Vernon Smith's Diary Part 1

Saturday 15th [underlined] Foot rather painful. Mr. Basedow & I were catching fish in a large rock pool at Fossil Head, & got our feet scratched a bit. We have had a good deal of trouble from the festering of the cuts, but have managed to get them well all but 1 each, which refuses to heal. Busy at bungalow. Went to Bleezers with Mr. Basedow in the evening. Sunday 16th [underlined] Mr. Brown & I are to go over to the tin mines tomorrow, & the "Prickly Heat" has been char-tered to take us across. Mr. Basedow, who is going "out" for a fortnight or so, in the Bynoe Harbor district, also goes with us. "Divided the spoil" in 3 shares. Packed some tucker etc. for the trip. Monday 17th [underlined] Started from Bungalow @ 3.45 a.m. as were to leave by the launch @ 4 a.m. The owner Rudell, could not get his oil engine to start for a long time, it being very dirty, & having had a rough time when being towed behind the White Star to the Daly, when the boat herself had had a good knocking about having been towed bows under against wind, sea & tide. However we got away at 5a.m. & had a good run over the Harbor, (tho' a bit cold) watching the sunrise as we entered West Arm. Arrived at Hang Gong's Landing abt. 7.45 & got the pot boiling & had breakfast. Started to walk to Grant's

Monday 17th [underlined] (Contd.) Tin Mines @ 9a.m. & after a pleasant walk (except for the foot) through a winding scrub & road, reached Grant's after a 2 or 3 mile walk. There is a very good show of tin & the proprietor reckons that the tin on the surface is worth £2000. Went down the mine (39ft. deep) which slopes at an angle of about 45°. Windlass is made entirely of wood, handle & all. A very good device for conveying water is a long strip of duck, looped together by canvas loops at intervals & suspended from sapling rails supported by cross sticks - an original idea. Altogether the place seemed to show signs that there was a "handy man" about. He has 2 Chinamen working for him - both good boys. After inspection, Mr. Grant got dinner for us, and produced all sorts of luxuries from his store of the inevitable tinned goods. A smoke, a rest & a yarn & we started off for Hang Gong's Tin Mines, with the exception of Mr. Basedow. Noticed many varieties of small wild flowers & small birds. Some of them very pretty. Crossed some flats, where the rich black soil was 18" thick, & had a red clayey subsoil. Struck into the track, & had not gone far before we met H.G's buggy & horses, going to the Landing. Some black youths

Monday 17th [underlined] (Continued) & girls running behind. These natives are half civilized, & wear clothes. There is quite a small community at H.G's & the workings present a busy scene (for these parts). They only scratch however, & none of their excavations exceed 20 ft. There we met 3 young fellows from Sydney, who are quite new chums, but have started prospecting, & had just stuck good tin. They were quite excited & eager, and declined an offer from Mr. Brown for one of them to accompany Mr. Basedow on his trip. Returned to Grant's abt 3p.m. crossing a dry billabong, where dingos & kangaroo tracks were noticed. Mr. Basedow's luggage arrived while we were at the camp, and after helping him with it into the hut, where he takes up his quarters pro tem, said Goodbye - the first. The rest of us walked back to the landing, where Rudell's oil launch had been waiting, & without any delay got aboard & started down the Arm @ 5p.m. It was high water, & the course wound in and out 'till it seemed as though we were traversing some fine river. Mangroves on each side. When we got out into the Harbor, a moderate sea was running & a head wind, but the old "Prickly Heat" was driven tho' it at a great rate & we reached the jetty

Monday 12th [underlined] (Continued from the note book, which is full) Preparations were made immediately on anchoring for the dinghy to be provisioned & sent with the Skipper & Mr. Brown, further up the River to the Daly Copper Mines, calling at the Mission Station (the only abode of a white family in these parts) for our mail, which we were promised should be sent thus. All hands had to turn in before dark on account of the sudden attack of the malaria mosquitos, which came upon us with such fury & in such numbers, that after we had got into our nets & settled down, sounded like a steady shower of rain. Tuesday 13th [underlined]. Mr. Brown & the Skipper, with Bubs, got away in the dinghy at 1 am so as to take advantage of the incoming tide. The rest of us got up at daylight, & after a snack, proceeded to cut a pathway up the bank. The original intention, to take the tents and other gear ashore & camp there, was abandoned, as although there was a good place for the tents, the jungle & bamboo grass was so thick on all sides that it was found impossible to penetrate more than a few hundred yards. A large alligator was seen during the day, down stream a bit, & on the

Tuesday 13th [underlined] (Continued) opposite bank. Mr. Basedow & I managed to get abreast of him on our own side, after a good deal of scrambling, & with a fine shot, with the Skipper's rifle, Mr. B put a bullet into his neck. He did not slide into the water as they usually do, but held up his head & opened his huge jaws, moving them from side to side as he did so. As he began to move toward the water, another bullet was put into his side, & we could distinctly see from the other side, a red stream of blood gradually widening. Having no boat, the difficulty was to get over. A rude raft, which we had spent a good deal of time constructing was tried but being unable to propel or steer it, we did not care to risk being carried down the river. We intend to make another attempt however. No sign of Governor. Turned in early, but mosquitos not so bad as last night. Wednesday 14th [underlined]. Awoke rather later. Spent morning straightening up & washing down. After an early lunch got some more timber, which Pedro secured to the raft, making it carry 2 with ease. The black boys were fairly funked, even to step on to it - much less cross the river - I suppose it was on a/c of their not having seen one before. However by 1 oclock we were cast off