"'Cos they kill Yankees at the mines. Jim," he continued, turning to a
comrade, "how many 'Mericans were killed week afore last at Ballarat?"

"O, I don't know," replied the individual referred to. "A dozen or
twenty, I believe. Might have been more or less. I'm not 'ticular within
a man or two."

"Thank you for your information," cried Fred. "And now one question
more. Can you tell me how many Englishmen were killed by those same
Americans, before they died?"

This question appeared to astonish the men; for they looked at each
other, and then examined Fred with scrutinizing glances.

"I guess he'll do," they said, at length; and finding that we were not
to be frightened, they turned their attention to passengers more
credulous, and actually made some of them believe what they said was
true.

The next morning we hired a boat to take our luggage to the wharf, where
the steamers, which ply between Sydney, Geelong, and Melbourne, stop.
Our traps did not amount to much, as we had no money to spare for
freighting, and when we first stepped upon the soil of Australia, our
worldly possessions consisted of four shirts, do. pants, two pairs of
boots, blankets, tents, &c., the whole weighing just one hundred and
fifty pounds--not a large amount, but sufficient for two men, whose
wants were easily supplied.

There were a dozen rough, loaferish looking men, whiling away their time
upon the wharf; but as they confined themselves to simply asking a few