"letting themselves out,"
as they then know what they are going to get for their day's work. Half a mile higher four or five little rills, rising from as many bogs, unite their streams in a hollow, and here you are at the head of the Adelong, where every water course, however small, is auriferous. A little further still, and you are on the table land, and in the solitudes of a magnificent forest, which stretches on all sides over a swelling plain beyond the scope of human vision. Crossing the plateau in a north-west direction, five or six miles brings us to the broken descents which fall into the basin of the west branch of the Adelong, and here half way down we arrive at the White Dog Reef. This reef stretches north and south over two or three steep spurs, separated by deep ravines, for an extent of little better than a mile, where at the southern extremity a small stream descends from the table land through a deep gorge formed by its waters. Quartz crops out on the surface at three or four places in this extent, and a large number of shafts have been sunk along the line of the fissure, which are now abandoned, as none of the parties succeeded in raising payable stone. The fissure is narrow, the quartz broken, and the whole locality appears to have been disturbed by landslips. In some of the shafts I found that the fissure had been filled with an earthy com- pound coloured by protoxide of iron. This filling was probably produced by the grinding of the walls in the various movements; in such places no quartz has been obtained; in others, at a depth of sixty feet, the miners came upon a talcose schist in the fissure, with a little quartz, in which the layers of deposits were strongly defined, but which contained little, if any, sulphurets, and was not payable. The surface quartz, where it existed, if it contained gold at all, was exceedingly poor. The southern termination of the reef appeared to me to be the most promising. At the small stream the entire debris found in its channel and forming its banks, consists of quartzose fragments. Here a man obtained £40 worth of gold in a few days under the locality of the reef. Encouraged by this success, he collected a pile of the quartz from the bed of the water course, and with a hammer or wooden dolly crushed about two hundred weight, from which he obtained about seven pennyweights of gold. He had roasted the quartz to facilitate the crushing, and complained that, although he could see plenty of gold in the stone before the roasting, he could see none afterwards. This stone may not have been derived from the same reef; but from whatever reef, it is worth looking after, and it must be in the vicinity. The slopes overhanging the stream are covered to a considerable depth by a decomposed granitic drift, which at one spot is washed away by the water from an abandoned race, thus exposing large blocks of apparently auriferous quartz. The watercourse was found to contain gold for a few hundred yards below this place, when it gradually became unproductive. A hydraulic hose, for which water can be obtained at the requisite elevation from the stream, would in a few flays denude a large area, and perhaps bring to light a valuable quartz reef. Sufficient gold would probably be secured by the operation to defray the expenses. Returning to the northern extremity of the reef we find that there are but two parties at work on it at present -- one, consisting of three men, sinking on the crown. They have attained a depth of ninety-five feet, the walls are irregular, and the granite exceedingly hard and silicified in some places, and in others soft and decomposed; the miners have followed a narrow vein of about three inches in width, in which the quartz is crystalised and cavernous, with traces of iron particularly coating the crystals; at their present depth the coarse blue granite exhibits a little mundic with iron pyrites, and there is an appearance of slate coating which may perhaps be caused by the action of the impregnated surface-water on the exterior of the granite walls. This company, although sanguine of success, have not yet raised auriferous quartz or obtained an appearance of gold. The second party lower down the hill are Germans, who have reached, a depth of sixty feet; they have carried a poor reef down with them to their present depth, from whence they are raising a little blue quartz bearing traces of mundic, which is found in somewhat larger quantities in the silicified granite walls. I was shown two fragments of the latter which had been but just brought to the surface, and in which there was a considerable quantity of mundic with arsenical pyrites in minute crystals, forming a beautiful net work, in the midst of which I detected several particles of shotty gold by the aid of a lens; it is probable that auriferous quartz will be raised from this claim, but as the sinking is through intensely hard granite it must be both rich and abundant to repay the cost of bringing it to the surface. There is every indication that the wreck of schistose formations exist under the surface granites and greenstones which have risen through them. It will only be, however, after the lapse of ages that we may expect that they will be sufficiently denuded to yield their treasures to the streams and alluvial values. Descending to the west branch, I observed some abandoned claims on the creek, which, I was informed, had been worked by one-half of a party to obtain the means of supporting the other half, while they carried on their