An Inland Journey.--The Capital of Victoria.--Grand Public
Buildings.--Water-Supply of the City.--Public Parks and
Gardens.--Street Scenes.--Dashing
Liveries.--Tramways.--Extremes.--Melbourne Ladies.--Street
Beggars.--Saturday Half-Holiday.--Public Arcades.--The City
Free Library.--The Public Markets.--China-Town,
Melbourne.--Victims of the Opium Habit.
Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, lies nearly six hundred miles
southwest of Sydney. The journey from one city to the other by rail is
rather a tedious one, as there is very little of interest upon the route
to engage the attention of the traveller. Soon after leaving the latter
city the road runs through a level country, which is sparsely inhabited,
but quite heavily wooded with that wearying tree the eucalyptus,
presenting hardly one feature of attractiveness to recommend it to the
eye. It is always dressed in a sober, funereal garb, which by no effort
of the imagination can one reasonably call green. Miles and miles were
passed of houseless monotony, the land often denuded of trees, and
showing only a low growth of wattle, or some small shrub of the
eucalyptus family. Most of the settlers' cabins seen inland were mere
shells, consisting of frames of wood covered on roof and sides with
corrugated sheet-iron, unpainted; while others presented a still ruder
appearance, being frames of wood covered loosely with bark, only one
degree better than the bark shelters of the aborigines in northern
Queensland. At some of the railroad stations a faint effort is made at
the cultivation of flowers, and occasionally pretty effects are produced
by planting California pines in groups or borders, mingled with some
other species of imported trees, mostly of the conifer family,--their
foliage, by its choice verdure, putting the native trees to shame,
though they are known as evergreens: there are indeed no deciduous
native trees in Australia. Here and there a small orchard of
orange-trees was seen, the fruit in its deep-yellow glow standing out
against the surrounding foliage in bold relief. The traveller meets with
no more delightful experience than when approaching an orange-orchard in
full bloom. For a mile before the place is reached, the fragrant
atmosphere foretells the coming pleasure to the senses. This is oftenest
realized in the West Indies, or in Florida. Here it was not the season
of the bloom but of the fruit. A few gardens of tropical aspect, with
groups of bananas, were also observed; but to see this most generous of
all fruit-trees in perfection, one must go north toward the Equator,
into Queensland.
Now and again a few thousand sheep were seen, and some small herds of
horned cattle feeding on the hillsides or browsing among the forest
glades; but the true pastoral districts are much farther inland. At
Albury the Murray River was crossed, which here makes the boundary
between New South Wales and Victoria, though which side of the
watercourse belongs to the former and which to the latter is a constant
source of dispute between them. An examination of baggage took place at
Albury, as though the traveller were passing from one European
nationality to another. The two colonies, however, have tariffs
materially differing from each other, and duty is demanded upon all
merchandise passing either way between them. The custom-house officers
are quite discriminating, and unless they have reason to suspect a
person of designs against the customs they do not put him to unnecessary
trouble in the examination of his effects.
Not until one comes to within fifty or sixty miles of Melbourne upon
this route does the country become attractive; but here it begins to
open into broad green fields and rich meadows, forming a choice
succession of agricultural districts, affording the best of pasturage
and showing upon a large scale the careful cultivation of root-crops,
corn, oats, wheat, and barley. Government owns and operates the railroad
with a fair degree of liberality, though the prices charged for
transportation are much higher than with us in America. The cars are
often of the English style, formed into coaches which are cheaply
upholstered, though they are reasonably comfortable.
It is but little more than half a century since an Englishman named John
Batman ascended the Yarra-Yarra and bargained with the chiefs of the
native tribe located here, to sell "to him and his heirs forever" so
many thousand acres of land as now embrace the area occupied by the city
of Melbourne and its immediate environs, covering six or eight miles
square. For this grant of land Batman paid the chiefs in goods, which
are said to have consisted of one dozen cotton shirts, a dozen colored
woollen blankets, a handful of glass-bead ornaments, twelve bags of
flour, and two casks of pork. These were all otherwise unattainable
articles to the savages, who, however, had land enough and to spare. It
is said that the aborigines pleaded hard for one or more guns to be
added to the payment, but Batman was too wary to supply them with
weapons which they could in an emergency turn against himself or other
white men. The Englishman came and settled upon his purchase, built a
stock-house, and proposed to surround himself with friends in order to
form a sort of small independent State. But only a brief period
transpired before an authorized agent of the English Government appeared
upon the spot and declared the bargain between Batman and the savages to
be null and void; in justice, however, to the purchaser, Government paid
him some thousands of pounds sterling, and he turned over all his right
and title to the authorities accordingly. Neither party could possibly
have anticipated that in so few years this land would be valued at many
millions of pounds sterling. Five years ago a monument was erected to
Batman's memory, he having died in 1839; this monument stands in the
old cemetery of Melbourne. To-day the site once so cheaply purchased,
with the population now upon it, is classed by English writers as
forming, in point of wealth, numbers of inhabitants, and general
importance, the tenth city in the world!
