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MELBOURNE,
AND THE
CHINCHA ISLANDS;
WITH SKETCHES OF
LIM IA,
AND
A VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD.
BY
GEORGE W. PECK.
Xclne%~orkt:
CHARLES SCRIBNER, NASSAU-STREET,
1854.




Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1854, by
CHARLES SCRIBNER,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the
Southern District of New York.
TOBITT'S OOMBINATION-TYPp,5
181 William st.
PRINTED BY R. CRAIGHEAD,'ESEY STREET, N. Y.




CONTENTS.
PREFACE.                                      3
INTRODUCTORY       -       -            -          13
MELBOURNE -                                        29
THE FOURTH OF JULY      -       -       -         126
THE CHINCHAS               -.           138
GUANO          -       -       -        -         197
LiMA                                              226
ROUND CAPE HORN        -       -        -         285








PREFACE.
THERE is a peculiar propriety in my inscribing this volume
to the friends through whose assistance I was enabled to undertake and complete the long voyage round the world. The book
may not answer their expectation; but I hope they will believe
that I shall always entertain a grateful recollection of their kindness.
Among the gentlemen to whom I was thus indebted in Melbourne, I may mention the name of His Excellency Charles Joseph
Latrobe, the Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Victoria, at
the time of my visit. I do so partly out of pride that as a stranger, in a city overflowing with adventurers, I should have such
occasion to thank him; and partly because I am sure that the




1V                     PREFACE.
mention of his name will have the effect of introducing my sketch
of Melbourne to the attention of a class of readers whom the title
of the book would not otherwise attract. I shall be quite satisfied if my account of the Australian capital be found to be written
in the spirit which characterizes the "Rambler in North
America."
To the Honorable John Randolph Clay, the Minister of the
United States in Lima, my thanks are also due for various hospitable attentions, to some of which I have elsewhere alluded.
Except the brief concluding section, and these few paragraphs,
the book has been wholly written at sea, with but scanty opportunity for seclusion, and only the short intervals of freedom from
interruption that a sea life affords. One necessarily goes through
a great many changes of feeling under such circumstances. His
own disposition varies with the state of the barometer, and he
becomes sensitive to the'little politics of the cabin.
I am afraid a book written in spite of such disadvantages will
be found to be very unequally executed-that I may have been at
times too gay, and at others too sad, too frank, or too cold. I
could not avoid speaking of myself; while my natural disposition
revolts from publicity, and I am too old and careworn to let myself out with the freedom which gives life to narrative. I have
gone through the melancholy history of one who has had no means
of life but literary labor. I have not always been able to meet its
trials with resolution-never in hope. But for a few old friends,
I should feel myself an outcast in the world.   *    *    *   *
Enough of this. Only let it excuse me wherein (possibly) I may
have shown something of a reckless and chafed spirit in the following sketches.




PREFACE.                           V
Such are all the indulgences I would ask. For the rest-for
the truth of my pictures, I can only appeal to the evidence of those
who have visited the scenes described. And as to the literary
merits of my work-the critics, (who may remember the corps of
the Black IIussars) have now an opportunity to cut off a straggler
from the camp.
New York, April 5, 1854.








PORT PHILLIP BAY.
-   MELBOURNE








MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
THIS Tuesday, the 19th day of July, 1853, the good
Ship Albus, Capt. M. B. Gregory, of Marblehead, Master,
is in lat. 42Q S. and lon. 154Q E. from Greenwich, and is
steering S. and by E. half S., under top-sails and fore-course
and stay-sail, with a strong squally wind nearly abaft. In
other words, she is east of the southern extremity of Van
Dieman's land, and is heading for the straits which separate the two southernmost of the three islands which con.
stitute New Zealand, through which it is intended she shall
pass into the wide islqndless waste of the South Pacific —a
path until lately seldom traversed, except by explorers and
whalemen. She is on her fourth day's sail from Port Phillip Heads, which she left last Friday, the 15th. On Satulrday, as fine a day as ever was seen, she sailed through
B3ass's, Straits, and among its numerous beautiful rocky




14        MELBOURNE, AND THE CIIINCAS.
islets and islands, on many of which, whose names are
never heard in America, there are large farms and even
considerable villages.  On " Deal," one of the "Kent
group," we saw what seemed a comfortable country residence, standing among trees, with a lawn in front, in a
valley sheltered by hills; here was a light-house nine hundred feet above the sea. The wind was light that day, and
as the ship passed within two miles under the headlands,
the view was quite enchanting. The square-roofed country
house, just such as we may see plenty of up the Hudson,
or near Boston, showing its chimneys through the strangely
wild Australian pines and shrubbery, the deep green of
the smooth open land, the lofty and almost perpendicular
bluffs which surround the island, nowhere more than four
miles across, and away in the blue sea, in a region where
our home-bred fancies never stray at all, or people only
with kangaroos and cannibals, altogether formed a scene
to make one think how little any of us can know of the
world in one short life-how vainly in the flow and change
of time, we pride ourselves upon our knowledge even of
what is absolute and real.
But the ship is now upon the ocean, on whose brow
time writes no wrinkles, and which, though always changing, is always the same.;Being in ballast only, and without
cargo, she rolls deeply in the swell; the wind is getting up
and the barometer falling; the grooved cabin table forms
a plane of all possible inclinat;ons, except the one parallel




INTRODUCTORY.                   15
with the horizon; the boil of the foam is singing through
the dead lights of the state rooms, and surging far astern
in a broad white wake, above which the albatross are swinging; the cabin stove-pipe has "fetched away;" the stew.
ard has decided that no pig shall be slaughtered to-day;
it is twelve o'clock; the Captain has retired from the
deck without an observation; another eucre party is made
up; and the author hereof sits down at the other end of
the cabin table to begin this book-this wonderful book
of travels and observations and sketches, beginning with
MELBOURNE, the new golden city-all of which, if it is ever
completed and reaches the booksellers' shelves, is to delight the " reading public" at home, some time next spring.
I flatter myself I shall be the first to have written of this
new El Dorado; besides which the various incidents of
long voyages are interesting.  But I am not a journalkeeper. To consume paper with the little events that make
up readable diaries, is one of the things I ought to have
done, but have left undone. Nor am I aught of a sailor;
with candid humility I must confess to having reached the
antipodes in a sailing ship and not learned how to use sea
terms correctly. Never mind!  Sailors may smile; I
shall write, and-as the Italian singer was wont to say
when the audiences hissed him-" getti de moni."
My labors begin here to-day, and the grand work, if
written, shall be done before I reach home, under what
difficulties those mav picture to themselves who have tried




`16      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCAS.
a similar experiment., If I speak of " sitting down" to
write, when " holding on" would have been quite as appropriate, I shall, nevertheless, write; I have promised my
friends a book. There is, too, a pleasure in these pathless
words-a companionship in the art of recalling and narrating. It helps to preserve one's identity. It keeps me
in mind that I am not Captain Cook, or Sir Joseph Banks,
or Lieutenant Wilkes, but only a wandering " member of
the press."
WEDNESDAY, 20th. —After a late dinner yesterday, the
eating of which required sufficient gymnastic exercise to
insure its digestion, the wind continued rising and at the
same time hauling southward, until in the evening it blew
a strong gale, with heavy squalls from the S. S. W. The
ship being so light, lay over and rolled fearfully, though more
easily than might have been expected. At nine o'clock we
were under close reefed main top-sail and fore-sail, the fore
top-sail having been split in a squall an hour before. We
passengers began to think of the probabilities of the ship's
I" shifting ballast," " broaching to," and the like, not without some reason; for she is so light that lying-to in such a
wind must take her down almost to her beam ends, and if
she were to scud before it for twenty-four hours, we
dreaded being jammed on the coast of New Zealand two
hundred miles distant.  We "turned in" (literally, for
there was no such thing as getting in any other way)




INTRODUCTORY.                   17
early, and I fell asleep, wishing myself in Boston jail; and
strange to say, was dreaming pleasantly of things that happened long ago, when a more sudden lurch than usual
nearly pitched me out of my bunk about two o'clock in
the morning. I went on deck; the moon was shining, the
cloud squalls driving over in grand masses, the sea running
mountains, the wind not a wind, but a fierce pitiless Power,
triumphing in loud victory-in screaming excess and rageover the treacherous deep, the ship a mere bit of driftwood,
no one visible on deck but the second mate and the two
men at the wheel, the rigging howling, or rather shrieking
that sharp prolonged shriek which when seamen hear, they
say " the drummer and fifer have come on board!" (burlesquing what is too horrible for direct comparison;) add
the consciousness of being in a remote ocean, the nearest
coast the least known of the southern large islands of New
Zealand, inhabited doubtless by tattooed Maoris, with more
taste for the white man's body than his literature; also
the other consciousness of being perfectly helpless, and
with no better claim on the indulgence of Providence thanw
the thousands who have found rest beneath stormy seas;
add, also,-but I was too cold and sleepy to have a " realizing sense" of anything, and so after a brief space I " turned
in" again. In the phrase of Lord Bacon somewhere
quoted, I rather "noted" than " liked" it. Before morning
we had some fierce hail squalls, after one of which the hail
lay three inches deep on the lee side of the deck; but I heard




18        MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCAS.
nothing till breakfast time. At that hour the cabin group
would have presented a study for an artist. At 2 P. M.,
the wind still continues a gale, and the sea is tremendous,
though the squalls are not so violent as they were during
the night. Our position to-day by observation is in lat.
44Q 141 south, and lon. 1610 east from Greenwich.
FRIDAY, 22d.-The gale was so severe yesterday that I
did not feel in the humor of writing. The squalls grew
more frequent and heavy, the glass refused to rise, the sky
looked thicker, more sails were split, Kangaroo, the halfnative dog took to howling, plates got smashed, the
cook " blasphemed," (so the second steward informed
us,) and there was a general "turn in" after an attempt
at an early dinner. For myself, though blessed with as
good a constitution that way as most, I cannot sleel
twenty-four hours out of twelve to conform to any state of
the weather; so I rolled in my berth two hours by the
ship's bell, though they seemed to me two eternities, and
mentally reviewed my " past history," and " present condition," and " future prospects." I thought of
-" bliss forever lost,
Of fair occasions, gone forever by
Of hopes too fondly nursed, too rudely crossed;
Of many a cause to wish —yet fear to die."
Though I neither court or avoid, and least of all would




INTRODUCTORY.                    19
discourage such a habit of thinking, yet it comes to me
often enough in the natural way; and sometimes I fancy
I get more than my share of it. Accordingly I now endeavored to create a diversion by sketching out various
plans to be pursued in the production of this remarkable
work. But none of them suited. I am  convinced that
this rolling and pitching and quivering, even when it does
not cause sea-sickness, weakens the power of the mind. I
feel my brain oscillate up and down against the pia mater,
and am occupied with so many varieties of the sensation,
that there is no concentration or logical sequence of ideas.
I turn on the will, as many atmospheres to the inch as the
cranium can bear; still there is no regular action. A few
revolutions, and the engine stops, reverses, starts too fast
or too slow, and produces no available result.  After
many such trials I have resolved to write on, in a mighty
maze, entirely without a plan, just as the Miltons and
Shakspeares of our day write verses.  This frame of
mind comes all the more irresistibly upon me from my having left Melbourne so recently, where I am sure no man
can preserve his sanity long without careful effort.
Thus I lay musing and half-dozing, until a sudden row
on deck, followed by a decided change in the angle of my
berth, disturbed me, and I climbed out of what I had
pitched into, and, emerging, found written on the slate on
the cabin table the following:



20           MELBOURNE AND CHINCHA.
"3 P. lMI. Lat. 440 58' S., Lon. 162 53t E. Bore up
for the North Cape.  Finding it very rough, and our
sails giving out, think it prudent to go to the Northward.';
So we are not to attempt the South Pacific at this season (mid-winter!) How very sorry I am!  Perhaps we
may be obliged to stop at some one of the islands for water
or vegetables.  Very well.  It is the first time this long
while I have felt a thrill of romance.  I feel it to-day; the
wind blows fresh, and we are swaying along with topgallants set, and yards braced sharp up, direct for the
North extremity of New Zealand-thence for the great
Pacific archipelago and the calmer seas and more genial
breezes of the tropics.
SATURDAY, 23d. —The wind continues fresh with oc.
casional squalls. It has hauled a little more aft this morning, and we are ploughing through the surges finely, with
just such a motion as a horse would have at a canter, if
horses were as large as ships. The sky is magnificent with
piled up clouds, and the strong breeze crests the deep
blue waves as far as eye can see.  We are now nearly
abreast of the northernmost of the New Zealand islands;
two days more, if the wind holds, will fetch us round
the North Cape.
It is impossible not to feel exhilarated. I fancy sailors
acquire something of their gallant and reckless dispo



INTRODUCTORY.                   21
sition from unconsciously feeling that they control, and
thus identifying themselves with the motions of the ship.
It'is certainly the proudest and grandest motion that can
be attained, and so lifelike that the vessel is a living creature. I leaned over the head a long while this morning,
watching the foam and the heaving waves, and the far-off
horizon; and dreaming of the beauty of the world and the
strangeness of life. Such moments, when we lose ourselves in nature, are the sleep of the reflective faculty, and
they infuse new vigor into the soul. No art can convey
what we experience in them; it is the efflorescence of the
spirit; the fruit must ripen afterwards. When I think
of attempting to repaint such oceanic panoramas I smile
at myself, a sickly.smile, and my heart grows small. I
am constitutionally too fond of speculation.
WEDNESDAY, 27th.-As I foretold, we doubled the North
Cape of New Zealand, day before yesterday.  About forty
miles from the Cape itself there is a group of islets
called " The Three Kings," in sight of which we passed
at nightfall. Yesterday we were becalmed all day; but
I could neither write or play the violin in the cabin while
the men were holystoning the poop deck. In the afternoon
we had a passing call from a school of black-fish, whose
nottled backs made them seem like a herd of cows grazing
in a meadow. To day the wind is still light; the ocean wide




22        MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCAS.
and blue. I have no perpetual sense of its boundlessness.
As I look back upon my voyagings, it is as- when I have
travelled inland.  Sometimes I have gone through deep
woods; these are the storms. Then we have passed over
high rolling uplands; in clear strong breezes —through a
broken rocky country in squalls; and on such days as this
across broad plains.  The sense of infinite expansion is
greater in looking off upon the ocean from a promontory,
or in casual glimpses from the turnings of a country road.
Another odd effect is, that while I feel the poetry of the
ocean, and the health-breathing spirit of it, my mind perversely recoils from it. I have a' craving for everything
that is in opposition to it; for metaphysics, for example, or
esthetical reveries upon music, and the like. I am a living
witness to the truth of the saying that " calum nonz animnun
mutant, qui trans mare currunt."  Let no one take a long
voyage to forget-to court oblivion. The Lethe does not flow
into the ocean; I doubt if there be any such river at all.
But out of all this wondering at finding oneself under a
new heaven, and the excitement, and dread, and expectation, and! general upheaval of the elements within, there
may come " strength for what remains." Last night the
moon ascended over long, soft outlined ranks of clouds,
and the Southern Cross stood clear in the mid heavensemblem of patience, and hope, and mercy.
Travellers have great facilities for making themselves
acquainted with remote countries. HIere is a view of New




INTRODUCTORY.                   23
Zealand taken on the spot by one who nearly circumnavigated that group. Its accuracy will be vouched for by all
my fellow passengers. It will be perceived from it that
the land is generally high and apparently barren, if not
rocky.
THE THREE KINGS,
BEARLNG S. E. 14 xnzs.
SUNDAY, 31st.-For the last three days we have lain-to
in a severe gale from the south-east-dead ahead. I think
I may boast hereafter that I have heard the wind blow.
It has not wholly abated to-day, but the sun has come out
-we are moving ahead a little with a reef shaken out of
the main top-sail and course, and newly-repaired fore-topsail and fore-sail all braced aft; the ship has just pitched
out of the inkstand I hold in my hand a blot upon the page
which the Printer cannot imitate; altogether affairs are,
as the Melbourne phrase is, more "' serene."




24       MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCAS.
SUNDAY, 31st. —" When two Sundays come together" is
not after all an impossible condition. To-day we pass the
180th degree of longitude east from Greenwich in lat. 330
south, and now begin to reckon longitude WEST. Here
we fuse two days into one to correct for the twelve hours
we have gained since passing the Greenwich meridian.
But since New York is in 73~ west, I have come 253
degrees, and am sixteen hours and forty minutes ahead of
Trinity clock-to say nothing of having spent nearly two
winters in the year. The distance home seems quite short.
It is only 107~ of longitude, and from 33~ south to 41~
north-in fact, the distance is nothing, as Mr. Micawber
observed, "comparatively speaking."
WEDNESDAY, 10th. —After a week of fair weather, and
leading winds generally light, we had another heavy blow
come on yesterday afternoon, which lasted during the night.
I think the gale was for a few hours yet more severe than
any we have experienced. Sleep was out of the question.
At noon to-day it had died away to a light- breeze and
now we are knocking about in almost a dead calm, under
a thick misty rain-everybody in excellent humor, of
course, after the night, and with this delightful motion.
At dinner we stuck to the cabin floor, like so many flies
on the wall of a room. The second steward, last night,
coming down the cabin stairs, allowed the perpendicular
drawn through his centre of gravity to fall without the




INTRODUCTORY.                   25
base, in consequence of which seven out ot ten coffee cups
went " to smash."
We are in about 400 south and 141~ west-nearly half
way across the great Pacific, whose beautiful islands lie
leagues away to the northward. I have had hopes of our
stopping at Easter Island; but unless we have winds
not likely to blow here, I must resign them and content
myself with our very satisfactory survey of the coast of
New Zealand.
Let me here record that one day last week, I caught a
cape pigeon and have stuffed his skin for preservationwith what success remains to be seen.
FRIDAY, 12th.-This morning we have been rolling along
with a strong breeze under courses and double reefed topsails. At breakfast the sun was out bright, and the ocean
wide awake, dancing under us in dark blue mountains,
flinging spray from their snowy summits all along the misty
horizon.
A little before ten, we made a sail about a point on the
weather bow; the first we have seen. She kept off, and
we passed several miles to windward of her after dinner.
We are to day in Ion. 135~,- lat. 36Q nearly. Since dinner
the wind has risen and we have had some very heavy
squalls with rain. The crew are now close reefing the
main top-sail, the fore top-sail having been split, and the.ourses furled before. In half an hour or less, we shall be'2




26        MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCAS.
lying-to, most probably in a gale and a very heavy sea;
a state of things it may be pleasant to read of-in case we
survive it and the others that may succeed it. Otherwise,
geologists estimate the average depth of the ocean to be
about five miles.
MONDAY, 15th. —We are to-day in ion. 1200 lat. 390
south, a fine br'eeze, as much as we want, well aft. In the
last seven days we have come nearly fifteen hundred miles;
and if the wind holds as it is a few days more, we shall
probably make Callao in a fortnight. But farewell to the
Cannibal islands! I have come down to the great waters
but have seen very little of their wonders-not even a
whale, except a thin spirt just visible one day afar off,
which they say was a spout.
WEDNESDAY, 24th.-For nearly a week the wind has
been dead a-head, and we have run southward of our
course. Yesterday we were in Ion. 1200 nearly, and still
down in lat. 370. To-day it is cloudy and almost calm,
and we are creeping slowly over a gray, hazy ocean. A
sail is reported from aloft, far away on the starboard bow;
but I have not been able to makeoutanything from the
mizen-top.
FRIDAY, 26th.-The same wind and much the same
weather. Yesterday morning a sail, supposed, from  her




INTRODUCTORY.                   27
course and the boats on her quarter, to be a homewardbound whaler, crossed our bows and went out of sight on
the lee quarter. About noon another came in sight to
windward, which finally luffed up within far speaking distance, and passed under our stern. She proved to be the
bark Laurens of New York, bound, as well as could be
understood, to Baltimore. She appeared full, and was
probably from Callao.
SUNDAY, 28th.-A fair wind at last. The ship is rolling
and pitching along over a heavy broken swell, at the rate
of seven or eight knots an hour, with her nose direct for
her port of destination-only eighteen hundred miles distant. We have now splendid sky views; the clouds have
the softened straw colored tints peculiar to the great ocean,
and the sun-rises and sun-sets are almost unnaturally splendid.  Sometimes long lines stretch away to a horizon
~ilmost boundless. At others, the piles of vapor reach up
immeasurably overhead, so that the whole heavens appear enlarged. The moon is almost at her change, and
the Southern Cross passes its meridian early in the evening
over our starboard quarter.
TUESDAY, SEPT. 6th.-The fair wind lasted but a few
hours. Days and weeks pass on and bring nothing but
calms and light contrary winds. We are now about eleven
hundred miles from  port, in lat. 78~ south, and lon. 87~




28        MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCAS.
west, the nearest land being the island of St. Felix, two
hundred miles westward. The sun has scarcely shown
himself these four days. Several sails have been seen far
away; one is in sight this morning far to windward. Two
fin  back whales gave us a passing look-one of them I
saw; he was quite near and must have been a large one;
sixty feet long, we judged. M[ost of the time the ocean is
just deepened in hue by a light ripple, and we scarcely
feel its-sleepy breathing motion. Drowsy, dyspeptic, discontented.
THURSDAY, 8th.-Last evening came the long wished-for
fair wind, and to-day we are running with studding-sails
set, right before it. There is only a long gentle swell, and
the breeze is steady like the trades, which we should suppose it was if it came from a few points east instead of
west or south. We now average a fin-back in the distance
daily, and the schools of porpoises are frequent enough to
prove that this part of the ocean ought to be well educated.
SEPT. 14th.-Anchored in Callao Roads.




I.
ME LBOURN E.
MELBOURNE is situated on the north side of and two
miles inland from the head of a nearly land-locked circular
bay, about forty miles across. On the left of this bay,
about midway, is the harbor and town of Geelong-a
young city, numbering already nearly thirty thousand
inhabitants, and beautifully situated in a fine agricultural
district. The bay is sometimes called " the Bay," and
oftener "Port Phillip," which was originally the name of
the Colony, and is not now the name of any particular
place; perhaps it will be most convenient to style it
Port Phillip Bay."
The ship Plymouth Rock, in which I sailed frorn Boston on the 18th of February, anchored in the immediate
(29)




30        MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCAS.
harbor or roadstead of Melbourne, (Hobson's Bay,) on the
afternoon of the 20th of May. We had made Cape Otway,
the first land we saw of the coast of New Zealand, early on
the morning of Monday, the 16th. This Cape, on which
there is a light-house, is at the entrance of Bass' Straits,
and is about ninety miles southwesterly from the entrance
to Port Phillip Bay; that day we made about half the
distance, and stood off and on under a light wind during
the night. In the morning there was a heavy fog and
almost a dead calm; the wind continued very light the
whole day, and when we reached.Point Nepean, at the
entrance of Port Phillip, about four in the afternoon, there
was just air enough stirring to keep steerage way on the
vessel, while the strong tide took her through the narrow
channel-not more than a mile wide for ships. It was a
fine afternoon, and the apparently grassy field around the
lighthouse on the bluff two miles to the left, with the half
dozen or more vessels at anchor in the bay, had quite a
home look after a long voyage. Presently, in answer to
the signal, a pilot came on board, who instantly became
an object of as much curiosity to our seventy or eighty
down east gold-seekers, as if he had been a veritable
ornithorhyncus paradoxus, instead of a live Englishman,
with a face deeply scarred by the small-pox. The con.
trast of his voice with the nasal tones of " down east," was
quite remarkable.




MELBOURNE.                    31
At nightfall it became calm again, and we came
to anchor under the high land, called Arthur's Seat, in the
east channel. The calm  continued all next day with a
heavy fog; we had the anchor up but did not make ten
miles. About midnight a little breeze rippled the still
water, and we got under weigh, and proceeded slowly up
the bay, till, as the day advanced, we came to anchor, as
aforesaid, in the afternoon. On the left, going up, the
land is low and flat, except some distant and isolated highlands; on the right it is higher, but the curves of the hills
are gentle, and the view presents nothing striking
It was near sun-set when our last sails were furled, and
we lay near -the lighthouse at Williamstown-one among
a fleet of more than three hundred mostly first class vessels,
that lay around us in the bay, or rather the mouth of the
Yarra-Yarra River, called a bay. On the right of this
bay, is the tent-built village of Sandridge, and two miles
beyond it in a direct line, Melbourne, the smoke, and the
two principal church towers of which we could see. Melbourne is on the north bank of the Yarra-Yarra, which,
after leaving it, makes a complete bend, or "oxbow," of
ten miles or more, flowing westward in passing the town,
and eastward at its mouth. WTilliamtown, at the mouth
of the river on a point directly across from Sandridge, is
on the south, though on the same side with Melbourne; little
steamers run to and fro fiom here to the city round the
bend, almost every hour of the day.




32        MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCAS.
After we had anchored, the Customs and Health Offi.
cers visited us, and we were then told to make ready for
going ashore early in the morning. Accordingly next
morning found us piled on one of the miniature tug steamers that ply about the bay; boxes, chests, trunks of all
imaginable shapes, mattrasses, bundles of spades, and
other utensils for gold-digging, and passengers, all so jammed up, we had just room  to stand.  We passed, I
remember, a ship recently arrived laden with one of Mrs.
-Caroline Chisholm's invoices of young women for the Colony. Several of the fascinating creatures appeared leaning
over the bulwarks, and waved their handkerchiefs in answer to the cheers of Jonathans, trebly gallant after a
three months voyage. One of the papers afterwards, I
observed, in speaking of this fair ship load, characterised
it as a "well selected lot."  And truly some of them
whom I saw in the streets, did appear well fitted to become the wives of shepherds, and tamers of wild men and
wild continents-tall, strong English girls, six feet high,
with simple healthy faces, and immense ankles, stepping
three yards at a step. Several of them would have made
a sensation in the streets of Boston, where the health and
complexion of young women are less regarded than their
"intellectuality."  I could not but fancy these rosy colonists thronging to hear infidel sermons and coming home to
argue thereupon over cold baked beans! And how would
the lady of my affections, the landlady of the "' Hedgers,"




MELBOURNE.                    3a
who gave us rump-steak pie enough for three at a meal,
uplift her hands in pitying horror, could she behold upon
what meats, or rather what deprivation of meats, the overconscientious New England mothers in our villages, nurse
their broods of consumptive undervoters!
I shall not attempt to describe the dirt, noise, and
"hideous combustion" in which we were emptied upon
the wharf. Some of my readers may remember years ago
fighting for their valises with Albany haakmen; it was
nothing to this. Only here the difficulty was to know what
to have done, and how to find any one to do it. I questioned a decent looking stranger, and followed his advice.
It being impossible to have my luggage taken to any public house, I had it stored near the wharf at a shilling a
week per parcel, in a thin shingled house, along with about
five hundred cords of other trunks, bedding and the like.
It cost eight shillings (two dollars) more for cartage, and
the things might as well have remained at home for all the
good they did me after they were stored. In respect of
linen, and all that, I was in advance of the age, even in
Melbourne-which is saying something.
2*




II.
I PRESUME all Americans who visited Melbourne last
summer, must have been struck with the first view of the
town, looking east from the market place across the valley
through Collins street. This is, or was, the Broadway of
the place; it is very wide-much wider than our Broadway-and as it curves down the valley and rises on the
other side, just as Broadway does from Leonard to Canal
and thence to Houston street, only that the curve is shorter
and deeper, the whole of the busiest part of it is visible at
once. There are many city-like buildings upon it, and it
is lined mostly with retail shops. As I Walked down towards the Argus office, which is on the rise at the other
end, I could almost fancy myself in New York. Perhaps
this inmp)ression was aided by my seeing many faces whilon
(34)




MELBOURNE.                     35
not unknown  in         street, and elsewhere.  And
here let me observe, that I never had any particular horror
of the sporting gentry on account of their profession. I
have known many good fellows in that walk of life-men
whom I would trust as soon as others, except in the way
of cards. That I myself never gained may be owing more
to circumstances than to any power of resisting the temptation to do so. And besides, it is almost impossible to
succeed in the world as a gamester without imbibing a
taste for the fine arts, and a habit of counterfeiting the
manners and conversation of gentlemen.  On the whole,
therefore, I think the society of enterprising gamblers, those
who do business on an extensive scale, I mean, and take
an honest pride in their calling, far preferable to that of
many who are engaged in less hazardous speculations.
My face was probably as well known to several gentlemen of this class whom I saw ifi my first walk, as theirs to
me. I could scarcely help smiling occasionally, a sort of
half smile of recognition, as much as if I had said in the
memorable words of Grimaldi, " Little boys! I see you!"
-particularly when my eyes lighted upon Eben, of Boston,
learned in the law, whose footsteps no more gladden the
corridors of Tudor's Building.
Collins-street runs parallel with the Yarra-Yarra river,
and is built upon for nearly.two miles, reckoning from beyond King-street west, to the other extremity east, towards
Richmond. It is the third street fromn the river. The first




36        MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCAS.
is Flinders-street, if street it can be called, which is generally a slough. Then comes Flinders Lane, where at the
time of my leaving, it was reported that soundings had been
obtained through the mud, at thirty fathoms. This, however, was thought to be an under estimate for the average
depth. Then succeeds Collins-street, Little Collins street;
Burke and Little Burke; Lonsdale, and Little Lonsdale;
Latrobe-and so on. The little streets are narrow, the
others very broad. These are intercepted by streets rising
north and south, making rectangular squares or " blocks,"
like those in the upper part of New-York; thus from the
east are King-street, William, Queen, Elizabeth, Swanston,
Russell, Stevens, and I know not how many more. These
are built upon at an average distance of more than a mile
from the river, and some of them, Elizabeth and Swanston,
for example, are the finest in the city.
Even the space included -in the above would form a large
town, but over stocked as it is, and bursting out into innumerable avenues of tents and shanties, it does not contain
more than half of the popula.tiorn. Over the height of land
to the north-east is Collingwood, already an immense suburb; and I wish I could show the reader, as in a panorama,
how the tide of human life is flowing over the wide green
plains beyond-green at mid-winter, and over shadowed at
the base of the distant hills by the evergreen foliage of the
park like gum-tree forests. Eastward, through the spacious
and beautiful St. James' Park, along the banks of the




MELBOURNE.                    37
Yarra-Yarra, is Richmond, another arm of the city; and
beyond it St. Kilda and Brighton, on the bay. Across the
Yarra-Yarra, over the splendid bridge, the most imposing
public work the city boasts, built of stone, with a single
arch, of one hundred and fifty feet span, is Canvastown,
a city of tents, Emerald Hill, and Sandridge-the latter of
which it is no exaggeration to say, doubles its population
as often as once a quarter.
When it is remembered that every building, hut and tent
was crowded with tenants, it may be imagined how animated the principal streets of the business part of Melbourne appeared to a " new chum " just from a long lonely
voyage. Collins-street, as I passed down it the first morning, was as thronged as Broadway. I stopped on the Elizabeth street corner, and took an observation. Long teams
of as many as twenty yoke of bullocks to each, were drawing single wagons up and down —giving one a not too favorable impression with regard to the state of the roads out
of the town. Rough horses, the roughest and shabbiest
that can be conceived, were cantering to and fro, ridden by
men with long boots, stuck far into short stirrups, and who
seemed to urge their forlorn beasts along by jumping in
their saddles, and elevating their elbows. Heavy chaise
carts, and dog carts, horse killing vehicles, unknown in the
United States-ponies with errand-boys, and dray-carlt
with veteran hacks, in the last stages of decline, filled up
the middle of the street. Upon the side-walk wats a no-l




38        MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCAS.
ley throing, all with busy faces and "speculation" in their
eyes-a few clean and well-dressed, in the English fashion,
Melbourne exquisites-the major part a mixture of jockey
and farmer, with long boots or gaiters, and loaded whips;
merchants with eager calculating eyes, Jews of all nations
and combinations; swells of low degree, Parsees and Chinese, sportsmen, convicts, or those on whose tell-tale countenances, " jail-bird," was plainly written (of those there
was no lack)-a few well dressed ladies, in long skirts
draggled with mud, servant girls and such, policemen in
blue uniform, escorts in ditto, with white facing, now and
then a soldier-and so on, down to the unshorn, unwashed,
almost undressed rabble, whether composed of disappointed
diggers, or what, I know not-but exhibiting some of the
lowest and dirtiest specimens I ever saw in my life: There
was, at least, so I fancied, a head-strong reckless energy of
movement in everything. I seemed to feel as if a great
stream of life were dashing by in a torrent-loud, violent,
impetuous, uncontrollable. It was impossible not to be sus.
ceptible to the sympathetic influences of the scene. Though
I had no hope of making money, and consequently nothing
directly in common with the throng of wealth seekers, and
was indeed occupied by much more vexing cares, I could
not help feeling a sort of factitious vitality. "Sessa!"
methought, " Let the world slide. This week is at least
mine, and I will revel in observation."




III.
I THINK I under-estimate the population of Melbourne
and its suburbs, during the month I was there, as an average of one hundred thousand souls. Of course there were
thousands daily passing upward to the mines; but there
were thousands also returning, and every ship-load that
arrived left its residuum in the city. All its immediate
neighborhoods were encampments. The whole vicinity was
overspreading with the devastation of human presence,
like an oasis in the desert on which a locust swarm has
lighted. The simile is not a forced one; for wherever the
crowd of settlers had reached, there was mud and filthy
crawling creatures in old cloth es, defacing the natural green
of the primeval open land. I could not but moralize the
spectacle; wherever I looked, the earth seemed so fair, and
(39)




40         MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCAS.
man and his labors so vermin-like, that I felt vile. Is man
indeed the " paragon of animals," or only a parasitic insect,
a disease of the earth's cuticle, analagous to those species,
with whose fair proportions the solar microscope so appals
the shuddering sense?
The Yarra-Yarra is a narrow, muddy, winding stream,
which comes from somewhere eastward, and with its adjacent bottoms, occupies a large space in the map of Melbourne; partly on account of its being dammed below the
bridge, about midway of the front street, in order to afford
the town a supply of fresh water. The name Yarra-Yarra,
is said to be in the native language, " flowing, flowing;"
and the river is so named, because it does not dry up in the
summer, like most Australian streams. It is navigable for
vessels drawing ten feet of water up to the dam, though for
much of the way it is hardly more than sufficiently wide
for two vessels to pass abreast. The tide rises to the foot
of the dam, over which there is a fall of about four feet,
designed to keep the fresh water of the river (which is as
much discolored as that of the Ohio in its high stages,)
from the salt water of the bay. But I observed that the
water is pumped out, to be carted about the town for five
shillings per load, at the foot of Elizabeth-street, a little
above the dam. The whole sewerage of the river slopes of
the broad streets of the upper part of the city, therefore,
flows towards the Yarra-Yarra, though it may be partly
diverted by a cross sewer; and I heard of extensive sheep




MELBOURNE.                    41
washing establishments further up, towards Richmond. At
all events, just above the bridge, there were always grooms
riding in horses to wash; and the gutters of Swanston and
Elizabeth streets, flowingi towards the river, were not by
any means the cleanest gutters in the world; it was rare to
walk that way of a morning without seeing several dogs
in them, in various stages of decomposition, and generally
as many more, just alive, suffering from a singular distemper, then prevalent in the town, as mortal to dogs as the
plague to men. Often, when disposed to quaff a draught
of the " flowing, flowing," have I " mentally ejaculated," as
Laura Matilda would write, "Heaven preserve my stomach from the braes of Yarra!"
But I know not why I should be so severe upon the poor
river, which doubtless does its best to keep itself clean,
when the whole town ought to be characterized as the paradise of the Dirty Club. Much of its want of cleanliness
must be set down to the account of its situation in a region
of mud and dirt,-the crowd that overwhelms it, and the
eagerness of its people to reap the golden harvest every
moment as it ripens. But Jonathan is certainly neater than
his elder brother-not in his person maybe, but in his "fixings," his appointments. He contrives to have everything
more comfortable about him. He may not build so substantially; he may talk through his nose, and chew tobacco
out of doors, but at home he is under a government that
obliges him to be rather particular. One may see the dif



42      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
ference on going from  the States into any English
colony, or in any of our large manufacturing towns where
there are operatives enough from Birmingham or Manchester to occupy a quarter by themselves. English tourists have often noticed the neatness of the dwellings in our
cities. Perhaps it is owing to differences in climate and
constitution; our continent has not the insular fog; we
are not so universally accustomed to the use of bituminous
coal; we are more excitable and sensitive; less thickskinned. However it may be, the general fact is indisputable.
I do not think a Yankee population could by any force
of circumstances, short of actual vis major, ever sink to the
Melbourne zero of discomfort. If they did, they could not
long survive it. In all the new towns of the west, and in
California, wherever they have migrated, they bring in
their wake clean food and beds undefiled. True, I was
but a month in Melbourne, and that in the best season; I
did not experience one of the dry hot winds they speak of
which blow in summer from the great unexplored deserts
when the dust gathers like snow inches deep through the
chinks of closed doors and windows; I saw enough to
excuse much, however, in the mud. Still, justice must be
done; and in point of cleanliness, Melbourne, by her own
confession, must be found wanting. She has acquired colonial habits, and unless she speedily reforms, she must
suffer for them in the health of her citizens. I am sad




MELBOURNE.                    43
when I think of the probable consequences of the present
or past state of things continuing through many sultry
seasons.
The history of my first few days in Mlelbourne will show
what all who visited it had to encounter on arriving. My
first essai was for the Argus office, to the editor of which
journal, the only one heard of in America, I intended to
offer a full file of the New York and Boston papers of the
date of my departure. The office is, comparatively speaking, a somewhat imposing range of cement-covered houses
on the right hand of Collins street, and beyond the valley
to the East. It was not without considerable difficulty
that I was able to find a gentleman in the editorial department to whom I could offer my intended courtesy-which
was, however, at length well enough received, though quite
differently to what it would have been by any of our
offices at home. I may mention in passing, that all the
use the Argus ever made of the papers, was the insertion
three days after of a paragraph of ship news, relative to
the sailing of the Bavaria from New York for Port Phillip; and it was nearly a week before I could obtain them
again, when they had ceased to be of any use to me,
though I had expressly requested that they might be returned after the news had been " cut " from them. But
of the Melbourne journals hereafter.
By dinner time I was quite tired. But having no place
in which to sit down, except the bar rooms, I wandered on




44        MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCAS.
until one of my fellow-passengers met and conducted me
to Passmore's Commercial Hotel, where many more of
them were to dine in the saloon afterwards used for the
Fourth of July dinner.
In the afternoon we found a room where we could all sit
together; but this was quite as fatiguing to me as walking. So I wandered forth again, to inquire for some reasonably quiet accommodations, for Passmore's could only
afford a " stretcher " for the night. I met at the Shakespeare some young Boston merchants, and after tea-in the
shape of a cold mutton pie at a baker's shop-followed
them and two or three gentlemen who had come with me
in the Plymouth Rock, to the Metropolitan, the American
hotel par excellence of Melbourne, and which could boast
a civil bar-keeper, who was at least a graduate of Tammany Hall. Here we spent an hour or so congratulating
ourselves and being congratulated on our safe arrivalw,
though I was so fatigued I could scarcely keep ilny eyes
open. I should have said that through the noise and excitenllent I had slept only in snatches since we entered the
Bay, and in fact for several nights previouls — olr youthfull
gold-hunters having, in the overflow of their joy at seeing
the land where most of them  will probably leave their
bones, indul,ed in midnigiht clal-ivaris till they were
stopped by " request " of Captain Caldwell.
At the hotel we kept it up as well as we could till near
eleven, and then were shown in a body to our sleeping




MELBOURNE.                    45
apartment-the concert or dancing tiall of the house. Here
we bestowed ourselves, forty or fifty of us, as it happened,
some on settees, some on the table, some on " stretchers,"
or frail narrow cots, and others on the floor. I thought
myself " cute " in appropriating and defending my claim
to a stretcher. Alas, it was a foot too short! and worst
of all, I had hardly got into a sound sleep after the general
row, sleepy wit, groans, wise remarks, and all that, had
subsided, when down came the head of my " stretcher,"
and I was obliged to tack ship to avoid congestion of the
brain. I did not seem to have slept at all, when I woke a
little after daylight, and started with a few others to go
over to Canvasstown and visit our mining friends who had
encamped there. I think I was never so completely fagged
out in my life. The morning was fine, but I could just
drag my limbs to the nearest tent, and throw myself upon
some bedding, when I slept almost at once, a heavy leaden
sleep, from which I woke some time in the forenoon, a little
less fatigued, but unrefreshed. I adjourned to a large
tent on which was painted "EUROPEAN BOARDING AND
LODGING HOUSE.)" It was divided into two compartments,
one for eating, the other for sleeping. I got some " tea,"
(Gunpowder, by the taste,) and among some old books in
a corner found, strange to say, the remnant of a Virgil,
with which and the " tea," (horresco referens! but it was
at least hot,) I amused myself until dinner time-the first
two hours of actual repose I had experienced since leaving




46       MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCAS.
the ship. After it I gained courage to go over to the city
— intending to return to lodge at night.  Perhaps it was
well I did not, for the next neighbor on the contiguous
row of beds to one of my fellow-passengers died during
the night; and when the " insatiate archer" was aiming
so near, he might, like Billy Kirby, not have "allowed
for the wind," in which case this invaluable work would
never have been written.
As it grew towards evening I began to argue with myself whether it were better to suffer the ills I had, or fly to
others which I knew not of. It was come to that pass that I
had but one desire left-to sleep. The European Boarding and Lodging House did not promise much. I looked
in at the Royal Hotel, which appeared to be the leading
mercantile house-fell in with an American citizen, a man
of the world, whom I fancy to myself smiling as he reads
this, and on his recommendation I engaged a lodging
there, and awaited the hour of retiring full of cheerful anticipation. Alas! how seldom does the event realize our
fondest anticipations of future bliss!
They gave me a bed in number thirteen-an ominous
number. There were three in the room-narrow, iron,
with bars a foot apart running athwart-ships, occupied by
three sufferers, two besides myself. It was cold; the covering was insufficient; the whole arrangement too short.
Hark! what was that?-A mnusquito? It is-a chilly
rmusquito, too cold to hum  and dying of hunger. And




MELBOURNE.                     47
thnere is another-and another-and another-no end to
them! I wrap my face in the soiled sheet and doze. Ha!
what is this? Can it be possible that there are fleas too?
It is-not only possible, but undeniable. In thousandsmyriads. Farewell sleep-the innocent sleep. I thought
of Job, and Regulus, and the Chinese torture. I got out
and shook the sheets; laid my body out and swathed it in
them. In vain! I tried the floor: I was pursued. The
bed again; and so tossed and groaned out the night-a
night longer than the winter nights at Spitzbergen. A
single flea will wake me at any time; I had rather be stung
by a wasp; but now their name was legion, and I dare
say I afforded them an agreeable change of diet. I shall
never forget in what agony I looked for daylight through
the flat window in the roof, (the room was an attic;) how
I hailed the first faint gloaming, and spun out the thread
of my patience till I could distinguish far below, the cheerful bar bell. Then I rose and cooled my swollen eyelids
with a spoonful of Yarra, combed my locks with my fingers, donned coat and hat, descended, and with a desperation of manner and voice that admitted of no denial, ordered Mr. Jones to furnish instantly for my refreshment a
" spider!"
Such was my introduction to RMelbourne. In the afternoon, beginning to faney J gould not survive much longer
without rest, I went tto au apoathecary and prescribed for
myself nine Dover's powdersa, such as they still cross ha.




