1 ' • "By George Augustus Sala. ' '

Otago Witness, Issue 1762, 29 August 1885, Page 1 (Supplement)

1 ' • "By Sala. ' '

-'" .'• 'V!— ASPECTS OF SYDNEY, .• " .

: The beginnings of George' street, 'ibd of "Sydney.' its,elf, were .of- ,the most' modest and simplest kinds., Andi may I ask, is, there anything more delightful to the patient > student of civilisation than to trace the origin of a great and prosperous'centre' of population ? This may tie broadly divided into those which have slowly grown, and .those which, with almost .magical rapidity, have been created. The modern/ capital'of Russia was, from a mundane point of •view, absolutely and literally the creation of Ester, the Great. When he was determined to buiid'niix the morass hard by the Lake of liado'ga a window which, as he phrased it, should lbok'oub into Europe, ho-took up his abode in -his. little log cabin, 'on tho bank, of the Neva, and, decreed the of a City' of' Palaces as ■• arbitrarily, asi Kubla Khan, in,' Coleridge's magnificent fragment of • verse, decreed „the stately pleasure dome at Xanadu. TChere were tens of thousands of f Peter's slaves, to l^yiwooden piles in the marsh for ,a, foundation,; 'there were thousands more slaves to build the palaces, the churches, the barracks, and the jfrisons. Autocracy rubbed its hands with glee; 1 and- Petroppb's, was created, Odessa was in a degree a creation of the Duke of RichelieuGeorge the Fourth,, when Prince, of' Wales» found Brighton a humble little fishing village, and left it an aristocratic and splendid city. The Second/ Empire in France virtually created Trouville and Biarritz; and the late M. Blade, disgusted with the' meanness of Little Monoca, created Monte Carlo. Lord Brougham, driven from Nice, where cholera wais rife,' went. away, and was the making of Cannes;' and half-a-dozen pretty and smiling townships sprang up with gourd-like suddenness rpund'Norwood arid Sydenham almost as soon .as the Crystal Palace had reared its glittering !faead'. .Trieste, again, was virtually a created xftbv ''designed by a crafty malevolent Austrian statesman' to ruin the maritime trade of Venice, ■while Leghorn was equally the creation of an enlightened Florentine Grand Dukej who was resolved that in his dominions there should be at least one city of religious toleration. < But ■who shall trace the beginnings of Lon-' don unless we go back to the fables of Brate and the siege of; Troy?' Before the actual Pari6 there was Lutetia; but what was there' before Lutetia? Before Constantinople there was Byzantium, but what before ? The beginnings of Sydney are, however, very ulainry discernible, and were, as I have already tinted of the simplest possible kind. On a irieht' summer morning—the 10th of January j«gg governor Phillip, with a little squadron of warships and transports, cast anchor in Botany Bay, Governor Phillip did not think much of the resources of Botany. He " pros•nected around" for a more propitious place of settlement; he breasted the entrance to, Port Jackson and. passed the Heads, which command the entrance to the enchanting, haven called by him' Sydney Cove, in honour of Thomas Townshend, Viscount Sydney. The head of jbhe cove is now the magnificent wharf called the Circular Quay where the hugest ocean steamers afloat find' safe, moorings dose to the busiest streets of the city, thus more than realising Thackeray's enthusiastic description of ' " Limerick prodigious," standing " with I nuavs " and bridges, and bringing " muslin from the Indies," with " ships up to the windies," on j the Shannon shore. Literally do the biggest of | ships come " up to the windies," or windows, at j Sydney On the Boomyes at Rotterdam, you i ■will remember, you can sit at your open window j and watch the gigantic East Indiamen, bound to or from Batavia, taking in or discharging their immense cargoes. You can do the like at the Circular Quay, Sydney. You can ride down in a hansom right down to—almost on board—the V and O. which isto take you home. Brindisi is'only over the way—for who thinks anything of the Red Sea and the Suez Canal now-a-days ? —while the Straits of Gibratar, the Bay of Biscay and Plymouth, Devonshire, England, are only just round the corner. To my thinking, to be able to board your ship by naeans of a hansom -when you go«.way, and to spring from your