diff options
Diffstat (limited to '36399.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 36399.txt | 7404 |
1 files changed, 7404 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/36399.txt b/36399.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..88ed94e --- /dev/null +++ b/36399.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7404 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Missing Friends, by Thorvald Weitemeyer + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Missing Friends + Being the Adventures of a Danish Emigrant in Queensland (1871-1880) + + +Author: Thorvald Weitemeyer + + + +Release Date: June 13, 2011 [eBook #36399] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MISSING FRIENDS*** + + +E-text prepared by Pat McCoy, Nick Wall, and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made +available by Internet Archive/American Libraries +(http://www.archive.org/details/americana) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 36399-h.htm or 36399-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/36399/36399-h/36399-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/36399/36399-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive/American Libraries. See + http://www.archive.org/details/missingfriendsbe00londiala + + +Transcriber's note: + + Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). + + Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=). + + + + + +MISSING FRIENDS + +[Illustration: A SWAGSMAN.] + +_"Adventures are to the adventurous."_ + + BEACONSFIELD. + +[Illustration: THE ADVENTURE SERIES.] + + +[Illustration] + + * * * * * + + THE ADVENTURE SERIES. + + Illustrated. Crown 8vo, 5s. + + + =1.= + Adventures of a Younger Son. By E. J. TRELAWNY. _With an + Introduction by Edward Garnett_. Second Edition. + + =2.= + Robert Drury's Journal in Madagascar. _Edited by Captain S. P. + Oliver._ + + =3.= + Memoirs of the Extraordinary Military Career of John Shipp. _With + an Introduction by H. Manners Chichester._ + + =4.= + The Adventures of Thomas Pellow, of Penryn, Mariner. _Edited by + Dr. Robert Brown._ + + =5.= + The Buccaneers and Marooners of America. Being an Account of the + Notorious Freebooters of the Spanish Main. _Edited by Howard + Pyle._ + + =6.= + The Log of a Jack Tar; or, The Life of James Choyce. With + O'Brien's Captivity in France. _Edited by V. Lovett Cameron, R.N._ + + =7.= + The Voyages and Adventures of Ferdinand Mendez Pinto. _With an + Introduction by Arminius Vambery._ + + =8.= + The Story of the Filibusters. By JAMES JEFFREY ROCHE. To which is + added the Life of Colonel David Crockett. + + =9.= + A Master Mariner. Being the Life and Adventures of Captain Robert + William Eastwick. _Edited by Herbert Compton._ + + =10.= + Kolokotrones, Klepht and Warrior. _Edited by Mrs. Edmonds. + Introduction by M. Gennadius._ + + =11.= + Hard Life in the Colonies. _Compiled from Private Letters by C. + Carlyon Fenkins._ + + =(_OTHERS IN THE PRESS_.)= + + * * * * * + + +MISSING FRIENDS + +Being the Adventures of a Danish Emigrant in Queensland (1871-1880) + +Illustrated + + + + + + + +London: T. Fisher Unwin, +Paternoster Square. Mdcccxcii + + + + +INTRODUCTORY. + + +I was born in Copenhagen in the year 1850. My father was a builder there +in moderately good circumstances. I was the second son of a large +family, and it was my parents' great ambition that we all should receive +a good education. My eldest brother was intended for a profession, and I +was to be, like my father, a builder, and to take up his business when +old enough to do so. + +My father ruled us with an iron hand. I am sure he had as much love for +us all as most fathers have for their children, but it was considered +necessary when I was twenty years old to treat me as boys of ten are +ordinarily treated. During the time I learned my trade in my father's +shop I never knew the pleasure of owning a sixpence. After I had learned +my trade, it was just the same. I worked for my father and received my +food, clothes, and lodging as before, but I never dared to absent myself +for a quarter of an hour even without asking permission, and that +permission was as often refused as granted. A rebellious feeling kept +growing up in me; but I dared not ask my father to relax a little and +give me more liberty. To assert my independence before him seemed just +as impossible, and yet my position had become to me unbearable. There +was but one thing to do, viz., to run away, and I had scarcely conceived +this idea before I carried it into execution. + +I was now twenty-one years old. One evening, after saying good-night to +my parents in the usual orthodox fashion, I went to my room, and when +all was still, crept downstairs again and left the house. I had a bundle +of clothes with me and a watch, which I pawned next morning. I forget +the exact amount I received for it, but to the best of my recollection +it was the first money I ever possessed, and it seemed to me a vast sum +to do with just as I liked. I dared not to stay in Copenhagen for fear +of meeting my father, or somebody who knew me, so I bought a through +ticket for Hamburg the same day, and although the purchase of this +ticket nearly exhausted my funds, it was with a feeling of glorious +freedom that I left Copenhagen. On arriving in Hamburg I obtained work +at my trade without difficulty, and soon saved a little money, so that a +few months after I found myself on board an emigrant ship bound for +Queensland, where I have been ever since; but for fourteen years I never +wrote home. After that interval I sent a short letter to my eldest +brother, telling him that I was in Queensland, married, in good health, +my own master, but that I had not made my fortune; however I owed +nobody anything, and was satisfied, &c., and asked only for news. + +By return of mail came two letters, one from my father and the other +from my brother. My brother wrote that our father was now getting to be +an old man, and that his one sorrow these many years had been what had +become of me, coupled with the fear that I did not remember him as a +loving father; that he had always acted as he thought best for us, and +that the greatest joy the earth could offer him would be if he might see +me again. My father wrote in the same strain, adding that if I could not +come home I must write, and that nothing I had done would seem trivial +or uninteresting for him to read about. + +When I had read these letters my conscience smote me. Not that I had +ever felt indifferent to my parents. I had thought of them often. I do +not think ever a day went over my head during those fourteen years in +which I did not remember them. Yet I had never written. But I was now a +married man, had children of my own, and I could fully realize how it is +that the parents' love for their children is so inconceivably greater +than children's love for their parents. Would it not be a hard day for +me if ever I should have to bid good-bye to any of my sons, even if they +went out of the front door, so to speak, with my blessing? Would the +least they could do be to write to me circumstantially and often what +they thought, what they did, how they fared? And here was I who never +to that moment had been conscious of having done my parents any wrong! +Yes; I would write. I began the same evening, and kept writing on about +all my wanderings from the day I had left home up to the time of +writing, and as I wrote, many things which I thought I had forgotten +came clearly to my mind; and so I grew interested in it myself. I had my +writing copied. All this took time; but at last the manuscript was +posted to my father with a large photograph of myself enclosed. It +arrived the day after his death, but before the funeral. They buried the +manuscript and photograph with him. + +These are matters far too sacred to write much about, even anonymously. +I only touch upon them to show the origin of the following narrative. +The copy I had taken has been lying in my desk now for some years, and +when I took it out the other day it occurred to me that as it gives a +faithful picture of life that thousands of people lead here in +Queensland, it might be of general interest. I doubt if ever a book was +written with more regard to truth. I have added nothing to the original +manuscript, but I have erased such private matters as, of course, would +be out of place in a publication, and I have also considerably shortened +the description of the voyage out, as a voyage across the sea is a more +than twice-told tale to most Australian people. I have also altered the +names of persons and places mentioned wherever I have thought it +necessary. It is now several years since the events recorded happened. +The incidents themselves are sometimes trifling and always harmless. +Should any one who may read this book think they recognize themselves in +any part of my descriptions, I must beg them to accept my apology. They +will most likely then also recognize the substantial truth of my +description and my endeavour not to be too personal. + +Although it will be seen by the reader that I have often acted foolishly +and seldom excelled in wisdom, yet I do not wish it to be understood +that I consider my life altogether misspent. As I look back, I think of +myself as being always cheerful. It is the privilege of youth to be +happy under almost any circumstances, and I was young when these things +I here set down happened. If the tale has a moral, I think it will be +found sufficiently obvious. Queensland is full of missing friends. Some +come to the colony in the hope of making a speedy fortune, that they may +go home again and bless the old folks with their good fortune. Others +come out with the hope of making a good home, and to bring the old +people thither. The successful man is generally a dutiful son too, +insomuch, at least, that he lets everybody know of his success; but the +man who fails, either from lack of perseverance or from untoward +circumstances, too often becomes a "missing friend." It is generally +true that a man is valued according to the cut of his coat, but it is +not true between parent and son. So! write home, you lonely swagsman on +the dusty track of the far interior. Do not think yourself forgotten. If +you have parents alive you have friends too, who think of you night and +day. If you will only let them know that you yet have a thought left for +them, they will bless you. + +I have nothing else to add to this introduction, except that possibly +the book might have been more interesting if it contained more thrilling +adventures, but in my opinion the only merit which it may possess lies +in the strict regard paid to truth and the avoidance of all exaggeration +from beginning to end. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + PAGE + + INTRODUCTORY v + + CHAP. + + I. MY FIRST EXPERIENCES ON LEAVING HOME 3 + + II. ON THE EMIGRANT SHIP--THE JOURNEY TO QUEENSLAND 19 + + III. MY ARRIVAL IN QUEENSLAND 43 + + IV. GAINING COLONIAL EXPERIENCE 73 + + V. TOWNSVILLE: MORE COLONIAL EXPERIENCES 101 + + VI. ON THE HERBERT RIVER 131 + + VII. LEAVING THE HERBERT--RAVENSWOOD 161 + + VIII. SHANTY-KEEPING, PROSPECTING, THORKILL'S DEATH 185 + + IX. GOING TO THE PALMER 211 + + X. RETURNING FROM THE PALMER 231 + + XI. A LOVE STORY 259 + + XII. BRISBANE--TRAVELS IN THE "NEVER NEVER" LAND 271 + + XIII. THE END 315 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + + (1) A SWAGSMAN _Frontispiece_ + + (2) LANDING OF EMIGRANTS _To face page_ 55 + + (3) AN ALLIGATOR POOL " " 145 + + (4) THE BAKER'S CART " " 190 + + (5) BREAKFAST IN THE GOLD FIELDS " " 198 + + (6) ROCKHAMPTON " " 232 + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +MY FIRST EXPERIENCES ON LEAVING HOME. + + +Having left Copenhagen in the way just described and arrived in +Hamburg, my first care was to get work, which I fortunately obtained +the next day. The place I worked in was a large building or series of +buildings, four or five stories high, with cabinet-makers' shops from +the cellars to the loft. We had to be at work at six o'clock in the +morning, and to keep on till eight o'clock at night. Even on Sundays we +worked from six o'clock to dinner-time. Some would keep on till it was +dark on Sunday evening, and content themselves with knocking off early, +as they called it. And such work! Everybody would work as if the house +were on fire. It was all piecework. The man who stood next myself had +made veneered chests of drawers for thirty years, and never had made +anything else. He would turn out two veneered chests of drawers in a +week, and the work was faultless. These chests would, I am sure, sell +readily in Brisbane for from twelve to fifteen pounds each. He earned +about nine Prussian thalers per week. On the other side of me stood a +man who made German secretaires. There were nine or ten men in the shop. +The master was working too. He seemed just as poor as the men. Whenever +work was finished, some furniture dealer would come round and buy it. +The men seemed all more or less askew in their bodies with overwork. If +ever they had an ambition in their lives, it was to instil a proper +sense of respect into the two apprentices. I did pity these two boys. +They received their board and lodging from the master, but they could, I +am sure, easily have made one meal out of their four daily allowances. +They slept in a corner of the shop. They had, of course, to be at work +at six o'clock in the morning the same as the men, but while we had half +an hour for breakfast and "vesperkost," they were supposed to eat and +work at the same time. After work-hours at night they had to carry all +the shavings out of the shop to the loft above, from which they were +occasionally removed; then they had tea, and finally, if they liked, +they were allowed to work a couple of hours for themselves. They would +get odd pieces of veneer and wood and make a workbox. When it was +finished, they would one evening run round among the furnishers from +door to door to sell it. The dealer would know that the materials were +not paid for, and of course he did not pay them. A shilling or less is +the price a dealer in Hamburg pays for one of those beautiful workboxes +which are sold all over the world. I wonder how often the buyers of +these boxes think of the lean, ragged youth who has stood late in the +night and made it, most often perhaps to buy an extra morsel of bread +from the proceeds--because, as a matter of fact, that was what these two +boys used to do. The master was accustomed to beat them daily, and if he +was at any time thought too sparing with the rod, and thereby neglecting +their education, the men would themselves beat the lads. It was +winter-time, and daylight only about eight o'clock in the morning. But +in order to reach the shop at six o'clock, the men, who lived mostly in +the suburbs, had to be up at half-past four. I had rented a small room +from one of them, and he and I would generally arrive together. As we +scrambled our way up the dark staircase, he would caution me to walk +softly because, as he said, he wanted to catch these rascally boys in +bed. Poor fellows! If we were the first to arrive they would most often +lie in a heavy sleep. Then he would rush at them, tear the bed-clothes +off them, box their ears, and call them all sorts of _endearing_ names. +The master and the other men, with scarcely an exception, approved of +this. It was not breakfast-time before eight o'clock, and very often +when the apprentices had been hunted to work in this manner they would +get another correction before then for neglecting to wash themselves! +Poor fellows, they had no time. But, as is well known, the harder an +apprenticeship a boy has served, the more cruel does he in his turn +become after his time is out. The Prime Minister himself has not, I am +sure, half as serene a contempt for an apprentice, as a journeyman only +three months out of his apprenticeship. + +This work in Hamburg certainly did not suit my ideas of liberty. My head +would swim of an evening when I came out of the shop. As already stated, +I had rented a small room from one of the men for a mere trifle, and I +boarded myself, and very frugal fare I had. This self-denial was because +I soon made up my mind that I would not stay in Hamburg; and so I saved +all that was possible, and it did not take long before I could commence +to count a few thalers in my pocket. + +On Sunday evenings I used to go and sit in one of the public gardens, +and listen to the music and watch the faces of the people there. +Sometimes when there was a free show I would be there too, but I never +spent any money. With the din of the shop scarcely out of my ears, and +Monday morning looming only a few hours away, I almost fancied myself of +a different species from such happy, chattering crowds as would pass and +repass seemingly without a care in the world. There was not a soul to +speak to me. For one thing, I could scarcely make myself understood in +German; for another, the men in the shop, who were the only people I +knew, if I did go down the street with one of them, conversation had but +one subject for which was sure somehow to turn on the quality of the +glue we used. They all had a vast reverence for the furniture dealers, +and they were just the people I did not like. I was therefore quite +alone. I was also wonderfully homesick. Often and often did I wish that +I had never run away, but it seemed to me impossible to go home again, +and so I used to sit and speculate on what I had better do. I thought +when I had saved a little money I would go to Paris, or Vienna. They +were nice places I believed; but of one thing I was certain, and that +was that as yet I had not seen anybody I liked as well as myself, or any +place I liked so well as my own home! + +One Sunday evening as I walked about the streets, I saw in a window a +large attractive placard on which was printed in red letters, "Free +Emigration to Queensland, Australia." I am certain I had never heard the +name of Queensland before, and my impression of Australia was that it +was the place to which criminals were sent; I had also read something +about gold-diggings in Australia, but it was in the form of a novel, and +I did not believe it. I called to mind what I had read in school in the +geography about Australia, and I remembered it well. It was only a short +paragraph. It ran thus: "Australia. Travellers who come from this +distant continent, bring us very conflicting statements. It seems to be +a land in which nature is reversed. The leaves are hanging downwards on +the trees instead of upwards. Rivers run from the ocean inland. The +interior seems to be one vast lake of salt water. It is the home of the +kangaroo and the black swan. Altogether but little is known about it. +Captain Cook discovered it in the year 1788. It belongs to England. The +Dutch have possessions in the North. It has been used as a penal +settlement by England, but this is now abolished. Of late years gold has +been found in considerable quantities and in several places. Wool, +tallow, and hides are exported. Towns, Sydney and Melbourne." + +I can scarcely help laughing to myself now when recalling to mind this +piece of information about Australia. It was really an ignorant and +disgraceful morsel of information for one of the best schools in +Copenhagen to offer to its pupils, but it was all the knowledge I had or +could get, and it was not much assuredly to give one any idea what +Queensland was like. But somehow I determined to find out what I could +for myself. There was gold there that might be more easily got, perhaps, +than by making chests of drawers, so the next day I presented myself at +the office, and asked for information. + +Yes, it was right. The ship would sail in a fortnight. "Did I want to +go? Two pounds sterling please. Only three or four tickets left." +"Well--I would like a little information." "Information, yes, we have +every information. What is it you want to know? You get, to begin with, +all your food, and splendid food I can tell you is provided for you on +the whole journey. You also get bed-clothes, and your own knife, spoon, +and fork. This will all become your own property on arrival in +Queensland. Here is the bill of fare." + +I hesitated. "When you have arrived in Queensland," cried my informant, +"the Government of that country further engages to board you in a +first-class hotel for two or three weeks, free of all cost, while you +make up your mind what occupation to engage in, and--here it is in the +prospectus, look at this!--they further guarantee to find work for you +making roads, for at least two years after." "Do you yourself know +anything much about Queensland?" I ventured to ask; "I suppose you never +were there?" "I, no, I never was there--I wish I had been, I should not +have to stand here to-day. But we have every information. They have +found gold-diggings again. Here are the statistics of exports; I will +read them for you:-- + + Marks. Marks. + Hides, 100,000,000,000,000. Horns, 1,000,000,000,000. + Wool, 10,000,000,000,000. Tallow, 10,000,000,000. + Cattle, 1,000,000,000,000. Horses, 100,000,000,000,000. + Gold, 100,000,000,000. Silver, 1,000,000,000,000. + Copper, 1,000,000,000,000,000. Tin, 1,000,000,000,000. + +What do you think of that now?" + +What I thought was that it was all Latin to me. I did not know why they +exported all this wealth, or why they did not keep it at home. No more +did the man in the office, I am sure. I asked, did he think it probable +that I should obtain work as a carpenter and joiner, and did he know +what wages were going? To that he replied that, of course, I could get +work as a carpenter and joiner, and that wages were at least one pound +per day, but that if I wanted to go he would have to enlist me as an +agricultural labourer, because a whole cargo of carpenters was already +engaged, but that undoubtedly it would pay me better to dig for gold +myself. I concluded that Queensland was a sort of vast gold-field. I +asked what was the cost of living. He said, "If you like to live in an +hotel and be waited on hand and foot, of course you can have it at all +prices; but if you like to cook your own food, it will cost you nothing. +Why man! don't I keep telling you that the cattle are running wild; if +you are wise enough to buy a gun before you go, your meat supply is +secured when you get there, and all sorts of game are in equal +abundance--kangaroos, parrots, and all sorts." I inquired how much, or +rather how little, money did he think it indispensable for me to have +when I landed. He said as for that, no doubt the less I had, the less +chance there was of my being robbed. It would, in his opinion, take some +little time for any one to get alongside the people over there, but, +once having taken their measure, there was no mistake about the +resources of the country. Then, as an afterthought, he added, "In case +on your arrival in the country you should decide to establish yourself +as a farmer the Government makes you a present of"--I think it +was--"eighty acres of land. This land is the best and richest +agricultural land in the colony, and you can pick it out yourself +wherever you like best in Queensland. I will give you the order which +entitles you to your deeds." + +I felt very undecided. I did not buy any ticket, nor did I go to work +again that day. I kept roaming about the streets, thinking of Queensland +and the information I had received. Wages a pound sterling per day! if I +would only work for it--the price of food scarcely anything--cattle +running wild--large gold-fields! How was it, then, that there were +hotels where people would wait on the immigrants, "hand and foot." What +silly fellows those publicans must be; would it not pay them better to +work at a trade, or look out for gold? Truly the order of things seemed +to be reversed in that country. And eighty acres of their best land +would they give me if only I would go! Perhaps horses were running wild +as well as cattle. I might be able to catch some and break them in to +plough the land. But what about the plough? Surely nobody made ploughs +there; I should have to bring that with me. Perhaps there were saddlers. +No doubt it would be a good country for a saddler to go to, as it seemed +they had so many hides over there that they had to export them. Probably +if a saddler wanted materials, all he had to do was to flay a bullock +and carry its hide away. But were there bricklayers to build houses? +Certainly I could do the carpentry myself; on a pinch I could do the +bricklaying too. Everything seemed so satisfactory. Perhaps I should +even find gold enough while I was sinking the foundation for my house to +pay for the lot! It need not be such a large piece either. A couple of +nuggets, as large only as one brick each, would go a long way. Perhaps, +too, if I found them, it would be as well to go home again at once. Then +I began to wonder if the fellow in the office would not, if I had asked +him, have told me that houses, by careful cultivation, would grow out of +the ground themselves in that country. In a word, I gave it up. Perhaps +it was all one tissue of falsehood. Perhaps the diggers over there were +only trying to get slaves to work for them. That seemed to me more +reasonable. Why should the Government of the country make me a present +of a large estate? All bosh! But I would go, just to see the land in +which swans were black and rivers running from the ocean inland. If I +should be caught on my arrival, perhaps I might escape to the interior. +There would be no cabinet-maker's shops there, of that I felt certain. +The prospectus said that the Government would guarantee to every +intending emigrant work on the roads of the colony for two years, if he +desired it. I could not think it probable that I desired that, but +perhaps it was meant to pay our passage money. Anyhow, I promised myself +I should not fail for the want of firearms if I did go, and perhaps we +could slay any enemies we found altogether, because undoubtedly there +would be others on board ship who would fight for their liberty. +Liberty, delightful liberty! To be the captain of a gang of warriors, +half robbers, half gold-miners, roaming over the continent of Australia, +seemed a delightful prospect. + +This is, I am sure, quite a faithful picture of my wild ideas of +Queensland after I had elicited all the information I could get. + +The Government of Queensland spends yearly, I do not remember how large +a sum, in promoting free emigration. They prepared at great cost, and +with elaborate exactness, statistics to show the commercial position of +the country. Then they trust all this to the care of some office at +home, whose officials know little or nothing about Queensland. The +principal in such an office puts a clerk at the counter who has, +perhaps, no other qualification for the work than a facility for +talking. Fancy a home-bred peasant coming into such a place with the +care of a family on his shoulders, and a little money in the bank, and +think of the clerk talking to him about gold-fields and firearms and +statistics, all the time admitting he never was in the colony himself! I +think it is quite enough to prevent any one going out. And yet people of +that class are the only class of poor men who really can do well in +Queensland, and they are almost the only desirable sort of emigrants for +the country itself. The reason is that such a man can, after a very +short spell of colonial experience, go on to a piece of crown land, and +by residing there for five years, and making certain improvements +thereto, very soon get a living out of the soil, and while keeping his +children round him, be independent of everybody. But such people are at +a premium in Queensland. On the other hand, the towns out here are +crowded with men who seek for light work, and I have no hesitation in +asserting that for certain people, such as junior clerks without +influence, grocers' and drapers' assistants, second-class tradesmen, +&c., it is quite as difficult, if not more so, to obtain a living in +Queensland as in Copenhagen. The land order I obtained, and which +entitled me to eighty acres of land wherever I chose to take them, I did +not consider of any value--in fact I threw it away; so did all the other +emigrants on the ship: one might have bought a whole hatful for a dozen +biscuits! + +But all this is digression. Still, it is a matter which excites +considerable interest in Queensland, and as I think of that time, these +thoughts come uppermost in my mind. No doubt if I, in the office, had +met a man who came from the colony, and who could have advised me and +spoken with confidence about the country itself, I should have made up +my mind to go in a far less reckless way, and probably I should never +have acquired, after my arrival in the country, that roving disposition +which I contracted, and which did not leave me for many years, if it has +even left me now. Well, I made up my mind to go. I also made up my mind +that it was unnecessary for me to work any more in Hamburg while +waiting for the ship, so I took a holiday and went about town every day, +spending my money to the last farthing. I had bought a revolver, +ammunition, and a long knife. I had bought my ticket too, and so the day +arrived when we were all mustered and put on board the ship. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +ON THE EMIGRANT SHIP--THE JOURNEY TO QUEENSLAND. + + +What a motley crew we were: Germans, Danes, Swedes, Norwegians, a +Russian Finn, and an Icelander. There were many nationalities, but in +the majority of cases extreme poverty was evident in their dress and +stamped upon their faces, and it was easy to see that the same spirit of +recklessness which filled me had somehow also been instilled into them. +Nearly everybody had guns, revolvers, and knives, which were promptly +taken from us as we stepped on board. Then the Germans would sing in +their language of the Fatherland they had left, and in overflowing gush, +men, women, and children would hang about one another's necks. Everybody +acted in such a mad manner as, I am quite sure, he would never have +thought of behaving in any time before. Most of the men were drunk, and +as it grew dark at night one would seek for the other, and as no one +knew the way about, a perfect pandemonium was raging--singing, fighting, +blubbering in all languages. I do believe if I had had a sixpence left, +I should have spent it in schnapps too, because my courage had never +been tried so hard before. But I had spent my all, and so I made a +virtue of necessity, and stood aloof looking round me in silent wonder +as to what the end would be. + +The prospectus said that the best and most wholesome food would be +served out to us in abundance, and to look at the bill of fare one would +think it enough to satisfy any gormandizer. But we got nothing at all +the first day, and I was unspeakably hungry. The prospectus said also +that bed-clothes were supplied to us, and these were already in the +bunks--it said mattrass, pillow, sheets, and blanket. The mattrass and +pillow were right enough. The sheets it did not matter much about--they +were no good at all for their purpose. But the blanket, the only thing +we had to cover ourselves with at night on a four months' voyage, was +smaller than the size of a little dining-table when it was spread out, +about the size of a saddle-cloth and much inferior in quality to +anything worthy of the name of blanket I have ever seen before or since. +As a consequence, those who had like myself put faith in that part of +the promises made us, and who had no other bed-clothes, were compelled +when we went to bed at night, to put on all the clothes we had and sleep +in them. I slept every night for months at a stretch in my overcoat, +woollen comforter around my neck, and the blanket, the all sufficient +bed-clothes, rolled round my head! + +I did not, as it may be imagined, sleep at all the first night on board +the ship. At break of day the cook came in with a large wooden bowl of +hot potatoes, which he put on the table singing out, "Breakfast!" I was +thankful because I was very hungry, and I began at once to get out of +the bunk so as to lose no time, but I was not half way to the table +before a dozen Germans had rushed the dish and stuffed all the hot +potatoes into their pockets, their shirts, anywhere. There was not a +taste left! We were twenty-six men in that compartment, and now the row +of last night began again with renewed vigour. I looked upon it as a +lesson in smartness which I should have to learn, and I thought that if +I did not learn it soon it would be a bad job. Half of the twenty-six +men were Danes--in fact we were fourteen Danes in the compartment +against twelve Germans, because I, who hailed from Hamburg, had been +classified as a German although I am not. I believe it was a +premeditated assault on the potatoes by the Germans, because they were +all in it, and not one of the Danes had got a morsel to eat. The twelve +Germans gave nothing up. They ate the potatoes intended for us all with +great composure while we others were storming at them. Didn't I feel +wild! + +While the dissatisfaction was at its highest point, somebody we had not +yet seen came into the cabin. He was a person with a decided military +air about him, and he was also dressed in a gorgeous uniform. Two of the +passengers who had already been sworn in to act as police constables +during the voyage came behind him, and in one of his uplifted hands he +held a document which he was waving at us. "Halt," cried he. "Halt, +Donnerwetter, I say, halt, while I read this paper." All the Germans +without an exception had just come from the Franco-German war, and the +sight of the uniform and the determined military air about the doctor, +as we soon discovered him to be, had the effect of shutting them up in +an instant. Some of the Danes were also old soldiers; anyhow, you might +have heard a pin drop while the doctor, who also came straight from the +war, where he had been army surgeon, read a proclamation, the exact +words of which I forget, but which was to the purpose that he had +supreme command over us all, and--"Donnerwetter," cried he, +"Donnerwetter, I will have order. If you are not amenable to discipline +I will handcuff every one of you. What sort of Knechte are you?" This +last remark was addressed to a big strapping-looking German who happened +to stand close to him. The German stood as stiff as a statute, saluting +with the one hand, while with the other he made a slight movement which +threw his overcoat a little to one side and displayed a silver cross +which he wore on his vest. "Ha!" cried the doctor, greatly mollified, "I +see you have served the Kaiser to some purpose. Don't forget you are not +outside the Kaiser's law yet. I hope we shall be friends." Then he +marched off to read his proclamation in other parts of the ship. These +Germans, I found out by degrees, were not at all bad fellows, but we +did not for a long time forgive them the assault on the potatoes, and I +have often thought what a peculiar sign of German thrift it was. They +had simply taken in the situation more quickly than we; indeed it has +become nearly a proverb in Queensland to say that a German will grow fat +where other men will starve. After that time order was restored, and no +disturbance worth mention occurred on the whole voyage. + +Nothing can well be more tedious than a sea voyage of four months under +our circumstances. The food was wretched and insufficient, and, as I +have already mentioned, most of us had to sleep with all our clothes on +us. We did not undress; we rather dressed to go to bed! + +There was not a single individual among the passengers who understood +English. It is true I had learned English for seven years in school, but +when we came ashore it proved that I could scarcely make myself +understood in a single sentence. None of us knew anything about +Queensland, and many were the surmises and guesses at what the country +was like and what we were going to do there. I remember distinctly once +a number of us were sitting talking about the colony, and that one +ventured to say that he had heard how in Queensland, when journeymen +tradesmen were travelling about looking for work, they needed no +"wander-book," and travelled about on horseback; whereupon another got +up much offended, and said that he had heard many lies about +Queensland, but this last beat all. He did not know so much about the +"wander-book," although he had taken good care to have his own in order, +but if any one tried to make him believe that beggars went about on +horseback over there, then it was time to cry stop. "No," said he, "he +knew we should have to walk." We others concurred. + +One of my companions, I remember, was a shoemaker, and a religious +maniac besides. He would lie in his bunk and pray aloud night and day. +It was quite startling sometimes in the middle of the night when all +were asleep to hear him in a sanctimonious voice chanting a hymn. If the +spirit moved him that way, then it was good-bye to sleep for us for a +long time after. He would be quite irresistible. Most of us in the cabin +were a phlegmatic set who did not mind, but one, a Swiss, was of a very +excitable temperament. He was "down" on the shoemaker. When the hymns +began in the night one might be quite sure to hear after a minute, from +the bunk in which the Swiss lay, a smothered whispered little oath like +"Gottferdam." Then ten seconds after he would exclaim in an everyday +voice, with, however, an affected resignation, "Gottferdam"; and as the +full burden of the sacred song kept rolling on, he would start screaming +out of his bunk with a real big "Gottferdam." But the others did not +allow him to hurt his enemy. They seemed to agree that even if it was +not very nice, yet it must be wicked to hurt any one for practising his +religion; but I believe that their motives were not quite so pure, +because this shoemaker had an inexhaustible fund of anecdote, and if +anything were allowed to annoy him in the night, he would tell them no +stories during the day. When all went smooth, it was the practice for +him to gather a score or two around, the numbers swelling as he +proceeded, and then tell a story, something of a sensational sort about +love and murder. His whole soul would then be in it, and he gesticulated +as if he felt and believed it all. Every Sunday he was always more or +less ready to cry out for hunger, and would at such times sit and look +right before him straight out into space. Then he would say, "I wish I +had a dish of German dumplings. With cherry-sauce, with cherry-sauce. +Not the way one gets in the steam-kitchens, but the way my mother used +to make it." Then we would get a long description of his mother's recipe +for German dumplings. There is no mistake about it, too, we _did_ fast +on that ship. + +In reading over to myself some of these last pages, I am afraid I have +given my readers the impression that the people on board, taken as a +whole, were a bad lot. If I have done so, it is erroneous. It is true +that my first impression of the emigrants was not a good one, and +perhaps few among us excelled or were remarkable for anything in +particular, but taken as a whole they were honest, hard-working people, +and as I became acquainted with them one after another I found that men +of whom I had a very low opinion when we first came on board, were in +reality entitled to very much higher estimation. + +We did not know anything about the country to which we were going. We +had an idea that we were to begin a new life somewhat freer than in the +old world, and, simpleminded as we were--because I was just as bad as +anybody--thought that when we came on board ship we could dispense with +such formalities as those the old world had taught us. That is, I am +sure, the true reason why so many emigrants, when they leave home as +well as when they arrive in a colony, behave so foolishly as to make one +think that they never had known the decencies of life before. It is the +same with the English emigrants, only they are more quickly absorbed +into the general population. Still the word "New Chum" has in Australia +much the same meaning as the word "fool." I never felt more bitterly +ashamed than once, several years after I came to Queensland, when I saw +a number of Danish immigrants just arrived. It was in Toowoomba, and I +had come down there from up country on some business, when one of the +first things I was told was that there were a lot of my countrymen in +the depot waiting for engagements. Toowoomba is about a hundred miles +inland, and they had been sent up from Brisbane. Well, I felt quite +pleased, and decided at once to go and see them and to speak a kind word +to some of them, if I could not do them any other service. But I came +away a great deal less pleased than I had gone. There were some long +forms outside the building, and on those forms sat as close as they +could find room a score or so of men. Each man had wooden clogs on his +feet and a long pipe in his mouth. On his knees sat his girl with her +arm round his neck, and there they sat smoking and kissing perfectly +regardless of ladies and gentlemen who would walk about looking at them +and going on again. One I stood glaring at seemed to me the worst. He +was a big ugly fellow, dressed in a blue calico blouse, black trousers +and wooden clogs. In his hand he had a pipe five feet long, but on his +head he had a sugar-bag. These sugar-bags are of straw and about two +feet six inches in length. He had tied in the corners to fit his head. +This gentleman would rush about and look in at the doors of houses, +throwing side glances in all directions with the evident desire to +attract attention. At last he stood in the middle of the street singing +an old Danish song and jerking his body about like a maniac. I could not +contain myself, so I went up to him and asked him if he did not think he +was ugly enough already without trying to make himself still more so, +and what did he mean by sticking that sugar-bag on his head? + +"Oh," cried he, quite unconcerned, "here we are right up on the top of +these blue mountains, that does not matter. It is a first-rate +straw-hat. Does it not look nice? Why! this is a free country," &c. + +One very conspicuous figure on board the emigrant ship was the +Icelander, Thorkill; he was so unlike anybody else that I would like to +describe him, especially as he became my mate in Queensland and we +became close friends. His eyes were bluer and his complexion clearer +than that of any one else I ever saw. He had long yellow curly hair, and +a big yellow beard. He was himself also big and strong, and about +twenty-eight years of age--altogether I should say, as far as appearance +went, the beau ideal of a man. But as no one is perfect, so had he also +a grievous fault, viz., a certain softness, like a woman. He always +spoke as with a comma between each word, and although he had plenty of +good sense and was, like all Icelanders, well educated, yet he would, I +believe, give most people the impression that he was not fit to battle +with a wicked world. I often wondered what might have brought him on +board that ship, but he was very reticent about his own affairs. +Meanwhile I have never known anybody whose mind was so pure, whose +thoughts were so lofty as his. But he was unpractical, to a degree. He +claimed to know all his ancestors from the twelfth century, when they +had emigrated from Norway to Iceland, and he said his father still +farmed the same land. Unless as a professor in ancient folklore, I do +not know what Thorkill was good for. I had, in school, learned much +Icelandic folklore, and to see his eyes sparkle with joy when he +discovered this and knew that I was interested in it besides, did me +real good, and so we agreed that during the voyage we would refresh each +other's memory in "Sagamaal." He arranged to teach me the whole complete +"Rumi Kronike." So we bribed the fellow who lay next to me (we had +double bunks) to exchange berths with Thorkill, and he and I then lay +together, and there we were telling "Sagamaal" from morning to night and +sometimes the whole night through. He would make me tell him one of the +"Sagas" I knew, although he knew it far better himself, just to see if I +had mastered it properly. He would listen with all his might, then he +would say: "Excuse--me--for--interrupting you--but--are--you--sure--that +--you--are--correct--in--describing--Sharpedin--the--son--of--Hakon--as +--a--longbearded--man. The--Rumi Kronike--does--not--say--so--on--the +--contrary." Then we would have a long argument about that, Thorkill +insisting upon the importance of being exact. + +He wrote a splendid hand, but from the pedantic ungainly way in which he +took hold of anything, I made sure he was not a good worker. He had +studied scientific farming at the agricultural college in Copenhagen, +and afterwards had been, he said, a sort of overseer on a large farm on +the island of Als. Whether he had given satisfaction at that or not, I +did not know, but what was the good of all his knowledge, supposing he +had any, when he did not understand English, had no friend nor money, +and was a bad worker? One day I said to him: + +"Thorkill, do you ever try to draw a real picture to yourself of how we +shall get on when we come to Queensland? I am thinking of this, there +are, according to what we have been told, no more people in all +Queensland than there is in a good-sized street in Copenhagen, and here +are all these people on board ship who will be, the moment they land, +ravenous in their competition for something to do, and another ship has +sailed from Hamburg a week after us. How will they fare? I cannot solve +it. But it strikes me very forcibly that if the sail of this ship were +set for Copenhagen harbour instead of Queensland, the only solution to +the problem there would be for the police to have some large vans in +readiness and to give us a drive in them straight out to the workhouse." +"Oh say not so," cried Thorkill, "say not so. God will protect us. You +and I will never part." "No," cried I, in the fulness of my heart, "we +will stick together, and we will get something to do too, you will see." +And then, with a new sense of responsibility on me, I would talk to him +cheerfully about Queensland, and the opportunities there would be to do +well for both of us, which could not fail, but meanwhile I would rack my +brain with thinking about how to make a few shillings to land with. I +had not got a cent, and I knew very well that Thorkill had nothing +either. It was a bad place I was in for making money, for there was not +much of it on the ship, but I now very much regretted that I had spent +all that I had before I came on board. Here were all these empty +bottles lying about the ship which nobody seemed to claim. Why, thought +I, they must be worth a little fortune in Queensland. Good idea! We will +collect them all. I communicated with Thorkill. "Oh," said he, "you-- +will--make--your--fortune--in--Queensland. They must be worth a mint of +money. But is it right to take them? What--a--business--ability--you +--have--got. Nobody seems to want them. I think we might have them." + +So then we went about begging and borrowing empty bottles everywhere, +without letting anybody know for what we wanted them, and we piled them +up in our bunks so that we could scarcely get into them; then people, +when they saw what we were after, put a price on the bottles and came to +us to sell. So Thorkill bought five shillings' worth on my +recommendation, all the money he had, and still they came with bottles, +but the firm was compelled to suspend payment. Then I, who was +understood to know a little English, opened a class for teaching that +language. My pupils had no money, but I took it out in empty bottles, +and by and by we had them stacked by the hundred all round about ready +for market. + +The food we got was so wretched and insufficient that it was scarcely +possible to keep body and soul together upon it. I have asked many +people since how they fared in other ships, and I have come to the +conclusion that our ship was the worst provided of any in that respect. +Indeed, the emigrant ships which leave England are well supplied with +everything, even luxuries, for their passengers. But in this ship we +were sometimes on the point of despair with hunger. We got our week's +supply of biscuits served out once a week. Those who were unable to +practise self-restraint, generally ate them in a couple of days, and for +the rest of the week subsisted on the so-called dinner which consisted +of a couple of mouthfuls of salt pork or mutton, with a little +sauer-krout to keep it company. Our ration of sugar was a small +table-spoonful per week to each man. The tea and coffee we got morning +and evening was served in the same wooden trough in which we fetched our +dinner, and as the sugar ration was, as already stated, served +separately once a week and quickly consumed, our beverage was void of +any sweetening. But as for me, I never fooled about all the week with my +spoonful of sugar; I always put it into the first pint of tea I got. We +also got some butter, and we never troubled much either about the +quantity or quality of that article. The trouble was that we had seldom +a biscuit to spread it on. The prospectus had said that cordials were +served out, and in conformity with that every sixteen men received one +bottle of lime-juice per week. These were our rations. There was on that +account an amount of dissatisfaction on board verging sometimes on open +mutiny. The water was also fearfully bad, with inches of froth on it, +but bad as it was, we would drink it as soon as we got it and then feel +like dying of thirst sometimes before the time came to serve out the +next rations. As a sort of proof of the correctness of this statement, I +might mention that one of the passengers had a canary bird which died of +thirst because some of us would steal the drop of water in its glass! + +I have already written that no disturbance worth mentioning occurred on +the voyage. When I wrote that, I forgot an incident which happened when +we had been out to sea about a couple of months. The doctor, as I have +already stated, was also in command of us. He had been an army doctor in +the German army during the Franco-German war, and came straight thence. +Whether he made the mistake of thinking he was in command of a convict +ship full of criminals, or whether it was that his military training was +the cause of it, I cannot say, but in one word, he was boss of that +ship. Every now and then somebody would be handcuffed and shut up during +his pleasure, without anybody taking much notice; but one day he went a +good deal too far. One of the single girls had been accused by the woman +in charge of them of some fault, upon which I need not farther enlarge +more than to say that it was trifling, and that the culprit was a very +respectable girl, who shortly after her arrival in Queensland got +married to a good husband, and that both she and her husband are, and +always were, pre-eminently respectable people. The girl was tied with +ropes to the mast, with her hands fastened behind her in such a way that +she was exposed to the full view of all the six hundred people on board. +I was lying in my bunk when a fellow came in very excited, and said, +"Look here, chaps, is not this getting red hot? There is that poor girl, +so and so, chained to the mast and crying as if her heart would break. +What are we coming to?" + +The moment I heard there was a girl chained to the mast and crying, I +jumped up and registered an oath aloud that she should not stand there +one second longer than it would take me to reach the mast. So did every +other man who was in the cabin; even meek Thorkill cried out, "It is too +bad, too bad." Then I grabbed the wooden trough in which the concoction +of roasted peas that passed for coffee was served out in the morning. So +did every other man grab at something to strike with--one would take a +wooden clog, one a long stick, another a boot, and all something, and in +less time than it takes to read this we were all on deck. But to reach +the mast was then impossible. The girl had not stood there yet for five +minutes, but there was already a surging, impenetrable crowd on the +scene of action. As I could not see, and could not content myself to +stand still, I jumped up in the rigging, and from there, right enough, I +saw the girl and four German constables (passengers who had been sworn +in as police) watching her. How shall I describe the scene. It all +seemed to me to happen in one instant. Hundreds of men were yelling from +behind at the top of their voices, "Throw them in the sea. Cut her down! +Where is the doctor? He shall not live another hour." A dozen men were +struggling round the girl, some with the constables, and some of the +more moderate among the passengers with the aggressors. One towering +fellow, a Dane, had one of the constables by the throat, and the wooden +bowl swinging over his head, and held back by another man, who implored +him to give the doctor a chance to order the girl's instant removal. The +doctor was not on deck, but he came running on now, with a revolver in +each hand. He kept on the quarter-deck, but he sang out to the +constables to cut her down and take her into the hospital. Somehow that +was done, and the doctor walked down the steps from the quarter-deck, +turned the key in the lock, put it in his pocket, and faced the crowd. + +Did you ever notice two dogs when they meet, and before they begin to +fight? How unconcerned they try to look. They will look at anything, +anywhere but at one another. So looked the doctor as he stood there with +a cigar in his mouth, smoking away and looking at anything but the sea +of faces around him. Around him like a solid wall had the men closed, +armed with knives, wooden bowls, sticks, &c., and the howl, "Throw him +in the sea," kept on from the rear. No doubt the doctor realized that he +had gone too far, and he tried all he could while he stood there not to +give further offence, but I watched him particularly from my seat in the +rigging. Fear was not in that man. Not a muscle in his face shook, and +yet I am certain that his attention was strained to the uttermost, and +that the fingers which closed on the triggers of the two revolvers would +have caused them to blaze away the moment he had felt any one touch him +ever so gently. Behind him again, but up on the quarter-deck, stood the +captain and the first mate, with large overcoats on, and their hands in +their pockets. I had a suspicion that they also had revolvers--who knows +how many--within easy distance. + +But it was one thing to see a young woman tied to the mast and crying, +and it was (the doctor and his revolver apart) quite another thing to +look at a closed door and know that she was there and that no further +harm would befall her. But most of the men had a few minutes ago been so +excited, that it was not in human nature for them to cool down at once. +The man who had when I came on the scene taken the most prominent part, +was still the foremost person. He stood within three feet of the doctor, +and, as I said already, like a solid wall stood the others armed with +divers things; but no one touched the doctor, and no one spoke to him, +and there was a sort of undecided silence. Then the leader cried, "Well, +what are you waiting for? You said throw him in the sea; just give the +word and he shall be overboard in a second." My heart beat violently. I +thought murder would be committed in an instant, and not a single life +either, but perhaps scores would be sacrificed. There was a dead +silence. The wind whistled through the rigging, but it was the only +sound heard. The doctor did not move; the captain did not move; the mate +did not move; and none of the men moved. None dared to give the +aggressive sign, and each seemed to feel it just as impossible to beat a +retreat. It might have lasted a couple of minutes, perhaps less. It +seemed an age to me. Then we all heard Thorkill's voice, he was +somewhere in the rigging too, and he cried, "Countrymen--listen--to--me! +hear--what--I--say! Disperse! Disperse!