AUSTRALIA. 
81 
in many-coloured garlands suspended from stem to stern. It would have been hardly fitting 
to present ourselves in such guise to the Queen of Australian cities, and on Easter Monday 
too. Soon, however, the good old ship, having put on her best looks—though showing 
signs of rough collisions with Antarctic ice—was threading the intricacies of the bar, and 
commenced her triumphal progress towards Sydney. It was our good fortune to make the 
acquaintance of these far-famed shores on one of the brightest days of a semi-tropical climate. 
Who that has had such an experience will ever forget the charming prospect of cosy bays 
and wooded promontories overlooked by the steeple-crowned ridge of Sydney ? Every patch 
of green sward on each side of the harbour was alive with pleasure-seekers, keeping the day 
in time-honoured English fashion by excursions and picnics ;• and from the decks of crowded 
steamers rose enthusiastic cheers as they passed H.M.S. “Challenger” carrying the emblem of 
the mother country. About 2 p.m. the object of this flattering welcome anchored in Farm 
Cove, in sight of Government Elouse and of the pleasant grounds of the Botanic Gardens. 
Only ninety years had elapsed since the foundation of the city which now rose before 
us in all the pride of the metropolis of a great colony, and with all the accessories of a 
flourishing centre of commerce. It was in the year 1784 that the settlement in Botany Bay 
was abandoned, and the seat of Government transferred to Paramatta, situated about fifteen 
miles inland. Soon afterwards, the first houses were built upon the southern shore of Port 
Jackson, the present site of the capital of New South Wales. Sydney, with her wharves and 
warehouses, her railways and steam-ferries, her busy streets and charming subuibs, her 
University, Museum, and Public Gardens, her Exhibition Building—newly inaugurated at the 
time of our visit—stands on a level with the most favoured cities of the Old World. While 
the development of the internal resources of the colony must tend to increase her wealth from 
year to year, her geographical position points her out as the futuie emporium of the South- 
Western Pacific. Already the Chinaman, the Malay, and even the Polynesian from Fiji and 
Tahiti, may be seen in her streets. The only member of the human family conspicuous by 
his absence is the native Australian, now banished to the deserts of the interior. Sydney 
society, at one time noted for its exclusiveness—judging by the reports of earlier travellers— 
has more recently acquired a reputation for hospitality, sociability, and even gaiety, making 
the capital of New South Wales one of the most attractive stations on a long cruise. 
The wide inlet which connects Sydney with the sea, as it winds its course round the 
wooded promontories which advance from both sides, looks more like a lake than an arm of 
the sea; and the lover of boating could not desire a more beautiful sheet of water whereon 
to disport himself. Above Sydney the channel contracts in width, and takes the name of 
the Paramatta River. The scenery of this stream is not inferior in quiet sylvan beauty to 
that of Port Jackson itself, and may be best enjoyed from the deck of one of the small 
steamers which daily ply upon the river. At the point where navigation ceases, the steamer 
is exchanged for a public conveyance by road, and after a short drive, over lands associated 
with the earliest attempts at colonisation, the visitor arrives at Paramatta the centre o t e 
railway system of New South Wales, and one of the most pleasantly situated townships in t ie 
