As the principal object of the Expedition into Central Australia was to ascertain the past and present structure of the Continent, I have been led to allude to the subject again, in consequence of two or three remarks in Mr. Cannan's letter, which has been quoted above, bearing strongly upon it, and corroborative of the hypothesis I have entertained as proving a striking uniformity in the rock formation of those two localities. To those remarks I would beg to call the attention of my readers. They will be found at the commencement and termination of the last paragraph.
CHAPTER III/II.
PLAINS OF ADELAIDE
BRIDGES OVER THE TORRENS
SITE OF ADELAIDE
GOVERNMENT HOUSE BUILDINGS AND CHURCHES
SCHOOLS
POLICE
ROADS
THE GAWLER
BAROSSA RANGE
THE MURRAY BELT
MOORUNDI
NATIVES ON THE MURRAY
DISTANT STOCK STATIONS
MOUNT GAMBIER DISTRICT
ITS RICHNESS
ASCENT TO MOUNT LOFTY
MOUNT BARKER DISTRICT
SCENE IN HINDMARSH VALLEY
PROPORTION OF SOIL IN THE PROVINCE
PASTORAL AND AGRICULTURAL
PORT LINCOLN
CLIMATE OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA
RANGE OF THE THERMOMETER
SALUBRITY.
Having, in the preceding chapter, run along the coast of South Australia, and noticed such parts as have been sufficiently examined to justify our observations, it remains for me to give an account of its interior features, of its climate, soil, mineral, and other sources of wealth, and lastly of its fitness as a colony for the peculiar habits of an English population.
The city of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, stands on the eastern shore of St. Vincent's Gulf, and is about six miles from the coast. Any one landing either at the old or new port, and proceeding to the capital for the first time, would perhaps be disappointed at the description of country through which he would pass. It consists indeed of extensive level plains, over the eastern extremity of which the Mount Lofty Range is visible. They are bounded southwards by a line of trees, marking the course of the river Torrens across them, but extend northwards for many miles without any visible termination. Their monotony however, is, at the present date, in some measure broken by belts of wood, and the numerous cottages that have been built upon them, with their adjoining corn-fields, have changed their aspect, and removed the appearance of loneliness which they first exhibited. Still neither the gloomy swamp over which the stranger has in the first instance to travel, on landing at the Port--or the character of the plains themselves, are calculated to raise his anticipations, as to the beauty or fertility of the interior. The first town through which he will pass after leaving the Port, is Albert Town, which has been laid out on the first available ground near the swamp. When I left the colony in May last, several tolerable buildings had been erected in Albert Town, but it was nevertheless a wretched looking and straggling place, and will never perhaps advance beyond its present state.
On his nearer approach to the capital the traveller will pass between the villages of Boden and Hindmarsh, in both of which he will observe numerous kilns of bricks. He will then enter on the Park Lands, by which North and South Adelaide are separated from each other. On this land the scene at once changes, and he will find himself riding through an open forest, shading rich, alluvial, and grassy flats; and, strictly speaking, will then be traversing the Valley of the Torrens. In May, 1847, there were four bridges over that little river. The Company's bridge a little above the city. The Frome bridge, a light wooden structure, built by the sappers and miners, under the direction of Captain Frome, the Surveyor-General, after whom it was called. The City bridge, constructed of stone, but then incomplete, and a rude wooden bridge between Adelaide and Hindmarsh, erected by an innkeeper, with a view of drawing the traffic from the Port past his door. The City bridge, which was undertaken by contract, promised to grace the approach to Adelaide, and was intended to be the principal bridge to connect the north and south portions of the city, as well as to form the chief line to the Port and to the north. The occurrence of an unusual flood, however, in the latter part of the year 1847 deprived the good citizens of Adelaide of these necessary means of communication with the country on the right bank of the Torrens, by the injury it did to them. The Company's bridge suffered less than any other, but was so shaken as to be impassable for several days. Aware, as I am, of the general character of the Australian streams, and seeing no reason why the Torrens should differ from others, taking into consideration, too, the reports of the natives as to the height to which the river had been known to rise in former years, and the fact that no rain had fallen since the establishment of the Colony to cause any very great or sudden flood, it appeared to me, that the place selected for the City bridge was too low. Ordinary floods so completely change the channel of the river, and make such devastation in its bed, that it is hardly to be recognised when the water subsides, so that unless the banks are high, and the soil of which they may be composed stiff enough to resist the impetuosity of the stream, I fear no bridge across the Torrens will be permanently safe.
The position and ground chosen by the first Surveyor-General of South Australia, as the site of its future capital is a remarkable instance of the quick intelligence of that officer. For although he had but little time to make his selection, a more intimate knowledge of the coast has proved that no more eligible point could have been found. Fault has, I am aware, been found with Colonel Light in this matter, but without just grounds, I think, for in no other locality could the same quantity of water have been found, or the same facility offered for the construction of those reservoirs and other works so necessary to the health and comfort of a large metropolis. A principal objection raised to the situation of Adelaide is its distance from the Port, but that we must remember is a disadvantage common to many other large and mercantile cities. The Surveyor-General seems to have been fully aware of the responsible duty that devolved upon him, and to have acted with great judgment. Port Lincoln, indeed, is a splendid harbour, one with which Port Adelaide, as far as size goes, cannot be compared, but having said this nothing farther can be advanced in its favour, for it is not only deficient in its supply of water, but the contiguous country is far from rich, whereas Adelaide is backed by one of undoubted fertility.
Established where it is, the city of Adelaide stands on the summit of the first elevated ground, between the coast and the mountain ranges.
It is separated, as the reader will have learnt, by the valley of the Torrens, and occupies the northern and southern slopes and brows of the hills on either side. The view to the westward from the more elevated parts of the city commands the whole of the plains of Adelaide, and St. Vincent's Gulf; to the eastward, it extends over the rich and dark wooded valley of the river, the lighter wooded country at the base of the Mount Lofty Range, and the peaks and elevations of that beautiful mountain chain.