in progress when a party of NATIVES assembled and commenced
to burn the grass. The appearance of the white men did not seem
to impress them much, but as soon as they saw the black boy they
retreated in haste. " The most ridiculous part of the affair," says
Hann, " was that they were running in opposite directions, Jerry for his firelock, the natives for their safety." Hann and his companions completed the packing and travelled 8 miles down the river, making their CAMP for the night on a large sandy creek, which they had already prospected. This creek was the NORTH PALMER RIVER, which afterwards proved very rich in alluvial GOLD.
Gold was found in the North Palmer on the following morning, l6th August. The MAIN CAMP, No. 20, was reached in the afternoon. The excursionists were met by the tidings that in their absence all their fresh meat, in the shape of SEVEN SHEEP and ONE HORSE, had been lost. The loss was responsible for four days' delay, which was employed by some of the party in prospecting in the neighbourhood of the camp, without much success. The sheep were recovered by Jerry, but not the horse. On 2Otb August, Hann visited a camp of NATIVES about a mile from his own, hoping to learn something about the missing horse, but the men precipitately fled, leaving the women and children behind.
Hann did not consider that his party had discovered payable gold, and summed up his operations as " flattering prospects." In reporting the discovery he was very guarded and deprecated anything in the nature of a " rush." In those days, indeed, to report PAYABLE GOLD was a serious responsibility, and diggers returning from an unsuccessful rush were ugly customers for the reporter to meet. In this case, however, the hint of gold was enough to set prospectors on the track, and their success was beyond all expectations.
In a few years GOLD TO THE VALUE OF FIVE AND A HALF MILLIONS STERLING had been won from the Palmer and its tributaries. Of this amount over 94 per cent, was alluvial gold, only 6 per cent, coming direct from reefs, chiefly in the neighbourhood of Maytown.