48        MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCAS.
bies wltn, had them put up in three pills, got myself
through special favor put up into a single-bedded room,
took my pills, rolled myself up in my boots, and-slepta long, refreshing sleep, from which I woke late next day,
a new man. After this I retained the same room all the
while I was in Melbourne. It was bad enough-an attic,
half-furnished with a narrow camp bedstead, rickety chair
and table, cold and never clean, though Jane the convict
girl, a good-natured creature, beloved of John, used to
wash it daily, so that it was seldom dry. The mosquitos
vanished as we approached the midwinter month of July,
and the fleas either gradually retired, or which amounted
to the same thing, the surface deposit accumulated on their
victim, where washing is impossible, to such an extent that
they annoyed him no more. I had no luxury of repose, it
is true; the month was altogether a most uncomfortable
one, as will appear incidentally; but, like the camomile,
which, the more it is trodden on the faster it grows —so
the human plant sometimes thrives best in discomfort
and anxiety.




IV.
ROUGH, loud, and unquiet as thou wert, O city of the
Antipodes, ungently and inhospitably as thou receivedst
strangers-thou Melbourne, from whose bourne few travellers return-I yet remember thee as a cheering dream.
I saw with regret the green plains around thee, and the
distant hills grow blue and low on the far horizon. Even
as I write, my thoughts go back to thee not as to a locality from which I have escaped, but as to a city where, if
I could have forgotten the affections and duties that seem
to call me homeward-if I could have let the good-bye that
I bade my mother been the last in life, or if I could have
been content to feed my soul forever with the image of
that ideal lady, my heart's mistress, whose realization I
3
49)




50        MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCAS.
am sure I shall never behold out of my native land, and
probably never there-I could have projected myself into
a life of enterprise, and lived out my hour as unforebodingly as the rest ofthybusy multitude.
The site of Melbourne is beautiful. That is hardly the
word either. It is magnificent. The lines of the landscapes around it are in long undulations open to the sky.
The heart of the town is a broad valley extending out
northwardly to more elevated plains. The higher portions
east and west overlook this valley, and around in the distance the view is bounded by the sea line of the Bay, and
the wavy outline of mountain ranges forty and fifty miles
away. The landscape seems everywhere to be laid out
upon a large scale; the views westward from the Telegraph Hill, or eastward from beyond St. James's Church,
looking over Collingwood, are especially grand and unique
-full of the character we image at home as belonging to
this vast remote region. They are antipodial, primevalglimpses of mighty solitudes, the ends of the earth. Whether their effect might not have been attributable to my
own preconception or to the natural surprise I could never
shake off in the effort to reassure myself that I was where
I was, is of no consequence.  Had they not harmonized
with such feelings, I could not have been so affected by
them.
I think the view westward from the Government House
particularly fine though the elements of it are the simplest




MELBOURNE.                     51
possible. On the left the bay and forest of shipping; on
the right the sloping curves of the Mount Macedon range,
fifty miles off, and intervening rolling forest plains; directly in front, a dead level extending from the base of the uplands of the city across immense green watery meadows,
more than half lake, but not marshy, for they are dotted
with herds of cattle-to green plains where the eve can
distinguish here and there a shepherd's station; thence onward over I know not how many miles of perfect flat to an
outline broken only by the Youang Mountains, which rise
from it like islands from the horizon of the ocean. To my
apprehension there is a decided character of lordliness in
the outlines of these hills; they repose on the plain with
the air of a giant resting on his elbow, and gazing unconcernedly over the illimitable waste of the Southern Pacific.
I could never look towards them, as they are seen from
the east and west streets of Melbourne, without experiencing an awakening sensation; I could not bring myself to
fancy them inanimate. At the hazard of the seer and
sketcher's reputation, behold them retraced from memory.
TE YOUANG MOUNTAINS.




52        MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCAS
The plains, it must be remembered, are as unbroken as
here represented; but no sketch can give the effect of the
distance, the immense green level, and the airy blue of the
mountains.
Round the northward the mountains are higher, but less
characteristic; the principal are the Macedon range, and
farther inland, the Dandonong, and for aught I could ascertain, the gold-encircled summits of the Korong —glorious names for the old monarchs of these ancient wildernesses.
Beyond -Collingwood north-east, the view extends over a
grassy plain of several miles in width, over which the tide
of human population is spreading like the debris of a
mountain torrent, to the base of similar nameless highlands
-or more directly east to vast level forests that merge
into or overspread the " Great Swamp" that lies along
and is of equal extent with the Bay.




To the south-east, across the Yarra-Yarra, is the Public
Garden of Melbourne, one of the most interesting localities belonging to the town, and one which will long afford
a beautiful testimonial to the taste and good sense of its
leading inhabitants. Indeed, both in this and in the laying
of its streets, the Melbourne fathers appear to have been
guided by a prescience of its golden destinies. It was not
without a sense of shame that I asked myself why has none
of our great cities at home a public garden? (for the green
at the foot of Boston Common is but a flower-pot in comparison.) Htere was a new town, in a remote colony,
never heard of till the gold discoveries, and yet its people
qj. 




54        MELBOURNE, AND TI-IE CIINCAS.
had a garden, an ample space-three hundred acres at a
Yankee guess —filled with rare trees, shrubs, flowers, evergreens, cacti, &c. from all parts of the world as well as
those peculiar to Australia —enclosing a wide marshy
lagoon half covered with reedy brake and populous with
waterfowl-in a most beautiful situation-its walks all
open to the public-a spot where no one can walk without
growing more sensitive to the beauty of nature, and acquiring a taste for healthful and natural excitements, instead of the hurtful and factitious-one which would be a
curiosity in any of our oldest and richest towns, and which
would prove a greater attraction to inland visiters than any
that most of them possess, and a natural antidote to the
only vice we are afraid of: —all this the Melbourne citizens had, while we have been ornamenting only a few cemeteries and cultivating the single virtue-a plant sickly
and unfruitful even when brought to maturity in our
northern climate. I confess the first visit to Melbourne
Garden humiliated me as much as it interested. I halfdoubted if the star of civilization had not risen in the South
before it began to culminate in the West. But this is
growing didactic.
It was my first Sunday after arriving-a raw misty day;
the uncomfortable sitting-room of the inn was deserted; I
was alone, chilled and dispirited, without books, and unfit
to appear at church. Of the country around, I had seen
nothing. I had heard of the Garden, and more to weary




MELBOURNE.                     55
myself and kill time than in the expectation of being interested, I set off through the muddy streets in that direction. Though the day was so unpleasant, there was quite
a crowd of well-dressed people crossing the bridge-chaise
carts, horsemen, and all sorts of characters passing to and
fro between the city and Canvasstown.  The view fiom
the bridge includes the busiest portion of the city, and the
whole of the shipping of the smaller class with which the
river is filled below the dam. The incessant clang of the
chimes of St. Peter's Church, to my ears, apart from its
associations, very disagreeable, as well as the manner of
riding, most of the horses being trained to go at a canter,
and other numberless little differences, were no less observable on this day than any other. Still, with all their
tearing, clumsy energy of movement, most that I met wore
open English faces, and appeared as they do on Sundays
in New as well as Old England.  They looked more domestic than the multitudes one sees in the vicinity of New
York at such times-and as I threaded my way among
them I was conscious of an old fashioned home feeling-a
half-awakened reminiscence of ancient Sundays in the
country in Massachusetts.
Leaving the bridge, I passed two or three large enclosures containing long rows of small tenements appropriated
to "IHouseless rEmigrants;" these belong some to the
Government, some to the Emigration Society, and some to
the Wesleyans, and probably other associations; they




56        MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCAS.
afford some accommodation for lodgers at a shilling a
night, and for poor families and females-of course they
do not lack tenants. Turning to the left beyond these, I
walked on over the open hill. The grass was smooth and
green, though not turfy, the soil being generally dry and
hard, or wet and slippery. The Public Garden lies between and around a valley running up between two long
swells or alluvial rolls of land, one of which I passed over
and around, to the entrance on the side of the other. From
the upland, the picture of the Garden, with its marshes
and prevailing dark green foliage, is singularly imposing.
I wish I could give an idea of the effect of the strangeness
of the vegetation, both in and around it, to an altogether
unaccustomed eye. The gum trees at a distance have the
effect of a stately open forest-an old poetic wood, with
broad shadows and sunny glades, and clouds of verdure,
high and swelling, and " echoing walks between " —such
a wood as we sometimes see in old paintings or in views
of ruined castles, where there are herds of deer reposing,
or Diana and her train are coursing in the moonlight.
They realize to the eye the ideal forests of Mrs. Radcliff,
or if one is more cheerfully disposed, the classic environs
of Belmont, where Lorenzo and Jessica sat together. The
trees standing far apart on ground as smooth and green as
if it had been laid by a roller, there being no frost to break
it, and no undergrowth whatever, the foliage of small Willow like leaves not beginning till twenty feet or more from




MELBOURNE.                     57
the ground, and then rising with a goodly outspreading
stature-the combined effect, when  seen  from  away is
superb.
But distance lends enchantment. Near at hand, the
gum tree is as unsightly as in distant masses it is beautiful. The huge trunks all appear dead; the thin bark
hangs in shreds upon them, and they are cracked, gnarled,
bleached, full of decayed crevices, unpicturesque nodosities
and tuberous contortions. Their trunks and limbs have
but one character, with unimaginable variations, of ugliness. They grow like enormous weeds, without symmetry, and without stateliness, in great shapeless trunks rising upwards in potato-like forms thirty feet or less, then
sprawling into crooked and equally shapeless branches,and all ending suddenly in shoots and leaves quite too
small for fair proportion. If they were straighter, they
would resemble trees in very old wood cuts; if their
trunks were smaller they would be like bushes; as they
are, their upper portions appear like parasitical aftergrowths, engendered upon the half-decayed ruins of larger
trees. The shoots radiate outwardly in umbrella-like clus.
ters, ending in the foliage which from afar seems so grandly massed, but from beneath is seen to be thin and scrubby. This description will answer for most of the forests
inland on the roads to the diggings. Never was there a
greater misnomer than to call it " The Bush;" it is much
3*




58        MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCAS.
of it composed of the white and red gurm tree, and if it
were not for the mud, might be traversed by carriages.
In the Black Forest, which lies among the spurs of
Mount Macedon, fifty miles to the north-west, about halfway to the Mount Alexander diggings, the growth is
closer, and there is more variety in the woods; but even
here the growth is by no means dense, as in the forests of
our Northern and Middle States. On the heavily timbered mountain ranges also the gum trees grow straighter
and larger, sometimes averaging more than a hundred feet
under the branches; but the undergrowth is never thick.
Besides the gum, there are box, ebony, Australian pines,
she-oak as it is called, and many more, all having in their
growth and foliage the singular look of dreariness and antiquity peculiar to the southern portions of New Holland.
The she-oak and pines grow about Melbourne in the vicinity of the Garden and elsewhere. They are not so large
as the gum, and their bark and trunks resemble the fir and
cedar. The former has for leaves thin clusters of dark
green, dry, filaments, a foot long, like very coarse grass,
and at a little distance looks savage enough. I could
never see it without thinking of kangaroos and boomerangs. The sound of the wind through it was like whispers from an old world, c" out of space, out of time." In
almost every one the tea-plant, a sort of Australian mistletoe, had established itself and mingled its dark willow



MELBOURNE.                     59
shaped leaves with the clusters of filaments that stand out
like quills upon the fretful porcupine.
All these woods are useless for timber, and they are so
hard and cross-grained that they are not easily cut for
fuel. The red gum is principally used for that purpose in
MIelbourne. It is too crooked to lie still when corded, and
is sold usually in little conical loads at three and four
pounds sterling for what might perhaps make half as
many cord feet. It burns slowly, in a smouldering fire,
but gives out much heat.
The Garden contains, I presume, specimens of all the
indigenous trees and shrubs, as well as many from the East
Indies and from other continents. I supposed those most
frequently occurring to be the natives. Nearly all were
evergreens; or were at least in full leaf in the winter
month of June. The most curious were probably from
northern regions of the continent, or from the neighborhood of the great swamps, which occupy a large space on
the so uthern coast, and of whose extent it is difficult to
form an idea. One to the southward of Melbourne, on the
right of the Bay coming up, is sixty miles across; into
others great rivers from the interior flow, and lose themselves without ever finding an outlet. Conceive the legions
of mosquitos, frogs, poisonous snakes, lizards, and thousand noxious nameless things-the acres of pelicans,
cranes, ducks, swans-the air that must brood over such a
tract! Out of these impassable morasses spring myriads




60       MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCAS.
of rushes and reedy plants, and tall dense underwoods unknown in drier regions; and around their margins and on
their quaking oases, stand stately groves, covered with
dark unchanging verdure, and realizing in their forms the
solemn romance of this wildest region on the earth's
surface.
The Garden contains such a morass-not on a very
small scale either. There are long walks around it, and it
is fringed with cany bushes, through the openings of which
it appears half covered with reeds. From around the hill
where it may be overlooked, it is seen to be peopled with
wild fowl, mostly a species of small duck, which swim very
rapidly, and with a movement as if they were walking on
the bottom; they could not even quack, I observed, in a
natural manner. There were also other fowl of whom I
caught occasional glimpses in the reeds, and who every
now and then startled me with their hoarse outlandish
screams. In an enclosure on one side of the lake were
some black swans, confined there by a paling, and their
wings clipped, in order to prevent them mixing among
smaller water-fowl, with whom they do not live happily on
account of incompatibility of temper. Their bills are bright
red; they sit gracefully on the water, but their long, slender necks look almost snaky.
I was most interested by the trees, of the strangeness
and beauty of which no description can convey an idea.
It was not the season for flowers, and there were few in




MELBOURNE.                     61
bloom. There were roses, however, and I trespassed so
far as to pluck in one walk a sprig of verbena. The botanical labels were attach'ed to the trees and plants generally
where not torn off, and doubtless gave much useful information respecting them; but scientific knowledge in that
branch is reserved for its professors, and for young ladies,
to whom a fair acquaintance with it may be an extremely
graceful acquisition.  But I could gaze upon the trees,
many of which would be at home the rarest exotics, and
feel the poetry of them without knowing their names, or
their family history. They were of many singular forms.
Some were twisted and covered with fine long hair-like
yellow foliage; others were piny or with cedarn leaves;
some were close round masses of soft furry green, like
huge asparaguses-some high, and yet as thick as box.
One of the most beautiful species had leaves like the catalpa, but smaller and darker, and it stood up with its
leaves outspreading in symmetrical layers, in the form of
an inverted top or rounded cone, seeming to challenge the
world to produce a more perfect specimen of that variety.
There were many of this sort, all with the same character
of rare elegance. I observed every visiter of the few that
were in the Garden, stop to look at them. They were by
no means lively; their forms were too purely graceful and
withal too dark to wear a cheerful expression. Their
beauty was that of high-bred Spanish ladies or rather that




62       MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
of the music of Donna Anna in Mozart-noble, tender,
serious, lovely.
The picturesque effect of the Garden was very impressive.  The fine slopes of the long valley looking towards
the town, the sickly fens and lake overshadowed by the
verdurous hillsides, covered with paths with flower-beds
and trees such as above described; around the Garden
the lordly gum trees filling up the distance towards Richmond and St. Kilda, and half emnbosoming many beautiful
English villas and cottages-compose a landscape as
strange as it is striking. In the flower season it must be
much more magnificent than in winter. I may be peculiarlv sensitive to the language of inanimate nature; I believe she "never did betray the heart that loved her,"
though I could never find in her that perfect consolation
which the poet promises. But that she excites my mind,
and tears it from  the contemplation of past ills, "rash
judgments, and the sneers of selfish men," and fills my
spirit with new capabilities, as well as amuses me for the
moment, I believe as potently as Wordsworth could set it
forth. I shall never forget the glimpses the Garden afforded me of the infinite variety and beauty that there may be
here upon this common sensible earth, or how insignificant
my own little experience of life seemed to me as I walked
among these wild and glorious forest trees of an unexplored continent. The sombre day, the serious landscape, the
wondrous evergreens, the lofty park, the sense of ancient



MELBOURNE.                    63
ness and remoteness, combined with the evidences of home
like refinement-I think I feel it yet. I feel with what a
mighty tread the footsteps of English civilization advance
over the earth. I think too of the ages that had swept
over these wild valleys before they heard the sound of an
English voice; —and I feel as Adam might have felt in the
primeval garden, before the immediate presence of the
Creator. I am alone-the old affections have passed away
-my former life is a dream-nothing is left but a sinful
soul, that is soon to be called to the judgment. Kyrie
eleison!




THE climate of Melbourne m the winter months, though
not without some unpleasant weather, is in general exceedingly fine, and to persons in good health, it must, I should
suppose, be invigorating. There were many days in June
when a fire was needed, and very many uncomfortable by
reason of rain, mud, and dusty winds. But the cold,
though disagreeable, chilling one through and through,
did not take root in colds; those who are obliged to encounter it as thousands were, almost unprotected, will at
first give themselves up for lost, and very soon wonder at
their impunity. Either the air lacks the cold imparting
quality, or the changes are too sudden to permit it to act.
It certainly has a dryness even in its very wetness. WThen
(64)




MELBOURNE.                    65
it rains, the sidewalks are soon muddy, the crossings overflowed and unfordable by people on foot; in a few hours
the wind will shift, the sidewalks will be like porcelain,
and a fine dust will be blowing. The nights are much
warmer during the fore-part than towards morning. With
all this there are many beautiful days, Indian summer-like
in temperature, and with to the eye very r. uch such a
veiled atmosphere, though it is much more bracing. On
such days I was charmed with the landscape.
Some of our passengers who came to avoid bronchial
and pulmonary diseases at home, were much discouraged
at first; but we heard that most of them took courage.
This is, I believe, the general experience. But notwithstanding what was said, and that I, who am as subject to
cold as an ordinary mortal, escaped, I think no one who
feels anxious about his lungs ought to expect benefit from
such a climate.  The very dryness of the air, while it exhilarates and braces up the body, draws also upon its
vigor. It seems to withdraw its moisture and wither it
up. Most of those who go there from other climates, and
who are not unusually robust, look worn and fatigued after
a few seasons; their limbs drag, and their voices retreat
to the back of their heads, and are like those of men talking in dreams; their hands are cold, their skins enamelled.
This effect is common enough to be generally observable.
Others there are whom the climate seems to have strengthened and made to grow like the gum tree, evermore




66       MELBOURNE, AND THE CIIINCHAS.
coarser and uglier.  And there are robust Englishmen
in the prime of life, and men of adventure, captains and
travellers, independent of climates; and Englishmen, too,
who in point of physical energy make ours appear almost
an inferior race. The general mass of the English population exhibits anything but feebleness, and proves every
thing but that the climate is unhealthy. But this must be
owing less to the climate than to the habits of living, inherited and local. The mother country is an excellent nurse
to robust children, and a colonial life keeps up strength
and vigor where they exist. To an American also, who is
accustomed to see people aim in public at elegance and
the attractions of beauty, as our men and women do, however wide they may come of their mark, the look of an
English town, where the men endeavor rather to look
strong and the women dignified, their natural advantages
in these respects will appear magnified, and he will begin
to fancy himself among a race of giants. This was at
least my experience in Melbourne.  But Melbourne then
held a floating population of " swells " of the heaviest order, assembled from all Christendom. On comparing notes
with sundry English as well as Americans, we all found
that our ideas of human expansion were daily enlargingthat London or all Scotland could produce nothing which
could top the impudence of sundry "' new chums " who
were daily arriving. One, who took the Royal Hotel by
storm, and awed the entire breakfast table into admiring




MELBOURNE.                    67
silence, with eloquent thunder, strangely haspirated, was
in three days working on the streets. Of course it was
not easy to distinguish between this class and acclimated
residents.
But all residents agreed that winter and its mud was
the pleasantest part of the year, and incomparably more
endurable than summer and its hot winds and dust. The
hot winds at Sydney are described in Wilkes; they are
experienced in the same manner at Melbourne. They blow
from the North, and last from one to three days. During
their continuance, the air is at a suffocating dry heat;
the grassy plains around the town often take fire spontaneously; business is suspended, and houses shut up as
close as possible. It is not easy to face the currents of
wind that blow down the north and south streets. Dust
gathers in a few hours upon furniture in closed rooms, and
on the faces of sleepers, to an extent almost incredible;
one gentleman told me that he had waked with it covering
his face like a mask, a quarter of an inch thick! But this
is only occasional. The general summer weather is more
tolerable. The mosquito and flea population of Melbourne,
however, is numerous, intelligent and enterprising. In the
bush and at the diggings, the place of the former is supplied by flies, who come in swarms almost equalling those
that vexed Egypt in the fourth plague. They are urnbearable at the diggings without veils; the thin coats of the
people who walk in the sun will be so covered with them




68        MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
that the backs will seem quite black.  They are large, like
our horse-flies, and small like our sand-flies; and are almost
fatal to unprotected eyes, producing an inflammation or
opthalmia that ends in permanent weakness or loss of
sight. The only relief is that they do. not pursue their
avocations, or volitations, by night.
At that season the country and forests are parched, and
the soil so sunburnt and indurated that carriages may travel for hundreds of miles in any direction into the bowels
of the land, as upon a macadamised road, and without the
slightest impediment.  Indeed it is usual to travel at that
season, and for most of the year, by compass, through the
wide forest country between Sydney and Melbourne.
The sheep and cattle stations of the farmers inland are
somewhat like plantations in the South- West, though but
little of the immense grassy plains in which they lie is under cultivation. The herds and flocks number often many
thousands, and are attended by shepherds, who must lead
a lonely life compared with that of our farmers.  As the
occupation has been anld still is the natural channel for tile
industry of the colony, and is not very laborious or difficult to get on with, it becomes tile last resort of immigrants
who have left home with far other expectations. The pri.
vate history of the Austlralin shephlerds, Hoosier-like as
many of them  appear, would doubtless form a striange
volume.  This indeed might be said of the gold-seekers,
with whom I believe the love of gain is a less frequent




MELBOURNE.                    69
motive than the wish to escape the thorn of some sad experience. It was a common saying in Melbourne that women
sent more to the diggings than gold brought there. Such
is the wickedness of woman. Still, for all that, we do not
utterly despise her.
The horses, and bullocks, as the English call them, instead of cattle or oxen, one sees about Melbourne, are generally an extremely ill-looking and apparently ill-fed and
overworked portion of the animal kingdom. The horses
stop, give out, and decline going any further, or as the
word is, "balk," or " jib " in Melbourne with a frequency
quite noticeable. They generally exhibit in their forms
any thing but the fruit of good living or careful grooming.
The vehicles they have to draw are mostly a species of
chaise cart built for a single beast, with a body like a huge
wooden knife tray, perched on springs like a baker's cart,
and having a front seat for two, and a back one or two
side back ones for two more.  These may be better than
our old cabs, but the roads and streets are much worse,
and the poor horses suffer.  Hay in the city is worth from
thirty to forty pounds per ton, and a saddle horse costs
from forty to fifty pounds; the expense for keep is about
seven pounds per week. Bullocks can be had for forty
pounds per yoke. Their yokes have usually bows made
of round three-quarter inch iron, which must gall the
neck cruelly; they are driven in immense teams, with




70       MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
whips twenty feet long, and clamor and needless noise, to
Colonial ears delightful-to mine not.
The escort horses are no better than those in general
use. But there are now and then fine animals belonging
to private gentlemen, who evidently pride themselves on
their turn-outs. I am not horseman enough to know what
may be its advantages; but the English mode of riding,
rising in the saddle, with short stirrups and great apparent
effort to get on, strikes an American as rather jockey-like
than becoming. Every one rides who can, and there are
always plenty of horsemen in the streets; the state of the
roads and streets rendering the indulgence of the national
taste a matter of necessity.  All riders are provided with
heavy whips, loaded at the ends of the short staves, with
with hammer-like heads of brass or iron-formidable weapons to look at, but unreliable, one would imagine, as a
defence against the pistol.
Mutton and beef are, of course, the meats most consumed. The joints and cuts look well in the butchers'
shops on Saturday evenings, displayed in the London
fashion; but it was a common remark that they were of
coarser texture, and did not possess the full flavor of similar meats at home. They do not come very high; a good
cut of roast or boiled, could be had at the chop houses for
eighteen pence, or three shillings New York money; and
if one patronized a certain zinc shanty on the market-place,
yclept the " Hedgers," acertained by the author hereof to




MELBOURNE.                    71
be the establishment affording the most and best cooked
food for the least money, he could have a vapor bath
thrown in, the confined unporous cabin being always
crowded at the dinner hour to bursting. I had, however,
a peculiar satisfaction in feeding there; the landlady was
a grand specimen of a partly Englishwoman in the Siddons style, and entertained a noble estimate of the powers
and capacities of the human stomach. I am sure she took
a motherly pleasure in seeing her customers eat. She had
a liberal eye and an open hand; she might have sat for
Ceres, or the impersonation of Abundance. There was
with her always plenty and to spare, and no niggardly
glances to poison enjoyment of it. A plate of soup was a
dinner; of rump-steak pie, reminding me of Scott's venison
pasties, it was a fortified mountain where you might march
up your forces, effect a breach here and there, and plant
your flag on the outworks, but could seldom raze the citadel. Blessings on the woman. I sigh when I think how
cruel fate has parted us forever!
There are good fish to be had in the Melbourne market;
at the Royal we had occasionally a sort of perch broiled
for breakfast, which was very good. Pork is also served
in its usual forms, though it is not so much eaten as beef
and mutton, and costs more. The vegetables I saw in
the market looked well, particularly the cauliflowers. There
were enormous carrots, nearly a yard long, and stout in
propolrtion. The onions were oblong, squeezed, perhaps,




72       MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
into that shape in growing through the adhesive soil.
There were also huge potatoes from New Zealand and
Adelaide, but they were seldom free from the rot. The
few turkeys and fowl did not promise much. Wild duck,
and other game fowl, were often hawked in the streets; I
remember seeing a boy with a brace of black swans.
But almost everything animal as well as vegetable of
native growth, has some little oddity about its shape, as
if it had run wild in this new continent. Oysters, such as
only Englishmen could eat, were hawked in and eaten raw
from baskets, at six shillings or more per dozen! Even
the shrimp, sold at five shillings a quart, had a young lobster look. I saw frequently opossums brought in on the
shoulders of sportsmen; they resemble raccoons, only that
they are smaller and grayish. If the inhabitants can ever
persuade themselves to eat what Frenchmen eat, they may
procure from the great swamps'and marshes an ample
supply of frogs, which are said to grow in those locations,
almost as large and loud-voiced as oxen.  Our New
York emigrants will be catching and broiling them-their
gourmand fellow-citizens at home, have long esteemed frogs
very delicate and chicken-like food.
WVhile the Albus lay at Port Phillip Heads waiting
for a wind, we pulled ashore one day near the light-house
to explore the country. Our Captain and most of the
seven gentlemen, my fellow passengers, being good shots,
considerable execution was done among the birds, on and




MELBOURNE.                   73
near the beach. The party bagged three or four, besides
frightening several flocks of swans that were passing over
out of distance. Each one differed from the others; one
was half as large as a duck; another, something between
a pigeon and a patridge in size and flight, was of a dark
color, except a small spot of the brightest green and gold
in the middle of its wings; most of them had the albatross
bill, and all were probably birds of the water or the
shore.
The beach was long and narrow. Behind it lay a
wide lagune ten miles up and down, and nearly as many
across, bounded by level swamps. It was as calm as a
looking glass, and was dotted over with water-fowl, which
were constantly flying from it overhead towards the bay
at sunset, when we pulled back to the ship. While ashore,
three of us who had no guns, came rather unpleasantly
near meeting with an incident. We had left our companions on the beach, and walked around by some pilot
houses or huts, to the lighthouse on the bluff, at the end
of the point, looking seaward. WVe had hardly reached
it, and were standing a few steps beyond the light-house
enclosure, when there was a sharp report not far off,
and a bullet whistled apparently within six feet of our
heads! We had just received a surly reply to a civil remark, from a man sawing wood-had met several uglylooking rascals, and seen other circumstances extremely
unfavorable to the existence of a high standard of social
4




74       MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
morality-of course we retreated. On passing a shanty
that stood on the bluff at no great distance we encountered
two pilots, one of whom had a rifle, which he had, to clean
it, he said, just discharged upon the ground; showing us
the spot, which was in a line with himself and the place
where we had been. But I had doubts; the man's eyelid
quivered a little; however, at the worst suspicion, he could
only have intended to discourage us from future walks in
that vicinity. But it was an "incident," almost; the second indeed we had that day, for D.'s fowling-piece had
previously gone off in his hands, in the cabin, sending a
charge of shot through a panel, from behind which the
second steward had but just moved. It was the merest
accident in the world that we escaped, for we were all
standing and sitting close around. But we did, and were
thankful for it. I, for one, have objections to being shot any
where, and particularly at Port Phillip. It would have
been an ignoble end. Let me die where I can show my
friends, that I go, not " like the galley slave, scourged to
his dungeon."
The point where we walked was partly overgrown with
trees,- chiefly of the gum species, and around the low land
and toward the beaches with thickets of underwood, the
most luxuriant and beautiful imaginable. We saw Corin
and Phyllis walking there at no great distance. But I
hunted in vain in every directicn for a stick which I might
cut as a memento. Neither tree or bough produced aught




MELBOURNE.                   75
but crooked, hard, and at the same time weak, half-rotten
twigs. The ground in many places was overrun with mangrove and tea-plant creepers to the depth of several feet.
In the warm season the pilot who brought us down said
the place was overrun with deadly snakes, which were in
such numbers that no one dared walk out after nightfall.
He told stories of their chasing people and all that-a
Connecticut man, too, strange to say; still I should avoid
the men ashore there sooner than the snakes. Snakes do not
sport rifles.
The range of elevated land called Arthur's Seat, on the
other side of the Bay, was said to be full of kangaroos;but I saw none at Melbourne, and imagine they are not
often hunted in the vicinity. At the diggings they sometimes stray in among the encampments, and are taken
without much difficulty. Those who had seen them told
me that the accounts of their fleetness are by no means
exaggerated. They use their short fore feet in springing,
but alight on the hind. No dog can overtake them going
up hill. The largest species are about' from four to five,
and even six feet high, as they sit or stand on their
haunches, and weigh from two to three hundred pounds.
The hind quarters, which are the only part used for food
except by the natives, who eat anything, contain three
quarters of the weight and strength. There is another
species weighing from forty to fifty pounds, and many inferior ones, down to kangaroo rats and mice and moles, all




76       MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
of whom are marsupial, wearing pouches, and shaped like
the large species. I know not how it is, but these animals
always seem to me, like the trees and plants of Australia,
to be the remnants of some far gone era of the earth's history —links in the chain connecting the living world with
the fossil. The very configuration of the land, the scarce
perceptible movement of the plains, the undisturbed composure of the mountains-all nature has the look of having
slept since the Creation; it seems to have brooded over
the past, and to be now, not fully awake, dreaming of
things to come.
Besides kangaroos, the emu, or Australian ostrich, is
not unfrequently seen in the neighborhood of the diggings
and within fifty miles of Melbourne. The forests in the
immediate vicinity contain a variety of beautiful little paroquets and large cockatoos and birds of paradise. In general the birds are less remarkable for song than for plumage.  There is among them, however, a sort of magpie,
and another singularly-voiced songster is quite common,
and known all over the country as the " laughing jackass."
A single one of these produces an infinite deal of noise.
He salutes the miners in the morning with a bray like a
donkey, followed immediately by a series of loud silly
laughs, not all alike, but as if half a dozen jolly simpletons
were laughing together. The likeness is said to be so natural, and so apparently hearty and spontaneous, that the
hearer can hardly forbear joining in the chorus. Six miles




MELBOURNE.                    77
is the incredible distance at which it is said this happy
mortal makes his mirth audible. If he can be taught to
let himself out at the right places, he will be invaluable to
future Australian comedians.  But he must first learn,
like Goldsmith's friend on the first night of " She stoops
to conquer," to take his cue from some Australian Johnson, who may be a long while coming.
I saw a few of the native savages in the streets of Melbourne. They are well described in Wilkes. They are
clad in blankets and trousers much like the Indians we see
at home. Their skins are deep black, hair straight, eyes
deep set and restless, bodies thin, legs bowing outward, and
like two bent sticks; altogether they are ugly and diminuitive, jealous apparently, but not wanting in intelligence.
I know not where Col. Mitchell saw the "brawny savage " hunting alone, whom he watched unobserved, and
so picturesquely describes. Probably only the meanest
and most degenerate visit the cities. They often come
about the mines and exhibit their corrobories orwild dances,
and their skill in throwing the spear and boomerang. I
take some pride in having been compelled to believe that
the accounts of what they can accomplish with the latter
weapon are not exaggerated. They can throw it with great
force and unerring certainty, and can make it crook its
flight, and even cause it to return to the thrower. How
they do it we cannot account for, any more than the showman could give the true reason for the penguins walking into




78       MELBOU{RNE, AND THE CHIINCIIAS.
the water up to his neck and turning round and walking
out again. The naked fact must be believed, however, if
any credit is to be given to human testimony.
At length did cross an ALBATROSS,
Thorough the fog it came; —"




VII.
IT was not my fortune to meet Mr. Micawber or his
distinguished son, Wilkins Micawber, Esq., in Melbourne;
though I encountered many who had evidently formed
themselves upon the senior gentleman's model; whose
every-day conversation might almost have sprung from his
own eloquent lips, or emanated from his facile pen. The
speech of the English Commercial Traveller, alias Bagman, will doubtless one day become the universal language.
The bagman penetrates into all regions, however remote,
where sales can be effected at a remunerative commission;
his object is to effect such sales; through him the producer
is not a producer only, but the maker of his market. He
(79)




80        MELBOURNE, AND THE CIONCHAS.
manufactures; the consumer consumes —but not fast
enough; the commercial traveller finds occupation in cramming him. He, in fact. produces the consumer. He combines; he separates; he gluts the market; he drains it;
he bulls; he bears; he elevates; he depresses-all the
while calculating his per centages in a little pocket-book.
He is ready to operate in any description of property, personal, real, or choses in action; coals, Colt's pistols, books,
brickbats, bullocks-he knows of a "party" who holds
them for a sum certain, and who will, if pressed, even fall
un-certainly for the sake of a cash transaction. This word
" party," is the bagman's shibboleth-his talismanic word
without which his whole species would vanish into the elements. With him, individual men or women are not persons; he knows and thinks of them only as " parties."
This word, which is in universal use in Melbourne, and
which I observed to be used in the same way by new arrivals from Glasgow, Liverpool, and London,* sounds oddly
enough to ears unaccustomed to the jargon of trade. A man
or woman is a " party," in Melbourne; and vice versa:-the
words are used interchangeably. "Excuse me, I was to
meet a' party' at ten-a gentleman from Sydney." " What'party' was that you were walking with this morning?"
(meaning what young lady.)  "You recollect, Mr. Jones,
the'party' I introduced you to. " etc., etc. The associaAnd by Dickens, writing in his own person. Query, is it from the




MELBOURNE.                      81
tion, of the word are extremely picturesque. I thought of
substituting it in the poets; as for example:"He was a party, take him for all in all,
I shall not look upon his like again."
"His life was gentle; and the elements
So mixed in him, that Nature might stand up,
And say to all the world, This is a party! "
"What a piece of work is a party? " &c.
" Parties of all sorts take a pride to gird at me."
"Of party's first disobedience and the fruit."
"A party's a party for a' that."
There are no viler words in any language than those in.
troduced from the forms of law and commerce. In this
particular one there is something so suggestive of contracts
and bargaining, as well as such a want of definiteness, that
it is singularly unpleasing.
There are many others in the Melbourne vocabulary, some
of which I heard for the first time from Yankees, on the voyage out; for instance the word " chum," which used to be a
cant word for a roommate in college, with the miners now
means generally a companion-one who occupies the same
tent, or is an intimate acquaintance.  A " new chum," is a
stranger who has just arrived; and by an old rule " new chum"
is also equivalent to " greenhorn;" he is a pigeon to be pluck4*




82        MELBOURNE, AND TIIE CIIINCHAS.
ed-an operation which they perform in Melbourne very
expeditiously. A fortnight, or even less, generally prepares a " new chum" to receive other " new chums" himself.
The word "mate," also means a companion or partner,
and is frequently used instead of Mr., as thus, " I say,
mate, which is the way to  -  street?"  " My word,
mate, it is true." The word is colonial, and sounds as
though it might have been originally used to mean each
man's next neighbor on the convict chain.
"'The which?" instead of "what?" when the hearer
does not distinctly understand what is said, is another vile
phrase to ears of Americans. As also the never omitted
phrase " mind ye," introduced in a peculiarly triumphant
tone, whenever one person sets another right; as, "I was
an hour riding to Collingwood."  "The which?"  "It
took me an hour to ride to Collingwood."  "Indeed'! "
"Ay, but mind ye, how muddy it was!"  IHardly any
answer to a question is complete without this " mind ye."
At home we never use it except to impress a command
upon children, or in a reply where we mean to be rather
positive, and crowing. It would of course be ill-mannered
to insinuate that there may be a spice of those qualities
congenital in what the Quarterly Reviewers are fond of
styling the "' British mind."
But that Mr. Micawber has visited Melbourne is apparent, not so much from peculiar words and phrases, as in
the manner and tone of intercourse generally. The rolling




MELBOURNE.                    83
oratorical voice, loud enough in common conversation to
fill an auction room; the magnifying lens of mind through
which all occurrences take on a fictitious importance; the
ah, in short, extremely inflated views of that gentleman in
all statements respecting his transactions and business
prospects, are as characteristic of the daily Melbourne
walk and conversation as they were of his. You shall be
introduced to a "party "-a gentleman; he asks you to
dine, " and be particular to come at four.;' You go punctually, and find the gentleman in a tent filled with second.
hand rubbish, a box to sit upon, and another for a table,
up to his ankles in mud, surprised to see you, and utterly
oblivious about the dinner. Perhaps he fishes up some
red ink which you must sip, for it is very choice claret,
(I intended to have preserved a phial of some shown me
by a friend, for Mr. Barnum.) After a reasonable while,
you, pretending only an accidental call, retire, thinking you
have learned something. But no, every day brings fresh
developments. All is unsubstantial pageantry, such stuff
as dreams are made of, and the " new chum " very soon
firom wondering, gives in to the deception and becomes
himself an adept. Language retreats completely away from
facts and circumstances; so that words no more represent
their original sense; where " tent" stood opposite to a
habitation made of turf and a few yards of canvass, speech
has slid down till the thing is a " house."  An " elegant
cottage-residence," may have descended to a stand for a




84       MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
boarded dwelling with two ten-foot rooms in it. A structure much resembling one of our powder magazines, becomes a "substantial mansion." Thus in everything to which
language can be applied, it has gone down, and there is no
actual standard relation between words and things. It is
a little awkward at first-like a Barmecide feast-but one
soon falls into the manner, and it is scarcely possible to
over-do it. I have not the slightest doubt, that all the
nuggets exhibited in the brokers' windows in Melbourne,
not the slightest doubt, " mind ye," are gold-or something else; they could hardly all be green cheese' that
would be too expensive.
Of course, in such a feverish state of affairs, the whole
conversation is of the town, the markets, the gold, the arrivals, the great losses and gains; and there is so much life
and excitement in it, that business becomes colored with
the warmth of fancy, and is no more plodding and careful,
but gamesome and reckless-like playing at business. The
very ones most engaged and eager in its pursuits are the
readiest to be amused at the parts they find themselves
acting. They laugh at the " humbug "-laugh, and keep
it up nevertheless all the same. Nothing can be more ridiculous to a mate in Melbourne, than to see the new chum
hurry ashore and pack away to the diggings. He gives
him advice how he must proceed, and helps him to render
his brief stay in the town agreeable. At first you will be
disposed to think the mate a most heartless and selfish fel.




