“ For how many thousands of years the beautiful island of Tasmania had remained secluded from the rest of the world like a lost or an undiscovered paradise; and at what remote epoch the first human beings drifted across the Straits, to find themselves the sole possessors of a realm more fair and fertile than that from which they had been wafted by accident or design; or whether, as there is good reason to conclude, the progenitors of the dark race which is now utterly extinct were of mixed negro origin, and arrived by a more direct method from the African continent or from India, can only be matter for speculation and conjecture.” P493

“ Cape Pillar and Cape Raoul —which form the southern extremities of the peninsula upon which the intrepid navigator bestowed his name, and are the eastern and western limits of a beautiful bay, which ultimately narrows into the still more lovely estuary known as Port Arthur —must have been much more imposing in appearance than they are to-day. For even within the memory of persons now living, some thirty or forty of the basaltic pillars which constitute the remarkable headland known as Cape Raoul have entirely vanished —have been eaten away by the corroding action of the sea. Those which still remain rise to a height —in some instances at least —of seven hundred and fifty-six feet; but are being gradually diminished and attenuated by the incessant operation of wind and wave; the latter gnawing at their feet, the former flinging itself —when unchained by tempests from the South Pacific —with irresistible force at their slender summits, which are overthrown to aggrandise the reef below.” P493

“ Upwards of a century rolled by, and the appearance and disappearance of the huge sea-birds must have become a dim tradition in the minds of the natives of Van Diemen’s Land, when two French vessels —the "Mascarin" and the "Castries," commanded by Captain M. du Fresne —entered and anchored in the identical harbour in which Tasman, a hundred and thirty years previously, had found welcome rest and quiet shelter. The natives came down to look at the white strangers, but after some friendly intercourse a misunderstanding arose, and the French fired upon the blacks in self-defence. Du Fresne remained in the bay for six days, and then departed for New Zealand, where he perished by the hands of the Maories. Next year Captain Furneaux, whose vessel, the "Adventure," had been separated from that of Captain Cook, ran into the entrance of Storm Bay, and anchored in that indentation of the island of Bruni which has received the name of his ship. In 1777 Captain Cook, in the "Discovery," anchored in the same place, landed there, and held friendly parley with some of the natives. It was not until 1788 that Van Diemen’s. Land again received a visit from an English vessel, the "Bounty," commanded by Lieutenant William Bligh, who had served under Cook in the "Endeavour..” P494

“ On January 7th, 1868, His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh paid his promised visit to the island in the "Galatea," which reached her anchorage in the Derwent early in the afternoon. Half the population of the island must have been present in Hobart Town on the day following, when the public reception of the Duke by the Governor, Ministry, and Legislature of Tasmania took place. Old colonists, who had seen the young Queen on her way to be crowned in Westminster Abbey thirty years before, garlanded the doors of their wayside cottages with English roses, in remembrance of her to whom her people’s hearts had turned, on that auspicious occasion, as "the expectancy and rose of the fair State"; while others brought forth and exhibited early engravings or little statues of Her Majesty, carefully preserved through all the vicissitudes of time and change; and a younger generation, born in Tasmania, gazed with interest and curiosity on the features of the first member of the Royal Family who had set his foot upon their native island, and who was all the more warmly greeted because he wore the uniform of that branch of the Imperial service which is justly dear to the countrymen of Nelson, Collingwood, and Franklin in every part of the British Empire.”
“ In 1870 a flying squadron, composed of six ships of war, anchored in the Derwent; and in the same year the Imperial Government, believing that the time had arrived when the Australian colonies were strong enough to run alone, withdrew her garrisons from the whole of Australasia, and Tasmania cheerfully accepted the responsibilities of self-defence which had thus been cast upon her. Volunteer forces were promptly organised in the chief centres of population, and civilians were not slow in proving their aptitude for military drill and discipline.” P506

“ Approached from the sea, or viewed from the other side of the estuary of the Derwent, the city of Hobart is seen to occupy a position resembling that of Genoa, Naples, and Constantinople, but with a far more imposing background than any of these. If its architectural features suffer by comparison with those of the capitals we have named, its natural surroundings amply compensate for such deficiencies as these; for look in what direction the observer may, the eye finds everywhere something delightful to rest upon. The city itself creeps up an undulating range of foothills, with tenderly curved outlines and hollows full of restful shadow, and the shore line all around the estuary is equally graceful in contour. The rising ground behind is cultivated to the edge of the forest, stretching away to the summit of the mountain chain of which Nelson —looking seaward as becomes an eminence which bears the naval hero’s name —is the outpost, and Wellington the predominating mass. The silhouette of the latter, especially when sharply defined against the evening sky, may be compared to that of some monstrous plesiosaurus stretched out in sleep, the head and neck depressed and bending down towards the north, its back elevated near the shoulders, and its tall tapering down for miles in a southerly direction, while the "organ-pipes" resemble a portion of its vast anatomy laid bare in ghastly conflict with some "dragon of the prime." In the matter of colour the mountain is a veritable chameleon, changing its hues with the varying position of the sun, and with the condition and temperature of the atmosphere. And it has its moods of gloom and moroseness, of brightness and gaiety; sometimes veiling its head with wreaths of impenetrable vapour, and haughtily secluding itself from view for days together; and at others revealing every feature of its rugged face with startling distinctness; while in the winter months, and often in the early autumn and the late spring, it wears a stainless crown of snow with a dignity becoming its venerable age.” P511

“ There are large gardens and even orchards in close proximity to the very centre of the city; and in the immediate vicinity of the wharves and the government offices, the wayfarer can step out of a busy street into the comparative seclusion of a little park, where the statue of Sir John Franklin rises out of a miniature island, covered with flowers and foliage, and surrounded by a basin of water flecked with the broad green leaves and wiry flowers of the water lily. This garden occupies the site of the old Government House. The newer edifice has been erected upon a pretty promontory, half a mile or so beyond the northern boundary of the city, on the west bank of the Derwent. It resembles a Tudor mansion in design and detail; and its state apartments and Gothic ballroom are worthy of its external appearance. Few palaces outside of Bavaria command so superb a prospect on all sides, as government house at Hobart; embracing as it does the broad expanse of the Derwent, the city backed by the august form of Mount Wellington, and ranges of mountains encircling the landscape in every direction, save where the river, flowing seaward, opens out into Ralph’s Bay on one side of a peninsula, and the south arm upon the other. The Queen’s domain close by is ail extensive and elevated reserve, dedicated to the use of the public in perpetuity, and laid out so as to present a variety of drives, and a diversity of pleasant prospects. An obelisk and drinking fountain, erected upon it in memory of Charles Meredith, serve to perpetuate the name of a prominent Tasmanian public man.” P512

“ The Protestant cathedral, dedicated to St. David, occupies the site of the somewhat primitive structure it displaced in 1868, at the intersection of Murray and Macquarie Streets. Its style is early English, its plan cruciform, and the material employed a brown stone, with white stone dressings. It contains a fine organ and several stained-glass windows, and, when completed according to the original design, with its detached tower and spire, will constitute one of the most prominent architectural adornments of a city not poor in public buildings.”
“ The Church of England as it is represented in Hobart possesses altogether four churches and a mission chapel within the boundaries of the city, one of them, the Holy Trinity, possessing a remarkably fine peal of bells; the Wesleyans have three places of worship, the Presbyterians two, the Congregationalists three, the Baptists two, and the Free Church of Scotland, the United Methodists, the Friends, the Jews, the Primitive Methodists, the Brethren, the "Christians," and the Mariners one each.”
“ The members of the Roman Catholic denomination have with their characteristic liberality, erected a beautiful cathedral, dedicated to St. Mary, in Harrington-street; the interior of which has been rendered additionally striking by a carved stone pulpit, a fine organ, and a stained glass window at the east end of the sanctuary, set up in memory of Bishop Wilson and Vicar-General Hall, who were fellow labourers together in Hobart for upwards of twenty years, and went to their rest within a few days of each other. Near the cathedral are the bishop’s palace, the Presentation convent, and some schools conducted by the Sisterhood of the latter.” P513

