The Samoan Islands.--A Unique Race of Savages.--Diving for
Money.--A Genuine Samoan Mermaid.--German Aggressiveness.--A
South-Sea Nunnery.--A Terrible Disease.--Christianity _vs._
Paganism.--Under the Southern Cross.--Grandeur of the
Heavens at Sea.--Landing at Auckland.--A Stormy Ocean.--The
Famous Harbor of Sydney.--England and her Australian Colony.
--The Modern Eldorado.--Early Settlers.
In our course southward we made the islands known as the Samoan, or
Navigator's group, and stopped to land the American and European mails
at Tutuila, which is about two thousand three hundred miles from
Honolulu. The six islands which form this group of the South Pacific lie
between the Society and Feejee groups, three of them being among the
largest in Polynesia. Their names are Savaii, Upolu, Tutuila, Manua,
Manono, and Apolima. Savaii has a circumference of a hundred and forty
miles, and is literally covered with forests of tropical trees from
shore to mountain-top. Upolu measures nearly fifty miles from east to
west, and is the most fertile and populous of the group. Apolima is the
most remarkable for its cones and craters, giving unmistakable evidence
of former volcanic action, by clearly-defined vents and fire-shafts
among its hills. There are few rivers on these islands, but Upolu and
Savaii have several crystal lakes among their mountains. Gales,
cyclones, and earthquakes occur quite often enough to vary the monotony.
We have said that there are six of these islands; there are also others,
scarcely more than islets, however. The highest land in the group is on
Savaii,--a lofty peak in the middle of the island, the top of which is
nearly always hidden in clouds.
Tutuila was the island which was first sighted, and as it lay sleeping
upon the bosom of the southern ocean it presented a beautiful picture of
tropical verdure,--an oasis in the great desert of waters. And yet it
did not present a very inviting aspect by its wave-lashed and rock-bound
shore. It was calm weather,--that is, comparatively so; but there is
always a long swell in these latitudes, which when it meets the
impediment of shore or reefs is sure to express its anger by a wild
display of force.
The island is remarkably mountainous, but the foliage rose to its lofty
sky-line, and came down to where the breakers chafed the coast with
tremendous fury. There was the azure of the sky, the deep green of the
vegetation, the light blue-green of the shoal water, and the snow-white
spray tossed high in air, to vary the richness of the coloring, which
was finer than that of Oahu. We were told of a safe landing-place in a
sheltered cove, and made out the slender spire of a wooden church, but
could not see any opening in the long line of dashing spray which leaped
twenty feet high as each successive swell broke upon the rocks. Just
behind them the palm-groves, bananas, and cocoanut-trees formed a dense
breastwork, flanked here and there by low native huts, grass-thatched
and brown. In no other region does the cocoanut-tree thrive in greater
luxuriance and fruitfulness than here; and were it not that the natives
are so lacking in enterprise, this product alone might be made a very
large source of profit. The deep green foliage of the bread-fruit all
along the shore indicated the abundance of this natural food-supply of
the islanders. Together with the yam and taro it forms their main
support. The last named is called the daily bread of the Samoans, just
as the poi forms the main sustenance of the Hawaiians.
The Samoans are fine-looking specimens of the savage races of the South
Pacific. The men are broad-shouldered and athletic, the women by no
means ugly, and certainly graceful. They have very little if any of the
flat nose and protruding lips of the African race. Their complexion is a
light brown, "the livery of the burnished sun," the women exhibiting a
warm rosy hue upon their smooth, well-rounded faces. The bodies of both
sexes are more or less elaborately tattooed in blue.
If tattooing constituted costume, of which in fact it takes the place
here, the Samoans would be gorgeously clad, as they certainly excel in
this respect the Maoris of New Zealand. This sort of savage
ornamentation with the latter people is more confined to the face, which
the Samoans neglect only to be more elaborate upon the limbs and body.
