A VISIT TO THE WESTERN GOLDFIELDS.
BY OUR SPECIAL REPORTER
No. 38.
Stoney Creek was at one period a favourite resort of the diggers, partly on account of the
unfailing supply of water, and partly on account of the rich accumulations of gold which
were from time to time discovered in its channel for about two miles below Golden
Gulley; the greatest quantity of the precious metal was obtained at those points where it
receives the small streams falling from the reefs on the crest of the range; its basin
penetrates the schists to the trappean formations, which are denuded at various places
along its course, in connection with altered rocks of the schistose series. A detrital rock
cemented by the agency of iron and lime, which has been subjected to an igneous action,
is also exhibited, together with fragments of a ferruginous conglomerate, amongst the
debris of which many pebbles of rocks not to be found in the vicinity may be observed. It
is probable that this conglomerate, far below the upper schists of the adjacent table land,
is a rearrangement of the pebbles and gravel of an ancient sandstone, disintegrated and
carried from the heights by the floods, to be again cemented into a solid mass by means
of the ferruginous and calcareous agents with which the locality abounds.
The graduated descents from the reefs on the southern bank to a considerable distance
back from the stream have, in various places, been found to contain payablc gold, and are
much worked; surfacing has been also obtained from the terminating points of the lateral
ridges, extending over an area of considerable magnitude. Following the creek
downwards through contracted alluvial flats from twenty to thirty feet in depth, and
passing the tenantless wreck of several large encampments, and a few ruinous huts, the
smoke from which alone marks their occupation, you reach the broad flat at the mouth of
Splitter's Gulley, under the ridges falling from the Ironbarks, here Blennerhasset and Coy.
have recently erected a small engine capable of crushing two tons of quartz in the
twenty-four hours, the only permanent water in the vicinity being in this stream. They have
operated upon a few tons for other parties, at the rate of £5 per ton, but they prefer
confining themselves to the quartz from their own claim. A Mr. Campbell had another
small engine on the same flat, with which he prospected the surface of the different reefs,
and found the produce of all nearly on a par; none were sufficiently rich to pay with so
small a machine, as the expenses of working it were the same as would attend one of five
or six times the power. Added to this, the long cartage from the reefs made a hole in the
profits. The engine, requiring repairs, was removed to a reef near the heads of the Turon,
where he has had another at work for the last twelve months. That reef is now
pronounced to be more productive than those at the Ironbarks, and has the advantage of
being close to a never-failing supply of water.
The quartz lodes in the vicinity of Stoney Creek, crossing the Ironbarks, and extending to
the heights of the Muckerawa, have been sufficiently prospected to prove that they will
yield from one to two ounces of gold to the ton. This production holds out no temptation
to that class of gamblers who look for instant wealth from a gold-field, but under skilful
and economical management it offers a fair investment for capital. Water can be obtained
at the cost of a moderate degree of labour, in situations eligible for the erection of the
requisite machinery; and such is the abundance of aurifeious quartz that two or three
powerful engines would make no material reduction in the supply in the course of half a
century.
An engine capable of crushing thirty tons in the twenty-four hours would afford
employment to a large number of men in raising quartz, and give a new direction to the
energies of a population which, in the present exhausted state of the known alluvial
diggings, can barely realise the price of their rations. Unquestionably many auriferous
patches of alluvial ground are yet to be discovered, but there is no permanence in their
character; the few diggers remaining on this gold-field prefer wandering amongst the old
shafts, in search of some foot or two of sound ground, to venturing upon untried fields,
where they might find something better, but where they might also fail in obtaining the
little gold essential to their subsistance.
From Crushers' Flat downwards, the stream gradually loses its auriferous character, and
has been very little worked. At about three miles distance it enters the limestone
formations; below this it has neither been prospected, nor has it any indications to tempt
the digger to invade the precincts of private property, which the land now becomes on
both sides of the creek.
