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Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont filmte en commen9ant par la premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernlAre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaftra sur la derniAre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbols — »- signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbols ▼ signifie "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmte A des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop girand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, 11 est film6 d partir de I'angle supArieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n6cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants iilustrent la mAthode. 1 2 3 4 5 6 ROl % ROUGH AND SMOOTH: OR, 23d! fur m tetralioti inlii fnll BY MRS. A. CAMPBELL, AUTHOR OF "INNER LIFE," ETC. QUEBEC : HUNTER, ROSE & CO, ST. URSULE STREET. 1865. /— •. •-* - v n A r> -' '--' -' "■ » \ >4 NATIONAL UBKARY CANADA mnnnriiRoim nationale ' ROUGH AND SMOOTH. I If PREFACE. I ^. IN giving Rough and Smooth to be published, I feel it needs a few words of explanation. Tt was a journal written for the instruction and ainusenicnt of my own chil- dren, which I have thouglit of too o<.'otistical and personal a nature to interest other little ones than them. My friends, however, think otherwise; and have urged the printing, on the plea, that children like true stories better than fictitious ones, and never tire of reading travels ; and that as our own gold mines are now attracting considerable attention, infor- mation for little people respecting the older ones of a sister colony might not bo unacceptable, though so late in the field. To my young friends, therefore. I give it, trusting that whatever they may find objectionable, they will in- dulgently excuse, remenibcring that when it was written it was not intended for other than home eyes, and, therefore, kind ones. QuBUEC, Sephinber, 136'). n M ) CONTENTS. PAGE. CH"A<»TEa I.— Leaving Home— New Yorlc Sliiji— Had Treatment and Provisions ^ CiufTKR TI. — Sharks— Sliips—Ciitamaran—Mollusca - 12 CuAi'TEi; III.— Trouble— Entrance to Rio— Fri^^ate Captain— A Trick 11 Chai'teb IV.— Visit to Kio— Hurricane— The Case— Mr. Vernon- Narrow Esv .pe 20 Chapter V. — Brazilian Living — Prodnctions— Muaquitoes— Ship— Olf — Voyage 35 CHArTEU VL — Entrance to Melbourne— Friends— Appointment to Ovens — Climate of Melbourne — Letter - ■ - 44 Chapter VII. — Start for the Dijjgings — Difliculties — Inn-Keeper — Crossing Rivers 57 CiiAPTbiR VIII.— Aa Upset— A Walk— A Repulse— Civility of Squat- tew— First View of Gold Field - - fi7 Chapter IX. — Household Arrangements — Beechworth — Work and Play 80 CflAPTKR X. — Sunday School — Working the Diggings — Burial Ground— Gold License Troubles - - - - 92 Chapter XL — Opththalmia— House Warming— Natives — A Pleasant Meeting — Hot Weather — Longings for Home - 103 Chapter XII. — Down Again — Buck-J umping Horse — Trees — Flies — Homeward Bound— Old England— Ho ! for Canada 117 Chapter XIH. — Home Again 133 ROUGH AND SMOOTH: OR, 110! FOR AN mmm gold field. I I CIIAPTEll 1. Lenving Home— New York Ship— Bnd Treatment and Provialons. "IfY Deaii Ciiilduen: — You have so often asked me to ^'^ toll you all about luy journey to Australia, that I have thou<;ht it advisable to write it out, to suit your comprehen- sion ; hoping by so doing to instruct, as well as to amuse you l)y my true tale. Perhaps I never told you ^vhy Ave left a comfortable home, to travel to that distant region. The reasons were simply these : your father, from having read a great deal about Australia, had long looked, with a wishful eye, towards that great colony as a future home — the fine climate, increasing prosperity, and great natural advantages of which, were to be desired for his children. All obstacles seemed removed to our trying this fancied el3^sium in the summer of 1852, by the ill health of your father reciuiring a sea voyage, and by the cutting of our strongest tie to Canada, in the death of my widowed mother. So we went. 6 ROUail AND S.%iO0Tn. I was urged to remain at home, while papa went first and tried it ; but as my home was where he was, I would not consent, and we were not separated. Our party consisted of papa and myself; my sister, who was then a little girl ; my brother, a young lad who would not be left behind — both orphans ; 0., our only child, three years of age ; her nurse, Ellen, and two young gentlemen who were going out to this new eountrv under your father's erre. Now, take out your nnqis and find Quebec — its hititudo and lonoitude. Look also for Australia, and see how far, how very far we had to go. No ships left Quebec for Aus- tralia at that time ; but from many ports in England, and from New York and Boston, in thj United States, there were ships leaving frequently. Now, by finding Liverpool, England, upon your map, aiul then findin;^ New York, United States, you will see we would save many miles by leaving from tin* latter place, besides not having to cross the stormy Atlantic, and getting at once south, into mild climate and smooth seas; therefore, vou will not wonder at our deciding to go by the Avay of New York. It v.as a trial to us all — leaving the city of our childhood, endeared by all the historical associations connected with it, (of which most young people are proud,) as well as our own fond recollec- tions; but the excitement of charge and novelty, and the hopes of youth, had painted our future in bright colors. I need not take you with me, on the journey to New York ; it is now common road, in these days of cheap travelling. Li Montreal we remaineil a few days, to bid farewell to my aged grandmother, whom I never expected to see again, while your father went on, and returned for us, after he had made all the necessary arrangements in New York. The ship chosen was the Oathmne Augusta, 850 tons, ROUGH AND SMOOTH. had tons, Tapscott & Co., owners, rated at Lloyd's A. 1., to sail 1st Octoher. Careful inquiry ha 1 been made relative to the res- pectability of the owners, whr were bound, by his agreement with thcni, to take only a certa.'n number of passengers; and to guard against the tricks often played upon long voyages, groat care had been taken that the agreements should be clear as to the provisions, kc, being of the very best kind. Walking up Broadway on'> day, avc s^aw a placard with " Catherine Augusta, splendid clipper ship, 1,000 tons, &c," upon it. I remarked, "Surely, that is not our ship "r"' Papa laughed, and said, " It is, though, so enlarged, I sup- pose you do not know her. She is not clipper build, and only 350 tons register. These are the trirks used to catch the unsuspecting. These cards are sent into the Canadas, and peoph^ there engage their passages and pay half the money down, trusting to tlio truth of those statements." I could hardly overcome a shiver of fear at having ti.> do Avith such people, and felt thankful our agreements had been so plain. While in New York, I saw a dear lady under whose care I had been at school for three years. I was quite a girl when we parted, and she was so pleased to meet );ie again, and see my husband and child, and took such a loving interest in our concerns, that 1 felt many a pang of regret for thought- less conduct towards her in my young days. I mention this, dear children, and trust you will not think it )ut of place, that 1 may save you frtoi any like sorrow, by remind- ing you that, next to your parents, God has placed your teachers, and you will owe them a debt, the obligation of which will bo life-long ; and the more faithful they are, the more affection they deserve at your hands. The expected 1st of October had como and gone, and no 8 ROUGH AND SMOOTH. appearance of the sailing of the ship. We were Aveaijr of the excuses giv* n us every clay. The old German captain, whose intelligence and experience had made us wish to sail with him, and the first mate, were sent away, and two Americans put in their place. Captain Baily and Mr. Bryant, the former of whom bought a share of the vessel, and Messrs. Harris & Bowdcn, passengers, became the char- terers. Seeing how things were, papa grew alarmed, and oftered $180 to be alloAved to withdraw from the ship altogether, and have his baggage returned. This was refused; nothing less than $300 would be taken, which we thought too great a sacrifice, and decided to proceed in her. After repeated remonstrances on the part of the passengers, and several successive day? had been named for sailing, we were told to go on board ; a tug steamer towed us out into the stream, and left us there for three more days, before the captain came on board. In that time Ave found that the provisions were bad, and the number of passengers much greater than . they agreed there should be. A letter was, therefore, pre- pared, stating those grievances ; and when the steamer came in reality, on the 24th October, to tow us out, it was sent ashore to be published in the New York and Canada papers, as a warning to others. Towards nightfall the steamer left us, ami we proceeded on our way — my note-book says, *' noi rejoicing, but alone." I did not then sufficiently know Ilim who says to those who trust in Ilim : " Lo ! 1 am with you ahvay.s, oven to the end of the world." I had never been at sea before, and a lonely feeling crept over me. I felt as if I would willingly esca])o from the ship, and there r'^s no Avay, and yet I would not leave my dear ones. We sat upon the deck till driven down ored and less pre- 1 ROUGH AND SMOOTH. 9 by sea-sickness, from which we suffered severely, and found Nurse Ellen more trouble than she was worth. In a few days we were a])lo to dray; ourselves on deck ; and all re- vivod save do;ir papa, who had suffered from tape-worm, a secret we only found out in Ne\v York, and which, if known sooner, might have prevented our leaving home. From want of proper nourishment, he continued so long ill and Aveak, that I feared he would never recover ; and often I lay upon the deck at night, watching the bright stars, and thinking how light Averc other troubles — loss of friends, home, and everything — to that which seemed to hang over me ; but God mercifully heard our prayers, and he recovered. And I could not but trace ^die hand of a loving leather here, in tlius preparing me for unlooked trials afterwards. On the night we sailed a dear little babywasborn in the steer- ;ig(>, wli'v-^e mother died two days after. I'apa was obliged to read t'.o Church of England sei'vice over the b'^dy, as the cap- tain Avould not do it. The corpse was wrapped up in an old sail, and throAvn overboard, as they bury v.t sea. Two days after another little l)aby was born ; but God did not take iis mother away, and both little ones throve nicely. It Avas touching to see the care taken of the motherless one by its aged grandr.iotUer, father, and grandfather. They Avere a very respectable family, Avho had met Avith misfortunes, and Avere trying to 1)otter their condition by going to Australia, Avhicli, alas ! few of tiiem ever reached ; but I must not anticipate. For the first five or six days after leaving, avo had strong nortliAvesterly breezes, which induce^ the captain to make directly in a southerly course, instead of taking the Avind, as he might, and ought to have done, to go easterly, and thereby folloAv the course usually laid doAvn for vessels ! I 10 EOUOH AND SMOOTH. bound for Australia. He thought to run his chance of a continuance of those winds for twenty days, or more, and, consequently, gained nothing ; for, in the end, we ran too close to Cape St. Roque, in South America, (which you will easily find upon your map,) and could not double the cape ; and so had to beat about for four weeks, trying to make to the eastward, whore v/e would have been long before, had our ship been properly sailed. Added to our other troubles, we were spending this time in the tropics, undjr occasional burning suns and torrents of rain, such as I never saw before ; and we often remained on deck, drenched to the skin, in preference to inhaling the pestilential air of our small cabin, where not one-third of us could find room to sit down at the same time. The water for drinking, owing to its having been put up in bad and dirty casks, was, in two weeks' time, black, thick, and having an intolerable smell; and we were very thankful to be able to catch some of the nice sweet rain water. One night we caught fifteen hundred gallons of it ; but owing to the bad casks, it did not keep long ; and what with musty provisions, and no live stock, preserved meats, or fruits of any kind, we would have fared but badly, had it not been for our own private stores. We were six weeks before we reached the line ; * and what provisions we had were getting low — sugar, butter, and many things quite out — and the water so bad, that the pas- sengers, whose spirits were not bright at the prospect of affairs, feared to go tlic rest of the voyage in this way. The ship also was leaky. Messrs. Harris tfc Bowden had provisioned the vessel, and wen looked upon as the harpies who h;id preyed upon us ; and the state of feeling was not pleasantly divided into two parties — these people, captain, * Equator. ROUOH AND SMOOTH. 11 first and second mates, and one or two of their friends, against the injured passengers. I am sorry to tell you that there were every day quarrels, from petty acts of tyranny and oppression on the part of tlioso who had it in their power to make the passengers, if possible, more uncomfortable than their privations and crowded state rendered them. You will not wonder, then, that a protest ap;ainst this troatmi'ut, to enable them to take an action against the owners, if they ever reached Australia, should be drawn up, and presented to the captain, recom- mending him to put into a port. This was very uncivilly received by him ; and tlie reply given was, " that he would do as he pleased ; would or would not put into a port as he liked; would choose that port himself, if ha did put in," and ending with, he liad long intended going into the port of Rio de Janeiro. (Jreat was the astonishment caused by the news tliat we were bound to llio, as any other port would have been preferred, on account of the unsalubrity of its climate. The wish was f(»r the Cape of Good Hope: but it was useless to express it, and they had to be content. 12 llOUGU AND SMOOTH. ■k "t CHAPTER II. Sharks— Ships— Catamaran— Mollusca, CN our way, we saw tho usual wonders of the deep ; but you have all read so much al)outthem, that ii would be but badly '' telling o'er an old tale," to attempt a description of the shoals of flying fish, one of which fell upon our deck ; the sharks, of which we caught two ; dolphins, whales, stormy petrels, or (as the sailors call them) Mother Carey's chick- ens, nautilus, and all the other sights, truly Avonderful to a person to whom the sea was a new element. But while talking of sharks, I must tell you of an escape; your papa had. (hie day we were becalmed in the tropics, and the heat was excessive, the water was of tliiit deep beautiful blue, so clear, that vou could see several feet below the surface ; we were admiring the H.shes swimming near us, and, in particular, two small silvery ones ; they were so pretty, 1 begged those who were trying to catch them to spare them, thinking it a pity to kill them. I went down to the cabin, and from the door saw papa pass with only a flannel shirt and drawers on. It struck me at once that he intended taking a SAvim, and thoughts of sharks coming to my min — sharks! sharks I " To my horror, I perceived he was floating with his ears under water, and could not hear me ; and his weakness at that time made me ' I ROUGH AND SMOOTH. 18 I it you )C but ,ioii of deck ; tormy cliick- ul 10 a wliilc V papa IK I tho 'autiful ow the 119, and, pretty, e them, e cabin, lel shirt ntended V mind, he had ised the it 1 had 1 caUeil lorror, I iter, and made me '::^ doubt if he would be able to climb up by tho rope now thrown. Minutes seemed hours ; and to add to my distress, 1 heard some person saying, " The man U mail, per- f(H:tly mad : the pilot fisli were here a few moments afjio." 1 knew then, that the little lish, Avhosc lives 1 had saved, were those \.h() swim under the fins of tlie sliark, and guide him to his prey, and that sharks must be near. At that moment he turned, caught sifjlit of inv liorrm- stricken face, and, seiziuLi; iho vo\n\ climbed up. lT;irv night." One rcouires to visit a southern clime to understand that text well. One morning there wis a cry of "land," and every one rushed on deck to see what ajijjcarcd to be a huge barren rocky island : but neither captain or mate would tell us its name. They \vonl(l never let us know our latitude and longitude, or rate of sulling : but by papa's having kept a sort of log and reckoning of his own, he made out that it was the island of Fernando Noronha, which they confessed it was, and we soon saw the coast of South America. We were afterwards told by experienced navigators that our captain was far out of his course, in taking that passage, as it was a very dangerous one. It was long before we saw a ship ; at last, we met three, but only ran up an ensign to them, American ships seldom carrying Marryatt's signals. One morning wo were delighted by the sight of a beautiful steamer nearing us, and were anxious to have our «'nsign and pri- vate num])er hoisted, that \ve might be reported in such a latitude at home, and tiur friends would know of our well-being so far; but the e:iptain said, *^8he was English, and bound for England, and he would not hoist his ilag to her." t)ur appetite for breakfast was gone. A few days after, we met a pretty barfjue, which ran uj) the '' stars and stripes," and was immediately replied to. As she neared us, she was so well managed, and the passengers so pleased with the idea of speaking a ship, that some one called out, " Three cheers for the little beauty," which was responded to most heartily, when our captain, with a voice of thunder, called out, "Stop that noise; stop it this instant; I'll let UOUOU AND SMOOTH. U salm r tlie ne to y one arreii us its ? ami vcpt a hat it if'essed . Wo at our u^f, as ,ve uiet moricat\ norning steamer uul \)y'\- iii such r oi" our English, s lUig to lew days itars and t' u eared ) pleased illed out, csponded thunder, ; I'll let you know who is master here." The gentlemen thought this 50 rude, that few of them hnwcd to him again. We found, by means of the spcakin;! trumpets, that she was the Stran, a clipper barque, bound to rernambuco, with a cargo of flour. Her captain saucily told u.s " we were a vahiabh' cargo, and to catch him if wc could," which we soon found impossible, as she sailed out of sight: and one of the first objects that att..icted us, on entering llio harbour, was o\ir little friend. Not finding n good market for her Hour at IVrnambuco, she vent on to Kio, where she arrived three days before us. After the iS/vati ran away from us, nothing disturbed our monotony, till one morning 1 A\as awakened by aslight shock in my berth, and heard the words, " Hard down the helm ; wc arc on it." Some fearcil rocks, or a wreck ; others a man overboard. 1 went upon deck, and learnt the cause of the uproar ; which was, that Ave had run down a catamaran, a floating raft used by tlu^ natives of South America, and broken it up; that there were two black men on it, one of whom held on by the ship's bow, and climbed up; the other floated past on a log, and looked like a speck on the water, before the boat could be lowered to pick him up, so that wc feared they could not save hini ; but strong arms and stout hearts can do much, and we soon had the satisfaction of seeing him upon our deck, hugging and kissing his fellow, and scarcely seeming to realize his safety. Wc found, through a friend interpreting their Portuguese, that they were free l)Iacks, fishing all night. They were both asleep when wc struck them. They told us they were about twenty miles from land — so venturesome are these little craft. AVc soon saw lots of them in the distance, putting up their sails and making off. Wc gave chase to one, but found, as the 41^^ li 16 ROUOH AND SMOOTH. sailors say, " A stern chase is a long one. " Their owners evidently feared we had some bad motive in view, probably that of kidnapping them, and selling them in other slave countries, as is often done upon that coast. At last, \sv caught one, and forced upon the frail-looking thing, these two men, with m present of a bag of l)iseuil.'«, a jar of fresh water, and houic money from the passengers. The owners chattered, and opposed receiving the two new-comers i:i every j)os?ibk' way, but Avere obliged to sid)mit, and sailed oft", looking ven/ black. tSome of the sailors caught a beautiful mollusca, called by them, '• Portuguese man of war." Not liking to dry it on Sunday, 1 left it in a tub of water; and some person saved me all further trouble about it, by throwing it overboard, a joke they were fond of playing upnn the towels and clothes hung out to dry. As we were leaving the latitudes Avhere they are to be found, I did not get another; but f-iiall take from my note-book the description of this one for you: It was a soft pink looking shell, about four inches high and six- long, resembling mica in its clearness — the pink shades to a deep purple in the boat part, or belly, of the little creature, from whicb. hang long curls, or streamers, which form at once the ballast and weapon of defence. It has no sails, like the nautilus, being simply one solid mass, crescent- shaped, and very beautiful. KOUOH AND SMOOTH. 17 'ly CHAPTEU IIJ, Trouble — Entrance to Rio — Frigate Captain — A Trick. *II7E WL'ic^iiiiuluiillyncarinjj; Uio.Ianeiro, when an aft'air hap- ' ^ pencil wliit'li gavf ino a i;roat deal of trouble and anxiety and which I find difficult to explain to little people, yet which I could not pass over. \ have hinted befo'rc nt the bad feel- in;; on board. Wicked men hate those thoy injure, and are often unscrupulous in carrying out their designs. This was the case here. Every effort was made to cause a (juarrel ; and twenty-five dollars we.'o offered by the first mate to any of tlie second-class who would beat a gentleman passenger. Tliis was not made known till long afterwards. A dispute! arising one night between one of our young Canada friends and the mate, your papa found himself obliged to interfere. A scufHc ensued, and I reached the deck, alarmed by the noise, in time to see the mate, wlio was a very powerful man, making every eflbrt to throw him overboard. My scream seemecl to give energy to one arm, while it paralyzed the other, for, to my relief, a sudden spring brought him roitud, away from the dangerous opening. 