liness. They were all naked to
the waist.

Near the head of Sheep's Head Gully, Jack Moore and I found the cap
of a quartz reef with visible gold in it. We broke up some of it,
but could not make it pay, having no quartz-crushing machinery.
Golden Gully was already nearly worked out, but I got a little gold
in it which was flaky, and sticking on edge in the pipeclay bottom.
I found some gold also in Sheep's Head, and then we heard of a rush
on the Goulburn River. Next day we offered our spare mining plant
for sale on the roadside opposite Specimen Hill, placing the tubs,
cradles, picks and spades all in a row. Bez was the auctioneer. He
called out aloud, and soon gathered a crowd, which he fascinated by
his eloquence. The bidding was spirited, and every article was sold,
even Bez's own two-man pick, which would break the heart of a Samson
to wield it.

When we left Bendigo, Bez, Birnie, Dan, Scott, and Moses were of the
party, and a one-horse cart carried our baggage. When we came to a
swamp we carried the baggage over it on our backs, and then helped
the horse to draw the empty cart along. Our party increased in
number by the way, especially after we met with a dray carrying kegs
of rum.

Before reaching the new rush, afterwards known as Waranga, we
prospected some country about twenty miles from the Goulburn river.
Here Scott left us. Before starting he called me aside, and told me
he was going to the Melbourne Hospital to undergo an operation. He
had a tumour on one leg above the knee, for which he had been treated
in Dublin, and had been advised to come to Australia, in the hope
that a change of climate and occupation might be of benefit, but he
had already walked once from Bendigo to Melbourne, and now he was
obliged to go again. He did not like to start without letting
someone know his reason for leaving us. I felt full of pity for
Scott, for I thought he was going to his death alone in the bush, and
I asked him if he felt sure that he could find his way. He showed me
his pocket compass and a map, and said he could make a straight
course for Melbourne. He had always lived and worked alone, but
whenever we moved he accompanied us not wishing to be quite lost
amongst strangers. He arrived at the hospital, but he never came out
of it alive.

Dan gave me his money to take care of while he and Bez were living on
rum from the dray, and I gave out as little cash as possible in order
to promote peace