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HomeMy WebLinkAboutExeter Times, 1899-8-3, Page 2EXETIBB0 TI111318 . . The 1.4o -t Diamonds of the Orange River. Stiortly after this cenversation, w came back to Shoshone , where I so My ivory ; and then, with empty w 0011 and the oxen refreshed b a good rent. set our fee kir the river.From Slaosliong Bartningwato we went straight awe, • aerose the southeaatern eerier of i14 Kalahari in an oblique direction poin bag sonthwest, It was a frightful waterleas and, tedioue journey, espee aUy after passing the Langeber whiab. we kept on our left hand T Wards the end of the journey we fowl ew water at a fountain where we ha expected to obtainit, and thereby lo faux out of twenty-two oxen, for 1 ha six spare ones; arid at last, after tre king over a burning and most broke country, we were beyond measu thankful to strike the river some wa below the Great Falls. letlaas bad le its to a most lovely spot, where ti ground slopes gradually to the river the only place for perhaps thirty forty miles where the water, elset i by mighm ty ountain walls, earl be a Proached—and where we could rest ai refresh ourselves and our oxen. He we stopped four days. It was a pe feet resting -place. Down the bank of the river, and following its cauas grew charming avenues of willow mimosa, and. bastard ebony. TWO,Q three islands densely clothed wit bush and greenery dotted the broa ahd shining bosom of the might stream. Hippopotami wallowed quie ly in the flood, and fish were 'needle The mimosa was now in full bloom end the sweet fragrance of its yello /lowers everywhere perfumed the air as we strolled, by the river's brim. I had some old seraps of fishing taekle with me; and baying cut mese a rod from a vvailow-tree, I employe some of my spare time in, =Whin nth, and tad, for South .Africa—whic as you know, is not a great ang Hag eauntry—capital sport. The Lis captured were a kind •of fla headed barbel, fellows with •clar greenish -olive backs and white bel lies; and I caught them with scrap of xneat, bees, grasshoppers. anythin I could get hold. of, as fast as 1 caul pull them out for an Jaour or two a a What Were alistiost the first lines to greet ray gaze? Tliese I U - Like Elijah at Horeb a cave alone, Y "A still, small vieceoines throUgh es '111 (Like tabefalet West:411g his areefill Whichabiattes bitterness. wrath, and t- fear, IA' Saying—Man is distant. but God is g01nhectairle*d .the passage of the monie- d tains next morning ttith seine:thing n akin to delight. Anything to banish st the monotony of these laat two days n of burning toil. Klaas, as the. only lee one of us.wIto knew the country, de- n reeled our moven:teens; and with hoarse re shunts alto re-echoing crackrom the y inignty wagon -shit slowey our cam- e van was set in motion. Our entrance to the mountains was effected through le a narrow and extremely difficelt pass, strewn with huge lesuldere, and ever - Or grciwn with brush and underwood. IL would be tedious to relate all the aa • labours of tee trying trek among these awful meuxuatn pasees; but un re , the third day we had overcome the chief diflieulties, and had outspanned • for a final rest before completing eur ee• work, if to complete it were possible. e, Shading nay eyes from the fierce sun- ' light I looked upward at the km; ; d. slope a mountain, broken here anci there, and oceasionally shaggy with y , bush. Over all the fierce atmosphere t - id quivered, seething and daneing in the ; sun -blaze. I looked agent with doubt ▪ ; and dismay at the gaseing oxen, many of them lying foundeeed and almost dead from thirst and fatigue; and ray spirits, usually brisk and. unflagging, sanic below zero. Klaas had told me ea I previously of a most wonderful pool of "I ivater that lay on the crown of a , mountetn, where we should outspan ' finally before entering upon the por- e -I tate of the ditutond valley. Now he n name to me and said, pinnies; up - ea wards: "Sieur, de sweet water lies yon- • der, op de berg. It is a beautiful - pool, such as ye never saw the like of; S if we reach it, we area saved, and the g oxen. will soon get round again. Ye d must get them up somehow, even with - t e wagon." IThe tiny, yellow, blear -eyed Bush- - man, standing over me as I sat on a . ; rock, pointing with his lean arm sky- - , wards, his anxious dirt -grimed face - streaming with perspire tion, was hardLy the figure of an angel of hope; ; d and yet at that moment he was an ' - angel. to me; for we had tasted no wa- - ; ter to speak of for close on three days, e and had had besides a frightfully try - Y ing trek. e I We lay .panting and grilling for an n hour or more; and then I told my men g that water in any quantity lay at the e • raountain top, and that we must at all hazards get the oxen up to it. OnLy e a a mile of ascent, or a little more, lay a time. Alter the parching and most liar teasing, trek across the desert, our en ca,mpment seemed a terrestrial para dise. The guinea -fowls called con stsutly with p from among the trees that margbae the river, and furnished capital ban quets when required. Other feather •ed game and. small antelopes wer plentiful. At night, as I lay in m wagon contentedly looking into th starry blue, studded with a milli° points of fire, and mildly aclmirin the glorious effulgence at the greate constellations, I began to conjure u.11 ail sorts of dreams of the future, o at eeixte dark object that spedi between tbe fires, "Whet la it, Rheas?" I stleuted, "Alleraaglitel aa a tigereleopard, deur," eried the Hasbeartin lane, he has clawed one of the dogs." True enough, on inspecting the yelp- ing sufferer, Roonlaat, a brindled red dog. and one of the beet of my pack, I found the poor wretch at its last gest), with its throat and neck alicanat torn to ribbons. (naming the sneaking eow- ardly leopard, I saw that the Mien - fires blazed up, and agaixt turned in. It intuit have beeua about twp o'elook in the morning—the coldest, the most silent, and the dreariest of the dark hours, that fatal hour betwixt night and day wben many a fliekeeing life, unloosed by death, slips from its moor- ings—wbeia I was again startled from slumber by a most bloodecurdlion •yell. Ranters, as you know, sleep light, and seem inetinetively to be aware of what exasses around, tbeea, even although apparently wrapped in , the profoundest sleep, I knew in a mo- ment that that agonised ory came from a human throat; and I rushed out. ,Wbat a din was there, from, dogs, ,raen. and oxen, and. above all these hor- rid human screams. I had my loaded :rifle. and •rushing up to a. confused .erowd ,struggling near the firelight, I saw what had happe.ned. The young - eel. al nay servants, a mere Beehuana bon, tees hard and fast in the grip of an irarn:nse leopard, which was tear- ing whit its cruel teeth at his throat. Maas, boldor than his fellows, was ,lunging an assegai into the brute's !ribs, seemingly witnoat - the sxaatlest 'effect; others were thrasbeng it with •firebrande; and the dogs were vainly worrying at its head and. :Clanks. All this I saw instantaneously. Thrusting my followers aside, I ran ap to the leopard, and, patting my rifle to its ear, tit ed. The express bullet dideits, work a, (nee; the fiercest and most tenhious of the feline race could not refuse to yield its life with its head al- most blown to atoms; and lousening its murderous hold, the brute fell dead. But too late! The poor Bechuana boy lay upon the sand, wounded to the d ath. Atter these horrors, sleep was banish d, and as the gray light came • up, we prepared for day. ! The morning broke at length in rud- diest, splendour; and as the terrain was slowle unfolded before my gaze, I real- ised the desolate magnificence 'of the .crountry. Mountains; mountains, mountains, of gripe . sublimity rolled everywhere aroundl Far away below, I looked westward, a thin silvery line, only visible for a little space, told of the great river flowing to the sea, inexorabiy shut in by precipitous mountain walls that guaranteed for ever its awful solitude Klaus stood near, and as I gazed, he whispered, for nay men were not far away; "Sieur, yonder straight in front of you, five miles away, lie the dia- monds. If we start directly after breakfast, we shall have four; hours' hard climbing and walking to reach the valley," a "All right, Maas" said I. "Breakfast IS nearly ready, and we'll start as soon , as we have fed." Breakfast was soon over, and then I spoke to my xnen. 1 told thein that I intended to stay at this pool for a few days, and that in the meantime I was going prospecting in the moun- tains bordering the river. 1 despatch -a ed two of , them to go and hunt for mountain buck in the direction we had come from; the others' were to see that the oxen fed round about the water, where pasture was r .good and •plentitul, and generally to took after the camp. For Klaas and myself, we should be away till dusk, . perhaps even all night; .but we did not • which the bases ad foundations "wer lateen of diamonds culled from Klaas' •wondrous valley. • Having recruited from the deser journey, and all, men and beasts. be in g in good heart and fettle, we pre sently started away down the rive i for the valley of diamonds. I had, be sides Klaas. four other men as drivers voir-loppers, and •after -riders, an they, naturally enough, were extreme ly; curious to know what on earth the "Baas" could want to trek down the Orange River for—a country where no one came, and of whieh no one had ever even heard. I had to tell them that I was prospecting fax a copper mate ; far, as you probably know, there are many pieces thie reginan where that metal occurs. As we were doubt- ful whether we should find water at the next fountain that Klaas knew of, owing to tbe prevalence of drought, 1 filled the water natjes and every other utensil I could think of; and th;en, all being ready and the oxen in - spanned, we moved briskly forvvard. We had now to =lake a detour to the right, away from the river, and. for great part of a day picked oar painful Inotsteps over a rough and semi-moun- tainaas country. Towards evening, we emerged upon a dreary and inter- =nein,. waste that lay outstretched before as, its far horizon barred in the dim disranc,e