CHAPTER VII

From the Gold City we traveled southward to the Diamond City.

"You haven't been in town long?" a Kimberley policeman addressing me,

remarked, as he stepped in front. As a matter of fact, I had only got

about a hundred yards from the railway station. I surmised that I had

been taken for an "I. D. B." (illicit diamond buyer), having been told

a bird can scarcely alight in Kimberley without coming under police

surveillance. "We're from the same country, I believe," the officer

continued, when I felt easier. "My native town is St. Louis," he

added. "Come to my home this afternoon and have dinner with us, after

which we'll call on an American living in a house a few doors below,"

he went on kindly. This courtesy allayed all suspicion that I would be

asked to establish my identity before staying longer in the diamond

fields. The invitation was accepted, his hospitality being generous.

The second American had been on the diamond fields for more than 30

years, but local interest was a secondary consideration to meeting

some one just come from the United States. He had been in British

territory so long that he had acquired the British accent, but that

was the only thing foreign about him, as one would not know where to

find a more patriotic son of America. On a second visit to the

"Diamond City" every kindness was shown me by these two "exiles."

Kimberley, with a population of about 35,000, one-third of this number

being white, is the capital of Griqualand West, a section of Cape

Colony. Before diamonds were discovered, the territory embraced in the

Kimberley district was understood to be a part of the Orange Free

State. When the diamond fields promised rich returns, Cape Colony

officials claimed this tract as being part of that province. The

matter was finally adjusted by the Free State surrendering its claim

to the Cape authorities upon payment by the latter to the Boer

republic of several million dollars. The Diamond City has evidently

stood still while other places in the sub-continent have kept pace

with the progress of the times. Its newspapers are inferior; only one

building reaches three stories; there is very little street paving,

practically no sidewalks, and public buildings are quite ordinary; the

shacks standing not far from the business center, built by colored

people out of American oil cans, are a disgrace; church bells even are

suspended from a crosspiece resting on the top of two posts, 10 feet

high, in the churchyard; the parks do not amount to much, most of the

shade trees in these being fine-bearded pine, through which the sun

beats down on one. If there was anything of a creditable character

here, save for a modern street car system, we did not observe it. To

Alexandriafontein, a fenced-in private pleasure resort, an electric

line runs, but it costs 25 cents to reach this park.

Were one in need of an object lesson to understand thoroughly what a

trust means to a municipality, he would learn that lesson in

Kimberley. A number of diamond mines are in operation in the Kimberley

district, but there is but one diamond mining company--the De Beers.

Diamond mining is the only industry in Kimberley. Mine officials are

very kind to visitors who wish to look about the works.

"Ho! that's Kimberley rain," shouted a friend. Looking from a window,

the width of the street appeared a solid mass of dust, if the term may

be allowed, extending far above the roofs of the houses. "That's the

sort of 'rain' we get in Kimberley," he explained. No rain had fallen

for six months.

The depth of the diamond mines runs from 1,000 to 2,600 feet. The

color of the soil in which the diamonds are found is blue--blue dirt,

it is called--which is removed by explosives. Dirt, pebbles and stones

are moved in iron trucks with iron covers, and locked. On coming to

the surface it is started on gravity railways which extend from two to

four miles from the mine. The truck of dirt, weighing about a ton and

containing an average of one-third of a karat of diamond, is here

dumped on the ground. The "dirt field" contains 1,400 acres of space.

Three high barbed wire fences form the inclosure, and police--mounted,

on bicycles, and on foot--see that no stranger gets inside the triple

barbed-wire fence.

The blue dirt remains in the field from three to six months until, by

exposure to the air, it crumbles. A harrow, with teeth 10 inches long,

is drawn over the section of field ready for use, when any remaining

lumps are broken into fine dirt. The diamond soil is next loaded into

trucks and started back to the head of the mine. The dirt is here

dumped into a revolving screen, which contains holes for pebbles of

certain sizes to drop through. These drop into a revolving round tank,

or vat, 14 feet in diameter and about a foot deep, into which water

runs. Inside the vat are two large stationary rakes, around which the

tank revolves. This is called the washery. The dirt runs out as muddy

water, and the rakes serve to move the pebbles to a point in the

circular vat where there is an opening. Connecting with this opening

is a pipe, down which the stones pass into a steel truck below. When

the truck is filled with pebbles, the door is closed and locked.

The truck is now started on a gravity railway to what is called the

pulsator, where the nuggets and diamond-bearing stones are separated

from those of no value. Here the contents of the truck also are

emptied into a revolving screen with graduated holes to allow the

pebbles to drop out. The stones of the various sizes now drop into

compartments 4 feet long and 18 inches wide--called jigs--which move

back and forth. Water runs over the pebbles in the jigs, the

light-weight ones washing out and the heavier remaining at the bottom.

The pebbles that remain in the jigs are taken out later and put into

still another revolving screen. Under the grade sizes of this screen

are inclined tables, over which water runs, these having a thickly

greased floor, or bottom, on to which the stones drop. The nuggets and

diamond-bearing stones stick in the grease, but the non-diamondiferous

pebbles pass over. To emphasize how strongly grease acts as a magnet

to the precious stones, of the millions and millions of pebbles that

are washed over the greased bottoms, which are carefully inspected by

experts, rarely is a diamond detected among the culls.

The little lumps on the greased tables--the diamonds covered with

grease--might resemble a hand with big warts. The table is cleaned,

when the scrapings are treated by a liquid, which renders the diamonds

free of grease. They then pass to a sorting room. The sorters are

native prisoners, but a white man is over them. Then one negro, very

expert in detecting diamonds, examines the stones sorted by the

prisoners. From him they pass to a room where two white men again

examine them. They are then put into steel cups little larger than a

teacup. The cup has a lid to it and a lock. The lid is closed, locked,

and the cup labeled. The locked cups next go to the Kimberley office.

Every Monday the output of the diamond mines is taken to a train

headed for Capetown. That train makes connection with a steamship

leaving for Europe on Wednesdays. From England most of the diamonds

are sent to Amsterdam, Holland, to be refined.

The reducing character of the diamond mining industry is apt to

astonish one. Over 200,000 trucks of dirt are treated daily, and the

product from this great quantity of soil is less than a cubic foot.

Twenty-three thousand men are engaged in digging, and the diamonds

mined by that large force are examined by but four eyes and handled by

only four hands in the examining room at the pulsator. The yearly

output of the Kimberley diamond mines is from $35,000,000 to

$40,000,000.

Credit for bringing to light the first stone found in the Kimberley

district, in 1870, is given to an Irishman named O'Reilly. A Dutch

boy, whose father's name was Van Niekerk, was playing jackstones.

O'Reilly's eye being attracted by a bright stone among those with

which the boy was playing, he told the boy's father he thought that

particular one was a diamond. O'Reilly's judgment proved to be good,

as, when weighed, it was found to be of 22½ karat. The stone was sold

for $2,500, O'Reilly and Van Niekerk dividing the money.

On the wagon containing the weekly output of diamonds of the Kimberley

mines, and which meets the train that goes to Capetown every Monday

afternoon, is seated a white man and a native driver. No attempt has

yet been made to rob the wagon while going from the head office of the

diamond company to the railway station. This alone may serve to

emphasize the grip which law and order has on that community.

A week before a native quits the diamond mines he is kept under strict

surveillance. The natives live in compounds, as the kafirs do in the

Rand mine compounds, but, unlike the "boys" working in the gold mines,

mine "boys" of Kimberley are not allowed outside of the compound

except when going to and coming from work, and then only under guard.

They are hired for from three months to a year, and are paid from $15

to $30 a month and board. There are seven mines in the Kimberley

district, which give employment to 20,000 natives and 3,000 Europeans.

Three eight-hour shifts are worked.

Those engaged in the diamond diggings along the banks of the River

Vaal carry with them during life a characteristic by which they may be

picked out from among men following different pursuits. A

fortune--which they all hope for--may escape them if their eyes are

raised from the ground for even so brief a time as that required for

the wink of an eyelash, as they might thus have missed the fleeting

flash of a precious stone just peeping through the soil. For this

reason, when engaged in the diamond diggings their eyes are constantly

looking downward. After they leave the diggings--when they have spent

their savings and become practically starved out--they walk about with

bent head, looking at the sidewalk or ground as they did when

hand-screening soil and digging alluvial dirt. Some have made fortunes

in the diggings, but these are few and far between.

Bloemfontein, next visited, is known as the Convention City. Because

of its location, being the most important city in the center of South

Africa and well provided with hotels and railway connections, together

with its good public buildings, it has become the favored place for

national gatherings.

After the Boer War the name of this province was changed to Orange

River Colony, against the burghers' wishes. In May, 1910, when the

Dutch again assumed power, its former name, and its present

one--Orange Free State--again came into use.

Located between hills on two sides, having good streets, shady walks,

electric light, good buildings, and a broad, treeless veld to the

east, with poverty seemingly absent, an inviting air pervades

Bloemfontein. The homes of that city, a great many of them built of

red brick, with their vari-colored painted roofs and tidy yards filled

with flowers, all nestling under and some built on the side of the

kopjes, or hills, put one in mind of that other Dutch capital--Pretoria.

Unlike Kimberley, no tin shanties were to be seen here, neither were

the streets swarming with half-castes and Hindus.

As in other places in South Africa where there are no mines,

smokestacks are few here. The Orange Free State is said to be a good

farming section, and from that source, and the general commercial and

official business linked with a metropolis and State capital, spring

the main assets of the city. Newspapers, a good gauge by which to

measure a center, are in advance of the Free State capital.

The marketplace in Bloemfontein is typical of the Dutch, being located

in the center of the town, business houses and hotels standing on the

four sides. The long ox teams, led by natives with rawhide strips tied

to the horns of the leading yoke; the big transport, with its tent at

the rear, a Boer sitting in the doorway or opening, smoking his

calabash pipe filled with Boer tobacco, and his frau, behind him,

knitting; the auctioneers jabbering above a pile of farm produce; the

group of farmers, with their wide-brimmed hats and full beards,

arguing in the Dutch language, are all in evidence. It was interesting

to walk about observing the product of the soil and the people who

cultivate it, and the means in use to bring it where it might be

profitably sold. With the tent at the rear end of the transport, and

"scoff," coffee and cooking utensils, hotel expenses are eliminated,

and one may stay as long as one wishes. A great number of Boers pay a

couple of days' visit to old acquaintances when they come to this

marketplace.

Bi-lingualism, a nightmare to some of the British in South Africa, has

its fountainhead in Bloemfontein. Bi-lingualism here means the

teaching of the Dutch and English languages in the public schools.

When the conditions of consolidation were drafted, dual

languages--Dutch and English--to be taught in schools was one of the

provisions, and this clause was agreed to by the British

representatives at the convention at which the act of federation was

ratified. The Minister of Education is from the Orange Free State, and

is Dutch through and through. He insists on the dual language clause

being carried out to the letter. The Dutch, as spoken in South

Africa--it is called the Taal--is not so pure as the Holland Dutch.

