Afghan drivers permitted their camels to pollute these oases. Sickness became more prevalent as the year advanced.
Early in August, two prospectors named Cushman and Lee began to get rich gold from a claim at the Forty-Five Mile, north of Coolgardie. The place received the name of Cushman's, and is contiguous to the present Bardoc district. Within six weeks, it was reported, these two men dollied 1,000 ozs. of gold from their quartz. In the same month, and in September the Hannan's district yielded well. Hannan and Flannagan were believed to be unearthing gold at the rate of 30 ozs. per week from their claim; Egan and party were reported to have dollied 605 ozs. from quartz in six weeks; and Cassidy and his companions, the owners of a lease adjoining Hannan's Reward, were said to be obtaining from 35 to 40 ozs. per week. Excellent finds were made throughout the district, and while numerous men decried the field, numerous others supplied exaggerated reports of its richness. Hannan's was for some time a strong competitor with Coolgardie for first place in the matter of population, but the latter point was the administrative centre, and quickly outdistanced its rival. The former already possessed several hotels, stores, and business men. Although in alluvial neither was a Ballarat, both were considered to be developing satisfactorily.
The next rush was surrounded with melancholy circumstances. In October, Messrs. Frost and Bonner applied for a reward claim in a desolate district named Siberia, supposed to be about 75 miles N.N.W. of Coolgardie. This find was made S.S.W. of the Ninety-Mile, exploited by Frost, and the discoverers showed about 40 ozs. of gold as gleaned from there. A rumour rapidly circulated in Coolgardie and Hannan's that a fabulously wealthy discovery had been made at Siberia, and more than a thousand men set forth in separate parties for the remote district. Coolgardie and Hannan's were almost deserted. The way was dreary in the extreme, and the intervening tract was to all intents waterless. Except to those who had already been to the Ninety-Mile, there was practically no clearly defined route. The great desert was covered with small bush, through which it would appear impossible to go without a compass. Only men of wide experience could safely enter this endless maze of dwarfed vegetation. But the excited miners gave little heed to such considerations, and turned their faces towards Siberia, with only a slight conception of its geographical bearing. Along Hunt's track from Southern Cross to Coolgardie there had been a series of soaks where water could be obtained, but on this route they did not exist. A proportion of the men carried only a small water bag with them, and the results were sure to be disastrous. Those who knew the way got through in safety, and were followed by others. But many were not so fortunate. As their stock of water gave out, they began to separate in the bush, and a few were lost, and soon died of their sufferings. It would not be difficult to picture the slow death; the poignant physical and mental anguish as they wandered in the desert, like rudderless ships; then insanity, and then death. Some tried to reach Coolgardie. At twilight one evening in October a Coolgardie resident observed what appeared to be a strange animal on all fours crawling through the dust towards the town. He approached, and discovered a demented Siberia prospector, repulsive in his agony seeking to reach water.
A few days after the first bands left Coolgardie news arrived that hundreds of men were suffering for want of water and that many had died. Mr. Renou, the Government Superintendent of Water Supply, with commendable promptitude, immediately engaged two teams, loaded them with tanks of water, and sent them up the Ninety-Mile track. One tank was dropped at the twenty-five mile stage and another near the forty-five mile. He also hired sixteen camels and went towards Siberia. At a place named Morowing it is reported that he found hundreds of men camped, and he advised them to immediately return, as there was no water at Siberia or on the track. The camels were divided into parties, and men were sent through the district to warn all prospectors to turn back, and to tell them where tanks had been left. Horsemen were despatched on the same errand. Mr. Renou met another lot of men—about 300—and despite his assurance that the route was waterless, and that no gold was being obtained, some of them persisted in continuing their perilous journey. The promptness of the Superintendent of Water Supply probably saved hundreds of lives. As it was several deaths occurred, but it is impossible to give even an estimate of the number. About ten were accounted for. Those bodies that were found were given decent burial; their names were generally unknown. There is every probability that some still lie uncovered in the awful bush.
The Siberia discovery was in every way disappointing, for very little alluvial gold was at this time obtained there. No other sensation of any importance occurred during 1893. The year had been a trying one, and the men on the eastern desert endured many hardships. Several deaths occurred from typhoid. The excitement caused by the various discoveries served a good purpose in inspiring hope in the diggers. Just when they were quietening down after some general stampede, another discovery was announced, and the emotion began again. Numerous quartz claims were being worked around Coolgardie and in other places. The lease owners at Dundas prospected their properties, and on the 29th August the Dundas Goldfield was proclaimed. The Government Geologist was temporarily appointed warden. The quartz reefs promised well, but did not receive the attention they deserved. The output for Dundas in 1893 was 147 ozs. 19 dwts. 11 grs. of gold, valued at £562 5s. 11d. The mining companies at Southern Cross continued crushing, and the returns, though not sensational, were satisfactory. The population of Southern Cross was affected by the finds in the Coolgardie district. As the chief stage in the long journey to the latter place, the trade of its business men was large. The Government estimated that there were 2,600 men on the Coolgardie Fields during the year, a number which would have been doubtless increased but for the scarcity of water. Yilgarn and its branches produced 75,744 ozs. of gold, valued at £287,829, in 1893—more than the whole production of the colony in 1892.
Water was the supreme obstacle on the eastern fields, and complaints were frequently made that the Government had not done its utmost towards providing a supply. Although the yield of gold for the colony in 1893 was set down as 110,890 ozs., valued at £421,381 (nearly double that of 1892), and the revenue from the goldfields was £8,445, the expenditure was only £14,681 (spent out of loan moneys to procure water), and £4,825 for administration and rewards. Account must, however, be taken of the fact that two railways were being constructed to serve the goldfields. Apart from this the Government excavated two tanks of a capacity of 500,000 gallons each, besides smaller ones, at Coolgardie, and others on the Ninety-Mile load; put down bores in the same centre and at Woolgangie; sank shafts at Mount Burges and Hannan's, and improved the soaks at various stages on Hunt's Track. A new road was also formed from
