Page:The three colonies of Australia.djvu/380

 CHAPTER XXXI.

THE DIARIES OF DIGGERS.

HE disappointments in California had rendered the English public cautious, but the arrival in the port of London of actual cargoes of gold, and letters from colonists enriched by digging, presently brought the emigrating public to fever heat, and thousands of all classes and ages betook themselves to Australia, and a large re-emigration took place from South Australia and New South Wales. From the correspondence and journals of these adventurers—some of them experienced colonists—we condense accounts of what they saw, omitting much of what they thought, hoped, feared, and ejaculated.

PASSAGE.

"In the first place, take your own passage or berth for yourself: trust not to any one, not even a brother, for it. Second, make the bargain that no one is to be in the same berth with you (that is, if you go in the second cabin or intermediate.) Bring on board a small barrel for holding water (not a tin can, on any account), a camp stool for sitting on, a lock and key for your berth door, and a determination to make a companion of no one all the voyage, and only seek a speaking friend after you have been three weeks at sea. It is also indispensably necessary that every article you possess, except the wearing apparel on your person, be locked in your trunks and the keys in your pocket.

"In the accounts of the voyages to Australia you will notice that much is said about the great heat; but, as far as my experience goes, too little is said about the extreme cold weather which is experienced after rounding the Cape of Good Hope. It is necessary, therefore, to have a suit of very warm clothing, no matter how coarse it is, but warm it must be. If you were not teetotalers, I should also advise you to bring with you two bottles of brandy and the same quantity of whiskey, but that as your taste inclines.****

PORT PHILLIP.

"The headlands of Port Phillip were reached and entered, the anchor was thrown overboard, and our vessel from Liverpool, with 175 passengers, had completed the voyage from England to Australia in eighty-two days.****