MELBOURNE.                    85
low, because he does not attempt to dissuade the new
chum from his purpose. But do not accuse him too soon.
He does in effect advise the new chum by his own example, by a generally fair statement of the chances of digging,
and by informing him as to what he can expect to do if he
remains in the town. That he does not go out of his way
to dash at once the new chum's golden expectation, is not
because he does not compassionate him in his infatuation,
but because he knows there is only one cure for the complaint-the cure administered by a physician, whose remedies, if somewhat harsh, are the only effectual ones, and
whose name is Experience. There is no conspiracy in
Melbourne to delude people into going to the mines; quite
otherwise, there are plenty ready to demonstrate the folly
of it-and it is not too much to say that a person of fair
perceptive abilities can hardly get through the city on his
way to the mines without knowing that his chances of success are very small-that he is entering upon an expedition
where thousands fail, and very few make profit. But what
is.the use of telling this to " parties " who have the fever
on them? All such true and unexaggerated statements
only aggravate the disease. Go the infected must, if they
have just the means to get there.. While the wind is blowing that way, human effort might as well be opposed to a
gale in the South Pacific. Each one's energies are sufficiently tasked in withstanding it himself. I confess that I,
who am least of all fitted for such a life, and whose tastes




86        MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
all incline to books and the arts and quiet, would not have
been sorry to have gone up for a while with a mining
company, had fortune and whole limbs permitted. It is so
natural to adopt the feelings and imitate the doings of those
around us.
The speculative mania has come upon Melbourne "ere
she was'ware;" and she has hardly recovered from the
surprise. Thousands of her citizens, of whom hundreds
could be said with peculiar truth, to have done whatever
they had done of good " by stealth," awoke one morning
and blushed to find it-wealth, if not fame. The town
that had been for years a coarse agricultural place, all at
once overflowed and effervesced with new animation. Its
elements no longer cohered, but separated into a state of
fluxion and transition-the crystallization which is to fol.
low has not yet arrived. An exotic population has all at
once transplanted itself here, and almost hidden and outrooted the original growth. The town has almost lost its
municipal individuality; the greater part of its inhabitants
are so new, so mixed-up, and so busy with their personal
affairs, that they take but little interest in civic affairs.'
Hence one of the things that first strike Americans, especially those from our cities, is the indifference and insincerity apparent in the discussion of local politics-the concerns of the town and colony. With all allowance for his
own position, he cannot avoid thinking of the Eatanswill
press when he first endeavors to fathom the views of the




MELBOURNE.                     87
politicians of Australia Felix as they are exhibited in the
papers. The various candidates parade their pledges and
occupy columns, before the elections, in defining their positions. Never was such a display of the Micawber style
— such assumption of manliness, firmness, bold defiant
courage, sense of right, bluff indifference to opinion-all
those qualities John admires! Whether the penny-a liners
get up these things for the candidates, or they are written
autographically, they are the funniest specimens of makebelieve one can imagine. It is very natural that they
should be so; indeed they could hardly be otherwise. It
requires far more than the usual abilities of local politicians
to talk like men in earnest even on questions which all feel to
be important. But here, where few care what is done, provided they are left alone to make their fortunes, and where
the candidates themselves cannot, if they are able men, but
feel that they have not a constituency who will very warmly encourage their ambition or sustain them in the discharge of representative duty, the failure is as palpable
and almost as amusing as the prevarications of Falstaff.
fMr. Micawber has also inspired the daily newspapers.
No pen untrained in his school could produce leaders of
such ponderosity. I smile when I think how those editors
must task their ingenuity-what perfection they have
attained in dilution and circumlocution! My own sen.
tences acquire insensibly a rotundity of form as I recall
the ample periods, the antiquated points, outworn quota



88       MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
tions, and overwhelming gravity which distinguish the
Melbourne press. If it be, as I suppose to a certain extent it must be, with those who have to fill so much space
each day, the perfection of editorial writing, to invent indirect and circuitous modes of expressing common practical
opinions-to mitigate and extinguish the flames of popular
excitement by turning on a flow of language-these papers
certainly exhibit master-pieces of the art. The readers
who postpone their feelings and wait to see " what the paper says," will never prove a troublesome class of citizens
in Melbourne; their madness will evaporate in " words,
words, words."
The readers of the "London Times" delight to
see speculations upon the great affairs of the -world
served up in the grand manner, and are not disappointed;
though even there the writers not seldom overclothe the
matter, and leave the dignity in such high relief that the
art of its manufacture is much too apparent-at least to
those who have been behind the scenes. But the thunder
of the colonial press!-in comparison, theatrical thunder is
an infinitely closer imitation.
But I do not forget that newspaper writing is, or ought
to be, an art by itself; and it is much better to have the
dignity and gravity preserved, than to have journals like
some well known at home, which attain vivacity at the expense of inte grity-which represent each day the shadows
in the air but not the constant sunlight. It is pleasant to




MELBOURNE.                    89
see newspapers treating their readers as if they respected
them. In these and many other particulars the Melbourne
journals have advantages. They are conducted in a dispassionate spirit. They are by no means personal. They
are open. They aim at a respectable tone.  They are
well systematized and creditably got up. I cannot say
much for their activity or judgment in giving news, foreign
or domestic. But they give all, perhaps, that is wanted,
and always a plentiful column of rows and penny-a-line
items-the daily history of drunkenness, disease, vagabondism and crime-containing almost as much as the columns
of similar matter served at the London breakfast tables,
and which is omitted from our papers because nobody
cares to read it.
The two principal journals are the Argus and the Herald,
of which the former is commercially the leading paper, as it
has the most advertising. It is conducted in the style
above described, by Mr. Wilson, and is understood to be
radical, and to aim at hurrying the colony into separation
from the mother country. The Herald has the Government advertising, and attempts to be conservative, though
it is hardly true to its position. In mere writing, its editorials are better than those of its less scrupulous rival,
though not so vigorous. I meant to have preserved one
of its lighter leaders about the mud and dust of Melbourne,
which was very happily written and much needed. If both
the journals were to unite in a war against filth, they might




90       MELBOURNE, AND THE CIINCHAS.
accomplish more to the purpose than they ever can by attempting to weaken or strengthen the arms of the colonial
government. But they have only to keep, as the sailors
say, "full and by."  Their fortunes are made already.
They are crowded with cash advertisements, and their
supplies of paper do not meet the demand. Sometimes
their extra advertising sheets appeared in red, sometimes
in yellow. When people only have to hold their pockets
open to let gold run into tnem, it is not likely they will go
digging.
Godwin makes one of his characters claim an unquestionable superiority for English writers, on the ground that
" they only of all the moderns had been touched by the
genius of freedom, that they dared to utter all that they
thought, and that by necessary consequence they had penetrated into the secrets of nature and laid open the recesses
of mind."  If instead of the " genius of freedom," whom
the eloquent author rather ignorantly worshipped, since
that divinity had long before emigrated to America, the
cause of the superiority of English writers were attributed
to that combination of qualities which the language wants
a single word to express, which includes vigor and health
of heart, mind and body-the just and tenacious integrity
-the complete manliness-it would be more precisely
true; and the same cause would account for the position
which England and her colonies, and her descendant and
ally, now occupy in the world. Their position is the re



MELBOURNE.                     91
sult of the inherent and natural growth of a great family.
And it is in remote settlements, peopled by those who
would naturally, though from very opposite causes, be
the offshoots of the stock, that the family characteristics
are most apparent. The strong, the ardent, the enterprising, the weak, the too gentle, the rough, the ambitious, the
unscrupulous, are all poured in together; the extremes of
individual character are contrasted; the restraints of home
and the beaten ways of education only remembered.
It is fortunate for Melbourne that it is under the Home
Government. The colonial system of England is necessarily different from that of the United States. It is not
within the scope of our government to encourage or extend
special protection to emigration; ours is not an overstocked
but a receiving country; it is quite enough that we stand
ready to take such as are prepared to come to us. Newly
arising settlements of Americans in distant territories, stand
on a different footing from colonies; in fact, if it should
not be so theoretically, they are obliged to begin by selfgovernment. Of this California was an example. But
English colonies are spared the disorders which there
necessarily precede a regular organization.  Melbourne
has not been obliged to resort to Vigilance Committees,
Lynch law, or any experimental and temporary modes of
securing the rights of persons and things.  Of course there
must be comparative disquiet and insecurity in such a
vicinity, but there have been less than might have been




92        MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
looked for, if the town had not been in an English colony,
and under the rule of the common and statute law of the
realmr, Had all the local politicians concurred, they could
never have got on better, it is probable, notwithstanding the
lowness and expensiveness of the government often com.
plained of by a portion of them. Their regulations would
have wanted the pr'estige and the power of the Home
Government. Quite as much delay and cost, would have
attended their action, and it may reasonably be questioned
if their administration would have been any wiser or purer
or more efficient. The colony would have gained the
empty name of independence, and Melbourne would have
been by this time-a nice place to live in.
Americans, on their first arrival there, hear an immense
deal of disloyalty and radicalism. The class of all-knowing
talkers flatter them by pretending to look upon them as
the harbingers of separation and rebellion. "You  are
coming," they say, " now we will be free!"  Of course
such extreme reformers understand as little what they
wish for, as they do of the means of its accomplishment.
But it is a singular fact, that Americans do not like such
notions abroad so well as at home. Just as English Radicals generally become ultra Tories after they have lived a
short time in America, so Alerican Radicals side with law
and order in English colonies. They look upon government fiom a different point of view; they are not blinded
by the feelings, the party catch words and the names of




MELBOURNE.                    93
canonized political saints, that obscure their judgment at
home. The words "bank " or " tariff" or " abolition," no
longer excite their ire, and dethrone their reason; they
can offer only secret homage to their former national
heroes. They soon perceive how much more practically
wise they themselves are in political matters than their new
friends; and they have the same pride that Englishmen
have with us, which keeps them from meddling with what
they fancy to be none of their business. Besides, there is
a large proportion among Americans who are accustomed
to act understandingly, and are little given to aid in hastening changes which they do not feel thoroughly convinced
are needful. And the men of real influence, among the
American merchants, and others, are entirely given to
commerce and business affairs, and want no changes but
increased facilities for trade. Upon the whole, therefore,
the uneasy and uncomfortable portion of the Melbourne
population will finfd less assistance in opposition to the
established order of things from Americans than they look
for. The Americans are in a position of indifference.
They will never interfere except against open oppression,
which never can arise; but all the weight of influence
becoming to them as alien residents, will be given in support of a government which endeavors to overtake the
wants of an almost miraculous influx of population, as fast
as that population urges measures and supplies means.
And in spite of the multitude of words, and the inces



94       MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCIJAS.
sant portentous hinting of the Argus and its kindred politicians, I do not think the colony desires its independence.
It will take another generation-several more, after this
new infusion of the maternal blood, to eradicate the old
affection. The convict spirit must die out, and loyalty
survive. Very little is gained by opposing with small
argument and ridicule, the high and serious part of the
English character.  There is a reality about an Englishman's honor, and it is backed by a strong and unyielding
will. The radicals plague and puzzle his slow perceptions,
but they do not vanquish him. There is something in his
identification of his personal with his national feelings, not
affected by his opinions upon particular measures. His
nationality is in the solemn depths of his nature, along with
his religion and his most earnest affections. Such a character is not easily assailable. With all the commixtion of
adverse elements in Australia, it must take a long while
under present causes, to alienate and denationalize the
English heart-to divert the deep flow of patriotism tllat
is so blended of many currents and so freighted with nl,,le
and proud memories into a new channel; and when it in
thus diverted, if it ever should be, it will remain, as we
would have it remain in our own beloved country, differently developed and directed only-essentially the same.




VIII.
THE crowd in Melbourne streets is so animated, and so
motley, that the town has the cosmopolitan air of an old
commercial city. The illusion is strengthened by the appearance of the police, who, instead of stars or badges, wear a
uniform of close fitting, single-breasted coats, of dark blue,
with pantaloons and caps to match, and black glazed belts,
all in the London style, which they also copy in their ways
and doings. They look very much like automaton machines
made to walk about with one hand inl the breast, and to
utter the talismanic order to " move on!" which operates
at once dispersively upon any little street dispute that is
accompanied with high words and fist shaking. They are a
(95)




96        MELBOURNE, AND THE CIIINCHAS.
very imposingbody set apart from the rest of society, to show
the Queen's appreciation of the poetry of Dr. Watts:
"Dear children, you should never
Your angry passions rise!"*
So high is the royal lady's estimation of this precept, and
so determined is she to enforce it, that she has actually
sent to Melbourne a large detachment of the metropolitan
police of London; and evidently intends that the city shall
be kept in the same order with her most peaceful towns
at home. Her subjects here ought to be grateful for her
care. Situated and made up as they are, a boiling multitude, in which the dregs have not time to settle or the
scum to float, they could hardly have devised and ca'ried
into effective operation a police of their own, which would
so soon have secured confidence and rendered their streets
as safe and orderly, in the daytime at least, as those of
New York or Boston. Of course everything must be taken
into account. The virtue, the polished manners, the abstemious habits of our cities; and the convict population, the
recklessness, the wild extremes of Melbourne. The latter
town is not illuminated by gas; it is only occasionally half
or one quarter lighted with oil, chiefly by the lanterns of
taverns, which are obliged, I believe, to keep them. The
streets at ten o'clock are almost deserted. At midnight
they are sound asleep, and their slumbers are never broken
by the heavy rumble of those processions which in one




MELBOURNE.                        97
stillest and warmest nights so often waken our city residents to humiliating thoughts on the decay of our mortal
nature.  They are macadamised-not paved; and in winter, they are, oftener than otherwise, wet and muddy.  All
the outskirts are suburbs of tented fields, and there is an
enormous population of sickly dogs.
Yet the police reporters, for aught one could perceive,
had no less difficulty in Melbourne than with us, to find
sufficient material for the display of their characteristic
descriptions of affrays and casualities. Their chapter was
composed of paragraphs even more trivial, indirect and
verbose, than those which it was for a while a part of my
office in other days to exclude from the columns of the
Courier and Enquirer. I must give a few specimens as a
sample of the important items which occupy from two to
three columns in the morning papers daily: —
" A DISCHARGE.-JOhn Scott was yesterday charged at the City
Police Court with having been drunk and attempted to rescue a prisoner. The evidence pro. and con. was very contradictory. The Mayor
gave him the benefit of a doubt, and discharged him."
" STEALING A DOG.-At the District Court, yesterday, Charles Bull
was charged with stealing a dog. He was remanded for further
evidence."
" AUDAcIous THEFT.-Some of our Melbourne thieves do certainly
get to be very audacious. On Monday last some daring fellows stole
a cask of ale and a cask of porter from a dray, in one of the streets
of Melbourne, in broad daylight."
" STEALING BooTs.-An offence of this nature was preferred against
Archibald M'Kenzie. The prosecutor in this case was a lad named
Felix Lloyd, 14 years of age. He was in the employ of a person
named Charles, and on Saturday night he saw the prisoner take a
5




98        MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
pair of boots from Charles' shop, and walk away with them. Mr. F.
Stephen appeared for the prisoner, whom he stated to be a respectable butcher, who could have no necessity to steal a pair of boots.
The case wasremanded until the following (this) morning." Herald,
JA Y1 5th.
"SINGULAR CONDUCT.-Mr. Archibald M'Kenzie, the butcher, whose
case was reported a day or two since, was again placed before Mr.
Stuart at the City Police Court yesterday. He was then committed
for trial, but admitted to bail, for stealing a pair of boots, the property of Mr. Chard, of the Eastern Market. The proof was positive that
he stole the boots; yet, on the other hand, it was as strongly proved
that he was a man of property, and of previous good character."Jlrgus, July 6th.
Poor lI'Kenzie! It is to be feared he stole the boots. But
think of the "audacity" of the "daring r" fellows who
made off with the ale and the porter!  Whoever they
were, they secured a comfortable supply of the favorite
drink in Melbourne-" half and half."  (Pron. "af-naf.')
Surely where such crimes make up the chief part of those
which occur each day, the thieves cannot be verVy blood.
thirsty or the town suffering for want of proper discipline.
But my duty as an impartial observer, compels me to
admit that much was said on the other side; and the
police were often accused by individuals, of conduct simi
lar to that charged against them in the gracefully
composed paragraph from the number of the Argus above
quoted. Observe the style of the narrative-so exactly in
the Shakspeare manner:"INSOLENCE AND INEFFICIENCY OF SOME OF THE POLICE.-A gentleman at about half-past six o'clock on Monday evening, was passing
along Stephen-street from Collins to Lonsdale-streets. When some
distance from Bourke-street, he met a horse and dray being driven by
a man along the footpath. Himself and several others through the
darkness of the night were in danger of being run over. He crossed




MELBOURNE.                        99
Bourke-street, and on the corner by the New Market Hotel, he saw
two policemen standing, to whom he reported the affair, and requested them to arrest the man or drive him off the footpath. They at first
demurred to do so, and finally refused, because they said perhaps
before that time he had gone off it. The gentleman threatened to
report them. A boy then came up to fetch them to remove a drunken
man, and they left for that purpose. The gentleman in question
remarked to them he should think it was more important to remove a
horse and cart from the footpath on dark night, whereby people's lives
were endangered, than it was to remove a drunken man. For this
remark the brace of inefficients turned round and abused the party
making it in good set terms, and threatened to take him to the watch.
house, a threat they did not attempt to put in execution."
The editor of the Argus was afraid to introduce any
change into the city item department of his journal lest it
might be impossible to avoid the " slang" of the American press-a word which he was immediately convinced it
was hardly polite to use, at least with an obvious personal
implication. The police department of that journal, was
understood to be in part, if not altogether, furnished by
Mr. Thomas Warner, late of New York, the torpedo man,
persecuted of Drury, One-eyed Thompson, and the restof all whose affairs, which used to occupy so much of the
attention of our police reporters, one resident in New
York at the time, was, and is, and hopes to remain, profoundly ignorant.  Mir. Warner was civil to me on one or
two occasions, and is, we shall all hope, not undeserving
of success in his new calling.
The objection to such full and overdone police reporting
is, that neither public justice nor public morality requires
it. If the public taste calls for it, an editor ought to feel
that he cannot in conscience humor such a taste too far;



100      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
that other occupations are not altogether closed against
him; that he has at the worst tile more honorable alternative of beggary. If the public taste does not call for it,
(and who believes it does, to the extent that some of our
least scrupulous journals furnish it?) then an editor ought
to feel that he is misleading it against his own interest.
The truth is, it requires a higher order of intellect to supply the place of police reports by lighter gossip of the
hour, which must always have character in it to make it
attractive, and the editors are afraid to employ abilities
which it may not be convenient to dispense with. Police
items can be written by machinery; but the power to
touch the manners as they rise, to gossip agreeably on the
topics of the moment, to reflect the passing life of the time,
comes by nature, and is a special gift to many that are
often endowed with little else.
It was commonly believed that the streets of Melbourne,
or the least frequented of them, were dangerous to walk in
after dark, or late in the evening. We heard stories
almost daily of people being " stuck up " in Flinders Lane
and other localities. " Sticking up "' is the phrase for robbing:-you are floundering along through the mud in the
dark, and are suddenly met by a "party," one or any
greater number, who tell you to stand and deliver your
money, or they will insert a knife into your person; you
indulge the party, of course, and continue your walk-you
have been "stuck up."  Out of the city, on the road to




MELBOURNE.                   101
the diggings or elsewhere, you may be stuck up at any
hour of the day; and such little interruptions to the progress of travellers were said to be by no means uncommon,
though becoming rarer. I am inclined to believe the stories of them to be somewhat exaggerated. In our western
cities, Louisville and Cincinnati, years ago, there were
always reports of similar outrages, and there were quarters
where it was thought one could not walk after nightfall
without hazard of his life. But the young men of that day
did not pay much attention to such reports; nor were
they much afraid, as I remember, to walk wherever they
pleased. Beyond disturbing the slumbers of watchmen,
it is certain that very few misadventures ever came to
the knowledge of the public. So in Melbourne, I observed
that the stories of " sticking up " were exceedingly vague.
Nobody that I knew had ever been " stuck up," or knew
any one who had. For my own part, and I am by no
means brave, and quite incapable of defending myself, I
walked late at night in returning from calling on acquaintances, and looked in at all sorts of places to see life, and
was never molested. I remember coming fi-om the outskirts one evening through what should have been a bad
neiglhborhood, and stopping at a tavern where a large room
full of men and women were dancing Irish jigs to the music of a blind fiddler-a jolly parlty, and rough enough to
look at, but too merry to be meditating robbery and murder. I was careful, however, when it was very dark, to




102     MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
take the middle of the street. That robberies frequently
occur, is very probable; but when they are so generally
anticipated, almost every one goes armed, and perhaps it
is well that the danger of them should be a little exaggerated.
Besides the foot police, who are always seen in the
streets, there is a small detachment mounted, who are on
duty chiefly in the night-time.  At the diggings there is
also a much more numerous mounted police, who are the
chief reliance for the maintenance of order among the
miners. The roads are protected by the various compa
nies of escorts, who number several hundreds, and who
travel up and down in parties of from eight to fifteen. I
knew several of them, young Englishmen or Scotchmen of
respectable families, who were glad here to accept even
this rough employment as a temporary resort. They are
obliged to groom their own horses, and do not change
their clothes on their journeys. The life is quite a different
one from that to which many of them were accustomed at
home-but they are young and strong, and do. not appear
to dislike it. They have a barracks of sheds and tents in
the beautiful St. James's Park towards Richmond, where
the nursery maids who walk that way may sometimes behold them sauntering idly about in their uniforms of blue
with white facings, and riding sticks to tap their long boots
with-wingless angels, condescending to resemble ordinary young gentlemen. How many fond aspirations they




MELBOURNE.                   103
drag with them through the miles of sloughs between the
city and the gullies of Ballarat and Bendigo, can only be
conjectured.  I have heard Yankees offering to take a
contract to stick up any of the escort parties- for a very
moderate compensation; and at an odds against them in
numbers which made the offers look like boasting, as it
doubtless was. The escorts wear swords and carbines
slung at their backs; as they canter through the streets,
and teeter (no other word but this New England one expresses the motion) up and down on their saddles, they
look rather formidable. It would not be so easy to rob
them;-and         would fight, I am sure.
There is doubtless not a town or city in the world
where English is the principal tongue spoken, that shows
so great a variety in its streets as Melbourne.  The
English are chiefly from London, and the great manufacturing towns, and from the northern counties and Cornwall-but no untravelled American can undertake to place
them. There are great rough specimens about the horse
and cattle markets that look as if they had walked out of
old farces. Thronging the auctions are others of a differeit mould-all, however, mighty men in mannersnoisy, impetuous, eloquent-everything the reverse of
cautious in appearance, yet each thoroughly posted in his
department, and usually in nothing else. To characterise
the Colonial manner in a word, as it appears to an Ame.
rican, it is overbearing. There is little attempt at suavity




104      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
or " soft sawder," but a great effort to do the grand. In
speech, in walk, in ride, in costume, in air, ill everything,
the latent fundamental idea is to overcome, rather than to
circumvent or attract. They use the two-handed sword
and the downright blow.
The style is impressive at first, but in the matter of trade
at least, the clear-headed and more wary American is not
likely to suffer. John fights well according to his system,
but Jonathan is quicker and more fertile of expedients. He
is insensible to the effect of John's eloquence and his high
manner; and when it comes to the close grip in driving a
bargain, they are pretty nearly matched. I doubt if either
has the advantage in affection for the idol they both worship. I think one as faithful to his " pund-shilling " as the
other to his " almighty dollar." Perhaps it is prejudice,
but I rather guess Jonathan will be not wholly unsuccessful in the longe run.
There are also representatives without number of the
land that lies to the north of the Tweed, with heads as
long as Burns's grace; endeavoring, with the rest, to turn
the honest penny. Innocent, unsuspecting people, caring
but little for worldly gear, and never looking to the main
chance! It is remarkable how they get on, and still continue to lay by something for a rainy day. Already, such
is the blindness of fortune, they hold a very considerable
portion of the wealth of the city.
There are also Irish, wide awake to make or lose money




MELBOURNE.                    105
— it matters little which to them. The Irish, we all know,
are the most meek, inoffensive creatures in the world.
Hence it is, for the humor of the thing, probably, that so
many of those unfortunate youths who get into rows, and
are brought before the Mayor's court each morningc, assume
Irish names. Instead of John Smiths, and James Browns,
there are always Michael Donovans, Patrick O'Tooles, and
B3arney McGuires, and all the rest of the Macs and the O's.
Deutchland is also represented by tobacconists and restaurants, and numerous dealers in varieties, who live on
nothing, and dispose of little articles at five hundred per
cent. profit, and put the proceeds quietly into their pockets
and say " wie gehts!"  " I do pretty vell-not mosh!"
I have alluded to the circumstance of there being individuals of the Jewish persuasion in Melbourne. I use the
plural purposely; there are more than one. At a round
guess there may be ten thousand; it would not be safe to
fall much from that. There are English Jews, German
Jews, French Jews, Jew Jews-Israelites of the Israelites.
They are in swarms. There are great Jews, little Jews,
rich Jews, poor Jews, fat Jews, lean Jews, dark Jews,
light Jews, hooky-nosed Jews, and Jews with reddish hair.
I saw American Jews, Irish Jews, even-all but Scotch or
Yankee Jews, (that would be a combination ahd a form
indeed.) Qua Jew, I have no more antipathy to a JewI
than to an individual of any other race. Had Providence
so ordered it, I don't know that I would have entertained
5*




108      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
any special objection to being born a Jew-a ~Mendelssohn,
for example, or even a Rothschild. I would have ran
away with Jessica had I been Lorenzo; and I ever preferred Rebecca to Rowena. But the Shylocks and the
Jews of Chatham street, are less to my taste; and to this
class the Jews of Melbourne chiefly belong. There are
Jewish bankers and merchants, however, whose respectability is undoubted. The house of Jacob iMontefiore, is
Jewish, the American Consul, Mr. IHenriques, is Jewish
by descent; and there are many more, including some of
the wealthiest inhabitants of the town. But the Jews of
the stalls and the second-hand shops, and the auctions, are
too fond of buying and selling to please a fastidious fancy.
It is generally supposed that they hold it no sin to cheat
Christians, and to crucify each individual believer in the
cross, afresh. There is a presumption against them; they
are looked upon as from infancy capax doli.
I saw, by the way, several specimens of London boys,
not Jewish, who had all the talk and manners of grown
shop-keepers. It was marvellous how fluently they could
talk. The shop phrases, the slang, the impudence,-they
had the whole in unimaginable perfection.'At the E1
Dorado, on the Market Place, where I sometimes took
tea, there came one who actually took away my breathmade me marble with too much conceiving. He was Bailey, Sairey Gamp's admirer, exaggerated. The coolness
with which he bullied the waiters, and boasted of his




MELBOURNE.          1M
standing in the affections of the cook, (to whom he was as
Gulliver to Glumdalclitch,) was astounding. But to hear
two or three of them, such as he together, keeping the flash
conversation, was most curious. They would run on just
like men, only occasionally would come something so natural and child-like, that it was pitiful. I could not but moralize the spectacle, and think how like them we all are;
how parrot-like we rehearse the stereotyped phrases of
life or letters, the while our hearts are sick for the sports
and the loves of our youth!
But there is a class of the Melbourne population which
can only be met with in an Australian city-a class which
while it impresses its presence most forcibly and unpleasantly upon a stranger, is, by its marked character, a satisfying testimony to the excellence of the English law, and
the purity of its administration-a strong proof that justice, in the United Kingdom, if not absolutely unerring,
does generally succeed in finding the right offenders. The
convicts, or those who have been such, the " lags," as they
are called, are numerous enough, and it requires but little
sagacity to distinguish them. Generally they have marks
by which they may be readily recognised; the high cheek
bones, with gray, retreating, unsteady eyes, and foreheads
villainous low.  The worst of our prisons cannot produce faces to compare with those that may often be seen
in Melbourne; faces which not seen under suspicious circumstances, or marked with the consciousness of guilt, for




108       MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
they often belonged to individuals well dressed and in
respectable positions, yet told of whole generations of
crime.
We seldom  encounter such faces in the United States;
hereditary traits are less observable, and local peculiarities
and individualities wear off sooner. We seldom start, as
I often did in Melbourne, before young, and in more than
one instance, beautiful features, thinking almost aloud-' My God! what forbears, what a father and mother that
creature must have had!"  And I never saw such absolutely fearful countenances as were worn by many of the
old; so coarse and livid, and with eyes that had pupils no
bigger than pin-holes, out of which seemed to look devils
incarnate. What an old Scotchman that was who wanted
me to take lodgings with him! He might have sat for the
ideal of Macbeth's " withering murder."  Some of these
faces were like his, the extreme of ugly and repulsive;
others were cruel and cold, and full of dark meaning;
others not wanting, or that had not always been want.
ing in beauty, and that told sad stories of suffering in
the over-populated manufacturing towns.  I was often
reminded by them of Jane Eyre, Wuthering'Heights,
Oliver Twist, and the hundreds of less able novels and
tales of crime of the modern school. They kept me con.
tinually alive to unwelcome thoughts. I shall never forget
one young girl; with a slender figure and brown hair, and
fair delicate English features, and a voice that haunts me




MELBOURNE.                     109
even now. She belonged to a family lately come from
Manchester, who had just set up their shanty of sheet
zinc and canvass next to the tent of some of my ship companions. I never heard her speak but once; but her accents were so musical and pure, and her manner so
feminine, that I fell in love with her at sight.  Yet
there was a something in her face, not weakness exactly, nor badness, but moral dullness, and the look of a
heart that had never dared to hope, which made me inexpressibly sad. Poor creature!
All the Englishwomen speak eloquently. They have
round voices, and the language flows naturally from their
lips. They do not have to outgrow provincialisms, and
acquire a separate speech for court occasions. In America
only a few in educated families have this advantage. The
rest are always endeavoring after eloquence; and they
often overshoot the mark, and allow their silver-arrowed
tongues too high a flight. In Melbourne I daily heard the
language more naturally, directly and easily spoken by
them, than I have ever heard it elsewhere, except in halfa-dozen instances. But why should I suggest any new
secret of attraction to our damsels, when already
There are some pretty barmnaids in Melbourne. It is
the English fashion to have barmaids.  I like it. I had
rather see a pretty girl any time than a cigar-smoking,
turnbler-tossing fellow, with his hair greased and rolled,
and soap-locked at the sides, and coiled away over his




110      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
forehead. Only one is ashamed to drink vile brandy before the face of a charming young lady-at least I was.
However, they don't seem to mind it, and we soon got
used to it. There are plenty of girls who seem to be, created to be barmaids, and that sort of thing. I made a
conquest of one-at least.
Pardon the natural vanity which impels me to tell it.
Going once into the Imperial, or the Queen's Head, or the
Royal Oak, or some other tavern, I saw behind the bar a
blooming maid, looking very cross, and evidently with her
temper ruffled. What suggested it to me I know not, but
I instantly, in that bland and insinuating manner, which I
can sometimes assume, called for " a glass of ginger beer,
cold, and with a pleasant expression of countenance,
would you oblige me, ma'am?" The beauty hesitated and
turned redder, and-laughed outright. I had conquered;
the beauty might be behind the bar, but before the bar
was the dignity. I never entered the place afterward
without meeting a smile, and often an allusion to my novel
request. Some writers now would go on and boast of
kissing a barmaid behind a door, just as they do of their
exploits in trout fishing and deer shooting. I stop here.
The truth is, the English maids are rather taken by Americans. I hardly know why, unless it is the maids are so
much more self possessed, and can talk so much better (I
do not say that they are any prettier, mind ye!) than most
of their class in the United States, that Jonathan instinct



MELBOURNE.                   111
ively treats them with a deference which they do not receive from their own countrymen.
For my part I have always found that servant-maids
possess the common attributes of humanity. It rests me
to talk with Jenny about her household matters; I like
the sound of women's voices. I find it possible to gossip with the maids, and indulge the social good will which
ought to subsist between men and women, without any
fear of degrading myself or them. I have taken some
pride in having often had them come to me for advice;
and when I have been sitting lonely in number seventeen,
it has been a pleasure to me to hear Margaret or Susan,
coming along the passage with her armful of towels or
pillow-cases, skip half a dozen of the rooms in her round
in order to knock at mine, and be surprised to find me in.
But I have always been a child in some things, and
shall be till I die. I reproached myself for my simplicity,
while I was pained to hear, particularly in some instances,
where all had seemed otherwise, that the Melbourne girls
are generally looked upon as too susceptible to casual
attentions and the influences of gold. It is natural that it
should be so in such a population, and where there are so
many more men than women.
Children are also scarce, of course. One Sunday morning, at the Royal, I heard a great outcry, and rushed
down stairs, thinking what could have happened. The
women had got a live baby in the breakfast-room, and were




112      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
smothering it. They came from far and near, as we see
pigeons in the street, and there was noise enough to make
one think he had actually arrived at the region where the
world stands on its head. The poor infant lived about
fifteen minutes; they set upon him all together, and ate
him entirely up!-nothing being left but some of his apparel-a cap with blue ribband, piece of flannel and napkin,
exhibiting a map of the gold district of New Holland.
And yet Mrs. -, and Mrs. -, and the Misses and
maids, put on their bonnets and folded their prayer books
in their hands after the most approved style, and sailed off
in the sunshine, to St. Peter's Church, as coolly as if
nothing had happened. Some idea may be formed of the
state of crime in a town where such enormities pass unregarded.
I have mentioned the bar-maids. There are in and
about Melbourne, from three to five hundred bars, taverns,
wine vaults, cider cellars, or gin or ale shops, however they
should be called. There may be a thousand. Perhaps
one house out of every twelve, is devoted to this traffic.
The bars are kept openly, not hidden, as they are in Boston, or confined to basements and bye streets, but on the
street corners and in the most public places. The proprietors pay large sums for their licences, and are obliged
to procure bondsmen to perform their licence conditions.
I was told it costs them from two to three hundred pounds
to open their establishments, exclusive of rent and fixtures.




