Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/70

 44 ADELAIDE AND VICINITY The Builders months men were to be seen toiling with the axe, while women were, perhaps, attending to cooking operations under the shelter of umbrellas. Mr. Gouger records that large gum- trees grew over the town area on an average of six or seven per acre. Most of the buildings were erected at the west end of Hindley Street, and after some months the alignment of the street could be judged by the unpretentious cottages and stores that had been built. Trees overhung some of the buildings, and on stormy nights the wind roared gloomily among their foliage. A few houses were ]uit up in King William Street, Currie Street, and Rundle Street, but for many years Hindley Street was the centre of trade, and Wiis exjjected to permanently hold that position. It was dangerous to walk over the remote streets and allotments in the dark, owing to the deep holes made in grubbing the fallen trees. Adelaide was now composed of scattered houses built of pise, concrete, and weatherboard, and of calico tents, which, with wooden structures, predominated. Government House, one of the first buildings raised, was a curious affair. It was constructed of " wattle and daub," covered thickly with thatch, and was otherwise unostentatious. It contained three rooms, with some little offices at one end, and it stood in King William Street at the head of the slope above the Torrens. The work of erection was entrusted to marines from the Buffalo, who showed the proverbial want of knowledge of their class in land employment : they actually forgot to build a chimney, which had to be attached to an outhouse. The only public offices worth mentioning were the Lands Office and the Surveyor-General's Office. Most of the Government offices were situated on the Park Lands opposite the upper part of North Terrace. Lower down the building was erected for the South Australian Company's School, which was presided over by Mr. J. B. Shepherdson, and farther still the police office. The pise hou.ses were of earth or mud placed in a mould like concrete, with straw sometimes mixed with it. This preparation quickly dried, under the heat of the sun. and supplied an excellent harbor for insects. The roofs were of thatch, or of shingles and palings imported. from Van Diemen Land — splitters soon came over from that island and began operations with the native wood on the Mount Lofty Ranges. Reeds gathered from the Torrens and the Reedbeds were frequently placed on the roofs. A ceiling was improvised out of calico, which flapped noisily on windy days, and calico, also, was generally used in place of glass for windows. During the year stores were opened : they were small, and the goods they displayed were lacking in variety. A single room partitioned off with curtains was utilised as a store and dwelling-house. There were two or three wooden churches, and a newspaper had asserted its right to existence- — the forerunner of the present South Australian Register. In 1838-9 the wooden and pise buildings looked ordinary in comparison with newer structures of brick and stone. In sinking wells good building stone — generally lime — was found ; and such an abundance of clay, that bricks could be easily manufactured. The water supply was derived from the Torrens, and, when oxen and horses had arrived.