NEW SOUTH WALES AND QUEENSLAND.
We left the Spencer Street Station by five o'clock, and began the long,
tedious journey of eighteen hours by rail to Sydney. We dined at Seymour,
and arrived at Albury at 11 p.m., where we changed into the sleeping-car,
the "Lady Parkes." These cars are much better arranged than those in
America. The berths are wider and higher, and the four at the end of
the carriage are reserved for ladies and divided off by a curtain. At
Albury we crossed the boundary-line between Victoria and New South Wales,
formed by the Murray, the greatest Australian river. After a course of
2400 miles, receiving the waters of six large rivers, it discharges the
drainage of one-half the continent upon the south-western shore near
Adelaide. Fortunately we were coming from Victoria into New South Wales,
instead of _vice versâ_, or we should here have had our trunks searched
by the custom-house officials, for Victoria labours under the iron hand
of strict protective duties, whereas New South Wales is governed by
comparatively free trade principles. It is partly these heavy duties that
make Melbourne such an extortionate town. At Albury also the line changes
from the broad to the narrow gauge, neither New South Wales nor Victoria
being willing to adjust it to each other. We passed Wagga Wagga, of
Tichborne fame, during the night, where "Roger" kept his butcher's shop;
strange that we had only just been reading of his release in the English
cablegrams.
After passing the wide stretch of country called the Riverina, we had
breakfast at Goulburn, the seat of a bishopric. These are the barren
plains, which extend 900 miles to the west of Sydney, and form the
centre of the great pastoral industry. The country became more populous
as we approached Sydney towards twelve o'clock. We found the carriage
waiting at the station to take us to Government House, where we received
a most cordial welcome from Lord and Lady Augustus Loftus, who had
known C. in St. Petersburg and Berlin, where his Excellency had been
ambassador. After luncheon they proposed that we should have some fresh
air, and take our first impression of Sydney from its beautiful harbour,
by going out in the _Nea_, the steam-launch.
Sydney Cove was alive with launches, steamers, and yachts, and with
the large ferry-boats that ply to and fro to the North Shore. Vessels
belonging to every nation in the world were lying in its docks, or at
anchor in the Cove. We passed the _Carthage_, of the Peninsular and
Oriental Company, bearing down the harbour out to sea, and from the
windows of Government House the arrival of a mail steamer is a frequent
object of interest. We saw many a vessel painted entirely white, that
had come from the tropical climates of Chili, Peru, or the South Sea
Islands. Wool warehouses, sugar manufactories, and timber-yards line the
banks, giving us some idea of the vast shipping and commercial interest
that centres in Sydney. We gathered, too, some idea of the size of the
town from the straggling suburbs that extend out a long way up the
Parramatta. Bearing up this river, we passed Cockatoo Island, famous in
the convict annals of earlier days, a remembrance of which still lingers
in the stone sentinel box of the keeper in charge of the gangs. It is
now used as a dock for war-ships, and another island farther up as a
gunpowder magazine. Leaving all traces of the busy town-life behind
us, we were out in the country; the low river-banks bordered with gum
trees, and houses with their gardens sloping down to the water's edge.
Once we were suddenly transported back to some happy days spent on the
beautiful shores of the Italian lakes; for a stone terrace with pillars
and steps down to the water made us exclaim,--"Isola Bella!" We turned
homewards under the huge Lunatic Asylum standing on the hill, and where
the Claimant's brother is now confined.
Government House is an architecturally picturesque building of Bath
stone, built by convict labour. The entrance is very pretty, driving up
under the archway of the tower. The windows of the central hail are
filled with stained glass, and the walls hung with full-length portraits
of former governors. The grounds overlook the harbour, and slope down to
the water from all sides of the promontory on which Government House is
built. But the accommodation is inadequate to the requirements of the
house, as is also the ball-room for entertaining. The Government House at
Melbourne is far more imposing, but for comfort and every day living the
one at Sydney is far preferable.
I went out into the verandah in the evening after dinner, to see the
powerful revolving electric light of the lighthouse on the "Heads" at the
entrance to the Harbour. At first you see only a glimmer of light, and
then the broad rays coming sweeping round, shimmering in the darkness,
till the full blaze of light dazzles the eyes for a moment. But the
charms of sitting out in this verandah and garden are spoilt by the
plague of mosquitoes, and for the first time I was obliged to sleep
within the filmy shadow of the mosquito-curtain.
_Saturday, November 15th._--A bright morning, promising to be very hot
during the day. The view from our sitting-room window was beautiful
this morning; the haze over the distant hills, and the blue water of
the harbour, dancing and glinting in the sunlight. From the garden
beneath there came up through the open window the sweet, sickly smell
from a magnificent magnolia-tree, thirty feet high, and from the beds of
gardenias, which bloom at the rate of 100 a day during the summer months.
