289 
84 oz. altogether for the week’s work from two loads of washdirt. Tub 
and cradle were much in use, also the long-tom, with ripples at the end. 
Near the Spring Creek Falls there were rich crevices, and there was also 
a very tough clay that was rich in gold, but it needed a great amount of 
puddling xo dissolve it. This clay gave 2 oz. of gold, and more, to the 
tub. On one occasion we washed over 12 oz. of gold in one dishful of 
wash off the bottom. The gold was most plentiful directly on the bed¬ 
rock ; it was mostly fine, and seldom exceeded \ dwt. in weight. Pieces 
up to J oz. were occasionally found. The Sunday Reef, One Mile, 
was one of the first reefs discovered j there was a good deal of surface gold 
about this reef. Then some others were found at Rocky Point and at 
Hurdle Flat. In January, 1854, the Buckland was discovered by some 
Canadians, and very rich yields were obtained. In one case, in a square 
yard of ground, 100 oz. of gold was got. 
At the end of 1853 I was mining at Reid’s Creek, and I knew of one 
paddock, 8 feet square, opposite Knight’s Hotel, that was sunk by 
means of slabs to a depth of 12 feet. Several men were at work on this, 
and the ground was very wet. By means of buckets and whips the ground 
was drained while the sinking was being done. The washdirt was over 
2 feet thick, and streaks of gold and black sand could be seen through 
the wash. From the bottom, 68 lb. weight of gold was obtained. The 
gold was got by cradling; it brought ^3 14s. per oz; Bread was selling 
at 5s. per 4-lb. loaf, and potatoes were 2s. 6d. per lb. Cabbages were 
sold at 2s. 6d. each; eggs were 20s. a dozen; milk was 2s. 6d. per quart; 
flour was jQ 12 per bag; and a bushel of oats cost £2. Long-handled 
shovels were jQi each; and picks 10s. each. Planks for sluice-boxes were 
2s. 6d. per lineal foot. The whole of Reid’s Creek was being worked 
from falls to falls, and for some width. There were 500 to 600 people 
at work there at this time. The blacks used to come from the Mitta Mitta 
and Little rivers and sell opossum skins sewn into rugs with sinews. They 
carried the usual spears, boomerangs, &c. At the latter end of 1853, 
two parties of Californians were at work in Sydney Flat. This was 
more than a year before Johnson opened his paddock on the Woolshed. 
Cameron, Lonie, Chandler, Strickland, Bartey, and Dryburgh assisted 
Johnson to gel: down to the washdirt. The paddock was worked down by 
benches, and with buckets and whips. Johnson took up eight men’s claims, 
and the others took up claims up and down the creek. Wages at this 
time, on Reid’s Creek, were ^7 to £8 per week. 
Silver Creek was opened up a little before the Woolshed, and the 
sinking was from 12 to 18 feet in depth. Rich yields of gold were 
obtained. Deep Creek was opened up a little later, and the sinking was 
20 to 23 feet deep. The claims were 20 feet square per man, and up to 
^500 to .£600 worth of gold was obtained from these claims. 
At Reid’s Creek, the black sand (cassiterite) was difficult to separate 
from the gold, the only method known at this time was to pan it off 
in a dish, and then the gold was not thoroughly separated from the tin 
ore, and it is known that as much as 80 oz. of gold was obtained from 
?. ton of the black sand from which the gold had been panned. 
James Elder McKay, 
3-9-°7- 
