"Adventures are to the adventurous" 
 
 BEACONSFIELD.
 
 THE ADVENTURE SERIES. 
 
 Illustrated. Crown 8vo, 5s. 
 
 Adventures of a Younger Son. By E. J. 
 TRELAWNY. With, an Introduction by Ed-ward 
 Garnett. Second Edition. 
 
 Robert Drury's Journal in Madagascar. 
 
 Edited, with an Introduction and Notes, by 
 Captain S. P. Oliver. 
 
 3- 
 
 Memoirs of the Extraordinary Military 
 Career of John Shipp. With an Introduction 
 by H. Manners Chichester. 
 
 4- 
 
 The Adventures of Thomas Fellow, of 
 Penryn, Mariner. Edited, -with an Introduction 
 and Notes, by Dr. Robert Brown. 
 
 5- 
 
 The Buccaneers and Marooners of America. 
 Being aji Account of the Notorious Freebooters 
 of the Spanish Main. Edited by Howard Pyle. 
 
 6. 
 
 The Log of a Jack Tar ; or, The Life of James 
 Choyce, Master Mariner. With O'Brien's Cap- 
 tivity in France. Edited, with an Introduction 
 and Notes, by V. Lovetl Cameron, R.N. 
 
 7- 
 
 The Voyages and Adventures of Ferdinand 
 Mendez Pinto. With an Introduction by 
 Arminius Vambtry. 
 
 The Story of the Filibusters. By JAMES 
 JEFFREY ROCHE. To which is added the Life 
 of Colonel David Crockett. 
 
 9- 
 
 A Master Mariner. Being the Life and Adven- 
 tures of Captain Robert William Eastwick. 
 Edited by Herbert Compton. 
 
 Kolokotrones, Klepht and Warrior. Edited by 
 Mrs. Edmonds. Introduction by M. Gennadius. 
 
 (OTHERS IN THE PRESS.)
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE 
 COLONIES, AND OTHER 
 EXPERIENCES BY SEA 
 AND LAND 
 
 NOW FIRST PRINTED. COM- 
 PILED FROM PRIVATE LETTERS 
 
 BY C. CARLYON JENKYNS 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN, 
 PATERNOSTER SQUARE. MDCCCXCIL
 
 MY FIVE NEPHEWS, 
 HALN, SYLVESTER, GILBERT JENKINS, 
 
 AND 
 LIONEL AND NELLO WENDLING, 
 
 I DEDICATE 
 
 THESE PAGES ADAPTED FEOM THE DIAEIES 
 
 OF THEIR 
 FATHER AND UNCLE AND THEIR FRIEND. 
 
 C. C. J. 
 
 2057784
 
 PEEFACE. 
 
 HE following pages are offered to 
 the public in the belief that the 
 Colonial experiences they record are 
 of sufficient interest to justify their 
 transcription from a series of private 
 letters written twenty years ago. It is not claimed 
 for the book that the adventures it contains are 
 specially remarkable, or that many men now 
 living are not more competent to speak of the 
 ups and downs of a colonial life than the three 
 writers of these letters : it is rather as presenting 
 a picture of the life of young Englishmen who 
 have knocked about a little before settling down 
 a picture the intsrest of which, perhaps, lies in its 
 being fairly typical of many thousands of cases 
 that these sketches have been put into print. 
 
 In compiling the volume, the editor would add 
 that she has kept as much as possible to the
 
 viii PREFACE. 
 
 writers' own words. As, however, the latter have 
 not had the opportunity of reconsidering their 
 impressions de voyage by revising letters struck off 
 in more or less haste, it is hoped that the reader 
 will excuse any inaccuracies or errors he may meet 
 with in the narratives. 
 
 CATHEEINE CAELYON JENKYNS. 
 November, 1891.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 (1) SHANG-AIED, OK BOUND THE HORN. By A. C. 
 
 JENKINS 1 
 
 (2) A VOYAGE TO CHINA. By G. C. JENKINS ... ... 40 
 
 (3) VOYAGES TO MELBOURNE AND CALCUTTA. By G. C. 
 
 JENKINS ... ... ... ... 91 
 
 (4) HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES 
 
 (1) AUSTRALIA 
 
 (2) NEW ZEALAND 
 
 (3) AUSTRALIA AND TRISCO 
 
 By G. C. JENKINS j 117 
 
 and I 168 
 
 H. K. DUNBAR J 225
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 (1) SAN FEANCISCO (see page 311) ... ... Frontispiece 
 
 (2) ARTHUR CARDEW JENKINS ... ... To face page 40 
 
 (3) SHANGHAI ... ... ... ... ... ,, ,, 55 
 
 (4) GILBERT CHILCOTT JENKINS ... ... ,, ,, 117 
 
 (5) TAIPARI ,, 150 
 
 (6) HALN KILLEGREW DUNBAR ... ... ,, 168 
 
 (7) RIVER SCENERY NEW ZEALAND ... ,', ,, 195 
 
 (8) A MAORI BELLE 198 
 
 (9) GUM TREES , 239 
 
 (10) SCENERY GIPPS LAND ,,286
 
 EKKATA. 
 
 Page 53, line 19, for almost as many of them read almost as large a 
 
 proportion of them. 
 
 Page 102, line 17, for 3000 read 1000. 
 Page 107, line 14, for one story read a story ! 
 Page 127, line 15, for Dromanagh read Dromana. 
 Page 154, line 4, for their read there. 
 Page 172, lines 1 and 2, for Tristan Ditcunha and Curguelan'ti Island 
 
 read Tristan D'Acunha and Kerguelen's Island. 
 Page 177, line 9, for clearly read almost. 
 Page 179, line 18, for Geelong read Queenscliff . 
 Page 181, line I, for Landridge read Sandridge. 
 Page 189, &c., line 12, &c., for How-Hows read Hau-Haus. 
 Page 194, &c., line 22, &c.,for Tanronga read Tauraga. 
 Page 196, &c., line 8, for Paheha read Pakeha. 
 Page 212, line 20, for Farmium read Formium. 
 Page 217, line 24, for schiser read schicer. 
 Page 230, line 34, for Sidney read Sydney. 
 Page 232, line 11, for Daudenmy read Dandenong. 
 Page 238, line 9, for iriantilopes read triantilopes. 
 Page 240, line 5, &c.,for carnivorous read herbivorous. 
 Page 250, line 13, for Dauderong read Dandenong. 
 Page 258, line I, for Brinston Steevens read Brunton Stephens. 
 Page 258, line 22, for Arnothoryneus read Ornithoryncus. 
 Page 261, line 10, for Miomi read Miami. 
 Page 263, line 7, for Gipp's read Gipps. 
 Page 270, line 34, for New South Wales read Australia. 
 Page 338, line 5, for Sacramanto read Sacramento. 
 Page 346, line 16, for come read came. 
 Page 362, line 30, for nihil read nihilo.
 
 SHANG'AIED; OR, BOUND THE HOEN. 
 
 N 1873 I happened to be in 
 'Frisco. How or why does not 
 matter : there I was, and terribly 
 hard up too. I was barely sixteen 
 at the time, small and not over 
 strong, therefore of no particular use to any one. 
 This fact had been made so painfully apparent to 
 me, that, desperate and wounded, I resolved to 
 free myself and go to sea as a last resource. 
 
 Now sailors are, or were, procured for the 
 merchant marine by a modified system of the 
 press-gang. That is to say, fellows nicknamed 
 "crimps" are kept for the purpose of following 
 men who look like sailors, and offering them the 
 hospitalities of the house to which they have the 
 honour to belong. Once in their hands, he (the 
 sailor) becomes simply a division sum. If he is 
 a man who drinks, so much the better ; he will 
 be more easily divided, and only wake up to his 
 fate to find himself on an outward-bound ship, 
 where growl and swear as he might, he must 
 nolens volens remain, and generally ends in be- 
 coming resigned. If, perchance, he does not drink,
 
 2 HAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 so much the worse for him ; he will then be dis- 
 integrated in spite of his struggles, for the 
 " crimps " are very powerful men, gigantic of 
 build and liliputian of conscience. Should the 
 unfortunate victim dare to show a desire to leave 
 their entrancing society, he will be looked at with 
 reproachful sorrow, and mild methods will first be 
 tried to convince him of his folly ; a romantic and 
 preposterous bill of charges will be thrust at him : 
 " Can he pay that ? Does he imagine that they 
 are going to keep him like a prince for nothing ? 
 Does he want to talk to a policeman about it? " 
 &c., &c. The other methods do not involve so 
 much arithmetic ; a charge of a different kind is 
 made, in a nice lonely room, with overpowering 
 numbers on the wrong side, and the victim 
 emerges, breathless, bruised and bleeding, but 
 convinced. The result is precisely the same in 
 either case. 
 
 Now all these facts were perfectly well known 
 to me ; still I fancied I could work it a little 
 better than an ordinary common sailor. So having 
 fully made up my mind to go to sea, I commenced 
 operations at once. Proceeding to the sailors' 
 quarter, I soon detected a " crimp," standing in 
 front of his house, apparently admiring the land- 
 scape. I sauntered slowly by on the opposite side 
 of the street, perfectly aware that he was in reality 
 watching me. Before I had gone quite fifty yards, 
 I heard a step behind me, and the same womanish 
 instinct that had told me he was watching me as
 
 SHANG'AIED; OB, ROUND THE HORN. 8 
 
 I passed, now told me he was following. I kept 
 on my way slowly and without looking back. 
 
 " Sa-ay, I want to speak to you a minit," 
 sounded in a would-be gentle voice behind me. 
 
 " With me ? " I asked, turning and facing the 
 man, with a look of guileless surprise on my face. 
 
 " Yes, come right away and have a drink. I 
 have seen you before somewhere. Were you ever 
 in Liverpool? " 
 
 " Yes," came unhesitatingly from my lips. 
 
 " Do you remember," continued my disinterested 
 friend, " the Constellation Hall in Whitechapel ? " 
 
 " Bather," I replied; " it must have been there 
 you saw me." 
 
 Needless to say I had never been in either, but 
 such a man must be fought with his own weapons. 
 My shady companion scratched his head and 
 stared at me, then led the way into a public-house 
 and called for drinks. While waiting for them, he 
 studied me with pleased yet puzzled scrutiny. He 
 was a professional liar, and when there was no 
 business reason for it, lied instinctively, and for 
 the benefit of that practice which makes perfect. 
 He knew that he had lied, but his statement had 
 been so promptly endorsed, that he commenced to 
 have doubts as to whether he had not committed 
 an error, and inadvertently spoken the truth ; in 
 short, whether he had not really seen me before. 
 
 The drinks appeared, and we clinked glasses ; he 
 took out a short black pipe, carefully filled it, and 
 began to smoke. I gazed with apparent uncon-
 
 4 HABD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 sciousness at the wreaths of smoke, while my 
 respectable friend continued to take my measure. 
 When I considered he had had time enough for 
 the survey, I looked at him and found his eyes 
 riveted on me. 
 
 " Wouldn't you like to be in Liverpool again ? " 
 asked the crafty wolf. 
 
 " Shouldn't mind," answered the innocent 
 lamb. 
 
 u I know a ship you're a Britisher, ain't you ? " 
 
 I nodded. 
 
 " Wall, this is a Britisher too. The skipper has 
 got his wife aboard, and coming out a kid was 
 born, and all hands were drunk for three weeks. 
 Now that's the sort of d ship you want." 
 
 " Yes, she would do right enough," I assented. 
 
 " Ever been to sea before ? " 
 
 " Only as a passenger." 
 
 " Wall, the skipper wants a boy to help the 
 steward in the cabin, and I guess you'll do as well 
 as another. You won't have to go aloft, and if 
 
 you behave yourself you can have a d good 
 
 time." 
 
 Had my distinguished friend made me this pro- 
 position one short year ago, I believe I should 
 have called for the police ; but raw wheat and tar- 
 paulin beds had worked their demoralizing effect 
 upon me, and I accepted this enchanting offer with 
 alacrity. 
 
 " Let us go and see what the ' boss ' says," sug- 
 gested the " crimp," and he led the way out of the
 
 SHANG'AIED; OB, BOUND THE HOBtf. 5 
 
 inn where we had been drinking, to another of the 
 same calibre, where my future captain had taken 
 up his abode. 
 
 " Captain Billings in ? " asked my companion 
 of a dirty-looking waiter who stood at the door 
 " contemplating " the passers-by. 
 
 " Guess," was the concise reply, and I followed 
 the " crimp " into the tap-room, where several 
 men, all of seafaring appearance, were smoking 
 and drinking. Picking out a burly and somewhat 
 flashy-looking Yankee, Watts, as I afterwards 
 found out the " crimp's " name to be, spoke to 
 him in a low voice, evidently about me, as the 
 man turned, and stared at me fixedly and keenly, 
 as though to discover whether I was a bond-fide 
 11 tenderer " or not. The look of innocent and 
 wide-eyed curiosity that met his glance apparently 
 satisfied him. He asked me my name and age, and 
 merely said, " Wall, I guess you had better stop 
 here till I can get you a berth, and I'll take it out 
 of your advance note." 
 
 This being settled, I was permitted to have the 
 run of the "bar " and, what pleased me more, of 
 the table. The meals were good, and both Jack- 
 son, the boarding-house keeper, and Watts, the 
 crimp, were kind, if scoundrelly. I made the ac- 
 quaintance of several sailors, and pumped them, 
 not always with satisfactory results. As a general 
 rule, they were grumpy. Some felt injured at 
 being addressed by a mere boy and a gentleman ; 
 for my poverty and bad clothing could not hide that
 
 e HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 fact from voice and manners, and they resented it. 
 According to their code, if a man is a gentleman 
 let him keep with gentlemen, and not come 
 amongst them taking the bread from their mouths, 
 and treating them with calm condescension. I 
 was quite unconscious of any such manner, which 
 would have been very foolish and unsuitable on my 
 part, and in my position, but they evidently con- 
 sidered me as not one of themselves, and took 
 care to let me know it with a directness of state- 
 ment that I confess somewhat staggered me. But 
 more of this further on. 
 
 The days wore away, and I found some really 
 pleasant kindly acquaintances in men, afterwards 
 pointed out to me as some of the worst characters 
 in the city. I can only say they never attempted 
 to lead me wrong, and even their language was not 
 so bad as I have often heard since from so-called 
 " gentlemen." 
 
 " But everything comes to him who knows how 
 to wait," as the French proverb says, and one 
 morning Watts, the crimp, came to see me, and 
 told me that my ship was going to be manned 
 that day, and that I must go, in company with a 
 select band of eminent mariners, and affix my 
 name to the ship's articles. He furthermore in- 
 formed me that I would have to sign myself as 
 " ordinary seaman." 
 
 I ironically inquired if " extraordinary " seaman 
 would not be more to the point, but he ignored my 
 feeble attempt at a joke and said severely, " You'll
 
 SHANG'AIED; OR, BOUND THE HORN. 7 
 
 hev to sign as 0. S. 'cause that's the lowest thing 
 there is, and as yer are to be in the cabin you kin 
 say that yer've been to sea afore. The skipper 
 will never know no better, 'cause yer wont 'ave to 
 go aloft, and so yer've no call to go and make a 
 show of yerself. Now go right along to the 
 British Counsel (Consul), and do as I've told 
 yer." 
 
 I went to the English Consulate, and found my 
 future mates there before me, a seedy, motley 
 group ; my heart sank as I looked from one surly 
 sodden face to another. The Consul, a common- 
 place rather rough-looking man, was evidently in 
 great haste to get away, and read out the agree- 
 ment with such frightful rapidity that the only 
 distinguishable words were, "no grog allowed." 
 This sentence was received with muttered impre- 
 cations. The reading ended, we all drew two 
 months' advance money (we got the order, not the 
 money), Her Majesty's Consul being good enough 
 
 to say, " A lot of d d fools you are to draw your 
 
 money now, it will only go to the boarding-house 
 keepers ; why don't you ship on your own hooks ? " 
 No one replied ; what was the good ? When I 
 went up for my paper the Consul eyed me sharply, 
 and muttered, " Another gentleman ; poor devil ! 
 he's going to the devil young. Got no parents or 
 home, eh ? " 
 
 " No," I answered, shortly, and hastily followed 
 the others out of the room, where we were greeted 
 by the lodging-house keepers waiting outside, with
 
 8 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 open arms. The advance notes were delivered up, 
 and my future companions went to drown care in 
 drink. Heart-sick and weary, I wandered up and 
 down the quays wondering if it were not better to 
 make a hole in the water and have done once for 
 all with this wretched life. What was the good of 
 toiling at unsuitable work among a lot of uncon- 
 genial men, simply to get bread to keep alive my 
 useless and wretched self ? In the mood I was in 
 then, I think a very few minutes more of my own 
 society would have solved the question, and this 
 story would never have been written ; but Watts 
 had followed me, forced me back with him, made 
 me eat and drink, and sent me to bed early. The 
 following morning he fitted me out from his own 
 stores, at liberal terms (to himself), gave me five 
 dollars and his blessing, and sent me on board 
 accompanied by another "crimp" to help me 
 carry my bundle was the pretence, to prevent 
 my running away, was the reality. 
 
 On the quay I found all the crew mustered ; they 
 were more or less drunk, most of them too stupefied 
 to know or care where they were going. I noticed 
 one sailor,. seated in the boat by my side; he was a 
 sickly-looking fellow, less drunk than the others, 
 and was coatless. As it was bitterly cold, I asked 
 him why he didn't put his coat on. He answered 
 me, with an oath, that the boarding-house keeper 
 had taken his clothes to pay expenses ; he had 
 nothing but what was on him. The poor wretch 
 was going round the Horn in winter time in his
 
 SHANGHAIED; OR, ROUND THE HORN. 9 
 
 shirt-sleeves. But we were now drawing close 
 to the ship, and all the sympathy I had in me was 
 required for myself, for my spirits sank lower and 
 lower. She was pointed out to me, an iron barque 
 of outlandish build, very deep in the water (no 
 Plimsoll's mark just then), very cheerless looking 
 and dirty. As I gazed around me, and saw the 
 gang of marine blackguards with whom I was to 
 be shut up for the next six months at least, and 
 reflected that I did not know how to do any work, 
 and consequently they would have to do it and 
 might not feel grateful towards me, I wished 
 myself ashore with all the heart I had left in 
 me. 
 
 Arrived at the ship, the whole disorderly crew 
 scrambled up the side, and, saying farewell to the 
 disinterested "crimps," staggered off to the fore- 
 castle; and I followed them, not knowing what 
 else to do. The foc'sle, as the shell-backs pro- 
 nounce it, was a house on deck about twelve feet 
 square, and held twenty-four bunks, their owners 
 and chests. When I entered the door, it was 
 fairly reeking with the fumes of bad whiskey, 
 cloudy with tobacco-smoke, and hell-like with 
 blasphemy. 
 
 " Oh, here's the bloated swell! " was the greeting 
 with which I was saluted. " 'Ave a swig ? " " Wet 
 yer whistle ? " " Ain't yer got a cigar, Bill ? baccy 
 ain't good enough for the gent ! " 
 
 I turned to fly, but a burly half-drunken fellow 
 barred the way with a rough " None of that, you
 
 10 BARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 white-livered cur. 'Ave yer ever been to sea 
 before?" 
 
 " Yes," I answered, facing the lot of them, and 
 looking braver than I felt. 
 
 " The gent has been to sea before," said Muggins, 
 the man who had barred my way, looking at the 
 others with a drunken leer. 
 
 "As skipper, of course," cried another, which 
 sally was received with a roar of laughter. 
 
 " The darned boy is going in the cabin, 
 though," remarked a surly old fellow who had 
 not yet spoken. 
 
 This had some slight beneficial effect as far as 
 it went. 
 
 " Wall, yer can just remember us poor devils 
 when you are there," said a far-seeing seaman 
 of pot-hunting proclivities. 
 
 I answered I would do what I could, but further 
 conversation was cut short by an authoritative 
 voice at the forecastle door, " Some of you men 
 come out on deck." 
 
 Those who had not taken the precaution to get 
 dead drunk were obliged to obey, and I was swept 
 along with the rest. It was the second mate who 
 had called, a tall black-bearded man, from Bristol, 
 with nothing remarkably good or bad about him. 
 Having disposed of the more important members 
 under him, he turned his attention to me, looking 
 down at me with open contempt. 
 
 " What's your name ? " 
 
 "Brown," I answered, after a moment's hesita-
 
 SHANGHAIED; OR, BOUND THE HORN. 11 
 
 tion, for I wasn't perfectly sure what name I had 
 given at the Consulate certain only of one thing, 
 that I had not given my own. 
 
 " That's a lie," said the second mate sharply, 
 "but it doesn't matter. Ever been to sea before?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Yes, what. Don't you know how to speak to a 
 
 gentleman? Keep your d mouth still; I'll 
 
 teach you to sneer at your superior officer." 
 
 How small a thing sometimes leads to great 
 results ; my foolish boyish action of curling my 
 lip at the mate's calling himself a gentleman, and 
 omitting the customary "sir" due to a superior, 
 made that man my enemy ; many an ill-turn he 
 served me, all my after deference being powerless to 
 take away the first impression my unlucky sneer 
 had made upon him. 
 
 "Ever been to sea before?" he asked again, 
 sharply. 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 " Oh, "you have, have you? Well, I'll see what 
 a smart seaman you are," he answered, with a 
 malicious grin. " Just take that grease-pot, and 
 go and sign your name on that fore-top-gallant- 
 mast." 
 
 Had I been told to go in a tiger's cage, and sand- 
 paper the tiger's claws, I should not have been 
 more scared. I looked around me helplessly, 
 desperately, thinking whether I wouldn't jump 
 overboard. My tyrant watched me calmly. 
 
 " You know how to do it, of course ? "
 
 12 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 "With a wad, or piece of canvas or something," 
 I stammered almost unconsciously, with my eyes 
 fixed on the slender swaying mast, that seemed 
 to my fevered fancy to lose itself in the sky. 
 
 " Then you had better take a wad, or piece of 
 canvas or something, and the grease-pot, and be 
 off," said the mate, pointing to a heavy dirty tin 
 filled with fat. 
 
 I went silently towards it, when the mate said 
 amiably, "You'd better take off that good coat 
 before you go up ; our sailors usually do so, as 
 the grease is apt to drop about when the mast 
 sways." 
 
 As if it mattered to me, who expected to be 
 dashed to pieces in ten minutes' time, whether I 
 spoilt a coat over it or not ! 
 
 However, I went obediently into the forecastle, 
 took off my coat, and carefully folded it up. One 
 of the men raised his head and asked sleepily what 
 work I had been set to. 
 
 " To grease down the fore-top-gallant-mast," I 
 said, adding, with bitter calmness. " It would be 
 a pity to spoil a nice coat over it." 
 
 The man stared at me a moment; then his 
 head dropped on his arms with a snore, he was 
 asleep. No one else even looked up, and with a 
 feeling of quiet desperation I went out alone to 
 meet my fate. 
 
 The second mate was where I had left him. 
 He glanced at me curiously as I silently took up 
 the grease-pot and moved towards the mast.
 
 SHANG'AIED; OR, ROUND THE HORN. 13 
 
 "If you are afraid, young shaver, say so," he 
 remarked. 
 
 I looked him steadily in the face as I answered, 
 "You had better move from here, sir; I might 
 splash you with my brains if I fell, and it would 
 be a pity to spoil your nice coat." 
 
 "Go to the devil!" he cried, furiously, and in 
 another minute I was on the rigging, with the 
 heavy grease-pot dangling to my wrist. 
 
 "Don't come down until you have put some 
 grease above the sheave hole in the royal-mast," 
 shouted the mate. 
 
 The "coatless" seaman, who passed at that 
 moment, whispered hastily : " Keep yer knees close 
 to the mast, and yer eyes on the top. 'Taint as 
 bad as it looks." 
 
 It certainly looked very bad, nay, to my un- 
 accustomed eyes, an impossible feat that I should 
 ever reach the top of that swaying mast, that stood 
 a hundred and fifty feet from deck. 
 
 My head swam, my heart turned sick within me ; 
 for a horrible moment I felt as though I should 
 faint. A sneering laugh from Mr. Mason brought 
 the hot blood to my cheeks, and courage to my 
 shaking nerves. Pulling myself together, I set 
 my teeth firmly and commenced my perilous 
 journey, sustained by the knowledge that the 
 second mate was watching me, hoping to see me 
 fall, and I felt a grim determination not to give 
 him that pleasure if I could help it. 
 
 I got on very well until I reached the cat-
 
 14 EAED LIFE IN TEE COLONIES. 
 
 harping, where I was delayed a little, some of the 
 grease having slid down my sleeve. Getting out 
 the cold slimy stuff as best I could, I screwed up 
 my courage another peg and proceeded on my 
 journey, passed the topmast rigging, and in due 
 course arrived at the cross-trees. 
 
 Two-thirds of the journey was accomplished, 
 but the other third ! I looked up there was no 
 Jacob's ladder to step on, as there is in decent 
 ships ; the wind was howling and shrieking through 
 the rigging, and seemed to rejoice at my danger 
 and scream with joy at my peril ; and far ahead 
 the royal pole loomed up gaunt, naked, and 
 apparently as unapproachable as the North Pole 
 itself. Shuddering, I turned my eyes away and 
 foolishly looked down: the ship appeared like a 
 little boat, and the men mere specks, only the 
 second mate seemed, to my disordered brain, to 
 have grown in size until he reached half-way up 
 to me, and the yelling wind seemed but the echo 
 of his sneering laugh. I was completely de- 
 moralized, my knees knocked together. With a 
 groan I folded my arms across my breast, when I 
 heard the rustling of paper. I put my hand inside 
 my shirt, pulled out the little packet that had 
 never left me since my sister had put it there two 
 years ago, and drew out of the oilskin bag a 
 small engraving of the "Ecce Homo." I gazed 
 at the pictured image of the " Man of Sorrows," 
 and as I gazed my fears left me. Fastening it up 
 carefully again, I turned resolutely to the rigging
 
 SHANG'AIED; OB, BOUND THE HOBN. 15 
 
 and commenced the last and worst part of my* 
 task. It was terrible work ; my greasy hands had 
 no power to hold the pole, and I slipped again and 
 again. But to make a long story short, I finally 
 reached the royal-yard and knelt on it. I had not 
 much higher to go, but that short bit was without 
 aid of any kind, and I was rocking to and fro with 
 sickening jerks. Remembering the " coatless " 
 man's advice, I pressed my knees tightly to the 
 pole, and taking as firm a grip as my oily hands 
 would allow, reached the top. Without staying 
 a moment, I hastily dabbed on a handful of grease 
 and slid down to the royal-yard again, and thence 
 to the cross-trees ; there I could breathe more 
 freely. My fright was passing away, when the voice 
 of the second mate came up to me : " Fore-royal, 
 there " they always hail the part of the vessel you 
 are on, never by your name " I don't want you to 
 varnish the d mast ; come down." 
 
 I joyfully prepared to obey, and with a lightened 
 heart began my downward descent with a confident, 
 even comfortable, feeling. About half-way down, 
 a sailor called Fitzgerald passed me on his way 
 up with a marling-spike and some spun yarn ; he 
 looked at me and said, with a surly nod, " Thought 
 yer'd 'ave came down head first, so did Mr. Mason. 
 Better luck next time." 
 
 I didn't answer this Christian-like wish, and in 
 a few minutes more was safely standing on deck. 
 The mate received me with a jeer, but I heard 
 afterwards that he was in no small anxiety until
 
 16 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 I was down, for had an accident happened, the 
 blame would fall upon him, for sending a boy into 
 such danger. He now gave me some odd jobs to 
 do on deck, and went away to his own part of the 
 ship. 
 
 At six o'clock we knocked off work, and the cry 
 of " Tea-oh ! " resounded from the galley. When 
 I got there, I found it was my privilege to fetch 
 the biscuit, beef, &c., from the galley as required 
 by the men of my watch ; I also had the advantage 
 of washing their plates and pannikins, trimming 
 the slush lamp, and sweeping the foc'sle floor after 
 meals. This made me handy and smart, I was 
 told. It was another portion of my duties, when 
 my watch was on deck at night, to pass the word 
 from the officer of the watch to the watch itself; 
 to keep always awake, and to be ready and grate- 
 ful to keep the men's look-outs for them, to prepare 
 the sand-glass, to heave the log every two hours, 
 and above all to be vigilant with the clock and 
 strike eight bells with astronomical punctuality. 
 This made me alert and watchful. Even when 
 sound asleep on the deck, or in any hole I 
 could find to rest in, I heard the mate's voice 
 when he called, and awoke sufficiently to repeat 
 his orders without blundering as soon as he had 
 finished giving them. Incidentally, I learnt that 
 a boy must never speak until spoken to, nor must 
 he help himself to anything to eat or drink until 
 everybody else has been served ; he must also be 
 tolerant when kicked or struck, and irresponsive
 
 SHAN&A1ED; OB, ROUND THE HORN. 17 
 
 when cursed or insulted. By strict attention to 
 these precepts I became meek and submissive out- 
 wardly, but the iron entered into my soul. 
 
 To return to my first night on board. It was 
 indeed a cheerless one. Some of the men were 
 drunk, and were violent or affectionate according 
 to their habit when in their cups, some half-drunk 
 and very sulky, while all the old hands were nasty 
 and exclusive because they had no chance of 
 getting drunk. Outside, the night was cold, windy, 
 and damp ; inside, these uncongenial companions. 
 Under these dispiriting circumstances, I thought 
 that bed was the best place, so wrapping myself in 
 the quilt by no means too clean that constituted 
 the bed, I stretched myself out in a comer and 
 prepared to pass the night as best I could. I had 
 thought that at least I should be left in peace 
 during the hours of darkness, but I was quickly 
 undeceived. Voices were heard outside the fore- 
 castle, and some one indignantly demanded, 
 "Where's that confounded boy?" This swelled 
 instantly to a chorus, " Boy, get out of that and 
 go on deck." I crawled forth from my corner, and 
 was met outside by a deputation headed by the 
 second mate, who landed me clear of the door by 
 my coat collar, and holding me at arm's length, 
 asked furiously, " Why the devil didn't you stop 
 on deck ? Who the devil gave you leave to turn 
 in?" 
 
 Determined to keep my temper, I answered 
 quietly, " I did not know I was to stay on deck, sir."
 
 18 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 11 Didn't know you had to stay on deck," cried 
 Mr. Mason. " Why, the lad must be mad, or a 
 fool," he cried, looking round on the grinning sea- 
 men, who were much enjoying this entertainment, 
 to judge by their faces. Then turning to me again, 
 he asked with a sneer, "And who do you suppose 
 keeps the watch Providence ? " 
 
 As I made no answer, he pushed me before him 
 to the forecastle-head, and ordering me to keep a 
 sharp look-out for lights, and watch that the 
 Potty didn't drag her anchors, left me. 
 
 It is a little strange that I had never given the 
 watch business a thought, for having been at sea 
 before, even though only as a passenger, I knew 
 quite well that the ship was not delivered up to 
 " Providence " every night ; but I did not know, 
 never having been in one before, that on board 
 these small merchant vessels this duty often fell 
 upon the cabin boy. 
 
 I stood shivering at the forecastle-head, for it 
 was bitterly cold, and I was worn-out with fatigue 
 and sorrow. But I never even closed my eyes for 
 a moment, being far too scared to think of drowsing. 
 In two hours, which had seemed to me like two 
 nights, I was relieved and ordered to bed. Going 
 into the forecastle, I found all quiet and every one 
 asleep but one man, who swore at me fiercely for 
 daring to come in, and ordered me to trim the 
 lamp before I lay down. I did so, then looked 
 around for my tattered quilt, but observing that 
 my swearing friend had taken it, curled myself up
 
 ; OR, ROUNb THE HOKN. 10 
 
 in a comer and fell asleep, with the sound of the 
 howling wind in my ears, and the lapping of the 
 water against the sides of the vessel. But even in 
 my sleep I was pursued by the insults and abuse 
 that had been heaped upon me, and again and 
 again seemed to be climbing up that swaying mast, 
 ever striving, and never attaining, to reach a place 
 of safety. 
 
 At dawn the next day I was awakened from my 
 restless slumbers by a hideous uproar, and opening 
 my eyes, beheld the last look-out man standing in 
 the midst of the forecastle, shouting through his 
 hollowed hands the following summons : "Watch 
 ahoy ! Oh ye sleepers, eight bells below there ! all 
 hands on deck! " the last words being delivered 
 in a peculiarly strident yell that sent a cold shiver 
 right through me. I staggered to my feet, and 
 looked around for some basin in which I might 
 wash at least my face and hands. 
 
 " What are yer turning yer eyes inside out for ? " 
 asked Fitzgerald. 
 
 " A basin to wash in," I replied. 
 
 A roar of laughter greeted my words, and a 
 volley of witticisms, more or less filthy, were 
 showered upon ine. I moved to leave the cabin, 
 where a grim, weather-beaten looking man said, not 
 unkindly, "Don't notice their blarney, my son, but 
 go ahead and see if there's a southerly wind in the 
 bread barge." 
 
 I opened my eyes in astonishment at this mystic 
 order. Seeing I did not understand a word, he
 
 20 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 translated it into plain English as follows : " Go 
 and see if there's any biscuit in that box, and if 
 not, go aft to the steward and get some." 
 
 There was none, so I departed on my errand, 
 one man calling after me, "Don't stay to wash 
 your 'ands on the way, we ain't particlar." 
 
 I found the steward in his cabin ; he gave me a 
 basket of biscuits, with which I returned to the 
 forecastle. There I found the whole crew dressed, 
 seated on their chests, awaiting my arrival. My 
 appearance created a general move to the centre, 
 where each man grasped a biscuit, and retired with 
 it to his lair ; inquiries were made about beef and 
 pork, but the locker having been searchingly in- 
 vestigated, yielded no results, so i they had to con- 
 tent themselves with more biscuit and more 
 growls. 
 
 Shortly after, a tin of hot coffee was served to 
 each, and all hands were then summoned on deck. 
 
 There we were all set to work, some to heave up 
 the anchor, some to loose the sails. I was sent up 
 to the main-top-sail-yard, and helped to cast off the 
 gaskets that held it ; this being accomplished 
 without accident, we descended and were set to 
 the (to me) far more agreeable duty of hauling on 
 the braces. By this time a tug had us in tow, and 
 we were fast nearing the heads; the sea was 
 choppy, and we commenced to pitch and toss in 
 fine style. Soon the tug came along and took the 
 pilot off. How I wished I was a pilot, or a deck 
 hand, or any one that would be taken ashore ; but it
 
 SHANGHAIED; OR, BOUND THE HORN. 21 
 
 was useless giving way to any such desires, and 
 my time was too fully occupied to spare many 
 minutes in repining. Soon we were dashing along 
 with every stitch set, and the wind in our favour. 
 Towards evening the men were mustered to be 
 picked into watches. There are two watches, the 
 port and starboard. The port is generally the 
 crack watch, and is commanded by the first mate ; 
 while the starboard is commanded by the captain 
 and second mate, but as the captain usually 
 sleeps in all night, his command is merely an ex- 
 officio one. 
 
 The chief mate picked me out for his watch, 
 much to my pleasure, though I fear to his dis- 
 appointment, for when he found I could not steer, 
 and was really of no particular use to him, he 
 demanded indignantly of the sky " why such 
 things were sent to sea to torment him." He grew 
 more reconciled when it was discovered that the 
 "ordinary seaman" in the other watch was a 
 soldier, and hopelessly useless. 
 
 The other "fraud's" name was Rogers. He 
 had deserted from the American army, and been 
 taken in hand by the benevolent boarding-house 
 keepers, with an eye to his advance. They had 
 been exceedingly liberal to him, and had shipped 
 him as full-fledged " able seaman." Before the 
 dazzling lustre of this swindle, mine became a 
 shadow into which I gratefully retired. 
 
 So the days wore on, and my scare wore off. I 
 no longer turned dizzy when ordered aloft, and
 
 22 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 began to settle down as best I could into the 
 uncongenial life. I found out that the captain's 
 name was Alexander, a little sandy-haired Scotch- 
 man, a good seaman, though addicted to the con- 
 sumption of whiskey rather more than was good 
 either for him or for us. He had his wife and 
 baby on board, and I had shipped on the under- 
 standing that I was to wait on them. But the 
 captain soon told me I was not wanted, never had 
 been, and I was ordered forward among the men, 
 and expected to do a man's work. 
 
 The men were so tickled at the fact of my 
 having been so cleverly fooled, that in their appre- 
 ciation of the joke they were somewhat disposed 
 to be kindly towards me. The chief mate, Davis, 
 was a Welshman, and though harsh at times, was 
 on the whole pleasant and forbearing with my 
 ignorance. Being a thorough seaman, I learnt a 
 great deal from him. He was a middle-aged man, 
 with a shrewd but not unkindly face, and sharp 
 black eyes. The second mate, Mr. Mason, I have 
 already described, the one I had so unfortunately 
 offended. He never lost an opportunity to show 
 me that he had neither forgotten or forgiven my 
 offence. The rest of the watch on my side 
 numbered eight men. One, an Englishman by 
 birth, called Smith, was a type of sailor fast dis- 
 appearing, a man that believed in Dibdin and his 
 songs, really loved the sea, was always contented 
 and jolly, and was an old " man-o'-war's " man to 
 boot. I do not know how I could have borne the
 
 SHANG'AIED; OR, ROUND THE HORN. 28 
 
 life on board but for him ; he not only helped me 
 when I had work beyond my strength and know- 
 ledge, but his bright manner cheered me on, and 
 helped me out of many a fit of depression into 
 which I too often fell. The next man was a Welsh- 
 man, called Jones of course, also a good-tempered 
 fellow ; he had been a navy man, and though only 
 about twenty, had deserted from the ship Repulse. 
 Of the others, three were Irish, one good, one 
 indifferent, and one downright nasty in temper. 
 By a strange coincidence they had all three come 
 from the part of Ireland I had once lived in as a 
 child, and the familiar names of places and people 
 gave me a queer sensation. Needless to say that 
 I did not say who I was, though I more than once 
 heard them mention my father's name, and one 
 spoke of his funeral. The rest of the eight were 
 Germans, and simply outrageous in every way. 
 
 We were now getting into warm weather, and 
 the trade winds blowing steadily there was little 
 work aloft, and consequently, or so I thought, no 
 danger ; but an incident happened one fine morn- 
 ing that opened my eyes to the fact that danger 
 might lurk on deck as well as aloft. It happened 
 in this way. I had been sent to scrape the paint 
 off the rim of the forecastle-head. There was no 
 rail to it, so I seated myself on the edge with my 
 feet on the jib-guys, and began gently scraping 
 away the paint, whistling softly meanwhile. Sud- 
 denly the ship gave a fierce lurch, my feet slipped 
 off the guys, and down I shot between them anc|
 
 24 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 the forecastle-head. My right hand happening to 
 strike against the guy in my descent, I clung to 
 it with the tenacity of death, and hung suspended 
 over the water, while the surf of the bow-wave 
 roared and buzzed in my ears, and the roll of the 
 ship swung me outwards. Strange to say, I never 
 felt calmer in my life ; watching my chance, I 
 drew myself up by one hand, and then with a 
 sudden spring caught at another guy-rope, and in 
 a moment had climbed on board, and calmly walked 
 down to the main-deck to announce the loss of 
 the scraper. Had I missed the rope, I must in- 
 evitably have been killed, as, falling so close to 
 the side of the vessel, I should have been sucked 
 in before help could reach me. 
 
 Truth to say, this danger appeared as nothing to 
 me when compared with the sickening terror I had 
 felt on climbing up the fore-top-gallant-mast, per- 
 haps because this had come too suddenly to allow 
 me to think about it. 
 
 I reported the loss of the scraper to the second 
 mate, who said with a scowl, " Then why didn't 
 you go in after it ? " 
 
 " Well, I did, sir, but couldn't catch it." 
 
 He paused a moment, then said, " Be more care- 
 ful another time ; you have not only lost the 
 scraper, but raised a cry of ' Man overboard ' for 
 no reason. Don't do it again." 
 
 I ventured to remark that I didn't cry " Man 
 overboard," and knew nothing about it, but Mr. 
 Mason made a step forward as though he meant
 
 SHANGHAIED; OB, BOUND THE HOBN. 25 
 
 to knock me down. I think he would have done 
 so, had not Mr. Davis here come up and said 
 kindly, " Glad you are safe, my boy. Were you 
 frightened? " 
 
 " No, sir ; I had no time," I answered. 
 
 Here a sailor remarked that he had been watch- 
 ing me, and it struck him that I was too lazy to 
 put up two hands to save myself, preferring to 
 do it with one. 
 
 " Be more careful another time," said Mr. 
 Davis, in the same words as Mr. Mason, but 
 such a different tone. " You can't expect to play 
 such gymnastics with impunity on board ship." 
 
 So the incident ended, but it had the advantage 
 of raising a feeling in my favour among the crew, 
 and it became a common belief that I knew rather 
 more than I cared to own to, in a nautical point of 
 view, but, like the monkey, feared to show it lest 
 I should have more work put upon me. 
 
 Mr. Mason, too, never let it be forgotten, and 
 when, later on, the first mate doubted the advisa- 
 bility of sending me on a highly dangerous mis- 
 sion, such as casting off a preventer-sheet from 
 the mizzen-top-mast-stay-sail, and mentioned his 
 doubts to the second mate, would reply with a 
 sneer, "Never fear, he won't fall, unless the stay- 
 sail falls too." 
 
 Accordingly, I was sent up, and executed the 
 task with that assumption of frozen calm that I 
 had learnt so well how to assume, and which hid 
 my sinking heart and trembling limbs,
 
 26 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 The other " impostor" did not manage even as 
 well as I did, and must have led a life of hell. 
 He had shipped in a man's place, whereas I had 
 shipped in a boy's ; and the gulf that separates an 
 able-bodied seaman from a boy on board a short- 
 handed merchant vessel, is one too awful and far- 
 reaching to be lightly regarded. 
 
 Time wore on, and we crept farther south ; the 
 days grew shorter, and the weather colder. The 
 scantiness of my wardrobe now began to show 
 painfully. The slop clothes that I had been so 
 lovingly provided with by Mr. Watts commenced 
 to " carry-away." The much-lauded imperishable 
 oilskin had already bleached white, and the boots 
 those picturesque sea-boots that show so well 
 in pictures were giving signs of tender spots, 
 which filled me with gloomy forebodings as to 
 how they would act towards me when we en- 
 countered Cape Horn weather, or " Cape Stiff," 
 as the sailors called it. 
 
 Shorter and darker grew the days, and one 
 morning the first large snowflake descended into 
 the black-looking water, like some lost spirit from 
 heaven sinking into bottomless perdition. It was 
 soon followed by more and more of its brethren, 
 until nothing could be seen of sky or sea, and 
 we worked with benumbed fingers and frozen feet, 
 while the snow made its way down our necks and, 
 melting, trickled down our backs. I began to 
 understand the horror and terror of the poor for 
 the " beautiful snow,"
 
 SHANG'AIED; OB, BOUND THE HOBN. 27 
 
 I understood more still before we got into warm 
 weather again, and have never quite lost the feel- 
 ing of hopeless misery and depression when I see 
 the snow come whirling down, silent and pitiless, 
 into the dark, gloomy waters. 
 
 One incident happened at this time that may 
 be worth mentioning. The captain had brought 
 a goat on board for the purpose of supplying the 
 baby with milk ; but whether it felt lonely and 
 sighed after pastures green, or what, one thing 
 was clear poor old Nanny sank into a decline, 
 and, to avoid any charge of wilful extravagance 
 that his owners might possibly bring against him, 
 Captain Alexander ordered her to be killed and 
 served out to the men as mutton. This was done, 
 and she was eaten with many a complaint against 
 her leanness and toughness. Jones managed to 
 secure the head, and worked up a little joke with 
 it as follows. The snow lay deep on the deck 
 wherever it had a chance, for the seas were 
 tumbling heavily overboard every five minutes or 
 so, and all above the main deck was shrouded in 
 white. Mr. Jones waited until black night fell 
 upon us, and the look-out man had taken his post, 
 when having carefully prepared the goat's head 
 he placed it on the fore-bits, and retired a short 
 distance to await results. They came with all the 
 force and rapidity any practical joker .could desire. 
 The "out-look " happening to turn round, saw an 
 unearthly apparation, and expressed his feelings 
 in a blood-freezing howl; after standing a brief
 
 28 HAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 moment paralyzed with terror, he jumped for dear 
 life down on the main deck. Hearing the yell, we 
 all went up on the forecastle to see what had 
 happened. 
 
 The sight was certainly sufficiently alarming to 
 excuse the poor " look-out's " terror. For standing 
 boldly out in relief from its hlack snowy back- 
 ground, shone the head of " Nanny," its unearthly 
 wide-open eyes glaring with sulphurous and stead- 
 fast malignity out into the inky night, with an 
 expression that harmonized beautifully with its 
 black face and long Satanic horns. 
 
 " No wonder that Mick yelled," chuckled Jones, 
 as he prepared to take down the head ; but before 
 he could reach it his experienced ear caught a 
 familiar sound. "Look out," he shouted, " and 
 hang on anywhere you can." 
 
 The next moment I too heard the hoarse roar 
 of the coming surf, as a white-capped mountain of 
 water loomed suddenly out of the darkness, and 
 came with awful speed and force straight for the 
 vessel. 
 
 " Jump for the rigging," yelled Jones, setting the 
 example. With a dexterity taught by desperation, 
 I followed him as he flew to the side the wave was 
 coming from (the other side would have meant 
 certain death), and dashed up the rigging like a 
 sunbeam, just as the great "comber" charged 
 resistlessly over the deck, burying the vessel com- 
 pletely out of sight, leaving us clinging to the frail 
 mast in the midst of the raging waters. Well it
 
 &HAN&AIED; OR, ROUNb THE HORN. 2D 
 
 was for the "look-out" that he was absent from 
 his post, for his part of the deck resembled Niagara 
 in spring-time. After a short time, the water 
 poured off, the ship righted herself, and we 
 descended from our perilous positions. Poor 
 Nanny's head had been washed away in the rush 
 of water. Mick always vowed that the devil in 
 person visited him that day. 
 
 This was only one of the many excitements we 
 enjoyed in our passage round the Horn. In the 
 midst of the dark cloud of our discomforts there 
 were, however, two specks of brightness. One was 
 that at midnight the cook served out a pannikin 
 of hot coffee to each one on watch ; it was black 
 and horribly sweetened with molasses, a fearful 
 compound, without doubt. When I think of it 
 now it makes me feel sick, but then, when we 
 had been out in the night air for four hours in 
 a snowstorm for it generally was snowing we 
 found the smoking hot mixture simply delicious. 
 The other ray of comfort was, that whenever it 
 blew a gale which necessitated the taking in of the 
 main-sail, and splicing the main-brace, grog was 
 given at the end of it. It did not matter to the 
 men that the pulling in of that particular sail 
 meant two or three hours' grasping and clawing 
 at canvas that was frozen into the semblance of 
 sheet-iron, while the snow drove persistently down 
 one's throat and neck, and the sail itself made 
 back-somersaults over us to the imminent danger 
 of our lives if only they got their grog at the
 
 80 BARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES; 
 
 end of it. The memory of those nights stands out 
 hideous as a nightmare. I often thought that hell 
 should be thus described, instead of the usual 
 theory of fire. 
 
 About this time a curious phenomenon used to 
 present itself. We had now got so far south that 
 the day only lasted about six hours, and then we 
 had to take the clock's word for it that it was day- 
 light in other places ; with us it was a sepulchral 
 kind of twilight, wonderfully uncanny to look at. 
 The sun would rise about six feet in the heavens, 
 then retire in disgust, leaving us in the " gloam- 
 ing." Shortly afterwards it would reappear some- 
 thing in the shape of a switch-tailed comet, and 
 almost immediately after a full gale of wind would 
 set in. The sailors consequently connected the 
 two together, and appreciated them accordingly. 
 
 The next thing of any interest that happened 
 was the total ruin of all the drinking water. Part 
 of the cargo (wheat) was in bulk, and the water- 
 tanks had been fitted with wooden man-hole 
 covers to admit of the pump pipes being led into 
 them. During some of the heavy weather we 
 had encountered round Cape Horn, these covers 
 had shifted, and quantities of the loose wheat had 
 rolled in, also divers rats had found a last resting- 
 place there ; and so it came to pass that the water 
 became unpleasantly diversified thereby, and our 
 daily allowance was enriched by the presence of 
 portions of black fur and swollen wheat, while a 
 fascinating bluish oily scum dwelt ever on the top
 
 SHANG'AIED; OB, BOUND THE HOBN. 31 
 
 of the water, and an astonishing smell that could 
 be tasted pervaded the whole forecastle. 
 
 This disaster soon took the spirit out of the 
 ship's company ; two of them got the scurvy and 
 were very ill, others followed, and we who escaped 
 that painful disease were obliged to do the work of 
 those on the sick list. 
 
 It was fully two months before we got any fresh 
 water, and then only by a lucky chance. Becoming 
 becalmed, we saw not far off another vessel in the 
 same plight, and from her the captain. obtained one 
 thousand gallons of water in return for a cask of 
 whiskey. There were five ships besides ours be- 
 calmed for three weeks off the Western Islands 
 (Azores), and quite a brisk trade was carried on 
 between them, and visiting to some extent took 
 place. One of the other captains had his wife on 
 board, who came to see Mrs. Alexander. Our 
 skipper's wife was a nice young thing, and with- 
 out, of course, having the smallest pretensions to 
 be a lady, had an innate tact that many a born 
 lady might have envied. One morning, when it 
 was snowing and blowing, and I had been four 
 hours exposed to the stormy elements, she called 
 me into her cabin and brought me some hot tea 
 and a huge Cornish pasty. For a moment I 
 hesitated, finding it easier to accept insults than 
 kindnesses, but she pushed me gently into a seat 
 and said, " Don't refuse me. I have a brother just 
 your age, and just in your position ; perhaps if I am 
 kind to you, his skipper's wife may be kind to him."
 
 32 &Attb LIFE IN 2*#S COLONIES, 
 
 Another time, seeing how miserably clad I was, 
 she sent me some garments. On my venturing to 
 remonstrate with her, she said, laughing, " You 
 shall pay me back one day when you are in your 
 right position for I know you are not now by 
 giving my Will a help on in the world." 
 
 " Will " was at that time eight months old. The 
 poor little chap never needed my or any one else's 
 care, for before the voyage was ended, one bright 
 sunny morning, we laid him to rest in the spark- 
 ling waters, with a ten-pounder at his little feet. 
 The distracted mother was dragged away before we 
 lowered him, for a shark had followed us closely 
 all through the little one's five hours' struggle with 
 croup, and we were not sure whether we could 
 save the body from the great brute's jaws. I am 
 happy to say we did so a well-directed ball from 
 the first mate killed the monster. We did not 
 wait to take him, but hurried from the spot. Mrs. 
 Alexander was even kinder to me after her loss 
 than before, for Baby Will had always crowed with 
 delight when I took him in my arms. 
 
 But to return to our becalmed days. They passed 
 on wearily enough, though it must not be supposed 
 that we had nothing to do but lean over the bul- 
 warks and whistle for wind. Far from that, we 
 used to " turn to " at 6 a.m., wash the decks, and 
 tidy the ship for the day. We did not " spread 
 the awnings," as in the ships one reads about, for 
 a very good reason there were none to spread. 
 At 8. a.m. our watch went below, and the other one
 
 SHANG'AIED; OB, BOUND THE EOBN. 3B 
 
 came on deck, and were set to work scraping paint 
 or rust, splicing, putting on chafing-gear, &c., &o., 
 until 12 a.m ; then our watch rushed eagerly on 
 deck and joyously took up whatever work was 
 going, until our unappeasable industry was checked 
 at 4 p.m. (eight bells), when we went below 
 for the first dog-watch, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., during 
 which time we had our tea; then on deck again 
 until 8 p.m., the second dog-watch; then below 
 until 12 p.m., and so on. No speaking or singing 
 was allowed during work time, and whistling was 
 high treason. We painted that vessel seven times 
 over during the voyage, Captain Alexander seem- 
 ingly having a perfect passion for the smell of 
 turpentine. But the culinary arrangements of the 
 British merchant marine leave a good deal to be 
 desired. Dinner consisted of salt horse or salt- 
 junk, as the case might be, with pea-soup twice a 
 week, into which we used to pour vinegar so as to 
 congeal and keep it from jumping overboard. Three 
 quarts of water was allowed each man daily, but 
 as his soup, tea, and coffee were taken out of it, 
 there was never enough for drinking purposes in 
 hot weather. Of bread, of course, there was none, 
 but ship biscuit was allowed ad libitum ; personally 
 I always detested it. We never washed in fresh 
 water unless it rained, when each man caught all 
 the water he could for himself, and washed first 
 his clothes, then his body. On Sundays we did no 
 work beyond scrubbing the decks and working the 
 ship on her onward course. After three weeks' calm
 
 34 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 a strong breeze suddenly sprang up, and the five 
 ships, signalling farewells, resumed each her way. 
 
 Shortly after, we caught a shark and had pieces 
 of it fried in vinegar for dinner ; but every one was 
 ill from it except myself, chiefly because I hardly 
 touched it. (N.B. I don't think shark can be as 
 healthy food as some people, probably landsmen, 
 like to make out.) A week after the voyage was 
 iresumed, we came up to a large dismasted ship, 
 the British Princess. She looked very grand and 
 romantic, stationary in the midst of the ocean, 
 with her men swarming up aloft looking like flies, 
 taking down the remains of her rigging and remov- 
 ing various spars which had been thrown across 
 her deck. She was only twenty-two days out from 
 England, and was bound for Calcutta. As she 
 needed no assistance, we saluted and left her alone 
 in her glory. 
 
 More days passed on, succeeding each other with 
 wearying monotony, until the time came when we 
 commenced to make preparations for coming into 
 port. The last coatings of paint were, for the 
 seventh time, daubed on ; the masts scraped and 
 varnished. The officers and men grew less surly ; 
 even Mr. Mason ceased to always greet me with a 
 curse or an insult. The commissariat improved to 
 a slight degree, and the weekly rations of fourteen 
 ounces of sugar sometimes swelled to a full pound. 
 
 At last, in the fulness of time, came one morning 
 the electrifying cry of " Land." Oh ! my dear long- 
 suffering readers if I have any did you ever know
 
 SHANGPAIED; OB, ROUND THE HORN. 35 
 
 what it was to sight land after one hundred, and 
 fifty days cramped up in a 700-ton barque, with a 
 crew of more or less blackguards for company ? and 
 that land England ! Whether you have a home 
 there, or loving friends longing to see you, or as I 
 was, without father or mother, and with only rela- 
 tions utterly indifferent to my welfare, makes no 
 difference to the feeling of joy that pervades one's 
 heart and soul at that magic cry, " Land ! " 
 
 There it was, merely a blue cloudy- looking line 
 in the far distance, but the sight seemed to put us 
 all out of our senses. The watch below came 
 rushing on deck to view that blessed sight, and 
 gazed and gazed at the glimpse of the promised land, 
 until ordered to resume work ; even then they did 
 not murmur or grumble. 
 
 But we had not yet reached the much-desired 
 haven where we would be, and the old adage, 
 " There's many a slip 'twixt cup and lip," was 
 again proved true. For the wind rose with sudden 
 fury, blew a gale that increased to two gales 
 with alarming swiftness. Sail after sail took itself 
 away before it could be taken in, flying over the 
 seething mass of stormy waters like some huge 
 birds mad with joy at their freedom. Some of the 
 head-sails were still remaining, and I being so ex- 
 pert a climber heaven save the mark! was ordered 
 by my friend the second mate to go and haul 
 them in. I went to the forecastle-head to do so, 
 and the fury of the elements invested me with 
 some of their wild excitement. The barque plunged
 
 36 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 up and down mountains of water, quivering from 
 bow to stern, and I climbed up the swaying mast 
 shouting wildly with a very frenzy of delight at 
 this battle between man and Nature. I had got 
 the sails in, and was descending, when a sudden 
 gust of wind threw a coil of rope against me and 
 knocked me clean overboard. Instead of falling 
 into the sea and being no more seen, I fell astride 
 the shank of one of the anchors. I should hesitate 
 to speak of so astounding a fact, knowing how apt 
 people are to believe that sailors and travellers 
 generally draw the long bow when recounting their 
 adventures, had there not been a witness to my 
 marvellous though unconscious feat of gymnastics. 
 Mr. Mason saw me blown off, and looked over the 
 side ; before, however he could raise the cry of 
 " Man overboard," he observed me sitting astride 
 the anchor. 
 
 " Well, the devil must be taking care of you 
 for some purpose or other ! " was his remark as he 
 gave me a hand and hauled me on deck. 
 
 We were working slowly up to Caernarvon Bay, 
 and the wind now shifted to the west. This was a 
 very serious affair for us, as, with the exception of 
 the lower-main-topsail, we had lost all our sails, 
 and that one was no great good to a ship clawing 
 off a lee coast with a strong current setting land- 
 wards. The result of the change in the wind was 
 soon apparent ; for every point of headway we made 
 seven points to leeward, which was sufficiently 
 alarming.
 
 SHANG'AIED; OB, BOUND THE HOBN. b7 
 
 But bad as was our plight, our sympathy was 
 soon called forth for a vessel in greater need. 
 Away to leeward of us, perfectly within sight, a 
 large Norwegian vessel was vainly striving to beat 
 out to sea ; but the current was too strong for her, 
 and little by little, in spite of her desperate efforts, 
 she was driven towards the deadly rocks that 
 showed themselves now and again through the 
 heaving surf, like wolves in ambush awaiting their 
 prey. Nearer and nearer the merciless breakers 
 hounded her on to her death. We watched with 
 painful interest, but could do nothing ; our man at 
 the wheel had as much as he could do to keep us 
 out of the fatal current. At last the end came : a 
 billow seemingly stronger than the others lifted 
 the vessel on her crest, and dashed it clean against 
 the cliffs that towered three hundred feet above 
 her. Above the roar and din of wind and waves we 
 heard the crash of her timbers as they broke against 
 the rocks ; then the hungry waves, gathering force, 
 rushed towards her in one huge pyramid of foam 
 and overwhelmed her. She emerged from it for a 
 minute, and we saw her in a sudden hush, upright 
 with all her crew clinging to the masts, then she 
 plunged bows forward and disappeared. And the 
 waves dashed against the cliffs and the winds blew 
 as before, and there was nothing to tell that over 
 a hundred men had gone down with their gallant 
 ship that had borne them so long. Another hour's 
 fair sailing would have landed them safely. There 
 would be many a desolate home and broken heart
 
 38 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 in the far Northland amongst those who watched 
 vainly for husband, father, or Mend. Sorrow on, 
 brave hearts, but not for them ; their last gale is 
 weathered they keep their solemn watch below 
 " till the sea gives up its dead." 
 
 We learnt afterwards that the ship had been 
 out three years. An occurrence like this could 
 not fail to affect the most hardened and callous 
 among us, the more so as there was some proba- 
 bility of our sharing the same fate. One or two 
 of the men ceased swearing for a while, and Rogers 
 (the soldier) with white lips asked me if I did not 
 think that the people on the cliffs were wishing 
 and praying we might get in in safety. On my 
 suggesting that he would do well to pray himself, 
 he answered he didn't know how, but he'd a sort 
 of idea there was a God somewhere who could help 
 us if He would. Poor ignorant Rogers, he knew 
 nothing ; but in the moment of danger, instinct 
 drove him to the only real place of safety, " the 
 everlasting arms." 
 
 But our own position was becoming perilous, 
 and we were drifting nearer and nearer to land, 
 which, as Captain Alexander had no knowledge of 
 the coast, was fraught with considerable danger. 
 We looked around in vain for a pilot, who had been 
 signalled for long since. Hour after hour passed 
 by, and our position got worse and worse; the 
 crowds on the cliff increased in number, and they 
 were doubtless expecting to see us sink like the 
 great Norwegian vessel. At last a pilot put out,
 
 SHANG'AIED; OR, SOUND THE HOEN. 39 
 
 and before long we were hailed by the joyful 
 words, "Ship ahoy! do you want a pilot?" 
 
 " Want a pilot?" Hadn't we been signalling 
 for one the last three hours and more. He was 
 warmly received, but the captain cooled down 
 when ,30 was demanded for the job, and seemed 
 inclined to back out of the business. The pilot, a 
 crafty old sea-dog, protested that he couldn't do it 
 for a farthing less. " Keep your luff, you at the 
 wheel ! " he yelled. " By George, you'll lose her 
 yet. Come, hurry up, Captain. Yes, or no ? I 
 don't want to make food for the fishes.''' 
 
 Captain Alexander surrendered, paid the money, 
 and in a quarter of an hour we were in safe 
 anchorage. In fact we had been so at the time 
 the pilot boarded us, but the skipper did not know 
 it. Of course he was furious when he discovered 
 the trick, but it was too late then. We came to 
 an anchorage at Holyhead, and the voyage was 
 practically ended. Two days afterwards we were 
 towed up to Liverpool, where the barque unloaded 
 and was laid up for repairs. I bade good-bye to 
 Mrs. Alexander, who on parting gave me a ringlet 
 of Baby Will's hair as a keepsake, and begged me 
 to write to her sometimes. That lock of soft 
 golden hair 1 still have, though I never wrote to 
 wee Will's mother, and our paths have never 
 crossed again. But I shall not forget as long as 
 my life lasts her kindness to a desolate boy ; nor 
 will she, I think, forget one on whom her dead 
 baby used to smile.
 
 A VOYAGE TO CHINA. 
 
 SOME twenty years or more ago, I sailed in the 
 iron barque Peep-o'-Day then going to China. 
 The weather was favourable, and until we reached 
 the Bay of Biscay nothing occurred of interest, at 
 least to me. There I nearly lost my life through 
 one of those acts of ignorance and foolishness that 
 sailors more than other peple are so apt to commit. 
 One day, the breeze freshening somewhat suddenly, 
 the second mate ordered in the flying-jib. As it is 
 always considered the boy's place aboard ship to 
 furl all the small sails, I hurried out on the boom 
 to do so. It was my first voyage, and I knew little 
 or nothing of seamanship. Making my way out, I 
 kept to the lee side, whilst I tried to gather in the 
 sail in order to get the gasket around it. After 
 tugging vainly for some minutes, I had nearly 
 succeeded, when a fierce gust of wind blew the 
 sail against me, and in another moment I was 
 knocked clean off the flying-jib-boom. Oh! the 
 horror and length of that moment ; the sickening 
 sensation of utter powerlessness as I shot through 
 space; the sudden plunge deep down into the 
 ocean ; the terrible feeling of despair and loneli- 
 ness when, on reaching the surface, I saw the ship
 
 \ 
 
 ARTHUR CADEW JENKINS. 
 (After a Photograph.)
 
 A VOYAGE TO CHINA. 41 
 
 already far off ! Luckily for me, the man at the 
 wheel had seen me fall, and putting the wheel 
 hard down to fetch the' ship up in the wind, and 
 so stop her progress, cried out, " Man overboard ! " 
 That thrilling cry always brings every one on 
 deck ; a boat was soon lowered, and I was picked 
 up half a mile astern, well-nigh exhausted. 
 
