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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41530 ***
+
+                      IN SEARCH OF EL DORADO
+
+
+
+
+  _THREE BOOKS OF_
+  _TRAVEL AND DESCRIPTION_
+
+
+    Siberia. A Record of Travel, Climbing and Exploration.
+
+        By SAMUEL TURNER, F.R.G.S. With about 100 Illustrations
+        and 2 Maps. Demy 8vo, cloth, =21s.= net.
+
+    Travels of a Naturalist in Northern Europe.
+
+        By J. A. HARVIE-BROWN, F.R.S.E., F.Z.S., Author of "Fauna of
+        the Moray Basin," "A Vertebrate Fauna of Orkney," &c.,&c.
+        With 4 Maps and many Illustrations. 2 vols. Royal 8vo,
+        cloth, =£3 3s.= net.
+
+    Russia Under the Great Shadow.
+
+        By LUIGI VILLARI, Author of "Giovanni Segantini," "Italian
+        Life in Town and Country," &c. With 85 Illustrations.
+        Demy 8vo, cloth, =10s. 6d.= net.
+
+
+                      LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Yours Very Sincerely Alexander Macdonald.]
+
+
+
+
+                     IN SEARCH OF EL DORADO
+
+                    A WANDERER'S EXPERIENCES
+
+                               BY
+                       ALEXANDER MACDONALD
+                             F.R.G.S.
+
+                      WITH AN INTRODUCTION
+                       BY ADMIRAL MORESBY
+
+
+                           ILLUSTRATED
+
+
+                        SECOND IMPRESSION
+
+
+                     LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN
+                    1, ADELPHI TERRACE. MCMVI
+
+
+
+
+                        FIRST EDITION 1905
+                      SECOND IMPRESSION 1906
+
+
+                      [_All rights reserved_]
+
+
+
+
+                               TO
+
+                           MY MOTHER
+
+
+
+
+Introduction
+
+
+"Good wine needs no bush," but because a man does not always himself see
+the full scope of what he has written, an introduction may have its uses
+for author and readers alike. And to me--the adventure of whose own
+career has reached the inexorable _Finis_--these true stories of gold
+and gem seeking have an interest beyond the mere record of peril and
+achievement, though, in the words of Sir Philip Sidney, it "stirs the
+heart like a trumpet-blast" when brave men come to grips with dangers
+which (like the treasure-guarding dragons of fairy-tales) yield not only
+their hoard, but their own strength, as reward to the conqueror.
+
+And these are true romances--no fiction with its _Deus ex machina_ at
+the psychological moment, but the unadorned risks, escapes, and failures
+of adventurers on the quest of those strange commodities, seemingly
+haunted by death and fear, from their secrecy in the recesses of the
+earth till they shine with a sinister light in the crowns of kings or
+make rough, for better handling, the sword-grips of warriors.
+
+The quest of "El Dorado" begins with the history of man, and in pursuit
+of the glittering phantom have "many souls of heroes gone down into
+Hades," only that others might step into their empty places in the
+ranks. For whatever is found, always just beyond reach flits what is not
+found--what never will be, be it the golden city of Manoa, with its
+palace of the Inca, "all the vessels of whose house and kitchen are of
+gold, and in his wardrobe statues of gold which seemed giants, and
+ropes, budgets, chests and troughs of gold," or the mysterious jewels of
+the wisdom of Solomon, or the genie-guarded gems of the Arabian Nights.
+
+The instinct of delight in this adventure which has dazzled the mind of
+man from time immemorial is universal: it is a relish of youth which
+persists into the old age of the world; it warms the coldest blood; and
+our author, who has himself followed the mirage and felt the fascination
+so keenly, is able to transmit the magic of the search to his readers.
+Whether toiling over the Chilcoot Pass, hunger-pinched, and desperate
+with cold and exhaustion, or thirst-tormented in the burning deserts of
+Central Australia, the indomitable desire that drives him forward with
+his comrades, drives us also on this modern Odyssey, where the Siren
+sings on beaches of dead men's bones, and perils as terrible as any
+man-devouring Cyclops lie in wait for the wanderers.
+
+The author, leaving his book to the verdict of the public, is once more
+an explorer in the Australian deserts, collecting who knows what strange
+experiences for future use, so I may, in his absence, characterise him
+as a born leader of men, a very prudent Odysseus; for what lesser
+qualities could have held together so strangely assorted a band as the
+rough-hewn Mac and Stewart and the gentleman adventurer Phil Morris?
+Reticence is perhaps unavoidable, but one would willingly see and hear
+more of the central figure than his own modesty allows him to give us.
+
+Yet, as I said before, it is not only the adventure which gives a charm
+to these studies of wild life. They are little epics of
+comradeship--impressions of men to whom gold and jewels are much, but to
+whom loyalty is the one thing better. It is good to see the yellow gleam
+in the washings, and the milky fire of the Australian opal is worth the
+perils endured, but there is also the abiding knowledge that quite other
+and less elusive treasures reward the quest--courage, endurance, and
+above all--"the manly love of comrades."
+
+And to me--to whom some of these studies recall in keenest remembrance
+scenes which I shall never behold again with my living eyes--there is
+another point of view and one of wider interest. Such men, in working
+out their own destiny, are evolving also the imperial destiny of the
+Mother-Country. They break the path, and other feet follow. There is the
+march of an army behind them, for they are the vanguard of
+civilisation--the first spray of the tide that, however slowly it flows,
+does not ebb. It is well, since the change must come, that these men, of
+good home-spun stuff, honest and kindly in thought and deed, should be
+among the forerunners of the race that will abide where it has set its
+feet. Scotland need not be ashamed of her sons as they stand before us
+in these true stories of daring and endurance, and speak with their
+enemies in the gate.
+
+The inexhaustible mineral and gem deposits of New Guinea are only
+glanced at, but the description of those marvellous tropical forests,
+through whose deep ravines rush the gold-bearing torrents, from which
+"Mac" was able to wash out thirty pounds worth in one day, proves what
+possibilities England possesses in that great island, and sheds light on
+the policy of a time, now happily past, when I had hoisted the Flag, in
+1872, and thus taken formal possession of Eastern New Guinea. I reported
+to my chief, and his reply has a curious interest in view of many later
+developments.
+
+"Have we not enough tropical possessions, without requiring more? Enough
+issues to sap the strength of our Englishmen, without giving Government
+patronage to the infliction of new wounds on our body? Enough
+circumstances in which there must be a subjected race alongside of our
+English proprietors, without putting the Government stamp on a new
+scheme which will help to demoralise us, and weaken our moral sense as
+a nation?"
+
+Such were the views of the Little Englanders thirty years ago. Such seem
+strangely out of date when explorers of the Alexander Macdonald type are
+tapping the remotest sources of commerce in the interests of the old
+country.
+
+So I leave the little band to the reader--very human, compound of great
+generosities and small failings, travellers, like ourselves, on "the
+Great Trail" that leads to the Mountains of the Moon, and beyond, but
+always _men_, and knit together by so strong a bond that each might well
+say of the other, with Walt Whitman--
+
+             "Bold, cautious, true, and my loving comrade."
+
+                                                         J. MORESBY.
+                                                            Admiral Rtd.
+
+    BLACKBECK,
+      _April 19, 1905_.
+
+
+
+
+Preface
+
+
+I desire to assure all readers of this book that the scenes here
+depicted, and the events described, may be taken as faithful
+representations from life. I would also add that the geographical
+descriptions throughout are accurate in detail; my knowledge is borne of
+long and varied experience in the countries of which I write.
+
+A friendly critic, on reviewing my MSS., said that the book might be
+misunderstood because of its containing the remarks and conversations of
+my companions, which he considered could not very well have been
+remembered by the writer. On this point, however, I beg to differ, and I
+feel that I shall have the sympathy of my fellow-wanderers on my side.
+When a man has travelled for many years with the same companions, and
+has shared danger and sorrow and gladness with them, surely it is not
+too much to assume that he must ultimately know their temperaments well,
+and would scarcely need to draw upon his imagination when recalling
+their various remarks on striking incidents.
+
+At the conclusion of our Western Australian journey the outbreak of the
+South African war caused a temporary disbandment of my party, all of
+whose members served at the Front with the Australian Contingents
+during the campaign. As a result it will be observed that in the third
+part of this volume the narratives partake somewhat of a general nature,
+and are also more or less disconnected.
+
+Finally let me say in extenuation of any brusqueness or crudity of
+expression which may be noticeable, that I write as a traveller whose
+hand has more often gripped the rifle and sextant than the pen.
+
+                                                ALEXANDER MACDONALD.
+
+    ELCHO PARK, PERTH.
+          _March 1, 1905._
+
+
+
+
+Contents
+
+
+                                                 PAGE
+
+    INTRODUCTION                                  vii
+
+    PREFACE                                      xiii
+
+
+                            PART I
+
+                      THE FROZEN NORTH
+
+    UNDER THE SHADOW OF THE WHITE PASS              3
+
+    SHOOTING THE WHITE HORSE RAPIDS                16
+
+    THE LAND OF THE THRON-DIUCKS                   24
+
+    THE FINDING OF "GOLD BOTTOM" CREEK             37
+
+    THE PERILS OF THE TRAIL                        51
+
+    THE TENT AT CARIBOU CROSSING                   60
+
+    ACROSS THE CHILCOOT PASS                       70
+
+
+                            PART II
+
+                  UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS
+
+    THE FIVE-MILE RUSH                             83
+
+    SINKING FOR GOLD                               97
+
+    WE "STRIKE" GOLD                              107
+
+    CAMP-FIRE REMINISCENCES                       122
+
+    THE "SACRED" NUGGET                           133
+
+    INTO THE "NEVER NEVER" LAND                   146
+
+    EL DORADO!                                    159
+
+    WHERE THE PELICAN BUILDS ITS NEST             173
+
+
+                            PART III
+
+                    PROMISCUOUS WANDERINGS
+
+    IN THE AUSTRALIAN BACK-BLOCKS                 199
+
+    ON THE OPAL FIELDS OF WHITE CLIFFS            220
+
+    PROSPECTING IN BRITISH NEW GUINEA             238
+
+    IN THE GUM-LAND OF WANGERI                    256
+
+    WITH THE PEARLERS OF NORTH-WESTERN AUSTRALIA  271
+
+
+
+
+List of Illustrations
+
+
+  PORTRAIT OF THE AUTHOR                         _Frontispiece_
+
+  A PARTY OF MINERS GOING IN BY THE SKAGWAY
+    OR WHITE PASS TRAIL                       _Facing p._     7
+
+  THE CHILCOOT PASS                               "          16
+
+  KLONDIKE-BOUND MINERS AND THEIR OUTFITS
+    ON LAKE LINDERMAN                             "          22
+
+  AFTER THE RAPIDS                                "          22
+
+  PAN-WASHING IN SKOOKUM GULCH                    "          37
+
+  GOLD-BOTTOM CREEK                               "          47
+
+  DAWSON CITY                                     "          54
+
+  ON THE SAFE SIDE OF THE PASS AGAIN--MAC,
+    SELF, STEWART                                 "          79
+
+  STEWART PREPARING OUR FIRST MEAL                "          89
+
+  "DISCOVERY" SHAFT--ON GOLD                      "          99
+
+  STEWART FINDS THE GROUND HARD                   "         106
+
+  NO. 2 CLAIM--JUST STRUCK GOLD                   "         114
+
+  OUR SHAFT                                       "         122
+
+  NUGGETY DICK AND SILENT TED                     "         127
+
+  HAPPY JACK AND DEAD-BROKE SAM                   "         132
+
+  READY FOR THE RUSH                              "         139
+
+  A BREAKDOWN IN THE RUSH                         "         145
+
+  OUR LAST VIEW OF THE 5-MILE WORKING             "         150
+
+  TAKING OUR POSITION                             "         159
+
+  A NATIVE CAMP                                   "         165
+
+  EL DORADO!                                      "         172
+
+  AN EXTINCT VOLCANO WE CAMPED ON                 "         182
+
+  THE ONLY CREATURES THAT CAN EXIST IN THE
+    N.W. INTERIOR                                 "         195
+
+  AN EMU'S NEST                                   "         200
+
+  "LEICHARDT'S TREE"                              "         213
+    The last trace found of the great explorer who
+    attempted to cross the interior and was never
+    heard of again.
+
+  A FAMOUS MINE IN THE GULF COUNTRY               "         219
+
+  BORING FOR OPAL INDICATIONS                     "         224
+
+  THE BELLE OF THE BUSH--A SALVATION ARMY
+    CONVERT IN WHITE CLIFFS                       "         230
+
+  THE DINGOE OR NATIVE DOG                        "         237
+
+  CROCODILE JAWS                                  "         243
+
+  THE GUM-DIGGERS' SWIMMING-POOL                  "         265
+
+  READY TO GO DOWN                                "         275
+
+
+
+
+PART I
+
+THE FROZEN NORTH
+
+
+
+
+    "And, as his strength
+      Failed him at length,
+    He met a pilgrim shadow--
+      'Shadow,' said he,
+      'Where can it be
+    This land of El Dorado?'
+
+      'Over the mountains
+      Of the moon,
+    Down in the valley of the Shadow,
+      Ride, boldly ride,'
+      The Shade replied
+    'If you seek for El Dorado.'"
+
+
+
+
+UNDER THE SHADOW OF THE WHITE PASS
+
+
+I have stumbled upon a few "tough" corners of the globe during my
+wanderings beyond the outposts of civilisation, but I think the most
+outrageously lawless quarter I ever struck was Skagway in the days of
+its early infancy. Now, I am told, Skagway is a flourishing township,
+boasting of the orthodox amount of "broad" streets and "palatial"
+buildings for an American "boom" camp. This may be, though--unless the
+geographical features of the district have altered--I can hardly credit
+it. When I was there the embryo city balanced itself precariously along
+the lower slopes of the White Pass, and a good percentage of the
+population had to be content with huts built on piles within the tidal
+limit of the Lynn Canal. In short, there was no room to build anything,
+and Skagway existed simply because it marked the entry to the Yukon's
+frozen treasure. Its permanent residents were, for the most part,
+sharpers of the worst type; indeed, it seemed as if the scum of the
+earth had hastened here to fleece and rob, or, failing those gentle
+arts, to murder the unwary voyagers to or from the Golden North. There
+was no law whatsoever; might was right, the dead shot only was immune
+from danger.
+
+It was late autumn in the year when the first news of Klondike riches
+burst upon the world, when I, with my companion Mac, arrived at the head
+of the Lynn inlet, _en route_ for the land of snows and nuggets. Our
+ship, the _Rosalie_, carried a goodly number of passengers, but they
+were mainly of the ruffian "store and saloon-keeper" variety, and few,
+if any, of them ever got beyond the pass. The true gold-miner is
+proverbially poor, and as yet his kind had not been numerous on the
+trail. As for myself, I was enterprising if nothing else, and my
+companion made up for my deficiencies in other respects. He was a
+ferocious individual without a doubt, my worthy henchman; without him my
+early journeyings would have ended before they had well begun, but,
+being a hardened traveller, he knew how to adapt himself to
+circumstances, and how to come off best in a scrimmage, both of which
+traits were brought fully out before we had been long in the villainous
+little camp of Skagway. Our first twenty-four hours' experiences may be
+worth relating.
+
+We were the only representatives of Old England in these uncouth parts
+at this period, a fact which had not made us any more beloved by the
+aggressively hostile Yankees on board the _Rosalie_. Times without
+number they told me how the "great American nation" could wipe the
+British Isles off the face of the earth at a moment's notice, and how a
+"free-born American" was equal to a dozen Britishers, and how we two
+would be swallowed alive by these same men should we dare say a word to
+the contrary. We bore a good deal of this sort of thing in silence,
+though occasionally throughout the protracted voyage my fiery
+aide-de-camp retaliated angrily, and did considerable damage among his
+tormentors, who proved to be warlike only in their speech. But this is a
+digression, and though I could write pages on that momentous cruise--we
+ran aground five times, and were practically wrecked twice--I must
+desist and continue my narrative.
+
+The first man we saw after being dumped on the muddy shores of Skagway
+Bay was a short, red-headed individual, with ruddy countenance to match,
+who fairly bristled with weapons of the most bloodthirsty description.
+He approached Mac and me as we stood hesitatingly by the water's edge
+looking around for some habitation wherein we might find refuge for the
+first night of our sojourn in a strange land.
+
+"Hallo, stranger!" he saluted, affably, firing a huge revolver
+unpleasantly close to my ear in a most nonchalant manner.
+
+"Hallo!" I said without enthusiasm, feeling cautiously in the rear of my
+nether garments to make sure that my own gun was where it ought to be.
+
+He seemed somewhat hurt at the stiffness of my rejoinder, and toyed
+suggestively with his revolver for some moments without speaking.
+Meanwhile Mac proceeded unconcernedly along the beach to where a huge
+hulk lay moored, whose broad beam bore the legend in giant
+letters--"Skagit Hotel. Recently of San Francisco. Finest accommodation
+in town."
+
+I was preparing to follow in my comrade's footsteps, marvelling at the
+enterprise which had brought the old dismasted schooner so opportunely
+to such a region; but my friend with the gun was not to be put off.
+
+"Say, stranger," he growled, stepping before me, "you don't know who I
+am, I reckon----"
+
+"I don't," I interrupted, shortly, "and I am not over anxious to make
+your acquaintance either."
+
+He glared at me savagely for an instant, then broke out into a hearty
+laugh. "For a darned Englisher you are mighty pert," he said, "an' I
+won't slaughter you--just yet. Still, for your future benefit I may tell
+you that my handle is Soapy Sam, an' I've planted considerable men like
+you in my time. I'm a bad man, I is, but your ignorance saves ye."
+
+The conversation was being uncomfortably prolonged; yet I dared not make
+any movement. "What's the damage, Soapy?" I asked contritely. "I suppose
+you are collecting toll in your polite way?"
+
+He lowered his weapon and grinned. "Every tenderfoot as lands in this
+here city has to play poker with me or fight," he acknowledged
+smilingly.
+
+I realised my position at once. It was painfully clear to me that the
+"fight" would be all on one side, and could only end in one way so long
+as Soapy held the "drop," and it was also clear that the alternative was
+to submit to wholesale robbery. A loud shout at our back made us both
+turn with alacrity, and behold there stood Mac with his long Winchester
+repeater levelled fairly at Soapy Samuel's head. The wily individual had
+scented danger, and had made a _détour_ expressly for my benefit.
+
+"Say when," he murmured calmly, from behind his artillery, "and I'll
+blow the deevil into vulgar fractions."
+
+I stepped out of range of fire without delay. Soapy's fingers twitched
+on the stock of his lowered revolver as his ferret-like eyes blinked
+down the muzzle of the deadly tube, which never wavered a hair's
+breadth. Then his weapon dropped from his nerveless hand, and slowly his
+arms were upraised towards the sky, and he smiled an exceedingly sickly
+smile.
+
+"You've got the pull on me this time, partner," he said. "I caves."
+
+At this moment a hoarse chorus of cheers rang out from the vicinity of
+the Skagit Hotel. The inmates had assembled on the upper deck to witness
+the discomfiture of their common enemy.
+
+"Shoot him!" they roared; "he killed old Smith."
+
+But Mac was not disposed to make himself public executioner. "Ye'd
+better vanish, Soapy," he grunted.
+
+[Illustration: A PARTY OF MINERS GOING IN BY THE SKAGWAY OR
+               WHITE PASS TRAIL.]
+
+"Never mind the cannon ye dropped; it'll just suit me. Quick, fur I'm
+getting nervish."
+
+Soapy fled, slipping and stumbling through the snow in his intense
+haste. But when he had placed a good hundred yards between him and his
+conqueror, he turned and waved his hand cheerily.
+
+"I bear no ill-will, boys," he shouted; "I was clean bested. But," and
+he turned towards the _Skagit_, "I'll have it out with you afore long,
+and don't forgit it."
+
+A yell of derision greeted him in return. Apparently the _Skagit_
+dwellers meant to take all chances with a light heart. Mac grounded his
+rifle with a grunt of satisfaction.
+
+"This is the deevil's ain country we've struck," he grumbled. "It's a
+blessed thing I got insured afore I left auld Scotland." I agreed with
+him heartily, and together we sought the hospitable shelter of the
+stranded hotel, where we were welcomed effusively by the proprietor
+thereof, a merry-faced Irishman of the name of O'Connor.
+
+"We're chock full up, but we'll gladly make room for you, boys," he
+said. "It wouldn't be safe to allow you to go up among Soapy's gang."
+
+I expressed my gratitude for his tender solicitude, then made sundry
+inquiries as to the prospects of crossing the pass within the next day
+or so.
+
+"You want to cross the pass?" he echoed, in amazement. "Why, you won't
+be able to do that until next spring. The snows are on, and the trail is
+blocked with hundreds of dead horses anyhow."
+
+I had heard this statement so often of late that I was in nowise taken
+aback. "We certainly did not come here for the good of our health," I
+said. "We'll try the Chilcoot Pass if the Skagway route is impossible.
+Dyea is not very far from here, I think?"
+
+"Only about four miles round about," he replied. "It is at the head of
+the inlet you would see before your ship branched in here. A mighty
+miserable place it is, for the winds sweep right down from the sea
+almost constantly."
+
+"We didn't expect to find roses growing on the track," snorted Mac,
+impatiently. "We'll try and get round to Dyea in the morning."
+
+But now another difficulty arose. There were no boats to be had stout
+enough to withstand the heavy gales which, as we had just been told,
+blew ceaselessly up the funnel-like entrance to the Chilcoot Valley, and
+even if there had been, our outfit of flour and miscellaneous foodstuffs
+was rather an unwieldy factor to be considered.
+
+"It's a maist ungodly country," commented Mac gloomily. "There seems to
+be nae room for anybody but thieves an' murderers, and it' very funny
+that there's no' an honest gold-miner among the lot."
+
+Our fellow-passengers nearly all had found congenial quarters further
+back in the city, and one or two had erected their tents on the beach,
+forgetting in their haste to found a home that the tide would wash over
+their camp site about twelve o'clock that same night. Yet no one cared
+to inform them on the matter, and Mac watched their progress with
+undisguised joy, and howled with delight when one of his old enemies
+began to haul timber from the hillside for the purpose of building a
+substantial edifice on the sinking sands.
+
+"They might know that the old _Skagit_ couldn't have walked up here,"
+laughed our host. "But they'll find out their mistake soon enough, I
+reckon," and he chuckled, long and loudly.
+
+Having partaken of dinner, Mac and I sallied forth to visit the
+scattered array of huts and tents which constituted the town.
+
+"Look out for Soapy Sam," warned a swarthy-visaged man in picturesque
+attire. "He's a nasty sort of skunk to meet, even in the daytime, as you
+already know. If ye get into trouble just yell on me--Black Harry is my
+handle--and I'll be with you in a couple of shakes."
+
+I thanked the dusky warrior, who indeed looked as if he could give a
+very good account of himself when necessary, and with the butt of my
+revolver clutched tightly in my hand, I walked citywards with Mac, who
+gravely whistled selections from a hymn entitled, "There is a Happy
+Land." On our arrival in Klondike Avenue, as the main thoroughfare was
+elegantly styled, not a solitary individual was to be seen. The weather
+was bitterly cold, and the denizens of the camp, with commendable good
+sense, avoided all danger of frostbite by keeping within the shelter of
+their wigwams. The deserted avenue was therefore a most dreary
+spectacle, and the gathering shadows of night hanging over the grim pass
+in the background did not tend to enliven the gloom of the scene.
+
+"And to think that for the last fortnight I hae heard nothing but
+stories o' American grit, American hardiness, American--everything,"
+soliloquised Mac, sarcastically; "yet every deevil o' them is frichtened
+o' catchin' cold--but hallo! what's this?"
+
+He directed my gaze towards a flaring poster nailed to a tree. We
+approached, and read the rude notice. "In the Skagit Hall to-night.
+Grand concert. Miss Caprice, of New York, the world-famed variety
+actress, will hold the camp in thrall. Leave your guns at home, and come
+early to avoid the rush. N.B.--Poker tables have been fixed up for the
+convenience of the audience."
+
+The last clause gave the key to the whole concern. Miss Caprice--whoever
+that might be--was merely an extra attraction. Appended was a weird
+diagram purporting to be a sketch of the aforesaid Miss Caprice in
+the intricacies of one of her dance specialities. Mac shuddered and
+looked pained.
+
+"This is maist decidedly no place for a white man," he asserted, with a
+sigh. Then we turned and headed back for the _Skagit_, where in the
+later hours the world-famed artiste was billed to disport herself. As we
+passed by a large log structure set back among the trees, I was
+surprised to hear a husky voice call out to us, and while we hesitated
+the door of the hut swung open, and Soapy Sam appeared and beckoned
+mysteriously. He apparently had discarded his armoury, but I was not
+disposed to trust much to appearances, at which our old enemy looked
+considerably aggrieved.
+
+"I bear no grudge, boys," he said. "No man can say that Soapy Sam went
+back on his word. You downed me fair."
+
+"Then what is it?" I inquired suspiciously.
+
+"Ye must admit, Soapy, ma man," added Mac drily, "that your reputation
+even among yer ain folk is no' just rosy."
+
+But Soapy was evidently determined not to be offended by anything we
+might say. He approached with hands extended in token of good faith,
+and, noting this, we stayed our progress and waited wonderingly to hear
+what he wished to speak. He did not enlighten us much, however.
+
+"I say, boys," he whispered when he came near, "can you both swim?"
+
+Mac nodded. "But it wouldna be a pleasant diversion in this weather," he
+remarked, with a shudder.
+
+"Then don't go near the _Skagit_ to-night," said Soapy impressively.
+"There's a storm rising, and I shouldn't wonder if the old barge bursts
+her moorings before morning."
+
+He was gone in an instant, and Mac and I gazed at each other in dismay.
+"What can he mean?" I said.
+
+"Heaven knows," growled Mac; "but we'll likely find out before very
+long. He's a gey slippery customer, is Soapy, an' no' easily understood,
+I'm thinkin'."
+
+We continued on our course meditating deeply, but, no solution of the
+mysterious warning presenting itself, it escaped our minds utterly in
+the noisy excitement that prevailed on our return to the _Skagit_.
+O'Connor, the proprietor, was all agog with the importance of his
+position as master of ceremonies; he was busily superintending the
+placing of a rickety old piano when we made our appearance, and he
+immediately seized on Mac for a song during the evening, a favour which
+was most promptly refused.
+
+"Miss Caprice an' me wouldna suit on the same programme," was the worthy
+diplomatist's excuse. "Get Black Harry an' Soapy Sam--"
+
+"Soapy Sam is barred this circus," sternly interrupted O'Connor. "I'm
+running a concert to-night, not a funeral undertaking establishment."
+Assuredly Soapy Sam's prowess was no mean factor to be considered.
+
+At 7 p.m. prompt--as advertised--the entertainment began. The room was
+crowded with truly all sorts and conditions of men, and the air reeked
+with tobacco smoke. The piano manipulator--a bewhiskered and
+groggy-looking personage in top-boots--took his place with stately grace
+as befitted the dignity of his office. He ran his fingers clumsily over
+the keys as if seeking for some lost chord or combination, which,
+however, he did not find, and then he rattled out an ear-shattering
+melody in which the audience, after a moment's pause, joined lustily. In
+the midst of the uproar thus let loose a gaudily-bedecked creature of
+the female persuasion, wearing a grin that almost obliterated her
+features, appeared on the raised stage at the end of the saloon, and
+joined in the pandemonium, her shrill voice screaming out the touching
+information that there would be "a hot time in the old town to-night,"
+which coincided with the item on the programme.
+
+This was Miss Caprice--a type of the "noble and enduring" women whom
+recent "Klondike" novelists have portrayed so tenderly in their
+"realistic" romances. Heaven forbid that the respectable British public
+should be thus deceived. There was no woman with any claim to the name
+on the long trail in these days.
+
+It would be impossible to describe the course of that memorable
+"concert." It continued in spasms--or turns, which I believe is the
+correct term to use--far into the night, with occasional interruptions
+in the shape of fights and wordy altercations among the poker players,
+diversions which lent pleasurable variety to the entertainment, though
+now and again it seemed as if a funeral or two would surely result
+therefrom. But all smoothed off harmoniously under the influence of Miss
+Caprice's moving melodies, which always were turned on at opportune
+moments. Mac said that her voice was like unto the buzzing of a steam
+saw in cross-grained wood, but perhaps he was prejudiced, or his
+artistic senses a trifle too fine. Anyhow, she pleased the multitude
+mightily, and they roared out their appreciation boisterously at the
+conclusion of each of her vocal exercises, and implored her to continue
+her soothing ditties unendingly. The too free use of the flowing bowl
+was probably accountable for the warmth of their approval; but Miss
+Caprice, having indulged in equal degree with her admirers, was getting
+less and less able to trill forth sweet sounds for their edification,
+and matters were fast beginning to assume a by no means inviting
+aspect.
+
+Several times during the progress of events Mac and I endeavoured to
+make an unobtrusive exit, but all to no purpose.
+
+Slowly the time dragged on its weary course, then suddenly I became
+aware that the old _Skagit_ was rising with the incoming tide. She
+swayed cumbrously once or twice, and her rotten timbers creaked and
+groaned dismally under the strain, but no one seemed to consider these
+indications worthy of attention, and the roystering chorus went on
+without interruption. At intervals I could hear vague voices calling
+excitedly without, and I guessed that the men who had built their homes
+in the sand were having a bad time.
+
+Another half-hour passed. By this time the taste of the audience had
+reached the sentimental stage, and they loudly clamoured for a song
+suited to their altered temperament. The accompanist, however, persisted
+in playing the "hot time" tune to everything, so he was discharged with
+ignominy by the scornful prima donna, who announced in broken accents
+that she would give a rendering of "Ashtore" without musical assistance,
+which was most unwise on her part. Still, she persisted at her task, and
+got to the end of the first verse without mishap; but as she screamed
+out the last wailing notes of the chorus the old _Skagit_ gave a sudden
+lurch, and sent her reeling head foremost into the centre of the room.
+
+"What's the matter with the darned barge?" howled several indignant
+voices among the crowd, but no answer was forthcoming. The _Skagit_ at
+that moment was seized with convulsions, and rolled and pitched in a
+most unaccountable manner.
+
+"Howlin' blazes!" yelled Black Harry. "The happy home must have broken
+loose."
+
+The rush that followed is beyond description. Mac and I, being less
+affected by the motion of the hulk than the majority, reached the deck
+first. Away far back to the right the lights of Skagway shimmered out
+over the smooth waters of Skagway Bay. To the left the faint
+illuminations of Healy's Store at Dyea shone at the head of the Chilcoot
+Inlet, along which great seas were rolling in from the main channel. We
+had drifted out with the ebbing tide, and we were now being borne
+onwards by the uninterrupted ocean gales. If we escaped being dashed to
+pieces against the rocky bluffs of the peninsula, we might be driven
+ashore on the mud banks at Dyea; but it was certain that the _Skagit_
+could not return to her wonted anchorage that night.
+
+Loud and deep were the curses that now arose from all on board.
+
+"It's Soapy Sam's work," howled O'Connor. "He must have cut the
+moorings. He said he would do it."
+
+Then I remembered Soapy's warning, but held my peace, and while the men
+raved, and threatened, and prayed in turn, the old _Skagit_ dashed on
+her new course, buffeted by the great seething rollers crowding in from
+the sea, and spinning like a top in the swirling waters. Crash! At last
+we had struck, and the surging waves swept over the deck in a copious
+flood, and the night was filled with the shrieks of the frenzied band,
+who feared the worst; but it was only a sand bar after all, the first of
+a series of similar obstacles that bar the Dyea Channel at high water.
+
+"We could never have got round here ourselves," muttered Mac, as we
+stood watching the slowly-receding waves. "It is a fact that it's a gey
+ill wind that blaws naebody good."
+
+In a short space the _Skagit_ lay high and dry where she had been
+deposited, and for the first time we learned that the Dyea Bar stretches
+out three miles from the village. But I was satisfied. As Mac had
+implied, the _Skagit_ had unconsciously done us a service of no mean
+order in transporting our outfit nearer the Chilcoot Pass. With calm
+contentment he and I sought peaceful slumber in the humble quarters
+allotted to us earlier in the day, while the rest of the ship's
+company--including Miss Caprice--started to climb the dividing mountain
+ridge to Skagway on the trail of the elusive Soapy.
+
+
+
+
+SHOOTING THE WHITE HORSE RAPIDS
+
+
+It was a month later when we reached the shores of Lake Linderman _en
+route_ for the frozen North. The Chilcoot Pass had presented an almost
+impassable barrier to our advance; a light film of snow clung to the
+bare rocks and filled the numberless crevices of the "Summit"--that last
+grim climb, where the Dyea trail mounts all but perpendicularly upwards
+to the blizzard-swept glacier cap of the pass--and no room for foothold
+could be traced. It would be impossible to describe that frightful
+climb. When we reached the top and saw far below the twisting line of
+Indian "packers," who seemed to stick like flies to the white wall, we
+could not understand how the ascent had been accomplished.
+
+Crater Lake, on the "other" side, was covered with a broad sheet of ice
+which was not sufficiently strong to bear our sleighs, or weak enough to
+allow of a passage being broken for our portable canvas boat. Here we
+were delayed many days, laboriously dragging our outfit to a less lofty
+and more congenial climate.
+
+Long Lake, Deep Lake, and Mud Lake were successfully negotiated in turn;
+their waters glistened cold and cheerless, surrounded by the great snowy
+peaks that were rapidly opening out into the magnificent Yukon valley.
+Far down in the hollow, seemingly in a sunnier and well-timbered spot,
+nestled Lake Linderman, and beyond, the Yukon channel could be traced
+between the ever-widening mountain ranges. We had packed sleighs in
+our outfit, not expecting to use them until we reached the Klondike
+river, and how successful they might prove should it be necessary to
+force a trail across the frozen waters was a matter for conjecture.
+
+[Illustration: THE CHILCOOT PASS.]
+
+At this time Linderman's shores were the scene of much bustle; many
+intending voyagers were building their boats in feverish haste, for they
+knew that the elements must soon lay firm grip on the waters, and render
+their work useless.
+
+Major Walsh, the Canadian Administrator of the Yukon Territory, had just
+made his appearance from over the Skagway trail, and he was all
+eagerness to proceed. He immediately bought--at fabulous prices--the
+boats that were built, and, without a day's delay, set sail northwards
+with his staff.
+
+Two days after the Major's departure, I succeeded in purchasing a
+twenty-feet "Dorie" from a disheartened miner who had decided to return
+to Dyea, and wait for the ensuing spring.
+
+I need not detail our journeyings for the next few days. Linderman was
+sailed over within two hours, then the half-mile porterage between it
+and Lake Bennet was accomplished after much labour. This latter lake is
+twenty-eight miles in length, its northern extremity narrowing down to a
+deep and swift-flowing channel, which extends but a few hundred yards
+before expanding into a broad, shallow lake or lagoon, colloquially
+known as "Caribou Crossing." The current here is sluggish, and the water
+abounds in shoals and sandbanks, which at that time were a sore trial to
+the adventuresome navigator with his precious freight of flour and other
+necessaries.
+
+Tagash Lake forms the next link in the great lake chain of the Yukon,
+and it stretches full twenty-nine miles, then contracting to a
+fierce-flowing stream by which the Canadian Customs Offices are now
+stationed.
+
+Beyond this is Marsh Lake, and here it was that our troubles began.
+
+Not a breath of wind stirred the waters of the lake, and our
+crudely-built dorie, containing 1,000 pounds of flour and 1,000 pounds
+of miscellaneous foodstuffs, ploughed slowly through the wide expanse to
+the accompaniment of much wheezing and groaning of oars, and an endless
+string of forcible expletives that burst from the lips of my stalwart
+companions, who provided the motive power of the ungainly craft. The
+favouring wind had died away, and, unaided by the sails, we could make
+but little headway over the still water. The weather had become
+strangely cold considering the earliness of the season, and I was almost
+benumbed as I sat in the steersman's perch, directing the course by
+sundry sweeps of a great-bladed Indian paddle, which I wielded with both
+hands.
+
+"Keep it up, boys," I encouraged. "We are more than half-way through the
+lake."
+
+"Twa miles an 'oor," grunted Mac between his efforts. "This is the worst
+boat I ever pulled."
+
+Stewart, his companion, another brawny Scot who had joined me at Dyea,
+rested his oar for a moment to breathe a sympathetic swear word of much
+intensity; then together they bent to their labours, and the rasp of the
+oars, and the brief swish of the eddying pools created, alone broke the
+deadly quiet.
+
+Towards nightfall I was surprised to notice here and there large sheets
+of ice on the lake surface, and occasionally our heavily-laden boat
+would grind against these obstacles, shouldering them off with much
+effort: then my oarsmen's long sweeps would rend and split them as they
+passed alongside.
+
+It was very plain that the Yukon headwaters were fast freezing over.
+
+"We'll have to keep going all night, boys," I said, "for we'll be ice
+jammed if we camp anywhere around here."
+
+The fierce torrent issuing from the end of the lake and rushing towards
+the dread White Horse Rapids would in all probability be free from
+ice--if we could reach that far.
+
+Strenuously my companions pulled at their oars. The gloom deepened, then
+the stars came out, and by their feeble light I could distinguish far
+ahead a scintillating field of ice.
+
+The sight caused me almost to despair--we had been sailing since early
+morning, and were tired and very hungry.
+
+Before I could get the head of our boat turned inshore, it had crashed
+through several flaking sheets, and immediately after I realised that we
+were hopelessly in an ice maze from which there seemed no exit.
+
+"We'll gang straight on," said Mac, with determination, and he levered
+powerfully with his oar against the frosted masses.
+
+A quarter of an hour passed, then the up-turning stem of the dorie went
+thud against an immovable barrier, and I knew that we were indeed
+ice-jammed beyond the possibility of forcing a passage with the oars.
+Nor could we return, for the ice-pack we had negotiated for miles was
+now seemingly welded together in one solid mass.
+
+Cautiously Mac put his moccasined foot over the prow and bore heavily on
+the glittering ice; it neither strained nor yielded.
+
+With a fervent malediction he jumped on "shore," and felt the edge of
+the sheet.
+
+"It's mair than twa inches," he said sorrowfully. "Hoo can we get
+through this?"
+
+Very sadly we got out of our boat, and, taking the cooking utensils, the
+tent, and some flour and coffee, sought a sheltered spot among the dense
+timber on the lake side. Soon we had almost forgotten our woes, and were
+regaling ourselves with copious draughts of coffee and much hard damper.
+
+From our tent door we could see our boat stuck fast amid the ice. How we
+were to get it free I could not well imagine. In the morning, however,
+we awoke with renewed energy and more hopeful hearts.
+
+"We cannot have far to go, boys," I said. "We'll cut down a couple of
+trees and use them to break a passage."
+
+After breakfast we lost no time in making the effort. Armed with the
+heavy logs, we re-embarked, and soon the ponderous hammers had begun
+their work and a passage was slowly made towards the Yukon. With great
+reluctance our boat moved ahead, leaving a trail of glittering ice
+boulders. Mac leaned over the bow and opened the channel, while Stewart
+and I belaboured the masses that closed in on either side.
+
+About midday we neared the end of the lake, and the channel beyond
+appeared a rippling, crackling flood of jagged ice-floes.
+
+We felt the suction of the current long before we had reached the limit
+of the ice-field. The sheets became thinner and broke away readily, so
+that the oars came again into play, and we crashed onward impetuously on
+the bosom of an irresistible stream.
+
+At last we were free, and our boat dashed madly into the narrow egress,
+bumping, grinding, and rocking against the detached fragments of ice
+that appeared everywhere.
+
+With a great effort we managed to slow our craft before coming into
+contact with a sharp jutting rock that reared high in the middle of the
+stream, and then we found that it required all our energies to evade the
+miniature icebergs that rushed alongside. These floating dangers looked
+harmless enough, yet they were fully six inches deep in the water, and
+contact with them would result in much damage to the planks of our
+dorie. Several times, indeed, we were almost overturned by colliding
+with unusually large floes.
+
+In another hour we had nearly navigated the extent of Miles's canyon,
+and only several hundred yards ahead I noticed Major Walsh's flotilla,
+buffetting the seething waters cumbrously, while the men at the oars
+strained every muscle to escape the perils that abounded in their
+course.
+
+"We're not far away from the White Horse, boys," I said to my sturdy
+henchmen, who were working away like galley slaves. They ceased their
+labours for a moment to look round, and at once our vessel swung about
+and drifted dangerously near the rocky river steeps.
+
+"We maun keep a way on her," said Stewart.
+
+"Let's ken when we're through," said Mac, and their oars cleft the water
+like the paddle floats of a fast river steamer.
+
+The current was flowing at the rate of ten miles an hour, and to keep a
+steering way on our unwieldy barge was, as may be understood, no easy
+matter.
+
+Frantically I swung my paddle and strove my utmost to avert the calamity
+that every moment seemed to threaten us.
+
+We were rapidly gaining on Major Walsh's outfit. He had four boats in
+all, three of them being clumsy barges laden entirely with provisions.
+These latter were manned by several members of the North-West Mounted
+Police, who worked their oars from difficult-looking perches among the
+flour sacks.
+
+The police boats, however, steered a very erratic course, sometimes
+being carried forward almost on their beam ends. I guessed that the
+heavily freighted craft had become unmanageable; certainly the steersmen
+seemed to have no control. Yet I had little time to notice those ahead,
+for our own "clipper" required every attention.
+
+"Keep her going, boys," I yelled, as I worked my steering paddle with a
+will, evading rocks, boulders, and ice floes in turn.
+
+Suddenly the white dashing surf of the Rapids came into view, the river
+narrowed to a fraction of its former width, and over the cataract a
+jagged sea of the dangerous floes crackled and roared into the abyss
+beyond.
+
+I saw the Major's first boat fly like an arrow from the bow into the
+heart of the boiling foam; it careened dangerously on taking the sweep,
+then righted itself and disappeared into the flying mists.
+
+"Steady, Mac!" I cried, as our craft entered the race. The dense spray
+almost obscured the great deflecting rock, and we rushed seemingly to
+destruction.
+
+Then, before my eyes, there appeared an awful spectacle. Faster than I
+can write the words--one, two, three--each of Major Walsh's three boats
+reared high in the sleety mist and overturned one after the other as
+they took the curve.
+
+"Let her go, boys," I bellowed. "Bend to it." The crucial moment had
+arrived; we were enveloped in foam, and were dashing straight towards
+the torrent-deflecting bluff. I leaned far back over the stern of our
+half-submerged boat, and with a mighty stroke of the paddle swung her
+head round, and we grazed death by barely half a dozen inches.
+
+[Illustration: AFTER THE RAPIDS.]
+
+[Illustration: KLONDIKE-BOUND MINERS AND THEIR OUTFITS ON
+               LAKE LINDERMAN.]
+
+A moment more and we were floating in almost placid waters. Beside us
+bobbed three smashed boats. Major Walsh stood sorrowfully on shore
+assisting dripping men from the water.
+
+"It's all over, boys," I said to my crew; "you can ease off now," and I
+steered for the beach and lent my aid in the work of rescue.
+
+The half-drowned Canadians were dragged ashore gasping and almost
+senseless, and while we scanned the grim waters anxiously for a trace of
+one still missing, his body was tossed at our feet by the relentless
+waves. Soon after, the sand was littered with sacks of flour, and beans,
+and miscellaneous foodstuffs.
+
+Several camps were in evidence around this melancholy spot, erected by
+men who had lost their all in the rapids, and were only waiting a chance
+to return to civilisation. They eagerly accepted the Major's offer to
+purchase their scanty outfits, and without loss of time that intrepid
+old Indian fighter had embarked again for the north. To him it was a
+race with the elements, but the elements won after all, and compelled
+him to make his winter camp at Big Salmon River, forty miles further
+north, where we overtook him a few days later.
+
+"It's no use my lads, you can't do it!" he said, on my reiterating my
+intention of proceeding onwards. "Why, the river's frozen solid from
+here to St. Michael's."
+
+"Then we'll put skids under the old boat and make her into a sledge,"
+quoth Mac, drily, and I hailed the suggestion with encouragement.
+
+We duly arrived at Dawson City after many days and weeks of ceaseless
+struggle with the elements on that long and terrible icy trail, and our
+coming was received with rejoicings by the few half-starved miners who
+at that time peopled the "City." We had proved the feasibility of an
+over-ice route to Dyea.
+
+
+
+
+THE LAND OF THE THRON-DIUCKS
+
+
+The Klondike Valley in that winter was the scene of many stirring
+incidents. Owing to the non-arrival of the Canadian Government
+Commissioner and his police no law or order prevailed. To make matters
+worse the utmost bitterness existed between the Canadian and American
+sections of the community, each of whom claimed the rich gold-bearing
+territory as being within their country's boundary. Quarrels more or
+less serious were consequently of every-day occurrence. However, the
+following incident involves no harrowing description of these fierce
+skirmishes--though it might have led to a most sanguinary encounter with
+the _true_ owners of the land.
+
+Accompanied by "Cap." Campbell and "Alf" Mackay, two well-known miners,
+my party set out on a prospecting expedition into the mountains flanking
+the upper reaches of the Klondike River. We had one dog, a powerful
+mastiff, named Dave, which had proved an invaluable companion to me on
+our earlier prospecting journeys. Previous to this we had been very
+successful in our quest for the yellow metal, having located three
+creeks rich in the precious golden sand. But our eagerness seemed likely
+to cost us dear, for our store of foodstuffs had become wonderfully
+small, and we were many days' journey from our camp on Skookum Gulch,
+where were our headquarters.
+
+The return journey proved to be more difficult than we had anticipated;
+the weather had been very severe for the last few days, and the snow on
+the hillside was hard and dangerously slippery.
+
+"We'll try a short cut over the mountains, boys," said Mackay, as we
+strove vainly to reach the frozen river far beneath.
+
+The Klondike takes many twists in its erratic course, and it so happened
+that if we could cross a mountain spur we should strike the trail only a
+few miles from Eldorado Creek.
+
+"We'll make the attempt," I said, and Mac and Stewart concurred with
+emphatic ejaculations. One sleigh carried the possessions of the whole
+party, and it was tugged along by our combined efforts, including the
+assistance of Dave, who struggled in his harness in the leader's
+position. At last we surmounted the great glacier-capped ridge and
+gingerly made a trail through a narrow ice-bound gulch issuing from the
+crystal dome and marking a long line of gigantic ice boulders far into
+the wooded slopes beyond.
+
+We slid, and clambered, and buffeted with the snow wreaths and
+intervening ice fields for over an hour, and then the gully led us
+across a thickly-timbered flat well sheltered from the elements by the
+surrounding mountains. At this stage we were, to judge by the lay of the
+country, but a few miles from the main channel; but the afternoon was
+far advanced and darkness was quickly closing over the valley, so that
+further progress was rendered difficult. We were looking about for a
+suitable camping ground when Mac, who had been closely examining the
+landscape, gave a howl of delight. "Injuns!" he roared, "I see Injun
+hooses!" Sure enough there appeared, nestling among the drooping pines,
+a straggling array of Indian huts and several totem poles. Before I
+could restrain them, my henchmen dropped their sleigh ropes and rushed
+impetuously towards the supposed settlement, but their moccasined feet
+stuck deeply in the soft snow under the trees, and, using my snowshoes
+to good effect, I succeeded in rounding up the doughty pair before they
+had gone far.
+
+"It's an Indian village," I explained, "and not a circus."
+
+"I ken weel what it is," indignantly howled Mac. "Hiv I no seen Injuns
+afore? When I wis oot on the pampas o' Sooth America--"
+
+But I listened no further, and Stewart condoled with his comrade in well
+chosen words of sympathy.
+
+"This is nae country for us, Mac," said he. "A lot o' Injun hooses,
+wi'--wi' chunks o' caribou hangin' inside, an' we maunna touch them!" He
+almost wept at the thought.
+
+"Howlin' blazes, boys!" shouted the Captain, "them Injuns'd make ye into
+mince pies at oncet; ye wur committin' sooicide!"
+
+But Mackay smiled broadly and winked reassuringly at Mac, whereupon that
+gentleman began to chuckle audibly.
+
+"We've nae floor, an' nae bacon, an' nae beans--nae naething," he said
+meaningly. "If you have no 'jeckshuns,'" added Mackay, addressing me
+with much deliberation, "we'll camp a leetle furrer down."
+
+I had no objections whatever. If I had, it might not have mattered much,
+for my warlike retainers seemed on the verge of mutiny. So we proceeded
+on our way, cautiously and silently, keeping in the densest shadows, and
+as far distant from the village as we could conveniently get.
+
+Ten minutes later our tent was fixed and our camp fire blazing brightly;
+and Stewart, with a lugubrious countenance, busied himself preparing the
+last of our hoarded stores. Our fare was certainly meagre and
+unsatisfying, and unfortunately the keen air had given us extremely
+healthy appetites. I am inclined to think, when I recall the matter,
+that my share, as doled out by Stewart, with many a sigh at its
+diminutive proportions, was unnecessarily meagre, and purposely served
+so by that wily individual in order to destroy any conscientious
+scruples I might have. If that was his purpose it succeeded admirably,
+for when my humble repast was finished I felt hungrier than ever, and
+had not the ghost of a scruple left.
+
+"Talkin' about Injun villages," began Mackay, when the cooking utensils
+had been cleared away, "I've niver seen wan yet that hadn't a winter
+storehouse of dried salmon and cariboo somewheres handy."
+
+"Ye're a man efter ma ain heart," beamingly interrupted Mac, and Stewart
+murmured: "Dried cariboo!" and smacked his lips.
+
+"As I was discoursin'," continued Mackay, "them Injuns hiv always got
+rations hid away in their wigwams."
+
+"Likewise a few tommy-hawks an' an assortment o' clubs," grimly edged in
+the Captain.
+
+No one seemed anxious to say anything in a direct sort of way, although
+the general meaning was plain enough.
+
+"To cut it short, boys," I ventured to remark, "you are in favour of
+visiting the village to-night?"
+
+"Fur reasons which it ain't necessary to shout out loud--precisely,"
+answered Mackay.
+
+After that further speech was superfluous, and we made hurried
+preparations for our marauding journey. The Indians at this time were
+very hostile towards the white invaders of their country, and there was
+little reason to hope that they would either barter or sell any of their
+stores to us. There is a proverb which states that "necessity knows no
+law," and as we were in rather a sad plight we agreed with it to the
+letter; there may have been room for some slight condonation of our
+errors of reason at such a time. About eight o'clock that night we
+sallied out, leaving Mac with the dog in charge of the sleigh, with
+instructions to clear out lively should he hear a revolver shot. The
+worthy Mac was much disgusted with his lot, and gave vent to his
+annoyance in no stinted terms.
+
+"It wis ma idee at first," he grumbled, "an' it's gey hard fur a man tae
+be sacrifeeced tae wait here a' the time."
+
+"You've got the healthiest job, my friend," said the Captain, "an' you
+ought to be durned well pleased."
+
+The moon shone brilliantly, illuminating the open snow patches and
+shooting down through the heavy foliage myriad rays of dancing light. I
+remember well how we had hoped for darkness, and how nervously we crept
+along seeking the shelter of the deepest shadows. A death-like stillness
+reigned; the thermometer in camp had registered 37 degrees below zero,
+and we knew that the mercury would keep falling till midnight. Our faces
+were quickly framed in icicles, and a thin dazzling frost draped us from
+head to foot. We presented truly ghost-like figures, but we were too
+much engrossed with other matters to notice our strange appearance. Soon
+we arrived within sight of the village, and stealthily we manoeuvred
+from tree to tree until we were but a few yards distant from the largest
+logged structure. And still not a sound was heard; the frosted edifices
+showed no sign of life within.
+
+"Seems to me we're in luck," chuckled Mackay, gazing on the desolate
+scene with evident enjoyment. "The population has evidently gone out
+huntin' bear or moose deer, or some sich quodroo-ped, and thar shid
+therefore be no call fur any skirmish. Put up your guns, boys," he
+added, "there's nary soul in the village."
+
+We were all greatly relieved at this, yet it was with a feeling of deep
+humiliation that I approached the most imposing of the houses and began
+to investigate the best and surest means of forcing an entry. I had seen
+a few Indian buildings in my travels, but this one was unlike any design
+I had ever witnessed. There appeared to be two heavily-barricaded wooden
+windows in the usual places, but search as we might, no door could be
+found.
+
+"We'll try another," said Mackay, loath to acknowledge that the peculiar
+structure was beyond his comprehension. We examined each one--there were
+six in all--but they were alike in every particular, save that the one
+which had first received our attention was larger than the others, and
+had a very imposing totem pole in its foreground.
+
+"The first was the most likely, boys," I said, "we'll go back to it."
+And back we went.
+
+Stewart was now working up something approaching a righteous wrath
+against the "heathen sort o' buildin's." "I'll shin mak' a door," he
+said, with emphasis, bracing his shoulders; then something caught his
+eye on the rough planking walls, and he beckoned to me mysteriously
+before applying his energy towards their demolition.
+
+"What is it?" asked Mackay impatiently.
+
+"Come and hold a match," I said. He did so, while I laboriously spelled
+out a series of Chinook characters which had evidently been cut deep
+into the wood through the agency of some sharp instrument, most probably
+a tomahawk. The result was rather mystifying, for, translating into
+English, I read twelve names ending with the words, "_Chief of the
+Thron-Diucks_." Eleven of the names were simply unpronounceable, but the
+last entry had a decidedly English appearance; it required no
+translation, and read: "_King James the First, Chief of the
+Thron-Diucks_."
+
+"We've struck the King's house," said Mackay with a laugh. "The old
+skunk and I hev niver agreed, so I hope he doesn't come along now."
+
+"I thought he called himself 'James the Second,'" said the Captain
+slowly.
+
+But Stewart would wait no longer. "Staun clear, a'm comin'!" he cried,
+and his voice rang with shivering distinctness through the air. With a
+short rush he threw himself against the wooden barrier; the stout
+timbers bent and quivered, but resisted the shock, and from within came
+a harsh, tearing sound, terminating in a muffled crash, as of something
+falling heavily. Again and again Stewart acted as a battering ram, but
+only vague echoes rewarded his efforts; the logs were evidently
+unusually firmly founded. The noises created by these various
+onslaughts--and ultimately we had simultaneously applied all our
+energies without avail--had a most demoralising effect upon us, and
+after each attack we waited breathlessly until the echoes had died away.
+Assuredly, if the Indians were within several miles of us, they could
+not fail to hear the diabolical din we were creating.
+
+We had been over an hour at our depredating labours, and I was beginning
+to wish I had never sanctioned the expedition; then the indefatigable
+Stewart made a discovery. We had hitherto neglected to examine the
+barricaded holes which seemingly served as windows, deeming them too
+securely fastened for our nefarious purpose; they were closed from the
+inside, and were too high in any case to be within reach of Stewart's
+impetuous shoulder, but now our strong man had but lightly pressed the
+window-guard, and behold! it swung open. His hearty "hurroo" drew my
+attention.
+
+"For heaven's sake shut up!" I whispered angrily. But Mackay made even
+more noise by exploding into a loud laugh, which resounded weirdly over
+the tree-tops.
+
+"Good fur you, Stewart!" he cried; "now we're right."
+
+The Captain, like myself, was not very enthusiastic over our night's
+exploit. "Let's get it over quickly, boys," he said. "Give me a lift-up,
+Stewart." But Stewart had reserved to himself the honour of first entry,
+and was even then dangling midway through the aperture, and squirming
+his way forward vigorously. The opening was very small, not more than
+two feet square, and as I watched my companion scrambling in, I thought
+that if the level of the floor was lower than the surface without, which
+is usually the case with Indian huts, considerable difficulty might be
+experienced in making an exit! Stewart, however, was apparently troubled
+by no unpleasant anticipations, and soon a crash, followed by an
+ejaculation of much fervour, heralded his arrival on the other side of
+the stoutly-timbered wall.
+
+"Are you there?" cried Mackay, preparing to follow.
+
+"Whaur did ye think a wis?" came the somewhat surly reply, and the
+doughty warrior's voice sounded almost sepulchral as it floated out of
+the darkness. Then he added enticingly, "Come in, ma man, come in, an'
+bring a licht wi' ye, fur it's pitch dark, an' an' awfu' smelliferous."
+To me the insinuating tone of my comrade's voice sounded suspicious, but
+neither Mackay nor the Captain noticed anything unusual.
+
+"I'll be with you in a jiff, Stewart, old man," said the former
+gentleman, vainly striving to get his head and shoulders through the
+aperture. But his body was somewhat rotund and made rather a tight fit
+in the narrow entrance. "Push, ye beggars!" he gasped, and the Captain
+and I went to his assistance, only to see him jerk suddenly forward and
+disappear with a clatter inside, while Stewart's voice spluttered out in
+firm protest, "Come awa' in, ma man, an' dinna block up the ventilator."
