The Sun.
London, England, 1853-01-26 00:00:00

SOCIETY AT THE AUSTRALIAN DIGGINGS.

The Inverness Courier publishes in its last number se-
veral letters from respectable people who have emigrated
from that quarter of Scotland to Australia. The journal
vouches for the authenticity of the ,documents, from
which we make a few extracts. The following is from a
letter, dated Melbourne, Sept. 6 :
" Things will not last for ever in this way. There
will be an outbreak here before many years. Nothing
but separation from England is talked of. Thousands of
Yankees and Californians are swarming in every week,
and thousands of the riffraff of all the world. The
country is in a fearful state for want of protection, and
robberies and murders are committed with impunity. I
sleep every night with a pair of pistols under my pillow,
my father's big sword hung up by the bed-head, and also
an American bowie-knife under my pillow. Our house,
to be sure, is in a lonely and romantic situation, and is
thus liable to attack at any time of night, but we do not
like leaving it to come and live in this vile Melbourne."
In another letter the same writer speaks as follows :
"It would be utterly impossible to give you any idea
of the state of things in Melbourne now. It is such as
the world never saw before, and perhaps never will
again. With thousands arriving every day from Eng-
land, California, and America, &c., we have still the
same number of houses in Melbourne that we had when
the population was only about 24,000, before the gold
discovery. You may think what it must be now. A
complete wildernesi of tents has sprung up all round
the city, in which all the most hardened villains in the
colony have their haunts, and through which it is not
safe to walk in broad daylight. The whole interior of
the country is completely overran with bands of bush-
rangers, mounted, armed, and thoroughly organised.
The murders and cruelties they practise on their victims
are fearful. They perform their exploits quite in the
same style as. the old banditti ; however, they some
times get caught. A party of them, while prowling
about the main overland road from Mount Alexander to
Adelaide, in South Australia, stopped to rest and re-
fresh themselves at a shepherd'p hut, and there openly
stated that they were lying in wait for a party of dig-
gers who were returning with a large quantity of gold.
Nothing more was seen of them for two days, when two
of them returned, one so fearfully burnt all over his
body that he died in a few hours ; the other one also
died from the effect of a gun-shot wound. The other
three of the gang were missing. A few days after, the
burned remains of several men were found a short dis-
tance on the road, and it ultimately turned out that the
party they intended to have robbed had overpowered
them, and taken a fearful revenge by burning them
to death. The men were all old convicts. Is this
not a practical illustration of the evils inflicted on these
colonies by the continuance of the transportatiOn sys-
tem ? But, ' there's a good time coming,' and if it is to
be continued, why, the sooner the colonies are independ-
ent the better. They are already ripe for it. I have no
hesitation in saying that the gold diggings have hastened
the approach of that event by 50 years. It is not to be
supposed that a country which can export twenty mil-
lions sterling per annum in gold-dust will long submit to
be made the sink-hole of England. However, it is no
use talking more about that subject. lam writing this
in my office, which is splendidly situated, being ,a very
high room, and having a view of about 20 miles down
the Port Philip Bay, so that I can see every ship and
steamer that comes in, and as I have full view of the
telegraph station, I can tell at a glance what part of the
world they are from. Whilst I am writing, there are
three large ships coming in from London, two from
Liverpool, one from Bristol, one from the Cape of Good
Hope, one from New York, two from San Francisco,
and a whole fleet of traders between here and the neigh-
bouring colonies—all crowded with passengers for the
gold diggings. This will give you some idea of the rate
at which our population is daily increasing, and this is
only the commencement of it. This is not my own opi-
nion of the state of things ; it is that of every sober, re-
flecting man in the colony, from the governor down-
wards. Every day flour is rising by jumps of 51. per
ton at a time. It is now 351. a ton; to-morrow, in all
probability, it will be 401. Our only hope is in America,
from our friends the Yankees. Any one shipping flour
here now, would make an immense fortune. Of our own
growth there will be little or none this year. In addi-
tion to this, our social condition is fearful ; only fancy
bodies of armed men rushing into the shops and gold
offices in broad daylight, shooting at the owner, and
making clear off with the spoil ! As for stirring ou
after dark, it is madness."

rADVERTISEMENT.I—Deafness-----New Discovery,-39,
Albemarle-street, Piccadilly, observe, opposite the York
Hotel. The organic vibrator, an extraordinary power
ful, shall, newly-invented•instrument, for deafness, en-
tirely different from all others to surpass anything of the
kind that has been, or probably ever can be produced,
being of the same colour as the skin, is not perceptible ;
it enables deaf persons to hear distinctly at church and
at public assemblies ; the unpleasant sensation of singing
noises in the ears are entirely removed ; and it affords
all the assistance that possibly could be desired. The
Royal Exhibition—valuable newly-invented, very small,
powerful waistcoat pocket glass, the size of a walnut,
to discern minute objects dt a distance of from four to
five miles, which is found to be invaluable, for yachting,
and to sportsmen, gentlemen, and gamekeepers. Tele-
scopes, possessing such extraordinary power, that some
31 inches, with an extra eye piece, will show distinctly
Jupiter's moons, Saturn's ring, and the double stars
They supersede every other kind, and are of all sizes for
the waistcoat pocket, shooting, military purposes, &c.
Opera and race-course glasses with wonderful power ; a
minute object can be clearly seen, from 10 to 12 miles
distant. Invaluable newly-invented spectacle.—S. &B.
Solomons, Aurists and Opticians, 39, Albemarle-street,
Piccadilly, observe opposite the York Hotel.