Under the Southern Cross Part 6

We heard much said about the venomous nature of Australian snakes, and were cautioned especially to avoid the places known to be frequented by them. Doubtless there are plenty of snakes in Australia as in most other regions, poisonous ones also in the bush, and that they do sometimes fatally bite persons there can be no question; but we did not chance to see any, either of the venomous or harmless sort. There is one quality very commendable in the serpent tribe: as a rule, they show a disposition to get out of the way of human beings. If trampled upon, of course they will turn and bite or sting; but this is not to be set down to their discredit, but to the natural instinct of self-defence. One of the most venomous of all snakes is indigenous to our own country,--namely, the rattle-snake; but even he never fails to give ample warning of his presence before attacking any one. The habits of these Australian snakes are similar to those of their species wherever found; their usual resort is a hole in the ground under fallen leaves, or in the decaying trunk of a tree, and they live by preying upon frogs, mice, lizards, and birds. We were told of some instances of their power to charm small birds,--an old story to be sure, and one for which we must have ocular evidence before crediting it. New Zealand is happily free from the pest of snakes,--there being no more there than in Ireland. Doubtless Providence had some legitimate purpose to subserve in creating tarantulas, poisonous spiders, and scorpions in Australia, but the "why and wherefore" is rather a conundrum.

We heard while in Sydney a singular snake-story, which we have every reason to believe to be true, the facts of which were said to have occurred not long before near the town of Parametta. In the family of a settler who resided some half a league from the town was an invalid daughter, of an extremely nervous temperament. She was sleeping one summer afternoon in a hammock swung between a couple of supporting standards in the shade of the piazza, when she was suddenly awakened by feeling something cold and moist clinging about her throat. She put up her hand to the spot and clasped the body of a snake just back of its head, and with a horrified cry wrenched with all her strength to tear it away. This was the first instinctive action of the moment, but so great was her terror that she speedily lost all consciousness of the situation. Her hand however still grasped the snake where she had first seized upon it, and with such a convulsive force that the creature was rendered powerless. The cry of the terrified girl brought the father from within the house, who instantly came to her relief; but in the fit which her fright had induced, her hand slowly contracted about the creature's throat with a force which awake she could not possibly have exerted, and before her fingers were unclasped by the aid of a bit of the hammock cord the reptile was completely strangled. Fortunately the creature had not bitten the girl before she seized it; and after that, it was unable to do so. It is said to have been four feet long and of a poisonous species.

Queensland is nearer to New Guinea on the north than Victoria is on the south to Tasmania. The depth of Torres Strait, which separates Queensland and New Guinea, is nowhere over nine fathoms. It is generally believed by those who make a study of such matters that these two countries were originally connected, and that the sea, aided perhaps by some volcanic action, finally separated them. After a current between them was once established, the land on each side would wear away rapidly. The distance across the Strait is to-day less than one hundred miles. Doubtless many of the island groups in this region were first formed in some such manner as we have indicated. By glancing at a map of the world the reader will observe that there are islands that extend almost uninterruptedly from the southeastern extremity of Asia nearly half-way across the Pacific. Oceania is the favorite word applied by geographers to this world of islands, especially as indicating Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, and their immediate dependencies. Of this system Australia forms the great central feature. Some idea of the immensity of the Pacific Ocean may be realized when we see that there is nevertheless an unbroken waste of waters between these islands and the coast of America of some two thousand miles in width. These lands of Oceania are surrounded by water not only of the widest expanse, but also--as has been proved by scientific soundings--of the greatest depth of any on the globe.

Queensland is as liable to serious droughts as the rest of Australia on the slopes of the mountain range of the interior. As we have already shown, nearer the coast the land is well watered. There are few lakes in the colony,--indeed, none worthy of the name; and the one river which is the Mississippi of the country, known as the Murray,--navigable for over a thousand miles of its course,--is not at all times to be relied upon.

This is an evil which could easily be remedied by skilful engineering.

This river has no proper outlet to the sea, but debouches into a shallow marsh called Lake Alexandrina. "Sir," said an individual to us at Sydney, with piscatorial dogmatic emphasis, "No country can be great without trout or salmon." As Australia has no available rivers for these fish to swim in, the inference as to her possible greatness was obvious.

