"shicer."
At last, some two years' since, a fortunate digger struck a lead, when it was"rushed"
and speedily exhausted. Beyond this a small creek falling from the ranges has not paid for working, although the lofty conical hill that rises from its margin contains a vast extent of rich surfacing on its slopes, which has been more or less worked. This surfacing commences under a large quartz reef, that crops out near the crest, and is to be found at intervals down the sides. It is probable that a valuable lead will be discovered at the foot of the mountain, as the gold in Long Flat appears to have been supplied from this source; the lead was lost at the head of that flat about a quarter of a mile distant, and in a direct line from the surfacing. Two Germans working a small puddling machine by hand are the only parties employed at present on the slopes of the hills, and they can realise between £5 and £6 a week each, and have been doing so for some time. A mile higher up, the mountains, on the north bank, become precipitous, and overhang the stream, where the sluggish under-current and the depth of the detritus have prevented mining operations being carried on, either in the bed of the stream or on the lower marginal flats and points. Returning to the south side, the road leads over high-swelling flats, at some distance from the main watercourse; here you find that every indentation of the surface, or ramification of a gully is auriferous. Many of these have been worked, and some exhausted; patches of surfacing are also frequent in the vicinity of quartz reefs. You may now observe that the majority of the lower ridges are what are commonly known as made hills, being formed from the debris of the flanking ranges. Shafts have been sunk here and there in these hills, but I could find none that had been bottomed; many were between 200 and 300 feet above the water level. The surface consisted of a white or reddish argillaceous clay, intermixed with fragments of quartz, resting upon water-worn pebbles and boulders, which, at some period, must have been much rolled by tidal waters, and which increased in size as they went down, until at last they become so heavy as to render removal impossible by any means within reach of a digger. It is evident that no stream in this valley can ever have been of sufficient strength or duration to wear these boulders and pebbles to their present form; they must, therefore, have been supplied by the disintegration of the conglomerates which once rested upon the ranges, and have long since disappeared the fluviatile action of a comparatively small stream would enable the heaviest to find their way to the bottom by the removal of the gravel and the lighter pebbles. It is also to be remarked that many of these round stones and boulders are formed from the debris of rocks not to be found in situ in the valleys, or on the neighbouring ranges. The basin of Campbell's Creek pierces many miles deeper into the conglomerates and sandstone series that occupy the highest portion of the country than the Meroo, and, unlike the basin of that river, it expands in width as you approach the head. This will, in some degree, account for the increased number and size of the made hills and ridges; the greater depth of the alluvium in the flats, and the accumulation of boulders to be found in deep sinking between the surface and the bed rock, -- the schistose ranges on either hand abounding in veins and agglomerations of quartz from base to crest are all more or less auriferous, and many mountain streams lead their treasures to the plains. At whatever depth it may lay buried it is certain that gold has been accumulating in these valleys from the hour when the quartziferous schists were first exposed to the disintegrating power of the elements. We now continue our journey upwards, and pass several small gullies, falling from the ranges to the southward, all of which have been rich and are now exhausted. Many points are passed on the lower flats where holes have been sunk, but water, as usual, drove the diggers from their claims. For the last two miles (with the exception of three men in a ravine), no diggers were to be seen, and now you arrive at one of those non- descript farms, consisting of a rude bark hut, a large stock-yard, a few dilapidated fences, and a small, neglected garden. The ranges here become higher and more precipitous, and frequent narrow gorges, forming the rocky course of mountain torrents, lend into flats and valleys within the ranges, many of which are of considerable extent, and to which there is no other entrance. These valleys branch off in every direction, and usually terminate in some deep glen, hemmed in by the rocky descents from the main range. Many of them are richly grassed, and well watered, forming secure natural paddocks, which are not generally known. Passing the farm, and crossing two or three high spurs from the southern hills, which are of the usual schistose formation, and abound with quartz, you find a party of three diggers at Hook's Point, being the last you meet with on Campbell's Creek; and here the north bank again becomes steep and rocky, the stream pursuing its course now through channels worn deep into the schistose formation, and then winding through flats where its waters are lost in deep beds of shingly drift. Plains alternating with auriferous spurs of considerable elevation occupy the south side of the valley, and the solitary road"Rolls in rude maze o'er the abandoned waste."
Long lines of white calcareous sandstone now begin to appear, crowning the northern ranges, which become still more lofty and broken as you proceed. You have left all traces of the digger far behind, and pass many mountain streamlets descending from the schistose plateau, all of which present strong evidences of the presence of gold; in one of these (Spring Creek) a nugget weighing eleven ounces was picked up near the crossing. I could not learn whether any of these water-courses had been prospected, and there was no appearance of work of any description having been carried on. And now you pass a large deserted sheep station on the slope of a hill, succeeded by a deep flat, which leads to the base of an auriferous range descending from the Pyramul; this range everywhere produces gold, and the flats into which it here subsides claim the especial attention of the prospector. Large quantities of gold have been procured at various points in its course, commencing at the Bogie Mountain, crossing the head of the Devil's Hole Creek, giving birth to the Pyramul on the one side and Lone Creek on the other, and after supplying all the gold obtained in the upper portion of those well known gold-fields, here gradually sinks into the basin of Campbell's Creek. Its course is nearly north and south, and many of the richest reefs that have scattered their treasures over the Upper Meroo district intersect it; by following the track of these reefs you will pass through all the important diggings within many miles. The alluvial gold-fields on the main watercourses were discovered at an early period, and after being worked for seven years may be said to be exhausted, although they still afford subsistence to a small population who have become habituated to the locality, but when auriferous quartz is sought for, and crushing operations become general, these reefs will be worth following into the mountains. Crossing the declivity of the range, a prospect of unrivalled magnificence bursts upon you. On the left rugged rocks and broken mountains, piled in con- fused masses, rise one upon the other, covered with dense forests -- here dark and gloomy in the perpetual shade of some deep gorge, and there reflecting a hundred varied hues in the bright sunshine; while, on the summits, the white limestone cliffs, with their mimic battlements and towers, seem like the feudal relics of past ages frowning on the lower world from their airy height, grand and majestic even in decay. At the base a verdant plain stretches far to the southward, when ridges swelling into hills, and hills into mountains, close in the valley; and now descending to the plain, you pursue your route over rich flats, diversified by swelling knolls, and patches of forest scenery for three miles, when the appearance of a mountain homestead relieves the painful solitude of the road. Passing still onward the southern hills approach and contract the valley; while the northern ranges on which masses of conglomerate, in disordered heaps may now be seen, grow more dreary and desolate at every step, but still wild and grand. Again the prospect opens, and now another cottage homestead comes in sight; the stream that you have been tracking in its course for twenty-five miles becomes lost in many little rills that come leaping from rock to rock down the mountain side, and as the rising mists warn you that the day is waning fast, you stand at the foot of the main range, crossing which, you descend into flats far exceeding anything to the westward in fertility and luxuriant vegetation when, floundering through Tabrabuca Swamp a couple of miles brings you to a little inn on the Sydney Road, just as the shades of night are closing round you.