ruth, of London, which left Plymouth a
fortnight before we sailed from Dartmouth. I hear already that
things are very dear in Melbourne. Our pilot says he gives 200
pounds a year for a small four-roomed cottage, two miles from the
town.

. . .

To show how well prepared the young adventurer was for life in
Australia,--notwithstanding letters of introduction and means of
obtaining money if required--after remaining only a few days in
Melbourne, and disbursing but a small modicum of the limited supply
of cash he had taken with him, anxious to see the interior of the
Island Continent, he obtained employment for himself and brother, a
lad only fifteen years of age, at a large sheep station two hundred
miles up the country. The following letter, dated February 12th,
1853, describes their proceedings to that date:--

MY DEAR FATHER,

We are at Deniliquin. And where in the world is that? you will say.
Well; it is about two hundred miles north from Melbourne, on the
Edward River, in the New South Wales district, and nearly five
hundred miles from Sydney. The station belongs to the Royal Bank
Company. We have engaged as shepherds at 30 pounds per annum each,
and rations. We are very comfortable, in a hut by ourselves, about
four miles from the station. We have between thirteen and fourteen
hundred rams, by far the smallest and easiest flock, under our
charge. We take the hut-keeping and shepherding in turns. The hut
is a very nice one, built of split wood, and roofed with bark. It
is close beside a pleasant creek or river, where there are plenty
of fish and ducks. I assure you we make ourselves quite snug here.
One of us rises almost as soon as it is light, gets some breakfast,
and starts off with the sheep; lets them feed about until ten
o'clock, then brings them slowly home, where they lie down until
four; after that, they go out again until sunset. The other stays
within to clean up the hut and prepare the meals. We can kill a
sheep when we like. [Footnote: Not the rams. There were a few
others kept for the purpose. I stayed a few days with them, when I
went out myself, at the end of the year.] The worst part serves for
the dogs, of which we have three--a sheep dog, and two kangaroo
dogs. [Footnote: They had a horse when I visited them, but not, I
conclude, at the time when this letter was written.] The latter are
good, and keep off the native curs at night. The sheep dog was the
only one the former owner had last year