George Ogilvy Preshaw

“ In the suburbs pretty drives and shady walks are to be found. The trees are interlaced with climbing plants of great variety, and the undergrowth of mosses and exquisite ferns of singular grace and beauty. A person who is sure-footed enough to walk on a single wooden rail of, say three inches wide (belonging to one of the saw-mills) , could penetrate to places in the forest full of charming interest that would well repay a walk. A walk along the sea beach is also enjoyable, and sometimes creatures of rare forms are thrown up at high water out of reach of the returning tide. ”

“ As it was, even with all the good and true men, it frequently happened that the mob defied all attempts to keep law and order. The records of the police court will unhappily reveal the truth of these assertions.
All eyes were centred upon Lambing Flat; every man who could use a pick and shovel was anxious to try his luck, and at last John Chinaman put in his appearance. I am no apologist for the Chinese; I do not advocate their claims as equal to those of our own countrymen; but still they have certain rights which ought not to be trampled upon. ”

“ On both, and on sundry other occasions the boat was moored, and after a “nobbler” at Liardet’s we wended our way to Melbourne—a two-mile walk, and half way nearly knee-deep in watery mud. After leaving the beach we did not pass a tent between there and Melbourne.
There were hundreds of ships in the bay, and consequently thousands of people were coming and going to Melbourne. No one had time or inclination to laugh at the dress of another, for people thought and dreamt of nothing but nuggets. ”

“ Gold commissioners, bankers, squatters, swells, come to see the rush; burly diggers just as they had left their work, shanty-keepers, bullies, loafers, and niggers, all pierced with cold and impelled by hunger, that great leveller of distinctions, jostled and pressed eagerly to satisfy the cravings of their appetites. ”

“ Sergeant gives us another lively view of the digger-hunting process:—
“‘Traps! Traps! Joe! Joe!’ were the well-known signals which announced that the police were out on a license raid, now becoming almost of daily occurrence. The hasty abandonment of tubs and cradles by fossickers and outsiders, and the great rushes of shepherds to the deep hole on the flat as the police hove in view, readily told that there were not a few among them who believed in the doctrine that “Base is the slave who pays.” ”

“ Again, the glare of light through the single calico tent was too much for the eyes of many. Medical men then came in contact with many a case in which they could afford but little benefit, and it was soon seen that unless some shelter could be afforded the helpless digger, death must be the natural consequence. There was no lack of money, for the doctor was hardly inside the tent-door before the fee was tendered, but a golden aid could not cure dysentery. The subject of an hospital had engaged the attention of several of the benevolent, but at that time it seemed a formidable undertaking. ”

“ I had seen a lady and gentleman pass on one or two occasions, and seeing so few gentlemen dressed in black, came to the conclusion that it was a minister of the gospel. Understanding that he was to preach under a gum-tree, I made arrangements for the diggers to go, and I was to act as tent-keeper. After a reasonable time I saw them returning, accompanied by the worthy pair, and judge my astonishment when I found we were well-known to each other. What a pleasure to meet old friends. I gave them a hearty welcome, gave the lady my chair, and the minister a stool. ”

“ How it has improved in appearance and in reality! how every institution which can elevate the masses and aid the glorious work of social progress has been fostered and cultivated! Let those who trod the ground now occupied by Castlemaine in the dark days of 1852 mount one of the hills which command the town and look around them, and it is strange to me if they do not, on the comparison, wonder at the energy and enterprise that have in a few years converted the then waste land into the now pleasant little town before them. ”

“ I shall never forget the impression of that scene as it first met my gaze; the bright glare of the huge coal fire, the motley group of roughly-attired figures around it—some silent and thoughtful, others fierce and clamorous, with every species of anger and revenge visible on their countenances—the solemn and monotonous roar of the distant breakers, together with the surrounding mountain scenery in all its pristine grandeur, formed a romantic picture, rude and wild in the extreme. ”

