A delightful and detailed look at 1800s Australia through the eyes of French aristocrat, Oscar Comettant.

Author:	Oscar Comettant. Translated by Judith Armstrong.
Publisher:	1888. English version: Rigby Limited, 1980.
ISBN:	0727010859 9780727010858
Characteristics:	275 pages, Hardcover; 22 cm.
Source:	Own library
Date Read:	10-Dec-2025

This book was another suggestion from Rob P, who also recommended Black Kettle and Full Moon. It was written around 1888 by Oscar Comettant, so I was expecting an interesting insight into early Melbourne life, and the book exceeded expectations.

Oscar Comettant (1819–1898) was a French composer, musicologist, travel writer, and cultural observer. He trained at the Conservatoire de Paris and spent much of his life travelling, writing, and critiquing music. Oscar had been invited to Melbourne to judge a high-profile event. So, while in Australia, he had a good look around Melbourne and then Sydney.

With the book being so good, it’s hard to understand why it took until 1980 for an English version to be published, but as they say, better late than never!

Anyway, the text is highly detailed, beginning with the sea voyage from France via steamship. In many places it reads like a forerunner to the Lonely Planet books, where travel advice and descriptions are given out. On the voyage Oscar describes the journey, the passengers, how good the ship crew service was and the events and games.

Our first sight Of Australian soil soon made us forget the
little discomforts of navigation, which were, after all, made
quite bearable by the great comfort Of the superb ships of the
Messageries Maritimes Company, by the affable politeness of
all the crew, by the intelligence and eagerness of the stewards
to give passengers of all classes the service demanded by their
situation, and also by the gaiety natural to our nation, which
makes French ships centres of wit and good humour—the
best remedy so far for sea-sickness and absence from land.

In the Land of Kangaroos and Gold Mines, page 37

Impressions of Melbourne

Oscar was particualary impressed with Melbourne with its beautiful buildings and wide streets.

The Town Hall, where the fathers of the city meet, is in
every sense of the word a superior edifice, situated at the
corner of two of the most beautiful streets in the city, Collins
Street and Swanston Street. However, they have spoiled this
building by adding on to it a little administrative office that
sits on it rather like a wart on a pretty face. In architecture
especially, it is only too true that what is useful is often the
opposite of what is beautiful.

In the Land of Kangaroos and Gold Mines, page 43

Oberwyl

Oscar made special mention of Oberwyl which was a highly regarded girls’ boarding school, established by the Swiss art patron Madame Elise Pfund (1833-1921) in 1867 and survived until 1931. The school was known for its elegance and French culture, which would have delighted Oscar no end on many of his visits running some of the classes. Madame Pfund was Elise Tschaggeny, who renamed Etloe Hall after her home village  of Oberwyl  in Switzerland.

In 1885 or 1886, Oberwyl was sold and became the site of Oberwyl Ladies’ College, operated by Berthe Mouchette (c.1850–1920) and her sister Marie Lion, who had arrived in Melbourne from France in 1881. Madame Mouchette, widow of the Deputy Chancellor of the French Consulate, was an accomplished artist reputed to have exhibited at the Paris Salon between 1878 and 1881. At various times, she maintained two studios in Collins Street.

The sisters were among the founders of the Alliance Française in Melbourne, which first met at Oberwyl and continues to operate from St Kilda. They were also connected with the Melbourne Theosophical Society. The noted Australian artist Margaret Preston (née Margaret Rose McPherson, 1875–1963) is believed to have attended Oberwyl College during the period when Berthe Mouchette was in charge.

There is no doubt that Oscar would be delighted to see French culture thriving in Melbourne today.

Travel Advice

Oscar makes many recommendations for the traveller, including what to see, and he makes specific recommendations for which theatres to visit. He was surprised how good Australian wine is after visiting the Yarra Valley. It’s easy to forget how long ago the wine industry was set up in Victoria.

If I wanted to form an idea of the customs of a totally
unknown country, and only had one hour in which to do it, I
would go to its market-place. At the market you discover
that everyone is eating, as well as what it costs, and this is
not lacking in interest; but it is not all that you learn.

In the Land of Kangaroos and Gold Mines, page 62.

Oscar goes to much length discussing the cost of everything in one’s daily life to the cost of doing business. For most items, the costs are in centimes, which make up 1/100 of a Franc; for example beef was 60 to 80 centimes per pound.

Oscar, being very used to French cuisine, found the Melbourne restaurants mostly very ordinary. No doubt most residents would not have the spending power of Oscar, so fancy restaurants would have badly lacked patrons back in the 1800s.

