Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/241

 Conclusions ADELAIDE AND VICINITY 215 The land that slumbered in 1836 is in 1900 the home of an industrious, energetic, and intelligent people, who have much to be proud of in their past, and every right to cherish confident anticipations of great and growing prosperity in the future. A city that bears the name of an English cjueen, has that of " King William " for its principal street, and of "Victoria" for its central square, with a statue of Her Majesty in the heart of it, should be exceptionally loyal, and the citizens of Adelaide have often displayed this distinguishing characteristic, but never more strikingly than at the close of 1899 and the beginning of 1900. The war in South Africa afforded an opportunity of showing that theirs was no mere lip-loyalty. In common with other colonies, South Australia promptly offered to assist in fighting the battles of the Queen, and the acceptance of the offer was greeted with the utmost satisfaction. Successive contingents were selected from large numbers of applicants, equipped and dispatched without loss of time, and in each case their departure was accompanied by a tremendous outburst of public feeling. By an undesigned co-incidence, the second contingent, consisting of mounted men, left on the anniversary of the first landing at Port Jackson in 1788, and the day was observed as a general holiday. Through streets gay with bunting, and densely packed with greater masses of people than were ever seen in Adelaide before, the citizen soldiers and their escort made their way to the Port, where a corresponding reception awaited them. Their progress was amid a continuous roar of cheering that often drowned the music of the bands, an altogether unprecedented enthusiasm, which demonstrated the breadth and intelligence of the patriotic spirit that prevailed. In what was only the other day a mere outpost of civilisation, the Federal movement has shown the evolution of a true sense of nationhood, and the South African war elicited the tangible expression of a noble readiness to make what sacrifices were required in order to maintain the integrity of the Empire. Statuakv in Botanic Gardens