The Wichita daily eagle., 1894-03-02

GOLD REGION, WEST AUSTRALIA.
hills and almost waterless desert of West
Australia. Owing to the flies and the heat,
the thermometer often rising to 140 degrees
in the sun, our journey was made princi-
pally at night. The scene of our operations
is known as ''the Murchison field" and the
whole landscape is so arid and uninviting
and the surroundings so depressing that
only the promise of a sudden fortune could
induce men to come to Murchison or to
stay there after they had seen it.
l was familiar with the methods of
quartz mining, hydraulic work and wash
ing that prevail in the American gold
fields, but this did not prepare me for the
state of affairs | found in this colony 1t
was not only the difficulties of transporta-
lion and the almost inpossibility to get
timber for fuel, much more for cabins, but
the fact that the gold presented itself in a
form such as / had never seen before
The country, far as the eye could reach,
looked like a sea petrified while tempest
tossed, and along the crests or breakers the
gold was found. The mining laws of Austria
liza are much ike those in the United States
-5O0 feet along an outcrop are given the
prospector by right of discovery. and where
there are two or more men they can stake
out additional claims of half that extent
and have them recorded. But in such a
goldheld the first discoverer has no great
advantage. Indeed he may not have hit
upon the best location, and as to the area
IL seems to be practically without limit
There We're four men, including myself,
IN our gang, and instead Of settling down
IN the vicinity of parties that We're averag-
ing 21S ounces of gold day to the hand
we struck out for ourselves The outcrop
Of deconposed quartz, intermingled with
seams of glistening adamantine trap, being
practically unlimited, after two davs of
prospecting We settled down two miles far
ther from civilization than the nearest canp.
We were fortunate in finding a little val
ley where there was an abundance of kan
garoo grass for our horses and spring of
water that looked as il the animals could
exhaust it at drink, but it still holds out.
We had prepared ourselves for surface
operations with picks and heavy hammers
and were not long in getting 10 work. The
output of the first day was over six ounces
ef free gold to the man, and this so elated
us that we could not sleep during the night,
but lay awake building air castles. We
had breakfast before daylight, and with the
IL. VI
were to take turns doing the cooking. but
rs most of the stuff we brought with ms
was canned or condensed the cooking con.
sisted OF making a damper-a -four and
water cake baked in the ashes-and strong
blacA tea, so that the cook was at work
nearly as soon as the others
AT the end of so DAYS. when orr sunnlies
hau nearly given out and il was tboucbt
- 70 Il
quantity, our earnings averaged about 50
soo To the man, from which should be de-
aucted ABOUT 500 each for food and outfit.
am mere now for supplies, and after four
months. during which we have changed rho
held OF our operations three times, as we are
only prepared Tor surface work. we have
kept up our average, and each man is to the
Eood about s9,V0 We are entirely salts
heu' lof whiie some nave done far better
Others have not done nearly so well.
One man found surface pocket last
month from which within four hours he
TOOK out BIS ounces Of free gold, ard cases
where men have mined from 50 TO 100 ounces
day are not uncommon.
ihe abundance of surface gold and the
want OF water sud proper mining appli-
hnces beget great cSrelessness in the work,
Ana so many rich finds have been aban lon-
20 when without doubt a little drilling
would discover an abundance of the pre-
cious metal lower down.
This country reminds me very nuch of
parts of southern Arizona and northern
Mexico, and l am satisfied that without
very deep drilling an abundance of water
can be found. This will be most profita-
BILE undertaking forthe company that opens
q an and with an abundance OF water it ,