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diff --git a/4975-h/4975-h.htm b/4975-h/4975-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1031efd --- /dev/null +++ b/4975-h/4975-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,12222 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> +<TITLE>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Spinifex and Sand, by David W. Carnegie</TITLE> +<META HTTP-EQUIV="content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> +<style type="text/css"> +<!-- +body {background: lightyellow; margin: 10%; text-align: justify} +h2,h3,h4,h5 {color: green; text-align: center} +--> +</style> + +</head> +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Spinifex and Sand, by David W Carnegie + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Spinifex and Sand + Five Years' Pioneering and Exploration in Western Australia + +Author: David W Carnegie + +Release Date: August 18, 2004 [EBook #4975] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SPINIFEX AND SAND *** + + + + +Produced by Col Choat and Colin Beck + + + + + +</pre> + +<center> +<h1>Spinifex and Sand</h1> +<h2>by David W. Carnegie</h2> +</center> + +<p>In 1896-1897, the Hon. David Wynford Carnegie, born in 1871, +youngest son of the Earl of Southesk, led one of the last great +expeditions in the exploration of Australia. His route from Lake +Darlôt to Halls Creek and return, took thirteen months and covered +over three thousand miles. Carnegie financed his expedition from +the results of a successful gold strike at Lake Darlôt. + +<p>David Carnegie returned to England in 1898, was awarded a medal +by the Royal Geographic Society and in 1899 was appointed +Assistant Resident and Magistrate in Northern Nigeria. On +November 27, 1900 while on an expedition to capture a brigand +he was shot in the thigh with a poisoned arrow and died minutes +later. He is buried at Lokaja, Nigeria and a memorial to his +memory is in St. George's Cathedral, Perth. + +<hr> + +<h2>SPINIFEX AND SAND</h2> + +<h5>A Narrative of Five Years' Pioneering and Exploration in Western Ausralia</h5> + +<h5>By The</h5> + +<h3>HON. DAVID W CARNEGIE (1871-1900)</h3> + +<a name="pt1"></a><h5>Illustration 1: David W. Carnegie.</h5> +<center><p><img alt="" src="images/spin1.jpg"></center> + +<h4>To MY MOTHER</h4> + +<hr> + +<h3>CONTENTS</h3> + +<h5>INTRODUCTION</h5> + +<h5><a href="#p1c1">PART I - EARLY DAYS IN COOLGARDIE</a></h5> +<ol type="I"> +<li><a href="#p1c1">Early Days In The Colony</a> +<li><a href="#p1c2">“Hard Up”</a> +<li><a href="#p1c3">A Miner On Bayley's</a> +</ol> + +<h5><a href="#p2c1">PART II - FIRST PROSPECTING EXPEDITION</a></h5> +<ol type="I"> +<li><a href="#p2c1">The Rush To Kurnalpi—We Reach Queen Victoria Spring</a> +<li><a href="#p2c2">In Unknown Country</a> +<li><a href="#p2c3">From Mount Shenton To Mount Margaret</a> +</ol> + +<h5><a href="#p3c1">PART III - SECOND PROSPECTING EXPEDITION</a></h5> +<ol type="I"> +<li><a href="#p3c1">The Joys Of Portable Condensers</a> +<li><a href="#p3c2">Granite Rocks, “Namma Holes,” And “Soaks”</a> +<li><a href="#p3c3">A Fresh Start</a> +<li><a href="#p3c4">A Camel Fight</a> +<li><a href="#p3c5">Gold At Lake Darlôt</a> +<li><a href="#p3c6">Alone In The Bush</a> +<li><a href="#p3c7">Sale Of Mine</a> +</ol> + +<h5><a href="#p4c1">PART IV - MINING</a></h5> +<ol type="I"> +<li><a href="#p4c1">Quartz Reefing And Dry-Blowing</a> +</ol> + +<h5><a href="#p5c1">PART V - THE OUTWARD JOURNEY</a></h5> +<ol type="I"> +<li><a href="#p5c1">Previous Explorers In The Interior Of Western Australia</a> +<li><a href="#p5c2">Members And Equipment Of Expedition</a> +<li><a href="#p5c3">The Journey Begins</a> +<li><a href="#p5c4">We Enter The Desert</a> +<li><a href="#p5c5">Water At Last</a> +<li><a href="#p5c6">Woodhouse Lagoon</a> +<li><a href="#p5c7">The Great Undulating Desert Of Gravel</a> +<li><a href="#p5c8">A Desert Tribe</a> +<li><a href="#p5c9">Dr. Leichardt's Lost Expedition</a> +<li><a href="#p5c10">The Desert Of Parallel Sand-Ridges</a> +<li><a href="#p5c11">From Family Well To Helena Spring</a> +<li><a href="#p5c12">Helena Spring</a> +<li><a href="#p5c13">From Helena Spring To The Southesk Tablelands</a> +<li><a href="#p5c14">Death Of Stansmore</a> +<li><a href="#p5c15">Wells Exploring Expedition</a> +<li><a href="#p5c16">Kimberley</a> +<li><a href="#p5c17">Aboriginals At Hall's Creek</a> +<li><a href="#p5c18">Preparations For The Return Journey</a> +<br><a href="#p5ap">Appendix To Part V</a> +</ol> + +<h5><a href="#p6c1">PART VI - THE JOURNEY HOME</a></h5> +<ol type="I"> +<li><a href="#p6c1">Return Journey Begins</a> +<li><a href="#p6c2">Sturt Creek And “Gregory's Salt Sea”</a> +<li><a href="#p6c3">Our Camp On The “Salt Sea”</a> +<li><a href="#p6c4">Desert Once More</a> +<li><a href="#p6c5">Stansmore Range To Lake MacDonald</a> +<li><a href="#p6c6">Lake MacDonald To The Deep Rock-Holes</a> +<li><a href="#p6c7">The Last Of The Ridges Of Drift Sand</a> +<li><a href="#p6c8">Woodhouse Lagoon Revisited</a> +<li><a href="#p6c9">Across Lake Wells To Lake Darlôt</a> +<li><a href="#p6c10">The End Of The Expedition</a> +</ol> +<h5><a href="#ap">APPENDIX</a></h5> + +<h5>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h5> + +<p>(47 illustrations appeared in the original text, published in 1898. +A number have not been reproduced in the html version of the etext.) +<ol> +<li><a href="#pt1">Hon. D. W. Carnegie</a> +<li><a href="#pt2">Jarrah Forest, West Australia</a> +<li><a href="#pt3">General store And Post-office, Coolgardie, 1892</a> +<li><a href="#pt4">The first hotel at Coolgardie</a> +<li><a href="#pt5">The “Gold Escort”</a> +<li><a href="#pt6">Grass trees, near Perth</a> +<li><a href="#pt7">Death of “Tommy”</a> +<li><a href="#pt8">Fresh meat at last</a> +<li><a href="#pt9">Bayley Street, Coolgardie, 1894</a> +<li><a href="#pt10">Condensing water on a salt lake</a> +<li><a href="#pt11">Fever-stricken and alone</a> +<li><a href="#pt12">Miner's Right</a> +<li><a href="#pt13">Typical sandstone gorge</a> +<li><a href="#pt14">Crossing a salt lake</a> +<li><a href="#pt15">Entrance to Empress Spring</a> +<li><a href="#pt16">At work in the cave, Empress Spring</a> +<li><a href="#pt17">Alexander Spring</a> +<li><a href="#pt18">Woodhouse Lagoon</a> +<li><a href="#pt19">A buck and his gins in camp at Family Well</a> +<li><a href="#pt20">Cresting a sand-ridge</a> +<li><a href="#pt21">Helena Spring</a> +<li><a href="#pt22">The only specimen of desert architecture</a> +<li><a href="#pt23">The Mad Buck</a> +<li><a href="#pt24">Southesk Tablelands</a> +<li><a href="#pt25">A native hunting party</a> +<li><a href="#pt26">Plan of sand-ridges</a> +<li><a href="#pt27">Exaggerated section of the sand-ridges</a> +<li><a href="#pt28">Charles W. Stansmore</a> +<li><a href="#pt29">Native preparing for the emu dance</a> +<li><a href="#pt30">Spears</a> +<li><a href="#pt31">Woomera</a> +<li><a href="#pt32">Iron Tomahawks</a> +<li><a href="#pt33">Stone Tomahawks</a> +<li><a href="#pt34">Boomerangs</a> +<li><a href="#pt35">Clubs and throwing-sticks</a> +<li><a href="#pt36">Shields</a> +<li><a href="#pt37">Quartz knife</a> +<li><a href="#pt38">Ceremonial sticks</a> +<li><a href="#pt39">Rain-making boards</a> +<li><a href="#pt40">Message sticks</a> +<li><a href="#pt41">Group Of Explorers</a> +<li><a href="#pt42">Just in time</a> +<li><a href="#pt43">A wild escort of nearly one hundred men</a> +<li><a href="#pt44">Establishing friendly relations</a> +<li><a href="#pt45">The tail-end of a miserable caravan</a> +<li><a href="#pt46">A karri timber train</a> +<li><a href="#pt47">A pearl shell station, Broome, N.W. Australia</a> +</ol> +<hr> + +<a name="intro"></a><h4>INTRODUCTION</h4> +<center> +<p>“<i>An honest tale speeds best, being plainly told.</i>” +</center> +<p>The following pages profess to be no more than a faithful narrative of +five years spent on the goldfields and in the far interior of Western +Australia. Any one looking for stirring adventures, hairbreadth escapes +from wild animals and men, will be disappointed. In the Australian Bush +the traveller has only Nature to war against—over him hangs always the +chance of death from thirst, and sometimes from the attacks of hostile +aboriginals; he has no spice of adventure, no record heads of rare game, +no exciting escapades with dangerous beasts, to spur him on; no beautiful +scenery, broad lakes, or winding rivers to make life pleasant for him. +The unbroken monotony of an arid, uninteresting country has to be faced. +Nature everywhere demands his toil. Unless he has within him impulses that +give him courage to go on, he will soon return; for he will find nothing +in his surroundings to act as an incentive to tempt him further. + +<p>I trust my readers will be able to glean a little knowledge of the +hardships and dangers that beset the paths of Australian pioneers, and +will learn something of the trials and difficulties encountered by a +prospector, recognising that he is often inspired by some higher feeling +than the mere “lust of gold.” + +<p>Wherever possible, I have endeavoured to add interest to my own +experiences by recounting those of other travellers; and, by studying the +few books that touch upon such matters to explain any points in connection +with the aboriginals that from my own knowledge I am unable to do. I owe +several interesting details to the <i>Report on the Work of the Horn +Scientific Expedition to Central Australia</i>, and to <i>Ethnological Studies +among the North-West Central Queensland Aboriginals</i>, by Walter E. Roth. +For the identification of the few geological specimens brought in by me, +I am indebted to the Government Geologist of the Mines Department, +Perth, W.A., and to Mr. W. Botting Hemsley, through the courtesy of the +Director of the Royal Gardens, Kew, for the identification of the plants. + +<p>I also owe many thanks to my friend Mr. J. F. Cornish, who has taken so +much trouble in correcting the proofs of my MSS. +<hr> + +<a name="p1c1"></a><h4>PART I</h4> + +<h4>EARLY DAYS IN COOLGARDIE</h4> + +<h5>CHAPTER I</h5> + +<h5>Early Days In The Colony</h5> + +<p>In the month of September, 1892, Lord Percy Douglas (now Lord Douglas of +Hawick) and I, found ourselves steaming into King George's Sound—that +magnificent harbour on the south-west coast of Western Australia—building +castles in the air, discussing our prospects, and making rapid and vast +imaginary fortunes in the gold-mines of that newly-discovered land of +Ophir. Coolgardie, a district then unnamed, had been discovered, and +Arthur Bayley, a persevering and lucky prospector, had returned to +civilised parts from the “bush,” his packhorses loaded with golden +specimens from the famous mine which bears his name. I suppose the +fortunate find of Bayley and his mate, Ford, has turned the course of +events in the lives of many tens of thousands of people, and yet, as he +jogged along the track from Gnarlbine Rock to Southern Cross, I daresay +his thoughts reverted to his own life, and the good time before him, +rather than to moralising on the probable effect of his discovery on +others. + +<p>We spent as little time as possible at Albany, or, I should say, made our +stay as short as was permitted, for in those days the convenience of the +passenger was thought little of, in comparison with the encouragement of +local industries, so that mails and travellers alike were forced to remain +at least one night in Albany by the arrangement of the train service, +greatly to the benefit of the hotel-keepers. + +<p>We were somewhat surprised to see the landlord's daughters waiting at +table. They were such tremendously smart and icy young ladies that at +first we were likely to mistake them for guests; and even when sure of +their identity we were too nervous to ask for anything so vulgar as a pot +of beer, or to expect them to change our plates. + +<p>Between Albany and Perth the country is not at all interesting being for +the most part flat, scrubby, and sandy, though here and there are rich +farming and agricultural districts. Arrived at Perth we found ourselves a +source of great interest to the inhabitants, inasmuch as we announced our +intention of making our way to the goldfields, while we had neither the +means nor apparently the capability of getting there. Though treated with +great hospitality, we found it almost impossible to get any information +or assistance, all our inquiries being answered by some scoffing remark, +such as, “Oh, you'll never get there!” + +<p>We attended a rather remarkable dinner—given in honour of the Boot, Shoe, +Harness, and Leather trade, at the invitation of a fellow-countryman in +the trade, and enjoyed ourselves immensely; speech-making and +toast-drinking being carried out in the extensive style so customary in +the West. Picture our surprise on receiving a bill for 10s. 6d. next +morning! Our friend of the dinner, kindly put at our disposal a hansom +cab which he owned, but this luxury we declined with thanks, fearing a +repetition of his “bill-by-invitation.” + +<a name="pt2"></a><h5>Illustration 2: Jarrah Forrest, West Australia</h5> + +<center><p><img alt="" src="images/spin2.jpg"></center> + +<p>Owing to the extreme kindness of Mr. Robert Smith we were at last enabled +to get under way for the scene of the “rush.” Disregarding the many offers +of men willing to guide us along a self-evident track, we started with one +riding and one packhorse each. These and the contents of the pack-bags +represented all our worldly possessions, but in this we might count +ourselves lucky, for many hundreds had to carry their belongings on their +backs—“humping their bluey,” as the expression is. + +<p>Our road lay through Northam, and the several small farms and settlements +which extend some distance eastward. Very few used this track, the more +popular and direct route being through York, and thence along the +telegraph line to Southern Cross; and indeed we did pass through York, +which thriving little town we left at dusk, and, carrying out our +directions, rode along the telegraph line. Unfortunately we had not been +told that the line split up, one branch going to Northam and the other to +Southern Cross; as often happens in such cases, we took the wrong branch +and travelled well into the night before finding any habitation at which +we could get food and water. + +<p>The owner of the house where we finally stopped did not look upon our +visit with pleasure, as we had literally to break into the house before we +could attract any attention. Finding we were not burglars, and having +relieved himself by most vigorous and pictorial language (in the use of +which the teamsters and small farmers are almost without rivals) the owner +showed us his well, and did what he could to make us comfortable. I shall +never forget the great hospitality here along this road, though no doubt +as time went on the settlers could not afford to house hungry travellers +free of cost, and probably made a fair amount of money by selling +provisions and horse-feed to the hundreds of gold-fever patients who were +continually passing. + +<p>Southern Cross, which came into existence about the year '90, was a pretty +busy place, being the last outpost of civilisation at the time of our +first acquaintance with it. The now familiar corrugated-iron-built town, +with its streets inches deep in dust under a blazing sun, its incessant +swarms of flies, the clashing of the “stamps” on the mines, and the +general “never-never” appearance of the place, impressed us with feelings +the reverse of pleasant. The building that struck me most was the bank—a +small iron shanty with a hession partition dividing it into office and +living room, the latter a hopeless chaos of cards, candle ends, whiskey +bottles, blankets, safe keys, gold specimens, and cooking utensils. The +bank manager had evidently been entertaining a little party of friends the +previous night, and though its hours had passed, and a new day had dawned, +the party still continued. Since that time it has been my lot to witness +more than one such evening of festivity! + +<p>On leaving Southern Cross we travelled with another company of +adventurers, one of whom, Mr. Davies, an old Queensland squatter, was our +partner in several subsequent undertakings. + +<p>The monotony of the flat timber-clad country was occasionally relieved by +the occurrence of large isolated hills of bare granite. But for these the +road, except for camels, could never have been kept open; for they +represented our sources of water supply. On the surface of the rocks +numerous holes and indentations are found, which after rain, hold water, +and besides these, around the foot of the outcrops, “soaks,” or shallow +wells, are to be found. + +<p>What scenes of bitter quarrels these watering-places have witnessed! +The selfish striving, each to help himself, the awful sufferings of man +and beast, horses and camels mad with thirst, and men cursing the country +and themselves, for wasting their lives and strength in it; but they have +witnessed many an act of kindness and self-denial too. + +<p>Where the now prosperous and busy town of Coolgardie stands, with its +stone and brick buildings, banks, hotels, and streets of shops, offices, +and dwelling-houses, with a population of some 15,000, at the time of +which I write there stood an open forest of eucalyptus dotted here and +there with the white tents and camps of diggers. A part of the timber had +already been cleared to admit of “dry-blowing” operations—a process +adopted for the separation of gold from alluvial soil in the waterless +parts of Australia. + +<p>Desperate hard work this, with the thermometer at 100°F in the +shade, with the “dishes” so hot that they had often to be put aside to +cool, with clouds of choking dust, a burning throat, and water at a +shilling to half a crown a gallon! Right enough for the lucky ones +“on gold,” and for them not a life of ease! The poor devil with neither +money nor luck, who looked into each dishful of dirt for the wherewithal +to live, and found it not, was indeed scarcely to be envied. + +<p>Water at this time was carted by horse-teams in waggons with large tanks +on board, or by camel caravans, from a distance of thirty-six miles, drawn +from a well near a large granite rock. The supply was daily failing, and +washing was out of the question; enough to drink was all one thought of; +two lines of eager men on either side of the track could daily be seen +waiting for these water-carts. What a wild rush ensued when they were +sighted! In a moment they were surrounded and taken by storm, men swarming +on to them like an army of ants. As a rule, eager as we were for water, +a sort of order prevailed, and every man got his gallon water-bag filled +until the supply was exhausted. And generally the owner of the water +received due payment. + +<p>About Christmas-time the water-famine was at its height. Notices were +posted by order of the Warden, proclaiming that the road to or from +Coolgardie would soon be closed, as all wells were failing, and advising +men to go down in small parties, and not to rush the waters in a great +crowd. This advice was not taken, and daily scores of men left the +“field,” and many were hard put to it to reach Southern Cross. It was a +cruel sight in those thirsty days to see the poor horses wandering about, +mere walking skeletons, deserted by their owners, for strangers were both +unable to give them water, and afraid to put them out of their misery lest +damages should be claimed against them. How long our own supplies would +last was eagerly discussed, as we gathered round the butcher's shop, the +great meeting-place, to which, in the evenings, most of the camp would +come to talk over the affairs of the day. + +<p>Postmaster, as well as butcher and storekeeper, was Mr. Benstead, +a kind-hearted, hard-working man, and a good friend to us in our early +struggles. What a wonderful post-office it was too! A proper match for the +so-called coach that brought the mails. A very dilapidated buckboard-buggy +drawn by equally dilapidated horses, used to do the journey from the +Southern Cross to the new fields very nearly as quickly as a loaded waggon +with eight or ten horses! The mail-coach used to carry not only letters, +papers, and gold on the return journey, but passengers, who served the +useful purposes of dragging the carriage through the sand and dust when +the horses collapsed, of hunting up the team in the mornings, and of +lightening the load by walking. For this exceedingly comfortable journey +they had the pleasure of paying at least £five. It was no uncommon +sight at some tank or rock on the road, to see the mail-coach standing +alone in its glory, deserted by driver and passengers alike. Of these some +would be horse-hunting, and the rest tramping ahead in hope of being +caught up by the coach. There would often be on board many hundred pounds' +worth of gold, sent down by the diggers to be banked, or forwarded to +their families; yet no instance of robbing the mail occurred. The sort of +gentry from whom bushrangers and thieves are made, had not yet found their +way to the rush. + +<a name="pt3"></a><h5>Illustration 3: General store and Post-office, Coolgardie, 1892</h5> + +<center><p><img alt="" src="images/spin3.jpg"></center> + +<p>Many banks were failing at that time, and men anxiously awaited the +arrival of news. The teamsters, with their heavy drays, would be eagerly +questioned as to where they had passed Her Majesty's mail, and as to the +probability of its arrival within the next week or so! The distribution of +letters did not follow this happy event with great rapidity. Volunteers +had to be called in to sort the delivery, the papers were thrown into a +heap in the road, and all anxious for news were politely requested to help +themselves. Several illustrated periodicals were regularly sent me from +home, as I learnt afterwards, but I never had the luck to drop across my +own paper! + +<p>On mail day, the date of which was most uncertain as the coach journeys +soon overlapped, there was always a lengthy, well-attended “roll-up” at +the Store. Here we first made acquaintance with Messrs. Browne and Lyon, +then negotiating for the purchase of Bayley's fabulous mine of gold. +No account of the richness of this claim at that time could be too +extravagant to be true; for surely such a solid mass of gold was never +seen before, as met the eye in the surface workings. + +<p>Messrs. Browne and Lyon had at their camp a small black-boy whom they +tried in vain to tame. He stood a good deal of misplaced kindness, and +even wore clothes without complaint; but he could not bear having his hair +cut, and so ran away to the bush. He belonged to the wandering tribe that +daily visited the camp—a tribe of wretched famine-stricken “blacks,” +whose natural hideousness and filthy appearance were intensified by the +dirty rags with which they made shift to cover their bodies. I should +never have conceived it possible that such living skeletons could exist. +Without begging from the diggers I fail to see how they could have lived, +for not a living thing was to be found in the bush, save an occasional +iguana and “bardies,” and, as I have said, all known waters within +available distance of Coolgardie were dry, or nearly so. +<blockquote> +“Bardies” are large white grubs—three or four inches long—which the +natives dig out from the roots of a certain shrub. When baked on +wood-ashes they are said to be excellent eating. The natives, however, +prefer them raw, and, having twisted off the heads, eat them with evident +relish. +</blockquote> +<p>Benstead had managed to bring up a few sheep from the coast, which the +“gins,” or women, used to tend. The native camp was near the +slaughter-yard, and it used to be an interesting and charming sight to see +these wild children of the wilderness, fighting with their mongrel dogs +for the possession of the offal thrown away by the butcher. If successful +in gaining this prize they were not long in disposing of it, cooking +evidently being considered a waste of time. A famished “black-fellow” +after a heavy meal used to remind me of pictures of the boa-constrictor +who has swallowed an ox, and is resting in satisfied peace to gorge. + +<p>The appeal of “Gib it damper” or “Gib it gabbi” (water), was seldom made +in vain, and hardly a day passed but what one was visited by these silent, +starving shadows. In appreciation no doubt of the kindness shown them, +some of the tribe volunteered to find “gabbi” for the white-fellow in the +roots of a certain gum-tree. Their offer was accepted, and soon a band of +unhappy-looking miners was seen returning. In their hands they carried +short pieces of the root, which they sucked vigorously; some got a little +moisture, and some did not, but however unequal their success in this +respect they were all alike in another, for every man vomited freely. This +means of obtaining a water supply never became popular. No doubt a little +moisture can be coaxed from the roots of certain gums, but it would seem +that it needs the stomach of a black-fellow to derive any benefit from it. + +<p>Though I cannot say that I studied the manners and customs of the +aboriginals at that time, the description, none the worse for being old, +given to savages of another land would fit them admirably—“Manners none, +customs beastly.” + +<a name="p1c2"></a><h4>CHAPTER II</h4> + +<h4>“Hard Up”</h4> + +<p>During that drought-stricken Christmas-time my mate was down at the +“Cross,” trying to carry through some business by which our coffers might +be replenished; for work how we would on alluvial or quartz reefs, no gold +could we find. That we worked with a will, the remark made to me by an old +fossicker will go to show. After watching me “belting away” at a solid +mass of quartz for some time without speaking, “Which,” said he, “is the +hammer-headed end of your pick?” Then shaking his head, “Ah! I could guess +you were a Scotchman—brute force and blind ignorance!” He then proceeded +to show me how to do twice the amount of work at half the expenditure of +labour. I never remember a real digger who was not ready to help one, both +with advice and in practice, and I never experienced that “greening” of +new chums which is a prominent feature of most novels that deal with +Australian life. + +<p>In the absence of Lord Douglas, an old horse-artilleryman, Richardson by +name, was my usual comrade. A splendid fellow he was too, and one of the +few to be rewarded for his dogged perseverance and work. In a pitiable +state the poor man was when first we met, half dead from dysentery, camped +all alone under a sheet of coarse calico. Emaciated from sickness, he was +unable to follow his horses, which had wandered in search of food and +water, though they constituted his only earthly possession. How he, and +many another I could mention, survived, I cannot think. But if a man +declines to die, and fights for life, he is hard to kill! + +<p>Amongst the prospectors it was customary for one mate to look after the +horses, and pack water to the others who worked. These men, of course, +knew several sources unknown to the general public. It was from one of +them that we learnt of the existence of a small soak some thirteen miles +from Coolgardie. Seeing no hope of rain, and no prospect of being able to +stop longer at Coolgardie, Mr. Davies, who camped near us, and I, decided +to make our way to this soak, and wait for better or worse times. Taking +the only horse which remained to us, and what few provisions we had, we +changed our residence from the dust-swept flats of Coolgardie to the +silent bush, where we set up a little hut of boughs, and awaited the +course of events. Sheltered from the sun's burning rays by our house, so +low that it could only be entered on hands and knees, for we had neither +time nor strength to build a spacious structure, and buoyed up by the +entrancement of reading <i>The Adventures of a Lady's Maid</i>, kindly lent by +a fellow-digger, we did our best to spend a “Happy Christmas.” + +<p>Somehow, the climate and surroundings seemed singularly inappropriate; +dust could not be transformed, even in imagination, into snow, nor heat +into frost, any more easily than we could turn dried apples into roast +beef and plum-pudding. Excellent food as dried fruit is, yet it is apt +to become monotonous when it must do duty for breakfast, dinner, and tea! +Such was our scanty fare; nevertheless we managed to keen up the +appearance of being quite festive and happy. + +<p>Having spread the table—that is, swept the floor clear of ants and other +homely insects—and laid out the feast, I rose to my knees and proposed +the health of my old friend and comrade Mr. Davies, wished him the +compliments of the season, and expressed a hope that we should never spend +a worse Christmas. The toast was received with cheers and honoured in weak +tea, brewed from the re-dried leaves of our last night's meal. He suitably +replied, and cordially endorsed my last sentiment. After duly honouring +the toasts of “The Ladies,” “Absent Friends,” and others befitting the +occasion, we fell to on the frugal feast. + +<p>For the benefit of thrifty housewives, as well as those whom poverty has +stricken, I respectfully recommend the following recipe. For dried apples: +Take a handful, chew slightly, swallow, fill up with warm water and wait. +Before long a feeling both grateful and comforting, as having dined not +wisely but too heavily, will steal over you. Repeat the dose for luncheon +and tea. + +<p>One or two other men were camped near us, and I have no doubt would have +willingly added to our slender store had they known to what short commons +we were reduced. Our discomforts were soon over, however, for Lord Douglas +hearing that I was in a starving condition, hastened from the “Cross,” not +heeding the terrible accounts of the track, bringing with him a supply of +the staple food of the country, “Tinned Dog”—as canned provisions are +designated. + +<p>Wandering on from our little rock of refuge, we landed at the Twenty-five +Mile, where lately a rich reef had been found. We pegged out a claim on +which we worked, camped under the shade of a “Kurrajong” tree, close above +a large granite rock on which we depended for our water; and here we spent +several months busy on our reef, during which time Lord Douglas went home +to England, with financial schemes in his head, leaving Mr. Davies and +myself to hold the property and work as well as we could manage and I +fancy that for a couple of amateurs we did a considerable amount of +development. + +<p>Here we lived almost alone, with the exception of another small party +working the adjoining mine, occasionally visited by a prospector with +horses to water. Though glad of their company, it was not with unmixed +feelings that we viewed their arrival, for it took us all our time to get +sufficient water for ourselves. I well remember one occasion on which, +after a slight shower of rain, we, having no tank, scooped up the water we +could from the shallow holes, even using a sponge, such was our eagerness +not to waste a single drop; the water thus collected was emptied into a +large rock-hole, which we covered with flat stones. We then went to our +daily work on the reef, congratulating ourselves on the nice little +“plant” of water. Imagine our disgust, on returning in the evening, at +finding a mob of thirsty packhorses being watered from our precious +supply! There was nothing to be done but to pretend we liked it. The +water being on the rock was of course free to all. + +<p>How I used to envy those horsemen, and longed for the time when I could +afford horses or camels of my own, to go away back into the bush and just +see what was there. Many a day I spent poring over the map of the Colony, +longing and longing to push out into the vast blank spaces of the unknown. +Even at that time I planned out the expedition which at last I was enabled +to undertake, though all was very visionary, and I could hardly conceive +how I should ever manage to find the necessary ways and means. + +<p>Nearly every week I would ride into Coolgardie for stores, and walk out +again leading the loaded packhorse, our faithful little chestnut “brumby,” +i.e., half-wild pony, of which there are large herds running in the bush +near the settled parts of the coast. A splendid little fellow this, a true +type of his breed, fit for any amount of work and hardship. As often as +not he would do his journey into Coolgardie (twenty-five miles), be tied +up all night without a feed or drink—or as long as I had to spend there +on business—and return again loaded next morning. Chaff and oats were +then almost unprocurable, and however kind-hearted he might be, a poor +man could hardly afford a shilling a gallon to water his horse. On these +occasions I made my quarters at Bayley's mine, where a good solid meal and +the pleasant company of Messrs. Browne and Lyon always awaited me. Several +times in their generosity these good fellows spared a gallon or two of +precious water for the old pony. + +<p>They have a funny custom in the West of naming horses after their +owners—thus the chestnut is known to this day as “Little Carnegie.” +Sometimes they are named after the men from whom they are bought. This +practice, when coach-horses are concerned, has its laughable side, and +passengers unacquainted with the custom may be astonished to hear all +sorts of oaths and curses, or words of entreaty and encouragement, +addressed to some well-known name—and they might be excused for thinking +the driver's mind was a little unhinged, or that in his troubles and +vexations he was calling on some prominent citizen, in the same way that +knights of old invoked their saints. + +<p>Thus, our peaceful life at the “Twenty-five” passed on, relieved sometimes +by the arrival of horsemen and others in search of water. Amongst our +occasional visitors was a well-known gentleman, bearing the proud title +of “The biggest liar in Australia.” How far he deserved the distinction I +should hesitate to say, for men prone to exaggerate are not uncommon in +the bush. Sometimes, however, they must have the melancholy satisfaction +of knowing that they are disbelieved, when they really do happen to tell +the truth. A story of my friend's, which was received with incredulous +laughter, will exemplify this. + +<p>This was one of his experiences in Central Australia. He was perishing +from thirst, and, at the last gasp, he came to a clay-pan which, to his +despair, was quite dry and baked hard by the sun. He gave up all hope; not +so his black-boy, who, after examining the surface of the hard clay, +started to dig vigorously, shouting, “No more tumble down, plenty water +here!” Struggling to the side of his boy, he found that he had unearthed a +large frog blown out with water, with which they relieved their thirst. +Subsequent digging disclosed more frogs, from all of which so great a +supply of water was squeezed that not only he and his boy, but the horses +also were saved from a terrible death! + +<p>This story was received with laughter and jeers, and cries of +“Next please!” But to show that it had foundations of truth I may quote an +extract from <i>The Horn Scientific Expedition to Central Australia</i> +(part i. p. 21), in which we read the following:— +<blockquote> +<i>…The most interesting animal is the Burrowing or Waterholding Frog, +(Chiroleptes platycephalus). As the pools dry up it fills itself out with +water, which in some way passes through the walls of the alimentary +canal, filling up the body cavity, and swelling the animal out until it +looks like a small orange. In this condition it occupies a cavity just big +enough for the body, and simply goes to sleep. When, with the aid of a +native, we cut it out of its hiding-place, the animal at first remained +perfectly still, with its lower eyelids completely drawn over the eyes, +giving it the appearance of being blind, which indeed the black assured +us that it was…</i> +</blockquote> +<p>Most travellers cannot fail to have noticed how clay-pans recently filled +by rain, even after a prolonged drought, swarm with tadpoles and +full-grown frogs and numberless water insects, the presence of which must +only be explained by the ability of the frog to store his supply in his +own body, and the fact that the eggs of the insects require moisture +before they can hatch out. + +<p>Many a laugh we had round the camp-fire at night, and many are the yarns +that were spun. Few, however, were of sufficient interest to live in my +memory, and I fear that most of them would lose their points in becoming +fit for publication. “Gold,” naturally, was the chief topic of +conversation, especially amongst the older diggers, who love to tell one +in detail how many ounces they got in one place and how many in another, +until one feels that surely they must be either millionaires or liars. +New rushes, and supposed new rushes, were eagerly discussed; men were +often passing and repassing our rock, looking for somebody who was +“on gold”—for the majority of prospectors seldom push out for themselves, +but prefer following up some man or party supposed to have “struck it +rich.” + +<p>The rumours of a new find so long bandied about at length came true. +Billy Frost had found a thousand! two thousand!! three thousand +ounces!!!—who knew or cared?—on the margin of a large salt lake some +ninety miles north of Coolgardie. Frost has since told me that about +twelve ounces of gold was all he found, And, after all, there is not much +difference between twelve and three thousand—that is on a mining field. +Before long the solitude of our camp was disturbed by the constant passing +of travellers to and from this newly discovered “Ninety Mile”—so named +from its distance from Coolgardie. + +<p>As a fact, this mining camp (now known as the town of Goongarr) is only +sixty odd miles from the capital, measured by survey, but in early days, +distances were reckoned by rate of travel, and roads and tracks twisted +and turned in a most distressing manner, sometimes deviating for water, +but more often because the first maker of the track had been riding along +carelessly, every now and then turning sharp back to his proper course. +Subsequent horse or camel men, having only a vague knowledge of the +direction of their destination, would be bound to follow the first tracks; +after these would come light buggies, spring-carts, drays, and heavy +waggons, until finally a deeply rutted and well-worn serpentine road +through the forest or scrub was formed, to be straightened in course of +time, as observant travellers cut off corners, and later by Government +surveyors and road-makers. + +<p>Prospectors were gradually “poking out,” gold being found in all +directions in greater or less degree; but it was not until June, 1893, +that any find was made of more than passing interest. Curiously, this +great goldfield of Hannan's (now called Kalgoorlie) was found by the +veriest chance. Patrick Hannan, like many others, had joined in a +wild-goose chase to locate a supposed rush at Mount Yule—a mountain the +height and importance of which may be judged from the fact that no one was +able to find it! On going out one morning to hunt up his horses, he +chanced on a nugget of gold. In the course of five years this little +nugget has transformed the silent bush into a populous town of 2,000 +inhabitants, with its churches, clubs, hotels, and streets of offices and +shops, surrounded by rich mines, and reminded of the cause of its +existence by the ceaseless crashing of mills and stamps, grinding out gold +at the rate of nearly 80,000 oz. per mouth. + +<p>Arriving one Sunday morning from our camp at the “Twenty-five,” I was +astonished to find Coolgardie almost deserted, not even the usual “Sunday +School” going on. Now I am sorry to disappoint my readers who are not +conversant with miners' slang, but they must not picture rows of good +little children sitting in the shade of the gum-trees, to whom some +kind-hearted digger is expounding the Scriptures. No indeed! The miners' +school is neither more nor less than a largely attended game of +pitch-and-toss, at which sometimes hundreds of pounds in gold or notes +change hands. I remember one old man who had only one shilling between him +and the grave, so he told me. He could not decide whether to invest his +last coin in a gallon of water or in the “heading-school.” He chose the +latter and lost… subsequently I saw him lying peacefully drunk under +a tree! I doubt if his intention had been suicide, but had it been he +could hardly have chosen a more deadly weapon than the whiskey of those +days. + +<p>The “rush to Hannan's” had depopulated Coolgardie and the next day saw +Davies and myself amongst an eager train of travellers bound for the new +site of fortune. “Little Carnegie” was harnessed to a small cart, which +carried our provisions and tools. The commissariat department was easily +attended to, as nothing was obtainable but biscuits and tinned soup. It +was now mid-winter, and nights were often bitterly cold. Without tent or +fly, and with hardly a blanket between us, we used to lie shivering at +night. + +<p>A slight rain had fallen, insufficient to leave much water about, and yet +enough to so moisten the soil as to make dry-blowing impossible in the +ordinary way. Fires had to be built and kept going all night, piled up on +heaps of alluvial soil dug out during the day. In the morning these heaps +would be dry enough to treat, and ashes and earth were dry-blown +together—the pleasures of the ordinary process being intensified by the +addition of clouds of ashes. + +<p>A strange appearance these fires had, dotted through the brush, lighting +up now a tent, now a water-cart, now a camp of fortunate ones lying cosily +under their canvas roof, now a set of poor devils with hardly a rag to +their backs. Oh glorious uncertainty of mining! One of these very poor +devils that I have in my mind has now a considerable fortune, with rooms +in a fashionable quarter of London, and in frock-coat and tall hat +“swells” it with the best! + +<p>How quickly men change to be sure! A man who at one time would “steal the +shirt off a dead black-fellow,” in a few short months is complaining of +the taste of his wine or the fit of his patent-leather boots. Dame Fortune +was good to some, but to us, like many others, she turned a deaf ear, and +after many weeks' toil we had to give up the battle, for neither food, +money, nor gold had we. All I possessed was the pony, and from that old +friend I could not part. The fruits of our labours, or I should say my +share in them, I sent home in a letter, and the few pin's-heads of gold +so sent did not necessitate any extra postage. Weary and toil-worn we +returned to Coolgardie, and the partners of some rather remarkable +experiences split company, and went each his own way. + +<p>It is several years since I have seen Mr. Davies; but I believe Fortune's +wheel turned round for him at length, and that now he enjoys the rest that +his years and toils entitle him to. I have many kindly recollections of +our camping days together, and of the numerous yarns my mate used to spin +of his palmy days as a Queensland squatter. + +<a name="p1c3"></a><h4>CHAPTER III</h4> + +<h4>A Miner On Bayley's</h4> + +<p>Returned from the rush, I made my way to Bayley's to seek employment for +my pony and his master. Nor did I seek in vain, for I was duly entered on +the pay-sheet as “surface hand” at £3 10 shillings per week, with +water at the rate of one gallon per day. Here I first made the +acquaintance of Godfrey Massie, a cousin of the Brownes, who, like me, +had been forced by want of luck to work for wages, and who, by the way, +had carried his “swag” on his back from York to the goldfields, a distance +of nearly 300 miles. He and I were the first amateurs to get a job on the +great Reward Claim, though subsequently it became a regular harbour of +refuge for young men crowded out from the banks and offices of Sydney and +Melbourne. Nothing but a fabulously rich mine could have stood the +tinkering of so many unprofessional miners. It speaks well for the +kindness of heart of those at the head of the management of the mine that +they were willing to trust the unearthing of so much treasure to the hands +of boys unused to manual work, or to work of any kind in a great many +cases. + +<p>How rich the mine was, may be judged from the fact that for the first few +months the enormous production of gold from it was due to the labours of +three of the shareholders, assisted by only two other men. The following +letter from Mr. Everard Browne to Lord Douglas gives some idea of what the +yield was at the time that I went there to work:— +<blockquote> +<i>I am just taking 4,200 oz, over to Melbourne from our reef (Bayley's). +This makes 10,000 oz. we have brought down from our reef without a +battery, or machinery equal to treating 200 lbs. of stone per day; that is +a bit of a record for you! We have got water in our shaft at 137 feet, +enough to run a battery, and we shall have one on the ground in three +months' time or under, Egan dollied out 1,000 oz, in a little over two +months, before I came down, from his reef; and Cashman dollied 700 oz. out +of his in about three weeks and had one stone 10 lbs. weight with 9 lbs. +of gold in it, so we are not the only successful reefers since you left. +I hope you will soon be with us again.</i> + +<p><i>If you are speaking about this 10,000 oz. we have taken out of our reef +in six months, remember that Bayley and Ford dollied out 2,500 oz. for +themselves before they handed it over to us on February 27th last, so that +actually 12,500 oz. have been taken out of the claim, without a battery, +in under nine months. The shoot of gold is now proved over 100 feet long +on the course of the reef, and we were down 52 feet in our shaft on the +reef, with as good gold as ever at the bottom. The other shaft, which we +have got water in, is in the country (a downright shaft). We expect to +meet the reef in it at 170 feet.</i> +</blockquote> +<p>Besides Massie, myself, and Tom Cue, there were not then many employed, +and really we used to have rather an enjoyable time than otherwise. +Working regular hours, eight hours on and sixteen off, sometimes on the +surface, sometimes below, with hammer and drill, or pick and shovel, +always amongst glittering gold, was by no means unpleasant. It would +certainly have been better still had we been able to keep what we found, +but the next best thing to being successful is to see those one is fond +of, pile up their banking account; and I have had few better friends than +the resident shareholders on Bayley's Reward. + +<p>What good fellows, too, were the professional miners, always ready to help +one and make the time pass pleasantly. Big Jim Breen was my mate for some +time, and many a pleasant talk and smoke (Smoke, O! is a recognised rest +from work at intervals during a miner's shift) we have had at the bottom +of a shaft, thirty to fifty feet from the surface! I really think that +having to get out of a nice warm bed or tent for night shift, viz., from +midnight to 8 a.m., was the most unpleasant part of my life as a miner. + +<a name="pt4"></a><h5>Illustration 4: The first hotel at Coolgardie</h5> + +<center><p><img alt="" src="images/spin4.jpg"></center> + +<p>As recreation we used to play occasional games of cricket on a very hard +and uneven pitch, and for social entertainments had frequent sing-songs +and “buck dances”—that is, dances in which there were no ladies to take +part—at Faahan's Club Hotel in the town, some one and a half miles +distant. “Hotel” was rather too high-class a name, for it was by no means +an imposing structure, hessian and corrugated iron taking the place of the +bricks and slates of a more civilised building. The addition of a +weather-board front, which was subsequently erected, greatly enhanced its +attractions. Mr. Faahan can boast of having had the first two-storeyed +house in the town; though the too critical might hold that the upper one, +being merely a sham, could not be counted as dwelling-room. There was no +sham, however, about the festive character of those evening +entertainments. + +<p>Thus time went on, the only change in my circumstances resulting from my +promotion to engine-driver—for now the Reward Claim boasted a small +crushing plant—and Spring came, and with it in November the disastrous +rush to “Siberia.” This name, like most others on the goldfields, may be +traced to the wit of some disappointed digger. + +<p>The rush was a failure or “frost,” and so great a one that “Siberia” was +the only word adequately to express the chagrin of the men who hoped so +much from its discovery. Being one of these myself, I can cordially +endorse the appropriateness of the name. What a motley crowd of eager +faces throngs the streets and camp on the first news of a new rush—every +one anxious to be off and be the first to make his fortune—every man +questioning his neighbour, who knows no more than himself, about distances +and direction, where the nearest water may be, and all manner of similar +queries. + +<p>Once clear of the town, what a strange collection of baggage animals, +horses, camels, and donkeys! What a mass of carts, drays, buggies, +wheelbarrows, handbarrows, and many queer makeshifts for carrying +goods—the strangest of all a large barrel set on an axle, and dragged or +shoved by means of two long handles, the proud possessor's belongings +turning round and round inside until they must surely be churned into a +most confusing jumble. Then we see the “Swagman” with his load on his +back, perhaps fifty pounds of provisions rolled up in his blankets, with a +pick and shovel strapped on them, and in either hand a gallon bag of +water. No light work this with the thermometer standing at 100°F in +the shade, and the track inches deep in fine, powdery dust; and yet men +start off with a light heart, with perhaps, a two hundred mile journey +before them, replenishing their bundles as they pass through camps on +their road. + +<p>“Siberia” was said to be seventy miles of a dry stage, and yet off we all +started, as happy as kings at the chance of mending our fortunes. + +<p>Poor Crossman (since dead), McCulloch, and I were mates, and we were well +off, for we had not only “Little Carnegie,” and who, like his master, had +been earning his living at Bayley's, but a camel, “Bungo” by name, kindly +lent by Gordon Lyon. Thus we were able to carry water as well as +provisions, and helped to relieve the sufferings of many a poor wretch who +had only his feet to serve him. + +<p>The story of Siberia may be soon told. Hundreds “rushed” over this dry +stage, at the end of which a small and doubtful water supply was +obtainable. When this supply gave out fresh arrivals had to do their best +without it, the rush perforce had to set back again, privations, disaster, +and suffering being the only result. Much was said and written at the time +about the scores of dead and dying men and horses who lined the +roads—roads because there were two routes to the new field. There may +have been deaths on the other track, but I know that we saw none on ours. +Men in sore straits, with swollen tongues and bleeding feet, we saw, and, +happily, were able to relieve; and I am sure that many would have died but +for the prompt aid rendered by the Government Water Supply Department, +which despatched drays loaded with tanks of water to succour the suffering +miners. So the fortunes, to be made at Siberia, had again to be postponed. + +<a name="pt5"></a><h5>Illustration 5: The “Gold Escort”</h5> + +<p>Shortly after our return to Coolgardie a “gold escort” left Bayley's for +the coast, and as a guardian of the precious freight I travelled down to +Perth. There was no Government escort at that time, and any lucky +possessor of gold had to carry it to the capital as best he could. + +<p>With four spanking horses, Gordon Lyon as driver, three men with him on +the express-waggon, an outrider behind and in front, all armed with +repeating rifles, we rattled down the road, perhaps secretly wishing that +someone would be venturesome enough to attempt to “stick us up.” No such +stirring event occurred, however, and we reached the head of the then +partially constructed line, and there took train for Perth, where I +eagerly awaited the arrival of my old friend and companion, Percy Douglas. +He meanwhile had had his battles to fight in the financial world, and had +come out to all appearances on top, having been instrumental in forming an +important mining company from which we expected great things. +<hr> + +<a name="p2c1"></a><h3>PART II</h3> + +<h3>FIRST PROSPECTING EXPEDITION</h3> + +<h4>CHAPTER I</h4> + +<h4>The Rush To Kurnalpi—We Reach Queen Victoria Spring</h4> + +<p>Shortly after Lord Douglas's return, I took the train to York, where +“Little Carnegie,” who had formed one of the team to draw the gold-laden +express waggon from Bayley's to the head of the railway line, was running +in one of Mr. Monger's paddocks. The Mongers are the kings of York, an +agricultural town, and own much property thereabouts. York and its +surroundings in the winter-time might, except for the corrugated-iron +roofs, easily be in England. Many of the houses are built of stone, and +enclosed in vineyards and fruit gardens. The Mongers' house was quite +after the English style, so also was their hospitality. From York I rode +along the old track to Southern Cross, and a lonely ride I had, for the +train had superseded the old methods of travel, much to the disgust of +some of the “cockies,” or small farmers, who expressed the opinion that +the country was going to the dogs, “them blooming railways were spoiling +everything”; the reason for their complaint being, that formerly, all the +carrying had been in the teamsters' hands, as well as a considerable +amount of passenger traffic. + +<p>I had one or two “sells” on the road, for former stopping-places were now +deserted, and wells had been neglected, making it impossible, from their +depth, for me to get any water. I was fortunate in falling in with a +teamster and his waggon—a typical one of his class; on first sight they +are the most uncouth and foul-tongued men that it is possible to imagine. +But on further acquaintance one finds that the language is as superficial +as the dirt with which they cannot fail to be covered, since they are +always walking in a cloud of dust. My friend on this occasion was +apostrophising his horses with oaths that made my flesh creep, to help +them up a steep hill. The top reached, he petted and soothed his team in +most quaint language. At the bottom of the slope he was a demon of +cruelty, at its summit a kind-hearted human being! I lunched with him, +sitting under his waggon for shade, and found him most entertaining—nor +was the old pony neglected, for he was given a fine feed of chaff and +oats. + +<p>In due time I reached Coolgardie, where Lord Douglas and our new partner, +Mr. Driffield (since drowned in a boating accident on the Swan River), +joined me. They had engaged the services of one Luck and his camels, and +had ridden up from the Cross. The rush to Kurnalpi had just broken out, +so Driffield, Luck, and I joined the crowd of fortune-hunters; and a +queer-looking crowd they were too, for every third or fourth swagman +carried on his shoulder a small portable condenser, the boiler hanging +behind him and the cooler in front; every party, whether with horses, +carts, or camels, carried condensers of one shape or another; for the +month was January, no surface water existed on the track, and only salt +water could be obtained, by digging in the salt lakes which the road +passed. The nearest water to the scene of the rush was a salt lake seven +miles distant, and this at night presented a strange appearance. +Condensers of every size and capacity fringed the two shores of a narrow +channel; under each was a fire, and round each all night long could be +seen figures, stoking the burning wood or drawing water, and in the +distance the sound of the axe could be heard, for at whatever time a party +arrived they had forthwith to set about “cooking water.” The clattering +and hammering the incessant talking, and the figures flitting about in the +glare, reminded one of a crowded open-air market with flaring lamps and +frequent coffee stalls. Kurnalpi was known at first as “Billy-Billy,” or +as “The Tinker's Rush”—the first name was supposed by some to be of +native origin, by others to indicate the amount of tin used in the +condensing plants—“Billy,” translated for those to whom the bush is +unfamiliar, meaning a tin pot for boiling tea in, and other such uses. + +<p>Certainly there was plenty of tin at Kurnalpi, and plenty of alluvial gold +as well for the lucky ones—amongst which we were not numbered. Poor +Driffield was much disgusted; he had looked upon gold-finding as the +simplest thing in the world—and so it is if you happen to look in the +right place! and when you do so it's a hundred to one that you think your +own cleverness and knowledge guided you to it! Chance? Oh dear, no! From +that time forth your reputation is made as “a shrewd fellow who knows a +thing or two”; and if your find was made in a mine, you are an “expert” +at once, and can command a price for your report on other mines +commensurate with the richness of your own! + +<p>As the gold would not come to us, and my partner disliked the labour of +seeking it, we returned to Coolgardie, and set about looking after the +mines we already had. Financial schemes or business never had any charms +for me; when therefore I heard that the Company had cabled out that a +prospecting party should be despatched at once, I eagerly availed myself +of the chance of work so much to my taste. As speed was an object, and +neither camels nor men procurable owing to the rush, we did not waste any +time in trying to form a large expedition, such as the soul of the London +director loveth, but contented ourselves with the camels already to hand. + +<p>On March 24, 1894, we started; Luck, myself, and three camels—Omerod, +Shimsha, and Jenny by name—with rations for three months, and +instructions to prospect the Hampton Plains as far as the supply of +surface water permitted; failing a long stay in that region I could go +where I thought best. + +<p>To the east and north-east of Coolgardie lie what are known as the Hampton +Plains—so named by Captain Hunt, who in 1864 led an expedition past York, +eastward, into the interior. Beyond the Hampton Plains he was forced back +by the Desert, and returned to York with but a sorry tale of the country +he had seen. “An endless sea of scrub,” was his apt description of the +greater part of the country. Compared to the rest, the Hampton Plains were +splendid pastoral lands. Curiously enough, Hunt passed and repassed close +to what is now Coolgardie, and, though reporting quartz and ironstone, +failed to hit upon any gold. Nor was he the only one; Coolgardie had +several narrow squeaks of being found out. + +<p>Giles and Forrest both traversed districts since found to be gold-bearing, +and though, like Hunt, reporting, and even bringing back specimens of +quartz and ironstone, had the bad luck to miss finding even a “colour.” + +<p>Alexander Forrest, Goddard, and Lindsay all passed within appreciable +distance of Coolgardie without unearthing its treasures, though in +Lindsay's journal the geologist to the expedition pronounced the country +auriferous. When we come to consider how many prospectors pass over gold, +it is not so wonderful that explorers, whose business is to see as much +country as they can, in as short a time as possible, should have failed to +drop on the hidden wealth. + +<p>Bayley and Ford, its first discoverers, were by no means the first +prospectors to camp at Coolgardie. In 1888 Anstey and party actually found +colours of gold, and pegged out a claim, whose corner posts were standing +at the time of the first rush; but nobody heeded them, for the quartz was +not rich enough. + +<p>In after years George Withers sunk a hole and “dry blew” the wash not very +far from Bayley's, yet he discovered no gold. Macpherson, too, poked out +beyond Coolgardie, and nearly lost his life in returning, and, indeed, was +saved by his black-boy, who held him on the only remaining horse. + +<p>Other instances could be given, all of which show that Nature will not be +bustled, and will only divulge her secrets when the ordained time has +arrived. It has been argued that since Giles, for example, passed the +Coolgardie district without finding gold, therefore there is every +probability of the rest of the country through which he passed being +auriferous. It fails to occur to those holding this view, that a man may +recognise possible gold-bearing country without finding gold, or to read +the journals of these early travellers, in which they would see that the +Desert is plainly demarcated, and the change in the nature of the country, +the occurrence of quartz, and so forth, always recorded. These folk who so +narrowly missed the gold were not the only unfortunate ones; those +responsible for the choosing for their company of the blocks of land on +the Hampton Mains were remarkably near securing all the plums. + +<p>Bayley's is one and a half miles from their boundary, Kalgoorlie twelve +miles, Kurnalpi seven miles, and a number of other places lie just on the +wrong side of the survey line to please the shareholders, though had all +these rich districts been found on their land, I fancy there would have +been a pretty outcry from the general public. + +<p>At the time of which I am writing this land was considered likely to be as +rich as Ophir. Luck and I were expected to trip up over nuggets, and come +back simply impregnated with gold. Unfortunately we not only found no +gold, but formed a very poor idea of that part of the property which we +were able to traverse, though, given a good supply of water, it should +prove valuable stock country. Before we had been very long started on our +journey we met numerous parties returning from that region, though legally +they had no right to prospect there; each told us the same story—every +water was dry; and since every one we had been to was all but dry, we +concluded that they were speaking the truth; so when we arrived at Yindi, +a large granite rock with a cavity capable of holding some twenty +thousand gallons of water, and found Yindi dry, we decided to leave the +Hampton Plains and push out into new country. + +<p>Queen Victoria Spring, reported permanent by Giles, lay some seventy +miles to the eastward, and attracted our attention; for Lindsay had +reported quartz country near the Ponton, not far from the Spring, and the +country directly between the Spring and Kurnalpi was unknown. + +<p>On April 15th we left Yindi, having seen the last water twenty-six miles +back near Gundockerta, and passed Mount Quinn, entering a dense thicket of +mulga, which lasted for the next twenty miles. It was most awkward country +to steer through, and I often overheard Luck muttering to himself that I +was going all wrong, for he was a first-rate bushman and I a novice. I had +bought a little brumby from a man we met on the Plains, an excellent pony, +and most handy in winding his way through the scrub. Luck rode Jenny and +led the other two camels. Hereabouts we noticed a large number of old +brush fences—curiously I have never once seen a new one—which the +natives had set up for catching wallabies. The fences run out in long +wings, which meet in a point where a hole is dug. Neither wallabies nor +natives were to be seen, though occasionally we noticed where “bardies” +had been dug out, and a little further on a native grave, a hole about +three feet square by three feet deep, lined at the bottom with gum leaves +and strips of bark, evidently ready to receive the deceased. Luck, who +knew a good deal about native customs, told me that the grave, though +apparently only large enough for a child, was really destined for a grown +man. When a man dies his first finger is cut off, because he must not +fight in the next world, nor need he throw a spear to slay animals, as +game is supplied. The body is then bent double until the knees touch the +chin—this to represent a baby before birth; and in this cramped position +the late warrior is crammed into his grave, until, according to a +semi-civilised boy that I knew, he is called to the happy hunting grounds, +where he changes colour! “Black fella tumble down, jump up white fella.” +A clear proof that this benighted people have some conception of a better +state hereafter. + +<p>Once through the scrub, we came again into gum-timbered country, and when +fifty miles east of Kurnalpi crossed a narrow belt of auriferous country, +but, failing to find water, were unable to stop. In a few miles we were in +desert country—undulations of sand and spinifex, with frequent clumps of +dense mallee, a species of eucalyptus, with several straggling stems +growing from one root, and little foliage except at the ends of the +branches, an untidy and melancholy-looking tree. There was no change in +the country till after noon on the 18th, when we noticed some grass-trees, +or black-boys, smaller than those seen near the coast, and presently +struck the outskirts of a little oasis, and immediately after an old camel +pad (Lindsay's in 1892, formed by a caravan of over fifty animals), which +we followed for a few minutes, until the welcome sight of Queen Victoria +Spring met our eyes. A most remarkable spot, and one that cannot be better +described than by quoting the words of its discoverer, Ernest Giles, +in 1875, who, with a party of five companions, fifteen pack, and seven +riding camels, happened on this spring just when they most needed water. + +<p>Giles says of it:— +<blockquote> +<i>It is the most singularly placed water I have ever seen, lying in a small +hollow in the centre of a little grassy flat and surrounded by clumps of +funereal pines… the water is no doubt permanent, for it is supplied +by the drainage of the sandhills which surround it and it rests on a +substratum of impervious clay. It lies exposed to view in a small, open +basin, the water being about only one hundred and fifty yards in +circumference and from two to three feet deep. Further up the slopes at +much higher levels native wells had been sunk in all directions—in each +and all of these there was water. Beyond the immediate precincts of this +open space the scrubs abound… Before I leave this spot I had perhaps +better remark that it might prove a very difficult, perhaps dangerous, +place to any other traveller to attempt to find, because although there +are many white sandhills in the neighbourhood, the open space on which +the water lies is so small in area and so closely surrounded by scrubs, +that it cannot be seen from any conspicuous one, nor can any conspicuous +sandhill, distinguishable at any distance, be seen from it. On the top of +the banks above the wells was a beaten corroboree path, where the denizens +of the desert have often held their feasts and dances. Some grass-trees +grew in the vicinity of this spring to a height of over twenty +feet…</i> +</blockquote> +<p>A charming spot indeed! but we found it to be hardly so cheerful as this +description would lead one to expect. For at first sight the Spring was +dry. The pool of water was now a dry clay-pan; the numerous native wells +were there, but all were dry. The prospect was sufficiently gloomy, for +our water was all but done, and poor Tommy, the pony, in spite of an +allowance of a billy-full per night, was in a very bad way, for we had +travelled nearly one hundred miles from the last water, and if this was +dry we knew no other that we could reach. However, we were not going to +cry before we were hurt and set to work to dig out the soak, and in a +short time were rewarded by the sight of water trickling in on all sides, +and, by roughly timbering the sides, soon had a most serviceable well—a +state of affairs greatly appreciated by Tommy and the camels. This spring +or soakage, whichever it may be, is in black sand, though the sand outside +the little basin is yellowish white. From what I have heard and read of +them it must be something of the nature of what are called “black soil +springs.” Giles was right in his description of its remarkable +surroundings—unless we had marched right into the oasis, we should +perhaps have missed it altogether, for it was unlikely that Lindsay's +camel tracks would be visible except where sheltered from the wind by the +trees; and our only instruments for navigation were a prismatic and pocket +compass, and a watch for rating our travel. I was greatly pleased at such +successful steering for a first attempt of any distance, and Luck was as +pleased as I was, for to him I owed many useful hints. Yet I was not blind +to the fact that it was a wonderful piece of luck to strike exactly a +small spot of no more than fifty acres in extent, hidden in the valleys of +the sandhills, from whose summits nothing could be seen but similar mounds +of white sand. Amongst the white gum trees we found one marked with +Lindsay's initials with date. Under this I nailed on a piece of tin, on +which I had stamped our names and date. Probably the blacks have long +since taken this down and used it as an ornament. Another tree, a pine, +was marked W. Blake; who he was I do not know, unless one of Lindsay's +party. Not far off was a grave, more like that of a white man than of a +native; about its history, too, I am ignorant. + +<a name="pt6"></a><h5>Illustration 6: Grass trees, near Perth</h5> + +<p>Numerous old native camps surrounded the water, and many weapons, spears, +waddies, and coolimans were lying about. The camps had not been occupied +for some long time. In the scrub we came on a cleared space, some eighty +yards long and ten to twelve feet wide. At each end were heaps of ashes, +and down the middle ran a well-beaten path, and a similar one on either +side not unlike an old dray track. Evidently a corroboree ground of some +kind. From Luck I learnt that north of Eucla, where he had been with a +survey party, the natives used such grounds in their initiation +ceremonies. A youth on arriving at a certain age may become a warrior, +and is then allowed to carry a shield and spear. Before he can attain this +honour he must submit to some very horrible rites—which are best left +undescribed. Seizing each an arm of the victim, two stalwart “bucks” +(as the men are called) run him up and down the cleared space until they +are out of breath; then two more take places, and up and down they go +until at last the boy is exhausted. This is the aboriginal method of +applying anaesthetics. During the operations that follow, the men dance +and yell round the fires but the women may not be witnesses of the +ceremony. Tribes from all neighbouring districts meet at such times and +hold high revel. Evidently Queen Victoria Spring is a favourite +meeting-place. I regret that I never had the chance of being present at +such a gathering—few white men have. For except in thickly populated +districts the ceremonies are rare; the natives are very ready to resent +any prying into their mysteries, and Luck only managed it at some risk to +himself. Whilst camped at the Spring we made one or two short excursions +to the southward, but met with little encouragement. On turning our +attention to the opposite direction we found that nearly two hundred miles +due north a tract of auriferous country was marked on the map of the Elder +Expedition. Between us and that point, the country was unmapped and +untrodden except by black-fellows, and it seemed reasonable to suppose +that since the belts of country run more or less north and south we had +a fair chance of finding gold-bearing country extending southward. We +should be getting a long way from Coolgardie, but if a rich company could +not afford to open up the country, who could? To the east we knew that +desert existed, to the south the country was known, and to return the way +we had come would be only a waste of time. So we decided on the northern +course, and chose Mount Shenton, near which a soakage was marked, as our +objective point. We were not well equipped for a long march in new +country, since we had few camels and scanty facilities for carrying water. +By setting to work with the needle we soon had two canvas water-bags made; +Luck, who had served in the French navy, like all sailors, was a very +handy man in a camp, and could of course sew well, and gave me useful +lessons in the handling of a sail-needle. + +<a name="p2c2"></a><h4>CHAPTER II</h4> + +<h4>In Unknown Country</h4> + +<p>On April 22nd we left the spring, steering due north—carrying in all +thirty-five gallons of water, though this supply was very perceptibly +reduced by evening, owing to the canvas being new; loss by evaporation was +lessened by covering the bags with a fly (a sheet of coarse calico). The +class of country we encountered the first and second day can stand for the +rest of the march. Spinifex plains, undulating sand-plains, rolling +sandhills, steep sand-ridges, mallee scrubs, desert-gum forests, and dense +thickets of mulga. The last were most unpleasant to travel through; for +as we wound our way, one walking ahead to break down the branches, the +other leading the camels, and Tommy following behind, every now and again +the water-camel banged his precious load against a tree; and we walked +with the constant risk of a dead branch ripping the canvas and letting +out the water. + +<p>On the second evening, in passing through a mallee scrub, we came on a +small tract of “kopi country” (powdered gypsum). Here were numerous old +native tracks, and we could see where the mallee roots had been dragged +up, broken into short pieces, presumably sucked or allowed to drain into +some vessel, and stacked in little heaps. Though we knew that the blacks +do get water from the mallee roots, and though we were in a spot where it +was clear they had done so perhaps a month before, yet our attempts at +water-finding were futile. This kopi is peculiar soil to walk over; on the +surface there is a hard crust—once through this, one sinks nearly to the +knee; the camels of course, from their weight, go much lower. + +<p>On the night of the 23rd, we gave Tommy two gallons of water—not much of +a drink, but enough to make him tackle the mulga, and spinifex-tops, the +only available feed; none but West Australian brumbies could live on such +fare, and they will eat anything, like donkeys or goats. On the 24th there +was no change, a few quondongs affording a meal for the camels. + +<p>The next day we crossed more old native tracks and followed them for some +time without any sign of water being near. More tracks the following day, +fresher this time; but though doubtless there was water at the end of +them, for several reasons we did not follow them far: first, they were +leading south-west and we wished to go north; second, the quantity of +mallee root heaps, suggested the possibility that the natives could obtain +from them sufficient moisture to live upon. I think now that this is most +unlikely, and that roots are only resorted to when travelling or in time +of great need. However, at that time we were inclined to think it +probable, and though we might have sucked roots in place of a drink of tea +or water, such a source of supply was absolutely valueless to the camels +and pony. + +<p>On the 27th we sighted a hill dead ahead, which I named Mount Luck, and on +the southern side a nice little plain of saltbush and grass—a pleasant +and welcome change. Mount Luck is sheer on its south and east sides and +slopes gradually to the north-west; it is of desert sandstone, and from +its summit, nearly due east, can be seen an imposing flat-topped hill, +which I named Mount Douglas, after my old friend and companion, to the +north of this hill two quaint little pinnacles stand up above the scrub to +a considerable height. + +<p>Poor Tommy was now getting very weak and had to be dragged by the last +camel. I had not ridden him since the second day from the Spring; he was +famished and worn to a skeleton. His allowance of two gallons a night had +continued, which made a considerable hole in our supply, further +diminished by the necessity of giving him damper to eat. Poor little pony! +It was a cruel sight to see him wandering from pack to pack in camp, +poking his nose into every possible opening, and even butting us with his +head as if to call attention to his dreadful state, which was only too +apparent. “While there's life there's hope,” and every day took us nearer +to water—that is if we were to get any at all! So long as we could do so, +we must take Tommy with us, who might yet be saved. This, however, was not +to be, for on the 28th we again encountered sand-ridges, running at right +angles to our course, and these proved too hard for the poor brave +brumby. About midday he at last gave in, and with glazed eyes and stiff +limbs he fell to the ground. Taking off the saddle he carried, I knelt by +his head for a few minutes and could see there was no hope. Poor, faithful +friend! I felt like a murderer in doing it, but I knew it was the kindest +thing—and finished his sufferings with a bullet. There on the ridge, his +bones will lie for many a long day. Brave Tommy, whose rough and unkempt +exterior covered a heart that any warhorse might have envied, had covered +135 miles, without feed worth mentioning, and with only eleven gallons of +water during that distance, a stage of nearly seven days' duration of very +hard travelling indeed, with the weather pretty sultry, though the nights +were cool. His death, however, was in favour of our water supply, which +was not too abundant. So much had been lost by the bags knocking about on +the saddle, by their own pressure against the side of the saddle, and by +evaporation, that we had to content ourselves with a quart-potful between +us morning and evening—by no means a handsome allowance. + +<a name="pt7"></a><h5>Illustration 7: Death Of “Tommy”</h5> + +<p>On the 29th, after travelling eight hours through scrubs, we were just +about to camp when the shrill “coo-oo” of a black-fellow met our ears; and +on looking round we were startled to see some half-dozen natives gazing at +us. Jenny chose at that moment to give forth the howl that only cow-camels +can produce; this was too great a shock for the blacks, who stampeded +pell-mell, leaving their spears and throwing-sticks behind them. We gave +chase, and, after a spirited run, Luck managed to stop a man. A +stark-naked savage this, and devoid of all adornment excepting a +waist-belt of plaited grass and a “sporran” of similar material. He was in +great dread of the camels and not too sure of us. I gave him something to +eat, and, by eating some of it myself, put him more at ease. After various +futile attempts at conversation, in which Luck displayed great knowledge +of the black's tongue, as spoken a few hundred miles away near Eucla, but +which unfortunately was quite lost on this native, we at last succeeded in +making our wants understood. “Ingup,” “Ingup,” he kept repeating, pointing +with his chin to the North and again to the West. Evidently “Ingup” stood +for water; for he presently took us to a small granite rock and pointed +out a soak or rock-hole, we could not say which. Whilst we stooped to +examine the water-hole, our guide escaped into the scrub and was soon lost +to view. Near the rock we found his camp. A few branches leaning against a +bush formed his house. In front a fire was burning, and near it a plucked +bird lay ready for cooking. Darkness overtook us before we could get to +work on the rock-hole, so we turned into the blankets with a more +satisfied feeling than we had done for some days past. During the night +the blacks came round us. The camels, very tired, had lain down close by, +and, quietly creeping to Jenny, I slapped her nose, which awoke her with +the desired result, viz., a loud roar. The sound of rapidly retreating +feet was heard, and their owners troubled us no more. + +<p>So sure were we of the supply in the granite that we gave the camels the +few gallons that were left in our bags, and were much disgusted to find +the next day that, far from being a soakage, the water was merely +contained in a rock-hole, which had been filled in with sand and sticks. + +<p>April 30th and May 1st were occupied in digging out the sand and +collecting what water we could, a matter of five or six gallons. So bad +was this water that the camels would not touch it; however, it made +excellent bread, and passable tea. Man, recognising Necessity, is less +fastidious than animals who look to their masters to supply them with the +best, and cannot realise that in such cases “Whatever is, is best.” + +<p>From a broken granite rock North-West of the rock-hole, we sighted +numerous peaks to the North, and knew that Mount Shenton could not now be +far away. To the East of the rock-hole is a very prominent bluff some +fifteen miles distant; this I named Mount Fleming, after Colonel Fleming, +then Commandant of the West Australian forces. + +<p>May 2nd we reached the hills and rejoiced to find ourselves once more in +decent country. Numerous small, dry watercourses ran down from the hills, +fringed with grass and bushes. In the open mulga, kangaroos' tracks were +numerous, and in the hills we saw several small red kangaroos, dingoes, +and emus. At first we found great difficulty in identifying any of the +hills; but after much consultation and reference to the map we at last +picked out Mount Shenton, and on reaching the hill knew that we were +right, for we found Wells' cairn of stones and the marks of his camp and +camels. The next difficulty was in finding the soakage, as from a bad +reproduction of Wells' map it was impossible to determine whether the soak +was at the foot of Mount Shenton or near another hill three miles away. +It only remained to search both localities. Our trouble was rewarded by +the finding of an excellent little soakage, near the foot of a granite +rock, visible due East, from the top of Mount Shenton, some two miles +distant. Here we had an abundant supply, and not before it was wanted. The +camels had had no water with the exception of a mouthful apiece from the +night of April 21st until the night of May 3rd, a period of twelve days, +during which we had travelled nearly two hundred miles over very trying +ground. The cool nights were greatly in their favour, and yet it was a +good performance, more especially that at the end of it they were in +pretty fair fettle. + +<p>What a joy that water was to us! what a luxury a wash was! and clean +clothes! Really it's worth while being half famished and wholly filthy for +a few days, that one may so thoroughly enjoy such delights afterwards! +I know few feelings of satisfaction that approach those which one +experiences on such occasions. Our cup of joy was not yet full, for as we +sat mending our torn clothes, two over-inquisitive emus approached. +Luckily a Winchester was close to hand, and as they were starting to run I +managed to bowl one over. Wounded in the thigh he could yet go a great +pace, but before long we caught up with him and despatched him with a blow +on the head. What a feed we had! I suppose there is hardly a part of that +bird, barring bones, feathers, and beak that did not find its way into our +mouths during the next day or two! Tinned meat is good, sometimes +excellent; but when you find that a cunning storekeeper has palmed off all +his minced mutton on you, you are apt to fancy tinned fare monotonous! +Such was our case; and no matter what the label, the contents were always +the same—though we tried to differentiate in imagination, as we used to +call it venison, beef, veal, or salmon, for variety's sake! “Well, old +chap, what shall we have for tea—Calf's head? Grouse? Pheasant?” “Hum! +what about a little er—<i>minced mutton</i>— we've not had any for some time, I think.” +In this way we added relish to our meal. + +<p>Amongst the hills we saw numerous kangaroos, but could never get a shot. +This must be a fine camp for natives. Near the soak was a camp of quite a +dozen blacks, but recently deserted. In fact we must have scared them +away, for their fires were still smouldering. We spent three days in +exploring the hills, but failed to see any auriferous indications, +excepting in the immediate neighbourhood of Mount Shenton. We had +therefore had our long tramp for nothing, and had to be content with +knowing that we had tried our best and had at least proved the useless +character of a large stretch of country. For this, however, one gets no +thanks. + +<a name="pt8"></a><h5>Illustration 8: Fresh meat at last!</h5> + +<p>On the 6th we moved to a rock-hole near Mount Grant, in the same range as +Mount Shenton, and spent another day tramping the hills with no result. +Here again we were in luck, for a mob of thirteen emus came to drink +whilst I was in the rock-hole. Having seen them early that morning and +knowing that they had had no drink, I felt sure they would return, and so +had patiently waited, crouched in the rock hole, waist deep in water. +This, perhaps, did not improve its flavour, but emu meat was worth +procuring at the small cost of tainting the water with the taste of +clothes. Presently I heard the drumming of the approaching birds, and, +cautiously looking up, found them attentively examining the bucket and +pannikin, I had left on the rock. They made such a quaint, pretty picture +that unless we had really wanted meat, I should not have disturbed them. +Had I been so inclined I could have shot several as they were bunched +together within a few feet of me; one, however, was sufficient, and as he +fell the rest streamed away up the slope with tremendous speed. This bird +we cut into strips of meat which we dried in the sun. + +<p>To celebrate this addition to our larder, we held a concert that night, +and took it in turns to be the audience. Luck had rather a good voice, +and treated me to French songs; his favourite started, “J'ai souvent +parcouru le monde, les forets et les grandes savannes”—This was always +loudly applauded. My songs were not a great success—in fact an audience +of one is all I can manage, that is if I am stronger, or fleeter of foot +than he is. Luck was polite enough to say he enjoyed my rendering of +<i>The Scottish Cavalier</i>. Then we used to read aloud to each other by the +light of the camp-fire. I did most of the reading, for my mate's English +was not as clear as it might have been. + +<p>Athletic sports, too, we used to indulge in, feats of strength, and so +forth, in most of which Luck was too good for me, but I always beat him at +cock-fighting, which was rather a sore point. In fact, considering that we +were alone and had been so for many weeks, and were a long way into the +interior, “outside the tracks” by a good many score of miles, we managed +to be fairly cheerful on the whole. I do not like writing about my +companion's crotchets, because it seems unfair, since one's own +shortcomings never find the light unless the other man writes a book too. +By freely conceding that sometimes I must have been a horrible nuisance +to him, I feel absolved in this matter. When Luck used to get sulky fits, he +really was most trying; for two or three days he wouldn't speak, and for +want of company I used to talk to the camels; at the end of that time, +when I saw signs of recovery, I used to address him thus, “Well, Bismarck, +what's it all about?” Then he would tell me how I had agreed to bake a +damper, and had gone off and done something else, leaving him to do it, or +some such trivial complaint. After telling me about it, he would regain +his usual cheerfulness. “Bismarck” was a sure draw, and made him so angry +that he had to laugh as the only way out of it without fighting someone. +Luck, you see, was from Alsace, and did not care about the Germans. + +<a name="p2c3"></a><h4>CHAPTER III</h4> + +<h4>From Mount Shenton To Mount Margaret</h4> + +<p>But to continue our journey. We left Mount Grant on May 8th, travelling +South-West, and once away from the hills came again into sand and +spinifex. From absence of feed we tied the camels down two nights running. +The second night we had a visit from a native gentleman, and by his tracks +in the morning we saw that he had been quite close to our heads at one +time. + +<p>On the 10th a great change occurred in the country, and on passing through +a thicket, we found a great wall of rock (decomposed granite) barring +further progress. Following along the wall we came upon a gap, and, +entering, reached a nice little plain of saltbush, surrounded by rocks and +cliffs. This remarkable gap in the apparently extensive wall of rock we +christened the “Desert's Gate,” for we hourly expected to see better +country. The next day we cut some recent horse tracks, the first signs of +prospectors we had seen since April 15th, and following them back, hoping +for water, came to an empty rock-hole amongst some rough hills of black +slate, and in places, blows of quartz. No colours of gold could be found, +nor signs of water, to induce us to stay longer prospecting. On the 12th +we crossed a narrow salt lake and bade adieu to the sand and spinifex. To +commemorate this longed-for day, we afterwards composed numerous poems(?) +illustrating our daily life in the desert. The one considered by us the +best, I beg to submit to the indulgent reader. +<center> +<p>SPINIFEX AND SAND. + +<p>I will sing you a lay of W.A.