A Lady's Visit to the Gold Diggings of Australia in 1852-53 — John Shaqi
A Lady's Visit to the Gold Diggings of Australia in 1852-53Clacy, Charles, Mrs.
History
A Lady's Visit to the Gold Diggings of Australia in 1852-53
Clacy, Charles, Mrs.
Australia -- Description and travel; Gold mines and mining -- Australia
TUESDAY 14.--This morning commenced with a colonial shower, which gave
us all a good drenching. Started about eight o'clock; returned to
Kyneton; crossed the bridge, and passed several farm-houses. The
country here is very changeable, sometimes flat and boggy, at others,
very hilly and stony. We were obliged to ford several small creeks,
evidently tributaries to the Campaspe, and at about ten miles from
Kyneton, entered the Coliban range, which is thickly wooded. The river
itself is about fourteen miles from Kyneton. Here we camped, in the
pouring rain. Some of our party walked to the town of Malmsbury, about
a mile and a half from our camping place. The town consisted of
about three tents, and an inn dignified by the appellation of the
"Malmsbury Hotel". It is a two-storied, weather-board, and pale house,
painted blue, with a lamp before it of many colours, large enough for
half-a-dozen people to dine in. It (the inn, not the lamp,) is capable
of accommodating two hundred people, independent of which there is a
large tent, similar to the booths at a fair, about 100 feet long by 30
wide, for the convenience of those who prefer sleeping under cover when
the house is full. Being hungry with their walk, our comrades dined
here, for which they paid 3s. 6d. a-piece; ale was 1s. 6d. a glass;
brandy 2s. per half glass, or "nobbler;" cheese, 4s. 6d. a pound;
bread, 5s. the four-pound loaf; wine, 25s. a bottle. By the time they
returned, we had struck our tents, intending to cross a muddy-banked
creek that lay in our road that evening, as we were told that the
waters might be too swollen to do it next day. The water reached above
their waists, and as my usual post was very insecure, I was obliged to
be carried over on their shoulders, which did not prevent my feet from
being thoroughly soaked before reaching the other side, where we
remained all night.
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