.

One way of getting rid of a mammoth boulder was by excavating a pit in
the bedrock, sending the stuff dug out away through the sluice-box, and
then rolling the monster into the excavation. But this was always
dangerous work; the pit had to be sunk close to the boulder one wanted
to bury, and the latter was apt to break down the soft edge and roll
in, smashing the workers into jelly. Some terrible accidents of this
kind took place.

The lack of a surgeon occasioned the loss of many a good life and limb,
for accidents were frequent. There was an unqualified practitioner in
the Lower Camp. His signboard, mounted on a pole outside his tent, bore
the legend: "Surgeon, Barber, and Tentmaker."

Despite his quaint advertisement, which carried a suggestion of the
Middle Ages, A was no quack. He was, I think, a graduate of Trinity
College, Dublin, and had undergone a certain amount of medical
training. He saved many a life, perhaps mine included, for he pulled me
through my bout of fever. But several of his serious operations went
wrong. This may have been due to lack of proper appliances, and to our
rough but by no means ready methods of nursing. I remember the case of
a friend of mine whose leg got horribly crushed at Waterfall Creek and
had to be amputated. Mortification set in and he died.

One of my mates was the celebrated Charlie Durnan. "Reefing Charlie"
was the name he was usually known by. He was a most active and
occasionally a successful prospector. It was he, I fancy, who years
afterwards discovered the Pigg's Peak Mine in Swaziland. Charlie's
weakness was drink. He and I ate the mealie-meal porridge of poverty
among the Blyde River terraces for a couple of months. During this time
we never earned enough to pay for the salt which seasoned our insipid
repasts.

CHAPTER VIII

Work on "the Reef"--Shaft-sinking in a swamp--Wolff and McGrath--A case of
snake-bite--Tunneling--Humping green timber--John Mulcahy--His Gargantuan
breakfast--His peculiar habits--His end--The rush to "the Reef"
Cunningham's lead--My bad luck--Peter and his appetite--"Mr. William
Bogis" Fabayne, the cave-dweller--A bellicose bridegroom--Knox and his
revolver practice--A senseless toast and its sequel--A terrible accident
Alick Dempster and the Police News.

In 1874 a certain corporation, I think it was called "The Gold Fields
Exploration Company," had an office at Pilgrim's Rest. Edward Simpson,
formerly of Port Elizabeth, was the