Before the erection of telegraph wires, which now connect all the more
important mining towns, cyclists made good money by carrying special
messages from Coolgardie to the outlying districts. Except where the sand
was deep they had a good track, well-beaten by the flat pads of camels,
and could do their hundred miles a day at a push. Travelling at express
rate, they were unable to carry blankets or provisions except of the
scantiest description, and took their chance of hitting off the camp of
some wayfarer, who would always be ready to show what hospitality he
could, to messengers of so much importance. To have to part with one of
your blankets on a cold night for the benefit of another traveller, is
one of the severest exercises of self denial.
These little kindly services are always rendered, for a man in the bush
who would not show courtesy and hospitality to a fellow-wayfarer is
rightly considered a cur. No matter what time one strikes a man's camp,
his first thought, whether for stranger or friend, is to put on the
"billy" and make a pot of tea.
Arrived at Lake Darlot, I found work being carried on well and with
energy, as could not fail to be the case where Dave Wilson was concerned.
Poor Jim and Paddy had had hard times, before Wilson arrived, to make the
provisions last out. Nevertheless they had worked away on the reef without
complaint, while others around them were waxing rich on the alluvial.
The population had increased to some two thousand men during my absence:
two thousand men working and living in order and peace, with no police or
officials of any kind within two hundred miles - a state of affairs of
which we may justly be proud.
Evil-doing, however, was not entirely absent, and occasional cases of
robbery of gold, or pilfering of tents occurred; the offenders in such
cases were usually caught and summarily dealt with.
A "roll up" would be called, and those who cared to put themselves
forward, would form judge, jury, police, and all. The general verdict was
notice to quit within so many hours - an order that few would dare to
neglect. A case in which this did happen occurred at Kurnalpi when a man
was caught passing bad notes in the "Sunday School." He refused to budge,
and, seeing that he was a great giant with the reputation of being the
roughest and hardest fighter in the country, the question arose who should
"bell the cat." The man who had been swindled was a stranger, and
unwilling to fight his own battle; who, therefore, would volunteer to get
a sound hammering from one of the toughest blackguards in Australia.
