THE CITY OF SYDNEY. 



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quarters here, and as a large number of artisans are obliged to live near their work 

 Balmain claims the reputation of being pre-eminently the engineering suburb. 



Between Balmain and the older parts of the city lies Pyrmont, another of those 

 peninsulas which stretch like the fingers of a hand into the Harbour. Here is the patent 

 slip of the Australasian Steam Navigation Company, and various other industrial establish- 

 ments haunt this locality. But the specialty of Pyrmont is its quarry. The sandstone 

 here is of finer grain and more uniform colour than that found anywhere else around 

 Sydney. All the finest of the new buildings are constructed or faced with this stone, 

 and the original hill of Pyrmont is fast disappearing under the active labours of the 

 quarrymen. Pyrmont, which is in the city limit, is connected with the eastern side of 

 Darling Harbour by a wooden bridge, which opens in the centre to allow the passage 

 of ships. The western shore of this Harbour is occupied by a Government railway- 

 wharf. The opposite side is crowded with wharves and jetties. Several of the steam- 

 boat companies have their head-quarters here, although the access by steep and narrow 

 streets is very difficult, and a real inconvenience to the Harbour traffic. 



On the highest point of the Sydney ridge is the Fort Phillip reserve, on which is 









LANE COVE RIVER. 



built the Observatory, and here, terminating our imaginary cruise, we may stand and 

 take a general survey of the route traversed. There is, indeed, no one point from 

 which Sydney Harbour can be entirely commanded, for its special characteristic is that 

 it is not a bay, but a series of bays bays on the north and bays on the south. 

 Any one of its principal coves would make an ordinary haven, while their multiplicity 

 gives a superabundance of accommodation let Sydney grow ever so great. The shore-line 



