"but hope deferred maketh the heart sick,"
and there were many heartily sick at Burrendong. When in February last rumour whispered that gold was being found at Merrindee and that a lead had been struck by parties who were making their pile, at first a few crept off, then entire parties pulled up their stakes, and went away more openly; at last a general rush ensued, and Burrendong became again a desert; the crowd that three days before had peopled every hill and valley were nowhere to be found, and numerous birds of prey, attracted by the offal, whirling and skirling in mid-air, alone pointed out the site of the late encampment. Merrindee in its turn, now became a scene of bustle and excitement: huts, stores, tents, and public-houses rose as if by enchantment, the golden wealth of the flats and ridges was soon exhausted, and men found time again to listen to rumour -- sometimes she spoke of untold riches which lay concealed under the virgin soil far to the southward at Muttama, near Gundagai; at others, she hinted at the treasures recently discovered at Rat's Castle, nearer hand on the waters of the Cudgegong. Her tongue was never at rest; now she favoured the north; and then the road to fortune pointed south. Merrindee was abandoned, and crowds of men laden with their meagre stock of wordly goods were to be met with in the mountain passes, directing their stops either north or south, as their varied fortunes led them. We also follow the crowd, and, leaving Merrindee, retrace our route to the Leaning Oak Creek; here a wretchedly bad road turns to the northward, and crossing and re-crossing the dry watercourse at least twenty times conducts you through a barren waterless valley for twelve miles, which intersects the Pinebone Ranges. You now reach the summit of the gap, and passing Waterloo-street Station, where the quartzifeous schists may be seen in great profusion, you observe that for a short distance the auriferous indications are very strong. I am informed that many persons who are competent judges have pronounced this spot to be the centre of a rich gold-field; it has not been tested, as water is scarce, and can only be obtained during rainy seasons; the creeks, which are all gold-bearing, usually run dry in a few hours. The road now improves, and the dry watercourses trending to the northward denote that you are on the watershed of the Cudgegong. As you proceed the hills subside, the road rolls over undulating plains, and presently you catch distant glimpses of the river through the dense foliage; a little further open vistas in the forest announce that the farmer has commenced its destruction, and that but a short time will elapse before fruitful corn fields will move on ground that has for ages produced nothing but useless timber. As you advance, huts here and there peeping through the scrub, from which the smoke curls upwards, mark the rude homes of our Western pioneers, and the distant barking of dogs disturb the silence of the gloomy forest. Riding on a few miles further, we find that either side of the road is lined with a three-rail fence, and that substantial, comfortable looking homesteads succeed each other rapidly. The sun has long gone down behind the Pinebone Ranges, homestead and forest alike appear to sleep, bathed in the mellow light of the cold round moon, and the glimmering lights and chill night wind, recall the pleasures of a warm room and cheerful fire. And now clusters of houses appear, and then a vacant space, and then a single hut, and then another; and then more clusters, few and far between, with, rude dark fences, and here and there a lamp over some low threshold marks an inn; lights flit to and fro. and after wandering up and down over vacant lots, and through all sorts of highways and bye-ways for a good hour, we find ourselves at the door of the Royal something in the good town of Mudgee -- we had the bad fortune to pull up at the very house where the honorable candidate for legislatorial honours had installed himself; and, as it turned out, the lee side of a blazing log in the inhospitable bush would have been a perfect paradise compared to our quarters. Rising with the sun, we sallied forth to explore the town, which certainly presents a more pleasing aspect when illuminated by the rays of the morning luminary than it does by moonlight. With a delightful climate, on the banks of a never failing river, situated in the centre of a vast undulating plain, encompassed by distant hills, pregnant with mineral wealth, it possesses all the natural advantages that man could desire, save and except a navigable stream. The town, as laid out, covers an area extensive enough to be a large city, and the buildings are consequently much scattered, which at present detracts from its appearance; it contains, a few good brick and stone edifices, amongst which are three or four churches belonging to as many various denominations, with a court-house, a hospital, two or three schools, and a mechanics' institute -- it has also two fine steam flour mills, a large brewery, several inns of all grades, and a few good stores. A few years since an unbroken wilderness, stretched from hill to hill, over which the dark savage roamed at pleasure, and perhaps built his gunyah on the very spot where the town now stands; now but a wreck of his tribe remains, he has disappeared with the forest, and like it will soon be a tradition. The people of Mudgee may fairly be proud of their young town, which mainly owes its prosperity to the neighbouring gold-fields, but of which the fertility of the soil in the broad plains, by which it is surrounded, will soon render it independent. A creek, having its source in the ranges to the N.E. of Mudgee, winding between the hills and ridges, and across the plain, after a course of about twenty miles, disembogues into the Cudgegong, five miles below the town. On this creek, about twelve miles from the town, at the base of the hills, is situated the Pipeclay Diggings, so called from a stratum of pipeclay exhibited in the banks, and to be found in the flats on either side. Here three years ago a number of diggers found profitable employment; the gold was course and nuggetty, and distributed with much irregularity. Some few reaped rich rewards for their labour, but the majority became dissatisfied, and soon abandoned the place for localities more regular in their yield. At present but a very few remain, and there are men who have settled themselves in the neighbourhood with their families. These diggings are still supposed to contain rich deposits, but the digger cannot be tempted to risk the loss of his labour on a gold-field when the results have so often proved unfavourable. The