In the workshops, which were well equipped both for iron and woodwork, a dozen natives were diligently at work under the supervision of McFraser. Adjoining the shop was a spacious laboratory.
"This is where you will spend a good many of your working hours," observed Colonel Narfield. "Of course that doesn't mean that you won't get out-door work—far from it. We've got to make a complete survey of the Rubera Valley, which is almost entirely in this estate. It will have to be mapped out, photographed, and recorded before we tackle the task of mining gold. As the result of preliminary investigations, I find that the district promises to be rich in gold, both in reefs and sand."
He went on to explain how gold is collected from alluvium by means of hydraulic washings, and the various artifices used to render the operation more prolific and profitable. He explained, also, how gold is obtained from auriferous quartz, the broken ore being passed through a "stamp-battery," and the precious metal is then extracted by a chemical process.
"And what is the stockade for?" asked Tiny. "It doesn't seem high enough to keep out lions."
"A lion could leap over it," replied Colonel Narfield, "but it's hardly likely to do so, especially when there is plenty of food to be found outside. As a matter of fact this place was built under Hun supervision. It was at one time a fortified outpost."
"Against the Makoh'lenga?" asked Colin.
Herbert Narfield smiled.
"You seem to have Makoh'lenga on the brain," he remarked. "It would be interesting to know what your friend Van der Wyck actually did tell you."