A VISIT TO THE SOUTHERN GOLD FIELDS.
FROM OUR SPECIAL REPORTER>
No. 8.
Leaving the din and tumult of the camp, and the ceaseless clatter of the mills, we will once again essay the
wilderness, and follow, the Adelong, to its birth-place in those trackless mountains which, towering upwards
as they recede, stretch into the distant south until they melt into the deep blue haze. Two miles from the
township you enter a narrow valley, through which the stream has forced its way. On either side rounded
hills, verdant to their crests and gorgeous with the many coloured gifts of spring, send down their long
slopes to the margin of the creek, where the mimosa, with its golden blossoms, rivals the laburnum, and
the saltbush, and a thousand other nameless plants and shrubs, fling forth their floral beauties to the
wooing breezes; but they are strangers all. The most interesting is the modest daisy and the butter-
Cup; -- they are old friends, and call to mind other lands, and with them a flood of recollections of
the past. As you proceed the country expands on the west bank, while on the east sparkling rills, come
leaping down the steep sides of the Adelong range, hastening to mingle their bright waters with the turbid
creek, diminished, by the numerous races that are carried along its sloping banks, at an elevation of forty or
fifty feet above its present course. The waters of the main stream would be clear and limpid also if it was
not for the number of diggers ground-sluicing near its source. Long lines of gneiss, cropping out
through the surface, are here seen stretching along the side of the range, breaking the descents; and the
more elevated summits are connected with each other by a line of lower hills, where small patches of
verdure, nourishing a few sickly looking shrubs, are broken by huge masses of naked granite. About four
miles from the township a broad dyke of hornblendic granite descends from the east range and crosses the
stream. Here a wide quartz reef crops through the grass, supposed to be a continuation of the Adelong
reef, carried over the intervening lateral spurs, -- it has never been prospected. Below this reef, at
Robinson's Point, the creek has produced a good deal of gold; and in an ancient channel, intersecting a
small flat on the opposite bank, a few diggers are still at work, and are making moderate wages. It is
probable that the gold at this bend of the stream has been supplied by the reef above noticed. About half
a mile higher up, Cooliman Creek comes in from the westward. Here the hills recede, the country becomes
more open, and the slopes of the range on the eastern bank have been cut into deep ravines by small
streamlets which come bubbling through the long grass across the rich marginal flats. Traces of work and
old races may be observed, but they are partly concealed by the luxuriant vegetation, and have been long
since abandoned. Many ancient channels of the main stream are buried in these flats, and it is probable
that if it contained gold in any abundance, that they would also repay the labour of reopening. Two miles
further the hills again close in upon the stream, and it pursues its tortuous course over bars and ledges of
varied trappean formations; the eastern bank becomes precipitous, bands of gneiss and pegmatite still
pursue their undeviating course to the southward, broken here and there by broad dykes of hornbendic
porphyry and green- stone, which form spurs from the main range where they occur, and may be traced
from the rocky banks of the creek along the summit of the ridges to their junction with the mountains. In
places where much denudation has taken place and the stream has formed precipitous banks by
the destruction of the base of a spur, a coarse pegmatite may be observed reposing upon pale masses
of granite, which becomes finer and darker coloured as they descend. On the western bank, the slopes
are less precipitous, and are formed from the debris of the ranges; here, working in from the margin of
the stream, the diggers have obtained gold in quantities sufficiently large to repay them for an immense
deal of labour. The excavations on the west bank are enormous, although gold is still obtained ; as the
labourers advance towards the hill, the striping becomes deeper, and it requires a greater amount of
exertion to reach the wash-dirt. The claims here frequently change hands, as, however sure the pay, the
labour is excessive, and when men get a few ounces of gold before-hand, they seek for localities that
require less work. Very little quartz occurs either on the slopes or in the detritus, in the channel of the
stream ; the pebbles, however, are plentiful, embracing almost every variety of trappean, porphyritic, and
granitic formation, and in many iron and lime form important components. The mode of washing adopted in
this district, as in all granitic formations, is by sluicing. Much of the gold is as fine as flour; it is probable,
therefore, that more is lost than saved by this operation, as the coarser particles only can be
retained in the boxes.
