The precocity of the Australian youth, to be properly understood and
believed, can only be fully appreciated by being an eye-witness to
some of these very extraordinary young creatures. I have seen a girl
of ten years of age possess all the manner of an old lady of sixty:
she would flirt with three men at a time, and have a ready answer for
them when teasing her; would move like an accomplished actress,
manipulate gracefully, play whist, chess, and other games, and talk
about getting married. This child, for such I must call her, was a
greater mental giant than O'Brien, with his moving mountain of flesh,
and far more entertaining than twenty Tom Thumbs.--_Shaw's Tramp to
the Diggings._