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78 ; Church people and others have responded liberally; five districts have guaranteed a sufficient stipend for three years, and in one case the passage money has been raised. If all goes well, I sail in June, to pick up a vessel in Melbourne for England.

December 20th, 1864.

A second postscript. I am here, after perils by sea which I shall never forget. Leaving New Zealand by steamer, a rough passage of 1,200 miles, I stayed with friends in Melbourne, awaiting a passage Home in one of Money Wigram's monthly sailing ships. The time will soon come, I suppose, for regular steam communication between Australia and England. Hearing that an American vessel would sail a few days later than the regular liner, wherein I could obtain a good cabin at a cheaper rate, I went to make enquiry and to see the vessel. The Agents offered me a large cabin on good terms, the vessel only taking some first-class passengers, most of them well known in Australia, and a large amount of gold for London. Going down to the wharf where she lay, I noticed her rather curious name—J. E. H. Merely three initial letters. It was a Saturday half-holiday, and the wharf was deserted, save by an old salt walking up and down, chewing his quid. "Thinkin' of goin' in her, sir?" "Yes," I said, "I'm half inclined to, instead of the regular liner." "I wouldn't," said he, "she's too crank, and too heavily sparred to my notion; I don't trust them Yankees, and besides, she's loaded with raw hides, and she'll stink somethin' awful in the tropics; no, I wouldn't sail in her." He went off, talking to himself, and I began to think; better perhaps to stick to the regular liner, maybe the old