MELBOURNE.                    113
They are kept by men and boys, girls and old women. I
remember one near the Court House, where were two
dames, each upwards of fifty, doing the youthful in wigs
and paint. What faces they had! Their bars are furnished with pumps to draw ale, and liquors are also drawn
from casks through pipes. The drinker is not suffered to
pour from a decanter for himself, but is served from little
pewter measures. The smallest of these, about the size
of an egg-shell, holds a sixpenny-worth of brandy or gin,
and is called a "nobler " —a word derived, probably,
from the ring. Twice this, or a " glass," which would be
a large glass with us, costs a shilling, (or two York shillings.) At the best houses, the dark brandy is perhaps as
palatable a poison as the article thus vended in New
York, but more frequently it is a compound of all that is
nauseous and abhorred of gods and men. The practice
of drinking at bars, is, of course, almost universal, though
business men are not expected to have leisure to indulge
in business hours. The bars must do a thriving trade
The Royal one was almost always crowded. The boarders, however, did their drinking in the evenings in the dining-rooms.
What novel scenes were here enacted, no pen of mine
can recount. The constant new arrivals, the jolly captains, the queer characters disguised " lags," and indefinables that used to stray in here, made it a very centre of
Melbourne life. Here was a posture-master, grinding the




114      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
overture to William Tell on a lost seraphim; then came
fresh lots by the Mlarco Polo and other ships, too many to
enumerate, each lot having of course to celebrate its happy
arrival; there was the gigantic-surnamed the Bengal Tiger
— the little,-the grand. Each one played his part as
faithfully as if it had been written for him. It was as if
all the greenhorns of the three kingdoms, and the States,
were sending perpetual deputations here. They came and
went like shadows, and said and acted the absurdities and
inconsistencies of dreams. We ceased to be astonished.
One evening I remember a respectably-dressed man in
black boasted that he could drink his glass off, standing on
his head. No sooner was it said than done-with ease too.
He was a transported rope-dancer, who had not been able,
it seemed, in the words of Sir Thomas Browne, to " tread
lightly this funambulatory track of goodness."  The
champion of the light weights took the heaviest man in the
company on the palm of his hand and stood him on the
table. A Greenock youth had been to the theatre, where
some stranger had deeply wounded his feelings by appearing to regard him as a suspicious person; it hurt him extremely. Fancy such an infant, not imbecile either, sent
out by his loving father to make his fortune in the mines!
But why should they not put their sons out of the way as
well as dispose of their daughters at auction? There are
fathers of whom much will be required-who know better,
and who yet act towards their children as if they had no




MELBOURNE.                    115
more parental affection than those animals which devour
their young. I have heard it said, and in part believe,
there are those who send their sons off to get rid of themsend them and abandon them to the mercies of the gaming
houses of San Francisco, or the bar-rooms of Melbourne I
But it is consoling to remember that even the wide world
is merciful. The well-meaning sooner or later find friends
everywhere.
Though I have put the best face upon it, I would not
have it imagined that I incline to spend my evenings in
this manner. I have seen rough life enough. But I had
no choice; there was no repose-not so much as in the
ship's cabin. Melbourne life is all out of doors, or in a
crowd. One can walk, when it is not too muddy, or he
can take to his bed; it is very difficult to get even a sleeping closet alone. As for myself, I must have some place
of study, no matter how small, where I can look through
a loop-hole upon the world, or I am like a snail without
his shell. Years enough have passed for me neither to be
ashamed nor vain of having in my time been more than
once as forlorn in a great city as ever Johnson and Savage
were in London; I never had luxuries-but I want quietness. I do not " agnize a natural and prompt alacrity in
hardness." I am possessed with a gentle melancholy, and
the health of my mind requires that I should be secluded
when I please. " Out, John!" is my motto. I would not




116      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
exchange the certainty of a few years of quiet before the
last resting place, for all the gold in Australia.
The noisy confusion of Melbourne only strengthened
this feeling. It would be even a pleasurable excitement if
one could only escape from it at will; it would heighten
the enjoyment of a snug room and old books and old music-just as the noise of a schoolroom makes the single
desk in a corner the best one for study. But this was unattainable, and forms the greatest objection I should have,
(and other Americans must feel more or less as I did,) to
residing in such a town. No thoughtful man, or man at
all sensitive, could long preserve his integrity in the utter
adriftness of such a life.




IX.
IF it were not for the incessant agitation of Melbourne,
a traveller whose means or occupations would allow of his
only feeling the stir remotely, and mingling in it occasionally, might spend much more time there than I did very
agreeably. If he had no curiosity about the mines, and
did not care to study rough manners and strange characters, there is yet enough to interest in the strangeness of
the country and its productions, and there is also by no
means such an absolute deprivation of society as intelligent
Americans might anticipate. The growth of the city is
very different from that of San Francisco. It is not a
new last retreat of lawless and adventurous life, but a
(117)




118       MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
great colonial town, settled and principally peopled by enterprising men from the three kingdoms.  The emigrants
from some of our American cities cannot but have experienced no small surprise on their first arrival to find themselves in such a place. Miany must have ascertained in a
few hours what they would never have been convinced of
at home; that their native towns and villages are not
quite in the very centre of modern civilization. The articles brought there to speculate on would show this. It is
at once melancholy and ludicrous to fancy the disappointments, the humiliation that must have been felt by many
of my worthy countrymen who were coming to spread
light, and make money out of their superior enlightenment
in what they fancied to be but a dark, or at best but a twilight region. " Nothing is, but thinking makes it what it
is;" and wisdom in this world goes by comparison. It
many at home in all classes, even writers of books, could
perceive how little, estimated by the great world's standard, is their peculiar wisdom, they might yield so far as
to concede that they had not monopolized the whole of
that precious acquirement. But if I deviate from the reg
ular course of these sketches for the sake of telling unwelcome truths, I shall forfeit my insurance.
Besides the numbers of men of travel and intercourse to
be met with among the crowd, there are many among the
permanent inhabitants of the town, who constitute a society, or if the reader can bear the word, an aristocracy, of




MELBOURNE.                    119
intelligence and respectability not inferior to that of most
of the large towns in the United States. Circumstanced
as they are, they are compelled to be exclusive, but their
very isolation makes them very glad to welcome strangers.
They feel the deprivations attending a residence in a distant colony; they wish their children to be well informed,
and they are not so confident in their means of educating
them as to wish to offer impediments to their improvement
through  society.  Consequently learning, good sense,
good manners, the graces of good character, in strangers,
are much regarded.  There is no jealousy of educated
men; nor is there any special want of them; if one is coinpelled to labor to live, the hand is a safer dependence than
the head. But if not, it cannot be doubted that there are
many pleasant families, and no want of intelligent and even
elegant society.
I opine this firom the out-door appearance of the houses
and the streets, the public institutions, amusements and
doings; for I was so uncertain of remaining from week to
week, and had so much else to think of, in contriving how
to get home, that I confined my studies to the life and
society into which my circumstances forced me. Except
some walks, I' "knocked about " in the street and tavern,
wore a beard like an opera druid, and changed my linenias often as the rest of MAelbourne generally changed its.
Mly boat was on the shore, and my bark was going to be
on the sea, and that month or never I determined to be as




120      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
piratical as-a book-seller. I soon discovered that the state
of literature in Melbourne would hardy justify me in entering into competition with the accomplished writers by
whom its public are daily enlightened, and it occurred to
me that if I allowed myself to have a good time, and
return home, I might contribute my widow's mite of amusement to my fellow-citizens there. For now that our country is glorious, happy, free, prosperous, united, extending,
and all that, it has been decided that we must have our
harmless amusement! Accordingly my views of Mlelbourne domestic, and social, and gentler side of life should
be received as those of one whose business in the state
made him a looker-on in Vienna, and who was not of the
country though chance made him use it for the time. An
indulger in the dolce FAR nienlte.
Melbourne boasts a MIechanics' Institute, which occupies a conspicuous building in an excellent situation at the
upper end of Collins street. The Institute is similar in its
objects, and stands in much the same relation to the gold
capital that our Mercantile Library Association stands to
the commercial capital of the United States. Its building
contains a library, not large as yet, but exhibiting quite a
collection of good books; a reading-room supplied with
papers, Home and Colonial, and which has lately ordered
the leading journals of America; a hall for lectures and
concerts, already too small, and put to service nearly every
evening, and rooms devoted to city offices. I was almost




MELBOURNE.                    121
a daily visiter here, and am indebted to Mr. Paterson, the
Secretary, and to Mr. Millar, the Librarian, for more than
merely official courtesy. In the secretary's room, along
with pieces of curious mechanism, piles of second-hand
books, music, engravings, and the like, the usual rubbish
of such apartments, hangs a skeleton, which I remember
taking affectionately by the hand when I came away, at the
same time thinking within myself, if not remarking, that
I was more fortunate than my friend Bones, who had been
probably a brother of my craft, that had arrived in Melbourne before the date of the Institute, and the worthy
officers. Without them, I might have been by this time,
grinning along-side of him.
It was pleasant to see such an Institution, in such a
hurry-scurry city, so prosperous. The directors meet in
the hall Monday evenings, and transact business over a
good supper-an excellent regulation. I saw once a heavy
roll of old Manchester Guardians in the Secretary's room
-far on their way, let all cheerful and thoughtful men
hope, to oblivion. In the lecture hall, were numerous pictures and engravings, cases of specimens, apparatus, busts
and the like-among which latter was one of Washington,
borrowed for our Fourth of July dinner, the size of life,
but so drolly anglified, his children could hardly recognise him. There was the always caricatured Voltaire,
whom all good Calvinists delight to execrate, and Dante,
the invincible, and Shakspeare, who, if he ever resembled




122      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
his popular busts, could never have been Shakspeare but
by a miracle. One end of the hall was a raised platform,
used as an orchestra, or place for the lecturer's rostrum.
Here stood a grand piano, and here on Saturday evenings,
listen ye, who think of Melbourne as a paradise of rogues,
meets a little club of amateur musicians, who strive to drag
the spirits of HIadyn and Mozart out of elysium. WVhen I
inform them that the performance is almost as painful as
that of the Euterpians, or the Music Club of Boston, our
dilettanti will understand to what an intolerable degree of
civilization the other end of the world has arrived. The
native corrobories, described and sketched in Wilkes, where
the dancers are shewn imitating a dance of skeletons, was
but a rude attempt at the refined horrors of amateur music
clubs. I helped them do (for) a symphony of PMlozart's,
(the one in C., number four, with the beautiful andante
and  the  bold and  characteristic  presto finale,) one
evening, and am entitled to speak. I did not shine particularly on the occasion. The instrument was too weak
Give me a good new violin that never was touched, and
a long strong bow, and I flatter myself I can hold my own
with most amateurs in point of tone; though I am rather
too conscientious about putting in all the notes, and there
are those who excel me in time, coming out ahead in spite
of all I can do. Perhaps I might not fail, however, with
my coat off; or if I had had some previous training at
wood-sawing. Amateurs, be it understood, playfor honor,




MELBOURNE.                  123
and each one as the Gow Chrom fought, " for his own
hand," the world over.
There are some very good concerts in Melbourne. The
advertisement of one in a paper before me, opens with the
first movement of Beethoven's second symphony, followed
by airs from Masaniello and Lucia, second part Zampa,
Adelaide, ballads, and God save the Queen. There are not
wanting good violinists, and the wind instruments from the
band of the fortieth regiment, are as respectable as those
in most of our orchestras. At the theatre was a German
double bass player, whom I had known in Boston. Some
time in June, a solo violinist arrived, whose name was
like my own, and my few American friends began to fancy
from his advertisement, that I was about to make my
debut, a step higher in that branch of art, than I ever
reached. I called on my namesake, found him to be from
London, and about commencing business as a dealer in
music, and instruments; he was amused at the coincidence of name, and what was-most singular, had found
near him still another namesake, a stranger to him also, as
both were to me, so that there were almost a bushel of us.
We called upon the third Richmond, and said "when
shall we three meet again!' My artist double furnished
me with the arms of the family; according to the authorities, we go back to a knight who fought in the Holy Land,
and the effigies of some of our ancestors may still be seen
in churches. in Derby and Lincolnshire. The name is in




124       MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
Shakspeare, where its possessor is attached for high trea
-son-. —a gentlemanlike sort of crime. In old Massachusetts
I am the fourth from the same root, and trace right back
to Plymouth and 1638-more than two centuries. And
I intend to shed such lustre on the name that with me shall
commence for it a new era; the next ages shall date froin
me instead of the crusader!
The theatre in Melbourne is the amusement of the middle and lower class of its population; one sees here the
squatters and shepherds-as rough an audience as ever
appeared before a stage. The house is small, and all its
arrangements are tarnished and soiled. The dingy light
exhibits a dress circle, compared with which that of the
Chatham is magnificent. The orchestra, that advanced
guard in the march of art, is feeble and thinned-worn out
in the battle. I could not but pity the veterans of the
forlorn hope who had carried the war so far into the enemy's country.  Beyond  them  was nothing but the
pioneers-the leather stockings of the bar-rooms and cidercellars, from whom, by the way, I heard hornpipes and
reels played with a vigor and spirit, and in a truly national
style, that was as characteristic and almost as difficult to
acquire, one would suppose, as the style of a master.
The acting was like the music. The tragedian was tall,
ill-made and ugly; his throat was so long, that he had
apparently tried to shorten it by tying a great knot in the
middle. He was all art; he concealed nothing; his points,




MELBOURNE.                  125
and voices and inflections, were all shewn wrong side out;
he might have been made of wood. HIe ranted occasionally "a few;" when he had to speak of "walking in the
shrubbery," he invariably called it "scrubbery."  The
heroine was worthy of him; she was the-I forbear.
The play was worthy of the performers; the hero was a
shepherd, and the drama evidently an inspiration of native
genius.-I retired after a few scenes. The moon was
shining brightly outside, and I passed along Queen street,
and gazed down the valley through the wide curve of
Great Burke, which will, by and by, afford one of the
finest street views by night in the world.
Besides the theatre, there was Rowe's American Circus,
horses, and negro singing, said to be very popular, but I
did not patronize it. It is with me a whim of conscience
never to pay a halfpenny to the professors of the Black
Art.
There are various other amusements of a still coarser
description, reflecting the lowest and most repulsive phrses
of Melbourne life. But why should I particularize them?
My sketch of Melbourne life must end here, with the
sentences written two days before we reached Callao. The
following report of the first Fourth of July Dinner at the
Antipodes, will make an appropriate conclusion.




126       MELBOURNE, AND THE CHIN CHAS.
[From the Melbourne Argus and HIerald.]
ANNIVERSARY OF THE DECLARATION OF AMERICAN
INDEPENDENCE.
THE anniversary of the "glorious fourth," as our republican
kinsmen proudly love to call the fourth of July —the day upon
which the independence and nationality of the United States were
first proclaimed to the world-was celebrated on Monday evening
at the festive board in the Commercial Hotel.
The large room in which the dinner was given, was decorated
with very good taste for the occasion, and the coup d'ceil which it
presented, reflected much credit on the Committee of Arrangements, who, considering the deficiency of suitable appliances under
which they unavoidably labored, contrived to produce an effectiveness and ensemble in the general appearance of the room, which was
very pleasing. Flags, banners, and ensigns of various countries,
were gracefully displayed along the walls, and upon the ceiling.
At the head of the room, over the chair, the " star-spangled banner" of the great republic, was supported on the right by the
British flag, and on the left by the French tricolor. Along the
sides, the colors of America and England, draped in decorative




MELBOURNE.                       127
forms, occupied alternate compartments; and at the end the flags
of the two great nations of the Anglo-Saxon race were intertwined,
with a boquet in the centre. Along the ceiling, also, flags were
festooned in ornamental fashion, uniting in a knot in the centre,
from which depended a circular chaplet of flowers
At the head of the room, immediately under the American colors, was placed the declaration of American Independence, set in a
frame, with a bust of Washington, bearing a laurel chaplet upon a
pedestal in front. On the right, close to the British colors, were
engravings of Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria, and the
late Duke of Wellington. The room was well lighted; and altogether, the decoration was very effective.
An excellent band lent its enlivening strains to enhance the
gaiety of the evening; and it is only justice to say that, with but
one or two slight exceptions, this first celebration in Melbourne of
the grand festival of the United States passed off with the utmost
gaiety and harmony, and in the most creditable manner.
Six o'clock P. M. was the hour fixed for the dinner, but it was
nearly seven o'clock before all the guests were seated.
The chair was occupied by J. A. Henriques, Esq., consul for the
United States in Melbourne. On his right hand sat Capt. Cole;
on his left, George Mowton, Esq., Penn., Vice-President. Amongst
the other gentlemen seated in the neighborhood of the chair, were
the members of the Committee of Arrangements, viz., Messrs. Geo.
F. Train, Mass., second vice-president; J. H. Fisher, Va.; third
vice-president; A. H. Ackerman, N. fI.; W. B. Amy, R. I.; S. T.
Hooper, Conn.; M. Ross, N. Y.; E. Lloyd Throcklnorton, N. J.;
E. W. Cobb, Del.; N. Rogers, Jr., Md.; O. H. Holden, N. C.;
Henry Whitin, S. C.; and T. Gardner, Ga.; Also Messrs. Hatha



128       MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
way, U. S. Consul in Van Dieman's Land, J. Guthrie, her Majesty's
Customs, F. A. Dalgety, Rev. Mr. Corrie, &c., &c.
There were about 150 gentlemen present.
The dinner, which was an excellent one-the wines and the
desert being also very good,-was discussed with right good will;
and on the cloth being withdrawn,
Mr. Mowton, at the request of the chairman, read slowly and
with good emphasis, the Declaration of Independence, which was
enthusiastically applauded at various passages, and at the close of
this celebrated historic document, the applause was renewed with
redoubled effect.
According to the programme of the evening's proceedings, Mr.
Geo. F. Train next read the following address, from the pen of Mr.
Peck, Massachusetts, who was unable to deliver it in person, as he
was to sail on the day of the dinner in the Albus, for Callao. The
good taste in which the sentiments of the address were conceived
drew forth repeated plaudits. It is as follows:ADDRESS.
COUNTRYMEN AND GUESTS OF AMERICAN RESIDENTS OF MELBOURNE,-This day will hereafter be memorable as the first Fourth
of July ever celebrated by citizens of the United States in this
great commercial town. We who are present, will always be able
to recollect with pride that, at this time, in this most remarkable
vicinity, where all is bustle and resort, and a populous and beautiful city is rising around us like an exhalation, we did not forget the
far land of our birth.
It is both proper and pleasant that we should assemble in this




MELBOURNE.                       129
social manner, to enliven in ourselves the natural love of country,
without which our souls would be dead indeed; that we should
on this day, in whatever new home of our adoption, turn our
thoughts back to the home of our childhood; that we should call
to mind the glory and honor of our nation; her history, the illustrious men she has produced; her growth and present greatness,
and hopeful future: —that we should image to ourselves all that
makes our hearts swell, when we think of our native land, and the
kindred and friends we have left. This is the birthday of our
nation; and though now Australians, we were originally, and must
ever continue to be, Americans. Never can we become alien to
the great Commonwealth, whose existence dates from the day we
celebrate.
Fellow countrymen, we meet here under circumstances more
peculiar than those which will probably attend any similar celebration this year, the world over. We are in the van of a great
immigrant expedition which is concentrating in this colony from
all parts of the globe; and which has already thronged these streets
with such a crowd of busy men as can hardly be found anywhere
but in the oldest commercial cities. We are also in a foreign land
where nothing is foreign-where we hear the accents of the tongue
our mothers taught us to speak, and'behold everywhere the presence of laws, and a social organization almost identical with those
under which we were born. We are aware that we are foreigners, as
an abstract fact, —we have not yet voted in any " town meetings,"
and feel greatly abridged in the exercise of the American privilege
of settling the affairs of the nation; but with these, and a few
local differences, all around us, is so like our cities at home, that
6*




130       MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
we almost need the daily evidence of the heavens to make us
believe we are at the antipodes. We have not reached the lawless
neighborhood we read of; we see nothing violent; on the contrary.
we are in a quietly-disposed town, under an efficient police, where
a decorum prevails which, considering the numbers and adventurous disposition of the population that is pouring through it, far
exceeds all reasonable expectation. We see on every hand the
tokens of the existence of an indoor domestic life like that under
which we were educated. But for some finer and more delicate
sense than sight, we could hardly know that these were not our
own countrywomen, who walk in unquestioned security, and add
so much beauty to these broad thoroughfares. The look of business, amusements; the panorama of the streets-even to the very
prints in the windows-all belong to some of the upper avenues of
New York. And, on Sundays, the sound of the churchgoing bell
is heard through an air as silent as floats over the stillest valley in
New England.
In such an orderly population, we Americans, met here for the
first time to celebrate the beginning of our national independent
existence, wish to express most unequivocally the satisfaction we
feel at finding ourselves regarded as not wholly strangers. but simply such as we are-Americans; as only not Englishmen. As men
of like speech, like customs, like thoughts. and like religion with
Englishmen; and whose nationality, so far as respects what at
home we style the " Mother Country," and her colonies, extends
but to fair and open emulation in the pursuits of commerce. In
thus expressing ourselves, it will not be thought presuming to add,
that though we are now under our own Government, yet we have
never laid down our respect for the Head of that great nation, from




MELBOURNE.                        131
whom we derive our lineage, our language, our common law and
the spirit of our forms of Christian worship.
We believe that there can, by no possibility, ever come any other
national feeling or hope to the wisest men of England and America,
than that the two countries may remain disposed for ever towards
each other as they are now. Differing policies may, in the course
of events, be deemed advisable by the two Governments, but
nothing will ever be more odious to the high-minded statesmen of
both, than the encouragement of a petty, illiberal, ever-disparaging
national prejudice. Englishmen are above it, and we are above it;
it is beneath the dignity of common sense. We owe almost everything in which we are superior to England, to improvements upon.
and not departures from her system; and she, we flatter ourselves,
has some reason to be proud of, and in some particulars might profit by, the example of her offspring. Let us pray that Heaven will
kindly send in the future such leading men to each nation as those
immortal ones we have last year mourned; that the succession
will be perpetual, of ministers and negotiators, who will desire to
behold the two Powers united in spreading the peaceful spirit of
commercial enterprise, the old law, and the old intuitive reason
which is the soul of our common literature, throughout the isles of
the sea, and the uttermost parts of the earth.
We do not deprecate, in these expressions, the existence of
notions respecting us which may, possibly, be entertained by men
of narrow information; as little could we notice a possible suggestion that we make so plain avowals in a spirit of subservience. No
one who has any just sense of our position as citizens of the United
States, can suppose us to be so little mindful of our country's honor.
But it merely may not be out of place to make known to our dis



132       MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
tinguished guests, and through them to the public of Melbourne
that these are the feelings and sentiments with which we celebrate
our first national anniversary in this important colonial town-this
new Ophir of the southern seas.
We can only just recur once more to the more personal thoughts
and emotions which crowd upon us in observing the "fourth" in
this peculiar place and time, and which none but native-born
Americans can appreciate. We think of the wide oceans which lie
between us, and the kindred and friends whom distance cannot
make us cease to remember; the scenes of former such days move
in silent procession through our memories, and we perplex our fancies vainly to image what will be doing to-night on the other side
of the orb. There are those who will think of us, as we of them;
among them those who will smile to read a few months hereafter
the names of us who are keeping this festival. Our hearts have not
travelled. We have not forgotten what our fathers accomplished;
neither has our native land ceased to seem to us the fairest on
which the sun shines.
It is no ostentatious form of words, but the sentiment of every
heart of hearts, that we cannot wear a worthier name, or bear a
prouder title, than that we claim by birthright as citizens of the
United States of North America. (Cheers.)
G. W. PEcK.
Ship Albus, Melbourne, 29th June, 1853
Mr. Mowton proposed the first regular toast of the evening"The day we celebrate." Received with three times three, with
music; and when the band had ceased, he intimated that the meeting was open to any volunteer toast which any gentleman present
might choose to propose. The invitation not being responded to,




MELBOURNE.                       133
Mr. Mowton gave next, " Her Most Gracious Majesty, the Queen
of England." He need only say that that was a toast to which all
Englishmen-would heartily drink bumpers.
Received with enthusiastic cheers; air, God Save the Queen,
and at its close a hearty triple hip, hip, hurrah, was given throughout the room.
Third toast.-" The President of the United States." (Cheers.)
Air. Hail Columbia.
Fourth toast.-H. R. H. Prince Albert, and the royal family.
Operatic air, Suona ii tromba Trepida.
Dr. Iffla here rose and said; Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, if
you will allow me, I will offer a toast; it is to the memory of the
signers of that immortal document-the first in war, the first in
peace-those who will ever remain embalmed in the hearts of their
countrymen-the signers of the "Declaration of Independence."
Drunk in solemn silence.
Mr. Mowton: I have now to propose the fifth regular toast of
the evening; and I have no doubt every gentleman present, whether
English or American, or whatever nation he may happen to be, will
join me in the toast. The toast, then, gentlemen, which I have the
honor to propose to you is, "The memory of George Washington."
Drunk up-standing, and in solemn silence.'
Mr. Mowton: The sixth toast is-" His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor of the Colony of Victoria," and on proposing that
toast, I will read to you the reply which our chairman received to
the invitation sent to His Excellency to honor the occasion we now
celebrate with his presence. It is as follows:



134       MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
" GOVERNMENT OFFICES, MELBOURNE,
June 29, 1853.
"'SIR,-The Lieutenant-Governor begs to acknowledge the
receipt of your polite note, conveying an invitation from the American residents of the city of Melbourne, to dine with them on Monday, July 4th. His Excellency desires me to express his regret.
that he is precluded from accepting invitations to public dinners.
"I have the honor to be, Sir,
" Your most obedient servant,
" NORMAN CAMPBELL,
C P. Sec."
J. A. HENRIQUES, Esq.
The toast was drunk.
Mr. Throckmorton here rose to interpose a toast. He wished
them to drink to one of their steam-men-the first man in that city
who had ever put steam and steam machinery upon their river,
and kept it there too. He proposed, then, "the health of their
worthy guest Captain Cole." (Cheers.) May he live long and die
happy, and go to heaven by steam, or electric telegraph. (Cheers
and laughter.)
Capt. Cole acknowledged the compliment. His friend had taken
him rather aback. He would try and not go out of this world
quite as quick as his friend would send him. (Hear, hear.) He
begged to thank them for the manner in which they had received
his name. He felt proud of meeting his friends the American
residents of Melbourne on the present occasion. He had met the
men of the United States before; he had met them in peace and
in war, and he knew how to appreciate them in both capacities.
(Hear, hear.) He had great pleasure in again thanking them for




MELBOURNE.                      135
the honor they had done him. He wished, old as he was, he had
a little of that life and energy which the Americans possessed in
advancing things and sending them forward; but he hoped that
matters in the colony would go ahead better for the future than
they had hitherto done. The colony of Victoria was a young country, only sixteen years old, and of these he had been thirteen years
a resident in it. They had been going on quietly prosperous, from
the natural resources of the country, when the unexampled treasures which must speedily make it a great and mighty country were
discovered. They should endeavor to meet that discovery with a
corresponding amount of energy, and then they would go a-head.
The laws of their country would give every protection to those
who came amongst them, let their nation be what it might.
(Cheers.)
Seventh regular toast-"The Pine of Carolina-The Elm of
Marshfield, and the Oak of Marshfield,-the fallen Monarchs of the
American Forest, where so oft our Eagle rested,-the immortal trio
of patriotic statesmen whose eloquence ornaments the nineteenth
century, —may their memory be as precious as were their lives
valuable to their country,-Calhoun, Clay, Webster."
t)runk upstanding, in solemn silence. Air: —Auld Lang Syne.
Mr. Steele wished to volunteer a toast, viz., "The Memory of
the Great Hero of Waterloo."
Mr. Mowton begged to interpose. That was the next toast on
the docket, viz., the eighth regular toast, and it was as follows:" To the Memory of the Great Statesman and Soldier, His Grace
the Duke of Wellington, and the distinguished Chamnion of Free
Trade, Sir Robert Peel."  Music. Drunk in silence.
Ninth toast.-" The Home of our Nativity. So long as the tab



136       MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
lets of the memory retain the impression of the past, we can never
forget its hallowed associations."  (Cheers.) Air-Home, sweet
Home.
Mr. Mowton: Next to our own home we give The home of our
Adoption. May the influence that has drawn thousands to its
shores, result in permanent benefit to the Colony of Victoria."
(Cheers.) Air-There's a Good Time Coming.
Mr. Dalgety responded to the toast. Although not the oldest
resident of Victoria present, still he should feel himself wanting in
courtesy if he showed any reluctance, when called upon, to acknowledge the toast. He had great pleasure in seeing so many American gentlemen amongst them in Melbourne. Far from entertaining
any jealousy, as a merchant, on that score, he felt that the field
was wide enough for them all. He was happy, then, on the present occasion, to make the acquaintance of many of those gentlemen, whom he had hitherto been unable to meet. As an old colonist, he rejoiced to see so many new faces amongst them, and he
had no doubt that many of the colonists would " gain a wrinkle,"
from their introduction amongst them. (Cheers and laughter.)
Eleventh toast:-" La Belle France, and all civilized nations of
the world."
Music.
Mr. Mowton begged to introduce the twelfth toast, as one that
came from his heart, viz.-The Armies and Navies of Great
Britain and America. May the harmony and good feeling which
now exist between them never be interrupted; and may that day
never arrive when their flags shall be unfurled in warfare with
each other." (Cheers.)
Airs, Rule Britannia and Yankee Doodle.




MELBOURNE.                   137
The thirteenth and last regular toast was-" The daughters of
England and America. May their bright example and virtues be
beacons to guide us to prosperity and happiness." (Cheers.)
Air, Here's a health to all good lasses.
After the regular toasts came volunteer toasts, and
speeches from American and English gentlemen, of the
character and variety usual on such occasions, but which
it would occupy too much space to include here. The above
was thought to be of sufficient interest, as being the first
Fourth of July celebrated in the province, and as exhibiting the feeling subsisting between the English and American merchants, to be inserted.
I have not thought it necessary to protract my sketch
with an account of the mines and mining operations, which
have been so often described in our own and the London
journals.  The interest in them  has here somewhat
declined, and enough of my own impressions will have
appeared incidentally in the course of my narrative. I
could not write what would attract those wishing to emigrate, or gratify my commercial friends engaged in the
Australian trade; and I have so much disinclination, that I
have hardly the ability to write at all upon the subject of
gold mining.
















THE CHINCHAS.
I.
AFTER looking out all day, we made land on the evening of the 13th of September, just before sunset-a dim
outline of mountains, barely distinguishable through the
hazy loom to the eastward. Our captain judged our position to be to windward, that is to the southward of our
port of destination, about forty miles, and accordingly
kept away before the light wind under short sail for the
night. In the morning, the island of San Lorenzo, which
is the barrier that forms the roadstead of Callao, lay full
in sight about twenty miles E. N. E. It is about seven
miles long by one or more wide, and is a perfectly deso(141)




142      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
late ridge of volcanic rock and sand rising out of the sea
twelve hundred feet in the highest part, which is towards
the northern end, where it terminates in a straight steep
slope, round which vessels pass to enter the roads. Being
of a marked form, and the only large island for a long dis
tance on the coast, it is easily recognized by all mariners
who have ever once made it. On the south are two other
islets or heaps of rock attending it, and other smaller ones
on the seaward side, one of which, as well as one within
the harbor, has a hole or arch worn through it.
The wind continued light all the morning, and it was not
till afternoon that we rounded the point, and came in sight
of the port of Callao with its shipping and the plain of
Lima, the white line of whose churches is just visible over
the green distance at the base of the mountains. As we
proceeded up the bay we could hear the whistle of the
locomotive that runs every two hours between the port
and the city, and could distinguish the castle and a few
mean-looking buildings, which are all that can be seen
of the splendors of Callao from the water. We came to
anchor about two o'clock, among a fleet of a hundred sail
or more, Americans, (chiefly) English, French, Dutch,
Peruvians, &c. Our berth was near the long narrow
beach, on the other side of which the surf was breaking,
and which extends out in nearly a right angle with the
shore more than half way to San Lorenzo, four miles from
the port.




THE CHINCHAS.                 143
About four o'clock we got into shore-boats, and were
pulled ashore through the flocks of pelicans to the stairways inside the mole, where we disembarked, glad enough
to reach the land once more; even the earthquaken sand
of Callao seemed terra firna after the oscillations and undulations we had experienced for more than two months
in a ship which, for want of ballast, appeared to be afflicted with a constant vertigo.
The first view of Callao is not imposing. You ascend
the stairs, and go round the nearest corner that seems to
look like a street, and come upon a mud-walled lane, full
of sailors and blacks, of all shades of color, Peruvians and
mules. Crossing this and proceeding up half a dozen rods,
or not so much, you come to a ship-chandler's shop, (Velasquez & Lyons) all open to the street, where there are
usually a group of captains sitting on old chairs, as in a
Dutch grocery in Western New York. Opposite, on the
right hand corner, is another similar shop and group of
sitters (Bryce's.) Directly in front goes down a narrow,
ill paved, dirty-looking lane of one and a half story mudwalled buildings, occupied by clothing shops and the usual
retail trumpery of the marine quarters of our cities-only
the lane looks infinitely narrower and more dingy and out
of repair than Ann or Cherry street. On the left hand is
the " Marine Hotel," which you set down as being the
meanest of sailor taverns, and afterwards discover to be
the principal commercial house of the place. Nothing can




144      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
be conceived more forlorn than the tout ensemble of Callao
on a first introduction, especially to one who never saw a
Spanish town. I looked at the thick mud walls, thought
of the earthquakes; the accounts in the old school geographies; the yarns I had heard time out of mind from old
whaling friends, all now married off, and retired in villages
at home; wondered at the donkeys, the inconceivable dirt
of their drivers, the gay dresses of the women, the extraordinary appearance of the soldiers, and the littleness and
compactness of the whole place, which seems to be an old
tumble-down seaport compressed into the smallest possible
dimensions-reduced to its lowest terms.  Meanwhile, as
I stood on the corner, I was several times accosted as captain, in the politest manner imaginable, and was obliged
finally to confess myself only a passenger to escape importunities of the kindest and most pressing character. Presently, as I started to walk up the street, my eye fell upon
a familiar face-a face which instantly turned with reciprocal regard towards mine. We approached, shook hands,
-an old College friend, and I, who could not remember
having seen him for nearly twice ten years; he now captain of a tall ship, and I a wayfarer, but neither of us
feeling a moment older than when we last met. It was
odd, to say the least, that we should meet here-a coincidence, as Mr. Pickwick's friend would have remarked.
We were both going to the Chinchas, where frequently
afterwards we bad opportunities of talking over the old




THE CHINCHAS.                  145
times, and imparting and receiving information of the old
boys; who had become lawyer, who doctor, who had
gone into trade, who was married, who dead, who missionary to India-who had got in the State Prison and the
like-reminiscences which all collegians in the United
States know to be the most interesting subject for exchanging notes upon in the world. I mention this meeting, because it shows how singularly the skeins of these lives of
ours are tangled together; and also how difficult it is for
one in this year of the world to reach a spot where his
dream of romance shall not be interrupted by some simple
circumstance reminding him of his youth and his home.
I do not recollect whether there were any quarrels of
sailors in the street while.-  and myself were speaking
together; if there were none during the space of half an
hour, it was rather remarkable. Generally on the principal corner, there is a succession of parties of Jack-tars who
are never all sober at once, and are usually discussing or
making merry after their fashion when ashore. The whole
place is little else but a slop-shop, model lodging house and
shipping office. The men are nearly all sharks, the women
all black-eyed, and black-faced Susans, the houses are
mostly low mud-walled boxes with a parlor bed-room open
to the street, and a kitchen back. Half the time as one
passes along, he will see in the front apartment a sharp
Yankee swinging in a hammock, and smoking a paper
cigar, while in a rocking chair sits an Africo-Spanish
z




146     hMELBOURNE, AND THE CIINCHAS.
woman with bright eyes and small hands, dressed in the
tawdriest colors possible, but looking old enough to be his
mother-so quickly does the life, or the climate, or both,
of Callao fade them. Enter, and the chances are that the
said Yankee inquires about Beverly, or knows your business, or has seen you somewhere else; he is, or has been
mate of some vessel. Sometimes he is evidently an old
hand, worthy to compete with any of our sailor-boardino
house keepers in New York. At all events, you may be
generally sure of civil treatment firom him so long as you
behave well yourself. I would recommend, however, that
tourists wishing to acquaint themselves with Callao, should
take no more money with them than is barely necessary;
they may lose it.
All, or nearly enough all to say so, of the houses in Callao,
are open to the street and to strangers; walk in, and ask
to light your cigar in Spanish, the answer is, " Why not?"
or walk in without ceremony, if you speak no Spanish;
sit down, call for a glass of Italia, or the like; pay for it
a real, make yourself agreeable, it's all right. If there is
a guitar, and you can play ever so little, you will need no
letter of introduction. Some of the Spanish Quadroons
you will see, must be the indigenous growth of Callao;
their eyes are burning coals, and in their complexions you
may see the volcanic fire raging just under the skin. They
look like bronze Venuses heated to redness. Traveller 




THE CHINCHAS.                  147
venture not alone into such temptation unless the image of
an ideal lady sits enshrined in your heart!
I walked round to the castle. It is a large circular
tower, enclosing a court-yard containing buildings, on the
central one of which is a small steeple and the town clock,
Round it is a deep and wide dry ditch made by the angular wall or embankment which surrounds the whole. The
tower, and the walls, and buildings, are all of adobes, or
large sun-burnt bricks, which, though soft, are probably a
good defence against heavy shot when laid in walls of so
great thickness. On one side of the tower, I observed
many contusions which seemed to have been made by cannon shot in some of the revolutions. This castle has been
the key to Peru; the parties who have held it successively
have been the actual parties in power, and it is therefore,
though hardly more of a fortification, at least to my inexperienced eye, than the deserted ones along our coast, a
very conspicuous object in Peruvian history. It is now
the barracks of a small detachment of soldiers, the police,
I presume, of Callao. A gun is fired from it every night
at nine o'clock.
The Peruvian soldiers are among the curiosities of the
country, both in Callao and Lima. They are mostly not
over five feet in height, and are round and narrow in the
shoulders, and stoop as they stand in their ranks, which
are anything but regular. They are very dark, and from
their high cheeks, Aztec noses, and straight black hair, I




148       MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
supposed them  to be of the native Indian blood of the
country, more or less pure-descendants of the Incas.
Their faces had all a family likeness, and a character of
simplicity and good nature, mixed with hardness and cruelty. A company of them marching two and two, lock
step, through a street, would be hissed off the stage of the
Ch~atham, appearing as the soldiers in Don Cesar de Bazan.
The officers were better, and I wondered that they were
not, like Falstaff, ashamed of their soldiers. But as I
observed them closely, it was evident that they too were
mere men of apparel-knights of the carpet. Some that
I saw in Lima had an excellent style of manner, as well as
sweetly padded coats, and were really very gentlemanlike
persons, but they failed to ilnpress me with that sense of
reality which I like to feel in the society of military men.
Some of the troops were mounted. I never saw such
men or such horses anywhere else; and to see both in
combination, was almost overpowering. The soldiers are
all clad in a sort of reddish gray uniform with small caps;
their suits seldom fit them, and they wear their accoutrements in the most awkward manner. On foot, they look
like a chain gang dressed up; mounted, I know not what
to compare them to. I could hardly realize that they were
living beings —they looked more like scare-crow figures
made of suits of clothes, stuffed out *ith straw. The
infantry who officiate as the night patrol in Callao, are
very kind to strangers, long-suffering and accommodating.




