d dynamite, it was impossible to do any farther sinking;
besides which the low tide in our provisions necessitated a return to
civilisation before many days.

I pegged out, therefore, an area of four hundred yards by four hundred
yards, as a "protection area"; that is to say, that the fact of four
corner-pegs and a notice having been put up in some prominent place
protects the ground from being taken by any one else for a period of
thirty days. After that time has elapsed the area must be applied for at
the nearest Warden's office, where, unless disputed, it is registered
under the name of the applicant, who must at once commence work upon it.
When such work proves the existence of "payable gold" the area must be
again applied for as a lease, to hold which the sum of 1 pound per acre,
per annum, must be paid to the Government. There are other conditions with
which it is necessary to conform, and which need not be enumerated here.

Since we had ample time to go and return from Coolgardie within the
prescribed period, we decided that in place of travelling direct
homewards, we would make a detour and visit the locality of Mount Ida,
where we had heard gold had been found. By rapid travelling our "tucker"
could be made to last out the time. Winter was now coming on, and the
nights were bitterly cold. Our blankets in the morning were soaked with
dew and frost, and when the days were cloudy and sometimes drizzly we had
no chance of drying them until we built a fire at night. One is so used to
reading of the terrible heat in Australia that it may come as a surprise
to many to hear that in the short winter in the interior--which, by the
way, is 1,500 feet above sea level--the thermometer sometimes sinks for a
brief period of time to 17 degrees F.

This low temperature is reached about an hour before daylight, as you know
to your cost, if you are ill-provided with blankets. At that time in the
morning your head is drawn into the possum rug, and you lie stiff and
shivering until you hear the indescribable something--that heralds the
coming of the sun. It may be a camel moving, as he shakes the frost from
his woolly coat, it may be a bird, or a grasshopper, but always there is
some little noise that would tell even a blind man that the night is over.
Often you know by the stars how long it will be before daylight, and stir
up the fire, put on the billy, and get the saddles and packs in order.
Sometimes you fix on the wrong star,