiration. I said Melbourne struck me as being a very busy place. He seemed rather disappointed, and asked if I was not favourably impressed with the scenery around. To tell the truth I was not. A glance out of the window revealed a landscape of which at least one-third was under water ; another third consisted of meadow land, very green, where the grass had escaped flooding, but very bog-like where the water had been lying ; and the remaining third of straggling townships or villages, with a great number of the houses constructed of wood. There is not a tree, or hedge, to relieve the monotony of the scene. It is water, bog, and mud on this side, and mud, bog, and water on that. Cows grazing in the adjoining meadows are knee-deep in mud ; men walking along the undrained tracks marked out as roads are wading through mud ; and every house that is not environed by mud is surrounded by water, which in the course of a few days will be converted into mud. Alto- gether a dreary, cheerless, not to say agueish and feverish, spectacle, was presented to the eye by those rising suburbs of Melbourne known as Williamstown, Edom, Yarraville, Footscray, and Sandridge. I am glad to say the local Municipal authorities are alive to the necessity of protecting themselves from the periodical incursions of these heavy floods, which convert the low- lying lands about Melbourne into unhealthy swamps, and are advocating the raising of loans for the purpose of carrying out proper drainage works. It was hardly to be expected that such a scene would impress a stranger favourably. The panorama before me could not have been unfolded under more disadvantageous circum- stances, and it is a point gained, at all events, to have seen it at its worst. I can well understand, however, that the view of Melbourne from Hobson's Bay, on a fine summer's day, when the meadows are covered with green 56 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. v. grass instead of water, and the sun lights up the fine amphitheatre of hills on which the city stands, is one of which the inhabitants have reason to be proud. But, though it is now midsummer, according to our European notions of reckoning the seasons, it is midwinter, as a matter of fact, as testified by the woollens and furs in which people wrap themselves when they walk abroad, and by the bright coal-fires round which they crowd when they stay at home ; and what should be the longest day in the year is the shortest. A new calendar is sadly required in these parts : at present one feels to be living the wrong way, physically of course. As a small boy, my idea of the antipodes was that people living there walked the earth as a fly does the ceiling. Even with the ex- perience of mature years, I cannot yet shake off the feeling that things here are somehow upside down. The railway takes you into the heart of Melbourne, to the feet of Bourke Street and Collins Street, two of the principal thoroughfares. A decently dressed man, wear- ing a slouched, brigand- like hat, and with a virgin forest of a beard, as innocent of the razor as an unexplored back-wood is of. the hatchet, invites me in a familiar sort of way to take his cab, or covered waggonette, for the Melbourne four-wheeler more nearly approaches that des- cription of vehicle. He drives me to the Custom House shed, situated in a yard ankle-deep in dirt, there is dirt everywhere in the wet weather, jusfc as there is dust in the dry, aids me in clearing my luggage, and, during the process, criticises publicly, and not altogether favour- ably, the conduct of Custom House officials, not only on this particular occasion, but generally. Though a cab- driver, he has a vote for Parliament, and therefore a right to criticise public servants. He is a very good showman, and as we drive away to the hotel points out the principal buildings in the streets. Presently his head appears again behind the curtain which separates the driver from his fare doubtless, cas I innocently suppose, to call my CHAP. T.] UNDEE THE SOUTHEEN CEOSS. 57 attention to some other object of interest. But I am mistaken. His beard curls into a smile of triumph this time as he asks : " What is your impression of our city, Sir ?" This is too much of a good thing. Fancy, having to turn off two separate impressions before I had been in Melbourne a quarter of an hour. But this is nothing to what followed. I enter presently a bookseller's shop. Being pressed to take a Home News, I remark carelessly that its contents are rather stale to me, having in fact travelled with them during the last three weeks. " Came by the mail, Sir ?" " Yes." " Your first visit to Australia, Sir ?" " Yes." " What do you think of Melbourne ?" A little later I enter a tailor's shop to get some winter's clothing. I determine if possible to avoid the necessity of having to give any further " impressions," so I try to assume that look of familiarity which would be natural to a man on his native heath. But the moment the tailor begins to criticise the unsuitable texture of my present attire for an Australian winter, my imposition is exposed and I have to explain. Then conies the usual question. If I was asked once, I was asked twenty times what I thought of Melbourne before I had been twelve hours in it. The chances are that every person to whom you are introduced will put you that question. Let me, however, do justice to the kindly feeling displayed every- where by the Melbournians towards a stranger visiting their city. I believe the cab-driver would have been delighted to act as my cicerone during the first day, apart from all considerations about fare ; and I am certain that the amiable little book-seller would, if I had given him the slightest encouragement, have put on his hat and walked with me down Collins Street, so curious was he to know what I should think of all I had to see. Taking me to the door, and pointing to the other side of the street, he said : " There is where our great ladies walk or drive between four and five o'clock in the afternoon. You ought to go there. We have some very good-looking 8 58 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. v. women, Sir, in this city." I said I was sure of it. Finally he invited me to come to him whenever I was in want of information he could supply. From all this it will be perceived that the inhabitants of Melbourne are very proud of the place they live in. They are justified in indulging in that feeling. In the Public Library here you can see rough sketches of Mel- bourne as it appeai'ed forty, thirty, and even twenty years ago. Compare these with the present reality, and you are obliged to confess the transformation has been very rapid and very wonderful. The " founder" of the city, a canny-looking old Scotchman named Fawkner, landed here from Tasmania so recently as 1835, and only died in 1869. The present generation of colonists have, in fact, seen a small village converted into a large city under their very eyes. " Barlow's grand-mother," remarked a youth to me in illustration of the rapid growth of Melbourne, " used to tie her cow up to a tree where the Town Hall now stands." I gather from my young friend's explanation that Barlow's grand-mother may be still living, and hale and hearty. A story is told of a poor old colonist, now alive, who, to oblige his wife, refused to take up a piece of land in what is now Bourke Street, because it was too far away in the bush. In those days the land was thought dear at a pound an acre, and now a good site in Bourke Street realises as much as d500 the square foot ! Plots of land which, five and thirty years ago, were purchased by capitalists who could muster 20, have of late years changed hands for prices like .50,000, <60,000 and 70,000, and yet this land con- tained no gold deposits beneath the surface ; it was wanted simply as foundations for houses. This enor- mous rise in the value of property was the mainspring of many a lucky colonist's fortune. Some credit is due to the men who, in the early days, marked out this city on a systematic plan. Wide, roomy streets, running mostly parallel to, or at right angles CHAP, v.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 59 with each other, are the rule, and narrow, dark, crooked lanes, such as disfigure most of the old cities in Europe, the exception. Bourke and Collins Streets run in parallel straight lines for a distance of a mile and a quarter ; and though they traverse three distinct hills and valleys or land waves, as the evenness and regularity of their undulations would justify one in describing them, the spectator standing at one end of the streets gets a to- lerably clear prospect of the other. The shops in Bourke Street, especially those round which ladies love to congre- gate, might pass muster for those in Oxford Street, London ; while the Banks and Insurance Offices in Collins Street, Elizabeth Street, and Queen Street are, if any- thing, more massive and palatial than those in Lombard Street and Cheapside. The free-stone of which several of the buildings are constructed sets off their architectural characteristics to much advantage. Flin- ders Street and Flinders Lane, alongside the muddy- looking little Yarra river, are the homes of the large warehouses connected with the Manchester and Birmingham trades. On the high ground on the other side of the river, the Governor's palatial residence stands out a conspicuous and attractive object in the scenery about Toorak. Close by are the Observatory and Botani- cal Gardens, the latter a most enjoyable and picturesque retreat for idlers and holiday-makers. On the high ground, at the top of Bourke and Collins Streets, are the new Public Offices, a handsome and substantial block of buildings, only just occupied ; the Houses of Parliament, not yet more than half finished ; the Roman Catholic Cathedral, ditto ditto ; and the site for Bishop Moor- house's Protestant Cathedral, when he can raise sufficient money for building it. Close by are the Carlton Gardens in which the building is to be raised which is to con- tain the International (not inter-Colonial, mind you) Exhibition of 1880. Within easy walking distance of these fine public buildings that are to be, are the Mel- 60 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. v. bourne Hospital, the new Law Courts now in course of erection, and that admirable institution the Public Library, containing some 90,000 volumes, where you may make the acquaintance of all the reputable authors the world has produced, in every branch of literature and learning, at no cost to yourself but the labour of reading. Connected with the libraiy is an interesting museum, with specimens illustrating the various industries of the colony ; while in another part of the building will be found the nucleus of an art collection. The principal picture in the gallery is one by Mr. Herbert, R. A., representing a rather thea- trical looking Moses with the tablets of the Ten Com- mandments. The picture covers a large piece of canvas, and a good area of wall, and the Victorians paid a high price for it; but I ain myself of opinion the money could have been laid out to greater advantage. Some landscapes of Australian scenery are suggestive of the wide field that may be open to artists in this part of the world. Altogether the public library is the most useful and popular institution in Melbourne, for whose existence the public are mainly indebted to Sir Redmond Barry, the present Chief Justice of Victoria. . St. Kilda, facing Hobson's Bay, is the most fashion- able suburb for private residences. Many of the snug villas and cosy retreats about here remind you strongly of Clapham : only the Australian house-builders have adopted the verandah and balcony much more com- monly than their brethren do in England. But you have merely to tui*n your footsteps towards the esplanade by the sea, and have a look at Captain Kenney's " largest and best swimming baths in the world," to bo convinced that you are nearer Scarborough or Brighton than to Clapham. The captain's open air swimming loath must be an acre or more in extent, and is fenced in with a palisade as a protection against sharks, which frequent these seas. He has also a large CHAP, v.] UNDEK THE:;SOUTHEEN CEOSS. 61 open air bath for ladies, and I am assured that large numbers of the youthful fair sex in Melbourne are expert swimmers. There are no bathing machines in connection with either bath, but there is excellent accom- modation for bathers along the wooden piers that run into the sea, and which serve both to shelter the baths, and protect the bathers from public observation. In summer time these baths are much frequented both by night and day, and when the hot land winds blow, which they do for about a week or ten days in the year, the denizens of Melbourne are fortunate in having such a refreshing retreat to fly to as the plunge bath at St. Kilda. This suburb is connected with the city by railway, and the journey is performed in about ten minutes, at a cost, to and fro, of ninepence. St. Kilda's salubrious air and convenient position make it a favourite home for retired squatters, merchants, and well-to-do shop-keepers, some of whose residences, built regardless of expense, are very handsome. I noticed one charming house, belonging to the Hon'ble Mr. Service, a former Minister, with large verandahs round it, such as the best Indian houses have. It only wanted the green " chicks" hanging between the pillars to pass muster for the mansion of an Indian nabob. An " Inkermann" street, and a " Bala- clava" railway station, remind one that the suburb is modern as well as fashionable. Melbourne is very fairly supplied with hotels. Scott's and Menzies' are the two oldest and best known establishments in the city, and the Esplanade Hotel at St. Kilda is one of the best in the subsurbs, being con- veniently situated for sea-air and sea-bathing. A fine new hotel, the Oriental, in an airy, healthy situation at the top of Collins Street, opposite to the Melbourne Club, and m close pi'Quimity. to the Houses of Parliament and the public offices, has recently been opened. I hear that wre- feature$in its management will be that it will take in Indian newspapers, secure the services of a cordon bleu 62 UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. v. in the manufacture of curry, and otherwise study the tastes and requirements of travellers from India. When it is remembered that Spiers and Pond, the renowned London caterers, graduated in Melbourne, it need hardly be added that the commissariat arrangements at both the hotels and cafes are satisfactory. A single man can live at an hotel for about three guineas, and at a boarding- house for two guineas, or two pounds ten shillings, a week. The hire of a riding horse is fifteen shillings a day, and of a carriage and pair eight guineas a week rather heavy charges considering that horse-flesh is so cheap. One is struck everywhere with the excellent quality and fine condition of the horses driven about the sti-eets, even of those in cabs and omnibuses. I have not seen a "screw" since I have been here. In addition to its hotels, Melbourne can and does afford a good deal of accommodation to travellers at its clubs, which seem to be well managed and thriving institutions. The " Mel- bourne" is the oldest, and most select in its choice of members, but the " Victoria" and " Athenaeum" are the favourite resorts of the younger men of the mercantile and professional classes. To sum up my impressions of Melbourne. It has all the makings of a great city. At present, however, though it is of enormous area, ten miles by seven, it is a mere out- line sketch, with the central portions only shaded in. Go where you will, it has an unfinished look about it. In one of the principal streets, there stands just opposite to a bank which might serve as a palace for a Prince, a barber's shop, a common wood hut of one storey, where I had the luxury of an " easy shave," charge sixpence. These architectural incongruities must necessarily appear in streets which are gradually undergoing reconstruction ; but they are blemishes nevertheless in the appearance of a city. Should her prosperity continue, Melbourne, in another quarter of a century, will rival Vienna or Berlin in size, if not in beauty. But there is the question. CHAP, v.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 63 Already do commercial men draw long faces, and declare that her prosperity is on the wane. The produce of Victorian gold-fields has fallen from ten to three millions sterling a year ; much of the import trade that formerly came to Melbourne now goes direct to Sydney and New Zealand ; and capital is leaving the colony to be invested elsewhere. These are serious symptoms, but they may be due partly to temporary causes, such as the mistaken efforts of a Protectionist Ministry to foster a few local industries at the expense of the colony's foreign trade. But it is impossible to ignore the fact that Melbourne has somehow amassed a population out of all proportion to the numbers of people settled in the rest of the colony. It seems anomalous that in a popula- tion of eight to nine hundred thousand, one-fourth should settle in the capital, where commercial rather than agri- gultural pursuits are carried on. My own conviction is that Melbourne, like some of the gawky, weedy " larri- kins" in her streets, has grown too fast in her youth, and has thus run too much to arms and legs. Her frame- work is big enough to last her for the next fifty years. What her constitution now requires is consolidation, The "larrikin," to whom I have just referred, is the young rough, cad, and general mischief -maker, in the colonies. He must be classed by himself ; he is a shade above the genuine rough to be seen in an English crowd, and at the same time a little below the British snob of the counter-jumper order. His chief character- istic is a slouching, loutish, ungainly appearance. The brim of his wide-a-wake hat is not unfrequently cocked- tip behind, and drawn down in front so as to hide half his face. As a rule, he is a lazy dog, too well off to need to work in the fields like an honest labourer, and too indolent to be successful in the trade of his forefathers ; for he is usually the progeny of the small tradesman, or artisan class. The only occasion when the " larrikin" seems in his element, is when mischief of some sort is 64 UNDER THE SOUTHEEN CROSS. [CHAP. v. brewing. His very name is derived from his leading characteristic, and is said to have originated in the com- plaints of the Irish members of the Police force against those frisky colonial youths who are given to " larking," or " larrikin" as the men with a redundance of r's pro- nounced it. He is great in the gallery of a theatre, where his democratic spirit finds full scope for its deve- lopment, and whence he criticises both audience and actors with much freedom. Unfortunately, the larrikin youth sometimes developes into a vicious and ne'er-do- well man, who comes to a bad end. "I hope you have been regulai'ly doing theblock," said a man to me the other day, who was anxious I should miss none of the sights of Melbourne. I suppose I looked puz- zled, for he explained that " doing the block" consisted in walking up and down the fashionable quarter of Collins Street, late in the afternoon, and looking at the people promenading the pavement. Though Melbourne has several fine young parks, she has no Rotten Row yet where the fashionable world can take their afternoon airing. The parks are rather undeveloped in the way of shrubberies and trees, while the Botanical Gardens are rather too far from the city to form a convenient rendezvous. Thus it is the pave of Collins Street has become the fashionable lounge. I was able to inform my friend that I had " done the block." Oddly enough, while doing it one afternoon, I espied two well known Anglo-Indian faces, whose appearance spoke volumes for the re-juvenating effects of this climate on constitutions that have been tried by residence in the tropics. Having been more than once asked for my opinion of the fair sex as seen " in the block," I may say that the prevailing characteristic of the young women is a fresh, healthy complexion, rather than regularity or refinement of features. In short, I would give it as my individual judgment that the fair sex generally is pretty, rather than handsome, and inclined to robust CHAP, v.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 63 rather than elegant figures. It is quite refreshing to look upon so much genuine color in the cheeks without a suspicion of the rouge-pot, set off, as it is at this season of the year, to great advantage by the white or brown 'fur jackets which the ladies wear in these parts. There ought to be no field for the arts of Madame Rachel in Australia, at all events among the young women. Girls of twelve or fourteen are often very handsome, and seem to develop into young lady-hood earlier than their sisters do in the old country. Indeed I am told that they are on the look-out themselves, as their parents are for them, for husbands by the time they are eighteen. It is satisfactory to know that there is far more chance of their finding them here than in England. 66 UXDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. vi. CHAPTER VI. VICTORIAN POLITICS AND POLITICIANS. State of political feeling Mr. Berry and his opponents Local meaning of " Liberal" and " Conservative" A " National Re- former" The revival of Protection Fostering colonial indus- tries by a protective tariff Ministerial arguments for manu- facturing iron pipes in the colony, and for clothing the Police in colonial-made cloth " Bursting up" large landed estates- Effects of free-trade in land Production of gold A Protec- tionist's and a Freetrader's views of the situation compared The farmers and the tax on agricultural machinery A visit to some local manufactories A few samples of protective duties Probable collapse of Protection The quarrel between the two Houses of Legislature Ministers in private life " Parliament men" Qualifications for members and voters in the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council respectively The quarrel of labour with capital. IT would be a mild form of expression to say there are " burning questions" of politics just now in Victoria. Both politics and politicians are in the red hot stage : the whole colony is a Vesuvius of political caloric. When one set of men assure you that the Berry Ministry are ignorant and corrupt, that the country is being shame- fully misgoverned, and that, in short, everything and everybody is rapidly going to the dogs ; while the opposite faction declare, with just, as much confidence, that the country was never in a more flourishing condi- tion, and never had a more popular, able, and courageous Ministry : when, I say, the two great political parties are separated by opinions so diametrically opposed as these are, there is obviously not much chance of a quiet, peaceful, administration of the government of the colony. There is, of course, the possibility that some intermediate party, taking more moderate views of the situation, will CHAP. vi.J UNDER THE SOUTHEKN CEOSS. 67 arise and secure the power which is now being contended for by two extreme factions, neither of which at present seems inclined to yield any of its pretensions to infalli- bility. As the colony requires good government and, above all, rest, there is some probability ultimately of a peaceful outcome of the protracted struggle between Mr. Berry's ministry and the representatives of the colony's wealth. At present however all attempts at a compromise between the rival parties have been result- less, and party feeling is as strong as ever. In Melbourne itself, the Age newspaper is the organ of the Berryites, the party in power ; the Argus that of their opponents. The up-country papers marshal themselves according to the views they advocate, some on the side of Hector, some on the side of Achilles ; and altogether the quarrel is " a very pretty one," and not unentertaining or uninstructive to an impartial spectator. At the outset, however, it is desirable to understand that political terms, as used here, are somewhat confusing to a stranger : a Liberal being a Protectionist, and a Conser- vative a Freetrader. In my endeavours to plunge a little below the surface of political discussion, I have been fortunate enough to make the acquaintance of an out-and-out Protectionist, and an ardent supporter of the policy now being carried out by Mr. Berry's government. Allow me to introduce you to Mr. Philip Filibust, a member of the National Reform League, an association that came into existence a few years ago with a very ambitious programme of national improve- ments. The " league," an American importation, is now quite a local institution, and is formed alike for the pro- motion or obstruction of objects of national, parochial, social, or individual importance. As the formation of one league, for one object, is usually immediately followed by the formation of an opposition league, with an object the very reverse, it may be understood that the resultant of the two forces is not very formidable. As a 08 tJNDEE THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. [CHAP. v?. rule, indeed, the leagues expend their passions against one another, happily in a harmless manner to outsiders. I need hardly say Mr. Filibust is a warm supporter of the proposition that colonial industries should be fostered and encouraged by means of a protective tariff which prevents foreign manufactures from competing advantageously with local productions. The Victorian Government, I see in the newspapers,, require some iron pipes for their water-works. There are no pipe-manu>- facturers in the colony, and the inference, therefore, is that the necessary pipes should be bought in the cheap- est foreign market. But no, says Mr. Berry in effect, let us encourage our own colonists to make pipes : no matter if we have to pay more for them-; we shall be encouraging a local industry. In reply to a deputation >f iron-moulders Mr. Berry explained at some length his views on- the subject. " The intention of the Government in calling for tenders for 5,000 tons was to give a stimulus to local manufacturers, and to hold out an inducement to them either to construct or to import the necessary plant, so that the requirements of the colony ruighfe be supplied without recourse to importation. The Government did not really want at the present time more than 1,800 tons, but that would not be a sufficient inducement to manufacturers to invest capital to the required amount to obtain the plant neces- sary, and the Government had therefore called for 5,000 tons. He was aware that pipes of the larger size could be ruade here, but the Government desired that all sizes, and not merely the larger ones, should be made. Although the advertisement did not ex- pressly say that tenders would be confined exclusively to Victoria, yet the object of the Government was to induce Victorian manu- facturers to compete. A request had been made that the contract should be broken up into a number of small ones, but that would defeat the very object in view. In order to encourage the invest- ment of the capital required, it was necessary that a large induce- ment should be held out. In the consideration of the tenders a preference, and a very considerable preference, would be given to local manufacturers The desire of the Government was to give every encouragement to the bond-fide investment of capital in this direction. The Government were as anxious for the success of any industry of this kind as the workmen themselves."* I remark to Filibust that Mr. Berry did not seem to care about buying in the cheapest market, that the * Mellfomrne Argus, June 21, 1878. CHAF. vr.J UNDEE THE SOUTHEEN CROSS. 69 additional cost of the locally made pipes over those which could be imported from England would come out of the pockets of Victorian tax-payers, and that, in short, the Minister's argument amounted te this, that his Go- vernment were prepared to rob Peter the tax-payer to pay Paul the local manufacturer who, from his inexperi- ence, would be almost certaia to make bad- pipes. At the same deputation, Mr. Woods, the Minister of Railways, explained that some time ago he had called for tenders for a thousand sets of wheels. " The wheels were not wanted then, but by giving a large order the result had been effected of securing the establishment of a manufactory here, so that no more wheels need be imported." The Ministerial horror of using an imported thing extends even to the clothes of the policemen, as may be seen from the following notification in the Police Gazette : " The hon. the Chief Secretary is desirous that the members ef the police force should have facilities for using Victorian cloth for their uniforms. He requests, therefore, that it may be notified to them that cloth of sufficiently good quality for police uniforms is made by some colonial firms, amongst which the Woollen and Cloth Manufacturing Company, Geelong, may be named. Cloth manufactured by that, firm can be procured at retail prices from its Melbourne agents, Messrs. Moubray, Eowan, and Hicks." To outsiders there is something rather comical in the idea of a Prime Minister recommending what cloth should be used in the Police force, but Mr. Berry is one of the representatives of Geelong in the Legislative Assembly, and will be thought none the worse of by his constituents for this public testimonial to the merits of Geelong manufactures. Need I say that Filibust justifies the arguments of ministers for manufacturing pipes, wheels, or cloth, in preference to buying these articles from other countries ? Filibust is opposed to free trade in land. Like Mr. Berry and his colleagues, he would " burst-up" large estates by means of heavy taxation. He regards with 70 UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. [CHAP. vi. dismay the broad acres now being accumulated by men of capital, and tells me that what the country requires is a number of small proprietors, who would work the land to the best advantage, and not a few wealthy land monopolists, who can regulate the price of their pro- perty at discretion. Mr. Filibust is not a landed pro- prietor himself. If I demur to his view as unfair to capitalists, and as tending to restrict the fruitful employ- ment of capital ; if I refer to the experience gained in England and other ancient countries in Europe, where large landed estates have not proved inimical to national prosperity, I am at once met with the argument that the experience of the old world cannot be safely applied to a young colony like this. On this point Mr. Filibust certainly argues with originality. "With all due respect," lie says dogmatically, " to the great authorities on political economy in Europe, some of whom wrote a century since, I can't perceive how or why they were able to dictate the policy of a young country they never saw, or could possibly conceive the circumstances under which that country might be peopled, better than the majority of its intelligent inhabitants themselves. The enormous production of gold during the past twenty-five years has completely revolutionised all previously conceived notions of trade and commerce; and future writers on political economy will have to write from a different stand-point, because this sudden acquisition of new purchasing power is a subject that the celebrated authors whose opinions are always quoted had no experience of." I ask Filibust to explain how the accumulation of large landed estates by the capitalists has injured the colony, seeing that if the capitalists cannot profitably invest their money here, they will go elsewhere. Filibust. " What have our legislators done ? Why they have allowed the country to be plundered of its most valuable lands, without a fair or reasonable equiva- CHAP, vi.] UNDEE THE SOUTHEEN CEOSS. 71 lent, and what should be the permanent inheritance of future generations is now being accumulated in the hands of a few who, with their aiders and abettors in the legislature, have robbed the people of their birth- right. These wealthy monopolists neglect to utilise the lands in a legitimate manner, but wait for the oppor- tunity of having their value increased by the energy and enterprise of the industrial classes. During the last twenty-five years our miners have raised and distri- buted in this community ,200,000,000 in gold, and our Government has parted with upwards of 15,000,000 acres of the picked lands of the colony, which, if legitimately disposed of for the benefit of the public, should have rea- lised nearly 100,000,000. The unparalleled wealth that has been at the disposal of Victorian legislators has been recklessly squandered and misused, and, like the prodigal, they have 'wasted their substance in riotous living.' " I remark that, as it is, the progress of the colony has been very wonderful. But Filibust is not comforted with this assurance. " Is it not a disgrace to legislation, and to those men who assume the leadership in matters of finance, that the Victorian Government should be compel- led to go to other countries to borrow back a portion of that money she has so lavishly thrown away? If the wealth of this colony had been honestly utilised, and its finances judiciously administered, Victoria should be not only free of debt, but should have had a large supply of bullion to lend to other countries if necessary." Does he mean the colony should have hoarded the gold it has produced? He does. The Government should have assumed the functions of a State banker. I remark that though the colony did not keep the gold, it re- ceived the market value of it in the shape of imports and hard cash. But Filibust enters into an elaborate calculation to prove that the colony was done in this bargain. ?-2 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP- Vl. Referring to the effects of a protective tariff, I con- fess my inability to understand how it can benefit the people generally. Filibust. " The protectionist takes a broad and com- prehensive view of the present and future requirements of the country, and is possessed of a mind sufficiently generous to think of others as well as himself. As a per- manent resident, he has the future welfare of the country at heart, and, like a prudent and thoughtful man, is, if necessary, prepared to tax himself to a trifling extent for the purpose of securing an ultimate benefit for his children : on the same principle that a thoughtful parent will insure his life to make some provision for his family after his death. The only people in the colony who benefit by free-trade are the importers, agents of British manufacturers and capitalists, who reside here only temporarily, with the object of extracting a portion of the wealth produced by the industrial classes of the community." If the colonists are prepared to tax themselves now for the benefit of a future generation, as Filibust says they are, it proves them at all events to be patriotic. It is a severe test of patriotism, however, to ask a man to pay, say, .10 for a suit of clothes which he would be able to buy for <8 or <9, but for the 'heavy import duty on English woollen manufactures. Filibust declares that a poor man can feed and dress himself in Melbourne cheaper than he can anywhere else in the world. An eatinghouse Will supply him with an excellent meal, consisting of soup, meat, vegetables, bread, pudding, and tea, for six pence, while the cheap tailors will clothe him for a few shillings. How is it, then, I ask, there is so much destitution just now amongst the labouring classes, and why is it the Government are compelled to find work for the unem- ployed, paying able-bodied men such heavy wages as five and six shillings a day ? Filibust fails to explain this condition of things satisfactorily, but believes the CEAP. vi.] UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 78 present depression in trade and agriculture to be tempo- rary, and that it is only a question of time when the normal condition of prosperity will be restored. In this hopeful view of the future, he is entirely op- posed by mercantile men and capitalists, who constitute the small body of free-traders. Among the latter, there is but one opinion as to the effect of a protective tariff on the trade of the colony. Melbourne, which was for- merly the entrepot for all the other colonies, is gradually being reduced to the position of being the port of Vic- toria alone ; house property has a tendency to depreciate in value ; and capital, which was formerly employed here to such good purpose, is now being invested across the border. Hence the present destitution of the unemployed labouring classes, and their probable emigration to neighbouring colonies. Add to this the distrust that has been engendered by the quarrels between the two Houses of Parliament, and the high-handed proceedings of Mr. Berry's government, and you have the key to the present unsettled position of Victoria. There are not wanting symptoms that the colonists are beginning to open their eyes to the fact that they are paying too dearly for promoting local manufactures, I gather from a report of a farmers' meeting in the Echuca district that at present about .25 duty has to be paid on a reaping and binding machine, though these machines can be imported considerably cheaper from the neighbouring colony of South Australia than Melbourne dealers can supply them. A threshing machine has to pay duty at Melbourne to the amount of about 120 the same machine can be obtained across the border for 90 less than in Victoria. A tax of one shilling per dozen is levied on imported bags and sacks, to support two local manufacturers of these articles at Melbourne, It was contended that " it would have been far cheaper for the farmers to have paid these men .5,000 not to start in business, which would have only cost 10 74 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. vi. about Id. per acre to every farmer ; but now the tax for the purpose of protecting these two bag-makers amounted to 2d. per cultivated acre to every farmer in Victoria." The Echuca agriculturists probably only ex- press the views of those in other parts of the colony. Among the manufacturing establishments I visited at Melbourne were a woollen mill, a bag factory, a biscuit factory, some glass works, and some steam stone-cutting works. At the woollen mill the whole process of cloth- making was exemplified, from cleaning the wool to making up the cloth in large rolls ready for the tailor's use. The manager informed me that his machinery, and all the leading hands, had been imported from Lancashire, and that the 10 per cent, ad valorem duty on imported woollen piece goods, only just enabled him to compete with English made cloth. At the bag factory, I ascer- tained that the jute was imported from Calcutta, and that the manager was anxious to get jute from other parts of India. The tariff duty on imported woolpacks is no less than three shillings a dozen. Swallow and Ariel, at their biscuit factory at Sandridge, promise to do for the colonies what Huntly and Palmer have done in Europe. Flour being so cheap, there is not much field for foreign biscuit makers. While a visit to the local factories raises one's admiration for the industry and capabilities of the colonists, it only tends to confirm the opinion that a protective tariff is of no real benefit to the colony. Le jeu ne vaut pas la chandelle. The thing is being paid for at too high a price. The tariff duty on some of the chief articles is as follows : beer in bottle Is. 6d. per dozen, in wood 9d. per gallon ; boots and shoes, 25s. per dozen pairs, for full size, a lower duty for smaller sizes ; cigars 5s. per Ib. ; coffee 3d. per Ib. ; fruit 9d. per bushel ; grain and pulse of every kind Is. per 100 Ibs. ; cattle 5s. each ; horses 5s. each ; sheep 9d. each ; pigs 2s. each ; cut paper 2d. per Ib. ; uncut os. per cwt. ; pickles CHAP, vi.] UNDER THE SOUTHEEN CEOSS. 75 2s. 6d. per dozen quarts ; cast ; iron pipes 40s. per ton ; potatoes IOs. per ton ; rice 3s. per 100 Ibs. ; spirits 10s. per gallon ; sugar 3s. per cwt. ; tea 3d. per Ib. ; manu- factured tobacco 2s. per Ib. A 20 per cent, ad valorem duty is levied on all articles of apparel, furniture, jewellery, agricultural implements and machinery; and a 10 per cent, ad valorem duty on a variety of other articles. A late Minister of Agriculture, in dis- cussing the subject with me, justified the tariff on the ground that it was desirable for political and other rea- sons that Australia should have its own manufacturing industries. The people had not, as yet, objected to tax themselves for this end. The declining mining indus- tries had thrown a great number of people out of employment, who would emigrate to other colonies if an attempt was not made to encourage them to under- take other industries. The ex-Minister, who is one of Mr. Berry's supporters, did not seem very sanguine that the present policy could endure, and my own view is that it is only a question of time when the whole fabric of protection must tumble down. Nobody attempts to defend it on financial grounds. The colonists became protectionists for the same reason that Napoleon III went to war for an idea. The spirit of independence is strong within them, and they thought it would be a fine thing to show the mother country, and the world generally, that they are capable of providing for them- selves. They are proud, and justly so, of their resources, and have not hesitated to make some self-sacrifices in their determination to develop them. The opinion is gaining ground, however, that a protective tariff is a costly luxury, the benefits of which have been vastly overrated by politicians who have little or no other pro- perty in the country than the ,300 a year they receive from Parliament. It is a misfortune for the colony that its representa- tives in the two houses of Legislature should take such 76 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. vr. antagonistic views of public policy. No doubt personal animosities had something to do with the quarrel which resulted in the recent sensational coup-d'etat known as "Black Wednesday," when Mr. Berry's Government dismissed the civil servants en masse, because the upper house, which was smarting under the Land Tax Act, and the generally hostile attitude of the lower house, had refused, on technical grounds, to sanction the usual vote for payment of members of Parliament. This was touching the lower house on a sore place. The action of the upper house was unwise, but it did not justify the rash conduct of the Berry Ministry. The dismissal of public servants brought matters to a crisis, it is true, but it also nearly precipitated a revolution. The question is, might not the difficulty have been settled by less violent and more consti- tutional means ? As it is, Mr. Berry has earned a popularity for bravado rather than for common sense. The well-to-do portion of the community look upon him and his colleagues with distrust, and regard the proceedings of Parliament with contempt. " I would not trust the whole body of Ministers, in their private capacity, with a loan of <50," said a Bank manager to me in illustration of his want of confidence in the Ministry. This remark came in all earnestness from an unemotional Scotchman, with over twenty years^ experi- ence of the colony. It certainly strikes a stranger that the social status of Ministers, and of members of the lower house generally, is not what might be expected in such a community. This may be the outcome of uni- versal suffrage ; but, whatever the cause, the fact remains that, as a rule, men of position and education, like landed proprietors, merchants, and professional men, hold aloof from Parliament. Thus the ranks of legislators are re- cruited from trades-people, farmers, hotel-keepers, agents, and adventurers. The present Premier, Mr. Berry, was formerly a grocer at Prahran. Of course, his political CHAP, vi.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS 77 opponents aver that he was a bad grocer, and not over scrupulous about the proportion of sand to sugar. What is certain is that, after being a grocer, he became manager of a gold-mining company, and that by industry and ability he pushed himself into Parliament. Mr. Lalor, the Commissioner of Trade and Customs, was a ring-leader in the gold-mining riots of a quarter of a century ago, when the Government of the day offered a reward of ,500 for his capture, dead or alive. There was severe fighting with the police in those days ; and the armless sleeve to Mr. Lalor's coat testifies both to his misfortune and his courage iu those encounters. It is a strange whirligig that brings such a man to power. Mr. Woods, the Minister of Public Works, is an engineer whom the opposition papers chaff most unmercifully about some " scamped work" with which he was connect- ed before getting into Parliament. Another Minister is, in private life, a cattle dealer ; and another owns a store. The proprietor of a draper's shop in the "New Cut" of Melbourne has a seat in the Assembly; and the pro- prietor of a popular hotel, who, with his own hand, obligingly serves me with whisky and water across the bar, lost his seat at the last election and is now seeking another. The late honorable member, besides having a turn for poetry, has a keen eye for his own business as well as that of his country, as will be seen from the following description of his hostelry which appears in public advertisements : " The wand of the wizard has waved o'er its walls Transforming it into bright fairy-like halls : Umbrageous with verdure, resplendent with light, It welcomes you freely by day and by night ; It offers you shelter and bids you be free From trouble and turmoil, so come there with me." As nearly every-body in Australia is engaged in trade or agriculture, there is nothing sm*prising in the fact that legislators and ministers should be drawn from these classes of the community ; the anomaly is that the better men in these classes do not care to come forward to enter 78 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. vi. Parliament. As a matter of fact, " Parliament men," as they are called, are not generally held in much respect. The following paragraphs, taken from newspapers before me, refer, without much reserve, to the failings of some of them : " We learn that Mr. , the member for , is at present suffering from an illness the nature of which will probably render it necessary that he should resign his seat in the Assembly." Another paper is more explicit : " It is understood, that , the member for , having recovered from his last drinking bout, intends immediately to send in his resignation ; con- tinued drunkenness has ruined his prospects." It is only necessary to add that the newspapers fill in the blanks which I have left. Some slight modifications in the present qualifica- tions for members and voters would probably encour- age a better class of men to come forward as the people's representatives in the Houses of Assembly. At present the qualifications for voters and for members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly are the same, and as follows : "Every male person 21 years of age (not subject to any legal incapacity) who shall be a naturalised or denizen subject of Her Majesty, and who shall have resided in Victoria for twelve months previous to the 1st of January or July in any year, and shall have been naturalised or made denizen at least three years, is qualified to vote for members of the Legislative Assembly if he (1) resides in any electoral district, or (2) owns lands or tenements of the clear value of 50, or of the clear yearly value of 5, or (3) is upon the roll of rate paying electors.'' The residence qualification practically gives a vote to every ' horny-handed son of toil,' who is also qualified to sit in Parliament if he can get a constituency to return him. The Assembly, whose members are elected for three years, consists of 78 members, representing 55 electoral districts, containing a little over 180,000 electors. All voting at elections is by ballot. The payment of mem- bers Act was passed in 1870, by which .300 a year is allowed to members for " reifffbursing their expenses." CHAP, vi.] UNDER THE SOUTHEEN CROSS. 79 The qualifications for members of the Legislative Council, or upper house, are the possession of property to the value of <2,500, or of the annual value of .250. The qualifications for voters to this House are (1) free- hold property rated at not less than .50 per annum, if all in one province ; or not less than .100 per annum, if in two or more provinces ; (2) lease-holds similarly rated ; (3) occupation of property rated in similar amounts ; (4) joint ownership or occupation of free-hold or lease- hold property of sufficient value to give the foregoing qualification to each person, (5) mortgagers in possession of like property; (6) graduates, matriculated students, legal and medical practitioners, ministers of religion, schoolmasters, and military and naval officers. For the election of members of the Legislative Council the Colony is divided into six provinces, each returning five members, or thirty members in all. The members are elected for ten years, and every two years one member for each province has to retire, the tenure of his seat expiring through effluxion of time. Should a seat become vacant through the resignation or death of a member, his successor is elected for only that portion of the ten years that remains unexpired. A careful comparison of the constitutions of the upper and lower Houses will explain their antagonism. The quarrel between them is one of labour with capital, of the poor with the rich. 80 UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. vil. CHAPTER VII. SPORTS AND PASTIMES. The Australians a sport-loving people Enthusiasm about their champion cricketers in England The amusements of the day Theatrical and operatic performances Admiration of the colonists for Charles Kean, Walter Montgomery, Charles Mathews and G. V. Brooke A testimonial to Mr. Lyster The colonial game of football Kreitmeyer's wax-works exhi- bition A gallery of colonial portraits Martyrdom of Bishop Patterson Some notable bush-rangers The tragic deaths of Morgan and Ben Hall Probability of the bush-rangers becoming the Jack Sheppards and Dick Turpins of drama and romance Wisdom of the Home Government in putting a stop to transportation A race-meeting at Caulfield The Victoria Amateur Turf Club and its objects The performances of Australian race-horses compared with those of English race- horses Importation of English stallions Probable further improvement of Australian horses Flemington Race Course The Victoria Turf Club and its rules The standard weights for age in the colonies. On ' 'amuse id. Very much so. The Australians are perhaps the most sport-loving people in existence. They were far more interested in the result of the cricket- matches played by their champions in England than in the deliberations of the European congress at Berlin, The newspapers published special telegrams giving not only the final result of each match, but the individual scores of the players, and remarks on the quality of the bowling, or the unfavourable character of the weather. At King George's Sound, when the European tele- grams of the previous fortnight were read out to the passengers on board the mail steamer, there was a burst of cheering at the announcement that the Australian cricketers had beaten the Surrey Eleven : all the other news was comparatively flat and unprofitable. One night CHAP, vii.] UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. 81 when the streets of Melbourne were excited with the cries of the news-boys, I invested a penny in the evening paper, the Herald, expecting to find some important decision by the Berlin Congress. To my surprise, however, it was the publication of the weights for -the Melbourne Cup that was the cause of all the commotion. Dining at one of the clubs that evening, I noticed that the men around me could talk of scarcely anything else but this handicap. The race was a walk over for ' Emily,' said one ; pshaw, there was nothing in it but 'Democrat,' remarked another ; while a third hinted darkly at the handicapper being prejudiced by imposing such a crushing weight on ' Chester.' One would have thought every man at the table was a professional betting-man. The ruling pas- sion is strongly marked even in the children ; and the other day, in a railway carriage, I heard a small boy of about six summers supporting an argument with a youth of equally tender years with the challenge of "I'll bet you." There is not an up-country town of any impor- tance that has not its annual race meeting or coursing matches, for here, as in England, there is as much rage for fleet greyhounds as for fleet horses. As for cricket, foot-ball, and athletic sports generally, they are fine arts, and pursued, it is to be feared, with a good deal more devotion than are painting, sculpture, or literature. Thackeray prophesied that when future historians turn over the newspaper files of the present day, they will not read leading articles as much as they do the adver- tisements and police reports. It is quite true that the non-political columns of an Australian newspaper give the most comprehensive idea of the life around you. Turn- ing over a file of papers of the last few days, what do I find in the way of amusements? The story of " Uncle Tom's Cabin" has not yet lost its interest, as it is being told, in dramatic form, every evening at one of the theatres. At another house, " Our Girls," one of Mr. Byron's pleasant comedies, serves to show off some 11 82 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. vir. of the little failings of modern society in the old country. This play is immensely popular, and is well put on the stage by Mr. Lewis's Company, which is well known in India. At a third house, a melodrama with the dismal title of "Back from the Grave" is the chief source of attraction. The colonists are very fond of theatrical entertainments, and are proud of having attracted such artists as Charles Kean, Walter Montgomery, Charles Mathews, and G. V. Brooke. The latter is almost regard- ed as a colonial-bred actor ; his statue is placed in the public museum, and his melancholy death, in the steamer London, as he was returning to the colonies, is looked upon to this day almost as martyrdom. Good actors and singers not only reap rich pecuniary harvests here, but they are treated with a homely familiarity which must be particu- larly gratifying to them. Mr. Lyster, who has been giving operatic performances in the various colonies during the last seventeen years, left the other day for Europe, but not before a public demonstration was made to thank him for all that he had done for musical and dramatic art. In handing Mr. Lyster a handsome casket containing three hundred sovereigns, the spokesman of the meeting said : " I think every one will admit that Melbourne, and indeed I may say the whole Australian colonies, owe a debt of gratitude to you for your unceasing efforts to place before them the musical drama in the most complete manner. With that tact and dis- crimination which we all know you to possess, you have consulted the varied tastes of your numerous constituents. The cultured musician has had the opportunity of witnessing the works of the great masters ; the mere musical dilettante has been enabled to enjoy the music of more recent date and also of a less severe type ; while the many whose musical tastes, if I may be pardoned for saying so, are of a less high order, have screamed with laughter at the jovial and cheerful opera bouffe of the present day allied as it is to sparkling and brilliant music, and given with a galaxy of talent." The Argus devotes two long articles to a description of Mr. Lyster' s work, from which it appears that the colonists owe their acquaintance with the productions of Verdi, Gounod, Balfe, Wallace, and other musicians, to this gentleman's enterprise. CSAP. vii.