JOTTINGS FROM THE NOTE BOOK OF A GOLD SEEKER.. No. II. [From the Sydney Morning Herald.} A DASH AT THE ROAD AND MELBOURNE. August 25.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VIII, Issue 750, 9 October 1852, Page 3

JOTTINGS FROM THE NOTE BOOK OF A GOLD SEEKER.. No. 11. [From the Sydney Morning Herald.} A DASH AT THE ROAD AND MELBOURNE. August 25.

"Hurrah for the road; the road," gaily shouted we on the morning of last Monday week; and as we passed by the Colonial Treasury, that bright goal of all our hopes, and bethought ourselves of the proximate chance of our calling upon that most obliging of persons, the Treasurer, with a receipt note for £500 worth of the precious metal, I need not observe how radiant our countenances were in contemplation of the thought. " Bright idea," said George, who by the way was the leader of the party, — " capital, by Jove ;" — and like the woman and the basket of eggs, the idea becoming contagious, forthwith we proceeded to speculate upon all manner of projects, and the Lord knows how far we might gone in this ideal nonsense, had it not been that one of the party, in crossing the first pieceof puddle land, got stuck in the mud, not figuratively! but literally — so fast that all hands had to assist in extricating him. First mishap, however. " Won't be the last," exclaimed an old file who had just joined. " Stop that croaker," shouted George ; and before the words were well out of his lips, he measured his length on the aforesaid mud, much to the amusement of all hands. We had now fairly started, and for the first mile or so the road, if a road it can at all be termed, was pretty fair, not much above ancle deep, but that at least. As we set out early we reached Flemington before breakfast, and here again we were doomed to disappointment. No breakfast to be had at the inn. Had some wretched ale, and some bread and beef out of our own swag, and after a short rest proceeded to wend our way. I need not give you a detailed account of one day and a half up, and ditto down, as the circumstances of the trip were fully and graphically described by one of the party when he said that nothing but the courage of a lion would face it. Shortly after we left Flemmington we came upon one of the numerous flats which abound in this colony ; and, oh, mercy, such a -flat — mud, mud, mud^nct ancle or knee dee, but up to your middle. An interminable ocean of mud. Nothing but mud, with the exception of a sprinkling of what are termed " crab-holes," And to help us in our difficulties, or rather to soften not only our precious persons, but to render still more fluid the seemingly interminable quag through which we were wading, it poured rain in bucketsful. It was in fact — The rain above and the mud below, And the desolate bush where'er we go. We tried to leave the beaten path once or twice and bush it, but it was no go. The soil there was too wet to bear us up, and too thick to allow us to wade it, and back again to the bullock track we were forced. Oh, ye lecturers on temperance ! how it would have made you stare to behold with what gusto each man quaffed a glass of brandy-hot when we reached the Lady of the Lake, and there made our abiding place for the night. The charges at this place I am informed are moderate compared with other hotels on the road, and as a fair indication I may state them. " Brandy hot, Sir, yes Sir ; one, two, three, five ; five of you, Sir — 15 shillings." ♦• " Supper for five, one pound five, Sir. Breakfast, ditto ditto. Ale, bad, — wretched. Ten shillings for baiting a horse ! five ditto for leave to enjoy tKe luxury of a roof, J sleeping being clearly out of the question. Here, too, I observed the old manoeuvre of landlords. Our host, and in fact the whole establishment, might be regarded as a peripatetic hue and cry, and as such might be useful to the police. It was mud and rain all day ; and long, woebegone stories of bushrangers, robberies, murders, &c, all night. And then the fleas ! Next day brought us to the Deep j Creek, and to the termination of our journey, for the present, at least. The roads were just the same as on the day previous. Considering that we had walked 20 miles up to the belt, — and meeting with a return party, who declared that it was impossible to proceed much higher, as the roads were in a dreadful state, that the hills were covered with snow, as indeed we had ocular demonstiation of the fact next day, when it was a few inches deep on the ground — we 'deemed it expedient to return ; and slowly and rather dejectedly did we wend our way { back to this vile and'filthy place. We reached town again on Thursday, and the same day two men were drowned in attempting to cross one of the creeks near to where we determined upon turning. Melbourne is becoming more crowded every day. Crowds upon crowds are landed daily at the wharf. Every steamer from Launceston and | Sydney is crammed, and every vessel that enters the harbour has the full complement of passengers. We have had an arrival this week from California direct, and one from Liverpool, with 400 people on board. The wet weather has not at all improved the appearance of Melbourne, nor the health of its inhabitants. Since my return I have perambulated the city and its environs pretty much ; and let me assure you-that my first impressions of the absolute necessity which exists for some responsible body taking active pteps for its san-