“ On the borders of the domain, the battlemented parapet and mullioned windows of a monastic-looking building arrest the eye; and the stranger learns upon enquiry that it is Christ’s College, an Institution which has rendered, and is rendering valuable service in the higher education of the young on Christian principles. Another scholastic institution, erected in memory of Archdeacon Hutchins, constitutes one of the ornaments of Macquarie Street; where its ivy-mantled gables, its central tower, and its generally antique appearance cause it to resemble a hit of mediaeval Oxford, dropped down amidst the commodious and comfortable modern residences which abound in that neighbourhood. Some of the more important of the public buildings of the city are to be found in the same street. Foremost among these is the town hall, handsome structure of freestone, containing, besides the usual municipal offices, a large and well proportioned ballroom, an excellent free library, and a reading room liberally supplied with British and colonial periodicals and newspapers.” P513

“ Quitting Hobart by the railway which follows the course of the Derwent to New Norfolk, the tourist is carried past the pretty suburb of New Town, embosomed in gardens and orchards, and Glenorchy, with its picturesque little church, and a distant view of the landslip which has left a great scar on the shaggy slopes of Mount Wellington, and through hop gardens, and along the margin of a succession of diminutive bays, and across a long causeway at Bridgewater. Thenceforward the line hugs the eastern bank of the river, and sweeps round the base of the ranges which here dip down to the water’s edge, leaving an occasional margin, however, of reedy marsh, or a ledge of scrubby pasture; while on the other side of the broad stream the mountains recede, affording ample space in the valley for cornfields and pastures and comfortable homesteads. Just before reaching New Norfolk the river passes through a species of gorge, and the tall cliffs on either side are so regularly laminated as to resemble artificial masonry executed upon a colossal scale, and the rocks are so curiously weather-worn in places as to present fantastic analogies to the recessed porches of a minster facade; to vacant niches, ruined canopies, windows that are crumbling to decay; buttresses which have lost their crowning pinnacles, and mouldings and string courses which have been eaten away by the tooth of time. The town itself has been built upon a shelf of land considerably higher than the level of the river, which is bordered by native and weeping willows, acacias, and poplars.
Hop-gardens, orchards, and trim gardens emboss the slopes, the hawthorn hedges remind the traveller of those of the English Kent, and in the autumnal season they are one mass of rich maroon, while those of sweetbrier are a vivid scarlet. There is Just such an old-fashioned inn as Washington Irving and Charles Dickens delighted to describe, and in whatever direction the eye directs its gaze, the pleasant landscape is seen to be enclosed and framed by mountain ranges, the more distant rivalling the sky in their soft azure, while the less remote vary in colour from a russet brown to a dingy yellow.” P516

“ The foot of Mount Wellington may be described as clothed with perennial verdure, for the streams which flow from its summit lend unfading freshness to fern-tree bowers overarching babbling brooks and noisy cataracts, upon the cold surface of which no glint of sunlight is ever permitted to fall by the interlacing boughs and branches of the majestic forest trees that attain to such a lofty altitude overhead. Along the spurs of the mountain winds the Huon Road, one of the most beautiful of the many beautiful drives outside of Hobart. By a steady ascent, full of picturesque windings, it climbs to a height of one thousand six hundred feet, and thence descends to the valley which is the natural habitat of the Huon pine, and contains the estuary of the river whence the tree derives its name.
The roadside scenery is a. romantic combination of mountain forests, filled with gigantic timber rising out of a perfect jungle of musk, sassafras, honey-plants, grass-trees, scrub-vines, yellow dog-wood, and the native pear-tree, with its wand-like stems thickly clustered together; cataracts, rushing over rocky ledges; fern-tree gullies, overshadowed by the greenest’ of fronds; and knolls which have been cleared of their timber and thus enable the coach passenger to look across the summits of the trees, so thickly massed in a hollow below, to the distant Derwent, as it stretches away to the mountain range forming its eastern boundary and to the various bays which indent its shore-line to the southward.
Here and there, here a bush-fire has swept through the forest, the foliage of many of the scorched saplings —beautiful in death —is almost resplendent in colour, the predominating tints being old gold and a satin crimson. Mount Wellington itself offers some of the finest scenery in the island and one such view is obtainable from the Cascades, looking across a billowy sea of leafiness up to the cliff-like face of the mountain, which is there seen to detach itself from all the surrounding and subordinate eminences, with every ridge and furrow of its crest sharply accentuated against the sky.” P514

“ Within the circumference of a radial line of fifty or sixty miles, drawn from King William the Third Mountain to all points of the compass, are comprised a labyrinth of ranges, the whole of the lakes, the great plains, the sources of the most important rivers, including the Derwent, the Murray, and the Gordon, and with a single exception, every mountain which reaches an altitude of four thousand seven hundred feet and upwards. Most of the ranges run from north to south, and vary from ten to fifteen miles in length. In one instance that of the mountain system whose domes or pinnacles bear the honoured names of Tyndall, Sedgwick, Lyell, Owen, Huxley, Jukes, and Darwin —the distance from the most northerly to the most southerly peak is upwards of five and twenty miles; the continuity of the chain being broken only by three narrow gaps.
A longitudinal line one hundred miles in length, and bisecting the King William Range half-way from its starting point, would pretty accurately define the boundary of the mountainous country to the west, and of the lake region to the east. Extensive plains predominate in the latter, with here and there an isolated hill upon which, in four separate instances, the discoverer has bestowed the name of Sugar-loaf, with the addition of his own. But on the other side of this imaginary line the counties of Montague, Franklin, and Montgomery, are thickly embossed with ranges, while all the intervening valleys, whether broadening out into extensive flats or narrowing into deep ravines, are watered by streams or creeks, most of which pour their waters into the Gordon, a river taking its rise in Lake Richmond and emptying itself into one of the southern arms of Macquarie Harbour.” P519

“ Ten miles to the westward of the mountain chain which wears its triple crown with so much dignity, the remarkable range bearing the fanciful appellation of the Frenchman’s Cap dominates the whole of the surrounding landscape; its highest points attaining an altitude of four thousand seven hundred and fifty-six feet. The bald cone or culminating peak of this gigantic mass of naked rock resembles the base of an enormous monolith shattered by some convulsion of nature which has strewn the fragments in the seams and fissures that gape like deep mounds upon the sloping shoulders of the Titan. Under certain conditions of the atmosphere it resembles a hooded figure, wrapped in the folds of a voluminous cloak, and stretching forth its arms as if it would embrace the lower eminences whose jagged peaks and rounded cupolas it seems to dwarf by its superior elevation. But the Cap never looks more beautiful than when the snow lies soft and thick upon its massive summit, effacing the ruggedness of its outlines.” P520

“ What the unknown benefactors of Ceylon did for that island when they constructed the stupendous tanks, of which the largest enclosed an expanse of water equal in extent to the Lake of Geneva, that has nature accomplished for the island of Tasmania by establishing these marvellous reservoirs upon so lofty and central a plateau. The supply of the precious element is there; its distribution is simply a question of capital, enterprise, and engineering skill. Lying on the western edge of this great plateau, and encircling at its eastern extremity a somewhat remarkable natural amphitheatre, the Eldon Range presents an exception to most of the mountain chains in the western portion of the island; its axial line being from east to west, instead of from north to south. It is also the watershed of streams flowing in opposite directions; and covers an area of country nearly fifteen miles in length, and from two to three in breadth. In point of elevation its highest peak ranks third among the mountains of Tasmania, namely four thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine feet; and its geological structure resembling that of Ben Lomond and the Cradle Mountain —its two superiors in altitude —it wears the same cliff-like aspect; its agglomerate mass of pillars rises abruptly and almost perpendicularly out of a waving sea of foliage, and its ridges bear a fantastic similitude to the battlements of some stupendous fortress, designed and executed on a scale of colossal grandeur. The foot-hills of the range slope down to the margin of a small lake known as Lake Augusta, which serves as a mirror for the mountain.” P522

