Lawlers—Splendid Vegetables—Waiting for a Samaritan—Mount Sir
Samuel—While the Billy boils—The Kangaroo—Lake Way—Across the
Country—The “Back-blocks”—Camping out—Arrival at Nannine—Bed
once More—Splendid Mines of the Murchison—Peak Hill—The Gold
Patch—An Old Friend—A Hearty Welcome.
Another coach journey of 50 miles brought me to Lawlers. I was now out
of the Mount Malcolm and Mount Margaret districts, and in the East
Murchison. Mount Magnet, which is on the Cue railway line, is almost
in a direct line with Lawlers, and it is 130 miles from Lawlers to
Menzies. Lawlers is a nice little town; all the people so friendly and
pleased to see a strange lady on the field that many of them came into
the hotel to see me. The buildings are creditable, and a great amount of
business seemed to be doing. The gold output is steadily increasing, but
although much good ore is realised, there is great difficulty experienced
in getting it crushed, the batteries being too small. The people seem
unusually healthy. They say no one is ever sick at Lawlers, and the
soil is magnificent for growing fruit and vegetables, despite the small
rainfall. Mr. Homann has a very fine garden, watered by the surplus
water from the Great Western Mine, and from a well with a windmill.
Melons, tomatoes, and cabbages are fully equal to any I have seen. There
are also some vines that have borne beautiful grapes. If there were
only a plentiful fall of rain, which unfortunately seldom happens,
Lawlers could compete with any place in the matters of agriculture
and viticulture. Everything has to be carted to the place by team or
camel-train, consequently things of all kinds are very dear, the actual
cost of carriage from Mount Magnet being £12 per ton by team and £8 by
camel-train. The coach fare to that place from Lawlers, 192 miles, is
£5, and to Menzies, 130 miles, £4. Until the railway went to Menzies
from Kalgoorlie, most of the supplies came from Mount Magnet, but now
that the traffic of Lawlers is going to Menzies, since the train service
commenced, instead of Magnet, it increases daily. This, of course, will
naturally benefit both places, since Menzies will now also obtain some
of the splendid vegetables grown in Lawlers. Previously there were only
tinned vegetables to be had there. The people of Menzies have no desire
to see a railway line extended past that place, but as the Government has
now decided to build a railway speedily to Leonora, the Lawlers people
are hoping that at no distant time the line may be extended to their town
also; Lawlers will then be the pivot between the Murchison (Cue line)
and East Murchison goldfields, and with its excellent soil, its rich
mines, the Great Eastern for instance, will probably become one of the
principal towns in the goldfields. When the railway reaches Lawlers there
will be only 192 miles of this part without train service, through which
a railway could soon be made to Mount Magnet, completing a belt of rails
from Perth right round the Yilgarn, Coolgardie, Mount Malcolm, Margaret,
East Murchison, Murchison, and Yalgoo goldfields.
[Illustration: Lake Way Gold Mine]
I next prepared for a long journey through the Western Australian Bush.
My destination was Lake Way and Wiluna. How I was to get there I did
not know, as there were no coaches even for the mails, which were only
taken once a week, and then by bicycle, over a distance of 120 miles,
a journey too long and too lonely for me to take alone. However, I was
cheered by the news that some miners were expected at Lawlers in a day
or two for whom horses were waiting. So, never doubting that they would
be gallant enough to offer me a seat, I rested quietly and waited for
their arrival. When they came they proved to have two friends with them,
who proposed to travel on what is called the “buckboard,” that is the
kind of ledge, about three feet long, for carrying luggage at the back
of the buggy, and as there was only room for two persons in front there
seemed to be a difficulty about conveying the whole party. However, the
pleasure of having a lady to drive with them for 120 miles was great
enough to make the party alter all their arrangements. One of them
borrowed a bicycle, and two of us in front of the buggy, a lad and other
friend on the buckboard, and four brumbies in hand, we gaily started off
one fine morning. We reached the first stopping-place, Mount Sir Samuel,
31 miles off, at 4 o’clock, and put up there, as I wished to see this
little place, where there are some very good mines—one, the Bellevue,
being a first-rate property. Another, called the Sulphide King, is very
promising. Mining here is not so hard as in some places, owing to the
softness of the ground and the plentiful supply of water.