'fhey were separated, papa unliurt, the nuite with a pair of ])lack eyes, which neither improved his personal appearance nor his behaviour. Things seemed to calm down for a while after this ; but only the calm before the storm, for we saw, by the restraint put upon our movements, that mischief was brewing. I also had my private cares with Ellen, who had engaged herself to Mrs. Harris, and refused to work for me. She hi 18 ROUGH AND SMOOTH. had overdrawn her wages before leaving homi , had been left a trunk of clothes by my mother, and we had paid fir: imd becTi enjoying before. The entrance to Hio surpasses, without exccjttlon, in beauty of scenery, any place I ever saw. Huge towering rocks, with occasional peeps of h)vely valleys, dotted with country seats, appear on either side of the rather narrow and circuitous windiny-of the entrance, before vou reach the forts, and tlu luxuriance of the foliage, in sonie parts, formed strange contrasts to the mountains of sand, entirely without vegeta- tion, seen in others. The water liere loses its deep beautiful blue, and changes to a light green, a change generally ob- served on nearing shore. The forts are at some distance from the town. On passing the first, we were hailed with, "Where are you li'omV" '• Where bound toV" This an- swered, we were allowed to go on, till we reached the second, when we were again hailed, and t4 put, •'Have you been boarded bv the custom-house vet V " "No." " Then 1 cannot go up. Oan you not tell me wbat you want?" "We are in a state of mutiny, iinl 1 \v;iiit the ringleaders taken off, " said the captain. "You sbal! be immediatel}'' attended to; 1 must return to report." '.ie was pulling oft', when papa, wiu) had just come up, in(|uireil, " Is the port healthy at the present moment, sir ? ' ro which the officer politely replieul, *• Indeed, I am sorry to say, it is not; yellow fever is raging, sir." We walked up and down the deck a few moments, chat- ting ; and I told him, in an undertone, what had occurred, and that he might trust to me, to let him know all they were going to do. \Ve then separated, as the custom-house and health oflicers v.cre coming on board. They had no sooner left, than the IVii'ate's boat v,as airain at our side; this time with the captain of the frigate in her, and men armed to the teeth, lie eaiue on board, and was invited to the cabin. I as prize, Mr. Vernon entered his own boat, rowed by young Englishmen, himself being stroke-oarsman. Of course, the brawny arms of tiie chil- dren of Old Mother soon carried them to the jioal most vie- toriously. The Emperor was in raptures, and made a very pretty speech, giving Mr. Vernon the cup with his own hands. That gentleman, who could use his arms better than his tongue, was so taken aback, that, after an awkward pause, in which he was expected to say something, bluntly and ^^ ROUGH AND SMOOTH. 8S warmly, came out with, " Your Majesty's a brick." This could hardly ho translated to the bystanders; but when the idea was conveyed to them, it elicited great laughter, lour them to get on in other vessels, and even refused to give uj) the cargo belonging to them. They had ofl'ere.l to appoint tlu'ir own surveyor, conjointly with his, to hold a survey upon the ship, as some of them were ship-builders, ;ind carpenters by trade, and thought a small sum would make her (luite sea-worthy, which they offered the American Consul to advance themselves, and to pro- vision her. This was refused. Although by far the greater number on board wor(^ British subjects from the Canadas, the British Consul could give thein no redress, as they had sailed under the American tlag, though he exerted himself in every way to better their condition, in getting them food and employment. Many Brazilian families also charitably helped tlie sufferers. It may bo wondered why the American ('onsul did nothing. The reason he gave was, that the Uni- ted States had only lately become a. country from which there was emigration, and, therefore, had no laws empowering him ] * I 1 34 ROUGH AND SMOOTH. to act, for >'he protection of emif!;rants, save in California. To their credit, however, the representatives of other coun- tries were not behind the English in doin^ their best for these people ; and none worked so hard as a dear old gentle- man, the Dutch Consul, who had taken a great fancy to papa, and showed him much friendship. Finding it necessary to bring the rest of our baggage from the ship, papa proposed going for it, but finally yielded to my entreaties, to let my brother and myself do it for him, as I always lived in dre.td of his meeting the mate. I found Ellen still on board. Mrs. Harris had cast her off, and I promised to get her a place and a passage, if possible. As I was bidding them farewell, an old lady gave me a beautiful nautilus shell, ns a keepsake. While waiting on tlie deck for the boxes to be lowered into the boat, I was almost stunned by a block falling at my feet, and dashing the nautilus out of my hand into a thousand pieces. The front of my bonnet was also bent by it. Looking up, I saw the first mate arranging the rigging, and nearly fainted with fear. 1 am willing to suppose it was accidental ; yet strange, the very argument used by a friend that morning, on joining his per- suasions to mine, to prevent papa going, was, " The mate might let a block fall, quite aceidentalhf^ you know, upon your head from above, and kill you." The people who saw it, were horrified at the escape 1 had had ; and one of them said, "Make haste, Mrs. C, and get out of this ship — it is not a lucky one for you." An Almighty hand alone saved me that day. I I 1 ROUGH AND SMOOTH, 35 CHAPTER V. Brazilian reiving— ProJuctiona — Miigquitoes—Siiip— Off— Voyage. TM mode of living, the people of llio differ little from ■- ourselves. Their houses are, for the in(>.-*t j^tirt. well furnished, Avith polished iloors, in Hen of carpets. Having no chimneys, the kitchens are in the upper story, and the smoke created, by the heating of their brick ovens once a day, osca[»es through the openings of tiie tiles in the roof. The ladies dress richly, and are not, generally speaking, handsome, though possessing the redeeming quality of large dark eyes. 1^'rom living so much iu-doors, they grow enor- mously stout, and roll rather than walk. All who can afford it, keep carriages, drawn by two or four mules, horses being expensive, and not fitted lor the mountainous roads. lu personal appearance, the men present a striking contrast to the women, being small, dried-up looking creatures, and having a most universal ugliness. They arc. much addicted to smoking, beginning at what we would consider a baby's age, but they are moderate in the use of liquors. Theatres, masquerades, and amusements of all kinds, are well patron- ized by the people of Brazil. We saw some amusing torch- light processions. The actors were all gaily dressed, and danced through the streets, to the music of a band, women, in white dresses and satin shoes, performing pirouettes through a mud-puddlo. "We visited the town residence of the Em- peror, and were disappointed with it, many of the wealthy citizens having finer houses. Outwardly, it presents the I » i . I I l^J,„l.._- i ROU SMOOTH. ;. .v,„ .nii^re it is built in, is Ijy ,ppeav»»cootapvison,.na *e sjl ; ^^^^ ,,, beautifully Tmeans a 1-andsome «- '''^^j\,., ,,,y ,a,.ge. Papa Jecorated inside, and some ot hem ^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^.^^^ visited several very fine "— "^ ' ,„, Lving many ,e..e fitted up in «";;:2;L;ived by the priests fine old paint-ngs. He vas km y ^ ^,^„j ,1,0 took pains to sho.' Km ""> ;7 J'^ ,,,„ ,ee them, interest him. He «- "-'""V'^ hTpoor monk, seemed »a asked if he might Imng n., -^ "» V ^^^^^„ ,^,^, „,,„ „„„ified at the -q-st teU.ng m, ^_^ _^^^ ^^^^^^^^ allo«d there.' ^ ""f ";; iyfand more formality Catholic; ^"^''-"'^"'"'t eunt^««'-- *-- '» " .ith it, than is to be seen m eount^,^ ^^^^_^^ .^ ^^^^ ^,,_,, greater mixture oi reUg.ons. ^^^^^ congregation, Vrotestant Church, and >'»-»'';; „„, ,Ue onl, one in principally strangers, and iwa ^^ ^j^^ „„„„ous Brazil. A good deal of »*— ^^f,, ^,,, „f ,he fruit .s wardens in the vicm.ty of K.0, ..^ pin-money allowed :.evy profitable, and ^'^^^'^J,. retail it,*even to the ladies, «ho employ the>r neg ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^.^^ ^^^ on Sunday, about the street^ « ^^^ ^^^^^^.^^^, them, and found them kept m n ._^ ^^^^ ^^^^^f„, being bordered «th P^"^ *;';,, ,„,„riant, almost too .„»gement. Vegetatmn s >>er^^ y ^^^^^ ^^^,.^.„„, ,ank for the health of the ml i„,,pp,e, ,«eet ftuits grow in P^f-'"; Tdid not equal, to our taste ,emon,tamarinds .c; bu^ W - ^^^^ ^.,,, ^,.„,, „ the peaches, apples, ^'-'^^'''^ l^jj „heat-flour, corn, and ROUGH AND SMOOTH. 37 my apa ileli laiiy est?, lic^.lt hem, cmcd never nality 3 is a Lit one ration, one in merous fruit is allowed it, even veral of ^er-bcds tasteful most too delicious )le, sweet our taste, fruits of corn, and •ted; and, mutton ia ry is very narce, and the fish inferior. They have many vegetable products only produced in warm climates, such as manioc flour, yams, and various other sweet-tasting roots, not pleas- ing to our palates. Coffee and sugar arc here produced abundantly; and we also saw the various spico shrubs; but 1 do not know whether they arc cultivated to a sufficient ex- tent to admit of their being an article of exportation. We admired the brilliancy of the plumage of the Brazilian birds very much, though their notes were discordant and harsh. The parrot here exceeds in beauty and size any I ever saw. The monkeys afforded the children a great deal of amuse- ment, watching their antics, climbing trees, mocking and grinning at them. We found the country also plentifully supplied with ants, baratan, centipedes, scorpions, fleas, and musquitoes, the two last being the most abundant, were also the most troublesome. The Ilea lays an egg in the flesh, particularly in the feet, which, if not soon removed, pro- duces violent inflammation, and is exceedingly painful. The musquitoes were so troublesoine, that we had to walk the floor many nights, sleep being impossible, in spite of good musquito bed-curtains. The children's faces and arms were in a fearful state, the hot weather turning the bites into running sores. One night they were so bad, that after smoking the house several times, the gentlemen could stand it no longer, and went and sat out of doors, smoking, till morning. One of them, a young Swedish captain, dcciared he would rather risk the fever on board his ship, than be tormented in that way any longer. The others tried to laugh him out of it ; but he left, and a few days after died of fever. His sad fate made us bear our little tormentors more patiently. The lizards here are very large, and oi" a brilliant green ; the animal, in foriu and motion, is anything 6 i I ii I I I pi 88 ROUaU AND SMOOTH. but pleasing. They used to run up the walls, and enter the rooms ; and we always examined our beds at night for fear of an intruder, though they are very harmless, which cannot be said of the numerous snakes, whose bite is dead'y, a per- son rarely living, I was told, more than an hour after getting one. After being about a month living at St. Domingos, at no small expense, we heard of a vessel leaving, bound for Havre, in France ; and as every hour's delay was dangerous to us, the fever having carried off twenty of our people, papa visited her, to take our passages, to get away from Rio — anyivhere. He found every sailor on board down with fever, which caused him to hesitate, and take one day's consideration, that he might consult a doctor, who told him, on no account, to go in her, as we would surely take the fever by infection ; and even did we not, we had been too long in Rio, to go north through the tropics again, without taking it. After we left port, our only chance of escape lay in going south into a cold climate at once. That afternoon, a Dutch vessel, bound for Australia, put in for provisions. Scarcely crediting the good news, papa flew to his friend, the Dutch Consul, who said she was full, but that he would make the captain tak;. us, even if he had to give up his own state-room, as it would be such a good thing to got on board of a ship laying out in the b::y, and not putting into the wharves at all. In three days from this, we bid good-bye to our Brazilian friends, and went on board the Mathilde, Captain Weyburg. We found her a fine large Dutch East Indiaman, flush deck, with which I was avcII satisfied, as there was not so much danger of Miss G.'s going overboard. We were obliged to pay as much passage paoney as we had in the first instance, from New York. The ROUGH AND SMOOTH. 89 I captain had put in for provisions ; and his charterers having no agents there, he raised as much money by us as he could. Thus people are always found ready to take advantage of the misfortunes of their fellow-creatures. Papa also laid out £12 in stores for the children, and wines,' in case of sickness. Three of our second-cabin passengers got on board — two as sailors, paying fifty dollars each, and working their passages, and one as steward, for which ho paid sixty dollars. Although a large ship, she had not been fitted for passengers, and the captain was obliged to give up his state- room to us — my brother and the two young gentlemen we had in our charge sharing one bed, by taking it different watches* during fine weather, and in bad, sleeping on the cabin floor, thankful for even that, to get away. For Ellen I got a place as chambermaid at the hotel where we had boarded; and papa ^ave her sixty dollars, in case she should have to pay her passage on. The British Consul promised to remember and forward her to Australia, if possible. Would you believe, that in spite of all this, she made me cut open a large tin case, in which my most valuable things were soldered up, to get out a few trifles which I had given a place in that box. Of course, not being able to get it closed up again, the things in it were nearly all ruined when I reached Australia, a velvet cloak being green with mildew. We left her, however, with light hearts. Wc were much amused the evening before we sailed by a visit ^rom the hotel-keeper with whom Captain Bailey, his wife, child and servant had been boarding. He came to tell us he had been obliged to turn the gallant captain out of doors, not having had one farthing of payment from him, and to ask what could be done against him ; but we could not tell him, as ! iP * Divisions of time on board ship. -L., i. ' 40 ROUGH AND SMOOTH. the captain had no cflfects he could seize, and even had he, the Brazilian law was so defective, he might gain nothing. Poor man, we sympathized with him ; he was one more victim, and we never afterwards IcMrned if he recovered anything in payment. On thj iilst of January we left Rio, not a little grateful to find ourselves leaving a place Ave had almost given up all idea of over jxi'liin-- ;nviiv from, and having our little band all safe. Captain Bailey had seen Captain Weyburg, and tried to frighten him from taking us, but was too late, as our money was paid. He used to laugh afterwards when telling us how frightened the captain's stories had made him of us. The day after sailing, one of our Catherine Augusta p;tssengers, who had become a sailor, was taken ill with yellow fever, and in n. fevr days lied ; and your father had again to perform the sad task of burial. Happily, the fever (lid not spread, and this was the last we saw of it. In two weeks we found the weather very cold, and were glad to put on furs, feeling it more, from having been roasting so long under a tropical sun. We saw white pigeons, gulls, and albatrosses in abundance. The sailors caught many of the latter, killing and eating them. They are a fine large bird, some of those we caught measuring ten feet from tip to tip. When brought on deck they cannot rise from it, and, strange to say, becuiue at once sea-sick. They are a very ravenous bird, and are called the marine vulture. A sailor told us of an instance of a boy's having fallen overboard from a vessel, on which he had been, and before the boat could be lowered, and get to his assistance, the albatrosses were around him in numbers, and had picked out his eyes, although every effort had been made, by throwing large pieces of beef, to draw them away from him. Our passen- I ROUGH AND SMOOTH. 41 •S gers spared all the gulls, the sailors hdving a prejudice against their being killed. We saw this with regard to a bird that was caught, called the "parson" — black, with a white throat. They showed the greatest of uneasiness about it ; and were much pleased when, at our intercession, it was spared, on condition that I would work a collar, with the name of the ship, day of the month, yoar, and latitude and longitude on it, whicli T soon did, with wliito cotton on red flannel, and the prisoner was set free. After we passed the Capo of Good Hope, on the 20th of February, we had a strong gale, with head wind, which lasted two days, and broke our mizen boom. I went on deck to see the storm, and the mountain waves, each one seeming as if it would swallow us up. How utterly insignificant man feels at such a time. Truly, we are in the hands of a kind and merciful Father, who not only permits us to*see His works and wonders on the deep, but, not the least wonder of all, brings us so safely through the danger of them. A poor little Mother Carey's chicken took refuge on deck, and was brought down to the cabin to show C, who was so pleased with it, that she wanted to keep it, say- ing, " She liked dear wee birdie like that, not big albatrosses who ran about dock trying to bite you." After giving it shelter for the night, we let it fly. On the 27th we had snow. 8th of March we sighted the islands of St. Paul and Amsterdam. The capti;':i was anxious to see these islands, to kno^f if his calculations were correct, and found that we were 100 miles further on than ho thought we were. The 10th of March was G.'s birth-day; and Ave gave her little presents, and made her so pleased, that she wanted next day to be birth-day too. March ITth, St, Patrick's day, was a noisy one on board. A Mr. Black sold spirituous l"f i t- -I i- I !'i' 42 ROUGH AND SMOOTH. liquors of all kinds; and you may suppose there was much fighting in the steerage. Tiie doctor was nearly beaten to death in his berth, in the second cabin, and the person who did it next day apologized, saying he had not the slightest ill-will to him, and had he been sober, never would have thought of such a thing — small reparation for the black eyes and bruised face of the unfortunate doctor, who was good enough to forgive him, and promise not to prose- cute him in Melbourne. March 28th, we were sixty-seven days from Rio, and saw our first sail. What rapture it gave us, after almost fancying ourselves the only ship on the ocean. The morning was red and lowering, and by dinner time we had a perfect hurricane, which, though it only lasted ten minutes, tore three sails to ribbons, and broke an iron bar, as thick as a man's arm, short off, so easily, that the caplain feared the rudder would bo the next to go, as it re- quired the united strength of four men to turn the wheel. We were all frightened, except G., who, as she was tossed from side to side of the sofa by tho rolling of the ship, kept laughing with delight, and calling out, " Here I goes, here I goes ; " and even in spite of our fears, a glimpse into the second cabin, facing ours, set us all laughing. It was also dinner-time with them, and plates, dishes, and knives, scorning all guards, went flying over people's heads in wild confusion ; barrels of biscuit, pork and beef came from their hiding places, in snug corners, and went dancing about, to the great danger of the legs of those trying to get out of their way — while buckets of dish-w ler meat, pudding and sauces made the floor so slippery, that those who tried to take refuge in their berths, falling, in vain attempted to rise, and went sliding, with every roll of the ship, from side to side, hands, faces and hair well bedaubed with the float- 1 AOUGH AND SMOOTH. 43 ing mixture, which thej were afterwards at some trouble to get rid of, for things had amalgamated which had probably never met together before. When within four days sail of Melbourne, we buried another of our fellow-passengers, a youog man in the steerage, the only remaining son and sup- port of his old parents, who were with him. They had hoped he would have lasted till they had reached shore ; and his death was a great grief to them, raoro ospecially, as being a Roman Catholic, he died without ofit of clergy. Poor people, they could not understand that Jesus is every- where, but thought he was only to be found under the shadow of the priestly garment. They were simple, pious people, and one could not help feeling sad to think of the delusions they were under. The poor old man would be up all night, pray- ing to all the saints in the calendar to intercede for him, not knowing that "there is but ono Mediator with God the Father, the man Christ Jesus." 2nd of April, provision day, the discovery was made that wc were out of salt beef, tea, cofl'ee, rice, beans, and flour, and the pork did not promise to hold out long. We had been some time without the ct ceteras — as potatoes, molasses, mustard, dried apples, and such things; indeed, wc had been but badly supplied with provisions. Mr. Black's family were the only first-cabin passengers, besides ourselves, and they had seized upon all the dried and preserved meats and truits put on at Liverpool, saying, we Avere only the caftain's. passengers, not the char- terers, and had no right to them. Wc submitted to this bit of injustice, which was not as bad as their selling spirits, and robbing the poor people of the little money they ought to have had in landing. April 3rd, wc sighted land ; and as the captain had never been in Australia before, was cautious, sailing only in day-time, laying to at night. .1 1 44 BOUGH AND SMOOTH. Entrance to Melbourne CIIArTER VI. Friends — Appointment to Ovens — Climate of Melbourne -Letter. T?NTERING Port Phillip harbour, the scenery is soft and -" pleasing. There is a small fort at the entrance ; and wc hoisted a flag for a pilot, who came and took us half a milo further, to a safe anchorage, pointing out to us several wrecks of vessels stuck on rocks around us. Wc felt grateful that we had entered so safely. Next day, and the next, we were proceeding quietly on, with two other vessels, under the care of the pilot, till noon, when we dropped anchor in Ilobson's Bay, with Williams Town on one side, and Melbourne, up the Yarra, on the other. We were soon surrounded with boats of all kinds — custom-house and health officers, butchers and bakers ; it was quite ridiculous to see the way we all plyed these poor men with questions. Of course, we were inquisitive as to the prices of necessary articles in Mel- bourne, and were not a little shocked at the information we received, which aifordcd no small amusement to our informers, as they richly enjoy what they elegantly term "gulling a new chum," though there was much of truth, as we after- wards found to our sorrow, in what they told us. Papa had the satisfaction of hearing that the vessel his brother had left England in had arrived eight months before. Wc found the custom-house officer was from Now Brunswick, and had the same name as ourselves ; so wc looked upon each other as friends and neighbors, if not relations at once. Strange how absence from home opens the heart to all who come from I J ROUOH AND SMOOTH. 