I have stated that about four hundred men were kept under arms at Ballarat, to oppose the amusement of digger-hunting, so much indulged in by the government officials. The former had now made their rendezvous at the stockade on the Eureka.
They were accustomed to meet in the day, and get drilled by officers, whom they had appointed for this duty. During the night, most of them, who were residents of Ballarat, returned thither, and slept in their tents, while others, who had come from Creswick’s Creek and the more distant gold-fields—to take part in the affair—remained at the boarding houses of the township.
On the night of the 2nd of December, 1854, there were about one hundred and seventy men in the stockade.
Having entered into the cause, I determined to devote my whole time to it; and on that night I was there among the rest.
The diggers, who were present, supposed they had as much right to stay in the stockade as elsewhere.
They certainly were not interfering with the officials in the execution of their duty; nor, in any way, making a disturbance.
There was no just cause why they should have been attacked on that particular night. It is true, that during the previous week, the troopers had been opposed by the diggers they were hunting; and had in some cases been prevented from making arrests. But the authorities need not have supposed, that the men in the Eureka Stockade were the same who had offered this resistance. They could only have thought so, and acted on the belief, by a singular stretch of imagination.
About half-past eleven o’clock, an alarm was given, that the soldiers were approaching the stockade. All turned out, and were prepared to defend themselves; but the alarm proved a false one.
At one o’clock in the morning there was another alarm, which also proved to be without any just cause.
At half-past two, there was still another false report, to which only a very few paid any attention: as the men had got tired of being so often roused from their slumbers without any cause. Only about half of their number turned out at this time; and these were laughed at by the others—for allowing themselves to be unnecessarily frightened.