--quietly. Let--us--complain +--when--we--come--ashore! He--will--shoot--the--first--ten--or--twelve +--men--who--touch--him--and--those--who--escape--now--might--be--hung +--when--we--come--ashore. Let--us--complain--when--we--come--ashore +--and--we--will--get--justice." Thorkill still kept on talking, but the +outburst of relief from all sides completely drowned his voice. There +was an honourable way to get out of it. "We will complain when we come +ashore," "Disperse," "Let it be enough," and similar expressions, were +heard on all sides, and the doctor, I suppose nothing loth, had quite a +pleased appearance as he stepped up on the quarter-deck again as soon as +the road was clear, and disappeared out of sight simultaneously with the +dispersion of the men. + +That day the doctor did not show up again, but on the next, I suppose +just to show that he did not consider himself beaten, all the single men +were ordered below at sundown as a punishment for insubordination, and +with that the matter ended. But now the men were pressing Thorkill to +write out a complaint which should embody all we had suffered, and all +our supposed wrongs. Thorkill, however, would do no such thing. It was +not in his line, he said. Many a talk he and I had about it, but he +could not see his way. "All these poor people," said he, "are treated +with contempt because they are poor, and I cannot help them for I am +just as poor. We do not know to whom to complain; we cannot write +English, and what we do will rebound on our own heads. Still," said he, +"it--is--a--shame--that--they--should--be--allowed--to--treat--people +--like--this." Then I wrote out a complaint in Danish addressed to the +Danish Consul, Australia. The exact contents of it I have long since +forgotten, but it was to the effect that we had been starved, +ill-treated, had had no sick accommodation, insufficient bed-clothes, +&c., and from that day I looked upon myself as an important personage on +board ship. All the single and married men, with about a dozen +exceptions, signed the statement. All the single girls wanted also to +sign it, but I feared the woman in charge might confiscate the document +(the matron in charge of the girls on our ship was only an ordinary +emigrant selected by the doctor, and in my opinion scarcely the best +that might have been selected. In English emigrant ships an educated +lady is engaged as matron.) Thus I could not bring myself to go among +them for the purpose of getting signatures, and so the females were not +represented in the complaint. (It might, however, be interesting to +English readers, as showing the standard of education on the continent +of Europe, that of all the people on board only one, an elderly man, had +to sign his name with a cross.) + +One day while I was getting these signatures, and the men were coming to +where I held my levee as fast as they could, the doctor stormed the +cabin with two constables behind him and ordered me to give up the +document to him. Then the doctor and I talked, I in Danish and he in +German, and we had a wordy war. I liked the doctor in my heart, because +he was about as brave a man as one could wish to see, and very likely, +too, some of the severe discipline on board was not altogether uncalled +for; yet he was not going to have it all his own way, and to this day I +maintain that whatever else might have been right or wrong, to starve as +we starved was scandalous. I write about these things, and I do not know +whether my readers may think them of much interest, but all these little +incidents seem engraven upon my memory. On board ship there is nothing +to think about or to talk about but the same old things. One is cross, +perhaps, and everybody talks much about the same thing. "Where are we, +I wonder?" "I wonder how many knots we are running?" "I wonder how it +will go when we come to Queensland?" "I wonder if any one ever was so +hungry as I?" So it goes on, day out and day in, and one has to discuss +and answer these questions about five hundred times every day. + +But now we are nearing Australia, and high time I dare say the reader +probably thinks it is; but if my readers are tired out, so were +we. Yet there is another of the passengers I must describe, as I +intend to mention him again. I will do so in a few words. He was a +quiet, gentlemanly man, about thirty years old. He told me he had +been a lieutenant in the Danish army, but had been dismissed for +insubordination. He managed, without giving offence to anybody, to keep +himself completely in the shadow in the ship, and one seemed not to know +he was there. I will call him "A." A. understood and spoke English +fluently, but nobody knew it. Indeed, when the complaint-fever was on, +he denied all knowledge of the language. A young lady was travelling +with him--that is, she went as a single girl, but they got married as +soon as we came ashore. They had quite a number of things with them to +set up house with, and lived for a short time very comfortably on their +means; when they went away again I lost sight of them. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +MY ARRIVAL IN QUEENSLAND. + + +Never can I forget the joy I felt, a joy universal to all on board the +ship, the first day we saw Australia. It was Sunday. The whole night +before the ship had cruised about outside Bass's Straits, and at break +of day we ran in. We did not know at all we were so near. We had not +seen land for three months when we had made out the island of Madeira. +Since then, as far as I remember, we had not even passed another ship. +In the Indian Ocean, storm, sleet, rain and cold had been the order of +the day. This day, the first time for months, the sun was shining +brightly, and a crisp, altogether different air fanned our cheeks. It +was blowing very strongly, but every sail the ship could carry was +spread, so that the ship lay over very much, and we seemed to fly past +the land at lightning speed. + +This, then, was Australia, our future home--and beautiful it seemed. +Land lay on both sides. That on the Australian side was flat, seemingly, +but Tasmania showed up with a majestic chain of mountains. I had never +seen a mountain before, nor had any of the other Danes, and we wondered +whether anything could grow on them, or whether they were all solid +stone. People were so glad, that they ran about and shook one another's +hands. Three or four of the passengers had telescopes, and we were all +dying to have a long look at the coast. It is amusing to myself to think +of the amount of ignorance which really existed among us about the land +to which we were going. + +"Do you make out anything over there?" one would ask of the man with the +telescope. "Yes," came the answer, "it seems all big trees." "Trees, did +you say? I am glad of that. I will lay a wager where all those trees +will grow, something else will grow." "This is not Queensland, though." +"Oh, well, only let me see plenty of big trees when we come to +Queensland, then I am satisfied." "Do you think we shall be allowed to +cut the trees down?" "I do! they must be glad to get rid of them. Why, +it is self-evident that you can take as much land here as you want; here +is so much of it and nobody to use it." + +"Do you know, I do not believe there is any desert in that land at all!" +"No more do I. I am sure there is not. Why should there?" "I am glad I +went, now I have seen the land." "So am I." + +In another part of the ship, as I walked about, I heard a very dogmatic +fellow laying down the law to a lot of married men who were discussing +their chances of obtaining employment. + +"Why," cried he, "anyone with a spark of common sense can see at a +glance that there must be _plenty_ of work in Queensland. Look around +you here on the ship. All these people must have shelter, and food, and +clothes; I say they must. That gives work--does it not?" + +The others did not seem quite convinced by the argument. They appeared +to know that there was a missing link somewhere, but, like the Italian +smuggler in Charles Dickens' "Little Dorrit," they kept saying, "Altro, +altro, altro!" + +With such hopeful conversation the day wore away, but before night we +were out again in open sea, and for another fortnight we saw no more of +Australia. Then we made the coast again and sailed along in sight of +land. Once more we were out to sea again. At last one morning before +daybreak we dropped anchor, and when daylight came found that we were +quite close to land, and right in front of a large flagpole and some +neat wooden cottages which stood on the shore. This, then, was +Queensland--Moreton Bay, and Brisbane, the capital, lay some miles up +the river. A man came from one of the houses and hoisted a flag, then +another, and another. Our company thought he did it to do us honour, or +in joy for our safe arrival, and in the wildest excitement they screamed +hurrah! until they were hoarse. Of course, the man was merely making +signals to the town, and a few hours after a small steamer came out, and +some live sheep were put on board, also fruit for the children, and +potatoes--sweet potatoes they are called, different from our potatoes at +home and much larger. + +Kind people!--Good Queensland!--Happy country! No starvation here or +smell of poverty. Look at these potatoes, five, six, ten times as large +as those we have at home! Who said Australia was a desert? So thought +and spoke we while we scanned, with a sort of reverent awe, some ladies +and gentlemen who were on board the little steamer, and the pilot who +had come on board our own ship. Much to our regret, we found we were not +to land here. We were now informed, for the first time on the whole +voyage, that our destination was a place called Port Denison, which lies +about half way between Brisbane and Cape Somerset, and which was at that +time the farthest northern port opened up of any importance. + +So now we were off again on our interminable voyage. Only our troubles +were over. Alas! for the complaint which I carried in my pocket, we were +all as healthy and strong a set of people as any one could wish to see, +for since we arrived in Bass's Strait we had been served with plenty of +food. Just now we lived on roast meat, potatoes, and pudding every day. +I could feel my cheeks grow redder and sleeker day by day. Alas! what +should I do? As a public man I was, of course, not allowed to change my +opinions, but when I looked at all these fellows gormandizing from +morning to night, it seemed to me a sort of treason to our cause. And +what was worse, I bore no ill-will to anybody. Surely the Danish consul, +if there was one, would expect to see a lot of emaciated objects when we +had been starved so cruelly, and I myself so anxious to get something to +do. I might be hindered, and have to travel about more yet, and, if I +could not prove the truth, be cast into prison! I often wish the +complaint was as nearly forgotten as our troubles seemed to be. Yet, +after all the talk there had been, it was too late to draw back. The +ship was now for a whole week longer sailing northwards, always in sight +of land--often, indeed, so close that we could almost have thrown +biscuits ashore. The whole way along was dotted with small islands, +which became more numerous the further north we sailed. There must be +some thousands of them if they were all counted, but with the exception +of a few of the largest which lie near Brisbane, they are nearly all +uninhabited. + +To look at the coast on the mainland, one would think that the man who +said he would be satisfied if he only saw plenty of trees in Queensland, +ought to feel contented. It seemed to us one vast forest. Occasionally +we saw smoke curling up from among the trees, and at night we could see +large fires. This was the dry grass burning among the trees, a very +common thing in Queensland, but to us it was a most startling and +awe-inspiring sight. We thought that it was the aboriginals who were +trying to get on to the ship, and that these were their fires. One +night the fires extended for many miles, and a most beautiful sight it +was, but no one gave a thought to its being a bush-fire. We simply said, +"What a lot of them there must be? Why, there must be more niggers here +than there were Frenchmen at Sedan. Look at their fires!" And then we +thought it strange that we did not get our weapons back again that they +had taken from us when we came on board. I do not think any one was +afraid. I myself rather liked the novelty of being so near the "enemy." +We would sit and discuss how many we thought we could keep out, +supposing, for argument's sake, that they dared to come--and altogether +we felt ourselves great heroes. + +I have a suspicion that the Queensland pilot who was now in charge of +the ship, along with the other quality up on the quarter-deck, were +having a laugh at our expense. Anyhow, one evening I happened to come +near him I pointed round me and towards the sun, which was just going +down, and summoning to my aid all my stock of English I said, "Very +nice, Queensland." "Yes," cried he, "it looks beautiful. All that red +glow in the sky you see there is the reflection from the gold on the +gold-fields." + +I could not understand the meaning of what he said, but I looked +deferential and thankful for the information all the same, and for fear +I had not taken it all in he called the mate and asked him to explain it +to me. Probably he thought I believed it! That same night we sailed in +between a mountainous island and the coast, and one of the guns was +loaded and fired off. The echo reverberated far and near in a most +startling fashion, and perhaps it was for the echo they fired it off, +but we were certain that it must have frightened the natives out of +their wits. We were even positive we could see them round their fires +trying to put them out. Poor harmless aboriginals of Queensland! They +little know what respect they are held in by new arrivals! It is only +familiarity which breeds contempt in their case. In a few more years the +last of them will have joined the great majority. After that event has +happened, no doubt the bard will sing their praises and descant about +their matchless beauty, their enormous strength, and their bloodthirsty +cruelty. + +We had very little wind in the sails as we came along, and nothing can +be thought more beautiful than the climate we now enjoyed. I am now so +used to the Queensland climate that I take it as a matter of course, but +how can I give the reader an adequate idea of the joy I then felt in the +very fact of my existence: the beautiful sun in the day, the glorious +sunset in the evening, the full moon, and the sparkling rippling silent +water! Then all these islands we passed were so full of mysterious +interest, while the vast unknown mainland lay beyond. The reckless +spirit of which I spoke as universal when we came on board in Hamburg, +seemed now to have taken wings and fled. Indeed, the main trouble on +board just now was how we should make a good impression when we landed. +It was looked upon as a matter of honour that each should be on his very +best behaviour when we came ashore, and I know of several of whom it was +thought by the rest that their clothes were scarcely good enough, and +who were lent by the others sufficient to appear in better trim and +circumstances. The ship was now so clean that one might have eaten his +dinner off the decks anywhere. Altogether there was a decided change for +the better since the day we first saw Australia. At last, one day after +having sailed along the apparently uninhabited coast for eight or nine +days, we suddenly rounded a cliff, sailed into a little bay, and dropped +anchor. There lay Bowen in full sight of us, and this was Port Denison. +How strange it seemed that these few scattered wooden cottages we saw +lying there on the beach in appalling loneliness should be the spot that +we, through storm and trouble, had all been trying to reach. For some +time not a human being was to be seen. There was a long jetty running +out into the water for a great distance, but we did not go alongside. We +lay, I think, half a mile out, and we were given to understand that we +were not to go ashore before the morrow, and that on landing all our +wants would be attended to until we obtained employment. Now it began to +look lively on the beach. A lot of people came out on the jetty, and at +last a boat, with a dozen gentlemen in it, got under way and pulled +straight for the ship. These are Queenslanders, thought I, men who had +fought with the Blacks and been on the gold-diggings. Rich, no doubt +they were. Oh, how we screamed hurrah! for them, and how kind they +looked as they came nearer, waving their handkerchiefs and smiling in +response to our greeting. They were not at all ferocious looking; really +much the same sort of people we had seen before. Yet what adventures +must they not have gone through; what stories could they not tell if +they liked? But, of course, that would be beneath their dignity. At last +they were on board. Most of them greeted the doctor and captain in +German, being, in fact, Germans. After a short interval, one of the +Queenslanders, who proved to be the agent and interpreter employed by +the Government to attend to us when we came ashore, got up on a big box +and made a long speech in German, exhorting us to do well, and +gesticulating with much gusto and great force. He advised us to take the +first work we could get, and while we were accommodating ourselves to +the new habits of life and customs existing in this country, to try to +feel contented. "Where," cried he, "will all of you be in twenty years? +Some will be dead; others perhaps alive. Some rich and honoured; others +perhaps only servants to those among you who are more pushing or lucky. +These little children who are now running about us fighting for an +orange, may become members of Parliament in time. To-day you start with +an equal chance, but from to-morrow your fortunes will begin to alter, +and for certain not one of you will for ever forget this day; and no +doubt in after years you will look back on to-day often, and as you +recall to your mind how your time has been employed, wish you had it +over again, that you might act more wisely or become better." + +All this was good advice, and very well and kindly spoken. He said much +more to the same purpose, but as good advice is everywhere cheap and +plentiful, I will not inflict the whole of his carefully prepared speech +upon my readers. He spoke for nearly an hour. At last he congratulated +us on our clean appearance, wiped his perspiring brow, and the +performance was at an end. We were not sorry, to tell the truth--at +least I was not, because this was the day on which our best dinner, grey +peas stewed with pork, was served out; and as it was past the usual +dinner hour when the sermon was over, not only did I stand right in the +tempting smell from the kitchen, but I had also noticed how, gradually, +as the speech proceeded, the "skaffers," or men whose duty it was to +fetch the food from the cook's galley, had one by one crept away, and +now they stood in a long row ready with their wooden troughs while the +cook began to dish up the peas. + +After dinner, when we came on deck again, I heard some one cry out, "Are +there any carpenters on board? Carpenters--any carpenters who want +employment?" + +"Yes!" I was one. Five more came forward. One of the Queenslanders said +he wished to engage one or two carpenters. Of course some one acted as +interpreter. Well, he would give thirty pounds sterling per annum to a +good man. He would also give him his board and lodging. We all thought +it a fair offer, although scarcely up to our expectations. But then, +again, what were our expectations? Half the time we were afraid we +should get nothing at all to do, and the other half we thought we were +to pick up bucketsful of gold. Anyhow, we were all anxious to engage, +and I, with a full regard to the fact that my only property was a +partnership in two hundred and odd empty bottles, was not at all sorry +to see that I seemed to find favour in his eyes. I was offered an +engagement on the above-named terms. Would I kindly step this way to +sign the agreement? A document written in English was placed before me +for signature. I could pretty well understand the meaning of it, and an +interpreter was there ready enough to explain matters, but there were +certain very important features in it which never were explained to me, +and which I myself totally overlooked, and if I had seen these I should +only have agreed to them as a last resource from starvation. As the +agreement was just like those signed by thousands every year all over +Queensland to this present day, I will give it here. It ran thus: ---- +promised to serve ---- for the term of twelve calendar months and to +obey all his lawful commands. In return for which, ---- would pay the +sum of L---- sterling and rations. Then followed the signatures. I +understood that the word "rations" meant my board and lodging, and so it +proved in my case, and as it was explained to me; but most of my +unfortunate shipmates who signed similar agreements in the same good +faith as I found out in a practical manner that to them it had another +meaning. It will be noticed that the agreement says nothing whatever +about lodging. Legally, a Queensland employer who engages a man for +wages and "rations" might let his employe camp under the gum-trees +without giving him any sleeping accommodation whatever, and that is very +often done. If a man gets a shed or a corner of a stable to live in, it +is more than he is entitled to under these agreements. So far as the +food is concerned, the word "ration" as used in these agreements means a +fixed quantity of certain things, which, therefore, again is all an +employe can expect from his master. These consist of twelve pounds of +raw beef or mutton, eight pounds of flour, two pounds of sugar and a +quarter of a pound of tea. As long as these eatables are tea and sugar, +flour and beef, nothing is said as to quality, and the most inferior +goods which are in the market are called _ration-tea_ and +_ration-sugar_. But what is an unfortunate new arrival, who never made a +cup of tea in his life before, to do, when on his arrival at some +out-of-the-way place in the bush his "boss," as the employer in +Queensland is called, hands him these rations instead of giving him +three square meals a day? + +[Illustration: THE LANDING OF EMIGRANTS.] + +But what was happening now? The constables were running about among the +people telling them to stand here and to stand there. All the single +girls were packed together up by the wheel as close as they could stand. +Then the married men with their families were told to stand as near them +as they could, and the single men were again packed as close to them as +possible. All of us were now on the quarter-deck. Then came the +Queenslanders, the doctor, the captain, and the first mate, and took up +a position in front of us down on the deck. One of our own constables +with a very sanctimonious face was also there. What did it mean? The +Immigration Agent read out of a large protocol, "Anna Frederica +Johnston, come forward." "Anna Frederica Johnston, Anna--Anna, Anna +Frederica Johnston. They want you--you are wanted; you have to go." The +unfortunate girl was half paralyzed with terror, as she came forward. +She was a Norwegian. The immigration agent asked her, "Had she been well +and kindly treated on the voyage, and was she satisfied?" This had to be +translated from German into Norwegian before she understood it. But +scarcely did she understand what they said before she cried, "Oh yes, oh +yes, I am thankful and satisfied." "Good," she might pass forward. Then +another was called who also testified to her kind treatment, and so on +until all the girls, even the one who had been tied to the mast, had +said they were satisfied and had been well treated. While this was going +on, some of the men who stood nearest to me told me to erase their +names from the written complaint which I carried. Others advised me that +it was now too late altogether to complain; others again said, "Now is +the time." I felt myself surprised beyond measure that the Queensland +Government should take the trouble to cause such a question to be put to +each individual immigrant, and I felt certain that it could not have +been Queensland's fault if we had been badly treated. Anyhow, I saw no +reason to tell any falsehoods, and my mind was soon made up how to act. +As soon as the last girl had declared herself satisfied, the question +began with the single men. The first who happened to be called was +rather a dense sort of a fellow, and although he had signed the +complaint, still he said he was "well satisfied." So then I thought the +time had arrived for me to act. I went forward and presented my document +written in Danish and addressed to the Danish Consul, Australia; it was +translated from Danish to German and from German to English. Meanwhile I +glared at the doctor and the doctor glared at me. I felt in rare good +humour, the observed of all observers. As a Queenslander would say on +such an occasion, it was the proudest moment in my life. I was asked to +stand alongside the doctor and captain, and watch my case. The fellow +who had already declared himself satisfied was called back and asked had +he signed the complaint, and only passed forward after admitting that he +had. Then the question to the remainder became, "Have you signed the +complaint?"--to which each of them, evidently pleased, replied in the +affirmative. Those who had not signed, on saying "no" were then asked +"did they wish to sign?" Every one of them signed it then right before +the eyes of the doctor. I would as soon that they had not, because it +was easily seen that they signed it more because they were asked to do +so and did not want to cause trouble, than because they had changed +their minds since they had been requested to do the same thing on the +voyage. From that time to now I never heard any more about the +complaint. Very likely it was forwarded to the proper authorities, and +they perhaps took notice of it although unknown to us. The ship was +clean when we landed, so were the emigrants, and we had all a healthy, +well-fed appearance I am sure, and that must have been greatly in the +doctor's favour. But let me say here at once, that if there had been one +amongst us who had known the proper way to punish whoever was +responsible for our ill-treatment, I believe it would have been a simple +matter to have ruined the owners of the ship. If instead of writing our +complaint to the Danish Consul, one of us had been able to issue a writ +against the doctor upon some definite matter, he could have had as many +witnesses as he chose, ready to hand, to prove what the fare of the ship +had been. He might have produced his rag of a blanket in court too, and +then have claimed damages. I am certain that no Queensland judge or jury +would have said, after seeing it, that such a rag, two feet six inches +by three feet, was a sufficient covering on a four months' sea voyage, +or that the food we received was either sufficient or that it in any way +tallied with what we were promised. Such damages as would then have been +awarded to the first plaintiff, could indisputably have been claimed by +any other emigrant, and that would have meant more than the ship and all +that was in it was worth. + +My boss told me before the Queenslanders left the ship again that I +might, as soon as we landed, come to his house for my food and lodging, +and that he would not expect me to go to work for a few days, so that I +was well provided for already. Three or four dozen other immigrants had +also been engaged by the other Queenslanders, all for thirty pounds a +year and rations, on exactly the same agreements as mine. But Thorkill +was not among them, and I felt a little ashamed and sorry that it was +so, as we had agreed not to part, and I had in this way taken my first +chance regardless of him; but he was earnest in his gratulations and +certain, he said, he would be right too, somehow. We had all these empty +bottles, and we expected nothing less than sixpence, or perhaps a +shilling, apiece for them. At least I felt greatly consoled to think of +them, and I made up my mind that he should have the whole return from +them if he needed it. The next day arrived, when we should go ashore, +and, full of excitement and expectations, we sailed up to the jetty. +Slow work that; it took us some hours to do it. Every one was hanging +over the side of the ship looking to see what the place was like, and +watching a number of people who stood there. Now we were alongside, so +close that we might have jumped ashore, but still we were forbidden to +leave the ship before the doctor, who was ashore, arrived. A man stood +on the jetty with a large basketful of bananas, which he offered for +sale at sixpence per dozen, and handed them over the side of the ship to +any one who would buy. He sold them readily, and my mouth watered to +taste them; but I had no money. Thorkill stood alongside me, so he said, +"I should like so to taste some of those bananas." + +"So should I." + +"He charges sixpence per dozen." + +"Yes." + +"I wonder if he would take a bottle for a dozen?" + +"We will try." + +I dived into the cabin as fast as I could for a bottle, because the man +had only a few bananas left. We had all the bottles, or most of them, +wrapped up in paper, and I took one which looked nice and clean, and +came out again just in time to secure his attention. Now I had to try to +make myself understood. "I give you bottle," said I, "if you give me +bananas." + +"Are you going to shout?" cried he. "What have you got?" + +I did not know what that meant, but as he had a pleased sort of +appearance, I nodded and smiled, and caressed the bottle, saying, "Very +good, very good bottle." + +"All right," said he, "let us see what you have got. I give you some +bananas; here you are, hand down your bottle." + +So I took the bananas with the one hand, and handed him the bottle with +the other. + +He took it, smelt it, shook it, pulled off the wrapper, held it up +towards the sun, and cried, "Dead mariner, by Jove." + +Then every one on the jetty laughed like fun, but I was totally ignorant +where the joke came in, and asked, "Is it not a very good bottle?" + +"Oh, yes," said he, "splendid bottle," and they all kept on laughing and +talking at me, assuring me that I would do well in Queensland! I +understood that much. + +Thorkill and I now retired into the cabin to eat the bananas, and while +we ate them we had some conversation. + +"I wonder what they all were laughing at?" + +"Who shall say? Is--it--not--a--nuisance--that--we--do--not--understand +--English--better? I--cannot--talk--to--them--at--all. You--seemed--to-- +do--fine--though. My--word--you--did. I--never--would--have--believed-- +it. I--will--study--that--language." + +"Did you notice that he said, 'Dead mariner,' when he held the bottle up +towards the sun?" + +"Yes; now I should translate that as a dead sailor. I wonder what he +meant?" + +"Perhaps it is a slang name for a bottle." + +"I do not think you will find that a correct explanation. It was a dark +bottle; now, I am inclined to think that that sort of bottle may be used +for some liquor peculiar to this country called 'Dead Mariner;' the same +as in Denmark you have so many different names for nearly the same +thing. In that way you might be right in saying it is a slang name; but +anyhow, we will find out the true meaning of it some day." + +"Yes," I replied to Thorkill, "and the sooner we find it out the better. +Don't you see, the bottles may have a different value, and I should like +to have full value for them. We are now in Queensland, Thorkill, and I +do not intend to let any one fool me. So, before we sell to any one, I +will find out exactly what they are worth. They did not laugh at nothing +down there on the jetty. I am afraid he had too good a bargain." + +"They seemed to say we would do well with the bottles," remarked +Thorkill. + +"I hope we shall. But see! They are at last going ashore. Now, if you +take my advice, one of us will stay on board for another hour or two +watching the bottles, while the other goes up to the town to find out +their true value, and a customer for them." + +Thorkill replied to this: "Ah, yes; you go up to the town. I will stay +and watch the bottles. I am sure you can sell them to far better +advantage than I." + +Meanwhile, a number of the immigrants had gone ashore, and Thorkill and +I were getting the bottles out of their hiding-places and putting them +on the table. Some Queenslanders came in. They looked on a little. I +said, "How much money you pay me for one bottle?" + +"Have you got all these bottles for sale?" inquired one. + +"Of course," said I. + +He did not answer, but went outside and called out "Mick." + +In came the man who had sold me the bananas. + +"Do you want to buy any more 'dead mariner'?" asked the first. + +"Has he got all these bottles for sale?" inquired the banana man. + +"Certainly," cried I. (Of course, I did not make myself quite so easily +understood as might appear from this conversation, but still I managed +both to understand and to make myself understood on this occasion.) + +"No," cried he; "he did not think he wanted any more just now." + +"How much money you think I receive for one bottle?" inquired I. + +"Oh, plenty money," cried he, "my word ready; market, any one buys +them." + +"What do they say?" asked Thorkill of me. + +"They say the bottles are worth a lot of money." + +"See if you can find out what 'dead mariner' is." + +I took a porter bottle up, and then said, "You name that one 'dead +mariner'?" + +Queenslander: "Yes, certainly; that is one 'dead mariner.'" + +I took up a clear bottle and inquired, "This clear thing, you call that +empty bottle?" + +Queenslander: "To be sure that is an empty bottle. But if you are +willing to sell, you take them all up to that large hotel you see there. +They give you half-a-crown apiece for them." + +I then asked, "Which one is most costly, 'dead mariner' bottle or clear +bottle?" + +Queenslander: "Oh, that fellow--'dead mariner'--very dear; three +shillings, I think." + +"Heavens! here, we have made our fortune already, Thorkill," cried I. +"Three shillings apiece for these bottles and two-and-sixpence for +those. And it appears any one will buy. Are we not lucky?" + +"Oh, but," said Thorkill, "I shall never feel justified in taking half +of all that money. It was your idea. I should never have thought of it. +I shall be very thankful to receive just a pound or two." + +"Oh, no," cried I, "you shall share half with me whatever I get. But, +excuse me for saying it, you are so unpractical. Why are we not up and +stirring? Why are we sitting here yet? Remember time is money in this +country." Then I ventured to ask the Queenslanders if in the town there +was any one whom I might ask to assist us in carrying the bottles +ashore. + +"Oh, yes," they all cried, as if with one mouth. "You go up in town and +get hold of a couple of black fellows, and then you take them all up +that street you see there. Any one will buy them there." + +Thorkill remained on board keeping watch over the bottles, while I went +ashore to see what I should see. + +Just as I came to the end of the long jetty I saw standing there an +aboriginal and three Gins. They were about as ugly a set of blacks as I +have ever since seen in Queensland, and I was quite horrified at their +appearance. The man had on a pair of white breeches, but nothing else. +The Gins were also so scantily dressed that I am afraid of going into +details of their wearing apparel. All of them had dirty old clay pipes +in their mouths, which they were sucking, but there was no tobacco in +them. The gentleman of the party saved me the trouble of accosting him, +as he came towards me and inquired my name. Then he informed me that his +name was Jack. He next introduced me to the ladies, who, it appeared, +all had the same name--Mary. Of course I fell in with the humour of this +arrangement at once. It seemed to me a delightfully free and easy way of +making acquaintance. They all spoke a lot to me, which I did not in the +least understand, and I did the same to them no doubt. They asked me +for tobacco, which I had not got; but it appeared that all was grist +that came to their mill, for they asked in succession for matches, pipe, +"sixpence," and I do not know what else, and even wanted to feel my +pockets! Of course I did not like this familiarity, so I began to +explain to them that I wanted them to work--to carry burdens from the +ship. That was soon made clear to them. Then the "gentleman" of the +party was very particular to know what I would pay him. I had thought to +get them to carry the bottles up, and, having sold them, to pay them out +of the proceeds; but as he seemed anxious to make a fixed bargain, I +said, "I give you one bottle." In case he should have refused that, I +intended to have gone on further, and to have offered a "dead mariner," +but to my joy he accepted the offer with evident satisfaction, which +again more thoroughly convinced me of the value of my bottles. I and the +black fellow with his three Gins accordingly went back to the ship, +where Thorkill sat keeping watch over our treasure. + +I loaded the four blacks with four bags, in each of which were two dozen +assorted bottles, and now we started for town in earnest. I thought it +beneath my dignity to carry any bottles myself. I had exhorted so many +of the immigrants that it was our duty to one another to try to make a +good impression when we first landed, that the least I could do I +thought would be to set a good example. Therefore I was faultlessly got +up, in my own opinion, or at least as well as the circumstances of my +wardrobe would permit. Still, my attire was not very suitable to this +country, and indeed, when I think of it now, I must have cut a strange +figure. I had on my black evening-dress suit, which so far would have +been good enough to have gone to a ball in, but my white shirt, I know, +was of a very doubtful colour, for I had been my own washer-woman, and +it was neither starched nor ironed. Then my tall black hat, of which I +was so proud when I got it, had suffered great damage on the voyage, and +brush it as I would, any one might easily have seen that it had been +used as a foot-stool. My big overcoat, I, according to the most approved +fashion in Copenhagen, carried over my arm. In one hand I had my +handkerchief, with which I had to constantly wipe the perspiration off +my face, because it was very hot. Still, I felt myself a tip-top +dignitary as I stalked along in front of the four blacks, who came, +chattering their strange lingo, behind me. + +We marched up to the main street, and I saw at once a hotel, that +pointed out to me from the ship as the place in which to sell my +bottles. In the bar were two or three gentlemen, of whom I took no +notice. Behind the bar stood the barmaid, whom I profoundly saluted, +also in Copenhagen fashion. I had what to say on the tip of my tongue, +and indeed I have never forgotten it since. So I spoke to the barmaid +thus: "I have bottles I will sell to you. Will you buy? Three shillings +every one." She looked bewildered, not at me but at the gentlemen in the +bar, as if she appealed to them for assistance, and they began to talk +to me, but I did not understand them at all. I could feel myself getting +red in the face, too, but I manfully made another effort. I called in +the blacks and ordered them to deposit their load inside the door. Then +I said with great exactness, "I--do--not--ferstan--thee--thou--ferstan +--me. I--sell--this--clear--bottles--to thee--for three shillings every +one. This--dead--mariner--I--sell--three--shillings--and sixpence every +one. Will thou buy?" Meanwhile I had taken out of the bags two samples, +a clear and a dark bottle, and placed them on the counter, and I now +looked inquiringly around me. + +Oh, the mortification which became my portion! The girl seemed to faint +behind the bar, and the gentlemen made not the slightest excuse for +laughing right out in my face. What they said I do not know, but it was +clear they did not want my bottles. I felt insulted, and I determined to +pay the blacks off and to leave the bottles here until I could find a +German Queenslander to whom I might explain my business, and who might +help me to sell them. So I took the clear bottle which stood on the +counter, and handed it to the black as payment for his service. He +looked viciously at me and said, "That fellow no good bottle." + +I said, "Very dear bottle that." Then I decided to satisfy him at any +cost, and gave him the other one, too, and said, "Very dear bottle this, +dead mariner." + +Now began a scene as good as a play. The blacks appealed to the +gentlemen, and the gentlemen howled with laughter, and I wished myself a +thousand miles away. What did they laugh at? Why did these scampish +blacks not feel satisfied after having received double payment? What did +it all mean? More people came in and seemed amused and happy, but I was +not in the swim. Something was wrong. But what was it? I began to +suspect that my bottles could not be so very valuable, as the blacks had +thrown both the bottles out into the gutter. Anyhow, for me to stand +here to be made a fool of would not do, so I went out of the bar and +down the street. But to get away was no easy matter. In fact I found it +impossible. The coloured gentleman with his three ladies were in front +of me, behind me, and on both sides, crying, howling, yelling, cursing, +and appealing to every one who passed, or to those who came to their +doors, "That fellow big rogue. That fellow no b---- good. He b---- new +chum. He say he give me bottle, he give me no good b---- bottle; dead +mariner no b---- good." This was more than human nature could stand. I +threw my overcoat and belltopper into the gutter, and went for the +black fellow straight. I got on the top of him in a minute, but the +battle was not nearly won by that, because the black ladies were +tearing at my coat-tails, which just formed two fine handles for them. +They split my coat right up to the shoulders, pulled my hair, and +belaboured me in a general way. Now came a policeman and grabbed me by +the neck. All the "ladies" ran for their lives out of sight, but I +suspect their spouse was too bruised to follow their example. Anyhow, he +stuck to his guns yet, and while the policeman tried to march us both +down the street, he kept appealing to him, declaring his innocence, and +my villainy. That I should have spent the next few days in the +watch-house I am sure enough, had not an elderly man stepped out of the +crowd of onlookers and spoken to the policeman. Then he addressed me in +German. I learned then, through much merriment on his part and +heartburning on my own, that empty bottles are in Queensland just so +much rubbish. Indeed, after the policeman let me go, he took me round to +the backyard of the hotel, and there I saw bottles lying by the +thousands, some broken and others sound, ready to cart away. But how was +I to have known that? Was it easy to guess that a bottle, which might +pass for twopence English money in Copenhagen nearly as readily as cash, +would here in Queensland have absolutely no value? It is like all other +things one knows, easily explained: here there being no distilleries or +breweries for making liquors of any kind, they are all imported, hence +empty bottles become a drug in the market. + +But I was not out of trouble yet. The German who had in so timely a +manner come to my rescue, seeing the state of mind I was in, tried to +console me by offering me a glass of spirits. I accepted his offer very +readily, I admit, and coming into the bar again, which so vividly +reminded me of my former shame and all the indignities heaped upon me, I +poured out a whole tumblerful of raw brandy--which I should not have +done, considering that I came from a ship on which nothing of that sort +was served out. But I will draw a veil over the rest of this miserable +day. Not but that the worst is told. Intemperance was never my weakness, +but I will leave the reader to fill out the picture, and to think of me +as I returned to the ship, bleeding, torn, and battered, and there I had +to face poor Thorkill, who, in his mild surprise and disapproval, was to +me more terrible than if he had stormed and raged ever so much. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +GAINING COLONIAL EXPERIENCE + + +Having returned to the ship after the incidents related in the last +chapter, and having somewhat soothed my agitated feelings, and changed +my apparel, Thorkill and I were under the necessity again of returning +on shore; which we did, and had no difficulty in finding the depot or +place prepared for the reception of the immigrants. I had yet scarcely +noticed anything on land, but we saw now at a glance that the town was +very small, or perhaps it would be more correct to say that the town was +large but thinly inhabited. In Queensland we generally estimate the size +of a place by the number of public-houses which it contains, and in +Bowen there were three of these institutions. Grass was growing +luxuriantly enough in the main street, and altogether it did not, as we +came along, strike us that people here seemed remarkably busy. But when +we came down to the depot, the scene was changed. + +The depot was a large building, or series of buildings, without +particularly good accommodation, but it had the advantage that there +was plenty of room for everybody. I felt quite glad to again see the +familiar faces of the other immigrants, although we had only been +separated a few hours. There was a large kitchen attached to the place, +and a vast quantity of bread and beef and potatoes had been left there, +more than could possibly be eaten by those present. Two or three +butchers among the immigrants, too, were quite in their element here, +cutting up the bullocks, and all the girls seemed to have formed +themselves into a committee in order to dress the meat in various +appetizing ways. But what seemed the most encouraging feature of all was +to see thirty or forty saddle-horses "hung up" outside the fence and +their owners walking about among the men offering them engagements. The +girls were also in great request. A number of English ladies stood about +the yard, or went in and out of the kitchen. They all seemed to want the +girls who were doing the cooking, and what between the English ladies +who kept trying to attract their attention, their own sweethearts--who +had now the first opportunity since they left Hamburg to speak to +them--and the preparation of food for six hundred and odd people, they +certainly had enough to do. It was comical to watch them. Among the men +the scene was but one degree less animated. They might, I am sure, all +have been engaged that first day if they had liked. A number were +engaged, and over and over again were offers made to them of further +engagements, until at last they turned their backs to the Englishmen who +seemed almost to implore some of them to sign agreements. They were all +offered the same terms--thirty pounds for twelve months, and rations. +The girls got only twenty or twenty-five pounds a year, but there seemed +to be very little difference between the agreements. The Queenslanders +would go for the biggest and most able looking of the men first, and +when they had secured them, engage the others with the same terms. I saw +my "boss" down there, and went home with him for supper. I was received +with the greatest kindness by his family, and he himself could not have +looked more friendly if I had been a long-lost relation. He proved to be +a contractor, and had also a carpenter's shop and showroom attached to +his place. He took me into the shop and showed me several things, and +asked me could I make this or that? There was nothing in the shop that a +boy who had served two years of his life in Copenhagen could not make, +but when I said "yes," he seemed greatly pleased with me, and patted me +on the back. We could not understand each other very much. After tea, I +was shown into a neat room, where stood a nice bed, a chest of drawers, +table, chair, &c. This was to be my abode. + +My "boss," however, returned at once and gave me to understand that he +wished me to go with him up to town, and have a general look round. He +gave me first of all a pound sterling, which had the effect of greatly +raising my spirits. Then he took me from the one public-house to the +other, and that made me still more hilarious, especially as he would not +allow me to change my pound; and at last he took me to a store, where a +German presided behind the counter over a lot of ready-made clothes. +Through the German as interpreter, he told me that he would advise me to +buy some new clothes after the Queensland pattern, and that he would +advance sufficient of my wages to cover the cost. I bought then white +trousers, a crimean shirt, a big slouch hat, and a red belt, and put all +on at once. This is the orthodox Queensland costume in the bush, but in +my own eyes I looked a regular masquerader, as I now swaggered down +among the immigrants in my new transformation. I was quite a hero among +them at once, being able to boast of my splendid appointment, and I +believe I had to relate twenty times that evening what I had had for my +supper at my master's place. I might, perhaps, tell it to the reader, +because it seemed to me at that time most astonishing, although it +really--with very little variation--is the ordinary food everybody eats +all over the country, as soon as one comes away from the single man's +hut in the bush. + +In the morning we generally had fried steak, white bread, and butter. No +beer or schnapps are ever put on the table in this country, but instead +of that one drinks tea by the quart at every meal. At dinner-time the +ordinary menu will be some sort of roast meat and vegetables, with a +pudding after. At supper one will get more meat and vegetables, and more +bread and butter and tea. It is all very good, but there is a frightful +sameness about it. I used at first to long for one of those plain yet +delicious dishes which the Danish housewives make at home. But I do not +believe English people would eat it, if it were put before them. They +seem to think that anything which is not a solid junk of roast beef must +be un-English. I have almost come to the same way of thinking myself. +But that evening in the depot we did not criticise the bill of fare. The +immigrants all thought they were going to fare in the same sumptuous +way. Poor fellows, they did not, as a rule. + +Next day, Thorkill came to me with sparkling eyes, and told me he had +been so fortunate. A gentleman from Port Mackay, a sugar planter, had +engaged him and twenty-five others, all for thirty pounds a year, and +they were to sail again for the plantation next day. He understood it +was not far away. We might be able to see one another occasionally. He +had told the planter that he had studied agriculture, and the planter +had said he was a good fellow. + +"These--Englishmen--are--so--kind,--I--am sure--he--is--a--nice--man. +Perhaps he will make something of me by and by, when I can talk +English." + +Poor Thorkill; I see him in a single man's hut on a plantation among +twenty-five others, or with his hoe on his shoulder coming and going to +the fields. He went away the next day, and I fully expected he would +have written to me, but he did not. I did not know his address, and I +did not hear of him again until three years after, when I met him on the +diggings. + +As many of the immigrants were going away--they did not themselves know +where--in another day or two, it was suggested by some one that there +should be a theatrical display at the depot in the evening; and the idea +was taken up with enthusiasm by some of the leading spirits among us. It +had, before I arrived that morning, been agreed that the play should be +a French pantomime. For the information of any one who might never have +seen anything of the kind, let me say that it was a one act farce, in +which the persons act by pantomime alone. Cassander is an old man; his +daughter Columbine loves Harlequin, a young man who always dances about +Columbine when Cassander does not see them. Then there was Pierrot, the +foolish but funny man-of-all-work, who is set to catch Harlequin, but is +always "bested"; and the staid old lover whom Cassander wishes Columbine +to marry. Not much rehearsal was needed to play the piece, and the +dresses were also easily made up on short notice. It had further been +decided in my absence that I was to play Harlequin, but I objected very +much. At last I was forced into it in a manner, because I was a pretty +fair dancer at that time, and they had nobody else. What consoled me +greatly was, that I was to wear a black mask, so that I knew that if my +feelings should get the better of me while on the stage, that I might +make as many faces behind the mask as I liked. The whole town was to be +invited, and we gave five shillings to the bell-crier to announce +through the streets that some renowned artists had arrived at the depot, +and were going to give a grand performance that night at seven o'clock. + +We worked away hard that day in rehearsals, fitting of dresses, stage +making, quarrelling, and in a few other things which are indispensable +on such occasions. In the evening the whole building was crammed full of +English people; there were even some ladies. Our own people had all back +seats. Everything went well. Our orchestra consisted of three +violinists. There were scores of musicians among us, but these were the +best, and were used to play together. Then the blanket which served for +a curtain went up, and we began to act our parts. Everything went well +excepting that Pierrot, whose face was chalked over, began to perspire +very much, and the chalk came off; but that was nothing. It was reserved +for me to spoil the whole proceeding. It came about this way: the fellow +who played Columbine was a big, flabby-looking chap, and he looked very +nasty indeed in women's clothes. As it was my part to dance about +Columbine and make love to him--or her--as you please, I had also to +snatch kisses from him about a dozen times during the evening, but of +course I understood he knew sufficient of acting not to inflict the +punishment of real kissing on _me_. The first time, however, when my +turn came, he turned his face full upon me, and the osculation could be +heard all over the room. This happened two or three times, and every +time people laughed and applauded; but it made me regularly wild. So as +he tried it again I tore the mask off my face before I had time to +think, and cried: "Look here, if you do that again I won't play." That +brought the house down with great applause and homeric laughter; but I +got so upset over it that it was impossible for me to go on the stage +again, and the play came to an abrupt end. + +The only one of all the immigrants that remained at the depot after a +fortnight was over, was a sickly little individual whom everybody on +board had been in the habit of pitying or jeering at, as the case may +be, and who now seemed quite unable to obtain employment. He was then +sent up to Townsville, to try there, and as I happen to know what became +of him, and as his short career affords a striking instance of what +perseverance will do for a man in Queensland, I will state how he fared. +It appears that he at last obtained employment in the ---- Hotel in +Ravenswood, to help the girls in the kitchen at cleaning knives, +plucking fowls, and the like. He had to sign an agreement whereby he +bound himself to remain for three years. The wages for the first year +were ten pounds, for the second fifteen, and for the third twenty +pounds. These are the smallest wages I have ever heard of in this +country for a white man, but our friend thought nothing of that, and +stuck to his work. He could cut hair and shave; I think he had been in a +barber's shop at home. When he brought the guest's shaving-water in the +morning, he would always offer his tonsorial services at the same time. +Of course he would be paid. When he was paid, he would generally say, +"You have not got a few old clothes you do not want?" Then most people, +as he looked so poor and insignificant, would either give him a lot of +clothes, or some money to buy with; and it was pretty well known in that +town where one might buy second-hand clothing for cash. If a guest went +away from the hotel, he would always be there hat in hand, holding the +horse. If one said to him, "Will you come and have a drink?" he would +answer, "No, thank you, sir; please, I would rather have the money." In +that way, while everybody called him "poor fellow," he was scooping in +sixpences, shillings, and even half-crowns every day. As he gave +satisfaction to his master, he was promised, as a make-up for his small +wages, that if he stayed the three years out, he should have as a +present permission to build a barber's shop alongside the hotel, and be +charged no rent. He did stay the three years out, and although I was in +his confidence as little as anybody else, I am very sure he had then his +three years' wages in his pocket and a good deal more besides. Then he +had built a small shop alongside the hotel. It was very small, but it +was in the proper place for doing business; and he began at once a +roaring trade. Sixpence for a shave, a shilling for hair-cutting, and +half a crown for shampooing! He had also ready-made clothes for sale, +hop beer, ginger beer, fruit, saddlery, and much more. People who had +anything for sale might go to him and be certain that he would offer +them a cash price for whatever it was. He opened his shop at seven +o'clock in the morning and shut it at twelve o'clock at night. On +Sundays, indeed, he was supposed to shut for three or four hours; but +one had only to knock at his door to bring him forward. Meanwhile, I do +not believe his old master, or any one else, could have obtained credit +from him for a sixpence. The usual thing in his shop was to see half a +dozen men sitting in his back room waiting to be shaved or shampooed, +and half a dozen standing by the counter in the front room, while he +would jump like a cat among them trying to serve them all at once. But +now I see I have made a mistake. I have written that "his short career +affords a striking instance of what perseverance might do for a man in +this country." That might be true if the story ended here, but it does +not. He was a great miser. His principal food, as he himself assured me, +was the rotten fruit in the shop. When a banana or an apple became +quite unsaleable, he would eat it. He had no assistant in the shop, and +could, therefore, never possibly take any outdoor exercise. At last he +fell sick, and the doctor told him he must go out on horseback every +day, and have plenty of nourishing food. He never bought a horse, and he +never altered his way of living. At last, when it was too late, he got +somebody to stand in the shop for him, for he was then too weak to stand +there himself; and he died in the back room a week after. But even the +day before he died I saw him sitting in the shop trying to direct the +assistant and keeping control over the money-box. I heard how much he +had made, but I forget. Anyhow, it was thousands, and all made in a few +years! + +Now I will relate what happened to me the first Sunday I passed in +Queensland, and to do that I must recall to the reader's memory another +of my shipmates, the naval Lieutenant A. He had got married as soon as +we came ashore, to the young lady who I always understood was his +intended wife, and they had already rented a little house and made +themselves very comfortable. On the Saturday, he came to me and told me +that he had carried a letter of introduction from home to a gentleman +who was one of the first civil servants in Bowen. This gentleman he had +seen, and as an outcome of the interview, he had been invited to come +with his wife to the Englishman's place on Sunday forenoon to be +introduced to his family, and that Mr. and Mrs. ----, as well as A. and +his wife, were all then to walk to a large garden which lay a mile or so +outside the town. He promised himself great pleasure and much advantage +from the acquaintance, and as a special favour to me, he said: "Now Mr. +---- said to me that I might invite one of our shipmates to come with +us, and I shall invite you." I thanked him very much for the honour he +did me. + +"You understand," said he, "that I would like very much to make a good +impression, not only for myself, but for our country too. I am not in +the least afraid to invite _you_, still excuse me for reminding you that +this man has much influence in Brisbane, and I have no doubt he could +make it worth your while too to be on your best behaviour." + +When he was gone, I began to look over my wardrobe, and found that I +could yet make a brave show. Still, I had a great doubt in my mind +whether it would not be the more correct thing to dress myself in my +Queensland clothes--that is, the slouch hat and the moleskins. But as I +did not seem to know myself in them at all, I decided that it was best +to make the most of the clothes I had with me from home, although it was +not without some misgivings that I came to this conclusion. My +swallow-tail coat had been torn, and although it was mended by a tailor, +it was not good enough to wear again on such an occasion, but I had a +nice new jacket I had bought in Hamburg, also a beautifully got-up +white shirt and white waistcoat. As to the belltopper, it was done for. +No more should I go into society in that belltopper, and the Queensland +hat seemed only fit company for the crimean shirt and the moleskins. I +therefore went and borrowed a tall hat for the purpose from among the +immigrants, and as I came back with it, I bought a pair of gloves for +half a guinea in a shop. + +The next forenoon, punctually at eleven o'clock, I was outside of A.'s +house in all my glory. A. and his wife were gone, however, and I then +bent my steps towards the house to which I had been directed. As soon as +I came near, I saw A. standing outside the house talking to a gentleman, +whom I at once understood to be the man who had invited us. He looked a +gentleman all over. Yet the same indescribable sort of swagger which I +had noticed in everybody else I had yet met in the country seemed also +to hover about him. I might here observe that this swagger is not +exactly native to this colony. It is only put on for the benefit of new +arrivals. As I came up A.'s friend stood with his feet wide apart, and +was in the act of lighting a meerschaum pipe. A massive gold chain hung +across his well-nourished stomach. I could see that if I had not dressed +myself to my best ability, I should have made a grave mistake. Although +I had scarcely lifted my eyes to him yet, I noticed these details as A. +introduced me to him, while I saluted him as we always salute one +another in Copenhagen. Perhaps I was just a little more than usually +polite. My hat was at my knee as A. said, "Mr. ----, Mr. ----." But the +Englishman did not seem remarkable for his politeness. On the contrary, +I felt very angry at his behaviour. He never changed his position in the +slightest degree; he seemed only to give a sort of self-satisfied grunt, +"How de do, how de do." + +There is no mistake about it, I began to wish I had not come. It was not +as though I had not been polite enough; I felt certain both that I could +make a bow with anybody, and that I had saluted and been saluted by +greater dignitaries before than he. Why then should he slight me? +thought I. Was it the custom in this country to invite people on purpose +to insult them? They began to speak to me, and I understood that the +ladies who were to take part in the excursion were inside finishing +their toilet, and would be out directly. A. could see, no doubt, that I +was not pleased, and of course he could also guess the reason. He had +been in England too, and was well versed in English customs, so he said +to me, "It is foolish of you to feel offended because Mr. ---- did not +take his hat off to you. Indeed, it was you who looked ridiculous. I am +sure you never yet saw any one take off his hat to another in this +country. It is not an English custom. Indeed it is specially distasteful +to English people. So do not do it again. Of course it did not matter." + +When I heard that I was in humour again. I could forgive every one so +long as they did not offer me a wilful insult. But was it not strange, +thought I? And there he stood, as easy as could be, smoking his pipe in +the street. Well, there is nothing like it, after all. What is a man +without his pipe? I had mine in my pocket, but I had never dreamed of +taking it out till now. I did not know what to make of things, but I +thought that if such training as I had received was at fault, perhaps it +would be well to imitate those whose training was correct. So I took my +pipe out of my pocket and borrowed a match from Mr. ---- to light it +with. Mine was only a clay pipe, and I could scarcely help laughing to +myself meanwhile, because it seemed to me very strange. But I was +determined now to show I knew English manners, and so I puffed away. +Just now Mr. ----'s wife came out of the glass doors on the verandah. +She had also dressed to make a good impression, because she was rustling +with silk and satin, and shining with gold brooches and chains all over. +The doors were opened for her by a servant, and Mrs. A. was also there. +As Mrs. A. told me afterwards, they had watched me through the glass +doors while I was saluting the husband, and probably the Englishwoman +was at that moment under the impression that I intended to go down on my +knees before her. But if she thought that, all I can say is that she was +mistaken. I was not going to look ridiculous this time. She made a bow +to me something of the sort, as I take it, that one of the Queen's maids +of honour have to practise before her majesty--a most profound +obeisance. But I stood brave. With my feet apart, in English fashion, I +puffed away at my pipe, and nodded at her, saying, "How de do? How de +do?" + +At this juncture of affairs, I became aware that nobody seemed pleased. +The lady drew herself up and seemed surprised. Her husband appeared to +regard me with a lively interest. So did two women in a house opposite. +A., in a sort of consternation, repeated the formula of introduction. I +felt the blood surging to my face, and my courage fast forsaking me. +Then it occurred to me that as I myself had not the least idea what the +words "how de do" meant which I had employed in saluting her, that +perhaps it was not a proper expression before a lady, and that it would +have been better if I had said something of which I did understand the +meaning. So as A. repeated the form of introduction, Mr.---- and +Mrs.----, I said with great desperation, "Good day, missis." + +Then I swallowed a whole mouthful of tobacco smoke (it is such strong +tobacco one smokes here, and I had not been used to more than a cigar on +rare occasions), and then--I must--expectorate. For the life of me I +could not avoid it, but where to do it, whether in front of me or behind +me, I did not know, and so I compromised and spat to the side. While all +this occurred I felt as guilty as any criminal condemned before a +judge, and still where it came in I did not know, because had not A., on +whose English experience I wholly relied, told me scarcely ten minutes +before, that "to take the hat off to one another was not an English +custom--that it was, indeed, specially distasteful to English people"? +What then could I think? You may judge of my feelings when A., now +shaking with rage and entirely forgetting himself, exclaimed to me in +Danish, "You are an unmannerly dog. Has no one ever taught you yet to +take your hat off to a lady? There he stands, smoking a stinking pipe +right in her face." + +Oh, yes! oh, yes, indeed, my humiliation was at its highest point. +Quarrelling in our own language, and ready almost to fight! Mrs. ---- +disappeared indoors again. Mrs. A. dared not follow her, but walked down +the street a little, not knowing where to put herself, and Mr. ---- +becoming more and more boisterous with me for an explanation. It did not +last long, but long enough--quite. Then I went and sat, regardless of +all appearance, on the verandah, while A., with much humility, tried to +explain the matter to our host. Mr. ---- did not quite seem to relish +the joke. He came up to me and informed me with much gravity that A. had +explained the matter to his satisfaction. "But," said he, "you will +certainly find that in this country it is the custom to salute a lady +with a great deal more politeness than you used just now towards my +wife. It is a lesson, I assure you, sir, you cannot learn too quickly." + +Half of this I understood and half I guessed. He did not know, however, +that his own mode of salutation would in Copenhagen have been thought +just about as bearish as what he was now correcting me for. I rose to +bid him good-bye, because I was determined to go home as the right +course now to pursue; but as I took off my hat to him again my +crestfallen appearance seemed to amuse him, because he began to laugh, +and when I had reached the corner of the house he came after me, +insisting that I should come back. I declined, until I could see that by +remaining stubborn I should only give still greater offence, and so we +returned and went into the drawing-room to have a glass of wine. Mrs. +---- came now into the room, and with well-bred kindness tried to put me +at my ease again. But although they now seemed to have forgiven me, and +were preparing to start for their walk, I felt that I could not go with +them, and after asking A. in my presence to offer my apology to the lady +herself, I took up my hat, and, bowing profusely to all, went away. + +The reader may guess that I was not very proud of myself when I came +home and flung myself on my bed. My career in Queensland had indeed +opened in a very unpropitious manner. I had not been a week in the +country yet, and it appeared I had made myself look more foolish +wherever I had been than I had thought it possible to do. First the +bottles--what disgrace was not that, fighting with the blacks in the +street scarcely an hour after coming ashore; and poor Thorkill, who had +invested his last sixpence, on my recommendation, in buying empty +bottles! Then at the depot the evening after, when I somehow again had +been the laughing-stock of them all--a regular "Handy Andy"; and now +to-day, when I had started out with the best intentions, and had only +succeeded in making a never-to-be-forgotten picture of myself--and that +after having borrowed a "belltopper" to look grand in! Now I had to +return that piece of furniture to the owner, and when he asked me how I +had enjoyed the company of my grand acquaintances, probably I should +have to tell a falsehood about it in order to hide my shame. One +consolation was that I had yet the gloves--they were my own to do with +as I liked. I had paid ten and sixpence for them, more than half my +fortune. Faugh! was ever any one like me? Was that all I had come to +Queensland for? But at all events this should not happen again. If I +could find an ass bigger than myself, thought I, I should be satisfied, +but never again as long as I lived would I seek the acquaintance of +people who by any stretch of imagination might think themselves my +superiors. + +Then I called in from the backyard a whole troup of dirty, lazy blacks, +who were lying there basking in the sun in an almost naked condition, +and made them understand that I would give them all my home clothes if +they would perform a war dance in them for my instruction and pleasure. +One of them put on my swallow-tail coat and belltopper (he had no +breeches), another got my overcoat, one of the ladies put on my jacket +(she had nothing else), another put on my woollen comforter, not round +her neck but round her waist, where it was of more use. At last I took +my flute, and the whole troup kept screaming and dancing about in the +backyard while I played, until my "boss" came and interrupted the +proceedings. I felt a grim sort of satisfaction. Alas! there is no +saying what is to become of any of us before the end is over. Clothes +are lifeless things, yet how often had I not brushed them and thought it +important that they should look well! I really felt a kind of remorse +when I saw these filthy blacks lie wallowing in them amid a flock of +yelping curs. + +And now I fell to work at my trade in earnest. The houses in Bowen are +all built of wood, and a very easy affair it is for any one to build +them. Indeed housebuilding in the small Queensland towns can scarcely be +called a trade, insomuch that any practical man who can use carpenter's +tools could easily build his own house. A hammer and a coarse saw was +about a complete set of tools on many jobs we did up there. Still, large +wooden houses filled with all the most modern comforts are also +constructed, and in such none but the best workmanship is tolerated, so +there, of course, a tradesman is indispensable. At all housebuilding, +too, a man who is constantly at it acquires a quickness which would +altogether outdistance the novice, but one may learn as he goes in that +trade, and the best men I have met in the carpenter trade out here are +men who never served their time to it. + +There were no saw-mills in the town, nor was there any suitable timber +to saw in the bush, so that we depended for a supply on an occasional +schooner, or on what the steamers sometimes would bring. At times we had +no timber at all. Then we had to make furniture out of the packing-cases +in the stores, or the "boss" would buy an old humpy and pull it down, +and we had to try to make a new one out of it. My employer had engaged +another carpenter besides myself from among the immigrants. This man had +got married at the depot to one of the girls, and they lived in a small +house. He had thirty shillings a week, of which, of course, most went to +keep house. But Bowen is one of the very few non-progressive towns on +the coast, and houses stood empty in all directions, so that he only had +to pay a nominal rent. Our "boss" seemed to have plenty of work always, +and, besides ourselves, there were two and sometimes three English +carpenters employed. We had to work like boys for them, because we could +not very well be sent anywhere by ourselves, as we could not speak to +people about the work to be done. One thing I might mention here, and +which I think very unfair, is this, that nobody took the trouble to +speak English to us, but they seemed even to go out of their way to +teach us a sort of pigeon English, which, of course, would demonstrate +our inferiority to the individual who addressed us. Although I do not +dislike either English, Scottish, or Irish people, I think it a great +delusion of theirs that they are more hospitable to foreigners, or +cosmopolitan in their way of thinking, than other nationalities, but +that they are under the impression that they are the salt of the earth +is certain. Meanwhile my mate and I did the best we could to vindicate +the honour of our country. I felt myself daily getting stronger and more +active; the change of air did wonders, and so was it with my mate. After +a while, we found we could fully hold our own. The English tradesmen +were very fond of showing how much they could do, but as we both began +to get up to their standard they would, as we worked under them, knock +us off what we were doing and put us to something else, often with the +evident intention of making the "boss," when he came, think we had not +done much, or did not understand our work. So one day I had a terrible +quarrel with the man with whom I was working on that account, and then +he began to denounce us all for cutting the wages down. I had no +intention of cutting down his wages, and I did not know in the least +what wages he got, but when he told me that he received three pounds +sterling every week I thought that the "boss" had treated me very badly. +I learned then that three pounds are the ordinary weekly wages for +carpenters in Queensland, and I told the English carpenter that I would +immediately ask the "boss" for an increase in _my_ wages to that amount, +and that if he would not give it to me I would not do more work than I +got paid for. I had been there six months at that time, and had never +taken any money of my wages beyond what I received when I started, but +when I asked for three pounds per week my employer was very +dissatisfied. I wanted him to cancel the agreement. He refused, and I +accused him of having taken an unfair advantage of me. He assured me +that as he had got me he would keep me. "Very well," said I, "do your +best to obtain your pound of flesh, but do not charge too high a day's +wages when you send me away after this; I might not suit." + +From that day there was war between us, war to the knife. Still I was, +and had been, well treated there, and so far I had done my best to +deserve it. When I think of it now, I am glad that before this occurred +I had an opportunity to show my willingness. What my master's profit on +me was I do not know, but it cannot have been large. What with my +inability to speak the language, the learning how to handle the +different tools used here, and one thing and another, it was +unreasonable for me to expect the full wages at once. When I compare my +fate with that which befell some of the other immigrants, I ought to +have thought myself very fortunate. Some of these were sent out in the +bush around the town, and among those who were a few miles distant, I +heard much dissatisfaction existed. I will here relate how some, at +least, were treated. One man and his wife, and four single men, were +engaged at a station fifty miles away. Their agreements were all the +same, thirty pounds per annum and rations. The woman, however, was not +engaged. When they arrived at the place they found a small house in the +middle of the bush. When they asked where were their rooms or place to +camp in, their employer told them they might camp anywhere they liked as +long as they did not come inside _his_ house. They had then got some +bags and branches of trees put together and slept under them, but there +was no protection from rain, and the poor woman, who was not well at the +time, thought she was going to die. Instead of food, they were served, +as I have before stated, with raw beef and flour. The reader may imagine +what sort of doughboys they were making. This was strictly and correctly +the truth, although these poor people certainly never knew the true +intent of the agreement. They would not work, they said, unless they got +proper food, but their employer was abusing them every day. They had to +fell trees and split timber for fences. Of course such hard work, with +no cooked food to eat and no bed to sleep in, was an unreasonable thing +to expect from them. After six or seven weeks of this one of them went +away, empowered by the others to go to town and complain for the others. +He came into town, where he told me what I now relate; but his "boss" +was after him quickly, and instead of obtaining redress, he was put in +the lock-up fourteen days for absconding from his hired service, and +then compelled to go back again! While he was in the lock-up, my "boss" +used to send him up three good meals every day. People who may read this +at home will no doubt think that there must be great brutality somewhere +for people to be treated like this. I agree with them. Yet the same +treatment and fare comes light to an old hand. He knows what to expect, +and is prepared for it. As men travel about from place to place in +search of work, it is absolutely necessary for them to carry everything +with them and to be their own cooks too. They have their tent, blanket, +food, billy, sometimes a frying-pan, all bundled together with their +clothes and strapped on their backs, or, if they are well-to-do, they +have a horse to carry the "swag" for them, or even two horses, one being +to ride on. There is really no reason why a man should not possess a +couple of horses here, but still they as often do not. The billy serves +all purposes: in it the meat is cooked, the tea is boiled, and on extra +occasions the plumduff too. + +It is only just to say that the custom of forcing men to camp out in +their own tents and to cook their own rations is growing more and more +out of use. In most places in the bush the employer now provides at +least shelter for his men: in many places they have the food cooked as +well; yet there are to this day thousands of people in Queensland who +live as I have just described, and who never see vegetables from one +year's end to another. + +The reader will, therefore, see that I was comparatively fortunate in +this, that I had both shelter and food while I was learning the language +and accustoming myself to the country. But after my request for more +wages had been refused, I did as little work as possible, indeed I may +say I did scarcely anything. I played quite the _gamin_ with the old +gentleman, until one day he offered to let me go, and then free once +more I promised myself never again to sign away my liberty. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +TOWNSVILLE: MORE COLONIAL EXPERIENCES. + + +I had now paid out to me twelve pounds sterling as the balance of wages +due, so it will be perceived that I had not been extravagant. Yet I am +afraid that if I had been taking my wages up weekly I should not have +had so much, if, indeed, anything. Yet here were the twelve pounds now, +and that was the main thing. It made over a hundred Danish dollars, +quite a large sum to me. Then I considered where I should go next. There +were some gold mines inland within one or two hundred miles, but I did +not know the road, or else I should have gone there. Just then there had +been opened another port north of Port Denison, viz., Townsville. I +understood that if a man wanted to make money, he should go there; or +rather I understood the further north I went the more pay I should get, +on account of its being hotter there, but that down south, were the +climate was supposed to be better, carpenters where not in demand. So, +"Northwards, ho!" was my cry. The steamer left Port Denison the next day +for Townsville, and I was among the passengers. It is on leaving one of +these small ports on the Queensland coast that I have always more than +at any other time been impressed with the utter loneliness in which they +lie. One sees the few houses and appurtenances like a speck on the +coast, and north and south the long vast coastline. We steamed along all +the evening, night, and next morning, and towards noon my attention was +directed to some small white specks on the beach. That was Townsville, +the new settlement where money was to be made. The steamer I was in +could not run close, but lay out in the bay until another very small +steamer came out and took us all on board. Then in another half-hour we +ran into a small creek, past three or four galvanized iron sheds, and +here we were at the wharf in the middle of the main street of the town. + +Townsville lies on the bank of a small river or creek called Ross Creek, +which when I was there was remarkable for being stocked with alligators. +One could not very well, therefore, cross the creek without some danger, +and at that time all the people and all the houses without a single +exception, lay on the south side of the creek. Ross Creek formed, I +might say, one side of the main street. Facing it lay a number of small +shanties, some made of packing cases and old tin; others again, built +with a view to permanency, of nicely dressed sawn timber, and looking +like rich relations in contrast to their poor neighbours. This was +Flinders Street, or Townsville proper. For about ten chains this row of +houses ran, and facing it, on the other side of the creek, was one vast +wilderness of swamp, long grass and trees. When one had passed the row +of houses composing the street there were turns off to the bush in all +directions, and tents, huts, or sheets of galvanized iron stood all +about the street. Up behind the street were some tremendous-looking +mountains, and here such people as the doctors, civil servants, &c. +seemed to have fixed their abode. The most splendid views could be +obtained up there right over the sea and the numerous small islands. +Then the climate, which at least at that time was supposed to be +somewhat unhealthy down below, was very much better on the highlands. + +While I was in Townsville my greatest pleasure was to take my lunch with +me in a morning and then scramble up there to some place from which the +best view could be had, and sit there all day. That was a cheap and +harmless pleasure, but to do so at the present time would be trespass, +because all the land about there is now sold at so much per foot, and no +one but the owners have a right either to the soil or the air, or even +the view. It seems wrong to me that it should be so. I wonder what will +become of poor people when the day arrives when all the world is thus +cut up into freehold property! If I had at that time invested the ten +pounds I carried in my pocket in a piece of land, it would certainly +have been worth thousands of pounds to-day, and I believe I might even +have been worth tens of thousands. Then I might without further trouble +have been myself a "leading Colonist" to-day! + +On looking around one would scarcely think that this place and Bowen +were in the same country. In Bowen everybody seemed to have plenty of +time. The shopkeepers there would stand in their doorways most of their +time, or go visiting one another. Then, although Bowen was so much +larger than Townsville, there seemed to be no people in it. But here +there were crowds everywhere, and seemingly not an idle man. People +appeared rather to run than to walk. I walked up the street and looked +into a half-finished building where half a dozen carpenters were at +work. I watched them well. They were all men in their prime, and if they +did not work above their strength they were good men assuredly! There +was quite a din of hammers and saws. It was terrible! I felt very much +afraid that I should not be able to match myself against any one of +them, but on the principle of not leaving until to-morrow what might be +done to-day, I asked one where the "boss" was? He pointed to a man +alongside who also was working terribly hard, and this gentleman sang +out to me from the scaffold, "What do you want, young fellow?" So I said +that I wanted work. + +"All right," cried he, "I'll give you a job, but I have no time to talk +before five o'clock; you can wait." Then I stood waiting, and feeling +half afraid to tackle the work, until the "boss" sang out "five +o'clock." + +What a relief every man must have felt. Each seemed to drop his tool +like a hot potato. I remember well my feelings. I knew before the +contractor spoke to me that he was a bully, from the way he spoke to the +other man. He came up to me. + +"Well, what is it you can do?" + +"I am a carpenter and joiner." + +"Oh, you are a German." + +"No, I am not." + +"What sort of a new chum are you then?" + +"I asked you if you wanted a carpenter." + +"Where were you working before?" + +"In Bowen." + +"What wages did you get there?" + +"Thirty pounds a year." + +"Do you know that I expect my men to earn fourteen shillings a day?" + +"I will do as much work as I can, and I do not expect you to pay me more +than I can earn." + +"Got any tools?" + +"No." + +"I do not want you then!" + +Did ever any one get such an unprovoked insult? I felt as if I could +never ask another man for work again. Although I had learned a little +English, it was far from sufficient to allow me to set up and work on my +own account. I knew that very well, and although I kept telling myself +that most likely here there would be plenty of other contractors to go +to, yet I was in very low spirits as I went off looking for a suitable +boarding-house. The place I came to did not impress me as being either +clean or comfortable. I went in at the door only because I saw on the +signboard the words "Diggers' home," or "Bushman's home." I forget +exactly what it was, but I understood there was "home" about it, and as +I was just then longing very much for such comforts as the word "home" +is associated with, I went in. It was just tea-time and about thirty men +were sitting on two wooden forms around the one table, eating. The +uncouth way in which they were gormandizing was terrible to witness. +English working people show, I think, greater anxiety to possess what +are popularly called "table manners" than does the same class where I +came from. The former hold their knives and forks in faultless style, +but they seem never to have learned what is the great point in table +manners. This is a point on which I was very strictly brought up, and as +one cannot very well criticise another's manner of eating while sitting +alongside him at table, I think I might without offence give valuable +advice here. It is this. Close your lips while you are eating, +gentlemen. It does not matter half so much to some people how you hold +your fork. + +There were among the others at the table two of my shipmates, who, as +they told me, were working at their trade for four pounds a week. They +were dressed in the height of fashion, and would not speak Danish at all +to me. One of them informed me in a sort of language that I am sure no +Englishman could have understood, that he had almost quite forgotten +Danish. As I had a craving just then for sympathy, I told them how I had +fared when I had asked for work, but all the sympathy I received was the +remark that it was smart fellows only who were needed in Townsville. +They agreed thoroughly about that, and then whenever they could repeat +the formula "I get four pounds per week," they did it _ore rotundo_. +Evidently they had a heartfelt contempt for one like me, who had been +working for only a few shillings a week. After tea, I was, on stating +that I wanted to stay for a week, shown into a small room wherein stood +six stretchers, or beds, as close as could be. One had scarcely room to +squeeze about among them. The middle of the room seemed to be a sort of +main passage two feet wide between the beds on each side, leading to +rooms beyond, and there the rest of the thirty boarders would tramp in +and out. The landlord, on showing me one of these beds as mine, demanded +a pound sterling of me in advance as one week's payment. "Beautiful +home." "Comfortable abode." I regretted that I had left Bowen, as I +thought of my clean private room there. I did not, however, pay for a +week beforehand. I paid only for my supper and a shilling for the use of +the bed or "home" for that night. I sat there on the bed for a quarter +of an hour, listening to all the noises around me. Then I felt that I +could not suffer it any longer, so I went out. It was a beautiful +moonlight night. To get out past the houses was only the work of five +minutes, and I kept walking on along a road I came to until I was well +past all signs of civilization. I had taken my flute with me as the best +means which yet remained to soothe my troubles, and then I sat down to +play. How much better I felt out there under the gum-trees! That +foul-smelling boarding-house seemed to trouble me no longer. I would not +return to it. Better by far to sleep out there under the open sky! I +sang and played and worked myself into quite a romantic feeling. At last +I fell soundly asleep. + +The next day I began more carefully to look out for a boarding-house, +but it was all one. There were enough of them indeed, but in all there +was not one which did not to my mind look more like a rabbit warren than +a "home" or a "rest," or whatever the name might be that was put over +the door. A couple of places were kept by Chinamen. They at least seemed +more honest, because they made no pretence of offering their guests what +they had not got. All the accommodation they offered was a shelf for +each man, and there seemed to be an air of "take it or leave it alone" +about them which I liked. But none of these suited me, and so I went to +the hotels, and for one pound ten shillings per week I got white man's +accommodation: a room for myself and every civility. How anybody like my +two grandly-dressed countrymen could, if they earned four pounds a +week, prefer the other place to this, I did not understand. + +I might now with much satisfaction have finished my writing here by +telling the reader how I obtained work the next day for fourteen +shillings per day, and how I saved and persevered until I myself became +a contractor--if such had been the case. But the truth must be told, and +that is that I kept delaying day by day to ask any one for a job. Every +day I would walk about the town, and passed and re-passed houses under +erection, but I could not bring myself to go and speak to any one for +fear of meeting the same fate that befell me the day I arrived. When I +came home to the hotel from such an expedition, I would console myself +by recounting my money and reckoning up how many Danish dollars it was. +That seemed to reassure me. Certainly it went fast, but on the whole I +was in no way alarmed over myself, because I knew very well that when +the necessity came a little nearer I should easily get something to do. +Meanwhile I could go out every day shooting, fishing, and enjoying +myself as best I could. + +One of the first days I was in Townsville, I went out in the main road +leading to the gold diggings, and when I was about a mile or two out of +town I came to a house which attracted my attention. It was very small, +the walls were built of saplings, the roof was covered with bark, tin, +and all sorts of odd materials. The door was made of a sapling frame +with bagging stretched across it. Yet the place had a cool, clean sort +of appearance, and under the verandah in a home-made squatter's chair +sat a man smoking a long pipe. Yet I should probably have passed by +without taking notice of any of these details if it had not been that in +front of the house, but close to the road, was erected a sort of frame +like a gallows, and from it dangled in a most conspicuous way an empty +bottle. Underneath was a piece of board nailed to a tree, and on it was +written with chalk the one word thrice repeated: "Bier. Bier. Bier." +That caused me to look at the man, and I perceived it was one of my +shipmates. This man was between fifty and sixty years old when he landed +nine months before with his wife and eight children. I am very certain +that he did not then own more than I did myself, but he had on the +voyage exhibited such a cheerful disposition, and had such a happy knack +of always trying to explain things in a way that would make one think +that any misfortune that might happen would have been just the very +thing wanted, that he had been a general favourite. But when we came to +Bowen nobody had engaged him and his eight children, and so he had been +sent here, and now I saw him sitting smoking his pipe under the verandah +with great gusto. He seemed as glad to see me as I was to see him, and +asked me to come and sit on a box which stood alongside him, and to have +a smoke out of his long pipe. Then he began to spin his yarn. His girls +were at service, the two of them, and had each ten shillings per week, +and they brought it all home, for they were good girls. He had got +somebody to apply for this land for him on his land order, "and here," +he said, "right and left is all mine. Me and mother built the house +ourselves; come inside and see." + +"But," said I, "what is the meaning of that empty bottle you have hung +up there?" + +"Oh," cried he, "did you not see my signboard. I sell beer. I cannot +understand their blessed language, but I thought if I showed them the +bottle they would know what it meant, and Annie drew that signboard +herself last Sunday she was home; she is a splendid scholar, you +know--you should only hear her talk English. It fetches them right +enough. You will see nearly everybody who comes along the road must be +in here and have his beer." + +Then we went inside, and there were the old lady and her children, as +happy as could be. Now I had to tell my history, and after much argument +my friend made me believe that the reason the contractor had not given +me a job was because I had told him the truth. "You should have said you +earned fifteen shillings a day in Bowen, that you would not work under +sixteen shillings now; that is the way. Always tell them you can do +anything." + +Good old fellow! How cheerful I felt when at last I went away. I laughed +to myself, too, at his important self-confident air. If he has kept his +land and sold beer to this day, I am sure he can smoke his pipe now with +great complacency--unless, indeed, riches, a circumstance over which he +had no control, have spoiled him. + +In the hotel in which I stayed were several other lodgers, among them an +elderly man with a long beard and a most fatherly air. He became daily +more friendly to me, and at the end of the first week he told me he was +himself a Dane, and that he had been in the Colonies a great many years. +He said he had watched me with growing interest; that he generally was +chary of offering his friendship to anybody, but that he now was +satisfied that I was a respectable, well-meaning youth, and that his +heart went out towards me. Of course the least I, under the +circumstances, could do was to accept his proffered friendship in the +same spirit in which it was offered, and I told him frankly all my +business, and how I was still smarting under the insult I had received +on my first arrival in Townsville to such a degree that from day to day +I could not bring myself to ask for work again, and how, I added, my bit +of money was going fast. He, on his part, gave me to understand that he +was not a rich man, although several times he had made his fortune. +"But," said he, "I never let the left hand know what the right hand is +doing. Sometimes, as for instance now, I run myself quite short; it does +not matter, I can always make enough for myself as long as God gives me +strength." + +I went with him to church on the Sunday, although I did not understand a +word of what the parson said, but my ancient friend had already acquired +a sort of proprietorship over me, and as he seemed to be intensely +religious, it imparted a kind of holy feeling to me to sit near him. +After church, he lectured me on religion very severely, and all the time +I knew him he prayed devoutly both morning and evening. A few days +after, he told me he had taken a contract from one of the storekeepers +in town to cut hay. He said that a man could cut a load of hay in a day, +and that he was to get thirty shillings a load for it. He would now, +said he, have to buy a horse and dray, and would also have to look out +for a partner. I asked him if he thought I might do, and said that if I +could not work as much as he I should not expect the same pay, but that +I was confident that I would not be far behind. + +"Well, I might do;" he would like to have me for a partner, but he +understood that I had very little money. It would be necessary for his +partner to have at least thirty pounds, as the horse and dray alone +would cost forty pounds, and we should have to buy tools and to keep +ourselves in rations for some time. I was very sorry that I had got only +something like eight pounds. "All right;" he would take me if I would do +the best I could. He had already an offer for a horse and dray. Then we +set about buying a tent and a lot of rations in a store, also scythes +and one thing and another necessary for the job. My partner advised me +that we should not pay for it just then, as we were to deliver hay for +the money. The same day we left with all our things packed in our swags, +and went into the bush about four miles, where there was plenty of long +grass suitable for haymaking, and there we pitched our tent. + +Here I worked for a couple of months with the utmost eagerness. It was a +time of long summer days, and from daylight to dark was I at it, doing +my level best. My partner had bought a horse and a dray, and was taking +hay into town every day, but he did not work much at home. Of course, as +he said, he was getting to be old, and could not work as formerly; but +then he did all the business, and, according to his estimate, we earned +a couple of pounds every day. As for me, I worked contented and happy, +although we had not yet taken any money for the hay and I had given my +partner every sixpence I possessed to help in buying the horse and dray. +We lived very frugally, too--at least, I did; my partner had his dinner +in town, but that was only a necessity when he was bringing hay +in--because, as he said, he did not believe in all this gorging and +over-feeding which was customary in these latter days. As for smoking +tobacco, he was much against it, and declared it to be not only a wicked +but a dirty habit; so, to please him, I had given up the pipe. I made +breakfast for him in the morning, and was at work before he rose. I had +supper ready for him when he came home at night, and I never spared +myself or gave a thought to the unequal distribution of work between us. + +One evening my partner did not come home. I was very anxious, picturing +to myself all sorts of dreadful calamities which might have happened to +him. In the morning I went into the town to the storekeeper, whom I +understood bought the hay, but I could get no satisfaction there. They +had not seen him for a week, they said, and only bought hay +occasionally. I thought they did not understand me, and I went to +another storekeeper, and got a similar answer. As I stood quite +bewildered in the street, I saw the horse and dray coming past, and a +stranger driving. On inquiry, I learnt that the man who was driving had +bought the whole concern the day before for thirty-five pounds. While we +were yet talking one of my countrymen came up and wanted to know about +the horse and cart too, and, to make a long story short, it appeared +that my mate had borrowed, on one pretext and another, from the Danes in +town nearly a hundred pounds in small sums. He had also bought the horse +and dray with a very small cash deposit, and sold them for cash, got +paid for all the hay we had cut, and owing for our rations in one of the +stores besides, he had cleared out. Benevolent-looking old hypocrite, +when I found it all out, I felt as if I could have----never mind--what +is the good? say no more. I had not got a copper. I went up to the hotel +where I had been staying before I had started haymaking, and began to +pour out my tale of woe to the publican, with no other object than to +get sympathy. The publican looked absent-minded, then he smiled: he +always thought old ---- had a "smart look" about him. "And so he has +done all of