which marks the flight of time with more than human intelligence, and appears to be a sentient thing, becomes a companion to be fondled. To men so situated, the knowledge that they are in the midst of a foodless and waterless region alone can save; the necessity to be wary and active to prevent immolation brings out a resolute will. They may hurry, yet the desert is so long that progress is at best but crawling. These men searching to and fro, plodding wearily, suffering in body and mind, and sustained only by the presentiment that somewhere, sometime, they shall find abundant gold, are the makers of the fields.
In the camps, where a score of men may be engaged in prospecting a gully, or in testing quartz reefs on the ridges, the conditions are more pleasing. But here, also, the absence of new faces, of newspapers, of new ideas, of excitations other than those found in possibilities of striking rich patches, beget a primitive state of mind. They evince an absorbing interest in the simplest occupations. Their fare is limited, and the cooks among them take delight in preparing the Sunday dishes in some guise so as to make the preserved meats and fruits and flour more appetising. Perhaps, in addition to a prospector's outfit, they possess condiments which enable them to manufacture rare feasts of cake. The weekday is occupied with their work; the evening is for the perusal of prints read before, and for conversation upon worked-out topics. Sunday is the brightest day of the week. In the morning, where sufficient water can be obtained, the laundry work is performed, and careful attention is devoted to the preparation of the midday meal. One of the company assumes for the nonce the role of barber, an engrossing occupation which necessitates the attendance of every man in the community, each of whom tenders advice, or makes bland remarks suitable to the occasion. During the afternoon they sleep in their tents, or sit in groups beneath the mulga and "jamwood" trees talking of other countries and times.
In the remote camps, perhaps a hundred miles front the nearest court or police, a modified Lynch law has been recognised. By the unwritten, but not less strong law of common interest and protection, punishment more or less drastic was meted out to offenders. The men were summoned to administer justice by what was known as the "Roll Up" call. When any matter requiring the attendance of the little community arose, a tin dish was beaten by the convener. The clamour sounded loudly in the usually silent bush, and within a few minutes all the diggers and prospectors hurried to the place. They gathered round the convener, who told them of what had befallen. In one instance a silver watch and eight ounces of gold were stolen from the tent of a miner. He sounded the "Roll Up," and placed his case before the assembled men. First, the thief must be discovered. Every man searched the soft sand for footprints leading from the tent. A trail was found and followed through the bush to the tent of one known as "Tommy the Liar." Tommy was enjoying an hour's sleep, and showed resentment when he was awakened and a request was made for his boots. These latter were gingerly given, and were found to be identical with the shape and size of the footprints. Tommy stoutly denied the theft. At the same time he was observed to place his hand between his bunk (bed) and the back of his tent; an examination led to the discovery of the gold just outside his tent. Tommy protested his innocence more loudly than ever, but the miners removed him from his bunk, pulled the tent down over his head, and seized his revolver and knife. While he was watched a council was held. First, the owner of the stolen articles was asked what he wished, but he being a man of peace merely desired that his watch and gold should be returned, and that the offender go free. Some Californian diggers who were present declared that one of Tommy's ears must be cut off. Sentence was delivered in anything but a judicial speech:—Tommy was to be hanged to a tree uutil he told where the watch was hidden. A rope was placed around his neck and pulled uncomfortably tight; Tommy promised to get the watch. With the rope still round his neck he led the way to a hollow tree three miles away; he could not find the watch, and another consultation was held. The owner was requested to value his watch, which he did at the sum of £3 10s. The robber was examined, and under his shirt was found a leather bag containing sovereigns and alluvial gold worth about £150. As a mark of extreme mercy Tommy was allowed to pay the value of the watch, with the privilege, also, of having the money returned when he found that article. He then went away, and next morning produced the watch and was given his money. Another council meeting was held; Tommy was fined an ounce and a-half of gold (sent to the Coolgardie Hospital), and was given half-an-hour to quit the camp. He was not again seen in that neighbourhood.
Occasionally more severe measures were taken, and it is alleged that one hanging did take place. Should an offender refuse to leave the camp when ordered by the council to do so his ears were cropped; he invariably left. The "Roll Up" call was used in cases of alarm against the marauds of blacks, and to settle questions of disagreement between diggers concerning the division of joint gold, or disputes relating to the boundaries of claims. In the camps and in the towns the "Roll Up" was often sounded to call a public meeting to discuss goldfields grievances.
The men in the camps were all liable to be stricken down with fever. There was often an unwritten law for such cases. If it were impossible to take the sick man to a hospital he was tended as carefully as the rude comforts would allow. The claim that he had worked was a sacred spot; every man seemed to consider it his duty to protect it. In order that it should not be surrendered for non-compliance with labour conditions, or entered by another digger, a notice was posted up that the owner was ill. This was all-sufficient. As for the man himself, he was nursed paternally by the different miners, and each one endeavoured to prepare some little delicacy out of the limited store of food. All the luxuries that the camp afforded were placed at his disposal. If he died, his gold was sent to his relatives; the boxes in the neighbourhood were collected, and his old companions made out of them a coffin and buried him beneath some wild cherry or jamwood tree. The claim was awarded to the man who had tended him most during his illness.
Numerous grim and pathetic stories of death have been recorded on the goldfields. In such a dry and deserted region it could not be otherwise. Nearly every old inhabitant of the fields has observed the awful spectacle afforded by men in the last stages of thirst-torture. Travellers through the bush have suddenly come face to face with raving lunatics—men whose intense sufferings have unhinged their reason just prior to the death-agony. Travellers through the bush, also, have found by the wayside the bodies of unknown men bearing the repulsive evidences of the manner by which they met their death. In one case a man, apparently proceeding from Goongarrie to Coolgardie, was found alongside the track, thirty-eight miles from the latter place. By his side lay an open Bible. The passers-by dug a grave upon the roadside, buried the body, and cut four pronged sticks and placed rails over them to mark the four corners of the mound; upon the centre of the grave they laid the Bible, open as found, with a stone upon it to prevent the wind from disturbing it. His name was cut