+For some minutes longer I waited in suspense, while Mackay struck match
+after match and spoke never a word, and Stewart kept up a continual flow
+of mysterious grunts and sundry forcible expletives. I had a small piece
+of candle in my pocket, and this I lit; then, with the Captain's aid, I
+thrust my head through the window and surveyed the interior. Mackay
+quickly seized the piece of tallow from my hand, and held it aloft, and
+then I saw what had baffled the usually fluent descriptive powers of the
+worthy Stewart and his fiery companion. The room was bare save for the
+presence of several shelves roughly built up in the centre of the floor
+and reaching almost to the roof, and on each of these shelves a massive
+oblong box rested, the sides of which were heavily inlaid with silver or
+some similar metal. The whole structure presented an appearance not
+unlike a Chinese pagoda in miniature; the meaning of the arrangement was
+more than I could understand. The noises which we had at first heard had
+evidently been occasioned by the uppermost cases falling from their
+resting-places, for Stewart was examining with much interest one of
+several of the strange receptacles which were lying on the
+heavily-logged floorway. As I gazed in mute wonder on the extraordinary
+scene, I was quickly made aware that a wonderfully-powerful odour
+pervaded the room. It assailed my nostrils and my eyes, causing me to
+choke and blink, and finally withdraw my head into the pure air.
+
+"It's the thickest perfume I've iver struck," groaned Mackay, and he
+staggered against the weird-looking pagoda.
+
+I heard a shuffling rattle, and looking in a second time, saw the
+spidery monument sway, then fall with a dull hollow crash, scattering
+its curious freight in all directions. At the same time a yell from
+Stewart all but shattered my little remaining nerve, and he came leaping
+wildly across the fallen boxes towards the narrow egress.
+
+"A'm comin' oot!" he bellowed; then Mackay, forcing up behind, and
+making strenuous endeavours to preserve his usual _sangfroid_, said
+weakly, "I guess I need a breath of air also, boys."
+
+To make matters worse, the Captain, who had been warily prospecting
+around, now came rushing back, gesticulating energetically. "The whole
+tribe is quite close, and comin' fur us!" he announced in a loud whisper
+when he came near. Here was a predicament. The two eager individuals
+whose heads were thrust appealingly out of the window, groaned in
+anguish, for they could not get out without assistance, struggle as they
+might.
+
+"You had better stay right where you are, boys, and we'll come in too,"
+I said to them hurriedly, for the shuffling of many snowshoes now
+reached my ears, and there was no time to effect a rescue.
+
+"Heaven knows what's goin' to be the end o' this," muttered the Captain
+as he swung his lank frame through the opening. It took some time for
+him to wriggle inside, and then I attempted the acrobatic performance
+necessary to make an entry. I was just a little late, for, looking
+around before making the final duck inwards I saw a number of
+wild-looking figures approaching quickly over the snow. The moon then
+encountered a belt of dense, fleecy clouds, and a welcome darkness
+enveloped the landscape just as Stewart, with a grunt of satisfaction,
+tugged me ingloriously into the odoriferous realms from which he had
+been so desperately anxious to escape, and shut the heavy barricade. A
+few minutes passed, during which time we were all but stifled by the
+pungent air; then our miseries were forgotten in the danger
+that threatened. Snowshoes hissed and skidded around our shelter, and
+deep, guttural exclamations in the Chinook tongue sounded on every
+side. And as I pieced together the various monosyllabic utterances, I
+refrained from translating them to my companions, although I had a dim
+idea that both Stewart and Mackay had fully decided that, whatever it
+might be, the strange structure in which they were was certainly no
+storehouse for dried caribou or salmon.
+
+We had been barely five minutes in the dismal room, yet the time seemed
+an age. The Indians contented themselves with circling round each house
+in turn, keeping several yards distant from them, for a reason which was
+now painfully apparent to me. I could stand it no longer. "Boys," I
+said, "we've got to get out of this, lively, for the Indians will
+probably patrol about till sunrise, and half an hour will just about
+finish me."
+
+"An' me," groaned Mackay.
+
+The Captain, however, was not satisfied. "Look here, boys," he said, "I
+don't hitch on to yer meaning a bit. Are the Injuns afraid to go into
+their houses, or--I'm hanged if I can make out thish yer circus. Is this
+an Injun village, or is it not?" he demanded.
+
+There was no need to hide it from him further. "No, Captain," I replied,
+"it's not."
+
+"Then what place is this?" he asked slowly; and Stewart answered him in
+dolorous tones--
+
+"A graveyaird, Cap'n--an Injun graveyaird."
+
+So it was. The cases contained but the dust of long-deceased warriors,
+wrapped in blankets which were impregnated with a sickly-smelling scent
+made by the Indians from the roots of certain plants. In the darkness I
+could not see the Captain's face, and for some moments he said nothing,
+then he spoke, musingly: "James the First" said he, "yes, I might have
+known, for it is James the Second who is now Chief of the Thron-Diucks."
+
+The swishing of snowshoes again sounded ominously near. We waited till
+the Indians had passed; then Stewart, swinging open the barricade,
+Mackay scrambled up, and was shot forward into the snow with our
+combined effort. "Hurry up, boys," he cried, when he had recovered
+himself; "they are at the end, and are just turning to come back."
+Breathing heavily, Stewart was next propelled into the open; then came
+my turn, the Captain being the tallest, waiting to the last; but tall as
+he was he could only reach his head and a part of his shoulder through
+the window, for the floorway was sunk considerably. No time was to be
+lost. With a howl, Stewart gripped the outstretched arm, Mackay the
+exposed shoulder, and both pulled as if for dear life. Despite the need
+for silence, the Captain was but human.
+
+"Howlin' tarnation, you're twistin' my neck off!" he yelled, as he was
+yanked like a sportive fish on to the glistening snow.
+
+"Run, ye deevils, run!" roared Stewart, himself setting the example.
+There was much need. Scarcely twenty yards away fully a score of tall,
+bemuffled warriors were speeding towards us, silent and grim, like a
+raging Nemesis. On the impulse of the moment I discharged my revolver as
+a signal to Mac to move ahead; then with a wholesome fear in our hearts
+we set a course for the camp, where Dave, aroused by the revolver shot,
+was baying loud and fiercely, and skipped over the intervening
+snow-wreaths at an uncommonly lively rate.
+
+Whether the Indians followed us, or whether they remained to make good
+the work of our desecrating hands, we never learned, but I rather think
+they waited to rebuild the tombs of their ancestors. They were certainly
+not in evidence when we overtook Mac, and we gave a simultaneous shout
+of relief.
+
+"Whaur's the cariboo ye wis gaun tae fetch?" asked that gentleman in an
+outburst of righteous indignation.
+
+"Say nae mair, Mac. Say nae mair," eloquently pleaded Stewart, gripping
+a rope and feverishly assisting the sleigh on its onward progress. "If
+you had suffered what I hae suffered this nicht----" His voice failed
+him, and Mac simmered down at once.
+
+"Was it as bad's that?" said he commiseratingly.
+
+"We'd better keep going all night, boys," Mackay hastily remarked, with
+a furtive glance behind. "And to-morrow," he added, more cheerfully,
+"we'll have a good blow-out at Skookum Gulch." And so it came to pass.
+
+[Illustration: PAN-WASHING IN SKOOKUM GULCH.]
+
+
+
+
+THE FINDING OF "GOLD BOTTOM" CREEK
+
+
+As the season advanced the ground hardened so that with our primitive
+fire-burning methods we could barely thaw more than eighteen inches of
+gravel in the short day, and even this occasioned tedious labour. The
+depth of bedrock was sixteen feet, and the frost had penetrated far
+beyond this level, so that our tunnelling operations along the line of
+the wash proceeded very slowly indeed. The miners around had begun to
+flock into Dawson to frequent the saloons and gamble away their
+hardly-earned gold, all declaring that it was too cold to work--the
+thermometer registered 25 degrees below zero--and soon Skookum Gulch was
+almost deserted. "Cap." Campbell and "Alf" Mackay alone remained to keep
+us company.
+
+My knowledge of the Chinook tongue had been of considerable service to
+me, and the Indians inhabiting the upper Thron-Diuck valley occasionally
+visited our camp, bringing many presents of dried salmon and caribou,
+all of which Mac and Stewart accepted with voluble thanks. Then one day
+"King James," the chief of the tribe, paid us the honour of a call.
+
+"Why you dig, Mis'r Mac?" he interrogated, apparently much mystified to
+see us excavating the ground.
+
+"Fur GOLD, ye heathen," howled Stewart, popping his head above the
+shaft.
+
+King James did not understand the full significance of the remark, but
+smiled indulgently when I translated it, and solemnly inclined his head
+towards the speaker.
+
+"You squaw," he said, "you squaw to Mis'r Mac." Which meant that he
+considered Stewart somewhat presumptuous in addressing a chief of the
+Thron-Diucks.
+
+After much talk had been indulged in, King James appeared to realise
+that we were really searching for gold, and had no idea of carrying away
+or shifting the course of his river; and his dry old face spread out in
+a broad grin when I explained that much gold, in our country, was
+equivalent to many squaws. Suddenly he turned and strode solemnly
+towards his sleigh, which was guarded by several richly-robed squaws and
+half a dozen youthful warriors; and after groping among the bearskin
+rugs for some time he came back to me, displaying in his greasy palm a
+beautiful specimen of alluvial gold: it was large and flat, with smooth
+surface and water-worn edges; it must have weighed at least three
+ounces. I gazed in bewilderment; the Indians rarely looked for gold,
+which to them was not even so valuable as silver, and the latter metal
+they used only for making ornaments. Mac and Stewart were soon by my
+side, and while we examined the specimen with undisguised interest, King
+James lit his pipe--a former present from myself--and puffed leisurely,
+eyeing me the while with a half-amused expression.
+
+"What think o' that, Mis'r Mac?" he asked at length.
+
+"It's good stuff, King James," I strove to answer in his language, and
+with a sigh I offered it back. My surprise was great when he waved it
+aside right royally, and placing his grimy hand on my shoulder in quite
+a fatherly manner, he spoke out several sentences rapidly.
+
+"Hold hard, King James," I cried. "I cannot follow you if you talk in
+that fashion. Come into my tent and have some 'baccy."
+
+He smiled benignly, and spoke a few words to the sleigh attendants, who
+immediately unhitched the dogs and proceeded to build a fire near at
+hand; then he followed me to my camp and ensconced himself by the stove.
+I still carried the nugget in my hand, but obeying the old chief's
+directions, I now placed it in a bottle with my other specimens and sat
+down beside him. Stewart meanwhile turned his attention to culinary
+matters, and while the billies boiled, King James and I conversed
+earnestly on matters dear to the Indian heart.
+
+He was no lover of the white men who had invaded his domain and driven
+his people to seek the refuge of the mountain fastnesses, and he
+intimated plainly enough that he should not be sorry to see Dawson City
+speedily deserted by the white intruders. As for gold, the idea of grown
+men seeking for the yellow metal aroused his keen amusement, and he was
+very incredulous about my statements as to its value in the wigwams of
+the white people. After the subject of his woes had been gone into at
+great length, and our hearty sympathies enlisted, he remained silent for
+a time as if absorbed in thought. Then his eyes surveyed the mining
+implements and firearms in the tent, and finally rested upon my nugget
+collection with a newly-awakened sparkle of interest.
+
+"You come wi' me, Mis'r Mac," he said thoughtfully, after a long pause,
+"Heap big bear on Thron-Diuck; you come wi' King James----"
+
+I shook my head vigorously; we were not very anxious to shoot big game
+at that time, but his hospitality would not be denied.
+
+"Me show you whar big gold come from. Me show you Gold Bottom," he
+hastened to add: "too much gold for white men in Dawson--me show _you_,
+Mis'r Mac."
+
+Stewart was so astounded at the old chief's last words, spoken in broken
+English, that he nearly chopped his fingers with the axe instead of the
+solidified flour he was preparing to bake.
+
+"I'll gang," he bellowed.
+
+"An' me," growled Mac, who, like his comrade, had only understood the
+last sentence.
+
+King James smoked stolidly for a few moments, then patted Stewart
+patronisingly on the back. "You good squaw," he said, gazing at the
+half-baked flour with much approval, "you come wi' me."
+
+The appellation "squaw" by no means pleased the fiery Stewart, and he
+would have burst out angrily had I not restrained him.
+
+"Yes, I guess we'll go with you, King James," I replied. "I want to see
+Gold Bottom Creek badly, and I don't anticipate any evil effects from
+too much gold." And so the compact was made, and old "Leatherskin," as
+Stewart promptly dubbed him, smiled softly when I explained to him the
+workings of my big game rifle, and went into a transport of delight on
+being presented with a serviceable Colt revolver and a box of
+cartridges. Suddenly his face clouded, and he said anxiously--
+
+"Only you come, Mis'r Mac; only you an' squaws."
+
+I restrained my companions with difficulty from rushing at him to choke
+back the objectionable epithet; then an idea struck me. I wanted "Cap"
+Campbell and Mackay, my adjoining burrowers in the frozen gravel, to
+accompany me; they had shared with us the plodding uncertainty of things
+at Skookum Gulch, and I wanted them to reap some of the benefits
+attached to the discovery of the mysteriously-famed "Gold Bottom" before
+the district was rushed. I could hardly doubt that King James's
+information was correct, and the specimen given me was sufficient for
+even the most incredulous-minded person. The inducement was very real
+indeed, but the chief would only allow Mis'r Mac an' squaws.
+
+"All right, King James," I said, "but I have two more squaws." He eyed
+me with a look that was fast changing from one of mere friendliness to
+one of much respect.
+
+"You great man, Mis'r Mac," he grunted. "Four squaws? Ugh!"
+
+When he saw the brawny giants that Mac hastily called in, his surprise
+was unbounded. "Good squaws," he chuckled.
+
+"What in tarnation does the old skunk mean?" said Mackay, and Campbell's
+anger was rising visibly.
+
+"Look here, boys," I said. "King James has told me of a creek that is
+lined with gold, and this is a sample"--I showed them the specimen
+received. "He asks me to go and take charge of the lot, but only myself
+and squaws. You had better be squaws for once in your lives. _Savez?_"
+
+They did "_savez_," and made every effort to show their cordiality to
+the King, who appreciated their advances with tolerant grace, but
+grinned expansively when he saw their well-filled cartridge-belts.
+
+Stewart made a triumphant success of his cooking that day, and in honour
+of the occasion he filled the little "doughboys" with pieces of dried
+apricots and peaches, and, indeed, everything in that line our larder
+afforded. So luxurious a repast did he provide that King James sighed
+regretfully when he rose to go.
+
+"You come to-morra', Mis'r Mac!" he cried when he was rolled up in his
+sleigh blankets, like, as Mac said, an Egyptian mummy.
+
+"Right!" I answered, waving him goodbye. But he had not finished.
+
+"Be sure bring cook squaw," he murmured contentedly.
+
+The long whips cracked and the dogs bounded forward; the shriek of the
+sleigh-runners effectually drowned Stewart's vehement curses; and the
+King departed.
+
+Next morning we started out for the Indian camp. Mac and Stewart had the
+tents struck, and it with the blankets packed in neat rolls on our
+sleigh soon after sunrise. Our rather small store of flour and other
+necessaries found ample space on the same conveyance, and to this load
+Dave was harnessed. Campbell and Mackay did not delay us; they were up
+betimes and had their dog-sleigh ready with ours. The temperature this
+morning registered 30 degrees below zero, and even while we were engaged
+tying the sleigh ropes, long icicles formed at our chins and dripped
+from our eyelashes.
+
+"Are you ready, boys?" I cried to my freshly-acquired squaws.
+
+"Right!" they responded with one voice.
+
+"Gee up, Dave," said Mac, and with a bound and a shriek our sleigh led
+the way towards the Klondike's unknown source. We were not much
+concerned about leaving our properties on Skookum Gulch; it was not
+likely that any one would "jump" our claims; the weather was too cold
+for the tender feet of Dawson to venture out around the creeks. Soon we
+left the Dome in the distance behind, and swiftly we crashed through the
+powdered snow and blown ice on the main river. No white man, at this
+time, had explored the head waters of the Klondike. In the earlier
+season I had attempted the task, but was repelled by the deep gorges and
+grim cañons that marked the river's channel for many miles when near an
+outlying spur of the "Rockies." Now we forced a trail far beyond my
+furthest travel, tracing here and there the track of the old chief's
+sleigh where the runners had cut deep through the blistered ice. Our
+visages were soon framed in icicles, and our cheeks rendered stiff by a
+thin film, as of glass, which caused us much pain. Mac and Stewart
+ambled beside the staggering dogs, occasionally helping them over
+obstacles and badly-blown patches. For once they were forced to march in
+silence, for their mouths were sealed as if by iron bands.
+
+The Grand Cañon was entered soon after midday, and the majestic powers
+of old King Frost had so metamorphosed the dark gorge that we made our
+trail over the frozen torrent almost nervously. The great stalactites
+and dripping ice cones shut out the sky completely, and we forged ahead
+in a vague eerie shadow reflected from the translucent pillars. Here and
+there the roar of the flood echoed from giant clefts in the ice, and
+caused the glassy walls to quiver and crackle; then again came the
+oppressive calm, broken only by the dull rumble of the rushing torrent
+full fifty feet below.
+
+It is impossible to picture the grandeur of an Alaskan cañon when the
+elements hold it in thrall; there is nothing like it in the whole world.
+Nevertheless, we were not sorry when we emerged into the comparatively
+open country beyond, and picked up afresh the track of King James's
+sleigh which we had been unable to trace in the gorge. Our destination
+could not now be far distant, for the frowning peaks of the Rockies
+loomed directly ahead, and the valley was rapidly becoming lost in the
+minor ranges that appeared; we were surely near the mystic source of the
+golden Klondike. The dogs never slackened their trot, though now and
+then they staggered and stumbled over large ridges of blistered ice,
+which cut their paws cruelly. Our moccasins were being quickly reduced
+to shreds, and our clothing generally had become stiff with the frost
+and rent in great holes by contact with the brittle, flaking ice. Few
+white men would have dreamed of making such a journey on such a day. I
+contented myself with that reflection, though probably the miners in
+their snug huts at Dawson would have dubbed us colossal fools for
+venturing so far back into the Indian territory; but gold was always an
+irresistible incentive.
+
+"I reckon," said Campbell, coming up from behind, and grimacing
+frightfully as he spoke, while the ice shivered on his face with the
+effort, "this is not much of a picnic, is it?"
+
+It was some minutes before I could reply, and while I strove to coax the
+muscles of my mouth to relax without doing serious injury to my
+features, Stewart's hoary visage shook itself clear of its icy sheath
+with a crackling, splintering sound, and his voice rang out--
+
+"I see the Injun camp! Hurroo! D----!" The last expression was given in
+a most sorrowful tone as he felt the blood trickle on his cheeks and
+freeze into icy appendages.
+
+"You've got to think a lot before speaking in this country," I
+sympathised, but he would not open his mouth again.
+
+Rounding a bluff, we saw, nestling in the shadow of a great pine-forest,
+an array of mud huts and tepees covered with caribou skins. Many fires
+were blazing in the vicinity, fed lavishly with logs drawn from the
+wooded slope behind. A number of King James's subjects superintended
+operations with unmoved faces; it was a routine to which they had long
+become accustomed--for bear-fires were very necessary indeed in these
+parts; Bruin had not yet reconciled himself to his winter slumber, and,
+as I have noted, the Klondike valley was infested with various species
+of his kind.
+
+With a sigh of thankfulness I signalled to Mac to draw up alongside the
+largest fire, and he needed no second bidding. A few moments more and we
+were all eagerly thawing ourselves before the blaze. Even the dogs
+crept as close as the burning logs allowed, and warmed their poor frozen
+bodies on all sides, turning continually, as if on a revolving
+toast-rack. From the most imposing hut now came rushing towards us King
+James, with numerous squaws; and while the King congratulated me
+effusively on my safe arrival, the squaws beamed coquettishly on my
+companions, who felt in no wise complimented by their attentions.
+
+"They tak' us fur squaws, Stewart!" howled Mac, more in sorrow than in
+anger; then I heard them both with much deliberation calculate out the
+value of the Queen squaw's dress as she stood by them, speaking words of
+welcome in a tongue they could not understand.
+
+"It's a rale guid beaver," I heard Mac say.
+
+"An' what a bonny silver-tip cloak," burst in Stewart.
+
+"An' the moccasins," continued the first speaker, "are faur ow'r guid
+fur an Injun tae wear."
+
+At this juncture I turned anxiously; I thought it very necessary.
+
+"For heaven's sake, Mac," I said, "leave the squaw's beavers and
+moccasins alone. We'll get murdered if old King James----"
+
+"Wha's touchin' their belangin's?" interrupted Mac indignantly; but
+despite his righteous outburst, I knew that he and his doughty comrade
+would have had little qualms about appropriating the bonny beavers and
+moccasins also. Their logic was vague, but conclusive enough to satisfy
+themselves. However, with much grumbling they unharnessed Dave, and
+started to erect the tent in a sheltered spot, Campbell and Mackay
+having already got their smaller canvas home fixed up.
+
+"It's fair disgracefu'," muttered Mac, as he pulled on the guy-rope,
+"tae think o' livin' near Injuns! We're comin' faur doon in the world
+surely."
+
+"Ye're richt there," spoke Stewart mournfully; "bit, man, did ye ever
+see sic a bonnie beaver?"
+
+Next morning, when the dim grey light was beginning to appear, we set
+out to explore the creek containing "too much gold." King James's sleigh
+led the trail, for which I was truly thankful. The dangerous nature of
+the route from the Indian camp was all too apparent. Miniature glaciers
+hung perilously over each mountain ridge, and formed a sight well fitted
+to unnerve any man but an Indian; and when we crawled over their glassy
+surfaces, and slid down on the "other" side, it seemed to me that we
+were running risks enough for all the gold in Klondike. We had not gone
+very far, however, before King James drew up his dogs in the bed of a
+deep chasm that traced directly from an enormous ice-field overhead. I
+looked around and saw the frozen channel of the Thron-Diuck about a
+hundred yards below; the King had taken us by a "short cut" over the
+mountains rather than follow the much easier route by way of the main
+river. For a moment I thought that he had purposely meant us to lose our
+bearings, but he soon dispelled that fear.
+
+"Gold Bottom here, Mis'r Mac," he said. "You dig." He measured about a
+four-feet length on the snow, meaning, I suppose, that we should find
+bedrock at that level. "You find much gold, Mis'r Mac, too much
+gold----"
+
+"Hold hard!" I interrupted; "I guess we'll deserve all we get. This is
+the devil's own part of the world we've struck."
+
+King James grinned incredulously, but kept silence; and arranging his
+sleigh rugs, he whipped up his long line of dogs and sped back over the
+trail we had just traversed. We watched him till his sleigh, careering
+dangerously, rushed down into the valley beyond. The mining instincts
+of Campbell and Mackay now overcame their dislike of our chill and
+uncompromising surroundings.
+
+[Illustration: GOLD-BOTTOM CREEK.]
+
+"It looks likely country," said Campbell, "and I shouldn't wonder if
+that glacier has worn down quite a lot of gold."
+
+We were not long in pitching our tents and building several fires to
+thaw off the icicles that clung to our faces; then we felt much more
+enthusiastic over our prospects. The timber was plentiful, and close at
+hand; we were far indeed from the madding crowd.
+
+"We'll make a start, boys," I said; "we'll see whether old Leather-skin
+spoke correctly."
+
+My two companions were rather disconsolately surveying the scene.
+
+"Too much gold!" muttered Mac in derision. "No vera likely. It wad tak'
+hundreds o' thoosands o' pounds tae pey me fur ma sufferin's in this
+God-forsaken country."
+
+All day long we kept great logs burning over the frozen gravel silted up
+on the edge of the channel. Slowly we excavated the "dirt" in fragments,
+picking energetically at it after each fire had been cleared away. The
+icy body of the creek had evidently long since been formed, for not a
+drop of water flowed beneath; and after sinking a few feet we came to a
+level where the frozen mass contracted from the old river-bed, leaving a
+clear dry space in which a man could almost stand upright. We at once
+abandoned our shaft, and crawled into the strange cavern formed. The
+gravel over which the torrent had flowed was dry, and hard as flint. We
+had reached bedrock on the true channel of the stream, and with water
+still flowing overhead! A yet unfrozen fluid gurgled in the heart of the
+great ice column above; the effect was wonderfully beautiful.
+
+"I guess we'll stick to the shaft, boys," said Mackay; "this looks
+uncanny," and he scrambled out; the idea of working underneath the
+flowing stream was too much for him, though he was a veteran miner.
+Campbell and I soon followed his example, leaving Mac and Stewart, who
+were not easily daunted, to survey the wonders of Nature at their
+leisure. They at once commenced picking the frozen channel, and the
+thud! thud! of the blows came to our ears, as we stood by the fire
+above, as the sonorous notes of a deep-toned bell. Already the murky
+gloom of an Alaskan night was fast closing over, though it was yet but
+two o'clock in the afternoon. Thud! thud! thud! went the pickaxes below,
+and I marvelled at the persistence of my companions, for I knew they
+could make little impression on the flinty sands.
+
+Suddenly the echoes ceased, and the sounds of a wordy altercation
+rumbled up towards us; a few minutes later Mac popped his head out of
+the shaft and beckoned me mysteriously, then disappeared again.
+Wonderingly I let myself down through the narrow aperture and wriggled
+into the cavern. A strange sight met my gaze. A lighted stump of candle
+was stuck in the ground, and its pale light, reflected against the
+glistening roof, gave the scene a somewhat unearthly appearance. Stewart
+was kneeling on the gravel, examining carefully a flat, pebble-shaped
+stone; beside him was heaped quite a number of similar fragments, and
+these were evidently the results of my companions' labours, for many
+hollows in the channel showed where the pebbles had been extracted. When
+I entered, Mac was feverishly rubbing one of the pieces against his
+moccasined leg.
+
+"What kind o' stane dae ye ca' that?" he asked eagerly, handing his
+prize to me.
+
+"I've tell't him it's ironstane," broke in Stewart in a convinced tone
+of voice, "but Mac aye likes tae be contrairy."
+
+The specimen given me was a rough and rusty-looking pebble, very much
+water-worn. At first glance it certainly looked like ironstone, and its
+weight proved it to be either of that nature or--I dared not hoped the
+alternative. I took my sheath knife and endeavoured to scrape the edges,
+but they were hard as flint.
+
+"A kent it was ironstane," grumbled Stewart, yet I was not satisfied. I
+held the specimen close to the candle-flame for several minutes until it
+was heated throughout, then I again tried my knife on the edges. The
+effect was astounding; the rusty iron coat peeled off as mud, and lo! a
+nugget of shining gold was brought to view.
+
+With a howl of delight Stewart started up, cracking his head against the
+crystal ceiling in his haste. "Gold!" he shouted, and grabbed at the
+handful of stones he had collected. "Mak' some mair," he said.
+
+But there was no need to doubt further; every rusty-coloured pebble
+unearthed was in truth a fine alluvial specimen of the precious metal,
+and when scraped each tallied in every characteristic with King James's
+nugget. The iron coating was but a frozen mud cement which had formed
+over the irregularities of surface with vice-like tenacity. The bed of
+the creek was indeed gold bottomed; the King had not stated wrongly.
+
+Campbell and Mackay soon joined us; they had become alarmed at my
+prolonged absence.
+
+"This beats Bonanza and El Dorado hollow," was the first individual's
+comment.
+
+"Well, I'm jiggered!" feebly murmured Mackay, gazing blinkingly around.
+
+The light danced and shone on the yellow fragments, and sparkled on the
+crystal dome. The sight was truly gorgeous. Even the fabled Aladdin's
+cave could hardly have surpassed the splendours of that Alaskan icy
+vault.
+
+It was plain to us that the depth of "pay gravel" could not be more than
+a few inches at most; the steep declivity of the channel was a sure
+proof of that fact, and our "find" would not, therefore, take long to
+work out. It promised, however, to be the richest strike in the Klondike
+valley. The gold being so close to the mother lode, which was,
+unfortunately, covered by the glacier, was all of a coarse nature; none
+of the pieces collected came under the pennyweight limit, and one
+specimen we computed to be at least five ounces....
+
+Such is the record of one of our prospecting trips to the glacier
+streams of the Upper Klondike, and "Gold Bottom Creek" from that time
+occupied an honoured place in every miner's reference book.
+
+
+
+
+THE PERILS OF THE TRAIL
+
+
+All through that dread winter no news reached civilisation from the
+frozen El Dorado, no communication had been established with the great
+mushroom city of the far Nor'-West, and only the wildest sort of
+speculation could be indulged in as to the fate of the pioneer
+inhabitants of the Klondike valley. Only too late was the knowledge
+forced upon the almost fanatical gold-seekers that the iron grip of an
+Arctic winter was upon them, effectually barring retreat and sealing the
+narrow gates of the country against all further expeditions from the
+outside. They had lived on in the steadfast belief that the "Great
+American nation" would send in supplies in good time to prevent any
+likelihood of starvation. But so ignorant was the world regarding the
+nature of the northern land that many companies continued even at that
+time in Seattle and San Francisco to outline in the press their plans
+for sending stores to Dawson in the "coming" winter--this in November,
+when the elements had already a vice-like grip of the country.
+
+Several expeditions really started, but so ludicrous were their
+equipments that they without exception failed to penetrate beyond the
+coastal barriers--the grim old Chilcoot and the murderous Skagway trail.
+
+And so in the "promised land" the chill November blasts were hushed and
+the deadly quiet of a December frost reigned supreme. The majority of
+the miners worked out on the creeks, but when the intense cold forced
+them to cease their labours they flocked into Dawson and idly frequented
+the saloons, bragging of their riches to their less favoured comrades,
+and cursing the ungodly nature of the country in forcible language.
+
+At this time very few had more than three months' provisions, and the
+majority were at their last bag of flour. The stores would sell nothing
+unless at fabulous prices. Everything commanded one dollar a pound. Even
+salt, that cheap but necessary commodity, had the same value. Baking
+powder was unpurchasable--there being none. Before long one hundred
+dollars was offered and refused for a sack of rolled oats. The
+restaurants for a time supplied "meals" at exorbitant charges, yet one
+by one they had to give out for want of supplies. The end came when
+seven dollars was asked and given freely for a meagre portion of bacon
+and beans--the staple food of the Arctics. Only a few days did this
+establishment--"Dawson's Last Hope"--hold out, and then the familiar
+legend, "No supplies," was posted on the logged doorway. It was only
+then that the real state of affairs was impressed upon the unthinking
+people.
+
+Many tragedies were enacted in that northern mining camp during the
+weeks that followed. A kind of panic prevailed. Short rations was the
+rule, and starvation only too frequent. There seemed nothing but death
+ahead for all. On short rations, with the thermometer averaging
+forty-five below zero! who could view such a prospect with equanimity?
+Thefts of goods were often attempted, and almost invariably death by
+revolver bullet was the end of the poor hungry would-be thief's career,
+for the necessaries of life were more strictly guarded than gold. Gold
+could not buy them. Many would have given their all gladly for a sack of
+flour. Long before Christmas all work was suspended. The population took
+to their log-huts, and barricaded every nook and cranny in vain
+endeavour to keep out the cold. Daylight appeared at ten o'clock in the
+morning, and night closed over the camp soon after three. The "city"
+seemed deserted, all but for the presence of a few dog-sleighs, which
+were constantly employed in carrying timber from the mountain-side. The
+strong men who had dared the elements and dragged the gold from the
+unwilling soil now gave way utterly. The keen air whetting their
+appetites rendered their existence on short rations a long-drawn-out
+agony. The weaker element soon fell ill, and then a reign of terror
+began. Fever became prevalent, and the little cemetery soon had to be
+extended to accommodate the many victims to its fury.
+
+A "roll-up" of the miners was by unanimous consent held to reason out
+the dangerous situation, and it was decided as a last desperate resource
+to attempt the long overland route to Dyea across the treacherous
+Chilcoot Pass. Until the arrival of my party over the ice none had
+dreamed that such a journey was practicable. During the heart of an
+Arctic winter, to march seven hundred miles over ice and unfathomed
+snows! The idea seemed absurd, yet it now became the only hope of life
+to all. That "roll-up" is pictured clearly before me now, and never
+again do I expect to be present at a more cruelly dramatic gathering.
+Starvation showed plainly on every face; each white frosted visage was
+seamed and furrowed as if by a load of care. They were indeed a motley
+crowd, comprising representatives of all nationalities. To me fell the
+questionable honour of leadership. I was supposed to know the valley of
+the Yukon better than any present, nearly all of whom had entered by
+way of St. Michael's.
+
+"All right, boys," I said, in answer to their request, "my party will
+make the trail for you as far as Big Salmon River. Then Major Walsh may
+be able to advise us what to do."
+
+And so the strange company began its long and deadly march. Half a dozen
+dog teams headed the column, after which came men pulling their own
+sleighs, and at the rear wearily trudged the multitude who carried their
+all in packs bound with straps to their shoulders. It was a strange and
+pitiable spectacle at the start; what would it be at the finish?
+
+The Stewart River was reached in four days, and here the "blown" ice was
+almost insurmountable. It piled up in great blistering sheets, the
+elevations in some places exceeding a height of twenty feet. Over these
+obstacles the dog-sleighs crashed, breaking a way for the long trailing
+human caravan. Moccasins were cut into shreds, and clothing soon became
+tattered and torn. The thermometer had now dropped to fifty degrees
+below zero, and many became frost-bitten. Not a few lost the use of
+their arms, and marble-hued noses were common indeed.
+
+Sometimes I would get well ahead of the main party, and from a
+convenient point watched them approach and pass. A stranger sight could
+not be imagined. The staggering line of dogs came first; over their
+lowered heads the long whips cracked, and the poor brutes bounded
+forward with nerve and life in every motion. Then the weary
+sleigh-pullers passed in solemn array, shoulders bent and bodies leaning
+forward. Their sleighs were pulled along to the accompaniment of the
+harsh grinding sound emitted from the iron runners on the frozen snow.
+Lastly, the "packers" straggled in Indian file, and they were surely a
+sight to be viewed with mingled feelings. Tall men, short men, stout
+men--and they were few--and thin men followed in miscellaneous order.
+Some were lame, and limped painfully; some had their heads bandaged,
+many wore nose coverings, and a few were minus the nose altogether.
+Strange it was to see at intervals, when this almost weird procession
+lagged to the rear, how strenuously they would endeavour to recover
+ground, and when with one accord they broke into a run the spectacle
+offered would have been laughable had it not been so seriously, so truly
+a race for life.
+
+[Illustration: DAWSON CITY.]
+
+Salmon River was reached at last. Five men had died on the trail and two
+were seriously ill, though they dragged themselves along, helped
+occasionally by the dog-sleighs. Here I formally gave over my
+responsible charge to Campbell and Mackay, and having been entrusted
+with mails and despatches for the coast, with barely a halt pushed on
+ahead with Mac and Stewart. Our stores had diminished greatly beyond my
+calculations, and it was evident that an extreme effort must be made to
+increase our rate of travel. Yet despite our utmost endeavours, when we
+entered upon the snowy wastes of Marsh Lake we pulled a sleigh on which
+reposed a few furs, a bag of mineral specimens, and about as much flour
+as would make one good square meal.
+
+For the last several days our progress had been severely hampered by the
+increasing depth and softness of the snow filling the valley of the
+Yukon as we approached nearer the dreaded pass. Our daily march since
+leaving the northern capital had rarely fallen below twenty-eight miles,
+until the unfrozen White Horse Rapids had stayed our advance and caused
+us to make a wide _détour_; but now, do what we might in our
+semi-famished condition, we could barely travel twenty miles in as many
+hours, and full eighty miles yet intervened between us and the sea. On
+this day we had been on the trail since sunrise, and the darkening
+shadows of night were already beginning to creep over the billowy
+wastes, though it was but two hours after noon.
+
+"We are near the end of the lake, boys," I shouted encouragingly, as I
+noticed the failing efforts of my companions. "We must try and reach
+Tagash River to-night."
+
+Mac groaned dismally, and Dave emitted a plaintive howl as he struggled
+in his harness. Then Stewart, who had grown wofully cadaverous of late,
+stopped and addressed his compatriot.
+
+"I mind, Mac," said he, "that there used to be an Injun village aboot
+here."
+
+"I hae a disteenct recollection o' the place," returned Mac shortly,
+bending to his labours afresh.
+
+"We are passing that same village now," I cried cheerily. "That makes
+ten miles since our last halt."
+
+The sleigh stopped with a jerk; half a dozen log-huts with a like amount
+of totem poles, were plainly observable among the dense timber on shore.
+
+"Them Injuns must have something for eating in they houses," spoke Mac
+thoughtfully, gazing at the rude structures intently.
+
+"But we have nothing to barter, and we know they won't sell," I broke in
+impatiently.
+
+He made no reply to my remark, but turned to Stewart, who was evidently
+in a fit of deep mental abstraction: "What's your idea, Stewart, ma
+man?" he asked insinuatingly, and that individual responded promptly.
+
+"I am wi' ye, Mac, every time, but I hope it's no' a graveyard like the
+last we tackled." They threw down their sleigh-ropes simultaneously, and
+were half-way to the village before I had recovered myself.
+
+"Hold hard!" I roared. "What----"
+
+Mac's substantial figure spun round at once. "We'll be back in a
+meenit," he whispered mysteriously.
+
+I loosened Dave from his harness, and hastened after the doughty pair,
+expecting every instant to hear sounds of deadly strife, but all
+remained silent as a tomb, and I shuddered with painful recollections. I
+found them cavorting around the largest edifice in the group in a manner
+that under different circumstances would have seemed ludicrous.
+
+"There's naebody in the hooses," cried Stewart gleefully. "The whole
+tribe must have gone out moose-hunting."
+
+Not infrequently a village is entirely deserted in this way, and I
+heaved a sigh of relief. "But they may be back at any time," I said,
+glancing fearfully round.
+
+Mac shrugged his shoulders; "I think, Stewart," he remarked in a most
+matter-of-fact tone, "I think the door is the weakest place after all."
+
+I swallowed my scruples at a gulp, and became interested in the
+proceedings at once. Strangely enough, for the moment we all seemed to
+have forgotten how very similarly our first escapade of the kind had
+opened.
+
+Crash! Mac's broad shoulder butted the barricaded doorway right
+ponderously, but though the heavy logs quivered and bent, they resisted
+the shock. And now Stewart braced himself for the attack, and together
+they hurled themselves against the wavering supports. There was a
+resounding echo as the entire structure gave way, and with many chuckles
+of delight the adventurous couple disappeared within, while I remained
+outside, my rifle at full cock, listening for the tramp of moccasined
+feet that would herald the Indians' return. I heard Mac strike match
+after match, muttering discontentedly the while, and Stewart's
+dissatisfied grunts filled me with dismay. Was our depredating raid to
+go unrewarded?
+
+"There's jist the sma'est bit o' caribou ye could imagine in the hale
+hoose," snorted Mac indignantly. "It wis high time the deevils went
+huntin', I'm thinkin'."
+
+"Let's try the other hooses," counselled Stewart.
+
+At that moment Dave gave a long, low growl, and immediately an
+indescribable chorus of yells issued from the forest near at hand. Then,
+to my horror, I perceived numerous dark forms speeding towards me.
+Instinctively I levelled my rifle, then by an extreme effort of will
+lowered it again. We were surely in the wrong. "Come on, boys," I cried,
+"we must run for it."
+
+"Haud on till I get that bit o' caribou," murmured Mac desperately.
+
+A moment more, and we made a wild burst in the direction of the sleighs,
+pursued by a number of stalwart warriors, whose vengeful shouts inspired
+our failing steps with an unwonted activity.
+
+"Let's stop and fecht the deevils," implored Mac, as we grabbed the
+ropes of our sadly-light conveyance, and even at that juncture he
+examined his stolen piece of caribou with critical interest. "It's no'
+fit for human use," he protested angrily. "I'm no' goin' to run for
+nothing."
+
+But the yelling horde at our heels made him think better of it, and
+muttering sundry maledictions he hitched on to the rushing sleigh, and
+lumbered manfully alongside his gloomy compatriot. Fear did certainly
+lend wings to our flight, and by the time we had reached the outlet
+leading to Tagash Lake, our pursuers were far in the rear, the obscuring
+darkness probably being much in our favour. And then, as we hastened
+over the shelving ice on the connecting river, we beheld a sight that
+drew from us ejaculations of sheer chagrin. A great fire blazed on the
+shores of the frozen stream, illuminating in the background a
+solidly-built logged erection, and showing clearly the outlines of a
+giant Union Jack fastened to a tree close by. Not a soul was in sight,
+but I could fancy the comfortable group inside the generous dwelling
+whiling away the time before a glowing stove or indulging in a luxurious
+dinner.
+
+"It's a Government station," I said drearily. "It must have been put
+here just before the ice closed in."
+
+We halted for an instant, and gazed wistfully at the snug police camp.
+Here surely we might obtain some little stores for our urgent needs, but
+how dared we ask? The Indians were British subjects, and would indeed be
+treated with more consideration than we might expect, for it is the
+policy of the Canadian authorities to protect, even to the outside
+extreme, the rights of their dusky subjects. Then, again, we had been
+long on the trail, and our clothing was rent and ragged. The police
+might judge us by appearances, and then--I did not care to think what
+might happen. Many thoughts flitted through my mind as we stood there
+hesitatingly, and my worthy companions, by their silence, showed that
+they too were thinking deeply. The unmusical cries of our pursuers
+jarred on our meditations with seemingly awakening vigour.
+
+"They've got our trail," I said sadly. "We'd better get along."
+
+"Civilisashun be d----d," fervently, if ambiguously, muttered Mac and
+Stewart almost with one voice, and we staggered out into the bleak,
+snowy plains of Tagash Lake, and pursued a dogged course southward.
+
+
+
+
+THE TENT AT CARIBOU CROSSING
+
+
+It was midnight before we halted, and then we camped on the middle of
+the frozen lake, and near the entrance to the Big Windy Arm; and here,
+after a most miserable night, we were forced to abandon the greater part
+of the stolen venison as being in itself but little satisfying to our
+urgent needs. We started again before daybreak, steering by compass in
+the darkness. Indeed, it was absolutely necessary that we should keep
+moving if we would prevent the blood from freezing in our veins. Our
+plight was surely an unenviable one, and as we stumbled on through the
+ever-deepening snow, Mac and Stewart cursed the country endlessly in
+choice vernacular; and even Dave, struggling desperately in his harness,
+found opportunity to give his verdict in hoarse, muffled growls of deep
+displeasure.
+
+"We'll bile the first Injun we meet," said Stewart solemnly, after
+several hours had passed in silence, and he shook his head clear of its
+encompassing deposits of frosted snow and ice, and gazed at our meagre
+sleigh-load with pensive eyes.
+
+"I'm no sae sure that Injun is guid for eatin' ony mair than mummy
+caribou," rejoined Mac after much thought. "I mind," he continued
+ruminatively, "o' eatin' snake sausages in Sooth America, an' they were
+wonderfu' paleetable, but Injun?" He shook his ice-enclustered head
+doubtfully. The day was already drawing to a close; the sun had risen at
+ten o'clock, and its short arc in the heavens was almost completed. The
+time at which one usually expects to fortify the inner man had passed in
+grim silence, and the darkening shadows were creeping over the billowy
+white waste.
+
+"We must reach Caribou Crossing to-night, boys," I said. "We dare not
+camp again on the open lake in case a blizzard gets up and wipes us
+out."
+
+The blackness of night enveloped us completely, and the tingling
+sensation in our cheeks warned us that the frost intensity was far below
+the zero scale. Our moccasins sunk through a powdery fleece so crisp,
+that it crushed like tinder beneath us, and the steel sleigh-runners
+whistled harshly over the sparkling beady surface. The stars twinkled
+and shone brilliantly, and great streaks of dazzling light shot at
+intervals across the northern sky; the night effects were indeed
+splendid beyond description, yet we were too much engrossed with more
+practical matters to wax enthusiastic over astronomical glories.
+Suddenly the sharp hiss-s of a sleigh reached our ears, then out of the
+darkness came the sound of laboured breathing and smothered growls, as
+of dogs straining under an undue load. Obeying a common impulse our
+sorely-tried caravan came to a halt, Dave whining piteously and pawing
+the ground impatiently, while my companions peered into the night
+earnestly, then turned and gazed at me in silence. The hurrying sleigh
+was fast approaching on a course that would lead it but a few yards to
+our left. I was on the point of stepping forward to intercept the
+advancing dog-team which was now showing dimly in the starlight, when
+one of the two men who accompanied it spoke, and his voice sounded
+distinctly in the still air.
+
+"I thought I heard something," said he.
+
+"What could you hear?" answered his companion gruffly. "There can't be
+any one nearer than the station at Tagash, and it's far enough off yet,
+worse luck."
+
+"All the same," reiterated the first speaker, "I'm sure I heard
+sleigh-runners skidding over the snow. It's mebbe some poor devils
+coming out from Dawson."
+
+They were almost beside us now, and I wondered that we had not been
+noticed.
+
+"You'll remember, Corporal," came the tones of the doubtful one in hard,
+official accents, "that on no account can I give out any supplies. I
+have my own men to provide for."
+
+For the same reason that we had hurried past the station at Tagash
+River, I had no desire to bring my party to official notice now; so,
+inwardly cursing the niggardly captain, I decided to let the team pass
+without soliciting relief. It was clearly a Government "outfit" for the
+benefit of the men at Tagash. At a jerky trot the four leading dogs
+swept by us, swaying wildly as they pulled in their traces. Four more
+dogs followed, then a heavily-laden sleigh came creaking and groaning
+through the snow, the runners sunk deep and churning up clouds of vapour
+which almost hid from view the plump sacks of flour on board. The men
+came after at an amble, their faces muffled so that they, apparently,
+could neither turn to the right nor left. I could scarcely restrain my
+companions at this point from breaking into a vehement denunciation of
+the police captain and his corporal. They would, indeed, have stormed
+the sleigh cheerfully, and meted out no gentle treatment to the owners
+thereof. With energetic pantomimic gestures I implored them to be calm;
+the team was fast being swallowed up in the gloom, but before it had
+disappeared from our penetrating gaze a broken sentence floated back to
+our ears: "Pity ... had to leave so much ... Caribou Crossing ... back
+to-morrow.... D----d Klondikers."
+
+For five minutes more we waited in silence, during which time Mac and
+Stewart were effervescing to an alarming climax, then we gave full vent
+to our joy. "Ho! ho! ho!" laughed my companions. "Pity left so much at
+Caribou! D----d Klondikers! Ho! ho! ho!" Dave, too, seemed to
+understand the situation, and promptly proceeded to bark out his
+appreciation; but his exuberance was too noisy, so it was hurriedly
+checked.
+
+"Get under way, boys," I said, when my henchmen had recovered their
+equanimity, "for we'll need to look lively before the trail is blotted
+out." We had not spoken a word about the matter, yet there existed a
+perfect understanding between us. If anything edible had been left at
+Caribou Crossing we were determined to commandeer it.
+
+The well-weighted sleigh had made an easily-observable trail; in the dim
+starlight the twin furrows formed by the runners glittered and shone
+like the yeasty foam from a ship's propeller. We carefully directed the
+prow of our snow-ship into these well-padded channels, and with renewed
+energy forged ahead, thinking longingly of what might await us at
+Caribou. Soon the shadows on either side of the lake drew nearer and
+nearer, and the steep, wooded shores of the dreary waterway narrowed
+inwards, so that the feathery fronds of the stately pine-trees were
+plainly discernible; we were approaching the entrance to Caribou
+Crossing. Five minutes later we had passed through the narrow
+channel--it was barely twenty yards across--and were speeding silently
+over the deep drifts of snow which were wreathed in giant masses on the
+surface of the frozen lagoon. The hitherto heavily-marked trail now
+appeared blurred and indistinct, and the dense forests lining the
+"crossing" threw a shadow on the track which effectually neutralised
+the vague glimmer of the stars, so that we had literally to feel for the
+deep sleigh channels.
+
+"If I'm spared to come oot o' this," groaned Mac, as he crawled gingerly
+on all fours across the drifts, "I'll never speak o' ma sufferin's, for
+naebody could believe what I hae endured."
+
+"I hae traivelled faur," supplemented Stewart, lifting up his voice in
+pathetic appeal, "but I've never been sae afflicted."
+
+Having now introduced the subject of their woes they proceeded to
+comfort one another in well-chosen words of sympathy. "You'll suffer a
+considerable amount more if you don't find the trail soon," I broke in
+by way of getting their attention more concentrated on the very urgent
+matter on hand. But Stewart would have one word more:
+
+"I'll mak' a fine moniment tae ye, Mac, ma man," he said with a sigh,
+adding lugubriously, "puir, puir Mac."
+
+"I'll hae yer life for that, ye deevil," roared that irate gentleman,
+getting to his feet suddenly, and in consequence floundering to the
+waist in the chilly wreaths.
+
+Again I essayed to interfere. "Seems to me, boys," I said, "that you'd
+better reserve your energy----" A loud bark interrupted my further
+speech, and Mac immediately bellowed,
+
+"Dave has got the trail; come on, Stewart, an' we'll hae a glorious
+feast o' Government stores very soon."
+
+I thought he was anticipating over-much, but I took care to say nothing
+to discourage the pair, who now, side by side, were crawling rapidly
+over the snow, tracing a new series of markings which led into the heart
+of the thick foliage on shore. I followed after my comrades with
+alacrity, but the drifts were very wide and deep, and I sunk to the neck
+in their icy folds, and was almost frozen before I managed to extricate
+myself.
+
+"Are you following the trail, boys?" I cried, "or is it a bear track you
+are tracing up?" They were too much engrossed in their sleuth-hound
+operations to notice my inquiry, but as I had reached the shelter of the
+timber where the snow was but thinly laid, I now groped my way more
+quickly forward, and overtook the keen-eyed couple as they stopped short
+and emitted a simultaneous howl of delight.
+
+"Got it! Got it!" they yelled in unison, and Dave made the wooded slopes
+resound with his deep-mouthed bark.
+
+"Got what?" I interrogated, when opportunity offered, for nothing but
+absolute blackness surrounded us.
+
+"Licht a match," joyously spoke Mac.
+
+Somewhat mystified I struck a sulphur match and held it aloft, and by
+its sputtering flame I saw before me a 10 × 12 tent, on the roof of
+which was painted in huge black letters, "N.W.M.P."
+
+"We certainly have got it," I said with much satisfaction, "and we'll
+see what's inside without delay."
+
+"Scotland yet!" roared Stewart, in an ecstasy of delight, performing a
+few steps of the Highland fling as delicately as his heavily-padded
+moccasins would permit. Mac was more practical; he proceeded to execute
+what appeared in the gloom to be a solemn ghost dance, but in reality he
+was searching for the "door" end of the tent.
+
+"Haud yer noise, ye gomeril!" he said shortly, addressing his
+pirouetting companion, "an' when ye've feenished capering ye'll mebbe
+get a candle off the sleigh."
+
+The candle was quickly forthcoming, and the flap of the tent discovered;
+it was laced tightly with long strips of caribou hide, and so was not
+easily located in the darkness. We were not long in forcing an entry,
+the board-like canvas was rooted up from the snow where it had frozen
+fast, several hoary branches were pushed away from the inside wall,
+then we boldly took possession. At first survey our "find" seemed
+disappointing, the tent was almost empty; only a few very
+dilapidated-looking sacks were piled within, and the dripping icicles
+from the ridge gave a most frigid aspect to a dismal enough scene. Mac,
+however, was not discouraged. "There maun be something for eatin' in
+they bags," he said cheerfully, which was logic of the clearest nature;
+then he proceeded to explore their contents, and while thus engaged
+Stewart gathered together some branches and started a bright blaze at
+the doorway.
+
+"There's flour in this ane!" announced Mac joyfully, "an' beans in
+anither!" he supplemented; then his delighted cries were frequent.
+"We've got a wee thing o' maist everything that's guid," he summed up
+finally, issuing out into the ruddy glow of the fire, where the billies,
+filled with rapidly-melting snow, were fizzling away merrily.
+
+The good news affected Stewart visibly. "A'll mak' a gorgeous re-past
+the nicht, ye deevils," said he, "A'll mak' a rale sumshus feast."
+
+The keen edge of our appetite was dulled as a preliminary by copious
+draughts of coffee and the remnants of the morning's damper, then
+operations were begun for the "gorgeous feast." Mac obligingly acted as
+cook's assistant, and chopped off from the solidified contents of the
+sacks the requisite amount of flour and other ingredients necessary--and
+I fear many that were not altogether necessary in the strict sense of
+the word, for beans, and flour, and rolled oats, and rice did not seem
+to me to be a correct combination. But I was a novice in these arts and
+feared to speak, and the manufacture of the "sumshus repast" went on
+apace.
+
+The night was far advanced, yet for once on the long dreary march from
+Dawson we were in no hurry to court slumber, although we had travelled
+over thirty miles that day. I think Stewart sized up my own thoughts
+rather clearly when he said, during a lull in his artistic labours,
+"What fur should we gang awa' early the morn'? It wad be a rael pity tae
+leave this mag-nificent camp."
+
+"We might wait just a little too long, Stewart," I replied, and visions
+of an angry captain and his stalwart followers floated unpleasantly
+before my eyes.
+
+It was near midnight when the gurgling billy was lifted from its perch
+amid the glowing logs, and Stewart gingerly fished from its interior a
+round steaming mass, neatly enclosed in an old oatmeal sack and tied at
+the top. With deft fingers its author undid the wrappings, and lo! a
+rubicund pudding of cannon-ball-like aspect greeted our expectant
+visions, and was hailed with loud acclamation.
+
+"Ever see a puddin' like that, Mac?" demanded Stewart, gazing at it
+tenderly, and his cautious compatriot somewhat sadly replied--
+
+"Only aince, Stewart, an' that wis when we found Gold Bottom Creek, an'
+ye nearly killed King Jamie o' the Thronducks wi' indegestion."
+
+The compliment was just a trifle vague, and was regarded with suspicion
+by the prime conspirator, but he said no more, and we attacked the
+"puddin'" in silence, and with a vigour borne of many days' travel on
+short rations.
+
+Despite its heterogeneous nature, Stewart's culinary creation proved a
+veritable triumph to his art; at any rate it quickly disappeared from
+view, even Dave's share being rather grudgingly given. Never, since we
+had entered the country, had we fared so well, and when coiled up in our
+blankets close to the blazing fire, we felt indeed at peace with all
+mankind--including the police captain. All night long we kept the flames
+replenished, and dreamily gazed at each other through the curling smoke,
+for our unusual surfeit had banished sleep from our eyes. And but a few
+yards away from the burning logs the air was filled with dancing frost
+particles that seemed to form a white wall around us, for our
+thermometer, hung on a branch near by, registered forty-two degrees
+below zero. The long hours of darkness dragged slowly on, and it was
+nearly eleven o'clock in the morning before the faint light of day
+gradually dispelled the murky gloom, yet still we lolled laggard-like by
+the fire, starvation did not force us on this morning, and we had not
+rested these last six hundred miles. About noon, however, we decided to
+get up and have breakfast, and after many abortive attempts we succeeded
+in unwinding our bodies from the blankets in which they were swathed
+like Egyptian mummies.
+
+"It wis a gorgeous banquet," ruminated Mac, as he busied himself with
+the sleigh and made fast thereon various little sacks appropriated from
+the tent.
+
+"There's nae man," responded Stewart with eloquence, "kin teach me
+onything aboot cooking--especially puddens."
+
+I now thought it advisable to examine the markings on the snow where the
+trail had given us so much trouble on the night before. I could not yet
+understand why a tent and stores should have been left at Caribou
+Crossing, one of the most gloomy spots throughout the whole course of
+the Yukon. "Be lively with the breakfast, boys," I said, "for I am
+inclined to think the climate thirty miles further south will be
+healthier for us to-night." And I made my way out to the edge of the
+forest.
+
+I reached the lakeside without difficulty; the keen frost of the
+preceding hours had given a thick crust to the deep snow-drifts
+intervening; I then made a careful scrutiny of the various sleigh-runner
+channels which were plainly evident, and which united at the point where
+we had to diverge into the wood. A double trail led southward towards
+Lake Bennet, but a single one only continued its course to Tagash
+station. At once the meaning was plain. Two sleighs had started from
+Bennet station, and the drifts on Caribou proving unduly deterrent, one
+sleigh load had been temporarily abandoned. I remembered the two teams
+of dogs in the sleigh we had met. Everything was clear in an instant.
+"Yes, we'll certainly be healthier in a more southerly latitude
+to-night," I said to myself as I turned to go back to my companions. The
+enticing odour of an unusually appetising breakfast greeted my nostrils,
+and brought back a feeling of serene contentment. But my happiness was
+shortlived. I had barely reached the camp fire when I became vaguely
+conscious of some disturbing element in the air. I listened intently,
+then faintly sounded the tinkle of sleigh bells in the distance, and now
+and again the sharp crack of a dog-whip smote the keen air. There was no
+need to explain matters; even Dave whined knowingly, and backed
+voluntarily into his harness.
+
+"Jist oor luck," grumbled Stewart, grabbing the cooked bacon and
+thrusting it into one of the billies.
+
+"It's a blessed thing," quoth Mac, philosophically, "that we had such a
+magnee----"
+
+"Are you ready, boys?" I interrupted. The bells sounded sharply now, and
+I could hear the irascible captain cursing on the dogs.
+
+"I'm staunin' by the ingines," grunted Mac.
