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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 16, 1908)
1 he- I V ! - BT PROFESSOR JAMES RICAXTON. IN a new country the traveler is look ing for unfamiliar things. He will find them in Xever-Never-Land. In no country In the world can or find so many opposite and eccentricities In na ture as are to be .found In Australia. From the beginning when this austral continent first emerged fnrni the sea, her physiography was & blunder; she never had Important rain producing mountain ranges In the Interior, consequently she Is well nlsh rlverless, and has only a few food harbors. Her geology, her xoolojry and her fl'vra all prove her cosmic antiq uity: they ahow that nature was serving an apprenticeship when aha was lifted from the waters and even for vast periods afterward whn "animated With her fauna anit flora.- But these facts do not make rer less Interesting- to a visitor from the Northern hemisphere. ' Nature's tentative efforts In animal and plant life lend some of the most attractive features to travel among our antipodean cousins. We want to see trees in the youth of their develop ment, before they knew how to turn the broad side of their leaves to the sun. and before they had learned that It Is more, convenient and advantsgoua to shel their leaves rather4han their bark! It Is a novel experience to dwell In a latitude where the sun makes his dally course to the northward and where' the firmament Is spangled with unfamiliar twlnklers. 'What an opposite to hear the owl hoot, not to the moon at night, but to the me ridian sun during the day! , How convenient for the honey-thief to have bes without stlnzs as they are in Australia. When traveling n many parts .of India the knowledge that one la often exposed to attacks by the most ferocious flesh-eaters Is apt to be disquieting; In Australia the carnlvorae have no repre sentative except the dingo (wlWi dog), and h la probably an early Importation. As carnivorous animals do not exist, rumin ating animals are unnecessary. If I may express It In that way. To make It plain, ud-chewlng la. according, to naturalists, nature's way of enabling defenseless ani mals to feed quickly and retire to placea of security where they can chew at leis ure; so In Australia, where flesli-eatlng animals do not exist, there are no rumin ants. While there are no flesh eaters and no cud-chewers Indigenous to Australia, there are plenty of Importation of both orders; foxes abound, but the fox la foreigner, so Is the pestilential bunny. : ' The fauna la essentially marsupial, the most Important representative of which la the- kangaroo: of course, I mean by marsupial, the pouched animal, of which there arsp-llo different spedes; in America the opossum is the only pouched speci men. It may be necessary to state that a marsupial or pouched animal Is one whose young la born in almost embryonic Immaturity and placed by the mother in her abdominal pouch, where it remains till well developed. The marsupial is wonderful Inasmuch as It' repreaents a stage in animal life midway between egg birth and living birth, or between what Is known in natural history aa oviparous and viviparous life; therefore the mar supial order denotes a very remote period In the development of the animal king dom, and. the fuuna of Australia being essentially marsupial, you see why ref erence la made to the anomalous condi tion aa coming from nature, apprentice ship, for both plant life and xoology, in cases to which I have referred, are aeons remote In nature's history. In the animals of Australia there Is m still more extraordinary example of Na ture's caprice: it la In the duck-billed platypus (ornlthorhynchus paradoxus) sometimes called the duck-mole, and is perhaps the most paradoxical of all Aus tralian freaks. It Is almost a faunal trinity embodying the qualities of fowl, fish and beas"t: It uas webbed front feet for swimming, tunneling hind feet like those, of the more, the beak of a duck and a beautifully furred body not unlike that of a young otter. It lays eggs, usu ally two, and broods them as does a hen; when the oung are hatched they receive their supply of milk in most unusual and wonderful fashion. . The mother platy pus has no teats; but the skin over the milk glands Is porous and the ' little duck-bills" pressing the gl and .causes the milk to exude. Here then Is the most paradoxical example of composite animal life known to natural history, and- wherein Nature seemed to hesitate or to attempt a trinity. Surely Australia Is a land of queer things an Insular continent of contra dictions: but I must not dwell altogether upon natural history, for. beside