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In 1852 and 1853, the years prior to mass emigration, the majority of ItaUan
speakers had travelled to AustraUa on board comparatively comfortable English ships,
such as Xht Marchioness of Londonderry (which carried Alessandro Pozzi), but, by the
peak years of 1854 and 1855, German shipping companies had begun advertising
cheaper fares of around 500 francs, which also compared favourably with similar
vessels coming from France.' (This might explain the relatively large numbers of
Germans in the Victorian colony during this period.) Anxious to attract the business of
as many locals as possible, the travel agents offered prized places on these ships,
omitting to advise their clients that lower fares usually implied poorer conditions and a
delayed arrival. The Italian speakers, anxious to make any savings possible, eagerly
lined up to sign their contracts and secure a passage to Australia. German ships would
bring about 500 Ticinesi to the Colony between 1854 and 1855 alone.*
It would appear that most Italian speakers were unquestioning about the terms
of their travel contracts both because they had difficulty understanding them ~ a
number being illiterate ~ and because they were desperate to reach Australia quickly.
Unscmpulous travel agents, therefore, found it easy to deceive their clients about the
conditions under which they would be transported and also persuade them into signing
agreements which bound them to near impossible terms. In some cases the travel
agents offered to advance part of the emigrant's travel fee in exchange for a per
centage of the expected gold finds.' While the emigrants felt that this, like the loans,
enhanced the prospects of discovery, in reality it pushed them further into debt:
For example one agent sold tickets for half the price on the condition
that the cUents pay the rest after their arrival in Melboume or by their
work within two years. The Ticinesi... feh trapped by the contracts.^"
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