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 83 There are notices of half-a -dozen eUEteEeat football matches, in which the features of the game are rather minutely described. A champion team from New South Wales has been over to play the champion team of Victoria. The players on both sides were fine active young men, good specimens of the youth of Australia, but, on the whole, hardly equal in physique to the young fellows who compete in the Oxford and Cam- bridge sports. The reporter continually refers to them as athletes, and is evidently a muscle- worshipper. One very objectionable feature in the public games here is that the decisions of the umpire are treated with little respect. An English gentleman whose opinion was openly challenged by players on both sides, as well as by violent partisans among the spectators, would leave the ground in disgust, and probably not without expressing a strong opinion of the conduct of both players and spectators. But the umpire has to submit to this kind of thing here, and his office is therefore not an enviable one. It does not seem quite the right thing either to see the spectators of a foot-ball match behaving as if they were watching a dog-fight. " G-o it, Charley," " Bound the waist, Smith," " Down with him, Watkins," are specimens of the criti- cism made on the players by admiring acquaintances in the crowd, during exciting and critical points in the game. A neat trip-up, or a violent fall, is greeted with applause and laughter, as though the crowd took a savage sort of delight in the discomfiture of the players, amongst whom the behaviour of the spectators encourages bad temper. The captain of a local club had to retire from the field the other day with a broken leg, while another player was put hors de combat. In both cases, the newspapers assured us that the mishaps were accidental, and might have happened in the best regulated game. Having witnessed some of the play, my surprise is these accidents are not more frequent. Altogether there is room for reform in the matches that are played 84 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. vn. in public. The Victorian game is different to the Bugby one : it has no " scrimmages," and no running away with the ball under the arm ; in fact it is played principally with the foot. There is nothing, however, to be said against the form of the game : it is only the behaviour of the players and spectators which is open to objection. No description of the amusements of Melbourne would be complete without a notice of Mr. Kreitmeyer's exhibition of wax-works. Specimens of this gentle- man's art were exhibited at the Paris Exhibition, where they caused a good deal of interest. His Melbourne exhibition is, if anything, more interesting than that of Madame Tussaud in London, and is particulai'ly instructive to a stranger visiting the colony for the first time. It is, in the first place, a standing illus- tration of the criminal history of the colonies, every notorious murderer or bush-ranger having his effigy and dress here preserved in wax. It gives us besides some striking likenesses of the principal political characters the colony has produced, to say nothing of those of the crowned heads and chief statesmen in Europe, and life- like tableaux in illustration of important Australian events. Among the latter, there is an impressive tableau of " Burke's last moments." The Burke referred to is the Australian traveller. The unfortunate termination of the Burke and Wills' expedition across this continent some years ago cannot be forgotten. The tableau re- presents the following scene from King's narrative of the death of the travellers, King, who had been a soldier in India, being the only one of the expedition who survived to tell the tale : " He (Burke) then said to me, ' I hope you will remain with me till I am quite dead it is a comfort to know that some one is by me when I am dying. It is my wish that you should place the pistols in my right hand, and that you will leave me unburied as I lie. 5 " A monument has been erected in Collins Street in public acknowledgment of the courageous work performed by CHAP, vn.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 85 these gallant fellows. Another good tableau is the martyr- dom of the late Bishop Patterson. The catalogue says : " He fell a victim to the existing labour or, properly, slave trade. The scene represents the island of Santa Cruz. On the left are the men who brought the reverend prelate to the shore, and, horrified at the terrible deed, are taking flight. On the ground is the martyr himself, receiving his death-blow, bearing on his face an expression like the martyr St. Stephen praying for his murderers." Nothing could more vividly impress the above events on the mind than a sight of these wax tableaux, which may obviously be made an important aid to education in the hands of good and conscientious artists. Here is a " fat boy," not out of " Pickwick," but a native of Sydney. When this likeness was taken, he was only 12 years old, 5 feet 5 inches in height, 20 stone in weight, and 57 inches round the waist. Alongside him is the fat girl, also a native of New South Wales. She is 15 years old, 35 inches in height, 13 stone in weight, 2 feet round the leg ? 3 feet 5 inches round the shoulders, 4 feet six inches round the waist. Altogether, not a beauty. We are not told if the above pair were brother and sister, nor if they were children of the famous claimant to the Tichborne title. They might have been, according to appearances. Walter Montgomery, as Hamlet, is represented in the following scene, skull in hand : " Hamlet. Dost thou think Alexander looked i' this fashion i' the earth? Horatio. . E'en so." Mr. Montgomery arrived in Melbourne in 1867, and, after a long and most successful tour over the colonies, return- ed to England through the United States. Being unfortu- nate in an attempt to revive a taste for the poetic drama in London, he resolved to visit Australia via the United States ; but on the 1st September, 1871, he shot himself. Two or three days before the fatal event, he was married to Miss Bigelow, an American lady. G-. V. Brooke is re- presented in his favourite character of Virginias, saying : " Lo ! Appius, with this innocent blood I do devote thee to th' infernal gods." 86 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. vn. Here is Cakobau, his sable majesty the King of Fiji, " considered, by many, not quite so black as he is paint- ed, while some of the members of his European Ministry are thought to be not quite white men." An amiable looking old gentleman, with long white hair, covered with a black velvet cap, is the Hon. John Pascoe Fawk- ner, born in 1792, "first landed at Port Phillip, October 19th, 1803, finally settled at Port Phillip, October 9th 1835. The founder of Melbourne." Another amiable looking old gentleman who would pass muster for a Brother Cherryble is Sir Hurtle Fisher, " one of the pioneers of South Australia." Now let us muster up courage and enter the " Crimi- nals' Room." Here is a wonderful collection of ruffianism, which recalls the history of many cruel and blood-thirsty crimes. First, we notice several specimens of the Austra- lian highway robbers, or bush-rangers, a race happily now almost extinct. Altogether they are a rough, hairy, un- shorn lot, but not with that villanous cast of countenance which one usually associates with habitual crime. In fact many of the bush-rangers are healthy and rather jovial- looking fellows, who evidently enjoyed the kind of life they led. Before me, is a youth named John Dunn, who was executed before he was 20 years of age. He is des- cribed in the catalogue as " the last at large, and the most blood-thirsty of Gardiner's gang." Of this once formid- able band of highwaymen, which for so many years kept, the colony in fear, it may not be out of place to mention, that four still survive, viz., Gardiner, the chief, who was sentenced to thirty-three years' penal servitude, but was subsequently pardoned ; Vane, who surrendered, and was sentenced to fifteen years on the roads ; and Bow and Fordyce, sentenced to death, a sentence afterwards com- muted to fifteen years' penal servitude. Peisly and Manns were hung. The other five, viz., Lowrie, Burke, O'Meally, Ben Hall, and Gilbert, were shot dead Burke and O'Meally by private hands, and the remainder by the CHAP, vii.] UNBER THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. 87 police. The end of Ben Hall is represented in a sepa- rate illustration, and is as dramatic as anything in the history of Jack Sheppard or Dick Turpin. Hall is grasping a sapling when on the point of falling down, mortally wounded by some thirty bullets. The catalogue adds that the police and " many of Ben's friends in New South Wales" have testified to the extra- ordinary likeness of this wax model. Another gang of bush-rangers, headed by Burgess, who confessed to having begun his criminal career at the tender age of eight, used to carry about with them, in addition to fire- arms, a bottle containing strychnine, "having resolved that if any party they encountered were too strong for them, they would make friends, and whilst drinking with them administer the poison, and then rob them." One of this amiable gang turned Queen's evidence, and thus got his comrades executed. It is not very reassuring to read that the ruffian who escaped execution has since been liberated. The bush-ranger Morgan, however, is said to have carried off the palm for "cool audacity and blood-thirstiness." In June 1864, he shot Sergeant McGinnerty dead, and took his horse and firearms. In the following September he shot Sergeant Smith, who died a few days afterwards. The recital of his crimes would " fill a large book." He is here represented hold- ing a revolver in each hand, and his likeness has been repeatedly attested by many who knew him. Mr. Morgan met his end in the following characteristic manner. On the 6th April 1865 he " stuck up" the station of Mr. Evans at Whitfield : " Several carriers were also bailed up on the road near Wilton. At about dark on the Saturday night following', Morgan reached Mr. M'Pherson's house at the Peechelba Station, about twenty miles from Wangaratta. He immediately bailed up all whom he found on the station. But a servant girl ran to the house of Mr. Rutherford, partner of Mr. M'Pherson's, situated at a distance of 400 yards. A man was despatched to Wanga- ratta, and the police force arrived, which, combined with Mr. Rutherford's men, made a party of about twenty-eight men. Morgan, meanwhile, was unsuspectingly spending the night in 88 UNDER THE SOUTHEEN CROSS. [CHAP. vn. a free a.nd easy manner, and got Mrs. H'Pherson to play on the piano, &c. In the morning, after reconnoitring in the front of the house, he prepared to start. The force had been carefully posted in ambush all round the place. After having duly break- fasted, Morgan left ; Mr. M'Pherson and three others going with him to the paddock to get a mare. On his way he approached within 100 yards the ambush of John Quinlan, a labouring man, who jumped from behind a tree and shot the bush-ranger through the back. He died a few hours after, without confessing any- thing. Next day an inquest was held on the body, and the jury returned a verdict of justifiable homicide, and giving great praise to all parties concerned." What a light is here thrown on the life of eai'ly settlers in Australia ! Many of the above events will probably be made use of by the authors of a future generation, when the country has a literature and drama of its own. Of the ordinary murderers, I need only remark that the majority of them were either liberated convicts, whose whole career, when not under control, was crime, or drunkards and bad characters, whose career as freemen had been steadily downwards. Mr. Kreitmeyer's exhi- bition must have at least one hundred models of criminals who have suffered capital punishment in the colonies. One can thus understand why the colonists, a few years ago, made such a determined stand on the convict ques- tion, and refused any longer to receive the scum of England's jails. The Home Government was wise to give way in time, or there would, for a certainty, have been as effectual a separation between the mother country and Australia about " Convictism," as there was in the last century between England and her Ameri- can colonies about taxation. If I were a colonist, I would not tolerate such visitors as these I see in Mr. Kreitmeyer's exhibition. You do not feel com- fortable in walking about even among their wax effigies, especially if you are alone in the dimly-lighted room, as I was. It was not difficult to picture some of these figures full of life and murderous intent, and not disinclined to " stick you up," or send a bullet through CHAP, vii.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 89 you the moment your back was turned. The only living object in the room besides myself was an old cockatoo, hidden away in a dark corner, and whose utterances seemed of the most unearthly character until I discovered whence they proceeded. As I was leaving the building, and taking a last look at " Burke's last moments," and the " Meeting of Stanley and Livingstone," a little girl with a jug approached me slowly and eyed me intently. Surely this is not a wax illusion ! " Who are you, my little girl," I ask with some doubt? "If you please, sir, I live in the wax works, and am going to fetch some beer." Could the disillusion have been more complete ? I took occasion of a race-meeting at Caulfield on the afternoon of the 1st July to see something of Australian horseflesh. The meeting was one of those which are got up by the Victoria Amateur Turf Club, a body of gentle- men who are desirous of encouraging a breed of horses capable of carrying average weights to hounds. In the two principal races, both steeple-chases, no horse carried un- der 10 st., and none but members of the club were allowed to ride. The course for the Victoria Gold Cup was two and half miles, and for the Open Handicap three miles. The jumps consisted of strong-wooden fences, more formidable than five-barred gates, such as are to be seen all over the country; but there were no water jumps. Gladiator, the winner of the cup, was a strong, handsome horse, classed as aged, and carrying 11 st. 3 Ibs ; the winner of the three mile race was Cruiser, an aged horse carrying 10 st. Oppo- sition, a six year old, ran second with 10 st. 7 Ibs. ; and Greystanes, aged, and the most powerful animal on the race course, ran a good third with 12st. 41bs. on his back. As a rule, the horses jumped very well, and I^only^aw/one animal absolutely refuse to take his fences. The card comprised altogether six races, eleven entries 12 gO UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. vrr. for the first, thirty -three for the second, six for the third (top weight 13st. lOlbs. !) twenty-eight for the fourth, fourteen for the fifth, and twenty for the sixth ; and when T mention that twenty-two horses started for one race, sixteen for another, and that there was a dead heat, and three close finishes, racing men will understand that there was good sport. Altogether there must have been sixty or seventy horses on the course. Considering the number that started, and that five out of the six races were steeple-chases, there was little execution among the riders. I should say there were not more than half-a-dozen " spills" altogether, but one was of a serious character, a jockey who had fallen having been trodden on by the horse that followed him. He looked a pitiable object as he was carried from the course, with his gay-coloured shirt stained with blood. A few days before, at an up-country meeting, a rider broke his neck through tumbling over one of these timber fences. The odd thing was that, before the race, he declared he would win or break his neck ! The display of horses was altogether very good, not only on the course, but in the private carriages and public cabs that brought the people to the races. The mounted police, too, a very fine body of men in fact Melbourne has the finest, best-fed, and best paid, policemen, mounted and foot, I have seen anywhere were on splendid chargers. Sir George and Lady Bowen were among the visitors in the grand stand, but the crowd round the course was not a large one, the entrance fee of a shilling to the club's grounds having served to keep the company tolerably select. Still the " larrikin," the three-card-trick sharper, and the strolling acrobat class, were faily represented. Caulfield is situated about seven miles out of Melbourne, and may be almost considered one of its suburbs. In driving to it you pass by familiar places like Richmond and Windsor, without the Thames and the Royal Castle. In place of those familiar objects of scenery, however, I noticed two CEAP. TIL] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 91 er three handsome structures devoted to charitable ob- jects. The Asylum for the Blind, the Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb, and the Alfred Hospital are all deserv- ing institutions, supported by voluntary contributions. The hospital was built in commemoration of the Duke of Edinburgh's recovery from the shot of the Fenian O'Far- rell, who so nearly succeeded in taking the Duke's life in Sydney Harbour. It is a noble kind of thank-offer- ing for a lucky escape, and was built by public subscrip- tion. O'Farrell was hanged for his crime more than ten years ago. There has been, as yet, no opportunity of practically testing the merits of Australian race-horses with those of horses bred in the mother country ; but so far as an opinion may be formed from the time-records of some of the principal races in England and Australia, it would appear that colonial-bred s would not have much reason to dread a competition with either English or French bred race-horses. Some leading sportsmen in Victoria are desirous of having the question of superiority solved by sending some of their best horses to England, to compete in some of the open races. The measure of the English cricketers has just been taken by the cham- pion eleven from the Colonies : why should not the measure of English race-horses be taken in the same way ? In the meantime a comparison of the time-records in both countries may prove interesting. Perhaps the fairest comparison can be made with the three-year-old races, in which the conditions of racing seem to be alike. The course for the English Derby is one mile and a half ; the weight carried by colts 8 st. 10 Ibs. and by fillies 8 st. 5 Ibs. The course for the Victoria Derby is also one mile and a half, and the weights for colts and fillies the same. The Flemington course however is level, while the Epsom course is hilly, and therefore a little more difficult. The following table gives the names of the respective winners of the Victoria Derby and English 92 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. vn. VICTORIA DERBY ENGLISH DE Year. Horse. Time, m. s. Year. Horse. 1860 Flying Colors 1861 Camden 3 2 2 53 1860 Thormanby 1861 Kettledrum 1862 Barwon 2 59 1862 Caractacus 1863 Oriflamme 3 3 1863 Macaroni 1864 Lantern 2 58 1864 Blair Athol 1865 Angler 1866 Seagull 1867 Fireworks 2 51 3 4 2 56 1865 Gladiateur 1866 Lord Lyon 1867 Hermit 1868 My Dream 1869 Charon 2 48 2 55 1868 Blue Gown 1869 Pretender 1870 Florence 1871 Miss Jessie 3 2 49 1870 Kingcraft 1871 Favonius 1872 Loup Garou 1873 Lapidist 1874 Melbourne 2 46 2 51 2 46i 1872 Cremorne 1873 Done-aster 1874 Geo. Frederick 1875 Robin Hood 1876 Briseis 2 48 2 43} 1875 Galopin 1876 Kisber Derby, and the times of the races, between the years 1860 and 1876 : SBY. ENGLISH DERBY. Time, m. s. 2 55 2 43 3 45 2 50 2 43 2 46J 2 50 2 48$ 2 44 2 51 2 45 2 50 2 45i 2 50 2 46 2 47 2 44 It will be noticed in the Victorian list that on three occasions the race has occupied more than three minutes, and on one occasion exactly three minutes, while in the English list Thormanby's 2 min. 55| sees, is the longest time taken since 1860 in running the English Derby. It is true that before that date, horses like Flying Dutch- man, Daniel O'Rourke and Ellington took 3 minutes or more to win the Derby, probably under very excep- tional conditions of weather. In the Victorian list, Thormanby's time, it will be seen, has been exceeded on six occasions ; on six occasions in the seventeen years the time has been under 2 min. 50 sees ; and the shortest time is that of the mare Briseis, a daughter of the once famous English race-horse Tim Whiffler, who won the Victoria Derby in 2 min. 43| sees. The English list for the same period shows that the English Derby has been won on eleven occasions in less than 2 min. 50 sees., and on four occasions in exactly that time, while the shortest time on record is 2 min. 43 sec. Thus Kettledrum and Blair Athol are the only English horses that have beaten the time of the Australian mare Briseis. On the whole, CHAP, viz.] UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. 93 the English average, as might be expected, is better than the Australian, though the difference is so small that the merits of Australian race-horses become very obvious to anybody who takes the trouble to institute a careful comparison of the time-records over a period of years. Taking the last six years on the above lists, it will be seen that there is, according to time test, little to choose between English and Australian horses : ENGLISH 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 50 45i 50 46 47 44 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 VICTORIAN. m. s. 2 49 2 46 51 46i 48 43* A comparison of the Victoria St. Leger times with those of the Doncaster St. Leger do riot show such favourable re- sults for Australia. The length of course, If miles and 132 yards appears to be the same in both cases, but for some reason, which is not apparent in the Victoria Turf Register, there is the following difference in the time-records of the respective St. Legers in the six years from 1871 to 1876 : ENGLISH ST. LEGEE. 1871 Hannah 1872 Wenlock 1873 Marie Stuart 1874 Apology 1875 Craig Millar 1876 Petrarch m. s. ... 3 22 ... 3 2H ... 3 22 ... 3 16 ... 3 20 ... 3 19 1871 The Fawn 1872 Hamlet ] 873 Blue Peter 1874 Seaspray 1875 Melbourne 1876 Eichmond VICTORIAN ST. LEGER. m. s. .. 3 33 .. 3 29 .. 3 3H .. 3 37i .. 3 38 3 26 A comparison of the time-records of the great race for three year old mares is also in favor of England : ENGLISH OAKS. 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 m. s. 2 51 2 52 2 50 2 48 2 49 50 VICTORIAN OAKS. Hannah Eeine Marie Stuart ... Apology Spinaway ( Camelia ) (. Enguerrande j Some of the Australian horses show very good time over long distances, as proved by the following instances : in 1867 Mr. Tait's The Barb, then three years old, won the 1871 Formosa 1872 Sunshine 1873 Eose d' Amour... 1874 Gaslight 1875 Maid of all Work 1876 Briseis m. s. 2 52 50 53 5 51 94 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. vil. New Zealand Champion Sweepstakes, three miles, weight 7 st. 1 lb., in 5 min. 38 sees ; in 1876 another three year old, Richmond, won the same race, carrying 7 st. 1 lb., in 5 min. 35 sees. In 1874, Mr. DeMestre's horse Dagworth, then five years old, won the Queen's Plate at Sydney, three miles, carrying 10 st. 1 lb., in 5 min. 45 sees. The same horse won the same race in the previous year, carrying 9 st. 5 Ibs., in 5 min. 56 sees. The cup courses in England are not, as a rule, more than about 2| miles, so that we cannot well institute comparisons between English and Aus- tralian horses over long distances. But there can be little doubt that the Australians should excel in this respect, the climate, especially in New South Wales, being so favourable for breeding horses sound of wind. The proportion of unsound colts in Australia is very small in comparison with the numbers in England, a circumstance due chiefly to climatic conditions. It is easy to trace the improvement in horsebreeding in the colonies to the importation of good sires from England. Fisherman, a famous cup horse of twenty years ago, Tim Whiffler, another good performer on the English turf, and Marquis, the winner of the Two Thou- sand Guineas and St. Leger in 1862, were all purchased for stud purposes in the colonies. Fisherman's name stands credited in the Victoria Turf Register with three Derby winners, three St. Leger winners, and four Oaks winners. His progeny, both colts and fillies, have been very successful at the stud, Maribyrnong, Angler, and Ferryman being the best of his sons who are now perpetuating his stock. Tim Whiffler and Marquis have only lately made a name at the stud ; the former is the sire of Briseis, winner of the Derby, Melbourne Cup and Oaks in 1876, and probably the fastest mare the Colonies have yet produced. Tim Whiffler 's stud fee is now fifty guineas. The Marquis was imported with the object of getting the Stockwell strain of blood, but so far he has been a comparative failure. In his old age, however, he CHAP, vii.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 95 has produced a " clinker" in His Lordship, a horse that is this year carrying off many good prizes, and that may worthily uphold the fame of the Stockwell blood. Other Stockwell sires in Victoria are Ace of Clubs and Stockowner, and the former of these is the grand-sire of First King, a horse that was regarded as champion of last year. The English studs are still being drawn upon both for mares and stallions. Quite recently Proto- martyr, a half brother of the famous Petrarch, and Bras- de-fer, a Voltigeur horse, have arrived at Melbourne, while Leolinus, a horse that ran well in England a few years ago, has taken up his quarters in New Zealand. It is no matter for surprise when so much money is ex- pended in obtaining the best blood from England, that Australian horses should so rapidly have improved in quality. There is no reason whatever why they should not equal, even if they do not ultimately surpass, the best English thorough-breds. Melbourne and Sydney divide racing honors pretty equally between them, the leading Sydney stables being those of Mr. Tait and Mr. DeMestre, while Mr. Wilson has been the most successful breeder in the sister colony. The race on which there is most speculation is the Melbourne Cup, a handicap of the cha- racter of the Czarewitch at Newmarket. It is run on Flemlngton race-course, only three miles out of Mel- bourne, and therefore very convenient for sight-seers. It is said that 80,000 people assembled to see the Cup race on the last occasion. The Flemington course is nearly surrounded by hills, from which spectators can look down, as on the arena of an amphitheatre, and get a most picturesque view of the racing. The course is the property of the Victoria Racing Club, and has been laid out with great care, having a fine grand-stand at one end that looks as though it had been built for all time. The Racing Club is a flour- ishing institution : the accounts for the year ended 30th June 1878 show a revenue of over 18,000 from 96 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. [CHAP. vn. entries, sale of tickets, &c., and an expenditure of over .11,000 on stakes. The net profit on the Spring Meet- ing is put down at ,6,590, and members' subscriptions amounted to nearly .3,500. The club has a paid secre- tary on ,1,000 a year, a paid handicapper on ,500 a year, and some other officials. Last year it spent ,5,761 in improvements on the race course ; the saddling paddock and carriage paddock were enlarged to three times their former size ; several extra luncheon sheds were erected, and a good water supply was obtained. Arrangements, moveover, had been made at the various starting places to take time by electricity. No less than lol race meet- ings were held in the Australian colonies in the year 1876-7, a number which gives some idea of the popularity of horse-racing, and of the sums of money that are spent in connection with the sport. The Club's code of rules may be said to form the laws which govern racing in the colonies. One rule which might be intro- duced in Indian race programmes with advantage runs as follows : " No entry will be received for any of the races except upon this condition that all disputes, claims, and objections arising out of the racing shall be decided by a majority of the Stewards present, or those whom they may appoint. Their decisions upon all points connected with the carrying out of this pro- gramme shall be final." The Victoria Racing Club's rules rightly recognise the authority of the Stewards as supreme, and provide that their decisions shall be final and conclusive. The Club's scale of standard weights for age seems unnecessarily elaborate, prescribing as it does, more especially for two and three year old horses, certain weights, for certain distances, for every separate month in the year. To make, matters still more compli- cated, the Australian Jockey Club at Sydney have a diffe- rent scale to that in force in Victoria, the Sydney club's weights being, as a rule, slightly lower than those of the Melbourne club. CHAP, vii.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 97 The following are the standard weights for age pre- scribed by the Victoria Racing Club : r* r* * O * 'C CW O "* ^i O O * ^l-flg O O MS 'cfS o o o c o * o *> t t-i * o eg o o o o o oo -i r o ei >o o S> o ^ rH rH rH rH rH -I CO o II 4343 13 98 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. vm. CHAPTEE VIII. THE FOUNDERS OF VICTORIA. A forecast of the future of Australia What our children may witness fifty years hence Amor patrice of the colonists The late Edward Wilson His work in connection with the Victorian Press The separation movement The first Aus- tralian Parliament Port Phillip elects Earl Grey, the Duke of Wellington, Lord Palmerston and Sir Robert Peel members of the Sydney Legislature The colonists refuse to receive English convicts Port Phillip constituted a separate colony known as Victoria Patriotism and administrative capacity of the early settlers Edward Wilson's labours in acclimatisation Extraordinary increase of rabbits, hares and sparrows A "Rabbit Suppression Bill" passed by the Legislative Assembly Melbourne as it was thirty years ago The present drainage system Successful application of town sewage to agriculture Melbourne a sewerless but healthy city. SIR HERCULES EOBINSON, late Governor of New South. Wales, speaking at the annual commemoration of the Sydney University, said : " This magnificent colony possesses all the natural advantages necessary to enable it to become a great country, but whether it will ever really become truly great will depend upon the character and intelligence of its inhabitants. At present the population of New South Wales is only about 650,000 ; but within the lifetime of infants now being born that is, within 75 years from this time the population of this colony alone, with the present rate of increase of 4 per cent, per annum, will be over 10 millions. Just try to realise this, parents of New South Wales, that within what you must hope will be the lifetime of some of your little ones, there will be twenty persons in this colony for every one there is at present j and bear in mind that with this increase in numbers, and with this pressure of population, social problems will inevitably arise here, the righteous and honest solution of which will de- pend entirely upon the intellectual clearness and the moral worth of the individual citizen." Sir Hercules might have extended his calculation of the probable increase of population to Victoria, South Aus- tralia, Queensland, and Western Australia, when he CHAP, viii.j UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. 99 could hardly have failed to come to the conclusion that Australia will, seventy-five years hence, be possessed of a population of some fifty or sixty millions of inhabitants, and be one of the most homogeneous and powerful nations in the world. In fact the growth of Australia promises to be even more rapid than that of the United States. Is it surprising that the men who helped to found this promising young off-shoot of the British Empire, should be proud of their work ? A more touching illus- tration of the amor patrice could not have been witnessed than at the funeral of the late Edward Wilson, which I had the privilege of attending in Melbourne cemetery. Mr. Wilson left the colony some fifteen or sixteen years ago, and has since resided in England, in one of the most charming mansions in Kent. He had every- thing about him to make life agreeable, an ample fortune, and plenty of warm-hearted friends. But his cup of happiness was not complete. The truth is, his heart was in the country he helped to create ; and when his executors, after his death last year, opened his will, it was discovered that he had expressed an ardent desire to have his body buried at Melbourne. His remains were accordingly forwarded to the colony in the steamer Aconcagua, and were interred at the General Cemetery on Sunday afternoon the 7th July ; the piece of ground selected for his final resting place being opposite to the grave of Sir Charles Hotham, the first Governor of Victoria, and near the tomb-stone erected to the memory of Burke and Wills, the explorers. Though the funeral was private, many of the leading politicians and scientific men attended it, out of respect for Mr. Wilson's memory ; but he has been absent from the colony so long that the younger generation know him not, or only vaguely as in some way connected with the Argus newspaper. Edward Wilson may be fairly credited with being father of the Press of Victoria, Arriving in the colony 100 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. [CHAP. vm. in the early part of the fourth decade of the present century, he witnessed and took part in that sudden bound of the little settlement from the infant state to manhood. He began his career as up-country squatter, or farmer, but not succeeding in this venture, he came to Mel- bourne and bought the Argus in June 1846. There was only one small news-sheet, called the Port Phillip Patriot, in existence at the time, which the Argus soon absorbed, and entered on that course of success which gradually led to its being regarded as the leading newspaper in the Australian colonies. The Patriot, which belonged to Mr. Fawkner, the founder of Melbourne, first appeared as a manuscript sheet, owing to the colonists having no type or printing presses. All this happened within the memory of many men still living. Now Melbourne sup- ports four daily newspapers, the Argus, the Age, the Daily Telegraph, and the Herald-, two excellent weekly papers, the Australasian (also Mr. Wilson's property) and the Leader, and two illustrated papers (one of these, the Sketcher, belonging to Mr. Wilson). The Age, Daily Telegraph, and Herald are penny papers, and the former "guarantees" a daily circulation of over 32,000. As the price of the Argus is three pence, it has not such a large circulation, its number being I believe about 12,000; but on the other hand, it circulates amongst the most influential classes, contains more original articles and foreign correspondence than the other papers, and is regarded as the best medium for advertisements. It is, moreover, admirably printed. Altogether, the Australian Press compares favorably with the Press at home, both in literary ability and the enterprise of its conductors. It was not only in connection with the press that the late Mr. Wilson deserved well of his brother colonists. As a public man, he took an important part in the, locally speaking, great work of separation from New South Wales, and the abolition of convictism. People at a distance can hardly understand the importance of CHAP, viii.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 101 these questions to the colony of Victoria. We have to carry back our recollections to the fact that the Governor of New South Wales, which was founded purely as a con- vict settlement, was formerly the sole representative of the authority of the Crown on the Australian continent, and that the early settlers at Port Phillip, which was not explored till 1835, experienced all the inconvenience and injustice of being ruled by a distant authority which had no knowledge of or sympathy with their wants. The very existence indeed of the fertile country around Port Phillip was unknown until the Sydney Survey or- General repoited: "It is a region more extensive than Great Britain, equally rich in point of soil, and which now lies ready for the plough in many parts, as if specially prepared by the Creator for the industrious hands of Englishmen." Then there began that migration from Van Diemen's Land and New South Wales which was the first step in the colonisation of Victoria. Land, however, could only be occupied by the permission of the Governor of New South Wales, who levied license fees, and imposed taxes on small industrial enterprises like brick-making and lime-burning, hardly the way to encourage the new settlement. In 1839, a superintendent was sent from Sydney to manage local affairs on behalf of the Governor. But Melbourne grew in prosperity much faster than Sydney ; the former's affairs were rapidly getting beyond the control of a Governor's deputy, who had to refer every important matter to his chief ; and a feeling gradually arose that the Port Phillip district ought to be separated from New South Wales, and formed into a distinct colony. This feeling became all the stronger when it was found that though the Sydney Government received all the purchase-money for the Crown lands that were being rapidly disposed of, it only returned a trifling proportion to Port Phillip in the way of public improvements. A separation movement was thus set on foot by some of the sheep-farmers, headed by a Mr. 102 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. vin. Curr. It was stayed for a time by what seemed a measure of reform from the Colonial Office. In 1843 New South Wales was granted a Legislative Council of twenty-four members, two-thirds to be elected by the colonists, and one-third to be nominated by the Crown. The Port Phillip district was allowed to return six mem- bers : a boon, it is said, " of which it could take little effectual advantage, for the men upon whom it might best rely could not abandon their shops or stations to live in a distant city, only reached by a voyage averaging a fortnight." The farce of the thing soon became evident. At the nomination of the Port Phillip members for the Sydney Legislature no candidate appeared. Being told they ought to return somebody, the free and independent electors fixed their choice upon Earl Grey, (then Secre- tary of State for the Colonies), the Duke of Wellington, Lord Palmerston, Lord John Russell, Sir Robert Peel, and other eminent English politicians, who were about as likely to take their seats in the Sydney Legislature as they were in the Legislature of the moon. Earl Grey appreciated the joke, and decided that Port Phillip should have a Legislature of its own ; but before the new consti- tution was granted, things came to a crisis. In 1849 a convict ship arrived in Hobson's Bay with a batch of felons from England. The settlers at Port Phillip, who were already proud of being free men, were indignant at this attempt of the Colonial Office to foist a ship-load of criminals upon them. A meeting was organised by Mr. Edward Wilson, whose name, says Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, " is inseparably connected with the resistance to this social pollution, till its complete triumph," and this meeting made such a spirited protest that Sir C. Fitzroy, the Governor of Sydney, at once pro- mised that no convicts should be permitted to land at Port Phillip till the feelings of the colonists had been made known in Downing Street. Mr. Wilson and his colleagues declared that " England had no constitutional CHAP, vin.] UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. 103 right to tax the colonists for Imperial purposes by requir- ing them to maintain a portion of her criminals ;" that " the introduction of felons would discredit the fair name Port Phillip had begun to acquire in England, and deter the most eligible class of emigrants from coming out ;" and that, finally, " they had never received convicts, and were prepared to undergo any extremity rather than sub- mit to do so." This was strong language for a little community that could not yet boast of having even a Governor, but it had its effect in the right quarters. The Colonial Office gave way. Port Phillip was not to be asked to take convicts, and was in 1851 converted into a separate colony under the name of Victoria. How the new colony was suddenly revolutionised, socially at all events, by the discovery of the gold mines, or how it grew in a few years more than some countries in the old world have done in as many centuries, need not be told here. One can well understand, however, why the early settlers in the colony should now feel proud of their handiwork. As Sir Charles Duffy has truly re- marked, the first settlers have left a record of capacity, fortitude, and resource which may claim an honorable place in the annals of British enterprise. " They had not, like the pioneers of the Western continent, to strug- gle with powerful tribes of fierce and subtle Indians, or to repel the invasion of European enemies of the mother- country, or to face the hardships of an inclement climate and unfruitful soil ; but they had to conti-ol and govern masses of men suddenly recruited from the ends of the earth ; recruited not only from the British islands and foreign countries, but from the hulks and penitentiaries of convict settlements ; they had to encounter on brief notice serious social and political problems, lying quite outside the ordinary experience, and to assume responsibilities and exercise authority, ' unto which they were not born ;' and the manner in which they discharged these weighty and unforeseen duties is well worthy of being recorded." 104 UNDER THE SOUTHEEN CEOSS. [CHAP. vm. Mr. Wilson's labours in the direction of acclimatis- ing English birds, animals, and fishes in Australia are also well known, and I am not sure that future generations will not cherish his memory more on that account than they will for his political services in the early days, or for the handsome endowments he has now made to the charitable institutions of the colony. In returning from his funeral, I passed through the grounds of the Mel- bourne University, and noticed that one of the ivy-covered buildings was teeming with sparrow-life. The whole scene was a reproduction of the mother-country. " He brought us our English birds," would be a sufficient record t on Wilson's tombstone to remind future generations of what they owe to him. No man in his day did more to make the conditions of residence in Australia resemble those in the land from which the colonists had emigrated. In this way Edward Wilson contributed to the happiness of his fellow-men in a way they will not fully appreciate, unless they try to realise what Australia would be like in the absence of the animal and vegetable kingdom of Great Britain. The success that has attended the acclimati- sation of European birds and animals in Australia has surpassed all expectations ; in fact, the fear is now that acclimatisation has been overdone. A few years ago there was not a hare in the country, and now coursing matches are held at every country town of any impor- tance. Babbits have become such a nuisance that the Government of Victoria has been obliged to legislate for their destruction, and a "Rabbit Suppression Bill" has already passed through the Legislative Assem- bly. The bill was introduced by the Minister of Lands, who, in moving the second reading, drew a vivid picture of the desolation caused in certain dis- tricts by the rabbits. " On the occasion of a recent visit paid by him to a district where they abounded, he passed over tracts which were now grassless, the rabbits having devoured the herbage, roots and all." Power is CHAP, vni.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 105 given by the bill to the Shire Councils to levy a rate of one penny per acre, and it also authorises them to go upon private property and destroy rabbits at the expense of the owner. All brushwood fences in a rabbit district are liable to be burned down on the order of inspectors under the Act ; and anybody turning rabbits loose in a district is liable to a penalty of 10Z. for each offence. In order to encourage the Shire Councils to destroy the rabbits on the unoccupied Crown lands, a subsidy will be given of ten shillings in the pound on the amount of the rabbit rate collected. The sparrows will soon have to be dealt with in a similar way, to judge from the following complaint which appears in a Sydney paper : " Eight or ten years ago some misguided enthusiast took it into his head to introduce the English housetop sparrow. Very likely this particular instance of acclimatisation was taken in hand with the very best intentions ; but such is the ingratitude of mankind that the agriculturalists, for whose special benefit the sparrows were imported, are ready to curse the day when the first pair of these gray marauders were liberated on Australian soil. The sparrow has the merit of being insectiverous, if indeed it may not be classed as omniverous ; but he is a remarkably shrewd, hardy little customer, and troubles himself very little about cater- pillars as long as he can get fruit or grain. People who have gardens or farms in the neighbourhood of Sydney are beginning to abhor the very sight of those drab foreigners, for the reason that no sooner do they sow the seed than a cloud of sparrows swoop down and forthwith reap the harvest. One of the evil results of their introduction is that the sparrows are fast driving away all the indigenous birds, 99 out of every 100 of which really deserve to be classed as insect eaters. Is this a matter which concerns the horticultural societies ? Or will the cultivators have to start sparrow clubs, as has been done in Victoria and New Zealand ? A prize for the best dozen picotees is very well in its way, but how much better would be a premium for every gross of sparrows." No doubt, with the increase of population the conditions of existence will not be quite so favourable for the sparrows and rabbits, so that the evil which has to be legislated against now will probably right itself in time. As an abundance of rabbits, hares and game-birds helps to ensure a cheap food-supply, their presence in the colony can hardly be regarded as an unmixed evil. It is to be 14 106 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. viu. hoped, therefore, that wholesale extermination will not be encouraged. On the 5th July 1878, the Argus issued its 10,000th number, and in doing so gave an interesting sketch of what Melbourne was like when the first number of the paper was issued on the 2nd June 1846. The Port Phillip settlement was then only twelve years old, and its total population about 38,000. Sydney was distant neai-ly a week ; there were no amusements during the long winter evenings ; the streets were unpaved and badly lighted. Once a year only was there an outbreak of gaiety, when the squatters came down to Melbourne with their wool, to exchange it for hard cash and supplies of stores for use in the interior. On such occasions Mr. George Coppin provided the visitors with some theatrical entertainments. Though Mr. Coppin was then taking " farewell benefits," he is still the manager of one of the principal Melbourne theatres. The practice of duelling was not extinct in 1846, as two duels were fought at Port Phillip in the month of June. Messrs. Sprot and Campbell, settlers in Port Fairy district, having quarrelled, one of them challenged the other ; in order to elude the local magistrates, they rode into South Australia, a distance of 200 miles, exchanged shots, and came back again, unwounded and with honor satisfied. The other duel was fought at Sandridge between the Hon. Cr. Kennedy, grandson of the Marquis of Ailsa and Mr. Ouseley Cockburn, of the mercantile firm of Cruikshank, Latham and Cockburn. No damage was done on either side. Among the Irish population there were serious riots occasionally between Orangemen and Roman Catholics, and on one occasion the military were called out and the Riot Act read. Labour was, of course, scarce, though wages, compared with present rates, seem low, farm hands receiving 12s. a week and rations, while domestic servants were paid <20 to <25 a year. The upset price of land in Melbourne was .300, CHAP, vin.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 107 in the suburb of St. Kilda 30, Richmond ,5, Upper Hawthorn 2- 10, and Essendon 2, an acre. Provi- sions appear to have been very reasonable in those days, and board and lodging is advertised at 10s. a week. Beef and mutton were 2d. per lb., butter 16d., bread 7d. the 4 Ibs. loaf, milk 3d. per quart ; fowls 2s. and ducks 3s. 9d. a pair ; and a good fat turkey could be bought for 6s. 3d. The Australian eating-houses still retain their reputation for cheapness, and everywhere one is met with advertisements of " All meals for 6d." and " Board and lodging 16s. a week." The political grievances of the day were the subordi- nation of the settlement to New South Wales, and the consequent liability to " pollution" by the immigration of ex-convicts. The political party in favor of this immi- gration were called " pollutionists." The following is an amusing specimen of the high-flown oratory indulged in by the non-pollutionists, the speaker being a Mr. Reynolds : " Port Phillip stands immaculate to-day in her virgin charms, surrounded by men who would sooner die in her defence than see her prostituted to gratify the cupidity of a handful of curmudgeon graziers. She is our adopted land. Our flesh will mingle with her prolific soil, and our bones will moulder underneath her ver- dant turf ; and with us to-day it remains to be determined whether our graves shall be trodden by the virtuous and freeborn sons of Britain, or desecrated by the contaminating vestiges of the flagitious catamite, or his abominable pathic !" Mr Reynolds concluded by entreating his hearers not to be " deluded by the fallacious glare of a mercenary press." The following extraordinary incident is related in the Argus of 19th March 1847, and surpasses any tale of horror to be found in the "sensation" novels of the day : " On the Saturday previous to the sailing of the steamer ShamrovJe, from Launceston, a box measuring about 3 feet square (cubical ?) was received on board, and deposited in the hold along with some hay in the immediate vicinity of the steamer's furnace. On the Monday morning following, when the vessel was at sea, a search was instituted, owing to the existence of an offensive stench arising from the hold, and on examination it was found to proceed from the box referred to, which, on being opened dis- 108 UNDEE THE SOUTHEEN CEOSS. [CHAP. vnr. closed the body of a woman, who had obviously died of suffocation, from the air-holes in the case being stopped up by the hay. A man named Charles Eoberts, who was a passenger by the steamer, acknowledged the body to be that of his wife, who had been brought on board the vessel in the case, in order to escape from "Van Dieman's Land, the authorities there having refused to allow her to accompany her husband, because she was a prisoner of the Crown." The river Yarra was thirty years ago full of fish, one lucky piscator being reported to have landed seven dozen herrings with such simple tackle as a piece of string and a crooked pin. It is now little better than the main sewer of a large city, and a mere reference to the river suggests the necessity of saying a few words about the drainage of Melbourne. There are no underground sewers, but the surface drains, which are continually being scoured by running water, are a speciality in Mel- bourne. The natural drainage is into the Yarra, a narrow, shallow stream, the mouth of which is used as a port, and most of the surface drainage escapes into this river. House-sewage, however, has been disposed of by novel expedients, which may be said to form a new feature in the system of cleansing towns. A recent report by Mr. Fitz-Gibbon, the Town Clerk, gives an interesting ac- count of the results of the Melbourne experiment. The mode of disposing of house-sewage up to the end of 1866 was most unsatisfactory. " The Government Commissioners appointed and directed by law to sewer the city had then, as they have still, left their duty unfulfilled ; few water closets existed, and these discharged their contents into the open street channels ; the privy accommodation was in connection with underground cess-pits, the more modern of which were well built of brick or stone, and puddled so as to be as nearly as possible water-tight ; but the older and far greater number of them were more rudely constructed. . . ." The mode of emptying the cess-pits was offensive, the contents being carried away in wooden carts to a manure depot on the outskirts of the town. When this depot was started in 1847, it was situated " in the bush," but between that date and 1866 the neighbourhood had of course become densely populated, It thus became CHAP, viii.] UNDEE THE SOUTHEEN CEOSS. 109 necessary to do away with the manure depot. The ques- tion then arose what was to be done with the night-soil. The first step the Corporation took was to order the closing of all cess-pits, and they then undertook to remove all night-soil from the houses once a week. They deter- mined to dispose of it by entrenching it in two of the city parks, Prince's Park and Fawkner Park, the former covering an area of 97 acres, and the latter of 102 acres. These parks were waste pieces of land which it was determined to reserve for public recreation. 250 loads of sewage were entrenched in each acre of ground at a cost of entrenching of 36 the acre. Trees were then planted out and the pasturage allowed to grow. In view of the Parks being completely trenched, the municipality also purchased a piece of land alongside the railway, which is intended for the reception of town sewage hereafter. In the meantime, however, some demand for the sewage had arisen among the market- gardeners about Melbourne. It is interesting to note, first, the sanitary, and, secondly, the financial results of the above system of disposing of sewage. The sanitary results are summarised by Mr. Fitz-Gibbon as follows : the parks have been reclaimed and fertilised; the dis- charging of night soil in unfrequented places is now of rare occurrence; the subsoil of the city is no longer saturated, as before, with the percolation from leaky underground cesspits ; the street channels are purified from much of their foulness, and the night air in the streets proportionately freed from offensiveness ; and, the river Yarra is cleansed from some of its pollu- tion. Lastly comes what seems the most important of all the results " . . . . the whole of the night- soil throughout the entire civic limits is removed every week, and applied beneficially in fertilising and recupe- rating the lands which furnish the vegetable food supply to the city, instead of being accumulated and stored for months about the dwellings in our streets and lanes, and HO UNDER THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. [CHAP. vin. then thrown wastefully down to create a disgusting nui- sance." The vegetables to be purchased in the Melbourne markets are remarkably good and cheap. They are grown chiefly by the Chinese, who seem to be able to give our countrymen many " wrinkles" in the art of market- gardening ; and large quantities are exported to neigh- bouring colonies which are not so expert in the cultiva- tion of green-food. The following were the prices of some of the principal vegetables in Victoria market, on the 3rd August last (still winter time) : beet-root, 6d. to IQd. per doz. ; Brussels sprouts Id. to \\d. per Ib. ; cabbages 9d. to 2s. 6d. per dozen ; carrots 6d. to 9d. per dozen bunches ; cauliflowers (very fine) Is. to 3s. per dozen ; lettuce 6d. to 8d. per dozen ; onions 14s. to 20s. per cwt ; potatoes 4s. to 4s. 6d. per cwt. ; new do., 5s. to 6s. per cwt. As regards the sanitary effect of this disposal of the town sewage, the Town Clerk, owing to imperfect registration in past years, is unable to compare the death rate of 1866 with that at the present time, but he believes there has been " a salutary effect on the health of the city." Coming to the financial results of the system, we have the following figures for the period between 1st January 1870 and 31st December 1877, eight years : EXPENDITURE. . Purchase of iron manure carts ... ... ... 1,912 Interest at 8 per cent on purchase of land for farming, if need be, the land remaining as an asset against purchase money ... ... ... ... 436 Payment to contractors for emptying cess-pits from 1st January 1870 to 31st December 1877 ... ... 48,633 .50,982 EECEIPTS. For night soil sold and delivered since the closing of the parks against its use ... ... ... ... 