45 :iny place near it — how much it does towards those who conic from it I was afterwards to find out. \]y the time we had passed through the hands of these gentlemen, it was t(M) late to think of going ashore ; and we spent the evening walking the deck, talking over all that had been told us. They had left us some Arr/iis newspnpcrs. In the latest of them we saw this funny advertisement : " Wanted, a Lieutenant- Governor. Apply to the people of Victoria. Wanted, a Colonial Secretary. Apply to the same." The passengers all jokingly told papa here was a chance Jbr him. There were numerous ships laying around us. Hero wo saw one in (quarantine from Liverpool ; 101 of its passengers died of ship fever on the way out. How it humbled us, to think of our unnumbered and undeserved mercies, not the least of which was our exemption from yellow fever in leaving Rio. Here wc saw vessels from all parts of the w >rld — English, Dutch, French, Swedish, and Chinese ; and the shades of evening deepened around us, and found us still admiring and chatting, and chatting and admiring. Next morning, papa went ashore to search for friends and lodgings, leaving us to finish our packing before taking our final leave of the old 3Iathihlc, which, on the whole, we would bo sorry to leave. We had been tolerably comfortable, liked the captain, officers, and many of the passengers much, and the time had not hung heavily. I sewed, and taught the children, read, and crocheted, and papa devoted a large part of every day to go on with the education of my brother. In the evening he got back, with much to tell. lie had found his young brother and some other friends ; but was disappointed in not meeting a gentleman in the commissariat department from home, who had been ordered to Anistralia. He had left Melbourne, and gone to his station, several ^1 4.^ l\ 40 ROUtJU AND SMOOTH. tliousand miles awa^. He had sailed about the time we did ; but our unusual length of voyage had made us miss him. After spending several days, hunting all over Melljourne, going wherever he heard of people of our name, ho recom- mended us, should we ever turn up, to the kind offices of the head of his department there, who had himself spent many years in Canada, and whose wife was a Canadian by birth, and knew many of our friends. Conse(|uently, when papa called at the office, he found himself expected, warmly re- ceived, and begf'cd by Mr. B. to look upon him as an old friend at once, and use him as such. So thoroughly in earnest was he, that lie said, '' Now tell me what is the first thing you Avant to do?" And when told to find lodgings, replied, " Well, bring your family to my house, and we will take our time to look about for them, as they are scarce." With grateful thanks, this kind offer was refused, saying, that as we had a great deal of baggage, and our little girl not well, it was better to make only one move. Finding this determination »va8 not to be shaken, he took up his hat, and, arm in arm, they started lodging-hunting. After try- ing the filthy hotels and every boarding-liousc Mr. 13. knew of, to no purpose, they called upon Mrs^ B., to see if she could direct their way for them. On telling of their non- success to her, she directed them to a new house, only opened four weeks before, on the next street, on very exclusive principles, and thought it might suit. Off they started — this time successful. The exclusiveness was overcome by Mr. B.'s introduction, and the payment of two weeks in advance, at X15 sterling per week, for a small bed-room for ourselves and children, and a bed in a room with some other young men fon my brother. We were congratulated, not only upon getting lodgings at all, but upon getting them so } M ) ROUOII AND SMOOTH. 4T cheap for Melbourne. Papa had taken his papers ashore with him, (recommendatory letters from people at home, address of the Quebec Bar upon his leaving, &c.,) and called upon the Colonial Secretary, thinking it best to have no mauvam honte in such a place, and under such circum- stances, and had applied for a situation. lie was very well received, and his papers highly approved of, and was told that the offico of Police Magistrate for the Ovens; Gold Fields was open ; that the reconiniendations would be placed before Ilis Excellency, and, lie thought, with evei'y chance of suc- cess, as they wanted to fill it with a well (qualified person, who had a knowledge of law. All this was very satisfactory news to me; and it is hardly necessary to say, night again surprised us, our thoughts husy planning, and our tongues, as usual, not slow in communicating our plans. Nine o'clock next day we left the ship, in a small steamer, well filled with baggage. As wo pushed off, and boAved our farewell to those on board, three cheers were raised for papa. We were touched with this mark of respect, as upon him only was it bestowed, rightly considering that the other first- cabin passenger, Mr. Black, was unworthy of it, from having made such a shameful traffic on board. We had to follow the windings of the narrow Yarra, and were not a little disap- pointed with it. We had read much of its beauty, and the charming landscapes around it, and found it a filthy little muddy stream, the only variety in the monotony of the scenery being an occasional shed for the washing of wool, surrounded with skins i.nd filth of every description, from which proceeded an odour anything but agreeable. Here and there, would be seen a dead cow, or bullock, lying on the banks in a state of putrefaction ; while the brown and with- ered grass, and the miserable stunted trees, gave us but a i m t J Hi 48 ROUGH AND SMOOTH. poor idea of the fertility of the soil surrounding the chief city of Australia Felix. One old lady from the green isle of Erin, with tears trickling over her withered checks, kept up a lament over there being " no grass here, and nothing green to cheer one's heart." Certainly, shamrocks could not have grown upon the banks of the Yarra. We reached the wharf at eleven o'clock, and found kind Mr. B. w.-iitiTi;}; for us. lie warmly welcomed rao to the antipodes ; and, giving me his arm, and taking the children, walked* off with us, leaving papa to see the bag- gage put upon the cart he had thoughtfully secured for us. As cabs were a luxury unknown to Melbourne at that time, and very few even of the wealthiest people kc^t car- riages, he apologized for making us walk, fearing little G. would be tired. She, however, in spite of a late illness, walked exceedingly well, delighted with her new acquaint- ance, to whom she prattled the whole way, so cheery at again seeing "houfes, and horses, and lots of cows," as she called tlie teams of bullocks passing by her. We soon reached " Cleve'.and House," and found it comfortable and prettily situated In the midst of a garden, the flowers de- llglitlng our sight, after being so long with only the monotonous ocean to look upon. In the afternoon, papa called upon the Governor, who gave him favorable hopes of receiving the appoIntuuMit. The evening we spent with tlie B.'s ; and talked about Canada. — its cold, clear climate, and its warm-hearted people — to our heart's content. Next morning, as soon as dressed, 1 rin oH' to the garden to enjoy the flowers, wondering at the stillness around me, till re- minded that I was missing tlie singing of birds, a sad want In Australia ; for though we afterwards saw many varieties of gorgeous plumage, we never heard a singing bird there. I ROUGH AND SMOOTH. 49 In the course of the day, we parted with our young charges from Canada — one getting a cadetship, and the other join- ing a party for Ballarat Diggings. Our intercourse had been so pleasant with them, that we separated with regret. They were both of good French families in Canada, and Roman Catholics. One, a Mr. C, kept ua constantly amused by his funny ways. Havin SMOOTH. through them, was often a marvel to me. Canvastown was a collection of some hundreds of tents opposite Melhourne, where people who could not afford to pay the enormous rents of that city — lodged, shall I say? No — existed. Many people of respectability in their own country were found there ; and the exposure to wet and cold carried them oft" by typhus fever in numbers. Melbourne itself was subject to that complaint, as well as dysentery, which was common. To give you an idea of the rents, the small cottage allowed Mr. B., as the head of his department, cost Government c£r)00 sterling per annum ; and I knew, in several cases, of two or three rooms costing ^200 a-year. As most of the land near Melbourne was owned by (lovernment, and locked up — that is to say, they would soil none of it — the city was ill supplied with vegetables and dairy productions — milk, but- ter, I'cc, absurdly dear. Indeed, most of the latter articles were imported. Our idea had been to buy land, and settle upon it ; but when your father heard it was impossible to obtain it, he was glad to get something else to do. While in Melbourne, I was invited to a ball given by the Governor, on the Queen's birth-day; and the cost of ball- going may be imagined, when I tell you that the carriage hired by my friends, with the owner's stipulation that they should leave at a certain hour, cost seven guineas. The ball itself cost His Excellency what would havg given four or five in any other part of the world, and he did not make the country pay for it either, as is sometimes done in colo- nies much further north. I think, as a wind up to this chapter, I cannot do better than give you a few extracts from a letter from Western Australia from the friend who had gone there, before spoken of, as I am sure they will interest you : — ROUOII AND SMOOTH. 65 }( n was urne, rents Many found oft" by ect to To I Mr. £rm of two ic land i up — was ill k, but- irticlcs settle iible to "Perth, W. A., July 20 th. " My Dear C. : — Your note of 23r(l April has just readied me, and greatly relieved my mind of much anxiety on your account, as well as Mrs. C. and your family. I was greatly disappointed in not meeting with you at Melbourne; the more so, as I could not, by any means, ascertain whether you were in the colony, and, until the receipt of your note, have been quite ignorant of your movements. " We should have sailed iof/ef?'er in the tSJiirlc//, the finest and most commodious vessel it has ever been luy cood for- tune to travel in. On my return to Canada from Boston, you had taken your departure, and my brother suggested my writing to you, and recommending the ShirUij. I did so, but afterwards Avithdrcw the letter on recollecting that she had not the usual accommodation for ladies. On join- ing the ship, I then regretted not sending the letter ; for we were but three cabin passengers, occupying the room of sixteen, and two (including ray servant) steerage, with plenty of room for four or five families. The skipper was a brick, and a first-rate sailor, exerting himself to amuse bis passen- gers, witliout neglecting the interests of his owners. Alto- gether, we had, though rather a long one, a jolly and any- thing but a tedious voyage. " I offer my hearty congratulations on your appointment to an office of, I should imagine, considerable importances and of by no means inditterent emoluments. IIow you, a perfect stranger, have managed to drop in for such good luck, puzzles me. You have not explained. 1 must, there- fore, only conclude that your professional talents have obtained it for you. I wish you joy of your good fortune, and sincerely bope for its continuance. 1 was most hiippy lintanee of my esteemed you acqut 56 ROUail AND SMOOTH. friends, the B.s, and that they had been of service to you and Mrs. C. on your arrival, as strangcis, in a now colony. I am truly glad that you have found them such sincere friends. " Coming from Melbourne to Swan River verifies the old saying of jumping from 'the frying-pan into the fire.' Sucli Avould be the case with a settler ; l)ut witli me, when my transportation is limited to a certain period, I regard my sojourn in this straiii>;e country as a casualty incidental to tlie service to wliich I, Mov better, for Avorse,' am wedded; and having accordingly made up my mind to be 'jolly under the circumstances,' endeavour to delude myself into an idea of contentment, which feeling — regret for Canada — sometimes renders it difficult to realize. I am, however, a bit of a philosopher, and easily satisfied. This is a w 'd bush country, with about six thousand inhabitants living on their scanty means, the produce of a barren, sandy soil — and which but for the introduction, Avithin the last three years, of convicts, and the consequent Imperial expenditure, must have gradually dAvindled into insignificance, and very probably returned to its original savage state. The convict system has saved the colony, and will, I have no doubt, raise it to an important position. Prices of everything are most exorbitant, even higher than in the sister provinces, and without any prospect of a decline. There is very little export trade. The arrivals from England genwally seek freights at other ports. Xo ojjcning for young men in search of employment, except situations under the convict estab- lishment, which are indifferently salaried and not the most reputable. There is, however, one redeeming character in the society, which, considering the loealc, is respectable, and better than might be expected." ***** ROnOH AND SMOOTH. 67 to you jolony. sincere the old Sucli len my ard my ntal to c'ddcd ; 'jolly iclf into mada — lowever, is a TV M iving on y soil — ,st three 3ndituro, ind very 3 convict ibt, raise are most ces, and ry little lly seek in search ;t estab- the most racter in [ible, and * * * CHAPTER VII. Start for the Diggings — Difficultieg—Inn-Kcepcr— Crossing Rivers. SIX weeks in Melbonrno had given me time to try how 1 could get along with papa away. Keep house there, 1 could not ; remain as I svas, I was not willing to do for the winter, and the only plan seemed for us to live at tlie Ovena together. On proposing this, obstacles presented them- selves on all sides — the impassable roads ; the want of the common comforts of life up there ; my feeble healtli ; the difficulty in getting an exchange for my brother to the Ovens, as he must not be left alone in a large city; and lastly, the leave from head (junrters for papa to coiuo and fetch us, which favor ho would not ask so soon. But women, you know, are not easily deterred by trifles, Avhen they set their hearts upon a thing ; and luiving braved the stormy ocean that we might keep together, I was not to be frightened by roughing it on land, and set to work in right earnest to smooth over some of these difficulties, thinking that finer weather and better spirits would give nic strength for it all. Knowing the kindness of the Chief Commissioner in Mel- bourne, Mr. Mitchell, 1 wrote to him, (without letting papa know,) asking for leave of absence — rather an informal proceeding. Instead ot writing me a stiff reply, he kindly sent a mutual friend to say I had the required permission ; but before using it, he wished me to be remonstrated with upon my Quixotic notion of attempting to live up there, as no lady could do it, even if she could stand the journey. I 11, '0 68 ROUGH AND SMOOTH. Great was the astonishment of my friends when it got abroad that I was going to the Ovens. Strangers even called, to explain to rae I could not know what Australian bush life in winter meant. I Avas frequently asked if I justified suicide V One gentleman politely told mo I was mad, as he could not possibly believe either Mr. C. or myself wore sane, to think of attempting a journey over such roads, and live in such a place — no delicate woman could stand it. I told him my powers of endurance were greater than he gave me credit for, and that as I had vidde up my mind to go, his kind efforts to dissuade me would be " love's labor lost." Upon this, he vouchsafed to t 11 me,^"I was very plucky;" and he only hoped I would be able to hold out so when brought into contact with discomforts and miseries. One day, so harrassed was 1 at all the Job's comforters my friends had been to me, that two officci'S, who called late in the day, got the benefit of a flood of tears fo" their trouble. 1 a^s heartily ashamed of such weakness and seeming ingratitude, but could not have helped it, if all Australia had been at stake. The application for the exchange of my brother to the Ovens was granted, and the promised addition to his salary of allowances, rations, t&c, given without its being expected so soon. The heaviest trouble was leaving my sister behind. We felt avc were not justified in taking her up, and so placed her in an excellent private board- ing school, just opposite the B.s' cottage, who promised to take care of her, and liave her to spend Saturdays with them. A beautiful dolly, the best Melbourne could afford, with wax arms and legs, and such a pretty face, somewhat consoled her for the parting. The Friday of the week papa arrived we began our jour- ney; and there is an old saying, " Friday begun is never ROUGH AND SMOOTH. 59 well done," and you will lau<^li and think tlio old saw was verified in our case as you read on. We started in a sprin-^ cart, with a pair of horses, one in the shafts and the other outside, in what they call an outrigger, an aboininahlc con- trivance, and one peculiarly Australian. Besides being delightfully adapted for bringing the wheel on the heels of the off" horse, and causing him to kick, (an acoomplishment the Australian horses excel in,) it gives you Ji most unequal power over the animals, so that you drive along in continual dread of one of them taking it into his head to make off', and inducing the other to do the same. G. sat on my knee, papa drove, and my brother followed on horseback. For a, while we got along very well, though the roads Avere, beyond description, bad, till one of the horses, beginning to show symptoms of hiziness, threatening to lie down in every nmd-hole — finally did so, about nine miles from Melbourne, when he came to a bole sufficiently large and deep to almost engulpb the Avliole of us. Persuasion and force were alter- nately tried, Avithout effect. The animal seemed to have more affinity to the donkey than the horse, and Avas stubborn as a mule. Not a bit Avould he stir ; and papa declared he had never been so "taken in" by an animal before. IIo certainly had some ground for the complaint, as in getting out of the cart, he was "taken in" up to thoAvaist in the soft mud. In despair, he still held on, and, with great exertion, dragged him.seU' out of his treacherous position, leaving his boots behind him. Happening to have a pair of India-rubber troAvsers over his others, he stood upon the cart, and man- aged to get tlicm off" and throAV them aAvay; then venturmg a bold spring, landed on " terra firma." I Avas the next trouble. Hoav Avas I to be got down, with mud sill around us ? My brother Avalked his horse over every place, to try II I I I 60 ROUOII AND SMOOTH. the ground ; and papa again venturing upon the nearest and firmest, bade me jump into liis arms ; and it so happened, that my weight falling against his left arm, which had been badly sprained two weeks before by a fall from a back- jumping horse, and which, at the moment, we both forgot, caused it to give way, and down we both went, measuring our lengths in the mud. With some laughter, we scraped ourselves, and began to look for assistance, and get out our cart and horses. A bullock team mak!;.,^ its appearance, the men kindly came at once to help us. They had a great deal of trouble in getting our obstinate horse out of his soft bed, and were almost in despair, after giving him a severe cut with the bullock-whip, to find that his one elVort to rise, had ended in his pulling the other horse over him, and breaking the iron of the outrigger. At last, with great perseverance, they were got out ; and by yoking a pair of bullocks to the axle-tree of the cart, drew it backwards out of the hole. We had then the comfort to find ourselves wet, mud- dy, and cold — one horse nearly dead, our cart broken, and were told wo had missed the road. Happily, we were not far from a blacksmith's forge, where we took refuge till the cart could .be repaived, sending my brother back to Melbourne to prepare our friends for our return that night It was 4 P. M. before we got ready to start — stiff with the mud, which had dried on us, and having had nothing to eat since morning. We reached Melbouriio late at night, and I was laid up in bed all the next day. Thus ended our first attempt to reach the "diggings ; " and our friends were some- what delighted at our disasters, quite sure that I had had enough of it, and would not try again ; but having made our arrangements and sent ofi" most of our baggage, we did ROTiail AND SMOOTH. 