operations on the reef above. Reascending the plateau, and making the best of our way to the inn, four miles distant, we will cross Watson's Creek, or the east branch of the Adelong, and ascend the range; here fresh evidences of enormous land slides present themselves at every turn of the road. Arrived at the summit, you pass through a gap overlooked by the Bald Mountain, and a gentle declivity of about300 feet brings you to the head of Reedy Flat. This is a triangular plain, many hundred feet higher than the valley of the Adelong, encompassed by ranges which, on this side, are of no great elevation, the locality bearing a strong resemblance to that of Louisa Creek. The plain slopes, with a gradual declivity, to the eastward; and the base of the triangle is represented by the highest part of the flat, the apex by the point where the ranges approach from either side, and through which two streams, rising in marshes towards the head, and here, uniting their waters, force a passage, and after a descending course of five or six miles, fall into the Gilmore. The water supplied by the marshes being insufficient for mining purposes, a stream from the head of the Gilmore has been con- ducted round the flanks of the ranges into the upper end of the flat. The superstrata of Reedy Flat presents some indications of being a lacustrine deposit, and exhibits five consecutive layers. The first is a black bog soil; the second a red earth, derived from the detritus of the surrounding ferruginous formations; the third a yellow clay; and the fourth a blue gravel, resting upon a coarser deposit, comprised chiefly of fragmentary quartz, which is in great abundance, and the whole reposing upon a soft decomposed rock of granitic formation, in some places stained red, in others varied by blue or white. Fragments of green- stone and hornblendic compounds may be observed on the surface, and I obtained from a heap of tailings three or, four specimens of a talcose schist, highly silicified and indurated; particles of epidote trap were present in the same collection, although very scarce. The watercourses on either side, with the banks, have been extensively worked, and a large quantity of nuggety gold obtained, very similar to that of the Louisa; in fact most of the tempting nuggets exhibited by publicans within a compass of several miles as the produce of their especial districts, have been procured from Reedy Flat. At the point where the streams unite, immense excavations have been made, and a great deal of gold has been secured, but there is still more that remains undisturbed. The creek for about four miles downwards was and is rich, and there are about thirty men now employed upon it, who are all doing well, and realising from £3 to £10 a week each by their industry. The scarcity of water limits the number of diggers here as elsewhere in the district. Dace and party have obtained a lease of the lower extremity of the flat. As yet their operations have been unimportant. They are, perhaps, satisfied with thecertainty that their gold is deposited in the bank. This ground lay long abandoned after it had been partially worked by the first diggers, who ran off to some new rush j it was not until it had been taken up by the present lessees that several parties could discover its value, and they now feel aggrieved at its being locked up; it is singular how soon the common herd can see an advantage when it is pointed out to them, and then how strong the desire of acquisitiveness becomes. A digger brought a race for many miles over the mountains to this part of the flat, and, because it was pre- occupied, has gone wandering away with it no person knows where. Reedy Flat, on the eastern flank of this portion of the Adelong range, and the rich diggings in Watson's Creek, exactly opposite on the western slopes, with the rich specimens of auriferous quartz and heavy nuggets found on either side, point with a certainty to reefs of immense value, probably concealed by theland slides on the range that separates the respective diggings. These reefs intersect the bald hill in their northerly course, and diggers are frequently bringing in rich specimens discovered on its slopes, but the exact whereabouts is generally kept as a state secret. The formation of the range limits the source of the supply of all the gold on either descent to the area of two, miles from north to south, and within those limits the researches of all who are anxious to discover the sources from whence these rich deposits have been derived should be restricted. The auriferous portion of the reefs may have been already destroyed by the degradation of the range, but this can only be ascertained by actual investigation. There are two stores on Reedy Flat, and a public-house; a second has been built, but the owner having failed to provide himself with a helpmate was unable to obtain a license. About two miles to the south-eastward of Reedy Flat a shaft has been sunk, to the depth of sixty feet, on an auriferous quartz reef, by Mr. Spencer. The value of the quartz has not yet been tested by crushing. Following the crest of the Adelong range for five miles, still holding a course due south, you arrive at the head of the Upper Gilmore, rising on the eastern descents, and, within a very short distance, the heads of the Bega and the Tumberumba, having their source on the western slopes, both flowing south-west, over the tableland-the former forming one of the tributaries of the Tarcutta Creek, and the latter contributing its waters to the