The track after that was fairly well marked; but the feed was bad, or none at all—water scarce and precarious. There were all sorts of disadvantages. ‘It was the worst country in Australia,’ Jack said, averring that he had seen everything bad in his time. It would take them more than a month, even if they had luck. They would have to carry everything with them; even forage for the horses. But at the end, however long and wearisome, there was a claim—a reef, the like of which he, John Waters, had never seen before. [32] ]‘Then the sooner we’re off the better,’ said Mr. Banneret. ‘We can get everything ready to-morrow, and make a short journey at any rate. The great thing is the start. It’s mostly plain sailing afterwards.’
So the next day everything was done, fitted, and made ready for a three months’ journey, as indeed it needed to be. Waiting and working at the claim would not be very dissimilar from the wayfaring—except that they would be stationary. As for the hard work, with fare to match, Mr. Banneret had had similar experiences in his youth, and believed that he could do what any other man could do, of whatever age, class, or condition.
By this time his ‘mate’—a ‘dividing mate,’ in the eye of the law, socially and otherwise—had, as he himself expressed it, ‘picked up surprisin’’—after the first week or two on the road, he would be (he stated) in hard condition again, fit to go for a man’s life. Originally of the flawless constitution peculiarly the heritage of the Anglo-Saxon, and, as such, contemptuous of hardship by land or sea, nothing but his own folly had power to harm it. The wonderful recuperative power common to the race had reasserted itself—conjointly with a regular system of food and rest. The typical miner’s boundless optimism and sanguine expectation bore him up as upon wings—and, as they drove along in the clear atmosphere, under a cloudless sky, the Commissioner’s face lost its troubled expression.
The ‘township,’ when they got there, was such a one as the Commissioner had never before seen [33] ]in all his varied experiences; never in his dreams had he imagined such a mining camp. A person of restricted imagination, or feeble sympathies, might even have described the landscape as ‘unspeakably desolate, and ghastly.’ A certain appearance of grass, even if trodden down, and fed off by horses and bullocks, had always been visible on goldfields where he had borne rule formerly.
Here there was none, absolutely none. Dust of a red hue, subtly pervading all nature, was the chief elemental feature. Water was more or less available for sluicing, puddling, cradling, or other purposes connected with mining operations,—here there was none to be seen except in the small quantities required for partial lavation and for engine work. This last was of course procurable, but being generally salt or brackish, required to be subjected to the condenser, lest damage to the engine should ensue. In the hotels it was dearer than wine or beer in the coast cities—was always, indeed, charged for separately in the bars when supplied with alcohol!
‘What a desert!’ thought the Commissioner. ‘Have we reached Arabia by any magical process? And here come the camels proper to the scene.’ As he spoke, a long string of those Eastern-seeming animals came nearer, and the Afghan drivers, turbaned and with flowing garb, heightened the resemblance.
‘This is a queer shop, sir,’ said Waters, as he observed his companion’s looks of amazement and curiosity. ‘Barrawong wasn’t over-pleasant, as you [34] ]might say, on a hot day, with the north wind blowin’ the dust in your eyes—but it was a king to this; and then the river—you could allers have a swim; and nothing freshens a man up like a good header into cool, deep water after his day’s work.’
‘It certainly is not a place a man would pick to spend his honeymoon—though I suppose some adventurous couples have done that; but, of course, the main thing is the gold. Men didn’t come out here to hunt for scenery, or farm-lands. Are they on good gold? If they are, all the rest will follow.’
‘Well, sir, this is the richest goldfield in Australia, just now, and likely to be the biggest. You know, if that keeps on, they’ll get everything else they want, and more too, directly; but we shan’t stop here long enough to think about it, hot or cold,’ said Waters. ‘I’ll watch the horses to-night, for there’s a lot of cross coves about, who’d steal the teeth out of your head if you slept sound enough. We’d better load up all we’ll want for a month or two, and get away afore sundown to-morrer. You might write out a list of things we’ll want. I’ll mind the camp till you come back.’ This being arranged, Banneret went into town after a frugal lunch, and walked down the main street, which, with a few others crossing it at right angles, constituted the nucleus of the infant city. A few large and fairly well kept hotels, with ornamental bars and spacious billiard and dining rooms, accommodated the floating population, of whom the greater number took their meals there, in preference to undergoing [35] ]the doubtful experiment of housekeeping. The expense was considerable; but those who had shares in dividend-paying mines could well afford war prices, while to those making short visits to this and other ‘fields’—partly on business, and partly for curiosity—a few pounds could make but slight difference. Of course, the township bore a family likeness to all other mining centres,—one long main street, with others branching off at right angles, the frontage to which was filled with cabins, huts, cottages, tents, of every size, shape, and colour. The roofs were chiefly of corrugated iron, which, unsightly as a building material, yet enabled the possessor to collect rain-water. When the walls, or rather sides, were not of the same material they were of hessian—of slabs, or weatherboard. Some indeed were of bark—the climate being consistently hot and dry. The nights, however, were cool, as the goldfield stood fairly high above sea-level. When it did rain, it came down with tropical force and volume, as was seen by the depth of the ravines. But this state of matters occurred too rarely to occasion serious thought. Here and there tiny gardens, wherein grew a few carefully tended vegetables and flowers, showed that the soil was not wholly barren. The pepper tree (Schinus molle), friend of the pioneer horticulturist, had already made a lodgment, as well as the Kurrajong or Cooramin (Sterculia), the slow growth of which, however, few of the present population would remain to witness.
All purchases made, the team fed and rested, the loading arranged as only the experienced [36] ]overlander knows how, and supper over, a start was made by the light of a rising moon.