by towering. mountains, throagb evhich we sheuld presently have to force our passage, •That even- ing we oetspanned in a bowling wild- erness of loose and scorching sand, up- on which scarcely a bush on shrub, found .subsistence. Next night, more dead than alive, we halted beneath the loom of a gigantic inotintain range, wbose recessee we were to pierce on the following morning. Ralf a day be- yond this barrier lay the valley of dia- xnands, as Klaas whispered to me after • supper that night with gleaming ex- ited eyes. • That night es •we Jay under the mouiatain was one of the most stifling I ever endured, in South Africa, where, • on the high tablelands of the interior, nights are useually cool and refreshing. Even the moist heat of the Zambesi Valley was not more trying, than this torrid empty desert. The oven -like heal case up all day from the sandy plain nseneed to be returned at night by ih se sun -scorched rocks • witb re - doable(' intensity. Waterless we lay, sweltering in our misery, with black- ened tongues and parched and crack - Mg lips. The oxen seemed almost like dead things. Often hive I in- evardie• thanked Pringle, the poet of South Africa, ferehis sweet and touch- ily verse, written with the love ofthis strange wild land deep in him, and for Ins strikieg descriptions of its •beau - tett tuai los fauta. At I lay panting • that night, cursing my leek and tbe • fotly that be, ught me thither, I lit a Jentern and opened his giewing pages. A region of emptineas, laowling and drear, • Which man Nth abatiloned fro= ram* inc and fear; • W•hieb the snake and the lizard in- • habit alone, With the twilight bat from the yawn - Mg atone; Where grass, nor herb, rior shrub takes root, • Save poisonous tborns that pierce the foot And here, while the n:ghteivinds ound me sigh, • And the stare bun brinht in the Mid• : night sky, • sit apart by the desert; stotte, e before • feeble • e the ox - • I en, that we had the greatest difficulty • ; to drive the -bul.k of them to the top, ; even without the encumbering wagon. - ;Three utterly refused to move, and ; were left behind. At last we reached :the krantz, and after a hundred yards* - ;walk upon' its flat top, we came almost s Lida- n1 y upon a most wonderful and, d:to us. most soul -thrilling sight. ' I A dense bush of mimosa -thorn and ;other shrubs grew around, here and tlint relieved by wide patches of open ;space. The oxen getting the breeze, .and scenting water, suddenly began to ;display a most extraordinary fresh- Ini-ss; up went their heads, their dull !eyes brightened and they trotted for_ wards to wile e the • 1 • 1, . gr, -w thi kat. For a time they found ;no opening; but after following the I circling wall of bush, at length a bioad 'avenue was disclosed — an avenue "doubtless worn smooth by the passage 'of elephants, rhinoeeroses, and other mighty game; and then there fell up- ' 1 on our sight the most refreshing pros- pect that man ever gazed upon. Thirty yards down the opening there lay af grnt pool of water. about two hundred fret aaross at its narrowest point, and apparently of immense depth. The. pool was circular, its sides were of , rock and quartz, and completely inac- osseible from every approach save that by which we had. reached it. It was; indeed completely encompassed by preeipitou.s emits, about thirty feet in height, which defied:the advent of any • other living thing than a lizard or a aock-rabbit, ePerersotIn leyea precipitoun walls, ap- parently worm smooth at their bases by the action of terrific torrents, prole - ably an early develepertent of the Orange River when first it made its wan through these grim defiles. Pres- ently the eausewa3r narrowed stili mare; and then turning a sharp cor- ner. we suddenly eame upon a pair of leopards sauntering eoolly inwards us, frordicaln;IligrdetlaiPt ltbe °Qk bat ftinees thiongS4taillst an ugly customer, even where he knows and dreads firearm. The brutes show- ed no intention of bolting., but steed with their hackles ula, their tails wav- ing ottainouelr, and their gleaming teeth bared in fierce defiance. There was nothing for it—either we oetbey must retreat; and having come all this frightful trek for the diamonds, I felt in no naocel to back down even to Fells perdue in his very nastiest mood. Look- ing to our 'rifles, we moved very quiet- IY forward until within thirty-five yards of the grim eats. They were male and feraale, and two as magnificent of their kind as soh ever shone upon. Tee male had now crouched flat for his charge, and not an instant was to be lost. The feinele stood apparently ir- resolute. Not leen this, and not having time to speak. :t b rth let drive at the charging male, • b shots struok, but neither stopp- : 'in. The lady, hear - in the report. apparently not lilt - lug the look Ifairs, ineoutinently fled. With I throaty grunt, the male leopard fl across the sand, com- ing straight at no, and then launched himself into air. I fired liurriedly my second berrel, and, for a wonder, elean =eased, for in these days I seldom fail- ed in stopping dangerous game; but these beggars are like lightning once