The one colony that seems to flourish most is New South Wales, under a system of Free Trade, which, however, I fear is losing its popularity every day. ‘Compared with the other colonies,’ said Sir Henry Parkes, when I was there—‘the only statesman in the colonies,’ observed a gentleman to me one day—the popular Premier of New South Wales, ‘New South Wales was the oldest, the richest and the most powerful. Ten or twelve years ago Victoria was far in advance of this colony—a quarter of a million of population in advance of us; but now we were in advance of her, and intended to keep in advance of her. In no other country in the world,’ said Sir Henry, ‘had anyone a chance of making a fortune as he had in New South Wales, and yet how melancholy is the spectacle, only peopled, as it were, on the fringe, with cities congested, while the land remained untilled; with all Europe waiting to buy if the colonies would but attract people to settle on its vacant lands and till its soil.’
Naturally you ask whether there is arising a distinct type of Australian. I think there is. The young Australian is tall, dark, has high cheek-bones and prominent teeth. Dr. MacLaurin, who lived a long time in Australia, and who is able to form a better opinion on the subject, in a paper read before the British Association, says in New South Wales and in Tasmania three generations have been exposed to the new conditions, and the greatgrandchildren of the first settlers cannot be distinguished from Englishmen, Scotchmen, or Irishmen, by anything in ‘configuration and type.’ There is no essentially Australian type of man. It is true that we find a certain ‘sallowness in complexion’ among the inhabitants of the colonies, but this may be observed also among those who have been only a few years resident there. It is due, Dr. MacLaurin thinks, much more to the effects of the sun’s rays on the skin than to any anæmia arising from climate. The alleged ‘lankiness’ of the Australians is also very much a myth. Dr. MacLaurin can find no trace of it, after twenty years of experience in connection with assurance society examinations. He thinks, if it exists at all, it is only during the period of youth, when growth goes on more rapidly and under healthier conditions than in Europe. ‘The fact is, the Australian youth are, as a whole, better fed, better clad, and better lodged than the inhabitants of Europe. They are not so much exposed to the inclemencies of the weather, and they are not obliged to work too hard or too early.’ Hence the tendency to a ‘tall, active, and athletic figure.’ With regard to muscular vigour, the Australian has proved himself well able to hold his own in the struggle for existence. If we think only of the great love of out-door life, of athletic sports, of racing, rowing, cricketing, and the like, manifested by all native Australians, we shall come to the conclusion that they certainly are not deficient in muscular force. Dr. MacLaurin thinks the native Australian has no need to fear comparison with the youth of the mother land. The professors in the universities and colleges assure us that Australians are quite as bright and capable as the youth in British schools of learning; and Australian young men who study in Europe are always able to take a high position in intellectual competitions. Some of them, indeed, have recently taken the very highest places. When this subject is studied from the standpoint of longevity and fertility, we find the same excellent results. It is true that the deaths among persons over sixty-five years of age are more numerous here than in England, but every decade the standard of age is increasing, and when we take the general death-rate, we find that New South Wales is decidedly healthy as compared with any part of Great Britain and Ireland. In like manner the native Australian is as able as anyone to resist disease, which is only another way of saying that his physique is thoroughly healthy and capable of great endurance.
People at home have curious ideas as to Australian distances. I was asked to see a woman employed in some charitable institution near Sydney. When I got to Sydney, on asking for that particular locality, I was told it was seventy-two miles off.
One sees a great many people who enjoy life in Australia who could not live at home. That is one great charm of a country which, as has been well remarked, would get on very well if the inhabitants would grumble less at the climate and dam the rivers more.
The whites and the blacks do not seem yet to have hit on a modus vivendi. It is true the savant does not do as he did in the old times, coolly shoot a black when he wanted to add a skull to his collection. But while I was in Queensland a couple of whites did fire on a black, and a black did kill a white. Under the new constitution to be granted to Western Australia, the aborigines are to be placed under the care of a Commissioner, independent of the Parliament, and responsible only to the Governor. £5,000 a year is to be devoted to the purpose, but it is not clear how a body without police organization can watch and protect the inhabitants of a thousand square miles. I quote a case which occurred to show how matters are at present. In March last the blacks near Kimberley speared the horses of a man named Howard. Whether Howard had given them just cause I am unable to say. Howard himself evidently thought they were the aggressors, as he, with the assistance of a constable, followed them, and shot some three or four. The affair came to the ears of justice, and Howard and the constable were put on their trial for murder. They were acquitted, of course, owing to the absence of direct proof that any lives were actually taken, and owing to the doubts that existed as to whether they simply fired at the blacks on coming up to them, or resorted to arms in self-defence.
The forests want looking after. In New South Wales, Victoria, New Zealand, and South Australia, the Governments are growing alive to the fact that the forests cannot last for ever. In many districts the traveller passes through hundreds of miles of ring-barked country, very desolate to look upon. It is pleasant to note that in some quarters steps have been taken to find a remedy. Especially is this the case in South Australia. Last year as many as 40,000 trees were sent out from the State nursery for planting.
The land question gives a good deal of trouble. It has, in New South Wales, much to answer for, as the great want of the farmer is water, and he will not improve his property by sinking Artesian wells, at a cost of £ 1,000 each, unless he has a better title. On the other hand, it is held that Victorian prosperity is chiefly due to its liberal land laws. In New South Wales the farmer is given 2,500 acres with no cultivation conditions. He can hold it as he gets it till his time is up, and transfer it to the squatter, and then go and re-select as long and as often as he likes, with this result, that there is no real settlement in the land—no progress, and no employment for the agricultural labourer.
CHAPTER XIV.
COMING HOME.
The Sea—Colombo—Arabi—Ceylon Tea—Stoppage in the Canal—Tilbury Docks—The Future of Australia—Australia as a Field for Emigration.
Once more I am afloat. I bid good-bye to a friend who was six months coming out, and lived on salt beef and pork all the while. In this respect we have changed for the better. But the sea, is it ever to be depended on?