Aside from this actual mining legacy of which little remains, Gundagai’s chief role in the gold story comes from its central location as a service centre to the surrounding fields.
With Adelong located to the south and the fields of Temora and Junee to the north, Gundagai was always closely associated with these fields development.
Foremost in Gundagai’s gold story however will always be its association with the Great Southern Road between Sydney and Melbourne and the challenge of keeping this road safe from the predations of bushrangers.
This 1852 account opposite of the discovery of gold in NSW reveals a little known detail that Gundagai was one of the very first places in the state where traces of gold were first discovered.
“For several years succeeding Mr. Clarke’s discovery [of gold traces west of the Blue Mountains in 1841], explorations were made by Mr. Icely and other gentlemen, and indications of gold were met with in many localities, particularly in the Belubula and in the neighbourhood of Gundagai.”
NEW SOUTH WALES GOLD DISCOVERY
TWELVE months have now elapsed since therumours of the existence of gold deposits in the mountains and water courses of New South Wales assumed a tangible shape, and were converted into reality.
Previous to the month of May, 1851, a vague suspicion was abroad that the precious metal cxisttd in considerable quantities in the schistose and quarzite rocks of the Australian Cordillera.
As early as the year 1840, Count Strzelecki, who was engaged in scientitic ex- plorations in the interior, met with what he thought indications of gold in a sulphuret, of iron but the first person who discovered the precious metal itself was the Rev. W. B. Clarke, a gentleman of great scientific attain- ments, who for several years has been devoting himself to the examination and elucidation of the geological features of Australia.
In the year 1841, Mr Clarke met with small particles of gold in the Dividing Range which separates the eastern and western waters of the Macquarie. The metal was found in the schistose formations whose strike was parallel with the meridian, and Mr Clarke, following the tracts of the precious ore in other localities, became convinced of the truth of the theory which had long been discussed, that the principal gold deposits in the world were distributed in certain parallel meridians.
For several years succeeding Mr. Clarke’s discovery, explorations were made by Mr. Icely and other gentlemen, and indications of gold were met with in many localities, par- ticularly in the Belubula and in the neihbour- hood of Gundagai.
Several papers on the sub- ject appealed from time to time in different publications, but it was not until the gold dis- coveries of California had brought the subject prominently before the public mind, that the attention of scientific men at home was called to the probability which existed of productive gold fields being discovered in this continent.
In 1850 Sir Roderick Murchison announced to the Geographical Society his belief that such would be the case. It may be thought singular that so long a period of time should have elapsed before a workable gold field was discovered, but this may be easily explained by the fact that neither Mr Clarke, nor any other of those gentlemen who from time to time made search for indications of gold, did so with that precise olject.
It was reserved for Mr. Edward Ham- mond Hargraves, who had acquired practical ex- perience in gold mining in California, to reduce the anticipations of geologists to reality, and to lay open the treasures of the earth, to the longing eyes of the colonists. Mr. Clarke pursued his geological researches for their own sake, and his discovery of gold was, as it were, only an incidental occurrence in the course of his laborious investigations. Mr. Hargraves, on the contrary, explored the country to the westward of the Blue Mountains with the avowed purpose of discovering a work- able gold field, and with the conviction, founded upon his experience as a gold digger, that his expectations would be realized. Another gentlemen who had spent several months in the placers of California, Mr. E. W. Rudder, entertained similar views to those of Mr. Hargraves, and whilst the Australian gold discoverer was actually prosecuting his re. searches to a successful and brilliant termina- tion, Mr Rudder was lecturing at the School of Arts, in Sydney, on the nature of the Californian gold districts and the similarity of the geological formation of parts of this country to that of the Northern Eldorado, from which he augured that sooner or later gold would be found in abundance in the bowels of Australian earth. On the 12th of February, 1851, Mr Har- graves discovored indications of abundance of gold at the head of the Summerhill Creek, one of the tributaries of the Macquarie, and he at once became convinced that a workable and productive gold field existed there Mr Har- graves immediately communicated his impres- sions to the government, by whom he was com- missioned to make further researches , but it was not until the early part of the month of May, that the real nature and extent of his discovery became generally known, On the 8th of that month, of which this day is the anniversary, Mr. Hargraves requested some gentlemen to meet him at Mr. Arthur’s inn, at Bathurst, when he communicated to them the result of his researches, which he declared had “been crowned with complete success. Ile stated that after riding about 300 miles, so is to intersect the country at numerous points, he hid become convinced that one vast gold field extended from the foot of the Big Hill to a considerable distance bej ond Wel- lington, on the Macquarie, and that he had alieady established a company of woiking miners at a point of the Suinmtilull Creek near its junction with the Macquarie, about 50 miles from Bathurst, and 30 fiom Gujong, to which he had given the name of Ophir At the sime time Mr nirgraves produced several samples of go d, which he had himself procured from various parts of the country he h id tra- velled over, one of which weighed two ounces I he samples v ere of vinous shapes and colours, but all of a very fine qualitv Mr Hargraves also stated his opinion that the precious metal would be found m largo masses, and tint he should not be surprised if pieces of JO or 40 lbs weight should be discovered He had seen no countrj in California which promised metal in such heavy m isses This prophecy of Mr Hargraves, which met with very little credence at the moment, w as destined to receive the most complete fulfil- ment by the discovery, two months afterwards, . by an aboriginal black in the sen ice of Dr Kerr, of a solid block oí gold in quartz j weighing upwards of 100 lbs , which brilliant I piece of fortune was followed by the finding of numerous lumps of gold, to which the name of “ nuggets ‘ weie