A COOLGARDIE EXPERIENCE,

Grey River Argus, 22 December 1893, Page 3

A COOLGARDIE EXPERIENCE,

(THE ATTSTBAL ASIAN.)

From a private iettor -^written to his friends In this city by Mr J E Burbank, , the di covererof the.Birthday Gift claim in the Uoojgardie district, we make, the following extracts, as they serve to illastrate the risks and vicissitudes of mining in that part ,of Western Australia;. Mr 'Burbank had been a. practical miner in the Ovens district, and was engaged for som,e years in, the same pursuit at Gympie, 1 with but very indifferent luck. Having acquired a pretty good knowledge of the geological formations in which gold Is nsnally found, : he proceeded, with ample .ou'fit, to Per.iH in the early part of list year, and made his way, taking a waggon and pair and a mate, to CooJgardie :— "Oh arriving at the field," he. writes, "T found the surface, workings nearly exhausted, and scarcely any. water, Provisions were dear, and the prospects anything but promising. One or two who had hit upon rich reefs were doing well, I but I could only procure as much gold as sufficed for my bare necessities. Water was very scarce, and what there was had to be strained through a piece of cloth— lt was so thick and discolored — before it could be. drunk. Day alter day I tramped the country prospecting with a heavy swag of .tools on my back, and traversing parts of the bush which no white man's foof : had previously trodden, on a daily allowance, of a cake of damper and a half a pint of water/ This had been my experience for 11 months, and eventually privation : and fatigue were beginning to tell upon me fearfully. On the evening of the 22nd of August I felt that I could go no farther, and I sank down under a tree to die, aa I believed, of exhaustion, I cat my name and date on the tree, and then I fell into a deep sleep. Its effect was wonderfully rei freshing, and 1 woke uy like a new man. ' Something }mpe)led we ko afcarfc oS for a [ few miles iv a particular direction, where I came upon a formation that looked exceedingly promising. 1 at once Bttuck mp pick into the rap of a reef, and the firßt piece of stone , I 1 detached was, whhoat exaggeration, ' half gold. I followed the reef up f«.r half a mile, and tested the quality of tha stone, with the same results. It wa3 my \ birthday, and so I named It the " Birthday Gift." My mate and I broke up I about a hundredweight of quartz as well aa we could with a pestle and mortar, and found it ran from 30 to 50 ounces to the ton. Since the i I have discovered another and a still richer reef, which opena out 9ft wide, showing good gold, and I have called it tha " Konrr>ah»." ' " Now, for the other aide of the picture. ! We have had no rain for five months . (fchia waa nrrlfcfcen on ihe 23rd of October), and we are carting our water for a distance of 60 miles'. It ia-now eighteenpence a gallon. The- last :-L bought for myself and hDrse cost L 3 153. Miners ate fl Peking In to CooJgardie, and, Bhnold j the Government drills fail, God help the i poor unfortunates who are without the means of purchasing the precio.ua element. Two men vwhp, -were camped? near me died from tbirat, and two others went mad— one ahot himself ;bo that gold "minina; at Coolgardie Ins its tragic side ; and if a few Bucceed, numbers will eacounter diappointment and disaster, even if they should be fortunate enough to escape death.'