AN AUSTRALIAN PILGRIMAGE. (Continued.) CHAPTER IV.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1860, 7 June 1884, Page 6

AN AUSTRALIAN PILGRIMAGE. (Continued.)

CHAPTER IV.

By LEE L'ACTON.

VIVE LA JEUKKSSE ! I I'KKiav confess that although I am in tho thirties, I havo no great relish for the company of the middle-aged or old, whilo I am fond of being with the yonng. I don't lileo children, bnt I think nil persons between sixteen and twenty-six — unless they aio married, when of course tliey ceaso to he companionablo— lire delightful. To them lifo is is its dawn, they are ready to enjoy each of ita opening blossomi, tho cares of the world sit lightly, and nothing is a burden. When I am, thereforo, in their company, I become one of them, and bo for a timo escape lha hidootis realities of existenca, the eternal struggle. Young people aro nniveisal in their tastes; they «an talk about anything, enjoy any kind of pport. Matme men and women make me miserable. They haro become what may ba called diffei ontiatcd; ench has hn or her specialty or ciotohet The merchant can talk of nothing but goods, tho fanner speaks only of crops, the pastoralist of sheep, cattle, and wool, the professional classes of professional matters, the operative's and arti/ans of tho workshop, liren other elfthses that should not be so me distie esing. Literary men, muaioians, artiste, "talk Bliop ;" but tha joung do not, bless them. Thfir heaits aro *nsearod, their blood rnsho3 warm thiongh their veinb; orery fibre is full of riotous life, which they commumcato to others. Give mo youth, with all itn follies ; away with prosy, burden-beru ing iniddlolife and crabbed age — " Away with the fancies of foifcy, The burdens that fall on throe-scoro ; Nor sing to us Ah the la moi te ! But Vive la jcun&ac eveimore !" Sleeping on the deck, bathed in the early morning sunbeams, I had a delightful dream, a realisation of a painting I had scon m Melbourne depicting a Grecian festival, whoieat Bacchus presided, and tho muses sat on high to distribute the prizes, tho scone being a wood on Mont Ilymcttu% or some other classic hill. I oonld see the graceful, undraped forma whirling in the dance ; could hear tho rippling, happy laughter, which indeed grow so loud that it awoke me, to realise that it was not altogether a droam. Among the many groups I had noticed as we steamed down Port Phillip Bay was one that interested me gieatly. It was composed of a number of jonng athletes who were on their way to Sydney to try conclusions with the youth of th.it city in a popular game. The sunny laughter, tl»ft bright looks, the handsome faces and graceful forms, and tho mad pranks and jolly songs of these young fellow h had interested me at once, and helped to throw off the depression caused by tke lugubiiousnees of tha other passengers. Our «annot, at least oue should not, be downhearted whfii in the society of such broeiy yonng fellows, " out for a lark," as they express it themselves, and as full of spirits as young colts just let out of the stockyard. I had watched caiefully to sco how thpy would stand the sea, and was concerned to notice many of them were compelled to rctiro early tho pievious evening. Even they weie not able for Father Neptune. But now hsro they were, all of them, running up and down on the deck in the early sunlight, playing a kind of leapfrog, with tho goodnatured young third mato and some sailors treating them to & morning bath, by flinging buckects of salt water over thorn as they scrambled and tumbled and whooped and shrieked and pushed and rolled over tho dock, tho very picture of enjoyment. No wonder I had been dreaming of the Gicek fete with its statuesque figures; heie were forms that Pindias 01 Praxitiles would havo rejoiced to see, and all in motion, thrown rapidly from one graceful attitude into another, attitudes such as are only possible to the suppleness of toutli. Ah! ma, thoic was a time when I could have joined them, bnt now-a-day a tumble with them wonld haro probably ended in a fiacture. My bones are not so elastic as they once weie. I was glad to see Boggabri in their midst, for the douches of tho " salt, salt sea" would help him to shake oft the cfiocts of tho Moet and Shandon of tho previous day. "A noisy lot, ain't they?" said a querulous voice at my elbow, with a tone that gtated npon my ear, and dissipated the bright ■* ision of youth and beauty and enjoyment. It was u°, if a Ghoul had invaded the revels of the Pons. It is always thus — tho skeleton is ever at the feast. Turning round I saw that a new faco had appeared, that of a passenger I had not seen. Not a very pleasant face neither. Old, withered and sarcastic, tho lines cxpiessing a carping, critical, cynical nature. I believe its owner would havo found fault with tho Venus do Medici ; if ever ho becomo an angel he would gtumble at tho form of tho wings and want a now stylo. llis withered, angular form was, indeed, a confiast to tho athletic Apollo 1 ! who wero gambolling about the deck. What made him more ntiabihous than ordinary was probably lint he hod had a severe attack of mal do mer, lobbing him of supper and sleep, two deprivation old gentlemen cannot stand. " I wish," was my reply, " I could indulge in noise like theirs. It tells of hearts without a care, of a life that is all sunshine " " And of a head that is all emptiness," retorted my Thersites. "Young Australians, sir, aro a vain, giddy, biainless lot, who think encket, boating, horso-racing, and bar-girls tho only things worth looking at in the woild ; who scorn obedience, honor nothing, not even age or religion ; who have neither heart, noi soul, nor sense " But the discussion that followed is too important for tho close- of a chapter, and must bo leserved f»r the next. Wo had the deck to ourselves, for the subjects of our discourse had been sent off in a laughing troop, attired in towels, to their cabins by the captain, who feared tho other passengers might bo getting up, and that the spectacle might not be pleasing to the prudish.