A VISIT TO THE NORTHERN GOLD FIELDS.
FROM OUR SPECIAL REPORTER.
No. 5.
The plateau on which the M'Leod and Sandy Creek have their source stands like an island in advance
of the main table land, to which it is connected by the Gerard Range stretching across its northern
extremity to the westward, in the direction of the Tenterfield Downs. The north descent of this range
forming the watershed of the Cataract River, a tributary of the north arm of the Clarence, the southern
slopes that of Demon Creek flowing through a broad and fertile valley to the Timbarra. The fall from the
western termination of the table land presents one unbroken line of elevation, trending north and south,
convoying the idea of an iron-bound coast, without any of those crests and naked granite peaks which at a
greater height rise from the forest and characterise its eastern limits.
This plateau, about six miles wide at the northern, and ten at the southern extremity, is eighteen miles in
length, and is bounded to the northward by the Gerard Range, to the southward by the deep
chasm through which the Timbarra has forced a passage, to the westward by the extensive valley of
Demon Creek stretching to the base of the main table land, and to the eastward by the valley of the
McLeod. It may be described as an elevated depression between two parallel granite ranges, that to the
eastward having been at a remote period many hundred feet higher than that to the westward; of the
former nothing now remains but the stupendous wreck (noticed in a previous letter), rising in fantastic
shapes along its course, and giving birth to the hundred streamlets that have wrought the ruin of the
ancient hills. The hollows in the intervening mountain valley have b silted up by the debris of the ranges on
either hand: here the luxuriant vegetation of the lower districts disappears -- treacherous bogs,
verdant with long coarse grass and waterweeds, are fringed with a growth of stunted poverty-stricken
timber, and a mass of prickly shrubs that spread over all the more elevated tracts, thickening here and
there, until they become an impenetrable shrub; a profusion of small quartz crystals, intermixed with the
scanty soil, give it a dazzling whiteness, and seems as if millions of bags of rice had been scattered over
tho surface -- even the black bog soil is mottled with these crystals, and they are found in heaps in every
little watercourse.
Quartz reefs, some having an east and west, others a north and south direction, may be
occasionally noticed on the slopes and in the channels of the main streams; they appear to be of different
ages, and to vary in their character, sometimes of the blue granite variety, but more commonly a light drab
colour; both seem to be auriferous, as the yield of gold below such reefs has generally been remunerative.
Towards the southward, particularly near Poverty Point, the quartz debris scattered over the surface is
abundant. Near such places as much as six pounds weight of gold has been taken from a pocket in a small
water-course in a few hours. There is every probability that payable reefs will be discovered on the table
land, but hitherto the miners have been too much engaged with alluvial operations to give them much
attention. However, the cost of labour on a gold-field must be reduced to something like the ordinary
colonial standard before this branch of industry can be pursued with a prospect of success. There is no part
of New South Wales where the present or former existence of rich auriferous quartz reefs is so self-evident
as in this district.
To the eastward of the plateau isolated strata, of a fine-grained yellow or red sandstone, in a
vertical position, invested by the coarser granites, frequently occur, and in such situations gold is obtained
in the greatest quantity.
Sandy Creek, rising amidst the piles of granite that surround the basin from which the McLeod issues, and
fed by numerous tributaries from, the same source, has been enormously rich at its head, and for three
miles downwards, when it precipitates itself over picturesque hills, and pursues its course to the northward
for several miles, collecting the whole drainage of the valley in its way, until finally descending through a
gap in the Gerard to the basin of the Cataract river, it unites with that stream.
All the lower slopes and depressions round the heads of the Sandy are auriferous, and wherever the
surfacing has been prospected it has been pronounced payable, if a supply of water could be obtained.
A short distance below the declivities and bogs, where the stream forms, is a contracted swamp, or
basin, about a mile in length, through which it passes; a shallow surface of black bog here rests upon
a detritus composed entirely of granite and sandstone drift, from twelve to eighteen feet in depth, reposing
on a soft granite bottom, with occasional strata of sandstone. Every claim in this basin has proved to be
a fortune to the holders; there are no exceptions. From 1300 to 1800 ounces of gold has been no
uncommon yield, and I am informed that parties have washed out from thirty to fifty ounces in a single day.
These are, of course, rare instances. A few of the first claim, holders sold their interest in ground here for
less than was subsequently taken out of it in a few hours. The works and excavations here have been
enormous, and at once attest the value of the deposits.
