Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 22.djvu/843

 SYDNEY 807 Bay, Double Bay, Rushcutter's Bay, Woolloomooloo Bay, Farm Cove, Sydney Cove, Darling Harbour, Johnstone's Bay, Blackwattle Bay, Iron Cove, Five Dock Bay, Hen and Chickens Bay, besides smaller inlets. On the north- ern side, beginning again at the Heads, there are North Harbour, Middle Harbour (with many subsidiary inlets), Chowder Bay, Sirius Cove, Mossman's Bay, Shell Cove, Neutral Bay, Careening Cove, Lavender Bay, Berry's Bay, Ball's Head Bay, Lane Cove, Tarban Creek, and other small bays. All these promontories and coves give a length of water frontage which is estimated at not less than 110 miles. Besides these, Botany Bay, though shal- low and exposed and destitute of promontories, has a coast- line of about 18 miles. Into it debouches George's river, which is navigable to Liverpool, a distance of 14 miles from the mouth, and in which are several capacious bays. The metropolitan area of Sydney really consists of a peninsula about 13 miles in length, lying between Parra- matta and George's rivers. The sea frontage of this area, from the South Head of Port Jackson to the North Head of Botany Bay, is 12 miles in length, and consists alter- nately of bold cliffs and beautiful beaches. Two of the latter Bondi and Coogee are connected with the city by tramways, and are favourite places of holiday resort. Sydney occupies, therefore, a position enjoying singular natural advantages. The city proper, as subsequently determined, takes in the water frontage from the head of Rushcutter's Bay on FIG. 2. Map of Sydney the east to the head of Blackwattle Bay on the west, giving a shore-line of 8 miles, of which If are the frontage of the Domain and Botanic Gardens. The remainder is occupied for commercial purposes, and is held partly by the Government and partly by private owners. There are three large public wharfs one, known as Circular Quay, embracing the greater part of Sydney Cove, seven- eighths of a mile in length, the second at the head of Darling Harbour, a quarter of a mile in extent, and the third at the head of Woolloomooloo Bay. The rest is occupied by private wharfs, the principal of which are on the east shore of Darling Harbour. A project is on foot for the resumption of the whole by the Government, and the making of a uniform quay, with a railway and a new street. The area of the city is 2670 acres, of which no part is more than a mile and a quarter distant from the water, whilst the average distance is three-quarters of a mile. The surface contour is undulating, the maximum elevation being 230 feet and the average 120. The soil is sandstone, covered more or less with shaly clay. Of the city area about 800 acres are devoted to public use. The largest reserve is Moore Park, lying to the south-east of the city, nearly 500 acres in extent originally a waste of sandhills. On it are the rifle range, the Agricultural Society's showground, and the principal cricket ground. The Inner and Outer Domains on the shore of the harbour contain about 130 acres. The former contains Government House, with its private garden and paddocks ; the Outer Domain is a public park. The beautiful botanic gardens occupy the shore -line of Farm Cove, commanding the man-of-war anchorage. Hyde Park, the original race-course of the city, is about 49 acres in extent. At the north entrance is a statue of Prince Albert, and on its most elevated part is one of Captain Cook. Prince Alfred Park, on the southern boundary of the city, originally called Cleveland Paddocks, occupies nearly