The Press.
London, England, 1857-10-10 00:00:00

THE PRESS, OCTOBER 10, 1857.

vastly increasing population, argosies of porter, pickles,
and comestibles of every description were floating to.
wards the same goal, and cargoes of blooming maidens,
under the patronage of the indefatigable Mrs. Chisholm
and the philanthropic Sidney Herbert, formed a charming
foreground to the picture. Ample and lucrative employ.
meat for both heads and hands (but particularly the
latter), a salubrious climate, mountains and valleys teem-
ing with gold, a virgin soil, and endless rich pastures,
shone in bright perspective before them. Fancy guided
the helm, hope trimmed the sails, and everything appeared
en couleur de rote to the Australian emigrant.

And he then introduces himself in the follow-
ing style :

It was at this period I discovered that, owing to a length.
ened course of London and Parisian life, as well as other
and more remote causes, my physical and financial ther-
mometer was fast approximating to zero, and that a total
congealment of the mercury was impending ; in fact,
that difficulties and dyspepsia rendered a renovation of
both purse and person essential to the continuance of my
career: and although nothing cou'al possibly be more
foreign to my previous tastes and habits than the character
of an emigrant, still I saw no better chance before me
than to form one of the adventurous band, and trust to
Providence for the result.

Extremely cool indeed! Such a gentleman,
one would suppose, could nut be very easily
put down. Describing the operations of his
wife and himself previous to his voyage, he
writes :

I engaged one-half of the small cabin, and by partition-
ing this off by a bulkhead formed a separate and compact
little dormitory, with other conveniences attached to it,
which rendered it quite as commodious as any I should
have engaged in a larger vessel; although perhaps not
quite so well ventilated. We soon set ourselves to work
to render the cabin, that was most likely to be our residence
for the next four or five months, 48 comfortable as circum-
stances would admit of; and furnished with a few letters
of introduction, a very light one of credit, and a tolerable
stock of optimism, we joined the rakish•looking schooner
Vibilia (a goddess whose history and attributes I was not
aware of until I had consulted Lempriere), after a fare-
well breakfast at " Waite's Hotel," Gravesend, on the 30th
November, 1t352.

They get as far as the Downs, and he thus
describes how the man and wife felt on
board :
The Downs were full of wind-bound vessels, and some
were continually driving from their anchors, and " run-
ning•a-muck " amongst their neighbours. Deal and
Itamsgate boatmen, who seem to set all weather at defiance,
were continually tantalising us with a description of the
superior comforts of shore, and offering to take us there
for the moderate sum of a guinea a head, an accommoda-
tion which I begged to defer until my return from Aus-
tralia with a cargo of nuggets. Seas were beating over us
and penetrating every corner of the little craft ; the stove
in the cabin refused to be lighted at any price; eating was
out of the question, and drinking difficult; and, in fact,
I thought we should have fallen victims to our adventurous
spirit at the very outset of our undertaking.
As, however, even pain becomes familiar and more easy
to be borne by its continuance, so we, after three weeks'
enjoyment of the above•mentioned trials, had become as
completely amphib;.ons as it is possible to conceive two
rather luxurious individuals to be.

They were three weeks, according to his log,
weatherbound at the Downs, and they were
int he same plight for a fortnight off the Isle
of Wight ! We never sailed so slowly our.
selves, but the author makes it look pleasant
on paper. Ho at last got to Melbourne, and
devotes five pages to it. He was offered th e
post of locum tenons for the police magistrate
at Ballarat, and he devotes an amusing chapter
to describing his duties. Ho thus gives the
salaries of officials :

The salaries pail to officers at the gold diggings on my
arrival were as follows :—Resident gold commissioner,
704)1. per annum ; commissioner ditto, 500/. per annum ;
assistant ditto. 400/. per annum ; police magistrate, WO/.
per annum, with an additional 1001. per annum as deputy
sheriff for the county; inspector of police, 6001. per
annum ; sub•inspector ditto, 3501.; lieutenant ditto, 250/ ;
cadets, 10s. per diem ; officers on full pay of the army Ms.
and 10s. per diem extra; chief clerks, 3001. per annum ;
other clerks, 2001 and 2501. per annum ; privates in the
police, Bs. per diem, and portions of fines, besides clothing ;
pensioners, 2s. per diem ;in addition to pension, every
one was moreover allowed rations, and forage for horses.
Superior officers individually, and others collectively, were
allowed servants, or, as they were termed, tent keepers,
with pay of Bs. per diem with tent and rations. These
salaries at a later period were all considerably diminished.

The following is curious. We are not sure
whether we recognise the " extremely rotund
" gentleman of middle ay.." Some of our
yachting readers may do so :

I remember, daring the early part of my sojourn at the
diggings, the chief commissioner of the gold fields
arrived from Melbourne, on a short visit to Ballarat, ac-
companied by an extremely rotund and convivial•looking
gentleman of middle age, well known to the yachting and
sporting circles of Great Ilritain, with whose person I was
perfectly familiar, although I possessed but a very slight
acquaintance with him. Being astonished by the appear-
ance of a man of his previous habits and pursuits in the