 Fair weather accompanied us right on to the 
 Western Tropics, where we witnessed a very 
 curious spectacle. As far as the eye could reach, 
 a distance of about some three miles, was a 
 seething mass of fish, closely packed together by 
 the million. They were the Bonita, a short, 
 sturdy fish, reddish in colour outside, and very 
 good eating. The first mate, who was very 
 knowing in all piscatorial matters, said that they 
 had probably been pursued by some finny monster, 
 and were migrating. They were starving, and 
 devoured each other ravenously with much ap- 
 parent relish. All hands on board were called up 
 to catch them, which was by no means difficult to 
 do. It was an odd sight to see the various men 
 at work. Some, with true instinctive love of 
 angling, got out their lines and caught them in 
 the approved fashion; others, on the contrary, 
 disdaining such slow measures, lowered buckets, 
 bringing up hundreds each time. The chief mate 
 seated himself on the top-gallant-yard with a sack 
 slung to him, which he rapidly filled with his 
 hands as the ship ploughed her way slowly 
 through the living waters. An Irishman on board,
 
 42 HARD LIFE IN TEE COLONIES. 
 
 not to be outdone by the chief mate, sewed up the 
 ends of an old pair of trousers, lowered it with a 
 weight in each leg, and hauled it up " alive and 
 kicking" amidst a roar of laughter. 
 
 Some of the hands got poisoned eating these 
 fish ; for, in spite of the first mate's warning, they 
 would leave them out in the boats to dry after 
 having cleaned them ; and the moon, which is very 
 powerful in the tropics, poisoned all the fish ex- 
 posed to her light. One of the seamen got 
 moon-blind from obstinately lying exposed to the 
 rays of the moon at this place. He could see as 
 well and clearly as any one else during the day, 
 but at night, no matter how clear the sky might 
 be, he was quite blind. I have never heard that 
 there is any cure for moon-blindness. 
 . A few weeks after, we witnessed a battle royal 
 between a Sword-fish, a Whale, and a Thrasher. 
 Their mode of warfare was peculiar and decidedly 
 interesting to watch. On this occasion it was two 
 against one, i.e., the Sword-fish and the Thrasher 
 against the Whale. The Thrasher would make a 
 sudden rush, rise into the air, and come down on 
 the top of the Whale, with a tremendous whack 
 and crash that could be heard half a mile off. 
 The poor Cetacea, to escape from this enemy, 
 would dive, when the Sword-fish, being on the 
 lookout, would dash at him like a flash of light- 
 ning, driving his sword into him up to its very 
 snout I had nearly said hilt. This defence and 
 attack went on for some half-hour, when the
 
 A VOYAGE TO CHINA. 43 
 
 Whale began to spout blood and died. We left 
 the victorious ones feasting upon him. 
 
 It was through a whale, of which there are 
 quantities in these seas, that the monotony of 
 the life on board was at this time considerably 
 disturbed. An enormous bull, fully sixty feet in 
 length, came alongside so quietly that the first 
 intimation we had of his proximity was his 
 spouting a few gallons of water over our taffrail, 
 and uttering a deep, hollow roar that might be 
 heard a mile off. The man at the wheel was 
 nearly frightened into fits, and Ching, a Chinese 
 dog on board, and a universal pet, became literally 
 mad with terror. Ching soon had sole possession of 
 the deck, for all hands took to the rigging, fearing 
 a bite from the mad dog, who ran to and fro with 
 tail lowered " half-mast," and all his hair down his 
 back bristling. After some talk, the carpenter 
 undertook to cure him, and as we had no gun at 
 hand with which to shoot him, beside the desire 
 we all had to save his life, the man was allowed to 
 try his powers of curing a mad dog. We all looked 
 on with great interest as he made a noose from 
 some cord cut from the rigging, and, the next 
 time Ching came his way, he cleverly threw it 
 over his head and drew it tight enough to keep 
 him still, though not tight enough to strangle him. 
 Then jumping down from the rigging, he quickly 
 fetched an axe and chopped off the tip of Ching's 
 tail to let the blood flow. That done, he dipped 
 him overboard twice, and brought him on deck
 
 44 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 restored and in his right mind. Never afterwards 
 could Ching be induced to sleep on the taffrail; 
 indeed, he always passed it with a rush. 
 
 Meanwhile the whale was keeping abreast ol us, 
 and some fears were entertained of his attacking 
 the barque. He was as long as the ship, and it 
 would have gone hard with us if he had taken it 
 into his small head to do so ; but apparently he 
 decided that it was not worth while, for, with a 
 final roar and dive, he went away to the right, and 
 we saw no more of him. Not long after this we 
 very nearly lost Ching' s saviour, the carpenter. It 
 was a dead calm. Orders had been given to rig 
 stages out over the ship's side, and some of the 
 men told off to scrape the barnacles off her bottom 
 with long-handled spades. Some of these barnacles 
 were a foot and a half long, and considerably 
 impeded our progress. It was very hot, and 
 during the change of watches some of the men 
 and myself jumped off the stages and took a 
 delightful bath. It gives one a curious sensation 
 to be alongside of the vessel one minute, and the 
 next wave would take her some twenty yards or so 
 away, the next again bringing her up so close that 
 you felt she was coming on top of you. Mason 
 that was the carpenter's name seeing us enjoying 
 ourselves and swimming about so easily, thought 
 he could do the same ; so, undeterred by the 
 trifling fact that he could not swim a stroke, he 
 hastily undressed, and, getting on the rail, jumped 
 clean overboard, feet first. It seemed a long time
 
 A VOYAGE TO CHINA. 45 
 
 before he came up nearly on the spot he went 
 down, but, as he expanded his hands and opened 
 his mouth, down he went again immediately like 
 a shot. The first mate, with some others of us, 
 happened to observe him, and the former sung 
 out," Man drowning ! " Two sailors immediately 
 jumped on the stage with ropes and a life-buoy, 
 and the next time he appeared threw them to him. 
 He had just strength to clutch one of the ropes, 
 and was hauled on to the stage, where he fainted. 
 It is really astonishing that so many men whose 
 whole lives are on the ocean should not know, or 
 even care to learn, how to swim. That very same 
 day I came near losing my life in a horrible 
 manner. There was another boy on board beside 
 myself, who could not swim. The captain wished 
 me to teach him, and ordered him to get down on 
 the stage and strip ; he also gave him a life-belt. 
 But Jennings was too timid, and only stood 
 shivering, unable to summon up courage enough 
 to venture into the water, particularly after the 
 carpenter's adventure. Therefore, after swimming 
 about for a time on the life-buoy, to show him how 
 easy it was and how safe, I threw it on the stage, 
 and struck out for a long swim, boy-like, to show 
 off. After going some little distance, I heard a 
 fearful yell, and, looking back to the ship, saw the 
 men gesticulating madly for me to come back. 
 Frightened by their actions and their looks for 
 after the one shout they kept silence I swam back 
 to the vessel as fast as I could. As soon as I
 
 46 HAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 reached the stage, half a dozen hands grabbed 
 hold of me and hauled me on deck, where the 
 captain, collaring me, naked as I was, dragged 
 me aft and told me to look over the side. I did 
 so, and there was a tremendous tiger-shark over 
 twenty feet long. His small eyes looked straight 
 up at me, and he snapped his jaws with a yapping 
 sound that made my blood ran cold. In fact it 
 gave me such a shock and made so deep an 
 impression on me, that I vowed from that day 
 forth nothing should ever induce me to take a 
 swim in broad ocean. The sailors were not long 
 in giving me a nearer and pleasanter sight of 
 him. A large iron hook attached to a strong 
 chain was thrown over, after being baited with 
 a piece of salt pork. The greedy brute grabbed 
 at it at once, and in his struggles to get away 
 tore his jaw badly ; nevertheless back he came 
 for the meat, was caught, and after some hard 
 work, hauled on deck. The first thing he did 
 was to knock down the black cook who was 
 standing by, and smash the binnacle-stand with a 
 flap of his tail. With great difficulty he was got 
 down to the main-deck, where the carpenter, who 
 seemed to have a speciality for such operations, 
 chopped off his tail with an axe ; that quieted him. 
 But sharks cling to life with horrible tenacity. 
 This brute, after his head was cut off and he was 
 opened, had muscular movements all over him ; 
 his backbone measured twelve feet; well cleaned 
 and cut to a suitable size, they make handsome
 
 A VOYAGE TO CHINA. 47 
 
 walking- sticks. We caught twenty-seven sharks 
 altogether of different kinds and sizes on this 
 voyage. 
 
 A few days after entering the Straits of Sunda 
 we sighted Java, and soon after anchored off Anger 
 Point. This was the first land we had been near 
 since leaving England, a period of one hundred 
 and eighty-six days. 
 
 A week before this we sighted a ship, the Pem- 
 brokeshire from London. On signalling us, and 
 finding we had been out so unusually long, the 
 captain concluded that we must be short-handed 
 from scurvy, or loss of life, a gale or some other 
 accident which had prevented the barque from 
 being properly worked. Being a kind-hearted man, 
 he came on board bringing two sacks of potatoes, 
 some newspapers and tracts. Hearing that two of 
 our men were down with scurvy, he sent his boat 
 back for another load of potatoes, while he stayed 
 on board the barque to lunch, for which state 
 occasion the last fowl aboard was killed and 
 roasted; it being little but skin and bone, Ching 
 got the most of it. When the boat had brought 
 the second load of potatoes, the captain of the 
 Pembrokeshire returned to his own ship, and we 
 soon parted company, as she was a fast sailer. We 
 were all of us the better for the short visit 
 nothing is so refreshing as the sight of new faces 
 after months of always seeing the same. That 
 captain (I am sorry to say I forget his name) was 
 a good and humane man. He would, I think, be
 
 48 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 sorry if he knew that all his kindness was thrown 
 
 away, Captain J being one of the meanest and 
 
 most cowardly men it was ever my misfortune to 
 sail under. On this occasion, after giving us one 
 meal of fresh potatoes and several times a few 
 raw ones sliced in vinegar to the sick men, he kept 
 all the rest for his own use in the cabin. 
 
 But we were now anchored off Anger Point, the 
 captain's gig was ordered out, and I, being a good 
 hand at the oars, was allowed to make one of the 
 boat's crew. When we got ashore it was like 
 entering into Paradise. The most magnificent 
 tropical fruits and flowers were in the wildest pro- 
 fusion ; crowds of natives running about almost in 
 a state of nudity, the men well made, with shapely 
 limbs, the women with soft eyes and small hands 
 and feet ; a great many shops, mostly kept by 
 Chinamen dressed in their silken robes heavily 
 embroidered with gold and silver ; Dutch soldiers, 
 still wearing their old-fashioned uniform of a 
 hundred years ago; Europeans in their sombre 
 modern dress mingling among the crowds of 
 natives. The latter, men, women and children, 
 were many of them bathing together in the clear 
 sparkling water. All was so bright, so fresh and 
 lovely, that it made up a scene never to be 
 forgotten. 
 
 The Chinese shopkeepers were very polite, 
 offering us such tea as they only can make, in tiny 
 delicate cups about the size of egg-cups, and en- 
 deavouring to get us to teach them some English
 
 A fOYAGfi TO CHINA: 49 
 
 Words in return for their kindness. They are 
 remarkably quick, and picked up not only words 
 but whole sentences with marvellous rapidity. 
 When we returned to the ship, a great many 
 natives followed us in their canoes, loaded down to 
 the water's edge with the most delicious fruits ; 
 pine- apples, cocoa-nuts, bananas, sugar-canes, 
 plantains, oranges, lemons, and the famous rnun- 
 gastine, to taste which epicures have been known 
 to come all the way from Europe. It only grows 
 in this place, and I believe all attempts at propa- 
 gating it elsewhere have failed. I was as eager as 
 the rest to taste this great delicacy, and must 
 confess that it exceeded my expectations it is a 
 most delicious fruit. Its outward appearance 
 somewhat resembles the poppy-head when gone to 
 seed. On opening this outer skin, the fruit is seen 
 lying inside, shaped something like a peeled orange. 
 It melts away on being placed in the mouth, leaving 
 a most exquisite flavour. 
 
 The natives trade their fruits for old clothes, 
 soap, or any European articles. A good lot was 
 bought by the hands on board, and the natives 
 proceeded to return, when a stiff breeze sprung 
 up suddenly, capsizing several of their canoes. 
 They seemed quite unconcerned about it, getting 
 straddle-legged on them, and paddling for shore 
 'through a heavy sea. It was here that the most 
 awful thunder-storm took place that I ever wit- 
 nessed in my life. Piles of black clouds had been 
 slowly making their way from the west, and towards 
 
 5
 
 SO HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 afternoon hovered over the ocean, ominous, grim 
 and still. The silence was almost awful ; we all 
 felt depressed and fearful, while Ching whimpered 
 sadly and tried to hide himself. Suddenly there 
 came an appalling crash of thunder that shook the 
 ship from bow to stern, and she quivered and 
 shuddered at her moorings. All hands rushed on 
 deck, thinking that the masts had been struck and 
 gone overboard. It lasted about an hour, flash 
 after flash of forked and sheet lightning, violet and 
 purple, scarlet and opal in colour, followed imme- 
 diately by crashing peals of thunder that literally 
 deafened you. The sea rose and added its roar to 
 the thunder, and the heavens opened, letting the 
 waters pour down in torrents. In another hour 
 the sun was shining and the sky was clear ; only 
 the ocean heaved and moaned, unable to calm 
 itself so quickly after the angry storm. 
 
 The sailors laid in a stock of yams here, a kind 
 of potato, as large as a man's head, and very good 
 eating, besides being nutritious and wholesome ; 
 after which we set sail for Shanghai. 
 
 I have mentioned that our captain was a mean 
 and cowardly man, much disliked by all his crew. 
 Discontent was rife. The men commented in no 
 measured terms at his stinginess in not getting in 
 fresh provisions at Java, and things came to a 
 climax when, scurvy again attacking some of the 
 crew, the remainder of the men had double work, 
 and were still kept on short rations on account of 
 the long voyage. So they mutinied, and in the
 
 A VOYAGE TO CHltfA, 5l 
 
 height of a fearful hurricane. Captain J , who 
 
 had never been in these latitudes before, having 
 always sailed in the Mediterranean until he got 
 this command, was ignorant of the danger of these 
 tropical hurricanes. We had all sail set at the 
 time, and although the squall was seen coming, he 
 imagined it was of no importance and gave no 
 orders to shorten sail. The men went about their 
 work with sullen anger, whispering among them- 
 selves. The hurricane was not long in approach- 
 ing, and struck the barque with fierce fury. Smash 
 went the two royal and top-gallant masts, the 
 flying-jibbooni with all the yards and sails attached, 
 The force of the wind, added to the wreck of the 
 masts, threw the Peep-o'-Day on her beam end, 
 where she was in imminent danger of filling and 
 going down. At this moment it became of inky 
 blackness, the wind howled and shrieked like wild 
 fiends let loose, and the sea was lashed to fury ; 
 the waves poured over the vessel, which, encum- 
 bered by the fallen masts, could not right herself. 
 It was in this time of awful peril the mutiny 
 occurred. The captain came running forward with 
 axes, and ordered the men to cut away the riggings 
 and throw the masts overboard that the ship might 
 have a chance. The men folded their arms and 
 flatly refused to obey him, their spokesman saying 
 that they would rather go down with the ship at 
 once, than to go on starving and being overworked 
 
 as they had been. Captain J was so frightened 
 
 that he actually wept with terror. He promised
 
 52 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 the best the ship could give " Only, for God's 
 sake, clear the deck of the masts, or we shall all be 
 lost in a few minutes ! " At first he wept and 
 prayed in vain. Finally four men did go to work, 
 cleared the wrecked masts away, and the Peep o' 
 Day righted herself. The sea was one sheet of 
 white foam, and rose mountains high for a day and 
 a night after the hurricane was over, that only 
 lasted twenty minutes. Things went on somewhat 
 better after this, as the captain was too much 
 afraid of another mutiny not to keep his promise. 
 Nothing of interest occurred until within about a 
 week's sail of Shanghai, when we narrowly escaped 
 being destroyed by a waterspout. These spouts 
 contain thousands of tons of water, and if they 
 should burst on a ship would sink it instantly. 
 The one I mention was making straight for us, a 
 stately but awful object. There was scarcely a 
 breath of wind stirring, and the captain, after vainly 
 trying to get out of its way, ordered one of the 
 large guns to be loaded with a heavy charge of 
 powder. When all was ready, a red-hot poker was 
 obtained from the cook's galley and the gun was 
 fired. Instantly the tremendous pillar of water 
 tottered and fell headlong into the sea, about a 
 quarter of a mile from us. 
 
 A week from this date we arrived at the mouth 
 of Yang-tsze-kiang River, leading on to Shanghai. 
 This river runs a great distance into the interior, 
 and is one of the principal means of traffic. 
 
 The most striking feature that struck us on
 
 A VOYAGE TO CHINA. 53 
 
 entering the harbour was the large number of 
 ships, most of them flying their ensigns half-mast, 
 the token of death. Over eight hundred vessels 
 were at anchor here, the largest number in a 
 foreign port I ever saw, with one exception : that 
 was at New York just after the war had ended. 
 
 We soon found out that there was no chance of 
 getting a cargo, as most of these ships had been 
 waiting here, some three, some four months for 
 that purpose. The distress and misery occasioned 
 by this forced delay was something truly frightful. 
 Trade all over India and China was very dull at 
 this time. The captains, obliged to pay heavy 
 harbour dues as well as keeping the men at full 
 wages, became despairing and desperate. It was 
 useless to go elsewhere for freight, all trade being 
 at a standstill. This state of things so worked 
 upon the minds of the captains and mates, that 
 almost as many of them died by their own hand 
 as did the common seamen from dysentery and 
 exposure. Some deliberately drank themselves to 
 death ; others blew their brains out ; and many 
 jumped overboard and let themselves drown, while 
 their crew looked on with stolid indifference. It 
 was one of the usual customs to go round to 
 the different neighbouring ships every morning to 
 find out who was alive, and how many had died a 
 natural death or had killed themselves. In the 
 afternoon of the day they died they would be 
 buried, the body or bodies being placed in boats 
 and taken down to Fu-rchow (I think the name
 
 54 HARD LIFE IN TEE COLONIES. 
 
 was) Eeach, which opens into the river, and there, 
 without a word of prayer or ceremony of any sort, 
 were thrown over to sink or swim, and became 
 food for the fishes. The town was so full of 
 seamen who could get no ships that every hoarding- 
 house was filled to repletion, and fearful quarrels, 
 often ending in murder, took place for the sake of 
 a filthy corner in which to lie. The heat was 
 stifling and the stench appalling. Many of the 
 men would take their blankets at night and sleep 
 on the beach for coolness. Most of them would 
 be dead by the morning, which did not in the 
 least prevent others attempting the same thing 
 the following night. The heavy steamy malaria 
 arising from the swampy ground after the great 
 heat of the day made the night-air fatal to most. 
 Sailors are very much like children, having no 
 thought or care for themselves, without a child's 
 obedience to protect them from danger, and there- 
 fore they do not give themselves a chance in these 
 eastern countries. They will eat voraciously of 
 vegetables and fruits, which, not being accustomed 
 to, brings on violent diarrhoea. Unless this disease 
 can be taken in time, it causes a sure and painful 
 death. A man taken with it has no appearance of 
 sickness, he keeps his colour, and his eyes are 
 bright, but he gets rapidly thin, and so weak as 
 to be unable to lift his hand to his mouth. I, 
 amongst others, was taken down with it. Captain 
 J declared I was shamming, and ordered me 
 to work, threatening otherwise to send me to the
 
 A VOYAGE TO CHINA. 55 
 
 French hospital, where, it was said, a kiiife was 
 run into the heart of any one whose recovery 
 was not rapid enough to satisfy the doctors. I 
 attempted to crawl aft to the main-deck, but was 
 so blinded by weakness that I could not see where 
 I was going, and stumbling against one of the 
 masts, fell heavily. A Nova Scotia seaman, who 
 had often shown me some kindness, dragged me 
 back to the forecastle, cursing the captain, the 
 climate, the heavens and the earth in no measured 
 language. For weeks after I lived on nothing but 
 rice-water, if the state I was in could be called 
 living, for I lay all day and night with no feeling 
 but one of utter powerlessness and weakness. 
 Tears of weariness would roll down my cheeks 
 when forced to the exertion of swallowing a 
 mouthful of rice-water. The doctor coming one 
 day, pronounced me dead ; but when in the after- 
 noon I was placed in the boat with two men who 
 really were dead, I was seen to breathe, so carried 
 back to my berth again, where I finally recovered, 
 chiefly from being left alone. We lost four men 
 from diarrhoea, and two died in the hospital from 
 scurvy. During the three months and a half that 
 we stayed at this port, over seven hundred died or 
 committed suicide. 
 
 The Peep-o'-Day lay out in the stream opposite 
 the English Town. In these Chinese cities each 
 nationality has its own separate town, known as 
 English Town, French Town, American Town, and 
 so on, The river Yang-tsze-kiang is 3,158 English
 
 56 HAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 miles in length, and has a current running eight or 
 nine knots. It is of a dirty, muddy colour, and 
 has but little beauty to recommend it. There is 
 one curious thing about it, and that is that in 
 these large Chinese cities more than a quarter of 
 the population live on the water, having their 
 streets and towns built on the river. Shops and 
 markets, business of all sorts, is carried on by the 
 people as though on land. But these floating 
 towns are often scenes of terrible accidents, owing 
 to the swiftness of the current and the carelessness 
 of the people. Often the sampans, sort of boats, 
 miss their hold of the ship they intend to reach, 
 and are swept down the cable of the next ship, 
 capsized, and not unfrequently dashed to pieces. 
 A Norwegian captain and his wife got drowned in 
 this way, trying to reach their ship. Poor girl ! 
 she had only been married about a month. When 
 their bodies were found, they were so tightly locked 
 in each other's arms that they were placed in the 
 same hammock and buried down the river, with 
 more ceremony and display of feeling than was 
 given to events far more tragic and awful. I 
 remember being struck with the great length and 
 beauty of the young wife's hair, of that pale gold 
 colour that Norse women often have. The water 
 had washed it around her husband's neck and 
 arms, and it glittered on him like rays of gold. 
 These sampans, although safe enough for those 
 who understand them and know something of 
 seamanship, are very dangerous to the inex-
 
 A VOYAGE TO CHINA. 57 
 
 perienced and careless. They are exceedingly 
 light, and shaped something like a cockle-shell, 
 capsize easily, and, although universally em- 
 ployed in China, are a frequent cause of accident 
 and loss of life. It seemed to me that they might, 
 without much cleverness or difficulty, be made 
 safer, but no one troubled their heads about it. 
 The small passenger sampans are propelled by a 
 man at the stern, who sculls and steers at the 
 same time. Where the current is very strong, 
 some of the passengers will condescend to put out 
 oars at the sides or bows to prevent being carried 
 off or capsized. 
 
 The European Town appeared much as in 
 Europe, the shops being built, stocked, and kept 
 by Europeans, and so had nothing particularly 
 interesting about them. But the China Town was 
 exceedingly curious, and consisted chiefly of a 
 great number of small huts, bazaars, and stalls. 
 in which, huddled together in wild confusion, was 
 a heterogeneous mass of Chinese toys, sweetmeats, 
 jewellery, roast pig, vegetables, embroidered stuffs 
 in fact, everything that can be imagined. The 
 ground was low, filthy with putrid matter left to 
 rot, and the smell something too awful. We used 
 to stuff some cotton-wool up our nostrils, but it 
 was not much good, for it was a smell that could be 
 tasted, and even a bit of camphor kept in our mouths 
 when we were lucky enough to procure a bit 
 was only a short relief. The dirt and smell were 
 only exceeded by the frightful discordant noises
 
 58 HAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES, 
 
 that never ceased day or night : men quarelling in 
 all languages, merchants bawling out their wares, 
 dogs yelping, a din of pipes and a wild beating of 
 gongs that certainly did not impress me favourably 
 with the Celestial City. There was a wall around 
 the town covered with spikes, on which were stuck 
 the heads of Chinamen beheaded for murder or 
 robbery. The effect of these grinning heads was 
 ghastly in the extreme. 
 
 At the time I am writing of, any European was 
 justified in killing any Chinaman he found outside 
 China Town after eight o'clock at night without 
 his pass, which was a Chinese lantern having the 
 pass inside. Most of these Chinese ports belong 
 to England, and disputes, fights, and murder were 
 of everyday occurrence. Besides which, war was 
 raging up the country, and it was a common thing 
 for us to go over the ship's bows to clear her cable 
 of dead Chinamen brought down by the river. 
 They would float up and down with the tide, it 
 seemingly being no one's duty to bury them. One 
 is said to become accustomed to all things, but I 
 must confess that it was never without a shudder 
 I saw, as I often did on looking into the river, the 
 hideous face of a dead Chinaman grinning up at 
 me from the muddy water. 
 
 During this time of forced inaction, the morale 
 among the European seamen became very bad. 
 Those who at the commencement had been dis- 
 charged and could get no ships and no work were 
 in a bad way, and would induce sailors, who
 
 A VOYAGE TO CHINA. 59 
 
 although on board a vessel, were almost as 
 destitute as themselves, to join them in attempts 
 to get food and money. All sense of right and 
 wrong, of honesty and truth, seemed lost. English 
 and Dutch, French and Spaniards, Germans and 
 Italians, would band together to plunder. One 
 party, rendered desperate by starvation and misery, 
 boarded a two-masted lighter anchored at the 
 mouth of the river, threw the Chinamen over- 
 board to sink or swim most sank and then went 
 up into the interior of the country, exchanged 
 some things on board for raw silk, which they 
 sold again in the cities, and having paid no duties 
 on it managed to make some money. So callous 
 had the authorities become that even this outrage 
 passed unnoticed. 
 
 Another favourite mode of obtaining money was 
 to watch where the rich Chinese were buried, and 
 at night a party of men would dig them up and 
 cut off their tails, which were more than half 
 made of silk, and were worth from six to eight 
 dollars apiece. These fellows also obtained a 
 hearty meal at the same time, as after all the 
 screaming and yelling, the beating of gongs, 
 burning of incense, dropping coins and other 
 death ceremonials have been gone through, the 
 relations leave the dead, placing beside him a good 
 roast pig and plenty of rice, in order that he may 
 not starve on his journey to the next world. The 
 rich Chinese are buried within a large inclosure of 
 white masonry shaped like a horse- shoe. I never
 
 60 HAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 saw a Chinese woman buried, but as the Chinamen 
 do not believe their women have souls, they 
 probably do not think it necessary to provide them 
 with food for the long journey. Parents will sell 
 their children quite readily, and you can purchase 
 a very nice girl for thirty dollars. 
 
 Frequently, during the weary months we lay by 
 in the river, we were visited by ivory-men, fellows 
 selling Chinese curiosities made of ivory, sandal- 
 wood, and bamboo. Whilst we were looking over 
 their collection of fans, jewellery, and knick-knacks 
 of all sorts, they would stealthily take notes of 
 how many men were on board, how many guns 
 the vessel possessed, what sort of man the captain 
 was and so on, for they were all spies paid by the 
 pirates. After making the rounds of several ships, 
 they would despatch their information to the 
 pirates waiting out at sea, more particularly the 
 information when certain ships would leave the 
 harbour, and the number of her crew, guns, &c. 
 Directly the unfortunate vessel left the river anil 
 entered the high seas, down would come the 
 pirates, take the ship, and kill all hands with the 
 utmost barbarity and torture. Woe betide any 
 woman that fell between their hands their fate 
 was too awful to put into words. Whenever there 
 was time, their husbands killed them with their 
 own hands, or they drowned themselves rather 
 than fall into the power of the pirates. Some of 
 these pirate junks were quite as large as any 
 European ship, having seven masts and carrying
 
 A VOYAGE 20 CHINA. 61 
 
 twenty guns, while they were manned by a crew 
 of not less than two hundred men. They are 
 splendid seamen, and can sail in the wind's eye 
 with any European ship, and they weather the 
 heaviest gales. Nearly every week the English 
 gunboats would bring in one and sometimes two 
 that they had captured. In most cases men of 
 European nationality were found aboard, having 
 entered into the service of the pirates to work 
 their guns for them in exchange for high wages, 
 it being a matter of perfect indifference to them 
 from whom they got the money as long as they 
 did get it. It was very hard at that time to find 
 out who were pirates or who were not. The only 
 way to be sure was to examine their papers, and if 
 they had been out over a year they were pirates. 
 They seldom sink the vessels they plunder, and 
 only care to plunder those taking stuffs from the 
 country. In order to be revenged for the loss of 
 some of their junks, seven of them joined together 
 and attacked one English gunboat ; she resisted 
 and defended herself gallantly, but what chance 
 had she against so many ? She was taken, and all 
 hands not killed in the fight were murdered slowly 
 in cold blood with the most revolting tortures. 
 These pirates fight like devils ; they seem to rejoice 
 in it with a fierce insatiable joy. One morning 
 we witnessed a fearful fight between two junks 
 and a Spanish barque. The latter was attacked 
 just on leaving the river. The barque put two 
 shots into one of the junks at long range, and so
 
 62 BA&b LIFE IN TSE COLONIES. 
 
 smashed her at the water-line that she sank in 
 less than twenty minutes with all hands on board. 
 The other junk then came close to the barque and 
 threw "stink-pots" aboard (a sort of Greek-fire 
 with a most horrible and suffocating smell), but as 
 fast as they were thrown aboard the Spaniards 
 pitched them into the sea. The pirates then tried 
 to use their boarding pikes, but the Spaniards kept 
 them off for some time. Then many of them got 
 on board the barque, but the Spaniards, who use 
 the knife splendidly, picked them off one by one, 
 while two or three of them standing in the bow 
 shot down the Chinamen as fast as they could 
 load. Finally, seeing that they were gaining no 
 advantage, the pirates became panic-struck, and 
 all that were left rushed back to their junk hoping 
 to push off and escape ; but the wily Spaniards had 
 lashed the vessels together, and pursuing them 
 into the junk stabbed all they could lay hands on. 
 Many of the pirates jumped overboard and were 
 drowned. In the chief cabin they found an 
 English lady of rank half dead with terror; she 
 had been barbarously outraged, and would doubt- 
 less have been murdered had the pirates had time 
 to think of her. The Spaniards found plenty of 
 treasure aboard, and having towed this prize into 
 Shanghai, were handsomely rewarded not only by 
 the lady, who was very rich, but also by the 
 different Governments, for their gallantry. They 
 all made enough by that capture to enrich them- 
 selves for life, but, like true sailors, they spent it
 
 A VOYAGE TO CHINA. 63 
 
 all while in port in the most foolish and extrava- 
 gant manner. 
 
 The week after this capture by the Spaniards, 
 an English gunboat brought another pirate junk 
 into Shanghai. It had been taken after a hard 
 chase. Many of the pirates jumped overboard, 
 knowing what fate awaited them, but most were 
 picked up alive by the boats of the English vessel 
 and brought into port a hundred and fifty of 
 them. Amongst them, dressed as Chinamen, were 
 four Europeans one Irishman, two English, and 
 one French. They aimed their guns for them, 
 and were paid over one hundred and sixty dollars 
 a month. Being caught red-handed, there was 
 very little time wasted over a trial ; they were all 
 executed, the four Europeans being hung from a 
 church steeple, and the Chinamen beheaded by 
 their executioner, who with a long sword cuts off 
 three heads at once. It is the simplest arrange- 
 ment in the world : the men laid their heads on a 
 bamboo bench on this occasion placed on the 
 beach and the executioner with one blow of his 
 sword cut off the three heads at once, when 
 another three men were placed on the same spot, 
 reeking with blood, and so on until all were dead. 
 Two of the chiefs were sliced to pieces with 
 swords, the executioners cutting off ears, cheeks, 
 shoulders, arms, sides, &c., with cool deliberation. 
 It was a sickening spectacle. The pirates them- 
 selves never uttered a sound or even winced nor 
 had they been drugged, as is sometimes the case.
 
 64 BARD LIFE tit fSE COLONIES. 
 
 Their power of endurance and stoic indifference" 
 to pain is something I have never been able to 
 understand. 
 
 In the charred remains of a barque found float- 
 ing out at sea were discovered several bodies with 
 their eyes and tongues torn out, the nails pulled 
 from their fingers, and other atrocities too horrible 
 to mention. After we had been at Shanghai for 
 
 three months and a half, Captain J , finding 
 
 that there was no chance of getting a cargo here, 
 resolved to go elsewhere and seek one ; so we took 
 in stone for ballast, and a pilot to take us safely 
 out of the harbour. As we were slowly making 
 our way down the river, the Peep-o'-Day suddenly 
 struck on a sand-bank. The shock of the sudden 
 stoppage sent us all flying, the masts cracked and 
 creaked, but luckily stood firm. Orders were 
 given for all sail to be taken in at once and the 
 kedge anchors to be run out. This was done, but 
 to no purpose. Then a tug-boat was sent for; 
 even then we did not budge, although we had out 
 our lower anchor, heaving on the windlass, to help 
 the tug. All we succeeded in doing was to break 
 the hawsers ; next we tried with the cable, with 
 the same result ; then by the captain's orders we 
 gave up trying, which order struck us all as being, 
 to say the least of it, singular for this bank was 
 of quicksands. Before night the bow had sunk 
 eight or ten feet, and the stern was raised up in 
 the air at an angle of about forty-five degrees. 
 We had to hold on to the rigging going from one
 
 A VOYAGE TO CHINA. 65 
 
 end of the ship to the other, and had the pleasant 
 anticipation of being sucked in. We remained in 
 this state all night ; the next morning the captain, 
 taking the pilot with him, went to Shanghai to 
 find lighters to lighten her, which of course should 
 have been done fifteen hours before. On the 
 second day of his absence, during which time we 
 were gradually sinking, there happened a spring- 
 tide, and a tug-boat passing by, the chief mate 
 determined to make another effort to get her off. 
 Putting a cable out to the tug-boat, and attaching 
 a second to the lower anchor which we worked 
 with the 'windlass, we succeeded after some hours' 
 hard work in moving her into deep water; then 
 getting our anchors and boats aboard, were towed 
 up the river. On the way we met the captain, 
 who, instead of being pleased at his ship's having 
 been saved, got in a violent passion with the mate, 
 used the most abusive language, and finally, losing 
 all self-control, dashed him off the poop. He 
 dismissed him at Shanghai, actually daring to say 
 that the chief mate had attempted to run off with 
 his ship. It was the firm opinion of the men that 
 
 Captain J had intended to lose the vessel, 
 
 having in fact been put aboard for that purpose. 
 She had been built for a steamship, but would not 
 answer in that capacity ; finding which, her owners 
 changed her into a barque and offered her for sale 
 at the low price of 3,000, but failed to sell her ; 
 then they insured her heavily and sent her out 
 under command of Captain J , with the pro-
 
 66 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 bable understanding that she would do them more 
 service at the bottom of the sea than at the top. 
 Twice afterwards we went ashore, once on rocks 
 coining out of Hong-Kong, and the other time on 
 a sand-bank away up north near Nui-Chwang. 
 Taking a new mate on board there being no lack 
 of them ready and willing to leav.e Shanghai we 
 once more went down the river and into what is 
 called the Inner Channel on our way to Nui- 
 Chwang. It was tiresome work with a great deal 
 of tacking to do, owing to there often being land 
 on both sides. Several times we were obliged to 
 anchor at night to avoid the danger of running 
 ashore. One evening, after beating about all day, 
 we had got our anchor ready to drop in some safe 
 place, and had taken in most of the small sails, 
 when we heard firing. Bounding a point of land, 
 we saw in a little cove, where we had intended 
 anchoring, more than a dozen seven-masted pirate 
 junks, mostly riding at anchor. They were firing 
 and fighting among themselves, probably over 
 some plunder. At any rate, we were not anxious 
 to stay and find out the cause of dispute, but 
 'bouted ship at once, put on all the canvas we 
 could and fled for our lives ; for although we had 
 nothing worth their taking, they seemed just in 
 the mood to find a pleasure in the amusement of 
 murdering us and scuttling our ship. We did not 
 venture to anchor all night, every man was kept 
 under arms, with smothered lanterns, ready in 
 case of attack. I do not think any of them
 
 A VOYAGE TO CHINA. 67 
 
 followed us ; it soon got dark, and the next 
 morning we saw no more of them. 
 
 The pirates were so numerous and so powerful 
 at this time, and so many ships had been taken by 
 them and all hands murdered, that the merchant 
 captains joined together and sent a memorial to 
 the Home Government, stating that the English 
 men-o'-war and gunboats, instead of being out 
 cruising on the high seas in order to protect the 
 mercantile service, thought of nothing but keeping 
 in port and giving large balls and entertainments 
 amongst each other. Also that the man-o'-war 
 ships were so disgracefully neglected and dirty 
 that it was impossible to go up their gangways 
 without soiling one's hands. There was a great 
 row, of course, but on investigation the facts were 
 proved, and the upshot of it was that the admiral 
 was recalled, and a law passed that merchant 
 vessels going to China were to have double crews, 
 and to be fully armed. Things went better after 
 that, but as it was some time before the law could 
 be enforced, the pirates worked doubly hard I 
 suppose on the principle of making hay while the 
 sun shines. Among other affairs of note, they took 
 one of the magnificent French Havre mail-boats 
 by stratagem. As these boats were always so well 
 armed and manned, no fears had been entertained 
 of their ever being molested by pirates, but on this 
 occasion one hundred and fifty of them, dressed as 
 respectable Chinese merchants, took their passage 
 on board ostensibly to go to some Chinese port I
 
 68 HAED LIFE IN TEE COLONIES. 
 
 forget which now. In such an immense ship as 
 the Havre mail-boat, even so large a number as 
 one hundred and fifty merchants would not excite 
 notice. Directly they were in full ocean the 
 pirates took possession of the ship, killing no one 
 but the chief officer and one sailor, who offered 
 resistance. The passengers were too paralyzed 
 with terror and surprise to do anything, and the 
 crew had all been bound. Some junks came 
 alongside, and into them was transferred all the 
 specie, opium, and silks, with which the mail-boat 
 was heavily loaded. After taking everything of 
 value, the hundred and fifty respectable Chinese 
 merchants entered their junks and made off with 
 their booty. 
 
 These Chinese seas are the most curious in the 
 world. Within a radius of thirty miles one has 
 all weathers. I have seen three different vessels, 
 one having her square yards out; the second under 
 top-sails with a stiff breeze and a heavy sea; while 
 the third had all sail set in order to catch any little 
 zephyr that might reach them all three within 
 sight of each other. It was dangerous work, at 
 that time, navigating to these far northern Chinese 
 seas, not only on account of the capriciousness of 
 the weather, but also that they had not been 
 surveyed, even by the Government ships ; so the 
 pirates had it all their own way. We, however, 
 escaped ; so poor a thing as the Peep-o'-Day, having 
 no cargo on board, was evidently disdained by 
 these lordly pirates. I assure you we bore them
 
 A VOYAGE TO CHINA. G9 
 
 no ill-feeling for their contempt. After some two 
 weeks' hard work we began to near our destination. 
 A pilot was taken on board, and we crossed the 
 dangerous bar at the entrance to Nui-Chwang 
 safely ; but on working our way up the river Leao, 
 under the pilot's directions, he landed us high and 
 dry on a green field ! The land all around being 
 very low and flat, the water at this time of year 
 (winter) is on a level, and not unfrequently overflows, 
 as had happened on this occasion, making it very 
 hard to distinguish the channel. The captain got 
 into one of his furious rages again, and was only 
 restrained from pitching the pilot overboard by the 
 recollection that without him we should be in an 
 even worse plight. So he contented himself with 
 abusing him in the most violent manner, storming 
 and raving with passion till he foamed at the 
 mouth. The poor pilot, a quiet Norwegian, bore 
 all the abuse with lamb-like meekness, which only 
 
 seemed to exasperate Captain J the more, who 
 
 continued abusing him until his voice became a 
 shrill shriek, when, giving him a kick as he passed, 
 he retired to his cabin to drink. We lay all night 
 on the green field, not without anxiety, first from 
 pirates, who might take it into their heads to 
 murder us for fun, and secondly from the position 
 of the barque, as she lay well over one side. The 
 next morning we started early to lighten her of 
 some of the ballast, and with the incoming tide 
 managed to get her off and work her up under easy 
 sail into Nui-Chwang, where we anchored opposite
 
 70 HAttD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 the town if such a word could be applied to the 
 cluster of poor huts, which with a few larger and 
 better, built for the Europeans, comprised the 
 whole of it. On turning out the next morning we 
 were disagreeably surprised by finding two feet of 
 snow on the deck. After sweeping it away and 
 putting everything in order, I, amongst some 
 others, was allowed to go on shore with the 
 captain, who wanted to see his agent in order to 
 obtain some money and see about getting in a 
 cargo of small beans. There was literally nothing 
 to see but dirty huts and dirtier streets, still it is 
 one of the few Chinese ports where apples, pears, 
 and carrots can be obtained as well as sheep, and 
 is an important port ; at this time there were 
 thirteen other vessels lying there besides our own, 
 mostly English and Germans. The natives, who 
 are of the Tartar tribe, are fine well-made men, 
 most of them six feet in height, and many six feet 
 three and four. The women are equally tall, and 
 beautifully formed. They dress very warmly in a 
 sort of linen, padded with cotton* As we wan- 
 dered about they brought us different kinds of furs 
 to look at ; some were really very magnificent, 
 made into cloaks and caps and mats. After some 
 hours' wandering about we returned to the beach 
 to await the captain. Soon we beheld him in the 
 distance flying towards us, hatless and breathless, 
 with a mob of natives at his heels. As soon as he 
 reached us he gasped out, " Jump in, and pull for 
 your lives ! " We required no second bidding, sprang
 
 A VOYAGE TO CHINA. 7i 
 
 in and plied our oars with such vigour that the 
 water was dashed on all sides; showers of mud and 
 stones and sticks were pelted at us, without, how- 
 ever, doing us any harm. It transpired that some 
 
 of the natives had an inkling that Captain J 
 
 was going for money, so waited outside the agent's 
 office to meet him. Suspecting something un- 
 pleasant from their looks, and measuring the 
 distance to the beach with his eye, he took to 
 his heels the wisest thing he could do, for they 
 were half savages, and always in a state of rebel- 
 lion against the Imperial Chinese Government. 
 At this time they were commanded by a prince, 
 some relation to the Emperor, and their cause of 
 revolt was the intense dislike they had to the 
 admittance of foreigners to their country. Most 
 of the time we were there they were fighting not 
 far from Nui-Chwang, and we were lucky in leaving 
 when we did, as after-events proved to us. Having 
 got in our cargo, we and seven other vessels were 
 piloted down the river, and all fortunately crossed 
 the bar, with the exception of a Hamburg barque, 
 which stuck fast and had to be abandoned. That 
 night the five vessels left in port were taken by the 
 rebels, and all hamds murdered with unparalleled 
 atrocity. It made a great effect on us, for we 
 knew all the men personally ; the thought of the 
 tortures those poor fellows had undergone threw a 
 gloom over us for some time. But at sea, more 
 perhaps than anywhere else, there is little time for 
 retrospection; three days after the horrible tragedy,
 
 'T2 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 a terrible monsoon came on, every recurring day 
 getting more frightful. On the fourth day a 
 tremendous gust smashed the top-gallant-masts 
 as well as the top-mast-boom, bringing the whole 
 wreckage on deck with such force that the broken 
 boom went clean through the deck. For six days 
 we saw neither sun, moon, or stars, and were 
 without any knowledge of our whereabouts. We 
 could get no soundings, as it was certain destruc- 
 tion to try and bring her to, running as we were 
 under bare poles, at the mercy of the monsoon. 
 The sea was of a thick muddy colour, and the sky 
 grey and lowering; every minute we expected to 
 go on the rocks. A spare mast that was lashed 
 with chains broke loose, and was blown across the 
 deck, breaking the leg of a man, who was endea- 
 vouring, with a second seaman, to go aft, in order 
 to relieve the man at the wheel. The captain had 
 brought on board, as a private speculation, a good 
 many pigs ; these were kept in a strong wooden 
 house, and were being carefully fattened up for 
 sale. Alas for the captain, a fiercer gust than 
 usual tore the pig-house from its fastenings and 
 pitched them overboard, where we heard the poor 
 piggies' dismal squealings mingling with the roar 
 of the wind for a brief moment. Any attempt to 
 rescue them was of course out of the question ; 
 we lost the cook's galley at the same time. On 
 the seventh day it cleared a little, sufficiently to 
 take note as to where we had been driven. The 
 captain found that we were within one day's sail
 
 A VOYAGE TO CHINA. 73 
 
 of Hong-Kong, having run most of the distance 
 under bare poles. It was considered one of the 
 quickest trips ever known. One of the seven that 
 had left when we did, an English barque, went on 
 the rocks during the monsoon, was smashed to 
 pieces and all hands lost. She was seen by another 
 vessel to hang out signs of distress, but no help 
 could be given. 
 
 It was sad to think that out of the thirteen 
 vessels lying in the port of Nui-Chwang, six only 
 reached Hong-Kong, the other seven all being 
 destroyed in less than a fortnight. For ourselves, 
 we arrived at Hong-Kong without further incident. 
 It was Christmas Eve, I remember, and the men, 
 true sailor fashion, forgot the past hardships and 
 sorrows and spent Christmas Day in eating and 
 drinking. Hong-Kong is an island, a pleasant, 
 fertile, gay little place, as it is frequented by 
 vessels of all nationalities. There is a very high 
 mountain or peak, called Victoria Hill, over which 
 came twice a number of pirates and rebels from 
 the other side of the sea, entering Hong-Kong at 
 night, securing all the treasure, murdering the in- 
 habitants, and, sacking the town, left it in flames ; 
 getting away back over the mountain and into 
 their junks before the Government troops and gun- 
 boats could pursue them. 
 
 A few days after our arrival, we, with thousands 
 of people on both sides of the bay, witnessed the 
 taking of a pirate junk right in the middle of the 
 harbour. A short time previously, the watchmen
 
 74 BAUD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 on two separate ships had been found murdered, 
 the captains and mates bound in their cabins, and 
 the thieves had succeeded in escaping with the 
 cargoes and everything of value. They were dis- 
 covered through the pluck and coolness of a boy 
 not yet fifteen years old, in the following manner. 
 This lad, Hartmann, belonged to a Hamburg barque 
 then anchored in the bay. There were some 
 hundred or more vessels from all parts of the 
 world, and amongst them a great number of six 
 and seven masted junks. On the night in question, 
 it was so hot, that the boy got out of his bunk 
 about eleven o'clock, and going on deck looked about 
 for some cool place to lie down. Observing that 
 the sailor on watch was asleep, he crept forward to 
 the forecastle and coiled himself up under an old 
 sail. He had not been there long before he heard 
 sampans moving about, but as this was a common 
 occurrence he paid no heed to it. Suddenly four 
 Chinamen appeared over the bow and came up to 
 the sleeping watchman. Poor fellow, he never 
 woke again in this world, for a pirate split open his 
 skull with great dexterity, and he died before he 
 had time to utter a sound ; they then all four 
 descended into the cabin. Hartmann having 
 witnessed this scene, waited until the pirates had 
 left the deck, when he noiselessly crawled aft, 
 passed the poor murdered watchman, and having 
 let himself overboard into the water, dropped 
 quietly into the next vessel. He lost no time in 
 rousing the men to whom he told his story. Ten
 
 A VOYAGE TO CHINA. 75 
 
 minutes after a boat was manned, and they were 
 rowing as hard as they could to give information 
 first to the gunboats and then to the towns. 
 Some of the gunboats were always under steam in 
 case of an emergency ; two of them were soon hurry- 
 ing up to the scene of the murder. As soon as 
 the pirates waiting in the sampan saw the gun- 
 boats coming, they immediately knew that some- 
 how or other they were discovered. The alarm 
 was hastily given to their comrades on board the 
 barque, who, springing into the sampan, made for 
 their junks, hoping to escape. But the gunboats 
 were too quick for them, and opened fire upon them 
 as they were attempting to get away. The noise 
 of the guns had awakened all the inhabitants of 
 the various towns, who came trooping out in the 
 wildest excitement. It was brilliant moonlight, 
 and I remember being struck by the contrast 
 between the calm, lovely night, the moon flooding 
 land and ocean with almost painful glory, and the 
 scene of carnage going on below. The booming 
 of the guns, the shrieks of the wounded and dying, 
 the yells of the lookers-on, all made up a spectacle 
 not easily to be forgotten. The two gunboats 
 blazed away at the junk in grand style. Many of 
 the pirates attempted to escape by their boats, but 
 over a hundred of them were drowned by their 
 sampans capsizing. Five boats did succeed in 
 getting away from the junk, and were pulling for 
 their lives to try and gain the opposite shore, but 
 by this time the beach was crowded with spectators
 
 76 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 who fired upon them, and compelled them to turn 
 back. The two gunboats had now manned their 
 boats, and an exciting chase ensued. The firing 
 on both sides was hot and deadly. The pirates 
 were pursued for hours up and down and across 
 the bay. Finally all that had not been shot or 
 drowned were captured and soon after executed. 
 The gunboats lost only three men, although a 
 great many were wounded. Hartmann, as you 
 may imagine was made quite a hero of, and his 
 future well looked after. 
 
 The Chinese merchants are some of them ex- 
 tremely wealthy men and have no small power. 
 One of them, by name Jardine, owned a whole 
 fleet of European vessels, all his own. His riches 
 were fabulous. One of the islands in the bay was 
 almost entirely composed of his storehouses, 
 watched over by his soldiers, in a special and 
 private uniform. Captains always liked to trade 
 with him, as his teas, opium, silks, &c., were all 
 of the best, and they could therefore get higher 
 prices for them. 
 
 We only stayed at Hong-Kong long enough to 
 take in our cargo of tea and fire-crackers, after 
 which we set sail for New York. Our captain was 
 certainly one of the worst sailors I ever met with, 
 for the pilot had not left us half an hour before we 
 went ashore on the rocks. We could not suppose 
 that he had done it purposely this time, as we had 
 a tolerably valuable cargo on board. After im- 
 mense trouble we managed to get her off, and
 
 A VOYAGE TO CHINA. 77 
 
 having passed a thrumbed sail under her bottom, 
 got the services of a tug, who towed us up to 
 Whampoa, where we had to go into dry-dock for 
 repairs. It was found that she had broken a plate 
 on her starboard quarter exactly where she had 
 once been repaired before. 
 
 Whampoa is a dull little country town, built on 
 the river, and looks not unlike a government dock- 
 yard on a very small scale. The only thing worthy 
 of note seemed to be the extreme cleverness and 
 ingenuity with which the natives carried out their 
 thefts. So expert are they, that they have been 
 known to strip two or three sheets of copper off a 
 ship's bottom, although there was a boat contain- 
 ing an armed watchman both ahead and astern. 
 When the Peep-o'-Day was once more in sailing 
 order, we quickly replaced the cargo and sailed 
 down the river. One evening when we had entered 
 the China Sea, and were preparing to anchor for 
 the night, not without carefully reconnoitring as 
 
 these were dangerous parts, Captain J called 
 
 us all up, and in a nervous and somewhat lachry- 
 mose manner informed us of what we already knew, 
 viz., that we were in waters not only difficult to 
 navigate, but beset with pirates, and that it was 
 very doubtful if we should ever reach our destina- 
 tion. After this pleasing and inspiring speech, he 
 provided us with old tower-muskets and cutlasses, 
 informed us that England expected every man to do 
 his duty, and proceeded to do his by going to his 
 cabin, where, having placed two loaded revolvers
 
 78 HAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 on the table, he locked himself in, and proceeded to 
 get drunk, doubtless in order to keep up his spirits. 
 We were fully alive to the dangers we ran from 
 pirates ; every chain and rope had been carefully 
 taken in so that they could catch hold of nothing ; 
 we went about armed and with smothered lanterns. 
 About eleven o'clock on the night of the captain's 
 characteristic speech, I was on watch with another 
 man. It was a clear moonlight night, very still 
 and beautiful ; a slight breeze played around the 
 masts. We had anchored some time before, and 
 Scott and I were lazily talking on indifferent sub- 
 jects, when suddenly, without changing his voice, 
 he nudged me, and stealthily pointed to leeward. 
 There were six pirate boats dropping down on us. 
 We gave the alarm, and as soon as the boats were 
 abreast of us we fired into them, both Scott and 
 I killed our man. The rest of the crew now joined 
 us, and helped to make it hot for the enemy, who, 
 finding they were getting the worst of it, tried to 
 regain their ship. Unfortunately for them, they 
 got into a strong current which swept them down 
 in an opposite direction. Suddenly, to our great 
 surprise, they abandoned all attempt to reach their 
 ship or to disable us, and pulled off in the direction 
 of land with all their might. Looking ahead of 
 us we saw two Chinese Government Mandarin 
 boats coming down in grand style, each having 
 fifty men at the oars. They commenced firing at 
 the pirate boats without delay, killing many, and 
 pursuing them towards land. On nearing it,
 
 A VOYAGE TO CHINA. 79 
 
 many of the pirates jumped overboard and swam 
 for shore, but most were killed before reaching it. 
 Those who did succeed in landing ran for shelter 
 to the paddy (rice) fields, but the Mandarin boats 
 sent men out to set fire to the rice. The scene 
 was awful and grand in the extreme, the flames ran 
 along the ground with fearful rapidity, burning many 
 of the poor wretches before they could escape. 
 Horrible as the death was, it was doubtless merci- 
 ful compared to what the few who were captured 
 underwent afterwards. Daylight began before the 
 scene of carnage was over, nor did we wait to see 
 the end of it, but, weighing anchor, proceeded on 
 our way. Some days passed on, and we were well 
 out at sea when one day two pirate junks were 
 seen waiting to interview us, one at each bow. To 
 
 our astonishment and relief, Captain J showed 
 
 no little pluck and cleverness. Having crowded 
 on all sail, he hoisted the English ensign, and 
 loaded the two guns, and a breeze springing up in 
 our favour, he ordered us to stretch up as if we 
 were going to tackle one of the enemy. The 
 Peep-o'-Day, having been so lately repaired, sailed 
 fairly well ; half-way towards the first junk we 
 squared away as if to attack the second, by which 
 manoeuvre we got a good start of them, and 
 managed to keep it, as the wind was with us, but 
 against them as they tried to close on us. -We gave 
 the last fellow one of our big guns, damaging him 
 pretty badly to judge by the crash of timbers, and 
 the fact that they neither returned the compliment
 
 80 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 or attempted to continue the pursuit. These were 
 the last pirates we saw. We were now in the 
 Malay Archipelago, and pirates seldom if ever 
 venture so far, so the captain took in his flag and 
 breathed freely once more. He was in such high 
 good-humour at the result of his stratagem that he 
 ordered a grog for all the crew, and himself got 
 gloriously drunk. It was here that I saw a very 
 fine lunar rainbow of a pale yellow colour ; it lasted 
 some time, and had a singular and most beautiful 
 effect. 
 
 Nothing of importance or interest happened 
 until we were nearing St. Helena. Although we 
 were on the look-out for the island, we had no idea 
 that we were so close to it : the first intimation we 
 had was the look-out man shouting " Land a-head," 
 and then we could plainly hear the roar of the surf, 
 and see right in front of us, looming up through 
 the mist, a very high peak of land. Most vessels 
 land there, and we fully expected to do so, the 
 more so as both the captain and second mate were 
 suffering from fever and ague. But orders were 
 given to ease away at once, and we continued our 
 voyage for three days more, when we sighted As- 
 cension Island, and after a few hours anchored out- 
 side some of the most beautiful coral reefs I ever 
 saw. Having got out a boat, we took the captain and 
 second mate ashore to try the effect of change of 
 air. Whether from that, or any other cause, they 
 both rapidly recovered. It is not often vessels stop 
 here ; they mostly call at St. Helena. But this is
 
 A VOYAGE TO (JHttfA. 81 
 
 a beautiful island, where the people seemed to lead 
 a peaceful, not to say lazy, life. On the long, low, 
 level beach many turtles came to lay their eggs ; 
 we were lucky to arrive just in the season and had 
 a real feast of turtle eggs and some turtles too ; 
 but they are sent to all parts of the world. The 
 Government men appeared to have nothing to do 
 but turn over the turtles when they had caught 
 them. We succeeded in catching some very fine 
 specimens of the flying-fish ; one or two measured 
 over two feet long, and had four pairs of wings. 
 It was a pretty sight to see them skimming above 
 the water, seemingly rejoicing in their double 
 power of flying and swimming. 
 
 We stayed only a very short time here, as the 
 captain was in a hurry to get to New York. So 
 one fine morning we set sail and went on ; the 
 weather was very favourable, the men all well, and 
 Captain J - satisfied, as he had got a clean bill 
 of health from Ascension Island. I do not re- 
 member anything especially worthy of note ; I am 
 sorry I was not a better observer in those days. 
 Sailors see so many wonderful and extraordinary 
 sights, that they are astonished at nothing. But 
 to return to. my narrative. As soon as we neared 
 New York we signalled for a pilot, who, coming on 
 board, sailed us up the East River in fine style. 
 The scenery was beautiful and the buildings gigantic 
 in size and magnificent in form. We anchored in 
 the stream off East Eiver, and before we could get 
 on shore experienced a sand-storm. Cloud after
 
 82 HARD LIFE IN T&E COLONIES. 
 
 cloud of sand came swooping down from the land 
 in immense columns, driving everything before 
 them. The decks were soon deserted, for the 
 sand cuts like a knife. It lasted an hour or more, 
 blowing with terrible violence ; when it was ended 
 there were some inches of fine gritty sand on 
 everything. After the storm was over we went to 
 our pier, No. 46, in the North Eiver, and on the 
 way, short though the distance was, were nearly 
 all killed, which shows that as much danger lies 
 near the shore as in mid-ocean. It was full tide, 
 and a steamer full of passengers came steaming 
 right down upon us. Before we could get out of 
 her way, or she out of ours, she struck us with 
 great violence in the bow. She did us very little 
 damage considering the force with which she came 
 upon us. Had she struck us amidship, as she was 
 pointed, she would have cut us in two without the 
 smallest doubt ; as it was, the man at the wheel 
 had time to sheer her off a little, with the above 
 result. She carried away our flying-jib-boom and 
 fore-top-gallant-mast, which was nothing compared 
 to the damage she did herself, for the collision 
 made a clean sweep of her. All the starboard rig- 
 ging, davits, boats, masts, and funnel were torn off 
 with a fearful crash. The passengers all crowded 
 to see what was the matter, and a waiter coming 
 out of the saloon was so terrified that he jumped 
 overboard, and no one having time to look after 
 him, he was drowned. The man at the wheel was 
 killed by a blow from one of the falling masts, but
 
 A VOYAGE TO CHINA* 88 
 
 beyond those two deaths there were no fatal acci* 
 dents, which, considering the gravity of the disaster, 
 was really marvellous. The steamer did not stop 
 or even turn back, but continued her way, and we 
 
 soon lost sight of her. Captain J got a new 
 
 foremast and jib-boom out of the steamer's com- 
 pany, though he had no earthly right to demand it, 
 there being no injury to life that had happened to 
 any one on board the Peep-o'-Day. But he asked 
 for it, they gave it to him, and he was immensely 
 elated at what he called a good stroke of business. 
 There was no little excitement in the harbour 
 at the departure of the Red, White and Blue, a 
 small boat of only three tons burden which sailed 
 from New York to cross the Atlantic. She was a 
 lovely thing, but like a toy, being fully rigged like 
 a large vessel, and sailed down the river with her 
 three top-sails set amidst such cheers and thunders 
 of applause as had rarely been heard. Every one 
 knows how the gallant little craft made the voyage 
 in safety and was afterwards exhibited at the 
 Paris Exhibition. The life and traffic on North 
 Elver were something tremendous ; everything was 
 on such an enormous scale. The warehouses 
 covered immense pieces of ground, and so close to 
 the water's edge that many of the jib-booms of 
 ships anchored there, touched the windows and 
 roofs. The river itself teemed with vessels of 
 every sort, size, description and nationality, 
 Floating mills carry on their work as though on 
 shore, and the beautiful Mississippi passenger boats
 
 84 BAUD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 come steaming grandly along looking like some 
 huge mass of white buildings floating on the water. 
 But New York is too well known nowadays to 
 need any description. At the time I am writing 
 of, the American war had just ended, and the 
 whole country was in a most unsettled state. 
 There was literally no law at all, except the law 
 that Eight is Might, by which the weakest of 
 course went to the wall. It was not safe to go out 
 with a decent coat on any man doing so ran a 
 good chance of being assaulted and robbed of it, 
 and might think himself lucky if he escaped with 
 his life. I have seen German policemen shot 
 down in the open streets in broad daylight by the 
 free negroes and Irish roughs, and no notice taken 
 of it, the dead bodies simply carried away and a 
 double number of men put in their place. I have 
 seen a whole cargo of splendid wines from France 
 broken into by a gang of these roughs, who would 
 tap various barrels, and if they were not to their 
 taste would let the wine run away while they tapped 
 another cask. And the policemen dared not inter- 
 fere indeed they took good care to be out of the 
 way, for a policeman's life was not worth a breath. 
 I have seen a carpenter, for refusing to lend some 
 of his tools to some negroes for the purpose of 
 opening a brandy cask, seized by four of these 
 fiends, who tied a rope under his armpits, threw 
 him overboard, and dragged him up and down in 
 the water until he was dead. No one interfered, 
 the negroes had it all their own way in those days,
 
 A VOYAGE TO CHINA. 85 
 
 I have seen a dozen or so of these tall, lanky 
 blacks come down to the wharves where the cotton 
 bales were discharging, and sitting on them pick a 
 hole and begin stuffing the cotton into their big, 
 long calico coats and loose trousers until they 
 swelled out like giants, when they would walk 
 away unmolested by the public. Why should they 
 interfere ? it was not their business. They have 
 even been known to bring down a large dray with 
 two horses, pile it up with cotton, and coolly drive 
 off with the load into the city, where they sold it, 
 nobody venturing to ask how they came by it. 
 But their favourite mode of proceeding was to take 
 a boat alongside the wharf just underneath where 
 the bales were placed, and to fill their boat with 
 cotton, which they would land a little further 
 down the same wharf, some returning for more, 
 while others carried what was landed into the city. 
 Every vessel had a well-armed watchman, but 
 they were frequently overpowered and murdered, 
 and it was an every evening's occurrence to hear 
 an interchange of pistol and rifle shots going on in 
 the harbour and on the wharf. In the city things 
 were not much better; every gentleman's residence 
 was guarded by ten or twelve watchmen, and no 
 one ventured out unarmed. Murders were as 
 common as paving-stones, and although in many 
 cases the criminals were caught red-handed, the 
 magistrates dared not hang them, or their own 
 lives would not have been worth an hour's pur- 
 chase. It was a terrible state of things, so much
 
 80 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 misery and crime in the midst of so much magnifi- 
 cence and grandeur. I was walking about the 
 wharf one day and went up to a fruit-stall to buy 
 some fruit. The old lady hearing I had been to 
 China, had in fact just come from there, anxiously 
 asked me if I had not met her son, who was some- 
 where there. When I informed her that I had not 
 had that pleasure she expressed much astonishment 
 and surprise, and evidently suspected that for some 
 dark reason of my own I was not telling her the 
 truth. She kept looking at me askance and re- 
 peating, " Bin to Chinny and not seen my Tom ! 
 Wall, I guess I never heard anything like that ; " 
 and all my explanations failed to convince her 
 that it was anything but most unheard-of on my 
 part not to have met him, to say nothing of my 
 bad taste. I could never get her to accept any of 
 the friendly advances I made her, and I should 
 not be surprised if at the bottom of her heart she 
 did not suspect me of doing away somehow or other 
 with her Tom. Poor old soul, it was very probable 
 that her son had fallen a victim either to dysentery 
 or the pirates. 
 
