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An 1860s illustration showing dry digging for gold in Australia |
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Land
Have been out for 73 days. Land was sighted this morning and caused great
excitement – even the first class passengers pushed to catch a glimpse. I
think some are government officials
and fine men they look too. One steerage passenger is taking bets on when we
will reach Sydney.
However our main concern is illness. Four people have now died from fever and
Joseph still fights. Sarah frets and the ship cannot move quickly enough for
me. The captain also worries, but only because the ship may be held in
quarantine in Sydney.
Since sighting land people have been swapping terrible tales of the horrors of
Sydney – dirt, heat, vicious animals, robbers and illness. I don’t
know what to believe, but with Joseph’s illness in my thoughts I am all
the more worried. At this moment I wish I’d never left London.
More bad news – luckily not for us. Some passengers have tickets marked
with a different destination, and were told in Liverpool that it was the port
of Sydney. The captain says it isn’t Sydney and those unfortunates will
have to pay an extra 10/- to go the distance. They all feel robbed and many
don’t have the fare.
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