THE NEW RUSH.
Early in the morning the plains were busy with moving life. Refreshed
by their rest, the hardy gold-diggers, full of health and vigour, rose
from their primitive beds, and raced to distant creeks to lave their
faces, and draw the water for the morning meal. Little do the constant
residents in a crowded city know of the vigorous healthful life that
stirs in the veins of these sturdy pioneers in the New World. "Take up
thy bed and walk," was literally illustrated by thousands of eager
men. Quickly were their rough toilets completed; quickly were the
hobbles taken from the horses' feet and the bells from their necks,
and quickly were they harnessed and ready to play their parts in the
moving panorama; quickly were the heavy-jawed, wisdom-faced oxen yoked
to the drays and waggons, patiently waiting for the flick of the whip
which bade them move along, which they did at a snail's pace, as if
they were weary of their day's work before it was begun; and soon were
log fires blazing, chops and steaks frizzling, and boiling tea
impatiently bubbling in the queerest of utensils. Scant time was given
to breakfast; scantier time was employed in rolling up blankets; less
time still was occupied in arranging them over broad backs and
shoulders, and starting on the march to the promised land. But one
operation all performed, and all took time in performing. When
everything else was adjusted, a black stump of a pipe was carefully
produced, carefully loaded, and carefully lighted by the aid of a
burning branch. Then, refreshed by their first pipe, the adventurers
whistled away dull care, and "stumped it" at the rate of four miles an
hour. It was a lovely summer morning. The sun was rising over a
snow-capped range, which reared its head in the distance, a picture of
beauty. As the warm rays fell upon the moss-clad giant, rills of
sparkling snowdrops gemmed its face with myriad silver tears. It was a
marvellous picture. But few stayed to pay it tribute. Among the few, a
ragged German, upon whose shoulders were placed all his worldly
treasure--a calico tent, a couple of blankets, and a flat-faced,
stolid-looking little boy, who, as his father pointed to the range,
crowed and clapped his hands at the glorious sight.
When evening came, and they were within twenty miles of the New Rush,
Richard Handfield and the Welshman halted at a wayside inn, which had
been built but a few days, and in which the proprietors were making
their fortunes rapidly. It belonged to two young Scotchmen, upon whom
fortune had descended unexpectedly. They had taken to woodsplitting,
and were happy at that, and contented even with the little they
earned, as is the proverbial way of Scotchmen. But they had the
national characteristic, an eye to the main chance: and they had the
still more national characteristic, the wit to take advantage of the
chance. So, directly the gold fever broke out, and they saw the signs
of it floating past their little six-feet-by-nine tent of drill, they
built themselves a building of gum-tree slabs. In less than two days
it was finished; the same evening they bargained for a dray-load
of bottled beer and spirits, the first on the road to the new
gold-fields; and the next morning, as impromptu hotel keepers, they
commenced to make their fortunes to the tune of two hundred pounds a
day. Their building was the only one for miles around, and as it stood
in the midst of an amphitheatre of hills, they dignified it by the
title of the Amphitheatre Hotel. Night and day it was crowded with men
who recklessly squandered their money at the bar in a state of the
wildest excitement.
At ten o'clock at night, Richard and his mate were standing by the
door of the Amphitheatre Hotel. The riotous noise within the hotel
precluded all idea of sleep, and they stood there, looking at the
moon, whose brightness was hardly dimmed by a screen of light floating
clouds, and talking over the chances of their being able to get a good
piece of ground at the New Rush. What is that in the distance? A white
object! Moving? Yes, and moving fast. Running, racing, like one
demented. White trousers, white guernsey shirt, bare arms, and bare
head--running like mad, under the white face of the moon. Who can he
be? Where has he come from? Is he mad? All the inmates of the calico
hotel came out to the door, waiting for the racer. And here he is,
panting, his strong chest heaving, his brawny arms waving, his blue
eye glaring! "Well, mate, what's the row! What's up?" Without
returning any answer to these questions, the racing individual points
in the direction of the New Rush, whence he has come, and gasps out,
"There--got a claim--heaps of gold--saw a bucketful dug up just before
I left--off to fetch my mates!" And off he is, without--wonder of
wonders!--stopping to drink. There he goes, racing off to fetch his
mates: a large white speck dotting the plain beyond--a small white
speck--a smaller white speck--an infinitesimal white speck--no speck
at all! Meanwhile, the conversation has become very animated. They all
thought so--that was the real El Dorado--they had been waiting for it
for a long while, and here it was at last! Anecdotes are related as
authentic, of fortunes made in a week, in a day, in an hour. Goodness
knows how the information has been obtained, but suddenly these men
are relating to each other wonderful accounts of thousands of ounces
obtained by single individuals at the New Rush, although, before the
arrival of the racing individual, they did not appear to know very
much about the new field. Gradually the conversation dies out, and the
diggers retire to their rest. Nothing disturbs the stillness of the
night. The scene is so lovely that it might serve for the Kingdom of
Dreamland. On the top of yon lofty mountain stands an old castle,
wrapped about, grim shadow as it is, by the soft moonlight. Near it,
each rugged rock and stone assumes a living shape. Why creep they away
so stealthily? Are they rock or human? Psha! They are but two diggers,
who, excited by the news, have given up all thoughts of sleep, and are
stealing away to the New Rush, so that they may not be too late for
the chance of digging up a bucketful of gold!
