t Talbot when
the mail was telegraphed; and the doors had to be shut to keep them
out until the telegram could be set up in type and struck off. At
first the news was not believed, it was so extraordinary and
unexpected; but the Germans in the town accepted it at once as true,
and began their rejoicings forthwith. The Irish at Talbot were also
very much excited, and wished to have a fight, but they did not
exactly know with whom.

There are considerable numbers of Germans settled throughout the
colony, and they are a very useful and industrious class of settlers.
They are for the most part sober and hard-working men. I must also add
that they minister in no small degree to the public amusement. At
Maryborough they give very good concerts. Here, the only band in the
town is furnished by the German settlers, and being a very good one,
it is in request on all public occasions. The greater number of the
Germans live at MacCullum's Creek, about a mile distant, where they
have recently opened a Verein or Club, celebrating the event, as
usual, by a dance. It was a very gay affair. The frantic Deutschers
and their Fraus danced like mad things--Tyrolese waltzes and
old-fashioned quadrilles. There was a great deal of singing in praise
of Vaterland and Freundschaft, with no end of "Hochs!" They kept it
up, I was told, until broad daylight, dispersing about eight o'clock
in the morning.

The Germans also give an annual picnic, which is a great event in the
place. There is a procession in the morning, headed by their band and
the German tri-colour flag. In the afternoon there are sports; and in
the evening continuous dancing in a large marquee. One of the chief
sports of the afternoon is "Shooting at the Eagle" with a cross-bow,
and trying to knock off the crown or sceptre from the effigy of a
bird, crowned with an eagle and holding a sceptre, stuck up on the top
of a high pole. The crown or the sceptre represents a high prize, and
each feather struck off represents a prize of some value or other.

The French have only one representative in the town. As I soon got to
know everybody in the place, dropping in upon them in their houses,
and chatting with them about the last news from home, I also made the
acquaintance of the Frenchman. He had last come from Buenos Ayres,
accompanied by Madame. Of course the news about the defeat of the
French army was all false--merely a vile _canard_. We shall soon know
all. I confess I like this