Lake Darlot is about 20 miles from here, and there is now a very
promising goldfields township in the district. A wild rush occurred a
few years ago. This was one of the places where great hardships were
endured by the diggers on account of the terrible scarcity of provisions;
the price of flour, when procurable, was at that time £5 for a small bag!
Every one at Mount Sir Samuel was very kind and hospitable, and I felt
quite sorry to leave next morning, as we did at daybreak, for we wished
to make a long journey that day. We should have, we knew, to camp out. I
looked forward to this unusual experience with great eagerness.
As I was watching the camp making I heard “Coo-e-e! Coo-e-e!” the
Australian bush cry, and presently a party of four miners rode up.
They had just sold their mines for £17,000, and were on their way to
Melbourne, _en route_ for New Zealand to see their parents. They told me
that, five years ago, they landed in the West with £200 between the four
of them, and are now leaving with the above-mentioned sum; but they hope
to come back to the Golden West after a six-months holiday. As you may
imagine, they were very jolly; they took off their kits (bags), which
contained provisions, we combined forces, and made a very pleasant meal
under the shade of some pretty kurrajong-trees. At night, attracted by
our fires, some natives appeared, but I felt quite safe with so many
protectors. They made up a bed of bushes for me under the buggy, and put
branches all around it. I felt as if I was in a Mia Mia (native hut), and
was as comfortable as possible. I heard the natives saying, “Mimi lubra,”
which means, “Woman in a tent.” They thought the men would not trouble to
make a place like it for themselves, and their conjectures were right;
they are not such a stupid race after all!
Early in the morning we parted company and started off again. An
adventure shortly after stirred us up. A kangaroo, pursued by an emu,
came on the scene, but, being so fleet, both were soon out of sight.
After the excitement was over the boy on the buckboard repeated to us an
essay he said he wrote at school, on the kangaroo, which struck me as
being so funny that I give it you verbatim:
“The kangaroo is a quadruped, but two of his feet is only
hands. He is closely related to the flea family, an’ jumps like
him, an’ has the same kind of resemblance. He is Australian by
birth an’ has a watch-pocket to carry his children in. There
is two or more kinds of kang’roos, but they are mostly male
an’ female, and live on grass, cabbage, and curren buns. The
kang’roo’s tale is his chief support; it is thick at one end,
and runs to the other end; it is good to jump with, and the
kang’roo when it’s cut off don’t know his way home, and has to
walk on his hands. The kang’roo is good for makin’ soup and
bootlaces and putting in zoos, and sometimes he is presented to
the roil Family to represent Australia.”
We reached Wiluna, the township of Lake Way, next day, and found it a
very nice little place. There are three hotels and stores, and I was
surprised to find everything so nice away up in the wilds of the West.
There is plenty of fresh water in this district and several nice gardens.
Watermelons grow splendidly, and, with the thermometer at 114°, are very
welcome. Tomatoes also grow in profusion, and several people are growing
fruit and vegetables as a business, so that Lake Way is not a bad place
in which to find oneself. There are many good mines, turning out handsome
yields, and companies have recently been floated in London to take over
several properties here. The chief characteristics of the reefs are
evenness of quality, great wealth, and permanency. A very nice cake of
gold, weighing 145 ounces, from one of the claims was shown me; it came
from a claim called The Brothers.
The people about Wiluna are, in spite of the heat of the climate, very
fond of dancing. It really is almost their only amusement. The evening
of our arrival a ball was held; it might truly be termed a Bachelors’
Ball, for so few of the opposite sex are in the district; however, the
boys, as they are termed, arrived in great force, their dancing costumes
being riding breeches and coloured shirts, with turned down collars
and broad hats, real “back blocks” costume. As it was a very hot and
bright moonlight night, they danced on the open plain, and seemed to
enjoy themselves thoroughly. At about 9 o’clock a terrific shouting and
native yabber, yabber (talk) from a part of the Bush, where a tribe of
aborigines were encamped, gave token of rival amusement. The natives were
holding a Corroboree. They had camped at Wiluna, but were travelling to
some particular part of the country, where a favourite large grub, which
they used for food, was to be found in quantities. Natives always travel
from place to place in search of food, and they know the parts in which
the different kinds will be plentiful or in season.