The first sight of Melbourne was quite a surprise to us, though we
thought we were fairly informed about this capital of Victoria. No
stranger could anticipate beholding so grand a city in this far-away
South-land of the Pacific. Where there was only a swamp and uncleared
woods a few years ago, there has risen a city containing to-day a
population of fully four hundred and twenty thousand, embracing the
immediate suburbs. This capital is certainly unsurpassed by any of the
British colonies in the elegancies and luxuries of modern civilization,
such as broad avenues, palatial dwellings, churches, colossal
warehouses, banks, theatres, and public buildings and pleasure-grounds.
It is pleasant to record the fact that one fifth of the revenue raised
by taxation is expended for educational purposes. Of what other city in
the New or the Old World can this be said? Universities, libraries,
public art-galleries, and museums lack not for the liberal and fostering
care of the Government. No city except San Francisco ever attained to
such size and importance in so short a period as has Melbourne.
The public buildings of the city are mainly constructed of a sort of
freestone brought from Tasmania, as the local quarries, being mostly of
a volcanic nature, are too hard for favorable working, though some use
is made of their material. The new and elaborate Roman Catholic
Cathedral, now nearly completed, is entirely constructed of this stone.
Melbourne covers a very large area for its population; indeed, we were
told by those who should be well informed in such matters that its
extent of territory is nearly the same as that of Paris. In the environs
are many delightful residences, embowered with creeping vines and
surrounded with flower-gardens. These dwellings could hardly be made to
look more attractive externally, though simple architecturally. They are
mostly vine-clad; Flora has touched them with her magic finger, and they
have become beautiful. Many of these suburbs are named after familiar
European localities, such as Brighton, Kew, Emerald Hill, Collingwood,
St. Kilda, Fitzroy, and so forth. The streets of St. Kilda must have
been named about the period of the late Crimean war, as the following
names were observed among them: Raglan, Sebastopol, Redan, Cardigan,
Balaklava, and Malakoff.
Lake Yan-Yan supplies Melbourne with drinking-water by means of a system
embracing a double set of pipes. This water-supply for domestic and
general use is beyond all comparison the best we have ever chanced to
see. The valley of the river Plenty, which is a tributary of the
Yarra-Yarra, is dammed across at Yan-Yan, nearly twenty miles from the
capital, by an embankment half a mile long,--thereby forming a lake
nearly ten miles in circumference, with an area of over thirteen
hundred acres, and an average depth of twenty-five feet. It holds
sufficient water, as we were informed by an official, to furnish an
ample supply for the use of the city during a period of two years,
allowing fifteen gallons per head per day for the present population.
This grand piece of engineering was expensive, but is fully worth all it
has cost; namely, between six and seven million dollars.
The river Yarra-Yarra runs through the city, and is navigable for large
vessels to the main wharves, where it is crossed by a broad and
substantial bridge. Both the harbor and the river are being dredged by
the most powerful boats designed for the purpose which we have ever
seen. Above the bridge the river is handsomely lined with trees; and
here, notwithstanding a somewhat winding course, the great boat-races
take place which form one of the most attractive of all the local
athletic amusements,--and Melbourne is famous for out-door sports of
every form and nature, but principally for boating and ball-playing.
