NEW SOUTH WALES.
VOYAGE FROM SINGAPORE TO SYDNEY--PORT JACKSON--FIRST
IMPRESSIONS PRODUCED BY SYDNEY--THE PUBLIC-HOUSE
NUISANCE--SYDNEY JURIES--CATTLE DEALERS--TOWN
IMPROVEMENTS--LAWYERS, DOCTORS, AND CLERGY.
Circumstances induced me, in the early part of 1836, to proceed to New
South Wales, where I passed three years; at the expiration of which I
returned to the Straits in much better health than I had enjoyed for
years before.
The voyage from Singapore to Sydney, _viâ_ Java Head and Bass's Straits,
occupies generally from sixty to seventy days; a much longer period than
it ought to do, considering the distance, but much time and space are
lost in getting southward from Java Head. Crossing the south-east
trade-wind, a ship makes nearly as much westing as she does southing,
and of course has all the former to run back again on getting the
westerly winds in the latitude of 38° to 40° south. We were unfortunate
in this part of our voyage, and got no westerly winds till we reached
the forty-first parallel of south latitude: from that point they took us
to within a few miles of the entrance to Bass's Straits, where we met a
strong easterly gale, which detained us several days. This was in March;
and I would advise ships bound from India to New South Wales, in the
month of January, February, or March, to go to the southward of Van
Diemen's Land altogether: they will thus carry the strong westerly winds
longer, avoid the easterly gales that blow during these months in Bass's
Straits, and probably shorten their passage ten or twelve days. Up the
bold and iron-bound shore of this mighty island, from its south-east
promontory to the heads of Port Jackson, we ran with a strong southerly
gale, and entered the most magnificent of harbours after a seventy days'
passage.
The entrance into Port Jackson is between two rocky heads, called, the
North and South Head. As the former projects rather further into the
Pacific than the latter, and somewhat overlaps it, the stranger would
have some difficulty in finding his port, were it not for the
light-house on the South Head; but, even with this guide, the
inexperienced eye cannot perceive the entrance till right opposite it.
We ran in with a heavy sea outside, and had scarcely got a ship's length
inside the Heads, when we were in water as smooth as a mill-pond. The
steep black rocks on our right looked fearfully near to us, but the
water is deep close to them, and no difficulty is experienced in beating
up to Sydney Cove, a distance of six miles. The only danger in the way
is a shoal or reef, bearing the strange name of the "Sow and Pigs": on
it, however, there is a light-vessel, so that it may be safely passed,
even at night.
Were all the fleets in the world congregated in Port Jackson, they would
not half occupy it. From the Heads to a mile above Sydney Cove, there is
a succession of beautiful bays, with deep water close to the rocks, and
good anchorage in all directions. The scenery is magnificent, though, to
an eye accustomed to that of Singapore, the green is not quite brilliant
enough. A succession of hill and dale, with here and there a neat
cottage perched on some rocky point, the soil clothed with trees, the
waters of the many bays glistening in the sun, and the distant view of
the heights and windmills beyond Sydney, form a picture that can
scarcely be surpassed.
On landing in Sydney, the traveller from India is ready to exclaim,
Surely this is not a town some seventeen thousand miles from England!
Every thing reminds him of home: he sees English servants, English
tradesmen, English shops; in a word, a regular English town, with its
inns and every thing conducted on the English principle. I took up my
quarters with my family at the Pulteney Hotel, where we were made very
comfortable, and found the terms moderate: the only thing that
disappointed us was, the smallness of the bed-rooms. Sydney is a
regularly built town, its spacious streets running at right angles with
each other. The houses are well built, close to each other, with narrow
fronts, and generally three stories high. Here we have George street,
Prince's street, King street, Pitt street, Hyde Park, the Surrey
Hills,--all recalling, by their appellations, the mother country. Hyde
Park, though it comes far short of its namesake in London, is
nevertheless a very pleasant spot for a promenade, being nicely shaded
by trees planted during Sir R. Bourke's government, and is an ornament
to the town. "Government Domain" is a piece of ground in the rear of the
Governor's house, reserved by Government for a garden and
pleasure-grounds: it is tastefully laid out, and intersected with
numerous walks, which are open to the public; and many a pleasant party
is formed by the industrious classes, who have only Sunday to spare for
a little recreation in the open air. The Surrey Hills are being fast
covered with gentlemen's houses, for which a better situation could
scarcely be chosen. _Woolloomoolloo_, or Darlinghurst, as it is now
called, is the favourite suburb, and boasts of many handsome mansions,
each with its garden. Among these are the respective residences of the
Chief-Justice, the Bishop of Australia, and other members of the _élite_
of this metropolis. These houses all command a fine view of the harbour
with its shipping and the surrounding scenery.
Sydney has its theatre, its club-house, its stage and mail coaches,
while steamers ply all about the harbour, and up and down the coast; an
immense convenience to the inhabitants of the northern districts of the
Colony. It has a large and well-supplied market, where the gardeners,
farmers, &c. from the neighbourhood collect their produce for sale, and
where, in good seasons, (that is, seasons in which rain has been
abundant,) the housekeeper may procure supplies on reasonable terms.
There is also, immediately outside the town, a hay and cattle market,
where large herds of cattle and flocks of sheep are constantly for sale,
and generally find ready buyers among the numerous emigrants who are
daily landing on these shores.
The greatest drawback upon the prosperity of the lower orders in Sydney,
arises from the public-houses, of which there are some three hundred,
nearly all filled, from morning to night, with men and women, too often
spending the last penny they possess in the world. The magnitude of this
evil may be estimated from the fact, that, in 1838, the revenue derived
from ardent spirits and public-house licences amounted to the enormous
sum of 110,000l. sterling. No stranger can take a walk through Sydney
without remarking with astonishment the number of these nuisances; and
the list of drunkards exhibited at the police every Monday morning, will
increase his surprise and disgust. So enormous is this evil on the
sabbath-day, that bands of constables patrole the streets for the
purpose of clearing them of drunken men and women, whom they consign to
the "lock-up." These constables, by the way, are extremely brutal in
their manner of handling any unfortunate wight that may fall into their
hands; and I have been frequently disgusted at their barbarity. What
better conduct, however, can be expected from men, nine-tenths of whom
either are or have been convicts? When I was at Sydney, the jail was a
most wretched place, not half large enough for the many unfortunate
beings it had occasionally to receive. A more commodious one has since
been erected, with space enough to allow of the separate classification
of debtors, highway robbers, bush-rangers, and felons, which could not
be always attended to in the old building. The jail is cleared four
times a year by holding criminal courts. The calendar is usually very
heavy, and the crimes are generally of a heinous nature. The prisoner
has the privilege of choosing whether he will be tried by a civil or by
a military jury. Many prefer the latter, knowing that, whatever the
verdict may be, it will be a conscientious one. The civil jury is
generally composed of publicans, and is always chosen by the Sydney
scamps, in the hope that a _chum_ or _pal_ may be found in the list,
which is not unfrequently the case. The hardest task the
Attorney-General has to perform, is, to get together a respectable jury.
When it is composed of civilians, the prisoner is sure to challenge
every respectable man in the box. By this means, he generally succeeds
in getting twelve men sworn, of whom two or three are of the stamp he
requires,--men that will, in vulgar phrase, "swear through a six-inch
plank" to get him off. It is no uncommon case for Sydney jurors, on
retiring to consider their verdict, to exclaim that their minds are made
up, and that they will be d----d if they will give a verdict of guilty.
Another source of trouble to all persons concerned with a court of
justice here, is the extreme difficulty experienced in extracting truth
from witnesses. It is almost impossible to conceive the effrontery with
which nine-tenths of these men will swear any thing: they invariably
prevaricate and contradict themselves when cross-examined, and are not
unfrequently sent from the witness-box to prison, to take their trial
for perjury. I remember, on one occasion, seeing a father, mother, and
three grown-up daughters, who came into court to sustain a charge
against a farmer for an assault on one of the daughters, committed for
perjury, while the prisoner was released without a stain on his name.
The crime of cattle-stealing, probably, comes oftener before the Judges
of New South Wales than any other, particularly since the punishment for
it has been changed from death to banishment for life. When death was
the penalty, many graziers put up with their loss, rather than prosecute
the offender: now, the cattle-stealer is shewn no mercy, from one end of
the Colony to the other. The Judge has no discretionary power with this
class of offenders, but, in the event of a verdict of guilty, must pass
the sentence of banishment for life. If the prisoner came free to the
colony, he is banished to Van Diemen's Land: if, on the other hand, he
is an old convict, he is sent to rusticate for the remainder of his days
on Norfolk Island. Whole droves of stolen cattle are, nevertheless,
continually offered for sale in the neighbourhood of Sydney, and ready
purchasers are found for them, the risk of being brought up as a
receiver not being so great as might be supposed. The regular
cattle-stealer has stations in the bush, where he collects his
ill-gotten herds, defaces and alters their brands, and keeps them till
the new brand has healed and assumed the usual appearance; he then
boldly starts for market in open day, and, though he may be met by the
former owners of the beasts he is driving, he fears nothing, proof of
identity being a difficult task, when a P has been made into a B, and,
perhaps, three or four other brands have been added.
During the administration of Sir Richard Bourke, great improvements were
made in the streets of Sydney, particularly in the direction of the
different wharfs, from which the ascent used to be frightfully steep. To
remedy this evil, and at the same time to improve the appearance of the
town, Sir Richard cut away the brows of the ridges, and filled up the
hollows with the rubbish. This proceeding caused a great outcry among
those persons who had property where the cuttings took place, and whose
dwellings, in some cases, were many feet above the new level of the
street. In the course of time, these proprietors descended from their
airy posts, knocked down their old unsightly tenements, cut down their
ground to the proper level, and built new and more sightly houses; so
that the Governor's proceedings have improved both the streets and the
general appearance of the town, as well as enhanced the value of the
property wherever the cuttings were made.
Sydney abounds with doctors, lawyers, and parsons, all of whom thrive
here. The lawyer especially reaps a rich harvest among a population
notoriously fond of litigation, and prone to give cause for it in
various ways. As usual, however, the supply has of late exceeded the
demand; and the barristers do not now lounge in such stylish carriages
as they were accustomed to be seen in some years ago. The medical men's
harvest, a sickly season, is not a rare occurrence in Sydney, though the
Colony generally is remarkable for its salubrity. The last summer I
spent there, the deaths were very numerous, and cast a gloom over the
place. Influenza and fevers were the prevailing complaints, and were
probably attributable to the dry, hot winds prevalent at the time,
together with the badness of the water in common use, and the
intemperate habits of the people. The want of a supply of good water is
much felt. Every house has its pump, but the water is not fit for any
thing but washing, and is, for the most part, so hard, that soap will
not dissolve in it. Government had commenced laying pipes to supply the
town with this necessary article; but, when I left the Colony, they had
not been brought nearer than to within a mile; and I have not heard of
their being since carried any further. Water-carts go round, selling
water at a penny or sometimes three halfpence per bucket, which is of a
good quality.
Previously to the arrival of Sir Richard Bourke, the clergy of the
Church of England were the only persons in the Colony that were
authorized to marry, to bury, or to christen. Sir Richard put an end to
this extraordinary state of affairs, by his celebrated Church Act; and
now, every one may be married by the minister of his own persuasion, and
follow, in religious matters, the dictates of his conscience. Strange
as it may appear, Sir Richard's proceedings in this matter gave great
offence to the magnates of the Church of England; and the Archdeacon
went home to remonstrate with Her Majesty's Government on the subject.
His Reverence took nothing, however, by his motion, Lord Glenelg, the
then Secretary for the Colonies, highly approving of all that had been
done. But the Archdeacon returned to the Colony a Bishop, and, when I
left it, was busily engaged in erecting a cathedral by public
subscription.