 Having discharged our cargo, we prepared to 
 go over to New Jersey to take in petroleum for 
 England ; but the night before we anchored there, 
 a most frightful conflagration took place. Hundreds 
 and hundreds of barrels of oil were consumed, the 
 whole wharf destroyed, and half the lower part 
 of the town. Many ships were burnt at their 
 moorings, and the water-police having cut away
 
 A VOYAGE TO CHINA. 87 
 
 some of these burning vessels, they floated down 
 the stream, getting entangled with others and 
 setting them also on fire. Quantities of river boats 
 or lighters, full of raw crude oil, took fire, they 
 had families of women and children on board whom 
 it was impossible to rescue. It was an appalling 
 and heartrending sight to see the poor creatures 
 running from side to side imploring help, with 
 little babes in their arms and young children at 
 their skirts. It was impossible to get anywhere 
 near them, for the stream was one sheet of 
 devouring flame. The shrieks of the dying and 
 screams of the women rose above the roar of the 
 fire. God grant I may never witness anything so 
 fearful in my life again. Several people went mad 
 with the sight, and strong men sickened and fainted. 
 The oil burnt on the water almost as well as on 
 land, and in both places burnt with such fury 
 and power that the people almost gave up trying 
 to save any one or anything, it seemed so hopeless. 
 This oil is almost as dangerous as gunpowder, yet 
 these families fetch it down from up-country in 
 open boats, along canals, drawn by horses doing 
 all their cooking with careless indifference to, or 
 ignorance of, the awful danger they run. This fire 
 delayed us some weeks in procuring our cargo. 
 The crew were so terrified at the disaster that they 
 felt inclined to cut and run when they knew that 
 the captain intended to ship petroleum, but having 
 been out over two years on this voyage, they had a 
 good deal of money due to them, and thought
 
 88 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 better of it, all but two who gave us the slip the 
 day before we sailed. 
 
 There was a brig called the Telegraph that 
 had sailed with us from England, had followed us 
 all over China and now to New York, getting 
 the same cargoes and passing through the same 
 dangers. We had become quite friendly, and 
 always hailed each other like old acquaintances. 
 She now loaded with petroleum the same as we 
 did. The strictest orders were given about 
 smoking, it being absolutely prohibited; and the 
 cook did all his business ashore, for if a spark had 
 touched the escaping gas, it would have blown us 
 all into eternity in less than a minute. The casks 
 of oil were most carefully stowed, trestles being 
 placed under each one to keep them in place, and 
 to prevent the upper casks from pressing on the 
 lower ones, which might open the seams, and the 
 oil escaping, the vessel would become top-heavy 
 and she would run a good chance of capsizing. 
 The captain of the Telegraph laughed at our extra 
 care ; he had not stowed his oil away with such 
 precautions, and was thus enabled to set out on 
 the homeward journey a day before we did, but he 
 must bitterly have repented of his carelessness 
 before many days were over. He dined with 
 Captain J - the day he left, a fine, big, good- 
 natured Cornishman. " Good-bye ; we shall be 
 home before you," he cried from his boat as his 
 men pulled him to his brig. They were, but not 
 the home he meant,
 
 A VOYAGE TO CHINA. 89 
 
 The day after the Telegraph left, we were towed 
 down the river, and set sail for England. That 
 cargo was the bane of our lives ; it was like working- 
 over a powder magazine the whole way. Once 
 we sighted the Telegraph and signalled greetings. 
 Soon after an easterly gale came on, and the Peep- 
 o'-Day plunged and tossed, and we were all in a 
 panic about the oil, but, thanks to the trestles, the 
 casks stood firm ; on examination when the gale 
 was over, we found all safe and in order. We were 
 sailing along smoothly and comfortably, when the 
 " look-out " sighted an object ; we steered towards 
 it, and saw to our sorrow that it was our old friend 
 the Telegraph floating bottom upwards. She had 
 evidently become top-heavy during the gale, from 
 the bad stowage of her cargo, capsized and all 
 hands lost. We continued our way, saddened and 
 depressed for a time, but recovered as we neared 
 England. We made the voyage in thirty-six days, 
 but it took us twenty-one to beat up Channel in the 
 teeth of an easterly wind, but finally we had the 
 felicity of anchoring off Gravesend, and soon after 
 were towed into the St. Catherine's Docks. Pay 
 day came in due course, where our estimable 
 friend Captain J 's last meanness was ex- 
 posed. Most of the crew being unable to write, I 
 had done so for them and they had then been de- 
 livered to the captain for postage, for which he 
 charged when paying them off. But several of them 
 soon found out from their wives and sweethearts 
 that he had never stamped them, and they hacl
 
 90 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES, 
 
 been obliged to pay double postage. I don't know 
 how it ended, I left them disputing about it, but I 
 think never did a captain and his crew part with 
 
 less cordiality than did Captain J and his men. 
 
 For my part I saw no more of Captain J , nor 
 
 have I ever heard what became of him,
 
 VOYAGES TO MELBOURNE AND 
 CALCUTTA. 
 
 TU7HEN I was quite a youngster, I started with 
 VV two other middies on board one of Money 
 Wigram's ships, the Yorkshire. She was a fine 
 vessel, half clipper, half frigate, but so beautifully 
 built and proportioned that it was a real pleasure 
 to see her on the water. We left from Plymouth, 
 where we took in passengers, and then sailed on 
 for Melbourne. Money Wigram's ships go no- 
 where but from London to Melbourne and back. 
 The wind being in our favour we got on splendidly 
 for several days, and the first exciting thing that 
 happened was the madness of one of the crew, 
 who became suddenly and violently insane. He 
 was half-Italian, half-Irish, a bad mixture at any 
 time, and aggravated in this case by the fact that 
 the man suffered from chronic neuralgia. When 
 the pain was on, he would sit, with his two hands 
 pressed to his head, glaring before him. If any 
 one came near to offer consolation or suggest 
 remedies, he would answer, without moving or 
 even turning his.eyes, "Don't pity me; if you 
 value your life, don't pity me." The surgeon took 
 him in hand, and seemed at first to have sue*
 
 92 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 ceeded in alleviating the pain, but one day when 
 no one thought anything more about him, he 
 suddenly jumped on to the poop with a dagger in 
 one hand and a Bible in the other. Seeing what 
 had happened, the captain and surgeon tried to 
 coax him down, as many lady passengers were 
 about. But in vain ; the unfortunate man began 
 to preach a really powerful sermon on the sin and 
 sorrow in the world, and offered to stab to the 
 heart every one on board, that they might be freed 
 from the torment of living. Some of the ladies 
 were nearly frightened into fits, particularly when, 
 discarding his Bible, he began to dance a jig, 
 waving his dagger about wildly. The mate crept 
 up the rigging behind him while the surgeon 
 drew the madman's attention to himself and 
 threw a bow-line over him, by which he was 
 secured and confined. The poor fellow never re- 
 covered; he was placed in a lunatic asylum at 
 Melbourne, and, I believe, died soon after his 
 entrance. 
 
 Neptune came on board at the Line, but it is 
 needless to describe so well known a ceremony. 
 When we were a month out, the " Dead Horse 
 Night " was celebrated, a singular and curious 
 scene of great interest. An animal in the shape 
 of a horse is rigged up by sewing sacks together 
 and stuffing them with straw. The whole is 
 covered with brown blankets, tail and ears not 
 being forgotten. One of the seamen personates 
 an old farmer, and is dressed in character. Two
 
 VOYAGES TO MELBOURNE AND CALCUTTA. 93 
 
 farm labourers attend him, to assist in reining- 
 in the fiery steed. Everything being ready, the 
 horse is drawn three times around the main-deck 
 by the two farm boys with innumerable " whoas " 
 and sundry blows over the head with thick sticks. 
 The old farmer is on his back, and it requires no 
 small skill to keep his equilibrium, so prodigious 
 are the bounds of the fierce animal. . The sailors 
 follow, singing dolefully : 
 
 "Oh, poor old man ! 
 
 Your horse will die, 
 And I say so, and I hope so ! 
 
 Oh, poor old man, 
 
 Your horse will die 1 " 
 
 After the third round he is brought to a standstill 
 on the quarter-deck, where all the passengers and 
 crew are collected, and put up to auction. After 
 some spirited bargaining it is knocked down to the 
 highest bidder. A dark night is generally chosen 
 for this performance as it heightens the effect of 
 the " death of the horse." The chief officer gets 
 into one of the quarter-boats and sets fire to a 
 quantity of blue lights, which burn with ghastly 
 effect in the blackness of the night. A tackle is 
 then fastened to the horse, and he is slowly hoisted 
 over the ship's side, away out to the yard-arm, 
 with a sailor on his back. All the other sailors 
 follow, singing their mournful ditty. As soon as 
 the yard-arm is reached, the mounted sailor cuts 
 away the " dead horse " from under him. It looks
 
 94 SARD LtVE Itf T&E COLONIES. 
 
 a frightfully perilous position by the glare of the 1 
 blue lights, the man is seen suspended in mid-air, 
 over the black waters, with no apparent support, 
 not even a rope to cling to. As soon as the sea 
 receives the " dead horse," the sailor, with cat-like 
 ease, comes on deck, when the passengers gene- 
 rally make up a purse for the crew, which is pre- 
 sented to the old farmer by the highest bidder at 
 the time of knocking down. The meaning of this 
 ceremony is as follows : Sailors, as a rule, obtain a 
 month's pay in advance before joining their ships, 
 therefore they are working the whole of the first 
 month for nothing. Drowning the " dead horse " 
 is in token that they have done with that money- 
 less month, and are now beginning to work for 
 pay. 
 
 Soon after the " dead horse " ceremony we had 
 a birth on board, a woman among the steerage 
 passengers. Every one made a great deal of her 
 and the baby, who was really a jolly little chap 
 by the time we reached Melbourne. A young 
 married couple had come aboard at Gravesend; 
 they were the most loving pair I ever saw one 
 always came across them cuddled close together 
 in some little sheltered nook. The young man 
 looked delicate, but every one was surprised and 
 shocked at hearing one morning that he was 
 sinking fast, and could not live out the day. He 
 died the same evening, and the next day was 
 buried. I never saw anything so heart-breaking 
 as the expression on the face of the poor little wife
 
 VOYAGES TO MELBOURNE AND CALCUTTA. 05 
 
 during the reading of the burial service. She 
 looked from one face to the other with utter 
 bewilderment, but when the sailors lifted up the 
 body to put overboard, she gave a cry like a wild 
 animal and had to be dragged away by force. 
 Every one was very kind to her, but she seemed 
 to care for nothing, and it was pitiable to see her 
 sitting alone day after day in the little nooks that 
 they used to be in together. We brought her 
 back with us on our return trip, the captain giving 
 her a free passage. Another sad death occurred 
 after we had arrived in Hobson's Bay. A lady 
 going out to join her husband had been sea-sick 
 the whole voyage, and was reduced to such a state 
 of weakness that she was carried on deck to meet 
 her husband, who had come in a boat to take her 
 to his own large steamship, to which he had just 
 been promoted. We saw a little commotion and 
 confusion, and were horrified to hear that she had 
 died in her husband's arms before they had spoken 
 a word to each other. 
 
 We went on to the Canary Isles. When we 
 were some distance off, long before we could see 
 land, we witnessed a splendid mirage of the country. 
 It was the best optical atmospheric illusion I ever 
 saw, the shore, the trees, and the city with the 
 houses clearly defined. It was difficult to believe 
 but that up there in the sky this wondrous country 
 was not really fixed. We landed at the Isles to 
 take in bullocks, as we had run short of beef, 
 Funny little fellows they were, not larger than a
 
 96 BAUD Ll$E IN T&E COLON IE S> 
 
 good-sized English sheep, some even not biggei 4 
 than a dog. They were most delicious eating, 
 being tender and juicy, and much appreciated by 
 the passengers. A large quantity of ducks were 
 obtained here, and the captain, a good-hearted 
 man, thinking to give the sailors a treat, ordered 
 ducks for them all ; but his well-meant kindness 
 was a failure, for they only growled, wanting to 
 know " Who ever heard of ducks without green 
 peas ? " and this hundreds of miles from any land. 
 I only know we middies rejoiced in them, and soon 
 put ourselves outside a duck apiece, with infinite 
 satisfaction. Sailors are proverbial grumblers 
 about trifles, though it must be allowed that they 
 will put up with terrible hardships when necessary, 
 without a murmur. 
 
 One morning whilst I was assisting the sail- 
 maker, who was doing some repairs to the mizzen- 
 royal-sail, I was watching the passengers on the 
 deck instead of attending to the instructions being 
 given to me, when a sudden lurch of the ship shot 
 me clean off my airy seat, and I fell, striking the 
 shrouds, rebounding from that straight into the 
 sea. The man at the wheel, who saw this involun- 
 tary gymnastic performance, had the wit and sang- 
 froid to throw over to me the main-brace, which, 
 directly I came up from my plunge, I grabbed hold 
 of and hung on to for grim life. It was a horrible 
 experience. I was nearly dragged to pieces before 
 he could haul me up, as he was obliged first to stop 
 the vessel. One moment I felt I must give way,
 
 VOYAGES TO MELBOUBNE AND CALCUTTA. 97 
 
 the strain was so great, and my hands were all 
 torn and bleeding, but the cry " Man overboard ! " 
 had brought many willing hands, and I was finally 
 deposited on deck, where I fainted like a woman, 
 much to my after disgust, as it served as an end- 
 less source of amusement to the other middies, 
 who were never tired of teazing me about it ; the 
 more so as some of the lady passengers took me up 
 and made a good deal of me, one attending to my 
 torn paws like a true sister of mercy. The hang- 
 ing on to the main-brace was, however, no easy 
 thing to do. I saw a man drowned in that way on 
 one of my after voyages to India. He held on 
 bravely for a while, but before we could rescue him 
 he shouted out, " Good-bye, mates," let go, and 
 was sucked under the vessel. We were going, as 
 in my case, at a speed of fifteen miles an hour. 
 This happened a short time before entering Port 
 Phillip, where it was put out of my head by a catch 
 of very fine horse mackerel. They were a great 
 treat to every one. On board a vessel, particularly 
 when on a long voyage, every trifle assumes 
 immense proportions. Having entered Port 
 Phillip Heads, we signalled for a pilot, and soon a 
 tug-boat with the pilot on board of her came along- 
 side and towed us into Sandridge Pier, a very 
 fine piece of work, some seven or eight miles from 
 the city of Melbourne. No ships can go nearer, 
 although the river Yarra-Yarra runs into the midst 
 of the town, as the water is so shallow that only 
 barges and small boats can ply up and down. The 
 
 8
 
 98 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 city of Melbourne is too well known to need 
 description. Its Houses of Parliament, Post 
 Offices, Town Hall, and Parks are not to be sur- 
 passed in any of the great European cities. We 
 stayed here three weeks when taking in our stores, 
 freight, and passengers, were towed out to the 
 Heads, and set sail for England. The poor little 
 widow continued to seek out the nooks where she 
 and her husband used to be together, and did not 
 seem at all able to get over her grief. We had 
 favourable weather, and no accidents of any sort, 
 nor any encounters of interest until we neared 
 Cape Horn. Here we came to immense fields of 
 ice and tremendous icebergs. These vast moun- 
 tains of floating ice are wonderfully beautiful, and 
 of every fantastic shape ; cathedrals, palaces, old 
 ruins, giants and forests. Picturesque, indeed, 
 but terribly dangerous, and requiring most careful 
 navigation to avoid striking against them, par- 
 ticularly during the night. Nevertheless our 
 captain kept his ship going ahead under double- 
 reefed top-sails, although we passed several vessels 
 who were anchored, fearing to be run down, or 
 otherwise damaged by these icebergs. The cold 
 was most intense, the hail coming down some- 
 times with such force as to cut the flesh like a 
 knife. Often at night all hands would be called 
 up to shorten sail. It was really horrible to leave 
 the warm bunk and go up on deck. Every man 
 was given a " tot " of raw Jamaica rum, 11 above 
 proof, and having tossed that down went out to
 
 VOYAGES TO MELBOURNE AND CALCUTTA. 99 
 
 the rigging. It being wire rigging, and covered 
 with a thick coating of ice, acted almost like an 
 electric machine when yon touched it. On you 
 go up aloft, tumbling one over the other in the 
 dense darkness, and having got over the tops reach 
 the yards and lay out to gather up the sail, tearing 
 off your finger nails in the endeavour to haul in 
 the frozen sails bellying out every minute in the 
 furious gale of wind and hail. I have seen great, 
 bearded men sit in the tops so benumbed with the 
 cold that other sailors, not being able to see them, 
 would trample on them in the dark without their 
 having either the energy or strength to resist or 
 move out of the way. The Yorkshire was so 
 strained going round the Horn on this voyage, 
 that we were at the pumps the whole way to 
 England. 
 
 A very sad occurrence took place a week or so 
 before we sailed into England. One of the lady 
 passengers in the second cabin had a handsome 
 little boy about four or five years. He was a great 
 pet with all on board with all classes, he was taken 
 ill and, after a two days' illness, died. Every one 
 felt for the parents ; it was an only child, and 
 they were taking him home to show their people, 
 who were farmers in Cumberland, I believe. The 
 carpenter made a little wooden box, full of holes, 
 so that the water might rush in and sink it. The 
 captain read the burial service, which seems so 
 impressive at sea, and I am sure there was not a 
 dry eye on board. The service ended, the body
 
 100 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 was tilted over the side of the vessel on a plank, 
 when, instead of sinking immediately, it floated. 
 A large shark that had he en following us ever 
 since little Frank's illness indeed they always do 
 when any one is going to die suddenly attacked 
 the hox, smashed it open, tore the child out, and 
 ate it before the eyes of the mother and father. 
 Her maddened, agonized shrieks were heart- 
 rending, and it was impossible to tear her from 
 the spot. Her husband, white and shaking from 
 agitation, tried to calm her, but in vain ; she tried 
 to jump overboard, and was for the time quite 
 insane, although she ultimately recovered her 
 senses. It was a most painful scene, and threw 
 a gloom over the whole of us, which lasted until 
 we reached England again. 
 
 After two more voyages to Melbourne in the 
 Yorkshire, I joined the Enterprise as third officer, 
 then going to Calcutta. Most of our saloon 
 passengers were officers going to join their 
 respective regiments in different parts of India ; 
 many of them had their wives with them. They 
 were a gay lot, up to every fun and mischief, 
 dressing up like a lot of school-boys, and playing 
 tricks that would not have disgraced a monkey 
 colony. But some theatricals they got up were 
 very successful and entertaining, and they certainly 
 kept us all alive. We were racing another East 
 Indiaman, the Punjab, all the voyage, and many 
 were the bets made as to which vessel would run 
 in to Calcutta first, Every man, woman, and
 
 VOYAGES TO MELBOURNE AND CALCUTTA, loi 
 
 child on board took a keen interest in the race, 
 and discussed it with a gravity and sometimes 
 warmth worthy of a better cause. I may mention 
 here that we had the felicity of beating the Punjab 
 by six hours, and the joy was as great as though 
 we had won a mighty victory. 
 
 A curious incident occurred after we had been 
 out a couple of weeks. One night as we were 
 running under full sail with a favourable wind, 
 the fore-mast, suddenly and without the smallest 
 warning, sank fully four inches, and was conse- 
 quently in considerable danger of going overboard, 
 as it loosened all the rigging with it. Every 
 seaman was called up at once to take in sail and 
 set up the rigging, which was not accomplished 
 until midday. The delay caused by this accident 
 enabled the Punjab to pass us, but we soon got up 
 to her again, and used to sight her at intervals of 
 two or three weeks. It was discovered that the 
 famous mast had never been properly "sent 
 home " into the keelstone by the riggers, and the 
 heavy rolling had displaced it. However, as it 
 happened, no great damage was done, though it 
 might have proved a most serious business. This 
 voyage was almost without incident or accident of 
 any sort. A shark or two caught, a small storm 
 now and then, or a calm, was all that marked our 
 days, and but for the officers and the constant look- 
 out for the Punjab, would have been almost un- 
 bearably monotonous. In due course we arrived 
 off Garden Beach, which is the entrance to the
 
 io2 BARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 river Ganges going up to Calcutta. There is a 
 most dangerous sand-bar here, the terror of every 
 seaman whose ship has to pass it, for should a 
 vessel touch it, no matter how large she may be, 
 she rolls over and over helplessly and disappears, 
 generally with all her crew. The pilot who came 
 to bring us over this danger was the only man 
 saved from a large ship that had touched this spot, 
 all his companions and the ship being drawn in by 
 the fatal bar and lost. 
 
 Pilots in India are the most stuck-up fellows in 
 the world. No one and nothing is grand enough 
 for them. They come on board dressed in the 
 finest of white linen, or broad-cloth, with three 
 servants, two leadsmen, two helmsmen, and a 
 couple of huge trunks of clothes. They receive 
 splendid pay, sometimes more than 3,000 a year. 
 They serve a seven years' apprenticeship as leads- 
 men, and work gradually on to mates, and lastly 
 masters. When they get old or disabled they 
 retire on a pension. On this occasion, having 
 received our imperial and imperious master on 
 board for the captain becomes a nonentity as 
 soon as the pilot takes command we set off to 
 work our way up the Ganges to Calcutta a very 
 ticklish piece of work, as the river is so tortuous. 
 Although not so long as the Yan-tsze-kiang in 
 China, the Ganges is a decent length, being 1,570 
 English miles, and is far more beautiful than the 
 Chinese river. But it is exceedingly dangerous 
 not only on account of its frequent twistings and
 
 VOYAGES TO MELBOUENE AND CALCUTTA. 103 
 
 turnings, but because of its great narrowness in 
 some parts, and the force of its current in various 
 places. Most of the way up the carpenter, by the 
 pilot's order, stood ready with his axe to cut the 
 hawser if a current should take us and drive us 
 down on the tug-boat. We went along very 
 cautiously, under sail, the tug-boat keeping well 
 ahead, and we were all employed trimming sails 
 the whole way up. The scenery was most 
 beautiful and varied, gorgeous as only an Eastern 
 country can be. Now and then we passed a palace 
 belonging to some king or native prince, magnifi- 
 cent in structure and immense in size. Each end 
 of the piazza was guarded, one by a Bengal tiger, 
 the other by a lion, in sign of the kingly rank. 
 They were enclosed in large stone cages with iron 
 bars, and we passed one so closely that we threw 
 in a biscuit to the royal beast, which he was too 
 grand to touch, at least while we were looking at 
 him, but lay with his great paws crossed and his 
 grand head raised, looking down the river with 
 proud, mournful eyes. The tiger was running 
 up and down his cage, for reasons of digestion 
 probably, as the mangled remains of some four- 
 footed animals showed that he had just finished 
 his dinner. 
 
 We were two days before we sighted the city of 
 Calcutta. It is situated on the right-hand side 
 as you go up the river, and looks wonderfully 
 imposing and grand. The manner of mooring 
 ships here is very strange. They lay six in a row,
 
 104 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 right in front of the city ; each vessel drops her 
 anchor into the stream, and then pays out cable 
 until she is hauled into her place by the side of a 
 vessel, to which they then proceed to fasten her 
 by hawsers. One after another is so fastened until 
 the six are complete, and then another six are 
 arranged in the same way, and so on with all 
 vessels that come into port. This is done for two 
 reasons: firstly, to enable a vessel to haul out 
 easily when she has her cargo on board; and 
 secondly, that she might free herself quickly 
 should a " bore " (large wave) happen suddenly 
 to come along. We had that pleasure two days 
 after our arrival, and an awful and wonderful sight 
 it was, and fearful destruction and loss of life and 
 property it occasioned. 
 
 Great excitement prevailed directly the " bore " 
 was seen far in the distance, coming up the river. 
 It consists of a tremendous huge wave from twenty 
 to thirty feet in height, which comes rolling up 
 over the top of the other waves and water, and 
 sweeps everything before it with resistless force. 
 All the ships looked well to their fastenings, that 
 they might ease out without danger ; boats and 
 sampans made for the middle of the stream, their 
 occupants yelling and shouting in the wildest 
 terror. It is much safer for small boats to meet 
 the bore out in the middle than near land, where 
 they run a good chance of being dashed to pieces, 
 or sent flying along at lightning speed for a 
 distance of sometimes a thousand yards. It
 
 VOYAGES TO MELBOURNE AND CALCUTTA. 105 
 
 made one feel the powerlessness of man when 
 placed in opposition to any freak of nature. Take 
 what care you may, protect yourself as you will 
 with all knowledge science has put at your 
 disposal, build your houses and enlarge your 
 stores, work for years, spending all your strength, 
 arrive at the summit of your highest hopes, and 
 feel safe for the future, but you have forgotten 
 Dame Nature, and one little playful trick of hers 
 upsets all your calculations, ruins your property, 
 and reduces you to despair. Watching this 
 gigantic wave coining swiftly onward, sweeping 
 all before it, cruel as the grave, resistless as death, 
 I had a curious sensation that I stood alone 
 watching the destruction of some world. I was 
 at the time ashore in the officers' quarters of the 
 Sailors' Home, and looked on from the verandah 
 of that building. Away to the right was a long 
 neck of land jutting out into the river, covered 
 with houses, huts, gardens and fields, inhabited by 
 both Europeans and natives. On came the wave, 
 silently, swiftly, deadly, swept over it, and went 
 on, carrying with it land, houses, huts, and people. 
 A large steamboat, not having time to move far 
 enough from shore, was lifted up and dashed high 
 and dry on land; many of the crew were killed 
 from the shock, and the whole of one side of the 
 vessel was stove in. This " bore " was not 
 considered one of the worst. I confess I thought 
 it quite bad enough, and was thankful I was on 
 shore.
 
 106 HAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 I was young and foolish at that time, and 
 because some misunderstanding had arisen be- 
 tween the captain and myself I resolved to remain 
 
 behind. Captain K was a good man and a brave 
 
 officer, but too strict to suit my ideas at that time, 
 therefore when the Enterprise was hauled out to 
 start on her return voyage to England, I, like a hot- 
 headed young fool, slipped overboard with a small 
 bundle of my belongings, and swam some distance 
 to where I had a friend waiting for me in a sam- 
 pan. Of course I forfeited all my money, not to 
 speak of my position ; but youngsters never seem 
 to learn the lesson of life without bitter experience. 
 Could I have looked on a few months and have 
 seen to what depths of misery and starvation my 
 ill-advised act would bring me, I think I should 
 not have had the courage to do aught but let the 
 waters close over my luckless head. My friend 
 kept me hidden for three days until the 'Enterprise 
 was gone, when I again joined the officers' mess 
 at the Sailors' Home. If you want good living, go 
 there ; it was something wonderful. Young suck- 
 ing-pigs boiled in champagne, roast duck, truffled 
 pigeons, curried dishes of every description ; while 
 the wines, ices, and fruit were above praise, and 
 the cost not at all exorbitant. 
 
 Some astrologer from England predicted the 
 coming of a cyclone about this time, that was to 
 pass over Calcutta, and to be of terrific force. For 
 anything less serious, it would have been amusing 
 to see the panic this prophecy caused. The
 
 VOYAGES TO MELBOURNE AND CALCUTTA. 107 
 
 palaces, the houses, in fact the whole town was 
 soon emptied of their tenants, who, after securing 
 their property the best way they could, went miles 
 away, fearful that their houses would be blown 
 down about them. In this case it turned out to 
 be a false alarm, when, instead of being thankful 
 that it was so, the unfortunate astrologer was 
 overwhelmed with abuse and execration. Ravages 
 made by the last cyclone were still visible on all 
 sides. I saw parts of vessels that had been blown 
 out of the river and carried a mile and a half into 
 land, mixed up with debris of houses, wharves, 
 trees, in fact anything that had stood any height 
 from the ground. I heard one story that is worth 
 repeating. A very fine ship, a three-master, had 
 been taken up by the cyclone, whirled through the 
 air like a dead leaf, and thrown on shore with such 
 nice aim that the jib-boom and bowsprit were 
 driven clean through one of the native huts. The 
 next day, after all the turmoil and excitement was 
 somewhat appeased, the owner of the hut came to 
 the captain and requested him to take away his 
 ship, as it obstructed the entrance, filled up the 
 rooms, and prevented him and his family from 
 living in the house. The poor captain, who 
 desired nothing better than to see his magnificent 
 vessel back again in her own element, instead of 
 looking as if she had been caught red-handed in a 
 bad housebreaking case, could not help smiling at 
 the naivete of the demand. That smile cost him 
 dear. The infuriated native was so angry at what
 
 loa HAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 he chose to consider mocking at his misfortunes, 
 quite ignoring that the captain was in a worse 
 plight than himself, that he got numbers of his 
 friends and literally broke the vessel up in pieces. 
 I never heard that the captain could get any 
 redress, nor could he probably have succeeded 
 himself in moving so heavy a ship more than a 
 mile to the water. 
 
 The hotels and houses are on a grand scale, 
 with every comfort that art or money can devise ; 
 so that although the heat is, of course, very great, 
 I doubt whether the Europeans suffer as much 
 from it as from a hot summer in England, where 
 no alleviations, such as are common here, can be 
 got at. The delicious coolness of the air caused 
 by the incessant moving of punkahs is beyond 
 words delightful. They are kept going by coolies, 
 who squat in corners or corridors for that purpose. 
 Sometimes they drop off to sleep the air instantly 
 becomes stifling; then the man with the most 
 energy among us would wake the coolie with a 
 gentle kick, and lazily come back to his lounging 
 chair, cigar, and iced claret. A very luxurious life 
 this Indian one, but it takes all the energy out of 
 a man, and one quickly sinks into a lotus-eating 
 state of mind that makes work a terror, and even 
 the trouble of eating almost too great to be borne. 
 Yet nowhere is there more social intercourse, a 
 greater number of balls, theatricals, and other 
 amusements. The Europeans seem to live for 
 that alone, and outvie each other in the grandeur
 
 VOYAGES TO MELBOURNE AND CALCUTTA. 109 
 
 of their entertainments, the richness of their wives' 
 dresses, and the cost of their wines. The quantity 
 of wine drank a year in Calcutta would, I should 
 think, float a three-decker. Ladies are not at all 
 backward, wine being said to be good for their 
 complexions, and whether for that reason or any 
 other, they certainly imbibe considerable quan- 
 tities. 
 
 The Ganges is believed to be a sacred river ; 
 natives from the interior come long distances to 
 bathe, and carry away some of the holy water to 
 cure their sick. If they died after taking it, well it 
 was to be ; if they recovered, it was the holy water 
 that cured them : a simple childlike faith that 
 many a Christian would be the better for possess- 
 ing. Sometimes large parties of men, women, 
 and children would come down to bathe, after 
 which they would change their clothes in the 
 water, go on shore, eat, and having made a day of 
 it, fill their large bronze jars and return to their 
 homes. They drive their teams with bullocks a 
 very small, handsome animal, and very powerful. 
 That horrible disease, elephantiasis, is rather com- 
 mon. I saw a man sitting near the roadside, with 
 a leg the size of his whole body. I entered into 
 conversation with him, and he told me that he had 
 been ill for many months, and the doctors had told 
 him he could not be cured. It is a horrible disease, 
 the whole skin being covered with incrustations 
 like the skin of an elephant. We were talking 
 about it at dinner that night, and I was horrified
 
 110 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 to hear that it is not by any means unfrequent in 
 this country, is without cure, and besides being a 
 dreadful chronic disease, is regarded as contagious. 
 A surgeon who was present began describing 
 several cases that had come under his notice, with 
 such revolting details that we vowed to turn him 
 out of the room unless he talked of something 
 else. He refrained from any direct stories, although 
 he still favoured us with many allusions. 
 
 There are an immense number of different 
 religious sects here, and each as strict as possible 
 in the carrying out of the various tenets and cere- 
 monies belonging to their own particular belief. 
 I have seen a whole side-walk cleared of some one 
 sect, because a European happened to come down 
 on the same side, they absolutely walking in the 
 middle of the street, with the blazing sun beating 
 down upon them, rather than risk the contamina- 
 tion that would come to them, by the contact 
 with " a dog of a Christian." However, they are 
 not always discourteous. I remember, when out 
 strolling about one day, I saw some Hindoos 
 drinking from a fountain that was placed at a 
 corner of the street. Being thirsty, I asked one 
 of them to allow me to have some water from his 
 cup, as I had nothing with me from which I could 
 drink. He hesitated slightly, then with a profound 
 salaam handed me a beautiful little vessel, half 
 saucer, half cup in shape, of fine china with curious 
 emblematic figures around it. I took a drink, and 
 returned it to him, when he immediately broke it
 
 VOYAGES TO MELBOURNE AND CALCUTTA. Ill 
 
 in little pieces. I understood his hesitation then, 
 poor fellow, and wished I had known before that 
 anything touched by a Christian was defiled for 
 them, so that he might have kept his beautiful 
 cup. 
 
 About this time my funds were getting low, and 
 I thought it quite time to rouse myself from the 
 lazy, luxurious life I was leading and look around 
 for something to do. I met an old schoolfellow, 
 from Nelson House School, Plymouth, who was 
 acting as railway engineer on the other side of the 
 river. He introduced me to a first mate, belong- 
 ing to the East India Pilots. He was a very 
 pleasant man, who had seen many ups and downs 
 in his life, and rather liked giving a helping hand 
 to young fellows who through misfortune or their 
 own folly found themselves in a difficulty. He 
 intended to get me a post as leadsman, in which 
 capacity I should have to serve seven years ; but 
 the post ultimately attained was well worth the 
 seven years' work, and it would have been a fine 
 thing for me. Alas, before things were at all ar- 
 ranged, the scheme was knocked on the head by 
 his taking the command of one of the P. and 0. 
 boats to China. Disappointed and somewhat 
 mortified, I left the office where I had heard the 
 news, and walked with more speed than discretion 
 back to the Sailors' Home. Suddenly I felt sick 
 and dizzy, but staggered and stumbled on almost 
 blind. Instinct must have led me right, for I had 
 no notion where I was, I managed to get not only
 
 112 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 into the Home, but to my own room, where I seated 
 myself on the edge of the bed, and went through 
 the most miserable maddening sensations that can 
 hardly be imagined, and certainly not described ; 
 then I collapsed utterly, and knew nothing more 
 until I came to myself in the bed, with some of 
 the officers bathing my head. The doctor, when 
 he came, made me drink quantities of water, and 
 in a few days I was all right again, with every one 
 congratulating me on my escaping with so little 
 harm from that dread illness sunstroke. Mine was 
 a very slight stroke, it is true, but I found it bad 
 enough ; Heaven help those who have it worse, for 
 even if they escape with their lives, it nearly 
 always more or less injures their reason. 
 
 Just as I was fully recovered, a great disturb- 
 ance occurred, caused by the ladies ; whose exces- 
 sive fastidiousness caused a regular revolt. There 
 was a very large park about a mile from the city, 
 part of which was beautifully laid out as pleasure 
 grounds and was called Eden Garden. It was a 
 favourite resort for every one, and military bands 
 played there every evening. Owing to the great 
 heat during the day, the ladies only took their 
 drives and walks there after sunset, when they 
 ventured forth in great numbers, elegantly dressed 
 and generally well escorted. At this time the 
 Sailors' Home happened to be full of sailors, who, 
 having nothing better to do, also went to Eden 
 Garden to hear the music and see anything that 
 was going on. In order to make themselves more
 
 VOYAGES TO MELBOURNE AND CALCUTTA. 113 
 
 comfortable, as the weather was very hot, they 
 left off their shoes and stockings, rolled their pants 
 up to their knees, went without hats, and bared 
 their (very often hairy) breasts to the evening 
 breezes. Now all this was very disgusting to the 
 ladies, who complained to the officers, and the 
 result was, that a notice was posted up informing 
 the sailors that they must put on shoes and cover 
 themselves up generally, or they would not be 
 allowed to enter Eden. This mandate considerably 
 ruffled the " tars," who determined to see whether 
 they could or could not force their way in. So 
 some half-dozen in a greater state of undress 
 than before went up to the gates. They were 
 immediately collared and put outside, not without 
 stout resistance. Another midshipman and myself 
 were walking in the garden at the time, and al- 
 though we were in uniform, our sticks were taken 
 from us, and we were told that we could only 
 claim them on leaving the grounds. This foolish 
 little act of tyranny had the effect of placing all 
 the midshipmen on the side of the sailors, who had 
 called a meeting and had determined to enter 
 Eden by force. One glorious evening they collected 
 some six hundred strong, armed themselves with 
 sticks, and were headed by a band, the instruments 
 consisting of battered tin kettles, penny whistles 
 and such-like, which, struck by vigorous arms, 
 produced the most hideous noise you can conceive. 
 Arriving at the gates, they broke down all opposi- 
 tion, marched to where the fine military band was 
 
 9
 
 114 SARD LIFE tN TH COLONIES. 
 
 performing the usual evening concert, coolly turned 
 them out, and installed their own elegant musi- 
 cians, who endeavoured to bray forth "Britons 
 never shall be slaves." 
 
 The alarm having been given, the troops were 
 called out to quell the disturbance, the officers 
 hoping that the mere sight of a company of 
 soldiers would be sufficient to induce the sailors to 
 disperse. But the " tars " only continued their 
 music ! adding vocal to the instrumental, and 
 jeering at the military. The order was then given 
 to charge and clear the garden. The ladies had 
 all been hustled out of the way before the fight 
 began. Twice the military were beaten back, and 
 a second company was sent for, when a serious 
 battle ensued. After some hard fighting the sailors 
 were scattered, but not before seven or eight had 
 been killed, while the soldiers, although they only 
 actually lost three men, almost all were wounded. 
 Several midshipmen with myself joined in the 
 fray, and I received a severe scalp wound from a 
 sword-bayonet which laid me up for some time, and 
 left a mark that I shall carry to my grave. This 
 affair made a great talk at the time, and many of 
 the sailors that were taken got three months in 
 prison. When I recovered from my wound the 
 Abyssinian war was going on, and I conceived 
 a great desire to join in it. A transport ship was 
 leaving, laden "with provisions en route for the 
 scene of action, and I found no difficulty in getting 
 a berth. It was the old Trafalgar, one of Green's
 
 VOYAGES TO MELBOURNE AND CALCUTTA. nB 
 
 ships. We were under Government rules and law, 
 and flew the blue ensign. Nothing of interest 
 occurred on the voyage, which after all proved a 
 useless one, for when we arrived the fighting was 
 all over. King Theodore had shot himself, and 
 the prince, a little naked savage, was running 
 about the beach in charge of some English officers. 
 We spent a short time there, chiefly employing the 
 hours in boat-racing, and then returned to Calcutta, 
 where I put up in my old quarters.
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 I. AUSTKALIA. 
 
 SOME twenty years ago I happened to find 
 myself in Calcutta penniless and friendless. 
 How I, late midshipman in Her Majesty's Service, 
 had come to such a mournful state of destitution 
 I need not relate here. Suffice it to say that it 
 was entirely owing to my own folly and wayward- 
 ness, facts which did not tend to solace me in my 
 trouble. Finding it a difficult matter to procure 
 iny daily bread, and discovering the fact that I 
 might die of starvation without any one trying to 
 prevent it, I went down to the wharf, where, not 
 without considerable repugnance, I shipped before 
 the mast in the vessel Airdale, bound for London. 
 Any ship after the ones I had been accustomed to 
 would have seemed poor; but this one was the 
 worst I ever trod on. She was a long snaky iron 
 vessel nearly 400 feet long, and would ride two seas 
 at once. She was never dry the whole voyage 
 through; always looked dirty, and was uncom- 
 fortable in every way. 
 
 Luckily for me, although the ship was detestable, 
 the captain was a good-hearted man, and did what 
 he could to make my position more bearable, for 
 although nothing was said on the subject when I
 
 GILBERT CHILCOTT JENKINS. 
 (After a Photograph.)
 
 HABD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 117 
 
 joined, he told me on parting that I was not the 
 first gentleman he had had as " ordinary seaman," 
 and whether owing to their own fault or to some 
 misfortune, he always felt a deep sympathy for 
 them. The crew, too, although rough and often 
 coarse, were not unkind, and would sometimes 
 teach me some part of my duty at which I was 
 particularly awkward with a delicacy of feeling 
 that a lady need not have despised. The men 
 took their tone from the captain, proving once 
 more the old saying that a good master makes a 
 good servant. 
 
 One day, when we were some two weeks out, 
 I was at the wheel, feeling somewhat glad that I 
 should soon be relieved, for I found it rather 
 anxious work. The sea was choppy, the wind 
 cross, and every now and then the rain fell in 
 spiteful gusts. Everything looked grey, dreary, 
 and uninteresting. When the next man came 
 whose turn it was to steer, I gave the wheel a 
 somewhat vicious jerk, when to my amazement it 
 walked clean out of the wheel-house and down the 
 deck, as if it too were glad of a little change from 
 its monotonous life. It was a very annoying 
 accident, as it took two days' hard work before it 
 could be replaced, and those two days were really 
 terrible. Not only was the weather wet and 
 boisterous, but steering was almost impossible. 
 It took four men to tack, luff upon luff, and gay 
 upon guy. I fully expected to be blamed, but 
 Captain B^- was a just man, and on examining
 
 118 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 the wheel-house the pivot on which the wheel hung 
 was found to have been bent. Christmas was upon 
 us as we neared the Western Islands, but the 
 weather had not improved. The forecastle was 
 flooded, all our chests floated about, and it was a 
 real difficulty to get any clothes out of them. I 
 used to wade in. knee-deep and push my chest 
 against the side of the vessel, steadying it as well 
 as I could while I opened it. The rats were very 
 lively, and would dart over the lid and inside 
 without a " with your leave " or " by your leave," 
 burrowing under the garments, whisking their long 
 tails, and squeaking defiance. One lady rat was 
 pleased to honour my trunk by making it the 
 birthplace of her six children, and fiercely resented 
 my attempt to dislodge her and them. Being 
 always weak where the female sex is concerned, I 
 gave in to her evident wish and determination to 
 remain, and left the lid open that she might receive 
 her husband's visits. I took care, however, to 
 remove my wearing apparel, with the exception of 
 a flannel vest which madame had chosen for her 
 bed. I may add that she and the six lived there 
 for several weeks, and all departed one day, taking 
 care to carry off the vest, which had been torn 
 in pieces for that purpose. Though she was 
 ungrateful, I confess to feeling a pang when 
 madame 's bright eyes no longer looked up at me 
 from my sea-chest. On Christmas Day the 
 captain presented us with a pig for dinner. We 
 were grateful for the present, though we hardly
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 119 
 
 knew what to do with it, for the weather was so 
 bad the cook could not boil the water necessary to 
 scald him. There was piggy very much alive, 
 grunting in blissful ignorance of the fact that his 
 fate was being even then decided upon ; but how 
 to manage to eat him without being scalded was 
 the difficult question. Hot and loud grew the 
 discussion, many and impossible were the sug- 
 gestions. I remember one coming from the car- 
 penter to the effect that as piggy couldn't be 
 scalded, because boiling water could not be pro- 
 cured, he might be planed. Finally it was settled 
 that he should be skinned, and soon after he 
 grunted his last grunt, was skinned, and an 
 attempt made to roast him. But the ghost of 
 piggy seemed to hover over his remains, for he got 
 smoked, he burnt in places, he fell asunder, he 
 curled up, he stretched out; but cook like an 
 ordinary respectable porker he would not. It was 
 a Christmas dinner under great difficulties. The 
 cook had peeled some onions, and finding it impos- 
 sible to chop them up with sage as he had intended 
 (for the ship was rolling like a drunken man), had 
 pitched them in whole, with some potatoes, where 
 they gaily ran up and down piggy's stomach, can- 
 noning against each other like iron balls. The 
 plum-pudding I think I won't mention ; it is best 
 buried in oblivion. I will only say that it very 
 nearly buried three seamen, who were only saved 
 by repeated doses of raw Jamaica rum. 
 
 This terrible weather lasted three weeks, during
 
 120 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 the whole of which time the captain had not taken 
 his clothes off or slept more than two hours at a 
 time. Some of the men and I among them 
 suffered very much from the state of our hands, 
 the lines in them being open, raw to the bone, 
 owing to the rain-water mixing with the salt whilst 
 working on the ropes. Several were obliged to go 
 to the hospital on arriving in England, and three, 
 I heard, never fully recovered the use of their 
 hands. I was more fortunate, for although I 
 suffered very much % at the time, the wounds healed 
 quickly when once they could be attended to, and 
 I felt no after bad effect. 
 
 We arrived safely in London, rather to every 
 one's surprise, for the Airdale was not a vessel cal- 
 culated to inspire her captain and crew with any 
 confidence. Like a true woman, many were her 
 moods and capricious her temper ; but in times of 
 trouble she came nobly to the rescue. 
 
 I bade good-bye to Captain B with real 
 
 regret, and some weeks after shipped in the 
 Macduff, bound for Melbourne, as third officer. 
 
 A third mate's position is far from being an 
 enviable one ; like a corporal in the army, he is at 
 the beck and call of every one, and satisfies none. 
 
 I was unfortunate enough to offend the captain 
 at the very outset. He was a Scotchman, very 
 proud, conceited, and overbearing, with a painful 
 sensitiveness of his exceeding ugliness. Women 
 did not like him ; he, on the contrary, was very 
 fond of the fair sex, and would force his attentions
 
 HARD LIFE IN TEE COLONIES. 121 
 
 upon them, with a disregard to their evident aver- 
 sion that made one long to kick him. I had been 
 able to offer some small attentions to one of the 
 lady passengers on her arrival, for which she was 
 far more grateful than there was any need. The 
 captain offering his help, she turned away from 
 him and called me. This trifling act was the 
 beginning of his treating me with systematic 
 hardness, and even tyranny. 
 
 The pilot we took on board on leaving London 
 was an elderly man with great experience. He 
 was pleased with my seamanship, and allowed me 
 to steer nearly the whole way down Channel. On 
 leaving he recommended me particularly to the 
 captain, which had the effect of making that 
 worthy more bitter against me than before. From 
 that day my life was made a burden to me ; 
 everything I did was wrong, and everything 
 I did not do, was equally wrong. I gave up 
 trying to please him in despair, and only struggled 
 to keep my temper, for I saw clearly that he was 
 doing all he could to goad me into being insolent 
 to him. Several weeks passed without any open 
 dispute, but a row was inevitable, and one day it 
 came with a vengeance. 
 
 The Macduffvt&s a passenger vessel, and on this 
 voyage had her full number in each class. Among 
 the third class passengers were many very poor 
 and miserable. As all the stores passed through 
 my hands, I had taken a few comforts to the women 
 and children, This was not perhaps strictly right.
 
 122 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 but any other captain would have passed it un- 
 noticed; so indeed would Captain M had any 
 
 man but my unfortunate self been, the culprit. 
 
 He had me called up before the officers and 
 men, abused me roundly for wasteful expenditure 
 of the ship's stores, vowing he would make an 
 example of me, and disrating me, sent me for- 
 ward among the men. Such a piece of injustice 
 completely dumbfounded me, and before I could 
 find my tongue I was dismissed. 
 
 All the crew were very indignant at the way I 
 had been treated ; there was a good deal of talk 
 about it, and the passengers hearing of it, took up 
 my cause warmly. A petition was drawn up and 
 signed by every one on board, begging the captain 
 to restore me to my position as third officer. 
 Angry at this show of favour towards me, Captain 
 
 M tore up the petition, refusing the request 
 
 in such insulting terms that I lost all control over 
 my temper, and poured forth a torrent of pas- 
 sionate words at his injustice. I was furious with 
 myself afterwards for giving him the very oppor- 
 tunity he needed for completing my disgrace. He 
 now disrated me to an " ordinary seaman." But 
 I had come to the end of my patience, and dog- 
 gedly refused to work in this capacity. Captain 
 
 M then ordered me to be put in irons and 
 
 confined to the forecastle. After a week of this 
 imprisonment I was brought on the poop before 
 him, who asked me if I was prepared to obey him 
 and act as ordinary seaman.
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 123 
 
 I answered, " No, I signed the ship's articles as 
 third officer, and I will work in no other capacity. 
 Let me take my duty again, and I will do all in 
 my power to give you satisfaction, but work as 
 ordinary seaman I will not." 
 
 So back I was marched again for another week, 
 when the same thing happened with the same 
 result. This went on for three weeks. Finding 
 me determined not to give in, and fearing the bad 
 impression he had made on the passengers by this 
 act of palpable injustice, he commanded the irons 
 to be taken off, and in a voice quivering with rage 
 told me he dismissed me from the service of the 
 Macduff, and for the rest of the voyage I was not 
 to come aft of the fore-mast. 
 
 So the remainder of the voyage I spent in idle- 
 ness, as far as seamen's duties went, but found 
 plenty of work among the poor passengers, in 
 helping and cheering them up. Many were going 
 to Melbourne without the faintest idea of what to 
 do when there. One of these emigrants, an Irish- 
 woman, became very much attached to me ; I had 
 been able to do her some slight kindness the day 
 she came on board, and from that moment she was 
 my warmest partisan, and would make up little 
 dainty dishes and bring them to me when I was 
 supposed to be on the exciting diet of bread and 
 water. Her husband was a carpenter in New- 
 castle, New South Wales, and she was going to 
 join him after a five years' absence. 
 
 &m.ong the second class passengers was a French
 
 124 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 girl, with the most wonderful voice I have ever 
 heard, a pure soprano, clear as a bell and sweet 
 as a nightingale. Often of an evening she would 
 come on deck and sing song after song in the most 
 good-natured way. There was also among the 
 passengers a fine handsome young Englishman, 
 who was going to join his friends who were mining 
 in South Australia. These two were supposed to 
 be engaged, they were always together, and all on 
 board took a great interest in watching them; he 
 was such a manly young fellow, and she had all 
 the charm and grace of a Frenchwoman, without 
 the capriciousness and inconstancy that so often 
 mar the women of La belle Prance. 
 
 One morning we were just off the Cape, where 
 the sea runs very high at any time, but now the 
 billows were like mountains, and the Macduff flew 
 before the wind with square sails set. So rough 
 was it, that orders had been given that no pas- 
 senger was to be allowed on the top-gallant-fore- 
 castle. Mademoiselle Yinot, however, pleaded so 
 hard to be allowed to see the storm of waters, that 
 her lover gave in, and with my assistance we got 
 her up the ladder. I left them, advising them not 
 to stay long, and above all to hold firm. I had 
 barely reached the forecastle, when the ship gave 
 a fearful roll, and I heard a shriek of agony, 
 followed immediately by the cry, " A man over- 
 board!" Bushing back, I was just in time to 
 catch Mademoiselle Vinot, who, wild with terror 
 and grief, was throwing herself after her lover,
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 126 
 
 The poor young fellow had lost his footing when 
 the ship gave that heavy lurch, and falling had 
 struck the chain-rail in the middle of his body, the 
 rebound from the blow throwing him into the sea. 
 
 As soon as the man at the wheel heard the cry, 
 " Man overboard !" he put the wheel hard down, 
 and brought the vessel to a standstill, quivering 
 from the sudden shock, from bow to stern. 
 
 The captain and mates, who were dining at the 
 time, and several of the passengers, were on deck 
 in a moment, and every assistance possible was 
 promptly given, but alas in vain. I caught a 
 glimpse of the poor fellow as he was passing 
 astern, and never as long as I live shall I forget 
 his beseeching, horror-struck look. Mademoiselle 
 Vinot fainted, mercifully for her. In the excite- 
 ment of the moment I forgot the order that pro- 
 hibited me from coming aft of the fore-mast, and 
 jumping into one of the quarter-boats with the 
 second mate and one of the sailors, began to lower. 
 Unfortunately one of the tackles broke, and we 
 were nearly thrown out. The captain seeing our 
 .perilous position ordered us on deck at once, saying 
 no boat in the world could live in such a sea. A 
 man was sent to the royal-mast-head to see in 
 what direction the drowning man would rise. He 
 rose only twice, and the albatross and molly-hawks 
 were tearing and pecking at him for about ten 
 minutes ; then he disappeared. The sight was 
 sickening, and one of the men passengers fainted, 
 while another ran madly up and down raving,
 
 126 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 11 For God's sake save him ! " The poor young 
 fellow could not swim a stroke, and besides was 
 heavily capped by having a great overcoat and 
 heavy top-boots on at the time he was thrown into 
 the sea. He had also on his person a lot of 
 jewellery and a large sum of money belonging to 
 Mademoiselle Vinot. 
 
 A strange and sad incident about this drowning 
 case is worthy of mention. Only the evening 
 before, in conversation with several of the pas- 
 sengers, he had mentioned the fact that both of 
 his brothers had met with their death by drowning, 
 and laughingly said, " I don't think I need fear 
 now, for I have not far to go, and we are told 
 those who are born to be hanged will never be 
 drowned." 
 
 I don't know what became of Mademoiselle 
 Vinot for certain, though I was told some years 
 after that she married a horsedealer, a man of 
 great wealth, who had made his fortune by buying 
 up horses in the Colonies and taking them to 
 India. 
 
 When Mary Daly, the Irishwoman I have men- 
 tioned before, heard the cry of " Man overboard ! " 
 and the commotion that followed, she came on 
 deck shrieking that they had killed me ; she knew 
 they'd been wanting to do it for some time ! The 
 more the men tried to explain, the wilder she got, 
 and nothing would pacify her until I was brought 
 into her presence, when she threw herself on the 
 ground at my feet, embracing my knees and
 
 > HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 127 
 
 sobbing and laughing. I am afraid I was more 
 irritated than pleased at this loud affection. Poor 
 Mary, I never came across her again after she had 
 reached her destination, but I have often thought 
 of her, and hoped she is happy with her husband, 
 of whom she seemed very fond. 
 
 After this, things went on their usual course for 
 some little time. The captain ignored my presence 
 altogether, and if by accident we met face to face, 
 would not even return my salute, which I con- 
 sidered not gentlemanly. The lady passengers, 
 however, amply made up to me for any unpleasant- 
 ness I suffered at the hands of Captain M . 
 
 At Port Phillip Heads, we took on board a pilot 
 and were sailing between Dromanagh and Geelong, 
 when we saw the wreck of a fine clipper ship. 
 Her top-sail-yards were out of water, all her sails 
 on, and masts unharmed, but her decks were blown 
 up and she was a total wreck. There is no sadder 
 sight to a sailor than to see a vessel wrecked, 
 lying like some beautiful wounded bird, useless, 
 helpless and desolate. This was the Hurricane, 
 that had sailed from Liverpool, and was wrecked 
 almost after reaching her destination. On board 
 of her was a gentleman, whom it was my good 
 fortune to meet a few months afterwards, and from 
 whom I have never since parted. Many and varied 
 have been the adventures we have passed through 
 together in these long years, adventures that I will 
 leave him to describe, for I have not the gift of 
 writing as he has* Through sorrow and joy,
 
 128 HAUD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 poverty and ill-health, we have passed together, 
 our hearts knit to each other with a deep and 
 lasting affection that nothiag can destroy in life, 
 nor, I trust, in death, whose grey shadow hovers 
 near my dear old friend. God help me when the 
 blow falls. 
 
 Forgive me this digression and let me return 
 to the Macduff. We reached Melbourne without 
 anything more worthy of note happening. Captain 
 M - paid me what was due to me, and we parted 
 mutually delighted to be rid of each other. 
 
 I now found myself again adrift on. the world, 
 without much idea what to do with myself. The 
 lady who had been the innocent cause of Captain 
 
 M 's taking a dislike to me, had asked me if 
 
 her husband (he was a large shipbuilder), could be 
 of any service to me, but foolish pride had made me 
 refuse her offer, and I preferred to wander alone and 
 friendless, like a wounded animal who crawls to some 
 solitary spot to die in lonely misery. I had only a 
 few pounds, which, with an indifference to the future 
 that astonishes me now, I spent in living quietly 
 in a small lodging where I remained until, having 
 paid up, I was left literally with one penny in my 
 pocket, which I turned mechanically between my 
 fingers as I paced the streets. A tiny flower-girl 
 begged me to buy a bunch of violets " only a 
 penny," and my only penny passed into her wee 
 hands in exchange for the sweet-smelling flowers 
 that were not sweeter than the kiss the little 
 maiden gave me pardessus le marclie.
 
 HAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 129 
 
 Now that I was literally penniless, I felt relieved, 
 and looked about for some work to do. On turning 
 a corner I ran against one of the crew of the 
 Macduff. Our quickly uttered expletives turned 
 into something more polite. Jackson informed 
 me that he had " run " from the Macduff ; why, he 
 did not explain, nor did I ask it was none of my 
 business. After a little talk, he asked me if I 
 could help him " For I've only fourpence in my 
 pocket." " Then you have fourpence more than I 
 have, my man." I answered; "We must find work." 
 
 We set out together, with that hope that springs 
 eternal in the human breast, and it was only after 
 hours of fruitless search that we saw fate was 
 against us, and for that day at least we should find 
 nothing to do. Telling Jackson that I would meet 
 him the next morning at the same place, I bade 
 him good-night. Fourpence would get one man a 
 meal and a night's lodging, but it was not enough 
 for two. I satisfied the good-hearted sailor, by 
 telling him I knew where to go to be comfortable ; 
 which was quite true that I could not afford to 
 go there, was another thing. 
 
 I walked off briskly in an opposite direction from 
 Jackson until he was out of sight ; then slackening 
 my speed, I began to wonder what to do next. I 
 had eaten nothing since I had left my lodging that 
 morning, and wandering about all day in search of 
 work had made me weary and footsore. 
 
 It was a lovely night, the stars twinkled and 
 glittered in the deep blue of the heavens, and a 
 10
 
 130 HAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 young moon threw her pure, cold glamour over all. 
 It disgusted me to find that all this beauty affected 
 me but little, simply because I had been a few 
 hours without eating. Poor humanity, what 
 stumbling-blocks in the way of rising to higher 
 things are the material needs of every day ! 
 
 On I went, through street after street aimlessly, 
 taking a faint interest in the crowds of busy people 
 that were hurrying to their homes or to some 
 amusement ; but after a while they became fewer 
 as I left the fine streets, and, as night advanced, 
 only a policeman, a drunken man, or some home- 
 less waif like myself, occupied the pavements. On 
 I went, now walking mechanically, seeing nothing 
 and feeling nothing, until from some near church 
 clock chimed the hour of midnight. Shaking 
 myself from the sort of lethargy into which I 
 had fallen, I looked around me. The place was 
 deserted, all was still and solemn. The church 
 from which the clock had just struck twelve 
 loomed before me, and towards it I directed my 
 footsteps. To my surprise I found the door opened 
 to my touch. On entering, I saw I was in a Eoman 
 Catholic church. Kneeling before one o the 
 altars, which was lighted by two or three candles, 
 was a priest. Hearing some one enter, he got up 
 and turned towards me, and I thought I had never 
 seen so venerable and good a face. He said some- 
 thing that I was too faint to understand or reply 
 to, for a rushing sound came into my ears ; I made 
 a wild effort to save myself from falling into what
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 181 
 
 seemed an ocean of darkness, then came oblivion. 
 When I came to myself, the kind old man insisted 
 on my going to his house, which was quite close, 
 where he made me eat and drink, and afterwards 
 gave me a bed his own, I found out the next 
 morning, when I rose early to thank him for his 
 hospitality. He would not let me go until I had 
 had a substantial breakfast, then bidding me God- 
 speed, he shook hands, and I lefb. 
 
 He had not asked one question about me, who I 
 was, how I came there, or whether I was a Eoman 
 Catholic ; but seeing my need, had simply helped 
 me, in the spirit of true Christianity. 
 
 Strengthened and cheered, I walked briskly back 
 to the place I had appointed to meet Jackson, and 
 found him there before me, looking radiant, 
 although we had not a cent between us, and 
 yesterday's experience might have thrown a gloom 
 over his brightest hopes. We went to the docks, 
 but at first could find nothing to do ; the place was 
 crowded with loafers and men out of work. At 
 last a man offered us a shilling an hour to load 
 waggons with large stones. I couldn't help 
 laughing to myself at the idea, but was too wise to 
 refuse, so Jackson and I set to work. 
 
 Never shall I forget it ! I suppose I had not 
 entirely recovered a bayonet wound I had received 
 some months before in Calcutta, and which had 
 thrown me into a fever ; at any rate, my back felt 
 as if it would break, and my head throbbed wildly. 
 I glanced again and again at Jackson, who was
 
 182 HABD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 vigorously pitching the stones into his truck to 
 the accompaniment of the song sailors sing when 
 pulling up an anchor. He shouted out words of 
 encouragement now and then, which helped me 
 on, because they amused rne by their singular in- 
 appropriateness. 
 
 I managed to put in two hours, at the end of 
 which time I came to the conclusion that a man 
 must be brought up to the business of loading 
 trucks with stones, quite as much as to the higher 
 walks in life. Jackson, although he had worked 
 so bravely, was not sorry of the excuse to give up, 
 for he vowed he would not leave me ; so having 
 received our two shillings each, we started again 
 on our travels. I called for a small bundle of my 
 things that I had left at the lodgings, the principal 
 item being a fine Anglo-German concertina I 
 had bought in London, and from which I could 
 not bear to part. Jackson's luggage was even less 
 bulky than mine, consisting of a shirt and a pair 
 of socks tied up in a coloured handkerchief. 
 
 We walked twenty miles without stopping but 
 once for a few minutes' rest, and late in the 
 evening we put up at a small inn that we found 
 near some clay works, and which looked suitable 
 to our slender purses. After we had supped and 
 rested a bit, I took out my concertina and began 
 playing. In a few minutes the room was filled 
 with men who had come in from the taproom. A 
 rough lot they looked, unshaven and covered with 
 yellow clay, yet I saw one of them, a big bearded
 
 HAIW LIFE IN THE COLONIES. i& 
 
 fellow, sob like a child when I played " Home, 
 Sweet Home," and none of the others either 
 laughed at him or made the smallest joke on the 
 subject. 
 
 The landlord was so delighted with iny playing, 
 or perhaps it would be more correct to say with 
 the effect it had on his customers, that he offered 
 to put both Jackson and myself on the clay works, 
 that belonged to him. He would give us good 
 wages, and I would get something more if I would 
 play of an evening. All being fish that came to 
 our net, we closed with the offer, neither of us 
 having the very smallest notion as to what our 
 work would consist of. The next morning, behold 
 me trudging off with a small body of men to the 
 clay pit. 
 
 The day before, I had thought the labour of 
 filling trucks with stones a very arduous one, but 
 it was as child's play compared to this. I was 
 taken to a pit of wet clay, a huge shovel was put 
 into my hands, and I was told to fill a rough, 
 clumsily-made barrow that stood near. It was 
 most frightfully hard work, the wet clay was as 
 heavy as lead, and when I had succeeded in half 
 filling my shovel, the weight was so great as 
 nearly to drag me over. After frantic efforts I 
 succeeded in piling up my barrow with the un- 
 sightly and evil- smelling mass, and then stood 
 wondering what I was expected to do next. I 
 was not long left in doubt. The man who had 
 shown me my work c.ime up, eyed me for a
 
 134 HARD LIFE IN THE GOLONlM. 
 
 moment in silence, and then said, laconically, 
 " Git on." 
 
 I stared around me to see what I was to " git 
 on." Seeing nothing, I politely asked for infor- 
 mation, and was rewarded with a snort of contempt, 
 and the question, addressed to the landscape, 
 " What do these sickly creeturs mean by coming 
 and pretending to work when they aint strength 
 enough in 'em to kill a flea ? " 
 
 Nature not answering him, nor I either, he 
 pointed with his thumb over his shoulder, and 
 said, "Git yer clay up there; yer ought to have 
 wheeled three barrers ere now." 
 
 I looked in the direction to which he had 
 pointed, and my heart sank. A very short but 
 almost precipitous incline led up to a single plank 
 that was thrown across a ravine some seventy feet 
 from the ground. On the opposite side of this 
 primitive bridge was a brick kiln and all the 
 necessary buildings for carrying on a small brick 
 manufactory. 
 
 "Do you mean to say that this clay must be 
 carried up there ? " 
 
 '"Ivery shovel full, git on." And my com- 
 panion turned away, leaving me filled with despair 
 at the task before me. 
 