+
+"There's naething left," said Stewart, "unless we tak' the tent."
+
+"Then full speed ahead," I cried; "we'll camp somewhere near the head of
+Lake Bennet, to-night."
+
+With a sharp jerk the sleigh bounded forward, keeping the shelter of the
+timber for the first few hundred yards, then sweeping into the open at
+the entrance to Lake Bennet, we forced a trail towards Lake Linderman at
+an unusually rapid rate.
+
+
+
+
+ACROSS THE CHILCOOT PASS
+
+
+The snow was falling in thick, blinding sheets when we reached Lake
+Linderman, and struggled up the first precipitous climb leading to the
+dreaded Chilcoot.
+
+A death-like stillness lingered in the valley; the towering mountain
+peaks enclosing the chain of lakes had formed ample protection from the
+elements; but soon we ascended into a different atmosphere, where the
+wind burst upon us with dire force, and dashed the snow in clouds
+against our faces. In vain we laboured on; my comrades sank at times to
+their necks in the snow, even the sleigh was half buried in the seething
+masses, and rolled over continuously. I alone had snow-shoes, and for
+the first time in the seven hundred miles' trail we had traversed I
+strapped the long Indian "runners" to my moccasins, and endeavoured to
+pad a track for the following train, but the attempt proved futile. Two
+hours after leaving the lake we had barely progressed a mile, and the
+air was becoming dark and heavy with the increasing fury of the gale,
+which tossed the white clouds aloft, and showered them over our
+sorely-tried caravan. Never had we dreamed of encountering such weather.
+We had come from the silent Klondike valley, where the tempests were
+hushed by the Frost King, who reigned with iron hand.
+
+At two in the afternoon we reached timber limit, and here a few stunted
+trees showed their tips above the snow, but beyond the bleak surfaces
+of Deep and Long Lakes appeared bare and forbidding, and the loud shriek
+of the gathering gale warned us to venture no further that day. We
+hurriedly scooped a hole in the snow, and lined it with our furs; then
+the sleigh was mounted as a bulwark against the drifts, and we lay down
+in our strange excavation, exhausted and utterly disheartened. Mac at
+length broke the silence. "We might have a fire o' some sort," he said,
+looking round. Very gingerly he and his companion crawled towards the
+tree-tops, and broke off the tough green branches. After much coaxing
+the unwilling wood ignited, and we clustered joyfully round the pungent
+smoke--for there was little else--and endeavoured to infuse some warmth
+into our frozen bodies. The thick blackness of night was rapidly closing
+over, and the storm showed no signs of diminishing; so we obtained what
+timber we could from the tree-tops, and stored it in our shelter to feed
+the feeble fire through the long dreary night. Then we thawed some snow,
+and boiled a "billy" of coffee, and the warm fluid helped to sustain us
+greatly; but still the wind howled and the snow pattered down on our
+faces with relentless force, and the drifts from the edge of our pit
+ever and anon deluged us. How we passed that night is beyond
+description. We huddled near to each other for warmth, while our dog
+beside us groaned and shivered violently despite all our efforts to
+protect him from the icy blasts.
+
+Morning at last arrived, but no welcome light appeared; the air
+continued murky and dense with flying snow. Ten o'clock, eleven, and
+twelve passed, and we were beginning to despair of getting a start that
+day. Then the gloom merged into a dull grey haze, and we could
+distinguish faintly through the driving mists the glacier peaks flanking
+Long Lake. We had thawed snow and made coffee for breakfast, but
+notwithstanding that fortification we felt ill-prepared to renew our
+battle with the elements.
+
+"We'll make another try, boys," I said, after a brief survey around. "We
+may reach the summit to-day, but the chances are against it."
+
+Dave was again harnessed to the sleigh, and with three separate ropes
+attached we straggled forward on different tracks, and pulled as if for
+dear life. Slowly we forged ahead over Deep Lake, staggering, stumbling,
+and floundering wildly. Even Dave sank in the yielding track, and his
+efforts to extricate himself would have been amusing--under different
+circumstances. As we proceeded the gale increased, and almost hurled us
+back, and I noted with alarm the heavy gathering clouds that seemed to
+hang between us and the pass; they spread rapidly, and with them came
+fresh blasts that whistled across the white lake surface, and tore it
+into heaving swells even as we looked. I prayed for light, but the gloom
+deepened and the snow fell thicker and faster. At length we reached the
+cañon leading to Crater Lake, and with every nerve strained we fought
+our way forward literally foot by foot. The snow-wreaths here were of
+extraordinary depths, and several times my companions would disappear
+altogether, actually _swimming_ again to the surface, for only such a
+motion would sustain the body on the broken snow.
+
+At three o'clock we had travelled but two and a half miles, and the
+storm was yet rising. Had we been provided with food our position would
+not have caused us much alarm, but coffee had been our lot for
+forty-eight hours, and now raw coffee alone must be our portion, for we
+were above timber limit, and so could have no fire. Starvation from cold
+and hunger combined promised to be rather a miserable finish to our
+labours. The deep breathing of my companions betrayed their sufferings;
+their weakened frames could ill endure such buffetings. At every other
+step they would sink in the vapoury snow, while poor Dave's muffled
+howls were pitiful to hear.
+
+"We'll have to camp again, boys," I shouted. But where could we camp,
+and preserve our already freezing bodies? As I have said, we were beyond
+timber limit; only the dull, drifting snow appeared on every side, and
+the darkness was quickly hiding even that from view. I relinquished my
+sleigh rope, and battled forward against the blizzard alone. My
+snow-shoes skimmed rapidly over the treacherous drifts, but the extreme
+exertion was too much for me, and I had to come to a halt. The air in
+such a latitude, and at a 3,500-feet altitude, is keen enough even when
+there is no blizzard raging. In the few hundred yards I had sped ahead I
+had left my comrades hopelessly behind; they were blotted from my sight
+as if by an impenetrable pall. Suddenly, through a cleft in the driving
+sleet, I caught a glimpse of a blue glistening mass close before me. I
+remembered that I was in the vicinity of the large glacier at "Happy
+Camp," but the glacier had evidently "calved," for it was formerly well
+up the mountain side. I staggered over to it, and felt its glassy sides
+with interest; then I noticed a great cavity between the giant mass and
+the mountain-ledge. It was indeed a calved glacier, and in its fall it
+had formed a truly acceptable place of shelter. I cried loudly to my
+companions, but only the shriek of the blizzard was my reply. I was
+afraid to leave my "find" in case I might not discover it again, so I
+drew my Colt Navy and fired rapidly into the air. The sound seemed dull
+and insignificant in the howling storm, but a feeble bark near at hand
+answered back, and through the mists loomed my doughty henchmen with
+their sleigh-ropes over their shoulders, and crawling on all fours
+beside the dog. They had been forced to divide their weight over the
+snow in this strange fashion, and even as it was they sank at intervals
+with many a gasp and splutter into the great white depths. "Happy Camp!"
+I cried.
+
+"This is an end o' us a' noo," Mac wearily groaned, staggering into the
+ice cavern.
+
+"Happy Camp" was the name derisively applied to the vicinity in the
+summer. It was then the first halting stage after crossing the pass, and
+as no timber existed near, no fires could be made, and hence the name.
+But what it was like at this time, in midwinter, is beyond my powers to
+describe. Imagine a vast glittering field of ice stretching from the
+peaks above to the frozen stream below, and a small idea of its miseries
+as a camping-ground is at once apparent. Yet it was a welcome shelter to
+us at such a time, and we dragged the sleigh into the dark aperture
+thankfully, and, wrapping ourselves in our blankets, listened to the
+moaning of the storm outside. At each great rush of wind the walls of
+our cave would quiver and crackle, and far overhead a deep rumbling
+broke at intervals upon our ears. Our glacier home was certainly no safe
+retreat, for it was gradually, yet surely, moving downwards. My
+companions recognised their perilous position immediately they heard the
+well-known grinding sound, but they said nothing--they were evidently of
+opinion that we were as safe inside as out, and, as Stewart afterwards
+grimly said, "It would hae been an easier death onywey."
+
+The cold was very intense, and we shivered in the darkness for hours
+without a word being spoken. To such an extremity had we been reduced
+that Mac and Stewart assiduously chewed the greasy strips of caribou
+hide which did duty as moccasin laces, while I endeavoured, but with
+little success, to swallow some dry coffee. If we could only have a
+fire, I reasoned, we might live to see the morning, but without it
+there seemed little hope.
+
+We had all grown apathetic, and indeed were quite resigned to a horrible
+fate. I was aroused from a lethargic reverie by the piteous cries of
+Dave, who remained still harnessed. I patted his great shaggy head, and
+pulling my sheath-knife, cut the traces that bound him. As I did so my
+hand came in contact with the sleigh, and at once a new idea flashed
+over me.
+
+"Get up, boys!" I cried. "We've forgotten that the sleigh will burn."
+
+In an instant they were on their feet. One thought was common to us
+all--we must have a fire, no matter the cost. Mac lighted a piece of
+candle, and stuck it on the hard ground. Then he and Stewart attacked
+the sleigh energetically, and in a few moments the snow-ship that had
+borne our all for seven hundred miles was reduced to splinters. Eagerly
+we clustered round as the match was applied, and fanned the laggard
+flame with our breaths until it burst out cheerily, crackling and
+glowing, illuminating the trembling walls of the cavern, and causing the
+crystal roof to scintillate with a hundred varying hues. Sparingly Mac
+fed the flame; if we could only keep it alive till morning the blizzard
+might have abated. Piece by piece the wood was applied, and the feeble
+fire was maintained with anxious care. Hour after hour passed, and still
+the blizzard howled, and the swirling snow-drifts swept to our feet as
+we bent over our one frail comfort, and protected the wavering flame
+from the smothering sleet.
+
+At various times throughout the weary hours I fancied I could hear a
+faint moaning without our shelter, but the inky blackness of the night
+obscured all vision, and after aimlessly groping in the snow for some
+minutes after each alarm, I had to crawl back benumbed and helpless.
+
+"It must have been the wind," said Stewart.
+
+"There's nae man could cross the pass last night," spoke Mac.
+
+Dave lay coiled up on my blanket apparently fast asleep. The noble
+animal had had nothing to eat for two days, and I feared he would not
+wake again. Suddenly, however, he started up, growling hoarsely. The
+moaning sound again reached our ears, prolonged and plaintive. Then came
+the sharp whistle of the blizzard, clear, decisive. There could be no
+mistake. Assuredly some unfortunate was out in the cruel storm. Our
+four-footed companion struggled to his feet with an effort, and swaying
+erratically, he rushed from the cave whining dolefully. We gazed at each
+other in silence; we dreaded the discovery we were about to make.
+
+"Keep the fire alight as a guide to us, Mac," I said, and Stewart and I
+went out into the storm. And now Dave's deep-mouthed barks penetrated
+the dense mists, and we crawled towards the cañon in the direction of
+the sound; but we had not far to go. A few yards from our retreat I felt
+Dave's furry body at my knees, and then my hand came in contact with a
+human form half buried in the drifts.
+
+"It's a man, Stewart," I said, and he answered with a groan of sympathy.
+We extricated the stiff, frozen body from the engulfing snow and dragged
+it tenderly towards the light we had left; and there, in that miserable
+spot, we strove to bring back the life that had all but fled.
+
+"We have nothing to gie him," said Mac hopelessly; "an' the fire's gone
+oot."
+
+"There should be some coffee," I answered, "and the furs and my long
+boots will burn."
+
+Soon our treasured possessions smouldered and flamed; boots, moccasins,
+silver-tipped furs--all that we had that would simmer or burn was
+sacrificed, and a piece of ice from the wall was thawed and slowly
+boiled. When the hot fluid was forced between his lips the rescued man
+opened his eyes and looked around. Soon he had recovered sufficiently to
+speak a few words. He had ventured across the Chilcoot, despite all
+warnings from the miners at Sheep Camp. He had wandered over Crater Lake
+all day, not knowing where the valley lay owing to the dense mists
+prevailing. "The blizzard has been blowing on the pass for two days,"
+said he; "your light attracted me last night, but I could not reach it."
+Such was the tale of the poor victim of the pass; he died before
+morning, despite our struggles to save him, and we felt that we could
+not survive him long.
+
+No light appeared at ten o'clock, nor was there any promise of the
+blinding storm abating. Our fire had gone out, and we sat in darkness
+beside the lifeless body we had saved from the snows.
+
+"We'll make another try, boys," I said. "We may as well go under trying,
+if it has to be."
+
+Our load was small enough now; the pity was we had not lightened it
+sooner. I strapped the small mail-bag to my shoulders; my comrades
+carried all further impedimenta, and, leaving the dead man in his icy
+vault we staggered into the darkness and forced an erratic track towards
+the Chilcoot Pass. Crater Lake was reached in two hours; I could only
+guess we had arrived at it by the evenness of the surface, the air was
+so dense that objects could not be distinguished even a few feet
+distant. I tried to fix a bearing by compass, but the attempt was
+futile, the needle swaying to all points in turn, owing to the magnetic
+influences around. Then we _felt_ for the mountain-side on the left, and
+staggered over the blast-blown rocks and glaciers along its precipitous
+steeps.
+
+As we neared the summit the howl of the blizzard increased to a shrill,
+piercing whistle, but we now were sheltered by the pass, and the fierce
+blast passed overhead. All this time we forced onward through a murky
+gloom with our bodies joined with ropes that we might not lose one
+another. At three in the afternoon I calculated that we were near the
+crucial point at which the final ascent can be negotiated, and we left
+the white shores of Crater Lake and clambered up into the rushing mists
+where the blizzard shrieked and moaned alternately, and hurled huge
+blocks of glacier ice and frozen snow down into the Crater valley. The
+top was reached at last, and no words of mine can describe the inferno
+that raged on that dread summit. We lay flat on our faces and writhed
+our way forward through a bubbling, foaming mass of snow and ice. Our
+bodies were cut and bruised with the flying _débris_, and our clothing
+was torn to rags. The blizzard had now attained an extraordinary pitch,
+the mountain seemed to rock and tremble with its fury, and inch by inch
+we crawled towards the perpendicular declivity leading to the
+"Scales"--full eight hundred feet of almost sheer descent. Cautiously we
+manoeuvred across the great glacier that rests in the Devil's
+Cauldron--a cup-shaped hollow in the top of the notorious pass--and at
+once the blaze of a fire burst before our eyes, illuminating the
+apparently bottomless depths beyond.
+
+The ice-field on which we lay overhung the rocks to a dangerous degree,
+and I realised that we must make the descent from some other part of the
+semicircular ridge. We crept back hurriedly, and as we stood gasping in
+the "cauldron" before making a _détour_ to find a possible trail, a
+mighty rumbling shook the pass, and we clutched at the snow around,
+which flew upwards in great geyser-like columns, almost smothering us in
+its descending showers. The overlapping ice had plunged into the valley,
+carrying with it hundreds of tons of accumulated snow; we escaped the
+powerful suction by a few yards only.
+
+[Illustration: ON THE SAFE SIDE OF THE PASS AGAIN.
+               MAC--SELF--STEWART.]
+
+When we approached the edge a second time a smooth, unbroken snowsteep
+marked the trail of the glacier, and to it we consigned ourselves,
+literally sliding down into the black depths. We were precipitated into
+an immense wreath of snow covering the scales for over a hundred feet.
+The fire had been blotted out with the icy deluge, but luckily, as we
+learned later, the fire-feeders had abandoned their post long before the
+avalanche had come down. Three hours later we arrived at Sheep Camp, and
+entered the Mascotte saloon, where the assembled miners were clustered
+round a huge stove in the centre of the room, listening to the ominous
+shriek of the gale outside.
+
+No one dared venture out that night, but in the morning the four days'
+blizzard had spent itself, and we formed a party to explore the damage
+done. A light railway that had been laid to the Scales was completely
+demolished, and half down to Sheep Camp the channel of the Chilcoot
+River was filled with enormous ice boulders. An avalanche had also
+fallen on Crater Lake during the night, and when we had painfully
+climbed the now bare summit the frozen plateau beyond was rent for
+nearly a mile with enormous gashes over ten feet in width, and the ice
+cleavage showed down as far as the eye could reach.
+
+
+
+
+PART II
+
+UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS
+
+
+
+
+THE FIVE-MILE RUSH
+
+
+It was a very hot day in September when we arrived at Perth, Western
+Australia, and hastened to put up at the nearest hotel to the station,
+which happened to bear the common enough title of the "Royal."
+
+We had come up with the mail train from Albany, where the P. & O.
+steamers then called, and even Westralia's most ardent admirers would
+hesitate to claim comfort as one of the features of the Colony's railway
+system. So we arrived, after a long night's misery, dusty and
+travel-stained. No one attempts to keep clean in the land of "Sand, sin,
+and sorrow," for the simple reason that, according to the nature of
+things there, such a luxurious state of æsthetic comfort can never be
+attained. The streets were sandy, and as a natural sequence the
+atmosphere was not of ethereal quality. The people were sandy and
+parched-looking, and we found the interior of the hotel little better
+than the outside, so far as the presence of the powdery yellow grains
+was concerned.
+
+In the darkened bedrooms the hum of the festive mosquito was heard, and
+my companions chuckled at the sound.
+
+"It's a lang time since I heard they deevils," said Mac; then he
+proceeded, "Noo, oot on the Pampas----"
+
+"D--n the Pampas!" roared Stewart, as he clutched wildly at one of the
+pests that had been quietly resting on his cheek for full half a
+minute.
+
+"Ye've pushioned that onfort'nate beast," Mac retorted, with unruffled
+serenity; "noo, can ye no let the puir thing dee in peace?"
+
+We remained but a short time in Perth; it is a neatly-laid-out little
+city with streets running off at right angles to each other, and
+containing a fair sprinkling of fine buildings, among which may be
+mentioned the General Post Office and Lands Offices, and they are
+palatial edifices indeed. The Botanical Gardens are small, yet very
+pretty; and here, instead of the usual garden loafer, may be found many
+weary-eyed and parchment-skinned gold-diggers from the "fields," whose
+one idea of a holiday lies in a visit to Perth or Fremantle, where they
+stroll about or recline on the artificially-forced grass plots of these
+towns, and wile the weary hours away.
+
+The Swan River at Perth forms an exquisite piece of scenery, which
+redeems the environs of the sandy city from utter ugliness. Innumerable
+black swans swim hither and thither on its placid waters, and by the
+sloping banks, well fringed with rushes, many notable yachting clubs
+have their pavilions. There is nothing in this Capital of the Western
+Colony to attract. Even to the casual observer it is plain that the
+bustling, Oriental-looking town is essentially a gateway to the
+goldfields, and little more. Fremantle, on the other hand, is the Port,
+and chief engineering and commercial centre.
+
+At this period I was, like most erratic travellers, without a definite
+object in view. In a certain hazy way I thought that we should visit the
+mining districts at once, as we had done in other and more impracticable
+countries; yet I was aware that the known Westralian goldfields were by
+no means so new as the "finds" in North-West Canada, and in consequence
+the ground might be over-pegged or long since rushed.
+
+"The countrie is big enuff," said Mac when I mentioned my doubts, "an'
+we'll mebbe find anither Gold Bottom Creek faurer oot than onybody has
+gaed."
+
+"We're better diggin' holes, even if they are duffers," spoke Stewart,
+"than makin' oorsel's meeserable at hame." Which argument in a sense
+settled the matter, and I forthwith purchased tickets for Kalgoorlie,
+with the intention of penetrating thence towards the far interior.
+
+It is a weary journey eastward from Perth, and one that cannot be too
+quickly passed over. The single narrow-gauge line has been laid without
+any attempt at previous levelling, and the snorting little engine puffs
+over switchback undulations ceaselessly, at a speed that averages nearly
+sixteen miles an hour. It is a fortunate circumstance for the fresh
+enthusiast from "home" that the "Kalgoorlie Mail" leaves Perth in the
+evening. The discomfort experienced in the midnight ride is bad enough,
+but he is mercifully spared from viewing the "scenery" along the route,
+which would assuredly have a most demoralising effect: Western Australia
+must be taken gradually.
+
+The Coolgardie "rush" may be fresh in the minds of most people. The
+township now stands almost deserted, bearing little trace of former
+glory; and yet it is but a few years since the railway was pushed out to
+this remote settlement. Southern Cross, two hundred miles nearer the
+coast, was formerly the terminus of all traffic, and the hardy pioneers
+of Coolgardie daringly ventured on foot from this point, as did also the
+vast numbers who "followed the finds."
+
+Very insidiously Kalgoorlie has risen to high eminence as a mining
+centre; it accomplished the eclipse of its sister camp some time ago,
+and by reason of its deep lodes it is likely to retain its supremacy
+indefinitely. To the individual miners a new strike or location is
+considered to be "played out" when limited liability companies begin to
+appear in their midst, as only in rare cases can fossickers succeed in
+competition with machinery. However, the flat sand formations around
+Kalgoorlie have proved one of the exceptions to this rule, and the
+alluvial digger may still sink his shallow shaft here with every hope of
+success, and even in the proved "deep" country surface indications are
+abundant.
+
+When my little party stepped from the train at Kalgoorlie, we saw before
+us a scattered array of wooden and galvanised-iron houses,
+white-painted, and glistening dully in the sunlight through an extremely
+murky atmosphere. On closer acquaintance the heterogeneous erections
+resolved themselves into a wide principal thoroughfare, aptly named
+Hannan's Street, after the honoured prospector of the Camp's main reef,
+and a number of side paths that bore titles so imposing that my memory
+at once reverted to the fanciful names distinguishing the crude log
+shanties of Dawson, where there were: Yukon Avenue, Arctic Mansions,
+Arcadian Drive, and Eldorado Terrace. Here, in keeping with the latitude
+of the city, more salubrious, if equally fantastic, were the various
+designations of the alleys and byways.
+
+In the near distance we could see the towering tappet heads of the
+widely-known Great Boulder mine, and the din created by the revolving
+hammers of the ever-active stamping machinery assailed our ears as an
+indescribable uproar. But beyond the dust and smoke of these
+Nature-combating engines of civilisation, the open desert, dotted with
+its stunted mulga and mallee growths, shimmered back into the horizon.
+Here and there a dump or mullock heap showed where the alluvial miner
+had staked his claim, but for the most part the landscape was unbroken
+by any sign of habitation.
+
+"There's a lot of room in this country, boys," I said, as we stood
+unobserved in the middle of the street and took in the scene.
+
+"It's a deevil o' a funny place," Mac ventured doubtfully.
+
+"It's a rale bonnie place," reproved Stewart, whom the inexpressible
+gloom peculiar to the interior country had not yet affected. "I'm
+thinkin'," he continued, with asperity, "that ane or twa men o' pairts
+like oorsel's were jist needed at this corner o' the warld."
+
+"In ony case," Mac now agreed, "it's better than being meeserable at
+hame."
+
+Instead of seeking the hospitality of one of the numerous hotels close
+by, we decided to begin our campaign in earnest right away, and get
+under canvas as a proper commencement. So we prospected around for a
+good camping site, and that same night we slept in our tent, erected
+about a mile distant from the township.
+
+There was no water in our vicinity, and next morning Stewart set out
+with two newly-purchased water-bags to obtain three gallons of the very
+precious fluid at a condensing establishment we had noticed on the
+previous night, where, at sixpence a gallon, a tepid brackish liquid was
+sparingly dispensed. It should be understood that water, in most parts
+of Western Australia, is more difficult to locate than gold, and when
+obtained it is usually as a dense solution, salt as the sea, and
+impregnated with multitudinous foreign elements extremely difficult to
+precipitate.
+
+"There's aye something tae contend wi' in furrin countries," Mac
+philosophised, as he leisurely proceeded to build a fire for cooking
+operations. "In Alaska there wis snaw, an' Chilkoots, an' mony ither
+trifles; bit here there's naething much objeckshunable let alane the
+sand an' want o' watter."
+
+I agreed with him if only for the sake of avoiding an argument. "There
+may be a few--insects along with the sand, Mac," I hazarded cheerfully,
+and then I went into the tent to arrange the breakfast utensils.
+
+"Insecks!" cried he derisively after me. "Wha cares fur insecks, I shid
+like tae ken? What herm is there in a wheen innocent muskitties, fur
+instance? Insecks! Humph!"
+
+The absurdity of my remark seemed to tickle him vastly, and as he broke
+the eucalyptus twigs preparatory to setting a match to the pile he had
+collected, he continued to chuckle audibly. Then suddenly there was
+silence, a silence so strange that I felt impelled to look out of the
+tent and see what had happened; but before I had time to set down the
+tinware cups I held in my hands, his voice broke out afresh. "Insecks!"
+I heard him mutter. "Noo A wunner----; bit no, that canna be, fur snakes
+hiv'na got feet, an' this deevil's weel supplied i' that direction. It's
+a bonnie beast, too. I wunner if it bites?" I gathered from these
+remarks that the valiant Mac had made the acquaintance of some unknown
+species of "insect" with which he was unduly interested. "If it's an
+inseck," came the voice again, "this countrie maun be an
+ex-tra-ord'nar'----Haud aff! ye deevil. Haud off! I tell ye." I
+hastened outside just in time to see my companion ruthlessly slaughter a
+large-sized centipede, which had evidently refused to be propitiated by
+his advances.
+
+"It's a vera re-markable thing," said he, looking up with a perfectly
+grave countenance, "hoo they--insecks--persist in bringin' destruckshun
+on themsel's. I wis just pokin' this onfort'nate beast wi' a stick--in a
+freen'ly wey, ye ken--an' the deevil made a rin at me, wi' malishus
+intent, I'm thinkin', an' noo he's peyed the penalty o' his misguided
+ackshun."
+
+[Illustration: STEWART PREPARING OUR FIRST MEAL.]
+
+"In future, Mac," I warned, "you'd better not attempt to get on friendly
+terms with these--insects; a bite from a centipede might kill you."
+
+"I'll gie ye best about the insecks," he returned thoughtfully, applying
+a match to the pile, "bit ye'll admit," he added, after some moments'
+pause, "that it's maist ex-tra-ord'nar' tae see insecks o' sich
+onnaitural descripshun rinnin' aboot on the face o' the earth."
+
+I fully concurred, much to his satisfaction, and just then Stewart
+arrived, perspiring under his watery load.
+
+"Dae ye mean tae tell me," howled the new-comer, addressing no one in
+particular, "that ye hiv'na got the fire ken'l'd yet?"
+
+"Ca' canny, Stewart, ca' canny," sternly admonished the guilty one.
+"There's been a narrow escape here, ma man, a verra narrow escape."
+
+Stewart's ruddy face blanched slightly, then slowly regained its colour
+when the slain centipede was pointed out. "Ye've raelly had a
+providenshul escape, Mac," said he. "Noo, staun aside an' let me get on
+wi' the cookin'."
+
+Our first breakfast in camp was an unqualified success; it was not a
+very elegant repast, certainly, but the traveller must learn to forego
+all luxuries and enjoy rough fare, and we had already served our
+apprenticeship in that direction. Stewart, however, had lost none of his
+art in matters culinary, and, as he himself averred, could cook
+"onything frae a muskittie tae an Injun," so we had every reason to be
+contented.
+
+"If we wur only camped aside a second Gold Bottom!" sighed Mac, getting
+his pipe into working order.
+
+"It's a bonnie countrie," mused his companion, "wi' a bonnie blue sky
+abune, an' what mair could a man want?"
+
+"I think we have had no cause to complain, so far, boys," was my
+addition to the conversation, "and I'll go into the township in an hour
+or so and make investigations as to the latest strikes. To-morrow we may
+make a definite camp."
+
+And so the early day passed while we rested and smoked, and recalled our
+grim experiences in the land of snows.
+
+"It's mebbe wrang tae mak' compairisons," grunted Mac, "bit gie me the
+sunshine an' the floo'ers----"
+
+"An' the centipedes!" Stewart slyly interpolated.
+
+"D--n centipedes!" roared Mac; then he recovered himself. "Mak' nae mair
+allushuns, ma man," said he with dignity. "An' hoo daur ye spile ma
+poetic inspirashun?"
+
+The sun was now well overhead and shooting down intense burning rays;
+the sky was cloudless, and not a breath stirred the branches of the
+dwarfed eucalyptii on the plains.
+
+"It's a g-glorious day," murmured Stewart, mopping his perspiring
+forehead.
+
+Mac chuckled: "Wait till ye see some o' the insecks the sun'll bring
+out," said he, "ye'll be fairly bamfoozled."
+
+At this moment I was surprised to notice a man, armed with pick and
+shovel, approaching rapidly in our direction. As he came near I saw that
+he bore, strapped to his shoulders, a bundle of wooden pegs which had
+evidently been hastily cut from the outlying timber. "Some energetic
+individual thinks we have made a find at this camp," I thought; but I
+was mistaken. The stranger made as if to pass a good way off our tent;
+then he hesitated, looked back, apprehensively, it seemed to me, and
+came quickly towards us.
+
+"What in thunder does yer mean by campin' here, mates?" he demanded
+hurriedly, grounding his shovel impatiently and letting his eyes roam in
+an unseeing manner over the surrounding country.
+
+I had barely time to explain that ours was only a temporary camp, when,
+without a word, he shouldered his shovel and sped onwards into the
+brush.
+
+"Maist onmainnerly behaviour," Mac snorted wrathfully. "Noo, if I meet
+that man again, I'll----" He stopped suddenly. "Ho, ho!" he chuckled,
+"there's mair o' them comin'; I begin tae smell a rat." We now observed
+what had caused the sudden flight of our visitor. Rushing from every
+shanty near the township, and issuing from the main street in a chaotic
+mass, a perfect sea of men bearing axes and picks and shovels came
+surging down on us. As we looked the fleeter members of the "rush"
+forged quickly ahead, so that the spectacle soon appeared as a medley
+army advancing desperately at the double in Indian file.
+
+There was no need to be in ignorance as to what it meant; we had seen
+the same thing often enough in Alaska when strikes on the Upper Klondike
+were frequent.
+
+"Get the tent down, boys," I said, "and follow on when you're ready.
+I'll represent this camp and see that it is not last on the programme."
+Even before I had finished speaking, my companions were tugging wildly
+at the guy ropes, and loosening the wall pegs of the tent.
+
+"We'll no be faur ahint," growled Mac from beneath the canvas folds
+which in his zeal he had brought down upon himself.
+
+"Ye shid let me gang first," grumbled Stewart, "fur ye ken weel that I
+can sprint wi' ony man."
+
+I seized an axe and shovel and awaited the approach of the van-leader of
+the struggling line of humanity, who was fast drawing near: not knowing
+the destination of the rush, it was necessary that I should follow some
+one who did. I had not long to wait. A lean, lanky true son of the bush,
+with nether garments held in position by an old cartridge belt, burst
+through the brushwood a few yards wide of us. His leathery face showed
+not the slightest trace of emotion, and though the heat was sweltering
+not a drop of perspiration beaded on his forehead. Heaven knows how
+often he may have taken part in a rush and been disappointed.
+
+"Mornin', boys," he said genially. "Fust-class exercise, this," and he
+passed at a regular swinging pace, with eyes fixed straight ahead,
+steering a direct course.
+
+"He gangs like clockwork," said Mac admiringly, gazing after him; "bit
+haud on. What's this comin'?"
+
+The second runner was now coming forward at a rate that was rapidly
+annihilating distance; he had passed the bulk of the others since he had
+joined the race, and I had been much interested in watching his
+progress.
+
+"Guid Lor'," ejaculated Stewart, stopping in his work of rolling up the
+tent, and gazing at the approaching runner in dismay. "Did ye ever see
+onything like that in a' yer born days?"
+
+There was ample excuse for his astonishment. The fleeing figure was
+hatless, and otherwise ludicrously garbed--for Westralia. What Stewart
+called a "lang-tailie coat" spread out behind him like streamers in a
+breeze, a "biled" collar had, in the same gentleman's terse language,
+"burst its moorings" and projected in two miniature wings at the back of
+his ears, and a shirt that had once been white, bosomed out expansively
+through an open vest. Yet, notwithstanding his cumbrous habiliments, he
+had well outdistanced his nearest "hanger-on," and it was plain that the
+wiry sandgroper still in front would have to screw on more speed if he
+meant to keep his lead long.
+
+With lengthy strides the strangely-garbed runner shot past; in his hand
+he gripped a spade, which tended to make his appearance the more
+wonderful, but that he meant business was very evident.
+
+"Fur Heaven's sake, pit aff the coat!" howled Stewart, and Mac toned
+down the impertinence of the remark by adding stentoriously--
+
+"Ye'll rin lichter withoot it, ma man."
+
+The individual addressed slowed up at once. "Thanks for the idea, boys,"
+said he good-naturedly, and he promptly discarded the objectionable
+emblem of civilised parts and threw it carelessly into a mulga bush.
+Then noting that he was a good way in advance of the main army, he
+mopped his streaming face and gave the information, "There's been a big
+strike at the Five Mile, boys, wherever that may be. I am letting the
+first man steer the way on purpose."
+
+"Ye're a daisy tae rin," admiringly spoke Mac, seizing the tent and a
+packet of miscellaneous merchandise, while Stewart feverishly gathered
+up the remainder of our meagre belongings. He of the "biled shirt" now
+set down to work again, making a pace which I, who had joined in the
+chase, found hard indeed to emulate; and my companions, heavily laden as
+they were, hung into our rear like leeches.
+
+Far behind we could hear the sand crunch under hundreds of feet, and the
+mallee shrubs crackling and breaking, but hardly a word was spoken. Mile
+after mile we crashed through the endless brush and over the monotonous
+iron-shot plains. Mac puffed and blowed like some huge grampus, and
+Stewart's deep breathing sounded like the exhaust expirations of an
+overworked steam engine.
+
+"Keep her gaun, Mac; keep her gaun," this personage would splutter when
+his more portly comrade showed signs of flagging, which well he might,
+considering that he clutched in his arms a weight of nearly forty
+pounds.
+
+"Wha's stoppin'? ye inseegneeficant broken-winded donkey engine!"
+retorted his aggravated compatriot, rolling along manfully.
+
+But the race was nearly over. Half a mile further on the land dipped
+ever so slightly, and in the gentle hollow formed about a dozen men
+rushed madly about, pacing off prospectors' claims, and driving rude
+pegs at the boundary corners.
+
+The sight had an exhilarating effect on Mac and Stewart, and with wild
+shouts they quickly drew up the little distance they had lost, and would
+have passed my white-shirted pacemaker and myself were we not compelled
+for very shame to keep our lead if we died for it.
+
+"By Jove!" panted he of the strange garments, "these beggars behind can
+run."
+
+And Mac at his heels chivalrously grunted between his breaths, "I've
+never had a harder tussle tae keep up ma deegnity--no never."
+
+A few minutes more, and we reached the field of operations. The men
+there were too busy marking off their properties to give us much
+attention. I noticed swiftly that our first visitor of the few words had
+his claim neatly pegged, and was sitting in the middle of it,
+complacently smoking. He must have received special information of the
+find or he could not have got away so much before the others. Our second
+passing acquaintance--he of the emotionless countenance who had steered
+our quartet unknowingly--had got in a hundred yards ahead of us, and he
+was now coolly cutting pegs with which to mark his chosen area.
+
+"It's a deep alluvial leader, mate," he said to me. Then he added
+obligingly, "I guess I knows the lie of the kintry, an' if ye hitch on
+at the end o' my boundaries, ye'll likely sink on it, plumb."
+
+The advice of an experienced miner should always be accepted; and while
+Mac and Stewart were felling several small trees for use as
+marking-posts, I proceeded to line off the direction of our claim as
+suggested by the angle of my adviser's corner channels. I performed this
+work with much care, knowing how slim are one's chances of holding any
+gold-bearing area at a rush unless the holder's title is beyond dispute
+according to official regulations.
+
+The straggling body of men was now beginning to appear on the crest of
+the undulation which marked the only visible natural boundary of the
+valley; in less than three minutes the madly-striving crowd would be
+upon us, and we should be assuredly swamped by its numbers so that no
+pegs could be driven. Then I noticed the man who had doffed his
+fashionable coat to oblige Stewart, standing dejectedly near by; his
+sleeves were rolled up, displaying splendidly-formed muscles, and he
+held his shovel loosely in his hand as if uncertain what to do with it.
+
+"Better get your pegs fixed quickly," I advised.
+
+But he shook his head rather sadly. "I haven't got an axe," he said,
+"and--and I'm new to this sort of thing."
+
+Mac had by this time obtained the four blazed posts necessary to denote
+our "three-men square," and Stewart promptly began to smite them into
+position in their proper places.
+
+"If ye'll alloo me," said Mac, "I'll get the bitties o' sticks fur ye;
+I'd be vera sorry tae a bonnie rinner like you left in the cauld."
+
+But there was no time now.
+
+"Shift out our posts instead, Mac," I instructed, "we'll make a four-men
+lot of it and divide afterwards."
+
+Our white-shirted associate looked at me gratefully, and held out his
+hand. "My name is Philip Morris," he said. "I am an Englishman, just out
+from the old country."
+
+A swaying mob of perspiring and fiery-eyed men of all nationalities now
+flooded the valley as a tumultuous sea of humanity, and scattered in
+twos and fours throughout its entire length.
+
+"You've struck a circus for a start, Morris," I said. "I think we'll all
+remember the Five-Mile Rush."
+
+
+
+
+SINKING FOR GOLD
+
+
+Next morning the Five-Mile Flat was the scene of extraordinary activity.
+Tents sprung up like mushrooms in all directions, and the thud, thud of
+picks sounded incessantly. It was almost pitiful to witness the feverish
+eagerness with which most of the diggers tried to bottom on their
+claims. The depth of the Lead at Discovery shaft was given out to be
+only forty feet, but the strata encountered before that level was
+reached had been of a flinty impervious nature, necessitating the use of
+much giant powder.
+
+At least the original prospectors, who were camped near to us, gave me
+that information in a fit of generosity when they learned that I had
+some little experience of geological formations. They even allowed me to
+descend their shaft--most unheard-of thing--and compute the angle and
+dip of the lode for the benefit of the general assembly; a privilege
+which was duly appreciated, as it enabled me to calculate the proper
+position in our own claim at which to sink. The lode, so called, proved
+to be an auriferous wash, or alluvial gutter, the bed of an extremely
+ancient watercourse, probably silted up long before the time of the
+Pharaohs.
+
+Our newly-acquired companion, who had already won the good graces of
+both Mac and Stewart, astonished me greatly, while I was expounding my
+theories on these matters for his special edification, by making
+several courteous corrections to my statements, so that I was forced to
+tread more cautiously; and when I had finished, he capped my argument
+with a lucid technical discourse and much scientific addenda.
+
+"You certainly know a fair-sized amount for an inexperienced man," I
+said, with some irritation; but he hastened to explain.
+
+"My knowledge is purely theoretical," he replied. "Perhaps I should not
+have spoken."
+
+His admirable good sense appealed to Mac's idea of fairness. "I'm
+thinkin'," began that gentleman, gazing at me reproachfully, "I'm
+thinkin' that oor freen Phil-ip is a vera modest man, a vera modest man
+indeed."
+
+"I'm o' the opeenion," cried Stewart, from the interior of the tent,
+"that if he keeps awa' frae tailie coats, and dresses rashunal, he'll be
+a rale orniment tae ony camp."
+
+The young man was much moved by these expressions of good-will; but when
+I asked him to mark off his allotment on our too large mining territory,
+he stubbornly refused. "If it had not been for your kindness I should
+have no claim to any corner of the ground," he said.
+
+I explained, however, that Mac, Stewart, and myself would not be allowed
+by law to possess a four-men holding, and therefore there was no
+kindness on my part in giving him back his own. Yet still he hesitated.
+
+"I am all alone, boys," he said at last, "and I don't think I could do
+much damage to the ground by myself. Might I come in with you?"
+
+This was a _dénoûement_ I had not anticipated, though in some
+unaccountable manner I felt drawn to the stranger; still, the vision of
+his coat-tails fluttering in the wind could not be dispelled.
+
+"What do you say, Mac?" I asked, expecting a gruff rejoinder in the
+negative; but the answer agreeably surprised me.
+
+[Illustration: "DISCOVERY" SHAFT--ON GOLD.]
+
+"He's a man o' pairts like oorsel's, a modest man, an' a golologist
+forbye," replied Mac, grandiloquently; "it wud be sinfu' tae refuse him
+oor guid company."
+
+Then Stewart, who had been paying great attention, rushed from the tent
+and added his testimony. "Tailie coat or no tailie coat," he shouted,
+"he's a guid man, as I kin testeefy, an' me an' Mac'll be prood tae hae
+him wi' us. Forbye," he continued, "he's a Breetisher, an' tho' he isna
+Scotch, me an' Mac'll look ower that fau't wi' muckle tolerashun."
+
+"I wis aboot tae re-mark----" began Mac, but Stewart had not completed
+his peroration.
+
+"Haud yer tongue, Mac," said he sternly; "ye ken weel yer nae speaker
+like me." Then he resumed the flow of his eloquence: "An' noo," he said,
+"on behauf o' Mac--wha is a man o' disteenction tho' he disna look
+it--an' in conformeety wi' ma ain incleenations, I hae pleesure in
+signifyin' oor muckle approval o' yer qualities."
+
+The candidate for admission to our illustrious company looked gratified,
+as well he might, and straightening his tall form he endeavoured to make
+suitable reply to the expectant couple.
+
+"Gentlemen!" said he, and at the word Mac hitched up his nether garments
+and looked solemn, while Stewart coughed discreetly. "Gentlemen,"
+repeated "tailie coat" in a voice that seemed to issue from his boots,
+"it is with considerable feeling of elation that I have heard your
+extemporaneous----"
+
+"Haud on!" howled Mac in horror; "ye'll dae, ma man, ye'll dae. Come on,
+Stewart." And as they walked sorrowfully apart Stewart's voice floated
+back plaintively,
+
+"Noo, Mac, hoo am I gaun tae keep up oor digneety efter
+that--ex-tem-por-anee----! He's deceived us, Mac; he's a lamb in sheep's
+ooter gairments, he is."
+
+"Well, Phil," I said, when they had disappeared within the tent, "I
+think we'll get along all right."
+
+"I feel at home already," he replied, looking towards the tent in grim
+amusement, "and enthusiastic enough to swing a pick with either Mac or
+Stewart, and that means much, I think."
+
+"It does," I agreed with significance, and we went off to mark the site
+of our prospective shaft.
+
+It was nearly midday before we commenced to excavate the ground, and by
+that time most of the miners around had penetrated several feet of the
+top sandy formation in their various claims. But haste is not always
+advisable under such circumstances, and I preferred to make as sure as
+possible of the lode's position within our pegs before sinking, and so
+obviate any necessity for laborious "driving" when bedrock was reached.
+We were fortunately in the "shallowest" ground, being within a hundred
+yards of the forty-feet level strike, which meant, judging by the dip or
+inclination of the auriferous wash, that we should probably find bottom
+about fifty feet down. As for the numbers below us, they might have to
+sink over a hundred feet, and even then miss the golden leader, so
+elusive are these subterranean channels.
+
+The usual size of prospectors' shafts on any goldfield is five feet six
+inches long, by two feet six inches wide, and this just permits of
+sufficient room for one man to wield a pick. The aim of every miner on
+an unproved field is to get down to bedrock with the least possible
+labour, which is also the speediest method. A shaft can be widened
+afterwards when it has been found worth while, but it is always well to
+refrain from shovelling out two or three tons of granite-like substance,
+as is done by most "new chums," merely for the sake of having more
+elbow-room during the trying process of sinking.
+
+After our experience with the frozen gravel at Klondike, it almost
+seemed like child's play to dig out the comparatively loose sand
+conglomeration which formed the topmost layer in the line of our
+descent. There was no fire-burning necessary here, but Nature,
+nevertheless, had made the balance even, for the auriferous levels in
+Alaska were rarely half as deep as even the shallow gutter we were now
+searching for. And again, in frozen ground the surface formations are
+naturally the hardest, whereas in most other workings that order is
+reversed.
+
+"It's a pleesure tae work i' this grund," was Mac's statement, when,
+after scarcely two hours' labour, he stood nearly waist deep in the new
+shaft. With much foresight, that wily individual had volunteered to sink
+the first few feet alone. "I'm just burstin' wi' surplush energy," he
+explained to Stewart, "an' you can dae twa or three fit o' the easy
+stuff when I'm feenished."
+
+"It's rale conseederate o' ye, Mac," said Stewart feelingly, with
+thoughts on the nature of things at Skookum Gulch, and he went inside
+the tent to try if anything edible could be gathered together for lunch,
+a matter on which he said he had "graive doots."
+
+Our new comrade, whom we had already begun to address as "Phil," quickly
+showed himself to be a very worthy addition to our party. After
+exploring the scrub for timber suitable for banking-up purposes, and
+drawing back a goodly load, he politely insisted on Mac taking a spell
+while he swung the pick. "I can see," he said diplomatically, "that you
+would soon work yourself to death out of sheer consideration for
+others."
+
+"Dae ye think sae?" grunted he in the shaft cautiously, pausing in his
+labours.
+
+"I do, indeed," reiterated Phil with much earnestness.
+
+Then Mac laid down his weapon, and leaning back lazily in his excavation
+made further circuitous inquiry. "Ye've never dug holes afore, Phil?"
+said he; and receiving a negative answer, he supplemented, "An' ye ken
+that ironstane is a wee bit--weel, I'll say solid?"
+
+"Yes, I can understand that much," admitted Phil wonderingly.
+
+"Weel," continued Mac, lowering his voice, "I've come on a bed o' it the
+noo, an' I'm jist makin' the tap o't clean an' tidy fur Stewart when he
+comes. He thinks he can equal me at onything, an' I've got tae check
+that fause impreshun. Dae ye savy?"
+
+"Mac," said Phil with decision, "he'll be a smart man that gets the
+better of you."
+
+"I've traivelled a bit," returned the schemer shortly, "an' Stewart's
+sometimes ill tae pit up wi'. I'll gie ye a bonnie saft bit tae
+practeese on efterwards," he added after a pause.
+
+A little later Stewart announced that he had got some rice and "tinned
+dog" cooked. "I houp ye'll excuse the rice," said he, "it's a bit podgy,
+fur there wis vera little watter tae bile it in."
+
+"Ye're looking rale worried-like, Stewart," said Mac sympathetically, as
+he gulped down his portion of the roasted grains. "It's exerceese ye're
+needin', I'm thinkin'."
+
+"Mebbe it is," sighed Stewart dolorously.
+
+"Weel," spoke Mac again, "ye can try an' wear doon the shaft a bit in
+the efternoon, an' me an' Phil 'll gang into the city an' get
+some tasty bits o' provisions. I'm vera concerned aboot ye, ma man."
+
+It was indeed very necessary that we should obtain supplies without
+delay, for our stores consisted only of the remnants carried so
+hurriedly from our previous camp. Already, the first flush of excitement
+having died away, representatives from the different claims were
+hurrying towards the township on a similar mission. Enthusiasm and an
+empty stomach seldom agree. But here a difficulty arose. Phil's wardrobe
+was painfully small; his once spotless shirt was now yellow with sand,
+and almost torn into shreds, and the rest of his limited apparel was in
+such a state of disrepair, owing to his scramble through the brush,
+that, as Mac said, he looked "hardly respeectable."
+
+"Ye can hae ma jecket," said Stewart magnanimously, "seein' that it wis
+on ma account ye pit aff the tailie coat."
+
+Phil accepted the offer promptly. "There's a wonderful change in my
+appearance since I left the Old Country a few short weeks ago," said he,
+surveying his dilapidated garb ruefully.
+
+"I shid think sae," grinned Mac. "It wud be a rale treat tae see ye walk
+doon Peecadeely in they claes." And they departed.
+
+"Dae ye tell me that Mac has gaun doon five fit?" asked Stewart, when we
+were alone.
+
+"I believe he has," I replied, "but in this country it is easy to dig
+near the surface where the sand has not even solidified."
+
+"Easy or no' easy," responded Stewart impressively, baring his strong
+right arm, "what Mac can dae, I'll dae. Wha pu'd harder than I did gaun
+tae Klonduk?" he demanded, making a digression, but I waived the
+question.
+
+"Let me know when you have had enough of the shaft," I said, "and I'll
+relieve you."
+
+"Umph!" he grunted, ignoring my remark in turn, "Five feet! Whaur's the
+pick?" And he strode off to emulate his comrade's achievement.
+
+A few moments later a series of sharp metallic echoes issued from the
+shaft mouth, intimating that Stewart had attacked a hard unyielding
+substance. Then, not wishing to be present when he desisted from his
+labours, I made my way stealthily to the adjoining claim and entered
+into conversation with its owner; but still the unsympathetic ring of
+steel meeting some kindred element reached my ears, and I sorrowed for
+the unfortunate Stewart right deeply.
+
+The wiry sandgroper whom I interviewed was not one of the bustling kind.
+I found him enjoying a siesta under the scant shade of the solitary
+mulga bush on his domain, and scaring the numberless flies away by his
+vigorous snores. It was almost impossible to realise that he was the
+valiant runner of the day before. "Mornin', mate," said he, rubbing his
+eyes, after I had hustled him gently. It was late afternoon, but that
+was a small matter, and I did not trouble to correct him; and we talked
+together on mining subjects for about an hour.
+
+"I ain't wan o' them cusses," he said, "that tries to git disappinted
+early. My tactics is: git thar in the fust place--at which you'll allow
+I is no slouch, nuther?" I made the necessary allowance, and he
+proceeded. "In the second place, thar ain't no call to be desp'rit'ly
+excited; thishyer life won't change worse'n a muskitter whether we does
+git to bottom on a spec. three or four days sooner or later." I ventured
+to remark that his reasonings did him credit. "I does philosophise a
+bit, mate," he agreed languidly. Then there followed a long silence,
+during which I missed the regular thuds of Stewart's pick, and wondered
+where that persistent gentleman had gone.
+
+Suddenly a noise as of thunder startled me; it was succeeded by an
+explosion that shook the ground under our feet. "By the Great Howlin'
+Billy!" ejaculated my leather-skinned companion, "somebody's fired your
+shaft." I looked in time to see great boulders of jagged ironstone, and
+a dense volume of sand, hurled from the mouth of the narrow pit where
+Stewart had been working.
+
+Filled with a vague fear I rushed to the scene of the disturbance, where
+the sand-clouds were fast settling, and just as I arrived I beheld
+Stewart calmly coming out towards me from behind Phil's timber pile,
+where he had been sheltered. My surprise was so great that for the
+moment speech failed me, and I looked vacantly at the shaft and at my
+companion in turn. Then he took pity on me, and condescended to explain.
+
+"It's a' richt. I'm nae pheenix," he announced cheerfully, and he led me
+to the mouth of the shaft, which no longer retained its oblong contour,
+but was ragged and rent with the upheaval. "I wis lookin' fur ye aboot
+an hour since," he continued further, "tae get yer opeenion concernin' a
+sort o' irin furmashun what wis gi'en me sair trouble, bit as I could'na
+see ye, I kent ye could rely on ma guid jidgement tae dae what I thocht
+best----"
+
+"But I was not aware that we had any gelignite or giant powder in our
+possession," I interrupted.
+
+"Nae mair we had," said he, "bit I kept ane or twa extra speecial
+cartreedges what we used fur burstin' glashiers oot in Alaskie--as
+samples, ye ken--an' I pit them a' in. They've made a vera bonnie hole,"
+he wound up; "that's the best o' they labour-savin' devices."
+
+On examination it was found that the ironstone bar had been completely
+shattered, and little trouble was experienced in removing the remaining
+fragments. The cavity wherein it had rested was fully five feet deep, so
+that Mac's plot for outwitting his rival had proved a signal failure.
+
+It was six o'clock when we descried Mac and Phil returning from
+Kalgoorlie, laden with stores; darkness was rapidly closing over the
+valley, so that their forms could not be distinguished until they were
+quite close. Then Stewart uttered a howl of rage. "They've brocht back
+the tailie coat," he cried feebly, and in strutted Mac, wearing not only
+that hateful garment, but also having perched on his head at a rakish
+tilt a highly-burnished silk hat.
+
+"We fund the hat a wee bit faurer on than the coatie," said he, doffing
+his glossy headgear and gazing at it admiringly.
+
+"If ye've ony regaird fur ma feelin's, ye'll pit them baith awa' at
+aince," Stewart implored, much affected.
+
+His compatriot gazed at him commiseratingly. "Ye've been workin' ow'er
+hard the day, ma man," said he, "yer nerves are in a gey bad state, I'm
+thinkin'. Hoosomever," he added sternly after brief thought, "it's
+ongratefu' on your pairt tae despise the gairment, fur I promised Phil
+that ye shid hae it, purvided ye had sunk aboot three feet the day.
+Which," he climaxed, nonchalantly, "I hae nae doot ye hae dune?"
+
+Stewart beamed. "I apologeese, Mac," he said, "noo gie me the coatie."
+
+"Hoo muckle hae ye sunk?" demanded the generous giver, much taken aback.
+
+"Full five feet," came the smiling answer. "Mac, ma vera dear freen,
+ye've made a ser'us mistak' this time."
+
+Mac stood as if transfixed, gazing appealingly at Phil, who seemed
+equally amazed; then he turned without a word and rushed out to the
+shaft. When he came back a moment later, he stripped off the coat and
+handed it to Stewart. "I'm prood o' ye, ma man," he said with an effort;
+"ye're an indiveedual o' muckle strategy."
+
+Then Phil joined in with commendable tact. "You've still got the hat,
+Mac," laughed he, "it's a fair divide."
+
+[Illustration: STEWART FINDS THE GROUND HARD.]
+
+
+
+
+WE "STRIKE" GOLD
+
+
+For over a week sinking operations on the Five-Mile Flat were continued
+with unabated vigour, and then a hush of expectation seemed to fall over
+the community, for the miners in the shallow ground at the head of the
+lead were nearing bottom, and the vast array who had pegged along the
+supposed course of the auriferous wash ceased their labours and waited
+in tremulous eagerness for reports from Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, below
+Discovery. There was good reason for anxiety. If these claims bottomed
+on pipe-clay deposits or other barren clayey formations, little hope
+could be entertained for those who had followed their line of guidance.
+The direction of the golden channel certainly could not be ascertained
+by judging the lie of the country on the surface, for it was almost
+absolutely flat, and bore not the slightest resemblance to the original
+country far beneath. Practical tracing from claim to claim was the only
+method by which a miner could safely calculate, and that meant that
+those a little way off the first proved shaft, and all following
+claim-holders, must either be possessed of a vast amount of hope and
+energy or an equal amount of patience. It is not unusual, also, to find
+a deep lead suddenly "fizzle" out with little warning; and again, it
+seldom fails to create consternation and disappointment at an anxious
+time by shooting off at right angles, or diverging into numerous
+infinitesimal leaderettes.
+
+So it was that when the first flush of excitement had died away
+attention was turned to those claims mentioned, and for the time all
+work was suspended. We, at No. 7, were still several feet above the
+level at which we had calculated to find bottom. Since Stewart so
+peremptorily burst out the ironstone bar we had encountered nothing but
+a series of sand formations, which we managed to crash through at the
+rate of five feet each day, and now our shaft measured fully forty-one
+feet in depth.
+
+My companions worked like Trojans in their efforts to reach gold-paying
+gravel before their neighbours. Neither Stewart nor Mac had the
+slightest fear of our shaft proving a duffer, and their extreme
+confidence was so infecting that Phil forswore many of his pet
+geological theories in order to fall into line with their ideas. "After
+all," he said to me, "geological rules seem to be flatly contradicted by
+the arrangement of the formations here, and only the old adage holds
+good, that an ounce of practice is worth a ton of theory."
+
+"It looks that way," I answered, "yet I do not like the look of these
+enormous bodies of sandstone. If I were to go by my experience in other
+countries, I should promptly forsake this ground and look for more
+promising tracts."
+
+We were standing by the windlass pulling up the heavy buckets of
+conglomerate material which Mac was picking below with much gusto. The
+glare of the sun reached barely half-way down the shaft, and the
+solitary worker was beyond our gaze, but well within hearing,
+nevertheless, for his voice rumbled up from the depths in strong
+protest.
+
+"I'll no hae mae idees corrupted wi' sich fulish argiment. Naitur has
+wyes o' her ain, an' whaur golologists think gold is, ye may be sure
+there's nane; bit whaur it raelly is, there ignorant golologists insist
+it insna. There's nae pleasin' some fouk."
+
+We kept silence, and, after waiting vainly for our comment, Mac again
+attacked the solid sandstone with sullen ferocity.
+
+The air was close and sultry, and the dumps thrown up from the many
+shafts around glistened in the intense light and crumbled off into the
+heat haze as filmy clouds of dust. The entire landscape seemed as a
+biographic picture, and affected the eyes in similar degree. It was a
+typical Westralian day. Thud! thud! went Mac's pick, and now and then
+came a grunt of annoyance from that perspiring individual as an
+unusually refractory substance would temporarily defy his strength.
+
+We leaned against the windlass barrel, awaiting his call of "Bucket!"
+which would intimate that further material was accumulated below, and
+ready for discharge into the outer air. Few men were about, unless at
+No. 2 shaft, where there was much activity. On the adjoining lot our
+friend of the leathery skin--who rejoiced in the title of "Emu
+Bill"--dozed under the shade of a rudely-erected wigwam.
