The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1899-06-08

CT uOUDllcSS j
-r--<S- ready knows, threw
- i aside their ordinary
~ occupations to flock
@ TO the then infant
~ colony and start
digging for the precious metal. To
such M extent dId immigrants pour
into Victoria that the arrivals in Mel
bourne are said 60 have numbered
over two thousand n week. Tho crews
at ell the ships in Melbourne IIarbor
~ the time. of the news of the first
iuls deserted to u man, and ship
masters aud shipowners were at their
wits end TO know how to get men to
work their vessels home again from
Australia.
II was during the first excitement.
Of the rush to the gold-iields that the
sailing vessel, Chesapeake Bay, az
rived in Melbourne from Liverpool.
Her crew were no better than those
OF the othtr ships in port aud Among
the first to desert and run away to the
"di?siugs' was the hero of this
authentic narrative, an able seaman,
named John Merrydew Smythe. This
man had at home i'll England wife
and daughter, the latter child of
seven ut the time. Smythe, along
with others, who, like himself, had
high hopes of making their fortunes
III n very short space of time ut the
mines, succeeded in making his way
to Ballarat- the El Dorado of tha$
period.
lie did not stay long in The town it.
self, however, but started prospecting
with, at first, very indifferent success.
But after some months Of logged per-
severance and semi-starvatiou he at
length ''struck it rich," as the saying
goes. In less than another half-year
no had got a tidy sum of money out of
his claim, and was able to send $1,000
home to his wife She started in bust
ness for herself in Liverpool as a
broker, and piospered from the very
commencement, so that she was soon
Ill very comfortable circumstances
Her husband, however, instead of re-
turning home to England and enjoy
ing the fruits Of his labors, continued
to work his claim until he had amassed
quite respectable fortune.
All was going well with him, when
he suddenly took to drink and
gambling. He sold his claim for
$1,000, and from that day forth haunted
the drinking saloons and gambling
dens, which were "a plentiful in
Ballarat at that time as blackberries
III autumn. The town was full of the
scum and refuse of civilization-the
sweepings of the tarth-attracted
thither by the universal greed fol-
gold; and such places did roaring
trade, all day and all night rs we'll
Smythc, fuddled with liquor, would
stake handfuls of his hard Learned gold
on the mere turning of q card Yet
as his vile associates often swore, ht
had "thc devils own luck" He al
ways won, somehow, and never re
turned home without being richer b,
scores OF pounds. Undoubtedly, hi
would have frequently been robbed
M he left the gambling saloon, scarcel,
able to walk through his deep pota
tons, had he not had the staunches
and truest of chums in his partner
steady going, temperate Joe Mannior
who piloted him home safely ever,
evening, and as regularly emptied hi
pockets OF most of the money an,
banked it for him
!. After about two years Of this wild
reckless life, Smythe saw the error O
his ways, and, bidding goodbye t.
Ballarat and its evil associations, Ii
made arrangements with his banker
to forward his money to England. H
then made his own way to Sydne,
QS54), intending to return home
10 this end he booked a passag
aboard the vessel Western Star, an
sailed for England.
When only few weeks out th
ship encountered very heavy weathe,
and finally ran on reef off the Fail
land Isles. The captain and 81,
teen OF his crew were drown ed
but SmytLc and three other
the carpenter, a seaman and a
apprentice lad named James Roch
succeeded in battling their wa
through the surf and making the shor,
Here they were met by savages, who
however, received them very kindl,
and gave them food and drink.
They lived among these natives fc
no less than two years on the frient
hest terms-that is to say, Smyth,
the sailor, and the boy did; for I'll
carpenter fell ill aud died SON
months after their escape from IL
wreck. One day barque put I'M
the island for water, and when boz
came ashore, Smythe and his tv
white companions ran down to IL
waters edge and hailed its occupant
These latter, however, were seiz.
with panic at the sight of the tire
whom they mistook for savages,
they wore no clothes like the natives
and the boats crew thought the
frantic gestures and shouts were e,
dcnces OF dangerous hostilit
Scrambling pell-mell into the BIO
again, they were pushing off in a gre
hurry, when one CT them perceiv
that tho skins of the supposed savag
were white. Still the sailors did n
feel inclined to stop and parley,
they showed off and rowed out q
into the bay.
When they had put small street
OF water between themselves and I
shore, they lay on thsir ears and o
OF them commenced palaver with t
white saysgss, whose actions VIII
w boat was being yovsd awsy-fr.