Show TRAVELS LETTER NO LX on saturday may ath 1896 1 I with elder joseph stephenson in melbourne and again boarded the steamer aroya oroya roya which sailed from port melbourne three miles from melbourne proper at p m the distance across that large sheet of water known as port phillip bay is about forty miles at p m we passed the heads beads into the great southern ocean whence we took a southwesterly course in in order to round cape otway which is one the southernmost points aj 0 the continent of australia wilsons Wil sons promontory which we passed on our voyage from sydney to melbourne is still sill further south it lies in latitude 39 11 1 ix south the following day may loth was rather stormy and a number of the passengers jailed failed to show up at meals my own state of health was exceptionally good since my interesting crisis crisis among the islands seasickness sea sickness has exacted no tribute from me on 00 monday morning early may nth we passed through the strait called back stairs passage which separates Xan kangaroo island from the main land we passed through with the island named on our left kangaroo 85 miles long iong by 30 wide is the largest island belonging to australia thence we changed our course to the north and steamed up the gulf of st vincent at lo do a m the oroya aroya cast anchor about three miles off largs langs which place is about nine miles from adelaide the capital of south australia smaller vessels go up a tidal river to port alaide adelaide about seven miles from the city soon after anchoring I 1 landed at the largs langs pier and thence took trail train for adelaide where I 1 visited parks museums libraries and other places of interest I 1 stopped at a hotel over night and returned to the ship after coiling calling on some of the government officials from whom I 1 obtained maps and literature on the colony of south australia fly ay first impre impression ision of adelaide was very favorable the wide straight streets which cross each other at right ang angles lilis and follow the cardinal points ot of 6 the com compass pass at once remind one of fair capital and the beautiful parks stately public buildings respect able business blocks and well stocked stores call aall to mind the thrift of a young american city the public library of adelaide is exceptionally well stocked with books of the most imminent ancient and modern modem authors the museum contains a small but well selected stock including doth both australian and foreign specimens some most excellent samples of oil paintings and statuary adorn the walls and floors of tha modest three roomed art gallery gallera V the botanical gardens containing about forty ac kept in first class condition t and represent to la great variety of plants flowers trees etc of the tropic semi tropic and temperate zones by special courtesy of the director I 1 was shown through the zoological gardens where a small but fine collection of animals birds reptiles etc is very tastefully arranged both the australian fauna as well as the ordinary zoological specimens of the world are properly represented everything about the gardens had a neat and attractive appearance and the gen eral arrangement of everything in and about the premises reminded bevery me very much of the zoological gardens of copenhagen denmark as they appeared about fifteen years ago adelaide also has a technological museum all these public institutions as well as the colonial university the exhibition building the governors mansion the ne new w parliamentary build ing etc are all situated adjacent to each other on what is called north terrace a wide street and esplanade which skirts the north side of adelaide proper beyond the esplanade is a belt of reserved land or public domain which separates the city proper from north adelaide lying across the little torrens river the city of adelaide proper onla contains about inhabitants but with its suburbs and the country lying within a radius of about ten miles including port melbourne there is a population of nearly adelaide and its suburbs lie on a level tract of country elevated only a few feet above the level of the sea but a short distance east of the city the adelaide mountains lorm form a most beautiful background to the landscape mount lotty lofty one ot of the highest peaks in that chain has an elevation of 2334 leet feet and is distant from the city about ten miles of the different cities that I 1 have visited in australia adelaide comes the nearest of being be 1109 my ideal city a place where everything else being equal 1 would not dislike making a home borne were I 1 seeking tor fur one adelaide was funded founded in 1836 by emigrants from great britain it was named in honor ot of the queen of william IV king of england in its pioneer days the embryo colony experienced much adversity and the settlers suffered great reat hardships but these have now geen been overcome and the bitzi city as well as the whole colony is ma making ng good progress and it is generally admitted b by the colonists that no better site tor for t their lr capital city could have been selected south australia proper contains an area of square miles which is about four times the size of utah and had on december aist 1894 a population of the northern territory which belongs to south australia politically but is virtually a separate country differing from the parent colony in climate soil and general resources has an estimated area of square miles but only a population of about the census of 1891 places the number nu tiber of some of the religious denominations in the colony as follows church ol of england roman catholic wesleyans wesleyann Wesle lutherans Luth erans presbyterians rians congregationalists bible christians primitive methodists baptists christian brethren unitarians mo Moravia radians i ns friends new jerusalem church church jews etc but there is not one latter day saint so far as I 1 can learn in the whole colon colony though adelaide was the city where the gospel as revealed through the great prophet ot of the nineteenth century was first preached in this dispensation william barret a englishman who on july nth 1840 was ordained an elder el der by the late apostle george A smith at hanley staffordshire england was the person who first came to australia as a latter day saint elder he arrived at adelaide southern australia early in 1841 after a rough adough passage an and under dunder date of april 9 1841 he wrote that he bad commenced to preach but had not yet baptized any he