We have said that the Murray is the Mississippi of Australia, but it is no more like that great Father of Waters than Tom Thumb is like Hercules. Like the Mississippi, however, it has a greater, or at least longer, tributary than itself. As the American river is the receptacle of the Missouri, so the Murray obtains its greatest volume by means of its princ.i.p.al branch and feeder, the Darling. This river extends over twelve degrees of lat.i.tude, and by its winding course would measure three thousand miles. It is mostly supplied by the snow-clad Australian Alps. The fitful nature of this watercourse may be judged by the fact that although it is often in places a torrent, and in others expands into lake-like proportions over low-lying country, at certain seasons it may be crossed on foot where it joins the Murray. Below this junction the latter river frequently expands to three hundred yards and more in width, with a depth of from ten to twenty feet. For fifteen hundred miles of its course it is called a navigable river, though it is not to be relied upon as such,--small river steamers being not infrequently caught upon shoals, where they are left high and dry for months together. So with regard to the Darling; notwithstanding its erratic character, it has often been ascended by light-draught steamers nearly a thousand miles above its junction with the Murray.

It is singular that in a country where irrigation is so much needed, and where enterprise is so general in all other directions, this matter does not receive more attention. To the stranger, irrigation seems to be the one thing lacking in this favored land. Ca.n.a.ls tapping these rivers at points where they should first be dammed, would pay a twofold reward,--not only supplying water wherewith to quench the thirst of the half-exhausted land, but, being made navigable, they would convey to market the very crops they had already enabled the husbandman to raise.

Where the country is thus irrigated,--as in India and Utah,--the crops are simply certain, rain or s.h.i.+ne; and the transportation is also a.s.sured at a reasonable figure. Australia, with its rich virgin soil and dry climate, is just the place to repay tenfold all irrigating enterprise. We were told of certain points on the Murray River, where, by one properly constructed dam, water in abundance could be held and thrown back for a distance of thirty miles. It appears that in one year not long ago, when there was a great drought, over fifteen million sheep and horned cattle died of thirst in New South Wales and Queensland! This sounds almost incredible, but it was so recorded in the official reports of the colonies. And yet the means of conserving water by simple methods are, as we have seen, quite within the reach of government or private enterprise. In one year, by suitable arrangements, animal property alone might have been saved to the value of fifty million dollars. We were told of one extraordinary period of drought which extended over five years previous to 1870, which was followed by copious and excessive rains lasting for months,--"thus," as our agricultural informant pithily expressed it, "turning a blessing into a judgment."

Queensland, as we have shown, occupies the northeastern portion of the continent, and measures thirteen hundred miles in length from north to south, by eight hundred miles in width, containing a population at the present time of about three hundred and forty thousand. The climate of Brisbane is often compared to that of Madeira; it is entirely free from the hot winds which sometimes render Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide so extremely uncomfortable. The river which divides the city into north and south Brisbane is crossed by a grand iron bridge over a quarter of a mile in length, a portion of which swings upon a centre to admit of the pa.s.sage of steamers and sailing-vessels, the river being navigable above the capital.

Political excitement runs high in Brisbane. We were told of scenes that occurred in the local parliament leading to bitter criminations between members, which would certainly have resulted in duels in most countries.

Sometimes, however, a different spirit prevails, and a spicing of fun is introduced. On one occasion the bill of a firm of solicitors against the Government came up for discussion. The firm name was Little & Brown, and their account seemed to some of the members to be exorbitant. While the question of voting the money to pay this bill was before the house, there was also one pending for the protection of wild birds. At last a humorous member proposed that the account of the "lawyer-bird" should be included in the bill. His meaning was not at first apparent to the a.s.sembly, and the presiding officer asked him to explain what this bird was. His answer created an uproar of laughter among the members. "The bird I refer to," he said, "is little and brown; and it has a very long bill!"

The widespread plains of this part of Australia, so specially adapted for sheep-runs and cattle-ranches, are largely improved for that purpose; and it is estimated that there are over twelve millions of sheep upon them to-day. Wool is one of the most valuable raw materials known to commerce, and that s.h.i.+pped from Queensland has had a preference, owing to its adaptability to manufacturing purposes.

Sheep-farming is here carried on upon a scale exceeding that of all other parts of the world. Single individuals hold even larger flocks than those of New South Wales. We have not seen an official statement of a year's clip for the whole country since that for 1883, which gave as the aggregate value of that year something over twenty million pounds sterling. Besides sheep, the plains also sustain large herds of horned cattle. One owner told us he had over fifteen thousand cattle on his ranch, and that some of his neighbors had a still larger number.

The coast portion of Queensland is the most desirable of all the colony.

