Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1893-1895, 1894-09-25
Icol yr..llI. Louls KIop.eh, lsOLl ]


Postoslcc Chimes.
tCo' ", ;lit. Louis Rlopsch, 1871
SYDNEY, Aug. z. Pitched, shaken
twisted, flu1g, sickened. bruised, dis
.tyed, alarnUd, are some of the word
u niCh describe our feelings while cross
Iig from New Zealand to Australia w
card that the passage was like crossin,
Tie channel at Calais from France L
Eugland, but that, instead of tho hou,
c1d half, it would be four days and ,
half. TWAS worse than we expected anC
worse than usual We had nearly 81,
days of it. Tho only alleviation of th,
voyage was the captain, who was Jolly a,
tho time to be jolly, serious at the time
to bo serious and deeply religious at ali
times. Converted in a Presbyterian
church in New Zealand, he has become
flaming evangel, preaching OIL board
his steamer once or twice every Sabbath.
Our rough sea experience prepared us
for full appreciation of one Of the
brightest panoramas of the land and
sky that ever unrolled before mortal Vi
sion Captain Neville said to us, "We
will soon be in sight of the Australian
coast, and when we approach the harbor
OF Sydney come up on my bridge, and /
will point out to you the objects Of in
forest. 'Thank you, was our reply
to the unusual invitation, for sea cap
tains do not ordinarily like to have
company on the steamers bridge In a
few moments we climbed to the side of
fha nanfaiY1 Ifoat malls %
by the eternal God reached along the
coast and stopped only wide enough
apart to allow ships to enter and to keep
the boisterous ocean out
"Yonder," said the captain, "is the
retreat in the rocks which in the twi-
light deceived the captain Of the Dun
can Dunbar to mistake it for the harbor
and to aim for it. crashing into destruc-
tion. All on board perished save one
man, who was picked up after he had
f1oated down onto the shelving"
Safely we rode in between the two
great brown pillars of Hawkesbury
sandstone, and then began the revela-
tion Of harbor such as nowhere else in
the wide world is to be found. The
whole scene is an Odyssey, "Di-
vina Commedia," an Old Testament
and New Testament of grandeur and
loveliness. You cannot for moment
relax your energy of watching without
missing something which you cannot
see again. The white palaces of the
merchant princes of Sydney shine
through the foliage of the trees. Dip
ping to the bay are gardens abloom in
winter and lawns with an emerald like
nnto the fourth layer of the wall of
heaven. Tropical plants and tropical
flowers stand side by side with the
growths of more rigorous climates.
Vineyards and orange groves, pome-
granates and guavas and pineapples
growing in a revelry of luxurianoe.
Norfolk pines, palm, Moreton bay fig
and Eucalyptus trees, stretch their scep-
ters over the scene. Complete bewitch-
ment of landscapesl "Steadyp' cried
the captain to the man at the wheel
'SteadyW But no observer can keep
very steady while watching this ever
changing, ever inspiring, ever enohant-
ing scene. 'Yonder is the monastery.
Yonder, just coming in sight, is the ad-
miral's house. Yonder is the universi
ty. Yonder are the houses of parlia- {
ment. Yonder are the old prisons.
There is the governors residence {
Here, sweeping up close to our steamer,
are launches with excursionists. Yonder ]
are sailing boats so small they suggest {
Entering sea gulls. While the area Of
the harbor is said to be nine square
- - 81 II
np and down all its inlets, would be
], 200 miles. The ripping waters kiss
the beach, and the beach embraces the
bay. At the next turn Of our steamers
wheel more garniture of island and har-
Dor and inlet and promontory. Oh,
how the marine loveliness played "hide
md seek" amid the islands Five
grim batteries pointing their Armstrong
guns at us, but only in play. 'Yon-
aer" says the captain, ''is a French
steamer, yonder an American and yon-
llr an Englishman.
Sydney harbor is so broad and honest
hat no pilot was needed to come on
Aoard. Room here for all the navies of
ho earth to ride in and secrete them
|eiEes SO that they could not be found
1ithout much search. Room for the
mai Easterns Of the past and the
.eInpanias of the present to wheel
Flthout peril Room to welcome all the
'enturies and generations and ages
tNIch are yet to drop anchor In its
'lHtr depths. He only belittles and be-
warts and bemeans Sydney harbor who G
'V|spares it to the bay of Naples or the
HIIonce to Rio Janeiro.
God works by no model, and this har- Q
~ was Of divine origination- he 9
I4I'u with rocks and waters and skies
Y sly as architects work with pencil s
1|1 tple and compass, and he intended 7
h't narbor not to be repetition OF I
'N|ning that had ever been done and {
2 'HNke il impossible for any human Q
Rsanoering or landscape gardening or O
1NItplics to initiate. IL is a winding .
p'.Naor, AN unfolding glory, q tran
NNNnt illustration of what omnipo- {
|1f fAn do in the architecture Of an
e|. gate. .
~ day we entered AZ olouds Of all e