Down South (Diving for gold) (NZ)
Jul 17, 2016 10:16:30 GMT 12
Post by RKC on Jul 17, 2016 10:16:30 GMT 12
G'day,
Down South 31 March 1920
Diving for Gold. At one stopping-place we acquired another passenger. He had a merry blue eye, a florid face, and a hearty laugh. His yellow oilskin gleamed wet, but from the, shelter of a large discarded drain pipe on the roadside, he drew out a portmanteau and a big brass euphonium, , "which he held ,on his knee throughout the journey. in optimist born, he interpreted, each variation of , cloud and sky as an omen of good weather'; but still it rained. '' I * * # " «• "Gold! Of course there is plenty of gold about," he assured us. " I get a bit myself sometimes—dive for it. How ? I've got a. diving 'suit now,and you find the gold in the crevices of the rock it gets washed down. I got a nugget out of the Mangles a while, back, and sold it for £8." "Is the Mangles .very deep?" I asked'. ' . . "Rather. It's about 15 or 20 feet deep sometimes. The Mangles is a tributary of the Buller, and the, gold seems to wash down from the mountains and lodge among the rocks. Oh! we've still got gold in the West Coast," he said with an air of confidence. . * Later, when he left us,- with his bag in one hand and the euphonium in the other, the rain was. coming down, straight in ramrods, but he was cheerfully . setting out on a three-mile walk to his destination.
paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZFL19200331.2.25
Regards,
Rob (RKC)
Down South 31 March 1920
Diving for Gold. At one stopping-place we acquired another passenger. He had a merry blue eye, a florid face, and a hearty laugh. His yellow oilskin gleamed wet, but from the, shelter of a large discarded drain pipe on the roadside, he drew out a portmanteau and a big brass euphonium, , "which he held ,on his knee throughout the journey. in optimist born, he interpreted, each variation of , cloud and sky as an omen of good weather'; but still it rained. '' I * * # " «• "Gold! Of course there is plenty of gold about," he assured us. " I get a bit myself sometimes—dive for it. How ? I've got a. diving 'suit now,and you find the gold in the crevices of the rock it gets washed down. I got a nugget out of the Mangles a while, back, and sold it for £8." "Is the Mangles .very deep?" I asked'. ' . . "Rather. It's about 15 or 20 feet deep sometimes. The Mangles is a tributary of the Buller, and the, gold seems to wash down from the mountains and lodge among the rocks. Oh! we've still got gold in the West Coast," he said with an air of confidence. . * Later, when he left us,- with his bag in one hand and the euphonium in the other, the rain was. coming down, straight in ramrods, but he was cheerfully . setting out on a three-mile walk to his destination.
paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZFL19200331.2.25
Regards,
Rob (RKC)