We took a hansom after breakfast, to explore the streets of Sydney.
Macquarie Street faces the open space where the Exhibition buildings
stood which were burnt down, the large hospital, which remains unfinished
for want of funds, the Mint, and the Houses of Parliament. It ends in
Hyde Park, where, within the railings, stands the bronze statue of Albert
the Good, and opposite is the granite pedestal in the square, laid by
the Princes Albert Victor and George, when they visited Sydney in the
_Bacchante_, awaiting the statue of her Majesty the Queen.
The streets of Sydney are narrow and crooked, but it is a prettier and
more interesting town than Melbourne; it has, too, a much more old-world
look. The most notable feature in the streets are the huge silent
locomotives, black monsters, that come gliding noiselessly round the
corners. These steam tramways appear most dangerous to strangers, as
the level crossings are unguarded, and there is no warning whistle. They
consist of a "traction" engine, and two large omnibus cars, and there is
a covered station where they start from. Omnibuses, which ply every hour
between the suburbs and the town, and hansoms are the other vehicles most
in use. The latter are very unsuitable for the steep streets in the town
and the hills in the suburbs, throwing as they do all the weight when
going down hill upon the horses' fore-legs.
The shops are moderately good, and though not actually so expensive
as those at Melbourne, are in reality more so, when the comparative
absence of duty is taken into account. With the exception of Macquarie
Street and Macleay Street, all "society" lives without the town in the
suburbs, clustering on the points or round the bays of "Our Harbour,"
such as on Darling Point, and Pott's Point, or Rose Bay, Double Bay, and
Wooloomooloo. There is, too, the "North Shore," a very beautiful suburb,
lying between the harbour and the sea, and only communicating with Sydney
by a ferry at present, though before long there will be a bridge built.
The jealousy between Victoria and New South Wales is carried to the most
ludicrous pitch. The Sydney people declare that when they built any
institution, Melbourne copied them in it, only building one larger and
finer. Melbourne points to its buildings, and Sydney to its harbour; and
it reached a culminating point last year, when New South Wales talked of
the Victorians as "Our friends in the cabbage garden." Having just come
from the "cabbage garden," we were close questioned as to our impressions
by comparison with Sydney; I was very glad that we had been to Melbourne
first, for I honestly preferred the former town.
Lady Augustus Loftus had a garden-party in the afternoon; the excellent
band of the Permanent Force, which has since furnished the splendid
contingent for the Soudan, playing in the garden. I was very much struck
how far quieter and less well-dressed the people in Sydney were, how much
more "behind the times," when compared to their sisters in the rival city.
I played "mattador" in the evening with Lord Augustus. It is an
Australian game, played with dominoes, but has been stopped at the clubs
on account of its enormous gambling facilities. C. went to see Mr.
Semple, a wonderful American breaker of horse. He undertakes to subdue
the wildest horses, by the simple but somewhat cruel method of lightly
securing their heads to their tails, when they spin round and round till
they fall to the ground giddy and exhausted. He has had wonderful success
hitherto, and his classes of instruction are largely attended.
_Sunday, November 16th._--I went to the cathedral in the morning, and was
much disappointed in the cold, semi-choral service and the bare interior
of the building. The Primate, Dr. Barry, was away, performing country
confirmations, so I did not hear him preach.
_Monday, November 17th._--We went over H.M.S. _Miranda_, a man-of-war,
anchored in front of Government House. The boat, manned by a crew in
white jackets, came off to the jetty to fetch us on board, and the
commander, Captain Acland, showed us over. The sailors' quarters appeared
to me miserable; they have all to cook, sleep, eat, and sit in one room
in the hold of the ship.
Lady Augustus, on our return, took me to the Picture Gallery, which is a
poor wooden building, but contains a good collection of water-colours,
and some pictures that have been exhibited in our Academy, including
works by Leighton, Goodall, Vicat Cole, &c. Their latest addition has
been De Neuville's "Rorke's Drift;" and 5000_l._ is now yearly put aside
out of the estimates for fresh purchases in England.
They have in the gallery two or three of Marshall Wood's statues,
including the beautiful one called the "Song of the Shirt." He is the
sculptor of the Queen's statue in the Parliament Buildings at Ottawa,
which we admired so much.
In the afternoon we drove through the Domain, to the rocky promontory at
the end that is called Lady Macquarie's chair; it is a small park formed
of the strip of land running out into the harbour.
