The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1888-08-17
Sydney had a glorious timein January

GOVERNMENT HOUSE, MELBOURNE,
statue Of the queen was unveiled, there was
grand free feast for the poor, horse races,
picnics, trade demonstrations, illuminations,
arches and no end of mucic Among the
distinguished guests were tho Grand Duke
Alexis Of Russia and tho Earl and Countess
Of Carnarvon, while Lord Darlington, the
present viceroy of New South Wales, and
Lady Darlington, aud the cardinal arch
bishop Of Sydney took active parts in the
celebration
Australia remained until 100 years ago In
possession of a distinct race of aborigines,
found only in the Australian and adjacent
islands The natives are black, with vari-
city of shade from brown-black to jet. Their
hair is curly, but is not the wool of the
negro. They are not muscular, but pos
sessed Of great endurance. Their dwellings
usually consist Of strip Of bark, Or q large
bough, to protect them from the wind. In
the wild districts they still go naked. 1t is
the Australian who is SO expert in throwing
the boomerang, an implement whose namo
has been adopted into English to express acts
which rcco;l upon the perpetrator.
One hundred and seventeen years ago Capt.
James Cook landed on the fiat shore Of Bot
any bay, hoistcd tho Union Jack, and pro-
claimed tho whole island British territory.
It had been discovered il 1910. but was
thought to be worthless desert Of rock and
sand, inhabited by monsters and cannibals.
There was more truth in this than in most
popular ideas of distant lands, for the native
animals of Australia arc literally monsters"
in the anatomist or medical use of that term
that is, creatures with organs totally di-
verso from the common, creatures capable of
surviving long droughts and forest fires; tho
.Australian devil" an amphibious animal,
with seven rows of teeth, because it could
burrow in tho mud while the fire passed over;
the '.dingo," or bush dog, because it could
lind safety aud moisture in the green dells;
the kangaroo, because it could leap over tho
line Of blazing grass with its young in its
pouch. ard few other creatures who sur
vivcd because they were the fttest.
On the 25th Of January, 17ss, Capt Phellip,
who had been sent out from England with
transports bearing $50 convicts, under q
guard Of 200 soldiers, arrived at Port jackson
and landed ut the present site Of Sydney. Tho
convicts were told off into gangs and forced
at tho point Of tho bayonet and under tho
lash to do the work Of clearing. Each man
worked with ball and chain to his ankle,
after the manner Of the ''chain gangs" in
vogue IN America thirty or forty years ago.
It is said that in those days the Australian
summer was so hot that when tho dry winds
camo birds would fall to the ground dead
What must have been the sufferings of the
convict forced to work at telling trees and
opening roads in this intense heat! Whatever
Of min the climate failed to indict was sup
plied by the sscat O. nine tails"
The landing of these unfortunates was tho
birthday Of New South Wales, and the pecu-
liar manner Of that colony's birth cast
blight upon it for many years. Thero were
no women in the colony, and many outrages
wero perpetrated upon tho natives. The
English governor recommended tbata cargo
Of women Of tho lowest class b. sent out. Five
hundred and twenty of these creatures, refuse
from tho lowest quarters OF London Eero
shipped to the new colony to become wives
for the convicts. They were called red
rovers." Children wero born to them. Tho
third and fourth generation Of their descend