given, of every variety of j shape and size, inducting several splendid spe- cimens weighing 10, 20, and lOlbs All doubts which could have been enter- tained as to the extent and productiveness of the newly discovered gold mines, were how- ever set at rest on th« 15th of May by the arrival of Mr Edwnrd Austen m Sydney from Bathurst, bringing with him a lump of gold weighing 9 tunees, which he had purchased I for £30 The exhibition of tins, the first fiuits of Australian gold digging, convinced the most sceptical, and Australia at once took r ink as a gold producing countiv I It would be impossible to pourtriy the ex- citement produced in the public mind by the intelligence of this immensclj important dis covery ihe feelings to wInch it g iv e rise wero nnturnUy of a conflicting nature Hope, alarm, perplexity, doubt, enthusiasm, anxiety, m turn agitated every breast Ihe public press teemed with golden announcements Its conductors knew not how to huidle the subject The examples of lawless barbarism affbided bj the history of California failed the minds of the more thoughtful with dh>mny and apprehension , and whilst a portion of the press wns guirg publicitj to evcrv tittie of news from the gold raines, and fanning the flame of excitement into fury, another portion was looking with mious fore iDht at tue pro- bable efleets of the g Id discovery upon the moral nnd economical interests of the colony and is social relations So g eat was the apprehension cnicmmcd of ti e disruption of evcrj to ial tie, tint many of the leading men in the colony did not hesitate to c -wpress their hopes that the j îe’cl of the gold fields w ould turn out unprofitable, lest too abundant a lim vest of the precious metal bhould hue the effect of attra ting to the mines the majority oi the population, and causing the ruin of the i0ri cultur ii and pastoral ínteres s of the colony. Ilappilj for Austiaha, however, the anticipa tnnsoiivil which could not but possess the minds of thinking men in the view of such a I cusís in its alf nts, were not îealiscd Hie first rush to the gold field w as checked bj the se vcrity of the weather, ..nd hundreds of per srns who hud lustily abandoned their em plojinents in Sidney, and invested all their savings m nu outfit lo the divings, returned dishenitencd and disgusted, mil with empty pockets, after the lapse of a few weeks Great nnxutj prcv ailed to know what course w ould be ad >pted in the gorcrnment in the new and dunctious iriMs on which the colon} hud cnteicd lue ng t of the crown to the picci’us metal was averted bv some, and de clared untenable bj others but the Colonial Government, ictin., on its own responsibility, . and without bein¿ able to refer to an j prcce-I dent (from th” fact ti nt ÎScw ^outh “W ¡iles was the first Br tish colonj m w Inch gold 1 ad been discovered in any lar¿e quintities,) ndt ptea a cou se which it once mc all the, difficulties of the case Bj a proclamation dated 2Jnd of “Mav, lbol, HIS Lxccllencj Sir ‘ Charles lit/Ho) rtsseitcd her Majesty s legal I claim to the j r duce of “ all mines of gold and nil go d m its natural deposits, and warned all persons a0ainst during for and removing gold from uny land within the ternterj of I>cw ^outh Wales, without having been dulj niithoiiscd in that behalf bj Her Mnjrstj s ci loin ii government, under pam of prosecution iccoidin^tolaw riieproi4amition announced lowcvci, that icDulauons would fcpeedilv be published «ctling forth the ttrnis on which licenses would be issued lor th it pwpose upon pnjmcnt of a rcnson&blc; Ice On ihefollci uni, d ij, the ¿3id Alaj reflations weie issued irtm the Colonial Sccrctnrj s Oflice, wherebj inv poison wus cmjoweicd, from and nftci the 1st of June ensuing to seek for and remove gold upon anj lund, whether public or pin ate, upon p iv nient of a sum of one pound ten bhllincs per month, or one shilling j cr div “W ith reference to lands n’ienatcd in fee biraple, no licence was to be issued except to the piopnettrb of such Ins until further notice Hie licenses were to be procured on the spot from a Commissioiur appointed for the ex pre«? purpose Mr John Richard Hardy, Police Magistrate at Pirramitta, w is nppointcd C mmusionti of Crown Lands for the ¿old Distucte, and several other arringemcnts w ere entered into for the protection of life md propertv, nnd for the safe transmission of the pioduec of the mines to Sjdnev A bodj of mounted police v is at once org unzed and an armed escort established, wh ch left Bathurbt once a wiek for Sjdney, bringing down the precious metal, which was delivered at the ireasury to tue persons to whom eich parcel was consigned iheae arrangements of the government met willi general acquiescence, and tlie Gold Cominissuiner, who immediately proceeded to his destination, the Summer hill Cieek, found no difficulty m collecting license fees from the majontj of the diggers established at Ophir, whom, in his first report to govern ment, he described as being remarkably orderly and peaceable, and cheerfully submitting to his authority In the meanwhile, the government geologist, Mr Stutchbury, w^s ordered to proceed to the western countrj, and make a minute survev of the w liol district, w ith a v ic w of ascertaining its auriferous features Mr Hargraves also ic ceived an appointment as Commissioner of Crown Lands, (having been rewarded for the gold discover} by a gratuity of £:>00,) and proceeded to prosecute his researches in other portions of the colon} lhc Suneyor General of the colony, Sir Thomas “Mitchell, also received instiuctioiis to make a minute survey of the gold districts, and the Rev Mr Clarke, having tendered his services m aid of the great object of obtaining accurate information of the localities where gold was to be found, was requested to make explorations to tho north west of S}dnev, suitable prov îsion being made for h s outfit and expenses in the prosecution of his seaich Ihe results of these various explorations were from time to time made known to the public through the columns of tho enlomo! newspapers, andthearcaof the goldfields was ,raduall> extended from the ou”inal spot where Air Hargraves had found ita first traces, tin ouithout the length and breadth of the Terri torvof No v South Wales, whence it was found to xtei d through various portons of tho colony of Victoria, until it reached its culminating point in the splendid treasury of Mount Alexander. But I will not anticipate. The effect of the gold discover) on the price of consumable articles was immediately apparent. Flour, which had ranged from £18 to £20 a ton, in ten da) s rose to £30, and subsequently to £40. Every available means was resorted to, to for- ward the staff of life to the gold diggings, where it was epscted to realise, and for a time did realise, enormous prices. During the month of June, 1851, flour fetched £100 at Bathurst; and every other article bore