The Argus at KellyGang 31/8/1860 (3)
We passed some quartz-reefs, and the banks were one blaze from the quantity of micaceous slate upon them; in places, it was quite dazzling to the eye. That kind of slate is very plentiful at this part of the river, and I think may be considered a good sign, as we found some gold in a small reef of it. One feature in our journey was the immense timber-yards we passed. Mighty trees - giants of the forests some five feet in diameter - had been washed high up on the flats, and appeared to have been as much at the mercy of the torrent as a mimic cork vessel on the rapids of a street gutter. The river is about the same width all along from here to the source, a distance of 25 miles, the watershed being narrow, not more than a mile broad. When nearing home, we passed some of the party prospecting, and, from the results obtained, I think I may say that gold only extends 12 miles beyond our hut. It chiefly diffused in a gravel drift, there being nothing on the bottom, and is very light, so much so as to be difficult to save in the sluice boxes. Our journey occupied one week, and I think will be productive of much good. We have ascertained more of the topography of this country than has yet been made known, and, from the bearings taken by Mr Howitt, it will no longer be a terra incognita. On our arrival at home; the various reports received from the men proved what I before said - that in places there are deposits which will pay good wages to industrious men; but of course, as on all other gold-fields, there is a great deal of barren ground. Provisions are becoming very scarce, and as for tobacco, some are using tea-leaves, flavoured with tobacco, as a substitute; still no grumbling is heard, and in a few days fresh supplies will be delivered at Quakmungee, to which place Mr Howitt is about to move en route for the Mitchell.
Since writing the above, Mr Howitt has returned from one of his expeditions, and has obtained some information concerning this locality, which I am happy to be able to give you in this letter, not only as it confirms what has been the opinion of the party concerning the Dargo, but because it will enable me to feel less anxiety when writing about the auriferous qualities of the river. At the back of our hut is the range which separates us from the Beechworth and Omeo districts; but being desirous of ascertaining the nature of the country beyond it, Mr Howitt, with one of his men, crossed the boundary. He describes the country as consisting of large flats, well watered, and of rich alluvial gullies; on the hills he observed several quartz reefs, which appear to extend from the Buckland, or that direction, to the Mitchell. Seeing some men employed in cutting out cattle from a mob, he endeavoured to reach them, but failed in doing so.
The cattle tracks, however, led him to the belief that he was near a station, and at a distance of about 20 miles he arrived at a hut. It being very early in the morning, he took the goodman of the house rather by surprise, for neither Mr Howitt or his man had their swags, having planted them in the bush. For some minutes the stock-keeper was speechless from astonishment, but after the usual Gipps Land invitation to "walk in" had been given, and some half-dozen men appeared from various parts of the hut in which they had been sleeping, Mr Howitt was recognized by one as the Government prospector, and all kinds of inquiries were mutually made. The first creek crossed by him Mr Howitt was informed was Spring Creek, which joins the Victoria and Cobbungra Creeks and forms the Cobbungra River, which in its turn unites with the Livingstone, running into the Mitta Mitta. On the Victoria is Mr Parslow's Cobbungra Station, the one at which Mr Howitt called being the Bingo Mungee, occupied by Messrs Worcester. Both are breeding stations only; the latter is about 5½ miles E 20 S from the township of Livingstone. Some distance further on is the Ino Mungee Station.
In the course of conversation I transpired that two of the men in the hut formed members of the parties who have been working on this river, and they willingly gave information concerning it. They were here for two years, until they were driven out by the floods last season, and intend returning in the summer. Their average wages were from £3 to £4 per week, but sometimes more, as they came upon patches. Their experience agrees with that of the prospectors, namely, that the gold in the banks is very fine, and that it is only in the gravel-drift where it is payable. They also think, with Mr Howitt, that in the bed of the river, deep in the crevices of the rock, the heaviest and best gold is deposited. They found that the ground deteriorated as they went up the river, whilst below the gold was coarser. At one time 21 persons were working here, all known more or less to each other, and some of whom found some good patches.
They appeared perfectly astonished at the route taken by Mr Howitt, and said that they had frequently tried to go lower down the river - which, by-the-by, they imagined to be the Wentworth - but had failed. Should a rush over take place to this district, the miners will not have the same difficulty in procuring provisions as the Government prospecting party have had, for meat can be obtained at the station, whilst a bullock-team can bring rations from Livingstone Township to the top of the dividing range, as it slopes down very gradually on the eastern side; on the western face, that upon which the hut we occupy is built, the spur is very steep. I think drays could bring down a load if trees or logs were lashed on behind. However, rations could be procured without difficulty, and that does away with the principal objection to this place. Mr Howitt was also informed that the whole country between here and Livingstone was auriferous, and that good gold had been obtained on the Cobbungra Creek; none of it has, however, been prospected properly, and there are large high flats forming basins on which not a shaft has been sunk. I trust that the Government will allow Mr Howitt to extend his labours in this direction, especially as, if report speaks truly, the Omeo prospecting party have gone to the opposite side of their district, on the Omeo high plains. There is a track known to a few from Wangaratta to Livingstone-a three days' journey - and should a population come to this locality, it would be the means of uniting the Western with the Gipps Land , gold-fields more closely than heretofore. Of course, miners could only work here in the summer, after the spring floods; but there is little doubt that in the country I have mentioned rich flats, gullies, and reefs will be found. Prospecting, however, will tell, and some months would be required to test the large extent of country which has been visited by Mr Howitt since his arrival on this river.
With these few remarks I close what, I fear, will be a long letter, reiterating what I have be- fore said, that it would be useless for any but hardworking men to come here, and men prepared to face disappointment. The route from Livingstone is excellent, so that they would be spared the heavy labour and fatigue which are inseparable from travelling on the track from the Dargo Station, and from thence to Sale . Should gold be discovered on the Mitchell, even those difficulties might be lessened, although I think that Mr Howitt, without "inquiring his way of every person he met," as he has been accused of doing, selected the best route for the conveyance of his party.
P.S. August 14.- On my way to Dargo I stopped at Camp No 4, and whilst washing in the river after breakfast, I picked out of the slate a nice little piece of gold, weighing 4dwt. That induced me to try a prospect, and I washed a pennyweight of coarse gold out of two pans of earth.
[We have in type a report just received by the Prospecting Board from Mr Howitt himself, but are compelled to hold it over, for want of space.]
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