61 refuge not like to give up, and determined to make one more at- tempt, and in the l)e;^inning of the week start again. Anxious that nothing should bo left undone that would help to smooth our way, a, fresh horse was procured to re- place the lazy one, and a mounted trooper granted us by Government, to be exchanged at each police station on the road, as guide and assistant. Although it rained heavily the morning of our start, papa did not think it right to delay an^ longer in Melbourne, as the roads were daily getting worse, with no prospect of their improvement for months ; and the rivers were becoming so swollen, that if we did not hasten, we would be stopped on the road, and perhaps have to turn back after all. After driving about an hour and a half, the rain ceased, and we found it more pleasant. Our trooper was very useful, as he knew every inch of the road, and would take us off into the woods, to avoid the bad spots, a thing wc would not have ventured to do alone. FindinL*" G. heavy on my knee, we made a comfortable seat for her in the bottom of the cart, which was the means of saving her life, as shortly after, to avoid a hole, papa went round a tree ; and not seeing a stout low bow projecting from it, I was struck down by it, bruizing my side severely. Had G. been on my knee, wc might both have been killed. I screamed out loudly, thinking all my ribs were broken ; and the trooper, who was riding in front, told us he had seen two men knocked off their horses by that branch before, and that he had gone through the mud-hole on purpose to avoid it. As the branch was short, it had only hit me ; and having but a mile to go, wc drove fast, and in a little time reached the stopping-place. For the next hour we thought there was a fatality against our ever reaching the Ovens. However, after a good night's rest, 9 . ii :h 62 ROUGH AND SMOOTH. ^1 it I which quite satisfied mo that my ribs were not all broken, I dressed in good spirits to go on again. As it rained heavily, we determined to go only twelve miles that day. We had it very large and dangerous swamp to cross*, and would have been stuck in it, as we saw many other abandoned carts and drays were, had it not boon for our troo})er, who had his marks and beacons here and there, wiiich he had observed in guiding tlic escort, and so brought vis, by a circuitous route, safely through it, and, in a fcAV moments after, to the com- fortable hotel, Vi'here a blazing lire and a hot dinner, the host said, " would comfort both the outer and inner man." The cost of these comforts, however, was not trilling ; and you can judge of our bills, when we never jtaid less than €1 sterling for each horse the night. J*apa had a conversation Avith the inn-keeper, who told him he intended selling his place and going to Van Dicman's Land. On his wishing him success, he said " Oh ! bless you, sir, 1 am independent; I cares not for success; 1 goes there to enjoy one's-self with mates, I know." On asking the amount of his wealth, he was told he expected, and would get, /wl2,000 or X14,000 for his property, which might be bought in Canada for X400 ; that he had X10,000 worth of cattle, and plenty of money in the bank. He «aid his was the best trade going. As far !).^ this world was concerned, [irobably it was; but I sadly fear the investment would not be found a profitable one in the world to come. The next day at noon we reached Kilmore, a dirty little town. As it was a police station, we had to change our trooper, which we regretted, as wo liked him much. On leaving Kilmore, after an hour's stay to dine, we stuck in a mud-hole in the street; but after a little delay in unharness- ing were pulled out, and able to go on — nothing broken, and ROUGH AND SMOOTH. 63 !'! ourselves with only another coating of the black mud, which was already laid on pretty thickly. As there were no bridges, we had to drive through all the creeks; and that night wc reached a place called Ferguson's, very tired, as we had made a long journey, and been tolerably jolted ; but my side was better, and we felt very thankful at having accomplished so much so easily, and flid not fear the rest of it. True, we had several more rivers to cross, but only one of lliem gave us any uneasiness, and tliat wo should go ov( ;■ lli - iollowing morning, it boiug nine miles from Ferguson's. They told us it was already too high ; but we thought best to judge for ourselves, as there was no hope of its getting lower. We bad crossed so many already, in the primitive style of half swimming, half wading, that I was rather tired of the fun, and did not fool very amiable, on reaching this, to find it a. deep, wide, rapid river, with ])retty steep banks. "" Why do not the Government make bridges?" I exclaimed. "They certainly spend nothing on roads, and they must draw an enormous revenue from the diggings, to say nothing of the high price at which tliey sell tlieir bits of town lots in Mel- bourne." This last was was s})oken feelingly, having tried a little private speculation on my own account in iron houses, and been obliged to relin((uish it for that reason. The attempt to soothe nu^ by saying, " This is a new coun- try, and things cannot be ^^^^^^^_ ^^^^^^^^ ,^^ of eternity-l'0« «oon ' «^ "-;; , ^,,„ f„„ a,,,„ght, to ho -ted to our 'n.. ^ ; 5, t^^^^ „„d oursoivo, aiio.ed rrri:r:^»---ti---^'--»--^^^ ,„„„ given us to prepare. .^^_ „u„»«ally steep On reaching the s,do of . u ^^„,j ^j, banks, one of our l>orses .hppcd ^^^^ ^^^^^ feet striking the other one, oj > « ^^.^^^^ __^^, „rt and contents ,nto a ''«r^\; ,f ,,,„,„,„, .ud passed I did not know T _^ J^^_^^^^^_.^, ^^ ^„^. „„, groping >*out, eaught ^f^f „, ,.„,,e, and they „„,, raised myself «P^1« ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^ ,,,„ „ore Pl™g'"e ;'"''° ^^'cook and the trooper got me out of above ^ater, fU Captam Cook an ^^.^^^ ^^^^^^ „y perilous pos.t,on, and .1 g * ^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^ ^^ ^„„ the vv'eight of the «raps I had , ^^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ bank, gave them no -'J -/''. J, 'tr l^^^g on her back, G., and, on diving, --ebody ou"d h y^^S ^ .^ ^_^^^^ ^__^^ ,Hh outstretched arms^ ^if, ,\ J^bro.n for«rd, and face covered .■ith blood. ";;;;„,, bruised and kicked f,aiing under the ^'-^^^'^,^'^ZL bled, or he .ould by then,. Most prov.dent,..lly, tl ^^.^^^^^^^ .^ ble been stunned and dro«ne h Ue y ^^^^ ^,_^ getting free from them; but by pU^ n ^^^^^ g„, body of the nearest one, and pushing „ay, and struck out for the bank ^.^^^^^ ^^ ^^ ,^. ^" our care «s "-l^^/^/.^^,, perfectly blue, ing the weakest ot us. ROUdll AND SMOOTH. 69 ther and trotting think, as he brink he prc- ;ht, to he 'S allowed Qnc space ally steep , and his over went ^Vhat next ing, and )f the cart, s, and they I, and hell ;ot me out of ■which, from pness of the them to save on her hack, his head and forward, and od and kicked II, or he would at difficulty in !ct against the 3clf hack, got le O., as be- perfectly blue. and the poor little mouth was rigid and stiff. 1 forced the only drop of port Aviiie left in the broken flask down her throat, and, with Captain Cook's assistance, stripped her naked, and wr* ^.ping her in a blanket and opposum skin, one of the men had strapped in front of his saddle, she speedily recovered. We* were then tliree-and-a-half miles from a house to turn back, and live to proceed Our cart and baggage was still under water ; for all that could be done was to cuL the traces of the almost expiring horses, and let them save themselves. The cart could not be moved till assistance, with ropes, kc, was obtained. This one of the men galloped off for. it was thought ])est that we should walk on the live miles to a wealthy S(juatter's house, and save crossing the creek again, where, after being dried and warmed, wc could await our cart and horses, whicii Captain Cook and my brother were to l)ring on, he keeping his two Lien, and wc taking our trooper, mounted, as guide, and to carry C Thinking that the walking would probably save our lives, as we had no means of changing our wet clothes, and with many injunctions to those left behind to htirry and catch up to us us soon as they could, and prevent our walk- ing the whole of the way, we started, McKay walking his horse to keep up with our pace, and we have him in sight. There benig no regular roads or fences, people making them for themselves here and there through the bush, which was like a vast apple orchard, with cattle, branded with the owner's name, grazing all over it. As they have miles to Avander, a couple of men arc always kept, called stockmen, who are said to live in their saddles, riding about all day, to see that they are not lost, driving them before them with a long whip with a short handle, Avhich gives a peculiar crack- 10 1 :!i 70 ROUOn AND SMOOTH. :!!: \i ing sound, heard at great distances, and well known to the cattle. At last, weary and cold, the rain pouring in torrents all the time, and ourselves ankle deep in nmd, we reached the squatter's etf- on— . us vlie beacon of hope. We had some trouble in gf 'up- u- the door of the house, as we were assailed by a very w 'K'ti aig, but, by the use of sticks and stones, at last drove him ofl. .. d knocked. A respectably- dressed woman came to the door, and glancing at us, stepped out, and shutting it behind her, asked what we wanted. Papa apologized for our intrusion, and stating our deplora- ble case, asked for shelter, telling her who he was, which the small regulation cap all gohl connnissioners were obliged to wear confirmed, which is generally respected in those parts, as were it not for the arm of authority, the squatters, Avho are immense land and cattle owners, would not lead the comparatively unmolested lives they do, near districts with a population thrown together from all parts of the world. Looking at us most incredulously, and telling us to follow her across the yard, she opened the door of a stockman's hut, and told us to go in, calling a man-servant near to make up a fire. Sadly disappointed, papa tried to awaken her womanly sympathies, l)y setting poor G. on the floor, and telling her she was naked, and that I had had to Avalk the whole of the five miles, wet through, and felt very ill ; to which she replied a cool '"Indeed!" Seeing that matters could be minced no longer, with one who was either devoid of understanding or liumanity, he plainly asked her to supply me Avith a suit of dry clothes, and to lend something for G., all of which Avould be sent back with much gratitude? and without any risk from Bannalla. AVith eyes widely dis- tended and looks amazed was this request received, and, in ^ ROUrtH AND SMOOTH. 71 ft to the rvcuts \ichcd had c were ilirf and ictably- itcppcd ivantcd. leplora- , which obliged n those uatters, lead the cts with e workl. to follow ck man's to make ken her oor, and valk the y ill ; to matters devoid of ;o supply ;hing for ;ratitude) idely dis- 1, and, in reply, she turned, and taking a dirty old great coat of her man-servant's oft" the wall, handed It to him, saying, " You can wrap the youngster up in this;" and then addressing iierself to mo said, " You can take oft" your things here ' and hang them up before the fire, and thoy will he dry soon enougli for you." It Avas my turn now to look amazed — the undressing in a hut, between each slab, which formed the sides, you could put your clenched hand, was arriving at colonial experience with rather too sudden a jimip lor mo, and almost took awav mv brcatli at llic b;ii.' ilioii^ht. could not thank hor, and the good lady walked oft", shutting the door behind her, leaving us to moralize, if we felt incliiiOr', upon the vanity of all earthly hopes. We looked at each c'li »• in silence ; and I staggered to an old broken box to sit 'oon, there not being a seat in the hut. McKay, however, acVe forth into a "Well, if ever I saw such a wretch ; she de- serves a choking," and he looked as if he would have gladly given it to her had he dared. The servant coming in, papa questioned him as to who the fair dame Avas who had so elfec- tually giv'en us the cold slioulder, and was told, ''She was the. mistress of the house, Mrs. AVebster ; that her husband was not at home, and that we need not expect any extraordi- nary hospitality from her, as it was not in her/' He then said, "She has no children, I perceive." "No," said the man, " never had any ; but how did you know that, sir ';:' " " Oh ! "' was the reply, " the little child has been trying to make friends with that cat, and has been cruelly repulsed and scratched, which shows she has no more love for them than her mistress has." Miss G., glad of sympathy, held up the bare arm with a pitiful face, saying, "Naughty pussy," and did not attempt to renew the acquaintance. 72 ROUOIT AND SMOOTH. J! After waiting; 1 a If an hour without any return of good Mra. Webster, my shivering became so great from the efleet of the outAvard warmth, while all my inner clothing was so wet, that papa and McKay thought something must be done, and that it would be best to proceed towards Sannalla, not waiting for our cart. He, therefore, sent in her servant to ask for the loan of her horse and cart to take us on, which would be returned next dity. This was refused, the excuse being, " Iler husband was not at home." The only thing that then remained was to walk on, and trust to oar friends overtak- ing us, as 1 must be kept moving. I remonstrated, declar- ing myself unable to stir another step, but was told it was better to trust to God, than to such an inhuman creature as Mrs. Webster, and, putting (I. into McKay's arms again, and, leading me, we started. On passing the dwelling- house we saw a blazing fire, and the lady herself sitting at luncheon. Papa felt inclined to go in, and upbraid her for her want of charity, as she had not offered us a mouthful of anything ; but I begged him not to, reminding him that a man's house was his castle, and we had no right to storm it against the owner's will. On we trudged, my eyes filled with tears of disappoint- ment and pain — his, with those of rage at the unchristian treatment we had received. We had now twelve miles to go before we could reach Bannalla, and there were no houses between it and Web- ster's Station ; indeed, had there been any, it is doubtful whether we would have risked a second repulse. Poor G.'s plaintive cry of, " I so hungry — I want someting a eat, mama," had to be hushed by, "Mama has nothing for you, my darling;" and the patient little creature would wait a long time before asking again, having had nothing to eat since ier early breakfast. I B w sj: ROUftH AND SMOOTH. T3 I Mrfl. of thi' t, that tluit it n^ for or the iild be l)cinj.';, at tl\(Mi vertnk- (leclur- l it was creature s ai!;ain, welling- tting at her for uthful of 11 that a storm it • sappoint- christiaii 1(1 roach id Web- doubtful Poor G.'s ig a eat, thing for ire would othing to I It was drawing towards evening, and we were still on the n^ad, worn out with cold, Avet, an gold escort was: You know the diggers were finding a great ileal of gold, in its rough state, which would have ])een unsafe for them to keep in their tents, besides needing it tu he turned into coin for use. One of the duties of the Gold Commission, there- fore, was to weigh it as it Avas brought to ilicm, and either change it into coin, or give a receipt for it, and send it, stamped, to the Government Bank in Mtdbourne. Every week, therefore, a cart with gold wa^ sent down, and the game, with coin, up. To guard this treasure, they never had less than eight mounted troopers, armed with holster pistols and short guns. They ride splendid hor>es, and wear a uniform of blue and silver. Notwithstanding all precau- tions, the escort is at times attacked by bands of desperate characters,- bushrangers, kc. While I was at the Ovtms, one was robbed, or "stuck up," as they call It— the troopers shot at from behind a temporary barricade in ;t lonely place, some killed, the rest left wounded, and the gold carried oif on their horses. Months passed before the })erpetrators were found. At last, some of them were taken on board nd — tried, and executed. idy o In such a -^^ rt-fidl of treasure, Mama and G. take their seats. 1 ani sure papa thought Avitli the mother of the Gracci, wo were the most valuable part of it all. I ROUGH AND SMOOTH. 77 That t't-hor.«o oftereil use 11', it" Iti'ing 'his was f two or ivt Avas: •t' gohl, them to ut<> coin 1, there- (I cither send it, Everv and the ever had ir pistols >vcar a prccau- esperatc I ()veni<, troopers ly place, irried ofV ictrators m hoard d. ikc their • of tlio if i i t I I We reached Wangaratta, a distance of thirty miles, that night most comfortably, though it continued pouring ap be- fore ; indeed, had it not been for his careful thought in providing large India-rubber rugs and water-proof things of every kind, we would never have been one moment dry. JSIext morning we started on our last stage, thankful that it was indeed our last, as our little child had looked any- thing but well since her dip in the creek. At noon, we stopped at a Dr. McKay's Station, where the escort were in the habit of restnig their horses and giving them water. Papa lifted us out of the cart, telling us it would do us good to stretch our limbs by walking a little. Miss G., at- tracted by the sight of children standing in the doorway of the house, drew me to the garden gate to look at them, while they seeming equally pleased with her, looked, and smiled in return, till their mother, coming behind them, drew them in, and shut the door almost in our faces, as the gate was close to it. Of course, I took the hint ; and getting back in the cart, out of which the horses had been taken, refused to walk any more. I began to fancy that there must cither be something very repulsive about my appearance, to induce people to be so rude, or that squatters, from living so much alone, were a most uncivilized and inhospitable set ; and, finally, to satisfy my own vanity, I came to the conclusion that the latter must be the case. Presently, one of the servants came out of an out-kitchen, and asked me to go in there for shelter. I thanked her, but declined, saying, " I did not mind the rain." Papa and Mr. Diegan tried to persuade me to go ; but I rather crossly told them, "1 did not want a second edition of kitoheu hospitality, and would not accept, at the hands of a servant, the politeness refused me bv the mistress." As 1 suppose the gentlemen thought 11 1 I L L I Mil 1".f l!f i! 78 fotjctH and smooth. that a "wilful woman must have her way," they left me to do as I pleased, telling me, " I was very naughty, and de- served a good Avetting." From this station, papa took Mr. Diegan's place as driver; and from here to the Ovens the roads were infamous, and the cart and worn-out horses were bogged several times. We Avalked most of the way, papa driving on foot — and putting G. on horseback before a trooper, a mode of convey- ance highly approved of by that young lady, Avho Avould begin an acquaintance at once by snjmg, " My name's (t. What's your name?" " I from Queooc. Where you come from?" "I got mama and papa, and dear little aunty. Have you got any?" — to all which, and many other ques- tions, she received most willingly-given replies, and by the time we reached the diggings, had become fast friends with the whole troop, remembering each one by name, and all were ambitious of carrying the little chatterbox whenever she wanted a ride. It was about dusk, eleven davs after our start from Mel- bourne, that we reached the gold-field; and upon leaving the bush, and coming down upon it, what a sight presented itself to my wondering gaze. I cannot describe it. One must see gold-digging to understand it. Heaps and hesips of newly upturned earth; deep holes, out of whicli sickly looking men were drawing buckets more of it; while others, up to their waists in water, were washing pans of the sun- dried clay, and so ilose were the holes to each otlier, that there was hardly room for our cart to pass between them, obliging us to make a constantly zig-zag track. JIow plainly it all seemed to speak of the grovelling nature of man. What, thought I to myself, can man stoop so low as to burrow in the earth in this way — to risk health, and stand, 11 fl n n \ ROUGH AND SMOOTH. 79 me to d de- river ; s, and times. — and onvey- Avould » <^ le S It. u come aunty. r ques- by tlio is with and all hencvov in the depth of winter, up to the waist in water, for such fleeting gains? And an inner voice sadly answered, '' Yes, man will do anything to lay up treasure where moth and rust corrupt, and thieves break through and steal." )m Mol- leaving resented it. One id heaps ii sickly c others, the sun- hcr, that ;n them, How nature uf low as to id stand, I I 80 ROUGH AND SMOOTH. ii !! 1 1 i CHAPTER IX. Household Arrangements — Beechwortli — Work and Play. T)APA had propaied me to expect a small wooden house, -*- the only one at the Ovens, for my dwelling, with- out the least shadow of comfort or prettiness about it; and I was agreeably surprised, upon driving up, to find a pretty little garden, tastefully laid out in front, and two nice large carpet-lined tents, with tarpaulin awnings on either side ci the house. My brother and our man-servant were ready lo receive me. Honest Barnes was delighted to have las master back again, and, for his sake, had stri^ -n hard to make everything look as comfortable as he could .-)■ vne. He had dug up and laid out ti < warden during his absence, and had brought all the pretty shr:,^>l,'^ -aivl wild bushes he could find in the woods tc ill it; -o thai, it wa"^ literally a garden of wild plants, all new to me. He had gravelled the front of the doorway, plastered the inside of the chim- ney and whitewashed it, in which there was a cheerful fire blazing, and had built a bark hut and fire-place for himself to cook in, so that I might not be troubled with the dirty work in my little domain. Small and poor as it was, it was to be my home, and loving faces Avere around me. I tried to t^'^ pleased, and completely won Barnes' heart by praising ]m garde a and white fire-place ; though as I looked round khe s.uiinty — twelve fer t by sixteen — I thought to myself, ".10 i*^, %e p.jisible for me to spend the vrhole of the rainy nevrjii la this smul! hovel. Papa seemed to divine my ii ROUGH AND SMOOTH. 81 thoughts, and said, " It will not be for long, my wife ; the contract is out for our house, and it is to be finished ready for us to move into in a month's time ; this will then be the kitchen. So cheer up." "Be the dwelling e'er so small, Ilaviag love it boasteth all." Barnes had tea, hot bread, beefstejik. jiiiJ potatoes, smok- ing on the table ; and as we had had nothing to eat all day, the ised id the !al was very acceptable. 1 was su table well supplied with cups, saucers, plates, silver forks, and spoons. Papa asked Barnes ''where he had made such a rise ?" and Avas told that some of the officers he-iring that the missis was arriving, had sent them for her use till her own were unpacked, as well as a nice hair mattress to sleep upon, thinking that the straw bed given by Government would not be very comfortable, and hearing that our bedding had been wet on the way up. We were much gratified with this mark of thoughtful attention ; but it did not end here. A few moments after, a comfortably cushioned arm-chair arrived, Avith compliments, for Mrs. C.'s use, till her own furniture came up, and I was greatly amused with sheets, pillow-cases and hot soup from another quarter. "Well, indeed, old lady," said my brother, "you are not so much to be pitied after all; for your husband's frienfN in the camp seem determined to let you want for nothing — they never thought of sending any nice things for poo me when I arrived wet last night, and, I think, I would iiave been quite as well able to appreciate them, too." " I think so," said papa, casting a laughing glance at the huge bowl- ful of soup the said individual was making rapidly disappear — his mode of appreciation. .•'! • ;iii ( 11 ■\ !i. i! 82 ROUGH AND SMOOTH. As Government had already supplied blankets, iron bed- steads, &c., I found no difficulty in soon making a comfort- able bed, in which we slept soundly. Next morning we found Barnes had a hot breakfast cooked in his little hut, ready to bring in as soon as he heard we were dressed. "Oh, dear ?" I could not help saying, "I am afraid all my troubles will be imaginary ones, if Barnes continues to be such a treasure, and cnn cook and bake so nicely, and the people are so kind, i really shall have lo give up consider- ing myself a heroine, roughing diggings life, all for love." "Nous verrons," laughed papa. Alter breakfast, wc separated, my brother to his gold office, papa, with bruized face and black eyes — the effects of the kicks from the horses in the creek, though looking as if he had engaged in a pugilistic encounter — to sit upon the bench and adjudicate upon some assauh and battery cases, to be brought before him at ten o'clock — Barnes and myself to unpack the few trunks we had with us, and arrange about the household economy, xhis we lost no time in entering upon. '• First thiu;;,." said Barnes, '"are the rations, ma'am. We can draw, for the master, the young gentleman and my- self, four-and-a-half pounds of fresh beet, or mutton, every day, and by keeping a book, and putting down all we get, joints, &( ., can pay the butcher, at the end of the week, wb'tever we overdraw.'" "Yes, that will do," 1 replied. "Now for broad." "Well, ma'am, for the three we arc allowed thirty pounds of flour per week, f have no idea how far this will go as yet; but bread is to be had upon the diggings, if that will not make enough. As for tea, sugar, and wax candles, the allowance is large enough, though 1 am not »o sure about soap nnd salt." ROUGH AND SMOOTH. 83 bed- fort- g we hut, jssed. !1 my to be <1 the iider- ove." " Oh, well, those are trifles. I did not think thp. rations were so hirae. Now, what are we to have for dinner to- day?" '-Anything you please, ma'am," was the reply. " Well, then, suppose we say boiled Icf; of mutton, turnips, potatoes, and" — "Stop, stop! ma'am, if you please," cried out Barnes. "• Where am 1 to get the turnips and potatoes? 1 don't think there is a turnip to ho had upon the diggings; at least, I have boon six months upon them, and never saw one; ami as for potatoes, they are very scarce, for the six or eight you had last night on the table I paid three shil- lings, and it was a great favor to get them at all, as they were almost out of them ai the store." ''Oh, dear!" I sighed, "no vegetables — eggs for a pud- ding, Jjarnes?" A shake of the head was the on\j reply. " Ivico — you can surely got tliat i'" " Yes, ma'am ct two shillings a pound." "Oh, then I" — iiud 1 breathed more freely — "milk; T loto/o you can," pointing to the hujf- emptied milk-jug on the table. With a, smile, J3arnes said. " The milkman can only let me have a pint a-day, and it is half-a-crown a quart ; but if you like 1 can make a plum- pudding — plenty of suet at the butchers, and raisins and currants at the store, though very dear." " Well, then, that Avill have to do for to-dav — boiled Ic;:' of mutton in rice, and a plum-pudding — not so l)ad after all," I said, handing him some money, which he good-humouredly took, and walked oiT to purchase the needful. . As r set to Avork in good earnest to arrange my house, T wa,s (|uite astonished when one o'clock came, bringing with it }»apa, my brother, and dinner. The former praised the appearance of the house, and the latter was not behind in lavishing encomiums upon the dinner. " It had only one fault," he said ; "the melted butter tasted strong." "Well, :| ' J ! ! i m i! ^ if I 84 ROUGH AND SMOOTH. sir," I replied, "you are to bla>mefor tliat. Who bought the butter yesterday?" '^•Oh. dear! I did, and paid five shil- lings a pound for it, too." This led to a complaint from mo to papa about the difficulty I should have in catering for thom, as well as poor G., as milk, eggs, vegetables, and other necessaries, were not to bo obtained. "'I'll see if 1 cau't mend matters for you, " he replied. •' Til ride over to Young's Station, and buy a cow antl calf from him, There is plenty of grass about here. Barnes can milk her, and perhaps you will be able to save cream enough to make butter for yourself. We can do Avithout it. 1 will al.>o try and buy some fowls, and then you and (1. can have plenty of eggs." G. clapped her hands at the thought of the "dear chickens," as she called them; and I was not less pleased at the idea of the cow, all of which we were in full enjoyment of in less than a fortnight. In the afternoon I divided my house into two rooms, by means of a curtain, so as to have a sitting-room, without showing wy bed. One tent was used as bed-room for my brother, and the other for Barnes ; and with cutting up some pretty bright chiiitz I had with me, to make covers for boxes and benches, and setting them aside for sewing when Ihad time, hoped to make ray place a snug home. For the present, I covered the old benches and the arm-chair with large anti-macassars; and those much-despised articles, by gentlemen in otljer parts of the world, were here admired, and praised, as bringing with them traces of civilization and womanly refinement. As tea-time approached, our little darling, who had not looked Avell all day, began to show symptoms of serious illness — high fever and bad cough — and by bod-time was attacked with a fit of croup. I at once took what measures fiOUGII AND SMOOTH. 85 t the shil- II me ; for and if 1 over liim. V her, make .so try plenty f the ^t less in full I knew to be right, to give relief to the little sufferer, and papa went for Dr. Crawford, the Colonial Surgeon appointed for the camp, who remained with us some hours, watching over her with great kindness and skill. For the succeeding four or five days, she hovered between life antl death ; but God mercifully spared her to us, and aft<>r having quite given her up, we had the liappincss of seeing her restored to us again. Dr. Crawford, whose unremitting attention I shall never forget, attributed her illness to the exposure consequent upon her wetting in the creek. Durinsj; her ill- ness, the gentlemen of the camp showed much sympathy; and many more kindnesses and thoughtful attentions did wo receive from those among whom we came perfect strangers. As the winter finally set in, we were kept close prisoners to the house, the rain continuing to pour in torrents, and, at times, for three weeks without ceasing, or our having one sunny day to cheer us ; and the wind was so high, that we sometimes feared it would take our little house off its slight foundation. Papa and Barnes had managed to make seme additions to my comfort, in plastering the outside of the house Avith mud, to keep out the rain, making a porch to break off the draught, and lining the inside of the room with canvas, and toweling stretched over it ; but even this did not protect us from the fearful gales and constant rain, which often dropped through. A s it was more than a month before the workmen began to dig the holes for the posts of our new house, and then could not proceed with it on account of the rain, we had little hope of getting in under some months' time, and were obliged to make ourselves as comfortable and contented as we could. This tha contrast of everybody else's case with our own contributed to do. May-day Hills, or Bcechworth, as the 12 I i 1 t ■ ;r I' 86 ROUGH AND SMOOTH. I i\ ' 1 camp was called, was on a high ground — dry, in comparison with the gold-field, which stretched as far as the eye could reach in front of it. We were fenced in and guarded by sentries, and separated by a river called Spring Creek, which overflowed its banks in winter, filling the gold claims near it. Of the diggers themselves, and how th%y lived, I shall tell you by and by. The camp consisted of rows of tents, facing one another, down streets — ofiicers' tents, servants' tents, police tents, &c. In the middle was the large court-house tent, and a flag-staff, with a ])ell to sound the hours — which reminds mo of one out of the many riddles our second servant (who was quite a character) made to amuse my brother — " Why is the Gold Commission like that flag-staft"? Because it has a camp-bell at the top of it." The stores, of which there were two or three, were open tents. Mine, therefore, you see, was the only wooden-walled dwelling, and had the only glass window for miles. The gentlemen, who often came to have a play with their pet, G., used to tell papa he was the only one who had lir/ht in his dwelling ; and, I am sure, away from friends, little brothers and sisters, they often thought so. A Lieutenant Finch, 11th Regiment, G. made up to the first time she saw, saying, " I likes you, Misse Finch; you's got such a pretty rose-pink coat." This speech brought a pocketful of sweets to the young lady the next day, which he was well laughed at for, as being so easily made a victim to flattery. I am afraid G. is not the only young lady dazzled by the color of a coat. As the roads became so bad, communication between the diggings and Melbourne was almost cut off"; and Ave had often to wait for the post long after the proper timq. This, 3,s a natural consequence, caused a scarcity of provisions ROUaH AND SMOOTH. 87 Irison jould Id by frcek, flaims rod, I Flour rose to ^15 the bag; oatmeal, Is. 8d. the pound; coarse salt, Is. Gd. the pound ; split peas, 2s. ; beans, 2s. 6d. ; dried apples, 3s. Od. ; and rice, barley, and other necessa- ries, pruportionably high. The cost of cartnge from Mel- bourne to Beeehworth Avas X150 the ton. For four months we had neither potatoes, turnips, cabbages, or any other greens ; and the trunks, with jams, biscuits, anchovy pastes, iVc, we packed and sent oft" before leaving IMolhonrne, were two montlis on tlu; road ufU'r us, and most of the things spoiled when they did reach. Situated as we were, our cow Avas invaluable. She gave us milk enough for use in abund- ance ; and we saved cream for butter, to my brother's great delight, enough for all at table, llow the butter was to be made, was an enigma to us at first, without a churn, and without the possibility of getting one made, out of the hard wood of the gum tree, which dyed everything red it touched when wet ; but we at last managed to convert a large stone jar, with a wooden cover and dash, into a very tolerable churn. It is true, it took two hours and a half to bring the butter ; but then our patience and perseverance had to be brought into request, and we only relished it the more from the labor we had had in getting it. Our fowls had cost ten shillings each at the station from which we had to bring them ; but as eggs were 12s. to 18s. the dozen, they soon paid themselves. My first real trouble was the loss of Barnes. The com- pany to which lie belonged when he came upon the diggings having succeeded in opening a promising claim, and needing his assistance, we could put no obstacle in the way of his bettering his condition, and, therefore, released him from his engagement. The poor fellow was as sorry to go as we were to jose him ; knowing that I would find it difficult to IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) Y ^ :/ ^ 1.0 !lfl^l 1.1 Itt I 1h 2.2 L25 iU 11.6 > 7 ^ # ^ v* 7 /A Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBS'ER.N.Y. M580 (716)873-4503 J L 88 ROUGH AND SMOOTH. E J get a man who could cook and bake as he did, before leav- ing, he tried to teach me all he could, but as his companions had only given him two or three days' notice, this was not much. Papa at once had n'any applicants for the vacant place among the unsuccessful diggers, as the wages were ^160 sterling per annum, paid monthly by Government, and rations ; but of those who applied, few could either cook, make bread, or milk, and, at last, he had to engage a respectable man, merely becauije he was so, and who, in position far above that of a servant, knew nothing about the duties of one. Our efforts in Melbourne to get a female servant had been quite unsuccessful ; and I thought myself very well off in having my washing done by one of the women upon the diggings, at lOs. sterling the dozen — Barnes washing table- linen and towels. We heard of Ellen's having had a free passage to Melbourne, and her taking a place as barmaid in a tavern, at £36 sterling the year ; but I would not have had her, even had she been willing to try diggings' life. I called the new man, Frederick, in, to find out what sort ot a servant he was ; and his evident respectability, and the sorrowful way in which he told me he knew but little of such matters, having been compositor to a large publishing house in London, but would try and do the best he could, raised a feeling of pity, that one who had seen such " better days" should be so reduced, and I determined to make the best of it, and see if his desire to learn, and my small experienc3, would not overcome some of the difficulties threatening to diminish our household comforts. As he could not milk, and, after repeated attempts, failed to learn, we had to em. ploy a camp servant, who offered to do it if we gave him half the milk. This, though very extortionate, had to be submitted to, as it was better than not having the cow ROUGH AND SMOOTH. 89 re leav- ipanions was not ) vacant ;es were ent, and )k, make pectable tion far luties of rant had • well off ipon the [g table- id a free rmaid in lot have life. rhat sort and the ) of such ig house raised a ir days" Q best of )erienc3, 3ning to ot milk, d to em. ave him ,d to be the cow milked at all. The making of bread and yeast, also, he knew nothing about, and I had to put in practice the hints gained from Barnes. The yeast turned out well, and great was my anxiety about my first loaf of bread. I placed the dish to rise in front of the fire-place, and watched it ; to my delight, it rose well, and many were the injunctions Frederick received about the baking, wliieh he did nicely. I do not think compliments ever gratified rnc so much as the praises I got for this loaf of bread did ; and indeed, the making of it good was of more importance than one would be inclined to think it could be, where bread could be bought; but the flour allowed by Government was sweet and good — that got upon the diggings sour and bad, and the bread, besides being adulterated Avith unwholesome ingre- dients, was 7s. 6d. sterling the loaf. Frederick and I having overcome our greatest difficulty — the making of yeast and bread — were bold enough to try muffins, cakes, pastry, &c. ; and here I found myself more at home, as the latter I had often made, to please myself, in Canada ; and how sorry I often felt that I had not striven to learn more of the really useful, when I had the opportu- nity. True, it was never dreamed I would be placed in a position where I would have myself alone to depend upon, and, therefore, many things that would have been of use to me were neglected, as not being necessary where servants could be had. I had also foolishly forgotten that useful appendage to a young housekeeper's library — a cookery book. But I must not tire you with too much about my work, or you will think it was all work and no play with me; that it was not — happy days I had, and a good deal of play, too, of one sort or another. I had a melodeon bought in if 90 ROUaH AND SMOOTH. New York, and which arrived at Beechworth two months after us. This made pleasant evenings and pleasant Sun- days; and then my Sunday school — ^but of that I shall tell you presently. However, even in spite of ill health, I never could feel the ennui the poor gentlemen complained of. During the winter they were often at a loss for amusement, news was scarce, the mails sometimes not being able to run. For days, and even weeks, they would know nothing of what was going on beyond the precincts of the little world, the camp. The last letters were always learnt by heart before the next arrived, and the little daily incidents of life were retailed for each other's amusement. Everybody seemed to bear an amount of good feeling for his neighbour I had never seen so exhibited before. An old bachelor told me, with all due respect for myself, that " this was owing to the almost entire absence of the female sex, they being generally mischief-makers and chatter-boxes" — a doctrine I am rather disposed to believe in. I must tell you now how I clme to have my Sunday school. For the first one or two Sundays after I came up, I missed church very much, and the day passed heavily. I was grieved also to see that it was totally unobserved by the people around. Papa had done what the law would allow him to, in putting down digging and washing gold on the Sabbath. Further than this he could not go ; and the dig- gers took the day to wash and mend their clothes, fell trees, repair their tents and huts, and when they had not these to do, spent it in drinking, gambling, and idleness. Of course, the children of such parents were not behind them, in pro- faning a day they knew little of the sanctity of; and groups of dirty, idle, mischievous children were continually running wild all over the diggings. This was very sad ; yet it could ROUaH AND SMOOTH. 91 not be otherwise, where there was no effort made to send a clergyman to a population, gathered from all parts of the world, of from nine to ten thousand souls — of whom but a very small number were women and children. Little babes came into the world, and were not baptized — went out of it, and were buried like dogs. Men and women who wished to be married, had to go over a hundred miles, at great expense and loss of time, to get to the nearest clergyman. Little as we could do towards reforming such a state of things — that little wo felt anxious io try; and, therefore, the Sunday school was proposed, to rescue, if possible, some of the children, and, perhaps, through them, the parents. The difficulty was, how to get scholars. I did not like to enter any of the diggers' tents or huts, knowing the bad state of feeling that had formerly existed between them and the authorities. This was happily dying away ; yet still coming from the camp, I felt nervous about getting refusals, and perhaps insults, and contented myself with inviting one or two little girls I met to come to me on Sunday, and I would teach them. " What a coward you were, dear mama," I think I hear little voices saying. " Yes, my dears, I was," and explain it in this way : I was anxious to do right, and to work for God, too — to do good, and to he good also ; but it was in my own strength, not the love of Christ constrain- ing me. 92 ROUGH AMD SMOOTH. . CHAPTER X. Sunday School — Working the Diggings — Burial Ground— Gold License Troubles, T SENT to Melbourne for a supply of books to teach with, ^ for rewards, and to form a small circulating library. In this way, I hoped to keep those who came once. The first Sunday I looked anxiously for the appointed hour — two o'clock. It brought one nicely-dressed little girl of thirteen years of age. She told me some of her friends wanted to come with her, but she was afraid I might not like it. Of course, she got permission to bring anybody she liked, pro- vided they would remain, and came neat and clean. I found she had attended a Sunday school two years before in Syd- ney, and was anxious to learn all she could. I had, there- fore, one promising pupil. The following Sunday seven or eight little girls were clustered round the door, waiting for admittance, all as clean and tidy as possible. I tried to interest them, and they seemed sorry when the hour came for us to separate. The third Sunday the number was doubled ; and, besides, ther^ were some ten or twelve little boys hanging about the door. One of the little girls said, " Please, ma'am, these boys — Jane's brothers, and my brothers, and the rest are neigh- bours — wanted to come to school, too, but we did not like to bring them in as you did not tell us to bring boys." The boys now seeing that she who had evidently been chosen spokesman, was pleading their cause, gathered in a group, looking anxiously in for the result. I felt very sorry, but ROUGH AND SMOOTH. 93 }Id License jach with, rary. In The first lour — two )f thirteen ve saw md large comfort - own tent. T-ground, le bush — life, end- I and air- ther, and ures, now mitted to was con- it," and, out the teachings, rue state- lis narrow at the un- Qany have le'will re- veal. Quicken us, Lord, in thy ways, and make us deeply sensible of our responsibilities. We had been about three months upon the diggings, whiMi a question arose as to the non-payment of a license foe. This tax, or rent, of thirty shillings per month for each digger, they considered too exorbitant. Some were for re- ducing it — some for doing away with it altogether. Although the police were very vigilant in finding out those digging witiiout licenses, yet many escaped for months without pay- ing it ; yet the risk and uncertainty they ran was great, as if caught and brought before the magistrate, they were fined .£5, and made take out a license at once. This money was used in keeping up the Gold Commission ai;d a police force, much needed upon the diggings ; and there was no oth>n" eciuitable way of making the digger, who was in the country to-day and out of it to-morrow, pay his share towards these expenses incurred for his benefit, in which the whole of the revenue from this source was expended. It was necessary to keep up the Gold Commission, consisting uf a resident and several assistant commissioners at each head station, with their respective clerks. They were a most useful body, and one which could not be done without. Their duties were numerous and arduous. They were liable to be called upon any moment to settle disputed claims, rights of sluic- ing, &c. One had to be kept at the gold ofiice to receive the gold-dust, w^igh, stamp it, and send it oif to Melbourne. They were also Justices of the Peace, and had to assist the Police Magistrate when more than one justice was required to pit upon the bench. They had to give out licenses, visit and report upon any new discovery, no matter at what dis- tance from their station — form new ones ; in short, do business requiring men of talent, respectability, and judg- ment. These we certainly had upon the Ovens. J_l. II i 1- jlp h' i I I ! 100 ROUGH AND SMOOTH. As to the police force, without which there would be no security for human life one hour upon the gold-field, owing to the mixture of races thrown together — the adventurers and ofi'-scourings of all countries, and the number of escaped and freed ctnvicts from Van Dieman's Land and Sydney, many of whom take the name and occupation of digger to cover that of thief and assassin, it required a vigilant and well-kept-up mounted force. It was true, here the digger who found fault with unnecessary expenditure, had some little cause for complaint ; for there were too many police officers employed — inspectors and sub-inspectors — almost an ofiicer for every half dozen troopers, generally young, shallow-brained fellows, proud of their uniform, treating the diggers overbearingly, and bringing down invectives upon the Government through its servants. An experienced ser- geant would have done the duty with greater satisfiiction to the digging population. As there are always demagogues found ready to seize upon any public feeling of discoitent, and fan it to a flame, it was not long before the suppressed murmurs of the diggers rose to threats, and threatened to come to blows. Meetings were held at Bendigo, Ballarat, Mclvor, Castlemaine, Goulbourne, and finally at the Ovens. Speeches were made, and resolutions passed, not to pay the license tax, and to resist, if an attempt were made to force them. Petitions were sent to the Governor and Council, praying that it might be done away with, and that, as a body, they might have representation in Council. As the Bendigo delegates, who presented the petition to His Excellency, reported liim wanting in courtesy aid un- satisfactory in his replies to thorn, the diggers, burning to revenge what they considered as fresh proof of hard usage and insult, refused to await the decision of Council, and ;i- d be no d, owing enturers ' escaped Sydney, ligger to lant and e digger lad some ny police ; — almost y young, ating the [ves upon jnced ser- faction to mago^];ues iscoi'tent, uppresscd atened to Ballarat, he Ovens. pay the e to force Council, that, as a petition to jy aid un- juruing to uird usage )unoil, and ROUGH AND SMOOTH. 101 determined to rosist paying the fee at once. Then did the vacillating policy of the Governor show itself. One moment troops were sent to enforce tlie law, the next, a courier dispatched after them, with instructions not to do so ; then a letter denying the statements of the delegates, and promis- ing them liis influence in Council for whatever tlioy Avuntcd, if tliey would only keep the peace ; thou a prochxmation, saying that ih^ tax woidd bo enforced at all hazards. Each post seemed to bring a contradiction of the promises made in the former one ; and they finally resolved to use what they called passive resistance — tluit was, refuse to pay, allow themselves to be taken up and sent to jail; and us there were no jails upon the diggings, it would require two thou- sand policemen at least ^o take them all to Melbourne. The conselood was D^uell the od saved undimin- replaccd ery toler- and sell Decoraing, n. BOUGH AND SMOOIH. 103 Opththalmia - CHAPTER XI. nouse-Warming — Natives — A Pleasant Meeting — Hot Weather— Longings for Home. IT was nearly five months before we got into our new house, ■*• and our delight was so great, after living so long iu the kitchen, that we proposed giving a house-warming, of which I shall tell you presently. The house was a four-roomed cottage, with a wide passage through it, nice for G. to run in, and a door front and back. The walls of the rooms were carpeted, and the ceiling white canvas; the outside wa? rough deals, and shingle roof. Simple as this would appear, it cost the Government £1,000 to build. Wood is very scarce in Australia, the red guir, the most abundant tree, being too hard, too heavy, and shrinking too fast, to make boards ; therefore, those of which our floors were made were of pine, brought all the way from Canada, iind carted, at immense expense, up there. You will not wonder, there- fore, at the cost of the house ; but this was a necessity, as any other flooring s^vynk and let in snakes, which Avere very abundant and very venomous. The tents which were spread for our old warriors, being found on a damp spot, were re- moved ; and on taking up the bark used for flooring, whole families of snakes were found under them, lied ants were also a nuisance, and frightfully numerous. In Melbourne, the legs of the sidebo Tds and tables had to lie stood in little tin boxes filled with water, over which the ants could not travel, the only way to keep them out of food. These luxuries we could not get at the Ovens, so had to put >! ill 104 ROUGH AND SMOOTH. up with them, as well as with the centipedes and flies ; the bite of the former is most severe, causing illness and fever. Frederick killed seventeen the day we moved, concealed be- hind the furniture. Of the flies, 1 hardly know how to speak. It would fill a whole chapter to tell you what torments they were. They seemed to be the common house-fly, of a large size, but such a pest, that nothinc; would keep a moment with them. Our blankets and flannels hung out to iiir, in a short time, would be fly-blown and alive with maggots ; meat had to be killed and used immediately, else it was in the same state, and beef and mutton were always tough, from being eaten so soon after killing. The Bible story of Abraham entertaining the three strangers, fetching a kid from the herd, killing and dressing it, and placing it before them to eat, is exactly the way in which food is prepared in Australia. Then when upon the table a battle had to be waged to eat it — yourselves versus flies — for swarms of them were circling over you all the time, ready for spoils. The moment carving operations were suspended, a wire gauze cover had to be popped over the dish, or the flies would cover and blow the hot meat under your very eyes. Happily for us, Ave brought a supply of these articles from Melbourne, and so were saved the disgusting spectacle which those who had none witnessed daily. Dining in this way did not improve one's appetite, you may be sure; but appetite I had none there, in spite of constant doses of quinine and bitter ale every day, ordered by the doctui'. The latter had to be brought from Wan- ganatta, thirty mik\ , on horseback, and cost there eight shillings the bottle. One lasted three days, and was the the only thing that kept me up, especially when I had opthalmia. This very common complaint upon the gold- ROUGH AND SMOOTH. 105 ies; tlic id fever, aled be- ould fill . They but such m. Our le, wouhl be killed and beef 80 soon ining the ling and actly the len when ourselves you all perations sped over hot meat , a supply saved the witnessed appetite, n spite of jT, ordered om Wan- lere eight i was the en I had the gold- fields is said by some to be caused by the flies laying eggs in the corners of the eyes ; others, however, attribute it to the hot sand-storms. In my case, I cannot say what brought it on, but know that I had a narrow escape from blindness. For a week, I could not even see a gleam of light ; and the fear of remaining in that state made me cry 30 much, that it aggravated the disease, so that when we moved, G. had to be my guide, leading me from room to room. But I am forgetting tlio house-warming, I had often had little parties of four or five, after the melodeon cumo up, in the old house. Now we wished to ask all our friends at the same time. The greatest difficulty was, in getting enough glass and china, for all these things being generally found broken when they reached the diggings. Of wine-glasses, I suppose, not a whole one could be found. At the officers' mess, they were called "no heel-taps," as they had to be emptied and turned upside-down after using. Some one tried the plan of planting his glass firmly in liis bread, and this was looked upon as a grand invention, and adopted accordingly. I counted my cups, and found I liad just enough to go round, including one with a broken handle, and a cracked mug. These, I impressed upon papa's mind, were to be secured by himself and my brother, to save ex- posing our poverty to our quests. The evening Avas fine, and everybody came. I was just pouring out Frederick's nice clear coffiee, when up jumped papa, bustling to the table, and saying, " Excuse me, gen- tlemen, if I take my coffee first ; my wife charged me to see that I got the cup with the broken handle, and my brother- in-law the cracked mug." At this there was general roar of laughter, in Avliich, in spite of my discomfiture, I had to join, and a scramble for these articles, everybody being i 106 ROUGH AND SMOOTH. ;). i, ! 1 1 J i i p 1 ' ! J 1? 1 !' L J f sure their coffee would taste better out of them than any other. The evening passed pleasantly, with conversation, music, and singing, several of the officers being accomplished musicians. But it did not end here for me ; for to the time I left, it was a standing joke against me, and many Avere the sly hits I got from them for my skill in hiding breakages, "putting the best foot foremost," &c., &c. * As summer came on, horseback exercise was suggested, as being likely to be of benefit to my health. Until I could get a suitable horse, Mr. Turner, our Ovens' Governor, lent me one he had brought from Sydney — trained for his wife, whom he left there. Mounted on " Oakstick," I scoured the country for miles around, whole parties of us going together, it being dangerous for one or two to ride alone — as if your horse was handsome, a distant bushranger might shoot you down, and make off with it. Sometimes we rode to squat- ter's stations, never entering their houses, though ; some- times visited distant diggings, having hair-breadth escapes in the wild uncultivated country through which we passed. Beautiful country we sometimes saw, riding up the mountain ranges, and going through whole patches of the lovely, sweet-scented flowering wattle, or gallopping over the long wild prairie-like grass. One evening we got benighted, and to save a round of five miles, took a frightful hill road, by the side of a precipice. The gentlemen scrambled up, lead- ing their horses ; mine being sure-footed, I was advised to ride, papa keeping close by. So steep was the ascent, that part of the way I shut my eyes, and clung, with both arras round "Oakstick's" neck. When at the top, everybody declared thev woukl rather " take the longest way round as the surest wJiy home,' than try such an alpine path for the future. I ROUGH AND SMOOTH. 107 lan any 3rsatiori, nplished the time ,ny were eakages, [ggested, 1 1 could nor, lent his wife, lured the together, s if your hoot you to squat- i; some- i escapes e passed, mountain e lovely, the long hted, and road, by up, lead- .dvised to cent, that 30th arras iverybody round as ,h for the One day we saw what looked like a black branch, across our road. Th'3 horses, as we neared it, began to snort, spin- ning round and acting in the most extraordinary way, till one of the party, dashing in his spurs, cleared it by a jump, calling out, " It's only a dead snake after all." We followed, and one of the gentlemen measuring it, found it to be twelve feet long; smaller ones, living, wo often saw. There are several kinds : diamond snakes (so called from having dia- mond-shaped marks upon it), black snakes, whip snakes, and yellow snakes. The latter are the most deadly. Of wild animals there are few in Australia, the opossum and flying squirrel being the most numerous. The diggers M'ere very fond of shooting the former and making beautiful rugs of them, by sewing their skins together. The kangaroo, of which you would read a better account in an;f natural history than I could give you, are being driven before the face of civilization, and &re scarce. I only saw one. The emu, also, which is a large and most splendid bird peculiar to Australia, is disappearing. It resembles the ostrich, but has shorter legs, shorter neck, and thicker body. This bird measures over seven feet in height, and runs very swiftly — • the feathers are most beautiful, brown and grey mixed. I had a quantity of them given me on my way down to ^lel- bourne, but owing to their size and the difficulty of carrying them on horseback — not being able to open my baggage — I had to leave them behind, Avhich I often afterwards regretted. The natives hunt the emu as well as the kangaroo, and great excitement prevails when one is killed — screeching and out- cries — as the flesh is a great delicacy with them, and the feathers are used as aprons and ornaments for the head. We frequently met the natives in our rides. My first ac- quaintance with them was made at Bannalla after my ducking. 108 ROUGU AND SMOOTH. Hearing the sitting-room door open I looked up ; a black head was popped in and out again. So ugly was the object that I gave an involuntary scrciun and covered my face, a proceeding which evidently caused amusement, for the owner of the cranium now showed itself, making a low guttural his- sing sound, meant for a laugh. Ashamed of myself, I ven- tured to look up again, and Avas introduced by my landlady to the queen ot a tribe then at Bannalla, said to be handsome. Fancy a black woman, with hair long and stiff, hanging like porcupine's quills over her shoulders, no forehead, eyes long and half closed, broad nose, mouth from ear to ear, with the contrast of beautifully white and even teeth, and you Avill have the picture of a handsome Aborigine — quite a belle. She was pleased with G., who, wiser than lior mother, saw nothing i9 be frightened at in her, and made friends accordingly. Of course she was civilized. In their native state, as I afterwards saw them, they are a very repulsive people, said to be tho lowest of the human race, wearing very little clothing, and subsisting upon grubs, Avornis, beetles, roots, herbs, and indeed anything they can pick up, and hav- ing many curious superstitions, dreading graves, and in somo tribes never using them, laying out their dead upon a sort of stretcher, raised on four posts, and letting it rot away. The moaning of the wind through the forest is supposed to be voices of the dead, and fills them with horror. Their habits are so degrading, that any white person found living Avith them, is severely punished by law. Though ingenious, and apt to learn ; they are intensely cruel and treacherous. One man who had been much with them came to live at the Ovens? where he kept a " sly grog" tent. One of our camp servants, named Barney, having been drugged and robbed of his purse? watch and chain, by him, came to papa and informed. The a black \\c object ly face, ti ;hc owner tural liis- ?lt', I veii- landbidy kimdisome. [iging like eyes long •, -with the I you will ;e a belle, r mother, do IViends heir native y rcpwlsive taring very IS, beetles, p, and hav- md in some on a sort of iway. The josed to be }heir habits living with jnious, and crous. One the OvenS) np servants, of his pursc5 rmed. The fiOUGH AND SMOOTH. 109 tent was struck and the man off before he could be taken. Barney fearing the consequences of his revenge, was kept, at his own reciuest, in a hiding place for some time, and finally sent off to New South Wales, under tlie charge of an escort, for safety. Two days after being left there, he was ti'acked, murdered, and his heart torn out of his still ([uiver- ing body, roasted and eaten by his enemy, who boasted of the fact some days after, when drunk, to the woman who had innocently lent him her frying pan. He was taken, tried, and executed, glorying all the time in tlie accomplishment of his revenge, so savage had become his nature from the evil communication of tlic heathens he had companied with so long. Truly does God's word say, " The dark places of the earth are full of the habitatiims of cruelty." Upon tlie diggings we sometimes met people wlio had been drawn from home like ourselves, in search of some unknown good, and who were willing enough to acknowledge out tlierr, that there Avere Avorse places in the ;vorld than Cana-li. One day our feelings were intere^jted in a way both plens ing and painful at the same time ; it was raining heavily, and papa had gone Avith the servant to attend to the comfort of a little mare he had just bought. When on his Avay he saw some men busy spreading tents, and unpacking Avaggons. Determining at once to send them aAvay, as they Avere tres- passing not only on camp ground, but upon our private property, he Avent over to them, Avhen ho Avas surprised to hear a man say in French, " Voild uncapot d'ctojfe dn pays^ un Canadietij" pointing to the grey overcoat he had on, hood and all, one of our homo relics ; and dropping what they had in their hands, they all ran to meet him. Speaking to them in ^French, he asked where they Avere from ? The sound of the language seemed to affect them powerfully. Choking 15 i-.. I I J 110 ROUOE AND SMOOTH. ,iilf with emotion one replied, '* du beau Canada, Monsieur^ et V0U8?" The reply of " Canada" was received with a wild shout of delight by these simple children of our soil. Sur- rounding him, they overpowered him with questions, his answers being received with loud exclamations. Some of them ho found wore ce7mtaires, from seigniories owned by hijj own uncles, others knew him by name perfectly well. A full hour did he spend, talking to these men, all seemingly un- conscious of the pouring rain. At last it occurred to him that I might be alarmed at his absence, and he came back to tell me of the delightful rencontre. Of course they were not turned off, but were given permission to remain on our ground as long as they liked. Next day he took me to see them. On approaching their tents we heard the sound of a violin, and sat upon a log to listen to the music. They Avere play- ing and singing a Canadian air, " La belle C'a?iadien7ie." The sound brought home so before me, that I started up, nearly choked, and rushed back to the house, papa himself being scarcely less moved. In the evening he brought two of the men to see me, and their politeness, so peculiar to the French Canadian, delighted me so much, being such a contrast to the manner of the diggers and working classes in Australia, and we made up our minds that there were no peasantry in the world like them ; they were true gentlefolks of nature's making. After a long conversation, and relation of their adventures, in which love and regret for home, gleamed through all they said, more brightly than the shining ore did, in the richest Australian clay, we separated, papa promising to get them employment, which he was enabled, in a few days, to do, the building of so many houses in Beechworth causing a demand for workmen. After this we had frequent visits from our i: 1! mur^ et a wild Sur- ons, his 5omo of 5(1 by hijj A full ngly un- l to liim e back to ■were not 11* ground iee them, f a violin, ^ere play- ner The ap, nearly self being ;wo of the ;he French iontraat to Australia, sasantry in )f nature's idventures, gh all they the richest ;o get them }, to do, the g a demand ts from our ROUOH AND SMOOTH. Ill fellow-countrymen, who would take no steps of any impor- tance without the advice of " Monsieur le Mayhtrat," us they called him. They even Vished him to take charge of their money, as they were afraid of being robbed, and ho had much difficulty in making them believe that it was safer in the Gold Commission office than in his hands. As summer advanced, we found the heat harder to bear than we had experienced it in the tropics. We put a large canvass awning, fastened by posts, as a ver;mdah, in front of the house, to shade the windows and door ; blinds could not be made at the Ovens — but it was not much use, the Punkah of India alone would have rendered the heat bearable. At Kio we ahvays had a sea breeze in the evening, which cooled the air, and invigorated our exhausted frames. At the Ovens we had none of that ; what wind we had, coming over the land, generally brought hot sand storms with it, so that we were better with none ; our shingles curled up with the heat, and dotted our canvass ceiling all over with half moons. When rain came on, the weight of water over our heads was often so great that we feared a " burst," and had to prick holes with a carving fork to let the water stream through into the tubs and basins below. As the season ad- vanced, however, thunder and lightning storms were often dry, unaccompanied .with rain, the clouds seeming to have exhausted themselves during the winter ; and when the dry season began, dry it was indeed ; the suffering cattle had to be driven from the hilly parts down to the low lands, every- where, in search of water and grass, reminding one of the Bible story of Elijah's days, when Obediah went searching for sustenance for Ahab's cattle. What a beautiful story that is ? I hope you enjoy Bible stories more than any others. If you do not your reading is doing you harm. 112 ROUaU AND SMOOTU. I i t As everytliing became parched up, fires were frequent, both caused by the carelessness of people travelling through tlio bush, mid by lightning striking trees, which was very frequent, and these bush fires surpassed, in their terrible grandeur and horror, anything I had ever seen. Wo passed through part of one on our way down, the thought of which makes my blood creep even now, and causes wonder how we ever escaped aliv.'. lilinded Avilli smoke, half choked, gallop- ing, lull Uar along, on, on we went, feeling that each moment was precious, as it was life, dear lite, that was at stake. Providentially the wind favored and we got out — it AYould be cold words to say — escaping a great danger. Surely we had another cause for giving praise to the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men, in bringing them out of their distresses. — Psa. cvii. C I the fertility of Victoria, and its productions, I have as yet said little. From our Ovens' experience we might be led to suppose that it grew nothing but grass, as vegetables, potatoes, &c., were not to be had. Shortly before leaving there, an enterprising drayman brought, all the way from New South Wales, a load of cabbages and cauliflowers, which were eagerly bought up, not going far among so many pur- chasers. Our share was a cauliflower which cost 10s. That by careful cultivation almost any thing qjin be made to grow in Victoria, I have no doubt, as in the squatters' gardens I saw beautiful flowers, very fine vegetables and fruit, especi- ally grapes. Of wild fruits, however, there are none, not a strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, or bush bearing fruit of any sort. As the portion of land which is under cultivation is very small, Victoria being one vast cattle run, there is no supply whatever, for a rapidly increasing population, the whole energies of the settlers being devoted, previous to the ROUOn AND SMOOTH. 