Two miles further, passing several parties of diggers, a farm, and a few comfortable homesteads scattered
along the margin of the stream, you arrive at Reilly's inn and store, surrounded by a small squattage leased
by the innkeeper; on the opposite bank gold has been obtained, and a few diggers still continue to find
profitable employment. A large half- moon flat is here washed on two sides by the creek, and many old
channels can be distinctly traced through it, which would certainly pay the prospector, as they must be
auriferous, if the present channel was worth working; it is said to have proved very rich, but has been long
since exhausted. Behind the inn a deep blind valley enters the range, through which Wilson's Creek flows
to the main stream; near the mouth of this little watercourse a party of men have been working some time,
and are making fair wages. Higher up the valley is the old police station, where a sergeant and a couple of
troopers are still located. Following the main stream upwards, the descents from the eastern heights
become more gradual, and you find a few men sluicing on the banks at the base of the slopes. These
slopes have proved payable, but not rich, as far back as they have been worked. The bed rock is soft,
containing a large pro- portion of protoxide of iron, which gives it a bright red colour. As far as the diggers
have reached the pebbles embedded in the detritus are decomposed, and several fine seams of blue
quartz have been denuded, and exposed by their operations. Much of the gold obtained here is coarse,
and has evidently travelled but a short distance. Half-a-mile further, the range again approaches the
stream, and confines its waters in a narrow channel between steep rocky banks, making one or two sharp
bends in its progress. Here experience has directed the researches of the miner or gold-washer. This
portion of the creek has been frequently worked over, and as often proved remunerative. Nuggets were
obtained, weighing from a few penny-weights to four or five ounces, and all containing fragments of quartz,
a party are engaged re-working it now, and appear determined, to leave nothing for, gleaners. They have
diverted the creek through a race some feet higher than its regular course, and have erected water-
wheels and elevators to take off
the leakage. Here hornblendic granites are the prevailing rocks. Many dykes and elvans of
greenstone, and fine granite, are exhibited in the creek, with an occasional stratum of a metamorphosed
micaceous schist. Quartz is still of rare occurrence. A quarter of a mile above this gorge the stream
divides, one branch flowing from the westward, the other trending due south until it strikes the base of a
huge bald mountain, which rears its head high above the surrounding ranges. The western branch is the
main Adelong, which has its source on the table land near the Tumberumba Road, about twelve miles
distant from the point of junction. This stream has been proved to contain but little gold. However, a few
scattered parties contrive to eke out a subsistence along its banks. Two miles above the junction you
reach a small swampy flat, where payable ground has been
worked, and which is said to be still rich and worth the attention of an energetic company of operatives.
The drainage would form the chief difficulty to be encountered. About three miles to the westward from this
place a quartz reef has been discovered amidst some broken ranges, from which rich specimens of gold in
the matrix were procured. It has never been fairly prospected, and re- mains unclaimed, perhaps, to reward
some enterprising speculator. A saw-mill, driven by an over-shot wheel twenty-six feet in diameter, has
been erected by an American party at the fork of the streams. The timber is obtained from the table land in
the vicinity, and all they how want is a market for their produce. It is worth a long journey to this spot to
learn what two or three determined men can do, with no other capital than their own indomitable industry
and perseverance.
The southern branch, or Watson's Creek, is the stream with which we have now to deal, and our
investigations will be continued round the enormous base of the huge mountain already noticed, on
every side of which gold has been obtained, sometimes in quantities that would satisfy the most craving
appetite. As we advance, the ranges become steeper and more elevated on either bank, the timber
becomes heavier and straighter in the branch
and the vegetation more dense and luxuriant ; diggers' huts are more numerous, and their operations
are carried on conterminously along the creek, which has hitherto proved itself to be rich, from the
junction upwards, and has now been the scene of the gold miners' labours for several years. Races are cut
in every imaginable direction, and you have all the evidences of a prosperous alluvial gold-field before you.