+
+"It's a bit warm," ventured Phil. He was not quite sure of his ground,
+and did not wish to exaggerate.
+
+"It's d--d hot!" rolled a well-known voice from the depths, and Stewart
+within the tent sang gaily an adaption from "Greenland's icy mountains."
+
+When quiet was restored I looked again towards No. 2, and at that moment
+a red handkerchief fluttered to the top of a tiny flagpole surmounting
+the windlass, and hung limp. A moment later a long, hoarse cheer swept
+the flat from end to end, and, as if by magic, each claim appeared fully
+manned, and a sea of faces turned in our direction. No. 2 had signalled,
+"On Gold."
+
+"Staun by the windlass! I'm comin' up!" roared Mac, who had vaguely
+heard the sound-waves pass overhead and was wondering what had happened.
+
+"Gold struck on No. 2, Mac!" I shouted, and Phil, who had not quite
+understood, staggered in amazement, loosening with his feet a quantity
+of sand and rubble which descended with much force on Mac's upturned
+face, and interrupted a second passionate appeal to "Staun by the
+windlass!"
+
+"I'll hae yer life fur that, ye deevil!" he spluttered. "Ye did it on
+purpose."
+
+Then Stewart came upon the scene in great haste. "I tell't ye sae! I
+tell't ye sae!" he cried, and for the especial benefit of his isolated
+companion he bellowed down, "They've got gold at number twa, Mac! Oceans
+o't!"
+
+Mac was then half-way to the surface, with one foot resting in the empty
+bucket attached to the cable, and both hands gripping the strong wire
+rope, which strained and rasped as it slowly coiled on the wooden drum.
+He was no light weight, and Phil and I felt our muscles twitch as we
+held against the windlass arm at each dead centre, for there was no
+ratchet arrangement attached to prevent a quick rush back, and our heavy
+bucket-load made the safety of his position somewhat doubtful by swaying
+the rope impatiently, and indulging in other restless antics.
+
+However, when he came near the light and saw how matters stood he became
+quiet as a lamb; but the sight of his face smeared with the grime so
+recently deposited upon it, and wearing an intensely savage expression,
+was too much for our gravity, and our efforts faltered.
+
+"Hang on, ye deevils!" pathetically implored he, as he felt himself
+tremble in the balance. Then seeing Stewart's face peering down upon
+him, he besought his aid. "Staun by the winlass, Stewart, ma man," he
+entreated, "or I'll never see auld Scotland again."
+
+But Stewart was at that moment seized with a paroxysm of laughter. The
+appeal was vain, and his comrade, being now near _terra firma_, and
+comparatively safe, again addressed him.
+
+"Git oot o' ma sicht, ye red-heided baboon!" said he. "Nae wuner they
+couldna work the winlass wi' you staunin' aside them."
+
+It is an unwritten law on most goldfields throughout the world where the
+individual miner tries his luck that a flag be at once hoisted over
+every shaft that bottoms on paying gravel. It is a pretty custom, and a
+generous one to the less fortunate diggers, who judge by the progressing
+line of flags whether their own remote claims may have a chance of
+intercepting the golden channel. As it happened in this case, No. 2
+shaft could hardly have failed to pick up the lead, which had been
+traced in its direction to the boundaries of Discovery claim. Still,
+there was much rejoicing when the red symbol went up, and for the rest
+of the day a renewed activity was in force to the uttermost end of the
+Flat. Even "Emu Bill," as our near neighbour was picturesquely styled,
+felt called upon to do a little work; but, as he took care to explain,
+he did it only to satisfy mining regulations, which demand that a
+certain amount of labour must be performed each day. "You'll notice,"
+said he, "that 3, 4, and 5 hiv tacked on d'reckly in line--as they
+thought--an' you'll furrer notice thishyer propperty, No. 6, an' yer
+own, No. 7, hiv not exzactly played foller the leader." Which was true;
+for Emu Bill's claim had taken only a diagonal guidance from its
+predecessor, and ours continued the altered route, while those following
+varied considerably between the two angles thus given.
+
+"When you sees a flag floatin' on No. 3, boys," continued he
+meditatively, "it's time to pack up your traps, an', as I said afore, I
+believe in waitin' events an' jedgin' accordin'."
+
+"Hoo lang hae you been diggin' holes in this countrie, Leatherskin?"
+Stewart politely inquired. And he of the weary countenance chewed his
+quid reflectively for several minutes ere he made reply.
+
+"I reckon over a dozen years," he said at length, "in which time I
+perspected Coolgardie an' Kalgoorlie wi' old Pat Hannan when there was
+nothin' but niggers within' a couple of hundred miles of us."
+
+"A'm o' the opeenion," announced Mac, "that what Mr. Leatherskin disna
+ken aboot the vagaries o' his ain playgrun' is no worth menshun."
+
+"Seven is supposed to be a lucky number," spoke Phil, "and I think it
+will prove so with us."
+
+After which Emu Bill went back to slumber, and Phil went down to labour
+in the shaft. "You've got tae mind," instructed Mac, who manipulated his
+descent, "when you want the bucket jist lift up yer voice tae that
+effeck, and I'll drap it doon gently on the end o' the rope."
+
+Phil promised, and was speedily lowered into the darkness, and Mac,
+neglecting his post at once, came round into the tent, where Stewart and
+myself were trying hard to find a half-hour's oblivion in the realms of
+dreamland, and the myriad flies buzzing everywhere were trying equally
+hard, and with greater success, to prevent our succumbing to the soft
+influence. Mac's entrance at this moment was particularly distasteful to
+his comrade, who was just on the verge of sweet unconsciousness, and
+whose essayed snores were beginning to alarm the flies besieging his
+face.
+
+"Go awa' oot this meenit, Mac," said he, opening his eyes, "and tak' yer
+big feet aff ma stummick at aince."
+
+Just then a far-away cry of "Bucket" was vaguely heard, and calmly
+ignored by the new-comer. "Stewart, ma man," he began, sitting down on a
+portion of the weary one's anatomy, "I wis wantin' tae get yer idees on
+one or twa maitters o' scienteefic interest."
+
+"Get out, Mac!" I ordered. But he seemed not to hear, and another hoarse
+call for "Bucket" passed unobserved.
+
+"I wis wantin', for instance," he continued earnestly, "tae speak wi' ye
+ser'usly on metapheesical quest-shuns----"
+
+"Let me alane!" Stewart howled, writhing in torment. But his visitor was
+not to be shaken off.
+
+Five minutes later a stentorian yell from the shaft intimated that
+Phil's patience was being unduly strained, and Mac reluctantly desisted
+from expounding further the intricacies of science, and rose to go. As
+may be understood, the bottom of a narrow and deep pit is not the most
+pleasant of places in which to idle away the time, and Phil, after
+digging as much as the limited area of operations would allow, was
+filled with wrath at the neglect of his associate, and cursed that
+worthy gentleman with fervour between his shouts. "Bucket!" he roared,
+for the twentieth time, and Mac, who was then scrambling towards the
+windlass, inwardly commented on the unusual savageness of the voice.
+"He's a wee bit annoyed," he murmured. "I'll better try an' propeetiate
+him." So he leaned his head over the shaft mouth and whispered in
+winning tones, "Are ye vera faur doon, Pheel-up?"
+
+"Lower away the bucket, you flounder-faced mummy!" came the prompt
+reply, which penetrated the darkness in sharp staccato syllables.
+
+Mac looked pained. "Noo, if that had been Stewart," he muttered grimly,
+"I wud a kent weel what tae dae, bit being the golologist----" He shook
+his head feebly, and reached for the hide bucket, which was lying near.
+Then, forgetting in the flurry of the moment to hitch it on to the rope,
+he let it descend at the fastest speed the law of gravity would permit.
+
+"Staun frae under!" he yelled, realising too late what he had done; but
+in such a narrow space there was no room for dodging, and the leathern
+receptacle struck the unfortunate man below with more force than was
+agreeable. "Ye brocht it on yersel'," consolingly spoke Mac. "It's a
+veesitation o' Providence fur miscain' me sae sairly."
+
+The words that greeted his ears were eloquent and emphatic, and he
+marched into the tent in high dudgeon. "Gang an' pull the golologist oot
+o' the shaft," said he to Stewart. "He's in the position o' a humourist,
+an' he canna see throo't."
+
+Perhaps there are few who could have smiled and looked pleasant under
+similar circumstances; but the "golologist" was of a forgiving nature,
+and his enmity dissolved when he reached the surface.
+
+"You'll admit, Mac," he said, after allowances had been made on both
+sides, "that I had some slight cause for grumbling, and in your
+magnanimity you might have spared me your last forcible addition to the
+argument."
+
+"That wis a mistak'," Mac replied apologetically. "I had the baggie in
+ma haun, meanin' tae send it doon in orthodox manner; bit yer injudishus
+remarks made me nervish, and doon it drappit, sudden-like."
+
+After these explanations peace reigned again; but Stewart's rest had
+been so rudely broken that he now thought to work off his lassitude by
+an hour's graft with the pick. We had arranged ourselves into shifts,
+which went on and off alternately, or otherwise, as we thought fit; but
+it was my plan to reach bedrock without delay, so the shaft was never
+allowed to remain long unoccupied. Leaving Mac and Phil to attend to
+culinary matters, I went out with Stewart, and, after lowering him into
+the Stygian gloom, kept watch by the windlass until the night closed
+over and Phil announced that tea was ready.
+
+[Illustration: NO. 2 CLAIM--JUST STRUCK GOLD.]
+
+Two more days passed uneventfully. The hourly-expected bulletin of good
+news from No. 3 was being long deferred, and vague fears were beginning
+to be expressed that all was not satisfactory there. It was known that
+Nos. 3, 4, and 5 had put on extra shifts in the last few nights, and the
+depths of their sinkings must at this time have exceeded fifty feet. We
+at No. 7 awaited developments with keen interest. It was natural that we
+should hope for the worst at No. 3, for, as Emu Bill had said, we were
+on an entirely different tack, and might cease our labours when the
+gaudy emblem appeared over that claim. In these two days progress had
+been very slow with us, for a hard bar of conglomerate quartz had
+intervened at the 45-foot level, and we dared not use gelignite in case
+the heavy discharge might bring the upper walls inward and render our
+whole work useless.
+
+It is always precarious to use blasting powder of any description at the
+deep levels of an alluvial shaft, and the more so when the upper
+formations have proved to be of non-cohesive nature. So we were
+compelled to laboriously pick the unyielding mass where we might, and
+otherwise drill and shatter it with hammers.
+
+On the morning of the third day after the flag had been raised at No. 2
+the Emu seemed to awake from his lethargy in earnest, and set to work
+with right good-will to make up for lost time.
+
+"You wasn't wrong in takin' my advice arter all, mate," he said to me,
+when I appeared to inquire the reason of his unwonted activity.
+
+"There's no flag up at No. 3 yet," I answered tentatively.
+
+"No, nor won't be, nuther," he returned with evident satisfaction. "I
+tell you what, mate," he continued impressively, "the first flag that
+goes up will be at your own shaft, No. 7, so you'd better get your
+flagpole ready. The man what says I don't know this country is a liar,
+every time."
+
+Yet still the men at the shafts in question continued to dig deeper and
+deeper. "We hasn't reached bottom yet," they said, in answer to all
+questions, and on that point they appeared decided.
+
+"I'll go up and pint out the evil o' their ways," Emu Bill said, coming
+over to us after midday. "I don't believe in no man exartin' hissel' to
+no good." Then he addressed himself to Mac far below: "I say, Scottie,
+you're going to strike it first, and good luck to you, you hard-working
+sinner."
+
+"Same to you, Leatherskin, an mony o' them," a voice from the depths
+replied gruffly, for the "hard-working sinner" had but imperfectly
+understood.
+
+Leaving Phil in charge of the windlass, I accompanied Emu Bill to the
+shafts he now considered doomed. "Look at the stuff they're takin' out,"
+said he, drawing my attention to a heap of white and yellow cement-like
+substance; "the beggars have gone clean through the bedrock and don't
+know it."
+
+The men at the windlass eyed us savagely as we came near, and I
+experienced for a moment a malicious joy when I noticed our
+uncommunicative visitor among them. "We don't want no more opinions,"
+one of their number cried; "we knows we hasn't struck bottom yet."
+
+"Mates," said Emu Bill, with dignity, "I hiv sunk more duffers than thar
+be years in my life--an' I'm no chicken--an' I tells ye straight, you've
+not only struck bottom, but you've gone three or four feet past it. If
+you means to tunnel through to Ole England, that's your business, but if
+not, you'd better give it best."
+
+Without further words, we retraced our steps, my companion fuming
+inwardly because of his brusque reception. Yet his advice must have had
+due effect, for that evening the unfortunately-placed shafts were being
+dismantled and late in the night the all too sanguine owners struck
+their camps and departed for other fields. Their disappointment was
+keen. They had missed fortune by only a few yards.
+
+Next morning all the Flat knew that Nos. 3, 4, and 5 had duffered out,
+and, as a result, there was a great exodus of those who had been guided
+by these locations; but, on the other hand, rejoicings were the order of
+the day with the miners who believed Nos. 6 and 7 to mark the true
+continuation of the lead, which had last been proved at the second
+workings.
+
+Our claim was then the cynosure of all eyes, for the Emu's shaft was yet
+barely six feet deep, and we were supposed to be close on the dreaded
+bottom. I was convinced that we should know our luck immediately the
+ironstone bar was penetrated, and that obstruction was not likely to
+hinder us much longer.
+
+"I'll be the man that'll see gold first," Mac announced confidently, as
+he shouldered his pick after breakfast and prepared to take first shift.
+
+"I've got a rale bonnie flag to pit up when ye're ready," said Stewart,
+displaying an imposing-looking Union Jack which had done service at
+Klondike, and which he had been surreptitiously repairing for some days
+past.
+
+Phil was silent. "I sincerely hope we may not be disappointed," he said
+at length. Like me, he could not understand the presence of the
+refractory formation so close upon auriferous wash--if the latter
+really existed in our claim.
+
+"Geological rules don't count in this country, Phil," I suggested
+hopefully; then Mac departed, grumbling loudly at what he was pleased to
+call my "Job's comfortings."
+
+For the best part of the forenoon I listened to the thudding of the pick
+with an anxious interest, for any stroke now might penetrate to the
+mysterious compound known as the cement wash; but the blows still rung
+hard and clear, and I grew weary waiting. It was not necessary to send
+the bucket below often. Though Mac smote the flinty rock with all his
+strength, and a vigour which few could have sustained, the result of his
+labours was almost infinitesimal. Every half-hour Stewart would receive
+from his perspiring companion a blunted pick, hoisted up on the end of
+the cable, while a fresh one was provided to continue the onslaught. Mac
+seemed tireless, and Stewart above, at a blazing fire, practised all his
+smithy art to keep the sorely-used tools in order; while ever and anon a
+hoarse voice would bellow from the underground, "Mak' them hard,
+Stewart, ma man. Mind that it is no butter A'm diggin'."
+
+"You must come up, Mac," I said, when one o'clock drew near, but he
+would not hear of it. "I ken I hivna faur tae gang noo," he cried. "I
+can hear the sound gettin' hollow."
+
+Another ten minutes passed, and now I could distinctly note a difference
+in the tone of the echoes ringing upwards. Thud! Thud! Thud! went the
+pick, and Mac's breath came in long deep gasps, that made Stewart rave
+wildly at the severe nature of his comrade's exertions.
+
+Then suddenly there was a crash, followed by a shout of joy. Mac had
+bottomed at last.
+
+For several moments complete silence reigned; then a subdued scraping
+below indicated that Mac was collecting some of the newly-exposed
+stratum for analysis.
+
+"What does it look like?" I whispered down. There are few indeed who
+could withstand a touch of the gold fever at such a critical time, and I
+was impatient to know the best or the worst; either report would have
+allayed the indescribable feeling that possessed me then. The most
+hardened goldseeker is not immune from the thrill created when bottom
+has been reached; at that moment he is at one with the veriest novice
+who eagerly expects to view gold in its rough state for the first time.
+
+My companion did not at once gratify my longing for knowledge, and when
+he replied, Phil, Stewart, and myself were peering down into the shaft
+awaiting intelligence with breathless interest.
+
+"I think," he muttered, in tones that struck upon our ears as a knell of
+doom, "I raelly think--ye micht keep yer heids oot o' the licht."
+
+"Mac!" I admonished, "remember this is no time for pleasantries."
+
+"Weel, weel," he responded apologetically, "I wis wantin' tae gie
+correct infurmashun, bit the glint aff Stewart's pow mak's a' thing
+coloured." Stewart promptly drew back his head with a howl of rage.
+
+"Mak' nae mair refleckshuns!" he cried indignantly.
+
+There came a creak at the windlass rope as Mac put his foot into the
+half-filled bucket and prepared to ascend; then his voice rolled up to
+us again. "Wha's makin' refleckshuns? I was only makin' menshun o' the
+bonnie auburn----"
+
+"Shut up, Mac," Phil interrupted, and Mac obligingly cut short his
+soliloquy and roared--
+
+"Staun by the windlass, ye deevils, I'm comin' up wi' specimens!"
+
+If he had had cause at one time to comment on the slow and uncertain
+nature of his upward flight, he assuredly had no room for complaint in
+that direction on this occasion. All three of us went to the windlass
+and yanked our comrade to the surface at a rate that caused him much
+consternation. Then I seized the bucket, which contained a few pounds of
+an alarmingly white-looking deposit, and hurried with it into the tent,
+where the gold-pan, freshly scrubbed, lay waiting beside a kerosene tin
+half filled with muddy water. On closer examination the samples looked
+decidedly more promising; little granules of quartz were interspersed
+with the white cement, and a sprinkling of ironshot particles were also
+in evidence. We had struck an alluvial wash: that was clear enough, and
+now the question was--would it prove to be auriferous? Without speaking
+we commenced to crush the matrix into as fine a powder as possible, and
+when that operation was completed, the whole was emptied into the
+gold-pan.
+
+"It looks just like sugar," Stewart broke out, "an' no near so dirty as
+Klonduk gravel."
+
+"Get your flag ready," I said, "we'll know our luck in a few minutes." I
+now filled the pan with water, and began to give it that concentric
+motion so familiar to those who search for the yellow metal. Gradually,
+very gradually, the water was canted off, carrying with it the bulk of
+the lighter sands, and finally the residue was left in the form of some
+ounces of black ironstone powder, which, because of its weight, had
+remained, and about an equal amount of coarse quartz grains that had
+escaped crushing.
+
+"But I don't see any gold," said Phil despondingly.
+
+"Ye're faur too impatient," Mac reproved. "Ye didna expec' tae see it
+floatin' on tap o' a' that stuff surely?"
+
+I tilted the pan obliquely several times in order to make the contents
+slide round in the circular groove provided, and as it slowly moved
+under the gentle pressure of the little water remaining, it left a
+glittering trail in its wake, which caused my three companions to break
+out in a whoop of delight.
+
+Some sixty seconds later the Union Jack floated bravely above our
+windlass, and was hailed with a thunder of applause.
+
+
+
+
+CAMP-FIRE REMINISCENCES
+
+
+For many weeks work went on merrily. One after another the various
+claims reached paying gravel, and flags of all designs and colours soon
+marked the course of the lead for fully half a mile, after which
+distance the golden vein effectually eluded discovery; it had apparently
+disappeared into the bowels of the earth. For the first few days
+succeeding our location of the auriferous wash we contented ourselves in
+dollying the more easily disintegrated parts of the white conglomerate,
+and collecting the solid and cumbrous blocks excavated into sacks, each
+of which when filled weighed over a hundred pounds. These I meant to
+send to some crushing battery when several tons had been raised.
+
+The water for dollying as well as for all other purposes was obtained
+from a deep shaft sunk near at hand by a speculative individual, who
+considered that water might ultimately pay him as generously as gold,
+and as he charged eightpence a gallon for the brackish fluid, and had an
+unlimited demand for it at that, he probably found it a less troublesome
+and much more lucrative commodity than even a moderately wealthy claim
+on the Five-Mile Lead. As it so happened, however, when other claims
+began to copy our tactics and dolly portions of their wash, it was made
+evident that the water bore was not equal to the strain, and once or
+twice it ran dry at a most critical time. After a careful computation of
+its capacity we saw that it could only be drawn upon for domestic
+purposes in future, and even then there was every probability of the
+supply giving out if a good rainfall did not soon occur to moisten the
+land and percolate to the impervious basin tapped by the bore in
+question.
+
+[Illustration: OUR SHAFT.]
+
+At this time a public battery, owned by a limited company, was doing
+yeoman service to the dwellers on an alluvial field some five miles
+south of us; and after much consideration we, in common with the most of
+the miners, arranged to despatch our golden gravel thither, as being the
+only way out of a difficulty. Public batteries exist all over those
+goldfields, for, owing to the absence of water, a prospector can rarely
+do more than test samples of his find, and thereby estimate its value;
+and these public crushing plants are, therefore, a very necessary
+adjunct to his success.
+
+The time passed pleasantly enough now that the trying uncertainty of the
+first fortnight was no longer with us, and the auriferous channel was
+being slowly and surely tunnelled and cut in every conceivable
+direction. Work was pursued in matter-of-fact fashion. The glamour of
+the goldseeker's life had departed with the risk.
+
+Yet when the practical and perhaps sordid work of the day was done, and
+we gathered together around one or other of the numerous camp fires, it
+seemed as if a new world had descended upon us when daylight gave place
+to the mystic glimmer of the lesser stars and the steadfast radiance of
+the glorious Southern Cross. Only the world-wanderer who has slept
+beneath all skies can truly appreciate the grandeur of the southern
+constellations. The bushman has grown to love them from his infancy;
+they have been his companions on many a weary journey, and he regards
+them with an almost sacrilegious familiarity. But to the traveller from
+other lands these shining guideposts in the heavens arouse a feeling
+akin to reverence, and later, when he ventures into his grim desert
+land and trusts his life to their constancy, his admiration, were it
+possible, increases tenfold. There is, of course, one great reason for
+the stranger's attachment to the sky sentinels of an Australian night
+other than their calm, clear brilliance. In no other country is the
+wanderer brought so close, as it were, to the luminaries of night. In
+Canada, Alaska, America, India, or China, or, indeed, in any portion of
+the globe, by reason of climatic or other conditions, one must perforce
+sleep under canvas, and in some cases where the cold is severe--as in
+Alaska--the shelter of a heavily-logged hut is almost a necessity. But
+in the inland parts of Australia, where rain seldom falls, and where no
+pestilence taints the atmosphere, the sky alone usually forms the
+traveller's roof. Many times have I gone to sleep in the great silent
+interior with only my coat for a pillow, and coaxed myself into slumber
+while watching for the advent of a favourite star, or tracing the
+gradual course of the Southern Cross.
+
+To me the stars of the south have a peculiar significance. When I gazed
+at them, even while divided from civilisation by over a thousand miles
+of dreary arid sand plains, I felt comforted, for though compass and
+sextant may fail, the stars will still show the way.
+
+I recall our evenings spent at the Five-Mile Camp with deepest pleasure.
+There only did I meet and talk with the typical men of the West, and the
+simple, true-hearted, restless spirits of the Island Continent who have
+pushed the outposts of their country far into the desert. It was my one
+experience of a Western Australian mining camp, and afterwards, during
+our weary wanderings in the far interior, we often longed for the
+company of the generous-minded men who used to gather round our fire and
+review their early experiences with such vivid effect.
+
+Emu Bill, I have already mentioned, but there were several others whom
+we came to know during the later days of our sojourn at the golden flat,
+and they had all their own peculiar characteristics, with a sterling
+honesty of purpose as the keynote of their lives.
+
+"Old Tom," I remember, possessed an interest in the claim next to ours;
+not much of an interest it was, either, for he was too old a man to have
+come in nearly first in the rush. He had simply been promised a
+percentage of returns in No. 8 for doing all the work thereon; and as at
+first the presence of gold there was much doubted, it was no great
+generosity on the part of the owner of the lot to promise slight reward
+and no wages for labour done. Yet for once Old Tom scored in a bargain,
+and his labours were not, as he cheerfully said they had ever been,
+wholly vain.
+
+Old Tom must have been a splendid specimen of manhood in his day; now he
+was nearly seventy years of age, and his bent shoulders detracted
+somewhat from his great stature, while his slightly-bowed legs--whose
+deviation from the perpendicular, he insisted, had been caused by much
+walking--gave to him a more frail appearance than was justified.
+
+His knowledge of his own country was extensive, but he had fallen into
+the strange belief that the world began at Australia, and that Europe,
+Asia, and other portions of the globe were merely remote colonies or
+dependencies of his own land. "I hiv walked all over Australia, mates,"
+he used to say; "I know the world well."
+
+"You ought to see London, Tom," I said, one night, after he had been
+recounting his travelling experiences; but he shook his head.
+
+"It's too far to walk," he replied sadly; "Old Tom's walking days are
+nearly over. But," and he brightened considerably, "I've heard tell that
+Lunnon is full o' people, an' there wouldn't be no room for an old man
+like me to peg his claim."
+
+It was one of his fixed ideas that the whole world was but a goldfield
+on which all men had to try their luck. And the sea had its terrors for
+him, as it has for nearly all bushmen, although most of them get
+accustomed to it sooner or later. With Old Tom it would be never. "I
+went on a ship once," he admitted, "when I was a young 'un, an' the
+mem'ry o't will never leave me." He shuddered at the recollection of his
+sufferings. "I kin walk 'bout as fast as a ship, anyway," he added with
+much satisfaction, "an' a hundred miles more or less don't make much
+difference when Old Tom is on the wallaby."
+
+At another time, when news of Kitchener's brilliant successes in the
+Soudan had reached us, I read out to him from an old home newspaper
+details of the capture of Omdurman. There were many around the fire that
+night, and all listened eagerly to the thrilling narrative except Old
+Tom; he gazed listlessly into the glowing fire, and smoked his pipe
+unmoved.
+
+"Have you no interest in these things, Tom?" I asked.
+
+"It's a long time since I've been in the Eastern Colonies," he answered
+slowly, "an' I hiv lost my bearin's among them names. Soudan is in
+Queensland, isn't it? Or mebbe it is west'ard in Noo South Wales?" Poor
+Old Tom! he had fought the aborigines times without number, and taken
+his life in his hands on many a lone trail, yet he would have been
+surprised had anyone said that he was more than usually venturesome. He
+knew no fear, and acted his weary part in life nobly and well.
+
+[Illustration: NUGGETY DICK AND SILENT TED.]
+
+"Silent Ted" was another of our camp-fire comrades; he was, as his name
+implied, not a talkative individual. Long years spent in the bush had
+served to dry up the vials of his speech. Yet he was not morose or
+taciturn by nature; he simply seemed too tired to give expression to his
+thoughts. His eyes were ever fixed and emotionless as the desert
+sands--sure evidence of the bushman who has lived in the dreary
+wilderness beyond the Darling. He had been a long time in striking gold,
+and we all thought his shaft was likely to prove a duffer; but despite
+our gloomy prophecies he joined our evening circle night after night,
+and smoked his pipe cheerful as usual, though that was not saying much.
+
+"I forgot to tell you, mates," he broke out one evening, to our great
+surprise, "that I struck bottom yesterday."
+
+He meant to say more, but his mouth closed with a click in spite of
+himself, and in reply to our congratulations he handed round for
+examination two fine specimens of alluvial gold which he had taken from
+his first day's tests, and when they had been inspected by the community
+and returned to him, he passed them on to his neighbour with a sigh; he
+had apparently already forgotten their existence.
+
+The devil-may-care fossicker, also, was well represented, and his
+species rejoiced in cognomens so euphonious and varied that I could
+never remember the correct titles to bestow upon their several owners,
+and only realised my mistakes when greeted with reproachful glances.
+Among our acquaintances were, "Dead Broke Sam," a proverbially
+unfortunate miner in a perpetual state of pecuniary embarrassment;
+"Lucky Dave," who always "came out on top;" "Happy Jack," who seemed to
+find much cause for merriment in his rather commonplace existence; and
+"Nuggety Dick," who at all times could unearth one or two specimens from
+some secret place in his meagre wardrobe, and describe minutely where
+they had been obtained--usually some place comprehensively indicated as
+"away out back."
+
+These gaunt, bearded men had many strange stories to tell, and in the
+ruddy firelight they would trace on the sand intricate charts emblematic
+of their wanderings. They were those whose roving natures compelled
+them to follow up every gold rush, with the firm belief that
+extraordinary fortune would one day crown their efforts. "It's a durned
+hard life, boys," Dead Broke Sam, who worked with Old Tom on similar
+terms of remuneration, would often say, looking round for the
+sympathetic chorus that was always forthcoming, "but if we doesn't peg
+out, we is bound to strike it some day."
+
+There is no blasphemy in the speech of the Australian miner. The most
+rugged-looking fossicker is gentle as a lamb, save when undue
+presumption on the part of some new chum, or "furriner," arouses his
+ire, and then he makes things hum generally; but his forcible words are
+merely forcible, and perhaps "picturesque," but nothing more; the inane
+profanity of the Yankee fortune-seeker finds no exponent in the
+Australian back-blocker.
+
+Many were the tales "pitched" on these long starlit nights, and
+narratives of adventure in search of gold, and hairbreadth escapes from
+the aborigines succeeded each other until the evening was far spent, and
+the Southern Cross had sunk beyond the horizon. Then we would disperse
+with a monosyllabic "night, boys," all round, and seek our separate
+sandy couches.
+
+My comrades, Mac and Stewart, were shining satellites at these meetings,
+and weird stories from the Pampas plains and the Klondike valley formed
+at intervals a pleasing change--from the miners' point of view--to the
+accounts of gold-finds, and rushes, and hostile natives, so fluently
+described by Nuggety Dick and Co. And now and then a whaling anecdote
+would lend zest to the gathering, faithfully told by Stewart with much
+dramatic effect; he was, indeed, a past master at the art, and never
+failed to hold his audience spellbound.
+
+Emu Bill, though recognised by all as the most experienced miner
+present, rarely condescended to spin a yarn, and he listened to his
+_confrères'_ tales with ill-concealed impatience, but showed a decided
+liking for my two warriors' romances. One evening, however, he broke his
+reserve and proceeded to give a rambling survey of his wanderings, and
+as he warmed to his subject his eyes began to glow, and his gestures
+became eloquent and impassioned.
+
+"Yes, boys," said he, winding up a _resumé_ of his exploits in various
+parts of Australia, "I calc'late I hev had a fair-sized experience o'
+gold mining in my time, an' as ye may guess, I hevn't allus come out
+right end up, nuther, else I shouldn't be here. Thank the Lord! I've
+struck something at last."
+
+"I'm wi' ye thar, mate," grunted Old Tom in sympathy. "I guess this is
+Old Tom's last rise."
+
+Then a silence fell over the little assembly, during which Emu Bill drew
+fanciful diagrams in the sand with an improvised camp poker, and Silent
+Ted almost went to sleep. The rest of us gazed at Emu Bill with a show
+of interest, expecting him to proceed with his reminiscences, and soon
+he started again.
+
+"Yes, boys, I've had my disappintments, as we've all had, I opine, but I
+had an un-common disappintment at the time o' the Kalgoorlie Rush----"
+
+"Kalgoorlie Rush, Bill?" I exclaimed. "Were you in that?"
+
+"Wur I in that?" he echoed dismally. "I wur, an' I wurn't, which is not
+mebbe a very plain statement, but you kin jedge fur yourself if you care
+to hear my yarn."
+
+"Let her go, Bill," said Nuggety Dick.
+
+"I'm listenin' wi' vera great interest," Mac spoke slowly. "Ye've been a
+man o' pairts, Emoo."
+
+After sundry expressions of approval had been elicited, Bill again
+picked up the thread of his narrative.
+
+"You've heard o' old Hannan, of course," he began, "the diskiverer o'
+Kalgoorlie? The diskiverer o' Kalgoorlie!" he repeated, mimicking a
+general expression often heard on the fields. "Well, boys, I kin tell
+you how Kalgoorlie was diskivered.... Pat Hannan an' me had been mates
+for a considerable time. We walked from South'ron Cross together afore
+the railway, an' we 'specked around Coolgardie camp wi' fairish success.
+There was no township at Coolgardie then, boys, though that jumped up
+quick enough. One day we thought we'd jine a party as was going out
+eastward to 'speck for gold furrer back in the nigger country; an' after
+gettin' our water-bags filled an' provisions for a month rolled up in
+our swags, we all cleared out. In two days we camped at Kalgoorlie well.
+You know where that is, boys; but there was nary a shanty within
+twenty-five miles of it then, nothin' but sand an' black boys, an' hosts
+o' nigs. But we never thought o' lookin' for gold there, worse luck; at
+least, none o' the rest did; but old Hannan had a skirmish round' an'
+reported nary sign o't, so we struck camp at oncet. But jest as we wur
+movin' off, Hannan comes to me with a twist on his mug an' snickers,
+'Bill, me bhoy, phwat can I do? Me water-bag's bust!' Now that wur a
+ser'us matter, for we needed all the water we could carry, not knowin'
+when another well might turn up, so I voted we shid all camp again until
+Pat's water-bag had been repaired, an' the rest o' the boys of course
+agreed, unan'mous. But that wouldn't suit old Hannan, 'Ye'd better go
+on, boys,' said he, 'an' I'll come after yez in half an hour.' So we
+went on; but though we went slow, and arterards waited fur half a day,
+no Hannan turned up, an' we had to continue our journey without him.
+Well, boys, we came back in less'n a fortnight, arter trampin' about in
+the durnedest country on God's earth in search o' water an' findin'
+none. We hadn't time to look fur gold, so ye kin guess we wur mighty
+miserable when we drew near to the place where old Hannan's water-bag
+had busted; but the appearance o' the camp sort o' mystified us, thar
+wur rows an' rows o' tents, an' the ground was pegged fur miles.
+'Howlin' tarnation!' I yelled at the first man we came across. 'Is this
+a mir-adge, or what has we struck?' 'Nary mir-adge, mate,' said he,
+'this is Hannan's Find, or Kalgoorlie if yous like that name
+better.' ... An' it wur a bitter fack, boys. Old Hannan must
+have notised an outcrop somewheres around, an' being allfired afeared
+that we, his mates, might get too much benefit, he had ripped the
+water-bag on purpose so as to get an excoose fur waitin' behind. Then,
+of course, he had gone back to Coolgardie an' got the Government
+diskivery reward, which otherwise would have been divided atween us. But
+we got nothin', boys, nary cent, an' nary square inch o' ground. The
+camp had been rushed when we wur sufferin' howlin' terrors out back....
+There's wan favour I'd ask of you, boys, don't none of you start 'God
+blessin'' old Hannan for diskivering Kalgoorlie in my hearing. I can't
+stand it, boys, an' you know why."
+
+Bill ceased, and a murmur of sympathy ran round the little group. The
+Kalgoorlie rush was fresh in the minds of nearly all present, many of
+whom had taken part in it. Every one knew Hannan, but who better than
+his one-time partner? and if his tale showed the much-honoured finder of
+Kalgoorlie in a less favourable light than that in which he was usually
+regarded, no one doubted Emu Bill's version of the story; yet it was
+hard to dispel from the mind the glamour of romance associated with the
+event from the first. One more illustration of the difference between
+the real and the ideal, but it seems almost a pity to destroy the
+illusions, they lend so much colour and interest to otherwise sordid
+episodes.
+
+The night was unusually dark, fleeting clouds constantly obscured the
+feeble light of a slender crescent moon, and the myriad stars glimmered
+fitfully. Our fire was the only cheerful object in the darkness, and it
+blazed and crackled, lighting up the weather-beaten faces of the circle
+around it, and illuminating our tent in the background. For a long time
+no one spoke, every man seemed gloomily affected by Bill's story, and
+with chins resting on their hands they gazed into the vortex of the
+flaming logs long and earnestly.
+
+Then a familiar voice interrupted their reveries. "When Stewart an' me
+discovered Gold Bottom Creek----"
+
+"Go slow, Mac," I objected wearily; "it's getting late and we'd better
+turn in."
+
+"It is wearin' on fur midnight," grunted Dead Broke Sam, surveying the
+heavens for the position of his favourite reckoning star.
+
+"What was your last battery returns, mate?" asked Emu Bill, turning to
+me with a revival of practical interest.
+
+"Fifty tons for 150 ounces," I replied.
+
+"Not too bad," commented Nuggety Dick.
+
+"I'm 20 tons fur 60 ounces," said my interrogator, "which is the same
+ratio. I guess Nos. 6 and 7 are the best properties on the Five Mile."
+
+"I'm 25 for 51," announced Happy Jack cheerfully.
+
+"Thank the Lord, we've all got somethin'," Old Tom muttered devoutly, as
+he rose to his feet. Then we went our several ways.
+
+[Illustration: HAPPY JACK AND DEAD-BROKE SAM.]
+
+
+
+
+THE "SACRED" NUGGET
+
+
+At this time much interest was aroused by the report that an
+extraordinarily large nugget had been found within a few miles of
+Kanowna, an outlying township, but as the days passed and no
+confirmation of the rumour was forthcoming, the miners throughout the
+whole district decided to hold a court of inquiry and elicit the facts,
+or at least the foundations on which the panic-creating statement had
+been based. As may be imagined, where gold is in question no rumour,
+however wild, is allowed to die a natural death. The miners _will_ sift
+and probe into the matter to the bitter end--and usually the end is
+bitter indeed to those who have been too eager to join the inevitable
+rush, and sink the almost equally inevitable duffer shafts.
+
+In the present case, however, the sifting process was speedily fruitful
+of results. Tangible evidence was obtained that two men had been seen
+early one morning carrying what seemed to be an enormous nugget in a
+blanket, some little distance from the settlement. Where the men came
+from with their find no one knew, and it was not likely that they would
+have given the information had it been asked; but where they had gone
+afterwards promised to be an equally mysterious question; they had
+vanished, leaving no trace or clue.
+
+The warden of the district professed complete ignorance of the entire
+affair, and suggested that a practical joke had been played on the
+people; but this only served to make the miners unite in an outburst of
+genuine indignation. Already many shafts had been sunk in the most
+unlikely places by men who could ill afford to labour in vain. The mad
+enthusiasm created had had dire effect. Hundreds of men were flooding
+into the camp daily from every quarter; work on all the leads had ceased
+in anticipation of a rush. The joke, if joke it was, was indeed a cruel
+one, and its perpetrators deserved the wild denunciations that were
+heaped upon them. "We'll lynch them!" roared the miners, and they meant
+it; but despite the utmost searching, the nugget-carriers--whose names
+were known--could not be found.
+
+Then just as excitement was dying out, when the people were all but
+convinced that they had been hoaxed, and were preparing to return to
+their various labours, confirmation of the rumour came from a most
+unexpected quarter. A Roman Catholic priest publicly stated that he was
+aware of the existence of the nugget, that he had been under a promise
+of secrecy to the finders not to reveal its location for ten days, but
+that owing to the extreme panic aroused he felt constrained to admit its
+authenticity, so that one doubt might be set at rest. As for the
+district in which the great find had been made, he would give full
+particulars on the following Tuesday. He further gave out that the
+nugget weighed something over a hundred pounds, and was a perfect
+specimen of true alluvial gold.
+
+The state of affairs after that can be better imagined than written.
+There promised to be a rush unequalled in the annals of goldfields
+history. Men flocked into Kanowna in their thousands; excitement was
+raised to fever heat; and the whole country seemed to await the coming
+of Tuesday.
+
+We, on the Five Mile, did not escape the prevalent craze. Our various
+properties were becoming worked out, and in any case who could resist
+being influenced by the mention of such a large nugget? The gold fever
+is, indeed, a rampant, raging disease which few can withstand.
+
+"It'll be a bonnie run," said Stewart, "bit I can haud ma ain wi' ony
+man."
+
+"I think Phil could gie ye a sair tussle," commented Mac, "an' as fur
+masel'--I alloo naebody's sooperiority."
+
+But it was plain to all, long before the eventful day arrived, that the
+rush for the Sacred Nugget, as it was called, would be totally different
+from that in which we had taken part with so much success. And little
+wonder. Since Father Long's announcement, horses and bicycles and
+buggies of all descriptions were being held in readiness. No one had a
+notion how near or how far the rush might lead, but all seemed
+determined to have the speediest means of locomotion at their disposal.
+Under these circumstances my companions' running powers could avail
+little, and I was not disposed to favour their desire to try their luck
+in the stampede.
+
+"We've had enough of gold-mining, boys," I said, "and after we have
+finished here I think we'll prospect further out." And the thought of
+journeying into the unknown back country pleased them mightily. It had
+long been my wish to explore the central parts of the great Western
+Colony, and I was seriously considering the feasibility of my plans
+towards that purpose when the Sacred Nugget excitement burst into
+prominence, and for the time being served to demoralise my schemes.
+
+"I don't think we ought to trouble with any new strike about here," Phil
+said wearily. The monotony of the gold-seeker's life in Western
+Australia was beginning to affect even his usually buoyant nature.
+
+"Don't go, boys," advised Emu Bill earnestly. "I is satisfied the thing
+isn't straight. Father Long or no Father Long, thar's been too much
+mystery about the consarn. Thar's a ser'us hoax somewheres."
+
+It was a surprise to hear such advice from him. I thought of the time
+when I first saw him leading the rush to Five Mile, and unconsciously I
+smiled. "In spite of what you say, I believe you'll be there yourself,
+Bill," I said. "I'm sure it would break your heart to be absent from
+such an event."
+
+"I'm not deny'n' but you're right," he replied soberly. "Wi' me it's a
+sort o' madness, but that don't affeck the honesty o' my remarks wan
+little bit."
+
+"Weel," began Mac with emphasis, "if ye dinna want tae gang, ye'll no
+gang. Stewart and me'll see efter that. I'll dae ye a kindness fur
+aince, Emoo."
+
+We decided at last that Phil and I should go and view the "circus"--not
+to join in it by any means, but simply that we should see, and have our
+curiosity gratified; and so the matter rested. But on Tuesday morning,
+when Emu Bill saw the eager throngs passing inwards in the direction of
+Kanowna, his resolutions began to waver, and when the Five-Mile Flat
+also began to show a deserted appearance, he came over to our tent with
+a mournful countenance.
+
+"I is goin' with you arter all, mates," he said simply.
+
+"Ye're gaun tae dae naething o' the sort, Emoo," roared Mac. "Did ye no
+promise tae wait wi' Stewart an' me? No, ma man, fur yer ain guid we'll
+keep ye here."
+
+And after much eloquent argument Bill resigned himself to his fate,
+almost cheerful at last to find his own views resisted so strongly. But
+as Phil and I were starting out, he came to me with an eager light in
+his eyes. "If you does think it's goin' to be any good," he said,
+"mention my name to Tom Doyle. He'll give you anything you want.
+Goodbye, boys, an'--an' good luck." And he was led away to be regaled
+with stirring stories of other lands, by the masterful pair.
+
+The momentous announcement had been advertised to take place on Tuesday,
+at 3.30 p.m., from the balcony of the Criterion Hotel, and when we
+reached the township about midday we found the main thoroughfare a
+jostling mass of boisterous humanity; while cyclists in hundreds,
+lightly garbed as if for a great race, waited patiently in the side
+street leading to the post-office, and in full view of the
+much-advertised balcony. The cyclist element was composed of strangers,
+for the most part, who had cycled from Kalgoorlie and other settlements
+within a radius of twenty miles; hence their early arrival on the scene;
+they had timed themselves to be well ahead, so as to be fully rested
+before the fateful signal was given.
+
+As we forced our way through the crowd I could not help remarking that
+the majority had been imbibing over-freely to ensure rapidity of action
+later on. Indeed, it looked as if the Criterion Hotel, which formed the
+centre of interest, was to be most benefited by the rush. It had not
+been by any means the most popular rendezvous of the miners, but on this
+day it received a huge advertisement, and profited accordingly.
+
+We walked to the end of the street, where the bustle was considerably
+less, and here we noticed a large wooden erection bearing the sign, "Tom
+Doyle, Kanowna Hotel."
+
+"That is the name Bill mentioned," said Phil; "he seems a fairly
+important individual in his own way. Suppose we interview him, or at
+least have dinner in his mansion."
+
+To the latter part of the suggestion I was agreeable, and so in we
+went. I had met Tom Doyle on several occasions since my arrival in the
+country; that gentleman was most ubiquitous in his habits, and had a
+keen scent for gold, so that his lanky figure might be expected anywhere
+where good prospects had recently been obtained. He was also future
+mayor of the camp, and so was, as Phil had put it, quite an important
+individual in his way; but how we could benefit by giving him Emu Bill's
+name and compliments was more than I could understand.
+
+The hotel seemed to be completely empty; even the bar was deserted,
+which showed an extraordinary state of matters. "If Mac and Stewart were
+here," laughed Phil, "there would be a repetition of the Indian village
+raid I have heard so much about." Which I fear was only too true.
+However, we determined to give fair warning of our presence in the
+establishment, and halloed out lustily; and at last a heavy footstep
+sounded in the room above.
+
+"Doyle!" I cried, "Sir Thomas Doyle!"
+
+"Lord Doyle!" added Phil, in a voice that might have awakened the seven
+sleepers.
+
+"Phwat the thunder'n' blazes is yez yellin' at!" roared the object of
+our inquiry, suddenly appearing on the stairway. Then he noticed the
+vacant bar. "Thunder'n' turf!" he muttered helplessly, "has all the shop
+cleared out after that d----d nugget?"
+
+"Looks like it, Tom," I suggested. "Have you been asleep?"
+
+"Av coorse. It's me afternoon siesta I was having. I'll be in time for
+the rush all right, an' don't you forget it."
+
+"We didn't come to warn you about that," I said. "Emu Bill of the Five
+Mile said you had a few good horses----"
+
+[Illustration: READY FOR THE RUSH.]
+
+"Emoo Bill!" he howled.
+
+"Same man," I admitted; "do you know him?"
+
+"Does I know Emoo Bill? Well, I should smile. Why, me an' him were with
+Hannan when that old skunk went back on us at the discovery ov
+Kalgoorlie. Howly Moses! Poor owld Emoo! Horses, boys? Surely. I'm goin'
+to use 'Prince' myself, but yez can have the two steeplechasers, 'Satan'
+an' 'Reprieve.' I'll do that much for the Emoo; an' d----n the others
+who expect the horses."
+
+Events had certainly developed much more rapidly than I had anticipated;
+neither Phil nor myself had entertained the idea of joining in the rush.
+I had mentioned Emu Bill's message idly, never dreaming it would produce
+such a prompt effect. Tom Doyle was a noted sporting man in the
+district, a second Harry Lorrequer in a small way, and provided he was
+not drunk, he could break in even the most unruly horse when all others
+had failed.
+
+The noise on the street was now becoming terrific; small armies of
+miners bearing picks and stakes were arriving from the local diggings,
+and buggies and horses were being hurriedly equipped.
+
+"We'll have a dhrop av the crater first," said Tom, noting the
+disturbance outside, "and then we'll saddle up."
+
+Shortly afterwards we emerged from the hotel courtyard mounted on horses
+that were the pride of the countryside. Tom rode "Prince," a
+powerful-limbed, coal-black cob of sixteen hands; Phil bestrode "Satan,"
+a fiery Australian brumby; and I clung to "Reprieve," an impetuous
+high-stepping bay. "Keep at my heels, boys," cried Tom, as he started
+off at a canter, and it was at once evident that if we could keep at his
+heels we should be in at the death without a doubt. It was slightly
+after three o'clock, and when we reached the scene of excitement we
+found the street absolutely blocked. There must have been several
+thousand men packed like sardines right across the broad passage, and on
+the outskirts of this vast crowd over a hundred cyclists stood ready;
+beyond them still, a line of horsemen were drawn up, in numbers
+exceeding a regimental squadron.
+
+Scores of buggies and other spidery racing contrivances were scattered
+near at hand, and extended far down the side street leading towards the
+post-office. It was indeed an extraordinary sight. We formed up with the
+other horsemen, Tom's approach being hailed with loud cheers, for every
+one knew the dare-devil Irishman.
+
+"You'll get a broken neck this time, Tom," cried one of his
+acquaintances cheerfully.
+
+"I didn't know Prince was broken in to the saddle yet, Tom," said
+another.
+
+"No more he isn't," replied Tom, "but he's broken enough for me. Stand
+clear, bhoys."
+
+And then the black charger reared and bucked and curvetted wildly, while
+its rider kicked his feet out of the stirrups and kept his seat like a
+Centaur. Few of the horses present had been much used before, and they
+now became restive also, and pranced dangerously. Phil and I had a bad
+five minutes. We did not know the nature or temper of our mounts; and
+besides, neither of us cared to place much reliance on our stirrup
+leathers, they looked frayed and wofully fragile.
+
+"If they _go_ with yez, bhoys," advised Tom, "give 'em their heads.
+They'll get tired soon enough. Thar's lots o' room in this country."
+
+"Oh, Lord!" groaned Phil, "what a comfortable prospect we have before
+us! My back is about broken with this kicking brute already."
+
+The vast assembly was now becoming impatient. The stated time, 3.30,
+had been reached, and as yet there was no sign of the Reverend Father
+who had been the cause of the extraordinary meeting. Then just as
+threats and curses were being muttered, a pale-faced young man in
+clerical garb made his appearance on the balcony, and a deathlike
+stillness reigned in an instant. In a few words the priest explained his
+strange position, but he was rudely interrupted many times.
+
+"It's gettin' late. Where did the nugget come from?" the rougher spirits
+roared. The young man hesitated for a moment.
+
+"The nugget was found on the Lake Gwinne track," he said, "at a depth of
+three feet----"
+
+With a long, indescribable roar the multitude scattered, and the
+speaker's concluding words were drowned in the din. "Hold on!" cried
+Tom, as Phil and I swung round to follow the main rush, "the d----d
+idiots didn't wait to hear how _far_ it was from Lake Gwinne." There was
+scarcely a dozen of us left; the breaking-up had been as the melting of
+summer snows.
+
+"And the position is two miles from the lake," repeated the young man,
+wearily. Then Tom gave his horse a free rein and we followed suit.
+
+Lake Gwinne was a salt-crusted depression in the sand surface, about
+five miles distant from the township, and in a very little frequented
+vicinity. The so-called track towards it was nothing more than a winding
+camel pad through the bush, and had the miners stopped to think, they
+would have at once realised how insufficient was the data given. With
+our additional information we were slightly better off; nevertheless I
+was not at all inclined to grow enthusiastic over our chances. The
+district mentioned had been very thoroughly prospected many months
+before, and with little success. "I think Father Long has been hoaxed
+after all," I said to Phil, as we crashed through scrub and over
+ironstone gullies in the wake of the main body, which we were rapidly
+overtaking. But he could not reply; his horse was clearing the brush in
+great bounds, and as it had the bit between its teeth, my companion
+evidently had his work cut out for him.
+
+A few yards ahead Tom's great charger kept up a swinging gallop, and
+every now and then that jolly roysterer would turn in the saddle and
+encourage us by cheery shouts. We soon passed the men who were hurrying
+on foot, but the buggies and the cycles were still in front. The sand
+soil throughout was so tightly packed that it formed an ideal cycle
+path, but the sparse eucalypti dotting its surface were dangerous
+obstacles, and made careful steering a necessity. The goldfield cyclist,
+however, is a reckless individual, and rarely counts the cost of his
+adventurousness. Soon we came near to the cyclist army; the spokes of
+their wheels scintillated in the sunlight as they scudded over the open
+patches. But one by one they dropped out, the twisted wheels showing how
+they had tried conclusions with flinty boulders, or collided with one or
+other of the numberless mallee stumps protruding above the ground.
+
+On one occasion Tom gave a warning shout, and I saw his horse take a
+flying leap over a struggling cyclist who had got mixed up in the parts
+of his machine. I had just time to swerve my steed to avoid a calamity,
+and then we crashed on again at a mad gallop, evading the bicycles as
+best we could, and sometimes clearing those which had come to grief at a
+bound. It was in truth a wild and desperate race.
+
+When the last of the cyclists had been left behind, and the swaying,
+dust-enshrouded buggies and one or two solitary horsemen were still in
+front, Tom turned again.
+
+"Let her go now, bhoys," he said, "there's a clear field ahead. Whoop
+la! Tally ho!"
+
+For the remainder of that gallop I had little time to view my
+surroundings; I dug my heels into "Reprieve's" flanks, and he stretched
+out his long neck and shot forward like an arrow from the bow. Buggies
+and miscellaneous vehicles were overtaken and left in the rear. Various
+horsemen would sometimes range alongside for a trial of speed, but
+"Reprieve" outdistanced them all.
+
+"It's Doyle's 'Reprieve,'" one of the disgusted riders cried; "an'
+there's 'Satan,' an', fire an' brimstone! here's Doyle hissel'."
+
+Tom's weight was beginning to tell on his noble animal, which had given
+the lead to my horse who carried the lightest load; but with scarcely a
+dozen lengths between us we thundered past the foremost racing buggy,
+and were quickly dashing down towards Lake Gwinne, whose sands now
+shimmered in the near distance. We were first in the rush after all.
+
+Suddenly we came upon a recently-excavated shaft with a dismantled
+windlass lying near, and with one accord we drew up and dismounted.
+
+"If this is where the Sacred Nugget came out of, it looks d----d bad
+that no one is about," growled Tom, throwing the reins of his horse over
+a mulga sapling and looking around doubtfully. It was clearly the
+vicinity indicated by Father Long, and we lost no time in marking off
+our lots in the direction we considered most promising. We had barely
+taken these preliminary precautions when horsemen and buggies began to
+arrive in mixed order, and in a short time the ground all the way down
+to the lake was swarming with excited goldseekers.
+
+"I'm blest if I like the look o' things at all, at all," mused Tom, and
+I was inclined to take a similar view of matters, for a more
+barren-looking stretch of country would have been hard to find. Then,
+again, by examining the strata exposed in the abandoned shaft we could
+form a fair estimate of the nature of the supposed gold-bearing
+formation; and after Phil and I had made a minute survey of all
+indications shown, we came to the conclusion that our ground, acquired
+after such a hard ride, was practically worthless and not likely to
+repay even the labour of sinking in it.
+
+The hundreds of others who had pegged out beyond us were not so quickly
+convinced, and they announced their intention of sinking to bedrock if
+they "busted" in the attempt. About an hour after our arrival at the
+Sacred Nugget Patch, Phil and I started back for the Five-Mile Flat,
+satisfied to have taken part in so strange a rush, yet quite certain
+that the Sacred Nugget had been unearthed in some other district, or
+that the entire concern had been a stupendous hoax. Tom Doyle decided to
+camp on the so-called "Patch" all night, without any special reason for
+doing so beyond holding the ground in case some fool might want to buy
+it for flotation purposes, as had been done often before with useless
+properties.
+
+When we reached home that evening we were tired indeed, and in spite of
+ourselves we felt rather disappointed at the unsuccessful issue of the
+much-advertised stampede.
+
+"Ye've had a gran' time," said Mac regretfully, when Phil told of how he
+and "Satan" came in first after a most desperate race.
+
+"I'm glad I didn't go with you," said Bill. "I hope I can resist
+temptation in the way o' rushes until I is ready to sail back homeward."
+
+"It would certainly be better," I allowed, "than to give up a proved
+property for a miserable sham."
+
+As it happened, the famous rush had indeed proved but a worthless
+demonstration. Not a grain of gold was discovered near the Sacred Patch;
+and after much labour had been expended there, the disgusted miners
+abandoned their shafts in a body.
+
+[Illustration: A BREAKDOWN IN THE RUSH.]
+
+The mystery connected with the alleged nugget was never explained. Every
+bank in the Colony denied having seen it, and its supposed finders did
+not again appear on the fields. Father Long must have been cruelly
+victimised, of that there was no doubt, for no one could for a moment
+believe that he had perjured himself. He was justly known as a
+thoroughly honourable man and a conscientious teacher. Even the most
+suspicious mind could not accuse him in any way. And he, the unfortunate
+dupe of a pair of unscrupulous rogues, did not long survive the severe
+shock given to an already feeble system. He died some months later, and
+with him went the secret, if any, of the Great Sacred Nugget.
+
+
+
+
+INTO THE "NEVER NEVER" LAND
+
+
+A few weeks after the Sacred Nugget rush had taken place we lowered our
+flag at the Five-Mile Flat, having come to an end of the auriferous
+workings within our boundaries. I had meanwhile succeeded in purchasing
+from an Afghan trader two powerful camels and five horses, with the
+intention of using them on our projected inland expedition. The horses,
+I feared, would prove of little service, but for the early part of the
+journey they might relieve the camels somewhat by carrying the various
+tinned foodstuffs necessary for a long sojourn in the desert. These
+"various" stores vary but little notwithstanding their distinguishing
+labels, and the bushman's vocabulary, always expressive, contains for
+them a general title, namely, "tinned dog."
+
+Tinned dog and flour are, indeed, the sum total of the Australian
+explorer's needs. The traveller in the great "Never Never" land is not
+an epicure by any means, and should he be burdened by over-æsthetic
+tastes they quickly vanish when "snake sausage" or "bardie pie" has
+appeared on his _menu_ for some days!
