Volume 14 Australasia - dana ward's homepage

416 AUSTRALASIA.colonial empire. Melbourne, the "Magnificent," claims, like Rome, to be builton seven bills, and in the Yarra-Yarra it may also boast of a modest Tiber witjimuddy or yellowish waters. Although founded at some distance inland it hasgrown rapidly seawards, and has already lined the beach with monumental quaysand facades.The numerous suburbs, each with a town hall and municif)ality, andeach forming a chess-board of streets and squares distinct from the central parallelogram,stretch to great distances in all directions, and collectively comprisea population of about four hundred thousand, or rather more than one third of allthe inhabitants of the colonj-.Far more regularly constructed than Sydney, Melbourne claims also to possessin the Houses of ParUameut, the Governor's Palace, the University, museums,churches, and banks, a number of superb monuments, on which no expense hasbeen spared. The Kbraries alreadj' rival in importance the secondary collectionsin Europe, and the Observatory, established in the midst of extensive gardens eastof the city, is provided with the most costly instruments by the best constructors.The local savants have even largely contributed to the study of the Austral heavens,as well as to the geological exploration of the continent.In Melbourne has beenprojected that expedition of discovery in the Antarctic seas, which the parsimonyof the Central Govermnent has hitherto prevented from being equipped anddespatched.Here also has been founded the Australasian Geographical Society.The port of Melbourne, discovered by Murray in 1802 and more specially designatedby the name of Hobson's Bay, is crowded with shipipiug, amid whichhundreds of steamers j)ly from shore to shore of the roadstead. The ocean packetsstop seven or eight miles below the city proper, near the quays of Sandridge, orPort Melbourne, and in the Williamstoivn docks at the extremity of a tongue ofland near the head of the bay. To the same commercial centre belong also thetowns which follow round the vast triangular inlet, the head of which forms theport of Melbourne. One of these satellites of the capital is the town of Geeloitg,a busy centre of numerous industries, such as tanneries, spinning-mills, preservingestablishments, and the like. The founders of Geelong hojjed that, being situatednearer the sea, this place would soon outstrip Melbourne as a commercial mart.Qiieenscliff, on the west side of the strait or " Rip," giving access to Port Philiip,is also a dependency of Melbourne, its watch-tower and chief bulwark towards thesouthern ocean ; east of this gully Nepean Point marks the site of the buildingsconnected with the quarantine station.The small watering-places dotted round the shores of the inlet and along theadjacent coast are all indebted for their prosperity to the visitors from the neighbouringcapital. Innumerable villas and Kttle rural retreats are also connected withMelbourne by the twelve railways radiating in all directions from this great centreof Australasian life. Some ten miles to the north-east lies the artificial lake Yan-Ycan, 14,000 acres in extent, which is formed by the River Plenty, a tributary ofthe Yarra-Yarra. This great reservoir contains about 6,380,000,000 gallons ofwater, or suSieient to supply the city for a twelvemonth at the daily rate of fortygallons per head.