A whole chapter might be written describing the public gardens of the
city and our inspiring visit to them. The variety of trees here
collected is marvellous in its comprehensiveness. Oaks and elms of great
size were observed among other exotics; one would hardly have thought
they could have found time to acquire such proportions, but all trees
grow with marked rapidity in this climate. Some very beautiful
fern-trees were noticed, twenty feet in height, their fronds measuring
fourteen feet in length, drooping plume-like about the graceful bending
stems. Here were seen fine specimens of the magnolia-tree, bending to
the ground under the weight of great yellow blossoms. The collection of
tropical fruit-trees was remarkably complete. Wherever there are gardens
in front of the dwellings in the environs of the city one is sure to see
an abundance of the little pink and white daphne, fragrant and lovely as
the violet, flourishing in great luxuriance. The abundance of
maiden's-hair fern, in various sizes down to little leaves of pin-head
dimensions, gives occasion for its very free use in bouquets. The
variety of color found in this species of fern is quite noticeable here,
the shades running from a deep dark green, by easy gradations, to almost
an orange hue. The charming little daphne is the favorite button-hole
flower of the Collins Street beaux, backed by a tiny spray of
light-green fern. We saw some bouquets of cut-flowers in floral
establishments on Swanston Street, exhibiting a degree of artistic taste
in the arrangement which could not be excelled. The most delicate
branches of maiden's-hair fern were so intertwined among the various
colored flowers as to form a gauze-like veil, so that one seemed to
behold them through a transparent cloud of misty green. Such
combinations of tangible beauty cannot be equalled by the finest
paintings.
This capital of Victoria, as we have intimated, is a city of public
gardens. It is astonishing what an air of elegance, space, and
wholesomeness is imparted by them. Besides the Botanical Gardens there
are the Fitzroy Gardens, situated in the eastern suburb of the town,
which contain some seventy-five acres of ground beautifully laid out and
ornamented with a grand collection of trees, shrubs, and flowers,
especially in the department of ferns. Fountains, rocky basins, and
artificial waterfalls add picturesqueness to the place. The Zoological
Gardens are in the Royal Park, containing a really fine collection of
animals as well as a well-furnished aviary. We had as "fellow-passengers"
on board the "Zealandia" a pair of young California lions designed for
this collection, which arrived safely at their destination. These baby
lions were quite sea-sick on the long voyage, but were in fine condition
when we saw them in their new and spacious quarters at the Zoo-zoo.
Carlton Gardens are in the northern suburb, near the Parliament House;
here also stands near by, the Exhibition Building, erected at a cost of
over half a million dollars. It is now improved as a place for public
amusements of various sorts, and contains a well-stocked and
particularly well-arranged aquarium, somewhat after the style of that at
Brighton, England. There are five or six other parks or public gardens
more or less extensive, all charmingly laid out and beautified with
trees of native and foreign species, with miniature lakes, aquatic
plants and birds, and possessing picturesquely arranged fountains.
Albert Park, in the eastern suburb, contains a lake so large as to
render it available for sailing-boats and pleasant rowing-parties, for
which purpose it is daily improved by both sexes and entire families.
The streets of Melbourne present a busy aspect, and there is ample space
afforded for all legitimate business and pleasure purposes, these
thoroughfares being each one hundred feet in width,--a gauge which is
maintained throughout the city. They are all laid out at right angles,
with mathematical precision. This liberal allotment of space for public
use is carried out even in the suburbs, calculation having been made in
advance for the growth of the city which is sure to come. The streets
are for the most part paved either in blocks of granite or of wood,
being in a few instances macadamized; but all are kept in admirable
condition, both as to use and cleanliness. The stream of humanity
pouring through them at all hours of the day is indeed vast and varied,
though the population, while it consists of a mingling of nationalities,
is yet distinctively English. It seemed to the writer that more
Americans were to be found in this capital of Victoria than elsewhere in
the colonies, quite a number being prominently engaged in speculative
enterprises, and maintaining agencies for firms whose headquarters are
in the United States. Several of our popular Life Insurance Companies
are thus represented.
The busy activity in the streets was remarkable. Hansom cabs rattled
about or stood in long rows awaiting patrons; four-wheeled vehicles of
an inexcusably awkward style, also for hire, abounded; messenger-boys,
with yellow leather pouches strapped over their shoulders, hurried
hither and thither; high-hung omnibuses with three horses abreast, like
those of Paris and Naples, dashed rapidly along, well filled with
passengers; men galloped through the crowd upon small horses, carrying
big baskets of provisions on their arms; dog-carts driven by smart young
fellows, with a flunky behind in gaudy livery, cut in and out among the
vehicles; powerful draught-horses stamped along the way, drawing heavily
loaded drays; milk-carts with big letters on their canvas sides made
themselves conspicuous, rivalled as to the size of the lettering by the
bakers' carts of similar shape; light and neat American wagonettes
glided along among less attractive vehicles. Now and then a Chinaman
passed by with his peculiar shambling gait, a pole across his shoulders
balancing his baskets of truck; women with oranges and bananas for a
penny apiece met one at every turn,--and still the sidewalks are so
broad and the streets so wide that no one seemed to be in the least
incommoded. The fruiterers' stands here and there, as well as the
windows of the dealers in the same products, presented an array
remarkable for its tempting variety. Among these fruits are the mandarin
and navel oranges, apricots, figs, grapes, passion-fruit, pineapples,
bananas, peaches, plums, and several other sorts, all in fine condition.
