SYDNEY, the capital of New South Wales, and the oldest city in Australia, is situ ated on the southern shores of Port Jackson, in lat. 32° 52' s., long. 151° 11' e. The first party of British settlers that reached New Holland were landed at Botany Bay on Jan. 20, 1788. The spot which they here selected being found ineligible, it was abandoned a few days afterward, and the infant settlement was transferred to a point about 7 m. further to the n., to the place where Sydney now stands. The choice of the new locality was chiefly determined by the circumstance of a stream of fresh water being found there, flowing into the deep inlet known as Sydney Cove, one of the numberless bays into which the basin of Port Jackson is divided. This last-mentioned magnificent expanse of water, completely land-locked, and admitting vessels of the largest size, extends for some 20 tn. inland, ramifying in every direction. Its bold and rocky shores present a succession of picturesque and beautiful landscapes. The cliffs which form the general outline of the harbor often rise to a height of from 200 to 250 ft. In other points, the coast presents a lower level, consisting of a series of terraces and smooth sandy beaches. Perhaps there are few positions on the habitable globe more obviously suitable for the foundation of a great metropolis. Situated at a distance of about 8 m. from the sea, the whole circumference of the bay round which it is built forms a series of natural wharves, where vessels of 2,000 tons burden can be moored within a distance of 20 yards. The narrow entrance of Port Jackson—through what is called the " Heads"—might easily be made inaccessible to any hostile fleet; whilst the central position of Sydney makes it necessarily the permanent emporium of the greater num ber of the British dependencies iu the southern hemisphere. The immense coal for mation of east Australia extends n. and s. for some 500 In., with a breadth of from 80 to 100 miles. Sydney stands nearly in the center of this great carboniferous basin; and at various points within a radius of from 30 to 100 miles, large quantities of coal are raised for colonial consumption as well as for export. The sandstone rock upon which
the city is erected affords a valuable material for building.
Since the abolition of transportation, the growth of Sydney has been rapid, the pop. in 1862 amounting to 93,596, and in 1871 to 134,738, including the suburbs. For many years Sydney enjoyed a monopoly of the commerce of these antipodean regions. It has now formidable rivals in Melbourne, Adelaide, and the settlements of Queensland. It must, however, continue the exclusive outlet for the productions and commerce of extensive pastoral and mineral districts on the n.w., w. and south-west. The eastern shore of Darling harbor has its frontage entirely occupied with wharves and quays.
The streets in the older parts of the town are narrow and irregular: in the newer portions, care has been taken to avoid these defects; and several of the modern streets, from their breadth and the size and style of the buildings, are not behind those of the principal towns of Europe. The shops, warehouses, and private buildings in George and Pitt streets present long and compact lines of well-built stone edifices, often assuming a very ornate and ambitious style of architecture. The chief thoroughfares are paved, and lighted with gas, and a system of underground drainage has been carried out at a cost of nearly half a million sterling. There is also an abundant supply of pure water, the source of which is a natural reservoir known as the Botany swamps. There are numerous parks near the city. The botanical gardens, the finest in the colonies, cover 38 acres. Sydney has one ship-building establishment. The Fitzroy dry-dock, originally intended for vessels of the royal navy, can take in vessels of the largest size. Lately, steps have been taken to put the city in a state of defense, and forts and bat teries armed with powerful Armstrong guns have been erected. The climate of Sydney is, upon the whole, temperate and healthy.