Part 10 (2/2)
Just before ht they drank to a profane and senseless toast, ”Before this day twelve s” ”Tailings” are the waste products of the sluice-box, the sand and gravel carried away by the stream of water which flows over the ”ripples”
About four otten was out prospecting aes to the north of the creek He fell ill and endeavored to return to camp, but a bitterly cold rain set in and he perished miserably Soon afterwards Marshall, who had been in the Low Country, went doith fever The attack was coht, while still someeak, he went out to visit a friend Not far from the tent of the latter a ”head-race,” which is not just the sa had been effected while Marshall was laid up, he was unaware of the existence of the excavation
The head-race was about eight feet deep; it ide at the top, but it narrowed down to about a foot's-breadth at the botto, and his shoulders ja to weakness he was unable to extricate hi doard, damned the water up so that it drowned him The tent of the friend he had intended to visit stood close by This man noticed that the flow of the water stopped several tiain with a rush This was caused by the struggles of the unhappy Marshall as he was drowning
Nothing happened to John Harrington, whom I met fourteen years afterwards in Cape Town, but in view of the two fatalities he was so New Year's Day had arrived
Another terrible accident was the one in which a friend of mine named Blenkins lost his life I have a very clear recollection of the circu happened on the afternoon of the day on which I returned fro on the high terrace known as Gardiner's Point A large quartzite boulder it was afterwards found to measure nearly thirty tons stood embedded in the face of the claim, about three feet above bedrock This boulder had been stripped on one side
Many atte it to drop forward, with the view of rolling it down the face of the terrace No one knew, of course, how ravel Poor Blenkins very unadvisedly sat down before it and began loosening the wash underneath with a driving-pick Suddenly the boulder fell forward and pinned him to the bedrock, from the waist doards I was at work in the creek below I heard a shout and sawfrom every direction up the face of the terrace I joined the streaet what I sahen I reached the scene of the accident
It was hours before we succeeded in shi+fting the boulder We onlythethis two other men nearly lost their lives
My poor friend was alive and conscious all the time The only mercy was that he did not suffer physically; he was too badly crushed He died soon after being released Blenkins was extremely popular His tent stood within about fifteen yards ofsui generis Shrewd, frugal, industrious, and capable of taking care of himself while in his accustomed environment, he was apt to become as helpless as a child when he reached unfa to invest his ”pile” was often the prey of the first specious rogue he rims will remember hiton's claier of the old school He disbelieved in banks, so always kept his gold in his tent Whenever he wished to go anywhere, no ets and ”dust” to notes or specie; when he h out the equivalent of the price across the counter froot drunk on Saturday night, but not to such an extent as to lose his reason
After his ”pocket” had been worked out Dempster decided to revisit his native country, Scotland So he entertained his friends at a farewell banquet, packed his sith 220 ounces of gold carefully secured in the middle and started on a tramp to Durban A lot of his friends accoave hi up the hill after he had crossed the river, and pausing to wave his hat to us in farewell
Dee to England
But the enforced idleness on the voyage preyed on his s irked him; he took to drink badly One day, when in the Bay of Biscay, he rushed on deck carrying his leather bag of gold
After flinging this into the sea he leaped over-board Deold, of course, went to the botto and realistic picture of poor Alick Dempster's escapade occupied the place of honor in the Police News
Little detail was given, what there was rese a tre labeled ”800” In the air, descending from the shi+p's rail, in what the late Lewis Carroll would have described as an Anglo-Saxon attitude, was a figure purporting to be Alick hinizable portrait
This work of sensational art caused great excitement in the camp There was only one copy, and that was in immense demand so much so that the owner found hiing, he pasted the picture on the lid of a packing-case, and printed the legend ”This is Alick Dee letters A native was hired to carry the board up and down the creek, beating an old tin billy to attract attention This thoughtful proceeding was much appreciated One may wonder as to how it struck the native
CHAPTER IX
Expedition to Delagoa Bay--A rencontre at Constantinople--Morisot and the lion--Game in the Low Country--The Barber encaa--The lion's voice--Ways of the lion--The lion an eater of carrion--Tyrer and the buffalo--Veld fires--A piece of bad luck--The Low Country rivers--Snakes--Hyenas--Louren Marques--Funeral of Pat Foote--Discovery of gold near Blyde River--Anticipated affluence Disappointment
I a, hunting, and prospecting adventures during the years 1874 and 1875 have been described in one or other of uised as fiction Nevertheless, I will endeavor to recall a few as yet unrecorded re that period
In June, 1874, I joined an expedition to Delagoa Bay, which was organized by President Burgers for the purpose of convoying ammunition and other war materials to Pretoria An attack upon Sekukuni, the Baphedi chief, had been decided on This, however, was not atte was a difficult one, and involved so experiences, but as I have already published an account of it under the title of ”A Forgotten Expedition,”