<br> +Of a wanderer, travelled and tanned<br> +By the sun's fierce ray, through the livelong day<br> +In the Spinifex and Sand. + +<p>At the day's first dawn, in earliest morn,<br> +As a soldier obeys a command,<br> +From his blanket he's torn, still weary and worn,<br> +By the Spinifex and Sand. + +<p>Unrested still, he must put on the billy,<br> +And eat of the meat that is canned,<br> +He must take his full fill, he must face willy-nilly<br> +The Spinifex and the Sand. + +<p>Then he gets on the tracks and sights the arched backs<br> +Of his camels of true South Aus. brand,<br> +And with saddle and sack he must hasten to pack<br> +For the Spinifex and Sand. + +<p>From the start until night, till he's sick of the sight,<br> +There seem to dance hand in hand<br> +A lady so bright, and a green-armoured knight,<br> +The Spinifex and the Sand. + +<p>He turns to his mate with “It gets a bit late,”<br> +His mate, he just answers offhand—<br> +“It's the same soon or late, we'll camp 't any rate<br> +In the Spinifex and Sand.” + +<p>As the night drags along, a weird-looking throng<br> +Fills his dreams of a far-off land,<br> +And a voice loud and strong chants the same ceaseless song,<br> +Of the SPINIFEX AND THE SAND. +</center> +<p>Since this is one of the few attempts at rhyming that I have been guilty +of, I hope I may be excused for wishing to see it in print, for at the +time I was exceedingly proud of the composition. Ah! well, it served to +pass the time and afforded some amusement. Soon we had other matters to +think about, for on the 12th we found ourselves on the outskirts of +auriferous country and were lucky in reaching plenty of water. Being +lightly loaded we had made good marches, covering 103 miles from the last +water on May 8th, an average of twenty and a half miles per day. + +<p>From the 13th to the 21st we camped surrounded by hills, any one of which +might contain gold if only we could find it. Unremitting labours resulted +in nothing but a few colours here and there. We were now thirty miles to +the North-West of Mount Margaret (discovered and named by Forrest in 1869, +who on that journey reached a point some sixty miles further East than +that hill), and though we were the first, so far as I know, to prospect +this particular part of the district, it was reserved for subsequent +fossickers to find anything worth having. + +<p>Wandering about, pick in hand, one day I put up several turkeys from the +grass surrounding some granite rocks, and shortly after found their +watering-place, a nice little pool. The next day whilst Luck prospected I +returned to the pool with a gun, and, building a hide of bushes, waited +all day. Towards evening two fine emus came stalking along, and I shot +one. By the time I had him skinned and the legs cut off it was dark. A +most deceptive bird is an emu, for in reality he has but little meat on +his body. The legs, that is the thighs, are the only parts worth taking, +so shouldering these I started for camp a couple of miles off. It was +pretty late when I got back, and found Luck ringing a camel-bell violently +and frequently. He had been a bit anxious at my long absence, and had +taken a bell off one of the camels to guide me in case I was “bushed.” +A party of two is too small for a journey that takes them far from +settlements for if anything happens to one, the other has little chance by +himself. The man left in camp does not know what to do—if he goes far +from home, there is the danger of the camp being robbed by natives, +therefore he hesitates to go in search of his mate, who possibly is in +sore need of help from an accident, or bushed, or speared—so many things +might happen. If one broke a limb, as he easily might, what could his mate +do? Nothing. If in waterless country he would have to leave him, or kill +him, or die with him. + +<p>Though Luck and I were spared any catastrophes, we often thought of such +things, and therefore felt anxious when either was away for long. + +<p>On the 22nd we were surprised at cutting a freshly made dray-track, along +which it was clear that many had passed—and the next day arrived at the +Red Flag, an alluvial rush that had “set in” during our sojourn in the +sand. This came as a great surprise, as we had no idea that gold had been +found so far afield. This camp, some twelve miles North-East of Mount +Margaret, consisted then of only forty or fifty men, though others were +daily arriving. These were the first white men we had seen for seven +weeks, and they were greatly astonished to see us, when they learnt what +direction we had come from. + +<p>Here were gathered together men from Coolgardie and Murchison, attracted +by the tales of wealth brought by the first prospectors of the new rush. +Some of them had been longer away from civilisation than we had, and many +arguments were held as to the correct date. Of course I knew, because I +kept a diary; but the Queen's Birthday was celebrated by us on the wrong +day after all, for I had given April thirty-one days! We heard that +hundreds had started for the rush, but this camp represented all who had +persevered, the rest being scared at the distance. + +<p>This reads funnily now when Mount Margaret is as civilised as Coolgardie +was then, and is connected by telegraph, and possibly will be soon +boasting of a railway. The blacks had been very troublesome, “sticking up” +swagmen, robbing camps, spearing horses, and the like. It is popularly +supposed that every case of violence on the part of the natives, may be +traced to the brutal white man's interference in their family +arrangements. No doubt it does happen that by coming between man and wife +a white man stirs up the tribe, and violence results, but in the majority +of cases that I know of, the poor black-fellow has recklessly speared, +wounding and killing, prospectors' horses, because he wanted food or +amusement. A man does not travel his packhorses into the bush for the +philanthropic purpose of feeding the aboriginals, and naturally resents +his losses and prevents their recurrence in a practical way. + +<p>As a matter of fact, the black population was so small, that even had +every individual of it been shot, the total would not have reached by a +long way the indiscriminate slaughter that was supposed to go on in the +bush. The people who used to hold their hands up in horror—righteous +horror had the tales been true—at the awful cruelties perpetrated by the +prospectors, based their opinions on the foolish “gassing” of a certain +style of man who thinks to make himself a hero by recounting dark deeds +of blood, wholly imaginary. I remember reading a letter to a friend from +his mother, in which she begged him to take no part in the “nigger hunting +excursions” that she had heard went on in Western Australia. Poor lady! +she need not have disturbed herself, for such things never existed, nor +had her boy ever seen a black-fellow, except round the slaughter-yards of +Coolgardie! + +<p>No luck attended our search in the Mount Margaret district, and we shared +the opinion of everybody there that it was a “duffer,” and after events +had proved what that opinion was worth. Travelling and prospecting as we +went, we at last succeeded in finding a reef which we thought was worth +having. + +<p>May 30th. We made camp amongst some auriferous hills in what is now known +as the Niagara District, and within a few miles of a spot where, +subsequently, a rich find of gold was made. Since the natives were known +to be troublesome in this locality, we adopted the plan of one stopping +in camp whilst the other prospected. Formerly we had considered it safe +for the one at home to be within reasonable distance of camp, but now, +when semi-civilised natives were prowling about, it was unwise to leave +the camp at all. Luck found gold first, but in so small a vein of quartz +that we did not consider it worth working. The next day, however, we +“got colours” in a fine big reef, and, moving our belongings to its +vicinity, started prospecting the outcrop. Everywhere we tried we found +gold sprinkled through the stone like pepper, and by “dollying” obtained +good results. Satisfied with the prospect, the next thing to be done was +to cross-cut the reef to ascertain its thickness and character below the +surface. + +<p>Fortunately water was close to hand, that is to say three miles away, in a +creek since named “Dingo Creek.” From there we packed water back to camp, +as often as we required it. Our luck in securing game had now deserted us, +and we had again to fall back on our nearly diminished stock of mince. + +<p>After a week's hard work we found that with our limited supply of tools, +without drills and dynamite, it was impossible to do any farther sinking; +besides which the low tide in our provisions necessitated a return to +civilisation before many days. + +I pegged out, therefore, an area of four hundred yards by four hundred +yards, as a “protection area”; that is to say, that the fact of four +corner-pegs and a notice having been put up in some prominent place +protects the ground from being taken by any one else for a period of +thirty days. After that time has elapsed the area must be applied for at +the nearest Warden's office, where, unless disputed, it is registered +under the name of the applicant, who must at once commence work upon it. +When such work proves the existence of “payable gold” the area must be +again applied for as a lease, to hold which the sum of £1 per acre, +per annum, must be paid to the Government. There are other conditions with +which it is necessary to conform, and which need not be enumerated here. + +<p>Since we had ample time to go and return from Coolgardie within the +prescribed period, we decided that in place of travelling direct +homewards, we would make a detour and visit the locality of Mount Ida, +where we had heard gold had been found. By rapid travelling our “tucker” +could be made to last out the time. Winter was now coming on, and the +nights were bitterly cold. Our blankets in the morning were soaked with +dew and frost, and when the days were cloudy and sometimes drizzly we had +no chance of drying them until we built a fire at night. One is so used to +reading of the terrible heat in Australia that it may come as a surprise +to many to hear that in the short winter in the interior—which, by the +way, is 1,500 feet above sea level—the thermometer sometimes sinks for a +brief period of time to 17°F. + +<p>This low temperature is reached about an hour before daylight, as you know +to your cost, if you are ill-provided with blankets. At that time in the +morning your head is drawn into the possum rug, and you lie stiff and +shivering until you hear the indescribable something—that heralds the +coming of the sun. It may be a camel moving, as he shakes the frost from +his woolly coat, it may be a bird, or a grasshopper, but always there is +some little noise that would tell even a blind man that the night is over. +Often you know by the stars how long it will be before daylight, and stir +up the fire, put on the billy, and get the saddles and packs in order. +Sometimes you fix on the wrong star, and are thanked accordingly by your +mate when, with his feet in his cold, clammy boots, he discovers that his +watch reads 2 a.m. Sometimes you have the satisfaction of growling at him, +and occasionally, if you feel in very nasty humour, you may lie “dog-oh” +and watch his early rising, knowing full well the right time; laughter, +however, gives you away, and you are justly rewarded by having the +blankets torn off you. Such simple pranks as these make bearable a life +that would otherwise suffocate you with its monotony. + +<p>And yet there is a charm about the bush—the perfect peace in the “free +air of God”—that so takes hold of some men that they can never be happy +anywhere else. Civilisation is a fine thing in its way, but the petty +worries and annoyances, the bustle and excitement, the crowds of people, +the “you can't do this,” and “you must do that,” the necessity for +dressing in most uncomfortable garments to be like other people, and a +thousand other such matters, so distress a bushman, who, like a caged +beast in a menagerie, wanders from corner to corner and cannot find where +to rest, that he longs for the day that he will again be on the track, +with all his worldly goods with him and the wide world before him. Such +a man in the bush and in the town is as different as a fish in and out of +water. + +<p>Some of the finest fellows “outside the tracks” are the least respectable +in civilised places, where before long they can find no better occupation +than drinking, which, owing to months of teetotalism in the bush, they are +less able to stand than the ordinary individual who takes his beer or +spirits daily. And thus it is that bushmen very often get the name of +being loafers and drunkards, though on the aggregate they consume far less +liquor than our most respected citizens in the towns. The sudden change in +surroundings, good food, and the number of fellow-creatures, the noise of +traffic, and want of exercise—all these combined are apt to affect a +man's head, even when unaided by the constant flow of liquor with which a +popular bushman is deluged—a deluge hard to resist in a country where to +refuse a drink amounts to an insult. A plan recommended by some is to +“please 'em all by one jolly good spree, and then knock off and drink with +nobody.” A man only gives offence who discriminates in his entertainers. + +<p>I fear I have wandered far from the subject of our journey, for Luck and I +had some time yet before us until the joys and troubles of civilised life +should be ours. The daily routine of travel was varied occasionally by +incidents of no great moment; for instance, when riding through the scrub, +Omerod, a rather clumsy old camel, tripped and fell, pinning me beneath +him, without injury to either of us; for a water bag acted as a buffer +between my leg and the saddle, and by the time all the water was squeezed +out of it, Luck had the saddle off, and I was extricated. Certainly some +camels are hard to put out or fluster; such a one was Omerod, who lay +without a kick until relieved of his saddle, when he rose and at once +proceeded to feed on the scrub. + +<p>Later, we had another instance of his stolidity; that was when crossing +a salt lake. Jenny was light and escaped bogging; not so Omerod, who sank +as far as his legs would allow, and there waited calmly until we had +unpacked the loads, carried them across the lake, and returned to help +Shimsha, who struggled violently in the sticky clay. When he was safely +taken across to an island on which we sought refuge, Omerod was attended +to. There he lay, half buried in salt mud, chewing his cud unconcernedly; +either he had perfect confidence in us, or was indifferent as to his +fate—he looked rather as if he were saying “Kismet.” We had some trouble +in digging him out, during which operation Luck fared as I had done +before; he was pinned beneath the camel, waist deep in clay, and in that +position had to emulate the stolid patience of Omerod until I could dig +him out. At last they were both free, and after considerable labour we +landed on the island, camels, baggage, and all, just as night fell. +We <i>were</i> cold too, clothes and arms and faces covered with moist salt clay, +and nothing with which to make a fire but sprigs of dead samphire. A cold +night means an early start—so we were up betimes and found that the +camels, not tied, since we thought them safe on an island, had in search +of feed hobbled across the lake, and were standing disconsolate on this +sea of mud, afraid to move now that in daylight they could see their +surroundings. A repetition of the preceding day's performance, landed us +beyond the treacherous lake-bed, and the following day we were fortunate +in finding a fine rock-hole of water, which enabled us to reappear as +white men. + +<p>Mirages are nearly always to be seen on these lakes of the interior, and +from their occurrence it is impossible to determine the extent of the flat +expanse of mud. On this occasion I witnessed the finest I have ever seen. +The hot sun playing upon the damp breeze rising from the lake, transformed +this desolate sea of salt and clay, into a charming picture. The horizon +and the sky were joined by a mirage of beautiful clear water, from which +islands and hills seemed to rise; even their shadows and those of the +trees with which they were clothed were reflected in the unruffled surface +of the lake. The long stretch of sand between, gave the picture the +appearance of a peaceful, natural harbour, which the tide was about to +fill. + +<p>We were unable to pay more than a flying visit to Mount Ida, but +sufficiently long to assure us of the auriferous character of its +neighbourhood. It is quite an imposing hill, rough, dark, and rugged, and +formed as if layers of black slate had been thrown violently against each +other. It rises some five hundred feet above the surrounding country. + +<p>We needed all our time to reach Siberia, before our provisions gave out. +There we arrived in due course, passing close, on our way, to the hills +near which Menzies afterwards made his great “find.” + +<p>At Siberia a Government survey party, under Messrs. Newman and Brazier, +was camped, preparatory to running a line to connect Coolgardie and the +Murchison. Bidding them adieu, we took the road to Coolgardie, and arrived +there on June 22nd after an absence of exactly ninety days, having +travelled 843 miles. The result of the journey to ourselves was nil, for +the company considered that the reef we had found was too far off, and +took no further steps to develop it. It was afterwards under offer for +£13,000 in cash and shares, though whether the deal came off or not, +or what the mine was worth, I am not aware. + +<p>The company's representative in Coolgardie welcomed us with great +hospitality, and invited us to tea at his camp. Here he produced whisky, +and what he told us he considered the very best of tinned meats. “So <i>help</i> +me never, it's MINCED MUTTON!” shouted poor Luck, as the tin was +opened—a little joke that has never been forgotten. + +<p>It is a rather novel sensation to find that you are dead; and this was +our experience, for the papers had killed us some time since—our bones +had been seen bleaching in the sun, and all that sort of thing. +Unfortunately our death was not certain enough to warrant any obituary +notices, which might have been interesting reading. + +<p>On our return to Perth, the manager of the company for which we had +worked, who had arrived in our absence, far from thanking us for having +tried our best, asked why we went into a d——d desert to look for gold! +This we considered a little mean, seeing that a great part of the country +we had traversed had been hitherto unexplored. However, one doesn't look +for thanks from a mining company. So our journey was finished—a journey +that I shall never look back upon with regret, but with pleasure, for Luck +was a fine fellow and the best of mates; and at least we had the +satisfaction of knowing that if we had been unsuccessful, it was not for +the want of trying. +<hr> + +<a name="p3c1"></a><h3>PART III</h3> + +<h3>SECOND PROSPECTING EXPEDITION</h3> + +<h4>CHAPTER I</h4> + +<h4>The Joys Of Portable Condensers</h4> + +<p>November 8, 1894, was a red-letter day in the history of Coolgardie, for +on that date the foundation-stone of the first brick building was laid by +Mr. James Shaw, the mayor. Under the stone was deposited a specimen of +each coin of the realm, and these, by the way, were purloined in the +night. This great day was made the occasion for feasting and jubilation, +the feasting taking the not uncommon form of a gigantic “Champagne Spree,” +to which the whole town was invited. + +<p>When once a wave of inebriety swept over the settlement, something a +little out of the ordinary was likely to occur. Fights and rows would be +started with the most bloodthirsty intentions, only to end in peace and +harmony after the swearing of eternal friendships. A good fight in +Coolgardie in those days would attract as much attention as a cab accident +in the streets of London. The well-known cry of “A fight! a fight!” would +bring the greater part of the population from their dwellings—from +stores, banks, offices, bars, an excited and rushing crowd would hurry +to the scene of the fray, all eager to witness a good row; they were not, +as a rule, disappointed, for, as one fight usually breeds several, a fair +afternoon's or morning's entertainment could be safely counted on. +A mining community must have excitement; even a dog-fight would command a +considerable amount of interest. + +<a name="pt9"></a><h5>Illustration 9: Bayley Street, Coolgardia, 1894</h5> + +<p>On the celebrated night of the laying of the foundation stone I had the +pleasure of witnessing a rough-and-tumble fight between two of the most +powerful men in Coolgardie. The excitement was intense as one seized his +antagonist, and, using him as a flail, proceeded to clear the room with +him; he retaliated by overpowering the other man, and finally breaking his +leg as they fell heavily together out through the door on to the hard +street beyond. How much ill-feeling this little incident engendered may be +judged from the fact that the maimed man was employed by his late +adversary as clerk until his limb mended, and subsequently held the billet +for many months. + +<p>It was my misfortune to be engaged in organising a prospecting expedition +at this time—misfortune, because of the impossibility of getting any one +to attend to business. Camels had to be bought, and provisions and +equipment attended to. A syndicate had engaged my services and those of +my two companions whom I had chosen in Perth: Jim Conley, a fine, sturdy +American from Kentucky, the one; and Paddy Egan, an Irish-Victorian, the +other. Both had been some time on the fields, and Conley had had previous +experience in South Africa and on the Yukon, where he had negotiated the +now famous Chilcoot Pass without realising that it was the tremendous feat +that present-day travellers represent it to be. + +<p>There are few men more entertaining than diggers, when one can get them to +talk; there is hardly a corner of the habitable globe to which they have +not penetrated. Round a camp-fire one will hear tales of Africa, New +Guinea, New Zealand, Australia, America from Alaska to the Horn, +Madagascar, and other strange countries that would be a mine of +information to a writer of books of adventure—tales told in the main with +truth and accuracy, and in the quiet, unostentatious manner of the +habitual digger to whom poverty, riches, and hardships come all in their +turn as a matter of course. + +<p>Having chosen my mates, the next thing to be done was to procure beasts of +burden. Of numerous camels submitted for inspection I took three, which +were subsequently christened “Czar,” “Satan,” and “Misery” respectively; +the first from his noble and king-like mien, the second from his wild and +exceedingly unpleasant habit of kicking and striking—habits due not to +vice but to the nervousness of youth—and the third from his plaintive +remonstrances and sad-eyed looks of reproach as his saddle and load were +placed on his back. + +<p>The price of a good pack-camel then varied from £60 to £80 +—and such prices as £100 to £130 were given for +first-class riding-camels. For South Australian-bred camels, the +descendants of stock originally imported from India by Sir Thomas Elder +some thirty years ago, a higher price was asked than for those brought +into the Colony direct from Kurrachi; and rightly, for there can be no +doubt but that in size, strength, and endurance, the camel of Australian +birth is far ahead of his old-world cousin. Not only are Indian camels +smaller and less fitted for the heavy work of the interior, but their +liability, until acclimatised, to mange and other diseases makes them most +undesirable acquisitions. + +<p>The near approach of midsummer, and the known scarcity of water, had +induced me to include in my equipment a portable condenser, by means of +which we should convert the brine of the salt lakes into water fit to +drink. It seemed an excellent plan and so simple, for lakes abound—on +the maps; and wherever a lake is, there, by digging, will water be found, +and thus we should be independent of rock-holes and other precarious +sources of supply. Plans so simple on paper do not always “pan out” as +confidently expected and a more odious job, or one which entailed more +hard work, than prospecting with condensers I have not had to undertake. +“Prospecting” is generally taken to mean searching for gold. In Western +Australia in the hot weather it resolves itself into a continual battle +for water, with the very unlikely contingency that, in the hunt for a +drink, one may fall up against a nugget of gold or a gold-bearing quartz +reef. + +<p>On November 10th we made a start from Coolgardie, and, travelling along +the Twenty-five Mile road for some fifteen miles, we branched off in an +easterly direction, to try some country where I had previously found +“colours” of gold, when journeying from Kurnalpi to the Twenty-five Mile. +Finding that in the meantime others had been there and pegged out leases +and claims, we passed on and set up our condensers on the “Wind and Water” +lake, and began to get an inkling that our job was not to be of the +pleasantest. + +<p>More than one hole six to fifteen feet deep had to be sunk before we +struck any water. To lessen the labour we at first dug our shafts near the +margin of the lake; this proving unsuccessful we were forced further and +further out, until our efforts were rewarded by a plentiful supply, but +alas! some three hundred yards from the shore. This necessitated the +carrying of wood from the margin of the lake to the condensers. The +boilers required constant attention day and night, the fires had to be +stoked, and the water stored as it slowly trickled from the cooling tray. +Thus the duties of the twenty-four hours consisted in chopping and +carrying wood, watching the condensers, attending to the camels, +occasionally sleeping and eating, and prospecting for gold in spare time. +I think my readers will readily understand that it was hard indeed to find +much time to devote to the proper object of the expedition, however +willing we were to do so. + +<p>There were one or two others engaged on the same job at that lake, and +from one party Czar sneaked a cheap drink by thrusting his head through +the opening in the lid of a large two-hundred-gallon tank. His peculiar +position was specially adapted to the administration of a sound beating, +nor did the infuriated owner of the water fail to take advantage of the +situation. + +<p>With our tanks filled and our camels watered, we set forth from the lake +on November 21st, having prospected what country there was in its +immediate neighbourhood. The heat was intense, and walking, out of +training as we were, was dry work; our iron casks being new, gave a most +unpleasant zinc taste to the water, which made us all feel sick. +Unpleasant as this was, yet it served the useful purpose of checking the +consumption of water. Our route lay past the “Broad Arrow” to a hill that +I took to be Mount Yule, and from there almost due east to Giles' +Pinnacles. Our camels were most troublesome; young, nervous, and unused +to us or to each other, they would wander miles during the night, and give +two of us a walk of three or four miles in the morning; before the day's +work began. Two were not content with merely wandering, but persisted in +going in one direction, the third in another. + +<p>One morning Conley and Egan were following their tracks each in a +different quarter. I meanwhile climbed a neighbouring hill to spy out the +land ahead, hoping to see the white glitter of a salt lake, for we were in +likely country, ironstone blows, quartz, and diorite giving evidence of +its probable auriferous nature; we were therefore anxious to find water to +enable us to test it. On return to camp, after an absence of not more than +half an hour, I was astonished to see it surrounded by the tracks of +numerous “black-fellows.” I guessed they had paid us a visit for no good +purpose, and was hardly surprised when I found that they had not only +stolen all our flour, but added insult to injury by scattering it about +the ground. Not daring to leave the camp, lest in my absence they should +return and take all our provisions, I was unable to follow the thieves, +and had to wait in patience the return of the camels. + +<p>So far had they wandered in their hobbles, that by the time we were ready +to start the blacks must have gained too great an advantage in distance to +make it worth our while to follow them; nor, since they started off in the +direction from which we had come, was it any use tracking them with the +hope of getting water. So we pushed on eastwards, through open forest of +gums, scrubs, and thickets, broken by occasional small plains of saltbush, +seeing no signs of water or lake, when presently we entered a belt of +sandy desert—rolling sandhills, spinifex-clad, with occasional thickets +of mulga and mallee. + +<p>Monotonous work it was, dragging the wretched camels for eight to ten +hours at a stretch, inciting them to fresh exertions by curses and +beatings, kindness and caresses, in turn. In some respects a camel +resembles a bullock; not only does he chew his cud, but he loves to be +sworn at; no self-respecting ox will do an ounce of work until his +driver has flung over him a cloud of the most lurid and hair-raising +language. Now, a camel draws the line at blasphemy, but rejoices in the +ordinary oaths and swear-words of every-day life in much the same way as a +retriever. There is no animal more susceptible to kindness than a camel; +but in a sandy sea of scrub with the blazing sun almost boiling the water, +milk-like from zinc, in the tanks, loads dragged this way and that, +boilers and pipes of condensers rolling, now forward, now back, eventually +to slip clattering down, bearing camel and all to the ground—with these +and other trials kindness was not in us. + +<p>Soon after sunset on the 27th, from the branches of a high gum tree we +sighted the Pinnacles almost dead on our course; and late that night we +reached the lake, and found to our joy a condenser already established, by +means of which two men earned a precarious livelihood by selling water to +travellers—for these lakes were on the direct track from Kurnalpi to the +Mount Margaret district. Thus enabled to assuage the seven days' thirst of +the camels forthwith, at the cost of a shilling per gallon, we lost no +time in setting up our own plant, and were fortunate in finding water +and wood easy of access. The next four days were spent in prospecting the +surrounding country, but no gold rewarded our efforts, though numerous +reefs and blows of quartz were to be seen in the hills which the lake +nearly surrounds. + +<p>Whilst camped here, I took the opportunity of breaking in Satan as a +riding-camel, and found him at first a most untameable customer, trying +all sorts of dodges to get the better of me. Twisting round his neck he +would grab at my leg; then, rolling, he would unseat and endeavour to roll +on me; finally tiring of these tricks he would gallop off at full speed, +and run my leg against a tree, or do his best to sweep me off by an +overhanging branch, until I felt satisfied that he had been rightly named. +At last he realised that I was master, and after that I hardly remember +one occasion on which he gave any trouble; for the three years that I +afterwards possessed him, we were the best of friends, and he the most +gentle and biddable of beasts. Alas! that I should have had to end his +days with a bullet, and leave his bones to be picked by the dingoes of the +Great Sandy Desert. + +<p>Failing to find any gold, and being in need of flour, we made south to +Kurnalpi, through country flat and uninteresting, and arrived at that camp +just in time to secure the last two bags of flour. The town was almost +deserted, and had none of the lively and busy appearance that it presented +when I had last seen it. All who saw us praised our equipment and +forethought in having portable condensers. I am not quite sure that we +agreed with them. + +<p>Hearing that some promising country existed near Lake Roe, I decided to +make for that place, and more particularly for a small rock-hole named +Beri, at the west end of the lake. Very rough, stony hills covered with +dense scrub surround Kurnalpi on the south; once across these, flat, open +country of saltbush and samphire, rapidly changing into salt-swamp, made +travelling easy; passing over another low range of diorite, from which we +got an extensive view of Lake Lapage to the west and Lake Roe to the east, +we reached Beri, hitting off the rock with so much accuracy that even +Paddy Egan was surprised into praise of the compass. For some bushmen, be +it known, can neither understand nor appreciate the use of a compass, and, +being quite capable of finding their way back, are content to wander forth +into the bush with no guide but the sun, taking no notes of the country, +no record of their day's march, and making no observations to help either +themselves or anybody else; unable to say where they have been, how they +got there, or how they got home again. Some men have a natural instinct +for direction, and I know some who could start, say from Coolgardie, to +ride seventy miles east and return, then perhaps sixty to the north, and +from that point ride across to their seventy-mile point with great +ease and certainty, having no notion of the distance or point of the +compass. + +<p>A good many prospectors, depending on their black-boys almost entirely, +wander from one range of hills to another, dodge here and there for water, +keep no count or reckoning, and only return by the help of their guide +when the “tucker-bags” are empty; others make a practice of standing two +sticks in the ground on camping at night, to remind them of the course +they have travelled during the day and must resume in the morning. To such +men as these a map or compass is useless and therefore of no value; and +yet they are often spoken of by the ignorant as “best bushmen in +Australia.” + +<p>In my time I have seen and mixed with most prospectors in the West, and as +far as my experience goes the best bushmen not only use the compass, but +keep a reckoning, rough though it may be, of their day's travel. Such a +man is Billy Frost, to quote a well-known name on the goldfields, a man +who has had no chance to learn any of the rudiments of surveying, and who +started life as a boundary rider on a cattle station. He has shown me a +note-book in which he has jotted down directions and distances from water. + +<p>In mountainous country where landmarks are numerous the traveller may +manage it; but no man could travel for any length of time without keeping +some sort of reckoning, in a flat country like the interior of Western +Australia, where for days together one sees no hill or rise, without +before long becoming hopelessly lost. + +<p>Paddy Egan had been content to travel in this haphazard way, and it was +long before he would acknowledge the benefits of a compass and map. That +he could travel straight there was no gainsaying, for if, as I sometimes +did, I pointed out our line and sent him ahead, he would go as straight as +a die, with now and then a glance at the sun, and a slight alteration in +his course to allow for its altered position, and require but little +correction. Indeed, even when using a compass, one instinctively pays as +much and more attention to the sun or the stars, as the case may be. + +<p>The rock-hole at Beri was dry, so we pushed on for Lake Roe, and, though +we worked sinking holes until past midnight, and nearly the whole of the +next day, we were unable to find water. It was only salt water we +expected, but a stiff pipeclay, continuing to a depth too great for our +limited means of sinking, baffled all our efforts. I followed the lake +some six miles to the eastward, carrying a shovel and digging trial holes +at intervals, but this pipeclay foiled me everywhere. + +<p>I do not know how far this lake runs east, and fancy its limits have never +been laid down on the map; not that there is anything sufficiently +inviting in its appearance—the usual flat expanse of mud, with banks of +sand fringed with low straggling mallee and spinifex—to warrant further +investigation. + +<p>Lake Roe having failed us, we turned on our tracks for the nearest point +of Lake Lapage, some nine miles distant. Here we were more fortunate, and +obtained a splendid supply of salt water at a depth of only three feet. +Timber was not easily got—that would have been too much joy! It had to +be carried nearly half a mile on our shoulders, for the camels, having +travelled all day, deserved a rest. The condensers worked well, now that +we had had some experience, and produced water at the rate of four gallons +an hour. With our casks replenished and our camels filled, leaving the +condenser standing, we turned south to some hills that were visible; we +intended to be absent for four days, at the end of which the camels would +again require water, as the weather was exceedingly hot. + +<p>Nothing of interest was met with until we came upon a huge wall-like reef, +standing some fifteen or twenty feet above the ground, from ten to twenty +feet wide, and running almost due north and south for nearly five miles, +without a break of appreciable extent, as we subsequently found. Breaking +the quartz at intervals, hoping at each blow of the pick to see the +longed-for colours, we followed this curious natural wall, and finally +camped, sheltered by it from the wind. A violent storm of dust, wind, +thunder, and lightning swept over us that night, tearing the “fly” we had +pitched, in the vain expectation of rain, into ribbons. + +<p>Leaving the others to continue prospecting, I turned my steps, or rather +those of Satan, whom I was riding, towards Cowarna, a large granite rock, +some fourteen miles distant, and due south from our camp, if I had +reckoned our position on the map correctly. Twelve miles of open forest, +alternating with scrubby thickets, brought me to the edge of a fine little +plain of saltbush and grass, from the centre of which a bare rock of +granite stood out. Arrived at the rock, I hunted long and diligently for +water. Numerous rock-holes were to be seen, but all were dry, and my hopes +of making this our base from which to prospect in various directions were +at first short-lived; but before long I was overjoyed to hear the +twittering of a little flock of Diamond sparrows—a nearly certain sign +that water must be handy; and sure enough I found their supply at the +bottom of a narrow, round hole, down which I could just stretch my arm. + +<a name="p3c2"></a><h4>CHAPTER II</h4> + +<h4>Granite Rocks, “Namma Holes,” And “Soaks”</h4> + +<p>At this point it may not be amiss to give a short description of these +peculiar outcrops of granite, without which the track from York to +Coolgardie could never have been kept open, nor the place discovered, nor +could its early inhabitants have supported life before the condensing +plant came into general use. + +<p>The interior of the Colony, between the coast and a point some hundred +miles east of Coolgardie, is traversed by parallel belts of granite, +running in a general direction of north-north-west and south-south-east. +This granite crops out above the surface, at intervals of from ten to +twenty or thirty miles, sometimes in the form of an isolated barren rock, +and sometimes as low ranges and hills several miles in extent. From them +small creeks, and sometimes larger watercourses, run down, to find their +way into the stony and gravelly debris which usually surrounds the rocks. +Much of what little rain does fall is absorbed by the trees and scrub, +and much is taken by the sun's heat, so that a very small proportion can +sink below the surface soil, and only when there is some underground basin +in the rock beneath will water be found by sinking, except immediately +after rain. + +<p>Round the granite base a belt of grass of no great extent may be found, +for the most part dry and yellow, but in places green and fresh. It is in +such spots as these that one may hope to tap an underground reservoir in +the rock. To these shallow wells has been given the name of “Soaks.” +They seldom exceed fifteen feet in depth, though similar subterranean +basins have been tapped by a well perhaps a hundred feet deep, sunk some +distance from the foot of the outcrop. A good soak will stand a heavy +drain for perhaps months, but not having its origin in a spring the supply +ultimately ceases. + +<p>The soil, being alluvial, is in most cases easy to dig, and when the bed +rock is reached it becomes an open question whether to go deeper into the +decomposed rock or to be content with what supply has been struck. Many a +good soak has been ruined by a too ambitious worker, who, after infinite +toil, may see his priceless fluid disappear down some hidden crack +beneath. Native soaks dug out with sticks and wooden “coolimans”—small +troughs used as spades or as a means of carrying seeds, water, or +game—are by no means uncommon, and, when holding water, are easily made +more serviceable by throwing out a few shovelsful of sticks, stones, and +sand, with which they are generally choked. Often the weary traveller has +no such lucky help, and must set to work to dig a soak for himself and his +thirsty beasts—against time, too, in a blazing sun, without the +comforting knowledge that there is any certainty of finding water. I do +not know of any case when a party has actually perished at the mouth of +a waterless soak, but in many instances water has been struck when all +hope had been given up. The skeletons and carcasses of camels and horses +tell a tale of suffering that no man who has travelled can look at +unmoved, and go to show that many a beast of burden has been less +fortunate than his masters. + +<p>With what eager anxiety the shovelsful are watched, when the expected +“bottom” is nearly reached, by man and beast alike, who, utterly weary and +absolutely parched, know that they are soon to learn their fate. The +horses snort and plunge in eager and impatient expectation, whilst the +patient camel contents himself with grunts and moans, though, as his knees +are probably strapped beneath him, he cannot protest more forcibly. At +length, perhaps, all are rewarded by the welcome sight of a tiny trickle +in one corner, or perhaps the hole turns out a “duffer,” and the weary, +weary work must be commenced again in a fresh spot. + +<p>In many cases these granite rocks have been utilised as a catchment area +for tanks, into which the water is led by drains, which encircle the foot +of the outcrop. Before the railway was built, such tanks, sunk by +Government along the Southern Cross-Coolgardie track, enabled teamsters to +bring their horses through with safety, which would otherwise have been +impossible at some seasons of the year. + +<p>I append a table showing cost and contents of Government tanks excavated +at the base of granite rocks between Southern Cross and Coolgardie:— +<table summary=""><col width="45%"><col span="3" align="right"> +<col width="17%"><col width="21%"><col width="17%"> +<tr><th>Name of Reservoir<th>Cost<th>Contents in Gallons<th>Cost per Million Gallons +<tr><td>Reen's Soak <td>£3,246 <td> 900,000 <td>£3,607 +<tr><td>Kararawalgee <td>2,947 <td>1,250,000 <td>2,858 +<tr><td>Boorabbin <td>3,025 <td> 900,000 <td>3,461 +<tr><td>Woolgangee <td>3,825 <td>1,2501000 <td>3,100 +<tr><td>Bullabulling <td>4,118 <td>1,250,000 <td>3,294 +<tr><td>Coolgardie (No, 1) <td>1,167 <td> 800,000 <td>1,454 +<tr><td>Coolgardie (No. 2) <td>2,110 <td>1,400,000 <td>1,503 +<tr><td>Halgoorlie (half-way) <td>1,266 <td> 500,000 <td>2,532 +<tr><td>Kalgoorlie <td>1,554 <td> 500,000 <td>3,108 +<tr><td>Twenty-five Mile Tank <td>1,881 <td> 500,000 <td>3,762 +<tr><td>Forty Mile Tank <td>1,546 <td> 500,000 <td>3,092 +<tr><td>Colreavy's Tank <td>2,193 <td> 997,000 <td>2,199 +</tr></table> +<p>The above table will give some idea of the enormous expense entailed by +the opening up of the interior. In addition to these, wells and bores were +put down, many of which failed to strike water. + +<p>Ever-thoughtful Nature has provided, on the surface of the “granites,” +small reservoirs which, after rain, may, in some cases, hold many hundred +gallons of water. The Rock—or Namma-holes (I presume “Namma” is a native +name, but of this I am uncertain) are usually more or less conical in +shape, and vary in depth from a few inches to twenty feet, and in diameter +from half a foot to several. Their sides are smooth, and slope down to a +rounded bottom, where stones are often found which would suggest that they +have had something to do with the formation of these peculiar holes. +Beneath a hard surface layer the rock becomes decomposed and comparatively +soft; and doubtless the rain of countless ages collecting round the +stones, once on the surface and now found at the bottom of the holes, has +at length weathered away the rock, and so by slow degrees the stone +has ground out an ever-increasing hollow. I am neither geologist nor +dentist, but I have often likened in my mind the formation of the +Namma-holes to the gradual hollow formed by decay in a tooth. Whatever +their history, their use is unquestionable—not so the flavour of their +contents; for every bird or beast coming to water will leave some traces +behind, and the natives, to prevent evaporation, throw in sticks, stones, +and grass. Such a collection of rubbish and filth might naturally be +supposed to render the water unhealthy, but apparently this is not the +case, for we have often been forced to drink water, which, in +civilisation would be thought only fit to be used as manure for the +garden, without any injury to health or digestion. Patient search over the +whole surface of the rock is the usual method for finding rock-holes, +though sometimes the pads of wallabies, kangaroos, or emus, may serve as a +guide to them, but game is so scarce that a man must usually trust to his +own observation. Sometimes their existence may be detected from a distance +by the patch of rock round the mouth showing white, owing to its being +worn by the feet of birds and animals. + +<p>A typical rock was the high, barren “Cowarna,” and one that after rain +would store in its depressions a plentiful supply of the life-giving +water. Thankful for small mercies, I made the best of a bad job, and, +having no dish or bucket from which to give Satan a drink, I was obliged +to make him lie down close to the narrow hole, whilst into his willing +throat I poured the water which at arm's length I scooped up with my +quart pot. This tedious process finished, I still had a potful at my +disposal, so, taking a long drink myself, I stripped off my clothes and +indulged in a shower bath, Not a luxurious bathe certainly, and a larger +supply would have been acceptable, but every little helps, and even a few +drops of fresh water have a pleasant effect on one's body made sticky by +the salt of the water from the lakes, and serve to remind the traveller +that he has once been clean. + +<a name="pt10"></a><h5>Illustration 10: Condensing water on a salt lake</h5> + +<center><p><img alt="" src="images/spin5.jpg"></center> + +<p>Leaving the rock at sundown I travelled well into the night, for progress +was slow through the scrub and trees in the darkness, but little relieved +by the light of a waning moon. Feeling sure that I had gone far enough, +I was preparing to rest awhile and find our camp in the morning, when the +welcome glow of a fire shot up through the branches. Jim and Paddy, with +characteristic thought and resource, had climbed to the top of two tall +and dead gum trees and there built fires, fanned by the fierce draught +through the hollow trunks, knowing well at what a short distance a fire on +the ground is visible in this flat country. During my absence they had +found no gold, but, as they liked the look of the country, we decided to +return to our condensers for a fresh supply of water. Having obtained +this, Egan and I revisited our previous prospecting ground, leaving Jim +behind to “cook” water against our return; and a more uninteresting +occupation I cannot well picture. Camped alone on a spit of sand, +surrounded by a flat expanse of mud, broiled by the sun, half blinded by +the glare of the salt, with no shade but a blanket thrown over a rough +screen of branches, and nothing to do but to stoke up the fires, change +the water in the cooling-trough, and blow off the salt from the bottom of +the boilers, he was hardly to be envied. Yet Jim cheerfully undertook the +job and greeted us on our return, after four days, with the smiling remark +that his work had been varied by the necessity of plugging up the bottom +of one of the boilers which had burned through, with a compound (a patent +of his own) formed from strips of his shirt soaked in a stiff paste of +flour. That night we were astonished by the passage of a flight of ducks +over our heads, which Egan saw, and I and Conley heard distinctly. + +<p>A detailed account of our wanderings would be as wearying to the reader as +they were to ourselves, a mere monotonous repetition of cooking water and +hunting for “colours” which we never found. Christmas Eve, 1894, saw us in +the vicinity of Mount Monger, where a few men were working on an alluvial +patch and getting a little gold. A lucky storm had filled a deep clay-hole +on the flat running north-west from the hills, and here we were at last +enabled to give the camels a cheap drink; for over six weeks we had not +seen a drop of fresh water beyond what, with infinite labour, we had +condensed, with the one exception of the small rock-hole I found at +Cowarna. My entry in my journal for Christmas Day is short and sweet: +“Xmas Day, 1894. Wash clothes. Write diary. Plot course.” We had no +Christmas fare to make our hearts glad and but for the fortunate arrival +of my old friend David Wilson, who gave us a couple of packets of +cornflour, would have had a scanty feast indeed. + +<p>Even in the remote little mining camp Santa Claus did not forget us, and +spread his presents, in the form of a deluge of rain, on all alike. What a +pleasant change to get thoroughly wet through! The storm hardly lasted +twenty minutes, but such was its violence that every little creek and +watercourse was soon running, and water for weeks to come was secured and +plentiful in all directions; but so local is a summer storm that five +miles from the camp, no water or signs of rain were to be seen. Our +provisions being finished, nothing remained but to make all speed for +Coolgardie, some fifty miles distant by road. Unencumbered by the +condensers, which were abandoned as useless since the bottom of both +boilers had burned through, we made fair time, reaching a good +camping-ground two miles from the town on the evening of the second day, +the 30th of December. + +<a name="p3c3"></a><h4>CHAPTER III</h4> + +<h4>A Fresh Start</h4> + +<p>Four days sufficed to make preparations for another trip, to hear and read +the news, and write letters. My first, of course, was to my Syndicate, to +report our past movements and future plans, and how I intended making +northward, hoping that change of direction would change our luck. + +<p>January 4th we set out with the same three camels, and rations for three +months. My plan was first to revisit some known good country to the south +of Hannan's, and, if unsuccessful, to travel from that point in a more or +less north-north-west direction, and so follow, instead of crossing, the +trend of the various formations; for in travelling from east to west, or +<i>vice versa</i>, one crosses a succession of parallel belts, first a +sand-plain, then a ridge of granite, next a timbered flat, then a stretch +of auriferous country, with possibly a belt of flat salt-lake country on +either side. Since these parallel belts run nearly north-north-west, it +seemed to the mind of the untrained geologist that by starting in a known +auriferous zone, and travelling along it in a north-north-west direction, +the chances of being all the time in auriferous country would be +increased, and the plan worth trying. + +<p>Passing the homestead of the Hampton Plains Land Company, where I was +given valuable information and a map by the courteous and kind manager, +Mr. Anderson (now alas! dead, a victim to the typhoid scourge), we +continued on the Lake Lefroy road as far as the Fourteen Mile rock-hole. +This contained water, but so foul that the camels would not look at it. +Nor were we more successful in our next water-hole, for it contained a +dead horse. Leading to this Namma-hole, which was prettily situated on a +low rock at the foot of a rough, broken ridge of granite, surrounded by +green and shady kurrajongs, we found a curious little avenue of stones. +These were piled up into heaps laid in two parallel rows, and at intervals +between the heaps would be a large boulder; evidently this was the work of +aboriginals, but what meaning to attach to it we could not think. The +beginning of our journey promised well for water, for we were again +favoured by a local thunderstorm which, in clay-pans and swamps, left a +plentiful supply. Mr. Anderson had told me of some hills in which he had +found gold in small quantities, and sure enough wherever we tried a “dish +of dirt,” colours were sure to result. A pleasant camp was this, plenty of +water, numberless quartz reefs, every prospect of finding payable gold, +and feed of the best kind in profusion—a welcome change for our beasts. +They were shedding the last of their winter coats, and, as the weather was +hot, I hastened the transformation by pulling off great flakes of wool +with which Egan stuffed one of the saddles. Poor Misery had an +uncomfortable experience here in consequence of catching the rings of his +hobble-chain in the broken stump of a bush, so that he was held captive +all night. + +<p>The advance of civilisation was marked by the appearance of a small herd +of bullocks, evidently stragglers from “Hannan's,” and had we been further +from that place I do not doubt that our desire for fresh beef might have +overcome our conscientious scruples. Virtue, however, was rewarded, for on +awakening one morning I saw advancing towards our camp, with slow and +solemn curiosity, two emus, peering now this way, now that, examining our +packs and other gear with interest and delight. Choosing the younger bird, +I took aim with my Winchester, and dropped him; the report of the rifle +startled my companions from their sleep with the thought that we were +perhaps attacked by the blacks, for emus are even less numerous than they. +But their surprise was not greater than that of the surviving bird, as he +gazed spellbound at his dead mate, whom we found most excellent eating. +Great as the temptation was to have a shot at the remaining bird, I +resisted it, as from the one we could get sufficient meat for our +requirements, and it seemed a shame to take the life, for mere pleasure, +of the only wild creature we had seen for many weeks. + +<p>Tiring at length of prospecting reefs, blows, and alluvial with no better +result than an occasional pin's-head of gold, we turned our faces to the +north, passing again the herd of cattle wallowing in the swamps and pans +of rain water. + +<p>Clay-pans usually occur in the neighbourhood of salt lakes, and are merely +shallow depressions with smooth clay bottoms. Though as a rule not more +than a few inches to a foot in depth, I have seen them in places holding +four to five feet of water. Immediately after rain all clay-pans are +fresh, before long some will turn salt; those containing drinkable water +are often distinguishable by the growth of cane grass which covers the +bed, a coarse, rush-like grass of no value as food for stock. Dry for +three-quarters of the year, these pans, with their impervious bottoms, +hold the rain, when it fills them, for a considerable period. + +<p>Salt-water pans are pellucid and clear, as the inexperienced may find at +his cost. One thirsty day, having tramped many miles horse-hunting, +deceived by a crystal-clear sheet of water, I plunged in my head and +hands, and, before I realised my mistake, took a deep draught with most +unpleasant results. I have been more careful since that catastrophe. An +effective method of clearing muddy clay-pan water is by dropping into it a +sort of powdery gypsum, called “Kopi” by the natives, which is usually to +be found round the margin of the salt lakes—a wonderful provision +of Nature, without which the water after a short time would be useless, +becoming as it does red and thick, and of the consistency of strong cocoa. +Amongst the many industries started on the goldfields is the novel +occupation of clearing clay-water for salt. The process was carried out by +means of a series of settling tanks, into which the water was led by +drains, and into the last tank the kopi was thrown; the cleared water was +then bailed into vessels or casks, and carted up to whatever mining camp +was being thus supplied. + +<p>Whilst on the subject of industries, I may mention that of obtaining +solder from meat-tins by piling them into large heaps and lighting a fire +over them. The melted lumps of solder thus formed were collected by the +ordinary process of dry-blowing, and sold to tinsmiths and others engaged +in the manufacture of condensers. Certainly the scarcity of water was not +an unmixed curse, for it gave employment to many who would otherwise have +been hard put to it to gain a living. Dam-makers, well-sinkers, +water-carters, tinsmiths, condenser-fitters, wood-cutters, employees on +condensing plants, water-bag makers, caretakers at Government wells, dams, +and soaks, engineers, and many more, all found employment either directly +or indirectly in connection with water supply. + +<p>By sinking in the bed of dry clay-pans water can usually be obtained, but +unfortunately it is almost sure to be salt. The difference between +clay-pans before and after rain is most marked. First we have the dry, +hard bed of red clay, blistered and cracked into all manner of patterns by +the sun's heat; around us the stillness of death, nothing astir unless it +be the constant shimmering haze of heat which strikes our faces like the +blast from a furnace. Rain falls, and within a few hours the air will be +filled with the croaking of frogs and the cackling of ducks. To my mind +it is one of the most incomprehensible things in Nature that wildfowl +(for not only ducks, but sometimes swans and geese are seen) know when and +where rain has fallen. +<blockquote> +Sir John Forrest, in his exploration of 1874, found ducks, geese, and +swans on Lake Augusta—a salt lake in the arid interior, five hundred +miles from the coast. +</blockquote> +<p>But, stranger still, how do they know it is going to fall? That they would +seem to do so the following will go to show. Whilst we were condensing on +Lake Lapage, one moonlight night we saw a flight of ducks fly over us to +the northward. No surface water then existed anywhere near us. This was on +December 16th. No rain fell in the district until December 25th, but I +ascertained afterwards that rain fell at Lake Carey, one hundred miles +north of Lake Lapage about the same date that we had seen the ducks. The +exact date I am not sure of, but in any case the ducks either foresaw the +rain or knew that rain had fallen at least two hundred miles away; for +they must have come from water (and at that season there was no surface +water within one hundred miles of us) and probably from the coast. In +either case, I think it is an extremely interesting fact, and however they +arrive the ducks are a welcome addition to the prospector's “tucker-bags.” + +<a name="p3c4"></a><h4>CHAPTER IV</h4> + +<h4>A Camel Fight</h4> + +<p>Leaving Hannan's on our left, we continued our northerly course, over flat +country timbered with the usual gum-forest, until we reached the +auriferous country in which our camp had been robbed by the blacks; +nothing of interest occurring until January 17th, when we found ourselves +without water. Knowing that we must soon strike the road from Broad Arrow +to Mount Margaret, this gave us no anxiety, and, beyond the necessity of +travelling without having had a drink for eighteen hours, but little +discomfort. + +<p>We struck the road as expected, and, following it some five miles, came to +a small, dry creek running down from a broken range of granite. Sinking in +its bed, we got a plentiful supply. Mosquitoes are very rarely found in +the interior, but on this little creek they swarmed, and could only be +kept away by fires of sticks and grass, in the smoke of which we slept. + +<p>From the granite hills a fine view to the eastward was obtained, across a +rich little plain of saltbush and grass, and dotted here and there over it +was a native peach tree, or “quondong,” a species of sandalwood. We had +now left the timber behind us, its place being taken by a low, straggling +scrub of acacia, generally known as “Mulga,” which continues in almost +unbroken monotony for nearly two hundred miles; the only change in the +landscape is where low cliffs of sandstone and ranges of granite, slate, +or diorite, crop up, from which creeks and watercourses find their way +into salt swamps and lakes; and occasional stretches of plain country. + +<p>Through these thickets we held on our course, passing various +watering-places and rocks on the several roads leading to the then popular +field of Mount Margaret. + +<p>All such rocks bear names given to them by travellers and diggers, though +one can seldom trace the origin or author of the name, “Black Gin Soak,” +“George Withers' Hole,” “The Dead Horse Rocks,” and the “Donkey Rocks,” +are fair samples. + +<p>It was at the last named that we had a slight entertainment in the shape +of a camel-fight. On arrival we found another camel-man (i.e., a man who +prospects with camels instead of horses, not necessarily a camel-driver) +in whose train was a large white bull. Misery, with his usual precocity, +at once began to show fight. The owner of the white camel, a gentleman +much given to “blowing,” warned me that his bull was the “strongest in +the —— country,” and advised me to keep my camels away. Anxious to see +how Misery would shape in a genuine bout, I paid no heed, but took the +precaution to remove his hobbles, thus placing him on equal terms with his +older and stronger adversary. + +<p>Before very long they were at it hammer and tongs, roaring and grunting to +the music of the bells on their necks; wrestling and struggling, using +their great long necks as flails, now one down on his knees and almost +turned over, and now the other, taking every opportunity of doing what +damage they could with their powerful jaws, they formed a strange picture. +Misery was nearly exhausted, and the white bull's master in triumph +shouted, “Take 'em off, beat 'em off; your —— camel'll be chewed up!” +But no! With a last expiring effort, brave little Misery dived his long +neck under the body of his enemy, and grabbed his hind leg by the fetlock, +when a powerful twist turned him over as neatly as could be. It was now +time for us to interfere before the white bull's head was crushed by his +conqueror's knees and breast-bone. With sticks and stones we drove him +off, and the white bull retired abashed—but not more so than his master. + +<p>Leaving the rocks in possession of our late adversary we once more plunged +into the scrub, altering our course to the west with the object of +revisiting the country around Mount Ida, where Luck and I had found +colours. Our way lay between salt lakes on our left, and a low terrace or +tableland of what is locally known as “conglomerate” on our right. At the +head of a gully running from this we were fortunate in finding water, +sufficient to fill our casks, and give each camel a drink. This was on the +morning of January 25th, and until the 31st about noon we saw no further +signs of water. Every likely place was dry. Where Luck and I had found +water before, not a drop of moisture could be seen; the holes contained +nothing but the feathers and skeletons of disappointed birds. Unable to +stop at Mount Ida without packing water twenty-five miles, which the +prospects of the country did not warrant, we turned northwards across much +broken granite country, which we vainly searched for Namma-holes or soaks. +Far ahead of us we could see sharp pinnacles, standing up high and +solitary above the scrub. These turned out to be huge blows of white +quartz, and were no doubt connected underground, for we traced them a +distance of nearly thirty miles. Interesting as these were, our thoughts +were turned to water-hunting, for the weather—the season being +midsummer—was scorching; the poor camels, sore-footed from the stony +granite, parched with thirst, and forced to carry their loads, eight to +twelve hours a day, showed signs of distress. Weary and footsore +ourselves, tramping at full speed all day over the burning rocks, one with +the camels, the others on either hand, scouting, our casks all but empty, +our position was not enviable. + +<p>The night of the 30th our water was finished. The nearest known to us was +thirty-five miles off, and a a salt lake was between—a sufficient bar to +our hopes in that direction. Matters were by no means desperate, however, +for thirty miles north we were bound to cut the Cue-Mount Margaret road, +and having done so it would be merely a question of time, with a certainty +of arriving at a watering place eventually, if we and our camels could +hold out. A dry stage, however long, with the certainty of relief at the +end of it, gives little cause for anxiety when compared with one on which +neither the position nor even the existence of water can be known. + +<p>Next morning we followed up a small creek, and on crossing saw the tracks +of several kangaroos and emus making towards two peaks of quartz. Here was +our chance. It was my place of course to go, but I yielded to the +persuasion of Paddy and Jim, who insisted that I had denied myself water +to eke out our scanty supply (though I doubt if I had done so more than +they), and must rest. So, putting the camels down in the welcome shade of +a kurrajong, I lay down beside them and was presently relieved by the +sound of a revolver-shot, our signal that water was found. + +<p>What a beautiful sight it was! Nestling in the hollow between two great +white blows of quartz, this little pool of crystal-clear water, filled +evidently by a little gully falling over a steep ledge of quartz beyond, +presented no doubt a pretty picture after the rains. A soakage it must be, +for no open rock-hole could hold water in such terrible heat; and its +clearness would suggest the possibility of an underlying spring. A popular +drinking-place this, frequented by birds of all kinds, crows, hawks, +pigeons, galahs, wee-jugglers, and the ubiquitous diamond-sparrows. During +the night we could hear wallabies hopping along, but were too worn out to +sit up to shoot them. Though our sufferings had not been great, we had had +a “bit of a doing.” + +<p>One day's rest, occupied in various mendings of clothes, boots, and +saddles, and we were off again to the north, cutting the track as +expected, and presently found ourselves at the newly established mining +camp of Lawlers, prettily situated on the banks of a gum-creek, with a +copious supply of water in wells sunk in its bed. A great advantage that +the northern fields have over those further south is the occurrence of +numerous creeks, sometimes traceable for over thirty miles, in all of +which an abundance of fresh water can be obtained by sinking at depths +varying from fifteen to fifty feet. + +<p>Towards the end of their course the well-defined channels, with banks +sometimes ten feet high, disappear, giving place to a grassy avenue +through the scrub, lightly timbered with cork-bark, and other small trees. +It is on such flats as these that the wells are sunk. All creeks find +their way into the lakes, though seldom by a discernible channel, breaking +and making, as the expression is, until a narrow arm of the lake stretches +to meet them. At the most these creeks run “a banker” three times during +the year, the water flowing for perhaps three days; after which pools of +various sizes remain, to be in their turn dried up by evaporation and +soakage. In the dry weather the creeks afford a weird spectacle. Stately +white gums (the only timber of any size in these districts), with their +silvery bark hanging in dishevelled shreds around the branchless stems, +bend ghost-like over an undulating bed of gravel; gravel made up of +ironstone pebbles, quartz fragments, and other water-worn debris washed +down from the hills at the head of the creeks. + +<p>What a marvellous transformation the winter rains cause! It is then that +the expert, or journalist, takes his walks abroad; it is then that we read +such glowing accounts of rich grass lands, watered by countless creeks, +only awaiting the coming of an agriculturist to be turned into smiling +farms and fertile fields. + +<p>Numerous parties were camped at Lawlers, with some two hundred horses +turned out in the bush, waiting until rain should fall. Though with no +better feed than grass, dry and withered, the freedom from work had made +them skittish. What a pretty sight it is to see a mob of horses trooping +in for water at night; the young colts kicking up their heels with +delight; the solemn old packhorse looking with scorn on the gambols of his +juvenile brethren, with a shake of his hardy old head, as much as to say, +“Ah! wait till you've done the dry stages that I have; wait till you make +your evening feed off mulga scrub and bark—that'll take the buck out of +you! Why can't you have your drink soberly, instead of dancing about all +over the place?” + +<p>Then bringing up the rear, far behind, just emerging from the scrub, are +seen those who, from their wandering habits, must wear the bracelets, +hurrying and shuffling along with a rattle of chains, tripping up in their +eagerness to be even with their mates in the scramble for water: presently +they pause to look about and neigh—a delay resented by those behind by a +friendly bite, answered by a kick; which starts them all off at full +gallop, in the approved rocking-horse style, with a tremendous clatter of +hobbles and bells. Suddenly they halt, snorting, and as suddenly start +aside, wheel round, and dash away, as they catch sight of our long-necked +beasts. They have seen them often enough, and know them well, but they +must keep up an appearance of panic, if only to please their masters, who +never cease to jeer at the ungainly shape of the camel, until they possess +one themselves. These unemotional animals watch the horses' play with lips +turned up in derision, and hardly deign to move their heads from the bush +or branch on which they are feeding. Many of the prospectors, though +openly sneering at the camels as slow and unmanageable beasts, secretly +envied us our ability to travel in hot weather, whilst they had nothing to +do but to kick their heels and be thankful they had feed and water for +their ponies. And they envied us all the more on account of the vague +rumour that rich gold had been found in the neighbourhood of Lake Darlot, +towards which some had pushed out only to be driven back by thirst. Seeing +our evident advantage, should the rumour prove correct, in being able to +get there before the crowd, I decided to steer for the lake, with the hope +of picking up the tracks of the supposed lucky diggers. + +<p>A large creek, the Erlistoun, was given on the chart as running into the +lake, and on it was marked by the discoverer Mr. Wells, of the Elder +Exploring Expedition, 1892, a permanent pool. To cut this creek was my +object, and, by following its course, to find the pool, and there make a +base from which to investigate the truth of the rumour. + +<p>Leaving Lawlers February 7th we struck an arm of the lake on the 10th +the country traversed being mostly sand plain, timbered with desert-gum. +To reach the creek it was necessary to cross the lake; and what a job we +had, twisting and turning to avoid one arm, only to be checked by another; +carrying packs and saddles across what we supposed to be the main lake, +only to find ourselves on an island. All things have an end, even the +ramifications of a salt lake, and eventually we and our mud-plastered +camels found ourselves on the northern shore; and travelling east, +expected confidently to cut the Erlistoun creek. By its position on the +map we should have already crossed it but to make sure we went on five +miles more, when our passage was barred by another salt lake not marked on +the chart. It was clear that the creek did not reach Lake Darlot. Where +could it be? Was it worth while to look for it further? It was evident how +it came to be so shown on the map. Mr. Wells had cut the creek near its +source and seeing only one lake to the south, naturally supposed that +it was joined by the creek, and so had marked its probable course by a +dotted line. His work, copied on to other maps had been carelessly drawn, +and the creek shown running in a defined channel into Lake Darlot. That +this was the case I found afterwards on studying his original chart. + +<p>Now to decide our best course! Again our supply was all but done, but we +knew of no water save Lawlers, sixty miles away, and to attempt to return +to that, recrossing the lake was manifestly absurd. To the south-west we +could see some hills which might or might not be granite. We were inclined +to think that they were, as in the setting sun of a few nights before they +had taken a ruddy glow. These rocks appeared to be our only chance. + +<p>It has always seemed to me better in such cases to make people follow +one's own wishes by seeming to consult theirs, rather than by a direct +order. Acting on this plan, though with my own mind made up, I consulted +with my two mates. I felt sure that Jim would agree with me, from a remark +he had made to a mutual friend to the effect that “he would follow me to +h—l.” Of paddy I was not so sure; nor was I mistaken. He strongly +advised turning back, but, having agreed to abide by the majority, said no +more, and so to the hills we turned our steps. + +<p>Our hopes that the two lakes were separate were soon shattered, for before +us lay a narrow neck connecting the two. There was nothing for it but to +go straight ahead. The lightest-packed camel crossed without mischance, +but not so the other two; down they went, too weak to struggle, and again +the toil of digging them out, and driving and hauling them foot by foot, +had to be gone through. Then the packs had to be carried piece by piece, +for we sank too deep in the sticky mud with a heavy load, and our weary +legs had to be dragged step after step from the bog. Hungry and thirsty, +blistered by the glare of the salt in the pitiless sun, we struggled on, +with a wondering thought of what the end would be. + +<p>Think of us, picture us, ye city magnates, toiling and struggling that +your capacious pockets may be filled by the fruits of our labour: think of +us, I say, and remember that our experiences are but as those of many +more, and that hardly a mine, out of which you have made all the profit, +has been found without similar hardships and battles for life! Not a +penny would you have made from the wealth of West Australia but for us +prospectors—and what do we get for our pains? A share in the bare sale of +the mine if lucky; if not, God help us! for nothing but curses and +complaints will be our portion. The natural rejoinder to this is, “Why, +then, do you go?” To which I can only answer that one must make a living +somehow, and that some like to make money hard, and some to make it +easily. Perhaps I belong to the former class. + +<p>Whatever the reason, the fact remains that in the heat of the summer we +were ploughing our way through salt-bogs, without water or any immediate +prospect of getting any, and realised, not for the first time, that the +prospector's life in West Australia is not “all beer and skittles.” + +<p>The lake negotiated, we decided to rest under the scanty shade of a mulga +tree, and regaled ourselves on oatmeal washed down with a mouthful of +water, the last, hot from the iron casks. At a time when water is +plentiful it can be carried and kept cool in canvas bags; but it owes +this coolness to evaporation, and consequent waste of water. During the +hot weather, when water is scarce, I never allowed canvas bags to be used, +and so saved water, not only by avoiding evaporation, but from the fact +that water carried in galvanised-iron casks becomes so hot and unpalatable +that one is not tempted to take a big draught, and thus the supply is eked +out. + +<p>That night we camped in the thick mulga, and from one of the larger trees +I could see the hills, dead on our course, and not more than two miles +off. But we were too tired to go further that night, and in any case could +have done but little good in the dark. The poor camels were too dry to +eat the mulga we cut for them, too dry even to chew the cud; and lay +silent, tied down beside us—the stillness of the night being unbroken by +the rhythmical “crunch” of their jaws. + +<p>Before sunrise we were packed and away, and shortly reached the hills +which we found to be, as we had hoped, bare granite rocks. Leaving the +camels, we spread out, and searched every hole and corner without success. +Every rock-hole was dry. One native soak we found, from which we scraped +about half gallon of water none too clear, and the less tempting from the +close proximity of the dead body of a gin, a young native woman, +fortunately not long dead. The ashes of a native camp but lately deserted, +could be seen close by; no doubt they had moved off as the supply of water +was so nearly done. Whether they had left the body to become a skeleton, +before making a bundle of the bones (a practice common to some Australian +tribes), or whether it is their usual custom to leave the dead where they +die, I do not know. I know, however, that this body was subsequently +moved, not by the blacks, but by those snarling scavengers, the dingoes. + +<p>This finding of a corpse at the mouth of the only soak we had seen was +hardly encouraging; but still there was a large extent of rocks that we +had not yet visited. Shortly before sunset, as I stood on the summit of +the highest rock, I was astonished by the sight of some horses grazing in +a little valley beneath. I could hardly believe that I saw aright; it +seemed incredible that horsemen should have reached this drought-begirt +spot. Little time was wasted in idle speculation, and the appearance of +our camels soon proved the horses to be flesh and blood, and not mere +phantoms of the brain, unless indeed phantoms can snort and plunge! + +<p>The owner of the horses soon made his appearance, and, with reluctant +resignation, showed us the soak from which his horses were watered. He and +his mates, he said, were sinking for water in a likely spot some half-mile +away; in the meantime they used the soak, though it was evident it would +not last much longer. We must have water for our camels, and must use the +soak, I said, until their thirst was somewhat relieved, then in our turn +we would dig for soaks round the rocks. In the hottest time of the year +our poor patient beasts had been eight days without food, except of the +driest description, and eight days without water, struggling and kicking +in the salt-bogs. It was indeed a delight to quench their thirst at last. +All that night we worked without a minute's rest, digging, scraping, and +bailing, and secured enough to keep the camels going. For the next two +days we were engaged in sinking trial holes for soakages; no water, +however, rewarded our labours until the night of the second day, when we +struck a splendid supply, and for the time being our troubles were over. +Pitching a “fly” to keep off the sun's rays in the daytime, we were +content to do nothing but rest for the whole of the next day. Here again I +was fortunate in shooting an emu, a welcome addition to our provisions. + +<p>McIlwraith and his mates (the owners of the horses) had also struck a good +supply. From them we got the news which we already suspected that a new +find of gold had been made not five miles from the rocks. An apparently +rich find too! How strangely things turn out. Our ill-fortune in failing +to find the Erlistoun had forced us into a most unpleasant experience, +and yet that ill-fortune was turning into good. For here we were on the +scene of newly-discovered reefs and nuggets, at the new rush, the +existence of which we had gravely doubted. We were the third party on the +field, and from Messrs. Rogers and friends I heard the history of its +discovery. + +<a name="p3c5"></a><h4>CHAPTER V</h4> + +<h4>Gold At Lake Darlôt</h4> + +<p>About the month of October, 1894, Rogers and party, with their camels, +were camped at Cutmore's (or Doyle's) Well, and, on studying the map of +the Elder Exploring Expedition, they saw that Mr. Wells had marked the +country north of Lake Darlot as “probably auriferous.” This they +determined to visit, and, more fortunate than ourselves, were not caught +in the intricacies of the salt lake. + +<p>Returning in disgust, having found no signs of gold, they passed the +granites, where they got water, and camped on a promising piece of +country, where they soon found gold in the the reefs. Here they worked for +some time with but little encouragement, until after Christmas, when +alluvial gold was found on the surface by a member of another party who +came upon the original discoverers in a somewhat startling manner. + +<p>Cable, Janet, and Pickering had pushed out also from Cutmore's Well, and +by finding water on a granite between the two, had reached the rocks near +Lake Darlot. Here they found camped a tribe of aboriginals, to whom they +showed kindness—too much kindness it appears, for the treacherous +thieves, having tasted the white man's food, conceived the bold idea of +raiding the camp, killing its occupants, and annexing their provisions. +At midnight the prospectors were attacked, Cable and Janet being speared +as they lay in their blankets, Cable through the stomach and Janet in +the arm, Pickering escaping, for he had laid down his blanket under a +tree, away from the packs, to get shade from the moon. He is, too, a man +of exceptionally small stature, and so eluded the quick sight of the +black-fellow. + +<p>In spite of the disadvantage under which they were placed by the sudden +attack and wounds, the white men overpowered and dispersed their +treacherous foes. In what a terrible position they were now placed, +fifty-five miles from Cutmore's Well, the nearest certain water, for the +chances that the water found between would be dried up, were great! Only +one man unwounded and one suffering the most awful tortures of pain; and +nobody with the smallest medical skill, within God knows how many miles! +Death seemed certain, but while life remained they were not the men to +give in, and they thought of a plan whereby the life of their mate might +be saved if only their horses held out. They travelled five miles, then +camped, and the available man returned to the rocks to water the horses +at the risk of being again attacked by the niggers. And thus dot and go +one, they hoped to reach Cutmore's. + +<p>So much endurance could not remain unrewarded and the two wounded men were +overjoyed by the report of a shot (a dynamite shot as it afterwards +transpired, fired by Rogers, Parks, and Lockhart as they worked on their +reef), and as soon as the horses returned, the little band set forth in +the direction from which the welcome sound had come, and before long saw +the camp of the lucky prospectors. + +<p>Fortunately Mr. Parks had some knowledge of surgery, picked up in the +African bush, where he had been a trader, and so could doctor the wounded +men. Here they camped until one morning, Janet, recovered of his hurt, +picked up a nugget of gold, strangely enough, close to the track from +Roger's camp to the reef he was working. This nugget was the first-fruit +of a plentiful harvest, and presently they went down to the coast where +poor Cable could be properly attended to in hospital. Pickering and Janet +returned as soon as possible, but not before some inkling of their find +had leaked out; consequently when they returned, just at the time of our +arrival on the scene, their tracks were followed, and a “rush” set in. + +<p>We were not long in making our camp at the new diggings, or in getting to +work to hunt for gold. Being out for a syndicate, who naturally wanted +something big in the way of a reef, we were precluded from the alluring +search for alluvial, “specking,” as it is termed. + +<p>It seems the simplest thing in the world to find a good mine—that is, as +I said before, after you have found it! On Sunday, February 17th, Paddy +and I took a walk, and stepped right on to an outcrop of quartz showing +beautiful gold. Quite simple! Any fool can prospect; all he wants is a +little luck, and the strange inner urgings that make him examine a certain +quartz reef or blow that others have passed, perhaps dozens of times, +without happening to look in the right place! Roughly marking out an area, +to establish our prior claim to the ground amongst those already on the +field, we returned to camp and gave Jim, who had been packing water from +the granites, the joyful news. + +<p>On Monday before daylight we were out, and soon had eighteen acres marked +off by a post at each corner, and our notices posted on a conspicuous +tree, which we had been unable to do the day before, Sunday-pegging being +illegal. + +<p>Fresh parties were now arriving daily, and the consequent demand for water +made it necessary for Jim to camp at the rocks, and bring us a supply +whenever he was able. + +<p>This was not accomplished without some trouble, for not only were the +soaks we had dug with so much labour, made use of by the new-comers, +which we did not object to, but our right to the water was often disputed +by some who, with small regard for the truth, said that it was they who +had sunk the wells! Jim, however, was not the man to be bluffed, and, in +spite of lameness from sciatica in the loins and hip, managed to keep us +well supplied. Short-handed already, we were further handicapped by Paddy +smashing his thumb, and thus, for a time, I was the only sound workman of +the party. + +<a name="p3c6"></a><h4>CHAPTER VI</h4> + +<h4>Alone In The Bush</h4> + +<p>By March 4th we were satisfied that the appearance of the mine was good +enough to warrant our applying for a lease of the area already marked out. +So leaving Czar behind, to enable Paddy and Jim to pack water, I, riding +Satan and leading Misery, loaded with specimens from the reef, set forth +for Coolgardie, to apply for the lease, and get a fresh supply of +provisions, of which we were sadly in need. My departure for Coolgardie +was taken advantage of by several who wished to bank their gold, and thus +I became an escort. + +<p>Coolgardie lay almost due south, 220 miles on the chart, but nearly 300 +miles by the track, which deviated from water to water. Speed being an +object, I decided to strike through the bush to George Withers' hole. +Here, by the way, poor Alec Kellis had just been murdered by the +blacks—not the pleasantest of news to hear, as I started on my solitary +journey. I followed a horse pad for fifty-five miles, mostly through thick +scrub, to Cutmore's Well, where several parties were camped, who eagerly +questioned me as to the richness of the new field. + +<p>Leaving Cutmore's, I struck through the bush, and before long the sickness +I had had on me for some time past, developed into a raging fever. Every +bone in my body ached and shot with pain. I could neither ride nor walk +for more than a few minutes at a stretch; I was unable to eat, nor cared +to drink the hot water in my canteen. I struggled on, now riding, now +walking, and now resting under a bush, travelling in this fashion as long +as daylight lasted, from five in the morning until six at night. Afraid to +let the camels go at night lest they should wander too far, or, while I +was following them in the morning, my packs should be raided by the +blacks, I tied them down, one on either side of my blankets; and thus I +had not only a protection against the wind, but the pleasure of their +companionship—no slight blessing in that solitude. + +<p>How lonely I felt, in that vast uninhabited bush! Racked by pain, I tossed +from side to side, until sheer weariness kept me still; so still that the +silence of death seemed to have fallen upon us; there was not a sound in +all that sea of scrub, save the occasional sleepy grunt of one of the +camels, until the quiet night re-echoed with the hoarse call of the +“Mopoke,” which seemed to be vainly trying to imitate the cheerful notes +of the cuckoo. How could any note be true in such a spot! or how could a +dry-throated bird he anything but hoarse! At last morning came, heralded +by the restless shuffling of the camels, and another day's journey began. + +<a name="pt11"></a><h5>Illustration 11: Fever-stricken and alone</h5> + +<center><p><img alt="" src="images/spin6.jpg"></center> + +<p>Tying the camels down at nights necessitated the cutting of scrub and +bushes for them to feed upon, and I doubt they got little enough to eat. +Before long I was too weak to lift the saddles off, and could only with +difficulty load and unload the bags of quartz, and, weakened as I was by +illness, my labours were not light. Yet further trouble was in store for +me, for presently a salt lake barred my way. Then I began to understand +the meaning of the word despair. Neither kindness or cruelty would induce +my camels to cross; I was therefore forced to follow the banks of the +lake, hoping to get round it, as I could see what I supposed was its end. +Here I was again baffled by a narrow channel not ten yards wide. It might +as well have been half a mile, for all the chance I had of crossing it. +The trend of the lake