An eminent banking firm in London had established an agency in San Francisco; and by it I forwarded to England all the gold I had collected--excepting a few ounces retained for my travelling expenses to Australia. I found no difficulty in obtaining a passage from San Francisco to the latter place. Gold-diggings had been recently discovered in New South Wales--in Port Philip, as Victoria was then called; and as many people from the colonies wished to return, for their accommodation, numbers of large ships were being "laid on" for Sydney and Melbourne. There is no class of passenger so profitable as the gold-digger _going away from a diggings_; and this being a fact, well-known among the captains and owners of ships, there was no scarcity in the supply of vessels then fitting out in the harbours of California. Volume Two, Chapter XI. A DIFFERENCE AMONG DIGGERS. I engaged passage in the Dutch brig "Ceres," bound for Sydney; and sailed in the early part of June out of San Francisco Bay. When I again embark as a passenger in a Dutch vessel, it will be after I have learnt to speak that detestable lingo. Of all the crew of the "Ceres," only the first officer could speak a word of English; and, during the time I was aboard the brig, I discovered more than one good reason for my resolve never again to embark in a ship, where I could not understand the language by which she was worked. A majority of the passengers had originally come from the Australian Colonies to California; and were now returning to their homes-- dissatisfied with a country, where they were not regarded as good citizens. The worst characters amongst them had conceived a strong antipathy for everything American. This will be easily understood, by taking into consideration the fact, that many of the people from the Australian Colonies who went to California, were men of infamous character. Indeed it is rather to the credit of the Californians: that they had treated with some severity these English convicts, who had made their appearance amongst them, for the express purpose of thieving and robbing. I do not wish to be understood as saying, that all the gold seekers from Australia were of this character. I formed the acquaintance of many Anglo-Australian diggers, who had won the respect of all who knew them. Too many of the class, however, were undoubtedly bad men. They had been bad men in their mother country, were bad men in the colonies, bad in California; and will continue to be bad wherever they go. They justly merited the contempt, which the Americans had bestowed upon them. I have more respect for the great nation to which I belong than to defend the conduct of its convicts, against the opinions formed of them by the people of California.