man, whatever his original position, can rise to the highest
offices, and, as a matter of fact, the ministers are frequently
tradesmen. None the worse for that, of course; but it was amusingly
illustrated in the Assembly the other day, when one of the
members--a "chartered libertine," in regard to speech, and they do
speak very plainly--boasted that he was a member of a club to which
none of the ministers could belong. "They are decent people," he
said, "but not professional men, and the membership is limited to
them." Domestic servants are particularly independent as a class,
and many people do without them altogether rather than submit to pay
very high wages for little work. An ordinary cook will receive about
L1 a week. They rarely say "sir," but usually plain "mister," which
is to most people not a pleasant way of being addressed. They seem
to take a pride in addressing their employer (I must not say master
or mistress) by their surname, as Mr. or Mrs. So-and-So, as often as
possible. What Emerson calls the "fury of expectoration" is very
rife throughout the colonies. If a floor or carpet is particularly
clean the temptation to spit upon it is too great to be resisted.
In the Court-house at Adelaide is a special notice requesting people
not to spit on the floor. I suppose this habit is connected with
smoking, and smoking with drinking. All day long the hotel bars are
besieged by crowds of men demanding "nobblers," like flies round a
pot of honey, and I have heard that a hotel proprietor does not care
to see his customers go beyond the bar, as so large a proportion of
his profit is derived from it. In a debate in the Assembly, on the
new Licensing Bill, one orator referred contemptuously to "miserable
tea drinkers." "We do not want," he said, "to be Chinafied; the more
men drink the better they are." He would find many outside the House
of the same opinion. _Per contra_ it was urged that total abstinence
produced strength because "Samson was a teetotaller!"
Considering the comparatively small size of Victoria, it is much
more thickly populated than any other colony. Its population is very
nearly a million, on an area about as large as Great Britain, giving
about 10 persons to the square mile. The chief towns after Melbourne
are Ballarat, East and West, with a population of 37,000, and
Sandhurst, with 28,000. Next comes Geelong, which, with its suburbs,
has 21,000. For purposes of representation, the country is divided
into 14 provinces, from each of which three members are returned to
the Legislative Council. It is divided into 55 electoral districts,
which return 86 members to the Legislative Assembly. The country is
also divided into 37 counties, but what purpose this division
serves I have not been able to ascertain. I have made two visits
into the country, one to the neighbourhood of Ballarat to the
north-west of Melbourne, the other into Gipp's Land, which is to the
east. I went to Gipp's Land to pay a visit to a gentleman well known
to the racing world, who has a large estate in the neighbourhood of
Sale. Victorians are nothing if not fond of sport. We have a good
many races at home, but I think they are exceeded in number by those
in Victoria. My host had been engaged in horse-racing more than
forty years, and in these circles he is much respected; because he
always, as they say, runs his horses to win, and the high character
he has thus deservedly acquired has done much to raise the morality
of the turf in Australia. He told me that he was the second squatter
in Gipp's Land. When he first went there in 1841, it took him
eighteen days to return to Melbourne through the bush. For six days
they had provisions, but for the rest of the time they subsisted on
native bears--_i.e._, sloths. Now he owns about 20,000 acres of the
best part of Gipp's Land. Gipp's Land is a large district about
twice the size of Wales, which begins at a place called Bunyip,
about fifty miles to the east of Melbourne. The train to Sale, the
capital--there are two a day--takes about six hours, and the
distance is 127 miles. As there are no engineering difficulties, the
line did not cost more than L6000 a mile. In many places the
gradients are very steep to avoid cuttings. By leaving Melbourne at
6-50 a.m. Sale is reached about 1, and a very tedious and dusty
journey it is. Near Bunyip we pass the borders of an enormous swamp
of 90,000 acres, called Koo-Wee-Rup, which is about to be drained,
and will then form rich agricultural land. The ride soon becomes
monotonous, by reason of the interminable gum trees. They look very
peculiar, being all dead, and stripped of their leaves and bark, and
in the moonlight show perfectly white. Most of them have been
"ringed" near the bottom to kill them, but others have been killed
by caterpillars. They stand so for a long time. At length they
either fall or are burnt in a bush fire. The flames get inside the
tree, run through it, and come out at the top, as if from a tall
chimney. There are none of great height along the line, but some
trees near Lilydale, about 30 miles north-east of Melbourne, are
supposed to be the highest in the world, and are above 440 feet in
height. In several places are seen groups of tree ferns some 20 feet