you new chums, eh! Say it again. How was it he did it? You +are too soft for this country." + +I was on the point of leaving, when a man came in and asked me if I was +old ----'s partner. I said "yes." Would I be so good as to pay this bill +for two pounds odd shillings at once, or if I did not he would make me +into sausages. This was too much. I know myself to be good-natured, and +I told him so, but if he had any evil designs on me, why I would pull +his nose. We had a long conversation on this matter, and at last he +agreed not to annihilate me there and then, and I on my part declared +myself satisfied if he would give me his pipe and tobacco and let me +have a good long smoke as a sort of proof to me that he bore me no +ill-will. When peace was thus restored, he became very friendly, and +explained to me that he had misunderstood the matter before, and that he +was very sorry for me, but that he would yet make my partner pay us all +if I would only leave it to him and go home. "Only leave it to him"? I +had nothing else to do but to go home, because in the camp there was at +least a bit to eat. So home I went. But what a change had now come about +in my fortune! Not only the loss of the money--although that was +serious enough, but there was the shock to my faith in human nature! Who +could I put faith in after this? I began in a sort of mechanical way to +cut hay again just to get away from my thoughts. Then I threw the tools +as far as I could, and went to lie down in the tent with my mind in a +state of blank. Where would I go, and what should I do next? After a +while, the man who had wanted me to pay a bill came and posted a bill on +a tree. He inquired of me if I had a horse, and seemed very sorry for me +when I told him "no." He informed me also that I must not remove +anything, as to do so would be stealing. I understood sufficient of the +proceedings to know that he also would be very "smart" if he could, and +he was scarcely gone, before a man came with another summons, which was +pasted underneath the first. This would never do, thought I. Was I to +allow myself to be made a cricket-ball of by every one who chose to play +with me. I must be "smart" too, and as soon as I got the idea, it struck +me as an immense joke. Would it have been wicked, thought I, if I had +been able to work a double game on the old swindler who had taken me in? +They seemed to show respect for the swindler, and contempt for the dupe; +but then there was the risk of cheating honest people, and that I could +never do. No, that must not be. But talking about cheating and stealing, +as the fellows who had posted the summonses on the trees had done, now +they were trying to get paid their score out of the few things which +were left in the camp without regard to me, and had the impudence to +tell me that I must not remove anything. Bosh! Was it not paid for with +my own money? Certainly all there might not fetch ten shillings, but who +had a better right or more need of it than I? So, as the first step in +"smartness," I remembered that possession amounts to nine points of the +law, and for the rest I would in my mind keep a sort of profit and loss +account, and I began at once by writing down my present score and +leaving open the opposite page for such circumstances as the future +might have in store. Dangerous thoughts, I admit, but this is the truth, +and having found a weapon in this determination, it did not take me ten +minutes to make up my mind what to do. + +There was a settler living not far away from where we had been cutting +hay. This man always seemed to me to have a friendly air about him as he +would come past occasionally, and he had always made a point of stopping +to speak to me at such times. He had several times invited me to come +and visit him, but I had never yet done so. I now thought I would go and +see him and ask him his advice, whether he thought that I had a right to +claim what there was in the camp, and if so, try to induce him to buy +what there was. I accordingly went over to his place and told him all +about my trouble. He was an Irishman. "Bad luck to the ould offinder!" +cried he, "and so he has run away. This is an awful wurld. Ah, me lad, +take my advice, never have anything to do with them Germans. Well, never +mind, you are a German too, but that one was worse than a native dog +anyhow, and so he was." + +I asked him what he thought about the things in the camp, whether I +might have them: there was an axe, besides two scythes, a bucket, billy, +frying-pan, some old blankets and other articles, and then there was the +tent. "Oh, that was all right." I could bring it all over to his place, +and he would swear to any one that it was his, and he would like to see +the man who would dispute it. I might come too, he said, and live with +him until I got something to do. He would do much more than that, only +that he had no money. This seemed to suit me in every respect, and I +began at once carrying over all that was in the tent to my new friend's +place; but the tent itself I let stand for any one to fight about as +they thought fit, or for the Government to inherit--I did not care +which. The next few days I passed with the Irishman. He was not married, +and lived quite alone on this piece of land which he had taken up as a +selection. The hut had only one room, and the absence of that refining +influence which is generally supposed to pervade a place where women +live, was painfully apparent. The Irishman knew this very well, for he +had always a way of excusing the rampant disorder in the hut by saying +"that the Missis was not at home, bad luck." + +Under the bunk were two bags of corn piled up in the cobs, in another +corner lay some turnips and seed-potatoes; we boiled the corned beef and +the tea in the one billy, and if the billy was full of meat or potatoes, +when we wanted to make tea, it was only the work of a second to topple +it all out into the bunk and fill the billy up with water for the tea. I +am sure I now ask my friend's pardon for repaying his hospitality by +describing these matters, but as I hope this history of my life will be +published, it may possibly be read by young ladies, and I cannot resist +the temptation to show them the faithful picture of a bachelor's den in +the Queensland bush. If it were a singular instance I should not think +it worth relating, but it is not; it would be more correct to say it is +the general rule. + +Every day I went into town and looked out for something to do, but I +found great difficulty. Work was plentiful, but wherever I inquired if +they wanted a carpenter, their first question was about my tools. I had +no tools, and they would not engage me. One evening I was in town on +purpose to speak to a contractor who had told me to call at his private +residence at nine o'clock with a view to engaging me. As I was walking +about trying to kill the time, I found myself standing down on the +wharf, where I had come ashore the first day I landed in Townsville. I +was watching the little steamer that used to run between the town and +the bay, and which now seemed to be getting steam up, and in a vague +sort of way I wondered whether the steamer out in the bay was going +north or south, so I asked one of the sailors. "North," said he; "they +go to Batavia, but they call at the pearl fisheries at Cape Somerset. +Are you going?" + +I had, of course, never thought of it till that moment, but as he said +"pearl fisheries" it struck me that it must be a delightful occupation +to sit fishing for pearls, and that it would be worth running a risk to +try to get to that place. Besides, it would be a splendid adventure. So +I said, "Yes, I am going." "Have you been there before?" said he; +"perhaps you are a diver?" + +"Yes, I was a diver." I found out next that I should just have time to +go out to my camp in the bush, to collect my swag and be back in time +for the steamer. I ran all the way there and back, laughing to myself +all the time, because there seemed to myself such a splendid uncertainty +about how the adventure would turn out. I had got no money, but it only +troubled me so far as perhaps it might make it impracticable to get on +board. Anyhow, I meant to have a hard try for it. When I came back I +stood watching the little steamer until the moment they were about to +cast off. Then with a hue and cry I rushed on board. + +As we sailed down the river the captain said to me, "Are you the diver?" +"No savey." "Are you going up to the pearl fisheries?" "No savey." "Have +you got a ticket?" "No savey." "Dang that fellow! Are you----Deutcher?" +"No savey." "Well, if you 'no savey,' all I can tell you is that you +shall not get on board the steamer without a ticket. You savey swim?" + +"Oh yes, I savey swim belong de pearl all de time?" "Oh, well, I think +you had better go back with us again, because they will only give you to +the sharks up there, if you try any tricks on them." + +Here the conversation was interrupted by the captain having to attend to +the ship, and I scrambled out of his way. It did not take long before we +were out alongside the large steamer, and so as it was very close I +watched my opportunity and climbed up the side and on board. There was a +large coil of rope lying on the deck, and into that I crept without a +thought for the morrow. I heard the ship getting under weigh and then I +slept, if not the sleep of the just, at least without dreams. + +Next day was Sunday. I only woke up as the sun was shining in my face, +and then I got up and looked around me. We were steaming along the +coast; there seemed to be nobody about but the sailors. I had a walk +about the deck and a wash at the pump. Nobody spoke to me for some time, +until the steward came and in a most natural way told me breakfast was +ready. "Good!" He is a sensible man, thought I, and I went below and had +a good meal. As soon as I had well finished, the mate came in and asked +me for my ticket. I had formed no particular plan of campaign, but I +felt so self-confident and happy, that I was perfectly convinced within +myself that it would be impossible for any one to be out of temper with +me. It is necessary to bear this in mind to believe what follows. Mirth +is catching, and is irresistible when natural, but nothing but the +genuine article will do here. So now the mate came up to me and said, +"Ticket." I laughed and cried "No ticle." He looked rather surprised at +me, and held out his hand saying, "Ticket." "Oh," cried I, laughing, +while I grasped his hand, "Ticket--oh I savey you give me ticket?" + +"Oh, this won't do," said he, although I could perceive my mirth was +working on him. "Money, money or ticket"--at the same time he took out +half a crown and showed it me. I tried to take the half-crown from him +and patted him on the shoulder, saying, "Good fellow you," and when he +would not give it me, I told him he was too much gammon for me +altogether. At last I got him to laugh properly, and then he said I was +too much gammon for him too, but that now I should have to go off with +him to the captain, because he could not give me a free passage and +could make neither head nor tail of me in the bargain. + +"Come on," cried he; "to the captain you go." + +My whole frame shook with laughter. I do not know why, I simply relate +the fact. It seemed to me so strange and comical that I was now here, a +regular loafer, a sort of criminal, and unemployed, a--what not, not +knowing where I was going and not caring; and what would this blessed +captain do with me, or think of me? On we came, the mate and I, up to +the quarter-deck. There was a good-looking man of thirty odd years of +age reclining at his ease in a sort of chair, more in a lying than a +sitting posture. He was playing with the hand of a lady who was sitting +alongside of him, and they looked so affectionately at one another that +I made sure at once they were not husband and wife! Besides these, the +only other person on deck was the man at the wheel. On we came, and the +mate presented me as a stowaway. I saluted the lady and the captain +airily, and he spoke to me, but I paid no attention to what he was +saying. I was looking at the lady and thinking of my adventure in Bowen, +the first time I saluted a lady in Queensland. My sides shook with +laughter until I saw the lady in the same condition; then I exploded. +The lady, the captain, the mate, and the man at the wheel all followed +suit! I beat my chest and called on all the saints to give me strength +to stop, but I could not, and we all kept laughing until, from utter +exhaustion, the lady and the captain were lying back in their chairs +with averted faces, the mate was hanging over the gunwale, and I was +lying on my elbow on the deck, regularly sick. Every time the captain or +any of them were looking at me they made me laugh again. At last the +captain, after several attempts to speak to me cried, "Go away, go away; +I speak to you by and by." + +I had not been gone half an hour before I was called back again. The +lady was this time sitting with her back to me. The captain said, "What +have you got to say for yourself?" + +I somehow felt sure that it was all right, and that the lady was going +to say a good word for me, or had done so already. Anyhow I altered my +tactics, and told them how it was that I had no money, and how I +somehow, perhaps recklessly, but on the spur of the moment, had got on +board. When I had finished speaking I felt very foolish, and as the lady +turned round and looked at me, I blushed up to the roots of my hair, and +felt very much ashamed. Then the captain said, "And what do you want to +do at Cape Somerset?" + +I did not know. "Have you no money?" "No." "No friends there?" "No." +"You have been very foolish." + +After a while he said: "There will be nothing for you to do at Cape +Somerset and as little at Batavia. The only thing I can do for you is to +put you ashore at Cardwell, here, on the coast. There is a settlement +there and some sugar plantations up the river. I will do that for you, +if you like." + +I thanked him very much, and said I did not know what to do with myself. +"All right, you can hold yourself in readiness to go ashore." + +A couple of hours afterwards, the steamer was very close to land, and I +saw some houses on the beach. A boat was lowered and manned by sailors, +and I was told to get in. But so benevolent did the captain prove, that +they bundled in after me a lot of flour, tea, sugar, and meat, also a +tent. I felt completely crushed: I sat in the boat and dared not look +around; only after they put me ashore I waved my handkerchief, and +there, yes, they were waving their handkerchiefs back to me. There +seemed to be a big lump in my throat. Was I in love? Perhaps I was, I do +not know, but I felt very sure that if just then I had thought that I +could have obliged either the captain or the lady on board by drowning +myself, I would have done it. They had put me ashore in a place where +the houses which formed the settlement were hidden from my view, and I +was glad of it, because I did not want to see everybody. I found a +little stream of water close by, then I pitched the tent and laid myself +down outside, looking after the smoke of the steamer as long as I could +see the slightest sign of it. An unspeakable longing for home, a craving +for sympathy, was all over me. I suppose most people have felt the same +emotion. I did not go up to town for two or three days after; I remained +lying on the beach all day looking out over the sea, and half the night +I would walk up and down thinking, or, perhaps it would be more correct +to say, _feeling_ all sorts of things. + +If we would all only always remember the value of a kind word, or a +little genuine sympathy, how much better the world would be! Who shall +say what I might have been to-day, or into what channels my mind might +have been led, if the captain had acted towards me as he would have +been quite justified in doing--that is, if he had given me in charge of +the police when we came to a shore, and if I had been just a week or two +in the lock-up? I had been wronged in Townsville, and afterwards I had +received the impression that it was a case of each man for himself +without fear or favour. What this impression would have led to if it had +not been in this happy way checked in the very beginning, is hard to +say, but when at last I bent my steps towards the dozen or two of houses +which formed the township of Cardwell, it was with a resolution to do my +best, but not to sail again under false colours. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +ON THE HERBERT RIVER. + + +From the glimpses I already had of the settlement, I came to the +conclusion that it was of no use looking for carpenter's work here, so I +went into the most conspicuous house I could see, viz., the hotel, and +asked for a job of any kind. There were three or four men in the bar, +dried-up looking mummies they seemed to me, but very friendly, for they +began at once to mix in the conversation, and after I had told everybody +all round where I came from, how old I was, what I could do, how long I +had been in the country, and a lot more besides, they held a +consultation among themselves, and agreed that my best plan was to go up +on the sugar plantations on the Herbert River. It appeared that the mail +for the plantation was taken up the river once a fortnight from Cardwell +in a common boat, and my new friends, after standing drinks all round, +unsolicited went to the captain about letting me go with him, and pull +an oar in lieu of passage money. They asked me into dinner, as a matter +of course; and who should I see waiting at the table but a German girl, +one of my shipmates. "Happy meeting." Then for two or three more days I +was breaking firewood for a living, and meanwhile it seemed as if I was +the admiration of the whole community, because Cardwell is, and was +then, as well as the Herbert River, a fearful place for fever, and the +whole population was in a constant state of disease. As for me, +Queensland had so far, I believe, rather improved my appearance than +otherwise. Anyhow, it was a case all the day through to answer people +how long I had been in the country; then they would say, "Hah! Europe, +the old country--that must be the best place, after all. Look at his +cheeks!" Then I would be advised to clear out again as fast as I came, +or else in three months I should look like everybody around me. It used +to surprise me very much, but I could not understand it, because the +climate seemed to me excellent; and as everybody seemed so kind, and I +was in the best of health, I only laughed at their sayings. Meanwhile I +had spoken to the man in charge of the mail-boat, and one day at noon I +embarked for the plantations. It was an ordinary rowing boat, and +besides myself it had two other occupants--the captain, who was a +Frenchman; the other an American. They both, on ordinary occasions, each +pulled an oar; but this time, as I was there, the captain took the helm +and I the oar. I pulled away as hard as I could, and did not see much of +where we were going, but by the time it grew dark we were past the mouth +of the river, and in smooth water. We dropped anchor in the middle of +the river, because, as the captain explained to me, if we were to run +ashore an alligator would be sure to try and crawl into the boat. They +had appliances in the boat for boiling water, and after tea they both +sat for a couple of hours spinning alligator yarns. I listened with +great interest and not without fear, because the river was swarming with +the reptiles. The blacks were also at that time so bad that no one dared +to go overland to the plantations, unless in a large company. Here in +the boat we had two loaded rifles and two revolvers, and before we +reached the plantations I saw enough to convince me that it was +necessary to be very careful when we had occasion to go ashore. It was +also considered always necessary for one to keep watch the whole night, +and as I was not sleepy I took the first watch, while the other two laid +themselves down and soon snored lustily. Put there staring out into the +darkness, with the loaded rifle over my knee, could it really be true, +as my two shipmates had just assured me, that I was bound to catch the +fever before three months were over? How did people here do when they +were sick? I had asked that question also, and they had answered it by +asking me if I thought anybody here was running about with a hospital on +his back. And when any one died, it appeared that they rolled the body +in a blanket and threw it in the river for the alligators to do the +rest! These alligators, too, which might at any time upset the boat and +eat us! Would it be my fate to serve as food for one of them? Horrible +thought. But I had heard that evening so much about alligators; how, if +I were at any time to be caught by one I should try to stick my finger +into its eye, and that it would then eject me again; the whole thing +being just as if it were a most natural and common occurrence here for +people to be eaten by these monsters. Then there were the blacks; they +were both savage and numerous, and I had got strict orders to listen +with all my ears for any surprise from them. I had taken great notice +that when boiling the tea my shipmates had been very careful to conceal +the fire. + +Bang! crack! went the rifle. Up rushed the Frenchman and the American, +revolvers in hand. I stared at them. They stared at me. + +"What is the matter?" whispered the captain. + +"I don't know," whispered I; "the gun went off." + +It was well for me, perhaps, that I was not familiar with the French +language, or else who knows but the Franco-German war might not have +been renewed between myself and the captain. He screamed and laughed and +swore both "Mon Dieu" and "Sacre bleu," and then he assured me that it +was only because I was a German that I was afraid! + +The Yankee sat and smoked his pipe, and laughed in a peculiar way; and, +wild and ashamed of myself, I could not help feeling amused at him, +because he laughed, although the grimaces in his face were exactly those +another man would make if he were going to cry. By and by the captain +began to feel calmer, and as I was disposed only to feel angry with +myself for the fear which had caused me to press on the trigger of the +rifle until it went off, we were soon friends again. My watch was over, +and I laid down to sleep, while the two others took their turn to watch +the rest of the night. At break of day we hoisted the anchor and began +to propel the boat again. I never remember anything in nature making the +same impression on me as the scenery around us. The broad river, or +inlet, was dotted all over with beautiful small islands, then on the +mainland the hills seemed to rise to immense heights, covered with the +primeval forest. The sun rose and shone with that splendour that those +who have been in the tropics can alone imagine. Parrots and all other +birds flew about in great numbers, screaming as if with joy. + +At sunrise we went ashore on a small island about half an acre in +extent, but verdant with tropical plants, quite a home of summer! Here +we had breakfast and a rest before we started again. How inconceivable +did it seem to me that this climate should be so unhealthy as they said +it was. Anyhow, it seemed to me that to have seen this place would be +justification for saying one had not lived in vain, and if the worst was +to come, death seemed to me to have no terror if one might be buried on +that island. We now started off again, pulling the boat. Shortly after, +the sky became overcast and rain began to pour down. First, we had taken +all our clothes off and covered them up with a piece of canvas. The rain +descended in sheets of water all day, and we had a rare bath all the +time; one was always baling the boat and the other pulling. I can never +forget that weary day. We could not make a fire, we had no shelter, and +scarcely five minutes' rest or interval from pulling. A sort of morose +silence seemed to settle over us all. Long after dark in the evening did +it keep on raining, and I began to wonder where we should put ourselves +that night. As the others said nothing, I did not intend to be the first +to knock under. Still, I was ready to drop as I pulled along in the +pitch darkness, and it made it much worse that I did not know but that I +might have to do it all night. At last the captain took up a horn and +blew a tune on it, and a few minutes later we heard a fearful barking as +of a score of big dogs. We had arrived at the place where the township +of Ingham stands to-day. At that time there was only one solitary house +built on high posts, with plenty of room to walk about underneath. I +understood the house was the joint property of the planters further up +the river, and the place was used as a sort of depot. There was an old +man in charge, the only inhabitant; he lived there all alone, protected +by a score of dogs, the most ferocious-looking beasts I ever saw. It +was also part of his duty to receive and be hospitable to such +travellers as might find their way there. I was told these details while +in the boat, and cautioned not to run the boat ashore before we were +invited, as the dogs for certain would tear me to pieces. We heard the +old fellow cooeing, and shortly after he came down to us. He had a +lantern hung around his neck, and two ferocious-looking dogs were held +in chains by him, striving and tearing to get at us. Some more dogs, +which he said were quiet, but which did not look so, were barking and +straining after us at the landing-place. My shipmates had been there +before, and at last the dogs seemed to know them; but poor I had to +remain by myself in the boat until the old man had got all the dogs +chained again. At last I came ashore. Oh, the joy now of a fire, dry +clothes, a good supper, a glass of grog, and a good bed! A good bed in +the Queensland bush means two saplings stuck through a couple of +flour-bags, with two sticks nailed across at the head and the foot to +keep them apart. + +The next evening, after another hard day's pulling, we came to the first +plantation. This seemed quite a large place. I cannot now after so many +years state how many people there were or what they were doing, if ever +I knew it; but let it suffice to say that we were all well received at +supper-time in the single men's hut, where a large crowd of men were +collected. The French man told me I should be sure to get a job as +carpenter from the planter, and that I must demand three pounds sterling +per week and board for my services, nothing less. I slept that night on +the dining-table, as there was no spare bunk; and I remember that night +with great distinctness, on account of what I suffered from mosquitoes. +The next morning I saw the planter, and asked him for a job as +carpenter. "Yes," said he; I was the very man he wanted. He intended to +build a house of split timber; I might give him a price. He would order +a couple of horses, and we would ride out to look for timber, and if I +liked the trees, so much the better. This was a thing I did not then +understand anything about, and I told him so. "Never mind," said he, "I +will find you something; you can make me a waggon." I told him waggons +were not in my line. "What is in your line, then?" inquired he. + +I understood the carpentry needed in brick-building, or at least part of +it, and I could make joinery of sawn timber. + +"Very well; when he wanted a brick building, or joinery made of sawn +timber, he would send for me." + +Then he walked off in a bad humour, and I had to go back to the boat to +tell my shipmates how I had fared. That same day, at dinner-time, we +arrived at the next plantation. I was by this time in very low spirits, +because I did not know what was to become of me. Everybody seemed to +have an errand and something to do except myself, and I did not see how +and when my services would be called into requisition; but my two +shipmates kept telling me it was my own fault, and that I should take +anything I could get to do. So I would, but what was it I could do? +Anyhow, they kept telling me that here was the only likely place left, +and I there _must_ get a job. I must say I could do anything. After I +had dined, the Frenchman kept poking at me and pointing out to me the +planter, telling me I must ask for a job. So I mustered up courage and +went up and spoke to him. "What can you do?" "Anything." "Can you cook?" +"Do you mean making dinners?" "Yes." "No, I cannot do that." "Can you +split fencing stuff?" "No." "Can you make brick?" "No." "Can you chip?" +"What is that?" "Kill weeds with a hoe." "I never did it before." "I am +afraid it is difficult to find you a job. You say you can do anything: +what is it you can do?" + +I was again quite crestfallen as I said, "I do not think I can do +_any_thing." "Well, then, I cannot find you anything to do." With that +he went his way, and I came back to where the Frenchman sat, and I had +to tell him once more of my hard fate. At this he began to swear in +French like one demented, and asked me had I never told the planter I +was a carpenter. "No." "Mon Dieu! oh, Mon Dieu, was any one like this +infant!" Then he ran after the planter and spoke to him, and soon they +both came back. The planter then said he had been told I was a +carpenter, and that he was prepared to find work for me at that trade, +but that he would prefer me to go into the boat to the next plantation, +as he knew his neighbour was much in want of me. If I did not get on +there he would employ me as I came back. What a relief I felt, +especially as I understood they did not expect me to build houses out of +growing trees! The next evening we passed the place where I was told I +could get work, but it was on the other side of the river. A man stood +down by the water's edge hailing the boat. He sang out to us if we +thought it possible he might get a carpenter in Cardwell. It was music +in my ears. The Frenchman cried back: "We have one on the boat." The man +on shore replied he wanted one to make boxes, tables, and the like. I +was ready to jump out of the boat with anxiety, but I had to content +myself, as my shipmates would not let me off before the return journey, +and so I had to ply the oar until, far out into the night, we arrived at +the furthest point of our journey, viz., the Native Police camp. + +I may say a few words about this establishment. Round about in +Queensland, on the furthest outskirts of settlements, some official will +be stationed in charge of half a dozen aboriginals, trained in the use +of the rifle and amenable to discipline. It is the duty of this +official, with the assistance of his troopers, to fill the aborigines +with terror, and to use such means to that end as his own judgment may +dictate. White men to hunt the blacks with would be useless, as they +could never track them through the jungle, and would no doubt also be +too squeamish to fight the natives with their own weapons. But the +blacks themselves delight in being cruel to their own kind. Often while +I was on the Herbert, would I see them coming past, like regular +bloodhounds, quite naked, with their rifle in their hand and a belt +around their waist containing ammunition and the large scrub knife. +Their bodies would be smeared over with grease, so as to be slippery to +the touch. They would then be out on an expedition. It no doubt requires +all the authority their officer can command at such times to temper the +wind to the shorn lamb. As the district becomes settled the aboriginals +grow quiet, and the native police camp will then be shifted further on. +While I was on the Herbert I never saw any other blacks besides the +police, although the blacks were about then in great numbers. We often +saw their tracks, but they never showed themselves unless when they +could not help it. + +We arrived at the police camp about two or three o'clock in the morning, +and were received at the landing-place by two of the troopers, who stood +there without saying a word, as if they were watching for us. They were +black as the night itself, and as I never saw them until I was out of +the boat, I fairly ran against them. One of them had a pipe in his +mouth, and the only thing that indicated his presence was a glowing bit +of coal he had stuck into it. The other one, as I already stated, I ran +against, and I was quite startled as I looked into his gleaming eyes and +as I stretched out my hands felt his greasy cold flesh! So I sang out, +"Hi! vot name? Where you sit down?" that being the usual greeting to a +blackfellow, but although none of them spoke a sentence, I was reassured +in the next moment, as I saw a gentlemanly young man, dressed in a +pyjamas, coming down to greet us. This was their officer, and as he led +us towards the house I thought that it must be a cruel life for any +white man to lead alone in such a place with nobody but a lot of howling +savages to exchange a thought with. I do not think the whole clearing +was more than half an acre in extent. In the middle of it stood a house +built on posts eight feet high. It contained two rooms. This was where +the officer lived. In the yard, or whatever you liked to call the +clearing, was a fire, and around it sat or lay all these black troopers. +Australian blacks will not sleep in a house if they can possibly avoid +it, so this was their regular camping-place. A more wild and desolate +spot than this looked to me, with all these naked savages lying in the +yard, and with weapons piled about both outside and inside the house, +cannot be conceived. + +The next day, on our return journey, I parted company with my two +fellow-travellers, and went ashore at ---- plantation, where I got a +job as carpenter for two pounds ten shillings per week and my board. +This was a place which scarcely could be called a plantation yet, as it +was only just formed. The owner and his family lived there in a large +slab-house, erected on wooden piles ten or twelve feet out of the +ground. There were also a few outbuildings, but any real work was not +going on, only one man, a bullock driver, being engaged on the premises. +My "boss" told me, though, that he expected a hundred Kanakas shortly +from the South Sea Islands, and that he wanted me to fit up bunks for +them, put together tables, troughs for making bread in, furniture for +his own house, and such like. I perceived a few thousand feet of sawn +cedar lying about, and there and then I started work to astonish the +natives. I never worked with greater perseverance than then. The tools +were in a fearful condition, but I soon got them into some shape. Then I +rigged up a bench and made a sunshade out in the yard, where the young +lady could see me working, and then it began to rain tables, sofas, +chairs, and bunks, so much that I am not afraid to say that I quickly +became a favourite. I found out here that I was more capable than I +myself thought, because I even made a first-rate boat, in which I had +the pleasure of rowing about the river with Mr. ----'s daughter, and in +which she and her father afterwards travelled to Cardwell. Miss ---- had +been with her parents on the Herbert for a year, and shortly after I +arrived on the scene she went to a boarding-school in Sydney. On his +return journey from Cardwell Mr. ---- brought home a servant girl, who +proved to be the German girl I already have mentioned as having seen in +Cardwell. I relate this matter not because I took any particular +interest in this girl, but because I have by and by to write about what +happened to all of us. + +My "boss" was in my eyes a regular hero, or Nimrod, if you like. I went +out shooting with him both morning and evening, and all Sunday as well, +and became after a while quite a good shot. But one thing troubled Mr. +----; it was this: that although alligators were a daily terror, he had +never yet been able to shoot one. When we went out shooting he had +always a rifle with him, loaded with ball, and we would crawl about some +fearful places and follow the tracks of alligators, but still we had no +luck. As for me, I professed to be very sorry too, that we did not run +right up against one. I had great faith in Mr. ----, and I do not think +he had any suspicion that I was really afraid; still I always drew a +sigh of relief when we came home from one of our expeditions. There is +so much boasting going on in Queensland about alligators, that it is +next to a proverb here when one is telling an untrue tale to say that it +is "an alligator yarn," and I am, therefore, almost ashamed to write +about it. Still alligators are a reality, and up there we knew it. On +the river-bank, in front of the house was a spring, from which we got +the water supply for the house but so nervous were we that no one dared +to go to it without the utmost precaution. Every morning Mr. ---- would +come and ask the bullock driver and me if we were prepared to fetch +water. Then he would get his rifle and take up a position on the +river-bank from which he could overlook the surroundings, while we went +down to carry up a supply of water. + +[Illustration: AN ALLIGATOR POOL.] + +And now I will relate an alligator story, although I have been much +tempted to pass it over for the reason already stated. One day after +dinner Mr. ---- came to me much excited, and told me that an alligator +had taken one of the working bullocks which had been lying down a few +hundred yards from the house, in broad daylight too. We then went down +to see about it, and there were the tracks of the bullock and the +alligator. It showed plainly that the alligator must have taken the +bullock in the hind-quarters and have dragged it along, because the +earth was regularly ploughed up where the bullock had been holding back +with its head and forelegs; it had been dragged right down to the +river's edge and then killed and partly eaten. As we ran the tracks +down, we saw the alligator by the bullock, but it dropped like a stone +into the water on our approach. Mr. ---- turned to me with sparkling +eyes. "Now is our chance," cried he; "to-night and to-morrow night it +will come again and eat of the bullock. Then we can shoot it." Was it +not fun? Anyhow I said I would make one of the shooting party, and then +he began to unfold our plan of campaign. To begin with he thought it +best to delay till the next evening as the alligator would then be sure +to be more quiet. We were to take up a concealed position to windward of +the bullock's carcass, and await the arrival of the monster. And so the +next evening came, and after tea, while it was yet light, Mr. ---- came +and asked me if I was ready. "Yes," cried I. I was ready, and in a very +ferocious spirit besides! Well, then, we would get the weapons. The two +rifles were loaded, and each of us had a six-chambered revolver as well. +As for me, I stuck a butcher's knife in my belt also, as a last +resource, but Mr. ---- laughed at me for doing it and assured me that +before I could find use for that I should be in the alligator's stomach. +Then we went, Mr. ---- first and I close behind. The river-bank nearest +the water was very steep for about thirty yards, then there was a gentle +slope for another twenty yards or so, and on that slope the carcass of +the bullock was now lying. We were very careful to have the wind against +us, as the alligator is very shy as a rule, and Mr. ---- said it would +be sure to clear off if it could smell us. Then we lay down behind some +bushes in a most overpowering smell from the bullock; but what will one +not do for glory? It was agreed between us that we should both fire at +the same moment, and that Mr. ---- should give the signal. We were lying +flat on the ground, and one of Mr. ----'s legs was touching me, and it +was further agreed that I was not on any account to fire before he with +his leg pressed mine in a certain way. Then I was to fire into the mouth +of the alligator, while he at the same moment would try to send a ball +through its eye. We were lying in this position nearly up to midnight, +when we heard some heavy body come creeping up the hill, but still out +of sight. Now and then the noise would cease for a minute or two, then +it would come on again, until at last we saw the dark mass of the +alligator come crawling up to the bullock and begin to tear at it. I was +not a bit nervous, because I could see it quite distinctly, but I was +very impatient for the signal to fire which did not come, and I dared +not move round sufficiently to look at Mr. ---- either. The alligator +was turning this way and that way. Now, I thought, is the time. Still no +signal. Then it turned right round, and at one time I thought its tail +was going to sweep us away. Just when our chance was best we heard +another alligator coming crawling up the bank. It was at that moment +quite impossible to fire according to the position in which the first +alligator was lying, but as it was moving about rapidly I thought it +best in any case to ignore as well as I could the presence of the second +alligator, which we could not yet see. At last the first one began to +snap its jaws in that peculiar way which only one who has seen a live +alligator knows. Then came the signal. Bang! went the rifles. The beast +never moved a muscle. It was quite dead, and we could hear the other +alligator tearing and rolling down into the water again. Mr. ---- got up +and wiped his face. "I was afraid of you getting excited," said he. I +admitted I was thankful the sport was over, and without giving ourselves +time to measure the reptile we decamped out of the smell as fast as we +could. It was fairly overpowering, and it took the best part of a bottle +of Scotch whiskey, which the "boss" introduced, to make me believe that +it was possible to go through such adventure and still live. + +It had for a long time been the wish of Mrs. ---- and the children to +visit their nearest neighbour, who, however, lived some fourteen miles +away. One evening preparations were made for the whole family to start +at daybreak next morning on the bullock dray. It was quite a perilous +journey for a lady and children to undertake, as the track was through +the dense jungle most of the way, and through grass eight feet high at +other places, and swamps, creeks, and gullies had to be crossed. Mr. +---- told me that he could not possibly be back before the next night, +and that he entrusted everything at home to my care while he was away, +the girl included, and that I might take a holiday until they came back, +so that I on no account left the premises. He also advised me that as it +was possible I might have a surprise from the blacks I had better sleep +for the night up in the house, which, as I have already stated, stood on +high piles, and was only accessible by means of a narrow staircase. The +next morning, then, they all went away, the bullock driver and all the +dogs included. Twelve bullocks pulled the dray, into which a lot of +bed-clothes were piled. There sat the lady and the children. Mr. ---- +was on horseback, armed with his rifle and revolvers. The driver cracked +his long whip and all the dogs barked and jumped about. I stood by +seeing them off and feeling quite important too, as I was the garrison +left to defend the home until the travellers should return. About +dinner-time that same day two travellers came in a boat from one of the +plantations and asked to speak to Mr. ----. This was rather remarkable, +as we scarcely ever saw any other people than the boatmen when they +brought the mail, and occasionally the black trackers from the police +camp, but I told them that Mr. ---- and the whole family had left that +morning in the bullock dray. They seemed surprised. + +"All of them, did you say?" + +"Yes," replied I. + +"It means good-bye," said they both. "You will never see any of them +again; they have cleared off." + +I was surprised and incredulous. My friends seemed quite sure. + +"And what did he say to you when they left?" inquired one. + +"He told me I need not work until he came back, but that I must not +leave the premises. He also said that he entrusted everything to my +care." + +"My word," said they, "it is a nasty trust. Why, the blacks will be sure +to rush the place one of these days, perhaps to-night, for they are +certain to have seen the others going away." + +Then they began to commiserate with me on what was to become of myself +and the girl, as we were sure to fall into the hands of the blacks, and +they offered to take us both away in the boat with them. But I could not +see it in that way. I knew that in all probability we should have no +visitors for ten or eleven days until the mailman came. But where was I +to go? I had now a good deal of money coming to me. Who was to pay me? +Besides, it might only be all nonsense. Still the responsibility seemed +great. I took the girl aside and asked her if she liked to go in the +boat and leave me. She began to cry, and said she would rather stay, and +did not like the fellows. If there is anything that could ever make me +desperate it is to see a woman cry. So I began to give the two strangers +the cold shoulder, and to show them that I had a rifle, six +fowling-pieces, a revolver, and any amount of ammunition, and that I +would, if it was necessary, defend the place against all the blacks in +the district, but neither the girl nor I would budge out of the place +before we were paid, and that, moreover, we did not believe that the +"boss" had cleared off, but that he would be back the next evening. + +After these fellows were gone I held a council of war with the girl. We +turned and twisted probabilities for or against, were they coming back +or were they not? Evening came and we sat up in the blockhouse and dared +not go to bed. Wherever I moved there the girl was after me. I had all +the guns standing loaded alongside me, but we dared not light a lamp for +fear of attracting the blacks. We sat whispering and listening. Every +time the wind would rustle the leaves in the garden the girl made a grab +at me and cried, "There they are! There they are!" + +At last I induced her to go to her room, and then I dozed off myself, +and did not wake up before it was broad daylight. The first thing we did +that morning on coming downstairs was to look for tracks from the +blacks, to see if they had been about. I was not a very good tracker +then, but we found what proved to our entire satisfaction that the +aboriginals had been about in great numbers. This terrified the girl +completely, and she upbraided me for having slept during the night, and +implored me not to do so again; also she wished she had gone with the +strangers the day before; and then she began praying in great excitement +that it might not be her fate to fall into the hands of savages. Of +course all this had its influence on me, and as the day went on we +completely discarded the possibility of our employers returning, and +only thought of how best to protect ourselves from the blacks. I made up +my mind, therefore, that the time had now arrived for me to show myself +great and brave, and at all events to sell my life dearly. Good +generalship, however, was likely, thought I, to do more for me than +bravery unassisted by judgment, and for that reason I began to think how +to act so as to be prepared for the worst. I knew this much, that the +greatest danger from a surprise would be about sunrise. But as I was +alone I could see that it would be impossible for me to defend the whole +property. I must therefore retire to the main house, which, standing +isolated and on high piles, would offer a good fortification. But if I +had to abandon the outhouses, they would then fall into the hands of the +enemy and he would be enriched by all there was to be found in them. I +must, therefore, while I had time, carry everything I could up to the +house, and, perhaps, it would be better to burn the outhouses down +afterwards, so that they might not serve as a hiding-place for the +blacks. I would see about that, but my first duty was to carry +everything upstairs, and at all events commenced. No sooner said than +done. The girl and I carried everything we could lay our hands on, +upstairs. I also carried up water enough to last us for a fortnight or +more, three large tubsful. All the firewood that was lying handy I also +humped up, although there was no fireplace upstairs; but I wanted to do +all I could, and in my energy I could not be still. + +In this way the day passed and evening came again. As no one had +returned what hope we might have had was now dead, and as for me I felt +like a glorious Spartan, quite certain that the blacks would come and +that I should let daylight through every one of them. All my guns, of +course, were loaded, and I was showing them off to the girl, explaining +to her that it was my intention, after having defended the door as long +as I could, to retire from room to room and keep up the war all the +time. But she was nevertheless timid, and I feared much that she should, +by taking hold of me, which indeed she did all the time, prevent me from +firing, and I asked her, therefore, again to retire to her room. She +implored me to let her stay with me, and said she did not mind so that +we might die together. Then she began to hug me. What new and unexpected +horror was this? Was this a man-trap, or what? Was there not trouble +enough already? Surely, thought I, if ever a man needed a stimulant to +keep up his pluck, I am that man. Happy thought! I knew where the "boss" +kept his whiskey. I went to the cupboard and took a long, deep pull at +the bottle. "Dearest Amelia," cried I, "remember that in the time of our +glorious forefathers it was the duty of the Danish maidens to hand the +cup to the warriors, both before they went to battle and when they came +home. Do now! Let me. Oblige me to drink of this bottle. It is only +schnapps. Do! That is right. Here is luck! And death and destruction to +our enemies! And now retire to your room. Good-night. Nothing shall harm +you. Barricade the door from the inside. Let me lock it from the +outside. And now," cried I, "I make it impossible for anyone to get near +you. Here goes the key." + +With that, having turned the key twice in the lock after her, I threw it +out of the window as far as I could! I felt then as bloodthirsty as any +savage. Why did these blacks not come? The only thing that puzzled me, +as I traversed the house from one shutter to another, was what I should +do if they came underneath the house. They might then fire the building. +No, they should not. I would have them yet. I would take the two-inch +augur and bore holes all over the floor, so that I might shoot through. +I was soon boring away making holes for a long time right and left, when +the girl whispered, "What are you doing?" + +"I am boring holes," cried I, "in the floor to shoot through. Shall I +bore a hole in your door? Then you could kill half a dozen with a +revolver. If you have a mind, I will." + +"Oh, there they are!" cried the girl. + +"Ha, where? Come on!" + +"Stop, you fool, it is the master and the missis. Don't you hear the +whip? Let me out." + +"Master and missis? I cannot let you out. I have thrown the key away." + +Then it dawned on me what a fearful ass I must presently appear. It is +impossible for me to keep on with the particulars. I could not find the +key again and let the girl out. The floor was spoiled, the house upside +down. I should have been game to have fought his Satanic Majesty +himself, but to face the contempt of the "boss" and good, kind Mrs. ---- +was terrible. So I talked through the door at the girl and told her to +say, if any one made inquiries for me, that I was not at home. With that +I decamped, and did not present myself before the next midday. After a +while the matter was only referred to as a joke. + +I should have liked very much to have been able to write a detailed +account of the whole twelve months I spent at this place. I am quite +sure that if truly written, much of it would prove interesting to people +who never were so far north, but I must of necessity pass quickly over +many things of which I should have liked to write more fully, or else I +shall never come to the end of my travels. Suffice it, therefore, to say +that the Kanakas arrived in great numbers; that the "boss" and I went to +Cardwell on horseback to fetch them; that a lot of white men were also +brought together on the plantation; that I was overseer, or "nigger +driver," over part of the Kanakas for some time; that I, during the +twelve months, gained a good deal of colonial experience: learned to +ride, drive bullocks, split fencing stuff, &c., also how to build +slab-houses, as they are called--that is, to go into the bush, and with +the help of a few tools, single-handed, to make a good house out of the +growing trees. All this I learned, more or less, and then when I had +been there about twelve months I caught the fever. This fever is, I +believe, peculiar to certain parts of North Queensland; it is not +deadly, but very common, indeed my impression is that there was not a +man on the Herbert River who had not got it more or less. It comes with +shivering of cold, followed by thirst and utter exhaustion, once a day +or once every second day. Most people are able to work all the time they +have it until they feel the "shakes" coming over them. Then perforce +they must lie down, but they generally get up to their work again after +the prostration which follows is over. With me it was different. A +couple of weeks of it made me so weak that when I felt myself strongest +I could only stagger about with the help of a big stick. I had built a +carpenter's shop, and my room was off that. Then I would lie down of an +evening on the bed, with bed-clothes piled on me enough to smother one, +and still the gasping and the "shakes" would gradually commence. The +very marrow in one's bones seemed frozen, while the teeth would rattle +in the head, and the breath would come and go with fearful quickness. +After a couple of hours of this, heat and prostration would follow, +coupled with terrible thirst. Of course there was no hospital, and there +was no one to hand one a drink. When I properly understood the matter, I +would always place my wash-basin in the bed, filled with water, so that +when the time came I could lean over and drink, because I was too weak +to lift a billy can or a pint pot off the floor. But when I upset this +basin, which happened once, my sufferings were intense. I remember on +two or three occasions when I had no water how I tried to get out of +bed, how I fell and lay on the floor for hours, then crept on my hands +and knees out around the shed to where a bench stood with a tub of water +on. There I would sit or lie over the water for hours and drink. Such a +matter as this excites no sympathy in a place like that. There were now +a lot of other men, and most of them had a touch of the fever as well. +If I had slept among other men I have no doubt some one would have given +me a drink, but to ask any one to sit up with me, or disturb their +night's rest on that account, would have been asking too much, I fear. +Then when I had been alone before the new hands arrived, I had shared +pot-luck with my employer and his family, but now it seemed as if one +was only lost in a crowd. I had nothing to eat but half-putrid corned +beef and bread, served on a dirty tin plate, tea of the cheapest sort, +boiled in a bucket, and sweetened with dirty black sugar, was my fare +too. How could any sick person eat or drink such stuff? As I write now +it seems to me it is enough to cause a strong man to die of slow +starvation, and yet it is the ordinary average diet put before working +men all over the Queensland bush twenty-one times a week. One day Mrs. +---- came down and asked me very sympathetically how I was getting on. +So I showed her my plate with my dinner on, covered with flies as it +was, and very unappetizing indeed, and upbraided her and her husband for +serving such rations. "Dear me, how shocking! None of the other men +complained. Was the meat bad?" Then she assured me I should have +anything I wished for, and for the last few days I was there I was +constantly invited to their own table, although I scarcely could eat +anything even there. But I thought I had been there long enough, and +when the mailman came in his boat I took a friendly leave of my employer +and his family, and was assisted down into the boat. I had with me then +my cheque for a hundred pounds sterling, and another for seven or eight +pounds. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +LEAVING THE HERBERT--RAVENSWOOD. + + +I had again no particular idea as to where I would go, further than that +I wanted to regain my health. But oh, for the sweetness of liberty and +money! I needed not to say anything about money to my old travelling +companions in the boat; they knew I must have a good cheque, and their +attentions were in proportion! Perhaps I wrong them. Perhaps they would +have been just as careful to my wants if they had known me to be +penniless. At any rate, a sort of bed was made for me in the stern of +the boat, and offers to procure for me anything I wanted from the stores +on the plantations were profuse. But I wanted for nothing more than to +lie as easily as I might, because I really was very sick. There had been +a public-house built somewhere a mile from the river-bank since I had +passed that way before, and when we came to the place where a track led +from the water up to it, my two oarsmen proposed to go up to have some +refreshment, and promised to be back directly. Of course I could not go +with them. When they were gone some time a little pig which they had in +a bag in the boat began to find its way out. I thought it a pity to +allow it to escape, and yet I had not strength to get up, but without +calculating the consequences I rolled myself over until I lay on the top +of it. Never shall I forget the howling of that pig in my ears, for I +believe over an hour, until the men came back. The bag had somehow got +mixed in my clothing, and I could not either free myself or the pig, +else I would gladly have let it go. At last the men came back and got us +separated. + +When I came to Cardwell I thoroughly enjoyed, although I was sick, the +luxury of lying in a clean bed with white sheets, and mosquito curtains +all around me, and to have one of the servants at the hotel coming to my +door all day long asking if she could do anything for me. There was +neither doctor nor chemist in the place, but one of the storekeepers +came and looked at me, and sold me some medicine which in a short time +drove the fearful "shakings" I had away. Meanwhile, as there was no +other communication with the outer world than "the schooner," which ran +between Cardwell and Townsville, I had inquired when the schooner would +be in as I had decided to go to Townsville again. On the same day that +the ague had for the first time left me, I was told that the schooner +would be ready to run out at eleven o'clock at night. I was then so +careless of myself, or so foolish, that I, at that hour of the night, +for the first time in a fortnight, got out of my bed and went on board +the craft. It was only a sort of fishing smack, rowed by two men, who +had a small enclosure somewhere on board where they could be dry. For +passengers there was no accommodation whatever. In the hold, which was +open, was nothing but some old sails, rusty chains, empty boxes, and the +like. Two or three more passengers came on board, who at once secured +the best places in the hold, while I, who for the first time for many +weeks felt remarkably well, sat up on the deck enjoying the strong +breeze, and even tried to smoke a pipe. But any North Queenslander will +tell you that when one has had fever he has to be extra careful of not +catching cold. I did not know that just then, but in a very short time I +did. I got a fearful toothache. My enervated system did not feel able to +hold up against this new affliction, and so I threw myself down among +the ropes and boxes in the hold. There I lay, while the pain gradually +increased. The wind was against us, and it took eight or nine days +before we reached Townsville. During that time my agony grew more acute +every day. I had neither strength nor energy enough to stand on my feet. +My head swelled up to a fearful extent. My mouth was in such a state +that I could not swallow, and I gradually lost power to open my mouth or +to speak. When we had been two days out I raised myself on my elbow to +try to drink some tea and eat some mashed bananas, which some one gave +me in a pint pot. I could not swallow, so I laid myself down again and +did not after that touch food. I heard them speak about me on deck, and +say that they ought to have found out my name, because I should scarcely +last out unless the wind changed. I heard this distinctly, and laughed +to myself, because I knew I was not going to die just yet. Still to all +their inquiries I could not reply. One day I heard a Dane speaking in my +ear; where he came from, or where he went to, I do not know, but he +asked me, "Are you a Dane?" I grunted. Then he said, "What is your +name?" I tried to stutter it out from between my teeth time after time, +but he could not understand, and kept on, "Say it again." At last he +gave it up. Then he asked me if there was anything he could do for me? +what ship I had come out in, and so on. But I was so disgusted with my +own inability to use my tongue, that otherwise so ready a friend of +mine, that I made no further attempt to speak, and my countryman +disappeared again. There was now only one thought that possessed my +mind, viz., to get to Townsville, and when there to have all my teeth +pulled out. Of course it was more a relapse from the fever that was +wrong with me than toothache, but I did not know it. I lay in a daze day +after day, every time the boat gave a lurch my head would strike against +something, and the agony I suffered cannot be described. At last the +skipper took hold of me and cried, "Well, stranger, here we are in +Townsville; where shall we take you to?" + +It came on me so unexpectedly that it seemed again to send the +life-blood through me. I stared around me and saw that we were lying +close to the wharf. + +Up I jumped, to the great surprise of the skipper, and leaving my swag +behind me, and holding on with both hands to my head, I staggered +ashore. It was about eight o'clock in the morning when I landed. I knew +it because I heard all the breakfast bells ringing from the hotels, and +although I did not feel hungry, yet it reminded me that I had eaten +nothing for two weeks. On I staggered like a drunken man. People seemed +to look surprised at me, and to go out of their way for me. I came to a +chemist's shop. He also looked at me in a disgusted sort of way. I took +up a pen and wrote to him that I wanted all my teeth pulled out. He felt +my pulse. "My friend," said he, "I think you had better go to a doctor." + +I gave him to understand that I was tired, and did not know where the +doctor lived. + +"Wait," cried he, "I will get a man to go with you." + +Then he went out of the shop. As I turned round I saw a very large +mirror, in which I beheld my own image from head to foot. At first I did +not realize it was myself as I stared at it. Would my own mother have +known the picture? I hope not. Unkempt, unwashed for nearly a fortnight, +my hair hung in matted knots about my face. My whole head was swollen +to such an extent that to describe it as I saw it would seem +exaggeration. Add to this a graveyard complexion in the face, and an +emaciated form, dressed in an old crimean shirt, dirty moleskin trousers +and blucher boots, and you have the picture I beheld of myself as I +stood looking. I felt my knees giving way under me, made a grab at the +counter and fell. The next thing I remember was that I was lying on a +nice bed, in a room which proved to be in the adjoining hotel, and that +a doctor was there. With consciousness my agony returned, and I again +preferred my request in writing that he should pull all my teeth out. +"Yes, that is all very well," said he, "but we must first try to break +your mouth open. You must go to the hospital. I will give you a ticket. +What is your name? Have you no money?" + +I took out all I had got, my one hundred pounds' cheque and some change, +and laid it on the table. At the same time I wrote to him on a paper and +asked him to take charge of it and give me the balance when I asked for +it. I also asked him to order anything I wanted and to spare no expense. +Then the doctor suggested to call in a colleague that they might +consult, and when the next doctor arrived they agreed to give me +chloroform, but after great preparations had been made and a sponge held +to my nose for a minute or two without having any effect on me, they +again decided that I was too weak for chloroform, but as I, half +crying, beckoned to them to do in my case what had to be done, one of +them, with his knee on my chest, put an instrument between my teeth +while the other held my head back and somebody else sat behind my chair +and held my arms. My mouth came open. I will not unnecessarily prolong +the agony, only to state that I felt relieved shortly after and that +somebody with the utmost tenderness was bathing my head. I had now +nothing to do but to allow people to wait on me. I stayed in the hotel +for two days, when the doctor's own buggy came for me and I was driven +to the hospital. So that the reader may not be under the impression that +I wear false teeth, I would like to say that not a tooth was pulled or +any other surgical operation performed. I now got better rapidly. It +seemed impossible to feel sick in that hospital. I had a large private +room and broad verandahs outside. From my bed I could lie and watch the +ocean all day and try to count the islands. My friend, the doctor, came +also every day, and any extra comfort I wanted was quickly procured. As +I grew better I would sit and bask in the sun down among the rocks by +the shore in that half-unconscious but blissful condition which I +believe is common to all convalescents, or a couple of hours before +meal-time I would lie on my bed watching the sun and its shadows on the +floor so that I might be prepared and lose no time the moment the man +came with the dinner. Oh, for the ravenous hunger with which I could +eat! Although I had double the ordinary allowance, yet after a month's +stay in the hospital, I had to leave it for very hunger's sake. I then +settled my bill with the doctor, who charged me very moderately, and +went to live in a hotel in town. When I was perfectly cured and myself +again I could easily have obtained work in town at my trade for four +pounds per week, but I had a sort of dislike to the place, which decided +me to go up to the gold-diggings and try my luck there. The nearest +diggings were at Ravenswood, some hundred and thirty miles inland. Other +diggings were scattered behind that place, but to reach them I +understood I had to go to Ravenswood first, and that it was as good a +place as any. I bought two horses, with all necessary appendages, such +as saddle, pack-saddle, bridles, &c. They cost me about thirty pounds. I +put thirty pounds more into the bank as a sort of reserve fund in case +of accident, and after paying my way so far, and buying a few necessary +clothes, I had only some nine or ten pounds left. So one morning I +packed the one horse with my swag, containing clothes and blanket, in +the large saddle-bags. I had small bags containing flour, tea, sugar, +and other necessary things for a journey through the bush, because, +although the road I had now to travel was a beaten track, yet it is a +Queensland custom on all occasions to be as independent as possible. +Besides, when one sets out for a ramble, there is no saying where one is +going to pull up, and it seems so pleasant to know that one is +all-sufficient in his own resources, without requiring any aid from +wayside inns. So at least did I think as I rode out of the town; and as +this was my first experience of what we in Queensland call going on the +"wallaby track," I enjoyed it immensely. + +The way a man acts when travelling like this, is just to please himself. +When a fair day's journey is done, one begins to look out for a likely +spot for grass and water, and having found that, you get off the horses +and hobble them out--that is, having freed them of their load, their +forefeet are tied together with a pair of strong leather straps in such +a way that they can only totter slowly about. Having done that a fire is +made, the billy is slung on for tea, and when supper is over, a smoke, a +yarn--if there is a mate--and then a roll in the blanket with a saddle +for a pillow. + +There is often a lot of argument about what is a fair day's journey on +horseback. Of course it is a matter which never can be decided, because +so much depends upon the horses, the road, what the horses get to eat, +&c., but I do not believe many careful travellers will take their horses +more than twenty miles a day for a long journey, and then rest them +occasionally, but to hear some people talk one would think their horses +could go a hundred miles every day. In Queensland travellers have +sometimes to ride forty or fifty miles between watering-places. Most +horses can do it, if taken care of, but not every day. When travellers +meet on a Queensland road their first question after greeting is, "How +far is it to water?" and the distance between watering-places is +practically what decides a day's journey. In times of drought these +water-holes get scarce or dry up completely; rivers stop running; then +it behoves the traveller to look out where he goes. If misfortune +happens, or he has not calculated rightly the endurance of his horse, or +the water-hole on which he depends should be dried up when he arrives +there, then he is likely to perish! As for myself, I have on more than +one occasion arrived in a parched condition at a water-hole, only to +find a lot of dead cattle bogged in the soft mud, and still have been +compelled to drink the pint or two of putrefied water that might be +left. The reader will therefore see that travelling in the Queensland +bush is not exactly a perpetual picnic. + +Nothing of importance happened to me on this road, unless I were to +mention that when I was about half-way I met a swag's-man, that is, one +who carries his swag on his own back and has no horses. This fellow +asked to let him put his burden on my horse, which I let him do. I then, +by talking to him as we went along, found out that he had neither money +nor rations, and as we were only a few miles from Hugton Hotel I +promised to pay for dinner at that place for us both. Arrived at the +hotel, I ordered a first-class dinner for two; it was five shillings. +The table was laid for us with a big roast of beef and a plum-pudding. +After we both had eaten what we wanted, my fellow-traveller put nearly +all the remaining food into his bags and decamped, in spite of my +protestations. I remember well how scandalized I felt! Otherwise the +road was not lonely; every day I passed waggons hauled by sixteen or +eighteen bullocks each and filled with merchandise for the diggings. +There were also other travellers, both on foot and on horseback, but I +did not go myself in company with any, and so at last, one forenoon, I +saw the township of Ravenswood lying before me. I stopped the horses to +have a good look. + +At last I was on a gold-field. What a magic spell there seemed to me in +the words. All the old fallacious ideas connected with the word crowded +into my mind. Runaway nuns dressed in men's clothes, princes working +like labourers, and labourers living like princes--"looking for gold!" +Had I not better begin at once? + +As I came nearer I saw what seemed to me wells on all sides and tents +near the wells. Then as I looked at the ground again I became fearfully +excited. Big nuggets of shining gold were lying all around on the road. +Was it possible? Surely I knew gold when I saw it. I got off the horse +and picked it up. Not pure gold, though. But surely half of it was gold. +It glittered all over. I picked pieces up as I went along and fairly +howled with joy as I filled my bags. Think of those fools coming behind +with their flour-bags and of all the empty waggons I had met going +down, while I was finding a fortune before I reached the diggings! At +the place where I had now come, they could have loaded all the waggons +quickly. I could not carry more as I went further, ruminating over the +matter. Now the whole ground right and left was glittering all the way +into town. I threw the stuff all away again. It could not be gold! Then, +with a voice shaking between hope and fear, I asked a man who came by, +what that was. He told me at once it was "rubbish." "Did you think it +was gold?" asked he. + +"No; but I thought there might be gold in it." + +"Yes," said he, "so there was, but it did not pay to extract it." + +In this way somewhat sobered, I rode further and arrived in town, where +the next day I pitched a tent I had bought somewhere handy to the other +tents, put the horses in a paddock and looked about me. + +I will not attempt a long description of this the first gold-field I was +ever on. There was an ordinary street composed of hotels, +boarding-houses, and stores, on both sides of the road. Behind the +street were tents in which the diggers principally lived. Everywhere +were earth-mounds where some one was or had been busy rooting the ground +about. The reefs were each surmounted by an ordinary windlass, where a +man would stand hauling up the quartz all day long. Such was the picture +presented at a superficial glance at Ravenswood, and I think the +description answers for all other Queensland gold-diggings. Nearly all +the people boarded in two boarding-houses kept by Chinamen, one on each +side of the street. I think there must have been two or three hundred +boarders in each. They were both alike, two large bark-houses, no floor, +only two immense tables with forms on each side. On these tables were at +meal-times every conceivable delicacy in season, and up and down between +the tables an army of Chinamen would run round waiting on their guests. +During my various fortunes in Queensland, I have often paid two or three +pounds per week for board in hotels, and I have paid half-a-guinea for a +ticket to a public feast, but it has always been my impression that +nowhere was such good or luxurious food served out as in these +boarding-houses. It would simply be impossible to compete with them. The +charge was one pound per week, payment beforehand, and those of their +customers who wanted sleeping accommodation might, without extra charge, +fix themselves up as they liked in some sheds behind. There were also +many hotels in town, but, as far as I could see from the outside, their +"takings" were more across the bar than otherwise, as the Chinamen +seemed to monopolize the boarding-house trade. All over Australia, but +especially in Queensland, there is a bitter feeling against Chinamen. +People say that they ought to be forbidden to come to the country, +because they work too hard and too cheaply, and eat too little at the +same time; consequently we shall all go to the dogs. How is this? Surely +"there is something rotten in the state of Denmark." A white man is +always praised if he is hard-working and frugal. It seems a +contradiction to abuse one for what is commended in another! This is an +awful world. Some people say we are poor because we work too much, and +run ourselves out of work. Others say we do not work half enough, and +that that is the reason. Some say that Protection is a panacea for +poverty, others swear by Free Trade. In Australia they want to turn out +the Chinamen because they work too much; in China they want to turn out +the whites, I suppose for the same reason. Of all countries, I believe, +Australia certainly included the greatest majority of the people living +in different degrees of poverty, and work is getting to be as scarce +here where the population does not count one to the square mile, as it +is in Denmark where there are four hundred inhabitants to the square +mile. Of late years one more theory has sprung up, and its disciples +aver that all our poverty, despite our hard work and frugal fare, is due +to the fact that the earth on which we live is sold in large or small +parcels in the open market like tea and sugar, and that the owners of +the earth can in the shape of rent extract the greatest part of our +earnings. I ask the reader's pardon for this little digression, but it +seems to me to be an interesting question, and it would at least be +desirable if we all could agree whether it is Chinamen, Free Trade, or +Protection, or what not, whom we really want, because there _is_ +"something rotten in the state of Denmark." + +I took my board, like everybody else, with the Chinamen and lived in my +tent not far away. I occupied myself in prospecting, or learning how to +prospect, but what little gold-dust I could find was not worth coming +all the way for. I soon got tired of that, and one day I went and asked +for a job of carpenter's work in a large Government building I saw going +up. + +Before I proceed further I must explain that a certain fixed scale of +wages existed here for most occupations, and this scale was very +jealously guarded by the people. It was three pounds per week for miners +in dry claims, three pounds ten shillings in wet claims, bricklayers +sixteen shillings per day for eight hours, carpenters fifteen shillings, +&c. I had heard this but I had not believed it. I took it that those +figures represented what men would like to get rather than what they +actually got, and while I worked for a master I always preferred to put +my pride in earning what I got, rather than, perhaps, getting what I did +not earn. I understand the importance now of keeping up wages, but at +that time I did not, and when the carpenter said he would give me twelve +shillings a day and find tools not only did I think myself well paid, +but I had no idea or care whether others got more or less. + +Beside myself there was an American negro employed as carpenter. He +seemed a very morose sort of individual, but I took no notice of him and +was hopping about all day, giving as I thought as much satisfaction to +others as to myself. I often heard the "boss" grumble at the negro, and +occasionally I would be set to put him right about what he was working +at. This happened one afternoon as the "boss" went away shortly before +five o'clock, and I was consequently explaining to him out of my wisdom, +when he suddenly asked what wages I was getting. I told him with great +pride I was getting _twelve_ shillings a day. + +Squash came a stick down over my head, then he flew at my throat and +kicked and belaboured me in a terrible way. At last he flung me with +awful violence out on the verandah, got hold of me again and threw me +outside. He was two or three times as big a man as I, and I could not at +all defend myself against him, nor had I any idea why he had thus +maltreated me; but as there was no one to appeal to, I, in a terrible +rage, ran home to my tent for the gun. It stood there loaded, and I took +it up and started back again along the main street. The blood was +running down my face, and I howled to myself with rage as I ran. I meant +to shoot him as dead as a herring. + +"Halloa!" cried the people, "there is a fellow running amuck," and soon +there was a whole crowd behind me, intent on watching the sport. + +But I must now go back in time a little. There was at that period in +Ravenswood a Danish digger, whom I had met and who had been very +friendly to me, and both because he plays an important part in the next +few pages I have to write, and because I have entitled this book +"Missing Friends," I think he deserves mention, as he indeed had been, +and is no doubt yet, "a missing friend." He had been a farmer in +Denmark, what we in Danish call a yardsman, who owned his own freehold. +When the war with Germany in 1864 broke out, he was called on to serve +in the artillery. He was married then, had two children, and was, like +all Danish farmers, in extremely good circumstances. During the war he +was taken prisoner by the Germans, but was by some mistake reported dead +by the Danish authorities. He told me that he wrote home as soon as he +could, but the letter never reached his wife. Shortly after he tried to +escape from the Germans, and, being caught, defended himself +desperately. For this offence he was condemned to three years' hard +labour on the fortifications of some place in the south of Germany. For +one reason and another he did not write from there. Partly he was not +much of a writer, partly he objected to the enemy reading his efforts, +and as he knew his wife had plenty to live on, and that his neighbours +at home would help her to run the farm, he neglected writing, and as the +time went on pictured to himself in rosy colours the happy surprise he +would give his wife and them all at home when he _did_ return. At last +the time arrived when he was set free, and started for home. Meanwhile +his wife had bemoaned him as dead, and what little hope his friends +might have had for him died when he did not return at the end of the +war. It did not take long before one suitor after the other presented +themselves, and a couple of years later the wife got married again, with +the full consent and approval of all concerned. + +One day, when sitting at dinner on the farm, the wife saw her first +husband coming in at the door. With a scream of joy and excitement, she +rushed towards him. (Tableau.) Husband No. 2 was as honourable a man as +husband No. 1. There was a second family. What was to be done? They made +a sad but friendly compact. My friend took the eldest child with him, +and went to Australia, after having got back a fair amount of his own +cash. This man now came from his work, and as I rushed down the street, +we met. I did not see him, but he saw me. "Hulloa, countryman, what is +the matter? Stop! where are you going?" + +I tried to escape him, but he had hold of the gun. We struggled for +possession and the stock broke. When the gun broke my hope of revenge +fled as well, and in the relaxation which followed I sat down on some +steps and actually cried. I admit that it is sometimes as hard for me to +write about my weakness as about my folly, but I will ask the reader to +remember what I already have written here. The truth must be told. There +was now a large and sympathetic crowd around us, to whom I related how +the negro had maltreated me without any provocation, and while I spoke I +could see that the chances were that I would yet have revenge, because +all sorts of remarks would fly about, such as: "The poor fellow had +pluck, by Jove;" "Would you have shot him?" or, "Such a rascally negro +should not be allowed to strike and half kill a white man;" "I think I +can flog him;" "So can I, and I will;" "No Bill! you cannot!" "Let me, +you are not heavy enough!" "No," cried the Dane, and struck a crushing +blow in the wall of the house by which we stood; "he is my countryman, +and any one who strikes him, him I will strike. Where is that negro? +Only let me see him." + +I went with a sort of pious joy in front of the whole crowd up to the +negro's tent. When he saw us all coming, he thought they were going to +mob him, and only asked for fair play. He would fight them all, man for +man, and as for me, he had only struck me in open fight because I was +running down wages, working for twelve shillings a day. I was surprised +how much sympathy this statement created, but my countryman cut it short +by saying he would fight first and argue after. "All right, I'm your +man," cried the negro; "only pull off your shirt. I am dying to +commence." + +They both pulled off their shirts, and some willing assistants from the +crowd got behind each combatant to watch his interest in the coming +struggle. It was easily seen now that my countryman was a very strong +man. His arms, his shoulders, and his deeply curved back were swelling +with muscles. In his face sat a determination which boded his opponent +no good. Still, my heart sank as I looked at the negro, who was prancing +about as in irresistible joy over what he deemed his easy victory. He +seemed little short of a giant. They were just beginning to spar, when a +seedy-looking individual came forward and cried, "Hold on, gentlemen, +hold on, just one minute. It seems that we are going to see a splendid +piece of sport, and I think we ought to improve the occasion a little. I +will lay two to one on our coloured friend--two to one on Mr. Jones!" +Nobody took him up, when the negro said, "I don't mind if I lay a pound +or two on myself; any one on?" I looked at my countryman. He said, "Have +you got any money on you?" "Yes," said I, "I have got over ten pounds!" +"Lay it all," said he. "Oh, but if we should lose?" "Death and +destruction, we don't lose; lay it all." "Right you are! I lay ten +pounds to twenty against the nigger--ten to twenty--ten to twenty--who +will take me up?" + +At last the amount was gathered, but the question arose in my mind +whether the first promoter of the "sweepstakes" might be trusted with +the stakes. I asked my friend in Danish, before I handed the money over; +he said, "Just give it to him; it is all right. If we lose, we have +nothing more to do with the money, but if he won't give up the stakes +to us after I have flogged the nigger, I will flog him too!" + +Now began the terrible fight. The negro had both strength and science, +and for a long time it seemed as if my countryman was utterly done for. +It began to get dark and still they fought, but the longer it lasted the +more equal seemed the battle. At last it began to turn; at every round +my countryman would charge the negro with a loud hurrah; in another +quarter of an hour it was simply a matter of knocking him down as fast +as he got up; at last the negro was lying on the ground with his nose +downward, and could not get up again, while the Dane, stronger than +ever, was jumping all over the ring calling on him to get up. As he did +not get up, the Dane ran up to a man who held a riding-whip in his hand, +wrenched it from him, and belaboured the negro's head and back with it +until he quite lost consciousness. I admit if I had dared I would have +tried to prevent that part of the performance, but neither I nor anybody +else stirred. Of course I was not sorry when my friend and I went home +together, our ten pounds having swelled to thirty. Another advantage I +had over this matter was that I had to promise not to work under current +wages again, and when I came to work the next morning the "boss," who +had heard of the fight, at once agreed to pay me fifteen shillings a +day. As for the negro, he did not turn up and I have never seen him +since. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +SHANTY-KEEPING, PROSPECTING, THORKILL'S DEATH. + + +Some time after this my friend and countryman came to me one evening +about nine o'clock with a very important air, and told me he had heard +of a new find of gold some thirty miles distant, and that there would be +sure to be a terrible rush as soon as it became generally known. As for +him, he would like to go if I would go with him and be his mate, +because, as he put it, he was sure I was lucky. He could not well have +made a greater mistake, but anyhow I was flattered and agreed to go. +Then I found he wanted to go at once. I had a few days' wages coming to +me, but I went to my employer's house at once and got my cheque. That we +changed in a public-house and went to our tents, saying nothing to +anybody about our intentions. Having got our swags ready, we, more like +thieves than anything else, knocked the one tent over and were off. My +friend's tent remained, and my horses were in a paddock with saddles and +belongings; there was no time to get them, and suspicion would have been +created had we tried. + +We rather ran than walked, but we were scarcely a mile out of town +before we overtook some six or seven others bent on the same journey. +The first twenty miles ran on a good road; that would be as far as we +could go that night, because the next ten miles were only a blazed track +right through the bush made by the prospectors, and could only be safely +traversed in the daylight. On the whole journey we were both overtaken +ourselves, and overtook other people, until, when we arrived at the +camp, we numbered a score or more. Here we found another score of +diggers sleeping or smoking, waiting for daylight. It was a moonlight +night, and I could see that we had arrived at a place where a few +humpies stood in seeming disorder round about. There was also a +public-house, and it was in the street in front of that, that the whole +army halted. I was both hot and tired, and as my mate suggested that we +had better get an hour or two of sleep, I laid myself down and slept. I +woke up again as my mate was shaking me. It was just break of day; still +we seemed late, for everybody was up and stirring. There was no time for +a billy of tea, or for ever so slight a stretch: it was up and away. Oh, +how tired I was, and stiff, and footsore! I would not have minded if I +might have started quietly, but this seemed like a race. Although I lost +no time, yet I was the very last through the little street with the +heavy swag on my back. My mate was beckoning to me as he, also late, ran +a few hundred feet in front, and then disappeared amongst the trees. I +felt irritable, as I often do before I have had my breakfast. I came by +a baker's shop, over the door of which was written, "Cold refreshing +summer drinks sold here." The baker and his wife, and a young girl also, +were peeping out through the half-opened door, and seemed to enjoy the +spectacle of the crowd racing down the street. I said to myself, "Bother +running like a fool here, I am going for a bottle of beer." + +The baker asked me if I was going to look for gold out there, or was I +looking for a job? "Because," said he, "if you think of finding gold in +that place you will be mistaken." + +He then told me he had been on the spot the previous day, and that it +was a "duffer," but still there would be a rush, and he would much like +to get somebody to ride out with bread every day and sell it at the +place. I told him I could not leave my mate like that, but the baker +just invited me in to breakfast, and offered me the loan of a horse, and +said also that he himself would take bread out as soon as we could be +off. "Perhaps," said he, "if my mate did not like the place, as he was +sure he would not, I might take a job from him." + +I therefore rode out with the baker after breakfast and found my mate, +who, as the baker predicted, was in no way enthusiastic about finding +anything as good as he had left, and before evening he was satisfied to +return to Ravenswood before any one could jump his claim there. As I did +not like going back, but wanted the change to ride up and down with +bread, I engaged with the baker for one pound ten shillings per week and +board. My duty now was to load a pack-horse every day with bread, and, +having another to ride, to take the bread to the "rush" and sell it. The +butcher at the "Twenty Mile" also engaged a man to ride up with beef, +and we generally rode in company. But it soon proved that it did not pay +our employers to keep us on, and after about three weeks' time we both +got notice to leave. That brought me to think that as there were many +men on the "rush," it might pay me to get my two horses up from +Ravenswood, and, buying myself both bread and meat together, sell it on +my own account. To that all parties were willing, and as one thing +brings another with it, I went to the Chinamen's shop with a view to +seeing what profit he would give me on groceries. As "Johnny" strongly +advised me to sell a little grog for him, I bethought myself that I had +while with the baker learned to make hop-beer and ginger-beer, and found +that I could make it for a penny a big glassful and charge a shilling. I +resolved, therefore, to take up that industry too. There was nobody at +all who had anything for sale at the "rush," and I determined to go out +and build a hut and start a general store and shanty. I now went out to +the "rush" again, and got two men to help me in the building. The hut I +put up was very primitive. Just one room about fourteen by twelve feet, +made of saplings, packing-cases, bark, or anything I could get at all +suitable. The roof was bark; the counter was bark also, and at night had +to serve for my bed. The door was an artistic piece of rubbish, if I +might use that term, but somehow it all hung together and could be +locked up. Outside I made a sunshade with tables and chairs under. That +was managed by four forked saplings put into the ground, and other +straight saplings resting as wall-plates in the forks. Again a row of +lighter sticks lay across them and leafy bushes on the top, and the +chairs were a lot of logs cross-cut at a height of eighteen inches. The +job was completed in three or four days; then I went up to Ravenswood +for my horses, and on my return got out a cask to make hop-beer in, some +buckets, and a few groceries. I was now my own "boss," and wonderfully +proud and happy I was in my little shanty. Besides my own two horses, +the butcher and baker each lent me a horse to carry the bread and meat +on, and I had quite enough to do--indeed my energy knew no bounds. + +Just about the time I started, the Palmer diggings came to the front, +and a great rush set in to that place from the south. But as no one +seemed to know properly where the Palmer was, and as conflicting and +disparaging statements soon arrived from the Palmer, and the wet season +was coming on, the north was everywhere swarming with men who were ready +to camp and prospect anywhere, just to abide time. As soon, therefore, +as I started for myself, numbers of men would arrive every day, and I +had so much to do that I did not know sometimes how to fling myself +about quick enough. Long before daylight I was up and got my four horses +together. I had a little yard for them. Then, in a racing gallop, I had +to tear into the butcher's, baker's, and grocer's, at the "Twenty Mile." +My goods would stand ready for me when I came. I would just fling the +stuff on the horses, leave my orders for the next day, and be back again +in time to sell bread and meat for breakfast! When that was over I had +to carry water from the creek to brew a cask of hop-beer, clean up shop, +serve people with grog, and feed the horses, make breakfast for myself, +chuck out a loafer or two, and other matters, all at the same time. Thus +it went on all day. In the afternoon I had sometimes to send a man off +with the horses for more rations, and from five o'clock to ten, eleven, +twelve, and sometimes all night, there would be a lot of fellows +drinking outside the shanty. + +[Illustration: THE BAKER'S CART.] + +The reader may understand that I quickly gathered in money. Five pounds +a day was nothing. But what a life it was! I was never out of my +clothes, and I was very seldom dry. Sometimes for weeks together I would +be like one hauled out of the sea. That required stimulants, and they +were near and handy, nor was it practically possible to be a Good +Templar in my position. But all my better instincts were revolted. Still +another glass of grog would make me see things in a different light, and +somehow it never seemed to have any other effect on me than +sharpening my wits; indeed, although I know myself to be a temperate man +by nature, and but seldom touch spirits, I believe that if I had not +then freely indulged in the cup that cheers, I could never have stood +the strain on my constitution which this life necessitated. My troubles +were many. One was that fellows would get drunk and grow quarrelsome +every day; if they were not very big I did not much mind, but if they +were too big then I tried all devices to make them laugh and be in +good-humour, or I would sometimes even have to keep two retainers in +free grog to assist me in the "chucking out" business. I was often +knocked about myself. Another trouble or fight with my conscience, which +I successfully overcame, was the falsifying the spirits. The storekeeper +where I bought it, as well as one good friend after the other, would +show me how I could save two-thirds of the rum and still keep it +over-proof by mixing it with water and tobacco. So with brandy, all +sorts of vile poison and most disgusting stuff was offered me to mix it +with. I did not do that, although my advisers thought me very foolish. I +mixed my spirit with water of a necessity, but I saw enough to convince +me that few shanties or public-houses ever sell pure spirits. But my +greatest trouble was what to do with my fast-accumulating money. I did +not trust anybody about me. There was no bank nearer than Ravenswood. +There was no police, and nowhere to put it. At last I hit on a plan. +Under the big cask in which I made beer I formed a hole in the ground, +and at night, when all at last was still, and the cask was empty enough +to move on edge, I, having first carefully ascertained that no one was +about, would thrust in all I had, and put things around it again so as +to prevent suspicion. This mode of banking did not altogether satisfy +me; indeed, I was always very anxious about it, but I could think of +nothing better. And so the time went on. The bucket which stood under +the cask came at last to be nearly full of money, and while on the one +hand it was my great consolation, it also caused me more anxiety than +all the rest of my work. + +One day somebody came and told me that a countryman of mine was in his +tent, and was apparently hard up, as he had asked for something to do +whereby to earn a bit of rations. The man was, I understood, camped +somewhere about. I asked them to show him to me, that I might give him +what he wanted and have a talk with him. What was my surprise and joy to +find that the stranger proved to be no one less than my long-lost friend +and shipmate, the Icelander Thorkill. He seemed to be as glad to meet me +as I was to see him, and we exchanged our colonial experiences as far as +they had gone. It appeared that Thorkill had not stayed long on the +sugar plantation in Mackay, where he had first been engaged. That did +not surprise me. His employer, he said, had offered no opposition to +his agreement being cancelled, and with the money he had earned he had +bought a ticket for Sydney in one of the steamers. He had thought to get +something to do in Sydney more suitable to his ability, but for a long +time he failed, and was, through want of money, driven to all sorts of +extremities, even to sleeping out at night. Then he at last got a job to +drive a milk-cart into Sydney for fifteen shillings a week. He had also +tried other things, such as pick and shovel work; had been assistant in +a slaughter-yard, and more besides. + +"But I do not like it," said he, "people seem so rude." + +At last he had scraped enough together to come back to Queensland; he +had walked all the way from Townsville, and here he was. "And you are +going to look for gold now?" asked I. He scarcely knew; he was so glad +and surprised to see me again that he could think of nothing else. +"Well, Thorkill," said I, "do you remember you said once that you and I +would never part? Let us now renew that agreement. Last time it was, +perhaps, my fault we parted, but this time it shall be yours; and to +show you I am in earnest I will ask you, without further formality, to +consider yourself a part proprietor of this hotel and all there is in +it." + +"Oh! what do you mean?" cried he. "You must be making a great deal of +money here and I have none; nor do I understand your work." + +"Never mind," said I, "we are partners if you like; you do not know how +badly I am off for some one I can trust. Think of my being all alone +here; I cannot do it much longer." + +But say what I would Thorkill would never hear of it, and so I in a sort +of way engaged him to do what he could for me. He carried water and +swept the floor, but the only time he tried to drive the horses to the +"Twenty Mile" he lost them both! He had his tent not far from the +shanty, but we had seldom time to speak. His heart was not in my work, +and I often, nay always, when I saw him, felt an uneasy sort of +conscience. + +One Saturday night, or perhaps more correctly Sunday morning, when a lot +of men were drinking outside my hut under the sunshade, and when I +myself had imbibed more than was good for me, I began, against all the +rules of common prudence, to boast of my money. The party appeared as if +they did not believe me, on which I got excited, and called them all +into the hut. There I asked them to look under the cask while I tilted +it over. What a sight! A bucket was buried in the ground nearly filled +with silver, gold, and notes! How much there was I did not know myself, +but there was more than I liked to say for fear of being doubted. Now +began a drinking bout such as had never been before. Everybody had to +stand drinks all round. At last they went away, but my recollections +thereof are not clear; I only know that I slept on the counter, and that +some one was shaking me and grumbling in very unparliamentary language +over my not having been away after bread and beef. I sat up and looked +around. It was about the time I ought to be back from the Twenty Mile. +The door was open, and nearly a score of men were coming along for bread +and meat. Now I remembered all about the previous night. My first +thought was my money. I went and peeped under the cask. The bucket was +gone! + +I gave the cask a push that capsized it. "Thieves and robbers, who has +stolen my money? Speak!" There was lying a pair of hobbles on the +counter, and as one of the party began to laugh, I struck him with it. +This was the signal for a fearful orgie. The whole crowd flung +themselves forward and struck, kicked, and tore me until I fainted right +away. When I came to again they did not leave me alone. The whole shop +was sacked from end to end, and in their drunken frenzy they pulled it +down! In the midst of it all came Thorkill, and putting me on his back +carried me off into his tent. There I lay while he bathed my wounds and +consoled me as well as he could, assuring me it might have been all for +the best. + +The next day the butcher and the baker came out and took their horses +away. They wanted me to start again, and both of them offered me money +and credit, but I was so disgusted with myself and the whole business +that I told them I would not be a shanty-keeper again for all the gold +in Queensland. + +Thus was it with me. To lie in Thorkill's tent and listen to his quiet, +peaceful way of talking--how different was that from the noisy, drunken +orgies of which I had for about five months been a daily witness! I took +a violent dislike to the very place, but where to go I did not know. I +felt as if I only wanted to get away from everybody but Thorkill. I did +not care where I went. As for him, he thought he would like to go south +again. This place and these people were too much for him. He had now +learned to write pretty well in grammatical English, and he thought he +might get something to do in Brisbane. As for me I had never seen a +place yet where I could not get something to do; so far as that went I +did not care, but I thought of him that he came straight from Sydney, +where he had not been successful. He had such a mild, pedantic air about +him, which no doubt would look well in an antiquary, but which would +scarcely prove a recommendation for a grocer's clerk, or, indeed, for +any other position for which I could think him eligible. So I said to +him one day, as we were again talking about going away, "I am sick and +tired of looking at anybody but yourself. What do you say if we go +prospecting for twelve months? I have got thirty pounds in Townsville +bank, and thirty pounds in Ravenswood, besides a few pounds here. You +have got twelve pounds you earned while with me. Then we have the +horses, and you have got the tent. It is sufficient for a twelvemonth's +trip. I am now a pretty good bushman, and if we only get to where there +is gold I think we shall find it. If we don't I do not care. What do you +say?" + +This proposal met at once with Thorkill's approval, and we both went +into Ravenswood, where I drew out my money. Here we loaded up the horses +with as many rations as they could carry, also pick, shovel, basin, and +other necessary things. Then we went back the same way we had come, +until we arrived at Condamine Creek, twenty-five miles out. From there +we ran up the creek, as near as I can guess about forty miles, +prospecting all the time. Then we turned northward, up another creek, +and knocked about so that it would be difficult to describe where we +went. But we did not care. I was as happy as a bird, and so was +Thorkill. We had our guns with us, and we could every day shoot as many +birds as we could eat, and kangaroos besides. Sometimes we would camp, +and Thorkill would fish while I prospected about. When it rained we +would lie in the tent and talk about Denmark and Iceland. That was a +theme on which Thorkill never could be tired, and he had such a fund of +genuine information on that subject that I was never tired of listening +to him. + +[Illustration: BREAKFAST IN THE GOLD FIELDS] + +We had been out prospecting in this way for about three months, and were +now in the vicinity of Cape gold-field, when we struck a place where we +thought there was payable gold. We had for several days been following +on, through a very mountainous country, a river, the name of which we +did not know, until we reached the place of which I now write, where it +ran through a valley, hemmed in on all sides by big mountains. The river +was still of considerable volume. Here we found a nugget of gold about +an ounce in weight the first time we tried, and although our good luck +did not repeat itself, yet we decided, as it was such a beautiful spot, +that we would camp for a month or two there, so at least to give the +place a fair trial. We pitched our tent, therefore, on a little knoll +not