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THE BIGGEST CITY LAM) SALE IN ALL

AUSTBALIA:> . . !. GLIMPSE OF THE TWILIGHT OF AUOTBAXLAJI

HISTORY, i . j

THE BOUNTY MUTINY-ABBEST OF BLIGH IN

SYDNEY.

There ia an announcement in the Sydney papen, which win fix Ute attention of hundreds. of thousands of people on opening pages of the Australian History. It is anani aouncement which briags the public mind back once agaiU to the dawn of personal liberty and. political freedom in Australia-to an event which shaped the whole future of Australia, and which therefore concerns every colony in the group, and every town in every colony. - The story of the af ntiny of the Bounty is well known. In 1780, Captain Bligh was despatched from England in the ship Bounty to the South Ssas to obtain breadfruit trees for the ' British possessions in West India. The incidents of his

voyage form the most romantic page in modern history; His crew rose in mutiny against his harsh rule, and the. mutineers getting command of the vessel, turned Bligh and eighteen followers adrift in open ocean in an frai boat, with a small stock of provisions. ' Bligh, after an nnparaleled voyage of 3500 miles mid very many dangers, reached the Island of Timor without the loss of a man. Thence he proceeded to England and narrated the story of his adren taros, and being a man of resolute purpose, I hie again asked for and received a commission for the pur- poses of his first voyage which, oa the second attempt he successfully accomplished. Ten of the mutineers who: were caught were tried by courts martial, and three Were exscutad. For years , no traces of the other mutineers could be found, till one day they were discovered by a: pa «sinn ship in that lonely paradise of the Mid-Pacific, Pitcairn Island, whither they had proceeded with Tahiti women, and founded a happy and prosperous colony. The news of their discovery interested the whole of Europe, and with the consent, or at the request of the whole British nation, the Queen extended to. the mutineers a Boyal pardon, and furthermore sent them presents of stock, pigs. AMS. Then an effort was made to Dring them nearer civilsed settlement, and the whole colony (194 souls') was removed to Norfolk Island, but the' heartstrings of the simple people were fixed never to be broken to their island home in the Pacific, and they returned thence. A few only remained at Norfolk Island, and just two weeks ago eames news of the death of one of those who did stay lt was aunt Christian, aged seventy-five, the daughter ol Thursday October Christian, the first born to the muti- neers after their settlement on Pitcairn Island. " The British Government stood well to Governor Bligh, and on account of his rigid discipline he was selected as Governor for New South Wales. He arrived here in 1806, and forth with began to organise, s despotism like that.which forced the men of the Bounty to rise against him and casi him adrift in mid ocean. Bat he met on the shores ol Port Jackson men who had fought for' freedom in Euron« and meant to retain it in the newland under the Southon skies. The first Governor to come to Australia was Cap tain Philip,.who had command of the historic "Firs! Fleet," aaa the military branch of the expedition wai under the command bf Colonel George Johnston, wh< volunteered to the command bf the New South Walei corps. Under Philip snd King, the infant settlement oi the shores of Port jackson throve exceedingly, but Gov ernor Bligh had no sooner come upon the scene than hi inaugurated the iron rule of the Bounty. The militari and colonists united to resist this action of Governo; Bligh, and undoubtedly the popular cause of colonial free dcm had a fearless champion in Colonel Johnston. Whei Bligh finally went too far, a party headed by Colone Johnson arrested him. (1808), and the administration o colonial afairs was carried on by Johnston from Januar to Joly, when by the arrival. of Colonel Foveaux hi ' authority was superseded. Then Colonel 'Johnston, Jobi Macarthur, and other ofitoers and colonists were ordere« home and' were tried for the Bligh offence bys com awtial, «xmsisting of six Lisutenant-Generals, two Major Generate, five Colonels, and two Lieuten&nt^Colonels. Thi Home authorities, for the sake of discipline, lent strongl; to 'Bligh, and the result was that l/ieutenant-Colone Johnston (he had meanwhile attained to that rank) wa Tomat guilty of an act of mutiny in the arrest bf Bligh and he was sentenced to be casheered on July 2, 1811 Johnston and Macarthur were not the sort of men, how .ever, to admit they did wrong in deposing Bligh; the; rather maintained that they had saved theyoung colon; from insurrection and desolation. And these facts wer

tacitly admitted by the Imperial Government, who never again commissioned Bligh, but who afterwards restored Macarthur .to his colonial home in Parramatta,'and allowed Colonel Johnston the splendid grant of land at Annandale, Sydney. Colonel Johnston, on returning to . the colony, identified himself with its progress, and ofter some years of useful service, died on his estate near Sydney, Kay 5,1826. The estate came into the hands of the old hero's son, Captain Robert Johnston, S.N., who proved in many a toue-h naval contest that he was the sams metal as the Colonel. Quite recently Captain Johnston died at the^Hpe old. age of 93, having lived on Ufte Annandale estriteJla^ards of sixty years^TThis Cap- tain Johnston was spBt tty best type of mgm that ever