high, which form a pleasant oasis. Gipp's Land did not look its best
at the time of my visit. There had been a drought, more or less, for
three years, and everything was dried up. The cattle appeared
parched, with hard dry skins. Since then, however, there has been a
good deal of rain. Sale itself is an uninteresting town of 3,000
inhabitants, with streets at right angles, and the usual Public
Library and Mechanics' Institute. It also has an artesian well,
which is not usual. Although it was late in the autumn the heat in
the middle of the day was great. In the afternoon it is tempered by
a steady sea breeze. The nights are cool. Along the roads are posts
of about four feet high, painted red and white. These are to mark
the road in case of a flood, which is not uncommon. From the
verandah of my friend's house could be seen a vast extent of rolling
upland, dotted pretty thickly with dead gum trees. Fifty years ago
it was a dense forest. What may it be fifty years hence, with the
increase of population? On the morning after my arrival I was taken
a drive over part of the "cattle run." It is only a small run
compared to some. The cattle, nearly all bullocks, have about 16,000
acres to wander over. Everywhere the want of water was apparent. I
also saw the stables, where were several racehorses, but the best
were in the stables at Flemington, near Melbourne. At the end of the
week were the Sale races, but I was unable to stay for them, having
already made arrangements for a trip to Tasmania.
About six weeks later I went to stay with some friends in the
neighbourhood of Ballarat, between that town and Buninyong. I
have previously referred to Ballarat as the next largest town to
Melbourne. By rail it is 100 miles from Melbourne, though not
more than 60 in a direct line. At present the rail goes round by
Geelong. Between Geelong and Ballarat the line is double, and
admirably constructed, at a cost of L32,000 per mile. It is as
well made as any line in England, and the carriages run as
smoothly. My friend's house is called "Moramana," a native name,
signifying, I am told, "picking up sticks." Buninyong and
Ballarat are both native names. It is a matter for discussion
whether Ararat, a town some distance to the N.W. of Ballarat, is
a native name, too, or whether it has any connection with the
ark. I paid a visit to Buninyong, and two visits to Ballarat.
Buninyong is properly the name of the mountain there, an extinct
volcano, which forms a prominent object in the landscape. The
small town takes the same name. It is remarkable chiefly for the
fertility of the land in the immediate neighbourhood. It is older
than Ballarat, which previous to the discovery of the gold there
in 1851 did not exist. There are gold mines, too, at Buninyong,
both alluvial and quartz, but chiefly the latter. The Salvation
Army flourishes at Buninyong as well as at most places in the
Colonies. I have since read in a paper that General Booth has
given out that the Salvation Army is likely to become the State
church of Victoria, and that Parliament will make it an annual
grant of L1,000; or, if not, that Mr. Service will probably do so
himself!
Ballarat is a busy town, and here Victorian energy is seen to its
best advantage. It is, too, the centre of a large and fertile
agricultural district. Gold mining is not now what it once was
there. On all sides are the ruins of abandoned "claims," which give
a most desolate appearance to the immediate neighbourhood. There is
now more gold found at Sandhurst, further north. During the gold
fever of 1851, and before there was a line from Geelong, as much as
L70 per ton was paid for carriage from that town. The distance is
about 60 miles, and the transit occupied ten days for heavy goods.
"Until last year," said my friend, "there was a man walking the
streets of Ballarat who was known by no other name than Jimmy. He
would never beg and never lie down twice in the same spot to sleep
if others got to know of it. People gave him food at the door, or,
if not, he went to the Asylum for it. I used to see him taking a
zig-zag path about the same time each day. When spoken to he would
never reply. He had been in this condition since thirty years ago.
Then he was a prosperous digger, but some others drugged him, and
took away all his money. The drug spared his life, but took away his
brains; and so he wandered about, always looking for something, he
did not know what." There must be many similar tales of violence
perpetrated during that wild time. Ballarat contains the widest
street in the Colonies--one of the widest in the world--viz.,
Sturt-street, which is three chains wide, but its width is rather
concealed by a line of trees in the middle. There are some fair
buildings in it too. Lake Wendouree, formerly a swamp, now forms a
pleasant resort for the people of Ballarat for boating, and being
only four feet in depth, there is no danger of drowning. The drive
round it too, of about five miles, is pretty. Of course Ballarat
cannot do without an art gallery, but to that much praise cannot be
given. Some of the pictures by local artists may be interesting as
specimens, but the prices attached to them are purely imaginative.
