Henry Butler Stoney

“ Sad, indeed, it appears to us, that those noble and gallant men whose bones are now scattered in the icy regions of the Northern Pole, whose energy and courage met with such an untimely end, were not directed to the shores of this continent, where, by their researches and scientific labours, they might have laid the foundation stones for the greatness of future nations!
Considering the great interest which the British possess in Australia, it is a subject of no less astonishment than regret, that so large a portion of the continent should remain to this day a terra incognita. ”

“ Immediately after daybreak the following morning the camp was all hurry and bustle,—a hastily prepared breakfast, and we were again on the line of march. We journeyed on until we came to the junction of the Castlemaine and Ballaarat roads, where we halted for a few minutes, and then entered upon Keilor Plains. Pursuing our weary course over a flat, bare tract of country, exposed to the scorching rays of a powerful sun, each armed cap-à-pie; the tremendous heat of the earth over which we trod, and the parching power of a hot wind, soon manifested itself throughout the whole body. ”

“ An extensive mud swamp and tea-tree scrub seem to surround you, till the fog, in which it is constantly enveloped during the early part of the day, has cleared away, and you see the very beautiful city of Melbourne, not two miles distant, built on a gentle acclivity, well relieved by the wooded backgrounds stretched out before you. You can trace the meanderings of the Yarra-yarra as it winds through the scrub, and partly encircles the city in a tortuous course, making six miles, which by railway is barely two. ”

“ Passing over a plain used as a common pasture land, and full of fine cattle, you ascend a rising ground, which commands an extensive and beautiful view of the city and its environs. Some few miles further, you pass some well-kept stations, and some finely cultivated land; thence the road leads you through an open forest country. Hitherto the whole face of it, in fact, the whole road through Ballaarat, was cut up in every direction with innumerable deep rutted tracks, diverging in all directions, most difficult, if not impossible, for a stranger to follow ”

“ To a young colony like Victoria, the large export produce is in an especial sense the great lever of progress and civilization, because it enables us for our own use and benefit to procure at once, and in their highest modern perfection, all those productions of older countries, that we are unable to create for ourselves, and which are now giving a marvellous furtherance to our progress. ”

“ We simply seek to deal with that eventful period commencing from the last quarter of 1854,—when the overgrown colony, filled with adventurous spirits from all parts of the world, received a check in its headlong career of extravagance, and the community, still smarting under the tide of reverses consequent on such a system, trembled at the approach of an insurrection which threatened to resist the remedial measures then deemed expedient, and boldly defied the emissaries of Government in the execution of their duty, and even ventured to oppose the decisions of the courts of justice. ”

“ The Omeo country in this region resembles, in climate and scenery, the Highlands of Scotland. The plains are elevated 3000 feet above the level of the sea, and nothing can be more delightful than to proceed in the summer from the parched plains, at the base of the mountains, to this elevated table-land, where the traveller finds a renewed spring, and a delicious climate. The emerald green of the Omeo Plains, the horses and cattle scattered over them, and the towering mountains which surround them, combine a beauty and a grandeur which the beholder cannot easily forget. ”

“ Large and massive stores of dark-blue stone arrest the gaze in every direction; they form a conspicuous part in a view of the city, and suggest, far more tellingly than words, the weight and importance of the great commercial interest of Victoria. These continue to be built, demonstrating the hope entertained, that Melbourne will maintain her position as the commercial metropolis of the south. Melbourne is tolerably supplied with places of public amusement, adapted for the tastes of all classes. The Theatre Royal, in Bourke-street, can vie in extent and interior arrangement with any in London. ”

“ A company has be chartered—an upset price of land paid— agents for the transfer of emigrants employed, and large expenses incurred to launch the scheme. The failure of these companies has resulted from their total ignorance of colonization, and the sacrifice of capital in worthless improvements. Would it not be more rational for the colonies to take the task of colonization into their own hands? If a company can hope to operate in England, remote from the scene of action, would it not be much more natural to expect success were the head-quarters fixed in the colonies themselves? ”

“ We may expose the absurdity of our present method of dealing with this great treasure, by instancing a people who may produce some important staple article of commerce—raw cotton, for example, but who, in place of selling it for export and manufacture, should make it the medium of speculation amongst themselves—of sale and re-sale, until it attained a price which shut it out from sale for manufacturing purposes, and at the same time left it perfectly useless in the hands of the latest purchaser. ”