 However, I got my barrow up to the plank, and 
 my seafaring life had made dizzy heights familiar 
 to me ; still, if I must confess the truth, I shrank 
 back from crossing that wavering plank with both 
 my hands rendered useless by the necessity of
 
 HARD LItffi Itf THfi COLONIES. 185 
 
 wheeling the barrow. In the very middle I was 
 seized with a momentary feeling of intense and 
 sickening terror. It passed away almost as soon 
 as it came, but I reached the other side trembling 
 like a leaf, and bathed in perspiration. Each 
 time afterwards that I crossed over I felt the 
 same sensation at the same spot, and dreaded it 
 so much that I feel quite sure had I persisted in 
 the work I should have gone over, barrow and all, 
 into the clay pit that yawned some seventy feet 
 below. How often afterwards in dreams have I 
 traversed that dreadful piece of wood, waking 
 only from the nightmare by the agony of falling 
 down, down, down. 
 
 Well, I stood this work exactly three days, and 
 they might have been three ages. On the evening 
 of the third day, as I was playing in the taproom, 
 I made a sudden resolution to go away at day- 
 break and get back to the Sailors' Home at 
 Melbourne. I would not say anything to Jackson, 
 for he would have insisted on following me, and 
 that would have been a pity, for he was quite 
 happy as a bricklayer and would make good wages ; 
 besides, having deserted, he might get into trouble 
 if seen in Melbourne. I explained to my landlord, 
 who, although sorry to lose my music, was evi- 
 dently rather glad to get rid of so poor a workman. 
 He paid me honestly what was due, and undertook 
 to give Jackson a letter, in which I told him my 
 reasons for leaving him, and said that I intended 
 going back to sea.
 
 136 BARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 Having settled my small affairs, I lay down for 
 a few hours' sleep. At daybreak I rose, and with 
 my beloved concertina in its case set out on my 
 road back to Melbourne. I have not a very 
 distinct recollection of that walk, for I seemed to 
 be in a dream ; at midday I stopped for food at a 
 roadside inn, and must have appeared strange to 
 the people, accustomed as they were to all sorts 
 and conditions of men, for the landlord sent his 
 son, a lad of fifteen or so, to walk with me for a 
 time. Finding I went on all right the boy left 
 me after a mile or two, asking for a shilling for the 
 care he had taken of me. I was too confused and 
 ill to protest, or even understand, gave him the 
 money, and went on. How I got safely to the 
 Sailors' Home has ever been a puzzle to me ; 
 however, reach it I did late in the evening, ex- 
 hausted and almost delirious. I was carried to 
 bed, where I remained three weeks in a sort of 
 fever brought on by over-exertion. 
 
 These Sailors' Homes are a grand institution, 
 and although, like with most institutions, there 
 are many points that might be altered with advan- 
 tage, nevertheless they are an immense boon, and 
 have saved many a man from sin and despair. 
 
 As soon as I had sufficiently recovered I joined 
 the brig Greyhound the last voyage as sailor 
 that I was destined ever to make. The Greyhound 
 was the most perfect little model of a brig that 
 ever was built to delight a sailor's heart. She 
 was a Portuguese, and had been first used in that
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 137 
 
 country as a gun-boat. She floated as easily and 
 gracefully as a swan upon the water, and sailed 
 better than any vessel I had ever put foot in. 
 All her fittings were of the best, and from bow to 
 stern there was not one clumsy or ill-done piece 
 of work. I was as delighted with her as the 
 captain, whose love for her amounted to a passion. 
 He was never so happy as when he could get hold 
 of some stranger to whom he could point out all 
 the beauties and perfections of his darling. I 
 firmly believe that I owed my berth as third 
 mate, to my unbounded and really true admiration 
 of the Greyhound as she lay daintily swaying to 
 and fro, riding at anchor in the bay. Captain 
 
 S was a short, round man, with a face that 
 
 reminded one irresistibly of a rosy-cheeked apple. 
 A good-hearted, good-tempered man, whose pas- 
 sion was never roused unless some real or fancied 
 slur was cast on his beloved brig. Then his rage 
 would pass all bounds. It was a curious sight to 
 see him, dancing up and down the deck, his little 
 fat legs thrown out in the funniest way; now 
 abusing the man who could invent such lies, now 
 addressing the G-reyJiound in terms of affection a 
 mother might use to her babe. I am afraid the 
 officers and men, too, sometimes made up stories 
 of some supposed slight, in order to see "the 
 skipper dance." 
 
 We were bound for Auckland, New Zealand. 
 I went on board two or three days before we 
 started, for I was not very strong yet, and I hoped
 
 138 HABD LIFE IN THE 
 
 the sea-air would do more to recover me than 
 pints of doctor's stuff. The night before we had 
 intended starting, as we lay at anchor out in the 
 bay, a tremendous " sou'-wester " came on quite 
 suddenly. In a few minutes the bay was lashed 
 into a mass of seething white foam, and the wind 
 and waves seemed to vie with each other as to 
 which could howl and shriek the loudest. Several 
 ships were torn away from their moorings and 
 dashed into each other, doing endless damage, 
 and causing great confusion and loss of life. We 
 were anchored rather far out, and hoped to escape; 
 but it was not to be. A large two-master, the 
 Homesdale from London, if I remember rightly, 
 broke from her moorings, drifted down, and a huge 
 wave dashed her into us. It was a horrible 
 moment. By the light of the moon, as she sailed 
 across the sky, now obscured by black clouds, now 
 shining forth with a strong light, we saw this huge 
 dark monster bearing down upon us, and we 
 powerless to do anything, for there was no time. 
 
 Captain S gave the order to cut our anchor, 
 
 a useless order, as he well knew, but right never- 
 theless ; then stood with wide-open horrified eyes 
 waiting for the destruction of his beloved ship. 
 There was a moment's sickening suspense, as the 
 immense black object hovered over us, then a 
 thundering blow as the Homesdale struck against 
 us ; a crashing and smashing of timbers, mingled 
 with the roar of the waves and the howling of the 
 wind. The Greyhound bounded from the shock ;
 
 LIFE IN THE COLONIES* 139 
 
 her boats were smashed to pieces, the masts 
 broken, the sails torn to shreds, and one side 
 bulged in : but to our utter amazement no lives 
 were lost, nor did the Greyhound sink, as we fully 
 expected. We got into the dry docks, where we 
 remained over two weeks for repairs. Captain 
 
 S fairly wept with joy when he saw his ship 
 
 again sailing proudly on the waters. 
 
 We weighed anchor, and got off without further 
 mishap. I found, somewhat to my distress, that 
 my health did not much improve, and any sudden 
 call upon me taxed my strength to its utmost. 
 Among the crew of the Greyhound was a young 
 fellow with whom I made friends. He was a 
 gentleman by birth, and had been educated for 
 entering the law. This, however, did not at all 
 suit the young ideas of Master Curly, so called 
 by a fond mother on account of his wavy hair, 
 that was of the brightest gold that I think I ever 
 saw in a grown-up person. As a boy he was 
 expelled from one school after another, more for 
 mischief and defiance of rules than for graver 
 sins, and having exhausted the patience of his 
 guardians (his father had died when he was a 
 baby), and driven his eldest brother, a grave 
 lawyer, almost into a frenzy by the tricks he per- 
 formed in the office, he one day, after a worse 
 escapade than usual, ran away from home, joined 
 a ship going to Melbourne, with some vague idea 
 of setting up sheep farming or "something," as 
 he put it. Arriving at Melbourne, he wrote to
 
 140 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 his mother (whose darling he was) saying he 
 could not bear the life in England any longer, 
 and hoped she would send him money to enable 
 him to set up as a horsedealer. He had changed 
 his mind about the sheep farm. While awaiting 
 her reply he led a gay life, thoroughly enjoying 
 his freedom, and having no fears for the future. 
 
 Poor fellow, the letter from England was a sad 
 blow to him. It was from his brother, saying that 
 Curly 's wicked conduct and cruel desertion, coming 
 upon their mother's delicate constitution, had 
 killed her. She had died calling for her youngest 
 son. He added that it was useless his returning 
 to England ; he had better follow the life he had 
 chosen. He enclosed a cheque on a Melbourne 
 bank for ,100, and told him he need expect no 
 more until he came of age, when he would get 
 <1,000 from his mother's will. Curly was heart- 
 broken for a while, for he loved his mother dearly ; 
 but soon his gay bright nature came to the fore, 
 and he quickly made an end of the 100. An appeal 
 to his brother resulted in his letter being returned 
 unopened, and Master Curly had to look about 
 for means of earning his daily bread. 
 
 There was a great stir at tbis time about the 
 supposed discovery of gold in the town Thames, 
 in Auckland, and he, like hundreds of others, was 
 bitten with the gold-fever. He got himself taken 
 on board the Greyhound as " ordinary seaman," 
 on the strength of having learnt a few things on 
 his way out from England, and was now looking
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 141 
 
 forward to the fortune he felt sure of making in 
 the gold-fields of the Thames. From the first day, 
 he began to try and persuade me to join him, and 
 as time went on he would coax and scold, until I 
 was fairly won over by his sunny character and 
 wild enthusiasm ; the more so as there was some 
 sense in what he said as to a seafaring life being 
 evidently unsuited to me, at all events in my 
 present state of health. When I suggested that 
 gold-digging was not likely to be child's play for 
 I had a shuddering recollection of the clay-pit 
 and also that we might find no gold at all, he 
 eagerly protested against any such impossible 
 thing happening, drawing vivid pictures of fortunes 
 made almost from one hour to another, that I pro- 
 mised to go with him and share his fortunes, more, 
 I think, because I could not bear to separate from 
 him, than from any belief in the mountains of gold 
 that were to be ours. The voyage passed without 
 any incident worth mentioning. A sudden storm, 
 during which the Greyhound bore herself " like an 
 angel," as Captain S - said with more enthu- 
 siasm than sense ; the illness of one of the men, 
 who swallowed some drug in mistake for rum, and 
 thought he would throw up his immortal soul in 
 consequence "And serve 'im right, too," as the 
 indignant owner of the drug observed; a catch 
 of fish off Cape Eegina : these and similar small 
 events were all that happened to disturb the even 
 monotony of our lives. 
 
 In due time we entered Kaipara Harbour, where
 
 142 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 I bade good-bye to Captain S , who, I fear, lost 
 
 much of his regard for me when he found that I 
 could dream of deserting the Greyhound, and 
 preferred digging "in the dirty earth for dirty gold" 
 to a joyous life on the ocean wave. But I had 
 given my word to Curly, and we started off 
 together with light hearts, lighter purses, and a 
 photograph each of the Greyhound, a parting gift 
 from the captain. 
 
 And thus ended the last voyage I was ever 
 destined to take as a sailor. 
 
 Curly was in such a hurry to get to the gold- 
 fields, that he would not allow me even to look 
 around the town we were in. A queer little train 
 took us some miles on our journey, then we were 
 told that a four hours' walk would bring us to our 
 destination. 
 
 " Did you observe how that fellow grinned when 
 we said we were going to the gold-fields?" I 
 remarked to Curly. 
 
 "Yes, he was rejoicing in our good luck," 
 answered my light-hearted companion. 
 
 "Hum," I said dubiously, "such men are more 
 likely to rejoice over our bad fortune. It looks 
 fishy to me." 
 
 " Now don't croak like a bird of ill-omen, there's 
 a good fellow," pleaded Curly. " Things are sure 
 to turn out right, they always do, so shut up." 
 
 Having no answer to such an astounding asser- 
 tion, I did " shut up," and we set out on our walk. 
 It was impossible to give way to gloomy thoughts
 
 HABD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 148 
 
 with Hope in person chatting gaily by my side ; 
 now relating to some boyish prank, now some 
 tender reminiscence of the loved and loving 
 mother, over whose death he would still have 
 passionate outbursts of grief and remorse. But 
 with Curly smiles soon chased tears away, and he 
 would rattle on about some nonsense or fun, with 
 his eyes still wet with tears. 
 
 Night came on before we had reached the town 
 where we had hoped to sleep. We found ourselves 
 on a hill, with nothing in sight but more hills that 
 seemed to stretch away in an endless range. At 
 Auckland we had provided ourselves with blankets 
 and the other necessaries for a miner's life, the 
 purchase of which articles had left us with two 
 shillings between us. " Heaps enough," Curly had 
 gravely observed, " for what's the good of taking 
 coals to Newcastle ! " 
 
 So we now decided to camp out on the hills. 
 We quickly made a fire of bush-wood, quantities of 
 which were strewn all around, ate some bread and 
 beef we had been wise enough to put in our knap- 
 sacks, drank a modicum of rum to keep out the 
 cold, saw that our guns were primed, then rolling 
 ourselves up in our blankets, soon went fast asleep. 
 I was aroused by feeling something cold touching 
 my cheek, and opening my eyes found two dogs 
 sniffing at me in an exhaustive but not unkindly 
 manner. I uncoiled myself from my blanket and 
 sat up, looking around me. The first faint flush 
 of early dawn was tinging the sky with a rosy
 
 144 HABD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 light that, as it advanced, seemed to put out the 
 stars one by one. The summits of several of the 
 hills were enveloped in a pink cloudy mist, very 
 beautiful to see. Bringing my eyes back from the 
 hills, I saw a man, the owner of the dogs, standing 
 motionless, leaning on his gun, intently watching 
 us. He was very tall and thin, with a face bronzed 
 by exposure to all weathers, and scarred by frequent 
 fights with man and beast. A pair of small sharp 
 dark eyes gleamed from underneath the thickest 
 eyebrows I ever saw on a human face. On his 
 head was a soft felt hat that originally had been 
 red in colour, but was now toned down to what I 
 believe artists call " a neutral tint." A grey 
 blouse, much the worse for wear, corduroy 
 trousers, and high boots was the costume of our 
 early visitor. 
 
 We eyed each other a moment in silence. 
 
 11 Going to the gold-fields ? " he asked, without 
 changing his attitude in the least. 
 
 I nodded. 
 
 Then he raised himself with a jerk, and staring 
 first at me and then at Curly, who had just woke 
 up, put himself into the most extraordinary con- 
 tortions, induced thereunto by a paroxysm of 
 silent laughter. After a few moments of this 
 exercise, various smothered " Hee, hee, hee ; 
 ho, ho, ho ; haw, haw, haw's " broke from him, as 
 he continued to double himself up in an agony of 
 mirth. 
 
 " Here, I say," cried Curly, starting to his feet,
 
 LIFE IN TSE COLONIES. 145 
 
 with his hair standing out all around his head like 
 a halo, "when you have finished hee-hawing like 
 a jackass, perhaps you wouldn't mind telling us why 
 you stand with an annuity of a grin that reaches 
 from y'ear to y'ear. 
 
 " Hee, hee, hee; ho, ho, ho ; haw, haw, haw ! " 
 was all the answer he got. I began quietly rolling 
 up my blanket and preparing generally for a start. 
 Curly did the same. When we were ready, I 
 turned to our mirthful friend and asked him if he 
 could direct us the nearest way to Shortland, as 
 we were going to the gold diggings. The last tw r o 
 words convulsed the man more than ever. He 
 writhed and twisted about like an eel, and finally 
 burst forth into a loud and long guffaw that was 
 echoed by the hills around. 
 
 Irritated by this behaviour, I shouldered my 
 knapsack, and with Curly, began to march down 
 the hill, when we were called back. 
 
 " Don't be angry," he gasped out, u but I really 
 couldn't help it when you mentioned the gold." 
 The mere word nearly upset him again, but 
 struggling against it, he asked if we would break- 
 fast with him, and he would then give us any 
 information in his power. 
 
 I didn't half like accepting the man's offer, but 
 Curly closed with it at once, and in another minutt 
 we were walking along by the stranger's side, whose 
 fit of mirth had left him as suddenly as it had 
 begun, and who strode on in dead silence. Curly 
 touched his forehead significantly as we followed 
 11
 
 146 BARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 our host into a roughly built hut, under the 
 shelter of a hill. 
 
 The room we entered was of fair size, hung 
 around with guns, knives, sacks of feathers, and 
 skins of beasts. Nailed against the wall, without 
 any frame, was an oil painting of John the 
 Baptist in the wilderness. It looked strangely 
 out of place in this hovel, and was evidently a 
 relic of better days. There were two or three 
 other things that showed plainly our host had not 
 always been a bushranger in the wilds of New 
 Zealand one was a mug that he handed to me 
 full of coffee ; it was battered out of all shape 
 and discoloured by time and want of cleaning, but 
 it was of silver, and, what is more, was crested. 
 Seeing my eyes fixed on it, he hastily filled a 
 larger mug and passed it to me, taking the silver 
 one from me with the muttered excuse that it was 
 too small. 
 
 A large square table occupied the centre of the 
 room, and there were four or five stools, beyond 
 that no furniture. He went to a cupboard and 
 brought out three mugs, the silver one afore- 
 mentioned among them, some plates, a cold fowl, 
 bread, cheese, and butter. A wood fire was burning 
 brightly in the grate, over which hung a kettle, 
 He soon made some splendid coffee, and placing it 
 on the table, boiled milk in an old tin pan, and in 
 less than a quarter of an hour after our entry we 
 were seated at one of the best meals I ever 
 remembered to have eaten. Our host told us his
 
 LIFE IK THE COLONIES. 14? 
 
 name Was Richards a polite fiction that we of 
 course passed unnoticed ; that he had lived here 
 for many years, " Driven from the Old World," as 
 he said with bitterness, " by the falseness and 
 treachery of friends." He lived by hunting, and 
 lately had kept a large poultry farm and many pigs, 
 which he had sold to the crowd of miners that 
 had flocked to the gold-fields. Again a spasmodic 
 grin convulsed his face, so I asked him to explain 
 himself. " If you know anything against it, please 
 tell us at once. I have never been so sanguine 
 about it as my friend here, and am quite prepared 
 to find that the gold is not so plentiful as has 
 been reported, and that there is an over-glut 
 of miners." 
 
 Mr. Richards laughed outright, and forthwith 
 informed us, in a few quiet sentences, that the 
 gold-field was a fraud and a swindle got up by 
 some storekeepers for their own individual profit. 
 " But so great is the love of gold, so eager the 
 rush after it, that without even waiting to find out 
 what truth there was in the report, hundreds of 
 men flocked to the spot from different parts of the 
 colonies, and even from America and Europe. 
 There are now," continued our host, " over seven 
 hundred fine strong young miners, who can get 
 nothing to do ; let alone the crowd of other men 
 who, ignorant of and unable to do miners' work, 
 loaf about the place, half starving until the 
 Government gives them a free passage back to 
 their colonies."
 
 148 BA&b LIFE IN 'USE COLONIES. 
 
 Even Ourly's bright hopes were clouded by this 
 grim picture, and Mr. Richards, who was evidently 
 much taken by the boy's face and manner, added 
 kindly 
 
 "Don't be downhearted. Seeking for gold is 
 not the only object of a man's life. Take my 
 advice, go back to England ; this hell is no place 
 for honest men, and it is easy to see that neither 
 of you are fitted for a miner's life. It gave me a 
 sort of fierce joy to see how men would leave 
 home, and wife and children, all that makes life 
 bearable, on the chance of picking up a few nuggets 
 of gold, which, even if found, could never give 
 them back their lost health and honour. I am a 
 bit of a misanthrope, and it soothes ine to see men 
 act worse than the wild beasts; but to-day I would 
 fain dissuade you from entering such a life not 
 for your sake," he added, with brutal frankness, 
 " but he," pointing to Curly, " reminds me of some 
 one I knew years ago, and I would spare him if I 
 could. If you want money I will give you what 
 is necessary, but take him back, take him away 
 from here," and the strange man began pacing 
 wildly up and down the room. 
 
 I hardly knew what to do, and certainly not 
 what to say. Perplexed and embarrassed, I re- 
 mained silent. Curly, however, settled the matter 
 in his own bright way. Going up to our host, he said 
 with his boyish impulsive manner : "It's awfully 
 good of you, Mr. Richards, to trouble about me, 
 but I'm all right ; if there's no gold to be got here,
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 149 
 
 well I'll turn hunter like you. It's no good return- 
 ing to England I've no home now, and no means 
 to get there, and gentlemen who are strangers, do 
 not accept money from each other. There, shake 
 hands, and thanks for that prime breakfast. Now 
 we'll go and look around a bit, something good is 
 sure to turn up, it always does." 
 
 Mr. Richards, who had drawn back when Curly 
 made the remark about gentlemen, now seized the 
 boy's hands in his, wrung them with considerable 
 force, as I could see by Curly's grimace, then shak- 
 ing hands more calmly with me accompanied us to 
 the door. 
 
 "Good-bye," cried Curly; "we will come and 
 look you up in your diggings again before long." 
 
 Mr. Richards did not answer, but turned into 
 his hut and we heard him bar the door. 
 
 "Decidedly a tile loose," said Curly, as we 
 turned our steps towards the town. 
 
 "The man is a gentleman. Some sad history 
 must be buried away in his heart. Poor fellow, 
 what a miserable world it is," I remarked dolefully. 
 
 " Now there you go croaking again, and in the 
 face of such a scene as this. I say, we will look 
 over the towns and gold-fields, and if we find old 
 Richards was right, why we'll turn hunters, that 
 would suit your health far better." 
 
 So chatting now about one thing, now about 
 another, we soon got over some ten or twelve miles 
 and reached the Thames. 
 
 ^Ye found the Thames consists of two towns,
 
 IfiO HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 Graham Town and Shortland, connected together 
 by a long straggling road of the roughest descrip- 
 tion. At intervals a few houses relieved the 
 monotony of the scene ; most of these were empty, 
 and already falling into ruins. In Shortland, the 
 most prominent feature was a construction known 
 as " Smale's Building." It consisted of two long 
 rows of rooms, reaching from the main street back 
 to the beach, a distance of not less than a mile. 
 It was a speculation on the part of an enterprising 
 Methodist minister, at the time the gold fever first 
 broke out. 
 
 Now that it was ended (for we soon found out 
 that all Mr. Eichards had said was true), the Eev. 
 Smale increased his already large fortune by letting 
 out the lower rooms to stockbrokers, while the 
 upper ones were hired by any one who could afford 
 to pay five shillings a week for the luxury of four 
 walls with a roof over them. 
 
 The next building of importance belonged to a 
 native chief, whose name was Taipari. He had a 
 really fine residence, built according to European 
 notions on many points, which looked odd, con- 
 trasted with several relics of barbarism, that I sup- 
 pose the noble savage could not or would not 
 dispense with. This house stood in its own 
 grounds, the gardens being kept in order by 
 Europeans, who were liberally paid by their dusky 
 master. 
 
 Taipari was a tall handsome man, with well- 
 shaped limbs, and a graceful carriage. His face
 
 TAIPARI. 
 (After a Photograph.)
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 151 
 
 was very much tatooed, of which fact he was inor- 
 dinately proud. When I saw him, he dressed like a 
 European, and it was his delight to fill his palace 
 with any European ladies and gentlemen who 
 would go there. The whole town of Shortland 
 helongs to him, for which the white residents "pay 
 him rent. He was named Colonel of the Hauraki 
 Rifles (a company of which I subsequently became 
 a member), and was by no means to be despised as 
 a soldier. He gave balls and fetes, of magnificent 
 if barbaric splendour, to the white colony, and 
 looked imposing in his colonel's uniform. 
 
 Before the gold rush broke out, Taipari's usual 
 place of repose was an old cask, nor had he the 
 traditional rag to his back. His followers were few 
 and miserable, and he himself ignorant to the last 
 degree. Now he possesses the whole of Shortland, 
 with an income of over 8,000 a year. English 
 ladies do not shun his society, indeed it is said 
 that more than one would not have refused to 
 become Mrs. Taipari, if the noble savage could be 
 made to understand and acquiesce in the law that 
 allows a man only one wife at a time. 
 
 But to return to the town of Shortland. We 
 found it contained the usual grocery, fruit, vege- 
 table, baker, butcher, drug, dry goods and liquor 
 stores, demanded by any town however small. 
 There was also an armoury of the Hauraki Rifles, 
 which was sometimes cleared out and used for a 
 concert-room. Shortland possessed also a theatre. 
 Never having entered it, I cannot give any account
 
 152 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 of the performances enacted there, but to judge by 
 the crude and horrible pictures on the signboard, 
 lovers of the terrible and sentimental would be 
 abundantly satisfied. 
 
 Where Shortland ends, a tiny pier juts out into 
 the sea. Two small steamers plying between this 
 settlement and Auckland, land stores and vegetables 
 two or three times a week. The whole town is 
 built on a level with the sea, so when there is a 
 high tide the place is under water. 
 
 Graham Town belonged to the man from whom 
 it received its name, an Englishman, who in a fit 
 of inspiration and speculation built first one house 
 and then another for settlers, and when the gold 
 cry was raised, quickly made his fortune by build- 
 ing a town. In England one is not accustomed to 
 hear of a town being built by one man, but in 
 Australia there is nothing impossible in either the 
 idea or the fact. Like Shortland, Graham Town 
 is built on low land, and is generally under water. 
 If you want to know what real mud is like, go 
 there and you will see it in its perfection. 
 
 Nevertheless it is a far larger and more impor- 
 tant town than Shortland, possessing a good 
 wharf, three fine hotels, two banks, a large theatre, 
 and some very fair houses. The rage for building 
 was still very strong when we were there, for al- 
 though that one particular gold-field was proved a 
 swindle, other mines that had been long worked 
 were in the vicinity, and Mr. Graham rapidly 
 became a millionaire,
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 153 
 
 At the back of both these towns rose the moun- 
 tains, from one of which jthe Karraka Creek ran 
 straight into Shortland. On the hills around 
 G-raham Town are some of the most important 
 mines, the principal ones being " The Golden 
 Crown," " The Long Drive," and " Crown Point." 
 Most of the others were what is called in mining 
 phraseology " shysters, or wild cat," and were of 
 little value. 
 
 Curly and I wandered about all day taking notes. 
 We saw that the gold craze had already died out, 
 but we also saw the effect of the cruel deception in 
 the hundreds of able-bodied men that, homeless and 
 penniless, were besieging the houses of the few rich 
 people clamouring for work, or a piece of bread to 
 keep them from starvation. 
 
 I sickened at the sight, and perhaps with a pre- 
 sentiment of our future ; but Curly never lost 
 heart, and even when things were at their worst 
 had ever a bright word or a sunny smile. 
 
 I have put off speaking of this awful time as long 
 as possible. After all these years, my heart 
 shrinks back from the memory of that dire misery 
 and black despair. Let me hurry over it. These 
 are true bare facts that I am relating, and I cannot 
 put them into well-rounded sentences, or enlarge 
 upon the incidents that well nigh overwhelmed me 
 at the time. That life is stranger than fiction is 
 a trite saying, but only those who have passed a 
 roving and adventurous life know how true it is. 
 
 Our first da.y at Sliortland exhausted our money
 
 154 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 we had only two shillings and we spent the 
 next morning searching for work, without any 
 success. So we sold our blankets for a few pence, 
 their being a glut of them at the pawnbroker's. 
 After our blankets went our guns, neckties, the 
 one change of linen, and an extra pair of boots of 
 Curly's. Then we found ourselves with what we 
 stood up in, without a cent in the world, and little 
 chance of getting any work. I remembered my 
 beloved concertina, which I had placed in a corner 
 of a half-finished house in which we had taken up 
 our abode, rent free. Taking Curly with me, we 
 went to the drinking-house, and I commenced 
 playing. The effect was electric; pennies rained 
 down, and on counting up we found I had netted 
 four shillings and threepence. What castles in 
 the air Curly built that night as we sat in our 
 mansion, as he called it, discussing some bread 
 and meat and beer that we had allowed ourselves 
 on the strength of our fortune ! 
 
 We were awakened by a feeling of wet. Starting 
 to my feet, I found the place flooded. Hastily 
 rousing Curly, we made our escape, not without 
 difficulty, for the tide was coming in swiftly, 
 increased by a sea wind. After some twenty 
 minutes' unpleasant floundering about we reached 
 dry land, wet to the bone and shivering with the 
 cold. The night being very dark added to our 
 discomfort, Curly's teeth chattered like castanets, 
 and I made him keep moving about. We groped 
 pur way into the town, and I roused up an olcl
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 155 
 
 fellow we knew who let out seats around a fire at 
 a penny an hour. He grumbled a good deal at 
 being disturbed, but I paid him threepence at 
 once, pushed him aside, threw some logs on the 
 nearly dead fire, and made Curly dry himself, and 
 then lie down near the warmth. Suddenly he 
 called out, "I say, Gilbert, your concertina, have 
 you got it?" 
 
 I started to my feet. I had quite forgotten it ; 
 if that was gone, our chance of living was gone 
 too. " It will be all right," I said, though my 
 heart sank. " I know where I left it. I will go 
 and fetch it the first thing in the morning." 
 
 Curly was soon asleep, but anxiety for the 
 future kept me awake, and with the first rays of 
 sunrise I was up, and, telling old Simon that I 
 would return shortly, and Curly was not to be 
 disturbed, went back to the scene of last night's 
 disaster. 
 
 The tide had gone back, but the scene was 
 desolate and miserable in the extreme. Wading 
 through the liquid mud, I reached the half-built 
 house that had sheltered us, and saw that the 
 outer wall had been washed down. My concertina 
 was buried beneath the debris. For two hours I 
 worked at removing the stones, and finally suc- 
 ceeded in uncovering the instrument. It was 
 smashed to pieces. I stood staring at it for a 
 while, wondering what could be one now ; then 
 remembering Curly, I turned my steps sadly 
 townwards, with my mutilated and dead concer-
 
 156 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 tina in my hands. At the door Simon met me 
 with the words, " You must take that 'ere boy out 
 of this, he's going to be ill, and I can't have no 
 fevers here." 
 
 In a moment I was by Curly 's side. He lay on 
 the floor ; his fair hair tossed about, and his beau- 
 tiful face flushed. His hands were burning, and 
 he muttered incoherently. 
 
 " Tek him away, I say; I won't have him here," 
 cried Simon, who had followed me. 
 
 " I will not take him away. Move him into a 
 room where there is a bed. I have money," I 
 said, showing him one or two of the precious three 
 shillings that were left to me. 
 
 The old sinner consented. Between us we 
 lifted Curly into a cupboard it was barely more, 
 but there was a low iron bed there. I sat by him 
 for some hours, but, finding he did not change, 
 went out to the drug store and asked what was 
 necessary in such a case as his. The man, who 
 seemed intelligent, gave me a bottle of medicine, 
 for which I paid a shilling. 
 
 The next ten days were a hideous nightmare. 
 Having given Simon the last two shillings, I was 
 forced to go out and seek for work. One day I 
 walked to the coast of Tararu, thinking I might 
 get some work at shovelling sand, but found at 
 least a hundred men who had gone for the same 
 purpose. Only ten were needed. I next tried to 
 get work on a tramway up in the hills near the 
 Karraka Creek, with the same result. I should
 
 LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 157 
 
 most assuredly have starved had I not somehow 
 made a friend of a waiter in one of the hotels, who 
 sometimes of an evening would give me some food 
 at the back door, and several times he gave me a 
 bottle of soup for Curly, who lay still unconscious 
 most of the time. Old Simon was always asking 
 for more money and threatening to turn us out. 
 I made a shilling one day carrying some of the 
 luggage for one of the passengers who had come 
 from Auckland, and that kept the old man quiet 
 for two more days. My food was two biscuits a 
 day, excepting when my friend the waiter gave 
 me anything, that was not often, for all the 
 houses were besieged with starving men. I would 
 not go until, having passed two whole days with- 
 out a bite or sup passing my lips, I was driven to 
 it, fearing I should fall ill. One morning I heard 
 of a Maori chief who wanted some white men to 
 pick potatoes. Leaving Curly as comfortable as I 
 could, I set out for the Maori settlement, some 
 five or six miles beyond Shortland. I had to 
 swim a creek to get to it, and when I arrived, 
 wet and starving, found it was a false rumour. 
 Doggedly I dragged myself back to Shortland. 
 At the wharf I got a job of unloading a vessel 
 of potatoes, but was so weak and wasted from 
 want of food and misery that I was unable to 
 carry the sacks. Seeing me stagger, four or five 
 men, on the look out for work, rushed forward 
 fighting and struggling, and so I lost that. The 
 captain gave me a pocketful of potatoes. I
 
 158 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 lighted a fire on the beach and roasted them ; 
 then, somewhat strengthened, hurried back to 
 Curly. Going to his room, I found it occupied 
 by a stranger, who could not or would not answer 
 my frantic inquiries as to where my friend was. 
 Old Simon was nowhere to be seen, but on my 
 swearing that I would set fire to the house if he 
 didn't show, he emerged from the cellar. 
 
 " Where is Curly ? " I asked, seizing him by the 
 throat and shaking him until all his bones rattled. 
 Some men separated us, or I think I should have 
 killed him. I was desperate. 
 
 " Old Simon has ousted his mate," said one of 
 the men. Turning to me, he added, "Don't yer 
 take on. The boy's gone to a chum in the hills." 
 
 "But he couldn't move," I said. "I left him 
 this morning unconscious. Do, for God's sake, 
 some one, tell me where he is." 
 
 Simon then muttered that, a cart happening to 
 be going to the hills, he had put Curly into it, as 
 the boy had said that he had a friend there ; that 
 he couldn't keep him any longer the room was 
 wanted, and I might go too as soon as I liked. 
 
 In a moment I saw what had happened. Curly 
 and I had spoken of Mr. Eichards before old 
 Simon, and I had said we would go to him as soon 
 as he could walk. When we were starving, I went 
 alone, only to find the house closed up and no 
 trace of Eichards. I had said nothing of my 
 failure to Simon, fearing he might turn us out. 
 Having a chance of letting his room, he had seized
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 159 
 
 the excuse of sending Curly "to a friend," and 
 had turned the sick lad out without a moment's 
 
 Pity- 
 Maddened with rage and grief, I sprang at 
 
 Simon, and, before any one could interfere, dashed 
 him with all my force to the ground, and, without 
 waiting to see if I had killed him or not, went 
 quickly out towards the hills. 
 
 Evening was coming on as I reached the bottom 
 of the hill that led to Richards' hut. I seemed 
 endowed with miraculous strength, and hurried 
 on, tormented by fears as to how and where I 
 should find Curly. No cart was to be seen 
 returning, but then it might not come back ; 
 I had not thought of asking where the man was 
 going. Perhaps he would take Curly on when 
 he found Richards' house shut up, or perhaps 
 Richards might have returned. At last I reached 
 the little hut. It was still closed, and looked 
 deserted. Sick at heart, I turned away, when I 
 observed the trace of cart-wheels that had 
 evidently stopped here, and then gone on. 
 Somewhat cheered by this proof of Curly 's near 
 presence, and the fact that the man in whose care 
 he had been placed had not left him outside the 
 empty house for life is held very cheap in these 
 places I followed the tracks of the cart. 
 
 Reaching the summit of the hill, I saw the cart 
 at the foot of it. The horse had been taken out 
 and was grazing. Giving a loud cou-ee, I ran down 
 at full speed. A rough-looking man came towards
 
 160 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 me with his gun ready cocked, but lowered it on 
 my hasty explanation. I went to the cart, and 
 there, lying on a lot of straw, and covered with 
 some sacks, lay Curly. He opened his eyes as I 
 bent over him, knew me, and said, with his sunny 
 smile, " Don't croak, old fellow, but I must sleep," 
 and immediately fell into a doze. 
 
 The carter told me that Simon had called him 
 in* that morning, asked him to take the lad up to 
 the hut on the hill, that the man there would pay 
 him well. Curly had been lifted in, Simon vowing 
 that there was nothing the matter with him but 
 what food and rest would set right. Curly had 
 slept the whole way, and it was only when Richards' 
 hut had been reached that the man saw not only 
 that the boy was really ill, but that the house had 
 been deserted some time, and he had been tricked 
 by the old sinner. Too good-hearted to leave the 
 boy, he brought him on, meaning to put him in 
 the hospital at Auckland when he got there. 
 
 He made a fire, for the night was cold, and the 
 carter shared his meal of bread and meat with me. 
 He lived at Auckland, he told me, and was in the 
 employ of a corn factor, who sent him now and 
 then to Shortland with a cart of sacks of flour, 
 which he sold to the wayside houses. What was 
 sold in the two towns was sent by steamer. 
 
 The night passed on. The carter, stretching 
 himself on some empty sacks, fell asleep. I got 
 into the cart by the side of Curly, but I could not 
 close my eyes. Sitting there in the stillness and
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 161 
 
 solemnity of night, all seemed unreal to me, my 
 life was, as it were, suspended. I seemed waiting 
 for something, I knew not what. Curly lay sleep- 
 ing peacefully, looking better than he had done 
 since that cold had seized him, and I felt content 
 about him, although T knew not what would become 
 of us, or where I should take him on the morrow. 
 The first rays of the rising sun shot across the sky 
 as Curly opened his eyes and looked at me. My 
 heart gave a throb of joy as I saw he was conscious. 
 Eaising him in my arms, I propped him up against 
 the side of the cart. He looked towards the rising 
 sun, his eyes shining with a wonderful brilliancy, 
 then turning to me said, " There's a good time 
 coming, Gilbert, a good time coming." 
 
 How can I describe what happened then ? it is 
 all blurred in my memory for it was so sudden, so 
 unexpected. I recollect only a short struggle for 
 breath, a convulsive movement, a sunny smile, a 
 peaceful sigh and Curly was dead. 
 
 We buried him that same evening, pulling up a 
 young tree by tying a horse to it, and enlarging 
 the hole with spokes taken from one of the wheels. 
 He looked so beautiful and peaceful with the smile 
 still on his lips, that I could only thank God that 
 for him the " good time " had come. 
 
 I think grief and misery must rather have 
 affected my head for a time, because I utterly 
 refused to go with the carter to Auckland ; the 
 sight of the man and the horse and the cart seemed 
 to drive me into a frenzy. He gave me some food, 
 12
 
 162 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 and I set off in the direction of Shortland; but 
 night found me on Curly's grave, though I have no 
 recollection of how I got there. 
 
 With the morning came a change of mood. 
 Reckless and bitter, I turned from the grave and, 
 without looking back, mounted the hill, passed 
 Richards' house, and on into Shortland. 
 * The next six or seven weeks of my life I will 
 pass over with but few words. It was a desperate 
 fight among desperate men for bread to keep one 
 from starving. Over and over again death stared 
 me in the face, now through accident, now through 
 a quarrel, now from hunger ; but I always escaped. 
 Once swimming across a creek I got cramp, and 
 being perfectly indifferent, let myself sink, but 
 found myself on the opposite shore some hours 
 after, having been hauled in by a passing boat. 
 The humanity of my rescuers, however, not being 
 strong enough to do anything but toss me out on 
 the sand. An old man who had witnessed the 
 scene told me of it when he saw I was alive. It 
 had not entered his head to help me until he saw 
 me move. You see, dead men are useless, but a 
 penny might be got out of a live one. 
 
 You may wonder, perhaps, why I, a sailor, could 
 not get away to Auckland, and ship from there. 
 It was impossible. Once in Shortland or Graham 
 Town, a man was like a rat in a trap, if he had no 
 money, for the two steamboats that called twice a 
 week were so small that there was no chance of 
 becoming a " stowaway." Many had tried it, but as
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 163 
 
 the boats were strictly examined before starting 
 no one had succeeded, and the passage money 
 demanded was very high. To attempt to reach 
 Auckland by land was hopeless now in November, 
 with no shoes to my feet and no money to buy 
 food to carry with me. 
 
 One cold wet night I was wandering about out- 
 side the town, when a man passed me and entered 
 a half shed, half tent that stood near. I leant 
 against a tree and lazily watched him as he lit a 
 lamp, stirred up a wood fire and put something into 
 a saucepan. I had eaten nothing for the day, but 
 felt neither hunger nor thirst. I was simply 
 numbed, morally and physically. We can only 
 suffer up to a certain point, after that mercifully 
 comes indifference. 
 
 The man came out for water, looked at me 
 keenly for a moment, flashing his lantern into my 
 face for the purpose of investigation, and said, 
 " Down on your luck, mate ? Come in if you like, 
 there's plenty of room for two." I followed him 
 in, and soon felt it was more agreeable to be near 
 a fire than out in the pouring rain. He went on 
 with his preparations for supper without noticing 
 me, but when it was cooked he poured it out into 
 two large plates, and shoving a knife and fork across 
 the table, said briefly, "Eat." 
 
 It was a sort of Irish stew, I remember, and as I 
 ate, the feeling of stolid indifference left me, and 
 I again recognized that the world looks vastly 
 different when viewed by a man warm and well-
 
 164 HAED LIFE IN TEE COLONIES. 
 
 fed, than it does to that same man wet, cold, and 
 starving. A tankard of beer unloosed our tongues, 
 and Jack Ward, for such was my host's name, told 
 me that I might sleep there, and if I cared to do 
 so, take up my abode altogether. I was to provide 
 my own grub, and when in luck to pay a dinner. 
 He told me that he was working at an iron foundry 
 a 'long way off, which prevented his being back 
 until very late at nights. I thought his explana- 
 tion unnecessary, but closed with his offer, and for 
 many weeks had the shelter at night, and when 
 more than usually unlucky in getting a stray piece 
 of work, and consequently without food, Ward, 
 who was always well supplied, would force me to 
 share with him. 
 
 I had been with him for several weeks before I 
 began to suspect that the story of the iron foundry 
 was untrue. In the first place he was most tin- 
 punctual; I always left him rolled up in his blanket, 
 and if by chance I came back during the day, very 
 generally found him still asleep, or lazily doing 
 nothing. The only thing he was regular about 
 was returning late at nights ; and he frequently had 
 money that he rattled ostentatiously before me. 
 
 At last, one night he came in, in the wildest of 
 spirits, and threw a handful of gold and silver on 
 the table. "Wliy don't you ask where I get it 
 from ? " he said; " I might be able to put you up 
 to a wrinkle." 
 
 " How do you get it ? " I asked, quietly ; "in the 
 iron foundry ? "
 
 LWE IN THE COLONIES. l6S 
 
 "Not such a fool. No, I make it by 'rolling 
 drunks.' " 
 
 My readers will probably not know what the two 
 words uttered by my respectable friend mean. 
 Simply this, to "roll drunks " was to frequent drink- 
 ing saloons, to follow any man who left drunk, roll 
 him into the gutter and rob him of his watch or 
 money, or whatever he had of value on him. 
 
 "Look here, I'll make you a handsome offer. 
 You join me two can do ever so much better than 
 one, and I bet that before the winter's over our 
 fortunes will be made. Here's my hand on it," 
 and the scoundrel absolutely held out his hand to 
 clench the bargain. 
 
 Choking with rage and shame, I told him in a 
 few incoherent passionate words what I thought of 
 him, and raising the flap of the tent rushed out 
 into the dark night, once more homeless and 
 friendless. I wandered about all night ; for it was 
 too cold to seek shelter in any half-built house, 
 and could not help regretting the warm bed and 
 good food that had been mine for so many weeks 
 now. It maddened me to think that I owed it to 
 such a rascal as Jack Ward ; even the coat I had 
 on me he had given, a heavy blue thing miles too 
 big for me, but warm and without holes ; my boots 
 too were his gift, stolen from some poor drunken 
 sot, no doubt. I wondered what I should do now, 
 and my heart sank at the prospect of passing 
 again through that time of black misery from which 
 Jack Ward had rescued me. Had I only been taught
 
 166 HAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 a trade, little or none of the hardships need have 
 happened; but like all other gentlemen's sons, I 
 was taught only what was utterly useless, and soon 
 forgotten. Latin and Greek will not keep a man 
 from starving. 
 
 I had walked into Shortland by the time day 
 broke, and was hesitating what piece of work to 
 try for, when I was accosted by a soldier, who 
 asked if I would join a company of volunteers who 
 were going to the front against Te' Kooti. 
 
 I said "yes." When he further stated that we 
 must depart the first thing to-morrow morning, I 
 replied that I was ready to start on the instant if 
 necessary. 
 
 " Well, cut off about two feet from that long 
 coat of yours, and come with me to the armoury, 
 where I will present you to the Captain of the First 
 Hauraki Bines." 
 
 I lost no time in doing what I was told, and 
 proceeded to the armoury, where, having passed 
 muster, I was accommodated with a rifle and a 
 uniform, and ordered to return to the same place 
 at daybreak. 
 
 It was a great grief to me that I had no time to 
 go to Curly's grave, I should have liked to see it 
 once more. For him, I had never sorrowed that 
 his young life had been cut off; such a tempera- 
 ment as his would have suffered terribly as life 
 brought him, as it must have done, one disillusion 
 after another : but for myself it was long long 
 before I could think of him without a bitter pang
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 167 
 
 of grief at the knowledge that never again should 
 I hear his joyous voice or see his sunny smile. I 
 may state here that I wrote to his brother an 
 account of his death, but never got any reply. 
 
 At daybreak the next morning I presented my- 
 self at the armoury, where I was a good deal 
 astonished to see Jack Ward dressed in uniform, 
 waiting with many others the order to march. He 
 came up to me, and in rather a sheepish way said 
 he had decided to give up the nefarious trade he 
 had been carrying on, as it was unfitted to " a 
 gentleman." 
 
 I congratulated him on his good resolutions, 
 whereupon he asked me to shake hands with him, 
 and begged me not to mention his past occupation 
 to any one. I complied with both requests. 
 Whenever we met afterwards we were always 
 perfectly polite to each other, but we did not seek 
 out each other's society. He being very flush of 
 money got, as I and the reader know, in that 
 trade which he found "unbefitting a gentleman" 
 he was much looked up to and admired by the men, 
 the more so as he was a good-natured fellow, and 
 generous enough with his money. 
 
 So I left Shortland, that town which I had 
 entered with such bright hopes a short three 
 months before. Those hopes were buried with 
 Curly, and I went forth to my new life feeling only 
 that I might as well end my life in a battlefield 
 by the hand of a savage, as die by inches, of 
 starvation among my own people.
 
 168 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 My adventures as " private of the First Hauraki 
 Eifles " must be told elsewhere by my friend, for I 
 observe that this narrative has stretched out to an 
 unconscionable length. I herewith put the pen 
 into his hand with profit to my readers and plea- 
 sure to myself. 
 
 II. NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 My life has not been one that the most egotistic 
 of men would be very proud of. I entered Trinity 
 College, Dublin, where I did what most young 
 fellows do nothing of note. It was during my 
 collegiate life, however, that I studied hard, be- 
 came somewhat proficient in Hindustanee, Arabic, 
 and Hebrew; was a fair mathematician ; loved the 
 Arab Antar more than Homer, and devoured all 
 the English poets from Chaucer upwards. 
 
 My great wish at this time was to become an 
 artist, painter, or sculptor, for either, of which I 
 had a great taste and was naturally endowed. I 
 do not speak through vanity or in self-laudation, 
 but truthfully and sadly too, the reason for which 
 regret I will show further on. 
 
 Not being able to follow the profession I wished, 
 I entered the Church, and was ordained July 12, 
 1846, and appointed as curate in the same parish 
 as my father. Father and son brother curates, in 
 the same parish, on the magnificent stipend of 
 69 4s. 7jd. per annum ! You will wonder, perhaps, 
 at the 4s. 7d. So did I, but never knew the 
 reason. The halfpenny was always strictly paid.
 
 HALN KILLIGREW DUNBAR. 
 (After a Photograph.)
 
 tlAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 169 
 
 The great Irish famine began the same year 
 owing to the failure of the potato crops. The 
 scenes I witnessed were heartrending. Thousands 
 died for want of food, of actual starvation. Then 
 came malignant fever, whose breath, passing across 
 a town or village, withered up its victims. Those 
 who could, fled ; those who could not fly, laid down 
 and died. 
 
 Christian charity, if it could not save, could 
 and did alleviate the torturing miseries of the poor 
 stricken wretches. But all this has long since 
 become matter of history, nor can any good be 
 obtained by recalling it. 
 
 My life passed on monotonously, without much 
 to mark the months as they slipped by. One 
 amusing event happened in a neighbouring church, 
 which I may as well relate. The church at Garri- 
 son, a small town on the south-east of Loch Melvin, 
 had just been built, and the Bishop of Clogher 
 appointed a day for its consecration. My rector, 
 father and myself, were present, among other 
 clergy. When the service was about to com- 
 mence, the clerk endeavpured to sing the opening 
 psalm, but having a very bad cold, could not 
 produce a note, so turning to the bishop he said, 
 " My lord, I cannot get out a note, but will whistle 
 it." And whistle it he did, to the unspeakable 
 amusement of all present, not excepting the bishop, 
 whose episcopal gravity was -very sadly upset. 
 
 In justice to the clerk a man I knew very well, 
 for he worked for my grandfather, whose residence
 
 170 HABD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 was just outside the town I must say his whist- 
 ling excelled very much the usual excruciating 
 vocal sounds with which he was wont to favour 
 the congregation. 
 
 One more anecdote before I close this brief 
 narrative of my clerical career. There had 
 been a drought of some weeks' duration, and 
 the prayer for rain was naturally used. One 
 Sunday the clerk came into the vestry after ser- 
 vice, and looking from the cloudless blue sky to 
 me, said in a tone of contemptuous remonstrance : 
 " Eh, sorr, whativer be the good of going on 
 praying for rain, for sorra a drap will fall till the 
 wind do change." 
 
 I remained twenty years in the same curacy, a 
 lotus-eating but not wholly unpleasant life, during 
 which I had time to study, and to increase my 
 knowledge of painting and sculpture. 
 
 My rector dying, a successor was of course 
 appointed, who brought his own curates. I had 
 often thought of leaving " the Church," and not 
 long after, having lost my dear father, and the 
 home being broken up, I left Ireland in company 
 with one of my sisters, who required my escort to 
 Australia. We embarked on board the Hurricane, 
 an iron clipper ship, commanded by Captain John- 
 son (he was captain in the Naval Reserve), a good 
 seaman, and a kind, considerate commander. His 
 wife was with him she told me she always accom- 
 panied him ; they were a most devoted couple, and 
 seemed thoroughly to deserve all the happiness
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 171 
 
 that was theirs. Mrs. Johnson was not only a 
 beautiful woman, but was singularly attractive in 
 manner, and had withal a fund of common sense 
 as rare as it is delightful to come across. 
 
 My sister and myself \vere the only first-class 
 passengers. In the second there were about 
 thirty, a curious lot from all parts of the world, 
 one and all fixing their hopes of wealth and 
 prosperity on Australia, with a faith worthy of a 
 better cause. 
 
 I used to like to get Mrs. Johnson to relate 
 some of her adventures in previous voyages, or 
 some particularly striking incident. I remember 
 one in which the tragic and comic were strangely 
 mixed. Among the numerous passengers on their 
 way to Australia was an Irishman, his wife, and 
 child. One morning the mother, being busily 
 engaged, the man took charge of his baby, carry- 
 ing it backwards and forwards on the deck. The 
 little one crowed and jumped with delight, and in 
 its extreme hilarity sprang overboard out of its 
 father's arms and was drowned. Paddy at once 
 rushed to the companion ladder, shouting down to 
 his wife, " Och, Biddy, come up quick, the chile 
 has bounched clane over the fince ! " 
 
 We had our usual amount of storms and calms, 
 neither being terrible or very inconvenient, and I 
 began in my mind to accuse many travellers, who 
 tell woeful tales of fierce tempests and weeks of a 
 weary calm, of at least exaggerating. I forgot 
 that we had not yet reached our journey's end.
 
 i?2 BAUD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 The first land we sighted was Tristan Ditcunha, 
 and next, Curguelan's Island. The captain was 
 anxious to land on the former in order to renew 
 his various stores, but the weather was so stormy, 
 and the coast so rocky and dangerous, that he was 
 obliged to give up the idea altogether; so all I saw 
 of it was a dark mass looming in the distance, 
 surrounded by wild white billows. When in the 
 equator, I often stayed on deck the greater part of 
 the night watching the brilliant phosphoric lights 
 in the water. Millions of these tiny insects, more 
 dazzling in their little spheres than the mightiest 
 of men, lit up the waves with a golden luminous 
 glory. One night the chief officer called me on 
 deck to witness a most extraordinary sight. It 
 was raining as it only can rain in the tropics, 
 huge drops of water falling into the calmest of 
 seas, and the whole sparkling like I am at a 
 loss for a suitable simile not like diamonds, but 
 like a white, clear, brilliant light, covering all the 
 ocean, intensely beautiful, surpassingly magnifi- 
 cent in its glistening purity. 
 
 One day I happened to say to Mr. Farleigh, as 
 we leant over the grating watching the bright 
 waves sparkling in the sun, " I can quite imagine 
 how a sailor loves this free life. You, I suppose, 
 are perfectly happy in your career, and only desire 
 to be a captain? " 
 
 " You are mistaken," he answered quietly, but 
 with a concentration of feeling that startled me, 
 " I hate it."
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 173 
 
 "Then why " I asked, then stopped; it was 
 none of my business to pry into the life of another, 
 and although the first officer and I were very good 
 friends, he had never mentioned his family or his 
 private affairs, but he finished the sentence for me: 
 
 "Why did I enter the navy? Because, like 
 many a boy, I thought it a very grand thing to go 
 to sea ; and because there happened to be a berth 
 for me. I imagined all would be delightful; above 
 all, looked forward to the freedom of a sailor's 
 life Freedom," he repeated, with a short laugh, as 
 he knocked the ashes out of his pipe and rapidly 
 refilled it. 
 
 "You have not found it a life of freedom?" I 
 ventured to ask, for I was interested in hearing 
 his opinion. 
 
 He laughed again. " Well, not exactly. Think 
 a moment. What freedom can there be when 
 one is confined to the narrow limits of a ship, 
 where rules and discipline must be strictly en- 
 forced. One is actually in a sort of prison, with 
 the additional comfort of not knowing what may 
 happen from one hour to another. No, what 
 with the storms, disasters, and shipwrecks, a 
 sailor's life is not one to be envied, it is but one 
 constant succession of hardship, toil, and misery." 
 
 "Could you not leave a profession so little to 
 your taste ? " I asked, still feeling somewhat 
 puzzled at this unexpected view of a seafaring 
 life from the lips of a seafaring man, who had 
 always, as far as I could judge, been content with
 
 174 HAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 his lot, and what is more, skilful and proficient as 
 a naval man. 
 
 "If I left, what could I do? What is a man 
 who has spent years on the ocean to turn his 
 hand to on land ? Not one of all the branches of 
 knowledge necessary on board a ship would help 
 a man to get his living on terra fa-ma, and my 
 fortune is not large enough to allow me to do 
 nothing. Here I am, here I must remain. I don't 
 say I find no pleasure in my life, or no interest 
 in my work ; nevertheless, it is the last profession 
 in the world that I should choose had I my life to 
 go over again." 
 
 " Have you been shipwrecked often ? " 
 
 " So often, that now I really hardly mind it ; it 
 is an excitement like any other, and breaks the 
 monotony of life; but there, too, it is always 
 accompanied by so much sorrow, so much misery, 
 that one shrinks from thinking of it, and one feels 
 a brute to wish any change that would bring such 
 terror on the poor passengers. Yet, for my part, 
 so calm and uneventful a voyage as we have this 
 time is wearisome to a degree." 
 
 Though we were not far off our journey's end, 
 we were fated not to accomplish it without a disaster 
 bad enough to satisfy even my friend's desire for 
 change. We remembered our conversation after- 
 wards and referred to it. 
 
 A pretty sharp storm came on the day after our 
 talk, and a good deal of damage was done ; the 
 Hurricane plunged and bounded immensely. The
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 175 
 
 two ladies retired to their cabins, but the captain 
 and I endeavoured to eat our dinners as usual, the 
 stormy wind in noways affecting our appetites. 
 The difficulties were, however, very great. When 
 I tried to raise my glass of ale to my lips, it would 
 pour over my right shoulder ; another effort, and 
 my left shoulder would receive what my open 
 mouth was waiting for. I nearly put out an eye 
 with a fork when, giving up the attempt to get a 
 drink as hopeless, I tackled the chicken on my 
 plate, and was deciding to use my fingers, when 
 crash came in the skylight, followed bj 7 an immense 
 deluge of water, which swept me from my seat, and 
 sent me floating around the dining saloon before I 
 had time to call upon the proverbial Jack Robin- 
 son, as is usual in all such cases. 
 
 What a scrimmage it was ! Though not a little 
 frightened "tell it not in Gath ! " I could not 
 help laughing at the sight we presented, such 
 drenched specimens of humanity. Captain John- 
 son recovered himself first, and got on his feet, 
 with water pouring from him. Without heeding 
 me he dashed up on deck, where I heard him 
 shouting out orders above the roar of the tempest. 
 
 The storm stormed itself out, and the Hurricane 
 once more wended her way through calm seas. 
 At this time, a huge whale nearly ran into us, 
 but evidently thought better of it. He insisted, 
 however, on politely escorting us for some miles, 
 and so closely as almost to touch the ship. The 
 old sailors were very much frightened, for they
 
 176 HAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 knew the danger but too well. The wreck and 
 loss of many a fine vessel can be traced to those 
 monsters of the deep. We (the passengers) were 
 merely greatly astonished at his bulk. He 
 appeared to be larger than the Hurricane, and she 
 numbered three hundred feet. Maybe our amaze- 
 ment at his great bulk and his close proximity 
 added magnifying power to our eyes ; still, of a 
 surety he was, as a Pat said, " a rale monstrous 
 baste intirely." 
 
 Many flying-fish appeared to have a keen desire 
 to improve our acquaintance, for quantities of them 
 flew on deck, one nearly blinding the steersman by 
 darting into his eyes, attracted by the binnacle 
 light. They were all caught, and swam in the sea 
 and flew in the air no more, for they are very 
 good to eat ! 
 
 And now the long-wished-for land was near, and 
 a busy time it was for the crew scraping the 
 masts, painting, and otherwise refitting the vessel 
 and making her clean. The damage done by the 
 storm was repaired, only the boats lost could not 
 be replaced until we got into port. The passengers 
 were much occupied preparing for shore, and the 
 female part, needle in hand, were touching up their 
 finery I suppose to astonish the natives by and by. 
 
 The night before we entered " The Heads," the 
 pilot came on board and took command of the 
 ship. I was amused to see how Captain Johnson, 
 giving place to the autocrat, seemed to become 
 almost a nonentity in his own ship.
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 17? 
 
 Next morning we entered Hobson's Bay. The 
 sea was rough, but though the wind was brisk it 
 was not boisterous, and the sky was blue and clear. 
 Having made all my arrangements I went on deck, 
 observing everything with the greatest interest. 
 On the starboard could be seen the quarantine 
 buildings, imposing by virtue of their size, and 
 Dromana ; while on the port side, the fine city of 
 Geelong was clearly visible. 
 
 What happened then was so sudden, so un- 
 expected, that even after this lapse of time my 
 heart beats faster as I recall those scenes we were 
 wrecked in sight of land ! 
 
 The coast about here abounds with dangerous 
 reefs that, like some beast of prey, lie in ambush 
 to catch some unwary vessel as it sails proudly 
 by on the sparkling waters. So was the good ship 
 Hurricane, with white sails set, gaily floating on 
 to that port that even now opened before her. 
 
 A sudden crunching sound, a quivering that 
 shook the vessel, a momentary stop that was 
 all, but the Hurricane had received her death- 
 blow. 
 
 A loud cry, " She has struck," was followed by 
 the captain and his officers, who came on deck, 
 and firmly and quietly calmed the panic-stricken 
 passengers. 
 
 " Is there any danger ? " I asked Mr. Farleigh, 
 in a low voice. 
 
 " Yes, she is lost," he answered, in the same 
 tone. 
 
 13
 
 i?8 &ARD LiPs IN ftiE COLONIES. 
 
 "But she is sailing just the same," I said, in 
 amazement ; for beyond going a little more slowly 
 there seemed to be no difference in her pro- 
 gress. 
 
 "Come and help at the pumps; that is our 
 only chance of keeping her afloat a little longer." 
 
 I went with him. The crew were already work- 
 ing as strenuously as men could work. I took a 
 hand at them, when Mr. Farleigh touched me on 
 the arm and pointed forwards. The bows of the 
 Hurricane touched the water and began to sink. 
 The men looked at each other significantly, but 
 worked bravely on ; very soon it was useless, we 
 were driven aft by the rising water. The order was 
 given to prepare the boats; only two, it will be 
 remembered, were on board, the rest having been 
 washed away in the storm. I went below to 
 acquaint my sister of what had happened, and to 
 bring her quietly on deck, for no time was to 
 be lost if we would save ourselves. Without 
 waiting to secure anything, we hurried on deck, 
 where an indescribable scene met our eyes. The 
 passengers were all crowded together, and though 
 in great excitement and fear, behaved very well. 
 Captain Johnson told them briefly that, being so 
 near the shore, their lives were not in danger. He 
 then ordered the two boats to be lowered and the 
 women to enter them ; luckily there were very 
 few on board, and room was found for me in the 
 second boat. 
 
 Both boats, heavily freighted, were kept in the
 
 LlFE IN ?HE COLONIES. 170 
 
 lee of the ship, which served as a sort of break- 
 water; and from them we watched the vessel 
 settling down in her watery grave. Captain John- 
 son stood with folded arms and white, stern-set 
 features, while his wife sobbed bitterly. Presently 
 came a thundering sound ; the deck of the Hurri- 
 cane had blown up, and she sank rapidly, remain- 
 ing on even keel, her masts perpendicular, her 
 white sails spread, and about twelve feet of water 
 over her bulwarks. A groan broke from the crew, 
 which the captain stopped with a gesture, as, not 
 allowing himself the comfort of one word of sorrow 
 or regret, he told those who could swim to leave 
 the overcrowded boats and get into the rigging of 
 the wreck. This was done, and they remained 
 there until taken off by a stearn tug, which was 
 despatched from Landridge to our rescue. So 
 near were we to land that the people at Geelong 
 saw what had happened, and assembled in crowds 
 on the quays and wharves. Some of the authorities 
 telegraphed the disaster to Melbourne. 
 
 We remained a long time floating aft of the 
 wreck, being prevented from drifting away by a 
 rope attached to the spanker-boom, for although 
 only two or three miles from shore, we dare not 
 attempt landing, owing to the reefs that abounded 
 and our ignorance of the coast, let alone the over- 
 crowded state of the two boats. To add to our 
 misery we were surrounded by enormous sharks, 
 who, scenting misfortune, came in shoals, swimming 
 about with their huge jaws yapping and their small
 
 180 HABD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 eyes fixed on us until our blood fairly curdled in our 
 veins. Mr. Farleigh very nearly fell a victim to 
 one of these voracious brutes. He was swimming 
 to one of the boats, when a great lanky shark 
 darted at him, his snout almost touching him ; but 
 while the monster turned on its side to seize him 
 the men dragged him into the boat, where he 
 viewed his would-be devourer with anything but 
 affection. The sea for a long distance around us 
 was covered with thousands of candles and millions 
 of boxes of Cockle's pills, and I could not help 
 wondering how, the latter especially, would agree 
 with the fish. Pounds of candles, dozens of boxes 
 of pills went down a shark's capacious throat each 
 time one opened its jaws, and it afforded me a 
 somewhat fiendish glee when I pictured to myself 
 the sad astonishment of those monsters of the deep 
 at the new, and most likely unpleasant, sensations 
 that would shortly pervade them. 
 
 After some dreary hours of anxious waiting, the 
 tug returned and took us on board. Captain 
 Johnson, who had mounted the rigging of his 
 vessel, was with difficulty induced to forsake her, 
 and came on board at last in gloomy silence. 
 His wife prevailed on him to go down into the 
 cabin with her, and we all felt that if any one 
 could comfort him it was the woman he loved and 
 who loved him, and who had been with him in 
 more than one time of peril and sorrow. The 
 tug took us to Geelong, where we were hospitably 
 entertained by the authorities. After which we
 
 HAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 181 
 
 re-embarked and steamed to Landridge Pier, and 
 from thence to Melbourne. 
 
