Among the excursions in the immediate neighbourhood of Sydney we at once selected a visit to the well-known naturalist Mr. Macleay, who resides at a beautiful estate near Elizabeth Bay. In his beautiful garden one sees the most interesting plants of Australia side by side with splendid specimens from all other parts of the world. A stroll through the extensive grounds derives a double interest when in company with its highly-cultivated proprietor, and we are the more grateful for this good fortune, as the venerable old gentleman lives in strict seclusion.
Another very interesting visit was that paid to Sir Daniel Cooper at his residence on Rose Bay (Wullurah).[14] Sir Daniel is of humble parentage, but fell heir to property which made him the wealthiest man in the colony, and which he now dispenses with the most noble and hospitable profusion. During the Crimean war he subscribed £1000 per annum towards defraying the costs. Lately he has been elected speaker of the Legislative Assembly, when he was knighted by her Majesty. His villa in Rose Bay, when completed, promised to be surpassed by few mansions of the English nobility in elegance and comfort.
Close to the palatial residence of the wealthiest resident of Australia, and clad in a filthy woollen coat, with an old hat on his head, crouches Rickety Dick, a wretched crippled native, the sole survivor of his tribe, once the lord of all this country, who now stretches out his horny hand to receive charity. Rickety Dick, who can only talk Australian, lives under a bark thatch, and leads a mendicant life, and this not owing to downright destitution, but because such a lazy mode of existence suits him better than a residence within the walls of a Poor's House. He finds himself more comfortable here, and cannot bear to quit the soil on which he has passed the greater portion of his miserable existence. Sir Daniel lets this last scion of a decayed race want for nothing, and gratifies every wish that the poor half idiot can form.
One excursion which no stranger omits to make is a ride to the monument erected to La Pérouse at Botany Bay, a pretty good road to which passes through beautiful woods full of magnificent oaks, as also of Eucalyptus, or gum tree, so characteristic of Australia, Casuarina, or cabbage tree, Xanthorrhea, Acacias, and various descriptions of Epacris. The monument itself stands on an open cleared space, in what is known as "Frenchmen's Gardens" (because, according to tradition, the soldiers had raised a few vegetables here), and is a plain sandstone obelisk about 30 feet high, standing on a pedestal and crowned with an iron globe, within an enclosure about 35 feet square, bounded by a parapet wall of from three to five feet high.
The inscription, which is in French, and on the south side facing the sea, runs as follows:
A la Mémoire de M. de La Pérouse. Cette terre, qu'il visita en 1778, est la dernière d'où il a fait parvenir de ses nouvelles. Erigé au nom de la France, par les soins de M. M. de Bougainville et Ducampier commandant la Fregatte "La Thétis" et la corvette "Espérance" en relâche au port Jackson en 1825.
On the north side is an English translation of the above, and on the west a French translation of the English inscription on the east side. "Foundation laid 1825. Completed 1828."
Close by this simple monument, more interesting owing to the subsequent fate of the renowned French navigator than by its merits as a work of art, is Botany Tower, a sort of look-out for the whole coast-line. This octangular tower stands quite by itself, and commands a magnificent and extensive view over Botany Bay. To the N.W. one perceives a flagstaff of Banks's establishment, a pleasure resort of the Sydneyites, which, on account of its small zoological garden, is likewise of some scientific interest. S.E., on the opposite side of Mud Bay, is visible the point of land where Captain Cook, accompanied by Banks and Solander, first trod the soil of Australia. Among the sandstone rocks adjoining, a brass tablet, with a suitable inscription, commemorates this interesting fact.