While one might not agree with the Minister of Education in forcing

English scholars to study Dutch, when either French, Spanish or German

would be better, his fighting for the perpetuation of his mother

tongue must command admiration. Cabinet Ministers of South Africa, by

the way, are not cheap salaried men. The Premier receives $70,000 a

year, the other members $48,000 a year.

Hotel expenses are from $3 to $5 a day. House rent is rather high,

too; but the wages paid mechanics are fair, running from $4 to $5 a

day.

In the evening one sees very few black people about the streets.

Bloemfontein has a municipal "location"--a place where natives must

live--about three miles from town. Except as a servant, the Indian

coolie, although a British subject, is not allowed to cross the Free

State border. No adverse feeling is entertained for the native, but

the line is drawn on Asiatics.

The veld is so bare of any vegetation, save grass, in that part of

South Africa that there is not a native tree growing in a radius of a

hundred miles from Bloemfontein.

While traveling through farming districts in South Africa one misses

the grain elevators seen at every station, and even sidings, when

passing through agricultural sections in the United States and Canada.

Southward we headed for Capetown, passing through Modder River and

then Naauwpoort. Later we entered a stretch of country known as the

Karoo. Rain does not fall in this district for a period of nine or ten

months. For hundreds of miles there is not a blade of grass to be

seen, yet goats, sheep, and ostriches abound, and grain is a product

of that strange stretch of land. Cradock, the metropolis of the Karoo,

is an oasis, because good shade trees are numerous. A small bush

grows, called karoo, on which goats and sheep feed, and do well, if

they do not die from thirst. The climate of the Karoo is very

favorable to persons suffering from lung trouble. One of the best

churches of Dutch design in South Africa is found in Cradock.

We had now reached the Cape of Good Hope Province. Southeast of

Cradock is Kaffraria, at one time a separate colony. Natives are

numerous through that section. One of the tribes of Kaffraria is the

Fingo, a good native for the mines. Hence, mine labor agents are to be

found at every turn seeking help. It is in that district where the

traders do so well in furnishing "boys" to the mines. Natives owning

land, and wishing to sell it, are not allowed to sell to a white

person, but may sell the land to a native.

Unlike Zulus, the natives throughout Kaffraria live in colonies. The

huts are principally made of mud and roofed with straw. Different

tribes are known to strangers by the blankets they wear. One tribe

wears a brown blanket and goes bare-headed, while another wears a

dark-colored cotton blanket, with black cloth over their heads. This

mode of dress pertains to the native women.

Order is maintained in these settlements by a native appointed by the

government. When violations of law occur, the police authorities go

direct to this native, as head of the settlement, who is held strictly

accountable for any infraction. Cornmeal, or mealy meal, the staff of

life to natives of South Africa, costs $7 a bag, and 200 pounds

provide "scoff" for four natives for a month.

Africa, as generally known, is the home of the ostrich. In South

Africa alone they exceed 700,000, and this southwest corner comprises

merely one-twenty-fourth of the area of the "Dark Continent." The

territory lying between Kaffraria and Capetown, however, is the

section in which the ostrich industry has reached its highest state of

development. The feathers are picked at periods of 18 months, the

average yield being three pounds, although some ostriches grow six

pounds of feathers in a season. These are mostly disposed of by

auction at Oudtshoorn, the clearing house for this product of the

sub-continent. Buyers representing leading feather merchants of the

world attend these sales. The price of feathers varies a great deal, a

common quality bringing only $25, while a good grade sells for $100 a

pound. The annual exports from this industry amount to $15,000,000. A

pair of ostriches sell for $500 to $800. Fifteen eggs is the average

composing a sitting, and six weeks' hatching is required to bring

forth the young. Hatching devolves mainly on the male bird, he sitting

at least four weeks out of the six. The two weeks the female devotes

to sitting are objectionable ones to her, being whipped to her task by

the male bird from time to time to take even this unequal part in

bringing their brood into existence. The law prohibits both shipping

from, or taking out of South Africa, eggs of this, the premier bird.

"Will you have some shiverin' jimmy?" asked a compartment companion as

he began unwinding a cloth from a bundle. "I'm from Grahamstown," he

continued, "where there is nothing but 'pubs' (saloons) and churches.

Have some shiverin' jimmy," he concluded. By that time the cloth was

off the "parcel." What he called "shiverin' jimmy" proved to be

animated headcheese.

The train crept slowly down a steep grade, as we had left the high

veld behind. Mount Matroosburg, a thin sheet of snow on its summit,

was on our right, and on reaching Hex River Valley we were in the sea

zone, and not far from Capetown.

The interest associated with Table Bay, by reason of its early

explorers, massacre of early settlers, and the fighting with the

Hottentots of those who finally got a footing, comes to mind when in

this section. It was about 1653 that Johan van Riebeek, a Hollander,

started a settlement. Several attempts to establish a white colony had

been made earlier, but attacks by the natives drove those daring men

back to their ships. Van Riebeek, however, succeeded. Cape Colony

remained Dutch for some years, afterward coming under British control,

reverted to the Hollanders again, then to England once more, and has

remained an English possession ever since.

To find a city to compare with Capetown, from a point of unusual

attractiveness, would be difficult. In front, Table Bay, a charming

sheet of blue water, spreads out to a good width, and beyond rises the

Drakenstein and Hottentots Holland ranges of mountains, their

castle-like peaks lending solemn charm when viewed from a distance;

above the city rises Table Mountain, the feature of Capetown, with its

two flanking towers--Devil's Peak (3,300 feet) and Lion's Head (2,100

feet)--forming the semi-circular valley in which the city rests so

picturesquely. The commanding, frowning and scarred front of this

unique mountain proves an object of admiration. Table Mountain is

three miles long and three-quarters of a mile wide. The top is as

level as a table, and, like other mountains in South Africa, is barren

of timber. Rising to a height of nearly 4,000 feet, a view from its

broad, flat top is of unusual interest. Antonio de Saldanha, in 1503,

is said to have been the first white man to scale its sides.

The Town Hall, Parliament buildings, a splendid public garden, good

museum, art gallery, colleges and other commendable public

institutions are fully in keeping with the natural attractiveness of

the Cape Peninsular. Creditable business buildings and good docks are

also prominent.

Durban's wide-awake business men, together with Capetown's high

charges to shippers, have taken from Table Bay the maritime prestige

she once enjoyed. The majority of ships going to India and Australia

do not come into Table Bay for coal, but keep steaming until they have

reached Port Natal.

Smokestacks about the shore of the bay are not numerous enough to

class the place as a manufacturing center. One often wonders what

people do to earn a living in some of the cities of South Africa, in

view of blacks doing so much of the work. Wages in Capetown, the

lowest paid in South Africa, are not enough for comfortable living.

Clerks, bookkeepers and clerical help generally are offered $7 to $10

a week. House rent is very cheap, however.

The blacks and colored of the Cape Province participate in the

franchise, and a native of Tembuland was a member of the provincial

Parliament. Strict laws in the old Boer provinces prohibit selling

liquor to natives. While all natives here cannot vote, all voters have

a right to drink liquor. So, if a native has money to buy whisky, he

need merely say he is a voter and the saloonkeeper will take his word

for it. When a black man can drink all the whisky he can pay for, and

has a vote, that means insults and danger to life for the white of

both sexes. This is the deplorable stage reached, to a noticeable

degree, in Capetown. The white population is decreasing and blacks are

becoming more insolent. The native of Capetown is not like the Zulu,

nor the Barotse. He is copper colored, lower intellectually, of

uninviting features and meanly inclined. Instances are frequent when

the black of Capetown will not share the sidewalk--the white man must

step off or get into a fight with half a dozen of these drunken

natives.

To be allowed to land in Capetown one must have a hundred dollars.

Englishmen, Irishmen, Scotchmen, foreigners--no one can land if he has

not that sum. The tariff charged on foreign goods is from 50 to 125

per cent. The latter figure applies to tobacco. On a pound of American

tobacco, which sells in the United States for 40 cents, there is a tax

of $1.20.

Sixteen days is the shortest time in which mail can be transported

from Capetown to England. The distance separating these two points is

6,000 miles.

Groote Schuur, the home of the late Cecil Rhodes, of very striking

design and richly furnished, is located here in one of the finest

estates in the world. Having a splendidly wooded park, with good paths

built at convenient sections, it is shaded by the towering clefts of

Table Mountain. The entrances to the Rhodes estate were never locked,

and one had only to push open a gate to come in touch with nature in a

superior form. Passing away in 1902, eight years before the

consolidation, but far-seeing enough to know what the future policy of

the country would be, Rhodes bequeathed Groote Schuur to the first

Premier of a United South Africa. Louis Botha, elected to that high

office, thereby came into possession of this attractive home.

"Your Hinterland Is There" is one of the inscriptions carved on the

granite base on which the bronze figure of Cecil Rhodes rests in the

Public Gardens of Capetown. The front of the figure is facing north,

and a hand is pointed in the same direction--to Rhodesia. "So little

done and so much to do" were the plaintive words of a man who had

added 750,000 square miles to his country's already large possessions.

The wine industry is prominent in this province. Some years ago the

grapevines were ravaged by a disease. Grape stocks were imported from

the United States, and the native vine engrafted to the American

plant, when the industry again thrived.

Snook, a fish three feet in length, numerous about the Cape Peninsula,

seemed the principal food of a great number of poor colored people of

Capetown.

In a place that has been an English possession so long one would

expect to find a general use of the English language, but, on the

contrary, natives and a majority of Europeans speak Dutch.

Newspapers and printing in general are ahead of the town. The wages,

however, are low compared to other large places in South Africa.

"Hi'm the merry widow!" he shouted. "Hi'm the merry widow!" A Cockney

Jew, with a grooved face, was among the merchants who sold

goods--underwear, shirts, socks, haircombs, handkerchiefs, etc.--on

what is known as the Parade Ground on certain days of the week. He

wore on his head a woman's white straw hat with a soft, broad brim,

which flopped against the sides of his face while he vigorously cried

his wares. Around the crown of the hat was a garland of artificial

flowers--daisies, roses, forget-me-nots, etc. He stood on a box, and

told his auditors he was almost giving everything away. He talked at

the rate of a thousand words a minute, more or less, working so hard

that the perspiration on his face resembled a large water-soaked

sponge when pressed. While streamlets of sweat ran down the flutes in

his cheeks, he frequently interlarded his cheap-bargain harangue with,

"Hi'm the merry widow!" "Hi'm the merry widow!"

Nearly 200,000 people live in and about Capetown, and the mixture is

the worst in South Africa. Malays came to the Cape Peninsula years

ago, and the mongrel off-shoots of these, with Arabs and natives of

St. Helena and other places, emphasize the word "colored."

Being situated at almost the junction of two seas, the South Atlantic

and Indian Oceans, the climate is the best in South Africa. The

weather is never very hot, and frost is unknown.