_Tuesday, November 18th._--I went into the Botanical Gardens, which are
the most lovely I have ever seen. A terrace overhangs the bay in the
harbour round which the gardens lie, and there is something in the smooth
lawns and the endless shady walks that give to it a romantic beauty of
its own. C. then took me to the magnificent Government buildings in
Macquarie Street, to see Mr. Vernon, Secretary of the Railways, who had
come across the Pacific with us in the _Australia_, but I could not see
the Council Chamber, as the Council were sitting at that moment.
There was a dinner-party in the evening, including Sir George--one of
the Judges--and Lady Innes, Professor and Mrs. Smith, Mr. Fosbery, the
Chief of the Police, and Mr. Dalley, Attorney-General and Acting Colonial
Secretary to the present Government, a most accomplished and clever man.
To-day there has been one of the north-east winds that make the climate
of Sydney so damp and relaxing, but they are nothing when compared
to the north-west or hot wind, which is intensely dreaded. These hot
winds are caused by the wind blowing over the parched deserts of the
interior of Australia, when they bring with them a fiery blast that
burns and shrivels up all before it; night or day there is no relief,
during the two or three days that they remain. When the change comes,
it is generally with a "southerly burster," or tremendous storm. Sydney
suffers most from these, but I never shall forget how terrible was the
oppressiveness of one that we had at Melbourne, for a few hours only,
whilst we were there.
_Wednesday, November 19th._--To the opening of the Legislature by
commission at twelve o'clock. The Governor did not elect to go in state,
having closed the Parliament in person only the previous fortnight; this
being a short session for the passing of the estimates only.
We went over the houses afterwards, which are small and inconvenient, and
built of wood; but they are about to erect new ones.
Then to luncheon with Sir Alfred and Lady Stephen, who presently drove us
out to see the Alfred Hospital. The foundation-stone was laid by the Duke
of Edinburgh, after whom it is named, and the handsome stone building
cost 120,000_l._ All the appointments of the hospital are excellent. The
house surgeon begged to be excused from taking us over as he had seven
operations to perform that afternoon, and sent for Mrs. Murray, the
matron, a charming woman, to do so instead. Near the Alfred Hospital is
the University, the first that was founded in the southern hemisphere,
and around are the affiliated colleges of St. Paul and St. Andrew,
belonging to the Church of England and the Presbyterian body, where
religious instruction is given, none being allowed at the University.
Sir Alfred Stephen is Lieutenant-Governor, and the late Chief Justice.
Aged eighty-two, he has had eighteen children, to whom the number of nine
has been always attached; so curious is the coincidence, that I append
some lines written by himself "in court in 1859, during a very long
speech by counsel in the trial of a squatting action, which had lasted
four days":--
"'TWICE NINE;' OR, JUDICIAL IMPARTIALITY EXEMPLIFIED.
"Of children this knight had no less than eighteen;
Twice nine little heads, with a marriage between.
He had nine when a barrister, nine when a judge;
And of '_sex_'--since to Nature he owed not a grudge--
Nine exactly were girls, the other half boys,
An equal division 'twixt quiet and noise;
While if by marriage the number he reckoned,
There were nine of the first, and nine of the second.
Nine in Tasmania, nine New South Wales;
Then (to show with what justice he still held the scales)
Since 'nine' it was clear he could not divide
(A third sex yet having never been tried),
Five sons and four daughters in Hobart were born,
That four sons, five daughters might Sydney adorn!
Twin daughters, twin sons, complete the strange story
Of this patron of wigs, though constant old Tory."
There was an evening party at Government House, followed by a small
dance; the verandah looking so pretty, lighted with coloured Chinese
lanterns.
_Thursday, November 20th._--Lady Augustus had very kindly arranged a
picnic for us to see the Middle Harbour.
"Our harbour" is very beautiful, but you tire somewhat of the incessant
repetition of the fact that is required from all new arrivals to Sydney.
Perhaps the idea of the officers on board a newly arrived man-of-war was
the best, when they hung over the side of their ship a board painted in
large letters, "We have seen your harbour and admire it!"
We left the jetty in two launches on a gloriously bright morning, a party
of twenty pleasant people. We passed by several of the sheltered bays,
where so many of the pretty houses lie; first the one with the soft
complex name of Wooloomooloo, and afterwards Darling Point, followed by
Double and Rose Bays; and then we put in at a little sandy cove, and
some of the party, including ourselves, climbed up the hill to the
camp of the Permanent Artillery at the top. Colonel Roberts showed us
over the canteen, mess, store, and officers' huts, and C. went over the
fortifications, which are very strong.
We re-embarked, noticing the lighthouse, whose friendly beacon we
watch every night. Before us were the bold bluffs on either side the
"Heads," which form such a beautiful natural opening to the harbour.