they are charging:. In a moneent, as the yellow .form was flying through spaoe straight at ray bead, I sprang to one side, and Klaas firing again, sent the leopard struggling to earth, b'ittling f 'el]y for lile anaid sand and shingle with a broken back. Lucky was the shot, and bravely fired, or I had prababty been as goad as dead Klaas soon whipped the skin off the dead leopard mad bid it under scone ston.es; and we then proceeded, the wboraleinauftesfah: having oceupied but twen- tyAnother mile of this canal -like kloof brought us to a broad opening where the wall of mountain on our left stood udapriar,trariegdlditisbbe_biorionwntherahasost soufnlii‘ogehkt,, al suppose some five. hundred feet in height, and then sloped away more smoothly to is summit, thatt looked the river, as Ishould judge about a mile distant. As we came on into the sunshine. Klaas, pointing t the cliff, ejaculated. in quite an oxen ed way: 'The Pearl! the Pearl! Loa sir, look." Looking upwards at the mac of rock, my eye was suddenly arreste by a gleaming mass that protrude from the dead wall of. mountain. Hal dazzled, I shaded my eyes with m hand and looked again. It was a mos strange and beautiful thing that I be beld, a freak of nature the most cur ious that 1 had ever set eyes on. Th glittering mass was a huge egg-shap-; e ed ball of quartz of a semi-transpaxen ' milky hue, flashing and gleaming i the radiant sunehine with the glori ous prismatic colours that flash from the unlucky opal. But yet more strang abeve " de Pearl," as Maas quaintl called it, and over -hanging it. was a t kind of canopy of stalactite of the, same brilliant opalescent colours. It wa wonderful! Maas here began to cape and dance in the mcst fantastic fash ion, and then suddenly ceasing he seid 'Now, sieur, will soon show you th diaraoiads—they are there," pointing t tahrdoaurgkh crohrenerrocokf.” the g I en. " righ . "What made you call that shining , , DONINION PARLIAZENT. What the Legislatore of the Country • are Doing. at Ottawa. THE PAoirio C.A.BL11. The poottmaster-Gexteral, according arraiagement, proposen. that the Hon proceed into committee on nis resol thin providing for Oanada'a assumi five-eighteentas of the cost of a cab line between tens country and Au Tne question, be though was one on watch there was no d ference of opinion, while the prima object in view is to secure cable co neetion with the Australasian colorde It was ineonoeivable that any Briti power should standein the wey of t Empire's obtaining cable connection 0 fair and. reasonalele rates over 't Eastern Extension Company's line China and Japan, which would. pra tically give as complete cable mane non with China and jaPen. Tbe e terprise would be of Importance 11 only to the whale British Empire bu of direct beneeit to Canadian oomme eia.1 interests. •The financial aspect tbe case was based. tepon the repor of the Imperial committee of 189 whioh was favored with the.adviee o Lord Kelvin., the "dintin.guished soien tist. Their calculation was that th cable waeld cost in round figures RI 492,000. Since then an increase in th cost of ;the cable material has brough the proposed cost up to n1,592,000. Th plan contemplates that the gest shout be divided in the preportion of • fiv eighteentbs eaela by Great Britain an Canada, and two -eighteenths each b New Zealand, New South Wale Queensland and Victoria. in cora raittee Would propose an amend /tient that the representation on tb laoarrd should be two members fro Canada and three each from Grea Britain and the Australasian colonies Sir Sanford Eleening had calculate that the cable would earn. with a du to se ng le s - t, if- ry s. ski he he to 0- ot r - of 7, r- e- s, allowance for Asiatic business in its . first yeas of operation, 1902, £114,157; t in 1903, £153,031; in 1904, £197,375, and o in 1905, £219,144, these figures - and the opinion of all who had given It fite question study, it was apparent c;Itthat the proposition bad no financia errors for Canada. It would tend t d bring us trade and to build up ou f I own telegraph lines and would, he fel y I certain, commend itself to the favo t , of this country. -1 Sir Charles Tnpper congratulated -1 the government and the Postmaster e General upon this move and commend hlr. Fisher, in may to some ot the objections raised, nteted, that the prin- cline of these etations was the same that had wroked out so well the °aae of the cheese trade. He bad acted upon the petitions and aPplieatious of farmere from all over Canada seeking extension ef the experimental farm • work. The gne,stion was discussed at aortae further length and finally the item etaod over, • PREFERENTIAL TRADE, • Sir Wilfrid Laurier informed Mr. -Mc Neil that the resolution wind' the let- ter had prepared. ,in reference to Canada's desire to obtain a preference in ,Britielt markets was not satisfac- thaw to him. The Premier said that he badprepared one of his own and would show it to Mr. McNeil. Probably they would agree abont • TO ENLARGE DRY DOCKS. Mr Fielding xnoved the House into committee on a resolution regarding public aseistanee to dry docks. In 1882 -a:statute • was passed granting 1 per cent. of a subsidy on the out- lay for building dry docks, but not to exceed $10,000 per year. Owing to the increased size of steamships, larger docks are now requieed, ant the resolution proposed to increase the amount of •the subsidy to 2 Per mite on the cost a the work for 20 years, but not to exceed $20,000 per year, The locks which were beilt un- der the stabite cart get the advantage of the new act if the size is inereas- ed. The resolution was adopted, Sir Charles Tupper agreeing with it. ' •• LOAN COMPANIES' BILL, • The Loan Companies' Bill front the Senate, which nukes provision for conapanies to be incorporated without coming to Parliament for their ettart- ers, was taken u,p in Committee. The bill was read a third time. THE class OF IMMIGRANTS. The immigration estimates were then taken ap: in supply. Mr. Sifton, in reply to Mr. McDougall, said that he had been taking. out a plan whereby something might be done in the way of indueing farmers from tbe Old Country to take up lands in the unsettled parts of the older Provinces. ,01••••••••111.0fall*, ROMANCE OF GOLD MINING. ntsiory or the vryaiong nom mods, in New south waies. The romance of Australian gold min- ing is not 'inaptly illustrated by the history of the anyalong gold field, in New South Wales. Less than seven years ago it was simply a grazing dis-t triet, consisting largely of Crown o lands held on lease by pastoralists, the t level nature of the country, covered ✓ with red soil and scrub, causing it' to be neglected by penspeetors, although the Temorag old field, with its busy • d Sir Sanford Fleming's interest in t I the subject as having done raore than n ; anything else to insure the success of -I the scheme Sir Charles• ' ex- haustive history of the movement for e this cable, and took the ground that y Britain had but acted fairly in toeing h.; mark as she had.. .31r. Craig took an eptimistie view of s the project and. urged that the benefit r . ortmoi tie great to the Ern,pire and : i, ifriogrmearseo.me return for her foster - 1e ; Messrs. Oster, Prior and. Bostock al- e+ so &peke in favor of the resolution. t I • The bill was read a third time. 1 THE EXPERIMENTAL FARM. Mr. McMillen said that none but a _ . practical fanner shelled. be at the head , of the Department of legrieulture. He I was a farmer h:meielf ; but could not ; run a brewery ; the same thing was ,true of the premier in regard to the ; farming business. Nothing, short of a I resolution was needed at the farm. • They had now a practical man in Mr. , Grisdnee, at the farm, and with a prac- MI tee mahagement of the rarm. The t„ 1 tteale carrier like Mr. Fisher, at the heade e looked for great Improvement system in vogue an the farm 'might have been all right years ago, but it was not up to date to -day. The work done here was of no value to farmers in Western Ontario, the West anet the Maritime Provinces. :Mr. either appreciated the way in I which Mr. McMillan had dealt with 1 this question, and the suggestions i teem a practical farnaer like him were of spaced value. He promised. more . inform -anon in the ttenual, reports con- cerning (Wry requirements,. which would a•emedy a defect. The condition wish to be nollowed or disturbed; and e unless these at the oamp heard my • signal of four consecrative rifiesbots, I t they were on, no account to attempt to tinnier up our spoor. My men by this. time k.new me and • I was convinced that we sbould not be followed by Frying eyes; and in- deed, the lazy Africans were only too glad of anteasy day in camp after their ! hard journey. ; ....•••••••••• •11. Taking scene dried flesh, biscuits, and; a bottle of water each, and each, shouldering a rifle, Klaas and I start- ' ed away at seven o'clock. The little; beggar, who, I suppose, in his Busb- 111531 youthad wandered baboon -like er all dais wild country till he knew it y heart, showed no sign of hesita- tion, but walked rapidly down hill to a deep gorge at the foot, that led half aannile or so into a huge mass of tam that farmed the north wall of the Orange River. This kloof must t at Loans time or another have seeveci a is a conduit for mighty floods of wa- er, far its bottom was everywhere t trewn with beulders of titanic size and 0 hape, torn from the cliff -walls above. p t took us a long hour of the most lab -us 8 rioeffort to surmount these im- pediments; and then with torn hands nd aching lege, we went straight up tone np there ' de Pearl?'" said I islill0f gbaled einraydsmiailr.ation at the beau fu " Well, sieur I was once with a wine Boer at the Pearl down in the old Col- ony, and a man told me why they call- ed the mountain there "de Pearl;' and he told me, too, what the pretty gems were that I saw in the young vroutv's best ring when she wore it; and hen knew what a pearl was, and that it carne from a fish that grows in the sea. And I remembered then 'the great shining stone that 1 found up here when I was a boy on the Groot Rivier, and I thought to myself: Ab, Klaas, that was the finest pearl ye ever saw, that up in tb.e cliff near where the pretty white stones lay." • I mean the