| Notes |
- Diary of a Voyage to Australia. January-April 1882. FranzMetelmann, son of the Economic Adviser Metelmann and Grandson of thePrestiner Pastor Metelmann was quoted once before in the FamilyLetters - it was with his long letter "As gold digger in Australia".The following paragraphs are parts of the diary he wrote during hispassage to Australia and which he sent to his mother in installments. 13 Jan. 1882: The ship is 320 feet long and 27 feet wide, has twomasts, a very strong motor and a crew of forty-one men. On board arenow 44 passengers. - We started to move out of Hamburg around 9o'clock on the 10th of March and went quickly to Cuxhaven where thepassengers who caught up with us boarded the ship about 12 o'clock.But we did not arrive at Cuxhaven until five o'clock in the afternoon. Before 11 o'clock we saw Helgoland, and there a strong wind startedto blow, which developed at around eleven into a real storm.Naturally everybody got a bad case of sea sickness, a very unpleasantex-perience. The storm gradually calmed down, but we had themisfortune to run up on a sandbank. This happened in the night between11 and 12 o'clock. With a big thud the ship was locked into place andit leaned dangerously to one side. Anything which was not in thebunks tumbled around. Im-mediately the order went out "All Men onDeck" and every thing was explained. This was about one o'clock.Boats were made ready and one was put into the water to measure thedepth of the water. About a third of the ship was on the bank and atthe front about 13 feet was in the water. It swayed dangerously backand forth. Luckily, became calm, and the big motor tried with all itspower to go back-wards but in vain; it was not until about 4 o'clockwe suddenly floated again. Unexpec-tedly a big fog appeared, so we hadto stay put until about 8 o'clock. At dawn of the new day the foglifted and we steamed ahead, passing Vlissingen and we were now aboutto arrive in Antwerp. At arrival in Antwerp we had enough time tovisit the city since the ship was being loaded and we lost a few daysthrough fog. Antwerp is a city of 160.000 inhabitants, has 40.000Germans, and is strongly Catholic. On every street corner a pictureof the Holy Mother or another Saint is seen. We looked over the Cityand visited some Theaters and other objects of Interest. Theimpression I got from this 'burg' was not pleasant. The streets werecrooked and very narrow, and definitely dirty. There is no idea aboutstreet cleaning. The dirt is shoved to the centre of the street butthen the horse drawn wagons separate the dirt into heaps again.Living here, of course, is very expensive. The people are mostobliging but they are so dirty, you could VOMIT. The peculiarity andcus-toms of the citizens I found very interes-ting. As the citizensonly speak Flemish, we had a lot of trouble and difficulties to makethem understand us. They absolutely did not want to understand French. At last the ship was loaded and steamed away. The weather hadcleared up and we went happily to London, delayed a few days, however,because of the everlasting fog. After we arrived in London, welearned something about the local climate in the short time we werethere -- today sunshine, tomorrow impenetrable fog mixed with coaldust from many thousands of chimneys. On Saturday I visited partof London and traveled by train for an hour to see the Famous CrystalPalace, a distin-guished building in which all the trades have aso-called per-manent exhibit. After we had seen the electricalexhibit around 8 p.m. we returned to London in order to look over afew more objects of interest under the electric lights. Life in thestreets is very surprising. It is impossible to cross the streets asthere are about 30 - 40 wagons waiting to move on only to be stoppedagain after a few yards. After we had enough roving around the city,we returned to the ship but had to be careful not to fall in thewater. After 7 o'clock they extinguish the lanterns in the harbor. 7 passengers are in the First Class cabins passengers, but I seldomcome in contact with them. 34 adults and 11 children are in steerage,a girl was born on board ship, and received the name Serentina forremembrance. The mother and daughter are doing well. With respectto the trades one gets the following breakdown: 1 trader with wifeand 7 children. 3 women with 4 children following their men (a cabinetmaker, a blacksmith, a shoemaker). 1 brewer. 1 gardener. 1 organgrinder. 1 miner. 4 traders. 1 waiter. 2 bakers. 1 windmiller.3 shepherds. 2 tech-nicians. 1 tailor. Etc. For the most part, theyare good-natured, quiet people with whom one can get along well. Isocialize mostly with the traders. The food we eat here is verytasty and plen-tiful -- I wrote to you about the menu already. 18people eat together, each one with a task. My task is to cut the meatinto por-tions and give everyone his portion. 2 people clear thetable and clean it after the meal. The dishes are washed every day bythe others in groups of 5. (8 o'clock coffee, 12 o'clock lunch, 6o'clock tea). Cheerful scenes often occur. We practice English inthe mor-nings from 10 o'clock - 11:3. In the afternoons we conversetogether, polish boots, clean our garments, dar-n socks, and also dosome laundry, etc. etc. There is a con-cert in the evenings, followedby a dance. - In London we took on a menagerie which consists of 6sheep, 7 pigs, 12 geese, 12 ducks, 30 chickens, 50 pigeons, 1 dog (thedog is not to be slaughtered) and all of this is for the purpose ofproducing fresh meat when the weather is hot. From the Diary27 Jan. 1882. At six o'clock in the morning we departed from London.The weather is starting to clear; just a little fog. In the after-noonat 3 o'clock we sighted a steamer towing a wreck to the nearestharbor. Lovely sun-shine. The course now is south. At 4 o'clock wehave changed course to west and we are steaming near Dover in thechannel. We see the famous white cliffs. At 5 o'clock the pilots leftthe ship. The evening sky is clear, cold. The night is rather windy. 28 Jan. 1882 At 7 o'clock in the morning there is a strong wind,heavy seas, and many ships in sight. Nothing much to report. 29Jan. 1882. At 8 o'clock in the morning it is stormy. At 10 o'clockthere is a storm. The waves were about as high as a house and werebreaking over the deck, so that we were forced to stay in the cabin.The ship is swaying very strongly. Everything not secured, fell over. The lunch was very funny because plates and bowls were dancing on thetables. Children, women and some of the men were very seasick. In thecabins was dreadful con-fusion. 30 Jan. 1882 One o'clock the stormeased. 2 o'clock we are changing course to south-west. We are in theneighborhood of Brest. At 8 o'clock it rained, strong winds. Around9:30 it started to clear. There is 1 steamer in sight. Around 11o'clock we see the first salt sea fish -- 20 to 25 medium-sizeddolphins played about the ship, jumping from one wave to another.