It is well wooded, and the climate is equable. The entire sh.o.r.e is studded with picturesque islands and has numerous excellent harbors. The three summer months--December, January, and February--are hot; but as plenty of rain falls at this season, tropical moisture and heat are agreeably combined. Cool southerly winds also prevail during this season, so that it is rarely oppressively hot. The famous Great Barrier Reef of Australia belongs entirely to this province, and is twelve hundred miles in length, extending along the coast from Port Brown to Torres Strait, the average distance from the sh.o.r.e being about sixty miles. Though the sea on the coast is made smoother by this giant reef, navigation in other respects is undoubtedly rendered precarious by it.

Scientists think it indicates the former outline of the coast and continent, about one fifth of which is supposed to have sunk beneath the ocean.

Leaving out West Australia, which is at present so little developed, the country may be divided thus. Queensland is the best and most extensive pastoral section; in this respect New South Wales comes next. South Australia should be characterized for its grain-fields, and Victoria is richest in auriferous deposits; but there is gold enough in all the colonies to afford constant stimulus to mining enterprise, fresh discoveries in this line being made every few weeks.

Many young men belonging to the better cla.s.ses of England's youth, filled with poetic ideas, come out here to seek employment on sheep-runs, having imbibed certain notions of a free out-of-door life, and the charm of a half-wild career in the open country. But the reality often amazes them. Some of these young men have been accustomed to a life of elegant leisure, soft beds, dainty food, and plenty of servants to do their bidding; but actuated by a desire to attain to a condition of independence of family control, a wish to pay their own way, to earn money by manly labor, or by some other of the thousand incentives that not infrequently sever family ties, they have resolved to seek a new field. In Australia they find freedom, but it is coupled with hard work. There is no chance for drones in the business of sheep-raising, or for those who would languish on downy beds of ease. The compet.i.tor in this field must be in the saddle at daybreak, must learn to ride all sorts of horses, and to catch and saddle the one he does ride; for all the horses are turned out to get their own feed at large, and are never stabled. They also get no grooming, except what their riders give them; they are not even shod, and are sometimes addicted to bucking, which will require all a man's knowledge of horsemans.h.i.+p to overcome. The ranch-man has ten hours a day in the saddle, and must often ride fast and far to round in his flocks. He must acquire the art of counting them, of judging correctly of their condition, of shearing, and often of killing them. For all this he may get five or six hundred dollars a year and his rations, with the advantage, however, of living in the open air, of having an un.o.bstructed digestion and a ravenous appet.i.te, and of sleeping the sleep which no opiate can produce. The life upon a sheep-run will be likely to make a man of him if he has the right material in him, with plenty of endurance and adaptability.

The idyllic notions of shepherd life which may at first have attracted him, and the real thing as encountered in the neighborhood of the Darling Downs of Queensland, are two quite different things. There are some who experience all this and with their first year's earnings purchase sheep and go on adding to their flock annually, until by natural increase and purchased additions they become master shepherds and owners of great numbers. When success is thus achieved, which is quite possible under ordinary good fortune, the profit that follows is almost fabulous.

In a country where there are such enormous sheep-runs and where owners count their herds by twenties of thousands, there must at times be a glut of meat, and at all times an endless supply of it on hand. The cattle-ranches, though not nearly so numerous, nor carrying such large numbers of animals, yet produce relatively an immense supply of meat, since one average steer is equal in weight to eight or ten sheep. Before the present method of s.h.i.+pping fresh meat to Europe was perfected, it was often the case that tens of thousands of sheep and horned cattle were boiled down simply to produce tallow; and this practice is even now resorted to, though to a more limited extent than heretofore. Tallow was and is very easily packed and s.h.i.+pped. There were at one time over forty boiling-down establishments in New South Wales alone, and statistics show that three hundred thousand sheep and some hundreds of bullocks were in one year converted into tallow by these establishments. The carca.s.ses of the animals for any other purpose were absolutely wasted, while the poorer cla.s.ses of England were denying themselves meat because of its high cost in their own country. It was a realizing sense of these facts which first led to the meat-canning process, which is still a thriving industry here, and afterward to the building of s.h.i.+p refrigerators, which make it possible to s.h.i.+p entire carca.s.ses fresh to Europe, where they never fail to arrive in the best condition for the market.