It is really surprising to what pain and inconvenience the barbaric
races of the Pacific Islands put themselves in order to gratify their
vanity and conform to local fashion. The process of tattooing is a slow
agony; but the laws of fashion are as imperious in the Cannibal Islands
as upon the Parisian boulevards. The tedious and painful operation of
tattooing is performed by professionals, who make a paying business of
it. The skin is punctured by an instrument made of bone, or by spines of
the shaddock-tree, while the dye injected is usually obtained by boiling
the candle-nut. Among some of the Pacific tribes tattooing is considered
religiously binding; by others it is adopted purely for fancy's sake.
The men wear their hair twisted up in little spiral horns, reminding one
of the natives of the coast who meet the steamers at the mouth of the
Red Sea, and who exhibit the same aptness in diving for silver coins.
The women wear their hair rather short, and are given to dressing their
heads and necks with flowers,--a similar fancy to that already described
as connected with the Hawaiians. The missionaries have taught the women
when they are on shore to wear a small strip of cloth with a hole in the
centre for putting over the head, and which hanging down back and front
partially covers the otherwise exposed bosom. About the loins they wear
a breech-cloth like the men, and sometimes a short skirt reaching
half-way to the knees. We were told that the women are fond, on all
gala occasions, of painting their faces with any pigment that is
obtainable. Our observation of both sexes was obtained chiefly as they
came off in their boats to the ship, which they always do in scores; and
those we saw were nearly in a state of nature. The yellow and abundant
hair of the men must be colored by some process known only to
themselves; for though they wear nothing to protect their heads, the sun
could not so bleach it. At one time our decks were crowded with these
savages, offering for sale curious shells, fruits, native-made
ornaments, especially necklaces formed of a dried scarlet berry.
Apia, the capital town of Upolu and the metropolis of the group,
presents an inviting prospect from the sea, and the whole island in its
general conformation is the most notable of them all. The foot-hills lie
quite back from the shore, rising one green elevation behind another,
until the great central mountain range is reached, which has an
elevation of some four thousand feet above the level of the surrounding
waters. All of these hills and the top of the highest elevation are
clothed in ever green vegetation, flanked here and there by exposed and
abrupt cliffs, bare, rugged, and grand, standing like giant sentinels
defying the power of the elements. In the distance, upon a mountain
side, is seen a thin silver thread, sparkling in the sun's rays,
stretching downward from the heights, which we were told would prove to
be a clear, never-failing cascade of water could we approach near enough
to discover its real character. It forms the source of a small river,
which courses its way to the sea. Many a ship comes hither and anchors,
to fill her water-casks from this crystal spring. The town, including
its two meeting houses and many European cottages, was half-hidden by
the trees, while the water between the ship and the shore was alive with
small native boats full of naked islanders, men and women, ready to sell
carved clubs, spears, and canes of native wood.
Of the many boats that came off to meet our ship two contained some
remarkable swimmers and divers. The most expert among them all was a
young woman, who by her rapid movements in the water managed to secure
fully half of the sixpences and shillings which were thrown overboard
for the divers, though there were numerous competitors of the other sex.
She always came to the surface smiling, with the silver between her
teeth; and after shaking her head like a Newfoundland dog, and wiping
the brine hastily from her eyes, she was quite ready for another plunge,
having in the mean time stowed the silver coin away securely in her
cheek, as monkeys do nuts and candy. The water alongside the ship was
probably thirty or forty fathoms deep, but no piece of money got
half-way to the bottom before it was overtaken and secured by a native
diver. Though all were as nearly nude as was admissible in the presence
of civilized people, they evinced not the least consciousness of
personal exposure. And after all, when we paused to think of the matter,
it was they who were naturally covered and we who were artificially
clothed.
A bunch of fresh, glowing, scarlet hibiscus was observed in one of the
boats lying quite neglected, being evidently considered of too little
value to offer for sale, but which we secured for a sixpence. This
flower grows in wild luxuriance in the Samoan Islands, and forms the
most common ornament worn in the hair of the women. The men pass much
time in dressing their hair in the little spiral columns as already
described, while the women cut theirs short, leaving only sufficient
length in which to affix the flower-stems.
