Samuel Hannaford
Sea and River-side Rambles in Victoria
Published by Good Press, 2020
EAN 4064066069551
Table of Contents
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
reatly as a taste for Marine Zoology has been diffused by the numerous beautifully illustrated and charming books, which within the last few years have appeared from the English press, they are nearly all costly, and many of them of too technical a nature to prove of real value to the masses, who at the approach of the hot winds of Summer flock to the Sea-shore, and we pen these pages with the hope that the chatty form in which we have endeavoured to impart a few of the gleanings made during several years' rambling in the Colony, may take this Book into the hands of many, who, perhaps, having a lurking taste for the subject of which it treats, would be deterred from its perusal, were it of a more precise or scientific character.
"Great cities," remarks Professor Harvey, in the Preface to his splendid Work on the Seaweeds of our Coast, "are springing up in the Australian Colonies; and watering places, to which the citizen takes his family to enjoy the sea breeze during the summer time are coming into being," still, a residence at the Sea-side soon becomes very monotonous where the mind has not full occupation, but following out a few of the hints contained in the following pages, inducements will be found fog taking exercise in search of some of the many beautiful objects of the Sea-shore, and so all the functions, bodily and mental, may be maintained in a healthy state.
"Not lost the time in Sea-side ramble spent,
Braced is the frame, and mental health is gained."
With such glorious teachers as Gosse, Lewes, Harvey, and Rymer Jones, we have often preferred giving a vividly written passage from some one of their Works to anything of our own, and in the preparation of this Work have wished indeed "that some one more skilful had undertaken it, but still it is better even we should undertake it than it be left undone."[1]
1 ↑ Cicero.
CHAPTER II.
"To one who has been long in City pent,
Tis very sweet to look into the fair
And open face of heaven—to breathe a prayer
Full in the smile of the blue firmament."—Keats.
There are certain times and seasons when the mind, so dependent on a healthy state of the body for a vigorous development, worn out by constant toil and anxiety, becomes thoroughly unstrung, and unless a change of scene and companions can be at once obtained, it soon becomes impaired, and sooner or later the consequences are seen in one of the many tedious nervous diseases unfortunately so prevalent in this country. A change into the interior is scarcely likely to prove as beneficial to the man of sedentary habits as a run by the sea, where the "stormy winds do blow," and where the long lost appetite quickly returns, and the mental faculties resume their wonted spirit and energy.
We write from experience, for rendered irritable by long confinement, and as a climax, the intense heat of the anniversary of the well-remembered Black-Thursday, when the inhabitants of our tank, one after another, were found lying, not "scentless" certainly, but "dead," and the numerous fresh-water Algæ, so carefully preserved, each in its separate bottle on our mantel piece, waiting until we had leisure to investigate them, had withered, we hastily packed up a few choice books, a good supply of glass sample bottles, the use of which will be apparent by and by, a few quires of blotting paper and muslin strapped between well-seasoned boards, and our microscope, determined to explore some of those glorious dark crannies and sheltered nooks which for months past had formed the subject of our dreams, day and night, and which add so considerably to the charm of Sea-side rambling. But where to go then became a matter of grave consideration—Hobson's Bay, Geelong, Queenscliff, all had something to recommend them, but we wanted companionship and quiet as well as fresh air, and so Warrnambool was decided on to be visited first, with a hope to call, as our leisure would allow, at all these places on our return. The trip to Lady Bay, a few years since one of so much discomfort, having to be made in diminutive crafts, not particularly well provisioned, is now really an enjoyable one, and where it formerly occupied from a week to an indefinite period at the caprice of the winds, is now performed in about eighteen hours in steamers, well officered and well furnished in every way. The weighty point "where to go," being thus decided, we were before many hours had passed over our heads safely ensconced on board the "Lady Bird," and in spite of the gloominess of the morning, the mere anticipation of what we knew to be in store for us soon dispelled all the feeling of "hippishness" which had beset us for many weeks previously. Although steaming along the coast for a considerable portion of the passage, there is nothing of interest to observe after passing the Heads, except the few chance vessels which may be sighted, and the Cape Otway Light, always anxiously looked for. So far then on our way, after watching awhile the phosphorescence of the waves as our vessel dashed through them, we turned in, and were awakened at an early hour in the morning by the announcement that Warrnambool was in sight; our toilet quickly made, we went on deck just as we steamed past Curdie's inlet, where, it will be remembered, the "Schomberg" was wrecked, and in a short time the pretty little town which was to be our temporary abiding place, loomed out from its shelter of thick timber. We now pass the mouth of the river Hopkins (about a mile from the port,) which is barred by a reef of rocks whereon the surf dashes heavily, it is a pretty object, the rugged crags dotted here and there, on which rest lazily enough a group of Cormorants, and the little blue Heron, reminding us of the singular tail pieces which illustrate some of Bewick's works. The white sand hummocks thrown up on shore are objects of interest to the stranger; but the anchor drops as we steam into the snug little Bay, so well protected by the dense bed of Kelp, and the Gulls and Terns fly screaming overhead, indignant apparently at our intruding into their usually quiet haunts, but we shall make acquaintance with them anon we dare say. After being landed by the worthy Harbour Master, we prefer, having suffered severely from the