CHAPTER XIII.
On Monday, 29th July, I made a start from Yass to Burrowa, en route for Lambing Flat, in company with Messrs. McCarthy, Towson, and Milne, of the Oriental Bank. We remained at Burrowa till the 31st, when an escort consisting of Messrs. McCarthy, Towson, and Milne, of the Oriental Bank; Messrs. George Green, J. L. Cobb, and Gannon, of the Commercial Bank; and Messrs. T. O. S. Green, Spofforth, Russell, and myself, of the Bank of New South Wales, started for the Flat with the treasure. We were all armed, and when we reached our destination at half-past five p.m. we found that the military had arrived at two o'clock that afternoon.
The bank was not a very elegant looking building—a slab hut, with weatherboard front, and iron roof, part of a building occupied by a shanty-keeper. Behind the bank office (a room 8 x 10) was another room about the same size, which was used as a dining-room, and in which Thompson, the messenger, slept. He always slept with an axe by his side, for, as he said, “It would never miss fire, and was a good weapon at close quarters.” Russell slept behind the counter, and I in a space between the dining-room and office divided off by a sheet of bark, with just room for a stretcher. On the whole the quarters were not so bad; certainly much better than I had the first few months of my stay at Kiandra. I went to bed early the night we arrived, feeling tired after my ride, but not to sleep—that was impossible. In the next building, which was only divided from us by a slab partition, a lot of the “Boys” were assembled singing, yelling, cursing, and swearing—a noise which Thompson informed me was “a nightly occurrence.” Oftentimes Thompson would get savage, and call out, “Go home to bed,” then they would reply with a volley of abuse, and threaten to come in and do all sorts of wicked things. I found the Flat pretty lively. The first rush took place on a station situated on the Burrangong Creek, and on what was known as “Lambing Flat.” Diggers generally spoke of the rush as the “Flat,” although the post town was Burrangong, and the Government named the township “Young,” so that we had no less than three names for the place, viz.: The Flat, Burrangong, and Young. A rush having just taken place close to, in fact in