To commemorate the Duke of Edinburgh's visit a public hall was to be
built, to which honour both East and West Ballarat--which are
separate municipalities--laid claim. The difficulty was solved by
building the hall over a small creek which separates the two towns,
so that each has one end. As Ballarat is 1,400 feet above Melbourne,
the temperature is much lower--10 degrees on an average. When I was
there in May the weather was decidedly cold. In winter snow is
frequent, while in Melbourne it is the rarest thing. From Ballarat I
went to Adelaide, but that must be the subject of another letter.
IV.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA.
It is some months since I last wrote about Australia, but it is a
question whether something is not gained by a delay in putting
together notes of travel. If much is lost in vividness and
particularity, yet the whole and its parts are thrown into better
proportion, slight incidents that at first seemed of much interest,
are relegated to a more humble position, and really salient points
have a better chance of receiving their due share of attention.
On the 20th May, I went to Adelaide from Melbourne by the steamer
Adelaide, and, among the fine steamers of the Southern Hemisphere,
there is none better appointed than this, in respect of food,
ventilation, and general comfort. Like many others, it is fitted
with the electric light. The captain is a well-known character. Some
time before, he had been to blame in a collision with another
steamer on the river Yarra. The Marine Board at Melbourne suspended
his certificate for six months, but his employers, I was told, held
him in such esteem that during that time he went on his own ship as
purser, until he could resume command. I was confined in the cabin
with a gentleman, who kindly informed me, beforehand, that he
undertook this voyage in order to be seasick, on account of his
health, and so he kept me in a continual state of expectation, like
one who, in the night, every moment expects a cock to crow. At the
end of the voyage he expressed his regret that he had not been ill,
which I could scarcely share. The journey, by sea, takes about 48
hours; that is, from Port Philip Heads (the entrance to Melbourne
Harbour) to Port Adelaide, and the steamers run twice a-week from
each end. Soon there will be direct railway communication between
Melbourne and Adelaide, but at present the land journey takes three
days, and is much more expensive, as a good deal of it has to be
done by coaching. The large mail steamers from Europe of the P. & O.
and Orient lines stop for a few hours off Glenelg (about seven miles
from Adelaide), to land the mails and cargo; but the intercolonial
and other steamers come up, by a long detour, to Port Adelaide,
which is also about seven miles from the city; but here they come
alongside the wharf. Some of the other colonies have been utilized
as penal settlements, or rather begun as such. South Australia was
founded consciously and deliberately in 1836. No convict is allowed
to land, and a tax of L10 is imposed on every Chinese. The site of
Adelaide was chosen for that of the capital. From Port Adelaide to
Adelaide the rail runs through a level tract, and the city itself is
placed in the centre of a plain, bounded by hills on the north and
east at about six miles distance. South Australia appears to be
named on the _lucus a non lucendo_ principle, because, as a fact,
almost the whole of South Australia is to the north of Victoria;
and, since 1863, it stretches right across the continent to the
north coast of Australia, which is far away into the tropics.
Indeed, this northern territory seems to be tacked on to South
Australia, because it is not yet of sufficient importance to have a
government of its own, and it is difficult to know what to do with
it. It is separated by an enormous tract of country, and has nothing
in common with South Australia proper. The Bishop told me he
supposed he should have to make a visitation through it. If in time
this district of the north becomes more populous, it is probable it
will set up for itself, just as there have long been agitations for
separating Northern Queensland from the Southern portion, and the
Riverina from New South Wales, on the ground that their particular
interests are not sufficiently represented at Brisbane and Sydney
respectively.
The population of the whole of South Australia is now about 318,000,
that of Adelaide and its suburbs being about 70,000. Adelaide is not
only by far the largest town, but almost the only town of any size.
The city is laid out with a regularity that is almost painful. It
stands on a square mile of ground. At each side is a terrace,
called respectively North, South, East, and West Terrace. There are
squares laid out at regular intervals. As is usual in Australian
towns, the streets are all at right angles, and generally of the
same length and width. The Adelaide people claim to have the finest
street in the Colonies, the finest post office, and the best hotel.
