Out
Of His In About Three Weeks And Had One Stone 10 Lbs.
Weight with 9 lbs.
of gold in it, so we are not the only successful reefers since you left.
I hope you will soon be with us again.
"If you are speaking about this 10,000 oz. we have taken out of our reef
in six months, remember that Bayley and Ford dollied out 2,500 oz. for
themselves before they handed it over to us on February 27th last, so that
actually 12,500 oz. have been taken out of the claim, without a battery,
in under nine months. The shoot of gold is now proved over 100 feet long
on the course of the reef, and we were down 52 feet in our shaft on the
reef, with as good gold as ever at the bottom. The other shaft, which we
have got water in, is in the country (a downright shaft). We expect to
meet the reef in it at 170 feet."
Besides Massie, myself, and Tom Cue, there were not then many employed,
and really we used to have rather an enjoyable time than otherwise.
Working regular hours, eight hours on and sixteen off, sometimes on the
surface, sometimes below, with hammer and drill, or pick and shovel,
always amongst glittering gold, was by no means unpleasant. It would
certainly have been better still had we been able to keep what we found,
but the next best thing to being successful is to see those one is fond
of, pile up their banking account; and I have had few better friends than
the resident shareholders on Bayley's Reward.
What good fellows, too, were the professional miners, always ready to help
one and make the time pass pleasantly. Big Jim Breen was my mate for some
time, and many a pleasant talk and smoke (Smoke, O! is a recognised rest
from work at intervals during a miner's shift) we have had at the bottom
of a shaft, thirty to fifty feet from the surface! I really think that
having to get out of a nice warm bed or tent for night shift, viz., from
midnight to 8 a.m., was the most unpleasant part of my life as a miner.
As recreation we used to play occasional games of cricket on a very hard
and uneven pitch, and for social entertainments had frequent sing-songs
and "buck dances" - that is, dances in which there were no ladies to take
part - at Faahan's Club Hotel in the town, some one and a half miles
distant. "Hotel" was rather too high-class a name, for it was by no means
an imposing structure, hessian and corrugated iron taking the place of the
bricks and slates of a more civilised building. The addition of a
weather-board front, which was subsequently erected, greatly enhanced its
attractions. Mr. Faahan can boast of having had the first two-storeyed
house in the town; though the too critical might hold that the upper one,
being merely a sham, could not be counted as dwelling-room. There was no
sham, however, about the festive character of those evening
entertainments.
Thus time went on, the only change in my circumstances resulting from my
promotion to engine-driver - for now the Reward Claim boasted a small
crushing plant - and Spring came, and with it in November the disastrous
rush to "Siberia." This name, like most others on the goldfields, may be
traced to the wit of some disappointed digger.
The rush was a failure or "frost," and so great a one that "Siberia" was
the only word adequately to express the chagrin of the men who hoped so
much from its discovery. Being one of these myself, I can cordially
endorse the appropriateness of the name. What a motley crowd of eager
faces throngs the streets and camp on the first news of a new rush - every
one anxious to be off and be the first to make his fortune - every man
questioning his neighbour, who knows no more than himself, about distances
and direction, where the nearest water may be, and all manner of similar
queries.
Once clear of the town, what a strange collection of baggage animals,
horses, camels, and donkeys! What a mass of carts, drays, buggies,
wheelbarrows, handbarrows, and many queer makeshifts for carrying
goods - the strangest of all a large barrel set on an axle, and dragged or
shoved by means of two long handles, the proud possessor's belongings
turning round and round inside until they must surely be churned into a
most confusing jumble. Then we see the "Swagman" with his load on his
back, perhaps fifty pounds of provisions rolled up in his blankets, with a
pick and shovel strapped on them, and in either hand a gallon bag of
water. No light work this with the thermometer standing at 100 degrees in
the shade, and the track inches deep in fine, powdery dust; and yet men
start off with a light heart, with perhaps, a two hundred mile journey
before them, replenishing their bundles as they pass through camps on
their road.
"Siberia" was said to be seventy miles of a dry stage, and yet off we all
started, as happy as kings at the chance of mending our fortunes.
Poor Crossman (since dead), McCulloch, and I were mates, and we were well
off, for we had not only "Little Carnegie," and who, like his master, had
been earning his living at Bayley's, but a camel, "Bungo" by name, kindly
lent by Gordon Lyon. Thus we were able to carry water as well as
provisions, and helped to relieve the sufferings of many a poor wretch who
had only his feet to serve him.
The story of Siberia may be soon told. Hundreds "rushed" over this dry
stage, at the end of which a small and doubtful water supply was
obtainable. When this supply gave out fresh arrivals had to do their best
without it, the rush perforce had to set back again, privations, disaster,
and suffering being the only result.
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