I have stated that about four hundred men were kept under arms at
Ballarat, to oppose the amusement of digger-hunting, so much indulged in
by the government officials. The former had now made their rendezvous
at the stockade on the Eureka.
They were accustomed to meet in the day, and get drilled by officers,
whom they had appointed for this duty. During the night, most of them,
who were residents of Ballarat, returned thither, and slept in their
tents, while others, who had come from Creswick's Creek and the more
distant gold-fields--to take part in the affair--remained at the
boarding houses of the township.
On the night of the 2nd of December, 1854, there were about one hundred
and seventy men in the stockade.
Having entered into the cause, I determined to devote my whole time to
it; and on that night I was there among the rest.
The diggers, who were present, supposed they had as much right to stay
in the stockade as elsewhere.
They certainly were not interfering with the officials in the execution
of their duty; nor, in any way, making a disturbance.
There was no just cause why they should have been attacked on that
particular night. It is true, that during the previous week, the
troopers had been opposed by the diggers they were hunting; and had in
some cases been prevented from making arrests. But the authorities need
not have supposed, that the men in the Eureka Stockade were the same who
had offered this resistance. They could only have thought so, and acted
on the belief, by a singular stretch of imagination.
About half-past eleven o'clock, an alarm was given, that the soldiers
were approaching the stockade. All turned out, and were prepared to
defend themselves; but the alarm proved a false one.
At one o'clock in the morning there was another alarm, which also proved
to be without any just cause.
At half-past two, there was still another false report, to which only a
very few paid any attention: as the men had got tired of being so often
roused from their slumbers without any cause. Only about half of their
number turned out at this time; and these were laughed at by the
others--for allowing themselves to be unnecessarily frightened.
About half-past four in the morning--just as the first faint light of
day was seen on the eastern horizon--the camp was again set in commotion
by the fourth alarm.
This time there was a real cause: since soldiers and troopers could be
seen through the twilight, riding towards the stockade.
On the 3rd day of December, 1854, at half-past four o'clock on that holy
Sabbath morning, the people in the Eureka Stockade were attacked by
English soldiers, and troopers in the pay of the Victorian Government.
As the attack was altogether unexpected, they were of course unprepared
to repel or resist it.
It would have been little less than folly to have attempted resistance:
for the assailants numbered three hundred and ninety men, all well armed
and mounted, while the diggers, were less than half that number, and
most of us only provided with fowling pieces.
When the signal of attack was given, it was done in a manner that
started the sleeping diggers to their legs; and these soon proved to be
the most useful members of their bodies. The majority refused to obey
the orders of their officers--which was to reserve their fire, until our
assailants should come near.
Most discharged their guns at the enemy, while still only dimly seen
through the mist of the morning. After firing once, they fled. In an
instant, the troopers were upon us.
A few of the diggers upon this occasion proved themselves men of heroic
courage. I saw young Ross, who commanded a company, shot dead at the
head of his men--while vainly trying to induce them to stand firm.
It seemed but a minute after the signal had been sounded, before the
troopers broke down the palisades; and began shooting and hacking at us
with their swords.
"I'm a Rolling Stone," thought I, "and do not like staying too long in
one spot. The Eureka Stockade is not the place for me."
After making this reflection, I sprang over the palisades; and went off
at a speed, that enabled me soon to distance many of my comrades who had
started in advance of me.
Amongst others passed in my flight, was Karl, the German, who still
persevered in his determination not to desert his digger associates:
since he was accompanying them in their retreat.
He had not fled, however, until assured that our defeat was certain: for
I saw him inside the stockade, firing his revolver, shortly before I
came away myself.
I did not stay to speak to him: for the troopers were closely pursuing
us; and cutting down with their swords any man they could overtake.
A majority of the routed diggers fled towards a tract of ground, that
had been what the miners call, "worked-out."
This ground was so perforated with holes, that the troopers were unable
to gallop their horses over it. Fortunate for the fugitives that these
abandoned diggings lay so near the stockade--otherwise the slaughter
would have been much greater than it was--in all probability amounting
to half the number of the men who had been gathered there.
The pursuit was not continued very far. The troopers soon lost all
traces of those they were galloping after. Some of the diggers
succeeded in reaching the bush, while others concealed themselves in the
shafts of the worked-out claims; and, after a time, the soldiers were
recalled to exult over their easy victory.
The regular soldiers of Her Majesty's army took some prisoners in the
stockade; but so far as I saw, or could afterwards ascertain, the
mounted policemen of the Colonial Government, made no attempt to capture
a single digger. They showed no quarter; but cut down, and in some
instances horribly mutilated, all with whom they came in contact.
Many of the routed diggers remained concealed in the bush, and other
places of refuge, all that day; but, perceiving no necessity for this,
as soon as the pursuit was over, I returned to my tent. In the
afternoon, when quiet had to a certain extent been restored, I walked
over to view the scene of strife, and take a look at the unclaimed
corpses. Twenty-eight miners had been shot dead upon the spot; but many
more were missing--of whose fate nothing was ever afterwards known. A
few probably fell, or were thrown, into some of the deep holes, through
which the pursuit had been carried.
Some of the dead had acquaintances and friends about Ballarat, who
afterwards removed their bodies, for the purpose of burial.
I saw several corpses that had been collected in one place, and were
waiting for recognition. Amongst them was that of a young Austrian,
whom I had known. His body had been pierced with five gun shot wounds--
any one of which would have proved fatal.
There was one corpse so mutilated and disfigured with sabre cuts, that
the features could not be recognised by any with whom, when alive, the
man had been acquainted. It was that of a miner who had a family in
Ballarat. His body was afterwards identified by his wife, but only
through some articles that were found in the pockets of his coat.
I never saw, or heard of Karl after that fatal morning. Several days
elapsed; and his tent, that stood near my own, remained unclaimed by its
owner. It was still guarded by his dog, which I fed on its chain--as
some of my neighbours jocularly remarked--to keep it alive, for the
pleasure of hearing it howl. Karl had probably fallen down one of the
deep holes, on the abandoned diggings, over which we had been pursued.
At length, becoming weary of listening to the piteous howling of the
dog, I set the animal at liberty, and on doing so, gave it a kick--this
being the only means I could think of, to let it know that I wished to
cut its further acquaintance. It was an ugly, mangy creature; and all
the respect I felt for the memory of its lost master, could not induce
me to be troubled with it any longer.
Four men were arrested, and tried as ringleaders in the "Ballarat
rebellion." They were charged with treason--with an intent to overthrow
her Majesty's Government, and take from Queen Victoria the Crown of
England! The Governor and his ministers wished the world to be
informed, that they had succeeded in quelling a revolution, that
threatened destruction to the whole British empire!
They thirsted for more blood; but they did not get it. The jury, before
whom the prisoners were tried, acquitted them; and they were once more
set at liberty.
Not long after, the licensing system was abolished; and in its stead an
export duty of two shillings and sixpence per ounce, was levied upon the
gold. This was certainly a more natural method of collecting the
revenue; and in every way more satisfactory. By it, the unsuccessful
miner was not called upon to pay as much as one who had been fortunate;
and the diggers were no longer annoyed and insulted by the minions of
the Licensing Commission.
Volume Three, Chapter XIII.