diamonds, yonder, sieur." At last, then, we were within grasp of the famous stones concerning whose reality I had even to the last had sec- ret misgivings. It was a startling thought. Just beyond there, somewhere hrou.gh the rock walls, whose secret How the poor beasts drank of that ; tool pellucid flood, and how we human t b..ings drank too! I thought we should n -vex bave finishea. • The oxen, drank e and drank till the water: literally ran r out of their mouths as they at last 0 turned away. Then cast off my elothes and plunged into the water. It a g, pproach at present Klaas only knew, ay " Sindbad's Valley." Could it be rue? Could I actually be within touch riches unspeakable, riches in m th a - arisen with which the wealth of Croe- us seemed but a beggar's hoard? (To Be Continued.) was icy cold and most havigoratin and I swam and splashed to my beart's content. After my swim and a rest, I directed my men to fill the fourebuc- itets we had broaglit; and then, leaving the horses in charge of one of their number, we drove the cattle, loth thoagh they were to leave the water beck to the wagon, going very careful- ly, so as not to spill the water. At length weereached the valley onl t me find two of' our poor foundered bullocks lying nearly dead. The distant Tree- ing of their refreshed comrades had, I think, warned them of goad news, rand the very smell of water revied them; and after two buokets apiece of the cold drauglat bad been gulped down their kibredried tbroats, they got up arid shook themselves and rejolned their fellows. We rested for a short time, and then inspanraed and started for the upland pool. The oxen, worn and erifeebled though they were. had suns a heart put into them by tbeir drink, and seemed so well to know that their watery ealvation lay up there, otter . a short mile distant, that they one and all bent gallantly to the yokes, and dragged their beavy burden to the margin of the hash -girt water. We now outspanned for the , night, made streng fires, for tbe spoor of leopards was abundant, stewed Seale bustards, ate a good supper, and turned in, I ;suppose we had not been asleep two hours when I was awakened by the sharp barks and yelping of My dogs, tip kicks and serarables of the oxen, and the shouts of the men. Seatebing up my rifle axtd rushing out, was just in time to see a firebrand .burled , y , ;ante n whose roof -like sides con- sn sisted of masses of loose shale and shingle, • over winch we slipped and floundered slowly and with difficulty. be say etre; but 1 am bound to admit • that the Bushman made ranch Heater of his task than I, his ape -like form' m seeraing, indeed,uch more fitted for 11 such a slippery, break-neek pastime. is At length we readied tbe creel; and te than, after passing through a fringe tu of huh and scrub, we scrambled down at the thither dearent, a descent of no of little danger. The slipping shales that res gave way at every step, often threat- stl ened, indeed, to hurl us headlong to the l ac bottona. At Iast this stage was end, ,tio ed, and we found ourselves in a very , th RAM IN PLACE OF GUNPOWDER, Major-General Seliaw has suggested„ fore the Institution of Mining En -I neers in London the su.bstitution of ater for gunpowder in blasting cart-, dges used in coal-raines. His plan to fill the cartridge with pure wa- r, insert it in the dxill-bole, and then rn the water • into high-pressure eam by means of an electric current low tension. A cartridge made to ist a pressure of 150 pounds per Imre ineh could- be caused to burst, cording to General Schaw's (tektite- na, within about one minute after e turning on of the current. • valley of desolation. We were almost, completely entombed by narrowing mountain walls, whose dark red sides frowned u.pou us everywhere in horrid and overpowering eilertern The min was up, and the heat, Eshnt• as we were, overpowering. adoreover, to make things more livelY, I noticed that snakes were raore than ordinarily Pen- tiful, the bloated puff -adder, lb e yel- low eobra, and the • dangerous little night -adder, several times only just getting out of our path. The awful eilenee oe this sepulchral place wanaereeeptly, as we rested, for ten mintaki, lanneken by a company of baboones, whicli having espied xis frent their krantzes ;Awe, came shoggling dawn '(0 see what we were. They were huge brute e and savage, and quah- qua hed at as threatent ngly, t ill Klana sent a bullet among them when they retreated pelt -men. We soon started ngain, and'pressed rapidly along a nar- row gorge eoarae fifty feet wide, with KEEPING ICE FROM MELTING. However procured,- even if it be ice that late been put up by the user, lee has cost something, and should be made ta last as long as possible, Keep the ice it a large piece en long as you can, and wrap 11 131 something that is a poor conductor of heat. Woolen clothe are better than cotton, for they eonduct the heat less rapidly, Paper is better than woolen as it Will not ad- mit air. If newapapers are need to wrap ice in they tan be thrown away after they have ser -ed this purpose without any loss. MONEY TALKS. Riektly—Money