A VISIT TO THE WESTERN GOLDFIELDS.
BY OUR SPECIAL REPORTER
No. 36.
MY LAST communication broke off somewhat abruptly, at the north-western boundary
of the Burrendong mining district. I shall now, therefore, resume my sketch, and at once
proceed to trace the reefs from the upper diggings to the southward. Following this
course they lead you to the crest of a low hill upon which there is an extensive outburst of
quartz, from this hill three or four long ridges diverge stretching with a very slight
descent far into the plains, the lateral slopes of these ridges are also gentle, and between
each a shallow water course conducts the drainage either into the Devil's Hole Creek, or
by a tortuous channel to the flats, veins of quartz splitting from the main reef on the crest
of the hill intersect all these ridges longitudinally, and the entire surface is covered with
their debris in every stage of decomposition, the schists here are arenaceous combined
with a large proportion of calcareous and feruginous matter, and the tendency of such
formations to disintegrate when exposed to the action of the elements accounts in some
degree for the long and beautifully shaped ridges which intervene between the base of the
fore- hills and the flats below, it also accounts for the immense destruction of the reefs in
the locality of which the excessive quantity of quartz debris is a sufficient evidence, --
the crest of the hill before mentioned may be said to be the central point from which the
old Burrendong diggings diverge, the main ridge falls on the N. side into the Devil's Hole
Creek, and has supplied all the gold in its lower portion, many small water courses fall
from the crown parallel to each other, and all have been worked up to the reef from the
creek, each producing a considerable amount of gold, no matter how slight the depression
it has been found payable, gold can be procured from the surface generally, which would
pay for ground sluicing provided that the command of a head of water could be obtained.
On the southern side the lateral slope terminates in a broad shallow watercourse, which,
about half way down, in a wide depression, receives a small tributary from the opposite
ridge; here, in the angle formed by the junction of the two streams, is the old Potato
Ground, once famous for the quantity of nuggety gold procured from it, something after
the manner of potato digging, one person turning over the quartz debris, and another
picking out the lumps of precious metal, which was obtained in pieces varying in weight
from two or three dwts. to several ounces, without washing. As its extent did not exceed
an acre, it was soon exhausted, and both the channels were found rich up to the reef, but
below the junction the stream has never been worked, as it prospected unfavourably; the
force of the streams appear to have been insufficient to carry the gold beyond the Potato
Ground. At the junction, a miner has erected a puddling machine, but so thoroughly had
the ground been exhausted by the rude method at first adopted, that it did not repay the
expense of working. There are but two families remaining on these diggings, which
unless the reefs prove worth crushing, may be said to be exhausted. Proceeding to the S.E.
you cross a broad parallel ridge, on the opposite side of which four small runs falling
from the reef unite and form Thompson's gully; this was equally productive -- has been
exhausted, and is abandoned; before it reached the flats it ceased to be auriferous. Over
the next ridge, and you are on M'Que's Gulley, the upper portion of which was very rich,
and the lower extremity non-auriferous. You now pass over an elevated table land about
400 feet above the river flats, when two miles brings you to the margin of Spring Creek;
the ground passed over, although intersected by several gulleys, exhibits very little quartz,
and is separated from the upper diggings by a high ridge; it has produced no gold, and has
not been worked. Following the creek upwards, you soon find yourself in the centre of
the present encampment at Burrendong, situated at the base of the steep descents from the
plateau; here the stream passing between two precipitous ranges coming from the
eastward, emerges upon the upper flats. Considerble mining operations have been carried
on on the northern bank for about half a mile from the base of the range; the sinking is
through alluvial deposits to a depth of 60 or 70 feet, and the yield has been generally
barely sufficient to repay the miner for his labour, becoming less remunerative as the
shafts recede from the mountain, the creek itself has not been considered worth the labour
of working after it leaves the ravine, from the point where you enter between the ranges,
so far as it has been worked upwards, it has proved payable, and in many parts mining
operations were attended with great success, 60 and 80 ounces having been procured, in
several instances, from a single hole. The heaviest deposits have usually been obtained,
under some slight indentation, in the precipitous sides of the southern range, in which
veins of quartz may be observed; the detritus in the watercourse is deep, and is
intermixed with boulders and huge fragments of slate and trappean rocks, both loose and
dangerous to the miner; ascending the creek for about a mile, you arrive at the mouth of
the Lake Gulley, this falls obliquely from the crest of the southern range, and has proved
rich to
its head; it is as yet only partially worked, as water is difficult to obtain, except
immediately after rain; passing the mouth of this gulley, and still proceeding up the creek,
you find, as you advance, that the ground has been worked with extreme care, the