was north-west by south-east, and I was now at the +north-west end, but stopped, as I say, by a narrow channel connecting +evidently with another lake further to the north-west. + +<p>There was nothing for it but to retrace my steps, and follow along the +margin of the lake to the south-east, and eventually I got round, having +been forced some ten miles out of my course. + +<p>I was fortunate in finding water without difficulty, in a small rock-hole +amongst some granite hills in which “Granite Creek” takes its rise. +From these I had still eighty miles to travel before I could reach a +settlement, Coongarrie (the 90 mile) being the nearest point. Could I do +it? I had to succeed or perish miserably, and a man fights hard for his +life. So I struggled on day and night, stopping at frequent intervals from +sheer exhaustion, cursing the pitiless sun, and praying for it to sink +below the horizon. Some twenty miles from Coongarrie I was relieved by +striking a track, which did away with the necessity of thinking where I +was going. + +<p>A few miles more, and—joy unspeakable—I found a condenser and a camp. +The hospitable proprietor, whose name I never learned, did all he could to +make me comfortable, and I felt inclined to stay, but despatch was +imperative, for not only must the lease be applied for forthwith, but +Conley and Egan must be provisioned. At Coongarrie I gave a swagman a +lift, and he helped me with the camels and loads, until at last Coolgardie +was reached. + +<p>Giving my camels in charge of the first man I could find willing to look +after them, an Afghan, Neel Bas by name, I finished my business at the +Warden's office. Then, yielding to the persuasion of my friends in Asken +and Nicolson's store, I retired to the hospital, for indeed I could fight +against my sickness no longer. Here I remained some three weeks under the +kind care of Miss O'Brien (now Mrs. Castieau) and Miss Millar, the pioneer +nurses on the goldfields. No words can express the admiration I, and all +of us, felt for the pluck and goodness of these two gently nurtured +ladies, who had braved the discomforts and hardships of the road from York +to Coolgardie—discomforts that many of the so-called stronger sex had +found too much for them—to set up their hospital tent, and soothe the +sufferings of poor fever-stricken fellows. + +<p>The services of these kind ladies, and of many that subsequently followed +their example, were badly needed, for the typhoid fiend was +rampant—carrying off the young, and apparently strong, men at a rate too +tremendous to be credible. Funerals were too common to call for even +passing notice. “Unwept, unhonoured, and unsung,” they went to a nameless +grave. + +<p>My chief anxiety was for my mates. How could I send them relief, +incapacitated as I was? Fortunately, my friend David Wilson offered to go +for me, in consideration of a certain interest in the mine we had found. +This was a great help, and now I could rest contented; not altogether +though, for Neel Bas had some hesitation in giving up the camels, and had +a violent row with Dave Wilson, all of which he would insist on explaining +to me in broken English, as he sat cross-legs on the floor of my tent. The +doctor happily arrived and kicked him out, and I was left in peace. In +less than three weeks I was able to go by coach to Southern Cross, and +thence by train to Perth, where, under the kind roof of Colonel Fleming, +the Commandant, I soon regained my health. + +<p>When I mention that my syndicate never even offered to defray the cost of +my illness, my readers will understand that my statements as to the +ingratitude of those who benefit by the prospectors' toil are not +unfounded. Unfortunately for me, my old mate, Lord Douglas, was absent +in England, and, in consequence, much misunderstanding resulted between +the syndicate and myself. + +<a name="p3c7"></a><h4>CHAPTER VII</h4> + +<h4>Sale Of Mine</h4> + +<p>During my convalescence in Perth, I occupied my time by drawing in the +Government offices, a map, compiled from the various notes and journals I +had kept during the prospecting expeditions in which I had been engaged. +I also took the opportunity of getting some knowledge of astronomical +subjects, likely to be of service in the more extended expedition I had +in my mind. My thanks are due to Mr. Barlee, chief draughtsman, and +Mr. Higgins, of the Mines Department, for the kindness they showed in +helping me in this work. + +<p>It was not very long before I felt it was necessary to return to my +duties at Lake Darlot. Timing my arrival in Coolgardie to coincide with +that of Mr. Wilson from the mine, we met; and from him I was pleased to +hear how well the claim was turning out. + +<p>Since it was not necessary for both of us to be on the spot, I took one of +the camels, of which we now had five, and made all speed to a reported +“new rush” near Lake Lefroy, that was causing much excitement. Knots of +men could be seen in every corner of the town eagerly discussing the news; +gold, to the tune of 30,000 ounces, was being brought in; was in the town; +was actually in one of the banks! Many had seen it (or said so). Where was +this Eldorado? Every man knew; every man had directions how to get there, +from quite unimpeachable sources. It was actually in the local papers; +indeed, there could be no doubt about it. I knew of course that all this +must be discounted, but the matter was worth looking into, and I was +fortunate to get <i>the</i> very latest information from one who was an old +mate of the supposed lucky digger. I found my travelling companion had +equally well authenticated information. On comparing notes we soon +discovered that our directions were entirely at variance. + +<p>To make a long story short, we at length found that, like hundreds of +others, we had been fooled, and that the whole thing was bogus. The +diggers' indignation was righteously intense, the office of the offending +newspaper was attacked, and much damage narrowly averted. One unfortunate +man, on whom fell the wrath of the crowd, returning from the supposed +rush, lied profusely when “in drink,” said that he had found the spot, +that hundreds of men were gleaning rich gold in fabulous quantities, that +the world had never seen so wonderful a find, that gold would soon be as +cheap as lead in the market—in fact told a thousand and one similar fairy +tales, engendered by whisky and excitement. When sober he foolishly stuck +to what he had said; and, in consequence, was sent by the diggers, under +escort, to point out the spot, which of course he could not find. His +reception in Coolgardie may be imagined! Doubtless on the Western +goldfields of America, “lynching” would have been his portion. Even in +order-loving Australia he might have had an unpleasant time, had not +Mr. Finnerty, the popular Warden, quelled the turmoil, and placed the +offender under Police protection. For want of the real article, a +well-attended procession burnt this idiot's effigy, and thus the great +rush ended. + +<p>It was supposed by some, if I remember rightly, that the fire which gutted +nearly half the town had its origin in this effigy-burning. What a blaze +that was to be sure! Tents, shanties, houses of hessian, shops of +corrugated iron and wood, offices, hotels, and banks, consumed in one +sheet of flame in a matter of half an hour or so, the blaze accompanied by +explosions of dynamite caps, kerosene, and cartridges. Nothing could be +done to stay its fury. To save the town, houses were demolished, to form +wide gaps across which the flames could not reach. It was the general +impression that corrugated iron was more or less fireproof. However, it +burnt like cardboard. Ruinous to some as the early fires were, they +benefited the general community, as more substantial buildings were +erected, and hessian shanties forbidden. + +<p>After a good deal of unpleasant business over the mine at Lake Darlot, +which the syndicate wished to abandon, for reasons best known to +themselves, I was at length on the road for that district, with the +agreeable news that our mine was for sale, and would soon be off our +hands. + +<p>I had a rather more enjoyable journey than my previous one, for not only +was I free from fever, and the mine in a fair way to being sold, but +winter had changed the face of the bush from dull dead yellow to bright +smiling green, dotted here and there with patches of white and pink +everlastings. One could hardly believe it was the same country. Instead of +the intense heat a bright warm sun dissipated the keen and frosty air of +early morning, while the hoar-frost at night made one glad of a good +possum rug to coil oneself up in. I did not envy the cyclists, for +sometimes, failing to hit off a camp on the road, they had perforce to +make the best of a fire as a substitute for a blanket, and to be content +with a hungry stomach, in place of having a meal. + +<p>Before the erection of telegraph wires, which now connect all the more +important mining towns, cyclists made good money by carrying special +messages from Coolgardie to the outlying districts. Except where the sand +was deep they had a good track, well-beaten by the flat pads of camels, +and could do their hundred miles a day at a push. Travelling at express +rate, they were unable to carry blankets or provisions except of the +scantiest description, and took their chance of hitting off the camp of +some wayfarer, who would always be ready to show what hospitality he +could, to messengers of so much importance. To have to part with one of +your blankets on a cold night for the benefit of another traveller, is +one of the severest exercises of self denial. + +<p>These little kindly services are always rendered, for a man in the bush +who would not show courtesy and hospitality to a fellow-wayfarer is +rightly considered a cur. No matter what time one strikes a man's camp, +his first thought, whether for stranger or friend, is to put on the +“billy” and make a pot of tea. + +<p>Arrived at Lake Darlot, I found work being carried on well and with +energy, as could not fail to be the case where Dave Wilson was concerned. +Poor Jim and Paddy had had hard times, before Wilson arrived, to make the +provisions last out. Nevertheless they had worked away on the reef without +complaint, while others around them were waxing rich on the alluvial. + +<p>The population had increased to some two thousand men during my absence: +two thousand men working and living in order and peace, with no police or +officials of any kind within two hundred miles—a state of affairs of +which we may justly be proud. + +<p>Evil-doing, however, was not entirely absent, and occasional cases of +robbery of gold, or pilfering of tents occurred; the offenders in such +cases were usually caught and summarily dealt with. + +<p>A “roll up” would be called, and those who cared to put themselves +forward, would form judge, jury, police, and all. The general verdict was +notice to quit within so many hours—an order that few would dare to +neglect. A case in which this did happen occurred at Kurnalpi when a man +was caught passing bad notes in the “Sunday School.” He refused to budge, +and, seeing that he was a great giant with the reputation of being the +roughest and hardest fighter in the country, the question arose who should +“bell the cat.” The man who had been swindled was a stranger, and +unwilling to fight his own battle; who, therefore, would volunteer to get +a sound hammering from one of the toughest blackguards in Australia. + +<p>The “roll up” slowly dispersed, every man muttering that it was not his +business, and that, after all, passing a “stiff 'un” on to a new chum was +no great crime as compared to stealing gold or robbing a camp. In this I +think they showed sound judgment. The prize-fighting gent, however, became +too bumptious, and was eventually hustled out of the place. + +<p>Our camp at Lake Darlot was rather pleasantly situated on rising ground by +the side of the blow; behind us, sheer cliffs of conglomerate, worn and +weathered into queer little caves, the floors of which were covered inches +deep by the droppings of bats and small wallabies; and, stretching away +to the South, an open plain enclosed in an endless sea of scrub. Every +morning we witnessed the strange phenomenon of a lake appearing in the sky +to the South, miles away, above the scrub, a lake surrounded by steep +white cliffs. This mirage would last perhaps half an hour, and was, I +suppose, a reflection of Lake Darlot, which lay at the back of us, some +five miles distant to the North. + +<p>Our camp consisted of the usual tents and bough-shades and for the first, +and probably the only, time in our lives we cooked our pots on a golden +fireplace. To protect the fire from the wind, so that a good pile of ashes +should collect for baking purposes, we had made a semicircular wall of +stones. The nearest available stones, quartz boulders from the blow, were +used, and so it came about that we had a gold-studded fireplace! We used +to have a curious visitor from the caves—a small black cat, which was +tame enough to wander between our legs as we sat round the fire, but too +wary to be caught. I can hardly imagine a prospector carrying a cat as +companion, and yet how else did it get there? Its shyness inclined us to +think it had strayed from civilisation. Jim tried to catch it one evening, +and not only got scratched and bitten for his trouble, but so startled the +beast that it never returned. Our party was now increased to five; for an +extra hand, Alfred Morris, had been engaged. Between us the duties of the +day's work were divided. + +<p>Our daily labours included hunting up the camels, lest they strayed or +were stolen, cutting timber for mining or firewood, packing water from the +rocks five miles away, and working on the mine. + +<p>I had occasion to make a journey to Lawlers, where a Warden, Mr. Clifton, +had lately been established, and I mention here an illustration of one of +the many intelligent traits in the character of camels. + +<p>Not wishing to follow the road in its many turns from water to water, I +cut through the bush for some fifty miles. The first part was over hard, +stony ground, then came sand, then more stones, and then I struck the road +again about two miles from Lawlers. I stayed there two or three days, +intending to return on my tracks. Wishing to test the intelligence of my +camel Satan I allowed him a free rein, either to keep on the track or turn +off for a short cut. As soon as we came to the spot where we had first +struck the road, he turned into the bush without hesitation with his nose +for home. After some eight miles of stones, on which I could distinguish +no trail, we came to the sand, and at once I could see our former tracks +right ahead, which little Satan had followed with the precision of a +black-fellow. + +<p>In repasssing old camping-places on the road, camels will often stop, and +look surprised if made to go further. They have, too, an excellent idea of +time, and know very well when the day's march should come to an end. +With what sad reproof they look at one with their great, brown eyes, that +say, as plainly as eyes can speak, “What! going on? I am <i>so</i> tired.” +I fancy the reason that camels are so often described as stupid and +vicious, and so forth, is that they are seen, as a rule, in large mobs +under the care of Indian or other black drivers, whose carelessness and +cruelty (so far as my experience goes) are unspeakable. For that reason I +never have had an Afghan driver in my employ, nor can I see any advantage +in employing one, unless it be on the score of cheapness. Camels are +infinitely better managed and treated by white men—of course, I speak +within my own knowledge of Australia—and in consequence their characters +develop, and they are properly appreciated. + +<p>In due course the expected inspecting engineer came to see our mine, and, +as he had several reports to make, we had the pleasure of his company at +our camp, and very glad we were to do what we could for such a fine +specimen of an expert and gentleman as Mr. Edward Hooper. He was satisfied +with what he saw—indeed, he could hardly have been otherwise at that +period of the mine's existence; and on our arrival in Cue, wither we had +travelled part of the way together, a bargain was struck, and before many +days Jim and I returned with the glad tidings that the mine was sold, and +would be taken over forthwith. + +<p>The road from Cue was as uninteresting as all others on the goldfields— +miles of flat, sandy soil covered with dense scrub, an occasional open +plain of grass and saltbush round the foot of the breakaways, and cliffs +that are pretty frequently met with. Travellers on this road had been kept +lively by a band of marauding black-fellows, most of whom had “done time” +at Rotnest Jail for cattle-spearing, probably, on the coast stations. +Having learnt the value of white-fellows' food, they took to the road, and +were continually bailing up lonely swagmen, who were forced to give up +their provisions or be knocked on the head, since hardly any carried +firearms. The finest prize that they captured was a loaded camel, which in +some extraordinary way had got adrift from the end of a large caravan, +and wandered into the scrub. The Afghans, when they had perceived their +loss, tracked up the camel, only to find it dying in agony, with its knees +chopped nearly two. This was Jacky-Jacky's way of putting the poor beast +down to be unloaded. Happily, after a Warden was appointed at Lawlers, a +trooper was sent out, who broke up the gang and captured most of them, at +the expense of the life of one black tracker. + +<p>One of these thieves paid our camp a visit, but the sight of a rifle, +combined with a smart blow on the shins with a stick, quite satisfied him +that he had come to the wrong place. + +<p>Returned to Lake Darlot, we impatiently awaited the arrival of those who +were to take over the mine from us. At last they came, and it only +remained to pack up our traps, take the road to Coolgardie, and finish up +all business connected with the syndicate. There we parted, Conley and +Egan leaving with their shares; and with regret on both sides I think, +that our ways no longer lay together: for months of close companionship in +the bush, facing hardships and sometimes mutual dangers, make a close tie +of friendship between men, that is not easily broken. + +<a name="pt12"></a><h5>Illustration 12: Miner's Right</h5> + +<p>Wishing to pay a visit to the old country, and yet not caring to part with +the camels which had been my property for some months past, and of which I +was very fond, we formed a syndicate, composed of Dave Wilson, Charles +Stansmore, and Alfred Morris, who found the money, and myself, who found +the camels, the profits of the venture, if any arose, to be divided in a +proportion agreed upon. I could depart, therefore, with the satisfactory +feeling of knowing that my faithful animal-friends would be well cared +for. + +<p>Shares were rising, the mine was sold, and the work done, and it was with +a light heart that I booked passage for London in October, 1895. +<hr> + +<a name="p4c1"></a><h3>PART IV</h3> + +<h3>MINING</h3> + +<h4>CHAPTER I</h4> + +<h4>Quartz Reefing And Dry-Blowing</h4> + +<p>I would not, even if I had the requisite knowledge, wish to bore the +reader by giving a scientific account of gold-mining, but Western +Australia presents so many appearances differing from those in other +gold-producing countries, and so varied are some of the methods of +obtaining gold, that I hope a short account of the usual ways of winning +the precious metal, purely from a prospector's point of view, will be of +interest. + +<p>The area over which the goldfields extend, may be described as very gently +undulating country, from which rise, at intervals, low ranges or isolated +hills. +<blockquote> +Mount Burgess, the highest hill around Coolgardie, is about 500 feet +above surrounding country. +</blockquote> +<p>These ranges, in reality seldom over 200 feet above the plain, +have in the distance a far more important appearance. It is a common +experience to steer for a range, sighted from perhaps a distance of +fifteen miles, and find on closer inspection that it is no more than a low +line of rocks. It is equally common for a hill to appear as quite a +respectable mountain when seen from one point, but entirely to disappear +from view when seen from the opposite direction, so gentle is the slope. + +<p>These ranges, such as they are, occur at intervals of a few miles up to +thirty or more, and between them scrub-covered plains, sand-plains, or +flat stretches of open forest are found. In the deeper undulations, long +chains of dry salt-lakes and samphire-flats are met with, occupying a +narrow belt, perhaps one hundred miles in length. Doubtless were the +rainfall greater, these lakes would be connected, and take the place of +rivers, which would eventually find their way into the Australian Bight. +Unfortunately for the comfort of travellers, this is not the case, and +their water supply must depend upon one or other of the various sources +already described. + +<p>The first aim of a party of Western Australian prospectors is to find not +gold, but water. Having found this they make camp, and from it start short +excursions in all directions towards any hill that may be in sight. +Arrived at the hills, which, though bare of undergrowth, are usually +covered with low scrub, they can soon determine from the nature the rock +whether further search is likely to have good results. Should they see +hills of ironstone and diorite, or blows and outcrops of quartz, they +will certainly revisit the locality. In what manner, will depend upon the +distance from water. They may be able to form camp in the desired spot, +with water close at hand; or the party may have to divide, some camping in +the likely country, engaged in prospecting solely, while the others “tail” +the horses or camels at the watering-place and pack water to their mates. +In cases where “good gold is getting,” water has sometimes been packed +distances of twenty to forty miles; or it may happen that good country +must be passed over, from the want of water within reasonable distance. + +<p>From his limited appliances and means, a prospector's object is to find a +vein or reef of gold-bearing ore, not by sinking, but from surface +indications. + +<p>Veins or reefs may be described as layers, which have been deposited in +fissures and cracks in the rock surrounding them. The enclosing rock is +known as the “country rock.” “Lodes” are veins composed of a mixture of +quartz, ironstone, and other material, and usually exceed in width the +“reefs,” which sometimes, as at Southern Cross, attain thirty feet, but +are rarely more than one to four feet in thickness. The part of a reef +showing above the surface is the “outcrop,” which may appear either as a +mass or “blow” of quartz, sometimes sixty feet in height, or as a solid +wall or dyke which can be followed for perhaps five miles without a break; +the direction in which it runs is known as its “strike.” + +<p>Reefs may go down vertically, or on a sloping “dip” or “underlay.” The +country rock lying immediately above the reef is the “hanging wall,” and +that immediately below, the “foot wall.” + +<p>In prospecting a reef, a miner walks along the strike of the outcrop, +“napping” as he goes, i.e., breaking off with a hammer or pick, pieces of +the quartz or ironstone outcrop. Each fragment is carefully examined for +the presence of gold, which is nearly always found, if on the surface, in +a free state, that is to say, uncombined with any other mineral. If any +gold is present, it may occur in small specks as fine as flour, or in +large solid lumps as big as one's fist, as in Bayley's Reward Claim, +Londonderry, and one or two other mines. In the latter case the rich find +would immediately be pegged out as a claim, or lease, and work commenced, +the coarse gold being won by the simple process of “dollying” the ore; +or pounding it in an iron mortar with an iron pestle, and passing it when +crushed, through a series of sieves in which the gold, too large to fall +through, is held. + +<p>To estimate roughly the worth of a reef in which only fine gold is visible +it is necessary to take several samples along the outcrop, “dolly” them, +and wash the powdered quartz by means of two iron dishes, from which the +light material is floated off, leaving the gold behind. From a series of +experiments an idea can be formed as to whether the reef is worth further +work. + +<p>It will be found on napping a reef, that the gold occurs at more or less +regular intervals. This deposit of gold in the surface outcrop is the top +of a “shoot” of gold, which may be followed down on the underlay for many +feet. And this peculiarity in the distribution of the metal has been the +cause of much disappointment and misunderstanding. + +<p>Having determined that your reef is good enough on the surface, the next +thing to be done is to ascertain, by means of cuts and shafts, its nature +below the surface. This may be done either by an underlay shaft, which +follows the reef down from the surface, or by a vertical shaft, sunk some +distance away from the outcrop, to cut the reef perhaps one hundred feet +below. + +<p>By a series of shafts with drives, or galleries, connecting them when they +cut the vein, a more accurate estimate of the value of the reef can be +made. + +<p>Now in the case of a reef which has rich shoots a prospector, naturally +anxious to make his “show” as alluring as possible to any possible buyer, +sinks his trial shaft, on the underlay, through the shoots. And so it +might happen, that by carefully selecting the sites of his shafts, he +might have a dazzling show of gold in each one, and merely blank quartz +between them. A mining expert, usually only too ready to give a glowing +report, makes his estimates on the assumption that the quartz intervening +between the shafts is as rich as that visible in them, and the purchase +price increases accordingly. + +<p>Not only do shoots occur to puzzle the expert, gladden the heart of the +prospector, and madden the shareholder, but the eccentricity of gold is +further exemplified by the way in which it has been been deposited in +“pockets.” + +<p>No better example of this could be given than the Londonderry Mine, where +gold to the value of many thousand pounds was won from quite a small hole +in the outcrop. At the bottom of this hole lumps of solid gold could be +seen, and inasmuch as other pockets, equally rich, had been found, it was +assumed by nearly all concerned that the reef was a solid mass of gold, +and the whole community was mad with excitement. However, when the +purchasers started work, it was soon discovered that the golden floor to +the golden hole only continued golden to the depth of three or four +inches, to the despair of the promoters and unlucky shareholders, as well +as of the numberless adjoining leaseholders, through whose property this +rich reef had been traced. + +<p>It seems incredible that a vein should run in more than one direction, and +yet it is made to do so, and to go North, East, South, or West, or to any +intermediate point of the compass, at the discretion of those responsible +for the prospectus! An unmistakable surface outcrop is not popular amongst +experts (it leaves no scope for the exercise of an elastic imagination), +whereas they cannot be expected to see under ground, and can then make +their reef run in the most suitable direction. + +<p>I do not think the much-abused expert is any more dishonest than other +folk, though he has more temptation. His bread and butter depends on his +fee, his fee depends, not on the accuracy of his report, but on the fact, +whether or no that report suits his employers. If, as often is the case, +he has to report on a “lease” whose only value is derived from its close +proximity to a rich show, and if that rich show only appears above the +surface in an isolated mass, and its direction of strike can only be +guessed at, and, above all, if he knows that his fee or future employment +depends on guessing that direction into the property under report, I think +he has been led into temptations from which most of us are exempt, and +which a good many would find it hard to resist. The term “expert” refers +only to the numerous army of “captains” and “mining experts” of mushroom +growth, for which the soil of the goldfields is so suitable, and is not +applied to the mining engineer of high standing, whose honourable and +straight dealing is unimpeachable. + +<p>Having brought the mine to such a state that it is ready to be purchased, +in which unsatisfactory position it sometimes remains for many long +months, I will now leave it, and will not touch upon “mills” and +“batteries,” which are the same, or nearly so, in all countries, and are +outside the province of a prospector, who, from his limited capital, is +unable to erect the costly machinery necessary for the extraction of gold +from quartz on a large scale. Therefore the prospector parts with his mine +as soon as he can find a purchaser, usually an agent, who sells at a +profit to some company, which in its turn sells at a greater profit to the +British or Australian public. + +<p>The humbler prospector confines his attention to alluvial gold, that is to +say the gold which has been shed from the outcrop of the reef, by +weathering and disintegration. The present small rainfall, and the +evidence from the non-existence of river-beds, that the past rainfall was +no greater, go to show that this weathering is due to the sudden change in +temperature between night and day, the extreme dryness of the atmosphere, +and strong winds. Without any rush of water it is not possible for any +great depth of alluvial soil to have been formed, nor can the gold have +been carried far from the reef, or reefs, in which it has its origin. For +this reason, though exceptionally rich in places, the alluvial diggings +have never been either of great extent, or depth, or of general richness. + +<p>In many places the alluvial soil is not more than a few inches in +depth. It is in such places that “specking” may be carried on, which +consists in walking slowly about with eyes to the ground, and picking up +any nuggets that may be seen. Many thousand ounces of gold have been found +in this simple manner. Where, however, the alluvium is deeper, a +considerable amount of labour must be expended before gold can be won. In +countries blessed with abundant rainfall the nuggets can be separated from +the dirt by a comparatively simple arrangement of sluices and cradles. In +the drought-stricken west of Australia other means must be adopted, which +I will endeavour to describe. + +<p>Having picked and dug out a certain amount of the alluvial ground which, +it is hoped, contains nuggets of various sizes, the digger then breaks up +any lumps of clay or earth by means of a heavy billet of wood, or like +implement, and this prepared dirt, as it is called, he treats in one of +the following ways:— + +<p>1. <i>By means of two iron dishes</i>, in diameter 15 to 18 inches, and in depth +4 to 5 inches. + +<p>One dish is placed empty on the ground, the other, filled with the +prepared dirt, is held up at arm's length above the head, with the mouth +of the dish turned to the wind; the earth is then allowed to fall +gradually into the dish beneath, all light particles and dust being blown +away by the wind. Exchange of dishes having been made, the same process is +repeated again and again. When there is only a small amount of dust left, +the full dish is held in both hands, and given a circular movement, which +causes the larger stones or pebbles to come to the surface; these are +cleared away with the left hand, and a sharp look out is kept for nuggets +or quartz specimens. This is repeated until nothing is left in the dish +but a small quantity of dust, ironstone-gravel, and possibly fine gold, or +small nuggets. The dish is then held up at an angle, and shaken from side +to side until a compact little heap remains, to the bottom of which the +gold will have sunk. The next and final operation is to hold the dish up +to the mouth nearly horizontally, and blow the little heap across the +dish. Any fine gold will then be seen lying on the bottom just under the +nose of the operator. + +<p>Given a good hot summer's day, flies as numerous as the supply of water is +scanty, clouds of dust, little or no breeze, and the same quantity of +gold, and a few score of men working within an area of nine or ten acres, +one is sometimes tempted to think that gold may be bought too dear. But +the very lowest depths of despair, cannot compare with the heights of +satisfaction, attained after a successful day's “dry-blowing.” + +<p>2. <i>By means of two dishes, and a tripod stand and pulley.</i> + +<p>A tripod, twelve or fifteen feet high, is set up over a hard and smooth +piece of ground. By a rope and pulley the full dish is hauled up as far as +required; the rope is then made fast and a string, fixed to the edge of +the dish, is pulled, and the dish tipped up allowing the dirt to fall on +to the prepared surface below, where it is swept up and treated as in the +first method described. With a fair breeze this is a very effectual way of +getting rid of the fine dirt. + +<p>3 <i>By means of a sieve.</i> + +<p>This method is only suitable when the soil is wet and sticky, or where the +nuggets are fairly large and not too rare. + +<p>On the first rush to Kurnalpi, where more alluvial gold was found in a +short time than on any other field, sieves were almost the only implements +used. + +<p>A sieve is very useful for prospecting the surface soil, being more +portable and more rapidly worked than the dishes. + +<p>A combination of these three methods is found in the <I>Dry-blowing Machine</I>. + +<p>It has always been a hotly debated question, whether what is known as the +“Cement” comes under the heading of “reefs” or “alluvial.” This cement is +composed of angular quartz-fragments, broken from the reefs or veins, +and fragments of diorite and hornblende schists, cemented together by +lime; it is very hard and solid and, in places, continues to a depth of +over twenty feet. The gold is extracted from these depths by crushing and +dry-blowing. I have mentioned this peculiar composition last, as I am not +at all clear to which class of formation it belongs. + +<p>At first this cement, which the shallow alluvial ground overlies, was +supposed to be “bottom,” that is to say, that there was considered no +likelihood of gold being found at a greater depth. Later developments, +however, have proved this theory to be wrong, and with regard to this I +cannot do better than quote extracts from a report made by +Mr. E. P. Pittman, Government Geologist of New South Wales, in which +he says:— +<blockquote> +<i>He had considered the question of deep-leads of alluvial, and after +visiting Coolgardie, Kalgoorlie, and Kanowna, he thought it probable that +there would shortly be a large output of alluvial gold from this source. +In Coolgardie the dry-blowing had been confined to a very shallow depth, +and yet close to Coolgardie—in Rollo's Bore—there was evidence of the +existence of a very deep valley. He produced a specimen, taken by him +from an alluvial working near the Boulder Mine, showing what the +dry-blowers had all through regarded as the natural floor of the alluvial. +Below this floor they had never penetrated until the enterprising +prospector at Kanowna recently did so, and followed the lead down to +fifty feet.</i> + +<p><i>…He was satisfied that the alluvial went down to a depth at +Kalgoorlie just as it did at Kanowna. All the conditions were favourable +to deep-leads of alluvial.</i> + +<p><i>…Rollo's Bore at Coolgardie had proved the existence of alluvial +gold at great depths.</i> + +<p><i>…So far the alluvial men had been working on a false bottom</i>. +</blockquote> +<p>At the time of writing, some two thousand men have found profitable +employment in working this newly discovered deposit; and doubtless +conditions similar to those found at Coolgardie, Kalgoorlie, and Kanowna, +will be proved to hold on other alluvial fields, formerly supposed to be +worked out. + +<p>How hotly debated this “cement question” has been may be judged from the +fact that, at the time of writing, riots are reported from Kalgoorlie, +during which the Premier was hooted and stoned. This cowardly act could +hardly be the work of genuine diggers, and could doubtless be traced to +the army of blackguards and riffraff who have, of late years, found their +way to the goldfields. + +<p>It would be idle to discuss here the questions of “who is right” and +“who is wrong.” A great deal can be said on both sides. Let us hope the +controversy will be settled to the satisfaction of both parties; that the +diggers will not be turned off what is justly theirs, to benefit +leaseholding companies, nor leaseholders deprived of their rights. +<hr> + +<a name="p5c1"></a><h3>PART V</h3> + +<h3>THE OUTWARD JOURNEY</h3> + +<h4>CHAPTER I</h4> + +<h4>Previous Explorers In The Interior Of Western Australia</h4> + +<p>I had not been enjoying the comforts of civilised life for long before I +had a letter from Dave Wilson telling me how he and our mates had pegged +out, and applied for, a lease which gave every promise of doing well. + +<p>In April, 1896, I returned to Australia, and made speed to our new +property, which I found to be in every respect as satisfactory as Wilson +had told me. To be in the possession of a good mine, and to find someone +anxious to change places on terms mutually agreeable, are two very +different things. We were fortunate, however, in finding a purchaser, but +not fortunate enough to bring him up to the scratch with any promptitude. +I had hoped to have had all preparations for the projected expedition +complete by the beginning of May, in order that by the time the hot +weather came on we should be well on our way, if not at the end of our +journey. The Fates ordered things differently, and it was not until the +middle of June that I was free to turn my attention to the thousand and +one details connected with the composition and equipment of my party. + +<p>With what keenness I entered into the preparations may be well imagined, +for now at last I was in a position to undertake the expedition I had so +long in my mind. In order to explain what my object was, and what my plan +of procedure was to be, it will be necessary to give a short sketch of the +history of exploration and advance of settlement in Western Australia. +The Colony, occupying one third of the continent, has an extreme length of +1,500 miles and a breadth of one thousand miles. The length of coast-line +exceeds three thousand miles. A most noticeable feature of the coast-line +on the South is the entire absence of rivers—for nearly seven hundred +miles no rivers or even watercourses are met with. Along the Western coast +rivers are fairly frequent, the largest being the Swan, Murchison, +Gascoyne, Ashburton, the Fortescue, and De Grey. The Swan, on which the +capital is situated, is the most important—the rivers North of this are +not always running, the seasons in the country where they rise being very +unreliable. Further North again, where Warburton's Desert abuts on the +sea, we find an inhospitable sandy beach (the Eighty-mile Beach), along +which no river mouths are seen. In the far North, the Kimberley Division, +the coast-line is considerably indented by bays, gulfs, and the mouths of +rivers of fair size, which run for the greater part of the year; of these +the most important are the Fitzroy, Lennard, Prince Regent, and Ord. The +Colony can boast of no great mountain ranges, the highest, the Darling +Range, being something over 2,000 feet. The Leopold range in the north is +of about the same altitude. No mountain chain breaks the monotony of the +central portions of the Colony. In the interior hills are called +mountains, and a line of hills, ranges, for want of a better name. + +<p>The first settlement was formed on the Swan River in 1826, and gradually +spread to the South and North, until to-day we find the occupied portion +of the Colony extending along the western seaboard for about 1,200 miles, +with an average breadth of perhaps two hundred miles. In the North the +occupied country is confined to the watersheds of the two main rivers, +the Fitzroy and the Ord. + +<p>To the Eastward of Perth the populous mining towns and many scattered +mining camps and settlements extend some five hundred miles towards the +interior. In spite of the discovery of gold and the advance of the Colony +in every way, there still remains more than half the province unoccupied. + +<p>How scattered the population of the settled country is may be judged from +the fact that the average population is one individual to every six square +miles. The vast, almost unknown, interior well merits its designation of +“Desert,” and I suppose that in few parts of the world have travellers +had greater difficulties to overcome than in the arid, sun-dried +wilderness of interior Australia. The many attempts to penetrate beyond +the head-waters of the coastal rivers date from the earliest days of the +Swan River Settlement. But in every case travellers, bold and enduring, +were forced back by the impassable nature of the sandy deserts—impassable +to all except camels. Roe, Hunt, Austin, and the Gregorys made more than +one effort to solve the mysteries of the interior. Numerous attempts were +made to cross the Colony from West to East or <i>vice versa</i>, with the double +object of ascertaining whether the nature of the country rendered it +suitable for settlement, and of establishing some means of communication +with the sister colonies to the East. + +<p>The first who succeeded in travelling overland from South to West +Australia was Eyre, afterwards made governor of Jamaica. He started in +1841, and his route hugged the coast-line along the shores of the Great +Australian Bight, and is now closely followed by the telegraph line. In +spite of almost insurmountable obstacles in the form of waterless regions, +almost bare of vegetation, in spite of mutiny in the camp, and the murder +of his white companion by one of the black-boys, the loss of his horses, +in spite of starvation and thirst, this gallant man battled his way +across, finishing his journey on foot with one companion only, a faithful +black-boy. Lucky it was that this district is blessed with a plentiful dew +in the cool weather, otherwise Eyre's horses could never have lasted as +long as they did. This journey was successfully accomplished again in 1879 +by Forrest (now Sir John Forrest, Premier of West Australia) who, keeping +somewhat to the north of Eyre's track, had comparatively little difficulty +in finding water. + +<p>Some 150 miles to the northward, the Colony was traversed from East to +West by Giles in 1876, who found it to be a flat, sandy wilderness of +scrub, alternating with open limestone plains, covered with saltbush and +grass. +<blockquote> +These plains, first crossed by Giles, have every appearance of being +splendid pasture-lands. Unfortunately no surface water can be obtained. +The formation is limestone, in which are found “blowholes”—that is to +say, circular holes two to four feet in diameter, which go down vertically +to a depth never yet ascertained. They derive their name from the curious +booming noise which they emit, probably caused by the wind. Judging from +the growth of saltbush and other herbage it would seem likely that the +rainfall on these elevated plains is considerable, and apparently runs to +waste down blow-holes and cracks in the limestone. No doubt when other +parts of the Colony become occupied and civilisation advances, settlers +will turn their attention to this part, and possibly, by means of bores, +find a plentiful supply of water, as on the Nullarbor Plains across the +border. It seems likely that a most undesirable class of colonists will +forestall the “back blockers” from the west, for to the northward of Eucla +rabbits have been seen slowly advancing to the westward. The Government +fortunately realises the importance of checking the incursion. To my mind +the safest plan would be to run a fence, at whatever cost, north from +Eucla, for some 150 miles, until the desert was reached, and so force the +rabbits into a part of the country where, supposing they could live +(which is doubtful), they could do no harm, and might come as a welcome +addition to the diet of the wandering blacks, or might serve to break the +monotony of “tinned dog” for the weary prospector. +</blockquote> +<p>Without camels as transport this expedition could not have been carried +out, which will be readily understood when we find that a waterless stage +of three hundred miles was negotiated. It is of course likely that Giles +passed by waters unknowingly, for owing to the number of camels he had +(twenty-two) and the supply of water he was enabled to carry, he was able +to push on without turning to the right hand or to the left. + +<p>In the following year Giles again crossed the Colony from West to East, +some 350 miles North of his first route, and encountered considerably +worse country, spinifex desert covered with light gravel. Between Giles's +two tracks, Forrest, in 1874, made a remarkable journey from West to East, +connecting his traverse with that of Gosse, who from the East had +penetrated some 150 miles into the Western Colony, and finally reached the +Adelaide-Port Darwin telegraph line. This journey was accomplished with +horses, and Forrest, like Stuart in Central Australia, happened to strike +a belt of country intersected by low ranges and hills in which he found +water. On his left hand was the undulating hill-less desert crossed by +Giles, on his right a wilderness of rolling sandhills. Not only was +Forrest a surveyor but a bushman as well, and accompanied by good men and +black-boys, who let not the slightest indications of the existence of +water escape them. One has only to notice the numerous twists and turns in +his route to understand that no pains were spared to find water, and thus +from rock-hole to rock-hole he wound his way across. + +<p>It seems certain that Forrest must have had an exceptional season, judging +from the difficulties that have beset subsequent travellers, even though +they had camels, over the same route. Mills, Hubbe, Carr-Boyd, Macpherson, +and Frost have in late years traversed the same country, not following +exactly in Forrest's footsteps, but visiting several waters yielding a +plentiful supply when found by him, but which were dry when seen by them. +Nevertheless if ever an overland route for stock is found from Central +Australia to the Coolgardie fields, I feel confident it will closely +approximate to Forrest's route of 1874 for a considerable distance. +Between Giles's northern track and that of the next explorer, Warburton, +there is a gap of some four hundred miles. Colonel Warburton, with a party +of four white men, two Afghans, and one black-boy, left Central Australia, +in 1873 to cross to the western coast. This he succeeded in doing after +fearful hardships and sufferings, entailing the death of sixteen out of +seventeen camels, the temporary failure of his eyesight, and the permanent +loss of one eye. One of his party lost his reason, which he never properly +recovered, and sufferings untold were experienced by the whole expedition, +the members of which narrowly escaped with their lives. Indeed they would +not have done so but for the faithful courage and endurance of Samuel +Lewis, who alone pushed on to the coastal settlements for aid, and, +returning, was just in time to rescue the other survivors. So bad was the +account given by these travellers of the interior that it was only by the +gradual extension of settlement, rather than by the efforts of any one +individual, that any part of it became better known. But for the finding +of gold it is certain that the interior would have long remained an +unknown region of dangers, so boldly faced by the early explorers. + +<p>The existence of gold was known to the Dutch as far back as 1680 or +thereabouts, and what is now known as the Nor'-West (including Pilbarra +and the Ashburton) was called by them “Terra Aurifera.” In spite of vague +rumours of the existence of gold, and the report of Austin in 1854, who +passed close to what is now the town of Cue and noticed auriferous +indications, it was not until 1868 that an authenticated find of gold was +made—at Mallina, in the Nor'-West. Since that date the precious metal has +been found now in one place, now in another, until to-day we see on the +map goldfields extending in a comparatively unbroken line from Esperance +Bay on the South, along the Western seaboard to Kimberley in the North. + +<p>Whilst prospectors were at work, explorers were not idle, and in 1892 a +large expedition, equipped by that public-spirited colonist, Sir Thomas +Elder—now alas! dead—was fitted out and put under the leadership of +David Lindsay. Sir Thomas was determined to finish what he had so well +begun, viz., the investigation of the interior, for by him not only had +Giles and Warburton been equipped, but several other travellers in South +and Central Australia. This expedition, however, though provided with a +large caravan of fifty-four camels, accomplished less than its +predecessors. Leaving Forrest's route at Mount Squires, Lindsay marched +his caravan across the Queen Victoria Desert to Queen Victoria Spring, +a distance of some 350 miles, without finding water except in small +quantities in rock-holes on the low sandstone cliffs he occasionally met +with. From Queen Victoria Spring, he made down to Esperance Bay, and +thence by the Hampton Plains, through settled country to the Murchison. +Here Lindsay left the expedition and returned to Adelaide; Wells, surveyor +to the party, meanwhile making a flying trip to the eastward as far as the +centre of the Colony and then back again. During this trip he accomplished +much useful work, discovering considerable extents of auriferous country +now dotted with mining camps and towns. On reaching the coast, he found +orders to return to Adelaide, as the expedition had come to an end. Why, +it was never generally known. Thus there still remained a vast unknown +expanse right in the heart of the interior covering 150,000 square miles, +bounded on the North by Warburton's Great Sandy Desert, on the South by +Giles's Desert of Gravel (Gibson's Desert), on the West by the strip +of well-watered country between the coast and the highland in which the +rivers rise, on the East by nothing but the imaginary boundary-line +between West and South Australia, and beyond by the Adelaide to Port +Darwin Telegraph Line. + +<p>To penetrate into this great unknown it would be necessary first to pass +over the inhospitable regions described by Wells, Forrest, and Giles, and +the unmapped expanses between their several routes—crossing their tracks +almost at right angles, and deriving no benefit from their experiences +except a comparison in positions on the chart, should the point of +intersection occur at any recognisable feature, such as a noticeable hill +or lake. + +<p>Should the unexplored part between Giles's and Warburton's routes be +successfully crossed, there still would remain an unexplored tract 150 +miles broad by 450 long before the settlements in Kimberley could be +reached, 1,000 miles in a bee-line from Coolgardie. This was the +expedition I had mapped out for my undertaking, and now after four +years' hard struggle I had at length amassed sufficient means to carry it +through. I do not wish to pose as a hero who risked the perils and dangers +of the desert in the cause of science, any more than I would wish it to be +thought that I had no more noble idea than the finding of gold. Indeed, +one cannot tell one's own motives sometimes; in my case, however, I +believe an insatiable curiosity to “know what was there,” joined to a +desire to be doing something useful to my fellow-men, was my chief +incentive. I had an idea that a mountain range similar to, but of course +of less extent, than the McDonnell Ranges in Central Australia might be +found—an idea based on the fact that the vast swamps or salt-lakes, Lake +Amadeus and Lake Macdonald, which apparently have no creeks to feed them +from the East, must necessarily be filled from somewhere. Since it was +not from the East, why not from the West? + +<p>Tietkens, Giles's first officer in nearly all his journeys, who led an +expedition from Alice Springs in Central Australia to determine the extent +of Lake Amadeus, cut off a considerable portion of that lake's supposed +area, and to the North-West of it discovered Lake Macdonald, which he +encircled. To the West of this lake he found samphire swamps and +clay-pans, which are so often seen at the end of creeks that seldom join +the lakes in a definite channel. He might, therefore, have crossed the +tail-end of a creek without being aware of it. + +<p>Should such a range exist it might be holding undiscovered rich minerals +or pasture-lands in its valleys. Anything seemed possible in 150,000 +square miles. Then again it seemed to me possible that between Kimberley +in the North and Coolgardie in the South auriferous connection might +exist. A broken connection with wide intervals perhaps, but possibly belts +of “mixed” country, now desert, now lake, now gold-bearing. Such mixed +country one finds towards the eastern confines of the goldfields. No +better example of what I mean could be given than Lake Darlot, of which +one might make an almost complete circuit and be in a desert country all +the time. Should we find auriferous country in the “far back,” it was not +my intention to stop on it (and, indeed, our limited supplies would have +made that difficult), but to push on to Hall's Creek, Kimberley, +investigating the remaining portion of unknown on the way; then to refit +and increase the means of transport, and so return to the auriferous +country in a condition to remain there and properly prospect. These were +the ideas that possessed me before our journey commenced. + +<p>I do not wish to institute comparisons, but it is often said that a +prospector, or pioneer, who explores with the hope of gain to himself, +cannot be deserving in an equal degree of the credit due to those who have +risked their lives in the cause of science. I may point out that these +latter have not only been at no expense themselves, but have been paid +salaries for their services, and have, in addition, been rewarded by +grants of money and land—and deservedly so. Yet a man willing to take the +same risks, and venture the fruits of perhaps years of hard work, in +equipping and bearing all the expenses of an expedition, is credited with +no nobler incentive than the “lust of gold”—because he hopes, with a +vague chance of his hope being realised, to be repaid by compelling Nature +to part with some of her hidden treasures. + +<p>The prospector in his humble way slowly but surely opens up the country, +making horse or camel-pads, here, there, and everywhere, from water to +water, tracks of the greatest service to the Government road-maker and +surveyor who follow after. He toils and labours, suffers, and does heroic +deeds, all unknown except to the few. He digs soaks and wells many feet in +depth, makes little dams in creeks, protects open water from contamination +by animals, and scores of other services, primarily for his own benefit, +it is true, but also for the use of those who come after. Very few +recognise the immense value of the work carried out by prospectors who are +not actuated only by the greed for gold, as I, who know them, can assert. +Some wish to satisfy a longing to determine the nature of new country, +to penetrate where others have never been; others work for love of +adventure and of the free bush life; while many are anxious to win what +distinction may fall to the lot of successful travellers, though reward +or distinction are seldom accorded to prospectors. But beyond all this, +there is the glorious feeling of independence which attracts a prospector. +Everything he has is his own, and he has everything that IS his own with +him; he is doing the honest work of a man who wins every penny he may +possess by the toil of his body and the sweat of his brow. He calls no man +master, professes no religion, though he believes in God, as he cannot +fail to do, who has taken the chances of death in the uphill battle of +life “outside the tracks,” though he would perhaps be annoyed if you told +him so; and it is only by intimate acquaintance with him that you can know +that his God is the same as other men's, though called by another name. +For the rest, he lives an honourable life, does many acts of kindness to +those in need, never leaves his mate in the lurch, and goes “straight” to +the best of his ability. For him, indeed, +<center> +<p>“Two things stand like stone:<br> +Kindness in another's trouble,<br> +Courage in his own.” +</center> +<p>As to his work, the results remain, even though he keeps no record. Should +he find good country or gold, the land is soon occupied—sooner than if +some officially recognised expedition had reported it. For in the one case +the man is known and trusted by his fellow-prospectors, while in the other +there is not only the bushman's dislike of anything official to be +overcome, but the curious conviction, which most of them possess, that any +one in the position of a geologist, or other scientific calling, must +necessarily be an ass! In the same way, if the country met with is +useless, the fact soon becomes known amongst the prospectors, who avoid it +accordingly—though a few from curiosity may give it a further trial. +Slowly but surely the unaided and individual efforts of the prospector, +bring nearer to civilisation the unknown parts of Australia. Many are the +unrecorded journeys of bushmen, which for pluck and endurance would rank +with any of those of recognised explorers. + +<p>The distances accomplished by their journeys are certainly of no great +length, as, indeed, they hardly could be, seeing their scanty means and +inadequate equipment; and yet in the aggregate they do as great an amount +of useful work as a man who by a single journey leaves his name on the map +of Australia. It has always seemed a shame to me, how little prospectors +are encouraged. No inducement is offered them to give information to the +Government; they may do so if they like, but they cannot hope to get +anything for it in return. My old mate, Luck, not only surveyed, roughly +but accurately, a track between Southern Cross and Menzies, a distance of +nearly 150 miles, but actually cut the scrub for a part of the way, to +allow his camels to pass; shortly after a Government road was to be cut +between the two towns, and Luck sent in his map, at the suggestion of the +then head official of the Water Supply, with an application for monetary +reward for his work. His request was refused, his map never returned, and +strangely enough the new road followed his traverse from water to water +with startling exactitude. Who was to blame I cannot say; but someone +must be in fault when a man, both able and willing to do such useful work +is not only neglected, but to all intents and purposes robbed. This is not +the only instance of the apathy of the Government in such matters, but is +a sufficient example of the lack of encouragement with which prospectors +meet. + +<a name="p5c2"></a><h4>CHAPTER II</h4> + +<h4>Members And Equipment Of Expedition</h4> + +<p>The most important question in the organisation of an expedition of long +duration is the choice of one's companions. Many men are excellent fellows +in civilisation and exactly the reverse in the bush, and, similarly, some +of the best men for bush work are quite unfitted for civilised life. I was +therefore grievously disappointed when I heard the decision of my late +partners not to accompany me. Dave Wilson thought it unwise to come +because his health was poor and his blood completely out of order, as +evinced by the painful sores due to what is termed “the Barcoo Rot.” This +disease is very common in the bush, where no vegetables or change of food +can be obtained, and must be something akin to scurvy. It is usually +accompanied by retching and vomiting following every attempt to eat. The +sufferer invariably has a voracious appetite, but what he eats is of +little benefit to him. The skin becomes very tender and soft, and the +slightest knock or scratch, even a touch sometimes, causes a wound which +gradually spreads in all directions. The back of the hand is the usual +spot to be first affected, then the arms, and in a bad case the legs also, +which become puffy at the joints, and before long the wretched victim +will be covered with sores and abrasions. No external application of +ointment or anything of that nature seems to do any good, though +the wounds are deep and leave but little scar. After a month or two +in the bush one is pretty sure to develop this complaint, which in +the dusty, hot weather is further aggravated by the swarms of flies, +whose poisonous nature is made evident to any one who has killed them. +In my own case I have found fine white wood-ashes, preferably of the +mulga, to have a healing and drying effect. Ashes are used by the natives +for healing wounds, and I found them very efficacious in cases of sore +backs amongst camels. Nothing but an entire change of diet and way of +living can cure the “Barcoo”; constant washing, an impossibility +“out-back,” being essential. Dave, having had his sickness for some long +time, was physically unable to form one of the party, to my sorrow, +for he was a man in whom I had the greatest confidence, and one whose +pluck and endurance were unquestionable. + +<p>Alfred Morris joined his brother in a reef the latter had found, and +Charlie Stansmore was not at all well. Thus I was for the time stranded. +There was no difficulty in getting men—of a sort! but just the right kind +of man was not easily found. My old friend Benstead added one more to the +many good turns he has done me by recommending Joe Breaden, who had just +finished a prospecting journey with Mr. Carr-Boyd and was looking out for +a job. Benstead had known him from boyhood, in Central Australia, and +gave him the highest character—not higher than he merited, though, +as I hope these pages will make clear. Most of us have, I think, an +instinct that tells us at once whether to trust another or the reverse. +One can say on sight, “I have perfect confidence in that man.” As soon as +I saw Breaden I felt a voice within me saying, “That's just the man you +were looking for.” I told him my plans and the salary I could afford to +give him; he, in his silent way, turned me and my project over in his mind +for some few minutes before he said the one word “Right,” which to him +was as binding as any agreement. + +<p>A fine specimen of Greater Britain was Joe Breaden, weighing fifteen stone +and standing over six feet, strong and hard, about thirty-five years of +age, though, like most back-blockers, prematurely grey, with the keen eye +of the hunter or bushman. His father had been through the Maori War, and +then settled in South Australia; Breaden was born and bred in the bush, +and had lived his life away up in Central Australia hundreds of miles from +a civilised town. And yet a finer gentleman, in the true sense of the +word, I have never met with. Such men as he make the backbone of the +country, and of them Australia may well be proud. Breaden had with him his +black-boy “Warri,” an aboriginal from the McDonnell Ranges of Central +Australia, a fine, smart-looking lad of about sixteen years, whom Breaden +had trained, from the age of six, to ride and track and do the usual odd +jobs required of black-boys on cattle stations. I had intended getting a +discharged prisoner from the native jail at Rotnest. These make excellent +boys very often, though prison-life is apt to develop all their native +cunning and treachery. Warri, therefore, was a distinct acquisition. + +<p>Having made so successful a start in the choice of mates, I turned my +attention to the purchase of camels. My idea had been to have twelve, +for it seemed to me that a big number of camels was more a handicap than +an advantage in country where the chances of finding a large supply of +water were so small. Another excellent reason for cutting down the caravan +was the question of expense. Eventually I decided on nine as being the +least we could do with. Nine of the very best they must be, so I spared no +pains in the choosing of them. Mr. Stoddart, the manager of a large +Carrying Company, from whom I bought them, said that he had never come +across any one so hard to please! However, I meant to have none but the +best, and I got them—five splendid South Australian bulls, three of +mature years and two youngsters—all a proper match for my old train of +four. The best camels, unfortunately, are not the cheapest! The average +value of our caravan was £72 10 shillings—a tremendous amount when +compared with their cost in other countries. In Somaliland, for instance, +for the price I paid for my nine, I could get one hundred and sixty-three +camels! But the Somali camel from all accounts is a very poor performer, +compared to his kinsman in the Antipodes, his load being about 200 lbs. +against the Australian's 6 to 9 cwt. + +<p>The new camels were christened Kruger, Prepeh, Mahatma Billy (always known +as Billy), Redleap, and Stoddy. These, together with my old friends Czar, +Satan, and Shiddi, I put under Breaden's charge; and he and Warri camped +with them a few miles from the town whilst I completed preparations. +Rain was falling at the time, the wet weather lasting nearly a fortnight; +the whole country around Coolgardie was transformed from a sea of dust +into a “Slough of Despond,” and, seeing that five out of the nine camels +were bulling, Breaden had anything but a pleasant time. Amongst camels, +it is the male which comes on season, when, for a period of about six +weeks annually, he is mad and unmanageable, and in some cases dangerous. +Once, however, a camel knows you as his friend, in whatever state of mind +he may be, he will not harm you, though a stranger would run +considerable risk. The duration of this bulling depends entirely on what +work they are doing; camels running in the bush without work will remain +perhaps three months on season, and a horrible nuisance they are too, +for they fight anything they come across, and will soon turn a peaceful +camp of unoffending camels into a pandemonium. When in this state they +will neither eat, drink, nor sleep, and unless tied down or carefully +watched will wander far away, and sometimes start off full gallop, in the +shortest of hobbles, and not stop under five or six miles. The +“scotch hobble” prevents this, for by having a chain from a hobble-strap +on the foreleg to another on the hind, the least attempt at galloping +will bring the beast down on to his knees. I used this arrangement on +Satan, but found that the fixing of the chain on the hind leg was a +matter of some danger, which could only be accomplished at the expense of +being sent flying by a kick in the stomach at least once; for a camel +hates anything touching his hind legs, and any attempt to handle them soon +affords ample evidence that he can let out with great vigour with any leg +in any direction. You have only to watch one flicking flies off his nose +with his toe to be convinced of that little point of natural history. +Before many weeks “on season” a bull becomes so thin and miserable, that +it is hardly credible that he can carry a burden of nearly twice the usual +weight; nevertheless it is a fact. I remember a caravan of “season camels” +arriving at Lake Darlot, carrying an average load of nine hundred pounds, +exclusive of the saddle. The extra load that they carry hardly compensates +for the trouble of looking after them, for when in that state they fight +like tigers, especially if they have not been long together. Once, +however, the bulls become friendly, they only fight in a more or less +half-hearted way amongst themselves; but woe betide any alien who finds +himself near them—they will then band themselves together and fall upon +that stranger until even his master would not recognise him. There is no +fun attached to travelling along a much-frequented track, on which mobs +of twenty to fifty camels may be met with; and there is no sleep to be got +at night, for if, following the practice of most white men, a man ties +down his camels at night, he may be certain that they will be attacked, +and from their defenceless position, perhaps seriously injured or killed +by the loose camels of some Afghan, who has neither the energy nor sense +of fair-play to restrain the bulls under his charge. + +<p>In this troublesome state were our camels, and poor Breaden, being a +stranger to them, was treated with neither politeness nor respect; +Kruger, especially, being so exceedingly ill-behaved as not only to knock +Breaden down, but to attempt to kneel on his chest and crush him. +This disaster was narrowly averted by the prompt action of Warri, who +first dragged his master out of danger, and then chastised Kruger with a +heavy stick, across the head and neck. Kruger was equally rough to his +fellows, for as in a pioneering party, so in a mob of bull camels, there +must be only one boss. + +<p>This knotty point was fought out with bitter vehemence, Czar, Shiddi, +and Misery being vanquished in turn by the redoubtable Kruger. The others +knew their places without fighting; for old Billy, the only one of them +not too young to compete, was far too good-tempered and easy-going to +dispute anything (except the passage of a salt-lake, as we afterwards +discovered). I was naturally sorry to see Misery deposed; but for his age +he fought a good fight, and it was gratifying to possess the champion who +could beat him. What a magnificent fellow was Kruger—a very tower of +strength, and (excepting of course when in the state above described) +with a nature like that of an old pet sheep. + +<p>In the meantime I was under the sheltering roof of my old foster-mother +“Bayley's Reward Claim”—the guest of Tom and Gerald Browne. + +<p>Gerald had as his henchman a small boy whom he had taken from a tribe +away out to the eastward of Lake Darlot—a smart little chap, and very +intelligent, kept neat and clean by his master, whose pride in his “boy” +knew no bounds. He was wonderfully quick in picking up English and could +count up to twelve. No doubt by this time he is still more learned. It is +rather strange that so much intelligence and aptitude for learning should +be found in these children of the wilderness, who in their wild and +wandering habits are not far removed from animals—for neither “Wynyeri,” +the boy in question, nor any of his tribe, could by any possibility have +seen a white man before 1892. And yet this little chap in a few months is +as spruce and clever as any white boy of the same size, and, far from +showing any fear or respect, evinces a distinct inclination to boss any +white children with whom he comes in contact. The Australian aboriginal is +indeed a puzzle: he lives like a beast of the field, using neither clothes +nor house, and to the casual observer is a savage of the lowest type, +without brains, or any senses other than those possessed by animals; +yet he has his peculiar laws and customs—laws of which the Mosaic rule of +“an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” is the foundation. + +<p>In some districts, and probably all over the continent, were inquiry made, +marriage laws of the most intricate kind are strictly adhered to; and +though his ceremonies and rites are unique in their barbarity, yet when +properly handled he is capable of becoming a useful and intelligent member +of the community. Great tact is necessary in the education of the +aboriginals. Neglect turns them into lazy, besotted brutes who are of no +use to anybody; too kind treatment makes them insolent and cunning; too +harsh treatment makes them treacherous; and yet without a certain amount +of bullying they lose all respect for their master, and when they deserve +a beating and do not get it, misconstrue tender-heartedness into fear. +The “happy medium” is the great thing; the most useful, contented, +and best-behaved boys that I have seen are those that receive treatment +similar to that a highly valued sporting dog gets from a just master; +“to pet” stands for “to spoil.” Like most black races, the native soon +develops a love for liquor; but fortunately there exists a stringent law +which prohibits the giving of drink to a black-fellow, except at the +request of his master. + +<p>It is marvellous how soon a tame boy comes to despise his own people, when +he far outstrips any white man in his contemptuous manner of speaking +about a “—— black fella.” + +<p>One visitor to Bayley's Reward Claim, brought with him from Victoria, +a highly educated aboriginal who had been born in civilisation, and who +afterwards married his master's parlourmaid. Jim was a tremendously smart +boy, could ride, shoot, box, bowl, or keep wicket against most white men, +and any reference to his colour or family was deeply resented. On his +first appearance the cook at Bayley's (the wife of one of the miners) +proceeded to converse with him in the sort of pigeon-English commonly +used, and handed him a plate of scraps for his dinner, calling out, +“Hi, Jacky-Jacky, this one your tucker,” to which Jim replied with stern +dignity, “Who the h— are you calling Jacky-Jacky? Do you think I'm +a —— black-fellow?” The cook, a quiet and ladylike little woman, who +had been a schoolmistress “at home” was not less astounded by the +excellent English, than by the delicate way in which his disapprobation +was expressed. This story of Jim reminds me of one about his master. +He was a man who liked to have everything about him smart and showy, and +was quite willing that every one should look upon him as a tremendous +swell with the purse of a Croesus. I heard some diggers discussing him: +one said he had come to buy up all the mines in the place and must be a +man of importance. “Oh,” said his mate, “any one could see 'e was a +toff—I seed him black 'is boots and brush his teeth.” “Yes, and 'e wears +a —— collar too.” Thus was exemplified the old adage “Fine feathers make +fine birds.” + +<p>Camped near Bayley's was Godfrey Massie, a cousin of Brownes and brother +of the once famous cricketer. He had taken a contract to sink a shaft on +the adjoining lease, but, owing to the death of one of his mates and his +own incapacity to work, due to a “jarred” hand, he was forced to throw up +the job, and quickly agreed to my proposal that he should form one of my +party. People get to a very casual way of doing things on the goldfields. +There was no formality about my arrangements; Godfrey helping me pack at +a store, and during our work I said without preface, “You'd better come +too;” “Right,” said he, and the matter was settled. Godfrey, a son of one +of the leading Sydney families, had started life in an insurance office, +but soon finding that he was not cut out for city life, went on to a +Queensland cattle-station, where he gained as varied a knowledge of bush +life as any could wish for; tiring of breeding and fattening cattle for +somebody else's benefit, he joined the rush to the Tasmanian silver-fields +and there he had the usual ups and downs—now a man of wealth, and now +carrying his load of bacon and oatmeal through the jungle on the steep +Tasmanian mountains. While a field continues to boom, the up-and-down +business does not so much signify, but when the “slump” comes it is +distinctly awkward to be in a state of “down.” It is then that the average +speculator bemoans his hard fate, can't think how he is to live; and yet +manages to do so by borrowing from any more fortunate fellow, and almost +invariably omitting to pay him back. A most lively and entertaining class +of men when shares are up, but a miserable, chicken-hearted lot when the +luck turns. + +<p>Some, however, of these wandering speculators, who follow from “boom” to +“boom,” are of very different mettle and face their luck like men. Such a +one was Godfrey, who, when he found himself “broke” in Tasmania, set to +work and burned charcoal until he had saved enough money to pay his +passage to Perth; and from there he “humped his bluey” to Coolgardie, +and took a job as a miner on his uncle's mine until brighter times should +come. The Australian can set us a good example in some matters, and I must +confess with sorrow that nine out of every ten young Englishmen on the +goldfields, of the same class, would not only be too haughty to work, but +would more readily take to billiards, cards, and borrowing when they +found themselves in low water—and no man sinks lower than an English +“gentlemen” who has gone to the bad, and no one despises him more than an +Australian miner, or is more ready to help him when he shows signs of +trying to help himself by honest work. I had known Godfrey long enough to +be sure that, in the bush, he was as good a man as I could get, hard as +nails, and willing to work for other people, as energetically as he would +for himself, so long as they treated him fairly. + +<p>My party was now complete, and included a little fox terrier, “Val” by +name, whose parents belong to Tom and Gerald Browne, and come of the best +stock in Australia. I had intended to take another man, but, since I could +not get one of the right sort, I had no idea of handicapping the party +with one of the wrong. At the last minute, however, Charlie Stansmore +changed his mind, greatly to my delight, for I knew him to be as sterling +a fellow as one could hope to find. Charlie, too, had knocked about from +Queensland to West Australia, now on a station, now a miner, and now +engine-driver. His people were amongst the earliest settlers on the Swan +River, and could well remember the great massacre of whites by the blacks; +subsequently they moved to Victoria, where they have farming land at the +present time. A very quiet, reserved man was Charlie, who took a great +interest in mechanical work and astronomy, a strong man physically and +mentally. Thus at last we were ready to tackle whatever the “great +unknown” had in store for us. + +<p>With hearty wishes for success from the few friends who knew where we were +bound for, we shook the mud of Coolgardie from our feet and took the +northern road to Menzies on July 9, 1896. Breaden, Stansmore, Massie, +Warri, nine heavily laden camels, and a dog made a fine show, and I +confess I was near bursting from pride as I watched them. + +<p>Who could foresee that one of us was destined never to return? + +<p>Acting on the principle of making mention of matters which I have noticed +excite an amount of interest in “Home” people, though to us, who are used +to them, their importance hardly seems to warrant it, I subjoin a list of +the articles and provisions with which we started:— + +<ul> +<li>8 pack-camels. Bulls. South Australian bred. Of ages varying from five + to fifteen years. +<li>1 riding-camel. Bull. S.A. bred. Age five years. + Average value of camels; £72 10 shillings each. +<li>8 pack saddles of Afghan make. +<li>1 riding saddle, made to order by Hardwick, Coolgardie, specially light, + and stuffed with chaff. A very excellent saddle. +<li>1 camel brand. D.W.C. +<li>1 doz. nose pegs. +<li>6 coils of clothes line. +<li>3 coils of wallaby line (like window-blind cord) for nose lines. +<li>5 hanks of twine. +<li>2 long iron needles for saddle mending (also used as cleaning-rod + for guns). +<li>2 iron packers for arranging stuffing of saddle. +<li>Spare canvas. +<li>Spare calico. +<li>Spare collar-check. +<li>Spare leather, for hobbles and neck-straps. +<li>Spare buckles for same. +<li>Spare bells. +<li>Spare hobble-chains. +<li>6 lbs. of sulphur. +<li>2 gallons kerosene, to check vermin in camels. +<li>2 gallons tar and oil, for mange in camels. +<li>2 galvanised-iron water casks (15 gallons each). +<li>2 galvanised-iron water casks (17 gallons each), made with bung + on top side, without taps, for these are easily broken off. +<li>1 India-rubber pipe for drawing water from tanks. +<li>1 funnel. +<li>3 three-gallon buckets. +<li>1 tin canteen (2 gallons). +<li>2 canvas water tanks, to be erected on poles to hold water + baled from soak, etc. +<li>4 canvas water-bags (10 gallons each.) +<li>4 canvas water-bags (1 1/2 gallons each) slung on camels' necks. +<li>6 Ballarat picks and handles. +<li>3 shovels. +<li>1 axe (7 lbs.). +<li>1 hammer (7 lbs.). +<li>1 engineer's hammer. +<li>3 tomahawks. +<li>1 saw. +<li>1 small flat iron anvil. +<li>1 small pair of bellows. +<li>1 iron windlass-handle and fittings. +<li>1 1-inch chisel. +<li>1 brace and bits. +<li>1 3/4 inch auger bit. +<li>1 emery stone. +<li>4 iron dishes. +<li>1 sieve-dish. +<li>1 iron dolly. +<li>1 soldering iron for mending water casks. +<li>2 sticks solder for mending water casks. +<li>1 bottle spirits of salts for mending water casks. +<li>1 case of tools. Screwdriver, small saw, hammer, chisel, file, gimlet, + leather-punch, wire nipper, screw wrench, large scissors, etc. +<li>1 case of tools for canvas work (sewing needles, etc.). +<li>2 lbs. of copper rivets. +<li>Screws. +<li>Bolts. +<li>1 box copper wire. +<li>Strong thread. +<li>1 1/2 lbs. 3-inch nails. +<li>1 lb. 2-inch nails. +<li>50 feet of rope. +<li>1 duck tent, 6 ft. x 8 ft. +<li>4 flies, 10 ft. x 12 ft., for covering packs. +<li>4 mosquito nets. +<li>3 saucepans. +<li>3 quart pots. +<li>6 pannikins. +<li>6 plates, enamelled tin. +<li>6 knives, forks, and spoons. +<li>1 stewpan. +<li>1 frying pan, +<li>1 small medicine case (in tabloid form). +<li>7 lbs. Epsom salts. +<li>6 bottles of Elliman's embrocation. +<li>3 bottles of carbolic oil. +<li>3 bottles of eye lotion. +<li>3 bottles of eucalyptus oil. +<li>2 galvanised-iron concertina-made boxes for perishable goods, + e.g., ammunition, journals, etc. +<li>2 twelve-bore shot-guns. +<li>4 colt revolvers, .380 calibre. +<li>4 Winchester repeaters, .44 calibre. +<li>200 twelve-bore cartridges. +<li>300 Winchester do. +<li>200 revolver do. +<li>1 bicycle lamp (for night observations). +<li>1 5-inch theodolite and tripod. +<li>2 prismatic compasses. +<li>2 steering compasses (Gregory's pattern). +<li>1 telescope. +<li>1 pair field-glasses. +<li>1 map case. +<li>1 drawing-board. + Drawing materials, note-books, etc. +<li>1 binocular camera, with films. (N.B. Not good in hot climate.) +<li>1 tape measure. +<li>14 50-lb. bags of flour (700 lbs.). +<li>35 doz. 1-lb. tins of meat (420 lbs.). +<li>5 doz. 1-lb. tins of fish (60 lbs.). + (N.B.