+
+Phil had decided to accompany us, and as he had shared our fortunes
+since our entry into the country, I was by no means loath to accept of
+his services, knowing him to be a highly trustworthy comrade, and an
+invaluable addition to our little party he proved.
+
+It was hard to say goodbye to our old associates of the camp fire; I
+knew they would not remain much longer at the same diggings, which were
+showing signs of playing out in almost every claim, and it was not
+likely we should ever meet again.
+
+Old Tom was much affected; he had been our near neighbour so long, and
+under the happiest circumstances of his wandering life, so he said, and
+now we were going back into the "Never Never" country, and would never
+see him more. I was not quite certain whether Old Tom meant that we
+should most probably leave our bones in the central deserts, or whether
+his words were due to an extreme sentimentalism on his part, but I
+preferred to believe the latter.
+
+"We'll call and see you at Adelaide some of these times, Tom," I said,
+while Stewart and Mac were bidding him an affectionate farewell, but he
+only shook his head mournfully, and would not be comforted.
+
+As for Emu Bill, he had considerable faith in our enterprise, and would,
+I believe, have come with us had I said the word. He was, however, a
+true specimen of the independent bushman, and unwilling to demonstrate
+his wishes.
+
+"Durn it all, boys," said he with vigour, "I is not an old man yet, an'
+tho' I knows you aire a big enuff party without me to get through the
+mallee country, I guess I'll coast it round to Derby in time to jine you
+in a Leopolds trip."
+
+"I thought you were going home after this rise, Bill," I said
+quizzically, not surprised to find his early resolutions wavering.
+
+"I'll mebbe see you 'cross the Leopolds first," he replied gravely. "I
+calc'late I knows that bit o' kintry better'n any white man."
+
+"Goodbye, boys," roared Nuggety Dick and his satellites, waving their
+shovels from their distant claims, and the echoes were taken up from
+end to end of the lead, for where I was wholly unknown Mac and Stewart
+had endeared themselves by devices peculiar to that crafty pair. It was
+pleasant to receive such a genial send-off, and though I am not as a
+rule affected by farewell greetings, yet on this occasion I felt
+strangely moved. The camels and horses stood ready, laden with the great
+water-bags and unwieldy mining machinery, and Phil was stroking the mane
+of one of the horses in listless fashion.
+
+"It's a fairly long trip for you to start on, Phil," I said, noting the
+far-away expression on his usually bright face.
+
+"I was thinking of _other_ things," he answered quietly.
+
+"Gee up, Misery!" cried Mac, cracking his long whip.
+
+"Gee up, Slavery!" echoed Stewart. And we started out, heading N.N.E.,
+bound for the land where the pelican builds its nest.
+
+For the first few miles we crossed the gridiron-like tracks connecting
+the numerous camps and settlements lying out from the main township of
+Kalgoorlie; but soon these signs of civilisation vanished, and in the
+early afternoon our course lay over a wildering scrubland, with
+iron-shot sand-patches here and there among the stunted shrubs. The
+camels, which we had named "Slavery" and "Misery," led the trail. They
+were, indeed, wiry animals, and as I paced beside them, noting their
+almost ludicrously leisurely tread, I could not help remarking on the
+vast amount of latent power indicated in every movement of their
+rubber-like bodies. "Slavery" was a patient and gentle animal, and
+marched along meekly under his load of full seven hundred pounds, but
+"Misery" soon displayed a somewhat fiery temper, and before our first
+day's journey was completed we were compelled to adopt stern measures
+with the recalcitrant brute.
+
+The horses formed a sad-looking line behind the sturdier beasts of
+burden, and they would cheerfully have forced along at a speedier rate
+than the progress of the camels allowed. Among them were two
+high-spirited animals, which we named "Sir John" and "Reprieve," while
+the three others we dubbed simply "Sin," "Sand," and "Sorrow."
+
+We camped that evening just twelve miles from our starting-point, and
+yet it seemed as if we were already beyond the reach of civilisation.
+Not a trace of a white man's presence was visible anywhere, and for the
+first night we missed the crashing rattle of the ever-working batteries.
+A deathlike stillness filled the air, broken only by the startled scream
+of the carrion crow or the weird double note of the mopoke.
+
+"There's any amount of room for prospecting here," hazarded Phil, gazing
+around, after the horses and camels had been safely picketed. Which was
+true; yet who could have the heart to sink a proving shaft amid such
+inhospitable surroundings?
+
+"If we locate an outcrop, boys," I said, "we may trace it up, but
+otherwise we can only test the surface sands with the dryblower."
+
+It was but vaguely known what kind of country lay far to eastward of us.
+Many thousands of square miles had never been crossed by any traveller,
+and strange rumours were often circulated among the miners of the
+various outposts regarding the extraordinary riches of the vast "Never
+Never" land. It was even predicted that a great inland river flowed
+northwards towards the Gulf of Carpentaria; how far it flowed before
+sinking in the arid sands was a matter for conjecture, but it was
+confidently supposed to drain fertile valleys, and to be flanked by
+noble mountain ranges rich in gold and precious gems. It was a rosy
+enough picture, surely, but one which, unfortunately, no explorer had
+yet succeeded in bearing out.
+
+"It's a gran' thing," said Mac thoughtfully, when supper was over, and
+we were reclining on our blankets gazing at the stars, and listening to
+the tinkling of the camel bells. "It's a vera gran' thing," he repeated,
+"tae be alane aince mair, an' wi' the bonnie stars shinin' brichtly
+abune----"
+
+"Here's a centipede!" roared Stewart, interrupting his comrade's
+moralising.
+
+"Then pit it in yer pocket, ma man," was the calm reply; and he resumed
+where he had left off: "Ay, it's a gran' thing, Phil, tae ken that ye're
+traivellin' in new country, breathin' the bonnie pure air. Noo if ye had
+been wi' me an' Stewart oot in Alaskie----"
+
+"Spin me a yarn, Mac," said Phil, drawing his blanket closer, while
+Stewart started up in sheer amazement.
+
+Mac was visibly affected; he took his pipe from his mouth and gazed at
+the camp fire blankly for some time without speaking. "Ye're a guid an'
+thochtfu' man, Phil," he said at length with great earnestness, "an'
+A'll gie ye a rale bonnie story...."
+
+I will pass but briefly over the early days of our march. Our track at
+first led through the Murchison district, for I wished to make a
+mid-northerly latitude before steering east; but after leaving the
+Gascoyne Channel the country traversed was of the most dreary nature,
+and similar to that around the more desolate southern gold camps.
+Several soaks were found opportunely when the water-bags were becoming
+dangerously flat, and our progress continued uneventfully for over a
+week, but then the formation of the land-surface began to change rapidly
+for the worse. The dwarfed eucalypti became sparser and sparser, and in
+their room appeared bushy clumps of saltbush and tufts of spiky spinifex
+grass. The hard ironsand soil, too, gave place to a white yielding
+gravel which hindered our advance greatly. The camels, certainly, were
+not seriously inconvenienced, but the staggering horses sank over the
+fetlocks at each step, and stumbled forward painfully, while we
+floundered alongside, almost blinded by the rising iron dust which
+filled our ears and nostrils.
+
+[Illustration: OUR LAST VIEW OF THE FIVE-MILE WORKING.]
+
+For two days we crossed this disheartening waste, fearing greatly for
+the safety of the horses, which showed signs of collapse. No water had
+been located for three days before entering upon this miserable tract,
+and assuredly none promised on its parched expanse. The horses--poor
+animals!--fared rather ill in consequence, for we dared not give them
+much of our rapidly-diminishing fluid supply. On the morning of the
+third day, however, our course led across slightly-improved country, so
+that better progress was made, and our chances of finding water were
+decidedly more encouraging.
+
+At noon we entered a belt of scrub, and soon were crashing through a
+miniature forest of stunted mallee; but this state of affairs was not
+destined to last, for we could see in the distance, at a slightly higher
+altitude, the open plain extending back into the horizon. At this point
+Phil considered the indications very favourable for water, and we
+decided to make a temporary camp, and search the district thoroughly
+before proceeding. We were preparing to unload the camels, when Stewart,
+who had gone a little way ahead, came rushing back in great excitement.
+"Niggers!" he hoarsely whispered. Looking up I saw quite an assembly of
+stalwart bucks directly in our course, and scarcely two hundred yards in
+front. Some bushes partially hid them from our view, and they had
+evidently not yet observed us. They were well equipped with spears and
+waddies; probably they were out on a hunting expedition, and, if so, it
+boded well for the resources of the district.
+
+While we hesitated, debating on our best plan of action, they saw us,
+and gave vent to a series of shrill yells, yet were apparently undecided
+whether to resent our presence or escape while they might. Then a shower
+of spears whizzed through the air, but fell short, and buried their
+heads in the sand at our feet. We were just out of range of these
+missiles, luckily enough. My companions were not disposed to tolerate
+such tactics, and Mac discharged his gun, loaded with small shot, at the
+hostile band. They waited no longer, but made a wild rush into the
+densest part of the scrub, and were quickly lost to sight. Then we
+proceeded onwards warily, whilst far in the distance the branches
+crackled and broke before the fleeing horde. The scene of their stand
+was littered with fragments of brushwood, and the dying embers of a fire
+smouldered in the centre of a small clearing close by. All around,
+shields, spears, and boomerangs lay scattered as they had been thrown
+when their owners took to flight. The sight was curiously strange and
+impressive.
+
+My usually loquacious companions had been wonderfully silent during the
+last day or so, owing, perhaps, to the uninspiring nature of our
+environment, but now Mac succeeded in launching into a lengthy diatribe,
+in which he consigned the blacks generally to a very warm climate
+indeed.
+
+"At the same time," said he, "we shidna forget that such inceedents
+serve a vera usefu' purpose."
+
+"They seemed rale dacent black buddies," reflectively murmured Stewart.
+
+"And they entertained the laudable desire of puncturing us with 'rale
+dacent' spears," Phil added shortly.
+
+The camels stood patiently within the clearing, with their long necks
+outstretched, and their heads moving up and down with the regularity of
+automatons; the horses straggled behind, gasping feebly.
+
+"We'd better make a halt right here, boys," I said; "the horses seem
+played out completely." So while Mac and Stewart were engaged in the
+work of unloading them, Phil and I made a minute survey of our
+surroundings. A huge breakwind guarded the circular space, and behind it
+a well-padded track led backwards into a richly-foliaged dell. Creeping
+plants and luxurious ferns grew in profession around the base of a
+single lime-tree which found root in the hollow, and a long wiry kind of
+grass flourished abundantly under its genial shade.
+
+"I'll investigate the cause of such unusual vegetation," Phil said,
+stepping forward.
+
+"Look out for snakes," I warned; then turned to assist Mac in raising
+poor "Sorrow," who had rolled over on the ground, pack-saddle and all.
+
+"The puir beastie's feenished," Mac said sorrowfully, "an' nae wunner."
+
+"Here's anither ane," wailed Stewart, and I looked up to see him wildly
+endeavouring to keep "Sin" from falling on the top of sundry cooking
+utensils. It was plain that two at least of the horses could go no
+further if fortune did not speedily favour us.
+
+"This is the deevil's ain countrie," groaned Mac helplessly, and for the
+moment I felt utterly disheartened as I watched the poor animals
+convulsively gasping on the sand.
+
+A shout from Phil drew my attention. "There's a spring here, boys," he
+cried gleefully from the lime-tree hollow.
+
+It was a welcome discovery; I had almost despaired of finding water in
+the vicinity. "We'll camp for the day," I said, "and give our pack train
+a much-needed rest."
+
+The spring was a small one and beautifully clear; its waters gurgled
+gently through a fissure in a white kaolin formation, and the surplus
+flow was absorbed by the spreading roots of the climbing growths
+mentioned. It was half hidden by an outjutting boulder, and further
+cunningly screened from view by a heavy clump of overhanging grass.
+Evidently the blacks were in the habit of camping here frequently; the
+breakwind might have been erected for one night's shelter, but the track
+towards the well had been long in use.
+
+"I hope our landlords do not visit us to-night," Phil remarked, as we
+gazed at each other through the smoke of our camp fire some little time
+later.
+
+"It wud be a vera onfort'nate happenin'," Mac grunted placidly, drawing
+his gun closer.
+
+"They're mebbe cannibals," suggested Stewart uneasily.
+
+"We'll keep a watch in case of accident," I said; "but I don't expect
+they'll give us any trouble."
+
+But Stewart was still uneasy. "Their spears ha' an ex-tra-or'-nar'
+bluid-thirsty look," he grumbled again, examining the double-barbed
+weapons he had collected, "an' I hae nae faith whitever in they
+black-skinned heathen."
+
+However, the night passed without alarm, though we kept a careful watch
+and were ready for an attack should any have been attempted.
+
+We continued our march next morning, and in less than half an hour had
+emerged into open country, but now the surface soil was of a hard,
+gravelly nature, liberally strewn with the iron pebbles so abundant in
+more southerly latitudes. Straggling growths of mallee and mulga spread
+everywhere, and at their roots reptiles and numberless nameless pests
+seemed to abide. Black snakes writhed across our path, centipedes
+squirmed over our boots, iguanas in myriads started before our
+approach, and flying creatures with hard, scaly wings rose from the
+shadeless branches and dashed into our faces. Flies in dense clouds
+assailed us, causing indescribable torture, and the diminutive sand
+insect was also extremely active, seeking into our socks and ragged
+clothing despite our most stringent precautions.
+
+For over a week we journeyed across this dreary wilderness, nor did we
+once observe a break in the horizon's even curve; the weather,
+meanwhile, being of sweltering description. Then a dim haze towards the
+north-east gradually outlined into a well-defined mountain range as we
+advanced, and the country in general took on a more irregular
+appearance. We were now nearing the line of the explorer Wells's
+northward march, and I altered our course slightly in order to intersect
+it at a point where a good water supply was charted, for four days had
+elapsed since we had last discovered any trace of moisture.
+
+All that day we forced onwards wearily, the sun beating down upon us
+mercilessly the while. No more desolate tract could be imagined than
+that which lies in these latitudes: the motionless mallee and mulga
+shrubs, the glistening beady surface over which we dragged our feet, the
+quivering heat haze that so distorted our vision, and the solemn
+stillness--the awful stillness of a tomb--all tended to overwhelm the
+mind. A broken range of sandstone hills loomed clearly out of the haze
+early in the afternoon, directly in our track, and I again shifted the
+course so as to round their southern extremity. Towards the south the
+sand wastes extended far as the eye could reach, but east and north many
+mouldering peaks now interrupted our view.
+
+We found the spring without difficulty; it contained about forty gallons
+of muddy water, over which a thick green scum had gathered, and it was
+simply moving with animal life. Many bones of doubtful origin lay
+heaped near to it; some were probably the remains of kangaroos killed by
+the natives, of whom there were numerous signs in the neighbourhood, but
+Phil insisted that not a few human bones were among the bleaching mass.
+At the bottom of the spring the complete vertebræ of several snakes and
+similar reptiles almost wholly covered the chalky, impervious base, but
+how these came to be there was a matter beyond my comprehension.
+
+"Most probably," said Phil, "the natives like a snaky flavour in the
+water."
+
+"It mak's it extra paleetable tae them, nae doot," groaned Mac with a
+shudder, "but I hae nae parshiality fur crawly bastes, even when they're
+deid."
+
+Stewart had by this time acquired a philosophical turn of mind. "What's
+the guid o' growlin', Mac?" he snorted. "There's mebbe waur than that
+tae come yet."
+
+That we were in a district favoured by the blacks was very certain,
+although we had not yet observed any of the dusky savages; three or four
+breakwinds sheltered a space close to the spring, and the ground was
+black with burnt-out smokes and charred logs. The water, notwithstanding
+its pronounced medicinal flavour, was a great improvement on the fetid
+solutions of the various soaks we had encountered, and we decided to
+camp by it for several days, so as to test the auriferous resources of
+the surface sands, which looked rather promising, and also to give us
+time to make some much-needed repairs in our tattered wardrobe.
+
+The results of our experiments with the supposed auriferous country
+proved too insignificant for more than a passing mention here. A few
+colours were obtained, but nothing to give confidence to even the most
+unambitious goldseeker. Rather disconsolately we prepared to resume our
+march in a more N.E. direction, and three days later we started on our
+altered course. The eternal sameness of things in the Australian
+interior makes daily records of progress unentertaining reading, and
+though each day's travel comes back to my mind now as I write with
+painful vividness, yet it but cries out in the same strain as its
+predecessor and follower, "Sand, sand, everlasting sand."
+
+For many miserable days and weeks we struggled eastward, sometimes
+deviating to the north or south in vain endeavour to escape unusually
+deterrent belts of the frightful wastes now so familiar to us all.
+
+Sometimes we would locate a soak or claypan when least expecting such a
+find, and again, we might be reduced to almost certain disaster before
+the water-bags were replenished at some providential mudhole in our
+course. I do not wish to enlarge upon the miseries of our journeyings;
+we took these willingly on ourselves at the start, hoping for a
+compensating reward in the shape of valuable knowledge; and is not
+experience always priceless? Knowledge we did gain, it is true, but not
+of the kind we had over-fondly anticipated; still, we had not yet
+reached the planned limit of our expedition, and who knew what might
+await us in the dim, shadowy mountain that stretched its cumbering
+height far on the eastern horizon?
+
+We had sighted this landmark nearly a week before, but having been more
+than usually zealous in our search for the precious metal among the
+outcropping iron formations now frequently encountered, our rate of
+travel had been reduced to a few miles each day. Two of the horses were
+still left us; the last of the ill-fated three had succumbed from sheer
+exhaustion nearly fifty miles back, but "Sir John" and "Reprieve,"
+though no longer the high-spirited animals they once were, still carried
+their jolting burdens of tinned meats, flour, and extracts, though
+their steps were daily becoming weaker, and their bright eyes clouding
+in a manner that foretold the worst. The camels stubbornly paced ahead,
+with the great water-bags tantalisingly lapping their tough hides, and
+the miscellaneous mining implements perched on their hollow backs; they
+had already served us well and nobly, and I devoutly hoped their vast
+energies would bear them over the worst that lay before us.
+
+[Illustration: TAKING OUR POSITION.]
+
+
+
+
+EL DORADO!
+
+
+We were now close on the 125th degree of longitude, which I had marked
+as the limit of our eastward course, and my faith in more northerly
+latitudes was so little, indeed, that I dreaded making any change in our
+direction of travel.
+
+"If we don't strike gold within the next couple of days," said Phil,
+"there isn't much likelihood of our being overburdened with wealth at
+the end of the trip."
+
+Mac, who was pulling the nose rope of the leading camel, at once lifted
+up his voice in protest.
+
+"For Heaven's sake be mair pleasant wi' yer remarks, Phil," he cried. "I
+was calculatin' on goin' home like a young millionaire----"
+
+"You'll need to calculate again, then, Mac," interrupted Phil, "for I
+don't think we'll get a red cent out of the ground on this journey."
+
+But the complainer was not yet satisfied.
+
+"What's the guid o' bein' a golologist?" he demanded wrathfully. "I
+thocht----"
+
+What he thought remained unspoken, for at that moment we heard a
+scramble behind, and looking round we saw the doughty Mac and his
+compatriot Stewart engaged in fierce conflict.
+
+"I saw it first, ye red-heided baboon," roared the former, with
+remarkable fluency of expression.
+
+"The fact o' seeing it is naething--naething at a'," returned the other
+with great complacency, "It's sufficient to say that I hae got it."
+
+The camels, feeling the strain of guidance relaxed, had come to a halt,
+and were now seemingly taking an interest in the squabble. It was a rare
+thing for them to be left to their own devices, even for a moment. Time
+is precious when crossing these vast salt tracts, and midday stoppages
+in the blazing sun are dangerous.
+
+"What are you two quarrelling about now?" I asked sternly, feeling in no
+gentle mood with the hinderers. Mac's face assumed an intensely
+aggrieved expression, but he held his peace, and Stewart calmly
+displayed a small rounded pebble between his finger and thumb,
+announcing blandly that it alone was the cause of the disturbance.
+
+"It's a bonnie stane," said he, gazing at his treasure admiringly.
+
+"An' it's mine by richt," howled Mac.
+
+I was about to lecture the pair strongly on their foolish behaviour over
+what I supposed to be an ordinary fragment of white quartz, when Phil
+uttered an exclamation, and, rushing back, snatched the pebble from
+Stewart's hand and proceeded to examine it closely. So eager was his
+scrutiny that in a moment we were clustered round him, awaiting his
+verdict with extreme interest.
+
+"What do you make of it?" said he at length, handing the stone to me.
+
+"Weather-worn quartz," I replied promptly. He shook his head.
+
+"We'll work it out in specific gravity later," he said, with the air of
+one who was sure of his ground; "but I will bet you this half of a shirt
+I am wearing that it's a genuine ruby, and there must be more of them in
+the vicinity."
+
+"Hurroo!" yelled Mac and Stewart in unison, prancing around delightedly,
+and for the moment Phil's delinquencies were forgotten in the tribute of
+praise that my worthy henchmen generously accorded the "golologist."
+They ended by making him a present of the fateful gem, though Mac
+somewhat spoilt the effect of the gift by soliloquising rather loudly--
+
+"It'll be well to propeetiate the golologist, Stewart, my man, for he's
+nae sae stupid as he looks, efter a'."
+
+Soon after we renewed our march, much uplifted at the thought of
+acquiring treasure even more valuable than gold; but though we kept a
+sharp look-out on the ground surface, the early afternoon passed without
+any further coloured pebbles being discovered, whereat Mac again
+commenced to revile the country with his customary eloquence.
+
+"That ruby wis a delooshun," he asserted stoutly. "Some o' the El Dorado
+fairies must ha'e put it there on purpose to deceive us, an' noo they'll
+be having grand fun at oor expense."
+
+"Hustle along old Misery, and don't moralise," I interjected hastily.
+
+"Moralise?" he echoed. "Me moralise? No vera likely. I never dae such a
+thing. Gee up, Meesery, an' stop winkin' at me this meenit."
+
+But the mention of El Dorado had aroused in Stewart a strain of
+recollection, and as he paced beside his cumbrous charge he made several
+ineffectual attempts to recite some ancient verses as learned in the
+days of his youth.
+
+"I canna mind the poetry o' it," he broke out at last, "but the story
+was real bonnie; it telt hoo a warrior went out to seek for El Dorado,
+and--and----" Then his memory came back to him, and he chanted out
+dismally--
+
+      "And as his strength
+      Failed him at length,
+    He met a pilgrim shadow.
+      'Shadow,' said he,
+      'Where can it be,
+    This land of El Dorado?'
+
+      'Over the mountains
+      Of the moon,
+    Down the valley of the Shadow,
+      Ride, boldly ride,'
+      The Shade replied,
+    'If you seek for El Dorado.'"
+
+"Which is," grunted Mac, "which is, metaphorically speaking, preceesely
+what we are doing. Gee up, Meesery, and dinna look sae weary-like."
+
+"Our specimen must have been shed from that mountain," I repeated, when
+we lay down in our blankets at night.
+
+The morning dawned clear and beautifully calm. The sky was cloudless,
+save where in the east a billowy sea of gold marked where the sun had
+risen. The leafless branches of the mulga shrubs growing near quivered
+in the rising rays, and the long sand-track ahead sparkled as the waters
+of a gilded ocean. But now, through the dispelling haze the firm outline
+of a precipitous mountain became clearly visible only a few miles ahead.
+In our eager search on the preceding afternoon we had not observed the
+nearness of the welcome sentinel, or probably it was that the darkening
+sky in the early evening had shut it from our view. There was certainly
+no doubt about its presence now, and we hailed it right gladly as we
+watched it loom out of the dissolving mists.
+
+"It's mebbe a mirage," suggested Stewart apprehensively.
+
+"Nary miradge," retorted Mac; "it's El Dorado, that's what it is. Just
+what we were looking for."
+
+Five minutes later I was ogling the sun with my sextant, while Phil
+stood by with the trusty chronometer in his hand to note the time of my
+observations.
+
+"125 degrees 17 minutes east longitude," he announced, after a rough
+calculation, "which makes the mountain about ten miles off."
+
+      "'Shadow,' said he,
+      'Whaur can it be,
+    This land o' El Dorado?'"
+
+Stewart trolled out lustily as he set about the preparation of the
+morning meal. About eight o'clock we were ready to start, which showed
+unusual alacrity in our movements. The camels, too, seemed imbued with
+fresh life, and allowed themselves to be loaded without their customary
+protests.
+
+"I've never seen Meesery sae tractable," Mac said in amazement, patting
+the trembling nostrils of the leading camel. "I wonder what's gaun to
+happen?"
+
+"We're all ready," sung out Phil blithely, and I gave the usual signal
+for the advance.
+
+"Gee up, Meesery," grunted Mac.
+
+"Aince mair, Slavery," implored Stewart, and we set out for the mountain
+at an unusually lively pace. The forenoon passed without event, and so
+speedy had been our progress that our midday halt was made amongst the
+straggling timber belt which feathered the base of the mountain. We lost
+no time in making ready for the ascent, and within an hour after our
+arrival we had hobbled the camels and were starting out on our journey
+of discovery.
+
+For the first half-hour we made fairly good headway through the
+straggling belt of eucalypti covering the lower slopes, then we emerged
+on a treeless, boulder-strewn expanse, on which the sun scintillated
+with burning intensity. Over this scorched area we clambered as best we
+could. The sharp rubble cut through our boots, and the glistening rocks,
+hot as a fiery furnace, burnt our clutching hands. Our mountain
+exploration was surely becoming less of a picnic than we had
+anticipated. Directly above, a solid mass of basalt reared its head,
+gaunt and bare, but when we came to the edge of the glass-like cap, we
+hesitated--we might as well have attempted to cross a field of molten
+metal. From this point various dry channels tore down the face of the
+hill, radiating outwards into the plain. They were so silted up with
+rock fragments and ironsand as to be scarcely perceptible, but Phil's
+trained eye at once noted their significance.
+
+"Ages ago," said he, "those gullies were filled with rushing torrents,
+which goes to prove that a crater lake existed on the top of the
+mountain."
+
+He walked over to one of the ancient beds and scraped among the drift of
+black sand conglomeration. At once several water-worn specimens of
+quartzite were uncovered, and of these over fifty per cent bore the
+characteristic markings of the ruby.
+
+"Fill your pockets with these, Mac," he said quietly. "They should be
+worth considerably more than their weight in gold."
+
+Prolonged travelling in Western Australia does not tend to develop
+enthusiasm, and the extraordinary find so unexpectedly made was greeted
+by no extravagant manifestations of delight. Relief rather than joy was
+ours at that moment, for in one important sense at least our quest
+seemed surely ended.
+
+"If we can find water in the vicinity we'll camp at the foot of the hill
+for a few days, boys," I announced with much satisfaction. "Meanwhile we
+had better explore a little further, and see what the country looks like
+from the summit."
+
+[Illustration: A NATIVE CAMP.]
+
+But Mac and Stewart were already busily engaged collecting specimens,
+which they stowed in every nook and corner of their ragged garments.
+
+"Come along, you gloating misers!" cried Phil, as he and I started to
+negotiate the last stiff climb.
+
+"There's nae time like the present," growled Mac oracularly, pursuing
+his congenial task with supreme content.
+
+"I'm o' the same opeenion," spluttered Stewart, who had turned his mouth
+into a receptacle for the finest gems in his collection. So we crawled
+over the smooth climaxing dome alone. Our surprise was great when on
+reaching the top we found ourselves on the edge of a small circular area
+that depressed ever so slightly towards the centre, providing a space
+which looked remarkably like an ordinary circus ring. This impression
+was much heightened by the fact that a well-marked path seemed to have
+been worn around the periphery; but through what agency this had been
+done I could not well imagine. We stood surveying the odd arena, filled
+with wonder.
+
+"It is one of Nature's strange tricks," I said, after a considerable
+silence.
+
+Phil looked doubtful, but he did not speak. Then we made a further
+discovery. The saucer-shaped hollow was graven out of a solid lava
+formation, but exactly over the point of its deepest dip several
+crumbling branches lay strewn. Of a certainty they had not come there of
+their own accord, and at once we were overwhelmed with dire misgivings.
+
+"It means that there are some native tribes in the neighbourhood," said
+Phil, watching me kick aside the branches with much interest. What we
+saw then did not add to our bewilderment, for we had already partly
+guessed the significance of the peculiar arrangement. Under the layer of
+brush, a narrow, funnel-like shaft had been hid, which apparently
+descended into the heart of the mouldering desert sentinel, but why this
+hole had been covered was more than we could understand. While we stood
+in silent contemplation of the remarkable state of affairs disclosed,
+our energetic companions, having marvelled at our long absence, swarmed
+up beside us, breathing heavily.
+
+"Nebuchadnezzar's furnace wouldna be in the same street wi' that biler,"
+began Mac, patting his scantily-covered knees with tender solicitude.
+
+"I smell nigger," howled Stewart, taking in the scene at a glance.
+
+"That's aye what happens when A come oot withoot my gun," sorrowfully
+muttered the first arrival, moving over to the narrow crater mouth and
+peering into the darkness with studied nonchalance.
+
+It so happened, however, that the loose pockets of his flimsy upper
+garment were filled to overflowing with cherished specimens, and the
+half-kneeling attitude which he assumed allowed them to escape in a
+copious stream, so that they fell down into the depths. With a bellow of
+rage he drew back, but not before the bulk of his treasure had
+disappeared; then the air was filled with the fulness of his wrath, and
+sulphurous expressions loud and deep were hurled into the Stygian gloom.
+
+"Calm yersel', Mac--calm yersel'," adjured Stewart soothingly.
+
+"Calm be d----d!" roared the afflicted one. "Hoo am I goin' to get back
+my rubies?"
+
+This was a point which seemed unanswerable.
+
+"You'll get more to-morrow, Mac," I said, "but we'll have to return to
+the camels now, in case the natives get a hold of them before we have
+time to take precautions."
+
+He remained unappeased, however.
+
+"We'll mebbe hae to flee for oor lives afore morning," he protested
+gloomily. "It's no the first time we've had to strike camp in a hurry."
+
+As he spoke he unwound from his waist a long coil of rope which he
+usually carried in case of emergency, and, with dogged determination,
+proceeded to sound the depths of the well.
+
+"You'd better let me gang," advised Stewart, guessing his companion's
+intentions before they had been uttered; "I'm no sae bulky as you,
+an'----"
+
+He got no further.
+
+"Mak' nae mair allooshuns," came the answer, with a chilling dignity.
+"I'll engineer this funeral mysel'."
+
+Hastily fastening a fragment of rock to the end of the rope, he dropped
+it into the narrow orifice and carefully noted the length of line run
+out. All this time Phil and I had made little comment, never expecting
+that any satisfactory bottom would be found; but great was our surprise
+to see the rope become stationary when little over twenty feet had been
+paid out.
+
+"I'm really anxious to know what is at the bottom of that hole, Mac,"
+said Phil; "but I hope you don't find a nice fat, healthy crocodile
+awaiting you----"
+
+"Haud the end o' the rope, Phil, an' dinna speechify," broke out the
+harassed Mac impatiently; and he wriggled his somewhat substantial form
+into the vertical channel until his arms alone saved him from falling
+down altogether.
+
+"It's a--a tight fit," he grumbled, with diminishing enthusiasm. "Noo
+haud on tight, ye deevils; haud on--haud on!"
+
+His voice rumbled up dolorously to our ears as we lowered him gently
+into the mysterious pit, until, when the lower depths were reached, the
+rocky vault seemed to tremble with vague echoes. Suddenly the strain on
+the rope was relaxed, and we waited expectantly for tidings from the
+adventurer.
+
+"It's vera dark doon here," came the ghost-like voice from the
+underground. "I think--I think I'll come up----"
+
+"What sort of bottom have you got, Mac?" I shouted. "Try and fetch up a
+specimen."
+
+A few more inconsequent remarks issued from the pit mouth, then we could
+see the dull glimmer of a match far below. Almost immediately after a
+jubilant yell of triumph swelled up to the surface.
+
+"I've got them! I've got them!" he cried. "An' there's gold quartz here,
+foreby." Then came a crash, a rumble, and a dull, heavy splash, and we
+on the surface gazed on each other in dismay.
+
+"Let me doon! Let me doon!" wailed Stewart. "Something serious has
+happened to Mac. Haud on to the rope." He let himself into the narrow
+aperture with unwonted agility, and, with an unspeakable fear in our
+hearts, Phil and I commenced to pay out the rope.
+
+"Wha the--who the----Wha's blockin' the licht?" bellowed a
+well-known voice from the bowels of the earth, which had the effect of
+ejecting Stewart into the outer air with a celerity astonishing to
+behold. Then we breathed again.
+
+Apparently some ledge had first intercepted our sounding-line, and also
+provided a precarious foothold for our valiant associate; but that the
+true bottom had now been reached there was little room for doubt.
+
+"I might have guessed before," said Phil, "that the crater would have an
+impervious base, and so retain any rain that might be collected."
+
+Judging by the snorts and puffs emitted by the individual who was in a
+position to know, the shaft must have held a fair amount of liquid
+contents.
+
+"Haul on the rope, for heaven's sake!" spluttered he. "This water would
+pushion a nigger. Haul me up quick! There's snakes an' wee crocodiles
+tickling me!"
+
+In haste we endeavoured to obey his beseeching call, but the sodden cord
+was not equal to the strain, and twice the strands snapped before our
+comrade's bulk was raised from the water.
+
+"We'd better double the line, boys," I said. "Mac must have increased in
+weight during his sojourn below."
+
+The unfortunate victim of his own prowess groaned lugubriously from his
+dank and dark prison, but found time between his grumbling to curse
+right heartily the various denizens of his watery environment.
+
+"Be patient, Mac, be patient," counselled Stewart, rearranging the
+haulage system. "Scientific exploration is not without its drawbacks, as
+you should well ken by this time." He continued addressing choice words
+of wisdom to his helpless compatriot while he deftly spliced the rope.
+During this lull in operations I chanced to look abroad over the
+sweltering plain, and at once my eyes detected the curling "smokes" of a
+native camp. We had been too busily engrossed with other matters since
+our arrival on the hill-top to observe the landscape on the east, and
+now the nearness of a possible hostile band appalled me. Our rifles had
+been left in camp, and I only carried a revolver.
+
+"By Jove!" said Phil, "we are going to be in a fix." Then a shout of
+alarm broke from him: "There's about a dozen of the ugliest bucks I ever
+saw coming right up the hill," he said feebly. I followed his gaze, and,
+sure enough, I could see a number of hideously-scarred and
+feather-bedecked warriors making their way through the scraggy
+brushwood, scarcely a hundred yards from where we stood. With frantic
+haste, we again endeavoured to rescue our companion from his awkward
+predicament, but fate was surely against us. We had with our combined
+efforts raised him only a few feet when the rope came in contact with
+the broken ledge, and the strands parted like so many straws, so that
+Mac was once more precipitated back into the slimy waters. Our plans had
+now to be made quickly.
+
+"Go down to the camp, Stewart," I said, "and fetch a camel pack-rope and
+my rifle. Phil and I will make the best of things till you come back."
+Forgetful alike of the burning rock and the sharp-edged rubble, he slid
+down the smooth declivity, and made a wild burst for the foot of the
+hill. Almost immediately the many-barbed spears of the aborigines bore
+into view from the opposite side of the dome, and we laid ourselves flat
+on the curving wall and breathlessly waited events. Slowly a weird
+procession filed on to the elevated platform, and continued a solemn
+march around the well-trod channel which had first claimed our
+attention. Round and round they circled, clashing their spears and
+shields, and swaying their lithe black bodies drunken-like. Then
+suddenly they broke out into a dismal chant, and quickened their step
+into a half-run, ludicrous to behold. It was soon evident to us that the
+warrior band had not come to level their spears against us; they never
+once glanced in our direction. Their gaze was apparently fixed on the
+ancient crater in which Mac lay entombed. They had come to worship the
+great spirit Wangul, the dreaded "Dweller in the Waters."
+
+The _dénoûement_ of this interesting ceremonial was rapid and
+unexpected. Just when the reeling warriors had ceased their vocal
+exercise from sheer want of breath, when the ensuing silence was broken
+only by the pattering of many feet on the sun-baked lava, a hoarse voice
+thundered up from subterranean caverns, and at the sound the poor
+nomads halted in their mad career, and gazed at each other
+terror-stricken.
+
+"Babba, Wangul, Moori!" they cried shrilly, "Babba, Wangul, Moori!"
+("The Water God speaks"). Again a sonorous echo reverberated up from the
+heart of the mountain, completing their demoralisation. A moment they
+hesitated, then, dashing their warlike arms to the ground, and tearing
+the feathers from their hair, they fled madly back whence they had come.
+Phil gave a gasp of relief, and I felt thankful beyond expression. Then
+we quickly made our way through the litter of discarded weapons towards
+the Wangul's home. The words that floated to our ears when we gazed into
+the depths were sulphurous in the extreme. Poor Mac could not understand
+why he had been so ruthlessly neglected, and his complaints were deep
+and eloquent.
+
+"Stewart, ye red-heided deevil, are ye goin' to pu' me oot, or are ye
+no?" he howled in righteous indignation, and I was glad that the
+individual named, who just then came swarming over the rocks, puffing
+tempestuously, had not heard the fervent malediction bestowed upon his
+faithful person. He approached laden with the whole armoury of the
+expedition, the perspiration streaming from his face, and his gaunt
+frame trembling visibly.
+
+"I thought ye had been all slauchtered," he muttered, subsiding behind
+his equipment, "an' I wis goin' to hae revenge."
+
+With the aid of the stout camel-ropes we soon raised our dripping
+comrade to the surface. As he approached the light of day I noticed that
+his rugged old face bore a distinctly grim expression, as if he was of
+the opinion that we had been having a huge joke at his expense; but when
+he heard of what had occurred, and the part he had unwittingly played
+in the ceremonial, resentment gave place to mirth, and he laughed
+uproariously.
+
+"An' here's the rubies, Stewart, my man," he said, extracting the
+precious stones from some secret corner of his bedraggled wardrobe; "I
+got them safe efter a', and you shall have the finest are o' the
+collection for yer maist splendifferous efforts on my behalf."
+
+Soon after we returned to camp, but it was many days later when we said
+goodbye to the lonely mountain which Mac persisted in misnaming El
+Dorado.
+
+[Illustration: EL DORADO!]
+
+
+
+
+WHERE THE PELICAN BUILDS ITS NEST
+
+
+There is little need to recount the monotonous details of my log-book
+for the many weeks that ensued. The same description applies to nearly
+all the vast interior country, and we struggled over ironshot
+sand-plains and through scraggy brushwood belts, with rarely a diversion
+in the landscape to gladden our weary eyes. The sun shines on no more
+desolate or dreary country than this great "Never Never" land of
+Australia, whose grim deserts have claimed many a victim to the cause of
+knowledge. The explorer's life amid the deadly solitudes is not one of
+many pleasures. Rather do unpleasant possibilities for ever obtrude upon
+his jaded brain until he is well-nigh distraught, or at least reduced to
+a morbid state of melancholy in keeping with his miserable surroundings.
+Little wonder, therefore, that disaster so often attends the traveller
+in these lonely lands. The strongest will becomes weakened by the
+insidious influences of the country, and the most buoyant spirit is
+quickly dulled. All Nature seems to conspire against him. The stunted
+mallee and mulga shrubs afford no welcome shade; they dot the
+sand-wastes in endless even growths, and the eye is wearied by their
+everlasting motionless presence. The saltbush clumps and spinifex
+patches conceal hideous reptiles. Snakes and centipedes crawl across
+the track; scaly lizards, venomous scorpions, ungainly bungarrows, and a
+host of nameless pests, are always near to torture and distract. Even
+the birds are imbued with a solemnity profound that adds still more to
+the plenteous cares that already overwhelm the wanderer in the silent
+bushland. The pelican stands owlishly in his path as if to guard from
+intrusion its undiscovered home; the horrible carrion crow with its
+demoralising croak is for ever circling overhead; and the mopoke's dull
+monotone is as a calling from a shadowy world.
+
+These various influences were not without their effect upon my little
+party, and we became strangely silent as we kept up our dogged march of
+fifteen miles each day; and when danger threatened, as it did on more
+than one occasion, we almost viewed our approaching fate with
+indifference, so sodden had our mental faculties become. Eleven days
+after leaving the mountain, our last horse, "Sir John," dropped quietly
+to the ground, utterly exhausted, and at once the air was filled with
+screaming crows, and flies in thousands began to settle on the dying
+animal's heaving flank, and crowded into his ears and nostrils. I ended
+the poor brute's agony with a revolver shot, and again old "Slavery"
+received additional burden; then we hastened onwards, not daring to look
+back.
+
+We were now many hundreds of miles from any outpost settlement, and with
+only two camels between us and--eternity. Yet these ponderous animals
+bore up bravely, seldom showing signs of weakness even when crossing the
+most dismally arid wastes, and their slow but sure movement raised our
+drooping spirits when our circling crow convoy became suggestively
+daring. I made a course due north, determined to intersect any promising
+country that might intervene in the middle latitudes, but so far our
+changed route had led us full three hundred miles over the most
+barren-looking desert that could possibly be imagined.
+
+Only once did we observe natives, and that was when under the 23rd
+Parallel, in a scrubby country offering the only inducement to the poor
+nomads within a hundred miles. At this place we located a local well
+containing, seemingly, an unlimited supply of lime-flavoured fluid; our
+perilously-flat water-bags were thankfully refilled, and our hopes rose
+high at the unexpected find. But when we renewed our march the
+scrub-land soon merged into the blistering plain, and our dreams of a
+coming El Dorado were again rudely dashed.
+
+On one occasion we encountered a stretch of salt-crusted country,
+evidently the bed of an ancient lake: it extended for five miles in a
+N.N.E. direction, and towards its latter extremity the surface was
+marshy and damp. We extracted sufficient moisture from the muddy basin
+for cooking our usual allowance of rice, so that we might save what
+remained of our comparatively fresh supply for more urgent needs.
+
+Beyond this swamp we entered upon a more broken expanse than had met our
+view for many weeks. Decaying sandstone rocks reared their heads above
+the gravel, and enormous dry gullies tore up the ground in all
+directions. But this state of affairs did not continue with us long,
+and, as if by a grim law of compensation, a belt of the most miserable
+sand country soon intervened to retard our progress. Here the sand was
+loose and deep, and unmixed with the usual iron gravel; and the
+slightest wind blew the fine dust into our faces, almost blinding us. We
+sank over the ankles at each step, and the camels slowed their already
+slow march to a mere crawl, and staggered and floundered in the wavy
+masses.
+
+Gradually the land-surface took on the appearance of a great sand-sea,
+with billows rolling back in a northwesterly direction. As far as the
+eye could reach, a series of gentle undulations rippled into the vast
+distance. I altered the course several points to eastward, and we
+traversed the disheartening obstacles at a difficult angle; but the
+undulations grew more general as we advanced, until they surrounded us
+in the form of seemingly endless furrows, about a hundred and fifty
+yards apart, and from ten to fifteen feet in height. A sparse vegetation
+of spinifex found root in the hill-crests, giving the appearance--from a
+distance--of a huge cultivated and well-tended field. But on closer
+acquaintance the ridges showed up miserably bare and cheerless, and
+their white gleaming sand formation caused our eyes to quiver and close,
+so trying was the light reflected from them. No life of any kind was
+observed. Even the crows had abandoned us. We seemed to be traversing
+the bed of an ocean whose waters had long since subsided. A day's march
+over these hindering obstructions, however, led us into the familiar
+ironshot and scrub country, which, desolate though it was, looked cool
+and inviting after our experience with the sand elevations.
+
+More than once after this fortune favoured us opportunely by the happy
+location of a soak or claypan in our course, and we grew to trust
+Providence in a much greater measure than we had ever anticipated. The
+weather was almost unbearably hot; a vertical sun stared down on us in
+the daytime with burning intensity, and at night the air was as the
+breath of Hades. We were surely paying the penalty of the pioneer to the
+full.
+
+By this time our clothing had reached a state far beyond repair, and we
+must have formed an extraordinarily dilapidated-looking quartet. Our
+garments, not very lavish from the start, had been discarded in
+tattered portions, and we were left with cool and scanty apparel, the
+sight of which would have caused the most abandoned tramp to turn aside
+in disgust. It came to be a subject of jocularity with us as we noted
+the gradual disintegration of our meagre remaining sartorial glory; and
+I was glad even for such an excuse to introduce the lighter vein into
+our conversation. "I'll shin be able tae flee," Mac would say, ruefully
+surveying his rags. "Ay, Mac, the wings are sproutin' awfu' fast," his
+comrade would sorrowfully reply. "Bit it's a blessin' the weather's no
+cauld," he never failed to add, with philosophical gratitude.
+
+We were reaching an extreme northerly latitude, with the great central
+deserts behind us, and though we had been bitterly disappointed with the
+non-auriferous country crossed, yet the thought of emerging safely from
+the "Never Never" land for the time took the place of vain regrets and
+cheered us on to fresh endeavour. We had found no El Dorado in the
+blistering salt plains; the Land of Promise had eluded us completely--if
+such a land existed. Our time, it is true, had been more taken up in
+searching for water than prospecting for gold; still, we took occasion
+to analyse samples of every probable gold-bearing patch encountered, but
+always with insignificant result.
+
+One morning we found ourselves in the unenviable position of having but
+a few pints of water left in the canvas bags, and as we had located no
+soak for over a week, our immediate future seemed gloomy indeed. The
+camels were for the first time showing signs of collapse; and little
+wonder; they had gone eight days without a drink, and their load, since
+the last of the horses had succumbed, had been unduly heavy.
+
+"We've got to find water to-day, boys," I said, "or something serious is
+bound to happen."
+
+Mac chuckled dryly. "The deil aye tak's care o' his ain," he announced
+with an effort at pleasantry; and Stewart cackled harshly in agreement.
+
+Soon after breakfast, Phil, in surveying the landscape by the aid of his
+field-glasses--a very cherished possession--detected in the distance a
+long, curling column of smoke, sure evidence of the aborigines'
+presence, and at once our hearts became lighter and our waning strength
+renewed. "There must be moisture of some sort about," I said to Phil, as
+we staggered along together in the wake of the camels. "The country is
+changing for the better," he replied, "yet I can scarcely imagine a
+spring to exist in any such soft sand formation." The vagaries of the
+interior plains had always mystified him, but he could not be brought to
+reason against his geological principles.
+
+Mac's verdict was borne of a more practical kind of observation. "Fur
+ony sake haud yer tongue aboot furmashuns, Phil," he shouted back from
+his position by the side of "Slavery." "A black buddie needs a drink as
+weel as a white buddie, an' we'll shin be in the land o' Goschen noo."
+
+"There's one thing we had best remember, boys," I said. "The natives in
+these latitudes are probably very different from those in the south.
+They may be cannibals, and considerably more hostile than any tribe we
+have yet met."
+
+"Niggers!" snorted Mac and Stewart almost simultaneously, with an
+indescribable inflection of contempt. Further words failed them, but I
+could see that they had completely forgotten the little episode at El
+Dorado.
+
+Towards noon we arrived at the point where the smoke had been seen, but
+only a few charred logs were now in evidence, and they were scattered
+about in the sand as if they had been partially burnt long previously,
+and afterwards half submerged in the drifts caused by many seasons'
+willie-willies. The natives had vanished in some unaccountable manner,
+leaving not a trace of their recent presence in the vicinity. Far off
+near the horizon a thick belt of timber stretched across our track, but
+beyond that again the bare desert merged into the skyline.
+
+"Whaur hae the black deevils gaun to?" Mac demanded indignantly, as if a
+considerable breach of etiquette had been committed by the rapid flight
+of our prospective hosts.
+
+Then Stewart proceeded to poke among the scattered ashes, and soon
+discovered several still glowing logs well sunk beneath the surface.
+"Mac," said he solemnly, when we clustered round to examine his find,
+"we'll hae tae ca' canny; the deevils are no defeecient in strategy, an'
+it's plain they dinna want oor guid company."
+
+Stewart was right; the blacks must have observed our approach, and being
+unwilling to meet us, had hastily decamped, first taking care to cover
+up any clue that might have aroused our curiosity. "That field-glass of
+yours has done good work, Phil," I said, when we turned away. "If you
+had not noticed the smoke we should never have dreamed that there had
+been any one here for at least a year, and goodness knows what might
+have happened if we had gone to sleep in this district without keeping a
+watch."
+
+Mac chirruped to his patient charge. "Gee up, Slavery," said he, "ye'll
+get a drink the nicht."
+
+In spite of our most strenuous efforts, however, we were unable to reach
+the timber belt that day, and darkness closed over and compelled us to
+camp while we were yet a good way out in the open. For the last several
+miles the camels had literally to be dragged over the ground by a
+constant pressure on their nose ropes, and when we halted our weary
+caravan and unloaded the suffering beasts, they sank upon their knees
+breathing heavily, and made no attempt to search for anything to eat. It
+was plain that, should another day pass without water being discovered,
+our four-footed companions must give up the struggle, which in turn
+would mean that we should all be doomed to a most unenviable fate.
+
+"Ma puir animile," said Mac, stroking "Slavery's" quivering nostrils,
+"ye've been nine days withoot a drink, but ye'll get a' ye can tak' the
+morn."
+
+"Slavery" seemed almost to understand the sympathetic words, and grunted
+feebly in reply; then I was surprised to see him struggle to his feet
+and proceed to feed on the spinifex tufts growing around.
+
+"He kens I'm tellin' the truth!" shouted Mac delightedly; and there was
+much joy among us when "Misery," determined not to be outdone, after
+several efforts succeeded in rising shakily and joining his neighbour.
+
+"There's life in auld 'Misery' yet," applauded Stewart with hearty
+satisfaction; and the wonderful endurance shown by the dumb animals made
+me somewhat ashamed of my own collapsing resolution.
+
+"Let's be happy, boys," counselled Phil in most lugubrious tones. "Life
+is short, you know, and we'll be a long time dead."
+
+"If I hear ony mair o' they on-comfortable re-marks," slowly spoke Mac,
+with a reproachful glance at the last speaker, "I'll sing ye the Deid
+March. A lang time deid, did ye say? For ony sake, Phil, think on
+something cheery."
+
+"All right, Mac," retorted Phil. "I'll think of the feast we're going to
+have in the Hotel Cecil when we get back to civilisation." While he
+spoke he unconsciously hitched in his belt another hole.
+
+Then Stewart's voice rasped out dismally, "There's ... nae ... place
+like ... hame----"
+
+"Stop that concert!" I cried, while Phil squirmed in agony; but Mac had
+already seized the throat of the musician in a relentless grip, and the
+melancholy refrain spluttered out spasmodically to a finish.
+
+"Ye on-ceevilised backslider!" Mac roared in righteous wrath. "Hoo daur
+ye whine aboot hame in sic a menner? Fur twa peens," he concluded, with
+rising ferocity--"fur twa peens, ma man, A'd shak' yer teeth oot!"
+
+The half-choked culprit smiled with benign expression, "I wis makin' a
+joyfu' noise," he replied calmly. "Ye're gettin' gey hard tae please,
+I'm thinkin'."
+
+Phil laughed till the tears sprang to his eyes and traced small channels
+down his unwashed face, but he stopped abruptly when Mac shoved a tin
+pannikin under his chin.
+
+"What a sinfu' waste o' water," said the sphinx. "I raelly wunner at ye,
+Phil."
+
+Stewart, who had been busying himself about the fire, now interrupted
+again. "Supper's ready," he howled, "an' the menoo is tinned dug an'
+damper, or damper an' tinned dug; wi' a puckle roasted rice fur them as
+wants indee-gestion; the hale tae be washed doon wi' twa or three draps
+o' dirty watter."
+
+"That sounds nice," I commented, at which he began again.
+
+"Aye an' it's vera dirty watter. It's the last in the bag, an' there's
+tadpoles an' wee crocodiles swimmin' in't, an----"
+
+"Hold hard, Stewart," said Phil, while Mac was groping about for
+something substantial to throw at his comrade's head. "Hold hard, you
+grinning gorilla, and let us discover the mysterious ingredients of our
+humble fare for ourselves."
+
+"There's an auld saying," Mac grunted complacently, "that what the eye
+disna see the hert disna grieve fur. If ye'll tak' ma advice, ye'll dine
+awa' back frae the firelicht." And we took his advice without demur.
+
+We kept a watch that night for the first time during many weeks. The
+reputation of the Northern Australian natives was not such as inspired
+confidence in me. I had a wholesome dread of being speared while asleep,
+and these hostile savages were known to make their attacks invariably
+after the sun had set, when their tired victims were probably
+slumbering, unaware of the presence of danger.
+
+Mac volunteered for the first spell of duty, and as a preliminary he
+carefully drew the small shot charges from his cherished elephant-gun,
+and replaced them with ominous-looking buckshot cartridges.
+
+"This shid dae mair than tickle them," he grimly remarked, looking at us
+as we lay stretched upon our sandy couches, and his face, lit up by the
+ruddy glare of the fire, assumed an unusually malevolent expression.
+
+"You've got to remember, Mac," Phil warned, "that the beggars are
+probably cannibals, and as you are the fattest of the party, the natural
+sequence is----"
+
+"Say nae mair," our wary guardian interrupted with a deprecatory wave of
+his hand, "Spare yer in-seen-uashuns. There's nae nigger'll get near
+while I'm daein' sentry go, bit at the worst the black deevils wud never
+bile me when they could get guid tender golologist." With which dark
+statement he shouldered his gun and commenced to execute what looked
+like a solemn ghost dance around the boundary of our camp fire's
+illumination.
+
+[Illustration: AN EXTINCT VOLCANO WE CAMPED ON.]
+
+The sultry hours dragged slowly on, and the Southern Cross had set and
+risen again in the eastern sky, yet not a sound reached our ears. Phil
+relieved Mac at midnight, and I in turn took his place two hours later,
+but the night passed without alarm.
+
+We had a very dry and unpalatable breakfast next morning; only a few
+drops of chocolate-coloured sediment remained in the canvas bag, and
+this none of us cared to swallow for a variety of reasons. So we munched
+our hard damper, and chewed refractory portions of tinned dog, imagining
+it to be the most luxurious fare extant, though, unfortunately our
+imagination was not of a very strong order. We lost no time in making a
+start, for the early hours were the coolest for travelling, and we
+wished to gain the shelter of the brush before the sun had swung right
+overhead. The camels were truly in a very bad state; they could scarcely
+bear their usual burdens, and reeled drunken-like for several minutes
+after being loaded, but seemed to recover somewhat when a few miles had
+been traversed. Yet, strive as we might, we could not make speedy
+progress, and it was almost noon when we drew near to the timber. The
+heat was becoming very intense, and in our semi-famished condition we
+suffered severely.
+
+"We'll camp in the most shaded part of the scrub, boys," I cried,
+signing to Mac to alter "Slavery's" course more to westward. Phil now
+clutched my arm excitedly.
+
+"Is that smoke or a light cloud-patch over the tips of these trees?" he
+asked, directing my gaze towards a thick clump of lime-trees that lay
+well ahead in the line of our changed route.
+
+I surveyed the feathery shadow indicated intently. "A native smoke,
+Phil," I answered, as quietly as I could, though hope sprang up within
+me at the sight.
+
+"What we must do, then," said Phil determinedly, "is to capture one or
+two representatives of the tribe and make them lead us to water."
+
+"Me an' Stewart'll shin attend to that," growled Mac, hearing the
+suggestion with ill-concealed delight.
+
+We were now entering the outskirts of the pigmy forest, and Phil and I
+took the lead of our caravan with firearms ready in case of attack;
+while Mac and Stewart, leading their charges warily in our tracks,
+peered suspiciously into the densest shadows as they passed. The shrubs
+were of much greater height than we had expected, and soon they
+surrounded us in thick even growths through which we steered an erratic
+course with difficulty.
+
+I was about to call a halt when a thick pile of withered branches,
+propped against the lower heights of some half-dozen close-growing
+trees, arrested my attention. "A windbreak! Go slow!" I cautioned those
+in the rear; but soon we found that we were in the midst of quite a
+number of these rude shelters, all of which seemed to be of very recent
+erection. "There is evidently a tribe in the vicinity," I said to Phil,
+who was gazing at the strange contrivances with much curiosity, and
+noting how differently they were constructed from the crude
+wind-barriers met during the earlier part of our journey.
+
+"They appear to work on some design here," he remarked thoughtfully;
+"the branches are interlaced, and the construction might ultimately
+evolve into a kind of hut or wigwam."
+
+"I am much more concerned about the whereabouts of the population," I
+said, and I glanced apprehensively through the trees; then we resumed
+our march. A few minutes more passed in silence as we proceeded with
+ears alert for the slightest sound.
+
+We were, as nearly as I could guess, about midway through the forest
+when Mac suddenly gave a yell of mingled joy and surprise.
+
+"Haud on! Haud on!" he shouted. "I see niggers richt forrit a wee bit.
+Come on, Stewart, an' we'll shin catch are or twa speecimens."