mountains rise to a great elevation on either side, and the lower schists or sandstones are
dislocated and contorted, and in some instances become porphyritie. Half-a-mile brings
you to the mouth of surface gulley, which also descends from the crest of the range
forming the southern bank at an angle of 30 degrees, but concave in the middle. At this
spot a quantity of gold has been obtained in large masses, some of them weighing as
much as eleven and sixteen pounds troy. It was from this place that an American, named
Wallace, traced the surfacing up the rocky and precipitous side of the gulley, until at a
height of about 400 feet above the main creek, he discovered the narrow, fissure, or
loader, which is now known as the Burrendong reef. The surface rock is a schistose
sandstone, with an irregular or dislocated stratification, and an easterly dip of about 45
degrees, 50 feet below the crown of the spur; and about 400 feet lower than the crest of
the range occurs the vein in question, between two strata of the sandstone overhanging
surface gulley. Inconsequence of the disturbance of the investing rock, anterior to the
filling of the fissure, it is difficult to ascertain the true course of the leader, which
is west of north, and east of south. It has been denuded by the action of the drainage from
the crest of the range, which has scooped out a channel down the mountain side at this spot
about 200 feet deep. The vein varies from one to three inches in thickness, is full of
cavities, and contains iron pyrites and mundic in a proportion equal to half its bulk. As
the miners descend in the rock, they find that where the quartz is perfect that gold does
not exist, but when, as they proceed, they find that the quartz becomes a mere shell, and,
gradually disappearing, its place is filled with a dark liver coloured earthy substance
consisting of silicon, sulphuret of iron, and mundic in a state of decomposition,
intermixed with particles of discoloured quartz. Experience has taught them to look for
accumulations of gold, which they usually obtain in large pieces in such situations. Many
of the smaller pieces are found investing fragments of quartz, others are elongated, and
appear like cast nails run in coarse sand; and more are beautifully frosted, and present an
appearance of the most delicate filagree work. A few of the largest nuggets having been
found thicker than the vein, had formed a bed for themselves, protruding into the rock on
either side. The rocks forming the upper strata are devoid of system in their joints, and
indicate great disturbance, with a partial slide or sinking to the eastward.
At a depth ranging from 20 to 40 feet, the sand tone becomes indurated, loses its
schistose character, and in a slightly altered state is discovered to be resting upon the
common blue porphyritic rock of the district, fine grained, and containing a large
proportion of silex. Through this the vein descends to an undetermined depth; 150 feet
below the surface it contracts to less than an inch in width, and becomes compact and
opaque, with no indication 0f the presence of the minerals found in connection with it in
its passage through the upper sandstones
No gold of any imp0rtance has been obtained below the sandstone, at a greater depth than
40 feet, and the heaviest deposits of that metal have been found nearer the surface. The
vein will lead those t0 the parent reef who have the perseverance to reach it, and it is
probable that at the point where they unite a mass of the precious metal will be found that
will amply repay their labours.
Hopping Tom discovered his golden fryingpan in the same vein, at about eight feet below
the surface; a few yards above where it was first opened, and at a depth not exceeding 30
feet, he and his party subsequently obtained about £5000 worth of gold. Above him, on
the rise of the spur, there appears to have been a fault or slide in the vein; and, although
several, shafts have been sunk it has not been recovered. Below him, claims have been
taken up for about 300 yards, and many shafts have been driven into the solid rock
obliquely, following the course of the leader, to depths varying from 30 to 150 feet, at an
enormous expenditure of labour, and with but few instances of success. Many of the
reefers, having exhausted their means, have registered their claims, and gone in search of
alluvial diggings, with the object of obtaining the funds necessary to enable them to
resume their operations. About twenty-five men remain, and of those several have been
more or less fortunate. One party-Travers and Johnstone, after many months' labour,
obtained 1400 ounces of gold, it is said in one week; a few others, including Wallace,
have been equally successful. During my stay at Burrendong, Kelly's party obtained
something like £1000 worth of gold from three small bags full of the stuff formerly
described, a part of which was washed in my presence; but, to counterbalance this, I
noticed two unlucky wights who had been toiling in a shaft for eleven months, within a
very few feet of the most fortunate parties, and had only succeeded in procuring seven
specs from the same vein; one of these was a sort of Mark Tapley in his way, and did his
best to be jocose, but it was a sad failure; there was a something horrible in his laugh, and
his unnatural attempts at merriment; there he was, between two parties, the furthest not
twenty yards removed, either of whom had realised a competence, but neither of whom
had worked harder or more perseveringly than he had done; he had thrown his last
shilling down the hole, and could not get a penny back. The yield from the vein to the
present date is valued by the diggers at between £18,000 and £20,000, but, as I stated
before, it has fallen into few hands.
