anly
Beach with his wife. I had known him in England, so we made up a
picnic to drive northward from Manly about 15 miles, to a place
called Pitwater. A charming drive it was. Now and then glimpses of
the sea on the right hand were seen. For several miles the road was
bordered with the lovely wild flowers which grow in profusion near
Sydney, so much so that in September the ladies of Manly get up a
wild-flower show. The varieties of the wattle are especially
beautiful. Pitwater consisted of one house, to which the road had
been made but a few months previously. It was at the edge of an
inlet from the sea, which here comes in some distance, but it looked
like an inland lake, so still and solemn were the surroundings. My
friend had the reputation of being one of the best, if not the best,
preachers in Sydney. He occupied one of the largest churches and
kept it full. His matter was excellent, but his reputation he owed
chiefly to his admirable elocution, in which art he had taken
lessons in London. If only more clergymen would have the sense to do
the same! It is very well to say that, as religion is so
all-important a subject, any sermon should compel attention. Perhaps
that should be so, but men are mortal, and sermons are not listened
to any more than any other utterances if they are tedious and badly
delivered.

The area of New South Wales is over 300,000 square miles, or half as
large again as that of France. Its population is a little under a
million. Sydney, with 220,000, is the only large town; there is not
another above 15,000. There is little agriculture and no
manufactures to speak of. At Newcastle, about 60 miles north of
Sydney, coal is found in abundance, and from there most of Australia
is supplied, but much of it is of a dirty and smoky kind, more fit
for steamers than for domestic use. Coal has now been found in
Gippsland, in Victoria, and it is a question of carriage to bring it
into use at Melbourne. The New South Wales coal is about 21s. a ton
in Melbourne. The pastoral interest (sheep farming) is the
principal, almost the only interest in New South Wales, therefore
when one drought follows another the whole colony is of course
depressed. At these times the public offices in Sydney are besieged
by crowds of men out of work, and the Government will employ as many
as possible, sometimes uselessly. This is a dangerous thing, for men
speedily acquire the notion that if they do nothing for themselves
the