Contributor

Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 8, 20 May 1893, Page 4

Contributor

MR. W. H. MATHIESOH ON HIS TRAVELS

As promised, I send you a few notes, and will begin by giving my first impressions of Hobart. Going np the harbour the scenery is very mncli like tbat of the Otago Heads. The mountains are clothed with bush right np to their very summits, and look exactly like our forest. Getting within a few miles of the town there are every now and then to be seen nicely laid-out villas all along- the edge of the harbour, while the town itself nestles in a valley, with the darkgreen back-ground of Mount Wellington, which, near the top, gives one the idea of the pipes of a gigantic organ. I was led to believe that the entrance to Hobart was very pretty, and, coming in as we did on a lovely autumn morning, with the toAvn lying between the hills, it looked lik® a fairy scene. So much can I say of it looked at from a distance. The town is built with no attempt at appearances. A large stone building of, say, three storeys, will be seen next a moss - green one - storeyed cottage, "built in the early days. The shops are shabby and dingy looking-, and are not to compare with those in Dee st. The cabs are a poor lot, and the nags, if in Invercargill, would soon be introduced to Mr Darling. They have a lot of what are called victoriasopen carriages—that run from the jetties for 3s 6d per hour, but I did not see a hansom, and they appear in their torn outs to be 50 years bind the times. I visited some of the coachbuilders. They are complaining- that since the failure, of one of their banks recently business has been at a standstill. Some men about the streets informed me that there is a great deal of real poverty. I saw the unemployed working on a hill, and was' to! d that the Government or the

Corporation pay them 3s per day, and only give them two weeks’ work at that, then turn them off and give some more unfortunates a chance. Business can be summed up in the word “ stagnant.” I visited the telegraph office an old one-storeyed building, in marked contrast to our own. The post office is a very nice structure, and I must say is up to the times. A lady was at work in the stamp department. I also visited the art gallery, and saw a lot of really grand water-colour drawings. The pictures and steel engravings were decidedly above the average, and reflect credit on the taste of the inhabitants. I had a minute in the reading room, and here also I saw some fine pictures presented by artists of the town. The reading room (free) itself could not hold a candle to ours —only about half its size. I also had a look at the museum, and saw a lot of old friends that I remember seeing at the Hew. Zealand and South Seas Exhibition. The drawings and oil-paintings devoted to the Natives were distinctly interesting, and gave one an insight into their early history, which, judging from these, were of a decidedly rugged nature. I hired a cab and had a run round the outskirts, and saw the Theatre Royal—a huge bandbox-looking structure of wood. Without exception it will take the cake for ugliness. The new exhibi-tion-building, the frame-work of which is now in course of erection, will cover about half-an-acre, and is to be opened in 1894. Of course there will be more buildings up than one. Government House, a’ beautiful building, is surrounded by about twenty acres of lawn and ornamental shrubbery. A little further on are the botanical gardens, of which the people are justly proud. - The prisoners have evidently assisted nature at a great expenditure of time and labour. The views from many parts of this garden are beautiful in the extreme, and one one could readily pass a week and find new beauties every day. The soil seen here is fii-st-class, but the old

gardener informed me that it was made and therefore was no criterion. I did not see many good hotels. The streets are very narrow. The pavements are laid with a stone very similar to that found at Dipton, and of exactly the same colour. It has worn very unevenly and makes had walking. One incident worth recounting happened. Just as the steamer arrived at the wharf a detective came on hoard and made enquiries from me. He said that he had a cable message from New Zealand telling him that I would point out a young fellow who was wanted for a robbery from an hotel in Invercargill. While he was speaking to me in my cabin the man he was looking after was on deck, and as soon as the vessel touched the wharf he dispensed with the usual gangway, made a spring for the wharf and escaped. I saw the detectives about an hour after searching for their man hut without success, up to the time the boat left. To sum up my impressions of Hobart, I would he very sorry to change it for Invercargill. We are slow, I must admit, but we can run rings around anything I have seen in Hobart. [The young fellow referred to was afterwards recaptured, and will be brought to Invercargill. 1

(To be continued.)