"So my scheme of going down by water to the ocean is not practicable, and we return to the coast the way we came."
And return they did, taking the railway to Brisbane, and thence going by coach and rail to Gympie, the centre of the Queensland gold-mining region, or rather one of its centres, as the colony possesses several auriferous fields. There is a standing offer of a reward of £1000, or $5000, to any one who discovers paying gold-deposits in a new locality upon which there shall be upwards of two hundred men at work six months after the fields are opened. Consequently a great many prospectors are constantly at work, through the double hope of the reward and of making a fortune out of the discovery.
OUT PROSPECTING.
The gold-fields of Gympie were discovered in 1868 by Mr. James Nash, and the settlement which rose there was at first called Nashville. The existence of the precious metal in the colony was known for at least a decade before that date, but none of the mines had proved remunerative. At present there are upwards of twenty gold-fields in Queensland, and the aggregate annual yield exceeds $5,000,000. From 1867 to 1885 inclusive the mines of Queensland yielded 4,840,221 ounces of gold, valued at not far from $80,000,000.
But we are forgetting Frank and Fred in our contemplation of these dry statistics. Here is what Frank wrote concerning their visit to Gympie:
"We came here partly by rail and partly by coach, the railway from Brisbane to Gympie not being completed, though perhaps it will be by