far from the creek, and made ourselves comfortable. The next +fortnight we washed for gold from morning to night, and each made about +an ounce per week. We considered this very satisfactory, and were +talking often about what name we should call this new field when we +could not conceal it any longer and a "rush" should set in; because we +knew very well that if we, as strangers, by and by rode into the Cape, +or any other place, to buy some rations, and there try to get our bit of +gold changed, that we should be tracked back to where we had got it, +unless we were far more clever than I gave myself credit for being. But +neither of us minded that. We were, on the contrary, quite proud of +having to figure as successful explorers, and it used to be one of our +recreations of an evening to sit and talk about what name to give the +place. Thorkill was of opinion that we ought to find a name which should +remind all who came here of both Denmark and Iceland, but as it did not +seem possible for us to invent such a name, at last I accepted +Thorkill's suggestion to call it Thingvallavatu, that being the name of +a large lake and river in Iceland not far from his home, and as it +seemed a well-sounding name, I thought it suitable; and although I do +not know if ever a white man has been there before or since that time, +yet as often as I think of the place I remember the name we gave the +river--Thingvallavatu. + +On one evening that is for ever engraven on my memory, we were lying in +our tent--Thorkill and I. It had been raining heavily all day, and we +had not been able to be about. We felt pretty miserable, our usual stock +of conversation seemed to be exhausted, but far out in the evening it +revived again, so much indeed that Thorkill began to tell me of things +of which he had never spoken before. He told me of his parents, of his +brother and his sister, and explained to me where their farm in Iceland +was, giving me the address, describing the road leading to it, and every +detail, until I said to him that if we were lucky enough now to get a +bit of gold we would both go home to Iceland and settle down there. From +that conversation drifted to other things, and was at last almost at a +standstill, when he called me by name, and, in a bashful sort of way, +observed, "I say, were you ever in love?" + +This was a theme on which we had never enlarged: partly because there +had not been much opportunity yet for either of us in Queensland to +indulge in such a luxury, and partly because I do not know, to the best +of my recollection, that it had ever been mentioned between us, so, as I +recognized that he wanted to tell me something, I said, a little +surprised, "Why do you ask?" + +"I have," said he. "While I was overseer on that farm in Alo, I knew a +girl. Oh, how good she was, and how beautiful! I sometimes would go and +visit her in the evening. She was only a servant girl, and her father +was working there too. One evening I kissed her." + +"I am afraid," said I, "you have not forgotten her yet." + +"No; her I can never forget." + +"Why did you not marry her?" said I. "I suppose as you went visiting +her, she would have had no objection?" + +"How could I?" replied he. "If only I had been an ordinary working man I +would willingly have asked her; but I was not that. Her father always +spoke to me as if I owned a mansion, and yet I had scarcely sufficient +salary to pay for my own clothes. No, I never asked her." + +"Does she know you are out here?" inquired I. + +"No, neither she nor my parents, nor anybody; they must think I am +dead." + +I had nothing to say. I was lying thinking about matters of my own. A +little after this I thought I heard him crying. Was it possible? I did +not like the idea. I listened again. Yes! there was no mistake. Thorkill +was really crying. Deep, big, stifled sobs. I asked what was the +matter. Two or three times I asked before he answered. At last he said, +"I could not help it; I cried because I know very well I shall never see +Reikjavik" (the only town in Iceland) "again." + +After that I kept talking for some time to him in a sort of overbearing +way about that, saying we need not cry, surely, about that, if that was +our only trouble; that we had money enough to get home now, and if we +had not, what then? As for myself, if I set my mind on going home, +rather than cry over it I would stow away on a ship or work my passage. +But I got no answer from Thorkill. I could not sleep, and soon after the +day broke. The rain had by this time ceased, and as I saw that Thorkill +had now fallen asleep, I thought it a pity to waken him, and crept as +quietly as I could out of the tent to make a fire and get a drop of tea +for breakfast. As I sat by the fire an hour after, eating my breakfast, +I saw Thorkill coming, creeping on his hands and feet out of the tent, +with his head screwed round, looking up in the air over the tent. I +somehow thought he was looking at a bird, and wondered he had not got +the gun, so I sat still and said nothing, but kept watching him. When he +was a long way out of the tent he got up, and, still looking up in the +air, pointed fixedly at something and cried, "See! oh, look there!" I +stole behind him and looked, but could see nothing, so I asked, "What is +it?" + +"Oh, don't you see? See! a large Russian emigrant ship flying through +the air." + +"Are you going altogether insane?" cried I, beating him on the back. The +next moment with a deep groan he fell right into my arms. I asked him +what was the matter. Was he sick? Was he bitten by a snake? I do not +know half I asked him, but all the reply I got as I laid him in his bunk +again, was, "Go for a minister." + +My mate was dying, and I knew it now. Dear reader, whoever you may be, +if you have seen your nearest friend die, then you know how bitter it +is. But if you at such time have been among others who have shared your +grief, and had a doctor to take the responsibility off your hands, then +you may only guess at what _I_ felt when I saw Thorkill lying there +perfectly unconscious. We had as it were for a long time been everything +to each other, and the disappointments and mishaps we both, so far, had +suffered in Queensland, had, it seemed at that moment, made him simply +indispensable to my existence. How could I go for a parson? I jumped out +of the tent and ran round it three or four times before I recollected +that I did not know of any human habitation within fifty miles! Then I +went in again and spoke to him. There was no answer; not a movement in +his body. He lay as if in a heavy sleep, a high colour in his face. One +of his arms was hanging out over the bunk, and would not rest where I +put it, so I took a saddle and placed that underneath it, and as it was +not yet high enough, I put a pint pot on that again. There I balanced +it, and there it remained. I had not much medicine, only some quinine. +That was no good. Then I thought he must have been taken by an +apoplectic fit. I took the scissors and cut off all his hair and beard. +Then I went outside and worked desperately at making a sunshade over the +tent, because the sun was beating down on us so fiercely; next in again, +and out. I did not know what to do. I could not for a moment remain +still. Sometimes I carried water from the creek and bathed his head with +it. Then I feared I was only tormenting him, and knocked it off again. +As I sat looking at him in the afternoon I could not avoid thinking +about how he had in his last hour of good health made such a complete +confession about matters he always before had been so reticent about. +Why? I ask the question now. Can any one answer it. It is _not_ +fashionable in our age to believe more than can be rationally explained, +but I believe most people in their lives have had similar strange +experiences. If I make the remark that I am superstitious, then I know I +shall lay myself open to ridicule, and yet it is only a form of +admitting that I do not know all that passes in heaven and on earth. + +In the afternoon, as Thorkill still lay in the same immovable trance, I +thought I must find out whether he was conscious of my being there or +not, so I knelt down and spoke in his ear, and called him by name. +"Thorkill," cried I, "if you _can_ hear me and know that I am here, try +to give me some sign." Then as I watched him I thought he breathed +extra deep, but I was never certain. Anyhow, although I had myself no +Bible, and never had used one before, I got his out of his swag and +began reading at the commencement and kept on until it was too dark to +read any more. During the night the rain and storm began again. I could +hear in Thorkill's altered breathing that the end was near, but I had no +other light but a match I struck occasionally, and it seemed to frighten +me when I struck one and saw his altered face. At last I knew he was +dead, and in an agony of sorrow and excitement I began praying to +Balder, our ancient god of all that was noble and good, to come and +fetch his own. I was fearfully agitated, and remember well how I walked +outside the tent singing the old "Bjarkamsal," and almost fancying I saw +all the ancient gods coming through the air. It is a common saying of a +person who has died, that he was too good to live, but if ever that +saying was true of any one, it was true of Thorkill. A pure descendant +from the ancient Vikings, yet how different was he from his forefathers. +And all Icelanders are more or less the same. Honest, frank, and kind, +he could not understand why everybody else was not also honest and good, +and I know very well he declined the contest of life; he could not match +his simple faith with the cunning and brutality of the ordinary set of +people one meets with when the pocket is empty. Better, perhaps, he +should have died then and there. Why was I sorry? Why did I not +rejoice? Who knew but that I some day might not die in great deal more +lonely and in much more friendless way than he? He had lost nothing, and +it was I who was the loser; but for his sake I would be glad. In this +strain of mind I passed the remainder of the night, but when at last +daylight came it brought with it the grim reality of death such as it +is, and life such as it is, and also a sense of what was now the only +favour I could show the remains of my friend. It was three or four +o'clock that afternoon before I had managed, as decently as I could, to +bury the body, and then all my energy was expended. Yet as I sat resting +myself for a moment, I was aware that I must be off somewhere before +evening, far from that spot. I had a splitting headache; my legs seemed +unable to carry me. Yet I must be off to get the horses. I found them, +but when I came home with them it was evening and I had to let them go +again. I could do no more, and not altogether with an uncomfortable +feeling was it that I that evening laid myself down in Thorkill's bunk, +thinking that perhaps after all we need not part. I was sick now myself, +and fancied I saw fearful visions all night. The next morning I could +scarcely raise myself to a sitting posture, but during the day I managed +with the instinct of self-preservation to carry some water up from the +creek and to bake a damper. My recollections for some time after this +are very indistinct. It may have been a week or it may have been two +weeks. All that I remember of that time are glimpses of myself sitting +by Thorkill's grave, singing, or playing the flute. The first clear +recollection of that time which I have, was one afternoon when I was +lying in the bunk watching, in a lazy sort of way, some rats nibbling at +the flour-bag, which had somehow fallen down from its place. The flour +lay scattered about the tent, and everything seemed in glorious +disorder. I lay a long time looking at the rats, and wondering where +Thorkill was--whether he was making breakfast, for I felt very hungry. I +had no remembrance whatever of his being dead. I called him; my voice +seemed curious and weak. I grabbed a poker to strike at the rats with +it--how heavy it felt! Then I got up and went outside, and stood staring +for a long time at the grave before I recollected that he was dead, and +that I myself was or had been sick. Everything outside the tent bore +evidence of having been thrown about as if by a maniac, and I felt a +thrill of horror running through me as I thought of myself, how perhaps +I had walked about here at night alone, sick and delirious. I felt quite +myself, however, although very weak. I was hungry, and felt that I must +have something to eat, get it where I could. I staggered about looking +for food. Not a vestige of tea could I find; there was no meat except a +few nasty bones which I found in the billy, and had to throw away; then +I discovered a little sugar, and I scraped together some flour. My next +trouble was that I had no fire and no dry matches. It took me all my +time to get a fire, by rubbing a hard and soft stick together, but at +last I succeeded, and then made a johnny-cake in the fire. Out of sugar +I made my supper, and sat by the fire dreaming and living it all over +again. With the help of my gun I got some birds the next day, and stewed +them in the billy with flour and figweed. I also found the horses all +right, but I was too weak to think of shifting my quarters just then, +much as I would have liked to do so, because there seemed to me to be a +sort of haunted air about the whole place. I busied myself all day, when +I was not hunting for food, with repairing my clothes, but I had a great +longing to see somebody of my own species again, and to sit there every +day talking to or thinking about a dead man had something sickly in it +that I did not like. I could not for a couple of days find either my +money or the bit of gold we had got. Whatever I had done with it was to +me a complete blank. I found it all at last in this way: that somehow my +hat did not seem to fit me, and when I looked it over, there was all the +money stuck under the lining, but I never had any recollection of +putting it there. + +I read all Thorkill's letters and took them with me when I left. They +were from his parents and his sister, addressed to him while he was in +Denmark, telling him of all sorts of small home-news, and hoping soon to +see him again. These he had been carrying with him everywhere, and I +had often seen him reading them. There were also photographs of all his +family, and I made them all up into a small parcel intending some day +soon to write to his people. + +I confess I never did write. I could not bring myself to do it. I +thought of what he had said--that they must think him dead. Why, then, +reopen their wound? Let him remain "a missing friend." As I had no +settled abode for a long time after this, I carried his papers with me +everywhere for many years. One photograph, of his sister, a very +handsome girl, I had until after I was married, and treasured it +greatly. I think Mrs. ---- must know what became of it at last. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +GOING TO THE PALMER. + + +When I left Thorkill's grave I made a course as near as I could for the +Cape gold-field. This place I found almost deserted, as most of the +diggers had left for the Palmer. The few people who remained there had +seemingly nothing else to speak about but the fabulous richness of that +field, and they were all deploring each his untoward circumstances which +kept him from going thither. And so it came to pass that, while +gradually recovering my spirits, I made up my mind to go to the Palmer +too. But to go to the Palmer was at that time easier said than done. The +Palmer gold-fields lay somewhere in a totally unexplored country, and +none had been known to reach the Palmer from the Cape after the +commencement of the wet season. Many unsuccessful attempts had been +made, and the returned parties spoke loudly of the "impossibilities" on +the road, such as swollen rivers, swamps, marshes, mountains, blacks, +and what not besides; and what seemed to me the worst, no supplies of +any kind were to be found on the fields. One had simply to carry with +him rations sufficient to last until he returned. Add to this that a +pint pot full of flour cost half-a-crown on the Cape, with other things +at a proportionate rate, and it made me decide another way. + +A new port had been opened on the coast by the shipping companies as the +most feasible spot from which to reach the Palmer. The name of this +place was Cooktown on the Endeavour River; and the spot is identical +with a place mentioned in Captain Cook's travels, where he ran his ship, +the _Endeavour_, ashore to carry out some necessary repairs to that +vessel. To get to Cooktown from the Cape I should first have to go to +Townsville and thence take ship to Cooktown. Although the distance from +the Cape to Townsville was as great as from the Cape to the Palmer, yet, +as it was possible to travel the one road and not the other, I decided +to go there, and from that port take ship to Cooktown, whence after +having obtained supplies, I would try to reach the Palmer. + +I will not tire the reader by describing my journey to Townsville. My +horses were well rested and in good mettle, and I let them trot out +every day, so that I reached the coast very quickly. I found Townsville +crowded with people who wanted to go to the Palmer. The steamers could +not take them fast enough, and in trying to secure a passage for myself +and my horses I was disappointed time after time. Money, however, was +flying about all over the place. I was offered work in several +quarters--in fact I was nearly implored to take it up for fifteen +shillings a day, or there was piecework, by which I could easily have +earned double that amount, but, of course, I could not think of it. At +last I obtained a passage in a schooner which had been fitted up for the +voyage. There was accommodation below decks for forty horses, and fully +that number were hoisted on board. On the deck was accommodation for as +many passengers as could find standing room, and I think there must have +been over a hundred people altogether. Indeed, we were so crowded that, +if the skipper had a right to complain of anything, it certainly could +not be that he had not a full cargo. I paid five pounds apiece for the +passage of the horses and two pounds ten shillings for myself. We had to +find our own forage, too, for the horses, and also to provide our own +food. Water, however, the skipper had to find himself--no light matter +on so small a ship. We were supposed to make the run in forty-eight +hours, and carried water enough for double that time. I had corn and hay +to last my horses for a fortnight, but some of the others had scarcely +any fodder. At last we started, and when the little steamer which hauled +us out of the creek had cast us off, it was proved to my entire +satisfaction that my run of bad luck was not yet at an end. A strong +wind was blowing, but although the ship was tearing through the water at +a terrible rate, yet we did not make real way, as the wind was straight +against us. It may seem strange that we should start with such an +adverse wind, but once the horses were on board the skipper had to go. +The first evening we were out the captain and mate fought and nearly +knocked each other into the sea. I mention this, however, only because I +remember it; I don't think our troublesome journey was due to neglect or +bad seamanship, but the wind was against us, and kept so day after day +until at last it blew a perfect hurricane. The horses, of course, +suffered very much. At one time they would stand nearly on their heads, +at another, the other way, now on one side, then on the other, as the +ship was jerking up and down. I was working down below with my two +horses all the time, trying to ease them all I could. I tied my tent, +clothes and blankets round about the stalls to lessen the force of the +knocks a little for them. All the horses, however, did not fare so well +as that, for their masters themselves were, for the most part, lying in +a helpless condition up on deck, and the air below was so foul that it +took a good pair of lungs to endure it. The horses soon began to die +off, too; and to haul the poor dead brutes up and throw them overboard +took us all our time, seeing that very few of us were capable of such +work. Upon deck it was indeed a sight. Some were completely gone with +sea-sickness and had tied themselves to the bulwarks, others were lying +"yarning" and laughing as if nothing were the matter. Many of these men +must have known that even if the ship could weather the storm, yet with +the death of their horses all hope of a successful journey was at an end +for them. Yet one heard no complaint; and I should like here to pay this +compliment to Britishers: that, whether English, Scotch, or Irish, they +are, as a rule, brave men. Ours was not a momentary suffering either. It +was a constant drenching with the waves, day after day. The horses, our +most valuable property, hauled overboard as fast sometimes as we could +get them up, and our own lives in constant danger! Yet no one +complained. They would "yarn," laugh, or crack jokes all day long. The +only exceptions to this rule, I am sorry to say, although I hope they +were not typical, were two Danes who had come on board. One of them had +informed me as soon as we left Townsville that he intended to run away +from his wife who lived there. Now, when the storm was blowing, he +became intensely religious and declared it to be a punishment from +Heaven for his wickedness and he made me most sacred promises, one after +the other, that he would return to her bosom if only God would spare him +this time. The other declared the ship to be a regular pirate craft and +Queensland an accursed country. I had to cook for them both, hand them +their food, and cheer up their spirits all the way. One day we spied a +large steamer flying the flag of distress. She came from the south too, +and was, like ourselves, trying to reach Cooktown. As she came +labouring through the waves we saw that it was the _Lord Ashley_. The +deck was black with people and I do not know how many hundred horses. +This heavy deck-cargo caused the ship to rock so that it looked as if it +were about capsizing every time it lurched over. Two of her masts were +already overboard, and as our schooner ran past her we saw the people +engaged in throwing the horses overboard alive. Nearly all the horses +were sacrificed in this manner. To see the poor brutes try to swim after +the steamer or the schooner was heartrending. We on the schooner could +give no assistance; indeed, after all, the steamer was better off than +ourselves, insomuch that it kept on its way while the schooner had to +tear up and down and to do its best not to be blown south again. When we +at last reached Cooktown, some days after, the _Lord Ashley_ was lying +there; but it was her last journey. She was so knocked about that, to +the best of my belief, she was sold as lumber afterwards. All our water +was now used up, and we had either to try to effect a landing or go +south again. As the mate declared he knew a place on the coast just +where we were, where there was a fresh-water creek, it was decided to +call for volunteers among the passengers to man the boat and get some +water. As I had two horses on board and was not sea-sick, I declared +myself ready to make one. There were six oars to be manned. The other +five volunteers, although passengers, were yet old sailors. The mate +was to take the helm. Before the boat was lowered great care was taken +to lash the empty casks in their proper position and to have everything +in order. Then the captain took the wheel and ran the schooner in +towards the land further than customary when we tacked. As we turned the +boat was lowered. The men and I jumped down. Off flew the ship: it +seemed miles before I realized that it was gone. And we in the +boat--talk about the big swing at home in Tivoli; that was only child's +play to the rocking we now had! My hat blew off and flew towards +Townsville; my hair, and even my shirt, were trying hard to follow! One +could scarcely get the oars in the water. But, in spite of all, we +paddled as best we could, and shortly after were inside a little +harbour, where the water was comparatively smooth and where we effected +a landing. How peaceful and quiet it all seemed here under the mountain. +I felt, as I trod the firm soil under my feet, that I should never make +a good sailor, and it was a terror to me how we were ever to reach the +schooner again. We rolled the casks up to the little creek and filled +them. The mate said he had been there some years before when he was with +a New Guinea expedition. As we were roaming about, waiting for the right +moment to get out again, we found a lot of wreckage, old rotten spars, a +cabin door, &c. Then we came on the skeleton of a man, not all together, +but scattered about. There were also remains of some old clothes, and we +found a purse with silver in it, something less than a pound. The mate +declared this money to be an infallible charm, and suggested that we +should each take a piece and say nothing about it. There were only six +pieces of money, and we were seven to share it. No one would stand out +for any consideration, so we drew lots. I secured a two-shilling piece, +and, whether for good or for bad luck, I have it yet, and used to carry +it for years in the most approved fashion round my neck. We had no tools +with us, so we could not bury the bones. There they lie, perhaps even +yet, the remains of another "missing friend." We came on board the +schooner again somehow. Opinions differed much amongst us as to why we +had not been drowned, and no verdict was arrived at. The mate said it +was the charms we carried which had done it, others said that God held +His hand over us, but the one who had no charm said it was because we +were the very refuse of the devil. I express no opinion myself, only +that it was certainly surprising. As the storm gradually veered round a +little we reached Cooktown. Out of the forty horses only sixteen were +alive; one of mine was dead, and the other did not look as if it could +live long after I got it out of the ship, yet it gradually came round +and proved a very good horse afterwards. + +Cooktown is now reckoned among the old-established towns of Queensland, +but when I landed there it looked wild enough. To describe it I ask the +reader to think of a fair in the Old Country, leaving out the monkeys +and merry-go-rounds. There were some thousands of people all camped out +in tents. Those who intended to start business in Cooktown had pegged +out plots of ground in the main street and run up large tents or +corrugated iron structures in which all sorts of merchandise was sold +cheap enough. But the wet season kept on, and there was no communication +with the Palmer. People left town to go there every day in the rain and +slush, but many returned saying it was no use trying, as the rivers +could not be crossed. There was at that time a very mixed lot of people +in Cooktown. All the loafers, pickpockets, and card-sharpers seemed to +have trooped in from Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne, looking for the +gold in other people's pockets, and the robbing of tents was an everyday +occurrence. Then, although it had been made known far and wide that any +one who wanted to go to the Palmer must either starve or carry six +months' rations with him, still many destitute and good-for-nothing +people could also be seen wherever one looked: these form a class of men +as easily distinguished from the _bona fide_ miners as if they belonged +altogether to another species. No work of any kind was going on for more +than one-tenth of the people who looked for employment, and any one who +wanted a man might easily get him for his "tucker." I believe one could +have got them to work all day for their dinner alone. Men would walk +about among the tents in droves, and wherever they saw rations there +they would beg. While this was the true state of affairs in Cooktown +just then, I remember well standing outside the newspaper office, +reading the paper, the leading article in which described in glowing +terms the bustle and activity going on in this rising city, and declared +that any man who could lift a hammer was welcome to a pound sterling a +day! Of course I did not look for any work, so I did not care. There was +also a great deal of sickness, especially dysentery, and the doctors +required cash down before they would even look at any one. If one took a +stroll up among the tents, it was a common, indeed an inevitable, sight +to see men lying helpless, writhing with pain on the ground, some of +them bellowing out for pity or mercy. Very little pity or help, as a +rule, did they get. Men would pass such a poor object with the greatest +apathy, or at most go up to him and give good advice, such as that he +ought to be ashamed of lying there and ought to try and crawl into the +tent again! Such was life in Cooktown during the first "rush" there to +any Queensland gold-fields. + +I had not at that time got much money. If my second horse had lived, I +should have been, as I thought, all right; but as horses worth six or +seven pounds could not be bought under thirty or forty pounds, I could +not buy another to replace the one I had lost, and had therefore to be +content with one. So one day I loaded up my horse with rations and went +on the road. As I was going to the Palmer, where money was of no value +whatever, and as everything depended on my being able to carry a +sufficiency of provisions, I had bought the best of everything +regardless of cost. I had cocoa, extract of beef to make soup of, +preserved meat and such like in large quantity. Then I had tea, sugar, +and one hundred and fifty pounds of flour. My wardrobe, on the other +hand, was not extensive. It consisted of one shirt, over and above that +I wore. Fifty pounds of my flour with the tent, half a blanket, +billy-can, pint pot, knife, gun, &c., I carried on my own back; the +remainder, including spade and basin, I strapped on the back of the +horse. I had then only a few shillings left of all my money when I +started, but going through the town on my road out the burden on my back +began already to feel heavy. I therefore thought it wise to carry no +unnecessary loads, and seeing some fellows standing in the street who +looked as if they needed some refreshment, I called them together and +had a big "shout" in a public-house as far as the money would go. That +relieved my mind and my pocket! + +The road, if it might be called one, was really a track or belt of +morass, some ten chains wide, in which one had to wade at times up to +the knees. I was prepared to endure great hardships; but to understand +the suffering to man and horse in dragging oneself along that road one +must have tried it for himself. Twice that day the horse and I got +bogged. To get clear again I had first to crawl on my hands and knees +with part of my own load up to some fallen log and deposit it there, +then back to the horse for more. When the horse was quite unloaded, I +had to take it round the neck and let it use me as a sort of purchase by +which to work itself out. Then load it again and wade along. I made +eight miles that day, and I knew that no one who left Cooktown with me +came so far. At the eighth mile there was a large camp of diggers, who +said they could get no further nor yet back to Cooktown. I should have +remained there; but as I saw next morning some prepare to get a little +further, I started with them, and soon left them behind too. That day +and the next the road was better although still very bad. I crossed a +river the third evening I was out. It was as much as I could do to get +over, and, as in the night it began to pour with rain, I concluded, what +really proved to be the case, that the creek would rise and so +effectually cut off my retreat. The next day the road was worse than +ever. The horse got bogged time after time, and I was myself on the eve +of being knocked up. The whole road so far, almost ever since I had left +Cooktown, was strewn with clothes, boots, saddles, rations, in such +quantities that there would have been enough to have opened a good store +with if one could have got it all together. I had also passed at least a +score of dead horses, sticking in the mud with the saddles, and, in +some cases, rations on them; and I met scores of men, who, having thrown +everything away, were struggling to reach Cooktown again on foot. But +with dogged obstinacy I kept on trying to accomplish the impossible. At +last the poor horse got bogged again worse than ever. I could not get +him out. He looked so pitifully at me! I am sure it knew the predicament +we were both in. I struggled and tried hard to get it out, but I could +not. As it settled deeper and deeper into the quagmire I thought I might +as well finish his sufferings and my own. So I put my gun to his ear and +shot him. + +There I stood in the pouring rain alongside the dead horse, full of +anger with myself that I had not, by using more judgment, saved myself +and my poor, faithful companion from such a hard fate. I am not +poetically gifted, and do not understand the science of making much out +of a little, so I cannot say how miserable I felt. Yet it is +nevertheless true that I was ready to burst with grief. I was wet +through, and had been so all day, nor had I anything dry to put on. +Evening was coming on too. Up and down the "road" there was nothing but +a quagmire, into which I sank to the knees whenever I moved. Here also +lay my hopes of redeeming my fortunes. I know very well if I were placed +in the same position now, I should not have strength either of body or +mind to extricate myself. As it was, when I think of it now, after so +many years, I can truly aver that I mourned for the horse more than for +myself. I had met no travellers that day on account of the rain, but I +knew I was about eight miles from the Normanby River, on both sides of +which large bodies of miners were camped--those on my side being +desirous of reaching the Palmer, and the camp on the other side being +full of men who had come from the Palmer and wanted to go to Cooktown. +But both parties were prevented from getting further as the Normanby +River was in full flood and half a mile across. + +I could not continue to stand looking at the dead horse. I felt a great +longing to reach the other men that I might, by talking to them, forget +a part of my own trouble in thinking of theirs, so I managed that +evening, and with even a part of my goods, to reach the camp, and the +next few days I devoted to fetching the remainder of my stores from +where the dead horse was lying. + +On the banks of the Normanby River there was at that time a sight which +might well furnish food for reflection. I doubt if fiction could invent +anything more strange. Several hundred men were camped on the south side +of the river waiting for the flood to subside so that they might get +over. We had rations in any quantity, but, speaking for myself, I can +truthfully say, if the others were like me, we had no money. On the +other side of the river was an equally large camp. The men there were +the diggers who, when the first news of the Palmer broke out, had, +before the wet season set in, gathered to the "rush" from the +Etheridge, Gilbert, Charters Towers, Cape, and other outlying places, +and who, having eaten their rations and gathered their gold, were now +trying to get to Cooktown to purchase supplies. A perfect famine was +raging over there. The country around is very poorly off for game; +besides, they had no powder, and so they had been eating their horses, +their dogs, and at last their boots! It is a fact that they used to boil +their blucher boots for twenty-four hours and eat them with weeds! It +takes something to make a Queensland miner lie down to die, yet it was +the general opinion among men who had been to all the Victorian and New +Zealand "rushes," that they had never suffered such hardship before or +seen country so void of game or life of any sort. + +There we were, looking across at one another--they shaking their +gold-purses at us, and we showing them the flour-bags. Two came across +to us. The way they managed was this: first they took off the rag or two +which yet served them for clothes and strapped them on to the horse, +then getting on the horse and forcing it into the water it would soon be +borne with the current down the stream; they would then slip off, and +getting hold of the tail with one hand swim with the other. They both +managed to cross, but it looked so desperate an undertaking that the +others did not venture. The two men who came over brought the first +reliable news from the Palmer for a long time, and were besieged with +questions. As I do not care to return to the matter again, I will say +here that among the tales of suffering on the Palmer by the first batch +of diggers, was that of one of my shipmates from home, who had arrived +there from the Etheridge, and who, while looking for gold in one of the +tributaries to the Palmer, had been cut off from the main camp by the +river rising so that he could not cross to get away. His dead body was +found in his tent after the wet season. He had died of hunger, yet under +his head was a bag with eighteen pounds' weight of gold in it. Poor +fellow! the last time I saw him was in Port Denison, the first year I +was in the country; he had then earned five pounds sterling, and had +come into town to get it sent home to his father and mother. + +On our side of the river we passed the time as best we could. There was +a large band of German musicians, and I joined them with my flute, which +I always carried. It really seemed strange, in the heart of the +wilderness, where a few months before no white man had ever put his +foot, to hear the tones of Strauss or Offenbach. As a general thing, +though, men would sit in their tents while the rain came pouring down in +sheets of water. At night we suffered very much from mosquitoes, and in +the daytime from flies, the common little house-fly, which was a perfect +nuisance all day. Dear reader, I know you expect of me that the least I +can do for you who have followed my fortunes so far is to tell you now +how I somehow proceeded to the Palmer, and there in a month or two +accumulated at least twenty thousand ounces of gold, with which I +returned and got married to some nobleman's daughter. I should not be +sorry to write this if I only had the gold somewhere handy, but as you +no doubt would, after all, prefer the truth, whatever it is, I must +confess that I could not at all see my way to go on any further. When +the weather settled and people began to cross the river I had a good +look at the poor emaciated fellows who came across, some of them with +very little gold, and all of them more or less broken in health. Then I +began to ask myself whether the game was worth the candle. The Germans +who constituted the band offered to take me as mate in their party, and +to put my rations on their horses; and for that I was greatly obliged to +them, but I seemed all at once to have taken such a dislike to roaming +about, and was picturing to myself the comfort I could have had and the +sum of money I might have saved by constant employment at my trade, that +I refused their kind offer, and instead of going on towards the Palmer I +sold my rations for a good price and returned to Cooktown. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +RETURNING FROM THE PALMER. + + +I sat in my tent one day in Cooktown, while the rain was pouring down +outside, when my attention was attracted by four men who stood in a +desolate sort of way in the road. They seemed to me to have such a +pitiful, aimless, vacant way about them as they stood there while the +rain ran down their backs in bucketsful! But I do not suppose that I for +that reason alone should have given them a second thought, because +misery and want were such common sights in Cooktown. What, however, +riveted my interest in them was that I could see they were Danes by +their clothes, and also that they had only been a very short time in +Queensland. So I thought I would have a lark with them at my own expense +if, as I guessed, it should prove true that they could not speak +English. I therefore called to them in English, and invited them to come +into my tent out of the rain. They came quickly enough. My point was to +let them think me an Englishman and to prove the old proverb that he +"who hears himself spoken of seldom hears praise." So I questioned them +from what country they came, how long they had been in Cooktown, where +they were going, how long they had been in Queensland, and all such +matters. It appeared then that they had arrived in Rockhampton a few +months before, had taken a contract there to burn off a piece of scrub, +by which they had saved a few pounds, and having heard of the Palmer, +had bought tickets for Cooktown in the _Lord Ashley_, that steamer we +met in the storm. All their swags had been washed overboard, and since +they arrived in Cooktown they had not only spent their money long ago, +but had since been unsuccessful in all they undertook. They subsisted on +scraps and odd pickings among the tents--but they did not mind so much +now that they had got used to it! They liked Rockhampton and the job of +scrub-burning, "that being a lively game," but Cooktown they did not +like; anyhow, as soon as they could get a job and save enough to buy +some rations, they would go to the Palmer. What aggrieved them most was +that they had a Danish five-dollar note (worth about ten shillings), but +they could not get it changed because the Englishmen said it was a false +one. This they told me in a sort of English a great deal more broken +than my own, but yet they had not the slightest suspicion about my not +being myself a thoroughbred Britisher. Indeed, the conversation was full +of interjections in Danish from the one to the other, such as: "I +wonder if the beggar is going to give us some grub when he has done +questioning?" or, "He has got nothing himself to eat; let us get out of +this;" or, "Wait a minute, I will ask him for some flour." When I had +carried my game as far as I cared, we had some tea and a real good meal, +after which, as it began to get dark, I invited them all to stay in my +tent until I left Cooktown, because I was only waiting for a steamer. In +the night, as we all lay as close as we could in the little tent, I had +the satisfaction of lying listening half the night to their praise of +myself, as they were talking in Danish, thinking I did not understand. +They seemed to have a terrible grudge against some Dane in Cooktown whom +I did not know, but to whom it appeared they had applied in vain for +assistance; and now they compared me as an Englishman to their own +countryman, and came to the conclusion that strangers were always the +best. I did not like to undeceive them, and I never did; but it was so +very pleasant to lie and listen to one's own praise, and I really felt +quite benevolent over it, so I thought I would do what I could to +deserve their praises. + +[Illustration: ROCKHAMPTON.] + +I had decided that I would go back to Port Denison and ask my old +employer there for a job, which I never doubted he would give me. It +seemed to me it was the place where I had been treated best as yet in +Queensland, and although we had some differences of opinions, yet I was +quite longing to see him and his family again, and also my old shipmate +and his wife. I had no doubt, somehow, he was there still. It seemed to +me almost like going home, to see them all again, and as I was in the +tent lying listening to the Danes, I thought that I would get my nice +old room once more as soon as I came to Port Denison and have everything +provided for me, and that I could therefore spare this tent, and the +gun, the billy-can, pint pot, &c. When I left Cooktown I gave all these +articles to my countrymen there, and, as I was going in the boat, even +offered to exchange their "false" Danish five-dollar note. I had finally +only half-a-crown left. + +I have written about this, not because I wish the reader to know how +benevolent I was, but to make it clear how it was that I parted with +these things. It will be perceived, as my history proceeds, how sorely I +was afterwards in need of them myself. + +It was early morning when I was put ashore in Port Denison in a boat, +because I was the only passenger for that port. I had been away about +four years, and as the memory of my first landing in this place forced +itself upon me I felt that I had not made very good use of my time so +far. Yet as I went along I consoled myself with the reflection that even +if my pocket was empty, still I was more like a man than I had ever been +before, and if I was not rich, no one could say he was poor on my +account. + +I walked along the jetty and up the street before I met any one; then I +saw a man I remembered as one to whom I had spoken several times +formerly. I rushed up to him, laughing and smiling, and shook him by the +hand. He seemed surprised and looked cold upon me. At last he remembered +me. "Oh, yes! How are you? Come by a steamer? Nice morning." + +How many have never known the bitter disappointment of being repulsed in +this manner? I sneaked away, and began to ask myself if it was possible +that my old "boss," or, perhaps, even my shipmate and his wife, would +greet me in the same manner. I had only half-a-crown left in my pocket. +My wardrobe was also in a sad condition; yet I was clean, and had, while +on the ship, polished my boots and scented my handkerchief, so who +should say that I was not the successful digger? Still, I felt very +shaky about meeting a new disappointment, and walked about for an hour +or two, not caring to present myself at Mr. ----'s place, and not being +able to find out where my countryman lived. I was soon reassured, +however, for presently I saw the "boss" himself, out for a morning walk, +and he seemed both glad and surprised to see me. After we had given the +public debt a lift in a public-house just opened, he made a few +inquiries about how far I had succeeded in making my fortune, and +offered me there and then a job, although he said he was by no means +busy. My shipmate was with him yet, and had two pounds ten shillings +per week, and he would give me the same, he said, in the hope that work +might soon be more plentiful. When we separated I went to look for my +countryman, who also was glad to see me, and at once insisted on my +staying at his house for the present. How well off he seemed to be! It +was his own house, and he had made a nice lot of furniture himself for +the rooms. He had also a fine garden, where, as he said to me, he took +his recreation in working it up. But, best of all, he had a kind, good +wife, who also had been my shipmate, and two little boys. When he came +home of an evening the wife came with his slippers and his smoking-cap, +and there he was, while I, who had gone through more hardships these +four years than many people do in their whole life, had seemingly done +no good either to myself or to others. I had, of course, told them at +once that I intended to go to work in the old place again; and it was my +intention at the first favourable moment which offered to ask my friend +for a few pounds to renew my wardrobe a little, but so far I had said +nothing whatever to anybody about my circumstances. In the evening, as +we sat talking on the verandah, my countryman quite suddenly asked me if +I was short of money, as he was prepared to let me have some if I wanted +it. It seems a strange contradiction to my previous confession, but +nevertheless it is true, that he had scarcely spoken before I blurted +out that I was not at all short of money, and that it was a great +mistake on his part to think so, that I had quite enough to serve my +purpose at any time, and more to the same effect. + +"Well, then," said my mate, "I am glad for your sake; but as that is the +case I will tell you what I otherwise would have said nothing about. The +'boss' was to-day passing one or two jokes about your being so anxious +to make your fortune quickly when you left here last, and as we have +scarcely a stroke to do, I would not, if I were you, give him the +satisfaction to begin work again, because I am sure he thinks you are +very hard up." "Does he?" cried I. "Well, he makes a mistake, and so do +you. Perhaps you think because I haven't a paper collar on that I am +ready to beg?" "Oh, no, no!" cried he; "I only meant, in a friendly way, +to offer you what you perhaps needed, so do not get angry where no +offence is meant." "Oh, I was not angry," said I; "but I certainly would +not work for Mr. ---- again, as he thought I could not do without him. +Had I not for a fact passed Townsville, where wages were higher and work +more plentiful, to come here? And now he thought he was the only man in +Queensland where I could earn my living! But I would show Mr. ---- +different. I would go to Port Mackay, where there was plenty of work and +no family arrangement about it. That was what I would do." After some +more conversation of the same sort, I went out in the street for a walk, +and to get an opportunity of thinking quietly over my now desperate +circumstances. With the exception of the clothes I wore upon me, + + "All my fortune was a shirt + That was ragged and full of dirt." + +I walked about the streets for some time, trying to make a song in +honour of the occasion, which was to begin with the above words, and set +it to music, and as I succeeded better than I thought I correspondingly +got into high spirits, and took it all as an immense joke. There seemed +to me only one way out of the difficulty. I could walk to Port Mackay, +which is another and larger town, more prosperous than Port Denison. It +lies on the coast also, and the distance by road between the two places +is one hundred and thirty miles. The road, however, is very little +frequented, as what little communication there is is all by water. There +were, however, half a dozen stations on the road, and I made no doubt I +should be right somehow. The blacks in that district had, indeed, a bad +name for spearing cattle and being very wild and ferocious; but of that +I took no heed. The most important thing just then was for me to get +away from my countryman's house without exciting in him any suspicions +about the state of my exchequer. I felt some strokes of conscience +certainly over thus repaying his kindness with such insincerity, but I +could at least truthfully say that I had not meant it, and that +circumstances over which I had no control, &c. So the next morning I +put on a reserved, dignified air, and after breakfast told my host that +I intended to shift my quarters. They both kindly protested, until I had +to say that I had business somewhere in the bush, and would come back to +their house as soon as I came to Port Denison again, but that I had to +go now, and might not be back for some time. Then Mrs. ---- pressed me +to take some sandwiches with me for dinner, for which I was not sorry, +and then I started for Port Mackay. The first station on the road was +thirty miles out. That place I meant to reach before evening. The +sandwiches went down like apple-pie long before dinner-time, and a +little before evening I gained the station. I was even at that time so +much of a "new chum" that I took it for granted that a traveller would +be made welcome anywhere in the bush whenever he might call. In the +gold-fields where I had been people were ashamed of refusing +hospitality--at least, I had not seen it done. This was the furthest +south I had yet been in Queensland, and as I stood by the creek that +evening and looked over to the neat little homestead lying there so +isolated, it seemed to me quite a beautiful place, and I congratulated +myself that I had reached it just before I got tired and in good time +for supper. I had a bath in the creek and straightened myself up all I +could before I went up to the house. It was getting nearly dark as I +came up the track leading into the garden. I heard some one crack a whip +close behind me, and saw a man on horseback coming along with nearly a +dozen big dogs, who now barked in angry rage all round me. I stood there +a complete prisoner while the man on horseback looked daggers at me. I +suppose he had been out after cattle and had not found those he looked +for; anyhow, he did not appear in a good humour. "Where are you going?" +asked he. + +"I thought I might have a bit of supper and a camp here to-night," said +I. + +"Supper and camp!" cried he. "Why the ---- don't you camp in the bush? +Ain't you got no rations, neither?" + +"No," said I. "I should be obliged to you if you would sell me something +to eat." + +"Would you not be obliged to me if I would show you a public-house?" +cried he. + +I was too innocent to see his jeer, only I perceived that he did not +want me, so I said, "Public-house? yes, I should be glad;" and added, "I +did not know there was any; how far is it?" + +"Oh, not far," said he, and he moved on, and at last called his dogs off +me. + +I