We shall travel northward over the Karoo again to Bloemfontein, then

easterly across the Orange Free State to Ladysmith, board a train

going south, and return to Durban.

As stated in the early part of this volume, I had $1,350 when I left

New York. On returning to Durban I had $637. With that sum I was about

to start for India. The second day after reaching Durban, however, I

obtained work on the leading newspaper, which furnished me with

employment for six months. My wages averaged $40 a week. Modest

comforts were good enough for me, and, living expenses being

reasonable, I was enabled to put away a snug sum. Work was there for

me if I wished to "drop in" the next year, so I promised to be on

hand. This opened an opportunity to visit another continent--Australia

--which I had not taken into calculation before leaving New York, as

at that time I had not money enough to do so. So, early in January, I

was on my way to the Antipodes.

On my return from Australia I took another trip to Johannesburg and

back. I went to work the first of August and continued to the middle

of December. Then I made a trip to Zululand, and upon my return was

again offered work. As I had not enough money for the remainder of the

journey, I decided to stay. Taking another trip to East London,

Kingwilliamstown, up through Kaffraria, to Cradock, Bloemfontein,

Kimberley, Johannesburg, Pretoria, and back to Pietermaritzburg and

Durban, in the middle of March, 1912, I went to work for the third

time, and finally bid good-by to Durban in July following.

LEG THREE

CHAPTER I

Thirteen first-class passengers--four women, three men and six

children--boarded a steamship at Durban for Australia. The vessel was

a cargo ship, but had accommodation for a small number of passengers.

She had started from a Swedish port in the Baltic Sea with a full

cargo of pine lumber. The distance from the Baltic port to Durban is

8,000 miles, and the ship's final destination was to be Brisbane,

Queensland, Australia, over 7,000 miles further east. Speaking about

long voyages, this one should satisfy the most ambitious.

A Swedish woman, with two children, boarded the ship at her home port,

with Sydney as first landing. From Sydney she intended to sail to the

South Sea Islands, until she reached Vavau, Tonga (Friendly Islands),

still 2,000 miles further east from Sydney, where she and the children

were to join her husband. The time required to travel from the Baltic

seaport to Vavau was over three months, counting stops.

From Durban to Melbourne, 6,000 miles, the fare was only $100 first

class. Food was good, the ship steady, and weather fair. Our captain

was a jovial soul, and the passengers proved a congenial group. The

vessel was well manned by a white crew.

The second day out again found the albatross and Cape pigeon as our

companions. Later we sailed down to latitude 39, south of which

sailors term the "roarin' forties," where the weather became chilly.

Two islands--St. Paul and Amsterdam--were the only land seen during

the voyage, and not a single ship. One cultivates a genuine respect

for seafaring men when traveling on ships that bring one in intimate

touch with them. They are so thoroughly versed in the science of

navigation that they know to a foot's space almost what part of the

sea they are sailing over.

One of our lady passengers, returning to Australia, her native

country, had her three children with her. Years before she and her

husband left for South Africa, where fortune smiled on them; she was

returning a wealthy woman. A New Zealander and his wife, an

Australian, also were returning from South Africa. A baby had come to

their home in Boerland and they were returning to Kangarooland to show

the hopeful to their friends.

A feature of the sea at night in that stretch of the Indian Ocean

represents what might be termed a starry marine firmament. The water

contains phosphorous in sections, and, when opposing forces clash,

bright, blue-white lights come thickly to view and twinkle and

scintillate on crests of waves made by the wash of a vessel. These

sparkling beams have their season during periods of contact, when,

like embers, they gradually flitter away as the waves assume their

normal level. From bow to stern the water line of a ship will be aglow

with star-like streaks, the wake of a vessel appearing as a "milky

way," this marine illumination taking place where the sea is "plowed"

by merchantmen, as it were.

"Is that Rottnest Light ahead, captain?" asked the New Zealander.

"Aye," answered the skipper. "We'll anchor outside the breakwater

about 3 o'clock in the morning." We had been sixteen days out from

Durban, and every one had a good voyage. In the forenoon, after the

port doctor had completed his examination of the passengers and crew,

we passed through the channel and into the harbor, and soon were

alongside a dock at Fremantle, West Australia. We had reached Leg

Three.

"What Ho!" is the national salute of Australia when countrymen meet,

and if the reader will allow me to step slightly in advance of my

notes, I shall take the liberty to offer, "What ho!" to "the

Down-unders." The use of the term "Down-unders" is explained by

Australia being situated almost in a direct line under that section of

the globe constituting Europe.

"A White Australia" is the slogan of the people of the Antipodes, and

the first thing one notices on coming from any of the black countries

is the absence of black men about the docks.

Twelve miles up the Swan River from Fremantle, Perth, the capital and

metropolis of the State of West Australia, is located. It was in 1827

that Captain Stirling sailed to the mouth of the Swan River, where

Fremantle is located. He decided the location would make a good

settlement site. Perth later sprang into existence, however, and grew

so fast that Fremantle, with a population of 18,000 people, is but a

port for the State Capital.

Big things are met with in Australia, and the State of which Perth is

the official center is about four times larger than the State of

Texas.

One inwardly joins with the people of the Commonwealth in their

national slogan when the industrial activity is so strikingly

contrasted between "Darkest Africa" and "White Australia." Australia

is seen at her best when coming from any of the black belts.

The European style of passenger coach is in use, and the freight cars

are also European, some of these not one-third as large as the

American box car. Small locomotives are also in use. The country from

Fremantle to Perth is sandy, the only verdure growing being the

eucalyptus, or gum tree, as it is called. Homes seen along the railway

track were of red brick.

When Perth--with a population of 60,000--was reached--well, it looked

like one of the busy cities of the North. Smokestacks, streets crowded

with people, splendid buildings, all work being done by Europeans, all

vehicles drawn by good horses--no oxen in sight; streets asphalted--in

that far-off land one will find as busy and as up-to-date a city as

exists anywhere. Credit for this substantial condition of things is

more strongly emphasized when it is remembered that West Australia is

very hot, more suited to black races than white.

Clean streets, with bright-colored red-brick residences, one story in

height, are prominent in this section of the country. A large number

of working people are their own landlords, and those who do not own

their own homes pay $3.50 weekly rent. The weekly system of paying

bills--house rent and store bills--is the custom in Australia. As the

government owns the railroads, postoffice and other public utilities,

the employes in these departments, as those of municipal and private

employers, are also paid weekly. This has proved a good system.

The street car system is good, cars being of the double-deck type.

This was the first place the American system of street-car transfers

was noticed.

One finds here a splendid park square with plenty of free seats and

space, flowers and grass. In a larger park, a short distance away, is

a zoo. There is also a museum, art gallery, a good library, hospitals

and schools.

Many people were gathered in the larger park on a holiday, and had

brought lunch with them. The thermometer registered 107 in the shade.

At one place in the park a big kettle, three feet high, hung over a

wood fire, was boiling. The holiday-makers came to the kettle for hot

water to make tea. It looked out of place to see hot tea drunk in such

weather, yet tea is the non-alcoholic drink of that country, and is

said to be the best for that climate. The city employed the man who

boiled water for the tea.

Swan River is said to be the home of the black swan, the graceful bird

that makes ponds and lakes so attractive in many parks in the world.

Good meals could be had for twenty-five cents. Grapes were selling for

four cents a pound, and peaches, melons, and other fruit sold at a

proportionately low price. Mutton sold at four to six cents a pound;

beef, from ten to twelve cents, and pork at twelve cents.

Educating the young is a pronounced characteristic in West Australia.

The schools are maintained by the State, are free, and attendance is

compulsory from the age of six to fourteen years. Twenty-one dollars

is the sum the State fixes for the schooling of a scholar.

Scholarships of the value of $250 a year are offered annually for

competition among pupils between the ages of 11 and 13 years. Other

inducements are made to bring out the best that is in the growing

generation. In sparsely settled farming districts, where ten or more

children are to be found, the State reaches out a beneficent hand to

qualify the child for the battle of life. In addition to

appropriations for their schooling, and where the children must ride

to school, 12 cents a day is paid to the person in whose vehicle the

children are carried to and from the schoolhouse. Where a railroad

runs through these sections, and the children ride on trains to and

from school, no fare is charged.

Very liberal inducements are held out to persons taking up government

land. Twenty years' time is allowed the settler in which to pay for

his farm, and the interest charged is four to five per cent.

Residential growth and improved conditions, of course, result from the

transaction.

To prevent destruction of crops by rabbits, which do a great amount of

damage to growing grain in some parts, the government has gone to the

expense of building rabbit-proof fences about tracts of land it has

for disposal. The quality of wheat, oats and other cereals is of the

best, meriting the awarding of first prizes at world expositions where

they have been on exhibition. Sheep-raising is another great asset of

Western Australia.

The rich gold fields of this State are located from 300 to 350 miles

east of Perth, in the heart of a desert, of which a large area of West

Australia is composed. In 1884 gold was discovered in this section of

the Commonwealth, but a greater rush to the mines occurred in 1890-92,

when the Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie finds became known. In this

industry a hundred thousand persons are engaged. Before a railway was

built over this barren stretch of country from the coast to the mines,

many an adventurous soul perished during his journey in quest of the

precious metal. No water is found in this district, that needed in

homes and for treatment of the ores being "imported," pumped from a

dam near Perth through pipes of 30 inch diameter for this great

distance. Besides gold, copper, tin and coal are mined. Black workers

are excluded.

Wages paid are more equalized than in other countries. Laborers

receive a minimum of $2 a day, and mechanics from $2.50 to $3 a day.

Eight hours is a day's working time.

Newspapers are fully abreast of this hustling city. Printers receive

$21 to $25 a week, the hours of work on newspapers seldom exceeding

six. I had been offered work in Perth, but, my destination being

Melbourne, I continued eastward.

We had traveled 4,300 miles from Durban to Fremantle, and 1,700 miles

separate Perth from Melbourne. Twelve hundred miles of that distance

was to be across the Great Australian Bight.

Fourteen hours' sail east from Fremantle, Cape Leeuwin was reached,

the most westerly point of land of the Australia continent, and one of

the most dangerous points for ships in the world. The distance

traversed to clear the Leeuwin is 25 miles.

Dutchmen were early explorers in Australia, and parts touched bore the

names of the head of the exploring parties, and sometimes the captains

of the ships. Some of the names were Eendracht Land, Nuyts Land, De

Witt Land; but of all the places given names by the Dutch, Leeuwin

Cape is the only one well known. That part of Australia was early

known as New Holland. The Dutch set foot on West Australia 200 years

before Fremantle became a settlement.

Across King George's Sound, on which Albany is located, we sailed,

when the Bight was entered. The Bight is famous for its rough sea;

accounts of the vengeance it has wreaked on mariners, travelers and

ships would fill many pages.

"Do you think we'll have a good voyage through the Bight, captain?"

asked a passenger. "The barometer indicates fair weather," he replied.

