Page:The Boy Travellers in Australasia.djvu/17

CHAPTER XX.

The Founding of Melbourne.—Batman and Fawkner.—Growth of Melbourne, Chicago, and San Francisco compared.—Sights and Scenes in the Australian Metropolis.—Collins Street, Bourke Street, and other Thoroughfares.—A General Description.—The Yarra River.—Botanical Gardens.—Dining at a Suburban Residence.—The Suburbs of Melbourne.—How One Hundred Dollars became One Million in Fifty Years.—Sandridge (Port Melbourne).—Scenes in the Harbor.—Reminiscences op the Gold Rush of 1851.—Bush-rangers and their Performances.—Plundering a Ship in Port.—Hobson's Bay and Port Phillip Bay.—Williamstown and St. Kilda.—Shark Fences.—Queenscliff.—Curious Rocks on the Coast.—Geelong.—Melbourne Newspapers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Page 452

CHAPTER XXI.

The Race for the Melbourne Cup.—Popularity of Horse-racing in Australia.—Cricket and other Sports.—Summer Retreats among the Mountains overlooking Melbourne.—"A Southerly Burster:" its Peculiarities.—Rapid Fall of the Thermometer.—Flooding the Streets of Melbourne.—Children Drowned in the Gutters.—Ballarat and the Gold-mines.—History of the Discovery of Gold in Australia.—The Rush to Ballarat and Bendigo.—Sandhurst: its Present Appearance.—Remarkable Yield of the Ballarat Mines.—"The Welcome Nugget."—Western District of Victoria.—Lake Scenery.—Australia's Potato-field.—Gippsland.—From Melbourne to Tasmania.—Launceston.—A Chapter of Tasmanian History.—Memories of Convict Days.—Corra Linn and other Show-places. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

474

CHAPTER XXII.

Excursion to Deloraine.—The Chudleigh Caves.—From Launceston to Hobart.—Across the Mountains.—The old Wagon-road built by Convicts.—Death of the Last Tasmanian.—How the Aborigines were Destroyed.—A Wonderful Tin-mine.—Hobart: its Climate and Attractions.—Loveliness of Tasmanian Ladies.—Port Arthur.—Dogs at the Neck.—From Hobart to Adelaide.—Arrival in South Australia.—Adelaide: its Principal Features.—A River that is not a River.—Churches and Religions.—Population of the Capital and Colony.—Extensive Wheat-farms.—Products of South Australia.—Fruit-growing.—Glenelg.—The Historic Gum-tree.—Parks and Gardens.—Overland to Port Darwin.—How the Telegraph was Built.—Explorations of Sturt and Stuart.—Camels in Australia.—A Side-saddle Camel.—An Affecting Incident.—The Overland Railway. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

497

CHAPTER XXIII.

Australian Explorations.—The Blue Mountains First Traversed.—Discovery of the Lachlan, Macquarie, Murrumbidgee, and Murray Rivers.—Explorations of Sturt, Mitchell, Cunningham, Hume, and others.—Eyre's Journey along the Southern Coast.—Sufferings and Perils.—Burke and Wills: how they Perished in the Wilderness.—Monument to their Memory.—Colonel Warburton and his Camel-train.—Strapped to a Camel's Back.—Present Knowledge of the Australian Desert.—Aboriginals of South Australia.—Throwing the Boomerang.—A Remarkable Exhibition.—Origin of the Boomerang.—Duck-billed Platypus: a Puzzle for the Naturalists.—Visiting a Copper-mine.—Mineral Resources of the Colony.—Western Australia.—Albany, on King George Sound.—Description of the Colony.—Curious Poison-plants.—Farewell to Australia.—The End. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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