ship , into a hansom when you reach your destination, robs departure of half its bitterness, and doubles | the joy. of coming home. How often, have 11 teld iiv hatred the tender in the Mersey—the , -tender whieli has taken me to *he off-lying | Canard steamer—hated it not for its outward j but for its returning trip; for did, it not carry | away with her to shore, that unfeeling little tender, all that was dear to you m the world ? Governor Phillip experienced the hardest of liard times before he could make anything like a town at Sydney. It was not very encouraging in the first instance to be met at every point by yells of defiance from the Aborigines and cries of "WarraoWarra'-'—Go away. The .earliest. Government House at Sydney was made of canvas, a mere tent, which was pitched on the, bank'of a rivuleWose to where Pitt and Sppng streets now /intersect. Afterwards his Excel, lenev vemoved to a little cottage built on jg™und near the present office of i;bel(lllustrated Sydney Newsj'and thence to a,somewhat more Imposing mansion between Bridge and .Bent sti'detk'/Small beginnings jndeed,when it is fcorne.-in!mind tha,t,the,.existing .Government House is avast and, stately ,pile vi the Tu.dor Gothic style, the internal fittings of which are »U of Australian cedea:, while the chimney-pieces are all of Colonial marble. The Great Hall is hong witlx a continuous series of iull-

length life-size 'portraits ' ! in 'oil of all the Governors of New' South Wales from Captain Arthur r Phillip 'downward.' That energetic ,' proconsul had in the first instance "hard work 'to keep' the 700 male and the 250 female convicts in order, and the 200 soldiers and marines, "besides a few free women 'ami children, from starving. In 1700 the .infant settlement , was horribly distressed for food, and expected supplies from the Cape failing to make their appearance, the Governor was fain to reduce the daily rations to almost infinitesimal proportions. Captain Phillip threw his, own' scanty supply of provisions, into the general stock; and it is said, that when his Excellency gave an official dinner at GovernHouse the guests were expected to bring their own eatables with them. Not unadvisedly do I thus cite a story which to Australian ears must be very stale and old indeed. But I have quoted it in order that English people may know that in the Australia of the present day animal food is absolutely superbundant, and is ridiculously cheap — ridiculously so, at least, to the observer from Home. Prices, of course, may vary according to markets and seasons, but I have • heard of mutton at from 2d to 4d per lb, of beef from' 3£d to 6d per lb, Veai I have seen quoted at sid, and fresh pork at 6d. There are excellent markets in Sydney — in George street [ and the Behnore market — Well stocked, according to the season, with fruit and' vegetaßlesT The cauliflowers," among the market garden produce are almost- as fine as those grown'at Valencia, in Spain;- and at Salt Lake City, in Utah; and if the New South Welshmen would only adopt the careful system of irrigation adopted by the Valencians and the Mormons they in v this luxuriant! land of sunshine'and rich soil might grow all the fruits of the earth hi almost illimitable profusion. True it_ is that in the Sydney market, even in midwinter, you can obtain large supplies, in addition to cauliflowers and potatoes, of other kinds of greenstuff. Pumpkins, , too, are abundant, and much more extensively eaten than, at Home. The fruit is magnificent, ' the apples being in particular superb in appearance and delicious in flavour. Oranges grown in this Colony, and as near to Sydney as Parramatta (only 14 miles away), abound ; and there is a teeming wealth of pineapples and bananas from Queensland and Fiji. With all this, J doubt whether New South Wales-grown vegetables are as cheap in Sydney as' they should be. I have heard of cauliflowers imported from' Melbourne and potatoes fromNew Zealand. Moreover, it is notorious that Sydney is , mainly dependent for a regular supply of vegetables on the Colony of Chinese market-gardeners at Botany. Throughout the Colony, indeed, the condemned but useful Celestial is habitually the only provider of vegetables. Repeatedly I have asked at an upcountry hotel what vegetables we could have for dinner, and the re oly has been delayed