—Not fit for consumption—thrown away.) +<li>200 lbs. rice. +<li>70 lbs. oatmeal. +<li>6 doz. tins of milk (condensed). +<li>8 doz. tins baking powder. +<li>4 doz. 1-lb tins of jam. +<li>140 lbs. sugar, +<li>40 lbs. salt (for salting down meat—kangaroo, etc.). +<li>30 lbs. tea. +<li>2 doz. tinned fruit. +<li>2 doz. tinned vegetables. +<li>10 lbs. currants. +<li>10 lbs. raisins +<li>40 lbs. dried apricots. +<li>6 doz. 1-lb. tins butter. +<li>4 doz. Liebig's Extract. +<li>1 1/2 doz. pepper (1/4-lb. tins). +<li>1/2 doz. curry-powder (1/4-lb. tins). +<li>9 packets Sunlight soap. +<li>1 box of candles. +<li>6 lbs. cornflour. +<li>28 doz. matches. +<li>50 lbs. tobacco. +<li>100 lbs. preserved potatoes. +<li>4 bottles good brandy. +<li>1 bottle good rum. +<li>1 hair clipper. +<li>Blankets, boots, flannel shirts, trousers (Dungaree and moleskin); etc. +</ul> + +<p>The stores were calculated to last six months with care and longer should +we encounter good country where game could be shot. Everything that could +be was packed in large leather bags, made to order. Other expeditions have +carried wooden brass-bound boxes; I do not approve of these—first on +account of their own weight and bulk; second, when empty they are equally +bulky and awkward; third, unless articles are of certain shapes and +dimensions they cannot be packed in the boxes, which do not “give” like +bags. Wooden water casks are generally used—my objections to them are +that they weigh more than the iron ones, are harder to mend, and when +empty are liable to spring or warp from the hot sun. + +<p>It will be seen that a great part of our load consisted of tools which, +though weighty, were necessary, should we come on auriferous country, or +be forced to sink to any depth for water: a great many of these tools were +left in the desert. + +<p>The average load with which each camel started, counting the water casks +(the four large ones) full, was 531 lbs., exclusive of saddle. Kruger and +Shiddi carried over 750 lbs. including top loading and saddle. + +<p>These loads, though excessive had the season been summer, were not too +great to start with in the cooler weather; and every day made some +difference in their weight. + +<p>The brandy was for medicinal purposes only. Even had we been able to +afford the room I should not have carried more; for I am convinced that +in the bush a man can keep his health better, and do more work, when he +leaves liquor entirely alone. + +<a name="p5c3"></a><h4>CHAPTER III</h4> + +<h4>The Journey Begins</h4> + +<p>The week's rain had made the roads in a terrible state, where dust had +been there was now a foot or so of soft mud, and the ground, which had +been hard and clayey, was now so sticky and slippery, that it was not easy +travelling for the camels. We passed several camps of Afghans, squatting +miserably under huge tarpaulins, waiting for the roads to dry before +starting their caravans, loaded with stores for some distant district. +There are one or two things that camels are quite unable to do, according +to an Asiatic driver; one is to travel in wet weather. However, Europeans +manage to work camels, wet or fine; the wily Afghan says, “Camel no do +this,” “Camel no do that,” because it doesn't suit his book that camel +should do so—and a great many people think that he <i>must</i> know and is +indispensable in the driving of camels; which seems to me to be no more +sensible than to say that a chow-dog can only be managed by a Chinaman. + +<p>There is, perhaps, a small amount of risk in travelling in wet weather, +for when a camel does slip he does so with a vengeance; each foot seems to +take a different direction and thus, spread-eagled under a heavy load, he +might suffer a severe strain or even break a bone. Redleap fell once, but, +happily, neither hurt himself nor the load. + +<p>The winter had caused a transformation in the appearance of the bush; +everywhere little patches of green grass or saltbush could be seen, and +wherever a teamster had stopped to bait his horses, a miniature field of +oats had sprung into life. How we hoped that the rainfall had extended +towards the interior! + +<p>If only we could have started sooner, we should have benefited by the cool +weather for a great part of the journey. But though the days were warm +enough, there was no doubt about the coldness of the nights. Our blankets +were white with frost in the mornings, and our canvas water-bags frozen +into a solid mass. My thermometer registered 17°F. just before +dawn on the coldest night. Unhobbling the camels and loading them was +freezing work, during which our fingers were quite numbed. Shivering, we +walked along until the sun was above the trees, then in a little its rays +warmed to their work, and we would peal off now a coat, now a jersey or +shirt, until in the middle of the day the heat was too great to be +pleasant. Poor little Val hated the cold nights, and, as I always sleep +away from a fire, she used to crawl into my blankets and lie up against +my back, which was quite pleasant for both of us. Most men like to sleep +alongside a roaring fire in the winter, but I have always found that after +the fire burns out and the night becomes colder, the change of temperature +becomes unbearable. If the fire burned all night it would be a different +matter; but to do so it must be replenished, and this entails leaving warm +blankets to carry wood. It is amusing to see two men camped by a fire +which has burned low, both lying awake, and watching to see if the other +will get up and attend to it. + +<p>The best recipe for avoiding cold is to sleep soundly; and to sleep +soundly one must be tired. As a rule night found us in this state, for we +all discovered walking rather trying at first, none of us having done any +for some time. We were all pleased, I think, when our stage of seven or +eight hours was finished—especially Breaden, who had given himself a +nasty strain in loading the camels, and who had a deal more weight to +carry than we thin people. Australian bushmen do not, as a rule, make good +walkers—their home has been the saddle. It was the more necessary, +therefore, that we should start on foot at once and carry out a system of +training, in which I am a great believer; thus we never ate or drank +between breakfast at daylight and tea at night—from nine to eleven hours +afterwards. Stopping in the middle of the day wastes time, and entails the +unloading of the camels or putting them down with their burdens on, a +very bad plan; the time so spent at midday is far more valuable in the +evening, when the camels can employ it by feeding. Then again, a meal, +really unnecessary, during the day soon makes an appreciable difference in +the amount of provisions used. Breaden and Godfrey consoled themselves +with tobacco, but Charlie and I were not smokers. I used to be, but gave +up the practice because it made me so dry—an effect that it does not have +on every one, some finding that a smoke relieves not only hunger but +thirst. I have only one objection to a smoker as a travelling companion, +and that is, that if by some horrible mishap he runs out of tobacco, he +becomes quite unbearable. The same holds with an excessive tea-drinker. +I was specially careful, therefore, to have a sufficient supply of these +articles. A large amount of tea was not required, since Godfrey was the +only confirmed tea-drinker. + +<p>On July 15th we reached Menzies, having followed the telegraph line to +that point. And a very badly constructed line this is, the poles being +timber and not sunk sufficiently deep into the ground—a contract job. +The iron poles which are now used in the Government-constructed lines are +a vast improvement. Menzies was the last town we called at, and was not +so specially inviting that we regretted leaving it. Niagara, the next +city, we avoided, and turned up the old Lake Darlot road, some fifteen +miles to the west of it. Between Menzies and Sandy Creek, close to where +we turned, the open, saltbush plain which fringes the salt lake, Lake +Prinsep, was looking quite charming, dotted all over with patches of +splendid green and yellow herbage, plants like our clover and dandelion, +and thousands of pink and white everlastings. There can be no doubt that +with a better rainfall or with some means of irrigation, could artesian +water be found, a great part of the goldfields would be excellent pastoral +land. As it is, however, a few weeks suffice to again alter the face of +the country to useless aridity. We camped a day on Sandy Creek, to allow +our beasts to enjoy, while they could, the luscious green feed; I embraced +the opportunity of taking theodolite observations for practice. The pool, +some eighty yards long, and twenty wide, fringed with overhanging bushes +and weeping willow with its orange-red berries, made a pretty picture; +turkeys evidently came there to water, but we had not the luck to +shoot any. + +<p>The northern track from Sandy Creek deviated so much on account of +watering-places, thick scrub, and broken rocks, that we left it and cut +through the bush to some clay-pans south of Cutmore's Well; and +successfully negotiated on our way the lake that had given me so much +trouble when I and the fever were travelling together. All through the +scrub every open spot was covered with grass, that horrible spear-grass +(<i>Aristidi</i>), the seeds of which are so troublesome to sheep and horses. +I have seen sores in a horse's mouth into which one could put two +fingers, the flesh eaten away by these vicious little seeds. When turned +out on this kind of grass, horses' mouths should be cleaned every day. +Camels do not suffer, as they seldom eat grass unless long, young, and +specially succulent. We, however, were rather annoyed by the persistent +way in which the seeds worked through our clothes and blankets; and before +much walking, our trousers were fringed with a mass of yellow seeds, like +those of a carter who has wound wisps of straw round his ankles. Truly +rain is a marvellous transformer; not only vegetable but animal life is +affected by it; the bush is enlivened by the twittering of small birds, +which come from nobody knows where, build their nests, hatch out their +young, and disappear! Almost every bush held a nest, usually occupied by a +diamond-sparrow. Her nest is round, like a wren's, with one small entrance +and is built roughly of grass, lined with soft, small feathers. The eggs, +numbering four to five in the few nests we disturbed, are white and of the +size and shape of our hedge-sparrow's. I am pretty sure that the nesting +season depends entirely on the rain. After rain, the birds nest, however +irregular the seasons. + +<p>As well as small birds, teal had found their way to the clay-pans, and +gave us both sport and food. These water-holes are the tail-end of +Wilson's Creek, on which is sunk Cutmore's Well, where splendid water was +struck at a depth of about eighty feet. Flood-waters from the creek spread +out over these flats, and eventually reach the lake already mentioned, +to the South. The caretaker at the Well occupied his spare time by growing +vegetables, and our last meal, with white men near us, for many months to +come, was accompanied by pumpkins and turnips. Camped here, too, was a mob +of cattle, about 130 head. The stockmen told us they had started from the +head of the Gascoyne River with 2,000 sheep and 150 bullock's. Leaving the +station, some four hundred miles to the N.N.W. of Cutmore's, they +travelled by Lake Way, where a fair-sized mining community was then +established, and Lawlers, where the advance of civilisation was marked by +numerous “pubs.” Their stock had not suffered from want of food or +water—in fact, a very general rain seemed to have spread from Coolgardie +to the Nor'-West. The cattle and our camels seemed quite friendly; the +latter were settling down to work, and could now be allowed to go in their +hobbles at night, in place of being tied down. Only an occasional fight +disturbed our sleep; but at the the clay-pans two strangers, wild and +savage, caused a deal of trouble, necessitating one or other of us being +up all night. However, we would soon be beyond such annoyances. At this +point our journey might be said to begin, for here we left the last +outpost of civilisation, and saw the last white face for some time to +come. + +<a name="p5c4"></a><h4>CHAPTER IV</h4> + +<h4>We Enter The Desert</h4> + +<p>Our position was in lat. 28° 35´, long. 120° +57´, and from this point I started to map the country as we went. +We left here on July 23rd steering a general N.E. by E. course, my +intention being to strike Mount Allott and Mount Worsnop, on Forrest's +route of 1874—two very noticeable hills, 280 miles distant. I chose these +for the double reason that by hitting them off correctly, as I hoped to +do, I should not only give confidence to my companions, but have the +opportunity of comparing my amateur work with that of a trained surveyor. +Our course would clear the southern end of Lake Wells with which I had no +desire to become entangled; and by so avoiding it I should cross a piece +of country hitherto untraversed. + +<a name="pt13"></a><h5>Illustration 13: Typical sandstone gorge</h5> + +<p>Our way lay across a rough range of bare diorite hills, whose stony slopes +and steep gullies were not appreciated by the camels. Beyond the hills +flat mulga-clad country extended for several days' march, only broken by +the occurrence of low cliffs or terraces of sandstone. These are of +peculiar formation, running sometimes for five or six miles without a +break; abrupt, on one side, and perhaps fifty feet high, with broken +boulders strewn about the foot of the cliff from which jut out occasional +buttresses. It takes some time to find a break in the cliffs, or a gully, +up which one can pass. Once on the top, trouble is over, for the summit is +flat though often covered with dense scrub; from it a gradual slope takes +one presently down to the same level as the foot of the cliffs. Occasional +pines find a footing on the face of the rocks—how they manage to grow or +get moisture is hard to tell—showing up fresh and green against the dull +grey background of rock. Round the foot of the cliffs a small plain of +saltbush is usually found, through which numerous small creeks and +watercourses wind their way into the scrub beyond. In any one of these, +as we saw them, water could be obtained by sinking in the gravelly bed. +From the summit of the cliffs, which is often perforated by caves and +holes opening on to the sheer face, square bluffs and walls can be seen, +standing up above the sea of scrub, each exactly like its neighbour, and +itself when again seen from another point. Doubtless the numberless creeks +join and form one larger creek probably running South, as the general +trend of the country is in that direction. + +<p>We were getting well into the swing of things now, for at first there is +always some trouble in the distribution of the loads and in loading up and +unloading. On camping at night the camels were always put down in a +circle, as near as might be. All top-loading was taken off and placed near +the centre; the side loads placed one on either side of the camel, and the +saddle by his tail. Thus everything, instead of being scattered about in a +long line, was handy, and easily reloaded the next morning. At this time, +when the packs were heavy, it took us thirty minutes from the time Breaden +and Warri brought the camels in to the time we were ready to start; +Breaden, Charlie, Warri, and I loading, whilst Godfrey, who acted as cook, +got his pots and pans together and packed the “tucker-bags.” There is +little of interest in this scrub; an occasional plant perhaps attracts +one's attention. Here and there a vine-like creeper (an Asclepiad) trails +upon the ground. With the fruits of this, commonly called cotton-pods, +the black-fellows vary their diet of grubs and the very rare emu or +kangaroo. The skin, the edible part, is soft, thick, and juicy, and has +quite a nice sweet taste. The blacks eat them raw or roasted in +wood-ashes. The seeds are of a golden yellow, and are joined on to a silky +fibrous core. When bruised the pod exudes a white, milky juice. + +<p>Numerous large spiders inhabit the scrubs and build their webs from tree +to tree; wonderfully strong they are too, and so frequent as to become a +nuisance to whoever is walking first. It is quite unpleasant when one's +eyes are fixed on the compass, to find, on looking up, that one's hat has +swept off a great web, whose owner runs over one, furious at unprovoked +assault. Though I got the full benefit of these insects, I was never +bitten; they may or may not be poisonous, but look deadly enough, being +from one to four inches from toe to toe. The scrubs for the most part are +thick and without a break for many miles. Sometimes open country is met +with—not always a welcome change. + +<p>July 26th the thickets became more and more open until we came across a +narrow salt-lake; by leading each camel separately we reached the other +side without mishap, and congratulated ourselves on our good fortune, +until the next morning when we found that our camp had been on an island; +and the lake stretched North and South as far as the eye could reach, +until lake and sky became one in a shimmering mirage. I think it probable +that this lake joins the Eastern portion of Lake Darlot, which lies to the +N.N.W., and connects with the narrow lake seen by Luck and myself in 1894, +to the S.S.E. Whatever its extent there was no doubt about its nature; +from 8.30 until 1.30 we were occupied in hauling, digging out, and +dragging our camels, and in humping on our backs some 5,000 lbs. weight of +packs, across a channel not half a mile wide. Camels vary very much in +their ability to cross bogs. Those which take small steps succeed best; +the majority take steps of ordinary length and, in consequence, their hind +feet slide into the hole left by the fore, and in an instant they are +pinned by the hind leg up to the haunch. Kruger was splendid, and simply +went through by main force, though he eventually sank close to the shore. +I had carried over some of the loading, amongst it my camera, and was +just in time to take a snapshot as he was sinking. Shiddi, the cunning old +rogue, could not be persuaded across; he would try the ground with one +foot and then draw back like a timid bather. We left him roaring to his +mates and yet afraid to join them, until we were ready to start again. As +soon as he saw the caravan disappear over the sandhill which abutted on +the lake, he took a desperate plunge and came through with ease. + +<a name="pt14"></a><h5>Illustration 14: Crossing a salt lake</h5> + +<p>The shores of the lake, as usual, were covered with samphire, having +something the appearance of heather. At this season the plant is soft and +juicy, and, though salt, makes capital feed for camels. In the summer it +withers up to dry sticks and has no moisture. Once out of sight of the +lake we were disgusted at coming into a belt of flat spinifex country, +and were afraid that already we had reached the confines of the desert, +more especially since in 1894 I had placed its edge in that longitude. +However, we were agreeably disappointed, for after a few miles the +spinifex ceased, and on penetrating a dense thicket we debouched on a fine +grassy flat. In the centre ran a line of large white gums (Creek gums, +<i>Eucalyptus rostrata</i>), the sure sign of a creek. We were not mistaken, for +down the avenue a watercourse wound its way. The gravelly bed was quite +dry. Climbing a tree, from which to follow with my glasses the course of +the creek, I could see some hills to the northward; in them the creek +evidently rose. Whilst I was climbing, Breaden amused himself by breaking +off pieces of the small roots of the gums which the creek had washed here. +By breaking these quite an appreciable amount of moisture could be got, +enough to save a man's life. But I fancy that these roots only hold water +after rain, and that when they are water-bearing, pools also are to be +found in the creeks. Numerous emu and turkey tracks led up the +watercourse, but, though seeing several emu, we were unable to get a shot. +Following the creek upwards, for near the head one is likely to find rocky +pools, we soon came on a nice waterhole and made camp. I traced the creek +to its source in the evening and found the hills to be granite, and +discovered one deep pool in the solid rock under a steep step in the creek +bed. Along the banks herbage and green stuff were growing in profusion. +Our beasts were content to feed amicably together, and with the exception +of a sly bite no longer showed signs of ill-feeling. We were thankful +indeed to see them “off season.” Here we gave them a good drink and filled +our casks and neckbags, carrying in all sixty-two gallons. We had been so +well off for water up to this point, that we had hopes that the rain had +penetrated inland. + +<p>Leaving the creek on July 29th we again entered the scrub, finding it +lower and more open, the ground covered with occasional patches of grass +and a little squashy plant straggling along the ground—“Pigweed” is the +local name; it belongs, I believe, to the “Portulacaceae.” It is eaten by +the blacks, and would make excellent feed for stock were it higher from +the ground. + +<p>This day we saw the last auriferous country we were to meet with until +Kimberley was reached. These hills, of diorite, with occasional blows of +ironstone, I take to be a continuation the Neckersgat Range (Wells, 1892). +Many traces of prospectors were visible here—the last to be seen for +many a day—shallow dry-blowing holes and little heaps of sieved dirt, +and the tracks of camels and horses. This was a piece of country worth +trying, had we not had other objects in view. + +<p>Two rather curious ironstone dykes, standing square and wall-like above +the ground, occur in these hills, some seven miles apart, running nearly +North and South and parallel; between them a deep but narrow creek, a +saltbush flat, and a ridge of diorite. Standing out prominently to the +south of the first dyke are two sugar-loaf hills, and, beyond them, +distant ranges are visible. Leaving the range the country to the East +underwent a distinct change for the worse; and midday of July 31st found +us on the borders of an unmistakable desert, the North-West corner of the +Great Victoria Desert. We had so far travelled 110 miles from Cutmore's +Well, only some 250 in a direct line from Coolgardie and were already in +the desert! Wilderness perhaps would be a better name for this part; for +the sand now flat, now blown into dunes, is not bare, but overgrown by the +hateful spinifex and timbered pretty thickly with desert gums (<i>Eucalyptus +eudesmoides</i>) and low acacia bushes. + +<p>I am told that the term “spinifex,” though generally employed by those +who have the pleasure of the acquaintance of the plant, is wrongly used. +I do not know its right name, and have seen it described as “Spinifex,” +“Porcupine Grass,” “Triodia,” “Triodia pungens,” and “Festuca irritans.” +Why such a wretched, useless plant should have so many names I +cannot say. So often am I bound to refer to it that I might vary the +monotony by using each in turn. However, I will stick to the term I have +always heard used. “Spinifex” grows in round, isolated hummocks, one to +three feet high; these hummocks are a dense mass of needle-like prickles, +and from them grow tall blades of very coarse grass to a height of +sometimes six feet. Occasionally the hummocks are not round or isolated, +but grow in crescent form or almost complete rings, sometimes there is no +top growth—however it grows it is most accursed vegetation to walk +through, both for men and camels. Whatever form it takes it seems to be +so arranged that it cannot be stepped over or circumvented—one must in +consequence walk through it and be pricked, unpleasantly. Camels and +horses suffer rather severely sometimes, the constant pricking causing +sores on their legs. So long, however, as a camel does not drag his hind +legs he will be no worse treated than by having all the hair worn off his +shins. The side of the foot is an easily affected spot, and a raw there, +gives them great pain and is hard to cure. + +<p>There are two varieties of spinifex known to bushmen—“spinifex” and +“buck” (or “old man”) spinifex. The latter is stronger in the prickle +and practically impossible to get through, though it may be avoided by +twists and turns. There are a few uses for this horrible plant; for +example, it forms a shelter and its roots make food for the kangaroo, or +spinifex, rat, from its spikes the natives (in the northern districts) +make a very serviceable gum, it burns freely, serves in a measure to bind +the sand and protect it from being moved by the wind, and makes a good +mattress when dug up and turned over. I should advise no one to try and +sleep on the plant as it grows, for “He who sitteth on a thistle riseth +up quickly.” But the thistle has one advantage, viz., that it does not +leave its points in its victim's flesh. In Northern Australia spinifex is +in seed for three weeks, and when in this state, forms most excellent +feed for horses, and fattens almost as quickly as oats; for the rest of +the year it is useless. + +<p>I can imagine any one, on being suddenly placed on rising ground with a +vast plain of waving spinifex spreading before him—a plain relieved +occasionally by the stately desert oak, solemn, white, and +mysterious—saying, “Ah! what a charming view—how beautiful that rolling +plain of grass! its level surface broken by that bold sandhill, fiery-red +in the blaze of sun!” But when day after day, week after week, and month +after month must be passed always surrounded by the hateful plant, one's +sense of the picturesque becomes sadly blunted. + +<p>This was our first introduction to the desert and, though a little +monotonous, it seemed quite pleasant, and indeed was so, when compared +to the heartrending country met with later in our journey. + +<p>The sand has been formed (blown, I suppose) into irregular ridges, +running more or less parallel, but in no one fixed direction. From the +edge of the desert to Mount Worsnop, a distance of nearly two hundred +miles in a straight line, the country presented the same appearance. +First a belt, eight to ten miles wide, of sand-ridges from thirty to +fifty feet high, with a general direction of E. by S. and W. by N.; then +a broad sand-flat of equal breadth, either timbered with desert gums, or +open and covered with spinifex breast-high, looking in the distance like +a field of ripe corn; next another series of ridges with a S.E. and N.W. +direction; then, with startling suddenness, a small oasis, enclosed or +nearly surrounded by sheer broken cliffs of desert sandstone, from which +little creeks run out into the sand, winding their way for a mile or two +between the ridges. Dry watercourses these, except immediately after +rain; in their beds are found native wells five to ten feet in depth, +sometimes holding water; on their banks, round the foot of the cliffs, +and on the flat where the creeks merge into the sand, grows long +grass—kangaroo-grass—and, in the winter magnificent herbage. Next we +find a dense thicket, and, this passed, we come again to open plains. And +thus sand-ridges now E. and W., now S.E. and N.W., now S.W. and N.E. (as +in the vicinity of Empress Spring), and now sandhills heaped up without +regularity, alternate with mulga thickets, open plains of spinifex, and +flat, timbered country. The most noticeable vegetation is of course +spinifex; as well as that, however, are several shrubs which form good +camel feed, such as <i>Acacia salicina</i>, with its pretty, scented flower like +a little golden powder-puff; the quondong (<i>Fusanus acuminatis</i>), or +“native peach tree,” a graceful little black-stemmed tree, against whose +fresh, green leaves the fruit, about the size of a cherry and of a +brilliant red, shows out with appetising clearness. Alas! it is a fraud +and delusion, for the stone forms more than three-quarters of the fruit, +leaving only a rather tasteless thick skin, which is invariably perforated +by small worms. + +<p>Dotted over the open plains the native poplar (<i>Codonocarpus</i>) stands +sentry, its head, top-heavy from the mass of seeds, drooping gracefully +to the setting sun; the prevalent wind at the present day would seem to +be from the E.N.E. Here, too, an occasional grass tree or “black-boy” +may be seen, and at intervals little clumps of what is locally termed +“mustard bush,” so named from the strong flavour of the leaf; camels eat +this with voracity, of which fact one becomes very sensible when they +chew their cuds. + +<p>This description hardly suits a “desert”; yet, in spite of the trees and +shrubs, it is one to all intent. All is sand, and throughout the region +no water is to be found, unless immediately after rain in the little +creeks, or in some hidden rock-hole. Even a heavy storm of rain would +leave no signs in such country; half an hour after the fall no water +would be seen, except on the rocky ground, which only occurs at very +long intervals. The greedy sand soaks up every drop of water, and from +the sand the trees derive their moisture. The winter rain causes such a +growth of herbage around the cliffs and on the sandhills—to die, alas! +in a few weeks' time—that one is inclined to wonder if by means of bores +this wilderness will be made of use to man. What artesian bores have done +for parts of Queensland and Algeria they may in the distant future do for +this, at present useless, interior, where all is still, and the desert +silence unbroken by any animal life, excepting always the ubiquitous +spinifex rat. A pretty little fellow this, as he hops along on his long +hind legs, bounding over the prickly stools like an animated football +with a tail. As he jumps, he hangs one forepaw by his side, while the +other is stretched out with the little hand dangling as if the wrist were +broken. Everything must be spoken of comparatively in this country; thus +the ubiquitous rat may be seen, at the most, a dozen times in a day's +march; an oasis may measure no more than thirty yards across; a creek is +dry, and may be only half a mile long and a few feet broad; a high range +may stand three to four hundred feet above the surrounding country, seldom +more; and “good feed” may mean that the camels find something to eat +instead of being tied down without a bite. + +<p>For instance, to continue our journey, on August 1st we have “…the +same miserable country until the evening, when a sudden change brings us +into a little oasis enclosed by cliffs, a small creek running through it. +Here we made camp, the camels enjoying a great patch of feed—could find +no water—saw several small quails—a number of grasshoppers and little +bees—flies of course in abundance. Lat. 27° 40´, long. +122° 54´. Cloudy night.” + +<p>The next day we sighted a big range to the East across a deep valley, and +a broken table-top range to the North. Following down the little creek we +came on a shallow native well, quite dry; crossing the grassy flat in +which it was dug, winding through a thicket, we again reached open sand. +Here we saw for the first time since leaving Coolgardie the tracks of +wild aboriginals, and the first tracks of blacks, either wild or tame, +since leaving Cutmore's Well. Evidently this part of the world is not +overpopulated. Since everything pointed to the rain having been general, +since the tracks were leading in a direction nearly opposite to our own, +and since at the time we had water enough, we did not waste time in +following them up. + +<p>That night we were forced to camp on a barren spot, and tied the camels +down foodless; one night without feed does them no harm—less harm than if +they wandered miles in their hobbles looking for it. The weather was now +distinctly hot, unpleasant and stuffy, as if about to thunder; but the +nights were still cold. At midday we saw two fine quondong trees; how the +camels devoured them, leaves, fruit, stones and all! Emus swallow the +stones without inconvenience; apparently a camel has an equally convenient +interior, but he brings them up again in his cud and drops them out of his +mouth as his jaws move from side to side. + +<p>Amongst some broken rocks this day, Breaden found a dingo camped in a +cave with a litter of pups. Had we been returning instead of only just +starting on our travels, I should certainly have secured one—not, I +expect, without some trouble, for the mother showed signs of fierce +hostility when Breaden looked into her lair. There were no traces of +water anywhere near, and I have no doubt that the mother, having found a +suitable spot for her expected family, would think nothing of travelling +many miles for her daily drink. Near the rocks I noticed a little +blue-flowered plant with the leaf and scent of the geranium. + +<p>The appearance of the country now soon began to get less fresh, and +drier, and all the next two days we were crossing sandhills, the only +variety being afforded by Valerie. She had lately made it evident that +she would soon follow the example of the lady dingo. Though I had +frequently tried to make her ride on one of the packs, she preferred to +trot along at the heels of Czar, receiving from him occasional kicks if +by chance she touched him, which did not tend to improve the pups so soon +to see the light. Tying her on was no better; she only struggled and +nearly hanged herself. She had therefore to walk as she desired. Having +made camp, and unrolled our blankets ready to turn into them when the +time came, Breaden and I experimented on numerous mallee-roots which we +dug up, but in every case failed to find any appreciable moisture, On +returning to camp we found our party had been increased by one—a large +pup which Val had deposited in her master's blankets. It was dead, which +was fortunate, as we could hardly have kept it, and would not have liked +to destroy the little animal, born in such unusual surroundings. + +<p>No change occurred in the country the next day, but the march was saved +from its usual monotony by Warri finding two mallee-hens' nests. +Unluckily they had no eggs, though the birds' tracks were fresh and +numerous. These nests are hollowed out in the sand, to a depth of perhaps +two and a half feet, conical shaped, with a mouth some three feet in +diameter; the sand from the centre is scraped up into a ring round the +mouth. Several birds help in this operation, and when finished lay their +eggs on a layer of leaves at the bottom; they then fill in the hole to +the surface with small twigs and more leaves. Presumably the eggs are +hatched by spontaneous heat, the green twigs and leaves producing a +slightly moist warmth, similar to that of the bird's feathers. I have +seen numbers of these nests, never with eggs in, but often with the +shells from recently hatched birds lying about. How the little ones force +their way through the sticks I do not understand, but Warri and many +others who have found the eggs assure me that they do so. + +<p>Towards evening we neared a prominent bluff that we had sighted the day +before, and got a further insight into the habits of the wild dog. A +dingo—a female, and possibly our friend with the pups—had followed us +persistently all day. Godfrey, who was walking behind the camels, opened +the acquaintance by practising his revolver-shooting upon her. His poor +aim seemed to give her confidence, and before long she started to play +with Val. By nightfall we had petted and fed her out of our hands, and +given her a small drop of water from our fast diminishing supply—this at +the earnest request of Godfrey, who offered to give her some of his +share; and indeed it seemed rather cruel to refuse a poor famished beast +that had come to us in her distress. We all agreed how nice it was to have +won the affections of a real wild dog. By daybreak our feelings of love +had somewhat abated, as our friend prowled about all night, poking her +nose into pots and pans, chewing saddles, pack-bags, straps, and even our +blankets as we lay in them, and cared no more for blows than for the +violent oaths that were wasted upon her. This strange creature accompanied +us for two more days, trotting along ahead of the camels, with an +occasional look behind to see if she was on the right course, and then +falling at full length in the shade of some bush with her head on her +paws, waiting for us to pass. Eventually my irritability got the better +of my indulgence, and a shrewd whack over the nose put an end to our +acquaintanceship. + +<p>Near the bluff were many low, stony hills, with the usual small +watercourses; in them we hunted high and low for water until darkness +overtook us. To the North other similar hills could be seen, by my +reckoning a part of the Ernest Giles Range (Wells, 1892). No doubt from +the distance these hills would look more imposing. Our camp was in lat. +27° 9´, long. 123° 59´. August 6th. + +<p>On August 7th we continued to search the hills, but had to leave them +without finding water. We had now been since July 29th without seeing +any, and in consequence of the ease with which we had, up to that date, +found water had not husbanded our supply as carefully as we might have +done, and now had to put ourselves on a very short allowance indeed. The +further we advanced the worse the country became, and the greater the +increase in temperature. Shortly after leaving the hills we came again on +to sandhills. About midday my hopes were high, as I cut the fresh tracks +of two black-fellows. + +<p>Warri, after a short examination, said, “Yesterday track water that way,” +pointing in the direction in which they were travelling; not that he could +possibly tell which way the water lay, and for all we knew they might have +just left it. However, we decided that better success would probably +attend us if we followed them forward. Soon several equally fresh tracks +joined the first ones, and not one of us doubted but that our present +discomforts would shortly be over. + +<p>“There must be water at the end of them,” was the general opinion, and so +on we went gaily; Warri leading, and Charlie, who was an almost equally +good tracker, backing him up. After much twisting and turning, crossing +and recrossing of our own tracks, the footprints at last took a definite +direction, and a pad, beaten by perhaps a dozen feet, led away North-West +for two miles and never deviated. Any doubts as to Warri's correct +interpretation were now dispelled, and on we hurried, looking forward to +at least water for ourselves, and perhaps a drink for the camels. At full +speed through mulga scrub, over sand and stones, on which the tracks were +hardly visible, we came suddenly to an open patch of rock on the side of +a low ridge, and there in the centre of the flat rock lay before us a +fair-sized rock-hole—dry as a bone!—and all our visions of luxury for +our beasts and ourselves were ended. + +<p>Not only were we baulked of our water, but nothing but dead scrub +surrounded the rock, affording no feed for the camels, who had therefore +to be tied down. Leaving the rest to dig out the hole on the chance of +getting a drop, though it was evident that the natives had cleaned it out +nearly to the bottom, Warri and I started off to follow the tracks yet +further. Taking a handful of dried peaches to chew, which give a little +moisture, for we were very dry, we walked until darkness overtook us. The +tracks (a man, two women, and a child) led us back towards the West; +we could see their camps, one close to the namma-hole, another four miles +away, with crushed seed lying about, and a few roots pulled up. Warri +said they were “tired fella” from the way they walked. All this made +us doubtful if they knew where the next water was. In any case we could +make no further search that night, and made our best way back through +the scrub, to the camp. + +<p>Godfrey had unsuccessfully explored the neighbouring hills, while Breaden +and Charlie cleaned out the rockhole with like result. A very hot, cloudy +night did not make things any more pleasant; we were all a bit done, and +poor Charlie was seized with a violent and painful vomiting—a not unusual +accompaniment to want of food and water. It seemed useless to follow the +tracks any more, since they led us in exactly the wrong direction; and as +we loaded the camels in the morning two turkeys (bustards) flew over us +to the North-East. We would have given something to have their knowledge! +We started, therefore, in this direction, and soon came on other tracks, +which after some time we concluded were only those of natives who had +been hunting from the rock-hole before the water was finished. + +<p>I called a halt, and, sitting on the sand, expounded my views as to the +situation. “We had determined on getting through this country—that was +the main point. Turning back, even if wise, was not to be considered. The +tracks had fooled us once, and though doubtless by following them we +would eventually get some water, where would we be at the end of it? No +further forward. Therefore, since we had still a drop or two to go on +with, let us continue on our course. None of us have any idea where water +is, and by travelling North, East, South, or West, we stood an equally +good chance of getting it. We would therefore go on in our proper +direction, and trust to God, Providence, Fate, or Chance, as each might +think. I should feel more satisfied if I knew their opinions agreed with +mine, for, whatever the outcome, the responsibility rested on me.” + +<p>Breaden answered quietly, “It's a matter of indifference to me; go where +you think best.” Godfrey's reply was characteristic, “Don't care a d—n; +if we are going to peg out we will, whichever way we turn.” Charlie was +inclined at first to question the wisdom of going on, but soon cheerfully +agreed to do as the rest. So on I went, much relieved in mind that I was +leading no one against his will. Possibly I could not—so far as I know, +no occasion arose. + +<p>The day was sweltering, the night worse; in any other country one could +with safety have backed heavily the fall of a thunderstorm. We had to be +content, where we were, with about three drops of rain; and even this, +in spite of tents, flys, and mackintosh-sheets spread for the purpose, we +were unable to collect! Towards dawn the thermometer went down to +40°F. This sudden change was greatly to our advantage, though the sun +soon after rising showed his power. The ridges were now running almost +parallel to our course, about North-East, and gave us in consequence +little trouble. Up to this point I had walked all day, partly because one +can steer better on foot and I wished to do all the steering, until we +picked up the point on Forrest's route, and so give my companions +confidence; and partly because I looked upon it as the leader's duty to +set an example. To-day I took my turn with the rest, each riding for an +hour—a great relief. Sand is weary walking and spinifex unpleasant until +one's legs get callous to its spines. + +<p>We had not gone far before our hopes were again raised, and again dashed, +by coming on rocky ground and presently on another rockhole—quite dry! +We began to think that there could be no water anywhere; this hole was +well protected and should hold water for months. Thinking did little +good, nor served to decrease the horrid sticky feeling of lips and mouth. +“Better luck next time,” we said, with rather forced cheerfulness, and +once more turned our faces to the North-East. + +<a name="p5c5"></a><h4>CHAPTER V</h4> + +<h4>Water At Last</h4> + +<p>Presently a single track caught my eye, fresh apparently, and +unmistakably that of a “buck.” We all crowded round to examine it, and +as we stooped caught sight of the owner not a hundred yards ahead, +engrossed in unearthing an iguana and entirely ignorant of our presence. A +hasty consultation; “Catch him,” said someone, Breaden I think, and off +we started—I first, and Godfrey near behind. He saw us now and fled, so, +shouting to Breaden to stay with the camels, and to Charlie, who was +mounted, to cut him off in front, I put my best leg foremost. A hummock of +spinifex brought me down, and, exhausted from short rations, I lay, +unable to run further. Not so Godfrey, who held on manfully for another +fifty yards and grabbed the black-fellow as he turned to avoid Charlie on +the camel. The poor chap was shaking with fear, but, after relieving his +feelings by making a violent though abortive attack on Godfrey, he soon +calmed down and examined us with interest. + +<p>Whatever the buck thought of us, close observation could find nothing +very remarkable about him. A man of about 5 feet 8 inches, thin but +muscular, with very large feet and small hands, very black, very dirty, +his only garment consisted of a band of string round his forehead, +holding his hair back in a ragged, mop-like mass. On his chest, raised +sears; through his nose, a hole ready to hold a bone or stick—such was +this child of the wilderness. By signs we made him understand our wants, +and the strange procession started, the “buck” (the general term for a +male aboriginal) leading the way at a pace too fast for us or our camels. +Guarded on one side by Breaden, I on the other, we plied our new friend +with salt beef, both to cement our friendship, and promote thirst, in +order that for his own sake he should not play us false. For five hours +we held on our way, curiously enough almost on our proper course, having +often to stop awhile to allow the caravan to overtake us. Buoyed up by +the certainty of water so long as we had the buck with us we pushed on, +until just after sunset the country changed from sand to stony rises and +we felt sure a rock-hole was not far off. A little further, and, by the +uncertain light, we could see a fair-sized hole with water in it. I ran +ahead, and was the first to realise that the native had deceived us; the +hole was dry! and must have been so for months. + +<p>No sooner did the buck see that I had found him out than he made a sudden +bolt and attempt at escape—very neatly done, but not quick enough to pass +Breaden. This was indeed a disappointment! I had thought it probable that +our guide would lead us anywhere into the sand and try to escape, but I +never guessed that he would tantalise us as he had done. In any case, so +long as he was with us, we must some time get water—and we had no +intention of letting him escape. With a rope we secured him and watched +in turn all through the night. + +<p>Never were jailers more vigilant, for that black-fellow meant our lives. +He tried all means of escape, and never slept the whole night through. He +would lie still with closed eyes for a time, and then make a sudden +struggle to wrench the rope away from his captor; then stealthily with +his foot he tried to push the rope into the fire; then he started rubbing +it on the rock on which we lay; and last of all his teeth were brought +into use. When my turn came to watch, I pretended to sleep, to see what +he would do, and so discovered all his tricks. I confess that I saw with +delight the evident feelings of thirst that before long overcame him—the +salt beef had done its duty; he had had no water of course, for we had +none to give him, and I felt sure that he would be only too eager in the +morning. Nor was I mistaken; long before daylight he showed signs of +distress, and anxiety to go on, standing up and stretching out his long, +thin arm—“Gabbi” (water), he said, pointing in three different +directions, putting his head back and pointing with his chin, making a +noise something between a grunt and a puff. To the East, to the +North-East, and to the South-West from where we had come, he made it +clear that water existed. Evidently we had not been far from his camp +when we caught him, and we could hardly blame him for leading us away +from his own supply, which he rightly judged we and our camels would +exhaust. + +<p>Standing by the dry rock-hole we could see for many miles, the country to +the North-East being considerably lower than where we were; not a +cheerful view—sand-ridges always! Not a hill or range to be seen, and +yet people have doubted if this really is a desert! + +<p>It may happen that in days to come some other party may be stranded in +this region and therefore I will leave out no description that could +assist them in finding the water that King Billy (for so had we named the +buck) eventually took us to. The dry rock-hole (Mulundella) is situated +on a surface outcrop of desert sandstone, about fifty yards across +surrounded by thick mulga scrub, enclosed between two sand-ridges running +North-East and South-West. + +<p>On the North and East side of the outcrop the ground suddenly drops, +forming what appears from the distance as a line of sheer cliffs. Down +this steep slope, which is covered with scrub, we discovered a passage, +and, at the foot, found ourselves in an open spinifex plain with a +sand-ridge on either hand. We were steering N.E. by N., and in consequence +had now and again to cross a ridge, since they ran due North-East. After +three miles low outcrops of limestone appeared at intervals, the scrub in +the trough of the ridges became more open with an undergrowth of coarse +grass, buck-bush or “Roly-Poly” (<i>Salsola Kali</i>) and low acacia. Hugging +the ridge on our left, we followed along this belt for another one and a +half miles; when, close to the foot of a sandhill, our guide, secured to +my belt by a rope round his waist, stopped and excitedly pointed out what +seemed on first sight to be three rock-holes, in a small, bare patch of +limestone not more than thirty feet across. Twenty yards to the right or +left and we would never have seen it; and to this spot King Billy had +brought us full speed, only stopping once to examine some rocks at the +foot of one ridge, as if to make sure that we were in the right valley. +On further investigation the three holes turned out to be entrances, of +which two were large enough for a man to pass through, leading +perpendicularly to a cave beneath. With the help of a rope Charlie and I +descended twenty-five feet to the floor of the chamber, which we found to +be covered with sand to a depth of two feet. In the sand we dug holes but +did not succeed in getting even moisture. Plunged as we were so suddenly +into darkness, our eyes could distinguish no passage leading from the +chamber, and it seemed as if we had been tricked again. Further +exploration by the light of candles revealed two passages, one leading +west and upwards, the other east and downwards. Charlie chose the latter; +before long I came to the end of mine, having failed to find anything but +bats, bones of birds and dingoes, and old native camp-fires. Following +Charlie, I found him crawling on hands and knees down a steep +slope—progress was slow, as the floor was rough and the ceiling jagged; +presently the passage dropped again, and at the end, below us, we could +see our candles reflected, and knew that at last we had water! Who, +except those who have had similar experiences, can picture one's feelings +of relief! “Thank God! thank God!” is all one can reiterate in one's +mind over and over again. The visible supply of water was small, and we +had grave doubts as to any soakage existing! Not wasting valuable time in +discussion, we crawled back with all speed to the cave, shouted up the +joyful news, and called for buckets and billies to bale with. The King was +now allowed to descend, but not unguarded, as we must first ascertain the +value of our supply. We could understand now why he had insisted on +carrying with him from our last camp a burning branch (a “fire-stick”); +for he proceeded to make a fire on the floor of the cave from some dead +leaves and branches, and others along the passage, to light him; after +some hesitation he took a candle instead, and bolted down the passage like +a rat. He must have been very dry, judging from the time he stayed below +and from his distended appearance on re-ascending. He drank a great deal +more than any of us and yet had been a comparatively short time without +water, whilst we had been walking and working on starvation rations for a +good number of days. + +<a name="pt15"></a><h5>Illustration 15: Entrance to Empress Spring</h5> + +<p>Breaden and I set to work to unload the camels while the others started +preparations for water-getting. By 3 p.m. we were ready. King Billy at +the bottom, baling water with a meat tin into a bucket, which he handed +to Warri, who passed it to Charlie; thence <i>via</i> Godfrey it reached +Breaden, who on the floor of the cave hitched it on to a rope, and I from +above hauled it through the entrance to the surface. Useful as he was +below, I soon had to call Warri up to keep off the poor famished camels, +who, in their eagerness, nearly jostled me into the hole. First I filled +our tanks, doubtful what supply the cave would yield; but when word was +passed that “She was good enough, and making as fast as we baled,” I no +longer hesitated to give the poor thirsty beasts as much as ever they +could drink. What a labour of love that was, and what satisfaction to see +them “visibly swelling” before my eyes! Till after sunset we laboured +unceasingly, and I fancy none of us felt too strong. The thundery weather +still continued; the heat was suffocating—so much so that I took off my +hat and shirt, to the evident delight of the flies, whose onslaughts +would have driven me mad had I not been too busily engaged to notice +them. + +<p>Before night all the camels were watered; they drank on an average +seventeen gallons apiece, and lay gorged upon the ground too tired or too +full of liquid to eat. We had a very different camp that night, and King +Billy shared our good spirits. Now that he had his liberty he showed no +signs of wishing to leave us, evidently enjoying our food and full of +pride in his newly acquired garment, a jersey, which added greatly to his +striking appearance. He took great interest in all our belongings, but +seemed to value highest the little round piece of metal that is fixed on +the inside of a meat-tin! This, hung on a string, made a handsome +ornament for him. + +<p>That night, in reviewing our affairs, I came to the conclusion that this +dry stage at the beginning of our journey had been a good thing for all. +We had had a bad time, but had come out of it all right. Although these +things always appear worse, when written or read, yet it is no light task +to trudge day after day over such horrible country with an empty stomach +and dry throat, and with no idea of when the next water will be found, or +if any will be found; and through it all to be cheerful and good-tempered, +and work away as usual, as if all were right. It had inspired us with +complete confidence in the staying powers of the camels, who, in spite of +a thirteen and a half days' drought, had shown no signs of giving in. +It had afforded each of us an insight into the characters of his +companions that otherwise he never would have had. It had given me +absolute confidence in Breaden, Godfrey, and Charlie, and I trust had +imbued them with a similar faith in me. + +<p>August 11th to 15th we rested at the cave, occupying ourselves in the +numerous odd jobs that are always to be found, happy in the knowledge +that we had an unfailing supply of water beneath us. I have little doubt +but that this water is permanent, and do not hesitate to call it a +spring. I know well that previous travellers have called places “springs” +which in after years have been found dry; but I feel sure that this +supply so far, nearly sixty feet, below the surface, must be derived from +a permanent source, and even in the hottest season is too well protected +to be in any way decreased by evaporation. + +<a name="pt16"></a><h5>Illustration 16: At work in the cave, Empress Spring</h5> + +<center><p><img alt="" src="images/spin7.jpg"></center> + +<p>As a humble tribute to the world-wide rejoicings over the long reign of +our Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria, I have honoured this hidden well of +water by the name of “The Empress Spring.” A more appropriate name it +could not have, for is it not in the Great Victoria Desert? and was it +not in that region that another party was saved by the happy finding of +Queen Victoria Spring? + +<p>The “Empress Spring” would be a hard spot to find. What landmarks there +are I will now describe. My position for the Spring is lat. 26° +47´ 21´´S., long. 124° 25´E. Its probable +native name (I say probable because one can never be sure of words taken +from a wild aboriginal, who, though pointing out a water, may, instead of +repeating its name, be perhaps describing its size or shape) is +“Murcoolia Ayah Teenyah.” The entrance is in a low outcrop of magnesian +limestone, surrounded by buckbush, a few low quondongs and a low, +broom-like shrub; beyond this, mulga scrub. Immediately to the North of +the outcrop runs a high sand-ridge, covered sparsely with acacia and +spinifex. On the top of the ridge are three conspicuously tall dead mulga +trees. From the ridge looking West, North, North-East, and East nothing +is visible but parallel sand-ridges running N.E. To the South-West can be +seen the high ground on which is the rock-hole (Mulundella). + +<p>To the South-East, across a mulga-covered flat, is a high ridge one mile +distant, with the crests of others visible beyond it; above them, about +twelve miles distant, a prominent bluff (Breaden Bluff), the North end of +a red tableland. From the mulga trees the bluff bears 144°. One +and a half miles N.E. by N. from the cave is a valley of open spinifex, +breaking through the ridges in a West and Southerly direction, on which +are clumps of cork-bark trees; these would incline one to think that +water cannot be far below the surface in this spot. + +<p>Close to the entrance to the cave is erected a mulga pole, on which we +carved our initials and the date. There are also some native signs or +ornaments in the form of three small pyramids of stones and grass, about +eight feet apart, in a line pointing S.W. + +<p>Several old native camps were dotted about in the scrub; old fires and +very primitive shelters formed of a few branches. Amongst the ashes many +bones could be seen, particularly the lower maxillary of some species of +rat-kangaroo. To descend to the cave beneath, the natives had made a +rough ladder by leaning mulga poles against the edge of the entrance from +the floor. All down the passage to the water little heaps of ashes could +be seen where their fires had been placed to light them in their work. +Warri found some strange carved planks hidden away in the bushes, which +unfortunately we were unable to carry. King Billy saw them with evident +awe; he had become very useful, carrying wood and so forth with the +greatest pleasure. The morning we left this camp, however, he sneaked +away before any of us were up. I fancy that his impressions of a white +man's character will be favourable; for never in his life before had he +been able to gorge himself without having had the trouble of hunting his +food. From him I made out the following words, which I consider reliable:— +</p> +<table align="center" summary=""> +<tr><th>English <th>Aboriginal +<tr><td>Smoke, fire <td>Warru or wallu +<tr><td>Wood <td>Taalpa +<tr><td>Arm <td>Menia +<tr><td>Hand <td>Murra +<tr><td>Hair <td>Kuttya +<tr><td>Nose <td>Wula or Ula +<tr><td>Water <td>Gabbi +<tr><td>Dog <td>Pappa* +</tr></table> +<blockquote> +* This word “pappa” we found to be used by all natives encountered by us +in the interior. Warri uses it, and Breaden tells me that in Central +Australia it is universal. +</blockquote> +<p>August 15th we again watered the camels, who were none the worse for +their dry stage. Breaden was suffering some pain from his strain, and on +descending to the cave was unable to climb up again; we had some +difficulty in hauling him through the small entrance. + +<a name="p5c6"></a><h4>CHAPTER VI</h4> + +<h4>Woodhouse Lagoon</h4> + +<p>But for the flies, which never ceased to annoy us, we had enjoyed a real +good rest, and were ready to march on the morning of the 16th, no change +occurring in the character of the country until the evening of the 18th, +when we sighted a low tableland five miles to the North, and to the West +of it a table-topped detached hill. Between us and the hills one or two +native smokes were rising, which showed us that water must be somewhere +in the neighbourhood. From a high sandhill the next morning, we got a +better view, and could see behind the table-top another and similar hill. +I had no longer any doubt as to their being Mounts Worsnop and Allott +(Forrest, 1874), the points for which I had been steering, though at +first they appeared so insignificant that I hesitated to believe that +these were the right ones. From the West, from which direction Forrest +saw them first, they appear much higher, and are visible some twenty +miles off. From the North they are not visible a greater distance than +three miles, while from the East one can see them a distance of eight +miles. + +<p>I altered our course, therefore, towards the hills, and we shortly +crossed the narrow arm of a salt-lake; on the far side several tracks of +emus and natives caught my eye, and I sent Charlie on Satan to scout. +Before long he reported a fine sheet of water just ahead. This, as may be +imagined, came as a surprise to us; for a more unlikely thing to find, +considering the dry state of the rock-holes we had come upon, could not +have been suggested. However, there it was; and very glad we were to see +it, and lost no time in making camp and hobbling the camels. What a +glorious sight in this parched land!—so resting to the eye after days of +sand! How the camels wallowed in the fresh water! how they drank! and +what a grand feed they had on the herbage (<i>Trichinium alopecuroideum</i>) on +the banks of the lagoon! Charlie and I spent the afternoon in further +exploring our surroundings, and on return to camp found our mates busily +engaged in plucking some teal and waterhen which they had shot. The +latter were numerous, and Godfrey at one shot bagged nine. They are +almost identical in size and appearance with our British waterhen, though +they seem to have less power of flight, thus enabling us to drive them +from one gun to the other, and so secure a fine lot for the pot. I doubt +if in civilisation they would be considered good eating, but after tinned +horrors they were a perfect delicacy. The teal were as numerous; but +though there were several emu tracks we saw none of those queer birds. +Our bag for three days was seventeen teal, twelve waterhen, one pigeon. +The natives whose smoke we had seen, disappeared shortly after our +arrival. Godfrey, whilst shooting, came across their camp; the occupants, +a man, woman, and child, fled as soon as they caught sight of him, +leaving a shield behind them, and did not appear again. This small oasis +deserves particular attention, for it is bound to play an important part +in any scheme of a stock route from the cattle-stations of Central +Australia to the Murchison or Coolgardie Goldfields. + +<p>There are three lagoons (or deep clay-pans) connected by a shallow, sandy +channel. They are entirely surrounded by sandhills, excepting at one +spot, where a narrow creek breaks through the sand-ridge. Of the three +the largest and most South-Westerly one is nearly circular, and has a +diameter of 600 yards with a depth varying from 1 ft. 6 in. to 4 ft. 6 +in. It is capable of holding considerably more water than we saw in it. +The bottom is of rock, a sort of cement in which ironstone is visible in +the middle, and of clay near the edges. From the N.W. a narrow channel +enters, traceable for a distance of two miles to a cane-grass swamp; into +this, small watercourses, and the tail end of a larger creek lead. + +<p>Following up this flat, it will be found to develop into a defined +channel running through a grassy flat timbered with bloodwoods (a kind of +eucalyptus). This creek rises in the sandstone tablelands to the N. of +Mount Allott, and in it at its head, is situated Alexander Spring +(Forrest. 1874). + +<a name="pt17"></a><h5>Illustration 17: Alexander Spring</h5> + +<p>Round the foot of these hills, extending to the lagoon, is a fine little +plain of grass, saltbush, and numerous low shrubs, all excellent feed for +stock. Mounts Allott and Worsnop are certainly remarkable hills, perhaps +200 feet above the surrounding country, quite flat on the top, which is +covered with scrub. From the latter the lagoon is visible, one mile +distant on bearing 150°. Our camp at the lagoon was in lat. +26° 10´, long. 124° 48´. This reckoning placed +Alexander Spring in a position agreeing very closely with that given it +by Forrest, which was very gratifying to me. This water was marked by +Forrest as “permanent.” He says in his journal:— +<blockquote> +<i>July 13th…Fine +water at this place. I have no doubt water is always here. I named it +Alexander Spring after my brother, who discovered it. Abundance of water +also in rock-holes</i>. +</blockquote> +<p>This was in 1874. Since that date this spot has been +revisited, first and not long after Forrest, by W. W. Mills, who was +commissioned to bring over a mob of camels from South Australia. He +followed Forrest's track from water to water, at first with no +difficulty; depending on Alexander Spring, he made a longish dry stage, +reached the spring only to find it dry, and had a bad time in +consequence. The second party to follow Forrest's route was that of +Carr-Boyd in 1896, whom Breaden accompanied, and who was prospecting for +an Adelaide syndicate. They passed by this spot, but having plenty of +water, as it was raining at the time, did not visit the spring. From +Mount Worsnop, Woodhouse, one of the party, sighted the lagoon; but +neither he nor any of the party had troubled to see whether it was +salt or fresh, or of what extent it was. I have named it after +Woodhouse, who first saw it. Breaden had told me of the fact of his +having seen it, but I had supposed that, as rain was falling, Woodhouse +was only looking on a shallow pool that could by no possibility hold +water for long. + +<p>Shortly after Carr-Boyd, there followed Hubbe's party. He was sent out by +the South Australian Government to follow Forrest's route, to ascertain +its suitability or otherwise for a stock route. Hubbe found the spring +dry, or practically so, and was much disappointed. He did not happen to +find the lagoon, and had a long stage before he found water. His party +arrived at Menzies shortly before we started. I was unable to get any +information from him beyond the opinion that the country was worthless +and a stock route impracticable. I put more faith, however, in Breaden, +whose life has been spent amongst stock and travelling cattle. When with +Carr-Boyd he came to the conclusion that as far as the Warburton Range +cattle could be taken without much trouble; and indeed in 1873, so I have +read, Gosse drove some bullocks as far as that point, which was the +furthest west he penetrated when attempting to cross the Colony. + +<p>From the Warburton Range to Lake Wells the awkward part came in, but now +this lagoon and the Empress Spring go far to bridge it over. I have no +doubt that a fortnight's work at both these places would be sufficient to +make splendid wells, supposing that the lagoon was found dry and the +spring too hard to get at. At the expenditure of no great amount I feel +confident that a serviceable stock route could be formed, easily +negotiated in the winter months and kept open by wells during the rest of +the year. The country through which the route would pass is excellent as +far as the border. From there it would be necessary to hit off the small +oases which are met with near Mount Squires, Warburton Ranges, Blyth +Creek, and Alexander Spring. From this point the route could be taken to +Empress Spring, thence to Lake Wells (or direct to Lake Wells) and the +Bonython Creek, and from there to Lake Darlot there would be no +difficulty. The only really bad bit of the route would be between +Woodhouse Lagoon and Lake Wells, and this is no great distance. Whether +the scheme would be worth the expenditure necessary to equip a really +serviceable well-sinking party I am unable to judge; but it seems to me +that it would be a tremendous advantage to Central Australian cattle +owners to be able to drive their bullocks direct to the West Australian +goldfields, even though they could only do so in the winter, at which +season alone it is probable that the feed would be sufficiently good. The +fact that Forrest with his horses traversed this route is evidence enough +that at some seasons certain surface waters exist at no great distances +apart—in some cases large supplies. For cattle to follow the route that +we had come so far would be manifestly absurd, and these remarks, +especially where the country between Woodhouse Lagoon and Lake Wells, and +between that lake and Lake Darlot is discussed, are made with the further +knowledge of these regions that our return journey gave us. + +<a name="pt18"></a><h5>Illustration 18: Woodhouse Lagoon</h5> + +<p>It seems a remarkable fact that while a spring should be found dry, not +five miles from it a fresh-water lagoon with millions of gallons in it +should exist. In the first place Alexander Spring is no spring; Sir John +Forrest told me himself that at the time of naming it he was very +doubtful. Hubbe dug it out to bedrock and proved it to be merely a local +soakage in the gravelly bed of a narrow gully. Now a heavy downpour +sufficient to run the creek and fill the lagoon must certainly first fill +the spring and neighbouring pools. But the water in the spring would soon +evaporate, whilst the depth and area of the lagoon would save its +contents from diminishing from this cause, for a much longer period. So +that after all it is easily understandable that we should find the lagoon +full and the so-called spring dry. + +<p>Near the foot of Mount Allott we found Hubbe's camp, and in it several +straps and hobble-chains; two tin-lined packing cases had been left +behind, and from them we took the lids, not quite knowing to what use we +could put them, but yet feeling they might be serviceable; and indeed +they were. + +<p>On the summit of the hill Forrest had raised a cairn of stones; this had +been pulled down by the natives and subsequently replaced by Hubbe. The +blacks had again started to take it to pieces; I rebuilt what they had +removed and placed on the cairn a board on which I wrote directions to +the lagoon, in case any other traveller should pass. + +<p>By the side of the little creek to the North-West of the hill a bloodwood +tree has been marked on one side with the number of Mills's camp, and on +the other with a record of the objects of Hubbe's expedition, S.R. +standing presumably for “Stock Route.” + +<p>The flat on which these trees are growing is, in my opinion, a very +likely spot for finding water by sinking. + +<a name="p5c7"></a><h4>CHAPTER VII</h4> + +<h4>The Great Undulating Desert Of Gravel</h4> + +<p>On August 22nd we left this kindly little oasis and directed our course +to the North. We were now nearly in the centre of the Colony, and had +made enough easting, a general northerly course being necessary to take +us through the heart of the great unknown. It was my intention to steer +due North for as long a period as possible, only deviating from it when +forced by the exigencies of water-hunting, and when it became necessary, +to bear somewhat to the eastward so as to hit off the vicinity of Hall's +Creek. Unless absolutely forced to do so, I did not propose to make any +deviation to the Westward—for from our small caravan it was incumbent +upon us to waste no time, unless we could do so in country where game was +procurable. So far, although our actual line of march had been through +unmapped country, we had traversed a region already crossed by another +party, whose route ran parallel to ours and some forty miles to the +north. Not that that was of the least benefit to us any more than if we +had been at sea; but it gave us the feeling that we were not in an +absolutely <i>terra incognita</i>. From the lagoon, however, our route lay +through country untrodden by any white man, with the exception of Ernest +Giles, whose track we should cross at right angles, about one hundred +miles North of Alexander Spring. But unless we sighted the Alfred and +Marie Range, named by him, we should have no guide, excepting our +position on the chart, to show us where we crossed the path of a caravan +which marched through the wilderness twenty years before. + +<p>To give a description of the country that we now encountered, from day to +day, would be so deadly monotonous that the kindest reader would hardly +forgive me; and even if it could serve any useful purpose I should +hesitate to recount the daily scene of solitude. A general account of +this country, followed by any incidents or personal adventures worthy of +notice, will suffice to give an idea of this dreary region. + +<p>From lat. 26°S. to lat. 22° 40´ there stretches a +vast desert of rolling sand, not formed in ridges like those already +described, nor heaped up with the regularity of those met with further +north. “Downs” I think is the only term that describes properly the +configuration of the country. “The Great Undulating Desert of Gravel” +would meet all requirements should it be thought worthy of a name. In +this cheerless and waterless region we marched from August 22nd until +September 17th seeing no lakes, nor creeks, nor mountains; no hills even +prominent enough to deserve a name, excepting on three occasions. Day +after day over open, treeless expanses covered only by the never-ending +spinifex and strewn everywhere with pebbles and stones of ferruginous +sandstone, as if some mighty giant had sown the ground with seed in the +hope of raising a rich crop of hills. The spinifex here cannot grow its +coarse, tall blades of grass—the top growth is absent and only round +stools of spines remain; well was it named Porcupine Grass! + +<p>Occasional clumps of mulga break the even line of the horizon, and, in +the valleys, thickets or belts of bloodwood are seen. In these hollows one +may hope to find feed for the camels, for here may grow a few quondongs, +acacia, and fern-tree shrubs, and in rare cases some herbage. The beefwood +tree, the leaves of which camels, when hard pressed, will eat, alone +commands the summit of the undulations. As for animal life—well, one +forgets that life exists, until occasionally reminded of the fact by a +bounding spinifex rat, frightened from his nest. Day after day one or +other of us used to walk away from the caravan carrying a gun on the +chance of getting a shot; never once did we succeed; the rats invariably +got up out of range, and after a time we voted it unnecessary labour. Had +they been easily shot their small numbers would hardly have made it worth +while to burden one's self with a gun; to see a dozen in a day was +counted out of the common. Birds were nowhere numerous—an occasional +eagle-hawk, or crow, and once or twice a little flock of long-tailed +parrots whose species was unknown to any of us. Unfortunately I was +unable to procure a specimen. At any waters pigeons, sparrows, crows, +and hawks might be seen in fair quantities; and very rarely a turkey. + +<p>From the 22nd to the 24th we saw no signs of natives. On the latter day +several smokes rose during the march. So far, we had no certain knowledge +of the meaning of these smokes. They might be native signals, or from +fires for the purpose of burning off the old spinifex to allow young feed +to grow and so attract the rats to a known locality; or it might be that +the blacks were burning the country to hunt out the rats and lizards. On +the 25th a sudden change took place, and we found ourselves in a small, +open thicket with a coarse undergrowth of grass, and scattered about were +a few boulders of decomposed granite and occasional low outcrops of rock. +Several old native camps put us on the alert, and presently we found a +well—a shallow hole, 7 feet deep, and 2 feet 6 inches in diameter, +entirely surrounded by high spinifex. Why there should ever be water +there, or how the blacks got to know of it, was a problem we could only +guess at. Everything looked so dry and parched that we were in no way +surprised at finding the well waterless. Prempeh had been very unwell +lately, refusing to take what little feed there was to be got. A dose of +sulphur and butter was administered, poured warm down his throat by me as +Breaden held open his month, grasped firmly by either lip. I believe +sulphur is an excellent thing for camels, and used often to treat them +to the mixture, some—Satan, for example—being very partial to it. The +position of this well I found to be lat. 25° 15´, long. +124° 48´; from the edge of the mulga, one hundred yards or +so to the North of it, a range of rough looking hills is visible. This I +named the Browne Range, after my old friends at Bayley's Reward, and the +two conspicuous points I christened Mount Gordon, after Mr. Gordon Lyon, +and Mount Everard, after Mr. Everard Browne, respectively. + +<p>Mount Gordon is flat-topped; and Mount Everard a double hill, a peak +rising from a flat top, bears 82° from the well. This range stood +out boldly from the open country and promised well for hilly country +ahead. Nor were we disappointed, for after two hours' travel we sighted +an imposing-looking range, and altered our course to the highest point, a +queer dome-shaped peak, which we called Charlie's Knob, since he had +first seen the hills. On nearer approach the hills lost much of their +grandeur. By camping-time we were close to their foot amongst rocky +rises, very rough to the feet of our animals. They were rewarded for +their discomforts by a small patch of herbage which they quickly +demolished. That night we heard the dismal howling of two dingoes, who +might either be giving expression to their satisfaction at finding water +or to their disappointment at not having done so. Three miles more of +rugged ground the next morning brought us to Charlie's Knob, and beyond +it the range, which on close examination was not imposing, being a series +of detached sandstone hills, their summits flat and slightly sloping to +the South, capped with a hard reddish-brown rock (baked shale). On the +cap, loose fragments of shale and thick scrub; forming its sides sheer +cliffs, at most fifteen feet high, perforated by holes and caves, above +rough, stony banks. The whole covered with tufts of spinifex, barren, +wretched, and uninviting. + +<p>On Charlie's Knob a queer little natural pinnacle of rock stands half-way +up the side, and from a hill close by, an excellent view of the Browne +Range was obtained, Mount Gordon bearing 148°. With the help of my +field-glasses I could make out the character of this range to be similar +to that of the Young Range on which I was standing. It is of course +necessary to name these hills for future reference, and this range got +its name from somebody's remark that it was hardly full grown. From the +knob the hills run in a crescent, a line joining the two horns being +North-East. In the bend of the crescent I could see some very +green-looking bloodwoods and made sure we should find a creek. First we +hunted the neighbouring hills without success, and then crossed on to the +bloodwood flat which had appeared like a creek. Here for the only time +our patience in carrying the gun was rewarded, and Charlie shot two fine +turkeys. This welcome occurrence, added to Godfrey's having seen a +kangaroo in the hills and the dingoes heard the night before, made us +confident that water was not far off. That night Godfrey and I took it in +turns to baste the turkeys, as they were baking between two prospecting +dishes. Godfrey was an excellent cook, and most particular that +everything should be done cleanly and properly. I was quite under his +orders in the kitchen, for the cook's art is one that I have not the +patience to learn, and cordially hate. + +<p>Cold turkey and tea for breakfast, and then I divided the party into two, +Breaden with the camels being directed to a prominent hill at the end of +the range there to await the arrival of Godfrey and myself, who went off +to the hills to make further search for water. All day we hunted in +different directions and everywhere found the same barren rocks. We had +fixed upon a certain gully as a rendezvous; each gully was exactly like +its neighbour. Towards the evening I returned to the gully, which I was +sure was the one agreed upon, and there awaited Godfrey. He did the same, +only chose another gully, equally sure that he was right. And there we +sat, each impatiently blaming the other. At last, to pass the time, I +fired some shots at an ant-hill; these had the effect of bringing +Godfrey over the rise, and we had a good laugh at each other when we +discovered that for nearly half an hour we had sat not two hundred yards +apart—and each remained firmly convinced that he was right! Godfrey had +shot a kangaroo and carried part of the meat and the tail; he had tracked +it a long way, but could see no signs of water. + +<p>Still following the hills, we made our way towards the point where the +camels should be, and presently cut a deep, rocky gorge, which we +followed down. The camels had crossed this; and, as it was getting late, +I sent Godfrey along their tracks to rejoin the others, telling him that +I should continue down the creek, and return to wherever they made camp; +to guide me to it they were to light a fire. I followed the creek, or +storm channel as I should rather call it, for some four miles; climbing a +tree I could see it apparently continuing for some miles, so, feeling +that I had already had a fair tramp, I noted the direction of the smoke +from the camp and returned to it. As luck would have it, it was the wrong +smoke; Breaden on arriving at the end hill had made a fire, and this the +evening breeze had rekindled; and the camp-fire happened to die down at +the very time it was most needed. In due course I arrived at the hill, +named Mount Colin, after poor Colin Gibson, a Coolgardie friend who had +lately died from typhoid. From the summit a noticeable flat-topped hill, +Mount Cox, named after Ernest Cox, also of Coolgardie, bears 76° +about fifteen miles distant, at the end of a fair-sized range running +S.S.W. Between this range and that from which I was observing, I noticed +several belts of bloodwoods, which might be creeks, but probably are only +flats similar to that crossed by us. Picking up the tracks of the main +party, I followed them to camp, not sorry to have a rest; for it was ten +hours since Godfrey and I had had anything to eat or drink, and the rocks +were rough and the spinifex dense. I mention this, not as illustrating our +hardships, but to show what training will do; any one of us would have +been quite ready to do the day's tramp over again had any necessity +arisen. + +<p>That night as I was shooting the stars, by which I found we were in lat. +24° 57´, long. 125° 9´ (dead reckoning), I +noticed several bronzewing pigeons flying down the creek which I had +followed, and on which we were camped. In the morning others observed +them flying up the watercourse. As a bronzewing drinks just after dark, +or just before daylight, this was pretty good evidence that water existed +in the direction in which the creek ran—and probably an open pool would +be found. No such luck! for we followed the channel until it no longer +was one, that is to say its banks became further apart, and lower, until +its wash was spread out in all directions over a flat whose limits were +defined by bloodwoods and grass. Here we found an old blacks' camp and +spent some time examining its neighbourhood. Little heaps of the yellow +seed of a low plant, swept together on clear spaces on the ground, and +the non-existence of any well, led us to suppose that this was merely a +travelling camp of some buck who had been sent to collect seed. It was +rather aggravating to be morally certain that water existed and yet be +unable to find it; we still had hopes of the creek making again, and so +followed the direction of its previous course. + +<p>Before long the tracks of a buck and a gin crossed our path, and we at +once turned to follow them through all their deviations. We saw where the +woman had dug out bardies from the roots of a wattle, where the buck had +unearthed a rat, and where together they had chased a lizard. Finally we +reached their camp. Several implements lay about, including two bark +coolimans. These, the simplest form of cooliman, are made by peeling the +bark off the projecting lumps so common on the stems of bloodwoods. The +bark so obtained forms a little trough. In some regions they are gouged +out of a solid piece of wood, but this requires a knowledge of carpentry, +and probably tools, not possessed by the desert black. Another kind more +simple than the first mentioned, is made by bending the two sides of a +strip of bark together, so as to form the half of a pipe; then, by +stuffing up the two ends with clay and grass, a serviceable little trough +is made. In those we saw the clay was moist, and we knew that this was no +mere travelling camp. However, search as we would we could find no water, +until a flock of diamond-sparrows rose in front of Warri, and he +discovered a little well hidden in the spinifex—so perfectly hidden that +our own tracks had passed half an hour before its discovery within a few +paces of it! +<blockquote> +The rat mentioned here was probably a “Bandicoot,” “Boody,” or “Bilby,” +the scientific name of which I do not know; I have never seen one, only +their burrows, and these have always shown every appearance of being +unoccupied. Most of the burrows that I have seen have been in a low +mound, perhaps 30 feet across, of white powdery soil, like gypsum. The +only living things I have seen emerge being a cat (near Lake Prinsep) and +snakes or lizards. + +<p>There is a smaller rat, which the natives in the goldfields districts get +in rather an ingenious way. This rat makes a single burrow, with a nest +at the end of it close beneath the surface. When it is inside the hole it +fills in the entrance and retires to its nest. This is ventilated by a +little hole to the surface, the mouth of this hole being hidden with +small stones and sticks. The rat, however, with all his cunning has only +built a mark by which his home may be discovered by the native. I had +often noticed these little heaps of stones in the scrub, and until a tame +boy explained it had no notion of their meaning. +</blockquote> +<p>What chance has one of finding water, except by the most diligent search +and by making use of every sign and indication written on the surface of +the ground? This well was similar to the one already described, +excepting in one important respect. This one had water. Turning the +camels out we started work, and by sundown had the well in order. Tying +the others down we proceeded to water each camel in turn. Picture our +surprise and joy when each turned from the bucket without drinking more +than two gallons. Billy rolled up like a great balloon, and one would +have sworn that he had just had a long drink. What was this miracle? Here +were camels, after an eight days' drought, travelling eight to ten hours +daily in hot weather, over rough stones and gravel, actually turning away +from water! + +<p>The answer to this riddle was “Parakeelia.” This is a local, presumably +native, name in Central Australia for a most wonderful and useful plant. +A specimen brought back by me from this locality was identified at Kew as +<i>Calandrinia balonensis</i>. This plant grows close to the ground in little +bunches; in place of leaves it has long, fleshy projections, like +fingers, of a yellowish-green colour. From the centre grows a pretty +little lilac flower at the end of a single thin stalk. The fingers are +full of watery juice and by no means unpalatable. We tried them raw, and +also fried in butter, when they were quite good eating. The plant is +greedily devoured by stock of all kinds, and in dry tracts in Central +Australia has been the means of saving many head of cattle. As we found +it, it was not easily got hold of, for invariably it grew right in the +centre of a hummock of spinifex. At first the camels, not knowing its +properties, would not risk pricking themselves, but after we had shown +them, by clearing away the spinifex, how nice it was, they did not +hesitate to plunge their soft noses into the spiny mass, with what good +effect I have already described. Indeed, this plant is a wonderful +provision of nature, and compensates a little for the hideous sterility +of the country. I am not wide of the mark when I say that given +“parakeelia” every second night or so a camel would never want to drink +at all, though it is not really as serviceable as water—not having the +same lasting effect. A similar plant, also found in Central Australia, is +“Munyeru.” In the centre of this a little bag of black seeds grows; +these seeds are crushed and eaten by the natives. Munyeru, Breaden tells +me, is quite a good vegetable for human consumption. Why the locality of +this well, “Warri Well,” should be specially favoured by the growth of +parakeelia I cannot guess. + +<p>The well itself was sufficiently remarkable. Our work took us some twelve +feet from the surface, and in the well we had nearly five feet of water +and the probability of a deal more, as we had not reached “bottom.” The +question that presented itself to my mind was whether the natives had +sunk the well on a likely looking spot and been fortunate in finding a +supply, or whether, from tradition, they knew that this well, possibly +only a rock-hole covered by surface soil, existed. The depression in +which the well is situated must after rain receive the drainage, not only +from the channel we followed, but from the stony rise to the north of it. +After a heavy storm—and from the way in which this creek has been torn +through the sand, scouring a channel down to bedrock, it is clear that +occasionally violent storms visit this region—a large volume of water +would collect in this depression. Some of it would be sucked up by the +trees and shrubs, some would evaporate, but the greater part would soak +into the ground where, so long as the bed-rock (which in this particular +case is a hard sandstone and iron conglomerate) is impervious, it would +remain. I should think it likely, therefore, that on this and similar +flats, not far from hills or tablelands, water by sinking could be +obtained at no great depth. A good guide to this well is a bare patch of +rock on Mount Colin, which bears 138° three miles distant. + +<p>This hill is visible from ten miles due North of the well, from which +point it shows up prominently. Continuing a northerly march from that +point we found that the gravel and stones for the next few miles became +much rougher, and made walking tiring work. Occasionally mulga thickets +free from stones had to be passed through; in these there often occurred +very shallow depressions overgrown with grass and floored with clay. From +the floors rose high, pinnacled ant-heaps, built by the white ant; these +hills, grouped into little colonies, sometimes attained a height of +eleven feet, and had in the distance a weird appearance, reminding me in +shape, at least, of the picture of Lot's wife turned into a pillar of +salt. Around these clay flats large white gum-trees were growing, a +different species from the desert gum, having a quite smooth bark. + +<p>On September 1st we sighted the Alfred and Marie Range due East of us. I +had expected to find this almost on our course; however, my reckoning +differs from Giles's by eight miles, my position for the range being to +the East of his. As we approached the range the country improved greatly, +and had every appearance of having experienced recent rains, for green +herbage (<i>Haloragis</i>, and <i>Trichinium alopecuroideum</i>) was in places +abundant—that is to say, little patches of it, perhaps twenty paces +across. These we saw were feeding-grounds for kangaroos and wallabies. +Turkey tracks were fairly numerous; of the latter we saw six, and shot +one. They are very wary birds and not easily stalked. A very good plan +for shooting them is for one man to hide in a bush or behind a tree +whilst the other circles round a good way off, and very slowly advances, +and so drives the turkey past the hidden sportsman. He, if he is wise, +will let the turkey rise before firing, as their wings are easily broken, +whilst the thick breast-feathers readily turn shot. + +<p>We made camp one mile from the foot of the hills, and Charlie and I +walked over to see what was to be seen. This range is of sandstone, and +made up of a series of flat-topped hills of peculiar shapes, standing on +the usual rough, stony slopes. The hills are traceable in a broken line +for a considerable distance, perhaps twenty miles, in a North-Easterly +direction. No doubt some good water-hole exists amongst these hills, +judging from the tracks of kangaroos, turkeys, and dingoes. I fancy that +animals and birds follow up rain-storms from place to place to take +advantage of the good feed which springs into life, and it is most +probable that for ten months in the year these hills are undisturbed by +animal or bird life. Certainly Giles found that to be the case when he +crossed them in 1876; so disgusted was he with their appearance that he +did not trouble to investigate them at all. Indeed, he could have no +other than sad remembrances of this range, for he first sighted it from +the East, when attempting to cross the interior from East to West—an +attempt that failed, owing to the impossibility of traversing this desert +of rolling sand and gravel with horses only as a means of transport. +Baffled, he was forced to return, leaving behind him, lost for ever, +his companion Gibson. After him this desert is named, and how he lost his +life is related in Giles's journals. + +<p>In 1874 Giles, Tietkens, Gibson, and Andrews, with twenty-four horses, +left the overland Central Australian telegraph line, to push out to the +West as far as possible. Keeping to the South of the already discovered +Lake Amadeus, they found the Rawlinson and neighbouring ranges just +within the Colony of West Australia. Water was plentiful, and a depot camp +was formed, Giles and Gibson making a flying trip ahead to the westward. +The furthest point was reached on April 23, 1874, from which the Alfred +and Marie was visible some twenty-five miles distant. At this point +Gibson's horse “knocked up,” and shortly afterwards died. Giles thereupon +gave up his own horse, the Fair Maid of Perth, and sent his companion +back to the depot for relief; for it was clear that only one could ride +the horse, and he who did so, by hurrying on, could return and save his +companion. With a wave of his hat, he shouted goodbye to his generous +leader and rode off. “This was the last ever seen of Gibson.” It appears +that the poor fellow failed to follow back the outgoing tracks, got lost +in the night, became hopelessly “bushed,” and perished, alone in the +desert. Giles meanwhile struggled on and on, every hour expecting relief, +which of course never came. At last he staggered into camp, nearly dead. + +<p>No time was lost in saddling fresh horses, and Tietkens and his exhausted +companion set out in search of the missing man. Picking up the Fair +Maid's tracks, they followed them until they were four days out from +camp, and it became clear that to go further meant sacrificing not only +their own lives but that of their mate left behind at the depot, as well +as that of all the horses. Gibson's tracks when last seen were leading in +a direction exactly opposite to that of the camp. Luckily the cold +weather (April) stood their horses in good stead; but in spite of this +and of the water they packed for them, the horses only managed to crawl +into camp. It was manifestly impossible to make further search, for +seventy miles of desert intervened between the depot-camp and the tracks +when last seen; and the mare was evidently still untired. So, sorrowfully +they retraced their steps to the East, and the place of Gibson's death +remains a secret still. I have heard that months after Giles's return, +Gibson's mare came back to her home, thin and miserable, and showing on +her belly and back the marks of a saddle and girth, which as she wasted +away had become slack and so turned over. Her tracks were followed back +for some distance without result. Poor thing! she had a long journey, and +Giles must have spoken truly when he said, “The Fair Maid was the gamest +horse I ever rode.” + +<p>Giles's account of this desert shows that the last twenty years have +done little to improve it! He says:— +<blockquote> +<i>The flies were