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shameful disease of which he seemed rather proud than otherwise & it was with some disgust on my part that I listened to him describing the American girl in Texas to whom he was to be married in a short time & to prove which he exhibited her last letter & read extracts therefrom. The road from Victoria to Jaumave crosses a high steep ridge of lime stone which rises some 2500 or 3000 ft. above Victoria. A very fine wagon road is finished nearly to top of this range. It is an admirable piece of work with the lower side often built up on a wall of solid masonry. One turning at the narrow point of a hill is made on a fine, bastion like retaining wall 60 or 70 ft high with a strong stone parapet. At another point the road tunnels through a gutting point & eventually winds up to near the summit where we passed some grass thatched huts [[forming?]] the camp of two large gangs of convicts who are working on the extension of the road under heavy guard of soldiers. [[strikethrough]] At Jaumave [[/strikethrough]] Work has been going on here for 12 or 15 years & from the rocky nature of the route must continue a number of years longer. [[strikethrough]] On top of the mt. [[?]] [[/strikethrough]]. The convicts employed here are reputed to be long term men [[strikethrough]] of [[/strikethrough]] & the [[strikethrough]] [[?]] [[/strikethrough]] faces turned up to us as we rode through them