himself. The man left in camp does not know what to do--if he goes far
from home, there is the danger of the camp being robbed by natives,
therefore he hesitates to go in search of his mate, who possibly is in
sore need of help from an accident, or bushed, or speared--so many things
might happen. If one broke a limb, as he easily might, what could his mate
do? Nothing. If in waterless country he would have to leave him, or kill
him, or die with him.

Though Luck and I were spared any catastrophes, we often thought of such
things, and therefore felt anxious when either was away for long.

On the 22nd we were surprised at cutting a freshly made dray-track, along
which it was clear that many had passed--and the next day arrived at the
Red Flag, an alluvial rush that had "set in" during our sojourn in the
sand. This came as a great surprise, as we had no idea that gold had been
found so far afield. This camp, some twelve miles North-East of Mount
Margaret, consisted then of only forty or fifty men, though others were
daily arriving. These were the first white men we had seen for seven
weeks, and they were greatly astonished to see us, when they learnt what
direction we had come from.

Here were gathered together men from Coolgardie and Murchison, attracted
by the tales of wealth brought by the first prospectors of the new rush.
Some of them had been longer away from civilisation than we had, and many
arguments were held as to the correct date. Of course I knew, because I
kept a diary; but the Queen's Birthday was celebrated by us on the wrong
day after all, for I had given April thirty-one days! We heard that
hundreds had started for the rush, but this camp represented all who had
persevered, the rest being scared at the distance.