was in a rage as I moved on, but just past the house the road branched +off, and I thought it necessary to find out which to take, so I sang out +to him, "Which is the Mackay road?" + +"The _right_ one," cried he. And along the _right_-hand track I went +mile after mile, but no hotel was there. At last I found it was only a +cattle track, and that I had come out to a big creek, where it branched +off everywhere. The moon was just going down, and it was far out in the +night when I laid myself down to sleep. It was raining heavily by this +time, so that I could light no fire, but, tired and worn out as I was, I +slept as well as if I had lain on a feather bed. + +When I woke up again it was daylight, and I felt quite stiff in all my +joints and so cold that I could scarcely move. Three or four native dogs +were circling round me, but retired to a more respectful distance when I +sat up. These native dogs are, I believe, peculiar to Australia. +Miserable, cowardly curs they are. They will often follow a man for days +when he is lost until he drops, but I do not believe it has ever been +recorded that they have actually attacked a man before death has made +him oblivious to all. Not so, however, with the crow. The crow is found +all over Australia in the most out-of-the-way places, and many a brave +man has had his eyes picked out before he has had time to die! These +birds seem to have a sort of instinct to know when any one is in +distress. If a man is lost and the "trackers" are out after him, they +know that he is not far off when they see a lot of crows hovering over a +particular spot. He may not be dead, but he is certainly dying. + +Although I was wet, stiff, and cold, and without any food, yet I was +worth twenty dead men yet. I saw that the only thing I could do was to +retrace my steps to the station the same way as I had come; so along +the road I went, and that in a very bad humour, most of all because I +could see no other remedy than to beg assistance where I had been +already so badly treated. When I could get on the right track there were +thirty miles to the next station. I had only half-a-crown. What could I +do if nobody would help me? At last, at two or three o'clock in the +afternoon, I came back to the place I had started from the evening +before, when I had been shown the wrong track. As soon as I saw the +house again I felt neither hungry nor tired. I only felt as if I could +walk for ever without rest or food. I would ask for nothing. I would +take nothing. I would just go on. But still I had to find out which was +the Mackay road. Yes, I would go up to the house to ask that question. +As I came up to the place I saw a young woman standing outside the back +door washing clothes, and about a dozen blacks were squatted about the +ground in all sorts of lazy positions. I noticed especially a very tall +young gin, who stood leaning against the wall, with a long spear in her +hand. I asked the girl which was the Mackay road, and she, looking round +rather surprised at me, said, "There--that one to the left." She did not +look at all vicious, and seemed disposed to enter into conversation, +but, true to my determination, I turned on my heel to go again. I had +scarcely turned, however, before I heard her sing out in an excited +voice to the blacks, "Don't! Drop that spear! Look out!" Turning round +once more, I saw the tall gin with the spear, holding it high above her +head, ready to hurl it at me. I never spoke, because, to tell the truth, +I never realized that she intended to kill me. I looked her full in the +face, and, as I felt pretty indignant at the time, my look disarmed her. +Anyhow she quailed before my eyes and dropped the spear, and I went my +way. + +The blacks were at that time very bad in that district, spearing cattle, +&c., and as I was going along the road I accounted to myself for their +presence on the station in this way--that perhaps the squatter thought +it cheaper to feed them than to allow them to rob him. That they were +not very quiet blacks I felt sure, and the more I thought of the gin and +her uplifted spear the more anxious I became. They might, thought I, set +out after me yet and finish me off. Moreover, as I had thirty miles to +walk before I could hope for any food, I made up my mind to stagger on +as long as my feet could carry me. But I did not go so fast as the day +before. Slowly and painfully did I drag along. The road was simply a +track on which a horse might come along, and a sort of coarse grass +eight or nine feet high grew on both sides. How fervently I wished I +might meet another traveller--anybody had been welcome--but no one +seemed to have been along there for ages. On I went. Every half mile or +so I would come to a running brook crossing the road. I became too +fatigued to take off my boots and socks every time, and this made my +feet sore; but still I staggered on. It was now evening, or, rather, +late at night, but just as the moon was going down I came to a creek +which seemed larger than the rest, inasmuch that I could not in the +darkness look across, and taking a couple of steps into the water I went +in nearly to the middle; still it grew deeper. I therefore concluded +that as necessity knows no law, I must camp and wait for daylight before +I attempted crossing. A large tree was growing close to the water and on +the track. Down by the roots of that tree I threw my swag, and laid +myself upon it without undressing and without a fire. My matches were +all wet, and I was too tired to walk one unnecessary step. + +I was lying there looking up at the stars, feeling so unspeakably tired, +when, after a while, just as I was going to sleep, I heard a noise not +far from me for which I could not account, but it brought me to +speculate upon the probability that there were alligators in the water, +and that it was scarcely prudent to lie there as I did, with my feet +almost in the stream. So I got up and went back some twenty yards or so, +on the rising ground, where there had been an old camp years before. +There I lay myself down again with a big stick in my hand. I had just +gone off to sleep when I started up again in terror. A peculiar +indescribable noise was coming from down the creek, where I had been +before. What it might be I did not know. Never had I heard the like +before; it was a noise sufficient, as they say, to raise the dead. + +The water seemed agitated as if an army of blacks were coming across, +the bushes and grass were cracking as if a stampede of cattle was taking +place, and through all these noises ran a piercing continuous yell such +as no human being or animal I knew in nature could utter. The thought +ran through me as I started to my feet: either it is the blacks who have +come to kill you, or it is an alligator on the same errand. In any case, +thought I, my only chance was to show fight. With that I grabbed my +stick, and sang out, to gammon the blacks, "Here! hie! Bill! Jack! +Jimmy! Here they are. Get the guns; we will have a shot at them!" + +While I screamed at the top of my voice like this, I struck the long +grass with my stick, and, to frighten the alligator, if any were there, +ran right down to where I had been before, yelling all the while. The +noise kept on in front of me, but died away with some splashes in the +water, just as I came down. When I stopped screaming all was silent. I +stared around me, but the darkness was perfectly impenetrable. + +Was there an alligator now crouching at my feet ready to swallow me in a +couple of mouthfuls? Or was I surrounded by a mob of savages, perhaps, +lurking alongside of me, and seeing my helplessness? Or was it evil +spirits? I did not know what it was, or where it had gone, and yet the +hair seemed to rise on my head. Do not talk to me about bravery or +cowardice! I believe most men are capable of screwing their courage up +to the necessary point at any time, providing they know what is before +and behind them, but if I knew where there was a man who would not have +felt fear if placed in the same position as I stood in there, then I +would fall down and bow before him. I crept back to where I had been +lying when I heard the alarm and lay down again, and so exhausted was I +that I fell asleep at once, and did not wake up before the sun was +shining in my face. My first thought, of course, was the noise in the +night, and I went down to the creek to look for tracks or signs of some +sort. There, close by the tree, on the very spot where I first had laid +myself down, was the half of a large kangaroo. It seemed bitten off +right under the forelegs, all the rest was gone. On the road and in the +soft mud by the water were the tracks of an immense alligator, and where +it had come out and gone into the creek again a deep furrow as from a +sulky plough had been made by its tail. I had never yet been so near +death! It seemed plain to me that the first noise I had heard which +induced me to get up and go further away from the water must have been +the alligator stealing upon me, and that the unfortunate kangaroo +afterwards unwittingly saved my life. But as there is scarcely anything +that cannot be turned to good account, so I also tried to turn this +accident to my advantage, because I took up my knife and cut some steaks +out of the kangaroo, which I had to eat raw, as I could make no fire, +for I could not find any of the wood with which I had learned by +rubbing two sticks together to make it. It was with fear and trembling +that I crossed the deep creek. The water went up over my armpits; but it +had to be done, and once on the other side I made a speech to the +alligator, thanked him for my breakfast, and wished him, "Good-morning." + +I walked all day, but so slowly and painfully that I did not go very +far. One of my boots was chafing my foot so that I had to take it off, +but after having carried it some miles I threw it away. In the evening I +came to an empty hut and a stockyard, but as no one was living there I +concluded it was put up for the purpose of mustering cattle. It was +locked up, so I lay down outside and seemed to find some company in +looking at the house. The next day was Sunday. I felt when I got up that +I could not walk much further. Fortunately, perhaps, I got some +encouragement from thinking myself near the station, as fences and +cattle began to appear. Yet it took me from break of day to afternoon +before I came out on a large plain, and there at once I saw the house +lying in front of me, but yet about a mile distant. It seemed a large +and "fashionable" house for the bush. As I came a little nearer I could +see people under the verandah, and as I came still nearer I made out +three ladies and a gentleman sitting there. They seemed to have a +telescope, which they passed from one to the other, and whoever had it +pointed it straight at me. Ah! what a disgrace, thought I. I would not +mind so much, but I felt revolted at the idea of standing as a beggarman +before young ladies. If I could have run away I am sure I should have +done so, but I was altogether too weak. Still, I seemed to straighten +myself up somehow under their eyes, and I threw the long, ugly stick I +carried away, and went on with as sure a step as I could command up to +the verandah and saluted the company. + +I remember well the following scene. The gentleman, a portly, elderly +man, had one of those bluff-looking, high-coloured faces which, even +while they try to look cross, cannot hide their evident good nature. He +was now smiling in a benevolent sort of way upon me. The elderly lady +who sat by his side also looked very kind, while two young ladies, who +also were in the verandah, regarded me with a mixture of dignity, +curiosity, and pity. When the gentleman began to speak he looked very +cross. + +"Coming from the Palmer?" inquired he. + +"Yes, sir." + +"Hah! did I not tell you so? Did you find any gold there?" + +"No, sir." + +"Didn't I say so?" + +These aside remarks were addressed to the elderly lady, who silently +acquiesced; and then she turned towards me and inquired, with a sort of +anxiety, "Did you happen to meet a young man up there by name Symes? +David--David Symes, that was his name." + +I was very sorry that I had not met him. + +"How do you think he should know him?" cried the gentleman, in a great +rage. "Ah!" he exclaimed, "that will teach you fellows not to run +gallivanting about the country again in a hurry, I'll swear. All your +bit of money clean gone?" + +"No, sir." (I had my half-crown.) + +"Then you want nothing from me, I suppose?" + +"Indeed, sir, I do, very much." + +"Ah! I thought so. I knew it jolly well, I did." + +"Father," cried the lady, "why do you keep tormenting the poor man so? +You go and sit there under the sunshade, and I will tell the girl to +bring you some dinner. Poor man! walked all the way from Palmer." + +I went and seated myself by a large table which stood in the yard, and +as soon as I sat down I fell asleep; then I would start up again, and +fall asleep again, and every time I opened my eyes I saw them all +sitting on the verandah watching me. The servant-girl brought a large +supply of roast beef and potatoes, also a plum-pudding, but I could eat +nothing. When I had tried a couple of mouthfuls the squatter came down +to me and said he would show me a bed where I could lie down. "And when +you have had a good sleep," said he, "then I will find you a job of some +kind, if you want it." + +I slept for nearly twenty-four hours, and when I had fully recovered, +which took me three or four days, I had a job at ring-barking trees for +the squatter for ten shillings per week. That was all he offered me and +I did not care to ask for more--indeed, I was very well pleased. When I +had been there two or three weeks, and I thought we were about quits, I +asked for my wander-book again--in other words, I explained that I was a +carpenter and expected to earn better money if I could get to Mackay. I +am glad to say that he would have liked to keep me, and he offered me a +job as stockman for a pound sterling a week, but still that did not suit +me at all, so I went my way again with a few rations in my bag and +twenty shillings in my pocket. I will not ask the reader to follow me +step by step on this memorable journey. No doubt it will quite plainly +appear that I have gone through a terrible lot of hardships in my time, +but although I admit I should not care to have to do it again, yet it is +a fact that, when I think of myself at that time, I seemed in no way +crestfallen. On the contrary, I was always in the best of humours, and +never doubted for one moment that good fortune would come again. It has +always been a fact in my case that when I, as on this journey, have had +very scanty food for some time, my voice becomes much better and +clearer. So that as I came along the road, or in the night when I was +camped, I would enjoy myself by singing as well as if I had been a +performer at a concert. Alas! many matters which unfortunately would not +interest me much now, had at that time great attraction for my mind--a +bird, a wallaby scudding across the road, a strange plant, all such +things would set my imagination going. It is only as we grow older and +get more sense that such trivialities cease to amuse! + +The next place on this journey where anything worth relating occurred +was at a sugar plantation about sixteen miles from Mackay. I arrived +there at eight or nine o'clock one night, but as I came past the place, +some men who were camped in a tent by the road good-naturedly offered me +a drink of tea, and when I had drank it and was just ready to start +again one of the men, who had been away for half an hour, came back and +said that I had to go up to the kitchen, where there was a countrywoman +of mine who wanted to see me. I was in no way caring for a lady's +company at the time, so I asked him to make my excuses to this +countrywoman of mine and to say that I was gone; but all the men began +chaffing me, and were nearly going into fits of laughter about her good +looks, wishing they were me, that such a girl was not to be seen every +day, &c., so at last I unwillingly went up to the kitchen. I never +thought to see anybody more than some uninteresting sort of country +girl, and I only intended to ask her, as shortly as possible, what she +wanted, and then go on again. In a word, I was in rather a bad humour. +The door was opened for me by a very lady-like girl, and I was quite +doubtful at first whether it was the lady of the house or only the +servant. All at once I seemed to remember how torn my clothes were, and +my poor appearance, and felt as if I did not like to go in; but the girl +seemed bent on patronizing me. + +"Come in," cried she, in Danish; "be not afraid. If Danes meet in this +country I think it is the least they can do to speak to one another. I +know it right enough there is many a brave fellow in this country +suffering hardships such as they do not dream of at home. Come in, come +in!" + +I did not know at first whether to feel angry or not over this speech, +but--she was so pretty, and she meant well, and she _was_ my +countrywoman after all, so I took her by the hand and thanked her for +her sympathy, admitting that I was rather down on my luck just then, but +that I had great hopes that things would soon take a turn for the +better. Then she offered me a cup of tea, and by and by we were chatting +away like old friends. It was now about ten o'clock, and I thought it +high time to take my leave, when we heard some one approach the kitchen +from the house. The girl seemed to get quite terrified. "Oh," she +whispered, "that is Mr. ---- himself. He has forbidden any of the men to +come to the kitchen; he is sure to be angry." + +The gentleman came in, and while he was staring in a sort of haughty and +surprised way at me the girl was sitting bending over her sewing as if +she had committed a crime. I did not like the prospect of being turned +out very much, and I felt also sorry for having brought unpleasantness +upon her; but, after all, the want or possession of a little tact will +alter matters wonderfully even at such a moment as this, so, more for +the girl's sake than for my own, I saluted him in my politest manner and +begged his pardon for having come into the kitchen. I said I had been +travelling past, intending to walk to Mackay, but that the men on the +place had told me that a countrywoman of mine was here, and that I had +not been able to resist the temptation to call in the hope that it might +be some one I knew. I hoped he would excuse me. + +"Oh yes," said he, "that is all right; I am sure Sophy will be glad to +see a friend of hers. Have you given your countryman some supper? Don't +let him go away hungry. Surely you are not going to walk to Mackay +to-night? There is a place over there where you might sleep: you will +show him, Sophy. Good-night." + +What a relief we both seemed to find at the turn things had taken! Quite +a grand supper was now put before me, a white damask table-cloth was +spread, silver coffee-pot and cream-jug and all sorts of delicacies +appeared. When all was ready, we both sat down to the cheese, and when +at last I went to seek my bed we both candidly admitted to each other +that this had been a red-letter day and one never to be forgotten. I +slept and dreamed, and when I woke up again I could distinctly remember +what I had dreamed; and that dream I have never forgotten since. I +dreamed that I saw a snake which crept on the floor, and this snake +seemed to me of wonderful beauty, but I was not at all afraid of it--on +the contrary, I wanted to take it so that I might keep it; for that +purpose I bent towards it, but as I did so the snake seemed to rise on +end until it was nearly as tall as I, and while I stretched my arm out +to take it, it hissed, and when I touched it, then it bit me. I now +perceived it was no longer a snake, but that young woman who had +entertained me in the evening. I woke up at once, and grasped the whole +dream in my mind. Then I thought it must surely be a warning. I fancy I +see the sceptic smile who reads this. I should like my readers to +believe in the truth of my assertions; and to those who are disposed to +so believe me, I will say they may, for nothing is truer. I was lying +the remainder of the night thinking of my dream and congratulating +myself that there was no cause for me to feel uneasy, as I should be +going away in the morning, and probably should never see that girl +again. But when morning came the sun dispelled my fears, and I was soon +sitting chatting with Sophy while I had breakfast. I felt wonderfully +sorry that I should now have to go, never to see her again. It was, +however, ordained otherwise. By the time I had the swag on my shoulder +she had been into her mistress, and, without my knowing or asking +it--for indeed I only wanted to get to Mackay--had interceded for me, +asking that I should be offered work. Mr. ----, therefore, came out to +me and said he had been told that I was a carpenter, and that he had a +lot of carpenter's work he wanted done. He had no time to go into +details then, but he would be obliged to me if I would glue together for +him a case of chairs he had, and then he would speak to me again the +next day. How could I refuse? I got out the case of chairs and stood all +day gluing them together, outside the kitchen, but I could not help +thinking of my dream every now and again, and I realized that there was +great danger, and that if I engaged myself for one week it would be +impossible for me to either tear myself away or for any one else to +trust me. In the evening I sat by the fire in the kitchen, with my elbow +on my knee and my head in my hand and was in a bad humour, although the +girl was sitting chatting more sweetly than ever by my side. To talk +about a week before I tore myself away! was it not too late already? If +I had to stay here, thought I, until I could not tear myself away, then +I must be weak indeed. It must never be. I will go at once--this moment. +I got up and said I was going to Mackay as soon as I could get time to +roll my swag together. + +She looked at me as if she thought I was mad. Then she asked me if she +had offended me, and insisted on telling Mr. ---- I was going, so that +he might pay me for my day's work; but I would not risk the effect of +any pressing invitation to stay, and groped my way in the darkness down +to the road and away. Never have I felt more poor and miserable and +lonely in my own eyes, as I went along, than I did that stormy, bitterly +cold night. As soon as the imaginary danger was over I pictured to +myself in rosy colours how things might have turned out if I had only +remained. And all this I had made impossible for the sake of a miserable +dream which most people would have forgotten before they were properly +awake. Oh, yes, I deserved surely as much bad luck as fate could heap +upon me! But now it was too late. "Too late!" I kept repeating, and then +I would make plans for going away to the end of the world, as soon as I +should have sufficient money to pay my way. I could not in the darkness +cross the Pioneer River, which runs twelve miles from town, and as I had +plenty of time I sat on the bank of the river all night, wishing an +alligator might take me, indulging in romantic sentiments; but the next +morning, as I was nearing Mackay, hope sat on her throne again as I +passed by the one beautiful plantation after the other and saw enough +work going forward on all sides to convince me that I should get plenty +to do for myself, and possibly some day, perhaps, myself own one of +these plantations. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +A LOVE STORY. + + +I obtained work at one of the plantations for three pounds sterling per +week. For this money I was expected only to work eight hours a day and +five hours on Saturdays, that being the ordinary tradesman's hours of +work all over Australia. But as my employer was busy and I was tired of +remaining poor longer than I could help, I obtained leave to work two +hours overtime every day, for which I was paid at the rate of +eighteenpence an hour. When I arrived in Mackay I had gone into a +Chinaman's boarding-house, as being the most suitable place for my means +and condition, but although a similar place had suited me well enough in +the gold-diggings, the class of men who stayed here and the +accommodation I received did not now suit me at all. I seemed to shrink +into myself and gradually got into a morbid and unhealthy state of mind. +I was as good, at least I thought myself as good, as most of the clerks +or well-dressed young fellows I saw knocking about the town, doing very +little work; but that they were of a different opinion was evident from +the scathing contempt one or two of them managed once or twice to put +into their manner towards me the first week I was in town when I by +accident had addressed them. Do clothes make the man? thought I; was it +necessary for me to conform to their habits, and to imitate them, to +secure respect or even civility? I would not do it. What would be +gained? All was vanity. Another little incident which had not been +without its influence upon me, I mention to show that such unconsidered +trifles make the sum total of ordinary life, was this: the day I arrived +in town, but when I was yet about half a mile from it, I had met four +young ladies, who I suppose were out for a walk. They were evidently +dressed in their best clothes and looked both nice and pretty, and as +youth always recognizes a sort of relation in youth--or, if you prefer +it, young men always take an interest in young women, and _vice +versa_--I was looking closely at them and they at me as we neared each +other on the road. They took no trouble in concealing their verdict of +me. I will not say they were so ill-bred as to make grimaces at me, but +they might just as soon have gathered their skirts about them and held +their noses. I saw that they considered me an undesirable party. I was +just then in rather high spirits, which could not be damped all in a +moment, so as I met and passed them I took my stick up and held it in +military fashion close to my shoulder as I marched by. I could hear them +giggling behind me, but I did not look round, and lovelorn as I +was--because you must remember my adventure of the day before--it had a +depressing effect upon me, which grew as time went. So, after staying +for a week in the Chinaman's boarding-house, with the first money I got +I bought a tent and pitched it right away in a lonely spot, and there I +lived by myself, like a regular hermit. I thought of Thorkill who was +dead and of his lonely grave, that dream for which I could not account, +and I thought, too, of my own home from which I had heard nothing now +for years, and I brooded over my own friendless condition. Then I +thought of the girl on the plantation I had left behind me, but it never +entered my head for a moment to go and visit her. Far from it. I would +travel to the end of the world to put it out of my power rather than do +that, or for two pins I would then have put an end to myself! It seems +to me as I write, that, this being simply true, it should not be without +a salutary warning to other young men not to allow themselves to drift +into the same state of temperament, because it is dangerous and may +spoil a life which otherwise might become useful; nor is there any merit +in such misanthropy, as the subsequent pages will show, and but one +little straw one way or the other will have its effect during the +remainder of one's life. + +One thing which it is difficult to write about, as it seems to have no +logic or sense in it, but which, nevertheless, was of great importance +to me, was this: I worked like a tiger, not because I was fond of work +nor to get away from my morbid feelings, because I did not struggle +against them, nor because I was fond of money, as I had very little use +for any, as I thought, and as my wages were the same whether I worked +like an average man or did more, but I worked because in my morbid brain +I liked to fancy that the girl on the plantation was in great distress, +and that her life and liberty depended upon my doing certain work in a +certain time. When I got a piece of work to do I would think to myself +in this way: here is a week's work for any man, but unless I can do it +in four days, then--all sorts of misery will happen. Therefore I really +worked as if my life depended on it, and I would be perfectly intolerant +of any obstruction to my progress. My "boss" took in the situation very +soon, because he let me stand by myself and dared scarcely speak to me +for fear of putting me out. + +This state of affairs had lasted about three months, and during that +time I can almost count on my fingers the words I had said; I do not +think I had spoken to any one one unnecessary word. It cost me only five +or six shillings a week to live. I had bought merely the most necessary +clothes, and all the rest of my money and cheques I had received were in +my possession, lying in a pickle-bottle in the tent. + +One afternoon as I came from my work I saw in front of me in the street +the girl from the plantation. I ran after her. "Sophy, Sophy, is that +you?" Happy meeting! She had been in town for a month and was now a +dressmaker; but let it be enough to say that I went at once to the tent +and got out the money and bought the best clothes I could get in town, +that I went to stay at an hotel, and that, as time went on, I kept two +horses in a paddock, ordered a side-saddle, and for sixteen months after +used to boast to myself that no one among the tradesmen in Mackay had a +prettier sweetheart, was a better dancer, kept such good horses, or +earned so much money as myself! + +I reckon this time as being among my most pleasant recollections. People +did not seem to me so egotistic or the world so black as it had appeared +while I lived in the tent; on the contrary, I was often invited among +very nice people to their parties and family gatherings, and I was a +constant attendant at both Oddfellows' and Caledonian balls, and, in +short, anything that was going on. I was intending some day in the near +future to marry and settle down, and for that reason had bought an +allotment for twenty-five pounds, and I meant to build a house on it. I +had only one fault to find with the lady who honoured me with her +approbation. It was this: she was fearfully jealous and excitable, and +would at such times be in a perfect rage if I had done anything which +she thought not becoming; but as I took it as a proof of the value in +which she held me, I rather liked it, and even sometimes went so far as +to excite her suspicion on purpose just to get up a "scene." This +happened again one day when I had been sixteen months in Mackay. The +occasion was that I had, as it was Sunday, been out for a ride with +another young lady--I had things so handy, the two horses, one with +side-saddle and all, and the temptation to a little extra flirtation was +always great--but when that evening, in a most dutiful mood, I went to +see my "only love," she, I remember, was very angry indeed with me. She +was sitting sewing in her room, and I was sitting also at the table in a +careless position, with my head on my hand and my elbow on the table, +smiling at her and enjoying matters very much, although, as I have +written above, she was very angry, and even crying. She rated me +terribly, too, for my wickedness, and I was defending myself mildly. +"Dear," I said, "I only took her out to-day as a mark of the respect in +which I hold her." + +"I'll mark you!" she cried, and she struck me in the mouth with terrible +violence. The blow not only knocked me off the chair, but sent one of my +front teeth spinning round the room, and to this day I am marked by the +absence of that tooth. I got up; she stood gasping with excitement, +looking at me. I cannot give the reader any idea how handsome she was, +or how fond I was of her. Still, this would never do. I took the lamp +from the table and began looking for my tooth on the floor. I never +spoke, neither did she say anything. I can well remember. When I had +found the tooth I took my hat up and went away. This would never do, +thought I, I must be off somewhere by the next steamer, never to return; +because I knew very well that if I stayed in Mackay I should just go and +make love to her again. I therefore decided I would be off, never mind +where I went; and in that mood I arrived at my hotel. On the verandah +stood one of the boarders who was the captain of a labour schooner. For +the information of my readers who may not know what that means I will +state that the plantations round Mackay and elsewhere in Queensland +employ a great many South Sea Islanders, and that these men are brought +to Queensland under a certain system. It is this way: a number of +planters unite in sending a ship out among the South Sea Islands to +engage all the Kanakas the ship can hold, and who are willing to come. +The ship so engaged is under Government orders, and the Government sends +an agent with the ship, whose duty is to watch that no coercion is +employed in order to get "the boys" to engage, and that they understand +their agreements with the planter. These agreements are all uniform. The +Kanakas engage for three years' service, for which the planter gives +them their food and six pounds per year; he also defrays the cost of +bringing them to Queensland, and when their time is out he sends them at +his own cost back to the island whence they came. As I now came up on +the verandah the captain spoke to me and invited me in to have a drink +with him. He had been staying in the hotel for about a month and I knew +him very well, so we went into the bar and began to talk about his +affairs. He intended to start for the South Seas the following night, if +all went well; the only thing that upset him just then was that his cook +had deserted the ship and was not to be found. He did not care except +for this reason--that he could not afford to keep the ship waiting, and +on the other hand he did not know where to get another, as he could not +do without a good cook. "Faith, then," said I, "I am a good cook, as +cooks go in this part of the world, and, what is more to the purpose, +not only do I intend to leave Mackay to-morrow if I can, but I have a +great longing to see the South Sea Islands, and therefore I am your man, +if you like." + +He could not see that at all for a long time, and thought I was having a +lark with him, but when at last I said there was a lady at the bottom of +it, he winked and thought he knew all about it. So at break of day the +next morning we went on board the schooner, and I started in the cook's +galley making breakfast for all hands. I peeled potatoes and flogged the +steak as if I had never done anything else in my life, because the +captain would not engage me before I had shown my capabilities; but +after my trial he was quite satisfied and engaged me for the trip at +eight pounds per month, and then I stipulated before signing articles +that I should have leave of absence until break of day next morning, as +it was necessary for me to put my affairs in order before I left Mackay. +After having given my word of honour to return, I went ashore again. +There was enough for me to see to. My "boss" did not owe me anything, as +I had received my last cheque on the previous Saturday; but there were +my tools to dispose of. These went for a trifle among the other men: one +took one piece, one another, and the "boss" gave me his cheque for the +lot. Then there were the horses and saddles; these also were got rid of +before dinner-time, and when evening came I had sold my allotment which +I had bought for twenty-five pounds, for one hundred and fifty pounds, +and had all the money lodged in the bank. I had not, therefore, done so +badly in Mackay the eighteen or nineteen months I had been there. Not +only, on an average, had I enjoyed myself pretty well, but the sum total +which I now had to my credit was as near two hundred and fifty pounds as +possible. After tea I had nothing to do but reflect on the wisdom or +otherwise of the step I had taken. I walked about the streets for a long +time, and as I knew very well that my sweetheart expected me as usual I +found myself circling round the house in which she lived. She did not, +of course, know that I was going away, and as she usually expected me +about seven o'clock of an evening, my feet seemed perforce to carry me +towards the house. I did not go in; at eight o'clock I saw her sitting +by the window, at nine o'clock she was there still, at ten o'clock I saw +her sitting by the window as I came past the place, at eleven o'clock +she was standing outside, and I was right up to her before I saw her. +The reader must not expect too much confidence from me; I cannot repeat +what she said, and will only say this--that I have never seen her since, +and that with a heavy heart I went on board the schooner next morning, +when we hoisted anchor and left for the South Sea Islands. + +Dear reader, if I were to tell you all that happened to me on this +journey in the same detailed way as I have told you about my travels +through Queensland, it would take me too far away and also occupy too +much space, so I have thought it better to leave it all out and take up +the thread of my history at the point when I again arrived in Port +Mackay about nine months after. Should this effort of mine meet with the +approbation of the public, I shall be very glad to write another book +about my adventures in the South Seas, but at present I will content +myself by saying that although many things I saw upon this journey were +new and startling to me, yet on the whole we had a good journey, and +that I was paid off in Mackay when we came back, and at once took a +passage in a steamer for Brisbane. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +BRISBANE--TRAVELS IN THE "NEVER NEVER" LAND. + + +I went on board the _Black Swan_ on taking leave of the captain and my +other friends on the schooner, and after an uneventful passage arrived +in Brisbane. Times had altered greatly in Queensland, for the worse I +thought, since I was there last. The rich people had grown richer, and +the poor poorer. It is sad at the present day to walk about the town and +look at all the semi-destitute people whom one sees on every side, and +then think of the "booms" which used to be a few years ago. My objects +in coming to Brisbane were many. I had now, as I thought, sufficient +capital to establish myself in a small way at my trade, and I intended +to look out for a suitable place near town where I might begin. I was +also on the look-out for a wife; but that was only in a general sense, +and when all is said, I believe that what I considered most important +was to enjoy myself. In any case, with over three hundred pounds in the +bank I felt pretty independent and considered myself entitled to spend +all I could earn so long as I could keep this nest-egg safe. The town +was busy, work was plentiful, but although I went about every night and +spent all I earned, yet I by no means liked Brisbane. I do not propose +to criticise the inhabitants thereof in a general way, but so far as it +concerns my narrative at this point I must say a few words. I was very +unsuccessful in finding any girl whom I thought might suit me for a +wife, and who, at the same time, herself approved of me for a husband. +The reason, as I understood it, was this: Brisbane was, and is, crammed +full of young women who are glad to stand in a shop from morning to +night for half-a-crown a week and find themselves. Whether such girls +can or cannot make a cup of tea I do not know, but my general impression +of them was that they would rather not, if they could avoid it. Then as +for servant-girls, it is a common delusion to believe that they are well +off in Brisbane; the fact is that the majority of people who keep a +servant both overwork her and use her as a coat-of-arms wherewith to set +themselves off, and one never by any chance reads a book either in +Australia or elsewhere in which a servant is spoken of as possessed of +even common sense. Of course, the better class of girls will revolt at +contemptuous treatment, and they are, therefore, scarce in Brisbane, and +have always been. In the bush of course it is different: there the +servant is not spoken of as the "slavey" and thought of as a fool, and +as a consequence they are neither the one nor the other. But a tradesman +in Brisbane has no opportunity whatever of meeting any young woman +outside these circles, because the greatest possible social distinction +exists between such people as, say a bank clerk, or even a grocer's +clerk, and a tradesman or a labourer; so is it between a music-teacher, +shop-girl, dressmaker, or a servant. I found it so, and that had a great +deal to do with my dislike to Brisbane; but, apart from that, I had been +so used to the free life of the bush, and more lately then to the +changing scenes among the South Sea Islands, that I could not endure for +long the everyday life of the shop and the boarding-house, and the +boarding-house and the shop. I therefore engaged myself as carpenter to +a squatter who had a large station on the Darling Downs, and right glad +was I when I shook the dust of Brisbane off my feet again. But before +leaving this city I should like to speak about the last piece of work I +did there, because it is in such striking contrast to the state of the +carpenter's trade at the present time. One Saturday morning when I came +to work, my employer asked me to put a few tools in my basket and go out +to his private house to perform certain work there. As I crossed Queen +Street a man came running after me and asked me if I wanted a job of +carpenter's work. I said "No." When I came a little further up, along +George Street, a publican came running out of his door, smiling all over +his face, saying I was the very man he wanted, as he could see by the +basket I carried that I was a carpenter. I told him I was not open to +engagement; but he would not take "no" for an answer. After a long +conversation in the street, in which he implored me to do just this +little job for him that he wanted, while I explained that I was on my +road to work for which I already was engaged. I was on the point of +cutting it short by going away, when he asked me in any case to come +into his hotel and have a glass of beer. When I came in he renewed the +attack in this way--he asked me just to oblige him by looking at the +work and telling him what it was worth. He then showed me a large +shutter which stood under a rough window opening in the yard, and told +me that all he wanted was for a man to fit this shutter to the opening +and put hinges on it; he had the hinges. Now, what was it worth? I saw +that he intended me to do it if he could get me, but I by no means +wanted to. I said it was worth thirty shillings at the least: "All +right," cried he, "do it, and I will give you thirty shillings." + +I was caught now, so I gave in. I took my saw out and fitted the +shutter, screwed the hinges, and took my thirty shillings, all in less +than an hour. This is eleven or twelve years ago. I have not worked in +Brisbane since, but I know a friend of mine who two years ago put a +shilling advertisement in the papers for a carpenter to do a few days' +work, and in less than half an hour after the paper was out he had +thirty-two applicants! I was now working on one of the largest stations +on the Darling Downs. I had only come there in a roving sort of way, +under a six months' agreement which was made in Brisbane, and I had no +intention whatever of staying longer, but although the wages were less +than what I could earn in Brisbane, or in any other town, I thought I +should like to see a large sheep station, and I was told by the agent in +town that I should be sure to like it. The property itself covered I do +not know how many square miles, divided into paddocks, and in each or +most of these paddocks stood a house in which the boundary rider and his +family lived. The duty of this man is not fatiguing; he has to look out +that the fences are in good repair and report to the head station when +anything is out of order. Therefore his day's work is generally done +when after breakfast he has been jogging round the boundary fence. For +this work the wages are about thirty-five pounds sterling a year with +double rations, a free house, use of cow, &c. These boundary riders are +by no means the only employees on the station. There were general +labourers, carriers, blacksmiths, wheelwrights, storekeepers, +carpenters, and a host of people who came and went without my knowing +they did so, but the whole formed quite a little township at the head +station. Once a year, when the wool was clipped off the two hundred +thousand sheep there, it was an extra busy time. Then the shearers would +arrive, sixty in number, and with all their assistants they would make +nearly a hundred persons. Besides these there were the washers, who +washed the sheep by elaborate machinery. There would be so many people +that I do not know how the "boss" knew them all. Every one of them +earned good money, although in various degrees. The shearers earned +three shillings and sixpence for every score of sheep they could shear. +An average day's work is from fifty to a hundred sheep. Then the +wool-packers, who pressed the wool into bales, had also piecework, and +this was a favourite job reserved as a reward for old hands. They earned +at it a pound or more a day. This was of course for a short time only +out of the year, but when one station is done shearing another generally +begins, and the men can, therefore, keep on for at least six months at a +stretch with very little lost time. The tradesmen on the station seemed +all part and parcel of the station, old identities, who had made their +homes there years before and did not intend to shift. I heard it +whispered that the squatter meant to try and break through the monopoly +that some of the old hands had created, and that some new blood might be +infused, and I believe that I had been engaged to hang as the sword of +Damocles over the other carpenters' heads, but I refused the _role_. The +head carpenter was an old, worn-out man with a large family. He had been +there seventeen years. He had one hundred pounds a year and double +rations, with a free house, wood, water, and many little perquisites. I +daresay he had saved a little money, but any one may easily understand +that a man over fifty years of age, with a large family and a settled +home where he has been for seventeen years, does not like the prospect +of change and to have to make a new start in life. Such a billet as that +of tradesman on a station is much sought after, and in many respects is +incomparably better than the position occupied in town by a married man +who works for wages. But neither the one nor the other suited my +ambition. If I had been doomed to choose between the two, I think I +should, after all, have taken the lot of the man in town, for he is more +independent if he is poorer. It is all very well to work for a master +when one is young, but as one gets on for thirty years of age he likes +to be his own master. At least that was my opinion. There seemed to me +something so forbidding in the ringing of the large bell on the station. +It would ring at a quarter to six on a morning for all hands to get out +of bed and dress. Then it rang at six o'clock for starting work. It rang +for dinner, and it rang when we were to start again. It was all correct +enough; I have no fault to find with it, I cannot suggest anything +better, but all the same I did not like it. + +My work on the station was otherwise both pleasant and independent +enough. A great deal of it consisted in making and hanging gates for the +various paddocks. These would be made at home in the shop and afterwards +carted out to their places. Then I would get a labourer with me and we +would drive off in a spring-cart from one gate to the other, and hang +them. It was a regular journey across the paddocks, and involved about a +fortnight's trip every time. + +The man who earned the most money of all the employees on the station +was the shearers' cook. The shearers had a large house to themselves and +managed their own housekeeping, inasmuch as they engaged and paid their +own cook and bought and paid for anything they liked to eat, so that +they should not grumble over the provisions. But that object has never +yet been attained with shearers, either with the lot on this station or +any other set of shearers I have ever seen. They are the most frightful +grumblers, and who is so fit an object for their displeasure as their +servant--their own servant, the cook? One thing, they pay him well. The +wages of a shearers' cook is the shearing price of a score of sheep per +week, or three-and-sixpence a week for every shearer. You will therefore +see that in a large shearing shed like this, with sixty shearers, the +cook earned ten guineas per week besides his food. But for this money he +had to do more than an ordinary man can do, and take more insults than +an ordinary dog would tolerate. First of all, the shearers always insist +on having their table spread with good things, puddings and cake every +day. He had also to bake bread, chop wood, fetch water, keep the hut +clean, and in short everything else that was wanted. Nobody but the +very smartest men can do it. But his work is not everything. When the +bell rings for meal-time, I have seen shearers come out of the shed, +making for the hut, howling at the same time: "I wonder if that ---- of +a cook has got that ---- breakfast ready!" Everything has to stand ready +for them to "rush;" and even if it does, yet one seldom hears other +conversation than such as: "I say, cook, do you call them ---- peas +boiled? D---- you! If I had my way you should be kicked out!" + +But as the majority only can dismiss their cook, he is not sent away +notwithstanding, and it is quite understood that it is part of his duty +to assume a respectful demeanour towards his employers. Yet, unless a +cook is a good fighting man, it is not a billet that I would recommend +any friend of mine to come all the way from Denmark to fill. + +When I had been on the station for six months I took a trip in the train +to the surrounding towns of Dalby, Toowoomba, Warwick, and Stanthorpe, +with a view to seeing if there was an opening for permanent business in +my line. It did not seem to me that the prospect was good enough for +more than a bare living, because bad times seemed suddenly to have set +in, and competition for work and contracts requiring small capital was +very keen. I therefore went back to the station again and bought two +horses, intending to go out west. I had my three hundred pounds safe in +a Brisbane bank, and I did not mean now to work for any employer, but +to keep my eyes open as I came along and to take any opportunities for +contracts that might come in my way and for which I could obtain a +reasonable price. + +I started from Roma, which is a town lying about 350 miles west of +Brisbane and 200 miles from the station on which I then was located. It +was fearfully dry weather when I started and there was not a blade of +grass anywhere for the horses. I made long stages of thirty to forty +miles a day, but how the horses endured it I do not know. When I camped +out at night I would have to tie the horses to a tree alongside of me, +as there was nothing for them in the bush to eat, and they would have +rambled away never to be found again if I had let them go. All the food +it was possible for me to provide for them was a little bread which I +bought at the inns on the road at intervals of seventy or eighty miles, +and in the mornings when I got up I would take a pillow-case I had and a +knife and walk about in places where the ground was inaccessible to +horses, such as the brinks of a gully or between large stones; there I +would manage to find some dry, withered stuff, wherewith I filled the +pillow-case and shared it between them. It was all I could do, and when +I arrived in Roma they were both very far gone for hunger, and there, in +town even, there was nothing for them either--the last bushel of corn +had been sold for two pounds sterling. I fed them on bread, but even +that seemed like a forbidden thing. People appeared to regard the +proceeding with evil eyes. Flour was scarce and getting more scarce. +There was no prospect of rain, and soon all would have to starve! In St. +George, which is another town 150 miles south of Roma, I was told a +perfect famine was raging. For fear of being misunderstood by people who +do not know much about Queensland, I would say that want of money had +nothing to do with this state of things, it was only the want of rain +which prevented teams from travelling and supplies from coming forward. + +I left Roma again. There was nothing to do there, scarcely a prospect of +getting enough to eat. I rambled away with my two horses out west, and I +am now anxious, for obvious reasons, not to particularize too closely +where I went. + +It had now become of more importance