613 For grazing fees in Prince's and Fawkner Parks ... 8,664 9,278 Leaving a loss of ,,,.41,703 CHAP, viii.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. HI But this apparent loss has been in fact an important saving to the citizens. Before the Corporation under- took the removal of sewage from houses, each house- holder used to make his own bargain with the scavengers. It is estimated that each house paid on an average 15s. per annum for this service. On this assumption, it can be shown that the present system does not cost house- holders more than one half what would have been paid under the old plan. At 15s. per tenement the cost of cleansing cesspits in 1877 would have been nearly .10,000, whereas the actual cost under the present contract was only .5,428. The contract entered into for the current year is for the sum of ,4,948, " and the manure is given for disposal to the contractor, to whom it may be estimated to yield an additional .2,000." The value of town-sewage for pasturage purposes is strik- ingly illustrated by the following figures. The income from fees for grazing cattle in the Prince's Park in 1867 was .28 14s. ; it was ,194 8s. 5d. in 1868 ; 289 14s, 6d. in 1869 ; 407 Is. in 1870 ; 472 5s. 9d. in 1871 ; 512 6s. 6d. in 1872 ; 507 4s. 3d. in 1873 ; 702 18s. 6d. in 1874 (when the trenching in this park ceased) 708 11s. 6d, in 1875 ; 861 5s. in 1876, and 698 19s. in 1877, when the grazing area was decreased for plan- tation : making a total of 5,354 14s. 5d., or, (as Mr. Fitz-Gribbon, remarks) " a surplus of 2,114 over the cost of labour, and yielding to the Corporation a profit of more than 5,000 over what would have accrued from a continuance of the previous rate of income, say 30 a year." At Fawkner Park, results were not so satis- factory, owing chiefly to the fact that the fertilising properties of the sewage had been neutralised by carbolic oil, which had been used as a deodorant. As regards the use of deodorants Mr. Fitz-Gibbon says : "... As to these there are serious difficulties, for if a chemical substance such as carbolic oil (the cheapest and best) were used, the fertilising properties of the manure would be affected, and serious loss, and it might be great difficulty 112 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. vin. experienced in getting rid of the manure at all. And on the other band the use of bulkier deodorants such as ashes, earth or saw-dust, whilst it is allowed and encouraged, would, if insisted upon in all cases, seriously increase the cost and difficulty of the service, and most probably also detract from the already low value which is set upon the manure." It may be added that the beautiful lawns in the Botani- cal Gardens at Melbourne also owe their rich verdure to the town sewage deposited in the ground. Is it surprising that results like these should make people ask whether the sewage of towns ought to be allowed to run waste into rivers or the sea, instead of being employed as a fertilising agent in the soil ? The Melbourne Corporation seem satisfied that their system is the right one, for their Town Clerk remarks : " Some mode of applying it (sewage) upon the land appears to be the only feasible way for its disposal. Port Phillip Bay ought not to be made its receptacle, and to propose a system of sewage for its conveyance to Bass's Straits would be preposter- ous." It is admitted that underground drainage is much wanted, not for carrying away the night-soil, but for drawing off the house and impure sub- soil waters. On the whole, Melbourne, imperfectly drained as it is, is considered a healthy city. In a sanitary point of view, it is far ahead of most continental cities, whilst it will com- pare favourably with many English towns. Hotels, Clubs, and the best private houses are provided with earth-closets of simple construction, and it may be said in their favor that they are generally less offensive than the ordinary water-closet, which, in warm weather, makes itself unpleasantly conspicuous. The chief dis- advantage in the Melbourne system of disposing of sewage is in connection with the weekly visits of the night-carts. It may be said, however, that these dis- advantages*can,'with the "exercise of care on the part of householders and municipal officers, be reduced to a zninimum. The important fact remains that a city with a CHAP, vrn.] UNDEE THE SOUTHEEN CEOSS. 113 quarter of a million of inhabitants is kept clean and wholesome, and, generally, singularly free from offensive odours, without any system of underground drainage. At the same time the sewage is diverted to agricultural purposes with the most satisfactory results. Nor are these sanitary improvements confined to Melbourne alone. "The example of the city," says Mr. Fitz- Gibbon, "has been followed by various of the suburban and other boards or corporations with, there can be no doubt, like beneficial results." 15 114 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. ix. CHAPTER IX. AMONG THE AUSTRALIAN FARMERS. The best farming districts in Victoria The overland route between Melbourne and Adelaide The railway journey' to Hamilton A political discussion on the road The views of a landholder and a professional man contrasted Threats of a sanguinary revolution The secret of Mr. Berry's influence An unsound commercial policy the rock ahead Geelong and its grievance Ballarat and its gold-mines Chinamen as Colonists The demand for house-servants from India Sir Samuel Wilson's estates near Burrumbeet Lake Beaufort Ararat Stawell Gold-mining 2,000 feet below the surface The Grampian Hills without young " Norval" Reminiscences of Scotland The Australian Dunkeld A specimen of the aborigines of Australia Hamilton In- troduction to the squatters An important Parliamentary election A Radical returned in the stronghold of Conser- vatism How the young squatters amuse themselves. " IP you want to see what we are doing in farming," said a squatter to me in Melbourne, " you must go to our Western districts, to places like Hamilton, Casterton, Colac or Warrnambool." Hamilton is about 230 miles to the West of Melbourne, with which it is in commu- nication by railway. It is the nearest railway station to the South Australian border, and mails and passengers by the overland route between Melbourne and Adelaide leave the railway here and take to the coaches, which run over nearly the whole of the remaining distance to Adelaide. The overland- journey between Melbourne and Adelaide can be done now in about 60 hours, and is divided into the following stages : Melbourne to Hamilton (railway) ... ... ... 224 miles. Hamilton to Casterton (coach) ... ... ... ... 40 Casterton to Penola (coach) ... ... 40 Penola to Narracoorte (coach) ... 32 Narracoorte to Kingston (railway) 53 Kingston to Meningie (coach) ... ... ... ... 98 Meningie to Milang (steamer across lake Alexandrina). 40 Milang to Strathalbyn (coach) 13 Strathalbyn to Adelaide 35 Total,,. 575 CHAP, ix.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 115 I had intended to go across to Adelaide by this route, but having only a limited amount of time at my disposal, I was obliged to relinquish the coaching part of the journey. In fact, under the circumstances, I thought it safer to keep near the railway, which enabled me at any time to reach Melbourne in a few hours.* I determined, therefore, to go to Hamilton, partly to see what the country was like in the Western districts of Victoria, and partly with the object of endeavouring to find out an old school-fellow, who had been settled some- where in this region for fifteen or sixteen years. I had written to him from Melbourne, to some outlandish address with a long native name which I could not pronounce, but having received no reply, I was not very sanguine that I should accomplish the object of my journey so far as he was concerned. For the time being, then, please consider yourself a passenger by the early morning train bound from Melbourne westwards to Port- land Bay. The morning is cold and foggy, and the windows of the carriages have a thick coating of dew- drops, which make it difficult to get a clear prospect of the country through which we are passing. As daylight breaks upon us, however, we discover that we are running through what seems an endless stretch of meadow-land, hedge-less and almost tree-less, yet divided into large rectangular fields by strong bar-fences about four feet in height. Sometimes these fences are varied with alternate lines of wood and wire, sometimes they consist of wire alone ; but the bar- fence is the great characteristic of the country, and may account perhaps for the fact that * People visiting Australia, from India, for a short period, should, if anxious to see as much of the country as possible, land at Adelaide, see the famous wheat plains, and then travel overland to Melbourne, passing through Hamilton, Ararat, Ballarat and Geelong. The journey from Melbourne to Sydney should also be made overland. With the exception of 80 miles between Albury and Wagga-Wagga, it can be done wholly by railway. Boats run once or twice a week between Sydney and Tasmania, and Tasmania and Melbourne, so that the above tour could be performed easily on four months' furlough. The route might be varied by returning to India via Brisbane and the Torres Straits. 116 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. ix. Australian horses are generally such good timber- jumpers. My fellow-travellers soon show themselves to be sociable and intelligent. One is a Melbourne doctor, taking a short holiday to Ararat to cure himself of a whooping cough caught from some of his juvenile pati- ents. A few weeks ago, he said, he would almost have staked his professional reputation that it was impossible for an elderly man like himself to get such an ailment, which he good-humouredly hoped was a symptom that he was in his second youth. The other passenger, a squatter living near Ararat, proved to be a brother of a late member of the Madras medical service. On finding I was a stranger to the country, they became, as is usual with the colonists everywhere, overwhelming in their kindness and hospitality ; and before we had travelled half of our journey, I had conditionally accepted invitations to lunch with the doctor in Melbourne on the following Sunday, and to visit the estate of the squatter on my return from Hamilton. They were full of infor- mation about the land we travelled over, and the people to whom it belonged. Near G-eelong, the doctor called my attention to the fact that the railway was running through an estate of 70,000 acres in extent, all belonging to the Chirnside family, early settlers in the country. This land, through the rapid development of the colony, had increased in value till it was now worth about W an acre. The doctor was an ardent politician, a Radical, a warm supporter of Mr. Berry, and a thorough believer in the brilliant future of Australia. He was shocked that so much land should be in the possession of one man, who valued it only for the number of sheep, and not the number of people, it would support. The squatter was entirely opposed to the doctor in politics. He held the Berry Ministry were ruining the country by driving capitalists out of it. He himself had only just returned from a visit to New South Wales, whither he contem- CHAP. ix.J UNDEK THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. 117 plated migrating should the Victorian Government con- tinue to regard its landholders with antagonism. We had a lively discussion on the chief political topics of the day ; the doctor and the squatter being the advo- cates of their respective political parties, and I the impartial judge who had to give the casting vote on the various questions in dispute. "Now look at this man Chirnside," said the doctor, waving his hand out of the window, as though he was addressing the owner of the 70,000 acres, " what does he do for the colony ? He has land enough in his possession to support thousands of families in comfort, and yet the selfish fellow keeps every acre to himself, and warns off the intending settler as he would a stray dog. It is criminal, sir, that one man should be allowed to amass so much wealth." The squatter meets this outburst with an incredulous laugh. " Why should the landowner not enjoy the wealth that had come to him as the reward of his thrift and foresight ? He had bought land when it was a drug in th market, when the Government was only too anxious to get it taken up on any terms. Why blame him because land had increased in value, and he had become rich ? It was rather the fault of the Government in the early days, for estimating the value of land too low." " And what Government, sir, sanctioned this whole- sale robbery of the public estate ?" demands the doctor. " Was it not a Government of landholders legislating for landholders ? Was it not a Government legislating for their own interests, rather than for the public? The landocracy in this colony, sir, have shamefully abused their trust. But they have had their day. Ha, ha ; we shall be revenged yet. We have a Ministry now who will see justice done to the poor man." "We have a Ministry, sir, who are doing their best to drive everybody who is not a poor man out of the colony," returns the squatter warmly. US UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. [CHAP. ix. I thought it time to interfere. I remarked that the land we were passing through seemed in good order, and was well fenced everywhere, though rather barren of trees. " Ah, there you've touched the raw," said the doctor savagely. " These fellows," (pointing to the squatter) " not only rob us of our land, but they are ruining the land. Look around you and see how the country has been cleared of trees nature's own fertilisers of the soil. Already we have had severe droughts, in which millions of sheep and cattle have been lost ; if these forest clea- rances continue to be carried on as they have been the last twenty-five years, we shall soon be suffering from the same devestating famines that you have in India. The Government are now actually spending large sums of money in replanting forests which these vandals of landholders have destroyed." " And pray, sir, how would you cultivate the land if you don't clear it of trees r" asks the squatter pertinently. "And yet," says the doctor, evading this question, "these are the men who make an outcry against the pay- ment of land-tax." "We object to being treated invidiously," replies the squatter. "Tell me, doctor, why should I be taxed be- cause I have laid out my little capital in Land, while you, who invested yours in the establishment of a successful practice in Melbourne, go scot free ?" " These are the men, sir," said the doctor appealing to me, " who are precipitating a crisis in our history. It is the old story of the French Revolution repeating itself. Blood will flow in Bourke Street yet." The doctor was not the only politician I had heard speak of a sanguinary termination of the present political struggle in Victoria. I had had conversations in Mel- bourne with the secretary of one of the political " Leagues," who drew fearful pictures of vengeance in store for members of the Legislative Council, if they CHAP, ix.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. H9 continued to thwart Mr. Berry's measures. In private life the secretary kept a shop and seemed a harmless man enough ; it was only when I broached politics that I discovered the mental volcano within him. He was not wanting in ideas, or in ability to express them, though, like so many of his brother colonists, he dropped the letter h. in doing so in the most excruciating way. I noticed he was particularly severe against the members of the Upper House on account of their ignorance. Like Profes- sor Pearson, and some other advanced colonial politicians, he seemed to regard the fact that a man was wealthy enough to become a member of the "Upper House as proof presumptive that he was without brains. He would not admit there was merit in connection with money- making, and thought these men would yet be compelled to disgorge the wealth they had accidentally, if not dis- honestly, acquired. If they continued to obstruct legisla- tion intended to benefit men like himself, who regarded the colony as his home, and intended to live, die, and leave his family in the country then, he hinted darkly, some of them were yet destined to lose their heads ! The shop- keeper politician was a protectionist of a most uncompro- mising order, who thought no article of foreign manu- facture should be admitted into the colony under a 50 per cent. duty. On my assuring him that such a tariff would drive all the foreign trade to neighbouring colonies, he seemed a little staggered, and said he had not been outside Port Phillip Heads for twenty-five years a circumstance that may have had something to do with the formation of his political creed. My companion the doctor is also a protectionist ; the squatter is a freetrader. The doctor is armed with the Age newspaper ; the squatter reads the Argus. " Pish," says the doctor contemptuously, glancing over his columns ; " what is the humbug now after ?" We look towards him for an explanation. He had been looking over last night's debates in the Assembly, in which a pro- 120 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [.CHAP. ix. minent member of Mr. Berry's own party, and a former Minister, had made a telling speech against Mi\ Berry's Reform Bill. I had read the speech myself, and thought it was a case in which Mr. Berry might beg to be saved from his friends. " I tell you what it is," says the doctor with some indignation, " I believe that fellow C wouldn't hesitate to upset the Ministry to-morrow, if he thought there was a chance of getting into office again himself." I remark that political intrigues of this sort must be incidental to the system of payment of members of Parliament. Politicians who have only <300 a year to live on must be tempted sometimes to take a course of action which they would not perhaps adopt if they were men of independent means. " Doctor," says the squatter with a laugh, " the stranger has scored against you there." The doctor at once rushed to the rescue of the system of payment of members. Results had justified the measure. The people now had representatives who were bound to look after the public interests. Members of the Legislature now did their public duty with thoroughness. In what country in the world, he asked, except perhaps that great country America, than which the colony could not have a better exemplar, did people take a more lively interest in politics than they did in Victoria ? The squatter, on the other hand, averred that payment of members had brought all manner of political evils into existence. Men who failed in every other walk of life now took to politics, and thus justified Dr. Johnson's saying that patriotism was the last refuge of a vagabond. Honest, respectable men held aloof from public life, and regarded the majority of the members of Assembly with contempt. To this, the doctor replied that the vagabonds were as honest as the landocracy and, what is more, were preferred by the people : an unanswerable argument in the face of Mr. Berry's large majority in Parliament. CHAP, ix.] UNDEE THE SOUTHEEN CEOSS. 121 I noticed that this was the invariable conclusion of political discussions in Victoria. Mr. Berry had the people at his back. The author of the Black Wednesday revo- lution, the man who dismissed judges, and other servants of the crown, as though he had been dictator had the confidence of the people, and a majority of at least two to one in the House of Assembly. Many people who disagree with the commercial policy and other measures of Mr. Berry's Government, uphold the principle by which he was actuated on Black Wednesday. Was power to be in the hands of a small wealthy class, or in those of the people at large ? What Mr. Berry did was to put that question to a practical test. He did it clumsily, but he had the courage to do it ; and as he was right in principle, and honest in intention, he was sup- ported by the people. If he now falls from power, it will not be because he dared to be revolutionary, but because he has associated his Ministry with an unsound commercial policy, which is bound sooner or later to fail. With the aid of the Age newspaper, the former Prahran grocer, who may be regarded as the Abraham Lincoln of Victoria, has worked a revolution as important in its way as many of the struggles in the old country between the Commons and the aristocracy. The Press in Australia is a " mighty engine." " Here's the real Governor of this colony just now," was the compli- mentary flourish with which I was introduced to the Editor of the Age. Geelong has a standing grievance against Mel- bourne, in that it believes to this day it ought to have been the capital of the colony. Both towns are situated on Port Phillip Bay, Geelong having the advantage of being some thirty or forty miles nearer the Heads, and therefoi'e more convenient for shipping. For some time indeed Geelong was considered as having the lead in the race, and doubtless would have kept it but for the un- 16 122 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. ix. happy circumstance that there was a sand-bar in the harbour, over which large vessels could not go. Though near the gold-fields, and in the centre of the wool-produc- ing districts, Geelong found the sand-bar a fatal obstacle to competing successfully for pride of place. With a population of about 25,000, it has now settled down into a highly respectable home for wealthy squatters retired from business, the Bath or Cheltenham of the colony. Lattei'ly it has shown a tendency to break out afresh in trade. The bar has been deepened so as to allow ships drawing 21 feet of water to enter the harbour, and, on the occasion of my visit, several large clippers were lying anchored there waiting for cargoes of wool. The Geelong capitalists have also started several woollen manufactories of late, where they make cheap tweeds that have already won favour with the "larrikins" of the colony. It was at Barwon Park, near Geelong, where Mr. Austin, a wealthy landowner, did so much in the way of acclimatising English ganie- birds, hares and rabbits. Though Ballarat is not more than 50 miles inland from Geelong, it stands 1,500 feet higher. The difference in elevation makes a marked change in the climate and appearance of the country. The landscape becomes hilly, woody, and more picturesque, as we approach the famous mining district, and Ballarat itself is a strikingly pretty city, with wide streets and fine avenues of trees. It is a busy place, too, judging from the traffic in the streets. There has been a considerable depreciation in the value of house property in Ballarat of late years, owing to the bursting-up of several rotten mining com- panies, but on the whole this depreciation is not re- garded as a misfortune, as the trade and industries of the place have been left in a sounder condition. The quartz-mining is now generally carried on by large companies working with capitals varying from 10,000 to ,50,000, or even larger amounts in some cases, while the CHAP. ix.J UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 123 alluvial mining is chiefly in the hands of the Chinese. Some companies seem to pay dividends on a very small yield of gold ; I was told that in some instances two dwts. to the ton of quartz had been found remunerative : five or six dwts. to the ton give a fair return on capital in well managed concerns. I find the Ballarat Star, which I purchase at the railway station, half filled with reports of the meetings of gold mining companies. The directors of the " Black Horse United Company," who had held their half-yearly meeting the day previous, say in their report : " It will be observed from the receipts and expenditure sheet that the income of your Company for the half-year has been .21,445 7s. ; of this amount, .21,096 5s. 7d. is from the sale of 5,244 ozs. 2 dwts. 18 grs. bar gold, won from your mine. The ex- penditure has been ,18,033 Is. 5d., leaving a credit balance of .3,392 5s. 7d. Among the items of expenditure is the sum of .10,500, equal to 1 Is. per share, paid in dividends during the half-year." This is evidently a flourishing company, whose shares are at a considerable premium. The mining engineer's report is attached, from which it appears that the above 5,244 ozs. of gold were obtained from 7,848 tons of stone. He gives details of the progress of work in the different shafts, and reports on the condition of the machinery. The amount paid in wages in this company, for the half year, was .5,009-15-4. Before separating, the directors of the "Black Horse" voted donations of .50 to the Egerton Mechanics Institute Fund, and 10 each to the Ballarat Hospital and Benevolent Asylum. The " Egerton Company" report 17,928 tons of quartz crushed in the past half year. This stone had yielded gold " producing in money 29,945-10, whereof upwards of 16,000 was clear profit." The items of expenditure for ths half year were as follows : machinery, .1,721-13-7, wages 9,762-14-9, dividends 15,000, and donations 40-10-1. The report mentions that nearly 250,000 worth of gold had been obtained from this mine since the establishment of the 124 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. ix. company. The "Juno Company" seems to be a younger concern. Prom the directors' report we learn that during the half-year " the various works in connection with your mine have been pushed on with all speed by the tributors, under the control and supervision of your mining manager, Mr. Larity, whose report will be read to you, and which will give you full information of all the works that have been carried on during the half year, during which time, the shaft has been sunk a further depth of 80 feet, making total distance from surface 330 feet." 1,806 tons of quartz had been crushed, yielding 579 ozs. 9 dwts. of gold, or an average of 6 dwts. 6 grs. to the ton. Dividends at the rate of 15 shillings per share had been paid during the half-year, and the directors trusted they would be enabled " to continue paying dividends." Among the items of expenditure in the balance sheet of this company is a payment of ,1,601-13 to " tributors" in the shape of wages. The " Golden Belt Company" seems to have only just started. Operations had been commenced, and a contract let for sinking the shaft. An application had been made to Government for <300 out of the " prospecting vote" made by Parliament for the encouragement of the gold-mining industry. The receipts of the " Reform Company" for the previous quarter were ,10,283-8-6, the dividends .1,585-4, the payment to tributors .6,869-10-6. Some of the tributors in this company were Chinese. The directors voted donations to the local charities. The " Trunk Lead Company" had obtained about 2,700 ozs. of gold in the half year ; the quantity of stone crushed is not stated, but the chairman said the shareholders had reason to congratulate themselves on the half-year's ope- rations. " If the mine had been worked in the old style, they would have got nothing from it." More donations to charities in this case. It is not to be supposed that all the mining companies could report thus favorably, but the Ballarat paper of the 1st August 1878 shows CHAP, ix.] UNDER THE SOUTHEEN CROSS. 125 that some of them possess fine properties, which are managed on business-like principles. Several thousands of Chinamen are settled about Ballarat. Their morals are generally objected to, but their industry is above suspicion. Though propositions are continually being put forward to have the immigration of the Chinese discouraged by means of a poll-tax, there can be little doubt that their labour has been of real advantage to the countries to which they have emigrated. I was assured that they had taught the colonists the art of market-gardening, and how to dispose of town sewage in a reasonable and economical manner. The way in which the Chinamen convert barren wastes of land into nourishing gardens is a sight full of instruction for English agriculturists. Their method of cultivation is very similar to that of the Hindus, the irrigation channels and small reservoirs introduced in the China- man's garden being much the same as we see in India. Whether he takes to trade, agriculture, or gold-mining, the Chinaman is only a sojourner in the colonies : he invariably returns to the Flowery Land to enjoy the wealth he may have acquired in foreign countries. None of the Chinese emigrants are of a class who care to take to domestic service, a circumstance that suggests the possibility of there being an opening for Hindu or East Indian (half-caste) servants in Australia. People were continually asking me whether it was not possible to obtain domestic servants from India, and one inquirer went so far as to express an intention of importing a " Madras boy." Beyond Ballarat we come to a fine plateau of meadow country about 2,000 feet above sea-level, as fresh and green, and apparently as well farmed, as portions of Wiltshire or Somersetshire. We passed by Sir Samuel Wilson's estates near Burrutnbeet Lake, where there were some enormous flocks of Merino sheep. The land was everywhere neatly fenced and trenched the latter a wise 126 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. ix. precaution against " fluke" disease in sheep. The country is everywhere so destitute of rivers that artificial drainage is necessai-y to good farming. The whole country between Ballarat and Ararat, a distance of nearly sixty miles, has been overrun by the gold-miners. In passing a flourish- ing town named Beaufort, I am reminded that this is the scene of the Fiery Creek Diggings, where 15,000 miners were encamped at the time of the first rush. A good deal of alluvial gold is still found in the gullies about Beaufort, and a constant supply of water being required for this kind of mining, a channel has been constructed from Mount Cole at a cost of .4,000. It is anticipated that the quartz-mines here will also prove productive when deeper levels have been reached. The country around is hilly and woody, which seems to be a prevailing character- istic of the gold-bearing tracts. There is an appearance about Ararat somewhat suggestive of Ootacaniund. It lies at the foot of a picturesque range of hills known as the "Grampian," and within sight of Mounts Cole and William, two of the highest points in this part of the Colony. It is now a busy agricultural town, of some 5,000 inhabit- ants, but, like Ballarat, was first established by the gold miners. Its main street winds up a hill in just the same way as the oldest street in Ballarat does, retaining the forma- tion which the miners gave it when they first camped in search for gold. Ararat has some handsome public build- ings in the shape of a Government Lunatic Asylum, Jail, and a Shire Hall, the latter the head-quarters of local self-government. Sixteen miles beyond Ararat is Stawell, where quartz-mines, which are said to to paying well, are now being worked at a depth of 2,000 feet. I see a corres- pondent who went to the bottom of the Magdala mine, a distance of 1,994 feet, states that it took him about ten minutes to descend to this depth. Over 1,600 feet of the descent was made in a patent safety cage ; the remainder of the journey was done in a bucket. The quartz at this depth was yielding from 1 to 2 ozs. of gold per ton. CHAP, ix.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 127 The railway from Ararat to Portland Bay has only recently been opened. It runs through a sparsely- wooded, pastoral country, on the southern side of the Grampian range, devoted chiefly to the breeding of sheep. The land is not so good as it is in the neigh- bourhood of Burrumbeet Lake, but still it is good enough to carry over one sheep to the acre. The flocks about here seem interminable, and as our train whisked through the fields, thousands of startled lambs scampered away to their mothers with terrified cries of " m-ma." The country between Ararat and Hamilton must have been first settled by Scotchmen, for it suggests every- where that you may be meeting young " Norval," whose father is looking after the sheep on yonder hills. I did not observe a kilt, but we passed railway stations with such thoroughly Scotch names as " Glen Thompson" and " Duukeld." It was at the latter station that I beheld the first aboriginal I had seen in Australia ; and a curious specimen of humanity he was. Dressed in a shabby European suit, with a dilapidated white hat on his head, and a stump of a clay pipe in his mouth, he might have passed muster for the " Bones" of a Christy's Minstrel Company, or for the figure of an "Aunt Sally." The length of his arms and hands seemed out of proportion to the size of his body, a circumstance that Mr. Darwin would perhaps adduce as evidence on behalf of the monkey. There was an expression of good humour on his dusky face, and he had evidently been amusing a crowd of people gathered round him, who were all on the broad grin at his antics. He had apparently just finished a kind of break-down dance as we entered the station, at which even a stolid policeman was smiling, though he was doing his utmost to assume a sevei'e official air. A farmer got out of the train whom the black recognized. He immediately made towards his patron with many chuckles and grimaces of recognition, and much waving about of the long arms. " Sambo," as the people called the native, 128 UNDER THE SOUTHEEN CEOSS. [CHAP. ix. wants to carry the farmer's carpet-bag to the dog-cart standing in the station-yard. This intention is made known by pantomimic action rather than words, as he first touches the carpet-bag and then waves both his long arms towards the dog-cart. " Well, Sambo, drunk again ?" inquires the farmer good-humouredly. Sambo chuckles and shakes his head by way of denying the soft im- peachment. "Where are you working now?" asks the fanner. Another chuckle and shuffle, and Sambo says, " Mister Howell," waving his arms in the direction in which Mr. Howell lived. One would have imagined that it was in the next field, but further inquiry elicited the fact that Mr. Howell lived twelve or fifteen miles away. " Sambo" disappeared immediately after receiving a six- pence, and the farmer informed me, before the train steamed out of the station, that he had no doubt it had already been spent in drink. In another quarter of an hour I find the train approaching a straggling township with many new houses, and a good deal of corrugated iron-roofing glistening in the light of the setting sun. This is Hamilton. "You must become an honorary member of our Club," said a genial Scotchman on whom I waited with a letter of introduction, and with whom I was drinking whisky before we had been acquainted five minutes. A Club at Hamilton, I mentally exclaimed, remembering the unfinished appearance of the streets I had passed through, which seemed to be inhabited chiefly by cows and dogs, a large number of the latter being grey-hounds. I began to think I had fallen on pleasant places. And so I had. Though the Club at Hamilton will not compare with that of Madras, having in fact at present no other local habitation than a portion of one of the hotels, yet it secures comfort with pi-ivacy for its members. I found the reading-room supplied with all the principal English newspapers and magazines, and in the billiard-room were a dozen or more men playing CHAP, ix.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. 129 or smoking, mostly young men between twenty and thirty years of age, some of whom, to judge from their conversation, had not been long away from Eng- land. They were generally either the sons of Australian squatters who had now taken up the management of their father's stations, or young fellows who had come out with a little capital, and gone into sheep-farming or some other line of business on their own account. Curiously enough, one of them was a son of the great English novelist, the author of " Pickwick." Young Dickens is a partner in a firm of auctioneers and store- keepers. An advertisement in the Hamttton Spectator informs me that Messrs. Bree, Dickens and Co. have on sale, at their stores, " teas, sugars, wines, spirits, and beer, tobacco, raven and sheepwash, arsenic, tar, fencing-wire, soft soap, kerosene, and general assortment of groceries and oilman's stores ; flour, bran and pollard, seed oats and wheat, corn-sacks, woolpacks and twine." Moreover the firm are " purchasers of all kinds of colonial produce." Their auction advertisements occupy a column of the paper, and include, among other things, a sale of 5,000 square miles of unstocked country in New South "Wales, of the G-lenelg station of 50,000 acres in South Australia, of a race-horse and some thorough-bred mares, fat cattle and sheep, and fencing posts and rails. An election for the county (Dundas) had just taken place, in which, con- trary to all expectation, a supporter of Mr. Berry had been returned. Hamilton was supposed to be conserva- tive to the back-bone, and I was assured at the Club that had young Dickens, who is clever and popular, been put forward as the Conservative candidate, he would have carried the election. As it was, the fight lay between the master of the State School, a Government servant on a salary of about .150 a year, and a store-keeper at Hamil- ton named Laidlaw. The squatters and farmers were, to a man, in favor of the representative of property ; the working-men and small shop-keepers voted for the 17 130 UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. [CHAP. ix. schoolmaster, and what is more, carried the election by a majority of 42. In analysing the votes, the local paper remarks : " The difference between the total polled in 1874 and the total polled in 1878, is 196 votes, which is equal to the excess, within two votes, polled by Mr. Sergeant over Mr. Hughes. So that it seems that while the Conservatives have been standing still, or nearly so, the Liberals have experienced a clear gain of about 60 per cent, in voting power." It was the result of this success, in the very heart of colonial conservatism, which encouraged Mr. Berry to persevere with his Keform Bill. I was informed that the voting by ballot makes the proceedings comparatively tame and uninteresting. Traces of the contest were still observable in the mutilated placards on the walls, inviting you, on the one hand, to vote for Sergeant, the upholder of " people's rights," or, on the other, for Laidlaw, the local candidate ; as also in the somewhat crest-fallen appearance of my Conservative friends, who seemed to think that the eyes of the world, or of the colony, which is much the same thing, were upon them. They preferred, in fact, to talk about the coursing matches of the two previous days, and of that splendid ball at the public rooms which had been given the previous night, and of which some of the younger men seemed to have tender recollections. Some of them had driven or ridden in from stations more than fifty miles distant to attend this coursing meeting and the ball. In reply to a general enquiry of mine after the fair sex of Hamilton, I was told by one young fellow, with something like a sigh, that I ought to have been present at the ball to have judged for myself. In a sudden burst of confidence, he pointed out a fine new building not far from the Club, which he informed me was a college for young ladies, where the daughters of the principal people in the district were sent to finish their education. Hence these CHAP, ix.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 131 sighs! I ascertained, however, that this proprietary college belonged to the wealthy landholders, who took care to obtain some of the best masters available for the education of their children. There was a boy's school of the same character in Hamilton. All children who do not go to private schools are provided with education afe the State School, another fine commodious building in another part of the town, whence issued boys and girls of all sorts and sizes some clean and well-dressed, others dirty and slovenly-dressed at about 5 o'clock in the afternoon. This was the school recently presided over by Mr. Sergeant, now the honorable member of the Legislative Assembly for the district of Dundas. 132 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. x. CHAPTER X. IN A SQUATTER'S HOME. What is a " Squatter ?" The privileges of a " free -selector" Squatters and free-selectors natural enemies Searching for an old acquaintance Suspected of being a " loafer" The charms of rural life in Australia No hoine-sickness amongst settlers A visit to a sheep-run The Australian buggy Civilization in the bush Our amusements at Langford The Victoria Land Tax Act and the squatters' objections to it The cost of fencing estates The wages of sheep-shearers Scarcity of black population No dependence to be placed on native labour The rule for valuing sheep-stations Particulars of some estates recently sold An Australian father making provision for his sons as sheep-farmers Farming on borrowed capital The Banks and the squatters An illustration of the benefits of a practical knowledge of sheep-farming The class of men who make money in Australia. I MUST confess to having felt a good deal of curio- sity about " squatters." The Australian newspapers contain such frequent references to the class of people who conie under this designation, that it would be im- possible to form a clear idea of local politics without first mastering the history connected with that one word. According to Webster's dictionai-y, to squat is " to sit upon the hams and heels." Am I to understand, then, that the early settlers in the bush received the name of squatters from the kangaroo-like manner in which, through the scarcity of domestic furniture, they were compelled to sit upon the ground ? Just as I was con- gratulating myself on having discovered what seemed a reasonable origin of the word, I discover that Webster defines ' squatter' as follows : " one who settles on new laud without title." This is, doubtless, the Yankee CUAP. X.] TTNDEE THE SOUTHEEN CROSS. 133 interpretation of the word, and by carrying back our recollections to the backwoods of America and the Red Indians, we get the clue to its original application. The word squatter was originally used in Australia to denote the settler who leased large areas of land from the Government for pastoral purposes ; but leasers have in process of time become owners of land, and ' squatter' is now applied indiscriminately to both. The real squatter, however, in a legal sense, is he who holds lands from Government without a title. In fact the squatter's great grievance is that he has, under the pre- sent land laws, no security of tenure ; no guarantee that if he takes up and stocks large areas of land, some " free selector" may not come in and "pick the eyes out of his estate," as I once heard a squatter express it. The squatter is privileged to lease as large an area of country as he likes, on paying the rent fixed by the Government surveyor ; but he can only hold the land at the pleasure of Government, his rights being confined to pasturage, to clearing for fencing purposes, or for cultiva- tion. Whenever the Government wants to sell the land, the squatter must give it up, and move on to "pastures new." Of course it is open to him to purchase at auction the land the Government wants to sell, and, in self defence, he is frequently obliged to do so. In many cases he has had no reason to regret his purchase, as it is the gradual rise in the value of laud which has created so many wealthy men in the colonies. The ancestors of the present large land-holders mostly began their careers as land-leasers. Under the present land laws, any man who wants to buy land may roam over the squatter's broad acres with liberty to select and settle upon the choicest bits, provided the area does not exceed 640 acres. The people who exercise this liberty are appropriately called " free selec- tors," and they may be regarded as the natural enemies of the squatters. The chief conditions required by the 134 UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. x. Government from the free selector are (1) payment down of 25 per cent., or say 5 shillings an acre, of the upset price of the land ; (2) residence on the land ; (3) improvements (such as farm-buildings, fencing, &c.) to the extent of Silver 13 1 2 8J No. 5. Old Forest Eeef, Carcoar Division, Bathurst District ; sample taken from off tip. In this case a number of pieces of stone highly charged with pyrites and copper mundic were taken and crushed for assay, but no trace of gold could be seen, even after crushing and washing down, until after chemical treatment, showing that special treatment will be required. This will be more apparent when it is known that some five tons were crushed by the ordinary battery process, and less than 3 dwts. of gold obtained to the ton. ozs dwts ?rs M n ey Total value value. per ton. Gold 4 1 16 17 211) 17 iq Q Silver 2 12 6 10 10 j " This mine, 20 acres, after lying idle for over three years, and only lately abandoned, has now been taken up by Messrs. Masters and party, who intend thoroughly testing the mine, and who have erected a special plant for the treatment of the products. These experiments are very suggestive, and show that it is not improbable that our old-fashioned systems of mining are about to be revolutionised. The Govern- ment of Victoria, a few years ago, appointed a Commis- sion to report upon the methods of treating pyrites and pyritous vein- stuffs, and this Commission observed : " Very little attention has been given in Victoria to the extracting of other constituents of pyrites, such as silver, . copper, nickel, cobalt, and other metals, as also sulphur and arsenic, which, from a purely commercial point of view, are of vast importance, and capable of adding materially to the wealth of the Colony. Most of the waste products, as they are termed, are such no longer, as their presence has increased the value of and demand in Europe for pyrites of all kinds." As regards the extrac- tion of gold from pyritous quartz, this Commission made the following recommendation : " It is decidedly better to crush quartz containing pyrites raw. The great majority of witnesses are in favor of using Borlase's Concave Buddie with Munday's Patent scrapers for the purpose CHAP, xi.] UNDER THE SOUTHEKN CROSS. 165 of separating the various descriptions of pyrites from the crushed material. An 18 to 24 feet machine, making seven or eight revolutions per minute is recommended. That it is absolutely necessary to roast pyrites previous to amalgamation, and for thig purpose reverberating furnaces, with inclined hearts, are the best at present in use in Victoria. That the introduction of combustible substances, such as charcoal, into the furnace with the pyrites is not advisable, and that attention should be given to the regular supply of fuel and to the proper regulation of the draught. That grinding the roasted pyrites in Chilian Mills, Arrastras, or Wheeler's Pans, is considered the best mode of amalgamating. The witnesses are said to be unanimous as to the absolute necessity of thoroughly breaking up the quicksilver, in order that it may penetrate the stuff operated on, and gather up all the gold brought in contact with it, but the very means which are necessary to secure effective amalgamation give rise to a form of floured mercury brought about by mechanical (not chemical) action. The evil is said to be as great in this as in the case where chemical combinations retard the saving of gold, for it appears that during the operation of flushing off, part of the floured mercury (equal say to 2 Ibs. of quicksilver per ton of roasted ore treated) is carried away with the water and lost. This, in addition to a considerable loss of gold as amalgam, renders it evident that if some effectual means of saving both be brought into general use, many thousands of tons of tailings now lying unworked, which it would not otherwise pay to operate upon, could be made to yield a considerable profit, and open up a large field of labour." Finally the Commission say : " We are fully of opinion that the establishment of large central works for the treatment of pyrites on the most thorough and ap- proved system would be a very great advantage to the Colony in every respect. . . . Tens of thousands of pounds are annually lost to the colony by the iion-exis- tence of such establishments as are advocated." It ap- pears that there are over 72,000 tons of pyrites to be dealt with every year in Victoria. I have been particular in giving all the details I can about the treatment of pyrites, because it is of vital importance in solving the question whether quartz-mining will or will not pay. I know the Wynaad miners were bothered greatly with their pyrites, and it is just possible that if they had possessed the necessary appliances for extracting the smaller particles of gold from the refuse quartz they operated on, they would have solved the 166 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xi. question whether gold mining in India can be made a remunerative speculation to those who embark in it. A supply of gold would be such a god-send to an Indian Finance Minister in the present state of the exchequer, that the Government are not likely to be in- different to the prospects of finding it in the Wynaad or elsewhere. In the meantime I would suggest to the Directors of the Alpha Company that they should for- ward a fair sample of their quartz, say, a few tons in weight, to the Mining Department at Sydney, with a request that Professor Liversidge, or some other com- petent authority, might be directed to test its exact yield, not only in the form of free gold, but of gold in amalga- mation with other metals or foreign matter. The Madras Government would doubtless readily undertake to be the channel of communication with the mining authorities at Sydney or Melbourne. CHAP, xii.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 167 CHAPTER XII. IN A FAMOUS WINE DISTRICT. The land journey from Melbourne to Sydney The railways and their gauges Prevalence of English names of places New- market, Donnybrook, Craigieburn, Broadmeadows, &c. A region of gum-trees Things to be seen along the railway The Valley of the Murray Wodonga and Albury Australian wines An inspection of Mr. Fallen's cellars The quality and price of different wines Why Australians do not drink their own wines The history of vine-culture Obligations to German vignerons who have settled in the colony Great natural strength of Australian wines, with statistics regarding proof -spirit Area of vine cultivation in South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria Progress of cultivation checked by absence of export trade Efforts made to obtain a reduction of wine duty in England Suitability of Australian wines for blending purposes, and probability of wines becoming a staple export Chinese or Indian labour wanted to produce the wine cheaper Appearance of the Phylloxera Vastatrix in the vineyards, and proposed remedies. Two or three years must elapse before Melbourne and Sydney, the respective capitals of Victoria and New South Wales, and about 550 miles apart, will be con- nected by railway. The former colony has had its north- eastern line completed to Wodonga on the river Murray, for the last five years, and has consequently been able to draw a good deal of traffic from the sister colony which, tinder other circumstances, would probably have gone to Sydney. The Murray forms the boundary line between the two colonies, and Wodonga is only 187 miles distant from Melbourne. The New South Wales line, which will join the Victoria railway at Wodonga, is at present open as far as Wagga-Wagga, about 300 miles from Sydney. Unfortunately the two colonies have different gauges for 168 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xir. their railways, Victoria having a 5 ft. 3 in., and New South Wales a 4 ft. 8| in., gauge. There remain about 80 miles of the New South Wales line to be made before railway communication between the colonies will be complete. At present the intervening space is traversed by coaches, which carry both mails and pas- sengers ; and, at a push, the land journey from Mel- bourne to Sydney can be accomplished in ten hours less time than it takes by sea. While I was staying in Melbourne, Lady Robinson, wife of the late Governor of New South Wales, travelled across to Melbourne, to see a son who was lying there dangerously ill, in thirty- six hours. The sea route generally occupies about forty-eight hours. With the view of seeing as much as possible of the interior of the country, I determined to travel from Mel- bourne to Sydney by land, though I had some ominous wai-nings of the inconveniences of coaching through the bush at this season of the year (July). The train leaving Melbourne at 6 o'clock in the morning reaches Wodonga at 2 in the afternoon. There had been heavy rain during the previous night, and the country was a good deal flooded. For the first twenty-five miles f rom Melbourne, the line runs through some fine meadow land, there being little about it, excepting the everlasting timber fences, to distinguish it from the rich pasturages of old England. The very names of the stations somehow make you feel familiar with the landscape. Newmarket, Essendon, Broadmeadows, Craigieburn, Donnybrook, all these sug- gest that we may be in England, Scotland, or Ireland, and were probably given to the localities by the early settlers, in recognition of some similarity in the features of the country to those of districts in the United Kingdom bearing the same names. Wallan-Wallan, Wandong, and Tallarook savour more of the back-wood, and sure enough we find here that we are coming upon strange and unfamiliar scenes. We have in fact entered CHAP, xn.] UNDEE THE SOUTHEEN CEOSS. 169 the region of gum-trees ; a region that would be perpetual forest but for the occasional clearances made by the occupiers'of the land for pastoral or agricultural purposes ; a region of singularly monotonous scenery, owing to the overwhelming preponderance of one description of tree ; a region where the dwelling houses are constructed of wood, where trees lie rotting in every direction, and where even the fences separating different " runs" con- sist of felled trees, laid longitudinally in heaps three or four feet in height. " Gums to the right of you, gums to the left of you, gums in front of you," as Mr. Tennyson might have sung had the Balaclava charge been made through the Australian bush instead of in the Crimea. These words convey a fair idea of much of the scenery that meets the eye between Melbourne and Albury. The gums, however, are not the " blue" species which flourish so well on the Neilgherries, but a more stunted kind of eucalyptus commonly known as " box." The " bush" has generally more of the character of a forest than an Indian jungle, and the gum-trees are not so close together as to prevent grass from growing between them. Hence the pasturage which feeds innumerable flocks and herds of European settlers. The townships and stations along the line have a strong family likeness. Seymour, sixty miles from Mel- bourne, is the first place of any size we come to. It boasts of several brick houses, a proof that it has passed that stage of civilisation which is represented by wooden houses with corrugated iron roofing. The ground is well cleared, and several large fields of young wheat and oats may be seen in the neighbourhood. The railway station is a substantial brick building, instead of the wooden shed with iron roofing, which does duty at most of the other stations. Here are a few notes of some other places our train passed. Avenel : quite an Arcadian village, with most of the habitations constructed of wood. A wooden shed of miniature proportions serves as 22 170 UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. [CHAP. xn. "refreshment and dining rooms." Entertainment for horses is provided in an " accommodation paddock." The only occupants of the platform are a man with a gun, and a baker whose cart stands in the station yard. Trees lie about in all directions, and a good many more will have to be cleared before Avenel can emerge from obscurity. A fine field here for Mr. Gladstone and other noted tree-fellers. Euroa : two brick houses, one the "North Eastern Hotel," of two storeys, the other the National Bank, of one storey. Two long wide, but timnetalled, streets are marked out, and a couple of dozen wooden houses and huts are dotted about in irregular fashion. The site is rather picturesque, being backed by some densely wooded hills, among which the smoke from the Euroa chimneys dissolves itself in a lazy, leisurely way. Violet Town: the most prominent buildings are a public-house (it may be laid down as a rule, to which there are few exceptions, that a " pub" is the first built house in every Australian town,) a bank, and a store. This is another very picturesque site, with a climate so genial, even at this season of the year, that green peas and cabbages may be seen flourishing in the cottagers' gardens. Benalla : a flourishing township with several tall smoking chimneys, belonging probably to flour- mills. We are provided with a very fair breakfast here, consisting of mutton chop, potatoes, and coffee, for a shilling. I notice two Government placards in the station, one giving directions for the treatment of snake- bite, and the other offering a reward of .100 for the apprehension of an offender who had stolen a horse, and, presumably, murdered a policeman nanied FitzPatrick. The neighbourhood of Benalla was at one time a favourite haunt of bush-rangers, and was the scene of some of Power's and Morgan's famous exploits.