nd the creek to roar, and
the whole of their machinery was swept away.

Here was a new mishap: but these things will happen in the diggings;
and so our adventurers, agreeing to pay the commissioner a monthly
licence for their ground, intending to return in the dry weather to
work it, removed bag and baggage to another part of the river. Here
they dug away, but it appears with no tempting success; and they took
care to return to the commissioner in time, as they thought, to
implement their monthly bargain. On tendering the money for their
licence, however, they discovered that they were just half an hour too
late, and that the functionary had disposed of their forty-five feet
to another bidder. What to do now? They fell in with a man, an old
friend of Mr Rutter, just setting off on a journey of sixty-two miles
to the north, where he told them a piece of gold had been found
weighing 106 lbs. This invaluable man they instantly took into
partnership, and purchasing fresh horses, they struck their camp, and
followed their new companion across the country, in search of a place
called the Devil's Hole, near the World's End. It is no wonder they
lost their way. As there was no such thing as a road, they were
obliged to transport their goods on the horses' backs; and the
interesting nature of their journey may be guessed at from the fact,
that they had to cross a creek with steep banks sixteen times in the
course of five miles.

They at length reached the Louisa Diggings, near those quartz-ridges
where, in fact, a 106 lb. lump of gold had been found. They encamped
in the dark; and getting up betimes the next morning, looked eagerly
out on this land of promise. It was a dull, dreary morning, and a
heavy continuous rain plashed upon the earth. About 200 persons were
taking the air in this watery atmosphere, their dress and movements
corresponding well with the aspect of the hour. Some were covered with
an old sack, some with a blanket, some with a dripping cloak, but all
glided slowly about in the rain, with a stick in their hands, and
their eyes fixed upon the ground. These phantoms were gold-hunters;
and the silent company was immediately joined by our adventurers, who
glided and poked like the rest. The ground was new, and during two
days gold was obtained in this way, from a particle the size of a
pin's head to a lump of nearly an ounce. When the surface was
exhausted, digging commenced; but the soil was too tough for the
c