landlord of the Black Swan, Hobart Town, a country-man of mine, who insisted on my making his house my home, free of all charge; which invitation, for a few weeks, I thankfully accepted.
In my rambles about the town, I was frequently accosted by persons anxious for information about Port Phillip, with the extraordinary accounts of which all Van Diemen's Land had become, I may say, inflamed. To the new colony, vessels full of emigrants, with sheep, &c., were almost daily proceeding; so that any information from me was considered valuable. In one of my perambulations, I met with a gentleman who gave me a ticket to the Theatre; asking me, at the same time, to accompany him, which I did, and was very much gratified at what I saw. At length one of the performers came to ask me if I would like to visit the place again, and come upon the stage? Thinking his offer kind, and that I should see the performance better there, I said yes; little supposing I was to be then exhibited as the huge Anglo-Australian giant. However, the next day I found what was intended, and soon gave a denial to any such display, very much to the mortification, as I afterwards understood, of the stage manager, who had publicly notified my appearance.
About this time I was visited at Mr. Cutts', by one of my old shipmates in the Calcutta, who had become a wealthy and respectable settler, near the Green Ponds, about thirty miles from Hobart Town. After a few days, and he had settled his business, I accepted an
