Now, suppose Paddy wanted to relish
a 'tip,' that is, a drop of gin on the sly, then Scotty, who had just
gulped down his 'toddy,' which was a drop of auld whisky, would take upon
himself the selfish trouble to sink six inches more in Paddy's hole,
which feat was called 'jumping;' and thus, broken noses, and other
accomplishments, as aforesaid, grew in proportion to tips, and 'toddy'
drunk on the sly.
I frequently saw horrid scenes of blood; but I was now an old chum and
therefore knew what was what in colonial life.
I had a Cameleon for a neighbour, who, in the garb of an Irishman,
flung his three half-shovels out of a hole on the hill punctually every
morning, and that was his work before breakfast. Then, a red shirt
on his back, and a red cap on his head, he would, in the subsequent hour,
give evidence of his scorning to be lazy by putting down some three inches
deeper another hole below in the gully. 'Full stop;' he must have a 'blow,'
but the d----d things--his matches--had got damp, and so in a rage he must
hasten to his tent to light the pipe; that is, to put on the Yankee garb
and complete his forenoon work in a third hole of his, whose depth and shape
recommended him as a first rate grave-digger.
And what has all this bosh to do with the Eureka Stockade?
Chapter VIII.
Fiat Fustitia, Ruat Coelum.
As an old Ballaarat hand, I hereby assert, that much of the odium of the mining
community against red-tape, arose from the accursed practice of jumping.
Pages:
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36