i MM 01458243 1 Oo = 2 ° c o e ee > e w c Ww 2 = = li 3 1761 7 7 3h 5 : . Xana ot Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding, from Microsoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/australiahomewar00lucauoft REV. D. VANNORMAN LUCAS, M.A. TAU. IA3A33 a AUSTRALIA AND HOMEWARD, hy BY REV. D. VANNORMAN LUCAS, M.A. TORONTO: WILLIAM BRIGGS, 78 & 80 KING STREET EAST. MONTREAL: C. W. Coares. HALIFAX: S. F. Hugstis. 1888. according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one d eight hundred and eighty-eight, by Dante, VANNoRMAN Lucas, in the the Minister of Agriculture, 8 bean TO MY FELLOW-SOLDIER IN FIGHTING LIFE’S BATTLES, MY FELLOW-VOYAGER OVER THE GREAT OCEANS, AND MY FELLOW-TRAVELLER IN MANY LANDS, : My Gite, THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY AND LOVINGLY DEDICATED. > = ae INTRODUCTION. HIS book was written almost entirely at sea. I should have been glad if I could have availed myself of more help from reliable and experienced authors. I have given the names of those whose writings have been of service to me, and whose valuable works I fortunately had with me. Much that I have written of the natives, animals, birds, and of the country, is the result of personal observation. The reader, I think, will see that I must have taken a deep interest in everything pertaining to the home of our antipodean friends, who are not only like ourselves, a Christian people, but descendants from the same stock, and fellow-subjects of the same great Empire, and, equally with us, admirers of, and loyal to, Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria. Perhaps in no other part of Her Majesty’s wide domain has there been such rapid progress in agricul- ture, arts, education, and all other things embraced by the term “national prosperity.” vi INTRODUCTION. I have, first of all, given the reader some account (a very brief one) of the aborigines, and then have described, in natural order, the animals, birds, and native trees and flowers, before referring to the new race who have, by their superior knowledge, wrought such wonders in that vast island-continent within the last half century. The continent of Australia is, in round numbers, 2,500 miles from East to West, and 2,000 miles from North to South. It is divided into New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, and West Aus- tralia. These embrace a little over 3,000,000 square miles of territory. The term Australasia includes the continent of Australia, and the islands of New Zealand, Tasmania, and other smaller adjacent islands as well. eV. Te CONTENTS. AUSTRALIA AND THE AUSTRALIANS. PH -AUSTRATIAN (NATIVES 005i © wo ~ LEADBEATER’S COCKATOO, THE COCKATOO. } — 81 moment something near in front startles it (as extend- ing your hand towards it quickly), the changed appearance of the bird, together with its increased beauty, is most extraordinary. If you will raise your eight fingers in a perpendi- cular line, immediately in front of you, and suddenly throw them forward, spreading them slightly apart as you do so, you will get some idea of the action of this most beautiful speaking-bird of Australia, when quickly startled or when he is on speaking terms with you. A countryman came into the train with me, with a young one in a cage. He said he had taken it from the nest only a few days before, and I could see it was but a chicken, for it was only partly feathered, yet the feathers of the crest were quite two and a half inches in length and most beautifully marked. We brought with us a stuffed specimen, as we could not so conveniently bring a live one. Then there are the black, the gray, the red-breasted, and the “gang-gang” cockatoo, besides the cockatoo- parrot, which the natives call kooranyawillawilla. 82 AUSTRALIA AND THE AUSTRALIANS. THE PARROT. Among the parrots are the rosehill, white, red, crimson, king, green-leck, king-lory, blue mountain, ROSELLA PARROT, Pennant’s parrot, grass parrot, ground parrakeet, and the rosella. This last-named is the commonest of all. It is to be seen everywhere—sometimes in flocks in a THE PARROT. 83 the orchards and pasture grounds, sometimes in pairs in the yards about the houses. In almost every house you find at least one in a cage, ready to chatter and whistle to everybody who will notice him. As it was not possible (or at any rate convenient) to bring so far any living specimens, we brought instead a goodly number of stuffed ones. There are other birds than parrots in Australia that can be taught to speak—such as the myna-bird, the lyre-bird, the honey-bird (a cut of which is given), the 84 AUSTRALIA AND, THE AUSTRALIANS. laughing-jackass or giant kingfisher, and the Aus- tralian magpie, which can speak very distinctly. Wife and I were walking through the market, and stepped up to mag’s cage, when she,said in good, plain English : “Who are you?” “Qh,” I said, “ Mag, I’m afraid you don’t attend temperance meetings, though I have no doubt you are a sensible, cold-water bird.” The Aus- tralian magpie has not that thieving, mischievous propensity which characterizes his English cousin. They are not only a harmless bird, but very useful as grub-destroyers. There is a law against killing them. They are to be seen almost everywhere, sometimes in great numbers. They have no song. They have, how- ever, a very metallic, musical note which is varied with a full, round whistle. This metallic note has secured for them from some ornithologists the name of “ bell- bird,” though they are never recognized by that name in Australia. The only representation I can give of a magpie chorus in the early morning is that of fifty boys, half of whom are tapping with small hammers upon an- vils, while the others are sounding short notes at the same time on fifes and flutes. 1%) Yf 4 EAA) a YO es } es yi. iS 2 WAVED PARROT. THE LYRE-BIRD. 87 THE LYRE-BIRD. The lyre-bird is, I presume, the shyest bird known. I am told that it is impossible to tame it. Its resort is just as far from civilization as possible. Only the natives can claim to have much knowledge of them. The hunter has to use the greatest caution to get within reach of them. Those white men who have camped in the wilder- ness, or the early settlers who have heard them in the scrub some distance away, tell us that they have the power to imitate almost any sound which may arrest their attention, such as the barking of a dog, the loud snapping of a whip, the cooéé of the bushman or the herder, or the ring of the axe upon the hard trees. The lyre-bird has no beauty whatever except in his tail. For this there is considerable demand. It is sometimes difficult to get them. We were able, how- ever, to procure a pair, which we very highly prize. THE KINGFISHER. There is a large variety of kingfishers throughout the continent. Besides the species especially men- tioned below, there are the following: Leach’s king- fisher, fawn-breasted kingfisher, sacred kingfisher, red-backed kingfisher, sordid kingfisher, MacLeay’s 88 AUSTRALIA AND THE AUSTRALIANS. kingfisher, yellow-billed kingfisher, white-tailed king- fisher, azure kingfisher, little kingfisher. I procured three specimens. One of these is about the size of a swallow, with two tail-feathers about six inches long, very prettily marked. The most widely-known, and at the same time the most popular, bird in Australia, is the laughing jack- ass, or giant kingfisher. He is by no means a timid bird. There is a heavy penalty for any one killing him, and he not only seems to know that there is such a law, but he has apparently perfect confidence in the law which protects him, so why should he not laugh when he wants to? and he will come right up to your door, or perch upon the plum tree or the barn, and laugh till he makes you laugh a response, unless there is something wrong with your liver. Though he is, properly speaking, a kingfisher, he makes it his special business to fish for snakes. What he does not know about catching snakes we shall not try to teach him. Perhaps it is just after he has had a square meal from an old copper-head or one of his cousins, that he has his best laugh. Turning to our picture for a moment, I should think the two in the rear have just finished a jolly dinner of snake, but have failed to extend an invita- tion to the poor, disconsolate-looking old fellow in LAUGHING JACKASS. ~I THE KINGFISHER. 91 front. He does look sad, now, does he not? All the more so while he is forced to listen to the uproarious fun of his two neighbers immediately behind him. Never mind, “Jack,” you will have your turn pre- sently. “He laughs best who laughs last.” You evidently feel slighted and hurt, we all know what that means. Laughing men and laughing jack- asses have a common experience in some respects. Do you know, reader, the first prerequisite for a good dinner of snake? Get your snake. That is what our friend who is foremost in the picture is probably now looking for. He is not going to wait long. There are many kinds of snakes, and several of them are venomous. That is why these birds are so carefully protected. If his snakeship should happen to be a ae sized one and a little refractory, the bird will ascend very rapidly directly over rocks or over the hard road, to the height of three or four hundred feet, and let him fall. If the snake should seem to be a little too lively after his fall, he gets a second one inside of a minute, after which he is perfectly manageable. Like every good laugher he does best when he has plenty of company, and really one of the most amus- ing things you will hear in Australia is a laughing chorus from three or four, or more, of these very queer birds. 92 AUSTRALIA AND THE AUSTRALIANS, One begins with long drawn a-h, then the others strike in. It is quite easy to distinguish the different voices, “hah-hah,” “hah-hah,” mingled with “haw- haw-haw,” “hoh-hoh-hoh,” in rapid succession, then a lull followed by another outburst, till the forest rings again with their merry peals. “Ts it a laugh?” Well, now, please don’t ask too many questions. I don’t know. You remember the story of the colored brother who was expatiating on the creation of man, and _ said, “ When de Lawd made Adam outen de clay, He stood him up agin de fence to dry.” “Hold on dah, brudder,” said a sable hearer, “how’d dat fence come dah so nice and handy?” “Will you please to shut up?” responded the preacher; “a few questions like dat’d spile de best theology in de wuld.” I do not know whether the noise of the laughing jackass is the outcome of merriment or not. It may be that under any form of excitement he would make the same sound. I have had very good opportunity for observing them in the cage, in the forest, and in the yards about residences, and, as far as my observa- tion goes, the bird only makes this noise when he is in a pleasant mood, so I suppose we may regard his laugh as not only strongly resembling that of our own race, but as also meaning about the same thing. a THE BOWER-BIRD. 93 THE BOWER-BIRD. Among the strange habited birds of Australia is the bower-bird. This bird gets its name from the fact that it builds a bower for, as it would seem, a kind of play-house. BOWER-BIRDS. - I have seen this bower, and bird. It is a little larger than the American robin—a light brown, slightly speckled with spots of darker brown. Choosing, say, a little spot of grass, a patch in the plain, it beats down a pathway, or perhaps, if neces- 94 AUSTRALIA AND THE AUSTRALIANS. sary, removes the grass for a pathway, about four inches wide, and from two to three feet in length, Over this it weaves together the top of the grass from both sides, and then, from far and near, it brings small bones which it finds bleached white on the plains, bits of colored glass, pieces of red flannel, if it can find them anywhere.’ With the bones, colored glass, bright pebbles, and other things of that kind it will pave the pathway through the bower, while the ‘red flannel, bits of tin, or bright feathers which have fallen from some of the prettier birds, it will weave into the grass above the bower. i Naturalists were puzzled for some time respecting the bird’s object, but all are now satisfied, I think, that the only object is to afford pleasure for himself and his companions. They have been seen chasing each other through and through the bower, appar- ently thoroughly enjoying their fun. THE BRUSH-TURKEY. The habits of the brush-turkey are quite as inter- esting as those of any I have described. Several of these birds will join together in building up a mound of grass or vegetable matter of any kind, in which they will—perhaps a half dozen of them—deposit THE REGENT-BIRD. 95 their eggs, and allow them to be hatched out by the heat engendered by decomposition. Each successive | year they merely add to the heap enough fresh matter to answer the purpose of hatching a new setting. This is a more extraordinary instinct than that of the ostrich which deposits her eggs in the hot sand. THE REGENT-BIRD. - To return for a little to the bright plumaged birds, we see the wonderful provision which the great Crea- tor has made to prevent their extinction. Take for illustration that wonderfully beautiful specimen the regent-bird. That man may not be tempted to destroy the female she is a very plain gray bird. There is very little attraction for the eye in looking at her. The male bird of one year old is just as plain as the female. The only way by which he can be known from the female, is that about one-half his beak has turned a light yellow. Of course this cannot be seen by the sportsman or bright plumage seeker, and he sees no reason why he should shoot him. At two years old the male bird has changed somewhat, but not much. There are some yellow spots on his wings. At three years he has changed a good deal more, but it is not until his fourth year that he reaches his great beauty, 96 AUSTRALIA AND THE AUSTRALIANS, For two full years he has been pairing and reproduc- ing his species, through all this time quite safe, because he has no attractive beauty. An enthusiastic taxidermist in Melbourne had in a case, stuffed, the five specimens, the female and one male of each year up to the fourth, and through him we learned many most interesting facts respecting the regent, and other birds and animals of Australia. To me, however, that new world presented such a variety of interesting subjects, that I found great pleasure in observing for myself, and then asking many questions of those who seemed to have quite as much pleasure in answering them, besides reading every book I could find bearing on these subjects, though I had no intention at the time of making a book. THE EMU. The emu, or New Holland cassowary ought, I sup- pose, to be classed with the ostrich, which it resembles. It stands five or six feet high. Its feathers are more like coarse hair than like feathers. Its flesh is like coarse beef. It lays a large, greenish-colored egg, about two-thirds the size of that of the ostrich. It is very fleet of foot, and cannot easily be over- taken by either dogs or horses; as for man, it laugheth at hum. THE EMU, OR NEW HOLLAND CASSOWARY. rans | in| N EMU. ICTORIA THE V ing picture is a perfect representa- The first more nearly resembles the body, the second the legs, neck and head, of the Victorian emu. Notre.—Neither this nor the preced tion of those we saw. THE BAT. 101 If a man undertakes to follow it on foot, he soon tinds himself emu-lating at a rapid rate. It is a mild, inoffensive bird, yet, when attacked, it kicks with such force as to kill a dog, or seriously injure a man; that is very like a mule. The bird is rapidly disappearing. To obtain their eggs, which are in considerable demand in Melbourne, hunters need to go back far into the interior. It will ultimately disappear from the Australian continent. - THE BAT. There are no less than twenty-five different kinds ot bats. Chief among these is the flying fox. This animal compares for size with the black squirrel of Canada. The color of its fur is about that of the red fox. It has also the fox’s head and the same sly, cun- ning expression. Its natural position when at rest is head down- wards, with its wings wrapped about it like a lady’s gossamer, and the two hooks or claws at the lower extremity of the wings hooked over a small limb. It may rain a week, it is all the same to him. With his chin tucked close down upon his breast, every part of his body is protected from the weather, and so, if it is inclined to rain, why, he just hangs on, and “lets it rain.” 102 AUSTRALIA AND THE AUSTRALIANS. I touched him very gently with my cane. He dropped his nose downwards, that is, raised it up- wards, and opened those cunning little eyes, as if to ask, “What do you want, sir? Have you anything for me toeat?” And then he put his chin back where it was, quite unconcernedly, leaving us to admire his shining black waterproof gossamer. | These animals, as also some others of the great bat tribe, are a perfect pest. to growers of fruit. Nocturnal in their habits, they come down on the trees while men sleep, so that it is difficult to guard against them. THE DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS. Of all the queer animals in Australia, the duck- billed platypus is the most so. This is the link (or one of them) between the birds and the beasts. It is about eighteen inches long, and of a dark brown color. Its shape and its habits are very much like that of the otter. Its fur is very much finer ; in fact, its fur is probably the finest and thickest of any animal known. A coat or cloak made of platypus fur would be valued at not less than eighty or one hundred pounds, that is, four or five hundred dollars. Through the kindness of a friend, we were able to bring with us . two skins as curios. THE DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS. 103 It eats frogs, mollusks, and water insects. It has the bill of the duck, and lays eggs, from which its young are hatched, and suckles its young after hatching, till they are able to do for themselves. You have, therefore, in the platypus a strange com- mingling of the bird and the beast. THE FLORA OF AUSTRALIA. S with the fauna so with the flora of Australia, quite unlike almost all other parts of the world, some thousands of species of flowering plants and trees have been discovered. The wattle, of which there are several varieties, is very beautiful when in full bloom. We were for- tunate in having an opportunity to see these trees at the flowering season in our drives through the coun- try. You find here, also, the magnificent acacias, yellow- flowered mimosa, sweet-scented myall, and flowering banksias. Much of the serub which covers the sandy plains presents, in the spring, a great variety of blossom. Many of these are arnied with thick, short, sharp thorns and spikes, permitting you to admire their pro- teges (the flowers) with your eyes, but not to touch them with your hands. In almost all instances where we attempted to pluck wild native flowers we were met with these terrible thorns. In the forests are the gigantic ferns; some of these grow to a height of forty and fifty feet. I{ presume "SUHUL NUGL NVIIVULSAY APIA TER ip . THE EUCALYPTUS TREE. oe 4 BOF Australasia, in which New Zealand ‘is included, can present a greater and more beautiful variety of ferns than any other part of the world. The variety in- cludes many hundreds.. We visited the Horticultural Gardens of Auckland, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Geelong, and Ballarat, besides having an opportunity, to some extent, to see them in their native condition. Although for general building purposes the forests of Australia are not equal to those of Canada, for bridges and foundation work, where strength and en- durance are demanded, the woods of the former coun- try are equal, if not superior, to those of the latter. THE EUCALYPTUS TREE. The prevailing wood of Australia is the eucalyptus, of which there are many varieties, some say over one 9? &e hundred. The “ white gum,” “red gum,” and “ shelly bark” are the larger kinds. Some of these grow to an immense size and height. One mighty giant mea- sured, when prostrate, four hundred and eighty feet, Trees three hundred feet high are very common in the Gippsland country (eastern part of Victoria). These trees all exude a kind of gum (hence the name “gum,” so largely applied to them), such as may fre- quently be seen upon a cherry or plum tree. 108 AUSTRALIA AND THE AUSTRALIANS. _ Like all other native trees in Australia, they shed their bark, and not their leaves. All trees of native growth in Australia are evergreen. When a thrifty “white gum,” standing out in the pasture lands, has shed its coat for the season, and freshened up its leaves after the cooler, rainy season has fairly set in, it is very pretty. Those seen through the country generally are, however, rather of a stunted kind, and - in the distance very much resemble our Canadian second growth oak. One must go to the forest, and especially into those rainier and cooler regions to get a view of them when they reach their very best condition. The white gum is, as a general rule, very straight- grained and can be rived out into pickets or shingles __ almost as smooth as if run out with a saw. These are — largely used for palings, and sometimes are laid, clap- board fashion, on sheds and out-houses, or more frequently on settlers’ shanties. In Australia, where the climate is much milder than in Canada, a tight wall is not so great a necessity. The red gum is much more gnarled and durable. Fencing posts will last longer than cedar, though they are not nearly so easy to handle, being, like all other Australian woods, very heavy. It is said that none of these woods will float if thrown into the water. I have seen this statement contradicted. One thing I THE EUCALYPTUS TREE. 109 particularly noticed, however, was when we visited saw-mills on the Murray, the logs were brought down the river to the mill in barges, a thing that would never be thought of in Canada. There are two very remarkable peculiarities belong- | ing to the leaves of these eucalyptus trees. The leaves when young, say up to two or three months after appearing, are of a totally different shape from the older leaf. It has lately been discovered that in botanical classification in Europe, several serious blunders have been made, through a lack of knowledge, of this peculiarity. The young leaf has no resemblance whatever to the older one. When I first noticed it, in those cases where a shoot had started out from the body of the tree near the ground, I thought a vine or creeper of some sort had begun to wind itself about the tree, never for a moment thinking that both kinds of leaf belonged to the same tree. When specimens were collected for sending home to Europe, the persons who made the collections either failed to notice the differ- ence in these leaves or failed to report, and the result is, confusion has already arisen which can only be corrected by the entire list of varieties being gone over’ again. The young leaf, which has all the appearance of being fully matured, is somewhat heart-shaped and 110 AUSTRALIA AND THE AUSTRALIANS. thick or plump, and is an inch or an inch and a half _wide and about as long, while the old leaf is long, narrow and thin, very much the shape of the peach leaf, only longer and thinner. The two resemble each other about as much as the fat, chubby hand of a plump baby, and the fourth finger on the hand of a tall, delicate lady. The other peculiarity of the eucalyptus leaf is that, instead of hanging horizontally on the tree, it turns its edge to the sun. Someone had made up a jingling rhyme respecting the strange contradictions to be seen in nature in terra antipode, and this line occurs, which was quite a puzzle to us at the time: ‘* Where leaves have neither upper side nor under.” We were at a loss to know what that could possibly mean, until we had become familiar with the eucalyptus. The eucalyptus is not so good a shade-tree as the English elm or oak, which grow very luxuriantly in Australian soil, yet it is planted in considerable numbers about residences and towns, because of its medicinal properties, being, as it is thought, a valuable preventive against all kinds of fever. The oil extracted from the leaves is very extensively used throughout Australia, and is unquestionably a most valuable remedy. We have used it for a year or more, and consider it, whether for outward or inward THE WATTLE AND CHERRY TREES. 111 application, much superior to anything of the kind we had ever before used. THE WATTLE TREE. The principal use made of the wattle tree is for tanning purposes. The bark is probably the most powerful astringent in the world, that is, regarding them in their simple, natural condition. | Extensive groves are planted for the tannan. _ What is most strange is the fact that the young tree, two or three inches thick, stripped of its bark, continues to live, and will, in a short time recover its bark, to be stripped again. THE NATIVE CHERRY TREE. The native cherry is in appearance not quite so much like the English cherry, as chalk is like cheese. lt is, when healthy and growing, very symmetrical and pretty, especially at a little distance from you. It has no leaves, but spines instead. These are coarser than those of the pine, and much rougher. The only reason why it is called cherry is because of its fruit, which is, after all, more unlike than like our cherry. The slight resemblance, however, gives it the name. The fruit is red and is about the size of a cherry. It is white inside, dry and mealy, but, strange to say , has its stone on the outside. : SIGNS OF PROGRESS. N no part of the British Empire has there been more rapid growth in all the essential elements of civilization and national prosperity than in Aus- tralasia. GROWTH OF POPULATION FROM 1873 TO 1885. 1873. 1885. IVISREOPN isaac ie eo cree caer ee a 772,039 991,869 New South Wales............ 553,833 957,914 Queensland ... 1.850662 2 des es 146,690 315,489 SOmtAUSULAle facie cates ic 198,075 313,423 Wrest Aiistralias cise ata 25,761 35,186 . PASI ADT xc. oarets -thayae- net ie ee a 104,217 133,791 New Zealand sono. fata ete hea: 295,946 575,226 2,096,561 3,322,898 2,096,561 Tnevease - 2.0 chwwses oct et Rs Seema we 1,226,337 An addition of over a million and a quarter, 1.e., over fifty per cent., in twelve years to the population of a country so young as Australasia must be regarded as very satisfactory. With very rare exceptions this increase, as well as the previous population, is English-speaking, and solidly British. The foreigner has not yet found his way to Australasia to any great extent. \ Os = : ta aq 7 4 ae ANNUAL TRADE. 