The very name of Australia has a flavor of gold, and yet not one half of its auriferous diggings have been discovered,--every twelvemonth bringing to light new deposits of rich quartz, and fresh alluvial diggings. While the author was in Sydney, a gold nugget was found at Maitland Bar and brought to that city, for which the Commercial Bank of the metropolis paid the finder the handsome sum of seven thousand six hundred dollars. It soon after pa.s.sed into the possession of the Government, and is now held by it for the purpose of being exhibited at the forthcoming centennial exhibition to be held at Melbourne. At the museum of this latter city we saw a cast which was taken of the largest nugget ever found in Australia. As it was perfectly gilded, it seemed in its large gla.s.s case as though it might be the real article. It weighed originally two thousand three hundred ounces, and was valued at forty-six thousand dollars. It is known by the name of the "Welcome Nugget." It seems that the finder had heretofore sought in vain to make a living at gold-digging, having worked long and patiently in search of the precious metal. Finally he had reached a condition of poverty and desperation which had led him that very day to resolve upon throwing up his claim (n.o.body would give him anything for it), and to seek work in the nearest city as a day-laborer; he would thus secure at least food and a shelter. It was in this frame of mind, weary and hungry, that he chanced upon this marvellous discovery; and hence he appropriately named it the "Welcome Nugget." These remarkable "finds," as the miners term them, happen once in a series of years; but in getting at the average success of gold-mining the larger number of those who have not been able to realize even a laborer's day-wages at the business, must be taken into the account. It is safe to accept the conclusion which every intelligent person in Australia, New Zealand, and California has arrived at; namely, that the cost of getting gold out of the earth is as much as its intrinsic value. To put it in other words: in the long run, the average laborer, working at any other calling for three dollars or even less per day, will realize more money in a twelvemonth than the average gold-miner in the same period. Nevertheless, gold-mining seems to be the active agent which Providence has employed to people the waste places of the earth. The Western States of America are ample proof of this.

In glancing at a printed record of the finding of golden nuggets, we see that among others one of pure gold was found in 1502, in Hayti, which weighed forty-six pounds troy. Another is mentioned as having been found in Bolivia in 1730, weighing fifty-five pounds troy. But the wonder of its time was found in the Ural Mountains in 1842, and weighed ninety-seven pounds troy. This specimen the author saw, two years ago, in the Museum of Mining at St. Petersburg. The largest single ma.s.s of pure gold found in the United States came from California, and, if our memory serves us correctly, weighed a little over twenty-six pounds troy. All these examples, however, have been placed in the shade by numerous nuggets that have been found in Victoria in later times. The "Welcome Nugget," already mentioned, came from Balarat, in Victoria. A nugget was also discovered here, which should be mentioned even in this by no means complete list. We refer to that found in 1857, called the "Blanche Berkeley," after the Governor's daughter, and which weighed one hundred and forty-five pounds troy.

Far-seeing political economists do not hesitate to p.r.o.nounce the coal mines of New South Wales and Queensland of far more value than the gold mines of Victoria and South Australia; and they claim that these coal deposits are the most extensive in the world. The government of Queensland (and we believe the governments of the other colonies also) pays a gratuity of five hundred pounds sterling to the first discoverer of gold-diggings, provided the new place be twenty miles away from any previous discovery. The governments are not affected by the glamour of the gold; that is a secondary consideration with them, for they know that it is not the glittering metal itself which enriches the country, but the vitality imparted by its agency. Men are brought together from near and far in large numbers, and those are induced to work who have never worked before. All must live, and to enable them to do so there must be busy hands and brains occupied in other lines than that of actual mining. The consumption of many articles is stimulated, and fresh life infused into new and legitimate channels of trade.

Wool, not gold, is the real "King" in Queensland to-day. It is thought by many that by and by sugar may become the rival of wool in this section. Mackay, situated on the Pioneer River, is the chief centre of the sugar industry of the colony, which extends over a large acreage north of Cape Palmerston, and around the slope of Mount Ba.s.sett. Here the noise of the crus.h.i.+ng-mills in the grinding season, and the busy whirl of the centrifugal machine greet the ear in all directions. So prolific is the soil here that the cane is said to grow like weeds, and without cultivation.

Brisbane, like the rest of Queensland, has not escaped the inroads of the Chinese; and here they are not favorites any more than elsewhere.

This universal prejudice against the Asiatics is in many respects both reasonable and unreasonable. That the Chinaman never fails to introduce certain vicious habits wherever he appears, goes without saying; opium-smoking and gambling have become as natural to him as breathing.