King William Street is two chains wide--the widest streets in
Melbourne are 1-1/2 chains--is a mile long, and contains the
principal public buildings, the Town Hall, Post Office, Courts of
Justice, &c. The Post Office is a handsome building, with a lofty
tower, from which various signs are displayed notifying the arrival
and departure of mails. At night the electric light from the top can
be seen from a great distance. From King William Street start the
various lines of tramway in every direction from the city. They run
out to the various suburbs--Magill, Burnside, Kensington, Norwood,
Stepney, &c., some of which names sound very familiar. The tramcars
are as universally used as in Glasgow, and nowhere have I seen a
better service than in Adelaide. It is a pleasant way to spend an
afternoon, to ride outside a tramcar in the bright atmosphere, to
some suburb, and return after a ramble in the country. From beyond
the North Terrace is a capital view over the city. Perhaps the best
is from the house of Mr. Way, the Chief Justice. His villa, at which
I had the pleasure of visiting him, is one of the most complete I
have seen. Nothing is omitted that the arts of civilization can
supply. His library contains the choicest modern works. His garden
is delicious with cool grottos and fountains. In his aviaries is a
collection of the rare birds of the country, all of which he knows.
In a separate cage are two fine eagles. Among the flowers I noticed
the "Sturt Desert Pea," just then in blossom, the loveliest wild
flower of Australia. I have seen houses larger and finer, no doubt,
and better collections of particular objects, but never any place so
perfect of its kind. Some lines from the "Palace of Art"
involuntarily occurred to me, but to no man does the moral of
Tennyson's poem less apply than to the Chief Justice, for he is one
of the most sympathetic and kind-hearted of men. I had intended
staying at the Adelaide Club, and was provided with an introduction,
but found on arrival that all the bedrooms were occupied. Besides,
visitors are liable to give up their bedrooms to members, and as at
this time some races were going on, and the rooms consequently
likely to continue occupied, it was better at once to put up at a
hotel. This was the "York," which was a comfortable house, and not
particularly dear. It is a favourite with visitors by the mail
steamers, who often run up from Glenelg for the few hours the
steamer calls there.
Like all the other Australian Colonies (except Western Australia)
South Australia has a Constitutional Government, established in
1856, consisting of two Houses of Parliament and the Governor. For
the Lower House, which has 46 members, there is manhood suffrage.
They are not paid as in Victoria, but a Bill for paying them
narrowly escaped passing last session, and will probably be carried
soon. While I was there there happened to be an election to the
Legislative Council, the Upper House, the members of which retire in
rotation. The election address of one candidate is the shortest I
have ever seen. It was this: "Gentlemen,--My services are at your
disposal as a candidate for re-election to the Legislative Council."
Evidently his constituents were not troubled with burning questions.
The position of a Governor in the Colonies is not altogether an
enviable one. He has a high official and social position, but little
real power, because, practically, he has to consent to any Bill
passed by the two Houses. Any one can go to a Governor's reception,
and their entertainments are necessarily extremely catholic in their
nature. It is matter of common remark that people are seen there who
are not seen anywhere else. A Governor's salary is not at all large
for his position, and besides general entertaining, he is expected
to entertain anyone of the least distinction who may happen to
arrive. Adelaide is usually the first calling place for visitors to
Australia, and so the Governor of South Australia is peculiarly
liable to these calls upon his purse. Every law passed by the Colony
has to be ratified at home, so we have a free people at home
governing a free people abroad, which is an anomaly, and is daily
seen more and more to be so.
South Australia exports wool, wheat, and copper, but the price of
copper has fallen more than 50 per cent.; wheat is also very cheap,
and has to compete with wheat from India; and in South Australia
farming operations are too often conducted by mere "earth
scratchers," who have no knowledge of agriculture. In 1851,
considerable emigration to Victoria took place in consequence of the
discovery of gold in that Colony. There was and is great depression
of trade in South Australia, and we have recently heard of the
failure of the "Commercial Bank of South Australia," but for all
that the amount of the deposits in the South Australian Savings Bank
is greater than in any other in proportion to the population. It is
nearly L5 per head. It is true some of this is the result of
compulsory savings under the provisions of the "Destitute Act."