(Schweinefisch = Dolphin ?) In the after-noon there is a little wind,sunshine. We are obser-ving the dol-phins following the ship to eatthe refuse. During the evening no wind and beautiful moon-shine.There is happy con-versation with dancing on the deck until 10.30.2 Feb. 1882 At 8 o'clock in the morning there is rain. At 9 o'clockthe weather is clear. We can see the first rocks of Africa far away.11 o'clock there is a thunderstorm. At noon 1 o'clock we seeGibraltar. High rock very strong fortresses. We had to hoist theGerman flag and four others which represent the name of the ship.Nice illumination of the mountain tops through sunshine. There aremany ships in sight. Around the evening, there is stormy weather. Onewave washed the dog over-board, a young Leonberger. All were sad.8 Feb. 1882. At 8 o'clock the weather was clear, just a little wind.On the starboard side the coast of Africa is in view. We hope to bein Port Said tomorrow afternoon to take on coal. There will be a 5hour turnover and then go straight on. We are not sure if we areallowed to go on land. At 12 o'clock the cap-tain told us that we cango on land but we have to arm ourselves and be always in a group of 3to 4 together. The Arabs are very dangerous and plunder the tourists. We will be buying tropical fruits mainly lemons and make arefreshing drink as the water is usually warm caused by the terribleheat and the ice machine cannot run all the time. The afternoon isvery hot and sultry. The ship is getting ready to face another storm. In the evening at 8 o'clock the night is raven black. At 9 a verystrong thunderstorm, strong winds. (A beautiful view to see the roughsea by lightening.) At 11 o'clock the thunderstorm was over. Heavyrains until 2 o'clock at night. All the passengers were awake. Thecourse is east-south-east. Friday the 10th of Feb. The seawater wasreally yellow in the morning, a sign that we are near the mouth of theNile. Then shortly after we could see the high lighthouse of Port Saidin the distance as well as the city itself. The entrance of the seachannel has two walls built with big rocks, probably sand stone. Theyare a few 1000 yards out into the Mediterranean and have the pur-poseof stopping the mud and the sand from blocking the chan-nel. Outsidethe walls are big sand dunes and there are shallow areas where the bigwaves of the high seas are being pushed up which results in awonderful picture. Around 9 o'clock we arrived in the harbor which isa part of the (Suez) canal and lies east of the city and at once begantaking on coal. There are a lot of ships showing flags from differentcountries -- especially noticeable is a French war ship lying atanchor here. The hustle and bustle of the harbor was a mostinteres-ting spectacle. We saw many people of different colors anddifferent costumes busy doing all different kinds of jobs. After weanchored a group of six men went on shore in order to have a look atthe city. The streets are not paved, but are fairly wide and have gaslighting. They were in the process of buil-ding a water supply line.The houses were 2 to 3 stories high and lightly built, of course verytasteful and clean with flat roofs. Over every story is a balconydecorated with dainty wooden railings or covered with expen-sivecarpets giving the streets a picturesque and artistic ap-pearance.The shops in nearest to the harbor are of European style, in the otherparts of the city the shops are open to the street and look likemarket stalls. The city and surroun-ding areas produce nothing andeverything needed for living comes from the outside. So it is easy tounderstand that the price of meat can fall and rise from 30 cents to10 Mark depending as to how it was delivered to the market. It is thesame with the other provisions. At 12 o'clock I got the letters fromMother, Paul, and Otto at the German Consulate and hastened to get apostcard to inform you all. At 2 o'clock we had to be back on board,and that is why my letter is short. The character of the commonworking class is rather wicked and treacherous and their clothes arenot clean. Unfortunately, the crew that loaded the coal finished alittle late and we could leave because during the night traffic isforbidden in the canal. During the day nice weather, during the nightthe weather is stormy and heavy rain so that we are very happy to bein a safe harbor. Saturday 11th of Feb. Early at 8 o'clock we leftPort Said. The travel in the canal is boring and very difficult dueto the narrowness of the canal in relation to the large ships. Duringthe day we were stuck fast at least 12 times and a few times it took1/2 an hour before we were afloat again, conse-quently we damaged themotor but this can be corrected during the voyage. At fixed distancesalong the canal are stations similar to the trains which are incontact telegraphically with each other. The 4th station is situatednear a village where a caravan path cros-ses the canal and for thatpurpose a ferry is used. The best looking buil-ding in the entirevillage was a res-taurant, on which was written in large letters"Franz. Billard". About ten camels were in front of the restaurantwith their handlers who lay on the sand and seemed to be comfor-table.From the sur-roun-ding area not much of a pleasing nature can be told. On the right side we can see for a few miles a large sea with manyislands with many water birds of different kinds, then dunes and lakesalternate until the entire area becomes a sterile desert whereoccasionally small shrubs grow in a miserable existence. On the leftside right after Port Said, the sands of the desert begin where onlynow and then one can see wind driven high sand dunes. Everything thisarea could show in tree plants were in the gar-dens of the stations, afew palms and oleanders. The weather during the day was unfriendly,showers, cool north-west wind. In the evening at 6 o'clock we stoppedfor the night. Sunday the 12th of Feb. We started to move at 6o'clock in the morning but ran aground five times, arriving at thesecond station about 11 o'clock. A French mail boat that wasfollowing us had to stop and wait to let 18 other steamers pass ontheir way from Suez to Port Said, a maneuver possible only at astation. In the after-noon we all went on to the land. We firstvisited the garden of the station building which is nicely landscapedwith different tropical plants, prominent among them were a number ofdifferent cacti. Afterward we went into the desert, where we foundnothing but a few shells, skeletons of dead camels, and a few stuntedshrubs, otherwise only the fine stony shif-ting sand. The weather wasgood and the sun burnt our pelts. Thursday the 23rd of Feb. We arenow in the Indian Ocean, and at 6 o'clock in the mor-ning, themountain tops of the Island Socotra with a few others are still inview behind us. We will probably not see land again until we reachAustralia. A few days ago a bath was erected, and as soon as it isdark, anyone wishing a sea bath may take one. Course southeast, eastwind, moving seas, warm sun-shine. Friday the 24th of February.The various movements of enormous masses of flying fish passed thetime for us. Course southeast, east wind, calm sea, very hotsun-shine. Thursday the 2nd of March. We came near the TochagosIslands and as the first engineer thought it a good idea to getanother load of coal we steered directly towards the islands andarrived there about noon. The Island is large, about 4 to 5 mileslong, very narrow, in the form of a horse shoe, and on one end isone,0 and on the other end there are two small islands located. A notvery broad entry to the inner side of the large island lies betweenthese islands where an English coal ship lies anchored about 1,000yards offshore and here, hidden behind green trees, are a few houses.At 1 o'clock we reached the steamer and im-mediately a large number ofNegroes arrived to ferry the coal to our ship. In between times, thepassengers received per-mis-sion to spend the afternoon on the islandand the Negroes transported us by boat to the settlement. The islandsare densely covered with tropical trees, are elevated only a littleabove sea-level, and belong to three brothers, very rich Frenchmen whoapparently prefer solitude over party-life and therefore choose thisreal paradise for their residence. They employ 400 Negroes in severaldonkey-powered coconut mills and the women and children prepare thecoconuts for the mills. The village con-sists of one lightly builtbut other-wise com-fortable manor house, the oil boiler, warehouse, arow of stables for the horses, mules, and donkeys, many English pigsboth large and small, a quantity of turtles 1 foot long which arebeing fattened, a smithy, and about 100 negroes' huts all roofed inpalm leaves. The most numerous of the trees growing here is the CocosPalm which grows to 40 - 50 feet high, on the top a bundle