 I may state here that nothing was saved from 
 the Hurricane, the accident was too sudden, and 
 she sank too rapidly for anything to be secured. 
 Personally, with the exception of a telescope, 
 which was somehow or other thrown into one of 
 the boats by a sailor, I lost everything I pos- 
 sessed. All my scientific and chemical imple- 
 ments, my canvas and colours, tools for sculp- 
 ture, a fine collection of valuable books, jewels, 
 family plate, &c., &c., things too numerous to 
 mention ; and, greatest loss of all, my manuscripts, 
 certificates, and testimonials, none of which could 
 be replaced. My sister fortunately had a cheque 
 on the Melbourne bank safe on her person. 
 
 Thus I landed in the New World, half clad and 
 penniless, with life to begin over again, when I 
 thought I had just attained ease and comfort. 
 
 A man in such a condition is not always wel- 
 comed even by his nearest relations ; on the 
 contrary, " near of kin, less of kind" has been 
 proved too often to need comment. The rat who 
 leaves the sinking vessel is a true type of 
 humanity. A poor relation is such a very un- 
 pleasant thing ; he gives the rich members of the 
 family an uncomfortable feeling that something 
 ought to be done for him, as blood is thicker 
 than water, and there is still supposed to exist 
 such a feeling as natural ties and family affection. 
 The wild beast respects its own species, but man
 
 182 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 is superior to the wild beast, and respects no one 
 but bimself. Why should he be burdened with 
 that worst of all unpleasant objects, that weari- 
 some incubus a poor relation ? 
 
 Seeing my sister comfortably settled in her new 
 home (she had come to Australia to be married), 
 I felt myself to be one too many, and sought for 
 employment in all those branches in which I was 
 proficient. But without testimonials, and minus a 
 single implement necessary for my profession, it 
 was, I suppose, little wonder that I was received 
 with suspicion, and my story of the loss of every- 
 thing in the Hurricane, with scarcely veiled sneers. 
 
 In a very short time I saw it was hopeless. No 
 one seemed to care, I was getting past middle 
 age and useless ; only young men were needed, 
 and those who could work not with their heads, but 
 with their hands. What did it matter, one man 
 more or less who breaks down in the struggle for 
 life ? After all, it was no one's concern half as 
 much as my own, and if I would live, I must 
 shake myself out of the state of lethargy into 
 which I was tempted to sink, and putting aside all 
 idea of making my living as painter, sculptor, or 
 professor, endeavour to put bread into my mouth 
 by the labour of my hands. 
 
 Feeling it was wiser to leave Melbourne, as I had 
 connections there, and had no wish to distress 
 them with my presence, or let them know to what 
 a state of poverty I was reduced, I managed by a 
 chance piece of work (copying it was) to get
 
 HARD LIFE IN TEE COLONIES. 183 
 
 together the price of a passage to New Zealand, 
 and landed at Wellington. 
 
 There I found things somewhat worse than in 
 Melbourne. Literally no work to be had. There 
 was a great rush at that time to the Thames gold- 
 fields, where large nuggets of gold were reported 
 to have been found ; so, finding I could do nothing 
 here, I went also to try my luck at gold-digging. 
 One morning I landed at Graham's Town and 
 Shortland, half towns, half mining camps, the 
 possessor of a pair of blankets, a few shillings, and 
 a heart somewhere in rny boots. 
 
 I looked around for a few days, " taking stock," 
 and looking, looking, looking for work. At length, 
 when my last penny had gone, I succeeded in 
 finding employment in a mining office connected 
 with the Thames gold-fields, at a high salary. 
 Barely a week had I enjoyed this happy state of 
 things, and had hardly come to feel safe for the 
 future, when crash went the whole goodly edifice ; 
 the gold-fields were declared a sham and a swindle, 
 the mining stockbrokers broke, hundreds of men 
 thrown out of work, a cart-load of scrips for six- 
 pence, or, if you hadn't a sixpence, for nothing. 
 
 Well, I had no sixpence, and, what was worse, 
 no work, for work means bread, and starvation is 
 decidedly unpleasant. If any one doubts it, let 
 him try it. For my part, I know I would have 
 sold all my illustrious long line of ancestors for 
 one good square dinner if I could. How like 
 I felt ! for whom I have ever since had a
 
 184 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 brotherly feeling instead of the scornful wonder 
 with which I used to regard him and his act of 
 selling his birthright for a bowl of porridge. But 
 I am getting rather gloomy. Let me alter my 
 tune to something of a livelier strain. 
 
 I will relate one of the many stories true ones 
 all that were afloat in Shortland at that time, 
 showing how men outwitted each other, and would 
 sell their souls if they could for gold. There was 
 a man who dwelt in Shortland now there is 
 nothing very extraordinary in this, as very many 
 men dwelt there also ; but this man was what is 
 called in Shortland phraseology " a strange cuss." 
 He was once a clerk to a broker, and when he 
 learnt full understanding of the business, calmly 
 swindled his employer and set up for himself with 
 the stolen money, and rapidly became a wealthy 
 man. He offered a clerkship to his late master, 
 which was indignantly refused ; the poor desperate 
 man in a fit of despair blowing his brains out in 
 the office in the presence of his usurper, who pro- 
 nounced the following brief oration over the body : 
 " Well, now you've gone to h 1, I'm safe, and 
 all's well." He paid for the funeral expenses an 
 act of generosity he was never tired of recounting 
 with a naive astonishment in his own goodness 
 that was a curious thing to hear. Months passed 
 on, and he became richer and richer ; everything 
 prospered, every mine he had to do with succeeded, 
 and every mine he turned from failed, It was like 
 magic,
 
 HAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 185 
 
 One day a poor miner who had " started out " a 
 mining " claim," finding it did not succeed, wanted 
 to dispose of it, and for this purpose placed it in 
 the hands of our afore-mentioned friend the broker, 
 stating his price .500. A few days later this 
 miner rushed into Mr. - - (I cannot think of the 
 fellow's name no great loss, certainly), into 
 Mister's office, crying out in great excitement, 
 " Och ! Aare an' ages. Has your Honour sould 
 my mine? " 
 
 " I can't say," answered the broker, " I have 
 sold so many since you were here. Why do you 
 ask?" 
 
 " Och, an' you have. I'm ruined, so I am, 
 ochone. Oh ! for marcy sake, your Honour, will 
 you aise me heart, and tell me you have not ? " 
 
 " Shut up your blarney, and clear out of this ! 
 Come to-morrow, and I'll see if I have sold it ; 
 but be sure of one thing, it hasn't fetched 500," 
 said Mr. Broker. 
 
 "Oh, murther ! murther ! " wailed the miner. 
 " See here, yer Honour, the pure gould I've struck 
 in fair handfuls ; and now yer go and tell me you 
 have sold me mine." 
 
 The broker carefully examined the sample of 
 gold-dust, which was besprinkled with a few little 
 nuggets, and seeing that they were genuine, hastily 
 decided to do a good thing for himself. 
 
 " Wait a moment, my friend," he said to the 
 miner; "I will go and see whether your claim is, 
 sold or not. I rather fear it is."
 
 186 HABD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 Going into his inner office, he returned presently 
 with a cheque in his hand. " I am sorry to say it 
 is sold, and here is your money, .500, less my 
 charges, which are not much." 
 
 Language could not paint the grotesque despair 
 and strange antics of the poor Patlander. He 
 signed the cheque, dashed from the broker's office 
 to the bank, grinned a horrible and ghastly smile 
 as he pocketed the cash, and vanished. 
 
 Now comes the best part of the story. Mr. 
 Broker brought some of his friends, two days after, 
 to see the splendid " grab " he had made, for need- 
 less to state that on seeing the nuggets he had 
 bought the claim himself. When they reached the 
 spot they found a little earth removed, but of gold 
 ore not the smallest trace ! Thus for once was 
 the sharper outwitted by a poor dirty Irishman ; 
 and, what he felt almost more than the loss of his 
 money, the story got about, and he became the 
 laughing-stock of every one. 
 
 To return to myself. In company with hundreds of 
 others I used the numeral " hundreds " advisedly 
 I prowled the streets and lanes, the camps and 
 mining districts, in the weary and ever vain search 
 for work. A chance job now and then enabled me 
 to buy my daily rations, which consisted at that 
 time of a ship-biscuit and cold water in the fore- 
 noon, ditto in the evening, when I was rich enough 
 to afford it, which happened by no means every 
 day. 
 
 There is a story of a young gentleman in some
 
 HABD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 187 
 
 old play, whose name I forget now, who, ou his 
 servant's lamenting the emptiness of his larder, 
 tells him, " There is a page turned down there in 
 Epictetns that is a feast for an emperor." True, 
 such diet is not likely to induce nightmare a 
 decided advantage, and about the only one it 
 possesses. Alas ! I have proved it ad nauseam. 
 
 My home was a manikin bush, or rather grove, 
 and, although it was winter, the weather was not 
 unpleasant. I rolled myself up in the one blanket 
 I had not parted with, laid down at the foot of a 
 tree whose roots formed a sort of hollow, and 
 generally slept very well, unless prevented by the 
 pangs of hunger. It is really wonderful how little 
 a man can live on perhaps exist would be the 
 better phrase. I had almost forgotten the taste of 
 meat, and found that my strength did not diminish 
 to the extent I had thought likely, on a biscuit a 
 day for all nourishment. 
 
 An election came on, and I got myself enrolled 
 as a special policeman to help to keep the polling- 
 booths intact. " Ah," said I to myself, "this day 
 I will get something better than air and water to 
 sustain me." What a fool I was ! All day long I 
 wrestled with a mob of Irish blackguards, and at 
 night crept into the root of my tree without having 
 broken my fast ; nor was I paid for that day's work 
 until a fortnight had passed. 
 
 With some clay I modelled a church, which I 
 offered for sale from door to door. A common 
 miner, flush with money, gave me five shillings
 
 188 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 for it because it reminded him of his village church 
 in Cornwall. After long and serious thought I 
 expended most of the five shillings in getting a 
 stock of newspapers, and selling them ; but the 
 young boys beat the old one, and I found I had 
 half my papers on my hand to do what I pleased 
 with. 
 
 But enough of these details. The very recollec- 
 tion of this time makes me feel sick and weak. It 
 was a terrible state of things, and no one to blame. 
 Without friends, without money, without the 
 knowledge of a trade ; in a country overrun with 
 strong, able-bodied men seeking work work to 
 which they had been born how was I, a gentle- 
 man, therefore a useless article in the market of 
 life, to get food enough to keep the life in me ? 
 Often- did I desire to die ; fierce were the tempta- 
 tions that assailed me to drop into the sea, and 
 end the intolerable burden of life. 
 
 Well, the weary days went on ; constant starva- 
 tion began to tell upon me ; my clothes hung on 
 my wasted body like sacks, and with my long, 
 uncut beard and hair I made a sorry figure indeed. 
 One morning, as I was mooning about listless, 
 weary, not seeking for work, not caring what 
 might happen, hardly even thinking, some one 
 touched me on the shoulder, and a voice that 
 seemed to reach my ears as from a dream, said : 
 " Dunbar, old fellow, is it you ? are you 
 alive ? " 
 
 Turning my head, I saw the sergeant of the
 
 BARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 199 
 
 Hauraki Eifles, with whom I had had a slight 
 acquaintance on first coming to Shortland. 
 
 11 Great Heavens, what a scarecrow you are ! " 
 he cried, with more frankness than politeness. 
 " Have a glass of ale and a talk ? " 
 
 We went to a small inn, where I was accommo- 
 dated with some bread-and-cheese and beer, the 
 sergeant sitting gravely smoking and watching me 
 until, the keen edge of my appetite blunted, I could 
 listen to him. 
 
 "Will you volunteer to go to the front?" he 
 asked. " Te Kooti is out again with his How- 
 Hows, and a hundred men must leave at daybreak 
 to-morrow." 
 
 " Go ! I believe you ! " I answered. 
 
 " All right ; then when you have finished your 
 grub, run as fast as you can to the captain of the 
 corps ; say McEugall sent you. You will find 
 him at the armoury ; he will be sure to take you. 
 Be lively." 
 
 And lively I was that is, as lively as I could 
 be under the circumstances, saw Captain Kurtoii 
 of the 1st Hauraki Eifle Volunteers, was accepted, 
 sent out immediately on parade ; that over, was 
 ordered to be at the armoury by daybreak the 
 next day to embark for the seat of war. So I 
 slept for the last time in the root of rny tree, and 
 before daybreak shouldered my " swag," went to 
 the armoury, and was reviewed with the other 
 volunteers. 
 
 Oh, holy and blessed-looking mob ! Had I my
 
 190 BARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 Shakespeare at hand, how appropriately could I 
 bring in certain quotations, to iny great honour 
 and glory, about Falstaff's immortal ragamuffins, 
 and make sundry comparisons which Mrs. Mala- 
 prop would stigmatize as " odorous " ! Certain it 
 is that Falstaff's corp of gallow- birds was as the 
 Coldstream Guards compared to us. 
 
 Let me try to give you a faint idea of what we 
 looked like. A few, a very few, had dingy 
 uniforms ; these were the Haurakis proper, if I 
 may use such a term ; but the new volunteers, 
 how shall I describe their rig out ? One man 
 had curtailed the tail of his coat, leaving the raw 
 edge, with a sublime indifference to appearances. 
 I wore mine in fringes, with elbows out, for 
 ventilation sake, minus a collar, and with but 
 one cuff. 
 
 Now for the other volunteers. Some had coats, 
 some paletots, some jackets ; all were fragmentary, 
 and not a little picturesque, waving in every 
 breeze, and giving a weird and flibberty-gibbet 
 appearance to the whole crew almost impossible 
 to depict. As to the nether garment, I really 
 dare not venture to describe what is indescribable ; 
 I will only say that some carne to the knee, some 
 lay in folds over the boots, trying with a sort of 
 charity to cover a multitude of faults and defi- 
 ciencies ; some, whose proud possessors could work 
 a needle, were patched all over with pieces of 
 cloth found in the dust-heaps, and were as many 
 coloured as Joseph's coat. Hardly a vestige of
 
 Alii) LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 191 
 
 a vest among the lot, but instead Crimean shirts 
 in every stage of decadence. But the crowning 
 glory was the headgear ! Oh, Paddy ! thou who 
 erst dwelt in that " Garden of God, the wild 
 Connemara," mightest have been able to produce 
 a specimen worthy to vie with the coverings that 
 hid the heads of the Volunteer Corps of the 
 1st Hauraki Rifles. The collection taken just 
 as we stood would have rendered a museum 
 immortal. There was the stately chimney-pot, 
 mangy, battered, and brimless ; the mushroom- 
 shaped wide-awake, as green as a stagnant pool 
 in summer ; the Turkish sanguinary fez, minus 
 the tassel, and faded as to colour; the dapper 
 cheese-cutter on the cranium of a gaunt man of 
 some sixty years ; such were a few of the head 
 adornments of some of our sans culotte corps. 
 
 At the blast of the bugle we shouldered our 
 " impedimenta," and fell into rank and file, and 
 proceeded by the really good band of our Haurakis, 
 we marched through Shortland to the pier at 
 Graham's Town. 
 
 Our queer and ragged appearance did not excite 
 any comments in either town as we passed through. 
 The floating populations of these mining districts 
 are accustomed to sights stranger and even more 
 grotesque than the hundred tattered and torn 
 recruits of the Volunteer Corps of the 1st Hauraki 
 Rifles. The Government troopship, the Stuart, 
 was waiting by the pier, in readiness to start as 
 soon as we went on board. In less than an hour
 
 192 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 we saw Graham's Town receding from our sight, 
 and I think none of us felt anything but unfeigned 
 thankfulness at the chance that enabled us to turn 
 our backs on a place where we had one and all 
 suffered such misery. Once shaken a little into 
 our places, we began to take stock of each other, 
 
 and here I met Gilbert J , like myself, as 
 
 miserable a looking object as starvation and rags 
 could make him, but nevertheless unmistakably a 
 gentleman. Good birth will assert itself under 
 the most adverse circumstances. We fraternized 
 at once, and have been fast friends ever since. 
 Sorrows and privations we have often suffered 
 together, but misfortune has but drawn us closer 
 and riveted our friendship more securely. 
 
 To return to my narrative. After an uneventful 
 voyage, if so short a distance can be termed a 
 voyage, we landed at Auckland (of which town 
 more hereafter), and for the first time for many 
 days had a good dinner an important fact that 
 has remained in my memory with a faithful per- 
 tinacity of which I ought to feel ashamed ; the 
 very menu springs before rny eyes with an un- 
 forgetable clearness. Oh, Brillat-Savarin ! with 
 what scornful wonder wouldst thou have viewed 
 the mountains of fat boiled mutton, the cart- 
 loads of boiled turnips and carrots that burst 
 upon the delighted vision of a hundred hungry 
 men ! We needed no Sauce a la Bechamel, being 
 all provided with that best of all sauces hunger. 
 And we ate gravely and silently, like men fully
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 198 
 
 impressed with the importance of that unusual 
 event, a decent, sufficient, sit-down, knife-and-fork 
 dinner ! 
 
 After being supplied with this interior ammuni- 
 tion, we were given arms and clothes. Here is 
 our costume. No coat or vest, instead thereof 
 a woollen shirt of bright colours ; no trousers, 
 but a large plaid shawl, fastened by a strap around 
 the waist and coming to the knees, like a High- 
 land kilt ; socks and shoes ; a small dark blue cap, 
 around which was wound a white puggery, with 
 the gold and crimson fringed ends hanging grace- 
 fully behind altogether a wild and picturesque 
 costume, a decided improvement on our civilian 
 habiliments, and, like Norah Crima's robe, " leav- 
 ing every beauty free." I confess the effect was 
 rather startling when first we broke upon one 
 another's gaze, and my friend greeted me with 
 a shout of laughter, while he pointed to the yards 
 of bare bone that emerged from my kilt, and 
 which he vowed gave me the appearance of a 
 Highlander on stilts. He being a short man, 
 with hands and feet of womanish smallness, had 
 an advantage over me as far as looks went, for 
 my six-foot-one of ordinary height was seemingly 
 increased by my appalling thinness, while, like 
 Lady Godiva's lord, I wore 
 
 " My beard a foot before me, and my hair a yard behind." 
 Our arms were the Enfield rifle and bayonet, 
 
 14
 
 194 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 far too long for bush fighting, and which placed 
 us at a great disadvantage with the enemy, who 
 was well supplied with " repeating arms." How did 
 they procure them ? That is a question we could 
 never satisfactorily answer. The craftiness and 
 cleverness of the savages were truly Machiavelian. 
 Thus equipped, the transformed corps of the 
 1st Hauraki Rifle Volunteers (I always like to 
 put it down in full, it is such a delicious 
 mouthful) embarked again for Tanronga, our 
 destined field of operations. There we in due 
 time landed, and pitched our tents behind the 
 town, in the direction of the Inden Ford, and 
 near an entrenched camp of friendly Maoris. Fine 
 fellows they were as to physique, tall, well made, 
 and brown. As to their costume, well 
 
 " Except a shell a bangle rare 
 A feather here a feather there 
 The South Pacific Maoris wear 
 Their native nothingness." 
 
 We were supported by two ships of war, which 
 were anchored in front of Tanronga. 
 
 Tanronga is situated on a promontory, sur- 
 rounded with beautiful scenery, and the land 
 very fertile. It was once a very thriving city, 
 but war and its many attendant blessings (?) had 
 pretty well ruined it. At the seaward end of the 
 town was a fortified fort, which we had to man. 
 Two Armstrong field guns in good order, with the 
 necessary ammunition, were placed here. The
 
 HABD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 195 
 
 bay in front of the town is the estuary of the 
 Waimapu River, and behind the town at about 
 half a mile is another bay, which can be forded 
 at low water, and which we were obliged to guard 
 at a spot called "the Inden Ford," and at the 
 other side of this bay the enemy lay in ambush. 
 
 We were kept pretty busy ; what with sentries, 
 videttes, pickets, scouts, drill, heat, and mosquitoes 
 our time was fully occupied. At sunset all lights 
 out ; at 2 A.M. parade in strict silence, waiting, like 
 spectres, for a foe who was too wise to come. For 
 two tedious hours there we stood motionless, with 
 blue or grey blankets wrapped around us, no pipes 
 allowed, no word above a whisper, for fear of betray- 
 ing our presence, and drawing upon us the fire of 
 an invisible foe. 
 
 The Maoris always make their attacks at the 
 weird and uncanny hours before daybreak. During 
 the day we were tolerably secure, but darkness is 
 the time for savage beasts and no less savage 
 man to enjoy themselves ; so we were kept always 
 on the qui vive. The inhabitants of the neighbour- 
 hood all around Tanronga flocked into the town 
 every evening for greater security, returning to 
 their homes and occupations at daybreak. 
 
 Hard by, in the centre of the Inden Ford, was 
 an island " taboo " by the natives (i.e., forbidden 
 to, or not to be violated by, white men). On this 
 island were dozens of peach-trees, which, at the 
 time we were there, were loaded with large and 
 delicious fruit. Some of us would steal out at
 
 196 HAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 night with empty sacks, wend our way with infinite 
 caution to the sacred island, cram our bags full 
 with the forbidden fruit, and steal back again to 
 our camp, where captain and men feasted upon 
 them, and felt none the worse for the sacrilege. It 
 was, however, a very dangerous undertaking, as 
 the enemy was ubiquitous, although seldom seen. 
 
 On Sundays we had church parade. Standing 
 in a hollow square, our captain would read the 
 Church of England service somewhat shortened, it 
 is true. In the evening some of us were allowed 
 to attend the missionary station at Tanronga, 
 
 where Archdeacon (I will not give his name) 
 
 held the service and preached. He had been asked 
 to give us a service in our camp, and had refused 
 emphatically unless paid so much per capitem. 
 An old Maori chief thus spoke on English mission- 
 aries : " The Paheha (white missionary) came unto 
 us ; we welcomed him, we gave him land and pigs, 
 we built a house for his God, and lo ! he took all 
 and nothing gave us in return, though many moons 
 have passed by ; so now, if God wants more land, 
 or pigs, or houses, God must pay for them." 
 Their eyes are opened now, and they can dis- 
 tinguish piety from covetousness. 
 
 Many missionaries, be it spoken to their shame, 
 under the pretence of religion have " land-grabbed " 
 to no small extent, but, as the Yankee says, "It 
 can't be did no more." Mr. Maori now knows the 
 value of land, and holds his rights very tenaciously, 
 all the cajoleries of the white man the " Paheha "
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 19f 
 
 particularly leaving the noble savage unmoved and 
 immovable. Their cleverness and keenness is such 
 as often to surpass the white man in the rapidity 
 with which they make their fortune. Take the chief 
 Tapari, for instance. He lived at the Thames, and 
 was owner of the whole town of Shortland ; his 
 rents brought him in somewhere about 8,000 per 
 annum. Formerly, like Diogenes, his dwelling was 
 a cask, and he lived on the smell of the liquor it had 
 once contained. " See what a rent the envious 
 Casca made ! " Pardon this quotation : I could not 
 resist the temptation, although I have always held 
 that a man who could perpetrate a pun ought to 
 be strangled. While speaking of Shortland I may 
 as well relate an anecdote proving the value of 
 knowing the language of the natives in your inter- 
 course with them. I was one day standing in the 
 gallery of Smaile's Building talking to his janitor, 
 when two Maoris came up and asked him in 
 English what the hour of the day was. 
 
 "Good, good," replied the janitor. "Clock 
 strikee, strikee, one,- two," at the same time 
 frantically twisting his right hand in a circle above 
 his head ; then, turning to me, he remarked with 
 becoming modesty, "When first I came to Short- 
 land I could not speak one word of Maori, and now 
 you see I get on swimmingly." 
 
 I certainly did not see it, and as to the poor 
 natives, they stared at him a moment bewildered, 
 then slunk away, doubtless saying to themselves, 
 "The white man is either mad or a fool."
 
 198 HAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 The Maori language is soft and sweetly har- 
 monious, something in sound like Italian, but more 
 liquid, having many vowels. It is very figurative, 
 and abounds in picturesque allegories and beautiful 
 similes. 
 
 As I have said before, the Maori is, generally 
 speaking, a noble-looking man, straight and well 
 built, tall and strong, lithe and graceful, and walks 
 like a king. Among their tribes they dress in their 
 " native nothingness," but in civilized places they 
 give in to the white man's weakness for clothing, 
 and wear loose trousers, woollen shirt, and a 
 coloured blanket worn like a Roman toga. They 
 don't seem to care about headgear, but are very 
 proud of a new hat, the only awkwardness being 
 that with one on the head the Maori considers 
 himself full dressed, and any other article of cloth- 
 ing superfluous. 
 
 To describe the gentler sex is more difficult. 
 They are tall and well made, but walk as if carry- 
 ing a burden. I will venture to depict a " belle " 
 as she walks, or rather sails, down the one street 
 in Shortland, a dazzling meteor of all violent 
 colours, the bonnet a " love," the parasol a 
 " delight," and sucking away at a short black pipe ! 
 She meets a friend, they both squat down on their 
 heels in the middle of the street, rub noses and have 
 a " corero " (talk). The Maori women make most 
 excellent wives, are faithful, good, and very clean. 
 Some half-castes we saw in Auckland were very 
 handsome women, splendidly made, of so rare a
 
 MAORI BELLE. 
 
 (After a Photograph.)
 
 LIFE Itf THE COLONIES. 190 
 
 beauty that it was a real pleasure only to look at 
 them. 
 
 But to return to our camp at Tanronga. We 
 remained here some time, but the enemy never 
 showed. The days were passed in hard drilling, 
 and we were really a very proficient corps when 
 the order came to move forward to the Gate Pa. 
 
 This place was celebrated in the earlier part of 
 the war by the crafty and clever escape of the 
 enemy. Gate PA, was built in the narrowest part, 
 on the neck of the peninsula, and consisted chiefly 
 of underground works, built with no inconsiderable 
 skill. The English troops stormed the place, 
 hurled upon it shot and shell, and finally took it. 
 But on entering Pa no one was to be seen; the 
 place was literally deserted, not a Maori remained. 
 The whole tribe had vanished, no one knew how 
 or where, yet sentries were posted all around, and 
 declared that not a single native had passed or been 
 seen. The whole thing was a mystery that was 
 never solved. 
 
 When we got there we found some of the shells 
 which our men-of-war had thrown into Pa, un- 
 exploded. 
 
 The same evening we arrived a sad accident 
 happened owing to the foolish carelessness of some 
 of the men. The captain had told us all to go to 
 the one small inn the place possessed to have a 
 drink after our long and hot march. Some of the 
 men found an unexploded shell as we were return- 
 ing from the inn, and began to amuse themselves
 
 200 HARD LIFE IN TEE COLONIES. 
 
 by extracting the powder, placing little heaps of it 
 on the ground and igniting them. A fine, handsome 
 young soldier called Burrows went up to them, 
 warned them that it was dangerous play, and then 
 having lit his pipe, threw the lighted match by 
 accident into the half-emptied shell. There was a 
 frightful explosion, and 'when the row and smoke 
 died away three men lay on the ground. One was 
 my friend, and I rushed to him, finding, to my great 
 joy, that he was absolutely unhurt, a part of the 
 shell having simply knocked him over as it passed 
 by. The second man was a good deal injured about 
 the shoulders and stomach, and poor Burrows was 
 dead. Half his head was blown off, and pieces 
 from various parts of his body torn out. It was a 
 sickening and horrible sight, those bloody and muti- 
 lated remains of what a minute before had been a 
 strong, stalwart man. We laid him in a blanket, 
 and the wounded man in another, and wended our 
 way sadly back to the camp. The next day we were 
 all marched in Tanronga, where we buried our com- 
 rade in the cemetery there, with military honours. 
 Then we returned to our tents at Gate Pa. 
 
 Pa is a very tiny place, the only buildings being 
 a miniature fort fairly well constructed and supplied 
 with ammunition, and the afore-mentioned inn, 
 where, however, you could get nothing to eat, and 
 only beer to drink. Some of the men, particularly 
 the Irishmen, thought this a great hardship, and 
 pined for their dear whiskey. 
 
 Many expeditions were sent in boats up the
 
 HARD LIFE Itf THE COLONIES. 201 
 
 Waimapu lliver, with stores to be conveyed to the 
 front. This was always done by night, and was 
 attended with much danger and discomfort. Our 
 work was to convey the stores to a certain point half 
 way to the front, where the principal fighting was 
 going on. So as night came on eight privates, 
 with a sergeant and lieutenant would take our 
 places in a boat, in the bows of which was a 
 mounted gun, loaded. Four men at a time took 
 the oars, which were always muifled, as we could 
 not be too cautious with such a crafty enemy as 
 the Maoris near us. We were all supposed to be 
 sailors that were picked out for this work, but I 
 knew of one who most certainly was not, and didn't 
 know one part of a vessel from another. It 
 generally took us all night to get up the river, and 
 glad enough we were to see the lights from the 
 small fort, and to know help was near, for had we 
 been attacked whilst on the water we ran the pretty 
 certain risk of all being killed before any assistance 
 could reach us. 
 
 At the fort was stationed a small body of troops 
 well armed, to protect the stores. We usually 
 remained at the fort for a day's rest, returning in 
 the night to the camp, and starting again the 
 following evening with more stores, and so on 
 until all sent on from Auckland was safely packed 
 away in the fort. 
 
 One morning a special parade was called, after 
 which the captain informed us that a company of 
 constabulary with surveyors and engineers were
 
 202 HARD LIFE IN TEE COLONIES. 
 
 away in front of us surveying roads ; they had 
 with them a troop of soldiers to guard them ; 
 unfortunately they were running short of stores, 
 and it was necessary that relief should be taken 
 to them as soon as possible. "I will order no 
 man to go," he said, " for it is a most dangerous 
 undertaking to march forty miles through the 
 enemy's country. I will therefore take only 
 volunteers to the number of fifty." He might 
 have had twice that number had he chosen, for 
 we all seemed fired by the chance of excitement. 
 Fifty were quickly chosen, including five corporals, 
 two sergeants, and a lieutenant. My friend and 
 myself went as privates. 
 
 Our first work was to reach the afore-mentioned 
 fort, where we procured the necessary supplies, 
 which were packed on horses, of which there 
 were twenty-five. We left the fort at three 
 o'clock in the afternoon, and hoped to reach 
 a very high point of land some twenty miles 
 distant before darkness set in. 
 
 The guide, a Scotchman, who had been here 
 before, went first with the lieutenant ; then came 
 an advance-guard, followed by the pack-horses, 
 and finally a rear-guard. Gilbert and I were 
 in the rear-guard, by no means the pleasantest 
 position in the world, as we were liable to be 
 cut off from the main body at any moment. It 
 was so dark we could hardly distinguish one 
 another. Strict silence was enjoined, and no 
 smoking allowed. On we groped our way in the
 
 EABD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 203 
 
 gloom and silence, when suddenly the stillness 
 was broken by unearthly and discordant sounds of 
 clattering of hoofs, kicking, and loud cursing. A 
 halt was called, and it was discovered that the 
 disturbance was caused by a young colt, who 
 doubtless, not appreciating the slow, silent mode 
 of proceeding forced upon him, thought he would 
 show us what he could do, just by way of diver- 
 sion. His first act was to kick down the man 
 who was leading him, and then, by plunging and 
 starting, get rid of the burden on his back with 
 the greatest despatch possible, and, before he 
 could be prevented, bolted away from us with 
 great speed and in the wildest spirits. It was 
 useless to think of going after him, so we were 
 obliged to pack his burden on one or two of the 
 other already overloaded animals ; and, seeing 
 the man kicked down was not hurt, only furious 
 with rage against "that d hoss," we once more 
 proceeded on our silent way. 
 
 After two hours had passed, it was discovered 
 that we were off our track. The guide, having 
 fallen asleep whilst walking, had taken us at least 
 three miles out of our way. The darkness was so 
 great that it took us several hours to find the track 
 again, the ground being covered with short bushes. 
 Finally it was discovered, and once more we set 
 off, and marched on until we came to a river, a 
 branch of the Waimapu Eiver. Here we had to 
 unpack all the stores into a boat, and swim the 
 horses over, which was accomplished in safety;
 
 204 HA BD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 then, re-packing our stores, we partook of a hasty 
 meal consisting of meat, biscuit, and a glass of 
 grog, and, without resting, resumed our march in 
 Indian file as usual. We arrived within sight of 
 " Hancock's Point" about two o'clock, it having 
 taken us half a day and a night to get thus far. 
 
 The Point was at the top of a tremendously 
 high peak. The order was given to ascend. As 
 you may imagine, it was no light work, for we had 
 on our full accoutrements, sixty rounds of ammu- 
 nition, two days' provisions, our blankets, and a 
 heavy Tower rifle. 
 
 We began the ascent, aud made our way but 
 very slowly, owing to the steepness and the want 
 of a beaten track. The Point loomed up straight 
 before us like some huge and unattainable giant, 
 who seemed to look down on these struggling 
 human flies with calm and cold indifference. On 
 we went, stumbling at every step, clutching at 
 every branch or twig, steadying ourselves against 
 every tree, for full well we knew that if we lost 
 our hold it was all up, for a deep precipice yawned 
 at the bottom ; once slip into it, and death would 
 be instantaneous. We were a good three-parts of 
 the way up, when suddenly we received a volley 
 from a band of How-Hows, native rebels, who 
 were lying in ambush, and had doubtless been 
 quietly waiting until we were within range of their 
 rifles. Three of our men were shot, whether 
 killed we could not tell, for they rolled over and 
 over, one I saw rebound several feet into the air,
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 205 
 
 then they disappeared into the abyss below. The 
 horses got wild with terror, and it took half the 
 men to attend to them and prevent their dashing 
 down the mountain side with all the stores on 
 their backs. The remainder of us extended 
 ourselves in skirmishing order, and advanced 
 with caution. The How-Hows had the advantage 
 of us, for they were under shelter, while we were 
 exposed to their view, and they could pick us off 
 at their good pleasure, while we could only fire 
 more or less at random. A second volley two 
 more men killed, and the horses becoming more 
 frantic. Our lieutenant, who had never been in 
 action before, lost his head and gave the insane 
 order, "Every man to cover," and forthwith en- 
 sconced himself behind a large stump of a tree. 
 The trees were few and far between, and the low 
 bushes were but a poor shelter from the foe. We 
 crouched down according to orders, feeling very 
 much as if our death warrant had been passed 
 upon us, for lying here many were sure to be 
 killed, whereas, if we had continued our march, 
 we might by firing have kept the enemy at bay. 
 
 For some ten minutes, that seemed like ten 
 days, all was quiet ; then the How-Hows let fly 
 a volley in our very midst. Gilbert, and two 
 other men, were lying to my right, close to the 
 rotten stump of a tree. Jack Ward, one of the 
 men, a former mate of my friend's, remarked, 
 " This is hot," when a bullet struck him, took off 
 the top of his skull, scattering his brains all over
 
 206 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 Gilbert, and filling his pannikin that was on the 
 top of his kit. "Dunbar," he called to me, " for 
 God's sake, wipe this off! I feel sick! " 
 
 I crept over to him on all fours, removed the 
 body of poor Ward, and forced a little grog down 
 my friend's throat. He looked ghastly, and I was 
 afraid at first that he was wounded. That, how- 
 ever, was not the case, and after a few moments he 
 got all right again. Ward was not the only man 
 that we lost, by a good many, owing to the lieu- 
 tenant's mad order. 
 
 Another volley from the enemy more killed, 
 more wounded, and the horses wild with terror. 
 At this point of affairs, the coloured sergeant, 
 finding the lieutenant had completely collapsed 
 behind his tree, sprang to his feet, shouting, 
 " Now is your time, boys ! On to them before 
 they can reload." 
 
 We all darted to the bushes, firing as we ran ; 
 but on entering the scrub no one. Again the 
 How-Hows had vanished, leaving no trace behind 
 but one dead man we tumbled over. I sent that 
 one spinning into the precipice to get rid of his 
 ugly phiz. 
 
 Such is guerilla fighting. 
 
 Our enemy had disappeared as though he had 
 never been, and although we searched all that 
 part, we saw nothing whatever of any one of 
 them. 
 
 The How-Hows generally fire from the hip, 
 making sure of killing something or somebody.
 
 HABD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 207 
 
 In tackling an encampment, they fire first on the 
 ground to get at the sleepers, next volley at a 
 quarter of a minute's interval, a little higher, for 
 the roused men sitting up, and the third volley for 
 the standing men. 
 
 Finding all was safe for the time, our lieu- 
 tenant crawled from behind his stump, and 
 feebly asked if any one was hurt. He was a 
 cowardly cur, and it seemed a pity the How- 
 Hows' bullets had spared him. His former 
 profession was that of a ship's carpenter ; but 
 more of him hereafter. 
 
 Night coming on, we took possession of the 
 shrubbery deserted by the How-Hows, fastened 
 the horses, and had a meal, of which we stood 
 greatly in need. All but the sentries then rolled 
 themselves up in their blankets, and were soon 
 fast asleep. 
 
 I was one of the four sentries placed on guard, 
 one at each corner of the hastily-constructed hut. 
 Our orders were to lie on our stomachs, with full- 
 cocked rifle, and to fire on anything we saw 
 moving, without challenging. It was pitch dark, 
 and as I lay flat I fancied I heard a movement 
 behind me, as if some one was crawling on the 
 ground. I listened, rifle in hand ; all was still. 
 After a few moments I heard it again. Thinking 
 it might possibly be one of the men, I challenged 
 in a low voice. The object took no notice, but 
 kept crawling closer. It was not more than ten 
 or twelve yards from me now. Again I challenged
 
 208 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 low, fully determined, if I received no answer, to 
 fire, when I heard a voice faintly whisper, " Don't 
 be a fool; it's me ! " 
 
 " Me " turned out to be one of the sentries who, 
 feeling frightened and lonely, had risked being 
 shot in order to hear a human creature's voice. 
 I should have been fully justified in shooting him. 
 Luckily for both the man and myself, his little 
 nocturnal visit was not discovered, or both he and 
 I would have got into trouble. In another two 
 hours we were relieved. 
 
 At daybreak we started again on our climb 
 upwards to the Point, and after some four hours' 
 struggling through the scrub we began to near our 
 destination. We were disagreeably surprised, as we 
 came within sight of the encampment, to receive 
 a volley of bullets, followed by a second, before we 
 perceived that our lieutenant had neglected to 
 hang out the flag of peace, so the natives who 
 were friendly to us and were protecting our white 
 men at the Point, mistook us for How-Hows. 
 
 That little matter rectified, we reached the 
 camp in safety, and were received with the deep 
 joy which starving men give to those who rescue 
 them. The commander, however, was horrified at 
 the smallness of our number, and severely censured 
 our captain for sending such a handful of men 
 through the enemy's country. 
 
 After a few hours' rest and some refreshment, 
 we set out on our return journey. The pack- 
 horses being left behind, we got on much faster,
 
 HAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 209 
 
 reaching the scene of our late conflict in the 
 evening. There being no signs of any How-Hows, 
 we camped there for the night, some of the men, 
 chiefly the large heavy ones, being completely 
 fagged out. The night passed in peace, the 
 enemy doubtless supposing that we would remain 
 at least a night at the Point. At daybreak we 
 were on the march again, taking a new track, 
 which obliged us to scale some very steep moun- 
 tains no joke, heavily loaded as we were, and 
 worn out by the last two days' exertions. Some 
 of the men lagged miles behind, in spite of our 
 lieutenant's vigorous cursing at them and threats 
 of punishment. 
 
 Being still somewhat thin, I got over the ground 
 very well, while my friend was as fresh as a lark, 
 and actually appeared on parade the morning after 
 our arrival, which I must confess I did not. Some 
 of the men were laid up for weeks, being attacked 
 with a sort of low fever, brought on by exposure 
 and fatigue. 
 
 After this expedition to the Point we were sent 
 on no more for the time, but continued at Gate Pa, 
 passing the days in the usual routine of military 
 life. 
 
 At this time the senior captain, Frazer, died at 
 his residence at Tanronga, and we were all marched 
 in to bury him. His body was placed on a gun- 
 carriage and drawn by a party of soldiers to the 
 cemetery. The Archdeacon read the burial ser- 
 vice of the Anglican Church over the remains 
 
 15
 
 210 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 (being well paid for it, no doubt), and the body 
 being consigned to the earth, we fired the regula- 
 tion volley over the grave, and were then marched 
 back into the town for refreshment previous to our 
 return to Gate Pa. It was a march from a funeral 
 to an orgie. Most got elevated, not excluding our 
 officers. As is usual on such occasions, the scum 
 rises to the surface, and it was a pitiable spectacle 
 to see our superiors (?) stumbling about, finding a 
 .resting-place in a dirty gutter ; and, worse still, to 
 -hear the language that might have put to the blush 
 a Billingsgate fishman, come from the lips of 
 English soldiers and officers. 
 
 I have reason to remember Captain Frazer's 
 funeral, for I nearly lost my friend, who narrowly 
 escaped being killed by our drunken comrades. 
 The few of us who were sober made the attempt, 
 when the hour came, to collect the men in order 
 to march back to Gate Pa. Unfortunately 
 many of them were so far gone that they only 
 became furious at our interference, and, being 
 armed, some fired and others used their bayonets, 
 until a free fight ensued, during which our efforts 
 to disarm them met with but partial success. 
 Gilbert was in the act of tearing a rifle from the 
 hands of a private, when the man with a stroke of 
 his bayonet cut clean through his cap into his 
 skull, on the very place where, some time before, 
 he had received a similar wound during a riot in 
 Eden Gardens, Calcutta. When I saw him fall I 
 ran to his assistance, kicking aside the brute who
 
 BA&l) LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 211 
 
 Was swaying to and fro over him, half-sobered and 
 whimpering, "I say, mate, get up; I didn't mean 
 no hurt." 
 
 I lifted him up, and with another man's help 
 carried him to the soldiers' quarters. Before doing 
 so, however, I bound up his head as well as I could 
 with my puggery. It was an ugly gash, and the 
 blood kept oozing through the bandage. The 
 surgeon sewed it up, and though faint from loss of 
 blood, and the pain also, which was severe, the 
 plucky fellow insisted on marching back to camp 
 with the rest of us later on in the evening. I am 
 sorry to say, though, that ever since he is liable to 
 constant attacks of illness that preclude all possi- 
 bility of his ever doing much head work. 
 
 Some weeks after the death of Captain Frazer we 
 received orders to move some miles further on to 
 the front, where the chief fighting was going on, 
 and where we had been told our work would be 
 varied by constructing roads. So behold us one 
 morning, having been supplied with all requisite 
 tools for road-making, inarching on loaded like 
 pack-horses, having, in addition to our usual im- 
 2}edimenta, bars, axes, shovels, spades and picks. 
 
 " John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave, 
 But his soul goes marching on," 
 
 was chanted more vigorously than euphoniously, 
 ably accompanied by the squeaking and rumbling 
 of the wheelbarrows, one of which I trundled along 
 filled with our rifles. I must say that we were at
 
 S12 BARb LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 this time a most creditable body of soldiers, had 
 been well drilled, and were in excellent condition. 
 No wonder we felt quite veterans, and shouted 
 lustily 
 
 " We'll hang Jef Davis on a sour apple tree," &c. 
 
 On we went, over the sandy roads, or, more strictly 
 speaking, tracks, mere sheep tracks most of them, 
 now in a compact body, now in Indian file, which 
 last style of marching we much affected. Turning 
 to the left we crossed a plain, on the other side of 
 which was a camp of the militia, composed of 
 settlers, under the command of a Captain Tovey, a 
 one-eyed veteran ; but I'll say this for him, his one 
 small grey eye made up in sharpness and cunning 
 for any two eyes of an ordinary man. We only 
 stopped for a few minutes to allay our thirst, then 
 on again to the edge of a swamp covered with 
 beautiful rushes and shrubs. The Rapu, similar 
 to our English bulrush, the Typha latifolia, and 
 the New Zealand flax (Farmium tenax). I deserted 
 my barrow in order to observe these shrubs more 
 closely. We crossed the swamp in an easterly 
 direction, and very weary work it was, and having 
 traversed it found ourselves at the foot of a steep 
 bluff. This we were obliged to mount. The 
 summit of it was quite level, forming what the 
 Californians call a Mesa Land. On the other side 
 of this bluff ran the Waimapu River. We hastily 
 pitched our tents on the neck of the Mesa, as
 
 HABD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 213 
 
 hastily took some refreshment, for so tired and 
 jaded were we from our long and fatiguing march 
 that we only longed for rest. 
 
 All could not, however, seek " Balmy slumber, 
 sweet repose," for we were obliged to keep our 
 weather eye wide open, the hostile How-Hows 
 being known to have a partiality for this place. 
 So sentries were posted, silence enjoined, all lights 
 extinguished, and those men not on duty rolled 
 themselves in their blankets and slept as only tired 
 men can. 
 
 The next day the camp quickly assumed its 
 usual orderly appearance, and we began to make a 
 road right across the swamp, in order to facilitate 
 the bringing up of heavy guns, military stores, &c. 
 This road-making was not altogether unpleasant 
 work. There were some disagreeablenesses, such 
 as wading into the swamp to cut down the hard 
 manntean bushes, which were used to form sup- 
 ports for the road, and were covered with sand, 
 which we excavated for that purpose from the side 
 of the hill. Our orders from the captain were as 
 follows : " Keep moving, my boys, keep busy, let 
 there be no actual idleness, for Tovey (the captain 
 of the militia) has his eye on us. Still, don't over- 
 work yourselves." 
 
 Needless to say, we took his advice, yet we did 
 very good work, and felt a real pride in the fine 
 road that soon began to cross the swamp. In our 
 leisure hours we built ourselves huts, thatched 
 with needles from the rapu rushes. Gilbert,
 
 214 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 another man, and myself constructed a fine little 
 house on the summit of the Mesa overhanging the 
 river. We slung up three bunks and lived there 
 very comfortably, having a most beautiful view of 
 the Waimapu Eiver and the surrounding country. 
 Nor were we entirely without sport. The wild 
 duck abounded there, and we often made a raid 
 upon them, for they were by no means to be 
 despised as an addition to our ordinary rations. 
 Fish, too, were very plentiful in the river, vast 
 numbers of kauai (pronounced cow-eye) came up 
 with the tide. When the tide falls they return to 
 the sea, observing which we took good care to be 
 on the spot when they arrived, and welcomed them 
 warmly, as they were very good to eat, and had a 
 most delicate flavour. 
 
 Of course we had our usual parade, picket and 
 sentry duties to perform, for the How-Hows had a 
 trick of appearing when least expected, and kept 
 us always on the qui vive. But altogether we had 
 a very good time of it, and were just busy enough 
 to banish ennui. Some of the men would some- 
 times steal out of the camp at night, cross- the 
 country to the Gate Pa in order to procure whiskey, 
 and would be back again before parade, the love of 
 drink overcoming all fears of the enemy or dread 
 of punishment. One of these men, an Irishman 
 called Murphy, commonly known as " Spud 
 Murphy," a truly comical scoundrel, would return 
 sometimes very drunk, and on reaching the top of 
 {she Mesa would let himself rojl qver an4 over into,
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 215 
 
 the river, where he would swim about until sober, 
 " cooling himself off," as he graphically expressed 
 it a very necessary operation. That he never 
 came to any harm on his dangerous nocturnal 
 walks can only be explained by a belief in the 
 old proverb, " Providence protects children and 
 drunkards." 
 
 One dark night I was on guard on the neck of 
 the Mesa, and after passing the usual hours on 
 duty was glad enough when I was relieved, and 
 turned into the guard hut to enjoy a pipe before 
 going in to my own shanty. The sergeant was 
 there, and he and I were chatting sotto voce, when 
 suddenly he rose up, saying : " I must go and look 
 after that confounded sentry to the right, he has 
 not passed for the last ten minutes, the wretch 
 must be asleep or dead." 
 
 " Wait, I'll go with you," I cried; and, seizing 
 our rifles, we hurried out. 
 
 At the place where the sentry of that point was 
 supposed to be keeping watch we could discover 
 no one, and it was not until we had poked about 
 in the dark for no inconsiderable time that we dis- 
 covered our friend " Spud Murphy " lying under a 
 bush fast asleep and gloriously drunk. 
 
 The sergeant took away his rifle, rolling him 
 over with his foot as he did so, but Murphy was 
 not disturbed by such a trifle, and only gave a pro- 
 longed and triumphant snore as his head settled 
 more comfortably in a tuft of grass. I begged the 
 sergeant to say nothing about it, and to le.t me go
 
 216 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 on duty in " Spud's " place. After some hesita- 
 tion he consented, and I began pacing up and 
 down in the darkness waiting for Murphy to 
 awake. After about an hour he did so, and, 
 missing his rifle, was in a great fright. 
 
 " Oh, holy Vargin," he prayed, coming towards 
 me, "only but show me whereiver I placed me 
 rifle, and niver again will I touch whiskey, the 
 evil cratur." 
 
 It was very dark, and he was very drunk, but 
 even so to take me for the Virgin was, to say the 
 least of it, odd, and I hardly knew whether I felt 
 more embarrassed at the implied compliment, or 
 wounded in my amour propre at being taken for a 
 woman. 
 
 " Keep silence, you idiot ! " I whispered to him, 
 seizing him by the collar of his shirt, and shaking 
 him with a force that effectually proved to him 
 that he was in no woman's grip. " Go into the 
 guard-house. A nice mess you've got yourself 
 into ! " 
 
 Thoroughly alarmed, he stole into the hut, where 
 I joined him when my self-imposed watch was over, 
 and begged the sergeant not to report him, as no 
 harm was done, and no one knew of it but our 
 three selves. The sergeant pretended to refuse to 
 give in for a long time, but finally, having reduced 
 poor " Spuds " to a limp state of abject misery, he 
 consented to pass it over. 
 
 Such conduct on the part of a sentry deserves 
 the most rigorous punishment, the lives of so many
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 217 
 
 being dependent on his vigilance. Murphy did 
 not make us repent of our lenience towards him, 
 as although I cannot say he never touched the 
 " cratur " again, he certainly never did when on 
 duty. 
 
 On another occasion, after we had all retired to 
 rest, and the entire camp was wrapped in silence 
 and darkness, we were all disturbed in the middle 
 of the night by the sharp report of a rifle. In a 
 very short space of time we were all under arms, 
 fully expecting an engagement with the enemy, 
 ever ubiquitous, yet seldom seen. What resolu- 
 tions to perform heroic deeds sprang suddenly into 
 our martial breasts ! How many undeveloped 
 heroes stood side by side, determining at all 
 hazards to win their laurels, to exterminate by 
 various acts of transcendent bravery these canni- 
 balistic savages who even now were preparing to 
 pour their deadly fire upon us ! What nodding of 
 heads a la Jupiter ! What metaphorical clapping 
 of wings ! What compressing of lips lips some- 
 what pale, it is true but then the night air pro- 
 duces sometimes strange effects ! And after all, it 
 was but a false alarm, a " schiser," as gold miners 
 say. One of the sentries being a little under the 
 influence of the " cratur," mistook a bush for a 
 Maori, " both being black," as he explained, and 
 having more valour than discretion, fired accord- 
 ingly. Before discharging his gun, however, he 
 drew out his bayonet and cast it aside. Why? 
 Ah ! that remains a mystery unsolved to the
 
 218 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 present day : he either could not or would not give 
 an explanation of so singular a performance. The 
 whole corps stood there armed and ready for action, 
 called up by his over-zeal ; so having not even one 
 cold native to show up for breakfast, our sentry 
 looked rather foolish, and muttering something to 
 the effect that he could not help it, if the " darned 
 bush looked as black as a darned Maori," slunk 
 back to his interrupted duty. 
 
 We, on the other hand, gathered ourselves up, 
 feeling at least one cubit higher in stature for all 
 the Maoris we had not killed, and with a glow of 
 pride burning within us, returned to bed. 
 
 The wonderful and intimate knowledge " some 
 of ours" displayed in the use of firearms was a 
 marvellous sight to see. Another private, the 
 greatest no, I will not say the word I will only 
 say the most fearfully nervous man I ever came 
 across had a sort of Maori-phobia, and on the 
 night of our false alarm, having the advantage of 
 standing near Somers, I observed him with great 
 interest and no little wonder. In a fearful state of 
 excitement, he crammed cartridge upon cartridge 
 into his rifle until the poor thing could hold no 
 more. 
 
 " I'll have a shot at the black brutes anyhow," 
 he said to me, his teeth rattling in his head, and 
 his whole body trembling violently. 
 
 " You had better keep your bones quiet," I said, 
 rather wickedly, " for the How-Hows can hear 
 the breathing of a flv."
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 219 
 
 "Black devils, I'll I'll Oh, what's that ?" 
 
 howled my brave comrade, his eyes opening so 
 wide that I really feared for him or them, while his 
 hair standing up with fright gave him a weird and 
 awful look. I have never before or since seen any 
 one terror-struck, literally beside himself with 
 fear. 
 
 " It's nothing," I replied to his cry, " only the 
 sentry returning to his duty. But, Somers, the 
 How- Hows are not black, they are a lovely clear 
 brown, and are by a long shot better built men 
 than we Europeans." 
 
 Somers gave a grunt of disgust, and with the 
 words, "Brown or black, they are worse than the 
 devil," sought his bunk like the rest of us. The 
 next day, at the roll call, he did not answer, having 
 absconded at daybreak. Some time afterwards I 
 met him in Auckland, selling riding whips in the 
 streets. What a work it was unloading his rifle ! 
 
 A dozen more privates were sent over from Gate 
 Pa to increase our little body. Among the new 
 comers I recognized a man who had played me a 
 scurvy trick back in my Shortland days. It had 
 happened thus : the episode is worth relating, 
 although I go back to that horrible time with 
 considerable repugnance. 
 
 One dreadful day, dreadful only to such a 
 starving unfortunate as I was then, for the weather 
 was simply perfect, I was roaming about like a 
 certain gentleman (sable as to his exterior) seek- 
 ing what I might devour. Suddenly a cheery
 
 220 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 voice hailed me, " I say, Auld Misery, will yer 
 gie us a ban' wi' this 'ere chist ? " 
 
 I turned and saw a decently-dressed man stand- 
 ing by the side of a seaman's chest. Without 
 further parley I took one end of his box, and he 
 the other, and between us we managed to carry, 
 drag, haul, and pull it on board a sloop which lay 
 high and dry on the beach, waiting for the in- 
 coming tide. 
 
 " Here, tek this, and do for the Lord's sake git 
 yersell a blow-out, for yer doant look human," he 
 said, giving me five shillings. Feeling quite rich, 
 I did allow myself a meal, and then started for 
 Auckland, hoping to obtain some employment 
 there. This cost me two shillings, one for the 
 dinner fearful extravagance ! and one for a lift 
 on the long journey to the town. I therefore had 
 three shillings left, which I calculated would last 
 me three weeks. Lodging al fresco cost nothing, 
 and light meals are conducive to quiet repose. 
 
 I reached Auckland, and going to a newspaper 
 office, requested permission to look over the adver- 
 tisements, in the hope of finding an engagement 
 suitable for me. While so employed I heard a man 
 telling the editor a long and highly-coloured yarn 
 about the gold-mines at the Thames, how many 
 miners were at work, the heavy wages given in 
 fact, showing that everything was flourishing, and 
 depicting a little paradise of prosperity, wealth, 
 and happiness. 
 
 " Draw it mild, my friend," I said, going up to
 
 SARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 221 
 
 the enthusiastic talker, " I am a miner myself, and 
 I have just come from the Thames. My experience 
 is that all the mines, with the exception of three 
 or four outside Shortland, are ' bust up,' and hun- 
 dreds of men are out of work." 
 
 " All bosh and gammon ! " cried the man ; " why, 
 I will employ any number of men I can get ; aye, 
 and pay them 2 10s. a week. I want them, I do." 
 
 " Will you take me, and pay me that amount ? " 
 I asked. 
 
 " Most certainly I will, and what is more, will 
 take you over to Shortland in my boat on Wed- 
 nesday next ; but mind, you must pay your pas- 
 
 " Agreed ! " said I ; " I will pay you out of the 
 first wages you give me ; and pray where shall I 
 find you on Wednesday? " 
 
 "I lodge at the ' When-you- Appear ' Hotel; 
 my name is Jones. Ask for Captain Jones. Good 
 morning." 
 
 Having nothing better to do, I went off to find 
 the " When-you- Appear " Hotel. No one could 
 direct me. Some grinned, some laughed outright. 
 At length, by mere accident, I came in front of a 
 largish building, with the name " Winyard Pier" 
 Hotel written over it in immense letters. 
 
 " I've been done brown by a Jones, at a tern- 
 perature of 212 Fahr.," I muttered to myself, as I 
 entered the bar room. 
 
 " I say, boss," I called out, " does Captain Jones 
 lodge here?"
 
 22 BAM1) LIFE IN T&E COLONIES. 
 
 11 Captain Jones ! Let me see. A Captain Jones 
 was here some months ago. A rum cuss, sure 
 enough. I heard that he sailed for the west coast 
 yesterday ; gone to Taranaki, I think." 
 
 "Are you sure that he sailed? " I asked. 
 
 " Oh ! " was the answer, " no one is sure of Cap- 
 tain Jones. Why do you ask ? " 
 
 I mildly suggested that a balloon would be the 
 most appropriate means to reach that country, 
 whereat "mine host " haw-hawed vigorously, and 
 colonial fashion insisted that I should have a drink. 
 Nothing loth, I drank the ale, and felt revived, for 
 the beer was good ; then I left the hotel in a mixed 
 state of mind between gratitude for this slight 
 kindness and the desire to punch Captain Jones's 
 head. 
 
 So now, seeing this worthy among the volunteer 
 privates, I went up to him. " Ah ! Captain Jones, 
 I think ? How about the numbers of miners you 
 needed to work the gold at 2 10s. a week ? " 
 
 " Were you one that I had promised it to?" 
 asked the rogue, quite unabashed ; " I promised it 
 to so many (in a tone as if he had acted most 
 generously) that I really forget their faces." 
 
 "Well, I promised myself that if ever I came 
 across you again I'd punch your head," I remarked, 
 suiting the action to the words, and sending " Cap- 
 tain Jones " to embrace Mother Earth. The poor 
 wretch was so weak from starvation and misery, 
 that having knocked him down, I felt compelled to 
 help him up again, and see that he was taken care
 
 HARD LIFE IN T3E COLONIES: 23 
 
 of. In a very shgrt time he became an excellent 
 soldier and a good comrade, although always apt 
 to draw the long bow. One glorious morning we 
 were on dress parade, making a fine show in our 
 picturesque costume, when for a little change we 
 were ordered to fire a few rounds. Some of the 
 men, as I have before hinted, were better known 
 for their zeal than for their knowledge of arms. I 
 was standing side by side with my friend, when 
 the man in his rear suddenly raised his rifle, 
 fired, and missed shooting Gilbert by a hair's 
 breadth. 
 
 " What are you about, you blasted fool ! " cried 
 my friend, with pardonable indignation, as he set 
 his cap straight, that the air from the passage of 
 the bullet had blown aside. The private seemed 
 rather disappointed that his shot had not done 
 some greater execution, and boasted tremendously 
 of the near shave Gilbert had had. 
 
 And now our military career draws to a close. 
 Our lieutenant, the same worthy who had shown 
 himself so wise and brave when we went to carry 
 provisions to the Point, having come across a 
 deserted settler's house, had given orders that the 
 furniture therein should be carried to his own 
 hut, in order that he might be more comfortable, 
 and arguing that he was quite justified in so doing, 
 as all that district was in military occupation, and 
 therefore everything found there might be used by 
 the officers and men. However, a great row was 
 made about the matter j it was reported to head-
 
 224 HAitD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 quarters with a good deal of exaggeration, and the 
 upshot of it was that we were recalled. 
 
 We knew well enough that the real reason was, 
 that so many troops quartered in different parts of 
 the country were a heavy expense to the Govern- 
 ment, and the road having been made, troops could 
 in case of need more easily get to the scene of 
 action. The enemy, too, appeared to have deserted 
 this part, or so we were told, although we were 
 always coining across them, and knew that they 
 were only waiting an opportunity to massacre the 
 whites. However, one excuse is as good as another, 
 and this one was gladly seized hold of by the autho- 
 rities to " reduce the expenditure." 
 
 It was not without regret that we dismantled 
 our huts, and turned our backs on the Mesa, where 
 we had been so happy. We marched along the fine 
 road we had made, paused to salute the one-eyed 
 captain of the militia, who leered at us horribly, 
 and seemed to find the reason given for our recall 
 a source of infinite amusement, for we left him 
 grinning from ear to ear, in spite of the angry 
 face of our captain, who naturally did not see the 
 joke, and resented Tovey's untimely mirth. 
 
 On we marched to Tanronga, thence by easy 
 stages to Auckland, and finally to Shortland, which 
 town we entered in grand style, and in such good 
 trim that it was difficult to believe we were the 
 same body of ragged starving creatures who had 
 left some months before. We were not disbanded 
 at once, being ordered to do military duty until
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 225 
 
 our pay came. Every one made a great deal of us, 
 and treated us in fact as though we were veteran 
 heroes of a thousand fights. To hear some of the 
 men talk you would imagine that to kill Maoris was 
 the daily occupation, and that we were always 
 steeped in the blood of the rebel How-Hows. 
 " Captain Jones " in particular had some wonderful 
 adventures that he was never tired of relating. I 
 heard him once, when he did not know I was near, 
 and really it was as good as a romance of the 
 stirring deeds of ancient days. I marvelled at the 
 fellow's imagination. When I tackled him the 
 next day, and asked him how he ventured to con- 
 coct such a tissue of lies, he said with a wink and 
 a grin, " Those gulls would swaller anything ; 
 they likes it, it pays me, and besides, it might 
 have 'appened ! " 
 
 Many a hero has no better foundation for his 
 glorious fame, so let me too clap my wings and 
 cry, " Cock-a-doodle-doo." 
 
 Pay-day came, and with our pockets well lined, 
 and some complimentary words from our captain, 
 Gilbert and I turned our backs on the armoury, 
 and ceased to be members of the First Hauraki 
 Eifle Volunteer Corps. 
 
 III. AUSTRALIA AND 'FRISCO. 
 
 Sic transit gloria Tuesday ! It was on the 
 third day of the week that Gilbert Jenkins, Dane 
 
 16
 
 226 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 Stuart, and myself ceased to be members of the 
 First Hauraki Rifle Volunteer Corps, as the 
 Government, being eager to cut down expenses, 
 had seized upon a misdemeanour of our lieutenant's 
 as a sufficient excuse to recall and disband us. It 
 was not without real regret that we laid aside our 
 picturesque costume it was so becoming bade 
 good-bye to our captain, who was a true, good 
 fellow, and turned our backs on our soldier life. 
 We each had a good round sum of money in our 
 pockets, and having determined not to separate we 
 adjourned to a neighbouring tavern, called for ale 
 and sat down to a "palaver" concerning our 
 future plans. I was the patriarch, and, like many 
 patriarchs, was far more ignorant than my younger 
 comrades. We talked long and earnestly, and 
 with the gravity befitting the occasion, weighed 
 the boot trade against the book shop, the butcher- 
 ing business against the baker's, the bush life 
 against the costermonger's, and so on. Two hours' 
 hard and heavy talk brought no results beyond 
 formidable appetites. 
 
 "What shall we do?" cried Dane in despair, 
 brushing up his sandy locks until they stood 
 upright, giving him a comical resemblance to a 
 Scotch terrier. 
 
 " Eat," said Gilbert, dryly, disgusted that so 
 much talk should lead to so little result. 
 