113 ANNUAL TRADE, INCLUDING BOTH IMPORTS AND EXPORTS, FROM 1873 TO 1885. 1873. 1885, IVROLONIA S5.0b iene .. £31,836,310 £33,596 ,362 New South Wales...... 22,904,217 39,906,941 Queensland ............ 6,428,012 11,665,894 South Australia........ 8,428,959 11,184,658 West Australia ........ 562,546 1,097,083 Tasmania.............. 2,000,723 3,071,179 New Zealand ........3. 12,075,058 14,299,860 £84,235,825° £114,821,977 The above figures represent a growth of trade that is most encouraging. It is true that the balance of trade is as yet on the wrong side, the imports in all the colonies considerably exceeding the exports. There has been also a large increase of public debt in each colony. As an offset to both there are very exten- sive internal improvements, not so much of an unre- munerative sort as arsenals, fortifications and the like, but railways, water-works, telegraphic and telephonic systems, which are principally in the hands of the Government, and are becoming, in some of the colonies at least, very remunerative. Victoria could at any time, if she wished, dispose of her railways in the English market and wipe out at 114 AUSTRALIA AND THE AUSTRALIANS. once her colonial debt. She would not, however, con- sider that a profitable transaction. GROWTH OF RAILWAYS. 1873. 18865. WiOboria ©. ..2%.,hei. neces ears eos ie ee 458 1676 New South Wales .... ......... ROOT 1777 Queensland sr: oss fs. Behe eee 218 1434 SORDVA TAbralias 4.6 oo. eee an nee 202 1063 WSR EA aabaell 120 a0, oc. So scrs hicresuce te a 30 184 Wasmania< 245.53 act ansat oe acapoeetee 45 257 News Zealand. .i.632) ck adic outed sts 145 1654 1,495 8,045 New lines are being built. There are, at the time of this writing, not less than 10,000 miles in operation. The telegraph system has grown in proportion to the growth of the railway system. CULTIVATION OF THE SOIL. If we turn to the cultivation of the land, and cereals and animal production, we find quite as rapid an increase. The total number of acres under cultivation in all the colonies in 1873 was 3,306,923, while in 1885 we find the number of cultivated acres is 8,028,551, an increase of nearly five millions in twelve years. CULTIVATION OF THE SOIL. 115 The average yield per acre is not equal to that of Canada. This is partly to be accounted for by the lack of rain through much of the year. Taking the whole country, I do not think the average acre is equal in productive strength to that of Canada. There are portions of Victoria, however, especially in the south-west, which probably cannot be surpassed in the whole world for strength of soil. The continuous yield of that part of the colony is something enormous, and I dare say the same may be said of portions of other colonies. I am inclined to think, however, that the Canadian soil is much supe- rior, taking into account the whole territory. On the other hand, the mildness of the climate gives the Australian farmer the advantage in the longer ploughing season, enabling him to -cultivate a much larger acreage, as there is no frost to interfere with his tillage The mode of farming in Australia differs very much from that of the Old World. A farmer with the aid of only one hired man, except for a few days in harvest time, can put in and harvest 200 or, in some instances, 300 acres in a season. As there is no necessity for housing stock, the straw is not gathered. The grain is taken by means of strippers, and the ploughing is largely done by gang ploughs. This will explain why 116 AUSTRALIA AND THE AUSTRALIANS. it is that an average yield of six or seven bushels per acre pays expenses and yields a profit besides. The extensive fields of wheat as seen in Australia in October and November, reaching over the wide plains or undulating uplands, constitute one of the interesting sights of the country. The grain ripens the latter part of November and early part of December, and the rapidity with which it ripens in that dry climate taxes the fullest capacity of the farmer and his family while the harvest opera- tions last. In 1873 Australasia produced 18} millions of bushels of wheat, and in 1885 the yield had risen to 32} millions. The yield of potatoes in the latter year amounted to 410,000 tons, and of hay, 1,064,000 tons. Hay and chaff in Australia are two things entirely different from what is meant by these words with us. Hay is not cured English or native grass. It is wheat or oats, and sometimes other grains, but principally these, harvested just before ripe, when the grain is about full grown, but while the husk is still firm enough to retain its hold upon the grain. It is usually bound into sheaves and left in the field till thoroughly dried, then stacked and later on is chopped fine with a “cutting box” and put into bags; this fine-cut, unthreshed grain is called “chaff.” Almost LIVE STOCK. 117 every town or village has its “chaff mills.” Some of these do a large business putting up chaff for India. The farmers very frequently find it much more profitable to turn the wheat crop into hay than to allow it to ripen. It is very remarkable that the English grasses do not thrive in Australia, as a general rule. There is not, however, the same necessity that they should as with us, for the climate is so mild that very little stock, except working horses, are stabled. For these the chaff, as described above, is a more convenient fodder than that of the North, where the horse must be supplied three times a day with grain in addition | to his hay supply. The dried native grass is often used for bedding, as there is very little straw, the ripe wheat being largely gathered with “strippers” by which only the heads are taken. | LIVE STOCK. The number of horses possessed by the colonies in 1873 was something less than a million; now there are about one and a half millions; In 1873 there were upon the pastures 5,844,000 head of cattle. The number, in 1885, had risen to 8,260,000. I am told that the rearing of a steer to three or four years old, on Australian pastures, is only a mat- / 118 AUSTRALIA AND THE AUSTRALIANS. ter of a few shillings expense. If the water supply during those years is fairly good, a few thousands of such stock are a rich harvest for their owners. The chief difficulty and danger is the uncertainty of the rains. Drought in New South Wales or Queens- land means not only much suffering on the part of the poor beasts, but much Joss. There has been, so far, however, much more to encourage than to discourage, or we should not have the record of this large in- crease of production. In 1873 the several colonies had on their “runs” fifty-six and three-quarter millions of sheep. During the twelve years under consideration the number had increased to eighty-four and a quarter millions. There are many other sources of wealth, and other evidences of growth, which I shall not enumerate. THE GOLD PRODUCT OF AUSTRALASIA. Few countries anywhere on the globe can present a better record of material prosperity. I must, how- ever, give the reader some account of that attractive element which brought, originally, to these shores such vast numbers from the Old World. The production of gold in all the Australasian colo- nies, since that metal was first discovered in 1851, down to 1888, is in round numbers 80,000,000 ounces, THE GOLD PRODUCT OF AUSTRALASIA. 119 worth, say, £500,000,000 sterling, which, reckoned at $5 to the pound, would give us $1,500,000,000. Of this the mines in the colony of Victoria have produced considerably more than one-half. Immense nuggets have been found in past years, THE GOLD NUGGET, ‘‘ WELCOME STRANGER,” Found near Dunolly, 1869. Weight, 2,248 ounces; value, about $50,000. some of them upon the surface. Above is a cut of a large one, which, like many others, has an interesting history. In many cases poor men, who have been reduced 120 AUSTRALIA AND THE AUSTRALIANS. almost to beggary and starvation, wandering listlessly about, knowing not where to seck for the precious metal, their efforts so frequently failing, have stubbed their toes against just such a pile of wealth as you see in this “welcome stranger.” A party had excavated some distance into a hill, and had for several days carted earth for washing. In going in and out they had used a boulder (which was inconvenient to lift out of their way) as a step down from the outside into their drift. A circus had come into the town, and most of the men had gone to the show. One preferred to remain and dig. There had been a heavy rain, which had washed everything within its reach pretty clean, and just as the man was returning from the excavation with his load of dirt, he noticed something peculiar in the stone on which they all had been. step- ping up and down for several days. Examining it more closely, he discovered that it was an immense nugget, worth twenty-five or thirty thousand dollars, or more. | ; | One could fill a whole volume with just such finds. There are also tales to be told which give quite a different shading to the picture. ‘Some who become suddenly rich become almost as suddenly poor, by making big ventures for larger riches. Others lost all by giving themselves up to the wildest extravagance, THE GOLD PRODUCT OF AUSTRALASIA. 121 Nine-pins were played with bottles of champagne, for which he who broke fewest had to pay. “Treating the crowd,” which is commonly known in Australia as “shouting,” sometimes cost the indi- vidual hundreds of pounds. One very lucky fellow, who afterwards came to poverty, had his horse shod with gold. In many instances drunkenness brought to disgrace and utter poverty and rags men who had made thou- sands of pounds in the gold mines. Surface diggings and nuggets are not much thought of now, as they seem to have been almost wholly exhausted. About all the gold mining done in the country now is in quartz, for which large capital and costly machinery must be obtained, as the gold must now be sought deep down beneath the surface. We were in one of these 500 feet. After reaching the bottom, we went nearly a half mile in the drift. The gentleman who accompanied us very kindly explained all the mysteries and uncertainties of gold mining. The process is too long for explanation here. It is better for such broad, rich territories as Australia, when its inhabitants settle down into the steady development of the general natural resources which are presented other than gold, as seeking for that element is usually attended with undue and un- 9 122 AUSTRALIA AND THE AUSTRALIANS. healthy excitement. Australia has vast wealth inde- pendent of her gold. We will turn for a little to other evidences of prosperity not solely of a material kind, although partly the result of it. POSTAL STATISTICS. The number of letters despatched and received at, the post-offices of Australasia for 1884 was 138,103,- 105, and the number of newspapers 72,974,632. The rapid growth may be seen if we take the figures for Victoria for illustration : Letters. Newspapers. ABOU. jeceratleovis: ss sieee ereistars 504,425 456,741 ii Pee Ron sren AERA rite 6,109,929 4,277,179 DOTS oe cw eeteiarsjcaree eae 11,716,166 5,172,970 ESS carg Cecatncre iy orsteteaenraen 26,308,347 11,440,732 LSSO% js icra Cotes ges 36,061,880 16,277,108 The growth in most of the other colonies is even | larger, the number of letters passing through the New | South Wales post-offices for 1884 being 42,237,000, | and the number of newspapers 25,063,500. PUBLIC LIBRARIES. In almost every town we visited we found a well- furnished Mechanics’ Institute and Public Library. In | this respect the Australians do themselves great credit, and set an example worthy of imitation. tr Ore tee nF es ee Yas PUBLIC LIBRARIES. 