her ancient order of plants and beasts, Aua-J aECRETAEx AND .ADMIEAL WILL tralia has1 scenic wonders which the "round-the-world" traveler cannot afford to ignore. Owing to the absence of mountain ranges in the interior, as already stated, there is Is no adequate river system, and this has led some people to think that the entire country is mountalnless. This Is a mistake. Several broken ranges ex tend along the east and southeast coasts from 30 to 90 miles from the sea. known as the Australian Alps. Some parts of the range are known aa the Liverpool Mountains, another part of the system as the Blue Mountains. Most of tljese mountains are in New South Wales and embrace several peaks, the highest. Mount Kosciusko, being 659 feet. Al though these ranges do not compare with some other great ranges of the world In elevation, yet their abrupt and irregu lar formation, the overhanging walls, the numerous cascades and waterfalls springing from rocka 1800 feet overhead, fern-shaded gorges, and deep, wide val leys filled with the blue haze of gum trees, all combine to produce an effect of Himalayan grandeur. Many parks in these ranges and sub ranges have been set apart as Summer resorts for the city folk. The most pop ular and picturesque region in the Blue Mountain range Is called Katooniba: It ia In New South Wales. 65 miles from Sydney, and is one of the most charming mountain regions imaginable. It has al ready several thousand inhabitants; sev eral hotels and countless villas all perched on outlook points. Katoomba has be come a sanitarium, a comfort-seekers' re treat In hot weather. It la an ozone station, a picnicking ground, an artists' paradise, a trystlng place of the com monwealth. Katoomba Is only the ren desvous point. The wild rugged ranges continue for miles. The valley between the precipitous walls is often 2000 feet In depth filled with the fragrant bosk age of the eucalypti, beneath which are giant fern trees. At great expense the governnjent has constructed shady walks midway between the top and the bottom of these stupendous walla, from which one can peer downward a thousand feet and upwartj a thousand feet, except where his vision la obscured by the gauxy niists of floating cascades. Rustic tables and rock-eonstrcuted fireplaces for lunching partle have been placed In quiet, cosy nooksV Ladders and rustic steps lead to the valley below where paths may he followed for miles through fern tree bowers. fTKe whole region, extending over many miles. Is so full of varied scenery the wild, the rugged, the beautiful, the grand, that I waa disposed to repri mand the New South Wales government because the entire Katoomba region has not been set apart as a national park. The only person whom I met at Katoomba who showed due reapect for and paid worthy homage to the grand eur of the i Blue Mountains, waa a mouldy-Tlaaged cab-driver who con reyed me to Wentwrjrth Falla (a scenic point In the region). After I had com pleted my survey of all that was grand In. the aurroundlng scenery and re turned to jaj cab, the oab-dxlvex caidjj .' TITE SUNDAY A COWTOWEWT O? COraTRAFHStf TWAT VM BOYtT Or OMR FLEET W.Li WHERE TTEIE TLECT WILL TrSOT3 NCHCRj Jr"" A AJtCt; CAMF, 'inL 35SCE1VS THC CFHCERS OT OUR.XLEGT: Would you like to listen to a recita tion?" Of. course I would, certainly.' He placed one hand on the wheel of the cab, and turned his eyes upward toward the . tree tops at the proper elevation for sublime contemplation and delivered the following apostrophe to the Blue Mountains, which Ifi offered with the other Australian curios, it be Ina- the product of the cabby s own lucubrations: A "Cabby's" Apostrophe to the Blue Mountains. Te Blue Australian Mountains, Puperb thy summits rise. Stupendous heights ascending The southern sunny skies. Thy valleys fair aa Eden Smile 'neath the cascade spray. Where soft the b'll-blrd's chiming And sweet the lyre-bird's lay. Blue mountain. chain of grandeur. Each Teak a Palace dome. Where r"lKn the icods Immortal, Thou fair Australian boms. Te Blue Australian Mountains v Where endless wealth abounds. Through wlldwood. cave and tavern The harp ot freedom sounds; And flora spreads her mantle With many a fragrant flower. And nature wreaths In splendor Hock-rugged wall and to-wer. It must not be inferred that the Blue Mountain range la a single line of elevation; it is a table-land broken up Into spurs and valleys extending west ward for Jo or 20 miles, and embracing a vast area of mountain.' valley and forest. It is reached from Sydney by railway, and. If the eeeker after the wonderful in scenery desires a change from the wonderful above to the won derful below ground, let