The Loveliness Of The Weather Seemed To Impart Energy
Even To Our Horses; And We Did Not Pitch Our Tents Till We Had
Travelled Full Sixteen Miles.
We were now close beside Mount Alexander,
which is nearly covered with timber, chiefly white gum, wattle
and stringy bark.
FRIDAY, 17. - A lovely morning; we proceeded in excellent spirits,
passing some beautiful scenery, though rather monotonous. During the
first few miles, we went across many little creeks, in the
neighbourhood of which were indications that the diggers had been at
work. These symptoms we hailed with intense delight. Gregory told us
the history of a hole in this neighbourhood, out of which five people
cleared 13,000 pounds worth of gold each in about a few hours. In lieu of
sinking a shaft, they commenced in a gully (colonial for valley), and
drove a hole on an inclined plane up the side of the hill or rise.
However wet the season, they could never be inconvenienced, as the very
inclination would naturally drain the hole. Such a precaution was not
needed, as the whole party were perfectly satisfied with the success
they had had without toiling for more. The country between here and the
"Porcupine Inn" is exceedingly beautiful - not unlike many parts in the
lowlands of Wales. About eight miles on the road we pass Barker's
Creek, which runs through a beautiful vale.
We camped this evening about four or five miles from Bendigo,
and some miles from the "Porcupine Inn," which we left behind us. The
"Porcupine" is a newly built inn on an old spot, for I believe there
was an inn in existence there before the diggings were ever heard or
thought of. The accommodation appears on rather a small scale. Near it
is a portion of the station of the Messrs. Gibson, through which the
public road runs; some parts are fine, others wooded and swampy.
SATURDAY, 18. - Fine day; we now approached Bendigo. The timber here is
very large. Here we first beheld the majestic iron bark, EUCALYPTI, the
trunks of which are fluted with the exquisite regularity of a Doric
column; they are in truth the noblest ornaments of these mighty
forests. A few miles further, and the diggings themselves burst upon
our view. Never shall I forget that scene, it well repaid a journey
even of sixteen thousand miles. The trees had been all cut down; it
looked like a sandy plain, or one vast unbroken succession of countless
gravel pits - the earth was everywhere turned up - men's heads
in every direction were popping up and down from their holes. Well
might an Australian writer, in speaking of Bendigo, term it "The
Carthage of the Tyre of Forest Creek." The rattle of the cradle, as it
swayed to and fro, the sounds of the pick and shovel, the busy hum of
so many thousands, the innumerable tents, the stores with large flags
hoisted above them, flags of every shape, colour, and nation, from the
lion and unicorn of England to the Russian eagle, the strange yet
picturesque costume of the diggers themselves, all contributed to
render the scene novel in the extreme.
We hurried through this exciting locality as quickly as possible; and,
after five miles travelling, reached the Eagle Hawk Gully, where we
pitched our tents, supped, and retired to rest - though, for myself at
least, not to sleep. The excitement of the day was sufficient cure for
drowsiness. Before proceeding with an account of our doings at the
Eagle Hawk, I will give a slight sketch of the character and
peculiarities of the diggings themselves, which are of course not
confined to one spot, but are the characteristics that usually
exist in any auriferous regions, where the diggers are at work. I will
leave myself, therefore, safely ensconced beneath a tent at the Eagle
Hawk, and take a slight and rapid survey of the principal diggings in
the neighbourhood from Saw-pit Gully to Sydney Flat.
Chapter VI.
THE DIGGINGS
Of the history of the discovery of gold in Australia I believe few are
ignorant; it is therefore necessary that my recapitulation of it should
be as brief as possible. The first supposed discovery took place some
sixty years ago, at Port Jackson. A convict made known to Governor
Phillip the existence of an auriferous region near Sydney, and on the
locality being examined, particles of real gold-dust were found. Every
one was astonished, and several other spots were tried without success.
Suspicion was now excited, and the affair underwent a thorough
examination, which elicited the following facts. The convict, in
the hope of obtaining his pardon as a reward, had filed a guinea and
some brass buttons, which, judiciously mixed, made a tolerable pile of
gold-dust, and this he carefully distributed over a small tract of
sandy land. In lieu of the expected freedom, his ingenuity was rewarded
with close confinement and other punishments. Thus ended the first idea
of a gold-field in those colonies.
In 1841 the Rev. W. B. Clarke expressed his belief in the existence of
gold in the valley of the Macquarie, and this opinion was greatly
confirmed by the observations of European geologists on the Uralian
Mountains. In 1849 an indisputable testimony was added to these
opinions by a Mr. Smith, who was then engaged in some iron works, near
Berrima, and who brought a splendid specimen of gold in quartz to the
Colonial Secretary. Sir C. A. Fitzroy evinced little sympathy with the
discovery, and in a despatch to Lord Grey upon the subject, expressed
his opinion that "any investigation that the Government might institute
with the view of ascertaining whether gold did in reality exist to any
extent or value in that part of the colony where it was supposed
from its geological formation that metal would be found, would only
tend to agitate the public mind, &c."
Suddenly, in 1851, at the time that the approaching opening of the
Crystal Palace was the principal subject of attention in England, the
colonies of Australia were in a state of far greater excitement, as the
news spread like wild-fire, far and wide, that gold was really there.
To Edward Hammond Hargreaves be given the honour of this discovery.
This gentleman was an old Australian settler, just returned from a trip
to California, where he had been struck by the similarity of the
geological formation of the mountain ranges in his adopted country to
that of the Sacramento district.
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