123 The buidings of the Melbourne Public Library have eost in all £112,000. The number of books in the Melbourne Library is about 50,000. If to these we add pamphlets and other periodicals we have 174,380. It is open to the public, without payment, from ten LIBRARY OF MELBOURNE. _ am. to ten p.m., and is visited by over 325,000 persons ‘per year. Throughout the colony of Victoria, over which we , travelled so largely, there are 280 of these useful _ institutions, the number of volumes in them all _ amounting to 353,000, while the number of visits paid _ them during the year was over three millions. — 124 AUSTRALIA AND THE AUSTRALIANS. BOTANICAL AND HORTICULTURAL GARDENS. The Australians have shown commendable spirit and enterprise in the formation of botanical and horticultural gardens. There is scarcely a town of any size which has not at least a botanical garden and everywhere we went we found public parks sei apart and adorned with native and foreign trees anc shrubbery. | I think in this respect the Australians outdo al i peoples whom | know. These lines are written not so much to praise as t if possible, stimulate others, but especially Canadian: | for I fear we are far behind in this respect. | The city of Melbourne, including its suburbs, has n- less than seventy-eight parks and public garden: embracing in all 5,101 acres. The Royal Park ha 444 acres, Botanic Gardens, 235, Fitzroy Garden, in mediately in rear of Parliament buildings, has sixty four acres. This park is most beautifully kept. Statuary adorns all the walks, foreign and nativ) trees are all luxuriant. Roses are almost always i bloom. The ferns in the low valley tempt you to ha | as. =. =. == — = SSeS bs —- = = — a READING THE KORAN. I understand that one reason why the company employ these men is because they are all, by their religion, pledged teetotallers, and never give the officers of the ship any trouble by those undis- ciplinary pranks which usually grow out of. grog- drinking. They have among them “headmen,” or bosses, who 200 AUSTRALIA AND HOMEWARD. have chains about their necks to which whistles are attached ; and when one of these barefooted officials has occasion to pipe up his men to lower or put up a sail, he makes you feel the exalted dignity of his position by the sublime way in which he blows his whistle. If you are reading or writing or conversing, you are often made to experience, with Dr. Franklin, that “you have to pay dear for the whistle.” Our watches at sea, as we pass from one degree of longitude to ariother, are something like the clock of that man “who said of it, that when the hour hand ‘was at nine, and the minute hand at eleven, and it struck four, then he knew it was exactly half-past three. It is useless to try to set them right, when we are steering east or west. One must learn to trust entirely to the ship’s bells, which toll out in half-hour strokes the progress of the watches into which the day and night are divided. Through the night it is pleasant to hear the men on the watch cry out and respond to each other. I suppose the rule is so made that the officer in command, through that watch, may know that his men are awake and on the look-out. When the bell strikes, the watchman on the main bridge cries out in a kind of chant, “Ky-ah dek-tah hai ?”—(What do you see?) The man on the forward bridge FLYING-FISH. 201 responds, in a long drawn-out note, “ Kootchnai,’— (I see nothing). Then the quartermaster, also on the forward bridge, in English, with a fuller, rounder and louder key, announces that “ All’s well!”—and so on, at every half-hour of the night, if you should happen to be awake, you may know that faithful men are at their posts, guiding your ship through the darkness on her way to your desired haven. What small events relieve the monotony of a lands- man’s life at sea. To meet a ship is a wonderful sight after looking for a week or a fortnight at the wide waste of waters; a whale, a school of porpoises, a whole flock of flying-fish, startled into the air by the rude intrusion of our huge leviathan, ploughing sans ceremonie right in among them. Sometimes these little creatures, when once out of the water, will fly straight for the lights of the ship. One came on board a few evenings ago. It fell on the deck, and one of the stewards brought it into the dining-saloon for us to look at. I have seen them in thousands in various parts of the Pacific Ocean, but never thought them so large. This one was quite a foot in length, and would weigh not less than a pound. Its wings were about half the size of a lady’s fan. Well, well, what next? Here’s something more exciting. All’s well that ends well, and so, I suppose, 14 302 AUSTRALIA AND HOMEWARD. we can afford to be jocular over what might have been serious. If fishes jump into the ship, men, to be even with them, sometimes jump into the sea. “Man overboard!” All hands rush to the deck. The ship is stopped, engines reversed, buoys thrown out, boats lowered. “Pull away, boys, to the eastward, half a mile astern; follow the track of the ship.” Fortunately it is a lovely morning. There is just enough swell to give a graceful motion to the boat gone out in search.. All opera-glasses are in requisi- tion; all eyes scan the surface of the water. “There he is! See, the boat is pulling straight for him.” Five minutes later up goes an oar, like a mast to the boat, a signal that they have him. When he is safe on board again, we can ask, Who is he? and how came he off the ship ? “So ho, my lad, so ho!” One of the African black fellows, who has given the officers a good deal of trouble before, now, rather than work, plays “sick.” When the doctor reports that he can find nothing the matter with him, he is ordered by the boss with the whistle to go to work; and, in a fit of passion, he pops over. However, a man in new circumstances and cold water sometimes changes his mind, and my jolly tar no sooner reaches the surface, after his plunge, than “MAN OVERBOARD!’ 203 he wishes himself back on the ship. When the boat gets near him he is shouting like a good fellow, and swimming for dear life. He now weareth a chain. When we reach Colombo (Ceylon) he will be relieved from the difficulties and dangers of the ocean and allowed to do a little work for the benefit of the State and for his board—simply to teach him that insub- ordination at sea is a game which cannot be played with impunity. We have just crossed the equator for the second time, having crossed it about nine thousand miles east of this point in March last. We are once more in the Northern Hemisphere. We are having very pleasant weather. Temperature, 82°. InDIAN OcEAN, January 14th, 1888. THIRD LETTER. HE last letter was written just before we reached Ceylon. We dropped anchor in Colombo harbor at 4 am. Sunday, 15th January. Colombo is a city of 120,000 inhabitants, of these: about 2,000 are English-speaking. I preached in the evening in the “oldest Wesleyan chapel in Asia.” It was built in 1816. It is well situated as respects population, being in one of the crowded parts of the city. It contained a large marble tablet, erected to the memory of the great and good Dr. Coke. May 3rd, 1814, that good man ascended to his reward. The tablet tells us that his body was buried at sea, lat. 2.29 south, long. 59.29 west. It also bears the name of those honored brethren who accompanied _ him in his glorious work. The names are Lynch, Squance, Harvard, Erskine and Clough. Although the good Coke never reached the shore towards which his heart and his prayers went out, I presumie the work would not have been begun, at any rate so soon as it was, if he had not led the way. When the sea shall give up her dead, what a great s A A . REV. DR. COKE. 205 host will stand upon these shores to hail the resurrec- tion of this zealous servant and apostle of God! DATE PALMS, I was very much pleased with the singing and apparent devotion of the native people. One could not fail to see the wonderful difference which a pure, 206 AUSTRALIA AND HOMEWARD. experimental Christianity effects between those who embrace it and those who retain the belief in and -practice of other forms of religion. There may be said to be five forms of religion in Ceylon—Pro- testantism, Roman Catholicism, Buddhism, Hindooism and Mohammedanism. Ceylon may be regarded as the chief centre of Buddhism. It began in India, but took refuge, after suffering terrible persecutions from the Brah- mins, in this very lovely and very historic island. When the Emperor Ming of China had dreamed of seeing a golden man flying about his palace, and the dream was interpreted to mean that the Holy One was to be found in the West, having heard (as I think) a description of Jesus and His wonderful words and works, he despatched a deputation westward in search of the Holy One. This deputation returned, after many months, with priests and images of Buddha from Ceylon. So going out from this island, that system has long been the widespread religion of China. Of the two, as a merci- ful and equalizing system Buddhism is very much superior to Brahminism. There is a grand Buddhist temple in Colombo. There are a little over 1,500,000 Buddhists; Hin- doos, 600,000; Roman Catholic, 200,000; Moham- 2 EN eS ei re “NOTAHO NI ONITTIAAVUL JO AGOW ANO i! \ \A NA ay AN 2 Ai EDUCATION IN CEYLON. 209 medans, 200,000; Protestants, somewhere under 100,000. There are in all about 23,000 Wesleyan adherents; of these about 5,000 are communicants. There are in round numbers 18,000 scholars in the Wesleyan schools. ANOTHER MODE OF TRAVELLING IN CEYLON. There is a Wesleyan College, over which the Rev. T. Moscrop presides, in which there are 300 pupils, 60 per cent. of whom are Christian. The Mohammedans who take advantage of the Wesleyan College attend the daily prayers with the others. Mr. Moscrop tells me, that although it is impossible to get the Mohammedans into any other place of worship (so 210 AUSTRALIA AND HOMEWARD. called), yet they will listen with attention to what may be said upon the street. Ina climate like that of Ceylon, out-door preaching wight be the rule quite easily. Here is a glorious field for evangelistic work. The Rev. John Scott is the Chairman of the Colombo District. He superintends the printing and publishing establishment. He kindly took me all through. Type-setting, printing, binding and stitch- ing arc all done by natives. I did not see among them all, a white face. Buvoks, leaflets, pamphlets, in the Singalese, are being prepared for scattering among the people, especially at promiscuous gatherings out of doors. I asked if they buy readily, or do they expect to receive them gratuitously. He says that the people buy very readily. Some of the Wesleyans are not only very devoted and exemplary, but are liberal givers. I see, by referring to the report of the Colombo District, a copy of which Mr. Scott kindly gave me, that the number of conversions from Buddhism dur- ing the past year was tifty, and nine from Hindooism. The total number of pages of Scripture, religious and school books and tracts, printed in 1886, is 8,056,307. The report says that in the official list of publications issued by Government, the Wesleyan press continues SUCCESSFUL WORK. 211 to take the lead in vernacular literature. I had the good fortune to form the acquaintance of the Rev. S. Langdon, the Chairman of the Kandy District. Mr. Langdon is doing a grand work in the interior. He is conducting his work more on the evangelistic principle. All these dear brethern seem to be men whose hearts are thoroughly in their work—a work which God is blessing. O that they may yet seet still more abundant fruit of their labors. Very nearly 3,000,000 of people in Ceylon; of these 275,000 are nominally Christian. Unfortunately a large number of those called Christians are hardly removed a hand-breadth above the Buddhist. If I were going to depend on mummery at all, I think I should choose the genuine Buddhistic article in pref- erence to that called “Christian.” From what I saw for myself, and from the testi- mony of our brethren whose names I have given above, there are some in Ceylon called Christians who are so in more than name. Mr. Scott gave me a wonderfully interesting account of the labors of one of their native preachers who won over to Christ six hundred of his countrymen, having to begin his work against the very strongest pre- judices of the heathen people. There are now two large and prosperous circuits as the outcome of this 212 AUSTRALIA AND HOMEWARD. good man’s work, in addition to what he saw in his own day in this Eastern Hemisphere. O, what a glorious field is here. Patient toilers have gone before in all these lands. They have opened the way. May we not enter into their labors with more of their zeal, that we may reap where they have sown, that by-and-bye, in the blessed harvest-home, the sowers and the reapers may rejoice together. The first newspaper I got hold of had an article and a letter complaining of the increase of crime. I asked Mr. Scott if the increased use of intoxicants among the natives had anything to do with it, and his reply was that which we hear these times everywhere, viz., “Alcohol is the direct cause of more than half the crime known among us.” This evil must be fought with greater earnestness. Of all the means the devil has ever invented for destroying the bodies and the souls of men, this is the most effective. These enemies and slaughterers of mankind—the makers and ven- dors of intoxicating beverages—must have no quarter. This is a holy war, and must be fought in the name of God. _ There are many things more I wished to write about Ceylon, but must defer them. The sea to-day is as smooth as a floor. We have now come very - nd Nt ge i NN ncaa ng a am PLEASANT SAILING. 213 nearly six tficusand miles, and all the way we have had most delightful weather. I have written, all told, nearly two hundred pages of ordinary sized scribbling book. ) InpDIAN OCEAN, January 18th, 1888. LP ae ale ws > * ze ag = a", ae 2 4 @ FOURTH LETTER. HOUGH our ship is ploughing through the waves of the Arabian Sea, my thoughts go back to that island of spices which good Bishop Heber has set so many people singing about. I feel that there is very much more to be said about it than I have time to write now, or you have space to print. I said in my last letter that Ceylon may be regarded as the central point from which Buddhism has spread so largely over Asia. I believe it may be made the cen- tral point for the wider spread of Christianity. Mr. Moscrop tells me that they are able to secure Christian teachers for all the children in their schools, which cannot be done in India. This is a most im- portant feature, the percentage of conversion to Chris- tianity of the better class of the people being much larger in Ceylon than on the continent of Asia. The percentage of Christians to the whole popula- tion of the island is quite ten times that of India. Ceylon being the classic land of Buddhism, its down- fall here would influence a vast proportion of the a pee ey ee O, FOR MORE LIGHT! 