of 8 to 10foot long leaves, and in between those are the coconuts which arehead-size elongated, three-cornered fruits. In addition one can findoran-ges, dates, bananas, and a number of wonderful varieties oftrees, all growing wild; on the ground melons grow exuberantly andmany splendid species of flowers. Since the other fruits were not yetripe, we had to keep to the nuts; after removing the outer shell itis a little bit larger than the size of a fist and has on the stalkend 3 small soft spots where one can make a hole with a knife and thendrink the really good tasting milk which is in the mid-dle. Then,with some force, one can hit the nut in pieces and can eat thesurrounding white flesh which tastes like hazel-nuts. There are nowild animals, but many pigeons, parrots and a few kinds of smallmagnificently feathered bird species. While we admired this wonderfulvegetation and slowly wandered around we were sud-denly frightened bya bad accident. A somewhat stupid garden apprentice had taken hisrevolver ashore and had the idea to shoot at the nuts. He handled thehandgun carelessly, working with it in an unsafe way, since he hadnever used one of those before, the shot went off with a big noise andthe bullet hit another passenger in the right foot, just above theball. He was immediately brought back on board the ship by a fewNegroes and is now under medical care, whilst the shooter has to takeover serving him. The doctor cannot find the bullet, it is lodgedsomewhere between the many tendons and bones. After we had finishedobserving and were richer by many beautiful things, we returned to thebeach where we had a nice swim. We collected some shells and coraland then towards the evening we returned to the ship taking along 3sharks that the Negroes gave us a present. Cool, south-west winds,moving sea, weather apart from a few showers beautiful. Friday the3rd of March. At 7 o'clock in the morning we lifted the anchor andleft those splendid islands which, since it soon started to rain, weresoon out of sight, but they will be indelible in our memories for therest of our lives. Today the sun was directly above us and from nowon we will see the sun towards the north. Course south-east. Windsouth-west. Moving sea. The weather is rainy with thunderstorms,cool and sultry. Monday the 13th of March. Course east-south-east.Wind is south-east, moving sea. The ship is tossing from side to sideso that the coffee cups and soup bowls are falling off the table anddancing around with the luggage. We had to hold on so that the samething did not happen to us. Tuesday the 14th of March. Courseeast-south-east. Wind south-east. Moving sea, a few clouds in thesky. The rolling of the ship continues. Wednesday the 15th ofMarch. Course south-east. South-wind, which develops into a stormtowards evening, which raged nearly all night. The ship was pushed somuch to the side it was very hard to stand up and sleeping wasimpossible to think of. Weather was cool and unstable. Thursdaythe 16th of March. Course south-east. South-east wind and heavy seas,sun-shine. An admirable, but at the same time a horrible spec-taclewas the struggle of the elements which can be seen only at high sea inthe ocean. Agitated from the storm raging overnight, mountainouswaves rolled toward us from the south, attacked today from the side bystrong southeast winds. This caused a tumbling and breaking and risingof the waves so that at one moment we were high on a mountain thenplunged into the depths surrounded by mountains of water, causing theship to swing sideways so violently that we often took on water; butthe water could immediately empty out through open hatches when theship again gained moderate e-quilibrium. The aft was un-pas-sable andthe sailors were roped to the deck and to the helm while on watch.Friday the 17th of March. In the morning, course east-south-east, andin the afternoon east-north-east, a sign that we have passed thesouth-west tip of Australia (Cape Leuwin), but because it was so faraway we could not see anything. A few Albatross let us guess that landis near. Saturday the 18th of March. Course and wind north-east toeast, calm sea, sunshine. With this fair, clear weather, the starswere bright with their magnificence in front of our eyes in thesouthern sky. The starry sky is distinguished with some wonderfulconstellations formed by stars of the first magnitude; especiallycurious are two white cloud-like patches formed by many small stars;and in the center of the Milky Way we saw an almost round dark bluespot without a single star. Tuesday the 21st of March. Course andwind north-east, calm sea, warm sun-shine. At 5 o'clock in theafternoon we saw Kan-garoo Island as a long blue stripe just on thehorizon on the forward port side of the ship, which we all greetedjoyously as a herald of our new home. Wednesday the 22nd of March.At 4 o'clock in the morning we were up on our legs and were in theGulf of Vincent. The sun rose in all its splendor from behind theforested heights of the coast of South Australia on our right. At 7o'clock we reached the small harbor, Port Adelaide, and anchored abouthalf an hour from shore, as the low water level did not allow us tocome any closer. The City of Adelaide is about two hours away and iscon-nected with Port Adelaide by train. Immediately after anchoring,unloading of the goods into big, light barges which were alreadywaiting (evening telegram from Kangaroo Island) began, and continueduntil midnight. A harbor steamer carried the passengers sent here toshore with all of their belongings. In the afternoon we fished withfishing rods and caught some Sea Perch which we fried in butter for awonderful meal. During the day no wind, oppressive heat, sultry.Thursday the 23rd of March. About 3 o'clock in the morning, theSorrento, having finished unloading its cargo for Adelaide, took oncoal and now the captain was in a hurry to continue. We pulled upanchor and steamed out of the harbor of Port Adelaide with a lightnor-theast wind about 6 o'clock. A pas-senger who stayed too long inAdelaide was left behind. His wife is on board the Sorren-to, and themissing one has to follow with another steamer. During the day wecould observe the coast really well. We could see steep, sandy hills,an occasional tree, and here and there a farm. Some forest firescould be clearly distin-guished, deliberately set to facilitate quickcultivation of the ground. The sea was rather calm and we could watchhundreds of fish circling around the Sorrento, mostly dol-phins;however, occasionally a shark appeared and from them the other fishkept a respectful distance. Course south to east, light north-eastwind, overcast sky, cool, dark evening. Monday the 3rd of April.During the morning a restless sea, strong south-west wind becomingstronger towards noon. The entrance to the harbor of Sydney, which isvery narrow, flanked by two large rocks on which the waves werebreaking, and we nearly had an ac-cident. The ship stopped close tothe entrance for the pilot to come aboard and the wind almost blew theship against the rocks. With full power astern, the engine was finallyable to slowly turn the ship around. The entrance to the harbor isfortified but very beautiful. Sydney is situated 5 English miles fromthe sea and has a magnificent harbor, protected on all sides by highrocks. We are anchoring in the center of the harbor, because there isno place on the Bas-tion, and will be able to go ashore. Finally I amin Sydney and for the time being I close my report. Our jour-neyfrom Hamburg to Sydney took 82 days, including anchoring in Antwerp,London, Port Said, Suez, Diego Grazia, Adelaide, and Melbourne. TheSorrento traveled in this time 11,924 English miles.