"bush it,"
it is time to seek for quarters for the night, and as you saunter along the rugged track you feel that at every step"you drag a lengthening chain."
We are still higher than the ranges on the northern bank, although we have been making our way down hill for some time; and as we look beyond them we see broken ridges gradually diminishing in height as they recede, until they sink in distant plains, where the crests of solitary hills rising above the evening mists that are gathered on the low lands, appear like islands resting on the bosom of an unruffled ocean. The sun has now gone down behind the western ranges, the labours of the day are terminated, the diggers arc preparing their evening meal, and the light of a hundred fires are reflected from the foliage of the trees. You now, following the mountain road, continue the descent of a long winding spur that sinks into the flats below; on each side are deep ravines, that lead the drainage from the broken descents from the table land to the creek, that, meandering through the plain, falls into the Meroo. Having left the coarser clay slates far above, the formation now consists of compact yellowish schists in vertical strata, alternating with narrow bands of a transmuted sand-stone, and occasional veins of a hard blue cornean slate, in their laminę or plates. Parallel quartz reefs of from eighteen inches to two feet in width cross this spur, in a direction parallel to the plane of the cleavage, and throw off many diverging leaders on cither side; the general direction is N.W. and S.E. The spur to a certain extent follows the course of these reefs, and to their presence is it mainly indebted for its preservation from more rapid disintegration. As you descend you pass over immense masses of ferruginous quartz, streaked with black veins, and of a yellowish blue and pure white colour, containing many cavities, and occasional transparent crystals, and the base of the spur is covered to a considerable depth with quartz debris. These reefs present every indication of having been auriferous, and maybe so still. They have the appearance of split veins, but from the enormous masses of quartz lying about in all directions, with the detached blocks partially buried in the surface, and the depth of the debris, it is difficult to form an opinion of their real character. A party have been for some months located on the lower part of the reef, near the base of the spur; and, although they have opened three or four shallow holes, they have made little or no progress in developing the true value of their claim. They have erected a miniature wooden crushing-machine, driving three small stampers, by which they might contrive to convert a couple of buckets full of roasted quartz into coarse gravel by a hard day's labour. I examined several small piles of quartz, which appear to have been collected for crushing, but by the aid of a powerful microscope was unable to detect a single particle of gold. I have, however, been informed that several small specimens have been obtained from the reef, or in its neighbourhood. Much loss has been occasioned, and more discredit has been thrown upon quartz-crushing since its first introduction, by the difficulties thrown in the way of ascertaining the true value of reefs by speculators, and others interested in postponing this knowledge as long as possible. Carriage to Sydney by means of return drays can be easily obtained on any of the gold-fields, at a mere nominal rate; and the whole cost of proving five cwt. of quartz, exclusive of quarrying or raising would not exceed £10; a sum much below the outlay requisite to erect the rudest machinery for the same purpose. It would advance the interests of quartz mining in no inconsiderable degree if the Government were to add a small quartz crushing apparatus to the Mint establishment, when parties, desirous of proving a reef supposed to contain gold, should quarry three or four cwt. of quartz from various parts of it, in the presence of the Commissioner of the district, or his deputy, who would see the quartz enclosed in convenient packages, and affix his seal thereto, giving a certificate of the same to the prospectors. This quartz would then be forwarded to the Mint for crushing, when the officer in charge would issue a certificate of the value of the proceeds. The transaction should defray all its expenses by fees and charges, and these certificates would form a satisfactory basis on which to ground future operations. It is well known that it is possible to select specimens from a reef that will show 150 ounces to the ton, when the average yield will be under two ounces and it is to protect the uninitiated from this species of fraud that some arrangement of the kind is necessary. We are now on the margin of Sailors' Creek. This stream has its source amongst the descending ridges under the Louisa, and flows at the base of the spur. Just described, receiving a number of small streams in its course it runs nearly north and south, and disembogues into the Meroo. The upper portion is silted up to the depth of 12 or 16 feet by the detritus from the ranges, and presents the appearance of a narrow flat, through which the stream has cut a new channel; the ramifications of this creek diverge on all sides near its source; and collect the entire drainage of a beautiful amphitheatre of wooded hills, on the south side of which is the Louisa Flat. Somewhere at the crossing place at the base of the spur, about two years since, a drayman picked up a respectable-sized nugget on the surface, as he was driving his bullocks. He published his good fortune at the first public-house he reached on the Flat, when, before he had time to swallow his third nobbler, the place swarmed with men, women, arid children, who claimed the whole in common, and worked indiscriminately until the patch was exhausted; in four or five days upwards of £5000 worth of gold is sail to have been taken from the surface, and great was the rejoicing, and many the freaks perpetrated by the lucky ones. This in all probability was the produce of the reef above. Sailors' Creek has produced a large quantity of gold from first to last, and was worked at an early period. About half way down the flat the same reef again appears, forming the crest of a low mound, which is covered with its debris. Below this point the creek was very rich, and numerous heavy nuggets and much gold have rewarded the diggers for their labours, both on the banks and in the channel