Land labor and gold Author:William Howitt Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: LETTER XXVI. Project another Visit to the Ovens Country — Strange Quartz Rocks, Singular North and South Ridges — Torment of Sand-flies — Curlews — Native Com... more »panion — Pleasantness of the Bush — Meet an old Acquaintance — Horrible Language of Diggers — Horse-stealing — Theories on the Geology and Vegetation of Australia — Vast Capabilities of very varied Products from this Country. The Buah, near Bendigo, Not. 2,1853 Our curious experience of official management and noli me tangere temperament on the old road being terminated, we held a council as to our next movement. Our splendid dam on the creek was now occupied by others; and, indeed, the water was fast failing on the Bendigo, so that all operations on the creek must, of necessity, cease in a'few weeks. What was still more admonitory of a move, was the warning voice of the medical men, who predicted the general prevalence of fever and dysentery on the Bendigo field during the summer months, and especially in November. The water during the heat of this month rapidly dries up ; the vast space now cleared of every bush and tree, lays the whole surface open to the sun, which, striking on the bare heaps of gravel, makes the whole like one great oven. There is scarcely any water to be procured for household use, much less for washing gold ; and, thcre- VOL. II. 7 fore, the diggers, at the approach of this season, hurry away to other diggings, where water is more plentiful; and it is already curious to see that where crowds of tents stood the other day, there now stand only solitary chimneys and the poles and blocks of trees over which the tents were stretched. The place looks like a destroyed village, with only a few fragments of the abodes remaining. .We had planned, at this season, to make an exploring expedition ...« less