There is now good reason for believing, that these stories were originated in Melbourne; that they were set afoot, and propagated by ship agents and skippers, who wished to send their ships to Callao, and wanted passengers to take in them--or, rather, wanted the money which these passengers would have to pay. Private letters were shown--purporting to have come from Peru--that gave glowing descriptions of the abundance of gold glittering among the "barrancas" of the Andes. The Colonial papers did what they could to restrain the rising excitement; and, although they were partly successful, their counter-statements did not prevent many hundreds from becoming victims, to the trickery of the dishonest persons, at that time engaged in the shipping business of Melbourne. A majority of those, who were deluded into going to Peru, were Americans, Canadians, and Frenchmen--probably for the reason that they were more dissatisfied with Australia, than the colonists themselves. Amongst the victims of the "Callao fever" I have to record myself--along with two of my partners--Edmund Lea and another. All three of us being too simple-minded to suspect the trick, or too ready to yield to temptation, we set off for Melbourne; and thence set sail across the far-stretching Pacific. Volume Two, Chapter XXIII. THE CALLAO GOLD FEVER. There could not well have been a more uninteresting voyage, than the one we made to Callao. There was about one hundred and fifty passengers on board--most of them young and wild adventurers. The master of the vessel had the good sense _not_ to attempt the game of starving us. Had he done so, it would have obtained for him an unpleasant popularity. We had no ground for complaint on the score of food. The principal amusement on board the ship was that of gambling; but it was carried on in a quiet manner; and we had no rows leading to any serious disaster. We had no particular excitement of any kind; and for this reason I have pronounced the voyage uninteresting. For all that, it was not an unpleasant one. I have no hesitation in asserting, that, with the same number of diggers of the pure Australian type, that long voyage, before its termination, would have resembled a "hell aboard ship." When we at length reached Callao, it was simply to find ourselves laughed at for leaving Victoria! We had left behind us a land of gold; and made a long sea voyage to discover that we had been "gulled." No one appeared to be at all disappointed. Every one was heard to say, "It's just as I expected!" I may have said so myself--I don't remember whether I did or not--but I admit now, that I thought myself "some" deceived; and I believe that each of my fellow-passengers felt something like myself: and that was, strongly inclined to kill either himself--or some one else--for having been so damnably duped.