^ Glenroivan : not # Since I visited Benalla, the Kelly gang of bushrangers, issuing from this neighbourhood, has been committing the most extraordinary outrages, robbing Banks, " sticking-up" stations and shooting police- men, on both sides of the river Murray. CHAP. TIL] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 171 more than three huts to be seen here, but there are at least half-a-dozen tents, the occupants of which must have rather damp lodgings. It is possible they are pros- pecting for gold, as we are close on the Ovens district, whence a good deal of the precious metal has been obtained. We are now on the summit of the hills known as the "Dividing Range," and descend rapidly to Warrangatta : a rising township conspicuous by its many red brick houses and tall chimneys, suggestive of manu- facturing industries. The temperature here is several degrees warmer than at Melbourne. Chiltern: at this place we can see from the train some flour-mill and gold- mining machinery at work, within easy hail of each other. Gold and wheat are not the only productions of the locality, as it is about here we notice the first vineyards, looking, however, very barren at this season of the year. The walls of this station, like those elsewhere, are elo- quent with the merits of Guano, Aromatic Schnappes, Tenant's Bottled Beer, and a variety of other articles of commerce. Barnawartha : the country here is better cleared, and fine herds of cattle may be seen grazing in the fields ; we are in fact in the famous valley of the Murray, which contains some of the richest land in Australia. Wodonga : situated on the banks of the river, and the present terminus of the railway ; a straggling township whose main street is covered with three inches of mud, through which some decently dressed women are walking calmly, as though they were used to it. Notices of hotels and billiard-rooms meet the eye at every corner. A drive of three miles from the station brings us to a fine bridge across the Murray, and having crossed this bridge, we enter Albury, in New South Wales, the first house to be seen in the new colony being a " public." A good many Germans are settled about Albury one of the townships is called Germantown and they are said to compare the banks of the Murray to their own 172 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xn. dear Rhineland. I thinft the comparison is justifiable. Certain it is that Albui'y is charmingly situated, and that the soft warm tints about the distant hills are rather suggestive of some parts of the Rhine. Being only 600 feet above sea-level, Albury is possessed of a climate which at this season of the year is singularly genial and pleasant. Without I am greatly mistaken, I heard the buzzing of a mosquito in my snug little bed-room at the Globe Hotel ; and I was assured that in summer time curtains become a necessary addition to the furniture of Albury beds. The warmth that is favourable to the activity of mosquitoes serves also to ripen grapes of rare excellence, from which some of the best Australian wines are produced. Albury is, in fact, the head-quarters of the Murray Valley wine trade. Some time ago, when a scheme of federation was under consideration, it was proposed to make this town the seat of the Federal Government, on account of its central position in regard to south Australia, Victoria, and New South Wales. It is already one of the largest towns in the interior, and is sure to increase in importance, for not only will it have railway communication with both Sydney and Melbourne, but it already has water communication with the sea by way of the Murray, which is navigable for small steamers for a distance of 1,900 miles. In many ways, therefore, Albury is one of the most favourably situated towns in Australia. Its streets have been laid out with care, and it has capabilities of being made a very pretty town. The population is now about 3,000. The houses are generally built of red brick, which the Murray Valley clay yields in abundance, and have a homely English look about them which is in itself a welcome to a stranger. Let me add that the Alburians have very good notions of what constitutes creature comforts. I do not know when I have felt more thoroughly at peace with all mankind than I did before a glorious hearth fire in the parlour of my hostelrie, smoking a fragrant Manilla, and sipping CHAP, xii.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 173 a fruity " Reisling" ad lib. If this is life in the interior of Australia, it has no terrors for me ! Sipping Reisling suggests the necessity of saying something about Australian wines. The excellent quality of the liquor before me prompts an inquiry as to where it comes from. I learn that it was manufactured in Albuvy itself by that famous vigueron Mr. Fallen, whose wines are not unknown in India. Mr. Fallon's cellars are within one hundred yards of my hotel, and are open to inspec- tion if I care to see them. I do not fail to seize the opportunity, and proceed thither forthwith. Entering a large brick shed, some 250 feet in length by 60 feet in breadth, one is struck by the size and number of barrels arranged in rows up and down the building. Some of these casks hold as much as two thousand gallons, and all are filled with wine grown in the neighbourhood. A polite Frenchman in charge of the cellars invites me to have a taste. We descend some stairs to a dark under-ground vault, which proves to be a lower storey of the shed above. The vault is filled with mammoth casks, made on the premises from the wood of the mountain ash, grown in the neighbour- hood of Albury ; and I am informed that there are 200,000 gallons of wine here in stock. We first try a Reisling, similar in quality to the wine I had tasted at the hotel, and for which the hotel charge was three shillings a bottle. This is an excellent wine, of brownish- yellow color, and agreeable Sauternish flavour. The price at the cellars was twenty-two shillings and six pence the dozen, and seemed so moderate that a gentleman present immediately ordered two or three dozen to be sent to Melbourne, as a present to a friend. Thanks to the protective tariff of Victoria, however, this wine had to pay duty to the extent of eight shillings a dozen on being sent to the Victoria side of the river Murray. But this duty is not levied on wine exported from Melbourne ; it is only imposed on wine consumed 174 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xn. in Victoria. It may be supposed this heavy duty is levied to protect the inferior kind of Reislings manu- factured in Victoria, but the result has been to drive Mr. Fallen to Sydney instead of Melbourne as his head- quarters for export. A Verdeilho eleven years old, clear, rich, and gold-colored, was a wine that much took iny fancy. It had made the voyage to England and back, and had been improved thereby. It has a good deal of the character of Madeira about it. A clear amber-colored Tokay was also a very agreeable wine, with a fine bouquet. The Muscatel is a full-bodied wine of rich golden hue, and with a powerful bouquet. The red wines I tasted were Shiraz and Carbinet ; the former was a full-bodied wine of a rich ruby color, a wine that could be easily converted into the " Port" of London manufacture. The latter has more of the character of Burgundy, cleans the tongue, and promotes appetite ; this is the wine the Australian doctors recommend for invalids. Among the wines that I did not taste was a new Champagne, from which great things are expected hereafter ; but it is not yet ripe for consumption. The quality of all the wines was superior to any I have tasted before, and justified the assurance that they are steadily improving in character. I understand these wines could be laid down in India for fifteen rupees a dozen, and if so they ought soon to get into favor. Good Australian wines are certain to be appreciated ; they are so clear in color, pure in taste, and agreeable in flavour, while the natural proof-spirit they contain is shown by chemical analysis to be higher than that found in most of the European wines. The inferior qualities, however, are very poor, owing probably to mistakes in manufacture, and as the Australian vignerons have not always taken the precaution to keep their bad wares at home, they have aided in creating that foreign prejudice against Colonial wines which has hitherto militated against the growth of th wine trade. Owing to the inconvenient practice of CHAP, xn.j UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 175 naming the wine after the grape, instead of the locality where it is grown, one is never certain in ordering an Australian wine of getting two bottles alike. One Reis- ling may be as different t^another as Madeira is 1- Sherry, so great is the variety in climate, soil, and mode of manufacture. The only way to secure some degree of uniformity in your wine is to order the brand of some particular manufacturer, whose vintage in any given year is not likely to vary much. Another circumstance that tends to check confidence in Australian wines is that the Australians do not take to them very kindly them- selves. One rarely hears wine asked for at the bar of an hotel. Whenever I am asked to take refreshments and the colonists are very attentive in this respect it is whisky or sherry that I am invited to drink, and never colonial wine ; while at a table-d'hote I see inferior claret consumed to a much greater extent than Reisling or Carbinet. An impression has got abroad that Australian wines are provocative of gout, and hence well-fed men shun them for fear of the consequences to their great toes. It is rather amusing to see the same men drinking adulterated whisky and sherry, or sour claret, with an easy conscience. The quantity of whisky now consumed in the colonies is enormous, the old passion for rum and brandy having died out. There are some wine-shops about Melbourne where wine is sold retail at two pence per glass, but they are few and far between, while beer and spirit houses are found in every street. Having explored Mr. Fallon's cellars, I express my desire to see the vineyards. Here the politeness of my French cicerone showed itself in a characteristic manner. He would be delighted to take me to the vineyards, but, alas ! there was little to see there at this season of the year. " Ze vineyard," said he, with an apologetic smile, " is like an old voman : she have lost all her attractions." This powerful simile resolved my doubts : I did not go to th.e vineyards. A glance at them next day revealed 176 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xn. the fact that the vines are now mere dry stumps in the ground, unadorned with branches, leaves, and luscious fruit; and hence I suppose their supposed resemblance to an " old woman." Mr. Fallon's vine- yard consists of about 640 acres, 150 of which are planted out. The land is a rich red loam, and favour- ably situated for drainage purposes. The vines are planted in rows, in the same way as they are in France and Switzerland; and at the fall of the year, after the crop of grapes has been gathered, they are pruned of the shoots that have borne fruit, and left to develop new wood for bearing the next year's crop. Two hundred gallons an acre is an average production of wine in the district. Vine-cultivation was commenced here some twenty-five years ago, and Mr. Fallen has gradually converted his estate into one of the show vineyards in Australia, where he produces a wine which is highly commended by the best authorities in Europe. Among other testimonials in his possession I found one from Dr. Druitt. The Doctor tried the Reisling and Muscat wines in Madras in 1873, and remarked : " The Eeisling seems a wine that ought to take and be popular in Madras, and I can well believe all said in praise of these wines." Messrs. John Davies and Co., of Calcutta, also reported very favourably of the wines. The German experts, Messrs. Seyler and Buhl, speak of the " very excellent growth" of many samples of Australian wines, though they point out certain defects in manufacture which will doubtless be remedied in course of time. They write : "The -color of the light red wines is very bad. The grapes have either to remain longer on the vines, or the selection of the quality of grapes may have been injudicious, as they have not color enough. The white wines are not clear enough according to European notions ; they have either been bottled too early, or they have not been racked frequently enough in the casks. The most valuable wines by far are the full red wines, and some of the full bodied white ones, i. e. those approaching the character of the wines produced in the south of France and in Spain. It ought to be noticed, however, that they possess a much higher value for exportation, as those of France and Spain are exceed- CHAP, xii.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 177 ingly dear in the countries in which they are produced. In order to meet successfully the competition in the European markets, the light red and white wines would have to be very cheap. The white wines which could be compared to our German wines are deficient in the particular flavour (bouquet) which constitutes their speciality and accords them higher value." Most people who have given Australian wines a fair trial will agree in the verdict of these German critics. There is no reason why Australia, with increased experi- ence in wine manufacture, should not produce excellent wines. The late Edward Wilson expressed his belief that some day " something very remarkable" would be discovered accidentally, as had been the case with Johan- nisberg. As he truly remarked, "there is a territory available for vine culture extending to hundreds of thousands of miles, of every conceivable variety of soil, climate, and aspect ; if out of all that territory they could not produce not merely a good drinkable wine, but something really exceptionally excellent, he for one should be very much surprised." A Mr. Busby had the honor of being the first to introduce the vine to Australia. The first parcel of plants was obtained from Coblentz, on the Rhine, and planted on an estate belonging to the late Sir William McArthur, at Camden in New South Wales. It was on this estate where the first wine was manufactured about forty years ago. Other settlers followed in the footsteps of Sir Wil- liam McArthur, and the names of Wyndham, Lyndeman, Doyle and Carmichael soon became known in connec- tion with the manufacture of wine. To Mr. John Smith, of Kyamba, is due the credit of introducing German vig- nerons to Australia. The names of the three Germans whom he brought to New South Wales were Schubach, Frauenf elder and R-au, who, after they had served their time with Mr. Smith, settled at Albury, and started vine- growing and wine-making on their own account. This was in 1851, and from this time the wine industry may be said to have been firmly established. The proceedings 23 178 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xn. in connection with the planting of the first vine at Albury read like a bit of romance. Frauenf elder poured a bottle of sherry over the first cutting put in the earth, and made a speech in which he dwelt on the similarity between the Murray and Rhine rivers, and prognosticated the success of the wine industry in Australia. This plant was after- wards taken out of the earth to be preserved as an heir- loom in the Frauenfelder family. After struggling against many adverse circumstances, the efforts of these enter- prising men were rewarded in the third year by an abundant crop of grapes, for which they realised such splendid prices at the gold fields that their fortunes were established. Friends and relatives were now invited to come out and join them from Germany, and in a few years a considerable number of their compatriots had settled down as vine-growers on the banks of the Murray. There can be no doubt that the success of the wine industry in Australia is due in great measure to the experience and intelligence which the German vignerons brought to bear on the cultivation of the vine. The grape is now success- fully cultivated for a distance of 150 miles along the banks of the river Murray. While New South Wales was the first colony to ex- periment in vine-culture, her neighbours were not slow to emulate her example. The late Dr. Hope, of Geelong, soon showed that the vine could be cultivated as well along the sea-board as in the interior. But it is generally considered that the climate on the north side of the " Dividing Range" (a range of hills separating the coast from the interior,) is more favorable than the coast climate for the cultivation of the grape, being free from the co^ld south winds of the winter months. The fact remains, however, that very good wines are produced within forty miles of Melbourne, especially at Yering, on the St. Hubert and De Castellas' vineyards, and at Sunbury, where the Hon. J. G. Francis, a prominent politician in Victoria, has been very successful as a vine- CHAP, in.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 179 grower. The Rev. Dr. Bleasdale, in his reports on Aus- tralian wines published by the Agricultural Department of Victoria, considers that the wines grown on the north side of the Dividing Range partake more of the character of Spanish produce, while those coming from the vineyards on the south side of the range are more like German and French wines. He goes so far as to say that, " no matter how remote Victorian wines may yet be from the glorious bouquet of the Johannisberg Hocks, the produce of the south side of our dividing range comes the nearest to them of anything south of the equator." On the other hand, he regards the valley of the Murray, with its deep gravelly soil, heat and shelter, and no hot winds, as the natural home of the Spanish vines. It seems probable, however, that South Australia will ultimately prove to be the best colony for the production of wine. The Colonists there took great pains to select the best vines in Germany, Spain, Portugal, France and Switzerland, and at the same time imported labour from those coun- tries to superintend the management of the vineyards. The natural spirit-strength of the South Australian wines is greater than in either New South Wales or Victoria, and their keeping powers, not yet perhaps fully ascer- tained, are excellent. " In character," writes Mr. Fallon, " some of the wines of this colony closely resemble the Rhenish wines, while others approximate more to the finer descriptions of white Portugal wines, and the red wines of the Rhone. A few present more distinctive features, attributable no doubt to the peculiarities of soil and climate. Wherever these wines are exhibited, they have obtained many first class medals, and are generally highly and favourably spoken of by competent judges." It should be remarked that there has been a good deal of discussion about the natural strength of Aus- tralian wines. A few years ago, at a meeting of the Society of Arts in London, Dr. Thudichum, a well known London chemist, and the author of a work on wines, dis- 180 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. in. puted the assertion that Australian wines could be above the standard British strength of 26 degrees of alcohol. If, in Australia, there were grapes grown which, by a natural course of fermentation, produced a wine with 29 per cent, of proof-spirit, that fact, he urged, ought to be established by a scientific commission and thoroughly authenticated, " because it would simply upset the whole scientific facts established throughout the world." The Australian wine-growers immediately toot steps to establish their point ; and the Governments of the three principal colonies appointed Commissions to inquire into and report fully on the subject. The Chief Inspectors of Distilleries in New South Wales and Victoria made independent experiments with the grape-must obtained from a variety of vineyards in the Murray Valley, and these experiments showed conclusively that the average spirit-strength of the wines is above the standard of 26 degrees fixed by the British Customs' tariff. The follow- ing is the return submitted by the Victorian Inspector : CM ^ d ** * 0^- d Name of Colour ft! Name of Colour c3 ^-t ^ Wine. of Wine. S> 'S <3 2:i Wine. of Wine. QJ 1 q ^ ^ .9 PH ^-B a M ^ ^'G > n ^ m Pineau Brown. 1875 34-1 A ucarot White. 1875 309 Muscatel . White. 1875 33-1 Shiraz Red 1872 316 Verdeilho do. 1875 297 Malbec do. 1872 293 Aucarot . do. 1875 29-2 Verdeilho White. 1873 30-4 Verdeilho. do. 1875 32-6 Carbinet Red 1873 27-G Do do. 1875 299 Aucarot White. 1871 307 Do do. 1875 31-8 Shiraz Red. 1873 30-9 Fineau . Brown. 1875 29-2 Muscatel Brown. 1873 29-1 Verdeilho. White. 1875 29-9 Shiraz Red. 1871 302 Do do. 1875 313 Tokay White. 1873 27-4 Carbinet . Red 1875 29 G Verdeilho do. 1873 28' Shiraz do. 1875 25-0 The above figures were duly submitted to the Society of Arts in 1876, when Dr. Thudichum expressed his scepti- cism as to the correctness of the returns, declaring that CHAP, xn.] UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 181 the experiments must have been made with imperfect instruments. The practical victory in the discussion, however, has remained with the wine-growers, who find that they cannot introduce their wines into England without paying the higher duty of 2s. &d. a gallon, whereas the duty on the " light wines" of France and Germany is only one shilling a gallon. The progress of vine-cultivation and wine-produc- tion in the three principal colonies, is illustrated by the following figures : South Australia : in 1850 there were 282 acres under cultivation ; in 1854, 408 acres ; in 1858, 1,055 acres ; in 1860, 3,180 acres ; and in 1864, 6,364 acres. In the latter year, over 6 millions of vines were in bearing, while nearly three millions were unbearing. The year 1871 showed 6,131 acres under cultivation, on which 5,783,674 vines were bearing, and 385,084 unbear- ing, and from which 801,694 gallons of wine were pro- duced, and 85,847 cwts. of grapes sold. Victoria : in 1850 there were 274 acres under cultivation, producing only 11,000 gallons of wine ; in 1855, the cultivation had increased to 4,078 acres, and in 1872 to 5,523 acres, bearing about 10 millions of vines, producing about 700,000 gallons of wines, and 30,000 cwts. of grapes, sold for fruit. New South Wales: in 1863 there were 1,459 acres under cultivation ; in 1867, 2,281 acres, and in 1872, 4,152 acres. In the latter year, 413,321 gallons of wine were produced, and 508 tons of grapes sold aa fruit. The cultivation of the vine can hardly be said to have progressed of late years, owing chiefly to the diffi- culty of finding a foreign market for Australian wines. Most of the wines, as I have said, have to pay an import duty in England of half-a-crown a gallon. They are, therefore, unable to compete successfully with the light wines of France and Germany, which, moreover have the advantage of being known to English consumers. Two 182 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xil. or three years ago, a deputation of Australian wine- growers waited upon Sir Stafford Northcote in London, and endeavoured to persuade him to modify the British tariff. They asked, in fact, that the limit of alcoholic strength might be increased from 26 to 30 or 32 degrees, so as to allow the Australian wines to be admitted under the one shilling per gallon duty. The Chancellor of the Exchequer explained that the principle on which the wine duties were settled in 1860 was, that the low duty of one shilling should be applied to natural wines, and the first idea was that there should be a low duty on wines below 18 degrees, and that there should be another rate of duty between 18 and 26 degrees, with a third for a higher grade. It was found, however, that this arrangement caused inconveni- ence, and so the low duty was fixed at 26 degrees. To allow Australian wines to exceed that strength, would be to encourage the further fortifying of continental wines, which would have to be admitted on the same tariff con- ditions. It was difficult to fix the limit of strength of natural wines, and the English Government had to con- sider the strength of wines generally, and not those of the Australian colonies alone. The following conver- sation that then passed between the deputation and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, describes accurately enough the present position of the wine trade : " The Chancellor of the Exchequer : What is the value of the wines ? Mr. Fallon : We can send a wine to London at about .20 a pipe our best wines grown on the coast side of the range can be produced for a smaller sum. But the wines from the inland and the north side of the range have to pay a higher rate of freight to bring them to the sea-board, and they are of a stronger character. We can send them over at about .20 a pipe. The Chancellor of the Exchequer : What would be the strength ? Mr. Fallon i It would vary from 26 to 30 degrees. I may here mention that the wines, whether grown in Victoria or New South Wales, are pretty nearly the same. The Chancellor of the Exchequer : With regard to the wines you speak of at .20 a pipe, what would they compare with in i'rencu, wines '( CHAP, xn.] UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 183 Mr. Fallen : Rich Burgundies Rousillon. The Chancellor of the Exchequer ; Do you think there is a taste for Australian wines in this country ? Mr. Fallen : Wherever I have sent wines to this country they have given great satisfaction. The trade is hut in its infancy yet. The Chancellor of the Exchequer ; Where is the demand for Australian wines likely to arise in the upper circles or in gene- ral consumption ? Mr. Fallen : I think hoth in general consumption and in the upper circles. These wines have a special peculiarity of their own which would commend itself if they were properly introduced here. The Chancellor of the Exchequer t It is difficult to get the English to have new wines. Mr. Fallen : We had to overcome the same prejudices in the Colonies to get them to take to these wines, and now not only the better classes drink them, but also the working men, who instead of drinking brandy and other spirits as they used to do, are now content to take their own wines. Mr. M' Arthur : Some years ago unfavourable impressions were induced by bad wines sent here, but latterly these have been removed, and the Colony now produces very excellent wine. The Chancellor of the Exchequer : Are the wines sent brandied from Australia ? Will they carry without it ? Mr. Fallen ; They will, sir ; I have sent them often. We get a high quality of Australian wines which are not brandied which are not fortified, and in their natural state. The cheaper wines we are not obliged to brandy. Wines intended for immediate use may be treated that way, but not wines for export. Mr. Button (Agent-General for South Australia) said the South Australian growers showed that the wines they sent were not brandied. Mr. Michie said there were many instances of good wine leaving the Colonies and arriving in London in a bad condition ; it was good again after passing through its sickness. He had a remarkable proof of this in some wine which he had in his cellar which at first was awful rubbish, but at the end of two years it was all right and had a bouquet which surprised every one. That wine would most certainly have come in at the 2s. Qd. duty. It was beyond 26 and certainly below 28." The Australians are proud of the great natural strength of their wines, but it seems doubtful if the alcoholic test is altogether a reliable one in estimating the character of a wine. Mr. J. B. Keene, of the London Custom House, lays it down,] that alcoholic strength has nothing to do with the quality of a wine, nor with the permanent^ retention 'of its quality. Some of the best Australian wines he had tasted had not more than 184 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xn. 21 degrees of proof-spirit. "He had tasted a French wine 111 years old, and though containing only 18'9 degrees of proof-spirit, it was sound as possible, though not in the finest drinking order for flavor. This showed that the endurance of wine did not depend on the strength." My own impression is that the direct consumption of Australian wines in England is not much affected by the higher duty of two-and-sixpence a gallon. New wines, no matter from what country, would be consumed at first only by connoisseurs and well-to-do people, irres- pective of the cost of the article ; the mass of consumers, would naturally prefer to buy a cheap wine that they know, to one they do not know. Where the half-a-crown duty does injuriously affect Australian wines, is in pre- venting them from being used for blending with other wines. There can be no doubt that, like Indian teas, they are admirably adapted for this purpose ; and before being generally appreciated for their own merits, they will be valued for the strength they will impart to inferior Euro- pean wines that the British public have been " educated" to drink. As yet, however, the wines are not produced cheap enough to use extensively for blending purposes, nor are they likely to be until foreign labour, Chinese or Indian, is employed in the vineyards. It may be said broadly that Australian wines are too dear for general consumption. At Albury, I pay three shillings a bottle for Beisling, while at hotels in Melbourne and Sydney they will charge me as much as four or five shillings the bottle. The quality of the wine does not justify such a price. So in England. While light clarets, which are thought good enough for consumption in London clubs, can be purchased for 15s. a dozen, there is not much chance for Australian wines costing from 30*. to 40s. a dozen, even though there may be no doubt about the superiority in the strength of the latter. That wine will ultimately become a staple CHAP, xii.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CKOSS. 185 export from Australia, there can hardly be a doubt. The day is gone by when the following recipe, given in an old Melbourne Punch, can be considered a fair equivalent for a " Chasselas :" " Take one gallon of cold water, one pint vinegar, 21bs. sugar, mix, and add two dirty well-seasoned mouse-traps." With time and experience there has been great improve- ment in the manufacture of all the wines, and their consumption is steadily increasing among colonists who drink moderately and wisely. Hereafter, perhaps the pleasing anticipation will be realised that Australia will be remarkable for the sobriety of its people. The Rev. Dr. Bleasdale has recorded it as his experience that "wine-producing countries where wine is plentiful and cheap, are invariably remarkable for sober, healthy, and cheerful populations, that drunkenness is all but unknown, and many distressing diseases common among drinkers of beer and spirits in warm climates are utterly unheard of." The large consumption of spirits, together with the crowded condition of the lunatic asylums in Australia, suggests that there is still a great field for the production of a wine which will be consumed by the inhabitants themselves. At pre- sent, the production of wine is not one-tenth of the quantity which the population would require if they drank nothing but their own manufacture. Under these circumstances it seems rather early days for the Austra- lians to complain that they can find no market for exportation. It is to be feared that the vine disease known as phylloxera vastatrix, which has made its appearance in the colonies, will not improve the prospects of the wine- growers. The Government of Victoria has already had to offer compensation to several vignerons who have been compelled to destroy affected vineyards, and great fears are entertained that the disease will spread. I find, for example, M, Frere, the manager 24 186 UNDER THE SOTJTHEBN CROSS. [CHAP. xn. of Mr. Fallen's estate at Albury, -writing thus to the Albury Banner : " The Albury district in particular owes much of its celebrity to its vines, and all surely would regret to see one of its staple industries ruined. It is certain that if the efforts made by the Victorian Government to nip the disease in the bud should prove unsuccessful, we should be the first to suffer from the spread of the scourge ; and not a moment therefore should be lost in taking preventive measures, for everyone knows the rapidity with which the insect is propagated. It is necessary to prohibit absolutely the importation of all vines (either roots or cuttings) into the colony, and to appoint an officer in this district to communicate with the Vignerons' Association in Victoria, to trace the progress of the disease there, and to keep a careful watch upon the vine- yards on this side the Murray, with a view to note the first symptoms of any outbreak here. The Government should also open up communication with the different Associations in France now engaged in the effort to discover some effectual means of combating the phylloxera, to the end that in the case of an out- break we might have the best available systems of treatment at our disposal. Switzerland has set us a striking example of what can be done by judicious and timely measures of precaution. Up to the present date they have preserved their vineyards intact, whilst in France, owing to delay in the adoption of similar means of prevention, the vines and vineyards are disappearing day by day." Let us hope the attacks of the phylloxera may be effectually baffled, for in these days of adulterated drinks there are many reasons for wishing success to the manu- facture of the pure and. wholesome wines of Australia. CHAP, xiii.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 187 CHAPTER XIII. COACHING THROUGH THE BUSH. Waiting for the Coach. A dispute about an inside seat The first stage A halt for breakfast Roads through the bush- Our horses Our passengers How to sleep safely outside a coach The anatomy of an Australian coach Coaches and coachmen importations from America A lively bit of road A story illustrative of the danger of travelling in a chimney- pot hat The old Corduroy Road between Geelong and Ballarat A famous Wagga-Wagga whip Talk about " Tich- borne" Letter-boxes in the bush A bush romance A halt for repairs The discomforts of coaching. LADY DENISON, in that interesting journal of hers which is incorporated with the late Sir W. Denison's Vice-regal " Experiences," says, apropos of up-country travelling in Australia : " Really these settlers think nothing of difficulties, and do not at all appreciate the discomforts of their own bad roads." Her ladyship was quite right. Let me, here at Wagga-Wagga, of "Tichborne" notoriety, record my experiences of coaching in Australia while the impressions, mental and bodily, are fresh upon me. Among the latter, I may mention several painful bruises about such angular parts of the person as the shoulders and hip- joints ; a grazed nose, the result of a sharp contact with the hat of a vis-a-vis in the coach ; a bulged hat and a sore head, the result of a collision with the roof of the coach ; and a general feeling of soreness and stiffness about the limbs, the result doubtless of six full-grown men being jammed, in a sitting posture, for fourteen hours, into a space that nature and art combined could never have intended for more than four. Were we full inside ? As well ask the question of a tin of sardines. 188 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xni. Time : five o'clock in the morning. Scene : the parlor of the Globe at Albury, all a- glow with the light from a cheeful-looking wood fire, before which three or four men enveloped in great-coats, scarves, and travelling caps are basking themselves, waiting the arrival of the coach. As many more are seated at the table, and making a hearty meal off a cold round of beef, with bread and coffee. The jolly old landlord is there to see that his guests are properly provided for. He thinks nothing of rising with the lark : has done it any number of times these last twenty years, or rather would have done it if there had been larks in Australia. In the absence of these members of the feathery tribe, he can only compete with the early village cocks, which are evidently not yet more than half awake, judging from the smothered "salutations to the morn" emanating from sundry poultry-yards in the neighbourhood. " Capital beef, that," says a hearty-looking man by way of apology for having helped himself the third time. He is now transferring some slices to sandwiches for con- sumption on the journey. "You will be glad of it on the road, gentlemen," says the landlord, inviting his guests to help themselves at pleasure. His liberality is extraordinary, but is partly explained perhaps by the fact of prime beef being worth at Albury about two pence per Ib. There is a noise outside of "rattling o'er the stony street." It is the coach. I listen for the horn, but there is no horn. The coach, with four splendid horses attached, draws up before the door as silently as a hearse. Never mind, we shall have the horn when we start. The next few minutes are occupied in stowing away the passengers' luggage, and making preparations for departure. Passengers hastily muffle up and settle themselves in their seats, six inside and two outside. I find myself inside, with my back to the horses, a man on one side, and a school-boy going home to Wagga-Wagga for the holidays CHAP, xiii.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 189 on the other. We are all ready to be off, and anxiously waiting for that horn. " I tell you I am booked inside," says a querulous voice outside in the dark. " Very sorry, sir, but the coach is full," observes the landlord. " Now this sort of thing wont do with me," replies the first voice dogmatically ; " my name stands number five on the way-bill, and I demand my seat inside. I am a commercial traveller, and if I dont go by this coach, d n me if I wont hire a special buggy, and sue the Company for the cost. You are liable, you know, and wont be the first coach proprietor I have made pay my travelling expenses." The landlord hesitates, then puts his head inside the coach and inquires if any gentleman occupies a seat that does not belong to him. There is an ominous silence. A happy thought occurs to the landlord. That boy in the corner has only booked for half a seat. The boy, who has evidently profited by his education in Melbourne, says he would prefer to take the half inside, but the landlord explains this is contrary to orthodox regulations. Boy accordingly ousted, and put on the top of the coach with the luggage ; querulous party takes the vacant place in the interior. The landlord passes an " all right" to the coachman ; the coachman cracks his long whip, and away we go, hornless to the last, at a smart trot up the principal street of Albury, whose dim lamps are soon lost to view as we reach the outskirts of the town. For the first hour or so, we travelled in darkness, apparently over a rough but metalled road ; then the horses' feet and the coach wheels no longer resound on the stones ; we glide along, in comparative silence, over soft sward, splash through pools of water, and sink deep in mud, all the time flying by numerous guin trees, 190 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xin. and sometimes so close that we might touch them with the hand from the coach windows. The marvel is that in picking his way among all these trees the coach- man does not come into collision with some of them ; but the horses, and especially the leaders, know their road well, and will traverse it at night as fast and safely as they do in the day time. To form an accurate idea of a coach-road through the bush, you have simply to picture a rough, unmade cart-track through a rather sparsely-wooded forest. As a rule, the track, which will be about thirty yards in width, will be lined on either side by the wood and wire fences which mark the boundaries of sheep runs or cviltivated fields ; but the small water-courses are not bridged, the track is only partly cleared of trees, and many of those that have been felled still lie across our path ; it is only in the neigh- bourhood of stations where any metal has been laid down. Travelling over such a " road," at any pace, can hardly be considered easy going, but you can understand when a coach and four is driven over it at a hand gallop, the difficulty experienced by passengers in maintaining a normal equilibrium is considerably enhanced. About 7 o'clock, we come to the end of the first stage, and pull up before a hut at the roadside. The horses are literally foaming with perspiration, and s- amper away to their stables the moment they are released from the coach. As we descend to terra firma, and stretch our- selves once more into perpendicular attitudes, we become conscious of a certain charm in the surrounding scenery. The sun shines brightly and lights up the dew-drops on the trees like silver, and the air is soft and singularly exhilarating. No human habitation but the hut in question is to be seen anywhere, and the only sounds to break the forest-stillness are the shrill screech- ings of innumerable little parrots, and the infant-like wailings of the Australian magpies. The hut is occupied by a German peasant, whose wife serves us with eggs, CHAP, xin.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 191 bi-ead and butter, and coffee. By the time we have dispatched this primitively served meal, another fine team of horses, worth each one of them .70 or ,80 in India, is attached to the coach. " All aboard !" cries the coachman from without. He is a hairy man, of middle age, with a florid com- plexion, not all due, I fear, to out-of-door exercise, whose most conspicuous articles of clothing are a pair of leather leggings reaching to his thighs, and a slouched brigand- like hat drawn down over his eyes. We go through a process of repacking inside the coach, and resume the journey, having this time the advantage of daylight, which enables us to see something of each other, as also of the country we are going through, and the vehicle we are travelling in. Of our inside passengers, two are Anglo-Indians, two residents of Wagga-Wagga, one & New Zealand squatter, and one a commercial traveller from Melbourne. The latter makes no secret of being "a Colonial," meaning that he was born and bred in the Colonies. The outsides sit alongside the coach- man, excepting the supernumerary boy, who is hidden somewhere among the luggage. One of the latter, a stout gentleman in the banking line, was so bespattered with mud, that I ventured to sympathise with him on the in- conveniences incidental to his position on the box. He assured me, however, that he always elected the box in preference to the inside, whether travelling by night or day. " But suppose you go to sleep, is there not some danger of falling off ?" I inquire. " dear no," he replies, "you have simply to get the coachman to put a strap across your chest and fasten you to the coach. I always sleep well like that." The coach itself is simply a large square red box on wheels. The letters " V. E.," painted in rather florid characters, can be just distinguish- ed through the mud encrusted on the panels. The most remarkable parts of an Australian coach, however, are the springs. These consist, not of iron or steel, which would 192 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xin. snap like dry wood over such roads as are found in the bush, but of a series of leather straps bound closely together in imitation of ordinary springs. These straps are called "thorough-braces," and well deserve their name for the tenacity with which they unite the box of the coach to the axle-trees. They are much more elastic than metal springs, and consequently allow the coach to oscillate very freely. The Australian coach, it may be added, was an importation from America in the days be- fore railways were constructed. It is one of the American institutions for which the colonies have good reason to be grateful, for even to this day the bulk of the passenger and mail traffic, in the interior, is carried by coaches. Many of the coachmen too are Americans by birth. Guards there are none, and horns there are none. The coachman does everything, from driving the horses to looking after his fares ; he is even equal, as our own proved, to repairing the damage caused by a broken thorough-brace. What the elder Weller would have thought of such a brother professional, it is not easy to conjecture. He would probably, however, have regarded both Australian coaches and coachmen with unmitigated contempt. " Gee ee ee," shouts the coachman as we emerge slowly from a hole in which the wheels have been buried axle-deep in mud and water. The horses respond to the call by breaking off into a smart gallop over a patch of green sward, which sets the coach bounding about again as though it was borne on the backs of half-a-dozen buck-jumpers. My Anglo-Indian friend has a rough corner on the near side, back ; his countenance is a running panorama of his inward emotions ; if we were at sea I should say he was suffering from premonitory symptoms of mal de mer. After cannon- ing for the tenth time against his vis-a-vis, he ventures an apologetic remark to the effect that the road is rather rough, CHAP. xin.J UNDER THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. 193 " Rough," exclaims the commercial traveller ; " why I call this a beautiful road." I observed that, as a matter of curiosity, I should like to know what a bad road was like. " What I call a bad road," said he, jerking out the sentences spasmodically between the joltings, " is when you get your coach and horses bogged every now and then and have to dig them out before going on again even if you have'nt to sleep for a night under a gum-tree till you get fresh horses." I was glad to learn our road was not of that des- cription. Though not boggy, I thought it erred in the other direction by making the coach too lively. " Nothing when you are used to it. I dare say, though, it seems rough to new chums like you. Ah," he added reflectively, " if you want to travel over a rough road just take coach from Hay to Deniliquin. Lively enough there if you like. Last time I travelled that road elderly gentleman respectable appearance wearing bell-topper hat, was inside passenger. I was outside with coachman. Going over a bad bit of country coach plunged suddenly into deep hole just as suddenly bounded out again. Rebound terrific. Scream from inside coachman stopped horses I jumped down to see what was the matter. On my honor, gentlemen, never saw a more complete bonneting in my life. Old gentleman's hat was pressed down over his nose what is more, he could' nt get hat back again declared his nose was broken. There was nothing for it, but to cut his hat open which I did with my pocket-knife. His nose wasn't broken but the bridge was peeled like an orange." I can quite believe in the probability of this story, and indeed nobody attempts to dispute it. Encouraged by its reception, our commercial friend favours us with another. In the old coaching days, twenty. five years ago, 194 CINDER THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. [CHAP. xin. the road between Geelong and Ballarat was so rough, that it was nicknamed the " Corduroy Road," from the supposed resemblance of its surface to that stout, ribbed, description of cloth which is used for breeches by rustic labourers who expect a maximum of wear and tear for their money. A famous Yankee whip on that line was rebuked by his master one day for arriving two or three hours late at his destination. The coachman pleaded the bad state of the roads, but this was not held to be a sufficient excuse. So Jehu was fined, and warned not to be late again. He remarked, with something like a smile, that he would take care to be in time the next journey. He was true to his word. The coach arrived punc- tually enough, but where were the passengers ? The coach had started full, but on arrival at Geelong nobody was found inside but an exhausted sailor, who was lashed to the seat, and swearing he would not leave his ship while a spar was left to cling to ! The story does not say what became of the other passengers, but the inference of course is, that they dropped out, accidentally or intentionally, along the Corduroy Road. One of the Wagga-Wagga residents then recounts the adventures of a favourite local whip known as " Curly Ned." Ned, it appears, was such a proficient with the ribbons that he would back himself to drive over any number of sixpences which speculative passengers could be persuaded to throw into the road. His playfulness of disposition was further illustrated by his driving his coach so near to gum-trees, as to strip off bits of bark, without tilting over his coach. " Curly Ned" was especi- ally given to this form of recreation when he knew he had nervous passengers inside. One day, when his hand, or head, was a little less steady than usual, he upset the coach, happily without injuring any of the passengers. The proprietors, however, were so shocked at this failing nerve-power in "Curly Ned," that they suspended him, CHAP, xiii.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 195 and Ned himself took the matter so much to heart that he was never sober enough to drive a coach again. The conversation changes from coaches to the quality of land through which we are passing. The New Zealand squatter affirms that a good deal of it won't " carry" (this is the local expression) more than a sheep an acre, whereas he has land on his estate, which will carry four or five sheep an acre. The Melbourne commercial traveller asks the New Zealander if he haa seen the land about Warnambool and Colac, in his colony, land which lets for ,5 an acre for a potato crop alone, and which will grow twenty tons of potatoes to the acre* The New Zealander is obliged to confess that he has nothing to beat that. The Wagga-Wagga men remark that theirs is a good " lambing" country, that 90 per cent, of the lambs will be saved this season, and that there are some fine "mobs" (Australian for herds) of cattle in the valley of the Murrumbidgee river. It is hardly necessary to say that, as we were going to Wagga-Wagga, we had some talk about the Tichborne trial and the " claimant." None of our passengers knew him personally, though they had of course heard a good deal about him from people who professed to have had the honor of his acquaintance. Both of the Wagga- Wagga residents prepared me for the fact that the claimant was not believed in at Wagga-Wagga. They eemed surprised that people could still think him to be anything else than a clever impostor, who was favoured a good deal by circumstances. In fact they dismissed him from conversation as beneath notice. Wagga-Wagga is not proud of her connection with the Tichborne trial. Our stages are about fifteen miles apart, and our horses are generally completely done up before getting to the end of their journey. We occasionally stop at a road- side hut to take up a letter-bag, or leave a parcel. Several of these huts seem to do duty as post-office, 196 UNDER THE SOUTHEEN CEOSS. L CHAP. xm. general- store, and public-house combined. At one of them, at a place called G-erogery, an officious old fellow kept the coach waiting a quarter of an hour, while he was making up a post bag which was said to con- tain only three letters. Letters and newspapers are received and deposited in the most unexpected places. For example the coachman will suddenly pull up alongside a tree, to which a small wooden box is nailed. He leans over to drop a newspaper in the box, and then goes on again. The paper will of course be sent for by the owner, who lives somewhere out of sight in the neighbourhood. At one place, a nicely dressed young woman suddenly appeared before us ; having handed up her letters she disappeared smiling among the trees, in which she may have resided with the parrots and magpies, for anything we could see about us to suggest that she lived in an ordinary dwelling-house. Further on, passing through a small station, we see another young woman, standing at the door of one of the houses. A passenger relates a rather tragical story about her, showing that there are elements of romance even in the bush. It is the old tale of Faust and Marguerite, Faust being represented by the son of a wealthy squat- ter, and Marguerite by the daughter of somewhat humble parents. They love not wisely, but too well. Faust refuses to marry the girl to whom he has proved false. Marguerite revenges herself by firing a pistol at him and wounding him. She is tried for attempting to murder, but is leniently dealt with on account of the treatment she had received. Faust, having healed his wound, goes away and marries somebody else. Before the day was half over, I felt very weary with the perpetual jolting, and longed to sleep, but could not. Passing a small station called Cookardinia (which the coachman pronounced like Cook-yer-dinner) we noticed a number of waggon-teams, some of them containing as many as eight horses to the waggon. It is in these CHAP, xni.] UNDER THE SOUTHEEN CROSS. 197 vehicles that all the heavy traffic of the country is carried : wool and corn from the interior to the railway, and general stores from the railway to the interior. Cookardinia is the principal station we passed through, in a journey of ninety miles, and the following descrip- tion of the place in the official directory is rather a curiosity : " A. post town in the county of Goulburn, Hume electoral district, and police district of Ten Mile Creek, 355 miles S. of Sydney. It is on the creek of the same name. A directory of Cookardinia would comprise two hotels, the Squatter's Arms and the Jena-Jena, a private school, a store, and about 30 inhabitants. Crawford's coach runs regularly to Wagga-Wagga, whence Sydney can be reached. The district, of granite form- ation, is suitable for farms and stations, and has a population of about 300." At Jerra-Jerra we stopped at a public house to have some dinner, which was chiefly conspicuous for some very red underdone beef and some very yellow turnips. I have but a dim recollection of what followed, except a longing to get to the end of the different stages. A violent rapping of the bottom of the coach against the axle-tree, necessitated a stoppage, on one occasion, of about half an hour, to enable the coachman to effect the necessary repairs to the thorough-braces, which had given way. A bag was produced from the boot which seemed to contain, on a small scale, all the furniture of a black- smith's shop. We all had to lend a hand in lifting the coach while the repairs were being done. The thorough- brace was replaced by a stout chain, and the journey re- sumed as before. It was about 7 o'clock in the evening when the coach drew up before the Union Hotel at Wagga- Wagga, where several of our passengers alighted. My Anglo-Indian comrade, an experienced traveller by land and sea, rushed straight to his bed-room, sup- perless, and was seen no more till late next morning. I was not long in following his example, though sitting as I had done, with my back to the horses, my position was not so trying as his, nor was I quite so done up. 198 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xm. I don't know, however, when I ever slept more soundly than I did that night at Wagga-Wagga. A stout German complained to me next day, that he had slept for fifteen hours at a stretch, after a day's ride in the Albury coach, and, like the sluggard, he was still angry that the hotel people had called him " too soon." If you fail to realise, from the foregoing description, the trials to a " new chum" of coaching through the- bush, let me beg of you to call to mind the roughest bullock-cart journey you have had in India, and the roughest sea-passage you have experienced in the chops of the Channel, or in a South West Monsoon in the Indian Ocean. Add the discomforts of both together, and multiply by six. Imagine the result if you can. If you can't, then take coach from Albury to Wagga-Wagga. CHAP, xiv.] UNDEE THE SOUTHEEN CEOSS. 