"We landed at a long and handsome pier, and had time to observe, before leaving for the city, that a great deal of money has been expended in dock and pier facilities, and in making the harbor a suitable one for an ambitious colony. There are immense sheds for the storage of wool and grain, there are graving docks and repair shops, manufactories of several kinds, two or three hospitals, a home for sailors, churches, schools, public buildings of the usual kinds found at a well-arranged seaport, and hotels and restaurants sufficient for the entertainment of all who are likely to remain long enough to require them.
"The railway carried us to Adelaide in about twenty minutes, and we found ourselves in a city whose regularity reminded us of Philadelphia or Chicago. It was founded in 1837 by Colonel Light, who named it after the queen of William IV.; it originally contained one thousand and forty-two allotments of one acre each, and is built nearly in the form of a square, with the streets at right angles. The ground is almost a level plain, and the situation is about five miles from the Mount Lofty range of hills, whose highest point is two thousand three hundred feet above the sea-level.
"The streets of Adelaide are wide and generally handsome; the show one of all is King William Street, which runs from south to north and bisects the city. We drove along this street, and were all agreed that we would have to travel very far to find a handsomer avenue in a city no older than this. We passed the Government Offices, which is an extensive pile of buildings forming a solid block, and covering a large area. Close by the Government Buildings is the Town-hall, which is conspicuous for its high tower, and on the other side of the street is the Post-office, which accommodates both the post-office and the telegraph, and will do so until Adelaide is more than twice its present size. The white freestone of which the Town-hall and Post-office are built is said to have come from some extensive quarries near the city.
POST-OFFICE AND TOWN-HALL, ADELAIDE.
"In addition to the public edifices, King William Street contains banks, newspaper offices, and other private buildings that would be a credit to any city of Europe or America. As for churches, I don't know how many we have seen in our drive through the principal streets; they give the impression that Adelaide is a very religious city, and that her wealthy people have been very liberal in providing places of worship. All the prominent religions are represented, the Church of England taking the lead, as in the other colonies.
"At the last census of South Australia the Church of England had 76,000 adherents, Roman Catholics numbered 43,000, Methodists 42,000, Lutherans 20,000, Presbyterians 18,000, Baptists 14,000, and Congregationalists, Bible Christians, and Primitive Methodists about 10,000 each. No State aid is given to any of the churches, all of them being supported by voluntary contributions. There are nearly a thousand churches and chapels in the colony, exclusive of four hundred other buildings which are occasionally used for religious worship.