In the “placers” of Mount Ophir, and of the Turon, where the profits and the workings were on a more moderate scale, there was less difficulty in preserving order and good behaviour. Captain Erskine, of the Royal Navy, who was there about the end of July, 1851, reports most favourably in this respect. The miners received him with the most perfect civility; order and good feeling was the general rule. Captain Erskine only saw one man drunk on the placers. The sale of spirituous liquors was forbidden, and the Sundays religiously observed. There even appeared some traces of regular industry. The neighbouring “placers” of Port Philip presented a perfectly different scene. There, mining appeared to be considered as a complete lottery. The coolest heads soon grew as wild as the steadiest--passions and extravagance broke loose in all directions. The consumption of wine, beer, and spirituous liquors was enormous; gambling tables, quarrels, and prize fighting, desecrated the Sundays. One man was quoted who placed a £5 note between two pieces of bread and butter, and ate it as a sandwich. Another rolled up two £5 Bank notes, and swallowed them as a pill. A third went into a pastry cook’s shop to eat a cake, threw down a Bank note, and refused to take up the change. The miners appeared to have no idea of the value of money; they bore their losses with the most perfect philosophy. One man, who had had a draft of [116]3760 francs stolen from him, and on enquiring at the bank, finding it had been already cashed, exclaimed, “Bah! there is no want of money now.”