215 human race in Burmah, Siam and China. Arnold, in his “ Light of Asia,” gives us these lines :— ‘** We are the voices of the wandering wind, Which moan for rest, and rest can never find. Lo! as the wind is, so is mortal life, A moan, a sigh, a sob, a storm, a strife. ‘*Q Maya’s son! because we roam the earth, Moan we upon these strings, we make no mirth; So many woes we see in many lands, So many streaming eyes and wringing hands. ‘¢ But Thou that art to save, Thine hour is nigh ! The sad world waileth in its misery, The blind world stumbleth on its round of pain. Rise, Maya’s child! wake! slumber not again.” These lands must be filled with light. So far there are but faint rays. The sun is not yet fully risen, much less reached the meridian. We who know the truth may do much more than we are doing to roll this our poor earth with increasing speed towards the Sun of the soul. Much might be done to spread the light by the formation of Christian bands for evangelistic tours round the world, for the purpose of strengthening the hands of pioneer brethren who sometimes grow weary | in their heavy and responsible labors. How glad I 7 216 AUSTRALIA AND HOMEWARD. shall be to join a company of earnest souls for such a work as this. O! let us hasten to “preach the Gospel to every creature.” The time is short. We look for a little at those factors which are at work in the direction of bringing Ceylon to Christ. The opening of the Suez Canal has tended to place her more in the centre of the ocean route through to the greater East. The English have constructed, at much expense, a breakwater which gives at Colombo a safe and capacious harbor. Our ship added to her cargo at Colombo about three thousand tons, consisting partly of tea and coffee of Ceylon growth, and partly of raw silk brought down from China. By means of this increased trade Ceylon is brought. more into contact with the Christian world, and is becoming every year more familiar with the British language and with Christian ideas. So great was the value attached to this island as the “key of India,” in addition to its natural wealth, that Britain at the general peace gave up, for its peaceable possession, the much larger island of Java to the Dutch. For about one hundred and fifty years the southern maritime districts of the island were occupied and controlled by the Portuguese, ‘ who were in 1656 driven out by the Dutch, who held them until the beginning of the present century, BRITISH RULE. 217 when the whole island came finally into the hands of the British Government, being converted into a Crown colony in 1803. The army of Roman Catholic teachers brought in under Portuguese auspices had little difficulty in “converting ” a good many thousands of a people who were only too ready to embrace a religion which gave them high-sounding baptismal names, and which in no sense prevented their continued observance of Buddhistic feasts and ceremonies. Besides, no appoint- ments under the Government could be obtained without profession of Christian (R. C.) faith. Little was done, therefore, by these teachers for the moral condition of the heathen, and very little was done by either the Portuguese or the Dutch to advance their material or intellectual condition. How great the contrast since the island came under British rule! In 1815 the total trade (exports and imports) was £473,000; in 1887 it was over £8,000,- 000. Shipping tonnage (entered and cleared), 75,000 ; in 1887 it was 4,000,000. In 1815 there were only 170 schools; now there are 2,200. Then there were 2,000 scholars; now there are 120,000. Not only do we here see great material growth, but in this last item of statistics we see the present and future moral improvement of the people. One hun- 15 218 AUSTRALIA AND HOMEWARD. dred and twenty thousand children in these schools, where every morning by governmenta] regulation the Bible is studied for one hour. Attendance during that hour is not compulsory, but pupils seldom or never absent themselves. The present Governor, as most of his predecessors have done, takes a lively interest in the improvements of the country and its population. Mr. Langdon, Chairman of the Wesleyan Kandy District, tells me that the Governor feels a deep interest in his Christian work in the interior, and encourages it in every possible way. . The kings of Kandy were the last of all the native kings to hold out against the foreigners. There was a Kandyan tradition that their conquerors were to be a people who should make a road through the rocky hills. No one had attempted this until the British got possession of the country. The almost impene- trable interior has been opened up by the British. High hills were tunnelled for cart routes for the sake of getting at the valuable spices and other productions inland. | When the English landed, in 1796, there was not in the whole island a single practicable road. Before Sir E. Barnes resigned, in 1831, every town of importance was approached by a carriage road. He THE VALUE OF ROADS. 219 had constructed a first-class macadam road from Colombo to Kandy, which is now superseded by the railway of 1867. By means of these roads not only have those in the heart of the country been materially benefited and more easily reached in times of famine, but by them also the Gospel, with its various means, is being very much more quickly and effectively brought to the people, fulfilling the words of Isaiah in his prophecies - respecting the glorious and final ushering in of Gospel blessings to all people, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every moun- tain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” ‘ In 1807, the Governor’s chaplain, writing to a ~ friend in England, said: “Practically there are no roads in Ceylon.” Now there are nearly 1,500 miles of metalled roads, besides 900 miles of gravelled, to which may be added 600 miles of improved sand roads available for traffic in dry weather. * The benefit to the people cannot be over-estimated. Waste districts have been settled up. Settlements, 220 AUSTRALIA AND HOMEWARD. villages and towns have sprung up where fifty years ago all was jungle and desolation, and means of employment have been afforded the poor people. As in India, so it was in Ceylon in past ages; there was plenty of food in the country to feed the people, but in some districts they were dying by the thousand with famine, because there were no roads over which food could be conveyed in time. Now all this in Ceylon is changed. An earnest writer has lately said that roads are great educators, and that especially in India and Ceylon, roads and railways are doing as much to level caste and destroy superstition as all the force of the missionaries and schoolmasters. Of this we may have our doubts, yet we rejoice in the hope that all these influences combine to bring about the dispersion of the darkness and the ushering in of the glorious day of truth. For this many prayers continually ‘ascend, ARABIAN SEA, January 19th, 1888. FIFTH LETTER. e HIVE halted in the Arabian Sea, and put down a little babe to await the resurrection of the just, when the sea shall give up that vast host who rest beneath her troubled waves. I marked upon the map, in the pamphlet which the company give to the passengers, the latitude and longitude, for the poor mourning mother, that she might know the spot in the ocean where her little one sleeps its last sleep. We passed on Saturday evening, 21st, Socotra Island, which the British Government has so lately taken, that, at least, other nations may be prevented from using it to the injury of British commerce, or to the weakening of the British hold upon the East. We passed Cape Guardafui about six o’clock on the Sab- bath morning. No light! That sharp point of land, extending well out into the sea, and no light to protect the sailor from wrecking his ship upon it! Why is there no light here, when all other such points that we have ever seen are well provided with these necessary y Ady 4 AUSTRALIA AND HOMEWARD. beacons? Solely because if any nation were to put a lighthouse there it would have to maintain there, also, a garrison of soldiers to protect the lighthouse and its keeper from the savages. Alas, poor Africa! Thy coasts at every bay, or river, or anchorage, are stained with blood and tears. Poor Africa! Shall we wonder if thine hand is against the inventions of civilization! How much hast thou to thank civiliza- tion for ? j All honor to those noble men, Livingstone and Stanley, and following them, Taylor and others, who have opened the way for better things, and are carrying in to our dark-skinned brethren the blessed light of truth and salvation. Our supply of coal running short we had to put in to Aden, in Arabia, for a couple of hundred tons. This we had not expected. We anchored some little distance from the town, and the natives came out in hundreds, with all sorts of curios—chamois and gazelle horns, ostrich eggs, coral, white and pink; shells, fifty different kinds; walking sticks, native cloths, boxes, baskets, coral necklaces and so forth, and so forth. We thought the natives of Colombo bad enough ; but, O dear, as some said, they can’t hold a candle to ‘ these fellows. “You buy, Mistuh! Me sell cheap, SA en ea amenes ~ NATIVE TRADERS. 223 Nice basket, Mistuh; lady want nice basket?” “Well, how much do you want for it?” “Two shillin’, Mistuh ; nice basket.” “No, I don’t want it. Take it away.” “Mistuh, how much you give?” “No, take it away. I don’t want it.” “You give shillin’, Mistuh?” “No. Take it away.” “How much you give, Mistuh?” “Didn't I tell you, I don’t want it? Take it away!” “How much you give, Mistuh? Say how much you give.” “Well, look here, I'll give you sixpence for it.” “Oh, Mistuh!” “T won't give you another penny for it. Take it away, and don’t bother me.” “All right, Mistuh. You take.” No sooner do the rest of the babbling crowd see you handing out money for a basket than down they rush on you like an avalanche, with all the above named articles and many more, with the same persistency and the same reduction and usually the same result. Like the girl who married her persist- ent admirer to get rid of him, so you buy things you don’t want, just to get rid of these persevering traffickers. Now that we have bought till we positively affirm we will not buy any more, let us look down into the water. O, shades of the vasty deep! what are those ¢ Those, O vain man, those are your brethren. You 224 AUSTRALIA AND HOMEWARD. thought that they were fish, porpoises, sharks, turtles, but they are not. They are your brethren, with just as good a right to be in that water as you have to be in this universe; with just as good a right to dive for sixpence as you have to dig for it. “Trow away, Mistuh; me dive. You trow sixpence, Mistuh; you see me dive. Trow away, Mistuh; trow away! Yah, yah, yah! Ha, ha, ha!” O see his teeth! Who would begrudge a hundred pounds for such a set of teeth as that? “Trow away, Mistuh; you see me dive. Trow away! Yah, yah, yah! Ha, ha, ha!” Now, my dear sir, you have been taught that “throwing money into the sea,” is simply to waste it altogether, so that it does no one any good. Try it now, and see how some of your old notions are dissi- pated. You need not be very particular about toss- ing it quite close to him. Fifty or sixty feet from him or even more, so long as he can see where it strikes the water. Some one threw a sixpence right into the midst of a group of them, and four of them, reached it about the same time. They seized each other under the water, and we could see them in a regular quartette fight, heels uppermost, beneath the surface. When they came up the smallest one of the lot was crying. Whether he shed tears before he got NATIVE DIVERS. 