to me to save the lives of my +horses than to find anything to do for myself. I travelled for a month +or more at slow stages, and was now right away in the "Never Never" +country. Occasionally I would find a little for the horses to eat, but +very often it was scanty fare they had. I arrived at a station where +shearing was in full swing, and as both grass and water seemed more +plentiful there than I had seen it for hundreds of miles, I turned the +horses out for a month's spell, while I made myself comfortable in my +tent and occupied myself by reading such literature as I could borrow +from the shearers on the station. + +Among the shearers was a man with whom I grew to be on very friendly +terms. He was a big, strong, good-looking young fellow, about thirty +years of age, and seemed to me at all times so polite and well-informed +that I was always seeking his company. What interested me most in him +was a peculiarly sad expression in his face, and I often wondered at the +cause of it. When the shearing was over all the shearers went in a body +to the nearest hotel, as is customary, to have a jollification. It +happened to be located the way I had come, so, though they did not +actually pass me, I saw them ride away, and thought it rather shabby of +my acquaintance not to come and say good-bye to me. I was mistaken, +however, as I shortly afterwards saw him coming up to the tent on a +really good horse and leading another. + +"Well," said I, "are you off? I thought you had left with the others; +how is it you did not?" + +"No," said he, "I know my weakness. If I had gone with them I should +probably have got on the spree and drunk all I possess. But I am now +already pretty well-to-do, because I have a cheque for over thirty +pounds and these two horses besides. All I want is just another shed, +and then I will make tracks for Ipswich where my people live." + +"But," said I, "there is a public-house this way too." + +"Ah, yes," cried he, and winked, "but they do not catch me this time. I +have worked for the publicans for seven years, but I will never enter +such a place again." + +With that we parted, and two or three days after I got my horses up and +followed along the same road that he had taken. About noon I came to the +hotel. I did not intend to go in because the money I had with me was +getting scarce and I did not wish to draw on what I had in the bank. I +carried, too, all sorts of necessaries on my horses and wanted for +nothing. But when the publican saw me passing the door, he came running +out. + +"Good-morning, young fellow; good-morning. By Jove, that is a splendid +horse you have there. Are you travelling far? Surely you don't mean to +take your horses along in this weather. Why it is too hot for a white +man, too hot entirely. Come in and have a bit of dinner; it is all +ready. I won't charge you; I never charged a b---- man for a feed yet. I +do not think it right, do you?" + +Pressed in this way, I went inside; but my suspicions that was a +robbers' den in disguise were aroused, and if I had not felt sure of +myself I should probably have preferred to dash the spurs into the +horses and tear away; but although I thanked him for his hospitality and +agreed with him that it was very wrong to charge a man for food, yet I +made up my mind that he would have to be clever to outwit me. On the +verandah sat a forbidding-looking man on his swag, and I saw at once +that he was a poor swagsman who need have no fear of being robbed. In +the bar were three men standing drinking, but yet moderately sober. The +publican began to bustle about behind the bar. I kept one eye on him and +one on the horses. Scarcely five minutes had elapsed before a +blackfellow made his appearance outside, and began to lead my horses +away. I went outside and took them from him. + +"Are you taking my horses away?" cried I; "don't do it again." I used a +little more persuasion, but it does not look well in print. + +"Master said I take him Yarraman along-a-paddock," whined the +blackfellow. + +Now the publican came out again. + +"What is the matter?" cried he. "I told him to take and give the horses +a feed; they look as if they needed it." + +"Not at all," said I; "they have had a month's spell, and I can scarcely +hold them." + +"All right, you know best. Are you going to have a drink?" + +"Yes," I said, "I don't mind." + +"What is it going to be?" + +"Rum," said I. + +"Right you are. I almost thought you were a teetotaler." + +I watched him closely, and saw he picked out a particular glass, and +before I let him fill it I took my handkerchief up and wiped it +carefully all around the inside. I looked at him and he at me while I +did it. I also noticed that he tapped the compound from the ordinary +cask, and I was therefore not afraid to swallow it, nor did it do me any +harm. The reason I was so careful to wipe the glass was that I knew it +to be a common trick of dishonest publicans, when they see a man coming +along the road whom they wish to catch, to take a dirty pipe and blow +some of the thick, foul-smelling stuff that it contains into an empty +glass, and then have it ready for the customer. A very little dose will +make the strongest man intoxicated for the whole day, and if it is not +nicely adjusted, but just a speck too much, it will knock a man down in +a dead swoon for many hours. I had been told this on the gold diggings +by more than one person at the time I kept shanty there myself, and I +knew that there were people who travelled about the country selling to +publicans the secrets of tricking and falsifying spirits. I, therefore, +knew pretty well where to look for danger, and where I might take the +risk; but now dinner was announced, and we all went into the +dining-room. On the floor of the room I saw a man who was lying there +smeared all over with blood and filth. Still I recognized him at once as +my friend the shearer. I went up and shook him until I got a little life +into him, and he sat up and recognized me. "Hullo," bawled he, "is that +you? Ain't I a fool? Publican, give me my horses, I want to go with this +young fellow. I am going away this afternoon. Don't go away without me." + +"All right," said the publican; "I will see to get the black boy to +find your horses for you, but he says one has got out of the paddock." + +Then we had dinner--that is, I had a good meal; but the drunken shearer +could not touch food, and presented a terrible picture of sickness and +misery. By this time I was not on good terms with the publican; but I +did not care. I only studied how I could get the other poor fellow away, +and I could not as yet see any way. As soon as we came from the table he +staggered into the bar and called for drinks for all hands. The publican +then called his wife, four or five children, a seamstress, the +servant-girl, myself, the man in the yard, the black boy, the bushman I +had seen, the traveller on the verandah, who had had no dinner, and +himself, and they all had their drinks! It was a shilling a glass. Then +the shearer asked him to be kind and let him have the balance of his +cheque, which, it appeared, he had given the publican to change for him +when he came; but that good Samaritan simply told him that he would not +do such a thing, as he was too drunk to take care of money. When he went +away he should have it. The shearer, who was getting more intoxicated +again after this last glass, hung over the counter, and, in a plaintive +sort of way, cried, "I am a ---- fool! Never mind, let's have another. +Here, fill 'em up again." + +I could do no good, so I went away without paying for my dinner. I met +the shearer two years after, when he told me all about it. It appeared +that he had tried to pass the place in the same manner as I, and that +the publican had persuaded him to come in. He had not liked to take his +dinner for nothing, and had given the publican the cheque he had for +changing. He had been promised the money in half an hour, but was +shortly after intoxicated, and had never been able to get either the +horses or the money again. After having been in the state I saw him for +about three weeks, the publican presented him with a bill, from which it +appeared that he owed him for "refreshments" more than the amount of the +cheque added to the value of horses, saddles, and bridles. The publican +had, therefore, kept the horses, but had kindly given him a bottle of +grog to take with him on the road when he went away! This process is +called in bush parlance, "lambing down," and is going on every day, year +after year! + +I had not gone far from the hotel before I saw a man coming after me. He +called me to stop, which I did, and when he came closer I perceived that +it was the man who had been sitting on his swag in the verandah at the +hotel. He said he had come after me because he had neither rations nor +money, and did not know how to get along the road unless I would be good +enough to let him travel with me. He wanted to go to ---- station, and +try to get some shearing to do. It happened that I intended to turn off +the road about half a mile further on, and that according to the place +to which he said he was going we should travel in almost opposite +directions, and I told him so. I said also that if he was pushed I would +help him with a few rations, but that I had not time to accommodate the +pace of the horses to his walk, as I had already been travelling for a +much longer time than I liked. Of course he said he would be glad of +anything, and so I got off the horse and had a fire lighted, by which we +made some tea, and he had his dinner out of my provisions. After the +meal he suddenly made up his mind that he might as well go the same road +as I, and try to get a job at a station which we should pass some forty +miles from where we then stood. I did not like this much, because he +seemed to me a man whose company I should not appreciate, but, as the +loneliness of the bush always appeared to me to engender a sort of +fellowship towards whoever is there, I did not find it easy nor did I +deem it right to say I would have nothing to do with him. On the +contrary, I said that we would push on together then for the day, and +that I would walk while he put his swag on my saddle-horse. In this way +we now went several miles, and my travelling companion had very little +to say. He seemed to know the road to perfection, and about four o'clock +in the afternoon he suggested that we should camp at a certain spot at +which we had arrived, but about a hundred yards off the road. I +objected. I said he was free himself to camp or not as he chose, but if +he wanted to travel with me he would have to walk a good deal further, +as I had by no means come as far yet as I considered a day's journey +required. After that we started again, but my new friend seemed +frightfully morose, and had not a word to say. As the horse he held was +a better leader than mine he gradually forged ahead of me, and try as I +would I could not keep up with him. I was just wishing myself well rid +of him when I saw him suddenly turn off the road, leading the horse +after him, and although I called again and again, he neither turned +round nor answered me until he came to a deep water-hole about a mile +off the road. Here he took the load off the horse, and hobbled it out. I +was not only angry, but I was also to a certain extent afraid. I had +already agreed with myself that I could not lie down to sleep alongside +of him; but what, of all things, did he mean by leading me to this +place? As soon as I came up I asked him what he meant, and how he dared +to take my horse off the road. I had taken the bridle belonging to the +saddle-horse to go and catch it again, for I intended now at all hazards +to get rid of him. At this juncture he came towards me. + +"Here is grass, and here is water," cried he, "and out of this spot +shall neither I nor any ---- German or ---- Dutchman come to-night. Let +go that bridle!" + +Then he grasped the bridle. You know the old proverb that "There is a +time when patience ceases to be a virtue," and in my opinion that time +had now arrived. I had not been so long in Queensland without learning +to defend myself, so I closed with him. What a fearful struggle we had! +As far as I was concerned, I felt as if it was a struggle for life, and +I fought accordingly. Now we were up, now down. Sometimes I was on the +top of him and sometimes I was under, but whatever happened I must not +give in, because I felt sure I should receive small mercy if I did. At +last I had him. My hands were round his throat, and my knees on his +chest, while I felt his hands slide powerless off me. It was not victory +yet. If I let him go he might renew the attack, so I pressed his throat +until he was nearly black in the face, and I sat on him as heavily as I +could, because I was angry, and when at last I let him go, it was not +before I thought I had taken all his fighting humour out of him. While I +loaded my horse again I called him all the names I thought it probable +would insult him most, in case he might have any honour and shame in +him, and at last I threw his swag at his head and cried, "There, you old +loafer!" + +Then I got on the horse and rode away; nor did I stop that night before +I had put fully twenty miles between him and me. + +I was now following down the ---- River, towards the town of ----, which +I was anxious to reach as soon as possible. The weather had so far +continued fearfully dry, and the heat was every day intense, but when I +was within ninety miles of the township it began to rain. It rained as +if it intended to make up for a two years' drought. The river I followed +was nothing but a dry sand-bed when the rain began, but in three or four +days it became a roaring torrent. I saw that we were in for a +first-class flood and became anxious, as the country on which I was +camped seemed to me very flat. Just as I had made up my mind that such +was the case I met a party of stockmen, or, more correctly, they came to +my tent. They had been out helping to shift some shepherds and their +sheep to rising ground, and they assured me that the place I was in +would be flooded. As they directed me to what they thought a safe spot, +I shifted my tent at once to that place. It was a low, narrow ridge +about a mile from the river. Here I prepared myself to weather it out. +Next morning when I got up, I saw the river much nearer than the evening +before. During the day it rose on all sides, and before evening again I +was a complete prisoner on about ten acres of land, while the water +roared and hissed on all sides of me as far as the eye could reach. This +state of affairs lasted about three weeks. Anything more appallingly +lonely than to sit there in the tent, and look out on the awe-inspiring +sight of the flood with its swiftly running, destructive water cannot be +conceived. As I had but little room for exercise in my prison I could +not sleep at night, and so I would sit and sing or play on the flute, +and think of all sorts of things. The waters did not go down at the +same time as the rain ceased, and I had it all to myself some beautiful +moonlight nights. I had heard the stockmen speak about an old shepherd +who, with his sheep, was camped on a sort of island, which was formed by +the river opposite the place I was in, and about a mile and a half +distant. He was, therefore, my nearest neighbour. I could hear him at +night sometimes felling trees for exercise, and occasionally he would +answer me when I cooeed. Little did it matter to him whether the flood +was on or not. At ordinary times he would probably never see any one for +weeks or months, as no one could have any business there excepting the +ration-carrier once a week, and the shepherd, as a rule, did not see +him, as he was away with his sheep when the carrier arrived in his hut. +I used to speculate as to who he was--an old man, with wife and family +dead, perhaps. What a sad existence! Or, worse still, an old bachelor, +crusty and tired. Surely he would have some one he longed to see, and +who longed for him! How many years, thought I, had he been there, or in +places like that? What did he do with his money when he got it once a +year? Would he go with it to the nearest hotel, and as he saw other men +wonder why they were not as glad to see him as he to see them? Would he +purchase their good-will with grog? What else could he do, or was he +likely to do? Anyhow, when it was all spent, and he would get angry when +people would have no more to do with him, would he be kicked out? Would +he then come back here for another year? What else could he do? I have, +among shepherds, seen many men who must have been what is called well +educated. They count in their ranks both lawyers and parsons, but +disappointed and embittered silence is generally the stamp of them all. +Sometimes the reverse is the case; then they will talk as if they could +never stop. I like solitude myself to a certain extent, but it must +surely be an unnatural life for any man to lead quite alone in the bush. + +When at last the floods subsided I had the greatest trouble in making my +way, because there would be the most treacherous boggy holes where one +least expected them. I had also fared hard on very short rations, so as +to make what I had last until I could purchase more, and when I started +away from my camping-place I had only one more loaf of bread; all the +rest was gone. I was, therefore, very sorry to hear at the nearest +station that they would sell me nothing whatever, and when I came to the +next one again it was just as bad. I travelled for some days in this +way, and had had scarcely what would make half a meal for each day, when +at last I arrived at a place only twenty-four miles from town where I +should have to cross the river--if I could--so as to get on the main +road leading into the settlement. It was about ten o'clock in the +morning when I neared this place. It was only a small cattle station, +but I thought that whatever happened I must try to get some rations +here. I came along at a pretty brisk gallop, but when I was about twenty +chains from the houses which formed the place my horses shied violently +at a man who was lying in the middle of the road. I was, on the spur of +the moment, put out of temper, and began to rate the fellow for choosing +his camping-place there. + +"Oh, let me lie!" he cried. "Accursed be the day I came to Queensland! I +have laid myself down to die here. Shall I not be allowed to lie? Leave +me alone. O God, O God!" + +I looked closer at him. It seemed that he was in earnest, and the wonder +was that he was not dead already, as he was lying there in the terrible +sun without the least attempt to get into the shade. He was a short, +slightly built man and had a terribly emaciated, woe-begone face. It +took a long time and much persuasion before I could get him to tell me +what was the matter. Then he said he was dying from hunger. "Pshaw," I +said, "right here in front of the station! I am hungry too, but in half +an hour I shall be back to you with something to eat." + +He laughed bitterly. "Have you got it with you?" said he. "No; but I +have money, and I will buy some up here." "You might save yourself the +trouble to ask for it," said he; "you will get nothing." "Why," cried I, +"I will tell them that a man is dying with hunger outside the door." +"They know it. The squatter hunted me yesterday when I told him that I +could not cross the river or get further without food. Oh, accursed +Queensland, and the day I saw it first! Let me lie; I only want to die." + +I could not understand it, and I came to the conclusion that it must be +the man's own fault, and that the people on the station had no idea +about the despairing state he was in. I looked at the river. It was +swollen yet, and not fordable on foot, but I had no fear but that I +could get over with the horses, and I was, therefore, in a position to +promise him that he should be with me in town that same evening. On +hearing that he brightened up a little, but I was myself so hungry that +I thought I would go up to the station and get some food for both of us. +I therefore hobbled out the pack-horse after the swag was off him, and +rode up to the place, promising my despairing friend to be back to him +with all possible speed. When I came into the yard my horse made a dead +stop outside an old stable. I got off, and looking into the stable saw +another man lying on his face in one of the stalls. "Halloa," thought I, +"it appears that all the people here are off their legs!" and I sang out +to him, asking him whether he was dying of hunger too. "No; but I am +blind," said he. "Who is that?" I told him I was a traveller, and that I +just wanted to buy a few rations. "It is not you who were here +yesterday?" inquired he. "No," said I, "that poor fellow is lying out in +the road, and says he is dying for hunger. Surely it has not come to +that!" "I was awfully sorry for that man yesterday," cried he, "and +only that I cannot see at all, for I got the sand-blight a fortnight +ago, I should have given him something." Then, as with a sudden +inspiration, he said, "Are you his mate?" No, I was not his mate, I was +only sorry for him and very hungry myself. "Will you swear you will give +him the half of what I will give you?" Yes, I would swear. "All right! +Then look in that other stall there under the bags and you will find a +piece of bread, but remember he is to have the half." "Yes, yes," cried +I, while I looked under the bags and found about half a pound of stale +bread. "But are you really so very hard up here? Surely you must have +plenty of beef." "So we have," said he, "but I have been blind for two +weeks and cannot kill a beast if we run out, and the super himself is a +bad hand. We are nearly out of flour and everything else, and there is a +party of fencers cut off by the flood that we expect in now every day. +We must keep something for them; still, that super is a skunk, or he +would have given the man a piece of beef, but he won't give anything or +sell either, so there is an end to it. You might save yourself the +trouble of asking him. Are you gone?" "No," said I, "I am here yet. I am +only looking at an old grey-bearded man who is coming out of the house +and putting a saddle on a horse." "That is he." "Is he the only one at +the place besides yourself?" "Yes, unless you reckon the old woman in +the kitchen." "Could I not get round her after he is away?" "Not you; +you will get nothing out of either of them." + +I then went up to the squatter and saluted him. Would he kindly sell a +few rations? "No, I will do nothing of the sort," cried he. "You do not +know how short we are here. I have got no rations." "But," said I, "you +surely do not know that there is a man lying out there on the road who +says that he is dying of hunger. Just sell me a piece of beef." "Dying +of hunger. Ha! ha! ha! that is too good. Why, he is a regular loafer. He +was here for rations a fortnight ago, and he was here yesterday. Let him +go into town. I cannot keep him." + +"That is all very well," said I, "and I cannot pretend to say what the +man is. But how can you get to town, when you cannot cross the river? He +told me he has been lying about in all this rain and flood, and the +wonder to me is that he is not dead already." "Is that your horse?" +inquired he, pointing to where I left it standing. "Yes." "Well, then, +just take my advice and get into town yourself." "And won't you sell me +a piece of meat?" "No." "Not if a man were dying of hunger?" "Don't talk +to me about dying of hunger. It is too rich, it is indeed! +Good-morning." With that he rode away, and left me standing there +meditating upon what he had said and at free liberty to decide in my own +mind whether, after all, I had any right to expect people in a place +like that to provide the necessaries of life for travellers. + +But one cannot argue with the stomach, and, ravenously hungry as I was, +my sympathy was with myself and with the man whom I left out on the +road, and I therefore thought I would make one more attack, this time on +the old woman in the kitchen, who, during my conversation with the +super, had twice come round the corner to empty slops, and who, I +suppose, as a mark of the respect in which she held me, had thrown them +so close to me that it had sprinkled me all over. She did not look very +hospitable, but I had at that time great faith in my power to charm the +fair sex, or, as Englishmen less gallantly call them, the weaker sex. I, +therefore, wreathed my face in smiles and put myself into the most +graceful position I could assume, while I knocked at the kitchen door. +No one answered my knock, so I went inside, still retaining my charming +appearance. On the other side of the kitchen stood a row of saucepans +with something cooking in them, which emitted an odour that did not go +far to prove the theory of want raging in the place. Here is my luck +again, thought I, I will get a good meal at last. The old lady now came +running in from one of the rooms--a most forbidding object to make love +to! "You can't get no rations here," cried she. "Clear out of the +kitchen!" Then she took up a piece of firewood and struck at me with it. +How could any one expect me to look happy under the circumstances? I +knew I was getting to look ugly. Then I pulled out my large knife and +rolled my eyes in my head. That seemed to please her. She now only +mildly protested, while I took the lid off one of the saucepans and +lifted out five or six pounds of meat, with which I made my escape. When +I came out with this to the traveller on the road his joy was a pleasure +to look at. He could not understand how I had got it. So weak was he +that he cried like a baby. + +The tea, of which I had yet a supply, was made, and then the feast +began. I counselled him not to eat too much, but between the two of us +there was scarcely anything left when we were both satisfied. Then he +began to tell me his story, of which I can only give the general +outlines as I have forgotten the details; but a more terrible tale of +misery I had never heard, and any one who will fill in the picture for +himself might easily understand that he must have suffered almost enough +to justify him in lying down to die at last, when all hope seemed gone. + +He said that travelling along he had been overtaken by the flood, and +had camped by himself in a similar place to the one where I had been a +prisoner, only with this difference--that he had had no tent. He had +managed to keep a log on fire all the time, and had hung his blanket +over a pole to form a fly, but of course he had been as wet all the time +as if he had been hauled out of the sea. By the time the water went down +he had eaten every scrap of provision he had, but had nevertheless +reached this station about a fortnight since. Here, as already stated, +they would neither sell nor give him anything. He could not cross the +river to get into town, so, in a terrible condition from hunger, he had +turned back in another direction, some twenty miles or more to where +there was another small station. The country was all flooded on his way, +and for five miles in one stretch he had waded through water to his +shoulders, only being able to know the direction in which he wanted to +go by following along a fence, the top of the posts of which were out of +water. I forget how long it took him to reach this place, but when he +did arrive there it was only to be told that he could get nothing. Being +apparently the sort of man who would bend his neck to any stroke of +misfortune, he had meekly turned away, he did not know himself whither, +when by good luck as the issue proved, he had fainted when close to the +house. A man had then come out and given him something to eat, besides a +little to take with him, and had told him that twenty-five miles in +another direction was a place where he could procure supplies. He had +gone thither, but as the people there had proved but one degree more +merciful than their neighbours, they had only kept him alive a couple of +days, and then started him back here to where I found him. All his money +was seven shillings. The squatter here, as already stated, would neither +sell nor give him anything, and as he saw he could not cross the river +for several days on foot, not being able to swim, he had laid himself +down to die when I arrived on the scene. While he told me all this, he +was gradually getting very sick. The sweat hung in large drops on his +pale face, and he threw himself about writhing in agony. I need scarcely +say, perhaps, that he had eaten with less moderation than he ought. I +bustled about him, trying or wishing to do him good, but I did not know +how. I was also very anxious for us both to be off, because I heard the +squatter fire a gun in the yard, and I concluded that he had come back +and that the old woman had told him what had happened perhaps, or most +likely drawn on her imagination at the same time. As the bishop said +when he saw a criminal on the road to the scaffold: "But for the grace +of God, there go I." The reader of this truthful narrative may decide +for himself who deserved hanging most--the squatter or I; but whatever +the opinion may be, I had undoubtedly committed robbery under arms, and, +in my opinion, the man who would see another die outside his door if he +had it in his power to save him, might also add such small particulars +to the tale as would make his case strong and interesting--especially as +there was a lady in the case. I had doubtless committed a crime which, +according both to the spirit and the letter of Queensland law as among +the greatest for which a criminal is punished. Just imagine how the case +might have appeared in court. There the old grey-bearded super, the +worthy pioneer, and the interesting, inoffensive old lady, who in a +fainting condition, would tell her horrible tales; here a fat, bouncing +Crown Prosecutor; and lastly the two loafers in the dock, whom nobody +knew or would have believed. As after events proved, the super was +either too much of a gentleman or too much of a coward, as he neither +came out and remonstrated with me nor prosecuted me afterwards. + +Six weeks after this event happened I was an employer of over a dozen +men, and as time went on I was looked upon as a rising man in that town +toward which I was now going, and no one thought themselves too good to +know me. Among my acquaintances was this same super. He did not at all +recollect me from this adventure; but one day I reminded him, and told +him what I thought about him. + +Begging the reader's pardon for this digression, I will return to where +we still sat in the road. While I, for the above-named reasons, perhaps +not clearly defined in my mind, was anxious to be off, and my travelling +companion was writhing with pain before me, an accident happened which I +at the time thought one of the greatest possible misfortunes. My best +horse--my saddle-horse--got drowned in the river. It came about in this +way: ever since the flood the air had been thick with countless millions +of sand-flies; it was so bad that one could scarcely exist unless when +sitting with the head over a fire enveloped in smoke. The horses +suffered fearfully from their attacks, and just then they both became as +it were quite maddened, and galloped straight for the river. I managed +to catch the one, but the other, as if it premeditated suicide, jumped +right in, and being hobbled could not well drown just then, but was +swept down the current and away. Next morning we had eaten all our +provisions and were as hungry as ever. The river, however, was falling +fast. I got on the one horse and tried the river in several places, but +nowhere was it so low that the horse could walk across. I could get +across myself on the horse, but it reared and bucked when the other man +tried to climb on it too; as he could not ride he began his lamentations +again, imploring me not to leave him behind. I had no idea of doing +that, but it cost me not a little trouble to think out what was best to +do. Unfortunately neither of us could swim, and as he was of very short +stature, the river would have to fall until he could walk over almost +dry-footed before he would dare to attempt it. I was a head taller than +he, and as the day went on I kept walking in the river and trying it +with a long pole to find the shallowest place. The current was very +strong, but the water was falling fast, and tired out by my companion's +lamentations and the whole misery of the situation, I told him that we +would a couple of hours before sundown try to cross the river or die. It +was a dangerous undertaking, because not only was the water still very +deep, and I had only a general idea of it being fordable, but the +current was so strong that I did not know whether I should be able to +keep on my feet when I came to the deepest part. First of all I wrote a +few words in pencil to the manager of the bank in which I had my money, +telling him what to do with my account in case I should not claim it. +After having put it into an envelope, because I always carried these +things, I gave it to my fellow-traveller, and without letting him know +what it contained, exacted from him a promise that he should post it in +case I got drowned. It was the least he could do certainly, because as a +reward I said he might have all the rest of my belongings, always +supposing, of course, that I should have no further use for them. Then I +helped him on to the horse, and told him just to sit still until he saw +me safe on the other side, and that the horse would come to me when I +called it as long as he did not pull it about. Having done all this, I +took off all my clothes and strapped them on to the pack-saddle, and +lifted the whole burden on to my head so as to give me extra weight. I +also got a pole about fifteen feet in length to stand against, and then +I faced the river. The river was not very broad--I should say about +three chains. From the side where I was it gradually sloped towards its +deepest part which was near the other side, and there was at least one +chain in width where I did not exactly know the depth more than that +the horse so far had had to swim across earlier in the day when I had +tried it. The river was still falling every hour, and I was determined +for both of us to get across then. I waded into the water, and it all +went well until I came to the middle. Somehow I thought I must have got +to shallower ground than where I had tried it before. The water rushed +round my sides, and every time I had to lift the pole and put it forward +it took me all my strength to do it. The last step forward had brought +me into still deeper water, and my strength seemed exhausted--perhaps it +would be more correct to say that to hold the pole in position and keep +myself on my feet demanded as much force as I ever had. I seemed to +stand dancing on the top of the big toe while I could feel with the +other foot that it was still deeper in front of me. I pressed on the +pole to keep me down, but I felt that I had neither strength nor pluck +enough to shift it either forwards or backwards, nor even to keep +standing where I was very long. Yet how tantalizing; in front of me, +just another step, and I might grasp the boughs of a large tree hanging +out over the water. And must I die there? + +As in a panorama my whole life seemed to pass before me in review: At +home--my schoolmates, I saw them all--then Hamburg--the emigrant +ship--Thorkill--the gold-diggings--the South Seas--Brisbane--all along +this miserable journey and back where I stood. I turned my head and +looked behind me to where the Englishman sat on my horse. He laughed +loud an unpleasant ha! ha! ha! ha! It was his way to cheer me on, but it +jarred on my ear. My heart began to beat as if it would burst. Have you +travelled so far, I thought, and have you seen and suffered so many +things on purpose only to drown in this muggy stream? Never! I gathered +myself together for a supreme effort. I threw the pole from me, rushed +forward, rolled, lost the saddle, but grasped a bough, and the next +moment I climbed up the other side, when I fainted for the first and +only time in all my life. When I recovered the other man had come over +and stood alongside of me with my horse. We intended to travel all +night, so as to be in town as soon as possible, and my friend seemed +quite gay at the prospect before us. Where we stood, however, was only +on a sort of by-road, and I understood that the main road to ---- was a +couple of miles distant. I, therefore, suggested to my companion that he +should walk off as fast as he could, while I was pulling myself a little +together, and that I would overtake him on the horse before it got dark. +But--I had not got a stitch of clothes to put on! and I had to ask him +to let me have some of his. Then he began to talk while he pulled his +swag open. He had only two shirts and two pairs of breeches that he had +paid fourteen shillings for in Liverpool, but of course I should have +them. Were they worth ten shillings? Was the shirt worth five shillings? +I would not get the like under eight shillings. If I thought it was too +much, I might have the breeches he had on for five shillings. + +I was completely amazed. Was this the man for whom I had risked my life, +and as nearly as possible lost it? For whom--call it what you like--I +had begged and taken by force at the station what I thought necessary to +save his life? For whom I had lost my horse which had carried me so many +hundred miles, and the saddle and all my clothes? Here I sat as naked as +the day I was born, all to save his life, and my reward was to see him +in front of me; but he had not perception enough to know that he owed me +anything. The money I had--three or four pounds--I had on purpose taken +out of the swag before I crossed the river, and given to him so that it +might not be unnecessarily lost. I had, therefore, that, but I wondered +whether he would give me any clothes without money if I had none, or +whether, if so, I would have to force them from him. I asked him, and +said, "What if I have no money?" "Oh, but you have," said he; "I saw in +your purse you have plenty of money." Then I bought the clothes and paid +him what he asked for his breeches, for which he had given fourteen +shillings in Liverpool. I bought his shirt also for five shillings, and +a dirty, nasty towel he had was thrown in as a present for me to wind +round my head instead of a hat. + +Then he went away quite happy, asking me not to be long behind, as he +was to ride half-way on my horse, and I dressed myself in my new +clothes. I did look a terrible picture. The breeches were six inches too +short, the shirt would not button round my throat, I had neither socks +nor boots--and then the towel as a turban round the head! The horse +fairly snorted at me with terror. I sat where I was till it was nearly +dark. I had no wish to see the other fellow any more. But I made a vow, +never, if it was possible to avoid it, would I travel like this again. +But I was in dejected spirits--not, I believe, so much for what money +value I had lost, or for any fear that I could not put a stop to this +sort of travelling about almost whenever I liked, but for the conduct of +that man. As I rode along I kept saying to myself, "It shall be a +valuable lesson." Still, I fear that that sort of lessons are generally +more sad than valuable. + +It was now all but dark, and when I had ridden so far as to make me +wonder that there was no sign of the main road yet, I got off the horse +and began to look closely at the track along which I had come. I then +found that it was only a cattle track, and that the horse must have left +the right road without my noticing it. Then I began to run the tracks of +the horse back again. But the tracks were confusing, crossing and +recrossing each other so much that I lost my cue, and by the time it was +quite dark I stood in dense brigalow scrub and had to acknowledge myself +lost. I tied the horse to a tree and sat down alongside. It was no use +to walk about further before daylight. I had a general idea where the +town was lying, but I knew there were no houses or people living between +where I was and there. I was also afraid that if I did not strike the +road I might pass the town within half a mile and not know it. As for +making back for the river and station, that would be out of the +question, because it would have made me no better off. But on the whole +I was not afraid that I should be unable to find my way somewhere, the +question was really--how long could I keep up without food? The idea +occurred to me that I could at all events eat the horse as a last +extremity, but I drove the thought away as soon as it came. To be there, +and look up at the horse--my only friend--and to think that I intended +to kill it, seemed to me both criminal and impossible. I sat the whole +night smoking my pipe and waiting for the sun to rise so that I might +take the bearings of the country, and make up my mind in which direction +I would look for the road and town. + +At sunrise I started, leading the horse after me, because it was no use +now to follow the cattle tracks, and where I had to go was through the +brigalow, where I had quite work enough to do in twining in and out +among the trees and the brambles. As the day wore on I came into country +a little more open, but yet I could not ride among the trees. The sun +shone with terrible force, and the sand-flies followed us in clouds. +There was a ringing sound in my ears. I kept arranging and rearranging +the towel on my head; still, I feared that I had sunstroke, or that +something serious was the matter with me. The air seemed full of +phantoms--vicious-looking creatures. Then I saw a whole army of ladies +and gentlemen riding past, jeering me and lolling out their tongues at +me. I knew it was delusions, and I kept walking as fast and, as it +proved, as straight as possible, but still I felt myself laughing, +crying, and yelling at all these phantoms or at the unoffending horse. + +"Shoeskin," cried I to the horse, "you old dog, do you know that it was +to save you from hunger's dread that I went on this journey? And now you +have enough to eat, while I must die of hunger! but to-night I will kill +you--do you know that? Oh, Peter, Peter! is it not strange, so vicious +as you have got to be? Holloa, is that a frying-pan over there on that +log? So it is; and full of fried eggs and potatoes. Good luck. Look at +him eating it all. Stop, you rascal! No, it is a woman. Do you call +yourself a lady? You are no woman at all; only a devil. It is all +devilry. Peter, take no notice." About noon I had a bath in a water-hole +I came to, and ate some snails I found in the water. After that I felt +somewhat better, and shortly after I came on to the road. I became quite +collected in my mind at once, and jumping on to the horse tore away at +full gallop for the town, which proved to be only five or six miles +distant. As I came riding up the street at a sharp trot I knew myself to +be quite sane, but I had a suspicion that I looked very much the other +way with the towel round my head and the short tartan plaid breeches. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE END. + + +With this John Gilpin's ride the present part of my adventures, which +are contained in the manuscript I wrote to my father, comes to an end. +So does practically what I care to publish. I have seen many ups and +downs since then, but from this point in my narrative I could no longer +lay claim to be a "missing friend." I am not a novel writer, and I could +not continue the history of my life and still preserve my _incognito_ +unless I wrote fiction. As my object in publishing these papers is to +give a faithful picture of Australian life, I should feel very doubtful +of attaining the desired end. To the reader who has kindly followed me +so far, I would say that he may believe that Australia is full of young +men who, like myself at that time, travel about from place to place, and +that similar scenes to those I have described happen every day in all +parts of Queensland. If I have been able to rouse the reader's interest +and sympathy with myself in these pages, I shall feel proud, and think +that after all I did not travel and suffer so many hardships in vain. + + + + + The Gresham Press, + + UNWIN BROTHERS, + CHILWORTH AND LONDON. + + + + +History. + + The Vikings in Western Christendom, A.D. 789-888. By C. F. KEARY, + Author of "Outlines of Primitive Belief," "The Dawn of History," + &c. With Map and Tables. Demy 8vo., cloth, 16s. + + + National Life and Thought; Or, Lectures on Various Nations of the + World. Delivered at South Place Institute by Professor THOROLD + ROGERS, J. S. COTTON MINCHIN, W. R. MORFILL, F. H. GROOME, J. + THEODORE BENT, PROFESSOR A. PULSKY, EIRIKE MAGNUSSON, and other + Specialists. Demy 8vo., cloth, 10s. 6d. + + These Lectures attracted much attention in the Session of 1889-90, and +are now reprinted to meet the desire of a very large public. In each +case the authors have striven to put their audience in thorough sympathy +with the National Life and Thought of the Nations treated of. + + + Battles and Leaders of the American Civil War. An Authoritative + History, written by Distinguished Participants on both sides. + Edited by ROBERT U. JOHNSON and CLARENCE C. BUEL, of the + Editorial Staff of "The Century Magazine." Four Volumes, Royal + 8vo., elegantly bound, L5 5s. + +LORD WOLSELEY, in writing a series of articles in the _North American +Review_ on this work, says: "The Century Company has, in my judgment, +done a great service to the soldiers of all armies by the publication of +these records of the great War." + + + Diary of the Parnell Commission. Revised with Additions, from + _The Daily News_. By JOHN MACDONALD, M.A. Large crown 8vo., + cloth, 6s. + +"Mr. Macdonald has done his work well."--Speaker. + + + The End of the Middle Ages: Essays and Questions in History. By + A. MARY F. ROBINSON (Madame Darmesteter). Demy 8vo., cloth, 10s. + 6d. + +"We travel from convent to palace, find ourselves among all the +goodness, the wisdom, the wildness, the wickedness, the worst and the +best of that wonderful time. We meet with devoted saints and desperate +sinners.... We seem to have made many new acquaintances whom before we +only knew by name among the names of history.... We can heartily +recommend this book to every one who cares for the study of history, +especially in its most curious and fascinating period, the later middle +age."--_Spectator._ + + + The Federalist: A Commentary in the Form of Essays on the United + States Constitution. By ALEXANDER HAMILTON, and others. Edited by + HENRY CABOT LODGE. Demy 8vo., Roxburgh binding, 10s. 6d. + +"The importance of the Essays can hardly be exaggerated."--_Glasgow +Mail._ + + +The Story of the Nations. + + Crown 8vo., Illustrated, and furnished with Maps and Indexes, each + 5s. + +"L'interessante serie l'Histoire des Nations formera ... un cours +d'histoire universelle d'une tres grande valeur."--_Journal des Debats._ + +"That useful series."--_The Times._ + +"An admirable series."--_Spectator._ + +"That excellent series."--_Guardian._ + +"The series is likely to be found indispensable in every school +library." _Pall Mall Gazette._ + +"This valuable series."--_Nonconformist._ + +"Admirable series of historical monographs."--_Echo._ + +"Each volume is written by one of the most foremost English authorities +on the subject with which it deals.... It is almost impossible to +over-estimate the value of a series of carefully prepared volumes, such +as are the majority of those comprising this library.... The +illustrations make one of the most attractive features of the +series."--_The Guardian._ + + Rome. By ARTHUR GILMAN, M.A., Author of "A History of the American + People," &c. Third edition. + + The Jews. In Ancient, Mediaeval, and Modern Times. By Prof. J. K. + HOSMER. Second edition. + + Germany. By Rev. S. BARING-GOULD, Author of "Curious Myths of the + Middle Ages," &c. Second edition. + + Carthage. By Prof. ALFRED J. CHURCH, Author of "Stories from the + Classics," &c. Third edition. + + Alexander's Empire. By Prof. J. P. MAHAFFY, Author of "Social Life + in Greece." Fourth edition. + + The Moors in Spain. By STANLEY LANE-POOLE, Author of "Studies in a + Mosque." Third edition. + + Ancient Egypt. By Canon RAWLINSON, Author of "The Five Great + Monarchies of the World." Third edition. + + Hungary. By Prof. ARMINIUS VAMBERY, Author of "Travels in Central + Asia." Second edition. + + The Saracens: From the Earliest Times to the Fall of Bagdad. By + ARTHUR GILMAN, M.A., Author of "Rome," &c. + + Ireland. By the Hon. EMILY LAWLESS, Author of "Hurrish." Third + edition. + + Chaldea. By Z. A. RAGOZIN, Author of "Assyria," &c. Second + edition. + + The Goths. By HENRY BRADLEY. Second edition. + + Assyria. By ZENAIDE A. RAGOZIN, Author of "Chaldea," &c. + + Turkey. By STANLEY LANE-POOLE. Second edition. + + Holland. By Professor THOROLD ROGERS. Second edition. + + Mediaeval France. By GUSTAVE MASSON. Second edition. + + Persia. By S. G. W. BENJAMIN. Second edition. + + Phoenicia. By CANON RAWLINSON. + + Media. By Z. A. RAGOZIN. + + The Hansa Towns. By HELEN ZIMMERN. + + Early Britain. By Prof. A. J. CHURCH, Author of "Carthage" &c. + + Russia. By W. R. MORFILL, M.A. + + The Barbary Corsairs. By STANLEY LANE-POOLE. + + The Jews under the Roman Empire. By W. DOUGLAS MORRISON, M.A. + + Scotland. By JOHN MACINTOSH, LL.D. + + Switzerland. By LINA HUG and R. STEAD. + + Mexico. By SUSAN HALE. + +(_For further information, see "Nation Series" Catalogue. Sent to any +address on application to the Publisher._) + + * * * * * + +_THE CAMEO SERIES._ + + Half-bound, paper boards, price 3s. 6d. each. Fine Edition, bound + in parchment, printed on Japan paper, numbered and signed, 30 + copies only printed, 25 being for sale; terms on application from + Booksellers or the Publisher. + + 1. The Lady from the Sea. By HENRIK IBSEN. Translated by ELEANOR + MARX-AVELING. + +"A powerful study."--_Notes and Queries._ + + 2. A London Plane-Tree, and Other Poems. By AMY LEVY. + +"True and tender poetry."--SATURDAY REVIEW. + + 3. Wordsworth's Grave, and Other Poems. By WILLIAM WATSON. + + "True, choicely-worded, well-turned quatrains, which succeed each other +like the strong unbroken waves of a full tide."--Mr. COSMO MONKHOUSE in +_The Academy_. + + 4. Iphigenia in Delphi, With some Translations from the Greek, by + RICHARD GARNETT, LL.D. Illustrated. + +"A very charming volume.... Dr. Garnett has achieved a very interesting +and scholarly piece of work."--_Manchester Guardian._ + + 5. Mireio: A Provencal Poem. By FREDERIC MISTRAL. Translated by H. + W. PRESTON. Frontispiece by JOSEPH PENNELL. + + 6. Lyrics. Selected from the Works of A. MARY F. ROBINSON (Mdme. + Jas. Darmesteter). Frontispiece. [_Nearly Ready._ + + 7. Poems of Robert Surtees. Introduction by EDWARD PEACOCK. [_In + Preparation._ + +_A few copies of the Edition de Luxe of the earlier Volumes in the +Series may still be had. Prices on application._ + + * * * * * + +_THE PSEUDONYM LIBRARY._ + + Under this title will be published a collection of entirely New + Novels and Romances, neatly printed and tastefully bound. They + will be specially suited by their brightness and originality for + holiday reading. + +_24mo., cloth, price 1s. 6d. each._ + + 1. Mademoiselle Ixe. By LANOE FALCONER. [_Ready._ + + 2. The Story of Eleanor Lambert. By MAGDALEN BROOKE. [_Nearly + Ready_ + + 3. The Mystery of the Campagna; and, a Shadow on a Wave. By VON + DEGEN. [_In Preparation._ + +_OTHER VOLUMES ARE IN ACTIVE PREPARATION._ + + +LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN, PATERNOSTER SQUARE, E.C. + + + + + * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's note: + + page 3: "Hamburgh" changed to "Hamburg" for consistency. + + page 24: "sactimonious" changed to "sanctimonious" (to hear him in + a sanctimonious voice). + + page 30: "workohuse" changed to "workhouse" (straight out ot the + workhouse). + + page 39: missing closing bracket ")" added (... engaged as a + matron.)) + + page 61: removed duplicate "not" (They did not laugh at nothing). + + page 85: word "I" added which appears to have been misprinted + (next forenoon ... I was outside). + + page 143: "Kankas" changed to "Kanakas" (expected a hundred + Kanakas shortly). + + page 216: "dassengers" changed to "passengers" (volunteers, + although passengers). + + page 221: "draging" changed to "dragging" (horse in dragging + oneself). + + page 306: "monoply" changed to "monopoly" (break through the + monopoly). + + page 330: "ou" changed to "out" (A man had then come out). + + page 348: "Pal." changed to "Pall" (Pall Mall Gazette). + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MISSING FRIENDS*** + + +******* This file should be named 36399.txt or 36399.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/6/3/9/36399 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://www.gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://www.gutenberg.org/about/contact + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: +http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + |