Indignantly, Caroline Chisholm viewed the room, only fourteen feet by fourteen. Her appeals had finally persuaded Australia's governor to give her this tiny space--but look at the filth! Why had so little been denied her so stubbornly for so many months? But her mood soon brightened. At least now, this evening in 1841, she had a place near Sydney harbor to carry on her work. I determined on trusting to Providence to increase its size, and prove my usefulness." To claim the space, she spent the night there.

I retired wearied to rest. But I was put to the proof at starting: scarce was the light out, when I fancied a few dogs must be in the room, and, in some terror, I got a light." To her horror, she saw rats in every direction. "My first act was to throw on my cloak, and get at the door with the intent to leave the building." She hesitated, however. If she ran now, she would be the laugh of the town. Her plan to shelter immigrant girls would be ruined.

"I therefore lighted a second candle, and seating myself on the bed, kept there until three rats, descending from the roof, alighted on my shoulders. I knew that I was getting into a fever, in fact, that I should be very ill before morning; but to be out-generalled by rats was too much. I got up with some resolution--I had two loaves and some butter (for my office, bedroom, and pantry were one); I cut it into slices, placed the whole in the middle of the room, put a dish of water convenient, and with a light by my side, I kept my seat on the bed, reading Abercrombie, and watching the rats until four in the morning. . . . " At one time, she counted thirteen at the dish. "The following night I gave them a similar treat, with addition of arsenic..."

Treated as Trollops
Commitment to Christ kept Caroline closeted with rats. She had seen the desperate need of immigrant girls arriving in Australia in the late 1830s and early 1840s. A newcomer to Australia herself, Caroline learned of their plight when she saw a group of girls standing confused and dejected on the shore. She spoke with them and found that they were sleeping at night in the shelter of "The Rocks," Sydney's crime district, with pathetic bundles of belongings beside them. Told that they must leave ship within ten days whether they had jobs or not, the girls had nowhere to turn. No one would hire them. Although most were decent orphans, they were branded by society as trollops. Part of the problem was that the majority were Irish, and the Protestants of Sydney despised their Catholic faith. Another problem was past experience. Criminals on the ships gave a bad name to the rest. And some of the girls had turned to prostitution out of desperate hunger.

Shocked by Sydney's Lack of Sympathy
Moved with sympathy, Caroline asked each girl what her skills were and promised help. At once she visited acquaintances in town and placed several girls as workers in homes. Those whom Caroline couldn't place, she took home. Her housekeeper, babysitter, and friend, Miss Galvin, taught them a few household skills, and soon Caroline placed them all in homes. Of course, that was just one batch of young women. Ships were arriving regularly.

Shocked by Sydney's neglect of the young women, Caroline studied the immigrant problem. She saw that orphans, criminals and the insane were dumped on Sydney. She decided that the whole emigration problem must be her field. Once when she left, a letter from an immigrant girl brought Caroline back to Sydney and she found more shocking conditions. She could not harden her heart and stopgap measures could not appease her conscience. She wrote, "From this period, I devoted all my leisure time in endeavoring to serve these poor girls, and felt determined with God's blessing, never to rest until decent protection was afforded them."