pro- portional prices. Meat rose from ]¿d. to 4d. per pound; and the greatest apprehensions existed that the rise in price at the gold dig- gings, and the scarcity of labour, to be caused by the desertion of the male part of the popu- lation, would leave S)dnty itself without the means of subsistence. In the general enthusiasm and uncertainty which prevailed, the Government could scarcely place reliance upon the Bteadincs and fidelity of tinir subordinate officers, whom the smallness of their stipend and the rise in the price of the nece«saiies of life might reasonably I have been expected to tempt to a trial of their . luck. The Executive Council therefore re- solved to increase by 25 per cent, the salaries of all officers of Government under the amount of I £150, but, ns a precautionary measure, they I lssuccl u piotlamation, declaring that any per 1 son holding a Gov crnment appointment who i should desert his post m the present emergency, I should bo ipso jacio incapacitated from again serving Her Mnjest)’s Government. This stringent, but, under the cireumstanccs, ne ] cessary measure, had the desired effect ; and by the vigoious action of the Government, the ‘ community was saved from utter disorganisa ‘ lion and ruin. Looking b ick, after a year has i rolled over us,we cannot but feel that our thanks are due to the Government for its prompt, I ludicrous, and determined conduct Had the 1 JHxeeutiv e done less than it did, the probability is that the whole fabric of government might I hav e fallen to pieces , the example set by men in Government employ would have been ex- tensively followed by persons engaged m private situations, and all the evils which the Jes3 enthusiastic among us foresaw m tho future, might have been only too fatally realised. I need scarcely dwell upon the picture which, in imagination, rises before me, a re- newal of Californian lawlessness, and Cali- fornian murders; Vigilante Committees, and Lynch law ; Colt’s revolvers, and bowie knives ; monte rooms, and wholpsalo fires, might, may, 7)ittsi have been re-produced, bael the Government shown signs of weakness or hesitation. And instead of the peaceful and prosperous condition in which we now find ourselves, we might have been called upon to bewail the utter ruin of this promising colony, and the overthrow of every law and of all social order. I do not here profess to deal with, orto express an opinion upon, the de- tails of those regulations which from time to time have been issued by the Government j Much less ami inclined to proise the particular appointments that have been made pattpassu with the extension of the gold discovcues, and with the enormous increase of crown revenue winch has been thrown into their hands. But I deem it an act of lustice, in making this retrospect, to hear testimony to the merit which the Gov crnment of Sir Charles Tit/ Roy may fairly and honestly chum for the | course they pursued under the pressure of an overwhelming tnsis. I shnll say no more on 1 this subject, but proceed with my narrative. i Hie high price of provisions was not maintained. The rigour of the season I prevented that extensive migration winch had been looked for, speculations were entered into for the supply of our markets with , flour and other farinaceous produce horn Vai, Diemen’s Land, New Zealand, and South I America , a considerable quantity of flour was on hand in the vanous nulls anel other depots, ! and the price of bread tell, in Jul), almost as ¡ fast as it had ri«en. The government, conse- quently ,on the 28th of June, having regard to the necessity of accounting for their acta to j the Legislative Council, ihscoutinueel the in- crease vi salaries to all persons under their employ, except the polee, but continued the proclamation against deserter», in full loree. j In tho meanwhile the more hardy and de I tertnmed of the gold seekers prosecuted their labours, and evei) dav fresh discoveries were made. ‘Hie “ average ‘ earnings of the diggcis at Ophir and at the Turon were variously estimated at 10s , 1J3 , and 20s. a day. Some . calculations went as fur as £2 to £4 , and now I and then some lucky wight would fall acioss a “ pocket” of gold, and realise his £500 oi £10u0 in a few dajs The common rocking cradle and tin e uh began to be superseded by ! mole extensive machinery for the working of the gold fields. Parties of tvv os, and threes, and lives, weie foinied, persons of intelli- gence and expérience began to take the lead at the diggings, and the ripiellv maturing plans of the Goveinmc t, aided by the univeisal good spirit which picv ailed among the diggers, gradually biought about the establishment of us) stem of “claims”-that is, the definition of tue exact limits to within which each man or e.ich party vv as allow ed to w ork, which w as found to conduce not only to the order and regularity of the whole operations, but to the increased production of the precious metal. It would be be) ond the scope of this article to enter into a detailed account of the cflect of the gold discover) on the commercial interests of the country. A great deal of specula- tion was neccssanly cicatee!, and the most earnest anel ripeated warnings appeared in the public papers But the constantly increasing excitement, which grew to a mad- dening pitch when at the opening of the Spring the immense riches of the Tuion were dueoveied, soon made it appaient that the gold mania must have ita own wa), and that the best policy was to endcavoui to regulate the flood which it was lound impossible to stem. On the 15th July, intelligence reathed S)dney of the discovery of a block of gold m quartz weighing 106 lbs. Hie particulars of this great event were so fully detailed at the time that I do not think it necessary to re- capitulate them The effect of this astonishing piece of good fortune was, however, to revive the mad excitement which had somewhat abated, and to cause a rush of diggers to the locality where it had been found, vi? , the neighbourhood of the Louisa Creek, llnheito how ev cr, the fortune of Di. lvert has been un- paralleled, although the most rigorous search has been made for similar “blocks” of, au- riferous rock. Four thousand five hundred copies of the Sydney Morning Herald containing the news of “ this marvellous event,” were sold, of which a very large number were bought for trans- mission to England. The sailing of the ship Thomas Arbuthnot for London on the 1th of June, with a small quantity of Australian gold, had already en- sured the conve)anct of somcthim/ authentic on the subject, and the constantly mcieasing account of shipments of the precious me tal, to which I shail advcit furthci on, would have been sufficient to prove the richness of our polel mines beyonel all quostinn, even had the bow ildering story of Di Ken’s hundred-w eight lump sufficed to establish the fact. About the same time, the industrious