With the exception of San Francisco, nowhere else can fruit of such
choice character be found in so great variety and at such cheap rates as
in Melbourne.
While driving in the environs of the city many plots of ground were
observed cultivated by Chinamen, and kept in the neatest possible
manner. As we have already said, John is a natural gardener. In the
first place his knowledge of fertilizing materials suitable for the soil
enables him to produce vegetables not only in abundance, but of the best
quality. He is independent of markets, going personally to his
customers,--thus making his body serve for both cart and horse, and
accustoming himself to carry heavy burdens daily. By such means he
realizes all the profit there is to be made on his products, not having
to divide with the wholesale dealer or the middle-man. He thus shows
business keenness as well as a capacity to endure great drudgery. So
absorbed is the general attention, in other directions that only John
attends to the raising of vegetables,--thus providing a necessary diet
for those who would otherwise be liable to lose health and strength for
the want of it.
One meets plenty of Jews upon the boulevards of Melbourne, with their
strongly-marked features. There was an abundance of them also in Sydney;
and indeed where are they not to be found, if there is money to be
borrowed or trade to be vigorously pushed?
On the corners of the streets in Melbourne are to be seen a peculiar
class of idlers. The eight-hour system of labor prevails here, and men
hasten from work to the bar-rooms, there being one of these
poison-dispensing resorts at every corner of the business
thoroughfares. We calculated that there were four thousand "gin mills"
in this city, and probably that is an under estimate. The common
laboring classes of this city are not only universal drinkers, but they
are also "hard drinkers." They are as a rule too ignorant or besotted to
see, putting all other things out of the question, that the cup of any
sensual indulgence if drained to the bottom has always poison in its
dregs. They indulge grossly, and suffer accordingly.
The showy liveries worn by the retainers of some of the more wealthy
(not the better) classes of the citizens of Sydney and Melbourne seemed
to us strangely out of place. As nearly as we could get at the facts by
casual inquiry, most of these buttoned and uniformed flunkies were in
the service of persons concerning whose genealogy the less said the
better, especially when we remember that the earlier residents of
Australia were mostly composed of those who left their native country
for their country's good. "You may safely calculate that the father of
the latest Australian baronet was a nobody, or something worse," says a
writer in one of the local magazines. Melbourne, however, seemed to us
less open to any aspersions growing out of former penal associations
than either Brisbane, Sydney, or Hobart in Tasmania, all which colonies
were originally settled as penal stations. Victoria is one of the
youngest of all these colonies, and was, up to the discovery of the
gold-fields within her present borders,--that is, in 1851,--a portion
of New South Wales; but to-day it is the metropolis _par excellence_ of
Australia. It has not the many natural beauties of Sydney, but it has
numerous compensating advantages, and is undoubtedly the real centre of
colonial enterprise upon the continent.
The admirable system of tramways in Melbourne is worthy of all praise,
use being made of the subterranean cable and stationary engines as a
motor. This mode of propulsion is safe, cheap, and clean. While we were
in the capital tracks were being laid for several new and extended
routes, one of which runs through Burke Street parallel with Collins.
The public amusements of a large city often aid one in forming a just
idea of its development in other directions. Those of this capital of
the southern hemisphere are numerous, well conducted, and well
attended,--a sure evidence of prosperity and general thrift. People from
inland who have money to spend are attracted to such places as will
afford them the greatest variety of reasonable amusements; and hence
Melbourne, rather than Sydney, has become the resort of these
pleasure-seekers.