One of the most remarkable ,features in this district is the enormous landslips which have taken place, and
are still in operation on the slopes of the surrounding ranges, constantly diverting the course of
the stream. These result from the action of numerous springs that everywhere are to be seen issuing from
the slopes of the mountains ; they have decomposed the granites and other igneous products to an
immense depth, which, becoming saturated with water at certain seasons, slide down to the lower levels,
sweeping the forest before them like grass. Their debris has been partially removed at a subsequent period
by successive floods, and the gold that they may have contained deposited in, the watercourses. Shaking
bogs are frequently encountered at the highest' elevations,
and, I have observed the lower extremity of several swollen to a height of many feet above the
solid ground, and, apparently, just ready to burst. These bogs are often triangular with the apex down hill.
From the township, for upwards of twenty miles, I had been gradually ascending; and now the difference of
climate could be sensibly felt-it was at least a great-coat colder than in the basin of the Murrumbidgee. To
this elevation these springs and consequent landslips are due; and we must here recognise the harmonies
of wise design, and trace from effect to cause the merciful wisdom of a controlling Providence in thus
causing mountains to rise from the depths of the earth to be destroyed by the influence of their own
attractive powers, and their wreck scattered over the surface to renew it for the sustenance of His
creatures.
Proceeding onward for a couple of miles, working up the stream round the base of the bald mountain, and
passing over the succession of landslips which form its banks, we find ourselves at last in a vast basin at
the foot of a tableland that extends far to the south- ward, rising in its progress until it again commences
a descent into the basin of the Murray. The land on this plateau is rich; but the climate may be too cold, and
the winters too protracted, to render farming profitable. The forest timber is dense and valuable. Returning
to the valley near its head, we find Watson's hotel and store perched upon a landslip, being the only place
of business in this Alpine region. On all sides, where convenient sites occur, diggers' homesteads are
sprinkled through the forest, presenting an aspect of permanence seldom to be observed on alluvial gold-
fields. Streams from the numerous races, led from the higher sources of the creek along the flanks of the
ranges, may bo seen sparkling and rushing down the slopes. The difficulty is here not to obtain payable
ground, but to obtain the command of water at a sufficient elevation, and this is the more important as the
creek has been pretty well turned over, and from its having been recently discovered that the landslips
conceal rich auriferous deposits, often at a depth of from 50 to 60 feet. In the neighbourhood of the inn an
obliterated channel has been discovered under the mountain, about 100 yards from its present course. This
ground is held by a party of Americans, who have carried a stream from the head of the western branch for
nine miles across the table land. They purpose denuding the auriferous substratum by means of hydraulic
power. This system has been long successfully pursued in California, and was recently introduced upon the
Victorian gold-fields. The mode of operation is to conduct a stream, where it is practicable, to an elevation
of from 50 to 200 feet above the bank to be removed ; one end of a strong hose, six inches in diameter, in
secured so as to receive the stream at the required elevation, to the other is attached a strong brass nosle
three feet six inches in length, formed of a tube six inches in diameter, outside measure, on the extremity of
which is screwed a mouth-piece nine inches in length, which tapers to an orifice of from 1½ to 2½ inches ;
the entire, when completed, having the appearance of the hose of a monster fire-engine. The nosle is then
mounted upon a gun-carriage, and directed against the bank to be removed, which it effects
with astonishing rapidity; the force of a stream from one of these machines, with a fall of ninety feet,
would shiver a two-inch plank into splinters, and one of them, properly mounted and handled, has been
known to do the work of fifty men. They are usually sup- plied with two mouth-pieces, one of 1½ inch,
and the other of 2½ inches in diameter; the former for boring, and the latter for washing and breaking up.