But he is frugal, energetic, industrious, and in some respects a very valuable member of a newly colonized country, filling a position which would otherwise be unoccupied. In Australia he is content to follow in the white man's footsteps, and utilize--as a miner, for instance--what is left by his predecessor. A Chinaman will obtain fair results and good wages by working over the "tailings" of the gold-fields, which are thrown aside as useless by the more impatient and ambitious English laborer. John is specially useful in many occupations, and is a natural gardener, raising the best of vegetables for market upon refuse grounds that no one else would think it worth while to cultivate. He reduces all fertilizing matter to liquid form, and industriously applies it by hand, destroying each insect pest with his fingers. No slug, caterpillar, or vicious parasite can escape his vigilance. He sacrifices himself entirely to the object in hand, and as long as there is sufficient light for him to see to work, he continues to toil: no eight-hour or ten-hour system answers for him. He is to-day essentially the market gardener of Australia and New Zealand; no one attempts to compete with him in this occupation. No European can bear the exposure to the sun or support his strength under the enervating heat as the Chinaman can do. And yet with all these qualities to recommend him, so undesirable is his presence held to be by the people, that a law has been pa.s.sed by which each Chinaman landing in any of these colonies is obliged to pay the sum of fifty dollars "head money," as it is called; and no women of the race are permitted to land at all. Here, as in California and elsewhere, the dead Chinaman is embalmed by a cheap process,--the body being finally enclosed in a lead coffin, which in turn is put into a wooden box, and exported to its native soil. The poorest Chinaman rarely fails to leave money enough behind him to accomplish this purpose, and the friends of the deceased consider it a religious duty to fulfil his last wishes.

Judging critically from what we saw of this race of people in the various parts of the colonies of Australasia, we should say that they are individually and collectively superior to the average European immigrants, in the general characteristics which go to make up a desirable citizen. In industrial habits they far excel the common immigrant from England and Ireland. If the Mongolians have some bad habits, the Europeans have ten to their one. It is mostly the pugnacious British, striking, never-satisfied laborer who complains of the presence of the Chinese, because he cannot compete with them in sobriety, industry, frugality, and faithfulness of service. The Chinese are naturally very hospitable, and no lonely shepherd or roving prospector ever came to their cabins hungry, or in want of any special article, without receiving the needed aid gratuitously. John always marries when he can induce a European or American woman to have him for a husband, and there are many such instances all over the colonies. No one ever hears of a Chinaman abusing his wife; indeed, they are remarkable for being good husbands. They take particular delight in seeing their wives well-dressed, especially on all gala occasions, and cheerfully and liberally contribute the means for this purpose. Chinamen are never seen here in a state of intoxication; and they thus form a noticeable exception among a population of such incessant drinkers as one sees everywhere in these countries. Australasia affords unlimited scope for Chinese industries, and we hardly know how the colonies could get on without them.

It is highly gratifying to see how thoroughly the cause of universal education is appreciated and supported in these colonies, as there can be no stronger evidence of legitimate progress than this fact furnishes.

Brisbane is no exception to this remark. All education is secular in character, even the reading of the Bible being omitted in the primary and other schools. In New South Wales special Scriptural lessons are read; but in Victoria and South Australia Scriptural teachings can only be given out of the regular school hours,--and thus the various denominational prejudices are carefully respected. Victoria furnishes absolute free education. In the other colonies a very small fee is charged, which is apparently the best policy; since parents and children will naturally prize more highly that which costs them money, be the sum never so small, nor will they willingly neglect that for which they are required to pay.

The result of this educational zeal is obvious to any one, tending as it does to raise the character of the colonies at home and their good reputation abroad. The general population forms already a reading community which supports a large number of excellent bookstores in each populous centre, besides public libraries, many newspapers, and well-conducted local magazines. Concerning the newspapers of Australasia, let us bear appreciative testimony to their general excellence, to the able and even scholarly manner in which they are edited, and to the remarkable liberality evinced in the collecting of news from all parts of the globe. The mechanical appearance and general make-up of the colonial newspapers is fully equal to that of the best American and English dailies. In Auckland, New Zealand, with a population of not more than sixty thousand, including the immediate suburbs, we saw one of Hoe's large, rapid, completing presses, printing the "New Zealand Daily Herald" at the rate of fifteen thousand copies an hour, folding and delivering it automatically ready for the carriers.

The whole work was done by machinery, the roll of paper being suspended above the press after the latest improved style, so that no "feeders"

even were required.

One is sure to remark the large number of banking establishments in every city and considerable town throughout Australasia. We were told that there are thirty joint-stock banking companies in the country, with some eight hundred branches more or less. These companies pay an annual dividend of from ten to fourteen per cent to their stockholders. The existence of so many successful banks in so circ.u.mscribed a community is a matter not quite clearly understood by the author, though upon inquiry it was found that the style of banking business done here differed materially from that transacted in populous cities of the Old World. For instance, the banks here advance money freely upon growing crops, wool on the sheep's back, and other similar securities that would hardly be considered as legitimate collateral in America. The usual rate of interest to borrowers upon what is considered fair security, is never less than ten per cent,--twelve and fifteen per cent being most common.