still about us in +persecuting myriads;… the country was, quite open, rolling along in +ceaseless undulations of sand, the only vegetation besides the +ever-abounding spinifex was a few bloodwood trees. The region is so +desolate that it is horrifying even to describe. The eye of God looking +down on the solitary caravan as it presents the only living object around +must have contemplated its appearance with pitying admiration, as it +forced its way continually onwards without pausing over this vast sandy +region, avoiding death only by motion and distance, until some oasis can +be found</i>. +</blockquote> +<p>Not a cheerful description certainly! Every day's Northing, however, +would take us further in or out of this region, as the case might be, and +fervently we hoped for the latter. Whatever country was before us we were +firmly determined to push on, and by the grace of God to overcome its +difficulties. Again referring to Giles's journal I find that during this +part of his journey—viz., near the range where we were now camped—the +change of temperature during night and day was very excessive. At night +the thermometer registered 18°F., whilst the heat in the daytime +was most oppressive. This, in a less degree, was our experience, for the +month being September the days were hotter and the nights less cold. No +doubt this extreme change in temperature, combined with the dry +atmosphere and the tremendous heat of the sun, has caused the hills to be +weathered away in the remarkable shapes of which McPherson's Pillar is a +good example. The pillar is formed of a huge square block of red rock, +planted on the top of a conical mound, perhaps fifty feet in height, +whose slopes are covered with broken slabs and boulders. This remarkable +landmark, which, from the North, is visible from twenty-four miles +distant, I named after Mr. McPherson, a well-known and respected +prospector, who, though leaving no record of his journey, crossed the +Colony from West to East, visiting the hills and waters on Forrest's +route as far East as the Parker Ranges, and thence striking Giles's route +at the Alfred and Marie, and so <i>via</i> the Rawlinson into Alice Springs, on +the overland telegraph line. Though little of his journey was through new +country, yet it had the valuable result of proving the non-existence of +auriferous country in the belt traversed. + +<p>Due West of the Pillar, distant two and a half miles, situated in a +scrub-covered rocky gorge, is a fair-sized rockhole. Breaden and Godfrey +managed to get about two gallons of filth from it; I have swallowed all +kinds of water, but this was really too powerful. Had we been hard +pressed it would undoubtedly have been used, but since we had not long +left water, we discarded this mixture, after trying it on Czar, whose +indignation was great. In the branches of the mulga round the rock-hole I +noticed what I have seen in several other places, viz., stones wedged in +the forks—dozens of stones of all sizes and shapes. I have no knowledge +of their true significance. It may be, and this is merely a guess, that +they indicate the presence of poison in the rock-hole; for by means of a +certain plant which is bruised and thrown into the hole, the water is +given a not actually poisonous but stupefying property. Thus birds or +beasts coming to drink fall senseless and an easy prey to the ambushed +native. This is a common plan in many parts of Australia, and was +described to me by a tame boy from the Murchison. Here, too, were more +little pyramids, similar to those at Empress Spring. Some quaint +black-fellows' custom, but what it signifies even Warri cannot explain. +Breaden has a theory that they point to the next water-hole. This may be, +but, unless for a stranger's benefit, quite unnecessary, as every black +knows his waters; and if for a stranger it is equally peculiar, for his +welcome is usually a bang on the head! It may be that messengers or those +who, wishing to trade from tribe to tribe, get the free passage of the +district, are thus guided on their way. The number of pyramids may +represent so many days' march. + +<p>There must have been some open water besides this dirty rock-hole, but +having sufficient for present requirements we did not waste time in +further search, and on September 2nd turned again to the North. On this +course we continued until September 6th, the country showing no change +whatever, which constrained me to say of it, so I find in my diary, +“Surely the most God-forsaken on the face of the earth”; and yet we had +worse to follow! + +<p>Our rate of travel over the gravel was a small fraction more than two +miles per hour. This I carefully reckoned by timing, taking into account +every halt of ever so small a duration in our march in a due North line +between two latitudes. + +<p>In lat. 23° 34´, long. 125° 16´, there rose +before us, visible for several miles, high banks of stones, such as one +sees on either side of the old bed of a river which has altered its +course. The slopes were covered with spinifex and on the top red and +weeping mulga—the latter a graceful little tree, whose bowed head adds +little to the gaiety of one's surroundings. I cannot offer any +explanation of these curious banks, except that, from the appearance of +one or two large flat boulders on the summit, it may be that they were +formed by the entire disintegration of a sandstone cliff, to which decay +has come sooner than to its neighbours further South. Future experience +showed us that further North the gravel becomes small and smaller until +it disappears, the rolling sandhills giving place to regular ridges. If +this is the case viz., that the hills and ranges are gradually rotting +away until they disappear, leaving only gravel behind, which, in its +turn, decays and decays until only sand remains, then in the course of +ages the whole of this region will be covered with ridge upon ridge of +sand formed by the wind, whose powers so far have been checked by the +weight of the gravel. For the sake of future generations I hope my +reasoning is incorrect. + +<p>As I stood on the stony bank, I could see several native smokes to the +eastward. Determined to take advantage of any help extended to us by +Nature, to spare no pains in the all-important matter of finding water, +to let nothing pass that might assist us on our way, so that if it was +our fate to go under in the struggle I should not be assailed by the +thought that I had neglected opportunities, determined, in fact, always +to act for the best, so far as I could see it, I decided to make use of +this sign of the presence of natives, and altered our course in +consequence. We started due East and held on that course for eight miles, +Godfrey and Charlie lighting the spinifex at intervals. Some men have a +theory that the blacks signal by smokes, the appearance of which they +vary by using different grasses, branches, or leaves. That may be the +case in some parts; here, anyway, they are no more than hunting-fires, as +we later proved. If the desert blacks do go in for smoke-telegraphy they +must on this occasion have thought that the operator at our end of the +wire was mad! Perhaps unknowingly we sent up smokes which appeared to +them to be rational messages! If such was the case our signals could not +have meant “Please stay at home,” for when eventually we did find their +camp they had left. Taking the bearing of the most northerly smoke we +travelled for the rest of the day in its direction. The next morning, +though the smoke had long since died down, we continued on our course and +in a few miles reached a large area of still smouldering spinifex. Around +this we searched for fresh tracks, and, having discovered some, made +camp. And now I have to chronicle the only occasion on which any one +disputed my orders. And this goes far to show that all I have said in +praise of the loyalty and untiring energy of my companions, is not meant +in empty compliment, but falls short of what they merit. + +<p>It was necessary for one to stay in camp and watch our belongings and the +camels, while the rest were engaged in tracking the natives. Our zeal was +so great that the camels were hardly, unloaded and hobbled before each +one had set out, and it followed that one must be sent back. For no +particular reason I fixed on Godfrey, who, instead of hailing with joy +the prospective rest, was most mutinous! The mutiny, however, was +short-lived, and ended in laughter when I pointed out how ridiculous his +objection was. + +<p>Charlie and I went in one direction, whilst Breaden and Warri took +another. Before long, so complicated were the tracks, we separated. A +more annoying job it is hard to imagine: round and round one goes +following a track in all its eccentric windings, running off at right +angles or turning back when its owner had chased a rat or a lizard; at +length there is a long stretch of straight walking and one thinks, “Now, +at last, he's done hunting and is making for home”; another disappointment +follows as one wheels round and finds one's self close to the +starting-point. Such was the experience this day of Breaden, Charlie, +and myself, and disgusted we returned to camp at sundown. Warri was so +late that I began to think he must have come upon the natives themselves, +who had given him too warm a welcome. Presently he appeared, slouching +along with an expressionless face, save for a twinkle in his eye +(literally eye, for one was wall-eyed). My supposition was more or less +correct; he had been fortunate in getting on the home-going tracks of +some gins; following these for several miles he came on their camp—so +suddenly that they nearly saw him. Luckily, he beat a hasty retreat, +doubtful of his reception, and hurried home. + +<a name="p5c8"></a><h4>CHAPTER VIII</h4> + +<h4>A Desert Tribe</h4> + +<p>The next morning we were up betimes and ready to start as soon as ever +the tracks were visible; presently a smoke, their first hunting-smoke of +the day, rose close to us. Despatching Charlie on Satan, and Godfrey on +foot, with instructions to catch a native if possible, I hastened along +the tracks followed by the rest of the party. We reached their camp just +in time to see the late inmates disappear into a thicket of mulga close +by. Neither Charlie nor Godfrey was able to come up with the lighters of +the fire unseen, and these, too, fled into the scrub, where chase was +almost impossible. Their camp deserves description, as it was the first +(excepting travelling camps) we had seen of the desert black-fellow. + +<p>Facing the belt of mulga, was a low wall of uprooted tussocks of spinifex +built in a half circle and some two feet high. On the leeward side of +this breakwind, inside the semi-circle, half a dozen little hollows were +scraped out in the sand. Between each of these nests lay a little +heap of ashes, the remains of a fire which burns all night, replenished +from time to time from a bundle of sticks kept handy for the purpose. The +nest in the sand is the bed, a double one, and not only double but +treble, and more; for in it, coiled up snugly, may lie several of the +tribe, higgledy-piggledy, like pups in a basket. The fire takes the place +of nightshirt, pyjamas, or blanket—a poor substitute on a cold night! +Scattered about were several utensils, two wooden coolimans full of water +and grass—this showing that the owners contemplated a journey, for the +grass floating on the surface is used to prevent the water from spilling. +Two more coolimans were filled with seed—a fine yellow seed from a plant +like groundsel. Close by these were the flat stones (of granite, +evidently traded from tribe to tribe) used for grinding the seed. In the +spinifex wall were stuck numerous spears, varying from eight to ten feet +in length, straight, thin, and light, hardened by fire, fined down and +scraped to a sharp point. Near these was a gin's yam-stick—a stout stick +with a sharp, flat point on one end and charred at the other, used for +digging up roots, stirring the fire, or chastising a dog or child. They +serve, too, as a weapon of defence. Quaintest of all these articles were +the native “portmanteaus,” that is to say, bundles of treasures rolled +up in bark, wound round and round with string—string made from human +hair or from that of dingoes and opossums. In these “portmanteaus” are +found carved sticks, pieces of quartz, red ochre, feathers, and a number +of odds and ends. Of several that were in this camp I took two—my +curiosity and desire to further knowledge of human beings, so unknown and +so interesting, overcame my honesty, and since the owners had retired so +rudely I could not barter with them. Without doubt the meat-tins and odds +and ends that we left behind us have more than repaid them. One of these +portmanteaus may be seen in the British Museum, the other I have still, +unopened. + +<p>Between the camp and the well, which we easily found, there ran a +well-beaten foot-pad, showing that this had been a favoured spot for some +time past. The well itself was situated in a belt of mulga-scrub, and +surrounded by a little patch of grass; growing near by, a few good camel +bushes, such as acacia and fern-tree (quondongs, by the way, were not +seen by us north of Alexander Spring, with the exception of one near +McPherson's Pillar); enclosing the scrub two parallel banks of sand and +stones, with the well in the valley between. Above the well, to the, +North, high anthills and tussocks of coarse grass appeared. The whole +oasis covered no more than three acres. The well itself resembled those +already described, and appeared to have a good supply, so much so that we +started at once to water the camels, which had had no drink since August +21st, a period of seventeen days, with the exception of two gallons +apiece at Warri Well, where the parakeelia grew. + +<p>By midnight all but three—Satan, Redleap, and Misery—had drunk as much +as they could hold. These three had to be content with a small amount, +for we could not get more without digging out the well, and this we +proceeded to do. The night was hot and cloudy, and constant puffs of wind +made work by the light of candles so impossible that we had perforce to +bear the extra heat of a blazing fire. The native well, as we found it, +had been scooped out with hand and cooliman, just large enough to allow +one to descend to a depth of fifteen feet, and the sides of the hole +plastered back with mud, which had baked hard. To follow this hole +further was not feasible, for going down on a slope as it did, any +further deepening would cause the sand to fall in; we had therefore to +start a new vertical shaft from the surface. After a considerable amount +of digging we reached water level, and were preparing to bail the water, +when with a thud the whole thing caved in, and our labour had to be +recommenced. At the time the wedge of ground fell in Godfrey was working +below and narrowly escaped being buried. A timely rope fortunately saved +him. I never saw a man come quicker out of a hole! Now we were a bit +puzzled. Our position was this: six camels were watered, three were not, +our tanks were empty (my fault, for I should have first filled them and +then the camels; but yet if we had water and the camels had none, would +we have been better off?); our well, containing X, an unknown quantity of +water, had fallen in. Query, whether to recommence digging, or to pack up +and follow the blacks? Now, the well might contain a good supply, or +yield no more than a gallon or two; and the blacks might or might not +have gone on to a good water. It was a puzzle. Finally we compromised, +and I sent Breaden and Warri to hunt up the tracks, whilst we started +work again. On one side of the well was rock, and by strengthening the +other by timber we hoped for success. Luckily plenty of good mulga trees +were handy, and we soon had the timber ready for use. This was the second +night without rest or food, and no more than a mouthful of water each, +for on arrival we had given what our tanks contained to the thirsty +camels. + +<p>By putting in crosspieces from side to side of the hole, which we soon +discovered to be an underground rock-hole, and by backing these with +twigs and grass, we managed to make the walls of sand secure, and at last +reached water level, and lost no time, as may well be imagined, in raising +a billyful and having the very best drink we had encountered for a long +time. At the moment almost Breaden and Warri returned, having done their +job admirably. They had followed the tracks to the next camp, away to the +North—a dry camp this—and, noticing the direction the blacks had taken, +returned home. After a feed and a rest we again set to work, and again +the well fell in, but with less danger this time. It was clear that we +could go no further without some sort of caisson to hold back the fine +sand. + +<p>Charlie, with his usual ingenuity, constructed a rough but serviceable +one out of the wooden guards on the faces of our water-casks and the +tin-lined box lids that we had taken from Hubbe's camp at Mount Allott. +Instinct had told us right—they were of use! + +<p>By this means we reached a depth of thirty feet, first sinking the +caisson, then bailing the water, then continuing the timber and backing. + +<p>The hole so narrowed at the bottom that the water could only be obtained +by stretching out a stick at arm's length, on which was lashed a small +saucepan. It soon became clear that, labour as we would, the hole would +yield but little, so, leaving the rest to work, I took Warri, and +continued the search for the natives from the point where Breaden had +left their tracks. After a long, tedious day of tracking, we found +ourselves back at our own camp. The natives—two bucks, two gins, and +three picaninnies—travelled North to a dry well, and there split, the +men going one way and the rest another. We chose the bucks to follow, and +presently the rest joined in, and the whole family swung round until +close to our camp. We could, by their tracks, see where they had herded +together in fear under a beefwood tree not one hundred yards from us. +Just before sunset we again set forth, taking Czar and Satan as +riding-camels, and were lucky in picking up tracks going in a fresh +direction before night fell. + +<p>We camped on the tracks, and ran them in the morning, noticing two +interesting things on the way: the first, several wooden sticks on which +were skewered dried fruits, not unlike gooseberries; these were hidden in +a bush, and are remarkable, for they not only show that the natives have +some forethought, but that they trade in edible goods as well as in +weapons and ornaments. These fruits are from the <i>Solanum sodomeum</i>, and +were only seen by us near the Sturt Creek (three hundred miles away). The +second, little heaps of the roots of a tree (known to me only as +pine-mulga) (Probably a “Hakea.”) stacked together, which had been sucked +for water; we tried some, but without result, and the tree the natives +had made use of did not seem to be different from others of its kind. +This showed us, too, that they must be dry, and probably had had no water +since our arrival at their well. About midday we rode right on to their +camp without warning. Again the scrub befriended them, but in spite of +this I could have got ahead of them on Satan had his nose-line not +snapped. Determined not to be baulked, I jumped down and gave chase, old +Czar lumbering along behind, and Warri shouting with glee and excitement, +“Chase 'em—we catch em,” as if we were going through all this trouble +for pleasure. Happy Warri! he never seemed to see gravity in anything. It +is almost incredible how quickly and completely a black-fellow can +disappear; as if in a moment the whole family was out of sight. One black +spot remained visible, and on it I centred my energies. Quickly +overhauling, I overtook it, and found it to be an old and hideous gin, +who, poor thing! had stopped behind to pick up some dingo puppies. + +<p>Sorry as I was to be rude to a lady, I had to make her prisoner, but not +without a deal of trouble. “Dah, dah, dah!” she shouted, scratching, +biting, spitting, and tearing me with her horrid long nails, and using, I +feel sure, the worst language that her tongue could command. I had to +carry this unsavoury object back to her camp, she clutching at every bush +we passed, when her hands were not engaged in clawing and scratching me. +After her anger had somewhat abated she pointed out a rock-hole from +which they had got their water. Securing the woman with a light rope, I +put her in Warri's charge, who kept watch above, lest the natives should +return and surprise us, whilst I descended the rock-hole to see what +supply was there. A little water was visible, which I quickly baled into +the canvas bags we had brought for the purpose. The bottom of the hole +was filled in with dead sticks, leaves, the rotting bodies of birds and +lizards, bones of rats and dingoes. Into this ghastly mass of filth I +sunk up to my middle, and never shall I forget the awful odour that arose +as my feet stirred up the mess. Nevertheless water was there, and +thankful I was to find it, even to drink it as it was. After half an +hour's work in this stinking pit, sick from the combination of +smells—distinguishable above every other being the all-pervading perfume +of aboriginals—I was rewarded by some twelve gallons of water, or, more +properly speaking, liquid. + +<p>I decided to take the gin back with us, as it had been clear to me for +some time past that without the aid of natives we could not hope to find +water. With our small caravan it was impossible to push on and trust to +chance, or hope to reach the settled country still nearly five hundred +miles ahead in a bee-line. Even supposing the camels could do this +enormous stage, it was beyond our power to carry sufficient water for +ourselves. The country might improve or might get worse; in such weather +as we now experienced no camel could go for more than a few days without +water. I felt myself justified, therefore, in unceremoniously making +captives from what wandering tribes we might fall in with. And in light +of after events I say unhesitatingly that, without having done so, and +without having to a small extent used rough treatment to some natives so +caught, we could not by any possibility have succeeded in crossing the +desert, and should not only have lost our own lives, but possibly those +of others who would have made search for us after. “A man arms himself +where his armour is weakest,” so I have read; that, however, is not my +case. I am not justifying myself to myself, or defending a line of action +not yet assailed. I write this in answer to some who have unfavourably +criticised my methods, and to those I would say, “Put yourselves in our +position, and when sitting in a comfortable armchair at home, in the +centre of civilisation, do not, you who have never known want or suffered +hardship, be so ready to judge others who, hundreds of miles from their +fellow-men, threatened every day with possible death from thirst, were +doing their best to lay bare the hidden secrets of an unknown region, as +arid and desolate as any the world can show.” + +<p>On starting back for camp the gin refused to walk or move in any way, so +we had to pack her on Czar, making her as comfortable as possible on +Warri's blankets, with disastrous results thereto. Arrived at camp, I +found that the rock-hole was bottomed, and now quite dry. Straining the +putrid water brought by me through a flannel shirt, boiling it, adding +ashes and Epsom salts, we concocted a serviceable beverage. This, blended +with the few gallons of muddy water from the well, formed our supply, +which we looked to augment under the guidance of the gin. After +completing our work the well presented the appearance of a large +rock-hole, thirty feet deep, conical in shape, of which one-half the +contents had been dug out. This confirmed my opinion that the native +wells of these regions are nothing more than holes in the bed-rock, which +have been covered over and in by the general deposit of sand. I had no +time to observe for latitude at this spot, the position of which is fixed +merely by dead reckoning. The rock-hole lies eight miles from it to the +S.E. by E., and has no guide whatever to its situation. I christened the +well “Patience Well,” and I think it was well named. + +<p>From September 8th, 9 a.m., until September 12th, 12.30 a.m., we had +worked almost continuously, only taking in turn what sleep we could +snatch when one could be spared; and the result, 140 gallons as sum +total, inclusive of mud and other matter. + +<p>We left Patience Well on the 12th, at 10 a.m., taking the woman with us. +Breaden was the only one in whose charge she would consent to be at all +calm; to him therefore was allotted the duty of looking after her. At +eleven we reached the dry well to which Warri and I had tracked the +natives. The water we were forced to use was so uninviting that I decided +to make another effort to find a supply in this locality. The gin was of +no use whatever, and would only repeat whatever we said to her—“Gabbi,” +which King Billy had understood, was wasted on her. “Gabbi, gabbi,” she +repeated, waving her arm all round the horizon. Leaving the rest to +bottom the dry well, which might have water lower down, Warri and I again +started off on the tracks of a buck, and these we followed due North on +foot for four and a half hours, hoping every moment to come on a well. +Soon after starting an apparently old track joined the other, and +together they marched still North. Presently the old tracks changed into +fresh ones, and close by I found two rough sandals made of strips of +bark. One I kept, the other was too nearly worn out. There was no change +in the dreary appearance of the country; through scrubs, over stones and +sand we held our way, until Warri, who was now a little way behind, +called, “No good, no more walk!” I could see the poor boy was knocked +up, and felt little better myself; to go on did not guarantee water, and +might end in disaster, so after a short rest we retraced our steps. The +night was now dark and oppressive, so hatless and shirtless we floundered +through the spinifex, nearly exhausted from the walk, following so close +on the last few days' work. I believe that but for Warri I should have +been “bushed ”; my head was muddled, and the stars not too clear. What a +joyful sight met our eyes as we crested a rise of sand—a sight almost as +reviving as the food and water we so anxiously looked forward to. Tongues +of flame shot up in the air, a fire lit by our mates, but showing that, +in spite of Warri's instinct, we had not been walking in quite the right +direction. No welcome news greeted our arrival—the well was dry, and the +native obdurate. We all agreed she was useless, and since she refused all +forms of nutriment I feared she would die on our hands, so she regained +her liberty, and fled away with a rapidity not expected in one of her +years. + +<p>My companions had felt some anxiety at our continued absence, and again I +had evidence of the cordial friendship existing between us. + +<p>With reference to the bark sandals, the use of which is not so far +known, I append an extract from <i>The Horn Scientific Expedition</i>, Part +IV., where we read the following:— + +<h4>SANDALS<br> +Arunta Tribe</h4> +<blockquote> +<i>Kurdaitcha Shoes</i>.—When a native for some reason desired to kill a +member of another camp or tribe, he consulted the medicine man of his +camp, and arrangements were made for a 'Kurdaitcha Luma.'… Both +medicine man and Kurdaitcha wore remarkable shoes. These had the form of +a long pad made of human hair, with numberless emu feathers intertwined, +and with a certain amount of human blood to act as a cementing substance. + +<p>…Both ends of the shoes were rounded off, and were exactly similar +to one another, which has given rise to the erroneous idea that their +object was to prevent the wearer being tracked… +</blockquote> +<p>But no other explanation is offered. + +<p>Breaden says tracks of a man wearing these emu-feather shoes are very +indistinct, but has no certain knowledge of their use. Warri, looking at +the bark sandals, said, “Black-fella wear 'em 'long a hot sand.” +Questioned about the emu-feather shoes, he gave the usual answer, “I +dunno,” and then added, probably to please me, as I had suggested the +explanation, “Black-fella no more see 'em track, I think.” + +<p>It was clear that no good results were likely to follow further search in +this locality, for the tracks were so numerous, and crossed and recrossed +so often, that nothing could be made out of them. The country to the +North being so uninviting, I altered our course to North-East, and again +to North, when we sighted a smoke, and, following tracks, camped on them. + +<p>“Mud and oatmeal for breakfast,” September 14th; truly the sage spoke who +remarked, “What does not fatten will fill.” Such was our fare, and the +only doubt we had was lest the compound should be turned into brick by +the sun's heat! However, it was sustaining enough to last us all day, +occupied in tracking. Two dry wells, connected by a well-trodden pad half +a mile long, rewarded our labours; and here we had the conviction forced +upon us that the blacks themselves were hard pressed: we could see where +dust and dirt had been recently removed from the bottom of the wells, +both of which were over fifteen feet in depth, and one over twenty. Were +the natives hard pressed for water, or had they heard of our coming, and +were by smokes guiding us to empty wells? Unpleasant speculation, when +one's tanks contain nothing but a nasty brown liquid, and the country +looks as if it had not known rain for years! + +<p>September 15th. Another smoke to the North-East; again we steer for it, +as if following a will-o'-the-wisp. The continued semi-starvation, hard +work, and heat was beginning to leave its mark. None of our friends or +relatives would have recognised us now! Clothed in filthy rags, with +unkempt hair and beards, begrimed with mud, and burnt black by the sun +wherever its rays could penetrate our armour of dirt, we were indeed a +pretty lot. That night we tied the camels down—there was no feed for +them; besides, I wished them handy in the morning, for we could not be +far from natives now unless the smoke had deceived us. The next day the +desolation of the country was increased by vast areas of burnt ground, +from which rose clouds of dust and ashes—no gravel was here to arrest +the onslaught of the wind upon the sand. Towards evening we were doomed +to experience fresh discouragement, for in front of us, seen from rising +ground, there stretched ridge upon ridge of barren sand, black from the +charred remains of spinifex. To tackle those ridges in our then plight +meant grave risks to be run, and that night the responsibility of my +position weighed heavily upon my thoughts. I prayed for strength and +determination—for to each one of us must have come the thought of what +our fate might be. I feel sure that all were ready to face boldly +whatever was in store, and were resolved to do their utmost—and what +more can man do? + +<p>To go forward was our only course, since we meant to get through. Before +sunrise, black and weary we started, having fed on tinned vegetables, +the only article amongst our provisions possessing any moisture. + +<p>Before long we were amongst the ridges. What a desolate scene! Ridge upon +ridge of sand, black from the ashes of burnt spinifex. Not a sound or +sign of life, except the grunts of the camels as they strained up the +sandy slopes. Presently we sighted a newly lighted hunting smoke, not a +mile from us; with my field-glasses I could see the flames of the +fiercely burning spinifex lapping the crest of a high sand-ridge. Leaving +the tracks I was following I rejoined the main party, and, calling to +Charlie to accompany me, and to the others to follow us as fast as they +could, I set off for the fire. Having anticipated reaching the scene of +the smoke early this morning, we had divided up Czar's load amongst the +remainder of the caravan, and for the time transformed him into a +riding-camel, and so two of us were mounted. On nearer approach we pulled +up to give our steeds a blow, and, unseen ourselves, we watched the +natives hunting, all unsuspicious of the near presence of beings and +animals so strange in colour and form. + +<p>Advancing slowly from opposite directions, we were able to get within a +hundred yards of them before our silent approach was noticed. No words +can describe the look of terror and amazement on the faces of those wild +savages. Spellbound they crouched in the black and smouldering ashes of +the spinifex, mouths open and eyes staring, and then with one terrific +yell away they ran, dodging and doubling until a somewhat bushy beefwood +tree seemed to offer them means of escape. How many there had been I do +not know, but the tree harboured three, the man, woman, and child, that +we had first singled out. All kept up a ceaseless screaming and +gesticulating, reminding me of the monkey-house at the “Zoo”; but above +the others could be distinguished the voice of the old gin who, with +frantic haste, tried to screen the man with branches broken from their +tree of refuge, and who in the intervals between this occupation and that +of shaking a stick at us, set a light to the surrounding spinifex either +as a signal or with the hope of keeping us at a distance; for with all +her fear she had not let drop her firestick. Thinking that they would be +completely overawed by the appearance of the rest of the caravan, and so +make no further attempt to escape, we sat sentinel on our camels and +awaited the arrival of the main party. Presently they appeared, and the +trembling fear of the natives was painful to witness—never by any +possibility could they have seen camels or white men, though considering +the extent to which articles are passed from tribe to tribe, it is +probable they had heard of the “white-fella.” Even to European eyes a +camel is not the canniest of beasts, and since these people had never +seen an animal larger than a dingo, and, indeed, no animal save this and +the spinifex rat, their surprise may well be imagined on seeing a thing +as large as their whole camp marching solemnly along. + +<p>Putting down the caravan we approached them, and from a mad, incoherent +yelling their protestations gradually died down to an occasional gulp +like that of a naughty child. Making soothing sounds and patting their +breasts and our own in turn, in sign of friendship, we had plenty of time +to inspect them. An old lady, with grizzled hair, toothless and distorted +in countenance, with legs and arms mere bones, and skin shrunken and +parched; a girl-child, perhaps six years old, by no means an ugly little +thing, and a youngish man made up the trio; all stark-naked, and +unadorned by artificial means, unless one excepts a powerfully scented +mixture of grease and ashes, with which their bodies were smeared. The +buck—poor fellow!—was suffering from some horrible skin disease, which +spread over his chest and back. He seemed to have but little power in his +arms, and a pitiful object he was, as we uncovered him from his screen of +branches. Having apparently satisfied them that it was not our intention +to eat them, by signs we showed them our pressing need for water—these +they readily understood—doubtless because their own daily experience is +one constant hunt for food or water. Evidently we had the former with us +in the shape of camels, therefore we could only want the latter. The +little child very soon showed great confidence, and, taking my hand, led +us over a neighbouring sand-ridge. The old lady took a great fancy to +Godfrey, and convinced us that flirting is by no means confined to +civilisation. + +<p>Leading us obliquely across the ridges we had just passed over, some two +miles from the scene of their hunting, they halted at their well. To the +North of it an almost barren ridge of sand rising to a height of perhaps +sixty feet, and running away East and West for possibly ten miles without +a break, from the crest of which we could see a limitless sea of ridges +as far as the eye could reach to the Northward (a cheerful prospect!), to +the South the undulating treeless desert of gravel we had just crossed. +Between the foot of the ridge and a stony slope the well was situated—the +usual little round hole in the sand—a small patch of roly-poly grass +making a slight difference in the appearance of the country immediately +surrounding the hole. As well as this roly-poly, we were delighted to see +a few scattered plants of parakeelia, and lost no time in unloading and +hobbling the camels, who in their turn made all haste to devour this +life-giving vegetation. + +<a name="pt19"></a><h5>Illustration 19: A Buck and his gins in camp at Family Well</h5> + +<p>Camp made, we set to work on the well, sinking our boxes as before, our +black friends watching us with evident interest. Presently we heard a +shrill call, and, looking up, saw the rest of the family hesitating +between curiosity and fear. The old gin reassured them and they +approached—a man, a young mother with a baby at the breast, and two more +children. There were evidently more not far off who were too timid to +come on, as we heard calls from beyond the ridge. This buck was a fine, +upstanding fellow, very lithe and strong, though thin and small of +bone. Dressed in the fashionable desert costume of nothing at all, +excepting a band of string round his forehead, and a similar belt round +his waist, from which hung all round him the spoils of the chase, with a +spear in one hand and throwing-sticks in the other he looked a queer +figure in the setting sun—iguanas and lizards dangling head down from his +hair and his waist-string—indeed a novel way of carrying game. His lady +followed him with a cooliman under her arm, with a further supply of +reptiles and rats. + +<p>The whole family established themselves close to us. Their camp had been +near the crest of the ridge, but, apparently liking our company, they +shifted their household goods, and, starting a fire within twenty yards +of us, were soon engaged in cooking and eating their supper. The process +of preparing a meal is simple in the extreme. The rats are plucked (for +they do not skin the animal, but pluck the hair as we do feathers from a +chicken), and thrown on to a pile of hot wood-ashes with no further +preparation, and are greedily devoured red and bloody, and but barely +warm. A lizard or iguana calls for a further exercise of culinary +knowledge. First, a crooked twig is forced down the throat and the inside +pulled out, which dainty is thrown to any dog or child that happens to be +near; the reptile is then placed on hot coals until distended to the +utmost limit that the skin will bear without bursting, then it is placed +on ashes less hot, and covered with the same, and after a few minutes is +pronounced cooked and ready for the table. The old lady did the cooking, +and kept up an incessant chattering and swearing the while. We noticed +how kind they were to the poor diseased buck, giving him little tit-bits +of half-raw rat's flesh, which he greatly preferred to any food we fed +him. They were strange, primitive people, and yet kind and grateful. We +anointed the sick man's wounds with tar and oil (a mixture used for mange +in camels), and were well rewarded for our unsavoury task by his dog-like +looks of satisfaction and thanks. We had ample opportunity to watch them +at night, as our well-sinking operations kept us up. They seemed afraid +to sleep or lie down, and remained crouching together in their little +hollows in the sand until morning. To break the force of the wind, which +blew rather chilly, they had set up the usual spinifex fence, and between +each little hollow a small fire burnt. The stillness of the night was +only broken by the occasional cry of the baby, and this was immediately +suppressed by the mother in a novel manner, viz., by biting the infant's +ear—a remedy followed by almost immediate success. I beg to recommend +this exceedingly effective plan to any of my lady readers whose night's +rest is troubled by a teething child—doubtless the husband's bite would +have an equally good effect, but the poor baby's ears might suffer from a +combination of a strong jaw and a ruffled temper. + +<p>What a strange sound—that little picaninny's cry; surrounded as we were +by a boundless sea of sand, it made one think how small a speck our party +was on the face of the earth; it somehow took one's thoughts back to +civilisation and crowded cities, and one felt that it was not just very +certain if one would see such things again; and how little it would take +to wipe us out, like gnats squashed on a vast window-pane! In the morning +we sent the able-bodied man away to hunt, but his interest in us soon +overcame his desire for game, and he returned, and presently made himself +useful by carrying roots of bushes for our fire, for wood was hard to +get, and the nearest tree hardly in sight. I presented the buck with an +old pyjama jacket, and a great swell he thought himself too, strutting +about and showing himself off to the others. In exchange for numerous +articles they gave us, we attached coins round their necks, and on a +small round plate, which I cut out of a meat-tin, I stamped my initial +and the date, C. 1896. This I fixed on a light nickel chain and hung +round the neck of the good-looking young gin, to her intense +gratification. It will be interesting to know if ever this ornament is +seen again. I only hope some envious tribesman will not be tempted to +knock the poor thing on the head to possess himself of this shining +necklace. + +<p>Amongst their treasures which they carried, wrapped up in bundles of bark +and hair, one of the most curious was a pearl oyster-shell, which was +worn by the buck as a sporran. Now this shell (which I have in my +possession) could only have come from the coast, a distance of nearly +five hundred miles, and must have been passed from hand to hand, and from +tribe to tribe. Other articles they had which I suppose were similarly +traded for, viz., an old iron tent-peg, the lid of a tin matchbox, and a +part of the ironwork of a saddle on which the stirrup-leathers hang. This +piece of iron was stamped A1; this, I fear, is hardly a sufficient clue +from which to trace its origin. Their weapons consisted of spears, barbed +and plain, brought to a sharp or broad point; woommeras, throwing-sticks, +and boomerangs of several shapes, also a bundle of fire-making implements, +consisting of two sticks about two feet long, the one hard and pointed, +the other softer, and near one end a round hollow, into which the hard +point fits. By giving a rapid rotary movement to the hard stick held +upright between the palms of the hands, a spark will before long be +generated in the hole in the other stick, which is kept in place on the +ground by the feet. By blowing on the spark, a little piece of dried +grass, stuck in a nick in the edge of the hollow, will be set alight and +the fire obtained. + +<p>As a matter of fact this method is not often used, since, when travelling +from camp to camp, a firestick or burning brand is carried and replaced +when nearly consumed. The gins sometimes carry two of these, one in front +and one behind, the flames pointing inwards; and with a baby sitting +straddle-legs over their neck and a cooliman under their arms make quite +a pretty picture. + +<p>Amongst the ornaments and decorations were several sporrans of curious +manufacture. Some were made up of tassels formed of the tufts of boody's +tails; other tassels were made from narrow strips of dog's skin (with the +hair left on) wound round short sticks; others were made in a similar +way, of what we conjectured to be bullock's hair. All the tassels were +hung on string of opossum or human hair, and two neat articles were +fashioned by stringing together red beans (Beans of the Erythrina) set in +spinifex gum, and other seeds from trees growing in a more Northerly +latitude. This again shows their trading habits. Here, too, were +portmanteaus, holding carved sticks of various shapes and patterns, +emu-plumes, nose-bones and nose-sticks, plaited bands of hair string, and +numerous other odds and ends. + +<p>In the evening we watered the camels, and lucky it was that the +parakeelia existed, and so satisfied them with its watery juice that they +were contented with very little, Satan and Misery not swallowing more +than two gallons each. Lucky indeed, because even with another night's +work we were only just able to get a sufficient supply to carry us on for +a few days, and but for the parakeelia either we or the camels would have +had to go short. + +<p>We did not completely exhaust the water in the well—not, I fear, because +we studied the convenience of the natives, but because our makeshift +appliances did not enable us to sink deeper. So we bade adieu to our +simple black friends, and set our faces to the sand-ridges. On leaving +camp in the morning I found a piece of candle lying on the ground. I +threw it to the buck, and he, evidently thinking it good to eat, put it +in his mouth, holding the wick in his fingers, and, drawing off the +tallow with his teeth, swallowed it with evident relish. + +<a name="p5c9"></a><h4>CHAPTER IX</h4> + +<h4>Dr. Leichardt's Lost Expedition</h4> + +<p>At this point I must ask pardon of the courteous reader for a seeming +digression, and interpolate a short account of Dr. Leichardt's lost +expedition—as to the fate of which nothing is known; and although no +apparent connection exists between it and this narrative, it may be that +in our journey we have happened on traces, and that the pieces of iron +mentioned in the last chapter may serve as some clue to its fate. On +arrival in civilisation I sent these iron relics, with some native +curios, to Mr. Panton, Police Magistrate, of Melbourne, Victoria, a +gentleman whose knowledge, and ability to speak with authority on matters +concerning Australian exploration is recognised as the highest. + +<p>When, therefore, Mr. Panton expresses the opinion that the tent-peg was +the property of Dr. Leichardt, one may be sure that he has good grounds +for his supposition. Whether Leichardt lost his life in the heart of this +wilderness or not, the complete mystery hiding his fate makes his history +sufficiently remarkable; and though I consider that there is little to +show that he ever reached a point so far across the continent, there is +no reason that he should not have done so, and I leave it for my readers +to form their own opinion. + +<p>Ludwig Leichardt, after carrying out successfully several journeys in +Queensland and the Northern Territory, undertook the gigantic task of +crossing Australia from East to West, viz., from Moreton Bay to the Swan +River Settlements. + +<p>Towards the end of 1847, accompanied by eight white men, two black-boys, +and provisions to last two years, he started, taking with him one hundred +and eighty sheep, two hundred and seventy goats, forty bullocks, fifteen +horses, and thirty mules. After travelling with little or no progress for +seven months, during which time the whole stock of cattle and sheep were +lost, the party returned. Not discouraged by this disastrous termination +to his scheme, Leichardt resolved on another expedition with the same +object in view. + +<p>Before many months he, with the same number of companions but with fewer +animals, set out again. On the 3rd of April, 1848, he wrote from +Fitzroy Downs, expressing hope and confidence as to the ultimate +success of the expedition. Since that date, neither tidings nor traces +have been found of the lost explorer, nor of any of his men or +belongings. Several search-parties were organised and a large reward +offered, but all in vain—and the scene of his disaster remains +undiscovered to this day. Many and various are the theories propounded +with regard to his fate. It is held by some that the whole party were +caught in the floods of the Cooper. This creek is now known to spread +out, after heavy rains at its source, to a width of between forty and +fifty miles. So heavy and sudden is the rain in semi-tropical Australia, +that a traveller may be surrounded by flood-waters, while not a drop of +local rain may fall. Leichardt, in those early days, would labour under +the disadvantage of knowing neither the seasons, nor the rainfall, and in +all likelihood would choose the valley of a creek to travel along, since +it would afford feed for his stock. It seems reasonable to suppose that a +flood alone could make so clean a sweep of men, cattle, and equipment +that even keen-eyed aboriginals have failed (so far as is known) to +discover any relics. + +<p>Another theory, and that held by Mr. Panton, is that the deserts of +Central and Western Australia hold the secret of his death. This theory +is based, I believe, on the fact that Gregory, in the fifties, found on +the Elsey Creek (North Australia) what he supposed to be the camp of a +white man. This in conjunction with some vague reports by natives would +point to Leichardt having travelled for the first part of his journey +considerably further north than was his original intention, with a view +to making use of the northern rivers. Supposing that his was the camp +seen on the Elsey, a tributary of the Victoria River, it would have been +necessary for him to alter his course to nearly due South-West to enable +him to reach the Swan River. This course would have taken him through the +heart of the desert, through the very country we now were in. For my part +I think that trade from tribe to tribe sufficiently accounts for the +presence of such articles as tent-pegs and pieces of iron, though +strangely enough an iron tent-peg is not commonly used nowadays, stakes +of wood being as serviceable, and none but a large expedition would be +burdened with the unnecessary weight of iron pegs. + +<a name="p5c10"></a><h4>CHAPTER X</h4> + +<h4>The Desert Of Parallel Sand-Ridges</h4> + +<p>My position for Family Well is lat. 22° 40´, long. +125° 54´. The well, as already stated, is situated at the foot +of the southern slope of a high sand-ridge. This ridge is the first of a +series of parallel banks of sand which extend, with occasional breaks, +from lat. 22° 41´ to 19° 20´—a distance of +nearly 250 miles in a straight line. From September 16th to November 16th +we were never out of sight of a sand ridge, and during that time travelled +420 miles, taking into account all deviations consequent upon steering for +smokes and tracking up natives, giving an average of not quite seven miles +a day, including stoppages. This ghastly desert is somewhat broken in its +northern portion by the occurrence of sandstone tablelands, the Southesk +Tablelands; the southern part, however, viz., from lat. 22° +41´ to lat. 20° 45´ presents nothing to the eye but +ridge upon ridge of sand, running with the regularity of the drills in a +ploughed field. A vast, howling wilderness of high, spinifex-clad ridges +of red sand, so close together that in a day's march we crossed from sixty +to eighty ridges, so steep that often the camels had to crest them on +their knees, and so barren and destitute of vegetation (saving spinifex) +that one marvels how even camels could pick up a living. I estimate their +average vertical height from trough to crest at fifty to sixty feet. Some +were mere rises, whilst others reached a height of considerably over one +hundred feet. Sometimes the ridges would be a quarter of a mile apart, +and sometimes ridge succeeded ridge like the waves of the sea. On October +3rd, for instance, I find that we were crossing them at a rate of ten in +forty minutes. This gives a result of 105 ridges to be negotiated in a +day's march of seven hours. Riding was almost impossible in such country +as this, for all our energies were required to urge on the poor camels. +All through, we adhered to the same plan as before, viz., doing our day's +march without a halt (excepting of course the numerous stoppages entailed +by broken nose-lines, the disarrangement of a pack, or the collapse of a +camel), having no food or water from daylight until camping-time. This, +without our previous training, would have been an almost impossible task, +for each ridge had to be climbed—there was no going round them or +picking out a low place, no tacking up the slope—straight ahead, up one +side, near the top a wrench and a snap, down goes a camel, away go the +nose-lines, a blow for the first and a knot for the second, over the +crest and down, then a few paces of flat going, then up again and down +again, and so on day after day. The heat was excessive—practically there +was no shade. + +<p>The difficulties of our journey were increased by the necessity of +crossing the ridges almost at right angles. With almost heart-breaking +regularity they kept their general trend of E. by N. and W. by S., +causing us from our Northerly course to travel day after day against the +grain of the country. An Easterly or Westerly course would have been +infinitely less laborious, as in that case we could have travelled along +the bottom of the trough between two ridges for a great distance before +having to cross over any. The troughs and waves seem to be corrugations +in the surface of greater undulations; for during a day's march or so, on +reaching the top of one ridge, our view forwards was limited to the next +ridge, until a certain point was reached, from which we could see in +either direction; and from this point onwards the ridges sank before us +for a nearly equal distance, and then again they rose, each ridge higher +than the last. Words can give no conception of the ghastly desolation and +hopeless dreariness of the scene which meets one's eyes from the crest of +a high ridge. The barren appearance of the sand is only intensified by +the few sickly and shrunken gums that are dotted over it. In the troughs +occasional clumps of shrubs, or scrubs, (e.g., Mulga (<i>Acacia aneura</i>), +grevillea, hakea, ti-tree (<i>Melaleuca</i>) and in the northern portion desert +oaks (<i>Casuarina descaineana</i>)) or small trees are met with, and everywhere +are scattered tussocks of spinifex. True it is, though, that even this +poverty-stricken plant has its uses, for it serves to bind the sand and +keep the ridges, for the most part, compact. Where spinifex does not +grow, for instance on the tops of the ridges, one realises how impossible +a task it would be to travel for long over banks of loose sand. + +<a name="pt20"></a><h5>Illustration 20: Cresting a sand-ridge</h5> + +<center><p><img alt="" src="images/spin8.jpg"></center> + +<p>I find that my estimate for the average height of the sand-ridges is +considerably lower than that of Colonel Warburton. It is interesting, +therefore, to compare his account of these ridges, though it must be +remembered that Colonel Warburton was travelling on a westerly course, +and we from our northerly direction only traversed country previously +seen by him, for the short distance that our sight would command, at the +point of intersection of our two tracks. In an editorial note in his book +we read:— +<blockquote> +<i>They varied considerably both in their size and in their distance from +each other, but eighty feet may be regarded as an average in the former +respect and three hundred yards in the latter.</i> + +<p><i>They ran parallel to each other in an East and West direction, so that +while pursuing either of these courses the travellers kept in the +valleys, formed by two of them, and got along without much exertion. It +was when it became necessary to cross them at a great angle that the +strain on the camels proved severe, for on the slopes their feet sank +deeply into the sand, and their labours were most distressing to +witness</i>. +</blockquote> +<a name="p5c11"></a><h4>CHAPTER XI</h4> + +<h4>From Family Well To Helena Spring</h4> + +<p>On leaving Family Well it was suggested by Charlie and Godfrey that we +should take one of our native friends with us. No doubt this would have +been the most sensible plan, and would have saved us much trouble. +However, I did not care to take either of the females, the sick man was +evidently of no use to us, and it was pretty evident that the sound buck +was the chief hunter, and that without him, the little tribe would be +hard pressed to find food. As we were not in absolute need of water for a +few days to come, I decided to leave the family in quiet enjoyment of +their accustomed surroundings. I had now given up all hope of finding any +other than desert country ahead of us, and had no longer any other +purpose than that of traversing the region that lay between us and +“white settlements” with as little harm to ourselves and our camels as +care and caution could command. Our course was now North-East, as it was +necessary to make more easting to bring us near the longitude of Hall's +Creek. We continued for three days on this course, the ridges running due +East and West. The usual vegetation was to be seen, relieved by +occasional patches of a low, white plant having the scent of lavender. +This little plant grew chiefly on the southern slope of the ridges, and +was seen by us in no other locality. A specimen brought home by me was +identified at Kew Gardens as a new variety of Dicrastylis, and has been +named <i>Dicrastylis Carnegiei</i>. + +<p>Large tracts of burnt country had to be crossed from which clouds of dust +and ashes were continually rising, blown up by “Willy-Willies” (spiral +winds). These were most deceptive, it being very hard to distinguish +between them and hunting-smokes. After one or two disappointments we were +able to determine, from a distance, the nature of these clouds of black +dust. On the 22nd we turned due East towards some smokes and what +appeared to be a range of hills beyond them. The smokes, however, turned +out to be dust-storms, and the range to be immense sandhills. Here we saw +the first desert oak, standing solitary sentinel on the crest of a ridge. +Around the burnt ground several old tracks were visible, some of which we +followed, but with no better result than two dry rock-holes and a dry +native well one mile from them. Near the latter was an old native camp, +in which we found several small, pointed sticks, so planed as to leave a +bunch of shavings on the end. I have seen similar sticks stuck up on +native graves near Coolgardie, but have no idea of their proper +significance. Probably they are merely ornaments. + +<p>A line of cliffs next met our view, and to them we turned. These were +higher rocks or hills than we had seen for some time, and presented +rather a remarkable appearance. Formed of a conglomerate of sandstone and +round ironstone pebbles, they stood up like a wall on the top of a long +slope of easy grade, covered with gravel and loose pebbles. At the foot +lay boulders great and small, in detached heaps like so many pieces +broken from a giant plum-pudding. In the face of the cliffs were numerous +holes and caves, the floors of which gave ample evidence of the presence +of bats and wallabies. Of these latter we saw several, but could not get +a shot; careful exploration of these caves, on hands and knees, led to +the finding of a fair-sized rock-hole, unfortunately quite dry. I have no +doubt that these wallabies, like the spinifex rats, are so constituted +that water is not to them a necessity, and that the spinifex roots +afford sufficient moisture to keep them alive. We saw no traces of +spinifex rats at any of the wells we found, nor did we see any water +which they could reach or from which, having reached it, they could climb +up again to the surface. From the top of the cliffs an extensive view to +the South and North was obtained. But such a view! With powerful +field-glasses nothing could be seen but ridge succeeding ridge, as if the +whole country had been combed with a mammoth comb. From these points of +the compass the cliffs must be visible for a considerable distance. Their +rather remarkable appearance made me think them worth naming, so they +were christened “Wilson's Cliffs,” after my old friend and partner. + +<p>The entry in my diary for the 25th would stand for many other days. It +runs:— +<blockquote> +Most wretched sand-ridge country, ridges East and West, and +timbered with very occasional stunted gums—extensive patches of bare, +burnt country with clouds of dust. Absolutely no feed for camels—or for +any other animal for that matter. +</blockquote> +<p>Such miserable country beggars description. Nothing is more heartrending +than to be forced to camp night after night with the knowledge that one's +poor animals are wandering vainly in search of feed. To tie them down +would have given them some rest, but at the same time it entailed their +certain starvation; whilst, wandering about, they stood some chance of +picking up a mouthful or two. How anxiously each ridge was scanned when +camping-time drew near—no feed—on again another ridge or two, no +feed—just one more ridge, and, alas! “no feed” is again the cry. So we +camped perforce without it, and often the famished camels would wander +two or three miles in the night in search of it, and this meant an extra +walk to recover them in the morning. + +<p>On the morning of the 27th Warri brought in all the camels but one, with +a message from Breaden that Misery was dying. Small wonder if all had +been in the same state, for we were now eight days from the last water, +and tough as camels are they cannot go waterless and foodless for very +many days in such trying country as this. Poor old Misery! This was sad +news indeed, but all that could be done to save him should be done. + +<p>This morning a smoke rose due West of us. We had seen so few signs of +natives lately that we could not afford to neglect this, even though it +was so far from our proper course. + +<p>By the time we had loaded the camels and distributed his load amongst the +rest, Breaden brought Misery into camp, and when we started, followed +with him behind us, coaxing him along as best he could. Eight miles +brought us into the region of the burning spinifex and fresh tracks; +despatching Charlie on Satan, and Godfrey and Warri on foot, to track up +and catch a native if possible, I unloaded the camels and awaited +Breaden's arrival. Presently he came alone, saying that poor Misery was +done for and could move no further, so he had left him. I felt sure that +that was the case, since Breaden would not have come without him if there +had been any possibility of getting him further. Nevertheless, I could +not bear to leave my faithful and favourite camel to die by slow degrees, +and returned on Breaden's tracks. I took with me a brandy-bottle full of +Epsom salts and water, for from Breaden's account of his way of going on +I felt sure that poor Misery had eaten some poisonous plant. Four miles +back I found him lying apparently dead in the shade of a tree, or where +the shade would have been had there been any foliage; he knew me and +looked up when I spoke to and patted him, and rested his head in my lap +as I sat down beside him; but no amount of coaxing could get him on his +legs. Having administered the salts, which he evidently enjoyed, I +proceeded to bleed him by slitting his ear; my knife, however, was not +sharp enough, (for everything becomes dulled in this sand) to do the job +properly, and he bled but little. I could do nothing but wait, so taking +a diminutive edition of Thackeray from my pocket, for I had foreseen this +long wait, I read a chapter from <i>Vanity Fair</i>. Presently I got him on +his legs and he walked for about thirty yards, then down he went in a +heap on the ground; another wait, and more <i>Vanity Fair</i>. Then on again, +and down again, and so on hour after hour. Soon nothing but brutal +treatment would make him stir, so I hardened my heart and used a stick +without mercy. What a brute I felt as he turned his great eyes +reproachfully upon me! “Never mind, Misery, old chap, it must be done to +save your life!” At last I reached a ridge within one hundred yards of +the camp, and here Breaden met me, bringing with him four gallons of +water and the welcome news that the others had captured two bucks who had +shown a well three miles north. + +<p>This water saved Misery's life, and was just in time. We reached camp as +the camels were reloaded and ready to start for the well under the +guidance of the two bucks. Both of these were fair-sized men, and one +stood six feet at least, though from the method of doing the hair in a +bunch at the top of the head they appear taller than they really are. +Godfrey and Warri had tracked them right into their camp and surprised a +family of numerous gins, young and old, several picaninnies, and three +bucks, one of whom was stone blind. They were preparing their evening +meal, and amongst the spoils of the chase there were opossums, whose +tracks on one of two large gum-trees not far off we afterwards saw. I had +always associated opossums with good country; however, here they were. Of +the natives, some fled as soon as Godfrey and Warri approached, whilst +the men were uncommonly anxious to dispute this unceremonious visit to +their camp. They were on the point of active hostilities when Charlie +rode up on Satan, and they then thought better of it. Even so they were +not persuaded to accompany the white men back to camp without +considerable difficulty. The smaller man managed to escape; the other we +afterwards christened Sir John, because he was so anxious to make us dig +out old dry wells, so that presumably they should be ready for the next +rain. There seemed to us to exist a certain similarity between his views +and those of the Government, which is ever ready to make use of the +pioneer's labours where it might be justly expected to expend its own. + +<p>This fellow was most entertaining, and took a great interest in all our +belongings. I, coming last, seemed to excite keen delight, though he was +naturally a little shy of his captors; he patted me on the chest, felt my +shirt and arms, and was greatly taken by a tattoo on one of them. +Grinning like any two Cheshire cats, he showed his approval by “clicking” +his tongue with a side shake of the head, at the same time snapping his +thumb and finger. Breaden, too, came in for Sir John's approval, and was +similarly patted and pulled about. + +<p>Godfrey had taken a rather handy-looking tomahawk from the buck, made +from the half of a horseshoe, one point of which was ground to a pretty +sharp edge—a primitive weapon, but distinctly serviceable. Unlike our +friend at Family Well, this man had not even a shell to wear, and beyond +an unpleasantly scented mixture of fat and ashes, with which he was +smeared, was hampered by no sort of clothing whatever. As usual, he was +scarred on the chest and forehead, and wore his hair in a mop, held back +by a band of string. His teeth were a picture, not only clean and white, +which is usual, but uncommonly small and sharp, as one of us found! +Leaving him to the main party to take on to the well, I and Warri +remained behind to bring Misery on—and a nice job we had too. I thought +of waiting and packing water back to him, but in that case he would have +fallen an easy victim to the natives, who were bound to be prowling +about, nor could one of us be spared to watch him. So he had to be beaten +and hauled and dragged, by stages of twenty yards at a time, over the +ridges. After darkness fell we had to follow the tracks with a firestick +until we had the fire at camp to guide us. This we reached about 9.30 +p.m., fairly tired out, but satisfied that the poor, patient sufferer's +life was saved. The others had already started work on the well, but +knocked off when I got back, and we had a good feed and a short rest. Sir +John was much distressed at his party having taken away all their food +when they retreated, and was hardly consoled by what we gave him. +Tethered to a ti-tree, with a little fire to cheer him, he was apparently +happy enough. + +<p>The rest of the night we worked at the well in shifts, and Charlie and I, +the first shift, started off soon after daybreak with the buck to find +more water, for it was evident that our present supply was insufficient. +We felt pretty certain from the way the tribe had left that another well +existed close by; the question was, would our captive show it? He started +in great glee and at a great pace, carrying behind him, like a +“back-board,” a light stick. This will be found to open the lungs and +make a long walk less fatiguing, except for the strain on the arms. +Occasionally he would stop and bind strips of bark round his ankles and +below the knee. “Gabbi” was just over the next ridge, he assured us by +signs—it was always “the next ridge”—until when nearly ten miles from +camp we saw a smoke rise ahead of us, but so far away that we could do no +good by going on. However, we had gained something by locating a fresh +camp, so started homewards, the buck becoming most obstreperous when he +saw our change of plan, for he made it clear by signs that the gins +(indicating their breasts by covering his own with his hands) and the +blind man (pointing to his own closed eyes and making a crooked track in +the sand) and the rest, had circled round and gone to the camp from which +we could see the smoke rising. However, he could not escape and soon gave +in, and followed reluctantly behind, dragging at the rope. + +<p>Walking was bad enough, but this extra exertion was rather too much. +Besides, we were sadly in need of sleep; so, taking advantage of what +little shade we could find by following round the shadow of a gum tree as +the sun moved, Charlie slept whilst I watched our black friend, and then +I did the same. On arrival at camp we found that our companions had been +so successful in “soak-sucking,” i.e., baling and scraping up the +miserable trickle of water as it soaks into the “caisson,” that by +sunset we were able to give the camels eight gallons each, and two +gallons extra to Misery, who was showing signs of a rapid recovery. +Luckily there was a little patch of dry herbage not far from the well, +and a few acacias over the ridge. All the next day we were occupied in +“soak-sucking,” and Warri went back for Misery's saddle, which had been +thrown off. I took the opportunity of writing up my diary—anything but a +pleasant job, for shade there was none, except in a reclining position +under our solitary ti-tree bush. The native's close proximity and the +swarm of flies, made the task quite hateful, for under the most +favourable conditions there are few things I dislike more than writing. +On September 28th I chronicled a most remarkable fact, viz., that the two +camels Satan and Redleap had had no more than thirteen gallons of water +in the preceding thirty-eight days—a wonderful exhibition of endurance +and pluck in this burning weather and barren country. It came about in +this way:— + +<p>August 22nd. At Woodhouse Lagoon they had a full drink in the morning. + +<p>August 29th. At Warri Well, where the parakeelia grew, two gallons in the +evening. + +<p>September 8th. At Patience Well they were the last to be watered, eight +gallons in the evening. + +<p>September 18th. At Family Well, parakeelia again, three gallons at night. + +<p>September 28th. Half a drink. + +<p>Therefore between the 22nd of August and the 28th of September they had +no more than thirteen gallons. + +<p>Satan had more travelling, though carrying a less load, than any of the +rest, being used for scouting and finding natives. + +<p>On the evening of the 29th I left my work down the well to take some +observations; unluckily I was just too late for the stars I wanted, and +had to wait up for some long time. We had divided the night into five +shifts for baling; when my turn came my companions did not wake me, but +did my shift for me. I am sure I appreciated their kindly thought, and +felt thankful indeed, and not for the first time, that I had managed to +choose such excellent mates—for I had long realised that without peace +and unanimity in such a party, our chances of getting through the desert +would be greatly minimised. + +<p>I found our position to be lat. 21° 49´, long. 126° +33´. + +<p>By morning we had given the camels another five gallons apiece and had +some to go on with in our tanks, having, by working for two days and +three nights, scraped together 140 gallons in all. On the 30th we +travelled again Westwards, though making some Northerly progress towards +the smoke which Charlie and I had located. We had a long talk about our +methods of travelling, and Charlie thought that I was inclined to spare +the camels at the expense of ourselves. We travelled all day without a +break so that they should have the longer to look for feed at night, then +we always hunted for tracks and water on foot, and when we found water, +gave it to the camels before looking after our own wants, and he thought +we might do longer stages straight ahead so long as we had a native. I +held, and I think the outcome of the journey proved me correct, that our +own well-being was a secondary consideration to that of our animals, for +without them we should be lost. “Slow but sure” was my motto. + +<p>Though anxious to make as much northing as possible I did not feel +justified in passing by almost certain water for the sake of a few hours. +I felt always that we might come into an even more waterless region +ahead, and perhaps be unable to find any natives. Some twelve miles +brought us to the well—the smoke had been beyond it—and a more wretched +spot I never saw. Absolutely barren, even of spinifex, were the high +ridges of sand between which was the well—merely a small, round hole, +with no signs of moisture or plant life about it, not a tree “within +cooee.” We had to go far to collect enough wood for a fire, and cut two +sticks with which to rig up a fly to shade us from the sun—a purely +imaginary shade, for light duck is of little use against the power of +such a burning sun; but even the shadow cast by the fly gave an +appearance of comfort. + +<p>At this camp we made two new caissons, as our old tin-lined boxes were no +longer strong enough. Amongst our gear were two galvanised-iron boxes, +made to order, with lids which completely covered the boxes and were held +on by straps. “Concertina-made boxes” they were called by the +tinsmith—a name which gave rise to a curious mis-statement in a Perth +paper which published a letter I wrote to Sir John Forrest. The letter +read: <i>…We made boxes out of concertinas!!</i> I fear any who read +this must have thought me fairly good at “romancing.” I had them made +that shape so that they might be filled to nearly double the capacity of +the boxes and still have serviceable lids. I had hoped to have filled +them with specimens of plants and birds. Unfortunately we had neither the +time to, nor the opportunity of making any such collection, though we +might easily have filled them with specimens of the desert house-fly +which swarm at every well! By sawing off the ends of these lids we had +two useful boxes, with neither top nor bottom, and by screwing them on +to a framework of wood we manufactured a most useful caisson, 2 feet deep +by 1 1/2 long and 1 foot wide. By forcing this into the sand in the well +and digging out the sand contained in it, and then patiently waiting with +a pannikin for the small trickle of water creeping in from between the +outside of the caisson and the sides of the rock-hole, then again forcing +the box lower, and clearing out the sand above, now drained of its +moisture, and repeating the baling process, we were enabled to drain the +well of almost every drop it contained. On first acquaintance with these +wells a novice's impulse would be to dig out the sand until the bottom +was reached; but as the sand holds the water he would find himself with a +nicely cleared hole, but cleared of sand and water alike. Therefore, +without some such makeshift as that already described one would be in the +most unsatisfactory position of knowing that water existed, and yet of +being unable to obtain any but a very small supply. The natives use +comparatively little water, since it is only for drinking purposes, +washing being unknown, and as the water sinks in the well the sand is +scooped out gradually and carefully and plastered round the sides of the +hole, so preventing the inrush of sand. Very often when they require a +drink they bend down and suck up the water through a bunch of grass, +which prevents the sand from getting into the mouth. + +<p>The water from the wells was always bad, and on first being brought to +the surface was hardly fit to use; the camels would not, unless really +dry, drink it until it had been exposed in our canvas troughs to the air +for some time. Lying stagnant perhaps for a year or more, protected by +the sand, it is not to be wondered at that its flavour is not of the +best. Digging in the sand discloses all sorts of odds and ends that could +not fail to contaminate the water. It contains also—derived, I suppose, +from the sandstone—a certain amount of iron, which I believe to have +acted as a sort of tonic to us. A many-tinted, bluish scum always floated +on the surface and tea made with it turned as black as ink—nevertheless +it was quite good drinking. + +<p>October 1st and 2nd we spent at the well, working as above described, +whilst Warri tended the camels a couple of miles away on a patch of weeds +he discovered. This weed which I have mentioned is the only available +feed in this region—without it the camels must have starved long since. +The plant somewhat resembles a thistle, but has a small blue flower, and +when fresh forms the best feed. So far, however, we had only seen it dry +and shrivelled. It is known to science as <i>Trichodesma zeylanicum</i>. This +camp was the scene of a vicious onslaught on Charlie, made by the buck, +whilst away looking for the plant from which to make a chewing-ball. +Taking Charlie unawares he nearly accomplished his escape. Charlie, as it +happened, was the very worst to try such tricks on, for he +was the strongest of the party, and a very powerful man. During the +struggle the black-fellow grabbed Charlie's revolver pouch, and somehow +the revolver exploded, the bullet narrowly missing them both. It had the +useful effect of attracting our attention, and we were in time to save +Charlie some nasty wounds, as the buck was using his powerful jaws to +great advantage. Of course we could not blame him for trying to +escape—that was only natural—but it made us more cautious in the +future. Excepting the inconvenience of being unable to get away, he +had nothing to complain of, and had the advantage of plenty to eat +and drink without the trouble of looking for it. The manufacture of +the “quid” mentioned above is interesting. Cleaning and smoothing a +place in the sand, a small branch from a silvery-leafed ti-tree +(a grevillea, I think), is set alight and held up; from it as it +burns a light, white, very fine ash falls on to the prepared ground. Now +the stems of a small plant already chewed are mixed with the ashes. The +compound so formed is squeezed and pressed and kneaded into a small, +oval-shaped ball, of sticky and stringy consistency. The ball when in use +is chewed and sucked but not swallowed, and is passed round from mouth to +mouth; when not in use it is placed behind the ear, where it is carried. +Nearly every tribe we saw had such “quids.” No doubt they derive some +sustenance from them. Sir John preferred his “chew” to any food we gave +him; though he did not care about tobacco. + +<p>For the next two days the sand-ridges seemed to vie with each other in +their height and steepness, between them there was hardly any flat ground +at all; mile after mile we travelled, up one and down and over the next +without ceasing. First came the native and his guard, then in a long, +broken line the string of camels. What a labour it was! Often each camel +had to be urged in turn over the ridge whilst those behind were +continually breaking their nose-lines to lie down or hurry off to the +nearest shade, however scanty, and there await the blows and exhortations +of their driver; those which remained in their places were continually +lifting their feet, for they could not stay still on the burning sand; +then their packs were always being jolted about and thrown out of place, +necessitating reloading, and when at last we had them again in line the +whole performance had to be repeated a few ridges further on. + +<p>Sometimes our caravan would cover half a mile or more, the guide and +guardian waiting far in advance whilst the broken line was rejoined and +the stragglers brought in, and away far behind the last camel would +appear alone, with his nose-line dangling and tripping him up. Usually +Billy brought up the rear—nothing would induce him to follow close +behind; a jerk of his head and away went the nose-line, and Billy was +left behind to follow when so inclined. The heat was really tremendous. +It can be fairly sultry around Coolgardie, but never before have I +experienced such scorching heat; the sun rose like a ball of fire, and in +two hours' time had as great power as at any period during the day. How +one prayed for it to set, and how thankful one was when in due course it +did so, sinking below the horizon as suddenly as it had risen! + +<p>I am not sure which felt the heat most, poor little Val or the buck. He, +curiously enough, seemed more affected by it than we were. At night he +drank more than we did, and then was not satisfied. Sometimes when +waiting on ahead he used to squat down and scoop out a hole in the ground +to reach the cool sand beneath; with this he would anoint himself. +Sometimes he would make a mixture of sand and urine, with which he would +smear his head or body. Poor Val was in a pitiable state; the soles of +her paws were worn off by the hot sand; it was worse or as bad for her to +be knocked about on the top of one of the loads, and although by careful +judgment she could often trot along in the shade of one of the camels, +she was as near going mad as I imagine it possible for a dog to go. Poor +little thing! She used to yell and howl most agonisingly, with her eyes +staring and tongue hanging. We had, of course, to pack her on a camel +when her feet gave out, and by applying vaseline alleviated her pain. + +<p>Our guide took us to two dry wells and watched our disgust with evident +satisfaction, and I had to resort to the unfailing argument of allowing +him no water at all. He pleaded hard by sounds and gesture and no doubt +suffered to some extent, but all was treated as if unnoticed by us. +Thirst is a terrible thing; it is also a great quickener of the wits, and +the result of this harsh treatment, which reduced the poor buck to tears +(a most uncommon thing amongst natives), was that before very long we +were enabled to unload and make camp in one of the most charming little +spots I have ever seen. A veritable oasis, though diminutive in size; but +not so in importance, for without its life-giving aid it is hard to say +how things would have gone with us. The weather, as I have said, was +scorching, the country destitute of feed, almost waterless, most toilsome +to cross, and our camels were worn to skeletons from starvation and +incessant work, and had they not been fine specimens of an exceptionally +fine breed must have long since succumbed. Surely this is one of the +noblest of creatures and most marvellous works of the Creator! + +<p>Brave, dumb heroes, with what patience and undaunted courage do they +struggle on with their heavy loads, carrying what no other animal could +carry in country where no other could live, never complaining or giving +in until they drop from sheer exhaustion! I think there are few animals +endowed with more good qualities than the much-abused camel—abused not +only by the ignorant, which is excusable, but by travellers and writers +who should know better. Patience, perseverance, intelligence, docility, +and good temper under the most trying conditions, stand out pre-eminently +amongst his virtues. Not that all camels are perfect—some are vicious and +bad tempered; so far as my experience goes these are the exceptions. Some +few are vicious naturally, but the majority of bad-tempered camels are +made so by ill-treatment. If a camel is constantly bullied, he will +patiently wait his chance and take his revenge—and pick the right man +too. “Vice or bad temper,” says the indignant victim; “Intelligence,” +say I. In matters of loading and saddling, ignorance causes great +suffering to camels. I can imagine few things more uncomfortable than +having to carry 150 pounds on one side of the saddle and perhaps 250 +pounds on the other, and yet if the poor beast lies down and complains, +in nine cases out of ten his intelligent master will beat him +unmercifully as a useless brute! Nearly every sore back amongst a mob of +camels is the result of carelessness. It is hard to avoid, I am well +aware, but it can be done; and I speak as an authority, for during our +journey to Kimberley and the journey back again, over such country as I +have endeavoured faithfully to describe, there were only two cases of +camels with sore backs—one was Billy, who had an improperly healed wound +when we started, which, however, we soon cured; the other Stoddy, on the +return journey. This state of affairs was not brought about except by +bestowing great care and attention on the saddles, which we were +continually altering, as they were worn out of shape, or as the camels +became thinner—and thin they were, poor things, tucked up like +greyhounds! A few days' rest and feed, fortunately soon puts a camel +right, and such they could have at the little oasis we had reached on +October 5th. In the centre of it lay a splendid little spring, in many +ways the most remarkable feature we had encountered, and therefore I +christened it after one whose love and helpful sympathy in all my work, +has given me strength and courage—my sister Helena. + +<a name="p5c12"></a><h4>CHAPTER XII</h4> + +<h4>Helena Spring</h4> +<blockquote> +<i>My native valley hath a thousand springs, but not to one of them shall I +attach hereafter, such precious recollections as to this solitary fount, +which bestows its liquid treasures where they are not only delightful, +but nearly indispensable</i>. +</blockquote> +<p>So spake Sir Kenneth of Scotland in <i>The Talisman</i>. + +<p>Surely the Christian knight, dragging his way across the sands of +Palestine, was not more pleased to reach the “Diamond of the Desert” +than we were to light upon this charming little oasis, hidden away in the +dreary solitude of the surrounding sandhills; the one spot of green on +which one's eyes may rest with pleasure in all this naked wilderness. At +the bottom of a hollow enclosed between two sand-ridges is a small +surface outcrop of limestone of similar character to that in which +Empress Spring is situated. In this is a little basin, nearly circular, +about 2 feet 6 inches in diameter and 3 feet deep, with a capacity of +about seventy gallons. This is the spring, fed at the bottom of the basin +from some subterranean source by a narrow tunnel in the rock, a natural +drain, not six inches in diameter. Through this passage, from the West, +the water rises, filling the rocky basin, and evidently at some seasons +bubbling over and filling the clay-pan which abuts on it on the Western +side. On the East side of the spring is an open space of sand; +surrounding it and the clay-pan is a luxuriant growth of pig-face—a +finger-like plant, soft, squashy, and full of moisture, but salt; it is +commonly seen on the margin of salt-lakes. Beyond the pig-face, tussocks +of grass and buck-bush, beyond that again a mass of ti-tree scrub +extending to the foot of the sandhills. On the inner slopes of these can +be seen the crowning glory of the spot viz., an abundance of splendid +green thistle (<i>Trichodesma zeylanicum</i>), tall and juicy, growing amongst +acacia and other bushes. Outside this, beyond this area of perhaps four +hundred yards in diameter, stretching away to the horizon, ridge upon +ridge of desolate sand, black and begrimed by the ashes of recently +burnt spinifex, from which the charred stumps of occasional gum trees +point branchless to the sky. What chance of finding such a place without +the help of those natives to whom alone its existence was known? + +<p>The winds and storms of past years had filled in the basin with sand and +leaves, and except for the extraordinary freshness and abundance of +vegetation around it, its peculiar situation, and the absence of the +usual accompaniments to rock-holes, such as heaps of sticks and stones +which, having served their purpose of protecting the water from +evaporation, have been removed and thrown aside by the natives, there was +nothing at first sight to lead one to suppose that any further supply +existed than was visible in this natural reservoir. This small amount +soon vanished down the throats of the thirsty camels; it was then that, +having cleared out the sand and leaves, we discovered the small passage +through which the spring rises. By continual baling until all the camels +were satisfied (and of this splendid spring water they drank a more than +ordinary amount) we kept the water back to the mouth of the passage. +Within an hour or so of the watering of the last camel, the hole was +again full to the brim, of the most crystal-clear water. How we revelled +in it! What baths we had—the first since we left Woodhouse Lagoon over +seven weeks back! What a joy this was, those only can understand who, +like us, have been for weeks with no better wash than a mouthful of water +squirted into the hands and so rubbed over the face. Whenever possible +Godfrey, who made our damper (bread), washed his hands in the corner of a +dish, which was used by each in turn afterwards—and at our work in the +wells, a certain amount of dirt was washed off. But to splash about with +an unlimited number of buckets of water ready to hand, to be got by the +simple dipping of a billy-can—this was joy indeed! This luxury we +enjoyed from October 5th to October 10th, and every day the camels were +brought to water, and with this and the green feed visibly fattened +before our eyes. + +<a name="pt21"></a><h5>Illustration 21: Helena Spring</h5> + +<p>So soon as we had proved the supply of our new watering-place, I had +intended giving our guide his liberty. However, he forestalled this by +cleverly making his escape. For want of a tree, his chain had been +secured to the iron ring of a heavy pack-bag. His food and water were +given him in empty meat-tins. With the sharp edge of one of these he had +worked so industriously during the night that by morning he had a neat +little circle of leather cut out of the bag round the ring. + +<p>With a blanket on which he had been lying, he covered his cunning trick +and awaited his opportunity. It soon came; when our attention was fixed +on the building of a shade, and, in broad daylight, he sneaked away from +us without a sign or sound, taking with him some three feet of light +chain on his ankle. What a hero he must be thought by his +fellow-tribesmen! and doubtless that chain, which he could easily break +on a stone with an iron tomahawk, will be treasured for many years to +come. Had he not been in such a hurry he would have returned to his +family laden with presents, for we had set aside several articles +designed for him. + +<p>Our camp was specially built to protect us from the flies, and consisted +of a framework of ti-tree poles and branches, roofed with grass and +pig-face; under this we slung our mosquito-nets and enjoyed perfect +peace. A few days in camp are by no means idle ones, for numerous are the +jobs to be done—washing and mending clothes, patching up boots and hats, +hair cutting, diary writing, plotting our course, arranging photograph +plates (the majority of which were, alas! spoilt by the heat), mending a +camera cracked by the sun, making hobble-straps, mending and stuffing +saddles, rearranging packs cleaning firearms, and other like occupations. +The heat was extreme; too great for my little thermometer which +registered up to 140°F., and intensified by hot winds and +“Willy-Willies” (sometimes of great violence), which greatly endangered +our camp. Godfrey excelled himself in the cooking department, and our +usual diet of “tinned dog” was agreeably varied by small pigeons, which +came in numbers to drink—pretty little slate-grey birds with tufts on +their heads, common enough in Australia. Of these we shot over fifty, and, +as well, a few of the larger bronzewing pigeons. The tufted birds come to +water just after daylight and just before sundown, and so are more easily +shot than the bronzewing. Throughout the day, galahs, wee-jugglers, +parakeets, diamond-sparrows, and an occasional hawk or crow, came to the +spring, evidently a favourite resort. Curiously enough, but few native +camps were to be seen, nor is this the first time that I have noticed that +the best waters are least used. The Australian aboriginal is not usually +credited with much thought for the morrow. These desert people, however, +have some provident habits, for first the small native wells are used, and +only when these are exhausted are the more permanent waters resorted to. +As an instance of their powers of following a “spoor,” it may be +mentioned that on several occasions our captive suddenly darted off at a +tangent with eyes to ground, and then started digging his heel in the sand +to find where a lizard or iguana was that he had tracked to his hole. +Warri, amongst his other accomplishments, was most useful as a retriever +of any wounded pigeon; he would hunt about until he spotted a fresh track, +and before long had captured the bird. Any one who has noticed the number +of hen-tracks in a poultry yard will appreciate this delicate performance. +Warri, I am sure, would have been invaluable to Sherlock Holmes. + +<p>Pleasant as our camp was we could not stay too long, for we still had a +considerable tract of unknown country before us. As the result of +numerous observations I make the position of Helena Spring to be lat. +21°, 20´ 30´´ South, and (by dead reckoning) long. +126° 20´ East. + +<p>From the native I extracted the following words, which I consider +reliable:— + +<table align=center summary=""> +<tr><th>English <th>Aboriginal +<tr><td>Eagle Hawk <td>Gunderu +<tr><td>Gum tree <td>Waaldi +<tr><td>Sand <td>Nuah +<tr><td>Spinifex <td>Godadyuda, +<tr><td>* Fire or Smoke <td>Warru +<tr><td>* Water <td>Gabbi +<tr><td>* Dog <td>Pappa + +</tr></table> +<blockquote> +* The same as used by natives at Empress Spring. +</blockquote> +<a name="p5c13"></a><h4>CHAPTER XIII</h4> + +<h4>From Helena Spring To The Southesk Tablelands.