THE CHINCHAS.                  149
I several times accosted them, and walked on a little with
them around the outskirts; they invariably offered to procure me an hospitable reception in some agreeable family
where a single gentleman might enjoy the comforts of a
home-for a very small sum in advance, pecuniary compensation being apparently less regarded in Callao than
society. One evening one of them picked my handkerchief
from  my pocket while I was talking with him; I felt the
operation, but he wore a sword, and our ship was to sail
next day-and besides, the handkerchief was an ancient
one and I knew that I had plenty more. I therefore set it
down among the incidental expenses travellers are obliged
to pay for their learning. Notwithstanding the unfavorable impression which these weaknesses of character in members of the patrol might create respecting that body, I am
rather inclined to think Callao a safe enough place to well
disposed Americans or Englishmen. There are always
knowing ones of these two nations hovering about, and
any gross wrong is pretty sure to be righted, sailor fashion.
There are Germans, also, and Dutch, and in such a place,
all the old sea lions make common cause; unless one strays
off alone, and forgets utterly next morning where he went,
and what became of his money, I apprehend there are
always shipmates enough within hearing to prevent any
imposlitiQn. I went everywhere-to the dance halls, and
the "'mascaras," and saw nothing worse than noise, and




150      MELBOURNE, AND TITE CHIINCHAS.
fun, and gay dresses. To a mere outside barbarian, the
whole town seems to enjoy a perpetual holiday.
Generally, while the ship remained, I slept on board and
spent as much time at the port and in Lima as I could. I
was ashore every day I was in Lima, including both
visits, nearly a week. But I kept no journal of each par
ticular day's doings, and shall therefore present my obser
vations collectively in the order they happen to occur to
my recollection, as I am now writing, on board the good
ship Tornado, in the second week from Callao, lon. 88~
west, and about the latitude of Valparaiso. Every thing
is fresh in my mind, and I have so much to tell that my
only trouble is the embarrass du richesse. I was passenger
in the Albus while she lay at Callao, from Sept. 14th to
Sept. 23d, when I left in her for the Chincha Islands. We
arrived there Oct. 3d, and I remained on board her till
Nov. 10th, when I took passage on the Tornado, which
was to reach New York sooner, and came back to Callao
the next day. This time I had another week for observation, as we did not sail upon the present voyage home
till the 19th. I think I will now leave Callao for the Chinchas, and resume Lima, (the very sound of which word
affects me now like some lively, half melancholy Spanish
dance,) till my return. Old sailors must be allowed to
spin their yarns after their own fashion.
But before concluding this initiatory chapter, let me
congratulate myself in a few words on the circumstances




THE CHINCHAS.                   151
under which I am at this moment writing. It is a pleasant afternoon; the wind is light and nearly aft. We are
heading S. half NV., with studding sails set for Cape Horn.
The Tornado is one of the largest and finest clippers out
of New York-a ship which a few years since would have
been a marvel among merchant vessels.  She has on board
a cargo of upwards of two thousand tons. Her main deck
is 230 feet long. She has a crew of fifty men, and the
accommodations of her cabin are equal in spaciousness and
comfort to those of any first class frigate. We are only
seven at table, including five passengers, with the Captain
and first officer, so that we have " ample room and verge
enough." I could even, were I disposed to that amusement, "swing a cat " in my state room. Although there
is a heavy swell even now setting from the southward, the
motion of the ship is so slight as scarcely to be perceptible;
and I hardly realize that I am at sea, though we shall have
been a fortnight out to-morrow. There have also been
sea incidents; one of the men, a Swede, jumped overboard
just at nightfall, Nov. 21st, and could not be found; day
before yesterday, the 30th, we had a solar eclipse as predicted in the Greenwich almanac, and to-day we have been
attended by our first albatross. Listen, ye who love to
read of adventures in the extreme regions of what Sinbad,
that renowned and veracious traveller, calls the " four
seas," to the narrative of the ISLANDS OF THE SEA LIONs.








II.
THE CHINCHAS are three small islands lying outside the
bay of Pisco, about ninety miles down the coast, or southward from San Lorenzo, and fourteen miles from the main
land. Although the distance is so small, the passage to
them from Callao is usually a long and wearisome one, the
trade winds blowing nearly a-head off shore, and merging
into, and losing themselves in calms and land and sea
breezes, generally contrary within sight of the coast. No
directions can be given for beating up this passage; sometimes vessels make good runs by short stretches, keeping
153




154      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
in shore; others do well by running out into the trades,
and making all their latitude in a single tack-and vice
versa in both cases. The Albus got under weigh, and
made sail about two in the afternoon of Friday the 23d.,VWe took the trades blowing fresh just outside of San
Lorenzo, and our Captain judged it best to make a long
leg by running well out, hoping thus to keep in the strong
wind and avoid the calms and uncertain airs of the coast.
Accoidingly, we stood out southwestwardly till Sunday
morning, when we wore ship and stood in to see how much
we had made; for the weather had been too thick for an
observation, and our Captain began to suspect from his
reckoning, that we were not doing so well as he had hoped.
The ship was'in no condition to beat up to windward on
account of her light ballast. The old crew who had
brought her from Port Phillip, having shipped only for the
run, had been discharged at Callao, and a new crew shipped, consisting of Cholos, or the mixed blood of the Indian
and white, especially for service at the Islands. These had
-been shipped by the Captain of the Port, who is in fact
only a shipping master, and whose representations are said
not to be so perfectly reliable as might be desired. In the
present case the poor Cholos, most of whom could understand but little English, had been made to believe that
they only shipped to take in guano; only two or three of
them were ordinary seamen; the rest were " boys " and
they were all smaller and of less strength and lighter
7*




'THE CHINCHAS.                 155
weight than so many Lascars. They were not strong
enough to work the ship, even had they been sailors. Our
Captain had, therefore, good reason for deeming it imprudent to venture out further into the strong winds, where
we could only carry reefed top sails, with such a crew.
Monday morning, the 26th, we were all on the lookout
for land again, expecting to have made a third of our pas.
sage at least. But lo and behold, when we at last succeeded in making it out through the haze that always hovers
over these arid coasts in the early part of the day, what
should it be but our old acquaintance San Lorenzo! We
had been three days out, and our poor Cholos had performed miracles in the way of shortening sail, and the rest
of us, the Captain, a fellow-passenger, and myself, had held
on for three mortal days like so many patiences at sea, to
find we had hardly made three miles of our course. Nothing is so disheartening to landsmen as the disappointments
and delays of beating dead to windward. This occasion
the Captain used afterwards to aver was the only time
the courage of his two passengers failed them; we said
nothing, but if he had offered us the " Pet," (the ship's
gig,) I have no doubt we should have gladly taken her
and pulled back to Callao, which lay in sight, and left him
to work up to the Chinchas alone.
But captains are a most persevering as well as an imperative race; we knew we were in for it, and had no more
to do but to make the best of it. We now, instead of




156     MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
standing far out, made short tacks, three and four in a
day, generally reaching out in the latter part of the night
and running into catch the land breeze in the morning.
But it was slow work; the captain took the wheel, and we
passengers assisted in tacking and wearing. I believe we
were a whole week in sight of our old friend San Lorenzo,
and I have in my mind as perfect a chart of that part of
the Peruvian coast, as I have of the coast of New York
from Sandy Hook to New York, or of Boston Bay, or the
Narragansett.
I recollect, one fine afternoon when we were sailing leisurely and calmly'under a slight breeze, ten or fifteen
miles from the shore, F-  called me from the cabin to
look at what he said were the Andes. When I came on
deck he pointed to a blue outline away up in the sky, at
least a sixth part, or fifteen degrees of the way from the
horizon to the zenith. We had previously seen what we
had been admiring as lofty mountains in the immediate
vicinity of Lima, and along the coast. The range runs
higher than any land in the United States. But the present blue outline was so immeasurably above them that
I could not at first bring myself to believe it to be the outline of mountains, and we had quite an argument. But I
was forced to yield. The forms did not change. With
the glass we could see what must be mighty rocks upon
their summits, and could distinguish the ravines and ridges
on their sides.  I shall never forget or be able to describe




THE CHINCHAS.                 157
the effect of the first view of them. As the sun fell they
became- lighted up, and the whole side of the range was
of a dull yellow; we knew that it must be the reflection
of the sun upon the glaciers, but it looked like yellow sand.
Indeed the forms of the mountains at the distance which
we saw them from, nearly ninety miles, as we afterwards
ascertained, appeared precisely like so many ridges of gravel heaped up and worn into ravines and ridges by rainslike what we may see on the sides of high railroad embankrnents. But the immense height —the perfect stillness-I
cannot tell how awful and at the same time how glorious
it is. These same ridges we saw every clear afternoon
while we lay at the Chinchas, forty miles further South,
so little did that distance change their angle. I was never
tired of looking at them, and I always felt by night and
day that they were looking down upon us and watching
the great ocean. At the Chinchas it is about sixty miles
from the shore to their-bases, and when their summits are
reached, those who have crossed their passes have described
to me how others appear still higher, and whose tops are
always lost in clouds. We were told that the highest part
of the Andes range was now believed to lie in this latitude.
What a beautiful world this is! But for some old
simple necessities and wishes, I could live anywhere upon
it forever; and as it is, I fancy it would take more than
an ordinary lifetime to tire one of life in this enchanted
region. But then I love music and the society of ladies




158      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
and old friends. I shall not return to, and end my days
in, some valley of the Andes until they have all died offmy mother, whom I could not live without, and all the rest.
So much for my ideas of life; we must have a little individuality in a book or it is not worth much, to my thinking.
SUNDAY, OCT. 2.-We had a favorable wind for our
landward tack in the afternoon, and at nightfall as it died
away, we were becalmed within a few miles of the Chinchas
and in sight of the shipping. Compared with the coast we
had passed, and with the highlands of Paraca Point and
San Gallan Island, which lies ten miles or more to the
southward, they look from a distance like some insignificant rocky islets covered with yellow sand. But as we
approach and count the ships that lie in under their lee,
their real height becomes more apparent.
Early Monday morning we had a visit from Capt. Hof the Duchess d'Orleans, (a name not unfamiliar to New
York ears,) who came out to pilot us to a berth in the
fleet. This was in conformity to the custom established
here among the Captains, and by which every ship that
arrives is visited and brought into her anchorage by some
of those whose vessels are waiting their turn for a cargo,
and who know the ground-a convenient as well as hospitable mode of welcome, which saves much care and
troublle to shipmasters visiting the islands for the first time.
A little distinction is made in this and other customs of




THE CHINCHAS.                  159
the islands, respecting launches and the like, among the
English and American captains, but there is not much;
each feels more particularly called to render assistance to
ships of his own nation, " but all is kindly done," and all
give and expect the same cordial reception on the decks
of each vessel. In all these things the courtesy of the
sea has its laws as well as that of the land; and when
there are so many captains assembled at the Chinchas, and
kept so long waiting through needless delays, the unsocial
and disagreeable characters, it may be supposed, have
not the advantage of any pecular facilities in despatching
their business.
At breakfast time we were still in all but a dead calm,
about three miles to the northward of the North Island,
outside of the ships, more than half of which are anchored
there. There is very seldom a breeze from the north, and
never a strong one, so that this is the lee side on both the
north and the middle islands. Here vessels and launches
are loaded; many ships moor close in to the precipice of
rocks with their stern in and bows out, but most are anchored at various distances within half or three quarters
of a mile. There was usually about sixty vessels anchored
and moored at the North island, and as many more at
the middle. I sent a list home to the New York Times,
containing one hundred and fourteen, but it was necessarily incomplete, owing to the constant arrivals and departures.




160      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
The wind continuing light, we did not make much progress all the early part of the forenoon. Our ship was to
lie at the Middle island, and to do this it was necessary to
pass the North one and make a stretch up the bay. As we
did this and came round, about eleven o'clock, to run in for
the middle anchorage, several boats came off with other
captains; and Cape Cod, and Connecticut, and New
York, and down East generally, shook hands with ZMarble.
head; Cape Cod, if I remember rightly, took the wheel,
and New York continued to act as pilot till they ran the
ship in among the others, about midway between the eastern ends of the Middle and North islands, where she let go
her anchor about one o'clock.
By that time the breeze had freshened, and blew right
off the point of the Middle island, laden with the dust and
odor of guano. This breeze blows regularly every day,
and is called the " Paraca," because it blows from Paraca
Point, I suppose; it usually sets in about one or two
o'clock, but sometimes begins earlier,as it did the morning
we came in. Towards evening it often blows a strong
breeze, and gets up a surf on the weather side of the islands
from the southeast in the course of an hour or two, that
makes it difficult for boats to land there. We anchored in
about thirty fathoms water; vessels, by the way, are very
apt in coming in here not to have sufficient chain overhauled
for such a depth of water, and are liable to drift from their




THE CHINCHAS.                  161
position before the anchor bites, and in consequence, to
run afoul of other vessels, where they all lie as near to
each other as they can with safety. All ships should have
at least fifty fathoms of chain ready to run clear.
I did not go ashore till the next morning after my arri.
val, when, whom I mentioned having met at Callao,
took me with him to the Middle island. The landing is
under the precipice, on a ledge that makes out in front of a
great cave, extending quite through the point, over which,
a hundred feet above, project shears for hoisting up water
and provision. On the ledge, a staircase, or rather several
staircases, go up in a zigzag to close by the foot of the
shears; the lowest staircase, about twenty feet long, hangs
from shears at the side of the ledge at right angles with
the rest in front of the cave, and is rigged to be hoisted or
lowered according to the tide, and to be drawn up every
evening, or whenever the Governor of the Island chooses
to enjoy his dignity alone.
A few rods from the edge of the cliff, directly over the
cave, is the palace of the said governor, who styles himself in all his State papers,
" KOSSUTH.,
The palace is a large fiat-roofed shanty, constructed of
rough boards and the canes and coarse rush matting
which answers generally for the commonest sort of dwellings
in Peru. It has, if I remember correctly, two apartments,




162      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
with a sort of portico, two or three benches, a table and
grass hammock in front surrounded by a low paling, forming a little yard, where a big dog usually mounts guard.
One of the apartments is probably the store-room; there
is a kitchen shanty adjoining the piazza on the side most
exposed to the sun. The other' is the bed-chamber and
dining-room of Governor Kossuth and his aids. It contains
three or four cot beds, an old table and writing desk, and
is decorated with a few newspapers, colored lithographs,
and old German plans of the battles of Frederick the
Great. Over Kossuth's couch are some cheap single barrel pistols; the floor is guano.  The situation overlooks
nearly all the shipping between the Middle and North
islands. Directly under it, but far beneath, the cavern
from before which the stairs go up, runs through and
opens into a narrow bight or cove, whose precipices reach
upto within a few yards of the rear of the shanty. The noise
of the surf comes up here in a softened monotone; below
are a hundred tall vessels-the North island with its strange
rocks and dark arches fringed with foam-in the distance,
north and east, the hazy bay of Pisco lying in the sunshine,
and if it be afternoon, the snowy Andes.
We found Kossuth at home. He is a Hungarian, or at
least looks like one, and has selected a Hungarian name.
He is a middle sized, half soldier-like, youngish individual,
with quick gray eyes, and an overgrown red moustache.




THE CHINCHAS.                   163
He wears his hair trimmed close at the back of his head,
which goes up mn a straight wall, broadening as it goes,
and causing his ears to stand out almost at right angles.
From this peculiarity, as well as his general cast of countenance, he looks combative and hard. But his forehead.
gathering down in a line with his nose, and his speech and
actions show so much energy of character, that he does
not look like a very bad fellow after all. I-e is full of
life, and display, and shrewdness, and swearing, and broken English. I rather liked him.* His favorite exclamation is " Hellanfire!" and he loves to show his authority.
He was polite enough to me, though the captains often
complained of being annoyed by his caprices.
He invited me to come ashore and see him, and offered
to tell me " all the secrets of the island." He told me that
he was one of the party of Hungarians who came to New
York on the representations of Ujhazy, who had obtained
for them a grant of land. But he said, that land was of
no use to them, they were soldiers-they could not work.
Ujjhazy, who had been a landowner at home, and not a
military man, had made a blunder in obtaining land-they
wanted employment in the army, or as engineers and the
like. That he, (Kossuth,) finding how matters stood, left
* He appreciates Shakespeare. I gave the Spanish doctor an old
copy, and Kossuth bought it of him. I told him it showed he must
have some claim to his name.




164       MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
New York for New Orleans, where he joined the Lopez
expedition. From this he escaped, he did not tell me how,
into Mexico; thence reached San Francisco, where he
joined Flores, and so came to South America. Here,
when that expedition failed, he took service in Peru, and
finally had obtained the place he held on this island, where
he said he meant to make money enough to buy land, and
tell other people to work, but not to work himself. IHe
pitied the poor Chinese slaves here, but what could he do?
He could only make them work-and so. on.
He talked and exclaimed " Hellanfire!" and gesticulated, altogether with so much rapidity that it was an effort
to follow him; treated us to some of the wine of the country, (very much like the new wine of Sicily,) and other
good things; cold ham, sardines, and preserved meats,
which he says the captains present him with, more than
he wants,-and he never knows where they come firom.
According to him they all expect cargoes at once, and as
he cannot accommodate them, they try to influence him
by arguments and long talks and flattery, and in every sort
of way, and he gets wearied to death in his efforts to please
them —poor iman I He told all this with a lrnamentable
voice and face, and every now and then a roguish twinkle
of the eye, that made it a great trial of the nerves to listen
to him without laughing-knowing as I did the exact sumrn
which had been paid him by some captains, to get loaded
before the expiration of their lay days!




THE CHINCHAS.                  165
After finishing our call upon him, we walked over the
height of the island; that is, over the rounded hill of
guano which covers it, and of which bult a small portion
comparatively has been cut away on one side for shipment. The average height of the rock which is the substratum of the island, is fi'om an hundred and fifty to two
and three hundred feet. Kossuth's place-stands on the
surface of this at about the lowest of those elevations. On
this the guano lies as upon a scaffolding or raised platform
rising out of the sea. It lies on a smooth rounded mound,
and is on this island about a hundred and sixty feet in
the central part, supposing the rock to maintain the average level of the height when it is exposed. Perhaps
twenty acres or more have been cut away from the side
of the hill towards the north or lee side the island, nextthe
shipping.
As we walked along the edge of the cove behind and
within a few rods of KosSuth's house, we saw the Chinese
coolies digging and wheeling, and their taskmasters looking
on. A little back were the miserable cane huts where they
sleep, and not far from this, within a couple of rods of
where they were digging on this side, we were shocked by
coming upon the dead body of one lying almost naked in
the sun, with the face of it covered with flies. It was one,
we afterwards ascertained, who had been drowned that
morning, whether accidentally or not, nobody knew-or
cared. It lay among a number of little heaps or graves,




166      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
and the turkey buzzards wheeled around it almost in our
faces.
Over the back of the hill we came among the little birds
who swarm over the islands, wherever they are not disturbed, in multitudes which no man can number. Yet I
cannot suppose that they are the principal producers of
the guano, though I have repeatedly seen the surface blue
with them for a space of more than ten acres; and the
precipices are alive with them.  The name for the species
in common Peruvian, is " Poto-Huenco." They are beautiful birds, much like blue pigeons, but more lightly
formed, and with fire-red bills. On each side of their
heads is a single narrow yellow feather, shaped like an S,
reaching half-way down their necks-an ornament conceived by Nature in one of her happiest inspirations.
When we came among these birds, they would rise in
front about a rod fi'orm us, and close in behind, as we proceeded, so that we were constantly in their midst. A stick
thrown among them would firighten them only for a moment; the cloud would soon settle around us again. They
are so strong of wing that they fly with a peculiarly flitting
airy motion, like so many sheets of paper blown by the
wind, and they have only one plaintive note, of a quality
like the human voice, and a melancholy unearthly effect
that I cannot describe. In the midst of one of their great
assemblies, a visiter is evidently an object of extreme curiosity; all eyes are upon him; thousands of the more ven



THE CHINCHAS.                  167
turous are flittingo all about him, and apparently inquiring
what sent him into their domains, and warning him to go
away. "Wah, wah," they say, "what do you here?
Leave this place-leave this place. It is wild and sadwah, wah. It is ours; leave it. Fly away-away. Wah,
wah, wah!"  They always made me feel as if I had wandered into a congregation of ghosts or elemental spirits.
Besides these blue ones, there is a species of white ones
also very numerous. They are a little larger than the
blue, and snow-white. What has a very singular effect
when they are all sitting together, covering acres of the
sloping hills of guano, the white keep by themselves in the
midst of the blue, like the staff of a great army, or like a
division of allies in different uniform. The white ones also
abound on the precipices, where I believe both they and
the blue have their nests. Besides these, there are beautiful little black-winged, white-breasted birds, not larger
than squab pigeons, who have their nests in holes in the
guano., about a foot beneath the surface, and three feet
within. The guano is everywhere perforated and honeycombed witth these holes, and the birds may be taken from
them any tilme by reaching in the hand.  One day when
we went gunnitng., two men took out more than fifty in a
short time. I earried one to the ship and kept him a day
or two, intending to preserve hirn, but my heart relented.
I had suffered om account of my cape pigeon. I bethought
me that not being a naturalist, the good of science did not




168      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS,
require me to stuff birds, and so I let him go over the
gunwale. The moment he touched the water he was out
of sight.
All these birds, and many more that abound on the
islands, are birds of the sea. The white may be seen off
the-coast-of Peru many miles from land. The blue are
constantly fishing around the islands; wherever there is a
school of smelt or other small fish, there will be hundreds
of them hovering above, diving and splashing.
Besides the birds, the only living thing upon the islands
is a species of lizard from three to ten inches long, very
active, and very glad to get out of the way. It is quite
harmless, but will glide on a few steps aside, and turn and
puff out its chin like a frog, and make a low faint croak,
and presto! if you lift a stick or start, it vanishes into the
next hole, and another one pops out somewhere else.
The lookout from either of the islands is enchanting.
Imagine the Andes and the Pacific in one view-the
islands with their precipitous walls indented with immense
caves, and surrounded by fantastic rocks, fringed with
foam-the pure ocean air-the myriads of sea birds-the
shipping-the schools of sea lions-and almost always, far
or near upon the blue waste-the spout of whales, and the
white sails of ships coming or departing-altogether the
scene is full of exhilaration and excitement. The height
of the islands is such, tAhat the eye looks directly down upon the masts of the vessels moored and lying beneath, and




TIlE CHINCIIAS.                 169
the round horizon demonstrates to the eye the appropriateness of the phrase of the Admiralty Courts, "the high
seas."
The Middle island is a little longer east and west than
the north, but its superficial extent must be about the
same. Neither of them are more than a mile across in the
widest part. The south island is somewhat smaller, but
is quite as high. It has not yet been dug from, probably
on account of the greater exposure to the surf, and consequent difficulty of loading launches.
The guano where exposed to the air, is of a reddish
brown, yellow color, darker than that of its general substance, where it is cut away. It of course colors the whole
of the islands, the rock on which it rests being only visible
round the shores. As it is like light dry earth, and full of
holes, it is difficult to walk upon, there being no certainty
that every other footstep will not sink in nearly to the knee.
If one hurries he is almost sure to fall, or rather to get
into it all over, in which case the only satisfaction is in
knowing that it is almost pure ammonia, and contains no
animal substance, otherwise it might be thought to be an
unpleasant sticky sort of soil. A few feet below the surface it becomes compact, and from  thence through its
whole thickness is of nearly the consistence of Castile soap.
Its odor is strongly ammonical, though this is'not perceived, or but faintly, in walking over the islands where
they have not been dug upon.




170       MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
We went upon the edge of the cutting, where the Chinese coolies or slaves, who are the only laborers here, are
employed daily in cutting away the hill with pickaxes, and
conveying the guano to the edge of the cliff in barrows.
From the shipping the cutting appears almost perpendicular, and the slaves are just visible here and there on the
side like so many insects. But from the top it is seen to
slope at a convenient angle for pushing down the guano
as fast as it is picked away and broken up to be loaded
into the barrows at the base. There are about three huln
dred coolies on the middle island, and fiom seven to eight
hundred on the north. They are kept at work by black
drivers —hideous creatures, who walk amlong them  with
heavy thongs; they are half naked, and their wild looks
and strange cries, with the knowledge of their hard fate,
make the scene of their labor a horrid place to look down
upon, both at first and ever after. I shall defer to speak
of their condition however, until after describing the islands
more particularly.
I returned to the ship in time to dine. We had an excellent dinner, I remember, fresh beef from Pisco, which
lies in the bight of the bay to which it gives its name, and
is the principal town or port on this part of the coast.
There was also a bushel basket of fruit at hand to draw
upon next morning, which I hold to be the proper time
for eating fruit-oranges, bananas, papinos, cherimoyas,
paltas, and such like varieties. The oranges are the sweet



THE CHINCHAS.                 171
est I ever tasted. I will not record how many some of
us acquired the art of flaying at a sitting.  The papinos
are little cantelope-flavored melons, with a smooth rind;
when fully ripe, the whole substance of them dissolves in
the mouth. But the cherimoyas! shut your eyes and
fancy yourself eating strawberries and cream-the illusion
will be perfect. The very look of them, with their bulbous
shape about the size of a fist, and dark green chequered
rind, has a tropical flavor. Their only fault is their excess
of perfection; one cannot devour a bushel of them. The
paltas, or huge pears with a round stone, were the only
novelty I could not admire. Most persons relish them exceedingly; to me they were so many green squashes.




III.
THE Chinchas are composed of a dull whitish, and reddish colored rock, which I presume to be chiefly fieldspar or
porphyry. The rock exhibits in its structure a partial
stratification or crystallization in lines at angles of about
twenty degrees with the horizon towards the ocean, and
sixty or seventy degrees from it. The detached rocks, many
of them very large and of the mostfantastic forms conceivable, appear to have been broken from the general mass.
Occasionally, but not frequently, there occur veins of
trap. The whole appears to have been formed by sepa(172)




THE CHINCHAS.                  173
rate inundations of lava under great pressure, probably at
the bottom of the ocean. Both the character of the rock,
and the contour of its surface, favor such an hypothesis.
The rock has the look of a cinder produced on a great
scale, and its surface appears never to have supported any
other rock, but to have cooled in an uneven bubbly mass,
just as it might be imagined lava would cool under such
circumstances. It is full of irregular smooth elevations, and
depressions, as if it had gradually subsided when viscous
from a state of ebullition; and it reminded me every time
I looked at it, to compare it to the structure of an oldfashioned tough-crusted apple pie.  There have apparently several layers of lava contributed to its forma
tion; as each cooled, vapors, or expansive agencies within,
forced up the crust in tumid swellings, that became indurated in that shape, and were filled in beneath by rock,
which by cooling as it flowed in, was less crystallized and
of softer quality. This, by the action of the sea, has worn
away, and produced the caves and hollow arches which
are the greatest curiosity of the islands, and haveperfectly
adapted them to become the home of seals and birds.
The precipices around each of the islands and of the
Ballista group, which is of similar formation, ten miles to
the southward, are entirely perforated with immense caves
that often leave only a thin crust above them, and extend
in no one can tell how far, since only a few of them can be
ventured into on account of the surf that rolls in great waves




174      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
into them, with thundering noises and perpetual turmoil.
Far within, the dark dripping ledges may be seen covered
with nests and birds wherever nests can be stuck or birds
stand, and along with the wind and spray that rushes out
as the waves advance, come the hoarse cries of penguins
and sometimes the roar of sea lions, who have their favorite haunts in such unapproachable recesses.  In many
instances, as under Kossutl's palace, these caves extend
quite through projecting points of the island; in others,
they may be plainly seen to follow far inward the contour
of the swelling bubbles, as I would call them, upon the
upper surface. Sometimes the rock is a hundred or two
hundred feet thick over them; at others, it is a mere shell,
precisely like a section of a bubble in a cinder; in a few
instances is a double row more or less perfectly developed
-a second story of caverns, one over the other.  I speak
of them as bubbles; many of thetm are sixty feet to their
roofs, and more than that distance across. They open
into each other, and in many places where boats can go
in and where I have repeatedly rowed, the whole rock is a
roof of immense dark domes and pillared arches, opening
out in many places to the sunlight.  I think I shall
dream of some of these scenes hereafter.
Perhaps some of the finest of such scenery is to be found
at the Ballistas which is a group much resembling the
Chinchas, but higher and mnore exposed, and therefore
affording less guano, and almost inaccessible-the only




TEIE CIIINCHAS.               175
landing being upon beaches that lie at the foot of perpendicular precipices or on the points of rocks that can scarcely
be climbed. We made up a party one morning and were
pulled down to them by a boat's crew. We rowed through
one arch on the most northerly of them  a hundred feet
through, but so narrow that the men were obliged to ship
their oars. Though it was a calmer morning than usual,
the wave sucked us in and out as easily as if the boat had
been a shingle, and we had much difficulty in keeping her
off the sharp points of rock on the sides.  WVe got safely
through, but none of us would have desired to risk a similar passage again, especially unless we were better
acquainted with the waters beyond it; for when we got
through we were nearly upon some sunken rocks almnost
awash in the valley of the swell. Not finding any landing
place on that island, but a beach about a quarter of a mile
long, which the precipice overhung, so that it would be
impossible to climb to the upper regions, we pulled away
for the middle island. Here we saw a beach in a small
cove at the mouth of a great cave, where'the sea did not
appear to reach, and accordingly we made for it. As we
came within the cove or bight in the precipice, for it was
not more than a hundred yards across, and the rock was
from a hundred and fifty to two hundred feet high, we
saw that what we had taken for a cave was an immense
arch, across which, about midway, the beach extended in a
narrow arm. We ran the boat on this, and smooth as it




176      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
appeared a little outside, we had enough to do to back her.
Everything was on so large a scale that what seemed
gravel was large pebbles we could hardly stand amongst,
and the surf was quite sufficient to have rolled the boat
over and over had we not been quick to haul her up. As
it was, she filled and our lunch suffered.
But what a place we were in! Overhead was a perfectly smooth arch of rock sixty or seventy feet high, and
of a hundred and fifty span, extending more than two hundred yards quite through the island. The beach we stood
on formed a bar, over which, it appeared, the surf often
broke, running across the eastern opening on the side we
had entered, and exposed on either side to the surf.
On this beach were two complete skeletons of sea lions,
one with most of the skin still upon it, several skeletons of
pelicans, and other scattered bones and coarse marine
plants in heaps. The roar of the surf when the wave came
in was so great, we could hardly distinguish what we said;
it seemed to me like the voice of ages-the solemn revealing voice of Nature sounding on and on for ever. Century
after century it has sounded there, and the beautiful days
have glided away in this changeless climate, and all has
passed in utter solitude. If I fail in expression in attempting to convey how the scene affected me, it is because I
cannot yet analyze my own impressions or distinguish the
threads of reverie that weave themselves about me when I
think of it. All thoughts mingle together, and as I shut




MELBOURNE.                   177
my eyes and call up that glorious arch and the sunshine
falling against the inaccessible cliffs, and the vast ancient
ocean that cannot be at rest, I become almost painfully
conscious of all the circumstances of existence.
The huge skeletons of sea lions that lay upon the coarse
pebbles above the reach of the surf, with the ghastly look
of their skulls,were in admirable keeping with the desolation and solitude of the place. Our figures looked so
small, that we seemed to have dwindled to pigmies. Our
shouts rang loudly, and the report of our guns reverberated through the cool air with an echo almost deafening.
Many birds were brought down from the cliffs, among
them some of the blue and the white ones described in the
preceding chapter, and red billed and black ducks, or birds
resembling ducks, of which every rock and cliff around the
islands holds a populous colony. We knocked out the
canine teeth of the sea lions; they were very white and
hard, three and four inches long, and curved and shaped
like walrus' teeth. Underneath the cliff, on one side of
the arch, were some holes or clefts in the rock on a level
with the beach, within which we could just see two
large birds sitting on their nests. Two or three of our
keenest sportsmen set to work, and after half an hour's
labor, crawling on their hands and knees, succeeded in
drawing out with boathooks, two penguins, which we
looked upon as the principal trophy of the expedition.
They were quite indignant at the rough treatment they




178      MELBOURNE, AND THIE CIIINCIIAS.
had received, and did not yield without obstinate resistance,
one of his captors had a finger bitten to the bone. They
were so strong, that one of them with one of his legs made
fast by a seizing, partly unwound from an oar,would drag
the oar towards the water. Every now and then they
made a sound something like the lowing of a cow.
The species of penguin which frequents these islands,_ is
from two and a half to three feet high, very dark gray on
the back, with a snow white breast and two white streaks
running from the eyes down each side of the neck, black
bill and black flippers or fin-like wings. The usual engravings of thern represent them  very correctly. But they
look very droll when they are alive walking on a level
beach.  The Peruvians call them  "munos" or " babybirds;" and in fact they look for all the world at a distance
like so many children in white aprons. They step with
their feet wide apart, and walk with what seems to be a
ludicrous affectation of carefulness.  When they get near
enough they tumble, or roll, or jump, in the clumsiest manner into the water, and-disappear, to rise with just their
heads out a hundred yards off. I stood upon a cliff at the
Ballista, which overloolked a place below, where the sun
struck into the water, and I could see the bottom where it
was twenty feet under. There were many penguins diving from a rock and swimming about under water at their
leisure, along with other diving birds —the ducks, before
mentioned. The penguins used their flippers outspread,




THE CHINCHAS.,                 179
like seals, which they much resemble when swimming;
they change their course at will, and do not hurry themselves to come to the surface. All the other divers use
their feet only, and go in straight rapid lines, as if they
were in haste to return to the air. The two we caught
were kept alive several days on the ship. One of them
was quite a match for Kangaroo, our half native Australian dog.  IIe ultimately became a "specimen," and will
probably adorn -'s private collection. The other was
made a present of, through an excess of sea politeness, to
an English Captain, lying near by, who had made himself
disliked on account of his surly manners. He was unacquainted with the habits and capabilities of penguins, and
our worthy captain fancied that with a live one promenading his deck, he might " stand a chance " to learn something-especially if he should come within reach of his
bill.
It is curious that among all the surf-beaten rocks around
the islands, most of which are covered at all times with
birds, the penguins select a few for their own property
and allow no other species to come upon them. There
they stand, looking as innocent, or rather as " cunning"
(using the word in the sense we use it in speaking of children) as can be. One would never suspect them  of swallowing a whole mackerel at a gulp, to watch them walking
quaintly about conversing with each other, and now and
then tumbling into the surf in the most awkward and




180      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
undecided manner, as if they were perfectly indifferent
what became of themselves.  Their voices when they
are swimming are very loud and deep, and somewhat resemble human cries. We heard them about the ship off the
west coast of Patagonia when it was blowing heavy nearly
a hundred miles from land.
We remained on the beach that ran across the arch and
around the narrow cave till noon. By that time the surf
had somewhat increased and it was judged best to send
the boat round a point of the island and embark on
the other side of the arch, where the waves were longer
and the intervals between the rolls greater and more
regular. WVe had to watch our chance to wade in and
cling to the bows one or two at a tinie, even then. Several
times the boat was near being swamped before we could
succeed, and I believe all of us -were quite satisfied to get
aboard with only a half ducking; if some of our crew had
not had experience in beach-combing, we might not have
got through the surf so safely. At one time the boat
turned almost end over end, and I can assure the reader
that it was not pleasant to be jammed in amidships when
she stood on the comb of the wave.
We pulled round towards the leeward side of the island
where we had at first arrived. Not far from the great
arch on the windward side of the point, round which the
men had taken the boat, we pulled into the entrance of an
immense dark cavern, whose roof reached so near the sur



THE CEIINCHAS.                 181
face of the island, that the rock immediately overhead came
out to a thin edge. It extended a hundred yards or more
to the right, where there was another opening, and about
the same distance on the left where were several smaller
openings; but nearly in front, a little to the left, the main
drift of it extended inward, preserving its height as far as
we could see, into utter darkness. The mouth where we
pulled in, was open to the Pacific, and it was so wide that
we could lay in the middle under the roof, notwithstanding
the swell. We pulled in as far as we dared, and lay cautiously on our oars watching the heave of the wave lest it
should dash us upon the rocks. The fury of the sea was
awful. We went in so far that we could just see immediately around us, but we could hear the roar and occasionally catch faint gleams of white foam far within. The
whole cavern was perfectly alive with sea-fowl of the species of red-billed ducks or divers, before mentioned; no
jutty, or projecting angle of the ledges from the roof to
the edge of the foam but what had its occupant, and they
were flying everywhere. Standing with their long necks
stretched straight up, and perfectly still, they looked like
so many imps of the infernal regions. The cavern within,
must have been a hundred feet high, and not less than that
in width; it is almost impossible to judge correctly where
everything was so strange and so vast.
After leaving the cave we kept on to the extremity of
the point, and at last found a place where we could land




182       MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
and climb up to the top of the island. The rock was completely yellow, with evidence of the recent presence of
birds; in the central and less exposed parts, this merged
into guano, which overlays nearly the whole surface for
more than a hundred acres. There were the blue birds as
I had seen them on the Middle Chinchal and on the extreme
points and ledges, thousand of pelicans. While my companions were shooting the blue birds by hundreds, merely
for the pleasure of killing them, I went up to the southwest, or windward end, where the island terminates in
cliffs three hundred feet high. I walked over the great
arch and cave where we had been; on a high point I looked
down upon another arch, much more elevated. It was at
least a hundred and fifty feet high and two hundred across;
the rock was narrow, not more than proportionably wide
for such a height, to make the whole resemble a stupendous triumphal arch or gateway. A white sand-beach ran
across, and the sunlight fell there so soft, and fresh, and
cool, it was enough to waken one's heart to gaze upon it.
I seemed to have emerged from the domains of Chaos and
old Night, into a region of fairyTland-such an island as
young gentlemen and ladies sing duets about, intimating a
mutual wish to " dwell there with thee" in the "sunny sea."
Or not to degrade such matchless scenery, it gave to me
the feeling of sea views in the ancient poets, in Spenser,
the Tempest, the landscapes and backgrounds of the old
masters, and not least, though last in the sea music of




THE CHINCHAS.                   183
Mendelssohn. I think if one could land within that open
arch at the time of the full moon, and should see no mermaids or nymphs of the ocean there, he ought to be convinced that there are no such beings in the world.
Along in the afternoon the sky over the islands began
to be filled with immense flocks of pelicans, apparently_
going to and from the ocean. There were even more of
them than were usually seen at the Chinchas, and they flew
higher, and in long lines and circles, as if they had ascended
for long passages.  It is not easy for those who have
never visited such a coast to form an idea of the number
of these and other sea birds that people this part of the
ocean. For two days before we came in sight of San
Lorenzo on the voyage from Australia, we sailed through
myriads and  myriads of them —legions innumerable,
inconceivable; the green discolored sea was populous with
them over all its surface as far as we could see. It was,
we fancied, one of their harvest seasons, for the fish appeared to be as numerous as the birds; mackerel and herring, or fish resembling them, were constantly leaping
under our bow, and the birds in some places were assembled over the shoals beneath in such numbers, that they
looked like low islands as they rose on the curves of the
slowly heaving undulations.
Among them were large flocks of these pelicans, a bird
which is at horne in almost all tropical climates, and particularly at the Chinchas, where the " Pelican war " bids