 We followed his sage advice, and with eating, a 
 luminous idea occurred to me. Yes, I can take all 
 the credit of the notion to myself; indeed, as it
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 227 
 
 failed, neither of the others would thank me to 
 name them as instigator of the plan that turned 
 three late privates of the First Hauraki Kifle 
 Volunteer Corps into pedlars ! At the time, 
 however, it seemed to promise well. We put our 
 money together, and rented for a small sum a 
 vacant house outside Auckland. The house was 
 very much out of repair, the doors in most rooms 
 being conspicuous by their absence, and those that 
 were there could never by any amount of coaxing 
 or force be induced to move an inch either way, 
 from the half-opened position in which they had 
 been placed. True, it saved us the trouble of 
 opening and shutting them, nor were we ever 
 driven to frenzy by their banging in a high wind. 
 The windows well, there were window-frames, and 
 there had been panes of glass, but here, as in old 
 England, a deserted house is an irresistible target 
 for every passing boy to have a shy at, and judging 
 by the holes, some of them were good shots, so the 
 panes were few and far between. Still, the four 
 walls of the house and the roof were solid and 
 water-tight, and we neither of us felt anything but 
 a pride in our mansion. Was it not our own ? We 
 very quickly got the absolute necessaries, turning 
 aside with Spartan firmness from the smallest of 
 luxuries, and installing ourselves in . state one 
 evening, had another two hours' hard and heavy 
 talk on the " stock" we thought most likely to 
 sell, and having settled that knotty point retired 
 to rest with hopeful hearts, all undaunted by past
 
 228 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 experiences, and in merciful ignorance of future 
 troubles. 
 
 The verb tl to sell " can be conjugated in many 
 different ways ; we were not long in finding that 
 grammatical fact out. The stock we bought had 
 been guaranteed by a fairly honest tradesman ; not 
 that we trusted to him entirely. No, we put our 
 common sense also to bear on the subject ; never- 
 theless, we failed, which looks as though the 
 common sense of the three of us, and the guarantee 
 of the fairly honest tradesman, were no match for 
 the wiles and wickednesses of the people of 
 Auckland. Certain it is that we laboured much, 
 and talked more, peddling our goods through the 
 country, but all to no avail. We were afraid of 
 the women. I think they saw that and took 
 unmerciful advantage. They would help them- 
 selves, paying what they chose, and treated us 
 generally as though we were two (one of us always 
 stayed in our house to look after things and cook 
 the dinner) nicely- spoken, harmless imbeciles. So 
 we found the goods going out and no money 
 coming in. The wandering through the country 
 was very pleasant, and one picture of marvellous 
 beauty remains in my memory even in that scenery 
 where all was lovely. 
 
 It was Dane's turn to stay in the house, so 
 Gilbert and I set out u dock digging," as it is 
 called. We were not in very good spirits, for we 
 saw, although we had not yet acknowledged it to 
 each other, that our present trade was a failure, so
 
 HAttt) Llffti IN THE COLONIES 22 
 
 we jogged on in somewhat gloomy silence. It was 
 a perfect day, neither too hot nor too cold, and as 
 we went on through the balmy air, and noted the 
 luxuriant growth of trees and flowers, our hearts 
 grew lighter, our tongues unloosened, and we 
 admitted to each other that we had been " sold " 
 once more, and it would be wiser to try some other 
 line of life before our last pound was swallowed up 
 in our present losing business. 
 
 So we stepped on more briskly, and in turning 
 the corner of a lane we came upon a most wonder- 
 fully beautiful sight. Picture to yourself a 
 cloudless blue sky, a golden sunlight, green and 
 profuse vegetation, and under the shade of an 
 immense tree a small cottage, entirely covered 
 with the scarlet passion-tree. It was in full bloom, 
 and these marvellous flowers peeped in at the 
 windows and over the door, and twined themselves 
 around the chimney, and even threw out tendrils 
 to the overhanging branches of the tree above. 
 To complete the picture a young half-caste Maori 
 woman, superbly made and of rare beauty, stood at 
 the door, her only clothing a piece of white linen 
 around her waist, which did not hide the graceful 
 contours of her shapely limbs. As she stood there, 
 in the act of picking a branch of the passion 
 flower, her pose was so graceful, her beauty so 
 striking, that all the artist spirit rushed back upon 
 me, and I would have given a kingdom for a canvas, 
 brush, and colours. The Queen of Sheba was a 
 dairy-wench compared to this soft-eyed, lovely
 
 230 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 Maori maiden ; and even ox-eyed Juno would have 
 been put aside in her presence. 
 
 So our last " dock digging " expedition has 
 always remained in our memories with pleasure, 
 for having decided to abandon that noble pro- 
 fession, we lost no time in selling what the women 
 had kindly left us of our " stock " to the self-same 
 fairly honest tradesman from whom we had pur- 
 chased it. He asked how we had got on, and 
 having extracted various details from us as to our 
 manner of selling, &c., gave vent to his feelings by 
 a shrill whistle that would not have disgraced a 
 steam-engine or a schoolboy. 
 
 It does not take long in this country to turn 
 from one trade to another, or to free yourself from 
 the encumbrance of a house. Our arrangements 
 were quickly made, and with the money left us 
 from our unlucky attempt at " peddling," we 
 resolved to try our fortunes in Australia. There, 
 at least, we could procure food by hunting, and 
 live retired in the bush, " away from the world's 
 cold strife," which, by the bye, is all bosh. One 
 has quite as much anxiety there as everywhere 
 else on the surface of this fractious, fretful little 
 earth of ours. 
 
 We went into the town of Auckland, that beau- 
 tiful city, where all is beautiful, but one gets 
 heartily sick of so much beauty with res angustce 
 domi, and taking our passages on board a sailing 
 vessel, landed without accident or adventure in 
 Sidney, New South Wales. Beautiful city too,
 
 BARD LIFE IN TSE COLONIES. 231 
 
 but I recollect it best by the fact that we were 
 nearly devoured by the hotel " tooters," who 
 pursued us all over the town, hoping to make some 
 money out of us, for we were all three well dressed, 
 and carried ourselves with the soldierly bearing 
 learnt during our life as privates in the First 
 Hauraki Eifle Volunteer Corps. So the "tooters" 
 had their labour in vain, for, as the Yankees say, 
 11 we could not be did." Baffled and disgusted, 
 they at last got weary of following and pestering 
 us, and slunk off one by one in search of easier 
 prey. 
 
 We finally got lodgings in Erskine Street, near 
 the wharf, and looked out for a boat bound for 
 Melbourne. We were not long in finding what 
 we wanted, and having secured our berths, went 
 on board the dirty, dingy little vessel, feeling fairly 
 hopeful as to our future. 
 
 A few days after we landed in Melbourne, 
 another beautiful city, but one whose ostentations 
 and pompous show of wealth is somewhat crushing 
 to the hundreds of poor, homeless, penniless exiles 
 who throng her portals in search of food and 
 shelter. 
 
 Dane Stuart had an aunt living in Melbourne. 
 I, too, had relations there, but we neither of us 
 made any attempt to visit them. Cui bono ? We 
 had passed out of their lives, they out of ours. 
 For my own part I shrank from the sorrowful 
 memories this city brought back to me, and drove 
 away the fast recurring thoughts of the Hurricane,
 
 232 HAttD LIFE IN 'THE COLONIES. 
 
 wrecked within sight of land, carrying down with 
 her all I possessed in the world. 
 
 We were all three eager to begin our new life, 
 so only remained in Melbourne long enough to 
 procure tent, rifles, blankets, knives, and some 
 other things absolutely necessary for bush life. 
 This done we packed up our baggage and migrated 
 to Lillydale, a town about twenty miles north of 
 Melbourne, with nothing of note to mark it from 
 any other ordinary town. From thence we jour- 
 neyed on foot near to the Dandenmy Mountains, 
 which abounded in game of all sorts and sizes, 
 kangaroos, bears, opossums, &c., &c. Our first 
 capture was a great rat, which we thought was a 
 bandicoot. Now the bandicoot is the best of all 
 the bush " varmin " to eat. So our joy was great 
 as we skinned him, prepared him for the spit, and 
 roasted him before a clear wood fire just outside 
 our tent. We ate him with great complacency, 
 and could not sufficiently admire the exquisite 
 flavour and great delicacy and tenderness of his 
 white flesh. We determined to keep our eyes 
 open and try and catch some more of the same 
 species. 
 
 A day or two afterwards a sporting gentle- 
 man passed by our camp, and seeing the skin 
 and head of the animal nailed up to dry, questioned 
 us about it. 
 
 "It's a bandicoot that my friend shot the other 
 day ; we kept the skin because it is so handsome, 
 but we ate the brute, and very good he was," I
 
 HARD LIFE IN TSE COLONIES. 23^ 
 
 answered, a faint doubt springing up into my mind 
 as to whether he was so very good after all. 
 
 11 Faugh ! " cried the sportsman, " why you've 
 eaten a beastly bush rat, and found it very good. 
 Ha ! ha ! ha 1 " His laugh had all the melody of a 
 sow undergoing the operation of having its teeth 
 filed. No matter it was not the last queer thing 
 we devoured, and we had also learnt the difference 
 between a bandicoot and a bush rat a good thing 
 in its way. No harm was done, for our stomachs 
 made no difficulty in digesting the mistake. 
 
 Our next exploit was shooting a bear. The 
 particular species that live in these mountains are 
 very curious animals. They are not bigger than a 
 large dog, brown in colour, with rather a pointed 
 muzzle, and their paws and feet provided with very 
 terrible claws. On the whole they are quiet, 
 harmless brutes, and make good and affectionate 
 pets. Gilbert and I discovered one high up in a 
 tree, lying at fall length sunning himself and lazily 
 licking his paws. We forthwith opened fire upon 
 him. Our first shots took no effect ; I think he 
 winked. Thirty shots, that is to say, thirty times 
 we fired at him, still no change in his attitude of 
 unruffled composure. At last in despair I went 
 back to the tent for a rifle, with which Gilbert 
 brought him down dead at the first shot. The day 
 before had been very wet, and pools stood about 
 everywhere on the sodden ground. Into one of 
 these pools Mr. Bruin fell with a flop, covering us 
 with mud and water from head to foot. But the
 
 234 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 joy consequent on our victory overbalanced all 
 such trifling inconveniences. We cut a long and 
 strong stick, slung our prize upon it, and went on 
 our way rejoicing, seeking other conquests. Soon 
 we lost our way, having neglected to mark our 
 passage by notching the trees as we went along. 
 We wandered on and on, neither finding anything 
 to kill, nor our lost road either. Night began to 
 descend upon us. We were in a regular fix, for we 
 were hungry, the ground was wet, and we had not 
 even a blanket with us. Sheer weariness at last 
 forced us to call a halt, and we determined, bush 
 fashion, to "make a camp." Choosing a large 
 tree whose thick branches had somewhat protected 
 the soil beneath from the rain, we hastily collected 
 wood, and stripping the leaves from the branches, 
 soon lighted a fire, around which we crouched, and 
 wished for day. But a couple of hours of this 
 warm but cheerless comfort was enough for 
 Gilbert, who had doggedly set his rnind on finding 
 the right track, and the moon having risen, we left 
 our fire somewhat to my regret, I must confess 
 and shouldering our bete-noir, set out once more. 
 Very shortly we stumbled right upon a road, but 
 here was another difficulty which way ought we 
 to go to reach our tent, to the right or to the left ? 
 The bush is all so much alike, and we had been 
 foolish enough to leave our compass in the camp. 
 Not that it would have been much good to us, for, 
 having so lately settled down, and never intending 
 to wander far as yet, we had taken no notes as to
 
 LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 235 
 
 where we had encamped with regard to the town. 
 Once at Lillydale or on the road, we knew we 
 should eventually reach our tent, as it lay in a 
 straight line. Undecided, we spent some minutes, 
 I in trying to prove that the right must be right, 
 and Gilbert voting with equal vehemence that the 
 left was sure to be right. We were just going to 
 settle the knotty point by tossing up a penny when 
 we saw the gleam of a fire in the distance. 
 
 Leaving Gilbert sitting on Mr. Bruin to watch 
 by the road, I started off in the direction of the 
 fire, hoping to find a camp of wood-cutters who 
 could direct us. But on reaching the spot I 
 found it deserted. A party of men must have 
 been there but a short time before, for the fire 
 burnt brightly, and there were relics that showed 
 they had cooked their supper there. Nothing 
 eatable remained, though I searched carefully, 
 hoping to find if only a bit of biscuit with which 
 we might still the imperious cries of our empty 
 interiors. 
 
 So I returned to Gilbert, whom I found in the 
 same posture, nearly asleep in spite of his hunger. 
 We had another consultation, which resulted like 
 the first in nothing but talk. We were again 
 going to have recourse to the mystic aid of " heads 
 or tails," when we heard the clanking of a horse's 
 hoofs coming towards us. 
 
 We sprang out upon the road, and, stopping the 
 horseman, inquired the way to Lillydale. The 
 man simply pointed behind him, and digging his
 
 236 SAttb Lt&E IN TtiE COLONIES. 
 
 spurs into his horse's flanks, vanished from our 
 sight like a flash of lightning. He was evidently 
 in great terror at seeing two men with firearms, 
 and suspected that we were two of a band of 
 bushrangers, such gentry being not uncommon 
 in these parts. 
 
 Again we shouldered our bear, and dragged on 
 wet, weary, and horribly tired. Bruin seemed to 
 get heavier and heavier, but we were too proud 
 of him to leave him behind, and had not sufficient 
 nous to skin it, so we endured all sorts of 
 discomfort for the sake of this, our first big prize. 
 
 After what seemed to us a long and toilsome 
 way, we were suddenly agreeably surprised to hear 
 close by us a "coo-ee" in Dane's shrill, clear 
 voice. A few steps more around a clump of 
 bushes, and there we were at our camp. Stuart 
 had been very uneasy at our prolonged absence, 
 had imagined all sorts of evils, and had pictured 
 every possible and impossible accident as having 
 "arrived" to us, as the French say. Unable to 
 sleep, he had prowled around the tent, a prey to 
 the most lugubrious thoughts, when he heard our 
 voices, and, as I said before, " coo-eed " to us 
 both loud and long. 
 
 How rejoiced we were to get in, dead beat, and 
 as hungry as Arctic wolves ! We left the skinning 
 of our bear until we had had the rest of which 
 we stood in great need, placing him, however, 
 inside our tent for safety's sake. 
 
 A few days after we moved our camp further into
 
 HARD LIFE IN TEE COLONIES. 287 
 
 the mountains, to a place called " The Two Sisters," 
 a savage, wild, but lovely spot, that kept one always 
 in a state of rapturous wonder at the ever new, 
 ever varying beauties of nature. Immense quan- 
 tities of kangaroos lived there, and it was a 
 curious and interesting sight to see a band of 
 them go bounding along in " Indian file " at an 
 incredible pace. The females are called " flying 
 does," from the speed at which they travel, more 
 resembling a bird than an animal. It is very 
 pretty to see the little ones with their heads 
 poking out of their mother's pouch, looking out 
 into the world with large, soft, wondering eyes. 
 
 One morning Gilbert called me to come out 
 from the tent where I was cooking our breakfast. 
 On going out I joined him on a small hillock, 
 from whence we saw a very astonishing sight. A 
 "mob " of kangaroos, comprising some hundreds, 
 were crossing the country. They were headed 
 by a deer, who acted as general of the forces, and 
 whose leadership they all followed. On went the 
 deer with stately, graceful movements, and after 
 followed the kangaroos, springing and bounding in 
 the most grotesque manner imaginable. We 
 fairly laughed aloud, and watched them until 
 their " general " led them out of our sight. 
 Whether the deer continues to live with the herd 
 after having piloted them in safety across the 
 country I do not know, but strange as it appears, 
 the fact remains that the kangaroos prefer the 
 guidance of a deer to one of their own tribe.
 
 288 EAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 Some very unpleasant ants, about an inch long, 
 also lived near us ; their sting is very painful, and 
 their tenacity in sucking blood, and never letting 
 go, has gained for them the name of " bulldogs." 
 Their habits and customs among themselves are 
 said to be interesting to study. I confess I 
 preferred to give them a wide berth, and the only 
 anxiety I displayed was to kill as many as 
 possible. Scorpions, centipedes, and iriantilopes 
 also abounded; the latter is a giant spider, who 
 seemed to possess the misanthropical character 
 of his European brothers to a great degree. His 
 sting is also very painful, and one generally 
 avoids his advances to a nearer acquaintance, 
 particularly as he possesses no great beauty to 
 attract one to him. The sting of the scorpion 
 every one knows is very agonizing, but here they 
 are not necessarily fatal. 
 
 At night various members of the above insect 
 races, accompanied by cousins and friends, would 
 crawl, creep, or fly into our tent, get upon us, 
 and proceed to inspect our anatomy with exhaus- 
 tive care. I discovered that by not vexing them, 
 i.e., flinging the arms about, and using forcible 
 language (to which latter insult they appeared 
 to have a great objection), they would not molest 
 us, but after crawling cautiously over any part of 
 us that happened to be uncovered, would make 
 tracks elsewhere, their curiosity satisfied, leaving 
 us secretly glad at their departure. 
 
 I must not forget to mention the snakes, which
 
 GUM TREES.
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 239 
 
 were infinite in number, snaky in their habits, 
 which I suppose is not astonishing, and most of 
 them poisonous. But of these our natural enemies 
 I will speak more fully when we get to the Yarra- 
 Yarra Eiver. 
 
 Here at "The Two Sisters" we lived a real 
 Bohemian life under the shade of the great 
 Eucalypti. I use the plural, as there was a 
 great variety of species. Here, too, .are varieties 
 of pines, and I think among them the Sequoia 
 Grigantia, that celebrated giant pine of California, 
 reported to be the biggest . tree in the world. 
 This, however, is a mistake, for some of the 
 Australian Eucalypti (gum-trees) far exceed them 
 in height, and are quite as large in other respects. 
 
 To a " new chum" the varieties of the gum- 
 trees are often a matter of perplexity and much 
 wonder. The red gum, whose wood never rots, 
 the white and the blue, which latter is largely 
 planted in California ; then there are the pepper- 
 mint, the box, the apple, the stringy bark, the 
 iron bark, the bull's wood, and so on ad infinitum. 
 These, like all the Australian trees that I am 
 acquainted with, are evergreens, of rather a dusky, 
 sombre hue, and have an aromatic smell, which, 
 besides being very pleasant, tends to repel disease, 
 and renders the living among them healthy and 
 invigorating. The foliage of the Eucalypti, like 
 that of the majority of their compatriots, is placed 
 vertically. I mean the edge of the leaf is towards 
 the branch on which it grows, which is occasioned
 
 240 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 by a slight twist in the petioli; they shed then- 
 bark annually, and not their leaves, which are 
 constantly growing and constantly dropping off. 
 
 From the gum-trees one is led naturally to 
 speak of opossums, a genus of marsupiate carni- 
 vorous mammals, as the dictionary tells us. Vast 
 numbers surrounded us ; they would leave their 
 holes at night to feed on leaves, climbing the 
 trees for that purpose, and after a while, wishing 
 to vary their repast, would descend to the earth 
 and nibble at fresh grass or any other dainty herb 
 they could meet with. For cleverness in thieving, 
 give me an opossum. We found to our cost that 
 they much loved potatoes, while bread put them 
 into ecstatic raptures. I wonder where they got 
 their taste for it, for Mrs. Opossum can know 
 nothing of bread-making. They would walk into 
 our tent at night cool and confident, seeking what 
 they might devour, and although they generally 
 fell victims to their kleptomaniac tendencies, 
 that did not in the least deter others from trying 
 the same game, with the same results. 
 
 We killed immense numbers of these "marsu- 
 piate carnivorous mammals," many by snares, 
 more by shooting them through the head with a 
 very small bullet. Gilbert was extremely skilful, 
 and never a 'possum escaped his shot. We 
 would all three of us go out on a moonlight night, 
 for 'possums are sentimental, and love to "pose " 
 by the light of the Queen of the Heavens, and 
 station ourselves each one on the shady side of
 
 HARD LIFE IN TSB COLONIES, 241 
 
 a large gum-tree. Looking up through the 
 branches, we were sure to see one or more, 
 sometimes a whole family stretched out, I was 
 going to say " sunning " themselves in the moon- 
 light, for they looked as though the rays of the 
 moon were as pleasant to them as the rays of 
 the sun is to a cat. We would then pick them 
 off one by one with a rifle ; down they fall dead, 
 and when cold were skinned, and the skins dried. 
 This was done by pegging the skin flesh side 
 out, like Brian O'Lynne's breeches. These same 
 skins, when properly prepared and sewn together, 
 make very fine rugs, being both light and warm 
 one seven feet square weighing only five pounds 
 and on that account are invaluable to hunters and 
 bushmen. We often got thirty skins in one night, 
 both Stuart and I being fair shots, while Gilbert's 
 aim was certain death. Great skill is requisite in 
 shooting them, for if wounded anywhere except 
 in the head the pelt is of no value. 
 
 The fly ing- squirrel has also a beautiful coat 
 that fetches a good price in the fur market. We 
 got many of them, shooting them as they sprang 
 from tree to tree. They leap an amazing distance, 
 being supported by the skin stretching between 
 their fore and hind feet. I saw a handsome little 
 fellow one day high up in a gum-tree ; he wanted 
 to get to another tree some distance off, and was 
 evidently not quite sure whether he could manage 
 it. He seemed to measure the distance with his 
 eye, ran to the extreme tip of the branch he was 
 
 17
 
 242 SAED LIFE IN TE GOLONIES. 
 
 on, then back again. Gilbert and I watched him 
 with interest. 
 
 "I tell you what," said my friend, addressing 
 the squirrel, who was undecidedly scratching his 
 head, "if you jump that I won't shoot you, but if 
 you funk it I will." 
 
 That decided our little friend : giving us a long 
 side glance from his beautiful sharp eyes, he 
 swayed himself a moment to and fro, then paf! 
 in one graceful, mighty leap he shot across the 
 immense space between the two trees, and alighted 
 safely on a branch. We could not help crying 
 " Bravo ! " .to the brave little leaper, who, hearing 
 us shout, disappeared swiftly high up in the tree. 
 
 Skins of all sorts, and from every kind of animal, 
 we prepared simply by drying. When we had 
 amassed a large quantity of them Stuart took 
 them into Melbourne to sell. 
 
 We wished him at the same time to see a doctor, 
 for he was not at all strong, and gave way to fits of 
 melancholy and irritation sad to see in so young a 
 man. We made him promise also to see his aunt. 
 At this time we knew nothing of his past life, for, 
 although we had lived together many months, he 
 had not been communicative concerning himself, 
 the freemasonry of good birth only drawing us 
 three together. 
 
 Gilbert and I passed the days of his absence in 
 the usual way, killing many 'possums and other 
 "varmin," and looking forward to a nice round 
 sum of money from the furrier at Melbourne. But
 
 'HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 243 
 
 some ten days after Dane returned with a much 
 smaller sum than we had been led to expect, as 
 the skins were all good and properly prepared. 
 We were told afterwards by an old settler that 
 we should have manufactured them into rugs our- 
 selves, for which we would have been hand- 
 somely paid. 
 
 " Did you go to your aunt ? " I asked, as, having 
 spoken of the furs, Stuart seated himself in the 
 corner of the tent, and proceeded to smoke in 
 gloomy silence. 
 
 "Yes," was the encouraging answer. 
 
 " Wasn't she nice ?" demanded Gilbert ; "didn't 
 you give her those best opossum skins ? I should 
 have thought they would have softened the heart 
 of any living woman." 
 
 " She was very kind to me, and wishes me to live 
 with her," was the unexpected answer. 
 
 "By Jove!" cried Gilbert. "What reply did 
 you give to such an astonishing request ? " 
 
 "I said not yet," answered Dane, more to him- 
 self than to us, as he pushed his rough sandy hair 
 back from his brow a trick of his when at all per- 
 plexed or annoyed. 
 
 " Well, at any rate it's nice to know that you 
 have a place you can go to if you are not strong 
 enough for bush life," I said; when to our surprise 
 he started to his feet and cried passionately, " I'm 
 as strong as either of you, and can bear bush life 
 better ; but if you want to be rid of me, I can go 
 and camp alone."
 
 ''244 SARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 "Don't be a fool ! " said Gilbert, before I could 
 find my tongue ; " you had better have supper and 
 go to bed ; there's nothing like a sleep to chase 
 away the blue devils. Did you see a doctor? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 "What?" 
 
 "What did he say? Why it's harder to drag 
 words out of you than to get gold out of a gold 
 mine," said Gilbert, impatiently. 
 
 Dane Stuart gave a short laugh as he answered, 
 " You won't be much the wiser than I am by the 
 idiot's opinion. He told me I might live or I 
 might die, and on my suggesting that every one 
 was in the same box, he further added that while 
 there was life there was hope." Seeing that 
 Stuart either could not or would not say anything 
 more on the subject of himself and his health, I 
 turned the conversation, and no further reference 
 was made to him. 
 
 But I began to observe him more closely, and 
 came to the conclusion that whatever was affecting 
 him was more mental than physical ; his fits of 
 irritation were followed by moods of profound 
 melancholy, one as trying to bear with as the 
 other, and often I had some difficulty in pre- 
 venting hot disputes between him and Gilbert, tbe 
 latter having a very impulsive, quick temper. 
 
 Months went by, and we shifted our camp some 
 miles further on, to the banks of the Yarra-Yarra 
 Eiver, in order to take advantage of the fishing
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 245 
 
 season. We pitched our tent on a lovely spot 
 under the shade of our old friend the Eucatyptus 
 tree, near the banks of the river, and what sport 
 we had ! Old Isaak Walton would have been in a 
 continuous state of rapturous delight. I wonder 
 if he ever had the chance of real good fishing, 
 such as these majestic Australian rivers give. 
 
 Our chief quest was for the " black fish," a most 
 delicious piscatory tit-bit, which always fetched a 
 high price in the fish market, large and small being 
 paid for at the same rate per pound. We used to 
 place them in a large box that we had sunk in the 
 river, with holes to admit the water, until we had 
 captured enough to send into the next town. We 
 were getting on in the world now, and bought a 
 horse to carry our impedimenta, for when we 
 had fished out one place we moved farther up the 
 river to another spot. 
 
 A strange-looking party we were, not unpic- 
 turesque, I take it. Our coloured shirts made a 
 bright spot among the bushes, and with our rifles, 
 high boots, and slouched hats, I flatter myself that 
 we should have been looked at again if we had 
 been walking down Begent Street, let us say. 
 Magog, our horse, must not be forgotten ; he was 
 a monster of strength and ugliness, but of a gentle 
 and retiring disposition, bearing any burden put 
 upon him with cheerful patience and meek sub- 
 mission. He had one absorbing passion perhaps 
 I ought to say two absorbing passions love for 
 Dorcas, a cat, and love of bread. In finding out
 
 246 HABD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 where the latter article was packed or placed he 
 was nearly as clever as the opossums, perhaps 
 even more so, given his great bulk and consequent 
 difficulty in stealing. It is only fair to him to state 
 that his former master was a baker, and he must 
 have contracted this habit when in that line of life. 
 Dorcas was a large, a very large, cat, grey with 
 black stripes, and had been found when a kitten in 
 the stable with Magog. How she came there is not 
 known like Topsy, " 'spects she growed." She 
 was no expense to any one, catering for herself, 
 and being the mother of sixty-eight children to the 
 knowledge of Burton, the man we bought Magog 
 from. We never thought of taking a cat into the 
 bush, nor did Burton wish to part with her, for she 
 was the best ratter for miles around ; but on going 
 out to see Magog the morning after our purchase 
 of him there sat Dorcas on his back, cleaning her 
 face, and evidently intending to remain. We were 
 afraid she would be a dreadful nuisance, so Stuart 
 rode her back on Magog ; but he might have spared 
 himself the trouble, for he had not been but four 
 miles on his way back to the camp before a 
 "mew " caused him to turn round, and there was 
 Mrs. Dorcas scrambling up Magog's tail, and, 
 seating herself on his broad back, proceeded to 
 clean herself, not condescending to notice Stuart 
 in the least. So we kept her in fact we could not 
 help ourselves, and soon grew alarmingly fond of her, 
 for when one loves much one suffers much, and we 
 were always afraid some accident would happen tg
 
 HAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 247 
 
 her, for she always accompanied us on our shooting 
 expeditions, and seemed, unlike the generality of 
 her sex, to love the sound of a gun. No dog ever 
 was so useful in bringing back the game. Often I 
 have felt terribly nervous when she has sat with 
 her green eyes fixed upon me, for I dreaded her 
 contempt if I missed my aim. On such occasions 
 she would calmly walk back to the camp, curl her- 
 self up on a blanket and go to sleep. 
 
 On one of our moves up the river we came 
 upon a settler who was building a shanty, and 
 intended to settle down altogether. We helped 
 him to choose a . suitable spot and remained with 
 him some ten days or so to aid him. He intended 
 having his wife and two children out as soon as he 
 was settled. 
 
 . One morning Gilbert, Stuart, and the settler (I 
 forget his name, if I ever knew it, for one uses the 
 terms "mate" or "boss" with strangers generally) 
 were standing near an immense Eucalyptus tree, 
 when suddenly an awful thunderstorm came on. 
 The noise was deafening, like a charge of artillery, 
 and the glare of the lightning, so continuous and 
 brilliant, was simply appalling. I ran out from the 
 tent to call them in, when at that moment a 
 thunderbolt struck the tree, catching it on fire 
 and smashing it to pieces. Gilbert and Stuart 
 came running in, how they had escaped was 
 nothing short of a miracle. The settler was 
 killed, nor could we find anything of him to bury 
 but a very small portion of calcinated matter.
 
 248 HABD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 We looked over his papers, and sent them and 
 the money and anything of value into Melbourne 
 by a man chancing to pass our way. He under- 
 took to forward them to England to the poor 
 widow. Then we moved our camp from the half- 
 built house with its sad association, and went 
 further up the Yarra-Yarra. 
 
 I was one day keeping camp, Gilbert and Stuart 
 having gone fishing, and had thrown myself down 
 in the tent door, mending some fishing tackle, when, 
 looking up, I saw a huge black snake deliberately 
 coming along with the evident intention of paying 
 me a visit. 
 
 " Come on, my friend," said I, putting down the 
 net and taking up a large stick. 
 
 The brute eyed me stedfastly with sparkling 
 eyes, and came on undaunted and unafraid. I 
 raised myself on my elbow, and when he was 
 within half a yard of me I brought my stick down 
 upon his head and killed him on the spot. I then 
 hung him up to show the other two when they 
 returned ; he was of great length and very thick. 
 Dane had a womanish terror of snakes : it was 
 useless to point out to him that they generally 
 avoid you, and if they do not are very easily 
 killed; also that their power of springing and 
 throwing out their poison is very limited; stand 
 one quarter of an inch beyond that short distance, 
 and they are perfectly harmless. He never saw 
 one without turning pale ? and all his nightmares 
 had a snake in them.
 
 HAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 249 
 
 We killed multitudes of these reptiles, for the 
 bush abounds in them. The hideous and deadly 
 tiger-snake, banded with dirty black-and-white 
 stripes ; the beautiful carpet-snake, of varying 
 colours ; the death-adder, whose bite is instantly 
 fatal ; and a host of all sorts and sizes, down to 
 the whip-snake, which lies coiled up in the 
 branches of the shrubs. Look out as you pass 
 by, for if they dart their head out and prick you 
 on the hand for it is little more than a prick 
 you may make your peace with God, for death will 
 infallibly result. 
 
 We skinned a great many of these reptiles, and 
 kept them, as they were not without beauty. They 
 are also good eating, so I have been told, and have 
 always been content with that knowledge from hear- 
 say ; for, although I don't mind meeting the devil, 
 I decidedly object to eating him, and so incor- 
 porating him as it were into myself. Gilbert also 
 had no wish to try the taste of them, while, as to 
 Stuart, I believe he would have killed us if we had 
 attempted to palm off a snake on him instead of a 
 dish of stewed eels. 
 
 There was another living animal, or rather 
 insect, that we never tried to eat, though we had 
 abundance of them, and I have read somewhere of 
 a starved traveller becoming fat and jolly on them 
 the wattle-grub, a grub as large as a large man's 
 largest finger, nearly square in shape, of a fine 
 clean cream colour, very fat and soft, not by any 
 means a disgusting-looking thing if you happen to.
 
 250 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 admire that style of thing. When roasted they 
 are remarkably good, and have a flavour of 
 almonds at least, so I have been told ; for, as 
 I observed before, we avoided them, our tastes not 
 having been educated up to wattle-grubs. We 
 got them by splitting up the bark of the gum-trees 
 that were somewhat decayed, where they lived 
 and bred in vast numbers, thriving and fattening 
 on the gum that they sucked. We used them for 
 bait when fishing, with great success, the fish 
 evidently looking upon them as a rare tit-bit, even 
 worth dying to get a taste of. 
 
 A party of " sports " met once near Danderong, 
 to enjoy an outing in the woods, and to " do " the 
 bush generally. These were Melbourneites, and 
 tolerably verdant. It was not often that they 
 indulged in such wild extravagance, so were 
 determined to have a good time of it, being highly 
 elated at the prospect of slaughtering " 'possums," 
 bears, bandicoots, &c., and being able afterwards 
 to "swagger" to their less fortunate friends at 
 home, boasting of their wood craft, and detailing 
 hairbreadth escapes from the loving hug of the 
 bear, or the poisonous breath of the snake. 
 
 Among them was a young man who had never 
 been in the bush before, and would neither know a 
 bear nor a snake if he saw one. On the strength of 
 this, he took upon himself to act as cicerone and 
 general adviser to the rest of the " greenies." 
 Hiding from them the fact that his knowledge of 
 }}ush life was the result of very cursory reading of
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 251 
 
 some traveller's experience, he depicted himself 
 as an old experienced hand, whom nothing could 
 astonish, still less alarm. The others, quite as 
 ignorant but -more modest, gave in readily to their 
 self-elected leader, and followed him with all the 
 gravity and want of sense peculiar to a flock of 
 geese. 
 
 A gentleman, an old settler, came upon the 
 party, and joining them in the free and easy way 
 of bush life, took the measure of the bumptious 
 greenhorn in a moment, and determined to have 
 some fun at his expense. He secretly procured 
 some of these nice large cream-coloured grubs, 
 which he concealed in his pocket ; then, returning 
 to the party, he entered into a lively conversation 
 with the " cicerone," agreeing to all the bombastic 
 nonsense he talked, pretending to believe all the 
 impossible stories of adventures of which he had 
 been the hero, and otherwise flattering him up, 
 until, like the frog in the fable, he was ready to 
 burst with pride, or rather self-conceit. Every 
 now and then, during the talk, the gentleman 
 made a pretence of turning his head aside, of 
 slipping something into his mouth, and munching 
 it with infinite relish. The other's curiosity was 
 much excited ; he watched his flatterer more 
 closely, and seeing a large, soft, creamy-looking 
 substance apparently being popped into his mouth, 
 said, " May I be allowed to ask what it is you are 
 eating?" 
 
 t!" exclaimed the settler ? with uplifte4
 
 252 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 eyebrows, " do you, an old experienced bushman, 
 not know the celebrated and delicious wattle-grub, 
 that greatest delicacy in the bush ? " 
 
 On hearing this the rest of the party gathered 
 round the two with eyes, mouths, and ears wide 
 open. 
 
 " Oh, yes, I know it well," cried cicerone, 
 quickly. "I didn't see distinctly, many a hun- 
 dred I've eaten, and enjoyed above all things ; 
 they are indeed a real luxury." 
 
 " Have some," said the wily one. " I can spare 
 you a few; here's a nice one," handing him one 
 nearly as big as a sausage." 
 
 The poor wretch took it, and with a tremendous 
 effort put the smaller end of the soft fat live thing 
 into his mouth, when, faugh ! he was seized with 
 an internal earthquake, and he nearly fainted. 
 The whole starch was taken out of him ; he 
 completely collapsed, and was mute, crestfallen, 
 and wretched for the rest of the day. 
 
 The settler, after seeing the salutary effect of 
 his lesson, cheerfully wished the party good-day, 
 and returned to his shanty with another good story 
 to add to his list. 
 
 Another shifting of our camp brought us further 
 up the river, near a bend of which we pitched our 
 tent, after having ascertained that the spot met 
 with Dorcas's approval. She was, like all her sex, 
 very capricious, and if we were luckless enough to 
 settle down anywhere that did not please her, she 
 would render night hideous and sleep impossible
 
 1SAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 25& 
 
 by her yowls. Her great objection seemed to be 
 the close proximity to large trees, whether from 
 some recollection of the terrible thunderstorm we 
 had passed through I cannot tell, for she kept 
 these things secret in that " dark place where cats 
 keep their thoughts." 
 
 The Yarra-Yarra is of all the rivers I have ever 
 seen the most extraordinary. It winds about in 
 every possible and impossible direction. One 
 mile, as the crow flies, makes many miles of the 
 stream, along the banks of which are numerous 
 lagoons, the habitat of all sorts of water-fowl, 
 notably among them that gigantic crane, the 
 " Native Companion," a solemn and stately- 
 looking bird, who always reminded me of one 
 of the proverbs of the Sheviri, " The crane stands 
 upon one leg, in heavenly meditation, but all the 
 while is looking sharply after his fish." Also the 
 small and handsome "Nankeen crane," so called 
 from its colour, such a knowing-looking little 
 fellow, and so very beautiful. The diminutive 
 flying squirrel, called " Turan " by the natives, 
 were very numerous here, lovely little animals, and 
 easy to tame. Stuart kept a baby one, whose 
 mother he had shot, for some little time, but 
 Dorcas eyed the wee thing with such jealousy, 
 and evidently had such difficulty in keeping her 
 claws from it, that he thought it better to separate 
 the two. At first he intended to set it at liberty, 
 but when he put it up a tree the little thing 
 sprang on to his shoulder and would not leave
 
 254 HARD LIFB IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 him. Luckily for " Dot," just as we were going 
 to move on, a settler asked Dane to stay with him 
 a while to help him fence his shanty around. So 
 Gilbert and I, Magog and Dorcas started off, 
 leaving him to follow us when the fencing was 
 finished. Bears, opossums, bandicoots, &c., were 
 very plentiful in fact game of all sorts ; but, being 
 summer, their fur was of no use to us, being too 
 thin and faded at that season to fetch any price in 
 the market. So we only killed what we needed 
 for food, such as deer, of which there were a large 
 number, the bandicoot, and wild fowl. 
 
 We continued our fishing with great success, 
 for we got well paid, and began to put by money 
 towards buying a ranche, which was the ultimate 
 aim of all our toil and all our hopes. One day we 
 discovered a " bee-tree," a huge gum-tree, in 
 which a swarm of bees had taken up their abode 
 a very valuable find, as sometimes there are 
 several hundredweight of honeycomb. The diffi- 
 culty was to get at it, the only possible way being 
 to cut down the tree, and as this one measured at 
 least five feet in diameter, and was of great height, 
 it was no small undertaking for two men. Nothing 
 daunted, however, we set to work, Gilbert being a 
 very good hand at wielding the axe, while I, on 
 the contrary, can hardly use it. We worked away 
 many hours, and succeeded in cutting a pretty 
 deep gash on one side, when, night coming on, we 
 had to adjourn till next day. Dorcas, who always 
 accompanied us on our fishing expeditions, finding
 
 BA&D LIFti IN fBE COLONIES. 255 
 
 that we stayed all day by the side of her bete noir, 
 a tree, had left us in disgust, and, we concluded, 
 had returned to the tent to sleep off her vexation 
 after her usual manner. On returning, however, 
 no Dorcas was to be seen. Feeling very uneasy, we 
 went out and called her loudly. A faint " mew " 
 answered us, and in a few minutes Dorcas ap- 
 peared, bleeding and wounded in many places. 
 She manifested such an evident desire to show 
 us something that we followed her before attend- 
 ing to her wounds. She led us to some little 
 distance, and there lying side by side, dead, were 
 seven enormous rats. Her pride was immense ; 
 she limped all round them, purring and rubbing 
 against us, as much as to say, "You have killed 
 nothing all day, but see what I have done." 
 That the victory had been hardly won her nume- 
 rous wounds plainly testified. We carried them 
 back to the tent, took care of her, and she soon 
 purred herself to sleep in the midst of her slain. 
 
 The next morning Gilbert was obliged to row 
 down the river to Lilly dale with a " swag " of fish, 
 and I made some feeble efforts to enlarge the gash 
 we had made the day before in the " bee-tree." 
 While thus engaged, a party of " bee-hunters " 
 came along, eyed me a moment in silence, then 
 one said 
 
 " Honey there, mate?" 
 
 I nodded. 
 
 " You here alone?" 
 
 I nodded again ^
 
 256 HAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 At a sign from him the others threw down some 
 bags and ropes they had, and drew their axes, 
 while the man that had spoken before turned 
 to me and said, " We will save you the trouble 
 of cutting that tree down. You will never do it 
 alone." 
 
 " My mate will be back to-night," I answered. 
 "We found the tree, and therefore it is ours. 
 Kindly go on your way." 
 
 The fellow laughed aloud, and simply called up 
 two more men who were behind with a couple of 
 horses, carrying buckets and kegs for honey. In a 
 few minutes the five of them were working away 
 vigorously with their axes, making the chips fly in 
 every direction. I said no more, what was the 
 good ? In this case of might against right, who 
 was likely to win ? So I lit a pipe, leant against a 
 neighbouring tree, and watched them. 
 
 All day long they worked in a blazing sun, 
 stopping only at midday for some food, to which 
 they politely invited me, and I as politely de- 
 clined. 
 
 Early in the evening Gilbert came back, and 
 was furious at the sight that met his gaze the 
 " bee-tree," his " bee-tree," nearly cut through by 
 a band of robbers, who had come provided with 
 every convenience to carry off their ill-gotten 
 gains. But his righteous indignation was of no 
 avail ; the kegs and buckets were placed in 
 readiness, and shortly the 'mighty giant of the 
 forest fell with a crash like thunder, and lay
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 257 
 
 quivering on the ground. The men rushed for- 
 ward to cut out the honey, when, to their infinite 
 disgust, they found hardly a single pound, the bees 
 having only commenced their settlement. 
 
 The disappointment was great. After all their 
 toil under a burning sun ; after playing a shabby 
 trick, too, to get nothing. The language that 
 ensued was more forcible than polite. I confess I 
 was Christian enough to feel savagely glad at their 
 discomfiture. " I wish you good evening," I re- 
 marked, as they began re-loading their horses 
 with the empty kegs, " and may the same good 
 fortune attend you the next time you attempt such 
 a scurvy trick." 
 
 A fierce growl was the only reply, and Gilbert 
 and I returned to our camp, and had supper, feeling 
 quite a glow of virtuous satisfaction at this un- 
 expected example of " grab " and its reward. 
 
 For the first time since we had lived in the bush 
 we came across some of the aborigines, or rather, 
 they came across us, a party of them passing our 
 camp. Some one or two were rather handsome, 
 but for the most part they were frightfully ugly and 
 intensely black, the women seemingly having an 
 extra dark tint. 
 
 "God's image carved in ebony," 
 
 says some one. 
 
 " I hope some day she may become one, 
 The present image is a very rum one," 
 18
 
 258 HAPD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 as Brinston Sfceevens says. The men call their 
 wives " gyns." Strange how closely allied to the 
 ancient Greek word 71^77, which, written in Roman 
 characters, would be Gyne. 
 
 I did not hear them speak, for they went by in 
 solemn silence, so cannot say what their language 
 is like, but if the formation of the mouth has any- 
 thing to do with the enunciation of a language, 
 theirs must be something truly extraordinary. 
 They are very good shots, ride half broken-in 
 horses fearlessly and well, are exceedingly expert 
 in the use of their wooden missile, the boomerang, 
 and throw a spear a long distance with unerring 
 and fatal aim. Altogether they are gentry one 
 would rather read about than meet, and we were 
 not sorry that they passed us by without even 
 condescending to betray by a glance that they 
 were aware of our presence. If they consider 
 themselves handsome, what frightful monsters must 
 we " whites " appear in their eyes ! 
 
 Gilbert shot some of those strange animals, the 
 Platypus, or Arnothoryneus, feet webbed like those 
 of a duck, the broad bill of ditto, and a tail like 
 that of a beaver; their fur is soft and close and 
 very valuable. Porcas was much perturbed in 
 mind on first seeing this animal, and walked around 
 it and on it, touching up its head and tail with her 
 paw, spitting and, I fear, swearing badly at the 
 poor dead Platypus. 
 
 At this time Gilbert got one of his sudden 
 illnesses, to which he had been subject since the
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 259 
 
 second bayonet wound he had received from the 
 drunken soldier in Auckland. Whether he had 
 neglected to put on his hat when in the burning 
 sun, or had overworked himself, I cannot tell, but 
 he came in one evening complaining of headache, 
 and before morning was delirious. Luckily I knew 
 what to do and had the remedies at hand, but 
 it was a week before he could venture to face the 
 sun again ; and I had a great fright, fearing a 
 relapse, on account of an unfortunate incident 
 that happened directly after his recovery. 
 
 It was one cool evening, the day after he had 
 been out for the first time since his illness, and he 
 thought he would like to do a little fishing. So 
 we got into our small flat-bottomed canoe, having 
 left Dorcas and Magog in charge of the tent, for I 
 would not let Gilbert go alone, fearing he would 
 commit some imprudence. As after events turned 
 out, all my precautions were useless I had counted 
 without Dame Nature. Well, we rowed some dis- 
 tance up the river, intending to have a pleasant 
 night's fishing for " black fish " and eels. We had 
 provided ourselves with a lantern and candles, and 
 anticipated some good sport. Not without some 
 difficulty we piloted our canoe safely past snaps and 
 large pieces of broken timber with which the stream 
 is much encumbered, until we reached a favour- 
 able place : here we fastened our craft securely and 
 proceeded to fish. We were repaid for our toil up 
 by catching a fair amount of the much-demanded 
 "black fish," and a large quantity of long, slimy
 
 260 HABD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 eels; not but what the " black fish" is just as 
 viscous as the eel, and the latter when-well cooked 
 are almost as good to eat. The Yarra-Yarra eels 
 are devoid of that oily and objectionable rancidity 
 peculiar to the eels of the Old Country, which so 
 disagreeably affect delicate digestions. Night, 
 which falls quite suddenly in Australia, caused us 
 to light a candle, and so engaged were we in 
 hooking and landing our victims that we failed to 
 perceive that the sky was black with clouds, our 
 first intimation being a downpour of rain, which at 
 once put an end to our sport and drenched us 
 within three minutes. Here was a nice state of 
 things, lashing rain, and so pitch dark that we 
 could not venture to return down the river because 
 of the mass of broken timber floating about, nor 
 could we seek shelter on shore for the same reason, 
 the light of our lantern being insufficient to show 
 us a landing-place, and, worst misfortune of all, no 
 wraps, and Gilbert only just recovered from a 
 serious illness. There was nothing for it but to 
 possess our souls in patience ; so there we sat, 
 Gilbert in one end of the canoe, and I in the other, 
 through all the hours of the long black night, as 
 wet as the fearful torrents of rain could make us, 
 keeping up a fitful conversation on the most 
 lugubrious topics possible, until daylight, forcing 
 its way through the gloom, allowed us, or what was 
 left of us, to return to our camp. 
 
 How glad we were to get into dry things, drink 
 some hot grog, and lie down for a few hours' sleep !
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 261 
 
 Much to my astonishment Gilbert was none the 
 worse for his wetting. Such an incident is one of 
 the amenities of bush life ; but unpleasant though 
 it undoubtedly is at the time, is seldom followed 
 by any bad consequences, that part of Australia 
 enjoying so healthy a climate. 
 
 The aborigines think a few branches thrown 
 against a tree, with a good fire in front, a com- 
 fortable shelter, and wish for nothing more ; they 
 call it a " Miomi." 
 
 After a good many such trivial adventures we 
 found that we had fished that part of the 
 river very thoroughly ; and not caring to go 
 further up without Stuart, resolved to return to 
 our old camping-ground and pick him up before 
 seeking pastures new. So we struck our tent, 
 packed all our belongings on Magog, and marched 
 slowly along, carrying Dorcas by turns, her lady- 
 ship for some reason or other refusing either to 
 walk or to mount on the back of her friend Magog. 
 
 " Oh, hang it all ! " cried Gilbert at last, putting 
 down Dorcas and wiping his heated face, " I think 
 you might walk a bit now." 
 
 Dorcas thought otherwise, and seating herself 
 on the grass, began slowly to clean her face, while, 
 hot and perplexed, we held a hasty consultation as 
 to what was best to do. Her mind was made up, 
 and we poor, weak mortals might fuss and worry as 
 much as we liked, that in no ways affected her 
 equanimity ; she knew she would get her own way, 
 so was content to bide a wee. On our road we
 
 262 BAilD LI&E IN TtiE COLONIES. 
 
 had shot several birds and some bandicoots, which 
 we were obliged to carry ourselves, as even Magog's 
 powers of endurance were taxed by the heavy tent, 
 canoe, and all the fishing paraphernalia that he 
 had on his back. 
 
 So we rested a short time under the shade of a 
 Eucalyptus tree, and then by bribing Magog with 
 slices of bread, got him to carry our game and rifles. 
 Dorcas watched the preparations with unblinking 
 eyes, showing no shame at her good friend being 
 so loaded to please a whim of hers. 
 
 " Come along, old woman, I'll carry you," I said, 
 when all was ready. But without condescending 
 to notice me, she sprang into Gilbert's arms and 
 began purring and rubbing herself against his face 
 in the most coquettish and irresistible manner 
 possible. Of course he liked it, and of course he 
 carried her, while I walked along feeling rather 
 left out in the cold, but pretending I did not care, 
 which pretence I am convinced deceived neither 
 Gilbert nor Mrs. Dorcas. 
 
 In due] time we regained our former camp, and 
 found Stuart heartily glad to see us again. The 
 fencing was nearly finished, and we agreed to stay 
 there a few days to complete the work, and we also 
 wished to make inquiries about buying some land, 
 for we had put aside a fair sum of money for that 
 purpose, and Gilbert had come into a little on the 
 death of a relative. 
 
 Mr. Lydgar, the settler, whose ranche we were 
 all assisting in fencing around, was the son of the
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 2G3 
 
 State surveyor, a singularly handsome young man. 
 Having led too gay a life, his father had sent him 
 to the bush to cool his ardour, and restore his 
 health, somewhat impaired by late hours and fast 
 living. 
 
 He told Gilbert that he had some land he would 
 sell him situated in Gipp's Land, near the Tarwin 
 Eiver, a wild and almost uninhabited country, but 
 exceedingly fertile and with unlimited fishing. The 
 climate of that part is well known to be the most 
 salubrious of that portion of Australia, 
 
 You may be sure that we made many and minute 
 inquiries before Gilbert closed with the bargain, and 
 became proprietor of some thirty-five acres of land, 
 a large vineyard occupying ten acres of it, a small 
 shanty ready built, and a fine orchard. The river 
 Tarwin ran past the ranche, and a steamer passed 
 occasionally, which would take our fruit, fish, &c., 
 to the near towns to sell. 
 
 Pending all these arrangements, we remained 
 near Mr. Lydgar, leading our ordinary lives of fish- 
 ing and shooting. Stuart camped with us again, 
 and out of deference to Dorcas's dislike to, or 
 perhaps it would be more correct to say, too great 
 a liking for, " Dots," he had given his pet to Mr. 
 Lydgar, who was very fond of it. Dane had 
 seemed much more cheerful at first, and appeared 
 really glad to see us again, but Gilbert's talk of 
 buying a ranche irritated and depressed him, 
 though he would give no reason for it, and, 
 indeed, denied that the proposed change had any-
 
 264 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 thing to do with his state of mind. Gilbert and I 
 took it as a matter of course that he would come 
 with us, and always consulted him before deciding 
 any point with reference to our move. 
 
 One Sunday evening I was walking along the 
 bank of a lagoon, quietly smoking a pipe and think- 
 ing and pondering over many things, when I saw 
 the figure of a man coming along swiftly and 
 silently, looking back every now and then as 
 though he feared being watched. I drew farther 
 back under the shelter of the large tree against 
 which I had been leaning, and attentively observed 
 Dane, for it was he. 
 
 On he came, in the same swift, silent manner, 
 until he reached the edge of the lagoon, on the 
 opposite side of where I was. He went so close to 
 the water that his boots were covered ; he hesitated, 
 looked at the gloomy, dark swamp, seemed un- 
 decided, then, retracing his steps, went a little 
 further on, where there was a sort of small beach. 
 Here he began rapidly filling his pockets with the 
 largest pebbles he could find. There could be no 
 doubt as to his intention. 
 
 " What are you doing, Dane ? " I cried, sharply, 
 emerging from behind my tree. 
 
 He started ; then, unaware that I had been watch- 
 ing him, said, " I thought I would have a bathe." 
 
 "What, here?" 
 
 " Yes, here if I choose," he cried, hotly ; " I wish 
 you would go away, I hate to be spied upon and 
 followed."
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 265 
 
 " I was here before you," I said, quietly. 
 
 He started again, opened his mouth as if about 
 to speak, changed his mind, and remained silent 
 with the colour coming and going in his cheeks. 
 
 " When a man, who can't swim a stroke, prepares 
 to go into the water with his pockets weighed down 
 with stones, it can be but for one purpose to end 
 his life. What the sorrow or sin is that has tempted 
 you to such an act I do not know, nor do I wish to 
 force your confidence, but believe me, nothing, 
 absolutely nothing, can justify a man taking his 
 own life." 
 
 "I don't agree with you," he muttered, "you 
 don't know. In some cases it is the only course 
 possible. We are told in the Four Gospels that 
 Judas Iscariot hanged himself, but in neither that 
 he was wrong in so doing ; the act is passed without 
 comment. Yes, I was going to end a life that has 
 long been unbearable to me. Why did you prevent 
 me ? " And he turned such a look of reproachful 
 misery on me that my heart ached for him. 
 
 " Can you not tell me what the trouble is ? " I 
 asked. " Force yourself to speak of it ; I assure you 
 it will help you, if only a little. Come, I am old 
 enough to be your father." 
 
 " I cannot speak of it." 
 
 " Does your aunt know? " I asked, struck by a 
 sudden thought. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 I felt greatly relieved, for if she knew of it, and 
 still wished her nephew to live with her, it could
 
 366 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 not be, as I had feared, some crime that he had 
 committed himself. 
 
 " I will only ask you one more question," I said. 
 " Does your aunt think you have cause for thus 
 despairing ? " 
 
 "No." 
 
 " Yet she knows all ?" 
 
 " Oh, yes." 
 
 " Then come, Dane, be a man. Every one has 
 trouble, some more, some less, but no one escapes. 
 If you can do nothing in this matter to better it or 
 prevent it, do not at least add worse to what is bad. 
 Promise rne you won't attempt it again." 
 
 He hesitated a'moment, and then said, " If you 
 will promise to keep this to yourself. One day I 
 will tell you all, and you will understand then what 
 now seems to you so strange." 
 
 Poor Dane ! when afterwards I did know, his life 
 was ended. It is in looking at lives like his that 
 one fails utterly to comprehend the mysteries of 
 sorrow, sin, and death. 
 
 I will relate his story in its place. For the 
 present it is enough to say, that having given me 
 his promise not to attempt his life again, we said 
 no more on the subject, but talked of hunting and 
 fishing as though nothing more serious had occupied 
 our minds so short a time before. 
 
 The next day he and Gilbert went into Melbourne 
 to settle the business of buying the ranche. 
 Without telling my friend anything of yesterday's 
 scene, I gave him a hint to be forbearing, even if
 
 HAttl) LlFE IN THE COLONIES* 26? 
 
 Bane proved extra irritable. Gilbert laughingly 
 promised to take care of my sandy-haired baby, 
 and give in to his every whim ; which promise he 
 faithfully carried out. 
 
 I, seizing upon the fact of my being alone as a 
 reason for a holiday, left our tent with Magog and 
 Dorcas under Mr. Lydgar's care, and placing 
 sufficient food for a day in my wallet, took my rifle 
 and started off on an expedition which had for some 
 days been my great ambition to undertake. 
 
 About half-way between Lilly dale and where we 
 had encamped ourselves, lay to the right a tiny 
 village or settlement, chiefly inhabited by charcoal- 
 burners, a harmless, quiet set of people. Kumours 
 had lately got about that one of these charcoal- 
 burners Fisher by name claimed to be the 
 Saviour. Various cures, miraculous, of course, 
 had been performed by him. His preaching was 
 pronounced wonderful, and his followers numbered 
 not a few, considering the sparse population for 
 miles around. A settler passing our camp a few 
 days before, had told us about this man Fisher, 
 and said he was to be seen and heard in a little hut 
 on the outskirts of the charcoal settlement, where 
 he carried on his work as charcoal-burner when 
 not preaching. My curiosity was aroused, and I 
 much wished to see a man who not only could dare 
 to claim to be the Christ, but could get people to 
 believe that he was so. For ignorant as bushmen 
 and settlers of all sorts often are, it is well known 
 that the life so much alone with Nature brings
 
 268 BAEb LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 Nature's God nearer to them, and makes them far 
 more religious than they would be had their lives 
 been spent in the towns. 
 
 I was not above two hours reaching the tiny 
 settlement. It seemed deserted; I walked past 
 several shanties and down a steep incline, at the 
 foot of which I perceived a small group surrounding 
 a figure taller than the rest. 
 
 " I'm in luck," thought I, " Fisher is preaching." 
 I quietly approached the little band, keeping, how- 
 ever, at a certain distance, from whence I could 
 both see and hear distinctly. 
 
 Fisher, a tall man with a long beard, and hair 
 falling over his shoulders, w T as clothed in a blanket, 
 worn not ungracefully. His eyes flashed out from 
 his thin, white face with the glare of madness in 
 them. His preaching consisted of a string of texts 
 from the Gospels, and an exhortation to repent and 
 believe in him as the Christ. As he went on he 
 became incoherent, and finally subsided into mere 
 mutterings at intervals. His listeners remained 
 respectfully silent and quiet until Fisher suddenly 
 diving into his hovel, they quietly dispersed. I 
 entered into conversation with one of them, who 
 said, I remember, among other things, "I don't 
 mean to say he's the Christ, but he tells the words 
 of Christ, and I likes to hear them." So I suppose 
 the poor half-witted creature did some good. 
 
 I returned to my camp and found some settlers 
 with Mr. Lydgar, who, on hearing where I had 
 been, expressed a wish also to hear the prophet.
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 269 
 
 They went the next day, but Fisher had disappeared, 
 I heard after that he went to Melbourne, proclaim- 
 ing himself as the Messiah. There some believed 
 in him if such a thing can be credited but the 
 "larrykins" of Melbourne (colonial name for 
 roughs) were too many for him, and squashed the 
 Messiahship out of him by having a street brawl, 
 in which Fisher lost his life. Whether the man 
 was a knave or a madman is not known. From 
 the little I saw of him I am inclined to believe he 
 was mad. 
 
 Gilbert and Dane, when they returned from the 
 city, brought with them a waggon and a team of 
 horses ; so I knew before we were within speaking 
 distance that the deed was done, the papers signed, 
 and the property bought. In the work and excite- 
 ment that necessarily followed I was glad to see 
 that Dane was much brighter, and threw himself 
 into the spirit of the thing with real pleasure. He 
 and Gilbert were more friendly, and appeared to 
 work and talk together with a feeling of true good 
 fellowship. 
 
 At Melbourne we bought all the necessaries for 
 our new life, sending on the heavy baggage, such 
 as a plough, other implements of husbandry, 
 utensils for house, and so on, by a cutter which 
 went to the Tarwin River. Dane undertook to go 
 with them, and it was wiser so, as we were told we 
 had probably a journey of no little toil and difficulty 
 before us, and his health was none of the strongest. 
 So we saw him off, and at the last moment decided
 
 270 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 that Dorcas had better go with him also. Luckily 
 she made no great objection, though the sailors did 
 at first. 
 
 Dane told us afterwards that it was wonderful 
 the way she walked all over the cutter, inspected 
 every part, and catching a rat in the hold, killed it 
 and brought it up on deck, returning for more. 
 She won the hearts of all on board, and when Dane 
 reached the Tarwin he was obliged to watch her 
 closely for fear of her being stolen. 
 
 Meanwhile Gilbert and I started overland in 
 the waggon, with a team of horses headed by Magog, 
 to whom we gave a whole loaf of bread, in order to 
 console him for the temporary loss of Dorcas. He 
 ate it very mournfully, and I think would have 
 wept had he known how to shed tears. 
 
 It was now winter, the creeks all full of water, 
 and the roads in many places flooded. The second 
 day of our journey we were crossing a river when 
 we stuck fast, and should most assuredly have 
 been obliged to abandon our waggon, had it not 
 been that providentially for us a number of men 
 were working near, who, seeing our difficulty, came 
 to our aid. After great labour they succeeded in 
 extricating us from our unpleasant and perilous 
 position, and we once more proceeded on our 
 journey. After three or four days of hardship we 
 reached the Bass, a town called after the Bass 
 Strait, near to which it is built. This channel is 
 about forty leagues wide, and separates the south 
 extremity of New South Wales from Tasmania, It
 
 HARD LIFE IN TEE COLONIES. 271 
 
 was discovered quite by chance in, I believe, the 
 year 1798, by a surgeon of the name of Bass, 
 who was in an open whale-boat. 
 
 With the Bass Strait we had nothing to do, 
 remaining only in the town for a couple of days. 
 Here we were obliged to leave the waggon and 
 continue our journey on horseback. We were 
 fortunate enough to come across two men who 
 were going our way no slight advantage to us, as 
 they knew their road. One of our fellow-travellers 
 was a gentleman, Frazer by name, who was doing 
 good business as horse dealer : he had a large 
 number with him now taking to his settlement, 
 which was situated about twenty miles beyond the 
 Tarwin. The other was a strange character, a 
 thorough bushman, commonly called " Cranky 
 Jack." He rode ahead, steeplechase fashion, not 
 caring what obstacles might be in his way, and 
 always came out right. Foolhardy to a degree, and 
 imbued with a strong love for adventures, he 
 appeared to pass his time in getting into dangers 
 for the simple pleasure of getting out of them. 
 He had been wounded by the natives, generally 
 smashed by various accidents, ought to have been 
 drowned several times, and burnt oftener. Prairie 
 fires and wild beasts, thunderstorms and fell 
 diseases, poisonous reptiles and cunning natives, 
 each and all had had a try at squashing " Cranky 
 Jack," and each and all had failed. Here he was, at 
 fifty-five, hideous by reason of his many scars, and 
 surly enough to frighten any one not used to his
 
 272 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 ways ; but strong as Hercules, tough as the 
 toughest leather, and an invaluable companion in 
 the bush. If that man's life and adventures could 
 ever be extracted from him, they would form a 
 volume of marvellous interest. 
 
 But to return to our journey to the Tarwin. The 
 roads in this part are invisible to one not used to 
 them, and wind about through the bush in a most 
 bewildering way, losing themselves on the banks 
 of creeks, which at this time of year are full of 
 water, and very generally overflowing. Bridges 
 are a luxury almost unknown, so swimming is the 
 only method of crossing, at times a difficult and 
 dangerous one. Many a life has been lost in trying 
 to ford these turbulent streams that rush through 
 the country at their own sweet will. 
 
 We rested some little time in a grove of " honey- 
 suckle " trees to refresh ourselves and horses. 
 " Entertainment for man and Baste " is often to 
 be seen gibbeted on an Irish mud-built sheekeen 
 in the Green Isle (the " m " in man always small, 
 and the " B " in Baste very large !), but in the 
 wilds of Australia our entertainment was drawn 
 from our haversacks, while our horses procured 
 theirs in the rich kangaroo grass which abounded 
 here. 
 
