iS2 AUSTRALASIA ILLUSTRATED, 



The backbone ridge, which we have already described as running eastward from 

 Sydney, is the principal high-road to the suburbs in that direction, and makes also the 

 general course of the great under-ground drain, the Cloaca Maxima, constructed to earn 

 the Sydney sewage to the sea. The primitive drainage system of the city, like its 

 early streets, naturally followed the contour of the country, and the sewers were all 

 emptied into the Harbour. The engineers thought Port Jackson large enough to swallow 

 any amount of sewage and show itself none the worse ; but this has proved a great 

 mistake. The water near the outfalls has been made filthy, and the fore-shores in the 

 neighbourhood have become foul with putrescent slime. After much study and consulta- 

 tion it was resolved to construct a main outlet to the ocean, and the place was fixed 

 at Ben Buckler, a rocky projection north of Bondi Beach. This conduit will drain all 

 but a zone of land forming the coast-belt, which has to be dealt with separately. The 

 effect of this great drainage system is already proving beneficial, and the waters of the 

 Harbour have now regained something of their pristine purity. The portion on the 

 southern side of Sydney which cannot be drained by the Cloaca Maxima, has its 

 discharge on a sandy tongue of land on the shore of Botany Bay a large portion of 

 the southern side of Surry Hills being thus drained. 



This suburb stands upon a plateau spreading out on the southern side of the main 

 ridge. Shea's Creek, corresponding in its character to the creek on the Water Reserve, 

 and really forming part of the same general sandy basin, runs into the mouth of Cook's 

 River, and is the natural drainage channel for this part of Sydney. Had the creek been 

 reserved early enough it would have increased the area of water catchment for the city 

 supply, but it was hopelessly befouled by wool-washing works and tanneries. The supply 

 of fresh water obtainable from the sand has caused many manufacturing industries to 

 settle along the line of road. Some of the ground is too swampy for anything but 

 market-gardens, and their Chinese cultivators fully appreciate the value of the water. The 

 shortest road to Botany Bay, now also supplied with a tram-way, runs over this gently- 

 sloping and nearly level land to the south of Sydney. The general character of the 

 ground on the north and south of the eastern ridge is very different. On the northern 

 side are bold spurs with deep valleys between them ; on the southern is the sandy 

 slope falling into flat ground towards Botany Bay. The southern side is not much 

 occupied, because so large a portion is reserved for the water-supply, the Race-course 

 and Moore Park. It is principally along the Waterloo Estate that population has 

 settled, but some of the ground is low and difficult to drain, and it is to be regretted 

 that it was not included in the earliest reserves. The shore is the northern coast of 

 Botany Bay, which, though low and flat, is a favourite holiday resort. 



Standing on the western edge of the Surry Hills plateau, the spectator looks down 

 upon Redfern and the Railway Station. The site for what is now the centre of a 

 very bus)- traffic was originally selected simply because there happened to be a vacant 

 piece of ground there called the Cleveland Paddocks, and economy rather than con- 

 venience was the first consideration. The Railway Station was almost out of town when 

 first built, but the suburbs have now so thickened around it that it is central to the 

 population. The line of the first engineer was soon criticized by his successor, who 

 pointed out that in a sea-port the railway should be brought into close connection with 



