The Gold Hunter's Adventures Or, Life In Australia Volume 2 ( Of 2 ) - William H. Thomes (large screen ebook reader txt) 📗

That Both Of You Are

Impatient To Leave My Pleasant Company, Which Is Ungrateful; But I

Overlook It With Christian Meekness. You Can't Go Though Until You Have

Dined With Me, And Then Called To Thank His Excellency."

 

The Proposition Was Accepted, And After Dining With The Lieutenant We

Visited The Palace, And Were Most Heartily Greeted By The Governor And

His Council, And At Their Request We Explained Our Views At Considerable

Length In Relation To The Affairs Of Ballarat And The Mining Tax, And

The Means By Which Future Troubles Could Be Avoided. We Were Listened To

With Attention, And I Sincerely Believe That What We Uttered That Day

Did Considerable Towards Inducing The Government To Abolish All

Excepting A Mere Nominal Tax, And To Once More Restore Order In The

Mines.

 

After Leaving The Palace We Engaged Seats In The Stage, And That Night

Were Rolling Towards Ballarat, With The Expectation Of Meeting The

Military Not More Than Thirty Miles From Melbourne, And We Were Correct

In Our Supposition, For Just At Daylight The Driver Stopped, And Pointed

Out The Company Just Striking Their Tents And Getting Ready For Their

Morning March. We Induced The Driver To Await Our Return, And To The

Extreme Surprise Of Captain Fitz We Presented Ourselves, And Requested

The Release Of Fred, And After A Brief Examination Of The Document The

Captain Complied With Our Demand.

 

Our Meeting With Fred Was Of A Joyous Description, But We Had But Little

Time To Waste In Explanations. The Driver Was Impatient, And The

Volume 2 Chapter 82 (Arrest Of Fred.--Trip To Melbourne, And Its Results) Pg 270

Soldiers Ready To March. I Had But Time To Reward The Sergeant For His

Kindness, And To Assure Fred's Fellow-Prisoners That I Would Use All The

Exertion That I Could To Obtain Their Pardons, When The Rolling Drum

Gave The Signal For Moving, And In A Few Minutes The Military Were Lost

To View In A Cloud Of Dust.

 

But I Must Here Draw My Long Narrative To A Close, Not Because We Did

Not Afterwards Meet With Adventures Worthy To Be Recounted, But Because

A Lengthy Absence From The Country Precludes The Idea Of Further

Continuing The Series Of Sketches, Which I Am Glad To Find Have Found

Favor In The Eyes Of The Public.

 

For The Satisfaction Of The Reader, I Will State That For Three Years We

Remained In Australia, And Then When We Left That Country It Was With A

Solid Conviction That We Had Been Repaid For Our Toil And Trouble, Our

Sufferings And Pleasures.

 

Before I Bid Farewell To My Readers, I Will State That The Miners Who

Were Arrested And Marched To Melbourne Were All Discharged, And That

After The Mining Tax Was Reduced, All Further Trouble Ceased.

 

In Many Instances, In The Course Of The Narrative, I Have Used

Fictitious Names; But The Reader Will Pardon Me When I State That Most

Of Those Introduced Are Still Alive, And Employed By The Australian

Government, And It Would Hardly Be Right To Expose Their Good Or Bad

Actions To The World. With These Few Words I Am Happy To Inform The

Reader That My Sketches Are, For The Present, Brought To An End, But I

Hope At Some Future Time To Resume Them, And Publish A Second Series Of

"Adventures In Australia."

 

Imprint

Publication Date: 05-10-2014

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