Page:Rambles in Australia (IA ramblesinaustral00grewiala).pdf/236

 On the opposite side from them the hills are thickly dotted with villas, but in the more remote arms of the harbour the bush remains still untouched and primeval, hiding quiet sandy beaches in its recesses.

Roughly speaking, one may say the harbour divides itself into two main sections; that on the northern side of the entrance called Middle Harbour, and the more extensive southern portion which, with all its many ramifications, runs west and ends in the Parramatta River. It is on the southern shores of this side of the harbour that the commercial life of Sydney is centred, the great and busy city with all its thronging wharves. On the northern shores are the picturesque houses of the well-to-do residents; for Sydney is also a pleasure city, and the land-locked waters of the upper reaches of the harbour are delightful for sailing, rowing, fishing, and bathing, while in the immediate neighbourhood are the popular surf-bathing beaches of Manly and Coogee.

We had already visited some of the northern shores of the harbour, but we had not penetrated to the west. The day was fine, the weather propitious. Our steamer started from Fort Macquarie, and we sailed first to the outer harbour, gaining varied impressions of the serrated, undulating shores; past the old Federal