</h4> + +<p>On October 11th we reluctantly left the “Diamond of the Desert” behind +us, travelling in a N.E. by N. direction over the interminable +sand-ridges, crossing a greater extent of burnt country than we had yet +seen, and finally camping on the top of a high ridge so as to catch any +breeze that the night might favour us with. + +<p>We made a long march that day of eighteen miles a very creditable stage +in such peculiarly configurated country. The camels had so benefited by +their rest and feed that it made little difference to them that they had +nothing to eat that night; they were well content to lie round the camp +all night and chew the cud. I have often noticed how much camels like +society; under favourable conditions—that is to say when travelling in +good camel-country like the Southern goldfields—they will feed for an +hour or so before dark, then slowly make their way with clattering +hobble-chains and clanging bells back to the camp-fire, and there, with +many grunts of satisfaction, lie peacefully until just before daylight, +when they go off for another feed. On moonlight nights they like to roam +about and pick choice morsels of bush on and off until daylight. In this +waste corner of the earth where now we battled our way, the poor brutes +wandered aimlessly about, now trying a mouthful of sharp spinifex and now +the leaves of a eucalyptus; turning from these in disgust, a little patch +of weed might be discovered by one lucky camel; no sooner would he hurry +towards it than the others would notice it, and then a great scramble +ensued and the weakest went without—though I have seen the strong help +the weak, as in the case of Czar, who, with his powerful jaws, would break +down branches for Misery, then quite young and without the requisite +teeth. How fine they look with their long necks stretched upwards with the +heads thrown back and the sensitive lips extended to catch some extra +fresh bunch of leaves! How cunningly they go to work to break a branch +that is out of reach; first the lowest leaf is gently taken in the lips +and pulled down until the mouth can catch hold of some hanging twig—along +this it is worked, and so from twig to branch, a greater strain being +exerted as the branches increase in size, until finally the main limb of +the branch is seized, and bent and twisted until broken. Often they try +for one branch time after time, for having set their minds on a particular +morsel, nothing will satisfy them until they have it. + +<p>No such scene could be watched from our camp on the ridge. But still we +had something out of the common to look upon in the shape of hills ahead, +and my hopes were high that we should soon see the last of the desert. +Away to the North high points and bold headlands stood out black and clear +above the sea of sand, tablelands and square-edged hills with some high +peaks rising from them—the most imposing hills we had seen since passing +Mount Burgess, near Coolgardie. From this point little could be determined +as to their character even with glasses, for they were, as we afterwards +found, over thirty miles distant. + +<p>Between them and our camp numerous low detached, table-top hills and +conical mounds could be seen—none of any size, but remarkable in shape +and appearance. These I named the Forebank Hills, after a hill near +my home. These hills gave promise of better country, and, choosing a +prominent headland, I altered our course towards it the following +morning. We had not been travelling long before a smoke rose quite +close to us, and we had another opportunity of seeing native hunting +operations without being seen ourselves. A fine upstanding buck was +dodging about amongst the blazing spinifex and was too engrossed to +notice us; presently his occupation led him over the ridge and we saw him +no more. From the earliness of the hour—for the smokes as a rule do not +rise before 9 a.m.—it was clear that he could not have come far, so, +picking up his tracks, we followed them back to his camp. Though we were +not in great want of water, I considered it always advisable to let no +chance of getting some slip by, since one never can tell how long the +next may be in coming. + +<p>The tracks led us along the foot of one ridge; along the next, some +three hundred yards distant, the ladies of the tribe could be seen +marching along, laughing and chattering, and occasionally giving forth +the peculiar shrill yell which only the gins can produce. It is +impossible to describe a noise in writing, but the sound is not unlike a +rather shrill siren, and the word shouted is a long-drawn “Yu-u-u.” There +is no mistaking the women's voices, the men's cry is somewhat deeper. +Both are rather weird sounds, more especially when heard in thick scrub +where one can see no natives, though one hears them all round. In the +spinifex they were easily seen, and to their cry an answering yell came +over the ridge and other women and children appeared. Presently they saw +our caravan, and the “Yu-u-u” became fainter and fainter as the group +scattered in all directions, and was lost to view. At the end of the +tracks we found a camp, and in it the only attempt at a roofed shelter +that we saw in the desert, and this merely a few branches leant against a +small tree. The camp-fire had spread and burnt the spinifex close by, +which gave the spot anything but an inviting appearance. + +<p>Under the shelter were huddled together, asleep, two gins and a young +man. I have never seen more intense astonishment expressed in any one's +face than that shown by these three when we roused them. All in their way +were peculiar and deserving of description. The young gin was by no means +uncomely; well-shaped and healthy-looking, with a skin black and shining +as a well smoked meerschaum, with beautiful teeth which were shown off to +advantage by an extensive smile, when she found that we had no murderous +intentions. The other gin was the most repulsive object I have ever +seen—like a hideous toad with wrinkled, baggy skin, with legs and arms so +thin as to be no more than skin stretched tight over very meagre +shinbones; and the face of this wretched being was a mass of festering +wounds, on which no one could look without pity and horror. The man, too, +was remarkable; an exceedingly smart young buck with an air of +irresponsibility about him that suggested madness—a suspicion amply +confirmed by his subsequent behaviour. His decorations added to his queer +appearance; scarred by deep gashes on chest and arms, his body was +daubed with red ochre, and his ribs picked out with white; on his head a +kind of chignon formed of grass, hair, and string held his matted locks +in place, like a bird's nest on his crown; he had neither beard nor +whiskers, and was not blessed with any article of clothing whatever. + +<a name="pt22"></a><h5>Illustration 22: The only specimen of desert architecture</h5> + +<p>He showed us their well, which was nearly dry, and then volunteered to +lead us to others; and away he went, swaggering along and clicking his +tongue in great glee, occasionally breaking out into shrieks of laughter. +When we arrived at one dry rock-hole and then another, it dawned upon me +what the secret joke had been that so amused our friend; and I determined +that he should be of some use to us before we parted company. + +<p>Of these dry rock-holes, one would, after rain, hold a fair amount of +water, and is situated on the shoulder between two low table-tops. To the +South, about two miles distant, are three conspicuous conical hills, +close together, and about the same distance to the North-West a hill that +at once calls to mind an old fort or castle. On camping, our native +friend became a most intolerable nuisance, and proved himself a cunning +wrestler, suddenly bending down and diving between Breaden's legs, which +he seized at the ankle, nearly succeeding in throwing him to the ground. +With a chain formed of spare hobbles held together by wire, we tethered +him to a tree, scraped out a nest in the sand for him to sleep in, and +lit a fire to cheer him. There he lay quiet until, on making signs that +he was thirsty, one of us went to give him his food and water, when he +darted at his benefactor and fought most viciously. After that, all +through the night, at intervals, he was yelling and dancing, now upright +and now on hands and knees circling his tree and barking like a dog, now +tearing his headgear and stamping it in the sand, threatening us with +hands raised, and finally subsiding into his sandy nest, crying and +whining most piteously. It was an act of some danger to unloose him in +the morning, but before long he was laughing away as heartily as before. +There is no doubt he was as mad as could be. During the day's march he +was up to all kinds of pranks, going through all sorts of antics, +idiotic, sorrowful, angry, and vulgar in turn. The space between the +ridges was greater now, and on them were numerous pointed ant-hills +some two or three feet high. One favourite trick of this lunatic +was to rush towards one of these, and sit perched on the top with +his knees up and feet resting on the side of the heap, a most +uncomfortable position. Another dodge he tried with indifferent success +was that of throwing himself under a camel as he passed, with the object, +I suppose, of diving out on the other side. The camel, however, did not +understand the game and kicked him severely. He was a most extraordinary +person, and indeed I can understand any one going mad in this dreary +region; and to think that these black folk have never known anything +different! + +<p>I could enumerate a score of strange tricks that our friend exhibited. +What surprised me most was to see him make use, in unmistakable +pantomime, of a vulgar expression that I thought was only known to +English schoolboys! + +<a name="pt23"></a><h5>Illustration 23: The Mad Buck</h5> + +<p>Between the Forebank Hills and the tablelands we were now approaching is +an open plain of spinifex some ten miles wide, bounded on North and South +by sand-ridges. From these in the morning the long line of broken +tablelands could be seen ahead of us, and running for a considerable +distance to the eastward. The highest point of those more immediately to +our front I named Mount Fothringham, after my cousin. The headland for +which we were steering was too far off to be reached that night, so we +camped on a ridge, and during the night noticed a small fire in the hills +ahead. It could only be a camp-fire of some natives, so, noting its +direction, and being unable to see anything further, we retired to rest. + +<p>The next morning, with the help of the glasses, we could see several +black figures moving about on the sloping foot of the cliffs, and +therefore steered in their direction. Our mad friend had to be +accommodated on the top of a camel, as he refused to walk or move, and I +wished to leave him with friends, or at any rate with fellow-countrymen, +though we no longer required his services as guide, in which +capacity he had been singularly useless. Five miles brought us to the +hills, and close on to the natives' camp whose fire we had seen, before +they discovered us; when they did so they fled, seven or eight of them, +and hid in caves in the sandstone. We had now been only four days since +the last water, but the weather was so hot, feed so scarce, and so much +ground burnt and dusty, that it was time we gave the camels another drink +if we wished to keep them in any sort of condition. From the native camp +a few tracks led round a corner of rock; these I followed, with the +camels coming behind, and soon saw two small native wells sunk in the +sand and debris, held in a cleft in the rock. Nothing but bare rock rose +all round, and on this we made camp, turning the camels out at the foot +of the cliffs where a few bushes grew. + +<p>Godfrey and Warri meanwhile had followed the blacks into the caves, and +now returned with two of the finest men I have seen in the interior. One, +a boy, apparently about eighteen years old, splendidly formed and +strongly built, standing nearly six feet high; the other a man of mature +years, not so tall but very broad and well-made. The boy had no hair on +his face, the man a short beard and moustaches, and both had a far better +cast of features than any I have seen further south. Their skin, too, +instead of being black, was a shining reddish-brown colour; this was +perhaps produced by red ochre and grease rubbed in, but in any case it +gave them a finer appearance. Both were quite without clothing or +ornament, nor did I notice any of the usual scars upon their bodies; +their well-fed frames made us hope that a change in the country was close +at hand. + +<p>These natives showed no fear or surprise when once in the camp, and, +examining our packs and saddles, sat “jabbering” away quite contented, +until Breaden struck a match to light his pipe. This so alarmed them that +they bolted. We did not attempt to stop the boy, but detained the man, as +I wished for further information about waters, and was also anxious to +study his habits. He had evidently been in touch with blacks from settled +parts, for he knew the words, “white-fella” and “womany,” and had +certainly heard of a rifle, for on my picking one up and holding it +towards him he trembled with fear, and it was some time before his +confidence in us was restored. He really was a most intelligent man, both +amusing and interesting, and by signs and pantomime, repeated over and +over again until he saw that we guessed his meaning, he told us many +things. Plenty of women, old and young, were camped in one direction, and +were specially worth a visit; he knew of several watering-places, in one +of which we could bathe and stand waist-deep. So I made a compact that as +soon as he showed us this wonderful “Yowie” (his word for water) he +should go free. He seemed perfectly to understand this. Our mad friend he +hardly deigned to notice, and pointed at him in a most contemptuous way. + +<p>Now that he, the lunatic, was free to go where he liked, nothing would +induce him to leave us—he would start to go, and after a few paces +return and take up a crouching position close to the mouth of the well +where we were working, and as each bucketful of mud or moist sand was +hauled to the surface he eagerly watched it being emptied, and then +proceeded to cover himself with its contents, until at last he was hardly +distinguishable from a pyramid of mud—and a stranger object I never saw! +Towards dusk he slunk off and sat on a rock below the cliffs, where he +ate the food we had given him; and for all I know he may be there yet. + +<p>Work was carried on all night, which was divided as usual into shifts, +and this I have no doubt saved us from attack. Before sunset we had seen +several bucks sneaking about the rocks, and during the night they came +round us and held a whispered conversation with their fellow in our camp. +Between them a sort of telegraphy seemed to be going on by tapping stones +on the rocks. They may have been merely showing their position in the +darkness, or it is possible that they have a “Morse code” of their own. +I was on shift when they came, and as the well wanted baling only every +twenty minutes, I was lying awake and watching the whole performance, and +could now and then see a shadowy figure in the darkness. As soon as I +rose to work, our buck lay down and snored heavily, and his friends of +course were silent. I awoke Breaden on my way, as it would have been far +too much in their favour should the blacks have attacked us and found me +down the well and the rest of the party asleep. They were quite right in +wishing to rescue their friend, since they could not tell what his fate +was to be, but we could not risk a wounded companion or possibly worse, +and lay watching for the remainder of the night. Evidently they were +inclined to take no risks either, for they left us in peace. + +<p>The wells, situated as they are in the bed of a rocky gully, would after +rain hold plenty of water, though we extracted no more than thirty-five +gallons. Their position is lat. 20° 46´, long. 126° +23´. + +<p>From the rocks above the wells the tablelands to the East have quite a +grand appearance, running in a curve with an abrupt cliff on the Western +side, and many conical and peaked hills rising from their summit. These +tablelands, which in a broken line were seen by us to extend Northwards +for over forty miles, and certainly extend Eastwards for twenty miles and +possibly a great deal further, are of sandstone. Looking Westwards, a few +detached blocks may be seen, but we seemed to have struck the Western +limit of these hills. I have named them the Southesk Tablelands, after my +father. Between the curved line of cliffs and the wells are several +isolated blocks. Seven and a half miles to the Westward a remarkable +headland (Point Massie) can be seen at the Northern end of a detached +tableland. Again to the West, one mile, at the head of a deep little +rocky gorge, whose entrance is guarded by a large fig tree, is a very +fine rock-hole. This was the promised water, and our native friend was +free to return to his family; he was greatly pleased at the bargain being +carried out, and had evidently not expected it. Possibly what he has +heard of the white-fella is not much to his credit! The fig tree afforded +a splendid shade from the burning sun, and in a recess in the rock close +by we could sit in comparative coolness. Here the native artist had been +at work, his favourite subject being snakes and concentric rings. + +<p>A steep gorge, not very easy for camels to pass along, led up to the +rock-hole, which lies under a sheltering projection of rock. From the +rock above a good view is obtained; sand-ridges to the West, to the North +and East tablelands. Most noticeable are Mounts Elgin, Romilly, and +Stewart, bearing from here 346°, 4°, 16° +respectively. These hills are named after three of my brothers-in-law. +They are of the usual form—that is to say, flat-topped with steep +sides—Mount Elgin especially appearing like an enormous squared block +above the horizon. To the South-East of Mount Stewart are two smaller +table-tops close together. + +<p>As I walked over the rocks I noticed numerous wallabies, of which Godfrey +shot several later; they were excellent eating, not unlike rabbit. +Leaving the rock-hole, we steered for Mount Romilly, first following down +the little creek from the gorge until it ran out into the sand in a clump +of bloodwoods. Then crossing a plain where some grass grew as well as +spinifex, we came again into sand-ridges, then another plain, then a +large, dry clay-pan West of Mount Stewart, then more ridges up to the +foot of Mount Romilly. It was here that we must have crossed the route of +Colonel Warburton in 1873, though at the time I could not quite make out +the relative positions of our two routes on the map. + +<p>Colonel Warburton, travelling from East to West, would be more or less +always between two ridges of sand, and his view would therefore be very +limited, and this would account for his not having marked hills on his +chart, which are as large as any in the far interior of the Colony. In +his journal, under date of September 2nd, we read:— +<blockquote> +<i>…There are +hills in sight; those towards the North look high and hopeful, but they +are quite out of our course. Other detached, broken hills lie to the +West, so our intention is to go towards them</i>. Then, on September 3rd: +<i>N.W. by W. to a sandstone hill</i> (probably Mount Romilly). <i>North of us +there is a rather good-looking range running East and West with a hopeful +bluff at its Western end</i> (probably Twin Head). +</blockquote> +<p>From the top of Mount +Romilly a very prominent headland can be seen bearing 7°, and +beyond it two others so exactly similar in shape and size that we called +them the Twins. For these we steered over the usual sand-ridges and small +plains, on which a tree (<i>Ventilago viminalis</i>) new to us was noticed; +here, too, was growing the <i>Hibiscus Sturtii</i>, whose pretty flowers +reminded us that there were some things in the country nice to look upon. + +<p>Near the foot of the second headland we made camp. Leaving Charlie behind, +the rest of us set out in different directions to explore the hills. +There are four distinct headlands jutting out from the tableland, +which extends for many miles to the Eastward and in a broken line +to the Southward, the face of the cliffs on the Western shore, so to +speak, being indented with many bays and gulfs, and, to complete the +simile, the waves of sand break upon the cliffs, while in the bays and +gulfs there is smooth water—that is to say, flat sand. Grass and other +herbage and bushes grow in a narrow belt around the foot of the cliffs, +but everywhere else is spinifex. + +<p>The hills present a most desolate appearance, though somewhat remarkable; +sheer cliffs stand on steep slopes of broken slabs and boulders of +sandstone, reminding one of a quarry dump; from the flat summit of the +cliffs rise conical peaks and round hills of most peculiar shape. The +whole is covered with spinifex, a plant which seems to thrive in any kind +of soil; this rock-spinifex, I noticed, contains much more resinous +matter than the sand-spinifex, every spine being covered with a sticky +juice. From our camp I walked up the valley between the first and second +head, and, ascending the latter, which is crowned with cliffs some thirty +feet high, sat down and examined the hills with my glasses. Two black +objects moving about caught my eye, and as they approached I saw them to +be two fine bucks decked out in most extravagant manner. From my point of +vantage some three hundred feet above them, I could watch them, myself +unseen. Each carried a sheaf of spears, woommera, and shield, and in +their girdle of string a number of short throwing-sticks. Round their +waists were hanging sporrans formed from tufts of hair, probably similar +to those we found at Family Well that were made from the tufts from the +ends of bandicoots' tails; their bodies were painted in fantastic +patterns with white. Their hair was arranged in a bunch on the top of +their heads, and in it were stuck bunches of emu feathers. Seen in those +barren, dull-red hills, they looked strange and almost fiendish. They +were evidently going to pay a visit to some neighbours either to hold +festival or to fight—probably the latter. + +<p>When almost directly below they looked up and saw me; I remained quite +still, watching all the time through the glasses. After the first +surprise they held a hurried consultation and then fled; then another +consultation, and back they came again, this time very warlike. With +shouts and grunts they danced round in a circle, shaking their spears at +me, and digging them into the ground, as much as to say, “That is what +we would do to you if we could!” I rose from my hiding place and +started to go down towards them, when they again retired, dancing +and spear-waving at intervals. At the end of the valley, that is the +third valley, there is a sheer cliff to a plateau running back to the +foot of some round hills; across this plateau they ran until, on coming +to some thick bushes, they hid, hoping, I have no doubt, to take me +unawares. However, I was not their prospective victim, for no sooner had +they planted themselves than I saw Godfrey, all unconscious, sauntering +along towards them. + +<p>The whole scene was so clear to me from my lofty position that its +laughable side could not help striking me, but this did not prevent my +forestalling the blacks' murderous designs by a shot from my rifle, which +was sufficiently well aimed to scare the bucks and attract Godfrey's +attention. As soon as possible I joined him and explained my seemingly +strange action. We tracked up the natives, and found they had been +following a regular pad, which before long led us to a fine big rock-hole +in the bed of a deep and rocky gully. A great flight of crows circling +about a little distance off, made us sure that another pool existed; +following down the first gully and turning to the left up another, deeper +and broader, we found our surmise had been correct. Before us, at the +foot of an overhanging rock, was a beautiful clear pool. What a glorious +sight! We wasted no time in admiring it from a distance, and each in turn +plunged into the cool water, whilst the other kept watch on the rocks +above. Sheltered as it was from the sun, except for a short time during +the day, this pool was as ice compared to the blazing, broiling heat +overhead, and was indeed a luxury. By the side of the pool, under the +overhanging rock, some natives had been camped, probably our friends the +warriors; the ashes were still hot, and scattered about were the remains +of a meal, feathers and bones of hawks and crows. Above the overhanging +rock, in the middle of the gully, is a small rock-hole with most +perfectly smooth sides, so situated that rain water running down the +gully would first fill the rock-hole, and, overflowing, would fall some +twenty feet into the pool below. The rock is of soft, yellowish-white +sandstone. Close to the water edge I carved <big>C</big><small>96</small> and Godfrey scratched the +initials of all of us. The pool, which when full would hold some forty +thousand gallons, I named “Godfrey's Tank,” as he was the first white +man to set eyes upon it. + +<p>Having finished our bathe, we set about looking for a path by which to +bring the camels for a drink; the gorge was too rocky and full of huge +boulders to make its passage practicable, and it seemed as if we should +have to make a detour of a good many miles before reaching the water. +Fortunately this was unnecessary, for on meeting Breaden he told us he +had found a small pool at the head of the first valley which was easy of +access. This was good news, so we returned to camp, and, as it was now +dark, did not move that night. And what a night it was!—so hot and +oppressive that sleep was impossible. It was unpleasant enough to be +roasted by day, but to be afterwards baked by night was still more so! A +fierce fire, round which perhaps the warriors were dancing, lit up the +rocks away beyond the headlands, the glow showing all the more +brilliantly from the blackness of the sky. + +<a name="pt24"></a><h5>Illustration 24: Southesk Tablelands</h5> + +<p>The next morning we packed up and moved camp to the pool, passing up the +first valley—Breaden Valley—with the first promontory on our left. At +the mouth of the valley, on the south side, are three very noticeable +points, the centre one being conical with a chimney-like block on one +side, and flanking it on either hand table-topped hills. + +<p>Down the valley runs a deep but narrow creek which eventually finds its +way round the foot of the headlands into a ti-tree-encircled red lagoon +enclosed by sand-ridges. Near the head of the valley the creek splits; +near the head of the left-hand branch is Godfrey's Tank; in the other, +just before it emerges from the cliffs, is the small pool found by +Breaden. Several kinds of trees new to me were growing in the valleys, +one, a very pretty crimson-blossomed tree, not unlike a kurrajong in size, +shape, and character of the wood, but with this difference, in leaf, that +its leaves were divided into two points, whilst the kurrajong has three. +One of these trees had been recently chopped down with a blunt implement, +probably a stone tomahawk, and a half-finished piece of work—I think a +shield—was lying close by. The wood is soft, and must be easily shaped. +It is rather curious that the natives, of whom, judging from the smoke +seen in all directions, there must be a fair number, should not have been +camped at such a splendid water as Godfrey's Tank, the reason of their +absence being, I suppose, that camping in the barren hills would entail +a longish walk every day to any hunting grounds. To the native “enough +is as good as a feast,” and a wretched little well as serviceable as a +large pool. The nights were so cloudy that I was unable to see any stars, +but by dead reckoning only the position of the pool is lat. 20° +15´ long. 126° 25´. + +<p>From the top of the highest headland, which is divided into two +nipple-like peaks, an extensive view can be obtained. To the South and the +South-East, the Southesk Tablelands; to the East, broken tablelands and +sandhills; to the North, the same; to the North-West, nothing but +hopeless ridge upon ridge of sand as far as the horizon. To the West, +some ten miles distant, a line of cliffs running North and South, with +sand-ridges beyond, and a plain of spinifex between; to the North of the +cliffs an isolated table-top hill, showing out prominently—this I named +Mount Cornish, after my old friend and tutor in days gone by. + +<p>Leaving the hills on the 21st, we soon reached a little colony of +detached hills of queer shapes, one, as Breaden said, looking “like a +clown's cap.” From the top of the highest, which I named Mount Ernest, +after my brother-in-law, a dismal scene stretched before us, nothing but +the interminable sand-ridges, the horizon as level as that of the ocean. +What heartbreaking country, monotonous, lifeless, without interest, +without excitement save when the stern necessity of finding water forced +us to seek out the natives in their primitive camps! Every day, however, +might bring forth some change, and, dismal as the country is, one was +buoyed up by the thought of difficulties overcome, and that each day's +march disclosed so much more of the nature of a region hitherto +untraversed. It would have been preferable to have found good country, +for not only would that have been of some practical benefit to the world +at large, but would have been more pleasant to travel through. So far we +had had nothing but hard work, and as the only result the clear proof +that a howling wilderness of sand occupies the greater area of the +Colony's interior + +<p>By going due East from Mount Ernest I could have cut the Sturt Creek in +less than one hundred miles' travel, which would have simplified our +journey. But taking into consideration that an equal distance would +probably take us beyond the northern boundary of the desert, I determined +to continue on a Northerly course, as by doing so we should be still +traversing unknown country, until we reached the Margaret River or some +tributary of it; whereas by cutting and then following up the Sturt, we +should merely be going over ground already covered by Gregory's and +subsequent parties. + +<p>Careful scanning of the horizon from Mount Ernest resulted in sighting +some hills or rocks to the North-East. Excepting that higher ground +existed, nothing could be seen as to its nature, for it was ever moving +this way and that in the shimmering haze of heat and glare of the sun, +which, intensified by powerful field-glasses, made one's eyes ache. I +find it hard indeed to render this narrative interesting, for every page +of my diary shows an entry no less monotonous than the following:— +<blockquote> +<i>Same miserable country—roasting sun—no feed for camels—camp on crest +of high ridge in hopes of getting a breath of air—thousands of small ants +worry us at night—have to shift blankets half a dozen times. Val's feet +getting better—she can again walk a little</i>. +</blockquote> +<p>The high ground seen from Mount Ernest turned out to be bare rocks of +black ironstone, from which we sighted a very large smoke rising to the +eastward—miles of country must have been burning, a greater extent than +we had yet seen actually alight. Probably the hot weather accounted for +the spread of the flames. Though apparently at no great distance, it took +us all that day and six hours of the next to reach the scene of the fire, +where spinifex and trees were still smouldering and occasionally breaking +into flames, whirlwinds of dust and ashes rising in every direction. +Having camped we set out as usual to find tracks, Breaden and Warri being +successful in finding a pad of some dozen blacks going in the same +direction. This they followed for a few miles, and returned long after +dark, guided by a blazing bank of spinifex; very worn and thirsty they +were too, for tramping about in sand and ashes is a most droughty job. + +<a name="pt25"></a><h5>Illustration 25: A native hunting party</h5> + +<p>Having kept the camels in camp, since there was not a scrap of feed, we +were able to be well on our way before sunrise. Luckily the tracks led us +between two ridges, and we had only one to cross, which was fortunate, +for our beasts were famished from hunger, having had no food or water for +five days. At every halt, however short, if whoever was leading them +stopped, even to pull out a piece of spinifex which had found its way +through some hole in his boot, they would take advantage of it and +“plump” down on the sand; and whilst one was being goaded up, down would +go the rest. Poor Prempeh had to be unloaded and dragged behind. + +<p>Less than a mile beyond where Breaden had turned back we came on the +biggest camp of natives we had seen—quite a village! Perhaps a dozen +little “wurlies” or branch-shelters were dotted about the foot of a +sandhill. Camped under them we found one buck, several gins, and numerous +picaninnies; it was clear that more were not far off. The first thing +that struck us about the man was his complete assurance, and secondly his +pronounced Jewish cast of features. With an ulster and a few tall hats on +his head he would have made a perfect “old clo'” man. An oldish man +this, with grizzled beard brought to a point, and in the end a tuft of a +rat's tall was twisted, others similarly adorning the ends of his +moustache. His hair was done in a round lump at the back, held in place +by a sort of net of string. His hair in front had been either pulled out +or shaved off, giving him a very fine forehead. His nose and lips were +Jewish to a degree. His womenfolk showed no such characteristics, most +of them being remarkably plain, with the exception of one pretty little +gin, who, poor thing, was suffering from a similar disease to the man we +saw at Family Well. We dressed her wounds with tar and oil, and I think +relieved her sufferings somewhat. + +<p>Our next patient was a small boy, who, from his swollen appearance, had +evidently enjoyed a hearty breakfast. He had sore eyes, literally eaten +away at the inner corners into deep holes, prevented from healing by the +myriads of flies that hung in clouds round his head. I made an +application of some eye-lotion, at which he shrieked horribly, poor boy. +I had never used that particular brand before, and did not know its +strength. He was quite a small chap, and the old Jew held him in his arms +whilst I doctored him, and nodded his head in approval. They showed us +their well close by, the usual sort, just at the foot of the sandhill, +and we set to work in the customary style, the buck watching us with +interest. Feeling that there must be more natives about, and not liking a +treacherous look in the old Jew's eyes, we brought a couple of rifles to +the mouth of the well. + +<p>Before long we heard the “Yu-u-u” of approaching black-fellows, and in a +minute fifteen naked savages came bounding down the sandhill towards us. +Fortunately for them we saw they had no weapons; even so, it was a +dangerous proceeding on their part, for some white men would have shot +first and inquired about their weapons afterwards! They were all big +men—the finest we saw anywhere excepting the two near Point Massie, and +most of them had a marked Jewish look. +<blockquote> +This peculiarity has been +remarked amongst the natives of the McDonnell Ranges, Central +Australia—but nowhere else. +</blockquote> +<p>They were very friendly—too much so—for +they crowded round us, patting us, and jabbering so that our work on the +well was much hindered. Presently more women came on the scene, and with +many cries of “white-fella,” “womany,” their men made it clear that we +might take the whole lot with us if we so desired! This was hospitality, +indeed; but underlying it, I fear, were treacherous designs, for the game +of Samson and Delilah has been played with success more than once by the +wily aboriginal. + +<p>We took but little notice of the natives, as obtaining water was of +greater interest at that moment than the prosecution of ethnological +studies. Charlie worked away down the well with perfect unconcern, while +the rest of us were occupied in hauling up the sand from below and +keeping the blacks at a distance. Wonderfully cunning fellows they were! +I was standing close by a Winchester which lay on the ground; one man +came up, patting me all over and grinning in the most friendly way, and +all the time he worked away with his foot to move the rifle to his mate +beside me. However, he did not succeed, nor another who tried the same +trick on Godfrey, and after a time they all retired, for reasons best +known to themselves, leaving only the old man and the children behind. + +<p>Godfrey pressed the old man into our service and made him cut bushes for +a shade; it seemed to me that an axe was not just the best thing for a +man who would probably sooner have used it against us than not, so he was +deposed from his office as woodcutter. As soon as the well was ready for +baling I walked off to see if anything of interest could be found, or if +another camp was anywhere near. The instant the old Jew saw me sling a +rifle over my shoulder he ran like a hare, yelling as he went. He was +answered by similar calls not far off. As he ran he picked up his spears +from a bush, and I could see the marks of the weapons of the rest of the +tribe, which had been planted just over the rise of sand. They evidently +knew all about a rifle, yet we were still over a hundred miles in a +bee-line from Hall's Creek. I saw their fleeing figures scattering in all +directions, and followed up some tracks for some distance without finding +anything of interest. + +<p>I noticed a considerable change in the country to the East, over which +there spread a forest of desert oak, and near the sandhills thickets of +ti-tree. The well seems to be at the head of an ill-defined watercourse, +which, lower down, runs between an avenue of bloodwoods. Close to the +well are several large ant-heaps, and from the sandhill above it little +can be seen; but north of the well one mile distant is a high ridge of +sand, from which is visible a prominent square hill, bearing 334° +distant eighteen miles; this stands at the Eastern end of a tableland, +and is named Mount Bannerman, after my sister-in-law. The well had an +abundant supply, though a little hard to get at, as it was enclosed by +two rocks very close together, necessitating a most cramped position when +baling with a saucepan on the end of a stick. + +<p>By daylight we had watered all the camels and were glad to rest under the +shade we had made with boughs. Our rest lasted three days to allow +Prempeh, who was very poorly, to recover. The flies, as usual, worried us +unmercifully, but I was so thankful to regain once more my sense of +hearing that I rather enjoyed their buzzing. I had for some weeks been so +deaf that unless I had my attention fixed on something, I could not hear +at all. I must have been a great bore to my companions very often, for +frequently they talked for a long time to me, only to find that I had not +heard a word! + +<p>We were greatly entertained by two small boys, the sole representatives +of the tribe, who showed intense delight and interest in all our doings, +and were soon tremendous chums with Warri. One was quite a child, very +sharp and clever; the other a young warrior, very proud of his spear and +shield—a well-built youngster whose appearance was somewhat spoiled by a +severe squint in one eye. They showed no fear whatever of us, or of the +camels, and were soon on quite friendly terms with the latter, patting +and stroking their noses; they lost confidence before long, when the +small boy inadvertently patted the wrong end of a camel and was kicked +violently. + +<p>The position of the Jew Well is lat. 19° 41´, long. +127° 17´; from it we steered to Mount Bannerman, over the usual +ridges of sand, now further apart and lower. On some of the flats between +we found splendid little patches of feed (amongst it <i>Goodenia Ramelii</i>), +where the spinifex had been burnt and was just sprouting up again. One +plant, new to us, was growing in profusion and resembled nothing so much +as bunches of grapes with the fruit pulled off. We camped early, as such +feed was not to be passed by. The next morning, we found that our axe had +been left behind at the well; so, as it was a most useful article, I sent +Warri back for it, whilst Godfrey and I put in the day by following the +young warrior, who volunteered to show us a very large water—a ten-mile +walk with nothing at the end of it was not at all satisfactory, nor did +we feel very kindly disposed to our small friend. I suppose he wanted to +find his tribe again, for when we stopped we could see a smoke in the +distance. + +<p>We saw quite a number of spinifex rats, and though Godfrey carried a gun +one way and I carried it coming home, we never bagged one, and only had +one shot, which missed. Every rat got up quite 150 yards off in the most +annoying way. We started burning a patch of spinifex, but since we were +not pressed for food we concluded that the weather was quite hot enough +without making fires! I fancy that only by taking a leaf out of the +blackfellows' book could one have any success in spinifex-rat hunting. I +have read in Giles's book, and Sir John Forrest has told me, that when he +was in the bush the rats were easily secured. Possibly they were more +numerous in the better country that he passed through, or larger and not +so quick. All our efforts were unavailing, the only occasion on which we +slaughtered a rat being when Val caught a young one; the full-grown ones +were far too fast for her and too quick in turning round the hummocks of +spinifex. + +<p>Warri returned with the axe in the evening and reported that no natives +had visited the well since our departure. The next day as we approached +the hills the two boys, sitting aloft on the top of the loaded camels, +were much excited and made many signs that water was not far off. The +hills we found to be the usual barren, rocky tablelands, scoured into +gullies and gorges, which, forming small creeks, disappear before many +miles amongst the sandhills. + +<p>Mount Bannerman stands at the eastern end of the hills; a little to the +west is a deep and narrow gorge, the bed of which is strewn with great +boulders and slabs of rock. The hill is capped with a conglomerate of +quartz, sandstone and ironstone pebbles, some of the quartz fragments +being as large as hen's eggs and polished quite smooth. From its summit +an apparently high range can be seen to the North; to the East and South +nothing but sand-ridges; to the South-West a prominent square hill, the +highest point in a broken table-range, bears 226°. This hill I +named Mount Erskine, after the Kennedy-Erskines of Dun. + +<p>Travelling West from Mount Bannerman, we had five miles of very rough and +jagged rocks to cross, worn away into a regular network of deep little +glens, very awkward to get over. The rocks were burning hot, and the +walking was not at all to the liking of our small guide. The young +warrior led the way, but was continually turning round for instructions +to the little chap riding behind, who directed him with a wave of the +hand in a most lordly manner. It is a most noticeable thing how much the +natives seem to feel the heat, and I am inclined to think that in the hot +weather they hunt only in the morning and evening, and camp during the +day. I was walking with the youth, and whenever we stopped to allow the +camels to catch us up he would crouch right up against me to get the +benefit of my shadow; and he was so fearfully thirsty that I took pity on +him and got him some water, though <i>we</i> had all walked since sunrise +without a mouthful. + +<p>In crossing these small ravines, I noticed again how much easier it is +for camels to step down a steep rock than up—in stepping up they hang +their front foot out, and paw about for a place to put it down upon, in a +most silly way. + +<p>In the main channel of a number of conjoining glens we came on a nice +little pool under a step in the rocky bed. A few gums shaded the pool, +growing in the sand by its edge. On arrival we found a large eagle-hawk +with a broken wing flapping about; this our two boys soon despatched with +sticks, and I looked forward to getting a handsome bird skin. However, +the youngsters had it plucked and on a heap of burning sticks before we had +done looking for a way, down which to lead the camels. + +<p>We made camp just above the pool, and were lucky in finding a patch of +camel feed within a couple of miles across the rocks, for around all was +barren excepting a few stunted gums. The next morning I went with Breaden +for the camels, and noticed what I had suspected before, viz., that +Breaden had lately become very thin and weak. This morning he collapsed, +and I was thankful I had seen it; for he is a man who would never +complain, but just go on until he dropped. He could not conceal his +sickness now, and in a very short time was suffering from severe +dysentery. Luckily we had plenty of water close at hand, for he +could not possibly travel. For three days he lay in the recess of a +sheltering rock near the pool, and we nursed him as best we could. +Condensed milk and brandy, thin cornflour and chlorodyne, I doctored +him with; he was a very obedient patient, whose pangs of hunger were +aggravated by watching us feeding daily on bronzewings, wallabies, +and galahs. This pool was a favourite resort for hundreds of birds—crows, +hawks, galahs, parakeets, pigeons and sparrows—and numerous dingoes. +Of the bronzewings, which at sundown and before sunrise lined the rocks +literally in hundreds, we shot as many as we wanted. How thick they were +can be judged from the result of one barrel, which killed fourteen. + +<p>It was a pretty sight to watch the birds drinking, as we sat in Breaden's +sick-room, the cave. By keeping quite still we could watch them all. All +day long the sparrows, diamond and black, are fluttering about the water, +chirping and twittering, until the shadow of a hawk circling above +scatters them in all directions. Then morning and evening flocks of +little budgerigars, or lovebirds, fly round and round, and at last take a +dive through the air and hang in a cloud close over the water; then, +spreading out their wings, they drink, floating on the surface. The +galahs make the most fuss of any, chattering away on the trees, and +sneaking down one by one, as if they hoped by their noise to cover the +advance of their mate. The prettiest of all the birds is a little plump, +quail-like rock-pigeon or spinifex-pigeon, a dear little shiny, brown +fellow with a tuft on his head. They arrive at the water suddenly and +unexpectedly from behind rocks and trees, and stand about considering; +then one, more venturesome than the rest, runs quickly down to drink, and +is followed by a string of others; then they run up again ever so fast, +and strut about cooing and spreading their crests—one seldom sees them +fly; when they do they rise straight up, and then dart away close to the +ground and drop suddenly within a few yards. Of all birds the crow has +most sound common sense; there is no dawdling in his methods; down he +swoops with beautifully polished feathers glistening in the sun, to the +water's edge, stands for a second to look calmly from side to side; then +a long drink and away he goes, thoroughly satisfied to mind his own +business and nobody else's. + +<p>The two boys were splendid marksmen with short sticks, which they threw +into the flights of love-birds and sparrows as they passed. Whenever they +killed one they squatted down and heated it on the ashes, and ate it +straight away; and so small bird after small bird went down their throats +all day long, and they never thought to keep them until they had +sufficient for a good square meal. No doubt in their family circle they +have to take what they can get, and only make sure of keeping what they +have, by eating it at once. + +<p>Wandering about the hills I saw an emu, the first I had seen since +leaving the Coolgardie districts, though we had found their tracks at +Woodhouse Lagoon. He was too shy for me, and I failed to get a shot +after a lengthy stalk. Godfrey returned late that night with several +wallabies, and many bruises and abrasions, for he had had a nasty fall in +the dark down one of the many ravines. + +<p>The next morning was a sad one, for it disclosed the death from +poison-plant of poor old Shiddi, one of the best and noblest of camels—a +fine black, handsome old bull. I declare it was like losing an old +friend, as indeed he was. Where one camel is poisoned all the rest may +be, and since, from Breaden's dysentery, we could not travel, we must +find another camp not far off. So we marched South-West down the creek +and found another pool. Here we saw the first signs of white men for many +a long day, in the shape of old horse-tracks and a marked tree, on which +was carved (F.H. 18.8.96). This I found afterwards stood for Frank +Hann, who penetrated thus far into the desert from Hall's Creek and +returned. On another tree I carved a large C. + +<p>Breaden was slowly getting better when poor Charlie went sick, and we had +two in hospital. A most unenviable condition, where no sort of comforts +can be got. By digging into the bank of the creek we made a sort of +couch, and rigged flies over it for a shade. Bad as the days were, the +nights were worse; for myriads of ants followed swarms of flies, and +black, stifling clouds followed a blazing sun—all of which is bearable +to, and passes after a time unnoticed by a man in good health. But poor +fellows, worn to skeletons by unending work and the poorest of food, +unable to move from sickness, are worried almost past endurance by the +insects and heat. Every night we experienced terrific thunderstorms, but +alas! unaccompanied by rain. At sunset the clouds banked up black and +threatening, the heat was suffocating, making sleep impossible, lightning +would rend the sky, and then after all this hope-inspiring prelude, +several large drops of rain would fall and no more, the sky would clear +and the performance be over, only to be repeated the following evening. + +<p>Our change of camp made no difference in the feed, for on the 9th another +camel was found dead in the morning—poor Redleap, who had never once +shown a sign of giving in, killed in a matter of a few minutes. We +examined his body, swollen to a tremendous degree, the usual indication +of poison-plant—evidently very virulent and painful, for we could see +how, in his death agony, he had torn up the ground with his teeth, and +turned and bitten himself most cruelly. It was clear we must move again. +As we prepared to load up, Stoddy was suddenly seized with the poison +sickness, and careered at full speed round the camp in circles, falling +down and rolling in agony at intervals. After a lot of trouble we stopped +him, threw him, and roped him down; administered a gallon of very strong +Epsom salts and water, then a dose of soapsuds, and bled him by slitting +both ears. This unquestionably saved his life, for the first two remedies +take too long to act. This scene had a curious effect on the other camels, +and for days after Stoddy was avoided, nor would any bear being tied on +behind him without snapping their nose-lines or breaking their nose-pegs +to get away. + +<p>Further down the creek, some six and a half miles from the hills, is a +fine flat of grass and herbage surrounded by large white gums—this is +practically the end of the creek, and to this spot we shifted camp, +packing water from the pool. On the 10th Prempeh died—another victim to +the poison—and I began to dread the morning. Fortunately our new camp +was free from poison, and no more deaths occurred. It was sad to think of +our camels dying thus after so many hundred miles of desert bravely +traversed—yesterday a picture of strength and life, to-day food for +those scavengers of the bush, the dingoes. What satisfied howls they gave +forth all night long; for, like crows or vultures, they seem to collect +from far and wide round the body of any dead thing. From our camp Mount +Erskine was visible, but not of sufficiently inviting appearance to make +a visit worth while. + +<p>On the 15th all were off the sick list and ready to march. I felt +sorrowful indeed at the loss of the camels, but thankful that no more had +died, and more thankful still that we had been able to camp whilst poor +Breaden and Charlie regained their health. Such a sickness in the heart +of the desert could have had but one ending. + +<p>Our way lay over spinifex plains until just north of the hills a +sand-ridge was crossed, remarkable from its regular shape and wonderfully +straight course, as if it had been built to most careful measurements and +alignment. + +<a name="pt26"></a><h5>Illustration 26: Plan of sand-ridges</h5> + +<a name="pt27"></a><h5>Illustration 27: Exaggerated section of the sand-ridges</h5> + +<p>The 16th of November was a red-letter day, for on it we crossed the <i>last +sand-ridge</i>—in lat. 19° 20´—leaving the desert behind us. +A feeling of satisfaction filled us that we had conquered its +difficulties not by chance, but by unremitting toil and patience. I am +sure that each in his heart thanked his God that He had been pleased to +bring us through safely. Once across the range we had seen from Mount +Bannerman—a range of quartzite hills which I named Cummins Range, after +the Warden at Hall's Creek—and we had reached the watershed of the +tributaries of the Margaret and Fitzroy Rivers. From Cummins Range onward +until we struck the Margaret, we had very rough hills and rocks to +cross—this hard travelling after the yielding sand was most painful to +the camels, and their feet were soon sore and cut by the sharp edges of +rock. The country may be roughly described as slate bedded on edge, in +such a way as to leave sharp corners and points of rock sticking up in +all directions. Through the slate run veins of quartz, often rising above +the surface in huge blows, hills, and even small ranges. Innumerable +gullies crossed our path, and occasionally fair-sized creeks. Such a one +is Christmas Creek, which, where we saw it, is made up of three creeks +from fifty to eighty yards across, running almost parallel and not more +than half a mile apart. These soon meet and form a fine creek which joins +the Fitzroy many miles to the Westward. These creeks are fringed with +gums, Bauhinia, and Leichardt trees, all affording splendid shade—and +following the banks on either side is a belt of high grass and shrubs, +from which occasional kangaroos and wallabies bounded, alarmed by the +sound of our advancing caravan. + +<p>On the north side of Christmas Creek we crossed the first auriferous +country we had seen since leaving the Neckersgat Range, close to Lake +Darlot. Standing on a high peak of white, sandy-looking quartz, a hill +which I named Mount Hawick after my first mate in West Australia, Lord +Douglas of Hawick, innumerable jagged ranges rose before me in all +directions. To the south could be seen the Cummins Range, bounding the +desert; to the north the black, solid outline of the Mueller Range. And +now we were in surveyed country, and without much difficulty I could +identify such points as Mount Dockrell, the Lubbock Range, McClintock +Range, and others, and was pleased to find that after all our wanderings +we had come out where I had intended, and in a general way had followed +the line I had pencilled on the chart before starting. + +<p>Mount Hawick's approximate position is lat. 18° 53´ long. +127° 3´; five miles from it, in a N.W. direction, we found +a splendid pool in a deep gorge, whose precipitous sides made it hard to +find a passage down which the camels could reach the water. For fear of a +sudden downpour and consequent flood in the creek, we camped on the flat +rock above the pool. Fish, small and bony, but of excellent flavour, +abounded in the water, and we were soon at work with needles, bent when +redhot into hooks, baited with pieces of cockatoo flesh, and pulled out +scores of the fish; Godfrey, whose skill in such matters is very great, +accounting for over a hundred in a very short time. These were very +welcome, for we had run out of meat for some days past, nor had we been +able to shoot any birds or beasts. + +<p>Pigeons and other birds came in small quantities to drink, and kangaroo +tracks were numerous; in spite, however, of braving the mosquitoes near +the water by sitting up all night, we did not even get a shot. Charlie +set some snares with equal ill-success, but the following day Godfrey got +a fine kangaroo, and a carpet-snake over nine feet in length. What we did +not eat of the former at the first sitting, was dried in strips in the +sun and kept for future use. + +<p>Here we also made acquaintance with the native bee, and would certainly +have been counted mad by any stranger who could have seen us sitting in +the smoke of a fire in the broiling sun! This was the only way to escape +them; not that they sting, on the contrary they are quite harmless, and +content themselves by slowly crawling all over one, up one's sleeve, down +one's neck, and everywhere in hundreds, sucking up what moisture they +may—what an excellent flavour their honey must have! + +<p>On a gum-tree near the pool some initials were carved, and near them a +neatly executed kangaroo. The second name I recognised as that of Billy +Janet, the first to find alluvial gold at Lake Darlot. He was one of the +Kimberley prospectors in the old days of the '87 rush. Keeping north from +the Janet Creek we crossed stony tablelands timbered with gums, and +numerous ravines and small creeks, until, on following down a nicely +grassed gorge with a creek running through it, we struck the dry bed of +the Mary River on November 25th. Henceforth our path lay through pleasant +places; shady trees, long grass, and frequent pools of water in the +shingly beds of the creeks made a welcome change after the awful +desolation of the desert. Indications of white men were now constantly +met with—marked trees, old camps, and horse-tracks. Striking north from +the Mary, over plains of spinifex and grass, passing many queer, +fort-like hills, we reached the Margaret River, a noble creek, even when +dry as we saw it. Nice grass plains extend along its banks, and the +timber and bush is alive with the sounds of birds, whose bright plumage +was indeed good to look upon. Cockatoos and parrots of the most gorgeous +colouring darted here and there amongst the trees, and every now and then +a swamp-pheasant would fly shrieking from the branches above. + +<a name="p5c14"></a><h4>CHAPTER XIV</h4> + +<h4>Death Of Stansmore</h4> + +<p>Where the Margaret River forces its way through the Ramsay Range, a fine +pool enclosed between two steep rocks has been formed. This is a +permanent pool, and abounds in fish of various kinds. Above and below it +the river was merely a dry expanse of gravel and shingle; a month later +it was a roaring torrent, in places twenty feet deep. Close to the pool +we noticed an old dray road, the old road to Mount Dockrell. I asked +Warri where he supposed it led to, and he answered “Coolgardie!” +Curious that one impossible to bush in a short distance should be so +ludicrously out of his reckoning. Time now being no object, since the +numerous ducks and fish supplied us with food, we camped for two days at +the pool, enjoying its luxuries to the full. Our larder contained a +bucketful of cold boiled ducks, a turkey, and numerous catfish and +bream—rather a change from the sand-ridges! As to bathing, we felt +inclined to sit all day in the water. I think we enjoyed ourselves more +at that pool than any of us could remember having done for a long time. +The desert was forgotten, and only looked back upon as a hard task +finished. + +<p>All were as happy and cheerful as could be, speculating as to what sort +of place Hall's Creek was, and in what way our sudden appearance would +affect the inhabitants. Charlie was sure that they would receive us with +open arms and banquet us, the lord mayor and the city band would meet us, +and a lot more chaff of the kind. Only eight miles, I reckoned, lay +between us and the telegraph line and the Derby-to-Hall's-Creek road; and +we made bets in fun whether we should reach the line before or after a +certain hour; as we started our march on the 30th there was no happier +little band in the wide world. Charlie followed one side of the river, +carrying the gun, as we meant to celebrate the arrival at the telegraph +line with a pot of kangaroo-tail soup. To pass the ridge of rock, the end +of the Ramsay Range, it was necessary for us with the camels to keep wide +of the river bank and descend a steep little gorge. As we started to go +down we saw some kangaroos jumping off towards Charlie, and presently +heard a shot. A shout from us elicited no reply, so we concluded he had +missed, and continued on our march. + +<p>When we reached the river bank again, I looked out for Charlie, but +somebody said he was across the river-bed in the long grass. After about +an hour's travel it struck me that he should have rejoined us, or else +that he had shot the kangaroo and was delayed by skinning or carrying it. +No thought of any mishap entered my head, for a prolonged absence of one +or other of us was of common occurrence. However, after another half-hour +a nervous feeling came over me, and, stopping the camels, I sent Warri +back to see what Charlie was about. Before very long Warri returned, +hardly able to speak from fear mixed with sorrow. + +<p>“What on earth's come over the boy?” I said. Then he blurted out, +“Charlie dead, I think.” “Good God! Are you sure?—did you speak to him, +or touch him?” I asked, as we ran back together, the rest with the camels +following behind. “Him dead, lie 'long a rock—quite still,” Warri +answered, and he had not spoken or touched him. Panting and +anxious—though even then I thought of nothing worse than a sprained +ankle, and a faint in consequence—we arrived at the foot of the rocks +where Charlie had last been seen, and whence the sound of the gunshot had +come. Right above us, caught by a ledge on the face of the rock, fifty +feet from the ground, I saw Charlie lying, and clambering up somehow at +full speed, reached his side. + +<p>Good God! Warri had spoken a true word. There was no spark of life in the +poor old fellow. What a blow! What an awful shock! What a calamity! I sat +dazed, unable to realise what had happened, until roused by a shout from +below: “Is he hurt?—badly?—not <i>dead!</i>” “As a stone,” I answered; and +that was what we felt in our hearts, a dull weight, pressing all sense or +strength from us. + +<p>How to describe that sad scene? Poor old Charlie! one of the best and +truest men that God ever blessed with life; such a fine manly character; +so honest and generous—a man whose life might stand as an example for +any in the land to follow; from whose mouth I never heard an oath or +coarse word, and yet one whose life was spent amongst all classes, in all +corners of Australia; such a true mate, and faithful, loyal +companion—here his body lay, the figure of strength and power, he who had +been most cheerful of us all. It seemed so hard, to die thus, the journey +done, his share in the labour so nobly borne and patiently executed; the +desert crossed, and now to be cut off on the edge of the land of promise! +Ah well, it was better so than a lingering death in the desert, a swift +and sudden call instead of perhaps slow tortures of thirst and +starvation! Poor Charlie! the call of death is one that none of us may +fail to heed; I only pray that when I am summoned to the “great unknown” +I may be as fit to meet my Maker as you were. + +<p>It was easy to see how the accident had happened; the marks on the rock +and the gun were soon deciphered. He was carrying the gun by the muzzle +balanced on his shoulder, the stock to the rear; on climbing down a steep +place, his heels—his boots had iron heel plates—slipped, he fell with his +back to the rock; at the same time the gun was canted forward, fell right +over, striking the hammer of one barrel on the rock at his feet—the +cartridge exploded, and the charge entered his body just below the heart. +Death must have been instantaneous and painless, for on his face was a +peaceful smile, and he had never moved, for no blood was showing except +near the wound. An accident that might have happened to any one, not +through carelessness, for the gun was half-cock, but because his time had +come. + +<p>We buried him between the rocks and the river at the foot of a large gum +tree. No fine tombstone marked his grave, only a rough cross, and above +him I carved his initials on the tree, +<center> +C. W. S.<br> +30.11.96. +</center> + +<a name="pt28"></a><h5>Illustration 28: Charles W. Stansmore</h5> + +<center><p><img alt="" src="images/spin9.jpg"></center> + +<p>There we laid him to rest in silence, for who was I that I should read +holy words over him? “Goodbye, Charlie, old man, God bless you!” we +said, as in sorrow we turned away. The tragedy had been so swift, so +unexpected, that we were all unmanned; tears would come, and we wept as +only men can weep. A few months past I heard that a brass plate sent by +Charlie's brothers had arrived, and had been placed on the tree by Warden +Cummins, as he had promised me. + +<p>In due course we reached the telegraph line, without enthusiasm or +interest, and turned along the road to Hall's Creek with hardly a word. +Stony hills and grass plains and numerous small creeks followed one +another as our march proceeded, and that night, the first in December, we +experienced a Kimberley storm. The rain started about 2 a.m., and in +twenty minutes the country was a sea of water; our camp was flooded, and +blankets and packs soaked through and through. The next morning every +creek was running a banker and every plain was a bog. However, the camels +behaved well and forded the streams without any fuss. That day we met +some half-civilised natives, who gave us much useful information about +Hall's Creek. With them we bartered a plug of tobacco for a kangaroo +tail, for we wanted meat and they a smoke. They had just killed the +animal, and were roasting it whole, <i>holus-bolus</i>, unskinned and undressed. +We saw several mobs of grey kangaroos feeding in the timber—queer, +uncanny beasts, pretty enough when they jump along, but very quaint when +feeding, as they tuck their great hind legs up to try and make them match +the fore. + +<p>On December 4th we arrived at Hall's Creek; the first man we met was +Sergeant Brophy, of the Police—the first white face we had seen since +July 21st. At Hall's Creek at last, after a somewhat prolonged journey of +1,413 miles, counting all deviations. + +<a name="p5c15"></a><h4>CHAPTER XV</h4> + +<h4>Wells Exploring Expedition</h4> + +<p>The first news that we heard was of the disaster that the expedition +under Mr. L. A. Wells had met with. Two of his party were missing, and it +was feared that they had met with some serious mishap. Fortunately Hall's +Creek can boast of telegraphic communication with Derby and Wyndham on +the coast, and from thence to Perth; so that I lost no time in letting +Wells know of our arrival, that we had seen no traces of the lost men, +and that we were ready to do whatever he, who knew all particulars of the +matter, should think best. When I told Breaden that I had put my camels +and party at Wells' disposal, he said at once that he was ready to go, +but that in his opinion the camels were not fit to do another week's +journey; Godfrey, too, was as ready. Indeed it would have been strange if +we, who had so lately come through the desert, and knew its dangers, had +not been eager to help the poor fellows in distress, although from the +first we were morally certain there could be no hope for them; the only +theory compatible with their being still alive, was that they were camped +at some water easy of access, and were waiting for relief, keeping +themselves from starvation by eating camel-flesh. + +<p>For many reasons, that need not be gone into, it was thought best by the +promoters of the expedition in Adelaide that we should remain where we +were; and, thanking me very heartily for our proffered assistance, they +assured me they would be very glad to avail themselves of it should the +search-parties already in the field meet with no success. Had we felt any +hope whatever of the men being alive we should certainly have started off +then and there; since, however, the chances of finding any but dead men +were so very infinitesimal, I agreed to wait and to put myself at their +command for a given time. It will be as well to give here a short +account, as gathered from letters from Wells and others to the +newspapers, of the unfortunate expedition. + +<p>This expedition, fitted out partly by the Royal Geographical Society, +South Australia, and partly by a Mr. Calvert, was under command of L. A. +Wells, who was surveyor to the Elder Expedition (1891-92). The party, +besides the leader, consisted of his cousin, C. F. Wells, G. A. +Keartland, G. L. Jones, another white man as cook, two Afghans, and one +black-boy, with twenty-five camels. The objects of this expedition were +much the same as those of my own, viz., to ascertain the nature of the +country still unexplored in the central portions of West Australia, +“hopes being entertained of the possibility of opening up a valuable +stock route from the Northern Territory to the West Australian +Goldfields, and of discovering much auriferous country” (vide <i>Adelaide +Observer</i>, June 6, 1896). A collection of the flora and fauna was to be +made, as well as a map of the country passed through. The expedition +started from Cue, Murchison district, left civilisation at Lake Way, +and travelled in a North-Easterly direction from there to Lake Augusta, +thence in a Northerly direction past Joanna Springs to the Fitzroy River. +Thus their course was almost parallel to our upgoing journey, and some +150 to 200 miles to the westward, nearer the coast. The class of country +encountered was similar to that already described by me—that is sand, +undulating and in ridges. + +<p>A well, since called “Separation Well,” was found in long. 123° +53´, lat. 22° 51´. At this point the expedition +split up: Charles Wells and G. L. Jones, with three camels, were to make +a flying trip ninety miles to the Westward; then, turning North-East, +were to cut the tracks of the main party, who were to travel nearly due +North. + +<p>The rendezvous was fixed at or near Joanna Springs—which place, however, +the leader failed to find (until some months afterwards, when he proved +them to have been placed on the chart some eighteen miles too far West by +Colonel Warburton in 1873, who in his diary doubts the accuracy of the +position assigned to the spring by himself, and remarks, “What matter in +such country as this?”). When the latitude of the spring was reached, +about a day and a half was spent in searching to the east and west +without result. A native smoke was seen to the eastward, but the leader +failed to reach it. + +<p>The camels were on the brink of collapse, many had already collapsed, and +the leader considered that by further search for the spring he would be +bringing almost certain death on the whole party. Therefore, abandoning +all collections, and in fact everything except just enough to keep him +and his companions alive, he pushed on for the Fitzroy River—travelling +by night and camping in the day—a distance of 170 miles. They arrived at +the Fitzroy River after the greatest difficulties, with one bucket of +water left, and only two camels fit to carry even the lightest packs. + +<p>The flying party were daily expected, for the arrangement had been that, +failing a meeting at Joanna Springs, both parties were to push on to the +Fitzroy. Days passed, however, and no flying party appeared. + +<p>Before long fears as to their safety began to grow, and Mr. Wells made +numerous attempts to return on his tracks. The heat, however, was too +much for his camels, and he was unable to penetrate to any distance. Mr. +Rudall in the meantime, who had been surveying in the Nor'-West, was +despatched by the Western Australia Government to make a search from the +West. He had a good base in the Oakover River, and pushed out as far as +Separation Well. Nothing, however, came of his gallant efforts, for he +was misled, not only by lying natives, but by the tracks of camels and +men, which subsequently turned out to be those of prospectors. His +journey, however, had many useful results, for he discovered a new creek +running out into the desert (Rudall River), and the existence of +auriferous country north of the Ophthalmia Range, besides confirming +Gregory's account of the country East of the Oakover. + +<p>It was not until April, 1897, that Mr. Wells found the bodies of his +cousin, Charles Wells, and George Jones. From their diaries (so much of +them at least as was published) the dreadful tale of suffering can be +traced. It appears that on leaving the main party they travelled westward +as directed, and started to turn North-East to cut the tracks of the +others. Before many miles on the fresh course, however, they for some +reason changed their minds and retraced their steps to Separation Well. +From this point they started to follow the main party, but before long +they seem to have become sick and exhausted, and the camels to show signs +of collapse. Later we read that, exhausted from heat, hardship, and +thirst, they lay down, each in the scanty shade of a gum tree; that the +camels wandered away too far for them to follow; efforts to recover the +stragglers only ended in their falling faint to the ground, and so, +deserted by their means of transport, without water, without hope, these +two poor fellows laid down to die, and added their names to the long roll +of brave but unfortunate men whose lives have been claimed by the wild +bush of Australia. + +<p>What a death! Alone in that vast sea of sand—hundreds of miles from +family or friends—alone absolutely! not a sign of life around them—no +bird or beast to tell them that life existed for any—no sound to break +the stillness of that ghastly wilderness—no green grass or trees to +relieve the monotony of the sand—nothing but the eternal spinifex and a +few shrunken stems of trees that have been—no shade from the burning +sun—above them the clear sky only clouded by death! slow, cruel death, +and yet in their stout hearts love and courage! Poor fellows! they died +like men, with a message written by dying fingers for those they left to +mourn them—a message full of affection, expressing no fear of death, but +perfect faith in God. So might all mothers be content to see their sons +die—when their time comes. + +<p>They had died, it appears, too soon for any aid to have reached them. +Even had Mr. Wells been able to turn back on his tracks at once on +arrival at the Fitzroy, it is doubtful if he could have been in time to +give any help to his suffering comrades. + +<p>The bodies were taken to Adelaide, where the whole country joined in +doing honour to the dead. + +<a name="p5c16"></a><h4>CHAPTER XVI</h4> + +<h4>Kimberley</h4> + +<p>Since we were not to retackle the sand forthwith, we laid ourselves out +to rest and do nothing to the very best of our ability. This resolve was +made easy of execution, for no sooner had the Warden, Mr. Cummins, heard +of our arrival, than he invited us to his house, where we remained during +our stay in Hall's Creek, and met with so much kindness and hospitality +that we felt more than ever pleased that we had arrived at this +out-of-the-way spot by a rather novel route. + +<p>Since Kimberley (excepting the South African district) must be an unknown +name to the majority of English readers, and since it is one of the most +valuable portions of West Australia, it deserves more than passing +mention. + +<p>Hall's Creek, named after the first prospector who found payable gold in +the district, is the official centre of the once populous Kimberley +goldfields, and the seat of justice, law, and order for the East +Kimberley division. + +<p>Attention was first drawn to this part of the Colony by the report of +Alexander Forrest, who discovered the Fitzroy, Margaret, and other +rivers; but it was not the pastoral land described by him that caused any +influx of population. Gold was the lure. The existence of gold was +discovered by Mr. Hardman, geologist, attached to a Government +survey-party under Mr. Johnston (now Surveyor-General), and, though he +found no more than colours, it is a remarkable fact that gold has since +been discovered in few places that were not mentioned by him. Numerous +“overlanders” and prospectors soon followed; indeed some preceded this +expedition, for Mr. Johnston has told me that he found marked trees in +more than one place. Who marked them was never ascertained, but it was +supposed that a party of overlanders from Queensland, who were known to +have perished, were responsible for them. + +<p>In 1886 payable gold was found, and during that and the following year +one of the largest and most unprofitable “rushes” known in Australia set +in for the newly discovered alluvial field. The sinking being shallow, +what ground there was, was soon worked out, and before long the rush set +back again as rapidly as it had come, the goldfield was condemned as a +duffer, and left to the few faithful fossickers who have made a living +there to this day. The alluvial gold was the great bait; of this but +little was found, and to reefing no attention to speak of was given, so +that at the present time miles upon miles of quartz reefs, blows, +leaders, and veins are untouched and untested as they were before the +rush of 1886. No one can say what systematic prospecting might disclose +in this neglected corner of the Colony. There are many countries less +favoured for cheap mining; Kimberley is blessed with an abundant +rainfall, and the district contains some of the finest pasture-lands in +Australia. + +<p>A scarcity of good mining timber, the remoteness of the district from +settled parts, and the bad name that has been bestowed upon it, are the +disadvantages under which the goldfield labours. Nevertheless two +batteries are working at the present day, and a good find by some old +fossicker is not so rare. + +<p>Setting aside the question of gold-discoveries, which may or may not be +made, this district has a great future before it to be derived from the +raising of stock, cattle, sheep, and horses. So far only a limited area +of country has been taken up—that is to say, the country in the valleys +of the Ord, Margaret, and Fitzroy Rivers and their tributaries. There +still remains, however, a large tract lying between those rivers and the +most Northerly point of the Colony as yet unoccupied, and some of it even +unexplored. One or two prospectors have passed through a portion of it, +and they speak well of its pastoral and, possibly, auriferous value. + +<p>Cut off, as it is, by the desert, the district has the disadvantage of +none but sea communication with the rest of the Colony. This necessitates +the double shipment of live stock, once at either port, Derby or Wyndham, +after they have been driven so far from the stations, and once again at +Fremantle. A coastal stock route is debarred by the poverty of the +country between Derby and the De Grey River, and a direct stock route +through the desert is manifestly impracticable. It seems to me that too +little attention has been given to horse-breeding, and that a +remunerative trade might be carried on between Kimberley and India, to +which this district is nearer than any other part of Australia. + +<p>What horses are bred, though otherwise excellent, are small—a defect +that should easily be remedied. The cattle, too, are rather on the small +side, and this again, by more careful attention to breeding, could be +improved upon. + +<p>Hall's Creek is by no means a large town; in fact, it consists of exactly +nine buildings—post and telegraph office and Warden's office and court, +Warden's house, hospital, gaol, police-station, sergeant's house, +butcher's shop and house, store, and hotel. + +<p>Besides these there are several nomadic dwellings, such as tents, bush +humpies, and drays. + +<p>A house is a luxury, and some of the oldest residents have never built +one. “Here to-day and gone to-morrow, what's the good of a house?” +was the answer I got from one who had only been there for ten years! + +<p>Mud-brick walls and corrugated-iron roofs is the style of architecture in +general vogue. The inhabitants are not many, as may be supposed, but +those there are simply overflow with hospitality and good spirits. One +and all were as pleased to see us, and have us live amongst them, as if +we had been old friends. The population is very variable; the surrounding +district contains some fifty or sixty fossickers, who come into town at +intervals to get fresh supplies of flour and salt beef—the one and only +diet of the bushmen in these parts, who, though very rarely seeing +vegetables, are for the most part strong and healthy. Sometimes cases of +scurvy, or a kindred disease, occur; one poor chap was brought in whilst +we were there, very ill indeed. I happened to be up at the hospital, and +asked the orderly (there was no doctor) what he would do for him in the +way of nourishing food. “Well,” said he, looking very wise, “I think a +little salt beef will meet the case.” And such would indeed have been his +diet if I had not luckily had some Liebig's Extract; for the town was in +a state verging on famine, dependent as it is on the whims of “packers” +and teamsters, who bring provisions from the coast, nearly three +hundred miles, by road. Twice a year waggons arrive; for the rest +everything is brought per horseback, and when the rains are on, and the +rivers running, their load is as often as not considerably damaged by +immersion in the water. + +<p>A monthly mail, however, and the telegraph line places the community much +nearer civilised parts than its geographical position would lead one to +suppose. The arrival of the mail, or of the packers, is a great event, +more especially since no one knows what they may bring. Thus a train of +pack-horses arrived at a time when flour was badly needed, but each load +consisted of either sugar or lager-beer—both excellent articles but +hardly adaptable to bread-making. The climate, situation, surroundings, +and want of means of recreation all combine to make the publican's +business a lucrative one. When, as sometimes happens, a fossicker comes +in with a “shammy” full of gold, and lays himself out to make himself +and every one else happy, then indeed the hotel-keeper's harvest is a +rich one. And since nobody cares much whether he buys his liquor, or +makes it of red-pepper, kerosene, tobacco, methylated spirits, and what +not, the publican's outlay in “only the best brands” need not be +excessive. + +<p>Christmas and New Year's Day were, of course, great days of revel; +athletic sports were held, and horse-races. The latter were not quite a +success; the entries were very few, and the meeting was nearly resolving +itself into a prize-fight when one owner lodged a complaint against the +winner. As a rule the race-meetings are better attended; every bush +township has its meetings throughout the continent, and, in remote +districts, there are men who entirely “live on the game.” That is to +say, they travel from place to place with a mob of pack-horses, amongst +which, more or less disguised by their packs, are some fast ones, with +which they surprise the community. These men, though great scoundrels, +are considered to be earning a legitimate living, since no man need +gamble with them unless he likes; if he is taken in by them he has +himself to thank. + +<p>Christmas Eve is celebrated by a performance known as “tin-kettling,” in +which all join. Each arms himself with a dish, or empty tin, which he +beats violently with a stick. To the tune of this lovely music the party +marches from house to house, and at each demands drink of some kind, +which is always forthcoming. Thus the old institution of Christmas-waits +is supported, even in this far corner of the world. + +<a name="p5c17"></a><h4>CHAPTER XVII</h4> + +<h4>Aboriginals At Hall's Creek</h4> + +<p>It may not at first be very clear what the gaol and police force are used +for, since the white population numbers so few. However, the aboriginals +are pretty numerous throughout Kimberley, and are a constant source