L'homme propose, &c.,
was well verified in my case. I was told that there was a good road all the way, and , that all I had to do to reach Burrendong was to keep the right hand track in every instance. With this clear direction, I thought it impossible to go astray. The track took me first down the river to within a short distance of the junction of the Cudgegong and the Meroo, along rich alluvial flats similar to those now being worked at Murrendi, but the purchased property of Mr. Cox, and passed that gentleman's cattle station. I may mention here that there has been some little skirmishing between Mr. Cox and the diggers, though it has not been attended with any serious result. The ground now being worked is, as I have said, a portion of the land leased by that gentleman under the pre-emptive right, and at first, as I have been informed, the lessee made a claim on the diggers for a monthly payment, for liberty to work. This was refused on the one side, and insisted upon on the other, and was only given up on the interference of the Crown Lands Commissioner. Mr. Cox, however, was sufficiently remunerated by the monopoly of the supply of meat to these diggings. This monopoly led, in a short time, to neglect on the part of Mr. Cox's overseer, and the meat supplied was of very inferior quality. Upon this, a person brought a flock of sheep, for slaughter upon the diggings -- Mr. Cox's leased land -- and the consequence was that they were seized for the purpose of being impounded. This result was avoided by the owner of the sheep forcibly re-obtaining possession of them from the person making the seizure. There the matter ended, the finale of all this never having been made public. It is believed, however, that the affair was settled, and Mr. Cox retains the monopoly of the beef and mutton trade, reading his overseer a lecture, I presume, upon the necessity of furnishing good meat, as since that time there have been no grounds of complaint. This is an episode that I have considered worth mentioning, as shewing the variety of questions that are continually arising out of the occupation of Crown Lands as gold-fields. Now, to return to my road. Before reaching the junction, of the two rivers, the track bears away to the left, over some short stoney ranges, and then descends into the valley of the Cudgegong below its confluence with the Meroo. Here, on the borders of a deep creek, and near the point where it empties itself into the river, I carno across a sheep station, and, to make assurance doubly sure, I again inquired my route, as I had a very strong impression that a man with a tongue in his mouth ought never to be lost for want of asking his way. I received the same answer as before, to keep all the right hand tracks."But,"
said my informant,"there is only the one road. There is a left hand track, but that will take you to the same place, only it goes round to avoid the hill."
Here, then, all was perfectly clear and straightforward -- only the one road, so I could not go wrong. I followed the track along the river, now over the flats on its margin, then, as the ranges came down too bluffly upon the course of the stream to allow a passage for a man or horse, crossing steep ranges, ascending on the one side merely to come down on the other. After about six miles of this kind of work, the road crossed the river and wound through some very broken stoney country, the mountains on the other side rearing themselves up to an enormous height perpendicularly from the bed of the stream, showing nothing but a sheer unbroken face of rock, upon which even a chamois would not have found a footing. Twice again the road crossed the river, as the country on either side became impassable to vehicles. After crossing the third time, I had travelled I should think about a mile along the road, when I observed the tracks diverge. I had my doubts about the right hand road, because it seemed to me to go too much up into the mountains; how- ever, as I recollected what the man had said about avoiding the hill, and as I saw just as many wheel tracks on the one as on the other, I took that to the right. Over mountains and rocks where the uninitiated traveller would never believe it possible that a dray could go, did I follow those wheel marks for some six or seven miles, until I began to look out for Burrendong, having then certainly travelled close upon the prescribed distance; but judge of my annoyance as I found the tracks leaving me one by one, until at last only one solitary wheel rut was left me, and that an old one that was all but obliterated, whilst the road, originally so broad and well defined, had dwindled down into a most unmistakable cattle track. Determined, however, to see the end of it, I pushed along, and in about half a mile further my road brought me into the midst of a very large cattle camp, and there left me and though I searched in every direction I was not able to pick up the wheel tracks on the other side of the camp. Here was a pretty pickle! In place of being at Burrendong, as I ought then to have been, I was lodged in a cattle camp, in the heart of the mountains; whilst as it was getting late in the day, it would leave me still a long distance to go, if I retraced my tracks over those terrible hills, the thought of which at once made me put my veto upon that course. However, I knew that by going down the hills I must come to the river; and that either on one side or the other the true road must run, for it could never traverse the gigantic mountains that bounded the valley of the stream on both sides. Being certain of this, I hung my horse's bridle on my arm, and descended the mountain to the river. I found a crossing place, after some trouble, and sure enough on the other side I came upon a road, but not the one I wanted, for, following it for a mile, it led me to a deserted sheep station and there ceased. This time I did not want to pause and consider. The road was to my left somewhere, and to the left I must go. There were some heavy ranges here coming close down into the river bed, and possibly the track might be on the other side of them, so leading my horse, I made for the gap in the hills that was nearest to me, and by some considerable agility on the part of myself and my equine companion, succeeded in crossing; when, what was my astonishment at again seeing the river running down at my feet, so that from where I stood, I could by putting out my strength a little have thrown a stone into it on either side. I was puzzled a little at this, but imagined directly that I had been unlucky enough to cross just at one of the deep tortuous bends that these rivers so often taken. I descended the hill with much more trouble than I had ascended it on the other side, as in some places my poor horse required considerable coaxing before he could be induced to slide down some of the rocks we had to pass. On reaching the stream, however, it appeared to me to be a much larger body of water, with a heavier current than the one I had just crossed. I discovered afterwards that it was a different river; that I had crossed the Cudgegong a little above its confluence with the Macquarie, which latter was the stream I had afterwards come upon. I had to descend the river a good mile before I could find a crossing place, but once over only a few minutes put me upon the road. Pursuing this for about two miles over a good level country, I reached a small station just at dusk, and discovered from the inhabitants that I was still five miles from Burrendong. Luckily for me, the road to this distance was a very good one, with no hills to surmount, or no gullies to cross; for, as it had to be got over in the dark, if it had been otherwise I should have been kept out in the frosty night much longer than would have been pleasant. To tell you the truth, the frosts in these high mountain regions are no joke, particularly to one who, like myself, has for the last few years led a town life. The barking of the dogs that guarded the diggers' tents first announced my approach to human habitations, and soon I could perceive the glimmer of the camp fires, dotted about here and there, burning out clearly in the frosty air. It was with flattering congratulations to myself that a few minutes afterwards I entered the only inn on the place, though its appearance did not give promise of the best accommodation.