Even to the antipodes--in the 'fifties unconnected by the telegraph with the rest of the world, and distant a three months' journey from England--the fame of the Countess of Landsfeld had extended. Her name had travelled completely round the world, and was as familiar to the people of Sydney as to those of London and Paris. Lola found that her prolonged rest cure had weakened in no way her hold on public curiosity. The moment for her arrival in New South Wales was not, however, well chosen. Commerce and agriculture were alike depressed, and the mind of the Colonists was preoccupied with the business of constitution-making. The city lay, too, under the spell of a celebrated Irish singer, Miss Catherine Hayes, "the sweet swan of Erin." It is, perhaps, worth noting that this vocalist was born at the same town as Lola, was married at the same church (St. George's, Hanover Square), and was to die the same year; that she made her _début_ under the same manager (Benjamin Lumley), at the same theatre, and that the two women had for the last year or two trodden undeviatingly in each other's footsteps. Miss Hayes had been in possession of the Prince of Wales's Theatre nearly a fortnight, when Lola's arrival startled the eldest Australian city. The newcomer was engaged by Tonning of the Victoria Theatre, and was announced to appear, together with Mr. Lambert, Mr. Falland, and Mr. C. Jones, on 23rd August 1855, in the four-act drama, _Lola Montez in Bavaria_. The theatre was crowded to excess.
"The Countess looked charming, and acted very archly. She was cheered vociferously, and recalled before the curtain, when she delivered a short address. Mr. Lambert (well known in London) created quite a sensation in the King of Bavaria (by which name he is now known), and at the end of the performance the Countess presented him with a handsome bundle of cigarettes--a very great compliment, as she is an inveterate smoker, and seldom gives any cigars away.
"The excitement about her immediately empties the Prince of Wales's Theatre, and Miss Hayes is then taken suddenly ill. Two nights after the Countess of Landsfeld is seriously indisposed, and Miss Hayes recovers. Her recovery restores Lola Montez to perfect health."[27]