“ The railway follows the curving course of the South Esk as far as Fingal, and from that point runs parallel with one of its tributaries for the rest of the distance. A few miles from Conaro, or the Corners, as it was formerly called, Ben Lomond with its ragged outline looms above all the surrounding ranges on the northward side of the line, while somewhat to the right of it St. Paul’s Dome, with its swelling contour and its forest-clad slopes, offers a remarkable contrast to the naked and high-soaring crags of its loftier and more imposing neighbour. For this is five thousand and ten feet high, while the Dome is barely three thousand three hundred and seventy feet. The one is all amenity, grace of line, and simplicity of form; the other all austerity, angularity and ruggedness of line, and complexity of structure. The Dome seems to have been placed where it is to serve as the noble background of a dozen equally charming landscape pictures having for the elements of each composition green pastures, a brawling stream, and sleek kine coming down to drink of its pellucid waters in the evening light.
But all the attributes of Ben Lomond are those of majesty and grandeur; and perhaps it is never seen to such advantage as at sunrise or sunset. Looking at it at the latter hour from the eastward, when the sky behind is blazing with crimson and gold, and the fleecy clouds which spread out fan-like above its southern ridge are so luminous with reflected light that they seem to invest it with an aureole of glory, the hue of the mountain is that of a pale amethyst which gradually fades into a misty slate colour. The ascent of Ben Lomond is most conveniently effected from Avoca, and can only be accomplished with safety under the direction of an experienced guide. On approaching the foot of the mountain the whole of its southern face presents the appearance of having been laid bare by the severance or subsidence of a now missing slope, thus exposing to view an enormous congeries of basaltic columns, or "organ pipes," some of them rising to a height of seven hundred feet without a break.” P523

“ The capital of the northern portion of the island can be reached from Ringarooma either by coach or steamer. In the former case the tourist is afforded an opportunity of seeing the really magnificent scenery in the district of Scottsdale, and on the other he becomes familiar with the windings of the Tamar, and with the varied succession of charming landscapes which are presented from a continually changing point of view.
Launceston lies partly in the arena and partly along the shelving sides of an extensive natural amphitheatre, the various grades of which are thickly dotted with cottages, villas, and mansions, while the higher parts of the town present those inequalities of surface which help to lessen the monotony of rectangular streets. And here, as in Hobart, many spacious gardens pleasantly chequer the surface of the place and beautify its general aspect. Prince’s Square is one of these green oases, laid out in avenues of oak, elm, willow, Pine, and poplar, with a monumental fountain of bronze in the centre, having life-sized figures of the four seasons seated around the plinth of the principal basin, the upper one being supported by four amoretti, locked hand in hand. Overlooking it are some of the principal churches in Launceston —St. John’s, now upwards of half a century old, and containing two handsome stained glass windows, representing "the Ascension" and "the Resurrection," Chalmer’s Free Church, and the Prince’s Square Congregational Church.” P525

“ The town itself wears a very bright look, as so many of its public and private edifices are constructed of an excellent freestone, quarried in the immediate neighbourhood of the place. Among the more striking of the architectural ornaments of Launceston, are the town hall in St. John Street, a good example of the classic style, as modified for modern uses by the Italians; the block of public Offices, in which most of the governmental business is transacted, having a frontage to the same street, and facing two others; and the mechanics’ institute in Cameron Street, opposite one facade of the last-named block. This institute contains a spacious hall with good acoustic properties, and a fine organ; two reading-rooms, a well-stocked library, an interesting collection of portraits, and a group of the extinct aborigines of the island, painted by the late Mr. R. Dowling. Close by is the new post office, constructed of red brick with freestone dressings. Its design embodies some of the features of the Renaissance epoch of European architecture, and it is one of the most picturesque of the public edifices of Launceston. The five banks and the Cornwall Insurance Company are handsomely lodged; and some of the more recently erected of the churches are creditable to the taste and liberality of the congregations worshipping in them. A handsome coffee palace and some excellent hotels present a choice of accommodation for tourists and temporary residents; there is a good theatre, a well-arranged hospital, an upper class and working men’s club, numerous associations for the promotion of religion, benevolence, art, music and the drama, agriculture, athletic sports, botany, and temperance.
The visitor soon feels that he is in a town of considerable commercial activity, and is surrounded by numerous evidences of progress and prosperity. On a Saturday night the appearance of Brisbane Street, one of the principal thoroughfares, may well be compared to that of the Kalverstraat in Amsterdam, on a summer evening, so thronged is it with foot passengers from side to side and from end to end. Launceston is well provided with open spaces for hygienic and recreative purposes; for, besides Prince’s Square already spoken of, it possesses the prettily laid out People’s Park, covering all area of twelve acres, and containing a small zoological collection; Inveresk Park on the west bank of the North Esk, and five other reserves. It receives a daily supply of two million gallons of pure water from St. Patrick’s, fifteen miles distant from the town, and one thousand one hundred and fifty feet above the level of the sea; and if, at some future time, it should be determined to employ electricity for the illumination of Launceston by night, there is abundant motive power for the dynamos in the waters of the South Esk at the second cataract, at no great distance above the outfall of that river into the Tamar.
This romantic waterfall is reached by a zig-zag path on the south side of the stream, and twenty minutes’ walk brings the tourist to a rocky knoll from which a fine view is obtained of the rapids as they come foaming down a deep ravine, and chafing angrily at the obstructions offered to their impetuous course by the rugged boulders which emboss the channel of the stream. Other ravines are seen opening out in the folds of the numerous hills, and through each of these a crystal rivulet brings its tribute to the waters of the South Esk.” P525

“ A pleasant walk of two miles from the town will conduct the tourist to the singular basin of greenstone which has received the name of the Devil’s Punch-bowl, and into which, after a heavy fall of rain, a slender cataract makes a leap of about fifty feet. About seven miles from Launceston, and just beyond the pretty village of St. Leonard, lies the glen upon which some enthusiastic Glaswegian has bestowed the designation borne by the famous falls of the Clyde. There, however, the chasm through which the stream passes, and which seems as if it had been riven asunder by some convulsion of nature, is not so deep as the Scottish one, but the bottom of it is strewn with enormous masses of granite, water-worn for the most part by the action of the torrent which fumes and frets, and writhes and eddies, and bubbles and sparkles, but maintains everywhere a delightful limpidity and a delicious freshness. The almost perpendicular walls of the chasm which are so regularly seamed and laminated in places as to resemble Cyclopean masonry, are beautifully weather-stained, and are tapestried with shrubs and creepers. Just below the bridge the gorge makes an abrupt turn to the right, and in another fifty or sixty yards an equally sudden turn to the left, so as to resemble the letter Z.” P526

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

“ The place from which the Gulf and its shores were first surveyed on 20th Feb., 1802, by Matthew Flinders, R.N., commanding H.M.S. ‘Investigator,’ the discoverer, of the country, now called South Australia, was set apart on 12th Jan., 1841, with the sanction of Lieut. -Col. Gawler, K.H., the governor of the colony, and in the first year of the government of Captain Grey, adorned with this monument to the perpetual memory of the illustrious navigator, his honoured commander, by John Franklin, R.N., K.C.H., K.R., Lieutenant- Governor of Van Diemen’s Land." The comprehensiveness of this record is noteworthy; it enumerates a complete series of historical facts, and associates four names that are all ell worthy of being kept in remembrance.
Commander Baudin pursued his course westward, visiting Kangaroo Island, both of the gulfs, and the mainland, but the only tangible token now remaining of his presence in that part of South Australia is an inscription on a massive slaty boulder that stands a few feet above high-water mark on the shore a little to the east of Hog Bay, Kangaroo Island. It is believed that he landed there for the purpose of replenishing his water-casks, and the interesting object is locally known as the Frenchman’s Rock.
For many years Kangaroo Island was more frequently visited than the mainland. Whalers and sealers resorted there occasionally, and the earliest white settlers in South Australia were deserters from those vessels. The first of all was Thomas Whalley, who absconded from the "General Gates" in 1816, and landed close to the site of the present telegraph station. In 1824 George Bates landed at Dashwood’s Bay. He still lives at Hog Bay in what is believed to be the first stone dwelling ever erected in the province. Though eighty-seven years of age, he enjoys comparatively robust health, but is chiefly supported by rations from the government. His claim to be "the oldest inhabitant" is undisputed.” P412