+
+Mac's information was correct. A convenient gap in the foliage had not
+been overlooked by him, and his sharp eyes had quickly taken in the view
+directly ahead. His warning had scarcely been given when we crashed
+through a maze of windbreaks and entered a clearing in the thicket, and
+there, in the centre of the open space, fully a dozen hideously scarred
+and painted warriors stood with spears and boomerangs upraised, gazing
+in our direction. Mac and Stewart were now forcing past me, and it took
+Phil and me all our time to restrain their ardour. We had instinctively
+retired into the shelter of the brush, and none too soon, for a hail of
+spears rustled through the willowy branches and stuck fast without doing
+any damage.
+
+"Their spears may be poisoned," I said to the indignant pair. "You've
+got a different sort of savage to deal with in these latitudes."
+
+"They'll get awa'!" Mac roared excitedly. "They'll get awa'!"
+
+"Let me gang," implored Stewart. "I'm that thin they couldna hit me, an'
+in ony case I'm teuch eneuch tae staun ony pison."
+
+"Get the camels sheltered, boys," I ordered; "we'll try a policy of
+conciliation in the first place."
+
+My aides-de-camp grumblingly led "Slavery" and "Misery" back a few
+paces, and Phil examined the chambers of his Colt Navy with considerable
+impatience. We were by no means hidden by the scraggy branches fringing
+the open space, and that fact was impressed upon us most plainly when
+several more well-directed spears glanced along the sand at our feet.
+Mac fumed, and the hammers of his gun came back with an ominous double
+click. "You can cover them with your cannon," I said to him, "while I
+try the powers of persuasive language," and I stepped as boldly as I
+could out towards the hostile band. "Babba, babba," I cried, with my
+hands raised in token of peace. They gave a curious gurgle of surprise
+and retreated before me as if afraid. I repeated as much of the native
+jargon as I knew, with, as I thought, an exceedingly friendly
+inflection. Then they recovered themselves, and came rushing towards me.
+I stood irresolute for an instant, for the warriors had discarded their
+spears, and I wondered for a brief space whether they were now hurrying
+to tender their expressions of good-will. When they were within a dozen
+yards off, however, they united in a shrill scream, and brandished in
+their right hands most bloodthirsty-looking clubs which they had carried
+secreted at their backs. Their intention could not now be doubted, and I
+turned and fled.
+
+"Give them the small-shot barrel, Mac," I cried.
+
+"Sma' shot be d----d!" he howled in reply, and the boom of his
+artillery filled my ears as he spoke.
+
+When the smoke cleared away I saw that the blacks had retreated to the
+extreme end of the clearing, where the bulk of them stood huddled
+together, groaning horribly, and making most frightful grimaces at us.
+
+Two feather-bedizened warriors were prancing absurdly in the middle
+distance, and emitting piercing shrieks as they slowly hopped back to
+rejoin their comrades.
+
+"I aimed low," said Mac apologetically, noting their antics with much
+satisfaction, "an' I dinna see what they're makin' a' that row aboot."
+
+I was glad to notice that no serious injury had been done to the poor
+creatures, and, judging by the activity shown by the wounded pair, they
+were evidently much more frightened than hurt.
+
+"I don't think there is any more fight in them, boys," I said, and I
+stepped forward, followed by my companions, who tugged at the
+nose-ropes of the reluctant camels. A few belated missiles, flung in
+half-hearted fashion, struck the ground at our feet; the blacks still
+stood in our path, glaring at us sullenly.
+
+"Level your cannon again, Mac," I instructed, "but _don't_ fire."
+
+He obeyed with alacrity, just in time to check a fresh flight of spears.
+The natives had already acquired a wholesome dread of the
+formidable-looking breechloader. With ear-splitting yells they scattered
+before our advance, and in a moment were lost to sight in the forest.
+
+We made a brief halt by the scene of their stand in order to search the
+near vicinity for water, but not a drop of moisture could be located
+anywhere around. Windbreaks were very numerous some little distance back
+from the enclosure, which showed that we had practically stumbled upon a
+native village. Yet it must have been only a settlement used as a
+temporary camp between two known springs, unless the water resources of
+the district were very cunningly hidden.
+
+"There must be water near at hand," said Phil. "These trees could not
+grow so freshly otherwise."
+
+"We've missed our one chance, I fear," I answered him sadly. "We ought
+to have captured one of the natives while we had the opportunity."
+
+"Let us go now," said he; "they cannot be very far off yet."
+
+"We'll gang! we'll gang!" Mac and Stewart cried clamorously together.
+"We'll shin catch the deevils!"
+
+But I restrained them. "You are both too reckless," I explained, "and we
+should probably never see you again if you lost your bearings in the
+bush." I knew that my worthy henchmen would disdain to use any
+stratagem, and in consequence would surely be speared by the vengeful
+savages.
+
+"You can trust me, Mac," said Phil grimly. "I'll fetch you a specimen or
+two to play with," and Mac, noting his unusual fierceness of expression,
+felt comforted.
+
+Leaving our over-eager companions in charge of the camels, I took a
+hurried bearing of our position, and dashed off with Phil in the
+direction taken by the fleeing band. I could still hear the branches
+crackling before their wild rush, and I hoped that the sound might guide
+us in our quest. For several minutes we kept up a rapid pace, but we
+quickly realised that our running powers were not equal to those of the
+blacks. The blistering sand showered in our faces, and the brittle twigs
+of the mallee cut us severely. The sun had now reached his meridian, and
+shot his rays so fiercely upon us that we were soon compelled to reduce
+our speed. We dared not allow ourselves to perspire, and so lose the
+little moisture our bodies contained. Meanwhile the vague crackling of
+the brushwood in the far distance became fainter and fainter, intimating
+to us very plainly that our intended prisoners were far from our reach.
+We were weary and hopeless, yet we mechanically continued on. Our
+thoughts, as may be guessed, were the reverse of pleasant, and we did
+not care to give them expression. Few would have recognised in Phil, the
+fresh-faced, merry-spirited young man who had led the Five-Mile rush.
+His face was now deeply bronzed, and bore the stamp of the hardships
+encountered, and his firm-set mouth showed a vastly increased force of
+will.
+
+"The beggars seem to have vanished completely," he said, when we had
+travelled at least half a mile in silence. "What a tidy row of skeletons
+we'll make," he added lightly. "'A rale dacent coleckshun,' as Mac would
+say."
+
+"We'll hear Mac's remarks later," I answered, "and we're not by any
+means dead yet."
+
+We had now reached a slight dip in the land surface, and in the
+depression a well-padded native track appeared. We followed it eagerly
+until it broke off into two trails, forming an acute angle.
+
+"You take one, I'll take the other," I said. "If you find anything
+signal with your revolver, and I'll do the same, though it is more than
+likely they lead to the same place."
+
+"All right!" he replied, and we separated.
+
+Hurriedly I sped along, now this way, now that, as the trail twisted and
+twined in the manner peculiar to most bush tracks, and I seemed to have
+entered a maze. Then I came to a point where it divided and subdivided,
+and I hesitated, wondering which branch to follow. I went down on my
+knees and closely examined the sand at the junction, and after a careful
+scrutiny I was rewarded by distinguishing the imprint of an aboriginal's
+ungainly foot at the entrance to one of the offshoots, and I hastened
+along the course indicated, half stooping and sometimes kneeling, in my
+extreme anxiety to keep on the pad, which could only be traced with the
+utmost difficulty.
+
+Gaily-plumaged birds now surrounded me, chattering noisily, and their
+presence imbued me with hope. There, indeed, must be water near, if I
+could only find it. My guiding path led me several hundred yards over a
+sand and gravel surface, through which a stray blade of wiry grass
+peeped here and there; but gradually the grasses grew closer, and their
+trampled appearance showed me that some one had only recently crossed
+that way. I was brought to a halt abruptly. The track had come to an
+end, and I stood at the edge of a small circular space, in the centre of
+which a tall lime-tree stretched high above the stunted shrubs
+adjoining.
+
+The significance of the sight was not altogether lost on me. I had
+usually found lime-trees and water in close proximity, but here no
+welcome spring gladdened my eyes, the circle was bare and
+parched-looking, except on the far-away side, where a rank clump of
+spinifex lined the gaunt stems of the mallee. I was bitterly
+disappointed.
+
+"Looks like a circus-ring," I said to myself. "Probably used for holding
+grand corroborees." I turned away in disgust, and sat down in the sand,
+heedless alike of snakes, scorpions, or other crawling things. I was
+trying to consider what our immediate future must be, and my deductions
+were not cheering. Then I wondered where Phil had gone, and whether his
+quest had been more successful than mine; but I had heard no signal,
+therefore, I reasoned, he would be in a somewhat similar plight to
+myself, or perhaps he had already rejoined Mac and Stewart. I continued
+my musings in a calmly-resigned state of mind, but was suddenly aroused
+to alertness; the faint sound of rustling branches reached my ears. I
+got up speedily and looked all round, but nothing could be seen, and I
+blamed my too eager fancy for the alarm. Glancing at the sun, and taking
+a rough compass bearing, I prepared to return to my companions by a
+direct route through the bush. But again the peculiar sound attracted my
+attention. My fancy had not deceived me this time, and I surveyed the
+open space closely, but nothing met my anxious gaze. Then, just as I was
+leaving the scene, the secret of the rustling branches was revealed, and
+I smiled grimly at my lack of perception. On the extreme edge of the
+clearing, half hidden by the spidery tendrils of the sparse fringing
+bush, two natives lay sprawling on the sand, carefully piling a heap of
+twigs and spinifex grass, as if in preparation for a large fire. They
+lay with their backs towards me, pursuing their work with diligence, and
+as the colour of their bodies was almost similar to that of their
+surroundings, they were not easily observable, as I had already proved.
+I noticed with satisfaction that their weapons were strewn in the grass
+some few yards out of their reach. These comprised two evil-looking
+waddies and a number of double-barbed spears--a formidable collection,
+truly. I examined my small S. and W. revolver with purposeful intent,
+and was on the point of rushing forward when a loud crackle came from
+another part of the ring. It seemed to me as if a stout branch had given
+way before some other, and more impetuous, watcher than myself. More
+natives might be near. I drew back into the shadow. The dusky pair were
+evidently wildly alarmed; they leapt to their feet and looked about with
+a startled expression, and then I recognised them as two of those who
+had so stubbornly contested our advance less than an hour back. They
+glared at each other terror-stricken, and pointed to the sun and the
+four corners of the earth in turn, accompanying their odd gesticulations
+by a stream of monosyllabic utterances. Apparently they were invoking
+various gods to their aid. In the midst of this pantomime a well-known
+figure burst into the enclosure from the still swaying scrub, and before
+the natives could escape he clutched them both in a tight embrace, and
+bore them back by almost superhuman effort.
+
+"Phil!" I cried in amazement, jumping forward, and relieving him of one
+of his prisoners.
+
+"We've got them!" he shouted with fierce emotion. "Keep still, you imp
+of darkness!"
+
+His prisoner was still struggling violently, but soon realised the
+hopelessness of his efforts, and became quiescent as mine, who was
+rolling his eyes at me beseechingly.
+
+Then we looked at each other, half in amusement half in surprise, and I
+noticed that his sole upper garment, his sand-stained shirt, was torn
+half across the shoulders.
+
+"It caught in a branch," he explained, examining the rent ruefully, "and
+the noise I made in breaking loose nearly frightened the blacks away."
+
+"But how did you get here?" I asked, for the tracks we had followed
+seemed to lead very widely apart.
+
+"The trails intersect, but all find their way here," he answered.
+"Anyhow, I've been watching these beggars building a monument, or
+something like it, for the last five minutes or so."
+
+"I have had my eye on them also," I said, "but I didn't dream of your
+being so close. Hold my prisoner a moment," I added; "we'll see what
+they have been doing."
+
+He promptly sat on my savage's neck, while I got up and kicked away the
+pile of branches. And lo! beneath them lay disclosed a gurgling spring
+of clearest water.
+
+I could not describe the joy that was ours at that moment. Phil simply
+gasped with relief, and was not satisfied that his eyes did not deceive
+him until I lifted some of the sparkling liquid in the palm of my hand
+and let it trickle slowly through my fingers. The blacks remained
+passive enough now, only groaning dismally at intervals. It was not
+difficult to understand why they had attempted to hide the spring. As
+Stewart had first surmised, they did not want our good company, and who
+could blame them? There was no need to rejoin our comrades now, so we
+discharged our revolvers as a signal to them to approach, and soon their
+familiar voices were heard far back raised in high debate. Mac was
+apparently holding forth on some pet doctrine with which Stewart
+doggedly refused to coincide. They had forced their thoughts far away
+from unpleasant topics; they knew how necessary it was to keep up a
+semblance of cheerfulness in trying times, and for the rest they trusted
+to my greater experience and Phil's superior knowledge.
+
+The dwarfed trees broke before the advancing train. Poor old "Slavery"
+was evidently leading the trail at a harder pace than usual.
+
+"Come alang, 'Slavery'! Wad ye hae me pu' ye?" I heard Mac's voice
+raised in pathetic entreaty, as the swaying brush about a hundred yards
+back betokened their near approach. A few minutes more and "Slavery" and
+"Misery" staggered into the clearing, with Mac and Stewart pulling
+strenuously at their nose-ropes. The poor beasts' eyes were gleaming
+strangely, and their breath came in long wheezing groans.
+
+"We can hang oot anither day yet," Mac shouted encouragingly immediately
+he saw us, trying bravely to look cheerful. Then when he noticed the
+natives on whom we were comfortably seated his astonishment was great.
+"Guid heavens!" he ejaculated. "Stewart, we've got them efter a'."
+
+But Stewart had caught sight of the glistening water, and with a fervent
+exclamation he buried his face in it and drank deeply. The camels now,
+feeling the tension relieved at their nose-ropes, sank upon their knees
+dead beat, and their heads drooped in the sand. Phil and I watched the
+scene in silence: it was as the last act of a drama, with the proverbial
+happy ending. Mac's rugged features fairly glowed when he saw the saving
+spring. He strode forward, and jerked his comrade's dripping face from
+the water. "Dinna mak' a beast o' yersel'," he said shortly. "Ower
+muckle's bad for ye, an' it's ma turn onywey." But they found room for
+two heads, and Phil said they reduced the level of the water by several
+inches.
+
+The camels' wants now received attention. We allowed them to drink
+sparingly only, as they would quickly have drained the well, which
+refilled very slowly; but before the day was out they had absorbed their
+full supply, and were on a fair way towards the recovery of their wonted
+vigour. We camped by the spring, which we named "Warriors' Well," for
+two days, during which time we were engaged filling the great
+water-bags, and patching our tattered clothing so as to make a
+respectable appearance when we arrived at the nearest settlement, now
+less than a hundred miles distant. We fed our prisoners lavishly on
+tinned dog and flour while they remained in our charge, and they seemed
+to appreciate the diet hugely; yet, do what we might, they retained
+their sullen demeanour, and always howled plaintively when we approached
+near them. They made their escape on the morning of our departure, much
+to Mac's disgust. That worthy had conceived the idea of training them to
+act in the capacity of body-servants to Stewart and himself.
+
+"They would hae been bonnie orniments tae tak' hame tae auld Scotland,"
+he said regretfully.
+
+"We'll be bonnie-like orniments oorsels, Mac," responded Stewart,
+surveying his dark-brown skin. "We'll be nigger enough like, I'm
+thinkin'."
+
+We resumed our march with lighter hearts than we had had for many a day.
+Our journey was practically completed, for our water supply would now
+last until we reached comparatively sure country. It is true we had not
+benefited by the expedition as I had hoped when starting, but we had
+gained a hard knowledge of the country, and of our own powers of
+endurance under extremely adverse circumstances, which would prove
+invaluable to us in the further journeyings I was at this stage
+planning. Phil had become indissolubly connected with my little party.
+His worth had been demonstrated over and over again, and it was with
+pleasure I heard his decision, as we drew near settled latitudes, to
+throw in his lot with mine in my future travels.
+
+[Illustration: THE ONLY CREATURES THAT CAN EXIST IN THE N.W. INTERIOR.]
+
+"Ye're a man o' pairts, Phil," was Mac's unhesitating verdict, and
+Stewart added, as a fitting tribute, "I'm o' the same opeenion."
+
+Twelve days after leaving the providentially-found spring we arrived on
+the north-west coast of Australia, and there disposed of our faithful
+old camels to ready purchasers. Mac's eyes were moist when he said
+good-bye to the gentle "Slavery," and Stewart was loath to part with his
+old charge, "Misery." As they were led away I bestowed a benediction on
+the trusty servants of our dreary journey, and elicited a promise from
+their new possessor that he would treat them kindly as they deserved.
+About a week later we sailed for Sydney.
+
+
+
+
+PART III
+
+PROMISCUOUS WANDERINGS
+
+
+
+
+IN THE AUSTRALIAN BACK-BLOCKS
+
+
+Australia has attracted much attention from all quarters during the last
+few years, but to most people the vast interior is still a _terra
+incognita_; and even on the streets of Sydney or Melbourne the
+appearance of a copper-skinned back-blocker excites as much comment as
+might a being from another planet. The man from "out west" cares little
+for the opinion of the townsman, however; and if his carriage be not so
+graceful as that of those whom he so unceremoniously jostles on the
+pavements of Bourke Street or the "Block," he gets over the ground more
+quickly; and if his speech be ungrammatical, it is at least expressive,
+and only used when absolutely necessary.
+
+The back-blocks, generally, are the western division of Queensland and
+New South Wales; and although in some parts of the former State the
+hardy squatter has established himself well out into the great desert,
+the country inside the "run" of his domain is probably unprospected, and
+outside entirely unexplored. In this almost boundless tract of country,
+where the bush merges into the silent desert, the back-blocker has his
+home, and, indifferent to the flight of time and the struggle and
+worries attending existence in the outside world, he leads a life of
+untrammelled independence.
+
+Only occasionally does a stranger come among these sons of freedom; and
+if he once sees "where the pelican builds its nest," or experiences the
+strange fascination of the desert camp-fire circle, he will not soon
+leave them. The new-comer may be fresh from the old home-land, an
+outcast from continental Europe, or a wanderer from the crowded cities
+on the Australian coast-line; but in all cases he is welcomed, and soon
+he speaks in the same quaint dialect, forgets his past, and becomes a
+child of fortune.
+
+"But how do you manage to exist? This place would not support a rabbit,"
+I said to an assembly of those men one evening in Queensland. I had
+struck their camp while endeavouring with a companion to cycle from
+Spencer Gulf to the Gulf of Carpentaria; and our surprise may be
+imagined when, hundreds of miles from the nearest settlement, as we
+thought, their camp-fire suddenly appeared in front of us. There were
+about twelve men in the party, and, as it was just sundown, we naturally
+camped beside them, and, prompted by the somewhat elaborate preparations
+being made for supper, I had put my question.
+
+"Oh, not too bad," a tall and gaunt Queenslander answered. "We keeps a
+team of our own always on the move with stores from the nearest
+township."
+
+"But that must cost a lot of money so far out as this. How do you
+earn----?"
+
+"We can always make tucker shootin' kangaroos and emus for their skins;
+an' if any man wants a cheque bad, for a spell or anything, he can
+always go shearing inside country. Of course we takes turns at opalling,
+if we strikes a good show; an' if thar's any new gold discoveries, we
+git there quick an' lively."
+
+"But you can never make a fortune at work so uncertain?"
+
+"Lor'! mate, but you is hard to please. Here, Charlie; you lend a hand
+here; this stranger's fresh, an' I is no good pitchin'----" Charlie
+stepped forward, and at once relieved his comrade of the burden of
+conversation.
+
+[Illustration: AN EMU'S NEST.]
+
+"You reckons we can't make no money?" he said. "Well, I reckons ye is
+wrong. How about old Tyson, the millioner? An' how about Gilgai Charlie
+sitting over there?--my handle is Vic Charlie, cos' I comes from
+Victoria--he made four thousan' clear outen his opal claim only last
+week; an', darn it all, mate! there's Shandy Bill, that little fellow on
+yer left, he made ten ounces yesterday jes' by dry-blowing in a pan----"
+
+"Ten ounces! of copper?"
+
+"No--of gold; an' Long Tom here shot one hundred and twenty-three
+kangaroos at ninepence each----"
+
+"Did you say that your companion found gold?"
+
+"I reckon I did, stranger, an' what's more, we has all dropped on to
+gold."
+
+"What! There is no gold so far west as this."
+
+"So we was told, mate. Them as is supposed to know, say there can be no
+gold west of the ranges; but you can allow that this push knows gold
+when they see it, an'--but show it to him, Shandy." Shandy instantly
+detached a leather pouch from his belt, and without a word put it into
+my hands.
+
+"That is gold without doubt," I said, handing it back; "I know by the
+weight." Vic Charlie seemed surprised at my knowledge of the metal, but
+he said nothing.
+
+"Does you know much about minerals?" inquired an elderly man who had
+been listening intently to the conversation.
+
+"I have prospected in most countries," I answered, "and ought to know
+all that is worth knowing by this time, for the experience was about all
+I did get."
+
+"Tucker!" sang out some one. "Git table-covers for the visitors, an'
+look lively." My own companion, while I was talking, had been engaged in
+similar fashion in the centre of another group, and I smiled to see how
+intensely interested were his listeners. _He_ was not seeking
+information, I knew, but from the unconscious ejaculations which
+frequently arose from his audience, I guessed that he was imparting
+some; and his selections were invariably strange and wonderful. The cry
+of "Tucker," however, created a diversion, and during the half-hour that
+followed, all apparently had but one object in view, and being blessed
+with a healthy appetite, that same object was very pleasing to me. I was
+placed between a gentleman called Dead-broke Peter and one dubbed Silent
+Ted. I afterwards discovered that Peter had been a member of the New
+Zealand Parliament, but Long Tom introduced him simply as the best
+talker in camp. I suppose it was to balance matters that the thoughtful
+Tom placed Ted on my other side, for _he_ never spoke.
+
+"He is a first-class cook an' a most extraordinar' thinker, though,"
+said Tom; and as Ted's corrugated but wonderfully expressive face beamed
+at the compliment, I saw that a tongue to him was quite unnecessary. The
+night was very dark, and as the fitful fire-flashes lit up the
+surrounding gloom and cast fantastic shadows of the squatting men on the
+sands behind them, the scene was indeed weird. Towards the end of the
+meal Dead-broke Peter began a conversation, at first very general in
+character, and which I easily sustained without interrupting my study of
+the men around; but before I realised that Peter was a man with a past,
+I found myself floundering in the subject of astronomy hopelessly beyond
+my depths.
+
+"Yes," I said, endeavouring to collect my senses, "it is wonderful how
+the science has advanced, but I cannot understand how you have made the
+heavens a clock."
+
+"Oh, that is a simple matter," he replied. "Canopus sets behind Warrego
+plains at half-past nine at present; take that fact for your unit, and
+then the positions of the Cross will indicate plainly, even to minutes,
+the divisions of the night. But look at that poor snake crawling out of
+the hollow stump beside you; that means a cyclonic disturbance is
+approaching----"
+
+"Great Scot! That's a black snake. Look out, boys!" I cried, springing
+to my feet. Ted, who had been drinking in every word spoken, quietly
+reached over, and catching the wriggling creature by the tail, skilfully
+swung it round his shoulder and brought its head forcibly against the
+log. The snake must have been killed instantly: but its long body
+quivered convulsively for a moment, and then with a sudden jerk shot
+backwards and coiled tightly round Ted's arm. To my surprise, none of
+his comrades troubled even to look at Ted during this performance: all,
+with the exception of Peter and himself, were absorbing the words of my
+very Scotch companion, who was relating with powerful dramatic effect
+some peculiar experiences of his in other parts of the world. But
+evidently Ted did not expect any attention, for without uttering a sound
+he arose, shook his encumbrance into the fire, and sat down again, with
+a look on his face that plainly said to us, "Go on! What have you
+stopped for?"
+
+Peter politely directed my gaze to a nine-inch centipede that was
+prospecting across my boots, and then launched into a discourse on
+theological matters, which in time led into the supernatural, and
+finally narrowed down to a discussion on the mysterious rites of the
+aborigines' Bora.
+
+"Little Bob, that tall man sitting next your companion, has had much
+experience among the natives of the north," Peter said, "and if you
+could only get him to talk he could tell some marvellous tales."
+
+I looked over to the other side of the fire, and saw that Little Bob was
+the individual who had asked the extent of my mineral knowledge. "I have
+heard some tall stories of their corroborrees, Ghingis, and Bunyips," I
+answered; "but no white man has ever seen anything that could not be
+easily explained."
+
+"Think not? Perhaps you are right, but my experience leads me to think
+differently. There is a Bunyip's pool seventeen miles from here--in
+fact, we get our water from it; but there is not a man in this camp who
+would go near it at night for--well for anything. And as for the
+corroborrees, there are men here who have actually gone through a series
+of them, and if you stay with us, or travel northwards, you will
+probably see some for yourself."
+
+Peter's words interested me greatly, so, careful not to interrupt his
+flow of eloquence, I soon became as silent as the gentleman on my left,
+and was rewarded by hearing a most wonderful account of the dreaded
+Bunyip--that strange mysterious creature, half fish and half fiend, the
+very sight of which, it is said, means death to the unfortunate
+beholder. I had often heard of this "dweller in the waters" from
+half-caste aborigines in New South Wales, and knew that it was supposed
+to live in the subterranean pools which abound throughout the Australian
+interior; but I never imagined that white men could be so firmly
+convinced of its existence as were my present companions.
+
+"It's in the Brumbie's water-hole, you can bet your life," said a
+strangely deformed man, who had joined our group when the name was
+mentioned.
+
+"How do you know? Have you seen it?" I inquired.
+
+"No, an' doesn't want to; but Jack Ford did."
+
+"And where is he?"
+
+"Ask Sam Wilkins. He's the only glory prospector here."
+
+"What has he to do with it?"
+
+"Lor'! stranger, if he doesn't know where Jack went, no one here does.
+Jack was as fine a mate as iver I met; but whether he staked off a
+claim up aloft, or pegged out in the other place, I'm darned if I knows.
+He saw the Bunyip one full moon, an' croaked the next day."
+
+I now noticed that all the men had gathered round our little group, and
+before I could further question the speaker, Long Tom broke in. "Is ye
+in a hurry to git up to the Gulf country?" he said.
+
+"Not particularly," I answered.
+
+"Yer mate tells us you is a great mineralogist?"
+
+"Oh, no,--not great; but I know a little of the science."
+
+"Does ye know what that is?" Tom opened a sack as he spoke and took out
+a greenish mass of something.
+
+"That is copper sulphide. Where did you get it?"
+
+"Mate, if it's any good, there's hundreds and thousands o' tons o' it
+lyin' on top not mor'n fifty mile from here. But what is this?"
+
+"Why, that is native silver; and that conglomeration in Ted's hand is an
+ironstone formation carrying gold----"
+
+"Say, mate," interrupted Little Bob, "does ye know what this is?" He
+held in the palm of his hand a mixture resembling tea in appearance, but
+which after tasting I knew could not be that substance, "Ah! ye is
+bested, mate, an' I is glad," continued Bob. "I knows ye is honest now,
+an' don't skite when ye doesn't know."
+
+"Thank you; but what is it?"
+
+"Pidcherie, stranger. Money can't buy it. It comes from the Mullagine
+swamps; an' gold nor lead wouldn't make a black fellow part with it.
+Swallow that, an' you can dance in the fire an' not feel nothin'; cut
+yourself in little bits an' you'll think it fun. Only the niggers knows
+what it is, an' no white men barrin' us back boys has iver got any----"
+
+"Time for that again, Little Bob," cried Long Tom, "The question just
+now is, Will the stranger jine us? Yous can git two shares an' we does
+all the work," he added, turning to me.
+
+"But, Mr.--that is--Peter here knows more than I do. He----"
+
+"Him!" snorted Tom. "Mate, he's the most onreasonable man in camp. When
+he starts talking we can't stop him; an' when he is stopped, darn me if
+we can start him." I turned to see how my late entertainer took these
+words, but he was lying back on the sand--asleep. Finally, after much
+quaint reasoning, the men persuaded us to try our luck with them, at
+least for a time. "Yous can leave us when you like, if it doesn't pay,"
+was Tom's summing up; but as he had just told me of a sand-patch in
+which tucker could be made by dry-panning, and of a "darned curious
+country across the Cooper" which was on fire with opal lying on the
+surface, I thought that the adventure was well worth any risk in that
+direction. We were still talking when the Southern Cross dipped behind
+the Grey Ranges; but before we stretched ourselves on the sand to rest
+it was decided that I and three others should set out in the morning to
+inspect the opal formations beyond the Cooper, and pending our report as
+to its value, the others would keep up the funds by kangaroo-shooting
+and dry-blowing for gold.
+
+Next morning with the first faint streaks of dawn we were ready. Mac and
+I had our cycles, which we stripped of all their previous accoutrements,
+and Kangaroo George and Gilgai Charlie rode two of the finest horses in
+Queensland.
+
+"Be good boys," cried Long Tom, as we prepared to move off after
+breakfast.
+
+"There is a willy-willy coming soon, so watch where you camp," warned
+Dead-broke Peter; and without more ado we plunged into a clump of
+gidgyas, and in a few minutes burst out on the ironshot plain. Neither
+George nor Charlie was inclined to waste his wisdom on the desert air,
+and even Mac found it advisable to keep his mouth closed when the fine
+clouds of sand began to rise. For hours we headed due west, dining at
+noon, in the open, on a piece of damper and some cold mutton, washed
+down with an extremely sparing amount of muddy fluid from our
+water-bags, and then going on again. Before sundown we reached a
+dried-up creek, where, after scraping in the sand among the roots of a
+solitary lime-tree, we found sufficient liquid for the horses, which we
+then hobbled and went into camp, fully forty miles from our
+starting-point. The sun was now racing down on the western horizon, and
+the desert around seemed like a sea of gold. The day had been
+oppressively hot, and consequently we expected that night would be kept
+lively by the many pests. Nor were we mistaken. Just as our surroundings
+became blurred in the shadows of night a dingo's dismal howl broke the
+strange stillness, and then the blood-curdling shrieks of some
+laughing-jackasses in the tree above irritated us almost beyond
+endurance. The mosquitoes next joined in, sinking their sawlike suckers
+deep into our sun-blistered skin; and when the mournful "morepork" added
+its depressing note, the desert orchestra was completed.
+
+"I reckon there's a storm comin'," remarked George, as he assisted a
+small death-adder into the fire.
+
+"For onysake let it come, then," growled Mac. "A dinna see what ye've
+got to complain aboot. Da----darn it!!"
+
+"Is ye bit, Scottie?" inquired Charlie. "Lor'! there's a centipede on
+your neck. It feels like red-hot coal, doesn't it?" he added
+sympathetically.
+
+"No," groaned Mac; "it's a rale cooling sensation; but, here, feel for
+yersel'." He poised the creature on a twig as he spoke, and skilfully
+landed it on Charlie's back, and the yell that followed might have
+awakened a Bunyip, had there been such a monster within five miles.
+
+"Shut up! darn ye, Charlie!" roared George, lifting a nicely browned
+damper from the ashes; "ye has set the black fellows' ghosts off again.
+Lor'! just listen to 'em."
+
+"Hurry up with that damper, George," I interrupted--"that is, if there's
+no snakes in it."
+
+"There's many things worse than snakes, boss," innocently replied
+George; "they is prime, if ye roast 'em an' has got any salt----"
+
+"Haud yer tongue, man, or A'll mak' a corroborree o' ye," roared the
+hungry Mac, and I had to interfere hastily to prevent bloodshed.
+
+The memory of that night's tortures still haunts me. The desert was
+alive with all sorts of reptiles and insects, and from my companions, as
+they rolled sleeplessly in the sand, many short but heartfelt
+expressions arose which I dare not repeat. At sunrise we set out again,
+and all day travelled westward over country similar to that which we had
+already passed, camping at night on an "Ana" branch or backwater of the
+famous Cooper, and enduring another night of misery.
+
+"I reckon we should be near the Ghingi's opal now," said George as we
+resumed our journey on the third day; "but say, boss, what's wrong with
+the ole sun? or is it the willy-willy?" There certainly was reason for
+George's question, for the sun as it shot up over the edge of the plains
+seemed merely a dull red ball; but the gem-shot haze which danced
+between showed the cause, and I realised that a cloud formed of minute
+particles of sand was partly obscuring it from view.
+
+"We'll get across the main river and look for shelter," I said, "for
+evidently this storm has been working up for some days." We crossed the
+"Ana" channel and proceeded slowly, for the ground was now broken up as
+if by volcanic agencies. I was anxious to see the Cooper, the great
+inland sea of the early pioneers, but to my astonishment no water was
+yet in evidence as far as the eye could reach; so, leading our steeds,
+we picked our way over the cleft and burnt ironstone.
+
+"These is the Ghingi's holes," said Charlie, as we came to some
+unusually large and deep chasms, "an' keep your eyes open, for there
+should be opal here."
+
+"Whaur has that patent river got tae, I wunner," muttered Mac. "I never
+had muckle faith in Australian rivers, an' I doot the nearest water-hole
+in the way we're goin' is the Indian Ocean."
+
+"Say, boss," suddenly said George, "how far is it to the war?"
+
+"Oh, South Africa is about seven thousand miles from here. Are you
+thinking of going?"
+
+"Well, some of the boys was talking that way; but none o' us knew the
+country, nor if the track was to sunrise or sundown."
+
+"Africa is west from here, George."
+
+"Is ther enuff water for horses on the trail?"
+
+"Why, man! you cross the ocean."
+
+"Well, I reckon old Joy here can cross anything; but it beats me to know
+how a fellow can carry tucker. I s'pose there is plenty stations on the
+road, though?" I looked at George in amazement, and Mac grinned with
+delight.
+
+"Maybe they wouldn't want us, Kangaroo," put in Charlie; "but I reckon
+we can ride anything as has feet, an' shoot----"
+
+"Lie down flat, mates!" shouted George; "here's the willy-willy."
+
+I turned and saw a huge black wall gyrating wildly towards us. A roar
+like that of thunder filled the air, followed by a sound as of waves
+breaking upon a rocky beach. A fierce blast of back-drawn sand struck my
+face, and as I threw myself down I felt as if drowning for a moment;
+then a hail of stones, scrub, and sand rushed over me, tearing my
+clothes to shreds, and penetrating my skin like shot, while a thick
+blackness blotted out everything around. I lay still, conscious that a
+deposit of sand was fast covering me; but I also felt that the
+suffocating tension was already becoming less severe, and next minute a
+current of moist cool air, delightfully soothing to my sand-blasted
+skin, swept over the desert, and I sat up. It was still dark; but the
+awful vortex had passed, and away to the west I could still hear the
+indescribable rumbling sound of the flying boulders among the Ghingi
+holes.
+
+"Is we all here?" sounded Charlie's voice close beside me, and I felt
+relieved when I heard the muffled responses of my comrades, for I knew
+that if caught in the centre of such a storm we had just escaped,
+nothing living could withstand it. I groped for my cycle, and moistened
+my throat with the damp sand that now filled the water-bag, noticing, as
+some of the contents spilled down my neck, that the temperature must
+have fallen considerably, for the accident caused me to shiver.
+
+"Ye talk aboot gaun into the Australian interior," spoke Mac dolorously,
+as he in turn swallowed a mouthful, "but I'm thinkin' that a lot o'
+Australia has gone into mine."
+
+"Never mind, Mac," I replied, as we all crawled towards each other,
+"here comes the first rain we have had since leaving Adelaide, and if
+the horses are all right, so are we."
+
+"I reckon they is O.K.," said Charlie; "they knows more than most
+people, them horses."
+
+While he was speaking we cast off our scanty garments and revelled in
+the refreshing drops; but rain in the back-blocks is worth more than its
+weight in gold, and this shower only lasted about a minute, and passed
+on in the wake of the willy-willy. Shortly afterwards the darkness
+rolled away to the west like a huge receding screen, and near us we saw
+the two horses rolling on the ground with evident enjoyment. But I did
+not ask my companions how it was that our four-footed friends had
+escaped so lightly, for my attention was attracted by a scintillating
+streak of something on the edge of a small hole, and as my eyes became
+used to the now blinding glare of the sun, I saw that the whole surface
+of the desert was literally blazing with small points of colour.
+
+"Lor'!" exclaimed my Australian comrades simultaneously, "we has struck
+the very place after all."
+
+"Ay, mon," said Mac wrathfully; "an' hoo did ye no' ken that afore?"
+
+"'Cos the opal was dead," replied George, "an' the rain has made it
+'live again."
+
+Mac looked suspiciously at the speaker; but Charlie added that "dead"
+and "live" were terms used in speaking of dull opal that could be made
+to flash as if alive by the application of water. This explained why we
+had not seen the gems before, and without troubling to inquire where the
+Cooper had gone, or how--if Charlie and George were correct--we had got
+to the other side of it, we attacked the ironstone boulders with our
+small hand-picks.
+
+"Every gibber's got an opal heart," remarked George, smashing a large
+boulder to fragments.
+
+"Take care, then," I warned, "or you will break it too."
+
+"Then how is we to do it, boss?" inquired Charlie, poising his pick in
+mid-air. "Does ye think it will come out if we whistle on it?"
+
+I did not; nor to this day have I found how to get that opal out intact.
+We tried every method that could be devised, but without success, for
+each time we broke the outer casing the more brittle core was also
+shattered by the blow. Patiently and laboriously we chipped the
+ironstone, only to find that the gem was in powder form when we reached
+it. We then tried roasting the stones, carrying them to a small clump of
+stunted gidgyas for that purpose; but found then, that although the
+shell broke with less hammering, the "life" of the opal was destroyed by
+the heat, and a dull lump of glass-like substance was all our reward.
+
+For two days we wandered among the Ghingi holes trying specimens
+continually, but with the same results, and at last I was convinced that
+further work under the circumstances was useless. The horses were now
+beginning to suffer for want of proper food, and I saw that the water
+question would also trouble us as soon as the pools formed by the
+willy-willy shower had evaporated. Cooper's creek as a flowing stream
+had ceased to exist. Probably its waters, or all that seven years'
+drought had left of them, had gone to feed that strange tide which ebbs
+and flows so mysteriously under the heart of the great Lone Land; but in
+its old channels we saw only dead and dying creatures of the desert, and
+the banks were simply a nursery for fever germs.
+
+"I reckon we'll have to give it best," at length said Gilgai Charlie,
+and I could see no alternative.
+
+"If sufficient rain came, we might be able to bring a team out," I said,
+"and cart a load of boulders back to Eromango. If we could not there get
+the ironstone dissolved with acid, we could at least send them to
+Brisbane and get them cut."
+
+"That's all right, boss," spoke George, "but I reckon we might as well
+look for gold nuggets droppin' from the sky as enough water for a
+team." And I knew he was right.
+
+[Illustration: "LEICHARDT'S" TREE.
+               THE LAST TRACE FOUND OF THE GREAT EXPLORER WHO ATTEMPTED
+               TO CROSS THE INTERIOR AND WAS NEVER HEARD OF AGAIN.]
+
+We thought of striking across to the central ranges of South Australia
+to prospect the ruby formations there, but we found, when we reached the
+end of the broken ground, that our course lay through a belt of soft
+sand in which our wheels sank over the rims; and having neither
+sufficient water nor stores to risk walking for an unknown distance, we
+were forced to abandon the attempt. On the afternoon of the third day we
+started on the back track, and that night camped on the Ana pool. We
+made our old camp by the "soak" the next night, and at noon, the day
+following, struck the camps of those of our comrades who had gone
+dry-blowing.
+
+"Well, mates, don't worry. It doesn't matter anyhow, for we'll git it
+some day, if we doesn't peg out," was the general comment when they had
+heard our story; and then the billy was boiled.
+
+I was much surprised to see that gold was present in the sands of the
+desert; and even although the quantity was small, and only in patches
+widely apart, the fact afforded much food for thought. The process of
+dry-blowing adopted by the men was extremely simple, consisting of
+dropping the sand from one pan raised above the head to another resting
+on the ground, then reversing the positions of the pans and repeating
+the operation. In action, most of the sand and other light material was
+carried away or diverted by the wind; but the gold--if any--in
+accordance with the law of gravitation, dropped straight. When the bulk
+was thus reduced until only the precious metal and the heavier
+ironstones were left, the contents were put aside, and another panful
+proceeded with in the same manner. Finally the collected matter was
+thrown on an improvised inclined plane that had bars of wood fastened
+across its surface. In rolling down, the ironstone pebbles cleared
+these ripples and fell to the ground; but the gold, being too heavy to
+do likewise, was caught in the angles, and afterwards carefully removed
+by the operator. The work was very slow and laborious, and often
+attended with very disappointing results. "But," said Dead-broke Peter,
+while explaining this to me, "we sometimes strike a patch that pays
+well."
+
+"Can you explain why there is _any_ gold here?" I asked. "There are no
+auriferous reefs which could shed it nearer than eight hundred miles,
+and, according to all geologists, the entire desert is the deposit of
+the ocean."
+
+"That may be," Peter replied, "but I have conclusive proof that there is
+a gold-bearing reef not more than a quarter of a mile from where we
+stand. I have no doubt that the rocks carrying it once reared themselves
+above the surrounding sea; but that was--well--before our time; and now
+they are too deep for us to reach."
+
+I suggested that if the men had some mechanical appliance which could
+treat the sand in large quantities, they might do well with the surface
+deposit. "Perhaps," Peter said indifferently; "but there would be too
+much worry attached." And seeing that Silent Ted had dinner ready, we
+changed the subject.
+
+Long Tom and four of the men had gone out emu-and kangaroo-shooting, and
+were not expected back for a week, and knowing that neither Mac nor I
+could be of any special service to the men at dry-blowing, we at length
+resolved to proceed to the Gulf, as was our original intention.
+
+Our companions were very sorry when we announced this; but I told them
+we had come out expressly to study the aborigines at home, and that when
+we had done so we might come back.
+
+"You'll see them before you go far," said Shandy Bill.
+
+"An' don't go foolin' near a corroborree, Scottie," warned Little Bob;
+"'cos if ye does thar will be a funeral, as sure as them currants in
+that damper there is only ants."
+
+Dead-broke Peter was evidently qualifying for a Silent Ted reputation,
+for it was only when kicked repeatedly by that individual that he roused
+himself, and in effect said, "Remember, if you happen to get into
+trouble, that the various corroborrees are only stages in the grand
+Bora; and that the signs used in their working have a wonderful
+resemblance to those of a certain society to which I see you belong."
+This information was startling, to say the least of it; but Peter had
+again fallen into his listless attitude, and could not be induced to say
+more: so, after receiving many messages, written and verbal, to despatch
+from the first settlement reached, we departed.
+
+Eight days later we crossed the north Cooper (here called the Thomson
+river) at Jundah--it was in flood here(!)--and in another four days we
+reached Winton. From this unique township we made good time northwards
+through a well-watered country, which, although in the tropics, is
+blessed with a pleasant climate; and while running down the Flinders
+river had our first adventure with the natives. The Australian
+aboriginal is believed to be the lowest form of humanity extant; but
+there are many things in his philosophy of which the white man has not
+dreamt. He fights with nature for his very existence, his food being the
+crawling creatures of the earth and what he wrests from other animals;
+and even then he is haunted with an eternal dread of devouring demons,
+who--according to his belief--are for ever seeking his destruction. His
+Bora is his only safeguard against these Ghingis and Bunyips; and it is
+in matters pertaining to the observance of its various corroborrees
+that he has achieved such triumphs over nature, and performs feats that,
+to the white man, are entirely inexplicable.
+
+An ordinary corroborree is merely a meeting that may be summoned by the
+chief or elders of any tribe; but those relating to the Bora are a
+series of religious ceremonials culminating in a weird fire-test, which
+all young warriors must undergo before attaining to the state of
+manhood. This fire-test, with various modifications, is also practised
+by the New Guineans and South Sea Islanders; but with the latter it now
+seems to have degenerated into a performance for the priests alone; and
+in the Fiji Isles a form of fire-walking is still observed, chiefly for
+the benefit of the sensation-loving tourist. Among the Australian
+aborigines, however, the working of the Bora is the chief object of
+their existence, and with them the tests are very real indeed. The
+fire-test is worked by a procession of aspiring natives marching round
+on a path which leads through the centre of many fires. A figure in the
+fanciful attire of some strange monster apparently controls the
+movements of the warriors by the motion of some object which he swings
+rapidly round his head, and which produces a humming sound not unlike
+that of a steam-siren. The performance is followed by a warlike display
+supposed to strike terror to the heart of the dreaded Bunyip, and if
+that creature could see the grotesquely garbed warriors as we saw
+them--hiding in the mulga scrub with our bicycles lying beside us--I
+have no doubt that it would speedily take itself off to some less
+dangerous-looking part of the globe.
+
+It is supposed that no white men have ever witnessed the higher
+corroborrees; but that belief is erroneous, for during our journey
+northwards we met several backblockers on the wallaby to the opal
+district who were quite familiar with the entire ceremony, and some,
+like little Bob, had even taken part in them, of course not willingly.
+
+The aborigines are very scarce now, and happily, perhaps for us, most of
+our adventures with them tended more to be ludicrous than exciting, and
+in due course we arrived at Normanton, the chief town in the Gulf
+country.
+
+A month later we landed at Brisbane from the ss. _Peregrine_, and in two
+days were completely tired out and disgusted with the artificialities of
+city life. The Queensland contingent of the Imperial Bushmen was to
+embark in the afternoon for South Africa, and we joined the cheering
+throng that lined Queen Street to see the men ride past. I have seen the
+Scots Greys in Edinburgh, but the men of "England's last hope" were not
+like them. Their smart dresses hung loosely on their angular frames, and
+their tanned faces were in vivid contrast to those of the Brisbanites.
+They were all tall, and sat in their saddles in a style that was
+certainly not military, and their faces wore an absent-minded
+expression. I knew, however, that fever would have no effect on these
+men, that they could stand any hardship, that an earthquake could not
+unhorse them, and that every time those eyes with the far-away look
+glanced along the rifle-barrel something would drop somewhere. A shout
+from Mac interrupted my musings, and knowing that he always had some
+reason for what he did, I followed him through the densely-packed crowd,
+and found him in the act of hauling a trooper from his horse.
+
+"It's Kangaroo George!" he yelled, "an' he's dreamin'!"
+
+"Hallo, Scottie!" suddenly said the roused warrior; "did yous see the
+nigs?"
+
+"Hang the niggers!" roared Mac; "it's you I want tae ken aboot.
+Hoo----?"
+
+"I see you have got on to the South African trail after all, George," I
+said, grasping his hand.
+
+"Close up there, men!" roared the sergeant.
+
+"Darn it! Dead-broke, doesn't ye see who is here?" remonstrated another
+familiar voice, and next instant I was shaking hands with Sergeant
+Dead-broke Peter--I never knew his other name. There was now a general
+confusion owing to the men having to lead their horses down to the wharf
+where the transport _Maori King_ was waiting to receive them, and by
+adopting tactics not unknown nearer home Mac and I got down with the
+troopers.
+
+"An' has ye not a word for Shandy Bill?" suddenly spoke another voice at
+my side.
+
+"An' Sam Wilkins?" said a quiet-looking trooper.
+
+"An' me--Corporal Vic Charlie?" cried the one who had remonstrated with
+his sergeant.
+
+"Is the whole camp here?" I cried surprisedly, while Mac muttered
+strange words anent the results of shaving on a person's appearance.
+
+"No; only five," answered Vic Charlie. "Gilgai and Little Bob came down
+too; but they were too old, an' they is goin' out west again to-night
+when they see us away."
+
+"I say, boss," whispered George to me, "you knows the trail, doesn't
+ye?"
+
+"Fairly well, George," I replied; "you see the Southern Cross all the
+way."
+
+"Then can you give us a notion how far out our first camp is?"
+
+"You don't camp at all. You travel night and day--that is, unless the
+propellor shaft or something else breaks."
+
+"Lor!" was all George's comment, but his face spoke volumes.
+
+[Illustration: A FAMOUS MINE IN THE GULF COUNTRY.]
+
+We stayed with our old comrades until the last moment arrived; and then,
+in company with Gilgai Charlie and the giant Little Bob, who had joined
+us on the wharf, went and dined. These two worthies were, as they said,
+already "full up with the city," and when the western express left that
+night it had on board four men and four cycles booked through for
+Cunnamulla _en route_ to the opal fields. Twenty-eight hours afterwards
+we landed at the western terminus, and taking advantage of the full moon
+and the hard camel-pads leading farther west, we made sixty miles before
+morning.
+
+
+
+
+ON THE OPAL FIELDS OF WHITE CLIFFS
+
+
+There are many strange places and peoples in this world, and of those
+the opal fields and opal miners of White Cliffs, New South Wales, are
+good examples. The opal district is situated sixty miles N.N.W. of
+Wilcannia, a somewhat remarkable township on the Darling River, and the
+men who make gem-hunting their profession number over two thousand. Of
+this amount, less than a half belong to some branch of the Anglo-Saxon
+race, the remainder being a mixture of all nationalities, of which
+Germans are the most numerous. The township of White Cliffs stands in a
+hollow in the centre of the "workings," but it is merely a collection of
+galvanised iron drinking saloons and stores; the population living out
+on their claims, some in tents, some in their horizontal excavations or
+"drives"; and others with only the sky for a roof. When it is stated
+that the town also contains a Warden's residence, a hospital, and a good
+substantial prison--there is as yet no church--that most of the stores
+are run by Chinamen, and that the Jew gem-buyers form the aristocracy,
+the description of the town is complete. The fields, however, at present
+extend for three miles round the town, and in all probability will
+stretch further out on the great western desert when some means of
+providing sufficient water for the miners is devised. But the opal has
+been proved to exist in such vast quantities within the three miles
+radius, that there is as yet no need for any one to go further out.
+
+The methods employed in searching for opal are extremely simple.
+Briefly, this consists of sinking a shaft, or, if the claim happens to
+be located on a slope, tunnelling into the ground until a seam of
+gem-carrying matrix is encountered; from which the opal is then
+separated by means of a small "gouging" pick or other tool. These layers
+exist at various parallel levels from the surface down to forty feet,
+but no "paying" opal has yet been struck at greater depths. It is highly
+probable, however, that this is because the task of further sinking with
+the primitive means of pick, spade, and windlass, the only appliances
+used, becomes at this point somewhat difficult, and the men, knowing the
+value of the shallower levels, prefer spending their energies on another
+shaft in fresh country. The matrix in which the gem is found consists of
+a hard silicious conglomeration, usually thickly impregnated with
+ironstone. The opal is embedded in this material in the form of thin
+sheets, which, however large they may be while in the formation, can
+only be removed in divisions of about the size of a five shilling piece.
+
+Opal is of all colours and shades, but unfortunately for the miner a
+piece of exquisitely coloured blue, green, or red stone is considered
+absolutely valueless if not accompanied with the vivid scintillating
+flash which denotes its "lifeness." Tons upon tons of this worthless
+stuff, "Potch," as it is called, are daily thrown out of the shafts by
+disgusted opallers, for in common with most things in this world, the
+bad is very plentiful, in fact it is almost impossible to get away from
+it; but the gem or "live" opal is correspondingly rare. Nevertheless,
+fortunes are frequently made here by the merest chance, and perhaps to
+a greater degree than elsewhere is a man justified by results in
+believing that some day he will "send his pick through a fortune." As
+said before, the miners are of nearly all the races of mankind, and many
+incongruous partnerships are formed for the holding and working of a
+two, three, or four men's claim; but on the whole, good fellowship rules
+throughout the camps, and an American negro, a half-caste Chinaman, or a
+Turk, stands by the windlass of a canny Scot, a Frenchman, or a Hindu.
+
+There are no disputes between capital and labour in White Cliffs, every
+man is his own master, and follows out his own usually erratic
+inclinations, unless sometimes when, after a lucky find, he imbibes too
+much of a certain commodity falsely-labelled Scotch, and consequently
+the police exercise a slight control over his movements.
+
+There are no surface indications to guide one in searching for opal, and
+as the most experienced "gouger" knows no more where the gem may be than
+the latest new chum, all work is done on chance. To such a strange state
+of mind has the desert environment reduced those men of the back-blocks,
+that they look upon the grim side of circumstances with indifference,
+and magnify the trivialities of life into a proportion which to the
+stranger suggests a land of Burlesque. But soon he, too, catches the
+mysterious infection, unconsciously he is overwhelmed by the influence
+of his surroundings, and he ceases to see anything remarkable either in
+his own doings or in those of his fellows. An observer, while he
+retained his own mental equilibrium, might see instances of this strange
+perversion in almost every man in White Cliffs; but, perhaps, my own
+experiences there may serve to give some fair examples.
+
+My claim was staked about a mile from the town on a small stretch of
+rising ground which at some time in the Earth's history formed the banks
+of the lake, in the old bed of which White Cliffs now stands. For
+comrades I had a powerful Scotsman and two Australians, while the claims
+around us were worked by an American and a native of Mauritius, known as
+Black George, a German and an Englishman--the latter being termed the
+"Parson," a New Zealander and a Swede, and several other single miners,
+the chief being one called Satan. We were all good friends, and nightly
+gathered round a common camp-fire to discuss things in general.
+
+Silent Ted and Emu Bill, my two Australian comrades, were perhaps the
+most experienced prospectors on the field; the one had a very thoughtful
+cast of countenance, and never spoke, and the other was a splendid
+specimen of the Australian pioneer, but when he spoke it was chiefly in
+short, crisp words, of decided colonial origin, which Mac said would
+have qualified him "A1 for the position of a Clyde stevedore." Together
+they had crossed the divide between the Darling River and Cooper's
+Creek, and occasionally, when the moon was full, and the Southern Cross
+dipping behind the Great Barrier Ranges, Bill would tell of a land where
+fire-flashing opal burst through the surface sands, and shone in
+dazzling streaks of every imaginable colour from every wind-swept ledge.
+Ted would eagerly follow his comrade's words, and his wonderful face
+would light up with genuine admiration when Bill's word-pictures were
+powerfully descriptive. But he was too sympathetic, and frequently,
+alas! got into trouble because of that.
+
+"Shut up, Ted!" Bill would suddenly cry, pausing in the middle of his
+narrative. "Is it you that's tellin' this yarn or me?"
+
+At these rough words the silent one would slowly turn a reproachful
+glance upon the speaker which said as plainly as words, "Why, Bill, I
+did not speak."
+
+"I knows that," would come the unhesitating answer, "but your face does,
+an' it's been an' got to the end of this story afore me."
+
+This was in a manner true, and sometimes when Bill, as Hoskins the
+American said, was "long-winded in getting to the point," we had but to
+look at Ted's face for the _dénoûement_.
+
+"But how vas it you came away unt leave all dat opal? There must be
+millions there," our German friend would say when Bill's narrative was
+concluded.
+
+"I reckon there is, Kaiser," the _raconteur_ would answer, "but the
+country is full o' darned crows an' willy-willys, an' ye can't sleep no
+how with the sand-flies an' snakes an' 'skeeturs. Water, did ye say? No,
+there ain't none."
+
+However much Ted and Bill may have ignored the absence of the precious
+fluid, that was the only consideration with most of their listeners, and
+had there been any water, some of us, at least, would have gone out West
+at once and chanced everything else.
+
+One evening Bill was unusually eloquent in his discourse on the
+lavishness with which Nature had gifted the desert, and as all our
+claims had been yielding but poor returns for the last week or so, we
+paid more attention to his words than we had been in the habit of doing.
+
+"I wouldn't mind having a try out back," said Scottie, "if there were a
+railway, or if we had fleein' machines."
+
+"Couldn't we go as we are?" lisped the Parson, "we may work here for
+ever, and not better ourselves."
+
+Bill gave vent to some sarcastic remarks anent the last speaker's powers
+of endurance, but otherwise made no comment.
+
+[Illustration: BORING FOR OPAL INDICATIONS.]
+
+"Bill says the surface is ironshot," continued the Parson blandly, "and,
+as I saw a team come into town to-day with about two dozen bicycles for
+sale, I thought----"
+
+"Man, ye are a thinker, Parson," cried Scottie, "I'll gang away wi' ye
+the morn if ye like--that is if the machines are no ow'r dear."
+
+"I think we ought to get them, no matter what they cost," I remarked,
+"for if we do go out they would enable us to cross right over to the
+Cooper at a pinch, if they did not break down, and the ground was
+passable."
+
+"Well, I guess I am one of the crowd that goes," announced Hoskins.
+
+"Unt me," cried the German.
+
+"I reckon we is all going," said Bill, looking round the camp-fire for
+corroboration. "Int you, Satan?"
+
+"Of course I is," answered the individual addressed, a
+corrugated-skinned specimen of humanity. "I is goin' where Scottie an'
+the Parson goes; but where in tarnation is ye goin', and what for?"
+
+"Cooper's Creek, for opal," roared Scottie.
+
+"Opal," repeated Satan vacantly. Then his eyes kindled suddenly, and he
+exclaimed, "Lor', I forgot to tell ye, boys, I has been haulin' the
+stuff out by the sackful these last two weeks."
+
+"What!" yelled all in chorus, springing to their feet, and even the
+stoical Ted stopped in the act of lighting his pipe to gaze at Satan.
+
+"It are a fact, mates," continued that gentleman apologetically, "I
+reckon I has near got a waggon-load dumped out by now. Lor', what's the
+racket, mates?"
