William T. Pyke

“ As I gained the surface everybody was in commotion—diggers with their licenses lowering down their mates without [110] them; others, with folded arms, cursing the system and damning the Government; some stealing away like hares when hounds are in the neighbourhood; and several 'tally-ho'd,' bursting from points where they could escape arrest, while 'Joe! Joe! Joe! Joe! Joe! Joe!' resounded on all sides; the half-clad Amazons running up the hill-sides, like so many bearers of the 'fiery cross,' to spread to the neighbouring gullies the commencement of the police foray. ”

“ Julian Woods writes—"Having studied every journal connected with Australian exploration, and become, as it were personally acquainted with all our discoverers, I conscientiously say I have not met with so courageous, so noble, so fine an explorer as William John Wills." ”

“ A change in the social organisation on the gold-fields, which was visible in 1853, enabled the diggers to agitate systematically for the repeal of the license fee. During the first two years of gold-seeking in Victoria the fields were thronged with diggers, who, like adventurous birds of passage, came expecting to pick up treasures in rich lumps, and return at once with a fortune. Many realised their hopes, and others, meeting with discouragements, abandoned the pursuit, so that gold-mining became an occupation followed by men as a settled means of earning a livelihood. ”

“ The whole of these, from beggar to barrister, from pickpocket to parson, were to be seen hieing along dusty roads and journeying through hitherto untrodden forest, all impelled by the one covetous desire to the one end—the gold-fields, where, perchance, they might reap a golden harvest without the laborious years of working and the wearisomeness of waiting, which are the usual checks to success in other pursuits. ”

“ When it was about to start, the Mayor of Melbourne mounted one of the drays and delivered a short speech, wishing them God-speed. Mr. Burke uncovered, and replied, in a clear voice that was heard all over the crowd:—"Mr. Mayor, on behalf of myself and the expedition, I beg to return you my most sincere thanks. No expedition has ever started under such favourable circumstances as this. The people, the Government, the Committee—all have done heartily what they could do. It is now our turn! and we shall never do well till we justify what you have done in showing you what we can do." ”

“ In the stockade a straight pole, eighty feet long, was erected to serve as a flag-staff. At the head of this the diggers hoisted their standard—the Southern Cross. Then Lalor, gun in hand, mounted a stump. Resting the stock of the gun on his foot, and grasping its barrel firmly in his left hand, he slowly raised his right arm towards the standard, and proceeded solemnly to swear in the diggers. He said, "It is my duty to take from you the oath to be faithful to the standard. The man who, after this solemn oath, does not stand by our standard is a coward at heart." ”

“ On the 20th they made a tremendous effort by travelling all night, Burke riding one camel, and Wills and King the other. All next day they struggled manfully on, expecting soon to rest their aching limbs and worn-out bodies in the camp at Cooper's Creek. But on reaching the place where they had left the depôt party, instead of seeing the white tents of the camp gleaming in the rays of the declining sun, they saw nothing but the stockade now deserted by its former occupants. ”

“ During summer the life at the diggings was tolerable, but in the winter the cold was very severe, and Hargraves' party suffered intensely. Even with every particle of clothing they possessed heaped upon them they had extreme difficulty in keeping the warmth in their bodies whilst sleeping, and in addition to this there was the danger of the tent being borne down by the weight of snow upon it, and the risk of being rudely aroused by the rough paw of any grisly bear that might take it into his ursine head to leave the surrounding forest in search of food. ”

“ The feeble-bodied digger was nowhere in the race for wealth, and many a solitary sickly one dropped out of existence unknown to any of his friends, and not even missed in the ever-varying excitements of the times. ”

“ A moment after the mounted men wheeled at a sharp angle, and a fresh shout arose as another smart young fellow flew before them with almost supernatural fleetness, like a fresh hare started as the hunted one was on the point of being run down. ”

“ The agricultural and pastoral interests were likely to be seriously affected if the bone and sinew of the labourers sought employment in the rich mines on the banks of the Turon instead of on the corn-fields and pasture lands of the Port Philip district. Besides, the Port Philippians had for some time been endeavouring to procure separation from New South Wales; in fact, the act of separation was just about to take place, and this stroke of luck in favour of the older colony by heightening its prospects correspondingly humbled those of the new colony, and tended to sink it into insignificance. ”

“ With some difficulty the weary man managed to ascend a sandy path leading to the natives' camp. He was conducted by the chief to the fire, where there was a large pile of fish cooked in the most approved style. He imagined it was for general consumption by the half-dozen natives who had gathered round; but it turned out they had all eaten, and expected Wills to dispose of it all. He set to work at the task, and to his own astonishment accomplished it by keeping two or three blacks steadily at work extricating the bones for him. ”

