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LETTER No. LX. (up Saturday, May gth, 1896, I parted with Elder Joseph Stephenson in Mel bourne and again boarded the steamer ‘Oroya' which sailed from Port Mel bourne (three miles from Melbourne proper) at 1:30 p. m._ The distance across that large sheet of water known as Port Phillip Bay is about forty miles. At 4:45 p.m. we passed the “heads” into the great Southern Ocean, whence we took a southwesterly course in order to round Cape Otway which is one of the southernmost points of the conti nental Australia, Wilson’s Promontory, ‘~which, we passed on our voyage from Sydney to Melbourne, is still further south. It lies in latitude 39 ° 11 $4” south. The following day (May 10th) was rather stormy, and a number of the passengers failed to show up at meals. My own state of health was exceptionally good Since my interesting crisis among the Tuamotu Islands sea-sickness has exacted no tribute from me. On Monday morning early (May 1ith) we passed through the strait called Back stairs Passage, which separates Kangaroo Island from the main land We passed through with the island named on our left, Kangaroo (85 miles hang by to wide) is the largest island belonging to Australia. Thence we changed our course to the north, and steamed up the gulf of St. Vincent; at 4oa.m.the Qoroya cast anchor about three miles off Largs, which place is about nine miles from Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. Smaller vessels go up a tidal river to Port Adelaide, about seven miles from the city. Soon after anchoring I landed at the Largs pier,and thence took train for Adelaide, where I visited parks, museums, libraries and other places of interest. I stopped at a hotel over night, and returned to the ship after calling on some of the government of ficials from whom I obtained maps and literature on the colony of South Australia. My first impression of Adelaide was very favorable. The wide, straight streets, which cross each other at right angles and follow the cardinal paints of the Compass, at once remind one of Utah’s fair capital; and the beautiful parks, stately public buildings, respect able business blocks and well stocked stores call to mind the thrift of a young American city. The public library of Adelaide is exceptionally well stocked with books of the most imminent ancient and modern authors; the museum contains a small but well selected stock, including both Australian and foreign specimens; some most excellent samples of oil paintings and Statuary adorn the walls and floors of the modest three roomed art gallery; the botanical gardens, containing about forty acres,are kept in first class condition and represents a great variety of plants, flowers, trees, etc., of the tropic, semi tropic and temperate zones. By special courtesy of the director I was shown through the zoological gardens where a small but fine collection of animals, birds, reptiles, etc., is very tastefully ar ranged. Both the Australian fauna, as well as the ordinary zoological specimens of the world, are properly represented. Everything about the gardens had a neat and attractive appearance; and the gen eral arrangement of everything in and about the premises reminded me very much of the zoological gardens of Copenhagen, Denmark, as they appeared about fifteen years ago. Adelaide also has a technological museum. All these public institutions, as well as the colonial university, the exhibition building, the governor's mansion, the new parliamentary build ing, etc.,,are all situated adjacent to each other on what is called North Terrace, a wide street and esplanade which skirts the north side of Adelaide proper. Beyond the esplanade is a belt of reserved land or public domain, which separates the city proper from North Adelaide lying across the little Torrens river. The city of Adelaide Proper only contains about 40,000 in habitants, but with its suburbs and the country lying within a radius of about ten miles, including Port Melbourne, there is a population of nearly 140,000. Adelaide and its suburbs lie on a level tract of country, elevated only a few feet above the level of the sea; but a short distance east of the city, the Adelaide mountains form a most beauti ful background to the landscape. Mount Loily, one of the highest peaks in that chain has an elevation of 2,334 feet, and is distant from the city about ten miles. Of the different cities that I have visited in Australia, Adelaide comes the nearest of being my ideal citie,a place where, everything else be ing equal, I would not dislike making a home, were I seeking for One. Adelaide was founded in 1336, by emigrants from Great Britain; it was named in honor of the queen of William IV, king of England. In its proneer lays the embryo colony experienced much adversity and the settlers suffered great hardships; but these have now been overcome; and the city as well as the whole colony is making good Progress; and it is generally admitted by the colonists that no better site for their capital city could have been selected. South Australia proper contains an area of 380,070 square Miles, which is about four times the size of Utah, and had on December 31st, 1894, a popula tion of 347,720 The Northern Ter ritory, which belongs to South Australia politically, but is virtually a separate country differing from the parent colony in climate, soil and general resources, has an estimated area of 523,620 square miles, but only a population of about 5,000. The census of 1,891 places the number of some of the religious denominations in the colony as follows: Church of England 85,271; Roman Catholic, 47,179; Wesleyans, 49,159; Lutherans, 23,328; Presbyterians, 18,206; Congregationalists, 11,852; Bible Chris tians, 45,762; Primitive Methodists, 11, 654; Baptists 17,547; Christian Brethren 465; Unitarians, 685; Moravians 139; Friends, 100; New Jerusalem Shurch 168; Jews, §46, etc. But there is not one Latter-day Saint, so far as I can learn, in the whole colony; though Adelaide was the city where the Gospel, as revealed through the great Prophet of the Ninteenth Century, was first preached in his dispensation. William Barret, a young Englishman, who on July 11th, £ 840, was ordained an Elder by the late Apostle George A. Smith at Hanley, Staffordshire, England, was the person who first came to Australia as a Latter-day Saint Elder. He arrived at Adelaide, Southern Australia, early in 1841 after a rough passage, and under date of April 9, 1841, he wrote that he had commenced to preach, but had not yet baptized any. He intimated that the obstacles to the introduction of the fulness of the Gospel in South Australia was very great, and that the people were giving themselves up to prostitution, drunkenness and extortion. From private sources I have learned that Elder Barret did baptize a few; but the fullness of the Gospel was never fairly intro duced in Australia till 1851, when Elders Murdock and Wandell commenced their operations in Sydney, New South Wales. Two years later, when more missionaries were sent from the headquarters of the Church to Australia, Adelaide became a regular field of labor, Elders A. P. Dowdle and J. W. Norton, being the first to go there. Under date of Septem ber 13th, 1853, they reported a number of people baptized and two branches organized in South Australia But in due course of time,most of the converts emigrated to Zion, and since the return of the Elders in 1857 no successful mis sionary work has been done in Adelaide by any of our Elders. On Wednesday, May 13, 1896, the Oroya, after taking on board the Austra lin mail for Europe and some more passengers, left her anchorage off Largs, near Adelaide, and continued the voy age. Sailing in a southwesterly direc tion down the St. Vincent Gulf and through Investigator Strait, with the heights of Kangaroo island iiside on our left, we soon reached West Cape,the extremity of York's peninsula. After passing that noted geographical point our course was Changed to an almost westerly one across the Great Austra lian Bight, which is a part of the South Pacific Ocean but here locally called the Southern Ocean. It is known to navi gators as a stormy and dangerous body of water. After a prosperous voyage we came in sight of the West Australian Coast on Saturday, May 16th, about noon. At 1ap m. we passed through a channel with Breaksea island on our left and Michaelmas Island on our right,into King George’s Sound, where the ship cast anchor immediately east of Posses sion Point. We had come about toro Miles for our former place of anchor age off Largs. Soon after anchoring a number of steam launches came off from Albany about three miles distant, and among those who landed to spend an hour or two on West Australian soil was your correspondent. Albany, where we landed, is one of the principal towns of Western Austra lia. It is beautifully situated on rising ground on the north shore of Princess Royal harbor, between two elevations. Called pespect tele Mount Clarence and Mount Melville. It is about 254 miles by road and 352 miles by railway from Perth, the colonial capital. The Prin cess Royal harbor is one of the finest on the Australian coast, and most steamers en route between Australia and Europe call here. The town, which was first settled in 1826, is one of the oldest settlements in Western Australia, and now has a population of about 3,000. The harbor is about 44 miles long and about two miles wide, and to gether with King George found further out, is well fortified, so that it could easily be defended in case of war. Al bany will perhaps never grow to be a very large city; it is not backed by any
Newspaper Details
Salt Lake City Deseret Weekly
Salt Lake City, Utah, US
Sat, Sep 19, 1896
Page 10
Full Page
Clipped by
Kirsten N.
USA 09 Jan 2026
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