Continuing, he said: "The last time we came through we had very

'dirty' weather. Slowly the heavy sea was forcing us to shore. I saw

we could not keep our course with safety, so I pointed the nose of the

ship to the storm, but for 24 hours we gained only half a mile against

the force of the sea." "Did you fear for the ship?" "I wasn't afraid,"

he answered, "so long as the engines stood the strain; but they were

taxed for every ounce of power. Look at the black mark on the chart.

That is where a vessel went down," he added. When a sailor uses the

term "dirty" weather, as stormy and rough seas are called by seafaring

men, a landlubber will be at a loss to find a word in any dictionary

to describe what he thinks of such weather. We fortunately had good

weather through the Bight.

Cape Otway, about a hundred miles west of Melbourne, marks the eastern

end of the line that divides the Southern Indian Ocean from the

Southern Pacific Ocean, and the Cape of Good Hope, in South Africa,

marks the western end of the line dividing the Southern Indian Ocean

from the Southern Atlantic Ocean. The distance separating these two

points is 6,000 miles. The meeting of the currents of the two seas,

confined by the western coast of Australia, makes the water very rough

in the great bay, or Bight. From Cape Otway eastward we were in the

Southern Pacific Ocean.

Twenty-seven days after leaving Durban we sailed into Port Phillip and

up the Yarra River to Melbourne, where the Swedish vessel was made

fast to a wharf. "I trust we succeeded in treating you right," said

the captain on going down the ship's ladder to the wharf. "Fair

weather through life," were his parting words.

It is said an American laid out the city of Melbourne; if that be so,

this one service reflects much credit on the land of his birth. In a

world contest for the Commonwealth's capital site design an American

of Chicago was awarded first prize. Australia aims at having the most

attractive capital in the world, to be located at Canberra, in the

State of New South Wales. American civil engineers also have taken a

prominent part in the construction of the large weirs or reservoirs

that the Commonwealth has erected for land irrigation purposes.

Melbourne's streets, 99 feet in width, run at right angles, are kept

clean and well paved. Built on each side of these grand thoroughfares

are splendid buildings, utilized for banking, trade and general

business purposes. What are called alleys in Melbourne are wider than

most of the business streets in Buenos Aires. All goods brought to

and from business houses go by the back entrance. The sidewalks are

free of all incumbrances, such as iron doors and gratings. No abrupt

steps from the sidewalks are met with here, the walk, at an incline,

sloping gradually into the roadway.

One feature, though, mars that well-laid out, well-built and

well-managed city. It is a privately owned and privately managed

street railway system, which is of the antiquated cable type. Some

fifteen years ago a franchise was granted by the city to a company to

install street railways, of cable type, for a term of 20 years. The

fare is six cents, and the light in the cars is from murky, coal oil

lamps. The street railway company is getting all it can out of the

system, for it is well aware that at the expiration of the franchise

the city will not renew the agreement, but will at once tear up the

present line and construct a modern one, more in keeping with

Melbourne.

Melbourne is the capital of the State of Victoria and temporary

capital also of the Commonwealth. Victoria is termed "The Garden

State," and the prosperity of the country is reflected in every part

of the city by the splendid homes of its citizens. They are healthy

looking, well fed and well dressed. This State, being visited by a

regular rainfall, suffers less from drought than West Australia, South

Australia or New South Wales.

The arrangement and scope of parks is admirable, and seats are free.

Streets, boulevards and roads here could not be bettered. Within the

city limits are over 5,000 acres of parks and public gardens. An

imposing Parliament House, a splendid museum, art gallery and a zoo

are other notable features.

Americans are not the only people who speak with a "twang," for one

meets persons in the capital city whose "twang" would make a down-east

Yankee green with envy. Still all have the British accent. By nature,

the Australian is unreserved, and seems more American than British.

Melbourne is termed the "American City," and in the nature of wearing

apparel there is no difference in the cut of the clothes. In South

Africa, among the English-speaking people, the brand of England is

stamped on most customs, but in Australia there is a difference.

Splendid college buildings, with nice grounds; training schools,

technical schools--at every turn the air is punctured with turrets and

spires on buildings in which the citizens of Victoria are taught the

sciences that enable them to take a leading part in the advancement of

the world.

The weather being so moderate in Australia, parks so attractive, and

bathing beaches so convenient to the coast cities, indoor life loses

its charm. In Melbourne the weather seldom gets cold enough to freeze,

and, if so, it would occur not more than one or two nights during the

winter season. The mean temperature of that section of Australia is 55

degrees.

Athletic sports are very popular, as the weather permits of such

recreation the year round. Horse racing, as an amusement, has a strong

hold on Australians, and the same horde of nondescripts and

non-producers found in other countries, who live by their wits on "the

sport of kings," thrive and flourish here on the money of those who

earn an honest living.

"Mate" is the way Australians address each other, and for an off-hand

salute, sounds better than "Bill" or "Stranger." "Right, ho," with

scarcely a sound of the "h," is used entirely in place of our "All

right." A man with a small business--say, a news store, green grocery,

or printing office--is termed a "cockatoo" news dealer, a "cockatoo"

grocer and a "cockatoo" printer. The term "cow" is used to express

displeasure or disgust with fowl, animals and even inanimate things.

"On the wallaby trail," or "on the wallaby," is applied to a fellow

"on his uppers." "No chop" means there is nothing in a proposition

made to the fellow who says "No chop." "He 'bally' well knew he was

wrong" is an instance of how the word "bally" is used here, as in

England. "Tucker," in Australia, is the term used when speaking of

food, in the same sense as "grub" in America.

The educational system of Victoria is of the same high character as

that of West Australia. The sum required to educate a scholar a year

is $19, $2 less in Victoria than in West Australia. It is the boast of

State and government officials that a child whose parents live in

isolated parts receives as good teaching as children in city schools.

With such a splendid school system, it is needless to touch on the

advanced intellectual position of Australians.

Government pensions for both husband and wife are paid when they have

reached the age of 60 years, and when their income does not exceed

$250 a year. The pension paid is $2.40 a week each, $4.80 for the old

couple. Citizens who are incapacitated, and have not reached the age

of 60 years, are also paid the $2.40 a week. Young persons deformed or

mentally incompetent also receive the pension, or, rather, their

guardians do. In cases where a man dies and leaves a widow and

children without means of support the government looks after them. Any

representative citizen living in the community in which the fatherless

family resides will accompany a family to court. He tells the judge

the circumstances attending the bereavement of the family, and

declares the widow is unable to support herself and children. The

mother then surrenders her children, and they become wards of the

State. When that phase of law has been gone through, the judge next

appoints the mother guardian of the children. Each child thereafter

receives $1.20 a week from the State. The children must attend school,

though, from the age of 6 to 14 years. This is the minimum sum given

by the State, but there also are municipal and other funds to help

needy citizens. Should a boy of such a family become apprenticed to a

trade after leaving school, the employer pays the wages of the boy not

to the mother, but to a State official, in charge of that department.

The boy's earnings are put in a savings bank until he has reached his

majority. Reports are made as to his habits from time to time, and,

should he be of an industrious nature, the money that he has earned

while an apprentice is returned to him when he has become a

journeyman. How many poor, fatherless boys in other countries have

several hundred dollars handed them at 21 years of age?

No State or municipal poorhouses are found in Australia. Homes,

however, are provided for infirm persons, but these are maintained by

religious and charities bodies. The State, of course, would lend a

helping hand were these organizations crippled for funds to carry on

their laudable work.

To help settlers cultivate government land, from $250 to $10,000 is

advanced to an immigrant who means well. Certain conditions in the

nature of improvements and residence must be complied with. The time

given the settler in which to pay back money advanced is 20 to 33

years. The interest charged is four to five per cent. If drought or

other agencies renders the settler's crop a failure and he has no

money to meet his payments, the government does not swoop down and

take his farm, but advances more if circumstances threaten to drive

him from the land. He will be looked after until he has good crops.

The government has yet to lose a copper from advancing money to

settlers. Agricultural Department officials visit farmers to teach

them how to get best results from the soil. The land does not become

freehold property, however, but is leased for a long term.

Two persons out of every five of the citizens of Victoria have savings

bank accounts. The average wealth in this State per head of population

is $1,253. An income tax is collected on all salaries of $1,500 and

over. The tax becomes greater in proportion to the larger salaries or

incomes received.

Previous to 1901 each State was a separate division, fixing its own

customs dues, legislating only for itself, and at each State boundary

line were custom houses and State officers. The federation of States

into the Commonwealth took effect January 1, 1901.

There is an average of three beeves to each person, and 20 sheep to

each inhabitant. Mutton, beef, cheese, wine, fruit, grain, flour,

wool, hides, tin, silver, copper and iron ores are exported from that

far-off country to centers north of the equator.

Melba, the opera singer, is from this State. In Paul Kruger, South

Africa produced probably the greatest man born south of the equator,

and the fair State of Victoria has reason to be proud of the diva, the

most widely known woman born south of the equatorial line. These two

seem to be the total of the Southland's contribution in recent times

to the world's great personages.

Some Chinamen live in Melbourne, but a majority of them came to

Australia years ago. These are mostly engaged in furniture

manufacturing, and Mongols practically control the industry. The

slogan, "A White Australia," is as pronounced in Victoria as in other

States. To gain entrance to Australia an Asiatic must pay an

immigration tax of $500.

Good newspapers are published in that city, but none issues Sunday

editions. Printers on these earn from $25 to $30 a week. Other

mechanics receive $18 to $21 a week.

Meat sells from 6 to 12 cents a pound; eggs from 20 to 36 cents a

dozen. House rent, which is paid by the week, runs from $3.50 to

$4.50.

Class distinction is usually foreign to any new country, but the lines

are tightly drawn between labor and capital in Australia. Skilled

mechanics and laborers generally stand together in political matters

on election day, and the employer, capitalist and that class of

citizen oppose the labor party.

CHAPTER II

Traveling from Melbourne to Adelaide, 483 miles, gave opportunity to

study Australian railways. The railroads are State or government

owned, and the fare is two to three cents a mile. The coaches are of

European type, the schedule 30 miles an hour. Compartments are

generally fitted for eight persons. One difference was observed in

these coaches from the South African--no free sleeping accommodation

was provided. Sleeping cars are run on Australian lines, however, but

a berth costs $2.40 a night. The system of heating the compartments in

chilly weather is by iron pipes, like those used in the South African

trains--foot warmers. But there is one commendable feature about the

Australian railway system, namely, no steps to the cars, the platforms

of all stations being built on a level with the platform of the

passenger coach.

"Mate, you may share part of my rug," spoke the man sitting opposite

in the compartment. "There'll be no chance to get our feet on the

foot-warmer, and the atmosphere will grow chilly before morning. It is

large enough for us both," he kindly added. As in South Africa, almost

every one in Australia carries a rug, or blanket, as we call them. His

kindness was much appreciated, for, as it turned out, the foot-warmer

did not move in our direction for the night. This is another instance

of how obliging I found Australians.