____________________ As Gold miner In Australia. A letter fromFranz Metelmann from the year 1885. The writer of the followingletter is Franz Metelmann, son of an advisor in economy. Also in myposses-sion is a very interesting diary written aboard a sailing boatin the 1880s, as well as a number of letters which are all written tohis mother. From one of those letters (15 July 1885) I will quote asection. My dearly loved Mother! As you would like to hearsomething about my life, I will try this time to give you a littlesketch of my life! After many bitter experiences doing abouteverything (ice-maker, locksmith, carpenter, orchardist, fencerepairer, fisherman, road repairer, oxen driver, roofer [a badbusiness, iron roofs are very warm here] etc.) I roamed through theColony in all directions and generally made good money, and finallyafter much thought came upon the idea to try my hand at looking forgold and have in a few places found an ap-preciable amount. A devilishdifficult and toilsome work it is. You can work for weeks with a pickand shovel, maybe a small river must be dammed because you need a verylarge amount of water, which is in short supply, to wash the gold, andfinally in the end all the work is for nothing. You lose all spiritand want to hang the whole thing up, when suddenly you see a nugget inyour tin dish and with renewed force you dig the earth like a maniacand your effort is in many cases finds a kingly reward. But you cannotkeep all the gold, you must live and in many cases you must payextremely high prices for sugar, flour, and tea (indispensablynecessary to live here). For example, I paid 15 marks for one poundof flour and I had to beg the man for everything in the world for himto even let me have one pound. Thank heavens, that doesn't happen veryoften. Occasionally, when there is no rain for a long time, the traderdoes not come at all and you can get nothing. To go for provisionsyourself is dangerous (I did it only once) because when you come backhome, everything has vanished (happens frequently) and you are a fool.But you must rely on yourself as best you can. When you have noflour, you bake a cake with woodworms (here often about a finger long,in decaying wood and very juicy) in good German: you feed on maggots!My word: a delicate food! But the hunger pushes it down, you closeyour eyes and swallow, one wants to live and as well as one can eatoysters and snails there, one can eat puree. Thank heavens thisdoesn't happen very often, only four times in 13 months, though youmay be disgusted with this favorite dish, I can tell you that cookedin kangaroo or possum fat, it tastes delicious and he who wants tolive must eat what is available. I cannot serve smoked goose andliverwurst to my guest, in case I have any, (one visited me but aboutthat later); but I can offer him a good kangaroo, possum, or bearroast together with a good bite of bread baked in ash, if I haveflour, in addition to a small pot of honey or cooked fish and a gooddrink of water (wine-beer-, and schnapps cellar is empty), but hecannot complain about my hospitality. Thanks be to God this time whereI lived forty miles from any civilized person is over, now I livecloser and come in contact with people. My house is situated fifteenEnglish miles, on a small mountain stream, from the next village(there is a Post Office, one merchant, one ox-driver and twofamilies). Here called a town. My next neighbor is four miles away. Myresidence is a tent, 7 by 9 feet and covered with tree bark (warm inwinter and cool in summer). My furniture consists of one bed (fourpoles pushed into the ground with a few laths laid over them), uponthat a straw sack, and some good travel rugs; one table with an oldtin of fat for a lamp and a photo; one chest (an old box), containingflour, things to eat, and bits and pieces; one sawhorse upon which isa riding saddle, a pack saddle, and bridle. I use my clothes as apillow. My cooking utensils are a pail, frying pan, tea kettle, 2 tincups, 2 knives, and 2 forks, etc., which have their places near thefire, six steps in front of the tent. On the right bed post leans myrifle, always loaded. My inventory of living animals consists of:three horses to ride: one old nag, one black gelding, andthree-year-old chestnut stallion with white back legs (a gift of myneigh-bor) 4 dogs: 2 greyhounds, one smart dog, and my darling, asmall schnauzer, a gift from my neighbor's sister, allowed in the tentsince he is also a good mouse catcher and I had a lot of problems fromthem. Before this I had 14 dogs but in my present place I do not needso many so I killed them. I am sorry about that because they did manygood deeds for me but I could not change it. My work as I said beforeis looking for gold and I make on the average 65 to 70 marks a week.For weeks I find nothing and then perhaps in one day 500 - 600 marksdepending upon whether the ground is good or bad; everything dependsupon luck in this occupation; I will give it up, however, if I don'tmake a good find in the near future. What will happen then only timewill tell, maybe I will go further into the interior or becomeresident on the land where I now live, most probably the latter,depending heavily upon circumstances which I do not wish to discuss atthis moment. The earnings are not high but I am a free man, and nobodyin the world can tell me what to do, independent of everybody. I lovethat very much. Many suddenly find a lot of gold, with one big hit;they are lucky, why not I? Nothing is impossible. I, too, cansuddenly hit a rich vein. I hope for it and that very soon. - All myneeds I get in town and there I exchange my gold. Work time isindefinite, dry weather is bad for me, the more rain the better,because the more water I have for panning the faster it goes. Workclothes: shirt and trousers, belt, straw hat, and knee boots. I thinkthis is sufficient to give you an idea. If meat is short, saddle thestallion, whistle the dogs, chase kangaroo. 9 o'clock back from 9 to1 working on river bank with pick and shovel, 1 to 3 o'clock lunchtime, 3 to 6:30 the earth which I worked up is panned. In the evening,cooking, baking, and sitting near fire mending things. In winter, thenights are rather cool. The days are very hot with frequentthunderstorms. When the moon shines, I look out for wild dogs as theGovernment pays 20 marks for each skin (good money occasionally). Inthis way, one day is like the other. Usually twice a week I am visitedby my neighbor, a well educated and respected man, as he is working onhis fence. Saturdays at l o'clock I quit working and I wash duringthe afternoons and do most of the necessary work around the house. 5o'clock I saddle my horse, if I can find one of my three which runaround free in the bush only hobbled on the front legs, and then Iride to my neighbor. He is thirty four years old, married, with twochildren and his sister lives with him (n.b. a delightful, very lovelygirl), since his wife at this moment is not permitted to do any workin the house. His father lives 60 miles further up the river. Myneighbor owns 14 miles of land and grazes 2,700 oxen, consequentlylives from stock farming, as does his father. With these people Ispend an extremely pleasant evening. The conversation is at times veryhappy and it is often after midnight -before we part. Here we discussthe newspaper which we get a month late, and all the sensational newswill be discussed in great detail. On Sundays, we normally rideout to hunt with the women, to check the oxen, or try to catch a fishwhich will then taste very good in the evening. At 9 o'clock I leavefor home -- so now you know my about my life and it is enough........ + In the very same year, Franz Metelmann married the sister of hisneighbor and lived with her until his death (in 1904) in a childlessmarriage in tolerable conditions.