The speculative nature of nearly all kinds of business in the colonies impairs general confidence, and people come to be unduly sharp, requiring even heavier rates than those already named where there is any chance of getting them. They simply ill.u.s.trate the axiom, that a high rate of interest signifies a high degree of risk. In the mean time the banks flourish, occupying the largest and most costly business edifices that are to be seen in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, or Adelaide.

We did not chance to see any specimens of that curious animal the kangaroo while we were in Queensland, but this marsupial is represented to be more numerous and more of a pest here than in any other part of the country. We were told of a certain sheep-run known as Peak Downs Station, where the proprietor had been obliged to wage a long-continued war against them, inst.i.tuting annual hunts over the extensive district which he held. He was joined by his friends and neighbors in an annual raid upon the animals, which lasted not infrequently for ten consecutive days. He kept an account of the number of kangaroos destroyed upon his lands, which had reached the almost incredible aggregate of thirty-eight thousand in a few years. That special district absolutely swarmed with these animals until the means mentioned for their destruction were adopted. The kangaroo is very prolific in its wild state, and would, if allowed to multiply undisturbed, soon drive the sheep from their feeding-grounds. Its skin, when properly cured and dressed with the fur on, makes good rugs suitable for domestic use. Leather is also made from the skin, and when well tanned and carefully prepared is available for many purposes, although as a regular industry the skin of the kangaroo has never been made much use of in the form of leather; it is considered very desirable as a fur robe, or when made up into a garment.

The Darling Downs of Queensland, several times alluded to in these notes, consist of broad, undulating, gra.s.s-covered steppes, with a rich black soil admirably suited for agricultural purposes. They are easily reached from Brisbane by rail in a few hours, and at Warwick, the princ.i.p.al town of the Downs, good hotel accommodations may be found.

Stanthorpe is the centre of the tin-mining industry of this region. For a number of years surface diggings only were attempted here, but later many deep shafts have been sunken and are now profitably worked. In this more legitimate form of mining a permanent industry has been established. There are so many prolific and excellent tin mines in the colonies that these special deposits are held to be of no extraordinary value.

It is proposed, as we were informed at Brisbane, to separate the north of Queensland from the south, at the twenty-second parallel of lat.i.tude, and to form the northern portion into a separate colony. This purpose seemed at one time to have very nearly reached consummation, but it has not been pressed for some unknown reason. As Queensland is larger than England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Belgium, Holland, and Denmark added together, there can be no want of territory for such a political division. It is only about thirty years since this province, as it now stands, was separated from New South Wales.

From Brisbane we returned to Sydney on the way to the southern cities; and here the journey was broken by a day's rest, as it is nearly twelve hundred miles from Brisbane to Melbourne.

CHAPTER VIII.

An Inland Journey.--The Capital of Victoria.--Grand Public Buildings.--Water-Supply of the City.--Public Parks and Gardens.--Street Scenes.--Das.h.i.+ng Liveries.--Tramways.--Extremes.--Melbourne Ladies.--Street Beggars.--Sat.u.r.day Half-Holiday.--Public Arcades.--The City Free Library.--The Public Markets.--China-Town, Melbourne.--Victims of the Opium Habit.

Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, lies nearly six hundred miles southwest of Sydney. The journey from one city to the other by rail is rather a tedious one, as there is very little of interest upon the route to engage the attention of the traveller. Soon after leaving the latter city the road runs through a level country, which is spa.r.s.ely inhabited, but quite heavily wooded with that wearying tree the eucalyptus, presenting hardly one feature of attractiveness to recommend it to the eye. It is always dressed in a sober, funereal garb, which by no effort of the imagination can one reasonably call green. Miles and miles were pa.s.sed of houseless monotony, the land often denuded of trees, and showing only a low growth of wattle, or some small shrub of the eucalyptus family. Most of the settlers' cabins seen inland were mere sh.e.l.ls, consisting of frames of wood covered on roof and sides with corrugated sheet-iron, unpainted; while others presented a still ruder appearance, being frames of wood covered loosely with bark, only one degree better than the bark shelters of the aborigines in northern Queensland. At some of the railroad stations a faint effort is made at the cultivation of flowers, and occasionally pretty effects are produced by planting California pines in groups or borders, mingled with some other species of imported trees, mostly of the conifer family,--their foliage, by its choice verdure, putting the native trees to shame, though they are known as evergreens: there are indeed no deciduous native trees in Australia. Here and there a small orchard of orange-trees was seen, the fruit in its deep-yellow glow standing out against the surrounding foliage in bold relief. The traveller meets with no more delightful experience than when approaching an orange-orchard in full bloom. For a mile before the place is reached, the fragrant atmosphere foretells the coming pleasure to the senses. This is oftenest realized in the West Indies, or in Florida. Here it was not the season of the bloom but of the fruit. A few gardens of tropical aspect, with groups of bananas, were also observed; but to see this most generous of all fruit-trees in perfection, one must go north toward the Equator, into Queensland.