Cudgegong, flowing from east to west, in a course parallel to the Meroo, has its source in the descents from the main chain of the Australian cordilleras far to the eastward, where many minor creeks, uniting at the base of the ranges, form the main stream, which rolls sluggishly onward, now bathing the foot of lofty ridges, on which the primeval forest still waves in all its glory, and then meandering through broad plains between verdant banks, after a course of about 250 miles, bears its tribute to the Macquarie; the distance from the source to the junction in a direct line is not more than 50 miles. The rich grasses of the deep alluvial claims at an early period attracted the grazier with his flocks and herds to the margin of this river, whose stations are to be found throughout its entire length, and on the numerous tributaries on either side where permanent water has been discovered. After the river breaks from the mountains the land on either bank, with the exception of a few spots at long intervals; where the subsiding ranges approach the stream is fertile, and particularly well adapted for settlement, the alluvial flats and low ridges being suitable for agriculture, and the richly grassed hills in the back ground will afford abundance of pasture for stock, and can never be applied to any other profitable purpose. About 50 miles below Mudgee, at Wyadragar, the river has burst through the Pinebone Ranges, which, here at a reduced elevation cross the stream, and stretching away to the N.W., in the direction of Wellington, connect themselves with the Goodamon Range. At this point the schistose formations reappear, the argillaceous slates alternating with a schistose ferruginous sandstone. Broad flats still intervene, and ridges of altered sandstone with bands of syenite are frequent, all trending north and south. Here the land on either bank, with the exception of alluvial patches of small extent, is only available for pastoral occupation; but below the junction of the Meroo these rich flats become more frequent on the confines of which the denuded igneous formations again predominate; and between that point and the confluence of the Macquarie many lovely spots present themselves. The Cudgegong may be said to form the northern boundary of the Western gold-fields. Spurs from the auriferous Pinebone Ranges, gradually subsiding, sink into wide alluvial flats, which intervene between the base of these hills and the river. These ranges, springing from the main chain in two parallel lines, occupy the entire space between the basins of the two rivers, the range to the southward pours its waters into the Meroo, and is of the greatest elevation, that to the northward a base of several miles in breadth is lower and a series of conterminous spurs, sink into the broad undulating plains at their base; between these spurs innumerable rivulets and watercourses descending from the heights find, their way to the main stream -- all contain more 0r less gold, and portions of these watercourses are now frequently discovered amongst the hills which prove to be exceedingly rich for a few yards and suddenly become not payable. Spots also containing large quantities of nuggetty gold have been found on elevated slopes amongst the lowest tier of hills at the base of conical mountains, always in the vicinity of quartz, reefs, which are here seldom seen. The extensive flats, although concealing large quantities of auriferous wealth, may be said to be untried, as the digger is deterred by their great depth. Gold has also been found in all parts of the river from its source to the Macquarie, the Chinese have for some years been washing the surface drift in all favourable situations, and have generally been well satisfied with the proceeds of their labour; but the European miner has not yet given it that attention which it deserves. The Pinebone ranges are now becoming an object of attention, there is a rush to a creek known as Rats' Castle, eight miles from Guntawang and eleven miles from Mudgee, about 300 people are already collected on its banks; a small number have got payable claims averaging from £7 to £10 a week to the hand, but the largest proportion of the diggers are still prospecting, and are undetermined whether to go or stay; the ground is extensive, but too flat, and the most discouraging feature in the locality is, that gold can be obtained everywhere; the men say it is impossible to sink a duffer, but they cannot find it payable -- if it prove a failure and the people disperse, along the northern fall of the Pinebone Ranges and the banks of the Cudgegong some rich diggings of limited extent will soon be made public. As you proceed down the stream from Mudgee, you frequently pass neat homesteads, which may be seen on the crest of some low knoll, or in some shady nook nestling in the foliage of a grove which has escaped the bushman's axe, more on account of the shelter it affords from summer's heats and wintry blasts than from any love of the picturesque. Here and there, some more pretending edifice, with its park-like paddocks, its gardens, its offices and outbuildings, its ploughed fields, its stackyards and its stockyards, marks the residence of the successful colonist -- of him who has taught us how it is possible to convert a howling wilderness into a comfortable and happy home. Seven miles from Mudgee, Macdonald's Creek, emerging from a cluster of low hills on the north bank, finds its way to the river, -- that is, when it has water to dispose of. About four miles up this dry water-course gold has been recently procured in payable quantities, but the absence of water has prevented its being worked. As you advance you pass two unimportant creeks falling from the Pinebone ranges. Here there is a slight change in the formation. You are passing over an arenaceous schist, and presently you cross a large quartz-reef, near which two diggers are getting gold. The country, to the northward, now becomes one vast undulating plain, long reaches of the river skirt the road, and, a mile or two further, the head station of Guntawang is before you, resembling in its appearance one of the first-class farming establishments in the south of Scotland; a long prairie of alluvial formation lays spread out before you, level as a bowling-green, stretching east and west along the banks of the river; and, for a long distance, field succeeds field in the highest state of culture. Cultivation paddocks of 300 acres are not disfigured by a single stump, and straight furrows half-a-mile in length do credit to the ploughman. Turning now to the left, you cross the river and arrive at Guntawang Inn, and here we will pause before visiting the diggers and the diggings.