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oadside tavern, they bought meat to cook and eat along the way. Leonardo wrote
often to his family during these weeks, sometimes spelling out place-names as they
would have been written in Italian: Jim Crow thus became Gim Cru.^^ Upon his
arrival at Jim Crow, Leonardo began mining with two men from Someo, there being
insufficient space for an extra partner in Stefano's claim. Like Alessandro, he was
appalled by the general behaviour of his compatriots on the goldfields and wrote long
letters detailing their misdeeds to his family. For the literate, letter-writing provided an
opportunity for emotional release from the day's frustrations for it gave the knowledge
that the dishonest would be frowned upon within the village. For the illiterate, gossip
concerning compatriots provided the best outlet as did discussion about the political
and economic problems of Ticino: when Severino Guscetti, an ex-Member of
Parliament (and whose story is told in a later chapter), arrived on the goldfields,
Stefano commented that perhaps he had now finished robbing the poor.^* Judging by
the case of the Pozzi brothers, it would appear that the immigrants sought security
through their faith in God and through their ties with the homeland, with little apparent
concem for the political or social problems of Australia.
By 1856, the Pozzis had eamed sufficient from their gold mining and various
odd jobs to open a small store in Hepbum (ref figure 11). The store combined a
bakery, grocery shop and Uquor outlet. Stefano also mended watches and Leonardo
carried out photographic work on glass. The three brothers formed a partnership with
Battista Adamina from Orselina and employed an Italian from Como, David Staffieri,
to do the baking. Stefano sought additional goldsmithing work travelling the
countryside with a friend from Locamo, Bartolomeo Bustelli,. Local history records
43