t with their
feet in a noose at the end of the rope; or, in some small and narrow
shafts, by holding on to the sides with their knees and feet. But in
large workings, such as this (which is about 150 feet deep), we
descend in a bucket, as in ordinary mines. What a speed we go down at!
We seem to shoot down into darkness. There--bump! we are at the
bottom. But I can see nothing; I only hear the drip, drip, and
splashing of water.

In a few minutes my eyes get accustomed to the darkness: then I see
the dim light of a candle held by some one not far off. "Come up
here," says the guide; and we shortly find ourselves in a somewhat
open space, more light than the actual bottom of the shaft. We are
each supplied with a dip tallow candle, by means of which we see where
we are. The two drives branch off from this space: the main is 6 feet
3 inches in height, broad, and splendidly timbered with stout wood all
the way along. The Chinamen did this work.

Water is running everywhere. We try to walk upon the rails on which
the trucks run, to keep our feet dry. But it is of no use, as there is
more water in our way to get through. Every now and then we slipped
off the rail and down into the water. As we got into the narrower and
lower drives I was continually coming to grief, my head bumping
against the dirty top, my hat coming off, or my candle getting
extinguished.

We were taken first up to the place where the water had broken in so
heavily upon the Chinamen, and in which direction the mine could not
be worked. Strong supports of wood held up the gravel, through which
the water poured in, running down the drives of the well underneath
the shaft. What a labyrinth all these different passages seemed to me!
yet I suppose this claim is a small one compared with many others in
the gold-mining districts.

Then we were shown a monkey--not the animal, but a small upright shaft
leading into a drive above, where the wash-dirt was being got out.
Should the course of the wash-dirt, in which the gold is, go downward
below the level of the well or the drives for draining the mine, the
shaft must then be sunk deeper down. The monkey was rather difficult
for me to scramble up. However, by holding on, and using the niches at
the sides, I managed to mount, as usual with the loss of my light.

Along the drive we went, waiting in a corner until a truck of dirt
passed by, and its contents were shot down the monkey into the tram
waiting for it be