“ Early in 1836 the despatch of emigrants began, and on July 29th of that year the "Duke of York," which was the first vessel to arrive, cast anchor in Nepean Bay. A touch of romance accompanied the landing. The honour of being the first person to set foot on shore had been coveted and discussed on board, and the captain had chivalrously resolved to give it to the youngest member of the party —the infant daughter of Mr. Beare, the second officer of the company. Accordingly " Baby Beare " was carried through the surf by a stalwart sailor named Robert Russell, who placed her feet on the wet sand amid the cheers of the passengers and crew.
Other vessels arrived in tolerably quick succession at the same rendezvous. Kangaroo Island was at that time much better known, and more favorably reported upon than the mainland. The general expectation was that the settlement would be made there, and steps were taken accordingly by the company’s agents, so that Kingscote is chronologically the premier town of South Australia. Its early abandonment resulted from the speedy discovery of more suitable localities elsewhere.
When Colonel Light arrived in the month of August with a staff of surveyors, he entered on a careful examination of the Country west of the Gulf of St. Vincent. Proceeding north from Rapid Bay, he found the inlet discovered by Captain Jones to be the only secure harbour on the coast, and was favourably impressed by his view of the plains at the foot of Mount Lofty. A visit to Encounter Bay convinced him that the capabilities of that region were inferior, and a similar result followed his inspection of Port Lincoln, for though the harbour and scenery there were magnificent, the country was too poor for profitable occupation. As the result of these observations, which experience has confirmed in every respect, Holdfast Bay was selected for the place of final disembarkation, and there, by December, 1836, most of the arrivals up to that time were congregated.” P415

“ The governorship of the colony was offered in the first instance to Major-General Sir C. Napier, who, however, stipulated that he was to be furnished with troops, and empowered to draw on the Home Government in case of need. What visions of conquest he indulged in it is hard to conjecture, but it is almost needless to say that his demands could not be complied with. Thereupon, Captain Hindmarsh, R.N., a bluff, warm-hearted, typical British seaman, was appointed. After calling at Port Lincoln, he arrived at Holdfast Bay on December 28th, 1836. At three o’clock that afternoon, under the shade of a gum-tree a short distance from the beach, the proclamation was read, and the colony formally inaugurated. The ceremony was rendered as imposing as the circumstances would admit. Nearly all the settlers then on shore, numbering about two hundred, were present.
The governor’s secretary read the proclamation, the Union jack was hoisted, and saluted by the guns of the "Buffalo" which lay in the offing; two of those guns now adorn the esplanade of Glenelg. A party of marines from the vessel fired a feu-de-joie, and there were rounds upon rounds of cheers. A cold collation had been spread under the trees, the usual patriotic toasts were duly honoured, the National Anthem, "Rule Britannia," and other national songs were sung with true colonial fervour, and the festivities were prolonged till a late hour of the night.” P415

" The Rev. C. B. Howard came out as colonial chaplain in the "Buffalo" with Governor Hindmarsh, and by his tact, energy, and Christian charity won for himself an excellent reputation that still endures. The Rev. T. Q. Stow, the first Congregational minister, was an early arrival. He wrought in apostolic fashion, helping to build the first church of his denomination with his own hands, and his name is perpetuated by one of the finest ecclesiastical structures of the city. Wesleyan lay preachers were among the earliest immigrants and they set to work with characteristic energy. Mr, White, now of Bathurst, who preached the first sermon, had the uncommon experience of conducting another service near the same locality more than fifty years afterwards. Members of the various sects wrought with mutual helpfulness, and worshiped in a truly Christian concord.
The colonists were, however, all the while drifting into difficulties. They busied themselves to some extent in providing better shelter for their families, and at the beginning of 1838 Adelaide contained fifty substantial and one hundred and fifty inferior houses. At the same time, they were dependent on other lands for the necessaries of life. There was neither cultivation nor trade worth speaking of. Food, of course, grew dearer. Flour was worth thirty pounds per ton, beef one shilling per pound, tea four shillings per pound, and at times these prices were greatly exceeded. Profiting by the opportunity, such artisans as were there charged exorbitant prices. The "only watchmaker" got seventeen shillings for cleaning a watch.” P417

“ He pronounced an immense extent of country he traversed the finest he had ever seen. At length he heard the wash of the waves, but kept the knowledge to himself till, penetrating through scrub matted with vines, the party was startled by a shout of "the sea!" from F. W. Thring, the third officer, who had ridden a little in advance.
Thus the feat was accomplished. A record was cut deeply into a large tree, which still stands to bear its witness, and to another the Union Jack was securely nailed. Liberal grants were made to the members of the successful party, who received a perfect ovation on their return to Adelaide, their passage along the streets of the city resembling a royal progress. Mr. Stuart received a grant of a thousand square miles of grazing country, and in all three thousand pounds in cash. He did not long enjoy his honours and rewards. Disabled, half-blind, and nearly dead at times, he had struggled on while there was work to do, but the privations, borne with indomitable courage, told upon him when the conflict was over, and he died in less than seven years. Other explorers may have equalled him in personal qualities, but few have returned to the attack with more persistency, and the labours of none have been crowned with such signal success. By his means, territory was opened for pastoral occupation large enough to make half a dozen European kingdoms. The Imperial Government rewarded South Australian enterprise by annexing the Northern Territory to the colony, thus enlarging it by five hundred and twenty-three thousand six hundred and twenty square miles. A route was discovered, along which the construction of a telegraph line was rendered possible; the stations on which have formed starting-points for further exploration; and the whistle of the locomotive is now heard far away beyond the point whence Eyre returned in hopeless despair.” P422

“Passing through Backstairs Passage at early dawn, with the light-house on the low rocky promontory of Cape Jervis close to the right hand, that on Cape Willoughby twinkling astern, and the scrub-covered heights of Kangaroo Island dimly discernible through the haze on the left, visitors to the colony have commonly a most enjoyable run up the Gulf. Following a succession of rugged cliffs and picturesque bays, the valley in which Yankalilla lies is opened. As the sun rises above the dark inland ranges, Willunga is seen on the slope beyond Mount Terrible, overlooking the plains beyond Aldinga. Bold cliffs succeed the gleaming sand-hills at the mouth of the Onkaparinga, and as the anchorage at Holdfast Bay is neared several miles of slightly curving shore become visible. Behind the shining beach are low sand-hills, with here and there a handsome villa looking down upon the sea. About the middle of the arc a noble esplanade seems to rise from the water’s edge, with towers and clustering’ roofs beyond it. From a pier crowned with a lighthouse a steam launch comes puffing out for the malls, in which passengers who may wish it can go ashore. The white sails of yachts and fishing-boats are glancing to and fro. In the distance is the striking Mount Lofty range, receding from the shore, and on its highest point a white beacon-tower erected for a landmark catches the sun. Among the hills, and partly showing through the trees that adorn their slopes, the mansions of wealthy colonists are discernible. Several miles away to the left, and apparently in the centre of the plain, the Post Office tower shows the site of the metropolis, and still farther north a cloud of smoke hangs over the Port. With a smooth sea the going ashore is easy. Smart little steamers ply to the landing stages on the pier; groups of gaily-dressed promenaders are waiting there to welcome the arrivals; and at the inshore end of it the Adelaide train stands in the middle of the principal street.” P436