199 CHAPTER XIV. THE "CLAIMANT'S" AUSTRALIAN HOME. Beasons for thinking that young Tichborne was never an Australian butcher Local evidence adverse to the claimant Dr. Guy on "personal identity," in reference to the Tichborne case Wagga-Wagga as it is to-day Board and lodging for sixteen shillings a week The Eiverina trade Disadvantages of two gauges on the railways "Tichborne House" now a draper's shop The counterpart of the claimant's home The newspapers of Wagga-Wagga Mrs. Leo Hunter on the opening of the railway The character of Wagga-Wagga, past and present A suspicious disappearance. IN the early days of the famous Tichborne trial, I rashly laid a wager of ten shillings that the claimant would prove his case. A visit to Wagga-Wagga (the inhabitants, I may mention, always drop one of the Waggas in conversation) has reconciled me to the loss of that bet. It has removed from my mind every vestige of sympathy with the " unfortunate nobleman" in Dartmoor jail, and convinced me that he is undergoing a well- deserved punishment. I don't profess to have discovered any fresh evidence bearing on that wonderful case, but an inspection of the wretched shanty where the claimant sold his beef and mutton, and concocted the plot which for a time mystified the whole of Europe, and some reflections on the difficulties a novice would encounter in Australia in carrying on the trade of a butcher, have very forcibly impressed on my mind the improbability that the rightful heir of all the Tichbornes could ever have conceived the idea of earning a livelihood by such an occupation. In the first place, butchers, unlike critics, are not ready made. Felling a bullock with a pole-axe, or cutting a sheep's throat with a knife, may not require 200 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xiv. much study on the part of the operator. But these are the mere rudiments of the butcher's art ; where his real skill is shewn is in " dressing" his meat, or preparing it for the inspection of his customers. This knowledge is only acquired by long apprenticeship and practice, which young Tichborne could hardly have had, even supposing he did take to the trade under the style and title of Mr. Thomas Castro. In a small agricultural station, such as Wagga was twenty years ago, every farmer was more or less a butcher: that is, he could kill a pig or sheep, if need be, at his own house, and dress the meat with sufficient nicety for his own domestic requirements. Any inefficiency or clumsiness on the part of the professional butcher in the village could hardly have escaped detection in such a critical com- munity ; and will any reasonable man pretend that young Tichborne could have been any other than an inefficient and clumsy butcher ? I do not recollect that this circum- stance was dwelt upon at the trial. Possibly it would only suggest itself to people who have had some personal experience of the conditions of life in small up-country sta- tions in Australia. A traveller may to-day pass through hundreds of places such as Wagga was when Castro was butclier there, and the conviction will be impressed upon him everywhere that the openings for amateur butchers are limited, and that an adventurer in search of a livelihood could hardly hit on a more unpromising calling for earning it. It is fair to assume, therefore, that if young Tichborne was compelled to work, he would have select- ed a more congenial employment than butchering. One could understand his going to sea and working as a com- mon sailor, as the young Earl of Aberdeen did ; or his enlisting as a soldier. He might even have taken to bush-ranging, to stock-driving, to jockeying, to billiard- marking, or any other occupation that offered excitement and novelty ; but it is difficult to imagine a young fellow of gentle birth and with, at all events, some of the CHAP, xiv.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 201 inbred instincts of a gentleman, deliberately selecting the hum-drum drudgery of cutting out legs of mutton and ribs of beef for John Nokes, or serving out chops and steaks to Tom Styles. A butcher in the Australian bush, it should be remembered, is not that comely well-fed gentleman we are familiar with in London, who wears a neat little blue apron, receipts bills, and bows his cus- tomers in and out of the shop. As a rule, the bush butcher has to do much hard and dirty work with his own hands. Looking at the above circumstances from the stand-point of a local critic, it seems clear that whatever else young Tichborne may have been, he was never a butcher at Wagga ; and on this assumption, Tichborne and Castro could never have been one and the same indi- vidual. If a committee of Australian butchers had been appointed to test the claimant's professional qualifications, they would probably soon have detected whether he had been trained on the wide field of European butchering, or whether he was a mere interloper in the trade. At Wagga, Tom Castro was well known, and apparently appreciated, as a butcher. Nobody ever suspected him of being a gentleman in disguise. As a plain-spoken man who knew him, remarked to me : " The fellow was a butcher, sir, and had never been anything but a butcher. If there had been a spark of the gentleman about him, which *he could hardly have disguised had he been Tichborne, dont you think we should have noticed it ?" There is common sense in this reasoning, which there is no gainsaying. On the whole, Dr. Kenealy was wise in not calling too many witnesses from Wagga-Wagga.* * Since writing the above, I have had an opportunity of reading, in the appendix to Dr. Guy's " Forensic Medicine," a most interesting chapter on the subject of " Personal Identity," with special reference to the Tichborne case- With the aid of a series of illustrations, Dr. Guy compares the features of young Tichborne, as taken from pictures and photographs, with those of the claimant, and remarks on the points of contrast. The dissimilarity in the form and character of the chief features is very striking. By means of a straight line drawn from one corner of the eye to the other, we notice that young Tichborne's and the claimant's eyes are of different shape. A minute comparison of the mouths reveals the fact that Tichborne had a rather thick upper lip, 26 202 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xiv. Thanks to its position in the fertile valley of the Murrumbidgee, Wagga-Wagga has become one of the most important inland towns in New South Wales. It is the head-quarters of the great agricultural industries in Eiverina, or the districts bordering the Murray and Murrumbidgee rivers. It has a population of about 3,000, a considerable number of whom are Irishmen and Roman Catholics. One of the richest men in the neighbourhood is an old settler named Donnelly, and he is the lucky possessor of some 40,000 acres of the best land along the banks of the Murrumbidgee. Among the public institu- tions of Wagga is a fine Convent (dedicated to the " Sacred Heart") charmingly situated on a hill, just outside the town. Mr. Donnelly gave forty acres of land, and some ,3,000 besides, towards establishing this institution, where the girls of the principal Catholic families in the neighbourhood are educated. I mistook the convent for the State School, and walked up to it with the idea of seeing it over. Imagine my consternation, when I beheld the doors closed against me, and a dozen pairs of female eyes levelled at me from behind window-blinds and curtains, where the girls fancied they were secure from observation. There was not a soul about the place to whom I could explain my mistake, so, like a certain King of France who marched boldly up a hill with thirty thousand men, I " marched down again" almost as much discomfited as he was. whereas the claimant's upper lip is thin, and his lower lip thick, and somewhat drooping ; young Tichborne's nostrils are wide, the claimant's narrow ; young Tichborne had a small, well-shaped ear, with scarcely any lobe ; the claimant has a large, badly-shaped ear, with a long lobe. The result of Dr. Guy's analysis is, briefly, this : that it was, scientifically, impossible for young Tichborne to develop into a man like the claimant- Short of the reappearance of the veritable Tichborne himself, it would be difficult to have more conclusive evidence against the claimant than that found in Dr. Guy's work. Referring to the claimant's qualifications as a butcher, Dr. Guy says : " If we could assume the literal truth of the im- probable and iuconsistent story of the rescue from shipwreck, it is clear that the very day after he landed in Australia, the defen- dant obtained employment, and discharged with intelligence the duties he undertook." CHAP, xiv.j UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 203 Wagga does a large trade in wool, and being situated about mid-way between Melbourne and Sydney, there is great competition between these two ports for securing the " clips." Hitherto Melbourne has been able to draw away the greater portion of the wool, owing chiefly to the fact that the Victorian railway has been open to the Murray for some years past, while the Sydney Govern- ment have been dilatory in pushing on their railways. From the Riverina district alone, 47,000,000 Ibs. of wool have been annually drawn to Melbourne. Curiously enough, the course of trade is now tending towards Sydney, and when the railway is finished to Albury, it seems doubtful if much of the Riverina trade will go to Melbourne ; for Victoria, with that spirit of eccentric isolation which has characterised her in so many other things, has a railway gauge different to that of any other colony. There will thus be a necessity for break of bulk in all traffic from the north banks of the Murray to Mel- bourne, a condition of things that threatens much injury to Melbourne's future prosperity as a commercial city. Wagga boasts of a mayor and municipality, and has rateable property valued at .300,000. Fifty miles of Municipal roads are already marked out in the most sys- tematic manner. Fitzmaurice Street, the main thorough- fare, is a fine wide street about a mile long, having already several respectable public buildings, such as banks, insu- rance offices, stores, hotels, and a Masonic hall. Most of the shops have permanent verandahs, built out over the street pavement, for protection against the sun in the hot weather. The drinking trade evidently thrives here as it does everywhere in the colonies, for I counted no less than six public-houses in a distance of one hundred yards in Fitzmaurice Street. The cost of living is as moderate as at Melbourne or Sydney, several eating-houses offering " board and lodging" for sixteen shillings a week. There are several Chinese settled in the town, most of them as shop-keepers, and they somehow manage 204 UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. [CHAP. xiv. to compete successfully with the European on the latter's own ground. Wagga is possessed, too, of a School of Arts, or Public Library, with 1,000 volumes of literature. The country around is principally pastoral, though it is also well suited for agricultural purposes. The official returns of last year show that over 7,000 acres wei'e cultivated with wheat, maize, barley, oats, and vines. The manufac- ture of wine amounted to about 14,000 gallons. The stock in the district on April 1, 1877, was 7,758 horses, 55,147 cattle, 1,540,000 sheep, and 1,374 pigs. The town presents a very " too-ra-loo-ral" aspect everywhere. On looking out of my hotel window, I behold cows in the yard munching at a heap of straw, and a noisy lot of hens, making a good deal more fuss than seems necessary about the laying of those matutinal eggs. A little distance off is the market place, and a large area of pens for folding sheep and cattle. The principal dwelling-houses are built of red brick, and are comfortable looking homes, suggestive of the prosperity of the owners. In many of the gardens I notice English fruit trees, while other English trees are planted along the principal streets, and carefully encased in coats of wire-netting a very good notion, it struck me, for pro- tecting the trunks of young trees. Situated about 900 feet above the sea, Wagga has, at this season of the year, a climate that seems perfect ; while the scenery of the Murrumbidgee valley is superior to anything I have seen since leaving Melbourne. "This is just the place where I should like to stay for a week or fortnight," remarks my companion, as we look down on the silent, sleepy- looking town and sluggish river from a picturesque hill in the neighbourhood ; and altogether Wagga in a place at which a traveller feels inclined to rest, if only " to breathe for a while the balmy twilight air." There has been such a scramble among the trades- people of Wagga to possess the veritable "Tichborne House" that already there is some dispute as to the CHAP, xiv.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 205 precise spot where the claimant's hut stood. A resident of seven years standing assured me that the original hut had been levelled to the ground about five years ago, to make a site for a row of new houses now known as "Tichborne Buildings." The block of houses bearing this name was built in 1874, as appears from the date carved under the name of the buildings. The first house in the block, a draper's shop, is called " Tichborne House ;" the next is occupied by a Doctor ; and the third by a firm which does an agency business. Next to the latter house come two old wooden sheds, with iron roof- ing and brick chimneys, built in the early days of Wagga's civilization. One of these sheds is occupied by a blacksmith, the other by a wheelwright and buggy-manu- facturer. The Wagga photographer who sold me some copies of "Tichborne's house," tried to make me believe that the first of these sheds was the veritable habitation of the claimant. The photographer confessed, however, that he had been in Wagga only three months. But by hanging a few legs of mutton and joints of beef in the front window of the shed, by placing a small boy at the window to look after the meat exposed for sale, and by affixing a sign-board outside the shed with the name T. CASTRO, BUTCHER painted thereon in distinct characters, he had effected what may be considered a triumph of art, by reproducing the claimant's shop to the life. He was not a little proud of his success, and assured me that on showing the picture to an old lady who was acquainted with the claimant, she exclaimed "Why that's Tom Castro's shop !" It was hardly worth disputing the point whether the photograph represented the real " Simon Pure.'* What is certain is that the blacksmith's and wheelwright's sheds, which I have described above, are mere counter- parts of the claimant's old home at Wagga- Wagga. Two newspapers administer to the mental wants of 206 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xiv. the population of Wagga, the Wagga- Wagga Express and the Wagga-Wagga Advertiser. I have a copy of the latter before me, and am pained to see that there are symptoms of envy, hatred, and malice between the rival exponents of public opinion. It appears that Wagga had been recently en fete, having celebrated the opening of the railway to Junee, about 20 miles distant, with a banquet, at which one or two Ministers, and several other prominent poli- ticians, were present. I cannot quite gather the origin of the quarrel : " It was the English, Caspar cried, That put the French to rout, But what they killed each other fov I could not well make out." What seems certain is, that the Express made some re- marks about the banquet which offended those who gave it, for I find the Advertiser, whose Editor makes no secret of having partaken of the dinner by special invitation, repelling the charges, whatever they were, of his carping contemporary with a good deal of lofty disdain. Says the Advertiser: " Journalists sometimes imagine that puerile chaff and witless slang are appreciated by their readers, but we venture to think the discerning public can recognise the difference between abuse and argument. Humour and wit may embellish a certain class of writings, but the cultivated tastes of the present day do not require any reproduction of the class of literature of Fielding's works. The article in the Express of Wednesday was not only vulgar in its censure, but false in its statements, and the writer displayed very bad taste when he literally bit the hand that would have fed him. Was the Express ignored at the banquet that such a tirade of abuse must be levelled at the hospitable enter- tainer of last Saturday ?" The wrath of the Advertiser waxes stronger and stronger, till we finally come to the following withering climax: . . . "-The article in the Express was evi- dently written, judging by its first sentences, in the scullery of some ill-drained establishment." I see the inotto of the Advertiser is " This is true liberty, when free-born men, Having to advise the public, may speak free. Milton. CHAP. xiv.J UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 207 The Wagga newspapers evidently act up to this motto. At this same banquet, which seems to have been of a very patriotic character, an Ode in celebration of the opening of the railway, and evidently the production of a Wagga poet, was recited by a young lady with great enthusiasm. If the young lady herself was the author, she promises to rival Mrs. Leo Hunter in this form of composition. I cannot resist the temptation of giving a few extracts from this tremendous effusion. Conceive the thrilling effect of the following lines on a company that had dined well ! " Hurrah for the smooth tracks twain ! Hurrah for the hill and plain, Crossed at will by the rushing railway train ! Nor mountain appals him, nor pain fatigues, He snorting neighs at the vanished leagues." " Hurrah for the smoke and sound ! Hurrah for the trembling ground ! For the Car on its movement and mission bound ; Union and peace would his shriek proclaim, Love, welcome, joy, in his eye-balls flame." The last verse I give in full. The final burst of patriotism is very fine. " Hurrah for our honored guests ! Hurrah for their kindly breasts ! They meet our dear wishes, forestall our behests ; In the midst of our music, our chaunt and cheer, Tis our joy and pride to behold them here. And ask ye why Convent and priestly dome, And grateful Wagga cries ' Here you're home'; Why Murruinbidgee's old stream ignites To merriest days and friendly nights, To all that soothes, exalts, delights ? Our answer be the good of our land Thus binds her children in sacred band, Her lowliest, highest, range side by side, One thought, one object, one hopejand pride ; Where the iron horse is about to come No ears are deaf and no lips are dumb. r , ( Then hurrah for the thin twin rails, (. For the steed that ne'er faults nor fails, For the progress and splendor of New South Wales ! Critics might sneer at the hurrahing for " the smoke and sound" and ",the trembling Aground" ; they might 208 UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. [CHAP. xiv. object to " Murrumbidgee's old stream" igniting as a physical impossibility ; but it will not do to restrict poetical genius to too narrow limits. The claimant, when on his trial, did not spare his own character. In fact, according to his own admission, he had been what is vulgarly known as a " loose fish," and had associated with loose fish, both at Wagga and elsewhere. It would appear from the following extract from the Advertiser of the 13th July 1878, that Wagga is still the seat of considerable scoundrelism and crime: " We are never surprised to hear of any crime being com- mitted in "Wagga- Wagga, because it has become a sort of half-way house to the gaol birds of New South Wales and Victoria, and although every publicity has been given to this fact, no steps are taken by the Government to accord more police protection to the district. The cold waters of the Murruinbidgee could reveal many an act of murder and outrage never disclosed, and, for all we know to the contrary, another victim has found his resting in its silent stream, or Mr. Timothy Coleman has met his death in a very unaccountable manner. Some ten days ago a horse was found in the yard of Tattersall's Hotel, with saddle and bridle on, and bearing evident marks of having swam the river. No owner turned up to claim the animal, and an advertisement failed to bring an enquirer. The inference therefore is that the unfortunate man who had been riding the horse has come to an untimely end, either by violence or accident. He may have attempted to cross the river and have been drowned j but the character that the banks of the Murrumbidgee bear, suggests the idea that he may have been waylaid, murdered, and thrown into his watery grave. There is one thing certain. Mr. Coleman is missing ; he was in charge of a mob of cattle, and he was not likely to leave them for any lengthened period. He was known in the district, and would have been recognised if here ; but no signs of him have been seen either in town or with his cattle since." The above is very suggestive, especially in connection with the character given to Wagga- Wagga during the Tichborne trial. CHAP, xv.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 209 CHAPTER XV. AT SYDNEY. From "Wagga-Wagga to Sydney A Pullman's Car A Chinese Doctor The town of Goulburn The Government tariff of railway refreshments Arrival at Sydney Capabilities of Port Jackson The climate of New South Wales Healthy appearance of the people Trickett the Champion sculler The beauty of Sydney harbour Streets and public build- ings The Botanic Gardens Government House and the Parks Open-air picnics Sydney newspapers The Theatres Impressions of Sydney. IN travelling from Wagga-Wagga to Sydney, the first twenty miles of the journey had to be done by coach. The road was of much the same character as that I had already travelled over between Albury and Wagga- Wagga, except that it was not quite so rough. We had a more roomy coach, too, on this occasion, which accommodated nine passengers inside and five or six more outside. I ventured to ride on the roof, but what with the risk of being beheaded by the branches of trees, and the necessity of never losing a firm hold of the coach with your hands, the seat was not a comfortable one, and should only be recommended to people with heavy insurances on their lives. This coach was drawn by five horses, three in front and two behind ; and first rate animals they were, at all the stages. As the railway was to be opened to Wagga- Wagga in the course of a few weeks, this line of coaches was already doomed to be transferred else- where. Notwithstanding the extension of the railways, there is no falling off in the coach-traffic in the interior, new lines of country having to be continually opened up, 27 210 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. [CHAP. xv. At the railway station (Junee) we were fortunate enough to secure accommodation in a fine specimen of Pullman's American cars, one in fact that had been exhi- bited at the Philadelphia exhibition, and was valued at .2,500. This car is fifty feet in length. As you enter it at one of the ends, you might almost imagine yourself in a small church, the seats being arranged like pews on either side of the aisle running down the centre. There are twelve seats on either side, each having accommo- dation for two passengers, or for forty-eight people in all. Sleeping accommodation can be provided for just half that number, and can be arranged, at a few minutes notice, by a simple contrivance by which two seats are converted into a bedstead. The attendant in charge of the car will provide mattress, bedding, and a partition to separate one sleeping compartment from another, on pay- ment of an extra fee of ten shillings ; and when the bed is made up, and the apartment screened off, a man may sleep as comfortably, and with as much privacy, as he would in the cabin of a steamer. At either end of the car are small apartments provided with wash- hand stand, looking-glass, and cisterns with drinking and washing water, &c., and these apartments may also be used for smoking. This long car runs on only eight wheels, four at each end, and was, without exception, the smoothest and most comfortable railway carriage I have ever travelled in. Being an Exhibition car, it was of course fitted up expensively, and with a good deal more gilt and polished wood than was necessary for ordinary purposes. It was ventilated from the roof, in the same way as omnibuses are, but in case of necessity the windows at the side may be thrown open. Small tables can be placed between the seats, on which refreshments may be served, or at which the passengers may play cards, read, or otherwise amuse themselves. I could not help thinking that these carriages would be well adapted for Indian railways, where people have not unfrequently CHAP, xv.] UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 211 to make long and tedious journeys by day and night. There can be no doubt they would be appreciated by travellers' journeying between Ootacamund and Madras, or Simla and Calcutta. Among our passengers in the Pullman's car was a well-dressBd little man, standing perhaps four feet ten, and of such a slight, dedicate build that he might have been a woman disguised in man's clothes. He wore a fine diamond ring on one of his fingers, which excited the curiosity and admiration of all who looked at it. The wearer, however, was quite self-possessed, and had the manners, appearance, and conversation of a well-bred English gentleman. I first noticed him at the wash-hand stand with his coat off. Having had a wash, trimmed his hair, and settled his scarf to his satisfac- tion at the looking-glass, he entered the saloon, and I took his place at the wash-stand. " Do you know who that is, Sir ?" asked the car-attendant, motioning towards the vanished little swell. Of course my reply was in the negative. " That's the famous Chinese Doctor of Sydney. They say he has a tremendous practice, and has made a big fortune. He has now just come from Wagga-Wagga, where he has been to see some of his patients." " Do you mean that he doctors English people as well as his own countrymen ?" I ask in some doubt. " Lor bless you, sir, its among our people he has most of his practice : they say he can cure complaints which our doctors cant." I heard a somewhat similar story in Melbourne, where a lady assured me that a Chinese medico at Ballarat, re- joicing in the name of Wing Fat (there's a name for a hero of medical science !) had cured her little girl of a cough which the English doctors had pronounced to be consumptive. There is some mystery, and probably a good deal of luck, about the Chinese treatment, but the fact remains that the doctors from the Flowery Land succeed in drawing large fees from Australians who have, reasonably or unreasonably, lost confidence in the pro- 212 UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. XT. fessional skill of their own countrymen. A stranger visiting Australia cannot fail to be struck at the way in which the "Celestials" are adapting themselves to European civilization. The principal stations between Junee and Sydney are Cootamundra, Binalong, Yass, Goulburn, Moss Vale, Mittagong, Picton, Campbelltown, Liverpool, and Parra- matta. Yass is a rising town with about 1,500 inha- bitants, has a mayor and eight aldermen, a member of Parliament, and a newspaper, the Yass Courier, It is situated on much higher ground than Wagga, the railway running in this neighbourhood at a height of from 2,000 to 2,500 feet above sea-level. These high- lands are possessed of valuable mining resources, and not only yield gold, but silver, copper, lead and tin. I stayed a night at Goulburn, a large town about 130 miles from Sydney, the centre of a large agricultural district, and the seat of two bishoprics, one Protestant and the other Roman Catholic. A handsome Protestant Cathe- dral is now in course of erection, but will not be finished, at the present rate of progress, for another twelve years. The present Bishop is Dr. Thomas, who lives about four miles out of the town. The Roman Catholic Bishop is Dr. Lanigan, who is supposed to have about one-third of the population under his spiritual care indeed nearly one-third of the population of the colony of New South Wales are Roman Catholics. In connection with the Koman Catholic mission, there is a fine convent under the charge of some Sisters of Mercy. A considerable breadth of country round Goulburn is under cultivation, the production of wheat last year being over 100,000 bushels. I noticed several steam flour-mills at work about the town. The district also supports considerable numbers of cattle, sheep, and horses. On the whole, however, Goulburn struck me as being a dull place, not unlike bucolic Hereford, and not ill-adapted perhaps for a Cathedral city. As I walked, through the streets CHAP, xv.] UNDEE THE SOUTHEEN CEOSS. 213 after breakfast, I noticed that several shops had not yet been opened, though it was past ten o'clock. This sleepy-looking town, of some 4,500 inhabitants, supports three newspapers, the Goulburn Herald, the Southern Argus, and the Evening Post. The weather was very cold here, and in the early morning the roads were frozen quite hard. In the train going to Sydney, an elderly lady informed me that she was obliged to leave Goulburn for a time on account of the severity of the weather. Mittagong is a refreshment station. As the railways in New South Wales belong to the Government, the charges for refreshments are regulated by a tariff issued under the authority of the Commissioner of railways. This tariff is as follows : S and wich, or cup of tea or coffee... ... ... 3d. Do with. do do ... ... ... 5d. Soup and bread ... ... ... ... ... 6d. Steak or chops with vegetables ... ... ... Is. 6d. Soup, meat, and vegetables ... ... ... Is. Qd. Hot dinners ordered for party of not less than four persons ... ... ... 2s. 6d. each. I had a very fair luncheon, according to the above tariff, for eighteen pence. After leaving Mittagong the train descends rapidly down some jungly-looking hills to Picton, a picturesque little town about fifty miles from Sydney. The appearance of the country here improves rapidly. It is with something like a feeling of relief that one leaves the monotonous region of gum trees to enter once again upon familiar scenes of meadow-land, intermixed with promising crops of young wheat and oats. Campbelltown, one of the earliest settled places in the colony, has been gradually transformed into an English landscape, with hardly a gum tree about to remind you that you are in southern latitudes. The country about here is well cultivated and productive, and the air so salubrious that the little town is said to have become quite notorious for the longevity of its inhabitants. Liverpool is another very old settlement, and has a paper 214 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xv. factory among its other industries. Parraraatta Junction is the point where the two lines of railway running to the south and west of Sydney diverge. It is not more than thirteen miles from the capital. A few minutes more, and we find ourselves in the outskirts of a large city, at a crowded railway station, in a Hansom cab, and driving through some hilly but somewhat dimly-lighted streets, where I notice an extraordinary number of cloth- ing and boot shops. This is Sydney entered by gaslight. I am both amazed and delighted with Sydney, and was quite unprepared for a city combining so much beauty of landscape with so much commercial and political importance. I had always heard Sydney spoken of as a dull, second-rate English town, with narrow streets and an apathetic population, strongly leavened with the old taint of convictism. That is the invariable character one hears in Melbourne of the capital of the sister-colony. " You wont want more than three days in Sydney there's nothing to see there," said a Mel- bourne resident on the eve of my departure. In the interests of truth, I feel it only right to resent this silly libel. As a traveller who has seen most of the chief cities in Europe and India, I have no hesita- tion in saying that Sydney has advantages of situation, climate, and scenery superior to them all. First as regards situation. It is impossible to conceive anything finer. The harbour, or rather series of harbours, could easily accommodate, not only the whole of the Royal Navy, but as large a mercantile fleet as is ever found in London and Liverpool combined. The entrance to the harbour is through a gap in the rocks facing the sea, cut as artistically as if it had been the work of man. The gap is about three-quarters of a mile in width, and the rocks are from 300 to 350 feet in height, so that nature herself has done everything essential for the protection of the harbour, either from tempestuous weather or the attacks of an enemy, There are but few places CHAP, xv.] UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. 215 over this fine sheet of water where ships cannot run with safety. For ten miles up the Parramatta river, which debouches into the harbour, there is a depth of forty feet or more of water, even alongside the banks of the river. The largest ships now afloat can anchor close by the wharves at Sydney, within a few yards of the warehouses where their cargo is stored. There is practi- cally no limit to the wharfage and dockyard accom- modation that could be provided. With such an. abun- dance of water for the shipping or for manufacturing purposes ; with coal lying under the very foundations of the town, and for three hundred miles around it ; with ex- haustless supplies of other mineral wealth throughout the colony, and splendid agricultural resources, Sydney has undeniable prospects of becoming a great and wealthy commercial city. It is moreover the nearest port in Aus- tralia to the great continent of America, and is favourably situated for trading with Japan, China, and India. The mild character of the climate is well illustrated by the remark of a gentleman occupying some offices in Pitt Street, on whom I called with a letter of introduc- tion. "You see," said he, "though we have fire places, we have no fires. The fact is we hardly ever want them ; the sun you now see shining through the windows is generally enough to keep these rooms warm, even at this season of the year." A climate that for nine months out of the twelve is described as " beautiful and exhila- rating," must be considered to possess a fair maximum of advantages. The mean temperature is 62'4 deg, which is about equal to that of Lisbon. There are a few weeks of very hot and, when the land winds blow, disagreeable weather ; but trying as the heat is in the day-time, the nights are invariably cool. In this respect, Australians have everywhere an advantage over Europeans residing in India. If we may judge of the character of a climate by the appearance of the people living in it, Sydney should be decidedly healthy. The inhabitants, especially 216 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xv. the children and younger folks of both sexes, have a ruddy, healthy look, and I should say they are generally stronger and happier than their Melbourne neighbours, who are not so well protected from the cold blasts from the South. The Sydney girls are, as a rule, tall, well-made, and good- looking ; the young men have a tendency to lankness, but are straight-built, and not wanting in muscle. Tric- kett, the champion sculler of the world, who is now pro- prietor of a public house in Pitt Street, is a fine and characteristic specimen of young Sydney. He stands 6 ft. 3 in., is straight as an arrow, but is slender withal, and wanting in the stamina which characterises Englishmen of the build of the late Mr. Thomas Sayers. I am sorry to say Trickett, who is a steady respectable young man, met with a serious accident to his left hand some time ago. In handling a barrel of beer, he somehow injured the third finger so seriously that the first joint had to be amputated. It is feared the mutilation of this finger will seriously interfere with his rowing, and perhaps lose him the championship, though Trickett seemed hopeful of being able to beat Higgins, the English champion. Even should he fail in this contest, Sydney is not un- likely to obtain rowing honors again, for the Parramatta river is as fine a sheet of water for training good oarsmen as could be found anywhere in the world, and the " Championship Course" is situated in the midst of scenery that will vie with that of the Thames between Maidenhead and Great Mario w. A great deal has been written about the scenery of Sydney harbour, but no account that I have read has sufficiently particularised the feature which makes it so remarkable. Given, a placid sheet of water, surrounded by picturesque and well- wooded hills, and vaulted by a clear blue sky, and you are tolerably sure to have some good scenic effects. The extraordinary thing about the Sydney scenery is the number and variety of these effects. I never saw anything but an octopus assume so many CHAP, xv.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 217 shapes as the water in the harbour does in the surround- ing landscape, varying with the standpoint from which you may be taking your view. Visiting, as I did, both the northern and southern shores ; driving through the beautiful suburbs which line the road to the lighthouse on the South Head, and taking several steam-boat trips down to Manly beach, close by the North Head, I looked at the harbour from at least a hundred different points of view, no two of which were exactly alike, but all of which, especially when seen in the sun-light, were highly picturesque, while many were extremely beautiful. The people living round Eose Bay get a different view to those living round Double Bayj those round Double Bay, a different view to those round Eushcutter's Bay; and those at Darling Point a different view to any of the others. Perhaps the greatest charm in the scenery is the number of pretty, cosy-looking villa residences dotted about the promonto- ries or " points" which mark the entrances to the several small bays, or " coves" as they are called, all round the harbour. The gardens belonging to these villas slope down to the water's edge, where perhaps a pleasure boat or a small steain-launch may be moored, or a summer- house be seen hanging over the water. One cannot look at these charmingly situated residences without feeling somewhat envious of the good fortune of their occupants, We must go to the lakes of Switzerland or Italy to find any- thing approaching to the quiet beauty of Sydney harbour, It is difficult to write about Sydney without seeming to exaggerate ; so I am glad to find a writer like Mr. Anthony Trollope, while enthusiastically acknowledging its beauty, humbly confessing his inability to do it justice. The great master in the art of telling fashionable love- stories has recently written a work on the Australian Colonies, in which, in speaking of Sydney, he 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 28 218 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xV. it in the way of land-locked scenery nothing second to it. Dublin Bay, the Bay of Spezzia, New York, and the Cove of Cork, all are picturesquely fine. Bantry Bay, with the nooks of sea running up to Glengariff, is very lovely. But they are not equal to Sydney, either in shape, in color, or in variety. I have never seen Naples, or Rio Janeiro, or Lisbon ; but from description and pictures I am led to think that none of them can possess such a world of loveliness of water as lies within Sydney Head .... It is so inexpressibly lovely that it makes a man ask himself whether it would not be worth his while to move his household go^ds to the eastern coast of A ustralia, in order that he might look at it as long as he can look at anything." Sir William Denison again, who was not given to romancing, writes about the harbour : " Truly nothing can be more beautiful, so far as the mere water-outline is concerned." I have seen the Bay of Naples from various points of view, from Vesuvius, from Pompeii, from Sorrento, from Capri, and from the deck of a steamer arriving from Marseilles ; and while candidly confessing the charm of its soft loveliness, I have no hesitation in saying it has nothing like the variety, nor the fresh- ness, of the scenery of Sydney harbour. Italian scenery is always tinted with somewhat monotonous colors ; but in Australian latitudes, we have, at certain seasons of the year, the fresh verdure of Devonshire or Somersetshire lighted up by skies as clear and bright as those possessed by Italy herself. The prospect of roaming about Sydney harbour once more would be always a powerful induce- ment to me to undertake a second journey to the Colonies. Indeed, people of private means, who need not work for a livelihood, who enjoy a temperate climate, and love to look on beautiful scenery, could hardly find a more congenial home than in one of the picturesque suburbs of the capital of New South Wales. There is an air of solid prosperity about Sydney. The business part of the city is being rapidly rebuilt, and in Pitt Street and George Street you will find "com- mercial palaces" equal to those in London itself. The new banks, insurance offices, and warehouses are simply superb, ranging from four to five storeys in height, and CHAP. xv.J UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 219 built of the magnificent freestone found in such abun- dance about Sydney. One great advantage possessed by this stone is that it can be worked easily, and hardens by exposure to the air. The architects are thus able to decorate the exteriors of the new buildings which are springing up everywhere in a very effective manner. The fluted columns of this stone are particularly striking, as also are some of the floral decorations, which the stone shows up very clearly. If the work of reconstruction is carried on during the next ten years as vigorously as it is being done now, the public buildings of Sydney will vie with those of the first cities in Europe. The new public offices, on a grand site facing one of the Bays, are a great architectural success, adding something to the beauty and grandeur of the city as seen from the harbour. The Post Office is another handsome building in the Italian Renaissance style, having polished granite columns to relieve the monotony of the freestone. The Town Hall, St. Andrew's Cathedral, the Jews' Synagogue, and Sydney University are buildings that any city might be proud to possess. The University is a singularly chaste structure in the Elizabethan style, and with an air of antiquity about it which its age does not in any way warrant. The great hall, in which degrees are conferred, is of noble proportions, being 135 feet long, 45 wide and 73 high, and is decorated with some handsome stained glass windows, besides portraits of some of the leading men connected with the University; among the portraits is one of the late Dr. Woolley, the first Principal, who was drowned in the wreck of the London. The Roman Catholic Cathedral, when finished, will be the finest religious edifice in Australia, but the work proceeds very slowly owing to scarcity of funds. Sydney, like Melbourne,, has one of those useful institutions known as a " free library ;" but the Sydney library is not nearly so large as that in Mel- bourne, nor is it so well housed. The same remark ap- 220 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xv. plies to the Museum, which struck me as containing a rather poor and carelessly arranged collection, if we except the birds and kangaroos. The Sydney Botanic Gardens, iowever, are worth going a long way to see. Forming as they do a semi-circle round one of the most pictures- que coves in the harbour, it would be difficult to improve on their site. Mr. Moore, the Superintend- ent, has ably seconded nature in converting the gardens into the most lovely spot in a lovely landscape. They form a kind of imperium in imperio of landscape beauty. A portion of the gardens occupies a site formerly designated as " the f ai*m." It was here where the seeds- and plants brought out by the first batch of convicts were planted. Being almost in the centre of the town, and commanding a fine view of Government House, the " domain" adjoining, and the Bay, the gardens are naturally a favourite resort for idlers or pleasure- seekers. I noticed our Indian friends the bamboo, ficus religiosa, banian and plantain trees thriving luxuriantly in the open air, in company with the willow, alder, Spanish chestnut and English oak. In another part was a cinna- mon tree and coffee shrub from Ceylon, growing alongside the hazelnut, elm, and lime-tree from the north of Europe. The genial character of the Sydney climate is well illustrated by the plants and trees that are thriving in the Botanic Gardens, as well as by the abundant supplies of excellent fruit on sale in the markets ; the oranges especially being the cheapest (two dozen for a shilling) and best I have seen anywhere out of Europe. Two grand specimens of the Norfolk island pine, planted, it is said, in 1818> are growing in the gardens ; as also several specimens of a large-leafed, dark-foliaged tree called the Moreton Bay fig, a tree admirably adapted for shading purposes, and which ought to grow, I should say, on some of our Indian plateaus. These trees are a marked feature in the parks and avenues about Sydney, aad are both picturesque and useful in the hot weathev. CHAP. xv.J UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 221 Of all Viceregal residences I have seen that at Sydney surely bears away the palm. It is situated alongside the Botanic Gardens, ad overlooking the Bay, and is surrounded by a park of some 80 acres, the greater por- tion of which, known as the " Domain," is open to the public. Sydney has plenty of park accommodation, for, in the centre of the town, there is a well planted area of 40 acres known as Hyde Park, where there is a statue of the late Prince Consort, and where the marble effigy of Captain Cook, " the discoverer of this territory," is to be raised on a fine granite pillar. Moore Park, in another part of the town, contains about 500 acres, the gift of a wealthy mayor, whose name future generations will have reason to bless. In addition, there are two or three small parks in the suburbs, and as the whole country round Sydney harbour, from Botany Bay to Parramatta on the one side, and from Parramatta to Manly Cove on the other, looks as if it was intended by nature for pic-nics and out-of-door recreation, the residents have eertainly no cause for complaint that they have not sufficient opportunities for taking fresh air. The trip to Parramatta, by steamboat up the river, is delightful, the scenery for the greater portion of the journey of about twelve miles, being equal to choice bits on the Rhine. At Parramatta I had the pleasure of seeing a garden of camelias in full bloom : the flowers were as big as roses and as white as snow. In the same garden were orange and lemon trees in full bearing, vines, and several English fruit tress. The soil here is of a rich dark character, closely resembling the " black cotton" of India. I have very little doubt that excellent cotton could be grown in the Parramatta valley. The town of Parramatta is one of the oldest and most interesting in the colony, its history being in fact mixed up with that of the convict settlement founded at Botany Bay. It is quite an Eng- lish town in appearance, having a fine park in which there are some "brave old oaks" planted by the first settler s. 222 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. XT. The open-air picnic is one of the chief amusements of the people of Sydney. On public holidays the whole of the population seem to turn out of doors. Parties of working men and their families make their way by van-loads to Botany Bay, or by steamer to one of the numerous Coves round the harbour, or up the river to Parramatta, armed with baskets of provisions, and evidently on pleasure intent. On Sundays the harbour steamers are crowded with excursionists dressed in their " Sunday best." On week days, women and children and idle men, seem to kill time by taking small excursion trips to various points of interest round the harbour. On the first day I went down to Manly Cove, the majority of the passengers were holiday-makers, including a loafer- like individual from Melbourne, who talked to me glibly about Adam Smith whom he held in little estimation and free-trade and protection, and thought Sydney would be a tolerable place to live in, if it only had the Victorian Government and protection. This ardent politician, who had certainly not shaved for a week, and bore evidences about his person of having no change of linen, complained to me that the police of Sydney regarded him with suspicion, and treated him with incivility. He was good enough, however, to make allowances for this ungenerous behaviour to a stranger, putting it down, charitably enough, to the old leaven of convictism which he thought was still traceable in the people of Sydney. The fact is that you can see more "loaferism" in Melbourne in half an hour than you would in Sydney in a fortnight's search. Sydney supports three daily papers, one morning and two evening. The Sydney Morning Herald, price two pence, has the discussion of politics pretty much to itself, as the evening papers, the Echo and Evening News, are little more than summaries of the news of the day. The Sydney Mail and the Sydney Illustrated Neivs are illustrat- ed papers, very creditably got up in every way ; while Town and Country is a weekly paper, of large circulation, CHAP, xv.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 223 of the same character as the London Field. One is struck with the " holy calm" that reigns in politics here in com- parison with the vestrylike squabbling that is going on across the border. New South Welshmen pride them- selves on being like Englishmen, and I noticed that one of the Sydney ministers the other day took credit to him- self and colleagues for modelling local institutions as far as possible after the pattern of those in the old country. Victorians on the other hand seem to be struggling blindly after political originality, merely for the sake of originality. They are not ambitious to be wholly British, wholly American, or wholly Colonial, as other Colonies are. The result is a curious political mixture that defies classification : being neither " fish, fowl, nor good red herring." There are three theatres in Sydney, all of which are well supported. I saw "Pink Dominos," Mr. Albery's keen satire on modern married life, at one of the houses. The Cremorne scene must have been unintelligible to that portion of the audience who knew not by experience or tradition what a naughty place Cremorne is for respectable young married women to resort to at night. As repre- sented on the Sydney stage, a little supper on the sly at Cremorne was not calculated to shock one's sense of propriety, the assembled public in that gay and festive scene being limited to three waiters, who thought it the right thing to do to run up against each other and fall backwards with champagne bottles and lobster salads in their hands, after the manner of clown and pantaloon in a pantomime. At another house they were playing the most blood-thirsty melodrama I ever witnessed. It was an American production, performed, apparently, by an American company of actors. The scene was laid partly in New York and partly in the backwoods along with the Bed Indians. We had a case of homicide amounting to murder in the first act, a fatal stabbing case in the second, several attempts to stab, and a fatal pistol shot 224 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xv. in the third, a pistol shot that was intended to be fatal, but was'nt, in the fourth, and a general fight with the Red Indians, (some of whom I noticed were dressed like street acrobats) in which every body seemed to be stabbed, shot, or tomahawked, in the last act. It was a wonderful piece of villany altogether, but I am in hopes the valiant young man who was the hero of the piece sufficiently recovered from the tomahawking to wear a hat again, and go to church to marry the girl for whom he sacrificed so much. There was, happily, a gleam of humour in this otherwise heavy catalogue of crime. A negro servant, holding the position of " buttons" in a respectable New York family, is a devout student of Shakespeare, selections from whose plays he is continually introducing into private life, while in the discharge of his domestic duties. The result, thanks to the clever acting of the representative of Sambo, was very ludicrous. At a third house a very fair company of singers was performing Lecocq's " La Fille de Madame Angot" and Offenbach's " Brigands." Other musical entertainments consisted of Herr and Madame Elmblad's concerts, and a performance of Costa's EU by the Sydney Philharmonic Society. " Candidly now, what do you think of Sydney ?" inquired a Melbourne man whom I met accidentally in an oyster shop, where we consumed two dozen of Sydney's famous bivalves forthwith. Knowing his prejudices in favour of his own city, I replied with caution ; I said I might of course be mistaken, but that, as an impartial critic, it struck me that Sydney was, in some respects, a quarter of a century a-head of Melbourne. " Bedad," says my friend, a worthy representative of the Emerald Isle, " that is just my own opinion. But the Melbourne fellows would jump down my throat like that oyster if I told 'em so." CHAP. xvi. ] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. 225 CHAPTER XVI. BOTANY BAY. Port Jackson's sponsor Cook's landing at Botany Bay The first convict settlement now a favourite retreat for pic-nic and wedding parties The first batch of convicts The object of the British Government in deporting convicts to Australia Glimpses of early days at Botany Bay Selecting a wife Rum as a standard of value Severe punishments An Irish rebellion and its results Convict theatricals The deposition of Governor Bligh Norfolk Island, as a penal settlement The first clergyman, church and school Marsden as a Missionary Bishop Broughton and his labours for the church in Australia The first newspapers Immigration of free-men Rapid growth of the convict settlement into a prosperous colony. "POET! Jackson," shouted Captain Cook to the steersman of the "Endeavour," as he first sighted the entrance to Sydney harbour, and gave directions for ap- proaching it. At least there was, for many years, a popular belief that the great discoverer made use of these words, and thus christened what is now the site of the capital of New South Wales. The explanation was plausi- ble enough, and it is certain that Cook did immortalise some of his discoveries with the names of his ship-mates. For example, he records in his journal that he gave the name of " Sutherland" to the south point of Botany Bay, because a seaman of that name was buried there. But Sir Alfred Stephen has dispelled, in a matter-of-fact way, all romance about the origin of Port Jackson. The name was given in honor of Sir George Jackson, who was one of the Secretaries of the Admiralty in Cook's days, and Cook's great friend at the Board. The epitaph on Sir George Jackson's tomb, at Bishop Stortford, records the fact in language which is beyond dispute : " Captain 29 226 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. [CHAP. xvr. Cook, of whom lie was a zealous friend and an early patron, named after him Point Jackson in New Zealand and Port Jackson in New South Wales." Though he discovered Port Jackson, Cook did not enter or examine it. Viewed from a distance out at sea, it had then, as it has now, owing to the narrowness of the entrance and the height of the headlands in the harbour, the appearance of an open port rather than of a land-locked bay. He was more attracted by a fine bay a few miles to the south of Port Jackson, where he anchored and landed a monument now marking the spot on the south side of the bay where the discoverer is supposed to have first touched terra firma. It was here where Cook first saw the natives of Australia, whom he called " Indians," on account of the dark color of their skins ; while the boomerangs which they used freely in trying to prevent his landing, he describes as "a wooden weapon shaped somewhat like a scimitar." Cook was accompanied on this voyage by Sir Joseph Banks, the great naturalist, and Dr. Solander, the Swedish botanist. Charmed with the number of beauti- ful wild flowers growing in the woods above the beach, they christened the place Botany Bay. The mildness of the climate of an Australian autumn, and the picturesque ruggedness of the coast, reminded Cook of familiar scenes in the southern part of Wales, and hence he, rather inappropriately, christened the whole Australian continent New South Wales. This was in the year 1770. Two years afterwards, he again visited the Australian waters, and his discoveries on this occasion created so much surprise and excitement in England, that the Government determined to turn them to some account by establishing a convict settlement at Botany Bay, with the view of determining whether it would be possible here- after to colonise the country. In May 1787, Captain Phillip left England in command of six transports and three storeships, having on board 757 convicts, of whom CHAP, xvi.