re- searches of gold adventurers in the neighbour- ing colony of Victoria, which bael been set on foot soon after the first gold news i cached Sydnev, were brought to a successful termina- tion. Gold was discouiedbv Mr Edmonds in the P)rtnee«, and the relations between the two colonies were sudilcnl) leverseel. The emigration from Melbourne to Svdiiey which the? gold intelligence naturally created, was at once stopped, and tho tide of adv enturous humanity began to turn again towards the south, increasing in volume weekly, as the ex- citing intelligence of the quantities of gold found at Ballarat and Mount Alexander suc- cessively re ithed S)dney. The spirit of rivalr) pervaded ev cry district of both colonies. Public meetings were bel I, and sums of money íaised to be applied ns re- wards for the “ discovery of a gold field,” nt Goulburn, at Geelongj at Brisbane, and m various other towns, north, south, and “west Some districts were successful, m others the golden hopes graduell) died away, ard the in- habitants vv ere fain to stick to th eir regular employment, whioh, however, m the long run has proved, and will prove, hit least as pro- fitable. Haying g1 tnced at the principal events con I nected with the gold discovery, from its com- mencement down to the establishment of the fact of the existence of the precious metal throughout the whole south-east portion of this continent, it seems necess.iry that I should devote a few lines to the concomitant events bearing on the political state and prospects of the Australian colonies. Contemporaneously with the discoveries of these new and immense sources of wealth, the political constitution of the colonies was un- dergoing a great and important chango. The Act of Parliament granting a considerable ex- tension of the franchùe, and providing for the separation of the district of Port Phillip from New South Wales, had just been carried into execution ; and on the 12th of June, just a month after the first burst of the gold news, His Excellency Sir Charles Augustus Fitz Roy, K.C.H., having been appointed by the Queen Governor-General of all Her Majesty’s Australian possessions, took the oaths of his new office, at the hands of Sir Alfred Stephen,. Chief Justice of New South Wales, and in the presence of a lnige number of the most re- spectable inhabitants of the colony, in the hall of Government House.’ Thus the new political arrangements, by a strange and auspicious coincidence, began under ‘.he mostbrilliant piesages of that career of prosperity and greatness which Australia seems destined to run. Nor was the gold discovery without its effect upon the moral and political interests of the colonies. The old Legislature had just expired, and the election of numbers to sit in the new and enlarged Legislative Council was held early in October. During the months of July, August, and September, the public papers were filled with addresses from candidates, ambitious of the honor of representing the country in the Legislature ; and the gold discoveries naturally formed one of tho most prominent subjects of those addresses. Several of the candidates for senatorial honors, who had hitherto been staunch sup- porters of some modified system of transpor- tation to this colony, turned round, and with Mr. Wentworth at their head, declared in their addresses to the electors, that the gold dis- covery had removed every possible pretext for a return to convictism in any form, and that they would now join the ranks of the anti transportationists. The result was a return of anti-transportation representatives to a man ; and whatever might have been the measure of sincerity with which those hustings declara- tions were made, anil however subsequent events may have deadened the first burst of enthusiasm which pervaded the breasts of all concerned, our Legislature stands pledged to resist any revival of the system of transporta- tion, and. we havo no reason to doubt that it will redeem its pledge to the uttermost. The many other acknowledged grievances of the colonists were likewise prominently brought forward, and the new Legislature, on the motion of Mr.-Wentworth, on t’ie 5th Decem- ber, adopted and confirmed the declaration and remonstrance which lind been carried by a lnrge majority of the former Council during its extraordinary session in the early part of the year. On that occasion no reply was at- tempted by the members of the Government, who contented themselves with dividing the house pro forma. Doubtless they felt that the altered circumstances in which the colony was placed, and its increased importance and weight in the concerns of the empire, rendered it ungracious on their part to express any disapprobation of the eneigetic and de- termined language made use of by Mr. Went- worth in urging the undoubted rights of these i colonies. “ j In another article I propose to deduce the subsequent history of the progress of discovery, I production, and exportation of gold, glancing i cursorily at such collateral subjects as may j present themselves to my view. _A MAN OF LETTERS. j
By mid 1852, the reports of gold receipts in Sydney was noting that 20 oz of gold had been recieved from Gundagai via the mail.
This was likely to have come from the alluvial miners working in the Adelong Creek area but posted from Gundagai as part of this region’s regular mail service.
GOLD DELIVERIES
The western escort, which arrived last Saturday, brought in from Tambaroura 741 oz., the Turon 680 oz., Bathurst 70 oz. ; and came in again yesterday with 3007 oz. The southern escort brought in 778 oz. ; and the mails from Sofala COO oz.. Bathurst 625 oz., Mudgee 82 oz., Gundagai 20 oz., Maitland 108 oz. : in all, by escorts and mails, 0713 oz., worth about £21,800. ‘ The export since our lost has been July 15, per Sapphire for London, 14,003 oz. £ s. d. Whioh at 65s. per oz. gives . 48,321 0 0 Add previous export. 1,620,600 17 4 Total gold exported to this date.£1,608,921 17 4 Exchango on London-Droits against gold, 10 per c*nt. discount
Though it seems a little odd to us today, getting the gold out of the Ovens field at first required it to be brought up the Southern Road to Sydney [instead of it travelling south Melbourne].
This was a very major problem as a huge stockpile of gold had accumulated on the field and carrying this across the remote back and byways that the Southern Road traversed extended a very large invitation to the highway robbers then roaming at large.
Accordingly a special heavily armed Southern Escort service was established by a private company to get the gold out.
As the Southern Gold escort headed south in early 1853 to get the gold out of the Ovens, the scale of its challenge became apparent around Gundagai where they met with travellers who had been robbed by bushrangers and stories of one man shot and seriously injured by the robber gang.
GOLD ESCORT COMPANY.
