A Well near Lake Way
One night, as we were sitting round the camp-fire, several of them again appeared and demanded more bacca and food, which was given them, and they were told to go away, but they would not do so until the men of our party fired off several shots, which soon caused them to disappear, as they are very much afraid of fire-arms.
LUBRA AND PICKANINNY
Another night we camped in company with two teams. Each team had ten horses and splendid large waggons, one of which the teamster gave up to us three ladies, and we had quite a luxurious bed on sacks of chaff that night. The teamsters were educated men; one had received a college education, but had been eight years in the “back-blocks.” He said he had not been in a lady’s company for years, and the poor fellow seemed delighted to talk to me about his mother and sisters, who, he said, were in dear old England, but he never wrote home, as he was the black sheep of the family. I made him promise that when he got to Nannine he would write to his mother, who, no doubt, in her heart was thinking, “Where is my wandering boy to-night?” I do hope he kept his promise. On our arrival at Nannine I bade a reluctant farewell to the party, who took the coach to Cue, en route for Fremantle, there to take the steamer to Victoria to spend their well-earned holiday.
We were now in the Murchison district. Nannine is a nice little place, and everything seemed to be flourishing. The people form a very happy, lively community. Several good buildings adorn the town, and I considered myself fortunate in getting very comfortable quarters, for I was really tired after my journey and late camping-out experiences. It was delightful to rest on a nice soft bed and to have my breakfast brought me in the morning. There are two good hotels at Nannine, which do a splendid business. There are over 80 mines in the district—the first in which gold was discovered in Western Australia. This first discovery dates from 1854, when Robert Austin was sent by Governor Fitzgerald to explore the country in the Gascoyne district above Peak Hill for agricultural and pastoral land for settlement. Mr. Austin was accompanied by the sons of some of the early settlers, and the little band of explorers underwent many hardships. Most of their horses were poisoned by the Bri-gastrolobium plant, and the party had to travel on foot for many weary months. It was owing to this circumstance that the gold discovery was made, for while reconnoitring for grass and water Mr. Austin came across some likely looking stone, which he broke, and found it contained gold. The only prospecting tools available (except a tomahawk, a small hatchet always carried by explorers and prospectors), being a knife and a pannikin, much progress could not be made. On Mr. Austin’s return to Perth from the expedition he informed the Government, who did not think it worth while to make further inquiries. Had they done so, the colony’s prosperity might have dated 35 years earlier than it has done, as Mr. Austin correctly described the auriferous nature of the belt of country around Mount Magnet, Lake Austin, and Mount Kenneth, and also predicted that the Murchison would become one of the greatest goldfields in the world. The little party were the first white men who ever set foot in that part of the colony, and I do not think that their efforts were ever recognised. Mr. Austin is now a very old gentleman, and last year was mining surveyor at the Mines Department, Hodgkinson Goldfields, Queensland, from which place he wrote to the papers in Perth asking that his claims as the first discoverer of gold should be recognised by the present Parliament, and giving interesting particulars of his travels. In 1856 gold was discovered at Kojânup, but little attention was paid to gold in Western Australia in those days. It was not until 1884 that Mr. Hardman, the Government geologist, discovered rich gold at Kimberley in the far north of Western Australia, and this was followed in 1887 by the find of gold at Mugakine while a man was digging a well. Golden Valley and Southern Cross followed, and an era of prosperity for the colony opened which I hope will never be closed.
At the Aberfoyle Mine, to which I went from Nannine, I saw some beautiful quartz thickly encrusted with gold. Twenty-two pounds of this stone contained over 62 ounces of gold, valued at £230. This rich piece of quartz has been secured for the Glasgow Exhibition. There are seven shafts on this really amazing mine, from each of which the ore taken is so marvellously rich that they are watched at night. Splendid machinery is being put up, but sufficient masons cannot be got to do the work, consequently the progress is slow. The Nannine Mine has shown wonderful results during the year. In six weeks 1371 ounces were crushed from 285 tons of stone. The chute (opening) from which this was taken improves still richer as the mine opens up. The Champion is another group of mines, from which excellent returns have been taken. At the Royalist, another mine owned by the oldest mining resident of Nannine, as much as 300 ounces in two weeks have recently been obtained. There are many other mines, but I cannot specify them all. Mount Yagahong is also a rich part of the field, and Meekatharra, 25 miles away, is rapidly forging ahead as a gold producer. Then 14 miles from Nannine is Burnakura, from which place 71 lb. of specimens, containing 700 ounces of gold, some of the pieces being nearly pure gold, were recently brought into Nannine and lodged in the Western Australian Bank. Previous to this, £2000 worth of gold was taken from the same claim, called Jewett’s United Lease, and still more recently a Perth paper records that “A small parcel of stone, weighing 4¾ cwt., from Jewett’s Union Mine at Burnakura, and crushed at the Nannine battery, yielded 494½ ounces of gold. Nine hundred tons of stone lie at grass—that is, on the top waiting to be crushed—on the property.” This magnificent mine is owned by a local syndicate of seven people. Gabanuntha is a rich mine near Nannine, and Star of the East another. A leasehold with a peculiar name is “After Many Years,” which gives every indication of turning out rich. This district, and Peak Hill, owing to their remoteness, have not attracted speculators much, but must eventually become prominent, for they are as rich as any part of Western Australia, and after many years will, no doubt, fully verify Robert Austin’s prediction.
To drive another 120 miles through the Bush to Peak Hill did not seem to me a very agreeable undertaking, but the advent one day of a spanking four-in-hand at Nannine, bringing three gentlemen, one of whom I was fortunate enough to know, and who gallantly offered to take me to Peak Hill, altered the case completely. One of the party was an Englishman inspecting Western Australian mines with a view to large investments. Relays of horses had been sent on to the different stages along the road and sleeping accommodation arranged for. I am afraid I put out these arrangements considerably, but the gentlemen did not seem to mind giving up the best to me, gallantly saying that my company compensated for any discomfort. I felt at first that, as they were on mining business, they did not want womenfolk around, but they soon found out that I took as much interest in mining matters as themselves, and we became bon camarades. Knowing that the menu at these places would not be of the best, the party had sent ahead supplies of everything necessary for table comfort, also a man cook and waiter, so you may well understand that the journey to Peak Hill was a most enjoyable one to me.