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 22? 192 were women, and a detachment of 208 marines, with forty of the soldiers' wives and children. The fleet called at Rio Janeiro and the Cape of Good Hope, from both of which places many valuable plants and seeds were obtained for use in the new settlement. The ships also took away from the Cape, for breeding purposes, a number of horses, cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs. On the 20th January 1788, Captain Phillip's little fleet arrived safely in Botany Bay. Phillip landed some of his men and made a commencement of clearing away the trees, but it soon became obvious that the site was not favourable for a settlement, owing to the difficulty of getting an adequate supply of drinking water. Phillip determined, therefore, to explore another bay a little to the north of Port Jackson, and marked on Cook's chart as " Broken Bay," and set out for that purpose in three open boats, leaving his fleet in the meanwhile in Botany Bay. In passing Port Jackson, on the way, Phillip resolved to enter the heads and have a look at the harbour accommodation inside. He was astonished and delighted to find the most convenient and lovely site for a new settlement that could be well conceived. Six days after the fleet had anchored in Botany Bay, it sailed for Port Jackson, where it disembarked its small army of convict settlers, numbering altogether 1,030 individuals, together with its supply of live-stock for breeding pur- poses, consisting of 2 bulls, 3 cows, 1 horse, 3 mares, 29 sheep, 19 goats, 74 pigs, 5 rabbits, 18 turkeys, 29 geese, 35 ducks, and 210 fowls. Though the first settlement was formed in one of the numerous coves of Port Jackson, it was named after Cook's first landing place, about seven miles distant, Botany Bay a name that has proved a terror to evil doers in the old country for at least a couple of generations. Men still living can recollect when a sentence of " transportation to Botany Bay" was regarded as tantamount to a sentence of death. The traveller who now paces the quiet, white- sanded beach where Cook, 228 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xvi. Banks, and La Perouse left their foot-prints, and reflects on the splendid legacy bequeathed by the first convict settlers, must marvel that such terrible associations should have been connected with such a lovely spot. Botany Bay now forms a quiet suburb of Sydney, to which you can drive in an omnibus. The road out runs through a flat uninteresting valley, occupied chiefly by factories and brick-kilns. Oddly enough, the Sydney water- works now stand within a couple of miles of the spot which Phillip deserted because it did not supply good drinking-water ; the low-lying ground near Botany Bay now forming the catchment-basin of the water- works. Our omnibus stopped for a few minutes at the " Captain Cook Inn," where the driver refreshed himself ; and on arriving at our destination I entered the "Sir Joseph Banks Hotel," a comfortable, well-managed house of entertainment, much used for pic-nics and wedding-break- fasts. The landlord informed me that in the height of the pairing season, he has had as many as five wedding parties at his house on a single morning. There are some pleasant grounds and a well-stocked garden attach- ed to the hotel ; and a gateway opening from the garden leads to the bay itself, where there are plenty of rowing and sailing boats moored. Near the hotel, is an old- fashioned cottage, built, it is said, in the days of the first settlers, where many happy couples have passed the sweet days of honeymoon. Botany Bay has no terrors for them ! The proprietor of the " Sir Joseph Banks" now contem- plates converting his gardens into a kind of Cremorne, for the amusement of the gay spirits of Sydney. England's successful colonisation of Australia has been regarded by some as the result of an accident. She wanted to clear the jails of the scum of her criminal po- pulation, and hence the barbarous idea of shipping them to an unknown country occupied by savages, where they might possibly be able to live, but would most probably either die of starvation, or be killed by the native inhabi- CHAP, xvi.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 229 tants. This is a grave indictment against British humani- ty and statesmanship. Happily, the motives that actuated the British Government at the time are on record, and came from the mouth of Captain Phillip himself, the first Governor of the settlement. After landing at Port Jack- son, Phillip called the convicts around him, and addressed them in the following eloquent and prophetic words : " How grand is the prospect which lies before the youthful nation ! Enough of honor would it be to occupy the first position both in regard to time and influence in a country so vast, so beautiful, so fertile, so blessed in climate, so rich in all those bounties which nature can confer ; enough of merit for any nation would it be to throw open so extensive and highly favoured a country to the occupation of mankind . . . enough, I say, would it be to enioy those honors and those advantages j but others, not less advantageous, but perhaps more honorable, await the people of the state, of which we are the founders Such are the circumstances and conditions which lead to the conviction that this state, of which to-day we lay the foundation, will, ere many generations have passed away, become the centre of the Southern hemisphere the brightest gem of the Southern Ocean." No language could be more emphatic as to the real meaning of the British Government in dispatching this expedition to Botany Bay. It was colonisation, and not merely deportation of convicts, that they had in view. The convicts were merely the ' vile body' on which to conduct the experiment. Official records acquaint us with the leading features in the history of the settlement, and give us, here and there, quaint glimpses of the social life of the inhabitants ; and from these I gather that, notwithstanding the paradise of scenery around, Botany Bay was not a pleasant place to live in. The disparity in numbers between the sexes was the cause of the grossest immoralities, which the authorities seemed powerless to control. The female convicts especially gave endless trouble. An official proclamation dated 1800 pronounces them " the disgrace of their sex," " far worse than the men," and as being " generally found at the bottom of every infamous trans- action that is committed in the colony" ; and offenders of this class, notwithstanding their sex, are ordered in 230 UNDER" THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xvi. future to be," well flogged." The necessity for matri- mony was^.shamelessly ignored, and two thirds of the children were illegitimate. Governor Macquarie, in 1810, felt called upon to reprobate publicly " the scandalous and pernicious custom so generally and shamelessly adopted throughout this territory, of persons of different sexes cohabiting and living together, unsanctioned by the legal ties of matrimony." He announced his determina- tion to repress such disgraceful connections by every means in his power. The Governor's address hardly improved matters ; for while there were 81 marriages in 1810, there were only 56 in 1811, 43 in 1812, 52 in 1813, 41 in 1814, 62 in 1815, 48 in 1816, and 47 in 1817. Fresh batches of convicts were of course yearly coming out from England, and the female prisoners who were not engaged for service, were chiefly employed in rnanufuctui'ing cloth at a small wool factory which was built at Parramatta. Mr. Mudie, a settler, who was examined many years ago before a committee of the House of Commons, gave the following account of the system of getting a wife from the Parramatta factory : " If," said he, " a master has a convict that he is anxious to keep, and whom he believes to be well behaved, it is considered a great indulgence if he gives him permission to get a wife from the factory ; but the master must enter into an engagement with the Government to feed and support the woman, and, in fact, the offspring, to prevent its being a burden upon the Government. This being done, the man goes and gets an order to the matron of the factory, and of course this is for a wife. There was a certain number of the women that were not allowed to marry ; but with respect to those not under punishment Mrs. Gordon says : Well, turn out the women of such a class. They are turned out, and they all stand up as you would place so many soldiers, or so many cattle, in fact, at a fair they are all ranked up. It is requisite for me to state that the same sort of ceremony, and the same mode, occurs with a free man ; for there are freemen that go to the factory to select a wife. The convict goes up and looks at the women, and if he sees a lady that takes his fancy, he makes a motion to her, and she steps on one side. Some of them will not, and have no wish to be married, but this is very rare. Then they have of course some conversation together, and if the lady is not agreeable, or if the convict does not fancy her from her conversation, she steps back, and the same ceremony goes on with two or three more. I have known CHAP, xvi.] UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. 231 an instance of convicts going and having the pick of one or two hundred, without finding one to please them ; the lowest fellows you could fancy have said ' it wouldn't do ; they couldn't get one to suit.' But if he finds one to please him, they get married." Another eye-witness, a convict himself, declares the women were treated abominably. " They were disposed of by Potter, the bellman, as so much live-stock. I have seen them afterwards sold one of them for a gallon of rum, others for five pounds, and so on ; and thus they were transferred from one brutal fellow to another, without remedy or appeal." In the scarcity of corn in the early days, rum became the standard of value ; and an instance is recorded, where a Governor bought a house which was valued at 200 gallons of that much loved spirit. There was a difficulty in maintaining order in the streets, and robberies, assaults and fights were not unfrequent. A proclamation in 1817 warned people not to travel between Sydney and Parramatta, except in the day time, as, after dark, there was " the hazard, or rather certainty, of being stripped and plundered." There was no want of punishment to restrain crime. "Hanging was frequent," says Mr. Bonwick in his history of the Colony, " and lashes to the extent of a thousand strokes were freely administered." Messrs. Backhouse and Walker, two Quaker missionaries, were informed by an officer that during his fifteen months duty at one prison, not less than one thousand men were flogged there. In 1804, the convicts broke out in open rebellion, the object of some of the Irish prisoners (there were several of the Irish rebels among them, including the famous Colonel Holt) being to establish a republic. Three hundred armed Irishmen assembled in the streets of Parramatta under their leader, Cunningham of Kerry, and there planted a " tree of liberty." Major Johnstone, who commanded the New South Wales corps, lost no time in attacking the rebels. Walking up to Cun- ningham, Johnstone asked him what he wanted. " Death or victory," said the rebel chief, politely taking off his 232 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xvi. hat. A soldier standing alongside Johnstone fired at the chief, and took him prisoner ; whereupon the whole army of rebels took to flight. It was wittily remarked by Holt, who may be considered to have been a competent critic of the above tactics, " If I had been in Cunningham's place, I should have taken off Captain Johnstone's head, instead of my own hat." Numbers of the rebels were shot down, and of those captured, ten were hung in Parramatta, two in Sydney, and two on Castle Hill. A terrible example to those who would attempt to usurp local authority ! Of course there were many attempts to escape from the discipline of the settlement. One Irishman tried to steal away to the Blue Mountains, believing that " Ould Ireland" was hidden somewhere on the other side. On one occasion there was a regular stampede for China, as it was believed that country was connected with Australia by land. Several of the convicts died in the bush, and those who were recovered were in a very exhausted state. The Governor, in a proclamation he issued after the event, hoped " that the convicts at large will be assured that their ridiculous plans of leaving public labour to go into the mountains, to China, &c., can only end in their immediate detection and punishment." It was many years however before the convicts were pursuaded that Australia was not connected with the outer world by land. And yet there were manj men of education among them. So early as 1796 the convicts were granted the in- dulgence of performing a play called 'The Ranger,' when the following grim but clever prologue was spoken : " From distant climes, o'er wide-spread seas we coine, But not with much eclat or beat of drum ; True patriots all : for be it understood, We left our country for our country's good. " No private views disgraced our generous zeal : What urged our travels was our country's weal ; And none can doubt but that our emigration Has proved most useful to the British nation." xvi.j UKDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 233 Further on we have an apology for representing the scenes of crime depicted in the " Ranger :" " But how, you ask, can we e'er hope to soar Above these scenes, and rise to tragic lore? For oft alas ! we've forced the unwilling tear, And petrified the heart with real fear. " Macbeth a harvest of applause will reap, For some of us, I fear, have murder'd sleep ; His lady, too, with grace will sleep and talk Our females have been used at night to walk. *' Sometimes indeed, so various is our art, An actor may improve or mend his part ; ' Give me a horse', bawls Richard like a drone We'll find a man would help himself to one. " Grant us your favours ; put us to the test ; To gain your smiles we'll do our very best ; And, without fear of future turnkey Lockits, Thus, in an honest way, still pick your pockets." The Governor and his staff were politely invited to witness this performance, the charge for admission to the general public being one shilling. The year 1808 was remarkable for what is called the " great rebellion" in New South Wales. The Governor at that time Was Captain Bligh of the Royal Navy, who seems to have been a self-willed man of somewhat fiery temper. The new broom began by trying to make a clean sweep of what he considered abuses, and thus encroached on certain so-called privileges of his subordinate officials. Many of the latter were allowed to increase their official salaries by selling rum and other strong drinks. Bligh's partisans allege that his object was to put a stop to this unholy traffic ; his enemies, on the contrary, aver that he wanted to get this traffic into his own hands, for his own personal benefit. Matters were brought to a crisis in this way. A settler named Macarthur was charged with having concealed a convict on board a ship, a serious offence for which there was a penalty of .900 against the owner of the ship. Macarthur refused to pay the fine, and the ship was seized. The Judge Advocate, a Mr. Atkins, sum- moned Macarthur to appear before his Court ; Macarthur 30 234 tJNDEE THE SOTJTHEEN CROSS. r .CHAP. xvt. refused ; lie was then brought by force and committed for trial. In the new trial, the Court consisted of six mili- tary officers presided over by the Judge Advocate himself, who was thus prosecutor and Judge in the case. The six military officers pointed out the anomaly of the proceed- ings, and requested the Governor to appoint another Judge for this trial. The Governor refused, and the military officers then declined to form a Court under the Judge Advocate, who, they alleged, was actuated by personal animus against the prisoner, and had violated the law. The Judge Advocate, on this, accused the six officers of crimes "tending to incite and create rebellion," and ordered Macarthur to be committed to prison, though he was at the time on bail. The Governor summoned the six officers to appear at Government House, to answer the Judge Advocate's charge. As the officers in question had reason to believe the Governor intended to seize them and put them in confinement, they appealed to their commanding officer, Major Johnstone, who at once sided with the military against the Governor. Macarthur was released from prison by Johnstone's orders ; and public feeling was by this time so excited that the chief inhabi- tants of the settlement addressed a memorial to Johnstone begging him to depose the Governor, assume the Govern- ment himself, and save the colony. On this, Johnstoiie addressed the following missive to Governor Bligh : SIB, I am called upon to execute a most painful duty. You are charged, by the respectable inhabitants with crimes that render you unfit to exercise the supreme authority another moment in this colony, and in that charge all the officers serving under my command have joined. I therefore require you, in His Majesty's sacred name, to resign your authority, and to submit to the arrest which I hereby place you under, by the advice of all my officers, and by the advice of every respectable inhabitant in the town of Sydney. I am, &c., (Signed) GEORGE JOHNSTONE, Acting Lieut. -Governor and Major Commanding New South Wales Corps. The troops were sent to Government House and dis- covered the frightened Governor hiding under a bed. CHAP, xvi.] UNDEE THE SOUTHEEN CEOSS. 235 He was sent on boardship and ordered to proceed to England. Lieutenant Colonel Paterson, who was Lieutenant Governor of Tasmania, and the officer next in authority to Bligh, approved of Major Johnstone's pro- ceedings. But Johnstone was called to England to answer the charge of mutiny laid against him by Bligh, and after three years delay in bringing on the trial, the Military Court found him guilty of the charge, and sentenced him to be cashiered. The Court, however, explained that their sentence was light because the evidence showed there were circumstances affecting the tranquillity of the Colony during Gover- nor Bligh's administration which called for some immediate decision. This was virtually an exonera- tion of Johnstone's conduct, though technically he had of course been guilty of mutiny. The trial was accordingly regarded as a triumph for Johnstone. It need not be added that Governor Bligh did not return to Botany Bay. A considerable number of Irishmen who took part in the rebellion of 1798 were transported to Botany Bay. Among them were the Revd. W. Fulton, a Protestant clergyman, and the Eevds. W. Harold, Father O'Neil and W. Dixon, Kornan Catholic priests. The latter was ulti- mately appointed a Roman Catholic Chaplain at the settlement. The Irish rebel chief, Colonel Holt, was another of the Botany Bay celebrities ; and he was one of those who was transported to Norfolk Island, which became the receptacle of the most dangerous characters the penal settlement of a penal settlement. The accounts that have been preserved of the social condition of that island, while it was maintained as a convict settlement, are not pleasant reading. Discipline was lax, and violence reigned supreme. It was known that the convicts had no chance of escaping from the island, and it was not thought necessary, therefore, to exercise the same control over them as was practised at Botany 236 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xvi. Bay. This beautiful island, famous for the handsome pine-tree to which it has given its name, rises in the Pacific Ocean about one-thousand miles distant from the coast of New South Wales. It was settled from Botany Bay as early as 1790 with both convicts and free-men. At first the inhabitants were threatened with famine, but the fertile soil and fine climate of the island soon enabled them to overcome all difficulties connected with food supplies. In 1807 orders came from England to deport the happy Norfolk islanders to Tasmania, as the Govern- ment had determined to reserve Norfolk island as a con- vict settlement for the very worst criminals. It soon became what one writer describes as a " floating hell/' where the most shocking crimes were committed with comparative impunity. Mr. Bonwick says : " Those groves of gigantic pines, so serene and dignified in aspect, resounded with shrieks of bleeding victims, and the loud coarse laugh of the exulting murderer. No greater contrast could be seen than the awful wickedness of maa in a region where nature had spread abroad her gentlest, sweetest charms." Judge Burton,, the same who after- wards became a puisne Judge of the Supreme Court at Madras, was sent to the island in 1834 to hold an assize. He found no less than 130 cases of capital charges. He reported that the trials " revealed to the Court a feature of depravity which, it may be asserted, no human judge ever had revealed to him before," and he calls, the island " a cage full of unclean birds, full of crimes against God and man, murders and blasphemies and all uaicleanness." The humane judge ordered the execution of the convicted murderers to be suspended until the authorities at Sydney had sent over ministers of religion to attend to the criminals' spiritual wants. Judge Burton's report was followed by a considerable improvement in the administration of the convict island ; but after transpor- tation had been discontinued to New South Wales, the Government determined to abolish this infamous penal CBAP. xvr.J UNDER THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. 237 settlement altogether. The convicts were accordingly all withdrawn, and Sir W. Denison ultimately succeeded in inducing a small number of Christian Pitcaira islanders to form a colony in Norfolk island. It is interesting to trace the growth of civilizing in- fluences like religion and education in the young colony. When the first batch of convicts was sent out to Botany Bay, it was only discovered at the last moment that the Government had forgotten all about a chaplain. There were constables, guards, and a Governor on board, but no spiritual pastor and master. The great Wilberforce and a few other friends of the old S. P. G-. Society made a re- monstrance to Government on the subject, and volunteered to contribute a portion of a missionary's pay. To this arrangement the Government assented, and the Rev. Richard Johnson was selected to accompany the expedition to Botany Bay. On the voyage out, the reverend gentleman was fortunate enough to take with him from Rio a packet of orange seeds, which, in his garden at Parramatta, pro- duced such fine fruit that he could realise from sixpence to ninepence a piece for his oranges. The colony owes to its first clergyman the introduction of the orange tree-, which now grows most luxuriantly in many parts of Australia. Mr. Johnson, however, was more successful in farming than he was in the conversion of convicts. He seems to have been a mild, well-meaning padre, though not the style of man required in such a rough community. At first he held his Sunday services in the open air under a tree. He tried to get the Governor to build a church, but there was no money for such a luxury. The chaplain then determined with the aid of a few friends to build a Church himself, and went into the woods and cut down the wattle trees required for the structure with his own hands. The new building, which cost him .40, is described as follows: "The- cabbage palm made rafters for the roof and stand, ards for the sides. The wattle boughs were twisted 238 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xvi. in and out to form a sort of lattice-work, and the interstices were filled up with mud thrown in or dabbed on. The roof was formed of slabs of rough bark, which, in its rent seams, or heat-curled edges, afforded plenty of ventilation, besides some scope to descending showers. The main building was 73 feet long by 15 feet broad." The " wattle and dab" church, as it was called, with its school room, was opened on the 25th August 1795. There was now no excuse for not attending church, and accordingly the prisoners at " the Tunks," as Sydney was then called, were ordered to attend service on Sundays. It may be inferred that this order was not appreciated by the convicts, for one fine day it was discovered that Mr. Johnson's church had been burnt to the ground. The convicts chuckled, and the Governor was furious ; but he at once came to Mr. Johnson's assistance by setting apart a store-house as a place for public worship, until St. Phillip's Church, the foundation stone of which was laid in 1800, was opened. Mr. Johnson left for England about this time, and was succeeded by the Rev. T. Marsden, a man of a very different stamp. The son of a Yorkshire blacksmith, Marsden seems to have had a good deal of the hereditary iron in both his head and arm. Being a justice of the peace as well as a clergyman, he flogged refractory convicts unsparingly, and regarded the cat-o- nine-tails as a weapon for instilling moral lessons into his flock. The following characteristic story is told of him. A man complained to him that his wife would get drunk, neglect the children, and otherwise mis- conduct herself. The clergyman went to the woman's hut, whip in hand. " What," cried he, " you wont obey your husband. Well if words make no impression, blows shall." He then laid his horse-whip about the woman's shoulders so vigorously that she fell on her knees and promised to behave better for the future. Marsden would, on occasions, fight as boldly with the Governor as CHAP. XVI.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 239 he did with the meanest of his sinners. Governor Macquarie held that because the State paid the chaplain, the State had the right to regulate his clerical duties, " either in restraining the use of prayers not authorized by the strict form of the liturgy of the Church of England, or by enjoining the introduction and promulga- tion of certain orders of a secular nature, which he conceived might be usefully impressed upon the minds of the people by communication during the hours of divine service." It may be imagined that Marsden was not the kind of man to tolerate this kind of interference with Mother Church ; and his remonstrances on the subject were so vigorous, that the home Government were at last persuaded to send out a special Commissioner to enquire into the condition of the colony generally, as well as ecclesiastically. Marsden feared no man, not even the cannibals of New Zealand. When news reached Sydney that a ship's crew had been wrecked and eaten on the New Zealand coast, he boldly set out for the island, went straight to the chief of the cannibal tribe, lived in his hut, preached to him and came away alive. His courage and kindness won the confidence of the natives, among whom a mission was soon established. One result of the quarrel between Marsden and Governor Macquarie was the appointment of an Archdea- con of new South Wales, which colony was forthwith incorporated with the diocess of Calcutta ! The first Arch- deacon was the Rev. A. H. Scott, who had acted as Secretary to Mr. Bigge, the special Commissioner above referred to. Before he became Mr. Bigge's secretary, Mr. Scott had been a wine merchant. Whether it was the opportunity of becoming the first Archdeacon in Australia, with a salary of .2,000 a year and a seat in the Governor's Council, that induced him to take holy orders, is not stated, but it is certain that Mr. Scott proved to be n fish out of water as a head of the local church. He did not command the confidence or respect of earnest workers ;240 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHA* . xvi, like Marsden, and after holding the appointment for four years, he returned to England. The late Dr. Lang, who may be said to have been the founder of Presbyterian churches and schools in the colony, has recorded the following uncomplimentary verdict of the Archdeacon : " Of the devotion and practice which constitute what is styled by the Christian world evangelical religion, Mr. Scott had evidently no idea." The second Archdeacon was William Grant Broughton, a noble specimen of a churchman. He was the nominee of the great Duke of Wellington, who was never in the habit of selecting in- competent officers to carry out his orders. Mr. Brough* ton was a young man, and hesitated to accept the ap- pointment offered to him, whereupon the Iron Duke sternly remarked : " I dont desire too speedy a determi- nation. If, in my profession, a man is desired to go to*- morrow morning to the other side of the world, it is better he should go to-morrow, or not at all." Mr. Broughton took the hint, and lived to be the first Bishop of Australia. The labour before him required the strength of a giant, but he performed it with a giant's strength. Mr. Bonwick says of him : " As an Archdeacon he was a perfect model if his duty be one of organisation of the body, systematic arrangement of labour, concentration of interests, accumulation of means, administration of re- sources, defence of privileges, and aggression of efforts" Disheartened with the slow progress of his work, and the opposition he met from the ruling authorities, Broughton determined to visit England and put the wants of the colony before the British public. " I cannot look on with tranquillity," said he impatiently, " while I see such ex* tended and populous districts devoid of churches, devoid of clergymen, devoid of schools." In England he soon collected subscriptions amounting to .13,000, and doubled the number of his clergy. He succeeded moreover in persuading the Home Government to recognise the anomal- ous state of things of attempting to govern the Church xvi.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 241 in Australia from Calcutta, whose Bishop " never bothered himself in any way about this distant portion of the domi- nions." Broughton was accordingly consecrated Bishop of New South Wales, with a seat in the Sydney Council. Altogether he did a great work for the Church in Australia, though, at the present day, his jealousy of the intrusion of a Eoman Catholic Bishop, and his views on educational questions and religious freedom, seem some- what narrow-minded and illiberal. However, in insisting on the necessity of the study of the Bible in public schools, Dr. Broughton only anticipated the present Bishop of Melbourne, Dr. Moorhouse, who does not hesitate to characterise the undenominational system of education that prevails in Victoria as " godless :" failing, apparently, to see that a " godless education" is the fault of the clergy rather than of the Government. The clergy may be well satisfied with the honor of being the first to recognise the educational wants of Australia. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, so early as 1793, made provision for the appointment of three schoolmasters and one schoolmistress to Botany Bay. In 1801 Governor King formed his Female Orphan Asylum, and in 1819 Governor Macquarie established a Male Orphan Asylum institutions modelled, I suspect, on the pattern of those already existing in India. The numbers of children receiving instruction in 1819 were 990 in private, and 530 in public schools, the Church of England having everywhere taken a marked lead in the work of education. The first newspaper, the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, was published in 1803. The first number gave the welcome intelligence that Mr. Robert Campbell had landed 4,000 gallons of spirits from the Castle of Good Hope, and that this ship had come through Bass' Straits instead of going round Van Diemen's land, and thereby "considerably shortened her passage and saved many cows." The same paper informs us that the 31 242 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xvi. price of full grown fowls was 2s. 6d. to 3s. each, and of potatoes 12s. per 100 Ibs. The paper was not allowed to discuss politics : " information is our only purpose," as the editor remarks in his opening article. The great difficulty he had to contend with was getting foolscap, or any other paper, for printing purposes. The publication of the Gazette was sometimes stopped for weeks together on this account. In fact " a liberal deduction" was offered to every subscriber furnishing paper. The Gazette lived till 1843. The Sydney Morning Herald was started in 1831 as a weekly paper ; it became a bi-weekly in 1836, and a daily in 1841. Of course a good many other papers have lived and died in the meantime. It was not till " free settlers" were permitted to go to the convict colony that the Press became free and began to become a power in the country. Governor Hunter had recommended free immigration as early as 1790, and another appeal for it was made in 1809 ; but it was not till 1821 that any considerable immigration of free settlers took place, and these were mostly Scotchmen who settled on the banks of the Hawkesbury river, about thirty miles north of Sydney. It is not my purpose to tell how the Botany Bay settlement gradually developed into the prosperous colony of New South Wales, but the following land- marks serve to show how rapidly the Colony has made a history of its own. In 1824 the liberty of the Press and the first instalment of the right of trial by jury were conceded. In 1836 the principle of religious liberty became law. In 1842 the right of municipal election was exercised for the first time. In 1843 the Legislative Council was made partly elective. In 1855 the Colony received a cut and dried Constitution from the English Parliament. In 1856, and under Sir W. Denison's regime, the first responsible Ministi'y was appointed with Sir E. Deas Thomson as Colonial Secretary ; and in 1858 manhood suffrage was adopted for purposes CHAP, xvi.j UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 243 of electing representatives in Parliament. Though it fell to Sir William Denison's lot to introduce the present form of Government, he did not disguise his contempt for responsible ministries who were given to turning each other out of office every six months. He no doubt erred in the direction of underestimating the capabilities of Australia. He ridiculed the idea of comparing its des- tinies with those of America. " The destinies of a dry and unproductive country, without rivers or means of internal communication, what are they ?" He declared five-sixths of the land was desert. But the fact remains that much of the country that was marked as desert in his day has since been converted into profitable sheep and cattle runs. The tract on which Burke and Wills perished of starvation is now in the hands of pioneer squatters. 244 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [HAP. xvra, CHAPTER XVIT. RAPID GROWTH OF A COLONY. Progress in New South Wales Population Revenue Expendi- ture Public Debt Agricultural returns Area of land leased to squatters Returns of live-stock Fine quality of Sheep and Cattle Some facts about " Walers" Production of Coal Large area of gold-bearing quartz Mineral wealth of the colony Manufacturing industries Rapid growth of com- merce The San Francisco route and trade with America Australian wool shipped vi& the Suez Canal. A STRANGER in Australia cannot fail to be struck with the rapid growth of everything about him. In, the gold-digging era, when crowds of eager men were rushing about the country in search of nuggets, " town- ships" formed of tents and huts sprung up, like mush- rooms, in a single night ;. these townships have developed into towns, and the towns into cities, with a rapidity which is altogether foreign to our old-world notions. There is no state of standstill here. A place either grows or declines. Eapid progress, or rapid decay, is the invariable order of things. We can only form an idea of Australian progress by comparing it with that of other young countries. About thirty years ago, the Australian population, all told, was about 214,000 souls. It is now 2,000,000 : an increase of 834 per cent. During the same period the population of Canada and the United States increased by 660 and 126 per cent, respectively. In the same time Australian trade has grown from .6,000,000 to 63,000,000, or 950 per cent., while British trade grew 400 per cent., United States trade 335 per cent., and Canada trade 650 per cent. The annual revenues of the several Australian Governments aggregate 14,000,000; while HAP. xrn.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. 245 the different colonies are connected with each other, and with the seaboard,, by over 2,000 miles of railway and 126,000 miles of telegraph. In another five years the Indian official visiting Australia for a furlough trip, will be able to travel by railway from Adelaide in the south to Brisbane in the north, passing through a considerable portion of South Australia, Victoria,. New South Wales and Queensland, and will thus be able to comprise in his sixty days leave a visit to all the chief cities in Australia^ As a practical illustration of the rapid progress of things colonial, I may mention that I was looking over a statis- tical report of New South Wales for 1874, when a friend assured me it was worthless for giving me an idea of the condition of the colony in 1878, and he thereupon kindly put me in the way of obtaining the latest official returns bearing on this subject. First as regards the population. The Registrar Oeneral's returns are made up complete to the end of 1876, when there were 629,776 souls in the colony,, showing an increase of 23,124 or 3'81 per cent, on the previous year. The " estimates" of additional population; are made up to so recent a date as the 30th June 1878^. when the total had risen to 675,316. The total additions to the population during the last ten years amounts to- 182,156 persons, of whom only 13,490, or about 7| per cent., were immigrants from the United Kingdom. This- shows a very large natural increase, and indeed the vital statistics are remarkable for the large proportion of births to deaths in the colony, the birth rate averaging 39-58,. and the death rate 15'18 per 1,000 of the population. It is known, too, that during the last few years there has been a considerable emigration from Victoria to New South Wales, amounting, it is estimated, to 12,000 or 15,000 people. The depressed state of the gold mining industry, the injurious effects of a protective tariff, and the distrust as to the political future, have together been the cause of this emigration from Victoria. From the 246 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xvn. foundation of Botany Bay in 1788 down to the year 1835, a period of forty-seven years, the population increased to 70,000, a growth that is surpassed by the increment of the last three years. It must be always borne in mind that the Colony of New South Wales was shorn of what is now the Colony of Victoria in 1851, and the Colony of Queensland in 1859. The loss of these offspring, however, does not seem to have much affected the parent colony. The growth of revenue since 1870 has been aa follows : 1871 1872 1873 1874 ....2,238,900 ....2,812,011 ....3,330,913 ....3,514,314 1875 1876 1877 1878 ....4,126,303 ....5,037,662 ....5,717,842 ...J65,183,721 On the 30th June 1878 the Government had a credit balance of over 3f millions sterling. This rapid increase of revenue is due chiefly to the larger sale and occupa- tion of Crown lands. Half of the total revenue is derived from land, one-fifth from Customs duties, and the balance from railways, telegraphs and the Post Office. About .100,000 only is raised in the shape of direct taxation, and the bulk of that comes from the granting of licenses. Among the items of receipts is one of about d40,000, "interest on Bank Deposits," showing, it seems to me, a healthy state of the exchequer. The tendency in New South Wales has been to reduce Customs duties, and the only imposts which the mass of consumers can be said to be compelled to bear are the tea and sugar duties, which yield about .100,000 a year, equal to a tax of about four shillings per head of the population. The total expenditure in 1875 was ,3,338,332. One is struck with the small item under the head " Volunteer and Military forces," .32,948. The late war has opened the eyes of the Colonial Govern- ments to the necessity of increasing their capabilities of self-defence, and heavy guns and ironclads will probably CHAP, xvii.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 247 absorb surplus revenues for some years to come. The following are the chief heads of expenditure : Interest on loans .543,178 Railways .313,874 Roads and Bridges .344,002 Post Office .199,555 Public Works , ... 1 32,348 Administration of Justice .112,573 Public Instruction .180,148 Police , .155,280 Harbours and Rivers .121,111 Civil List 48,695 Prisons 57,590 Lunatic Asylums .49,665 Charitable Institutions 51,490 The public debt of the colony is about .13,000,000, or less than three years revenue. Over ,8,000,000 of the borrowed money was spent on railways ; the remainder was laid out on telegraphs, immigration, public works and roads, navigation of harbours and rivers, and the water supply and drainage of Sydney. Looking at the surplus of revenue over expenditure, and the total amount of debt in comparison with the annual revenue, the financial condition of the colony seems most satisfactory. London financiers are evidently of this opinion, for it is observed that the New South Wales Four per cents, are quoted on the Stock Exchange higher than any Australian security of the same class. A further loan is talked of for the ex- tension of railways, which are now constructed for about 7,000 a mile. The agricultural returns for the year ended 31st March 1877 show that the number of occupiers of land for agricultural purposes is about 40,000, being an increase of over 2,600 on the previous year. The extent of holdings in 1878 was about 184 millions of acres. Wheat was cultivated over only 145,608 acres, and gave an average yield of 16f bushels the acre ; maize on 116,364 acres, yielding 33 bushels the acre; barley on 115,663 acres, yielding 23| bushels the acre ; and oats on 21,828 acres, yielding 21 bushels the acre. Upwards of 14,000 248 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xvil. acres of potatoes were grown, and gave an average yield of three tons an acre. The cultivation of sugar-cane is progressing, and reached 6,755 acres in 1877. Hay is made from sown grasses, as well as from oats, wheat and barley, and was produced to the extent of 160,000 tons. The area under vine cultivation was 4,457 acres, and the vintage gave about 800,000 gallons of wine, or not much more than a gallon a year per head of the population. Altogether, not much over half a million acres of land were under actual cultivation. It may be gathered from these figures what a field there still is for agricul- tural industries, which are as yet quite in their infancy. The main object of the Government now is to encourage the immigration of small farmers who will settle on the land and cultivate it. All the land laws of late years have been framed with this object in view. Settlers are everywhere offered the privilege of selecting un- reserved or unsurveyed land, on condition that one- fourth only of the purchase-money be paid down, and the balance paid off by instalments. The upset price of agricultural land is 1 per acre, and it is compe- tent for any person over sixteen years of age to select any unsold and unreserved Government land in a block of not less than 40 acres, nor more than 640 acres, upon payment of 5s. an acre, the balance of purchase money to be paid at the end of three years in instal- ments of not less than Is. per acre per annum. The quantity of land taken up, under these rules, during the last five years, by the class of people known as " free selectors," has been very great, the selections in 1873 and 1874 exceeding those of the previous ten years. The land leased to "squatters," for pastoral pur- poses, is simply of enormous extent. It is when we examine the figures under this head that we begin to get an idea of the size of Australia. The following CHAP, xvii.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 249 were the areas leased for grazing purposes at the periods given : Acres. 1848 41,732,000 1860 49,068,941 Acres. 1870 128,225,920 1874 138,107,200 The area of England, Scotland, Ireland, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, and Greece is about 130 million acres ; so that the sheep runs in only one of our Australian Colonies cover a considerably larger area of ground than is possessed by all these European States! The area of New South Wales being a little over 200 million acres, it will be seen that most of the country is already taken up for purposes of pastu- rage. Hardly anything has yet been done, however, in the way of clearing the land and sowing better kinds of grasses than those usually found in the bush. Squatters prefer taking up large areas of country as they are, to attempting to make two blades of grass grow where only one did formerly. It is to the agri- culturists, the men who take up small areas of land for purposes of cultivation, that we must look for improvement. The squatter cares only for the produc- tion of wool, while the farmer has to consider the most economical way of producing the food supplies of the people. The quantity of live-stock supported on this enor- mous area of country was, in 1877 as follows : sheep 24,503,388; horned cattle, 3,131,013; horses 366,703. Ten years ago, the numbers were 278,437 horses, 1,771,809 cattle, and 11,502,155 sheep.* According to the rough rule that a piece of land which will keep one bullock will feed ten sheep, the above figures show that * The following are the live-stock returns of the other Australian colonies for the year 1874, which may be useful for purposes of comparison : Sheep. Cattle. Horses. N.S.Wales 22,872,882 2,856,699 346,691 Victoria 11,323,080 883,763 180,322 Queensland 7,606,000 1,650,000 110,000 S. Australia 6,120,211 185,342 93,122 Tasmania ..., 1,714,168 110,450 23,208 32 250 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xvn. the lands let on pastoral leases " carry," on the average, about one sheep to three acres a proof that the land is not yet overstocked. With improvements that will, in process of time, be introduced by good farming, the carrying capabilities of the land will doubtless be largely increased. But taking the figures as they stand, we find the average possessions, in live stock, of the people of New South Wales to be thirty-eight sheep, five cattle, and about half a horse, per head. These figures bring borne to us the extraordinary agricultural resources of the country, and the unbounded wealth of the people in the way of food supplies. The export of products of pastoral industry are valued at over ,7,500,000, the wool alone being worth over 5| millions sterling. The live stock exported to other colonies is valued at about lj million ster- ling per annum, while the balance is made up with receipts from tallow, skins, leather and preserved meats. The latter industry is yet on its trial, but it is anticipated that the day is not distant when Australia will furnish Europe, and possibly India and China, with large quantities of butcher's meat. Messrs. Mort and Nicolle's, of Sydney, have already established a factory for freezing meat for transmission to Europe, and it is expected their process will ultimately be entirely successful. Indeed there seems no good reason why meat should not be preserved as well as fruits and vegetables. The preserved fruits of Australia are excellent, and bid fair to supplant those with which Crosse and Blackwell have made us so familiar. The quality of the New South Wales wool may be gathered from the fact that it was awarded the first prize in the world's wool exhi- bits at the Paris Exhibition. The average weight of washed wool per fleece is from 2| to 3 Ibs., but the limit of wool production has not yet been reached. It is estimated that ten years hence the colony will possess double the number of sheep it has at present, CHAP, xvn.j UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 251 or say 50 millions, 5 millions of cattle, and half a million of horses, while possibly something will have been done towards the cultivation of artificial foods for sheep and cattle. Oil-cake and roots are as yet almost unknown as food supplies, and I am assured that if India, with her wealth of oil-seeds, could only manu- facture a " cake" equal to that imported from England, there would be a very large demand for it, especially at those seasons of the year when fodder is scarce in Austi-alia. This subject is well worth the attention of Mr. Robertson, the Superintendent of Government farms in Madras, who has, I know, already made some in- teresting experiments in the manufacture of artificial food for cattle. The quality of the Australian sheep and cattle is, on the whole, very good, and great care has been bestowed on breeding from the best stocks. The sheep are almost all of the Merino breed, which produce a superior quality of wool, and the Merino mutton is preferred to any other but the South- down in Australia. The cross between a Merino and Leicester or Lincoln is a very fiue sheep, with plenty of meat, though the meat is rather coarse in quality. The bulk of the cattle are Shorthorns, but there are also specimens of Herefords and Devons to be seen in the colony. I see that Mr. Bruce, the Government Inspector of stock, thinks the Herefords better suited to the colony than Shorthorns, as they will thrive better on inferior pasturage, or in an uncongenial climate. Australian breeders are willing to pay high prices for good animals for breeding purposes, and are continually making im- portations from England. One half of the saddle horses in the colony are classed as " inferior" or " very inferior," from which it may be inferred that there is room for reform in horse-breeding. Of late years some good sires have been imported from England, and breeders are becoming alive to the advantages of rearing a good horse instead of a bad one, But the above fact, which I have 252 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP, xvn culled from Mr. Bruce's official report, will help to explain how it is we get so many indifferent " Walers" in India. Though New South Wales has been long known to be rich in mineral wealth, it is only quite recently that a geological survey of the country has been undertaken. So far, scientific observations go to show that the colony has enormous supplies of precious metals, coal, tin, copper, and gems. The production of coal is increasing at a great rate. In 1829 the quantity raised was only 780 tons; in 1839, it was 21,283 tons; in 1849, 48,516 tons ; in 1856, 308,213 tons ; in 1869, 919,774 tons ; and in 1876, 1,319,918 tons, valued at over .800,000. Nearly one million tons are now exported to other Australian Colonies, New Zealand, China, Japan, India, Mauritius, New Caledonia, and San Francisco. The coal seams already discovered are prolific enough to supply the whole world with coal for many years to come. The carboniferous area in the colony is put down at 23,950 square miles, the principal coal beds existing along the coast to the north and south of Sydney. The mines first opened were of course christened " Newcastle," and it is from the fast-growing port of that name that the best coals are obtained. The coal lies near the surface, the greatest depth to which shafts have yet been sunk being less than 500 feet. In many districts the coal crops out on the face of the hills, and can be cheaply worked by driving tunnels. There seems no need for anxiety about coal supply for the future, as the Government Examiner of Coal Fields (Mr. John Mackenzie, r. G. s.) estimates that " one seam of coal, after allowing one-third for loss and waste in getting, will yield upwards of 84 billions of tons." In another place, we are told,, on the authority of that eminent practical geologist, the late Eev. W. B. Clarke, that "there are in the upper coal measures at least sixteen seams of coal, each more than three feet thick." I forbear to make the calculations these figures CHAP. xvii.J UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 253 suggest. The important fact to note is that the coal is good, though not generally so good as the English article, and that it is now used by Her Majesty's ships of war on the Pacific stations, and by the great steam fleets trading with Australia, to whom coal, like time, is money. Possibly the coal will improve as the pits are deepened. At present, notwithstanding all said in Australia to the contrary, it is not so good for generating steam as the English coal is, as I have seen practically demonstrated on . board P. and O. mail steamers. But it is very good fuel for all ordinary purposes, and the trade in New South Wales coal is bound to be very large in the future. The cost of getting coal varies from Is. 9d. to 5s. per ton. In connection with the collieries large quanti- ties of kerosine shale have lately been found, and a factory erected near Botany Bay is now manufacturing kerosine oil. The gold obtained in the colony up to the end of 1877 was valued at about 32| millions sterling. This is an insignificant production in comparison with the out- turn of the mines in Victoria. It may be stated, however, that the search for gold has never been prosecuted so vigorously in New South Wales as in Victoria. It is certain that gold exists in abundance in the former colony. The Rev. W. B. Clarke, referring to a recent visit to the Western districts, says that he " passed over many miles of country in which the rocks that belong to a golden area yet remain in their original condition, and will so remain until some fortunate adventurer stumbles by accident on a tangible encouragement." He adds: " It is not to be doubted that there is an enormous amount of gold yet untouched in numerous places in New South Wales, not only in the quartz lodes (or reefs), but in gullies and plains where alluvial gold diggings will yet be discovered." The approximate area of known gold-bearing formations is about 35,000 square miles. 