EXTRACTS of letters received from Mr. P. B. Whannell, in command of the Sydney Gold Escort; dated, Kyamba, March 3 :
“ We just met a Frenchman, with four others, returning from the diggings at the Ovens, and in consequence of the depredations of the bushrangers, they handed over to me twenty-three pounds weight of gold, to be taken in charge to the Ovens, and forwarded by escort to Sydney.
Afterwards, within four miles of this place, we met another party, who had been robbed by four bushrangers of every- thing they possessed. I am happy to state that all under my command continue in the same high spirits.
P.S “Ihave opened this letter for thepurpose of sending you the annexed information, which is authenticated by Mr. Smith himself.
The escort under my command had encamped almost on the very part of the bush where this affair took place, at mid-day on Saturday, the 26th instant. “Having had a good deal of rain lately in camp, I have taken the precaution to have all our carbines and revolvers discharged, and loaded afresh, ready for any exigency that may occur ; and I am glad to find the gentlemen with me in high spin’s, and ready for any attack that might be made upon tis.
P. W. P. “ Sunday, 10 P.M.,
February 27.. “ On Sunday, 27th February, about 4 o’clock P.M., W. K. Smith. Esq., J.P., of Mingay, near Gundagai, after passing Mrs. Byrne’s accommodation house, about half-a mile, heard a noise resembling a stock whip ; when he arrived at the top of the hill he found a man lying on the road.
He went up to him, and asked him what was the matter. The man replied that he had been shot and robbed by bushrangers.
As he was about to leave him, four mounted men rode up to him (Mr. S.) and ordered him to dismount: at this time four other gentlemen were in the bush, having been robbed.
After dismounting Mr. S. was ordered to take the saddle off his horse; in the valise was the sum of £100 cheque, and £80 in notes, which they took. He was then ordered to remain half-an-hour, until they returned ; after remaining that time, he rode off to Reedy Creek, without further molesta- tion.
The man appeared to be shot twice in the upper part of his thigh, and in his right arm, and was covered with blood ; he was very faint and almost speechless. Mr. S. ordered a cart to be sent out to convey him to Reedy’s Creek.
There were twelve other men standing by in the bush, whom Mr. S. states that he has every reason to believe form part of the same gang-in all, sixteen men. “ « I certify the above was taken down by the officer in command of the second S’dney Gold Escort, as dictated by me. W. K. SMITH, J.P.” ‘
Prior to Adelong developing into an iconic reef mining area in the late 1850s and acquiring its own independent status as a destination it was originally very much a “Gundagai” field, with the top portion of the alluvial diggings commencing just 10 km south of the township and then extending southwards for a further 50km.
This traveller’s report of the field from 1855 tells of his journey as he headed south from Gundagai.
THE ADELONG DIGGINGS
The Adelong Creek, is situated within about síx miles of Gundagai, at least the lower portion of the creek is that distance from the township, but the upper portion, where the diggers are congregated, is at least distant from the township by 32 miles.
It is a long, but by no means an unpleasant walk, provided you have the good fortune in the course of your trip, to escape an encounter with snakes, which there every- where abound.
At the opening of the creek, or about-six miles from Gundagai, you encounter two publicans, who give you the most glowing accounts of the district into which you are about to enter. To hear them talk, dilate, enlarge, on the magnificence of the soil, the splendour of the climate, the resplendency of the scenery, you would positively imagine that by some extraordinary touch of fortune you had reached the grand object of your ambition, and were now about to realize all that your highest hopes had prefigured.
Alas, how griev- ously and how speedily would you be disappointed ! You pass from these Bonifaces, and wend your way up the creek. The sight is imposing, fascinating, in the highest degree ; the face of nature is glorious, magnificent ; she wears a new and elegant appearance ; and to the uninitiated, one would suppose that if ever there was an auriferous district, this was one. You look north and south, right and left, and everywhere you behold men at work – hard at work too – striving with might and main, up to their middle in water, and determined if possible to obtain an independence.
It is impossible to look upon these men with calm indifference. You are instinctively compelled to wish them success ; the words rise to your lips before you have time to utter them.
When you have done so, you feel somewhat of an innate -satisfaction rising to your breast of giving evidence of the pleasure caused within. But, when you enter into conversation with the miners upon these diggings, what do you find ? I must certainly say that their accounts were anything but of an encouraging character.
Most of them were from Sydney, and very intelligent men they were. Their previous occupations in life were dissimilar – some were mechanics and other professions – but there they all lived together in a spirit of the utmost har- mony and friendship.
I know not that I ever spent a happier two months of my life than at Adelong. None of the fellows were rich, few of them prospe- rous, but whatever they were possessed of, be it little or be it much, they showed it with a liberality right worthy of commendation.
Saturday nights were always nights of a remarkable nature at these dig- gings. There was invariably a raffle – sometimes two or three or more raffles -on them. Horses and mares, guns and revolvers, rings and other descriptions of jewellery, were put up for sale by auction, regardless of risk, and away they went bidding and drinking, until three, four, or five o’clock on the Sunday morn- ing, brought them reeling home to their respective tents. Such was life at the Adelong.
During the week they had worked like horses ; up to their middle in water, bailing, or rather endeavouring to bail it-out, in Ameri- can buckets, and ever and anon encountering a stone the size of which might be estimated at something like a cwt. weight.
Oh ! how often have I commis- aerated the condition to which I have seen these men reduced! – men, too, of excellent education, of refined manners, of most respectable parentage.
It ia said of Napoleon Bonaparte, that when he surveyed his army – the very flow of France – prior to their embassy to Moscow, he was observed by one of his generals to be in tears. The general asked him what caused him to weep, to which the Emperor replied, that when he reflected that a century hence every man of the magnificent force he then commanded would be con- signed to the tomb, he could not forbear from mourning over the wreck and desolation which was so soon depending.
So was it, in some degree, with me, always excepting that I stand at an immeasurable dis- tance behind Napoleon, and that mine was a retrospec- tive, whereas his was a prospective, glance at the fates and fortunes of the men we respectively surveyed.
