provisions on their arms;
dog-carts, driven by smart young fellows with a servant behind them in
gaudy livery, cut in and out among the vehicles; powerful draught-horses
stamp along the way, drawing heavily-laden drays; milk-carts with big
letters on their canvas sides make themselves conspicuous, and so do the
bakers' carts; while light and neat American wagonettes glide rapidly
along among less attractive vehicles. Now and then a Chinaman passes,
with his peculiar shambling gait, with a pole across his shoulders
balancing his baskets of "truck"; women with oranges and bananas for a
penny apiece meet one at every corner, and still the sidewalks are so
broad, and the streets so wide, that no one seems to be in the least
incommoded. The fruit stores present a remarkable array of tempting
fruits, among which are the mandarin and seedless oranges, apricots,
green figs, grapes, passion-fruit, pineapples, bananas, and many others,
all in fine condition. With the exception of the cities of California,
nowhere else can fruit of such choice varieties and so cheap be found as
at Melbourne.

Victoria is one of the youngest of the colonies, and was, until the
discovery of gold fields within her borders,--that is, in 1851,--a
portion of New South Wales; but to-day it is the metropolis of
Australia. It has not the many natural beauties of Sydney, but it has
numerous compensating advantages, and is the real centre of colonial
enterprise upon the continent. The admirable system of street-cars in
Melbourne is worthy of all praise, use being made of the underground
cable and stationary engine as a motor, a mode which is cheap, cleanly,
and popular. Collins Street is the fashionable boulevard of the city,
though Burke Street nearly rivals it in gay promenaders and elegant
shops. But in broad contrast to these bright and cheerful centres, there
are in the northeastern section of the town dirty alleys and by-ways
that one would think must prove hot-beds of disease and pestilence,
especially as Melbourne suffers from want of a good and thorough system
of domestic drainage.

The public library of the city is a large and impressive building,
standing by itself, a hundred feet back from the street, on rising
ground, and would be creditable to any European or American city. It
already contains about a hundred and thirty thousand volumes, and is
being constantly added to by public and private bequests. The interior
arrangements of the library