Diary of a Voyage to Australia. January-April 1882. Franz Metelmann, son of the Economic Adviser Metelmann and Grandson of the Prestiner Pastor Metelmann was quoted once before in the Family Letters - it was with his long letter "As gold digger in Australia". The following paragraphs are parts of the diary he wrote during his passage to Australia and which he sent to his mother in installments. 13 Jan. 1882: The ship is 320 feet long and 27 feet wide, has two masts, a very strong motor and a crew of forty-one men. On board are now 44 passengers. - We started to move out of Hamburg around 9 o'clock on the 10th of March and went quickly to Cuxhaven where the passengers who caught up with us boarded the ship about 12 o'clock. But we did not arrive at Cuxhaven until five o'clock in the afternoon. Before 11 o'clock we saw Helgoland, and there a strong wind started to blow, which developed at around eleven into a real storm. Naturally everybody got a bad case of sea sickness, a very unpleasant ex-perience. The storm gradually calmed down, but we had the misfortune to run up on a sandbank. This happened in the night between 11 and 12 o'clock. With a big thud the ship was locked into place and it leaned dangerously to one side. Anything which was not in the bunks tumbled around. Im-mediately the order went out "All Men on Deck" and every thing was explained. This was about one o'clock. Boats were made ready and one was put into the water to measure the depth of the water. About a third of the ship was on the bank and at the front about 13 feet was in the water. It swayed dangerously back and forth. Luckily, became calm, and the big motor tried with all its power to go back-wards but in vain; it was not until about 4 o'clock we suddenly floated again. Unexpec-tedly a big fog appeared, so we had to stay put until about 8 o'clock. At dawn of the new day the fog lifted and we steamed ahead, passing Vlissingen and we were now about to arrive in Antwerp. At arrival in Antwerp we had enough time to visit the city since the ship was being loaded and we lost a few days through fog. Antwerp is a city of 160.000 inhabitants, has 40.000 Germans, and is strongly Catholic. On every street corner a picture of the Holy Mother or another Saint is seen. We looked over the City and visited some Theaters and other objects of Interest. The impression I got from this 'burg' was not pleasant. The streets were crooked and very narrow, and definitely dirty. There is no idea about street cleaning. The dirt is shoved to the centre of the street but then the horse drawn wagons separate the dirt into heaps again. Living here, of course, is very expensive. The people are most obliging but they are so dirty, you could VOMIT. The peculiarity and cus-toms of the citizens I found very interes-ting. As the citizens only speak Flemish, we had a lot of trouble and difficulties to make them understand us. They absolutely did not want to understand French. At last the ship was loaded and steamed away. The weather had cleared up and we went happily to London, delayed a few days, however, because of the everlasting fog. After we arrived in London, we learned something about the local climate in the short time we were there -- today sunshine, tomorrow impenetrable fog mixed with coal dust from many thousands of chimneys. On Saturday I visited part of London and traveled by train for an hour to see the Famous Crystal Palace, a distin-guished building in which all the trades have a so-called per-manent exhibit. After we had seen the electrical exhibit around 8 p.m. we returned to London in order to look over a few more objects of interest under the electric lights. Life in the streets is very surprising. It is impossible to cross the streets as there are about 30 - 40 wagons waiting to move on only to be stopped again after a few yards. After we had enough roving around the city, we returned to the ship but had to be careful not to fall in the water. After 7 o'clock they extinguish the lanterns in the harbor. 7 passengers are in the First Class cabins passengers, but I seldom come in contact with them. 34 adults and 11 children are in steerage, a girl was born on board ship, and received the name Serentina for remembrance. The mother and daughter are doing well. With respect to the trades one gets the following breakdown: 1 trader with wife and 7 children. 3 women with 4 children following their men (a cabinet maker, a blacksmith, a shoemaker). 1 brewer. 1 gardener. 1 organ grinder. 1 miner. 4 traders. 1 waiter. 2 bakers. 1 windmiller. 3 shepherds. 2 tech-nicians. 1 tailor. Etc. For the most part, they are good-natured, quiet people with whom one can get along well. I socialize mostly with the traders. The food we eat here is very tasty and plen-tiful -- I wrote to you about the menu already. 18 people eat together, each one with a task. My task is to cut the meat into por-tions and give everyone his portion. 2 people clear the table and clean it after the meal. The dishes are washed every day by the others in groups of 5. (8 o'clock coffee, 12 o'clock lunch, 6 o'clock tea). Cheerful scenes often occur. We practice English in the mor-nings from 10 o'clock - 11:3. In the afternoons we converse together, polish boots, clean our garments, dar-n socks, and also do some laundry, etc. etc. There is a con-cert in the evenings, followed by a dance. - In London we took on a menagerie which consists of 6 sheep, 7 pigs, 12 geese, 12 ducks, 30 chickens, 50 pigeons, 1 dog (the dog is not to be slaughtered) and all of this is for the purpose of producing fresh meat when the weather is hot. From the Diary 27 Jan. 1882. At six o'clock in the morning we departed from London. The weather is starting to clear; just a little fog. In the after-noon at 3 o'clock we sighted a steamer towing a wreck to the nearest harbor. Lovely sun-shine. The course now is south. At 4 o'clock we have changed course to west and we are steaming near Dover in the channel. We see the famous white cliffs. At 5 o'clock the pilots left the ship. The evening sky is clear, cold. The night is rather windy. 28 Jan. 1882 At 7 o'clock in the morning there is a strong wind, heavy seas, and many ships in sight. Nothing much to report. 29 Jan. 1882. At 8 o'clock in the morning it is stormy. At 10 o'clock there is a storm. The waves were about as high as a house and were breaking over the deck, so that we were forced to stay in the cabin. The ship is swaying very strongly. Everything not secured, fell over. The lunch was very funny because plates and bowls were dancing on the tables. Children, women and some of the men were very seasick. In the cabins was dreadful con-fusion. 30 Jan. 1882 One o'clock the storm eased. 2 o'clock we are changing course to south-west. We are in the neighborhood of Brest. At 8 o'clock it rained, strong winds. Around 9:30 it started to clear. There is 1 steamer in sight. Around 11 o'clock we see the first salt sea fish -- 20 to 25 medium-sized dolphins played about the ship, jumping from one wave to another. (Schweinefisch = Dolphin ?) In the after-noon there is a little wind, sunshine. We are obser-ving the dol-phins following the ship to eat the refuse. During the evening no wind and beautiful moon-shine. There is happy con-versation with dancing on the deck until 10.30. 