Methought I saw these throwers of stones and drainers of water in their comfortable habitations at home, surrounded with their loving wives and affec- tionate children, enjoying all the delights of an English fireside, basking , in the sunshine of domestic bliss, and anticipating with fond delight all the glories which appertain to a life everlasting ; and yet, now, what shall I compare them to ? Slashed with mud, wet to the skin, writh- ing with cramp, and despicable in appearance, what are they comparable to ? If, indeed, fortune had favoured their efforts, I could have acknowledged something on their behalf, but as it is, knowing from sad experience, as I do, that they have been unfortu- nate to an extent of which the world is scarcely aware, and that these Adelong diggings have turned out a complete failure, – I lament over their fate and sympathise in their misfortunes. I spoke to many of them. The last I asked upon the subject were a party of three, and their representa- tation was, that they had been working for a week, and had obtained a pennyweight-worth at the time about 3s. 6d ! It was a melancholy fact, pregnant with meaning to the new-comers, and by no means encouraging to the old ones. , I left the Adelong, under these circumstances, with a dissatisfied spirit. Money, I had none. Gold I had not obtained, and credit was out of the question. Sydney seemed the only promising place to which I could direct my footeteps, and thitherward I came. There are kind spirits in Sydney, men of enlarged minds, of benevolent and generous hearts. If I have been unfortunate, as unfortunate I most unquestionably have been, thanks be to God there are still those living who possess the genius of Christianity, who love the brotherhood, and have a special respect unto them who are of the household of faith. R. Sydney, March 22.
The challenge of crossing the Murrumbidgee River had always been a problem for travellers on the Southern Road. This was especially highlighted by the traffic flow in the early 1850s to the Ovens field in Victoria.
To attempt to fix this problem, the government set up an official punt service which however represented a major impost for the residents of Gundagai – compounding the challenges associated with the Murrumbidgee River cutting the town into two.
GUNDAGAI – THE PUNT
Some few year« ago, when the traffic on this line of road to the Victoria gold fields was most extensive, there was no punt, except for a short time on the river.
Passengers and their luggage had to be got over in the best possible manner, subject to an exorbitant charge for the same, and to boot an unmeasured share of insolence, from the “Charons” of the Murrumbidgee.
Thousands of your -readers can testify to this. Subsequently, however, a ?contract was entered into between the Colonial Go- vernment and two parties in this town. The former guaranteeing the ferry dues for five_ years to ‘the latter, on consideration of their building a .suitable punt, and providing the necessary gear for -working the same, to be kept in proper working order for the said period.
The ferry dues, as then agreed upon and sanctioned by his Excellency the Governor General, was moderate ; but subsequently, through some misrepresentation to the Government, an en- larged scale of fees waa obtained, which has, no -doubt, materially benefited the lessees of the punt, but has seriously inconvenienced the public, more ?especially the townspeople of Gundagai, who, not- withstanding the loss of traffic through the town, are ?subject to such charges at the ferry as very seriously interferes with the communication between both sides of the river.
In fact, it divides us into two distinct ,¿n(>mmunities. Think of a person on the South Bide ex V?,Ating to find a letter in the Po3t Office from Sydney *or elsewhere, the postage of which cannot exceed two- pence, having to pay six times that sum to get at it.
This is monstrous. A petition was got up some time , ago, to represent this in the proper quarter, but from some cause or other it broke down.
MAIL RoniiritY-FALSE ALAUM.-At a late hour on _”riday night last, the 15th instant, the mailman from Tarcutta arrived at the Post Office and reported that about an hour previously, at a place three or four miles from heie, he was stopped and robbed of the mail bags by three armed bushrangers. The proba- bility of this story was, it seems, doubted .at the time by the police magistrate, who, as well as tho police were quickly on the alert.
“This was verified next day by the ?delivery into the Post Office by the mail man, of the lost mail, which appears to have been untouched, although the bags were open at their mouths. This .-fact, coupled with others, leads clearly to the conclu- sion that the mailman got tipsy on the way, lost the mail, and, to screen himself, forged a falsehood.
No . doubt the culpability of the mailman in this case .caused no little trouble and anxiety to persons ex ?pecting remittances southwardly. Until a better and moe secure conveyance for the mails than ¡is at present available can bo procured, the .same cause of anxiety will exist. It is to be lamented that the present Po>tage Act is not able to control the mail contractors, as to the class of men to be employed by them in the very responsible duty of conveying the Post-office ¿mails through the bush.
They oug’it certainly to be men of known honesty, sobriety, and of obliging man- ners ; the two former qualities for the due protection of the mails entrusted to their care, and the latter for the security and benefit of the unfortunate travellers by the mail in this and si nilar parts of the country.
By 1857, it looked as though the main goldfield frenzy was passing Gundagai by. Accordingly the announcement of new gold finds on Mt Parnassus behind North Gundagai brought forth calls for more effort to be put into prospecting in order to discover more local gold outcrops.
GOLD DISCOVERY AT GUNDAGAI.
A letter dated Gundagai, 11th July, in tho samE paper, states that “Wo hear a great deal about the exceeding richness of the Murrumbidgee district, and of its great promise as one of the future gold-producing districts of Australia, and I have just had it confirmed
In a most remarkable manner I have been staging in this town a few days on my up-country journey, and yesterday was taken by some gentlemen of the town to a quartz ridge on the top of Mount Parnassus, just behind the present site of North Gundagai, to see a spot from which gold has been got on several occasions,
and while examining with a friend some curious chrystals growing in the rock, my attention wns drawn to a glittering substance just emerging from a hole in the quartz.
On raking it out it proved to be a nugget, of the precious stuff itself, and weighing it since, I find It weighs li dwts
Inotd not tell you if my time permits, I intend paving a Rccond visit to this Tom Tidlcr’s ground of Gundagai hpecimcns, I am iiifomed, have been picked’up in various directions, about tho biso of the hill, doubtless washed down by tho wator courses
After this, I must coincide with tho opinion of the inhabitants of tho town that if the district was properly piospeoted, it would ontriv ii in quantity nnd extent tho most famous of the Victorian gold-liclds
On my retuin to Goulburn, I shall be- most happy to convince the sceptical and gratify the curious with a eight of my Parnassus nugget.