of +vexation and annoyance to the squatters, whose cattle are frequently +killed and driven wild by native depredators. A squatter, far from being +allowed to take the law into his own hands, even when he catches the +blacks in the act of slaying his cattle—not only for food but as often +as not for mere devilment—has to ride into Hall's Creek and report to the +police, and so gives time for the offenders to disappear. The troopers, +when they do make a capture of the culprits, bring them in on chains, +to the police quarters. By the Warden, through a tame boy as interpreter, +they are tried, and either acquitted and sent back to their country or +sentenced to a turn of imprisonment and handed over to the gaoler. In +gaol they have a remarkably good time, fed upon beef, bread, jam, and +water, and made to do useful work, such as drawing and carrying water, +making roads, etc. They work in small chain-gangs—a necessary precaution +since there is only one gaoler to perhaps fifteen prisoners—are clothed +in felt hats and short canvas kilts, and except that they are deprived of +their freedom have probably as comfortable a time as they ever had during +their lives. + +<p>From time to time there have been grave accusations of cruelty made by +well-meaning busybodies against the squatters of the North and +North-West. Occasional cases have been proved beyond all question, cases +of the most revolting brutality. But from these exceptional instances it +is hardly fair to class the whole squatting population as savage. +ruffians. Since I have had the opportunity of seeing what treatment is +meted out I feel it is a duty to give every prominence to what has come +under my notice. First of all, let us take it for granted that the white +men's civilisation must advance; that, I suppose, most will admit. This +being the case, what becomes of the aboriginal? He is driven from his +hunting-grounds and retaliates by slaughtering the invading cattle. What +steps is the white pioneer, who may have no more than one companion, to +take to protect his own? If he quietly submits his herd will be wiped +out, and he and his mate afterwards. By inspiring fear alone is he able +to hold his position. He must therefore either use his rifle and say +nothing about it, or send perhaps 150 miles for the troopers. After a +time, during which he carries his life in his hands—for a couple of +hundred natives, savage and treacherous, are not the pleasantest +neighbours—he succeeds in convincing the natives that he intends to stop +where he is. What then do they do? Do they move to fresh hunting-grounds? +They might, for there is ample room. No, they prefer to live round +about the station, a source of constant anxiety and annoyance. +Consequently we find to-day a large number of natives permanently camped +round every homestead, living on the squatter's bounty. Too lazy to hunt, +too idle and useless to work, they loaf about the place, living on the +meat that is given them on killing-days, and on figs and seeds, when in +season, between times. Thus, though the squatter takes their country he +feeds them for ever after. A smart boy may be trained and partially +educated, and becomes useful amongst the horses and so forth, and some +few are always employed about the station—the rest just lie about and +gorge themselves at the slaughter-yards, and then wait until they can +again do so. + +<p>It has been suggested that reserves should be set apart for the +dispossessed natives. This would, in the opinion of those best able to +express one, never succeed, for once the white man is established the +blacks will collect round him, and though, as I have mentioned, there +remains more than half the Kimberley division untouched by whites, +forming a reserve ready to hand, yet the natives prefer to live a +hand-to-mouth existence where food can be obtained without trouble, +rather than retreat into another region where game abounds, and there +continue their existence as wandering savages. Round Hall's Creek there +is always a camp of blacks, varying from twenty to fifty or one hundred, +who live as best they can without hunting. + +<p>On Christmas Day a hundred or so rolled up to receive the Aboriginal +Board's liberal bounty—a Board fortunately now reconstructed, for it was +continually the cause of much friction between the squatters, the +Government, and itself, in the days when it was not controlled by the +Government, as it now is. Six pounds sterling was set aside for the +Warden to provide food and raiment for the natives under his +jurisdiction. Six pounds per annum per two thousand aboriginals—for such +is their reputed number—seems hardly adequate. Perhaps if the gentlemen +responsible for this state of affairs had concerned themselves more about +the aboriginals, and less about the supposed barbaric cruelty of the +squatters, the objects of their mission would have been better served. +However, whilst the black-fellow must remain content with his scanty +allowance, it is found expedient to send an inexperienced youth, fresh +from England, from place to place to make a report on the treatment of +the aboriginals, at a salary of £500 a year. And a fine collection +of yarns he produced—for naturally no one could resist “pulling his leg” +to the last degree! However, this question has at last been put into the +hands of those best calculated to know something about it; for though the +Government is neither perfect nor infallible, yet the colonists are +likely to understand a purely local matter better than a Board of +gentlemen lately from home. + +<p>They were a merry lot of people, the blacks round Hall's Creek, and +appeared to see the best sides of a deadly dull existence. Their ways and +habits are now so mingled with ideas gathered from the whites that they +are not worth much attention. Dancing is their great amusement, and +though on Christmas Day we made them compete in running, jumping, and +spear-throwing, they take but little interest in such recreations. Though +known to Australian readers, a description of such a dance may prove of +interest to some in the old country. + +<center> +<p>“A CORROBOREE,” OR NATIVE DANCE. +</center> +<p>The entertainment begins after sundown, and on special occasions may be +kept up for two or three days and nights in succession. A moonlit night +is nearly always made the occasion for a corroboree, to which no +significance is attached, and which may be simply held for the amusement +the actual performance affords. + +<p>Descriptions of the great dances attendant on the initiation of a boy +into manhood, and its accompanying brutal rites, find a more suitable +place in scientific works than in a book intended for the general reader. +I will therefore merely describe some of the dances which are performed +for entertainment. + +<p>The word corroboree is applied equally to the dance, the whole festival, +or the actual chant which accompanies the dancing. + +<p>Men and women, the men especially, deck themselves out with tufts of emu +feathers, fastened in the hair or tied round the arm, or stuck in the +waist-belt of plaited hair; paint their bodies with a white paint or wash +made from “Kopi” (gypsum similar to that found by the shores of salt +lakes), with an occasional dab of red ochre (paint made from a sandstone +impregnated with iron), and fix up their hair into a sort of mop bound +back by bands of string. Thus bedecked and painted, and carrying their +spears and boomerangs, they present a rather weird appearance. + +<a name="pt29"></a><h5>Illustration 29: Native preparing for the Emu-Dance</h5> + +<p>A flat, clear space being chosen, the audience seat themselves, men and +women, who, unless the moon is bright, light fires, which they replenish +from time to time. The dancers are all men, young warriors and older men, +but no greybeards. The orchestra consists of some half-dozen men, who +clap together two sticks or boomerangs; in time to this “music” a +wailing dirge is chanted over and over again, now rising in spasmodic +jerks and yelled forth with fierce vehemence, now falling to a prolonged +mumbled plaint. Keeping time to the sticks, the women smack their thighs +with great energy. The monotonous chant may have little or no sense, and +may be merely the repetition of one sentence, such as “Good fella, +white fella, sit down 'longa Hall's Creek,” or something with an equally +silly meaning. The dancers in the meantime go through all sorts of queer +movements and pantomimes. First, we may have the kangaroo corroboree, in +which a man hops towards the musicians and back again, to be followed in +turn by every other dancer and finally by the whole lot, who advance +hopping together, ending up with a wild yell, in which all join. + +<p>Then we may have the emu-corroboree, where each in his turn stalks +solemnly around with the right arm raised, with elbow bent, wrist and +hand horizontal and poked backwards and forwards, to represent the emu's +neck and head. The left hand held behind the back, like that of a shy +official expecting a tip, stands for the emu's tail. Thus they advance +slowly and jerkily with back bent and arm pointing now this way, now +that, like an inquisitive emu who is not sure of his ground. + +<p>Next the mallee-hen builds her nest, and each dancer comes forward at a +mincing trot, in his hands a few twigs and leaves, which he deposits in +front of the “orchestra,” and, having built his nest, retires. And so +they go on mimicking with laughable accuracy the more common beasts and +birds. + +<p>The most comical dance in which they all joined—that is all the +dancers—was one in which they stood on tiptoe, with knees bent and +shaking together as if with fear, then giving forth a sort of hissing +noise, through fiercely clenched teeth, they quickly advanced in three or +four lines and retired trotting backwards. This ended with a prolonged +howl and shrieks of laughter. The energy with which they dance is +extraordinary—shaking their spears and grunting, they advance with knees +raised, like high-stepping horses, until the thigh is almost horizontal, +now one leg now the other, with a will, and then one, two, down come the +feet together with a thud, the dancers striking their spears in the +ground, growling out savagely a sound that I can only express as “woomph, +woomph”—with what a smack their flat feet meet the ground, and what a +shrieking yell goes up from all throats as they stop! + +<p>To enliven the performance they use flat carved sticks, some eight inches +long, and of a pointed oval shape. Through a hole in one point they +thread a string, with which the stick is rapidly swung round, making a +booming noise—“Bull-roarers” is the general white-fellows' name for +them. Amongst some native prisoners brought in from the Sturt I saw a +primitive wooden horn, on which a sort of blast could be blown. No doubt +this, too, has its place in their performances. + +<p>I am told they keep up these corroborees as long as three days and +nights, though certainly not dancing all the time. Probably the stick +clapping is kept up by relays of performers. I have heard the chant go on +all one night and well into the next day, with hardly a break. + +<p>Hall's Creek is a great place for corroborees, for there are gathered +together boys from all parts of Central Australia, Northern Territory, +and Queensland, brought by coastal overlanders. These boys all know +different chants and dances, and are consequently in great request at the +local black-fellows' evening parties. Warri told me he had learnt several +new songs; however, they appeared to my evidently untrained ear to be all +exactly alike. + +<p>We were to have had a very swell festival at Christmas, but it somehow +fell through. I fancy the blacks were not given sufficient notice. + +<p>The blacks, in addition to these simple festive gatherings, have solemn +dances for the purpose of promoting the growth of edible seeds and roots, +of increasing the rainfall, or the numbers of the animals and reptiles on +which they feed. But more important still are those connected with their +barbarous, but sacred, rites and ceremonials. + +<a name="p5c18"></a><h4>CHAPTER XVIII</h4> + +<h4>Preparations For The Return Journey</h4> + +<p>Had I known how long our stay in the North was to be, I should have taken +the opportunity of further studying the natives and their habits, and +should certainly have visited them in their wild homes in the unknown +portion of Kimberley. As it was I daily expected a message asking me to +start in search of the missing men, and held myself in readiness +accordingly. Our small caravan, now further reduced by the death of +Czar—a sad loss, for he was one of my old friends, and one of the +staunchest camels I have known (together we had seen many a tough bit of +work); he fell down a steep gully at night, poor old beast, and so +injured himself that he died almost immediately—was increased by the +purchase of three horses, with which I intended to carry out my plan of +search; since, however, it was never instituted, I need not explain its +nature. It sufficiently accounts for the presence of horses in the +caravan with which the return journey was made. + +<p>As time dragged on it became clear that the missing men could no longer +be living, and since there were two search parties already in the field, +I felt that I was only wasting time by staying longer in idleness. We +were too far off to make any search except by a protracted expedition, +and, since I was morally sure of the men's death, I did not feel called +upon to expose my party to the risks of the desert when no useful object +could be accomplished. Had the intervening country been unknown I should +have been quite ready to start forth, for in that case, whatever the +result of the search, I should have felt rewarded for any losses +incurred, by the knowledge that we had been the means of opening up a +further tract of an unexplored region. As it was we should only have +followed a route previously traversed by Warburton, from which, unless +we achieved the melancholy satisfaction of finding the scene of the +disaster, no useful results could follow. I determined, therefore, to +leave the search to those who could best afford the time and expense, and +set about planning our return to Coolgardie. We had four routes open to +us—either the road to Derby and thence by steamer: the road to Derby and +thence along the coastal telegraph line: the way we had come: and an +entirely new route, taking our chances of the desert. The first was +dismissed as feeble, the second as useless, and the third as idiotic. +Therefore the fourth remained, and though it was natural enough for me to +wish to win distinction in the world of travel (and I daresay this was +the motive that inspired me), surely it speaks well for them indeed, that +Breaden and Massie were willing to accompany me. + +<p>Without the slightest hesitation, though knowing full well what lay +before us, that we might even encounter worse difficulties than before, +without any thought of prospective gain—for their salary was no +fortune—they signified their readiness to return by whatever route I +proposed. This is a point that I should like to make clear to all who may +read this, for it is indicative of a trait often lost sight of by those +accustomed to having, in novels and so forth, the more mercenary side of +the Australian's character pointed out to them. A common subject of +speculation is whether or no Australians would make good soldiers; as to +that my belief is, that once they felt confidence in their officers none +could make more loyal or willing troops; without that confidence they +would be ill to manage, for the Australian is not the man to obey +another, merely because he is in authority—first he must prove himself +fit to have that authority. + +<p>If, therefore, we are deserving of any credit for again tackling the +sand, let it be remembered that my companions are more worthy of it than +their leader—for they had nothing to gain, whilst I had at least the +distinction of leaving my name upon the map—and though I made plans, +without good and true men I could not have carried them out. There seemed +to me to be a slight chance of finding better country to the eastward of +our first route, and, besides the geographical interest, there would +result the proof of the practicability or otherwise of a stock route to +the southern goldfields—a route which would be such a boon to the +Kimberley squatters. I may as well state at once that such a route is +quite out of the question, and that I would hesitate to undertake the +journey with a mob of more than twenty camels, let alone cattle. + +<p>Fortunately I was able to purchase three more camels, the property of the +South Australian Government, which Mr. Buchanan had brought from the +Northern Territory for the purpose of looking for a stock route. However, +a day or two beyond the end of Sturt Creek satisfied him as to the +impracticability of the scheme, and he returned to Flora Valley, a cattle +station close to Hall's Creek, that is to say, twenty-five miles away. At +the time of our arrival Mr. Buchanan was out with Mr. Wells, and did most +valuable service in the search for the missing men. After his return he +was very glad to get the camels, which he neither liked nor understood, +off his hands. + +<p>With eight camels and three horses our caravan was brought up to +strength. In the matter of provisioning, equipment, and way of +travelling, I made some alteration. Everything was considered with a view +to lightness, therefore only absolute necessaries were carried. All +tools, except those used in “soak-sucking,” and so forth, were discarded; +the provisions consisted of salt beef (tinned meat being unprocurable), +flour, tea, sugar, and a few tins of condensed milk (damaged and unfit +for use in the ordinary way). All possible room was given to +water-carrying appliances, so that we could carry in all about one +hundred gallons. Had it not been for my former plans I should not have +taken horses; but they are animals easier to buy than to sell, and would +certainly be most useful if only we could find food and water to keep +them alive. With sorrow and regret I had to part with Val, for only a few +days before our departure she gave birth to a litter of pups, and had of +course to be left behind. However, the Warden, to whom I gave her, +promised to be kind to her, as indeed I am sure he has been—nevertheless +it was a sad wrench. In her place I took a small mongrel which belonged +to the Warden, an “Italian greyhound,” as some one suggested, though I +never saw a like breed! He rejoiced in the name of “Devil-devil,” +because, I suppose, he was quite black. + +<p>I made no attempt to replace poor Charlie Stansmore, since there were no +men willing to come whom I should have cared to take. I cannot say enough +in gratitude for the hospitality that we met with at Hall's Creek, from +the Warden, whose guests we were the whole time, and every member of the +small community. I shall look back with pleasure to our stay in that +faraway spot. + +<a name="p5ap"></a><h4>APPENDIX TO PART V</h4> + +<h4>SOME NATIVE WEAPONS AND CEREMONIAL IMPLEMENTS</h4> + +<p>(Letters (A to O) refer to the illustrations) + +<p>1. SPEARS.—A. Of Desert native; B. Of Kimberley native; C. Method of +throwing. + +<a name="pt30"></a><h5>Illustration 30: A,B Spears</h5> + +<center><p><img alt="" src="images/spin10.jpg"></center> + +<p>A. The spear of the desert man is either sharp pointed, spatulate +pointed, or barbed. They vary in length from 8 feet to 10 feet, and in +diameter, at the head (the thickest portion), from 1/2 inch to 1 inch. As +a rule, a man carries a sheaf of half a dozen or more. + +<p>B. In the Kimberley District the spears are of superior manufacture and +much more deadly. The heads are made of quartz, or glass, or insulators +from the telegraph line. Before the advent of the white man quartz only +was used, and from it most delicately shaped spear-heads were made, the +stone being either chipped or pressed. I fancy the former method is the +one employed—so I have been told, though I never saw any spear-heads in +process of manufacture. + +<p>Since the white man has settled a portion of Kimberley, glass bottles +have come into great request amongst the natives, and most deadly weapons +are made—spears that, I am told, will penetrate right through a +cattle-beast, and which are themselves unimpaired unless they strike on a +bone. When first the telegraph line from Derby to Hall's Creek and thence +to Wyndham was constructed, constant damage used to be done to it by the +natives who climbed the poles and smashed the insulators for spear-head +making. So great a nuisance did this become that the Warden actually +recommended the Government to place heaps of broken bottles at the foot +of each pole, hoping by this means to save the insulators by supplying +the natives with glass! + +<p>The stone or glass heads are firmly fixed in a lump of spinifex gum, and +this is held firm on the shaft by kangaroo tail sinews. The shaft is of +cane for half its length, the upper part being of bamboo, which is found +on the banks of the northern rivers. + +<p>Up to a distance of eighty to one hundred yards the spears can be thrown +with fair accuracy and great velocity. + +<p>The length of these spears varies from 10 feet to 15 feet. The one shown +in sketch is of glass, and is one-half actual size. + +<p>In the Nor'-West (that is, the country lying between the Gascoyne and +Oakover rivers), wooden spear-heads with enormous barbs are used. +Sometimes the barbs are placed back to back, so that on entering a body +they can be pulled neither forward nor back. + +<a name="pt31"></a><h5>Illustration 31: C Woomera</h5> + +<center><p><img alt="" src="images/spin11.jpg"></center> + +<p>C. THE WOOMERA (or Wommera)—the throwing-board—held in the hand as in +sketch. The spears rest on the board, and are kept in place by the first +finger and thumb and by the bone point A, which fits into a little hollow +on the end of the shaft. The action of throwing resembles that of +slinging a stone from a handkerchief. As the hand moves forward the spear +is released by uplifting the forefinger, and the woomera remains in the +hand. These boards vary in size and shape considerably; that shown in the +sketch is from the northern portion of the desert. In the central +portion the weapons are more crude and unfinished. In the handle end of +the woomera a sharp flint is often set, forming a sort of chisel. + +<p>In Kimberley the long spears are thrown with narrow and light boards +varying from 2 feet 6 inches to 3 feet 6 inches in length. + +<p>I believe that the method of holding the spear varies somewhat, some +natives placing the handle of the woomera between the first and remaining +fingers. + +<p>2. TOMAHAWKS.—D. Iron-headed; E. Stone-headed. + +<a name="pt32"></a><h5>Illustration 32: D Iron Tomahawks</h5> + +<center><p><img alt="" src="images/spin12.jpg"></center> + +<p>D. Pieces of iron, such as horseshoes, fragments of the tyres of wheels, +and so forth, are traded from tribe to tribe for many hundreds of miles. +Those shown in sketch were found about lat. 21° 50´, long. +126° 30´. + +<p>E. <i>Stone Tomahawk</i>—from Sturt Creek—given to me by Mr. Stretch. + +<a name="pt33"></a><h5>Illustration 33: E Stone Tomahawks</h5> + +<center><p><img alt="" src="images/spin13.jpg"></center> + +<p>The head is of a very dark and hard green stone, ground to a fine edge, +and is set between the two arms of the handle and held in place with +spinifex gum. + +<p>The handle is formed by bending round (probably by means of fire) a +single strip of wood. + +<p>The two arms of the handle are sometimes held together by a band of +hair-string. + +<p>The iron tomahawks are similarly made. + +<p>3. BOOMERANGS.—These weapons are now so well known that a description of +the ordinary pattern would be superfluous. However, near Dwarf Well we +found one of uncommon shape; and until reading a book on a Queensland +tribe I was unaware of its use, nor could I find any one who had seen one +of like shape. The weapon in question is the <i>Beaked</i> or <i>Hooked</i> boomerang +(F). + +<p>Mr. W. Roth, in his <i>Ethnological Studies Among the North-West Central +Queensland Aborigines</i>, says:— +<blockquote> +<i>It appears that when warding off a blow from a boomerang of any +description the defence consists in holding forwards and vertically any +stick or shield that comes to hand, and moving it more or less outwards, +right or left as the case may be, thus causing the missile on contact to +glance to one or the other side. The hook is intended to counteract the +movement of defence by catching on the defending stick around which it +swings and, with the increased impetus so produced, making sure of +striking the one attacked.</i> +</blockquote> +<a name="pt34"></a><h5>Illustration 34: F Boomerangs</h5> +<a name="pt35"></a><h5>Illustration 35: G Clubs and throwing-sticks</h5> + +<center><p><img alt="" src="images/spin14.jpg"></center> + +<p>4. CLUBS AND THROWING-STICKS (G). + +<p>1. The uses of these are sufficiently obvious to make a description +unnecessary. + +<p>2. The throwing-sticks are used chiefly in hunting, and for guarding a +blow from a boomerang. Most that I have seen were made of mulga (acacia) +hardened by fire. + +<p>5. SHIELDS.—H. Of hard wood (Mulga); I. Of soft wood (Cork bark). + +<a name="pt36"></a><h5>Illustration 36: H,I Shields</h5> + +<center><p><img alt="" src="images/spin15.jpg"></center> + +<p>H. The hard-wood shields are carved from a solid piece of mulga, are +grooved to turn spears, and slightly curved for the same purpose. The +handles stand out from the back. These were found as far North as lat. +25°S. + +<p>I. The soft-wood shields found North of lat. 25° are of about the +same size, but are not grooved. Their faces are rounded; the handles are +gouged out. It is interesting to notice how in each example the most +serviceable shield has been made in the easiest way. The mulga splits +into boards, and so cannot be obtained of any thickness, so flat shields +are made; whereas the cork wood is a soft and very readily worked tree +and can be carved and hacked into shape with the rudest implements, such +as that shown in sketch (J). + +<a name="pt37"></a><h5>Illustration 37: J,K Quartz knife</h5> + +<center><p><img alt="" src="images/spin16.jpg"></center> + +<p>6. QUARTZ KNIFE (K). + +With this exceedingly rough implement self-inflicted gashes on the chest +and arms (presumably for ornamentation) are made. The rites of +circumcision, and other initiatory operations, for the proper performance +of which one would suppose the skill of a trained surgeon necessary, are +carried out by means of this crude blade. + +<p>7. CEREMONIAL STICKS (L). + +<a name="pt38"></a><h5>Illustration 38: L Ceremonial sticks</h5> + +<center><p><img alt="" src="images/spin17.jpg"></center> + +<p>In almost every camp flat sticks of various sizes, shapes, and carvings, +similar to those shown above, were found. They were always carefully +wrapped up in bark secured by hair-string. They are said to be used by +the blacks in their several initiation ceremonies, but what their use or +significance is, is not known. No tame boy (i.e., native who can speak +English) will divulge their mysterious meaning. I have repeatedly asked +about them, but have never succeeded in getting any answer beyond “I +dunno, gin (or lubra) no more see 'em; gin see 'em, she tumble down quick +fella.” There must be some very queer superstition connected with them, +since the ladies die on seeing them. Indeed, the black fellow has a +somewhat arbitrary method of dealing with his gins, and should they be +ill-advised enough to attempt to argue with him, does not wait to produce +a flat stick, but silences them with a club. + +<p>8. RAIN-MAKING BOARDS. + +<p>M. Three of similar pattern found at Alexander Spring. + +<p>N. Found at Empress Spring hidden away with two similar to M. + +<a name="pt39"></a><h5>Illustration 39: M,N Rain-making boards</h5> + +<center><p><img alt="" src="images/spin18.jpg"></center> + +<p>With reference to these queer and rudely carved boards I received a +letter from Mr. W. H. Cusack, of Roebourne, North-West Australia, in +which he says:— +<blockquote> +…<i>The implement you allude to is used by the +“Mopongullera,” or Rain-doctor, at their ceremony which they hold annually +when they are making the rain. They are very rare, as there is only one +every two hundred miles or so in the country. They are generally left at +the rain ground, where you found yours, or placed in a cave, where the +only one I have seen IN TWENTY-FIVE YEARS was found. They are the most +sacred implements they possess</i>… +</blockquote> +<p>It would seem from the foregoing that we were specially lucky in seeing +so many of these boards—viz., six within a distance of fifty +miles—though it is possible that of the three found at Alexander Spring +(on the occasion of our second visit) two might be identical with two of +the three found at Empress Spring. Between our two visits to Alexander +Spring there had evidently been a considerable gathering of blacks, and, +considering the droughty appearance of the country, it seems feasible +that on this occasion every available rain-making board was brought into +use. + +<p>We were unfortunately unable to carry the Empress Spring boards, owing to +their bulk and unwieldy shape. + +<p>From the other spot, however, seeing that we were nearing our journey's +end, I brought one board—the only one unbroken—into civilisation. This +I gave to Sir John Forrest, who in his journey across the Colony in 1874 +found a similar board at the same place. In his journal he writes:— +<blockquote> +…<i>I named it Alexander Spring, after my brother. . . . We also found +about a dozen pieces of wood, some 6 feet long and 3 to 7 inches wide, +and carved and trimmed up. All around were stones put up in forked trees. +I believe it is the place where the right of circumcision is +performed.</i> +</blockquote> +<p>Mr. Cusack's statement as to their extreme rarity in the +Nor'-West, taken in conjunction with Sir John's experience and ours, +would point to the strong reliance the natives must place on their +Rain-doctor's abilities, for where the rainfall is comparatively great +these boards are rare, while in the almost waterless interior, at a spot +almost exactly in the centre of the Colony, nearly a dozen have been +found. I would respectfully point out to the black-fellows how little +their efforts have been successful, and would suggest the importation of +several gross of boards, for the climate at present falls a long way +short of perfection! + +<p>In the McDonnell Ranges (Central Australia) performers in the rain-dance +wear on their heads a “long, erect, and ornamented structure of wood” +(<i>Horn Scientific Expedition</i>, part iv.). This structure is not carved, +but picked out with down made to adhere by blood, and is apparently some +3 to 4 feet long. From the length of the boards we found (one being 10 +feet), I should say that some other method of using them must be in vogue +amongst the desert tribes. + +<p>9. MESSAGE STICKS (O). + +<a name="pt40"></a><h5>Illustration 40: O Message sticks</h5> + +<center><p><img alt="" src="images/spin19.jpg"></center> + +<p>These little sticks, rounded, carved, and painted with grease and red +ochre, are known as either letter sticks or message sticks, and are +common all over the continent. The carvings are supposed by some to +represent the actual words of the message; by others it is held—and to +this view I am inclined—that the sticks are tokens carried by a +messenger to show that his words are authentic, and each stick belongs to +one tribe or individual whose identity is shown by the carvings. They +vary in length from 2 1/2 to 8 inches. + +<p>The sketch (O) shows the same stick turned three times. +<hr> + +<a name="p6c1"></a><h3>PART VI</h3> + +<h3>THE JOURNEY HOME</h3> + +<h4>CHAPTER I</h4> + +<h4>Return Journey Begins</h4> + +<p>We left Hall's Creek, on our return journey, on March 22, 1897. Taking +the road to Flora Valley we passed Brockman—where, by the way, lives a +famous person, known by the unique title of “Mother Deadfinish.” This +good lady is the most curious of her sex that I have ever seen; now a +little dried-up, wizened old woman of Heaven knows what age, she was in +her younger days a lady of wonderful energy. She came overland from +Queensland, accompanying her husband who, in the early days of the rush, +sought to turn an honest penny by the sale of “sly grog.” However, he +died on the road, so his mourning widow carried through the job without +him, and successfully withstood the trials of the journey, including +heat, fever, and blacks. The latter were very numerous, and gave great +trouble to the early diggers, spearing their horses and very often the +men themselves. Many skirmishes ensued, and, so it is said, “Mother +Deadfinish” handled her Winchester with the best of them! Eventually +she arrived at the diggings, and has been there ever since, making a +living by the sale of goat's milk, fowls, eggs, and a few vegetables. She +is quite a character and worth talking to, but not always worth listening +to; for her language is notorious; indeed, it is a recognised form of +amusement for the diggers to bring into their conversation certain +topics, such as the Warden, or the Police, who are so especially +distasteful to her that ordinary language cannot express her feelings. In +the same way that a boy delights to stir up a monkey and hear him +chatter, the fossicker bent on recreation rouses the old lady to feats of +swearing far beyond the scope of most people. No man has yet been found +who could withstand her onslaught. I saw her angry once! She positively +alarmed me; the three witches in Macbeth thrown into one would be of no +account in comparison. Had she lived a century or two ago she would +infallibly have been burnt. + +<a name="pt41"></a><h5>Illustration 41: Group of explorers</h5> + +<center><p><img alt="" src="images/spin20.jpg"></center> + +<p>A few miles past the Brockman the auriferous country is cut off by what +is locally known as the “Sandstone”—a sheer, wall-like range named the +Albert Edward. + +<p>Just below the gorge where the Elvire River (a tributary of the Ord +River) breaks through the range is situated Flora Valley Cattle Station, +the property of the brothers Gordon. A charming little place, after the +rains; the homestead stands on a high bank above the river, here fringed +with high, shady trees. Beyond the homestead and the yards, a fine plain +of grass stretches out, surrounded by rough and rocky hills. As charming +as their little place were the owners, the most kind-hearted and +hospitable folk it is possible to imagine. Here we stayed a few days to +get some meat salted for our journey; nothing would satisfy the two +brothers but that they must find the finest bullock on their run, kill +it, and give it to us. Flora Valley is a great place for the blacks, who +live there in scores, camped by the river, and fed by the kind-hearted +squatters. Leaving the station and travelling South-East, our route lay +through a few low hills, and then we came out upon the Denison Downs, +most magnificent plains of grass. + +<p>The first few days of a journey are most unsettled, saddles do not fit, +packs will not ride, the animals will not agree, and dozens of like +annoyances. Our three new camels, Bluey, Hughie, and Wattie, were almost +unmanageable; for not only had they been running loose for some time, but +had never been well behaved or well looked after. Bluey was a dreadfully +wild brute, and all but brought Warri, who was riding him, to grief; +after bucking and plunging and trying all manner of tricks, he stampeded +at his fullest speed, with his head towards some overhanging branches, +under which he might have passed with impunity, but they must have +crushed Warri <i>en route</i>. + +<p>Luckily I was just in time to get Highlander between the tree and the +camel, and so saved a nasty accident. Besides these small troubles, +Breaden and Godfrey were suffering agonies from “sandy blight,” a sort of +ophthalmia, which is made almost unbearable by the clouds of flies, the +heat, the glare, and the dust. Breaden luckily was able to rest in a dark +room at Flora Valley and recovered, or at least sufficiently so to be +able to travel; Godfrey was very bad indeed, quite blind and helpless. At +night we pitched his mosquito-net for him—for these insects are simply +ravenous, and would eat one alive or send one mad in this part of the +country—and made him as comfortable as possible; in the morning, until I +had bathed his eyes with warm water he was blinded by the matter running +from them: then during the day he sat blindfolded on The Monk, one of the +horses—a most unpleasant condition for travelling. + +<a name="pt42"></a><h5>Illustration 42: Just in time</h5> + +<p>Fortunately it was not for long, for soon we cut the Sturt Creek, and, +following it, reached the Denison Downs Homestead—the last settlement to +the southward, and I should say the most out-of-the-way habitation in +Australia of to-day. The nearest neighbours are nearly one hundred miles +by road, at Flora Valley; in every other direction there is a blank, +hundreds of miles in extent. A solitary enough spot in all conscience! +Yet for the last ten years two men have lived here, taking their chances +of sickness, drought, floods, and natives; raising cattle in peace and +contentment. Terribly rough, uncouth chaps, of course? Not a bit of +it!—two men, gentlemen by birth and education, one the brother of a +bishop, the other a man who started life as an artist in Paris. A rough +life does not necessarily make a rough man, and here we have the proof, +for Messrs. Stretch and Weekes are as fine a pair of gentlemen as need +be. How they came to migrate to such a spot is soon told; they brought +cattle over during the rush, hoping to make a large fortune; however, the +rush “petered out,” half their cattle died, and with the remainder they +formed their station, and have remained there ever since, year by year +increasing their herd, now numbering some four thousand head, and looking +forward to the time when they hope to be well repaid for their labours. A +large, single-roomed iron shed, on the bank of a fine big pool, is their +home, and there with their flocks and herds they live, like the +patriarchs of old, happy and contented. In fact, the only people I have +ever come across, who seemed really satisfied with life are some of these +far-away squatters. + +<p>Numerous natives were collected round the station, and about them Mr. +Stretch told me many interesting things. Their marriage laws were +expounded to me over and over again, but without pencil and paper nothing +can be learned, so confusing are they. + +<p>It was not until my return that I worked out the following relationships, +but I feel confident of their accuracy:— +<center> +<p>MARRIAGE LAWS +</center> +<p>The aboriginals of Northern and Central Australia are governed in their +social life by marriage laws and class systems of the most intricate +kind. It is generally supposed that these laws have for their object +prevention of consanguinity and incest. The laws are strictly adhered to, +any offender against them being punished by death. I owe the information +on this subject to Mr. Stretch, who took great pains to make clear to me +the fundamental principles, from which I have worked out the various +combinations. +<p>I have tried to arrange these laws and the relationships +resulting from them in an intelligible form, and have been greatly aided +by a paper by Mr. Gillen, published in the <i>Horn Scientific Expedition</i>, +on the McDonnell Range tribes. I was unable to get the tribal names, but +this, for the purposes of explanation only, is unnecessary. + +<p>The aboriginals in question belong to the Eastern district of Kimberley +generally, and more particularly to the Sturt Creek. These natives are +descended from eight original couples, who have given their names to the +eight classes into which the tribe is now divided. + +<p>For simplicity's sake I will assume that in place of eight there were +four original classes. This will illustrate the principle equally well, +and be far less involved. + +<p>Let A, B, C, and D represent the names of the four classes—to one of +which every native belongs. + +<p>1. The first law is that—Natives belonging to class A may only +intermarry with class B, and natives belonging to C may only intermarry +with class D. + +<p>2. The progeny of a man and woman of intermarrying classes is of a +different class from either father or mother. + +<p>Thus a man of class B marries a woman of class A, but their offspring +(male or female) is of class D. + +<p>Let Am represent a male of class A. + +<p>Let Af represent a female of class A, and similarly Bm, Bf, etc. + +<p>Let Ap represent progeny who belong to class A, and similarly Bp, Cp, +Dp. + +<p>Law 2 may now be set down as under— + +<table align="center" summary=""><colgroup span="7" align="center"> +<col><col width="20"><col><col width="20"><col><col width="20"><col> +<tr><td>Af + Bm<td><td>Am + Bf<td><td>Cf + Dm<td><td>Cm + Df +<tr><td>-------<td><td>-------<td><td>-------<td><td>------- +<tr><td> Dp <td><td> Cp <td><td> Bp <td><td> Ap + +</tr></table> +<p>3. The first law holds good with the progeny of these combinations, i.e., +Dp can only marry one of class C—though neither the father nor mother of +Dp could marry into class C; similarly for Cp, etc. + +<p>4. Dp recognises as father or mother all members of classes A and B; +similarly Cp, etc. + +<p>This explains the seeming absurdity of the answer one receives from +natives to questions concerning their relationships to others. An old man, +for instance, may point out a young girl and say, “That one my mother,” +for the girl belongs to the same class as his actual father or mother. + +<p>5. All the progeny of classes A and B are brothers and sisters; similarly +C and D. + +<p>Thus taking Dp2 to represent the progeny of an Ap and a Bp +<table align="center" summary=""><colgroup span="3" align="center"> +<col><col width="20"><col> +<tr><td>Af + Bm<td><td>Ap + Bp +<tr><td>-------<td><td>------- +<tr><td> Dp <td><td> Dp2 +</tr></table> +<p>All of class Dp recognise class Dp2 (though of another generation) as +brothers and sisters. For this reason there is no absurdity in a small +boy pointing out a very aged woman as his sister. + +<p>6. A man may have as many wives as he can get, so long as these laws are +adhered to. + +<p>Let us now see what degrees of kindred are prohibited by these laws. + +<p>Let us take the case of a man of class A. He can only marry a woman of +class B, whose parents must therefore have belonged to classes C and D her +mother being a C and her father a D. + +<p>Therefore his wife's mother and father belong to classes with which he +may not intermarry. + +<p>Therefore a man may not marry— +<ol> +<li>His mother-in-law. +<li>The sister of his wife's mother. +<li>The sister of his wife's father. +<li>Nor the sister of any one of the three. +<li>Nor can he marry his sister. +</ol> +<p>But he may marry— + +<p>His wife's sisters (sisters by blood or tribal class). + +<p>And as far as I can see, no law prevents a man from marrying his +grandmother should he so desire. + +<a name="p6c2"></a><h4>CHAPTER II</h4> + +<h4>Sturt Creek And “Gregory's Salt Sea”</h4> + +<p>The Sturt Creek presents many points of interest. It rises in the +Northern Territory, runs for nearly three hundred miles in a +South-Westerly direction, and comes to an end in a large salt-lake, across +the border, in the desert. It runs throughout its entire length once in +every three or four years, though each yearly rainy season floods it in +certain parts. In the dry season one might in many places ride right +across its course without being aware of it. In the wet season such parts +of it are swamps and marshes, over which its waters spread to a width of +five and six miles. Permanent pools are numerous, and occur wherever a +ridge of sandstone rock runs across the course of the creek. On either +side of the creek fine grass-plains spread East and West. The further +South the creek goes, the less good is the country on the East side; +presently there is no grass country except on the West side. Not far +below the station the creek is joined by the Wolf, which, like all +Kimberley creeks, is fringed with gums, Bauhinia, and Leichardt-trees. +From the confluence downwards a war between the grass-lands and the +desert is waged for the supremacy of the river-banks. For miles the sandy +channel, cut out like a large drain through the country, less than one +chain wide in places, is hemmed in on either side by desert gums and +spinifex, and once out of sight of the creek the surrounding land +receives no benefit from the water. + +<p>But lower down again, about the latitude of Mount Mueller, the grass plains +gain the day; and a very pretty bit of country they form too, especially +when the creek is running, as it was when we were there. In many places +its waters had overflowed the banks, expanding into clay-pans and lagoons +of beautiful clear water where teal and whistling duck disported +themselves. + +<p>The Wolf rises on the opposite slope of the watershed to Christmas Creek +and the Mary River, and floods twice or thrice a year. Below its junction +with the Sturt the combined creek takes on itself the character of the +Wolf, and at the point of confluence the Sturt may be said to end. Seeing +how seldom the Sturt runs its entire length and how small its channel is +at this point, smaller than that of the Wolf, I think that it is to the +latter that the lakes (Gregory's “Salt Sea”) chiefly owe their existence. +However that may be, the combined waters fill but an insignificant +channel and one can hardly credit that this creek has a length of nearly +three hundred miles. + +<p>On nearing the lakes the creek assumes so dismal an appearance, and so +funereal is the aspect of the dead scrub and dark tops of the “boree” (a +kind of mulga), that one wonders that Gregory did not choose the name of +“Dead” instead of merely “Salt Sea.” A curious point about this lower +part of the creek is, that stretches of fresh and salt water alternate. +The stream, as we saw it, was only just running in the lower reaches; in +places it ran under the sandy bed, and in this part the salt pools +occurred. First we passed a stretch of clear, brackish water, then a +nearly dry reach of sand, then a trickle of fresh water lasting for a +hundred yards or so; this would again disappear, and be seen lower down +as another salt pool. + +<p>The creek enters the first lake in a broad estuary; this lake is some +four miles long by two miles wide, lying North and South. At the southern +end a narrow channel, 150 yards wide, winds its way into the large lake +beyond, a fine sheet of water, eight miles in diameter. A narrow belt of +open country, overgrown with succulent herbage, fringes the margin of the +lake; beyond it is dense scrub, with occasional patches of grass; beyond +that, sand, sandhills, and spinifex. In the distance can be seen +flat-topped hills and bluffs, and rising ground which encloses the hollow +of the lake. The lake has no outlet; of this Gregory satisfied himself by +making a complete circuit of it. At the time of his discovery the lakes +were dry, or nearly so, and doubtless had the appearance of being shallow +depressions, such as the salt lakes in the southern part of the Colony; +so that having followed the Sturt for so many miles—a creek which showed +every appearance of occasionally flooding to a width of five or six +miles—he must have been somewhat uncertain as to what happened to so +great a volume of water. However, the lake is nearly thirty feet deep in +the middle, and, from its area, is capable of holding a vast amount of +water. The creek, below its confluence with the Wolf, is continually +losing its waters, throwing off arms and billabongs, especially to the +west, which form swamps, clay-pans, and lagoons. So much water is wasted +in this manner that near the entrance into the lake the creek is of a +most insignificant size. The fall, too, is so gradual that the water runs +sluggishly and has time to soak away into the enclosing sand. + +<p>Mr. Stretch tells me that it takes eight days for the water from rain +falling at the head of the Sturt to pass his homestead, which gives it a +rate of one mile per hour. Heavy rains had fallen at its source about a +month before our arrival, and the water was still flowing. We therefore +saw the lakes as full as they are ever likely to be, except in abnormal +seasons. North of the lake are numerous large clay-pans which had not +been flooded, and the lakes could evidently hold more water, and had done +so in time past, so that it is pretty clear that the lakes are large +enough for ordinary flood waters, and, with the outlying clay-pans, can +accommodate the waters of an extraordinary flood. + +<p>I feel confident, therefore, that no outlet exists, and that beyond doubt +the Sturt ends at the Salt Sea, and does not “make” again further +South, as some have suggested. Standing on any of the hills which +surround the lake, some distance (ten miles or so) from it, one can look +down upon the water, certainly five hundred feet below the level of the +hills, which rise no more than eighty feet above the surrounding plain. +It seems most improbable, therefore, that a creek should break its way +through country of so much greater altitude without being seen by Colonel +Warburton or myself, or that any connection should exist between the Salt +Sea and Warburton's Salt Lakes to the South-East. + +<p>Had, however, the intervening country been of the same level as the lake, +and flat instead of formed into high sand ridges and hills, there might +have been a possibility of crossing a connecting creek of the same +character as the Sturt without noticing it. This question has been much +discussed by gentlemen interested in the geography of interior Australia, +and therefore I have dealt with it at some length. + +<a name="p6c3"></a><h4>CHAPTER III</h4> + +<h4>Our Camp On The “Salt Sea”</h4> + +<p>April 2nd to 7th we were the guests of Mr. Stretch, and whilst resting +here Godfrey's eyes soon became well enough to allow him to travel. On +the 7th, therefore, we set forth on our journey and bade adieu to the +last outpost of civilisation in the North. Our party was further +increased by a Sturt Creek boy, Tiger by name—a very smart and +intelligent fellow of whom Mr. Stretch was very glad to see the last, for +smart boys are nearly always the most mischievous amongst the cattle. +Warri and Tiger were great friends, and the new boy's presence put Warri +on his mettle, and no amount of work was too hard for him whilst he had +Tiger to show off to. After I had cut his hair and shampooed his head +with kerosene and soap, dressed him in trousers, shirt, and cap, he +looked a most presentable youth. + +<p>Mr. Stretch accompanied us down the creek for the first few days, during +which we passed some of his cattle and horses. The flies and mosquitoes +worry the poor beasts terribly, and all day long the horses stand in the +water in pairs, or in a line, with head to tail, each one flicking the +flies from his neighbour's face with his tail. This habit of standing up +to the girth in water has given rise to a horse sickness known as +“swamp-cancer.” The skin under the belly becomes so soft that at last a +raw place is formed, and this, aggravated by the flies, spreads until it +becomes a serious disease. Another horse-sickness common in the North is +called the “Puffs.” A horse suffering from this pants and blows after the +least exertion, and in the hot weather his skin becomes puffy, and any +violent exercise would be fatal. The Monk, one of our horses, suffered +from this slightly; as soon, however, as we had left the Kimberley +district and entered the desert he recovered entirely. Numerous small +families of natives were camped along the creek, all accompanied by dogs, +which gave us some annoyance at night; for salt meat, at first, should be +hung out during the night to get the benefit of the fresh air, and this +roused their hungry instincts. A few miles below the Wolf, Mr. Stretch +left us, and we parted from our kind host with regret—he to return to +his cattle, and we to the task of laying bare the richness (we hoped) or +the nakedness (we expected) of the untrodden land before us. + +<p>At first we did very small stages, for the joy of travelling alongside +running water was too great to be quickly passed over. The camels and +horses became good chums very soon, and played about together without any +signs of fear or surprise on the part of the horses, although they had +never seen camels before—a different state of affairs from that in +Coolgardie, where horses as a rule snort and plunge with terror on first +acquaintance with an “emu-brother,” as the black-fellow calls the camel. +As we neared the lakes we had some difficulty in finding water fit to +drink, and camped about nine miles above the lakes, whilst Godfrey and I +scouted ahead to see if fresh water could be found lower down. We +surprised two camps of natives, most of whom ran into the scrub as we +approached—several gins and a boy remaining. One of the women had a most +remarkable baby, quite a small thing, but with a tremendous growth of +black hair, shiny and straight, altogether different from the ordinary +coarse hair of the aboriginal. They came with us, walking beside us as we +rode, jabbering and gesticulating in their usual excited manner, and +inviting us to their camp, pointing to the rising smoke. Water, however, +was our requirement, so we continued on our way down the creek, the boy +coming with us. We shot a few ducks which our young friend retrieved, and +having found a reach of fresh water just above the first and smaller +lake, returned campwards, surprising a hunting-party on our way; they +retired quickly, the boy following them, taking with him the ducks which +we had been at such pains to stalk! + +<a name="pt43"></a><h5>Illustration 43: A wild escort of nearly one hundred men</h5> + +<center><p><img alt="" src="images/spin21.jpg"></center> + +<p>The next day we moved camp to the fresh-water reach, and had not been +travelling long before a small tribe of blacks came round us, quickly +followed by our friends of the day before, and presently by more, until +we were marching along with a wild escort of nearly a hundred, mostly +men; they were fearfully excited, though quite friendly, and with yells +and shouts danced alongside, waving their spears and other weapons. I +never heard such a babel, or saw such frantic excitement about nothing, +or at least nothing that we could understand. Their wildness was tempered +with some fear of the camels, though with the horses they were quite +familiar, even going so far as to hit poor old Highlander, that I was +riding, on the rump with their spears, a proceeding that he did not +approve of. “Womany,” “Womany,” “White-fella,” “Womany,” “White-fella,” +they kept on shouting; if they meant to call our attention to the +beauties of their gins they might well have spared themselves the +trouble, for a more hideous lot of females I never set eyes on. Presently +another wild yell heralded the approach of a large band of “womany” who +waded breast deep across the creek, followed by their dogs swimming +behind. These were no improvement on the first lot; all the old and ugly +ladies of the neighbouring tribes must have been gathered together. Their +dogs however, were worthy of notice, for they were Manx-dogs, if such a +word may be coined! Closer inspection showed that they were not as +nature made them. For the tails of the dingoes the Government pays five +shillings apiece; as their destructive habits amongst sheep make them +better liked dead than alive. A black fellow's dog is much the same as a +dingo—in fact must have descended from the wild dog—and has the same +value in his owner's eyes with or without a tail. A stick of tobacco is +fair payment for a dog's tail. Thus all parties are satisfied except the +dog; and the Government is content to pay, not dreaming that +“dog-stiffeners” (i.e., men who make a living by poisoning dingoes) carry +on so base a trade as bartering tobacco for live dogs' tails! + +<p>Our cavalcade still further increased by women and dogs, we proceeded on +our way, until choosing a high sandy bank overlooking the estuary of the +small lake on the South, the creek to the North-West, and a backwater to +the North, we halted and prepared to make camp. This was attended by some +difficulty, for our native friends, now in considerable numbers, +evidently wished to look upon it as their camp too. They soon became so +tiresome that I had to tell them through Tiger, as interpreter, that +unless they retired forthwith and kept to the other side of the creek, we +should take strong measures to remove them. Before long they had all done +as they were bid, and made their camp about a mile away across the +water—and the bulk of them we did not see again. Small parties were +continually visiting us, and we were the best of friends. + +<p>Our camp was in lat. 20° 11´ long. 127° 31´, +and here we stayed five days to give our stock a final rest, and regale +on luscious food and abundant water, before tackling the dreary country +that we knew to be before us. For our own sakes we were by no means keen +on leaving this delightful spot; the very thought of those sand-ridges +seemed to make one's heart sink to one's boots! Our camp consisted of a +bough-shade, and mosquito-nets, of course. Barring the constant torment +of flies and the extreme heat, we had a most enjoyable time. The lakes +and creek abounded in wild-fowl of all kinds, and fish by the hundred +could be caught below our camp. Seen from our camp the estuary had so +much the appearance of a low-lying arm of the sea, with the tide out, +that we could easily understand why Gregory called it a “sea” rather than +a lake. Numerous sandspits stand out in the middle, on which, in early +morning, so dense was the crowd of shags, pelicans, snipe, small gulls, +whistling duck, teal, and other birds, that to say that there was acre +upon acre of wild-fowl would not be wide of the mark; but in spite of +their abundance they were not easily shot; for not only did their numbers +insure the watchfulness of some of the flocks, but after the first shot +the whole lot rose in a cloud and settled away out in the middle of the +lake, beyond reach. + +<p>Our larder was well filled here, and the natives took great interest in +our shooting and fishing. I used to take Tiger as retriever when I went +duck shooting, and an excellent boy he was too, simply loving the water, +and able to swim like any duck; to see him after a wounded bird was most +exciting; as soon as he reached it, it would dive until he would be +almost exhausted. At last he hit upon a similar plan, and, diving, came +up beneath the duck, seized it by the leg and brought it to shore, +grinning with delight. A shot-gun would indeed be a treasure to these +natives, who manage to kill pelicans and ducks only after hours of +waiting, hidden in a hide of bushes until a bird comes near enough to be +killed by a throwing-stick. + +<p>In some parts of Australia the natives swim out to ducks, concealing +themselves under a bunch of rushes and moving very slowly; the ducks are +not scared by the rushes, and fall a comparatively easy prey. From what +Tiger told me the Sturt natives seem to rely solely upon waiting and +stalking. They catch fish in a rather ingenious way, only practicable +when the fish are in shallow water; from this they sweep them with a sort +of dredge of branches, which they drag through the pools on to the banks; +the water runs back through the sticks, leaving the fish high and dry on +the sand. The pelican is considered a great delicacy amongst the natives, +and every day deputations waited upon us, asking us to shoot the “Coyas” +for them, which of course we were very glad to do. They did not repay our +kindness very nicely, for they tried to inveigle Warri into their camp +for the purpose of killing him, as a stranger meets with no great +hospitality! I had sent Warri and Tiger out with a gun to stalk some +ducks when a number of blacks tried to get possession of the gun, first +by telling Tiger that they wanted to shoot an old man who had annoyed +them, then by tempting him with descriptions of the beauties of their +wives; but Warri was proof against all these blandishments—nor could +they get the gun by force. I think Master Warri was quite glad to come +quickly home, for he stood in some awe of the Kimberley natives; “Sulky +fella,” he called them. + +<p>One day a fresh mob of blacks came in; amongst them we recognised our old +friends from Jew's Well. They as soon recognised us, and appeared +tremendously pleased. The old Jew patted me, and grinned, and squirmed +in a most ludicrous way; I discovered that he was thanking me for having +cured his son's eyes—so the lotion had done its work well. As he and his +friends sat round I made a sketch of the old man and gave it to him; it +was evidently a good likeness, for his friends went into shrieks of +laughter and delight. He was equally pleased, and more so still when I +let him know that he could keep it. + +<p>Shortly afterwards several men came up with great mystery and secrecy, +and many looks behind them to see that they were not watched, and a +greybeard amongst them presented me with a flat stick carved all over +into rough patterns; this was carefully wrapped between two sheets of +bark, and was evidently highly treasured, and given as a mark of respect +or gratitude for curing the boy's eyes. They also gave me throwing sticks, +balls of hair string, a shield and tomahawk; and received numerous costly +presents from us—one or two old shirts, strips of coloured handkerchief +to make sporrans of, a knife or two, and so forth, and were perfectly +satisfied. A curious thing about the old Jew was that he had no name. I +questioned him most closely through Tiger—but no! he had never had a +name. He was promptly christened “Jacob,” which he repeated over and over +again, and seemed pleased with his new acquisition. Godfrey soon had some +of the tribe trained in the art of fishing, and this amused them +immensely; the man to whom we gave the line and hooks, which we got in +Hall's Creek, will be much envied by his mates. There were quantities of +mussels in the creek, which the blacks devour greedily; we thought them +most disgusting in taste. Larger fish were reported in the big lake, but +we did not trouble them. The water of the big lake was far too salt for +use, though the natives were camped near it and drink it. It makes them +sick, but they use it all the same, so we were told. What happens to all +the natives when the lake dries I cannot say; no doubt they scatter far +and wide, and meet when the floods come down, for ceremonies, +corroborees, and such-like amusements. + +<p>I collected a few words which I look upon as reliable. Nothing would be +easier than to make a whole dictionary, for the natives are always ready +to talk, but I have only taken words which I got from one and tested with +others with good results. +<table align=center summary=""> +<tr><th>English <th>Aboriginal +<tr><td>Gregory's “Salt Sea” <td>Burro +<tr><td>Fresh water <td>Nappa or Yui +<tr><td>Salt water <td>Murraba* +<tr><td>Creek <td>Gilli +<tr><td>Fire <td>Warru or Wallu** +<tr><td>Fish <td>Yagu +<tr><td>Mussel <td>Bimbirri +<tr><td>Pelican <td>Coya +<tr><td>Whistling duck <td>Chibilu*** +<tr><td>Moon <td>Yungun +<tr><td>Star <td>Gigi +<tr><td>Southern Cross <td>Wun-num +</tr> +</table> +<blockquote> +<p>* Hunt's Slate Well, near Lake Lefroy, Coolgardie Goldfield, which is +sometimes salt, is called by the natives Murrabi. +<p>** Same as at Empress Spring and throughout desert. +<p>*** In imitation of the bird's cry. +</blockquote> +<a name="p6c4"></a><h4>CHAPTER IV</h4> + +<h4>Desert Once More</h4> + +<p>April 20th we left our camp on the lake, steering due East to cut a creek +which enters on the North-East corner; the creek was dry, and the nature +of its shingly bed inclined me to think that it has its rise in +auriferous country. Close by the creek we found a shallow clay-pan, and +as the next day would probably see us in the desert I had every available +water-carrying vessel filled. Tiger worked well, but a friend of his, who +had come with us so far, watched the proceedings with suspicion. +On being questioned as to waters to the South-East, he was most +positive as to their non-existence, and evidently frightened Tiger +so much by his dreadful account of the country that he decided on +returning home—for the next morning both he and his friend had +disappeared. I was very sorry, for he was a smart lad, and now we +were a bit short-handed. Pursuit was of course useless, for he had too +great a start, and would soon be lost amongst his tribesmen. He had +worked so well that I never suspected him of wishing to go. I fear he +will spear Mr. Stretch's cattle after all! + +<p>Fully loaded with water, we left the lakes, steering towards Mount Wilson +(Gregory); the heat was great, and the flies worse than we had before +experienced. + +<p>Riding ahead steering was most unpleasant; one hand for the compass, one +for the bridle, left nothing with which to frighten the flies from the +corners of my eyes, which became quite raw in consequence. Certainly +riding is a great improvement on walking, and I prayed that the horses +would long be spared to us. Once through the dense scrub surrounding the +lake, and our old friends sand and spinifex lay before us. Crossing an +open plain, we reached Mount Wilson, from which the lake was plainly +visible, at a greatly lower level. This hill is the highest in a little +broken range of barren sandstone hills, peaks, knobs, and cliffs of all +manner of shapes and sizes. To the eastward stony tablelands can be seen, +running from which I noticed what I took to be a creek. + +<p>At this point it is interesting to see what Gregory's impressions were of +the country ahead. This was the furthest point he reached in 1856, having +landed an expedition on the Northern coast and travelled up the Victoria +River on to the head-waters of the Sturt Creek, and down that creek to +its end. He says:— +<blockquote> +<i>From the summit of the hill (Mount Wilson) nothing was +visible but one unbounded waste of sandy ridges and low, rocky hills, +which lay to the South-East of the hill. All was one impenetrable +desert; …the vegetation on this part of the country was reduced to a +few stunted gums, hakea bushes, and Triodia (spinifex), the whole +extremely barren in appearance… The remaining portion of the horizon +was one even, straight line: not a hill or break of any kind, and except +the narrow line of the creek, was barren and worthless in the extreme, the +red soil of the level portions of the surface being partially clothed +with Triodia and a few small trees, or rather bushes, rendering the long, +straight ridges of fiery-red, drifting sand more conspicuous.</i> +</blockquote> +<p>So Gregory retraced his tracks up the Sturt Creek, and when one remembers +that he had horses, one can only say, “And a good judge too.” + +<p>Leaving Mount Wilson we steered East and cut the creek that I had seen, +and were glad to find feed near it for both horses and camels. I walked +it up to its head, and found a little rocky pool of water, returning +after dark. Breaden and Warri had been out too, but found nothing. Having +watered the animals, next morning, the 22nd, I steered a course to take +us through a piece of country previously traversed by Warburton, with +Lake White (a dry salt-lake) as our goal, for round it I hoped to find +creeks and clay-pans. I depended on none of Warburton's waters, though he +had some marked on his chart, since I knew that doubts existed as to the +accuracy of his positions, and I preferred to rely upon our own methods +of finding water rather than to waste time in hunting for wells that we +might not find. For the next few days we were crossing spinifex plains +and passing distant hills and tablelands of sandstone. The days were very +hot, but since rising from the hollow of the lake the nights had become +very much cooler. We had come so suddenly into desert country that the +animals gave us great trouble, being unable, poor things, to find any +food. Late starts were the order of the day, camels having wandered miles +in one direction followed by Breaden and Warri, and the horses in another +followed by me. + +<p>On the 23rd we found ourselves again amongst the sand ridges, high, red, +and steep; we were now in lat. 20° 30´, and from that date +and point this awful country continued almost without a break, ridge +succeeding ridge with perfect regularity and running, as before, dead +across our route, until we reached lat. 24° 45´ on June +2nd—a period of forty one days, during which we travelled 451 miles. Thus +it will be seen that in the far eastern portion of the Colony the ridges +of drift-sand extend over a greater length of country than in the centre; +and consequently our return journey was accomplished with greater +difficulties before us, and with an almost total lack of feed for our +stock—less even than on the first trip but to balance these drawbacks we +had cool nights, lighter equipment, and the advantage of previous +experience—and the incentive of knowing that our rations would not last +out unless we made all speed. + +<p>On the 24th we crossed a range of barren hills, which I named the Gordon +Hills, after our friends of Flora Valley. In the neighbourhood Godfrey +picked up a perfectly white egg, somewhat resembling that of an emu, +which lay upon a hummock of spinifex; presumably it had been bleached by +the sun. From the hills to the S.S.W., across high ridges of sand, can be +seen a range apparently of some altitude, distant some twenty-five miles; +this I named the Stretch Range, after our kind host of Denison Downs +Station. From the Gordon Hills we continued on our course for a smoke we +had sighted the day before, and before long picked up two fresh tracks, +which we followed. From some stony rises a large, prominent hill came +into view, as if formed of three great steps of bare rock. This I named +Mount Elphinstone, after my cousin, and towards it we shaped our course, +still on the tracks. + +<p>That night we were again forced to camp on a barren spot, and again our +animals wandered far afield. Unless absolutely necessary, I have a great +objection to tying them up at nights, for then they are sure beyond +question of getting nothing to eat; whereas wandering they may find a +patch of herbage or bushes. That night we saw the fire of a native camp +and heard distant screams. In the morning a mob of blacks passed our camp +all unaware of our presence; Breaden and Warri were hunting the camels +and I the horses. As soon as I brought them in we followed and stopped +some of the natives, and they returned with us to camp and presently +decoyed others who were passing. + +<p>There was nothing remarkable about these savages except that they were +tall and well-made and fairly friendly. One had the skin disease from +which we had noticed others suffering. An old man, and a young, rather +handsome, buck came with us and went ahead as guides. Their camp had +been, as is the rule, on the top of a sand-ridge—chosen, no doubt, as a +position suitable for watching the approach of others. A four-mile stage +brought us to a nice little oasis—a small area of grass, surrounded by +ti-trees, enclosed by two sand-ridges. In the centre of the grass three +good soaks, in black, sandy soil, yielded sufficient for all our needs at +the expenditure of but little labour. The horses appreciated the change, +and unless we had given them water in instalments would have assuredly +burst themselves. They drank in all sixteen gallons apiece! Seeing that +they had never been in anything but good country all their lives, and +that now we had suddenly come out of it into the howling waste, they +showed satisfactory endurance, having been eighty hours with only six +gallons of water each during that time. What English thoroughbred could +have done this? + +<p>The next day Breaden and I rode up to Mount Elphinstone, which we found +to be formed of three great rocky shoulders of sandstone capped with +quartzite, almost bare, and stony on the top, with sheer faces one +hundred feet high on the West side and a gradual slope to the East, where +high sand-ridges run right up to the foot. From the summit a high +tableland (probably Musgrave Range (Warburton)) and range can be seen to +the North, to the East a bluff-ended tableland, (probably Philipson Range +(Warburton)) but the horizon from South-East to South-West was a dead +level. + +<p>One mile due West of the highest point we found a native well in a sandy +gutter, and about 150 yards from it, to the East, a high wall of bare +rock as regular as if it had been built. This wall, seen edge-on from the +North-West, from which point Breaden sighted it when after the camels, +appears like a chimney-stack. + +<p>As the soaks at which we were camped have the appearance of being more +permanent than the usual native well, it may be useful to give directions +for finding them from Mount Elphinstone. Leave hill on bearing +230°, cross one sand-ridge close to hills, then spinifex plain, then +another sand-ridge running East and West, from the crest of which can be +seen three gaps in the next one—steer for most Westerly gap, and seven +miles from the hill the soaks will be found. Having no time for further +investigation, we returned to camp, and to ensure an early start tied the +camels down for the night, since they had been feeding all day. Bluey +again proved to be a vicious brute, and kicked me in the chest, knocking +me down; but the other new camels daily improved in their manners. We had +great trouble in cleaning off from their backs the clay with which they +were smeared, having rolled in some shallow clay-pans near the lakes. It +was most necessary to scrape it off somehow, as otherwise sore backs +would have resulted; and, indeed, Stoddy's sore back started in this way +by the friction of the saddle and the caked mud. + +<p>The country ahead looked so bad that I decided to take the two bucks with +us for as long as they knew the waters, so secured the one to the other +by the neck, with plenty of spare chain between. They marched with us +apparently perfectly happy, and even anxious to point out the directions +of various native wells. My object was to make as much Southing as +possible whilst we could; so having two natives and one hundred gallons +of water (of which the horses were given three gallons each nightly), we +steered due South from the soaks, and had a long day of tremendously steep +sand-ridges, up the North side of which the camels climbed with +difficulty. Riding the camels was out of the question, so we took the +horses in turn, Breaden and I steering hour about. Though crossing fresh +tracks and though the bucks were most anxious to follow them, we did not +turn from our course, for we had only left water the day before, and as +our rations were calculated to just, and only just, last out, no time +could be wasted. For the same reason we were travelling longer hours. + +<p>Our camp of the 28th was in lat. 21° 4´ long. 128° +33´, and ahead of us to the South-West three miles distant was a range +of barren sandstone hills, for which we steered; the old man, though +contradicted by the young one, promising “gilli nappa,” or creek water. +However, he fooled us, and after much climbing we reached a small, dry +well in a narrow gorge, quite inaccessible for camels. + +<p>It was now the young man's turn, who, seeing that we were not best +pleased with his mate's efforts, by every sort of sign assured us that +water existed in another range to the East. So turning in that direction +over monstrous high ridges, crossing them obliquely, in five miles we cut +a small watercourse, and following it up to its head found ourselves on +the top of a range of barren sandstone hills, over which were dotted +white-stemmed stunted gums—a most desolate place. The travelling was +very trying to the camels, who were continually missing their footing on +loose boulders and stones, in the bed of the creek. Sheer steps in the +rock on either hand precluded us from marching over the hills, excepting +up the watercourse. + +<p>From the summit, other similar hills could be seen to the East—hills of +quite a respectable height, all bare and rocky. Numerous small gorges and +glens head from the East watershed; without any hesitation our guides +started down one, and before long we came to a little pool in the rocky +bed. Here we watered our animals and replenished our tanks and bags; +and a nice job we had to make some of the camels approach the pool; on +either side were steep cliffs, and to reach the water numerous cracks +and gaps in the bed-rock had to be crossed, not wide or deep, but +sufficiently so to scare Bluey and some of the others. The open desert +life seems to make camels, and horses too, very nervous when anything +the least unusual has to be faced. The echoes amongst the rocks, and +the rather gloomy gorges, seemed to make them “jumpy”; a stone +rattling down behind them would be sufficient to cause a panic. +Leaving the pool, we followed the gorge until it ran out as a deep, +sandy channel down the valley formed by the horseshoe of the ranges. +The ranges I named the Erica Ranges, after one of my sisters. All +along the banks of the creek splendid green acacia and grass was +growing, and a most inviting-looking plant standing some six feet +high, with greenish-grey stems and leaves, and a flower not unlike +wallflower. Such a place at once suggested camping, and we were +proceeding to unload when Godfrey remarked that this pretty plant was +very like a most deadly Queensland poison plant; he was not sure; I had +never seen it before, nor had Breaden. The risk, however, was too great; +it might be poison; I could see the camels eyeing its fresh charms, and +it grew in such profusion that all would be devouring it in a few +minutes. So we packed up again and moved further on, much to the disgust +of the blacks and the animals, for all were very tired. I collected some +specimens of this plant; if Godfrey had never been in Queensland we +should have been in a tight corner, for the Government botanist, Perth, +says:mdash; +<blockquote> +<i>The plant in question is very poisonous. It is scientifically +known as Gastrolobium Grandiflorum, occurs throughout the dry, tropical +portion of Australia, and is commonly known as ‘Desert poison,’ +‘Australian poison,’ and ‘Wallflower poison bush.’</i> +</blockquote> +<p>Near Mount Bannerman, where our camels were poisoned on the upgoing +journey, this plant was not growing. The suspected plants I collected, +but unfortunately the specimens were mislaid or lost. In such country as +this one has one's whole mind and energies concentrated on how best to +cover the ground; and what with well-digging, writing up field-books, +observing, and so forth, one's time is fully occupied; I was therefore +unable to collect more than a few plants worthy of notice, since +they formed feed for camels, or caused their death. My companions +were of course equally occupied. Besides the map I was able to +make of the country, I set great store by my photographs. Of these I took +over two hundred; owing, however, to defective plates, or rather films, +many were failures, and nearly all that could be printed and reproduced +are to be seen in this book. + +<p>On the 30th we followed down the creek until it bore too much to the +West, and so far as we could see shortly ran out into the sand. From a +high sandhill the next morning we got an extensive view. To the East, the +main body of a long salt-lake extending as far as the eye can see to the +S.S.E. Bounding the lake on the East is a high sandstone tableland, with +abrupt cliffs facing the lake. Some eight miles to the North-East appears +to be the extreme point of the lake, but of course from a distance it is +impossible to say for certain. Except where the cliffs occur, the lake is +enclosed by high red sandhills, through which it winds its way like a +strip of sparkling white tinsel. Having no desire to court difficulties, +I turned from this smooth-faced but treacherous bog, and, looking West, +spied a fine bold range, a rugged-looking affair with peaks, bluffs, +and pinnacles, suggesting gorges and water. I have no doubt that this +lake is Lake White, of Warburton's, though my position for it is seventeen +miles East of that assigned to it by him. It is in the same latitude, +and agrees with Warburton's description as to the cliffs and sandhills. + +<p>After sighting this lake we turned West to the ranges, therefore had two +lakes existed in this latitude we must have crossed the second, which we +did not do. Many things go to prove that Warburton's positions are +incorrect; I think I can show how, by moving his route bodily on the +chart about eighteen miles to the East, a more accurate map will result. +My own experience alone would not be conclusive, except that my work fits +in with that of Forrest, Gregory, and Tietkens, where my route crosses +theirs; but taken in conjunction with others it proves of value. In +crossing the Colony, Warburton failed to connect with Gregory's traverse +at the end of the Sturt as he intended, and on approaching his +destination (the Oakover River) expressed surprise that he had not +reached it a day or two before. Therefore he was not confident of the +accuracy of his reckoning. + +<p>Two parties, one led by Mr. Buchanan, a noted bushman, another by Mr. +Smith, set out from the end of the Sturt to cross the desert, made +several unsuccessful attempts to locate some waters of Warburton's, +though no distance away, and returned satisfied that nothing could be +gained by further travelling. Mr. Smith told me that he had located +“Bishop's Dell,” but placed it due south of the Salt Sea instead of +S.S.W, as shown by Warburton. + +<p>Mr. Wells eventually found Joanna Spring twenty miles East of Warburton's +position. This correction is of greater value than any, since Mr. Wells +is considered one of the best surveyors in the South Australian Service. + +<p>A combination of the above experiences shows, I think conclusively, that +Colonel Warburton's route, at least on the West Australian side of the +boundary, should be shifted bodily eighteen or twenty miles to the +Eastward. + +<p>Considering the hard trials that Colonel Warburton and his party went +through, there is small wonder that he found great difficulty in keeping +any sort of reckoning. + +<p>From the journal of this traveller I take the following description of +the country round the lake:— +<blockquote> +<i>We found good feed for the camels here, but +the sandhills appear to be increasing in number and size. We have got +amongst the half-dried salt lagoons, so our further progress North-West +is cut off… we are quite amongst the salt-lakes, a large one lies to +the West of us, sending out its arms to every point. We must round the +eastern end of them, as camels and salt-bogs don't agree at all. . . We +tried to cross but had to turn back… Country very bad, dense +spinifex, high, steep sand-ridges with timber in flats. Any man +attempting to cross this country with horses must perish… A strong +easterly wind prevailed, blowing up clouds of sand and ashes from +the burnt ground. Truly this is a desert!