A VISIT TO THE WESTERN GOLDFIELDS.
BY OUR SPECIAL REPORTER
No. 33.
Pursuing our journey from the inn at Guntawang, by a mountain road, ten miles to the
westward from that place, and double the distance following the windings of the river,
brings the traveller to a broad plain stretching from the base of the Pinebone Range to the
Cudgegong. Here a Mr. Hassall farms a small property which extends along the margin
of the stream. On the outside of his paddock fence a series of undulating ridges, being
continuations from the descending slopes in the distance, are traversed by many quartz
reefs, and their surface is composed almost entirely of fragmentary quartz, intermixed
with the debris of schistoze rocks in various stages of decomposition. This formation
extends from east to west for about two miles, and through its centre Pinebone Creek,
after wandering amongst the mountains for many miles, finds its way to the main stream.
Gold has been frequently found, both in the creek, and on various parts of the flat; but as
there is some doubt as to whether it is, or is not, private property, it has never been
worked those who know this locality best have great confidence in its capabilities as a
gold-field, and say that it would afford remunerative employment for 1000 men if once
fairly opened. I was shown some beautiful specimens said to have been procured in the
upper part of the creek.
The road now skirts the edge of the river, which here flows in a deep channel,
intersecting the alluvial plains; these extend on either hand to the base of the ranges, and
are covered with a rich arenaceous loam, which produces a most luxuriant vegetation,
and contrasts with the bald ranges in the distance, whose deep angles, rounded summits,
bold projections and rugged patches of mountain scrub, present every variety of light and
shade, and by their general aspect of sterility enhance the fertile appearance of the broad
valley.
Two miles beyond Pinebone Creek you reach the township of Wyadra. This township
although in the centre of a fertile district, in a lovely situation, possessed of every natural
advantage, occupies but one square mile, and the surrounding land has been alienated up
to the boundary line to parties whose interests are chiefly pastoral. The result is that there
are but three buildings in the village, two of which are public-houses, and, with the
exception, of Mr. Hassall's. property, there are no residents within a compass of several
miles. The only pursuit by which a population could here maintain themselves is
agriculture, and this, under existing circumstances, is impossible. All the rich alluvial
flats along the Cudgegong are said to have already passed into private hands, and these
flats command an immense district of back country, mostly valuable for grazing purposes,
but worthless for settlement, as no permanent water, except the river, has yet been
discovered. The earliest settlers in rural villages are usually persons who depend upon
draught horses and bullocks for the means
of subsistence, and such persons might as well locate themselves in the centre of
George-street, Sydney, as at Wyadra. They could not even feed a goat without trespassing
upon the wild lands of some large proprietor; when I passed through the village the few
inhabitants were keeping a black fast, nothing better in the shape of food could be
procured than bread and bush tea; no meat, no butter, no milk -- however, the landlord
of the best inn contrived, by some desperate exertion, to procure the unwonted luxury of
a pumpkin -- it is check mate with Wyadra, it has not a move left. Any person visiting
this township must be impressed with the idea that it was never intended to do more than
fill a paragraph in the Gazette, and give a name to a speck upon a district map. This is not
an isolated case of strangulation, it is but a type of a class of townships of which we
could produce but too many examples.
From this point downwards the banks of the Cudgegong are a dreary solitude. Some
miles lower you pass the beautiful station of Bembejon, but it is untenanted and little or
no stock is to be seen in the districts. On my way to Burandong I met a gentleman who
held a license for four stations on the Macquarie, but one of which was stocked, and for
one of the four on which he had not a hoof he had been assessed for 35,000 sheep. He
added that some of his neighbours were in a worse predicament, and that he was going to
throw two or three runs into the market.