225 to the surface or not I cannot say. I presume he could not very well answer that question himself. However, the biggest one had the money and the little one had the ery, and the intervening two had another turn at the “Yah, yah, yah! Ha, ha, ha Trow away, Mistuh; me dive.” Did I hear you ask about their clothing? A very insignificant matter, sir, very. The less said about it the better. Whether in or out of water, they thoroughly answer the conundrum which fond mothers so often put, “How shall we prevent our ‘boys from wearing out the knees of their trousers?” Reduce them to the rank to which these fellows are reared,and send them forth “sans culottes,’ and they give you no further trouble in this particular. I am delighted to find that here at Aden a good work is being done in the distribution of Bibles, Testaments, and portions among the people. Only a short time ago there occurred the sound conversion of an Islam to the Christian faith. He has given him- self up fully to colporteur and evangelistic work, and is already proving himself a workman that needeth not to be ashamed. Oh, how much these lands need a great army of such as he! May our God soon raise them up. We weighed anchor at 4 p.m., and at ten o'clock 226 AUSTRALIA AND HOMEWARD. the same evening passed the narrow straits of Babel- mandeb, and entered the waters of the Red Sea, around which so many historic memories cling. The moon, nearly full, gives us a good view of the rocky coast and islands, for she is shining her very best, and is so directly above our heads that if the “man” were to fall off, he would drop squarely on our deck. And there, too, is our old friend the North Polar Star and the Dipper, with pointers well above the horizon at 11 p.m., with the handle still below the waves. We are reminded by the face of our old familiar friend that we are back again into the Northern Hemisphere, and begin already to have a home-like feeling. A lady asked yesterday why the sea is called “Red”; the quartermaster, standing near, said that it was “because here Jonah swallowed the whale,’ which showed that he would be none the worse if he were a little more re(a)d. Well, I did not know why. If I ever heard, I certainly had forgotten. While I was writing about the moon and her “man,” a few lines back, my wife came running down from the upper deck and told me to look out of the window, “quick!” (I often need a little poking up in that way.) Here was the answer to the lady’s question. We were passing through water which seemed to be mixed with brick dust. The billows rolled up by our ship THE RED SEA. 227 were billows of pale blood: I never saw such a sight before. I presume we passed through a patch about two miles wide, then we ran into clear water again. On inquiry I find that sometimes these patches of red extend for many miles. Whether they are caused by mineral substances below, or vegetable or animal matter in the water, I cannot say. If we have occa- sionally during the day billows of blood, we have occa- sionally during the night billows of fire. To me one of the most interesting sights is to stand on the deck at night and watch the wondrous play of phosphorescent light as it dances and sparkles on the crests of the waves. One would think the deep to be on fire. How wonderful are the works of God! In wisdom He has made them all; in mercy and conde- scension, too, for our happiness, even though we have sinned. Rep Ska, January 24th, 1888. SIXTH LETTER. BEGIN this letter at Suez. We have had a most delightful voyage—8,316 miles from Melbourne here, and not one hour of bad weather all the way. The officers of the /assilia say they have never had such a voyage as this before. We had expected — considerable heat before reaching Suez; in this, however, we have been agreeably disappointed. From Perim Island, at the southern entrance to Suez at the extreme north, the length of the Red Sea is 1,230 miles. The navigation of this sea is attended with very great danger, apparently, from the number of wrecks on islands, shoals and sunken rocks all the way up. It is, I believe, especially dangerous for sailing vessels. Since noon to-day (Friday, 27th) we have been in the Gulf of Suez, and that has enabled us to view all along the southern coast of the Sinai Peninsula. Although the day is a little too hazy for us to make out the mountains separately, yet the group so honored of God is distinctly visible a few miles back from the coast. It would be a strange Christian MAJESTY AND MEEKNESS. 229 heart that would not be moved by the sight of those wonderful hills where the voice of the thunder and of the trumpet proclaimed the advent of Jehovah to talk face to face with His servant. Standing on the deck of the steamer, as it were in historic vision, I saw Moses quietly watching his FINDING OF MOSES. flock at the foot of one of the loftiest of those distant hills, when he was suddenly startled by the strange sight of a bush on fire, yet not being consumed. Then follows an amazing dialogue, in which the majesty of God and the meekness of the true Christian appear. | Then I saw Moses making his journey back to 230 ‘AUSTRALIA AND HOMEWARD. Egypt, wondering how it could be that God would lead His people out of bondage by his hand. Here at Pi-hahiroth and Baal-zephon—both quite near where I now write—I saw the hosts of Israel pitching their tents under Moses’ direction, and heard A COMMON EASTERN SCENE, the rumbling of the wheels of the war-chariots of Egypt approaching. Then the pillar of fire, the mur- muring of the people, and the reassuring words of their leader; then the marching of the captives to liberty, and the hastening of their pursuers to death, for God was fighting for His people, and woe unto them who fight against Him. aeeeenemans ees | ian. arn sae reer tah THE SONG OF MOSES. 231 And I heard, oh so faintly—because of my dulness of hearing—the refrain of that glorious song which had not yet ceased to re-echo, even through the wide portals of heaven, one thousand five hundred years — after, as John tells us: “The Lord is my strength and song,and He is become my salvation. Thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in: pieces the enemy. Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders. The Lord shall reign forever and ever.” And then comes the murmuring at Marah and Elim —both places quite near us during the day—and then Sinai with all its glories—glories which are increasing every hour, as truth wins its way among men. There was laid the foundation of practical righteousness. There the true germ of all correct legislation. There was given to humanity the true balance whereby each ean weigh himself, and, seeing his deficiency, may come to Christ. There was made known to man as never before the majesty and holiness of God. What thoughts arise as we look out upon that holy mount! As we looked, dark clouds had once more gathered round about its lofty head. A storm was evidently approaching. Is He angry with us while our polluted lips talk far too flippantly of Him and His great glory? Lo! there is the.sign of his mercy. aor WT 232 .. .*** AUSTRALIA AND HOMEWARD. The ‘sun burst forth again, and one of’ the most beautiful rainbows I have ever seen was thrown by that same Hand that wrote the law, right across those hills where in olden days He came down to talk to man. O blessed bow of promise! O covenant of MOSES RECEIVING THE LAW. grace! O Thou most merciful, teach us Thy law and write it on our hearts. We dropped anchor in Suez harbor at 11 p.m. (27th), and went ashore at six o’clock next morning. Of all the , dilapidated places on earth, this poor old town is - wt FE - J fe y A ¥ PLOUGHING IN EGYPT. Semper eadein. SUEZ, TEL-EL-KEBIR AND CAIRO. 235 chief. There are evidences. of former life aad activity, but the docks and storehouses are nearly all in ruins. Prior to the opening of the canal, this was the great emporium for all goods from the East for shipment up the Mediterranean. From here in the olden times _eamel-trains, miles in length, did the work now done much more quickly by the railway and the canal. We spent some hours looking about this poor old town. If I must needs go to the penitentiary for five years or live in Suez exclusively for that time, I pray you (as Carlyle would put it) send me not to Suez. We left at 11 a.m. for Cairo, which we reached a little after dark. Tel-el-Kebir is about half way between the two. This famous battle-ground is, as I take it, just on the dividing line between the land of Goshen and the desert. I am astonished at the fertility of the soil all the way from Tel-el-Kebir to the Valley of the Nile. No one is surprised at the productive power of the Nile valley, for that is replenished every year by the overflow of the river. When you look at the fertile land, however, beyond the valley, and remember that it has been tilled for 3,000 or 4,000 years, you are surprised at its long con- tinued fertility. We saw luxuriance which would have been creditable to virgin soil in any country. | 236 AUSTRALIA AND HOMEWARD. But, oh, that awful desert through which we passed before we looked upon these green fields! Poor He- brews! who could blame you for murmuring? Yet even here God’s mercy was seen. In some way He mani- fests Himself to us all if we but seek Him, and He will lead us through severest trials to the Promised Land. I see that some of the modern maps represent the hosts of Israel as passing the water of the Red Sea at the Bitter Lakes, and not at the Red Sea proper. Whatever some explorers may think, J am thoroughly convinced that the crossing was at Suez. In going to Cairo by train, we ran all along the south shore of the Bitter Lakes. Nowhere along these shores could it be said that the Hebrews were thoroughly hemmed in, until they were driven as far east as Suez. There they must stop, for the lofty range of hills, extending back from the bold promon- tory, called by the sailors Mount Attaka, standing right out in the sea, would quite prevent their mov- ing any farther in that direction. If we look at the distance travelled from Memphis to Elim and beyond, in six weeks (see Exodus xvi. 1), and allow their progress to be twelve miles per day, we shall feel the more certain that they crossed at Suez, and did not take the route marked in some recent (improved ?) Bible maps. | | | | | | | as S Ar vt MUMMY. ““Perchance that very hand now pinioned flat Has hob-nobbed with Pharaoh glass to glass, Or dropped a penny in Old Homer’s hat, Or doffed thine own to let Queen Dido pass.” AGES LONG PAST. 239 We saw along the railway scores of water-wheels, turned by cows or oxen, for irrigating purposes, pre- cisely as they are represented to have been in the ages long past; and there, too, are the wooden ploughs with no improvement whatever in 3,000 years. THE PYRAMIDS AND RIVER NILE. We went, of course, to see the Pyramids and the Sphinx. To me the most remarkable things about those ruins are the immense stones in the temple of the Sphinx. These stones have been quarried out 240 AUSTRALIA AND HOMEWARD. many miles away, and on the other side of the Nile. How they were brought and put in their present posi- tion is a mystery to all who see them. . How insignificant is man’s mightiest effort! This temple, once the object of royal and princely admira- tion, for hundreds of years has lain buried beneath nearly forty feet of sand. Cairo, from which the great Pyramid is nine miles away, is a city of about 350,000 inhabitants. There are s gns of new life and activity. Of late there have been a great many new buildings erected, some of which are very fine. . _ The American l’resbyterians have in Cairo a flourish- ing mission. I addressed a Temperance meeting on Saturday night under the auspices of a major of the British regiment stationed in the city. I preached on Sabbath morning and gave an address to a missionary society composed of young native women. Dr. Lansing and his brethren, Dr. Watson and Rev. Mr. Harvey, are doing a noble work in Egypt. Some of their converts are thorough workers. We attended the native service when Brother Har- vey preached in Arabic. Many of the congregation, composed almost exclusively of natives, were tine- looking people. The men and women do not sit together, but are separated by a tall partition which G 3 “‘O Babylon, how art thou fallen! Thy fall more dreadful from delay! : Thy streets forlorn To wilds shall turn, Where toads shall pant and vultures prey.” —Oliver Goldsmith. % r MOHAMED ALI. 243 runs the whole length of the church. It was to us somewhat amusing to see all the men wearing through- out the entire service the little red (fez) caps. We visited the Mosque of Mohamed Ali. The tomb of this cruel wretch is within, draped in red. When we went to the door of the mosque at Suez we were asked to remove our boots or we could not go in, so we decided to stay out. Here at Cairo, all that is required of you is to put a pair of “great big” red leather slippers over all. What a nice thing it is to find a religion that can accommodate itself to everybody’s convenience! Our feet being shod with an ungainly preparation of Mohammedan goloshes we were per- mitted to enter into the courts of this rascally prophet, especially when it was remembered that we would liberally-backsheesh the guide. Close by is the tomb of the unfortunate Mamelukes, whom Ali treacherously slaughtered at the feast to which he had invited them. ; From present appearances the old backsheesh busi- _ ness is about done. The people of Cairo seem pros- perous and happy, in acommercial sense. We saw very little evidence of real poverty and very little begging. The children along the turnpike road from the city to the Pyramids follow your carriage for a mile at a stretch, erying, “Backsheesh, backsheesh!” but the 244 AUSTRALIA AND HOMEWARD. little rascals in most cases were evidently doing it for fun, or for the sake of a few pennies wherewith to nN) Ii STREET LEADING TO A MOSQUE IN CAIRO. ' buy sweetmeats or sugar-cane, so much eaten by all the Arabs. BACHSHEESH. 