intimated that y the obstacles to the introduction of the falness of the gospel in south australia was very great and that the people were giving themselves up to prostitution drunkenness and extortion from private sources I 1 have learned that elder barret did baptize a few but the falness of the gospel was never fairly introduced in australia till 1851 when elders 4 murdock and wandell commenced their operations in sydney new south wales two years later when more missionaries were sent from the headquarters ot of the church to australia adelaide became a regular field of labor elders A P dowdle and J W norton being the first to go there under date ot of september irth 1853 they reported a number of f people baptized and two branches organized in south australia but buc in due course of time most ot of the converts emigrated to zion and since the return ot of the El eiders dersin in 1857 no successful missionary work has been done in adelaide by any of our elders on wednesday Wednes dav may 13 1896 the oroya aroya after taking on board the australian mail for europe and some more passengers left her anchorage off largs langs near adelaide and continued the voyage sailing in in a southwesterly direction down the st vincent gull gulf and through investigator strait with the heights of kangaroo island visia e on our left we soon reached west Ca pethe extremity of yorks peninsula after passing that noted geo geographical graphical raph ical point our course was changed change to an almost westerly one across the great australian ji an bight which is a part of the south pacific but here locally called the southern ou thern ocean it is known to navigators as a stormy and dangerous body of water after a prosperous voyage we came in sight of the west australian illan coast on saturday may irth about noon at 2 p m we passed through a channel with Break sea island on our left and island on our right into king georges sound where the ship cast anchor immediately east of possession point we had bad come about boio 1010 miles from our former place of anchorage oft off largs langs soon after anchoring a number ot of steam launches came 0 off ff from albany about three miles distant and among those who landed to spend an hour or two on west australian soil was your correspondent albany where we landed is one ot of the principal towns of western australia it is beautifully situated on rising ground on the north shore of princess royal harbor between two elevations called respectively mount clarence and mount melville it is about miles by road and miles by railway from perth the colonial capital the princess royal harbor is one of the finest on the australian coast and most steamers en route between australia and europe call here the town which was first settled in 1826 is one of the oldest settlements in western australia and now has a population of about the harbor is about 4 miles long and about two miles wide and together with king george sound further out is well fortified so that it could easily be defended in case of war albany will perhaps never grow to be a very large city it is not backed by any considerable amount of country suitable for agricultural purposes western australia includes all portion of the australian continent con tinen hated to the westward of 1291 east etude between the parallels of 13 and 35 8 south the greatest len of the colony from north to south is i f miles and breadth about miles clu elusive sive of the contiguous islands it co p bains an estimated area of about 1060 f Ooola quare miles being more than eight t f times the size of great britain and ire aana land it is ii the largest of all the australian colonies though containing much the smaller number of inhabitants by the census returns ot of 1891 the population exclusive of aborigines numbered but owing to the discovery of rich eold fields which has caused a great fold immigration min gration the population at present is estimated at about perth the capital of the colony is located near the west coast on the north bank of swan river about twelve miles above freemantle Pree mantle its seaport and sister town perth had inhabitants in 1891 but it has grown considerably since that time I 1 he city was first founded au gulit 1829 during the past few yem years west australia has enjoyed a mm min ing boom gold 1 in paying quantities having ing been lound found in dif different ferenE places in in the interior principally in and about cool sardie at the present time men are flocking in at ane rate of nearly 1000 a week weak the immigration has hai bien been principally from the other australian colo nies but a great many adventurers have also come from europe america and other parts of the world to seek their y lor fortunes tunes on the continent island it is the same old story an immense excitement A few lucky men make fortunes quickly but most meet with bitter dis appointment and leave the fields again with blighted hopes and a sad heart after being exposed to great peril andin maev instances severe suffering for the west t australia gold fields are situated in a most dreary and desert like section of country where among other things water at times is sold at a high price thus in Kan owne or the white feather mining district water to be used by both man and beast is retailed rel ailed at prices varying ng according to the scarcity of the article e from one penny to two and a half shillings a gallon of course these figures dont hold good during the rainy season se the water which is sold is is generally condensed from the salt water likes lakes which abound in that region of country the average miner is is paid irom xa s to ca 4 and antao two gallons of water per week but thon thousands sands of men go un nn employed west australia was a crown colony until quite recently when it was given what is known in the british possessions as te responsible government which means a colony regulating its own anaias adars and having nothing to do with the parent government direct except in dealing with a single man ap appointed jointed by the crown the governor A all ther other officers are elected b by the colony though large portions of estern western australia are ani and will remain deserts and almost useless tracts there is sufficient good land to sustain a population many times the number of the present one if properly cultivated so tar far as I 1 have been able to learn none of our missionaries have ever labored in this part of australia ANDREW JENSON COLOMBO ceylon east india may |