A city looking more like a large park than a business center is how

Adelaide appeared. When laid out, in 1837, it comprised a tract of

land a mile square, and around this area is a park strip of land half

a mile wide. The mile square area was originally the business and home

section of Adelaide, but residential requirements have far outgrown

the original space. Over two thousand acres of land in and about the

city are set apart for public and botanical gardens, park squares and

for sports grounds. The city is located in a fertile plain, encircled

by a range of green hills on two sides, and has as a foreground the

blue water of St. Vincent's Gulf.

A pathetic incident accompanied the laying-out of this beautiful city.

After the surveyor, Colonel William Light, had selected the site and

surveyed the streets his plan was ridiculed by his fellow colonists.

Being of a sensitive nature, their criticisms and jibes so worried him

that he found relief from taunts in an early grave. In Victoria Square

stands a splendid bronze monument to the designer of Adelaide, with

this brief inscription chiseled out of the granite base: "Light."

Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, has a population of 200,000.

Its wide streets and great park space make the area as large as that

usually required for a city of half a million.

An agricultural college, mining college, and other means of popular

education insures a high percentage of intellectual attainment. The

same splendid public school system that has been touched on as

existing in West Australia and Victoria is maintained by both the

municipal and State educational departments here. Money for

educational purposes is voted to an almost reckless degree by the

States of the Commonwealth.

The homes of the people of Adelaide are fine. Where they are not

entirely built of stone, there is at least a stone front and brick

side walls. The houses are mostly one story, containing from five to

seven rooms, with a veranda on each and flowers in every yard. Most of

these homes are owned by the families who occupy them, but some rent

at from $3.50 to $4.50 weekly. "Poor," "slum" and "wealthy"

residential distinctions are pleasantly absent in Australian cities.

The botanical garden, zoo, museum, State and municipal buildings,

business blocks, the lighting and street railway systems are all very

good. The ambition of the Australian seems to aspire to the best, as

little of a shoddy character is in evidence. The statues about the

cities also are as good as one will see the world over. The stores and

shops compare with any for quality and attractiveness.

Ordinary meals could be had for 25 cents, and comfortable

accommodation, with good food, was obtainable in any of the cities for

$1.50 a day.

The bird life of the country adds to its attractiveness. The emu, next

in size to the ostrich, is on his native heath, and the lyre bird is a

native of Australia, too. In the "bush," as the woods of Australia are

termed, revel the cockatoo, macaw, parrots of different species; the

kookooburra, or laughing jackass, and the smart magpie are quite

numerous. Australians are very proud of the native birds. Chasing the

emu on horseback is a sport indulged in in some sections.

The English sparrow was taken to Australia by settlers from the

British Isles, and he has proved a source of annoyance to the people

of that country, as well as that of others. Another bird imported from

England, the starling, a very dirty and destructive one to berries, is

also an eyesore to the people. This bird is numerous in Adelaide.

Rabbits were unknown in Australia before settlers from the North made

that country their home. Being very destructive to crops, large sums

of money are expended to build rabbit-proof fences about tracts of

farming land owing to the millions of these creatures that infest the

country. The moderate climate admits of perpetual breeding.

Australians do not eat rabbit meat.

The rabbit trapper of Australia is an independent sort of a citizen.

His disposition is akin to that of the fellow who will sit on a log

all day to catch a six-inch fish, and considers his time well spent

when he walks into his home, carrying his quarry by a spear of long

grass pulled through the vent in the gills. Ships loaded with frozen

rabbits leave Australian ports for England at frequent sailings.

The kangaroo is termed in Australia "the native," and is harmless when

met with under any circumstances. The smaller specie is known as the

wallaby. Kangaroo is the biggest game on the Australian continent. Its

tail is the only part used as food, and then only for soup.

A story is told of an English woman who became engaged to a native

Australian. She started from England to meet her fiancé at Adelaide.

She had told her friends she was to be married to an Australian

native. When she reached the end of her long journey and came ashore

friends in Australia who met her, pointing to a kangaroo close by,

remarked that the animal was the native Australian. "What!" shouted

the bride-to-be. "Am I engaged to marry a kangaroo?"

The national flower is that of the wattle tree. This tree grows large,

its leaves are small and of a very dark green color, and the limbs are

dense. Blossoms come out very thick, and leaves, limbs and body of the

tree are hidden from view under a profusion of rich, gold-colored

flowers. Tracts of wattle-tree groves extend for miles, and when all

the trees are in bloom it is a treat for the eyes seeking floral

beauty.

Mutton and lamb are the meats chiefly eaten. One seldom gets a good

cup of coffee in British territory, for the reason that the British

are a tea-drinking race, and the same applies to Australia. As

evidence of the hospitality met with in homes of British colonists,

food dainties are always served with tea to callers.

After having said good-by to Adelaide, we boarded a train going to

Melbourne. Upon reaching Ballarat, having heard of the Eureka

Stockade, behind which gold miners defied militia in 1854, induced a

longing to see this historical spot on the Australian continent where

men faced each other with firearms. The skirmish between miners and

troops came about through the authorities charging miners exorbitant

sums for gold mining licenses. A stockade was thrown up--it is there

to-day--and from that shelter bullets whizzed at the troops, and

soldiers' bullets whizzed at the miners. The battle lasted ten

minutes, after two dozen miners had been killed. With this exception,

Australia is as barren of warfare lore as a large part of the country

is of vegetation. Gold mining is still in active operation, and

profitable. While gold is mined in all the States of the Commonwealth,

the output of the West Australia mines is greater than the combined

production of the other five.

When gold was discovered in Ballarat, in 1850, 65,000 people landed in

Melbourne the next year, and in five years 337,000 had found their

way to the diggings, although in those days vessels were small and

slow, and the distance from Europe to Melbourne is 13,000 miles.

Ballarat has a population of 50,000, is in the State of Victoria, and

75 miles west of Melbourne. One of the principal streets is 168 feet

wide. How many cities are there in the United States, the size of

Ballarat, having an art gallery, a museum and creditable botanical

garden? Ballarat has these. A nice lake also is within the city

limits. The attractiveness of this place is unusual for a gold mining

center.

With an acquaintance, a football game between two crack elevens was

attended, and the price of admission to the grounds was 12 cents.

Ballarat holds her own in the matter of buildings, good lighting and

street car systems.

CHAPTER III

Passing from the ocean through The Heads to Sydney Harbor, there

unfolds to the eye perhaps the grandest foreground of a city,

landscape and soft-water scene to be found in any part of the world.

From the harbor--scalloped with pretty bays--to the left rise, on a

gentle slope, bright-colored brick and red-sandstone homes with

red-tiled roofs, the openings carpeted with ever-green lawns, animated

by flowering gardens, a soft brush-grown space here and there, or a

blushing cove, walled by friendly rock--a willing partner to molding

the frame incasing this splendid picture. Traveling toward the city,

the vessel circuits evergreen islands, passing smart sailing craft and

swift-moving launches, when a point of land, part of an attractive

park, invitingly juts its grassy space into the noted harbor. The

Botanical Garden next comes to view, when the Norfolk Island pine

tree--none more shapely in the world--seems to suggest to the visitor

that there is something good even beyond. To the right of the

harbor--also fringed with cozy bays and rippling coves--on another

slope, there spreads out a grand landscape that can come only from gum

bush and tropical foliage, the former in this instance. The harbor

becomes dotted with hurrying ferry boats, carrying people from one

side to the other. The city of Sydney then becomes outlined, and, from

the striking panorama of red-sandstone structures, there is revealed a

galaxy of towers, turrets, spires and domes that unerringly suggest

the highest industrial ideal of a people living in a center of

civilization and modern achievement.

[Illustration: PARLIAMENT HOUSE, MELBOURNE (top), and VICTORIA

MARKETS, SYDNEY (bottom).

AUSTRALIA.]

As Capetown is the cradle of South Africa, so is Sydney the cradle of

Australia. Nine miles from Sydney, in Botany Bay, James Cook, an

Englishman, anchored his ship _Endeavor_. That was in 1770, six

years before the Declaration of Independence was signed by the

American colonists. For two hundred years previous to Captain Cook's

raising the British flag on the shores of Botany Bay, Dutch, French,

Portuguese and Spanish navigators had gotten glimpses of that great

continent, but failed to implant the ensigns of their respective

countries on it as Cook did. It was anybody's country up to the year

1770. Section after section had been annexed by the English from time

to time, until all the continent and islands close by had become

British territory. Not a shot was fired to acquire these different

sections. Eight years after Captain Cook reached Botany Bay, Arthur

Phillips landed and formed a convict settlement on the site from which

Sydney had grown.

In 1788 there were but six head of cattle in Australia; to-day there

are over 15,000,000. In the same year there were but 29 sheep; to-day

nearly 100,000,000.

Heated arguments take place frequently anent the merits of Sydney

harbor and that of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, said to be the two best

harbors in the world. The distinction between these two grand havens

is similar to that existing between Victoria and Niagara Falls. Where

the land about Sydney harbor gracefully slopes and admits of the

striking panorama from The Heads, or entrance to the Harbor, to

Circular Quay, hills shut from view the attractive city of Rio de

Janeiro. The Brazilian capital cannot be seen at a point where Sydney

harbor's beauty reaches its climax. On the other hand, Rio de

Janeiro's harbor is twice larger, dotted with over a hundred tropical

islands, and of good depth. The length of Sydney harbor is eight

miles, with comparatively few green islands, and at places the water

is none too deep for ships of great draught. Also The Heads of Sydney

harbor are squatty compared to the high, bold stone pillars between

which vessels sail through a narrow but deep channel into Rio de

Janeiro's haven. It would seem that Sydney's harbor is the prettier,

Rio de Janeiro's the greater and better.

Three-quarters of a million busy and industrious people are engaged in

factory, mill, shop, office and store in modern Sydney. Every one of

these will do any task with pleasure that tends to enhance the

commercial prestige and attractive appearance not only of their city

but of the Commonwealth. In no other country will one find a more

patriotic race of people; but, though British subjects, their

patriotism seemed to be for Australia. They have a national flag,

national emblems on their money coins--in fact, Australia is deeply

stamped on any and every thing Australian.

Travelers are often disappointed when visiting points of interest

based on local reputation; but Sydney is the exception to the rule.

One can spend at least two weeks in the State capital, going to

different attractions from day to day, and will find everything

reputed to be of interest worth one's time going to see. For this

reason it has become known as the "holiday city." Sydney is one of the

most difficult cities in the world to describe, because everything is

so good. One would be justified to begin and finish an account of

Sydney with the word "Splendid."

Not until I reached the capital of the State of New South Wales did I

find government or municipal ownership of public utilities meant

anything in the way of cheaper or better service. The street-car

service of Sydney is, I believe, the cheapest in the world. The charge

is two cents for each "stage," but the "stages" in Sydney are far

apart. The clumsy, slow, double-decked car is not to be seen.