2 Feb. 1882 At 8 o'clock in the morning there is rain. At 9 o'clock the weather is clear. We can see the first rocks of Africa far away. 11 o'clock there is a thunderstorm. At noon 1 o'clock we see Gibraltar. High rock very strong fortresses. We had to hoist the German flag and four others which represent the name of the ship. Nice illumination of the mountain tops through sunshine. There are many ships in sight. Around the evening, there is stormy weather. One wave washed the dog over-board, a young Leonberger. All were sad. 8 Feb. 1882. At 8 o'clock the weather was clear, just a little wind. On the starboard side the coast of Africa is in view. We hope to be in Port Said tomorrow afternoon to take on coal. There will be a 5 hour turnover and then go straight on. We are not sure if we are allowed to go on land. At 12 o'clock the cap-tain told us that we can go on land but we have to arm ourselves and be always in a group of 3 to 4 together. The Arabs are very dangerous and plunder the tourists. We will be buying tropical fruits mainly lemons and make a refreshing drink as the water is usually warm caused by the terrible heat and the ice machine cannot run all the time. The afternoon is very hot and sultry. The ship is getting ready to face another storm. In the evening at 8 o'clock the night is raven black. At 9 a very strong thunderstorm, strong winds. (A beautiful view to see the rough sea by lightening.) At 11 o'clock the thunderstorm was over. Heavy rains until 2 o'clock at night. All the passengers were awake. The course is east-south-east. Friday the 10th of Feb. The seawater was really yellow in the morning, a sign that we are near the mouth of the Nile. Then shortly after we could see the high lighthouse of Port Said in the distance as well as the city itself. The entrance of the sea channel has two walls built with big rocks, probably sand stone. They are a few 1000 yards out into the Mediterranean and have the pur-pose of stopping the mud and the sand from blocking the chan-nel. Outside the walls are big sand dunes and there are shallow areas where the big waves of the high seas are being pushed up which results in a wonderful picture. Around 9 o'clock we arrived in the harbor which is a part of the (Suez) canal and lies east of the city and at once began taking on coal. There are a lot of ships showing flags from different countries -- especially noticeable is a French war ship lying at anchor here. The hustle and bustle of the harbor was a most interes-ting spectacle. We saw many people of different colors and different costumes busy doing all different kinds of jobs. After we anchored a group of six men went on shore in order to have a look at the city. The streets are not paved, but are fairly wide and have gas lighting. They were in the process of buil-ding a water supply line. The houses were 2 to 3 stories high and lightly built, of course very tasteful and clean with flat roofs. Over every story is a balcony decorated with dainty wooden railings or covered with expen-sive carpets giving the streets a picturesque and artistic ap-pearance. The shops in nearest to the harbor are of European style, in the other parts of the city the shops are open to the street and look like market stalls. The city and surroun-ding areas produce nothing and everything needed for living comes from the outside. So it is easy to understand that the price of meat can fall and rise from 30 cents to 10 Mark depending as to how it was delivered to the market. It is the same with the other provisions. At 12 o'clock I got the letters from Mother, Paul, and Otto at the German Consulate and hastened to get a postcard to inform you all. At 2 o'clock we had to be back on board, and that is why my letter is short. The character of the common working class is rather wicked and treacherous and their clothes are not clean. Unfortunately, the crew that loaded the coal finished a little late and we could leave because during the night traffic is forbidden in the canal. During the day nice weather, during the night the weather is stormy and heavy rain so that we are very happy to be in a safe harbor. Saturday 11th of Feb. Early at 8 o'clock we left Port Said. The travel in the canal is boring and very difficult due to the narrowness of the canal in relation to the large ships. During the day we were stuck fast at least 12 times and a few times it took 1/2 an hour before we were afloat again, conse-quently we damaged the motor but this can be corrected during the voyage. At fixed distances along the canal are stations similar to the trains which are in contact telegraphically with each other. The 4th station is situated near a village where a caravan path cros-ses the canal and for that purpose a ferry is used. The best looking buil-ding in the entire village was a res-taurant, on which was written in large letters "Franz. Billard". About ten camels were in front of the restaurant with their handlers who lay on the sand and seemed to be comfor-table. From the sur-roun-ding area not much of a pleasing nature can be told. On the right side we can see for a few miles a large sea with many islands with many water birds of different kinds, then dunes and lakes alternate until the entire area becomes a sterile desert where occasionally small shrubs grow in a miserable existence. On the left side right after Port Said, the sands of the desert begin where only now and then one can see wind driven high sand dunes. Everything this area could show in tree plants were in the gar-dens of the stations, a few palms and oleanders. The weather during the day was unfriendly, showers, cool north-west wind. In the evening at 6 o'clock we stopped for the night. Sunday the 12th of Feb. We started to move at 6 o'clock in the morning but ran aground five times, arriving at the second station about 11 o'clock. A French mail boat that was following us had to stop and wait to let 18 other steamers pass on their way from Suez to Port Said, a maneuver possible only at a station. In the after-noon we all went on to the land. We first visited the garden of the station building which is nicely landscaped with different tropical plants, prominent among them were a number of different cacti. Afterward we went into the desert, where we found nothing but a few shells, skeletons of dead camels, and a few stunted shrubs, otherwise only the fine stony shif-ting sand. The weather was good and the sun burnt our pelts. Thursday the 23rd of Feb. We are now in the Indian Ocean, and at 6 o'clock in the mor-ning, the mountain tops of the Island Socotra with a few others are still in view behind us. We will probably not see land again until we reach Australia. A few days ago a bath was erected, and as soon as it is dark, anyone wishing a sea bath may take one. Course southeast, east wind, moving seas, warm sun-shine. Friday the 24th of February. The various movements of enormous masses of flying fish passed the time for us. Course southeast, east wind, calm sea, very hot sun-shine. Thursday the 2nd of March. We came near the Tochagos Islands and as the first engineer thought it a good idea to get another load of coal we steered directly towards the islands and arrived there about noon. The Island is large, about 4 to 5 miles long, very narrow, in the form of a horse shoe, and on one end is one,0 and on the other end there are two small islands located. A not very broad entry to the inner side of the large island lies between these islands where an English coal ship lies anchored about 1,000 yards offshore and here, hidden behind green trees, are a few houses. At 1 o'clock we reached the steamer and im-mediately a large number of Negroes arrived to ferry the coal to our ship. In between times, the passengers received per-mis-sion to spend the afternoon on the island and the Negroes transported us by boat to the settlement. The islands are densely covered with tropical trees, are elevated only a little above sea-level, and belong to three brothers, very rich Frenchmen who apparently prefer solitude over party-life and therefore choose this real paradise for their residence. They employ 400 Negroes in several donkey-powered coconut mills and the women and children prepare the coconuts for the mills. The village con-sists of one lightly built but other-wise com-fortable manor house, the oil boiler, warehouse, a row of stables for the horses, mules, and donkeys, many English pigs both large and small, a quantity of turtles 1 foot long which are being fattened, a smithy, and about 100 negroes' huts all roofed in palm leaves. The most numerous of the trees growing here is the Cocos Palm which grows to 40 - 50 feet high, on the top a bundle of 8 to 10 foot long leaves, and in between those are