d Hindmarsh, in both of which he will observe
numerous kilns of bricks. He will then enter on the Park Lands, by which
North and South Adelaide are separated from each other. On this land the
scene at once changes, and he will find himself riding through an open
forest, shading rich, alluvial, and grassy flats; and, strictly speaking,
will then be traversing the Valley of the Torrens. In May, 1847, there
were four bridges over that little river. The Company's bridge a little
above the city. The Frome bridge, a light wooden structure, built by the
sappers and miners, under the direction of Captain Frome, the
Surveyor-General, after whom it was called. The City bridge, constructed
of stone, but then incomplete, and a rude wooden bridge between Adelaide
and Hindmarsh, erected by an innkeeper, with a view of drawing the
traffic from the Port past his door. The City bridge, which was
undertaken by contract, promised to grace the approach to Adelaide, and
was intended to be the principal bridge to connect the north and south
portions of the city, as well as to form the chief line to the Port and
to the north. The occurrence of an unusual flood, however, in the latter
part of the year 1847 deprived the good citizens of Adelaide of these
necessary means of communication with the country on the right bank of
the Torrens, by the injury it did to them. The Company's bridge suffered
less than any other, but was so shaken as to be impassable for several
days. Aware, as I am, of the general character of the Australian streams,
and seeing no reason why the Torrens should differ from others, taking
into consideration, too, the reports of the natives as to the height to
which the river had been known to rise in former years, and the fact that
no rain had fallen since the establishment of the Colony to cause any
very great or sudden flood, it appeared to me, that the place selected
for the City bridge was too low. Ordinary floods so completely change the
channel of the river, and make such devastation in its bed, that it is
hardly to be recognised when the water subsides, so that unless the banks
are high, and the soil of which they may be composed stiff enough to
resist the impetuosity of the stream, I fear no bridge across the Torrens
will be permanently safe.

The position and ground chosen by the first Surveyor-General of South
Australia, as the site of its future capital is a remarkable instance of
the quick intelligence of that offi