“ Joseph Yates, goldfields’ inspector of the Bank of New South Wales, but recently temporarily located here on the reopening of the Westport branch. The death of this gentleman has given quite a shock to the town, for he was universally respected by all who came in contact with him, and his honourable, genial nature endeared him to those who were intimate with him. No better friend to the miner was ever at the head of mining banking matters; no more charitable, kind-hearted man ever listened to a tale of distress, and none who told it were ever sent empty away by him. ”

“ As soon as Walmsley rode up and said he was going to the Greenstone, I saddled Nobby, took my saddle-bags into the bedroom, unlocked the safe, took out what notes and coins I wanted, strapped up the saddle-bags, put them on the pony, and away. It so happened that I was particularly busy on this trip, both on the Saturday and Sunday; the weather most miserable, raining the whole time. ”

“ A canoe was at once despatched to bring them over, the whole of the population waiting and anxiously watching their arrival. On their stepping ashore their first report was no gold. This was a great damper to all, but from the wink of Jimmy Liddle, Hudson knew it was all right. The others disbelieved their report, the prospectors appearing too jolly for men returning disappointed. Every move they made was closely watched. ”

“ The diggers have not done much to help on such a valuable institution, but, thanks to our Government, there has been no lack; many a fine fellow, far from his father’s home, has had his last pillow soothed by the hands of a stranger, and the mortal remains of many an unknown one have been decently laid in the digger’s grave. ”

“ Future travellers by the beach road may yet benefit themselves, or, if they are honest, the bank, by making it a part of the object of their journey to search for some of the undiscovered coin. It is not recorded that as yet anyone has discovered more than a few half-sovereigns, or has thought of delivering the same to the bank. It is insinuated, however, that there was for one night a considerable amount of spare cash among some people at Charlestown, and that there was more liberality in the matter of ‘shouting’ than is usual at the present dry season and dull times. ”

“ Up to the time I left Castlemaine I may say I had not left my mother’s apron strings, and to be transferred to a place like Kiandra was a change indeed.
Talking as one who has had a long experience (thirty years) on the goldfields, I consider it a great mistake for any bank to send a lad to a new rush, where everything is rough, and one must necessarily mix with all classes, and in all sorts of places. If a young man is inclined to be fast, there is everything at a new rush to encourage him in his downward career—bad companions, publichouses, billiard saloons, &c. ”

“ In the early days of the occupation of the Coast, when business was brisk and vessels were crowding to the port, I have seen many wrecks strewn along the beach. As soon as a vessel touches the bottom, the rolling surf beats it up high and dry. ”

“ I went to the camp once or twice to obtain new ones, or rather to get my own, for each man now was on his own hook, but the rush was so great that I could not afford time to wait, but, reckoning on myself as a resident, I thought that there was no necessity for haste, and that I could obtain my license at another time. I sent one of my sons, and he stood for his turn, and after an ordinary amount of pushing and squeezing got up to the temporary desk at the commissioner’s tent. ”

“ When commissioners, magistrates, and troopers had got used to treat the diggers as people to be taxed and worried at pleasure, the offensive method of carrying out the obnoxious license law had grown so irksome that a reform of the whole system was irresistibly pressed upon the population. ”

“ But a change has come o’er the spirit of the dream; digging now-a-days is hard work. I know many men at this present moment who are working hard from Monday morning till Saturday night, and scarcely getting enough to keep body and soul together. There were lots of gentlemen diggers in the “good old days”; in fact it was hard for those in business to get a man at any price, for no sooner did people land in Melbourne than they were off to the diggings. ”

“ With all the apparent roughness, and seemingly loose way of doing business, great care had to be exercised, and if some, accustomed to the strict discipline of the head office, rejoiced at the apparent slackness, they soon found that, though it was pleasant enough to have a yarn with a customer in the middle of the day, yet it was more than made up by having to get up possibly at night to buy a parcel of gold, or that riding on business was very nice, but when it came to your horse bolting, upsetting you, and leaving you to foot it some ten or twenty miles, carrying possibly some 500 ozs. ”

“ Someone had frightened the little fellow into the belief that if he had not a license the “traps” (police) would be after him, and in the simplicity of his heart he said to the commissioner, “Have boys to get licenses, sir?” “What do you do, my lad?” “Keep my father’s tent.” “But don’t you rock the cradle now and then?” “Yes,” said he. “Then you must have a license. What’s your name? Here’s your license. ”

“ A general fight took place, many taking the side of the prospectors, who, although weaker in number, came off victorious. Matters now settled down into their usual groove, the prospectors retiring into Hudson’s store, where they remained for the night. It was then he learned full particulars of the gold discovery, which took place in the Totara and a branch creek, now known as Donnelly’s. In the afternoon the vanguard of the rush hove in sight, consisting of Maories of all ages and sexes, and by night-fall fully 150 miners had arrived. ”

“ The chance of a good meal, hot, quickly served, and to be eaten with the assistance of knives, forks, and plates, was hailed by hundreds with more than delight. To gentlemen, who, of course, were unaccustomed to cook out of doors over a miserable fire in the rain, to poor wearied diggers, arriving after a tiresome tramp of miles over bleak swampy plains, such an opportunity was not to be lost, and numbers of diggers working on the rich patches of Surface Hill appreciated the boon also, as the time otherwise lost by them in cooking was thus saved ”

“ I know no more hospitable individual, in the full sense of the word, than this honest, jolly, free-hearted spendthrift. A share of his damper and bacon, or whatever else he may have, a pannikin of tea, or half his blanket or opposum rug, are always at your disposal if you choose to accept them. He on his part would, if compelled to seek it, expect to find the same welcome at your tent door, and would recall the kindness afterwards with gratitude, while endeavouring in every way to make some return. ”

“ Many stout, hardy fellows were missed; lost in the bush and perished by starvation, drowned, or killed by accident,—for at that time there were no bushrangers on the Coast, gold not being plentiful enough to induce these demons of society to locate themselves in such a wilderness. The next important event that took place was the big rush to Hokitika, early in 1865, about which time Hudson made a visit to the place, and finding money was to be made there, and their business requiring the whole attention of himself and Price, they decided to close the store at Totara, which was done accordingly. ”

“ Walmsley was so unfortunate, but not so when one took into consideration that he was the officer in our service on the Coast who was called upon to do the risky work, and so long as he was in that position any losses made by sticking-up, or such as that above stated, would fall to his lot. Other men might be in the service for a lifetime and never lose a penny, and for the simple reason that they were never called upon to run any risk. We were not the only bank that made losses in this way. Some time in 1865 a bag of gold which contained 230 ozs. ”

“ It is painful to record that a great number of this vast crowd was composed of the worst class of men, and had it not been that there was in nearly every locality a wholesome leaven of true, noble-hearted men, ready at all times to stand loyal to the best interests of the State, it is impossible to imagine to what extent the lawlessness would have reached. ”

“ The following morning Ward and Hudson started for the Greenstone, to obtain some horseshoe nails. After innumerable difficulties they arrived, and found that great dissatisfaction existed among the mining population, the majority of them pronouncing the rush to be a duffer. Horseshoe nails were not to be had for love or money. They travelled on as far as the junction, where they came across a Maori canoe on the point of starting for the Teremakau. In this they went as far as the pah, where they camped for the night, and were hospitably entertained by the Maories. ”

“ We had been without the sight of a beef-steak or a chop for a month, when late one morning a steamer was seen coming towards the dreaded bar. Soon she was made out as the William Misken, a small screw boat, owned by two friends of mine, now resident in Sydney. All the town went to see the Misken cross the bar, or pile up on the beach, for at that time there were twenty-nine steamers and sailing vessels piled up at the entrance of the river; some on top of others. ”

“ When we arrived at Campbell’s Creek, the flat now known as Preshaw’s Flat was a beautiful green sward. We had not been there many days before a party of diggers put down a shaft in front of our tent. They bottomed at a depth of about 40 ft., and although they got gold, still not in any quantity. The very fact of gold being obtained, however, caused a rush, and before a week passed fully 1000 men were on the ground. Although living so near, none of us pegged out a claim till late in the day, and had to content ourselves with a hole down by the side of the creek. ”