When articles of food, such as cake, meats, or candy, were given to the
natives they invariably smelt of them before tasting, and if they proved
palatable they expressed their satisfaction by a smile and a grunt, more
animal than human. They had some few words of English, of which they
made incessant use. Their unconscious manners and thoughtless by-play
somehow recalled that of the monkey tribe, even to the way they curled
their lower limbs under them in the boats, or when sitting upon our
deck. Some of the spears and war-clubs which they offered for sale
showed much delicacy and skill, both in the design and carving.
The German Government has for a considerable time carried matters with
an arbitrary hand in these islands, showing a covert but determined
purpose, shamefully oppressing the native race, of whom there are about
thirty-five thousand, appropriating their lands, and under various
pretences robbing them in every possible manner. While we were there
four German ironclads lay off Apia, having come with the purpose of
gaining possession of Samoa either by diplomacy or gunpowder. The
pretext made use of was oppression of German citizens on the part of the
native government! Unfortunately the natives were in a state of partial
anarchy, quarrelling among themselves, there being two parties desiring
to control the throne. The Germans incited a revolution among them a
year ago, favoring one of these aspirants in order to take advantage of
such a condition of affairs as would grow out of a pronounced
revolution. An Englishman who took passage on our ship at the islands
was full of indignation at the arrogance of the Germans, and infused a
similar feeling among us by relating in detail the course pursued by
these interlopers during the past twelvemonth, especially at Apia. The
natives, as this gentleman represented them, are generally an
inoffensive, frugal people, having few vices, most of which have been
taught them by the whites. They are remarkably slow to anger, and bear
the oppression of these foreign invaders very humbly.
There are some cotton plantations on the islands conducted by American
and English enterprise. Cocoanut oil and arrowroot are also exported,
being gathered by enterprising foreigners who employ the natives. The
group contains a little less than three thousand square miles of
territory. Statistics show that even here in their comparative
isolation, the native race is rapidly dying out, there being now twenty
thousand less than were estimated to exist on the several islands so
late as 1848, when a census was taken as correctly as was possible among
a savage and superstitious people. There are not more than three hundred
foreigners all told, and these consist about equally of Americans,
English, and Germans.
From the seemingly careless manner of life which prevails among the
native race, one would hardly infer that any fixed form of government
exists among the Samoans, but the contrary is the fact. They have a
paternal system of government, which is scrupulously upheld by the
several tribes, all the villages being united by the same customs and
language, and amenable to the same code of traditional laws. The usages
and customs of the fathers have an unfailing influence over their
descendants, and though free intercourse with the whites has led to the
adoption of certain foreign rules and laws of trade and land-tenure, yet
these are feeble in effect compared with the force of those of early,
native origin.
Apia, already referred to, is the residence of the several foreign
consuls. It has a small but safe harbor, and in the olden times was a
famous resort for American whalers. Prominent in the picture of the town
as seen from the water is a Roman Catholic cathedral of stone, with a
graceful spire, behind which upon a hillside is the comfortable house of
the bishop. There are a number of Catholic priests upon these islands,
and we were told that near to Apia is a convent of Samoan nuns, which
struck us as the height of absurdity. Upolu claims the distinction of
containing the only nunnery in the South Pacific. Grog-shops have as
usual followed close upon the footsteps of the missionaries, and even
Apia contains six of them in full blast.
We had as fellow-passengers a family of English missionaries to land at
Tutuila, who were on their return to the islands after a brief visit to
their European home. This family had already lived five years among the
Samoans, and were returning hither to complete their term of ten years
under the direction of the London Missionary Society. Much interesting
information was gathered from them concerning the manners and customs of
the people of the group. As a race, it appears that they are quite
distinct from other Polynesian tribes, and are far behind many of them
in point of civilization. They seemed to us to be half amphibious, full
of mirth and irresponsibility as we saw them in their naked simplicity,
quite as much at home in the water as in their canoes. We were told that
the children learned to swim before they could fairly walk,--which
seemed almost incredible. They are mostly professed Christians, whatever
that may signify to them,--though we very much doubt if a dozen could
give the meaning of the term. One real and undoubted benefit which these
missionaries impart to the natives is that they are teaching them to
read, write, and speak English in regularly organized schools; so that
there will be few of the rising generation who will not possess this
important knowledge at least.
The health of the people on these islands is represented to be most
excellent, owing to the perfection of the climate; but there is one
prominent drawback to the locality in the presence and prevalence of
elephantiasis among the natives, from which hideous disease the foreign
residents are not exempt. It requires time to develop it in the system,
and it does not attack persons until after a residence of eight or ten
years. There is no known cure for the disease, unless one leaves the
region where it is developed, and even then it requires a surgical
operation to remove the enormous protuberance which usually forms upon
the lower part of the body or the limbs. We saw some photographs taken
from life of sufferers through elephantiasis, which exhibited swellings
upon the limbs and body half as large as the individual's body itself.
Nowhere else in the world do malformations caused by this peculiar
disease assume such tremendous proportions as here in Samoa. Quinine is
freely used to check the development of the affliction, as it is known
to prevail most in low-lying and marshy neighborhoods; and yet what we
term malaria is absolutely unknown among these islands. A German
resident took passage in our ship on his way home to Berlin, who had
lived some dozen years at Apia. The disease had begun its development in
his ankles, one of which was swollen as large as his thigh. The local
physician had advised his departure at once, and that a surgical
operation should be performed in another climate. Singular to say, these
protuberances can almost always be safely severed from the body by a
skilful surgical operation, enormous though they be; nor are they liable
to return if the patient keeps away from the climatic influences which
caused them.
"The Samoans have no authentic information in any form concerning the
past," said our intelligent friend the missionary. "It is to them quite
as unknown as the future. They possess traditions, but such as are only
fragmentary and unreliable, probably the inventions of their designing
priests. Their origin and history are in fact clouded in utter
obscurity." Their language seems to be an offshoot of the Malay, and
does not resemble especially the Hawaiian or Maori languages, which are
almost identical with each other. This seems rather strange, as their
ocean home is situated in a direct line between the two, which should
indicate, one would think, a similar origin of the races. "They live
under an iron bondage of superstition, which seems inherent in their
nature," said our informant, "and which no attempt at Christian
enlightenment appears to dispel."
One instance was related to us relative to their blind simplicity, but
which at the same time evinced a degree of shrewdness. A chief, old and
decrepit, who realized that he was near his end, after attending the
missionary services on a certain Sabbath afternoon, returned to his
cabin where he was soon after found going through all the barbaric
ceremonies of his ancient faith before a wooden image, beating time on
a rude tom-tom, and performing other strange rites. The missionary, who
had come to bring him some medicine for a chronic trouble from which he
suffered, expressed his surprise that he should be thus engaged in
idolatrous worship after so recently participating in the Christian
ceremonies. "Ah!" said the old savage, "me fish with two hook. I catchee
fish. Fish no like one hook, he bite other hook." It was naively
expressed, but signified that by accepting both creeds,--that of the
Samoan priests and that of the missionaries,--he would have two chances
instead of one of getting to the better world, toward which even South
Sea Islanders hopefully turn their eyes.
On the occasion of our second visit to the Samoans,--that is, on the
return voyage coming north,--we had more opportunity to study the race;
but the shrill whistle of the steamer finally warned our visitors away
from the vessel,--a signal which they well understood and generally
heeded. The Government boat having put her mail on board, there was
nothing further to detain us. When we were once more fairly under way,
it was found that one of the natives had been left on board bargaining
with the passengers in the cabin below. He coolly tied up the silver he
had received for his wares in a knot of his breech-cloth, stepped to the
ship's side, and plunged headlong into the sea. Rising quickly to the
surface he struck out for Tutuila, a league and more away, with no more
seeming hesitation than we would feel in beginning a walk of a like
distance upon the land. Once he was seen to turn upon his back and float
for a moment leisurely upon the surface, but soon resumed his swimming
position again, heading steadily for the land.
