The Barks Of The Trees, And Also The Ground,
Have A Black, Charred Appearance (Hence The Name Of The Forest); This
Is Said To Have Been Caused By Its Having Once Been On Fire.
Many of
the ambuscades of the noted Douglas were passed, and the scenes of some
most fearful murders pointed out.
We only halted once - so anxious were
we to leave behind us this dreaded spot - and at sunset reached the
borders of the Five Mile Creek.
MONDAY, 13. - Another fine day. Crossed the Five Mile Creek by means of
a rickety sort of bridge. There are two inns here, with plenty of
accommodation for man and beast. We patronized neither, but made the
best of our way towards Kyneton. Our road lay through a densely
wooded country till we arrived at Jacomb's Station; this we left, and
turning to the right, soon reached Kyneton, which lies on the river
Campaspe.
Carlshrue lies to the right, about three miles distant, on rather low
land; this is the chief station of the Government escort; the barrack
accommodation is first-rate, with stabling and paddocks for the horses,
&c.
Kyneton is about sixty-one miles from Melbourne. There are two large
inns, with ample accommodation for four hundred people between them,
several stores, with almost every needful article. A neat little
church, capable of holding nearly three hundred persons, with a school
and parsonage. There is a resident magistrate and constabulary, with a
police-court and gaol in progress of erection. The township is rather
straggling, but what houses there are have a very picturesque
appearance. The only draw-back to this little town is the badness of
the streets. Although it is rather on an elevated spot, the streets and
roads, from the loamy nature of the sod, are a perfect quagmire, even
abominable in summer time. The charges here are high, but not
extortionate, as, besides the two inns alluded to, there are several
coffee-shops and lodging-houses; so competition has its effect even in
the bush.
The Campaspe is a large river, and is crossed by a substantial timber
bridge.
We still adhered to our original plan of camping out; a few necessaries
were purchased in the town, and after continuing our journey to a
little distance from it, we halted for the night.
TUESDAY 14. - This morning commenced with a colonial shower, which gave
us all a good drenching. Started about eight o'clock; returned to
Kyneton; crossed the bridge, and passed several farm-houses. The
country here is very changeable, sometimes flat and boggy, at others,
very hilly and stony. We were obliged to ford several small creeks,
evidently tributaries to the Campaspe, and at about ten miles from
Kyneton, entered the Coliban range, which is thickly wooded. The river
itself is about fourteen miles from Kyneton. Here we camped, in the
pouring rain. Some of our party walked to the town of Malmsbury, about
a mile and a half from our camping place. The town consisted of
about three tents, and an inn dignified by the appellation of the
"Malmsbury Hotel". It is a two-storied, weather-board, and pale house,
painted blue, with a lamp before it of many colours, large enough for
half-a-dozen people to dine in. It (the inn, not the lamp,) is capable
of accommodating two hundred people, independent of which there is a
large tent, similar to the booths at a fair, about 100 feet long by 30
wide, for the convenience of those who prefer sleeping under cover when
the house is full. Being hungry with their walk, our comrades dined
here, for which they paid 3s. 6d. a-piece; ale was 1s. 6d. a glass;
brandy 2s. per half glass, or "nobbler;" cheese, 4s. 6d. a pound;
bread, 5s. the four-pound loaf; wine, 25s. a bottle. By the time they
returned, we had struck our tents, intending to cross a muddy-banked
creek that lay in our road that evening, as we were told that the
waters might be too swollen to do it next day. The water reached above
their waists, and as my usual post was very insecure, I was obliged to
be carried over on their shoulders, which did not prevent my feet from
being thoroughly soaked before reaching the other side, where we
remained all night.
WEDNESDAY, 15. - Rainy day again, so much so, that we thought it
advisable not to shift our quarters. In the afternoon, three returning
diggers pitched their tents not far from ours. They were rather
sociable, and gave us a good account of the diggings. They had
themselves been very fortunate. On the same day that we had been idly
resting on the borders of the Black Forest, they had succeeded in
taking twenty-three pounds weight out of their claim, and two days
after, two hundred and six ounces more, making, in all, gold to the
value (in England) of about eighteen hundred pounds. They were
returning to Melbourne for a spree, (which means to fling their gains
away as quickly as possible,) and then as soon as the dry season was
regularly set in, they meant to return to Bendigo for another spell at
work. On representing to them the folly of not making better use of
their hard-earned wages, the answer invariably was, "Plenty more to be
got where this came from," an apt illustration of the proverb, "light
come, light go." Two of these diggers had with them their licences for
the current month, which they offered to sell for ten shillings each;
two of our company purchased them. This, although a common
proceeding, was quite illegal, and, of course, the two purchasers had
to assume for the rest of the month the names of the parties to whom
the licences had been issued. As evening approached, our new
acquaintances became very sociable, and amused us with their account of
the diggings; and the subject of licensing being naturally discussed,
led to our being initiated into the various means of evading it, and
the penalties incurred thereby.
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