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in their hurry at crossing, and being rushed from behind with sticks
&c., had lost them - I am fearful that it is not all over yet, for there
are amongst the expelling diggers a few desperate men, and one
should not be surprised to find them resist the police, and show fight
rather than be taken. I believe that when the question was first
proposed, they meant no violence, but a lot, who are always to be
found, not only on the diggings, but everywhere, deeming it a good
chance for plunder, joined in, and turned it to account, and even the
Chinese were found robbing one another...
But whatever may be the upshot of the affair, whether the Chief
Secretary will dispatch a company of soldiers to quell the outbreak
now that it is over, and to reinstate the Chinese in the possession of
their claims, we cannot guess. But of this we are pretty certain that,
from the 4th of July, 1857 the very name of Buckland will be a
'brownie, I to haunt the minds of each Chinaman who, if not himself
present, shall hear of the scenes of horror that occurred at that
place on Saturday last.' (Argus, Melbourne, 14 July, 1857, quoted
by Crowley, 1982, voI2:354).
A.2 Lambing Flat, New South Wales (near Young)
In connection with the Lambing Flat attacks (termed 'riots' by the
newspapers of the day and most historians), Crowley has collected the
following account:
'On Sunday, the 30th June, the residents of Tipperary Gully were
aroused by the cries of "Roll Up," and in the course of a very short
time upwards of a thousand men, armed with bludgeons and
pickhandles, no firearms as yet appearing, were assembled round
the "No Chinese" standard. Forming themselves into a rude kind of
order of march, and with a band of music, which appears to have
been thoughtfully provided for the occasion by the leaders of the
movement, at their head, shouting, yelling, and singing, the crowd of
rioters took the road to Lambing Flat, a distance of some four or five
miles. Arrived there, every Chinese resident in the township on
whom hands could be laid was attached and maltreated, the chief
object of ambition being to secure the long tails of hair with which
the Chinese are accustomed to ornament their heads. The main
body was here joined by numerous others, who came flocking in
from all quarters, until the number assembled amounted to at least
three thousand persons. Finding themselves so strong, and being
determined to make a clean sweep of the Mongolians now that they
were about it, they now turned their attention to the Chinese camp
situated on the spot and within the area allocated to them by the
Commissioner in accordance with the regulations previously made,
and apparently agreed to by the diggers. This was at once attacked
and carried, the Chinese being driven off, under circumstances of
great barbarity in some cases, and in all cases without being
permitted to take with them any portion of their property. It has been