on my arrival, an attorney called upon me to fulfil my obligations with respect to the bond into which I had entered on behalf of the young man who absconded; and very shortly afterwards I was obliged to pay off the 117l. which had been advanced to me before starting. My necessities compelled me forthwith to dispose of the greater portion of my skins and ostrich feathers, and I had to part with my waggon and team for whatever prices they would fetch. For a time my difficulties seemed to increase, as it was at least a month before I could work up anything like a remunerative practice.
I took the smallest of houses, consisting only of a single room, in one of the side streets; it was built of clay, and had a galvanized iron roof; there was a shed of the same materials close to its side; and the whole stood in a little yard containing a well, two sides of which were blocked up by a stable. For this accommodation I had to pay a rent of 5l. a month.
By June, however, I had succeeded in working up so much practice that I was obliged to keep a saddle-horse, and very shortly had to procure a chaise and a couple of ponies in addition. The winter of 1874 was a bad time in the central diggings; the measles broke out, and for several weeks I had to pay as many as forty visits a day; and, when the sickness was at its height, the average number was fifty-two.
From the very commencement of the increase in my business, I set about the preparations for my
