Yates
offered to let him have five horse-shoe nails for their weight in gold.
The offer was accepted, and I saw the nails put in one scale and the
gold in the other. The packer was receiving one shilling per pound for
packing goods eleven miles, and on that day's trip the horse took
150lbs., thus giving him L7/10/-, less the price for the nails. I forget
the value of the gold paid for the latter.

I was one day in a store kept by a man named T. Q. Jones, locally known
as "Three Two," when a digger came in to buy a needle. He demurred at
the price asked, one shilling, when the storekeeper remarked, "Good God,
man, look at the price of carriage."

Query--at 1/- per needle, what would a ton cost?

I had only my gold bag--which was fairly bulky--and my black boy, and
having again met my old acquaintance Fitzmaurice, from Peak Downs, who
had also sold his loading and had sent his teams down to Cooktown, we
decided to walk the forty miles back to the Lower Palmer, carrying the
gold in our blankets, which we slung over our shoulders. When we reached
the township, which was then unnamed, we heard that the cost of carriage
from Cooktown had risen to L130 per ton of 2,000lbs. for 165 miles. I
learnt that there were some teams camped at the Mitchell River, and
having borrowed a horse from a friendly teamster, rode out to try and
make a deal for one or more teams. I succeeded in buying 24 bullocks and
two old drays, with three horses, for L400, agreeing to take the carrier
and his wife to Cooktown, and paid a deposit. The owner had not heard of
the high prices ruling for loading. When we reached the township and he
learnt this, he offered me L50 on my bargain to repurchase the teams,
but I refused the offer. I then bought a new waggon for L60, and sold
the two old drays to the blacksmith for L20. This enabled me to have one
very strong team.

I found out afterwards that this was necessary, as the road was very
heavy, notably fourteen miles of sand, known as the "Welcome Water-hole
Sand," in which the wheels were buried to the axle.

Billy Wilson, my partner, arrived with our joint loading at Palmerville
just as I arrived with my newly-bought team, and not liking the idea of
remaining as a storekeeper, I preferred to accompany him on his return
to Cooktown. We decided to sell our joint load at a price which netted
us L70 per ton for carriage.

Before I reached Cooktown I met a storekeeper from that town who engaged
me to take