254 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xvn. The till mines of the colony promise to rival those of Cornwall itself. The value of tin exported in 1877 was over half a million sterling, and this with very imper- fect means of working the mines. The exports of copper in the same year were valued at over ,300,000. Iron ore has been discovered in large quantities, in various parts of the colony, and factories are now being started for converting the ore into iron. Professor Liversidge, lecturer on chemistry and geology at the University of Sydney, reports : " There appears to be no reason why New South Wales, with proper care and management, should not very soon make not only all the iron required for its own consumption, but also supply other countries which are not so lavishly endowed." Diamonds, rubies, emeralds, topazes, sap- phires, amethysts, opals, and garnets have been found in such quantities as to lead to the inference that there are plenty of precious stones in the colony, if people can only afford the time and labour to look for them. Professor Liversidge states that some 10,000 diamonds have already been found : the largest however did not weigh more than 5{j- carats. In colour they vary "from colourless and transparent to various shades of straw, yellow, brown, light green and black." So far most of the diamonds have been discovered in the Mudgee and Bingera districts. With such a profu- sion of minerals visible almost on the surface, it is not surprising to find the geological surveyor reporting the result of his recent examination as being that the mineral wealth of the colony is " practically inexhaustible." Manufacturing industries have increased four-fold during the last ten years, and it is clearly only a question of time when Australia, with her enormous production of wool and leather, will be able to compete successfully with Europe and America in the supply of clothing materials. The principal manufactures in New CHAP, xvii.] UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. 255 South Wales at the close of the year 1876 are enume- rated in an official return as follows ; Agricultural Implements Tobacco Bone Manure. ... 48 ... 28 ... 9 ... 70 Machine manufactories (brass, lead, iron, and tin works)... Type Founders 148 2 Mazena 1 Paper... ... ... .. 2 Woollen Cloth 8 Boots... 87 Soap and Candles ... Tanneries ... ... ... 32 ... 118 Clothing Hat 39 12 Meat Preserving ... ... 17 Brush... ... . . 2 ^V^>ol- washing . ... 63 1 Distilleries... Sugar Eefineries ... 44 2 Coach and Waggon Gas ... 144 10 Breweries ... 31 Glass ... 4 Confectionery ... 55 Ice fi Jain ... ... ... 7 Salt 2 M rated waters Brick ... 126 ... 320 Ship and Boat Smeltin 01 Iron 99 5 Drain-pipes Lime ... ... 9 ... 121 Do. Copper Do. Tin 18 8 Pottery Tile Works Steam Saw Mills ... 11 ... 14 ... 192 Steam Joinery Window-blind Wire 9 3 2 Surgical Instruments 2 The above list shows clearly enough that there is no ne- cessity for the Government to " foster native industries," as they do in Victoria, by means of a protective tariff. The commercial statistics during the last few years are particularly interesting, as illustrating the effect of a free trade policy in the colony, in opposition to the protective tariff which is in force in the neighbouring colony of Victoria. The following figures represent the growth of trade for a period of forty years : Imports. Exports. Total. 1,114,805 6,82,193 1,796,998 4,688,519 2,884,130 7,552,649 2,757,281 7,990,030 15,747,319 13,490,200 13,671,580 27,161,780 The extraordinary growth of the trade during the last fiVe years is deserving of notice, for, in conjunction with other facts, it goes far to prove that what has been Victoria's loss has been New South Wales's gain. The progress of the shipping trade shows a corresponding increase, and the tonnage entering and clearing the ports 1835 1855 1870 1875 256 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xvn. has been doubled during the last ten years, while it grew from 1,762,500 tons in 1873 to 2,128,000 tons in 1876. An ad valorem duty of 5 per cent, was imposed on im- ported goods in 1865 for purposes of revenue, but in 1873 a prosperous exchequer enabled the Government to do away with this import duty, and trade is now practi- cally free. It is pleasing to find the Chairman of the Sydney Chamber of Commerce (an institution that only came into existence in 1865) thus commenting on the present commercial situation in the Colony : " Everything that has occurred since the repeal of the ad valorem duties at the end of 1873 shows the wisdom of even further steps to make our trade as free as possible. Despite the effects of a succession of dry seasons, no period in our history has shown more general progress than the past few years have done ; and I am glad to say, in none has that progress been more evident than in manufactures. Urged on by the freest competition at all points, each branch of our native industries is being developed with an energy too little shown in the past, and which gives us better hope for the future. Notwithstanding droughts and decline in the yield of gold, the trade of New South Wales, with its population of 650,000 souls, rose from .23,639,000 in 1 874 to no less than .26,676,000 for 1876, an increase of .3,000,000 in two years; and this, too, despite the great growth of our local in- dustries in the meantime. Although the ad valorem and other duties repealed in 1873 reduced the Customs revenue by ,200,000, the collections for the year just ended (1877) have reached 1,074,732, or within .53,000 of the total for 1873. If we take into account the growth of sugar, wine-making, brewing, tobacco, kerosine, and candles, we can fairly say that the Customs receipts under the low tariff are nearly equal to what they were under the high one. This is another evidence of the elasticity of a tariff based on right principles. The shipping trade, which was 1,762,500 tons for 1873, rose to 2,128,000 tons for 1876. If we glance at the industries of the soil, we find that the freeholds (including conditional purchases) rose from 10,500,000 acres in 1874 to 18,210,000 acres in 1877 ; and the area enclosed increased during the same period from 5,775,000 to 11,020,000 acres. The area under pastoral lease has increased since the land laws of 1861 by 90,000,000 acres. I am glad to say also, that the acreage under cultivation has been considerably extended, the increase for the last year being greater than that of any single year for a very long time. There is a surplus of no less than .3,950,000 in the public Treasury. I question whether any other community could ever boast of a cash surplus in public receipts of over .6 a head." The Chairman strongly urged the necessity of a Customs Union among the Australian colonies, a first CHAP, xvn.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 257 step in federation that it is hoped will soon be taken j and he further advocated a reform in the land laws, whigh would secure a more profitable use of theJand without prejudicing the interests of either the " squatter" or the " selector." In conclusion he remarked, " Do not let any one suppose we attribute all the prosperity of the country to our fiscal system, for that would indeed be absurd ; but we do rely on free trade to keep the progress of the colony on a thoroughly safe and profitable foundation." In connection with the shipping trade of Sydney, it is deserving of remark that America is now competing with England for a portion of the Australian trade. The Pacific Mail Company is under contract with the Gov- ernment of New South Wales and New Zealand to carry a monthly Mail to Europe via the San Francisco route. The following five steamers are now engaged on this service, and are carrying, I may add, large numbers of passengers to and from Europe, besides mails, the passage money from Sydney to Liverpool, first class, being 70 : City of San Francisco Zealandia Australia ... City of Sydney ... City of New York 3,400 tons 500 horse power. 3,200 500 3,250 500 3,400 500 3,400 500 A good many Indian officers now travel to or from India by the " San Frisco" route, and a good many more will go that way when the route is better known. Then there is another line of steamers running from Sydney to Queensland ports, and carrying a home mail via the Torres Straits. Add to this the line of steamers of the P. and O. Company, and it will be seen that Sydney has no less than three mail routes with Europe, which are all more or less in competition. Another fine line of steamers, belonging to the Orient Company, and running via the Red Sea, is now bidding strongly for the Australian trade with Europe. These steamers are the Cuzco, 33 258 UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xvn. Aconcagua, Luisitania, Garonne, and Chimbomzo, and arerage between 3,000 and 4,000 tons. They have so far been rather unfortunate in their navigation, the Chimb o- razo having run ashore near Sydney, and the Garonne off Ras Hafoon. Happily both steamers were got off again without having suffered serious injury. Then on a recent voyage to Australia the Cuzco broke her screw, but managed to reach Portland Bay all right under sail. These steamers are carrying large numbers of passengers and a considerable amount of wool cargo, as they are under-bidding the old rates of freight. Every year sees a diminution in the traffic round the Cape of Good Hope, and it is only a question of time when the bulk of the Australian wool will be shipped to Europe via the Suez Canal. CHAP, xviii.] UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CEOSS, 259 CHAPTER XVIII. THE LAND FOR "POOR WHITES." "Queensland as it is" Climate Eainfall Agriculture Sugar cultivation Enormous sheep-runs Mining Education- Suitability of Queensland for Eurasian emigrants Govern- ment aid to immigration The class of people wanted in the colony Eurasian emigration to Sydney in 1854, and its results Probability of future commerce between India and Australia ~ A new market for Indian tea and coffee The Torres Straits route, and its convenience for commerce and passenger traffic From Singapore to Sydney. AN official pamphlet, bearing the title " Queensland as it is," which was written for distribution at the Paris Exhibition, contains information as to the present condi- tion and future prospects of that colony which is of general interest. Eighteen years ago Queensland formed a por- tion of the colony of New South Wales, and was subject to the Government of that colony. But the distance from Sydney to Brisbane was fatal to anything like effici- ent administration, and thus it was determined to form a separate colony out of the north-east corner of the Austra- lian Continent under the title of Queensland. Decentra- lisation is the natural order of things in countries where areas are so enormous and distances so great, and it is by no means certain that we shall not see three or four more colonies formed in Australia within the next dozen years. Already " Northern Australia," with Port Darwin as its capital, is setting up pretensions to separate government, while it is generally acknowledged that the territory of Western Australia is quite extensive enough for two separate administrations. The area of Queensland alone is 430 millions of acres, or eleven times that of England. In 1860 this area was occupied by only 32,000 white 260' UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xvm. people ; but by 1878 the population had grown to 200,000. With these figures before us, it is hardly necessary to add, as the pamphlet does, that there is room in the colony for millions of industrious people. The climate of a large portion of Queensland compares closely with that of the south of France, Spain and Portugal. The temperature, however, varies consi- derably with the latitude, the northern part of the colony having almost a tropical heat, while the southern portion possesses a climate which may fairly be compared with that of southern Europe. The heaviest rainfall is on the coast-lands, where it averages 90 inches in the year. Ascending from the coast to the table land, a gradual decrease of rainfall is observa- ble : at Toowoomba, 1,900 feet above sea-level, and 80 miles from the coast, the average fall is 20 inches ; at Dalby, 112 miles from the sea, the fall is 18 inches ; at Mount Hutton, 180 miles from the sea, it is 15 inches ; and at Roma, 230 miles from the sea, it is 13 inches. It is stated that 18 inches of rain for the year " is a rainfall quite sufficient for any operations in agriculture, mining, or manufactures that may be carried on." A range of mountains about 2,000 feet above sea-level runs parallel with the coast, and forms what is called the Dividing Range. On the west or land side of this range are vast plains admirably adapted for pastoral or agricultural pur- poses. None of the rivers are navigable for more than 80 miles inland, and thus the colony is not well supplied by nature with means of communication with the interior. Nearly 400 miles of railways, however, have already been opened, and the construction of some 350 miles addi- tional lines has already been sanctioned by the local Parliament. Already the telegraph has been extended to all towns of any importance, and messages of ten words can be sent anywhere in the colony for a charge of one shilling. The rate of postage all over the colony is two pence, and newspapers are carried free. CHAP, xviii.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 261 In the ten years from 1866 to 1876, the area under cultivation increased from 24,433 to 85,569 acres. Up- wards of 40,000 acres are devoted to the growth of maize, which is used as food for horses. The Queens- land maize grows to great perfection, yielding from 30 to 80 bushels of shelled corn per acre. In sowing, the seeds are dropped in furrows or in holes, three or four feet apart, and two crops are gathered annually. Wheat is grown on the highlands, to the west of the range of mountains that separates the plateaus from the coast. From 25 to 30 bushels an acre is the average crop, and the grain is of excellent quality. Barley is grown chiefly for brewing purposes, and oats for cutting green and making hay. A few years ago,, there seemed every prospect of Queensland becoming a cotton-producing country, and in 1870 there were over 14,000 acres of land under cultivation. The quality of the cotton was excellent, and the out-turn as heavy as that in the best districts of the United States, or from 200 to 400 Ibs. of cleaned cotton per acre. It so hap- pened, however, that the cotton was fit for picking just at the time that the heaviest rains fell, in April and May, and that the staple was not unfrequently injured by the rain. This circumstance, added to the difficulty of pro- curing cheap labour, told against the cotton industry, and in 1876 there were only 573 acres of land under cultiva- tion. But just as the cultivation of cotton has declined, the cultivation of sugarcane has increased, there having been nearly 14,000 acres under this crop in 1876, against about 600 acres in 1866. There are now some eighty sugar-factories in the colony, and Australia is rapidly be- coming independent of Mauritius for supplies of sugar. The average outturn per acre is a little over one ton. To make a ton of sugar requires, on an average, from 16 to 18 tons of cane. The richest alluvial and volcanic soils are selected for cane cultivation. The land having been cleared of timber, at a cost of from .3 to 7 an acre, it 262 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xvni. is then prepared as for wheat. Furrows are opened with a plough or hoe, from 5 to 7 feet apart, and in these furrows cane plants or cuttings, usually about twelve inches in length, are laid, the distance between the plants varying from one to three feet. The crop is ready for cutting in from twelve to eighteen months after planting. As the sugar is worth from <25 to .30 a ton, it will be seen that there is a good margin for profit on a well- cultivated estate. Until recently the mill-owners grew their own cane, but now farmers are encouraged to undertake its cultivation. It is as a pastoral country, however, that Queensland is remarkable. The colony possesses about 7 millions of sheep, 2 millions of cattle, and over 120,000 horses. Some of the sheep-runs are of enormous area, extending to ten, twenty, and even one hundred square miles. Some squatters possess flocks of over 100,000 sheep. 90 per cent, of the Queensland sheep are " Merinos," whose wool is most valued in the English market. In answer to the question " how many sheep is the country capable of supporting?" we have the following information: " As an average, it may be accepted that one sheep represents three acres of grazing land. But one acre of cultivated grasses in Queensland is equal to the support of three sheep. Cultivation and the growing of grasses are now amongst the improvements carried on by pastoralists as well as the farming community ; and as cultivation increases, should the demand for wool be sufficient, it is quite within the bounds of possibility that Queensland can support 20,000,000 of sheep." Apart from the question of cheap clothing, it must be allowed that such a number of sheep would form a valu- able addition to the world's food-supply. It is stated that the holders of small areas of ground, of from 500 to 5,000 acres, and who graze from 200 to 3,000 sheep, are a very prosperous portion of the community of Queens- land. The leased pastoral lands are valued at fixed CHAP, xviii.] UNDER THE SOUTHEEN CEOSS. 263 periods ; the rents paid range "from one farthing to one penny per acre per annum." The leases are for specified terms, and are regular articles of sale, as between the holder and purchaser, without any interference from Government. Lands suitable for agricultural purposes are sold by the Government at from 5 shillings to <3 per acre, according to locality and quality of the land. The mining industry in Queensland, though not so important as it is in Victoria, gives employment to a good number of people. Not only is gold found in payable quantities, but tin and copper-mining promise, at no distant date, to become important industries. The colony is known to have enormous deposits of coal, which there is no necessity as yet for tapping to any depth. As regards education, the pamphlet gives us the following information : "Education is under the control of the State, the chief of the Education Department being a member of the Government for the time being. Education is free, and in the towns and more thickly settled districts it reaches all parties. In the thinly settled districts this is not easily accomplished, but it is attempt- ed by appointing irregular teachers. The plan that has worked so well with the churches is being followed in the schools. There is no denominational interference on the part of the State. All creeds and phases of religious belief are upon the same footing. Kespect for the laws of God and man is taught, and the ground work of a sound English education given. The school teachers of Queensland are a carefully selected body, and do their work in a manner that is satisfactory to the public. There is no interfer- ence with their religious belief, nor are they allowed to proselytise in any form whatever. The position of teacher is obtained by examination in the colony, certificates of competency from other known educational institutions having their due weight in secur- ing appointments. The salaries paid to teachers range from ,100 to 200 per annum for males, and .80 to .170 for females." Queensland's proximity to India, its favourable con ditions of climate, and its unceasing demand for labour, should, one of these days, prove powerful incentives to emigration to that numerous and increasing class of "poor whites," or rather Eurasians, whose position in India is now becoming a matter of deep concern both to the Government and the various European charitable 264 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xvnr. societies.* The Eurasian population in India is estimat- ed to amount to 100,000 : large numbers of the better educated classes are employed by Government in various civil capacities, but for some absurd reasons, which will now hardly bear examination, the Government has, since the mutiny, steadily refused to enlist Eurasians for military service. There is thus a large body of young men in this community who, though suitable enough for soldiers, have to depend on various civil employ- ments, public and private, for a means of livelihood. In such employments the Eurasian finds the com- petition with the native of India becoming keener and keener. A hundred educated Hindoos will now present themselves for an appointment of English- writing and speaking clerk, accountant, &c., where one would have been found only a few years ago. In handicrafts there is much the same kind of competition. When it is borne # " Were it not for the dominion acquired in India by European nations, such as the l Portuguese, the 1 A. D. 1502. *Dutch, the 3 French, and last' not 2 1600. not least, the ^English, this class 3 ,, ,, 1664, would never have had existence. They 4 ,, ,, 1591. are the offspring of these nationali- ties " " The direct descendants of the Portuguese have long since been absorbed with the Natives of the country ; there is scarcely one to be found that can now trace back his genealogy to an European Portu- guese. This can only be attributed to the original descendants having formed connexions with native women, and their subsequent inter- marriages hence their deterioration and amalgamation with the natives. There are hundreds, if not thousands, who still retain the names of their original progenitors ; but beyond their assumption of the European garb, it is impossible to distinguish them from the pariah. As regards the descendants of the Dutch, these were, at no time, numerous, and their progeny have long since passed away. There were a few families of Dutch descent in their late settlement of Pulicat, on the Coromandel Coast, but since its assumption by the British, about forty years ago, some of them have emigrated to Batavia, others have died, and there is scarcely one now left at Pulicat that can claim Dutch origin. The progeny of the French appear to have been at one time more numerous than now. They apparently confine themselves to the French Settle- ment of Pondicherry ; and as a body are as insignificant in number, as they are poor in circumstances. From the foregoing, it will be seen that the present race of Anglo-Indians, arc the descendants, direct, or in- direct, legitimate or otherwise, of European British subjects ; and it is gratifying to know that the great majority of them arc children born in wedlock ; and the uncharitable and cruel epithet of " bastard race" can no longer be applied to them." Fortunes of Anglo-Indian Race : Higgiubotham & Co., Madras, 1878. CHAP, xvni.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 265 i in mind that the native can always underbid the Eura- sian, and can live comfortably on a salary which would barely support the Eurasian in the necessaries of life, it is obvious that the latter labours under very serious disadvantages in the struggle for existence. It is not surprising, therefore, that there should be much poverty among the lower classes of Eurasians. Charitable Societies, aided by Government grants, have for years done their best towards supporting the aged, infirm, and poor, and have done so, it is believed, with a fair measure of success. But they are obliged to confess that Eurasian pauperism is a growing evil which it is difficult to check, and which they are powerless to stamp out. The Societies have some reason to complain that the Government of India does not inquire why it is that the lower classes of the community are so badly off, and how it has come about that so large a number of them are in a poverty-stricken condition. This is a state of things for which the Charitable Societies are not responsible, and with which they are clearly power- less to deal, unless they receive the necessary assistance in money from the Government and the public. All that can be reasonably expected of the Charitable Societies is that they shall meet such cases of distress and poverty, especially as regards elderly people and orphan children, as might be reasonably expected to arise in such a Eura- sian and European community as may be found in the chief cities in India. One form of relief provided by the Friend-in-Need Society in Madras is needle-work for women, and light in-door work, such as mat-making, for men, the articles thus manufactured being sold to the public, and the proceeds carried to the funds of the charity. It may be doubted, however, whether the Society does any permanent good by providing work for able-bodied men and women, and whether relief measures of this charac- ter do not tend to aggravate rather than check pau- perism. When numbers of able-bodied people seek 34 266 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP- XVHI. relief at the hands of any Charitable Society, we may rely upon it that there is something abnormal in the condition of the labour market, with which it is hardly the province of Charitable Societies to deal. Unhappily, the tendency is for Eurasian pauperism to go on increasing year by year, as the openings for employment can hardly be said to keep pace with the growth of population ; and, as a rule, the Eurasians marry young and beget large families. Ordinarily, when a country has more people than it can find work for, the remedy for such a condition of things is emigration. Over-populated Ireland, England and Germany have only found permanent relief in emigra- tion, and over-populated India and China are yearly seeking similar relief in emigration to Mauritius, the West Indies, Natal, South America, and Australia. It is a fact, beyond all possibility of doubt, that Irish pauperism, in years subsequent to the great famine, was chiefly relieved by the remittances of Irish emigrants in America and Aus- tralia to their friends in Ireland. The Eurasian popula- tion in India, though comparatively insignificant in numbers, is too large for the wants of the country, notwithstanding the enormous development of railways, coffee and tea plantations, and public works of late years ; and judging from past experience, there is no reason to hope that there can be any material improvement in their condition until an opening has been found for their labour in countries where competition is less keen than it is with the natives of India. Under these circumstances, does it not seem desirable that an effort should be made to " stamp out" pauperism by the simple expedient of decreasing the future supply of paupers? Might not the money which is now spent in supporting able-bodied people of both sexes, be better employed in shipping them to a colony where they would have every chance of earning their own living, and being able to help their poor friends left behind in India ? CHAP, xvin.] TJNDEE THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 267 The Madras Government have, at the suggestion of a re- cently formed Emigration Committee in Madras, referred to several Australian Governments for information as to the possibility of finding an opening for Eurasian labour in the Colonies. Should the Australian Govern- ments be willing to aid the proposed emigration move- ment, the anxieties of the Charitable Societies in India will be much lightened. It is true, the present supply of old paupers will be left on their hands. That is inevitable under any circumstances ; but the Societies will, at all events, be able to look forward with some hope to a diminished supply of pauperism in the future. Perhaps Queensland, of all the Colonies, would be the most suitable for Eurasians, while it happens also to be the colony where their labour is likely to be in most demand. From the official pamphlet above referred to, we gather some particulars of the system of immigra- tion which is encouraged by the Queensland Government. The colony has ever been desirous of introducing " indus- trious people from various parts of the world." Men of capital find their way to Queensland of their own accord, and "the demand for working men and women of all kinds is steady." Industrious people can, at all times, depend upon obtaining employment of some kind. " Mechanics and tradesmen, especially those connected with the building trades, are in continuous demand, and careful, skilful men are soon able to start on their own account." The average rates of wages, with rations, are .40 to .50 a year for agricultural or farm labourers, .40 to .45 for shepherds, and J645 to 50 for coachmen or grooms. For females, the wages for cooks and general servants, range from ,30 to .35 a year ; housemaids earn from ,24 to .26 ; nurses .30 ; nursemaids .18 to 20 ; waitresses .30 to .35 ; ladies-maids .30 to .35 : all with board. Needlewomen, of whom there are hun- dreds in Madras now simply qualifying for pauperism, 268 UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. [CHAP. xvm. get from 2s. to 2s. 6d. per day with board. Work as hard as they will in Madras, the needlewomen employed by the local Friend-in-Need Society cannot earn more than from 7 annas to 1 rupee per week. The following information as to the class of people wanted in Queens- land is of importance : " The class of persons most in demand at present are female domestic servants, and labourers experienced in farm, out-door, and railway work. As extensive railway works are in contem- plation, there will be an active demand for the latter class for some years to come. To all the classes mentioned, when eligible in point of health and character, free passages are granted. Forms of application can be had that give all necessary information. "Assisted passages are granted to mechanics, tradesmen, and others, who may be considered suitable for colonists. The rates charged are : " For males from 1 year old to 12 years .2 ; between 12 and 40, 4,; above 40, .6. " For females from 1 year old to 12 years ,1 ; between 12 and 40, 2 ; above 40, .6. "There are depots in the colony for the reception of new arrivals, where they are provided with food and lodging without charge until they find employment. This seldom takes much time. The usual occurrence is that one cargo of immigrants have found employment before the next arrives." It will be seen that the above conditions should open the way to Queensland for a considerable number of Eurasians, who would seem to have far more opportunities of earning a decent livelihood there than they can ever find in India. Looking at the money spent annually on the exportation of European vagrants, the Indian Government could hardly refuse to contribute something towards the passages of poor Eurasians to the Australian Colonies, which after all would be a more profitable way of employing money than in relieving pauperism through the medium of the Charitable So- cieties. The warm climate of Queensland would be peculiarly well adapted for Eurasians, and as the manu- facture of sugar is now becoming one of the chief industries in the colony, there would be a kind of employ- ment available not unsuitable, it may be inferred, to their light physique. Let us hope that in the emigration CHAP, xviii.l UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 269 of able-bodied Eurasians of both sexes, may be found the means of stamping-out pauperism among the " poor whites" in India. One experiment has already been made in the emigra- tion of Eurasians to the Australian Colonies, sufficiently encouraging, it may be said, to induce fui-ther efforts in the same direction. At the sugge&tion of Sir William Burton, one of the Puisne Judges of Madras, a batch of 124 East Indians was sent to Sydney in the year 1854, in the ship Palmyra. Twenty-four of these emigrants were Press compositors, who emigrated under a two years engagement with the Hon. Henry (now Sir Henry) Parkes, who was then the proprietor of the Sydney Empire newspaper, and received wages at the rate of ,4 a week per man. The other emigrants were not classified according to trade or calling, but the recoi'ds in the Government Office, Madras, give their names and some information as to their degrees of destitution. Sir William Burton's Committee took upon themselves apparently to supply the emigrants with an outfit, for the remarks column is filled with ex- planations like the following : " to be sxipplied in full," " partly supplied," " will supply himself," " very destitute, to be supplied in full with extra clothing." The majority of the emigrants indeed had to be supplied in full. Over a dozen of the emigrants were lads brought up at the Military Orphan Asylum at Madras, and were supplied by the Asylum with everything except a hammock, bed, etc. Only five females were sent in the Palmyra; four were wives who accompanied their husbands, and one was a daughter of one of the compositors. In July 1875, the Madras Government, being desirous of ascertaining how the emigrants succeeded in Australia, addressed the follow- ing letter to the Colonial Secretary of New South Wales : " In or about the month of August 1854, under a movement organized by the late Sir William Burton, then a Judge of the Supreme Court of Madras, 124 East Indians, as per accompanying list, emigrated to Sydney in the ship Palmyra. It would be interesting to know whether these emigrants, generally, succeed- 270 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xvm. ed in establishing themselves in respectable situations, and whether there is room in the Colony for further batches of the same class. It is observed that twenty-four of them were Press Compositors ; the others are believed to have been journeymen in various trades, shoemaking, tailoring, &c. Any information on these two points which can be readily obtained from your Munici- pal or Police authorities would be esteemed a favor by His Excellency in Council." On the 25th September last, the Colonial Secretary forwarded the following report to the Madras Government : From E. .Fosbery, Esq., Inspector-General of Police, to the Principal Under Secretary, Sydney, dated Sydney, 21st September 1878. Inquiries have been made respecting the immigrants by the ship Palmyra, referred to in the attached paper, with the following result, viz. : James Spooner at present in the employ of Messrs. Towns and Company, Sydney. H. Morean is keeping a Hair- dresser's Shop on the New Town Road. William Grogan, James Dias, and John L. Getting are now employed at Cunningham's Printing Office in Pitt Street. Thomas Reynolds and James Baker are employed in the Brisbane Courier Office, Queensland. Benjamin Franz, John Hovenden, and Thomas E. P. Martin died some years ago, the two former in Sydney, the latter near Maitland. William Collins, Thomas Beare, Thomas Paul, John F. D'Costa, Baptist D'Costa, John H. Goolamier, Charles R. Star, William Evans, Henry W. Simmons, and John Larkins returned to Madras. Edward Franz, Thomas Philbert, and George Moncrieffe returned to Calcutta where Moncrieffe subsequently died. Henry F. Lefevre, Thomas DeSellas, Michael Rebeiro and a number of others whose names cannot be ascertained are also said to have returned to India, probably Madras or Calcutta. Nothing definite can be ascertained respecting the other immigrants who remained in this Colony, but it is supposed that many of them went into the interior, including the present Colony of Queensland, and have been lost sight of. P. S. I should think it advisable to encourage further immi- gration of a similar class. E. F. This report is sufficiently encouraging to make the Government consider the desirability of re-opening some system of emigration for the poorer classes of Eurasians. The men who emigrated in 1854 were generally well satisfied with the wages they received in the Colony, and saved money, but they felt the absence from their friends and relatives, which was the chief cause of their return to India. The mistake made in connection with the emigra- tion of 1851 was in not sending more females. If the men CHAP, xvin.] UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. 271 had been married, they would probably have settled in the colonies. Seeing what a demand there is for needle-women and domestic servants, efforts should be made in any future scheme of emigration to encourage East Indian females to accompany their male relatives. Young married couples, the men being good mechanics, or willing and able to undertake manual labour, and single women capable of undertaking the work of domestic service, as nurses, housemaids, etc., would be the most acceptable emigrants in the colonies. It can only be a question of a few years when there will be a considerable commerce developed between India and Australia. At present India receives from Australia little else but coal, horses, jarrah-wood and copper, with occasional small consignments of flour, preserved fruits and meats, and wines ; while Indian exports to Australia are limited to a small quantity of rice, jute-fibre, gunny-bags, and castor oil. There ought to be a large field for Indian tea and coffee in Australia, and I am glad to find that the attention of the Indian Government has been directed to the necessity of securing a market for these products in the colonies. Mr. O'Connor, Assistant Secretary in the Department of Revenue, Agriculture and Commerce, at Calcutta, in his review of the trade of India for 1877-8 remarks : " Tea now occupies a very prominent place in the list of exports from India, and there is every reason to expect that if planters pay attention to the quality of their outturn the demand and tlie quantity exported will steadily increase year after year. It is to be regretted that no real effort has as yet been made to compete with Chinese tea in the Australian market. I find from the returns of the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs that China has for some years past been sending regu- larly to Australia steadily increasing quantities of tea, amount- ing now to about fifteen million pounds per annum. Such a trade as this little less than half our present total trade is well worth securing for India, and the absence of enterprise in this direction would be surprising if one did not know how conservative trade is, how difficult it is to get it to strike out a new channel, how it passively resists inducements to leave already worn tracks. Probably those interested in Indian tea 272 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xvm. have not yet found the need of another market than the one open to them in London which absorbs all they now make. Yet, seeing that prices in 1878 ruled on the whole so low as to give rise to loud complaints and recriminations between planters and brokers, seeing also that the cultivation is rapidly extend- ing, the Indian planter would act judiciously if he made efforts to establish his teas in the Colonial markets, containing as they do a large and comfortable population with a capacity for the purchase and consumption of tea much greater, by reason of their generally greater well-being, than that of an equal population in the United Kingdom. I have already made this suggestion in a previous review of trade and elsewhere, but it is one which admits of repetition as it is certain that its adoption would have a very material influence on the tea trade generally and on the extension of cultivation in the valley of Assam and the adjacent districts. The exhibition to be held at Sydney next August and that of Melbourne to be held in October 1880 offer excellent opportunities for the initiation of this enterprise on a fitting scale. At these exhibitions Indian teas would com- pete with those of China with all the prestige attaching to them from the high awards conferred on the samples exhibited at Paris last year. It would probably be a good plan for a considerable number of persons interested in the trade to sub- scribe proportionately for the payment of the expenses of some trustworthy and competent delegate to represent the tea indus- try at these exhibitions, and to push the trade among the Colonists." The Torres Straits route is admirably adapted for promoting trade between India and Australia, and the Eastern and Australian Mail Steam Company, Limited, seems likely to have a useful career before it, having struck out this new route between Australia and Europe, on the one hand, and Australia, China and India on the other. A glance at the map will show what a comparatively short sea journey it is between Singa- pore and the Northern and Eastern parts of Austra- lia, and how convenient, therefore, it will be for Australia to trade direct between China and India, instead of through the medium of the mother country. Already tea is imported into the Colonies direct from China, and the day can hardly be far distant when Australian woollen fabrics and bread-stuffs will be at the disposal of the Indian and China markets. The following time-table of the Eastern and Australian Mail Steam Company not only indicates the CHAP, xviii.j UNDER THE SOUTHEEN CROSS. 273 route followed by the Company's steamers, but shows the average time occupied between the various ports : Singapore to Batavia 2 days. Batavia to Sourafeaya 1 Sourabaya to Somerset 7 Somerset to Townsville 4 Townsville to Bowen i Bowen to Keppel Bay 2 Keppel Bay to Brisbane 1 Brisbane to Sydney 3 Sydney to Melbourne . 2 22 days. We have been assured however that the passage is fre- quently made in 19 days. Considering that the P. and 0. Steamers take about 20 days to run from Galle to Melbourne, it is obvious that, for Queensland, the new route has advantages over the old one. The Eastern and Austra- lian Mail Company possess several fine steamers, of from 1,200 to 1,800 tons, which run regularly from Singapore to Sydney, in correspondence with those of the Messageries Maritimes from Marseilles, the Holt Line from Liverpool, and the " Glen," " Castle" and " China" Lines from Lon- don. Thus a passenger desiring to proceed from England to Australia has a choice of three lines of steamers running direct from London to Singapore, where he may join the mail steamer proceeding to Queensland. From Liverpool he would proceed direct to Singapore by one of the Holt steamers, and from Marseilles by one of the ' Messageries.' The steamers on all these lines are good boats, noted for their speed, sea-going qualities, and passenger accommoda- tion. The rates of passage-money are as follows : From Marseilles to Brisbane. Sydney. Melbourne. Single fare Married couple, reserved cabin From London Single fare Married couple From Liverpool Single fare Married couple For people proceeding from India to Australia by the Singapore route, it may be mentioned that single fares from 35 84 .210 88 .220 90 225 80 .200 85 213 87 218 80 .200 85 213 87 218 274 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xvni. Singapore are as follows : to Brisbane <30, to Sydney ,35, to Melbourne <40. The passage-money by Holt's, the Glen, Castle and China Lines does not include charges for beer, wine and spirits, which can be procured, however, on board ; but on the Messageries boats all liquors are provided as far as Singapore. On all the steamers, first class passengers are allowed 3 cwts. of luggage free of freight. The charge for conveying extra luggage between London and Australia is 22s. per cwt. The Company is subsidised by the Queens- land Government, and has already secured the Colonies one additional European Mail per month, the other two arriving via Galle and San Francisco respectively. After leaving Singapore, the route taken by the Eastern and Australian Mail steamers is one of novel and peculiar interest, skirting as it does the beautiful islands of Sumatra and Java, penetrating the very centre of the Malay Archi- pelago, and bordering the picturesque North East coast of Australia. The navigation of this coast was, till recently, somewhat intricate and dangerous, but the Queensland Government has been to the expense of making marine surveys which will enable navigators to steer round the Colony's extensive coast with as much confidence as they now do down the Red Sea. A few particulars of the route between Singapore and Brisbane will not be out of place. Passing out from the harbour at Singapore, the steamer makes for the Straits of Rhio. The town of that name was established by the Dutch soon after the settlement of Singapore, and was intended by them to neutralise the influence of the latter port. The place, however, has never made much progress, and its staple products, gambier and pepper, find their way to Singapore. After passing Rhio, the island of Banca, the chief source of the tin supplies of Netherlands India, comes in sight. This island was occupied by the English in 1811, but was restored to Holland in 1816. Its production of tin is about 4,500 tons a year, and the ore is worked by Chinese, who emigrate to the island under contract to work the CHAP. xvni. j UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 275 mines. In clear weather the Sumatra coast is plainly visi- ble, and the steamer passes near the islands of Billitou and Lucepara. At. the entrance to the Java sea, the pictures- que little Archipelago known as the Thousand Islands is sighted, and almost immediately afterwai-ds the roads of Batavia come in view. The chief city of Netherlands India was founded by the Dutch so long ago as 1619, and it has re- mained in their undisturbed possession, excepting for a short period from 1811 to 1816, when it was occupied by England. The city is many miles in extent, and has some handsome boulevards, through the centre of which run the everlast- ing canals, the idea of which the Dutch transported from Europe. There is a large European population resident here, for the Dutch, unlike the English in India, have made Java a home, and it is not an uncommon thing to find persons of pure Dutch parentage who have never seen Europe. A passenger by steamer is hardly likely to have time to visit the interior of Java, which is well worth seeing. The ancient temples are described by Sir Stamford Raffles as wonderful works, and in his opinion the amount of human labour expended on the great pyramids of Egypt sinks into insignificance when compared with that required to complete the sculptured hill-temples in the interior of Java. Buitenzorg, the Ootacamund of Java, is said to be also well worth a visit. There is a botanical garden here which is the finest in the world. Along the coast of Java there is some very fine scenery, the mountains rising from ten to twelve thousand feet, and being covered with luxuriant vegetation. The principal towns along the coast are Cheri- bon, Tagal, Samarang and Sourabaya, where there is a large trade in rice, sugar, coffee and tobacco. At the extreme eastern end of Java, the steamer's route lies through the Straits of Bali or Lambok. These Straits are declared by Mr. Wallace, the author of that most readable book the " Malay Archipelago," to be the geological boundary be- tween Asia and Australia. They are only fifteen miles wide, yet in the island of Bali, on one side, we have all the pecu- 276 UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. [CHAP. xvur. liarities of vegetable and animal life characteristic of Asia, while in Lambok, on the other side, the animals and birds distinctive of Asia are lost sight of, and cockatoos, honey-suckers, and brush-turkeys, all unknown to Asia, make their first appearance. In Mr. Wallace's opinion, the islands of Sumatra, Java and Borneo were all included in the continent of Asia at a comparatively recent geolo- gical period. According to the season, the steamers pass on the northern or southern side of a long and interesting chain of islands, among them Sumbawa, celebrated for an ex- cellent breed of small horses ; Floris, famous for its sapan- wood and woolly-headed inhabitants (Papuans) ; and Timor, a Portuguese settlement where the vegetation becomes of a character peculiar to Northern Australia. Here palms are rare, and the fruits of Singapore and Java are unknown. Coffee, however, of a superior quality is grown here, and the island is said to be capable of considerable development. Passing Rotti, an island in the south-western extremity of the Timor group, a rapid change takes place in the soundings of the ocean. From the time that the Straits of Bali are cleared, the soundings, which in the Java sea average about 30 fathoms, suddenly deepen to 200, increasing as the easterly course is made, till they reach 2,000 fathoms off Sumba island. As the continent of Australia is neared the soundings lessen again to 20 fathoms off Cape York. Port Darwin, the northernmost settlement in Austra- lia, is the first Australian port touched in the voyage from Singapore. Gold has been discovered here as well as in other parts of Australia, and one of the Netherlands India Company's steamers, running between Batavia and Adelaide, recently carried over 4,000 ounces of gold from Port Darwin to Melbourne. Crossing the Gulf of Carpentaria, the steamer steers through the Torres Straits for the northernmost point of Queensland, a port called Somerset, which can boast of a fine harbour. Only eighty CHAP, xvin.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 277 miles to the north of Somerset lies the great island of New Guinea, almost connected with Australia by a series of coral reefs. This famous island, the home of the bird of paradise, is over 1,400 miles long, by 400 in breadth, and is said to abound with magnificent forests thronged with birds of varied plumage. Little is known as yet of the interior, but geological and other proof tends strongly to show that it formerly belonged to the great Australian continent, of which Mr. Wallace speaks. The evidence in regard to the fauna is strongly in favour of Mr. Wallace's theory, but the geological evidence is even stronger. It is declared that an elevation of land to the height of 60 feet would unite New Guinea and Australia again ; while an elevation of 300 feet would define the line of coast as it existed geological ages ago, when the outer walls of what is known as the great Barrier Reef formed the eastern shores of the great southern continent. No wonder that the Australians look upon the island as be- longing to them by right of natural boundary. It is difficult to see, however, even if the island were annexed, as is frequently threatened, what they would do with it. It is worthy of remark that experienced colonial geologists declare that the mineral wealth of New Guinea is probably quite equal to that of Northern Queensland, which is only eighty miles distant, and where gold is found in abundance. Leaving Somerset, the steamer bears round the eastern coast of Queensland, passing the ports of Cooktown, situated on the Endeavour River, at a spot where the great navi- gator lauded over a hundred years ago. Cooktown, which only sprung into existence four or five years ago, after the discovery of the rich Palmer gold fields, is now described as a "thriving settlement," with the various banking institutions of the Colonies represented there, with two newspapers, and a population of 3,000 Europeans and 5,000 Chinese. In no other country in the world, perhaps, could one witness such a sudden transformation as is here depicted. Little could Captain Cook have imagined that the wild, 278 UNDEE THE SOUTHERN CROSS. L CHAP. xvm. uninhabited spot where he rested to repair his ship, was so overflowing with the precious metal, that, a century hence, a few hundreds of his countrymen would, in the short space of nine months, extract gold from a river bed close by to the value of %d., 5d. and 6d. per Ib., both beef and mutton ; milk 6d. per quart ; potatoes 4s. to 10s. a cwt., according to the sea- son of the year, the latter price being exceptional ; Bass' beer 12s. a doz. ; butter Is. 6d. to 2s. per Ib. in winter; Is. to Is. 3d. per Ib. in summer ; cheese Is. per Ib. ; eggs Is. to 3s. a doz., according to season ; servants' wages 7s. to 10s. a week, with board and lodging ; cooks 12s. to 15s. a week. In town, a man servant in your house gets about ! a week, with board and lodging ; living out of the house he will get 35s. In the country, a farm labourer gets .35 per annum, and his food ; a man and his wife 60 to .70 per annum. Governesses, well educated, and who will teach to the matriculation standard, with music, drawing and French, may be had from ,30 to <50 a year, the latter sum being sufficient to secure the services of a lady who may hold the degree of Associate in Arts. One reason why governesses are so cheap is that they are so plentiful. Marriageable young men are very scarce, as so many of them seek their livelihood in the other colonies. As regards house-rent, in the suburbs a cottage with four rooms, sitting room, dining room, 288 UNDEK THE SOUTHERN CEOSS. [CHAP. xix. and two bed rooms, with an attic, kitchen, godown, coach-house, and one stall stable, with about half an acre of ground laid down with fruit trees, may be had for ,40 a year, including all taxes. In town, a house with from 12 to 14 rooms will average from 80 to ,100 for rent and taxes. After an experience of about three years in Tas- mania, our military settler gives the following concise summary of the advantages and disadvantages connected with the colony : "You say you are coming to Tasmania with the view of ultimately settling, and you might wish to know the truth for and against the country. For the country. 1st. The climate is as good as one can wish for. 2nd. The land is mostly fertile, and for food you can grow nearly all you require. Cleared land runs from .5 to .12 an acre, according to position, and how clear- ed. I have purchased a small property of 62 acres, very well cleared, watered, and in good position, close to a railway station, and having also a good road to Launces- tou. I paid ,700 for it, and since it has cost me between 200 and .300 to repair its buildings and fences, and I have not done yet. I have on it 70 sheep and lambs, 3 cows and 2 young cattle, 3 horses, pigs, fowls, etc., so that we have our own meat, butter, eggs, pork, vegetables and flour. We have also a quarter cask of good vinegar, home made, very excellent ; also a quarter cask of wine, from last year's fruit, nearly ready for use. All these, with only a limited income and a large family of children, are great comforts to us, and help to support us. The above will give you a sort of idea of things in one way ; but only by great individual industry and perseverance on the part of myself and my wife and children, have we been able thus to succeed. If you pay your own passage here and your family's, you get a grant of wilderness CHAP, xix.] UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 289 land, which you are allowed to select for yourself ; but good land now, except far back, is very difficult to find. You must produce your receipt for your passage money being duly paid, both to Melbourne and from thence here, when applying for your land, which is your own after a residence of five years in the country. You get for yourself 30 acres, wife 20, and every child 10, and the land is valued at P fi || Total. v 3 & > i 02 g <3 ^4 * 1838 10,189 3 571 3,143 115 _ 14,021 1839 8,455 1,161 328 4,856 268 15,786 1840 7,648 3,473 299 2,748 224 1,458 15,850 1841 17,492 9,894 806 175 357 3,901 32,625 1842 1,450 864 2,448 145 563 3,064 8,531 1843 2,439 627 24 45 343 3,478 1844 1,179 934 1 47 68 2,229 1845 73 423 20 300 14 830 1846 36 81 2,224 6 2,347 1847 726 387 8 3,512 316 4,949 1848 7,622 7,399 218 7,852 62 751 23,904 1849 8,403 10,562 535 10,855 11 1,825 32,191 1850 3,661 4,682 270 5,103 316 2,005 16,037 1851 4,508 6,212 800 7,048 287 2,677 21,532 1852 12,736 63,719 1,417 7,552 739 1,718 87,881 1853 10,673 40,469 991 6,883 965 1,420 61,401 1854 14,647 51,291 4,312 11,457 480 1,050 83,237 1855 14,050 21,072 3,457 11,333 96 2,301 52,309 1856 9,810 24,314 1,815 4,512 129 4,004 44,584 1857 10,379 40,921 2,113 3,646 382 3,807 61,248 1858 7,214 21,666 306 3,982 255 5,872 39,295 1859 5,439 14,030 931 1,556 499 8,558 31,013 1860 3,671 303 12,979 483 1,245 379 5,242 24,302 1861 1,626 2,480 14,256 258 422 141 4,555 23,738 1862 4,100 8,575 15,353 387 1,365 623 11,440 41,843 1863 6,379 10,339 20,261 38 1,898 220 13,919 53,054 1864 4,689 7,183 13,909 50 2,842 299 11,970 40,942 1865 2,623 12,551 9,713 40 5,145 174 7,037 37,283 1866 1,648 6,054 8,531 ' 3,392 167 4,298 24,097 1867 1,318 454 7,898 25 624 163 3,984 14,466 1868 1,318 685 6,566 18 351 168 3,703 12,809 1869 796 2,318 8,649 315 161 26 2,636 14,901 1870 1,043 2,593 9,103 27 311 56 3,932 17,065 1871 966 1,315 6,570 11 381 36 2,948 12,227 1872 1,102 2,380 5,269 196 281 32 6,616 15.876 1873 941 5,689 5,680 713 1,544 30 11,651 26,428 1874 1,579 8,382 5,233 13 1,958 99 36,704 53,958 1875 2,15' 5,482 5,673 1 2,819 629 18,763 35,525 Total, \ 38 V 194,78, years. J 76,783 479,877 24,353 122,713 8,990 194,556 1,102,897 336 APPENDIX. LAND REGULATIONS. THE following information, relating to the regulations and conditions under which land can be purchased or settled upon in Australia and New Zealand will be found useful to the intending emigrant, and also to persons in the Colonies who may be desirous of taking up land. In the main, it may be considered as a very brief epitome of the Land Act of each Colony. NEW SOUTH WALES. The sale and settlement of land are still governed by the Acts No. 1 and 2 of Victoria, 1861, with an amending Land Act which became law in August 1875. This Act legalizes the selection of land by minors up to the date of its coming into force, and thereafter restricts it to persons of sixteen years of age and upwards. It also contains powers to prevent dummyism, and gives concessions to Crown lessees by making additional provisions for selling their improved lands, which it exempts from free selection where the improvements are worth more than 40, or 20 shillings per acre. The first Act affects the sale of lands. By it, after provision has been made for the reservation of suitable sites for devotional, recreational, social, and defence purposes, it enacts that all land belonging to the Crown shall be sold either by conditional sale or without competition. The Crown lands are divided into four classes, viz. : " Town lands," being those in or set apart as a site for any city, town, or village ; " Suburban lands" (declared in the Government Gazette to be such) : " First-Class Settled Districts," and " Second-Class Settled Districts." Town lands and suburban lands, without improvements, are sold by public auction only, at upset prices of not less than 8 per acre for the former, and ,'2 for the latter ; the upset price of other Crown lands intended to be sold, without conditions of residence and improvements, being not less than 1 per acre. If no sale be effected at the first auction, the lands APPENDIX. 