Nothing could be more uninviting than the aspect of these dreary solitudes, to the first explorers -- tangled
snub and unwholesome weeds crept upwards on a very tide through the forest, from the morasses
to rugged piles of granite and huge eroded boulders, suggestive of death adders and snakes and
bloated toads. Every now and then a rustling in the herbage would announce the retreat of some of these
guardians of the buried treasure, or you would perhaps break your skins against a prostrate tree,
concealed by a tall growth of noxious vegetation, nourished by its decay. The morass has disappeared,
and long ridges of dazzling drift occupy its place, extending from hill to hill, intersected by deep trenches,
not one square foot remains. The whole has been turned over to a depth of fifteen feet, and clusters of
tents and huts are huddled along its margin, tracks and paths innumerable cross each other in every
direction, and gigantic mahogany trees far as the eye can reach have been denuded of their bark and
stretch their leafless limbs towards heaven, as if complaining of the robbery; as you approach the edge of
the cuttings parties of diggers may be observed busy at their various avocations, a mob of new arrivals are
also taking their departure -- they say that all the payable ground is taken up -- and pronounce the whole
thing to be a monstrous cheat, got up by the storekeepers and the steamboats; with them Tooloom is a
humbug: Pretty Gulley a swindle; and the Millers a mere patch. If fact, the whole thing looks too much like
hard work to be agreeable.
On the western bank a strip of sinking has been discovered beneath a land slip which diverted the channel
of the creek; the depth is from ten to twenty feet; it is said to produce gold to the value of 5L a week to the
hand, but will probably soon be exhausted; the surfacing there is extensive, but running water is scarce,
and cannot be obtained in sufficient quantity.
Amongst the most successful has been a party forwarded by the aid of the diggers' fund from Sydney. The
claims were of unusual extent here, as in the absence of a gold commissioner the first occupants made
their own laws: a committee of the whole was appointed to scare away intruders -- thus establishing
a species of class legislation, suggested, no doubt, by the administration of our present land system,
and which worked equally well on one side. The Chinese have purchased some exhausted claims here
recently, which they are re-working with their usual industry.
The richest auriferous deposits have been probably discovered and exhausted in this neighbourhood;
but during the continuance of a rainy season the surrounding slopes will be the scene of extensive
surfacing operations which will afford a moderate remuneration to industrious men. Below the falls the
auriferous drift is less rich, and, with the exception of a few spots in the immediate vicinity of the tributaries
from the eastern range, it has not been much worked; as the creek descends it becomes less productive,
or at least the prospector has not yet found payable gold.
A public-house has been recently opened by a fortunate digger at the head of the creek. About a
mile beyond the inn an elevation of the valley separates the waters of the Sandy from a long swamp, at
the extremity of which a creek issues, flowing in the direction of the Timbarra. The head of this stream
produced a large quantity of gold, and has been all turned over. A number of Chinese are excavating in the
swamp, with some success, but the labour is excessive. There is a tract of payable surfacing on the north
bank prospected, but not yet worked. For some miles beyond this point, following the base of the eastern
range through the scrub, there is every auriferous indication that could be desired, except the gold itself,
and but few traces of the digger.
The small watercourses descending from the eastern range have been all productive of the precious metal;
rich near their source, they usually become poor long before they reach the main stream, and the lowest
portion is seldom worked with profit. Those descending from the westward, although containing a little gold,
have never been found payable. It is therefore evident that the gold obtained on the tableland has been
entirely supplied from the wreck of the eastern range that overhangs McLeod's Creek. The rich
watercourses that have been discovered in the scrubs in the neighbourhood of Poverty Point have their
source in the same chain of elevations; and on crossing the Timbarra, and following the range to the
southward, it will be observed that the limited gold-field on the tributaries of the Millera is in the same line of
granitic upheavals, and has been subjected to a similar degradation. At this latter spot the range merges in
an isolated plateau, clothed with an impenetrable scrub, beyond which the country is unknown to the
prospector. It is, therefore, probable that a careful exploration of this north and south range would lead to
the discovery of a number of small gold-bearing streams on either flank, few of which will be found to carry
their gold to the main creeks; and that an auriferous character, depending upon the formation and the
degree of diminution that has taken place, will exhibit itself at intervals until the range either subsides, or
becomes lost in the plateau at the head of the Timbarra.
