The following work was originally written as a series ofletters; but the epistolary form has only been partiallyretained. As it has necessarily been carried through the presswithout communication with the writer, who is now in New Zealand,errors may possibly have been committed, for which the editorrather than the writer is responsible; it is hoped, however, thatthese will not be found numerous.
A WALK ROUNDMELBOURNE
SYDNEY
ADELAIDE
HOUSES
FURNITURE
SERVANTS
FOOD
DRESS
YOUNG AUSTRALIA
SOCIAL RELATIONS
RELIGION AND MORALS
EDUCATION
POLITICS
BUSINESS
SHOPS
AMUSEMENTS
NEWSPAPERS
LITERATURE, LANGUAGE, AND ART
Although most educated people know that Melbourne, Sydney, andAdelaide are populous towns, I should doubt whether oneEnglishman, who has not been to Australia, out of a hundredrealizes that fact. I well remember that, although I hadtaken some trouble to read up information about Melbourne, I wasnever more thoroughly surprised than during the first few hoursafter my arrival there. And I hear almost everyone who comes outfrom England say that his experience has been the same as my own.In one sense the visitor is disappointed with his first day in anAustralian city. The novelties and the differences from the OldCountry do not strike him nearly so much as the resemblances. Itis only as he gets to know the place better that he begins to tonotice the differences. The first prevailing impression is that aslice of Liverpool has been bodily transplanted to the Antipodes,that you must have landed in England again by mistake, and it isonly by degrees that you begin to see that the resemblance ismore superficial than real.
Although Sydney is the older town, Melbourne is justlyentitled to be considered the metropolis of the SouthernHemisphere. The natural beauties of Sydney are worth coming allthe way to Australia to see; while the situation of Melbourne iscommonplace if not actually ugly; but it is in the Victorian citythat the trade and capital, the business and pleasure ofAustralia chiefly centre. Is there a company to be got up tostock the wilds of Western Australia, or to form a railway on theland-grant system in Queensland, to introduce the electric light,or to spread education amongst the black fellows, the promoterseither belong to Melbourne, or go there for their capital. Theheadquarters