of the stream. A little further down the lead has been lost; the gold had been supplied by the breaking up of this reef, and never travelled far from the spot where it was liberated, and now lies at the bottom of some ancient channel through the flat, obliterated by the action of subsequent floods. Pursuing the road that crosses the flat, you pass two or three small gullies, falling from the crest of mounds, on the crown of which quartz reefs can generally be traced; these gullies are for the most part exhausted, -- were all payable, and some of them unusually rich. Many tents pitched in picturesque situations now diversify the prospect on either side, and as you go forward occasional cottages and gardens in high cultivation announce the permanent character of a portion of the population. Now and then an irregular patch of naked rock and gravel many yards in extent tolls where a piece of surfacing has been worked out. Deep shafts now become so thickly scattered over the surface that it is dangerous to leave the beaten track; a little further still the road approaches the river, and you are on the bar. This is the point of a long ridge, and here large quantities of gold have been, and still continue to be procured. Maitland bar was amongst the earliest places worked on the Meroo, and still sustains its reputation. The depth of the shafts there vary from 20 to 40 feet, and the miners have 4 or 6 feet of water to contend with before they can reach the bed rock, consequently it has been very imperfectly worked; the whole might be drained by means of a deep shaft and horse pumps, but no such extensive works have, as yet been undertaken on this river. When the diggings were first opened, about six years since, from forty to fifty ounces of gold were frequently obtained from one bucketful of washing stuff; and even now from £100 to £150 worth of gold has recently rewarded an afternoon's labour. The lucky party have been more intent upon draining the rum cask than their claim; and when they find it necessary to resume their labours, they will be several days occupied in overcoming the water and getting the hole into working order. A little lower down, the rock rises to the surface, and beyond this, on the bank of the river, is a large Chinese encampment. The Chinese generally find employment in the bed of the stream; they have a store kept by a Celestial rejoicing in the name of Quangho. This individual is an employer of labour, or a boss, and has from thirty to forty hands working bed claims close to his store. He pays them wages at the rate of eightpence a day, with rations; and what between storekeeping and digging is accumulating a rapid fortune; the Chinese understand the use of the dice-box as well as the pale sons of the West, perhaps it is to them we are indebted for the accomplishment, we certainly owe them the compass, printing, gunpowder, and, perchance, the dice-box; they are inveterate gamblers, and stick to the gaming-table with all the pertinacity of a Spaniard or a Mexican. The hills now recede, forming an amphitheatre, and a quarter of a mile in advance of the camp is the cricket-ground. This is an extensive half-moon flat, and it is terminated by a range that descends from the southern table land, and, crossing the flat, appears to connect with the northern range. The river driven northward for a few hundred yards forces a passage through a narrow gorge, and ultimately disembogues into the Macquarie, The gorge through which the river has burst below the Cricketers' Flat has been formed at a comparatively recent period, prior to which the stream passed over the ridge, and occupied a channel from forty to fifty feet above its present elevation, at that date it turned to the southward at Maitland bar, and held a course round the base of the ranges surrounding the flat; as the rocky barrier sank under the action of the stream, the river gradually lowered its bed, and retired to the base of the northern ranges, leaving its ancient channel round the Half-moon Flat, now a slightly elevated plain, and buried under the detritus from the heights above. Many of the diggers now on the bar who have bottomed their holes are doing well, and some making from £5 to £6 a week to the hand. In certain parts the gold is fine, in others coarse, but always abraded or water-worn. There are four stores on this flat well supplied, two public-houses well patronised by the diggers, and a butchering establishment; there are besides about twenty families and 150 European diggers, with several hundreds of Chinese, who are constantly on the move, so that it is difficult to form a correct estimate of their numbers. There is neither school nor church; but those who choose to ascend the table lands can have the advantage of the establishments at the Louisa. There is little intercourse between the two places, although the distance does not exceed four miles; but then, it is such a getting upstairs; two miles of a steep winding mountain road is a serious consideration, with the thermometer at 120, and no shade. Crossing the low steep ridge below the Cricket Ground, you descend upon a large verdant undulating flat, heavily timbered, and named Green Hollow, round which the river winds, making a detour, and then doubles round Jefferies' Point -- a long spur falling from the northern ranges, and subsiding gently to the margin of the stream. On the lower side of the former an old channel has been discovered running parallel to the river; it was very productive, and has been only imperfectly worked; the water, forming the chief impediment, could not be overcome by the ordinary method of baling and no other means was adopted. The latter point had also some rich ground on its lower side, one party realising as much as £300 to the hand after all expenses were paid. It has not been much worked and the river here partakes of the character of a water- hole. On the north bank, above Jefferies' Point and below the gorge, is a large bar, which has been profitably worked by the Chinese; here the river has frequently altered its course, and spread over a large surface. The floods are frequent; they rise to a great height with extreme rapidity, and subside usually in a few hours. After on hour's rain the waters come rushing down like a tidal wave, sweeping everything before them; toms, tubs, sluices, cradles, are all involved in one universal smash; for this reason extensive works have not been undertaken on the river and when they are, all must be flood-proof.