Mount Morgan
'The period for which the barrels are made to revolve averages one and a half hour. When this operation is over the contents of the barrels are discharged into draining-vats, from whence the water and the gold, put into a state of solution, are drained into charcoal filters below. Charcoal possesses such an affinity for the chlorine that the gold is rapidly deposited, and the charcoal is so laid in these V-shaped filters that the golden fluid passes through layers, gradually becoming finer towards the bottom, and thus practically all the gold that is dissolved by the chlorine gas in the barrels is caught in the charcoal. So effectual is the process that the refuse from the draining-tubs will not assay more than a pennyweight or a pennyweight and a half to the ton, while the water which drains off from the charcoal filters is pumped back and goes through the process a second time. The contents of the charcoal filters are conveyed straight to the smelting-works. There the charcoal on which the gold has been precipitated is first roasted in furnaces, and the residuum smelted in the usual smelting-pots. After this it is run into ingots of the purest gold.
'Chlorination was originally attempted in the United States. It has been perfected at Mount Morgan. By the ordinary crushing and washing process one ounce to the ton would be extracted from the rock quarried at Mount Morgan. By chlorination every particle of gold is extracted. The product sometimes reaches 17 oz. per ton. The average may be taken at 5 oz. Half an ounce would cover expenses.'
The day turned out lovely, and if my cough had not been so bad, I should have enjoyed the drive down from Mount Morgan. The pitches were just as steep, but they were nearly all downhill, which made our progress seem quicker and pleasanter. The country looked very pretty; the ferns were quite lovely, and the lilies in full bloom. The pleasure of the drive was further marred by the dreadful odours arising from the decaying carcasses of unfortunate bullocks which had been left by the roadside to die from exhaustion. Happily, there were no such horrors at the pretty place where we paused to bait our horses—the same at which we had stopped going up yesterday—and we arrived at the railway hotel at Rockhampton at 2.5, and immediately went on board the 'Sunbeam.'
In spite of heavy rain in the afternoon a great many ladies came to see the yacht, and were followed later by the Naval Artillery Volunteers, the Naval Brigade, and other visitors. At 6 p.m. Tom went ashore, accompanied by the children, to review the Naval Brigade, with which he was well pleased. After a hasty dinner at seven, we all went to an Ambulance Meeting in the council-chamber of the town-hall. The heat of the room seemed great on first entering it from the fresh air outside, and I thought I should have fainted before I reached my chair at the farthest end of the room. Presently, however, some doors were opened, and matters improved. The meeting was very satisfactory, a committee being appointed, and several doctors promising to help and give lectures, while many of the people present gave in their names as subscribers. From the Ambulance Meeting we went straight on to the station, where the servants had rigged up very comfortable beds for Baby and me in one and for Mabelle and Münie in another railway-carriage, the gentlemen being provided for in two others. We were soon in bed, and at ten o'clock started for Emerald and Springsure. We should have been most comfortable but for the piercingly cold draughts. The moon shone brilliantly, and I could see from my cot the lightly wooded but flat pastures alternating with miles and miles of bush, with here and there a log hut or a tin house standing in its own little clearing, making an interesting picture as we flew through the district.
Wednesday, August 3rd.—There was still a bright moon, and as we approached Emerald the country, seen by its light, looked most picturesque. At Emerald, the rail to Springsure branches off from the main line to Barceldine. In the early morning, as we were passing Fernlee, where the Government line ends, our servants produced some welcome tea. From there we ran on to Springsure, where our arrival caused great excitement, for it was really the opening of the line, ours being the first passenger train to arrive at the township. By about half-past eight we were all dressed, and went to a comfortable inn, some on foot and some in waggonettes, where we breakfasted.
After watching experiments with various horses, to see which were best and quietest, we started in a couple of buggies for the opal-mines, or rather opal-fields, of Springsure. We had not driven far when we came to a fence right across the high road, and had to go some way round over rough ground and across a creek to avoid it. This did not excite any astonishment in the mind of the gentleman who drove us, and he seemed to think it was a casual alteration owing to the new line; but on a dark night the unexpected obstruction might prove inconvenient. When the top of the hill where the opals are to be found was reached, we all got out and set to work to pick up large and heavy stones with traces of opals in them, as well as some fragments of pumice-stone with the same glittering indications. We were shown the remnants of a rock which had been blown up with dynamite to get at a magnificent opal firmly imbedded in it. The experiment resulted in rock, opal, and all being blown into fragments, and nothing more has ever been seen of the precious stone. Our search not proving very successful, we proceeded to the large sheep-station of Rainworth. This fine property originally belonged to Mr. Bolitho, and I was told that it then consisted of 300 square miles of country thoroughly well stocked, with excellent buildings, and—what is to be most valued in this dry and thirsty land—a running stream, which had never been known to be empty, even in a ten years' drought. The question of water becomes a serious consideration out here, where every full-grown beast is supposed to drink and waste ten gallons of water a day. The drive to the station was very pleasant. We passed a racecourse, where a little race-meeting was going on. It looked a very simple affair, and we were told that once a year all the sporting population in what Australians call 'the neighbourhood,' extending for some hundred miles around, assemble here to try their nags against one another.
We seem rather unlucky about accidents, for on our way down a steep hill the horses suddenly became restive; and if it had not been that our driver sent them spinning down one hill at full gallop, and up the next, thus leaving them no time for kicking, and preventing the carriage from ever touching them, we should probably have had a repetition of our smash the other day. We did not see a single kangaroo all the way, but passed a number of good-looking cattle and horses. Years ago this country swarmed with game, and was so eaten up that the ground looked as bare as your hand, the pasture being undistinguishable from the roads. By a strenuous effort the settlers killed 30,000 kangaroos on a comparatively small area on the Ekowe Downs, the adjoining station to this, and thousands more died at the fence, which was gradually pushed forward, in order to enclose the sheep and keep out the marsupials.
By-and-by we arrived at a smart white gate in the fence, which a nice little boy dressed in sailor costume, who had accompanied us from Springsure, opened for us. These paddocks held some merino sheep. Some fine timber had been left, so that the station looked more like an English gentleman's estate than any place we have yet visited. We jolted wearily over huge boulders and great slabs of rock, and went up and down tremendously steep pitches in the roads, until at last we arrived at Rainsworth, where we received the warmest welcome from Mr. and Mrs. Todhunter. After luncheon I stayed in the verandah and rested, whilst the rest of the party went out to look round the station and the opal-fields.