184      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
fair to become hardly less celebrated than the Punic wars
of ancient history. Faded, emaciated specimens of these
birds, with soiled and ruffled plumage, are frequently to
be seen in our travelling menageries, where their long bills
and grave looks always command attention. In their native'
haunts, and when engaged about their ordinary avocations, their ways and doings are too remarkable not to
attract much notice. On the coast of Peru, the shooting
of them is a finable offence, as they are supposed to be, and
it is likely are, with- the seals, the principal manufacturers
of what in process of time becomes guano.
In the harbor of Callao there are immense numbers of
them fishing among the shipping, and from being never
molested they are not in the least shy of being observed.
They are very large birds, and can consume more fish in a
day than several men. In this, and in consequent respects,
it is not easy to over estimate their capabilities. Mtore
than a good sized bucket full of newly-caught fish have
been taken from the crop of one of them! They fly
heavily; the feathers at the ends of their broad wings are
worn to the quill from continually beating the air and water; yet they fly long, at great heights, as well as skimming
the surface, and with great power and command of their
course and position. WVhen they dive for fish, they invariably turn a back summerset and plunge down with a force
and velocity quite astonishing.  Their pouched bills are
more than two feet long, and as they frequently rise with




THE CHINCHAS.                  ] 85
them apparently well filled, it is not unreasonable to conjecture that in the capacity for swallowing they are not
inferior to those who believe that departed spirits can be
"rapt into other times." Indeed, when they are seen
standing in solemn conclaveon the rocks, they very much
resemble what we should imagine to be the appearance of
a convention of " spiritual rappers."  I could never see
them without thinking of a tea-party of venerable ladies
in terested in the various benevolent' causes" of the. day.
Their bills are so heavy that they rest them on their necks,
never extending their necks but when they dive; and they
stand firm and immovable-the very impersonation of
starched prudery! One lady (for there were ladies at the
Chinchas,) had named them after an ancient maiden in her
native village, who would doubtless, could she ever know
it and see her namesakes, feel highly complimented.
In returning from our Ballista expedition we came
along by the islands and caves we had passed in the morning. The sun was setting and there were splendid effects
of light and shadow on the cliffs and crags. Little wind
was stirring, just a light "paraca" from the South east, but
the swell from the ocean had gradually increased during
the day, and the surf was now tremendous on the rocks
and within the immense hollows of the caverns. In the
morning we had come on the windward side of the Middle
and South Chinchas, where the ocean is for ever heaving
and receding with a slow mighty motion, as if it were the




186      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
breathingl of the world. Here the rocks are whiter and
the cliffs higher and more weather-worn. I know not if it
is ever so calm on this side that the caves which may be
seen to extend in hundreds of feet, can be ventured into
with safety. The set of the great ocean waves, is so irresistible, that if a boat should once be caught by it in a narrow
passage, where the whole water moves with the heave, she
would be swamped in a moment. An English captain was
said to have gone in his boat into one of the largest of the
leeward caves, and was never seen or heard of again. But
wherever the water is smooth, and only rises and descends
with the wave, boats may venture; and they will go with
perfect safety where to an inexperienced eye it would seem
that they could not live a moment. The great height of the
wave only is seen from a distance, but not its gradual
slopes. On several occasions afterwards, when we had a
boat's crew that could be depended on, we lay in on our
oars, and even landed, and took off some of the Cholos
who climbed the precipices after eggs like so many monkeys. They obtained a great many, and we had omelettes
made of themn, which were excellent; in boiling or frying
them, the white remains trasparent.
The rocks and caverns of these islands remind me somewhat of the Pictured Rocks of Lake Superior, which I saw
several years ago; I only sailed along by those, however, and did not go close in. But these volcanic rocks
are much more rough and singular than the sand-stone




THE CHINCHAS.                 187
of the Pictured Rocks, and then there is the swell of the
Pacific, which on this coast is probably grander than any
in any part of the world. The whole force of the trades
has been expended upon the waves that' prostrate themselves at the feet of the Andes. They appear the more
gigantic from the constant pleasantness of the weather.
Rain, except a heavy morning mist, that sometimes leaves
a few drops upon a ship's deck, is unknown; day follows
day with only just change enough for variety; the mornings are generally veiled; this clears up to a sunny forenoon haze; in the afternoon comes the paracca, and the
evenings are usually clear-very frequently cloudless, and
with a starry sky that only the southern and middle Pacific
can match for brilliance. Often when the mornings are
still, and the surface of the sea undisturbed by a ripple,
the surf will be rolling tremendously on the narrow
beaches, and dashing in great white sheets fifty feet high
or more against the precipices. These are called " surfdays," and special allowance is made for them in the
charter parties of vessels loading at the islands. On such
days, Governor Kossuth's stairway has sometimes to be
drawn up, and it is not easy to land upon either island.
As nothing can then be done on shipboard, the business
of " taking in " being interrupted, it is on these days that
boats go about most from  ship to ship, or among the
islands; for the swell is scarcely felt among the shipping,
except by those vessels which are moored close in. Lands



188      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
men, and even those who may have been accustomed to
the ocean as it is usually seen from our coasts, have no
idea of a swell upon so large a scale. The waves are
longer, and slower, and mightier; going about the shores
in a boat, it would almost seem as if the very level of the
sea had changed for a square mile around. At times we
would be on a smooth elevation at no great distance from
some inconsiderable rocks; then perhaps half a minute
after, we would find ourselves in a gently curving valley,
with some huge weed-covered crags an acre over, rather
too near; and then would come the long rise which would
seem  to lift us upon them, along with an irresistible
torrent.
The surf was particularly fine around the outside of the
North Island.  There was a passage here, called the
" bucceroon passage," which boats could not always go
through, and which the more venturesome were therefore
always inclined to attempt. Mlore than once in going
through this, have prudent men, like myself, wished themselves well out of it.
My pride does not lie in exposing life unnecessarily; I
have a natural disinclination to drowning; I tilink it my
duty to preserve myself as long as possible, to amuse my
fellow-citizens, and make them love nature and think of her
as I do; and I take a higher satisfaction in remembering
that, when I was coxswain, or had command, either in a




THE CHINCHAS.                  189
boat or in any capacity, I never permitted myself to expose
life out of bravado.
One may have a pride in bearing to be called timid;
there is no place where young sailors are more apt to be
over confident than in a boat. They will often attempt
what whalemen and beach-combers would not attempt
without trained crews. So generally is this the case, that
I would caution any traveller who thinks his life a trust
of some importance, not to go on boat expeditions among
the surf, unless in a boat with a careful man who shall be
captain for the occasion, and whose courage and skill does
not require constant airing.
Some of the detached rocks on the seaward side of the
North island, were very remarkable, both for size and
shape. One of them cannot easily be forgotten by any
who ever saw it. If painted upon the drop scene on
the stage, where the' decorators of the theatre usually
indulge their. fancies, it would be thought extravagant.
Its form was that of two craggy arches forty feet high,
crossing each other and uniting at the top, so as to form a
natural open temple with four equidistant pillars. Its summit was usually tenanted by a solemn assembly of pelicans,
who may have been, for aught a spectator knew, taking
into consideration the condition of the crow population
of the United States. I never passed this rock without regretting that I was not an artist; indeed the islands everywhere often awakened a similar regret-as will in a few




190      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
years be believed, when commerce and the increased facilities for travel shall have afforded some of our artists an
opportunity to open the wonderful and beautiful scenery
of Peru to their countrymen.
But the sealions, the hereditarylords of the islands, are as
strange and remarkable as the grottoes. They are almost
always swimming and blowing about among the shipping,
and one soon gets tired of watching their movements.
They may be seen in pairs and parties of all numnbers up
to twenty or thirty-rarely alone. They cruise leisurely
around, swimming just under the surface, sticking their
noses out and taking breath at irregular intervals; some.
times they do this as often as once in ten seconds, coining
up as they swim, about once in a ship's length for several
minutes in succession. This appears to be when they are
"prospecting,"' as the miners would say, for a school of
mackerel or herring. WVhen they have gone on for a considerable distance in this way, either making a straight
wake or winding about, they will sound and be gone
much longer. In doing this they always turn on their
sides and go down a back summerset like the pelicans
in the air. I have seen them do this almost under the
ship's stern within a few yards distance, in a calm forenoon when the water was like glass. Looking directly
down upon them they use their flippers so like arms that
they seem like devils in half human forms; I remember it
made me shudder to see them turn and plunge directly




THE CHINCHAS.                  191
down in the clear water, with such swiftness that in a
second their forms were lost in the depth and darkness.
But of all created things and monsters in the world, I
think there can be none that when seen near at hand wears
so horrible a face and shape. Their mouths, with their
enormous tusks or fangs, and cat-like whiskers, resemble
somewhat the mouths of lions; their nostrils or blow-holes
are very large, and they have great saucer-like eyes and no
ears. To see them come up half out of water near a boat
is positively awful to behold, and enough to shake any
unaccustomed nerves. WVe chased a party of them one
afternoon and tried to head them off and throw a lance
into one, but they took good care to keep just out of
reach. They were fishing, and several times they came up
with mackerel in their teeth very near us. I never saw or
dreamed of anything more horrid to look at. Their eyes
are probably adapted to seeing at many fathoms depth,
and from their staring I suspect they do not see well in the
sunlight above. Nothing can be conceived more unnaturally hideous.  They are the embodiment of despair.
Along with the look of fierceness and cruelty, they have
one of agony and suffering that makes them altogether
appear to be the compelled agents of some diabolical spell
or inevitable doom, like the wicked afrites and genies of the
Arabian Nights.
Everything about them is mysterious. Half beast and
half fish preying under water, living in darkness, and per.




192      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
mitting themselves to be seen only partially, at brief intervals. and in shapes of such fearful ugliness-I could never
wholly divest myself of the idea that they were animated
by fiendish intelligences-that they were either possessed
by devils or lost souls imprisoned in and made subject to
the appetites of the most repulsive and voracious bodies.
Their breathing is always like sobbing; their cries are
wails; who knows what they could reveal if they could
speak? The depths of the sea and the monstrous creatures that inhabit there are familiar to them, and so are the
darkest recesses of the great caverns. They were created
to be Destroyers. There is no doubt that to support their
lives they must devour an incredible number of the small
fishes. They may be seen for hours daily, chasing herring
and mackerel, and evidently havocking among them right
and left.  When they are surfeited they retire to their
caverns and lie stupidly on the slippery rocks till hunger
drives them out to forage again.
On the leeward side of the middle island, there is a cavern a hundred yards across at the entrance, extending in
more than twice as far, or at least accessible that far, in very
calm times, by boats. Here may always be found sea
lions reposing, and it is the chief ambition of captains and
mates who love sport, to get in there among them.  We
could never find it'calm enough to go in, though we saw in
several times, and saw the creatures inward and outward
bound as they passed us.




THE CHINCHAS.                 193
One of our Marblehead mates had been there, and was
not a little proud of having killed his sea lion. There is
some danger, if one slips on the rock or gets between the
animals and the sea; they do not act on the offensive;
and hideous as he is to the sight, a few heavy blows on the
nose generally seals your seal's fate, and makes you owner
of a huge carcass, sometimes nearly as large as a horse's,
covered with a coarse hairy skin like india rubber when
dried, and only valuable as a gift to Mr. Barnum, who may
possibly use it in the manufacture of mermaids.
While I am speaking of Marblehead and mackerel, I
must mention a curious development of instinct in some
Cape Ann boys we had aboard ship. Not even the sea
lions were more eager after the mackerel than they were.
Every hour of their liberty they always employed in fishing. They cared not to go ashore, but let them have the
yawl and their jigs and lines, and they were in clover. I
almost pitied them sometimes, when after working all the
week, they would stay off all Sunday, and return at night,
burnt and fatigued, and as proud of a barrel of fish, more
or less, as miss with a new bonnet.
But then I reflected that it was necessary for them to
fish for mackerel in order to keep healthy; with them, fishing is the condition of their being; birds fly, beasts walk,
men talk, Cape Ann boys fish. It is a strong argument
in favor of the supposition that the animate creation as
well as man, shall enjoy an immortality. For it cannot be
9




194       MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCIIAS.
supposed that all Marblehead is to be damned, wliatever
may be the case with an adjacent city; but a Marblehead
fisherman cannot be in perfect bliss except he is fishing;
therefore, and if peradventure there be any righteous persons in that villatge, there must be mackerel in the " superior spheres."
I must not forget the whales which came very frequently
among the islands; nor omit to record, not boastingly,
after the manner of some of our summer tourists, who make
such an ado over their trouts and minnows, but incidentally merely, that I was one of a party who chased them in
two boats, one the only whale boat in the fleet, for half
an afternoon. I can almost see in my mind's eye, at least
one of the companions of my youth, my old neighbor and
friend, the best part of whose days were spent in cruising
in the Pacific, reading this, and glorying in my " spunk."
I can hear him laugh as he could do in former days when
we usea to sail down the bay to see himrn off on his three
years' voyages. Little thought we then that our callings
in life would ever be so reversed. But I shall make my
boast now, if ever I see him again, that I have been after
whales since he has. I did not get much oil, it is true;
my " lay " was only that of a passenger; and worst of all,
though we were well provided with all the conveniences,
we could not succeed in " laying the boats on" so as to
strike the game. Still it is something to have chased
whales, and got almost near enough for the bowman to




THE CHINCHAS.                  195
have thrown an iron into one of them; the fact must not
be withheld in case I should ever visit Nantucket.
I was, in truth, particularly excited by the whales. They
were the first I had ever seen in three oceans that realised
the ideal. At sea, one has pointed out to him sometimes
afar off, a thin spirt upon the blue water, which he is told
is the spout of a whale; and that is all. lie never sees
them, or at least, I never saw them, rolling and breaching,
or doing anything they are usually represented as doing
in the drawings of them. We were, it is true, favored
with a fin-back one day in the Pacific; we saw a portion
of his back, and the fin upon it, but that only awakened
curiosity to see more. At the Chinchas, on several occasions, my expectations were gratified, and fully realized;
though no engraving that ever I saw, gives a correct idea
of the shape or motions of the creature. We were, that
afternoon, within twenty yards of them three or four times
when they came up to blow; I could see the roughnesses
on their mighty backs; they were large sperm whales,
and they blew straight spouts thirty feet hih, at least.
Another, one evening, leaped clear from the water close
by the ship; he was much longer, and better adapted for
speed than the prints represent them; he blew like a steam
engine-but I could have wished myself to windward of
him. Their breath is almost insupportably foetid.
Turtle are also plenty in the bay of Pisco. A large one




196      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
gave us a good view of himself as he passed along one
calm morning under the ship's counter. They were brought
over in boats from Pisco, and could be had at such a low
price, that soup was no luxury.
" And a good.south-wind sprung up behind;
The ALBATROSS did follow," —




IV.
GUANO, as I have stated in a preceding page, lies upon
all the islands in the form of high, smooth, rounded hills,
and covers nearly every part of all of them, following the
inequalities ot the underlying rock. At a distance it makes
them all seem to be islands of rock, bordered by cavernous
perpendicular cliffs, and covered with reddish yellow sand,
but little lighter in color than the volcanic sand, which
everywhere on hills and plains fringes the Peruvian coast.
Where it has been cut away it is lighter still, being of an
undecided mixture of red, white, yellow and gray-a sort
(197)




198      MELBOURNE, AND TIIE CHINCHAS.
of subochre, or to be very precise, about the color of white
and red ashes of anthracite coal, mingled in equal proportions. On the sides of the cuttings where it has been
taken away, it may be seen to lie in separately colored
layers or strata, generally parallel with the plane of the
horizon, of all thicknesses from that of a sheet of pasteboard
to two or three inches; the red layers were usually the
thickest; but they were of all shades and succeeded each
other without any ascertainable order-red, white, brownish, grayish, faint yellow, earthy, white, brown, red, and so
on-so that I could never adopt a theory which I much
wished to form, that the differently colored strata were
deposits made at different seasons, year after year, for ages,
and that each season had a peculiar correspondent hue on
account of the periodical visits of different species of birds,
or of birds and seals.
Indeed, although interested in the inquiry, as no one
could help being in so singular a place, I was never able
to satisfy myself with any hypothesis to account for the
guano being there as it is under all its conditions. That
it is produced by birds and seals there can be no doubt.
Every part of it abounds with the remains of them. Eggs,
and wing bones of birds, and canine teeth of sea lions
changed to ammonia, are found in every part of it; I cut
them out with my knife from the base of the cutting on the
North island, where the guano is deepest, a hundred and
fifty feet below the surface. After going down a few feet,




THE CHINCHAS.                  199
the whole substance of the stratified deposit is the same
throughout. In some places there is a difference in depth
of color perceptible in contiguous strata for a foot or two
in thickness, extending along the whole of the cuttings
where they are exposed. This would include so many of
the thin strata, that it must have taken years, and perhaps
hundreds of years, in its formation. W7hat causes could
have operated to give so marked a change of color, while
the producing and stratifying agencies were unchanged,
through so long a time?  Why should a series of strata,
the same in substance and form, be redder or browner
than other series above and below it? I could no more
account for this than for the irregularity of the strata
themselves.
Buried in the guano, also at great depths, are fragments
of granite, not water worn, but freshly fractured, like fragments thrown off in blasting and chipping. They occur in
pieces so large that birds or seals could never have brought
them there; there is no granite nearer than San Gallan
Island, nearly twenty miles to the southward. How shall
we account for their being there?
But what was most puzzling, the strata do not follow
the convexity of the hills.'They are more level. And I
remarked in the only place where the cuttings gave an
opportunity for observing, that they continued at nearly
the;ame level on two elevations, and did not follow the
del ession of an inconsiderable valley. They cropped out




200      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
on the sides of one swell or gentle roll of the surface and
appeared on another, as if the intervening depression had
been worn away by the action of water. But how, if the
guano has been for the last few centuries in process of formation by birds and seals, should these out-cropping strata
come out so near the surface? for I should have observed
that the edges of the layers on the sides of the elevations
come out to within a few feet, and mingle there with loose
unstratified guano, which forms a surface covering everywhere. If the horizontal strata had been submerged and
worn away by water into elevations and depressions, as
seemed the only reasonable supposition, why should not
the constantly forming deposit, in the ages since its ernergence, take the form of the mounds and valleys on which
it rests? We cannot suppose that the islands have changed
their form in the last hundred years; in that time one
would think that new strata would have been formed which
would have overlaid the other like a rind. But the level
strata include all the compact guano, and preserve their
places nearly to the height of the elevations. It is true
that the seals are said to have resorted to the highest
places they could find, and their skeletons may still be
seen on the summit of the South Island, at least four hundred feet above the sea level. This might in part account
for the apparent out-cropping of the strata; the seals might
have preferred the elevations and deserted the depressions,
and the strata might thus appear to have been abraded by




THE CHINCHAS.                  201
water after deposition. This was the only supposition;
and the strata were so strongly marked, and the undulations of the surface so gentle, that it was far from satisfactory.
That such great deposits could have been formed by
seals and birds alone, is not at all incredible; it is only the
conditions under which they are found that are so difficult
to account for-the irregularity in the order of the strata,
the difference in color in contiguous series of strata in the
almost homogeneous mass, the presence of fragments of
granite, and the apparent independence of the strata and
want of conformity with the inequalities of the surface.
Here would seem to be enough inexplicable phenomena,
without opening the inquiry how such masses of ammonia
could have remained underwater, on the supposition of
their submergence.
On each of the three Chinchas is a place where the uniformity of the cliffs is interrupted, and the hill of guano
slopes down to a narrow beach. It was said by English
captains and others who had visited the islands fifteen or
twenty years ago, that thousands-millions, one of them
expressed it-of seals, might then be seen going up these
slopes at certain times of the year to the tops of the hills.
On the south island I saw many skeletons of them lying on
the surface or half buried in it, and fancied I could trace
where the bodies had turned, and what was left of them
was still turning to guano. The animals must have reached
9*




202      MELBOURNE, AND THE CIIINCHAS.
there of their own accord, though why they should choose
to ascend so high out of their usual element on a hot dusty
hill, and how they were able to drag themselves over it
nearly a mile and four or five hundred feet upward, are
points on which they have not left us any information. But
the fact is unquestionable, and is another singularity in the
natural history of these mysterious creatures. If they
invaded'the high land in such numbers as is related, the
largest portion of the guano may be readily accounted for.
Miultitudes were left there dead; the old sealers frequently
say that it is for this purpose alone, to die, that the creatures ascended. The vestiges of such hosts must have
been enormous. The sea lion is a consumer and producer
on a most magnificent scale, as well as a practical freetrader; there is lno tariff on his imports and exports.
Coprophagous birds must have accompanied his progress
in myriads; the turkey-buzzards must have hung over his
dying carcass like the breath of the sweet south, and the
vultures of the sea must have hovered and flapped around
him, shaking a thousand odors from their dewy wings.
The result of all my investigations of this delicate subject, is that the reddish streaks in the guano are from
small birds and the remains of sea lions, which the vultures
could not carry away; the other lighter colored strata,
generally thinner, are from pelicans and the larger sea
birds. There is nothing in the way of the supposition, that
the whole deposit may have been formed longD since the




TIIE CHINCHAS.                 203
building of the Pyramids of the Nile, except the granite
fragments and the water-worn valleys; and I am inclined
to think it of recent formation, notwithstanding these.
Very little decay or loss takes place after the vultures have
done their work and the chemical action changing the
tough hides and bones to ammonia has begun. The climate is so dry that the volatile alkali is not set free, but
remains there forever  Perhaps the granite' fragments
were thrown there in some of the eruptions that may have
occurred on this coast, within the last thousand years;
but then they are found through the whole substance. No
sea lions now visit the islands large enough to have carried
them  there.  Perhaps, too, the islands have been submerged, or great waters have flowed over them  in earthquakes, such as destroyed old Callao; and perhaps not.
Fortunately travellers are not obliged to account for all
the unexplained phenomena they meet with. I shall therefore leave the subject with the usual Spanish " Quienl
sabe?" It may have been already investigated; if not, it
should be brought to the notice of scientific men as a curious inquiry.
I wish I could see it treated of by such a writer as the
author of the " Geology of the Exploring Expedition," a
work which, so far as a general reader may judge, presents splendid examples of acute observation and philosophical generalization.
The pungent odor of guano is not found unpleasant




204      MELBOURNE AND TIIE CHINCHAS.
after one is a little accustomed to it. It is by no means a
filthy substance; not so much so as common soil. In
washing the hands, it has a half-soapy feel, and leaves
them readily. It whitens ropes and rigging after repeated
rains have washed them. On board ship, during the voyage, we perceive nothing of it except when the wind is
directly aft, and creates a calm in the cabin and betweendecks. But when loading, ships are covered with it and
its odor, and the fine dust of it penetrates everywhere, and
has the property of tarnishing brass and silver.  We
thought it must be healthy; for we ate like sea-lions at
the Chinchas. I often wondered our stomachs did not
burst. The increase of appetite was generally attributed
to the vivifying properties of the guano. But the climate
must have some of the praise. To my apprehension, that
was altogether, everything delightful and salubrious. Yet
when I think of the system that is maintained there, the
hard fate of the poor wretches who dig the guano, and all
the circumstances of obtaining cargoes, the islands seem
to me to be a kind of human abattoir, or slaughter-house
of men; and I feel a relief in being away from them, as
one feels who has escaped out of some gloomy dream.




AT the north island, on board a miserable hulk or guard
ship, is stationed a commandant and a few soldiers of the
Callao pattern, a portion of whom act as sentry and watch
on the island itself, where, on the north cliff, is the official
residence of a deputy commandant, SERRATE, and his subordinates. This is the head quarters of the Peruvian
authorities at the Islands.  SERRATE is the chief person
with whom captains have to deal, and is superior to KosSTrTH, though that enterprising individual, who knows
many secrets, and among them some that SERRATE would
not wish to have published, maintains an independence de
(205)




206       MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
facto, if not dlejure. The limits of the actual authority of
each were never ascertained. Probably if the truth was
known, the two lay their heads together and collude, (or
as a down-east client of a legal acquaintance used to read,
"conudle,") about the division of the spoil. How all their
business is managed-why some ships are obliged to lie at
the north island and others at the middle, why they are
often obliged to move from one to the other, and how it is
that some get loaded before their lay days expire, while
others have to be paid demurrage, are phenomena which
admit of a very obvious explanation. The captains, who
must be supposed to know, universally attribute such
seeming caprices of M[essrs. Serrate and Kossuth to the
influence of money to them severally in hand. paid-to
bribes. As it is not possible for all to secure a preference
at once by this Ineans, the system naturally creates no
little discontent among the captains, whose owners may
refer its unavoidable partiality to lack of good management. But so must business be conducted in Peru.
The guano is dug from the hills, and wheeled to depots
or open enclosures, called " Mangueras," on the edge of
the cliffs, at places where launches or vessels can be
moored below —by coolies, who are brought to Peru by
English ships from the free ports of China. There are
about three hundred coolies at work on the middle island,
and seven or eight hundred on the north. It is said that
they are brought here under contracts made with them at




THE CHINCIIAS.                207
home, to labor for five years, at a real, or York shilling,
per day, and their rice; and that after they have served
their time out they are free to return. It is said, also, that
they are induced to come by being made to believe they
are going to labor in gold mines. The real truth I suppose
to be, that they are contracted for by the Peruvian Government, and transferred to it, at a good profit, by the
English who bring them.  Whatever their contracts may
be, if there are.any, the coolies, who are one of the contracting parties, become, in effect, absolutely slaves.
They are condemned to be diggers of guano; their labor
is much more severe and injurious than railroad digging;
they have no liberty days, no protecting laws, no power to
obtain even the pittance said to be paid them, no proper
seasons of rest. Most of them go nearly naked; none
have more than enough clothing just to cover themselves;
they live and feed like dogs; they are constantly within
reach of the thongs of hideous black drivers-the link between men and devils; there are no women among them,
nothing to mitigate their hopeless toil. Before and around
them is the shining bay, and beyond it green groves and
mountains; near at hand hundreds of ships coming and
going, filled with men like themselves, only free! They,
too, have been free; they were not born in slavery; they
are not domestic slaves or plantation slaves: but slaves
without any title, or rights, or conceded customs-mere
over-worked beasts of burden.




208      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
Almost every week some of them commit suicide by
throwing themselves from the cliff. They are said to do
this in the belief that their spirits will awaken in their native land. Kossuth told me that more than sixty had
killed themselves this way in the two years he has been
there. One was driven over the cliff or jumped off, and
was dashed in pieces, to escape the lash of a black driver,
who chased him to the verge in sight of a captain of an
American ship, the week before we left. The cliff where
he leaped is two hundred feet high, and almost perpendicular. Kossuth affects to pity these coolies; but he is said
to over-task them. Each one, strong and weak alike under his overseers, is required to dig and wheel to the mangueras, five tons of guano per day. They are kept at labor
Sundays as well as other days; under Serrate, however,
on the North Island, I believe Sundays are allowed thern
-or, at least, they are said to be paid a little extra if they
choose to dig guano on that day
On this island, also, a steam " paddy " is employed in
the digging, and the guano is brought to the principal
manguera in dirt-carts on rails, as it is at one of them
on Kossuth's island. Here also is a sort of cane-shanty
hospital, and various other shed-like houses, groceries,
cookery, carpenter-.shop, and the like, making in all quite
a village or collection of hovels, inhabited by interpreter,
doctors, overseers, drivers, cholo women, and nondescripts
in ragged ponchos.  I spent a night or two here with a




THE CHINCHAS.                  209
medical gentleman; everything was guano, but we smoked
paper cigarettoes, and said " Que cuidar?" and made ourselves intelligible to each other in broken Spanish mended
with worse Latin. I was satisfied with a very cursory
examination of the internal economy of Senor Serrates'
kingdom.
Towards the cliff, along the lee side of each island, the
surface has a steep slope; on this are placed the mangueras, which reach to the edge of the cliff. These mangueras
are large enclosures made of strong canes somewhat resembling the palisade round our prisons. They are supported, as they stand on the inclined rock, by chain cables,
four to each, which pass round them at different heights,
and are secured above.  Into them the guano is brought
by wheelbarrows and dirt cars, drawn by donkeys, from
the sides of the hill where it is cut away. Coolies, who
are obliged to wear thick bandages over their mouths, push
the guano down to the lower ends of the mangueras,
where there are openings connected with "shutes," or long
canvas pipes, about as large round as barrels, that lead
down to the bases of the cliff. Through these the guano
is conducted into launches, or directly into the holds of
vessels loading. When thus taken in by launches, it has
to be hoisted in over the ship's side in sacks or tubs, by a
tackle and fall, a work requiring several weeks to complete a cargo. When poured directly into ships, moored
for the purpose under rocks, it takes but a day or two. In




210      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
either case the ship is all over guano from stem to stern.
Awnings and sails are spread over the after decks, and
everything is covered that can be, but to little purpose.
lMany ships parcel their standing rigging from the deadeyes up to the ends of the shrouds, to prevent the guano
from getting in among the lanyards; but it is generally
thought to be a needless precaution. While " loading at
the shutes," ships are moored alongside, parallel with the
face of the rocks, and only a few feet from them. Outside
they are kept off by hawsers attached to buoys anchored
for the purpose. The water is so bold that the heaviest
vessels can thus be moored within four or five fathoms
of the cliff. It is enough to make one nervous to see them
lying so near, for on surf days the heave of the sea is felt
around under the lee of the islands, and vessels thus
moored would often roll their lower yards against the
rocks, if they were not cock-billed. I remember spending
a night on board a large clipper, riding only by a single
hawser attached to the chain of the buoy, and drifting
scarcely a ship's length from the precipice, at the mouth
of a cave that was roaring all night, and made the black
rocks seem like wild creatures longing to get at us. But
then a wind which would have brought a strain upon the
hawser would have been almost as miraculous as the strong
wind of Egypt.
When the guano is pouring down the shute into a ship's
hold, she is as completely enveloped and hidden in the




THE CHINCHAS.                  211
yellow smoke of it as if she were on fire with a cargo of
lard. The ammonia is so strong that it is like entering a
bottle of hartshorn to go into her interior-eyes and nose
and lungs are all assailed at once. How the Cholos
breathe and survive their labor as "trimmers," to distribute the guano in the hold, where it is so thick as to be
almost dark, is marvellous.  They work with "muzzles,"
or thick bandages over their mouths, and almost naked.
When a ship has got her cargo or comes out from under the shute, the crew hoist the national flag, and send
up one of their number in a tub to the yard-arm, where
he leads off in three cheers, which are answered by the
crews of all the vessels lying near, more especially by
those of the same nation.  It is animating to hear the
cheer taken up, and echoed as it often is through the entire fleet. Of the English vessels, many make the voyage
exclusively for the guano, and do not take it as ours do
for a return freight. Their crews are shipped for the
voyage, and do not consist of cholos. All the poor fellows
have some reason for rejoicing when they get through their
disagreeable task of loading.
The Coolies who dig the guano are brought here in
English vessels-the fact is notorious. I have often conversed with English captains who spoke freely of having
been engaged in the traffic.  Whatever may be the engagement of the Coolies, and if there be any, it is characterized
by fraudulent representations and bad faith in the other




212       MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
party, their transporters and those who transfer them to the
Peruvian government, know that they are engaged in a
slave trade as much as if they brought slaves from Africa.
For argument sake and to smooth over the matter, they
of course can  urge a " contract," " apprenticeship,"
"that the Coolies are as well off here as at home," and the
like; but speaking as among men of the world, all the
world knows that they sell the Coolies into slavery-and
they cannot give it any other name that will make it smell
sweeter. It is, moreover, the worst and most cruel slavery of all forlns of slavery that exist among civilized nations. It was universally said to be so by captains who
had visited every quarter of the globe; I am sure I never
saw anything like it on the plantations, when I once resided
for several months in the country adjoining that where the
the scene of the popular tale of " -Uncle Tomn's Cabin " is
laid.
It is not my purpose to insist on these facts in order to
appeal to the feelings or awaken sympathy or indignation;
a mere harmless sketch of travels is hardly the place for
that.  But I think such matters of public interest ought to
be held up to the light. It may do English readers no
harm  to know that their countrymen are not absolutely
irnmaculate. English writers are rather mnore ready to point
out our faults than to help us atme~nd them. Perhaps the
zncme changes the thiltg; if it does not, why should not
the English government send out cruisers with instructions




THE CHINCHAS.                   213
to capture vessels of their own country laden with Coolies
for this market?  An American may, with peculiar propriety, make the suggestion; it is but a kind return for the
sympathy Englishmen and women manifest for us in our
troubles that we should hint to them where their own
affairs would seem to claim prior attention-to say nothing
of the natural satisfaction there is in it.




VI.
I AM glad I have done with the Chinchas; and the Guano,
and the Coolies. The islands themselves are in the highest
degree wonderful and picturesque; the formation of the
guano is a fruitful subject for curious speculation, but it
was dusty, and there was something too much of it; and
the Coolies and their fate impart a gloomy coloring to the
recollection of the whole time spent there. I seem to see
them at their work, their slender figures quivering under
the weight of loads too heavy for them to wheel; for every
one who went ashore remarked that they took loads altogether disproportioned to their apparent strength, which
(214)




THE CHINCHAS.                 215
was generally accounted for by saying "how much stronger
those fellows are than they look?' But then everywhere
among them are huge negroes, blacker than the ten of
spades, who walk about with heavy thongs, such as they
drive donkeys with, which they are laying on the naked
backs of the Coolies in one or another part of the diggings
almost constantly. I never went ashore at the middle
island without witnessing this operation, and hearing the
cries of the sufferers. I observed Coolies shovelling and
wheeling as if for dear life, and yet their backs were covered with great welts. The negroes did not look capable
of either justice or mercy.
It is easy to distinguish Coolies who have been at the
islands a short time from the new comers. They soon
become emaciated, and their faces have a wild, despairing
expression. That they are worked to death is as apparent
as that the hack horses in our cities are used up in the
same manner.
When I wrote a letter to the New York Times detailing
some of the facts now narrated, 1 read it to several English
captains, who said'; You are rather hard upon us; but it
cannot be denied; it is all true!" But England ought to be
able to bear the truth, and from whom better than one
whom certain of the baser sort (by which it is not meant
Radicals exclusively) have long ago set down as a confirmed Angiomaniac. The reputation also of being a fairminded and fair reporting observer is worth something.




216      MELBOURNE. AND THE CHINCHAS.
If I were disposed to write as a philanthropist, the Coolie
system would afford an excellent theme; it was tried in
Australia but proved unprofitable. But my benevolence
does not feel called upon to develope itself that way. It
is enough for me if I can aid in spreading a love of nature
and a taste for the arts; some "also serve, who only
stand and wait." The philanthropists can hardly claim
one who thinks it would be a greater benefit to America
if the negro minstrelsy could be supplanted by some stronger popular music among our white people, than if all the
blacks were at once emancipated.  Besides, I do not
approve of the crying school in literature.
But there is an annoying class of English who are often
met with in our cities, who are slightly deficient in modesty, as well as thoroughly convinced that they have a
right to say anything, and that everything they say, or
that London says, must be so. Perhaps the Chinchas
may supply a convenient argument for a boarding-house
breakfast table.
On shipboard the time passes at the islands much more
agreeably than might be supposed. The captains visit
each other, and spin interminable yarns, and " talk ship,"
and enjoy society with the natural zest of men much
deprived of it. The conversation of men who have seen
so much of the world is always interesting; it is hearing
books of travel talked. There is a life and realityin the actual
telling of things, relating anecdotes of foreign customs and




THE CHINCHAS.                   217
manners, and describing scenes in distant countries, which
cannot be conveyed in writing. It has imperceptibly something the same effect that visiting those countries would
have; it loosens the soil around one, and allows him to
expand. The individual ego, that obtrusive personage of
whom every one is more or less weary, loses his impor.
tance, and what he has done and suffered is of less consequence than he would have have had us imagine. Even
the world itself no longer surrounds us with such a mighty
mystery; we find that our little corner was not the whole
of it-that men live who think very differently from our philosophers-that the limits of the actual and the ideal are
much the same everywhere. A student of himself, and
true lover of nature, ought to be made more assured, and
more liberal minded by the society of sea-faring men.
Their roughness is oftenest, like that of the ocean, only
external, and they are as free as the wind. I have often
thought how must the world appear to one whose whole
life has been spent in going round and over it; probably
not larger than a globe used in a school-room. Only circumnavigating it once, and surveying mankind from Australia to Peru, diminishes it very materially.
Nor are shipmasters at all disposed to be exclusive or
reserved to any one who lets himself out freely and acts
and talks in a manly fashion. Miost of them are quick to
find out what a passenger is made of, and whether he
wishes to make himself agreeable and comfortable or other10




218      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
wise. Their profession, more than almost any other, leads
them to consider the social qualities of man. Life on sthipboard, brings out men's dispositions. Montaigne writes
an essay on " the inconvenience of greatness;" the captain
of any American ship full of passengers to the gold regions,
can appreciate how much may be said upon that theme.
Instead of being rash and sudden in temper, as they are
sometimes imagined to be, our captains ought to be regarded
as miracles of patient endurance.
So far, therefore, as intercourse with intelligent men of
the world could make time pass pleasantly, ino one need
have felt the want of it at the islands; though there was a
passenger on a ship that lay near us, who seldom left his
state-room during the two months the ship lay there, except
at meal-times. There were several ladies, who sometimes
participated in the boat excursions, the wives and daughters of captains in the fleet; I remember seeing at the
same table three, from New, and Old England, and Scotland, respectively.
Most of those who can, generally make a visit of a few
days over to Pisco, the town which gives its name to
the bay. This is directly across the bay eastwardly
about fourteen miles. A few miles further round in the
bight of the bay, is a fishing village, or collection of cane
huts, called Paracca, beyond which Paracca point, a high
volcanic promontory, comes round ten miles to the southward and eastward of the island. San Gallan, an island




THE CHINCHAS.                  219
eight hundred feet high, stands out from it in the Pacific
three or four miles westward. The coast around all the
eastern shore of the bay, is flat and sandy for many miles
inland. Only a few green patches of trees, and the white
trace of the sunburnt houses of' Pisco, are all that can be
seen from the islands, of vegetation or human presence; and
the landscape is but little improved when seen close at
hand. On the side where the town is situated, a mile
inland from the beach, the bay shoals so much that the
beach cannot be approached within half a mile, except in
light boats; and the landing is difficult on account of the
surf, which is sometimes very heavy.  There are few
houses on the beach, and a sort of custom house, or government warehouse.
Pisco contains from four to five thousand inhabitants,
and is quite an important Peruvian town. It is built, like
Callao, of huts, and one and two-story adobe or mud-walled
houses, in narrow streets, regularly laid out, and has several plazas or open squares, the principal of which contains the market. There are three or four churches-one
of which, on the market square, is the most conspicuous
building in the town. A few miles out is a large sugar
plantation, occupying a thousand acres or more, enclosed
by a high adobe wall, and containing houses and gardens.
This estate is owned by a company in Lima, and is kept
in cultivation by the labor of about five hundred slaves.
The brown sugar of Peru has something the flavor of ma




220      MELBOURNE, AND TIIE CHINCHAS.
pie sugar; partially refined it resembles very dirty loaf
sugar. A large proportion of the produce of sugar estates
is converted into spirits. The distilling of the commonest
sort of liquor is the principal business of Pisco, and' pisco'
is hence the name of the- liquor throughout the country.
It has something the flavor and appearance of the cheapest
sort of gin. Another sort called Italia, is somewhat better
-it has a more fruity flavor, and is sold at a higher price.
For aught I know, it may be made from the grape. Both
these liquors are put up for transportation, not in wood,
but in large unglazed earthen jars from two to four feet
high, and shaped like tops-a form which seems at first
the most inconvenient that could be thought of, since they
cannot stand alone. But they are not ill adapted for being carried one on each side of a mule, in a country where
casks must be dear, and roads are only paths among
mountains. Long droves of mules laden with them and
other produce, such as hay and coarse wheat, are seen
daily coming into Lima and Callao.
Forty miles inland from Pisco, or half-way to the Andes,
is Ica, a rural town of some ten thousand inhabitants, and
four or five times as many women as men. They are
chiefly occupied in cultivating the vine, and are said to be
very well pleased to be visited by strangers, of whom they
see but few. The accounts of the climate there, and the
fruits and wine, the amiable disposition, and beauty, and
graces of the maidens, their dances, and all that-would




THE CHINCHAS.                   221
make the valley of Ica a Peruvian Arcady. But the schoolmaster, when he visits these regions, will find himself solitary there; he will long for the " respite and nepenthe"the social intercourse that alone can quiet the restless
mind, and without which the world is everywhere a desert. I should, I am sure.
THE BAY OF PISCO.
CINCHA v
ISLES'EPISCO
~.TCALLAN~
t  A~8




VI.
WE sailed from the Chinchas on.the 10th of November.
It was a still, hazy morning-so still that the Tornado
hung by warps passed out to other ships lying near after
her anchor was weighed and her principal sails loosed.
She had taken the last of her cargo from the shute and
from launches at the north end of the North Island, so that
she was almost the last vessel towards the sea, and clear
of everything after getting her anchor. I had come round
from the Middle Island to join her three'days before, in
order to be in readiness; but on account of the state she
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THE CHINCHAS.                 223
was in, had accepted an invitation to remain on board the
Simoon, which lay near by, until her departure. The
Simoon was another Inagnificent clipper, with a deck on
which a regiment of infantry might have been drilled. It
was almost a pity to see the preparations making on board
her to receive the guano, and to fancy what a condition
she would be in while loading. We remained walking
her deck till the Tornado began to move slowly seaward,
when we got into a boat and went alongside, Captain
Smith of the Simoon, Captain Burgess of the Governor
Morton, and myself. We found several captains, American
and English, on the quarter-deck, it being the custom for
captains to visit and shake hands at parting, as it is to
pilot each other in.
There were many whose acquaintance made me regret
leaving the Chinchas. I hope these lines may meet the
eyes of some of the old sea-lions, (captains are all " old
men," behind their backs, aboard ship) and that they will
not have forgotten me. Some of them are almost public
enough to be mentioned by name; but the list is too long.
John, I have seen thine in Gleason's Pictorial,
accompanying a view of the launch of thy noble ship-the
same woodcut which had already in all probability appeared in the character of several of McKay's clippers.
Thou who wast acknowledged the strongest and the best
natured fellow in college, and whom every one of the old
boys will remember for those qualities, I will mention thee




224      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
to let them know that " age has not withered thee," as
any one may find to his cost who trusts his fingers within
that mass of muscle thou callest a hand. I smiled inwardly when thou informedst me that thou " never had any
trouble with men; never struck one in your life; doubted
if you could knock one down." The man thou shouldst
hit, John, would not have time to fall; his fate would in
one particular resemble the translation of Enoch, who
walked and " was not;" he would vanish like Ariel into
the elements, and leave not a rack behind; we should not
know where to look for him!
While the captains were exchanging farewells, the ship
was gathering way and the crew were making sail. About
two o'clock the boats left us, and the royals and skysails
began to feel the light air. The sun was well down when
the Chinchas faded from the horizon, and the stars came
out over the gently-heaving Pacific. Through the night,
the air continued light, but the ship seemed to be moved
onward by a spirit that slid "' nine fathom deep " beneath
her keel. In the morning we made land to windward
of Chincha Head, forty miles below San Lorenzo. The
decks and deck-houses, and coils of rigging, were covered
with guano, and the first washing down the decks converted the whole into yellow soapy mud. We were all
that morning in a " regular mess." Indeed it was not till
we had been a week at sea after leaving Callao on the




THE CHINCHAS.                 225
voyage home, that the ship was comfortably clean; and
her upper spars and tackle were yellow till we got into the
rainy weather of the latitude of Patagonia.