[Illustration: KANGAROO
_Copyright—Gambier Bolton_]
Wishing to see a Corroboree dance, I, with some of the onlookers of
the Bachelors’ Ball, migrated to the camp. The black fellows, who had
ornamented their heads and kangaroo-skin garment with what feathers and
tufts of grass they could obtain and coloured their faces and bodies
with wilgey, were leaping up in the air, with a spear in one hand and
a shield in the other, and contorting their bodies in most grotesque
fashion to the accompaniment of native music supplied by some of the men
of the tribe, who squatted on the ground chanting strange sounds and
beating sticks, while the lubras (wives), gins (girls), and pickaninnies
(children) sat or lay around, making a fearful noise and clapping their
hands vigorously. In the light of the camp fire it was a novel and weird
sight, but a little of it sufficed me. Before leaving, the head man of
the tribe threw the boomerang, which is a native weapon shaped like a
quarter-moon, and so constructed that it assumes a return motion at the
will of the native who throws it. It really was wonderful to hear it
whirr as it started through the air to a great distance and height, and
then come back to exactly the same place it started from. The boomerang
is not so unique as many people think; a weapon almost the same was used
by the Abyssinians hundreds of years ago, and still earlier by the people
of ancient Egypt.
The journey from Lake Way to Nannine, over 120 miles of rather barren
country, was one to be remembered. No coach having yet been started on
this route, I was fortunate in being able to join a party of people,
including two ladies, who were going there in their own conveyances;
they had been in the “back-blocks” for four years, and thought it time
to take a holiday, especially as their husbands had made over £6000
each from their mines, and had given them £500 each to go to Victoria,
see their friends, and have a good time, as I have no doubt they did.
We camped out for four nights, but the weather was fine, and it was
very pleasant to be under a canopy of stars, although towards morning
it got pretty cold. The two ladies took it in turn to do the cooking,
and would not hear of my doing anything, saying it would be a pity to
roughen my hands, which, by the way, were becoming almost as brown as
theirs. I quite enjoyed the bush-cooking. Johnny cake or “damper,” as it
is called here, cooked in the wood-ashes, is very nice, especially with
good butter, which we had in tins. Then there were plenty of wild turkeys
about, some of which were shot for us. My companions had brought some
tinned asparagus also, so, taking it altogether, our manna in the desert
was not to be despised. We met a few aborigines during our journey, but
they were generally very quiet and only asked for bacca and food. The
lubras were carrying their pickaninnies in a coota (bag) on their backs
(this is their usual custom except in the colder parts of the colony,
where they are supplied with blankets and also with rations); they were
also carrying sticks and some freshly killed birds. The women always have
to carry all the burdens, their lords and masters stalking on ahead with
their spears, no doubt on the look-out for game.
[Illustration: A Well near Lake Way]
One night, as we were sitting round the camp-fire, several of them again
appeared and demanded more bacca and food, which was given them, and they
were told to go away, but they would not do so until the men of our party
fired off several shots, which soon caused them to disappear, as they
are very much afraid of fire-arms.
[Illustration: LUBRA AND PICKANINNY]
Another night we camped in company with two teams. Each team had ten
horses and splendid large waggons, one of which the teamster gave up
to us three ladies, and we had quite a luxurious bed on sacks of chaff
that night. The teamsters were educated men; one had received a college
education, but had been eight years in the “back-blocks.” He said he
had not been in a lady’s company for years, and the poor fellow seemed
delighted to talk to me about his mother and sisters, who, he said, were
in dear old England, but he never wrote home, as he was the black sheep
of the family. I made him promise that when he got to Nannine he would
write to his mother, who, no doubt, in her heart was thinking, “Where is
my wandering boy to-night?” I do hope he kept his promise. On our arrival
at Nannine I bade a reluctant farewell to the party, who took the coach
to Cue, _en route_ for Fremantle, there to take the steamer to Victoria
to spend their well-earned holiday.