At that moment the cry came from forward, "There she blows!" the usual
signal at sea for a whale in sight, and all eyes were turned to watch
the gambols of a large whale and her calf, half a mile to windward. It
will be remembered that these were once famous whaling latitudes, but
this adventurous industry has now become almost a thing of the past in
these regions. In the mean time the Leviathan and its giant baby were
lashing the sea and sending up small mountains of spray, the calf
occasionally leaping quite out of the water in its redundant
sportiveness. When we finally turned toward the swimming native again,
in the opposite direction, his shock of yellow hair was quite lost to
view amid the vivid sunlight which blazed over the quivering sea.
After the Samoan group, we passed through or near the Society Islands,
encircled by coral reefs, but kept steadily on our course
south-southwest, making thirteen knots an hour, and hastening out of the
heat of the tropics into a cooler and more comfortable region.
In no other part of the world has the author seen a clearer atmosphere
or a grander display of the heavens at night than was enjoyed in the
regions through which we were now sailing. Hours were passed in
watching the luminous sky, where new and brilliant constellations were
serenely gazing down upon us. Venus, the evening star, shone so clear
and bright as to cast a long wake upon the wrinkled surface of the sea.
There are but about fifteen hundred stars which can be counted from a
ship's deck by the naked eye,--a fact which but few persons realize.
With an opera-glass or telescope, however, the number can be much
increased. We are told that astronomers, by means of their greatly
improved facilities, have counted twenty millions of stars. This may be
true, and yet it seems almost incredible. We have seen an observer, not
familiar with the location of the Southern Cross, examine the heavens
long and patiently before being able to find this famous cluster of the
Southern Hemisphere,--a visual obtuseness not uncommon among persons who
seldom watch the heavens by night. Few give much thought to the stars.
Some hastily glance at them and pronounce them beautiful; others regard
them with more patient admiration; but not one in a thousand seriously
and carefully studies them. A good way of readily finding the Cross is
to remember that there are two prominent stars in Centaurus that point
directly to it. The one farthest from the Cross is regarded as the fixed
star nearest to the earth, but its distance from us is twenty thousand
times that of the sun. Stellar distances especially can be realized only
by comparison. For instance: were it possible for a person to journey to
the sun in a single day of twenty-four hours, basing the time upon a
corresponding calculation of speed, it would require fifty-five years
to reach this nearest star!
Probably not one half of those who have sailed beneath its tranquil and
impressive beauty are aware, that in the middle of the Southern Cross
there is a brilliant cluster of stars, which though not visible to the
naked eye, are brought out with a strong telescope,--shining like new
gems in a beautiful necklace of pearls. In these far-southern waters we
saw for the first time what are called the Magellan Clouds. They lie
between Canopus, Acherner, and the South Pole. These two light
clouds--or what seem to be such, seen in a perfectly clear sky--are
nothing more nor less than visible nebulae, or star-clusters, at such
vast distances from the earth as to have by combination this effect upon
the human vision.
At sea the stars assume perhaps a greater importance in our estimation
than on land, because from them is obtained latitude and longitude, on
the principles of terrestrial measurement; and thus by their aid the
mariner determines his bearing in the great waste of ocean. Forty or
fifty centuries ago the Chaldean shepherds were accustomed to gaze upon
these shining orbs in worshipful admiration, but with no idea of their
vast system. They were to them "the words of God, the Scriptures of the
skies." It has been left to our later days to formulate the methods of
their constant and endless procession. All the principal stars are now
well known and their limits clearly defined upon charts, so that we can
easily acquire a knowledge of them. The inhabitants of North America
have the constellation of Ursa Major as also the North Star always with
them; they never wholly disappear below the horizon. When the mariner
sailing north of the equator has determined the position of this group
of seven stars, two of which are known as "the pointers" indicating the
North Star, he can designate all points of the compass unerringly. But
in the South Sea, where we are writing these lines, a little north of
New Zealand, they are not visible. Other constellations however, whose
relative positions are as fixed in the Southern Hemisphere, become
equally sure guides to the watchful navigator.