Now and again a few thousand sheep were seen, and some small herds of horned cattle feeding on the hillsides or browsing among the forest glades; but the true pastoral districts are much farther inland. At Albury the Murray River was crossed, which here makes the boundary between New South Wales and Victoria, though which side of the watercourse belongs to the former and which to the latter is a constant source of dispute between them. An examination of baggage took place at Albury, as though the traveller were pa.s.sing from one European nationality to another. The two colonies, however, have tariffs materially differing from each other, and duty is demanded upon all merchandise pa.s.sing either way between them. The custom-house officers are quite discriminating, and unless they have reason to suspect a person of designs against the customs they do not put him to unnecessary trouble in the examination of his effects.

Not until one comes to within fifty or sixty miles of Melbourne upon this route does the country become attractive; but here it begins to open into broad green fields and rich meadows, forming a choice succession of agricultural districts, affording the best of pasturage and showing upon a large scale the careful cultivation of root-crops, corn, oats, wheat, and barley. Government owns and operates the railroad with a fair degree of liberality, though the prices charged for transportation are much higher than with us in America. The cars are often of the English style, formed into coaches which are cheaply upholstered, though they are reasonably comfortable.

It is but little more than half a century since an Englishman named John Batman ascended the Yarra-Yarra and bargained with the chiefs of the native tribe located here, to sell "to him and his heirs forever" so many thousand acres of land as now embrace the area occupied by the city of Melbourne and its immediate environs, covering six or eight miles square. For this grant of land Batman paid the chiefs in goods, which are said to have consisted of one dozen cotton s.h.i.+rts, a dozen colored woollen blankets, a handful of gla.s.s-bead ornaments, twelve bags of flour, and two casks of pork. These were all otherwise unattainable articles to the savages, who, however, had land enough and to spare. It is said that the aborigines pleaded hard for one or more guns to be added to the payment, but Batman was too wary to supply them with weapons which they could in an emergency turn against himself or other white men. The Englishman came and settled upon his purchase, built a stock-house, and proposed to surround himself with friends in order to form a sort of small independent State. But only a brief period transpired before an authorized agent of the English Government appeared upon the spot and declared the bargain between Batman and the savages to be null and void; in justice, however, to the purchaser, Government paid him some thousands of pounds sterling, and he turned over all his right and t.i.tle to the authorities accordingly. Neither party could possibly have antic.i.p.ated that in so few years this land would be valued at many millions of pounds sterling. Five years ago a monument was erected to Batman's memory, he having died in 1839; this monument stands in the old cemetery of Melbourne. To-day the site once so cheaply purchased, with the population now upon it, is cla.s.sed by English writers as forming, in point of wealth, numbers of inhabitants, and general importance, the tenth city in the world!

The first sight of Melbourne was quite a surprise to us, though we thought we were fairly informed about this capital of Victoria. No stranger could antic.i.p.ate beholding so grand a city in this far-away South-land of the Pacific. Where there was only a swamp and uncleared woods a few years ago, there has risen a city containing to-day a population of fully four hundred and twenty thousand, embracing the immediate suburbs. This capital is certainly unsurpa.s.sed by any of the British colonies in the elegancies and luxuries of modern civilization, such as broad avenues, palatial dwellings, churches, colossal warehouses, banks, theatres, and public buildings and pleasure-grounds.

It is pleasant to record the fact that one fifth of the revenue raised by taxation is expended for educational purposes. Of what other city in the New or the Old World can this be said? Universities, libraries, public art-galleries, and museums lack not for the liberal and fostering care of the Government. No city except San Francisco ever attained to such size and importance in so short a period as has Melbourne.

The public buildings of the city are mainly constructed of a sort of freestone brought from Tasmania, as the local quarries, being mostly of a volcanic nature, are too hard for favorable working, though some use is made of their material. The new and elaborate Roman Catholic Cathedral, now nearly completed, is entirely constructed of this stone.