I am unaware whether it has been ever remarked that all the gold-fields hitherto discovered in New South
Wales are either on the verge of plateaux, that have been subjected to more or less degradation, or are
situated on streams that follow the base of their descents. Whether in districts where the schists are still
perfect, or where the granites have, been denuded, or where they have burst through the sedimentary
deposits, the physical features are ever the same.
Leaving Sandy Creek, and crossing a spur from the Eastern range, making our way amidst
stupendous masses of granite as best we can, we descend upon the head of Gunner's Gully, a large
tributary of the former; it has its source in the same elevated basin as the McLeod, and may be classed
amongst the richest watercourses on the tableland for two miles from its head. A small excavation in its
channel was pointed out to me, from which ninety pounds weight of fine gold had been taken; also, some
other places which had yielded at the rate of an ounce of gold to the square foot: here every claim was
remunerative, and was only rich or poor by comparison. They will all repay a second working, as the miners
who went over the ground for the first time were in such haste to clutch the gold, and so anxious to get
through, so that they might, take up a fresh claim, that they must have left a quantity of the precious metal
behind them. For a long lime after the gold-field was opened, "grab" was the order of the day, and
consequently much valuable ground has been but hastily rooted over.
If dry diggings are discovered on the table-land, it will probably be in this neighbourhood. The
stream descends from the upper flat, through one of those rocky scrubs so frequent on the range, to a
narrow gorge-like basin, enclosed on three sides by mountains of nude granite, opening to the westward
upon deep alluvial fiats and slopes broken by low ridges formed by the accumulation of the debris
brought down by floods. All this made ground is auriferous. The operations of the diggers have been chiefly
confined to the channel of the main stream, but a few of the depressions between the ridges have been
also worked with success. Every watercourse in the vicinity appears to have been payable, and here, under
the source of the gold, it was impossible to go wrong in the selection of a claim; wherever there was
sufficient water for washing, gold could be obtained. Unless these watercourses will pay for reworking,
future diggers will find it necessary to direct their attention to a search for old channels, now either silted up
or buried beneath land slips, or to the flats and deep swamps, which yield a moderate return if worked
under an efficient system.
Auriferous deposits on a granite formation are so easily worked, and speedily exhausted, that no
lasting arrangement can be based upon their permanence. Any person going over this widespread gold-
field must feel astonished at the vast extent of the operations, and the work that has been performed in a
short a period, it is almost incredible. The rich accumulations of gold are gone, and all that can be expected
for the future is a moderate return for steady labour; and even that will have an end.
And now a broad track leads us over a dividing ridge, still flanked by the skeletons of mountains; two or
three neat huts are passed, and we are again in the main camp, the bark city of Timbarra, quiet
enough, Ichabod is written on every slab, Here four public houses, as many stores, capacious and well
stocked, two banks, butchers, blacksmiths, bakers, and many others wait upon the necessities or the
pleasures of their good friend the fortunate digger. You can tell the lucky man by the way in which he
swaggers in and out of the back parlour. He is everywhere a welcome guest; silly fellow, he only represents
his gold bags. There is a poor wretch, shoeless and travel worn, just come in from Grafton, resting
his wearied limbs in the corner of a verandah; mark the cold and supercilious reception -- he represents
himself -- however, luck and hard work and he may have the run of the back parlours too. The digger is
not the only man who represents his gold bags.
No person is quite sure where Timbarra is; but if this extemporised village is the veritable Timbarra,
it stands upon the summit of a sterile plateau, difficult of approach, out of the beaten track, and leads to
nowhere. It cannot survive the gold-field; as a township it will not take root; there is no soil, nothing to
support the population, except the one thing -- gold, and, I may add, gold-diggers. Any money,
therefore, expended upon court-houses and other improvements will be so much thrown away. Village sites
are not scarce from Busby's Flat to Barney Downs, where men could live when the gold becomes
exhausted. Even the Commissioner finds it necessary to fix the police camp and his residence at a
distance of four miles from the tableland for the convenience of grass, and the inhabitants also send their
horses and cattle to the same place.
Before the discovery of its gold, this dreary isolated desert was untraversed, and was considered to
be worthless for any purpose. The Alps could not form a more effectual barrier than it presented to the
cattle runs that terminated at the streams round its base. It is true that several parties have been churning it
since the gold-field has been opened, but it is with an eye to future property in a deserted village under pre-
emptive right. Those who had looked at the rugged peaks daily for years, to whom every patch of shade in
the gorgeous forests that mantled round the cliffs was familiar, knew nothing of tile wilderness that lay
behind. Even now, two-thirds of it is still a mystery.