the coconuts which are head-size elongated, three-cornered fruits. In addition one can find oran-ges, dates, bananas, and a number of wonderful varieties of trees, all growing wild; on the ground melons grow exuberantly and many splendid species of flowers. Since the other fruits were not yet ripe, we had to keep to the nuts; after removing the outer shell it is a little bit larger than the size of a fist and has on the stalk end 3 small soft spots where one can make a hole with a knife and then drink the really good tasting milk which is in the mid-dle. Then, with some force, one can hit the nut in pieces and can eat the surrounding white flesh which tastes like hazel-nuts. There are no wild animals, but many pigeons, parrots and a few kinds of small magnificently feathered bird species. While we admired this wonderful vegetation and slowly wandered around we were sud-denly frightened by a bad accident. A somewhat stupid garden apprentice had taken his revolver ashore and had the idea to shoot at the nuts. He handled the handgun carelessly, working with it in an unsafe way, since he had never used one of those before, the shot went off with a big noise and the bullet hit another passenger in the right foot, just above the ball. He was immediately brought back on board the ship by a few Negroes and is now under medical care, whilst the shooter has to take over serving him. The doctor cannot find the bullet, it is lodged somewhere between the many tendons and bones. After we had finished observing and were richer by many beautiful things, we returned to the beach where we had a nice swim. We collected some shells and coral and then towards the evening we returned to the ship taking along 3 sharks that the Negroes gave us a present. Cool, south-west winds, moving sea, weather apart from a few showers beautiful. Friday the 3rd of March. At 7 o'clock in the morning we lifted the anchor and left those splendid islands which, since it soon started to rain, were soon out of sight, but they will be indelible in our memories for the rest of our lives. Today the sun was directly above us and from now on we will see the sun towards the north. Course south-east. Wind south-west. Moving sea. The weather is rainy with thunderstorms, cool and sultry. Monday the 13th of March. Course east-south-east. Wind is south-east, moving sea. The ship is tossing from side to side so that the coffee cups and soup bowls are falling off the table and dancing around with the luggage. We had to hold on so that the same thing did not happen to us. Tuesday the 14th of March. Course east-south-east. Wind south-east. Moving sea, a few clouds in the sky. The rolling of the ship continues. Wednesday the 15th of March. Course south-east. South-wind, which develops into a storm towards evening, which raged nearly all night. The ship was pushed so much to the side it was very hard to stand up and sleeping was impossible to think of. Weather was cool and unstable. Thursday the 16th of March. Course south-east. South-east wind and heavy seas, sun-shine. An admirable, but at the same time a horrible spec-tacle was the struggle of the elements which can be seen only at high sea in the ocean. Agitated from the storm raging overnight, mountainous waves rolled toward us from the south, attacked today from the side by strong southeast winds. This caused a tumbling and breaking and rising of the waves so that at one moment we were high on a mountain then plunged into the depths surrounded by mountains of water, causing the ship to swing sideways so violently that we often took on water; but the water could immediately empty out through open hatches when the ship again gained moderate e-quilibrium. The aft was un-pas-sable and the sailors were roped to the deck and to the helm while on watch. Friday the 17th of March. In the morning, course east-south-east, and in the afternoon east-north-east, a sign that we have passed the south-west tip of Australia (Cape Leuwin), but because it was so far away we could not see anything. A few Albatross let us guess that land is near. Saturday the 18th of March. Course and wind north-east to east, calm sea, sunshine. With this fair, clear weather, the stars were bright with their magnificence in front of our eyes in the southern sky. The starry sky is distinguished with some wonderful constellations formed by stars of the first magnitude; especially curious are two white cloud-like patches formed by many small stars; and in the center of the Milky Way we saw an almost round dark blue spot without a single star. Tuesday the 21st of March. Course and wind north-east, calm sea, warm sun-shine. At 5 o'clock in the afternoon we saw Kan-garoo Island as a long blue stripe just on the horizon on the forward port side of the ship, which we all greeted joyously as a herald of our new home. Wednesday the 22nd of March. At 4 o'clock in the morning we were up on our legs and were in the Gulf of Vincent. The sun rose in all its splendor from behind the forested heights of the coast of South Australia on our right. At 7 o'clock we reached the small harbor, Port Adelaide, and anchored about half an hour from shore, as the low water level did not allow us to come any closer. The City of Adelaide is about two hours away and is con-nected with Port Adelaide by train. Immediately after anchoring, unloading of the goods into big, light barges which were already waiting (evening telegram from Kangaroo Island) began, and continued until midnight. A harbor steamer carried the passengers sent here to shore with all of their belongings. In the afternoon we fished with fishing rods and caught some Sea Perch which we fried in butter for a wonderful meal. During the day no wind, oppressive heat, sultry. Thursday the 23rd of March. About 3 o'clock in the morning, the Sorrento, having finished unloading its cargo for Adelaide, took on coal and now the captain was in a hurry to continue. We pulled up anchor and steamed out of the harbor of Port Adelaide with a light nor-theast wind about 6 o'clock. A pas-senger who stayed too long in Adelaide was left behind. His wife is on board the Sorren-to, and the missing one has to follow with another steamer. During the day we could observe the coast really well. We could see steep, sandy hills, an occasional tree, and here and there a farm. Some forest fires could be clearly distin-guished, deliberately set to facilitate quick cultivation of the ground. The sea was rather calm and we could watch hundreds of fish abtcling around the Sorrento, mostly dol-phins; however, occasionally a shark appeared and from them the other fish kept a respectful distance. Course south to east, light north-east wind, overcast sky, cool, dark evening. Monday the 3rd of April. During the morning a restless sea, strong south-west wind becoming stronger towards noon. The entrance to the harbor of Sydney, which is very narrow, flanked by two large rocks on which the waves were breaking, and we nearly had an ac-cident. The ship stopped close to the entrance for the pilot to come aboard and the wind almost blew the ship against the rocks. With full power astern, the engine was finally able to slowly turn the ship around. The entrance to the harbor is fortified but very beautiful. Sydney is situated 5 English miles from the sea and has a magnificent harbor, protected on all sides by high rocks. We are anchoring in the center of the harbor, because there is no place on the Bas-tion, and will be able to go ashore. Finally I am in Sydney and for the time being I close my report. Our jour-ney from Hamburg to Sydney took 82 days, including anchoring in Antwerp, London, Port Said, Suez, Diego Grazia, Adelaide, and Melbourne. The Sorrento traveled in this time 11,924 English miles. ____________________ As Gold miner In Australia. A letter from Franz Metelmann from the year 1885. The writer of the following letter