In the course of this journey the Murray Bridge was crossed. This iron structure spans the breadth of that great Australian water-way here known as the Murray River, but which finds its source thousands of miles to the north, in Queensland, where it is known as the Darling River. After leaving Murray Bridge two large engines were necessary to draw our train up the steep incline among the hills and mountains which separate Adelaide from her eastern territory. These mechanical giants puffed and panted with an almost human expression, in their vigorous struggle to drag the train forward,—now and again hovering upon the very verge of inability, and then, as it seemed to us, by putting forth renewed energy and extraordinary effort, pressing forward and finally surmounting the steep way. The aspect of the scenery rapidly changed for the better as we advanced, and our spirits rose accordingly. Everything looked bright and thrifty. Gardens, orchards, well-cultivated fields, and pleasant roadside stations, with the summer residences of the citizens of Adelaide, were rapidly passed, until Mount Lofty station was reached and the descent toward the plains began. The traveller was soon gratified by a bird's-eye view of the capital of South Australia, lying spread out upon the plain, with the broad sea beyond glittering with mottled sunshine.
Adelaide is surrounded by an amphitheatre of wooded hills rearing their heads not far away from the city, and forms a very fine picture when thus approached. The capital is so perfectly level that to be seen to advantage it must be looked upon as a whole from some favorable elevation. Though this colony is called South Australia, it should be known as Central Australia in respect to its actual geographical position. It is destined in the near future to merit the name of the granary of the country, being already largely and successfully devoted to agriculture. This pursuit is followed in no circumscribed manner, but in a large and liberal style, like that of our best Western farmers. Immense tracts of land are also devoted to stock-raising, for the purpose of furnishing "dead beef" for shipment to England in fresh condition. South Australia contains nearly a million square miles, and is therefore ten times larger than Victoria, and fifteen times the size of England. It extends northward from the temperate zone, so that nearly one half of its area lies within the tropics, while it has a coast-line of five hundred miles along the great Southern Ocean. A vast portion of its interior is uninhabited and indeed unexplored. The total population of the whole colony is about four hundred thousand. Wheat, wool, wine, copper, and meat are at present the chief exports.
Though gold has been found in this province to a very large extent, it is not so abundant here as in other parts of Australia,—and yet since these notes were begun new gold-fields have been discovered in this section which are reported to be exceedingly rich. Statistics show that somewhat over seventeen million pounds sterling in gold have been exported from South Australia since its first discovery here. One mine alone, known as the Moonta, has paid its shareholders in dividends the large sum of twelve hundred thousand pounds sterling. Gold-digging as a business, however, grows less and less attractive in the colony, though the precious metal must continue to be produced here for many years to come, by well-organized companies who possess ample machinery for raising and crushing the quartz rock. But good wages, equalling the average earned by miners, are now paid here by a dozen easier and more legitimate occupations,—among the rest the large vineyards which produced last year over three million gallons of pure native wine. The great trouble is to procure laborers at all, notwithstanding the liberal scale of wages paid. No community or section of country has ever yet reached a permanent success, according to the usually accepted idea of success, upon what may in this connection be denominated a gold basis. "Let us cherish no delusions," said a San Francisco preacher on a certain occasion; "no society has ever been able to organize itself in a satisfactory manner on gold-bearing soil. Even Nature herself is deceitful: she corrupts, seduces, and betrays man; she laughs at his labors, she turns his toil into gambling and his word into a lie!" The preacher's deductions have proved true in California, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia. And yet we have freely admitted in these pages that the finding of gold mines has stimulated labor, immigration, and manly activity in many directions, and has thus indirectly been the agent of good in other than its own field.
As we find gold king in Victoria, so in Adelaide we have pastoral millionnaires. Some of the men who have become enriched by this means possess fortunes of over two million pounds sterling, and have gone back to England to enjoy their wealth in their native land; others, and these are the larger portion of the successful settlers, still remain here, promoting the local interests of the colony.
