At This Time
It Was Reported That There Were Two Thousand Organised Men At The Eureka
Barricade.
I was sitting in my tent, and several neighbours dropped in
to talk over affairs, and we sat down
To tea, when a musket was heard
to go off, and the bullet whizzed close by us; I doused the light,
and we crept out on our hands and knees, and looked about. Between the Camp
and the barricade there was a fire we had not seen before, and occasionally
lights appeared to be hoisted, like signals, which attracted the attention
of a good many, some of whom said that they saw other lights like
return signals. It grew late. TO-MORROW, I FEAR ME, WILL PROVE A DAY
OF SORROW, IF THE AFFAIR BE NOT SETTLED BEFORE THEN. I and R - - lay down
in our clothes, according to our practice for a week past; and worn out
with perpetual alarms, excitement, and fatigue, fell fast asleep.
I didn't wake up till six o'clock on Sunday morning. The first thing
that I saw was a number of diggers enclosed in a sort of hollow square,
many of them were wounded, the blood dripping from them as they walked;
some were walking lame, pricked on by the bayonets of the soldiers
bringing up the rear. The soldiers were much excited, and the troopers
madly so, flourishing their swords, and shouting out - "We have waked up Joe!"
and others replied, "And sent Joe to sleep again!" The diggers' Standard
was carried by in triumph to the Camp, waved about in the air,
then pitched from one to another, thrown down and trampled on.
The scene was awful - twos and threes gathered together, and all felt stupefied.
I went with R - - to the barricade, the tents all around were in a blaze;
I was about to go inside, when a cry was raised that the troopers
were coming again.
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