SHAW'S RAMBLE IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND..

A GOOD portion of this not very large volume consists of a "ram- ble" through Colonial newspapers, &c. with scissors in hand, or of a condensed -view of the matter of geographies. To illustrate the state and prospects of New South Wales, Dr. Shaw has trans- ferred a couple of "produce circulars" to his pages. To exhibit her politics, he quotes a speech of the "great Australian patriot and statesman" Mr. William Charles Wentworth, which occupies more than forty pages ; he also quotes, though not quite so copi- ously, from some lectures or speeches of Dr. Lang; favours the reader with a long correspondence about transports and immigra- tion; extracts from the Empire newspaper some "sketches" of public characters; and opens his book with a gazetteer account of New Zealand and New South Wales, and notices of the aborigines. That portion of the volume which contains the results of his ob- servations in the two colonies just named, largely consists of the opinions he has formed : his rambles are confined to a "tramp to the diggings" from Sydney, an excursion or two in the neighbour- hood of that capital, and walks through the settlements of Auck- land, Wellington, Nelson, and Canterbury.

The chief utility of Dr. Shaw's sketches of what he saw, or of the conclusions he drew therefrom, consists in the recency of his information. He left New Zealand for New South Wales 111 1851, and remained in that colony till the present yew'. Of both coun- tries Dr. Shaw's description is highly favourable. He went out to fire a nephew in New Zealand, and his mind was consequently directed to the prospects of the intended settler. These he pro- nounces good for all classes—the poor gentleman, the small capitalist who is not a gentleman, and above all the workman who is willing and able to work. But work—and energetic, or if you have not a capital, hard work—is a sine qua non. The man who wants to amuse or enjoy himself, or even to take life easily, will not do for these colonies. He will be distanced by the poorest, and soon made poor himself. The company Dr. Shaw encountered in the boarding-house at Canterbury consisted of pleasant and sc.._ complished "good fellows," but scarcely the stuff which colonists are made of; and he appears to think there were too many of this stamp in the settlement. invited Mr. Deans to dine with me at the boarding-house previously mentioned, in order to give him an idea of the nature and qualifications of the numerous settlers who frequented that establishment. After dinner, I called upon Mr. A. for a comic song ; upon Mr. B. for a recitation - upon Mr. C. for a sentimental song: all of which were so well executed, diat had the Canterbury pilgrims required a theatre for the commencement of their settlement, many of those gentlemen were eminently qualified to tread the boards ; and the great majority were spending their money, singing, smok- ing, and enjoying themselves in idleness, instead of having on a flannel shirt,

and a good heavy spade in hand." .

The notion entertained at home of the Sydney people is not very complimentary either to their manners or their morals, and some travellers have reported indifferently of both from their own ob- servation. Dr. Shaw differs from them in opinion, and maintains that the material prosperity of the colony works an entire change in the outer and inner man, if poor. He becomes well dressed, well mannered, and tolerably honest.

There is a pretty full description of Sydney, with a favourable account of the climate of New South Wales, a rapturous picture of Nelsen in New Zealand, whither Dr. Shaw went on the pleasant task of taking possession of some property, tempting pictures of the agricultural districts in New South Wales, and indica- tions of the exclusive spirit of the respectables of Sydney, or more properly, of their shyness in making new acquaintances. Just now, however, the diggings are the most interesting topic. This was Dr. Shaw's first view.

"After this, the Turon, with its thousands of white tents, became visible, resembling a large army encamped. There were no houses to be seen ; oc- casionally a weather-boarded building, covered at the top with canvass. Such was a specimen at Sofala, the very centre of the Turon diggings, when I dismounted very gladly from the mail-coach ; where, in making the descent to the Turon, by the side of a steep hill, the coachman persuaded ins to re- tain my seat, instead of dismounting with the other passengers; which I consented to do. This was to balance the fellow ; for he informed me, when I remarked how dangerous it was, and when it was next to impossible to stop, that he was the only coachman who had not been precipitated, coach and horses, down the hill. Very consolotary, thought I, to be made use of thus as mere ballast"

The larger sums in the following list of gains are evidently the great prizes in the lottery : the behaviour of the diggers is cer- tainly better than that in California, or than might be expected from such a congregation : prices seem reasonable.

