PIONEER WOMAN’S DREAM

Evening Star, Issue 22346, 23 May 1936, Page 8

PIONEER WOMAN’S DREAM

A STORY Of GABRIEL'S GULLY The recent celebrations at Lawrence in connection with the discovery of gold at Gabriel’s Gully opened the way to many reminiscences, and there were many tales of the early days on the goldfields. The following episode has a direct bearing on the discovery that set the hearts of the miners aglow, and within a very short time made the district more thickly populated thrfn Dunedin was at that time. It was recounted by the late Mrs Munro, -after whom Monro's Gully was named, the mother of Mr John Munro, who attended the celebrations. Mrs Munro, it may be said, was one of the first women to live in the district. For two years she did not see any member of her own sex, and then a lady arrived on one of the wagons from Dunedin, spent a few days with Mrs Munro, and then left. Another two years passed before Mrs Munro had woman’s companionship again. The Munro home at that time was a hut with a mud floor. Mr Munro was a shepherd, and their isolated position made visitors a rarity. One night Mrs Munro dreamed that a stranger appeared at the door of the hut. but thought nothing of it. The following evening, while she was preparing tho evening meal, their baby daughter was heard to cry as if afraid, and on turning round Mrs Munro saw the stranger standing as she had seen in the dream. This being the first man the child had seen other than her father, she was badly frightened. The stranger begged a “ shakedown ” for the night, and was given breakfast next morning. He then walked off over the hills, and later gave his name to the gully where be “struck-.it rich.” It was Gabriel Read. So plentiful was tbe gold that Mrs Munro recalled tho time before the rush set in when she used to scrape Ihc precious metal off the roeks with a teaspoon and a pannikin.