At a point below a shepherd's hut, just where the quartziferous schists dip under the
limestone and disappear a small patch of surfacing has been exhausted and a little further
down, a very beautiful vertical section of folded or waved schists is exhibited on a
precipitous bank overhanging the stream; the surface has been polished by abrasion, and
the varied colours of the alternate bands of sand and argillaceous matter, tinted by
metallic oxides, have a pleasing effect. The limestones are also fluted by the weather with
such regularity as to resemble a work of art. Here leaving the creek and following the
verge of that formation over the ranges to the northward, many geological features
present themselves of extreme interest, a description of which would occupy too much
space. Parallel to this line the ironstone ridges formerly described first make their
appearance, and the auriferous quartose conglomerate in connection with it. About three
miles brings you to the northern extremity of one of these, where, in a gap descending
east and west, is situated the little Ironbark diggings. The slope falling from this ridge,
covered with the ferruginous debris and the quartose pebbles, has produced no
insignificant quantity of gold, and is now being worked by the proprietors of two or three
puddling mills, who cart the stuff a mile and a half to the water, and also by a select party
of Chinese; all are doing well and appear to have an inexhaustible supply of
washing-stuff.
Black Tom's Gulley, breaking through a cluster of these iron ridges, and crossing long
slopes, falls into the Narrangahl, about three miles below the Iron-barks and the gold
which was so plentiful in its channel was supplied from the conglomerate upon which
they rest; beyond this to the westward the colour can be obtained from the surface as far
as the waters of the Bell, but it is nowhere payable. Crossing that river, you leave all
indications of gold behind you. Many miles still further to the west, the quartziferous
schists emerge from beneath the limestones on the Lachlan; and the tributaries of that
stream may in their turn prove as celebrated as the Meroo and the Turon.
Returning to the eastern face of the range, and following Ginger Creek from the reef and
through a broken country for four miles, you arrive on the upper end of the Muckerawa.
This stream, flanked by the precicipitous fore hills of this range, all of which poured their
contributions into its once rich channel, still continues to repay the labours of a
population numerous enough for the extent of the gold-field. On the left bank,
Burrendong Creek and German Gully, discovered by Dr. Raumier, have proved to be its
richest tributaries. The quartz reefs intersecting the hills are of the same character as
those at the Iron-barks. One in particular is worthy of notice. Crossing Specimen Hill on
the right bank, about half a mile from the creek, it has enriched a stream of surfacing
which has been worked up to the vein; in some instances it yielded twenty ounces of gold
to the load. The reef has been opened to the depth of 150 feet, and as it descended the
vein gradually contracted until it disappeared in a streak of casing; the gold was found
mostly on the surface quartz. A little further to the eastward it presents a more inviting
appearance, and is unopened. The neighbourhood of this hill is one of great promise, and
is well worthy of examination. On the head of the Muckerawa some puddlers are at work,
and under the superintendence of Mr. White, storekeeper, a fine dam is in course of
construction that will ensure a permanent supply of water. For a space of four miles the
main channel has been repeatedly turned over, and always produced gold; lower down it
passes for three miles through the alluvial flats of the Macquarie, where nothing worth
the labour of seeking has ever been discovered.
I have now endeavoured to describe all the chief diggings in the neighbourhood, there are
several others of minor importance, of so much similarity in their general features as to
render a description unnecessary.
The Muckerawa employs about seventy diggers, with two stores and two public-houses,
and generally appears to be in a more thriving condition than any of the neighbouring
localities.
The Ironbarks, two years since, sustained a very numerous population, which has been
drawn off by repeated distant rushes, and is now reduced to some forty or fifty diggers
and quartz reefers. There are six public-houses still in existence, and four or five small
stores, with a fine butchering establishment; they have also a rude church seldom used,
with a post-office, and a National school admirably conducted by Mr. Stace, who is also
the postmaster and news agent. There are no gardens or enclosures worthy of notice, and
the people generally appear to live from hand to mouth, hoping that some fortunate
accident will revive the fallen fortunes of this once prosperous gold-field.
Stoney Creek is all but deserted. Fifteen or twenty diggers are scattered up and down the
head branches, doing very little, and two stores with as many public houses still contrive
to keep an open door, and drag on in hopes of more prosperous times.