Part 12 (1/2)
”At the present tie and Melbourne for threepence or sixpence, according to the class you select, but in the tiher If you wanted a carriage from here to the city, you would be lucky to escape for a sovereign, and a dray load of baggage drawn by a single horse would cost fifteen dollars There used to be an os and sixpence, but it was soular in its movements, and could not be relied on Nowadays the omnibus will carry you for threepence
”When a shi+p arrived and anchored in the bay the passengers had to pay three shi+llings each to be put on shore, and very often the boatht he could induce or coe was a separate one, and soe fro it all the way froe, a distance of thirteen thousand olden harvest for the boated in the transportation business,” Harry rereat many people had the sense to perceive that they had a better chance for a fortune by re to thewas uncertain”
”I suppose everything else was in proportion, was it not?” queried Ned
”That was exactly the case,” was the reply ”When goods were brought on shore they were loaded into carts for transportation to Melbourne, and the cart was not allowed tohad been paid for taking the load to the city The travelers protested and said they would not pay, but they generally did, as there was no other alternative When they got to the city they found the same scale of prices
”The poorest kind of a roo ten dollars a week, and a stall in the stable of a hotel which would accoht
Hotel-keepers ht have done so if they had taken care of their money I have heard of one hotel-keeper who had his house cra less than ten shi+llings a night for their lodging, while he had seventy-five lodgers in his stables, each of thereat round outside of the city to save the expense of lodgings They did not succeed altogether in doing so, as the government required thee of putting up a tent Everybody was anxious to get away froreat delays in getting their goods out of the shi+ps”
”I suppose you had no railways at that time to facilitate travel,” one of the youths remarked
”No; there were no railways and the only way of travel was by the ordinary route, and very ordinary it was in raded and land, but sih pathway, principally of nature's ullies, very muddy in the rainy season, and terribly dusty in the dry times Travelers went to the mines in all sorts of ways, soons, and if they had plenty of money, and were determined to have luxury and speed at whatever cost, they traveled by stage-coach An American firm, Cobb & Company, cae-coaches, first from Melbourne to the mines, and afterwards all over Australia Cobb's coaches are still running on some of the interior routes that are not covered by railway, but wherever the locomotive has put in its appearance it has forced them out of the way”
”I have read so on the road to the mines was not very safe in those days”
”That depended so,” was the reply
”Travelers going towards the mines were not very liable to attack, as they were not supposed to have anyfrom the mines to the coast The natural supposition was that an individualin the direction of Melbourne had 'made his pile' and was on his way home The country was infested with ex-convicts and men who had escaped from convict service in Australia and Tasreat nu the routes to thethe hills, or in the open air, and occasionally took shelter in out stations on sheep runs They supplied the sheep and cattle froons laden with provisions on their way to thethey obtained by the sa was discovered by the police it was almost invariably found to be well stocked with provisions and clothing
”These were the fellows thatto the coast The bushrangers traveled in gangs of all the way fro was led by thethem They used to 'stick up' solitary travelers, or travelers in groups of a dozen or s of the road or near the suenerally took their victims by surprise If a enerally left unharmed, but if he made any resistance, he was knocked senseless or shot doithout the least cos were so numerous that hardly a traveler escaped them Then there would be a lull in the business for a time and the road would be particularly safe
”Once a week or so, gold was sent down froovern and well-arold to the escort, paying a high preood many people used to accompany the escort for the protection it afforded, but the nuoverno in that way unless they paid the saold that they carried as was paid by those who shi+pped the precious overnment escort, and on several occasions they were successful
”It was a piece of good fortune that, as a general thing, the bushrangers were never able to agree with each other very long After a gang had been organized and selected its leader, dissensions arose very speedily, particularly as to the division of the spoil The leader always believed that he ought to have a larger share of the plunder than anybody else, while all the subordinate s should be divided equally In this way quarrels took place The captain would be deposed and another one selected, and he in time would share the fate of his predecessors
”Soers were quite faive the police a great deal of hard fighting On the other hand, the police acquired a high reputation for their skill in fighting and capturing bushrangers They were instructed to bring in their captives alive, if possible, but it did not injure their reputations at all if they killed the scoundrels on the spot The government wanted to be rid of the rascals, and frequently offered rewards for their capture, 'dead or alive'
”Whenever the bushrangers old dust it was divided as soon as possible, each enerally hid their booty in spots known only to theers were captured, the police usually proceeded to draw froold was concealed Naturally, the felloere unwilling to say, and if they refused to tell, various ive up the desired inforers and toes, or sub the means commonly used
”When ordinary er hand and foot, and then place him on an ant hill The black ant of Australia has a bite that is very painful, and when hundreds of thousands of ants are biting afearful The ant-hill torture was generally successful After subave up the secret of the whereabouts of his gold I do not ed in this harsh treatment, but it is certain that reat deal of stolen gold is concealed in the country bordering the road fros which will never be found Many of the bushrangers were killed while fighting with the police, died of their wounds, or in prison, orup the secret which would have enabled the authorities to find where their treasures were concealed Occasionally one of their deposits is found by accident, but there are doubtless hundreds which nobody will ever coreat deal of lawlessness in and around Melbourne in those days One afternoon a band of robbers took possession of the road between Melbourne and Sandridge, and 'stuck up' everybody who attempted to pass People were tied to trees and robbed, and for an hour or two the bandits were in full possession of the road They had one of their nunal when the police approached, and thus they were enabled to get away in good ti their victims fastened to the trees
”Once a shi+p was anchored in the harbor, ready to sail for England, with several thousand ounces of gold on board She was to leave the next forenoon, and was to receive her crew and passengers early in theThere were only soht a boat came to the side of the shi+p, and, when hailed by the lookout, the ansas given that two passengers were co on board Two men caers, and without any suspicious appearance about them
”While they were in conversation with the lookout and asking about the location of their roo in hisan outcry Then several other men came up the side of the shi+p very quickly, and one by one all on board were bound and gagged so quietly and speedily that they could not give the least alarm The robbers then opened the treasure-rooold, lowered it into their boat and roay They were not on the shi+p more than half an hour, and as no one caive the alar aith all their plunder
It was a very bold performance, but from that time such a careful watch was kept on board of the shi+ps that it could not be repeated
”A fair proportion of the successful miners kept their e nuold was to get rid of it as quickly as possible, and they found plenty of people ready and willing to help them in this work; and it was not infrequently the case that old, and their bodies disposed of in the most convenient way Most of the men who thus disappeared had no relatives or intimate friends in the country, and consequently their disappearance caused no inquiries to be ive up their dead, and the dead could speak, there would be a long series of fearful tales”
”Those bushranger fellows entleman paused ”What did the authorities do with theht any?”
”They disposed of theuilty of ainst whom murder could not be proved were sent to the hulks for life or for long terms of imprisonment”