him proceed by railway westward from Katoomba to Mount Victoria Station, where he will find waiting a coach which will convey him over a fine mountain high way for 39 miles to the famous Jenolan caves. Here the mountain scenery is still, magnificent above ground, but here he may also penetrate the "earth and traverse miles and miles of stalac titlc and stalagmltlc caverns. These series of under mountain halls and galleries the Jenolan Caves are among the most extensive and beauti ful In the world. It is claimed that If all the rooms and galleries in the Jeno lan Caves were In line they would ex tend 25 miles. Every conceivable for mation that can be produced by the dripping of mineralized water for ages can be seen In these caves. They are under the control of the provincial gov. ernment; they are lighted by electri city; steps, and ladders and passage ways have been made at necessary points: a boat Has been Installed In what 18 known as the River Styx, which Is 900 feet below the top of the moun tain. " A very obliging caretaker acta the role of Charon, and If the real CKa- ron is as considerate and gentle-hearted as the Jenolan one, we may entertain some scruples about the necessity for being so very good. ' ' . It Is Impossible to particularize In 25 miles of beautiful subterranean witchery; and tbes &r not th only j OREGOXIAX. PORTLAND. f TEUtf WSSK ..:t, V , 1 XT' . it THE COXOKIALS ARB J2J.CiiLY JEINIX3WEO -NEAR. .MELBOURNE, 15 OJSlG OF .THE. MOST SPLENDID RACE7 'COURSES INTHE caves in Australia. At two other points In New South Wrales wonderful caves may be seen; the Yarrlnggobilly and the Wombyan Caves are alnioat as ex tensive -as those at Jenolan. 'In Vic toria also are fine caves recently opened. ' I was astonished to learn, while In Australia, that what was once a pestilence has become an Industry. I refer to the prolific rabbit, whose rapidly increasing numbers threatened to deprive the sheep of their pasture ,lands, and rewards were offered for their destruction. Now that freezing plants have been installed, rabbit veni son has round a good maraet in .Lon don; and there are men whose regular occupation is to trap rabbits. Tavana is a great rabbit-shipping station, which I visited, that I might see a peculiarly Australian Industry. Bunny is not a wary animal like the fox, but Is easily trapped. The rabbit catchers use ordinary steel traps in great numbers; these they sec on the feeding ground In localities where their prey la known to be numerous. Rab bits feed at night chiefly; the traps are examined every morning. A hundred a day . would, he a big catch;. 60 at 10 cents , AUGUST 16, 19Q3. V Js. THE challenge OrAH'OLD MAMt - XU MELBOURNE -ZOO., . TOLL IS CALLED A.K Ik 15? cfvrjt-t; '.Awfr. WITH A HOJ2SE- IKTIKB WOELt a pair would be 15.50 a day, 10 cents a pair being an average price. Each morn ing's catch is suspended by the roadsidd in front of the rabbit-farmers' home. Rabbit-buyers often with two-team trucks pass along dally gathering in the cotton-tails which they transport to the nearest shipping station. On the road to Tavana I found two trucks carrying to the station over two tons of rabbits; thence they are conveyed by train to & freezing plant. At the freezing place often may be seen a train leaving for the seaboard with 200 tons of frozen rabbits. These are shipped to London like other frozen meat. There Is a use for every thing when we know what It Is, and It Is to be hoped, ere long, the utility of mosquitos will be discovered. Industrial Australia shows advanced conditions, especially In the . wool Indus try, but neither this nor the other inter esting agricultural features can even be touched upon in this necessarily brief sketch. I cannot, however, omit a word about primal man of Never-Never-Land. It has been the universally expressed opinion, oral and written, that Uie . ab-, mm rvwiiKHT ions iwHkmreun,MtMnFDi,jOnD ut 7 -By' "OLD MAN) 'a"'J WttAT WAJ -ART) HOUS Or JEABBIT-VJIWo'ri -AiiB . Shipped wxcklv TOioNbo.N origine of'Australia is about the lowest primitive race of man known. But the latest writers are beginning to modify this estimate and plaoe them more near ly on an equality with other aboriginal tribes, and my own observation accords with later estimates. Of course, they do not show the physical dignity, nor the classic facial lines of the American' In dian, who is probably the highest type of. an aboriginal. Some have essayed to trace the origin of the Australian to Babylonia, others have found In his lan guage indications of a Malayan descent; others again have located his prehistoric forbears In Africa. Many have a way of discovering historic and anthropological