Passing through them we should have been in the open sea. We, however,
took a turn to the right to go up the part of the harbour called the
"Middle Harbour," and leaving Manley Beach, the Margate of Sydney, to
the right, we got safely past the sandy shoals of the spit, and laid to
in a sheltered cove for luncheon. It is a grievous pity that the sparse
foliage of the gum is the only vegetation on the banks, and gives to
them such a dull, monotonous colouring. But very pretty are the little
headlands that jut out into the water, or the larger necks that enclose
some bay or inland sea, that gives one an idea of endless little harbours
unexplored within the larger one. I think the harbour, or Port Jackson
as it is officially called, with its seventy miles of frontage, made up
by the windings and turnings, may be likened to a beautiful lake; but
how Anthony Trollope thought it "so inexpressibly lovely, that it makes
a man ask himself whether it would not be worth his while to remove his
household gods, that he might look on it as long as he can look upon
anything," I cannot understand.
After luncheon was over we tried some fishing, but too much _débris_ from
the feast had already been sent overboard for the fish to do other than
nibble at the bait.
In coming home, Clontarf, the spot where the Duke of Edinburgh was shot
at, was pointed out to us. We landed two passengers at the camp, anchored
for tea in Chowder Bay; then went slowly home, disembarking members of
the party at various piers. As we neared our wharf we saw the little
Noah's Ark belonging to the American man-of-war plying backwards and
forwards with guests returning from the afternoon dance they were giving
on board.
C. had a very pleasant dinner at the House that evening, given to him
by Mr. Burdett Smith, meeting Sir John Robertson, the Speaker, and many
other prominent politicians.
The next day he made an expedition to Parramatta, to see the Premier,
Mr. Stuart, who had gone there for change of air after his recent attack
of illness.
_Saturday, November 22nd._--We left Redfern Station at 8 a.m., in a
special train provided for us by the Government, to make an expedition up
the Blue Mountains. The party consisted of Sir Alfred Stephen, the Hon.
George Dibbs, Colonial Treasurer, Mr. Critchett Walker, Principal Under
Secretary, Mr. Barton, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Harnett,
Sergeant-at-Arms, Mr. Fosbery, Commissioner of Police, and Mr. Loftus; as
well as of Mr. and Mrs. Francis Joseph, who had been most kind in asking
us to stay with them at Double Bay, and four other ladies.
Breakfast was served on board the dining-car attached to the train
immediately after starting, and if the truth ought to be told, we were
eating all day long, with the wherewithal so close at hand. We passed
Parramatta, or Rose Hill, the ancient Sydney, and saw its old Government
House, now used as a lodging-house, and the church, with its two little
towers, which was to have been a cathedral church.
At Penrith Station we were at the bottom of the Blue Mountains, and had
our first comprehensive and beautiful view of them, tracing at the same
time our zig-zag line up their sides. Soon we crossed the Nepean, or the
more familiar Hawkesbury on a stone bridge, which has so lately been the
scene of Canadian Hanlan's rowing feats. After passing Emu Plains, so
called from the herds of emus that used to roam over them, we reached the
first zig-zag. In eight minutes more we had ascended 600 feet.
The train at the zig-zag is run to the end of the gradient, points being
shifted by the guard, and then run up the gradual ascent of the next
level. It certainly is a much simpler method than that in America, where
the train _describes a circle round the corner_, whilst clinging to the
mountain side. We had a beautiful view over the rich cultivated fields
of the lowlands in the country of Cumberland--a changing, ever-shifting
view, as we ran along the side of the mountain, and then turned upwards
to face the opposite way.
The air felt brisker and colder as we got up into higher altitudes. After
reaching the summit we went through many miles of gum-tree woods, the
young, tender shoots yet crimson in their spring foliage. Lovely glimpses
of deep gorges we had, dimly defined by the trees sloping downwards into
the shadow of the ravine, but with that all-pervading dull greeny-grey
blue, produced by their dense covering of gum forests. It seems to me
that no scenery in Australia can appear very beautiful. One view must be
much like another on account of the terrible monotony of the gum-tree.
How we longed to-day to see some of these deep gorges in the mountains
clothed with the different shades of green produced by our oak or beech
or chestnut!
We passed Faulconbridge, the beautiful mountain home of Sir Henry Parkes,
who had very kindly asked us to spend part of the day with him, but we
were anxious to go on to the Lithgow and the second zig-zag. Katoomba,
with the Great Western Hotel, is the spot where most of the visitors
from Sydney stay, its great attraction being its splendid situation
overlooking the Cunimbla Valley.
