MARK TWAIN

distress. Next comes the pulpit, which solaces mental
distress; soothes the sorrows of the soul. These two are
the great professions, the noble professions. The gap
between them and the next is wide—an abyss.

The most diligent industry in Victoria and New South
Wales is apparently horse-racing. There does seem to be
a perfectly amazing amount of it. The interest in it seems
to be universal and intense. The Melbourne Cup comes
off presently, and it is the event of the year.

(Australian) Convicts rose to great worth and promi-
nence and wealth. They left descendants who should not
be ashamed of them and probably are not. A redeemed
career is certainly a thing for the man himself to be proud
of, and this just pride in it should extend to his posterity.
Many of the convicts were mere boys, and were trans-
ported for long terms of years for stealing a rabbit or a
hatful of turnips, to stave off starvation. In fairness they
should not be called criminals.

The Sabbath is kept in Australia. They actually haven't
any Sunday edition of the dailies. It is said the pulpit
fears it could not run in competition (in interest) with
them.

No Sunday cable car service in forenoon.

When people get to be as good as this no amount of
horse-racing can damn them.

I have spent my entire stay in Melbourne in bed with
a carbuncle.

This visitation of carbuncles had begun in
Elmira. In one place he wrote: "The dictionary
says a carbuncle is a kind of jewel. I never cared
much for jewelry."

Since the beginning of the world there have been 225,-
000,000,000 savages born and damned and 28,000 saved
by missionary effort

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