Home than
all his exertions could procure for them in their own country. I never
felt surprised or offended at his silent and preoccupied manner,
accompanied at times by great depression of spirits, for it was an
awful responsibility for one so young, brought up as he had been in the
greatest luxury, as the eldest son of a wealthy merchant, to have not
only himself but others nearest and dearest to maintain by his own
exertions.
William - - -, a tall, slight, and rather delicate looking man, is the
next of our party whom I shall mention. His youth had been passed at
Christ's Hospital. This he quitted with the firm conviction (in which
all his friends of course participated) that he had been greatly
wronged by not having been elected a Grecian; and a rich uncle, incited
by the beforementioned piece of injustice, took him under his care, and
promised to settle him in the world as soon as a short apprenticeship
to business had been gone through. A sudden illness put a stop to all
these schemes. The physicians recommended change of air, a warmer
climate, a trip to Australia. William had relatives residing in
Melbourne, so the journey was quickly decided upon, a cabin taken; and
the invalid rapidly recovering beneath the exhilarating effects of the
sea-breezes. How refreshing are they to the sick! how caressingly does
the soft sea-air fan the wan cheeks of those exhausted with a life
passed amidst the brick walls and crowded, noisy streets of a city;
and William, who at first would have laughed at so ridiculous a
supposition, ere the four months' voyage was terminated, had gained
strength and spirits sufficient to make him determine to undertake a
trip to the diggings.
He was a merry light-hearted fellow, fonder of a joke than hard work,
yet ever keeping a sharp eye to the "main chance," as the following
anecdote will prove.
One day during our stay in Melbourne he came to me, and said, laughing:
"Well! I've got rid of one of the bad HABITS I had on board the - - ."
"Which?" was my reply.
"That old frock-coat I used to wear in the cold weather whilst we
rounded the Cape. A fellow down at Liardet's admired the cut, asked me
to sell it. I charged him four guineas, and walked into town in my
shirt-sleeves; soon colonized, eh?"
Richard - - - was a gay young fellow of twenty, the only son of a rich
member of the stock Exchange. In a fit of spleen, because the
parental regulations required him always to be at home by midnight, he
shipped himself off to Australia, trusting that so energetic a step
"would bring the govenor to his senses." He was music-mad, and appeared
to know every opera by heart, and wearied us out of all patience with
his everlasting humming of "Ciascun lo dice" "Non piu mesta," &c.
Octavius - - - was the eighth son of a poor professional man, who, after
giving him a good general education, sent him with a small capital to
try his fortune in the colonies. For this he was in every way well
fitted, being possessed of a strong constitution, good common sense,
and simple inexpensive habits; he was only nineteen, and the youngest
of the male portion of our party.
The day after our arrival at the diggings, being Sunday, we passed in
making ourselves comfortable, and devising our future plans. We
determined to move from our present quarters, and pitch our tents
higher up the gully, near Montgomery's store. This we accomplished the
first thing on Monday morning and at about a hundred yards from us our
four shipmates also fixed themselves, which added both to our
comfort and security.
A few words for their introduction.
One of them was a Scotchman, who wished to make enough capital at the
mines to invest in a sheep-run; and as his countrymen are proverbially
fortunate in the colonies, I think it possible he may some time hence
be an Australian MILLIONAIRE. Another of these was an architect, who
was driven, as it were, to the diggings, because his profession, from
the scarcity of labour, was at the time almost useless in Melbourne.
The third was, or rather had been, a house-painter and decorator, who
unfortunately possessed a tolerably fine voice, which led him gradually
to abandon a good business to perform at concerts. Too late he found
that he had dropped the substance for the shadow; emigration seemed his
only resource; so leaving a wife and large family behind, he brought
his mortified vanity and ruined fortunes to begin the world anew with
in Australia. He was the only one whose means prevented him from taking
a share in our venture; but to avoid confusion, the Scotchman
subscribed twice the usual sum, thus securing double Profits.
The fourth was a gentleman farmer, whose sole enemy, by his account,
was Free Trade, and who held the names Cobden and Bright in utter
detestation.
As soon as the tents were pitched, all set to work to unpack the dray:
and after taking out sufficient flour, sugar, tea, &c., for use, the
remainder of the goods were taken to the nearest store, where they were
sold at an average of five times their original costs: the most
profitable portion of the cargo consisted of some gunpowder and
percusion-caps. The day after, by good fortune, we disposed of the dray
and horses for 250 pounds, being only 40 pounds less than we paid for
them. As the cost of keeping horses at the diggings is very great
(sometimes two or three pounds a day per head), besides the constant risk
of their being lost or stolen, we were well satisfied with the bargain;
and never did mind young speculators, who five months previous had been
utter strangers, accomplish their undertaking to themselves, or less
disagreement one with another.