We were now in the Murchison district. Nannine is a nice little place,
and everything seemed to be flourishing. The people form a very happy,
lively community. Several good buildings adorn the town, and I considered
myself fortunate in getting very comfortable quarters, for I was
really tired after my journey and late camping-out experiences. It was
delightful to rest on a nice soft bed and to have my breakfast brought me
in the morning. There are two good hotels at Nannine, which do a splendid
business. There are over 80 mines in the district—the first in which
gold was discovered in Western Australia. This first discovery dates
from 1854, when Robert Austin was sent by Governor Fitzgerald to explore
the country in the Gascoyne district above Peak Hill for agricultural
and pastoral land for settlement. Mr. Austin was accompanied by the
sons of some of the early settlers, and the little band of explorers
underwent many hardships. Most of their horses were poisoned by the
Bri-gastrolobium plant, and the party had to travel on foot for many
weary months. It was owing to this circumstance that the gold discovery
was made, for while reconnoitring for grass and water Mr. Austin came
across some likely looking stone, which he broke, and found it contained
gold. The only prospecting tools available (except a tomahawk, a small
hatchet always carried by explorers and prospectors), being a knife and
a pannikin, much progress could not be made. On Mr. Austin’s return to
Perth from the expedition he informed the Government, who did not think
it worth while to make further inquiries. Had they done so, the colony’s
prosperity might have dated 35 years earlier than it has done, as Mr.
Austin correctly described the auriferous nature of the belt of country
around Mount Magnet, Lake Austin, and Mount Kenneth, and also predicted
that the Murchison would become one of the greatest goldfields in the
world. The little party were the first white men who ever set foot in
that part of the colony, and I do not think that their efforts were
ever recognised. Mr. Austin is now a very old gentleman, and last year
was mining surveyor at the Mines Department, Hodgkinson Goldfields,
Queensland, from which place he wrote to the papers in Perth asking that
his claims as the first discoverer of gold should be recognised by the
present Parliament, and giving interesting particulars of his travels.
In 1856 gold was discovered at Kojânup, but little attention was paid to
gold in Western Australia in those days. It was not until 1884 that Mr.
Hardman, the Government geologist, discovered rich gold at Kimberley in
the far north of Western Australia, and this was followed in 1887 by the
find of gold at Mugakine while a man was digging a well. Golden Valley
and Southern Cross followed, and an era of prosperity for the colony
opened which I hope will never be closed.
At the Aberfoyle Mine, to which I went from Nannine, I saw some beautiful
quartz thickly encrusted with gold. Twenty-two pounds of this stone
contained over 62 ounces of gold, valued at £230. This rich piece of
quartz has been secured for the Glasgow Exhibition. There are seven
shafts on this really amazing mine, from each of which the ore taken is
so marvellously rich that they are watched at night. Splendid machinery
is being put up, but sufficient masons cannot be got to do the work,
consequently the progress is slow. The Nannine Mine has shown wonderful
results during the year. In six weeks 1371 ounces were crushed from 285
tons of stone. The chute (opening) from which this was taken improves
still richer as the mine opens up. The Champion is another group of
mines, from which excellent returns have been taken. At the Royalist,
another mine owned by the oldest mining resident of Nannine, as much as
300 ounces in two weeks have recently been obtained. There are many other
mines, but I cannot specify them all. Mount Yagahong is also a rich part
of the field, and Meekatharra, 25 miles away, is rapidly forging ahead
as a gold producer. Then 14 miles from Nannine is Burnakura, from which
place 71 lb. of specimens, containing 700 ounces of gold, some of the
pieces being nearly pure gold, were recently brought into Nannine and
lodged in the Western Australian Bank. Previous to this, £2000 worth of
gold was taken from the same claim, called Jewett’s United Lease, and
still more recently a Perth paper records that “A small parcel of stone,
weighing 4¾ cwt., from Jewett’s Union Mine at Burnakura, and crushed
at the Nannine battery, yielded 494½ ounces of gold. Nine hundred tons
of stone lie at grass—that is, on the top waiting to be crushed—on the
property.” This magnificent mine is owned by a local syndicate of seven
people. Gabanuntha is a rich mine near Nannine, and Star of the East
another. A leasehold with a peculiar name is “After Many Years,” which
gives every indication of turning out rich. This district, and Peak Hill,
owing to their remoteness, have not attracted speculators much, but must
eventually become prominent, for they are as rich as any part of Western
Australia, and after many years will, no doubt, fully verify Robert
Austin’s prediction.