talks. neeleapers—Yes, but through the lorig-dietrentre telepliorte Innen case, of the stock was due to an outbreak of tuberculosis some time since. A few thoroughbred cattle had been purchas- ed; tomake up the loss, and the pre- sent appropriation would allow new purchases. Thoroughered cattle -would case a large sum and it was a matte' in which he could not out go very slowly. He also proposed purchastng a; herd, of sheep for the central farm. Mr. Fisher matte reference to the use- ful experiments which are being car- ried on in the direction of determining the cause of what is known as soft pork. ILLUSTRATION STATIOnTS. A vote of e20,000 for illustration sta- cms . . . elle the infoimation from the Minister of Agriculture that this was a new feature of the depaatment's work frona which goodresults are expected. In France they had been of great ser- vice. While throughout the country many farlas.were to be found iti splen- did shape, many otbers were in sore need of advice such as a station run on Modern lines would afford. They- were- to be located at suitable points. Six Charles Tupper agreed with those who had spoken that these stations would be of, no value. Mr. Steno, Richmond and ahoife, was in favor of the proposal. They could be adapted to the various letealities. The farmera of his district would be solely disappointed if this vote were knocked out. Sir Henry Joly de Lotbintere was cer- tain that illustration stations could teach oar tobacco growers much to tlaeir advantage regarding curing. This last year between eiglet and ten mil- pouhds had been cultivated in Es - tear and Itebt counties and as much more in Quebec while only two and a half million Potind.s passed; through our factories. If the faemers coned see put in termitic° before their eyes the the- oriee taught thent in hooks tney would pick them tip latore population, was only forty miles dis- tant In July, 1893, a Victorian colonist, named Neeld, and his family, being de- sirous of obtaining a larger area of land, for settlement than was possible , under the Victorian land laws, crossed the River Murray and. made their way to Veyalong, 938 miles south of Sydney, where a suitable area of land was secured. Mr. Neeld, who had had eon- sidarable eeperienee on the Bendigo, Ballarat, and other Victorian gold • tields, was speedily impressed by the auriferau.s conditions of the distriet,I bis attention being attracted by num- erous ironstone nodules and loose • IfitAGMENTS OF QUARTZ, This was the beginning of August, 1803, and be at once corame.nced prospecting, I but did not succeed in finding gold; • until about a month after his arrival, when he disco•yered it in a loose piece of! quartz. • Other discoveries followed, and a few I days later systematic prospecting; operations were commenced, Freshl finds were made, and ultimately nir. I (a) Neelci and his sons decided upen haisi- ing the red flag and pegging out tinier chums. This was done on Sept. 18, t 3853, and no sooner had the discovery ;been reported titan the news spread; !like wildidre, numbers of men ridiog !the same night towards the scene of f • A W4ALTH ROMANCE. tenni a Barret of Beane to 00000,000 • Stelling. •• e'Sonte day, Oberlin some time when I am it Man, I want te be worth 100,000 dollars. And tan go- ing to be, too—some day" it is less than fietp years since a, Young farmer'a son made this half - timid, lialf-proud confidence as he was eonjurMg up dreeras of tate fu- ture vvitli a boy -friend, as poor as nimeelf, says London Tit -Bits. His father faemed oinety poor ares on the snore of Owasso Lake, and brought up inis too num.erous family in a small, brewn-painted ;shanty, be wbiela it would have xequired dexter- ity to swing the proverbial cat. • , To -day the boy, who fifty years age was glad to hoe potatoes for a shin ling a day, and who dared scarcely breathe to his most intimate boy- friend the dream of a day when be should, have 420,000, is the richest man the world has ever known -5o rich, in feet, that he himself does not know vvithin a few million dollar bow much he is worth, toed. can and doe e win or lose a million pounds sterling without sniile or a sigh. He is so riots that if he were to throw away a sovereign every min- ute of his life, night and day, bis yearly income woula still be sufficient to create • T*0 NEW MILLIONAIRES every year. He might give away Ins own werght in sovereigns every work - 131g day of the year, and still his in- come for fifty-two S11 ndays would place him among the men wbose an- nual revenue runs into six figures. Every three days his income alone exceeds the £20,000 of his boyisb dreams, he wakes every morning more Ulan. £2,000 richer than when heemetired ta bed; while he is smok- ing a cigar n20() is pouring -into his exebequer; and while heIs sipping his morning cup of coffee he presents himeele with five £5 notes. • Three hundred horses would find their strength taxea to draw the 400 tons of gold he has ac,oumulated thirty-five short years; anti eight re- gimente of soldiers would fbad it diffi- cult to carry them -away. With his sovereigns he could n moke sixtee eact as high as Mont Blanc; or he could make a golden footpath, a foot wide, along which he might walk from Charing Cross to Brighton. As recently as 1870 John D. Rocke- feller • had only made half of his dreamed of £20,000. Five years later bit n10,000 bad become Z200,000; in 1885, it lead grown to •10,000,000; in 1890, to n20,000,000,000.; and this year it exteeds £50,00U,000. Between 1870 and 1875 Mr. Rockefeller's wealth grew at the rate of nearly twenty thousand pounds a year, dur- ing the next ten years the annual in- crease was nearly one million pounds between. 