One of the great legacies we have from the goldfields early days are the detailed accounts of correspondents written on a trip to the diggings.
This has provided us with a wonderful reference point from which to appreciate exactly what it was like to travel down the Southern Road and arrive in Gundagai – a town still scarred by the devastating flood of 1852.
GUNDAGAI AND ITS ENVIRONS. [FROM OUR SPECIAL GOLD-FIELDS’ REPORTER.]
A mile below Jugiong the Murrumbidgee makes a large detour, when the road leaves the flat, and ascends the broken ridges that form the southern termination of the table land to the northward. You are now on Cooney’s Hill, and the track passes over sidlings crossed by an indefinite number of small ravines, formed by the drainage from the mountain cutting into the stiff clay; and here commences seven miles of the worst and most difficult road in the colony; and now you commence the descent, passing over mud holes that would engulph a bullock.
And now you are in a black soil flat, floundering knee deep in mud ; and then comes Cooney’s Creek, and then more hills and more mud traps, and more black clay flats, and then the black springs-the terror of bullock drivers ; and then the worst of all, the Money Money Ranges, across which a rough trench has been exca- vated, intended as a road, but which is now converted into one long mud hole, in which, for two miles, drays sink to the axle in rotten granite, and clay as tenacious as pitch.
Having arrived at the base of the the last and steepest hill, without the necessity of having my horse dug out of the mud, I reached Money Money station, the first house after leaving Jugiong in crossing the range. I observed a fine outcrop of quartz, with the usual auriferous indications exhibited in granitic form- ations.
At some miles distance to the north west, amongst a mass of mountains, I could distinguish a bold cone of considerable magni- tude, rising from the centre of a circular basin or ring of hills ; it is probably of volcanic origin, and is in the neighbourhood of the Muttama reefs.
The Money Money Range is a continuous spur from the table land or levels to the northward of the basin of the Murrumbidgee ; and, after an easterly course of about thirty miles, it is cut through by the waters of that river, and stretches away towards tbe Australian Alps, gradually in- creasing in elevation.
The Muttama Creek also has its source on the levels ; and after a long easterly course, under a variety of appellations, following the base of the Money Money Range for a considerable distance, it sweeps round to the southward, and disembogues into the main river near Gundagai, receiving many minor streams in its course.
Various portions of this creek, after its descent from the table land, have been proved to be auriferous, but from some cause, unexplained, it has never been a favourite resort of alluvial miners. Sufficient gold has been obtained to prove it to be worthy of a more careful exploration.
Gold has also been found in many of the network of creeks that exist be- tween the descents from the plateau and the river, which here are spread over a wide area. The formation of the Money Money Range is chiefly granitic, but in many localities a wreck of the schistose formation still exists, sometimes in a metamorphosed state ; a lumin- ated limestone is also of frequent occurrence, and the forehills and lower elevations are intersected by in- numerable reefs, veins, and dyke’s of quartz, some of which have all the distinguishing cha- racteristics of auriferous stone.
Wherever the evidences of a schistose or sedimentary, forma- tion are most abundant gold has been found in the largest quantity, although the schists may have actually disappeared by disintegration from the immediate neighbourhood of the auriferous deposit. T
he large proportion of lime in the schists of this district, with the rapid declination of the stupendous granitic uphevals from their culminating point on the Snowy Mountains or Alps, has hastened the removal of the schists and marine deposits, and that extensive denudation of granite which characterises this section of the country.
That the surface rocks now exhibited were elevated to their present position under the superincumbent weight of an enormous sedi- mentary deposit is evinced on the crest of every hill. About two miles distant over the mountains to the right of the station is the Money Money Reef, and three or four miles further the Coolach Reef, in the same range.
About fifty men are engaged raising quartz on these reefs, which have prospected from two to three ounces to the ton. On the Muttama Creek, near the former, one steam crushing machine is in the course of erection by Messrs. Hayes and Com- pany, and another of small power is in operation, the property of Thurlow, Baxter, and Company.
The Muttama Reef, also in the same range, dis- tant about ten miles, has been opened for about eighteen months; about thirty men are em- ployed raising stone from this lode, and several hundred tons await the crusher. A few parcels of quartz from the Muttama have been crushed at the Adelong, and yielded from l.5 to 2 ounces per ton. The value of the stone from this reef has yet to be tested, as the experiments made up to the present date have not proved satis- factory ; it is intended to cart the quartz to the machines at the Money Money, when, if the yield proves to be remunerative, a steam-mill will be erected on the Muttama Reef ; the present opinion with regard to it is unfavour- able, and the men are rapidly deserting their claims. There are neither stores nor public houses at any of these diggings, and supplies are chiefly obtained from Gundagai.
The road now for seven miles, conducts you over a magnificent alluvial plain, watered by the Muttama, and here called the Mingay Creek, flanked by steep ranges of no great height. You now arrive at Mrs. Hanley’s Inn, a fine stone building, and the land in the neighbourhood is fertile, combined with great natural beauty of situation. There are here several first-class farms back among the ranges on both sides of the road.
Four miles from Mrs. Hanley’s, the range sweeps across the road to the southward; you are gradually rising. The rich black trappean soil of the valley is succeeded by a whitish argillaceous clay.
Bands of calcareous schists reappear, crossing out on the declivities : frag- ments of quartz become thickly strewn over the surface, and passing a large reef, you reach a gap in the range where the auriferous indica- cations are again apparent. Descending on the opposite side, you observe several holes sunk by prospectors, none of which appear to have reached the rock ; and at the base of the hill you find that the slates have passed into a pure schistose limestone.
At Five Mile Creek, the crossing may be enumerated amongst the dangers of the route. The road now rolls over an undulating country still flanked on the right by low steep ranges. Passing a public-house a mile further you are travelling between the front fences of a string of neat small farms that appear but recently occu- pied. Three miles further you reach Winton’s new brick-built steam flour mill, close to which is an extensive reservoir.