At noon on the following day, Richard and the Welshman arrived on the
ground. There were thousands of diggers there, and a long street of
calico stores was already erected to supply their wants. As the new
arrivals poured in, they had to traverse this street, which commenced
at the mouth of the main road, so that it presented a very animated
appearance, and was always thronged. Flags of all nations and flags of
no nations, were waving over the stores, many of which rejoiced in
high-sounding titles. There were the Great Wonder, the Little Wonder,
the Wonder of the World, and a great quantity of other Wonders. There
were the Monster Emporium (which, properly, would represent an
Emporium for Monsters); the Blue Store, and the Red Store (which were
impositions, for they were built of unbleached calico); and the Bee
Hive, which looked like one, for it was crowded with customers. There
was the Right Man in the Right Place, which was the sign of a
stationer's store, where old newspapers were being sold at exorbitant
prices, and where you had to pay half-a-crown for two sheets of
notepaper, two envelopes, and a pen. This store was also a kind of
post-office, where you might deposit letters on payment of one
shilling each, and receive them, if there were any to receive, at the
same price. There were half-a-dozen auctioneers, going, going, going,
with all their might. There were scores of draymen unloading their
drays, and blocking up the road with cases of goods. There was a horse
sale-yard, where horses were being galloped madly up and down, to the
infinite risk of life and limb; and wherein the salesman talked the
most outrageous nonsense, and told the most outrageous fibs, as to the
wonderful qualities of the cattle he was anxious to dispose of. There
were scores of hotels and restaurants for the accommodation of the
natives of almost every nation under the sun. There were the
Hibernian, the Spanish, the French, the American, and a host of
others. Those who could not find their native clime indicated on the
broad strips of calico in front of the stores, might console
themselves at the All Nations; while philanthropists might rest their
weary limbs at the Live and Let Live.
Forcing their way through the bustling crowd, Richard Handfield and
the Welshman soon reached the end of the straggling street of stores,
and came upon the gold diggings. These were situated upon a great
plain, which was dotted with strong sunburnt men, straining at
windlasses. Round some of the shafts small knots of diggers were
congregated, waiting eagerly for the "prospect." One shaft had just
come upon the gold, and great excitement was produced by the statement
that the first bucketful of earth had yielded twelve pennyweights of
the precious metal. There was no chance of getting ground near this
spot, for every inch for a mile around was monopolised; so the
new-comers had to walk on till they came to a less busy part of the
plain. A claim was there soon measured and marked out with pegs, and
the orthodox custom of sticking the pick[4] in the centre was duly
performed. Then Richard and his mate went in search of a spot to put
up their tent, and before evening their house was built, and Richard
was sitting at the door smoking his pipe, while Welsh Tom commenced to
build a new chimney. Welsh Tom was in his glory. He worked and sang,
and looked every inch a man of might; even Richard could not help
admiring him. His shirt sleeves of blue twill were tucked up to his
shoulders, and the hard muscles of his arms stood out so grandly that
Tubal-Cain himself might have been proud of them. Every now and then
he fell back and contemplated his mud chimney, which grew like magic
beneath his hands. Sad as was the story of this man's life, he was
happy and contented. Work--God's heritage to man--sweetened his days
for him!
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[Footnote 4: This sticking the pick in the ground is an honoured
gold-digging custom. It is the title-deed to the property. The
first thing gold-diggers do when they arrive upon a newly-discovered
gold-field is to look about them for a piece of ground which is most
likely to be auriferous. Having made their selection, they measure as
much of it as the gold-mining regulations of the colony allow them to
occupy (perhaps forty feet by sixty), stick a boundary wooden peg at
each corner, and then drive their pick into the centre of their
ground, which is called "claim." Then they reconnoitre, and set about
putting up their tent, and building a chimney. After-comers seeing the
pick in the ground, consider it a good title-deed, and pass on to
fresh spots.]
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Night was a busy time in the township. The bars of the calico
restaurants and hotels were crowded, and money was lavishly squandered
in the dancing-saloons and concert-rooms, with which the township
abounded. The men danced with each other; a barmaid was a _rara avis_
indeed, and could, with impunity, give herself as many airs as the
most fashionable drawing-room belle. The fever excitement of a New
Rush is most intense: men grow frantic from mere contagion. There was
one free-and-easy concert-room, filled with diggers, who shouted out
the choruses to the songs, and smoked and drank amidst a very Babel of
riot and noise. In this room, one night, a little excitable Frenchman
drunk himself into a state of madness, and, calling for a dozen of
Champagne, knocked the necks off half the bottles, and poured the wine
upon the ground; and three minutes afterwards, in a wild delirium, he
lit his pipe with a five-pound note.
So days and weeks passed, and every day and every week the gold-field
grew and grew until it extended over many miles. With magical celerity
a city was built, and before the birth of a new moon the thousand and
one institutions of a civilised life were growing in the light of
enterprise and industry. Streets were laid out, roads were made,
newspapers and banks were established, a theatre was erected; and
while the busy life of the city was in full glow, homely men were
building modest snuggeries in the suburbs, and the welcome faces of
women and children began to be seen.