How suggestive are these "altar-fires of heaven," particularly when seen
from the deck of a ship, alone and at midnight, surrounded by infinite
space, thousands of miles from land and home! Generations of men succeed
one another in rapid succession, nations rise and fade away, whole races
are obliterated from existence, pyramids moulder into dust with
thousands of years upon their heads; but the stars fade not; they are
the same, unchanged, unchanging, through all the centuries, uninfluenced
by the fall of empires or the wreck of human hopes and beliefs.
On the night of the 20th of June the hundred and eightieth meridian was
crossed, and the 21st of June was dropped into the sea, so to speak. We
had no Tuesday that week; Wednesday followed Monday,--a natural
experience in going round the world, which has often been explained. We
had been losing time daily in sailing south and west, until this change
of date became necessary to regulate the ship's time in accordance with
that of Greenwich. An ungeographical Englishman whom we had on board our
steamer refused to alter the time of his watch from the first, saying
that he only knew that it would come right of itself when he got back to
London, which was true enough, though he could not explain why.
Twenty-one days from San Francisco the light at Tiri-tiri Point, on the
coast of New Zealand, was sighted, twenty miles distant from Auckland.
We entered the harbor early in the morning, and were soon moored at the
Union Company's wharf, at the foot of Queen Street. Here the ship not
only had freight to discharge, but two or three hundred tons of coal to
take on board; so we enjoyed a whole day wherein to stroll about the
city, and in the evening we witnessed the "Pirates of Penzance" at
Abbott's Opera House. The play was admirably performed by an itinerant
company, which regularly makes the rounds of the colonial cities of both
Australia and New Zealand.
The outer and inner harbors of Auckland are very beautiful, having
picturesque headlands, dominated by volcanic mountains and extinct
craters,--indeed the city stands upon the lava vomited from the bowels
of Mount Eden. The first land made on coming from the Samoan group was
great Barrier Island, which separates the ocean eastward from the
Hauraki Gulf, upon which Auckland is situated.
As we shall return in future chapters to this interesting country, no
more need be said of its northern metropolis in this connection.
Early on the morning after our arrival the "Zealandia" was again under
way, steering north-northeast, until the most northerly point of New
Zealand was doubled, then an exact due-west course sped the good ship on
her way to Sydney, Australia, twelve hundred and eighty miles distant.
It is a stormy ocean that lies between these two countries, and it is
useless to disguise the fact that the voyager who crosses it must make
up his mind to great and unavoidable discomfort. Any one pursuing the
course indicated in these pages, however, will have become pretty well
seasoned before entering upon this stage of the long journey. The famous
English man-of-war "Challenger" essayed this voyage between Sydney and
Auckland twice before she accomplished it, finally fighting her way
through the boisterous waves and adverse currents with the united power
of sails and steam.
