we strained some pieces
of tarred canvas, which we fortunately possessed amongst our tent
cloths, over the bottoms, thus rendering the surface even, and suited
to our purpose. By the time we had got so far with our undertaking, we
fell sufficiently tired to give over work for the night. We had
laboured unceasingly at them, pausing only to swallow a hasty meal, and
stuck by our hammers and chisels till dusk. We were up early the next
morning, and toiled away to get the cradles completed, as we were
constantly seeing proofs of the great advantages of these machines. We
fixed a wicker sieve over the head, by means of a couple of transverse
bars, and then set about to construct the working Apparatus, which we
had all along feared would put our mechanical skill to rather a severe
test; but we found it easier than we had anticipated, and before
sundown the rockers were fixed on both cradles, which, to all intents
and purposes, were now ready for use. The work was rather rough, but it
was firm and strong. So fearful were we first of all that our cradles
might be removed or tampered with in the night, that I jocularly
proposed two of us should give up the shelter of the tent, and, like
pretty little children, sleep in our cradles till the morning.

The next day we set to work with them with the utmost eagerness, having
first dragged the lumbering machines to a likely spot in the vicinity
of the water. The labour was hard enough, but nothing compared to the
old plan of pot-washing, while it saved the hands from the injury
inflicted by continual dabbling in sand and water. We took the
different departments of labour by turns, and found that the change, by
bringing into play different sets of muscles, greatly relieved us, and
enabled us to keep the stones rolling with great energy. In the
evening, with the help of our newly purchased scales, we tested our
gains. The cradle which was worked by Don Luis, Malcolm, and myself,
for it was so near the water that three hands were sufficient, had
realised six ounces of gold dust; the other, attended to by Bradley,
McPhail, Biggs, and Lacosse, had nearly as much. During the day there
was another considerable influx of people to the diggings; the banks of
the river are therefore getting more and more crowded, and we hear that
the price of every article of subsistence is rising in the same
proportion.

CHAPTER XI.

The proceedings of the week
Visit from Mr. Larkin
What will