At Blackheath we got out of the train, and found a break waiting to
take us the two miles to Govett's Leap. We drove along a sandy road,
looking at the masses of wild flowers that bordered it, or grew in the
underscrub. We noticed particularly among them the wild lobelia, and the
blue iris, and the Australian "edelweiss," which they call the "flannel
plant," and which has a varying number of petals, from seven to fourteen;
but above all there was the beautiful waratah, that wiry flower, glorious
in its deep crimson colour, and resembling an artichoke dipped into
cochineal, as one of our party remarked. As we were looking and talking
about the flowers, quite unexpectedly, and with a sudden alarm, we found
ourselves on the edge of the precipice of what is called "Govett's
Leap." Twelve hundred feet below us there was a plain, shut in on all
sides by titanic walls of granite rock. I call it a plain, for it seemed
so by comparison to where it narrowed imperceptibly to the gorge, only
wide enough for a narrow river to flow through, and which lost itself
to us under the blue haze of the distance. This plain was covered with
sassafras, or spinnefex, a stunted undergrowth, amongst which peeped up
the bare heads of rocks, and all around and beyond them was only the
grey-blue undulations of a sea of gums. Just to our right there was the
black shiny cliff, over which trickles the falling mist of the waterfall
called Govett's Leap. It is dignified you perceive into a waterfall, but
here droughts are so frequent, and water so scarce, that drops trickling
over a rock must be so called, or none would remain in existence. The
waterfall is not called Govett's Leap, as many would suppose, after some
legendary convict's leap, escaping from the pursuit of his gaolers, but
after the name of the first surveyor of the Blue Mountains.
[Illustration: Govett's Leap, Blue Mountains.]
The great beauty of the scenery in these mountains lies in the grand
expanse of the valleys that open out sheer at your feet, under precipices
of from 300 to 500 feet and in the curious formation of rock that
generally surrounds them, standing out into their midst in jagged masses
or formations that take the shape of something human.
Certainly there are these grand and glorious views in the Blue
Mountains, these vast panoramas as at Govett's Leap, or at the
"Weatherboard;" but taking them as a whole I think their monotonous
beauty is somewhat exaggerated by the fact that Australia is so poor in
beautiful scenery. Going through Mount Victoria Pass we came to Mount
Victoria, which has a fine hotel, and is over 3000 feet above the sea
level. It is generally taken as the headquarters from whence tourists
can explore the mountains. Then we reached the second, or the "Great
Zig-zag," the marvel of the engineering feats. At one point we looked
down and saw below us _three_ distinct lines of railway, and these had
only been made after tunnelling and blasting the rock away sometimes
to a depth of forty or fifty feet. But I think it looked still more
wonderful when we looked _up_ to it from the bottom, and wondered how we
should ever reach the top again. The cost of this part of the railway was
between 20,000_l._ and 25,000_l._ a mile.
Lithgow formed our terminus, and we had luncheon in a siding, and some
of the party went to see the pottery works opposite, and returned with
bricks which they had seen baked in the oven, and tiles, and little
brown earthenware teapots, valued at 7½_d._ These pottery works were
started almost accidentally by the Lithgow Valley Colliery Company, who
began by baking bricks for a chimney to their furnace in connection with
their large coal-mining operations, and finding clay suitable for pottery
purposes in the neighbourhood they continued. Nearly the whole of the
pretty Lithgow Valley is spoilt by being used for manufacturing purposes,
coal being found in large quantities and worked by several companies.
We ran back quickly, though the return journey seemed much Longer.
At Mount Victoria we experienced a curiously sudden change in the
atmosphere. A little damp mist rising from the valleys spread so quickly
that the warm, bright afternoon was suddenly clouded over, and changed
to drizzling rain and a chill, clinging mist. We had fortunately seen
the views in the morning, in brightness and sunshine, for now in the
afternoon they were totally obliterated. We heard afterwards that we
narrowly avoided a collision with another passenger train at Parramatta
when returning, and we were saved by the presence of mind of our
engineer, who ran us into the siding just in time. We reached Sydney, and
were back at Government House by 8 p.m.
[Illustration: Zig-zag on railway, Blue Mountains.
Page 192.]
_Sunday, November 23rd._--We had luncheon in Macleay Street with the
Chief Justice, Sir James, and Lady Martin. Sir James has never been out
of New South Wales, but he has read so extensively and to such purpose,
that he knows Europe almost better than any traveller, and will tell you
the exact position of any of the celebrated pictures in the galleries
of Rome or Florence. Their house has a narrow garden, with a succession
of beautifully-planted stone terraces leading down to the edge of the
harbour.