“ When a strong south-west wind brings up a heavy sea from "outside," and clouds hang low on the hills, and sheets of driving rain obscure the landscape, larding at Glenelg is anything but a pleasant experience. The ocean-steamer rolls more than a little, and by its side the cockle-shell, as it seems, which affords the only communication with the shore, dances uneasily on the billows, straining at the hawsers fore and aft. It is a work requiring no small dexterity to sling the mailbags aboard, and a more difficult feat still for a nervous passenger to seize the right moment for descent. The P. and O. steamers make Glenelg their port of call, but the Orient liners, the Messageries Maritimes, and some others, go on to the quieter waters of Largs Bay, round Point Malcolm. Here, and at the Semaphore, the Grange, and Henley Beach, there are substantial jetties and rail communication with the city. Inter-colonial steamers pass by the outer anchorages, and rounding the light-house, enter the Port river between Torrens Island, on which is the quarantine station, and Lefevre’s Peninsula, finding in the Port basin as sheltered a harbour as could be desired. From either point of disembarkation, there is a run of only, a few miles over level plains to the city, and on arrival there the discomforts of getting ashore are speedily forgotten.” P437

“ The river presents an utterly different appearance from that of the shallow mangrove fringed inlet first explored by Admiral Pullen fifty years ago. Along its entire length the channel has been deepened and widened. Instead of nine feet six inches, there are now sixteen or seventeen feet at low water on both the inner and outer bars, and the basin opposite the principal wharves is six hundred feet wide. The total wharf frontage is nearly thirteen thousand feet. The principal dock has an area of five acres, and twenty-one feet depth of water. Steam hoists, cranes, tramways, freshwater pipes and all the appliances of a first-rate port are provided, including, a well-managed Seamen’s Home. About nine miles from the mouth of the estuary it is crossed by the Jervois swing-bridge, and thence there are continuous townships across the two miles of sandy peninsula to the Semaphore.” P441

As the end of the first half-century drew near, proposals were freely made for the due celebration of the event. An international exhibition found most favour. The success of similar enterprises in Melbourne and Sydney was highly encouraging, parliamentary sanction was obtained, and preliminary steps were taken. Meanwhile, however, there came down a heavy cloud of financial depression. The market values of all staple commodities fell ruinously. Mines were closed because they became unprofitable; harvests failed for want of rain; and the same causes involved stock-owners in serious losses. A feverish period of land-speculation was followed by disastrous reaction. With folly came wholesale fraud. Hundreds of investors were rendered penniless through the failure of the Commercial Bank, and the collapse of other joint-stock companies. There was general panic. The public finances drifted to the bad, and heavier taxation had to be imposed. An outcry arose in the country against expending public money on mere display, and under strong pressure of that kind the Exhibition Bill was repealed. Then private enterprise, animated by public spirit, came to the rescue. Parliament was induced to revive the exhibition project on condition of a guarantee fund being subscribed. Mainly through the energy of Mr. E. T. Smith, the Mayor of Adelaide, this was promptly complied with, and the preparations went on. Events subsequently proved that the panic was as unreasonable as was the over-sanguine temper that preceded and greatly aggravated it. Metalliferous discoveries, as at former times, were made just when most wanted.”
“Pastoral products began to increase in value, and to crown all the season of 1887 opened with an early and copious rainfall extending right through the settled districts, which in itself afforded sure promise of returning prosperity.
At the jubilee celebrations in December, 1886, which were of a varied and representative character, there were pioneers who remembered the first landing among the sand-hills, and Adelaide as a tree-clothed plateau. They had seen the population multiplied a thousand-fold, and furnished with all the appliances of a high civilisation.” P434

“ The eastern suburbs are the most populous, and in many respects the most attractive. The municipality of Kensington and Norwood alone contains upwards of ten thousand people, and there are adjacent towns and villages not included in its limits. Norwood is a parallelogram in the centre, and through the middle of it runs the Parade, which is exactly in line with Rundle Street. But for an unfortunate deviation at Kent Town, there would be a continuous roadway in a straight line four miles in length from West Terrace to the hills. At the angle where the road is deflected the view spoiled by the ugly premises of the Kent Town brewery. A little to the right is the imposing facade of Prince Alfred College. Away to the left is St. Peter’s College, which has given a name to a cluster of townships that are grouped in the municipality of St. Peters. Continuing eastward, the Kent Town Wesleyan Church is conspicuous. It is a Gothic structure capable of accommodating thirteen hundred persons, and exceedingly attractive both within and without. Turning several corners, the tram-line reaches the Parade, a wide and beautiful thoroughfare adorned with some fine buildings-the post office, institute, town hall, the graceful spire of one church, and the elegant tower of another, at its eastern extremity, being especially prominent. The route passes through Kensington to Marryatville, whence another tram may be taken to Burnside, where the steeper slope of the hill is reached; hence it is a delightful ramble among the luxuriant gardens into the Waterfall Gully, which from the beauty of its rural scenery is a favourite resort. Willows overhang the watercourse; the valley has a succession of prolific gardens; there are new beauties at every turn till the waterfall itself is reached, where a streamlet pours over a ledge of rocks sixty to eighty feet in height. A path leads up the steep hillside, and a little scrambling leads the visitor to a second and third fall in bosky dells with broad-leaved fern, delicate maiden-hair, graceful foliage, mosses and lichens all around.” P442

“ Glenelg claims to be the front door of the colony, and is its most fashionable watering -place. Its smooth and sandy beach, broad and well-lighted pier, spacious baths, extensive and well-cared-for esplanades, splendid town hall, fine hotels, noble churches, and numerous and excellent lodging-houses, all proclaim that it does its best to merit these designations. In and near it are several princely mansions built by wealthy colonists, and the fleet of yachts and other pleasure-boats near the jetty is seductive to lovers of the sea. The time to see Glenelg at its best is on Commemoration Day, when the bay is the scene of aquatic sports, the pier crowded from end to end with spectators, the beach covered with booths, merry-go-rounds, and all the attractions of a fair, and dotted with picnic parties, and the streets are everywhere gay with bunting. At such times the crowd is estimated at anything between twenty and thirty thousand, and as many as fifteen thousand are conveyed to and fro by the Glenelg railway, alone. A little way inland is the Morphettville racecourse, with its elegant and spacious grand-stand and other appointments. Hard by is Sir Thomas Elder’s racing and training establishment. Three miles down the coast is Brighton, another favourite watering place, connected with Glenelg by a tram-line that passes through Somerton, and not far from it is a large building erected as an asylum for the blind, the deaf, and the dumb.”
“ Overlooking the anchorage, and defending the port and its shipping from being shelled by hostile cruisers, are the only fortifications in the colony. These batteries mount two ten-inch guns, each weighing twenty tons, and two sixty-eight pounders. Low sandhills line the beach, forming a kind of natural rampart, behind which a military road has been constructed, and along it a defending Force could manoeuvre quickly and effectively.” P442

“ North Terrace is a splendid boulevard entered directly, from the railway station. Looking westward from that point, the ornamental ironwork of a massive overway bridge leading from Morphett Street is seen against the sky. Near to it is quaint, old-fashioned Trinity Church, one of the most ancient ecclesiastical structures in the city. Adjoining the station to the eastward are the present and future Parliament Houses, the latter of which is soon to be occupied by the legislature. The fact that while the old building is of brick, the new one is of South Australian marble, is suggestive of progress. Continuing in the same direction, King William Street is crossed. Iron gates to the left, high above which flutters the Union Jack, guard the entrance to the Domain, filled with ornamental shrubbery, belonging to Government House —an unpretentious but comfortable two-storey, building. Next comes the Institute, stucco-faced, and behind the times, but almost adjoining it the Art Gallery, Public Library, and Museum occupy a much more important-looking edifice. There are a number of good paintings and other works of art; the reference library contains about fifteen thousand volumes, exclusive of twenty-four thousand in the circulating library at the Institute, and the Museum is becoming a valuable collection. These departments are cramped in a structure that is designed to be the western wing of a building that will be a credit to the city. Beyond an open space used as a parade-ground, and adjoining which are the police-barracks, drill-shed, armoury, etc., stands the University, and next to it are the Exhibition Buildings, the central portion of which is designed to be permanent. It is to be regretted that a little more artistic taste was not bestowed upon them, for they will suffer by comparison with the edifices that stand in their neighbourhood.” P438

