613 



SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 



SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 



630 



valleys, the Inman valley near Encounter Bay, the neighbourhood of 

 Rapid Bay, the Willunga and Aldinga plains south of Adelaide, the 

 Adelaide plains, Morphett vale, Lynedoch valley, and the Barossa and 

 Angas lands. 



The climate of South Australia is one of the finest in the world, 

 resembling that of the south of Italy. The atmosphere is generally 

 clear and elastic, and the sky remarkable for the variety and bril- 

 liancy of its colours. There are no prevalent diseases. On entering 

 the country some are attacked with dysentery, which with a little care 

 may be avoided. Adelaide has been occasionally visited with influenza ; 

 and at particular seasons there are some cases of ophthalmia, which is 

 rather a swelling of the eyelids, caused by a small insect. The seasons 

 are divided into dry and wet. The dry season begins at the end of 

 August and continues to the end of March. In December and 

 January, corresponding in temperature to our June and July, the 

 heat is very great, and the ground so arid that the least breeze raises 

 clouds of dust. Occasionally in summer a hot wind from the north 

 blows over the plains, and compels all to seek shelter from the close 

 and dusty atmosphere ; but it seldom lasts many hours before it is 

 succeeded by a cooling breeze from the south-west. The thermometer 

 ranges as high as 115 Fahr. IU highest range in 1852 was 105 ; its 

 lowest, 44; the average was 67. The temperature is subject to 

 sudden and very extraordinary changes ; but these do not in general 

 affect the health injuriously, neither do they occasion much incon- 

 venience. During the wet season, from the end of March to August, 

 it rains frequently and sometimes very heavily. During this period 

 the earth is covered with the richest verdure, and the weather is so 

 genial that the approach of summer if scarcely perceptible. In 

 summer the grass is speedily parched, and frequently becomes so 

 dry as to break when trampled on; but the ground is as rapidly 

 clothed with fresh pasture by the showers which fall at no great 

 intervals. The long droughts, with which New South Wales is 

 periodically visited, are not known in the settled parts of South 

 Australia. During the rainy season the wind blows from the west or 

 south-west, and frequently in bard gales. In the dry season northern 

 and north-eastern winds prevail No fall of snow has been experienced, 

 and in the Mount Barker district, the coldest part of the colony, the 

 frost has only in rare instances been of such force as to form a thin 

 crust of ice. The lowest temperature for the year is about 37*. 



During the rainy or cold season a great number of whales visit the 

 coasts of the colony, and are chased by British, American, and French 

 vessels. The black whale is most frequent, but the sperm-whale also 

 occurs. The native animals are the kangaroo, the wallobi, a smaller 

 species of the same genus, the wombat, the opossum, and the dingo, or 

 Australian dog. Porcupines, although unknown on the mainland, are 

 found in considerable numbers on Kangaroo Island. For several years 

 locusts have appeared in great numbers, and caused much damage to 

 gardens and young crops m the district around Adelaide. Birds are 

 numerous, and distinguished by their beauty. The emu, several kinds 

 of parrakeets and cockatoos, partridges, and quails are common. The 

 most common sea-fowl are pelicans, black-swans, wild-ducks, divers, 

 wader*, cormorants, and Cape pigeons. Several kinds of fish are taken 

 in the sea, as salmon, snappers, porpoises, and large and small sharks. 

 There are several kinds of snakes and lizards : among the latter the iguana, 

 which is eaten; among shell-fish, oysters and periwinkles are plentiful. 



The colonists have" imported horses from Tasmania and New South 

 Wales, and ponies from the island of Timor in the Indian Archipelago; 

 cattle and sheep from the Cape, Tasmania, New South Wales, and 

 Victoria; hogs from New Zealand. Fowls are common, both the 

 common species and the larger one from the countries of the Malays. 

 The kangaroo-dog is a valuable cross-breed of the bull-dog and gray- 

 hound, and is used for chasing the emus and kangaroos. 



The woods of South Australia contain many large trees, of which 

 the stringy bark, the blue, white, and peppermint gum-trees, different 

 specie* of the Eucalyptus, are the most useful, their timber serving for 

 building and fencing, for the construction of carts and ploughs, and 

 the manufacture of agricultural implement* ; but timber for finer 

 purposes fa imported from New South Wales and New Zealand. All 

 kinds of grain are successfully cultivated : maize grows well, and also 

 potatoes. Melons, water-melons, pumpkins, and cucumbers attain an 

 uncommon size, as do also cauliflowers. Onions are cultivated to a 

 great extent in Kangaroo Island. No edible fruit is indigenous, 

 except some berries, which are eatn by the natives. Fruit-trees have 

 been extensively introduced. At Adelaide a prize was awarded in 

 1851 for a collection of sixty varieties of apples grown about ten miles 

 from the city. Tho peach grows luxuriantly. Oranges and lemons, 

 olives and mulberries are cultivated to some extent. Every approved 

 variety of grape is grown. 