We drove out afterwards to Rose Bay to see the Hon. James White's
beautiful house. Mr. White is the owner of a celebrated stud, and had
that morning taken C. out to the race-course at Randwick to see his
stables. The garden is very beautiful, and from it the harbour presents
the appearance of two distinct lakes, caused by the jutting out of Point
Piper. Mr. William Cooper's, Mr. Mitchell's, and Sir Wigram Allen's are
the finest houses at Sydney after Mr. White's. I think Sydney is a far
preferable place to Melbourne to live in. It has not the American "go"
and tone of the latter, nor the same amount of society; but the place
is so much prettier, and the climate so bright, that the blue waters of
the harbour have often reminded us of the Mediterranean--indeed the mean
temperature of Sydney is found to be exactly equal to that of Toulon.
The Government of Melbourne is termed the "blue ribbon" of the colonial
service, and has a salary attached to it of 10,000_l._; but Sydney, with
its salary of 7000_l._, should be, I think, the more popular of the two.
Sir John Robertson has very kindly asked us whilst here to make an
expedition up the Hawkesbury, to stay with him, but the steamer for
Brisbane is leaving to-morrow. C. was also very anxious to have made
a trip from Sydney over to New Caledonia; but the twenty-one days of
strictest quarantine imposed by the French Government on all vessels
arriving at Noruma from Sydney, on account of the small-pox here, has
rendered it impossible. He has been fortunate, however, in meeting French
officers, who have given him all the necessary information, and he has
obtained many official papers concerning the French penal settlement.
_Tuesday, November 25th._--We bade farewell to Lord and Lady Augustus
Loftus in the afternoon, and went down to the wharf, where lay the
_Ly-ee-moon_, of the Australian Steam Navigation Company, with the
"blue peter" flying. Mr. Loftus, Mr. Unwin, and Dr. Garran, the editor
of the _Sydney Morning Herald_, came to see us off. We went down the
harbour, saying good-bye to Government House as we passed its windows,
but seeing nothing, to our disappointment, of the race that was going on
between boats' crews of H.M.S. _Miranda_ and the American man-of-war.
We passed out through "the Heads" into the open sea, which had a heavy
swell on, the remains of a "southerly burster" of the previous night.
The _Ly-ee-moon_ is a dirty little steamer of 600 tons; she is fast,
but rolls terribly. After it got dark and cold on deck nothing remained
but to go below, and plunge, without asking questions, into the dusky
recesses of the bunk in the cabin.
_Wednesday, November 26th._--On board S.S. _Ly-ee-moon_, off the coast
of Queensland. Coasting all day along a country covered as far the eye
could see into the interior with gum-trees. It gives one some idea of the
density of the forests before the country is opened up. Sea smooth, but
many ill; _cuisine_ disgusting, and passengers noisy and objectionable.
I wrote letters for home all day.
_Thursday, November 27th._--The stewardess came into my cabin at seven
o'clock, to say that we had been at anchor for an hour or more in the
River Brisbane, waiting for the doctor to come off and pass us. The
ascent up the Brisbane for thirty miles took us nearly two hours. The
river is so deep and broad that large vessels are able to come up to
Brisbane, and anchor at the wharves. The banks are low and pretty, but
little we saw of their beauty that morning for the dense mist caused by
the downpour of rain.
Mr. Prichard, the Governor's aide-de-camp, was waiting for us on the
wharf with the carriage, and we drove past the Government buildings,
which are very fine, and the Club House, with its broad verandahs, to
Government House. Here Sir Anthony and Lady Musgrave received us most
kindly. Government House is a low, ugly stone building, with numberless
verandahs, into which the rooms open out. The servants' quarters are
quite separate, in a bungalow apart from the house. The house lies on a
peninsula, surrounded on three sides by the river, and the road which
leads past the houses ends at Government House as a _cul de sac_.
The deluge of rain lasted all the afternoon, but cleared up enough in
the evening for Lady Musgrave and her three boys to take me into the
adjoining Botanical Gardens. The climate at Brisbane is nearly tropical,
and these gardens are proportionately more luxuriant than those of
either Melbourne or Sydney. There is a beautiful avenue of bunyea-trees
bordering the walk by the river. On the pond in the centre grow the most
lovely blue and pink water-lilies; the latter is "the sacred lotus" of
the Egyptians, a plant that, besides Australia, only inhabits China,
Japan, Persia, the Malay Peninsula, and the Philippine Islands. The
lawns feel short and springy to the tread from the crisp buffalo-grass.