245 We frequently noticed them playing, and sometimes could hear them laughing and singing among the trees or on the green near the road, yet when our carriage passed them they stopped their playing almost invari- ably and took after us with the time-honored ery of — their fathers. Woe unto you if you drop a penny to whet their appetite. Then you may expect to hear the ery of the whole pack keeping close to the hind wheels of your vehicle, however rapidly your team may be going. We left Cairo on the evening of the 30th, and reached Alexandria in about four hours. Apriatic Sea, February 2nd, 1888. SEVENTH LETTER. CPPYE left Alexandria for Italy on the morning of 31st January. We had intended walking from the ship to the so called “ Pompey’s Pillar” (though why called so J know not), and breakfasted early for that purpose; but when we got on deck we saw such a crowd of hungry Arabs on the dock wanting to “dragoman” us and “backsheesh” us, that we pre- ferred contenting ourselves with looking at the misnamed pillar from the deck of the ship, rather than have our patience and our purse assailed for the hundredth time by these tormentors. I think I have a kind heart; I would like, at any rate, to have, and it is something of a comfort to one to think he has; but one must harden it somewhat when he travels in Egypt. The locusts, the canker- worm, the caterpillar, and a good many other et ceteras, are thrown into the shade by these pests, who want to guide you, and, of course, to bleed you. So it was a deliverance for us also, as to Israel of old, to get out of Egypt. , Alexandria is a much brighter and more progressive enti th, Could it but speak, What stories it would tell! OLD ALEXANDRIA. 249 city than I expected to find it. Of course, it is not the city that it was two thousand years ago. Of that city it might be said, as Virgil wrote of the ancient city of his fathers, “ Zroja erat”—Troy was ; that is, Troy is not now. -So may it be said of the ancient “These temples, palaces and piles stupendous, Of which the very ruins are tremendous.” city which was where now (or near by) stands Alex- andria. It is supposed that, if extensive excavations were made, there might be found as fine specimens of 17 250 AUSTRALIA AND HOMEWARD. ancient art and evidences of refinement and civiliza- tion as have been of late unearthed at Rome and Pompeii. We booked for Brindisi, in Italy. The distance is from Alexandria eight hundred and twenty-five miles, much greater than I had supposed. We read the twenty-seventh chapter of the Acts of the Apostles with largely increased interest. Paul and his com- panions were put by the centurion into a ship which had sailed, like ours, from Alexandria for Italy. We, too, sailed close by (under) Crete, which having passed we got more tossing about in the Adriatic Sea than we had experienced in our voyage of over eight thou- sand miles from Australia to Egypt; for it was winter, and that means, usually, in Mediterranean and Adri- ~ atic waters, very rough weather. However, we were not fourteen days or nights with- out seeing either sun or stars; we were not prisoners ; ’ we were not exceedingly tossed with a tempest. I could not but think of the amazing difference generally between the condition of Christians of these days and those who lived in the earlier centuries. If they suffered with Him and for Him, as we know not of, they shall be correspondingly glorified. Some way, in that world to come, they who have suffered most for Him here shall be most highly rewarded, Though we THE ISLES OF GREECE. 251 shall not envy in that day those who shall be more gloriously crowned than we, yet we shall regret then that we had not suffered more for Him here, that we might with Him and with them be more abundantly glorified. If, however, there is not the same oppor- tunity for suffering, there is as grand an opportunity for toil; and if we would have that crown for which we hope, we must toil on till our work is done. I see and feel now as I never did before the wide and numerous doors of opportunity thrown open to all lovers of Jesus and humanity. Oh! for more of the spirit of him who was glad to endure all storms and tempests for the sake of testifying for his Master before Czesar and his household, as well as to suffer the loss of all things that he might win Christ. We had a pleasant day’s sail along the coast of Greece, sheltered from the north-east wind by lovely and picturesque islands, on some of which were charm- ing residences, hamlets and towns. We sailed into Brindisi on the morning of the 3rd of February. This old town was more flourishing in the days of the emperors than now. It was the southern terminus of the old Appian way. This fact reveals its ancient importance as a port of entry to old Rome. We were off by the first train for Naples. The train takes you along the Gulf of Venice, as far as 252 AUSTRALIA AND HOMEWARD. Foggia, which makes that part of the journey very much more interesting than if it were entirely inland. We passed through many miles of olive groves. The tenacity of life of an olive tree is most remarkable. In many instances the entire body of the tree had decayed with age, and only a shell bore up the living THE APPIAN WAY. and fruitful branches. Though thousands of those we saw must have been of great age, we saw none dead. I noticed particularly that the tree flourished in thin and rocky soil, where almost all other fruit- producing trees would certainly fail. What the wheat AN OLD SMOKER. 253 crop is to Canadians the olive crop is to the inhabi- tants of Southern Italy. It was near 11 p.m. when we reached the Hotel du Vesue: “ Napoli” (ee). " For two or three miles back we kept a sharp look-out for old Vesuvius, but the night was unfavorable to our doing more than seeing the dim outlines of that venerable smoker. When we looked out of our hotel window the next morning, however, we saw the mountain in all its glory, with great volumes of smoke and steam, like a majestic cloud, slowly rolling from the crater over the sides and off into space. The mountain is so lofty and its lines so sharp that you imagine it, at the farthest, less than two miles from you, while it is in reality nine. Vesuvius never lays down his pipe for one moment he is such an inveterate smoker. Itis only once in a long while, however, that he cleans out his pipe. Friends in Naples told us that some twenty-five years ago, or thereabouts, the fall of soot and ashes in Naples was so great the people had to use umbrellas to protect’ themselves. Remembering the fate of Pompeii, all those dwelling near feel a degree nervous when these indications show that the mountain is rather more disturbed than usual. We visited the ruins of Pompeii, of which so much 254 AUSTRALIA AND HOMEWARD. has been written that one hardly feels like dwelling at length upon it in a letter like this. However, as excavations are still going on, there is some newness to the theme at any date. Only quite recently the work- men found a house in which a lady of wealth had evi- dently dwelt. She had busied herself with gathering together her silver plate for the purpose of bearing it with her in her flight with others from the storm of fire, but she was too late. Her treasures held her till flight was impossible, and she was buried with hun- dreds of her neighbors beneath the ruinous eruptions of the volcano. These ruins reveal wealth, refinement, art, taste, in- telligence, which impress the traveller with astonish- ment. We were much surprised at the durability of the colors used in painting. There are pictures on the walls of Pompeian ruins which are just as bright apparently as when first put on. They certainly had a better art of making durable pictures than is known in modern times. But, alas for them! The very dura- bility of their pictures reveals to us their voluptuous and adulterous wickedness, by reason of which they were destroyed like the wretched dwellers in Sodom and Gomorrah. There are to this day pictures so obscene, and yet so legible, that the rooms containing them are constantly locked, only to be opened by the See AE ee a oe PUTEOLI AND SAL FATARA. 255 \ guide to men who would look upon them merely with sorrow, and draw from them solemn lessons. The terrible overthrow of this wicked city and the pictures and inscriptions upon the walls alike testify, “ Be sure your sins will find you out.” We vizited Puzzoli, about seven miles in the oppo- site direction from Naples. This is the spot where Paul landed on Italian soil, and found brethren who desired him to tarry with them for a week. (See Acts XXvili. 13, 14.) While at Puzzoli (Puteoli) we walked up the hill over a portion of the Appian way to sal fatara (sul- phur springs), where was, in ancient times, an exten- sive crater, apparently part of the Vesuvian sys- tem. From an opening into the earth at the side of the old crater smoke and steam roll forth inces- santly. One hundred yards away from the opening the guide picked up a handful of sand and passed it to us. It was too hot to hold longer than for a moment. toy “titans ‘© ALPS ON ALPS ARISE.” ‘““The mountains of this glorious land Are conscious beings to mine eye, When at the break of day they stand Like giants looking through the sky, To hail the sun’s unrisen car That gilds the diadems of snow, While one by one, as star by star, Their peaks in ether glow,” es etn as, tial WF CN at pe RS ey Dl TY ALPINE SCENERY. 287 adequately describe the glories of these mountains and hills where “ Alps on Alps arise.” I had thought after leaving Italy I had seen enough, and was disposed to shut my eyes and rest, but my soul must have died within me if | could not be THE ALPS. aroused to enthusiasm by the sights which surround one along every mile of the journey through Switzer- land. I presume that the skill of the engineer has been more fully displayed here than anywhere else in the world. I do not see how it could be surpassed. Tunnel and bridge, tunnel and bridge, up and up. We 288 AUSTRALIA AND HOMEWARD. are like the wild goats leaping from crag to crag. Looking down directly below us we saw other roads, one about 150 feet below, and another 100 below that again. JI expressed surprise that so many railway lines had been cut through these mountains, but was much more surprised to learn that there was but one line, and that we had just come over the very tracks we saw directly below us. We were going up the mountains as we would ascend a spiral staircase. Winter has its special charms in the Alps. If one cannot see Switzerland in bth seasons, then I pre- sume the summer is preferable, but the beauties of win- ter are also delightful. From bridges over vast chasms you now and then get a view down the long valleys where the evergreens, gracefully bending under a e vering of spotless snow, are interspersed with rocks encased in the same material; light and shadow, crag and chasm, rocks and trees and shrubs alternating. The deep abyss at your feet, the interminable depths in the distance; the soft and me!low blending, the frowning mountain immediate'y above, all combine to draw fort the soul into admiration of the works of our great Creator. The snow having prevented us from connecting with the evening express train, we were obliged to remain in Basle on the Rhine one night, much against our will. ONCE AROUND. | 289 We reached Paris on the evening of February 18th. -This completes my voyage around the world, having been at Paris two years ago. Wife has one link to make, from Paris to London, when she, too, will have completed the great circle. Though it is winter, Paris is still the most beautiful city we have seen. The beauty of this wonderful city in the summer season, I have never seen excelled in any part of the world. I know of no grander field for Christian work than here. I preached both morn- ing and evening of Sabbath, Feb. 19th, in Rue Roque- pine Wesleyan Church, and lectured on Monday night. We met here some good Methodist Canadian friends, Mr. and Mrs. Starr and family, of Halifax. Though the Wesleyan cause is not large, it is making head- way. I think if the dull, monotonous church service were dropped, and a good, lively Methodist preliminary opening service were put in its stead it would be more attractive to all parties. I find at Paris, as also in Naples and in Italy gener- ally, that more can be done by personal conversation with the people in their houses than by the preaching service, though that also is necessary. The people want to be made to feel that some one cares for them as inlividuals. They can go by the thousand to the great cathedrals and large, richly ornamented churches 290 AUSTRALIA AND HOMEWARD. and hear preaching enough, such as it is, and yet they can say with David, “ No man cared for my soul.” Mrs. Gibson tells me that in their little chapel, at St. Cloud, they have conversions nearly every night, as the result of visiting the homes of the people dur- ing the day. How Christian souls must covet cities so beautiful as Paris, and countries so beautiful as France, for the Saviour. Much must yet be done to bring this about. Just now there is a considerable stir over the Boulanger affair. There can be no doubt the General is popular with his army. He is supposed to aim at being President and by-and-by Dictator. He is said to have the blood of the Napoleons in his veins, as he evidently has the ambition and perseverance of the old Bonaparte in his heart. It is greatly feared it the good Frederick of Ger- many should die, Boulanger may succeed in bringing on a war between France and Germany for the re- covery of the two provinces lost to France a few years ago. When will war cease from this our poor world! It would be a sad thing to see these nations destroy- ing each other; and yet it would not surprise anyone in Europe if, one of those days, France, now most thoroughly equipped, should purposely pick a quarrel with Germany, and perhaps set all Europe ablaze, TROUBLED WATERS. é 291 After spending a pleasant week with our son and other dear friends in Paris, we crossed that dreadful channel from Calais to Dover, and reached London _ February 24th. I see by the papers that a proposition is being made to bridge the Channel. It is only a short time since an Act of Parliament was asked for to charter a company proposing to tunnel it. Some of these days they will propose to balloon it, and then when everything has been suggested they will fall back on the time-honored custom of boating it, even if it does stir up the bile of the restless traveller. Betrast, IRELAND, May 24th, 1888. TWELFTH LETTER—LONDON. gre more in the City—the great city of LONDON, or, as the rough countryman calls it, “ Lun’un.” This great centre of British commerce, civilization and power is not to be measured as we measure other places. To them we by-and-by get accustomed—we know all their streets; we find out every “nook and cranny.” With all objects of interest—“ the sights ”—we are very familiar, but who can so speak of Jun’un? I remember when wife and I first landed in the great city, our objective point was Shoot-up-Hill, Brondes- bury. We landed at King’s Cross. We asked direc- tion of the employees at the station. “Brondesbury, Brondesbury. I seay, Bill, wares Brondesbury ?” As for Shoot-up-Hill, F might as well have asked him for some cross-roads in Timbuctoo. However, after a little we descended to those lower regions where, amidst clanking of chains and sulphurous fumes and darkness, and terrible din, we come by the under- ground railway to Brondesbury, in the north, and go NEARNESS BEGETS INDIFFERENCE. 