“ Those who suffered most were the pikemen, who stood their ground from the time the whole division had been posted on top, facing the Melbourne road from Ballarat, in double file under the slabs to stick the cavalry with their pikes. The old command 'Charge' was distinctly heard, and the red-coats ran with fixed bayonets to storm the stockade. A few cuts and kicks, a little pulling down, and the job was done; too quickly for their wonted ardour, for they actually thrust their bayonets through the bodies of the dead and wounded strewed about the ground. ”

“ In striking contrast to the efforts made by these new chums in getting rid of their superfluities in order to buy a suitable outfit for the diggings, were the dissipations and freaks of many returned diggers, who, having been lucky on the gold-fields, were now recklessly squandering their quickly-acquired wealth. These extravagant displays tended to quicken the movements of new arrivals in their preparations, and to keep up a constant flowing of the population between the rich diggings and the town. ”

“ They came across some natives who were fishing. The blacks, probably moved by the forlorn appearance of Burke and Wills, gave them half of the fish just caught, and promised further supplies if they would come with them to their camp. On reaching it the almost destitute explorers were treated most generously—lumps of nardoo cake and handfuls of fish were forced on them till they could positively eat no more. The hospitable blacks also offered them some stuff composed of dried stems and leaves of shrubs, which, when chewed even in small quantities, was highly intoxicating. ”

“ On the diggings everyone was subjected to the sway of the golden metal, and the effect of the spell on the different temperaments was as interesting as they were varied. In some of the diggers the sympathetic springs of life's action seemed to be completely clogged; the demon of avarice held complete dominion, and rendered these men forgetful of the commonest offices of humanity. ”

“ Even if we could get fish, I doubt whether we could do much on that and nardoo alone. Nothing now but the greatest good luck can save any of us. As for me, I may live four or five days if the weather continues warm. My pulse is at forty-eight and very weak, and my legs and arms are nearly skin and bone. I can only look out, like Mr. Micawber, for something to turn up. Starvation on nardoo is by no means unpleasant, but for the weakness one feels and the utter inability to [42] move one's self. ”

“ As soon as the modest cortége of the vice-regal party was discerned by the expectant diggers, there arose a loud shout of welcome, which was echoed and re-echoed from hill and glen, from flat and gully, [118] until all Ballarat was one wild hurrah of rejoicing. The first impulse of the people was to detach the horses from the carriage and draw it themselves, but against this proceeding Sir Charles protested with complimentary tact, to the effect that he wished to see people more suitably employed than as beasts of burden. ”

“ The only prospect before them was to wander about the creek, living like the blacks until the arrival of a relief party. So Burke and King went in search of the natives' camp for the purpose of ascertaining where the seed grew from which the natives made their bread, and also to find their mode of preparing it. Wills remained behind jerking the camel's flesh. In his diary he cheerfully writes that he must devise some means of trapping the birds and rats, but expresses deep regret at being obliged to hang about the creek after having made such a dashing trip to the Gulf of Carpentaria. ”

“ Pioneers from Port Jackson and Van Diemen's Land migrated to this newly-revealed district. The productiveness of its soil, and the subsequent discovery of gold, soon attracted a great number of adventurers and immigrants to the happy clime. In an incredibly short period the district grew into a rich and prosperous colony, and Melbourne, its mighty capital, took rank amongst the chief cities of the world.
The success attending the early exploring expeditions equipped by the mother colony seems to have incited the colonists of Victoria to emulate the doings of their neighbours. ”

“ Thousands of men of every walk in life—rich and poor, old and young, sturdy and weak—were enticed from the comforts and delights of the domestic hearth, and from the conveniences and amusements of town life, by the allurements of the glittering prizes which Dame Fortune was lavishly dealing out to the pioneer prospectors, and which seemed to dangle before the expectant eyes of everyone. ”

“ Many remained in the township of Buninyong, not venturing to camp on the hills, because the ground there was so muddy and the gully so slushy as to render living under canvas extremely miserable, and fossicking for gold almost impossible. Despite these drawbacks there were within a fortnight of the arrival of its discoverer in Geelong over forty diggers at work in Hiscock's gully. But ill-luck attended the efforts of most of these pioneers, and continual disappointments forced many of them to try the diggings at Clunes. ”

“ During the hours of relaxation the proceedings on the diggings contrasted vividly with the day's employment. The end of the day's labours was in the early days announced by the firing of a gun from the tent of the Commissioner. Then followed a general abandonment of the chip, chip of the pick against the rock, the delving in the mud, the barrow-wheeling, the cradle-rocking, and the puddling in clayey water-holes. With mud-bespattered shirt, clay-soiled pants, and heavy yellow-stained boots, each digging-party sought its tent. ”

“ That it should be regarded as merely a migratory flight of population from the old centres of civilisation, which having swooped down upon the gold sown broadcast in the land, would presently return whither it came, carrying away the best of the gold harvest, was the idea which must have occupied the minds of the authorities, for they never attempted to make the gold-fields' population a part of the colony until the clamouring of the insurrectionists at Ballarat dispelled the illusion, and apprised them of the impolicy of delay in according a social status to the gold-digger. ”