Melbourne covers a very large area for its population; indeed, we were told by those who should be well informed in such matters that its extent of territory is nearly the same as that of Paris. In the environs are many delightful residences, embowered with creeping vines and surrounded with flower-gardens. These dwellings could hardly be made to look more attractive externally, though simple architecturally. They are mostly vine-clad; Flora has touched them with her magic finger, and they have become beautiful. Many of these suburbs are named after familiar European localities, such as Brighton, Kew, Emerald Hill, Collingwood, St. Kilda, Fitzroy, and so forth. The streets of St. Kilda must have been named about the period of the late Crimean war, as the following names were observed among them: Raglan, Sebastopol, Redan, Cardigan, Balaklava, and Malakoff.

Lake Yan-Yan supplies Melbourne with drinking-water by means of a system embracing a double set of pipes. This water-supply for domestic and general use is beyond all comparison the best we have ever chanced to see. The valley of the river Plenty, which is a tributary of the Yarra-Yarra, is dammed across at Yan-Yan, nearly twenty miles from the capital, by an embankment half a mile long,--thereby forming a lake nearly ten miles in circ.u.mference, with an area of over thirteen hundred acres, and an average depth of twenty-five feet. It holds sufficient water, as we were informed by an official, to furnish an ample supply for the use of the city during a period of two years, allowing fifteen gallons per head per day for the present population.

This grand piece of engineering was expensive, but is fully worth all it has cost; namely, between six and seven million dollars.

The river Yarra-Yarra runs through the city, and is navigable for large vessels to the main wharves, where it is crossed by a broad and substantial bridge. Both the harbor and the river are being dredged by the most powerful boats designed for the purpose which we have ever seen. Above the bridge the river is handsomely lined with trees; and here, notwithstanding a somewhat winding course, the great boat-races take place which form one of the most attractive of all the local athletic amus.e.m.e.nts,--and Melbourne is famous for out-door sports of every form and nature, but princ.i.p.ally for boating and ball-playing.

A whole chapter might be written describing the public gardens of the city and our inspiring visit to them. The variety of trees here collected is marvellous in its comprehensiveness. Oaks and elms of great size were observed among other exotics; one would hardly have thought they could have found time to acquire such proportions, but all trees grow with marked rapidity in this climate. Some very beautiful fern-trees were noticed, twenty feet in height, their fronds measuring fourteen feet in length, drooping plume-like about the graceful bending stems. Here were seen fine specimens of the magnolia-tree, bending to the ground under the weight of great yellow blossoms. The collection of tropical fruit-trees was remarkably complete. Wherever there are gardens in front of the dwellings in the environs of the city one is sure to see an abundance of the little pink and white daphne, fragrant and lovely as the violet, flouris.h.i.+ng in great luxuriance. The abundance of maiden's-hair fern, in various sizes down to little leaves of pin-head dimensions, gives occasion for its very free use in bouquets. The variety of color found in this species of fern is quite noticeable here, the shades running from a deep dark green, by easy gradations, to almost an orange hue. The charming little daphne is the favorite b.u.t.ton-hole flower of the Collins Street beaux, backed by a tiny spray of light-green fern. We saw some bouquets of cut-flowers in floral establishments on Swanston Street, exhibiting a degree of artistic taste in the arrangement which could not be excelled. The most delicate branches of maiden's-hair fern were so intertwined among the various colored flowers as to form a gauze-like veil, so that one seemed to behold them through a transparent cloud of misty green. Such combinations of tangible beauty cannot be equalled by the finest paintings.

This capital of Victoria, as we have intimated, is a city of public gardens. It is astonis.h.i.+ng what an air of elegance, s.p.a.ce, and wholesomeness is imparted by them. Besides the Botanical Gardens there are the Fitzroy Gardens, situated in the eastern suburb of the town, which contain some seventy-five acres of ground beautifully laid out and ornamented with a grand collection of trees, shrubs, and flowers, especially in the department of ferns. Fountains, rocky basins, and artificial waterfalls add picturesqueness to the place. The Zoological Gardens are in the Royal Park, containing a really fine collection of animals as well as a well-furnished aviary. We had as "fellow-pa.s.sengers"

on board the "Zealandia" a pair of young California lions designed for this collection, which arrived safely at their destination. These baby lions were quite sea-sick on the long voyage, but were in fine condition when we saw them in their new and s.p.a.cious quarters at the Zoo-zoo.