There is a grove of tall bamboo-trees, interspersed with palms, the
bread-fruit tree, or the traveller's tree--a species of palm which gives
water when tapped by the traveller in the desert; on some of these grow
the stag-horn ferns, so called because it is a fern which branches out
like the horns of a stag. There were thickets of mimosa; the common
sensitive plant, whose leaves curl up at the touch; interspersed with the
candlenut-tree, the castor-oil plant, Moreton Bay figs, or wattle-trees,
and every one of the fifty-four species of eucalypti or blue gum that
flourish in Queensland. In the borders grow ohias, and hibiscus, white
or red, single or double; seringea, boronia, crimson pointsettias,
red-purple bougainvillea; jackerandia, like our purple wisteria; and
daturas, with their pure white blossom, growing amid a cluster of dark
green leaves. There were all the commoner sorts of flowers, and hundreds
of others of which I did not know or could not learn the names.
The suite of rooms we have are connected by a succession of verandahs.
Doors and windows open to the ground, giving in the evening a terrible
invitation to the mosquitoes to enter, of which they avail themselves
freely, humming and buzzing round in a maddening dance. Fortunately we
are too early for the sandflies, a tiny insect which hops like a flea,
and whose bite is very vicious and painful; they have been known to
worry a horse almost to death. The frogs, with their sometimes deafening
chirping, are heard in the early morning or after sundown, the same as
we used to hear the locusts at Sydney. The hoarse laugh of the "jackass"
often rings out on the night air.
_Friday, November 28th._--Lady Musgrave took me to the Museum in the
morning, where they have a good collection of native birds. Following the
example of hot climates, for the heat in Brisbane is intense, though we
are early enough to escape the worst, which is between this month and
April, we stayed quiet during the afternoon, and went out driving in the
evening. We drove through the town and principal streets of George and
Queen Streets to the Acclimatization Gardens, reserved solely for that
purpose, and being so far removed from the town that they are little
used. Thence to the Girls' High School, and the Grammar School; and
afterwards coming down one of the fine "terraces" or roads overlooking
the town, we drove out to Kangaroo Point. Then I was able to master and
understand the difficult geography of Brisbane, caused by the windings in
the river, which puzzle you as to which side of it you are on. The river
winds round the town, so that in one street you can see it at the top
and again at the bottom. Brisbane is a thoroughly uninteresting and ugly
town. C. met the Premier, Mr. Griffiths; Sir Arthur Palmer, Speaker of
the Legislative Council; Sir Thomas MacIlwraith and Mr. Morehead, Leaders
of the Opposition, yesterday.
_Saturday, November 29th._--We did some shopping in the town in the
morning for the voyage, buying deck-chairs and table, &c., and a box to
send home to England. C. had a long talk with the Premier, detailing his
Massachusetts Probation Scheme, for the probation of prisoners who have
been convicted of a first offence only. An article written by him on the
subject has just appeared in the Melbourne _Victorian Review_; and the
three other colonies that we have visited, New Zealand, Victoria, and
New South Wales, are about to adopt it as being very economical, and
advantageous in preventing the manufacture of habitual criminals.
Lady Musgrave held her weekly afternoon reception.
On all sides we are hearing such terrible accounts of the drought,
which has ruined and is still ruining many owners of "sheep runs" in
Queensland. In some places it is two years since a single drop of rain
has fallen. No water can be obtained for drinking purposes without
sending many miles for it, and even in that case a serious difficulty
presents itself, for the horses are dying or dead from want of food. The
ground is described as being like a vast bed of sand or gravel, without
grass or green thing left growing on it. One lady told me this afternoon
that a relative of hers had just gone up country, and wrote to say that
they had had no water to wash with for four days, scarcely any to drink,
and that at last she had washed her baby in soda water! Sheep can be
seen who have staggered to some creek where water had formerly been
running, and sinking into the mud, perished, too weak to draw themselves
out. Others, again, coming down would get piled dead on the top, forming
a ghastly heap. It is computed that between two and three millions of
sheep have perished during this drought, and as many as 20,000 on a
single run. The rainfall here is very partial, and that which falls on
the seaboard often does not penetrate up country.
Advent Sunday at Brisbane, _November 30th._--In the midst of this
torrid heat, the Advent of Christmas comes unseasonably round. We
had a hot and dull morning service in the church, half a mile away.
During the afternoon I was reading Anthony Trollope's "Australia and
New Zealand:" what a terribly narrow and one-sided view he took of
things! A thunderstorm came in the evening to clear the oppressive
atmosphere, and we sat out under the verandah after dinner, and watched
the lights twinkling among the houses and on the wharf opposite, with
the phosphorescent sheet lightning sweeping the sky. It seems well-nigh
impossible to realize the murky skies and cold gloom of the November of
home, and Advent Sunday has come as an awakening of this fact. C. had
luncheon with his cousin, Mr. Gilbert Primrose, at his pretty little
place outside the town.
