Personal Recollections of Early Melbourne and VictoriaWestgarth, William
History
Personal Recollections of Early Melbourne and Victoria
Westgarth, William
Victoria -- Description and travel
About six months later I went again to Hamburg, this time to see the
first party away. They were in a good deal of trouble, for most of them,
in spite of all advice, had clung to old family lumber, things mostly
quite unsuited to Australia, and the carriage-cost of which drained
their narrow means at every stage. But, worst of all, the cholera was
then raging in Hamburg, and it attacked several of the party during some
few days, while they waited, under such shelter as they could improvise,
until the ship could take them. Delius and I visited them, to cheer them
with the near prospect of the sunshine and plenty of Australia.
A rather motley crew was this first German party landed at Melbourne. I
fear they were not all vinedressers. But the difficulty was to get them
to describe themselves as such, even when they were so. This was almost
as hard upon them as for an Indian Brahmin to write himself down a
low-caste Hindoo. Upon any pretence they would class themselves as of
some trade, and one, who doubtless expected great things from it,
entered himself, to the serious damage of our case, as "Doctor of
Philosophy." There was considerable difficulty and delay in getting the
grant. Mr. La Trobe helped us as much as he conscientiously could. Of
course, the said doctor had to be excluded, and others with him. But
eventually a substantial sum was handed to the shippers, sufficient to
encourage them to continue the business.
Several expeditions, larger or smaller, followed. I have no record of
their total. One of their great delights was the superabundance of fresh
beef and mutton. Our ever-active colonist, Dr. Thomson, of Geelong, who
took great interest in Germans, invited a party of them, just arrived,
to Geelong, where he gave them a supper upon the grass around his pretty
residence, killing and roasting a large fat sheep, and serving out
chops, and all the rest of it, ad libitum. One man was noticed to have
eaten a couple of pounds' weight right off, and no doubt he felt, in
consequence, like the boy in "Punch", just as though his jacket were
buttoned. My late esteemed friend, Mr. Otto Neuhauss, himself one of the
emigrating throng, although not of the very first party, gave me, from
his complete mastery of English, most material help in managing their
affairs. I had afterwards the pleasant duty of recommending him to our
first Colonial Secretary, Captain Lonsdale, for a Justiceship of the
Peace, to the great satisfaction and convenience of his co-emigrant
countrymen. I am under much like obligation also to Mr. Brahe, who long
acted, and I hope still acts, as a solicitor amongst the Germans.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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