Murray. Theo Upper Gilmore is auriferous until it enters the lower valley and leaves the broken country, and has been proved to be very productive in places; one small party, who were the discoverers of the creek, having washed out at the rate of sixteen ounces of gold per day until their claim became exhausted. A few European diggers, with about twenty Chinese, still find it payable, and are to be found scattered up and down its banks, making from £2 to £3 per man weekly. There is a small store here, a branch from Reedy Flat. The country on either hand, with its many streamlets and watercourses, has yet to be prospected, and is nearly unknown. The Bega, which pursues a long, tortuous course over the tableland, is a stream of which little has been said, but from which a large quantity of gold has been procured. Its gentle current flows between low shelving banks, and the detritus in the water course, seldom exceeding two feet in depth, is found to be resting upon a quartzose gravel or cement, from which the gold is obtained, in fine water-worn particles. After it leaves the plateau, its course is little known, and it is supposed not to be auriferous. Diggers are still to be found sparsely scattered along its banks, who can always, if industrious, obtain gold enough to satisfy every requirement. The nature of the diggings has prevented any large number of miners from collecting in one spot; consequently, storekeepers have neglected it, and publicans have selected locations more favourable for their vocation. The Tumberumba, pursuing a route more directly south, and nearer the course of the auriferous ranges, has proved more tempting to the speculative miner, as the gold found in its channel, although in every instance, fine and waterworn, was more irregularly diffused -- rich patches being occasionally discovered in situations favourable for its accumulation. This creek, like the Bega, flows sluggishly between low grassy banks, the depth of the detritus resting upon the quartz, gravel, and fragments is from two to five feet; but the shallow ground is usually the richest. The broad grassy flats and magnificent, forest timber along the margin of the stream present many situations of extreme beauty, enhanced by your having previously been wearied with the rugged grandeur of interminable ranges. Isolated parties of diggers are to be found in the nooks and corners, and sprinkled along the banks of the stream for twenty miles. As you approach the village their huts become more frequent, and they exhibit more enterprise in their operations, as several waterwheels and other mechanical contrivances have been elected to subdue the springs and drainage, which appeals to eo their chief difficulty. The common earnings of the diggers, except in cases of unusual success are, from £2 to £4 per week. As much as from £30 to £50 a-week to the hand has been realized, but these instances have now become traditional, and were always of rare occurrence. Returning to the head of the Gilmore, and following the Adelong range for twenty miles, passing many promising looking streams on the route, you arrive at the Meragle, at the base of the Showy Mountains. There has been a recent rush to this place from all the neighbouring gold-fields, and a great number of diggers are scattered over the western descents, working in the various water-courses, all obtaining more or less gold of a coarse nuggetty description. It is probable that as the summer advances the number will be increased, as every stream, however small, appears to be auriferous. There was a rush to the head of the Merrigle Creek, fourteen miles distant, about twelve months since, but it was soon worked out and abandoned; the streams are all of the same character as those already described, the gold being chiefly obtained from quartz gravel. Twelve miles further you reach Lob's Hole, a tremendous gorge, in which the Tumut River has its source on the east side, the waters from the west flowing into the Murray; an immense track of auriferous country lays still further to the southward, but the digger has hitherto hesitated to explore the stupendous gorges and fastnesses of these rugged mountains. And now, returning from those hyperborean regions, we are again looking down upon the lovely valley of the Lower Gilmore, still unpeopled. There is no part of the colony from which there has been a louder cry for land than from the valleys in the Tumut district, none where it is richer, and none where it has been offered for sale more grudgingly; the few who have obtained a home have exhausted their resources by a competition with the less fortunate, and some have been compelled to pay as high as £10 an acre for a wilderness. No person with his eyes open can travel through this colony without perceiving that a monster incubus is brooding over the land, and repressing the energies of the people, and that a powerful and subtle influence is at work in every locality endeavouring to stem the tide of population; to this influence the official subordinates must bow if they desire to retain their position. Amongst the far off mountains, surrounded by fertile regions that have known no owner since the day when they rose through the troubled ocean and divided its waters, land is rented at from ten shillings to a pound an acre, and we have thus substituted a race of serfs for an independent yeomanry. We are but passing through one stage of our national existence, and repeat the experience of the American plantations in the days of Lord Baltimore.