293 up “Shoot-up-Hill,” to Home Villa, the home of our friend. Although our host was born and reared in London, and for many years past in business on Leadenhall THE TOWER OF LONDON. © Street, he cannot trust himself to give us reliable directions to many points which we wished to visit without the aid of a map of the great metropolis. One reason for this is, some of the places after which we are inquiring, and some of the objects of historic 294 AUSTRALIA AND HOMEWARD. interest which we must see, he has never seen himself, and very likely never will see. When we returned from our visit to the Tower we were talking of what we had seen, especially the ° Crown of England, and the royal jewels and other emblems and rich ornaments; the nephew of our host, a bright young man of twenty-three, a Londoner all his life, told us that he had never been at the Tower, nor had he any desire to go, and so we proved again “Tis distance lends enchantment to the view.” In the more than two months altogether which I have spent in London I have never been able to get, while in it, any correct. idea of the points of the compass. I sometimes get on fairly well if I go by ‘bus, but the underground railway never fails to put me wrong, so I long since gave it up for a bad job. If the founders of London and suburbs could have foreseen the great future of this metropolis they might have done much to simplify it. Now it is almost an interminable maze—a perfect labyrinth. The difficulty of making straight roads or streets was, as we can easily imagine, very great, when we learn that many of the very best parts of the present suburban London—such as Westminster, Pimlico, Chel- sea and Kensington—were almost entirely covered by a GROWTH OF LONDON. 295 water, nearly the whole region being low and marshy. Then there were small rivers, tributaries of the Thames, running down through what are now the busiest parts of the city. The Fleet river was navigable up to King’s Cross. There were also the Tyburn and the Westbourne, smaller streams, which have long since been replaced by the accumulations of made earth. The greater part of the district east and south of the river in the neighborhood of Sydenham and Greenwich consisted of marshes or shallow lagoons. The hilly regions in the neighborhood of Kensington and Notting Hill formed part of a great forest, and St. John’s Wood was a dense thicket. Through all — these places I have gone, but saw nothing of the little rivers, the marshes, lagoons, or thickets. Through Epping Forest we had a lovely drive with friends in March last (1888), and although it is more lovely than I can describe here, I fancy if our old kings and queens were to come back they would not know it, though once familiar with every square acre of it. We saw the “Hunting Lodge” of “Good Queen Bess,” which in her day was thought far out, now surrounded on all sides with suburban dwellings. The growth of London is very marvellous. We were at Stratford, which is in the borough of West Ham, Eastern district of London. An old gentleman, 296 AUSTRALIA AND HOMEWARD. manager of the gas works, told us that when he moved into the borough about thirty-five or forty years ago, there were only fifteen thousand; now there are two hundred thousand people. . Then there are a little farther west Forest Gate (Epping Forest) and Leytonstone, which have grown up all within the past few years, and are still growing as rapidly as towns and cities in America. Having lectured in several of these parts of London, I had a good opportunity to study the growth of that great city. Crooked though the streets may be, we must have a ramble through them. Come on, then; don’t waste the time in making yourself look over nice. You can pass all through London streets in the plainest clothes. There are too many people, and they are all too busy, to look very closely at you and me, so we can go along right in.the midst of innumerable thousands with almost as little attention paid to us as if we were in a forest. As we shall have to do a good deal of walking any- way, we had better take the underground railway to Bishopsgate. Being very plain people and not over- burdened with means, a third-class ticket will do us very well. We can walk down Houndsditch, which, by way of A STROLL. 297 Aldgate, will bring us into Leadenhall Street, where we can call on a very dear old friend, E. Cayford, at 146. He will be very glad to see us, I know. If you have any curiosity to see the real Salvation Army Headquarters we will find them near at hand, where we shall see drums piled up on drums, flutes, fifes, tambourines, cornets, trombones, and so on, thousands on thonsands. | If David had to bring the ark again from Kirjath- jearim, I think the first thing he would do would be to send to Brother Booth and buy him out. Of course he wouldn’t borrow, for he could not offer to the Lord that which cost him nothing. We will stroll down Cornhill, only a short walk, and find ourselves in one of the greatest thoroughfares. Turning to the right, we pass the Royal Exchange. Looking up at the gable, you will see in large let- ters, “ The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.” If we pass on we shall asc-nd Threadneedle Street. On the other side of it is the “ Bank”—the great Bank of England, which never breaks. Just in rear _ of the Exchange and the Bank the good George Pea- body sits enthroned in marble. Directly in front of him, under a canopy, is a woman also in marble, poorly clad, nursing a child, with another at her feet, looking up as if asking for food. These are the poor towards 20 298 AUSTRALIA AND HOMEWARD. whom the great philanthropist’s soul and money went. This spot is among those best known in London as a great centre to which hundreds of ‘buses run daily. From this point you are at no loss for a conveyance ST. PAUL’S CATHEDRAL. to almost any part of the city, and it is very wonder- ful how cheaply you can travel in London as soon as you become familiar with the ’bus lines. I think we will go down to the other side of the square, and look for a moment at the Mansion House, ‘ HOLBORN VIADUCT. “999 which is at the disposal of the Lord Mayor for the year he holds the office, whoever he may be. We will, I think, walk along Cheapside, which, of course, is the dearest place in all*« Lun’un”; and out of Cheapside into St. Paul’s Churchyard, as we want to see the greatest Protestant cathedral in the world. We can- not stop long, as we are on an exploring expedition rather than sight-seeing. We turn back into Newgate Street, and, if you like, turn into Paternoster Row, and, afterwards, also the Square, and take a look at New- gate Prison. We had better take a bus now, as we have a long road before us; though, if we had walked, we might have called in for a little while and heard Dr. Joseph Parker, as we are going over Holborn Viaduct. Here you will see one of the finest pieces of mason roadway in the world, worthy of being opened for public traffic by the Queen of England, as it was. 3 ' Here you will see a busy street right above another just as busy below. Like two great rivers crossing each other, here are two living streams of men, cross- ing, recrossing, above, below, thousands, hundreds of thousands, each on his own errand bent—for food, for pleasure, for learning, for errands of sin, for errands of mercy, for hell, for heaven. Oh! what a hurrying on and on—on to eternity all. 300 AUSTRALIA AND HOMEWARD. Out of the Viaduct into Holborn Circus, into Hol- born, into High Holborn, into New Oxford Street, into Old Oxford, having come considerably over a mile in the bus. We had better run over for five minutes, and just take a lodk at the great British Museum, and then walk a few blocks to Bedford Square, to call on dear old Mrs. Margaret Bright Lucas, the acknowledged head of the temperance women of the world. She is a sister to the Hon. John Bright, and is just as strong-minded as he. When she thought her brother John did not favor the temperance move- ment as much as he ought, she criticised him, and denounced his action just as strongly as any one. She is a humble, pious Quakeress, loving God and her race with all her heart. We will turn back into Oxford Street, and walk to Oxford Circus and on to Hyde Park. I think we had better have a luncheon; so, as we have not much time and must be as economical as possible, we will turn in here where we see steaming sausages in the window. We will get two links, each four or five inches long, hot, right off the griddle, with a very big spoonful of lovely white, mashed potatoes, also hot, for threepence. Then we can get a good roll of white bread and a splendid cup of coffee, each a penny. All for fivepence —ten cents. A dinner good enough for a king, and ne) at x a ae wie Shy an ‘ ity 4 Aus e Ne Ny i Copyright, 1887. =e . —— THE NELSON COLUMN, TRAFALGAR SQUARE, PICCADILLY AND PALL MALL. 303 better far, | warrant you, than that prince had who burnt the cakes, getting a good round scolding for his sauce into the bargain. To save time we will take a penny ‘bus down Park Road to Piccadilly Cireus. As we shall be charged an extra penny if we go beyond the Circus, and as it is only a little way we will walk down Piccadilly and go into St. James’ Hall, and hear Mark Guy Pearse preach and Hugh Price Hughes conduct the service. It is a week-day, but we shall find a good house full encouraging the dear. brethren and enjoying the services. A little farther down is Prince’s Hall, where I had: the privilege of speaking several times, two years ago, at the great British and Colonial Temperance Congress, where I met those Australians who kindly invited me to their country. I think now we will walk down into Pall Mall, and perhaps, as it is after one o'clock, we can see Mr. Stead, of the Pall Mall Gazette. As usual, before one o'clock he is “imvisible,” and after one he’s out. Like many of these London men, he is too busy to be caught, unless we take the precaution to get an appointment made the day before. From Pall Mall into Trafalgar Square and Charing Cross. Here is the lofty pillar erected in honor of 304 AUSTRALIA AND HOMEWARD. England’s greatest admiral; and here, crouching at his feet, the mighty lions looking east and west and north and south. How big? Well, I should say, each about forty feet in length. Out of Charing Cross we pass into the Strand. \ Along the Strand we shall pass many places of which we have read. Here is Exeter Hall; a little way back, Covent Garden, Maiden Lane, Drury Lane and its theatre. A little way back still, and nearer to High Holborn, along which we went in the forenoon, are Lincoln’s Inn Fields. As we have strayed a little from the Strand, we will come back by way of Chancery Lane, passing on our way the Royal Courts of Justice, Temple Bar and’ St. Clement’s Church. We are now at the end of the Strand; here Fleet Street begins. We walk down Fleet Street into Ludgate Circus, where, turning a little way down Farringdon Street, we take a look at the great Memorial Hall of the Congregationalists. When we return to the “Circus,” we will call, for a few minutes only, on old Professor L. N. Fowler, and let him feel our heads and give us charts. He will tell us whether we are enthusiastic sight-seers or not. He will know, of course, more about us than we know about ourselves, and I'll guarantee he'll “ gie us a gude opinion uv’ vurse/,” too. All right, it’s very funny, to say the least of it. i wa . ail rn,