There are two or three good restaurants in Melbourne; the
rest are, to French palates, more or less bad. No more than in
England do they know how to make stock in Australia. What
they call soup is a kind of very thick, highly seasoned sauce,
bearing no relationship to what we in France eat under the
names of potage.

In the Land of Kangaroos and Gold Mines, page 64.

Statistics

Oscar takes great delight in gathering and discussing statistics, and for the modern reader they give an interesting glimpse into the long ago past.

For example, in the colony of Victoria in 1888 there were:

232,849	24%	Catholics;
356,420	36%	members of the Established Church of England;
151,712	15%	Presbyterians;
124,060	13%	Methodists;
22,737	2%	Independents;
23,314	2%	Baptists;
29,576	3%	Protestants of undetermined sect;
4,953	1%	Jews;
12,892	1%	Buddhists and Confucians;
28,592	3%	Individuals classed by the official censor as ‘the rest’ — that is, those who in the last census neglected or refused to disclose their religious belief.
987,105	100%	TOTAL

French and German Rivalry

There is a distinct rivalry between France and Germany, and he laments that while over 700 000 pianos from Germany made it to Australia (meaning almost every home must have had one) there were very few of the better made French ones. As he delves into the Australian economy, it’s not just pianos the Germans are winning with but also trade in general. Oscar provides quite a lot of statistics, and he must have had the connections to obtain them.

He is also interested in the social side of Australia, with a mention of how badly the aborigines are treated. He was dismayed that the founders of the land could be treated so ignobly.

Science and Technology

Reading a book from the 1800s, I was surprised how old some technologies are. Oscar mentions developments being made using the tides to generate electricity. He also laments how the already well-established metric system has failed to be adapted outside of Europe.

Some detail is sadly lacking. Although he travels on a steamship and the 12-hour train journey from Melbourne to Sydney, there is no mention at all of the engines that drive it all. Being musically inclined, he has no interest in such things, which seems to be a normal division of interest.

Conclusion

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The insights into what life was like back in the 1800s was very interesting. Especially as it was in the area I live in and know. Highly recommended!

Most libraries won’t have a copy, and it’s well and truly out of print. I searched online for a copy and got mine from Adelaide Booksellers, who provided a prompt and courteous service.

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Major Themes in In the Land of Kangaroos and Gold Mines

Some useful notes from Microsoft Copilot.

1. The Outsider’s Eye on Colonial Australia

Comettant writes as a fascinated, slightly bemused French visitor.

• He contrasts European refinement with the rawness of colonial life.
• He observes Australians with a mix of admiration, curiosity, and gentle satire.

2. Gold Rush Legacy and Social Mobility

He’s intrigued by how gold reshaped society.

• Former miners becoming wealthy landowners
• Towns built on sudden prosperity
• A society where class boundaries feel looser than in Europe

3. Cultural Life in a Young Nation

As a musicologist, he pays close attention to:

• Concerts, choirs, and public performances
• The surprising sophistication of Melbourne’s cultural scene
• How art and music signal a maturing national identity

4. Modernity and Progress

He arrives during the Centennial Exhibition — a perfect moment to marvel at:

• Railways
• Expanding cities
• Technological optimism
• Australia’s desire to present itself as modern and world‑ready

5. Encounters Across Cultures

Comettant often comments on:

• Chinese communities
• Indigenous Australians (though through a 19th‑century European lens)
• Immigrant diversity in Melbourne and the goldfields

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Notable Anecdotes

These are the kinds of vivid moments that make Comettant’s travel writing so enjoyable.

1. His Arrival as a French Juror

He comes to Melbourne to judge a major exhibition — and is amused by the pomp, ceremony, and earnestness of the organisers.

2. The Vineyard Visits

He’s delighted (and sometimes surprised) by Australian wine culture.
He compares local vineyards to French ones, often with humorous exaggeration.

3. A Day in the Goldfields

His trip to Ballarat and Sandhurst gives him:

• Colourful miners
• Rough‑and‑ready pubs
• Stories of fortunes won and lost
• A sense of frontier energy

4. Walking Melbourne’s Streets

He describes:

• Bourke Street bustle
• Horse‑drawn traffic
• Fashionable promenades
• The mix of elegance and colonial roughness

5. The Exhibition Halls

He’s both impressed and amused by:

• Over‑decorated displays
• National pride on full show
• The contrast between European and Australian aesthetics

6. His Gentle Satire

Comettant can’t resist poking fun at:

• Overly serious officials
• Social climbers
• The earnestness of a young nation trying to impress Europe

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