“ A good road conducts you hither by the southern outlet of the city along the crest looking over the beach, passing by the Botanical Gardens, at present in an embryo state. The lakes appear distinct sheets of water, from the wooded promontories hiding the steam which connects them. The land rises most charmingly from the water, and beyond them a belt of high ground, heavily timbered, conceals the sea. ”

“ No colony has ever risen to such magnitude in the same space of time as Victoria. Its growth appears almost fabulous, its increasing population wonderful, and its resources, of which much is still unknown, stupendous. Scarce fourteen years have elapsed since a few industrious colonists and emigrants first settled here, in possession of considerable capital, and desirous of forming cattle stations on the immense tracts of country so well adapted for grazing purposes—the produce of the wool alone being deemed sufficient to repay the outlay and necessary labour. ”

“ The scenery before spoken of is not very remarkable. The immense plain spreading away to the right, partly wooded along the shore, and to the left the wide expanse of the bay, with the Port Philip Heads in the distance, and a thickly wooded country extending along the bay to Geelong.
In summer the sea is seldom very rough; parties of pleasure are constantly visiting the rival cities, attended by bands of music, which make the trip by no means monotonous. At the head of the bay, close along shore, on a rising ground of a cliff-like form, stretching away, is the very pretty city of Geelong ”

“ The wealth of Victoria, although acquired even with the rapid facility for which the colony gets credit, is not on this account less real or effective in the world's market. The export produce of all countries, either old or young, is a measure of social power, not only for attracting each to the other in the edifying bonds of friendly intercourse, but for the more direct advantage to each of commanding for its own use the varied productions of all the rest. ”

“ In no part of the world, we believe, can be seen a more energetic people than that which now occupies this rich and virgin soil. A better system of labour has been introduced, and the frenzied thirst for gold has departed. The Fields are not now worked in the selfish mania that characterized the onset, but rather as an occupation; the digger is not now, as at first, the sole gainer ”

“ To its policy, therefore, alone is attributable its downfall for, while England, with its more enlightened, free, and independent government—unhampered by the despotic sway of a bigoted priesthood—and its iron and coal mines, only aided by industry, is now the richest and happiest country in the world,—we may hope that Australia, untrammelled by the fetters of a vacillating and grasping government, but following the example of the mother country, will advance, as it has even already done, into power and greatness. ”

“ A gentleman, an old sportsman, now dismounted as we drew in the reins of our panting and well-nigh exhausted steeds, and in his endeavour to beat off the dogs, received a severe wound on his face from the kangaroo. This was, however, his last effort, when he fell at his feet, the victim of our day's sport. Were I to recount one-tenth of the gallant feats that day performed by our illustrious field, as we slowly bent our way homewards, or sat over the blazing hearth, I should write another book, having as my subject alone, "Incidents of the chase in Victoria." ”

“ As long, therefore, as the generality of the find of gold on the plains was remunerative, no discontent was felt in paying for the monthly renewing of the license fee; but when some, with less fortune, sank claim after claim, and found but little gold, then the tax was deemed oppressive,—and in that motley crowd of all nations in the world many were found whose ideas of liberty and the restraint of a Government were limited. These malcontents used every means in their power to fan the flame. ”

“ The large white-headed fishing-eagle of Australia may daily be seen about the harbour, flying round in large sweeping circles, and scanning the water below for fish and floating garbage, even among the shipping, and finally bearing off its quarry to some favourite tree in a secluded spot at a distance. ”

“ The surrender of the land to the management of the colonial Legislatures has placed the question of emigration in their power. They will compete with each other; the wisest arrangements will be rewarded with the greatest success. Population in such a country as this means an overflowing land fund—ample revenue—a wide basis for taxation, railroads, agricultural prosperity: and last, not least, political strength. We have land—in the United Kingdom and Europe, population—how then can they be brought together? ”

“ Kilda, before alluded to; and six miles further, over a splendid macadamized road, we arrive at the beautiful sea bathing-place of Brighton, delightfully situated on the southern extremity of Hobson's Bay. The whole country between these suburbs we have attempted to describe has been subdivided into suburban lots, and sold. Handsome residences of every style of architecture abound, from the Turkish cupola to the Italian villa, the cottage ornèe, the Gothic, and Elizabethan. Good roads intersect the district, and public conveyances are constantly passing to and from the city. ”