This leader is in an exact line with the upper diggings, and it is probable that it is the
same lode, with its split veins, that has enriched the Devil's Hole Creek, the Potato
Ground, and its adjacent gullies. A man employed at one of the puddling machines on the
upper ground informed me that he had discovered a vein of mullock, a few inches wide,
trending in the direction of Reef Hill, it yielded a good deal of gold, and formed the
richest portion of his claim. He was of opinion that it was in connection with the rich vein
on the hill, the dip and general character being the same, but it contained no quartz in a
perfect state.
Spring Creek has been but little worked higher than the reef, although gold has been
procured at various points several miles nearer its source -- gathering in the kangaroo
ground, not far from the spot where I turned in, my attempt to reach Burrendong over the
mountains, it precipitates itself down several rocky heights before it reaches the lower
level. Between each of these falls a long space of level ground intervenes, intersecting an
auriferous country, of which the Burrendong reef is an offshoot, and which has yet to be
prospected it awaits the enterprise of the digger.
I have attempted to be thus minute in my description of the Burrendong reef, as I
consider it to be a convincing evidence of the richness of the auriferous deposits in the
mountain ranges of this district, which, are yet undiscovered, and to which the various
patches of surfacings, gullies, and ravines already exhausted of their treasures are but so
many pilots.
There is no appearance of work on the southern fall of the range, or on the same side of
Spring Creek. After it breaks, from the mountains, about three miles higher up, the
Macquarie Oakey Creek passing through lofty ranges empties into that river. This stream
is yet unworked, and has been sufficiently tested by wandering parties to prove that it is
worthy of more attention; at its mouth is a large bar which in former years was very
productive; it is now abandoned. About eight miles further up another bar occurs, from,
which a considerable quantity of gold was procured; it is also deserted. Few of the
mountain streams on either side appear to have carried their gold to this part of the river,
and it has consequently never proved payable, except at the two bars above mentioned.
However, specs of very fine drift gold can be obtained almost anywhere along its banks,
but the abundance of water has hitherto prevented the channel from being fairly
prospected. From the mouth of the Cudgegong, for many miles upwards, all the fine
alluvial lands along the Macquarie, with the undulating slopes behind of any value, have
been alienated by the Government of former days, in large blocks, and they have passed
into the hands of parties who have as yet devoted them to no useful purpose. There are no
improvements, and the country for the most part is still nearly in the same state of
primeval plain and forest as when Captain Cook first let go his anchor in Botany Bay,
excepting that the aborigines have become a tradition, of whose former existence you are
sometimes reminded on crossing a mountain path long disused, and now overgrown with
brush; or observing an ancient gum, in some out of the way nook, bearing the traces of
their mogas, or the white man's gift -- the tomahawk. Numerous herds of wild cattle and
horses, both fast deteriorating in their breed, roam undisturbed through the mountain
fastnesses, and man alone seems to have found no congenial resting place in this lonely
region.
The encampment at Burrendong presents no appearance of even temporary improvements,
the huts and tents are of the rudest description, and there are neither gardens nor any
other evidence of social comfort. One public-house, and three or four small stores supply
the necessities of about eighty diggers, many of whom have families. There is no school,
and the nearest post-office is at Iron Barks, sixteen miles distant by the road. With the
exception of those employed on the reef the miners appear to be doing but little. The
well-known alluvial patches that first gave the place any celebrity have been one after
another exhausted, and the people now remaining, either want the will, or the means, or
perhaps both to prospect the surrounding districts.