“ Running right through the city from north to south is King William Street, said to be the handsomest street in the southern hemisphere. If it is not so, such travellers as Archibald Forbes and George Augustus Sala have to defend their opinions. It is one hundred and thirty-two feet wide, has broad flagged footpaths, and contains a number of really fine buildings, among which those of several banks and the offices of the Australian Mutual Provident Society are conspicuous. Almost facing each other, and also overlooking Victoria Square, are the Victoria and Albert towers, the one surmounting the General Post Office and the other the Town Hall.
Next to the Town Hall buildings are the Treasury and other government offices, which also face the square. The block from Pirie Street to Flinders Street is one of the finest in the city. The municipal premises, including the council chamber, banqueting room, large and well-proportioned hall, are complete and well appointed. There is a good organ and fine-toned peal of bells, which, like the tower, were named after the late Prince Consort. The Post Office is a splendid structure of the Italian order of architecture, built of freestone, and having frontages of one hundred and fifty feet and one hundred and sixty feet to King William Street and Victoria Square respectively. It has a large and lofty central hall, around which the various offices for post and telegraph business are grouped. The tower rises one hundred and fifty-eight feet from the pavement, and carries a first-class clock automatically illuminated at night and electrically connected with the Observatory. Its musical chimes can be heard all over the city, and the striking of the large hour-bell sometimes five miles away. At the summit of the tower is a carefully guarded platform, whence a magnificent panoramic view of all the plains of Adelaide, from the hills to the sea, can be obtained. The intersecting streets divide Victoria Square into four enclosures planted with trees and shrubbery and enclosed by ornamental iron railing. To the east is a huge pile of government offices and St. Francis Xavier’s Cathedral, and on the west are the ornate National Mutual Life Insurance Company’s buildings. On adjacent blocks are found numerous land and other agencies.” P438

“ The chief thoroughfare for retail business is that immediately south of North Terrace and parallel with it, extending from west to east along Hindley and Rundle Streets. It is closely lined with shops from end to end, their continuity being almost unbroken save by theatres, hotels, restaurants, and lodging-houses. ‘Some of the shops would do no discredit to any street in the world, and’ the goods displayed in them are of newest style and best quality. At all times these streets are busy, but on Saturday evenings locomotion is extremely difficult, and vehicular traffic, except in one direction, is disallowed. Parallel with them, and farther south, are Currie and Grenfell Streets, in which, or in some of the cross streets, are found the largest warehouses. In the latter the Young Men’s Christian Association buildings must attract attention. They rank about fourth in size and importance among the premises owned by similar associations throughout the world; and the hall, on an emergency can be made to accommodate a thousand people. Connecting Grenfell and Rundle Streets is the Arcade-lofty, elegant, lighted at night by electricity, and for extent and beauty said to be unrivalled in England, America, or Australia. Shipping agencies, the offices of insurance companies, carriage, implement, and other factories, are features of this part of the town. In Pirie Street is the Adelaide Exchange, and in times of mining excitement the corner is occupied by a throng of brokers. Receding from the centre, ordinary’ dwelling- houses become more numerous, and also churches and schools. The principal Wesleyan Church fronts the Exchange, and the Stow Memorial Church stands back to back with it in Flinders Street.” P438

“Adelaide is beautiful for situation, and beautiful in itself. The municipality is divided into two portions by a belt of parklands through which runs the Torrens. The southern and larger part is the real metropolis, and North Adelaide is one of its far-stretching suburbs. It is laid out on a plateau about one hundred and seventy feet above the sea, almost an exact parallelogram, covering a square mile, the alignment of three of its terraces being in accordance with the cardinal points of the compass, and that of the fourth only broken to adapt it to the configuration of the ground. It is traversed by broad and well-paved streets, and at the intersection of the widest of them are open squares, five in number, handsomely fenced, planted with trees, and musical in some cases with the splash of fountains —shady retreats for loungers, and breathing spaces for the city population. All round it lie the parklands, a series of pleasure-grounds such as few cities of its size can boast. The Torrens in the course of years has worn for itself a wide channel, across which a substantial dam of masonry has been constructed, thereby forming a winding lake nearly two miles in length. It is spanned by handsome bridges between which its expanse is widened. The banks are planted with ornamental trees, and there is an elegant rotunda where musical performances take place. At all times the scene is attractive and animated, but when concerts are given in the rotunda on moonlight nights, the lake is brilliant with an illuminated flotilla, and thousands on thousands of people are scattered about the grass; it is like a picture from fairyland. North of the lake a plantation has become a forest, through which a path leads to an excellently kept cricketing oval, and beyond that Montefiore Hill forms a natural amphitheatre affording ample space for volunteer reviews and the perfection of spectacular effect. Less has been done to beautify the western parklands.” P437

“ Crossing Frome Road, which leads from Pulteney Street to the river, what looks like a portion of the original forest is seen away down to the left. Giant gum-trees of patriarchal age surround a large, low, plain building that was formerly used for exhibition purposes. Farther on are the Zoological Gardens, just beyond a gateway into the Botanic Park, from which as well as from North Terrace there is an entrance into the bewitching gardens that lie —strange and suggestive association —between the Hospital and the Lunatic Asylum. On the other side of North Terrace, and near King William Street, is the Adelaide Club-house, lofty and large. Then there is a long succession of handsome dwellings with trim gardens and bright brass plates, for here doctors and dentists most do congregate. Chalmers’ Church stands at the corner of Pulteney Street, and stylish residences alternate with tumble-down cottages, which they are gradually displacing thence to the stately, pile at the angle of the terraces.” P438

“ The hill railway is a splendid piece of engineering work. The gauge is five feet three inches; it is skilfully planned and strongly built. It begins its climb at Mitcham, tunnels through two projecting spurs, and crosses a double ravine on iron viaducts, where there is one of the most picturesque spots on the line. The first viaduct is three hundred and sixty feet between the abutments, in twelve spans, and one hundred and seven feet above the valley. The second is two hundred and sixty feet in length, in nine spans, and seventy-nine feet in maximum height. Before reaching Blackwood the line returns on itself, and at Belair is a thousand feet above the sea, to gain which elevation the distance by road has been nearly doubled, To the right is a wide, well-timbered basin, known as Government Farm, and destined to be the people’s park of the future.” P447

“ Mount Gambier, the terminus of the line, and also of that from Beachport —the snug little seaport of Rivoli Bay —has been termed the garden of the colony. In some respects, it is peerless. It lies along the valley and up the gentle slopes of the Mount, and contains about two thousand five hundred inhabitants. The creamy, coralline limestone and gray or red dolomites that abound in the neighbourhood are easily worked, and the buildings are bright and cheerful; while many of them —such as the numerous churches, schools, banks, hotels, government offices, and other public edifices —are highly ornate. The town hall chambers with tower and clock cost three thousand two hundred pounds. The hospital is one of the finest provincial institutions of its kind, and in one of the most charming situations in Australia. There are two local newspapers, several manufactories, excellently paved streets and footpaths, a public park, and other adjuncts of high civilisation. The soil is a. rich, black, friable mould, with generally a volcanic subsoil. English grasses, shrubs, flowers, trees, and fruits thrive with marvellous luxuriance. Hops are being extensively cultivated. The yield of potatoes is something tremendous, and a distillery has been established to extract the spirit from them, it being found difficult to find a market for all that are produced.
The Mount itself has no great elevation, and the road to Port MacDonnell passes over it about midway between its eastern and western extremities along a kind of saddle that connects the rims of two of the principal craters. Standing near the monument that has been recently erected in memory of Adam Lindsay Gordon, the scene is not only wondrously beautiful, but of a kind that has no parallel.” P448