because "the Chinaman hadn't come yet." Beshrew the Chinaman ! Why cannot the colonists grow their own ' vegetables and eat more of them ? Don't talk to me about this being a " young country " so far as the growing of greenstuff is concerned. Adam and Evelived in a very young country indeed. Advance Australia, and do not arrive at the disastrous conclusion that the summum bonum of material enjoyment has been attained when the labouring man, as he does in this country, can eat meat three times a day. I most earnestly wish that he would eat less. Not for his stomach's sake — I have nothing to do with his digestion, but for the sake of the culinary art. Too much solid food — too much meat — means invariably inferior cookery. I am not a vegetarian, but were I 10 years younger I declare that I would make a lecturing tour throughout the length and breadth of these magnificent Colonies,persistently preaching the doctrines of vegetarianism, always in the interests of an improved school of Colonial cookery. Of course I can guess at the cause of the present excessive consumption of animal food in Australia. Is not this not only the Land of the Golden Fleece, but of gold-producing beeves as well ? The original settlers, the pioneer squatters — all honour to them — lived on the produce of their runs. They grow nothing but beef and mutton, and they and their work-people eat nothing but beef and mutton, and mutton and beef, all' the year round. They get enough flour from Sydney, to make their " dampers " of, and enough tea to boil in their " billies," and with this simple provand and the solace of an occasional "fig" of tobacco, these' primitive shepherd kings were satisfied. There is one kindly product of mother earth which is really cultivated with energy and success in New South j Wales. The vineyards are splendid. Grapes lin the season are exquisite in flavour, I and wonderfully cheap— from Id to 3d a pound. The manufacture of wine is steadily progressing, and when the Australian vUjnerom can afford to keep their vintages long enough for the purpose of acquiring " character " and maturity, Australia should become one of the greatest wine-producing countries in the world. I As it is, the wines grown and made near.Albnry, m New South Wales, on the Victorian border, at the vineyards of Mr Fallon, who has immense i cellars in Albury itself— one of them storing not | less than 350,000 gallons in casks, the dimensions of which almost remind you of the Great Tun of Heidelberg— and who has' an entrepot for the sale of his wnies at Sydney, are extensively consumed throughout the Colony, and are beginning to acquire renown in England. At the pretty and flourishing township of Inverell, on a flat bordering on the Macintyre River, nearly 400 miles from ' Sydney, there ai-ealso numerous and important vineyards in a splendid soil; 'and at the house of Mr Mather, a well-known vinegrower of Inverell, I saw a whole easeful of gold and silver medals awarded to that enterprising gentleman at different international exhibitions. On the whole, I would sooner drink Australian wines, which, after all, are t£e pure juice of the grape, than potato sherry, from the rive'r'Elbe. .Sydney has three distinct aspects— a harbour and shipping aspect, an* urban aspect, and a suburban, one. .Detailed notices of aquatic and mariW Sydney .1 must defer until time is propitious for the description of a grand Chowder Convention," at which I was a guest some few weeks ago, at a charming spot called Vaucluse. Of. urban Sydney it would be despe-

rately^yearisome to English, readers td describe the 1 great city of Sydney aii'd its many and noble public buildings in guide-book. Those readers would \ derive but little profit from the information thai;, in addition to,' George street, Pitt street, Market street, Hunter street are all handsome and busy thoroughfares full of wellstockect shops ' arid warehouses. At a" distance of so many thousands of miles, why should I become tiresome by dwelling on the architectural magnificence of the new 1 , general post-office, of the new town hall, of the new treasury buildings, the houses of parliament, and ' the courts of law, oa the sylvan 'beaufcjr of the domain — one of the most' beautiful pleasaunces in the world— a great recreation-ground Overlooking the harbour, the Anglican 'and Roman Catholic cathedrals, of a multitude' of other places of worship, and of a great host of banks and insurance offices. Qi the splendid Gothic Hall of the Sydney- University I shall haye to speak at -| some length'when I come to describe a University " Commencement " with the granting of degrees, the delivery, of 'gubernatorial,' cancel- J larial, and professional addresses; and so forth. ' Club life in the different Colonies I also reserve 'as a theme for special treatment ; and I hope to be able 1 to' say something shortly about the beautiful arcades' which, both at Sydney r and Melbourne, lent such pictUresque cheer fiilne'ss ' 'to the 'eve'ry-day lift, of. the' Australian cities. Finally the theatres, op'kra r houses, and concert - halls will at a 1 future 'time claim attention; 'nor shall 1 fail to say, a word 'concerning what I may term " Madame Tu'ssaud in Australia "—I mean the highly amusing and characteristic wax- work shows. ' These exhibitions present to'the observer from Home a very curious and 'original interest indeed. They show him what 'the convict of the,, remote past, and the' bushranger of more recent*' times, were physically like. For the image both normal and material' of the' dark days of c.on-! victism long since departed from this now happy and prosperous land, you must study the pages of the late Marcus jClarke's wonderful romance "For the Term, of "his Natural Life," In other respects urban Sydney is not unlike urban Boston or Massachusetts ; but it does not — in ray humble opinion at leas,t — bear the slightest resemblance to any city .j[ seen ,in tHe United States., With a very few exceptions, which I, shall presently ; point out, Sydney is thoroughly and , entirely English in its actual aspect and suggestiveness. Now you may fancy that you are wandering in Church street,' Liverpool, or' in Dale street, or in Market street, Manchester, Anon 'you might, so you jbhmfc , be • in Birmingham or in Leeds. Pitt street, has a savour of our Strand ;_ Hunter street might be a part of our Holb'om. ' The stock-in-trade in the shops— the windows of which . are admirably " dressed,'.' in pleasing contradistinction to the dressing of American shop-windows, which is, as as a rule, very ugly, careless, and tasteless—differs in no important particular from the commodities which are retailed for sale at Home. The chemists' shops are very handsome, and you can obtain there all and ' every description of article in .which, druggists deal at Home— from pepsine wine to blue pills, from stramonim to cannibis indica,jjfrom Heating's, cough lozenges to Powell's balsam of aniseed. The drugs retailed are much dearer than they, should be in a freetradc Colony, A shilling pot of cold cream is only the' size of a sixpenny pot , in England. Perfumery of every description is wonderfully abundant and good, and as cheap as it is at our Parkins and Gotto's or Partridge and Cooper's. The butchers' shops are simply splendid. Most of the large butchers are also makers of sausages, and even of 'the historical "polony!" The sausage-meat is' admirable in quality, but they are not sufficiently unctuous ; and Australian sausages, so, far as I have found them, are somewhat hard and dry! The grocers are, ixi the way of tea, coffee, „and cocoa, pickles, preserves, canned meat, and' so forth, in all respects equal to our own : but in the rural districts the grocery expands into a ( general store, or " everything shop," where' almost anything that a mortal of modest aspirations can desire is obtainable — from a spade to a box of night lights, from a perambulator to a packet of " lollies " or sugarplums, from a scrubbing brush to a sewing-machine. The Australians are, as a race, great smokers of tobacco. There are a few — a very few— tobacconists in Sydney where you can obtain a tolerably good cigar ; but if you want a choice Havana you ha<Lbest find favour in the eyes of a manager of a wholesale house, who may haply import a few chests of genuine Havanas every year for their customers among the wealthy squatters. The safest cigar to buy is ' the Manilla. In the interior the cigars sold are ordinarily of German manufacture, and are as a rule detestable. Hence, vast numbers of devotees of nicotine content themselves with the peaceful pipe. The youth of the country are, to a painful extent, partial