manager. Simpson died at Pretoria
about fifteen years ago. He was a good friend to me, but was,
unwittingly, the occasion of my failing to make a very rich "strike."
The company was carrying on prospecting operations in the vicinity of a
high saddle on one of the subsidiary ranges north of the Mac Mac
Divide. I was engaged at the usual remuneration of an ounce of gold per
week, and instructed to join two men, Wolff and McGrath, who were
already on the spot.

The scene of our work was called "The Reef." [Years afterwards known as
the Jubilee Mine.] No reef had been discovered there, but it was
believed that one existed. The saddle was steep and narrow, especially
on the northern side, where the rocky gully that scored its flank fell
into a more or less swampy basin. Our first work was the sinking of a
shaft in this swamp. Several nuggets had been found in the interstices
of the bedrock in the gully, so it was believed that the basin
contained a rich deposit.

One nugget which I found was the most beautiful thing of the kind I
have ever seen. It was shaped like a curved ostrich feather, and was as
bright as though it had just been turned out of a jeweler's shop.
Simpson had this nugget mounted as a brooch for the lady to whom he was
engaged to be married.

The sinking of the shaft was both difficult and dangerous. We struck
water at about six feet, and then had to make frames from green timber
cut in the vicinity and sink them, backed by slabs, as we took the
shaft down. The water flow was very strong, so we had to bale
continuously, night and day, for we dared not let it rise. We worked in
four-hour shifts, with relays of native laborers. After sinking sixty
feet, and nearly losing our lives in trying to save the shaft from
buckling, the water drove us out and the work had to be abandoned. I
still believe that there is gold, and plenty of it, at the bottom of
that swamp.

Wolff was a Dane of gigantic thews. He had been a sailor. McGrath was
an Australian gold-digger. One night the latter stepped barefoot out of
the tent and was bitten on the instep by a snake. He collapsed almost
immediately. We sent a runner down to the Lower Camp, which was nearly
six miles away, for assistance. There was no qualified medical
practitioner to be had; however, an amateur came up and treated the
patient with strychnine. We had, in the meantime, scarified the injured
part and applied ligatures above it. McGrath escaped with his life