“ To the east, in a pleasingly irregular but nearly circular basin, almost a mile across, and with generally precipitous sides three hundred feet in height, lies a placid sheet of water as blue as the heavens. Though clear as crystal, it is in places three to four hundred feet in depth. The rocky walls are adorned with shrubs from their verge to the water’s edge. A pathway has been contrived down the face of the cliff, and close to a landing-place a little boat is moored. The western craters have gentler slopes, and the lakes them are shallower and of less superficial area. By the side of one of them a lovely garden has been laid out. The sward is soft, rich, and verdant. A few symmetrical blackwoods are scattered about. The visitor usually lingers long to take in from various points of view the full effect of these scenes of perfect peace. He finds it difficult to imagine them a bewildering chaos of fire and flame, and to realise what is a distinct possibility, that some day their former character may be resumed.” P448

“ The town of Port Lincoln, which contains between five and six hundred inhabitants, is prettily situated, and is laid Out on an ambitious plan, for the surveyors had the idea of a city before them, but its crescents and terraces, for the most part, exist only on paper. It has three hotels, as many churches, an institute, bank, casualty hospital, and other public institutions. For a sanatorium, or a place wherein to spend a quiet holiday, it is almost perfect. Except on steamer-days, there is no hurry of business, and nothing peculiarly agitating even then. Boating, fishing, and shooting may be had in abundance. Many points of the scenery are full of interest. It is a rough scramble to Monument Hill, where stands the obelisk erected by Lady Franklin to the memory of Captain Flinders, but the view over the bays and islands is an ample reward for the toil. Port Lincoln proper is another land-locked harbour resembling Boston Bay, and of great beauty. Sleaford Bay is also worth visiting. A pleasant drive of ten miles northward along the coast conducts to the mission station of Poonindie, where prolonged and patient labour on behalf of the aboriginals has had more than ordinary success.
Along the coast of Spencer’s Gulf and also that to the west, there are isolated and scattered agricultural settlements. Tumby Bay, and Franklin Harbour are among the most important on the Gulf, and westward a hundred miles from Port Lincoln there is an extensive area at Elliston. In favourable seasons good harvests have been gathered at these places, but the uncertain rainfall and the rabbits make farming a precarious occupation. With these exceptions, the country is chiefly taken up by pastoralists. The produce of the sheep-runs in the interior finds its way to the numerous bays along the coast, and thence, as a rule, by small vessels to Port Adelaide. At Coffin’s Bay —famous for its oysters —Streaky, Fowler’s, and other bays, there are small settlements; but there is no inland town for hundreds on hundreds of Miles, and the general features of the country are decidedly unattractive, though many people believe that much of the great Nullarbor Plain will yet be found suitable for agriculture.” P449

“ Approaching Gawler, scattered suburbs occupy the bare-looking little plain between the station and the hills. The well appointed farm to the left is a favourite place for trials of reapers, harvesters, etc., and has often been chosen for illustrations of the manner in which wheat is harvested in South Australia. Near the river, the mansion erected by the late Mr. Duffield, with its extensive vineyard and park makes a pretty picture. Ordinarily, the main support of the town is indicated by an immense pile of sacks of wheat adjoining the large Victoria Mills that are close to the station yard. The town, which is reached in a few minutes by tram, lies in a hollow at the foot of a low range of hills and is bounded by the North and South Para Rivers, outside which are several suburban town ships. The head waters of the little streams are many miles apart in the Barossa Ranges, but they unite Just below the town and form the river Gawler, and the apex of the triangle thus formed is reserved for park lands, which being enclosed by splendid gum-trees, judiciously planted, and well cared for, form a delightful and deservedly popular resort.
Murray Street, the principal thoroughfare of the town, is adorned by several fine buildings, including an exceptionally large and well-equipped institute, with a hall capable of accommodating seven hundred persons. At the highest part of it, near the tram terminus, is the monument erected to the memory of John McKinlay, the famous explorer. There are eight churches, some of which are remarkably fine buildings, a large public school, several hotels, numerous shops that would not discredit the best streets of Adelaide, and three of the largest flour-mills in the colony. The business of the town is chiefly connected with the large agricultural districts of which it is the centre, but it is also, next to Adelaide, the chief seat of manufactures in the colony. It has foundries, sawmills, cordial factories, coach-building establishments, and agricultural implement manufactories, besides others of lesser note.” P450

“ Kapunda was first a mining settlement, then an agricultural township, and subsequently became a manufacturing centre. The changes it has experienced are visible in its buildings. Some of the mined’ cottages remain; there are several large wheat-stores and agricultural implement manufactories. For a country town, the main street is imposing, the banks, hotels, and post office being handsome edifices. The material generally used is a kind of soap stone, easily worked, but durable; and six of the seven churches, the court-house, and other buildings, are creditable specimens of architecture. The town is lighted with gas; it obtains its water-supply from a reservoir holding a million gallons at Taylor’s Gap in the ranges five miles away, has a good hospital, a large flour-mill, an institute, and local newspaper. Evidences of prosperity are furnished by the unusual number of elegant private residences, with their handsome gardens. Much attention has been paid to adornment. In the centre of the town is a reserve, where an attempt has been made to have a sheet of ornamental water, and it is rendered attractive by willows and shrubbery. Besides this, there is a recreation ground of forty acres, where cricket matches, etc., are held, and tree planting has wonderfully altered the formerly bare aspect of the hill-sides. The scenic effect, especially to the south and west over broken, diversified, and wooded country, is really charming.
From the brow of a little hill, close to the main street, the old mine workings are to be seen. Gaping shafts, vast quarries, huge masses of chalky-looking refuse, with green and yellow copper-stains everywhere, and some wreckage of mining plant, tell of past activity, but in their present desertion make a dismal picture relieved only by the pretty gardens attached to some of the mine cottages that are still occupied.” P453

“ Over the hills, about two miles to the east of Seven Hills, is a large Roman Catholic college, and near by is an exceedingly neat and well-finished church. The property includes a large vineyard, with spacious wine-vaults, and the produce is celebrated throughout the neighbourhood. Still further in the same direction is the town of Mintaro, on the slope of the range, and close to it are large slate quarries, whence flags of excellent quality are exported to all parts of Australia.
Four miles from Seven Hills and eighty-seven from Adelaide is Clare, by far the largest and most important town of the district. It lies along a pleasant valley sheltered by tree clothed hills, and from every point of view is charming. The population numbers about twelve hundred; there are three large agricultural implement manufactories, a tannery, mill, and fruit preserving establishment. In addition to the usual government offices, it has a casualty hospital, public baths, churches, five hotels, a large town hall, and a grammar school. Many of these buildings are of an unusually high order of architecture, and there are a good many and some private residences. In the neighbourhood are several large sheep and cattle stations; and some of the estates have mansions that are large, elegant, and complete, and stand as evidences of the success of their owners’ efforts.
Clare is a focus whence roads radiate through the Broughton, Gulnare, and other agricultural areas. Fertile plains, divided by low ridges running nearly north and south, succeed one another till it seems as if there were no end to them. The landscape stretches before the observer in picturesque undulations of hill and dale, over which in the season the autumn wind stirs the yellow corn into billowy waves.” P458

“ Thirteen miles farther north and a hundred from Adelaide, Burra is reached. Close to the station is the old Bon Accord mine, in which twenty thousand pounds were sunk unprofitably, while within "coo-ee distance" copper was being obtained in abundance. Five minutes’ walk to the brow of the hill, on which a reservoir has been constructed, brings the visitor into full view of one of the most interesting spots in South Australia. Its area is surprisingly limited, for it is merely a triangular hollow, less than a hundred acres in extent, with an outfall towards the Burra Burra Creek. The topography is peculiar. A horizontal crest runs nearly north and south, and there are flanking hills of rather lower elevation which thus enclose a sort of pocket, out of which nearly a quarter of a million tons of copper ore has been taken, having a total estimated value of four million seven hundred and forty-nine thousand two hundred and twenty-four pounds, and there are known to be rich deposits still untouched.” P459

