A manuscript account of a voyage on the Marco Polo's fourth passage from Liverpool to Melbourne as part of the Australian gold rush and the author's experiences in trying to get work in the Melbourne area as an émigré without a digging licence.

While most of the journal describes the passage on the iconic passenger clipper Marco Polo, which brought so many immigrants to Australia that it is alleged one in twenty Australians can trace their roots back to the ship, the last ten pages detail the author's attempt to find work in Melbourne and describes the city and surrounding area three years into the gold rush. Upon weighing anchor in Melbourne the author immediately attempts to find work: 'Trade is very dull in Melbourne - I walked all day Saturday looking for work to no purpose'. He tries to see 'The Argus' first thing Sunday morning at 5 o'clock to be the first to see new advertisements for work. By 6, he says, 'there was between 200 and 300 men waiting for the same purpose' and when they finally got their hands on the paper 'there was not half a dozen men wanted'.

The author instead decides to go to the gold fields and try his luck. He walks, with tea and 'Billy' can, north-west along the road to Castlemaine, stopping at Flemington, Moonee Ponds, and Essendon. He passes a gold convoy 'comprised of 2 Spring carts and a dozen soldiers' coming into Melbourne whilst in his direction empty drays drawn by bullocks line the roads. He makes it to Gisborne, finds no work, and continues through the 'Black Forest' till Elphinstone where he finds the Forest Creek gold diggings. He is told there is no work in Castemaine and decides to make one last attempt in Maryborough before turning back. The overall impression the author has is that he is too late: he says in the Forest Creek diggings 'six weeks ago there was 50,000 on the ground, now there is not 5,000' and that 'those who have been at the diggings are returning by thousands to Melbourne'. He sums up his miserable attempt 'having been gone 11 days the distance of about 250 miles in and out when I got back I was 33-6d poorer than when I started'. The author concludes his account by warning the reader from believing the lies of papers like 'The Argus' and describes the creation of 'The Age' newspaper in opposition.

The voyage to Australia in the Marco Polo is equally exciting though of a different nature. There were calms, storms, passengers lost overboard, and some tense moments including a passenger threatening to shoot the Captain. What is most revealing is the relationship between the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd class passengers, with an odd mix of jealousy and respect that is largely overshadowed by the obvious anxiety of most of the 2nd and 3rd class passengers who have never sailed on the open sea and who are much more frightened of the usual perils than the seasoned sailors.

8vo (18.5 x 11 cm); manuscript, 63pp., first page toned, stab stitched and whole text loosely inserted in later cloth boards, very good.