ON the way to Lydenburg, not many treks from 

 Paradise Camp, we were outspanned for the day. 

 Those were the settled parts ; on the hills and 

 in the valleys about us were the widely scattered 

 workings of the gold diggers or the white tents 

 of occasional prospectors. 



The place was a well-known and much-frequented 

 public outspan, and a fair sized wayside store marked 

 its importance. After breakfast we went to the 

 store to ' swap ' news with the men on the spot and 

 a couple of horsemen who had offsaddled there. 



There were several other houses of sorts ; they 

 were rough wattle and daub erections which were called 

 houses, as an acknowledgment of pretensions expressed 

 in the rectangular shape and corrugated iron roof. 

 One of these belonged to Seedling, the Field Cornet 

 and only official in the district. He was the petty 

 local Justice who was supposed to administer minor 

 laws, collect certain revenues and taxes, and issue passes. 

 The salary was nominal, but the position bristled with 

 opportunities for one who was not very particular ; 



39 1 



