Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1878-03-21
Continued from first psge.)

metal. which looked like brass
Halo, mate - exclaimed 10 the Tin
man. "What the devil do YOU carry 8
bagful of brass about you for Y'
Brass pn screamed the simpleton. ats
as much brass as you are q! It's gold-that's
what il is It's gold -
Simpleton or not-aud he must have
been mad. or something very near it., tC
let out the secret To such a rough-l looking
lot as we were-he would have been a
dead man in very short time, if it had
not been tor me; for Dutch Louis had
thrown himself on the fool at the first
mention of gold, and was pressing the
life out of him. He was a devil. was
Dutch Louis. You were never safe with
him. i had to hug pretty tightly before
could get him off; aud when he did let 90
he was almost as black in the face as the
man he was trying to choke. | am not
over-partcular myself but the flying horse
man had never done me any harm, and q,
besides ! wanted 10 get out of him where
he had found the gold. We had heard OF
gold being discovered, and did not know
whether TO believe it or not; but now it
seemed as if we were on the track of it.
Upon our promising the flying horseman
that we wouldn't hurt him, he told US that
he had found the gold in Bendigo, and
there were a hundred people there digging
as much as they could carry, and we could
get ton of il If we liked.
You may guess how excited we were.
We determined to start off at once, and
we made our new mate go with us. lie
refused at first, but when we threatened to
hang him unless he obeyed orders, and,
indeed, had rope round his neck, he
changed his mind and led the way. We
went "A little off the track to borrow tools
from shepherd and we succeeded in
getting two shovels and "A deube-headed
pick. We reached Bendigo all right and
set to work AT once. We couldn't get any
ground in Golden Gully, where the dig
gers were making twenty ounces Il day,
SO we crossed hill into the next valley,
where we began to work at once. Three
feet down we came to the gold. We
called the gully Dead Dog Gully, because
we found two or three dead dogs there
We worked there for fortnight, then we
shifted our tent TO Numbering Fiat, where
the gold was not found in such large
pieces as 10 Dead Dog, but there was more
of it. Then we went to Jackass Gully,
where we came upon nugget which
weighed seventy ounces. Altogether, we
did very well. Wherever we went we
found gold, and as there were not too
many diggers on the gold-tield for the first
Jew weeks, there wasn't much squabbling
about the ground. There was more than
room for all OF US VIII, We're there.
We washed hundred and twenty
ounces out OF one bucket OF dIt, and we
might have made big fortunes il we hadn't
hapn a nareal tanI. I.nt innE la
drinking and knocking our money about,
and laying stupid wagers. We got the
gold 50 easily, aud thought SO little OF
money, that when we went to grog shop
to drink. we would give the man big pinch
OF gold for two or three glasses OF whis-
key. If we wanted new shirts or boots,
we would 60 into store and fit them on
We were very particular about our water
tight boots-we liked them to fit well aud
look smart-and never asked the price.
When we had bought the things we did
want we used to throw IA wooden match
box filed with gold on to the counter, and
say 10 the storekeeper:
Take it out OF that. mate
And the storekeeper did take it out of
that. We never knew how much there
was in the match box, and we never
knew, and never cared to know, what
the storekeeper took. He would pretend
TO be very particular about, it would open
the box carefully, and put few pinches
OF gold into the scale, and pat little
back, and take "A little more, and then
look at us us much AS to say
''See what an honest fellow | am ~
Or as much as to say: "lIow wrong it
is OF you to he SO careless with your gold.
But il you can't take care of your money
yourself | must take care oi II tor YOU"
| have heard dggers lots OF times,
when the boxes were handed back To
them. say to the storekeeper:
Here, take another piuch, mate, las If
il was snuff
And the storekeeper would take another
pinch-not a small one--and ask them II
they would not have glass OF grog.
That was thing they never refused
And after that, perhaps. they would buy
something else they didn't want, and
throw the matchbox TO the storekeeper,
that he might help himself again. The
storekeepers of the gold-diggings made
flne thing out OF the reckless god-diggers |
Every night We used to assemble at Il |
shanty called the Go-a-head restaurant, |
and there we would drink ourselves blind, |
sometimes ending up in fight in which |
knives would be used, and some ugly |
wounds given. Lucky diggerS would |
IIay cribDage, or brag, or euchre, Tor
pitches, or ounces, or nuggets OF gold, |
and hundreds of pounds would be lost and
won in an hour.
One night, when we were at the G0-a-head |
restaurant, digger related "a story about
an aboriginal who had told him that big
Jumps OF gold were lying on the surface Il
hundred miles away. When the digger
asked in what direction the wonderful
land lay, the aboriginal pointed IN the d.
rection OF the Murry river, and said:
wv ite man lind plenty OF yellow stone
there
The diggers' tongues were very busy
over the story, and nothing else was talk
ed OF all the night. As we walked home to
our tent, 10 the Tinman and Dutch Louis.
VINO were tremendously excited, did all
'hey could TO persuade me to start on IA
prospecting tour to these unknown diggips
where gold could be found in biz humps.
But had led hard life OF it in the busb.
ior many years, and | had made up nv
MUD 10 90 down to Melbourne on a spree
proposed that the three Of Us should
make tracks for Melbourne. spend = fort.