Of the public buildings, the finest is the Post Office, which, though it
wants an extra story to make it dignified, is, in my opinion, preferable
to either the Melbourne or Sydney Post Offices. The new Institute, the
Anglican Cathedral, which is lofty, the Town Hall, the Supreme Court, the
Banks of South Australia, of Adelaide, and the English and Scottish Bank,
and the new vice-regal residence on the hills, are all fine buildings,
which would attract favourable notice in Melbourne or Sydney. Nominally
there are three theatres, practically only one, but that is undoubtedly
the prettiest and best in Australia. But the pride of Adelaide is its
Botanic Garden, which, though unpromisingly situated on a perfectly
level spot, with no water at hand, has been transformed, by means of
artificial water and artificial hillocks, into the prettiest garden in
the world The area is only forty acres, but every inch has been turned
to the utmost advantage, and this is really a garden, while the Sydney
Gardens--mark the plural--are more park-like, and those of Melbourne can
hardly be called gardens, in the strict sense of the word.

The drainage is defective, but the water-supply good. There is still a
great deal to be done to the footpaths, and until quite recently the
municipal arrangements were in every respect almost as bad as those of
Sydney. But an able, energetic, and liberal mayor, Mr. E. T. Smith, in
the course of two years so stirred up the citizens that pavements have
been laid down, additional gas-lights provided, the Torrens artificial
lake constructed, the squares and park-lands transformed from untidy
wildernesses into handsome oases, and the general aspect of the city
entirely transformed. I do not know that I ever saw so much done entirely
at the initiative and by the energy and persistence of a single man.

Of the shops there is not much to be said. They are not at all up to the