In the summer of 1853, as Captain Pond prepared for his first voyage to Australia, he was able to secure Captain Davis to command his ship. And he was fortunate to recruit a personal friend, Dr. Downs, as the ship's surgeon. The rest of the crew was another matter. In his memoirs, he says:

"It was at a time when the criminal classes were being hounded out of the State [of California] by Vigilance Committees, and as Australia had furnished a large quota of that stripe, and also as gold had recently been discovered there, the Julia Ann offered a fine double opportunity for the hoodlum class to flee from the very pronounced danger of strangulation by remaining, and in exchange to enter into pastures new for indulging in their peculiar propensities, by returning to the country from whence they came. Our crew, even from the first mate down to the cabin boy, were of like character, and were shipped for one dollar each to work their passage."

It is important to remember that Pond had spent a year in the gold fields of California, from 1849-1850, and was familiar with all kinds of rough characters. In addition to this crew, he also was carrying between 150-200 passengers! Even he admits that this was "a much greater number than she should have been allowed for her registered tonnage." Most of these passengers were bound for Melbourne and the gold fields of Australia.