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298 "As soon as we had settled ourselves at the hotel, Mr. Manson accompanied us in a stroll and ride through the principal streets. 'Great changes have taken place here in the past twenty or even ten years,' said Mr. Manson, as he called our attention to new and magnificent buildings, which he said occupied the sites of wretched structures that had only recently given way for the more modern architecture. Some of the old streets are still narrow and tortuous, but the new part of Sydney has wider and finer streets, and the old-fashioned appearance of the city is steadily disappearing. The principal streets are laid out to the cardinal points of the compass, and intersect one another at right angles. They are called George, Pitt, Market, King, and Hunter, the leading one being George Street, which starts from the water's edge and runs through the city and out into the country, where it becomes George Street West.

"George Street is named after George III., and Pitt Street after his Prime-minister. The other principal streets, Macquarie, King, Hunter, Bligh, and Phillip, bear the names of the early governors, and Mr. Manson said it was fortunate that the governors were changed often