stepped on Australian »«IL/ As r.tkuMahipmin he ws¥bT same of the notable contesta ' '>.;Juchtne Wand present centuries closed and opened. . ¡a;had several combats with the French, being many titutü wounded, and he was present, we believe at the battle of Corunna, on the coast of Spain, to which port Bonaparte, with an avenging army of 180,000 men, swept down in the hope of cutting off the retreat of General Sir John Moore, who here finally in conflict with Marshal Soult, lost his life in the most valiant and stubborn contest of modern times. The naval contingent saved the British force, and it was in this con- test that Johnson, then a midshipman, was engaged. At the conclusion of the European straggle, Captain Jóhnson who had meanwhile won higher rank, and had received ?anyroyal recognitions for personal bravery, cometo Australia and settled on the Annandale estate in the immediate suburb of Sydney. Thu estate hs enlarged and to the astonishment of everybody, maintained intact against all and every inducement, for over' sixty years, on the crest of one of the picturesque eminences of the estate is the tomb which holds the remains of these two heroes, and there is no spot on Australian soil which is deserving of more honour and respect from men who find in this Southern land happy, free, and prosperous homes. Now that death has stepped in, as it always does, to alter the plans of man, this splendid estate is to be cut up. Its situation and surroundings are of an extraordinary character, and the wonder is that it has been so long pre- served. Itis a huge Park, in the centre of a great city. In all other directions the city has bulged out ten, fifteen, or twenty miles : it has swept round the boundaries of this great estate, andleft intacta magnificent area of 150 acres of land. It is just as if Hyde Park, London, the Gardens Melbourne, the Public Park, at Brisbane, or the Domain,

Sydney, were private reparties held for years and now ! thrown open for purchase by auction. The only difference is, that this splendid Estate is of much greater area, and as far as the city is concerned, more elevated than either.

arriving at Sydney, the tram skirting along the side of a magnificent stretch of land. This isthe estate which now, through the death of Captain Johnston is placed in the market.1 It connecta Newtown with Petersham, and em- brases the entire space between the railway line and the old Sydney Bead now traversed by tram. There is no more truly picturesque, open land in Australia, and thousands of eyes as the train has flown past, have been cast at the panoramic view, the one general exclamation being. "When will this splendid estate be thrown open." The annandale Estate, as it is best known bj in Sydney, is a succession of gently rising eminences, and commands magnificent views of the Harbour, Botany Bay, the City, Pennant Hills, Ac. It appears tohave been designed by nature for a model suburb, and thia it shall certainly be, as the sub-division is beingmade with the light of past experience in and about Sydney to go by, ensuring wide streets and esplanades, and unsurpassed drainage arrange- ments, the whole estate having a capital foll towards the harbour waters. No such extraordinary occurrence ha ever before taken place man Australian city, of a huge estate, in its very centre being offered for sale. But such now is the fact. Mrs. Johnson, the relict of the deceased naval Captain, has placed the whole estate in the market, audits disposai is left in the hands of Hardie and Gorman, who announce the Great Sale at Stanmore Ballway Station

on the 20th september next. The pion of subdivision is in the hands of Mr. Surveyor Binstead, who appears to' have grasped with masterly skill, the physical features of the magnificent estate, and the public may look with cer- tainty for the grandest and most liberal subdivision yet nude of city or suburban lands anywhere in Australia. The whole area will be cut up in blocks for first-class or isolated, residences, in certain parts ; for business and ordinary'residences in other parts: sites for villas, ter- races, cottages, hotel and business houses, Church sites, ftc. In short, the division will be such a one as required for an entirely, new sad expansive suburb. Very liberal terms of sale bars been arranged by the Auctioneers, viz : -10 per cent, deposit ; 15 per cent, in three months, with- out interest, and the remainder in five equal yearly instal- ments, at 6 per cent., with option of payment right out. There is no'doubt the sale will be the greatest that has

ever taken in Australia, and there will, doubtless, be an ; attendance of from five to ten thousand people, eager to invest from £100 to £5000 down on the nail, on a property for .which a nation has sighed for for years, and which once bought, will quadruple lt« value in a few years if not months. There is no section of the community for which this announcement has more significance than the whole inland public of Queensland and New South Wales. Here is a property on which there is not a house to-day, but which to-morrow will be built upon like Chicago was after the great fire. A purchase made can be left to be im- proved by the general rush of building operations thnt will commence the day after sale. It will be necessary for country readers of this article to make immediate in- quiries aa to the whole estate, and if too distant, instruct some friend or reliable agent to purchase for them. And now, leaving the affair in its business aspect, there ia one important word to say historically and politically. To have hundreds of such homes on this splendid estate is a perennial monument to the man who made the first stand on the shores of Australia for political and commercial freedom. That it is now to be unlocked for the purposes of a growing population, ia an indication of the peaceful progress made towards the solution in our country of the difficulty of big estates. Hundreds of acres of lands round about Sydney, that for yean) were locked up, have come by will and testament under sub-division, nud where one house stood, now thousands raise their roofs. Crowded streets in the city no longer jeopardise the general health. People have found new homes nud fresher air in the open suburbs of the great metropolis, and it is this very consideration which renders the cutting np of this great Annandale Eatate a matter of thc widest public 'importance.

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