The Wreck. 401 



till at length I came to a broken box half filled with cheeses, 

 and many other articles, " too numerous to mention," as the 

 auctioneers say, lay strewed about. I secured my prizes, hiding 

 them in the mangrove scrub, and hastened back to the tent to give 

 the intelligence that there must have been a wreck on the Heads, 

 and no telling if this south storm continued to blow, what might 

 be washed up. After breakfast, we all turned out, and on going 

 down to the beach, a singular sight presented itself. The coast, the 

 whole length of our station, and probably for miles beyond, was 

 strewed with articles of every description — wax candles, nuts, 

 cheeses, boots, books — in fact, everything that constitutes a general 

 cargo was there. The storm was unabated, and package after 

 package, barrel after barrel, was washed in on the crest of the waves. 

 That there had been an awful wreck on the coast was certain. It 

 turned out that a large ship, the Ontario, laden with a general cargo 

 from Liverpool, had struck on the Heads and just gone to pieces 3 and 

 the wind blowing right on to the Geelong coast, the principal part of 

 her cargo was washed up there. The news spread like wildfire, and 

 every one on the station left work for ^'^ wrecking." At last the 

 larger and heavier articles began to make their appearance, and 

 hogshead after hogshead of port wine, gin, and brandy came rolling 

 in one after the other, like so many porpoises. The dry goods were 

 little cared for as soon as the barrels reached the shore 5 and as 

 more than one barrel was tapped on the beach before it could be 

 taken up, a scene of wild, lawless confusion ensued, such as I never 

 witnessed before, and trust I never may witness again. We were 

 all suddenly transformed into a brutal, selfish, greedy crew of 

 wreckers — battles took place over more than one hogshead, and no 

 one on that day could say, ^' I am better than my neighbour." I 

 don't know how many hogsheads of liquor were secured, but I recol- 

 lect that three fell to our share, which were carried upon bollock- 

 drays in triumph to our tent, where they stood against the door foi 

 any one to taste who passed by. The brandy lasted the longest, 

 and would have lasted much longer but that an old fellow, who had 



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