An express train leaves Sydney for Melbourne at 8 o'clock every

evening, and had one decided to start that journey on a Sunday and

depended on street car travel to the railway station, he would surely

miss his train. The cars come to a standstill from 7 to 8 o'clock,

while church services are being held.

A loaf of bread in Sydney must be a loaf of bread. The legal weight is

two pounds, and employes of the city bureau who look after the staff

of life keep a close watch on bakers to see that customers are not

cheated. An inspector is apt to halt a driver of a baker's wagon at

any point, jump into the vehicle, pick up a loaf of bread, take from

his pocket a collapsible scale, put the loaf in the tray and

particularly note its weight. If the bread should be an ounce under

weight the baker will be fined $5, and should the loaf be two ounces

short of weight he would be fined $10--$5 for every ounce under two

pounds. The quality of the bread, by the way, is, like everything that

goes to make up Sydney, excellent.

Vulgarity or profanity is not heard about the streets. Any unsavory

remark that reaches the ears of a policeman will cost the careless one

at least $2.50.

Stopping at a small and tidy hotel, located three squares from the

postoffice, the rate was but $1.50 a day. Good meals were served at

restaurants about the city at 25 cents. Serviette is the word always

used in British territory for table napkin.

House rent for working classes ranged in price from $15 to $20 a

month, payable weekly. Meat sold at 6 to 12 cents a pound. Clothes are

cheaper in Australia than in South Africa, because Australia uses its

own wool.

"When you will have brains enough to owe your butcher $15, you'll get

a better grade of meat." Two women were seated on a bench in a park,

talking about dresses, hats, engagements, marriages and babies, when

they touched on household matters. One told the other her troubles

with her butcher--could not understand why she got inferior meat. Her

companion asked if she paid cash for her goods, and the complaining

one answered, "Yes." It was then that the suggestion contained in the

first sentence was made.

Concerning freedom of speech and liberty in a general sense, one sees

no difference from what he has been used to in his own country while

traveling about, but does admire the quality of law that is dispensed

and maintained in British territory.

While looking about the exhibits at a State agricultural fair one can

reach a fair conclusion as to the nature of a country by the products

shown, more particularly if one has been raised on a farm. At a fair

visited there were cattle with backs almost as broad as a full-sized

bed. The weight of some of these animals was 2,500 pounds down to

2,000. It seemed as if an exhibitor would be laughed at were he to

enter a steer that weighed under a ton. Horses on exhibit were of the

same high class. The reputation of the Australian horse extends

beyond local bounds, and he is known as the Australian "whaler."

Sheep, chickens, pigs--from the top of the list to the last only the

best of each kind were exhibited. Australian cattle and horses are

aristocrats compared to South African breeds.

Education for children living in the "back blocks," as distant parts

of Australia are termed, is hauled on wagons. A government teacher

travels about in a wagon covered with a tent and stops at the home of

every settler who has children. The tent is lifted from the wagon to

the ground, and school exercises are gone through. Would not the

trouble and expense that the Commonwealth of Australia goes to for

fitting its people to meet the struggles of life "warm the cockles of

your heart" to such a government! This is called the "traveling

school," and it would be a waste of time to dwell in detail on

universities, colleges, technical and the lower-grade schools of the

educational department of New South Wales.

The conditions of giving land to settlers by the State of New South

Wales are liberal. If one is a white man, is willing to work, and

wants a farm, he will get the land, and money to make a start with,

too.

The English system of money is in use. That system is not on a decimal

basis, which deficiency seems out of place in an advanced country like

that of the Commonwealth. For this reason efforts are being put forth

to change the system to a decimal basis. The kangaroo and emu are

stamped on the face of some of the money coins in use, but these will

not be accepted as legal tender in other British countries.

"Smoke, ho," is the term one might hear were he to pass a gang of men

working on a railroad or at any work where a group of men are

employed. The weather gets very hot in summer, and rests are taken at

intervals. When the foreman of the gang says "Smoke, ho," that means a

breathing spell, or quitting time.

The State of New South Wales, of which Sydney is the capital, is the

richest in the Commonwealth. The sheep industry is the greatest.

Smokestacks from factory and mill are thickly dotted not only about

the city but far into the suburbs. Great quantities of butter, beef,

mutton and wool, wheat and flour are exported from that State, besides

ores and coal. The exports from Australia now are very large, but what

will they be when the country becomes even one quarter settled?

Wages have increased from time to time in Sydney, until now

bricklayers receive $5 a day. That figure is good wages in Australia,

for the climate permits of outside work the year round. The city is

growing all the time, the demand for mechanics naturally increasing.

Few mechanics receive less than $3. The lowest wages laborers receive

are $2, but that figure is often exceeded. Printers on newspapers earn

$27 to $30 a week, the working time not exceeding 36 hours. Good board

can be had at $4 to $6 a week. No one works Saturday afternoons in the

British colonies visited.

Excellent newspapers are published in Sydney--fully in keeping with

the city. On looking over their pages, one must give much credit to

the publishers for the cable dispatches printed, as the news rate must

be high when sent from centers 6,000 to 13,000 miles away.

A thousand acres of splendid park area are located in and close to

Sydney, divided into 37 parks. Within a radius of 25 miles are 70,000

acres of park land. Besides, there are half a dozen good bathing

beaches within easy reach.

Over a hundred miles from Sydney, in the Blue Mountain range, is

located a tract of stalactite and stalagmite caves. These are the

property of the government, and known as Jenolan Caves. The caves

cover a large area of land, and exploration is going on all the time.

Over a dozen of these are now open to visitors, and the trip is well

worth while taking. But while Jenolan Caves are much greater than

those of Luray Caverns, Virginia, one will find in Luray better

formations and a prettier grade of that mineral than can be seen in

Jenolan. It is another case of Victoria Falls and Niagara. Jenolan

Caves are much the greater, but Luray Caverns are the prettier. In

caves of this character columns of stalactite and stalagmite a foot in

diameter may be seen, and when it is remembered that, in one instance

at Jenolan, a stem of stalactite has grown but one-thirty-second part

of an inch in 30 years, what a tremendous age the larger columns must

have attained! The atmosphere in this section of the Blue Mountains is

of a deep blue color. Mount Kosciusko is the highest peak of

Australia, rising 7,308 feet.

In that section of country kangaroo may be seen hopping about the

hills, feeding on grass and sprouts, or standing up on their hind legs

to watch if any one is coming their way. Timidity starts them, at the

slightest alarm, to holes in the mountain, and where rocks are located

at the place of concealment these are as polished granite from their

heavy tails passing over them on coming out and going in.

The difference in railroad gauges is proving a source of much

inconvenience to transportation. In New South Wales the gauge is

standard, 4 feet 8½ inches, and in Queensland the railroad is

narrow-gauge, 3 feet 6 inches. So, going from Sydney to Brisbane,

passengers, cars and freight must be changed; also in going from

Sydney to Melbourne, when the Victoria border has been reached, a

complete change has to be made, as the Victoria gauge is broad, 5 feet

3 inches. The width of South Australia railroads is 5 feet 3 inches

and also 4 feet 8½ inches, but those of West Australia are again

narrow-gauge.

One not familiar with the population of American cities would come to

the conclusion that San Francisco, Cal., was the greatest in the

United States, judged from the number of times it is mentioned by

Australians. As a matter of fact, both Melbourne and Sydney have a

greater population than the Californian metropolis. Seldom are New

York, Philadelphia and Chicago mentioned. This is accounted for by San

Francisco being nearer to Australia than any other American city.

"Two years before the fleet came," and "About a year after the fleet

was here," are instances of how recent great events are referred to.

Evidently the visit of the American battleships to Australia, when the

fleet made its trip around the world, proved an epoch in this

country.

Before leaving the "mainland," I want to acknowledge my gratitude to

Australians for the many courtesies extended and kindnesses bestowed.

I had been offered work in most of the places visited.

CHAPTER IV

From Melbourne we sailed across Bass Straits up the Tamar River to

Launceston, Tasmania, located at the northern part of the island. Abel

J. Tasman, a Dutch navigator, discovered what is now Tasmania, in

1642, after whom the island is named. Van Diemen's Land, however, was

the name given to Tasmania by its discoverer, but was changed later.

The Dutch seemed to have been good navigators in early years in the

Pacific and Indian oceans, but they proved poor land-grabbers. With

Tasmania as a key to the mainland, it would seem the spirit of daring

did not extend further than the decks of ships, for Tasman finally

left Tasmania, and later on it fell into the hands of British

navigators.

Tasmania is the smallest of the six States of which the Commonwealth

is composed. It has its upper and lower legislative bodies, a governor

from England--in all respects a self-constituted State. The length of

the island from north to south is 150 miles.

Tasmania is known as "the sanatorium" of Australia on account of its

good climate. At Launceston this was plainly borne out by the rosy

cheeks of the people. The city itself, of 25,000 population, is

attractive from its parks, its iron-latticed porches and verandas, a

splendid stretch of natural scenery known as the Gorge, and the

unassuming nature, plain but tidy appearance, and contentment of the

people. Few smokestacks were in sight, and as a business center it

does not hold kinship to the bustling cities of the mainland.

"This is the way it is all the time!" said a second-hand clothing

dealer who had invited me to call at his store, he having gone from

America to the Southland to make his fortune. The store was as empty

of customers as a church is of worshipers at midnight.

The commendable custom of Sunday evening concerts in the colonies was

in vogue in Launceston, only the one attended here was held in a

beautiful park instead of in a town hall. As in other places, the

concert did not begin until after church services. In the same park is

a small zoo, very good for the size of this city.

The wages of workers are low, mechanics receiving from $2 to $2.50 a

day. Calling on one of the daily newspapers to see how things looked,

when it became known that I was from the United States most of the

composing room force stopped work, gathered about me, questions coming

eagerly concerning conditions in America from every angle. I was to

leave the city a few hours later, when two of the force left their

work and saw me on the train.

Hobart, 135 miles south of Launceston, was the next stop. This is the

capital of Tasmania, and has double the population of Launceston.

Hobart is situated at the delta of the Derwent River, and has a

splendid harbor, with Mount Wellington behind the city, water in

front, and a large domain or park at one side. While showing little

life commercially, there is a charm about the Tasmania capital that

sticks to one.

Three women to one man is Hobart's unequal population. The wages are

so small that any young fellow with an ounce of pluck will cross Bass

Straits to the mainland cities, where his labor sells for more than a

bare living wage, with opportunities for amounting to something later

that Tasmania does not offer. A preserve or jam factory in Hobart

furnishes girls and women with employment.

Food and house rent are cheap, and for these reasons, together with

the splendid climate all the year round, a considerable number of

ex-British army officers, who have a pension, go there to spend their

last days.