To drive another 120 miles through the Bush to Peak Hill did not seem to
me a very agreeable undertaking, but the advent one day of a spanking
four-in-hand at Nannine, bringing three gentlemen, one of whom I was
fortunate enough to know, and who gallantly offered to take me to Peak
Hill, altered the case completely. One of the party was an Englishman
inspecting Western Australian mines with a view to large investments.
Relays of horses had been sent on to the different stages along the road
and sleeping accommodation arranged for. I am afraid I put out these
arrangements considerably, but the gentlemen did not seem to mind giving
up the best to me, gallantly saying that my company compensated for
any discomfort. I felt at first that, as they were on mining business,
they did not want womenfolk around, but they soon found out that I took
as much interest in mining matters as themselves, and we became _bon
camarades_. Knowing that the _menu_ at these places would not be of the
best, the party had sent ahead supplies of everything necessary for table
comfort, also a man cook and waiter, so you may well understand that the
journey to Peak Hill was a most enjoyable one to me.
As we approached the famous Peak Hill, which is a nice little mining
town, endowed with wonders of which you will presently hear, we passed
several dry-blowers working. These men fossick (look) over the old
workings, and by aid of a tin dish, in which they place any earth
they think contains gold, and a coarse riddle with which to sift it,
afterwards blowing away the fine dirt, they frequently find gold at the
bottom of the dish. The ground is remarkably rich in gold, and I find
it impossible to describe the magnitude of this golden country, which,
like other fields, seems only to have been tested in a few places, those
places being so rich that one wonders what the country will be when the
hundreds of miles of good ground that I have passed have been opened out
by miners. We were now far, far away from Perth, and the country looked
different from any I had seen before in Western Australia. Peak Hill lies
very high, 2000 feet above the sea-level. The ascent is steep and very
rocky, four miles of it going through the Robinson Ranges. An interesting
sight is found at the top, which has the appearance of a wide plain,
with shafts and dumps of the thrown-up earth all over it. The manager of
the principal mine here has a very comfortable residence, and the miners’
camps give the place the usual prosperous appearance. There are over 600
men on this field. The whole of the leases of Peak Hill have been taken
over by a syndicate, which has formed a company in London. The finds
have been marvellously rich. I went down one shaft, and saw some very
interesting specimens being dug out. The gold is in a kaolin formation,
and in some parts the kaolin is of all kinds of colours, and with the
gold shining through looks really lovely. In other parts of the mine the
kaolin is quite white, and the deposit easy to dig out. The results from
the Peak Hill reef have been as high as 2621 ounces 15 dwts. of gold
from 331 tons of this ore. Some of the mines have given as much as 21
ounces of gold to the ton, which is a wonderful record. The Christmas
Gift is a rich mine, and many others have had such phenomenal crushings
that the Peak Hill district is unsurpassed in wealth of gold. When Sir
Gerard Smith, late Governor of Western Australia, visited Peak Hill, the
mine-owners had a solid gold plate and a cup, to use at dinner, cast for
him.
[Illustration: DRY-BLOWING IN THE GOLDEN STEW]
There are some really fine public buildings, and the hotels, especially
the Peak, are very comfortable. A nice Miners’ Institute, for meetings,
entertainments, &c., has recently been finished. Land for building sites
realises splendid prices, nearly £1000 having been paid for different
allotments. The private houses seem very comfortable habitations. Many of
the people have made fortunes, and everything seems prosperous about the
place.
A very original character, called “Tom the Rager,” sold his interest in
one of the leases some time ago for £15,000. This man, an old Irishman,
made a memorable journey from Kimberley, in the North-West, across the
greater part of Western Australia, accompanied only by his faithful dog
“Paddy,” and subsequently got an interest in some of the richest claims
at Peak Hill, as the sale mentioned may testify. The Golden Patch, as
it is called, in which all the rich mines are, covers about a square
mile of ground of quite a different nature from that in other parts.
This mile of ground is formed by a mass of rich veins of quartz, and the
wealth contained there is unsurpassed in any part of Western Australia.
