I stepped on shore in Melbourne, with my dear wife and seven children, with the grand sum of _ten shillings_ in my pocket; but, with a stout heart and willing hands, and a firm reliance on God's blessings, things did not appear so very hard. We stayed two or three days at the "Wesleyan home." On the second day after landing I got work, digging potatoes at 14s. per day. We then rented a small two-roomed house in Collingwood; had our boxes, at first, for furniture; but the grand wages of fourteen shillings per day soon provided what other little furniture we required. It appeared a poor home, though, after the style of the "Old Country;" but it is astonishing how soon one gets over this feeling, where love and happiness reign. I am not a believer in that foolish saying, that "when want comes in at the door, love flies out of the window." No; true hearts cling the tighter. On looking round Melbourne, I found some few parties I knew in England. They were very old settlers long before the discovery of gold; they were in affluent circumstances. They kindly gave me a commission to paint a few portraits in oils, which led to one or two more. I also painted a few fancy pictures. The colony, however, was too young to appreciate the _fine_ arts to any extent. The _rougher_ arts were more in vogue, and the gold fever was not abated. I also got a touch of it, my wife having two brothers on the Ovens diggings, who had been in the colony about a year. I determined, therefore, to join them. Off to the Diggings. I started alone with swag, blankets, billy, pannikin, etc., in orthodox style, for a 200 miles' tramp through the bush. (See frontispiece.) This, however, was not much of an undertaking for me, as I was a great pedestrian, could do my six miles an hour easy, and often over 50 miles per day on my sketching tours in the "Old Country;" being tall (fully six feet), I had a good stride. At that time the Sydney Road was only formed a few miles out of Melbourne, and from the Rockey Waterholes to the foot of the Big Hill (commonly then called Pretty Sally's Hill) was swamp ground. I found a difficulty in getting over this; I had to tread the thistles down for miles to prevent bogging, and it was raining fast. The contractors were just forming the road, and on the first rise on the other side of the swamp the camp was formed. The men had knocked off on account of the rain. Just as I was level with the camp, I heard my name called out in true Irish accent, and out ran one of our shipmates to greet me. He occupied the next berth to us on board ship, and was ill a great part of the way. He had been a tradesman in Dublin. He was lively enough now, as he grasped my hand and cut a real Irish caper, with "Hurrah! for Australia and 14s. a day, and wood and water!" He was driving one of the contractor's drays. He wanted me to stay, as it was far into the afternoon, but no--my alloted mileage was not done, so I marched on.