THE GOLD-FIELDS OF NEW SOUTH WALES.
FROM THE ROCKY RIVER TO THE HANGING ROCK.
FROM OUR SPECIAL COMMISSIONER
No. 8.
THE township of Uralla, on the Rocky River, promises one day to be an important one.
Already some ten or a dozen huts have been erected on if, whilst Mr. McCrossin has built
a very handsome hotel there, replete with every comfort and convenience, and forming a
strong contrast with the comfortless slab buildings that are licensed as inns on the
diggings themselves. There has also been a very compact flour mill worked by a 12-horse
power engine, erected by the Messrs. Kirkwood and Sons. I was very obligingly shown
through the establishment, and I found it fitted with all the latest improvements for
smutting and cleaning the wheat, whilst the samples of flour turned out ore quite equal to
any produced by our best Sydney mills. In addition to the buildings, very many of the
allotments have been fenced in, some being under cultivation as market gardens, others
lying idle waiting the time when their owners can afford to build or improve them. I was
informed that the greater part of the lots have been purchased by diggers, who are likely
to occupy them permanently. The township has been laid out on the bank of the river, on
a broad flat, formed by a bend in the course of the stream; and further up there is said to
be some very excellent agricultural land, the sale of which is eagerly looked for.
I left the Rocky River by Uralla, and following the mail track, escaped the creeks and
swamps of my upward route, as the road led over granite ridges, now, happily, pretty dry.
There were some few flats, which were evidently very bad places in wet weather, since
on one of them I saw a dray embedded up to the axletree, and deserted by its driver, who,
after breaking the pole, had given up all hope of extricating it. The track next dips into a
heavy stringy-bark forest, through which it winds and twists tor six or seven miles. It then
comes again upon some fine open land, enters a paddock at Stitt's sheep station, one of
the prettiest and most romantic looking little settlements in this part of the country, and
on leaving it comes out at Stitt's Inn, the spot where I had turned off in going up. I had
forgotten to mention that about seven miles from Uralla the Kentucky station is passed.
There is nothing remarkable about it, and it does not appear to be a very extensive
establishment. My next day’s journey was from Stitt's to the Moonbie township, and
thence my host, Mr. William McClelland, whose attention I am proud to have this means
of publicly acknowledging -- conducted me by a short-cut through the mountains to the
Hanging Rock, a good tough day's journey of about thirty-five miles, the greater part
being through a rough rocky mountain country, with steep descents and narrow sidling
tracks winding along the side of stoney hills and overhanging deep gullies bristling with
jagged rocks, and quite sufficient to appal any but an old stockman.
This day's journey was the most interesting in my whole tour in these parts. The narrow
track, now ascending, now descending, then passing along the face of hills so steeply
inclined as to make a footing difficult, anon winding round some giant mass of rock that
seemed to close the path, was made most attractive by the numerous and beautiful
specimens of rock that lay around, cropping out rude and jagged, or scattered about in
broken fragments. Serpentine of the most beautiful hues, blue, red, white, purple,
glittered in the sunlight, and seemed sparkling with, gold; quartz of every shade, from the
deep red to the milk-white, covered some spots so profusely as to make it a labour for the
horses to travel over it. In the, beds of the gullies, reefs of slate were thrown up, their
edges appearing sharp as sabres as I looked down upon them; whilst in the higher parts
vast masses of porphyry towered upon every side. In travelling along one of these hill
sides, my poor mare had the misfortune to tread on a sharp piece of quartz, and fell. I
instantly recovered her, but it afterwards became quite evident to me that she had hurt or
strained herself severely. After crossing the mountain, we came upon the beautiful broad
flat or plains that border the Peel on either side, being the most remarkable feature of this
river. These plains, hemmed in by the river on one side, and by the vast mountains or
ranges we had just crossed on the other, extend for some thirty or forty miles along the
stream, having about an average breadth of about a mile. They were covered with a thick
close herbage, and were perfectly alive with cattle, which fed quietly in large herds of
three or four hundred. One or two small sheep stations were passed, and then the river
had to be crossed some two or three times, the road still continuing on the river plains,
the approach to a gold-field being already made manifest by the gravelly red hue of the
water, the tinge becoming deeper and the water cloudier at each spot we crossed. Leaving
the river, we now bent to our right across low quartz ridges until we come upon Duncan's
Creek, a fine stream clear as crystal, which joins the Peel some seven miles below the
diggings. Shortly after crossing this creek we passed round the fences of the station of Dr.
Jenkins, the lessee of the run on which the Hanging Rock is situated. It is a beautiful and
romantic spot, the long low cottage with its well-kept garden coming out in strong relief
against the steep hills that tower up around it on every side. Some half dozen miles,
principally over quartz or granite ranges -- though one nasty muddy creek has to be
crossed with a corresponding black flat on the further side -- brings us at length to the
township of Nundle, and consequently to the Hanging Rock Diggings. Now, though I
have run this journey rapidly over on paper, it was not so quickly done in fact, for the
injury my mare had suffered began to tell upon her as we went, and at last she fell dead
lame, ultimately coming down with me in so determined a manner that I was obliged to
confess that she was completely done. Only by dint of great patience and some
application of whip-cord did I manage to drive her before me into Nundle, where I should
have arrived in most miserable plight had not Mr. McClelland by good luck been leading
a second horse. With this he accommodated me, and thus your Commissioner was
enabled to make a creditable entrée into Nundle, though only then only at the exceedingly
late hour of eight o'clock at night.
The township of Nundle is not yet a very extensive settlement, consisting at present of
only an inn and a small canvas store. A good deal of fencing, however, is going on, and
as all the lots offered have sold readily, a population may shortly be expected to settle
there. Some suburban lots, in small quantities of from 1 to 3 acres, have also been bought
eagerly; whilst a, large area of land adjoining has been already surveyed in larger lots of
from 5 to 60 acres, and the diggers are anxiously looking for the time when it will be
offered for sale. The township itself, as well as the land thus sold or surveyed, is situated
on one of those beautiful and extensive flats that I have above described as bordering the
river, whilst free access to the stream is given by roads reserved in all directions.