South Australia is rich in minerals. Iron-ore is found in many 

 place*, especially in the deserts. Copper-ore is very widely distributed 

 in great abundance, and of the richest quality. Lead also exists in 

 considerable quantity, and some gold has been found. Salt occurs in 

 many place*. Twelve copper-mines were in operation in 1851. These 

 are the Burra-Burra mine, 90 miles N. by E. from Adelaide ; the 

 Kapnndn and North Knpundn mines, 50 miles N.N.E. ; Karkulto 

 mine*, 78 miles N. by W. ; Worthing mine, 14 miles S.S.W.; Perse- 

 verance mine, 12 miles N.E. by E., where parties were engaged <1 

 for gold on licences ; Tnngkillo, or Reedy Creek mine, 35 miles E.N.E.; 



the Consolidated mines in Barossa and Lynedoch Valley, 38 miles E. 

 by N. ; the Kanmantoo, Bremer, Wheal Mary, Wheal Maria, and 

 VVheal Friendship mines, all in a group about 25 miles E.S.E. from 

 Adelaide. The ore of the Burra-Burra mine is peculiarly rich. It 

 contains 75 per cent, of metal, in the form of a pure oxide requiring 

 no flux to smelt it, the heat of a blacksmith's forge sufliciug to run 

 the metal. The lode is 17 feet wide, of great extent, and is quarried 

 like stone, in masses. The mine yields annually about 20,000 tons of 

 copper ore, valued at 201. per ton. The lead-mines are Glen Osmond 

 and Wheal Watkins mines, about six miles south from Adelaide, and 

 the Wheal Gawler aud Yattagolinga mines, the first two yielding 

 75 per cent, of metal. 



The natives of South Australia, like those of New South Wales, 

 belong to that race which is called Negro Australian. They have not 

 yet attained an equal degree of civilisation with the native population 

 of the eastern coast, but measures have been adopted for their im- 

 provement with some degree of success. There are schools at Adelaide 

 and Port Lincoln for the education of the children. Connected with 

 the latter is a training institution under the superintendence of Arch- 

 deacon Hale, in which the youths, after leaving school, are kept 

 separate from the tribe, and instructed in the Christian religion and 

 in some industrial pursuit. A number of youths are employed on 

 stockholders' stations along the Murray. Though it appears certain 

 that all the natives of the southern and eastern coast of Australia 

 speak the same language, a marked difference exists in the dialects 

 spoken in different parts. Various dialects are used within the terri- 

 tories of South Australia : one is spoken by the few isolated families 

 which live in the districts west of 186 E. long. ; another by the tribes 

 inhabiting the vicinity of Adelaide ; and the tribes along the banks of 

 the Murray below the junction of the Darling, have been found to 

 use four different dialects, three of which were unintelligible to natives 

 from the neighbourhood of Lake Victoria. The tribes within the 

 settled parts of the colony are generally peaceable and inoffensive. 



The settled parts of the colony have been distributed into the 

 counties of Frome, Burra, Stanley, Gawler, Light, Eyre, Adelaide, 

 Sturt, Hindmanh, Grey, Robe, Russell, all lying to the eastward of 

 the gulfs of Spencer and St. Vincent ; and the county of Flinders on 

 the south-west shore of Spencer Gulf. Besides the city of Adelaide, 

 Port Adelaide, and Albert Town, which are all noticed under ADE- 

 LAIDE, a number of villages and small towns have sprung up around 

 the capital and in the remoter parts of the colony. Within a few 

 miles of the city are the villages of Thebaston, Hindmarsh, Bowden, 

 Islington, Walkerville, Klemzig, Brighton, Kensington, and Good. 

 The county towns, as they are called, are Gawler Town, 23 miles north 

 from Adelaide ; Angaston, farther north and east ; and Kooringa, at 

 the Bum-Bum mines; as also Mount Barker, Nairne, Balhannah, 

 Maccleafield, Strathalbyn, Hhandorf, and Noarlunja, in the district 

 south from Adelaide. A township has been laid out at Port Wake- 

 field, at the head of the gulf of St. Vincent, where a considerable 

 quantity of copper from the Burra-Burra mines has been shipped for 

 Swansea. Roads and bridges have been liberally provided for as 

 settlements have been formed. 



The government of the colony is vested in a lieutenant-governor, 

 an executive council, and a legislative council. The executive council 

 consists of the governor, the colonial secretary, the advocate-general, 

 and the surveyor-general. Tho legislative council, which was insti- 

 tuted in 1851, in terms of an Act of the Imperial Parliament, passed 

 in August, 1850, consists of 24 members, 8 of whom are nominated 

 by the crown, and 19 are elected by 101. householders and the pos- 

 sessors of freehold property of the value of 100Z. sterling, in the 

 16 districts into which the colony is divided for the purposes of tho 

 Act The main source of revenue is the customs, the greater part of 

 which is derived from the duties of It. per gallon on wines, and 10*. 

 per gallon on spirits. There are no differential duties between British 

 and foreign goods; but an 'ad valorem' duty of five per cent., or 

 an equivalent rated duty, is charged on all imports except wines and 

 spirits. The general colonial revenue in 1852 was 102,325?., the 

 expenditure was 88,288f. The land fund revenue was 121,137*. ; the 

 expenditure was 84.60H. The total exports in 1852, exclusive of 

 bullion and coin, amounted to 738,267t ; the imports were 63S.973/. 

 The tonnage of shipping inwards and outwards during 1852 amounted 

 to 202,507 tons. The postal revenue was 72001. 



For the promotion of education in the colony, an inspector of 

 schools has been appointed. Schoolmasters obtain an annual grant 

 of 20t for the first 20 scholars, and II. for each additional scholar, 

 the aid however in no case rising above 401. per annum. The number 

 of day schools receiving government aid in January 1853 was 69, with 

 about 3300 scholars. The amount paid to teachers during the year 

 was about 3100/. 



In 1850 there were about 150 places of worship in the colony. 

 The ministers of religion were 17 of the Church of England, under 

 the superintendence of the Bishop of Adelaide ; 11 of the Roman 

 Catholic Church, under the Roman Catholic Bishop of Adelaide ; 2 of 

 the Church of Scotland ; 2 of the Free Church of Scotland; 1 of the 

 Scotch Presbyterians ; 8 Wesleyan Methodist ministers, besides many 

 local preachers ; 2 Primitive Methodist missionaries, and several local 

 preachers; 15 Independent, 8 Baptist, 6 German Lutheran, 1 German 

 Independent, 3 Christian, and 2 Bible Christian ministers. The New 