"A man obtained 350/. worth of gold in a few hours. Another 440/. worth in one day. A poor man collected nine pounds of gold in one day. A man named Brenan laid hold of a lump which when sold fetched 11551. A Black fellow dug up a huge mass of quartz which yielded 106 pounds of gold, worth 4240/. Many men made their 25/. a week. I worked with a Party, for a few hours, whose earnings were a pound per day : Mr. Ilardy, a Gold. Commissioner, has stated, in one of his reports, that any man might

A Tramp to the Diggings: being Notes of a Ramble in Australia and New Zea land in 1852. By John Shaw, M.D., F.G.S., F.L.S. Published by Bentley.

earn his ten shillings a day. I was much struck with the good order _pre- served in a wild mountain-gorge, where the only preventive to evil-doers was a mere handful of police, all of whom might have been annihilated in five minutes by 500 diggers armed with their mining-tools. When I visited the Turon, the population amounted to 10,000 or 12,000; but probably no more than half that number were digging ; and, taking them altogeiher, they were not half so noisy as the rabble at an English race, and on the

whole much better behaved. • •

"Stores of all kinds are obtainable at reasonable rates, that is to say, at from 20 to 30 per cent on Sydney prices; which, when the wretched state of the roads, and the consequent expense of carriage, is taken into considera- lion, cannot be objected to. Bread is dear, 9d. the 2 pound loaf; good meat can be obtained at 24. per pound. Miners' tools are cheaper than in Sydney. "There are a great many men who are employed by others to dig for them. For a labourer, capable of doing a good day's work, the general wages are 30s. a week, and rations of beef, tea, flour, and sugar, given him besides. A good Cornish miner will make from 4/. to 51. a week. In the township, labourers get from 5s. to 7s. a day ; mechanics, from 12s. to 15s. a day ; and, for a few days, when there was a great press, carpenters, who are more required than other tradesmen, could make 11. per day. "

The mode of life is more civilized than among the Americans ; and Sunday service by a bishop, if at all, is not to be found among the Californian Republicans.

"I remained two or three nights with Mr. King, one of the oonsmissioners, in the Government tent, and afterwards went to one of the best lodging es- tablishments to be found at the Turon. When breakfasting there one morn- ing with a very agreeable companion, he said—' Did you observe the lady of our lodging take one of the sheets from my bed and put it on the table for breakfast, being perfectly persuaded that it made an excellent tablecloth ? I only met with one ease of incivility during my sojourn at the diggings, and that was from a drunken man one Sunday morning. The rogue took a par- ticular dislike not only to the tout ensemble of my appearance, but to a big heavy New Zealand stick which I carried ; and also to a green hat, very broad in the brim, and very shabby ; both of which he took care to anathe- matize in a very loud and often-repeated coarse stammering voice—so load that I was perfectly ashamed of the fellow, and immediately beat a retreat to a large tent, which' observed at a short distance : this turned out to be the new church then erecting ; and, observing a gentleman in black, (the bishop's chaplain,) I immediately walked up to him, and commenced conversation by the side of several other serious and well-behaved church-going people; when to my great annoyance' the scoundrel, who was then at a distance of three hundred yards, shouted out with voice of thunder—' I shall know you again, you blackguard in the green bat and big thick stick.' I then joined the congregation, and attended divine service. I soon observed, on the three front forms nearest to the bishop, that two-thirds of the people there seated were gentlemen, although garbed in red and blue serge shirts, and disguised to the best of their ability! A collection was made afterwards, which amounted to 221.; all the people giving freely. "The bishop is said to be Puseyite. I attended the afternoon service, and found quite another class of diggers present, and all of them nearly of the same stamli—viz, hard-working men ; with idlers, and probably some rogues, Who, when the plate made its appearance for a collection, aU bolted, to a man, without giving a single-sixpence,—to the great astonishment of the Metropolitan Bishop of Sydney, Dr. Broughton ; who very soon found himself in solitude, and utterly confounded. It all arosefrom the bishop not sending the plate round before giving the benediction."

It is just for the artifex to perish by his own art. The monopoly feelings, and indeed laws of the America Californians, against allowing foreigners at the diggings, have reacted on themselves.

" After I quitted the was sorry to hear of the Americans, who come to visit the shores of Australia, either to dig or make a trip of pleasure, being hooted and insulted at their diggings; so much so as to compel them to pack up and return to California. The diggers, in so doing, I think have shown a want of taste, sympathy, and even hospitality, to that people; who are not only of the same flesh and blood as themselves, but who brought with them the strong ties of relationship,—members of the same great family, who have attained to a state of civilization wealth, and commerce, to which the i

page of history offers no parallel. That the Australians should have thus stultified themselves, will be a matter of deep regret to every wellwisher of the Anglo-Saxon race. "I was sorry to find in Sydney, and in every part of Australia that I visited, the deepest-rooted prejudices, and most unreasonable antipathy to the Ame- ricans. I took up the weapons of defence, and always supported the Ameri- can people: by which I made more enemies than friends, and for which I was considerea especially cracked."

Dr. Shaw seems to have forgotten that several gentlemen from Sydney have been hanged in California ; and in some cases less for any offence they had been guilty of, than because they were from Sydney.