No stale fish is eaten in Hobart. At the wharfs many fish dealers are

found, and their stock is kept in barges or scows containing enough

water for the fish to swim in. A customer points out the fish he wants

to buy, when it is speared and handed to the purchaser alive. One fish

found in that locality--the "trumpeter"--is as sweet as American

shad, and it has fewer bones. Oysters do well also in Hobart waters,

as that city is nearly as far south of the equator as New York is

north of that line. Fish caught in a warm climate have not the same

flavor as fish that inhabit the waters of a colder one. An angler is

at home when lolling about the brooks and rivers that abound a short

distance from the city.

A dollar a day was all I paid for accommodation at a tidy hotel. That

sum included three meals and a room.

One will find here a good museum, creditable art gallery and splendid

park system, also a good street car system, electric lights, gas and

other utilities.

"Appleland" would be a suitable name for Tasmania, as upward of

3,000,000 bushels of apples are shipped from that island each year,

and the shipments are increasing. The Huon district, some 20 miles

from Hobart, is the great apple growing section of southern Tasmania.

Apple trees grow in these parts where nothing else would thrive, and

large tracts of orchards are seen on the sides of rocky hills. Trees

are not allowed to grow over six feet high, which adds much to the

convenience and cheapness of picking. They are trimmed each season,

and the stumps are eight inches in diameter in some instances, but

only the stump, which will not rise over six inches above the ground,

is left. The sprouts grow from the stump, and these do not, as stated,

exceed six feet tall. These apples do not hang only from the ends of

the limbs, as they do from most apple trees in America. Blossoms bloom

from the body of the limb, and the limb and trunks of the sprouts are

entirely covered with apples. Apples grow from the limbs as freckles

on an arm. Ten acres of apple land in southern Tasmania bring in a

nice yearly income. The trees grow bushy, and as many as 20 bushels

are often picked from one. Most of the apples shipped from Hobart go

to England, the time of shipment being from February to June.

Fifty miles from Hobart stands the walls of the old Port Arthur

Prison, as well as the walls of the church, cracked and ready to fall,

covered with ivy vines, where the prison officers worshiped; the nice

avenues of trees where the freemen enjoyed the shade on a hot day are

very pretty, and the cozy bay, with Point Peur jutting into still and

attractive waters, suggest nothing, so far as nature is concerned, as

to the place having been one of the most inaccessible, impenetrable

prisons of the world. What was known as the hospital building is in

good condition, and serves the small community of Carnarvon as a town

hall and public school.

Port Arthur has been changed in name--to Carnarvon--as most of the

places that have had anything to do with the early prison days of Van

Diemen's Land. The prison was located on a strip of land, 12 miles in

length, called Tasman Peninsula. Water naturally borders both sides of

the peninsula, and the narrow neck of land at the head--Eagle Hawk

Neck--of the peninsula is less than a quarter of a mile wide.

Just across the small bay from Port Arthur is Point Puer, on which for

years there had been a boys' prison. Both men and boys sent to these

prisons, located 13,000 miles from England, had committed alleged

offenses in Great Britain. In addition to these two male prisons there

was also one for women, but the latter was not located at Port Arthur.

The ages of boys sent to the Point Puer ranged from 12 to 15 years. A

number committed suicide, induced by homesickness and other causes.

This inhuman state of affairs being brought to the late Queen

Victoria's attention, she ordered the boys' prison razed to the

ground.

The narrow neck of land referred to separates Norfolk Bay from the

Pacific Ocean. To-day there are, or were recently, a row of posts

standing across Eagle Hawk Neck--from Norfolk Bay to the ocean. To

these posts dogs had been chained, the chains just long enough to

allow a dog fastened to one post to meet the other. Some of these

posts were driven in the bottom of Norfolk Bay, and on them was built

a rest for the dogs to jump on when the tide was in. On each side of

the narrow strip of land soldiers were stationed, the string of dogs

between. Were a prisoner, in trying to escape the hardships of Port

Arthur, to get beyond the sentries, and attempt to get by the dogs,

an uproar would be made by the canines, and the sentries on the other

side would be on the alert if a prisoner chanced to get by the vicious

dogs; so that any effort to escape by that route would be futile.

Norfolk Bay at that point is also narrow--not over a quarter of a mile

wide--several prisoners making their escape by swimming across. To

forestall further escapes by that means, sharks, which had been

imported, were placed in the bay and fed. So, between the soldiers and

the dogs on guard at Eagle Hawk Neck and Norfolk Bay full of sharks,

once brought to Tasman Peninsula escape was impossible.

Masks were worn by prisoners when they attended church services, so

that no recognition could take place. In addition to that precaution,

the seats in the church had a board at the back as high as a man's

head, and the prisoner was closed in by boards on each side. The

preacher was the only man that could be seen when sitting in the box

seat. From 1842-46 19,000 convicts were sent to Tasmania. Sometimes

many died during the voyage. The only humane feature connected with

the convict traffic was that the ship doctor received $2.40 for every

prisoner who landed in Tasmania. Naturally, the doctor would do his

best to collect the fee. The last shipment of convicts took place in

1877. It is said some prisoners sent to Tasmania had committed minor

offenses, such as shooting a rabbit on another's property, stealing

chickens, inability to pay debts, and similar charges.

Eucalyptus trees are said to grow to a height of 350 feet in certain

parts of Tasmania, and also in some other States.

Reading accounts of the products of the Commonwealth, its exports of

wool, meat and ores, and being unfamiliar with the obverse side of the

picture--droughts, deserts and the rabbit pest--one would little

expect to hear the question asked, "Will the 5,000,000 industrious

populace of Australia, a name that fascinates as does California, and

having an area one-quarter that of the British Empire, ever increase

to 25,000,000?"

Only a fringe of this continent is habitable, behind these fertile

tracts being expansive wastes, on portions of which rain does not

fall, at times, for several years. No such river as the Nile or

Mississippi flows through these salt deserts. Near the coast, visited

by moderate rainfalls, are sections in which drought is ever feared,

where wells have been bored to depths of thousands of feet, only to

find, when a water vein has been pierced, that, in many instances, the

flow proves to be salt water, unfit for drink or irrigation purposes.

The two chief rivers of Australia--the Darling and the Murray--are

small compared to waterways that course other countries. In dry

seasons the water becomes low, and in drought periods the bottoms of

these rivers offer little more moisture than is found on the plains.

Not more than one per cent. of the land of this great continent is

under cultivation. In order to insure the harvesting of crops in

favorable seasons, millions and millions of dollars have been expended

by the government in building rabbit-proof fences; the quantity used

would encircle the globe nearly half a dozen times. Added to this

outlay, large sums have been expended in boring wells, building

reservoirs and establishing water stations on cattle and sheep ranges.

Buying land from landowners controlling large tracts, obtained by

devious means in the early stages of the country's development, is

still another heavy national expense. This land, when allotted to

small farm settlers, is leased. Leasing the land, instead of granting

the freehold, does not augur for a rapid increase in the rural

population.

Quality, not quantity, seems to be the aim of the Commonwealth in

regard to the immigrant entering its shores. "Assisted passages" apply

chiefly to domestic help and agricultural workers of British birth or

of British descent, and these must be in good health and of sound

body. A strong sentiment seems to be prevalent for immigration, but

those engaged at the various trades, and even the professions, do not

encourage the coming of additional artisans to the respective

vocations or an increase of names to the professional roster. Hence,

the small volume of immigration to the Antipodes.

With a desert comprising a major portion of the continent, a

temperature of 100 to 120 degrees prevailing over a large area, with

but few rivers, pure water lakes or refreshing streams, and the bowels

of the earth giving up brackish and salt water, thereby dispelling

hope of the sandy wastes being reclaimed and the ravages of drought

counteracted--meeting with failures in battling to overcome these

natural barriers to development, we can picture running through the

Australian's mind the paraphrased biblical quotation: "Paul may plant,

Apollo may water, but God must give the increase."

LEG FOUR

CHAPTER I

Our first stop in New Zealand was at Bluff, a small port nearly a

thousand miles eastward across the Tasman Sea from Hobart. Though

composed of only a few hundred people, this place, nevertheless,

commands the attention of a traveler, as it is one of the most

southerly outposts of civilization, there being no white habitation

between Bluff and the South Pole. Tons of cheese and butter were here

loaded into the ship, brought by rail from Invercargill, eighteen

miles inland, the commercial center of a thrifty farming district.

Abel J. Tasman, in 1642, was the first white man to discover New

Zealand. He was frightened away by a warlike and fearless race of

natives, but mapped out the coast line roughly, and named the country

Staaten Island, which Dutch officials altered later to New Zealand.

Captain James Cook, in 1769, was the first to land on New Zealand

soil, which he did after much dickering with the Maoris; it then

became a British possession.

While traveling through Devereux Straits from Bluff to Dunedin, one of

the three islands comprising New Zealand--Stewart Island--was to the

south. It has an area of 665 square miles, a mild and pleasant

climate, and was a favorite assembling place for American whaling

ships twenty-five to thirty years ago. A Maori settlement, most of the

natives being fishermen and oysterers, form the chief inhabitants.

Oban, twenty miles from Bluff, is the principal town. The straits

between South and Stewart Islands was red with prawns, and thousands

of fowl were feeding off these crustaceans; the birds make their home

on the latter island. Later we reached the Heads of Otaga harbor,

passed Port Chalmers, and seven miles further the vessel docked at

Dunedin, a stronghold of the Scotch.

In 1848, after a voyage of several months in sailing vessels, two ship

loads of Scotch Presbyterians from Scotland sailed up Otaga harbor and

disembarked at what is now known as Dunedin, where they formed a

settlement. Scotch energy was at once put into action--some of the

colonists building homes, others turning over the soil of this virgin

country, then seeding the land, later harvesting their meager

crops--all initial undertakings requiring more patience and

persistence than afterward, when better supplied with tools and

implements, and more familiar with natural requirements. From this

small beginning--followed by periods of anxiety, disappointment and

hardship, as settlers, with more courage than money, in most all new

countries have endured in battling with the uncertain phases which

confronted them--the pluck of these hardy pioneers is represented in

Dunedin being the metropolis of southern New Zealand.

Losing time hunting for level land or gently sloping hills on which to

establish a city was not the Scotch way of doing things. The hills are

so high, steep and rugged where the citizens of this center live that

electric power would fail to draw street cars up some of the inclines;

hence steps are cut into the rocks, and walks, made of boards, lead up

to many of the homes. Like the rocky hills within the municipality,

Dunedin is solidly built. Dark graystone figures largely in building,

and streets are good and well looked after. An electric street car

system is another asset, and the railway station is one of the best

government buildings in New Zealand. Numerous church steeples rising

about the metropolis attest the well-known religious tendency of this

race; an art gallery, museum, libraries, schools, colleges and other

factors indicating intellectual advancement, are found here--14,000

miles from Scotland and the gateway to the Antarctic region--a credit

to Scotland grit. Among the manufactures are woolen goods and farm

machinery. Frozen meat exports from the Island Dominion, as this

country is often termed, are large. This great industry had its

inception here, the first cargo being shipped in a sailing vessel from

this port in 1881. Burns' clubs, bagpipe bands--which thrill a Scot

wherever found--and Caledonian societies have flourished here since

its settlement. The bands keep things lively, appearing frequently in

complete regalia, the pipers holding their own with any in Scotland.