to cigarettesmoking ; but that baneful practice in Australia strikes me as falling very far short of the almost monstrous — the maniacal proportions which the habit of cigarette-smoking "has attained in England and in the States. _ The drapers' shops are comely, well stocked,' and'well appointed. Almost everything sold seems to be imported from Home. Gloves are gloves— that is to say, kid gloves of the very best quality are about 20 percent, dearer than they are in London. On the' other hand, there are plenty of 'cheap glbvies of inferior quality. Ladies' " fal-lals " differ little in their , prices from the rates which rule at Home. Fresh flowers— the ! loveliest I have ever seen out of Nice or Florence—abound at a-quar : ter of the price which' would be charged for them in the central avenue of Covent Garden Marke t . You can get a splendid .'.' buttonhole " for three, pence. Think ( of that, ye " Mashers "of Regent street, ye "Johnnies" of ," Piccadilly, in- " Chappies "of "'Pall , Mall ! Colonial-made ' boots are .as, , moderate in price as boots "We y,e England ;, but the Colonial-made 'articlip leaves much to be desited 'in the way qi durability. ; There is, however J one " native," bootmaker in" Sydney who sold' me a 1 pair of. patent-lejather ' shoes o£ really 'superior, quality. ' ' To be /sure, he charged ih'e '32s for them.' rea'dy-mafle, and 'for 1 ready-mem^;,,, ,'_ '.j. 1 ;^ r\';Z -„:', The instances in which the aspect of Sydney differs from that of a populous,prosperous, cheerful, and enlightened English city are, as I have already said, few and far between; still they

, are'distirictive, and peculiar to Australia. I set- J j little store by the fac't a that hi many of the T] jewellers' shop-windows" you see the indigenous | emu egg prettily' set in silver,' to serve-^-now as i a cigar-holder, now as an inkstand, now as a i casket for the table, in a lady's boudoir; that some of the goldsmiths, exhibit "nugget" watchchains and breast-pins of gold-bearing quartz ; that models in gold and silver of the exquisitely , graceful lyre bird are occasionally to be met> ,with;: and that at the taxidermist's you may see opossum, kangaroo," and wallaby skins, and the skins of. a-- multitude of birds of ' brilliant plumage— rmore beautiful than any that I have ever seen out of Mexico. In London the cosmopolitan, 'may you not, if ; you keep a sharp, look-out around you, see all \ these things around yon ? Would it so much A astonish you to' (find emu eggs sec in gold or !• silver at a 'jeweller's, in Bond street, or 'possum I and kangaroo, and wallaby skins at a furrier's ia j Regent street, or birds' of strange form- and j rainbow 'plumage at a taxidermist's in Piccadilly ? Sydney, the first Australian city that I beheld, struck me as differing from an English town only in the following respects i—li — I found myself in what I may term "Verandah Land." Nearly all . the ,shops .(have large Verandahs on the first floor,iand! the arcades — or "squaricades," if ,1 may so call them, in'contradistinc-: tion>to/the Australian arcades proper, which combine' the. features of the Parisian passages and our Burlington and Lowther— rafford a cool and shady promenade in hot weather and a very convenient shelter. '(dn wet, days. In this marvellous «> climate, • where ' the- sun shines brilliantly; I. should say, at least 300 days a. year, the verandah and the- arcade are absolute necessities. They lend as much.j picturesque variety to the streets of Sydney as. ) our own quadrant — Nash's masterpiece 1 , one of ! the few examples of street architecture of which Londoners could reasonably be proud, and the , wanton ■ destruction of which should ever be . ' regretted—^imparted picturesqueness to Regent • street. There is a Benevolent Asylum, supported by. donations, legacies, and. grants of land, for the relief of poor, aged, and distressed persons • in the Colony. Homeless and deserted children are' taken care of until they can >be removed to other i asylums : but a great army of paupers, such as London, for her sins, 'has in her midst, and\ always with her, is in this country absolutely non-existent.' Nobody need be poor in Australia ,who is able and willing to work, and the nearest approach in Australia to the English destitute is the incorrigible loafer and the incurable drunkard.