May Vivienne

“ I was fortunate enough to secure the only vacant room in Donnelon’s Hotel; so, after getting off some of the red dust of the 12-mile coach ride I started for the said Lead, about half a mile from the hotel. When I first saw it I was amazed, not only at the number of tents and bough-houses, the thousands of windlasses at work, the thousands of men with tin dishes washing the ore for gold, the thousands of cradles (not babies’) being rocked for the same purpose, but at the thousands of men rushing about in all directions in a state of wild excitement. ”

“ After the magnitude of the under workings, nothing surprised me on the top, although the rumble and stamping of the batteries, the hum of the mighty machines, the beautiful bright engines that seem to work with perpetual motion, the enormous furnaces, the magnificent cyanide plant, with its wonderful machinery for extracting the gold, the electricity that seems to fill the air and almost takes one’s breath away, are all so vast and wonderful that a sense of something like awe came over one, and I was not sorry to get into the open air again and see the blue sky above me. ”

“ The terrible longing for home news, and the uncertainty of getting any; the wall that seemed to divide the miners from the rest of the world, together with the feeling that there was untold wealth of gold lying beneath their feet if they could only hold out and keep up strength to get at it, made their lives almost intolerable, and many of those first prospectors have gone under, poor fellows! leaving others to reap the reward and to make Coolgardie the wonderful place it is to-day. ”

“ Only a few years ago immense jarrah and cool white and red gum trees stood in undisputed possession. Now fruits of all kinds are growing in luxuriance. Oranges, lemons, and sub-tropical fruits seem to flourish especially well. So do flowers; blue lechenaultias, coral creeper, heaths of all colours, heliotrope, primroses, pink, and yellow blossoms nestle in the grass. Lovely bouquets can be made from the delicate grey smoke-flower and the pink immortelles, and will last a long time without water. ”

“ Another charming place to see, 28 miles from Perth, is Kelmscott, nestling in its bed of flowers. Everything looked delightful on the morning that I went there. Nature never appeared more beautiful; it seemed cruel to pluck the flowers from their beds and crush the sweet grass with the horse’s hoofs. I felt almost like Mr. Ruskin, who was such a passionate defender of nature that he would never pluck a flower. Two miles from Kelmscott is another sweet little village called Armadale. I put up at the picturesque inn and enjoyed a few days’ quiet rest among the beautiful surroundings. ”

“ The air is so invigorating that, after being there only a few days, one feels almost a new being. Any one suffering from brain fag or exhaustion cannot do better than go to Albany for a holiday. One need only look at the faces of the children, see their healthy looks, bright eyes and general activity, to know that they have been born and brought up amongst healthy surroundings. One feature of the children is their beautiful hair; many possess such luxuriant tresses that one feels inclined to envy the lovely colour and beauty of them, and to wish one also had been born in Albany. ”

“ The town is in two parts, one each side of the Avon, which is crossed by three bridges. The pale yellow fields of corn, the pretty houses on the hillsides, the beautiful cattle grazing, and the fruit growing in profusion in the various gardens and orchards, make a charming picture. Quantities of sandal-wood grow close to the town, and constitute a valuable industry; the jam-wood also thrives well, and the scent of it makes one imagine oneself in the vicinity of a raspberry-jam factory. ”

“ After the wealth and magnificence of the Gold King’s house, it is not to be wondered at if other homes look plainly furnished, and yet Lady Forrest’s, although an old-fashioned house, is most pleasant to visit. The furniture and surroundings are in exquisite taste. The afternoon I called, the artistic drawing-room looking out into the garden of sweet flowers was most restful to the eye. Lady Forrest is most kind and genial, and very much liked by every one. She takes great interest in her husband’s work, and takes many a worry from him by seeing people herself who come to interview him. ”

“ It was a lovely day, and the first things that pleasantly greeted the passengers on stepping from the tug-boat to the wharf were various small boys with huge bunches of the exquisite-smelling [2] boronia, of which I had often heard. Pretty little Albany looked charming. The day was really perfect in its loveliness; the country round looked like an exquisite emerald robe fringed with pearl and sapphire, the grand blue mountains in the distance, the opal sea, with its white-winged yachts and various sailing vessels lying at anchor in beautiful Princess Royal Harbour ”

“ The underground workings of the Australia are brilliantly lit with electric light, which shows up the gleam of the rich gold through the ores so beautifully as you peer through the light into the magnificent chambers of oxidised or sulphide ore, you can almost imagine yourself in Aladdin’s Cave. ”

“ Until recently it was not thought much of, gold-mining having deadened all other kinds of mining in the colony. Now, however, things have taken a turn, and quite a large settlement has sprung up, and over 2000 men are on the field. A good town has been formed where three months before was a dense forest, and solitude reigned supreme. Jarrah growing on the spot, and two timber-mills being close by, nearly all the houses are built of the handsome dark wood, are thus much more pleasing than the usual tents and camps of mining places, and stand out well against the tall green forest trees. ”

“ Now that the railway touches the place, the inhabitants say that this will be the chief agricultural centre of the south-west district. The people seemed so genial that it was really a pleasure to converse with them.
A very beautiful drive through richly wooded hills, the tender green grass of which was dotted here and there by clusters of trees and covered by the perfumed golden wattle and by many spring wild flowers—appearing between an occasional field of newly growing wheat—brought me to Dallgarrup, the homestead of Mr. Godfrey Hester, who has over 7000 acres of land altogether. ”

“ There are many charcoal-burners about who are making a good living. Iron bolts and nails driven into the jarrah do not loosen from rust, and there is no doubt the jarrah is the principal tree of the colony. It has come triumphantly through several severe tests, and is now in great demand all over the world. The Golden West does not depend on her mines alone, but, as Mr. Zeb Lane said last year, “Make no mistake about it, the jarrah of Western Australia will yet pave the streets of many of the leading cities of the world.” ”

“ Certainly there are no fine mansions; for the most part the places are Hessian camps with occasional tents, but there are also some very comfortable-looking wooden cottages, many with praiseworthy attempts at ornamentation, painted light green, and not at all unpleasing to the eye in this sandy and desert-looking country. There are no large trees here at all, a few medium-sized ones, and plenty of mulga scrub and salt-bush, which looks most dry and uninviting, but contains much nourishment, so that sheep and cattle thrive well on it, and mulga is almost the only food of the camel. ”

“ People at that time came from all directions to see the wonderful alluvial field—miners to take up claims, speculators to buy out claims, men to buy gold, men to buy ore, and plenty of people only as spectators, who wanted to see the gold as it was washed off. In this, however, they did not always succeed, for those men who had time to do it had made bough-sheds and pitched tents, and had their cradles inside, where they could wash their ore in privacy, and not let everybody know how many ounces would go to the dish. ”

“ Roses, honeysuckle, geraniums, and mignonette grow very fine in this soil, and the flowers indigenous to the colony bloom in sweet and infinite variety. The splendour of Western Australian flowers cannot be imagined by those who have not seen it. Their dainty delicate odours are unsurpassable, and if people in other lands only knew of our glorious wealth of flowers, I am sure they would be anxious to obtain seeds and cultivate the lovely blossoms. ”

“ The day I went the steamer was full, it being a holiday. Launches were plying from jetty to jetty, taking parties of picnickers to the pretty shady groves. A regatta was also being held, and many people were watching it. It was a pretty sight to see the contest of the boats as they sailed merrily round the lovely bay. The weather was exquisite, but a strong breeze was blowing; good seamanship was called into play in the sailing of the yachts and robust muscular exertion in the rowing events. Albany may well be called the sanatorium of the colony. ”

“ There is no police protection, and not even a tree lock-up, so every one does pretty well as he likes at Diorite King; but when one thinks of the life these men lead, shut off in a desert country from almost every trace of civilisation, one feels that their faults should be looked on with a lenient eye. One man seemed terribly drink-sodden, and I was told he had taken thousands of pounds worth of gold as a partner in a certain claim, and his friends had tried to get him away to reclaim him, but he would not leave the place, and preferred to spend the money as he got it in the desert. ”

“ This valley of the Avon is an ideal spot for a large dairy, and might have thousands of sleek cows grazing on the rich pastures, and hundreds of rosy-cheeked dairymaids turning sweet cream into butter and cheese for the dusty goldseekers.
Northam has a fine town hall, some handsome churches, a convent, magnificent post-office, and many beautiful mansions and villas standing in fine grounds with nice gardens. Many of the favourite English flowers flourish here. ”

“ Besides being endowed with beauty and richness of soil, Albany is likely to become famous as a coal- and gold-producing district, for coal has recently been found, and a company which will make further researches formed. Timber also is abundant, and copper has recently been found at the Phillips River, about 180 miles away. Thousands of people who have gone direct to the goldfields have no idea of the beauty of this place. They only think of Western Australia as a place in which, to look for gold, and when that has been obtained in sufficiency, to be left behind as quickly as possible. ”

“ There are many families in Victoria and elsewhere who bless the day when the goldfields of Western Australia were discovered, and a great many miners in these districts have brought over their wives and families and have made humble but comfortable homes for them. They all seem happy, and I have talked with many of the women, who tell me that, though the life is rather rough, yet they have money always regularly coming in, while, on the other side, they had nothing to keep themselves with the failure of the banks and general crash in Melbourne having ruined so many people. ”

“ The pastoral country appeared very thriving as we drove along by the beautiful River Avon, and the richness of the soil gave ample promise of the harvest to come. Bush flowers were growing all round, native grasses were flourishing in wild luxuriance, healthy green crops were waving in the gentle breeze, giving promise of a most abundant yield and adding beauty to the surrounding scene. ”

“ There is a nice hall, built, of course, with the handsome jarrah-wood, which polishes so beautifully that it looks like mahogany. It never shrinks or warps, so that for a dancing-floor it cannot be excelled. There has been a great demand from South Africa for this wood, which is almost impervious to the ravages of time. Piles that have been driven into the River Swan at the Causeway, and others into the sea at Fremantle, have been taken up after 57 years and found to be uninjured, having resisted the attacks of the sea worm. ”

“ As well as the gold, there were many splendid exhibits from the agricultural districts, which opened the eyes of the goldfields people, most of whom had never been in any other part of the colony but the goldfields, and who had an idea that gold was Western Australia’s only product. Many of these people have been so much impressed [199] that they have taken up agricultural land with a view to having a country residence, to which they can retire after the heat and dryness of the goldfields and recruit while planting their gardens. ”

“ Whitby Falls Lunatic Asylum is near Jarrahdale, and the poor souls who inhabit it must, I am sure, find there a real haven of rest. The asylum nestles in a sweet valley at the foot of the Darling Range, and the hills make a grand background. Gardens, large fields and paddocks, with cattle feeding, stretch all round, and close by is a magnificent orchard. ”

“ As we approached the famous Peak Hill, which is a nice little mining town, endowed with wonders of which you will presently hear, we passed several dry-blowers working. These men fossick (look) over the old workings, and by aid of a tin dish, in which they place any earth they think contains gold, and a coarse riddle with which to sift it, afterwards blowing away the fine dirt, they frequently find gold at the bottom of the dish. ”

“ Machinery on the top of the shaft and above the crushing mill conveys it to its destination; then the bucket empties as if by magic, and flies back to the bottom of the open cut, a quarter of a mile journey, to be again replenished. It seems almost incredible that a girl ever had the courage to take that journey, and yet one actually performed the perilous feat. ”