LIMA.
BY five in the afternoon, we were at anchor in Callao
Roads, having run down in a day a distance which it takes
often a fortnight for vessels to make in beating up. There
were nearly a hundred vessels lying in the roads, bound to
and from  the Chinchas; a few of them I had seen at
Melbourne.
The sunset was clear, as all sunsets are in that delicious
climate, and we lay so near the beach at the mouth of the
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LIMA.                    227
river, that we could see the children bathing. The green
line of trees reached far along the shore, and the white
towers of the churches of Lima, lay beyond the green in a
distant line at the feet of the mountains. The green of
the tropics is like that of early spring; the very shade of
color gives a sense of freshness. The mountains are burnt
and bare, and rise abruptly from the plain, so high that one
is never sure that he sees the highest of them. As the sun
descends, the yellow summits come out above each other
more and more distant and hazy, till they are hidden by
the shadow of the ocean, and it is night.
The plain is almost a dead level, ten miles across and
twenty in length, ascending gradually from the sea. Lima
lies in the bight of it, seven miles from Callao and several
hundred feet higher, though the ascent is so gradual as
not to be perceptible. Beyond, the plain extends upward
and becomes a valley in the mountains, down which comes
the river Rimac, which flows through and waters the city
and empties into the bay a mile north of Callao.
The site of Lima is worthy of the "' City of Kings."
(Cindad de los Reyes.) The broad plain, overshadowed and
enclosed by thc dark mountains, has the features of a place
consecrated by antiquity and historic associations. The
mountains look down upon it like guardian giants, and the
towers and temples of the city rise above its green expanse,
recalling the palaces of Atabalipa. The whole scene has




228      MELBOURNE, AND TILE CIHINCHAS.
an atmosphere of nobleness, and splendor, and vague magnificence, which no familiarity can dispel.
The morning after our arrival I went ashore, and found
Callao still standing where it did, though we had heard at
the Chinchas that it had been severely shaken by an earthquake some time in October-the month in which such phenomena most frequently occur.  Nothing was changed,
except that the sun had grown a little hotter. There were
the same shipchandlers' shops, the same groups of captains,
the same knots of sailors, the same tawdrily dressed Cholo
and Zambo girls, the same formidable display of soldiers.
The railroad depot is at the very end of the mole; it is
much like a large unbuilt building composed of high mud
pilasters not half finished, and without any roof! The
foot-path to it leads through an army of pisco jars standing on end against each other. On one side is a large
heap of wheat, which in this rainless climate requires no
housing; a shanty on the top of it contains a negro family,
whether placed there to improve the flavosity of the
wheat, or prevent it from being stolen, I did not inquire.
The railroad leads round the castle, and along the left
of the site of " old Callao," (overwhelmed by an earthquake wave, in 1746,) which lies between it and the sea.
I walked over this melancholy place more than once. It
is mostly a plain of heaps of gravel, volcanic cinders, and
burnt earth. Here and there in many parts, the ruins of
braick walls and arches appear above the surface. I looked




LIMA.                     229
down several arch-ways and hollows that were strewn
with bones and human skulls. They are thrown there for
effect or convenience, and were not exhumed. The sea
buried its victims too deep for that.




THE cars run to and from Lima every two hours during
the day; the fare is half a dollar in the first class and a
quarter in the second, for a ride of about twenty minutes.
The first class are divided in compartments, holding six
each; the second are open boxes. The cars, as well as the
engines, are all Enoglish built. The trains appear always
full; on fete days, of which there are a great many, they
are crowded.  The road must be very profitable. It has
only been built, a few years, and the people have not done
admiring the wonderful plaything. As I rode up and
down sometimes in the open cars, I often fancied I could
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LIMA.                      231
see the looks of astonishment on the contenances of native
Peruvians, whose rustic ways and dusty ponchos, pro.
claimed them strangers to the sights of commerce; they
were doubtless visiters from Pisco, Ica, or the interior
towns.
The road goes for two miles straight over a miserable
burnt plain, exhibiting only cane shanties, low mud fences,
a few trees, droves of donkeys, cholo women with two
braids of hair hanging down their backs, and with and
without hats, riding astride on donkeys and horses, ragged
negroes, and here and there mud ruins of nondescript
structures, and prison like enclosures,-a vicinity all dreary
dust and desolation. Gradually the cars skirt fields of Indian corn in all stages of growth, some ripening, some just
springing from the ground, walled plantations of bananas,
orange trees, and other firuits, crossed by little canals of
swift-running water, trees resembling locust and willow,
and a few roads for carriages winding among them. But
there is no greensward, such as we see at home. The
ground is all crumbly earth, like broken dry mud, and
looks anything but fertile. Arrived in the suburb, the
train goes slower through a long lane of mud cabins alive
with negroes of all shades and sizes, and finally deposits
its burden where there is a gateway leading into the principal calle, or main street of Lima.
This is a long, narrow, paved street, lined with low,
gloomy two-story houses, clumsily built of adobes or mud.




232      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
Only a few of the newer ones have glazed windows in the
second story.  Most have narrow casements opening into
blank walls or latticed verandahs, as represented in Wilkes,
after the fashion of old Spain; indeed, almost every step
in Lirna reminded me of Cervantes and Le Sage. This
street is a very old one, and reaches through the Arcade
fronting the church in the grand Plaza, and thence under
the gateway, (of which there is a very good engraving in
Wilkes,) over the bridge and far on the other side, or
nearly through the middle of the city. I remember reading a date 1731 carved on a granite post somewhere not
very far from the depot. The street runs straight fiom
the depot to the Arcade, and the sign of" Morin's," which
is the principal commercial hotel, and is the first buildingr
of the Arcade on the corner of the Plaza, is visible fi-omr the
gateway of the station-house, informing the public in very
large characters and in plain English, that " Hot and Cold
Baths " may be obtained there at all reasonable hoursnot the fact, by the way, at the time of my visit, owing to
temporary repairs. I enjoyed a lively flea bath one night,
and the next adjourned to the "' Boule d'Or " on the same
street, where I was regaled with a similar luxury-but of
the fleas enough. The three or four hotels, of which these
are the best, with the exception of one in another street,
which is rather a first-class boardinghouse than a hotel,
are all in this, street, near the Plaza. There are two
churches upon it, and it exhibits the most showy retail




LIMA.                     233
shops; with the Arcades, which are wide piazzas covering
the sidewalk and extending round three sides of the Plaza,
it constitutes the Broadway of the city, though there are
many other streets of shops, as well as many occupied by
the better sort of dwellings.
Lima is chiefly laid out in squares, and the streets cross
each other at right angles, except near the river, where
they are accommodated to its partly diagonal course, as it
flows through the city from East to West. They are narrow, and the pavement of them is ancient and uneven.
The sidewalks are roughly flagged and extremely narrow.
The streets slope from either sidewalk to gutters in the
middle, which in all the east and west streets are open,
swift running streams of water-a luxury almost as iIlvaluable to Lima as the Croton to New York. These open
sewers pass under every crossing, and have descent enough
to carry off the various impurities poured into them very
expeditiously. In the streets occupied by dwellings, the
construction of the houses is such that one sees in looking
down them, only alleys of yellow mud walls, with gateways or entrances for carriages. They look precisely like
streets of stables. Only here and there a portico, with
coarse, dingy, and rickety green blinds, overhangs the
sidewalk. Very few buildings, except the churches and
convents, and one store on a corner in the main street, not
yet completed, are of more than two stories. Except on
holiday occasions, there are few carriages; but there are




234      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
always horses and donkeys without number. The water.
carriers go about with narrow casks, holding about a third
of a barrel, placed endwise one on each side of a donkey,
while they ride astern; they are generally negroes, and
their clothing, and the beasts, and their old rope trappings and panniers, make them seem at a little distance
like animated masses of dusty sweepings. Besides these,
there are strings of donkeys laden and almost hidden with
loads of new hay, or rather green grass, so coarse that it
resembles weeds; others with wood, earth for building,
market vegetables, meats-every conceivable sort of stuff
that donkeys can be made to carry.  The corners of the
streets are usually occupied by groceries, open to two
streets, and with counters running crosswise; they resemble those which may be seen in the lowest quarters of our
cities. I often inquired the way to the Plaza at them, and
was always treated with politeness.
Except in the principal streets, there are not many people walking in the better parts of the city, and the absence
of carriages makes them seem almost deserted. But as
one passes along, he may look through the gateways across
paved court-yards into the very parlors of the houses,
which open within each other like the scenery in flat at the
theatre. Often the family carriage stands on one side in
the court; at the back is a spacious plainly-furnished hall,
open through to a small garden or conservatory, the inner
court of the house; beyond this may be seen the parlor,




LIMA.                     235
with its centre table and lamp, and red and white curtains
-the whole open and arranged to produce a fine scenic
effect from the street. Almost all the better houses are
thus constructed, and under their gloomy exteriors conceal residences of apparently luxurious elegance within.
The style is peculiarly adapted to the climate, and not a
little tantalizing to the eye of a stranger as he wanders
alone through the yellow sun-burnt lanes.
Not far from the railroad station, turning down two or
three squares to the left, in a street which crosses the principal one, is the residence of Mr. Clay, the American Minister, which may be distinguished by the national escutcheon
and a flagstaff above the gateway. The house is constructed in the usual style of the city. A narrow court intervenes between the street and a large open apartment,
which leads directly through to the parlors and private
rooms; on the left is the RMinister's audience hall or office,
where all Americans will be sure to find a courteous reception, and such information as may facilitate the accomplishment of their purposes in visiting the Peruvian capital. Mr. Clay is universally spoken of by Americans in
Lima and Callao in terms of the highest respect, as a most
worthy representative of our government. In a country
like Peru, where changes of rulers take place almost every
hour, and its political organization forever trembles on the
verge of anarchy, his office can be no sinecure; his interference is often called for in the transactions of business.




236      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
as well as in matters of state. The duties of the legation
must be very laborious as well as often perplexing, and
the Chincha exportation and all the affairs growing out of
the employment of so much American capital, and the presence of so many American citizens in Peru, must have
increased them very materially within a year or two.
A great portion of Lima is occupied by churches and
convents, or held as the property of the Church. At
first view, the churches, with their ancient and dingy
cracked walls, and towers surmounted by pinnacles leaning in every direction, have a very mean appearance. But
the eye soon accommodates itself to the intention of architectural effects.  The narrow streets widen with the presence of the lively multitude, and the churches grow large
and splendid.  I was often surprised at the change, and
even now can hardly account for the interior of churches
appearing more spacious than those of halls and houses of
worship at home which are much larger.  But everything
goes by comparison; where the streets are all narrow and
the houses low, small churches look large, and short distances grow long.  Some of the churches in Lima are
really large; often, with the nionasteries and convents
attached, they cover whole squjares, and form cities in
themiselves, of chapels and galleries and gardens, a complicated maze of buildins, where a foreigner could hardly
walk alone without some apprehension that he might be




LIMA.                     237
caught and converted unawares, in the old inquisitorial
mode.
The convents have high walls, and no windows on the
street. Their gates are heavy and barred with an ostentation of seclusion, very melancholy to the eye of a free
man, and suggestive of solemn thoughts. I cannot believe
that the Church of Christ should encourage, if it should
permit, men and women to take upon themselves, ever so
willingly, such irrevocable vows; still less that it should
enforce the assuming such unnatural obligations. I no
more believe it than I believe in Shakerism or Mormonism.
WVith a deference for ecclesiastical authority, little understood by most of my countrymen, and a speculative, if
unfortunately not a lively faith in the church, and with a
profound reverence for Christian art, I must yet, in some
particulars, retain the right of private judgment; so far at
least as to uphold the institution which we call the act of
Habeas Corpus.
As for the clerical profession, several circumstances have
contributed during a varied life, to diminish, so far my
original respect for it, that with me the burden of proof
has shifted; notwithstanding some excellent friends in it, I
do not, prima vista, cotton to black woollen and white cravats. On the other hand, my experience of Catholic priests
has operated the other way; I have found them everywhere apparently sincerely religious men, as well as gentlemen and men of the world. sometimes men of excellent




238      MELBOURNE AND THE CHINCHAS.
education, capable of holding rational discourse without
assuming a drawling voice or a saintly, overwise, eccentric,
meek, or too gracious manner; I require evidence now to
make me distrust them. Consequently I could look upon
the ecclesiastics, of whom there are always many in the
streets of Lima, without those feelings of horror with
which  most Calvinistically educated Americans regard
them. I like the fashion of marking them by dress; it pre.
vents both priests and laymen from contaminating each
other, and organizes the force the Church brings into the
field against the devil, into a regular disciplined army.
Still it looks odd at first, to see the various dresses as they
are seen in Lima, and in other Catholic countries. It looks
odd to see an old gentleman trudging along in a light straw
colored gown or cassock, with a hood for a cape, strings
of beads coming round in front, a high towering mitre, a
long cane in his hand, and a paper cigar in his mouth!
Many of tile priests wore black gowns and shovel hats,
such as we used to see in the Barber of Seville. Others
are in coarser robes; one attenuated old man, I remember
in a gown of coarse gray, and a mitre, or high pointed
cap, who stood on a landing on a broad staircase in the
great monastery of San Francisco, before a glittering puppet or image surrounded by gilding and colored tinsel, (I
cannot call such a gay thing a shrine,) before which lighted
candles were burning; he stood fixedly for a longr while
with his head inclined on one side-then put out the can



LIMA.                      239
dies and went away. It was in a place open to the public,
and the scene had a pretty effect. It may be owing to
early prejudice, but really the old man seemed to be laboring under a mistake; to my northern eve, he was only a
fakir. At the bath house I met a fine specimen, a large
round faced man, with an immense hat, and something
a Falstaffian belly; we fraternized and took snuff together;
he reminded me very much of Thomas Hamblin, Esq.,
whose death I was sorry to see a notice of last winter.
I went into the first church on the principal Calle during
mass. The interior was decorated in the most gaudy style
imaginable, and had an effect like that of the exhibitions
of Mons. Alexander on a great scale. The body of the
house was well filled with kneeling women, some of whom
-one in particular, if it must be confessed-wore their
mantillas, and arched their white necks in a manner that
haunted my imagination for days after. I could not join
in sacrifice with that abstract and devout attention, and
true act of worship, which I much wished to feel and perform after my long and somewhat perilous voyage. Everything was so gay and theatrical.  Still I did shut my eyes
and shut out the mantilia for several minutes. The choir
sung the Benedictus; the organ was out of tune, the voices
bad, the music thin and common-with little of the ecclesiastical character-little to remind me of those masses of
PMoz.art which will vibrate through my soul as long as it
has life. I rose and walked slowly out. When near the




240       MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
entrance I turned to look back; more than half way down
the church I saw the black mantilla-the straight shoulders
-the proud retrorsely bended ivory neck-the dark eyes
-Ah!
The monastery of San Francisco occupies seven or eight
acres in the northeastern quarter of the city. It is an
assemblage of ancient cloisters, chapels, and monastic halls
built around and within upon many courts, quadrangles,
and gardens planted with trees.. On the walls and ceilings
of its wide galleries and dark passages, the evidences of
vast wealth and expense of labor lavished in former days
upon coarse fresco and mosaic work, and curiously carved
wood, are everywhere wonderful, though now all is gloomy
and decayed. Here and there as we wandered through
twilighted galleries, we could look into ancient cells, apparently left half exposed for effect, and through lattice work
on the side walls, we saw dim lamps that are kept perpetually burning before the shrines of saints. We looked into
the principal chapel; which is said to contain some original
Murillos, and other fine paintings, through a side door in
what corresponds to the choir in our churches, a deep
gallery at the end opposite the altar. Here were two
rows of monks with shaven crowns, ranged along behind
a turning stand, on which were huge volumes of canticles
in parchment manuscript-the letters an inch long, and
antiphoned in the ancient mode. The monks were clad in
coarse gowns of gray. In a stall at one side sat a middle




LIMA.                     241
aged priest in spectacles, who chanted while the rest
answered alternately in harsh drawling voices. I could not
distinguish words, and was not near enough to make out
the text; the service will probably be recognized by good
Catholics; I do not even know the name of it. Most of
the monks cast only furtive glances at us, but the old gentleman raised his spectacles and looked at us without interrupting his reading, and some of the monks never took
their eyes off us the whole time. I tried to seem much
more devout than I could possibly bring myself to feel,
though the whole scene, with the religious light, the vacant
body of the church below, covered with ornaments and
half revealed colors —all so suggestive, and realizing the
imagined pictures of old romance-interested and excited
me in the highest degree. I wished I could feel somewhat
as the old English scholar and beautiful enthusiast, Sir
Kenelm Digby, might have felt in a similar place; but my
fancy is too much oppressed, too " flat and unraised;" I
cannot conquer old prejudices. Perhaps it is natural to
an inquiring mind, to be thought-excited by what in others
chiefly engages the feelings. I was sorry that I could not
renew this hurried visit to the great monastery.
The cathedral in the Plaza, in which is shown the tomb
of Pizarro, was closed on the morning I had devoted to
seeing the churches. Next to it is the palace of the Arch.
bishop, forming with it another collection of ecclesiastical
buildings occupying nearly a whole "block," or square
I1 I




I42      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHIINCHAS.
There are many others of equal extent and magnificence.
None of these ancient buildings, however, exhibit anything like finish. The walls and towers are enormously
thick, and seldom plane surfaced or plumb; the pinnacles
upon them which are left standing rarely point straight to
heaven-in this resembling I fear too many of the priests,
who, like them, are said to be often sadly shaken by earthly commotions. Some of the bells in the churches are
heavy, and beautifully toned. ~ The presence of the author.
ity of the Church is everywhere manifest. The devout bow
low  to the priests, and lift their hats in passing the
churches, whose entrances are usually lined with beggars.
At the elevation of the Host in the morning MIass, and
while the Angelus is said at evening, labor stops instantaneously all over the city, and every one remains silent and
fixed, as in prayer, for a few minutes, between the tollings
of the great bell of the cathedral. On a conical mountain,
which rises two thousand feet from the northern bank of
the river, beyond the city, stands a gigantic crucifix, visible almost everywhere in the streets. Several other peaks
around the plain are distinguished in a similar manner, but
none are so conspicuous. I do not know if I ever looked
upon a more sublime spectacle in nature or art than this
cross-crowned summit. I could never weary of gazing up
to it, and losing myself in the thoughts it suggested. It
seemed to shed a celestial effulgence, to radiate beams of
mercy straight from the throne of Heaven.




LIMA.                     243
I regretted that I could not ascend this or one of the
surrounding range of mountains, and look down upon the
plain, and the map of the city. But my Spanish was limited to a few words, and it was said not to be altogether
safe beyond the suburbs. Besides, the weather was hot,
and there was enough that was curious to occupy a stranger everywhere. I wandered off in the bye streets, and
amused myself with observing the thousand indescribable
peculiarities of common life. The city is all out of doors;
for it never rains in Lima, and the temperature varies from
600 to 85~ in winter and summer. The account in Wilkes
represents it as damp and uncomfortable; but to me, in
spring and early summer, it seemed dry, bracing, and
healthful. One reason that everything appears so old and
dingy in it, is, that wood and buildings suffer so little from
the weather. Nothing grows mossy, but all is shrunken
and dusty. Doors and blinds wear out purely from age,
and use, and neglect. The adobe walls last as long or
longer than brick in our climate. The want of dwellings
for shelter is so easily supplied, that little pains is taken to
make them elegant. The population is the gayest and most
careless, perhaps, in any civilized city in the world; they
spend their time in display, and dress, and intrigue, and
live under the sky and the mountains-a joyous multitude,
so happy and trifling, and full of vivacious, languishing
graces, that I felt melancholy among them.
The Portales or Arcades around the grand Plaza are




244      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
filled like the fashionable promenades of any city at the
usual hours for shopping and walking. They are arched
porticoes, extending principally around two sides of the
Plaza, and shading a wide sidewalk paved with pebbles.
I read a date in the pavement 1799, inlaid with bones
The shops which line the Arcades or Portales, are all
open, and between the sidewalk and Plaza, along the pillars of the portico, are show-cases of small dealers in
faincy goods, fringe knitters, silver wire weavers, confectioners, sellers of fruit and fresco-a kind of cool beverage made of the juices of melons and other fruits-pastrycooks, and a variety of dealers in light goods and wares.
The crowd is as well dressed as any in our cities.  The
gentlemen resemble the various specimens of Spanish gentlemen one often sees in Broadway. The best dressed
are well dressed, in the best sense of those expressive
words. The Limna tailors can certainly'produce the most
unexceptionable coats I have ever seen, and a distinctive
mark of a Peruvian, high or low, is a well-shaped footsmall, and with an instep arched almost to deformity.
The ladies are much more dressed than with us; they
wear no bonnets, but mantillas, which they are forever
adjusting. Some of them are very beautiful, but they
must wear out their beauty early; the middle-aged are
either skinny or too fat-and the old, perfect hags. They
have all a bolder manner than would be thought becoming
except in a certain class of our fashionables. The expo.




LIMA.                      245
sure incident to more out-of-door habits tends to make
them so, and their whole ideal of life must be showy and
uninteliectual. They estimate personal graces and exterior conventionalities more than the graces of mind and the
modest naturalness of manner which we admire. I saw
some beautiful young creatures with faces that reminded
me of the Madonnas of Murillo, going to church, attended
by duennas and slaves; the boys in the streets, by the
way, were Murillos brought out of canvass into life. Lut
it would attract attention in Broadway, I fancy, to behold
a stately dame in the latter summer of youth, dressed as
we should see ladies at the opera, with dark eyes and
tresses interwoven with diamonds, a white mantilla or fine
shawl thrown over her head, and bracelets on her arms,
sailing along the sidewalk, followed by a negro slave boy,
carrying her purchase of the morning-a span new silver
vase de nuit!
Propriety, whose pardon I ask for this, without which
my picture of life in Lima would be incomplete here
speaks from behind her fan, and absolutely forbids the
mention of miny conventional differences in manners that
occur there so often, one ceases to regard them as singular. " Telle est la vie,"-in Lima.
The saya and manto, the peculiar costume of the Limenas, or Lima ladies, is now less worn than formerly. and
is, 1 believe, discountenanced by the most respectable




246       MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
class of society. Still it may always be seen in the streets,
and where not fully assumed, the concealed face is very
common.
The reader will have observed that I have not that cool
temperament which allows one to trust himself to describe
the effects of ladies' dresses, and all that sort of thing. I
am obliged to speak of such matters with careful reserve.
I cannot imitate our master in that department, MIr. Willis, whose vicacious sketches please the misses so well; I
have too high a notion of my rank as a man; and besides,
the Psyche which is confined in some bodies, is very fearful
of singeing her wings, albeit already " all too ruffled." The
Lima dress had always a saddening effect upon me. I felt
what is expressed in Wilkes, that it is an " emblem of the
wretched condition of domestic society in this far-famed
city." I could not bear to see woman so degraded as to
take upon herself such a character or relation to man as it
implies. I pitied the poor creatures;-but we know what
Pity is akin to. Tfhe very thoughts of them  excite an
uneasy, regretful feeling-such as a man dying of consumption, and yet retaining the zests of health, might feel
in looking over a meadow in latter June.  " Et ne nos
inducas in tentationen/!" was often in my thoughts. I
dreaded lest I should never see my home again-should
lose my pride and my soul, " this intellectual being,"
Mozart and Shakspeare, and everything that I care for,
and subside into a mere tropical creature, studious only of




LIMA.                     247
ease, and contented to sport with Amaryllis and the tangles
of Neaeras hair. Let me be thankful that I shall have
only one more regret to overcome —just an endurable little
heart sickness-when I think of the black mantilla!
The saya, as it is now worn, is a black petticoat or
skirt, fitting close around the waist, and swelling out gradually with innumerable plaits into long full skirts, containing many yards of material-usually fine watered silk.
Formerly it was confined at the feet, and adapted somewhat to show the figure, so that the wearers were obliged
to walk in short mincing steps.  I believe it is worn so
still, but I only saw the loose skirted saya, which swings
to and fro like a ship in a heavy sea, with the wind dead
aft. The fall of it from the slender waist is in graceful
curves outward, and there must be as much art in the carriage of the skirt as there is in the management of a train.
It has a luxurious wavy motion, as if it floated upon the
air-not the sweep of the " sceptered pall " of Tragedy,
but the " gilding state " of Cytherea. I could only object
to the movement as being, or seeming, too graceful-too
exaggerated evenly and sustained to be altogether natural.
Over the saya comes the manto, which is a loose skirt,
also black, open down the front, and confined at the waist.
This is drawn up all around backwards, and folded over
the head in a peculiar manner, something like that in which
our country maids throw their aprons over their heads;
but so as entirely to conceal the head and face, all but the




248      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCH AS.
left eye, and sometimes a bit of an arm bordered with
white lace and a jeweled hand, in which is often a cross of
brilliants or a white kerchief.  The arms are crossed
upward in front, and the hands confine the manto on each
side over the face. The contour of the arms and shoulders
can be seen from without, the thin silk that is drawn closely
over them, being'their only covering. The art in which
all this is arranged so as to leave only one eye exposed, is
wonderful. In some instances, the fold was just held by
a finger and came over the nose, giving to that little organ
an indescribable prettiness. I could not help thinking, however, that these little rounded noses might, for aught we
knew, be rebellious or too aspiring noses-an inch in a
nose, more or less, is a great deal. But the eye-that single eye! It melts like a burning glass. I appeal to any
traveller who has ever had to endure the full effect of it, if
he did not feel the heat of it penetrate and suffuse him, so
that it required all the ice of his cold mind to prevent being
thawed, and resolved into a dew. As for myself, I could
feel my heart ignite and burn out like a lucifer match every
time the beam lighted on me. But then the vanity of
being an object of such glances, as quickly restored and
fed the cinder with new combustible material; and perhaps at this moment I am all the sounder for the repeated
tempering. It is consoling to have such proof that one
must be " a marvellous proper man."
It was curious to see what an intensity of expression one




LIMA.                    249
little organ could convey. Some writers make the mouth
the most expressive; it may be less under the control of
the will. But the look can say best of all faculties, except
the voice, what the creature within wishes to express.
The Lima ladies have all the freedom of concealment; the
disguise is impenetrable; they seem to intend to appear as
much alike as possible, and it is said their nearest acquaintances cannot distinguish them.  The constraint of the
arms is a small sacrifice, for that, and for the display of
the tantalizing voluptuousness of their figures, and the
added charms of mystery. The fashion teaches and practises them in the arts of shamelessness. Without it they
could never acquire, whatever their dispositions might
prompt, the nerve to express in public such an abandon of
sentiment.
Their style is in general languishing; but when they
expose themselves, they sit straight and stately, and do
immense execution with fans, as they ride along uncovered
in their antideluvian carriages.
The Cholo girls, with shawls of gay colors, imitate the
ladies, but with a more wicked witchery-with eyes tnat
sparkle, and ways that make everything seem innocent.
They are very free, and animated, and arch-diaboli plene.
One morning in my wanderings I lighted my cigar where
were a half dozen of them, more or less, in a room open to
the street, and a fishy-eyed old fellow thrumming a guitar.
I looked at his instrument-played a scale in an unusual
lI*




250      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCIIAS.
key, and a Scottish dance that used to be in the instruction
books, (very nearly the extent of my skill on the instrument;) the party fraternized at once. I was offered a
chair, which I accepted, complimenting the " Senoritas
mury bonita," etc, in such elegant Castilian as one might
use who never spoke or knew any Spanish, except Spanish
flies a month before. I requested, as an escriba, to see the
national dance, the Samacueca. At length the old man
struck the irresistible melody, and one of the girls was made
to dance by her mother. They brought a single little red
flower, like a small dahlia with a long stem, which she
stuck sidewise Into her hair behind, and putting her hands
behind her, and holding back her dress with her elbows
brought forward, she danced and looked askance, and
stamped her little feet in a way that-deserves to be
brought to the notice of the Moral Reform Society, to say
the least. But what I observed most was the evident pride
with which the mother looked on, and the encouraging
exclamations of the rest and of the old fellow, who, for
aught I knew, might have been her father. They appeared
to think as much of her performance as if she had played
a piece upon an instrument, or sung a song, or recited a
hymn. I could see that they considered her rather accomplished. This was the most like an adventure, as well as
one of the most curious exhibitions that Lima afforded.




"MANANA, TOROS "
"To-MORROW, the bulls!" —was the parting exclamation
of one Cholo woman to another, as I left the cars in the
city on a Monday morning, the last week we lay at Callao.
I remember the words; but the animation with which they
were uttered cannot be pictured. Indeed, it is impossible
in our cold northern climate, even to fancy the spirit and
vivacity with which the Peruvians enjoy their holidays.
Every Sunday is almost a festival; and on the occasion of
a bull-fight, the whole City, as well as Callao, goes mad
with gaiety and excitement.
(251)




252      MELBOURNE, AND THE CIIINCILAS.
On the morrow the cars were crowded, and extra trains
were running between the Port and City during the day.
The bull-fight began at three in the afternoon. WVe went
up (a young gentleman from Boston whom I had known in
Melbourne, and myself) just in time to be in good season
for the spectacle.
The streets were thronged with people in their best and
gayest attire, all wending their way to the " Plaza firme
del Acho," or amphitheatre, where the fights are held. This
is a large circular enclosure situated at the end of the
Alameda, or public prom.erade, on the northwest bank of
the river. In proceeding towards it, we followed the principal calle through the arch or gateway before mentioned,
and over the bridge beyond it, which affords a beautiful
view of the city and river, and the surrounding mountains.
This bridge is itself one of the curious antiquities of Lima;
it was built so long ago as 1638, and is constructed of
hewn stone, heavily arched, and with massive piers in the
ancient fashion. The piers being wider than the street and
sidewalk, form recesses on either side, which are-usually
tenanted by loungers in picturesque costumes. The river
lies fifty feet below, and was at this time only a series of
rivulets and streams, winding about among green weed
grown islands, where were children playing and groups of
women washing linen. The hither or southern bank, on a
level with the bridge, is overgrown with a continuous mass
of the most confused and tumble down old houses imagin




LIMA.                     253
able-the rears of.the buildings on the street running next
the river. It seems as if they had been built, one room at
a time, and hoisted up and left anywhere and without any
regard to level, some time in the sixteenth century, when
Lima was founded. The effect of the view in that direction from the bridge is, in its way, unsurpassed, and would
captivate at once those artists who are fond of such
subjects.
This afternoon the bridge was covered with passengers
hurrying over to the- Plaza. Besides the crowds on foot,
were the carriages of the "upper ten;"-I wish Mr. Barnum would procure one and exhibit it in Broadway. The
weight of any one of the full-sized of these patriarchal vehicles, might be safely estimated at about ten tons, more or
less. But then the ladies who rode in them, uncovered, in
full costume, and with fans in their hands, made one almost
forget to notice the venerable arks; just as they made the
dingy old street seem noble and splendid. Their carriage
was lofty and graceful, beyond any that I ever saw, and
for beauty, it may be questioned if the world can match it.
Of the ladies on the street, more than half were tapadas,
that is, concealed by the saya and manto; and it was on
this occasion more particularly than at any other time, that
I suffered so much from over susceptibility. I know not
how many times I lost my heart between the bridge and
the Plaza del Acho. It was nearly half a mile, and as wo
walked slowly, there may have been fifty separate heart




254      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
crackings; I recollect some of them that occurred as we
met the tapadas in grouts under the trees in the Alameda,
with perfect distinctness.
The Plaza is an open amphitheatre, perhaps three hundred yards across, with two wide tiers of sloping seats
around it, built within a high adobe wall. Imagine Castle
Garden uncovered and enlarged, and its outer wall changed
to a thick wall covered with yellow wash, and as dingy as
possible; imagine the upper tier at the back within, to be
private boxes, fitted up like the most decayed old wooden
stable in the city-the seats below them all around only
dusty stairs, and the whole coming down to an enclosed
arena about ten feet below-where the bulls, and horses,
and men, come in for the spectacle. Imagine in the centre
a round temple, between the pillars of which the picadors
can run for safety; also covered places at intervals around
the arena, placed there for a similar purpose. Fancy now,
for it is not my intention to dwell on what has been so
often described, the multitude assembled to witness the
fight; the boxes filled with beautiful and richly dressed
ladies, and the seats with their motley crowd of all nations
and colors, all alive with chatter, and bewitching cholo
and mulatto girls in gaudy shawls. Here and there are
bands of music; near us is one composed entirely of negroes, who play upon instruments like cracked hautboys.
Whether their music be African, or Moorish, or Ancient
Peruvian, I know not; it is almost impossible to distin



LIMA.                     255
guish a melody in it. I fancied it must be some remnant
of the horrid barbaric noises with which in the days of the
Incas, the priests hid the shrieks of the victims at their
human sacrifices. Or it may have been only such as was
played at the Autos da fe, which used to be celebrated
with peculiar cruelty at the Plaza de la Inquisicion, now
the Plaza de la Independencia, in Lima.
At length the President, and his family and suite, arrive
and take their seats, amidst loud music and cheering.
Presently several horsemen ride into the arena, beautifully
mounted, and managing their steeds with remarkable ease
and grace. Their horses are slender; but they are full of
showy paces, and in every movement exhibit admirable
training. The picadors assemble, dressed like circus performers, and with long red scarfs on their arms. After
sufficient delay to heighten the effect, a door at the side
opposite the President's box, opens, and in rushes a splendid bull, maddened by having been pricked and goaded
during the last half hour outside. As soon as he finds
himself in a new place, he makes a rush at the nearest
object that moves-generally one of the horsemen, who
allows him to come just near enough to his beautiful horse
to make one's blood run cold, while the horse curvets and
avoids being ripped open by the bull's horns. I shut my
eyes even at this; but the fine ladies in the boxes applaud.
(N. B. I should like.to keep a young ladies school in Lima,
and have some of them for pupils.)




