," in memory of Gordon's army, which stamped out the Taeping
rebellion.

The first crushing put through was Finnerty's, and when the "clean-up"
was over, and the hundreds of silvery balls of amalgam placed in the
retorts turned out over one hundred and sixty-six pounds' weight
of bright yellow gold, Chinkie's Flat went wild with excitement and
spirituous refreshment.

In less than three months there were over five hundred diggers on the
field, and the "Ever Victorious" banged and pounded away night and day,
the rattle and clang of the stamps only ceasing at midnight on Saturday,
and remaining silent till midnight on Sunday, the Sabbath being devoted
"to cleaning-up," retorting the amalgam, and overhauling and repairing
the machinery, and for relaxation, organising riding parties of twenty
or thirty, and chasing Chinamen, of whom there were over three hundred
within a radius of twenty miles.

The rich alluvial of Chinkie's Flat had, as a matter of fact, been first
discovered by a number of Chinese diggers, who were each getting from
five to ten ounces of gold per day, when they were discovered by the
aforesaid Peter Finnerty, who was out prospecting with a couple of
mates. Their indignation that a lot of heathen "Chows" should be
scooping up gold so easily, while they, Christians and legitimate
miners, should be toiling over the barren ridges day after day without
striking anything, was so great that for the moment, as they sat on
their horses and viewed the swarming Chinese working their cradles
on the bank of the creek, the power of speech deserted them. Hastily
turning their tired horses' heads, they rode as hard as they could to
the nearest mining camp, and on the following day thirty hairy-faced
foreign-devils came charging into the Chinese camp, uttering fearful
threats, and shooting right and left (with blank cartridges). The
Chinese broke and fled, and in half an hour each of the thirty men
had pegged out a claim, and Chinkie's Flat became famous as one of the
richest, though smallest, alluvial diggings in the Far North.

Three months after the "discovery" of the field by Mr. Peter Finnerty,
old "Taeping," as Gordon's ex-marine engineer had been promptly
nicknamed, arrived with his crushing battery, and then indeed were
halcyon days for the Flat. From early morn till long past midnight, the
little bar of the "Digger's Best" was crowded with diggers, packhorsemen
and teamsters; a police trooper arrived and fix