the climatic conditions. From
any part of the city a drive of less than a couple of hours will take one
up some fifteen to eighteen hundred feet above the sea. The railways, and
afterwards the advent of the motor-cars, have brought the hills down to
Adelaide and the plain, and the many and beautiful homes now adorning the
crests of the ridges and nestled there might almost be suburbs. See the
lovely foliage of the trees, gathered from all parts of the world. Look
at the gardens, luxuriant in blooms, where the flowers revel in rivalling
each other in beauty and colour and in profusion of blossoms. See the
ripening fruits festooning the trees in the orchards.

It is amongst such surroundings that the fortunate citizens of Adelaide
live, and there it was my privilege to spend--I say so without the
slightest reservation--the happiest years of my life. Would they could
come again.

You are not surprised now, are you, that the citizens of Adelaide fully
recognize the debt of gratitude they owe Colonel Light? His memory they
cherish. His name will ever be an honoured one. His monument, Adelaide
itself, a living one which will last until the day when the last trumpet
shall sound "the assembly." His recompense, the gratitude of her citizens
right up to that day.

The development of the defence system of the colony of South Australia
was as follows: In its early days the British Government maintained a
small garrison of regular soldiers, with their headquarters in Adelaide.
This garrison was at the disposal of the local Government; the Governor
was Commander-in-Chief. It was not anticipated then that troops from
Australia would be required to do battle for the Empire in European wars.
There was little trouble to fear from the aboriginal tribes. History
repeated itself in the case of South Australia. As it had happened in the
older colonies, the aborigines did not give cause for the slightest
anxiety, except on a few occasions when intrepid and daring explorers
went forth into the wild bush country miles and miles away from any
habitation. Barracks were built for the regular garrison. On the date I
started my duties the building was being utilized as an institution for
the poor and infirm. The military staff office and the mounted police
barracks were adjacent to it.

So long as the garrison of regulars remained at Adelaide there was no
particular inducement for the pioneers to burden themselves with the
additional responsibil