THE GROWTH OF GOLD.
Selwyn'a theory is that gold growe in the drifts, when in solution it cornea in contact with chlorine and organic matter the nuggets are formed. Professor Black favours this theory also. In the backblocks, however, the largest nuggets and heaviest patches found by the- individual miner are mostly grown in a heterogeneous alcoholic mixture, the component parts of which even the genial doctor himself might find 6ome difficulty in determining. In the good old days, when diggers got drunk, And prohibition seemed only a dream, With eyes that were red, legs unsteady and
■weak, They'd dilate on the gold in each stream.
Though they seldom got more of the valuable stuff Than paid for their tucker and oil, Their stories so tall and gigantic, no doubt) Fired others to search for the spoil. So, from Gorge Creek to Campbell's I've surfaced for reefs; I've costeened on. Prospect Hill; Up Snowy I've clambered, where snowdrifts lie deep, And the breezes blow icy and chill. In Swinburn and Nuggety I've delved and I've
dug, When the earth was quite solid with frost ; I've panned off the gravels in Waikaia's cold flood, Till all feeling my fingers had lost. "With a. pick for a swag, a tin dish for a hat, Up Praser's long valley I've been ; Many^storms- that were ciuel and sad to behold, On the Dome and the Nevis I've seen. I've slept 'twixt the *Sisters, the grass for a bunk; And on cold tea and cheese tried to dream. Of a patch that was rich and easily got, That I'd take to the bank with Smith's team. Pomahaka, Timber Gully, and Whitecombe I passed, To a spot where the ocean I'd .see ; Its grain to the ton of salt water, at least, Holds some consolation for me.
At Aldinga I'd tossed up the sponge, when I
A digger both nigged' and old; O'er black tea, and » smoke, I straightway to
My tale of hard luck unfold. In a nutshell he said, when the gold it gets
slack, I repair to the nearest hotel, On "shandies" I manage my thoughts to collect On the gold I can't get then I dwell. The first day is quiet, the second is slow, On the third you take beer with your rum, On the fourth a grain seems a pound weight at least, On the fifth things really do hum. The metal grows large,. and gradually swells, Till it seems as big ac th© "Lakes"; At this stage you ought to get back to the hills, Or the nuggets may change into "snakes.". So, weary prospectors, take heart (from this thyme, "When below par your spirits they sink ; If you want to see gold, yes, gold in. galore, Just bury your troubles in drink. Or retire far away — somewhere into space — Till a thousand long 1 years may have flown, Then come back, and perchance, if you carefully look, You may find that the nuggets .have grown —P. \V. G. Old Man Range, November 16, 1902. Two rocks on the Old Man Range.
THE GROWTH OF GOLD.
Otago Witness, Issue 2541, 26 November 1902, Page 72
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