337 may again be put up to auction, and, with the exception of towa and suburban lands, may in the interim be purchased at the upset price, if not previously withdrawn from sale by the Government. One-fourth of the purchase-money has to be paid at the time of sale, and the remainder within three months. By the plan of " conditional sale," any one (above 16 years of age) may, on certain notified days (which is one fixed day in the week), make to the Land Agent of the district a written application for the conditional purchase of not less than 40, nor more than 640 acres, accompanied by a deposit of one-fourth of the purchase-money at JB1 per acre. He will then be declared the conditional purchaser, unless there be more than one application for the same land, or any part of it, in which case the successful candidate is to be determined by lot. The lands to be selected under this system must, however, not be the Town or Suburban lands, nor within a proclaimed gold field, unless unoccupied for gold mining purposes, and must not be within certain distances of towns or villages, varying from 2 to 10 miles, according to the population of the place, nor reserved for town sites or other public purposes. At the expiration of three years and three months, the purchaser has the option of paying the balance of the purchase- money and receiving a conveyance in fee, or of paying by instal- ments of not less than one shilling per acre, or of deferring the payment indefinitely, by paying interest at the rate of 5 per cent, per annum on the amount, within three months after the 1st of January in each year. The purchaser, however, must in either case prove to the satisfaction of the Minister of Public Lands, and make a declaration to the effect, that he has made improvements to the extent and value required by the Act, viz., equal to 1 per acre, that he has bond, fide resided continuously, either by himself or his alienees, on the land, and that he has not alienated it until after, at least, one year's bon&fide residence thereon. After the conditions of residence and improvements are fulfilled further areas of 640 acres may be selected, and adjoining land to the extent of three times the area of the original purchase can b3 taken up by the free selector at an annual rental of 2 for each section of 640 acres. There are certain minor provisions for effecting conditional purchase, under mining conditions (other than gold mining), when the price is to be 40s. an acre, and for determining values and matters in dispute by appraisement and arbitration. In 1873, the total quantity of land sold was 916,420 acres, being an increase of 469,100 acres ou the area alienated in 1871. 43 338 APPENDIX. The amount realised, inclusive of the deposits of 25 per cent, on the land conditionally sold (749,586 acres) was 432,373. In 1874 the area of land taken up by selectors was 1,586,282 acres, the land sold was 702,758 acres, realizing 735,766 12s. Od. The land selected during 1875 was 1,756,000 acres, the land sold was about 1,100,000, the receipts for which were 1,186,872 10s. lOd. VICTOBIA. The disposal of Crown lands in Victoria is regulated by an Act passed on December 29th, 1869, which came into force February 1st, 1870. It is to expire on December 31st, 1880. A Bill to amend this Act was before the Parliament during the Session of 1875, but it lapsed through the change of Ministry. The Ministry of Mr. Graham Berry, recently introduced some modifications in the Land Act. The principal features in the existing Act, which is divided into seven parts, are as follows : Part I. consists of preliminary matter, repealing previous Acts, and providing for the reservation from sale of suitable plots for ecclesiastical, recreational, sanitary, and public purposes generally. Part II. treats of the disposal, or, as it is technically termed, the " alienation" of Crown lands. These unoccupied lands, whe- ther surveyed or not, can be obtained either by license or lease. The mode of application is as follows : The Land Officer of the district is applied to, and the fee for one-half year's occupation deposited with him, the land having previously been marked out and properly surveyed ; a license is then issued by authority of the Governor for the occupation of any Crown lands not exceeding 320 acres, for a period of three years, at a fee of 2s. per annum for each acre, subject to the following conditions : (1) That the fee is paid half-yearly in advance ; (2) the licensee shall not assign, except by will (sect. 28), or sublet the land ; (3) that he will enclose the land with a substantial fence within two years, and cultivate every year at least one acre out of ten ; (4) that the license shall be annulled in case of non-payment of fees ; or of breach of conditions, or in case the licensee shall not, within six months after the issue of the license, enter upon and thenceforward continuously occupy the allotment by personal residence thereon; or in any case he APPENDIX. 339 shall not make substantial improvements to the value of 1 per acre, before the end of the third year from the commencement of the license. If the licensee fulfil these conditions, he is entitled, within thirty days after the three years from the commencement of the license, to obtain a Crown grant upon payment of 14s. an acre ; or, if he prefer it, a lease of the allotment for seven years, at a rental of 2s. a.n acre, payable half-yearly in advance, with the usual covenants for the payment of rent and for re-entry on non-pay- ment. Upon payment of the last sum due as rent, or at any time upon payment of the difference between the amount of rent actually paid and 1 per acre, the kssee is entitled to a grant in fee of the land. The license, or lease, does not confer the right to search for or take minerals. If a license is required of unsurveyed lands, the applicant must mark out and describe the boundaries of the allotment. Such boundaries are liable to adjustment by the authorities at any time during the continuance of the license. Crown lands can also be purchased outright, sales by public auction taking place once or oftener in every quarter ; the upset price being not less than 20s. an acre. Purchasers are required to pay at the auction 50 per cent, of the price, and the remainder, on pain of forfeiting the deposit, within a month. If the land put up to auction at more than 1 per acre be not sold, it may, provided it is not situated within the boundaries of any town or village, be put up again at a reduced price, but not less than 1 per acre, and until it is directed to be so put up, may be purchased by any one at the upset price, or at the highest price bid at the previous auction. Part III. relates to leases and licenses for other than agricul- tural or pastoral purposes ; such as the obtaining and removing of guano, for sites of mills, manufactories, &c., the digging of gravel, sand, and other material, and the cutting and felling of timber, &c. Part IV. relates to commons ; Part V. to pastoral licenses ; Part VI. to trespasses and penalties ; and Part VII. to miscel- laneous details, which are of interest chiefly to persons in the colony. The average price of country land sold in Victoria up to the present time has been about 1 2s. lOd, per acre, The 340 APPENDIX. highest average was previous to the Land Act of 1860, which was 1 9s. per acre. The lowest was under the Laud Act of 1862, when the realized price was 16s. 4id. per acre. Up to December 31st, 1876, 6,635,832 acres of land had been sold by auction, and 11,405,095 acres had been free selected, making a total of 18,040,927 acres; of this area about 750,000 acres have reverted to the crown. At the end of 1876 there were still unalienated 12,994,820 acres. The sales during 1876 were : Town land 822 acres 1 rd. 31 p. realising 55,332 19s. 2d. an average of 67 6s. 3d. per acre ; Suburban laud 1,808 acres 2r. 18 p. realizing 7,901 17s. 4d. an average of 4 7s. 4d. per acre ; Country land 147,997 acres 1 r. 35 p. realizing 192,775 9s. lOd. an average of 1 6s. Od. per acre. SOUTH AUSTRALIA. The principal provisions of the Land Bill regulating the disposal of Land in the colony became law in August, 1872. The leading features of the Land Bill introduced in August, 1871, are retained in the present measure- Lands are divided into Country, Town, Suburban, Improved, and Reclaimed lands. Country lands are, however, principally dealt with by this Bill. The agricultural area system is done away with, but lands will not be open for selection till they are surveyed. All country lands, after survey, are to be open for selection on credit at not less than 1, and not more that 2 per acre. When the upset price which is to be fixed by the Govern- ment is more than 1 per acre (for country lands it is not to exceed 2), the land, if not taken up at that price, is to be reduced every seven days by not more than 5s., and not less than 2s. 6d. per acre until it comes down to 1, unless previously taken up. A person taking up land on credit has to deposit with the Commissioners 10 per cent, of the purchase-money, which will be accepted as interest in advance for three years. At the end of that period an additional 10 per cent, will have to be paid, which will be taken as interest for the next three years. Then at the end of six years, if he has fulfilled all the required conditions, he will be able to obtain the fee-simple of his land on payment of the principal. Should he require further credit, he may, on paying half the amount of the purchase-money, obtain credit for four years for the other half on paying 4 per cent, per annum interest on the amount. The selector on credit is limited to 640 acres, but if the blocks he selects should in the aggregate amount to more APPENDIX. 341 than 640 acres and be under 700 acres, lie will be permitted to pay cash for the excess. If, however, he apply for more than 700 acres, his application will be cancelled and the deposit be for- feited. If there should be simultaneous applications for the same block or blocks, it or they will be put up to auction among the applicants, and the highest bidder will obtain the land. In such a case as this, however, the applicant who undertakes to reside personally upon the land will have the preference over the non- resident. The conditions which the selector binds himself to fulfil, require residence, either personally or by substitute, on the land during nine months in every year until the purchase-money is paid ; the selector must make improvements on the land before the end of the second year to the value of 5s. per acre, before the end of the third year 7s. 6d. per acre, and before the end of the fourth year 10s. per acre; such improvements to consist of dwelling- houses or farm buildings, wells, water-tanks, or reservoirs, fencing, draining, or clearing the land, the fences to be substantial and capable of resisting the trespass of great cattle. The pur- chaser must plough and have under cultivation during every year until the purchase-money is paid one-fifth of the land ; should he not during the first year cultivate one-fifth he must cultivate two- fifths during the second year. All improvements are to be subject to the inspection and valuation of a Government officer. The purchaser will be prohibited from transferring or assigning his land until the whole of the purchase-money is paid, unless with the consent of the Governor in Council. Any breach of these conditions will be regarded as a fraud under the Act, and will involve the forfeiture of the land. The personal resident who has made the necessary improvements and fulfilled all the conditions of his agreement, will be permitted to pay the purchase-money and obtain the fee-simple at the end of five years : the selector, however, who occupied by substitute cannot obtain the fee-simple under six years. These are the general terms on which land may be taken, if on credit in the first instance. The Act also provides that town or township and suburban lands shall be sold by auction for cash, and not on credit, at prices to be fixed by the Governor in Council, such prices in no case to be less than .1 per acre. The purchase-money of lands sold at auction to be paid one- fifth in cash, at the time of sale, and the remainder within one calendar month afterwards, on pain of forfeiture of the deposit and annulment of the sale. 342 APPENDIX. As regards lands that Lave passed the hammer, and lands that have been offered at auction and not sold after having been open for selection, it is provided by the Act that they may be sold for cash or credit by private contract at prices not less than the upset price before fixed upon. Lands which under this Bill have been open for selection for one year and remain unselected may be offered at auction at an upset price of .1 per acre. Such lands, after having been open for selection and not sold, or offered at auction and not sold, and all other lands that for five years have been open to the public and not sold, may be offered in blocks of not more than 3,000 acres, on lease for ten years, at an annual rental of not less than 6d. an acre, with the right of purchase at any time during the currency of the lease at 20s. per acre, such leases to be offered at auction and sold to the highest bidder. Before, however, any such blocks can be sold, particulars concern- ing them must be laid before Parliament for thirty days. During the Session of 1877, a new Bill repealing some thirty- three Acts was introduced. It is entitled the Consolidated Land Bill, and has for its object the simplification and codification of the numerous regulations affecting the disposal of Crown Lands, and also introduces some new arrangements for the taking up of land. As, for instance, the increase of area tenable by one selec- tor to 1,380 acres ; the mode of deciding between simultaneous applications, which is to be by bidding for choice, special preference being given to personal residents; and the terms of payment, liberty being given to the selector to pay off at any time during his term of credit in sums of not less than .100, an amount equal to one-half the purchase- money. Up to the year 1875, 6,285,652 acres of land had been sold in the colony, the price realized being 8,720,735. During the year 1865 the largest sales took place, 316,585 acres being dis- posed of for the sum of 510,540 3s. The smallest sales were in 1843, when only 598 acres were alienated at the price of 613 13s. At the end of 1875 there remained for disposal, exclusive of the Northern Territory, 238,676,400 acres. The average price of Crown lands sold during 1871 was 1 5s. 4d. ; during 1872, 1 4s. 2Jd. ; and in 1875, 1 4s. 7d. During the year 1875 the total area of Crown lands sold on cash and credit was 686,050 acres, the amount realized being 175,067, and 764,140 being due at the end of the term, for which credit was given. APPENDIX. 343 NORTHERN TERRITORY. By Letters Patent, dated 6th July, 1863, so much of the colony of New South Wales as lay to the North of the 26 S. lat., and between 129 and 138 E. long., was annexed to South Australia. The Eastern boundary line cuts the coast near the mouth of the Wentworth river, on the western shore of the Gulf of Carpentaria, and the western boundary line cuts the coasts near Cape Domett on the Cambridge Gulf. The regula- tions affecting the disposal of lands are governed by the Nor- thern Territory Act, which enacts that A " Government Eesident" and other necessary officers are to be appointed by the Governor. Such " Government Resident" to perform all duties assigned to him by the Governor. That 500,000 acres of country land in lots of 160 acres each, and 1,562 town lots of about half an acre each, may be sold by private contract at fixed prices ; that 125,000 acres of country lands, and 781 town lots shall be sold in London, and the like quantity in Adelaide at 7s. 6d. per acre. If the whole 250,000 acres be not sold within twenty-eight days after the opening of the sale at each place, the unsold portions, and the remaining 250,000 acres, are to be sold at 12s. an acre. Land orders are to be issued to the purchasers, entitling them or their nominees to select within five years their lands out of any surveyed lands in the territory. No person is to select more than one town lot for every 160 acres he may purchase out of the first 250,000 acres of country land. And no person can purchase any part of the 500,000 acres in less quantities than 160 acres. After the sale of the whole of the 500,000 acres and of the 1,562 town lots, all sales of waste lands must be effected under Act No. 5, of 1857 (repealed for the most part by No. 18, of 1871). The lowest upset price of town lots is then to be 1. All moneys received in respect of the new territory, from land, customs' duties, or any other source, are to be kept distinct, and applied towards governing and improving the territory, less 10 per cent, to be carried to the credit of the general revenue of the province. " The Northern Townships' Act, 1872," empowers the Gover- nor in Council to make reserves for the use of the Aborigines, of institutions for public instruction, or public buildings not being intended for ecclesiastical purposes, for military defence, roads, i ail ways, or any other public purpose. Also to set apart by 344 APPENDIX. gazette notice, and to sell at auction at prices to be fixed by him at not lower than 1 per acre, township and suburban lands lying beyond the 26th degree of south latitude, and outside of the limits described in the " Waste Lands Alienation Act, No. 18, of 1872." Twenty per cent, of the purchase-money is to be paid down at the time of sale, and the remainder within one calendar month. " The Northern Territory Land Act," Act No. 28, of 1872, applies exclusively to that territory. It is divided into ten parts, the first of which repeals the 8th, 9th, llth, and part of the 14th sections of the Northern Territory Act, No. 23, of 1863, and all regulations made thereunder, and excludes the operation of twenty-four other Acts relating to the colony of South Australia proper. Part II. provides for the survey of all waste lands, in sections not exceeding 640 acres before they are granted in fee-simple, the reserval of sites for public purposes, and directs all moneys received under the Act to be applied for the special benefit of the territory. Part III. provides for the selection and sale of country lands on credit at 7s. 6d. per acre, of which 6d. per acre is to be paid at the time of applying for the land. If more than one person applies for the same land, the purchaser is to be determined by lot. The purchaser obtains a lease for ten years at an annual rental of 6i. per acre, payable in advance, and, in the lease, covenants, amongst other things, to pay before the expiration of the term the purchase-money of 7s. 6d. per acre, and within six months of the date of the lease, to erect and maintain boundary posts at the corners of the land. When the purchase-money is paid and the conditions of the lease fulfilled, a grant in fee-simple is issued. No person is allowed to hold on credit at any one time more than 1,280 acres, nor are persons under the age of 18, or married women, unless judicially separated from their husbands, allowed to purchase on credit. Part IV. provides for sales of country lands for cash by private contract, at the rate of not less than 7s. 6d. per acre. Purchasers may, by making an application in writing to the Com- missioners of Crown Lands, and a deposit for the cost of survey, obtain a special survey of 10,000 acres, which will be conveyed to them after survey, on payment of 7s. 6d. per acre, and the actual cost of survey. Townships and suburban lands are to be sold by auction for cash, and not upon credit. The Governor in Council is empower- APPENDIX. 345 ed to fix the upset price at which township, country, special country, or suburban lands respectively may be put up to auction, and to raise or lower such price, but so that in no case it be less than 7s. 6d. per acre. Twenty, per cent, of the purchase-money of any description of land sold at auction must be paid down, and the remainder within one calendar month of the sale. Part V. relates to gold and other mining. The annual fee for a " Miner's right" is 5s. Part VI. empowers the Government to grant leases for pastoral purposes for any period not exceeding twenty-five years without auction, at such rent and on such conditions as may be described by general regulations issued under the authority of the Act. Part VII. entitled any person applying for country lands for the purpose of raising rice, sugar, coffee, tea, indigo, tobacco, cotton, or any other merchantable tropical, or semi-tropical pro- duction, to select a block of not less than 320 nor more than 1,280 a"cres, at a rent of Qd. per acre, payable in advance, and to receive, under certain conditions, without further payment, a grant in fee- simple. This privilege was to expire on January 1st, 1876, and it is not, therefore, now in existence. The Governor in Council may grant for special public pur- poses, as wharves, water, gasworks, &c., leases not exceeding- twenty-one years, revocable by the Commissioners of Crown Lands, on six months' notice and payment of the value of the improve- ments. The rent in no case to be less than ,1 per acre. Parts VIII., IX., and X., relate to the appointment of sur- veyors, and the legal and other machinery for working the Act. QUEENSLAND. The laws under which the land i& disposed of are very liberal. Land is either leased for pastoral purposes, or pur- chased in fee simple. Leases of unoccupied land, in the outside or unsettled districts, of not less than twenty-five square miles, or more than one hundred, are granted for the period of twenty-one years, at a rental of five shillings a square mile for the first seven years, ten for the second, and fifteen for the third seven years. This lease will be either in whole or in part renewed, as the land is required or not, for sale in fee. Land is sold in fee in certain districts called the Settled Districts. 44 APPENDIX. The quantity of land allowed to be purchased by a single in- dividual, and the price to be paid, vary according to the position of the land itself. The Governor in Council has the power, within certain limits, of fixing the price and maximum quantity allowed in a particular district. In regulating this, he is to be guided by the quality of the land, its proximity to market or otherwise. The largest quantity the law allows in any case is 5.12O. This the Governor may reduce by proclamation to 640 acres. The lowest price the law allows is five shillings an acre, which the Governor may by proclamation increase. It is not expected that the price will in any case exceed fifteen shillings an acre. Pay- ment is to be made in ten annual instalments without interest added. The above refers to the purchase of country by condi- tional selection. By this is meant that the purchaser acquires the land which he wishes to purchase by making application for it. There is no auction. The conditions are a qualified residence, the making of certain improvements, and the cultivation of a small proportion of the land selected. If these conditions be complied with, three years after the selection of the land, the selector may, if he wishes, pay up all money and get a deed of the land, or he may wait till the end of the ten years. But to encourage settlement of industrious farmers the homestead Law has been passed. A farmer wishing to settle down permanently on a piece of land and live by it may make a homestead selection. In consideration of a condition of con- tinuous residence and cultivation, the homestead selector gets the land at a nominal price sixpence an acre per annum for five years. The largest quantity allowed to be taken in this way is 160 acres. Certain tracts of land supposed to be particularly suitable for homestead selection are by the law restricted to these alone. On such tracts of land the largest homestead selection allowed is 80 acres. Town and suburban lauds are offered for sale at public auc- tion from time to time. The law provides for setting apart portions of land for com- monage, water, town parks, &c., &c. WESTERN AUSTRALIA. The regulations under which land can now be purchased or settled upon were proclaimed on May 22nd, 1873 ; they cancel all previous regulations, but do not, of course, affect existing APPENDIX. 34? arrangements made by previous Land Acts. Exclusive of the schedules, these regulations comprise 138 clauses. Nos. 1 to 26 are principally introductory, and treat of the general administration of the regulations. Clauses Kos. 1 to 8 specify that all transactions in land shall be by sale ; they empower the Governor to make reserves for all public purposes, detail the mode of conveying the land to the pur- chaser, and fix the cost of each deed, which is to be the uniform sum of 20s. with a further fee of 10s. for recording the same j they provide for the appointment of a Commissioner of Crown Lands, and particularize his duties as to the proper preparation and execution of each deedj and state the time at which the purchaser is entitled to enter upon the land, viz., after payment of the purchase-money and fees, when he receives a permit of occupation, which is afterwards exchanged for the Crown grant, BO soon as it is prepared. Clauses 9 and 10 treat of the "antevesting of the legal estate,'* that is to say, the predating in special cases, of the Crown grants. Clauses 11 to 13 are occupied by the description of boundaries and plans and the statement that mistakes in grants are to be cor- rected at the erring official's expense, and specifying that in all cases the Surveyor's and Surveyor-General's names are to appear on all grants. Clauses 14 to 24 specify the means by which the correction or cancellation of erroneous drafts may be made, the method of registration of such amended grants, and the mode and effect of the cancellation of grants. Clauses 25 and 26 touch upon the charges and regulations for survey and administration, pro* vide that all proceeds of sale, less expenses, shall go to the public revenue, and give the Governor power to modify to some extent the usual procedure of sale, after due notice of such alteration has been given in the Government Gazette. Clauses 27 to 44 comprise particulars as to the classification of land and the conditions of sale and occupation. The Crown lands are divided into four separate classes Town, Suburban, Rural, and Mineral. Waste lands are to be sold at a price not less than 10s. an acre, and in lots of not less than forty acres, except local circumstances intervene, in which case the smaller lots are to be sold at such rates as the circumstances of each case shall, by the Governor in Council, be deemed expedient. Town and Suburban lands are to be sold by auction, the size and upset price being fixed by the Commissioner of Crown Lands. One-tenth of the purchase-money has to be paid at the time of 348 APPENDIX. sale, and the rest within thirty days from the date of sale. Be- sides the regular sales, land can at any time be put up to auction on the applicant depositing 10 per cent, of the upset price with the Receiver of Revenue, which deposit is considered as part of the purchase-money. Lands unsold at auction can be afterwards purchased privately at the upset price. Every application for the purchase of land has to be made on a specific form, for which a fee of 2s. 6d. is charged, which is afterwards allowed on completion of purchase. As before said, directly the purchase-money is paid, and the conditions complied with, the purchaser can occupy his land without waiting for the formal Crown grant, which is issued afterwards. Rural land is to be sold in sections of one block, rectangular shape, provided circumstances will allow it ; where they will not, any excess or deficiency of area will be charged or allowed for. The time and place of sale of any Crown lands are notified in the Government Gazette at least two calendar months next preced- ing the day or days of sale, and the upset prices are given in the advertisement. In addition to purchase outright, land can also be obtained for special occupation upon conditions of credit that is, deferred payments and of improvements. Land thus selected must be sections of not less than 100 acres nor more than 500, and the price is fixed at 10s. per acre. Licenses to occupy the land are issued on the following condi. tions : That the annual fee of one shilling per acre be paid yearly in advance ; that the licensee shall not assign or sublet his license without the permission of the Commissioner of Crown Lands, and that he shall, within the period of his term, enclose the land with a good substantial fence, and have cleared and cropped at least one-fourth of the whole area. If these conditions are complied with, and the licensee or his agent shall, during the period of three years, have occupied the allotment for not less than two years and a half, he is entitled at any time within thirty days, after three years from the commencement of the lease, to a Crown grant, upon payment of 7s. an acre ; or, failing compliance with the above conditions, he may obtain a lease of the said allotment at a yearly rental of one shilling per acre ; and at any time upon payment of the difference between the amount of rent actually paid and the entire sum of 10s. an acre he will be entitled to a grant. It is, of course, understood that the conditions of fencing, clearing, and cropping shall have been complied with. All annual rents are payable on March 1st in each year. Licenses or leases are dated from March 1st, June 1st, September 1st, and December 1st. APPENDIX. 349 Failure of payment of rent at the proper time forfeits all right to the land and the improvements made upon it. Emigrants who may occupy land and improve it are entitled to have accounted to them, either as rent or part purchase-money, an amount equal to the passage-money paid for themselves and families ; but to secure this privilege it is necessary that occupation of the land shall have taken place within six months of date of arrival in the colony. The value of the land granted to each statute adult under this arrangement is fixed at not more than 15. To encourage the growth of the vine, fruit, and the like,- the Governor is authorized to dispose of land set apart for special occupations in smaller blocks than those before mentioned, at 10s. per acre. The size, however, must not be less than ten acres. Lands infested with the poison plant are let on lease for a term of twenty-one years at the rate of 2s. 6d. per annum per thousand acres ; but the annual rental must in no case be less than the second class includes all lands which may be from time to time proclaimed as agricultural divisions or as suitable for agri- cultural purposes; the third class applies to land more adaptable for grazing than tillage. The upset price of agricultural lands is fixed at one pound per acre, that of pastoral lands being a sum equivalent to twelve years' rental, but not less than five shillings per acre. Any one has the right of selecting and purchasing by private contract with the Commissioners, under conditions specifi- ed below, one plot of land only, not exceeding 320 acres in area, at one pound per acre ; but when the land has been selected, the Commissioners will have it surveyed at the applicant's expense, and after such survey will arrange for its sale. A condition of sale is, that the selector, his tenant or servant, shall, within one year after the date of such selection, reside upon the land until 352 APPENDIX. the full purchase-money is paid. The land can either be purchas- ed outright or upon credit. If purchased outright, a deposit of one-fifth has to be paid at the time of sale, and the residue within one month ; if upon credit, the selector will have to pay an addi- tional sum of one-third. The following example will show how payments are made on a credit purchase of a plot of 100 acres : 100 acres, at 20s. per acre .100 Add one-third for purchase ... ... ... ... ... 33 6 8 Total price, exclusive of survey and grant deed fees ... .133 6 8 First payment, survey fee .8 15 Cash deposit 368 Two yearly deposits of 5 10 Twelve of 10 120 Grant deed fee 15 .142 16 8 Fees to Eecorder of Titles : Assurance fee, i in the on .133 6s. 8d. 2 10 Eegulations 076 Total ., ....143 7 Credit is allowed on all purchases of land above .15 in value. In addition to private sale, lands can also be sold by public auction after survey, and due advertisement of not less than a month in the Gazette, the upset price being fixed by be Commis- sioners. The size of the lots of agricultural lands is limited, as in the case of private sale, to 320 acres in area. In the case of town lands put up for auction and not sold, a list of them, with the upset prices, is published from time to time, and these can be afterwards purchased (within one year) by pri- vate contract. If there be more than one applicant for such land, auction is resorted to. The average price of Country land has been 1 Is. S^d. per acre ; Town and Suburban realizing an average price of 3 8. per acre. The whole island contains 16,778,000 acres ; 4,024,808 acres have been sold or granted to settlers by the Crown. During 1875, 378 lots, of 42,307 acres area, were sold for 46,995 4s. 8d., being an average of 1 Is. 2|d. for country lots, and 3 13s. 8&<*. for town lots. APPENDIX. 353 NEW ZEALAND. Each of the independent provinces into which this colony was divided had its own regulations for the purchase and procuring of land, previous to the abolition of the Provincial form of Government ; and these regulations have been continu- ed with certain changes varying according to local circum- stances by the Waste Lands Administration Act of 1876. In the five districts of Nelson, Marlborough, Otago, Canterbury, and Westland (formerly part of Canterbury, but now separated from it), the Crown has extinguished by purchase the native title over all the lands.. In the other four provincial districts, which are situated in the Northern Island, viz., Auckland, Wellington, Taranaki (formerly New Plymouth), and Hawkes Bay, this result has only been partially effected, and the native title still exists over large tracts. An Act is now in existence enabling the Maories to dispose of their lands to private indivi- duals ; heretofore their lands could only be sold to the Crown. An Act was passed by the General Assembly in 1858 to regulate the disposal and administration of the waste lands throughout the whole of New Zealand. The principal provi- sions of the Act, as regards sale, are, that not more than 320 acres are to be put up to sale by auction in one lot, and the upset price in no case to be less than 5s. an acre. No land to be sold, after the 1st of August, 1860, upon credit, except what may be lawfully set apart for special settlement by expected emigrants. Priority of choice for the same piece of land in no case to be decided by lot, but by auction, at which only the applicants for the lot are to be allowed to bid. Power is given in this Act to the Governor to make such public reserves as may be deemed requisite, and to increase the upset price of land where necessary. In the following lines will be found the salient features of the Land Regulations of each province : LAND DISTRICT OF AUCKLAND. The land in this district is divided into four classes. 1. Town Lands. 2. Suburban Lands. 3. General Country Lands. 4. Land for Special Settlement. The first two classes Town and Suburban Lands after survey and mapping, are sold by public auction, after one month's public notification, the upset prices being fixed by the Waste Lands Board ; payment being made by 45 354 APPENDIX. one-fourth at the time of purchase, and the balance -within one calendar month, default of payment entailing forfeiture of deposit. Land put up for sale, but not sold, may be purchased at any time within a year at the upset price. The third class General Country Lands are to be sold either by public auction or privately, in lota of not less than 40 acres, of rectangular form, at a price not below 10s. an acre. The time at which land is open for sale is publicly notified by the Waste Lands Board, when written applications .are to be sent in, with receipt attached, showing that the purchase-money has been prepaid. Should there be only one applicant, be is declared the purchaser; if more than one applicant, the lot is put up to auction at an upset price of 10s. per acre, and the highest bidder becomes the purchaser. The unsuccessful bidders have their prepaid money returned to them. Lands, unsold publicly, are open for sale to the first appli- cant, and if not disposed of within three months of the date of their being thrown open for selection, they may be put up to auction at not less than 2s. 6d, per acre. Touching the fourth class : Land for special settlement may be set apart, by the Governor on the recommendation of the Board, for parties of adult emigrants not fewer in number than 50, and must be dispos- ed of to such emigrants exclusively, subject to terms applicable to town, suburban, and general country lands. Any person of 18 years or upwards is authorized to take pos- session of 50 acres of surveyed first class or 75 acres second class Crown land proclaimed as open for bona fide settlement, and will become entitled to a Crown grant, upon proving to the satisfac- tion of the Waste Lands Board that he, or an adult substitute, has for three years continuously resided on the land, and brought at least one-fifth of it under cultivation. If the occupant shall have fenced and cultivated the whole of the land, and erected a dwelling-house upon it, he is entitled to the Crown grant within the period of three years. In all cases the expenses of the Crown grant have to be paid by the grantee. LAND DISTRICT OP TABANAKI. The lands are divided into Eural Sections and Town Sites. The former are limited to 320 acres as the maximum area. The mode of sale is by auction, the day of sale being advertised in the Government Gazette one clear month previously. No land is sold without having been surveyed. The upset price of rural land is 20s. per acre for fresh lands and 40s. for open land ; the upset price of town land is fixed by the Board. At the time of pur- APPENDIX. 355 chase a tenth part of the amount has to be paid down, and the balance within one month. LAND DISTRICTS OP WELLINGTON AND HAWKES BAY. The public lands in both these provinces are under the same regulations. They are divided into three Classes. 1. Town. 2. Suburban. 3. Rural. Town and Suburban lots within the limits of any hundred are sold by auction, at an upset price fixed by the Governor. Without the limits of the hundred, lands may be purchased at 10s. per acre, and inferior land is put up to auction at 7s. 6cZ. an acre. The size of lots in either case is not to be less than 80 acres ; and should the land be uusurveyed, the applicant has to make his own survey, if a Government surveyor cannot be sent, an allowance of 5 per cent, being made him to meet this expense. As regards payment, when the land is bought at auc- tion, 10 per cent, has to be paid down, and the remainder within a month ; but where the land is sold at a fixed price, the whole of the purchase-money has to be paid at once. At least one month's notice must have been given before an auction sale takes place. Unsold land can be purchased at any time within three years at the upset price. By the provisions of the Special Settlements Act of 1871, land can be occupied and afterwards purchased by deferred payments. The area of land selected must not be below 40 acres, nor above 200 acres, in any one block, and the price is between the limits of" 20s. to 40s. an acre. Applications have to be made in a prescribed form, and a deposit of one-fifth of the purchase-money made at the time the application is put in. If the applicant is successful,. he will receive a license to occupy the land, subject to the condi- tions of building a house of the value of 10 at least, and of fenc- ing or cropping one-tenth of the land. If at the end of two years these conditions have been complied with, the occupier will be entitled to the land after payment of the remainder of the pur- chase-money in four equal annual instalments. Failure to comply with the conditions entails forfeiture of all moneys and rights. By the Hawkes Bay Special Settlement Act of 1872, land can be purchased on credit. The Waste Lands Board is empowered, with the consent of the Provincial Council, to set apart by procla- mation not exceeding 20,000 acres in one or more blocks, for sale on deferred payments, and such land is released from the operation of the general land regulations of the province. 356 APPENDIX. The price at which the land is to be sold is to be not less than 10s. not more than 40s. per acre, as the Waste Lands Board, with the consent of the Provincial Council, shall proclaim. No one is to be allowed to purchase less than 40 or more than 200 acres. One-fifth of the price is to be paid down at the time of applying for the land, and the remaining four-fifths by instalments payable at the end of the second, third, fourth, and fifth years. If two or more persons apply for the same land it is to be put up to auction and sold to the highest bidder. On payment of the first instalment the purchaser receives an occupation license for two years ; at the expiration of which time if he has failed to build a house on the land of the value of at least .10, and to fence or clear crop, or to lay down in grass one-tenth of the land ; or if he has failed to pay any of the instalments within three calendar months after they fall due, the land, its improvements, and the money already paid will be forfeited. On performance of the settlement conditions and payment of the whole of the purchase-money, with the fees for the deed of grant and registration of title, the purchaser receives from the Governor a grant in fee. LAND DISTRICT OF NELSON. The Public Lands of Nelson are under the control of a Waste Landa Board. The lands are classified as Town Land, Suburban, Mineral, and Rural. All lands are sold by auction ; the upset price of town, suburban, and mineral land being determined by the Land Board ; the upset price of rural land, from 5s. to 40s. an acre, being fixed in like manner ; but if lands are improved by road-making or other public works, a higher upset price may be named. No land can be sold until surveyed and mapped, and until a month after advertisement in the Government Gazette. Applicants for land in unsurveyed districts may be allowed to have such land surveyed and put up to auction. If bought by any other than the applicant, the expense of survey to be repaid to him. One-tenth of purchase-money is to be paid down, and the balance within one month. Lands put up and not sold may, within three years, be purchased at upset price, or the highest price bid for them at auction. The size of rural lots is to be not less than 10 acres, and not to exceed 320 acres. Lands may also be leased for 14 years in quantities of not less than 50 or more than 10,000 acres. By the Nelson Act No. 40 of 1872, provision is made for the payment of public works, calculated to improve the district by APPENDIX. 357 grants of land to companies or individuals, who may construct the same. These works have to be executed under contract, with a security, and the value of the land to be taken is fixed by the Land Board before the contract is made. LAND DISTRICT OF MARLBOROUGH. The lands in this province are under the management of a Waste Lands Board. The lands are classified as Town, Suburban, Rural, Pasture and Mineral lands. The mode of sale is by auction, a clear month's notice of sale having been given, and the land previously surveyed. The upset price of Eural land is to be fixed by the Board. Ten per cent, of the purchase-money has to be paid down at once, and the balance within one month. Land put up to auction and not sold may, within two years from the date of being offered for sale, be bought at the upset price, or at the highest bid. Pasturage leases of 14 years are also granted. Land occupied to the limit of 80 acres by a pasturage license- holder, and on which improvements have been made, must, first of all, be offered to himself for purchase at a price to be appraised by the Board. If he do not purchase, the land can then be sold publicly ; but the license-holder is entitled to the difference between the upset price and the value of the improvements made by him. LAND DISTRICT OP CANTERBURY. Town land and Eural land is the classification in this pro- vince ; the method of the sale being : for Town lands, by auction at an upset price fixed by the Provincial Superintendent, or at a fixed price of 40s. per acre for Eural lands. The sections of Eural land are to be in rectangular locks of not less than 20 acres in extent. Time and place of sale are published in the Government Gazette ; and ten days before the date of sale a list of the sections to be sold is published in the same organ. Ten per cent, of the purchase-money has to be paid down, and the remainder within a week. On payment of the purchase-money a transferable license to occupy is given to the purchaser, which is afterwards exchanged for a proper Crown grant so soon as it is prepared. All arrange- ments affecting the disposal of lands are under the control of a Waste Lands Board. LAND DISTRICT OF WESTLAND. The lands in this province are classified as Town, Suburban, First-class Rural, and Second-class Eural. The disposal of land 358 APPENDIX. is regulated by a Waste Lands Board, all moneys being received by a Receiver of Land Eevenue. The Board usually sits at Hokitika. Town lands are sold by auction in sections, the size and upset price of which are determined by the Governor, on the recommendation of the County Council. If the lands are not solJ, they can afterwards be purchased at the upset price. Ten per cent, of the purchase-money must be paid down, and the remainder within thirty days of the sale. In addition to the regular sales, Town lands can be put up to auction on the appli- cation of any person who deposits 10 per cent, of the upset price with the Receiver of Land Revenue. If he should not be the successful bidder his deposit is returned to him. Suburban lands are also sold by auction in blocks of one acre to ten acres, at an upset price of 2 per acre ; 25 per cent of the purchase-money has to be paid down, and the remainder within a month from day of sale. Rural lands are sold at a fixed uniform price of .1 per acre, in blocks of not less than 20 acres ; but the sale of special blocks of not less than 160 acres is authorized at an upset price of not less than 10s. an acre. The whole of the purchase -money has to be paid at the time of sale. LAND DISTRICT OF OTAGO. Crown lands are divided into three classes Town, Suburban, and Rural lands. All Suburban lands, and, as a rule, all Town lands are to be sold by auction. The upset price, and as regards Suburban lands, the size of the lots is to be fixed by the Land Board. But Town sections, if not sold at auction, may, after thirty days' Gazette notice, be sold by private contract, at prices to be fixed by the Board, not lower than the previous highest bid, if any, or than the original upset price. The purchase-money is to be paid one-tenth down, and the remainder within a calendar month of the sale by auction. All Rural lands, not under lease or license of occupation or reserve, are to be open for sale at 20s. per acre. If two or more persons apply for the same land, it is to be put up to auction at 20s. per acre. The Land Board, however, may sell at 20s., or any higher price, any Rural land not exceeding 320 acres comprised within hundreds ; or with the consent of the lessee or license within any license or pastoral lease. Lands within proclaimed hundreds which have remained open for sale for seven years, may be put up to auction at the upset price of 10s. per acre. APPENDIX. 359 Applications for purchase, which must not be for less than 50 acres, must be accompanied by a deposit of 10 per cent, on the upset price, which deposit will be forfeited if the applicant refuses to complete the purchase. The remainder of the purchase-money must be paid within ten days after the applicant has been declared the purchaser, if the land has been already surveyed ; but if the land has to be surveyed, then within fourteen days after notification to him, otherwise the application will be cancelled. Land can also be purchased on credit, and the Land Board is empowered to set apart by proclamation, districts, or blocks of land within which licenses of occupation and leases may be granted. No block exceeding 5,000 acres is to be proclaimed on any run, nor exceeding 10 per cent, of the run. The total amount to be so set apart is not to exceed 30,000 acres in any one year. 360 APPENDIX. MINING REGULATIONS. THE following information is an epitome of the laws of the various Colonies relating to the taking up by purchase, or on lease or license, and the working, of mineral lands. It will be found that under the head of each Colony the information is classified into " Mining for Gold" and " Mining for Metals and Minerals other than Gold." NEW SOUTH WALES. GOLD MINING. By the Mining Act of 1874, the Governor was empowered to proclaim Crown lands to be gold fields, and to grant " Miners' rights" at a fee of 10s. between January and June inclusive, of each year, and 5s. after that date in each year, subject to certain regulations to be from time to time prescribed. All miners' rights terminate with the last day of the year, and without a miner's right, no person is allowed to mine for gold, under a penalty not exceeding .10. Business licenses may also be granted enabling persons to occupy Crown lands for business purposes, on payment of a fee of .1 for a year, and 10s. six months. Leases of auri- ferous lands may be obtained in accordance with the regulations for the time being, the rent to be fixed by the Governor in Council... MINERALS OTHER THAN GOLD. Mining leases may be granted by the Government, not exceed- ing 320 acres for coal, nor 80 acres for other minerals, for a period of not more than fourteen years, with the right of renewal for another fourteen years, subject to a rent of 5s. per acre, to be paid annually in advance, and to the condition of expending at the rate of 5 per acre on the land within the first three years. Notice in writing to the Government during the thirteenth year is necessary before renewal, and the fee for such renewal is to be determined by appraisement, but is not to be less than 2 10s. per acre. The license fee for cutting timber or bark is .3 ; for cutting hardwood or bark, ,1 ; and for quarrying for stone, brick earth, &c., .3. All licenses to expire on the 31st December, but APPENDIX. 361 quarterly or half-yearly licenses may be granted at a propor- tionate fee. VICTORIA. GOLD MINING. The Land Act, 18C9, provides that licenses may be granted for not more than one year, and for an extent not exceeding 20 acres, entitling the holders to reside on or cultivate land on any gold field ; on payment of such fees and subject to such conditions as the Government may approve. Miners' rights are issued for not more than fifteen years at the rate of 5s. per annum, and consolidated miners' rights may be issued for the like period on the application of the manager or trustees of any company agreeing to work in partnership any claims registered under the Act, on payment of a sum at the prescribed rate multiplied by the number of miners' rights so consolidated. Miners' rights entitled the holders to take possession of, and reside and mine on so much, of the Crown lands as may be prescribed by the bye-laws of the Local Mining Board. Business licenses enable the holders to occupy and carry on business on the gold fields, on lands not exceeding a quarter of an acre in extent, and are issued at 2 10s. for six months, and 5 for twelve months. A lease may be grant- ed of not more than 100 acres in one lot for such term as the Governor may determine, and at a nominal rent, to any holder of a miner's right who may be desirous to prospect for gold in any place where sinking through basalt will be necessary, and to which no part of any gold workings shall be nearer than five miles, one mile being allowed to be marked off for the prospecting, and the lease of 100 acres to be granted only in case of remunerative gold being found. Leases of auriferous lands shall not be less than one nor more than 30 acres, and in the case of a load the length shall not be less than 100 yards nor more than 600 yards along the load, and the width not less than 50 yards nor more than 200 yards across the load. The rent of leases is at the rate of 1 per annum payable half-yearly in advance, and a fee of kliO * rH C5 I> CO CO CO CO O T}< eo t-H TF CD 1 FJM|^^^iHffiio]^j-*->O oq^w^r- "5,t>, e^cT^to" O'T-H' COCOIM a o cf rH Mean Po Total evenue. rtH-** -1* MW rr5OiO-JIC^COrHO rH 0-1OOOCOOO5COCO rH i 1 rH rH -+ co co r~ 00 t i ID 10 o t- co CQ as oa COOCOJ005COO S o M ^locor-ioiocot- CO PS 3 H !* | 1 S T?TjTi-rT-T eo~ co" r-l a o K S5 | nh*-+H-n rrjOieOlMOOrHrHCO . (M 00 >O CXI O rH 10 -4a 1O I> H B EH 5 t- i-H -t^rH oqi>i-iO^Ot^ i I S. PH x H O^CMrHCOrHCOWCO (M M h n r-l iH -* -'I 85 i-t - OJ O5 00 CO W 5 en a O CO CO 00 O >O 00 eg CM o o o o co r- c r~ -^ t- 1 i * in co CD ' P i S.5 ^^ A 00 rH *? CO G5 *O ' "H^-rH * O t~ CO GO CO CO CO Tfl 1 r-l CO Tfl ^CO"rH'rH' CO~ CO IM *!> ^ hi -s CO IN COlf OS * (M (M r-l 00 rH o w CO CO -* (M 1C CO 00 C3 O5 CO i-H C^ t^ COCO ClcOC^CO-5jlo-*T-l ^ r-t -^ OS S s a> !> "=* a) .2 O Gi CO O CO CO CO CO O rH CO rji * c O CO 00 w H h -3 3 t~ Tf 1 1 t^ O "* CO ^ CO rH O r-l O r-l * CO rH r-t (jq -* 00 O OO T*I O CO IO (N CO (M * t~ CO 00 1 PH .2^a W r- 1 t^ CO IO (M CO (M O (M O # Ol CO S8 ATIST 0..2 S3 CO CO i-H O CO CO IO (M O 00 rH 03 O 1^ 00 CO r-l (M r-l CO i> B. ci" 111 S 1r S , QJ *GDG3'3)9tt9 ^JlMCOCOCOOO'-i'^ r^r-^ioco H M O hJ C iC t* CO 00 I> CO * |^| -^ . > t X CO -* CC CO Ol I- Ci O Ci 3 a 1 |^ co ji : oo 2 r^l US 00 < j?1= C Si 1 1 O TH "^ Ol 8 oc aa- -s CO <*> D ^- tj'-o 0*00 o o t* 3 ai CO' O ^S O CO -* CO CO t^ II _M I 1 1 I M 00 (M Ci TH .2 1 6 * -* (M Ci =- 00 -Ji >2 co i o ,-1 ci 1 ! . -^r- *r;-* ;?-"* H 00* o CO c: C". cb t^ t^. o T-1 CO -f. 1-1 w re W s ^ 3 a'""" W TH rH O w co r i r^ci co ci Ci O ^1 O C^ (M Ci rH CO rH rH cS SS fa cs -^ 1.7 o 55 c: S ll ^ J Ci I> CO i ( -* CO CO CO OO I> IN CO 00 rH CO 1-1 O CO rH 1 8 & co ^-^ r 10 ^^ ic oo ,^ " 1^ i^ O Ci OO C 1 ! 'ftOtS^f TH K5 ! s-l 1 i > d l-O I> r4< -^ JO ^, rH r-T oo * O Ci O-l O CM - ; 1-1 CO 3 rH CO rH : 00 Ci Ci E o LO o cc co ci ^ CJ N o %? s rH rH co cocow^- THCC * 1 Oi C3 CO r* CO CO CO CO O Ci Ci I> CO rH Ci 00 t. ^*w o (MOOCOCO CO i 1* 381 ^ClOOOUJf-lt-O S o ::::;:: ::::::; o ft o o Victoria New South Wales Queensland South Australia Western Australia Tasmania New Zealand ... 1 "1 1 * 9 > 4 5 -2 J rl II ^ 2 3 -g Jllt^i 8*121 1 1 1 g-g s 1 s .2 < B S>r cs o >,50?COrf2^ 3 H U Vj O J 1- ' u '