_Monday, December 1st._--Still very hot and oppressive. Sir Anthony took
me for a drive in the evening in a phaeton with pretty cream-coloured
ponies, out along the Ipswich road. There were some ranges of hills in
the distance, and it was a pretty drive, but a typical Australian look
was given to much of the surrounding country by the scrub of dwarfed
gums, and by the wooden houses perched on piles, partly for ventilation
and dryness, but more to facilitate an easy search after the white ant,
the serious drawback to these wooden tenements. Queensland is still
in the period of much zinc roofing. There was a large dinner party of
pleasant people in the evening, after which we had to pack for two hours
to be ready for the morrow's start.
Queensland is the youngest of the Australian Colonies, and so great is
its extent, that it is the same size as England, Scotland, Ireland,
France, Belgium and Denmark would be if added together. It is bisected
by the Tropic of Capricorn, which runs nearly through the centre. The
south is devoted, as in the other colonies, to pastoral interests. On
the Darling and Peak Downs the sheep runs are fenced in, and luxuries
even are found in the houses, but on the Thompson and the Herbert, the
Warrego and Barcoo, the flocks roam at pleasure, and "boundary riders,"
or men who once or twice in the week ride round the outside of the run,
are still in use.
There is much talk at present going on about the division of Queensland,
as the north complains that the seat of Government at Brisbane is too
far distant, and that their interests are not identical with those of
the south. This is so far true, on account of the tropical climate of
the north, which is only suitable for the growth of sugar, cotton,
pine-apple, banana, or guava plantations.
Agitation is also at present being made for the abolition of island
labour, without which it is impossible for the plantations of the north
to be worked, as no European can long stand the tropical heat of the
midday sun. The cry of the south is "Queensland for the white man," and
many think that this crucial point will lead to the separation of the
north.
The Queensland Government is the only one in Australasia which is at
present actively engaged in peopling the vast unoccupied regions of
the continent. It has agents in England, and partly under a system of
nomination by those already in the colony, partly by the selection
of their officers, about 400 emigrants are sent out from England
gratuitously every fortnight, under contract with the British India Steam
Navigation Company. Mechanics of sober, industrious habits find their
wages augmented in their new homes by 300, 400, and even 500 per cent.
Single women find good situations almost before the vessel is moored
alongside the wharf at Brisbane. Even a maid of all work, if she can
cook, receives out here nearly a pound a week for wages. There is no
opening for town loafers or clerks, but ordinary labourers are frequently
in demand, and Government does what it can to find them employment, and
keeps them for a time at the depôts.
Before leaving Australia (though politics are not within my province),
I must say that throughout Australasia there is a strong feeling among
all classes for a closer union with the mother country. The loyalty
of the people to the Crown and the Empire is unbounded; but Australia
finds herself strong, and should any coldness be displayed by the Home
Government, a cry for separation may soon be raised, and we should
never forget that, "as a field for British trade, as an outlet for our
surplus population, and as producers of our food, our colonies are to us
indispensable."
It is with regret that we are obliged to leave Australia without seeing
something of the squatter's life in the back country, but the long sea
voyage before us renders it impossible for us to wait four weeks for
the next mail. If we had gone up country, I fancy previous ideas of the
roughing it, and hardships of bush life, with its traditional "damper"
and eternal haunch of mutton, would have disappeared before the luxury
and comfort which in all but the very recently settled districts now
prevail.
My husband has, however, been fortunate enough to meet most of the
politicians and leading public men, for at Melbourne, Sydney, and
Brisbane the Parliaments have been in session, and this, after all,
is the main object of our visit to the colonies. I have before given
our reasons for not attempting to visit South Australia; and the Crown
Colony of Western Australia, with its capital of Perth and still barren
settlements, one would hardly go to except under compulsion. The few
emigrants who arrive there rarely remain, and 25,000 numbers the entire
population of Western Australia. Although its territory is enormous, it
consists chiefly of a sandy waste, and a "Yankee" who landed there is
said to have made the observation "that it was the best country he ever
saw to run through an hour-glass!"
To my great sorrow we are abandoning our original intention of visiting
China and Japan. The war with France would make the former difficult,
and the season of the year would be unfavourable for the latter. These
are not, however, the chief reasons, so much as a half-formed scheme we
are revolving in our minds, to come home by the Cape and South Africa.
We have given ourselves till next May for travelling, and it would
not be possible to accomplish China, Japan, as well as British India,
Netherlands India, the Straits Settlements, and the Cape. Even as it is
the latter may fall through from want of time, or the absence of good
steamer connection between Bombay and Natal. But We hope for the best as
we take leave of Australasia and set sail for Hindoostan.