Were Peak Hill not such a tremendous distance away from the capital,
its growth would, no doubt, be as quick as that of Kalgoorlie, which it
so much resembles. Some of the wonderful crushings from a few of the
golden mines may interest you. The Peak Hill Reef, from 331 tons of stone
crushed 2621 ounces of gold; Daisy Bell, 82 tons, gave 1245 ounces;
Golden Chimes, 195 tons, gave 1402 ounces. The Horseshoe and the Golden
Patch are supposed to be the two richest spots in the colony. Some of the
specimens taken from the Patch are not only rich but vastly interesting
in other ways, some of the pieces being not gold held together by quartz,
but _vice versâ_; the small pieces of quartz, if tapped by a hard
substance, vibrate like a tuning-fork. The gold is very brilliant, and
positively sparkles in the light.
I drove out to the Horseshoe Mines, a distance of about 20 miles. There
were over 50 men working there, and getting a great deal of gold; some of
them gave me some pretty pieces. I have now got enough nuggets to make
any other collectors envious. While there I met a young man who knew me
in Melbourne when he was quite a boy. I did not recognise him, as he had
grown up and had a moustache; but he came to me almost with tears in his
eyes, so pleased was he to see me so far away from home. For the moment
I could hardly realise that I was nearly 800 miles in the interior of
Western Australia, and felt inclined to cry with sympathy. He gave me a
very pretty little nugget, which cheered me considerably. Alluvial gold
often takes most singular forms; it is usually found on the surface,
or not far below, while reef-gold is got in a quartz lode, or vein, at
some depth underground. Some magnificent nuggets have been found in this
part; one weighing 132 ounces, worth over £500, was found in one of the
gullies which we passed when driving to this spot. The name of Horseshoe
is taken from the long range of hills shaped almost like a horseshoe, and
the gullies between them have made many of the miners wealthy. There are
two very rich reefs here, which have been proved for six or seven miles.
The specimens are very massive, gold predominating to a large extent in
the quartz, and the ironstone fairly glistening with richness. I was
now getting so much accustomed to looking at and handling gold that I
began to fear I should look coldly on the common articles of everyday
life. The miners, with the usual hospitality of their class, would boil
the billy and give me tea, and all the best that their “back-block”
larder afforded. Times are much changed now, since the early days of the
fields, and the miners can live very comfortably. I said good-bye to them
all with regret, wishing I could stay longer in this grand part of the
country, the scenic beauty of which is also great. I enjoyed the drive
back very much, and could not help thinking what store of wealth must lie
beneath the ground we were driving over. The great bulk of this part of
the country must contain untold gold.
Revelstone is another rich mining camp a few miles from Peak Hill, where
a public crushing plant has been erected, at which the miners of the
neighbourhood can have their ore crushed as soon as they raise it.
Farther on still is that wonderful Nor’-West country, to which I hope
some day to go. The biggest nuggets the colony has produced have been
found there. “The Bobby Dazzler,” which I was fortunate enough to see,
and tried to lift, before I left Perth, and which is to be shown at the
Glasgow Exhibition, came from Marble Bar, Nor’-West. It weighs over 400
ounces of gold, and is worth over £1600. Another large nugget was found
in that district a few years ago, which weighed 334 ounces; so that
people wishing to pick up the precious metal in large lumps had better
try their luck in the far North.
After spending some days at Peak Hill, I started, with my kind friends,
on my return to Nannine, and passed through acres and acres of the
finest everlasting flowers I have ever seen. The beautiful cream-coloured
starry flowers were as large as a florin; the country looked like a foamy
sea. Then, in other parts, bright-coloured flowers surrounded us, like
patterns in a huge kaleidoscope.
We came to Abbot’s Find, some miles before reaching Nannine; the locality
is very rich; it was near here that last year a lucky prospector, named
Campbell, found some splendid specimens. The stone was creamy-white,
thickly permeated with gold, and was obtained from near the surface.
The place is full of outcrops (likely places for gold), leaders, and
reefs, it is wonderful that no rush has yet begun; but the rich spots
are so many, and the men comparatively so few, that they cannot prospect
them all. There are several important mines at Abbot’s, notably the New
Murchison King, White Horse, Abbot’s, and others, which have all given
good returns.
[Illustration: Mine at Cue]