118 quent, irougU s very enible passed which low we gallop- t each was at out — it Surely for His men, in have as \t be led ;etables, leaving ay from ■s, which iny pur- 5. That to grow ardens I , especi- le, not a fruit of Itivation ere is no tion, the us to the gold discovery, to the exportation of wool, raising sheep for that purpose by thousands, they cultivated nothing but a small garden for their own supply. Wool being the staple commodity of the country, to protect the wool raisers, or squatters, as they are called, Government refused to sell land, locking it up for tlieir especial benefit ; the purchase of farms became an impossibility, and the consetjuence was, that instead of encouraging emigniiits, after the gold dis- covery, to remain and settle on land of tlioir own in this new country, those who made money hurried away to lay it out in a snug farm and homestead in some less exclusive part of the world, there being no inducement for the really respect- able man, short of Government appointments, or in a profes- sional capacity, to stay in the colony. So short-sighted was this policy that ships were leaving daily, filled with those whom it would have been to the interest of any country to have kept. In Canada, on the contrary, every inducement is offered to settle, land given on easy terms, roads opened, and every means used to develop the resources of the country, and fill it with an industrious, respectable population. In Australia things aredifferent. It is called "England's Pet Colony," and a fine colony it certainly is ; but as a home, a desirable home for one's lifetime, and a place to leave one's children after one, we did not find it what wo expected it to be, and it was not to be wondered at, that the often drawn «3omparison between the colonies, always ended in favor of the old home across the sea. Its cold, sharp dry winter, we thought better than the four or five months of incessant rain and damp, and the hottest Canada summer, to the sand storms, exhausting heat, and plagues of flies and other vermin, fever, dysentry and opthalmia we had to contend with here. i 114 ROUOH AND SMOOTH. ! ff III V II ' I f li Had land been purchasable, and our first intentions carried out, we might have become attached to the country, by own- ing a bit of its soil, but we felt as if we had no part nor lot in it, and cared nothing about it. Papa did his work as* Judge of the district satisfactorily, and was paid for it, but we were pilgrims and strangers there, and a yearning for home, I am afraid, put a drop of bitter in every cup of sweet we drank. My health failed fast, and G., from looking Hke a fat healthy little pudding, as she once did, had wasted into a pale, frail little flower, seeming as if a good puif of wind would blow her away altogether. Dr. Crawford con- stantlv Siiook his head, and said that the climate did not agree with us, and at last told papa that unless change of air were had, we would both fall victims to it, recommending Van Dieman's Land as the best place for both. This decided an immediate application for leave to go to Melbourne, with the intention of resigning the Ovens berth altogether, and in a short time we had left a place which had been our home for nearly nine months, with a keener feeling of regret than we had any idea we should have had, on our first arrival at Beechworth. We were leaving behind kind friends, whose lik ^ we never expected to see again ; our mutual privations, our peculiar situation and hermit-like life, had been a bond of union which had drawn us together very closely indeed, and on parting our discomforts were forgotten, our many happy days remembered, and we really felt sorry to go. As soon as it became known upon the diggings that papa did not intend to return, meetings were held, and on address drawn up by tho diggei'S to the Governor, petitioning him not to accept his resignation, as if salary were ihe object they would supply the sum required over the Government allowance. An address was also sent us, expressing their f f ROUGH AND SMOOTH:. 115 s carried bv own- 't nor lot work as* or it, but rning for ) of sweet looking d wasted i pufF of fford con- e did not change of mmending lis decided urne, with ^er, and in our home egret than arrival at nds, whose privations, n a bond of ndeed, and lany happy s that papa on address ioning him ihe object government essiug their I sorrow at his leaving, and requesting his acceptance of two very valuable large gold nuggets, to be used in purchasing a silver tea service, when he got to a place where such things were to be had, v.Ith the inscription they wished put upon it. We felt this generosity very much, and I remembered Avith compunctions of conscience hoi'* uiigrateful I had been for this very appointment. Two publio dinners wore also given him by the camp, with such a kind letter, in which the oflficers begged him " to consider well before he resigned, and re- moved from a place which he had benefitted so much and was so well liked." He had but honestly done his duty, but his legal education had qualified him for a post which at that time was generally filled with military men, or young men of good family from England, Avho, with the best of education and talent, could not satisfactorily do work Avhich a lawyer alone could understand, as there was a summary jurisdiction of all cases up to iJ50, besides disputes of all kinds, and any number of criminal cases, and an amount of work to be done which would startle many of the quiet, easy-going judges in other places. My hardest parting was with my Sunday scholars, and breaking up a school now at ell filled. On the last day wee letters and bits of verses were brought me, expressing love for me and sorrow at my going away ; and in looking round upon the little loving faces, down luany of which the teors were streaming, I was quite overcome. " Oh ! who will teach us now," they said. I could only reply "" God." They promised me to read very often my parting gift of a Testa- ment each, and to remember the Sabbath day. IIow often my thoughts travel back to that little band, and 1 wonder if tiey ever think of me now, or better still, if they think of wh\t I tried to teach them. God will bless Ilis own word, -i-._ J_ I 116 BOUGH AND SMOOTH. and the scattering of copies of it is casting seed upon the waters, which will bring forth fruit to life everlasting, though the instrument used be most unworthy. Cliarlottc Elizabeth remarks, " Wo may be like a finger post which points the way, but moves not one step itself." The mother of my first scholar, on calling to bid me fare- well, tried hard to make me accept a present of two guineas, saying "it was to buy a doll for G." I had to be firm in my refusal, however ungracious it might seem, as we made it a point of never accepting the value of one pin's worth while we Avere upon the diggings, lest in such a demoralized place they might suppose papa open to the bribery which was the common reproach against ofiicials upon some of the gold fields. Though I could not accept the gift, the khidness which prompted the offer pleased me mucli, and showed me that those people Avould not grudge to pay liberally for in- struction, if they could get it. I spoke hopefully to her about the Sabbath school being re-opened before long, as some of the officers had wives in Sydney or Melbourne, who, now that houses were built, and matters made comfortable for them, intended bringing them up to BeechAvorth, and I trusted if two or three came, they might carry on the work on a better and more extended scale than I had done ; and now I think I must be bringing my long story to a close — what little I have to tell you about my trip down I shall keep for the next chapter. upon the g, though Elizabeth >oints the I me fiire- ) guineas, to he firm 5 we made n's worth (moralized which was f the gold kindness ihowed me illy for in- ) her about as some of 0, now that > for them, [ trusted if on a better low I think hat little I ;or the next ROUGH AND SMOOTH. 117 CHAPTER XII. Down again— Buck-Jumping Horse — Trees — Flies — Uomewiird Round — Old England — Ho! for Cftnadii. T NEED not tiro you taking you down over ground you -*• toiled so patiently up. Tn imagination I am sure you often felt yourself shivering Avith the rain and cold, and your bones sore with the jolting of the cart over such bad roads. Your feelings will bo spared now, however, as the weather was liner, and the roads better than then. You will reinoin- ber that when I went up to the Ovens, winter was just coming on. We arrived in the colony in April, you know. Now that I was leaving it summer was far advanced ; June, July and August be!-ig the coldest winter months, and November, December and January the hottest summer ones. We spent two burning, scorching Christmas days in our lives in coun- tries where holly and ivy, and spruce and red berries are never seen, and I think I like a visit from old Santa Olaua when he is covered with his mantle of snow, with a beard of icicles, and all the greater inward Avarmth, from the outer cold, the best. The fine, clear, frosty cold Christuuis circu- lates your blood so fast, and warms your heart so much toward? all around you, but that season in Australia is as hot and unbearable as any in the trop-'os can be, and I fancy the Christmas-loving children of Old England never feel themselves at home out there. I am sure you will laugh when I tell you I was not dc^tinci' to leave the Ovens without another dip in its waters, and that I bad more narrow escapes from drowning on land than 16 118 BOUGH AND BMOOIH. Hi 11^ M ■ S! ) ■i (1 ■■ ii 1 |i .•■ 1^ f I ever had at sea, but I must tell you about that. Papa and I rode the whole way down to Melbourne on horseback, in six days. My brother easily kept up with us, driving a light cart, with a snug place, half seat, half bed, for G. I had often ridden thirty miles a day before for pleasure, but you m."y suppose that at the end of the six days I would be glad enough to exchange my saddle for any other seat. On crossing a creek, before reaching Wangaratta, my horse turned in the middle of the stream, and got out of his depth, going down with me on his back.' It was only the work of a minute gr two to get free from the pummel, slide into the water, and be safely landed again, with the help I got ; but from having a thick green veil tied tightly over my face, and a shade of silk and wire drawn over that again, to keep oflF the sun and flies, I was nearly suffocated by the force of the water driving them, into my face. A young friend who was riding down with us caught my horse, and I was mounted again, more annoyed at the accident and my wet state than grateful, as I should have been, for the provi- dential escape I had had, and cantered the whole seven miles on to the hotel without stopping. My friends at Beechworth, when they heard of the affair, thought I certainly was not born to be drowned. I must say I prefer the dry diggings to the wet ones, though I don't like the taste of either. As our forage allowance was large, we always had the enjoyment of being able to keep two horses, which we could not have done otherwise, as hay and oats Were fabulously dear I do not think Caligula's horse could have been fed on much more expensive diet thait the Victoria horses were at that time. Papa's was an iron-grey — mine a beautiful large brown, with black spotted haunches, which even the dreadful ha^^it of branding had not marred. This branding, ROUGH AND SMOOTH. 119 Papa seback, 'iving a for G. ire, but rould be at. ta, my it of his only the lel, slide le help I over my again, to d by the A. young sc, and 1 : and my ;he provi- ven miles 2ch\vorth, J -was not diggings ther. had the we could fabulously been fed )rscs were beautiful even the branding, which is universally practiced here upon all sorts of cattle, is done when the animal is young. They are tightly tied down, and then marked, with the owner's initials, Avith a red hot iron. As you never see a horse without this brand, even the most expensive carriage ones, you get so accustomed to it, that it soon ceases to be an eye-sore ; and when you buy or exchange an animal, you get a deed of sale with him, describing him, and giving the initials of his mark. So handsome was this horse, that we were stopped several times on the way down to Melbourne, and asked if we would sell or exchange him, the roads being common horse-markets in Victoria. He had a naughty trick, however, but which ho was good enough never to play upon me, namely, buck- jumping. As this accomplishment is peculiarly Australian, I shall try and describe it for you. A sudden rise of anger, stubbornness, or even, at times, excess of spirits, Avill cause them to draw their fore and hind legs together, throw up their backs suddenly, bursting the strongest saddle-girths, and pitching their rider some distance over their heads. My horse did this to my brother one day, and cured him of wanting to borrow him again. I had made such a pet of him, talking to him and giving him bits of sugar and bread whenever I went near him, that he knew me perfectly; and I got such confidence in him, that though by no means a good rider, I never feared his buck-jumping me off his back ; but I suppose he Avas so accustomed to my light weight and easy rein, that he got saucy, and thought he ought never to carry any heavier, for when we reached Melbourne, and sent our horses to the police barracks, where they were well cared for and exercised, Mr. Tom would not allow a trooper to mount him, buck-jumping off every one who tried. The day after we arrived, a trooper came to our quar- aBmiS'Si ._!_ 120 ROUGH AND SMOOTH. it: hi I li * f ; I I I 1; ' ■ ters quite in trouble, asking what ho should do with this horse, as ho was so vicious he could not he ridden. On finding that I had come down on his hack, ho was surprised, and, supposing there must have been something the matter Avith his saddle, went ott" to have it examined. It was found not so — the trick was continued ; and as wo shortly after left Melbourne in a hurry, and were obliged to sell our horses for what they would fetch, Government bought them for the troop, allowing us almost nothing for Tom, he had so com- pletely lost his character, though he was the most expensive horse of the three, and at Beechworth would have sold for his full value. Poor fellov;^, I felt sure if I had gone to him, and patted and talked to him, instead of using whip and spur as they had done, I could have ridden him with safety ; but I never saw him again. So dangerous, however, is this habit in horses, that people are frequently killed by it. A Commissioner, Captain Blake, one of the most amiable and accomplished men who ever came to the Colony, met his death, shortly before our arrival, in this way — his head com- ing in contact with the stump of a tree. Our journey down would have been very pleasant, had it not been for the want of water and the tormenting flies. One day we rode thirty miles in great heat, without being able to get one drop • and when at last we reached a thick black pool, the poor jaded beasts sunk down on their knees to drink, and we could hardly get them up again. The blacks, Avho suffer much from the dryness of the summers, horde together in places where the malley-bush grows. This bush holds, even in the most sandy soil, a supply of fresh water in its roots. These they dig up, and break into pieces, when a large (juantity of water oozes out — a merciful pro- vision of nature where springs and streams are scared. How ! ROUGH AND SMOOTH. 121 well we understood what a refuge the " shadow of a great rock in a tveary land was," and the comfort of having "water sure." The malley-bushes are surrounded, or pro- tected, with long stiff grass, called porcupine grass, but even that can hardly be caDed green. IIow dried up and ugly the trees did look to be sure — the peculiarity which several species have, of shedding their bark instead of their leaves, gives the trunks such a ragged, slovenly appearance, cer- tainly not spnice-lookhv^. The casnana, commonly called "she-oak," is indigenous to Australia. It is not a pretty tree, having narrow-pointed leaves, hard and dry, as indeed all the species have, being wanting in that freshness of color and softness which leaves swept off by the changing seasons have. The gum-tree, or stringy bark, is the most useful tree in Victoria ; it serves for firewood, burning well green ; it splits easily into slabs, for the sides of the huts, though it shrinks so fast that it has to bo run in upon grooves, to be driven close every now and then ; the bark is used for roofing.* Strange to say, the only pine trees we saw in Victoria were a fe»vat Beechworth, near our own dwelling, the only ones of the kind, we were told, within hundreds of miles ; they ilourished on that bleak, hilly spot. How we hailed these monarchs of our own forests. We wondered if they were transplanted like ourselves, or if they felt more at home than we did. The moan of the wind, as it waved their branches, seemed an echo of the homo sijih in our own hearts. " Exiled it grew, 'midst foliage of no kindred hue." " To me, to me, its rustling spoke, The silence of my soul it broke ; Aye, to my ear, thai, native tone Had something of a kindred moan." 122 ROUGH AND SMOOTH. II' , t} The flies caused us much suffering all the way down. G.'s and my eyes were sAvollen up with them, and the horses often danced with pain, {liough wo kept whisking about a branch all the time. Poor dumb creatures, how I pitied them ; their eyes were one mass of sores, and so itchy, that they were constantly rubbing their heads against each other. I rode between papa and our friend ; and when I reached my destination, the skirt of my habit was in anything but a prc- sen table state, to go through the streets of Melbourne with, from the way in which my neighbour's horse had kept wiping his eyes upon it. It was light-drab when I got it, black being too hot a color there ; but between the sun beating down, and the mud dashing up, it was a funny-looking color when I rode into Melbourne. Poor G. had felt the heat very much, and would scarcely eat anything. Added to her other troubles, she had whoop- ing cough ; and when Dr. Campbell saw her in Melbourne, he said she could not possibly live unless we could go to sea at once. The next twoi days we were very sorely tried as to what was best to be done. On one side, papa was offered the choice of two higher appointments nearer Melbourne, with larger salaries, if he would rejiain, which the Governor and many friends urged his doing — these, perhaps, being stepping-stones to something else, and sending G. and my- self to Van Dieman's Land. This latter I vetoed most positively. On the other side, was the tempting inducement of a splendid ship sailing in a few days for England — one of a line of packets — a return to our old home and friends, and health for myself and the child again. The last gained the day; and though everything was done to induce him to remain, he resisted it all. The Attorney-General wrote to urge him, if he would not take office, to stay and practice ROUQH AND SMOOTH. 123 i. G.'s es often branch them; at they iher. I hod my it a pro- ne with, t wiping it, black beating ng color scarcely d whoop- Ibourne, »o to sea led as to 3 offered jlbourne, jrovernor ps, being and my- >ed most iucement md — one 1 friends, st gained e him to wrote to practice in his profession in Melbourne. Many flattering things were done and written, which I shall pass over, lest I should seem to bo boasting of them to you, the last of Avhich was the offer of keeping his berth open to him, if he returned to the colonj within eighteen months' time. My brother decided to remain in Melbourne. In a week's time wo had set sail in the ship Admiral, Captain Pick'jn, for London, and soon left Melbourne and the banks of the Yarra, Ilobson's Bay, Port Phillip and Australia behind us. Our return home was to be round Cape Horn, having tlius made the tour of the globe at our journey's end. To make our time right running eastward, we had to have eight days in one week, keeping two Fridays. Our voyage home was the reverse, in every respect, of the one out. This time the Union .lack flouted over our heads. We had ample accommodation — luxurious table, furnished with ale, porter, and all sorts of the best wines, without extra charge. The passage-money Avas ninety sovereigns each. The ship was a very fine one, with a crew of forty sailors. Our passengers were mostly wealthy merchants or squatters' widows, going to live upon their money and educate their children in England. The second-class wore many of them successful diggers, who, though they could have well afforded the passage-money, preferred the freedom of the second cabin. There was no steerage. Of their extravagance we had many funny stories from one of our passengers. Mr. Williamson was a Scotchman, who had been many years a dry-goods' merchant in IMelbourne. After the discovery of the gold-fields he opened a second establishment, and speedily realized an enormous fortune, which he was return- ing to the Highlands to spend. 'i J L I I 124 BOUaU AND SiMOOTH. Hi n. I! il We had heard of the real gohl sslippcrH 'a digger had had hcateu out for his wife — their general Drotligacy in the use of money ; and scarcely credited it all, till confirmed hy Km experiences. Of course, at the Ovens there was not much opportunity for extravagance, the stores heing filled with the mere necessaries of life, miners' tooln, cooking imple- ments, kc; but at Melbourne, the splendid jewelry from India, the costly shawls and curiosities from China, tempted tliem to empty their pockets upon articles of which they knew little of the use. A lady in Melbourne walked the streets in the plainest possible attire — a successful digger's wi/e in fabrics and colors fit for an oriental princess. One day Mr. Williamson had been watching one of his clerks vainly endeavouring to satisfy a red-faced, coarse-looking wonmn with some dress-satin he was showing her. doing forward, and asking what she wanted, he found she was buy- ing a dress for herself, but that what had been shown her, though the best and most expensive in the store, was not good enough. Subduing a smile, he said, " I think I know what you want, madam. You don't mind cost — your dress must stand alone." "Just so, sir. You arc a gentleman, and know what will suit a lady." A piece of rich waistcoat satin, which had been lying by for a couple of years, too expensive to bo saleable was then produced, which suited exactly, though, as he laughingly said, how ever she got it made into a dress ho did not know, it was so stiflF and heavy. A day or two before we sailed, a sad occurrence took place in one of the banks. A very wretched-looking man, not long out from the old country, who had evidently tasted the very dregs of the cup of poverty, came into the bank, bring- ing with him the results of a month's successful digging. He had opened what is called a pocket, and washed out a AOUaU AND •SMOOTH. 