The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-04-28
THE MOTHER OF TIL: AUS TRALlANs
Early Settlement and Development of New
South Wales.

South Wales.
(From John Plummer's Australian Cor
respondence.)
In 1888, when Dampier sailed oo"n
the western coast of Australia, he Cd"
nothing but "dry sandy SOIL anu 'fe
"miserahlest people in the worio' anu
later on. when the first English settlers
landed on the eastern coast, they chose a
bay, beautiful to look at, but with no
gold and no fruit worthy OF the name,
vhile the soil was barren and sandy,
and the climate in the worst part OF Its
simmer. No wonder that the fame OF
Australia became blackened, and report
made it a miserable land, subject to
drouths and foods-a land in. which
everything was turned topsy-turvy. The
summer came at winter time; trees shed
their bark, not their leaves-were brown
instead of grsen-the stones were on the
outside of the cherries; and the pears,
pleasant to look at, were only to be cut
with an ak; and there was nothing to eat
"unless, perchance, yell fill ye with root
of fern OF stalk of lily" Such was the
verdict early upon Australia.
Fortunately the FIRST colonists, once
landed, were obliged to stop. By degrees
they found that everything that was
planted grew well that wheat in the val
ley of the Hawkesbury yielded 40 to 90
bushels 10 tho acre, and in one memora-
BILE season actually ruined the farmers by
its very abundance, for in the then limit
ed market the price fell SO low that it was
not worth gathering, but was left IN tho
fields to rot, while the farmers sought
other work. Horses, sheep, cattle and
pigs throve marvslously, and some OF the
COWS getting away, the bush soon con-
tanned numbers of wild cattle. Even wool
did not deteriorate in the new colony of
New South Wales, and step by step the
facts became too strong for prejudice,
ana tine first ieeces of Australian sheep
sent to England lifted the veil. Manu-
facturers, not only in the mother colony,
but also all over the world, would gladly
take as many as could be sent; their de-
mand for more wool extends with the
supply; and now only from Australia can
they obtain the fine woods which they
need. The early colonists took possess
ion of New South Wales as a narrow strip
of coast country; the demand for pasture
forced them to find way over hitherto
impossible range, and the same want has
driven all the island desert out of the
colony and covered 1t with nearly hun
dred million of valuable sheep. The
country which early writers upon Aus
tralia called a barren, waterless desert, Is
now growing the finest wool and yielding
abundant water from wells, and whom,
in 1851, it was announced that gold
bod haoy Il ~ hrxra lu~s H.
world was convinced that Australia
was promising country, after all. Aus
tralia measures from north to sonth 1900
miles, and from east to west ., 400 miles;
the total area being rather greater than
that of the United States, and almost
equal to the whole of Europe.
OF this great island continent, the
colony of New South Wales holds the
choicest portion-the southern part of the
east coast-that where, with remarkable
sagacity, the first settlement was made
1t has the best climate, all the most i'm
portant rivers in Australia, the great bulk
of the coal region, unlimited stores of all
the useful minerals and the finest pastoral
and agricultural lands for extra tropical
vegetation; besides which, it's extensive
afford climate conditions for
all industrial purposes. 1t is naturally
divided into three portions, the first being
tho comparatively narrow coast district,
from. 80 to $50 miles wide, abundantly
watersd by rivers and smaller streams
canning down from the mountains. The
rain-fall here, fed by winds from the
Pacific ocean, is very abundant, from 40
inches in the south to 20 in the north,
and at Sidney so inches. Dairy farming
is largely carried on, considerable quanti-
ties of butter, cheese, ham and bacon
being produced annually; while in the
north sugar cultivation is a staple indus
try. In the vicinity of Sidney several
million dozen of oranges are produced
each season.
The second division includes the noun
tain ranges, extending the whole length
of the colony, and widening in the north
into magnificent table lands, on which
are grown luxuriant crops of almost
every known English fruit and every
description of agricultural produce. The
third division covers by far the larger
area, and consists of the great western
plains, extending away to the Darling
river and thence to the South Australian
border. Here there are but few known
mineral deposits, except copper and the
enormous deposits of silver and lead at
Broken Hill, and no attempt at agricul.
turel.
All the land may be said to be held for
grazing purposes, and for that purpose.
now that capital has been invested in
tanks and wells for water supply, this
country is unequalled. Sheep and cattle
thrive in remarkable degree, and form
a most profitable Investment, the climate
being dry and wonderfully healthy for
man and beast.