Their walk took them along Queen Street, the principal avenue, to Victoria Bridge, a fine structure of iron which spans the river between North and South Brisbane. The bridge is more than one thousand feet in length, and divided into thirteen spans, with a swing in the centre to permit the passage of vessels. Like most works of the kind, it is said to have cost more than double the original estimates of the engineers who planned it.
A BALCONY.
The youths were not favorably impressed with the streets of Brisbane, on account of their narrowness, Queen Street being little more than sixty feet wide, and the others in the same proportion. They asked why the streets were made so narrow, when there was such an abundance of land in Australia at the time the place was founded, and were told that it was due to the orders of one of the early governors, Sir George Gipps, who wished to be economical with the land of the Government. But if Queen Street is narrow it is by no means unattractive, as it can boast of many fine shops and substantial buildings, including several belonging to the Government. Frank called Fred's attention to the verandas that on one side of the street ran almost from one end to the other, and extended quite across the sidewalk. Fred rightly conjectured that they were intended to screen pedestrians and goods from the heat and glare of the sun, Brisbane being blessed with a climate of tropical character.
A policeman of whom they made inquiry pointed out the post-office, town-hall, and exchange, the two last-named being in one building, which also contains the chamber of commerce and the council-chamber, and also the court-house and other public edifices. They were all fine buildings with the exception of the court-house, which is a low, solid-looking structure of stone, two stories in height, and of unattractive appearance. Fred asked the policeman the reason of the difference in these buildings.
"The court-house is one of the old prisons of the days of the convict system," was the reply; "it was the female penitentiary and work-shop, and at one time was crowded with women who had been transported from England to spend the rest of their lives in Australia. It will probably be torn down before many years, as the people want to get rid of everything that can remind them of the convict system."
Turning to the right at the end of Queen Street, and close to Victoria Bridge, they walked along William Street, past the museum, and the Houses of Parliament, till they came to the Government Domain, which contains residence of the colonial governor. Close by are Queen's Park and the Botanical Gardens, and here they lingered until it was time to return to the hotel and meet Doctor Bronson, who had announced his intention of sleeping till a late hour.
The river makes a sharp bend around Brisbane, and the Government Domain, Botanical Gardens, and Queen's Park are prettily situated at the end of the point of land enclosed in the bend. In colonial parlance it is called a "pocket," and Queen Street may be said to run across the top of the pocket, as it extends from the river to the river again, just as the numbered streets of New York go from the water on one side of Manhattan Island to the water on the other.