Thamanampalli Surekha

depend upon the labour of others for their prosperity and house-comforts in town suffered materially from the change. Melbourne is no longer what it was in this respect, and though it may be a place to amass money in, yet, unless immigration effects a great change, it will be a place where such a thing as comfort cannot very well exist, according to general notions. A professional gentleman gave us the following account of his position. They had been in family, prior to the gold-discovery, eleven persons, including three women- servants and one man-servant. The latter, who was his groom, and two of the women, left him, so he was obliged to act in the former capacity himself. However, as he found the annoyance and loss of time spent in taking his horse to water some distance from his house was greater than the pleasure he had in riding, he soon disposed of him. Instead of attempting to hire other persons, it was determined upon to manage, for the present, with the old cook as well as they could. And as she was rather aged, and of portly dimensions, they thought that she might be depended upon. The lady, however, had her own ideas on the matter. She thought the time was arrived to make her fortune, and she determined to go to the diggings, to wash and cook for the men. In three weeks she returned, having expended all her means, nearly blind form the flies, and in a dreadful state of bodily health form exposure and privation, to which she was quite unequal. After staying a while with her old master until she was partly recruited, she determined once more to proceed to the point of attraction. although she knew that the diggers paid no attention to their linen. Her employers, however, would not allow themselves to be made a convenience of, so they informed her that they had been taught a lesson-namely, that of being able to be their own servants, and rather than undergo the annoyance of constantly changing, they has resolved for the present to rely upon themselves. Though it was no pleasant position to be in , yet as there was no help for it, they were consoled with the fact, that their expenses of housekeeping had greatly decreased, and that they were independent. From this the fastidious man who has been brought up in luxury, and expects to find servants to attend upon him, will gather, that Australia, in its present social condition, is no place for him. We have shown that, an landing in any of the principal towns, he will find house-accommodation and boarding expensive and difficult to obtain, and that at the gold-diggings every man is obliged to look after his own personal comforts. There he will have no servants to attend to his little wants, -no laundress to dress his natty shirt-fronts, -no obliging cook to prepare his favourite meal. We would therefore advise such gentlemen as have formed themselves into companies for the purpose of proceeding to the gold-diggers, to take a few lessons in cooking and washing before their departure, these being two essential qualifications for the independent Australia gold- digger. We do not say this to deter such parties from trying their luck at the diggings, for in the end it may make better men of them. All we entreat of them is, to be careful how they judge of the social condition of a country, where they are apt to be prejudices, because they cannot obtain comforts and luxuries according to their notions of living. We might have growled at, and quarrelled with, such contingencies again and again, but we put a good face upon the matter, and met these approach disagreeables cheerfully. And so far from dreading to encounter them again, we may probably in a short time hence, be found baking a damper in the ashes of an Australian bush-fire. Notwithstanding the busy aspect if certain localities in the city, where these gold-diggers congregated for business or pleasure, there was an appearance of desertion at other places which apparently had but lately been the scenes of busy operations. These were indications of the golden monster threatening to swallow up the pastoral lamb. For several miles round much of the country is enclosed by excellent fences and under cultivation. Every where you see farm-houses and country-mansions, showing the appearance of comfort and plenty, the result of the labour of an industrious people upon a grateful soil. But when you come to examine them, their male occupants have fled, and all industry is put a stop to. In the towns the mark of the golden hoof is equally apparent. Where formerly private and public improvements had been going on, and the shipping-port all activity, now you see buildings unfinished and improvements to at an end, and a deserted shipping lying in the harbour. One day we visited a small town, about two miles beyond the eastern suburb of Collingwood, called Richmond. It contains about 100 houses, and when all the people were at home it could muster some 600 or 700 inhabitants. Here we called upon a family who has come out in the ship with use, and who had not only domiciled themselves in this short time after their arrival, but the father of the family and his two sons had commenced business in the city, and they had judiciously fixed upon this suburban town residence, in preference to the bustling and dusty streets of Melbourne. The family consisted of the parents, two sons, three daughters, and an old and tried domestic whom they had brought with them. Already in their snug little cottage there was an air of comfort which was truly pleasing, And although we are no advocate for families