Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1869-06-02


nYR. L
There are at least two sensations which a man
must feel before he can understand them. Read
er, did you ever find yourself alone in the midst
ofa strange country, hundreds Of miles from any
habitation, and with the knowledge that you are
the first Of your race TO tread the ground where
you stand-that the scenery around you has rev
er before been presented to the eye Of civilized
man--that no living creature is near you--and no
sound can reach your ear save the gentle breeze
as il rustles through the branches of the trees
Ifyou have not, you cannot realize the force, the
calm of the solitude Of nature have felt il,
but I cannot describe It. Yet it has a charm
which is worth the knowing for its high and mys-
terous inspiration.
! So in like manner, though in less degree,
stmnge, weird influence crosses the soul Of the
yoyager, who, after many months continuance
on the ocean, sees the coast Of a new land before
/ him. and realizes that there is a world beyond
the sons where civilization has yet b find rest
| ing place But in my experience this comes but
once have journeyed over every ocean, and
hAAAtl tAAN7 AN'N ai-hA VI AftAA ANi th' 7lAN' VI
long, long months, but only once have enjoyed
the feeling in its full force. 1t on one Of the
earliest days Of January, seventeen years ago.
had seen no land siI&e the summer Of the preyi-
Gus year, on the day when l had watched the
gradual fading Of the Eldystone light, as the good
ship Afaianfa speeded on her course towards the
distant and then almost mysterious region Of Aus
tralia The sun was half hidden below the East
ern horizon and the chill air of morning, redo
lent With the smell of land" was clear and
brscing as in a cloudlcss SKY far overhead how
cred wile-wingcd pelican, and away over the
larboard bow, not four miles distant, appeared a
Wild and desolatc shore. Three ships in close
company were hurrying with US 10 Port Phillip
heads and numerous hocks Of wild fowl seemed
busy in heralding our arrival along the lines Of
their ancestral domain. In the clear, bright at
mosphere, every tree upon the shore stood out in
bold outline, and the slender twigs, and even in
dividual leaves, were - well defined that distance
seemed contracted in its smallest limits.
At breakfast time we passed through the tur-
bulent sea and the CONSTRUCTED and dangerous
channel which form the entrance to the Bay =
the remains Of two large ships falling to pieces
within pist0-shot Of our deck reminding us Of
the fact that uccess 10 that land Of gold is not al
ways as easy as we found it. Port Phillip Bay
has the appearance of an inland sea. u extends
3 forty miles towards Melbourne, and the nayiga-
ton is for some distance very intricate. But il
has no beauties like the grand approach to Rio de
.laneiro The coast line when visible, is monOt-
onous and the shores are low and uninteresting
1t is however not until the ship drops anchor al
her moorings of Wliamstown that the full
dreariness Of the place becomes apparent We
arc now at the mouth of the Yarn farra-a riy-
er whose banks were once the iayorite haunt of q
large tribe of aborigines, but since rendered more
famous as passing through the world renowned
city Of Melbourne. At the time ofwhieh | write
Williamstown was little fishing hamlet, and
five miles of as the ship lay, there was low, flat
sandy shore, with few tents scattered upon it
l but too barren to sustain anything more than 4
d few tufts Of coarse grass and here and there 9
d stuntei bush This was the site of the presen
Hourishing town of Sandridge In the distance
, two miles further inland, on a low elevation
) might be seen another cluster of tents, which
I upon this hot January day, was oyerhung with I
: dense cloud of dust. This was Melbourne.
Our voyage had been longer and more wcari
!. some than usual, Moreover, We had well nigl
It four hundred passengers on board,-some, voy
d aging like myself for pleasure and in spirit o
> curiosity as well as adventure but by far tn
i, greater number in the earnest hope of making
o rapid fortune amid the disoomiorts of gold min
d ing. All were anxious to land But the sh
had reached her destination and Melbourne wa
still on the edge Of the horizon. Persons unae
= eustomed to travel should never place reliance o
the promises of the owners OF agents of ships, an
10 in those early days of Australian tnyel thou
l. sands of fpersons-under the deluson that POI
"a Phillip and Melbourne were Synonymous terms
!, agreed for conveyance TO the former, only 10 dis
cover ut the end of their voyage that they coul
not get to the shore, still less to the city, wthou
a further payment which was calculated upon
scale of iberality unknown in the old world
ID Thus it was, that having dropped anchor at tn
"a extreme limit of Ilobsons Bay our Captain quie
e. y contented himself with wishing all to leave tn
- shin with the least possible delay not nm eas
matter where boats were scarce, the landin
y place FIVE miles distant, heavy surf beating 0
q the beach, and, probably in the ofmany pai
sengers, money not too plentiful.
- But it fell to my lot to act as pioneer in th
:. emergency or perhaps my restlessness pf diSp'
sition was stronger than that Of Others. At an
. rate. induced friend who had joined me betoi
leaving home, to make voyage of discovery int
~ the city, and thus to while away the remainder
the afternoon. A boat soon made its appearance
and by dint of persuasion, and argument, an
NJ perhaps lust spice of abuse, we induced the pr
s prietor to accept our company on his return yo.
age to shore, for a consideration equivalent
es twenty dollars This seemed a tolerably fair b.
70 ginning but VIC manfully accepted the position
got into the boat helped to hoist an ugly III
n sail, ana ran TO land before still southery bree
in the most CHEEKY manner possible. We eJnmp'
ashore as the boat slipped up the beach, and q
instant afterwards sank nearly TO the knees
op dry white sand Nor did any efforts we cou
aiI make suffice to extricate us, The whole pla
90. was sand,-sand and leas,-ior these amiab
little creatures could be seen in thousands, fris
2 ing about in the bright sunshine, and exercisiI
their activity upon the glaring surface OF Il
ground. So thus far the welcome we received
the new country was lively indeed But the ci
was two miles before us, the air was full OF du'
md and a semi-troplcal sun was blazing oVerhea
ose Still there was no option so we started on u
SSnr, Journey and struggled as best we could throus
the wearying sand heap, until we found ourSeiS
'SA crossing the bridge over the river which on tn