YOUTHS' ADVENTURES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18459, 24 July 1923, Page 7

YOUTHS' ADVENTURES.

TWO BELGIAN BOYS. ; ;V. ■ ' SIX WEEKS' WANDERING. . • y . ' IN AUSTRALIAN ' CITIES. [FROM •OITE, •OWN COB,BEBI?ONT)ENT.] ! SYDNEY* July 12. , ; : Weary of the tedious i voyage from; Antwerp to Fremantle "on the barque L'Avenir, on -which (J ihey were learn % to be V seamen: few© little ; : Belgian" ' boys, ,■ Jacques . Wifeteirulghe • and Pietter .(Thys, .. ; decided to abandon the sea and taste the wild adventure?. - which, to them the J name of Australia connoted. - Unfortunately, or fortunately—according to i the strength /of ; their desire ; and the' amount .of ". their ,(. pluck— adventures ( were "confined' to • the cities, and they - saw , nothing of th®' bush ; life where they , might'; perhaps have found refuge, and, ;: perhaps, .in years to ccmo, fortune. But the cities were .cold | and uninviting places, for penniless : foreign lade, and it was rot surprising that - they •. surrendered ; themselves to a "kindly consul, who eventually..; sent them ■ bade to their ■ ship which, after , six : weeks, '/was(■.■ still ■at Fremaatle, r ;(• '■;(;

. On their ?: return : they had v■ a t,< curiou* story to ' relate.. : Jacques, as ( the , elder,; " was said to have ' conceived tha adventure; but Pietter, his chum, was essential because, of his ' knowledge of. ' English. 1 Plans ' were made, . sad the night 1 before ■ the interstate : liner Zealandia sailed from Fremantle for Melbourne and Sydney, the ;; two lads ; Becreted * th<onselves .in -the fo' castle of ; that stetimw. ( ' With the Zealandia at sea the two toys mads their presence known :to the ' sear men of the vessel. Then followed! explanations.: Perhaps the ' boys were pitied : by the sailors, perhaps the "camaraderie" : of the sea demanded that they should; be . helped. The i Belgians' presence ((Was. not;V divulged, and : for the run right ( round (:(• to ■ Sydney ■ the ( two ' stowaways , were :('} traded by : their ; self-cliosen Australian shipmates. At night both crept into; the i ; bunks of the watch, on i deck, - and each : sailor denied : himself a little that-' the boys >'• might be fed. _ '■ Thrown on.-their own devices ,in Syd-. ney, - Pietter : and Jacques spent • a "aay f . locking .at r the sights. The night r : was: : passed huddled in the lee of , an outhouse < which served as a breakwind for many - , of the nights spent in - Sydney. The " money '. they had taken ; with them ' was : soon exhaust**!,:' arid ; the search for • cm- ; ployment : commenced. -Inquiries at this , shop: and: that honse returned nothing but - -. sympathy and occasionally scraps of food. 1 Both lads'- were ; untrained •in , crafts or : professions, ' but they knew » the ; ways.i of - the : sea, •; and finally they':attempted to. . gel berths on a number of: ships; •:;(;> . Disappointment was ; followed • by : the • despair of youth. They solicited the help of the consul for .Belgium in Sydney.. His efforts 'itoyfind them 'work ; took them to ■ Newcastle. Hope returned with the: jingle of money ,in; their, pockets - and - the ' know- ; led?®: of » new fields( to ' exploit,, but , the *.■ money was r spent. .before h the - frtirk was; found. ;; Then • came fear of 4 pursuit^ and j/j capture. The -hiffh. spirits of \ the early weeks .of the venture: dwindled to des- - rair, turning -' f the boys into night pnwrler3. ? ; They hid during the .and at niffht they made their wav bacK to. the protection of > the consul. TVv esoressed their onir;desire; to return to . the 1 L'Avenir and their passages w«ra jfratt JioqW}'! , back to, Ejnmsih* > , • .&M