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The Gold Hunters Adventures [electronic Resource]: Or, Life in Australia
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This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
584 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1864
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 22, 2023
I have had this long book on my phone, and read it at times when I don't have a book to hand, over a period of 4 months. I found it excellent - action packed and filled with the stories of men the main characters come into contact with - stories within stories in the same vein as the Thousand and One Nights with those longer stories which do this.
Eighty three chapters of adventure in Australia in the 1850s, when two young Bostonian men take places on a ship in California bound for Melbourne, looking for adventure. Fred and Jack (the name the author assumes for the book) are not without intelligence and physical skills to get them through all kinds of risks and troubles, and certainly to cause a few too.
After some time in Melbourne, they undertake to travel to Ballarat where the gold strike is, but they take a long time to get there as they end up having a series of run-ins with bushrangers (the colloquial Australian term for bandits or highwaymen), and establish a rapport with a couple of lawmen who feature throughout this book. Upon reaching Ballarat, rather than throw themselves into the dangerous game of mining, set up a trading business, selling provisions to the miners.
The above is a simple outline of events, but we are treated to many side-adventures, and we meet a great many other men (and a few women) in the course of the story. There is treasure hunting, murderers, more bushrangers, tangles with all manner of criminals and convicts who are secured their freedom. There are journeys to find stores, mercy dashes to save friends and strangers, there are duels, fights, scheming and outwitting of foes; foes who become friends, bullies dealt with, victims of crime assisted with finding justice. These are men setting a good example for Americans everywhere, righting the wrongs of (some of) their countrymen, and better the British in the new land.
After just under 900 pages of adventure, the story stops somewhat abruptly, and we are reassumed a second volume will follow! I suppose I ought to seek this out - as if I don't already have enough books to read!
Available on Project Gutenburg, and recommended to those with an interest in early Australian history.
Five stars
Eighty three chapters of adventure in Australia in the 1850s, when two young Bostonian men take places on a ship in California bound for Melbourne, looking for adventure. Fred and Jack (the name the author assumes for the book) are not without intelligence and physical skills to get them through all kinds of risks and troubles, and certainly to cause a few too.
After some time in Melbourne, they undertake to travel to Ballarat where the gold strike is, but they take a long time to get there as they end up having a series of run-ins with bushrangers (the colloquial Australian term for bandits or highwaymen), and establish a rapport with a couple of lawmen who feature throughout this book. Upon reaching Ballarat, rather than throw themselves into the dangerous game of mining, set up a trading business, selling provisions to the miners.
The above is a simple outline of events, but we are treated to many side-adventures, and we meet a great many other men (and a few women) in the course of the story. There is treasure hunting, murderers, more bushrangers, tangles with all manner of criminals and convicts who are secured their freedom. There are journeys to find stores, mercy dashes to save friends and strangers, there are duels, fights, scheming and outwitting of foes; foes who become friends, bullies dealt with, victims of crime assisted with finding justice. These are men setting a good example for Americans everywhere, righting the wrongs of (some of) their countrymen, and better the British in the new land.
After just under 900 pages of adventure, the story stops somewhat abruptly, and we are reassumed a second volume will follow! I suppose I ought to seek this out - as if I don't already have enough books to read!
Available on Project Gutenburg, and recommended to those with an interest in early Australian history.
Five stars
February 25, 2021
Two Men from California set out to mine gold in Australia, and from the time they disembark in Melbourne bound for the gold mines of Ballaret they encounter nothing but adventures fighting Bushrangers. They actually never go down a gold mine but amass a fortune in gold, jewels and coin by confiscating treasures from the Bushrangers they either capture or kill. This is more a story of their complicity with the authorities and brushes with the local miners than gold mining with pick axe and shovel. It's a good story as you get an insight into life in this part of Australia during the time of the very early convict settlers and prospectors mining for gold. I was very interested in this as My Grandfather did gold mining at this time in Ballaret and Koolgarie, and led a very interesting life in Australia. Yes I could recommend this as a very interesting read.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews