personality, the name of Seddon will stand high always in the minds of Westlanders.”
Reverting again to the opening of the year 1866, Old Westland with “King” Sale at the helm continued at an ever-increasing rate, to draw thousands of men to her now widely known goldfields, and most of these new arrivals at once proceeded to Lake Brunner, to where, as has been noted, a rush had set in towards the end of December, 1865. On their arrival there the field was pronounced a “duffer,” and there was a violent demonstration against Albert Hunt, who had led the rush but had mysteriously disappeared as soon as his alleged claim was reached. This so infuriated the diggers that they wrecked a storekeeper’s premises and divided his goods among themselves, holding that he was in league with Hunt and had promoted the rush for the purpose of selling his goods at exorbitant prices.
Having thus wreaked their vengeance on this unfortunate man they made preparations to return to the Grey, but this they found impossible for, owing to continuous rain, the creeks and rivers became flooded and the lake rose to an unheard of height. They were forced to climb trees and there remain without food until rescued by men in boats, who earned as much as £100 per day in so doing. Two hundred men who were marooned in a flax swamp without food and shelter were even
