Here was a new mishap:  but these things will happen in the diggings; and so our adventurers, agreeing to pay the commissioner a monthly licence for their ground, intending to return in the dry weather to work it, removed bag and baggage to another part of the river.  Here they dug away, but it appears with no tempting success; and they took care to return to the commissioner in time, as they thought, to implement their monthly bargain.  On tendering the money for their licence, however, they discovered that they were just half an hour too late, and that the functionary had disposed of their forty-five feet to another bidder.  What to do now?  They fell in with a man, an old friend of Mr Rutter, just setting off on a journey of sixty-two miles to the north, where he told them a piece of gold had been found weighing 106 lbs.  This invaluable man they instantly took into partnership, and purchasing fresh horses, they struck their camp, and followed their new companion across the country, in search of a place called the Devil’s Hole, near the World’s End.  It is no wonder they lost their way.  As there was no such thing as a road, they were obliged to transport their goods on the horses’ backs; and the interesting nature of their journey may be guessed at from the fact, that they had to cross a creek with steep banks sixteen times in the course of five miles.

They at length reached the Louisa Diggings, near those quartz-ridges where, in fact, a 106 lb. lump of gold had been found.  They encamped in the dark; and getting up betimes the next morning, looked eagerly out on this land of promise.  It was a dull, dreary morning, and a heavy continuous rain plashed upon the earth.  About 200 persons were taking the air in this watery atmosphere, their dress and movements corresponding well with the aspect of the hour.  Some were covered with an old sack, some with a blanket, some with a dripping cloak, but all glided slowly about in the rain, with a stick in their hands, and their eyes fixed upon the ground.  These phantoms were gold-hunters; and the silent company was immediately joined by our adventurers, who glided and poked like the rest.  The ground was new, and during two days gold was obtained in this way, from a particle the size of a pin’s head to a lump of nearly an ounce.  When the surface was exhausted, digging commenced; but the soil was too tough for the common cradle, and although rich in gold, it would not repay the trouble of washing.  Upon this, the company broke up, each pursuing his own way; and our adventurer and another agreed to go down the country together to Maitland, prospecting on the way.