3885 and 1891) it progress at the rate of- £2,000,000 a- year; and sine 1890 it has added to itself over £3,000,000 sterling every .year. Of this Z50, 0007 • 000 thirty nail- lioneare invested in oil, five millions each in iron mines end railway se, • curities, more than three millions in real estate 1,600,000 in bank stehar. a million each in lead and na- tural gas, antb raearly five millions in steamships, munieipal gee, and other sanrities. IT WAS ON OIL however, that Rockefeller first float- ed his fortune, and on oil the bulk of 11, still floats. In his oilindustry alone the multi -millionaire employs an army of 25,000 men, to whom he pays three and three-quarters of a million pounds every year in wages, none of his men earning less than ingett shillings a day. Ills oil -wagons number 7,000; he has 200 steamers for LI -transport, 20,000 miles of pipe -lines nd uses every year 4,000,050 barrels and 400,000,000 five -gallon cans. The nursery of this colossal for- urie, tbe elghtb wonder of the world, was a small *warehouse, which bore ri. a modest sign -board tbe names Roekefeller encl. Hewitt." An old riene of the m Eionaire still recalls 1 the gold discoveries, in order to secure 1 claims wherever possible. In aenuary, a 184 there were over five hundred men a he days when he used to land atoeke- eller .sorting barrels of • beans with on the field. In the following March 3na much zeal as he now displays in the first parcels of ore were crushed , Barxriedman, the centre of the quartz- n mining district, sixteen miles distant, e. when the marvellous riehness of the a ore became ascertained. sell them at an extra mice. enaging his millions. I have put in my spare time, day and night,' for he pait few _weeks," the' eoming 'nests sal& "In sorting them over, nd eincing out the black beans. Now bey are extra quality end we shall The result was a great rush to the ground, and about three weeks later u the population had increased to about -n 10,0,0, but many subsequently left, be- Y ing unable to secure auriferous landAt a the end of 1894, • 'IRE SETTLED POPULATION in the Wyalong and Barmedman dis- r tricts, was between 4,000 and 5,000; the b number of elainas worked being abo,ut a 500, of which between twenty and 13 It was some years later, when the ennsylvani an oil -fie) ds began to ield their treasures, that Rockefeller nd Andrews started a small refinery, nit by a gradual proeess of exten- ion and absorption laid the founda- ion on Wilieb was built the world's eeord fortune. Frem a bartel of eans to a fortune of £50,000,000 is great journey, • and only one man as made it. • thirty were on payable stone. In 18d5 the quantity oe gold obtained was 25,497 ounee.s; in 1896 it was 33.159 ounces; and in 180, 34,370 ounces, being the largest auriferous output of any fo goldiield in the colony, the next p richest being Rillgrove, with 31,886 L ounces. The total yield from the m Wyalong goldfield from its discovery g at the end o±1893 up to tbe present has al beep estimated at 130,000 ouncee, with at more than £5000,00. The number and extent of the reefs promise not only a steady increase in the rate of production, but ;deo eurnish indications ,of its permanency. The township of 'Wye -long, which occupies a site prectleally uninhabited in 1893, noerbeasts of a population of about 7,- 000, Court Rouse, public an private lehools; beach bank, elatireh, public offices; 'several large hotele, Ana num- erous stores; also postal, telegraphic, ann other facilities. A COMING CELESTIAL SPECTACLE Astronomers are already looking rward with keen interest to the ex- acted reappearance of the oelebrated eonid meteors next November. These eteors, whose reappearance as a reat ,swarm °coarse at antervals of lout 33 years, made a spectacular spian in 1838, and were also very numerous in 1866 and 1867 Recent calculations show that since theeevarna met the earth the last time it has been e perturbed by the attraetions of nupiter and aaturn, and that tire middle of the showel this year will oceur on the morning of November 16t13, instead al the 14th. It wit.] be 'visiblein both Europe and the. United States. THE WHOLE STORY. You eee, he said I was a fool. Yep. And then I soaked him. And that eva6 wher 1 proved it. BAD A LIVELY TIML. Watts—Have a good„.„(irrie yesterday? Luella:teal—Good time ? Old boy, lean taote it yet. PART Ola TEtE GAME, IVIameina—:Etnen' what do you mean by shouting in that disgraceful fash- ion ? See how quiet Willie is, lathel—Of couroe he's q ' t ; thane our game. He's papa caul orne late and I'm yout. • 6