itary reformation, were rather under than over the mark. This may not just force itself p>ominenlly before the eye of the casual observer who confines himself to the few principal streets; but let him diverge into any of the by-lanes which abound here ; let him go into any of the second-rate streets— where the mills and warehouses of the merchants are, — and if he be not forcibly impressed with the importance of some steps being taken, then all I can say is, that his sense ef smell and sight must be very poor indeed. I had occnsion the other evening to go into one of these places, and I assure you, were I actuary to an Insurance Company, I should require 25 per dent, additional premium on the life that was occasionally risked on such voyages of exploration. And oh, what a state of filth and squalor presents itself when you enter one of these places of abode. Dirt, bare, and open ; the boards scarcely forming a barrier against the admission of the light of heaven, and the shingles put on in general as if the roof was intended for a shower-bath in wet weather. And talking of shower-baths puts me in mind of baths in general, of which there is a great lack here. There is only one bath at all here, and it is inaccessible just now in consequence of the flood in the Yarra. Ido not know of a better speculation at present than j the establishment of a bath and washhouse. Oh, for a Lord Ashley here, — that some person with influence enough to induce the Government of this place to do something to promote the health of its inhabitants would take the matter up, for here it is no libel on the people — both " gentle and simple," to call them the " great unwashed." I have visited the public gardens, and gained but little beyond a ducking for my pains. They bear no comparison whatever with your gardens in Hyde Park, nor with any public garden I have" seen. They are badly laid out, and are situated too close to the river to be pleasant in winter. A day amongst the auctioneers here would repay the trouble, were it only for the purpose of seeing how they manage things, and also the prices, if one were commercially inclined ; but not having any interest in the prices of butter, eggs, bacon, cheese, Btc, I strolled into Mr. Tennent's land sale a few days since, when Government had put up for sale twenty-five acres of building ground in the vicinity of the Botanic Gardens, as that picturesque piece of ground is facetiously termed. Well I had heard of landsharks, and had seen a sea-lawyer, but had never seen critters so voracious after land in all my life before. There they were a bidding for such little bits — one rood each allotjnent — just as if there was not another acre in all Australia. " I reckon," as friend Slick would say, " that the Government must have made a tidy thing on't," £48,645 for twentyfive acres of land, or £1900 and odd pounds per acre, Well that ain't bad, and that too in a colony where it is said that squatters get j 80,000 acres or so just for a trifle. Well, let me tell you that Melbourne is land mad just now : go where you will, — turn which way you may, — and two announcements stare you in the face, " gold bought" and " land sold." The ghosts of land speculators, surveyors' clerks, architects, and architects' apprentices, haunt you everywhere. Fly them if you can ! I defy you. Go where you may, and you are surrounded with maps, plans, specifications : links, chains, and theodolites, are everywhere before you. In short the old method of taking a lunar, and slyly enquiring as to whether your maternal relative has parted with her mangle, is quite out of date now. In future it will be, " has your father sold his theodolite ?v? v The speculation is indeed fearful ; but I am happy to observe that amongst the bona fide purchasers there is a fair { proportion of fortunate diggers who are investing their money to secure a permanent home for themselves. I wish the diggers in your neighbourhood would go and do likewise. I am somewhat fond of recreation, and as a harmless kind of amusement I attended a meeting against the Squatters, held here on Monday, and at which Mr. Blair held forth in great style . I was, however, I must say, rather disappointed than otherwise in the calibre of .the men who tookpartin the proceedings. Mr. O'Shaunassy, whom your good people entertained recently at host Entwisle's being, in my opinion, the only man who seemed to perfectly understand the question, or who took the proper tone in handling. His plain but manly speech contrasted forcibly with the unrelieved dulness which surrounded him. He is a good plain speaker, and has in him that one ingredient so necessary to true eloquence, namely, sincerity in whatever cause he advocates. The Legislative Council here is but a mere dumb assembly — possessing none of the dignity, and certainly but little of the ability of your house. In my last, I stated that civility here was so scarce as not to be quotable, and in illustration I may mention that, calling a few evenings since at a tavern for " two nobblers of brandy hot," " Dont make nobblers hot ; must take glasses or want," was the civil reply. Had glasses and tendered a note in change. " Well, Mr. R.," said the dame in question, " What is the impudence of the world coming to when I must change a two-pound note for bare two shillings, is'nt monstrous." I thought so too, bnt in a different light . In commercial circles I understand that there has been a better feeling during the past week, and that the markets are on the rise. So saith a circular now before me, but against which better feeling I beg leave to protest, as in the opinion of purchasers, at least, markets are high enough already. That may be said truly, when I quote beef and mutton at 4d. and 4§d. per lb. ; fish, too luxurious to be talked about ; bread, Bd. per 21b. ; butter, 2s. per lb. ; bacon, 2s. 6d. per lb. ; hams, 2s. 6d. to 3s. per lb., and eggs, 4d. each. Washing, 75." 6d. to 1 2s. per dozen, and a compliment to get them done. Firewood, £2 10s. per load, and water 6s. per barrel. It requires gold digging to keep up to this. Robberies continue as rife as ever, notwithstanding that our judges give 10 years to every ruffian convicted; and to give the juries empannelled here justice, they do not take long to do Jthat same for them, as Paddy would jest. Several gold brokers have been knocked down in broad daylight and robbed in the street on their way to the banks, and yet the ruffians have escaped. On Monday, an attempt was made to rob and murder a Mr. Marks in Irs own office, but fortunately it proved ur.success-

ful. Five fellows walked deliberately into his office and, placing a revolver at his head, told him to " fork- out all he had in the place." They were, as I said, frustrated hy the cries of Mr. M., after they had cut open his skull with the butt end of a pistol, and three of the gang have since been apprehended. A Mr. Tooall. also had the civilities of exchanging a couple of shots with a fellow in Elizabeth-street in the open day, on Saturday last, the aforesaid Mr. Tooall having been " bailed up " the night previously. This raay give you some idea of how things are managed here, but the reality you will never know till you come and see for yourself. Melbourne is a fine place — mud and dust and dust and mud, beef and mutton and mutton and beef the year round, with the pleasant anticipation of getting your brains blown out as soon as you become " worth powder and shot" as the lawyer hath it.