 While we were camping for a rest, the horses all 
 hobbled so that they might not stray too far from 
 us, a party of natives passed, and " Cranky Jack " 
 speaking to them, I was enabled to observe them 
 more attentively than had been the case when a
 
 LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 273 
 
 troop had passed us on the Yarra-Yarra Eiver. 
 They were entirely naked, painted with various 
 colours, and ornamented about the head and 
 shoulders with beads and shells. The men seemed 
 active and vigorous, although many of them were 
 very stout, and one of the fore- teeth in the upper 
 jaw was wanting in most of those present. Several 
 women were with them, and " Cranky Jack " called 
 my attention to the fact that they had all cut off 
 the two joints of their little fingers, but he could 
 not tell me the reason for such an act of mutila- 
 tion. They spoke, and their voices were soft and 
 pleasing, while the men's, on the contrary, were 
 harsh and rough. They carried some of their 
 canoes with them, which were made simply of large 
 pieces of bark tied up at both ends with vines. 
 Considering their slight texture, the dexterity with 
 which they are managed, and the boldness with 
 which they venture out to sea in them, is truly 
 wonderful. 
 
 Some time after, we came across some of their 
 huts, which consist of pieces of bark laid together 
 in the form of an oven, open at one end, very low, 
 but long enough for a man to lie at full length. I 
 couldn't hear much about their habits and customs 
 beyond the facts that their women were not with- 
 out modesty, and that they burned their dead. 
 
 Having rested ourselves, we remounted, and led 
 by " Cranky Jack " (who was in the employ of Mr, 
 Frazer), we went on as fast as we could ride, 
 hoping to reach " Archie's hut " before nightfall. 
 
 19
 
 2^4 HAS!) LIFE IN THE COLONIES: 
 
 " Archie" was once an English jockey, and had 
 won not a few races, although a bandy-legged and 
 rather deformed little man. Now he has a herd in 
 this wild region, though what had driven him to 
 so solitary a life was not known. 
 
 We reached his hut late in the evening, but 
 Archie was away. However, we took possession of 
 his dwelling and made ourselves as comfortable as 
 we could. He returned at daybreak, and was no 
 ways disturbed at finding his hut occupied by four 
 strangers. 
 
 We breakfasted together, and bidding him fare- 
 well continued our journey. About midday we 
 reached a stock-yard on the top of the hill, and 
 there, to our delight, saw the Tarwin River lying 
 beneath us. The cutter was riding at anchor, and 
 Dane was rowing our boat up the river, filled with 
 stores. 
 
 We were soon on the bank of the Tarwin, 
 exchanging warm greetings. Dorcas looked hand- 
 somer than ever, and sprang upon Magog's back, 
 walking up and down him as though she were on 
 quarter-deck, the horse quivering with delight. 
 
 The first talk over, I left my horse with Gilbert 
 and got into the boat to help Dane row her up to 
 the place suitable for a landing. Gilbert, Frazer, 
 and " Cranky Jack " had an awful job swimming 
 the horses over, for the river is very deep, and the 
 banks swampy and slippery to a degree. Several 
 of the horses were nearly lost, being so exhausted 
 in the many ineffectual efforts to gain a footing, as-
 
 LIFE IN FEE COLONIES. tf$ 
 
 to be nearly unable to swim ; but Australian horses 
 are like cats have nine lives, all naturalists to the 
 contrary notwithstanding. After terrible efforts 
 and many wonderful deeds on the part of " Cranky 
 Jack," the whole lot were safely landed, and stood 
 dripping and trembling with fright on the dry land . 
 
 We soon reached our destination, and surveyed 
 "Jenkin's Eanche " with beating hearts. The 
 house was a very small, poor business, having one 
 room only, which we found filled with men working 
 for a Mr. Black, a settler not far off. It is not bush 
 etiquette to turn any one out, even of your own 
 house, so that night we were packed like herrings 
 in a barrel, or a tighter simile still, like Chinamen 
 in their sties at " 'Frisco." 
 
 The next day these men camped at a little 
 distance from us, using a large sail for a tent, 
 leaving us in quiet possession of our own posses- 
 sion. 
 
 With what pride we surveyed our vineyard, which 
 had at least 6,000 vines, of which only a hundred 
 or so were dead ; our orchard, with its peach, apple, 
 and plum-trees ; the place in front of the shanty 
 where we meant to have a flower garden ; the 
 place behind where we intended to rear poultry ; 
 even the miserable little one-roomed hut, ten feet 
 by eight wide, seemed to us delightful, because it 
 was our own. 
 
 Mr. Frazer and " Cranky Jack " bade us good- 
 bye, and started off, with all their horses. We 
 never saw either of them again.
 
 276 BARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 For many days after we were very busy settling 
 in and putting things in order. We built up 
 another room, laid out a vegetable garden, and 
 gradually settled down into our irregular groove. 
 
 Months passed by; we laboured, hunted, and 
 fished, particularly the latter, for the Tarwin 
 which flowed past our dwelling was full of fish, all 
 large and good. These we salted and exported to 
 Melbourne by the same cutter that had brought 
 our heavy luggage, and which called occasionally, 
 taking our goods into the city. Yaughan, the 
 owner of the cutter, was a pleasant spoken young 
 fellow, and seemed honest and above suspicion, so 
 we fully trusted him indeed we could do nothing 
 else, for his was the only cutter that passed up the 
 Tarwin Kiver. We began to have our eyes a little 
 opened when time after time he brought back so 
 little money, with a separate excuse and reason ; 
 but still, knowing the difficulties of navigating so 
 rapid a river, and the depression in trade that 
 happens sometimes from one week to another, we 
 could say nothing, and only hope for better days. 
 
 So we improved our place, fenced it all around, 
 built a kitchen, planted some pear and fig-trees, 
 raised plenty of melons, squash, potatoes, carrots, 
 and parsnips, not forgetting onions, which grew to 
 an astounding size, the smallest weighing two 
 pounds ; the carrots were also giants, the very 
 largest I have ever seen. 
 
 Hunting occupied all our spare time ; we had 
 abundance of wild fowl, ducks in particular, geese,
 
 HABD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 277 
 
 and swans, curious-looking black birds with red 
 bills and feet, uttering a singular cry like the 
 sound of an Eolian harp. The breast fried is some- 
 what in flavour like a beef- steak. Every morning 
 we would examine our nets, which were generally 
 well stocked with all sorts of the finny tribe. We 
 breakfasted always on fresh fish, and became expert 
 cooks in roasting, boiling, and otherwise cooking 
 them. Our guns gave us all the meat and fowl we 
 required. A small sort of kangaroo called the 
 wallaby is very delicious, its flesh being like tender 
 venison ; it is particularly wholesome, but is en- 
 tirely without fat. " Paddy -melon " is also a 
 species of wallaby; its far is marked somewhat 
 differently, having a dark stripe down its back and 
 another across its shoulders. They are equally 
 good to eat, and it is a meat one does not tire of. 
 We found also large quantities of opossums, whose 
 pelts are most valuable, chiefly by reason of their 
 tail, which is very long, bushy, and of a splendid 
 glossy black. We have eaten them when hard up 
 for animal food, but they taste too strongly of the 
 gum-tree to be agreeable ; still, when one has 
 nothing else, they are not bad, and one quickly 
 becomes accustomed to the flavour. 
 
 One day Gilbert and Dane went down to the bay to 
 shoot swans, and wading out to retrieve their birds, 
 got entangled in the rushes and mud, sinking to 
 their waists at every step. The water was not 
 deep enough to swim, and they had the almost 
 Qertainty of a. horrible death in the marshy lagoon.
 
 278 HAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 into which they had entered.. By cool, cautious 
 efforts for frantic ones would but have sucked 
 them in with a deadly, irresistible force and 
 using their guns as props, they managed to extri- 
 cate themselves, and reached land exhausted but 
 safe. Their escape was nothing short of miraculous. 
 Dane's fits of depression began to overwhelm him 
 again, and he suffered greatly from his heart. 
 Gilbert and I did all we could to cheer him up and 
 make him take an interest in our life, but it was 
 all useless. He would sit for hours in the boat, 
 unconscious that a fish was caught ; or, taking his 
 gun, would go hunting and return empty-handed, 
 with unloaded rifle. I became seriously uneasy, and 
 never let him be without Gilbert or myself, though 
 he showed no signs of wishing to repeat the mad 
 act he had attempted on the banks of the Yarra- 
 Yarra Eiver. 
 
 Dorcas seemed his greatest comfort; her cool, 
 calm, independent character seemed much to 
 attract him, and when she went out hunting with 
 him he was sure to bring back something. He 
 .dared not face her contempt. 
 
 One lovely morning we were all three in our 
 large boat, a captain's gig, with full sails on, 
 intending to sail down the bay to Screw Creek, so 
 called from its corkscrew- like conformation, in order 
 to pass a pleasant day shooting and fishing, and to 
 amuse ourselves generally. We were in good 
 spirits and good health, our affairs were prospering, 
 and we had a much larger cargo of fish and furs
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 279 
 
 prepared to send by the cutter when next it called, 
 than we had ever hoped to amass. Dane was the 
 brightest of the three, and seemedto have thrown care 
 to the winds, joking and singing snatches of Scotch 
 songs in his really good tenor. The day passed on ; 
 we had caught fish, had shot opossums and wild 
 fowl, and, night falling, let ourselves drift down 
 the river, steering our boat by the light of a new 
 moon. We somehow began to talk of our different 
 childhoods and early life. Mine was an ordinary 
 enough case, my father having a longer pedigree 
 than a purse, and struggling to bring up his large 
 family on a stipend that a footman would despise 
 nowadays. The Emerald Isle was my native place, 
 and there I spent all my early life. Gilbert was 
 bom in Nova Scotia, the eldest of seven, and 
 having the misfortune of losing his mother when 
 quite a boy, a mother to whom he was passionately 
 attached, passed the sad life so usual, alas ! when 
 father or mother is called away, and the little ones 
 are left to battle with life as best they can. His 
 father died, too, when he was just entering manhood, 
 and there was little inducement for him to return 
 to England, where death continued to make havoc 
 in his immediate family. 
 
 When we two had spoken I looked at Dane : 
 would he tell us something of his life, I wondered ? 
 and hardly thought so, when, without our saying 
 a word, he began, in a curious, dreamy voice : " My 
 father was a Laird, the only land he held being a* 
 desolate moor and a ruined house near which
 
 280 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 stands a small but deep lake. The ruins of an old 
 chapel are there also, and we have our ghost," he 
 added, with a ghastly smile. 
 
 " Don't talk about it, old fellow," said Gilbert. 
 But Dane took no heed of him, and went on in the 
 same dreamy voice: "When any misfortune is 
 going to happen to us beautiful sad music is heard 
 in the ruined chancel of the church that passes 
 over the lake and dies away in the water, whose 
 surface is then, and only then, agitated and dashes 
 against the sides with fury. My two brothers and 
 I as boys were always drawn to the lake by some 
 mysterious attraction. They were much older 
 than I, for five sisters had been born and died 
 between them and me, but we loved each other, we 
 three." 
 
 Dane stopped suddenly, looked around almost 
 wildly as he said, " What matters it to you how 
 they died ? They are gone all I only am left. 
 There, let us talk of something else." I remember 
 we talked of those mysterious warnings that some- 
 times are given to people, Dane's mention of the 
 music that heralded a death in his family probably 
 giving rise to the topic, and it was astonishing how 
 many different cases we had heard from various 
 people. 
 
 We reached the ranche, and while Gilbert was 
 
 fastening the boat, Dane asked me to walk awhile 
 
 with him ; he was restless, and could not sleep. It 
 
 'was a lovely night, the young moon was setting 
 
 over the Tarwin, and all looked still and beautiful.
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 281 
 
 As we paced up and down Dane told me the story 
 of his life. 
 
 A sad story, but alas ! not an uncommon one. 
 The father, brooding over his poverty and supposed 
 wrongs until scarce responsible for the wild acts 
 he committed. The mother, taken from a large 
 bright family and isolated in the gloomy ruins of 
 her husband's ancient home, drooped and pined. 
 One by one her little girls died, and she became a 
 mere shadow of a woman wandering around the 
 house silent and heart-broken. More money 
 difficulties, more trouble, for the father's body was 
 found in the lake ; he had drowned himself ; the 
 second son, who had evidently attempted to save 
 him, lost his life at the same time. The grass 
 trampled down and broken bushes testified to a 
 struggle between the two men. Under this blow 
 the mother sank, and the eldest and youngest of 
 the family lived together, and it seemed as if peace 
 at last and some happiness was to be theirs. 
 
 Not so, however. When Dane was just grown 
 up his brother married. The bride, a handsome, 
 self-willed woman, soon made the life unbearable to 
 Dane, but her husband was infatuated. To satisfy 
 her whims and extravagances everything was 
 sacrificed, and all the improvements the two 
 brothers had made when alone were left unfinished ; 
 all the money put aside for rebuilding the old home 
 was used in gifts for the woman who had so fasci- 
 nated the Laird. Then, when there was no more 
 money, she became fierce and intolerant ; her hus.-
 
 282 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 band, heavily in debt, could do nothing more. Bitter 
 disputes arose. One day she left him, having forged 
 his name to a cheque, leaving debts in every 
 direction. Dane said his brother told him all the 
 story with the manner of a man frozen with grief. 
 He left him, saying he would go into Edinburgh 
 to see what could be done to keep at least the dis- 
 honour from becoming public, and he begged Dane 
 to stay at the Keep until his return. Some days 
 after he was asked to come and identify the body 
 of a man which had been found in one of the deep 
 ponds with which the place abounded. In the 
 corpse with its face distorted with agony he 
 recognized his brother. " I always see it before 
 me, it never leaves me," said poor Dane, shivering 
 so violently that once the story told I tried to 
 soothe him, and speak to him of hope ; he was 
 young and in fair health ; a strong effort of will 
 would help him to get rid of what was after all but 
 a great nervous shock. 
 
 " It is no good," he said, in a tone of hopeless 
 despair, " I shall end as they did, I cannot help 
 myself, the temptation is at times quite irresistible. 
 A power within me stronger than my will pushes 
 me on. Whenever you hear I am dead you will 
 know I couldn't help myself. Don't mention what 
 I have told you to any one until my death frees you; 
 it cannot matter then, for I am the last of the race." 
 
 " But your aunt, she seems to have been kind to 
 you." 
 
 " She is my mother's half-sister yes, she is kinci,
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 283 
 
 but I hardly know her, and have neither the wish 
 nor the right to cast a gloom upon her life." 
 
 " But you promised me not to attempt to take 
 your life," I reminded him. 
 
 " Yes, and I have kept that promise, and mean 
 to keep it as long as I have the power." 
 
 We talked a little longer, chiefly about the beauty 
 of the night, then Gilbert called us in. Actuated 
 by some impulse, I shook hands with Dane, and we 
 all retired for the night. 
 
 We never saw" him again. 
 
 He must have got up when we were both asleep 
 and slipped out of the tent. On the table he had 
 placed a bit of paper with these words : " Don't 
 trouble about me, I am going to my aunt for a 
 change, and will write to you from there if I don't 
 return in a month." 
 
 Though I felt a little uneasy, still we agreed 
 that a change was the best thing for him, and there 
 was nothing extraordinary in his going off suddenly 
 like that. It was only in thinking it over that I 
 noted how he had never told me his aunt's name, 
 nor what profession her husband was, so we could 
 not trace him if we wished. Whether the name 
 he went by was his own I do not know for certain, 
 but I have sometimes thought that his curious 
 Christian name might be his surname, for he 
 answered to it much more readily than to Stuart. 
 
 It was three weeks before we knew for certain 
 what had become of him. Then some settlers 
 coining past our ranche brought us the sad news
 
 284. HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 of his death. They had met him going to Mel- 
 bourne, and as they were also bound for that city, 
 rode on together. Dane had taken one of our 
 horses. The morning before they reached Melbourne 
 they missed him, but finding his horse with theirs, 
 waited a short time, thinking he would join them. 
 As he did not do so they searched around for him, 
 and came upon his dead body floating in a lagoon. 
 Not knowing his name or anything about him, they 
 buried him there, and went to Melbourne, where, 
 having done their business, they returned to their 
 settlement some forty miles beyond ours. They 
 called at our ranche to return the horse, poor 
 Dane having said that his horse belonged to a 
 settler called Jenkins, on the Tarwin Eiver. 
 
 " He must have got caught in the swamp 
 grasses," said the man who told us the story, " and 
 although he must have shouted for help we were 
 too far off to hear him. Very hard, poor young 
 fellow, to be cut off suddenly like that." 
 
 I knew better ; it was no chance or accident that 
 had ended Dane's short life. One of those heredi- 
 tary morbid fits of depression had evidently come 
 over him, and as it were forced him to take his life. 
 I reproached myself bitterly for not watching him 
 more closely, yet he had never been so bright and 
 cheerful as on that last day he spent with us. 
 From what I could extract from the three settlers 
 he had been a pleasant and cheerful companion the 
 days they spent together, but had mentioned 
 neither his name nor where' he> lived, only saying
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 285 
 
 the horse was ours, so that we might get the animal 
 again, but not telling his fellow-travellers that he 
 had lived with us. 
 
 Poor Dane ! his sad, troublous young life was 
 ended. From the day of his birth to the day of his 
 death a curse had seemed to lie upon him and 
 overshadow him until the burden of life was greater 
 than he could bear. Let us not judge. God's 
 ways are not our ways, and all we, in our poor 
 human judgment, can say is, that the poor lad was 
 more sinned against than sinning. 
 
 We afterwards tried to see his grave, but we 
 found that the floods had been out and swept away 
 the rough wooden cross that the three settlers had 
 placed above him, so we could not be sure of the 
 spot. 
 
 Gilbert and I went on our usual way after Dane's 
 death, waiting for the cutter to take our really 
 valuable cargo to Melbourne. We increased it 
 daily either with skins or fish. At this time I 
 built a small boat, pointed canoe fashion at both 
 ends, very light and easy to manage, and from 
 which we caught many fish. 
 
 The cutter still not coming, Gilbert packed a 
 large quantity of fish, flour, fruit, &c., on Magog 
 and started for the nearest town, the Bass. He 
 was a long time away, as he had forty-nine miles 
 through a wild and uninhabited forest to pass 
 through. With endless swamps and streams and 
 rivers to cross, often he found himself in great 
 peril and difficulty, and being quite alone, got
 
 286 BA&l) LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 depressed and unhappy. But Magog was a fine 
 beast, and carried him safely through all dangers, 
 swimming a river or trotting on contentedly under 
 a burning sun, asking for little and contented with 
 less. 
 
 Arriving at Bass, Gilbert went to the one hotel, 
 and renewed acquaintance with Mr. Laycock, the 
 proprietor, who " ran " the hotel at that time. This 
 gentleman, an Englishman, had only lately married, 
 and hearing so much from Gilbert of the beauty and 
 healthfulness of the Tarwin, determined to return 
 with him and give his bride an idea of life in the 
 bush. 
 
 Nothing could have been more delightful. We 
 gave up the one bedroom to them, and did all in 
 our power to make it agreeable to Mrs. Laycock, 
 who was a delicious young English girl, devoted to 
 her husband, and delighted with everything. We 
 spent our time in picnics up the river in out-of- 
 the-way places, where we found beautiful plants, 
 and all sorts of lovely flowers, tropical in their rich 
 luxuriance, returning in the evening to our camp 
 and having music or readings. They brought 
 many books, and, what is more, left them for us, so 
 we passed a very happy few weeks a bright 
 spot in our lonely existence. 
 
 As soon as they left us, Vaughan came with his 
 cutter and took our valuable cargo on board. Even 
 estimating the value low, we calculated to make 
 enough money to enable us to buy the adjoining 
 land, and hire men to help in the work on the farm.
 
 SCENERY GIPP'S LAND.
 
 HARD LIFE IN fBE COLONIES. 2'87 
 
 One day, pending Vanghan's return, Gilbert went 
 down in his boat to Screw Creek, about twelve miles 
 off, to fish, and on coming back the boat stuck fast 
 on a sandbank in the bay, and was soon high and dry, 
 so rapidly did the tide go out. The gig was too 
 heavy for him to push off, and there he sat for the 
 whole night cold and hungry, with endless sand- 
 banks rising in every direction. This place, called 
 " Anderson's Inlet," is a large reach of sandbanks 
 with a narrow channel winding about in a most 
 tortuous and, as Pat would say, " serpentine " man- 
 ner. It was early morning before Gilbert could get 
 off. He said a pelican or two came and looked at 
 him, but walked away when their curiosity was 
 satisfied. 
 
 It is very comical to see these gigantic birds 
 standing in the shallows, with their wings extended, 
 watching for their prey. An unconscious fish 
 passes by, Mr. Pelican snatches him up, and you 
 see the poor victim descending the immense skinny 
 bag with many a leap and flounder, until with a 
 final gulp it disappears. The pelicans here are not 
 white, nor yet pink, but beautifully pencilled about 
 the shoulders (you can see by this feeble description 
 that I am not much of an ornithologist) ; they stand 
 about four feet high, perhaps even a little taller. 
 In 'Frisco I have seen them very little larger than 
 a goose, and quite white. 
 
 Screw Creek is full of fish, and there is first-rate 
 seine fishing. The tremendous stringarees, or 
 sting-ray, abound here, a large flat fish with a
 
 288 H-ARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 serrated spine and whip-like tail, with which he 
 can inflict a terrible and, as we have been told, fatal 
 wound. These are the "devil-fish" of some 
 authors, and the name is not altogether misapplied. 
 
 About a mile from our ranche were several 
 lagoons, where we used often to go and shoot wild 
 duck. Standing under a ti-tree the ducks would 
 alight almost at our feet, and they would continue 
 to come in immense numbers, not in the least 
 deterred by our firing, until we got positively sick 
 of such wholesale slaughter. Had there been a 
 market near, or any regular communication by 
 steamboat with the nearest town, we should 
 quickly have made our fortune ; and we thoroughly 
 enjoyed our mode of life, for neither Gilbert nor I 
 cared for the pleasures of city life. This Bohemian 
 existence, far " away from the world's cold strife," 
 was far more to our taste than the gayest and most 
 luxurious life modern Babylon could offer to us. 
 
 As you walk along through the bush you are 
 startled by the sharp sounding lash of a whip, and 
 to your amazement you find it is produced by a 
 little scrap of a bird, who seems to enjoy your 
 confusion immensely, and lashes away as though 
 he had a carter's whip four feet long in his posses- 
 sion. The tyre-bird is a wonderful creature. 
 Whistle a tune and he will take up the air note 
 by note with faultless accuracy. He is a fearful 
 mimic; nothing escapes him. Cocks and hens 
 crow and cackle all around ; you would think the 
 whole district a vast poultry-yard, the raison
 
 HAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 289 
 
 d'etre being a few fowls around your hut, whose 
 amorous conversation is the subject of gossip all 
 over the country by these busybodies. The bark- 
 ing of a dog, the singing of the bull-frog, is faithfully 
 reproduced. Dorcas has been driven to the very 
 borders of frenzy by hearing her own words repeated 
 in her own voice from the top of a mimosa or a 
 gum-tree. I have taken out my violin sometimes 
 and played a tune. After a moment's silence a 
 dozen Paganinis scrape and fiddle around. The 
 effect is weird in the extreme. This lyre-bird - 
 panura, I think, is its family name is a sort of 
 pheasant, at least in look, of a bright brown colour, 
 with a most magnificent tail, which tail, when 
 spread out a la peacock, resembles an ancient lyre 
 hence its English name. These same tails, alas ! 
 are much sought after, and fetch a high price in 
 Melbourne. 
 
 Numerous and extraordinary are the creatures 
 of all sorts and sizes that one comes across. I 
 stooped down once to pick up a twig to clear out 
 my pipe. Seeing a nice straight little branch about 
 six or eight inches in length, I took it up, whenlo ! 
 the thing came to life and wriggled out of my 
 fingers ! How I started, dropped my pet little 
 black pipe, which smashed to pieces ! 
 
 The praying insect (mantis religiosus) is another 
 marvel in the insect kingdom. It walks along with 
 its lengthy thorax at a right angle to the rest of its 
 body, its nun-like head raised aloft as if waiting an 
 answer to its prayers, and its fore feet elevated high 
 20
 
 290 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 in piteous supplication. Hypocrite ! it is only on 
 the look-out for some victim to rend in pieces and 
 devour ; those pious hands so tightly clasped are 
 powerful and merciless saws. Insatiable, inexorable, 
 cruel, and false, the mantis religiosus goes on its 
 baneful way, leaving desolation and misery wherever 
 it passes. Did you ever meet a human mantis 
 religiosus ? They are not uncommon. I shall 
 speak of one shortly. 
 
 These praying insects seem to be a large family, 
 and vary in size from one to six inches in length, 
 some never exceeding one inch. Their wings are 
 like green leaves, and their eyes sparkle with snake- 
 like brilliancy. 
 
 We were now daily expecting Vaughan to return, 
 and building up many chateaux en Espagne with 
 the golden harvest that was to be ours after our 
 hard toil and patient labour. Fools ! we should 
 have learnt ere now how useless it is to plan for 
 the future, the expected rarely happens; only of 
 misfortune and sorrow can we be sure in this 
 world. And so we found it. 
 
 Vaughan sent us a letter by a messenger, saying 
 a frightful misfortune had overtaken him, and with 
 him we too were ruined. His steamer had become 
 a wreck, and all our valuable cargo had gone to the 
 bottom. He expressed a hope that we knew where 
 to look for help, to bear our troubles patiently, the 
 Fountain of Life, in whose waters he himself 
 intended to dip in, or wash himself in I forget 
 which expression he used.
 
 HABD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 291 
 
 " All lost ! " said poor Gilbert, staring at the 
 messenger of woe. 
 
 " Is Mr. Vaughan much broken down ? " I asked, 
 wishing to turn the current of his thoughts. 
 
 "He has lost everything, he says he is ruined." 
 The man grinned as he replied, "The boat's gone 
 down fast enough." 
 
 " What's there to grin at, you idiot ! " cried 
 Gilbert, irritated by the fellow's untimely mirth. 
 
 " Not so big an idiot as some one I know," was 
 the answer. " This child would never trust a 
 sharper like Vaughan with a rich freight, not he ! " 
 
 " He couldn't help the steamer's being wrecked," 
 I said. 
 
 The man grinned again. " In course he couldn't 
 help it after she was run on a reef, but there's some 
 wrecks as is accidents, and there's some wrecks as 
 isn't." 
 
 " Look here, my man, just speak out plainly, will 
 you, if you know anything," I said, quickly, for I 
 saw Gilbert was getting in a state of irritation 
 bordering on frenzy. 
 
 "Well, the truth is that Yaughan is a d 
 
 scoundrel. He's just wrecked the steamer hisself, 
 having first heavily insured the cargo your cargo 
 in his own name. The boat, in course, was 
 insured. Lots of the skins and kegs of fish and 
 fruit were floating about; these he had hawked 
 about Melbourne streets, and made a nice little 
 sum. You see, you are the only settlers down this 
 way now, so it 'tain't worth his while to steam here
 
 292 HARD LIFE IN TEE COLONIES. 
 
 any longer. The boat was old, and being well 
 insured he's lost nought; indeed, he's gained a 
 mint o' money." 
 
 " But surely," I said, " we can get some redress? " 
 
 " Can you? I should likes to know how. No, 
 no, you're done, and if I were in your place I'd clear 
 out of this as quick as I could. You might get a 
 little money for it now, you won't in another month 
 or two. You see, with Vaughan's cutter your only 
 chance of export trade is gone." 
 
 " Do you know where Vaughan is now ? " asked 
 Gilbert, who had been very quiet while the man 
 was talking. 
 
 " I left him in Melbourne, playing the martyr, 
 bemoaning your fate, and selling the skins for a fair 
 price, as he said the money was for two mates of 
 his, who had all their fortune in his cutter. Has he 
 sent you any money ? " 
 
 "Not a penny; he simply says that he as well 
 as we are ruined." 
 
 " Well, I'm real sorry for you," said the man, 
 preparing to go, which recalled me to the duties of 
 hospitality. 
 
 He remained with us the night, and left the next 
 day to return to Melbourne. 
 
 " If you come into the city at any time, you can 
 come to my diggings if you like," he said, telling 
 us where he lived. 
 
 " Yes, we shall be in Melbourne soon," replied 
 Gilbert, to my surprise, for we had settled nothing 
 yet. " I mean to see Mr. Vaughan."
 
 HAHD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 293 
 
 "Lor', it ain't no good; you won't git a penny 
 out of him." 
 
 " Nor do I wish to ask him, but I don't leave 
 Melbourne until I've seen him and horsewhipped 
 him in the public streets," was the quiet answer. 
 
 The man looked at him thoughtfully; he was 
 evidently comparing the somewhat stalwart frame 
 of Mr. Vaughan with my friend's slight make and 
 small stature. 
 
 " If you do, I hope I may be there to see it," he 
 remarked. Then, mounting his horse, he was 
 swiftly out of sight. 
 
 Here we were once more face to face with ruin, 
 once more to begin climbing the ladder again, the 
 top of which we had so nearly reached. Well, it 
 was no good sitting still and cursing our fate, which 
 I was more disposed to do than Gilbert, who seemed 
 seized with a feverish desire to settle up everything 
 as quickly as possible in order to get to Melbourne. 
 His determination to punish the scoundrel who had 
 ruined us became stronger every hour, and every 
 delay but added fuel to the fire of his wrath. All 
 my attempts at changing him being useless, I could 
 only hope Vaughan would leave Melbourne before 
 we entered it, for I feared in the tussel that must 
 inevitably come if the two men met, that Gilbert 
 would get the worst off. He, however, seemed to 
 have no doubt not only that he should meet 
 Vaughan, but that he would horsewhip him in 
 public. 
 
 It was a sad few weeks that followed. The ranche
 
 294 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 was disposed of to a settler who did not care to 
 export his skins and fish, but only to rear horses ; 
 and one morning we packed our remaining baggage 
 on Magog's back, put Dorcas on him, and sorrow- 
 fully turned away from our pretty ranche where 
 we had spent so many peaceful days. Not without 
 great toil and difficulty we reached Bass, and 
 remained there three or four days to rest. I could 
 hardly persuade Gilbert to so much, for his eager- 
 ness to reach Melbourne had now assumed all the 
 strength of a mania. I perceived that a small but 
 exceedingly powerful horsewhip never left his 
 possession. 
 
 At length we reached Melbourne, took Magog 
 and Dorcas to their old master. He bought back 
 the former, paying a fair sum for him, and was 
 enchanted to have Dorcas back again. We grieved 
 sorely at parting with her, and hurried away from 
 her, fearing to trust ourselves to another look or 
 word. My last sight of her, she was sitting on 
 Magog's back cleaning her face in a slow and 
 thoughtful manner. I have known cats before and 
 since, but never have come across one to compare 
 with green-eyed, grey-coated Dorcas. But to less 
 pleasant topics. We lodged with the man who 
 had brought us the tidings of woe, and from him 
 we heard that Vaughan was in Melbourne and had 
 set up large stores, and had every prospect of doing 
 well. 
 
 Gilbert's eyes large green-grey ones dilated 
 and grew black, like Dorcas's when she saw a foe.
 
 HARD LIFE M THE COLONIES. 295 
 
 I made one last attempt to dissuade him from 
 carrying out his intention, but in vain. 
 
 The next morning he asked me to look out for a 
 ship going to Sydney, and to bespeak two berths. 
 He then went out with Hogg, the man at whose 
 house we were lodging. I went down to the wharf, 
 found a vessel that would start in a fortnight's time, 
 one having left the day before, took our berths, and 
 returned to our lodgings as quickly as I could. I 
 had not been long there when Gilbert and Hogg 
 entered, flushed and excited. 
 
 " There, I've done it," cried the former, letting 
 himself drop into a chair. " Now we can leave 
 Melbourne as soon as you like." 
 
 Hogg was eager to tell the story. They had gone 
 straight to Vaughan's stores, who, on first seeing 
 Gilbert, changed colour and looked uncomfortable, 
 but recovering himself after a moment, greeted 
 him as though he were a dear friend. Finding 
 Gilbert quiet and polite enough, and seemingly not 
 disposed to bear him any ill-will, he proposed going 
 to a neighbouring tavern to have the usual " drink." 
 Hogg, of course, was also invited. No sooner were 
 they in the public street than Gilbert pulled out 
 his whip and struck Yaughan across the face, 
 following the blow up with a rapid succession. So 
 quick had he been that Vaughan, amazed and 
 stunned, was some seconds before he could defend 
 himself. He drew out a revolver, but it was 
 knocked from his hand by a man standing by, 
 while cries of " Shame 1 " were heard on all sides.
 
 296 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 A large crowd had collected, several policemen 
 among them; but these guardians of the peace, 
 beyond taking a keen interest in the matter, made 
 no objection. 
 
 " Niver enjoyed myself so much in my life," 
 wound up Hogg, wiping his heated brow. " You 
 wouldn't 'ave thought he had so much strength in 
 him, but he was like a wild cat. Vaughan won't 
 lose those marks in a hurry, I bet." 
 
 It was lucky our ship did not leave for a fort- 
 night, for the worry consequent on his loss, added 
 to that day's excitement, brought on one of 
 Gilbert's illnesses, far more serious than the one 
 he had last had on the banks of the Yarra-Yarra 
 Eiver. 
 
 All night he was delirious, his talk being solely 
 and entirely about Yaughan and the loss of the 
 ranche. All his pent-up anger seemed to find vent in 
 passionate invectives against our pretended friend, 
 and he struggled violently with Hogg and myself 
 in the fancy that he had not yet meted out the 
 punishment due to that scoundrel. After a while 
 he quieted down a little, and at daybreak Hogg 
 went for a doctor. Gilbert fell into a heavy, uneasy 
 sleep, and I nearly dozed by his side when the door 
 of our room opened, and what I took to be an 
 " old clo' " man entered. 
 
 He was tall and thin, with baggy trousers in the 
 last stage of shabbiness. A long coat with three 
 capes, all green with age and more or less torn, 
 was kept on his spare limbs by one large button.
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES, 297 
 
 A chimney-pot hat surmounted some thin, straggling 
 locks of grey hair, and a pair of keen, dark eyes 
 looked sharply out from snowy eyebrows. Dirty, 
 unshaven, and fierce-looking, my uninvited visitor 
 was decidedly unprepossessing. 
 
 " You've made a mistake, my man," I said, rising 
 and going towards him, and speaking in a low tone 
 for fear of rousing Gilbert. " I don't know you, and 
 my friend there is ill." 
 
 " Move aside," said this strange object, trying to 
 push past me as I barred his way. 
 
 " But who are you ? What do you want ? " 
 
 " Sent Hogg doctor " 
 
 I fell back in astonishment before this weird 
 disciple of Hippocrates, who, taking advantage of 
 my involuntary movement, advanced towards the 
 bed and stared fixedly at Gilbert. 
 
 Fearing I had to do with a madman, I left the 
 door open that I might call in help in case of need, 
 and put a thick rug handy to smother up the 
 " doctor " if he showed the least signs of mischief. 
 Then I stationed myself on the opposite side of the 
 bed, which, being a small iron one, I could quickly 
 get around. 
 
 The "doctor" took no notice whatever of me, 
 but appeared profoundly interested in my poor 
 friend, whose eyes he opened, pulse he felt, tongue 
 he examined with an indifference to the man whom 
 he thus manipulated that was curious to see. Then, 
 without looking at me, he asked me many questions 
 about Gilbert, telling me sharply once that he
 
 2&8 BARb LIFE IN fBE COLONIES. 
 
 didn't need any surmises on my part, but simply 
 answers to his questions. The cicatrice in the head 
 appeared deeply to interest him, and he could hardly 
 tear himself away. 
 
 Finally he asked for paper and pen, wrote down 
 his ordinance in a singularly firm and beautiful 
 handwriting, and muttering, " Shall come again 
 this evening," shuffled out of the room. 
 
 The chemist to whom I took the prescription 
 glancing at the signature, said, " You are in luck's 
 way, if you want to save the life of the person who's 
 ill. But how did you get at him ? " 
 
 I explained, and then asked some questions about 
 the doctor. The chemist informed me that Dr. 
 Fernnoh was as well known for his great skill as 
 for his great eccentricities. Any dangerous or 
 singular illness always attracted him, and he would 
 stay night and day watching and attending some 
 hopeless case that other doctors had given up. He 
 had snatched so many from the grim hands of 
 Death that no one despaired if he could only be 
 induced to undertake the case. But there lay the 
 difficulty : he cared for no one, for nothing ; money, 
 fame, and honour were offered him in vain ; if the 
 malady happened to be one that did not interest 
 him all prayers and entreaties were useless. 
 Without apparently either heart or feeling, seeing 
 the most atrocious sufferings with coldness, 
 performing the most terrible operations with a 
 sang-froid that could only come from an utter want 
 of sensibility, Dr. Fernnoh's presence was as much
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 293 
 
 feared as desired in many cases. But he went 
 where he chose, and sometimes where he was not 
 wanted. The chemist told me of a case where a 
 poor woman was suffering from cancer complicated 
 with heart disease. Her one prayer was that Dr. 
 Fernnoh might not be told, for she dreaded his 
 cruelty, and preferred to die in peace. He scented 
 her case out as a cat scents a mouse, came to her, 
 and, utterly indifferent to her prayers and entreaties, 
 took her in hand, forced the other doctors to leave, 
 as he always did by his intolerant insolence, cut 
 out the cancer, strengthened the heart, and, in a 
 word, cured her. 
 
 Thanks and abuse were alike indifferent to this 
 strange man ; his one passion was the curious and 
 extraordinary in his profession. No one knew 
 anything about him or his family. He was 
 supposed to be of Danish extraction, although no 
 reason could be assigned for the supposition. He 
 lived alone in a huge, bare house with an old man 
 and an old woman, who were as tactiturn and odd 
 as their master. Some said he was a millionaire, 
 others that he had not money enough to buy his 
 daily bread. In fact, nothing was really known 
 about him, except the fact that he was very clever 
 as a doctor and very singular. 
 
 I paid for the medicine and went back thought- 
 fully to my friend. I found him in the same 
 position, and the woman I had left in charge said 
 he had not moved. I looked at him with interest. 
 What was there peculiar in his case that called the
 
 300 HARD LIFE IN 'tSE COLONIES. 
 
 attention of so curious and clever a man as Dr. 
 Fernnoh ? 
 
 While I was standing there Hogg came in. 
 
 " Has the doctor been ? " were his first words. 
 
 " Yes, but why did you get such a man as that ? " 
 
 " Because he's the cleverest doctor anywhere by 
 a long shot. Why, was he angry ? Isn't the case 
 serious ? " asked Hogg, anxiously. 
 
 " Serious enough, I dare say," I replied, gloomily; 
 "he's coming again this evening." 
 
 " Then he's safe," said my landlord, looking at 
 Gilbert, who began to toss and mutter angrily, as 
 though protesting against any interference. 
 
 I did not know what to do. With the help of 
 necessary medicines I had brought him round 
 before, and I somewhat resented his being taken 
 out of my hands in this cool way. In spite of what 
 I had heard of Dr. Fernnoh, I resolved to tell him 
 that evening that I would cure my friend myself, 
 pay him what I owed, and be free. I found that I 
 had counted without Dr. Fernnoh. 
 
 He came again early in the evening, and sitting 
 down by Gilbert's side began to talk to him. The 
 medicine he had ordered had been almost miraculous 
 in its effect, and my friend was calm and nearly 
 without fever. 
 
 The old doctor, with great skill, got at all our 
 past lives, and Gilbert's, before we had met, of what 
 nationality he was, who were his parents, in what 
 station of life in fact everything that could in the 
 least help his understanding of the illness.
 
 HABD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 301 
 
 The talk ended, the doctor took from his pocket 
 a small case of instruments, which he opened, and 
 ordered me to bring a basin of warm water. 
 
 11 Now is my time," thought I ; and not without 
 a tremor of nervousness I asked what he was 
 going to do. 
 
 A broad stare and an imperious repetition of the 
 order was all the answer I got. 
 
 " Because," I said, hastily, " now that my friend 
 has so far recovered there is no longer any need for 
 a doctor's attendance. I have seen him like this 
 often, and know what to do. So if you will kindly 
 
 tell me your fee, and go " I finished lamely, 
 
 disconcerted by the fixedness of Dr. Fernnoh's 
 sharp, dark eyes, which seemed to gauge my very 
 soul. 
 
 " A basin of warm water at once," he hissed out, 
 tossing back his gr^ey locks and flourishing the 
 steel instrument in his hand as though he would 
 like to stick it into my heart. 
 
 Gilbert, who had been silent until now, raised 
 himself up and said, " Dunbar is right, doctor. I 
 don't need any operation of any sort, and what's 
 more I won't have it. By to-morrow I shall be all 
 right." 
 
 Dr. Fernnoh picked up his old hat and walked 
 out of the room. 
 
 " Thank Heaven ! " I ejaculated, piously ; but my 
 gratitude was premature. In less than a minute 
 the doctor returned with a basin of warm water in 
 his hands.
 
 302 HAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 In spite of my angry protestations, and Gilbert's 
 more feeble ones, he reopened part of the wound 
 and sewed it up again with wonderful dexterity and 
 quickness ; then giving the patient a few drops of 
 some opal-coloured liquid in a glass of water, he 
 said, " Go on with the medicine. Will come to- 
 morrow," and shuffled away as before. 
 
 Gilbert was feverish and uneasy all night, but 
 undoubtedly the wound had been clumsily sewn 
 up by the army surgeon ; it rapidly healed now, 
 and before five days were over he was out of all 
 danger. 
 
 The old doctor had come morning and evening, 
 had changed the medicine, had chatted pleasantly 
 with Gilbert, and treated me with a contemptuous 
 scorn that made my blood boil. 
 
 On the evening of the fifth day he said to Gilbert, 
 " I shall not come again you are cured; " adding, 
 in a tone of regret, " I thought the case would have 
 been more interesting." 
 
 " Will he be able to travel in a week's time ? " I 
 ventured to ask ; but he turned his back on me, and 
 said to Gilbert 
 
 " You are cured, for the time, but you will always 
 be subject to attacks of fever following any excite- 
 ment or worry. The sea voyage next week is 
 good," and he began to shuffle out of the room, 
 when Gilbert said 
 
 " As I may not see you again, may I ask what I 
 am indebted to you ? " 
 
 " Nothing," was the short reply. 

 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 303 
 
 " But I can't allow " began Gilbert, when 
 
 he was stopped by an outburst of rage from the 
 doctor, who fairly danced with passion a grotesque 
 figure he cut, too, with his ragged clothes and old 
 hat. 
 
 "At least let me thank you," said my friend, 
 struggling to keep from a burst of laughter. 
 
 Dr. Fernnoh spat out a volley of obscene and 
 blasphemous words and left the room ; nor did we 
 ever see him again. I heard some years after that 
 he had died of blood-poisoning, caught in attending 
 some bad case, which he had treated in a new 
 way. The remedy cured his patient but killed 
 himself. 
 
 The days passed on. Gilbert recovered with 
 wonderful rapidity, thanks to Dr. Fernnoh. We 
 bought some necessary clothes, packed them in as 
 small a compass as possible, and one fine morning 
 bade good-bye to Hogg, not without regret, for he 
 was a good, honest fellow, a rara avis that one 
 seldom comes across, and went on board the Arrow, 
 bound for Sydney. 
 
 We did not intend to stop there, having decided 
 to try the Sandwich Islands, though what line of 
 life we meant to follow we had as yet no idea. 
 One advantage in being Jack-of-all-trades, no work, 
 of whatever sort it might be, could come amiss to 
 us. 
 
 The voyage was a pleasant little time of rest, 
 during which we tried not to allow our thoughts to 
 dwell too much, on the past, but looked forward
 
 804 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 with hopeful hearts to the future. The weather 
 was lovely, the sea neither too rough nor too calm, 
 but fresh and sparkling. No adventure of any sort 
 happened, for which I must confess I felt glad. 
 One gets somewhat weary of adventures as time 
 goes on, and were it not for the occasional " rests " 
 on the road of life, would find it a difficult matter 
 to get up even a semblance of interest over a wreck 
 or a shark or an encounter with a rattlesnake. 
 
 One interesting and amusing incident came 
 under my notice which may be worth relating. 
 Among the passengers was a young lady who was 
 going to Sydney under the care of her guardian 
 and his son. Everything gets known about every- 
 body on board ship, and it was soon an open secret 
 that Miss Merton was engaged to young Mr. 
 Tullock. She was a tiny little thing, with large, 
 round, blue eyes, and short, yellow, curly hair. 
 Every man on board was at her wee feet or would 
 have been had she not been so safely and jealously 
 guarded by Messrs. Tullock, pere etfils. 
 
 Mr. Tullock, senior, was immense, tall, broad, 
 and stout ; he carried his sixty odd years very well, 
 but he was decidedly ugly and painfully nervous, 
 while his awkwardness when attempting any little 
 act of courtesy towards his ward would make the 
 proverbial bull in a china-shop blush with spite at 
 being so much outdone. Mr. Tullock, junior, was 
 also tall, broad, and stout, ugly too but there 
 the resemblance between father and son ceased, for 
 if the one was conspicuous by his diffidence and
 
 HAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 805 
 
 modesty, the overweening conceit and vanity of 
 the other was a thing to marvel at, given to him, 
 perhaps, for the perfecting of his ugliness. It was 
 curious to watch the three, the young man on one 
 side of his lady-love talking in a loud, self-satisfied 
 tone, generally about himself, the old man the 
 other side, carrying the stool and shawls and 
 cushion and all the rest of the paraphernalia with- 
 out which a lady seems unable to admire the view 
 of sky and sea on board ship. 
 
 Gilbert soon made friends with Miss Merton, 
 and, despite the scowls and frowns of Mr. Tullock, 
 junior, contrived to pass some very pleasant hours, 
 and found out, or thought he did, something about 
 the state of the little lady's heart. 
 
 " I'm sure she doesn't like that great hulking 
 lump of conceit," he told me one day. " I believe 
 it's a simple plot got up by the father and son 
 to force her to marry the young one in order to 
 keep the money." 
 
 " Mr. Tullock, senior, has no look of the cruel 
 or wicked guardian about him," I protested, look- 
 ing across the deck where the old man, laden as 
 usual, was walking by his ward and gazing at her 
 with open admiration and affection, which she 
 appeared to take very much as a matter of 
 course. 
 
 " Of course he would hide it," persisted Gilbert. 
 " It's my firm opinion that she is frightened out 
 of her life between the two of them," and my 
 friend, who is rather inflammable, sighed deeply, 
 
 21
 
 806 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES'. 
 
 At that moment came to us distinctly, in Miss 1 
 Merton's clear, bird-like voice 
 
 " Most decidedly not ; I won't have it ! " and the 
 old man's meek reply, "Very well, my dear, as 
 you like, of course." 
 
 I looked at Gilbert, and we both went off into a 
 fit of laughing. The little lady heard us, called us 
 up, and requested to know the reason of our mirth. 
 You may be quite sure we neither of us intended 
 to tell her, yet somehow before five minutes had 
 passed she had got it out of us. I beat a hasty 
 retreat when I found I was losing, leaving Gilbert 
 to get out of it the best way he could. Mr. 
 Tullock joined me, and began to talk of his ward : 
 she was an orphan daughter of an old friend of his ; 
 that his son should marry her had always been 
 understood. 
 
 " Are they engaged ? " I asked. 
 
 " Yes, they always have been ? " 
 
 "It is a love-match then, I suppose? " I went 
 on, feeling very wily and fox- like. 
 
 " No one could know May without loving her," 
 said Mr. Tullock, with such fervour that, looking 
 into his face, I read his secret. He, too, loved his 
 ward. Poor man, niy heart ached for him. 
 
 Now, Miss Merton had a pet dog, one of those 
 toy terriers, with eyes darting out of their head, 
 and always shivering and whimpering. His diges- 
 tion was bad, which affected his temper, and he 
 snapped and snarled at every one who went near 
 him. Still, as it was the only way to his mistress's
 
 &A&D LfFE IN THE COLONIES. 30f 
 
 Smiles, all the men on board (I except myself) 
 made great asses of themselves, and got up a fervent 
 interest in Beau's state of health that forced them 
 to be always inquiring for him. I excepted my- 
 self. I should also have excepted Mr. Alexander 
 Tullock, between whom and Beau existed a deadly 
 and deep hatred. This unchristian-like feeling he 
 dared not show before his lady-love, for she had 
 a way of flashing out a look of scorn or anger from 
 her blue eyes that made even the great Mr. 
 Alexander Tullock feel small. 
 
 One morning the little lady came on deck early, 
 her guardian only with her, as Mr. Alexander 
 was doubtless engaged in donning one of the 
 wonderful nautical suits wherein he loved to array 
 himself. The old gentleman having comfortably 
 settled her, took up the dog to place on her lap, 
 when, how it happened no one can tell, perhaps 
 the sudden apparition of his hated enemy in all the 
 glories of a blue and white costume was the cause, 
 but Beau sprang out of Mr. Tullock's arms and 
 went plump into the sea. 
 
 What a commotion ! Miss Merton screamed. 
 I shouted " Man overboard ! " without thinking, the 
 cry was repeated, the man at the wheel brought 
 the Arrow to a standstill, and all was bustle and 
 confusion. 
 
 " Save my dog ! oh, save my dog ! " cried Miss 
 Merton, rushing distractedly to the side of the 
 vessel, 
 
 " He'll be saved all right," said her lover, draw-
 
 308 HAlfD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 ing her away ; and turning to one of the sailors 
 said, in a tone of haughty command, " Save the 
 dog." 
 
 " Sha'n'tfor your telling," said the man, moving 
 away to where a boat was being lowered to pick up 
 the struggling Beau, who was frantically beating 
 the water some little distance off. 
 
 " He's drowning," shrieked Miss Merton. " Oh, 
 do make haste, some one, and save him ! " 
 
 A sudden splash was heard. Mr. Tullock had 
 jumped in after the dog Mr. Tullock, senior, not 
 Mr. Tullock, junior ! That worthy was engaged 
 in the sweet office of trying to soothe the young 
 lady, who on hearing the plunge and learning w r ho 
 had attempted the rescue of her pet became more 
 wildly excited than ever. 
 
 Now comes the cream of the story. There being 
 not the slightest danger, for the boat was quickly 
 lowered and manned, we could enjoy the grotesque 
 sight of the huge Mr. Tullock sporting himself in 
 the water like some mighty porpoise. But the 
 comedy nearly turned into a tragedy. The poor 
 old gentleman had not long finished his breakfast, 
 and the sudden plunge into the sea gave a shock 
 to the nervous system and brought on a sort of 
 fit. He was hauled into the boat with the dripping 
 and exhausted Beau, and both were laid on the deck. 
 
 I happened to be standing near Miss Merton 
 when it was seen that Mr. Tullock, for some reason 
 or other, was sinking. She saw it too, and sprang 
 forward with a cry.
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 309 
 
 "Don't fear, darling," says Mr. Alexander, "I 
 am near you." But she turned upon him, a very 
 Titania of furies, and, stamping her tiny foot, cried 
 passionately 
 
 " G-o away. I hate you ! " 
 
 And I must say for her, that she looked as if she 
 meant it. 
 
 Observing that I had both seen and heard this 
 little incident, Mr. Alexander muttered some- 
 thing about nerves out of order, and moved away 
 towards where the boat was coming with his 
 father and the cur on board. Miss Merton and 
 I followed, but when Mr. Tullock was lifted on 
 deck and she saw he^ was insensible, she flew to 
 his side and, throwing herself on her knees, 
 sobbed out, " Eichard, if you are dead, I shall 
 die too ! " 
 
 The reader has doubtless remarked that Mr. 
 Tullock, junior, was named by his godfathers and 
 godmother, Alexander. I sought my friend's eye, 
 and we exchanged a significant glance. Mr. 
 Tullock soon recovered, and retired to his cabin 
 to put on dry clothes; his son sulked in a chair 
 on deck, while Miss Merton, wiping and drying 
 her restored pet, talked nervously to Gilbert and 
 me. 
 
 Soon old Mr. Tullock appeared, and, after we 
 had congratulated him on his heroic deed, Gilbert 
 and I discreetly withdrew. 
 
 The next day it was known that Miss Merton 
 was engaged to Mr, Tullock, senior, having asked;
 
 810 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 him herself so said rumour. At any rate they 
 were simply a delicious couple to see, their happi- 
 ness in each other being so very apparent. 
 
 "I cannot realize it," said the old gentleman 
 to me one evening as we paced up and down, 
 smoking. (C I feel as if it were wicked of me to 
 allow her to sacrifice herself so, but she will, and 
 what can I do ? " 
 
 " Nothing," I answered, quoting those lines of 
 the old poet, who tells us 
 
 " That man's a fool, who thinks by force or skill 
 To stem the torrent of a woman's will." 
 
 Mr. Alexander Tullock did not seem to enjoy 
 the new state of things as much as his father and 
 future mamma, which perhaps is not astonishing. 
 It was highly diverting to observe the little airs of 
 wisdom, and to hear the sage pieces of maternal 
 advice that she employed towards her future son. 
 One thing is sure, although it is, I know, the 
 custom to cry out against the union of May and 
 December, the little lady had a far better chance 
 of happiness from the large-hearted, kindly old 
 man than she could ever have hoped for from the 
 selfish, vain, and conceited young one. 
 
 This little domestic drama made a very pleasing 
 diversion in the monotony of life on board ship ; 
 beyond that nothing happened of any interest, and 
 in due time we entered the harbour of the great 
 pity of Sydney,
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 311 
 
 We had plenty of time to become well ac- 
 quainted with that city, for we found we were 
 obliged to wait two months, as the new line of 
 boats had not commenced to run to San Francisco. 
 
 I shall not describe our stay in Sidney, or our 
 voyage to 'Frisco, as nothing of particular interest 
 happened. 
 
 We landed at 'Frisco, and were immediately 
 taken possession of by a "Looter," who brought 
 us to the Marhattar House, a lodging-house in the 
 part of 'Frisco that went by the name of the 
 "Barbary Court." This said "Court" is the 
 habitat of all sorts of bad characters, night birds 
 of the worst sort ; but the house was clean, a good 
 table was kept, and the beds not more densely 
 populated than is usual. Being travellers, we 
 could not well object to these nightly companions, 
 so there we stayed, spending the days seeking 
 employment, which was as hard to find as is water 
 in the Sahara. 
 
 With the recollection of our New Zealand 
 experiences, we husbanded our little hoard, not 
 spending even what was necessary, and searching 
 for work with a feverish desire quickened by 
 despair. 
 
 It was useless striving against fate; again one 
 day we found ourselves utterly destitute. No 
 work, no money, hungry and thirsty, our souls 
 fainted within us, wandering to and fro, with that 
 great gaunt spectre Despair ever accompanying us. 
 Qh ? tho.se weeks that followed ! let me pass them
 
 812 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 over with as few words as possible, We haunted 
 the wharves, and now and then, by a rare stroke 
 of luck, got a little work in unloading ; on those 
 days we could buy a ten cent loaf of bread, and 
 seek some silent place to eat it, washing it down 
 with water from a horse trough. Again and again 
 we have frequented the quays to gather up some 
 grains of Indian corn lying about, in order to 
 satisfy our hunger, for in that city we and hun- 
 dreds of others were literally dying by inches of 
 starvation. We would have worked day and 
 night ; but no, the Chinese were preferred, the 
 Europeans rejected. No wonder the workmen 
 hate these yellow, crooked-eyed vermin, with their 
 clever cunning and their merciless cruelty. 
 
 I applied to the F. and A. Masons, in the hope 
 that some of them would give or get me work; 
 they could not ; all in their power they did, which 
 was to give me lodgings for four weeks. 
 
 During that time Gilbert went dish-washing in 
 a hotel in 2nd Street ; his fellow-washer was a 
 French count ! But the constant dabbling in hot 
 soap-suds blistered his hands so terribly that in a 
 very short time he could not use them at all, and 
 was obliged to give up a business that, as he 
 confided to me with some irritation, more dis- 
 gusted him than anything he had ever yet 
 undertaken in his chequered life. His next work 
 was window-cleaning; but all he had ever done 
 or thought of doing paled before the revolting and 
 .disgusting business that was offered to, and of
 
 HAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 313 
 
 course accepted by, me. Oh, long line of illus- 
 trious ancestors, how would your venerable hairs 
 stand upright on your venerable heads could you 
 but see your unfortunate descendant in a pork- 
 packing factory, cleaning out the shoots which 
 were filled with the guts and offal from the 
 slaughter-house ! These had been accumulating 
 for over twelve months, and the odour emanating 
 from the putrid mass had better be neither 
 described or imagined. Allow me a moment to 
 fill my pipe, or I cannot continue. I always hated 
 swine, but since that time the sight of a pig is 
 enough for me ; never from that day to this has 
 a piece of pork entered my lips, and, if I know 
 myself, it never will. 
 
 Soon the pork-factory " bust up," the men were 
 discharged. Thank God I was free again, with 
 some dollars in my pocket. I persuaded Gilbert 
 without much difficulty to leave his enchanting 
 work of window-cleaning, for I had heard of more 
 congenial employment which was to be had, 
 although at a great distance. This was no other 
 than road-making, and was not unknown to us 
 as we had helped in the making of one when 
 privates in the Rifle Corps, in New Zealand. 
 
 We did not decide without careful consideration, 
 for the road required was over in Tennesse, and 
 led to, or rather was to lead to, the Knoxville 
 quicksilver mines. We were of course an immense 
 distance off, and it would take nearly all our 
 money to get there ; yet, as nothing turned up in
 
 814 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 'Frisco, it seemed wiser to risk our all for a cer- 
 tainty than to remain here where we might expend 
 every cent we possessed before having a chance of 
 adding to our store. Besides, it was healthy work 
 in the open air, and we were neither of us long 
 penned up in a city without pining to be free. 
 Placards posted all over certain parts of 'Frisco 
 stated that numbers of able-bodied men were 
 required to make a new road to the well-known 
 quicksilver mines near Knoxville. 
 
 Accordingly we turned our backs on the City of 
 the G-olden State which had treated us so shabbily, 
 and, with that hope that paints the future fair, set 
 out for the Napa city in Tennesse. 
 
 It took most of our cash in hand to reach Napa. 
 Arriving there, we were told that our destination 
 was a two days' journey farther on, and we 
 determined to do it on foot, although much 
 pressed by the driver of a coach that had been 
 set up expressly to bring people to the quicksilver 
 mines. We thought the charges exorbitant, and 
 much preferred " footing " it. 
 
 It being early morning when we arrived at 
 Napa, we only went far enough into the town 
 to find an eating-house, where we replenished 
 our wallets, and, without caring farther to inspect 
 a town that looked like, other towns from the 
 cursory glance we bestowed upon it, asked our 
 way to Knoxville, and set off at an even pace of 
 four miles an hour. 
 
 The weather was beautiful, and the country
 
 HABD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 315 
 
 after we had left the town was fertile and very 
 picturesque. Far away in the distance we could 
 discern the peaks of the Alleghany or Apalachian 
 Mountains rearing themselves against the bright 
 blue sky ; a branch of the river Clinch, I believe, 
 ran along by the side of the road we were 
 following ; it was not much more than a stream, 
 but clear and limpid, its continuous murmur and 
 occasional babbling being delightful to hear. 
 
 Very enjoyable was that first day's journey, and 
 when night came on we lay down on a mossy 
 bank, with the gem-strewed heavens above us, 
 and were lulled to sleep by the music of the mur- 
 muring river. 
 
 We were up betimes the next morning. 
 Eeversing the general order of things, we un- 
 dressed on leaving our bed, and plunging into the 
 river had a glorious swim ; after which we made 
 a hearty breakfast, with more regard to our 
 appetites than to the quantity of food that 
 remained in our wallets. The clear air intoxicated 
 us, and the cold bath made us as hungry as 
 wolves ; we felt, somehow, as though we had come 
 into a fortune and were on our way to enjoy it. 
 Those fits of wild pleasure are as curious and un- 
 reasoning in their way as the more frequent " fits of 
 the blues " with which most people are acquainted ; 
 in our case it was perhaps given to us to make the 
 contrast of after-events but the stronger, with which 
 rather grim remark I will " git," as the Yankees 
 say,
 
 316 EAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 On the evening of the third day we reached the 
 mines ; but, it being late, we contented ourselves 
 with finishing the remains of our provisions, and, 
 seeking the shelter of a friendly tree, slept the 
 sleep of the just. 
 
 The next morning we went up to the mining 
 offices to make inquiries about work. These 
 buildings, of a fair size, though shabby in ap- 
 pearance, were some distance from the mine itself 
 a very necessary precaution with any work con- 
 nected with that valuable but deadly fluid-metal, 
 quicksilver. We stated to the first clerk we came 
 across, our object in coming to Knoxville, and 
 asked to whom we were to apply. With a grin 
 that foreboded no good he referred us to the next 
 office, who sent us to a third, where we were told 
 calmly and coolly that no road was to be made yet. 
 
 The management of the place we soon dis- 
 covered was one huge swindle, got up by a 
 company as dishonest as it was discreditable. 
 Started at a time when all the world seemed 
 infatuated with the spirit of gambling, for it was 
 nothing else, the heads of this concern followed the 
 example of hundreds of others, with, however, more 
 truth than many, for quicksilver was found here, 
 and in not inconsiderable quantities, and advertised 
 themselves widely. Trusting to the blind ardour 
 and spirit of speculation in the public they 
 announced, in magniloquent language, the glorious 
 find they had made, and talked of their millions of 
 capital (flourishing for the most part only OQ
 
 'LIFE 'IN TEE COLONIES. 317 
 
 paper), inviting inspection, and guaranteeing large 
 profits. 
 
 But to return to ourselves. The story of a road 
 being needed was a mere invention made up to 
 induce workmen to come to the place. Once on 
 the spot they are sometimes persuaded to stay as 
 miners, rather than have their journey for nothing. 
 Indeed in most cases they are obliged to remain, 
 having expended all their ready money in coming 
 so great a distance. A fiendish piece of policy on 
 the part of the Company to placard their pretended 
 want of men for road-making at such an immense 
 distance, which virtually prevented any immediate 
 return of the workmen. 
 
 Other tricks they had also that spoke well of 
 their ingenuity. For instance, if you tramp there 
 (as we did) and do not take a seat in the 
 Company's coach at $500 a head, they are down 
 on you with contempt. Then they require $300 
 for poll tax, besides a couple of dollars for school 
 tax; like the horse-leech's daughter their cry is 
 ever, " Give, give ! " 
 
 Gladly would we have turned our backs on 
 Knoxville quicksilver mines, had it been possible ; 
 but having spent most of our money in getting here 
 we must make some more before we could hope to 
 get away. 
 
 The slenderness of our purses being so painfully 
 apparent to the lynx-eyed Company (for, needless 
 to say, we were unable to pour out dollars for poll 
 tax, or school tax, or any other tux), the only
 
 818 HAUL LIFE Iff THE COLONIES.- 
 
 work offered to us was the most dangerous and: irl 
 which department they had the fewest men. 
 
 Until I came to the mine I knew very little 
 about quicksilver, but although I stayed but a 
 short time I knew more than enough to please me. 
 A few words about it, however, may not be unin- 
 teresting. This mercury, or quicksilver, is always 
 found in the strata of secondary formations, and is 
 distinguished from all other metals by its extreme 
 fusibility, for it does not become solid until cooled 
 to the 39th degree below 0, Fahrenheit. It is not 
 only found in cinnabar, a red sulphuret of 
 mercury, but in other ores, and sometimes in a 
 quite fluid and pure state in an accidental cavity 
 of hard stone. Its power is very great, for it 
 penetrates parts of all other metals, making them 
 brittle and even dissolving some. The ore found 
 here was amber in colour, a pretty crystalline 
 matter mixed frequently with stone and other 
 extraneous substances, all which impurities are 
 chipped off, facetiously called "cherry picking." 
 Very strong and long-continued heat is necessary, 
 for which purpose immense kilns are kept heated 
 up to a certain temperature, which heat, combined 
 with the fumes of the mercury, makes working in 
 these parts of the mines so dangerous. 
 