We approached the coast of Australia in tempestuous weather and at
night, the "Zealandia" stoutly ploughing her way through a heavy
head-sea, while half a gale of wind blew in our faces, and hailstones
nearly as large as marbles cumbered the deck. The ship seemed to evince
almost human instinct, pausing for an instant now and again, and
trembling in every seam as huge waves blocked the way; then, bending
down determinedly to the work of forcing a path through the opposing
billows, she forged ahead, with the bows at one moment lifted high in
air, and the next half buried in the sea. A few days previous we were in
the burning latitudes of the Samoans, now we were on the verge of
freezing. This temperature was perhaps exceptional, and indeed after
landing we were satisfied that it was so. The storm gradually abated
during the night, and the clouds rapidly cleared away, racing madly
across the sky like retreating cavalry. While we were still fifty miles
off the shore, which was hidden in night and distance, the first officer
of the ship, knowing that we would thank him for doing so, awoke us from
sleep, and as soon as we joined him on deck he pointed out a glow on the
far-away horizon, which he said was caused by the light-house on Sydney
Heads. Having carefully watched the ship's reckoning, we knew her
position very nearly, and looking at him in surprise, we asked,--
"Is it possible to make out a light-house at sea from such a distance as
your reckoning shows you to be from land?"
"Certainly," he replied, "for there is Hornby Light."
"It seems impossible," we exclaimed.
"Perhaps I should qualify the remark," said he.
"In what way?" we asked.
"I do not mean that we actually see the light itself, but we clearly see
its reflection upon the horizon."
"Still," we rejoined, "it seems incredible."
"You must remember," said he, "that this is an electric light, placed on
the top of a very lofty cliff; and also that the light-house itself is
many feet in height."
"Seeing is believing," was all we could say.
But we had not before supposed that a light under any circumstances
could be made out at such a distance on the sea. Hornby Light occupies
one of the most important headlands on the entire coast of Australia,
and great care is taken to maintain its efficiency.
After a sea-voyage of nearly a month's duration, the sight of land was
indeed welcome. One could not but feel a burning impatience once more to
tread the solid earth. This was no isolated volcanic island lying half
submerged amid a broad expanse of turbulent seas; it was literally
_terra firma_, the visible portion of a whole continent. A steamer of
two or three hundred tons brings the pilot off the shore in these vexed
and boisterous seas. The struggle to board us was one requiring coolness
and courage, nor was it accomplished without considerable risk.
Six hours after sighting the distant light of Sydney Heads we were
running in between the two bold, frowning, giant cliffs which form the
entrance of this remarkable harbor. The ship was on half speed. Botany
Bay was passed,--a now lovely retreat, retaining nothing of its
ill-repute but the name. It is seven miles below the capital, and now
forms a pleasure resort for the citizens of Sydney. Wooloomaloo Bay,
McQuade's Point, Garden Island, and the forts were passed one after the
other, as we slowly forged ahead through the channel. Some surprise was
felt at the indifferent nature of the visible defences of Sydney harbor,
assuming that defensive means are required at all; but it seems that
there are torpedoes, booms, and submarine appliances all ready to be
sunk should such defences be called for by any hostile demonstration.
To eyes weary of the monotony of the sea the aspect of the famous harbor
with its lake-like expanse, its many green islands with handsome
residences scattered over them, its graceful promontories and the
abundance of semi-tropical vegetation, all together formed one of the
loveliest pictures imaginable, heightened as these attractive
surroundings were by the dewy freshness and glow of the early morning
sun.
The wharf at which we landed was not in the busiest maritime district,
but seemed to be situated in the centre of the town as it were, our tall
masts taking their place among the multitude of church spires and
weather-vanes which crowd together here. The usual custom-house
ceremonies were encountered, which in this instance were not of an
annoying character, and we soon began to realize that we were upon the
soil of this great island-continent which possesses an area of nearly
three millions of square miles. So far as we can learn, it was a land
entirely unknown to the ancients, though it is more than probable that
the Chinese navigators knew of the existence of North Australia at a
very early period. Still, until about a century ago it presented only a
picture of primeval desolation. The hard work of the pioneer has been
done, and civilization has rapidly changed the whole aspect of the great
south lands. To-day the continent is bordered by thrifty seaports
connected by railroads, coasting-steamers, turnpikes, and electric
telegraphs. It is occupied by an intelligent European population
numbering between three and four millions, possessing such elements of
political and social prosperity as place them in an honorable position
in the line of progressive nations.
