The Wreck. 399 



colonial than his comrade, and his remarks proved that this -was not 

 his first night in the bush by many hundreds. He had been lucky 

 on the diggings and made a little fortune, and was on the point of 

 returning home to his friends in England, whom he had never seen 

 or heard of for years ; and, to pass the time and keep out of the 

 town till the ship sailed, he was living with his old friend Jack, a 

 stock-man on a neighbouring station. The evening wore on, and a 

 desultory conversation — about as intellectual as one generally hears 

 around a camp-fire, in which Jack (who was principal spokesman 

 on all occasions) was engaged in a fierce argument with one of the 

 grass-cutters, as to whether the "kiddy" or the "cove" could drive 

 a laden bullock- dray best out of the bush — was stopped by the 

 abrupt inquiry from his younger mate as to whether he was going 

 to sit there yarning all night. Five minutes afterwards, the 

 clattering of their horses' hoofs, at that sling canter peculiar to the 

 stock-rider, had died away in the distance, and all was soon silent 

 in the grass-cutters' tent. 



Like most men who landed in Australia at this time, I had a turn 

 on the diggings, but luck was against me. I came down to 

 Melbourne without a shillinor and for a month or six weeks 

 knocked about the town, livmg as best I could, sometimes lumping 

 on board a ship, sometimes at one thing, sometimes another. I 

 well recollect I lodged at this time in a little, low sailors' boarding- 

 house inBourke-street,the landlord of which, although an "old hand," 

 was a capital fellow, and behaved most kindly to me. Two curious 

 things happened during my connexion with "Dan." I was one of 

 the company in his back parlour when the Escort robbery, if not 

 planned, was at least talked over nearly a month before it 

 happened, and I well recollect Dan's prophetic words : " It 

 will never do, my lads. It will take six men for the job, and where 

 will you find six men in the colony who will stick together where 

 money is concerned ?" The other was this : Dan had saved a little 

 money on the diggings and in his boarding-house, and resolved to 

 return to England by, I think, the Madagascar. He oflfered me a 



