The first time the author made the acquaintance of the "laughing jackass" was in the bird, fruit, and flower market on George Street. His sarcastic notes were afterward often encountered in his wild state and among his open-air haunts. Not to make special mention of him would be to omit reference to one of the most curious creatures the traveller meets with in his wanderings about the country. Mischievous, sly, droll, insulting, without a particle of shyness, what a bird it is! His plumage is mottled, white and black; he has very little tail, but is provided with a great gawky head, a well-rounded body, and is a little larger than the domestic pigeon. His eyes are preternaturally big, and gaze coolly at you as though they would pierce you through. He laughs almost exactly like a human being, with a touch of bird malice added; and though it is harsh, his merriment is ludicrously contagious, for no one can avoid laughing both at and with him. It is a riotous tumult of laughter. He is as intelligent as the mino-bird, and can be taught to talk better than a parrot,—at least so we were told,—and, sad to say, shows a manifest delight in profanity. The bushmen consider him to be a sort of barometer foretelling the weather; for when it is about to rain the jackass becomes miserable, dejected, and sleepy, sitting upon a branch of a tree with his feathers all awry and his head hidden under his wing,—a very picture of melancholy. Of all birds he seems most like a caricature of his own species. Though he is of the kingfisher tribe, he does not seem to pay much attention to fishes, his favorite food being small snakes. These he seizes just back of the head, and flying rapidly aloft drops them upon stony ground, thus breaking their delicate spine. This process is repeated until life becomes extinct in the victim, when the jackass proceeds leisurely to devour the body piecemeal. As he is thus considered to perform an important service to the settlers, who are much troubled with snakes, he enjoys complete immunity from trap and gun.
Sydney fully illustrates the commendable passion which all the colonies of Australasia evince for the establishment of public parks. If this is a weakness it is a grand one, which we heartily wish was epidemic in this country. Nothing is more conducive to health, beauty, and good morals than these beautiful places in and about populous cities and towns. Every capital or considerable town in Australia, New Zealand, or Tasmania is thus beautified and improved; but Sydney and Melbourne have endeavored in this respect especially to rival each other. Sydney being the oldest settlement has had more time to perfect a grand system of gardens and reserved lands which are not surpassed by any European capital. First there is Hyde Park, situated in the centre of the town; next the Domain, as it is called, containing one hundred and forty acres on the north side of the metropolis, ornamented by broad paths and noble shade-trees; close at hand are the beautiful Botanical Gardens of forty acres in extent, which we have already described. Added to these there is the Prince Alfred Park of twenty acres, and the Belmore Park of ten acres. Virtually forming a part of this same system of reserved lands is a tract of six hundred acres known as Moor Park, lying on the southeast side, adjoining which is the popular metropolitan race-course. This list of parks speaks for itself, representing an amount of open, ornamental space which would serve a city of three millions, while Sydney has but about that number of hundred thousands. No one thing is more indicative of opulence, liberality of sentiment, and regard for the public good than such grand free resorts.
Being in the vicinity, a flying visit was made to the township of Bingera, situated in a northwest direction from Sydney on the Gwydir River, at a distance of three hundred and fifty miles from the capital. It possesses more than passing interest, as it has, besides some valuable and paying "diggings" of gold near at hand, something still more attractive to adventurous spirits,—namely, diamond mines. These are being industriously worked and with paying results, though no very large amount of profit has yet been realized. Nearly a thousand small diamonds have been found here and sent to market. Though they are not large, they are remarkable for purity of color and excellence of quality. This is a rich mineral district, abounding specially in copper and tin; but there are not over a thousand people at Bingera, even including the floating population attracted by the diamond-fields.
The most famous of the gold mines here is the "Upper Bingera," which has proved very profitable to its owners, and is about sixteen miles from Bingera. Another somewhat famous mine of this neighborhood is known as the "Bobby Whitlow;" and still a third which deserves mention as being nearly as prolific is called "The Boro." All these mines have been more or less freely worked and partially abandoned for more promising fields, but they are by no means exhausted.
It may very reasonably be doubted whether Australia would have risen into notice, or have been so promptly peopled by Englishmen, had it not been that hordes of convicts were shipped thither from Great Britain in the early days of its discovery. Though this transportation of criminals thither was long ago abolished, and this element of reproach has been nearly lived down, "there is still unfortunately a convict flavor permeating some classes,"—we use the very words of a respectable citizen with whom we were conversing upon the subject. Some of the rich men of to-day came out from England as prisoners; and the heads of some families, whose descendants are now reasonably esteemed and respected, were once ticket-of-leave men. But in sheer justice it should be remembered that persons in those days were very often transported by the courts of the old country for crimes of the most petty character.
CHAPTER VI.
The Capital of Queensland.—Public Gardens.—Gold Mines and Gold Mining.—Pleasant Excursion.—Inducements to Emigrants.—Coolie Principle of Labor.—Agricultural Products.—Sugar Plantations.—Australian Aborigines.—Cannibalism.—Civil Wars.—Indian Legends.—Fire-arms and Fire-water.—Missionary Efforts.—A Brief Romance.—The Boomerang.—The Various Tribes.—Antiquity of these Lands.
Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, which was originally known as Moreton Bay District, lies about five hundred miles north of Sydney, and is reached most readily by coasting steamers; though the railroad long since begun, has been nearly completed between the two cities, and may possibly be open by the time these notes are printed. It has a population, if we include the immediate suburbs, of fully fifty thousand. Until 1860 it was an appendage of New South Wales, but was in that year formed into an independent colony and named Queensland, after the reigning queen of great Britain. The site of the city is a diversified surface, with the river whose name it bears winding gracefully through it about twenty-five miles from its mouth; though in a direct line it would be but half that distance to its debouchment into Moreton Bay, one of the largest bays on the coast of Australia. It was discovered by Captain Cook in 1770, and is formed by two long sandy islands running north and south, named respectively Standbroke and Moreton Islands, enclosing between them and the mainland a spacious sheet of water more than thirty miles long and six or eight wide, beautified by several small and fertile islands. On approaching Brisbane by the sea one is puzzled at first to find where the mouth of the river can be, so completely is it hidden by mangrove swamps which skirt the coast hereabout for many miles. A pleasant little watering-place is located close at hand named Sandgate, which is connected by hourly stages with the city. Several small rivers, all of which however are more or less navigable, empty into Moreton Bay, showing that the district of Brisbane is well watered.