The first railroad in Australia was begun in 1850, but at this writing
there are ten thousand miles of railroad in successful operation, owned
by the several local governments. So favorable is the climate, that
nearly the whole country might be turned into a botanical garden.
Indeed, Australia would seem to be better entitled to the name of
Eldorado, so talked of in the sixteenth century, than was that imaginary
land of untold wealth so confidently believed by the adventurous
Spaniards to exist somewhere between the Orinoco and the Amazon.
This new home of the British race in the South Pacific, surrounded by
accessible seas and inviting harbors, inspired us at once with vivid
interest. We say "new," and yet geologically speaking it is one of the
oldest portions of the earth's surface, containing a flora and fauna of
more permanent character than that of the European continent; for while
a great part of Europe has been submerged and elevated, crumpled up as
it were into mountain chains, Australia has been undisturbed. It is
remarkable that in a division of the globe of such colossal proportions
there was found no larger quadruped than the kangaroo, and that only man
was a predacious animal. He, alas! was more ferocious than the lynx, the
leopard, or the hyena; for these animals prey not upon each other, while
the aborigines of Australia devoured their own species.
What America was to Spain in the proud days of that nation's glory,
Australia has already been to England; and that, too, without the crime
of wholesale murder and the spilling of rivers of blood, as was the case
in the days of Cortez and Pizarro. The wealth poured into the lap of
England by these far-away colonies belittles all the riches which the
Spaniard realized by the famous conquests of Mexico and Peru. Here is an
empire won without war, a new world called into existence by moral
forces, an Eldorado captured without the sword. Here Nature has spread
her favors broadcast over a land only one fifth smaller than the whole
continent of Europe, granting every needed resource wherewith ultimately
to form a great, independent, and prosperous nation; where labor is
already more liberally rewarded, and life more easily sustained, than in
any other country except America.
Among the most prominent advantages which at first strike the
observation of the stranger in Australia are those of an extended
shore-line indented with many noble harbors, a semi-tropical climate
beneath bright Italian skies, a virgin soil of unequalled fertility,
and a liberal form of government; while the hills, valleys, and plains
abound in mineral wealth of gold, silver, iron, copper, and coal,
inexhaustible in quantity and unsurpassed in quality. To the black
diamonds of her coal-fields Australia will owe more of her future
progress than to her auriferous products. They already have conduced to
the grand success of various branches of manufactures, as may be seen in
the many enterprises springing up in the neighborhood of Sydney. The
coal-fields extend all along the seaboard from Brisbane to Sydney. Those
at Newcastle are of vast proportions, having a daily output which gives
employment to a large fleet of steamships and sailing-vessels. This coal
is mined and put on shipboard, as we were told, at a cost of eleven
shillings per ton. It is of excellent quality, admirable for
manufacturing purposes, and very good, though somewhat dirty, for
steamship use. Near these Newcastle coal-mines are ample deposits of
iron ore of excellent quality,--two products whose close proximity to
each other is of great importance in the economical production of
manufactured iron and steel. Only immigration is now needed to develop
these grand resources, and that requisite is being supplied by a
numerical growth surpassed alone by that on the Pacific coast of the
United States.
It is difficult to believe, while observing the present population,
wealth, power, and prosperity of the country at large, characterized by
such grand and conspicuous elements of empire, that it has been settled
for so brief a period, and that its pioneers consisted of the overflow
of English jails and prisons. The authentic record of life in the
colonies of Australia during the first few years of their existence is
mainly an account of the control of lawless men by the strong and cruel
arm of military despotism, often exercised under the most unfavorable
circumstances. Situated more than twelve thousand miles away from their
base of supplies, famine was often imminent, and the unavoidable
sufferings of officers and men, of officials and prisoners, were at
times indescribably severe. The earliest shipment of criminals hither
was in 1787, consisting of six transports with about eight hundred
convicts, two hundred of whom were women. These were disembarked at Port
Jackson, in Sydney harbor; so that the first settlement of New South
Wales was strictly a penal one.