It has been said that gold made Melbourne and wool made Sydney,--a
remark which is based on fact. The experiences of both these cities in
the early part of their career was peculiar. Money easily gained is
seldom wisely spent; sums that fall as it were into the open palm will
burn in the unaccustomed pocket; the excited recipient resorts to high
revels and all sorts of excesses, be he never so quiet and reasonable
under ordinary circumstances. At one time skilled labor in Melbourne
commanded the extraordinary wages of ten dollars per day, and mechanics
thought the millennium had come; they had not the wit to see that such
extremes produce in the end a sure and severe reaction, but experience
taught them that lesson by and by. "The greatest flood has the soonest
ebb." The lavish earnings of the masses, whether at the gold-fields or
at the bench, were soon engulfed in the beer-barrel and the wine-cask;
the bar-rooms were the only places where uninterrupted industry was
exhibited, and where unremitting application to a given object was
conspicuous. "Our streets," said a citizen of Melbourne to us, "in the
early days of the gold-rush swarmed with drunken revellers; nor could we
see any ready way out of the trouble which afflicted the community.
Finally, however, the diggings ceased to yield so lavishly; the surface
ore was exhausted, and to get gold out of the earth a man was compelled
to work hard for it. The great novelty also began to wear away, and
those who were making money less easily, very naturally were disposed to
spend it less foolishly." The exaggerated rates of wages were
consequently reduced, inflated prices for all articles of consumption
fell gradually to a reasonable figure, and affairs generally returned to
their normal condition. Precisely the same experience was realized in
the early days of the gold discovery in California.
Personal beauty is not the prevailing characteristic of the female
portion of the community of Melbourne any more than it is at Sydney; and
shall we be forgiven for saying that in our opinion the ladies do not
dress in very good taste? Young and middle-aged women generally cut
their hair short; but why such a fashion should prevail among them we
could not conjecture, the boyish aspect thus produced being anything but
becoming. The bar-rooms are very generally tended here, as they are also
in England, by women; and the bar-maids universally cut their hair
short, in boy-fashion. One would think that this fact alone would be
sufficient to induce ladies of respectability to avoid such an extreme
and questionable custom.
The wide sidewalks are here covered with stationary verandas, as noticed
in most of the colonial cities and towns. These coverings are sometimes
made of glass or of matched boards, but most commonly of corrugated
sheet-iron, supported at the edge-stones by small iron pillars. They
form a shelter from both rain and sun,--recalling the Rue Rivoli of
Paris, or the streets of Turin in Italy, or of Bologna in Spain. The
ladies and gentlemen strolling under these covered ways, before the fine
display in the shop windows, present a gay and attractive picture at the
fashionable hours of the day. But in broad contrast to these bright and
cheerful centres, there are in the northeastern section of the town
filthy alleys and by-ways that one would think must be, owing to their
filth and squalor, hot-beds of disease and pestilence, well calculated
to supplement the inevitable effects of the defective drainage of this
rich capital on the banks of the Yarra-Yarra.
One cannot but notice the peculiar pronunciation and mode of speech
common among the people here. It is what we call cockney in America,
with some added local effects. The misplacing of the letter _h_ is
almost universal. This is a habit which appears to be infectious; one
individual who practises it is liable to corrupt scores of others. The
drawling hesitancy of the Londoners of a certain class is also easily
transmitted, being as catching as stuttering or the measles.
One who passes through foreign cities and is able to spend rarely more
than a couple of weeks in each capital, is not competent to speak
authoritatively of its social life, or in detail of its best society.
But it is safe to say that ladies and gentlemen are the same everywhere.
They form perhaps the higher element of a social centre, but they do
comparatively little toward determining its outward aspect or its
political status. It is the people _en masse_ who form the general
character of a large population,--such individuals as one meets in
omnibuses, railroad cars, hotels, places of public amusement, and upon
the fashionable promenades at the favorite hours.
The General Post-Office of Melbourne is situated at the junction of
Elizabeth and Burke streets, presenting a striking architectural aspect,
with its tall tower, bold reliefs, illumined clock, and chime of bells.
It is admirably designed for the purposes of this department of the
Government, and covers an entire block by itself, with a pillared
colonnade about it similar to that already described as forming the
outer portion of the Post-Office at Sydney. It affords room not only for
the several divisions of the Post-Office proper, but also for the
savings bank, the money-order department, and that of the telegraph, all
which are under the control of the Government. Spacious as the original
design of the structure was, the business transacted in it has already
outgrown its capacity, so that more room is now imperatively demanded.
Additions are consequently making by extending the rear of the building,
while at the same time the tower is being raised and a story added to
the whole edifice.