+
+Few heard his last words, for as the full literal import of what he had
+just said began to dawn on the assembly, a stampede took place down the
+hill towards the shaft; but another surprise was in store. While some
+were rummaging in Black George's tent for candles to explore the long
+drive in Satan's claim, and others were sliding down his windlass rope,
+a series of sounds broke out round our deserted fire, the fervour of
+which made Hoskins say, "Hallo, boys, how is Bill not here?"
+
+"I is here, darn ye!" came the muffled response from the darkness;
+"that's Ted that's shouting," which information made it clear to all
+that Silent Ted in his excitement had placed the blazing mulga stump in
+his mouth and thrown away his pipe.
+
+I had known Ted for a long time, but that was only the second occasion
+on which I had heard the sound of his voice. A few seconds later we had
+crowded into Satan's drive, and after crawling over a heap of mullock
+that blocked the passage to within one foot of the roof, we found
+ourselves in the chamber where, from the presence of his pick and other
+implements, we knew he had recently been working. In a moment the
+candles were lit, and then a cry of wonder burst from all. We were
+standing in what might have been an Aladdin's palace, and the walls
+danced and flashed in the gloom as if alive. The roof was simply one
+blaze of ever-changing orange and green, and through the whole would
+dart spasmodically a "living" flash of fiery red. Clearly Satan had
+struck it, for there must have been several thousand pounds' worth of
+opal exposed, whatever amount may have been hidden behind. Bill was the
+first to break the silence of admiration, which had fallen over all, and
+he only said one word. It was characteristic and expressive, but quite
+unprintable; and slowly we filed out again and clambered up the rope to
+the surface. When we got back to our camp we found Ted, Satan, and the
+Swede sitting in silent meditation round the fire. Probably Ted would
+have accompanied us, had it not been for the fact that he, being cook,
+had to look after a mysterious compound of flour and other substances
+commonly known as damper, which every evening was prepared among the
+ashes.
+
+"Well, boy, you have struck it, an' no mistake," called out Ford, the
+New Zealander, to Satan as we approached. "You're a millionaire now."
+
+"Get awa' frae this fire, you unceevilised heathen," roared Scottie, in
+virtuous indignation. "A man that wouldna' tell his mates when he struck
+a ton of opal is nae frien' o' mine; get awa' before a dae ye damage."
+
+"Come Scottie," began the Parson, but Mac would have none of him.
+
+"Don't Scottie me," he bellowed, "Ye--ye----" Then seeing the look of
+pain on the face of the would-be peacemaker he calmed down and said,
+"Weel, ye shouldna anger me. I'll alloo ony man to judge if----"
+
+"Lor', Scottie, what is ye sayin'?" interrupted Satan anxiously; "I
+forgot all about the darned stuff. I has no mate, and if you will come
+and help spend it you can have the half."
+
+"Mein Gott," cried Kaiser, "I vil be your mate for von quarter."
+
+"Satan," began Mac, "A'm sorry A spoke, but A can see ye're no fit to
+be left alane, among so mony Germans and foreign heathen. Sell yer opal,
+lad, and bank the money in Sydney. The coach leaves the morn's nicht."
+
+"I'll be darned if I do. I never went and left my mates yet, an' I ain't
+goin' to start now," exclaimed Satan doggedly.
+
+And then I explained that he had already done sufficient to merit our
+blessing by discovering the layer of opal at the forty-four feet level.
+"It in all probability extends throughout all our claims at that depth,"
+I said, "so you had better go down to Sydney and dispose of yours before
+the news leaks out. Otherwise there will be so much of the opal for
+sale locally when we all strike it that the buyers may be frightened."
+
+Ultimately we convinced Satan that he should go down to the coast, for
+it was evident he needed a change, and he could now well afford it.
+Shortly afterwards the party broke up for the night, and soon the camps
+were wrapt in slumber, each man dreaming, doubtless, of the opal he
+would get on the morrow four feet beneath the floor of his lowest drive.
+
+In the morning the Parson, Kaiser, and Mac went over to assist Satan in
+working out the opal showing in his claim, and in the evening he
+departed with twenty pounds weight of first-grade opal tied securely in
+sacks so as to excite no suspicion. The news of the deep-level find soon
+spread, and at noon of the day following Satan's departure our little
+community was the centre of a "rush," which by evening had swelled into
+a great canvas settlement stretching right across the white glistening
+lake-bed towards the township.
+
+That evening our usual camp-fire circle was increased by the addition of
+over a hundred hardened fortune-seekers eager to obtain any information
+as to the levels, depths, and formations of the country, which,
+obviously, only we who had shafts already sunk were able to supply.
+
+"It are the forty-four feet level seam we has struck," Bill answered to
+all inquiries, "an' it likely spreads out all over the flat there,
+though I 'spects it turns into Potch before it goes far."
+
+"I reckon we'll chance that," was the general response, and next day the
+many heaps of upturned sand that grew in proportion as we looked, showed
+that the new arrivals were fast doing so.
+
+Meanwhile, the buyers were greatly agitated. They had heard exaggerated
+reports concerning the find of the "forty-four," and had arranged among
+themselves to beat down the prices of the opal to £4 an ounce. It,
+therefore, surprised them to find the days passing and no one offering
+to sell any opal; and one morning two of their fraternity repegged
+Satan's abandoned claim, evidently with the intention of investigating
+matter for themselves. As we had been endeavouring by various
+subterfuges to keep this claim intact, some of us having even altered
+our boundaries the better to do so, we were much chagrined at this
+brilliant move on their part, but marvelled how they had come to know
+that it was not legally manned. However, the claim was worked out, and
+as the two new holders knew as little about the practical part of mining
+for opal as we knew of the value of the gem, we consoled ourselves with
+the reflection that, after all, we might be able to turn their proximity
+to account.
+
+Thus it was that every evening a well-packed sack was carefully hoisted
+from each of the shafts of the surrounding claim-holders, and a rumour
+spread abroad that a new Sydney syndicate was buying opal by the ton.
+Our two Hebrew friends, by dint of persistent effort, gradually
+insinuated themselves into our good graces, and one day astonished us by
+announcing that they were capitalists, and would purchase our claims if
+the terms were reasonable. At this straightforward way of doing
+business, so foreign to the nature of their compatriots, I felt that we
+had greatly wronged them, and as they said, truly enough, that they did
+not know what our claims contained, and that their offer was merely a
+part of honest speculation, the Parson and I were much worried over
+certain matters.
+
+"I reckon I vote for selling," said Bill one evening as we held a
+meeting to consider the proposal. "The money will pay ex's for a trip
+West, an' darn 'em! they're Jews anyhow."
+
+"A'm wi' ye, Bill," cried Mac, and one by one all signified their
+approval of the sentiments expressed until only the Parson and I were
+left.
+
+"Of course I will not vote against my partner, Kaiser," began the
+Parson, "but really there is nothing in our cl----" He stopped abruptly,
+for, from the shadows of our mullock-heap, stepped a stranger. There
+seemed something familiar about his gait as he crossed the fire-lit
+zone, and sat down on the empty kerosene tin on which Satan used to sit,
+but I could not recollect whom he resembled. For a moment no one spoke;
+the stranger's amazing coolness had taken our breath away. He was
+dressed in, presumably, the latest style of Sydney clothing, but even in
+the dim light I could see that his garments hung loosely on his person.
+Evidently he had just arrived in White Cliffs, and had not yet been in a
+willy-willy (sand-storm).
+
+"Look here, ma man, hae ye a ticket?" said Mac at length.
+
+"If ye is a new chum ye will get tucker in that tent there," said Bill,
+"but----"
+
+"Lor', mates! What does ye mean? Doesn't ye not know me?" interrupted
+the stranger. "I is Satan----"
+
+"Golly! an' so it is, but--but where's your whiskers," cried Black
+George, holding a lighted match in the stranger's face.
+
+"Satan, ye deevil, gie's yer hand," roared Scottie, "A'm rael glad to
+see ye."
+
+"Oh, mates, I is glad to git back, I is," began our old friend. "I
+hasn't had a proper feed since I left, an' I has been disgraced. I went
+to a theatre in Sydney an' there was a fight on the stage, an' because I
+jumped up an' jined in socially like, the police came in an' started on
+me. I couldn't fight them all, for there war' mor'n a dozen, an' next
+day the judge, a very decent old gentleman, told me to git from Sydney,
+for it war' full o' sharks. I gitted to Melbourne, but, oh, Lor'! mates,
+don't none of you never go there----"
+
+[Illustration: THE BELLE OF THE BUSH.
+               A SALVATION ARMY CONVERT IN WHITE CLIFFS.]
+
+"But your opal, Satan? What did you get for it?" I broke in.
+
+"Oh, that darned stuff? Mates, it weren't worth much after all. There
+war' two young fellows in the Wilcannia coach with me, an' they told me
+that it war' no good. They war' Jews of course; but they went down all
+the way with me an' took me round all the buyers in Sydney, an' none o'
+them would look at it. I didn't know what to do; and I was mighty glad
+when the two Jews gave me two hundred pounds for the lot. I spent the
+money as quick as I could, an' here I is back again, an'---- But has ye
+got no tucker?"
+
+For full five minutes the air was filled with the most powerful words in
+at least four different languages, during which entertainment Satan
+unconcernedly ate the piece of damper which Ted had handed to him.
+
+"I suppose you do not remember the names of your two kind friends,
+Satan?" I said, passing him the tea billy.
+
+"No, but they both wears a chain with a most 'culiar pendant, something
+like what the Parson showed us one night."
+
+"Ah!" I cried. "Gentlemen, our business is settled. We will sell our
+claims to-morrow: we cannot refuse the kindly, disinterested offer of
+Satan's two benefactors."
+
+"But I reckon the price has risen, hasn't it?" inquired Bill.
+
+"Yes," answered the Parson grimly. "Satan's opal was worth £8,000."
+
+Next morning the two Hebrews came out from town a full hour earlier than
+usual, and without more ado the Parson, as spokesman, informed them
+that having considered everything and being desirous of going out West,
+we were willing to sell our joint claims for three thousand pounds in
+cash.
+
+"But two tousant was the agreement," remonstrated one.
+
+"There was no agreement," replied the Parson. "Candidly I can't imagine
+why you wish to have the claims, for opal seems to have fallen in the
+market, but if you still desire them that sum is our price until we hear
+from other possible purchasers."
+
+While he was speaking, Mac and Hoskins were assiduously painting the
+address of a famous Sydney firm of jewellers on a well-roped candle-box,
+and after eyeing them intently for a minute, Aaron ---- said--
+
+"Vell den, we don't cares, we is speculative business men. No, we do not
+want to see your drives. Ha, ha! we vas not built to go through
+rabbit-holes. Here is de money, sign this papers all of you, an' come
+and dine with us in the Australian Thirst saloon."
+
+The above is the history of the finding of the "forty-four" feet level,
+and the selling of "Block 91." The money was equally divided among the
+men interested, after which most of them pegged out fresh claims
+elsewhere, but Bill, Ted, Satan, Black George, Scottie, the Parson, and
+I, procured bicycles and water-bags, and started off on our Western
+prospecting trip that same afternoon. It is unnecessary to repeat the
+details of our journey. The country was at first a hard, sandy plain
+dotted here and there with sparse growths of the ubiquitous mulga scrub,
+and occasionally broken by outcrops of silver lodes; but as we advanced,
+all forms of vegetation disappeared, and on the third day we found
+ourselves on an undulating sea of ironshot sand bounded only by the
+horizon. We had not as yet seen any signs of surface opal formations,
+and of course had no intention of sinking shafts to investigate, in the
+heart of such a desert. On the fourth day we calculated that we had now
+reached a point one hundred and forty miles west from White Cliffs, and
+that night we camped on the edge of a dry clay-pan and considered the
+advisability of returning. Bill and Ted, however, persisted that we had
+not yet gone far enough to see the place of which they had spoken so
+often, and although I could not understand how they had managed to
+travel such a distance, nor how they knew whether we had passed their
+farthest-out camp or not, I had implicit faith in the correctness of
+their observations.
+
+"I reckon we has to go 'bout thirty miles yet. We was jest a day off
+here," said Bill.
+
+"You must have been quite close to Lake Frome then," I said.
+
+"Never seed it, nor knowed of it, nor don't believe there ever was any
+lake in this part o' the world," replied Bill, and I wondered greatly,
+seeing that Lake Frome was distinctly marked across our path on the
+Government map in my possession. We had no fire that night, there being
+nothing that would burn within at least a day's journey, and
+consequently our supper was not of a tempting nature.
+
+"Well, men, I don't know that I care to be responsible for taking you
+further west," I announced. "How much water is left in the bags?"
+
+"There war' six gallons between them all after supper," answered Satan,
+"but Ted took a drink since then."
+
+"Let us try another day yet," advised the Parson, "we can go back over
+our tracks in two days, and the opal might only be an hour ahead."
+
+All expressed their approval of these remarks, so soon after, we scraped
+the top off the hard sand and went to sleep. The pests were unusually
+energetic that night, and several times we were awakened by their
+voraciousness. The Parson and Black George seemed to be affected even
+more so than the others, but it must have been an exceptionally large
+and active centipede that bit our dusky comrade in three places before
+he could discard his garments. At any rate, his yells aroused four
+evil-eyed crows from their dreams of the gorge they expected to have
+soon, and a skulking dingo also started in affright, emitting as it
+retreated a blood-curdling howl, that instantly brought us all to our
+feet.
+
+"Lor'! nigger! Has ye not never been bit before?" cried Satan in a
+reproving tone of voice, as he cast a sand-snake from under him.
+
+"Who does ye expect can sleep with you on the corroborree, Nig? Darn it!
+An' you a black fellow too. I reckon you oughten 'pologise," grumbled
+Bill.
+
+George's answer was picturesque, but three bleeding wounds on his back
+showed where the venomous creature had got in its work on him. He was a
+hardy piece of humanity, however, and after the Parson had lanced the
+rapid swelling flesh and applied ammonia, he went to sleep again.
+Shortly afterwards the Parson himself rose to his feet with an
+exclamation of annoyance, and began kicking up his sandy sleeping place.
+
+"What's wrong?" I inquired.
+
+"I don't know. There seems to be a boulder or something hard under me.
+Hallo! What's this--Great Scott! Opal!"
+
+Again the party sprang up, and as the glistening stone was rolled out on
+the surface and examined by match-light, many and various were the
+comments made on the poor Parson's ignorance, for the boulder which had
+sought out the soft corners of his body was a mass of green copper
+sulphide.
+
+"And has this material no value?" asked the object of the unkind
+remarks.
+
+"None; it's worse than potch," roared Bill. "See, Scottie's got more.
+Lor'! it's everywhere."
+
+"It is really worth a considerable amount," I said, "but the expense of
+treating it properly out here would be too much for us. That is an
+outcrop, and to all appearance it is one of the richest ever
+discovered."
+
+We slept no more that night, and before sunrise started off across the
+clay-pan. The surface was smooth and hard, and with the aid of a slight
+breeze which arose with the sun we skimmed along at an almost incredible
+pace.
+
+"Hallo, Ted! There's our old stakes," suddenly yelled Bill, steering for
+the crest of a broken piece of ground, and following in his tracks, we
+soon were standing round a broken pick-handle standing upright in the
+ground and on which was inscribed: "C.B. and S.T. Pros. Claim. Corner
+Peg."
+
+"How on earth did you manage to lead us here, Bill?" cried the Parson
+wonderingly.
+
+"Easy enough; this is the same season as when we were out, so we jest
+ran the ole sun down an' at night ye can always git the bearin's from
+the Cross."
+
+The Parson's surprise might have been greater had he known that my
+compass had been useless since the second day out, and that but for a
+few haphazard observations taken, Bill had been our only guide.
+Meanwhile Ted had unstrapped a pick and set to work, and before I had
+fully realised that we stood on what--in the rainy season, if such a
+season existed in those parts--was an island in the centre of Lake
+Frome, and that it was its salt-encrusted bed we had been crossing since
+morning, he handed me a piece of some scintillating substance,
+inquiring, by the shape of his face, my opinion as to its value.
+
+"Why, that's opalised wood," I exclaimed. "But what have we struck now?"
+
+"The opal we told ye about, of course," grunted Bill. "The sand's blown
+over it, and Ted's dug it up again; that's all."
+
+Truly we had encountered a marvellous formation. Great masses of fiery
+and orange opal were uncovered on every side, and for a day we did
+nothing but gather the best. It was evident that a forest had at one
+time occupied the site of the lake, for most of the opal showed the
+grains of wood throughout its structure, and many opalised leaves were
+found embedded in a matrix which looked uncommonly like bark. This
+latter fact was most puzzling, for the trees with bark in Australia are
+few indeed. We pegged out seven prospector's claims, and after a final
+look round prepared to move, our intention being to arrange for suitable
+transport for stores and water, and then come back.
+
+"Ye talk about the effeeciency o' the steam engine," muttered Scottie,
+as he examined the liquid contents of our bags, "but it's far oot o'
+date now, for we've each got to run a hundred miles a day on a pint o'
+water, and if onything can beat this----"
+
+"No doubt your remarks are the result of much study, Mac," I said,
+working out an elaborate calculation on the sand, "but we are not more
+than ninety miles from civilisation straight ahead, and if we care to
+travel over what remains of the lake by moonlight and the ground
+continues passable after that, we will strike the South Australian
+railway somewhere near Beltana siding to-morrow afternoon."
+
+And so it proved. We reached the S.A. line on the following afternoon,
+and an hour after sundown stopped the Port Augusta-bound train by
+kindling a fire in the middle of the track. Thirty-six hours later we
+found ourselves parading Rundle Street, Adelaide, in quest of some of
+Scottie's friends who resided there.
+
+[Illustration: THE DINGOE OR NATIVE DOG.]
+
+A week later I was in Sydney, and while crossing on the _Kirribilli_
+from Circular Quay to Milsons Point I came face to face with Aaron----.
+
+"How vas you?" he cried effusively.
+
+"As usual," I replied. "How are the claims turning out?"
+
+"Oh, not too bad," he answered, but his flushed face told another story;
+"but tell me," he continued, "who vas it bought your opal in Sydney?"
+
+"No one. We sent no opal to Sydney."
+
+"But the boxes and sacks----?"
+
+"Were filled with potch."
+
+"An'--an' the forty-four feet level is--but ah! you make mistake; I
+bought five tousant pound of its opal before I saw you."
+
+"Yes, I know, but you bought all that ever came from that depth. It was
+merely a pocket; we discovered that much two days after Satan, your old
+friend, left White Cliffs. It was in his claim, probably because it
+happened to be the lowest lying. We might not have sold our claims to
+you but for the fact that Satan returned, and--well, you know two
+hundred pounds is not fair value for five thousand."
+
+Aaron's rage was great, but he afterwards paid six hundred sovereigns
+for the opal we had brought down from Lake Frome. We did not go back
+there, a shower of rain came on and flooded the lake, and after chasing
+the elusive gem over the greater part of Queensland with more or less
+success, our party reformed and set out on a gold-prospecting trip to
+British New Guinea.
+
+
+
+
+PROSPECTING IN BRITISH NEW GUINEA
+
+
+The life of the prospector in New Guinea is not fraught with many
+pleasures, but in my experience, oftener than elsewhere, he enjoys that
+exquisite sensation which attends the unexpected finding of gold, and
+here the dreary monotony of life in the Australian interior is exchanged
+for conditions more congenial to his wandering nature.
+
+British New Guinea is to most people the least-known part of our empire;
+but there are few valleys in its dark interior in which the prospector
+has not "chipped" some quartz formation, or "panned" some sand from the
+river's bed. The British flag was first planted in Eastern New Guinea by
+Captain, now Admiral, John Moresby, of H.M.S. _Basilisk_, in 1872. This
+officer, whilst employed in superintending the pearl shell fisheries in
+Torres Straits, learnt that adventurers, both American and French, were
+contemplating expeditions and occupation of the then unknown shores of
+Eastern New Guinea.
+
+The captain of the _Basilisk_, being aware of the great strategical
+importance of these coasts to Australia, resolved to forestall any such
+attempt, and fortunately succeeded in securing for England the whole of
+Eastern New Guinea and its adjacent islands. Ultimately, however, a
+large part of his labour was lost owing to the retrograde policy of the
+times, when Germany was allowed to seize so considerable a part of
+North-Eastern New Guinea without opposition.
+
+Samarai has now eclipsed Port Moresby as the chief port of the
+possession. It is built, or rather erected, upon a small island at the
+extreme south-east of the mainland, and is in direct communication with
+Cooktown in Queensland and the Australian capitals. From Samarai
+coasting-steamers run regularly to the mouths of the Mambare, Kumusi,
+and Gira rivers on the northeastern coast, and in the upper reaches and
+sources of these rivers are the great gold deposits, the origin of which
+has completely baffled the mineralogist and geologist to explain. The
+men there do not trouble themselves as to its origin, however, and while
+the river-beds continue to yield a sure and steady quantity of gold to
+the ordinary miner, and the mountain gorges or creeks provide
+sensational "finds" for the more daring prospector, no one cares whether
+the presence of the precious metal is in accordance with the views of
+geologists or otherwise.
+
+"It is a fact that the bottom is on top," said an old pioneer. "But then
+the outcrops are all inside the darned mountains, so we are quits."
+
+The township of Tamata is the most important centre of the New Guinean
+goldfields, but the Yodda Valley camp rivals it closely, and it is
+expected that some of the new camps at the base of Mount Albert Edward
+will in time surpass them both. The fierce, unreasoning hostility of the
+natives renders prospecting at any distance from the settlements an
+extremely dangerous occupation, as the writer, who has had several
+experiences among the cannibalistic tribes of the lower ranges, can
+testify. As a rule, however, the prospector scorns all such dangers,
+and if he escapes the dreaded fever, trusts to his rifle for protection
+and his luck for fortune, and straightway proceeds to cut a path into
+some unknown river valley.
+
+The famous Yodda Valley, where men at first made fifty ounces of gold
+(equivalent to £180 per day), was discovered in such manner, and if the
+stories of some of the prospecting parties who crossed New Guinea in all
+directions were given to the world, doubtless a "rush" would set in
+towards the deadly fever-swamps, unparalleled in the world's history
+both for its general extent and the amount of victims. Round the
+campfires at night, enveloped in their smoke to escape the many pests,
+the men of the various settlements regularly gather to discuss the
+latest news from the coast, and to consider the many strange reports of
+"great strikes" constantly circulated by the friendly natives.
+Frequently a party is organised to go and prove the truth of any such
+report, and when in turn word is sent back that the chances are good, a
+general exodus often takes place, all setting out for the new fields
+with light hearts and high hopes.
+
+Miners cannot stay in New Guinea for more than one season at a time;
+they are forced by repeated attacks of the various fevers to leave their
+work and take a "spell" in the southern parts of Australia or New
+Zealand. In my opinion lack of proper food is the prime cause of these
+fevers, as it is only when the men are "run down" that the kuri-kuri
+breaks out among them. The stores are floated as far as possible up the
+rivers in oil-launches and whale-boats, and then transported overland to
+the camps by native carriers in the employment of the diggers. The
+majority of the miners are Australians; but in most prospecting parties
+there is usually a Scotsman and an Irishman, and not infrequently a
+German.
+
+In the party with which I was associated there were two typical
+Australian prospectors, one German, one Irishman, and, including myself,
+two Scots. We also had six native carriers and two dogs. My Scottish
+comrade said that "the dugs were as guid as ony twa men"; but however
+that might apply to the whites, it was at least unfair to our dusky
+"boys," who were Fly River natives, and only cost one shilling each for
+wages per day. We all had had experience on other goldfields, and each
+man was fever-proof, which in New Guinea means impregnated with quinine.
+"Doc," the Irishman, was a Dublin University man of some repute. He had
+been in turn a member of a famous North Polar expedition, and an officer
+in the American Philippino campaign. Mac had been everywhere, but his
+accent seemed to become more pronounced the farther from home he
+wandered. The two Australians, Emu Bill and Starvation Sam, were good
+specimens of the wandering Anglo-Saxon. Bill was one of the pioneers of
+Coolgardie, but if he were addressed by his real name, William Hambley,
+he would probably not recognise it. Sam was the son of a governor of a
+not unknown "'link' in our chain of Empire"; but as he adopted his
+cognomen to hide his identity, and no one would dream of calling him
+anything else, perhaps I will be excused from going further into his
+family history. He was six feet five inches in height, had been in his
+time soldier, sailor, missionary, pearler, outlaw, and mail-carrier,
+from which description all Queenslanders and South Sea travellers will
+immediately recognise him. Our German companion was a first-class
+mineralogist and an excellent comrade--and cook; but he deeply resented
+the appellation of Kaiser, which Mac bestowed upon him.
+
+"I am not Cherman," he would say. "I vas been as mooch English as you,
+Scodie."
+
+"A ken that fine, Kaiser," Mac would answer. "A'm Scotch frae Dundee."
+
+We left Tamata with the intention of prospecting the Owen Stanley
+ranges, and among the miners in general were considered to be the most
+experienced and best-equipped prospecting party that ever essayed that
+venture. Our journey for the first week was, allowing for the nature of
+the country--uneventful. A crocodile gripped one of our carriers while
+crossing the Ope River, but making a combined attack on the huge
+saurian, we forced it to relax its hold, and finally, as Bill remarked,
+"Ther' war one inseck less in the darned country." Another day we were
+attacked by myriads of bees, and, despite our face-nets, they inflicted
+much pain upon all. The New Guinean bee does not sting, in the strictest
+sense of the word; it has an intense craving for salt, and, obeying some
+instinct, it fastens into the skin and raises great blisters thereon by
+its peculiar suction action. At lunch-time we carefully made a pile of
+dry brushwood, and shook a small packet of salt over it. Instantly the
+bees left us and followed the salt down through the loose heap, and then
+with a chuckle of delight, and a grunt of satisfaction from Kaiser, Mac
+applied a lighted match. Doc said that Mac chased the only bee that
+escaped for over half a mile, but at any rate we were not troubled
+further that day.
+
+Continuing our journey, which at first had been through the swampy and
+pestilential morass formed by the Ope River's periodical overflow, we at
+length crossed the "divide" between the Ope and Kumusi waters, and
+travelled through a country in which brilliantly-hued creepers blazed
+from the tree-tops, and luxuriant vegetation flourished everywhere.
+Gaudy-plumaged parrots, cockatoos, and birds of paradise flitted
+overhead, making the forest resound with their deafening chatter.
+Snakes of nearly all varieties started from the dense under-growths as
+we approached, and our dogs had plenty of exercise in chasing these
+undesirables. They in turn were the hunted when near rivers, and many a
+narrow escape Mac and his charges had from the enormous and impregnable
+crocodiles that infested the banks of all streams.
+
+[Illustration: CROCODILE'S JAWS.]
+
+There were several native villages in the district which we now
+traversed, but having had previous experience of the treacherous nature
+and cannibalistic proclivities of most of the tribes in that quarter, we
+avoided them, and altered our course when we struck a native pad or
+track. We knew that our tracks must be seen, however, and nightly
+expected a visit from the warriors, who, fearing only the Government
+police, looked upon prospecting parties as the lawful prey allowed them
+by a considerate Government. We were not disappointed. One night, when
+camped near the Kumusi, and about thirty miles from the Yodda Valley
+camps, the long-expected attack came, and, to Mac's intense disgust, we
+did not stay to argue the point, but departed hurriedly and
+ignominiously. Two days later we reached the Yodda, and camped for some
+time, to try our luck and hear the latest reports from the mountains. A
+day previous to our arrival a strong party had set out to prospect Mount
+Scratchley, and while we were camped a famous pioneering company arrived
+from the interior, and reported the discovery of vast gold deposits in
+the gullies of the higher ranges. Several of the members showed some
+peculiar stones which they had taken from the mountain ravines, and one
+veteran, in whom Sam recognised an old comrade, hinted mysteriously that
+the nuggets and slugs which they had with them came from a lava deposit
+at the source of the Gira, in German territory. While Doc and I noted
+that significant fact for future reference, Kaiser was more interested
+in the stones.
+
+"Dat is vat is called zircon," he whispered to me, as he placed a pebble
+on his tongue. "Gott! it is over twenty carats," he continued excitedly.
+"Ask him ver it vas come from."
+
+"Why not ask him yourself?" I suggested jokingly, but the reproachful
+look he gave me made me regret that I had spoken. Kaiser's race, in most
+British colonies, is always suspected of underhand dealing. On my
+inquiring of the owner where he had found the stones, he placed them in
+my hands.
+
+"In some creeks in the back ranges," he answered. "You can have them
+all. I ain't going to carry them further."
+
+"But look," I said, chipping the edge of one, and disclosing a
+translucent mass of pale straw colour, in which a tinge of port wine
+danced according to the manner in which the stone was held.
+
+"I don't care," he replied. "I is a gold-miner, an' I knows that every
+ounce of gold is worth £3 17s. 6d.; but that is darned stuff only Jews
+will buy, and I'll throw them away if you don't want them."
+
+I had no spare money--the prospector never has--and as he refused to
+take a new Winchester rifle and my silver-mounted revolver, I did not
+know what to give him in return.
+
+"Ye'll need all yer pop-guns where ye are goin'," he said. "I is going
+down to South Aus. with my pile; but say, if ye has any fruit-salt, or
+sugar, or quinine to spare, I an' the boys would be ontarnally obliged
+to ye."
+
+I gave him a bottle of quinine tabloids, and another of saccharine, and,
+as few of the miners had ever heard of the latter substance, and of
+course seldom carried sugar, their delight was a treat to see. We
+entertained them to dinner, and next morning they started for the
+Kumusi River, _en route_ for the coast, Samarai, and Australia. At the
+same time we picked up their old tracks and steered for the distant peak
+of Mount Scratchley.
+
+Our progress was now necessarily slow, for, in addition to being in a
+hostile country, through which Sir William Macgregor and his native
+police was the only armed force that had ever passed, we had to carry on
+prospecting operations. Three days out, our first "strike" was made. We
+bridged a deep river in the usual manner, by felling a tree across from
+bank to bank, and after we had crossed, Kaiser, who was an enthusiastic
+botanist, descended into the channel to examine a curious growth on an
+under branch.
+
+"Come on, Kaiser," shouted Mac; "there's nae gold doon there."
+
+"Bring up a sample, anyhow," Bill added, throwing him a gold-pan; and
+laughingly we all passed on, leaving our inquisitive comrade to follow
+at his leisure. Shortly afterwards Doc shot a wild pig, and, as all
+prospectors adopt the rule of dining when opportunity offers, a halt was
+called for that purpose. During cooking operations Kaiser arrived,
+carrying Bill's gold-pan. Bill took the dish from his hands with the
+intention of replacing it in its former position on a carrier's back;
+but, to his loudly and vigorously expressed astonishment, he found that
+his comrade had followed his instructions, and actually carried about
+two pounds of sand from the river's bed.
+
+"Lor', but ye is green, Kaiser!" he remarked, preparing to throw the
+sand out.
+
+"Haud on a wee," Mac cried, seizing his arm; "it's aye whaur ye dinna
+expect to find gold that ye get it. Noo, I dinna think there's ony
+there, so try it."
+
+Bill looked at Mac in thoughtful silence for a minute.
+
+"I reckon it's worth trying, anyhow," cried Sam. "Pitch it here, an'
+I'll pan it."
+
+Bill did so, and Sam walked over to a creek near. Shortly after we were
+all startled by his shout. "Did you salt" (add gold to) "this dirt,
+Scottie?" he roared.
+
+"Get oot, man, an' no mak' a fool o' yersel'!" Mac answered, walking
+over. "Hallo! Come here lads," he continued; "we've struck it!"
+
+In a moment six excited men were round the pan, to which Sam was still
+imparting a gentle concentric motion, and, to our unbounded amazement,
+every movement of the dish still increased the comet-like tail of deep
+red gold in the ripple of the pan.
+
+"Well, I'll be jiggered!" said the two Australians simultaneously.
+
+"I'll be d--darned!" remarked Mac, with great feeling.
+
+"Mine Gott! Tree ounce stuff!" cried Kaiser.
+
+"Better come and have dinner," suggested Doc.
+
+I do not remember what I said; but even our "boys" babbled away in
+unintelligible but excited language. Of course we returned to the
+river--one of the Kumusi head-waters--and by sundown had tested the
+sands at various points for a distance of two miles on both sides of our
+bridge. Kaiser, meanwhile, had set to work with his pan, and when we
+returned to our camping-ground he had about half an ounce of coarse gold
+to show for his efforts.
+
+Next day we pegged out six prospectors' claims along both banks of the
+stream, including, of course, as much of the alluvial land on either
+side as our claims would allow. For several days afterwards we devoted
+some time to the most promising bars and deposits; but, as we had
+neither the tools nor the material for constructing sluice-boxes, our
+methods were restricted to simply washing the "dirt" in our pans. On
+the fourth day Mac threw down his pan, ejaculating at the same time the
+most-used word in his fairly-extensive vocabulary.
+
+"What is the matter, Mac?" I cried, from the opposite bank.
+
+"I dinna see hoo I shood hae tae work like a Clyde steevedore," he
+answered, "when ony man wi' the sma'est scienteefic abeelities could get
+as much gold in hauf an hoor as the lot o' us can in a day."
+
+"Explain, Mac. Have you an idea?"
+
+"Ay, thousands o' them. But what's tae hinder us frae taking a wheen
+split bamboos an' stringing them thegether like a sheet o' galvanised
+iron----"
+
+"Nothing. We have our axes. But what----?"
+
+"Turn the affair upside down and lean it against the bank there. Some o'
+us could throw the sand on tae the thing and Kaiser could keep it goin'
+wi' enough water tae wash the sand awa.'"
+
+"But the bamboo is too smooth. The gold would be carried over the edges
+with the sand."
+
+"Pit a hale bamboo in atween every twa split yins, an' if the gold could
+rise ow'r that it wad be too licht for savin' ony way."
+
+"All right, Mac," I responded. "You make the affair, and if it works we
+will appoint you our chief engineer."
+
+Mac did not answer. He knew that all his appointments merely meant so
+much additional work left to him as a matter of course; and even as
+things were, he never had "ony time for meeditaishun." He made his
+corrugated inclined plane, however, and as all his comrades, excepting
+Kaiser, laughed at his idea, he worked it himself for the first day.
+That evening, as we sat in the smoke of our camp-fire, Doc remarked,
+"Well, boys, I made about an ounce to-day, but I can't say that I care
+much about the work."
+
+"I reckon I is good for an ounce too," said Bill.
+
+Sam was cook, Kaiser camp-guard, and I had been writing up my log, so we
+had nothing to say. Mac evidently--like an Australian bushman--believed
+that silence was golden, for it was only after being asked several times
+that he spoke. "Ah, weel," he said reflectively, "there's some folk in
+this weary world content tae work awa' frae morn till nicht for a paltry
+three pounds seventeen an' saxpence worth" (one ounce of gold), "but I'm
+no ane o' them."
+
+"Mac is home-sick," Doc laughed.
+
+"Has your patent turned out a duffer?" inquired Sam.
+
+"I reckon Scottie is keeping back his gold from his mates," said Bill
+aggrievedly.
+
+"How much did you get, Mac?" I interrupted soothingly, for Mac had been
+my companion in many a journey, and I understood his nature well.
+
+"I dinna ken," he answered, handing me a fair-sized pouch; "aboot hauf a
+pun', I think."
+
+"What!" roared the men, springing to their feet.
+
+"Lor, Scottie! Does ye mean----?"
+
+"Eight ounces exactly," I announced. "Mac has made £30 for one day's
+work."
+
+"Scodland for ever!" shouted Kaiser from the midst of a cloud of native
+tobacco-smoke, and the others echoed his sentiments. Next day all hands
+assisted at Mac's machine, which showed in its construction many signs
+of that gentleman's ingenuity; but it had not been designed to bear the
+strain now put upon it, and after a few hours' work the bamboo ripples
+fell away. However it may apply in other circumstances, it is a
+recognised law among prospectors that misfortunes never come singly,
+therefore we were not surprised that afternoon when the river suddenly
+came down "a banker" (in flood) and carried away all our preparations
+for a new machine. Doc, who was of a philosophical nature, went out
+shooting when it became apparent that no further work could be done that
+day. When he returned to camp I saw from his face that the last of our
+misfortunes had not yet been reached.
+
+"The Papangis and Babagas are out," he said quietly.
+
+"That means----?" I said.
+
+"That we'd better git, quick an' lively too," interrupted Bill.
+
+"This creek runs into a large river about three miles down," continued
+Doc, "and there is a palisaded village near the junction. I saw some
+canoes drawn up on the banks, and from their design and peculiar
+ornamentation I at once guessed who their owners were. There were also
+some bearing the symbol of the Sizuretas; but probably they were those
+taken from that tribe when the great massacre occurred. I did not see
+any natives, and as I was quite close to the palisades I therefore
+concluded that they did not wish to be seen, and you can all guess what
+that means."
+
+Doc's words caused great consternation, and when our "boys" gathered
+that they were in the country of the dreaded Papangi they set up a
+wailing. "Papangi no good. Hims eat poor black devils. Stick head on
+pouri dubus" (sorcerer's house), cried one, on whom we had bestowed the
+title of King George.
+
+"Dinna you be frichtened, ma man," said Mac consolingly. "If ony o' the
+Papangi heathens come near enough I'll gie them sic a feed o' lead that
+their ghosts'll hae indegeestion." King George did not understand all
+that Mac said; but he brightened up considerably at his words, and at
+once began to infuse spirit into his companions. Mac was always
+delighted at the prospect of a fight; but as these tribes had only a
+month previously murdered and eaten most of the inhabitants of
+Angerita, the chief village of the Sizuretas, and afterwards
+successfully given battle to the Warden of the Northern Division and his
+police, who had gone to punish them, we thought discretion the better
+part of valour, and prepared to move, much to Mac's disgust.
+
+"Are ye gaun to rin awa' again?" he bellowed indignantly. "Let's get ma
+gun, an I'll gang an' fecht them ma'sel."
+
+"An' your head vas look vell on pole-top, Scottie," said Kaiser as he
+struck our tent.
+
+"We will fight if we can get a good camping-ground where they can't get
+behind us," I said, and with that Mac had to be content.
+
+In a marvellously short space of time our carriers were loaded and
+across the stream, after which we cast our bridge adrift and started up
+the north bank, intending to follow the river to its source, and then
+prospect for the lode from which the gold was shed. The sun had just
+disappeared as we began our march. We had not stayed for supper, and
+perhaps this fact had something to do with the depressing influence that
+seemed to rest upon all. Animal life had suddenly become very active;
+and to feel a coiling, writhing object among the feet, or to tread upon
+some nameless amphibious creature, was anything but a pleasant
+sensation.
+
+The moon shone brightly for the first two hours, and we travelled much
+faster than is usual in New Guinea. Our dogs, however, seemed conscious
+of some impending danger that was not yet apparent to us; and it grieved
+Mac sorely to see how his dumb charges hung so closely to his person,
+and how spiritless they had become.
+
+"I fancy we should have stayed and risked a fight," Doc said at length,
+as we paused at the mouth of a narrow ravine through which the stream
+rushed furiously. "Our boys will never face that."
+
+"Can't we get over the top?" I suggested; but Bill and Sam, who had been
+reconnoitring, said our only possible course was to traverse the stream
+and trust to there being no pools. This prospect was not very pleasing.
+We did not know the length of the ravine, nor what animals might have
+their homes in its depths, and our nerves were already at high tension.
+
+The moon was now obscured with banks of dark clouds that had suddenly
+shot up from beneath Mount Victoria, and the birds of night, before so
+noisy, were now strangely silent. The atmosphere had also become
+oppressively close, and we had to throw down our loads, from sheer
+physical inability to longer sustain them.
+
+"It's a 'buster' comin'," Sam gasped; "git up the flies--quick!" A flash
+of lightning lit up the valley as he spoke, and a terrific thunder-clap
+reverberated through the ravine. A minute of what felt unnatural silence
+passed, during which we all struggled with our long canvas "fly," and
+then the storm burst. We had got our flour-and rice-sacks under cover,
+and following Kaiser's example, crawled in under the folds beside them.
+The rain was the heaviest I have ever experienced, and soon we were
+drenched to the skin, even through the thick canvas. Suddenly one of the
+dogs started up, and instinctively fearing some new calamity, I gripped
+his nostrils tightly, while Doc crawled to the edge of our covering.
+
+"It's them," he whispered. "They are on the other bank; Heaven help us
+if we are discovered!"
+
+"Let me oot!" growled Mac; "I'm no gaun to be speared like a rabbit in a
+hole."
+
+"Shut up, Mac," I remonstrated. "It's too dark for them to see, and they
+cannot cross the water in any case." The patter of feet could now be
+heard on the opposite bank, and an occasional Che-ep (battle-cry)
+showed that we were not mistaken. In this new excitement we soon forgot
+our miserable condition; and from the characteristic behaviour of the
+individual members of the party, it was evident that the actual presence
+of danger had dispelled the strange feeling of depression which
+previously had almost unnerved us. Mac was muttering to his dogs, Bill
+and Sam were--unconsciously, I believe--pouring out a torrent of
+Australian bush words which, as Kaiser afterwards said, "sounded like
+poedry." Kaiser himself, I knew, was munching a piece of damper, which
+with thoughtful precaution he had carried from our last camp. Our boys
+lay still, as if asleep. I was so engrossed in the study of my comrades
+that events outside passed unnoticed until Doc's voice startled us.
+"Come out, boys!" he cried; "all is clear." We crawled from under our
+soaked covering, and found Doc puffing at his pipe as serenely as if he
+had just risen from supper. The storm had ceased, the moon was shining
+again, and the dark clouds were speeding towards the Yodda Valley.
+
+"Evidently our friends were surprised by the 'buster' as much as we
+were," Doc said; "at any rate, they have gone home to dine on something
+else."
+
+"That minds me that I'm hungry tae," cried Mac; "come on, Kaiser; gi'e
+us a haun.'"
+
+By some miraculous means these two worthies got a fire kindled, and
+while we dried ourselves by the blaze of the gum-logs, the "billies"
+were boiled, and soon some copious draughts of thick black tea made us
+feel quite recovered. When morning came the waters in the gorge had
+subsided, and after a hasty breakfast we forced a passage up the stream,
+and finally emerged on the wooded slopes of the mountains.
+
+The details of our journey from thence onwards would require too much
+space to enumerate. We steered for the distant ranges, because we
+wished to prospect them before the state of our stores rendered that
+impossible, knowing that, if unlucky, we could always come back to the
+sands of the river. We were attacked twice by hunting tribes of what
+must have been the notorious Tugeris; but we were no longer inclined to
+run away, and for the benefit of the gold-seeker who might come after
+us, we taught them that it was dangerous to interfere with prospectors.
+
+One day in the middle ranges we traced up a rich gold formation, and by
+the primitive method of dollying with improvised tools obtained 110
+ounces from it in three days. In this region--near the source of the
+Gira--signs of gold were everywhere; but we were not equipped for
+systematic mining, and could only treat the rich free ore or the
+alluvial deposits. There seemed to be few natives here, and owing to the
+height above sea-level the country was much healthier than in the lower
+valleys. One day we came on a deserted village, in the stockaded garden
+of which were cocoanut and betel palms, and the usual taro and
+sweet-potatoes. The sugar-cane and tobacco-plant were also much in
+evidence, showing that some civilising influence--probably that of the
+missionaries--had been at work among the former inhabitants. We saw no
+sign of life, however, and therefore concluded that the fierce Tugeris
+had recently raided the place.
+
+Another day Doc and I, while climbing up the mountain-side from our
+camp, found our progress suddenly barred by a steep gully that cut
+transversely along the slope. Descending with difficulty into the
+valley, and following up the course of an old water-channel, we found a
+heterogeneous deposit of zircons, sapphires, topazes, and many other
+gemstones amidst the _débris_ of an extinct blowhole. We gathered some
+of what appeared to be the best, intending to find out their value at
+the earliest possible opportunity. The valley formation itself would
+have gladdened the heart of any geologist; from any point lower down the
+mountain the slope seemed continuous, and only when at the edge of the
+"breakaway" was the valley evident.
+
+We were now near the German boundary, and hesitated between our desires
+and our duty as law-abiding prospectors. While camped on doubtful
+territory an incident occurred that may serve to illustrate more than
+one thing. We were satisfied with our luck so far; and therefore
+light-hearted, so much so that one night Mac began to sing, and soon we
+all joined him. The air was very clear on the mountains, but it struck
+me that the echoes lingered strangely; and after we had turned in for
+the night, volumes of sound still rose and fell on the atmosphere,
+sweeter far than that produced by our own rough voices. Next night, as
+we sat at supper regarding ruefully our fast-diminishing stores, we were
+startled by a loud "Hallo!" "Hallo!" we shouted back, and then to our
+astonishment four men and six carriers marched into our fire-lit circle.
+
+"It's a graun' nicht," cried one. "Hae ye onything for eatin'?"
+
+"Well, I'll be--Scotched!" remarked Doc, while Mac sprang to his feet
+and stared at the new-comers.
+
+"You are just in time," I said. "What clan do you represent?"
+
+"Macpherson; A'm frae Laggan-side. Sandy here is a Glesga man, but Bob
+an' Jim are Englishmen; they're nane the waur o' that----"
+
+"We heard you singing last night," interrupted Bob. "We are as hungry as
+hawks--but how is the war?"...
+
+The new party had just come from a protracted trip in German territory,
+and they told many strange tales of what they had seen in that
+mysterious land. Unfortunately their stores had given out, and on
+investigation we found that ours could not last more than ten days for
+both parties. However, as Mr. Robert Elliot informed me, they had made
+enough gold to warrant their going back again; and, pending
+considerations as to the advisability of our joining forces, we all
+resolved to have a "spell."
+
+We eventually reached the coast at Holnecote Bay; a week after we landed
+at Samarai, and eight days more found us in Sydney.
+
+Here two Hebrew gentlemen offered Sam and Kaiser a £10 note for our
+entire stock of gem-stones. In consequence of this generous offer (!)
+and the fact that his great height afforded an easy means of
+identification, we had to send Sam rather hurriedly to Melbourne. We
+eventually restored peace, however, by selling our stones to the
+afore-mentioned individuals for £80; and since then Aaron K. has
+informed me that one stone alone, when cut into four parts and polished,
+fetched fifty-three sovereigns.
+
+
+
+
+IN THE GUM-LAND OF WANGERI
+
+
+There is a region away in the far north of New Zealand, where sooner or
+later the wanderer who knows the world by the track of his footsteps
+must surely gravitate, there to mingle with kindred spirits and pursue
+the even tenor of life's way for a brief space under tranquil
+circumstances, digging for the Kauri-resin deposits of former ages along
+the fern swamps and uplands, amassing wealth if fortune favours, but
+casually content with the generous subsistence his peaceful labours at
+the least will bring, until his restless nature compels him to journey
+forth again on his ceaseless pilgrimage.
+
+My acquaintance with this odd corner of the globe was made some years
+ago, when chance--fatality, the gum-diggers would call it--led me to
+take a trip on a coasting steamer trading from Auckland northwards. I
+had never heard of the gum-digging industry except in the vaguest way,
+and curiosity had fired my interest in inverse ratio with the amount of
+information gathered. But I could not help noticing that all my
+inquiries on the subject were treated with scantily hidden disapproval,
+and in consequence I never pressed my apparently awkward questions,
+fearing that I had by accident hit on a conversational topic, which,
+like that of convict history in Australia, had best be tabooed. So it
+happened that when the SS. _Bulimba_ moored alongside the jetty in the
+beautiful harbour of Wangeri, I stepped ashore, meaning to put in a day
+or so in the picturesque little township which looked so alluring from
+the water, yet wholly unaware of the fact that I had at last reached the
+centre of the gum country. That was a small matter, however, on which I
+was speedily enlightened.
+
+I had just got clear of the long wharf, and was looking about the quiet
+street in which I found myself, in hopes of spying the hospitable
+portals of an hotel near at hand, when four extremely ragged men emerged
+from the doorway of the establishment I had at that moment decided to
+patronise. Their outward appearance was bad--very bad, and though I have
+foregathered with all sorts and conditions in my time, I like to choose
+my company when I can. I resolved promptly to pass on to some other
+house. The disreputable quartette were now hurrying towards me, and I
+moved aside to give them ample room to go by. Three of the party were
+engaged in animated discussion; the fourth walked a little way ahead,
+his eyes fixed listlessly on the ground. He looked up as he noticed the
+shadow across his path, and at once an expression of relief brightened
+his weary countenance.
+
+"I ask your pardon, sir," he said, with quaint courtesy. "But will you
+do me a small service?"
+
+My hand slid into my pocket involuntarily; then I recollected that I was
+not in Britain, and withdrew it again carelessly. "Fire away," I said;
+"what's the trouble?"
+
+The argumentative trio had meanwhile ceased their wordy altercations and
+were staring at me eagerly. Their polite spokesman began again:--
+
+"I presume you have been in the various Australian cities?"--he nodded
+in the direction of my portmanteau, which I had set down in the middle
+of the road, whereon were emblazoned the advertising devices of many
+enterprising hotel proprietors.
+
+"You are certainly a lineal descendant of Sherlock Holmes," I ventured
+with mild sarcasm, half wondering if in this remote settlement I had
+stumbled upon an adapted version of the old, old confidence trick.
+
+He appeared to understand my innuendo, for he flushed up angrily, then
+suddenly glancing at his dilapidated wardrobe, he checked a fiery
+outburst and smiled feebly instead. His companions too seemed powerfully
+affected by my simple remark, and their wrath did not cool down as
+swiftly as I would have wished. They crowded around me threateningly,
+while the vials of their speech overflowed in a tempestuous torrent of
+indignant reproaches.
+
+"We is Ostralians," they bellowed with one voice, "we is----"
+
+"Calm yourselves, boys," I entreated. "You're oversensitive to be abroad
+in this wicked world. I said nothing----"
+
+"An' don't say it again," interrupted the tallest and ugliest of the
+group. "I is known as Long Ted in these parts, I is; an' I fights when
+my fur is raised, I does."
+
+It was now my turn to feel annoyed; the aggressive nature of the party
+almost confirmed me in my first doubt.
+
+"Suppose you stand out of the way," I suggested. "I'm not holding a
+levee----"
+
+The leader at this stage endeavoured to throw oil on the troubled
+waters. "I must apologise for bringing this trouble upon you," he said,
+frowning severely on his associates. "We are not tramps, though I have
+no doubt our looks are against us. We are gum-diggers out for a spell;
+at least my companions are on a holiday; I--I am only going to take care
+of them."
+
+"Then the gum-diggings are here?" I exclaimed in surprise.
+
+"All round about for sixty miles or more," Long Ted answered gruffly.
+"English Bob is going to Melbourne with us----"
+
+"Sydney," interjected a voice at his elbow.
+
+"Adelaide," prompted another.
+
+English Bob quelled the rising storm with an impatient gesture. "You
+promised to let a stranger decide the matter," he cried appealingly;
+then turning to me he continued, "Will you be so kind as give me your
+opinion on these three cities mentioned. In short, which is the finest
+of the lot for a holiday?"
+
+A murmuring babel of sound followed his words, and the three fire-eaters
+glared at me savagely, awaiting my verdict. But I had once before been
+in a similar position--only once, but that was enough. I realised that
+the harassed Englishman had in tow a South Australian, a citizen of New
+South Wales, and a Victorian. I approached the delicate question warily.
+
+"Adelaide is a tidy little town," I hazarded tentatively. Long Ted's
+basilisk-like eyes peered at me dangerously.
+
+"And Melbourne is a fine city," I continued reflectively. Long Ted
+smiled, but his nearest neighbour snarled. I could venture no further.
+"Not for gold or precious stones will I commit myself," I protested. "I
+am a peaceable individual----"
+
+"Ho, ho, ho," laughed English Bob in genuine merriment, slapping me
+heartily on the shoulder. "You've sized them up right away. I have never
+been in Australia myself, and cannot understand why my companions should
+have such diversified opinions on a simple subject. I am certainly
+obliged to you for showing them my difficulty, for if you cannot tell
+them what they ask, how can I?"
+
+"Toss for it, boys," I recommended; "it will be the safest way, and can
+arouse no ill-feeling."
+
+"Right you are, mate," shouted Long Ted, and a twin echo of applause
+intimated that all danger of immediate disturbance was at an end. I
+seized my portmanteau in haste, and proceeded on my interrupted course;
+but the fighting trio leisurely kept pace, Long Ted gently insinuating
+the bag from my hand into his own horny palm as we walked along.
+
+"If you don't mind," spoke English Bob, coming up in the rear, "I'd like
+to--to shout for you. We've plenty of time to catch the old _Bulimba_,
+and for my own part I'm not very anxious whether she sails south without
+us or not."
+
+I marvelled at this strange _dénoûement_, but said nothing, and together
+we entered the hotel they had so recently vacated. Within the five
+minutes following our advent into the gilded "saloon bar," I had become
+fairly well acquainted with the vicissitudes of the gum-digger's life.
+Long Ted was as exceedingly communicative as English Bob was reticent,
+while the remaining pair added titbits of information now and then as
+occasion demanded.
+
+"But what sort of men make it their special calling?" I asked at length.
+"No one seemed very willing to give me any knowledge on the subject in
+Auckland."
+
+English Bob roused himself, and looked at me curiously. "We are a
+cosmopolitan lot," he answered, with just a note of sadness in his
+voice; "we come from all corners of the globe; but no one makes it a
+special calling unless, perhaps, a few Maoris----"
+
+"We is the dead-beats o' civilisation, that's what we is," put in the
+garrulous Ted, with cheerful emphasis. "But say, boss, what is you goin'
+to do here? Is you goin' into the gum country? Is you full up o' Sydney
+and Melbourne too?"
+
+I evaded the pertinent allusion, not knowing exactly its true import; I
+was commencing to understand why the gum-diggers were looked upon with
+suspicion by their eminently respectable brethren of the towns. Yet in
+spite of myself my sympathies went out to the world-wanderers who seemed
+to be brought together in this land through the subtle hand of an
+all-wise Providence.
+
+"Give me the bearings of the camps, and I'll go out right away," I said.
+"Gum-digging may suit me as well as gold-digging, and I want to know
+what it's like, anyhow."
+
+At that moment the _Bulimba's_ shrill whistle sounded out on the still
+air, and Long Ted immediately grabbed his "swag" and made a bolt for the
+door, a proceeding which his two Australian comrades copied with
+alacrity.
+
+"Hold on, boys," I cried; "she won't sail for an hour yet; this is only
+a warning blast. Surely you are acquainted with the habits of coasters
+by this time."
+
+English Bob, however, had made no movement, and missing him the excited
+trio came back. "I knows the old _Bulimba_," howled Ted. "Captain
+Thompson would hustle the blasted barge out just on purpose. Come on,
+Bob."
+
+The Englishman stretched himself lazily, and started to follow his
+companions, who were again half-way down the street. "Goodbye, sir," he
+said; "I'll see you again soon if you are to remain in the country. But
+one word--don't judge by appearances on the gum-fields."
+
+I returned his greeting, and thanked him for his advice, "Here's the
+_Auckland Express_," I said, fishing that paper from my pocket. "It is
+the latest date, and will be something to read on the boat."
+
+He took it eagerly, and glanced casually down the open sheet; then his
+face paled, and the paper dropped from his nerveless fingers. I turned
+aside for a moment, and when I looked again, English Bob's countenance
+was stern and hard.
+
+"You'd better go," I advised kindly; "the _Bulimba_ will be moving out
+soon."
+
+He shook his head. "I have decided to stay and go back with you to the
+fields," he answered with an effort. "But I'll run down to the wharf and
+say good-bye to the boys."
+
+He was gone before I could speak another word, and wonderingly I picked
+up the paper which had caused such a sudden change of programme. Only
+one item appeared in the page he had scanned which could in any way be
+considered of remotest private interest. But it read as follows: "Robert
+Lorimer, the absconding Bank Manager of a country town in England, has
+at last been traced to New Zealand. Local inquiries are being
+instituted, but it is regarded as tolerably certain that the defaulter
+will be found in the northern gum-land, and the police of that district
+have been warned accordingly. Meanwhile the port of Auckland will be
+stringently watched."
+
+That was all, yet viewed in the light of recent events it was amply
+sufficient to suggest to me that English Bob and Robert Lorimer were one
+and the same person. Still, my late interrogator as to the attractions
+of Australian cities did not strike me as being such a man as the bald
+news paragraph implied. His face was gentle, and contained a certain
+quiet dignity, which I felt assured could belong to no criminal's
+countenance. His manner, too, was distinctly in his favour. Already I
+had forgotten the unprepossessing garb of the outer man. My reflections
+were cut short by the dismal shriek of the _Bulimia's_ syren--sure
+signal that that persevering vessel was at last under way.
+
+"Yes, she's off now," volunteered the bar-tender, surveying the deserted
+arena beyond the counter ruefully, and making a mental calculation, I
+have no doubt, as to the probable "stagger juice" capacity of his
+solitary remaining customer. I disappointed him mightily by making my
+way outside, and there, to my surprise, I saw English Bob approaching
+with Long Ted expostulating volubly by his side.
+
+"Hallo, Ted!" I cried, "have you also decided to remain where an
+unfeeling civilisation sent you?"