“ From Petersburg westward to Port Pirie is a journey of seventy-four miles through rich agricultural areas. Forest reserves under the control of the government, and other plantations thrive well on the hillsides, and the plains yield heavy crops of wheat.
The principal towns on the line are Yongala, Jamestown, Caltowie, Gladstone, Laura (which is reached by a short branch line from Gladstone), and Crystal Brook. Jamestown, which is the largest, contains over pine hundred inhabitants. These and other towns in the district have the same general characteristics. They are admirably laid .out with wide streets and reserves for recreation -grounds, have numerous substantial and handsome public and private edifices well built of stone, and are provided with post and telegraph offices, schools, churches, institutes, assembly halls, machinists’ establishments, mills, stores, and hotels. Ornamental planting has been freely indulged in. Laura is prettily situated under the Flinders Range on the Rocky River, which supplies it with an ornamental sheet of water during part of the year, and as the result of liberal expenditure by the ratepayers, Jamestown has become perfect gem of a country town. It is a romantic drive from Laura to Port Pirie across the range, and still more interesting if Beetaloo be taken in the way. Here an immense reservoir worthy of being called an inland sea is being constructed, from which it is intended to supply the Yorke’s Peninsula towns ninety miles away, as well as other places on the line of delivery.
Port Pirie is a larger town than any of those just named, and the chief port for the northern areas. In a good season its export of wheat will amount in value to nearly a million sterling. The inlet on which it is situated has been deepened by dredging so that vessels of fifteen hundred tons burden can come up to the wharf. It is stragglingly built on a pipe-clay looking flat, and the one redeeming feature in its scenery is the bold face of the Flinders Range, which somewhat resembles Mount Lofty as seen from Adelaide, though its rugged and massive outline renders it more striking in appearance.” P461

“ Resuming the northern route from Petersburg, other agricultural tracts are met with. All along the eighty miles to Quorn, one plain or valley after another, running nearly north and south is met with. At Orroroo, the principal intermediate town, there is an uninterrupted view for twenty miles up the Walloway Plain, and the enclosing ranges —especially the Oladdie Hills and the towering granite peaks of Black Rock —are highly picturesque. Up the Pekina Creek, and among the hills to the west, there is much romantic scenery. Quorn is a large and well-built town two hundred and sixty miles from Adelaide, at the point where contact is made with the transcontinental railway from Port Augusta into the far interior. Westward of the railway line there is much fine scenery. A drive through the rocky gorge between Wirrabara and Port Germein is most impressive. From the summit of Mount Remarkable, which, though three thousand feet high, is not difficult of access, the view is wonderful for extent and diversity; and at the foot of the mountain Melrose nestles among giant gum-trees. Threading the precipitous defile between the perpendicular cliffs of Horrocks’ Pass —a cleft in the Flinders Range on the road from Melrose to Port Augusta —there are scenes of almost awful grandeur. All the way from Adelaide to Quorn, and from the railway to the sea-board, though the population is sparse because the holdings are large, the rule is to find thriving towns and townships every few miles, between them prosperous farms or sheep and cattle stations, good roads everywhere, and generally interesting scenery.
Spencer’s Gulf cleaves the continent like a wedge, and Port Augusta, at the head of it, seems designed by Nature to be the entrepot and emporium for the vast interior. It is the starting-point of the transcontinental railway, which is already constructed past Lake Eyre, and will before many years be continued right though to Port Darwin. East, west, and north, for hundreds of miles, the country is occupied, and the volume of imports and exports must steadily increase. A channel has been cut to the railway wharf a hundred and fifty feet wide with eighteen feet depth at low water, and there is often quite a fleet of large vessels in the harbour. The immediate surroundings of Port Augusta are not very attractive, but the fine buildings of the town, its good streets and large stores, testify to its commercial activity and enterprise.
Seven miles away, among low sand-hills, is the ostrich farm, an estate of five thousand acres granted by the government on condition that two hundred and fifty ostriches, over one year old, were placed upon it. The experiment of acclimatising these birds was begun near Gawler, but the northern property has proved more suitable for them, as there they live and do well on the natural herbage, whereas at Gawler they had to be supplied with food. The condition laid down has been more than complied with. By the middle of 1887 there were four hundred an sixty ostriches on the farm, a hundred and twenty were hatched and reared during the previous year, and it was expected that in the following breeding season the number would be increase by two hundred more. The herbage consists chiefly of saltbush and blue-bush, etc., with a fair amount of mulga and other scrub, on which the birds feed in times of drought. With the exception of the scanty rainfall, the managers say that no better country could be desired for the purpose, and as the extent of it is practically unlimited it is expected that feather-farming will become an important industry.
The railway penetrates the Flinders Range through the tortuous and rugged defile of Pichi Richi Pass, over which the rocky summit known as the Devil’s Peak keeps watch and ward.
Passing Saltia and Quorn, it traverses the almost interminable Willochra Plain, and again crossing the range where the engineering difficulties are not formidable, enters the Lake Torrens depression. For some scores of miles north of Port Augusta the farming has contended with the pastoral interest, but an uncertain rainfall and bad seasons have made the struggle discouraging, though some of the towns, such as Hawker, sixty-five miles out, are substantial’ and seem to hold their own. Farther north, cultivation is out of the question, except in mall patches and by the aid of irrigation.
Hour after hour the train jogs steadily along over plains as stony as a badly mended country road. Not a blade of grass is to be seen. The vegetation consists of salt-bush and other salsolaceous bushes, with some scrub and perhaps a line of gum-trees marking the course of a distant creek, the shingly bed of which, is usually dry, but now and then at long intervals filled with a rushing torrent. To the west the vision is limited only by the convexity of the globe, but eastward the bare, rocky, fantastic peaks of the Flinders Range are full of interest. Within that mighty chain are inexhaustible stores of minerals, of which the Blinman, Yudanamutana, Wirrialpa, and other mines only afford an indication. There are also numberless scenes of witching beauty over which even prosaic government officials in formal reports have been known to rhapsodise. Natural gateways, like that of Temple Bar, twenty miles from Beltana, lead to profound abysses watched over by lightning riven pinnacles that are sharply outlined in the very transparent atmosphere. Verdant vales, with deep pools of translucent water, overhung by noble trees and shut in from the world by towering precipices of naked rock, are to be found, and they are appreciated the more highly because of their strong contrast with the waste wilderness that lies near.” P461-P462

“At Alice Springs the mean temperature is about seventy degrees, and the annual rainfall averages eleven inches and a half. The station is prettily and picturesquely situated on the bank of the river Todd, and Mr. Newland, the chairman of the Transcontinental Railway Commission, says: —"The scenery around it is always interesting, often striking, and sometimes magnificent. The valley in which it lies has no counterpart in South Australia that I have seen. It stretches away in the dim distance east and west, bounded to the south by the marvellous wall of hard flinty rock with the ready-hewn gateways through it, and to the north by the broken-up main MacDonnell Range, the source of the rivers, creeks, and springs; a range of granite, now in huge boulders, and again decomposed into excellent pasture land. Eighteen miles west of the telegraph-station is Temple Bar, a gap through which the telegraph line passes, while immediately opposite is Simpson’s Gap, a wonderful gorge in the main range, with mighty cliffs towering up to the heavens, between which lies a beautiful pool of permanent water. To pass those narrow heights the traveller must swim that icy stream, upon which the sun can shine but little. On the other side the approach is difficult, so torn is the range, so rough the boulders. Further to the west there are many of these gorges, and one cannot wonder that the native lords of these wilds have conceived the idea, on more occasions than one, that they could defend them against the white man." It should be borne in mind that this is written of a place a thousand and forty-three miles from Adelaide, close to the Tropic of Capricorn, and not far from the centre of the continent. A beautiful tecoma hangs on the magnificent cliffs spoken of; there are also other floral charms, and both vegetables and fruits can be cultivated with little trouble. The telegraph stations were constructed and armed for defence, some tribes of the blacks being both fierce and treacherous. In 1874 the Barrow’s Creek station was attacked by the aborigines, and three men were speared, two of whom —including Mr. Stapleton, the chief officer —died of their wounds.” P463.

Text: "Picturesque Atlas of Australasia 1886"