256      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
This is soon over, and then the picadors, or whatever
they should be called, place themselves in the bull's way,
and excite him to dash at their scarfs. HIe chases first one
and then another, and sometimes they but just escape into
their safety places. Once he tears one's dress firom him,
and would have killed him but for the others, who come in
and divert his attention.  lIe is by this tine so crazed, he
sees nothing to rush at but the red scarfs, which are so
long and thrown so far out, that there is less danger to the
men than there seems to be. Still the boldest run frequent risks; and every time they do so and escape,
there is a murmur of applause from the boxes. (Let me
stand forward a little where I can scowl at this fair witch
who has been distinguishing me with her glances. I will
have her know what I think of her now.)
When this delightful sport begins to tire, out steps the
matador, with a straight sword in his hand and a small
scarf on his arm, bows to the President, and walks into the
middle of the arena.  The picadors assist him in drawing
the attention of the infuriated beast upon himself. He
holds out his scarf; the bull mnakes a rush at it; and just
when he gives the toss with his horns, the matador lifts his
elbow and drives his sword over the neck and between the
shoulder blade and spine of the bull up to the hilt. If he
is fortunate, it goes right through the heart, and the bull
falls, almost at once, while the ladies loudly applaud;
otherwise, the creature lingers a little, and sometimes has




LIMA.                     257
has to be stabbed again. When he is dead, the music
strikes up, the picadors and matador bow to the President,
from whose box money is thrown them, horses come in
and drag out the carcass, and the ladies resume their gay
conversation.
After a short interval the same thing is gone over again.
We staid to see five or six slaughtered in this manner, and
for my own part, my heart echoed when I came away, a
characteristic exclamation of an English sailor Who stood
near me, not very complimentaryto the disposition of ladies
who could take pleasure in so cruel and cowardly an amusement. But custom-and especially long established and
inherited custom —still interposes a plea for them, and
makes us willing to admit that in spite of these barbarous
tastes, they may still not be wanting in the gentle attributes which ought to distinguish their sex. But there
were some American ladies at the fight, looking and applauding with evident relish; and for them neither I nor
any of those I was with, could feel either mercy or compassion. We all agreed, and we were some of us men
whose whole lives almost, had been spent in peril, that we
should have nothing to say to any American lady who could
desireto witness such an amusement, after havingoncesatisfled a natural curiosity to see what it was. That which could
disgust old captains, who had seen men shot, and cut down,
and stabbed, and been in affrays, and in gales and
storms, and among pirates, and on savage coasts, they




258       MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
rightly considered they would not wish their wives and
daughters to be pleased with. It was pleasant to hear
many such come out with great heartiness to that effect,
and show the pure gold that was hidden under a rough
exterior surface, in their composition.
I am the more particular to set forth the natural feelings
with which the right-minded and kind-hearted among us'
must regard such amusements as bull fights, because it
requires no spirit of prophecy to foresee that the years are
at hand when a trip to Lima, and a ramble among the
scenery of the Andes, will be as fashionable here, as a tour
through Switzerland and Italy is to our relatives across
the water. Even as I write, the Isthmus can be crossed
in less than five hours, without much inconvenience; and
the recent discovery of coal beds in Chili and Bolivia; (if
the newspaper paragraph can be relied on,) will soon
cheapen the passage on the other side. Wherever we go,
let us hope that our people shall carry with them our civili.
zation, as they do our language. Thus much the schoolmaster.
When we left the Plaza del Acho and came into the
Alameda, hundreds of tapadas were walking in parties
under the trees, and indeed, all the- way down the street
and beyond the bridge under the Portales. Adopting the
spirit of the hour, we amused ourselves by saluting almost
every group we met, with " Buenas noches, Senoritas bonitas," and whatever other impromptu Spanish we could




LIMA.                     259
command. The freedom  was always received in good
part, often occasioning much laughter among them, and in
every instance the cheerful, not to say flattering response,
Buenas noches, Senor Capitan!"-to the infinite disgust
of the Peruvian dandies, who doubtless execrate in their
hearts the " forineering devils " who come there and walk
over their heads.




IV.
THE inhabitants of Lima have always preserved their
gaiety through all their reverses and revolutions.  Shorn
in a great measure of its ancient splendor, impoverished
and decaying, as, until very lately, it has been for many
years-once almost destroyed, and many times shaken and
palsied by earthquakes-its streets often the scene of bloody
conflicts-the "' Cuidad de los Reyes " has continued to
maintain, and has most probably deserved the reputation
of being the most animated and most voluptuous city in
this hemisphere, if not in the world-the city of recreation
and show, and intrigue, and license. The greater portion
(20o)




LIMA.                    261
of its inhabitants are said to provide for themselves only
from day to day, often only fiom ho ur to hour, and very
often will starve themselves and live in wretchedness to
keep up a dashing appearance. Of course the conditions
of life among such a population, and in such a climate, must
be such as can hardly be comprehended among us. The
wants of the people are so few, and so easily supplied, that
they become careless both as to the present and future,
and think only of amusement and animal enjoyment. Everything with them is unstable, unsettled, unregulated.
The political history of Peru exhibits these national characteristics in a very striking light. An abstract of the
chapter upon it in the first volume of Wilkes' Expedition,
may not be out of place.
Since 1826, when Peru passed from the authority of
Spain to the dictatorship of General Bolivar, her history
is only a chronological table of revolutions. As is very
truly observed in the opening of the chapter referred to:
" The history may be said to have merged in biographical memoirs of its several rulers, who have, without an
exception, acted for self-aggrandizement, without even look
ing to the benefit of their country, its peace, or happiness."
The very next year after Bolivar became Dictator, the
Peruvians effected a revolt among the Columbian troops
stationed there, and elected and proclaimed President,
General La iMar. In 1828, while. La Mar was on an
expedition against Columbia, General Lafuente, who was




262      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
to have joined him with fifteen hundred men from the south,
when he arrived at Callao, overthrew the government at
Lima; while Gamarra, another general, arrested La Alar
at the north.  Gamari'a became the next President, with
Lafuente for Vice-President.  Gamarra was the only President up to within ten years who ever served out his term
of four years, though there were, during his administration,
several attempts to revolutionize the country.
O.n the expiration of his term of office, in December,
1833, a Convention met at Lima to amend the Constitution,
elected as Provisional President (the Electoral College not
havi ngyet assembled) General Don Luiz Orbejoso. In
less than a month after his election, General Bermudez,
instigated by Gamarra, revolutionized Lima, and dispersed
the Convention at the point of the bayonet. A few days
after, Lima revolutionized him and reinstated Orbejoso.
I.n February, 1835, during Orbejoso's absence at the;south, General Salaverry, who was in command of the
Castle of Callao, seized upon the Government and declared
himself Supreme Chief. Orbejoso obtained help of Santa
Ciruz to depose him, Salaverry on his part obtaiped Ganmarra. A  battle was fought-Salavarry defeated and
shot, and Orbejoso reinstated by the aid of Santa Cruz.
Orbqejoso's titles were " Citizen Don Louis Orbejoso, Great
IHero and Meritorious General of Divisions, and Grand
Marshal of the State of South Peru."
But the people became dissatisfied with the "Great




LIMA.                      263
Hero," and the Assembly of Sicuani, consisting of delegates from four of the eight Provinces, in March, 1836,
conferred upon General Santa Cruz the title of" Supreme
I'rotector " and " Invincible Pacificator " of South Peru.
He and Orbejoso entered into treaty arrangements.
At length, after conventions and doings too numerous
to be mentioned, Peru and Bolivia became one government, under the name of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation,
and Santa Cruz was declared Supreme Protector for life,
with almost unlimited authority.  The next occurrence
was a war with Chili, conducted most dishonorably on
both sides.
The historian in Wilkes, has a paragraph respecting the
policy of Santa Cruz, which ought to be quoted. He
observes that:
" Santa Cruz's policy seems to have been to attach foreigners.to his person and government, and they for the
most part spoke favorably of him; but as he gained gr6und
with them hle lost it with his.countrymen, and those who
were and Qc ught to have been,his supporters, were disappointed and mortified to see him pursue such a course
Thle Peruvians are conceited, proud,, and destitute of that
educatiqn and knowledge which would enable them to
understnlid the. necessity of asking foreigners for advice
respecting their commlercial regulations."'
This is aertainly no less true than it was in 1845.
While a'Chililan expedition w1as preparing against Peru,
Orbejoso,.who had been appointed to comnmand in the.oiT,;h,, revolted aguimst Santa Cruz and.came to Lima; by




264      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
that time the Chilian expedition had arrived at Callao. He
declined the assistance of the Chilian general Bulnes, and upon the latter's disembarking his troops, marched against him.
But the general who had joined him in the revolt, Nieto,
kept back when he should have advanced, and Bulnes
drove the Peruvians in one of the most hurried massacres
that ever occurred in human history, and entered Lima.
He proclaimed Gamarra President.
Santa Cruz now marched against Gamarra. Bulnez
embarked his troops and sailed for the North. Santa Cruz
was defeated in a bloody battle near Lima and just escaped with his life by getting on board the British sloop-ofwar Samnaran)g, then lying at Callao. Bulnez again returned to Callao, disembarked and took possession of Lima.
Gamarra was then established, and the Peru-Bolivian Confederation broke up. Thus ended the year 1839.
In 1840, Gamarra was invited by rival chiefs to come to
Bolivia and settle their disputes. But he had no sooner
arrived there than they attacked him and his forces at disadvantage-routed them and killed him. Bolivia now
invaded Peru-but through the meditation of Chili, a peace
was brought about, " which left both Peru and Bolivia in
a state of great anarchy and confusion, all men of any note
endeavoring to create parties for themselves."
At the present writing there is another revolution, headed
by Don Domingo Elias, who was at the head of the government in 1843 and 1844. He is a man of great wealtht




LIMA.                    265
and maintains on his estates a princely hospitality, for
which travellers and foreign visitors have often expressed
their acknowledgments. His extensive sugar plantations
and vineyards lie inland from Pisco, in the valley of Ica.
When I was at the Chinchas, he was the individual who
contracted with the government, through their agents, the
house of Barreda and Brothers, to deliver the guano. The
business was chiefly transacted by his son, a very gentle.
manlike young man, with a face denoting uncommon
intelligence and energy of character, who visited the
islands while I was there, and informed the captains,
among other matters, that his father had purchased a fresh
lot of Coolies to expedite the loading their vessels.
The newly arrived Coolies, whom I saw, were probably
some of them.
Don Elias was then said to be very popular in Peru,
and his wealth was set down by common report, at six
millions of dollars, chiefly in land and slaves. But it would
be idle to speculate on the chances of his success in revolutionizing the country. The inhabitants of Lima will
probably continue to say to one another, with almost as
much indifference as we might feel in this remote metropolis-" Quien Sabe!"
12




V.
THE best account of Peru will be found in Tschudi's
Travels in Peru," republished here in 1147. A new work
on the antiquities of I'eru, by the same learned author, is
just commenced, and there is a separate one by him on its
geology, which must be interesting to scientific readers.
From the first named work, I have extracted the following account of its earthquakes.  Several shocks were said
to have occurred while I was there, but I did not perceive
them. In Callao the vibrations are so great, that all the
cross-beams in houses are obliged to be secured to the
upright onps by thongs of raw hide, and the whole town
(266)




LIMA.                       267
very often shakes like a town of jelly. The statements of
many old residents with whom I conversed, confirms the
accuracy of Dr. Tschudi's descriptions.
"Lima is frequently visited by earthquakes, and several times
the city has been reduced to a mass of ruins. At an average, fortyfive shocks may be counted on in a year. Most of them occur in
the latter part of October, in November, December, January, May
and June. Experience gives reason to expect the visitation of two
desolating earthquakes in a century. The period between the two
is from forty to sixty years. The most considerable catastrophes
experienced in Lima since Europeans have visited the west coast
of South America, happened in the years 1586, 1630, 1687, 1713,
1746, 1806. There is reason to fear that in the course of a few
years this city may be the prey of another such visitation.
"The slighter shocks are sometimes accompanied by a noise; at
other times, they are merely perceptible by the motion of the earth.
The subterraneous noises are manifold. For the most part they
resemble the rattling of a heavy loaded wagon, driven rapidly over
arches. They usually accompany the shock, seldom precede it,
and only in a few cases do they follow it; sounding like distant
thunder. On one occasion, the noise appeared to me like a groan
from the depth of the earth, accompanied by sounds like the crepitation of wood in partitions when an old house is consumed by fire."
"I have had no experience of the rotatory movements of earthquakes. According to the statements of all who have observed
them, they are very destructive, though uncommon. In Lima I
have often felt a kind of concussion, which accords with that term




268       MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
in the strictest sense of the word. This movement had nothing in
common with what may be called an oscillation, a shock, or a twirl:
it was a passing sensation, similar to that which is felt when a man
seizes another unexpectedly by the shoulder, and shakes him; or
like the vibration felt on board a ship when the anchor is
cast, at the moment it strikes the ground. I believe it is caused
by short, rapid, irregular horizontal oscillations. The irregularity
of the vibrations is attended by much danger, for very slight earthquakes of that kind tear away joists from their joinings, and throw
down roofs, leaving the walls standing, which, in all other kinds of
commotion, usually suffer first, and most severely."
"' Atmospheric phenomena are frequent, but not infallible prognostics of an earthquake. I have known individuals in Lima,
natives of the coast, who were seldom wrong in predicting an earthquake, from their observation of the atmosphere. In many places
great meteors have been seen before the commotion. Before the
dreadful earthquake of 1746, there were seen fiery vapors (exhalaciones encendidas) rising out of the earth. On the island of San
Lorenzo these phenomena were particularly remarked.
" Many persons have an obscure perception-a foreboding, which
is to them always indicative of an approaching earthquake. They
experience a feeling of anxiety and restlessness, a pressure of the
breast, as if an immense we ght were laid on it. A momentary
shudder pervades the whole friame, or thire is a sudden trembling
of the limbs. I, myself, have several times experienced this foreboding, and there can scarcely be a more painful sensation. It is




LIMA.                        269
felt with particular severity by those who have already had the
misfortune to have been exposed to the dangers of an earthquake.
" I will here only briefly mention the celebrated earthquake of
1746, as all its details are fully described in many publications.
The reader need scarcely be reminded that it happened on the 28th
of October, the day of St. Simon and St. Jude. During the night.
between ten and eleven o'clock, the earth having begun to tremble,
a loud howling was heard, and, in a few minutes, Lima became a
heap of ruins. The first shock was so great, that the town was
almost completely destroyed by it. Of more than 3000 houses,
only twenty-one remained. Still more horrible was the destruotion in the harbor of Callao. The movement of the earth had
scarcely been felt there, when the sea, with frightful roaring, rushed
over the shore, and submerged the whole town, with its inhabitants. Five thousand persons were instantly buried beneath the
waves. The Spanish corvette San Fermin, which lay at anchor
in the port, was thrown over the walls of the fortress. A cross
still marks the place where the stern of the vessel fell. Three
merchant vessels, heavily laden, suffered the same fate. The other
ships which were at anchor, nineteen in number, were sunk. The
number of lives sacrificed by this earthquake, has not been, with
perfect accuracy, recorded. Humboldt in his Cosmos, mentions that
during this earthquake a noise like a subterraneous thunder was
heard at Truxillo, eighty-five leagues north of Callao. It was first
observed a quarter of an hour after the commotion occurred at
Lima, but there was no trembling of the earth. According to the
old chronicle writers, the earthquake of 1630 was more disastrous."
"The causes of the frequent earthquakes on the coast of Limna,
are involved in an obscurity too deep to be unveiled. That they




270       MELBOURNE, AND TIE CHINCHAS.
are connected with volcanic phenomena seems probable. Lima is
more than ninety leagues distant from the nearest active volcano,
that of Arequipa. But the earthquakes of the Peruvian capital are
uniformly independent of any state of activity in that volcano, and
it is certain that the town of Arequipa, which lies at the foot of the
mountain, experiences fewer earthquakes than Lima."
"On most men earthquakes make a powerful and extraordinary
impression. The sudden surprise, often in sleep, the imminent
danger, the impossibility of escape, the dull subterraneous noise,
the yielding of the earth under the feet,-altogether make a formidable demand on the weakness of human nature.
"Humboldt in the Cosmos truly observes —' What is most wonderful for us to comprehend is the undeception which takes place
with respect to the kind of innate belief which men entertain of
the repose and immovability of the terrestrial strata.' And further
on he says-' The earthquake appears to men as something omnipresent and unlimited. From the eruption of a crater, from a
stream of lava running towards our dwellings, it appears possible to
escape, but in an earthquake, whichever way a flight is directed,
the fugitive believes himself on the brink of destruction!' No
familiarity with the phenomenon can blunt this feeling. The
inhabitant of Lima who, from childhood, has frequently witnessed
these convulsions of natures is roused from his sleep by the shock,
and rushes from his apartment with the cry of' Mlisericordia!'
The foreigner from the north of Europe, who knows nothing of
earthquakes but by description, waits with impatience to feel the
movement of the earth, and longs to hear with his own ears the
subterraneous sounds which he has hitherto considered fabulous.
With levity he treats the apprehension of a comming convulsion




LIMA.                        271
and laughs at the fears of the natives. But as soon as his wish is
gratified he is terror-stricken, and is involuntarily prompted to seek
safety in flight.
" In Lima, the painful impression produced by an earthquake is
heightened by the universality of the exercise of the devotions
(plegarias) on such a calamity. Immediately on the shock being
felt, a signal is given from the cathedral, and the long-measured,
ten-minute tollings of all the church bells summon the inhabitants
to prayers."




VI.
THE outrage on the American Captains at the Chinchas,
alluded to in a former chapter as the " Pelican War,'
occurred on the 17th of August-nearly two months before
my arrival there. It was still then, however, almost the
only matter thought or talked of among them, aside from
circumstances immediately connected with the business of
freighting. From the language of Mr. Clay at Lima, it
was understood that the attention of our Department of
State had been directed to it, and that the claim forwarded
by him would undoubtedly lead to some satisfactory redress. But up to this date, more than eight months since
(272)




LIMA.                     273
the outrage was committed, nothing definite has transpired;
and the circumstances of the affair are beginning to attract
the attention of our merchants, and the leading commercial journals.
A sketch of the outrage, with some speculations upon
it, and upon the manner in which business is conducted at
the islands, may have a special interest from having been
written on the spot. They are extracted from  a letter
which I furnished for the New York Times, and which
was very kindly forwarded for me by Mr. Clay, whose
opinions, I doubt not, as well as those of all fair-minded
American and English residents acquainted with the particulars of the affair, coincide with those the letter expresses.
The subject is important, as involving the question whether
or not our shipmnasters, having large commands, are entitled to peculiar protection from our government in foreign
ports-a question which, in the present enormously increased prosperity of our shipping interest, is likely to be
one of frequent recurrence. Probably, or at least it is to
be hoped, that before this reaches the public, the outrage
will have been atoned for by the offer firom Peru of some
proper and satisfactory. indemnity.
"Before this reaches you, you will have had the news
of the outrage committed by the Peruvian Commandant
here upon the American Captains. The memorial of the
Captains to Mr. Clay, our Minister at Lima, with his
12*




274      MELBOURNE, AND TIIE CHIINCIIAS.
reply, wvill probably have been furnished in the Times.
The memorial, which is a brief summary of the ftacts of the
outrage, does not give anything lihke a full history of it, and
conveys nothing of the deep feeling it created here, and
which has not by any means subsided. The shipmasters
were careful to present to the Minister only a simple detail
of the circumstances of the outrage. Probably a greater
or more unprovoked-and brutal insult was never offered
to the American flag; nor were ever American citizens so
treated by an official of any foreign nation with whom their
own was at peace. The statement of the memorial shows
that some thirty American shipmasters (all here but two
or three, who were unavoidably absent) waited on the
Commandant, on board the hulk, to enquire respecting the
detention of,a boat's crew for an alleged infringement of
the regulations, and to ascertain the views of the Commandant in similar cases. They were unarmed; they went in a
peaceful, proper manner, with no other than a perfectly
proper and justifiable intention, and no suspicion that they
could be subjected to insult, and, least o~fall, to danger to
life and limb. The Commandant was the agent of. their
charterers; he was also the Peravian man of authority
here. They wished to know what regulations he intended
to enforce, in order that they might conform to them, or
remonstrate, if they should deem them arbitrary, as they
had a right to do, through the legal and proper channel.
Nothing was further firom their purpose than to oppose the




LIMA.                    275
measure of the Peruvian Government, or show themselves
hostile to it, or offended with it. They certainly cannot
be supposed to have gone on board an armed vessel unarnmed, to insult or intimidate her commander. He was
not on board. The officer of the deck, instead of sending
for him, as would have been courteous, allowed them to
send one of their own boats. When he came, he refused
to hear them. He refused to grant a hearing to a committee from them, of o'ne or more; but from some sudden
freak of jealous obstinacy, or the mixture of cowardice
and ferocity which seems to belong to the Spanish-American blood, ordered up a file of soldiers, and, before the
shipmasters were aware what was to happen, had them
bayonetted off the deck and down the gangway! It was
the merest accident, I have heard repeatedly from those
who were present, that some of them were not killed. As
it was, several were wounded-some of them severely. It
was not through misunderstanding that this' was done;
for the Commander could speak and understand English
enough to understand, and did understand, the object of
the Captains in their visit. No explanation can be given
of his course, except that it was in keeping with other acts
of his, though it could not have been supposed he would
resort to actual violence, and only be hindered by the
hesitation of his own soldiers from butchering unarmed
American citizens upon his own deck. He is said to be a
Mexican, who came from his native country not long ago




276       MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
to Peru, and brought with him all his national prejudice
against Americans. He had previously shown that he
meant to make all the trouble and delay he could to our
shipmasters. He fancied himself in a position to treat
them with military contempt, and all that sort of insulting
manner which inferior Peruvian officials, who live by
cheating their Government, are so fond of affecting towards
foreigners. The shipmasters had felt this in the way of
business; some had endeavored to conciliate him, others
had been indignant by finding themselves so far at the
mercy of such a petty tyrant-there was no doubt a good
deal of feeling against the man, but nothing like a determination to resist his authority; and I am sure the thought
of insulting or menacing him, or exposing themselves in
any way to violence from him, could never have entered
their minds. Such an intention would have been as far
from their interests as from their duty; and to have placed
themselves in such. a position, with any such intention,
would have been the height of madness.
I write within view of the locality where the outrage
occurred; many of the shipmasters present are still here,
and I have heard the views of almost all of them. I am
convinced that they were most brutally treated; that they
were exposed to imminent danger of their lives, and some
of them severely wounded by stabs and braises, without
any reasonable provocation; and I think it due to the
honor of our country, and necessary to the future safety o,




LIMA.                     277
American citizens, that our Government should take the
matter in hand, and compel such redress as shall teach these
Peruvians the necessity of caution. I hope they will be
made to pay for it roundly.
It must be considered that our shipmasters do not stand
upon the same footing as ordinary citizens. To them is
entrusted our share in the commerce of nations. Leave
them unprotected, and permit a considerable number of
the most respectable of them, visiting a foreign Government ship, to be subjected to a deadly assault with the
weapon of last resort-to bayoneting by a file of soldcliersand we must remodel our marine: we must have armed
vessels; our clippers, now the pride of the sea, may fold
their wings; we must trade with foreign nations at arm's
length; and our merchantmen must be exposed to pretty
much the same dangers as pirates. It is to be hoped there
will be spirit enough in the present Administration to look
after the affair promptly. Every American shipmaster
who suffered in this assault-every one who was personally in danger in it, has a claim upon his country as a satisfaction for the peril to which he was exposed, and the
wounds he received. She promises him protection; and
in cases where he does not receive it, he is entitled to honorary redress.
The character of our shipmasters must also be considered, as well as their position. Here were thirty American men, each of whom was entrusted with the sole caro




278       MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
of a large amount of property, and the sole government of
a crew  of men sailing under our flag. You are aware
what sort of men must be selected by our merchants for
such a command. In addition to the experience and skill
necessary for the safe management of large and valuable
ships, they must have the firmness and coolness, and knowledge of men to secure discipline on board; they must be
familiar with the usages of trade all over the world, with
the laws regulating their own in relation to freight, wages,
crew, passengers, &c., under all the contingencies of long
and hazardous voyages. There is no class of men in all
the various business of the world to whom is committed
so great a trust-they are so many generals in the armies
of Peace.  Within their sphere of business, their powers
are unlimited; on the decks of their vessels they are absolute. Here are several masters of vessels whose names
will be recognised in the list enclosed, whose ships and
freights are each worth more than the stock of a large
wholesale store, or than a large manufactory. The safety
of all this, as well as its proper management, must often
depend upon their lives and their discretion alone. Men
are not selected for such commands whose passions or prejudices are deemed liable to mislead them; it is no part
of their business to embroil themselves in difficulties with
foreign authorities; they have too much at stake. They
are used to look into the passions and prejudices, and bear
with the suspicions of other men. I do not think that out




LIMA.                    279
of all our citizens, a set of men could be selected more
cool-headed and fair-minded and capable of acting a manly
part in any emergency, than our ship-masters; and I think
their judgment and opinion in cases where themselves and
their business is concerned, their views as to the propriety
of what they do, and the treatment they receive, altogether
likely to be correct. They are, if any can be, men of the
world, used to deal with men of all countries, and knowing
that it is for the dispatch of business to deal fairly, and to
conform to foreign customs. They, of all men, ought to
be under the especial protection of our Government. The
safety of property, the security of commerce, the honor
of our flag, the duty our nation owes to itself to have
itself respected among the intelligent nations of the earth,
require that it should see that gross wrongs to our shipmasters should be promptly redressed. It is my intention to write this with some feeling, to give you an
idea of what is unanimously the opinion here respecting
this affair, and because I wish to convey something more
than the mere facts as stated in the memorial to Mr. Clay.
By that gentleman's reply, it will be seen how it was
regarded by him. I hope, for the honor of our country,
and for the sake of the shipmasters here, whose hospitality I have enjoyed, that something will be done in
the matter. The Peruvians have already removed their
officer; let them now make amends for injuries inflicted
by him when acting under their authority, It will teach




280      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
them to select in future fitter agents-if they can. Affairs
are by no means satisfactorily arranged here now. Kossuth is as arbitrary as such a soldier of fortune might
be expected to be; he is capricious, uncertain, and unreliable to the last degree. The Commandant Serrate is
probably as thorough an old scoundrel in his way as
Peru can produce-which is saying something. He and
Kossuth do not merely compel some vessels to lay out
their full time, while others are preferred for no known
reason, but they give and withhold supplying guano capriciously, apparently for no other purpose than to irritate. The whole thing is badly managed, and it is
shameful that so many of our finest ships should be
subjected to needless inconveniences.
" Another trouble is with the crews when lying here.
Most of them have to be shipped at Callao, and are natives (Peruvians or Chilenos, called " Chols.") They are
a poor diminutive race, half black, and said to be passionate and treacherous.  Mixed with English and American
crews, they create constant trouble, increased by the disagreeable nature of the work in loading. The consequence
is frequent trouble with men. No longer ago than yesterday a serious disturbance, in which knives and pistols
were used, took place on board a ship near by. Some of
the men will have to be-are already, I believe, sent on
board the Peruvian guardship. They will get off, it is
likely, without such punishment as is necessary to secure




LIMA.                    281
discipline-and so in many otjher cases. All the difficulties arising' out of this state of things can only be appreciated by sea-going persons. It has continued long
enough. There ought to be an American vessel of war
sent here at once. Had there been one at the time, the
outrage to our shipmasters could not have occurred.
An English frigate visited here soon after, under Admiral Moresby, who immediately, at the request of our
captains, remonstrated strongly with the Commandant
upon his conduct; and had it been inflicted upon Englishmen, serious retribution would have followed at once. It
is humiliating that our merchantmen should be compelled
to look for protection to the ships of England, and made
to feel how  true it is that English seamen are better
protected than ours.
" It ought to be mentioned in this connection, that the
Commandant, it has been ascertained, had applied to the
captains of two French ships then here, the Ville de Lima
and Pomone, anticipating a rupture with the Americans;
they both promised him their aid; and when the American
shipmasters were driven at point of bayonet and at peril
of their lives, down the gangway of the hulk, the crew of
the Pomone gave three cheers! This is of a piece with
the doings of the French Government elsewhere in the
Pacific. There is a French frigate here now, surveying
all around the islands.  Perhaps the next movement swill
be to take possession. Doubtless there is not a port in




282      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
the world where there is so much American shipping that
is left so unprotected as this.  It is a subject of dailyconversation and complaint among our shipmasters here,
and any intelligent observer must confess, for the reasons above given, and many others which will readily
occur to sea-faring men, that their complaints are just.
The neglect of our Government can only arise from ignorance of the magnitude of the interests here embraced,
both as regards the property and persons of American
citizens. I understand that a memorial requesting a vessel
of war to be stationed here, is about to be addressed
by the shipmasters to the Department-in which case
it is reasonable to hope that the evil will be remedied.
Both England and America, and all other nations
freighting here, will doubtless unite in urging the Peruvian Government into a more satisfactory management of
the business. Whether they will effect any thing or not,
however, remains to be seen; the nation is now on the
eve of revolution. I believe the Peruvians need to be
overawed a little for their own good, and that our ships
can only obtain their fxeights here without unnecessary
inconvenience when the authorities are fully aware that
the rights of our seamen must be respected-when they
actually see a force able to afford prompt protection. In
such a Government as this the subordinates require to be
kept in check by the presence of an authority which they
shall feel it to be dangerous to trifle with. They change




LIMA.                    283
so often, that they care but little for the slow redress
through diplomatic agents, of wrongs done to our citizens. They are fond of show, and only to be reached
through direct appeals to the senses; their regard for
law and order would be much increased by the sight of
an American frigate anchored off these islands, and the
business of freighting our ships here would go on much
more expeditiously, and more in accordance with the
usages of commercial nations."
Since the foregoing was written, the news has reached
New York, that the frigate St. Lawrence was at Callao,
and would remain there during the present unsettled state
of Peru, to afford protection, in case it should be needed,
to American citizens, there and at the Chinchas. This
will ensure some security in the future; but if the opinions
here set forth respecting the peculiar position of our shipmasters are sound, as I think they will be admitted to be,
by lawyers and persons conversant with maritine affairs,
there ought to be such indemnity for the past as will teach
the offenders the necessity of caution.
This may be said without any personal feeling of hostility to the Peruvians. I think no traveller can visit Lima
without having occasion to praise the courtesy of its gentlemen, as well as the beauty of its ladies.  Although my
visit was so brief that I had no opportunities to form
acquaintances, I shall yet remember the impression produced upon me by the politeness of several strangers whom




284      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
I encountered at the hotels, the churches, and the principal music store. It was characterized by the refinement
and genuine consideration that make one feel himself understood-as gentlemen should understand each other,through all the disguises of languages, any where in the
world. More than all its antiquities, which I wished so
much to examine, and its glorious scenery, and animated
streets, it made me regret that I was obliged to leave Lima
so soon. I remember well the last day I was there; and
how I thought to myself as the cars bore me down the
plain, and I looked for the last time towards the crosscrowned mountain-" all this thou shalt see no more; and
thus in a little while, thou must turn away and close thine
eyes upon all that thou hast loved or thought of in all the
world."
Leaving her capital with such feelings, it will not be
thought the expression of a merely affected sentiment in
me, to conclude my sketch by quoting and heartily echoing the sentence with which Dr. Tshudi concludes his
volume of Researches:-" For Peru, Nature's bounteously
favored land, let us hope there is reserved a future, hap.
pier' than either the past or the present?"




ROUND CAPE HORN.
THE circumstances under which the sketches of the
Chinchas and Lima were begun, on the second of December, are narrated on page 151. A few days after that, on
the 5th, the Tornado took a gale almost dead aft, which
lasted her more than a week, and carried her from about
the latitude of Chiloe Island in the Pacific, to the east
cape of the Falklands in the Atlantic. The day, or rather
the hours of daylight, increased very rapidly as we flew
southward at an average rate of fourteen knots per hour,
and pea-jackets and sou'-westers, long unused, emerged
from their hiding places. On the 5th, we passed the ship
Parthenon of Boston, lying to under very short sail, so
(285)




286      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
near that we could read the name on her stern. We must
have presented a fine sight from her deck, as we came up
and went out of sight like a gigantic phantom, in less than
half an hour. The sea was very high, and she looked forlorn enough as she hove steadily up and down on the
waves. I have since seen a report of her arrival at San
Francisco, which stated that she experienced similar weather in these latitudes for twenty-three days!-such is the
difference between going round the Cape and returning.
On the night of the 9th, between eleven and twelve, we
made the islands of Diego Ramirez, which lie about thirty
miles southwardly\from Cape Horn, and are the southernmost land belonging to the South American continent.
They are a group of high barren rocks, whose dark forms
and the heavy surf which was breaking upon them, we could
faintly discern in the midnight twilight, about five miles
distant on the larboard beam. A thick misty scud was
driving over the sky, and the strange light made the night
wear an unnatural gloom; but it did not affect us after
hearing the order to brace up for the northward.
After passing the Falklands we had mostly light or contrary winds till. we came off the coast of Bahia. Christmas found us in Latitude 330 24' South, and Lonoitude
30~ 01' West; and New Year's day in Latitude 22~ 09'
South, and Longitude 38~ 08' West. On the second of
January we made the island of Trinidad, forty miles to




ROUND CAPE HORN.                 287
the Eastward. This was the first land I saw which assured me that I had gone round the world-the first
which I saw after sailing continually eastward that I had
ever seen before. I wish to express this explicitly, for it
is a fact that even among men who are capable of navigating ships, and that have often taken them to distant ports,
there may not unfrequently be found those who have no
clear notion of the form of the globe. It is curious to
hear old captains argue upon " Great Circle Sailing," and
other similar abstruse matters.
On the voyage out we passed between the islets of
Trinidad and Martin Vas, and I took sketches of them,
which may be useful to seafaring persons. I believe they
lie about twenty miles apart. Blunt's Coast Pilot places
Trinidad in Latitude' 20 31' South, Longitude 29~ 21'
West; and Martin Vas in Latitude 200 29' South, Longitude 28~ 54' West. Trinidad is a high volcanic isle
about seven miles long and of very remarkable form. It
contains some vegetation, and the Portuguese are said to
have had a small settlement upon it more than a century
ago; the remains of their church are said to be still visible. It has water, and there is excellent fishing around it,
but the landing is dangerous in the extreme. A British
government vessel was once wrecked upon it. I think
mny sketches may be relied upon for correctness of outline:



288      MELBOURNE, AND THE CHINCHAS.
Trinidad, as seen March 28th, 1853, bearing Southwest (as judged)
twenty miles:
--
Martin Vas Rocks, as seen the same day, bearing East by North
five miles:_t
Trinidad as seen January 2d, 1854, bearing East forty miles:Our voyage thence home was without any " thrilling"
or remarkable incident. We took the Trades south of the
Line, which we crossed on the ninth. In the latitude of
Barbadoes the foam under the ship's head was full of astonished flying fish for several days; they did not appear
to be aware that the Tornado was coming, homewardbound. The heat was oppressive, though not so great as
it had been on my voyage out, and we soon wished ourselves back into it after crossing the Gulf Stream. The




ROUND CAPE HORN.                289
moist heat of the West India latitudes is quite unlike the
dry heat of the Pacific; indeed the two oceans differ
greatly in every latitude I have visited. I shall never forget how we used to watch the star-sets in the mid Pacific,
nor the cloud-views at sunsets, that I have seen " wake the
better soul that slumbered " in most unthoughtful and insensible men. I am ready to maintain that the shores of
the Mediterranean can show no skies to surpass those
which may be seen some thousand miles westward from
Juan Fernandez.
The most uncomfortable portion of the voyage home
was when we were blown off by a Norwester snow-storm
after passing Cape Hatteras. Not that I was particularly
anxious to arrive; but that being so near, we should be so
delayed. If I may make so candid a confession, the time
between leaving San Lorenzo and making Sandy Hook.
was, in respect to perfect freedom from apprehension, and
to a great extent, in personal comfort, the pleasantest I
ever knew, and in all probability ever shall know in my
life; for I have had so little opportunity to acquire the
habits of the "parsimonious emmet," that I almost fear it
is too late to think of learning them.
And here, because I wish to do it in a formal and at the
same time hearty manner, let me express my respectful regard for Captain Christopher Ellery. If I were speaking
at a public dinner of captains, instead of writing in a
dingy composing room, and should offer that sentiment,
13




290      MELBOURNE, AND THE CItINCHAS.
it would be responded to with the warmest alacrity; but
as a writer, I can only assure the reader that the voyage
round the Horn with Captain Ellery, was more like a
pleasure-trip than a voyage, and leads me almost to doubt
if seamen have not exaggerated the terrors of that passage.
The outward voyage of the Plymouth Rock, (whose
arrival is this day, April third, announced in our papers,)
was as pleasant as could have been expected in a ship full
of passengers. The only sea incident worth particularizing, was the falling in with a wreck a few days after crossing the Gulf Stream. It was just after sunset when it was
first seen-a something black, that slowly came in sight and
was lost again on the surface of a long heavy swell. The
wind was light, and as the word went through the ship,
and one after another made the object out, and some fancied they could see human beings standing upon it, the
decks were thronged in a moment, the noise bringing Captain Caldwell on deck with his glass.
" Whereaway?" was his only question.  He looked for
an instant in the direction pointed, and suddenly dropping
his glass, gave the order for changing the ship's course.
The yards moved by magic. A boat was manned by a
volunteer crew. Meanwhile as the ship neared the wreck,
the forms upon it were more apparent. The ship was
hove to, and the boat lowered away in the deepening dusk.
How still it was while she was gone! And how lonely
the ocean looked! It needs such an incident, or the cry




ROUND THE IIORN.                 291
of a man overboard, when one is in a fine ship and surrounded with life, to make him realize the awful desolation
of the Great Deep.
WVe waited more than half an hour for the boat's return.
It grew dark, and another fear now arose for the boat,
though lanterns were hoisted in the rigging. At length
she came-a dim speck in the nightfall.  She brought only
the tidings that the wreck was the wreck of a, brig, all
under water but a part of her forward deck, and that what
seemed to be human creatures, were only the knight-heads
and stancheons of the rail. And so ended the incident.
The yards were braced around again, and we were soon
on our way to another hemisphere.
We experienced some very heavy weather in the South
l.'acific, and as the voyage lengthened, the tempers of many
of our gold-hunters, most of whom had come from shops
and farms, and had few resources for amusement, began to
be sorely tried. To contribute my part to preserve them
in order, I used to make catches out of sea-songs, and we
got up a little glee club, whose performances were much
admired. Almost every New Englander who has aught
of a taste for music, has been to a " Singing School," and
can read psalmody. But we had no psalm tunes for men's
voices. To remedy this deficiency, I composed some for
every Sunday, the last few weeks, which we sung to hymns
appropriate to our situation.
Annexed are some specimens of sea-songs, which may




292      MELBOURNE. AND THE CHINCHAS.
amuse our musical readers; the list might be extended
indefinitely. What the first was manufactured out of, it is
not easy to imagine. The second is a scrap of something
familiar. Perhaps the third may be sonime Dutch melody.
Th. last is the universal favorite. It goes to the words
" Haul the bowline, the Black Star bowline, haul the bowline, the bowline HAUL!" The last word is only the cry in
which all join, at the pull; the rest is sung by one alone.
I will conclude my sketches with two specimens of psalmody, by which musicians may form some idea of the capacity of our voices. They are not inserted as having any
merit of novelty, but only as curiosities, from having probably been the first of their kind ever written and sung in
such circumstances. The first was written for the Sunday
after a severe gale, in which we had lain to for fifty-three hours
about five hundred miles southward of St. Paul's Islandso that we gave it that name. The second was sung when
we were within but a few degrees of the antipodes, and
little more than a week's sail from the coast of New Holland. And hoping my readers feel as I do the sentiment
of the words, I will here bid them farewell.




ROUND THE HORN.                     293
NO. 1..,...... T~ —-+ — ~"~~ —~ —, —~ — 
NO. 2.
NO. 3.
-', —NO. 4.
--  )  -1n:w.........'I                  - _ X''~',   — ~-/-~ ~  i  ~   - LA 
~,  ~~-e' —L~-~Zl~ —— ~-~. Fo 1    [




294    MELBOURNE AND THE CHINCHAS.
C. M.
=H3E St,i'                   1
Tempests arise when God appoints,
And mighty oceans roar;
lIe bids the winds and waves be still,
And straight the storm is o'er.
C. M.
-6
Sing to the Lord, ye distant lands,
Sing loud with solemn voice;
Let every tongue exalt his praise,
And every heart rejoice.