Adelaide, thus named for the queen of William IV., we found to be the depot of a large and growing trade in wool and grain especially derived from the fertile agricultural district of which it is the capital, and is furnished with numerous arterial railways to bring these products to market. We were told by reliable parties here that there are at present about four million acres of land under the plough. Preference is universally given to the grain produced in this colony, because of its uniform excellence. New South Wales and Victoria hamper their people in the use of this grain by the imposition of most unreasonable and aggravating tariff laws. "Protection," said an earnest citizen of Melbourne to us, "does anything but protect; it makes much of our food cost us twenty per cent more than it would naturally if the ordinary laws of trade were permitted to adjust themselves." The mass of the people favor free-trade, but the leaders and the officials favor high tariff, for they realize a living through the collecting of dues that arise under its provisions. It was admitted to the author by local political economists that it costs fifty per cent of the aggregate sum collected to keep "the machine" moving,—a fact which alone forms a strong argument against the entire system.
Adelaide, with a population of a hundred and fifty thousand, has a noble University, quite equal in standing to that of any city in the country. When we remember how youthful she is, it becomes a matter of no small surprise that Adelaide has achieved such a condition of progress in all the appointments and possessions which go to make up a great city of modern times. This remark will apply indeed to all the Australian capitals, none of which are deficient in hospitals, libraries, schools, asylums, art galleries, and charitable institutions generally. Few of the European cities of twice the size of these in Australia can boast a more complete outfit in all that goes to promote a true civilization. We must not forget, however, that a city established in the nineteenth century has a lamp to guide its feet in the experience of all who have gone before,—thus enabling it to start upon a wise and proper basis from the very outset.
Though South Australia presents little of the glamour of auriferous fields to attract new settlers, those who come here are as a rule of the best class. This colony offers officially the most liberal inducements to new-comers, while the natural advantages of its agricultural and stock-raising districts are unsurpassed in either of the other colonies. A land-order is given gratuitously to every qualified person upon his arrival at Adelaide, which is good for one hundred dollars for each adult, and fifty dollars for each child, at the Government Land Office; besides which other liberal inducements are offered that are calculated to interest representatives especially of the agricultural class of Great Britain.
King William Street is a broad and elegant thoroughfare, the principal one of the city. It is lined on either side with grand palatial buildings,—banks, insurance offices, warehouses, shops, and hotels. On this street also are the Post-Office and the Town Hall. One looks about at the solid and pleasing architectural effect of all these buildings with no small degree of surprise. Everywhere within the limits of the city, especially extending eastward and westward of the Post-Office, spacious edifices are to be found, either completed and occupied or in course of construction. The material used for building purposes consists very largely of a handsome white stone, which produces a remarkably cheerful general effect. By ascending North Adelaide Hill one gets an admirable view of all the space between Mount Lofty and the city proper, which space is dotted with villas, gardens, and pleasant domestic surroundings, and profusely ornamented with trees. There is an aspect of thrift and business prosperity in the very atmosphere; civic and suburban improvement is the order of the day. The churches of all denominations are numerous and handsome. Comparisons may be odious, and especially so as regards different portions of these colonies, between which there is rampant a spirit of exaggerated and endless jealousy; but we cannot refrain from saying that to the casual observer Adelaide manifests greater evidences of enterprise and rapid growth than either Sydney, Melbourne, or Brisbane. The citizens are especially alive to all educational interests. There is here a Minister of Education, a Training and Model School, three Colleges, and an ample number of common and primary schools. The South Australian Institute and Museum is designed for the promotion of art studies, science, and philosophy.
King William Street is nearly two miles long, certainly rivalling in many respects Collins Street in Melbourne, and is more elegant and effective as a whole than George Street in Sydney. Some enterprising parties should introduce a few hundred Hansom cabs into the city, to take the place of the hideous four-wheeled vehicles which are drawn about town by two horses. Victoria Square, situated in the very heart of Adelaide, is a busy quarter, where at a single glance one has a view of the principal public buildings, including the Town Hall, a noble structure, the colonnade of which is built over the surrounding foot-way. Opposite this building is the General Post-Office, the main features of which are like the Post-Office of Sydney,—a tall square tower rising from the centre, which seemed in both instances quite out of place. The city is remarkable for the compactness of its business centre. Queen Street runs from bank to bank of the river, so that the masts of the shipping are visible from either end of the thoroughfare.
The city proper is separated from its suburbs by a wide belt of park lands, and all the approaches are lined with thrifty ornamental trees. Great liberality and good judgment presided over the laying out of Adelaide. All the streets are broad and regular, running north and south, east and west. There are no mysterious labyrinths, dark lanes, or blind alleys in the city; all the avenues cross each other at right angles and are uniform in width. Somehow we missed the irregular ways of old European cities and those of the far East, where one can get delightfully lost and bewildered now and then.