evidence as people see form In the fire. I believe no one knows -where the ab origines of Australia came from any more than we know where the American red man hailed from. We know they in cline .towards the negroid appearance, nearly black, some with frizzly hair and other tribes with .hair nearly straight. They have low, re-puslve faces; they are lazy and shiftless. Many of them near the towns are maintained by the govern ment. In their wild state they erect very crude places of shelter and use stone Im plements. They show -no signs of ever having had any connection with even a semi-civilized ancestry. Their marital usages are barbarous In the extreme. Their courtship is antiquat ed to say the least when a man falls in love no, that's not the right language; they don't fall In love when a man sees a woman he wants for a wife he may buy her from her father, or If she be in anoth er tribe he may steal her; or he may lie In wait, capture her and pound her intp submission with a club. If a daughter Is bought from a father, and she refuses to accompany the negotiated groom, she Is clubbed; If she attempts to run away the father will spear her through the leg so she cannot run. Sometimes brothers In different tribes will "swap" sisters, en tailing a double wedding. Any mention of Australian natives, however brief, would be incomplete with out some account of their most remark able weapon the boomerang. The boom erang is an Instrument which seems to stultify all the laws of mechanics and projectiles; because when It is hurled off into space in any direction for B0 or 100 yards It will return to the point from which it Is thrown. Try to Imagine a force acting contrary to itself: a force acting in diametrically opposite directions. This constitutes the mystery of the re turn boomerang. . There are two kinds. of boomerangs, the hunting or war-boomerang, and the return boomerang; the former gyrates rapidly end over end and plunges into the quarry or the enemy. The return instrument Is a plaything and rotate horizontally; it is made with the A 1 t. - ' - ' 5- 1 S ONCE .A. IPESTrLENrF ends so leveled that the resistance of h air continually changes Its course with out nullifying the propelling energy. A returning boomerang may be thrown froro 60 to 100 yards, a fighting one much far ther. It is said that no Kuropean has ever been able to throw this paradoxical instrument successfully, while a native under favorable conditions of wind will bring It within a six-foot circle of the initial point In nearly every Instance. Ws know how the erratic flight of this In strument has become a figure In speech and literature, as when any act performed returns against the actor It Is called a "boomeranjr" In the Casclne. Eden' Phlllpotts In the Uondm Nation. Here Shelley wrote; the Immemorial trees Have felt his passing through each dena and glade; Have bent and whispered while the mys teries Of deathless things were woven In their shade. The wind that turns the shivering poplar white. The nightingale that throbs upon the night. Still haunt the shadows where a poet's soul hath strayed. And I have moved upon the salf-ssms earth He trod, have gazed upon the golden tide Of Arno, where her far-flung, rippled mirth Meets with Mugnona, leaps and broadens wide. By banks of emerald and sandy beach She dims and shrinks again, long reach on reach. While the tail slender trees fads oft on either side. The tasseled hyacinth careswed his feet; The great reed rose and rustled whers he stood Upon the river's-bank ; In dingle sweet The young leaves bowed before him through tlie wood. Peace was about his passing; heaven's light Fel" cool upon his gracious forehead bright. And saw that he was fair and knew that he was good. The dome of blue whereon hts winced soul Wheeled like an eagle through the ether still; ' The plains that melt and glow and onward roll; Carrara's mist and marble where they fill The far horizon all together brought Under the ragged Apennines have wrought This gold and azure cup wherein he drank at will. Not so the hour when from his spirit ro.e The solemn anthem of the great west wind. Then, through red gloaming and the stormy close Of Autumn, fee went forth In might to find The river burdened with her latter rains; Earth's thickened breath lie heavy on the plains; And open to his cry the immortal mother's mind. Harper of all the ages, giant free. Roaming on earth's deep bosom aa of yore, Greater than thpu is this he wrote of thes. Enduring as thyself for evermore, Shelley's melodious miracle shall reign For generations' Joy, and still maintain Whiist tluAi dost herd the cloud and bring the wave to shore, yioxuice. May 21. L