 Dangerous or not we could not refuse, the 
 money offered to us being in fair proportion to the 
 risk, so we determined to try it, for anything was 
 better than to return penniless to the scene of our 
 late troubles.
 
 HAUL LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 310 
 
 Gilbert's work, bad as it was, was not so deadly 
 in its effect as mine. He was set to fix and clear 
 out one of the reverberatory furnaces that were 
 employed in the process of refining or cupellation. 
 Curious furnaces these were, the lower part being 
 covered with wood ashes and clay in order to 
 form a cupel, a shallow chemical vessel in which 
 the assay-masters try the metal. On one side of 
 the furnace there is a hole for the exit of the 
 litharge, on the opposite side another hole for the 
 admission of air to the surface of the metal, which 
 is introduced through an aperture above, to which 
 a cover is fitted. This particular one required 
 some cleansing, and that my friend was requested 
 to do ; I was told I should have a room to clean 
 out, and followed my guide, feeling sorry Gilbert 
 had not my good luck. 
 
 My sorrow, however, was soon changed into 
 thankfulness, for as we neared the place, gaunt, 
 grey spectres of men were moving about, 
 looking scarcely human. My guide stopping to 
 give some directions to a group of them, one of 
 the party came up to me and in a hollow voice 
 warned me not to attempt to work here. 
 
 I looked at the man ; he appeared about sixty and 
 was bent nearly double ; but what struck me most 
 was his face it was livid in hue, and so lean that 
 the skin seemed stretched over the bones until I 
 wondered it did not crack, his eyes sunk into their 
 sockets gave him a still more ghastly look, in fact 
 a corpse buried and dug up again is the only simile
 
 320 ^HAED IXF'E IN THE VOIA>mE8. 
 
 I can choose to express the effect this man gave 
 one. 
 
 "Do not go there," he said, earnestly, pointing 
 with a skinny, trembling finger to a block of 
 buildings a little distance off; " no money is worth 
 it." 
 
 "I am only going to clean out a room," I 
 assured him ; " but you, can you find nothing else 
 to do, old and ill as you are ? " 
 
 " Old," he answered, with a bitter laugh ; " I am 
 a younger man in years than you, I bet, for all I 
 carry rny forty-three years so badly. But this is 
 not the first time I have worked at those furnaces 
 there, and I tell you no money is worth it." 
 
 " Then why do you do it ? " 
 
 " If you care to know come to my hut, that one 
 that lies down yonder apart from the rest, and I 
 will show you. But for you, don't do it no money 
 is worth it," he repeated for the third time. 
 
 " Go to h 11," said my guide brutally, who had 
 
 come up and heard his last sentence. 
 
 " I have been there, and come out again all 
 that is left of me," was the mournful reply, as the 
 man moved slowly away in an opposite direction. 
 
 "He needn't complain, I'm sure," grumbled my 
 cicerone, " he's got his pockets full of dollars, and 
 after all has only been here five days this time." 
 
 Five days, and looked like that ! a man of forty- 
 three ! A cold shiver passed over me. 
 
 " They call him ' Mercury Jack,' " volunteered 
 my companion, " and he's a queer fish, always
 
 HAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 321 
 
 coming back here and always abusing the place ; 
 now I don't call that acting quite on the square, 
 do you ? " 
 
 " That depends greatly on how he is treated," I 
 replied, "for sometimes it happens that big mining 
 companies don't act quite on the square with their 
 workmen." 
 
 My friend made no reply perhaps because we 
 had reached the place over whose portals might 
 surely be written Dante's words : 
 
 " Abandon hope, all ye who enter here." 
 
 My guide quickly told me what I was to do, 
 pushed open the door, and bolted. I was in a 
 large condensing chamber completely saturated 
 with mercury. It needed cleaning, certainly, and 
 I doggedly cleaned it, and, what is more, came out 
 alive, neither crippled nor disabled, but feeling 
 weak, sick, weary, worn-out, and hopeless. 
 
 In these condensing chambers no man ever stays 
 more than a few days ; they are always coming and 
 always going ; coming, fairly strong and healthy ; 
 going, decrepit, broken down, and ill. 
 
 After I had emerged alive from the mercury 
 chamber I was set to tend the kilns, i.e., keep the 
 fires at full blaze, technically called "feeding the 
 mouths." This is done by stoving in huge logs of 
 oak into the kilns, each log taking three men to 
 raise and push in. 
 
 Gilbert and I took lodgings in a little hut built 
 up of wood, of which there were a good many
 
 822 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 dotted about, and a woman, wife of one of the 
 miners, "did" for us, as they call it. She certainly 
 did do for us in more ways than one, but we were 
 at her mercy, and could say nothing. One thing 
 she did well, I must allow she made a rabbit stew 
 better than any one I have ever known ; still, good 
 as that was in its way, it did not make up for all 
 the discomfort she put us to ; she was dirt per- 
 sonified, talked like no, I can find no simile, 
 and being of a lachrymose turn, favoured us with 
 long and watery accounts of all her troubles. She 
 was a huge woman, with unkempt hair and a 
 decided moustache, of which, far from being dis- 
 tressed at, she gloried in, smoothing it down and 
 caressing it with all the pride of a young man who, 
 after long watching and careful shaving, welcomes 
 at last the few soft hairs that he twists and tor- 
 ments until he thinks that he has proved to all 
 the world that he has that much-longed-for adorn- 
 ment on his upper lip. But I am forgetting the 
 fair Ophelia Cox, who " did for " several other men 
 besides ourselves, going from hut to hut, cooking 
 the meals that she left ready on the fire, and 
 "smoothing over" the beds, as she described it. 
 Gilbert and I always made ours ourselves; the 
 mere thought that they had been touched by that 
 creature would have driven away the gentle god 
 from our pillows. Her attire was as remarkable as 
 all the rest. To begin at the end, she wore a pair 
 of Wellington boots that had long since seen their 
 best days, and that formerly encased the feet and
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 323 
 
 legs of "as fine a gent as ever put foot to ground." 
 Stockings she dispensed with altogether, she volun- 
 teering this interesting piece of information herself. 
 Certainly, I should never have dreamed of asking, 
 but she did not sin by too much reticence at any 
 time, or on any subject. A short petticoat that 
 had once been scarlet, but was now, by time and 
 stains, turned into patches of all colours, was 
 surmounted by a man's rough pilot jacket, a blue 
 checked neckcloth, tied iu a knot around her 
 throat, and a billycock hat completed a costume 
 that did not err on the side of elegance. 
 
 I forgot two long, deep bags or pockets that she 
 wore, one on each side of her. These pockets, 
 empty when she left her own hut in the morning, 
 had a way of getting filled as the day advanced, 
 and she returned in the evening bulging out right 
 and left, like a donkey with panniers. 
 
 She had a husband who worked in the mines, 
 "a poor mess," as she graphically described him. 
 No need for me to enlarge on Jabez Cox after that 
 terse and comprehensive delineation of him by his 
 better half; and also six children of doubtful 
 parentage, to fill whose ever hungry mouths she 
 " did for " the various men around. 
 
 Among her victims was " Mercury Jack," and 
 one day, very shortly after we were there, my work 
 for the day being over before Gilbert's, I thought I 
 would go down to his hut and see him, for some- 
 how he had interested me. 
 
 A short walk past the straggling houses and
 
 324 HARD LIFE IN TEE COLONIES. 
 
 huts that formed the village, if it could be so 
 called, brought me to the outskirts of a small 
 wood, where, quite alone, stood a tiny hut. The 
 little plot of ground in front had at one time been 
 laid out as a sort of flower garden, and there were 
 still some rose-bushes, and a few plants. No one 
 was in sight, but the door being open I went up to 
 it and entered. A horrible yet pathetic sight 
 met my eyes. Seated on a low stool, swaying 
 himself to and fro, and piping out in a thin, 
 quavering voice the hymn, " Abide with me," was 
 " Mercury Jack." On his knees lay what at first 
 sight I took to be the corpse of a child, but dis- 
 turbed by my footsteps, both turned towards me, 
 and then I saw it was a living creature. 
 
 The child, a girl of some thirteen years, was 
 a victim of the most virulent form of scrofula ; 
 many of the bones were eroded, and ophthalmia 
 had done its work with hideous malignity. 
 " Mercury Jack " ceased his singing as I 
 entered, and, inviting me to sit down on the 
 only chair the place possessed, said, without 
 further preamble : " You have come to know 
 why I work in the mercury chambers. I want 
 money for Molly ; it will take a lot to cure 
 her, but we are on the road, ain't we, Moll ? " 
 and he bent over the emaciated, revolting object in 
 his arms, and passionately kissed the top of her 
 head. 
 
 Bit by bit he told me his story. He was a 
 Cornishman, who had worked in the mines there,
 
 HARD LIFE IN TSE COLONIES. 325 
 
 but the one on which he was engaged was closed 
 up for want of money, and he started, like many 
 another, for California, with his wife and two 
 children. At first all went well, but several of the 
 mines he worked at went smash, his wife's health 
 failed, and every year he had another child, sickly 
 or deformed, that dragged on a miserable existence 
 for a year or two and then died. 
 
 " I have lost seven," said " Mercury Jack " 
 (whose real name was Mitchell). " A sad thing for 
 a man to see them die off one by one ; it breaks the 
 heart." 
 
 " And your wife ? " I asked. 
 
 " Dead too, she was always sickly. Molly got 
 her illness from her ; she is our first child, and is 
 now thirteen past ; none lived to be so old, so I 
 think she'll do. The doctors have given her a 
 power of iron and hemlock." 
 
 " Is there a doctor here ? " 
 
 " Yes, but I won't have him again, he don't 
 know. He said the little maid couldn't be cured ; 
 I say she can." 
 
 During our talk the child had lain quietly 
 in her father's arms, moaning now and again, but 
 not speaking. The room was almost destitute of 
 furniture, but there was a good bed in a corner, 
 and on the table some white bread, a chicken, and 
 a bottle of wine. There went the money which 
 Mitchell procured by that deadly work which 
 sapped up his life's blood, and made him at forty 
 a decrepit old man. There and into the capa-
 
 326 SAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 cious pockets of " Ophelia Cox," who traded on 
 such a good opportunity of filling the six ever open 
 mouths of her own olive branches. 
 
 Whenever I had time I went down to the little 
 hut, and always came away with a feeling of 
 wonder at the man's devotion to the child and 
 faith in her recovery. Mitchell was a Methodist, 
 like, I believe, many Cornishmen, and was deeply 
 religious, so I hoped that when the trouble fell 
 upon him he would find comfort in his belief that 
 the poor child was safe, and I did all I could to 
 prepare him for what was inevitable with, I fear, 
 but poor success. 
 
 During this time I had gone on with my work 
 of " feeding the mouths," just like Ophelia Cox, 
 but my companions dropped off, finding the work 
 too hard and the pay too small, others that 
 replaced them refusing to stay, until I was left 
 alone. 
 
 I went to the office to know what was to be 
 done. 
 
 " Why, feed the mouths yourself," was the cool 
 reply. 
 
 I explained what they knew perfectly well 
 that such a thing was a simple impossibility, as no 
 one man could raise the end of a log by himself ; 
 whereupon I was ordered "to git," as they laconi- 
 cally put it, meaning that my services were no 
 longer required, and I might go elsewhere, to live 
 or die as I chose. 
 
 Gilbert would not stay on without me, though
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 327 
 
 he had got into better work and was doing well ; 
 so we decided to leave when his next week was up. 
 For the few days intervening I was at liberty, and 
 spent many hours with Mitchell and his child, 
 whose end was near at hand. How I strove to make 
 the poor father see it ! But all in vain he only 
 got angry. Molly had begun to recognize me by 
 this time, and would (receive me with what would 
 have been a smile on any other face, but on hers 
 was only a frightful contortion of the muscles of 
 the mouth. 
 
 One morning when 'I went down I saw a great 
 change in her, and by Mitchell's sharp inquiry as 
 to what I was looking at, knew that he had per- 
 ceived it also. 
 
 " Please God, she may die quietly," I murmured, 
 as I looked at the poor child lying a mass of ulcers 
 and corroding sores, swollen joints, and wasted 
 body. 
 
 But that mercy was denied the wretched father. 
 Almost as I spoke the death agony began, and was 
 fierce and terrible. How so much strength could 
 exist in so frail a body was a marvel, but the poor 
 child writhed and tossed with convulsive move- 
 ments that shook her from head to foot, and open- 
 ing some of the ulcers on her face and throat, 
 deluged her with blood and matter. 
 
 "Jesus, have mercy!" cried Mitchell, almost 
 mad with terror and grief. 
 
 I wiped the child's face and laid her back on the 
 pillow, when there came a struggle ; she beat the
 
 328 HABD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 air frantically with her hands, uttering hoarse cries 
 of agony, while she glared at us wildly from her 
 lidless eyes. A final struggle, a final cry, and, 
 thank Grod, the little one was dead. 
 
 Shaking from head to foot, without a dry thread 
 on me, I turned away for a moment and went to 
 the open door. I was stifling. 
 
 "Don't leave me," said Mitchell, in a hollow 
 voice, and I went back to him. He was kneeling 
 by the bed, and was gazing at his dead child, who 
 now presented a most awful spectacle. Hastily I 
 drew the sheet over her face, then pouring out 
 some wine into a tumbler, forced Mitchell to drink 
 it. It revived him, and I drew him out into the 
 open air. 
 
 " She must be buried !" said Mitchell, suddenly, 
 in the voice of a man talking in his sleep. 
 
 I started; we were miles away from any cemetery, 
 and neither clergyman, priest, nor minister lived 
 here. To get one would involve a heavy expense 
 and loss of time. From the nature of the disease, 
 and the great heat, the funeral must be held the 
 next morning at the latest. 
 
 I think I have said that, years before, I had 
 been ordained, and for over twenty years was a 
 curate in Ireland. Religious scruples had induced 
 me to leave the Church, and I had never since per- 
 formed any ceremony whatever in connection with 
 the Church. Now I felt myself in a difficulty; 
 the child must be buried, and, unless I took the 
 service, must be buried without any.
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 329 
 
 Mitchell seemed almost more broken down by 
 that thought than any other, so after a struggle 
 with myself I said to him, " I will read the service 
 over Molly, if you like ; I am a clergyman." 
 
 The poor fellow's joy was so great that I felt I 
 had done the right thing. That evening he and I, 
 with Gilbert's help, dug the grave, not far from the 
 hut. He would have no coffin made, though we 
 offered to help him. 
 
 The next morning at five we went down to him. 
 He had lain her on the mattress of her bed and 
 covered her with flowers. Cox helped us to carry 
 her and lay her in the grave, where once more 
 I gave out that message of love : 
 
 " I am the resurrection and the life : he that 
 believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he 
 live." 
 
 Gilbert and Cox then went back to their work, 
 and Mitchell and I spent the day in fencing the 
 grave around to protect it from the wild beasts. 
 He seemed like a man in a dream, and showed no 
 feeling whatever until, our work over, we re-entered 
 the hut. 
 
 I had told the woman Cox to put out of sight 
 everything belonging to the child she did, into 
 her pockets, as it turned out afterwards and to 
 thoroughly wash and clean the room. This she 
 had done, and when poor Mitchell saw it in its 
 unfamiliar state, and empty, he gave a heart- 
 broken cry " My little maid ! T want my little 
 maid ! " and fled back to the grave.
 
 330 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 I was afraid to leave him that night, and, indeed, 
 spent the remaining few days of our time at Knox- 
 ville with him. His patient submission was most 
 touching to witness. All his spare time for I per- 
 suaded him to go to work, though not in the 
 mercury chambers again he spent in carving a 
 tombstone, and making the grave a very garden of 
 flow r ers. That would henceforth be his one object 
 in life. 
 
 So one morning Gilbert and I said goodbye to 
 him, and turned our backs on the quicksilver 
 mines and Ophelia Cox, who stood a colossal mass 
 of damp sorrow " Never had she done for any one 
 with greater pleasure than for us," which was quite 
 easy to believe. The "poor mess" stood meekly 
 by her side, and the six children of doubtful 
 parentage rolled in the dirt and squabbled around 
 her. 
 
 We had decided to tramp it back again as far as 
 we could, for although w r e had money, we would 
 not give those skunks a cent, added to which our 
 open-air life on the Tarwin had made this gipsy 
 mode of travelling a pleasant and healthy one, far 
 more to our taste than being boxed up in a coach 
 with very indifferent companions. 
 
 On the evening of our first day's journey, as we 
 prepared to bivouac under a large tree, I saw a 
 curious figure coming along in a sneaking sort of 
 way, and reaching us, stood right in front of me, 
 gazing not at us, but at the food that we had spread 
 out before us.
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 331 
 
 It was a boy of some thirteen or fifteen years, 
 with the face of a beautiful girl. His clothes were 
 a mass of rags and tatters, it being really a marvel 
 how he kept them on his limbs. A man's coat, oi 
 course miles too big for him, reached to his heels, 
 and gave him at a distance the appearance of a 
 dwarf. 
 
 " How did you come here, and what do you 
 want?" I asked, for we were some twenty miles 
 and more from any habitation. 
 
 " Want something to eat," he answered, replying 
 only to my last question. 
 
 "But how did you come here? Where's youi 
 father?" 
 
 " Dunno ! " 
 
 " Or your mother? " 
 
 " Never had none." 
 
 Though I somehow doubted that last statement, 
 still I did not insist, but, giving him a great piece 
 of bread and meat, told him to sit down. 
 
 He did so, and ate away calmly, his lovely eyes 
 searching first Gilbert's face and then mine with a 
 wistful, pleading look in them that quite won my 
 heart. Not so Gilbert ; he seemed to take a 
 violent and, as I thought, unjust dislike to the 
 boy, and spoke so harshly that I was not 
 astonished when the little fellow's eyes filled with 
 tears, and he turned away as if to leave us. 
 
 " How can you be so cross ! " I cried, indig- 
 nantly ; " you have driven him away." 
 
 " No fear," said Gilbert, with a sort of suppressed
 
 332 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 irritation that I could not understand, and made 
 me fear another attack of illness, though since Dr. 
 Fernnoh's care he had seemed quite cured. 
 
 I called the boy back and tried to get from him 
 where he came from and what he was doing out 
 here alone, but he appeared unable to give any 
 account of himself. 
 
 II The poor child is an idiot," I said; " what on 
 earth are we to do with him ? " 
 
 " You had better adopt him, as you seem so fond 
 of him," answered Gilbert, savagely ; " but you'll 
 choose between him and me." 
 
 I stared at him in astonishment ; the boy, having 
 finished eating, stood watching us with pleading 
 eyes. 
 
 " We had better sleep on it," I said ; " to-morrow, 
 if you are in the same mind, we might take him 
 back to Knoxville, for I suppose he must have come 
 from there, or take him on to Napa ; there's sure 
 to be some Home or other in a big town." 
 
 So having replenished the fire, and returned the 
 remainder of our supper to the wallets which we 
 placed by our side, we lay down and were soon fast 
 asleep. 
 
 At daybreak the next morning I woke and looked 
 round for the boy. He was gone, and on further 
 investigation my wallet containing some food, a 
 change of linen, and some money luckily not all 
 was gone too ! I woke Gilbert and told him what 
 had happened. 
 
 He burst out laughing. " So much for your
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 333 
 
 adopted son. Far from being an idiot, he has shown 
 himself sharper than either of us." 
 
 " But how could he get here, such a distance from 
 any town, quite alone ? " 
 
 " Who says he's quite alone ? Most likely he's 
 one of a party of thieves who followed us. We may 
 think ourselves lucky that we were not murdered." 
 
 That surmise of Gilbert's must have been the 
 correct one, for as we journeyed on we came across 
 my little volume of Tacitus that had evidently been 
 thrown away as useless, and the trodden-down grass 
 near it showed that several people had encamped 
 there. Somewhat crestfallen, and exceedingly dis- 
 gusted at having been so thoroughly done by a 
 mere child who had feigned idiotcy to avoid the 
 difficulties of talking, I pocketed my Tacitus, and 
 we went on our way in silence. 
 
 " You might have warned me," I grumbled at 
 last, " for from your manner you evidently had 
 some suspicion." 
 
 "I thought he was shamming certainly, but it 
 wasn't that that made me so cross. The little 
 wretch had a face that reminded me of Curly, and 
 I could not bear it." 
 
 I knew the story of poor Curly, and could quite 
 understand the effect the resemblance had upon 
 him. 
 
 In due time, without further incident or adventure, 
 we again entered the " Golden City." A road was 
 being made at the Lime Point Government Works : 
 we applied, and got taken on at once. I forget how
 
 334 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 many hundred men were working on it, but was told 
 that nine- tenths of them were gentlemen. Certain 
 it is that all we came across were unmistakably of 
 gentle birth. 
 
 It was curious to notice the different effects 
 adverse circumstances had upon the different 
 characters. Some were reckless and devil-me-care ; 
 others morose and sullen ; some again viewing their 
 fate with philosophical indifference ; others with 
 poor CurJy's bright, hopeful belief in the good time 
 coming. 
 
 The work here was horribly hard, pick and shovel 
 business, and very soon I was obliged to give it up, 
 having lost so much strength at the quicksilver 
 mines. Gilbert had secured easy work on the 
 same road as surveyor's auxiliary, so he remained 
 there, while I sought other employment. 
 
 Behold me next as groom and coachman to a 
 Yankee gentleman at San Rafeel ; wages $10 a 
 month. He was a kind-hearted, good man, with 
 whom I was very comfortable. We used to have 
 long talks about the Old Country, which he had 
 only visited once, but for which he had a strong 
 affection and passionate admiration. 
 
 "You are such aristocrats," he said one day, 
 adding with a sigh, " You have such a long line of 
 ancestors." 
 
 " A very nice thing, I allow, if the descendants 
 have money enough to keep up the old prestige," 
 I answered, " otherwise it is but another suffering 
 added to many."
 
 HAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 335 
 
 " I don't see how," replied Mr. Homer, twisting 
 a button of his coat round and round, which 
 was a trick of his when talking on anything that 
 interested him. I have known him go home with 
 not a button left on either coat or waistcoat, as 
 was the case on the day this conversation took place. 
 
 " Simply because, although a gentleman can bear 
 misfortune and starvation with more or less patience 
 and fortitude, he cannot bear without pain and 
 disgust the forced companionship with the low, 
 uneducated, and degraded class of men that his 
 poverty throws him among." 
 
 " Yes, I can quite understand that, though perhaps 
 you will say that I can know nothing about it. I 
 began life as a newspaper boy, and my father kept 
 a small tripe-shop." 
 
 " The nobly born are not the only noble," I 
 quoted. ' ' I have myself known men whose pedigree 
 was lost in the mist of past ages, guilty of low and 
 dishonourable actions that would put an honest 
 coalheaver to the blush." It did not strike me at 
 the time how comical it was master and man talking 
 so together. 
 
 Many weeks passed by ; Gilbert and I had the 
 same lodgings, and met every evening. We began 
 to put a little money by, and felt getting on in the 
 world, when one evening on returning I found 
 Gilbert feverish and ill. His old enemy had over- 
 taken him again. The day had been very hot, and 
 he had passed it measuring the road under a blazing 
 sun,
 
 336 HABD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 I left my "situation" to nurse him, bidding 
 goodbye to Mr. Horner with a regret that was 
 mutual ; he left San Francisco just at that time to 
 go and live with a married daughter. 
 
 Thanks probably to old Dr. Fernnoh, Gilbert was 
 neither ill so long nor so seriously as the last time, 
 but on his recovery we did not think it advisable 
 for him to continue the same work, as it exposed 
 him to the heat of the sun. 
 
 A fellow-lodger mentioned that there was a 
 berth vacant on board a man-of-war then in the 
 docks for repairs ; he had a brother on board, and 
 advised Gilbert to try for it. 
 
 Bather reluctantly he went, hoping he would not 
 be accepted so secretly did I, but he was. The 
 doctor who examined him passed him at once, and 
 he had his credentials proving him to be a lieu- 
 tenant in seamanship. 
 
 Very gloomily we took this piece of good luck, 
 Gilbert at first absolutely refusing to accept the 
 offer ; but I persuaded him to do so, though my 
 heart was very sad at the thought of the separation 
 after so many years' close friendship ; but it seemed 
 to me wrong to refuse such a chance. I tried to 
 get employment on board, I didn't care in what 
 capacity, but the ship's crew was complete. 
 
 Gilbert had money enough to buy his outfit, and 
 I left him one morning to do it while I went to 
 work (gardening this time), feeling thoroughly 
 depressed and disheartened, overshadowed with 
 the thought of parting from my only friend. When
 
 HAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 337 
 
 I returned in the evening to the room where we 
 lodged I found him quietly smoking a pipe. 
 
 " Grot your kit ? " I asked, in rather a choking 
 voice something seemed to have got into my 
 throat. 
 
 " No, old man, and what's more, I don't mean 
 to get it ; another fellow has got the berth." 
 
 " What do you mean ? Why it was promised 
 to you." 
 
 "I gave it up myself. I couldn't bear the 
 thought of leaving you, Ham ; we have been 
 everything to each other for years ; please God, 
 we will live and die together." 
 
 And so it was settled an immense relief to 
 both, nor have either of us ever regretted it. 
 Instead of buying a "kit" Gilbert added his 
 money to what I had saved when " coachman " 
 (I had often been a coach-man in the old days in 
 Ireland, and if I must speak the truth, much prefer 
 the four-legged animals to the two-legged ones), 
 and we purchased the interest in a boot-blacking 
 saloon in Market Street. No great art was re- 
 quired in this line of business, nor was it a difficult 
 one to acquire. Nevertheless, although brain-work 
 pays not, shoe-blacking pays well, and rather to 
 our astonishment we made a lot of money. True, 
 we worked hard for it, were busy from " dawn to 
 twilight grey" shining away with might and main. 
 
 Some months after we were settled in, the block 
 of houses in which our saloon was situated changed 
 owners, and our place would have to come down 
 
 23
 
 338 BAUD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 in a couple of months; we were greatly put out 
 about it, and were wondering what it was best to 
 do, when a man told us he was willing to take the 
 place on chance, giving us in exchange another 
 similar saloon in Sacramanto Street. This offer 
 we gladly accepted, for although it was a much 
 smaller business, still it was sure, and we had no 
 expenses connected with settling in. 
 
 So we went on our "polishing" way, and by 
 strenuous exertions built up a good trade. Soon 
 we undertook other work, such as cleaning out 
 offices, errands, &c., keeping a small staff of boys 
 for the purpose. 
 
 Next door to us was a drinking saloon where the 
 proprietor gave a free lunch every day. That meal 
 was well attended, and others too, for the sprat 
 so sent out caught many a whale, and it became 
 the best lounging saloon in that part of the town. 
 We reaped the benefit of being so near, as many 
 of the loungers turned in to us to be " polished ! " 
 David Levy, the proprietor, was very friendly, and 
 unheard-of thing trusted to our honesty, not 
 hesitating to leave us in charge whenever he 
 wanted to go elsewhere. 
 
 At first we slept in a tiny room that was cut off 
 from our business apartment hard work to place 
 two beds, narrow as they were. Now and then 
 it had to accommodate three. I remember on 
 one occasion Gilbert had taken Levy's place 
 for him, and I had spent a long day of hard work 
 alone, so was very glad when, evening coming on,
 
 HARD LIFE ttf THE COLONIES. 339 
 
 I could shut up for the night, and dismissing the 
 boys, had my supper, and, without waiting for 
 Gilbert, went to bed. 
 
 I was awakened in the midst of my beauty sleep 
 by hearing voices in the other room. Then Gilbert 
 poked his head in. "I say, Ham, get up; I've 
 met a fellow from Truro/; you know, where my 
 people live." 
 
 I grunted. 
 
 " He's in there ; we are going to have a pipe 
 and a talk. Come along, he's from Truro." 
 
 " Well, black his boots, give him my blessing, 
 and send him back to Truro," I said, letting my 
 head sink down contentedly on my pillow. 
 
 "Surly old bear," laughed Gilbert, " I'll leave 
 the door open, so you can hear if you won't come 
 in." 
 
 I groaned. I didn't want to hear. I wanted to 
 recover the fleeting moments of that beauty sleep 
 from which I had been so rudely aroused. In vain 
 my efforts, those two voices sounded through the 
 thin partition, though I had made a long arm and 
 shut the door. 
 
 Before long I knew the whole of that blessed 
 town situated somewhere down in the west of 
 Cornwall by heart. Every house did they enter, 
 and various exclamations broke from my friend 
 suitable to the pieces of news, that this one had 
 married, this one had died, or this one had done 
 worse ; for that little town down in the west of 
 Cornwall did not appear to be behind her more
 
 340 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 important sisters in the matter of morals, or want 
 of morals. I dozed off, and was awakened by a 
 loud " By Jove ! you don't say so ! " from Gilbert, 
 then chatter, chatter. Talk about magpies or 
 women ! In desperation I sprang out of bed, 
 pulled open the door, and appeared before them. 
 
 " That's right, old fellow, come along in," cried 
 my friend, adding insult to injury. " Here, take 
 a pipe. This is Mr. T from Truro." 
 
 I acknowledged the brief introduction as grace- 
 fully as I could under the circumstances, but was 
 not astonished as I dived back into the bedroom 
 
 to put on some clothes to catch Mr. T from 
 
 Truro in the act of putting his finger to his fore- 
 head inquiringly, and nod his head in my direction. 
 
 Again, as I appeared, "By Jove! you don't say 
 so!" burst from Gilbert. " Just fancy, Ham " 
 
 " I've heard it all," I interrupted quickly. " I can 
 tell you everything about your confounded town, 
 from the one monument it possesses, that stands 
 like an exclamation point on the top of a street, 
 which street bears the acid cognomen of Lemon, 
 to the river that deposits gallons of liquid mud 
 twice a day into the very midst of the town. I 
 could take you up Pydar Street and on the Cross, 
 over to the Parade and across Strangeways Ter- 
 race, to St. Mary's, St. Paul's, St. John's, St. 
 George's, not forgetting various chapels and 
 meeting-houses." 
 
 " Then you know it well," said Mr. T of 
 
 Truro. " Were you born there ? "
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 841 
 
 "That were an honour unto which I was not born," 
 I answered. " All my knowledge of your town is 
 from my friend there, and a few photographs lately 
 sent him ; nor can I with truth say that I burn 
 with a desire to visit it. One thing strikes me in 
 favour of the town it seems a splendid place to 
 get away from, every facility being afforded for that 
 laudable act." 
 
 Mr. T of Truro looked puzzled, and no 
 
 wonder. Should any Truronians ever read these 
 pages I can only make the same excuse to them 
 that I made to him. I was tired, I wanted to 
 sleep, and being disturbed by a duet that went on 
 into the small hours of night, conceived a violent 
 dislike to Truro, a small town in the west of Corn- 
 wall, noted, as I read in a certain dictionary, for 
 the pride and poverty of its inhabitants. You can 
 only pity my ignorance and despise me, which will 
 make us quits. 
 
 Mr. T of Truro left us the next morning, 
 
 nor have we ever seen or heard of him again. In 
 due course I left off saying to Gilbert every time 
 I came across him, "By Jove ! you don't say so,!" 
 
 Shortly after this our business flourished so 
 much that we took lodgings near at hand, and had 
 our meals always at a restaurant. In 'Frisco the 
 shoe-blacking trade is as much a business as a 
 draper's or any other storekeeper's, and no one 
 is looked down upon or despised for making a 
 living how best he can. Any one showing that 
 sort of feeling is at once recognized as a snob, ancl
 
 842 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 soon has the starch taken out of him. Here one 
 man is as good as another as long as he acts on the 
 square and makes money ; there is no rotten pride 
 of caste, it is too well known that it is, alas ! 
 generally gentlemen who, being uneducated in the 
 lower walks of life, find themselves out of their 
 own country, obliged to do many queer things in 
 order to live. 
 
 So behold us now with our saloon handsomely 
 carpeted, large mirrors (for we soon found out how 
 fond men were of looking at themselves in the 
 glass those mirrors brought us many a cus- 
 tomer!), grand black walnut armchairs comfortably 
 cushioned with velvet, some nice pictures, and 
 a lounge or two. Added to this, we took in the 
 morning papers and the illustrated periodicals, 
 kept perfumes and flowers, which last sold 
 amazingly well. This year we cleared $1,500 
 net profit over and above our expenses of living, 
 board, and rent, yet we lived well, going to the 
 theatres whenever anything was worth seeing, 
 and haunting the concerts. 
 
 Finding we were doing so well, we ventured 
 after a time to give up the " shining line " and 
 took a book and stationery store in Stockton 
 Street. Here we sold all sorts of things, possible 
 and impossible inks, from the common black to 
 the beautiful carmine of Guyot ; drawing neces- 
 saries of every description ; school books and 
 school requisites, such as desks, slates, pens, and 
 pencils; the chief daily papers; forty different
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 343 
 
 illustrated periodicals ; curious toys, cards, and 
 many other things too numerous to mention. 
 
 I began to think I had missed my vocation, 
 surely I had been intended all along for a shop- 
 man in the Golden City, only hadn't the " nous " 
 to find it out until towards the end of my life. 
 
 We have taken in one day $127 for school 
 books alone when the schools opened after recess. 
 Our average was about $12 a day. Then our 
 rent was $40 a month. Most of the money 
 we made we put into the business, buying what- 
 ever we thought would entice customers. We 
 sold great quantities of photographs of the great 
 actors and actresses, eminent men and beautiful 
 women ; these we always procured from the best 
 artists in 'Frisco, Bradley, and Eulofhor, and 
 although we paid very high for them we found 
 they were a good investment. We slept in a room 
 at the back of our stores the best way of pro- 
 tecting them at night but we took our meals at a 
 restaurant. About this time I made a great find. 
 I had been without a violin for years, but 
 now that we were flourishing I thought I would 
 like to get up my music again, so looked about 
 in the various music shops for one that would 
 be to my taste. Whether I was fidgety, or the 
 instruments I saw were not good, at any rate I let 
 the weeks go by without being suited. 
 
 One evening I went back to our old lodgings 
 that we occupied when in the " polishing line," 
 as I missed an old book that was a favourite, and
 
 844 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 thought perhaps I may have left it there. And 
 there I found it, the landlord and his wife, old 
 people, having taken the rooms to live in them- 
 selves. 
 
 "I put it up in that cupboard with a lot more 
 rubbish," remarked Mrs. Spence, with unconscious 
 contempt. " Many a lodger leaves something, some 
 of 'em naught but a heap of trash, which is all 
 I've got sometimes in the place of money due." 
 
 " I daresay you have had a very varied experience 
 in your time," I remarked, " and might write an 
 interesting book on your lodgers." 
 
 "Lor, sir, that I couldn't, for I can't write a 
 word, and it always have seemed to me to be one 
 of they silly,-useless things as never did no good to 
 nobody." 
 
 " Well, I don't quite agree with you," I answered, 
 watching the old woman somewhat anxiously, for 
 she was perched up on the top of a step-ladder, 
 which, although I held it and was able to steady 
 it, yet the wood was so old and rotten, that I 
 feared it would collapse altogether. 
 
 u There it is," she cried at last, triumphantly, 
 handing me down my precious little volume, which 
 she first politely dusted with her apron. "It was 
 hid a bit under an old fiddle." 
 
 I pricked up my ears at the word, having fiddles 
 on the brain just then, and laughingly asked her if 
 she played. 
 
 "No, no," she replied, quite seriously. " It was 
 left by a lodger in part payment ; not that it would
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 345 
 
 pay a quarter of what he owed me. But there, 
 you can't get money out of dead men; it's hard 
 enough to get it out of living ones sometimes." 
 
 " Would you mind my seeing it ? " I asked, 
 though I could not have explained what motive or 
 feeling induced me to do so. 
 
 " There it is ; but it can't be no good now, for 
 the strings is all broke. I didn't like to burn it, 
 for I was fond of the man, though he was a bit 
 daft, poor soul, but harmless as a child, and full of 
 trouble. I've taken the worst of the dust off," and 
 she handed it to me. 
 
 Somehow, even before I took it to the window 
 to examine it, I felt a tremor of excitement run 
 through me as one on the very verge of a great 
 discovery. My presentiment had not played me 
 false ; there, under the dust, were the magic words, 
 " Antonius Stradiuarius Cremonensis faciebat, 
 1720." With a beating heart I carefully wiped it, 
 and passed my fingers over the loosened strings. 
 A plaintive sound, like the wail of a broken heart, 
 was the result. 
 
 Mrs. Spence seemed uneasy, for she said, " It 
 ain't no good ; it only crys like a creetur in pain. 
 I'm sure I don't know why ever I kept it. I'll sell 
 it to get rid of it ; the wood will fetch a few cents, 
 perhaps." 
 
 A genuine violin of the eighteenth century to be 
 sold for a few cents ! Oh, Stradiuarius of Cremona, 
 my heart burnt with shame at this appalling igno- 
 rance of thy great art !
 
 346 HABD LIFE IN TEE COLONIES. 
 
 "If you are thinking of selling it," I answered, 
 " I will buy it, for I play the violin, and was on 
 the look-out for one. Have you the bow ? " 
 
 " Do you mean the thing you scrape it with? " 
 asked worthy Mrs. Spence, and on my answering 
 in the affirmative, mounted once more the rickety 
 steps, and, after some searching and fumbling 
 among the heterogeneous mass of dust-covered 
 articles, produced the bow. 
 
 I tightened the strings as well as I could, and 
 passed the bow over them. Oh, the mellow, 
 plaintive sound, how sweet it was ! Like a miser 
 gloating over his gold, I examined my prize inch 
 by inch, held it sideways to admire that beautiful 
 curve in the back that is one of the characteristics 
 of all violins that come from the hands of Stradi- 
 uarius, at the quaint cutting of the F holes, at the 
 time-blackened wood, with a feeling of reverence, 
 with a joy that was almost painful. More than a 
 hundred years had passed since the cunning hands 
 of the great artist had ceased their work for ever ; 
 he was gone, but the fruits of his labour remained 
 to stir the hearts and raise the souls of those to 
 whom the blessed gift of music is given, a fore- 
 taste, as it were, of that other world to which we 
 look for the completion and fulfilment of our 
 greatest hopes and desires. 
 
 I had let my thoughts wander far away while my 
 fingers unconsciously tapped the sounding-board 
 of the instrument, every slight touch producing 
 soft, sweet murmurs, for the very fibre of the wood
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 347 
 
 was impregnated with music. Many may smile at 
 me for this extravagant praise even of a Stradiuarius ; 
 enthusiastic lovers of music, however, will under- 
 stand and pardon me. 
 
 Mrs. Spence recalled me to mundane things by 
 saying anxiously, "You don't find it worth the 
 buying, though to hear poor old Mr. Tom talk, 
 you'd think it was as good as a gold mine ; but 
 then he was off his head with trouble and that. 
 You shall have it for a dollar, if you like, sir." 
 
 I smiled at the shrewd old woman. Before I 
 had spoken of buying it she had thought to get but 
 a few cents for the wood, now she immediately 
 asks a dollar. I, knowing the value of the in- 
 strument, feel that I should offer more, so I 
 said: 
 
 " Mrs. Spence, this violin is by a very old maker, 
 and there are many people who would give a good 
 deal of money for it. I can't afford to do that, but 
 I offer you two dollars and a half (10s.) if you care 
 to let me have it for that sum." 
 
 " That I will, sir, and thank you, too, for I 
 shouldn't know how to go about getting it sold. 
 Sometimes you gentlemen think a sight of things 
 as ain't of no valley." 
 
 From which remark I understood that Mrs. 
 Spence considered me in the same state as her 
 late lodger, i.e., off my head, and thought herself a 
 very clever and lucky woman to get the two dollars 
 and a half that I paid her on the spot. 
 
 "I wish you would tell me something about
 
 348 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 your lodger; I mean the one who owned this violin. 
 I think you said he was dead." 
 
 "Well, he killed hisself, which is the same 
 thing," answered Mrs. Spence, settling herself 
 down for a chat, while I took a chair opposite her 
 and hugged my violin in my arms. 
 
 I will tell you Mr. Tom's history in my own 
 words, for good Mrs. Spence not only took one 
 hour and three-quarters over it, but she added so 
 many remarks of her own, that, although I was a 
 victim, I don't wish my readers to share the same 
 fate. 
 
 Mr. Tom, evidently a fictitious name, was an 
 Englishman by birth, a peculiar, sensitive man, 
 one of those that Dame Fortune seems to choose 
 now and then as the sport of her every whim, and 
 the victim of her every cruel joke. The thirteenth 
 son of a rather poor rector in the north of York- 
 shire, he had always been the butt of his brothers 
 and sisters, for his prolific father was the happy 
 possessor of twenty children, of whom seven were 
 girls. This one, Amos, appears from the beginning 
 of his life to carry out the sad meaning of the 
 name bestowed upon him a burden. Truly he 
 was, a burden to all around him, worst of all a 
 burden to himself. Misfortune seemed to dog his 
 footsteps. Did he go to school, he was sure to 
 meet with an accident; was he going up for an 
 exam., an attack of illness would seize him and 
 prevent his attending. 
 
 Finally it seemed as though Fate was tired of
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 349 
 
 dealing him bitter blows. He was employed as 
 engineer in the mines that were situated in his 
 father's parish, and lodged with the curate, a man 
 of low birth, which he tried to hide by haughty 
 and supercilious airs a miserable failure, for being 
 very poor, and having seven children, he found it 
 as much as he could do to get on. 
 
 Of course, before his rector's twenty encum- 
 brances his seven looked small, still it was no easy 
 matter to get them all clothed and educated. His 
 wife, a good, honest, hard-working woman, daughter 
 of a former landlady, firmly believed that her hus- 
 band was a grand gentleman and a fine fellow, 
 simply because he said so. The eldest child, a 
 girl, just grown up when Amos went there to live, 
 appeared to be a modest, charming young creature, 
 with whom he fell in love at once. 
 
 It was just at this time in his life that he was 
 sent by the head of the mines over to Liguria, in 
 Italy, to the iron mines there. He left England, 
 not daring to speak of his love to the curate's 
 daughter, seeing how unsettled were his prospects, 
 still he doubtless said enough to her to make 
 her understand what were his feelings towards 
 her. 
 
 I had forgotten to say that he had early shown 
 a great love for music, but that being considered a 
 useless profession, as far as bringing in money was 
 concerned, he was commanded to give it up and 
 turn his thoughts to engineering. With the patient 
 submission which seemed to be his most striking
 
 860 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 characteristic he did so, but once in Italy his fate 
 threw him among musical people. A young girl, 
 daughter of the first violinist in the Opera House 
 at Liguria, herself a violinist, fell in love with the 
 Englishman. 
 
 Amos either did not or would not see it, and 
 with unconscious cruelty took Florence C into 
 his confidence, and was wont to pour out his love 
 for the curate's daughter at every possible oppor- 
 tunity. He remained there five years, and on 
 leaving to return to Yorkshire threw away his one 
 chance of happiness in life. 
 
 It is said that there comes to every one in our 
 sojourn here on earth one opportunity of happiness. 
 How many of us miss that chance, and, failing it, 
 get shipwrecked on life's stormy sea ! 
 
 Poor Amos was one of the unlucky ones, and 
 drew but blanks in the lottery of life. He left 
 Italy and the girl who loved him with singleness 
 of heart to give all his affection to a worthless 
 woman. 
 
 The curate's eldest daughter, modest and simple 
 in appearance, was a true child of her father, and 
 her haughty, overbearing temper kept from her 
 several suitors who would otherwise have offered. 
 So at twenty-four she found herself still unsought, 
 although three of her younger sisters had already 
 flitted from the parent nest. 
 
 When Amos returned in a fairly good position, 
 and showed unmistakable signs that he had not 
 changed, she thought it worth her while to play
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 351 
 
 the amiable, and when he asked her, which he did 
 as soon as possible, to accept him, giving him to 
 understand, however, that she only did it because 
 she really loved him, as two other wealthy aspirants 
 to her hand were sighing in vain. 
 
 The marriage turned out a very unhappy one, 
 and when money difficulties came, Mrs. Amos 
 showed herself in her true character, and made life 
 intolerable to him. The Yorkshire mines failing, 
 they went to California, but things only went from 
 bad to worse. 
 
 I forgot to mention that soon after his marriage 
 he received a letter and a violin, a Stradiuarius, 
 
 from Florence C . The poor girl in dying had 
 
 sent her greatest treasure to the only man she had 
 ever loved, and he, already finding out his wife's 
 real character, must often have wished his eyes 
 had been open and he could have distinguished the 
 true from the false. 
 
 After years of struggling and misery and sorrow, 
 during which his wife would leave him sometimes 
 for months together, saying she was in some situa- 
 tion or other, poor Amos, broken down in health, 
 and overcome with sorrow, took to drinking to 
 drown his troubles. Several children had been 
 bom to them, but all died in infancy, with the 
 exception of one girl, a handsome creature and her 
 father's joy and pride. For her sake he worked 
 like a black, hardly eating enough to keep him 
 from starvation, that she might have luxuries to 
 eat and dainty clothes to wear. He gave violin
 
 352 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 lessons for sixpence an hour, and sometimes got 
 hired to play dance music at some low music- 
 halls. 
 
 It was one evening in one of these places that he 
 saw his wife enter, grandly dressed, in company 
 with a well-known gentleman, notorious for his 
 bad life. Wild with rage and shame, he accosted 
 her, when the gentleman ordered him to be turned 
 out as a madman. Amos replied by striking him 
 on the face, whereupon a fight ensued, and Amos 
 was ejected wounded and bleeding, some one fling- 
 ing his violin after him. 
 
 For months he and his daughter had been lodg- 
 ing with Mrs. Spence, sometimes paying, some- 
 times not. When he managed to crawl back to 
 his room and say what had happened, the girl, 
 furious with him, told him brutally that she knew 
 the life her mother led, and meant to do the same 
 herself, as she was sick of the misery and poverty, 
 and left the house there and then. Amos was laid 
 down with brain fever, during which Mrs. Spence 
 nursed him, from sheer pity. He pulled through, 
 but was an aged, broken-down man, weakened 
 alike in mind and body. All day long he paced 
 the street searching for his daughter, playing airs 
 on his violin that she was accustomed to hear. 
 Many passers-by threw him pence, which he 
 always faithfully brought to his landlady. 
 
 So time went on ; she had not the heart to turn 
 him out, for what with the effects of the fever, and 
 drink and exposure in all weathers in the endless
 
 HAED LIFE IN TEE COLONIES. 353 
 
 search for his daughter, he became more and more 
 imbecile. 
 
 One morning he came in unexpectedly, looking 
 wild. " I've seen her," he said; " but she denied 
 being my child, she ordered her servants to drive 
 me away." Mrs. Spence could get nothing else 
 from him ; he sat down, took his violin on his 
 knees, wiped it, and handed it to her, saying, in 
 quite a natural tone of voice, " I can't pay you 
 what I owe you, but I leave you this, it will more 
 than repay you." 
 
 Then he went out, walked quietly to a deserted 
 part of the wharf, and drowned himself. Find- 
 ing he did not return, Mrs. Spence made in- 
 quiries, saw a description of a body found that 
 made her think it was his ; finding that to be 
 the case, old Spence and she identified him, and 
 followed him, the only mourners to his pauper's 
 grave. 
 
 Such is the outline of the story Mrs. Spence told 
 me, and I looked at the violin with even greater in- 
 terest. With that in my hands and my recovered book 
 in my pocket, I returned home. Gilbert was almost 
 as much interested as I was, and we sat up late 
 that night talking over the sad story I had heard. 
 There were some people, then, more unlucky and 
 with harder fates than ours indeed, we now seemed 
 to be at the end of our troubles. 
 
 At this time every one in 'Frisco went mad on 
 stock gambling. The papers were full of nothing 
 else, and no two men could get together for five 
 
 24
 
 354 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 minutes without entering into a warm discussion 
 on the topic. 
 
 I ought not to say much, for, bitten by the pre- 
 vailing epidemic, we ventured some money, like 
 every one else. More cautious than most, however, 
 we did not risk a heavy sum, nor did we even lose 
 all that we did put in. Frightened by the endless 
 stories of ruin, we sold out at a great loss before 
 things came to the worst, and were by far not so 
 unfortunate as many of our acquaintances. 
 
 A terrible time followed for San Francisco 
 indeed, for the whole of California, and extended 
 even to other countries. Thousands of families 
 were completely ruined, for every one seemed 
 infected with the fever of gambling that raged 
 alike among rich and poor. 
 
 The great stockbrokers gobbled up all the small 
 fry. It was one giant swindle, followed by all 
 sorts of evils ruin, despair, and endless suicides. 
 
 For many weeks the whole country was panic- 
 struck, and painful tragedies were of daily occur- 
 rence. Here the head of a family, having lost 
 every cent he possessed, would blow his brains 
 out ; there the head of a bank, gone smash, would 
 do the same, or would be murdered by some infu- 
 riated creditor who had been ruined. 
 
 Nearly every morning, and at intervals through 
 the day, we were startled by pistol-shots quite 
 near our office, the great B. and S. E. (or for fear 
 you may not understand these mysterious letters 
 Book and Stationer's Emporium), and would as
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 355 
 
 frequently see the bodies of the shot ones carried 
 past, some to the Morgue, some to .their private 
 dwellings. So common were these occurrences 
 that no one was much disturbed or troubled by 
 them, and the police took as little notice as any one 
 else ; the man was dead, nothing could bring him 
 back to life, even if any one desired his resuscita- 
 tion, which was doubtful, and any looking into the 
 matter involved loss of time and money, so what 
 was the good, particularly as these little events 
 followed each other with considerable rapidity ? 
 
 The truth is that, as far as I could learn, no one 
 was ever shot in the streets of 'Frisco who did 
 not richly deserve his fate. Every bullet has its 
 billet, and although nervous people might think it 
 dangerous to walk the streets at that time for fear 
 of meeting a stray bullet, they need not have dis- 
 turbed themselves, for all well-disposed persons 
 were, on the whole, as safe as they would be in 
 London or any other great city. 
 
 The panic over, things settled down more or 
 less in the usual way, and life went on with its 
 daily routine. The gaps made by death or de- 
 parture were quickly filled up, and the city 
 resumed its normal aspect. 
 
 Our business had become a really prosperous 
 affair, and the time came when, as once before, 
 we found ourselves the possessors of sufficient 
 funds to enable us to have our heart's desire, i.e., 
 to leave city life, with its uncongenial work, its 
 temptations to gamble, and its tips and downs,
 
 356 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 and live once more the free, healthy life in the 
 country. 
 
 We longed to have if only a two-roomed hut in 
 the forest, where among the trees and flowers and 
 the animals we could he independent of men, and 
 quietly and peacefully pass our days Lust in 
 Rust. Gilbert heard of a small ranche on Mark 
 West Creek, some eight miles from Santa Eosa. 
 It consisted of about thirty acres of land, with 
 vineyard and orchard, the latter well stocked with 
 fruit-trees ; while from the creek which ran past 
 the house we could procure fish in plenty. 
 
 So one day we left the "Emporium" in the 
 hands of an assistant and went off to Mark West 
 Creek to see for ourselves. It was a lovely day, 
 and we were both in high spirits, and felt more 
 like a couple of schoolboys out on a spree than 
 two staid, serious men. 
 
 The proprietor of the ranche in question was to 
 meet us at the place, and as we drove up, having 
 hired a sort of dog-cart at Santa Eosa, we beheld 
 him sitting like another Job under a fig-tree. 
 
 Though he saw us entering the opening of the 
 fence he did not condescend to move towards us, 
 or even to get up, but contented himself with 
 sitting a little more upright, and, extending a 
 couple of fingers of his right hand, which mark of 
 politeness neither Gilbert nor I pretended to see. 
 
 " Almighty proud, you bet," observed Mr. 
 Euthven ; but to whom the remark was addressed 
 it would be difficult to say, unless to a small sandy-
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 357 
 
 coloured terrier that bolt upright between his feet 
 presented a striking personal resemblance to his 
 master. 
 
 " This ranche belongs to you, I believe ? " began 
 Gilbert. 
 
 Mr. Ruthven, chary of his words, nodded. 
 
 "Well," cried Gilbert, getting impatient, "my 
 friend and I have come out by appointment to see 
 the place, which we understand is to be sold. Are 
 you Mr. Kuthven? " 
 
 " You bet," was the reply, accompanied with a 
 look as much as to say, " I wouldn't advise any 
 one to play with my name." 
 
 "Then, Mr. Ruthven, will you take the trouble 
 to show us over the ranche, as we have come here 
 for that purpose by your own desire ? " 
 
 " Have a drink first," said our strange host, 
 rising to his feet, and pitching a soft-felt hat on 
 his head, that had been lying on the ground by his 
 side, shook it into its place. He was the tallest 
 man I think I have ever seen, thin too, and with 
 the true Yankee type of features. His small, grey 
 eyes twinkled with a mixture of fun and cunning. 
 He walked as though he were throwing his feet 
 before him, and had a trick of suddenly jerking his 
 head on one side, in which he was always imme- 
 diately imitated by his dog, Dollar by name. 
 
 Mr. Ruthven and his dog led the way into the 
 house; a rather poor affair it looked, although 
 there were four rooms in it, all more or less out of 
 order and nearly destitute of furniture ; that, of
 
 858 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 course, did not matter, as we should bring our 
 own. 
 
 In one of the downstair rooms was a large table 
 on which was laid out a sort of lunch, more for the 
 purpose of satisfying hunger than to pander to the 
 taste of an epicure. There was no cloth, which 
 after all is not a necessity in the bush, but the huge 
 lump of cold beef might have been placed on a dish 
 instead of right down on the bare and not over 
 clean table ; four plates more or less broken and 
 cracked, and a knife or two, thrown pell-mell among 
 spoons and forks, which latter were of pewter and 
 very dirty, completed the chattels on the table. I 
 forgot a large loaf of bread and two quarts of ale. 
 
 Our host motioned us to the only two seats the 
 room possessed, seating himself on a block of wood 
 that he rolled in for the purpose. Dollar sat on the 
 table by his master's elbow, and when that worthy 
 put too large a piece of meat in his mouth, saga- 
 ciously bit off the end that protruded from between 
 his teeth. 
 
 "Help yourselves," said Mr. Ruthven, pushing 
 the meat across the table with his bare hand, and 
 pouring out some ale in large glass pots, with 
 handles and covers the German beer glass raised 
 his to his lips, wished us good luck, and drained it 
 in one gulp. That ale was certainly good, the best 
 I have ever tasted ; for the rest I will say nothing, 
 except that we made a good supper when we got 
 back to 'Frisco that night ! 
 
 This feast over, Mr. Euthven's tongue being a
 
 HAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 359 
 
 little untied, he proceeded to take us over the ranche, 
 which really seemed to be all that was promised in 
 the way of vineyard, orchard, and fishing. Of course 
 it was small, and very much out of order, having 
 only been lived on now and then for a few months 
 at a time, and our host, having invested in a larger 
 concern on the other side of Santa Rosa, was anxious 
 to part with this one. Not that he let his anxiety 
 be seen on the contrary, it was his very indifference 
 of manner that made us suspect that he would be 
 glad to get rid of it. 
 
 We thoroughly examined everything, Mr. Euth- 
 ven honestly pointing out various defects, such as 
 bad fencing, rotten vines, some dead fruit-trees, 
 and so on, flinging his feet before him and jerking 
 his head, which latter movement Dollar repeated 
 with unfailing fidelity. 
 
 '"Cute little brute that seems to be," I remarked, 
 hoping to hide an irrepressible smile that the above- 
 mentioned movement on the part of man and dog 
 had forced from me. 
 
 "You bet he's the 'cutest terrier in Sonoma by 
 a long shot," said Dollar's master, becoming 
 eloquent ; "I wouldn't take fifty dollars for him 
 no, nor a hundred." 
 
 "What made you give him that queer name? " 
 asked Gilbert, puffing some tobacco smoke into the 
 dog's face, who seemed to like it, opening his mouth 
 and breathing in the fumes of the fragrant weed 
 with evident relish. 
 
 " Wall, he gave it to himself leastways he took
 
 360 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES.. 
 
 it," replied Mr. Ruthven. " It's seven years ago 
 now I was walking down one of the back streets in 
 'Frisco, and came along a lot of lads who were 
 tormenting the poor little brute, and meant to kill 
 it, because he had bitten one of them. I said I'd 
 take him ; they asked a dollar for him. I told them 
 to git, for no dollar should they have ; so what with 
 cuffing and banging at them I drove them off and 
 picked up the dog and brought him home. I thought 
 of calling him Snap, but he wouldn't take no notice, 
 though whenever the word dollar was mentioned 
 he'd prick up his ears perhaps because he heard it 
 so often," concluded Mr. Ruthven, naively. " He is 
 a 'cute cuss ; look at him now, he knows we are 
 talking about him," and he jerked his head in the 
 direction of Dollar, who immediately reproduced the 
 movement with ludicrous fidelity. 
 
 On the whole we were charmed with the place, 
 agreed to buy it, got through all the formalities as 
 quickly as possible, and I went down to Mark West 
 Creek to take charge of the ranche until our store 
 in Stockton Street could be disposed of. 
 
 The ranche was very prettily situated, surrounded 
 by hills both high and steep, and which were called 
 about here mountains. They ought to be ashamed 
 to claim any such dignity, but " some have honour 
 thrust upon them." 
 
 Mountains or hills, they are exceedingly beautiful, 
 whether enveloped in the grey, pink mists of early 
 dawn, or flooded with the full force of the golden light 
 of a mid-day sun, or tinted with the amber, crimson,
 
 HAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 361 
 
 and purple glow of late evening ; abundantly 
 wooded, too, with grand, mighty trees. The fertile 
 soil of the valleys is most favourable to agriculture, 
 for it produces grains and fruits both of the 
 temperate and semi-tropical zones, so we felt we 
 could not have chosen a better spot or one more 
 likely to answer our purpose than this lovely valley^ 
 on the Mark West Creek. 
 
 I found the house a very poor affair, even worse 
 than it had appeared on the day we visited it. Mr. 
 Kuthven had of course cleared away his own things , 
 and the place looked bare and dirty and desolate. 
 But I soon altered that with the aid of a man I hired 
 for the first day. We thoroughly cleaned out the 
 four rooms, and arranged the plain but solid furni- 
 ture we had chosen for the purpose. The bedrooms 
 were of Spartan-like simplicity. Small iron beds, 
 iron washstands, a couple of chairs, and a table was 
 all the furniture. Gilbert had a looking-glass I 
 think it right to mention this fact, for I had not. 
 
 In the kitchen was a wide fireplace (we burnt 
 wood chiefly, of course), a table, and four chairs. I 
 adorned the walls artistically by arranging our rifles, 
 pistols, and the heads and tails of various animals 
 that we had preserved. The fourth room was our 
 reception room ! In it we had really good furniture, 
 a carpet, curtains, and rugs. Pictures hung on the 
 wall, and our pet books in a case, while my beloved 
 violin lay in a bran-new violin case I had had made 
 for it. 
 
 All these arrangements I made gradually while
 
 362 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 living in solitary grandeur, waiting for Gilbert to 
 join me. There was no house, hut, or shanty of any 
 sort for miles near us, though during the day traffic 
 was not unfrequent, as the road was not far from us, 
 and led into Santa Rosa. 
 
 The first night or two when I was alone I was 
 frequently disturbed by strange, unearthly noises. 
 Now I do not believe in ghosts, and have no 
 faith in any spiritualistic humbug whatever, so 
 after looking into each room and finding nothing, 
 not even a stray rat, I concluded that some one 
 else was also struck with the charm and beauty of 
 the little ranche, and finding that only one man 
 lived there, thought it a good opportunity to be- 
 come possessor of it gratis by knocking the said one 
 man on the head, and taking possession of the house, 
 which would of course be useless to the dead owner. 
 But two can play that little game, so, loaded rifle 
 in hand, I waited on the third night to make a 
 corpse, rather than be made one. 
 
 Judge of my disgust when, after waiting hours, 
 during which I dozed off several times, only to be 
 awakened by the same mysterious sounds, I 
 discovered the true cause. The old timbers of the 
 house, a wooden one, scorched by the intense heat 
 of the autumn day, stretched, and creaked, and 
 groaned, while the loose and broken shingles on 
 the roof clattered in the damp night air. Only 
 that and nothing more. Another fit of the heroics 
 for nothing, ex nihilo niliilfit. 
 
 But the sound of the wind among the trees gave
 
 HAED LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 363 
 
 me an idea : I prepared an ^Eolian harp, which I 
 placed in our "drawing-room" window, taking 
 care that the strings were very powerful. The 
 effect delighted me ; each blast of wind passing by 
 produced the sound of a distant choir of music, 
 sweetly mingling all the harmonic notes, swelling 
 or diminishing according to the strength or weak- 
 ness of the wind. So we could always have a 
 beautiful voluntary, or involuntary, if you like it 
 better, by simply opening the window and letting the 
 winds tell their secrets in sweet sounds through the 
 medium of the J^olian harp. Soon Gilbert joined 
 me ; he had had a good deal of worrying work 
 arranging for the sale of the stock, and finally had 
 settled with two young men in 'Frisco, who went 
 as partners together. They took our store, agreeing 
 to pay us $20 a month until the whole purchase 
 money was paid up. 
 
 We knew both men w T ell, and they had always 
 been strictly honest, so we began our new life on 
 Mark West Creek with the future smiling upon us, 
 and every prospect of doing well. 
 
 Having spent a day or two in lazy enjoyment 
 of our free life, we set to work in good earnest 
 putting things in order. And no sinecure we found 
 it, for the vineyard, in particular, had been much 
 neglected and yielded badly. So we pruned it, 
 uprooted the decayed or dying plants, and fenced it 
 all around, all of which took some time, but repaid 
 us well later on for our trouble. 
 
 We next turned our attention to the orchard, in
 
 364 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 
 
 which were almond, plum, pear, apricot, apple, 
 and peach trees in plenty. We grafted a good 
 many young ones, and planted some new. Then 
 we enclosed a tolerably large piece of ground for 
 vegetables, where, the ground being so fertile, we 
 had little trouble beyond the planting and eating of 
 them. 
 
 In front of the house is a flower garden of our 
 making, which by giving half an hour every day is 
 in beautiful order. In the centre bed stands a 
 maguary, or centaury plant; around it various 
 species of verbenas, mignonette, and roses of every 
 sort and kind, perfuming the whole place with their 
 sweet odours. 
 
 We had been here but a few months, when 
 Fortune, not yet content with having battered us 
 about with so many and grievous blows, dealt 
 another that well-nigh crushed me, for it threatened 
 me with the loss of my friend. 
 
 The two young men who had taken our store 
 paid very regularly, and we never had the smallest 
 hint that things were not flourishing. But whether 
 they neglected their business, or did not under- 
 stand it, or gave way to the spirit of gambling, I 
 know not ; one thing only was sure we heard 
 suddenly that they had gone smash, sold the 
 business, and vanished with the money, leaving us 
 without means to carry on the work of the ranche. 
 
 We had been too short a time to have been able to 
 reap any profit from our work, and the farm was 
 still in a bad state, requiring both labour and money
 
 HARD LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 365 
 
 to put it into anything like order and make it repay 
 us. Also there was a $1,000 debt on it, which we 
 now saw no chance of paying off. One trouble 
 follows another. The anxiety and worry occasioned 
 by this loss brought on one of Gilbert's attacks of 
 fever the worst he had ever had. I sent into 
 Santa Rosa for the most skilful physician, who, 
 directly he saw him, told me there was no hope. 
 
 This happily was a false diagnosis. After a 
 struggle, which it is painful for me to remember, 
 I brought Gilbert round. And here I will bring my 
 narrative to an end, my life not being sufficiently 
 diversified to interest my readers. Gilbert and I 
 are still in California, and, I may add, we are doing 
 well.
 
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