chemist, and four hotels in the neighbourhood of Bayley's. Among the storekeepers were Messrs. Vaughan, Murphy, Harris, Counsel, Ryan, Benstead and Co., Mendalstein, and Brown.
Bayley's claim continued to give sensational returns, and pockets of enormous wealth were occasionally come upon by the miners. Perhaps in a single day one man would get in these chambers of gold more than a hundred ounces of the metal. Several hundreds of ounces were obtained from eight dishes raised at a depth of fifteen feet. Enormous prices were offered for the claim, and Bayley and Ford made a fortune when they sold it to Mr. Sylvester Browne. (In October, 1896, Mr. Bayley died in Victoria at the age of thirty-one years.) The leases taken out in the district were more or less tried, and numerous others were applied for in every direction. Rich stone was found in a claim two and a half miles south of Coolgardie, worked by McFarlane and Robinson. The lease was purchased by Sylvester Browne and Co. for a large sum. Good alluvial finds were made, and the field increased in size. Prospectors hid themselves in the silent deserts for weeks and months, and some came back with the news of rich discoveries. By June there were considerably over two thousand men on the Coolgardie goldfield, and within the next month hundreds more arrived. A food famine prevailed, and men went for days without flour or oatmeal. Preserved meats supplied the chief article of diet, and when the caravans of camels or waggons were late in arriving prices of foodstuffs rose to enormous heights. The poor living and the rough conditions were injurious to health, and several men died of typhoid fever. Before she would give up her wealth nature demanded many deaths.
In May a prospector named Frost discovered gold at a place known as the Ninety-Mile, because of its distance from Coolgardie. There was a rush for the locality, and a few men got good returns, while most were quickly discouraged, and went back to Coolgardie and its environment. In June about 100 men were working around Frost's claim. The next rush of any moment was made for Mount Youle, which was reckoned to be fifty miles north-east of Coolgardie. The way thither lay through stunted scrub, and was almost devoid of water. Between fifty and a hundred men with carts and drays hurried off to the site, via Mount Charlotte, but it was soon alleged that the report of rich gold there had been circulated in the interests of storekeepers, who were enabled to sell provisions and equipments at high prices. At any rate those who went so far as Mount Youle returned disconsolate. The restless men were soon moved to go forth again by the report that gold had been found at Lake Lefroy, forty miles south-east of Coolgardie. Small parcels were obtained. With all these announcements of discoveries in different directions over an extensive area of the district the excitement in Coolgardie, and, indeed, in all Western Australia, had become tense, and most ridiculous rumours, sometimes circulated by intoxicated men, gained credence.
The small exodus to Mount Youle led to the second important discovery on the Yilgarn Goldfields, and to the foundation of a mining field which, up to the present, has proved the wealthiest in Western Australia. A few of the men who set forth camped at Mount Charlotte, and among them were "Pat" Hannan and "Tom" Flannagan. There was feed, but no water at this spot, which was at once named Dry Camp, and as the horses could not proceed without a drink, the men remained there for two days searching for native wells or rock soaks. It is said that Hannan returned for water to what had become known as the Nine-Mile Rocks, and that in his absence Flannagan found gold in the neighbourhood. This is believed to have been about the first week in June. After Hannan arrived from the Nine-Mile Flannagan induced him to remain and prospect more fully. The two men searched the surface for alluvial for about a week after the other teams, which practically walked over gold scattered on the ground, had resumed their journey to Mount Youle. In three days Hannan and Flannagan picked up about 100 ozs., but the exact weight is not recorded, for the discoverers did not whisper their secret to every passer-by. The alluvial promised to be the richest yet exploited on the Yilgarn fields. On the 17th June Hannan entered Coolgardie, where a branch registrar's office had been opened, with a parcel of gold, and applied for a reward claim. According to usage applications for leases were posted up at the registrar's office, and anyone could peruse these documents. It was the habit of large numbers of people to daily visit the acting-registrar's tent, to learn whether any new leases had been recorded. Hannan's application was made on a Saturday, and the notice was posted at nine o'clock in the evening. The fact was soon observed by one and another, and before many hours elapsed the news had spread throughout Coolgardie, and the history of the exodus from Southern Cross to Bayley's was repeated. During the night, and from daylight on Sunday, there was a stampede from Coolgardie, the locale of the new find being reckoned to be twenty-five miles E.N.E. The rush continued until there were scarcely fifty men left in the camp. Some lost their way, and arrived at the field days later than they hoped, and some were inadequately equipped for such an emergency.
In a few days stores were opened at Hannan's, the name conferred on the new locality, and men were scattered over the district scanning the surface and digging for alluvial. Leases were pegged out in every direction. Within three days there were nearly 750 men on the field. At first there was a dearth of water, but rain soon fell, and the earth became too moist for dryblowing. To obviate this fires were lighted, and the stuff was burned before being submitted to the process. Some excellent returns were secured, and the new district promised well. There was no sensational quartz such as that at Bayley's, and only alluvial digging was carried on at first. The early diggers were oblivious of the precious reefs which lay near them. In a few weeks many of the men who had left Coolgardie for Hannan's returned to their previous occupations, and the population was about equally divided, one report stating that there were about 1,000 men in each place. New-comers were arriving regularly, and scattered from Coolgardie to Hannan's, and from Lake Lefroy to the Ninety-Mile, branching out, when sufficiently equipped, to prospect. Hannan's was deemed to be the chief alluvial district, but while some searchers were getting rich gold, many were not finding sufficient to subsist them. Hundreds of men went to the fields with only enough money to last them on the journey, and with insufficient food and mining necessaries. Because of the scarcity and high rate of provisions they would have been in very serious straits had it not been for the fine fellowship which existed. Men were constantly being met in the bush who had no money, no food, and no rich claim to sell. They lived on the charity of strangers until they got employment or happened on a little gold. In setting out into a waterless and foodless desert without wherewith to sustain them they acted in a manner which would appear impossible to a sane man. The water in the Government tanks and clay-pans was almost undrinkable.