</i> +</blockquote> +<p>This was written when I was two and a half years old. The writer little +thought that an infant was growing up who would have no more sense than +to revisit this ghastly region; nor as far as I remember was the infant +thinking much about sand! Dear me! how easy it was to get a drink in +those days—merely by yelling for it—but the strongest lungs in the world +cannot dig out a native well. + +<a name="p6c5"></a><h4>CHAPTER V</h4> + +<h4>Stansmore Range To Lake MacDonald</h4> + +<p>Shaping our course from the lake (Lake White) towards the highest point +in the range, which I named Stansmore Range after poor Charlie, we had +the novel and pleasant experience of travelling with, instead of across, +the ridges—if only we could have turned the country round at right +angles, or changed the North point of the compass, how nice it would have +been! As it was, South we must go to get home, and take the ridges as +they came; our Westerly course was only temporary. For twenty-seven +miles we steered W.b.S., keeping along the trough of two ridges the +whole time, seeing nothing on either hand but a high bank of sand covered +with the usual vegetation. The trough was flat at the bottom, and about +150 yards wide. For ten miles we travelled between the same two parallel +ridges, then in front the butt-end of another appeared, as the trough +widened out. Deviating slightly to the South from our former course, we +were again between two ridges, one of which was the same that we had +followed along before. Then, again, in a few miles another ridge would +start, and altering our course again, this time a little to the North, +continued our march between two fresh ridges, and so on. Thus it will be +seen that the ridges, though apparently parallel, are not accurately so, +and that one may be continuous for more than ten miles or so, when it +ends and another takes its place. + +<p>On our march our captives cleverly caught a spinifex rat and a snake (one +of the very few that we saw); they greedily devoured both, and were much +pleased when Godfrey refused to partake of a piece of half-raw snake which +they politely offered him. We discovered that they had a great liking for +our beef-water—that is, the water in which our salt beef had been +cooked—and made no bones about swallowing a couple of gallons of this +brine-like soup. It had one good effect, for it made them most anxious to +take us to water the next morning! The hills we found to be of the usual +character, barren sandstone, from which numerous rocky creeks have torn +their way through the sand. Following up a little glen, terribly rough +and steep for the camels, we came at length to a fine pool, hemmed in by +almost sheer cliffs sixty feet high. Climbing to the top of these, I +could see that the same rough country extended for a considerable +distance to the westward, and that further travel up the glen was +impossible; so we retraced our steps down the creek, on the banks of +which we found grass and bushes in profusion, and poison plant. This +drove us away into the sandhills beyond all harm, and, unfortunately, +beyond all feed as well, nor had we time before night set in to cut and +carry any bushes for the camels, as we might otherwise have done. + +<p>That night our camp was in lat. 21° 25´, long. 128° +20´. The following morning I ascended the highest point in the +range, whilst Breaden and Warri took our animals for a final drink up the +glen. The lake was just visible, lit up by the rising sun, but I doubt if +during the day it could be seen. From the range numerous creeks, nine in +all, run Eastwards, one of which, I think, reaches the lake, as +with field-glass I could follow a serpentine line of gum trees. The rest +run out a few miles from their head on to grass-flats timbered with large +gums. The hills are of sandstone in layers, dipping to the West; these +seem to have been forced up into three-cornered blocks, the faces of +which have weathered away on the East side, forming steep slopes of +stones and boulders. Between the hills low ridges of sandstone running +North and South outcrop only a few feet above the surface, and are +separated by strips of white sand timbered with stunted gum trees. The +whole scene has a most strange and desolate appearance. + +<p>Returned to camp, I liberated the two guides, for I did not wish to +inconvenience them by taking them beyond their own country. They were +quite unwilling to go, and indeed waited until we were ready to start, +and were most anxious for us to go to the East again. “Gilli nappa,” +they assured us, was to be found, making their meaning clear by tracing +in the sand a winding line to represent a creek; and when at the end I +drew a lake, they were highly pleased, and grunted and snapped their +fingers in approval. However, when I showed them that we were going due +South their faces assumed so dismal an expression, and so vehement were +their exhortations to go in the other direction, that we concluded we had +no picnic before us. Had they had any intentions of coming further our +change of course decided them, and they made tracks for the glen, bearing +with them many rich gifts. An empty meat tin and a few nails does not +sound a very great reward for their enforced services, and yet they would +have been far less pleased with a handful of sovereigns; they could put +these to no use whatever, whereas the tins will make small “coolimans,” +and the nails, set in spinifex-gum on the end of a waddy, will find their +way into a neighbour's head. + +<p>We had really terrible country that day, during which we made no +more than nine miles. At first travelling was easy, as a flat belt +of sand came between the range and the sandhills; later on, however, +we were forced to climb up and down, now mountainous sandhills over one +hundred feet in height, now jagged hills and breakaways of sandstone; +dodging down little steep gullies, with the camels' packs almost touching +each side, up steep rocks, or along their faces, until the horses and +camels alike were quite exhausted. Fortunately we were rewarded by a fair +camp for feed, close by a noticeable bluff. We crossed nine deep creeks, +in any of which, at their heads, pools may exist. + +<p>Climbing the bluff next morning, I could see that the range curved round +to the South-East for some miles, possibly a great many. To continue +following round the foot would advance us but little; I therefore decided +to cross the range somehow. It was evident that any great extent of this +rocky country would soon place the camels <i>hors de combat</i>, as every step +cut their feet, and every few minutes they ran the risk of a sprained or +broken limb; mules would be more suitable for such country. The further +we advanced the rougher became the ground, the narrower the little glens, +and the steeper the rocks. However, one final and tremendous scramble +landed us all safely above the hills, and to our joy we found that a flat +plain of spinifex spread before us. On it were clumps of mulga. Now we +hoped we had done with the ridges. But no! more yet, in spite of hopes +and prayers, and for the next two days we were crossing them at the rate +of eighty-eight per eight hours. It really was most trying, and had a +very bad effect on one's temper. I fancy my companions had the same +difficulty, but I found it nearly impossible to restrain myself from +breaking out into blind rages about nothing in particular. But the cursed +sand-ridges made one half silly and inclined to shake one's fist in +impotent rage at the howling desolation. Often I used to go away +from camp in the evening, and sit silent and alone, and battle with +the devil of evil temper within me. Breaden has told me that he had +the same trouble, and Godfrey had fearful pains in his head to bear. +The combination of heat, flies, sand, solitude, the sight of famished +horses, spinifex, and everlasting ridges, and the knowledge that the +next day would be a repetition of the day before, was enough to try +the sweetest temper; and I, for one, never professed to have such a +thing. Added to this we had the feeling that our work and energies +could have but a negative result—that is, the proof that the country +was barren and useless; and yet its very uselessness made it harder to +travel through. But with all this we never had a complaint or growl +from any in the camp. About this time I again became deaf, which did not +tend to make me any more patient. + +<p>Another stretch of plain country, a mile or two in width, again raised +our hopes and again dashed them, as more ridges confronted us on the +other side. A change of any kind is welcome, therefore the gloomy desert +oaks were greeted with joy; for though their sombre appearance is +eminently appropriate to a funeral procession, they give some shade and +relieve the eye. In due course we reached the burnt country for which we +had steered, and, after hours of tracking, singled out some footsteps +going straight away as if to camp. Warri and I were leading, riding +Highlander in turn; on cresting a high ridge we saw before us a little +clump of mulga and grass, amongst it a camp of some dozen or more +natives. As soon as we advanced they all ran, except two men, who stood +their ground for a short space, then, throwing a stick and boomerang in a +most warlike way, they followed their tribe. It was imperative that we +should have a fresh guide, so I followed on Highlander, and succeeded in +stopping the last man simply by wearing him out. He was a most diminutive +man, almost a dwarf, absolutely without ornament, not even a girdle of +string, with a most repulsive face, and wall-eyes like a Welsh sheepdog. +He was by no means afraid, and before long became friendly and returned +with me to their camp. + +<p>The tribe had left behind them a number of treasures—bundles of +firemaking sticks, bean-and-gum ornaments, and the usual bark +“portmanteaus” containing hair-string, +feathers, red ochre, and other knick-knacks. Amongst their weapons was a +curiously shaped boomerang; on one of the woommeras was a rough carving of +either a spider or crab. As soon as the camels arrived we unloaded and set +to work on the well, “soak-sucking” in our old style. By morning we had +watered the camels and horses. The former were of course pretty fit, +but the poor ponies had done a fair stage, especially so since they had +had no feed except the rank dry tops of the spinifex. May 3rd sunrise, +to May 8th sunrise, they had travelled on what water we could afford them +from our own supply, viz., three gallons apiece nightly, and six gallons +the first night. The grass around the well, though dry, was of great +benefit to them. For the camels we had to cut down the mulga trees, the +branches of which grew too high from the ground to permit them to browse +off the leaves. A number of dingoes serenaded us as we worked at night; +what they live upon is not quite clear, unless it be spinifex rats. There +were other small rats in the locality, two of which the dwarf had for +supper—plucked, warmed upon the ashes, torn in pieces by his long nails +and eaten; an unpleasant meal to witness, and the partaker of it badly +needed a finger-bowl, for his hands and beard were smeared with blood. +He did not take kindly to salt beef, for his teeth were not fit for hard +work, as he pointed out to us; and salt beef is not by any means easy to +masticate. As a rule the blacks have such splendid teeth that the dwarf's +case is remarkable, seeing that he was not at all an old man. +<blockquote> +A native bark “portmanteau,” brought back from this locality, +was opened at Newstead Abbey and found to contain:— +<ol> +<li>Plumes of hawks' and crows' feathers. +<li>Neck-bands of opossum wool. +<li>String bracelets. +<li>Fragments of quartz, suitable for spear and chisel heads. +<li>Fragments of sandstone, for making red paint. +<li>Message-stick. +<li>A stick 12 inches long, wrapped in downy feathers and greasy string; +on this was wound a great length of human-hair string, forming a +bobbin-shaped article, the use of which I do not know. I have now three +portmanteaus still unopened. +</ol></blockquote> +<p>The Dwarf Well had a better supply than any we had seen, and it is +possible that there is some soakage into it from the surrounding country. +It lies nearly five miles south of a low range of hills, the highest +point of which bears 1° from it; to the North a sand-ridge, to the South +a spinifex plain, six miles wide, then more ridges. I make its position +to be lat. 22° 19´, long. 128° 16´. On the +plain to the south are one or two small outcrops of ironstone and quartz, +sticking up out of the sand, as if some hills other than sandstone had +existed, and become buried by the all-spreading sand. I carved <big>C</big> on a tall +mulga-tree close to the well. + +<p>May 9th we left the well on a Southerly course, and were soon amongst the +ridges, which continued for the next two days. The night of the 11th, +having skirted a line of rough cliffs, we camped about three miles North +of a very prominent single hill, which I named Mount Webb, after W. F. +Webb, Esq., of Newstead Abbey, Nottinghamshire. As the sun rose that +morning the mirage of a lake of apparently great size was visible for +90° of the horizon—that is, from East round to South. Neither from +the cliffs that we skirted, nor from Mount Webb, was any lake visible, but +it is more than probable that a large salt lake exists in this locality, +possibly connecting, in a broken line, Lake White and Lake Macdonald. A +mirage sometimes appears in exactly the opposite direction from that in +which the lake lies, but I noticed when standing on the Stansmore Range +that as the sun rose Lake White was clearly visible, whilst when the sun +had risen a few degrees above the horizon the lake disappeared. I am of +opinion, therefore, that large lakes will some day be found to lie to the +North-East of Mount Webb. Had we not been so pressed for time I should +have made a flying trip in this direction. Mount Webb is flat-topped, +isolated, rocky-sided, innocent of all vegetation, of sandstone capped +with quartzite, standing out with imposing clearness some five hundred +feet above a plain of spinifex and mulga scrubs. From its summit numerous +hills and bluffs can be seen; to the South spinifex plains and ridges; +to the South-East a tabletop between two bluffs; to the West a low line +of stony hills, beyond them a limitless sea of sandhills; to the +North-West a broken range of peaks, and, far distant, a large hill +swaying in the haze of heat. + +<p>From the foot of the hill a hunting-fire was seen close by. “Gabbi, +gabbi,” said the dwarf, greatly excited; and when we turned towards +it “Yo-yo-yo” in approval. As we silently approached we saw two +old hags flitting about, as nimbly as their aged limbs would allow, in +the blazing spinifex—now picking up a dead lizard, and now poking about +with their yam-sticks as if in search of some rat which had been roasted +in his burrow. It is impossible to describe the look of terrific awe on +the faces of these quaint savages. Let us imagine our own feelings on +being, without warning, confronted by a caravan of strange prehistoric +monsters; imagine an Easter holiday tripper surrounded by the fearful +beasts at the Crystal Palace suddenly brought to life! What piercing +shrieks they gave forth, as, leaving their hunting implements, they raced +away, to drop, all at once, behind a low bush, where, like the ostrich, +they hid their heads, and so hoped to escape detection. + +<p>It was almost impossible to gain the confidence of the gins: old ladies +seem so very suspicious. The dwarf somewhat reassured them, and after +much difficulty one was persuaded to show their camp—and such a +camp!—perched up in the rocks on a little plot of sand, close by a +miniature watercourse, and in this a small native well, so rock-bound +as to preclude further opening out. And yet for this miserable affair we +were glad to offer up thanks, for the sake of the ponies. What labour for +a few gallons of water, not so much as we use in our baths every morning +in civilised countries! But no man could stand idly by and watch the mute +longing of his faithful horses. So freeing the dwarf and the old gin, a +fit pair, we set to work. All that afternoon and all through the night we +dug and hauled and scraped, and by morning had the horses watered and +twenty gallons to boot. There had been eight or nine blacks at this camp, +who, on their return from hunting in the evening, watched our proceedings +with intense annoyance. They stopped about one hundred yards away, and, +yelling and shrieking, brandished their spears in a most warlike manner. + +<p>That night they camped not far off, and, as on every other occasion on +which we invaded their homes, I consider we owed our immunity from attack +to the fact that work on the well entailed one or other of the party +being up all through the night, thus acting as a watch. Had they known +their power they might have made things most unpleasant by spearing our +camels. Fortunately it is only those natives who have come within the +civilising influence of the white man, that learn such little acts of +courtesy. It is noticeable that amongst the treasures in this camp were a +great quantity of “letter-sticks,” which is evidence that the carvings +on letter-sticks cannot be written messages, unless this camp was a +desert post-office! If, however, the sticks are tokens, as I suppose, +then one of this tribe may be a craftsman who carves distinctive symbols +on each stick to order, and who had lately received a number of +commissions for such sticks. It seems likely that one man or tribe should +have a special aptitude for manufacturing message-sticks, whilst others +perhaps make a speciality of hair-string or spears. Or again it may be +that the number of sticks, certainly two dozen, denote orders from +far-off tribes, who wish to barter such articles as pearl-shells for +perhaps spinifex-gum of a superfine quality. (I have noticed that the +spinifex growing on the sandstone hills, particularly on the Stansmore +Range, exudes a great deal more resin than that growing on the sand.) +This bartering of goods is very remarkable, and here we found pearl +oyster-shells which must have passed from tribe to tribe for at least +five hundred miles; pieces of glass, carefully protected by covers of +woven feathers and opossum-string; the red beans which are found in +Kimberley, and, as Warri tells me, in the MacDonnell Ranges of Central +Australia; a stone tomahawk-head, a dark green stone (serpentine); and +besides, numerous sporrans of rats' tails, feathers, nose bones, red +ochre, and a piece of the top part of a human skull polished and slung on +a string. Certainly for its size this was the best appointed tribe we had +seen. + +<p>The position of this well, a very poor one, is lat. 22° 57´, +long. 128° 20´—one mile West of Mount Webb. + +<p>Some good grass grows in the mulga scrubs which are dotted over the plain +surrounding the hill. Nine miles south of the Mount, sand-ridges, East +and West as usual, are again met with; from the crest of one we saw the +last of Mount Webb, twenty-two miles distant. We now hourly expected to +get a view of Lake Macdonald, a large dry salt lake discovered by Tietkens +in 1889. Tietkens was Giles's right-hand man in all, or nearly all, his +journeys—a man whose great services to his country have never been +acknowledged, because, I suppose, as second in command his name seldom +appeared in the accounts of his leader's travels, and yet he shared his +dangers and troubles, stood by him in many tight corners, helped him no +doubt with counsel and advice; and though by his work—for Tietkens was +an eminent surveyor—many hundreds of miles of previously unknown regions +have been mapped, a grateful country has nothing to give in return! We +all know, though, how generous Governments are in such matters. Did not +Ernest Giles die, only the other day, in poverty and neglect? I know he +had a Government billet at £2 10 shillings a week, noble and +generous reward for the best years of his life spent in toiling over the +howling wilderness of the interior! Doubtless all debts will be +considered paid by the erection of a statue, and nine people out of ten +will not have any notion of who the man was or what he has done! Tietkens +in 1889 led an expedition to determine the true extent of Lake Amadeus, +the confines of which were marked as “probable.” His work resulted in +greatly decreasing the area of the lake, which now lies entirely in South +Australia. However, this side of the border he found the lake already +mentioned, and, encircling it, returned to the point on the +Adelaide-Port-Darwin telegraph line from which he had started. + +<p>The lake is surrounded, at a distance, by numerous sandstone ranges and +hills, the drainage from them no doubt forming it. Tietkens experienced +rains in this region; no such luck fell our way, and everything was +parched and drought-stricken. I was able to identify the Winnecke Hills, +and one or two others, but, having only a small map of this part of the +country, could not locate many points. + +<p>Close to the Winnecke Hills we again surprised two gins hunting, and, +amongst their spoils of the chase, were astonished to see a common +domestic black cat, evidently just killed. It must have wandered far from +home! One of the women took us to their camp and small well, which was in +so awkward a situation that I decided not to do any work upon it. Its +position was in a very steep, narrow gorge in the sandstone, along which +the camels could pass with difficulty. There was no feed for our animals, +except at the mouth of the gorge a mile distant, and then there was but +little. It would take three to work the well, leaving only one to look +after the camp, and “tail” the horses and camels. Since the supply was +problematical, the well almost inaccessible, and waste of time the only +likely result, we passed on—the one and only occasion on which we left a +well untried. Numerous natives must have been in this camp, for I found +no less than thirteen bark “portmanteaus.” As the gin had shown us the +well without demur, I left all these untouched. It was a struggle between +honesty and curiosity; but it seemed too mean to take things, however +interesting, when they had been left so confidently unprotected. And yet +birds' nests are robbed without any such scruples! I had no hesitation, +though, in taking the gin with us, in spite of her unwillingness, for +famished horses must be relieved. Once across the hills the sand-ridges +became less high, were dotted with oaks, and even had some herbage +growing on them. + +<a name="p6c6"></a><h4>CHAPTER VI</h4> + +<h4>Lake MacDonald To The Deep Rock-Holes</h4> + +<p>On the 16th we had breakfast by moonlight, and were well on our way +before daylight. From a ridge higher than the others we got the only +glimpse of the lake that was permitted us by the sandhills. About two +o'clock, the gin, who had been making towards the Davenport Hills +(Tietkens), suddenly turned off and brought us to a little well in the +trough of two ridges—the usual wretched concern, yielding no more than +three bucketsful. We worked far into the night. Having to observe for +latitude I stayed up last, and baled the well before going to rest, +leaving about two gallons in the bottom to allow it to settle before +morning. At daylight we heard loud howls and snarls coming apparently +from the centre of the earth. Further investigation disclosed a lean and +fierce-looking dingo down our well, which, in its frantic struggles to +get out, had covered up our little pool of water and made a horrible mess +of things. I never saw so savage-looking a brute, and, not feeling called +upon to assist it, I ended its troubles with a bullet—a kindly act, +which doubtless, on their return, gave a welcome supply of cheap meat to +the tribe who had only lately retired from the well, and also added to +our small store of dingo-tails, which (at 5 shillings each), so far as we +could see, would be our only means of deriving any profit from our +labours. I think we only got five, and they were lost! + +<p>Our position there was lat. 23° 26´, long. 128° +42´. The gin on showing us the well had been at once liberated, a +step which I now rather regretted—but one cannot be unkind to ladies, +even though they are black, naked savages, little better than beasts! +Remembering that she had pointed towards the hills ahead, I steered on +that course, and before long we came on the tracks of a man, woman, and +child, walking in the same direction. Here I saw a pure white spinifex +rat, leaping the tussocks in front of me, but of course had no means of +stopping it. + +<p>All that day we followed the tracks, over sandhills, samphire-flats, +through clumps of desert oak, past dry wells, from sunrise until sunset. +Warri and I were ahead for in tracking it is better to be well in +advance—riding and walking in turn until Highlander knocked up and had +to be led. Breaden and Godfrey had awful work behind to get the camels +along. At almost every sandhill one or other of them, usually Bluey, +would drop and refuse to budge an inch until forced by blows. How the +poor brutes strain, and strain again, up the steep, sandy slopes; painful +sight, heart-breaking work—but work done! + +<p>We crossed the Davenport Hills shortly before sunset and waited on the +other side for the main party, in case in the bad light and on the hard +rocks our tracks should be missed. As they came up, we heard a distant +call—a gin's—and presently the smoke from a fire was visible. The Monk +had done the least work that day, and was the staunchest horse, indeed +the only one capable of more than walking, so I despatched Godfrey to +surprise the camp, whilst we followed. He rode right on to the tribe, and +was accorded a warmish welcome, one buck casting his spear with great +promptitude. Luckily his aim was poor and the spear passed by Godfrey's +head. + +<p>When we arrived on the scene I found Godfrey standing sentinel beneath a +tree, in the branches of which stood at bay a savage of fine proportions. +He had a magnificent beard, dark brown piercing eyes, splendid teeth, a +distinctly Jewish profile, and no decorations or scars on his chest or +body. I shall not forget the colour of his eyes nor their fierce glitter, +for I climbed the tree after him, he trying to prevent my ascent by +blows from a short, heavy stick which I wrested from him, and then with +broken branches of dead mulga, with which he struck my head and hands +unmercifully, alternately beating me and prodding me in the face, +narrowly missing my eyes. If he suffered any inconvenience by being kept +captive afterwards, he well repaid himself beforehand by the unpleasant +time he gave me. And if it was high-handed treatment to capture +unoffending aboriginals, we did not do so without a certain amount of +risk to ourselves; personally I would far sooner lie down all night +chained by the ankle to a tree, than have my head and knuckles laid bare +by blows from dead branches! + +<p>After a time I succeeded in securing one end of the chain round the wild +man's ankle, and the other round a lower branch. Then I came down and +left him, whilst we unloaded and had something to eat. We had had a long +day of over ten hours continuous travel, and as the sun had long set we +decided to take no steps for water-getting until morning. Being sure of +soon getting a fresh supply, we gave what water we had to the horses, on +whom the desert was rapidly leaving its mark. As we sat on the packs +round the tree, eating our salt beef, our black friend, with evident +wonder at our want of watchfulness, took the opportunity of coming +quickly to the ground, only to find that he was tethered to the tree. His +anger had now subsided, and, though refusing to make friends, he seemed +grateful when I bound up a place on his arm, where he had been hurt in +his descent from the tree. The spears of his tribe were of better +manufacture than those of the ordinary desert man, having bone barbs +lashed on with sinews. The next morning we moved camp, as, from our +position in a hollow, we should have been at a great disadvantage had the +tribe returned to rescue their mate. We found their well, a deep +rock-hole, half filled in with sand, on the southern slope of a stony +sandhill, situated in a small patch of grass and buck-bush. From the hill +above the rock-hole, a prominent bare range of red rock can be seen to +the South bearing 172° to the highest point (these are probably +the Warman Rocks of Tietkens). We were now within seven miles of the +imaginary line forming the boundary between West and South Australia, the +nearest point to that Colony our journeyings took us. + +<a name="pt44"></a><h5>Illustration 44: Establishing friendly relations</h5> + +<center><p><img alt="" src="images/spin22.jpg"></center> + +<p>At first we hoped the hole would prove to be a soakage, but in this we +were disappointed, and had to resort to our old methods of box-sinking +and clearing out the sand. Our work at first was comparatively easy, but +as soon as water-level was reached a great wedge of sand fell in, and +nothing remained but to clear out the whole of the cavity, scraping up +the water as we went lower. From 7.30 a.m. on the 18th, until 2 a.m. on +the 19th, then again from 6.30 a.m. until 4.30 p.m. on the same day, we +slaved away with no more than one and a half hours' interval. + +<p>After digging out the sand and hauling it in buckets to the surface we +had a rock-hole nearly conical in shape, twenty-five feet deep, twenty +feet by fifteen at the mouth, narrowing in on all sides to three feet in +diameter at the bottom. The first day and night we laboured until we +literally could no longer move, from sheer exhaustion. Breaden was so +cramped and cold, from a long spell in the wet sand below, that we had to +haul him out, put him in his blankets, and pile them upon him, though the +night was warm. The result of all this toil—not quite ninety gallons of +far from pure water! What a country! one ceaseless battle for water, +which at whatever cost one is only too thankful to get! Of the ninety +gallons, sixty were distributed amongst the horses and camels, the +remainder we kept for our own use and that of the horses when we +continued our journey. Eight miles of sandhills on the 20th took us, +under the native's guidance, to another rock-hole—full to the brim—its +water protected from the sun by an overhanging ledge of rock. + +<p>Here we soon had the thirsty animals satisfied, and had time to consider +the rather comical aspect of affairs from the black-fellow's point of +view. How he must have laughed to himself as he watched us toiling away, +coaxing out water drop by drop the days before, when all the time a +plentiful supply was close at hand! Excellent grass surrounds the +rock-hole, enclosed by mulga thickets, so we rested here a day, shooting +a few pigeons and enjoying the first proper wash since April 25th, when +we last camped at a good water. Whilst travelling, of course no water for +washing could be afforded, as every pint was of some service to the +horses. + +<p>This rock-hole is in lat. 23° 44´, long. 128° +52´. On May 22nd we continued our journey, marching South over +irregular sandhills, forcing our way through scrubs, until, on the evening +of the 23rd, we were in the latitude of the centre of Lake Amadeus, as it +was formerly marked by Giles. I was anxious to see if Tietkens had perhaps +passed between two lakes, leaving an unnoticed lake on his left. We now +altered our course to the West, sighting a large bare hill some forty +miles distant, which I take to be Mount Skene (Giles). This hill is close +to the high ranges, the Petermann and others, and it would have +simplified our journey to have turned to them, where good waters are +known to exist, but I desired to see what secrets unknown country might +hold, even though it might be only sandhills. + +<p>This proved to be the case, and during the next six days we crossed the +most barren wilderness it had been our lot to see, not a bite of food for +camels or horses, who, poor brutes, turned in despair to the spinifex and +munched its prickly spines—not a living thing, no sign of life, except +on two occasions. The first when, at the beginning of the stage, we +captured a young gin, whom I soon released for several reasons, not the +least important of which, was that Warri was inclined to fall a victim to +her charms, for she was by no means ill-looking. The second living thing +we saw was a snake, which we killed; how it came to inhabit so dry a +region I cannot say. Now that our course was Westerly, we had expected to +run between the ridges, but no such luck attended us. True, we marched +between the <i>sand</i>-ridges, but every now and again a ridge of <i>rock</i> running +exactly across our course had to be negotiated. Yet further, and +sandhills thrown up in any irregular order impeded us, then loose sand; +everywhere spinifex, without even its accustomed top-growth, drought, and +desolation! Native tracks were very scarce, even old ones; some of these +we followed, only to find <i>dry</i> rock-holes and wells at the end of them. + +<a name="pt45"></a><h5>Illustration 45: The tail-end of a miserable caravan</h5> + +<center><p><img alt="" src="images/spin23.jpg"></center> + +<p>We were all walking again now, ploughing our way through the sand, men +and camels alike exhausted, and the poor ponies bringing up the rear, the +tail-end of a miserable caravan. And they, following behind, were a +useless burden; we could not ride them, and yet for their sakes our +supply of water became less and less; we denied ourselves beef (which +meant at least a bucketful of water to boil out the salt) to keep them +alive; poor faithful things, none but curs could desert them while life +to move was left in their bodies. On the night of the 29th, for our own +safety, I could allow them no water, for so great had been the drain that +our tanks had but a few gallons left. The next was a day of +disappointments. All day we followed the same two tracks, from rock-hole +to rock-hole—all were dry as the sandstone in which Nature had placed +them. We could see where the blacks had scraped out the sand at the +bottom—if <i>they</i> could not find water, what chance had we? But every step +took us closer—that is the great consolation in such cases. First, have +perfect faith that water will eventually be found, then each forward move +becomes easy, for you know that you are so much nearer relief. Every dry +hole gives a greater chance that the next will be full. + +<p>Near one hole we came on a ceremonial or dancing ground—that is, a cleared +space in the mulga scrub, circular in shape, with a cleanly swept floor, +trodden down by many feet. In the centre stood a sort of altar of +branches and twigs. It was evident that the blacks had danced round and +round this, though for what purpose I cannot say. + +<p>As the sun set our faith was rewarded; before us in an outcrop surrounded +by mulga lay two fine rock-holes with an ample supply. What a blessed +relief! In a few minutes the horses were gorged, and hard at work on the +rough grass near the holes. Hardy horses, indeed! Eight days from drink +to drink (not counting what we gave them), and hardly a scrap of feed. + +<p>We took a two days' rest for the sake of the grass, and varied our daily +fare of salt beef with small, tufted pigeons, which came in large numbers +to drink. We shot nearly one hundred of them, and ate boiled pigeon three +times a day with the voracity of black-fellows. Nor was Devil-devil +forgotten in the feast; he had become an expert rider, and had a far +better time than poor Val. + +<p>The curious fact of some rock-holes being full, whilst others a few miles +off are empty, again exemplifies the very local character of such rain as +visits these parts. The “Deep rock-holes,” as we called them (in lat. +24° 20´, long. 127° 20´), are peculiar, for one +is perfectly cylindrical, two feet six inches in diameter going down +vertically to a depth of twenty feet; the other goes down straight for +six feet, and then shelves away under the rock to a depth of at least +twelve feet. It will be seen from our last few days' experience, and from +that of the few days soon to follow, that in this region rock-holes are +numerous. They are invariably situated on low surface outcrops of 'desert +sandstone, surrounded by mulga and grass; beyond that, sand. I take it +that they have been formed in the same way as the granite rock-holes in +the south of the Colony—that is, by decay; that the whole country has +been covered by a deposit of sand, borne by the winds, filling in former +valleys and hollows, leaving only occasional patches of rock still +visible. Their frequent occurrence would then be accounted for by the +fact that the deposit of sand is shallower here than elsewhere. That it +is so is pretty evident, for here the sand-ridges are much lower than +further North, and still further South they disappear. Low cliffs are +seen, and when the latitude of Forrest's route is reached, sandstone +hills are numerous and rock-holes abundant. In the course of ages perhaps +the sand will again be shifted until such reservoirs as the “Deep +rock-holes” are filled in and hidden, or partially covered and converted +by the natives into wells. Supposing a layer of sand to a depth of five +or six feet could be thrown over the valley in which the Deep rock-holes +are situated, the holes would at once be transformed into “Native Wells,” +the term “well” being a misnomer, and apt to suggest a copious supply to +any unacquainted with the interior. I suppose that to the uninitiated no +map is so misleading as that of West Australia, where lakes are salt-bogs +without surface water, springs seldom run, and native “wells” are merely +tiny holes in the rock, yielding from 0 to 200 gallons! + +<p>From our position at the rock-holes, by skirting, possibly without +sighting, the end of the Rawlinson Range and steering nearly due +South-West, we should hit off Woodhouse Lagoon of our upgoing journey. +For simplicity in steering I chose a due South-West course, which should +take us a few miles to the East of the lagoon, two hundred miles distant +in a bee-line. I was anxious to see what water it held, and check my work +by re-crossing our track of the previous year; and besides this, the +lagoon lay on our most direct course for the nearest settlements, still +450 miles away on the chart. + +<p>Whilst resting at the rock-holes I took the opportunity of giving Bluey a +lesson in manners, much to the entertainment of my companions. + +<p>Bluey was a brute of a camel, and used to give an immensity of trouble in +the mornings, galloping off at full speed when he should have quietly +waited to have his nose-line adjusted. Added to this, he would kick and +strike with his fore-legs, so much so that none of us cared about +catching him. One morning whilst Breaden was after the horses, I was +helping Warri collect the camels, and tried my hand with Bluey. At the +moment that I was putting the loop of his line on to the nose-peg, he +reared up and struck me on the chest, his hobble-chain adding power to +the blow, which sent me spinning on to my back. For this and other +assaults I meant to punish him, so shortening his hobbles until his +fore-legs were fastened with no more than an inch or two between, I armed +myself with a stout stick. As I had expected, as soon as I started to put +on his nose-line, off he went as hard as he could, jumping like a +kangaroo, and I after him beating him the while. Round and round we +went, the pace getting slower and slower, until, amidst shrieks of +laughter and shouts of “The Leader wins!” “Bluey wins!” “Stick to it!” +and so forth, from want of breath we came to a stop, and gazed at each +other, unable to go further. It was a tough run, and, like a schoolmaster +caning a small boy, I felt inclined to say, “Remember, my dear Bluey, it +pains me as much as it does you.” + +<p>The lesson had a most salutary effect, and never again did he gallop away +when being caught in the morning, though he was not a well-behaved beast, +and always the first to give in in the sandhills, even though carrying +the lightest load. His good looks, however, were so much in his favour +that subsequently a wily Afghan paid me a big price for him +(comparatively), and winked to some fellow-countrymen as if he had got +the best of “Eengleeshman.” If he was satisfied, I am sure that I was. + +<a name="p6c7"></a><h4>CHAPTER VII</h4> + +<h4>The Last Of The Ridges Of Drift Sand</h4> + +<p>On June 1st we left the rock-holes on a South-West course, crossing +irregular sandhills with the usual vegetation. + +<p>On June 2nd we crossed the last sand-ridge of the great northern desert, +and before us spread the rolling gravel-covered undulations of sand, +treeless except for an occasional beefwood or small clump of mulga, +rolling away before us like a swelling ocean. What a blessed relief it +was after the awful toil of crossing Heaven knows how many sand-ridges day +after day! + +<p>Taking into account the country north of lat. 24° 45´ +only—for though we had a long spell of sand-ridges between the edge of +the desert and Woodhouse Lagoon, and again between that point and Lake +Wells, yet these were comparatively low and less steep than those further +north, and therefore their extent is not included in this reckoning—we +traversed 420 miles on the upgoing journey, and 451 miles on the return +journey—that is, 871 miles of actual travelling over a desert of sand +blown by the wind into parallel ridges of the height and frequency +already described. It will be readily understood, therefore, that we were +not sorry to see the last of them! Working our way step by step, we had +so husbanded the marvellous powers of endurance of our camels that, in +spite of the most terrible privations and difficulties, these noble +animals had silently carried their loads day by day, up and down, over +the burning sand, maddened by flies, their legs worn bare by +spinifex—carried them not without great sufferings and narrow escapes from +death, but yet without one of their number succumbing to the horrors of +the region. Accident and poison had carried off four. And now, alas! +another was to meet the same fate. Poor Satan, my faithful companion in +good times and bad, whose soft velvet nose had so often rubbed my cheek +in friendship, was laid low by the deadly wallflower. In spite of all we +could do for him, in spite of coaxing him yard by yard, Warri and I—as we +had done to Misery before—for a day's march of over fifteen miles, we +were forced to leave him to die. We could not afford to wait a day, +always onward must it be until another water is found, so, with a bullet +through his head, I left him to find his way to the Happy Hunting-grounds +where there are no native wells nor spinifex, only flowing rivers and +groves of quondongs! All this about a camel—“a devil and an ostrich and +an orphan child in one,” as we have been told—but remember that often in +the solitary bush one's animals are one's only companions, that on them +one's life depends. How, then, could one fail to love them as friends and +comrades? + +<p>Shortly after the scene of Satan's death the mulga clumps became greater +in extent, until for half the day, and more, we wound our way through +dense thickets. The further South we went the thicker they became, until +all day long we marched through scrub, seeing no more than forty yards +ahead, with packs, saddles, and clothes torn to pieces by dead and broken +branches. We saw no smokes, no spinifex rats, no natives, no tracks but +old ones, and these led us only to dry rock-holes. Time after time we +followed recent tracks from hole to hole, and met with no success; +sometimes we were just in time to be too late, and to see that the last +drops had been scraped up by the natives! + +<p>On June 6th we followed a fresh track, and found a hole containing thirty +gallons. June 7th and 8th, dense scrub. June 9th, open country, lake +country, gum tree flats, and magnificent green feed, the first we had +seen since leaving Sturt Creek. On our right high sandhills, whose +butt-ends in the distance had the appearance of a range of hills; on our +left thickets of mulga, and beyond, a sandstone range. Kangaroo tracks +were numerous, but none very fresh; these and the number of birds gave us +hopes of water. We must find some soon, or not one horse could survive. +Poor ponies! they were as thin as rakes, famished and hollow-eyed, their +ribs standing out like a skeleton's, a hat would almost hang on their +hip-joints—a sorry spectacle! All day we searched in vain, the animals +benefiting at least by the green herbage. Ours was a dismal camp now at +nights. What little water we could spare to the horses was but as a drop +in the ocean. All night long they shuffled about the camp, poking their +noses into every pack, overturning dishes and buckets, and, finding +nothing, stood with sinking heads as if in despair. Our water-casks had +to be guarded, for in their extremity the horses could smell the water, +and even went so far as to pull out the wooden bung, with their teeth! +Warden, the small pony, was a special offender in this respect. It is +quite startling to wake suddenly in the night and find a gaunt, +ghost-like horse standing over one, slowly shaking his head from side to +side, mournfully clanging his bell as if tolling for his own death. Then +at other times one heard the three bells sounding further and further +off. This meant a hasty putting on of boots and wakening a mate to stir +up the fire and make it blaze; then, following the sound through the +darkness, one came up with the deserters, shuffling along in single file, +with heads to the ground, turning neither to right or left, just +travelling straight away in any direction as fast as their hobbles +allowed. Heaven knows how far they might go in a night unless stopped in +time and dragged back to camp. Indeed blankets do not mean sleep, with +dry horses in the camp! + +<p>On the 10th The Monk, our best horse, fell, and was dead in a minute—run +down like a clock. The other two followed slowly behind. Presently. a +salt-lake (this I named Lake Breaden), enclosed by sandhills, barred our +way—a cheerful sight indeed! Hung up in its treacherous bogs, with +nearly empty tanks, dying horses and tired camels, what chance had we? +Speculation of this kind must not be indulged in; time enough to cry out +when the troubles come. Providence was with us as guide, and across the +lake we dodged from sand-spit to sand-spit until we had beaten it, and not +one animal was bogged. + +<p>The night of the 10th our supply was down to three gallons. None could be +spared for the horses now, none could be spared for beef-boiling, only a +little for bread, and a drop each to drink. Every rock-hole we had +seen—but one—was dry. Alexander Spring would be dry. We should have to +make for the Empress Spring, fifty miles beyond. Every thing pointed to +the probability of this sequence of events, therefore the greatest care +must be exercised. The horses would die within a few miles, but the +camels were still staunch in spite of the weakening effect of the +sand-ridges, so there was no need for anxiety. Yet we could not help +feeling anxious; one's nerves get shaky from constant wear and tear, from +want of food and rest. We had been in infinitely worse positions than +this; in fact, with health and strength and fresh camels no thought of +danger would have been entertained, but it is a very different matter +after months of constant strain on body and mind. Faith—that is the +great thing, to possess—faith that all is for the best, and that all +will “pan out” right in the end. + +<p>The days were closing in now, the nights were cold, so we were away +before sunrise, and, leaving the rolling sand, came again into mulga +thickets, with here and there a grassy flat, timbered with bloodwoods—the +tail end of a creek no doubt rising in the sandstone cliffs we had seen +ahead of us. Shortly after one o'clock a sight, that brought more joy to +us than to any Robinson Crusoe, met our eyes—a track, a fresh footprint +of a gin. Whether to follow it forward or back? That was the question. On +this might hang more than the lives of the horses. In nine cases out of +ten it is safer to follow them forward—this was the tenth! “Which way?” +said Godfrey, who was steering. “Back,” said I, for what reason I cannot +say. So back we followed the lady to see where she had camped, twisting +and turning, now losing her tracks, and, casting, finding them again, +until we were ready to stamp with impatience and shout D—n the woman! +why couldn't she walk straight? Two hours brought us our reward, when an +opening in the scrub disclosed a deep-banked creek, fringed with +white-stemmed gums, and, beyond, a fire and natives camped. They all ran, +nor did we care, for water must be there. Glorious sight! a small and +green-scummed puddle, nestling beneath the bank, enclosed by a bar of +rock and the bed of shingle. Before many minutes we had the shovels at +work, and, clearing away the shingle and sand, found a plentiful supply. +All <i>had</i> ended well, and just in time to save the horses. Considering the +want of feed, and the hardships they had already suffered, they had done +a remarkable stage. A stage of eleven days (from the evening of May 31st +to the evening of June 11th)—a distance of 160 miles on the map, and a +good many more allowing for deviations, during which they had but little +water. We had brought them through safely, but at the cost of how much +trouble to ourselves may be judged from previous pages and the following +figures. We left the Deep rock-holes with exactly 102 gallons of water; +decrease by breaking through the scrub must have been considerable, as we +had nearly thirty gallons of this amount in canvas bags. + +<p>Added to this must be the 30 gallons we got from the small rock-hole—that +is, 132 gallons in all. Of this supply the horses had 6 gallons each the +first night, 3 gallons each subsequently until the day The Monk died and +their ration was stopped. From 132, we take 90 (the horses' share). +This leaves 42 gallons for four men and a dog (which drinks as much as +a man) for eleven days; this supply was used for washing (an item hardly +appreciable), bread-making, drinking, and beef-boiling, the last the most +ruinous item; for dry-salted beef is very salt indeed, and unless boiled +thoroughly (it should be boiled in two waters) makes one fearfully +thirsty. What would otherwise have been an easy task was made difficult +and uncomfortable by the presence of the horses, but we were well +rewarded by the satisfaction of seeing them alive at the finish. + +<a name="p6c8"></a><h4>CHAPTER VIII</h4> + +<h4>Woodhouse Lagoon Revisited</h4> + +<p>June 12th, 13th, 14th, we rested at the welcome creek and had time to +examine our surroundings. I made the position of our camp to be in lat. +26° 0´, long. 125° 22´, and marked a gum tree +near it with <big>C</big><small>7</small>. Therefore I concluded that this was the Blythe Creek, of +Forrest; everything pointed to my conclusion being correct, excepting the +failure to find Forrest's marked tree, and to locate his Sutherland +Range. However, the bark might have grown over the marking on the +tree—and several trees showed places where bark had been cut out by the +natives for coolimans, and subsequently closed again—or the tree might +have been burned, or blown down. As to the second, I am convinced that +Forrest mistook the butt-ends of the sand-ridges cut off by Lake Breaden +for a range of hills, for he only saw them from a distance. The creek +heads in a broken sandstone range of tabletops and cliffs; from its head +I sighted a peculiar peak, about nine miles distant, which I took to be +Forrest's “Remarkable Peak,” marked on his map. From the sketch that I +made, Sir John recognised the peak at once. From the cliffs the sandhills +round Lake Breaden look exactly like a range of hills “covered,” as +Forrest said, “with spinifex.” Another proof of the non-existence of, at +all events, the northern portion of the Sutherland Range, is afforded by +Breaden's experience. As I have already stated, he accompanied Mr. +Carr-Boyd on a prospecting trip along this part of Forrest's Route. From +his diary I see that they passed about three miles North of Forrest's +peak, which Breaden identified, though by Mr. Carr-Boyd's reckoning they +should have been twenty miles from it. Travelling due West across the +creek on which we were camped, they found a large clay-pan, and were then +hourly expecting to cross the Sutherland Range. However, no range was +seen, only high sandhills. That Breaden's reckoning was correct was soon +proved, for he and I walked from our camp and six miles West found the +big clay-pan and their camel tracks. The lagoon was dry, though they had +found it full of water. It is clear, therefore, that the range exists +only as sandhills, north of lat. 26° 0´. Numerous other +creeks rise in the broken range, and no doubt their waters, after rain, +find their way into Lake Breaden. + +<p>Our camp was on the longest of them, though others that I followed down +were broader. Above our camp, that is to the South-East, a ledge of rock +crossed the creek forming a deep little pool which would hold plenty of +water. I much regretted being unable to find Forrest's tree—but a tree +unless close to some landmark is not easily come upon—as at its foot he +buried a bottle holding letters and his position for that camp. + +<p>We saw no more of the natives who had been camped on the creek, but left +some articles that should be of great use to them. Everything of weight +that was not absolutely necessary was left here, and this included a +number of horseshoes. + +<p>On, the 15th we were ready to start, and marched on a West-South-West +course until we should sight Mount Worsnop, and turn West to the +Woodhouse Lagoon. A mile and a half from our camp we crossed another +creek, and on its banks a tree marked G.H.S., and NARROO cut in the bark. +Evidently the prospectors had been pushing out in our absence, or else it +was another overland party from South Australia, for Forrest's route has +become quite a fashionable track, some half-dozen parties having crossed +the Colony in this latitude. On the next day we sighted Mount Worsnop +from eight miles (from the East it is more prominent than from the +South). This was a day of miracles! It <i>rained</i>—actually <i>rained!</i> The first +rain we had seen in the interior—not a hard rain, but an all-day +drizzle. How cold it made us, and how wet!—not that we minded that. But +the winter was approaching, we were daily getting further south, and with +our blood thin and poor, our clothes of the lightest and most ragged, +accustomed to scorching heat, we felt the cold rain very much indeed. Our +teeth chattered, and our hands were so numbed that at night we could +hardly undo the straps and ropes of our loads. A cold night, accompanied +by a heavy dew, followed the rain; and for the first time on either +journey we pitched a tent. During this, Devil-devil, wet and shivering, +sneaked into my blankets for warmth, for, as a rule, he slept outside, in +a little nest I made for him in one of the camel saddles. Such sudden +changes in temperature made any “Barcoo” sores most painful; but +fortunately we had suffered comparatively little from this unpleasant +disease. A beautiful sun dried and warmed us in the morning, and crossing +a narrow salt-lake (probably a continuation of Lake Breaden), we reached +our old friend Woodhouse Lagoon on June 17th, nearly a year having +elapsed since our first visit, August 19th, in 1896. + +<p>We were disappointed, but not surprised, to find the lagoon nearly dry, +holding no more than six inches of water in the deepest place. But +curiously enough Alexander Spring, found dry before, was now brimful, +evidently filled by the recent rain, which had not been heavy enough to +fill the lagoon. Here we camped for two days, which we could ill afford, +as already we had to cut down our rations, and before long our meals +would dwindle to one instead of two a day. Godfrey's sickness +necessitated a delay—he suffered from such fearful pains in his head, +poor fellow! Often after a day's march he would collapse, and lie prone +with his head nearly bursting from pain. A drink of strong tea would +relieve him, but when water was scarce he had just to suffer. + +<p>I had a splendid chance of replenishing our larder, and, fool that I was, +I missed it. I was riding The Warden to the spring, when a kangaroo +popped up on his hind legs, and sat looking at me. The Warden would not +keep still; the surprised kangaroo actually waited for me to dismount and +aim my rifle, but just as I fired The Warden jerked my arm and I missed, +and away bounded many a good meal—and with it the pony! So I continued +my way on foot, and was rewarded by finding some interesting things. A +big camp of natives had been here in our absence; near the spring in the +scrub was a cleared corroboree ground, twenty feet by fifty yards, +cleaned of all stones and enclosed by a fallen brush-fence (this older +than the other work, showing this is a favourite meeting-place). At one +end was a sort of altar of bushes, and hidden beneath them a long, carved +board. This I took, and afterwards gave to Sir John Forrest. In every +tree surrounding the clearing a stone was lodged in the forked branches. + +<p>The pile of stones on Mount Allott had not been touched, nor had my board +been removed. On it I found an addition to my directions to the +lagoon—an addition made by two prospectors, Swincer and Haden, who had +been in this locality two months after our first visit. I did not meet +either Mr. Swincer or Mr. Haden, but I heard that my board had been of +great service to them, for without it they would not have known of the +lagoon, where they camped some time. G.H.S. carved on a tree near the +Blythe Creek was also due to them; I believe that was about their +furthest point reached, from which they returned to Lake Darlot. On their +return they depended on a water which failed them, and they had in +consequence a narrow squeak for their lives. On nearing camp I met +Breaden and Warri, who had started to track me up, for Warden's return +with an empty saddle had caused a little anxiety. + +<p>I observed for latitude that night, and was pleased to find that my two +positions for the lagoon agreed almost exactly, both in latitude and +longitude—a very satisfactory result considering the distance we had +travelled. + +<p>On the 20th we started again, steering a course a little South of West, +my intention being to round the North end of Lake Wells, and cut the +Bonython Creek, with the object of seeing if another oasis, on our +suggested stock route from South Australia, could be found. It need +hardly be said that any idea of a stock route from Hall's Creek is +absolutely impracticable. Between Woodhouse Lagoon and Lake Wells the +country consists of low sand-ridges, on which grows an abundance of +acacia bushes and others suitable for camels, alternating with open +spinifex plains, mulga scrubs in which good grass grows, and nearer the +lagoon one or two small grass plains. All through cliffs and bluffs are +met with, from which small creeks ending in a grassy avenue run; and, as +Lake Wells is approached, table-topped hills and low ranges occur, and +occasional flats of salt-bush country. We had no longer any difficulty +with regard to water, the rain having left frequent puddles where any +rocky or clayey ground was crossed. In the sand no water could be seen; +indeed we had a sharp shower one morning, water was running down the +slopes of sand, but half an hour afterwards no sign of it could be seen +on the surface. On the 23rd we sighted, and steered for, a very prominent +headland in a gap in a long range of cliffs. Sandhills abut right on to +them, and dense scrub surrounds their foot. The headland, which I named +Point Robert, after my brother, is of sandstone, and stands squarely and +steep-cliffed above a stony slope of what resembles nothing so much as a +huge heap of broken crockery. + +<p>We camped at the head of a little gorge that night, having found a rocky +pool; the rain cleared off, out came the stars, and a sharp frost +followed, the first of the year. The character of the country was +extraordinarily patchy; after crossing ridges of sand, and then an open, +stony plain, on the 25th we camped on a little flat of salt-bush and +grass. Our position was lat. 26° 20´, long. 123° +23´, and seven miles to the North-West a flat-topped hill, at the end +of a range, stood out noticeably above the horizon of scrub; this I named +Mount Lancelot, after another brother. The next day it rained again, +making the ground soft and slippery. In the evening, to our surprise and +disgust, further passage that day was cut off by a salt swamp. Not +wishing to get fixed in a lake during rain, we camped early, pitched our +tent and hoped for the rain to stop—an unholy wish in this country, but +salt-lakes are bad enough without rain! The next two days were spent in +trying to find a crossing, for we found ourselves confronted by a series +of swamps, samphire flats, and lake channels running away to the North as +far as could be seen by field-glasses—a chain of lakes, hemmed in by +sandhills, an unmarked arm of Lake Wells. If we could not cross here we +might have to go seventy miles out of our way, round the South of Lake +Wells, and then back to the Bonython. + +<a name="p6c9"></a><h4>CHAPTER IX</h4> + +<h4>Across Lake Wells To Lake Darlôt</h4> + +<p>Four attempted crossings ended in the hopeless bogging of horses and +camels, entailing the carrying of loads and saddles. At last we could not +get them to face the task at all; and small wonder, for floundering about +in soft, sticky mud is at least unpleasant! I am pretty confident that we +could have managed to get the camels through somehow, but the horses were +far too weak to struggle. Poor old Highlander sank to his belly, +struggled for a minute just long enough to get further engulfed, and then +threw up the sponge and lay panting until we came to his rescue. We had a +job to get him to the shore, and only succeeded by digging out two legs +on one side, putting a rope round them, then the same on the other, and +by violent efforts dragged him on to his side. Then, one at his head and +the rest on his legs, we turned him over and over until we came on firmer +ground, when we put the ropes on his legs again and by main force hauled +him on his flank to the margin of the lake, where he lay half dead. The +others fared but little better; it was evident that a crossing could not +be effected except at the cost of the horses. + +<p>From a sandhill near our camp numerous hills could be seen, the more +prominent of which I named. To the West-North-West a table-top hill +(Mount Courtenay, after my brother-in-law) standing in front of a +prominent tableland; to the northward Mount Lancelot; to the +East-South-East a line of cliffs standing above stony rises, at the +southern end a bluff point (Point Katharine, after my sister); and eight +miles to the South-South-West, two flat-topped hills, close +together—these I named Mount Dora and Mount Elisabeth after two of my +sisters. Little did I think that I was never to see again the dear face +of one of them! As a last hope, I and Breaden went across the lake to +these hills to look for a break in the swamps. From Mount Elisabeth an +extensive view can be obtained, but no signs of the lake coming to an +end. From Mount Elisabeth, which, by the way, is of quartzite, I took the +following bearings: Mount Courtenay 331°, Mount Lancelot +23°, Point Katharine, 78°. To the West numerous broken +tablelands can be seen, and the same to the South. Clearly there was no +chance of crossing this lake or rounding it on the North, for the white +streak of salt could be seen for miles and miles in that direction. There +was nothing to be done but to skirt the edge of the lake, and if +connected with Lake Wells to skirt that too, until a crossing could be +found. So we loaded up and steered East and then South-East to round the +swamps. Due West of Point Katharine, four miles distant, we found a large +freshwater lagoon surrounded by stony banks and ridges. It contained only +a few inches of water, but is capable of holding it to a depth of six +feet. Beyond it is a stony cotton-bush flat, and on it numerous white +clay-holes of water, almost hidden by the herbage. + +<p>Water-hens were so numerous that we could not pass by so good an +opportunity, and camped early in consequence, spending the rest of the +day in shooting these birds. The rest was a good thing for Breaden, too, +who had been hurt by Kruger as he struggled in the salt-bog. The next +morning we struck South, and by night found the lake again in our way. +From a high bank of rocks and stones we could see the arm that had first +blocked us, running round the foot of the hills and joining a larger lake +which spread before us to the South. Across it some high, broken +tablelands could be seen. There was no doubt from our position that this +was Lake Wells, but I had expected to find a tableland (the Van Treuer of +Wells) fringing the Northern shore. However, the Van Treuer does not run +nearly so far East as Wells supposed when he sighted it from the South. +No crossing could be effected yet, so the next day we continued along the +margin of the lake, along a narrow strip of salt-bush country hemmed in +between the lake and sandhills. On July 2nd we found the narrow place +where Wells had crossed in 1892; the tracks of his camels were still +visible in the soft ground. The crossing being narrow, and the bog +shallow—no more than a few inches above a hard bed of rock—we had no +trouble whatever. + +<p>We now followed the same course as Wells had done, passing Lyell-Brown +Bluff—from which Mount Elisabeth bears 339°—and Parson's Bluff, +eventually striking the Bonython Creek. This, as described by Wells, is a +flat, shallow, and, in places, but ill-defined watercourse. In it are one +or two good deep pools, of which one is probably permanent. Fringing the +banks is a narrow strip of salt-bush and grass; beyond that mulga and +coarse grass. This narrow belt of good country continues down to the +lake, and as we saw it just after the rain looked fresh and green. There +is no extent, but sufficient to form a good resting-place for travelling +stock. Some cattle-tracks of recent date were visible, a small wild herd +of stragglers probably from the Gascoyne. Turkeys were seen in fair +numbers, but they were the shyest birds I have ever come across—so much +so that we never got a shot. The late rain had left so many pools and +puddles that we had no chance of waiting for them at their +watering-place. One of the wild cattle beasts, amongst which must be a +bull, for we saw tracks of quite young calves, would have been very +acceptable, for our meat had come to an end. In consequence we wasted no +time in further examining the Bonython, but made tracks for Lake Darlot. +The days were getting so short now that, in order to accomplish a good +stage, we had to rise long before daylight and collect the camels and +horses, following their tracks by means of a fire-stick. In this way we +were enabled to get a start at sunrise, having breakfasted—in +imagination! + +<p>Several parties of prospectors have been to Lake Wells, and at first we +followed a regular pad; however, it did not seem to be going very direct, +so we left it. Between Lake Wells and Lake Darlot—a distance of about +130 miles—the country consists of open mulga thickets with a coarse +undergrowth of grass, alternating with spinifex desert and sand. +Occasional low cliffs and ridges occur, and nearer Lake Darlot numerous +ranges, from which the Erlistoun Creek takes its rise. Amongst these +hills we saw the first auriferous country since leaving the vicinity of +Hall's Creek, and in the Erlistoun the first permanent water (probably) +since leaving the Sturt Creek, a distance of about 800 miles. A narrow +belt of grass and salt-bush fringes the Erlistoun, and in the winter looks +healthy and succulent; however, a few months soon alters that, and in the +summer all is parched and yellow. How pleasant it was to see such +country, after the dreary desert! Tracks and roads were now numerous as +we approached civilisation. The same lake lay between us and the +settlement that had caused Conley, Egan, and myself so much trouble in +former days. Choosing the same narrow channel where I had formerly +crossed, we managed very fairly well. Most of the camels bogged, but some +did not, nor did the horses, and our loads now consisted of little else +but the saddles, and were therefore no great weight to carry. The weather +was lovely now, bright warm days and frosty nights; unfortunately this +tends to sharpen the appetite, which we had small means of satisfying. +For the last ten days we had had nothing but damper, and not much of +that, on which we spread tinned milk which had previously been discarded +as unfit for use, being dark brown instead of white, and almost solid. +Nevertheless it was better than nothing; a ten hours' march, begun on an +empty stomach, and finished on a slice of bread, cannot be indulged in +for many days before it leaves its mark. We were not sorry, therefore, to +reach Lake Darlot township on July 15th, and, choosing a nice spot, made +camp. This day we saw the first white face since April 9th, and our +journey was practically over. + +<p>The excellent feed growing all over the flats near Lake Darlot gave us a +good opportunity of recruiting our animals' strength. For nearly a month +we moved slowly about between Lake Darlot and Lawlers prospecting in a +desultory sort of way. Our departure from the former place was deeply +regretted—by the butcher, whose trade had increased by leaps and bounds +during our stay. “I never see'd coves as could stack mutton like you +chaps,” he said, in satisfied wonder; “why, a whole blooming sheep don't +seem to last you a day; can't ye stop until I get some bullocks up the +track?” Certainly that was the best fresh mutton I have ever tasted, and +no doubt we <i>did</i> do our duty by it. + +<p>By degrees the camels fattened and fattened, until the combination of +flesh and the hard muscles their work had formed, made it difficult to +believe how great the trials were they had been through. The horses were +also getting less like skeletons, though they take far longer than camels +to regain their strength; as a rule, if they have been through great +hardships they never do regain it and are, practically, useless +afterwards. Stoddy, whose back had been bad, was also recovering—this +the only sore back amongst them after so many miles of country well +calculated to knock both packs and backs to pieces. + +<a name="p6c10"></a><h4>CHAPTER X</h4> + +<h4>The End Of The Expedition</h4> + +<p>By easy stages and frequent halts we eventually reached Coolgardie, after +an absence of thirteen months. Of these, ten and a half months were +occupied in travelling, during which we traversed a little over three +thousand miles. Of this, 550 miles was traversed by roads and tracks, +whilst the remainder was through country beyond the limits of any +settlements. +<center> +<p>TABLE SHOWING SOURCES OF WATER SUPPLY + +<p>FOUND ON UPGOING AND RETURN JOURNEYS BETWEEN THE LIMITS OF SETTLEMENT +</center> +<table summary=""> +<col width="30%"><col span="3" width="10%" align="right"><col width="40%"> +<tr><td colspan="5"><hr> +<tr><td> <th>Holding Water <th>Nearly Dry <th>Quite Dry<td> +<tr><td colspan="5"><hr> +<tr><td>Springs <td>2 <td> <td>1 <td>Helena, Empress, and Alexander (Forrest) +<tr><td>Creeks <td>9 <td> <td>* <td>Including Christmas, Janet, Mary, Margaret, and Sturt in Kimberley; Blyth,+ Bonython,+ Erlistoun +<tr><td>Clay-pans <td>2 <td> <td>4 <td> +<tr><td>Rocky pools in gorges <td>8 <td> <td>** +<tr><td>Rock-holes <td>3 <td>3 <td>21 <td>Of these 4 were completely drained, and 2 left with water +<tr><td>Native Wells <td>8 <td>3 <td>22 <td>Of these 6 were completely drained, and 5 left with water +<tr><td colspan="5"><hr> +</tr> +</table> +<blockquote> +<p>* Numerous small dry watercourses were seen. +<br>** Numerous dry pools in rocky gorges were seen. +<br>+ The only two in the desert area. +</blockquote> +<center> +<p>TABLE SHOWING CHARACTER AND EXTENT OF COUNTRY TRAVERSED +</center> +<table summary=""><col width="30%"><col span="3" width="10%" align="right"><col width="40%"> +<tr><td colspan="5"><hr> +<tr><th><th>Upgoing Journey<th>Return Journey<th>Total in Miles<th> +<tr><td colspan="5"><hr> +<tr><td>From edge of desert to Woodhouse Lagoon<td>220<td><td> + <td rowspan="4"><i>Mixed Country</i> including low sandhills, spinifex plain. Desert Gum flats with occasional scrubs and patches of grass. +<tr><td>From Woodhouse Lagoon to edge of desert<td><td>260<td><td> +<tr><td>From end of Sturt Creek to Gordon Hills<td><td>50<td><td> +<tr><td><td><td><hr><td>530<td> +<tr><td>From Woodhouse Lagoon to Family Well<td>370<td><td> + <td rowspan="3"><i>Undulating Desert</i> of spinifex, stones, and gravel, with occasional scrubs. +<tr><td>From Deep Rock-holes to Woodhouse Lagoon<td><td>210<td><td> +<tr><td><td><td><hr><td>580<td> +<tr><td>From Family Well to Mount Bannerman<td>420<td><td> + <td rowspan="3"><i>Sand-Ridges</i>. Desert of sand blown into parallel ridges running on an average course of East and West, varying in height from 20-100 feet. +<tr><td>From Gordon Hills to Deep Rock-holes<td><td>450<td><td> +<tr><td><td><td><hr><td>870<td> +<tr><td>From Cutmore's Well to edge of desert<td>100<td><td> + <td rowspan="6"><i>Country other than desert</i>, including open scrubs with grass, open grass plains, belts of grass fringing river banks, small oases, and hilly country. +<tr><td>From Mount Bannerman to Hall's Creek<td>150<td><td><td> +<tr><td>From Hall's Creek to end of Sturt Creek<td><td>160<td><td> +<tr><td>From edge of desert to Lake Darlot<td><td>50<td><td> +<tr><td>Oases (Helena Spring, Woodhouse Lagoon, Lake Wells, etc.)<td><td>10<td><td> +<tr><td><td><td><hr><td>470<td> +<tr><td><td><td><td><hr><td> +<tr><td><td><td><td>2,450 + <td>Of which 2,210 were through country unmapped except where routes of previous explorers were crossed. +<tr><td><td><td><td>550 + <td>By roads and tracks. +<tr><td><td><td><td><hr><td> +<tr><td><td><td><td>3,000 + <td>Total mileage in round numbers, taking into account all deviations. +<tr><td colspan="5"><hr> +</tr> +</table> +<p>From the above table it will be seen that the greater part of the +interior of the Colony seen by us is absolutely useless to man or beast. +It is possible that between the Lake Darlot goldfield and the 25th +parallel of latitude isolated areas of auriferous country may be found, +though nothing that we saw proves this to be likely; and I base my +opinion only on the facts that quartz and ironstone are known to occur in +the vicinity of Lake Augusta and the Warburton Range. It is also possible +(and this I have already discussed) that a travelling route for stock may +be formed from South Australia along the 26th parallel as far as Mounts +Allott and Worsnop, and thence <i>via</i> Lake Wells and the Bonython Creek. to +the Erlistoun Creek and Lake Darlot. + +<p>Failing either the finding of gold, or the formation of a stock route +from oasis to oasis, I can see no use whatever to which this part of the +interior can be put. + +<p>North of the 25th parallel the country is absolutely useless until the +confines of the Kimberley district (about lat. 19°) are reached. That a +stock route through the desert is quite impracticable we have clearly +demonstrated. Even supposing that there was any water supply, there is +no feed; nothing but spinifex grows in more than wee patches at very long +intervals. As any one who has followed me through this book can see, our +water supply was most precarious, depending as we did upon rock-holes and +native wells (which at any time may be found dry), and these yielded an +only just sufficient quantity to keep no more than nine camels from dying +for want of a drink—every well that we found, with the exception of one +or two, was drained and left empty. Indeed on our two journeys there are +only two watering-places on which I should care to depend, viz., the +Empress Spring and Helena Spring. Throughout our journey we never once +found water by chance—though chance took us to more than one dry +hole—but found it only by systematic and patient work, involving many +scores of miles of tracking, the capture of the wild aboriginals, and +endless hours of manual labour. Without having resorted to these +expedients I have no hesitation in saying that neither we nor the camels +would be living today, for though without having done so, other parties +have crossed as great an extent of arid country, it must be remembered +that our journey was accomplished through infinitely worse country, and +with a party exactly half as large as the smallest of the previous +expeditions across the interior. Where, with a large number of camels, it +would be possible to carry a great quantity of water and do long stages, +using the water for camels as well as men, with a small number such +tactics as going straight ahead, and trusting to luck, could only end in +disaster. + +<p>It has been my fate, in all my exploration work, to find none but useless +country, though when merely prospecting on the goldfields I have been +more fortunate. So far, therefore, as being of benefit to mankind, my +work has had no better result than to demonstrate to others, that part of +the interior that may best be avoided. No mountain ranges, no rivers, no +lakes, no pastoral lands, nor mineral districts has it brought to light; +where the country was previously unknown it has proved only its +nakedness; nevertheless I do not regret one penny of the cost or one +minute of the troubles and labours entailed by it. Nor, I am confident, +do my companions repine because they wasted so many months of their lives +in such a howling wilderness. May good fortune attend them wherever they +go; for they were brave and true men, and to them I once more express my +feelings of thanks and gratitude for their untiring energy and help +through all our journeyings. I verily believe that so large an extent of +country, good or bad, has never been travelled through by a more cheerful +party, or by one, the members of which were more in accord; and to the +unanimity, and ready co-operation that prevailed throughout the camp, the +successful issue of the expedition must in a large degree be ascribed. + +<p>Before leaving Coolgardie I had to perform the melancholy task of selling +off my camels and all belongings. I have seldom felt anything so deeply +as the breaking up of our little band, and the sale of my faithful +animals. However, it was a matter of necessity, for much as I wished to +pension off my favourites I was not in a position to do so, and +eventually made my exit from the Colony in much the same state as that in +which I arrived. + +<p>Before leaving for home I spent some time in Perth, where the +Surveyor-General, Mr. Johnston, did all in his power to assist me in the +preparation of plans and maps. These, together with all information I had +gathered, I placed at the disposal of the Government, for which they were +pleased to express many thanks. At a gathering in the Perth Town Hall, at +which I was present on the day of my departure, Sir John Forrest, the +Premier, proposed the toast of the guest and said many kind things, to +which I replied:— +<blockquote> +<i>…I regret that I am only able to give such a bad +report of the far interior of this Colony; but even so, and even though +it has not been our fortune to discover any country useful either to the +pastoralist or miner, yet I hope we have done good service in proving the +nature of a large tract of country previously unknown. Our late journey +will, I think, give an answer to the oft-repeated question, ‘Does the +gold-belt extend in a direct line from Coolgardie to Kimberley?’ and the +answer is in the negative. At least we have demonstrated the uselessness +of any persons wasting their time and money in farther investigation of +that desolate region. Such an expedition might be undertaken for +pleasure, but this I should not recommend, for few countries present such +difficulties of travel or such monotony of scenery or occupation. +Although I am leaving this country, probably for good, I would not wish +it to be thought that I have no faith in it, for the late developments +and marvellous returns from the goldfields should convert the most +sceptical. Nor have the other sources of wealth to the Colony failed to +impress their importance on me… Every one is glad to return to his +home, and I am no exception; but however happy I am at the prospect of +again seeing my native land, yet I cannot say goodbye to the numerous +friends I have been fortunate in making in this Colony without sincere +feelings of regret. Every day the Old Country, which we are all proud to +call Home, and the New are learning to understand each other better, and +the bond of friendship between them is ever strengthening. If I have been +able to promote these feelings in however small a degree, and have been +able to show that the Home-born is still able, and willing, to take his +share in the pioneer work of this continent of Australia, as his fathers +were before him, then I have not worked in vain.</i> +</blockquote> +<hr> + +<a name="ap"></a><h4>APPENDIX</h4> + +<p>The foregoing pages would, I fear, give the reader a very bad impression +of the Colony of West Australia, until it was fully understood that my +experiences relate solely to the interior and to that part of the +interior the borders of which can only be reached by a journey of some +four hundred miles by train from the coast—that part of the Colony, in +fact, which lies to the East of longitude 121°. + +<p>Now West Australia is so large that, despite the desert nature of so much +of it, there still remain many thousand square miles of country suitable +for settlement and rich in mineral wealth. + +<p>The settled portions show a picture the reverse of that I have been +compelled to exhibit in the course of my travels. + +<p>The Colony altogether covers no less an area than 975,920 square miles, a +little over eight times the area of Great Britain and Ireland. It +occupies the whole of the continent West of the he 129th east meridian. +In 1826 a party of soldiers and convicts formed the first settlement at +King George's Sound. Three years later a settlement was established on +the banks of the Swan River. From this modest beginning the progress of +the settlement, which at first was slow in the extreme, came with a rush +on the discovery of gold. The population of the Colony now exceeds +150,000 souls, and there can be no doubt that this population will be +substantially added to annually, when the advantages which the country +possesses, over and beyond its auriferous districts, come to be more +generally known and recognised. + +<p>The progress of prosperity and civilisation undoubtedly runs parallel +with railway progress, and since the Government of the Colony became +autonomous that progress has been rapid. Seven years ago the total +mileage was 193. There is now, as I write, a total length of 1,200 miles, +1,000 of which have been constructed during the past six years. Of these +1,200 miles, 923 belong to the State and the balance to a private +company, whose line runs from Perth, along the coast northward, to the +port of Geraldton. But though lines have been laid from Perth to +Coolgardie, Kalgoorlie, and Cue, settlers are breaking ground farther +afield, and further extensions both in the direction of the agricultural +districts and of the goldfields are contemplated. The State railways, +which may be looked upon as completely efficient, have paid, according to +a statement in the West Australia year-book, a dividend of 11 1/2 per +cent. + +<p>Although I have elsewhere described the primitive nature of the postal +arrangements on the goldfields, it must be borne in mind that this +relates to early days; now, the number of letters passing through the +offices reaches 26,000,000; of newspapers, 17,000,000; while parcels to +the extent of 5,000,000, and over a quarter of a million of postcards, +and 1,000,000 telegrams were dispatched in one year, although the Postal +Department all over the Colony is shockingly managed. There are no less +than 5,429 miles of telegraph line open. The rapid increase displayed in +these figures is the outcome, undoubtedly, of the gold discovery. The +first official record of gold production was in 1886, when the yield for +the six months ending that year was 302 oz., valued at £1,148. The +yield for 1897 was over 700,000 oz., representing rather more than 2 1/4 +millions sterling. + +<p>Owing to the “sporadic and pockety” nature of the finds it was at first +supposed that gold would only be found in superficial deposits. This +supposition has now been completely upset by the result of sinking +operations at Kalgoorlie and elsewhere. + +<p>The richness of the Western Australian goldfields is established beyond +the possibility of a doubt, and though over-capitalisation and want of +proper management have had their customary ill-effects upon the industry, +yet the undoubted and immense value of the auriferous yield should make +the ultimate prosperity of the Colony a matter of certainty. + +<p>But the Colony does not rely alone upon its gold for prosperity. It has +other and substantial sources of revenue in lead, copper, tin, coal, and +timber, to say nothing of the excellence of the agricultural outlook. + +<p>The mineral district of Northampton, connected with the port of Geraldton +by railway, is rich in lead and copper. Tin has been found in great +quantity at Greenbushes in the South-West. Thirty years ago these +districts were worked for their ores, but a great scarcity of labour, +combined with a sudden fall in the prices of the metals, led to the +abandonment of the mines. Since, however, the discovery of telluride ores +at Kalgoorlie the abandoned lead and copper mines have recovered their +old value, and many mining leases have quite recently been taken out +in the Northampton district for the purpose of working them, and after +the preliminary work of emptying the old shafts of the water which has +accumulated, has been accomplished, there is every probability that +smelting operations will yield a handsome profit. Coal has been found on +the Collie River district and, tested by the Government, has been proved +to be of good quality and to exist in seams varying from two to four +feet in thickness. + +<p>The Government, by way of trial, raised 1,000 tons of coal at a cost of +about 16 shillings per ton. The field is open to private enterprise, and +as the land may be leased on the lowest possible terms there seems to be +a good opening for the capitalist. + +<p>In considering other sources of revenue in the Colony I should be +inclined to put that of the timber industry at the head, and this the +more so that steps have been taken by the West Australian Government for +the proper conservation, systematic working, and efficient replanting of +the forest-lands. Hitherto in young colonies the disafforesting of +districts has been for agricultural and other purposes recklessly +proceeded with. Warned by example, the West Australian Government have +taken steps for the preservation and utilisation of their valuable +forest-lands. In 1895 Mr. J. Ednie-Brown was engaged by the Bureau of +Agriculture to make a tour of inspection in the Colony. This gentleman +having had experience as Conservator of Forests both in South Australia +and New South Wales, was eminently fitted for his position as Conservator +in West Australia. Having made his tour in 1896 he issued his report. It +is to this report I am indebted for the information contained in this +brief notice. + +<p>The principal commercial forests lie in the South-Western districts of +the Colony. + +<p>Mr. Ednie-Brown gives a list of thirty-five varieties of indigenous +forest-trees, but as only a certain number of them are known to be of +real commercial value, I shall confine my remarks to the better known and +more widely used species. These are: Jarrah (<i>Eucalyptus marginata</i>), Karri +(<i>Eucalyptus diversicolor</i>), Tuart (<i>Eucalyptus gomphocephala</i>). Sandalwood +(<i>Santalum cygnorum</i>). + +<p>In addition to these are many important but secondary forest-trees, as +the Wattle (<i>Acacia saligna</i>), Raspberry Jam (<i>Acacia acuminata</i>), Badjong +(<i>Acacia microbotrya</i>), Peppermint Tree (<i>Agonis flexuosa</i>), Banksias of all +sorts—the Sheoaks (<i>Casuarina Fraseriana, glauca</i> and <i>decaisneana</i>), the +Red Gum (<i>Eucalyptus calophylla</i>), Wandoo (<i>Eucalyptus redunea</i>), Mallee +(<i>Eucalyptus oleosa</i>). + +<p>There are many other trees of some value, but the foregoing represent the +chief. + +<p>The total area of the principal forest regions of Western Australia +covers no less than 20,400,000 acres, made up of:— +<table align=center summary=""><col><col align="right"><col align="center"> +<tr><td>Jarrah <td>8,000,000 <td>acres +<tr><td>Karri <td>1,200,000 <td>" +<tr><td>Tuart <td> 200,000 <td>" +<tr><td>Wandoo <td>7,000,000 <td>" +<tr><td>York Gum, Yate Sandalwood, and Jam<td>4,000,000 <td>" +<tr><td> <td>———— <td> +<tr><td> <td>20,400,000 <td> +</tr> +</table> +<p>Jarrah is, without doubt, the principal forest-tree of Western Australia. +This tree is dark grey in colour, with the bark strongly marked in deeply +indented furrows. It grows on an average to a height of 90 to 120 feet, +with stems 3 feet to 5 feet in diameter, running 50 to 60 feet to the +first branch. There are, of course, very many larger individual +specimens. The wood is red in colour, polishes well and works easily, +and weighs when seasoned about 63 lbs. to the cubic foot. It is +extensively used for wood-paving, piles, jetties, bridges, boat-building, +furniture, and railway sleepers. It makes splendid charcoal, and when cut +at the proper season exhibits remarkable durability both in the ground as +fence-posts and in water. + +<p>Karri is the giant tree of West Australia. It is extremely graceful in +appearance, with a yellowish-white smooth bark, which flakes off each +year like that of our planes. The trees grow to a height of 200 feet, +with a diameter of 4 feet at a height of 3 or 4 feet from the ground, and +the first branch generally occurs at a height of 120 to 150 feet from the +base. This tree does not occur in such numbers as the Jarrah, its +field of growth being limited. Its timber resembles that of the Jarrah, +but cannot be wrought so easily, though for purposes of street-paving it +is superior. It is this wood which is so extensively used in London. It +is also of value for bridge planking, shafts, spokes, felloes, waggon +work, and beams. + +<a name="pt46"></a><h5>Illustration 46: A Karri Timber Train</h5> + +<p>Tuart is also comparatively limited in extent. It attains to a height of +100 to 150 feet, having a diameter of 7 to 9 feet at the base and about +40 feet to the first branch. Its timber is extraordinarily hard and tough +and difficult to split. It is of great value as bridge supports, dock +gates, stern posts, engine supports, etc., and it is also extensively used +in the making of railway wagons and wheelwright's work generally. + +<p>Sandalwood, which is more of a bush than a tree, runs small as a rule. It +is fairly distributed over the Colony. Formerly there was a greater trade +in sandalwood than now; but the overstocked Chinese markets being sold +out, the West Australia trade is rapidly reviving. + +<p>Raspberry Jam is a handsomely shaped rounded acacia, and gets its name +from the scent of its wood, which is exactly that of the raspberry. An +oil is extracted from the wood, which is highly perfumed. The wood is +impervious to the attacks of the white ant. + +<p>In addition to these the Red Gum, the Wandoo, and York Gum are timber +trees of value. + +<p>The total output of the saw-mills for 1895 was 130,000 loads, +representing a gross value of £400,000. + +<p>It will thus be seen that the forests of the Colony form no +inconsiderable portion of its wealth, and afford employment to large +numbers of workers both in the forests themselves and in the saw-mills +and wharves. + +<p>The culture of the vine and various fruits is carried on in the +South-Western districts to a great extent—the soil, the climate, and the +elevation all tending to give the best results. + +<p>The chief fruits grown are apples, pears, peaches, nectarines, plums, +cherries, apricots, quinces, oranges, and lemons. + +<p>Viticulture forms a marked industry, though as yet largely undeveloped. +There are 1,450 acres under cultivation, and this area is rapidly +increasing. The slopes of the coastal ranges are admirably adapted for +the culture of the vine, and the chief varieties grown are those most +suitable for wine-making and for the table. Chasselas Doradillo, White +Rice, Black Alicante, and Muscat of Alexandria are largely cultivated. +There is, I conjecture, a good field open for the capitalist in the +direction of the wine manufacture. + +<p>Pastoral and agricultural pursuits are carried on with success in many +districts; agriculture is chiefly confined to the South-West corner of +the Colony. Cattle, sheep, and horses are raised all along the coast-line +from Albany to the De Grey, and in the far north, the Kimberley district. +The Nor'-West, however, labours under the disadvantage of drought on the +one hand and floods on the other. There are several regulations +governing land tenure, and when the emigrant has made a selection of the +land suitable for his purpose (and in this he should exercise great +care), he can get his land either as a free grant, or on lease, or by +conditional purchase. On these points emigrants will be fully informed at +the office of the Agent-General (Sir Malcolm Fraser, K.C.M.G.), +15 Victoria Street, Westminster, S.W. + +<p>There is no doubt that the soil of the S.W. district is fertile to a +degree, and capable of supporting a large pastoral and agricultural +population; and, as prices rule high, doubtless an emigrant suitable for +either pursuit would find good remuneration for his capital and labour. + +<p>In addition to the foregoing industries, there is another of almost equal +importance—that of the pearl and pearl-oyster fishery. Reports have been +issued by piscicultural experts, proving the suitability of the coasts +for the culture of the fish, and the matter has “come into official +consideration”; and it is to be hoped that Government will take steps to +foster this lucrative pursuit, the centres of which are at Shark's Bay, +about two hundred miles North of Geraldton, and at Broome, yet further +North. In 1896, twenty-one tons of mother-o'-pearl were exported at a net +profit of about £40 per ton. However, there is every reason to +suppose that, properly and scientifically nurtured, pearl fishing should +prove well worthy of attention. + +<a name="pt47"></a><h5>Illustration 47: A Pearl Shell Station, Broome, N.W. Australia</h5> + +<p>Though I have come to the conclusion that, unless Spinifex and Sand can +be conjured into valuable marketable products, the far interior of the +Colony is worthless for any purpose, yet I have also shown that beyond +the borders of the desert Nature smiles her brightest; and, given +population, West Australia may well vie in wealth and usefulness with any +of her sister colonies. + + + + + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Spinifex and Sand, by David W Carnegie + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SPINIFEX AND SAND *** + +***** This file should be named 4975-h.htm or 4975-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/4/9/7/4975/ + +Produced by Col Choat and Colin Beck + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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