red male and two hundred and fifty female convicts, the
remaining portion being composed of officers and soldiers to take charge
of the new penal settlement, under the command of Governor Phillip. From
so unpromising a beginning has grown the present rich and flourishing
settlement, and in lieu of the few temporary shanties erected by the
first colonists there stands a magnificent city of more than ordinarily
fine architecture, with banks and hospitals, schools and churches--among
the latter a superb cathedral--all displaying the proverbial prodigality
of labor and expense for which the English are noted in the erection and
adornment of their public edifices. Among the educational establishments
are the English University, with a public hall like that of Westminster;
St. John's College (Catholic); and national primary and high schools,
where are educated about thirty-four thousand pupils at an annual
expense to the government of more than three hundred thousand dollars.
From the parent colony have sprung others, while the poverty and
corruption that were the distinguishing features of the original element
have been gradually lost in the more recent importations of honest and
respectable citizens.

Apart from the wealth and gayety of Sydney, there is much in its various
grades of society to interest the average tourist. The "ticket-of-leave
men"--that is, convicts who, having served out a portion of their term
and been favorably reported for good conduct, are permitted to go at
large and begin life anew--form a distinct class, and exert a widespread
influence by their wealth, benevolence and commercial enterprise.

[Illustration: ASTROLABE AND ZELEE ON CORAL REEFS.]

Very many of the better class are talented and well educated, with the
manners and appearance of gentlemen; and in some cases there has been
perhaps but the _single_ crime for which they suffered expatriation
and disgrace. Such as these, as a rule, conduct themselves with
propriety from the moment of being sentenced; never murmur at their work
or discipline, be it ever so hard; and probably after a single year of
hardship are favorably reported, and permitted to seek or make homes for
themselves. Many of them own bank shares and real estate, and some
become immensely rich, either by ability or chance good-fortune. The
property is their own, but the owners are always watched by those in
power, and are liable at any moment to be ordered back to their old
pos