“ Victoria is, therefore, justly considered as a colony possessing the purest extraction of the Anglo-Saxon race. And, although it has happened that during the wild mania of emigration, after the discovery of the Gold Fields, thousands of every nation and class flocked to its shores, still, the foundation being so English in character, and the squatters holding possession of such immense tracts of country, we may reasonably hope that they and their principles will still predominate. ”

“ At a moderate distance from the coast, along the whole extent of this province, there is an extremely fertile country; and when we consider that in the western and northern part of South Australia, and also in the Swan River colony, the really rich agricultural land forms only but scattered oases, and that in many districts of New South Wales the heat of the climate prevents the progress of agriculture, we must look upon Victoria as the most promising, for the future, even did she not possess a distribution of gold through nearly the whole of her mountains. ”

“ In the rapid, unprecedented, and continuous growth of Victoria, nothing is more required than a vigorous Government Such a Government can only be permanently secured by a full and free representation of all classes; and we would earnestly urge on your Majesty's consideration, that it is at once impolitic and unfair to the Government and to the existing Legislature of this colony to leave us longer in the state of abeyance in which we are now placed—inasmuch as, by the Bill alluded to, we have, in fact, declared to the people of this colony that the present system of representation is imperfect ”

“ The gardens are laid out with great taste, and shrubs and trees of almost every clime may be seen in full bloom and vigour. The large lake attached to the gardens swarms with wild fowl of every description, which have here a secure retreat from the hands of man. ”

“ Let us now look at California: although we have reason to hope that one of the elements of disorder will be subdued, yet the American journals abound with instances of lawless violence, and tales of savage customs unknown in Australia; and though we have been at some pains to portray the dark side of the picture, yet we rejoice to be able in these, our concluding remarks, to show that the good and the bright still predominate; nor have we any fear that the society, established on the fundamental basis of freedom and truth, will ever decline from the bright path on which it has entered. ”

“ A close relation subsisting between the supply and demand in the labour-market is calculated to accelerate the attainment of a healthful state of society; people now feel that time and attention are required to insure success, and that they must work steadily and perseveringly, nor will they any longer think only of acquiring fortune and returning home. As the society becomes better formed, the country better known and inhabited, its resources more fully developed, its government equable, free, and independent, they will reckon on a lengthened and continued residence ”

“ The Terminus of each railway brings you into the busy part of the town, and there are few cities in the world present a more bustling appearance to the stranger than Melbourne, for in laying out the city great care was taken that the locality intended for the wharfs, and the grand mercantile thoroughfare facing them, should be sufficiently extensive, and, running along a dead level opening on the river, gives you a view of the whole at a glance. Entering the city by the river, the view —if you overlook the scrubby swamp around you—is most pleasing ”

“ It is obvious, therefore, that such a population called for a good system of government, and for a most prudent administration; for, even if the police force had been at all analogous to such a body at home, the objectionable system of the daily or hourly visit to the digger, uncongenial as it was to the feelings of the free man, might yet have been administered in such a way as to produce little more than what is felt at paying taxes everywhere. ”

“ Then would squatters be found—those brave pioneers of the wilderness, the harbingers of civilization—to avail themselves of the rich and fertile lands around the Gulf of Carpentaria, from whose ports they might commence a trade to India and Europe, curtailing distance materially, and escaping the dangerous reefs and the Torres Straits, opening thus a profitable trade, and establishing a cordon bringing into closer proximity the now so far distant nations of the south, and connecting British power in one grand chain around the globe. ”

“ We also possess the finest sand, and the best adapted for the manufacture of all kinds of glass, in the world; and when it is known that the exports of our wines must, to yield their due value, be put in bottles for the spirit, necessarily, to prevent their fermentation in wood—for export destroys the peculiar flavour of the genuine grape wine of the colony—it cannot be doubted that it is the interest of the vine-growers to forward the establishment of glass manufactories, so essential to the just appreciation of their wine in Europe ”

“ Let there once be a proper demand for works of Art in good taste and sound principles, and we can promise, from what we have recently seen of the artistic talent of the colony, that demand will be readily and satisfactorily met.
To show that every branch of Art is represented at the present time in Victoria, we can enumerate some six or seven gentlemen who have already intimated their intention to forward specimens of frescoes, in way of competition, to the Commissioner of Public Works. ”