+
+"Of course I stays with the boss," responded that gentleman, wiping an
+imaginary tear from his eye, "but my poor old swag has gone with Slim
+Jim and Never Never Dan. They would have stopped too, only they couldn't
+swim, an' the darned ship had moved off afore they knew we wasn't
+comin'."
+
+"We'll go back to our old camp by the coach to-night," said English Bob.
+"I'm tired of even this fringe of civilisation already. Will you come?"
+
+I needed no pressing. Somehow I felt that I was being drawn into the
+final act of a life's drama; the damaging testimony of the _Auckland
+Express_ loomed largely before my vision, but the pale sad face of the
+exile awakened in me pity rather than repulsion, his silent exercise of
+a superbly strong will aroused in me admiration.
+
+"I shall be glad to go with you," I answered.
+
+That night we journeyed by mail-coach out towards Wangeri, a constantly
+shifting settlement forming the headquarters of the ever-roving
+gum-diggers. For the early part of the route our lumbering vehicle
+careered over rocky bluffs and steeps, then down into beautiful alluvial
+valleys and forest glades, where silvery streams of purest water gushed
+onwards to meet the sea, their winding channels, glittering in the
+moon's filtering beams, showing at intervals through the wavy fronds of
+the stately kauri. But soon the majestic forest lands gave place to
+rolling plains of burnt soil, with occasional stretches of fern-swamp
+and tea-tree dunes.
+
+"This is the old forest country of New Zealand," explained English Bob.
+Ted had long since fallen asleep.
+
+"And is the gum not to be found here also?" I asked, somewhat nonplussed
+to find the site of an ancient forest so bare and desolate.
+
+My companion gravely acquiesced. "Gum-diggers are not as a rule a
+careful class," he said; "and the young timber on these flats has all
+been recklessly burnt down to suit their needs."
+
+Long and deep channels here and there intersected the scorched wastes,
+and mounds like gigantic mole-hills were abundantly evident. But in the
+vague light only a blurred panorama of the true aspect of things could
+be seen; which was perhaps just as well, for the New Zealand Government
+has long complained about the devastating nature of the gum-seeker's
+employment. They certainly do not make the desert "blossom like the
+rose," but if an opposite parallel could be drawn, it would suit them
+exactly. This feature of affairs was due, I was told, to the plodding
+and ceaseless excavations of a number of Austrians who stormed the
+country many years before, and not to the more leisurely routine pursued
+by the orthodox happy-go-lucky digger.
+
+Once again, however, we entered a broad timber belt which extended far
+along with undulating hillside forming our southern boundary at this
+stage, and seemingly feathered the land for a very considerable distance
+northward also. And now many twinkling lights began to shine through the
+sparse foliage at the base of the tall kauri, and fleeting glimpses were
+caught of groups of men standing at the doors of their "whares,"
+watching the coach rumble past with an odd listlessness which seemed
+the more strange considering that the arrival of the mails was but a
+weekly occurrence, and sometimes not even that when the rainy season was
+on, and the valleys and flats alike were flooded to a dangerous depth.
+
+[Illustration: THE GUM-DIGGERS' SWIMMING POOL.]
+
+"Their interest is in their daily occupation," said English Bob,
+guessing my thoughts. "The men you meet here for the most part know the
+world well. This is a haven of rest for the wide earth's wanderers. Mail
+day to them means little, for they receive few letters and perhaps send
+less."
+
+"And have you travelled far, that you speak in such a strain?" I asked
+chidingly. "Surely the world has not grown dim to your eyes, which have
+seen fewer years than mine."
+
+"Years do not always bring sadness," he answered evasively, "nor does
+the lack of them make one the less liable to suffer. As for my
+travels--do not ask. I have----"
+
+"Wangeri," yelled the driver, reining up the horses with a jerk which
+had the effect of propelling the slumbering Ted heavily on to the floor
+of the coach. The words that issued from that valiant warrior's lips
+then were sulphurous in the extreme, and the offending Jehu, hearing of
+his own premeditated doom, slid hastily from his perch and vanished into
+the night. There was little indeed to see at Wangeri. A small "store and
+post-office" occupied the central position in a forest clearing, and
+around it in a straggling ring about a dozen log huts were dully
+discernible through the gloom.
+
+"The whares are scattered all through the forest for miles around," said
+English Bob. "Wangeri is only a kind of station for the export of the
+resin collected. But come along to my little wigwam; it is a bit away
+from the others, but it's on a good patch, and you are welcome to try
+your luck with Ted and me."
+
+I expressed my gratitude in, I fear, rather stinted terms, for the eerie
+shadow of the great pines had a somewhat depressing influence on my
+spirits. I tramped on with my new acquaintances in silence, my swag
+slung picturesquely over my shoulder as in days of yore.
+
+"It _is_ a bit lonesome like," grumbled Long Ted, as he marched on
+ahead, separating the festooning branches for our easier progress. "Can
+you blame a man for being ragged after this?" he demanded irrelevantly a
+few moments later, his mind apparently reverting to our first meeting.
+It was clear that Long Ted's frustrated holiday was still a rankling
+subject in that worthy's breast.
+
+The air was wonderfully cool and invigorating, despite the enclustering
+thicket, and the absence of the ubiquitous mosquito made me marvel not a
+little. It was the deathlike silence that hurt; it oppressed the senses
+to an appalling degree, and tended to reduce one unaccustomed to forest
+solitudes to an enervating state of melancholy. Had the journey been
+made by daylight it might have been different, but fate ordains that the
+traveller to this land should first see Nature's most dreary aspect. I
+was startled from my unprofitable musings by English Bob shouting--
+
+"Here we are at last. Now, Ted, make us some supper; and let us be
+merry, for to-morrow we----"
+
+"Go out gum-digging," I prompted, sinking down in a corner of the
+aptly-named wigwam with a sigh of relief.
+
+It was a week later. The sun was shining brightly over the sylvan slopes
+of the great gum region, and tinging the nodding plumes of the stately
+forest giants with a deep bronze effulgence; yet down below the
+spreading branches a perpetual twilight reigned, and here, piercing and
+trenching the mossy sward in search of the fossilised resin residue, the
+strangely assorted waifs of the world wandered, English Bob and I had
+become fast friends during our brief sojourn together. Concerning his
+past I did not inquire, having already learned that the grim gum-land
+swallows up many of life's tragedies; but day by day I expected a dread
+_dénoûement_. The newspaper paragraph still haunted me; my mind was
+filled with conflicting doubts and fears. The motley assembly who formed
+our neighbours near and distant were a generous and true-hearted people,
+among whom it was a pleasure to abide. The same environment affected
+all, and for the time we were as one huge family, dwelling within the
+encircling arm of grand old mother Nature.
+
+Each day we sallied out armed with spade and spear, the latter implement
+being merely a long pointed stick provided with a handle for leverage,
+and rarely indeed did we return to camp without a goodly store of the
+amberlike deposit. The method of working was simple. By means of the
+spear the spongy soil was easily penetrated, and the presence of any gum
+strata localised at once, after which the spade came into play. The
+value of the crude material thus brought to the surface was no mean
+figure, ranging from £50 to £70 a ton.
+
+This morning we had been exceptionally fortunate, Long Ted spearing a
+huge block of the gelatinous substance almost with his first effort, and
+we were busy clearing away the covering earth when two woe-begone
+individuals appeared before us.
+
+"Slim Jim and Never Never Dan," gasped Long Ted, gazing at the
+apparitions in undisguised wonder. "Where--what--how--an' ye does have a
+mighty neck to come back in them togs."
+
+Then I noticed that the miserable-looking pair were arrayed in
+fashionable raiment, though already considerably torn by contact with
+the entangling brush.
+
+"We didn't git no farther than Auckland," muttered Slim Jim
+shamefacedly. "We didn't calc'late on goin' nowheres without the boss,
+so we has come back."
+
+English Bob smiled. "But how have you managed to arrive at this time?"
+he asked. "Surely you did not walk from Wangeri."
+
+"We just did," asserted Never Never Dan. "We couldn't wait on the bally
+old coach, so we came right away last night----"
+
+"Come an' have some tucker, you heavenly twins," roared Ted,
+relinquishing his shovel, his honest face glowing with pleasure at the
+return of the prodigals.
+
+When they had departed towards the hut, English Bob looked at me
+inquiringly. "Could you imagine men like these in any other country than
+this?" he said. "They are just like children."
+
+Slowly the sun climbed up in the heavens, and we two persevered at our
+work of excavation. Then gradually I became aware of the rhythmic
+hoof-beats of many horses sounding faintly in the distance, and soon the
+dense forest rang out with the unwonted echoes. And now the rushing of
+the gum-diggers hither and thither came plainly to our ears, and a
+chorus of warning cries swelled out above the prevailing din--"The
+troopers are coming."
+
+At once the truth flashed over me that the man whose whare I shared was
+the object of their search; the inevitable crisis had come at last. As
+for him, he stood almost defiantly erect, with the blood alternately
+surging to his cheeks, then leaving them deathly pallid.
+
+I laid my hand on his shoulder. "Why do you try to hide from me that
+which I already know?" I said gently. "Sometimes it is possible to
+help----"
+
+"You know?" he gasped.
+
+"I saw the paper," I answered simply.
+
+He covered his face with his hands, and his whole frame shook with a
+strong man's emotion. "Do you--believe?" he asked hoarsely, without
+looking at me.
+
+"Assuredly not," I said.
+
+He gave a sigh of thankfulness. "I have been tracked like a dog all over
+the world," he murmured brokenly, "but I have reached the end of the
+tether now."
+
+"But why did you run away?" I asked hurriedly. "Surely an innocent man
+only courts disaster by flight."
+
+The troopers were now near at hand. I could hear their sergeant talking
+to some of the diggers scarcely a hundred yards from where we stood.
+English Bob recovered himself with an extreme effort of will. "I may
+have been foolish," he said quietly, "but things looked very black
+against me, and--and the disgrace would have killed my old mother."
+
+I did not reason further. "There may be a way of escape yet," I said,
+seized with an uncontrollable impulse. "We are both very much alike.
+I'll talk to the sergeant."
+
+"No, no!" he cried, "I cannot allow----"
+
+"Why, man," I interrupted impatiently, "it's your only chance. They'll
+find out their mistake soon enough."
+
+"Good morning, boys," came a jovial voice from the timber, and its
+owner, a stalwart New Zealander, bearing the emblem of his office on his
+arm, rode forward alone. We responded to this cheery salutation
+gloomily.
+
+"Why," he exclaimed, "you've struck a patch here. But I do wish you
+people would be more careful and take out licences before you start to
+dig. The Government is getting rather riled about your free-lance way of
+working."
+
+"But we have licences," I remarked mildly.
+
+He laughed. "I'm glad of that," he said, "for I find very few of your
+neighbours have thought it necessary, and my troopers seem to have the
+deuce of a job in explaining matters to them." He wheeled his horse,
+then reined up again suddenly, and came back. "Which of you is Robert
+Lorimer?" he said directly.
+
+His method of procedure appeared to me unnecessarily cruel. "That's me,"
+I answered sharply, before my companion could speak. "But couldn't you
+have asked at first?"
+
+He stared at me wonderingly. "Great Southern Cross, man!" he cried.
+"What!" He broke off in a long low whistle, and held out his hand. "Let
+me be the first to congratulate you, sir," he said. "Of course you could
+not have heard, but you needn't be so hard on me for all that. But let
+me tell my story," he continued, waving aside my interruptions. "I was
+instructed from headquarters to come for you officially seven days ago,
+but though I am a policeman I don't like the job of running any man to
+earth, and I delayed until I should have to come in any case to attend
+to the licence question. Only yesterday I was informed that the warrant
+was off, as the notes you were accused of stealing had been found in an
+old ledger, placed there, no doubt, by some careless clerk. That's all.
+Good luck to you, my boy, and a safe journey home."
+
+He was gone in an instant. Then English Bob and I clasped hands in
+silence.
+
+
+
+
+WITH THE PEARLERS OF NORTH-WESTERN AUSTRALIA
+
+
+On the north-western shores of Australia, between Cossack township and
+Port Darwin, lies a strip of coastline which has not yet received much
+attention from the outside world. This is the pearling-grounds of the
+Nor'-West, and the lordly pioneers who rule there hope that their
+preserves may long continue to be neglected by the check-suited
+globe-trotter. The headquarters of the pearling industry is at Broome,
+the landing station of one of the Australian cable systems. Broome, when
+the fleet is in port, has a population of about 1,500, which is made up
+of 200 white men, 800 Malays, 100 Japanese, and the same number of what
+are termed Manilamen, the remainder being a heterogeneous lot of
+aborigines, coolies, Kanakas, and specimens of almost every other race
+on earth. When the pearlers are out, however, the town is practically
+deserted.
+
+Dampier was the first European to skirt this coast, but it was long
+after his advent that it became famous for its pearl-shell deposits,
+although, even before the great explorer's time, it was probably known
+to the aborigines, who until recently were in the habit of gathering for
+food the bivalves that the monsoon storms threw up on the beach. But
+since the days of Dampier many changes have occurred on these desolate
+shores, and it is even doubtful if the coast has the same configuration
+now as it had then. While the eastern states of Australia were still
+struggling for existence, the fierce Malay pirates reigned here, and
+indeed it is only lately that it has been freed from all suspicion in
+that respect, although the pirates may not always have been the Malays.
+The early sea-rovers were not long in finding out that it would pay them
+to give some attention to the treasures of the sea, and it is probably
+owing to their efforts that Roebuck Bay and the Ninety-Mile beach came
+into prominence as pearling-grounds. From that time up to about twenty
+years ago these individuals worked the shores and shallows by various
+methods peculiar to themselves, the chief consisting of forcing the
+unfortunate aborigines to dive for the shells while they merely
+extracted the pearls.
+
+This system ceased suddenly so far as the power of the Malays was
+concerned; for towards the end of the 'Seventies some colonial
+adventurers sailed up the coast from Fremantle, and although little is
+officially known as to what then transpired, pearling shortly afterwards
+became a recognised profession among our colonial cousins. Some of those
+pioneers are still engaged in the trade, and many strange stories are
+told of their doings before the light of civilisation, in the shape of
+telegraphic communication, was let in upon their coast.
+
+At present, taken as they stand, the pearlers of the Nor'-West are one
+of the wealthiest bodies of men in the world. They are certainly one of
+the most daring and most hospitable, and do not hesitate to share their
+wealth with any unlucky comrades. The methods in vogue now are much
+different from those employed twenty years ago. Beach-combing and
+enforced labour have given place to specially-designed luggers,
+profit-sharing systems, and the most modern diving-dresses, although
+among the South Pacific Islands beach-combing is still another name for
+piracy and slave-raiding. Strangely enough, the pearls do not now form
+the chief support of the industry. Nevertheless, some are frequently
+found worth £100 and upwards, and many of a value of £10, while from
+that sum downwards to 1s. for a thousand the pearls are very plentiful.
+The shell, however, is now the backbone of the industry. It is valued at
+from £100 to £180 per ton, and finds ready sale through Singapore
+agencies of London firms at anything between those prices.
+
+The pearler of the present day is a Briton in every sense of the word,
+and takes great care to impress that fact upon all who visit his domain.
+He usually owns the lugger he commands, but in some cases he has only a
+share in it and its profits, the real owner being a speculative
+gentleman who resides in his schooner and pays only occasional visits to
+the various luggers under his flag. In some of these deputy-managed
+craft the only qualification necessary to obtain the position of skipper
+or commander is that of being a white man and not a German; but when the
+master pearler goes to the British port of Singapore he is invariably
+forced to "come down a bit," and do his business with the prosperous and
+well-satisfied sons of the Fatherland.
+
+Pearling is chiefly carried on in what are termed "proved grounds"; but
+if a good haul be made at any time the pearler is not averse to
+prospecting for new grounds (waters). As a rule the commander is the
+only white man on board the lugger. The crew is composed of Malays and
+coolies, but the diver is always an intelligent Manilaman or Filipino,
+who receives a small commission on the results of his work. The depth at
+which the shell is found is now about sixteen fathoms. Of course
+shallower ledges are still worked, but it is considered that they are
+almost exhausted, and few pearlers waste time over them. In working,
+the diver is lowered over the gunwale by means of a winch, or in some
+cases dropped over unceremoniously by two of the Malay crew, and another
+two pump air down to him.
+
+These people are always quarrelling among themselves, and consequently
+the diver runs many risks he does not at the time know of, unless he
+guesses what is happening above when he experiences the sensations
+attending the stoppage of his air supply. He is accustomed to such
+trifles, however, and being more or less a fatalist, probably wonders
+what the men at the pumps are quarrelling about, and in a disinterested
+sort of way speculates on which of his two pumpsmen will prove the
+weaker, and accordingly feed the sharks with him. Notwithstanding the
+uncertainty of life, he gathers all the shells within his limited range
+of vision, and when--if not too late--the men aloft stop fighting, he is
+hauled to the gunwale, where he is relieved of his spoil and dropped
+over again.
+
+The shells are found in patches, and when one deposit is exhausted--or
+perhaps before, for the vessel is drifting all the time--the diver moves
+on to the next, crashing through dense forests of coral and other
+strange submarine growths _en route_, and frequently having to cut the
+fearful coiling creepers from his person. Often, too, he is precipitated
+into a deep, dark chasm of unknown extent. In such moments the diver's
+sole idea is to preserve his balance, for he is really but a
+feather-weight in the water at the sixteen-fathom level, and in due time
+he is safely hauled across the gulf, when, if he has not retained a
+vertical position, or if his line has not been kept taut overhead, he is
+dragged head-first through any vegetation or oozy slime that may lie in
+his path. When he regains his equilibrium, he once more turns his
+attention to the oyster-beds.
+
+[Illustration: READY TO GO DOWN.]
+
+Meanwhile the lugger drifts erratically over the surface of the ocean.
+An evil-eyed Malay may be asleep by the tiller, and the white commander
+will likewise be serenely indifferent to his surroundings, unless the
+thought strikes him that the quality of the last case of whisky he had
+was not in accordance with the labels on the bottles or the price he
+paid, in which event he will probably be making things lively among the
+crew, and the profits of the trip will increase in proportion. Every
+fifteen minutes or so the diver comes up for a "blow." If the shells are
+plentiful he may send them up in a net between times; but, as a rule,
+there are a few yards separating the shells of any size, and it is not
+often that he cannot bring them all aloft with him. A "blow" to this
+individual means being suspended over the gunwale with his helmet
+unscrewed for such time as the lugger may take to sail to the next known
+patch, after which he is allowed to drop again.
+
+When a full cargo of shell has been obtained, the lugger's course is
+shaped towards Broome, where the molluscs are opened in sheds erected
+for the purpose. In the cases of the pearlers who possess several
+luggers a schooner is sent round periodically to collect the shell from
+the smaller craft, thus saving the latter a journey which they are ill
+able to accomplish, owing to their peculiar design and extremely small
+freeboard. The process of opening is sometimes carried on while the
+schooner sails for Broome; but, as most of the pearler kings make their
+homes on board these vessels now, and do not care to suffer the
+attending unpleasantness, the system is fast dying out, and the
+schooner, in turn, discharges at the Broome opening-sheds.
+
+The methods of opening are many. In the early days the shells were torn
+apart with a knife or any other convenient weapon, and if no pearls
+rewarded a brief search, the carcass of the oyster was scooped out and
+left to rot on the sand until a merciful monsoon tide caused its
+removal. Lately, however, the pearlers have copied the plan of the
+Chinese beachcombers of the Archipelago, and a simpler system could not
+well be devised. The shells are laid on a slightly-inclined bench, at
+the lowest edge of which is a carefully-constructed ledge containing
+some water in the angle formed. After two days in this position the
+oyster "gapes" and "spits out" the pearl--if any--which, of course,
+rolls down the bench until it is caught in the angle, from where it is
+gathered by the attendant Japanese or coolies. The number of pearls
+obtained in this way is about 30 per cent. greater than was formerly the
+case by the forcible method, and it is therefore evident that the hasty
+pearlers must have lost a considerable amount through their carelessness
+and the incompleteness of their method of extraction. As said before,
+the pearls do not now form the chief part of the business; nevertheless
+there are usually a fair number in the shells discharged from one
+schooner. When the pearls have been collected the molluscs are cleaned
+out from the shells and either buried or otherwise destroyed, their late
+casings being stored to await shipment. The chief opening establishments
+are owned by a London syndicate of jewellers, who employ in their
+service as many aborigines, coolies, and Japanese as may care to offer
+themselves. This syndicate is always willing to purchase "on chance" any
+shipment of shell that may come into port, and have a large fleet of
+their own luggers constantly on the waters during the season. As might
+be expected, this organised company is not liked by the independent
+pearlers, who--rightly or not--imagine that a monopoly of the trade is
+the real object in view. To such an extent is this rivalry carried that,
+notwithstanding the fact that Messrs. S. & Co. have special facilities
+for shipping, and will pay full Singapore prices for all shells sold to
+them, the pearlers, unless temporarily financially embarrassed, will
+have nothing to do with them, and prefer to pay the expense of shipping
+their own shell to Singapore by some of the Holt Line of steamers, which
+call regularly in at Broome for that purpose while _en route_ from
+Fremantle to the great Oriental metropolis.
+
+During the monsoon season the pearling fleet shelters in Roebuck Bay, on
+the shores of which Broome stands, and then that wicked and
+evil-smelling township wakens up from its sleep. Its drinking saloons
+are crowded with black, yellow, and white humanity; the joss-houses are
+filled with maddened nondescripts; and the far-seeing abilities and
+correct judgment of the man who designed the prison to hold the entire
+population becomes apparent. Unfortunately there are some renegade
+whites who run gambling-hells; but, in justice to Britons at large, it
+should be stated that these men are mostly mongrel foreigners. The
+master pearlers, as a rule, do not frequent these places, preferring the
+narrower but healthier confines of their own vessels to that of the
+filthy, mosquito-infested town; but if any do go ashore, they all meet
+in a saloon owned by a gentleman with a very Highland name and dusky
+countenance, or in the cable-house, where fortunes may be gambled away
+in a night. These men are indifferent to this matter. Money, to most of
+them, has no attractions, and if they were denied the excitement of
+being alternately worth a fair fortune and without a sixpence in their
+possession they would probably die of _ennui_. But some of the
+pearlers--indeed, the majority--are made of sterner stuff; they still
+retain memories of lands where green vegetation and flowing streams of
+crystal water take the place of hideous mangrove swamps and parching
+deserts, and their efforts are all made in the hope that some day the
+results will enable them to return to those lands. These men only come
+into Broome when in need of stores, and, after landing their crews,
+spend the "off" season in some of the numerous bays and inlets farther
+north, occasionally finding rich patches in those sheltered sounds
+capable of being worked at all seasons.
+
+It matters little on this coast what the original temperament of any
+person may have been, the influence of his surroundings soon has its
+effect upon him and makes him like his fellows. With the pearlers this
+takes the form of a feeling of reckless indifference, and a stranger
+suddenly thrown among them sees much to interest and amuse him in the
+incongruities brought about by this state of affairs.
+
+When I visited this quarter I was not aware that there was any special
+industry carried on; in fact, I did not even know that a township
+existed between Roebourne and Derby until one evening the SS. _Nemesis_
+sailed into Roebuck Bay, and the skipper calmly announced that I would
+require to go ashore and await the next steamer, as he was going no
+farther. I was booked to London, _viâ_ Singapore, but I had expected to
+be dumped ashore somewhere, as the _Nemesis_ was not the regular
+connecting steamer, and I had taken it chiefly with the desire to get
+away from plague-stricken Fremantle, to which city I had come round from
+Northern Queensland.
+
+"All right, captain," I said; "but you might give me my bearings first."
+
+"Go straight ahead from the jetty until you see the cable station, then
+starboard hard, and you are into Roderick's Hotel. Drinks don't cost
+more than a shilling there."
+
+"Thanks. But what is the name of the port? I presume we are still in
+Australia?"
+
+"We are. This is Broome, the headquarters of the pearling fleet, and the
+hottest hole on earth."
+
+"Oh, I think I'll survive till the _Australind_ comes along," I said, as
+indifferently as I could; and, after seeing my baggage on shore, I
+followed out the captain's directions, and finally entered a well-lit
+saloon, in which the strains of a gramaphone were evidently causing much
+appreciation. No one seemed to notice me as I made my way forward. All
+the occupants were clustered round the gramaphone and indulging in
+various comments as to the correctness of the song it was giving forth.
+There were about ten men in the party, all of whom were white. Some were
+garbed in the most approved London clubland fashion, while others were
+very scantily clad indeed; but the careless manner in which handfuls of
+sovereigns were occasionally flung down on the counter showed that money
+at least was not much of a consideration with any of them.
+
+"Hallo, boys! here's a stranger," suddenly cried one, seeing me looking
+on interestedly, and instantly a general move was made in my direction.
+
+"Name it, boss," spoke the bar-tender, coming forward; "that is, if you
+is not an S----'s man."
+
+"What will happen if I am?" I inquired, slightly curious to know what an
+S----'s man was.
+
+"You'll get fired; that's all----"
+
+"Shut up, Bob," reproved a tall, broad-shouldered man. "This is the
+master-pearlers' club," he continued, addressing me, "and as a stranger
+you are very welcome to whatever it affords."
+
+"Thank you, but I understood that this was Roderick's Hotel?"
+
+"Same thing," laughed several of the men. "Who sent you here?"
+
+"Captain Lawrence of the _Nemesis_."
+
+"Then it's all O.K. He is one of us," said the first speaker. "You will
+be my guest to-night, after which we will consider what is best to do
+with you."
+
+"Gently there; I am a Britisher, and quite able to look after myself."
+
+"You can bet, my boy, that we're all coloured red here, but of course if
+you don't wish----"
+
+"You are needing a spell south, Wilcox," interrupted another gentleman.
+"You don't give the stranger half a chance. We are pearlers," he
+continued, turning to me. "This is the off season, and as hell is let
+loose in this town when the fleet is at home, we arrange to look after
+any white stranger that may be cast upon these shores. Listen! There's
+the Malays' infernal racket starting now. I shouldn't wonder but they
+will have a fight with the aborigines before morning."
+
+"I see I have made a mistake, then, gentlemen," I said, "in coming here,
+but I assure you that it was not from choice I came."
+
+"Oh, don't let that trouble you. We are very glad to have you. But you
+can now understand why we reserve this hotel for our own use. We don't
+all necessarily make beasts of ourselves, although you see us here. Some
+of us, it is true, have a failing that way, and there are others over in
+the cable shanty now going it pretty stiff; we therefore make it a point
+that a dozen of us come here every night to look after any of the boys
+who may take more stagger-juice than they can carry; but allow me to
+introduce the company. This is Alf Chambers. Here is Sam
+Wilcox--Moore--Macpherson--Edward Wilson, commonly known as Dandy
+Dick--Will Biddles--Gordon, of G.B. diving-dress fame, and, the finest
+gentleman on the Australian coast, Gentleman James----"
+
+"What about yourself, Cap?" spoke the last-named, waving his hand
+deprecatingly at the compliment.
+
+"Me? Oh, I forgot. I am Biddles. You may have heard of me down in
+Perth?"
+
+"I believe I have," I answered. "You are the man whom the American
+skipper mistook for a pirate, and who, up in King Sound----"
+
+"I see you have my history all right, lad; but there goes the
+dinner-gong, so come along and sample Broome fare."
+
+In the company of the light-hearted pearlers the time passed very
+quickly. It transpired that I had known in Queensland some of their
+comrades who had drifted down country from the Gulf pearling-grounds,
+and being well accustomed to meeting all sorts of people, I readily
+grasped the little peculiarities of my hosts, and soon became on the
+best of terms with them all.
+
+"I think we'll go now, boys," said Wilcox, some time about midnight.
+"You fellows that are sober can see after the other boys, and we two
+will get aboard the _Thetis_."
+
+"Why, don't you stay here?" I cried.
+
+"Not likely. There wouldn't be an ounce of blood left in us by morning.
+The mosquitoes here are A 1; but can you swim?"
+
+"A little. Why?"
+
+"Because I expect you will have to. You see we don't care to give the
+mob a chance of going aboard while we are on shore; so we never use our
+dinghys."
+
+"Oh, how about your clothes?"
+
+"Leave them on the jetty. I always send the cook round for them in the
+morning."
+
+I did not answer; I recognised that I was again among a strange people.
+We were now threading our way among the coolies' huts and shanties
+towards the beach. The moon was shining brightly, thus enabling us to
+jump over several forms which were huddled up in various positions
+across our path without disturbing them.
+
+"These people would stick a knife in a man for his bootlaces," my
+companion remarked; "but luckily they are always too drunk to stand."
+
+"But if you treated them fairly might there not be better results?"
+
+"Look here, my lad, you've still got some of the old country notions
+about you. You can't treat the Malays as you do white men. They do not
+understand what gratitude means. Great Southern Cross! don't you know
+the history of this coast? Haven't you heard of poor Woods? He was going
+to reform everything. Gave the beggars a share of the profits, and wages
+besides. First thing we knew was when his Chinese cook rushed into
+Roderick's one night and told some of us that Woods's crew had mutinied
+because of their tinned dog being off colour--as if it ever was anything
+else."
+
+"And what was the result?"
+
+"Oh, they killed Woods and threw his body into the sea, and then sailed
+for Java. The cook jumped overboard and swam ashore, and that's how we
+knew. The Dutchmen chased them up and sent them back from Surabaya in
+chains, and we hung them."
+
+"These men were Malays?"
+
+"Yes, but the half-castes and aborigines are just as bad. Take the case
+of Dr. Vines, for instance; they murdered him because he couldn't give
+them what he hadn't got himself. And then there was Captain Skinner; but
+you'll not sleep if I tell you any more. Yonder is my craft. Get ready."
+
+Wilcox discarded his coat as he spoke and plunged into the inviting
+waters, and somewhat dubiously I followed; for although my garments were
+of the usual Siamese silk variety, and therefore did not greatly impede
+my movements, I could not help wondering what would happen if there
+were any sharks about. As I struggled after Wilcox this thought kept
+recurring to me in spite of all my attempts to convince myself that
+there could be no such creatures there, and just when I had almost
+succeeded in believing that such might somehow be the case, I suddenly
+remembered that I had been watching these very monsters playing around
+the _Nemesis_ all that afternoon.
+
+"What about sharks?" I gasped, as the stern light of the _Thetis_ shone
+out ahead.
+
+"They're too well fed here to trouble about white men," came the reply,
+and I had to satisfy myself with the hope that the sharks would be able
+to distinguish without personal investigation that I was of the
+fortunate colour. We reached the schooner without mishap, however, and
+scrambled over its stern by means of a friendly rope, and soon after I
+was asleep in what might have been a comfortable berth but for the
+presence of some hundreds of other occupants of divers kinds.
+
+Next morning I found my baggage and the clothes I had thrown off in the
+cabin beside me, and on going out on deck had my first view of Broome by
+daylight. It was not much to look at. There were some tents, two or
+three dozen "humpies" and "wind-breaks," and about twelve
+galvanised-iron structures, of which the jail, the cable station,
+Gummows' and Roderick's Hotels, were the most conspicuous. The _Nemesis_
+had sailed away south again during the night, and there was no sign of
+life anywhere. During the day--by way of a treat--Wilcox and some others
+took me to inspect "their prison," in which they had evidently great
+pride; but I could not work up any enthusiasm over the sight of a score
+of miserable wretches chained together by the ankles.
+
+"These are the murderers of old Smith," remarked one of my companions.
+"They turned on him because he plugged one of them with a '44,' one day
+when he was drunk, up in King Sound."
+
+"We're keeping them here until we can get an executioner," added the
+jailer, "but it's spoiling the trade of the town; every one is afraid of
+getting drunk, as they might then be induced to take the job on."
+
+I was glad when we left the place, and, eager to obtain information of a
+more pleasant kind, I asked to be shown the opening sheds.
+
+"Well, you are a strange fellow!" was Wilcox's only comment as he led
+the way thither, and as we neared the shell-strewn benches I began to
+understand the meaning of his words, and signified that, after all, I
+thought I would rather not go farther.
+
+"They do smell a bit strong," laughed my friend; "but we're not near
+enough yet, and the wind is not off the proper quarter to give a Broome
+appetiser. But there's Biddles semaphoring for us to dine with him in
+the club; let's get along."
+
+Several days passed agreeably enough to me among these free-hearted
+Britons; but in time I began to calculate when the next steamer would be
+due. "I fear there's no steamer coming into Broome for two months, my
+boy," said Captain Biddles, when I asked him, and a visit to the cable
+station confirmed his fears; for, when the obliging officials there
+wired to Fremantle, they received the reply that the SS. _Australind_
+would miss Broome and call instead at Derby, on the head of King Sound.
+
+"Then I will have to cross country to Derby," I said. "I suppose that is
+easy enough; the telegraph line runs all the way?"
+
+"Oh, it's about as easy as going to heaven!" answered Biddles. "The
+aborigines are very considerate between here and Derby--they always kill
+you before they make a dinner out of you. But are you sure you can't
+stay here?"
+
+"It is four years since I was north of the equator," I said, "and I have
+a strong desire to cross it as soon as possible."
+
+"In that case, I suppose you will have to go. Wish I could myself."
+
+"Why can't you? You are rich enough now, surely?"
+
+"Ha, ha! Imagine old Biddles going back to civilisation! Why, man, they
+would---- Well, well; never mind. Here's the boys coming. We'll see what
+can be done."
+
+That evening I was informed that the _Bessie Fraser_ was to sail north
+to King Sound in the morning with stores for George Hobart's schooners.
+I could go with it, and Hobart would find some means of landing me at
+Derby. This arrangement, the pearlers assured me, was not made in my
+behalf, as the _Bessie Fraser_ would have to sail in any case. Thus it
+came about that next morning I parted with my kindly friends, and in
+company with Harry Quin, the skipper, six Malays for a crew, a Chinese
+cook, and a Manilaman diver, rounded the long, sandy point and headed
+northwards.
+
+After lunch, the captain announced his intention of having a sleep if I
+didn't mind, and, thinking that he would require to be on the watch
+during the night, which would certainly be stormy, I said that I could
+easily pass the time looking round, and, in an endeavour to do so, soon
+after entered into conversation with the cook.
+
+"Is it going to be rough to-night, John?" I said, by way of
+introduction, watching him as he went through some mysterious
+performances necessary for the preparation of our next meal.
+
+"Velly. Me no need make breakfast. Captain sick. No want any."
+
+"What! The captain sick? What do you mean?"
+
+"Huh! Him no sail man. Him only gole' glabber; no know nothing 'bout
+sea. D----" John disappeared as he gave vent to his last exclamation,
+and, turning round, I saw that Aguinili, the diver and sarang, was
+approaching.
+
+"Good day, sir," he said, in excellent English.
+
+"Good day, Aguinili. You have given Ah Sing a fright."
+
+"He gabble gabble all day when captain not well."
+
+"Great Scot! What is wrong? The captain was all right half an hour ago."
+
+"Yes, but we are round the head now, and the monsoon is on. I come speak
+with you, for to-night I have only one man to steer with me; the rest no
+good. I come ask will you take helm for time to-night, else we must go
+back?"
+
+I was certainly surprised at Aguinili's words, but, grasping their
+import, I at once signified that I would willingly take a watch, and
+following him aft, I was made acquainted with the little peculiarities
+of the schooner in regards to her steering.
+
+"Malay bad man--you no trust him," remarked Aguinili. "No let them know
+captain not well?"
+
+"Never fear!" I answered; "I have sailed with their kind before. But
+call me when you want me, for I cannot navigate by the stars as you do,
+so I must hunt up a chart and get out my own instruments."
+
+At that moment Ah Sing came aft and informed me that the captain desired
+my presence, so, making my way to his stuffy cabin, I soon stood beside
+him. He was lying in his bunk reading, but as I entered he cast aside
+the book and said, "I say, mate, ye needn't give me away more than ye
+can help."
+
+"Why, what's the matter?"
+
+"Nothing, so long as I lie on my back; but this darned motion doesn't
+agree with me in any other position."
+
+"Do you mean to say----?"
+
+"That I is no sailor? You struck the bull first shot. I ain't. I is a
+gold-miner, and got stranded in Broome after making a pile on the Marble
+Bar fields, an' losing it down in Roebourne. Lord knows how I got here,
+but old Wilcox got me this billet with Hobart, 'cause I could swear at
+the nigs better than any man he knowed. I know nothing about navigation
+except what a bushman knows, and here I is at sea entirely."
+
+"But have you never had any accidents?"
+
+"Oh, there have been some narrow squeaks, but that chap Aguinili is a
+smart fellow; he manages somehow, and I swears at---- Lor'! but I is
+bad. Oh!----"
+
+"You'll be all right soon," I said sympathisingly, as I left him. He was
+the best example of a bluffer I had ever come across, but he had the
+true grit of the sons of the Southern Cross, and as he knew nothing of
+navigation, he got along wonderfully well by leaving everything to fate
+and Aguinili.
+
+It was a very rough night, but the _Bessie Fraser_ weathered it all
+right, thanks to the skilful handling of the sarang. Next evening we
+entered King Sound, and by seven o'clock were safely moored alongside
+the schooner _Electron_, George Hobart's headquarters.
+
+This gentleman was a very superior person to those usually met in such
+latitudes; he was of a scientific turn of mind, and had designed many
+strange appliances which were the wonder and admiration of the pearling
+fraternity.
+
+"You have just arrived in time to witness the trial of my new dress,"
+were almost his first words to me; and after dinner, in answer to my
+inquiry, he proceeded to explain wherein his dress differed from
+others, and to point out its anticipated advantages. "Sixteen fathoms is
+the greatest depth at which we can work with the old dress, you know,"
+he said, "and even at that a diver can only last out three seasons."
+
+"Well, what's the odds?" interrupted Quin; "they're cheap, ain't they?
+and there's any amount where they come from."
+
+"That may be; but this dress is designed to give the diver a longer
+lease of life, and also to enable him to stand a good two or three
+fathoms more pressure. I have just got down a new G.B. dress from
+Singapore, and I intend to try mine alongside it to-morrow."
+
+I did not then know what a G.B. dress was, but not wishing to display my
+ignorance, I did not inquire, and during the evening's conversation I
+gathered that it was the invention of two Glasgow engineers, who had
+designed it to allow of greater depths being explored.
+
+In the morning all hands began to prepare for the trials, and after
+breakfast Aguinili, as the most experienced diver, was lowered from the
+derrick in the G.B. dress, and Jim Mackenzie, the _Electron's_ chief
+officer, was also weighted and dropped over in Hobart's.
+
+"Isn't there a nigger handy to go down in the old dress now?" asked
+Quin, kicking over a helmet. "I'll go two to one on it yet."
+
+"The water is too deep here," answered Hobart. "No man could bottom in
+the old dress."
+
+"I'll go," said the intrepid Quin, "and chance it."
+
+"No. Hallo! Mackenzie is down. Great heavens! The pumps are not
+working." Hobart sprang to the pumps, and threw the two Malay operators
+across the deck, then, assisted by Quin and myself, began pumping
+furiously. It was useless. The pumps were not drawing air. The
+perspiration burst out over my face as I realised the position that
+poor Mackenzie was in. Quin swore, and then rushed to the winch, where
+the crew, in answer to Hobart's signal, were already hauling in. In less
+time than it takes to tell the diver was above the surface, and in
+another second his helmet was unscrewed.
+
+"Poor old Mac," said Quin, as the limp form was removed from its cage;
+"I always reckoned that he would peg out before me."
+
+"Wrong again, Quin," feebly murmured Mackenzie. "You won't be mate of
+the _Electron_ this trip----But I say, there's shells down there as big
+as a table, and they are packed like peas."
+
+"Never mind them at present, Mac," spoke Hobart. "We're glad to see you
+all right again; but what happened to the dress----?"
+
+"The dress is all right, but the beggars must have stopped pumping while
+I was sinking, and when they started again I fancy the check-valve would
+not work."
+
+"Ah! then we burst the connection on deck when we rushed to the pumps.
+That means my dress won't do for twenty fathoms at any rate. Hallo!
+there's Aguinili's signal. Haul away. Why, it is shell, and look at the
+size."
+
+In answer to the diver's signal the men had hauled up his shell-net, and
+when it appeared above the waters the size of the shells had drawn forth
+an exclamation of surprise from all. Soon after Aguinili himself came up
+laden with the spoil of the nineteen-fathom ledge, and when he was
+brought on deck and his helmet removed he told a wonderful story of the
+wealth of the deep deposits, which hitherto no man had seen.
+
+"Shell plenty. No need move away; fill net all time same place. Good
+shell for pearl, I know that, for I see sea-snake feed much. I go down
+again quick."
+
+"No, no, Aguinili," cried Hobart, handing him a glass of spirits. "We
+have plenty of time for that. Have the shell been moving much?"
+
+"No. Shells grow there. No currents; no monsoons; deep, deep coral
+bottom. No shell on sixteen-fathom bottom here."
+
+"Well, gentlemen," finally said Hobart, "we have seen the result of the
+G.B. comes out first. I will cable to Singapore to send down some more
+of them, and I will see that Gentleman James, Captain Biddies, and the
+others get to know of its good points. Who knows what fortunes we may
+now obtain from these deep neglected sounds."
+
+Two hours afterwards the _Electron_ was sailing down King Sound towards
+the Indian Ocean, and on my venturing to ask where we were bound for,
+Hobart informed me that he had received word from Derby that the bubonic
+plague had broken out afresh in Fremantle, and it was therefore obvious
+that the _Australind_ would not now call at the northern port; for if
+she did so she would assuredly be quarantined at Singapore through not
+having been sufficient time at sea since leaving Australian waters.
+
+"We are going to put you on board now," he added, "and Mackenzie is
+going up to Raffles with you to see about the new dresses. Meanwhile the
+men are opening the shells from the deep level, and I hope that we will
+find a memento to give you of your visit to this coast."
+
+Early in the afternoon a long hanging cloud of black smoke became
+visible away on the southern horizon, and knowing that it must be
+issuing from the funnels of the _Australind_ or the Adelaide Steamship
+Co.'s trader _Albany_, we steered out to investigate, and, if need be,
+to intercept. It proved to be the former vessel, and in due course she
+answered our signal and hove to.
+
+"Well, goodbye then, lad. I hope you will come back to this coast when
+you are tired of the old country," were Hobart's parting words as
+Mackenzie and I clambered up the sides of the _Australind_.
+
+"If you see a lugger cheap at Singapore you might buy it for me," cried
+Quin, throwing me a miner's gold-bag; "and, I say, you might send me the
+second part of the book you gave me to read when we were coming up
+through the monsoon on the _Bessie_. I am darned curious to know the
+wind-up."
+
+"And here's a pair of the deep shells; take care of them," cried Hobart,
+fastening a couple into the sling in which my baggage was being hoisted.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Three days after landing at Singapore I bought a small lugger for Quin,
+and sent back the balance of his money, and a complete copy of the
+"Pilgrim's Progress" (which was the book requested) with Mackenzie, who
+also undertook to see about the lugger going south. Four days later,
+while tossing in the bay of Bengal on the SS. _Ballarat_, I began to
+rearrange my belongings so that they might be readily transferred to the
+connecting P. and O. mail steamer _Himalaya_ at Colombo. In doing so I
+chanced to open my shells and found therein two magnificent pearls, and
+a note which read: "Please accept one of the enclosed from me. The other
+is from Aguinili, who has asked me to offer it to you in kind
+remembrance."
+
+
+
+
+  The Gresham Press,
+
+  UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED,
+  WOKING AND LONDON.
+
+
+
+
+Siberia:
+
+A Record of Travel, Climbing, and Exploration.
+
+BY SAMUEL TURNER, F.R.G.S.
+
+WITH A PREFACE BY BARON HEYKING.
+
+_With more than 100 Illustrations, and with 2 Maps._
+
+_Demy 8vo, cloth, 21/-net._
+
+
+The materials for this book were gathered during a journey in Siberia in
+1903. Helped by over 100 merchants (Siberian, Russian, Danish and
+English) the writer was able to collect much information, and observe
+the present social and industrial condition of the country. The trade
+and country life of the mixed races of Siberia is described, and
+valuable information is given about their chief industry (dairy
+produce), which goes far to dissipate the common idea that Siberia is
+snow-bound, and to show that it is now one of the leading agricultural
+countries in the world.
+
+    *       *       *       *       *
+
+The author describes his unaccompanied climbs in the mountains which he
+discovered in the Kutunski Belki range in the Altai, about 800 miles off
+the Great Siberian Railway line from a point about 2,500 miles beyond
+Moscow. He made a winter journey of 1,600 miles on sledge, drosky, and
+horseback, 250 miles of this journey being through country which has
+never been penetrated by any other European even in summer. He also
+describes 40 miles of what was probably the most difficult winter
+exploration that has ever been undertaken, proving that even the rigour
+of a Siberian winter cannot keep a true mountaineer from scaling unknown
+peaks.
+
+    *       *       *       *       *
+
+The volume is elaborately illustrated from photographs by the author.
+
+"To the trader and to the explorer, and to many who are neither, but who
+love to read books of travel and to venture in imagination into wild
+places of the earth, this book is heartily to be commended. It is
+lively, entertaining, instructive. It throws fresh light on the Empire
+of the Czars. Above all, it is a record of British pluck."--_Scotsman._
+
+
+LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN.
+
+
+
+
+John Chinaman at Home
+
+BY THE REV. E. J. HARDY,
+
+Author of "How to be Happy though Married"; lately Chaplain to H.M.
+Forces in Hong Kong.
+
+_With 36 Illustrations. Demy 8vo, cloth, 10/6 net._
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+Hong Kong; Tientsin and Peking; Canton; On the West River; Swatow, Amoy,
+Foochow; Up the Yangtze; Village Life; Topsy-turvy; Some Chinese
+Characteristics; Chinese Food; Medicine and Surgery; Chinese Clothes;
+Houses and Gardens; Chinese Servants; Betrothal and Marriage; Death and
+Burial; Mourning; Education in China; Boys in China; Girls and Women;
+Chinese Manners; Government in China; Punishments; Chinese Soldiers; The
+Religions of China; Outside and Inside a Temple; New Year's Day; Monks
+and Priests; Spirits; Feng shiu and other Superstitions; Missionaries;
+as the Chinese See Us.
+
+   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The reader will not be bored with politics or the "future of China," for
+the book only treats of the common every-day things of the Chinese which
+seem so peculiar to us. These are described and, when possible,
+explained. Anecdotes are freely used to illustrate.
+
+
+LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN.
+
+
+
+
+_Demy 8vo, cloth, 21/-_
+
+Somerset House, Past and Present
+
+BY RAYMOND NEEDHAM AND ALEXANDER WEBSTER.
+
+_With Photogravure Frontispiece and many Illustrations._
+
+
+This book deals with the history of Somerset House from
+its foundation by the Lord Protector in 1547 to the
+present day. It is as far as possible a continuous record of the
+events which in times gone by gathered illustrious personages
+within the walls of the old palace and made it a centre of
+English social life. For two centuries Somerset House was the
+home of Queens and Princesses; it was associated with the
+stalwart Protestants of the Reformation and the intriguing
+Catholics of the Revolution; it has passed through greater
+vicissitudes than almost any other secular edifice in London.
+The modern building housed the early exhibitions of the Royal
+Academy of Arts, a Naval Museum, the Royal and other learned
+Societies, until, within the last fifty years, it was given over to
+its present occupants and the matter-of-fact romance of the
+Imperial Revenue. The history includes the story of King's
+College, which since its inauguration has occupied a building
+erected on the eastern edge of the site, and designed to
+harmonise with the main structure. The volume is illustrated
+by reproductions of rare old prints and a fine series of modern
+photographs.
+
+
+LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN.
+
+
+
+
+_Demy 8vo, cloth, 10/6 net._
+
+The Age of the Earth, and other Geological Studies
+
+BY W. J. SOLLAS, LL.D., D.Sc., F.R.S.
+
+Professor of Geology in the University of Oxford
+
+_Illustrated._
+
+
+This volume, while written by one of the foremost of English geologists,
+will be found interesting and attractive by the reader who has no
+special knowledge of the science. The essay which gives the book its
+title sets forth the bearing of the doctrine of evolution on geological
+speculation, and particularly on the vexed question of our planet's
+antiquity. The subjects of the other studies include the following: The
+Figure of the Earth, and the Origin of the Ocean; Geologies and Deluges;
+the Volcanoes of the Lipari Isles; the History and Structure of a Coral
+Reef; the Origin and Formation of Flints; the Evolution of Freshwater
+Animals; and the Influence of Oxford on Geology.
+
+"They range over a great variety of subjects, including many which are
+of sufficiently wide interest to bring the geologist into sympathetic
+touch with the general reader. What educated man can fail to be
+interested in such subjects, for instance, as the age of the earth, the
+building of coral islands, the cause of volcanic action, or the Deluge?
+Of all these matters the Professor discourses pleasantly and well,
+writing with command of much scientific learning, yet always readably,
+sometimes with brilliancy of diction, and occasionally with a touch of
+humour."--_Athenæum._
+
+
+LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN.
+
+
+
+
+Six Standard Works.
+
+COMPLETE POPULAR EDITIONS. ILLUSTRATED.
+
+_Large Crown 8vo, Cloth. Price 2/6 net._
+
+
+The Life of Richard Cobden.
+
+By JOHN MORLEY.
+
+"One of the most important and interesting works of its class in the
+English language,"--_Daily Chronicle._
+
+
+The Life and Times of Savonarola.
+
+By Professor PASQUALE VILLARI.
+
+"The most interesting religious biography that we know of in modern
+times. It is difficult to speak of its merits without seeming
+exaggeration."--_Spectator._
+
+
+The Life and Times of Machiavelli.
+
+By Professor PASQUALE VILLARI.
+
+"Machiavelli is represented for all time in the pages of
+Villari."--_Guardian._
+
+
+The Lives of Robert and Mary Moffat.
+
+By JOHN SMITH MOFFAT.
+
+"A loving record of a noble life, which has left the world a lesson for
+all time of the power of earnest labour and simple faith."--_Daily
+Chronicle._
+
+
+The History of Florence.
+
+By Professor PASQUALE VILLARI.
+
+"This volume is indeed worthy of the reputation of its author.... We
+feel very grateful to him for having given us the most concise, and at
+the same time perhaps the most complete constitutional history that has
+yet appeared of the first two centuries of the Florentine
+Republic."--_Speaker._
+
+
+English Wayfaring Life in the Middle Ages (XIVth Century).
+
+By J. J. JUSSERAND, French Ambassador at Washington
+
+"One of those enchanting volumes which only Frenchmen have the gift of
+writing. Buy it if you are wise, and keep it as a joy for ever."--Dr
+Augustus Jessopp in the _Nineteenth Century_.
+
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+  1, ADELPHI TERRACE, LONDON, W.C.
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+
+_Large Crown 8vo, Cloth. Price 2/6 net._
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+
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+
+"Clever and brilliant.... Worth reading by everybody who either admires
+or hates his subject."--_Guardian_
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+
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+Rome and Pompeii. Archæological Rambles.
+
+By GASTON BOISSIER.
+
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+the dead bones of the past live again. While his researches show the
+accuracy and thoroughness which we associate with German scholarship, he
+has a gift of exposition which is wholly French. We can imagine
+therefore, no better handbook for traveller or archæologist than this
+one."--_Daily Mail._
+
+
+Holyoake: Sixty Years of an Agitator's Life.
+
+By GEORGE JACOB HOLYOAKE.
+
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+even revolutionary history of our time."--_Times._
+
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+it contains contemporary notes on men and women of the century, it has
+shrewd and vigorous sentences, and illustrates our own progress in
+civilising thought."--_Spectator._
+
+
+Sir Walter Raleigh.
+
+By Major MARTIN A. S. HUME.
+
+"An admirable book which ought to be read by every one who takes any
+interest in things that ought to interest all--the building of the
+Empire and the men who built it. There is not a dull page in it, and
+with his skilful telling of it, the story of Raleigh's life and of his
+times reads like a romance."--_Pall Mall Gazette._
+
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+  1 ADELPHI TERRACE, LONDON, W.C.
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+
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+=The Best Plays of Christopher Marlowe.= Edited, with Critical Memoir
+and Notes, by HAVELOCK ELLIS; and containing a General Introduction to
+the Series by JOHN ADDINGTON SYMONDS.
+
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+RODEN NOEL.
+
+=The Complete Plays of William Congreve.= Edited by ALEX. C EWALD.
+
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+Notes, by G. A. AITKEN.
+
+=The Best Plays of Ben Jonson.= Edited, with Introduction and Notes, by
+BRINSLEY NICHOLSON and C. H. HERFORD. 3 vols.
+
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+
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+
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+Notes, by W. C. WARD.
+
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+
+=The Best Plays of Webster and Tourneur.= With an Introduction and
+Notes, by John ADDINGTON SYMONDS.
+
+=The Best Plays of Thomas Heywood.= Edited by A. W. VERITY. With
+Introduction by J. A. SYMONDS.
+
+=The Best Plays of John Dryden.= Edited by GEORGE SAINTSBURY. 2 vols.
+
+=The Best Plays of Thomas Middleton.= With an Introduction by ALGERNON
+CHARLES SWINBURNE. 2 vols.
+
+=Nero and other Plays.= Edited by H. P. HORNE, ARTHUR SYMONS, A. W.
+VERITY, and H. ELLIS.
+
+=The Best Plays of Thomas Dekker.= Notes by ERNEST RHYS.
+
+=The Best Plays of Philip Massinger.= With Critical and Biographical
+Essays and Notes by ARTHUR SYMONS. 2 vols.
+
+=The Best Plays of Beaumont and Fletcher.= With Introduction and Notes
+by T. ST LOE STRACHEY. 2 vols.
+
+=The Best Plays of George Chapman.= Edited by WILLIAM LYON PHELPS.
+
+=The Select Plays of Sir John Vanbrugh.= Edited, with an Introduction
+and Notes, by A. E. H. SWAIN.
+
+
+_THE TIMES, 20th November 1903, in a Review of a column and a quarter,
+says_--
+
+"Mr Fisher Unwin is re-issuing his 'Mermaid Series' of Old Dramatists in
+a very attractive form. The volumes are light in the hand and will go
+easily into the pocket; they are printed in clear type on thin paper;
+ideal companions for the student who seeks his pleasure where the Saint
+found it, 'in angulo cum libello.'"
+
+_THE PALL MALL GAZETTE says_--
+
+"It is impossible to let the completion of this reissue go by without
+congratulating every one concerned, including the reader, on the
+possibility of obtaining the cream of England's dramatic literature in
+this convenient form."
+
+
+T. FISHER UNWIN, PUBLISHER, 1, ADELPHI TERRACE, LONDON, W.C.
+
+
+
+
+T. FISHER UNWIN, Publisher,
+
+THE ADVENTURE SERIES
+
+POPULAR RE-ISSUE.
+
+_Each large crown 8vo, fully illustrated. Popular re-issue_, =3s. 6d.=
+_per vol._
+
+
+   1. ADVENTURES OF A YOUNGER SON. By EDWARD J. TRELAWNEY. Introduction
+       by EDWARD GARNETT.
+
+   2. MADAGASCAR; or, Robert Drury's Journal during his Captivity on
+       that Island. Preface and Notes by Captain S. P. OLIVER, R.A.
+
+   3. MEMOIRS OF THE EXTRAORDINARY MILITARY CAREER OF JOHN SHIPP.
+
+   4. THE BUCCANEERS AND MAROONERS OF AMERICA. Edited and Illustrated by
+        HOWARD PYLE.
+
+   5. THE LOG OF A JACK TAR: Being the Life of James Choyce, Master
+       Mariner. Edited by Commander V. LOVETT CAMERON.
+
+   6. FERDINAND MENDEZ PINTO, THE PORTUGUESE ADVENTURER. New Edition.
+       Annotated by Prof. A. VAMBÉRY
+
+   7. ADVENTURES OF A BLOCKADE RUNNER. By WILLIAM WATSON. Illustrated by
+       ARTHUR BYNG, R.N.
+
+   8. THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF JAMES BECKWOURTH, Mountaineer, Scout,
+       Pioneer, and Chief of Crow Nation Indians. Edited by CHAS. G.
+       LELAND.
+
+   9. A PARTICULAR ACCOUNT OF THE EUROPEAN MILITARY ADVENTURERS OF
+       HINDUSTAN. Compiled by HENRY COMPTON.
+
+  10. THE MEMOIRS AND TRAVELS OF COUNT DE BENYOWSKY in Siberia,
+       Kamdchatka, Japan, the Linkiu Islands, and Formosa. Edited by
+       Captain S. P. OLIVER, R.A.
+
+  11. A MASTER MARINER: The Life of Captain Robert W. Eastwick. Edited
+       by HERBERT COMPTON.
+
+  12. KOLOKOTRONES: KLEPHT AND WARRIOR. Translated from the Greek by
+       Mrs. EDMONDS. Introduction by M. GENNADIUS.
+
+
+  1, Adelphi Terrace, London, W.C.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note
+
+
+Minor printer's errors and inconsistencies have been silently corrected.
+
+=Bold text= has been represented using equal signs. _Italic text_ has
+been represented using underscores.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's In Search of El Dorado, by Alexander MacDonald
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41530 ***