Here the road forks, one branch, leading round Mount Parnassus to the east, and the other to the west. Following that to the west, a mile brings you to the begin- ning of the descent of the hill, and the towns of North and South Gundagai are in the depths of the valley before you.
The former on the slopes at the base of Mount Parnassus, and the latter on the southern bank of the Murrumbidgee, situated on the declivities of a range that in- fringes upon the river.
Many of the lower ele- vations are crowned with snug homesteads and pretty cottages, but the rich alluvial flats that border the northern bank are untenanted, and present no vestige of improvement; the opposite side of the valley is closed in by a steep range terminating in the precipitous bluff of Mount Kino; to the northward, Jones’ Creek, emerging from a mass of mountains, meanders through the plain, and, after wander- ing round the lower flat, disembogues into the Murrumbidgee.
The view as you wind round the mountain, is one of surpassing loveliness, neat cottages peep from a mass of foliage, and humble huts are sprinkled over the slopes – heavily laden teams are slowly moving across the flats – the tall chimney of a mill is belching forth its smoke against the clear blue sky, and the rich verdure of the valley creeping up on one side to the dome-like crest of Mount Parnassus on the other mingles with the reddish brown of Mount Kino, crowned with grey rocks and a mass of stunted sickly-looking forest. To the south- ward the white buildings of South Gundagai rise one above the other on the hill side, bathed in a glorious flood of sunlight, and between them and you a belt of heavy forest marks the course of the noble river, and stretches into the far west through an opening in the ranges, until both forest and mountain air lost in the dim and hazy distance.
Meantime we have descended from Parnassus, and entered the main street of the north town, and the charm has vanished. We are ankle deep, dragging a horse through the mud, and esteem ourselves fortunate if we do not get knee deep in one of the holes, out of which that string of bullocks has been endea- vouring to tug a dray for the last half hour, aided by a torrent of colo- nial oaths and execrations manufactured by a bullock-driver and two volunteers ex- pressly for the occasion.
On either side a row of houses in every variety of bush architecture, about half a mile in length, rise out of the quag- mire. The most pretending edifices, and those on which the town depends for the respecta- bility of its appearance, are public-houses ; as you wade through the street past some of these you will observe a knot of long-legged, sallow faced, idle young men, leaning against the verandah posts, peering from under their dila- pidated cabbagetrees, and evidently reckoning you up.
The openings left for future streets give you occasional glimpses of a black, muddy creek, in which fetid pools are collected, sepa- rating the flat from the base of the hill, and immediately behind the lower low of houses, at the upper end of the street, on a green knoll to the left, is a beautiful little Roman Catholic chapel nearly completed, being the only place set apart for worship ; and further on to the right, on the margin of the flat, is an extensive flour mill : a fine stone-built hospital is also in progress high up the mountainside.
Following the road round the hill, of which it makes a complete circuit, two miles from the chapel, you arrive at a cluster of cottages built on suburban allotments. Within a few miles up Jones’ Creek, and on Mingay flats, about six miles distant, there are several farms; for the produce of these the neighbouring gold-fields offer a good market.
The country around the town and on either side of the Jugiong road, with a few exceptions, is suitable for cereal agriculture ; the richest soil is to be found on the summit and slopes of the ranges, and where the road is worst, and the mud traps most dangerous, there the land is the most fertile and suitable for cultivation.
North Gundagai, not yet recovered from the dreadful catastrophe of 1852, ought to form the nucleus of a wealthy agricultural district, and be independent of the road traffic. It is also cer- tain that the auriferous reefs in its vicinity will contribute to its prosperity when quartz mining becomes better understood. It now contains five public-houses, no church, a Roman Catholic chapel, a National school, two well stocked stores, two mills, an hospital, bakery, butchery, court-house (built of slabs), and a full staff of the class of mechanics usually found in a country village.
The population is more nume- rous than appears at first sight, as the inhabi- tants are scattered round the slopes of the mountain. Crossing the horrid creek, you pass over the flat where numerous posts, still standing, mark the site of the old town.
This spot, where the yell of despair rose above the uproar of the rushing waters, is now strewn with huge logs of driftwood and overgrown with rank herbage. Here and there the mouldering wreck of a chimney rises above the tall thistles ; blackened stumps are scattered up and down, and the l ancient giants of the primeval forest, tottering in decay, and spared, from their utter inutility, look down upon this lonely place, now left to sleep in its own gloomy desolation.
The people of the district still recount tales of heroic devotion and self-sacrifice on that fearful night that have never been chronicled, but that, pass- ing from sire to son, will be long remembered on the banks of the Murrimbidgee. Half a-mile now brings you to the bank of the river, when, crossing by a punt, you reach South Gundagai. T
hriving towns arise from the necessities of a district, and South Gundagai is as much a necessity to the southern bank of the Murrum- bidgee as if North Gundagai were ten miles dis- tant instead of one. At certain seasons the passage of the river and flat is impracticable, and it is always attended with some expense,-an ob- ject of consideration to a poor struggling com- munity in the first stage of settlement.
The rich agricultural district on the south side of the river is every day becoming more populous ; it is also destined at some future date to become the head of an internal naviga- tion which will raise it to a position of vast importance. Nothing is lost by a near approach, as the buildings, although few, are large and well located ; it contains at present three extensive stores, as many inns, no church, and a Denominational school, with a post office.
There is a sprinkling of cottages along the Southern Road for a short distance ; and about a mile from the river a steam flour mill has been just completed, which will find full employment when the many farms recently occupied in the neighbouring valleys become productive. As I turned into the mountain passes, and looked upon the glories of the setting sun, throwing the long shadows of the mountains across the valleys, and lighting up the leafy beauties and soft verdure of the river plains with its expiring rays, I never felt a truth more forcibly than that “ God made the country man the town.”