Sixty thousand people live in Dunedin, these being mainly Scotch. Some

of the early colonists came from Dundee and others from Edinburgh,

Scotland. While settlers from the former were bent on naming their new

home Dundee, those from the latter wanted the place called Edinburgh.

A compromise was finally reached by their taking the first syllable of

Dundee (Dun) and the first and second syllables of Edinburgh (Edin),

calling the place Dun-edin.

Ho! An American flag was flying from the mast of an old three-masted

schooner in Otaga harbor. Though I had traveled nearly 22,000 miles

since leaving New York and had been at the main ports of three

continents, this was the only occasion the Stars and Stripes was

observed flying from a vessel.

Little difference was observed here in the clothes worn or the general

customs in vogue in America; but British names for certain business

callings are the rule, such as ironmonger, fishmonger, mercer, draper,

etc.

Everybody cuts their own bread in Dunedin. Sometimes resting on a

wooden dish, and in other instances on an ordinary piece of board, the

loaf is placed on the table, with a big knife alongside. Meat is

served carved, however.

Splendid horses are noticeable--the big, heavy-bodied, hairy-legged

Clydesdale breed.

Street cars do not run earlier than 1 o'clock on Sunday afternoons,

when church services are over.

Liquor licenses are issued only to hotel-keepers; none to places where

travelers are not accommodated. Hotel expenses were only $1.50 a day.

South Pole expeditions sailing from Europe generally call and remain

some time at Port Chalmers to refurnish their stores before piercing

the icy reaches of the Antarctic division of the world, and this is

the first port explorers reach upon emerging from that but partially

known region. Dual names to many seaports throughout the British

Empire prove confusing to the ordinary person. A news cablegram may

tell of a South Pole exploring vessel having reached "Port Chalmers,

N. Z." Seafaring men would know at once by the name the message bore

that the explorers were in Dunedin; but very few persons in America or

Europe would know that Port Chalmers and Dunedin denote the same

place. Durban, South Africa, is another instance of a place known by

two names. A seafaring man would call Durban "Port Natal" instead of

the name by which it is better known; and cables also give it as Port

Natal. Instances could be cited of a captain saying he was sailing to

a certain "port" which a passenger never heard of, but who would

readily recognize the place if the name was mentioned as it is

designated in books.

The apteryx--or kiwi, as this bird is generally called--is a native of

New Zealand, and one of the strangest fowl in the world. Man, beast,

animal and fowl have been provided with two arms and two legs, four

legs, or two legs and two wings, respectively. The kiwi, as large as a

hen and brown of color, however, has been furnished with two legs, but

has no wings. Its feet are similar to those of other fowl; it has a

long bill, and thin, scattering feathers grow straight from its head.

The sides of the kiwi appear as free of wings as those of a cat. The

habits of that strange bird are similar to the pheasants. Its call

note, "ki-i-wi!" uttered during the early hours of the night, has

great penetrating power, and ceases after midnight.

"Not far from here is a waterfall with a drop of 2,000 feet--the

highest in the world," remarked a patriotic New Zealander. "Is it an

uninterrupted waterfall?" was asked. "No, there are several breaks,"

was the answer. When reminded that Yosemite Falls, in California, has

a sheer drop of 1,600 feet and a total descent of 2,400 feet, it

occurred to him he may have used the word "world" inadvisedly. Not far

from Dunedin is the natural scenic section of that country, with a

splendid chain of lakes, glaciers, high mountains and attractive

gorges. The highest mountain in Australia is 7,000 feet, and Mount

Cook, not far from Dunedin, rises to 12,000 feet. Cold weather

prevails in this section in winter, accompanied by ice, snow and

blizzards.

No snakes or poisonous insects are said to be found in that country.

One may lie down on the earth in any place and have no fear of being

bitten or stung by anything that lives under or on the surface.

From Dunedin to Christchurch I had my first experience riding on New

Zealand trains, owned by the government. Some of the passenger coaches

are patterned after the American cars. The track is more than a foot

narrower--3 feet 6 inches--which does not allow room for two persons

on a seat on each side of the car aisles. One row of seats will seat

two persons, but those on the other side accommodate but one person.

Seats are upholstered, and the train schedule is 30 miles an hour.

This was a first-class car, and the fare three cents a mile. Some of

the second-class coaches are not as well equipped. Boards, secured to

the sides, with only a thin cushion over them, run the length of the

vehicle. It is merely a bench, no partition separating passengers, the

side of the coach serving as a back rest. The corner seats are coveted

ones, as a passenger can put his back to the end and stretch his legs.

It is the worst accommodation I have seen in railroad coaches. The

government charges its patrons two cents a mile; no reduction in fare

is allowed for return tickets.

A hundred miles south of Christchurch the road passes through a rich

farming country known as Canterbury Plains. Farm land in that district

sells at $200 to $300 an acre. Great quantities of frozen mutton, wool

and grain are shipped from Timaru, a seaport town in that section. As

many as 6,000,000 carcasses of mutton and lamb are shipped from New

Zealand each year. There are over 25,000,000 head of sheep in the

Island Dominion.

One would never think it was possible to conduct a farm on an

eight-hour basis, yet those are the hours worked by farm hands in New

Zealand, with extra pay for overtime. Wages are good, also, as they

run from $30 to $40 a month with board.

One would feel safer with hobnails in the soles of his shoes while

walking about some of the residential sections of Dunedin, so steep

are the hills; but Christchurch is built on a level surface--on

Canterbury Plains. Dunedin, as stated, was settled by the Scotch, but

Christchurch was settled by the English in 1850, two years after the

foundation of Dunedin was laid.

Instead of States, the Dominion of New Zealand is divided into

provinces, and Christchurch is the metropolis of the Canterbury

Provincial District. It has a population of 70,000 thrifty people, and

the city is rich in beautiful flower gardens, fruit trees, and grassy

lawns, while the River Avon, its water of a glassy clearness, and its

grassy and tree-covered banks, uniting in forming a picture, winds

attractively through the city.

Here may be seen splendid churches, colleges and schools. Seldom is a

church the center or hub of a city, yet street cars stop and start

from the Cathedral of Christchurch, and it is the point from which

distances are measured. No skyscrapers, nor such grand buildings as

Melbourne and Sydney can boast of are seen here, yet everything has a

solid, attractive and complete appearance.

The homes of the people attract attention by the large space in front

of them and at the sides. Each lot contains one-quarter of an acre--66

feet in front and 136 feet in depth. Houses are mostly one story, and

flowers, shrubs and grass in front and at the sides add much to their

comfortable appearance. Most of these are owned by their occupants,

and where rent is paid, which, as in Australia, is on a weekly basis,

the rate is from $3 to $5. Every home has its own reservoir or water

supply. Some thirty feet under the surface there is said to be a lake,

and each householder bores in his yard until the water gushes up. The

waste water running from these thousands of wells serves as a flushing

system. Christchurch streets are of good width--66 feet.

One could not expect to visit a prettier place than Hagley Park,

through which the beautiful Avon River runs. Weeping willow trees grow

on the banks, and the ends of their drooping limbs are constantly

refreshed by the water in which they rest. Besides the general

attractiveness of the park, there is a splendid museum containing

much of interest, built within the grounds.

"Wait Until Car Stops, Fine $25," is a caution to passengers posted in

street cars of that city. Were street car companies in some American

cities fined $25 every time a conductor forgot to signal a stop at

places where he was requested to do so there would be more

appointments kept, money saved passengers, and less wrangling.

Every one is his own bread carver here, as in Dunedin. The New

Zealander, like his Australian brother, is a meat eater. Beef sold at

10 to 12 cents, mutton at 6 to 8 cents, and pork at 12 cents a pound.

Good newspapers are printed in this city. Wages are $15 to $16 a week.

Laborers receive $2 a day. An eight-hour day is universal in New

Zealand.

The system of measurement in both New Zealand and Australia is that of

the chain--66 feet. A chain wide, two chains, two-and-a-half chains

long, are the terms used.

Prohibition has a considerable hold on the people, as most of the

smaller cities are "dry."

Double fare may be charged by cab drivers on holidays only, but in

other countries cabbies collect excess fares any time patrons will pay

them.

Theaters, bioscopes, amusements and sports of all sorts are found in

the city, being freely patronized.

The kea bird of New Zealand is destructive to sheep, and for that

reason the government pays a bounty of $5 for every dead kea. This

bird is of the parrot species, dark green in color, with a bill an

inch and a half in length, curved like a parrot's beak. It will alight

on a sheep's back, and at once attack the animal in the section of the

kidneys with its sharp bill, as the only part the kea cares for is the

fat growing about the kidneys. The animal naturally bleeds to death in

a short time, when the bird gratifies its appetite at leisure. The

desire for this food is an acquired one, as the kea first got its

taste for sheep fat from skins hung on fences and other places to dry.

The islands of New Zealand are divided by Cook's Straits, which are

40 miles wide. One section, lying south of Cook's Straits, is known as

South Island, and the land north of the straits is termed North

Island. We have been traveling in South Island, which is far richer.

Port Lyttleton, the port for Christchurch, is located nine miles from

the metropolis. Boats run to Wellington daily, the sailing time being

ten hours.

One man one vote, and one woman one vote, is the scope of franchise

New Zealand offers. Parliament is composed of 70 members, elected for

three years. Several political parties exist in the Dominion, and the

one in power chooses from among the Assembly a successor for the

Premiership. Although the Premier is the responsible head of the

government, over him is an imperial official, a governor-general, from

the British Isles, who is appointed by the King of England. New

Zealand, in common with other colonies of the British Empire, pays the

governor-general's salary. The Cook group of islands, located 1,800

miles northeast of Wellington in the Southern Pacific Ocean, is a

dependency of New Zealand, and its affairs are administered by the

Dominion Parliament.

Previous mention has been made of a good railway station in Dunedin,

and that nearly completed the substantial government buildings seen

when that country was visited. We also commented on the poor

accommodation furnished second-class passengers on railway trains,

though paying two cents a mile. A wooden building--if it has not since

been replaced--"the largest wooden office building in the world," is

pointed out to visitors to Wellington. A government office building in

the capital of a country--built of wood! The worst public building in

the splendid city of Christchurch was the government railway station;

the station at Wellington would not make a decent sheep shed. With

passenger and freight rates sufficient, and a heavy import duty

collected on most commodities entering the country, together with an

annual tax on incomes of $1,500 and over, the dearth of creditable

public buildings, and the inferior railway accommodation afforded

second-class passengers, would seem to suggest that government

management did not bear the mark of striking efficiency. On the other

hand, the people are thrifty, courteous, kind, congenial and mostly in

good circumstances.