The author does not pretend to describe the many public buildings of
Melbourne, but briefly to mention such as most impressed him. Among
these were the Town Hall, on the corner of Elizabeth and Collins
streets,--a very large and solid building in the Renaissance style,
erected in 1867, containing among numerous other rooms designed for
municipal use the Executive Chamber, and one remarkable apartment
capable of seating over five thousand persons. In this hall is a grand
organ which is acknowledged to be the fifth largest in the world,--a
noble and costly instrument of exquisite harmony and great power, a full
description of which was given to us with much patient courtesy. The
Town Hall is four stories high, and has office room for all the various
branches of the city business, with ample accommodations for civic
ceremonies.
Collins Street is the fashionable boulevard of the city, though Burke
Street nearly rivals it in gay promenaders and elegant shops. To make a
familiar comparison, the latter is the Broadway, the former the Fifth
Avenue, of Melbourne. On the upper part of Burke Street there is a
covered market consisting of two spacious floors occupying an acre and
more of ground, which we visited in the early morning. The confused
variety of articles and lines of goods here offered for sale was really
ludicrous, recalling a similar display witnessed at Warsaw, in Poland,
near the Saxony Gardens, though it lacked entirely the element of
picturesqueness there so prominent. Here were displayed side by side
dry-goods and green fruit, crockery ware and millinery, flowers and
meats, clothing and jewelry, boots, shoes, and poultry, singing-birds
and underwear. Indeed, what was there not to be had here for a price? A
mile and more away from this, up Elizabeth Street, the regular vegetable
and meat market was found. Here several acres were covered by sheds open
at the sides, where country produce was offered at wholesale and retail.
It is more than probable that "nice" people do not go to market in
Melbourne, judging from the character of the noisy, jostling, and rather
rudely-behaved masses who were encountered in these two markets,
especially the last named. Here neatness and cleanliness in the
surroundings were completely ignored. The garbage over which one was
compelled to pass in order to get about the market was not only
extremely difficult to encounter, but also disgusting. In European and
American cities one meets representatives of all classes in such resorts
at early morning, but it does not seem to be so in Melbourne. In
Philadelphia and Havana the household mistress, followed by a servant
with a basket, goes regularly to early market,--or if not daily,
certainly on Saturday mornings. 'T is not so here.
There are four large arcades in the city all opening from Burke Street,
and forming pleasant popular resorts for strollers, who are here
sheltered from the weather and the noise of the public thoroughfares.
They are respectively the Royal Arcade, nearly opposite the Post-Office,
containing elegantly furnished shops; the Victoria Arcade, opposite the
Theatre Royal; the Eastern Arcade, next to the market; and the Book
Arcade, in the eastern part of Burke Street,--this last, as its name
indicates, being devoted mostly to the sale of books. Free evening
concerts are given also in these retreats, which always attract fair
audiences. The Book Arcade is a very popular resort for students and the
better class of evening idlers. The proprietor told us that he had two
hundred thousand volumes upon his shelves,--a number which we judged
from appearances not to be over stated. These books were so
systematically arranged by subjects, that the inquirer for any special
work could have it in hand in a moment; or if it was not in stock, the
proprietor could ascertain that fact almost as quickly. The character of
the books in this establishment was of a singular mixture, running from
the higher classics down to a dime novel, and from the Encyclopaedia
Britannica to Mother Goose's Melodies.
The Public Library of Melbourne is a large and impressive building,
standing by itself back from the street on rising ground, and would be
creditable to any European or American city. It already contains a
hundred and twenty-six thousand volumes, and is being constantly added
to by public and private bequests. The collection of manuscripts and
unbound pamphlets is large and comprehensive, especially in the latter
department. The interior arrangements of the Library struck us as being
particularly excellent, affording ample and accessible room for the
books, besides all needed table accommodations for the use of the
public. In this respect the Library was far in advance of our Boston
institution, and is hardly surpassed by the Astor Library in New York.
As to the Melbourne building, inside and out, it is superior to both of
the libraries we have named in architectural effect. Under the same roof
is a Technological Museum containing an extensive collection, especially
of geological specimens, mainly comprised of those found in Australia.