135 had had the use id hy h'w ot much led with g implc- h'y from tempted ich they Ikcd the digger's iss. One lis clerks ledooking '. (loing was huy- lown her, , was not ik I know our dress cntleraan, waistcoat years, too ich suited she got it .nd heavy. took place man, not tasted the mk, bring- 1 digging, shed out a large quantity of gold, of the full value of which he was not a^fare. He had carried his hoard down to Melbourne on foot — part tied in an old stocking, the rest stowed away about his person, and went straight to the bank, emptying it all upon the counter, and wishing it changed into bank- notes. As pile after pile of the bills were laid down for him, he, who perhaps never know what it was to possess a X5 note in his life before, could not believe liis eyes. Much excited, he cried, " Is this all mine — and this, and this?" as the piles were being increased ; and just as the last was put into his hand, ho uttered a loud exclamation, and fell dead. The surprise, the joy had been too great a strain, and had snapped the frail cord of life in twain. Poor man, his hard-earned wealth had been hardly earned indeed. Off Cape Horn we saw some splendid icebergs. The run round there, if in summer, gives you light night and day — if in winter, nearly all darkness. We had a bejiutiful lunar rainbow once or twice, with all the colors and brightness of a solar one all round the moon, just as the storm-rings wo sometimes see are. Off" the Falkland Islands we got the most frightful storm wo had yet experienced. Our cabin was a saloon upon deck, and the waves broke into it, fright- ening us all very much. The gale lasted two days, and then fell suddenly, leaving us in great danger from the high waves rolling us about, without enough wind to steady us. In the tropics we were becalmed for three weeks, which lengthened our voyage considerably, as we otherwise would have made a quick run. Across the lino onco more — how delighted I was to see my old friends Orion and the Great Bear, with his dipper, again. The Magellen clouds and southern cross had been beautiful ; but the constellations of the Southern Hemisphere IT I 126 BOUan AMD SMOOTH. havo not nearly so many stars of the first magnitude as the northern has ; for that reason, I think the southern ctoss is more thought of than it would be were it on the other side of the Equator. In ninety-five days we sighted land — the land of old England. "What a joy that was. In the chan- nel, papa and another gentleman went off in a pilot-boat, landed at Deal, and ran up to London by rail, getting there twenty-four hours before us. This time was so well employed, that arriving we found ourselves taken to nice lodgings in Russell Square, with dinner all ready for us, and friends, hunted up. Pleasant as it was to land in England, we parted from the Admiral and her officers with regret. Everything possible had been done to make our voyage one of pleasure and com- fort by the good captain, who well merited the polite little address given him by the passengers on leaving. Our Mel- bourne friends, the B.s, went out in one of Green's packets, with a very cross, crusty captain. He had made himself very disagreeable to the passengers till withir the last few days of their arrival, ivhen, wishing to wipe off old sores and remembrances, he b<;came as cringing as he had before been rude. Perhaps he hoped to get an address ; if so, in this he was not disappointed. A wag on board got up a mock one, ' saying that a piece of plate accompanied it. When pre- sented in due form and read by the captain, he appeared quite overcome — " lie had not expected that — most certainly not ; indeed, he had not deserved it," &c. The paper parcel was handed him, containing the supposed present. On open- ing it, with trembling hands, what was to bo seen — a piece of plate, undoubtedly it was, but a hit of a china one ! The mortified man let it drop, jumped up, and rushed to his cabin, too- indignant to spea-k. I did not l^ear whether the revenge ROUan AND BMOOTH. 127 as the toss is jr sido a— the 3 chan- )t-boat, g there ploycil, ;mg8 in friends, rom the possible lul com- ite little lur Mel- packets, himself last few lores and ore been n this he lock one, hen prc- appeared certainly »er parcel On open- — a piece ne! The his cabin, ,e revenge of playing this practical joko had been followed by any results on his next voyage, or if it bad taught him the lesson they supposed it would ; but hope you will agree with me in thinking it was a cruel bit of spite, and not to bo com- mended — the reverse of the golden rule wo are so apt to forget. You may suppose, that after living in Australia, wc would enjoy our visit to England very nnicli — such a lovely, finished-looking country it was, every bit of its soil turned to advantage ; and so quiet and peaceful-looking, it seemed a fit land to be ruled by a queen. We remained nearly a month sight-seeing in London, and would have liked to have stayed longer, but wo felt anxious to end our wanderings, ond get home. From London we went to Liverpool, stopped a few days at the Adelphi Hotel, and then took passage for Canada on board the steamer Cleopatra, bound for Quebec. We promised ourselves a ten or twelve days' run, but, instead of that, were twenty-eight days out. About half-woy across the Atlantic, wc had so frightful a storm, that wo were nearly lost. A rough wave swept over us, taking with it our kitchen, ice-house, all our fresh provisions and bulwarks, and washing into the steerage, broke a sailor's leg, and stove in the side of a berth, killing a little child of eighteen months, just hushed by its mother to sleep. So damaged was the vessel that we were obliged to put into St. John's, Newfoundland, for repairs. We leaked so much from the straining of the storm that wo had to stand upon racks in our state-rooms, to keep us out of the water, and almost every article of clothing, as well as the bedding, was wet. As we undressed at night we had to bundle up our clothes, and hang them high, else they would be floating in the water before morning. Poor G. was the greatest sufferer -J L .4J. 128 ROUan AND SMOOTH. I ' (I, f > ■ from all this ; her whooping-cough had returned at intervals the whole way home, and though the voyage had improved her wonderfully, she was still very feeble. A Mrs. M., a widow, from Quebec, had come on board at Liverpool with two children, as first cabin passengers, one of whom she said was not well, but concealed the nature of the malady. In a couple of days time we found out that one had recovered from measles, the other was just sick with it. As G. had been trotting about the cabin with these children, she speedily took the disease, and had one of the worst forms of it. Great indignation was felt by all on board at the woman's duplicity (many of whom afterwards became sufferers from it), and much sympathy for the poor little first victim of her cruelty. Every effort was made to alleviate her sufferings. We had An excellent doctor on board, but the wet state of the mat- tresses and bedding, which it was impossible to dry, made her case very critical. A small ladies' saloon was kindly given up to her, and two young ladies insisted upon taking turn about in sitting up with her every night, as she was so restless and exacting, I had to sit holding her hand all day. The Captain was kindness itself. The little monkey had found her way into his heart, and imposed upon him, coolly making all sorts of requests, being sure of having them granted. One day, on taking his seat by her side, and asking how she was, she pettishly said, " Sick, very sick, his bad big light hurt her eyes," pointing to a swinging lamp scrcAved into the panel, and his "bad big noise hurt her head," meaning the tramping of the sailors and pulling of ropes over head. He laughed, and in half an hour had a place railed off above, so that nobody could walk there, and sen*^^ the carpenter, against my remonstrances, to screw the lamp into the beautiful white and gold pannelling of another corue^. I ROUGH AND SMOOTH. 129 rvals roved M., a I with e said In a I from ibeen leedily Great piicity 0, and iruelty. fVe had tie mat- j^, made kindly taking she was hand all monkey >on him, ing them ide, and sick, his ing lamp erhead," opes over ice railed aen^ the lamp into corue^. I was really afraid all the petting she got would spoil her. She had been the smallest child on board the Admiral able to run about, and was the smallest one here, and kind-hearted peo- ple are always found upon a voyage who make too much of little children, giving you some trouble afterwards in ridding them of the high notions of their own importance acquired then. We were two days in St. John's, and were not sorry for the cause which brought us in, as it gave us an opportunity of seeing a place we sb >uld never have seen in any other way, not that there is much to be seen in St. John's; such a funny scrambling sort of a little town, muddy streets, muddy side- walks, muddy everything. The people, however, were very hospitable and kind, taking an extraordinary pride in their really beautiful little Cathedral. Every new person to whom we were introduced invariably put the question, " Have you seen our Cathedral?" The Archdeacon in the gravest manner possible told me " it was the finest church in the New World. On my looking incredulous, visions of Trinity Church, New York, rising before me, he qualified it witli, " at least ive think so." ^ did not doubt, that. The Bishop had a special thanksgiving service held for our benefit, at which we all attend^, save Mrs M., who told us "she had other work to do," the final completion of which revealed itself the day we reached Portland, when she mar- ried our purser. They had never seen each other before she came on board, but her assertions of being very rich had evidently captivated the young man, who was her junior by many years, and of a good fiimily at home, and quite pleas- ing appearance, while she looked old enough to be his mother. The gentlemen, who all along believed it to be a flirtation, used to tease him very much, telling him as soon as he became I (I J'^ -I |l!? ■■ ll? i'it ■I 130 ROUaH AND SMOOTH. " papa" to those children they " begged he would buy pocket handkerchiefs for them," articles evidently considered as superfluities in that quarter. Afterwards, when h« looked radiant in smiles, kid gloves, and happiness on his wedding morning, they wished they could have wiped out of his memory all the saucy things they had said to him. A day or so after the marriage she started I'or home, to have her house ready for her Imshand, who was to follow after the ship had unloaded. Evidently his expectations were not realized, for we heard some months later of his leaving her, and finally separating altogether, a sad termination to the very romantic courtship we so often laughed at on board ship, thinking siie had made him the victim of a disease worse than measles. After leaving St. John's, our ship had all sorts of escapes. Running at the rate of ten knots an hour in a dense fog, one day wo came upon some floating ice, and knocked u, hole in her bows. Happily she was divided into compartments ; this one was shut oif, and the donkey-engine put to work. The steerage passengers were all brought aft, and the bows raised slightly, a blanket stuffed inside, and a piece of iron fastened out, and we went on again. The water gained bo fast, how- ever, that the engine had to be kept pumping out the rest of the voyage. Another day we were sitting at dinner, when a middy came running into the cabin and whispered, " Break- ers ahead. Sir," 'into the captain's ear. It was an Irish whisper, and was caught up and echoed by the passengers* who soon cleared the table, leaving the ladies, of whom there were only five, in consternation below. One of them, a young girl, turning to me and looking very white said, " Oh ! I shall faint, Mrs. C." "Please don't," I replied, "wait till we are out of danger, and then faint away as fast as you like.' ROUGH AND SMOOTH. 131 ocket ed as ooked idding 3f his A day ve her [.er the re not ng her, to the rd ship, so than 3scape8. 'og, one hole in ts; this k. The va raised fastened ist, ho^Y- le rest of er, when " Break- an Irish ssengers) lom there I, a young "Oh! I " wait till you like.' This provoked a smile, and she forgot to faint, when the gentlemen carne down and told us all was right again. The ship was put about, the fog rose like a curtain, and there was the terrible Cape Race frowning down a short distance in front of us. Our escape certainly was a miracle. Another tim*? up lifted the fog, and we counted eighteen vessels all around us. The weather continued thick, murky, with heavy squalls. We tried the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and found so much ice, and were in such a disabled state again, having broken the fan of our screw, and something being wrong with the engines, that the captain decided to run to Portland, and send us all on by rail to Quebec. After a heavy squall one evening, when the waves were running high, papa, who had boon skirting the horizon with his glass, told the captain he saw Avhat looked like a wreck in the distance. It was found to be so. We bore down upon it^ and saw signals of distress out and minute guns firing. With difficulty a boat was lowered and reached the sinking vessel, now rolling so heavily that we feared every roll she would go over, and be seen no more, snatching from our very grasp the precious lives we were so anxious to save, but no time was lost ; several trips of the boat were made, noble f ?1- lowa volunteering for the dangerous Avork, the brave hearts of Great Britain's sons being the brightest jewels of her crown. The captain, sailors, and all on board were saved, even including a big black Newfoundland dog and a pig. The ship was carrying a cargo mostly of iron, and no passengers, and sunk not long after we left her. We hurried to get at a safe distance lest wo should be endangered by her going down. She liad been dismasted in the storm, became a hulk, a jurymast was rigged, but she leaked so fast that they had been three days and nights at the pumps, and had finally . J- I ' 132 ROUaH AND SMOOTH. given up hope, as the water gained so upon them pumping had become useless. The captain was a man of prayer, and had never ceased to entreat the Lord to send help. They were finally commending themselves to His mercy, all hope over, when we appeared in sight, the first sail seen by them for several days. What a joyful sight we were to them. The captain was much overcome when we shook hands with him, and welcomed him to our deck. With choking voice and streaming eyes he said, "My friends, I have a wife and six helpless children at home." He had lost everything belong- ing to him — poor man — on board, and had been part owner, but that would be small trouble to his dear ones, himself being spared. The Lord had been better to him than his fears, and enabled us all to realize the expressiveness of His own word as we read that night. " They that go down to the sea in ships that do business in great waters. These see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. For he commandeth and raiseth the storm.y wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven ; they go down again to the depths. Their soul is melted, because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit's end. Then they cry imto the Lord in their trouble, and Ho bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then arc they glad, because they be quiet ; so He bringeth them into their desired haven. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men." 14- ll« ROUGH AND SMOOTH. 133 CHAPTER XIII. i Home Again. MY last chapter must be very short ; I am nearly finished. One more striking instance of our Heavenly Fr.ther's care manifested to us, and the story of cur wanderings is done ; the only charm of which has beon its truthfulness. As our party on board the Cleopatra was so increased with all the extra mouths we had to feed, and having but badly made up our rirovision losses at St. John's, we were very glad of the pig "v^hich wfis killed next day. G. begged her friend the captain to tell her why he saved the pig's life, only to kill it. Our new cabin passenger, Captain Pugsley, in whom, you may be sure, we all felt a great interest, did not escape the contagion cf the measles, but was so prostrated by it, that, on landing, he had to bo taken to the hospital in Portland, with two or three others, suffering from the same cause, and left there. We were very glad to find ourselves safely anchored in the beautiful habour of Portland. We had had so many frights, we almost feared we never would get safely to land again. Next day the passengers wore sen : on by train to Canada. I had been so worn out by anxiety abcut G., that I was ill all the night before, and the doctor positively forbid our at- tempting to go with them. This hindrance 1 felt to be a great trial at the time, though it turned out to be one of the most remarkable providences of our lives. Two kind friends. Col. Clements and his daughter, remained behind with us to keep 18 134 ROUGH AND SMOOTH. US company, the young lady being one of my child's devoted nurses. The following morning wc started all right again, G. well wrapped in blankets, and largely supplied with good things for her journey by the captain. Before coming to Island Pond, we passed the debris of a railway train, several carriages overturned and off the track, baggage car broken, and the locomotive, some distance fur- ther, tumbled over in the Avater, shewing that a serious acci- dent had taken place. On asking when it had happened, I could get no satisfaction — nobody seeming to know, till at the journey's end, when I was reminded of my murmuring at our detention of the day before, and told I had great cause to be thankful for it, as that overturned train was the one which had carried on our fellow-passengers. It had run off the track towards evening, far from houses or help. The poor travellers had to stay all night in the cars, huddled together ; no means of making a fire ; the ground frozen hard all round them ; nothing to eat, and constantly in dread of some night train running down upon the carriage still left upon the track. Happily, nobody had been seriously hurt. It was liiorning before help could be got, and then the loco- motive sent could only bring that carriage on, which had to be filled with both cabin and steerage passengers also, the latter of whom, coming from a long voyage, well earned the title of the "great unwashed." The cold obliging them to shut the windows, the closeness of the atmosphere became such that a lady fainted. Had G. been in that train, she must have died, as she was too ill to bear such exposure. Cowper'd Deautiful verse came home to us : — " Jtdge not the Lord by feeble senae, But trust Him for His grace : Behind a frowning providence , He hides a smiling face." I good ROUGH AND SMOoIh. 135 A Sunday at Island Pond, another on the way, and we were home, home again, scarcely able to realize it, after being wonderfully kept, and brought through trials and dan- gers, by no means slight, on our journey rounil the world, and an absence of about two years. Our trip back had been shorter than the one out, for, including our month in Eng- land, we were only a little over five months froQi Melbourne, while, you remember, we left Quebec in Sopteniber, and did not reach Australia till the following April, The third day after our return to Quebec, our dear H. was born, a pleasant welcome home for us, and a richer gift than all the gold of Australia would have been. The old nest was again established, and the wee birdies throve ; the parents neither regretting the experiences of their southern migra- tion, nor their flight north towards home, and rest again. And now, I think, a few short extracts from letters re- ceived from a Beechworth friend, after our return, would be of interest to you, as showing the progress and prosperity of that place. They were written a year after we left : — u My Dear Mrs. C.,— ******* I have much satisfaction in being able to inform you, that the good seed soAvn by you in the hearts of the Beechworth children seems to have brought forth fruit one hundred fold. It would do you good to see the large number attending the r mominational School daily ; but Sunda; is the crowning day of all, — then, indeed, the children flock from][all parts of the diggings, and their pretty voices may be heard united in praise and prayer to God. What a change from their forlorn state, when your heart first yearned towards them I I am sure it will also gratify you to learn"that several of your scholars camr to make enquiries after you, on hearing I had had a letter from Mr. C. Need I add how delighted they W, i U. L 186 R(ftrGH AND SMOOTH. were on learning that you" had not forgotten them,''and that you Tvere comfortably settled in your own home, after the rude and stormy absence which cb?racterized your stay in this colony. Mr. C. "will give you a hi'Siicry of this place since your departure. I need only aclu, that it daily im- proves, and were you now hcr«, you would find it a tolerable place for a ne".7rorth. * * " Politically, the colony has tvidergone gr3at c!ifi.nges. * * I don't thbk I mentioned that oar gaol has teen at last completed, and a stcckrde erecto?! round it. Hsrgeant Quirk is the gaoler. lis hp-s his wile rr d s'ster h?i"3. Your man Frederick I know nothirg of, save that he left Beech- worth imiretliately after your depr.r'ji'.re. " Dr. C'raw:"erd hao jnst returned f;cm ED^^land, ^7^'.\'. ^e he has been since ycv. left, having bo?n rooaHad !:/ t'c Ad- miralty. Ho has now settled at BeecliTcrth for pri-^cite practice, to the great daniage of cur District 'BT^gaoD. cdics Assirtant-C'olcn'al. The Iic3n33 fee is dooned, end I fear the entire Goid Commisc'on v:ill fall to riii:.''^. The Hoi.se have connned the Government to £1,300,000 for E?Iaries for the ens-j.ing year, ar'Jl the si.m Irst year war. cvi*,oCO,(X)0, so a ccrresponding red^iction must take place in the nivjsbers in each denartncnt. Melbourne is iu a wretched Bt?M. Everv trade is dull; bankruptcy is the natural conseqi^ence. Few are able to brave tho stagnation in trad 3. Just fancy per- J L 138 ROUQH AND SMOOTH. sons purchasing in Melbourne goods shipped from England, and sending them back again, expecting twenty per cent. This is a fact, and still on the diggings here, there is little change." * ***** We have heard frequently of Beechworth since this letter was written, and always of its increasing wealth and pros- perity. Now it is one of the most thriving towns in Vic- toria. Think of the contrast as it was when I first saw it — with nothing but rows of tents, and my little house the only wooden-walled dwelling in it. I suppose a town never sprang into existence faster than Beechworth did. And now, in conclusion, dear children, I would remind you that you are all on a journey, and have both " rough and smooth" to travel over. " May your feet be shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace." The world may be compared to a great gold-field, with its denizens eagerly hunting for wealth ; and though the word of God and ex- perience constantly teaches the unsatisfactory nature of the search, the warning is unheeded, the lesson unlearned. May you be given wisdom from on high to guide you to greater riches than this world's gold-field can offer — even the pearl of great price; so that life's journey over — the dark river crossed — you may enter into the full enjoyment of a home in the Promised Land, the Heavenly Canaan which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. i England, • per cent. re 18 little * * 5 this letter I and pvos- rns in Vic- rst savr it — ise the only lever sprang Duld remind oth "rough be shod vrith e world may izens eagerly God and ex- nature of the in unlearned, guide you to ,n offer— even ney over — the full enjoyment iveuly Canann )ve Him. f ■J: