Chapter VI

About The Upper North

Having previously described some parts of the Lower North, it may be of interest to say something about parts of the Upper North that from time to time I have been enabled to visit.

This north country appealed to me, owing to a special report that Mr. G. W. Goyder, Surveyor-General, had been instructed to prepare, defining pastoral from the agricultural lands. A distinct line of demarcation was drawn, now known as Goyder's line of rainfall. It indicated where the agricultural lands should end, and the pastoral country commence. This report, I may add, has proved to be of inestimable value to South Australia.

My first journey was via Silverton and Broken Hill, N.S.W., to Eurowie, en route passing through an extensive plateau known as Sturt's Meadows. We drove into a flock of wild emus. I succeeded in shooting one of them, bringing back its feathered skin with me as a trophy. Whilst at Eurowie I was informed that a few miles away in the hills there was a place where, in the long past, the natives had been in the habit of per forming their mystic rites. I was induced to visit the locality, which, after tedious search, was discovered in a hidden dell with rocky walls on its three sides, 20 to 30 feet high. Here were crude but interesting pigment paintings of snakes, kangaroos, emus and lizards. These I roughly copied, and on my return to Adelaide presented them to the late Thomas Worsnop. Some of them, I believe, appeared in one of his well-known standard books on the Australian natives.

An amusing incident occurred on our journey up. We met a man on horse back. Not being quite sure of our track we hailed him, and solicited information as to our whereabouts. He informed us that he had just come from the Mount Brown gold diggings. I ingeniously enquired if he had had any luck there. The question was never answered. Instead, he immediately put spurs to his horse, and was soon out of sight. I concluded that he had taken me either for a member of the then notorious Kelly gang, or for some other desperado, who, in disguise, was coveting his bit of hard-won gold, possibly within the folds of his strapped on 'swag.'

Another trip into the Upper North was made in 1889 by the formal opening of the railway line to Warrina, a distance of some 687 miles from Adelaide. At the invitation of the Commissioner of Public Works (J. H. Howe), thirty members of Parliament, including the writer, accepted the invitation and went, mainly for the purpose of ascertaining whether the character of the country justified a further extension of the line for some 200 miles. The Government favored the scheme, but official reports being somewhat unfavorable, the House of Assembly opposed it.

From Warrina some of us on camel-back went further north, and were certainly not impressed by the long stretches of sand hills, dry watercourses, and absence of useful timber, in fact, one of the party was heard to express the opinion that any long residence in that part Would either make one a stoic or a lunatic. Since then the Commonwealth Government has taken over the Northern Territory, including this part of it, with a special 'sine qua non' that a railway should be made connecting Adelaide with Port Darwin within a reasonable time.

The line has now been extended northwards to Alice Springs, 981 miles from Adelaide. This place was so named in honor of the wife of Sir Charles Todd, whose maiden name was Alice Bell. During the trip opportunity was taken to visit the Mound Springs, especially the one known as the 'Blanche Cup;' also the Leigh Creek coal mines and Stuart and Neale Rivers not far from Lake Eyre. Naturally, the Hergott and Coward artesian springs attracted our attention. These springs are, unfortunately, highly impregnated with magnesia detrimental to the growth of some kinds of herbage, grasses, &c. The salt bush and nardoo plant appeared to thrive well, in spite of the limited annual rainfall of only some five inches.

Whilst collecting some of the nardoo seeds or spores, so extensively used by the natives for making bread, it brought to mind the history of the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition. Both these explorers perished on the Cooper River, not far from Innamincka. chiefly owing to their inability to exist on this native food. An extract from my diary reads:— December 9. 1862. About 11 a.m. Howitt's party, consisting of Howitt and his seven men, with 24 pack-horses and nine camels, with poor Burke's remains covered with a Union Jack flag, passed through Auburn en route for Adelaide, from thence to be conveyed to Melbourne. It does not fall to the lot of every one to be enabled to record such events occurring over 72 years ago.

In The North-East On another occasion, in company with the late John Bagot, M.P., and a Victorian mining expert, with two old prospectors, I spent a week in the north-east country, distant some 200 miles from Port Augusta, and not far from the celebrated Yudnamutana gold mine. Alighting from the train at the Lyndhurst Siding, some 16 miles south of Farina, we were met by that stalwart backwoodsman, H. Maconville, and driven to his 'Avondale' home stead, where we were most hospitably entertained by both him and his wife.

The next morning, in a buggy and pair of good horses, we proceeded on our journey eastwards. At midday a halt was made to feed both the horses and ourselves, but, to our dismay, all we could find in the buggy, plus horse feed, was a jar of water, a 2-lb. loaf of bread, a few biscuits, a little tea, some cheese, a billy, and a bottle of the dew from off Ben Nevis, in place of the costly hamper packed for us in Adelaide. Later we discovered it had been left behind when changing trains at Terowie. However, the billy was boiled, and we made the most of the frugal repast, but were thankful that not far off was the Lyndhurst head station, where every thing we needed could be obtained. The station manager (Mr. Ive) gave us a right royal welcome when eventually we arrived there.

Early the next day we left for Yerelina, through a delightful pastoral country, carrying, so we were informed, from 40 to 50 sheep to the square mile. On our way we met loads of wool drawn by camels, en route for the railway. Wild mules and donkeys were numerous, but too wild for us to get near them. Camping that night on the banks of the Taylor Creek in true bush fashion, with the canopy of heaven above, and the sandy soil beneath, we spent an enjoyable evening. We hobbled and belled the horses, boiled the billy, and regaled ourselves to an extent that only a few days spent in the open air can make possible. Having only one knife and fork, the five of us took it in turns to cut up the mutton chops and fried eggs. My past earlier experiences in camping out in 1862, were duly related and enjoyed.

The next morning, after a good breakfast, we went in search of the horses that had strayed away during the night. When they were found, we proceeded on our way, arriving at Yerelina Hut in due time. Here there is a fine well of water, tank and windmill. The hut built of rough wood, and roofed with huge flagstones, was unoccupied, but on opening the door we found the carcase of a sheep, hanging up. The temptation to hungry tra vellers was great, so we cut off a portion and attached a note to the remainder, 'Please send your account for what we nave taken to Messrs. Bagot, Shakes & Lewis, Adelaide! Seeing that my friend, Mr. John Bagot, M.P., was a member of that firm, we were in excellent company had we been charged with sheep stealing.

Looking For Minerals

Although a bit rough, this country is not at all bad for pastoral purposes. Its great difficulty is the long distance from markets. The principal reason we had for visiting this back country was, that we were interested in a syndicate that had been formed to search for silver, not far from Yerelina. We camped near to a spring of water on a hillside, and spent many long hours on foot examining the various stony outcrops, and were glad occasionally to refresh ourselves by eating the golden fruit from the quondong trees growing in profusion there. The mining expert who accompanied us was most favorably impressed with the country, it being similar in formation to that in the vicinity of Broken Hill. Assays, recently, made of several tons of ore taken from trial holes showed over 100 oz. of silver to the ton. This encouraged us to believe that we possessed a veritable El Dorado. Unfortunately, the further we sank and drove, the narrower be came the silver seam, although there was an abundance of galena ore. After spending a fair sum of money on de elopment, the workings had to be abandoned. To some of us it became a monetary failure.

My fourth and last trip into the north was under the guidance of the late Thomas Burgoyne, M.P., when I inspected the country at Teetulpa, some 15 miles east of Waukaringa, where in 1886 an alluvial goldfield had been discovered by Thomas Brady, of Lancelot, and Thomas Smith, of Broughton. The find caused great excitement through South Australia, and at the time of our visit between 4,000 and 5,000 men were at work. Prospectors at Brady's Gully and in the vicinity were most fortunate. The sinking averaged from 8 to 13 feet, so the claim was easily worked. Many of the men did well, and it was recorded that a local bank purchased no fewer than 10,751 oz. of gold within a few months. I saw a heap of golden nuggets on the weighing counter that be came the envy of many. If I remember rightly, the precious metal was then only worth £3 17/ per ounce T. Brady generously presented me with a nice little nugget, so that I might remember my visit to the field, and to his claim.

On our return journey we visited the Alma Gold Mine some 16 miles west ward from Teetulpa in the Waukaringa district, and about 60 miles north-east of Peterborough, where some 12,000 tons of ore had been raised, yielding 7,621 oz. of gold to the ton. There are many persons who believe in dreams. When visiting some friends in a large mining town in Victoria several years ago, the following story was related to me:—

One of the leading gold mines in the district had been compelled to close down, and go into liquidation owing to the lode cutting out, and it was decided to submit the property to public auction, a widowed lady in the town dreamt that, the lode would be discovered again, by driving in a certain depth. The dreamer and the dream, however, were ridiculed. The mine was sold, and the lady became the purchaser at a fabulously low figure. Following the directions given in the dream the lode was actually rediscovered, and the widow at the time of my visit was a wealthy woman. So much for dream results! My friend added that since then the lady had received many offers of marriage.

Next Chapter VII Looking Back Over 40 Years