Mines and Mineral Statistics. 
31 
some were lost and others followed to the Goohang Creek. {Vide 
flan of leads annexed^) Of these M'Guiggan’s gave promise of 
being the most productive, and at an early period formed the 
centre of attraction, and 5,000 persons were speedily concentrated 
upon it. The hrst mile below the Prospector’s havijig proved to 
be less than the frontage depth, was allotted in block claims, the 
remaining half-mile extending to the margin of the creek being the 
required depth, was occupied under the trontage system. What- 
ever surface indications might be found upon the hills and ridges, 
there were none to be observed on the A^alleys or hats ; no water- 
courses, no outcrop of rock, nothing but an occasional patch of 
swamp or shallow gilguey holes ; and it was no uncommon thing 
for a party to sink and drive 1,000 feet before they struck the 
lead. 
As these leads became gradually developed and were traced to 
the margin of the creek, and it was found to be above the course 
of the ancient streams and to contain no auriferous deposit, it 
was clear that the ])resent channel of drainage had been fonned 
subsequent to the denudation of the hills and high lands on its 
north bank, and that the bed of an older stream must lie further 
to the southward and bo covered by the alluvial deposits that 
stretch towards the Lachlan Eiver. Impressed with this fact, 
adventurous prospecting parties crossed the stream, and scattering 
over the scrubs and plains extended their operations to within a 
few miles of Porbes ; they were followed by hundreds of shepherds, 
who occupied long lines of imaginaiy leads in anticipation of the 
red flag. Land speculators also followed like sharks in their 
wake, and suddenly discovered that a waterless country that had 
been permitted to lie unoccupied by permanent settlers up to 
the present time was the only place where they could select 
homesteads. At the same time jVTGuiggan’s Lead was extended 
and occupied for a mile and a half due south on the southern side 
of the creek, where a continuation of the lead was sought for 
with unabated industry. 
As the prospectors proceeded with their labours they discovered 
that the depth varied, and that long ridges, some containing 
quartz reefs, lay concealed beneath a level surface. The miners 
had yet to learn that the deepest ground was not the most auri- 
ferous, and every new ridge, or as they designated it, mullock 
bank, created a demand for a new line. The swinging of base 
lines was incessant, and no little confusion and litigation was the 
result. In fact, the operations of the miners on these wide levels 
appeared more like the evolutions of an army in the field than 
anything else — marking claims had resolved itself into a game of 
chess. At last, early in July, in the centre of the area reserved 
from conditional purchase on the 22ad of June last, near an 
isolated hill of quartzite that rises in the plain half way between 