is Franz Metelmann, son of an advisor in economy. Also in my posses-sion is a very interesting diary written aboard a sailing boat in the 1880s, as well as a number of letters which are all written to his mother. From one of those letters (15 July 1885) I will quote a section. My dearly loved Mother! As you would like to hear something about my life, I will try this time to give you a little sketch of my life! After many bitter experiences doing about everything (ice-maker, locksmith, carpenter, orchardist, fence repairer, fisherman, road repairer, oxen driver, roofer [a bad business, iron roofs are very warm here] etc.) I roamed through the Colony in all directions and generally made good money, and finally after much thought came upon the idea to try my hand at looking for gold and have in a few places found an ap-preciable amount. A devilish difficult and toilsome work it is. You can work for weeks with a pick and shovel, maybe a small river must be dammed because you need a very large amount of water, which is in short supply, to wash the gold, and finally in the end all the work is for nothing. You lose all spirit and want to hang the whole thing up, when suddenly you see a nugget in your tin dish and with renewed force you dig the earth like a maniac and your effort is in many cases finds a kingly reward. But you cannot keep all the gold, you must live and in many cases you must pay extremely high prices for sugar, flour, and tea (indispensably necessary to live here). For example, I paid 15 marks for one pound of flour and I had to beg the man for everything in the world for him to even let me have one pound. Thank heavens, that doesn't happen very often. Occasionally, when there is no rain for a long time, the trader does not come at all and you can get nothing. To go for provisions yourself is dangerous (I did it only once) because when you come back home, everything has vanished (happens frequently) and you are a fool. But you must rely on yourself as best you can. When you have no flour, you bake a cake with woodworms (here often about a finger long, in decaying wood and very juicy) in good German: you feed on maggots! My word: a delicate food! But the hunger pushes it down, you close your eyes and swallow, one wants to live and as well as one can eat oysters and snails there, one can eat puree. Thank heavens this doesn't happen very often, only four times in 13 months, though you may be disgusted with this favorite dish, I can tell you that cooked in kangaroo or possum fat, it tastes delicious and he who wants to live must eat what is available. I cannot serve smoked goose and liverwurst to my guest, in case I have any, (one visited me but about that later); but I can offer him a good kangaroo, possum, or bear roast together with a good bite of bread baked in ash, if I have flour, in addition to a small pot of honey or cooked fish and a good drink of water (wine-beer-, and schnapps cellar is empty), but he cannot complain about my hospitality. Thanks be to God this time where I lived forty miles from any civilized person is over, now I live closer and come in contact with people. My house is situated fifteen English miles, on a small mountain stream, from the next village (there is a Post Office, one merchant, one ox-driver and two families). Here called a town. My next neighbor is four miles away. My residence is a tent, 7 by 9 feet and covered with tree bark (warm in winter and cool in summer). My furniture consists of one bed (four poles pushed into the ground with a few laths laid over them), upon that a straw sack, and some good travel rugs; one table with an old tin of fat for a lamp and a photo; one chest (an old box), containing flour, things to eat, and bits and pieces; one sawhorse upon which is a riding saddle, a pack saddle, and bridle. I use my clothes as a pillow. My cooking utensils are a pail, frying pan, tea kettle, 2 tin cups, 2 knives, and 2 forks, etc., which have their places near the fire, six steps in front of the tent. On the right bed post leans my rifle, always loaded. My inventory of living animals consists of: three horses to ride: one old nag, one black gelding, and three-year-old chestnut stallion with white back legs (a gift of my neigh-bor) 4 dogs: 2 greyhounds, one smart dog, and my darling, a small schnauzer, a gift from my neighbor's sister, allowed in the tent since he is also a good mouse catcher and I had a lot of problems from them. Before this I had 14 dogs but in my present place I do not need so many so I killed them. I am sorry about that because they did many good deeds for me but I could not change it. My work as I said before is looking for gold and I make on the average 65 to 70 marks a week. For weeks I find nothing and then perhaps in one day 500 - 600 marks depending upon whether the ground is good or bad; everything depends upon luck in this occupation; I will give it up, however, if I don't make a good find in the near future. What will happen then only time will tell, maybe I will go further into the interior or become resident on the land where I now live, most probably the latter, depending heavily upon abtcumstances which I do not wish to discuss at this moment. The earnings are not high but I am a free man, and nobody in the world can tell me what to do, independent of everybody. I love that very much. Many suddenly find a lot of gold, with one big hit; they are lucky, why not I? Nothing is impossible. I, too, can suddenly hit a rich vein. I hope for it and that very soon. - All my needs I get in town and there I exchange my gold. Work time is indefinite, dry weather is bad for me, the more rain the better, because the more water I have for panning the faster it goes. Work clothes: shirt and trousers, belt, straw hat, and knee boots. I think this is sufficient to give you an idea. If meat is short, saddle the stallion, whistle the dogs, chase kangaroo. 9 o'clock back from 9 to 1 working on river bank with pick and shovel, 1 to 3 o'clock lunch time, 3 to 6:30 the earth which I worked up is panned. In the evening, cooking, baking, and sitting near fire mending things. In winter, the nights are rather cool. The days are very hot with frequent thunderstorms. When the moon shines, I look out for wild dogs as the Government pays 20 marks for each skin (good money occasionally). In this way, one day is like the other. Usually twice a week I am visited by my neighbor, a well educated and respected man, as he is working on his fence. Saturdays at l o'clock I quit working and I wash during the afternoons and do most of the necessary work around the house. 5 o'clock I saddle my horse, if I can find one of my three which run around free in the bush only hobbled on the front legs, and then I ride to my neighbor. He is thirty four years old, married, with two children and his sister lives with him (n.b. a delightful, very lovely girl), since his wife at this moment is not permitted to do any work in the house. His father lives 60 miles further up the river. My neighbor owns 14 miles of land and grazes 2,700 oxen, consequently lives from stock farming, as does his father. With these people I spend an extremely pleasant evening. The conversation is at times very happy and it is often after midnight -before we part. Here we discuss the newspaper which we get a month late, and all the sensational news will be discussed in great detail. On Sundays, we normally ride out to hunt with the women, to check the oxen, or try to catch a fish which will then taste very good in the evening. At 9 o'clock I leave for home -- so now you know my about my life and it is enough........ + In the very same year, Franz Metelmann married the sister of his neighbor and lived with her until his death (in 1904) in a childless marriage in tolerable conditions.
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Our Family
1854 - 1903 (48 years)
