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theu actions through their letters (recaU the Righettis in the previous section), others
felt too ashamed to ever consider returning home. Instead they tumed to the comfort
of their immigrant compatriots but, while the goldfields encouraged cooperation and
comradeship, its competitive and stressfiil atmosphere also led to tension.
ReveaUng the close emotional ties of the immigrants with their homelands in
the early years of settiement, some of these conflicts were concemed with political
events in Italy. The Magenta Tunnel, for example, was named after the site of a battle
in Italy. At Magenta in Lombardy, the Franco-Piedmontese defeated the Austrian
army in 1859 during the Second War of Independence.''* Petty jealousies and
arguments more often characterised the immigrants' behaviour, however, large gold
finds causing resentment and gold losses accusations of wrongdoing. Many immigrants
wrote home to criticise the behaviour of compatriots, comforted by the knowledge
that, in this small way at least, their enemies were being punished: the Pozzi family, it
wiU be recaUed, brought discredit upon the Righettis in this way. The influence of the
viUage was also evident in the handling of some conflicts, with accusations based more
on superstition than evidence. When Serafino Bonetti, a native of Ticino, was accused
of murdering a woman in 1864, many of his compatriots supported the view that he
was guilty on the grounds that he possessed the 'malocchio' (evil eye).'* This belief,
that people could cause harm just by looking at someone or something, was then
common in some southem European communities and resurfaced among the Italian
speakers in Australia. Bonetti was eventually released from police custody through
lack of evidence, though this may not have halted the whisperings of his compatriots.
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