Part 22 (1/2)
”They didn't foresee the tra upon the two passenger cars passed close to their carriage
”No, indeed,” responded Ned ”Street cars had not been invented at the time Sydney was founded, and the loco through crowded streets like this, would cost a considerable loss of life every year”
”I have heard that they do so,” said Dr Whitney ”You observe that they have flags, and that the trains do not stop wherever passengers want to get on, but only at certain designated points There er to pedestrians, many of whom, in all cities, are careless, and I wonder the authorities do not abolish this steam traffic in the streets, and adopt the cable or the trolly”
”We'll take good care that they don't run over us while we are in Sydney,” remarked Harry, and there the tramway subject was dropped
Our friends followed the sa out for a drive or stroll i for their acco the dust of travel froht there was less bustle and activity in the streets of Sydney than in those of Melbourne, and accounted for the difference that Sydney was the older and nified place of the two, had a siven over to speculations in gold mines and other s,edifices in the rival city The city hall especially roused their admiration, and they passed several churches which would do honor to any city of Europe The doctor remarked that the people of Sydney had constructed their public buildings with a liberal hand, and Harry answered that the liberal hand had been directed by excellent taste
”I am impatient to see the famous harbor of Sydney,” Ned remarked soon after they started on their drive ”You know it is the one thing we have heard about more than any other”
”We will have an opportunity of seeing it in two or three ways,” the doctor remarked Then he called to the driver, and told hi a hasty glance at the interior of the building, the party climbed to the cupola, which is one hundred and fifty feet above the level of the street below From their point of observation they had a fine view in every direction The whole city was in sight, and also a good deal of the surrounding country The nificent harbor, too, was at their feet Fifteen miles to the ard, they could see the pretty town of Paramatta, which is a favorite resort for Sydney merry-makers; while to the eastward, the broad line of the Pacific Ocean was spread before their gaze They re in the view in general, and also in many of its details
As they were about to descend, Ned remarked that the harbor fully met his expectations, and in some points exceeded them Afterward he wrote as follows in his notebook:--
”The harbortogether in a single body of water, which opens to the sea between two promontories, called The Heads Whether viewed from an elevation like that of the tower of the city hall, or fro its shores, or fro over it, Sydney harbor presents athe city hall, our friends drove to Circular Quay, whose character in one respect is described by its name, as it is of semicircular shape, and encloses the most important of the divisions of Sydney harbor Harry and Ned were unable to say whether the areater than that at Melbourne or not, but in one thing they were agreed, that neither city had a right to be jealous of the other on the score of marine business There were shi+ps of all nations at Melbourne, and there were also shi+ps of all nations at Sydney Sydney has the advantage of being the terreat steamshi+p lines, and consequently their vessels are in port at Sydney for a longer tireat steamers of the Orient line, of the Peninsular and Oriental (faeries Maritimes, the North German Lloyd, and other lines of lesser note There was a steamer there, fro to the Australian Stea at the forest of masts and funnels, Harry was the first to break the silence
”You could start from here,” he remarked, ”for almost any other part of the world You could set out for Greenland's icy mountains or India's coral strand with very little ease”
”I don't know about Greenland's icy mountains,” said Ned, ”as I don't believe there is any line running to them from Sydney, but the P & O
boat and several other boats will take you to India's coral strand; of that I am sure”
Circular Quay was formerly called Sydney Cove, and it was at the head of this little cove that the first settlement was made It is the principal one of the coves or harbors where shi+ps can lie, though Darling Cove is nearly as important as the one just mentioned The sheet of water into which these coves open is called Port Jackson, and extends inland some twenty miles froh Port Jackson, so in a state of nature Our friends planned, while strolling about Circular Quay, to make an excursion up the harbor as soon as they could do so conveniently, and then, as it was getting pretty late in the afternoon, they returned to their hotel
On their arrival at the house they entleman to whom they had a letter of introduction He had heard of their arrival, and ca for the delivery of their letter This circumstance led Harry to write as follows in his journal:--
”Wherever we go we are received with the most open-handed hospitality
Persons who are entire strangers to us are always civil, ready to answer any question we ask, and every one of theo out of his way to serve us We have made the acquaintance of men in railway trains and around the hotels, or elsewhere, who have ended up a brief conversation by inviting us to visit their country places, their sheep or cattle stations, if they have any, or their business establish about us other than that we are strangers in Australia Those to e have letters throw their houses open to us, and in every instance urge us to a longer stay whenever we intimate that we must depart Those to e are introduced by these people are equally courteous and equally ready to show us any hospitality The whole country seems open to us, and if we could and would accept half the invitations that have been given to us, we should remain in Australia for years, perhaps for a decade or two
”Many Australians, soether with natives of England who have lived here o back to the old country they are received very coldly It is no wonder they feel that English custoeneral kindness and liberal hospitality that universally prevails throughout this island continent Men who have received strangers as freely as is the custo ice water poured down their backs when they go to London or New York, and are greeted with the formality customary to those two cities
”I have been told that it is not infrequently the case that an old Australian who goes to England with the intention of spending not less than a year there, is back in the antipodes in less than six , and, as one h a southerly burster had dropped on hilad to see hi the least offense
”They are only adhering to the customs of centuries, and unless they themselves have been in Australia, which is very rarely the case, they cannot understand why the stranger should feel that he is being unkindly treated I ao there was the same contrast between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States, but since railways have traversed the American continent, and communication is made easier, the forms of hospitality of the peoples of the two sections have beco you et the courtesies that we have received, and e leave the shores of Australia we shall treasure long in our memories the warm hospitality which we have encountered since the day we first set foot upon Australian soil”