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.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 37 of 104
Words from 18759 to 19304
of 53870
