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diff --git a/41530-0.txt b/41530-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..92effb6 --- /dev/null +++ b/41530-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10053 @@ +*** 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. 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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_. + + + T. FISHER UNWIN, PUBLISHER, + 1, ADELPHI TERRACE, LONDON, W.C. + + + + +Standard Works. + +COMPLETE POPULAR EDITIONS. ILLUSTRATED. + +_Large Crown 8vo, Cloth. Price 2/6 net._ + + +Lord Beaconsfield: A Biography. + +By T. P. O'CONNOR. + +"Clever and brilliant.... Worth reading by everybody who either admires +or hates his subject."--_Guardian_ + +"A slashing and vastly interesting book."--_Pall Mall Gazette._ + + +Rome and Pompeii. Archæological Rambles. + +By GASTON BOISSIER. + +"M. Gaston Boissier is one of the few living archæologists who can make +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. 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FISHER UNWIN, PUBLISHER, + 1 ADELPHI TERRACE, LONDON, W.C. + + + + +The Mermaid Series. + +THE BEST PLAYS OF THE OLD DRAMATISTS. + +Literal Reproductions of the Old Text. + +Printed on thin Paper. Small Crown 8vo, each Volume containing about 500 +Pages and an Etched Frontispiece. + + _Cloth, 2s. 6d. net. Leather, 3s. 6d. net._ + + +=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. + +=The Best Plays of Thomas Otway.= Introduction and Notes by the Hon. +RODEN NOEL. + +=The Complete Plays of William Congreve.= Edited by ALEX. C EWALD. + +=The Complete Plays of Richard Steele.= Edited, with Introduction and +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. + +=The Best Plays of James Shirley.= With Introduction by EDMUND GOSSE. + +=The Best Plays of Thomas Shadwell.= Edited by GEORGE SAINTSBURY. + +=The Complete Plays of William Wycherley.= Edited, with Introduction and +Notes, by W. C. WARD. + +=The Best Plays of John Ford.= Edited by HAVELOCK ELLIS. + +=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 *** |