Messrs. Russell and Co. manufactured the one required by the American company to their order. It is
heavier than necessary, but otherwise perfect; the most difficult article to procure is the hose, as it is
necessary that it should be strong enough to resist a tremendous pressure - gutta percha has been
recommended. This is a matter worth the attention of the Sydney importers; the use of these machines will
soon become general where water can be obtained at the requisite elevation. Gutta percha hose is
manufactured of a superior quality near the town hall, Birmingham, but cheapest at New York. To give an
idea of the supposed value of the claim last noticed-one of the partners lately sold his fourth or sixth share
for £550. The party immediately succeeding the Yankees have got a canvas hose with a fall of twenty feet,
and a tin concern mounted on a forked stick; this imperfect machine does the work of six men, and in
the claim referred to, the clay is very tenacious. Here about an acre has been swept away by former
proprietors, and a very large amount of gold obtained. They have caused a portion of the hill behind their
claim to sink or slide by their operations. Diggers may now be noticed going up and down the creek
selecting banks and landslips, and calculating the effect of their hydrous artillery when they open fire; it is
probable that some of them will choke the creek, and thus create a good deal of work for the local Court.
There are many localities, both on the Turon and Meroo, where these machines might be used most
profitably, if water could be procured; as banks that would not produce a pennyweight a day by means of a
cradle have been known to yield from three to four ounces by the use of the hydraulic hose. A description
of the remainder of this district, with its quartz reefs, the Bega, the Gilmore, and the Tumberumba, must be
reserved for a future communication.
AN AMERICAN JODQB.-A young judge, newly appointed to an inferior court having had a cut purse before
him, was told that the criminal should be condemned to lose an ear. He accordingly drew up the sentence
himself, and next Court day pro-
ceeded to read it : " "We have condemned, and hereby do condemn, the said criminal to have his ear cut
off." " Which ear?" asked the prisoner, sharply. The judge, taken by surprise, replied, touching one of his
own ears, " "Why, this one " " Very well, very good," said the criminal, " I shall not appeal : and what is
more, I will cut it off myself if you like!"
THE EMPEROR OF TUB FRENCH.-Messrs. Richmond and Chandler, agricultural implement makers,
Man- chester and Liverpool, are commanded by his Imperial Majesty the Emperor of France to supply,
through
Colonel Trotter, their improved machine for the pre- paration of horse food. In connection with this sup-
plemental machinery, an ingenious invention has justbeen adopted by the French Minister of War for
the better feeding of cavalry horses when on march. M. Naudin, veterinary surgeon of the Imperial
Guard,has succeeded in compressing the food for the journey into small tablets, like those already in use
composed of vegetable food for the army. M. Naudin hasgiven publicity to his process, and it is destined,
no doubt, to render immense service to the commissariat department in every country. The hay and straw
arechopped fine, the oats and corn crushed, and then mixed in proportion to the nutritive qualities
afforded by each. Upon the mixture is poured a mucilaginousresidue of linseed, and the whole is pressed
and comes out in a hard cake. This method of preserving fodder may be found valuable in reducing the
spaceoccupied in transit.-Ormtkirk Adverther.
THE ACTBESS AN» THK SKUM..-The following anecdote is extracted from "An Essay on the Science of
Acting." In the town ef North Waltham. Noi folk, 1778, "The Fair Penitent" was performed. In tiie last act,
where Calista lays her hand on the skull, a Mrs. Berry, who played the part,' was seized with an involuntary
shuddering, and fell on the stage. Buring the right, hermaneas continued. On the fol- lowing day,-when
sufficiently recovered to converse, I she tent for the'stage-keeper, and anxiously
inquired whence.he'procured'the skull. He replied, "irom the "sexton, 'who.'said it, was the skull of one
Norris, a player/ who" twelve years before was buried in the church-yard.',' That same Norria ,was her
first husband, and she had recognised the face. She died
in six weeks. ' J ' "
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