For entomologists and mineralogists the collection here exhibited will
present also special interest. An entire wing upon the lower floor of
the building--the library proper being up one flight of stairs--is
devoted to statuary and to a public school of art. A third department is
appropriated to a permanent exhibition of paintings. Here may be seen
many choice modern pictures and some admirable copies from the old
masters. All these departments come under the direction of the managers
of the Library, and all are free to the public. Over one hundred persons
were counted at the reading-tables of the Library during our brief
visit. There were representatives among them of all classes of citizens,
from the professional student in search of special information, to the
laboring man seeking to improve himself by acquiring general knowledge.
Many of these readers were clearly from a station in life that would
furnish them no access to such books except for this public provision.
What an admirable arrangement it is that here affords to the humblest
well-behaved person books, shelter, warmth, and light, from ten in the
morning until ten at night, free of all charge or onerous conditions! It
is the multiplication of such facilities for culture and
self-improvement which so emphasizes the real meaning of the words
_civilization_ and _progress_. This is a grand missionary work in the
right direction. Now let the managers of the Melbourne Public Library
open the doors of their institution on Sundays, and thus add to the
usefulness of this noble benefaction.
Melbourne has its Chinese Quarter, like Sydney and San Francisco; it is
situated in Little Burke Street, just back of the Theatre Royal, and
forms a veritable China-Town with its joss-house, opium-dens, lottery
cellars, "fantan" cafes, low hovels, and other kindred establishments.
Here one requires a guide to make his way understandingly and safely.
The unintelligible notices posted upon the buildings in Chinese
characters are a curious puzzle to the uninitiated. The signs over the
shops are especially peculiar; they do not denote the name of the owner,
or particularize the business which is done within, but are assumed
titles of flowery character. Thus,--Kong, Meng & Co. means "Bright Light
Firm;" Sun Kum Lee & Co. is in English "New Golden Firm;" Kwong Hop
signifies "New Agreement Company;" Hi Cheong, "Peace and Prosperity
Firm;" Kwong Tu Tye, "Flourishing and Peaceful Company,"--and so on.
John is an inveterate smuggler, and manages to get a large amount of his
precious opium landed without paying any portion of the high rate of
duty imposed by the Government. The Chinese are very impulsive, and will
follow one another sometimes, like a flock of sheep after a leader. Not
long since there burst out in their Melbourne quarter an epidemic of
suicide, and many of them resorted to it. The mode they adopted was that
of strangulation, which they effectually accomplished by knotting their
pigtails about their throats.
There is a Chinese Doctor of Medicine in this Asiatic section of
Melbourne who was educated in Pekin, and who is said to have been once
attached to the family of the Emperor of China, but for some
irregularity was banished from that country. We were told that he had
performed some remarkable cures among the better class of citizens, in
cases which had been given up by European physicians. It was said that
he might command a large professional practice if he would remove from
the locality where his countrymen lived and which is held in such bad
odor.
John is nowhere a favorite, as we have already clearly demonstrated,
however advantageous may be his frugal and industrious habits in the
formation of new States. That he possesses at least this recommendation
has been fully proved in the instances of California and Australia. In
the official report of the completion of the first Atlantic and Pacific
railroad, the following paragraph appears: "Labor was difficult to get,
and when obtained, more difficult to control, until the Chinese arrived;
and to them is due the real credit of the construction of the road."
This paragraph of course refers to the Pacific end of the route. It is
as a rule the worst type of the Chinese who leave their native land to
make a new home elsewhere, and it is not to be expected that they will
be much improved by intercourse with the Australian "larrikins," who are
composed of the lowest and most criminal orders. These refuse of
humanity are largely composed of the rabble of London and Liverpool,
many of whom have had their passage paid by their relatives at home
solely to get rid of them, while others have worked their passage hither
to avoid punishment for crimes committed in England. Murders are by no
means infrequent in the Chinese Quarter of Melbourne, or as some call it
the "Hell of Little Burke Street." These crimes, however, are oftenest
committed by the larrikins, sometimes undoubtedly by the Chinese. It is
altogether a sheltering refuge for criminals of various nationalities,
being a source of constant anxiety to the authorities and a puzzle to
the police officials.
Poor, abandoned white women are mingled with the other habitues of this
Mongolian district, and they too learn the subtle fascination of the
opium pipe. An intelligent man, long engaged in missionary work in
Melbourne, and particularly in this special region of the town, told us
that the girls and women who had become fixed inhabitants of the Little
Burke Street quarter were irredeemable. To break the once contracted
habit of opium indulgence was next to impossible. He declared that in
all his experience he had known but two veritable reformations among
these women, and one of them finally ended her wretched career in a
mad-house.