He did not dig any, but got the ugliest Maori he could find to sit on
a pile of dirt while he took his portrait and sketched the tattoos.
That spoiled the rush; every man, black and white, crowded around
Scott while he was at work with his pencil, and then every single
savage shook hands with him, and made signs to have his tattoos
taken, they were so proud of their ugliness. They were all naked to
the waist.
Near the head of Sheep's Head Gully, Jack Moore and I found the cap
of a quartz reef with visible gold in it. We broke up some of it,
but could not make it pay, having no quartz-crushing machinery.
Golden Gully was already nearly worked out, but I got a little gold
in it which was flaky, and sticking on edge in the pipeclay bottom.
I found some gold also in Sheep's Head, and then we heard of a rush
on the Goulburn River. Next day we offered our spare mining plant
for sale on the roadside opposite Specimen Hill, placing the tubs,
cradles, picks and spades all in a row. Bez was the auctioneer. He
called out aloud, and soon gathered a crowd, which he fascinated by
his eloquence. The bidding was spirited, and every article was sold,
even Bez's own two-man pick, which would break the heart of a Samson
to wield it.
When we left Bendigo, Bez, Birnie, Dan, Scott, and Moses were of the
party, and a one-horse cart carried our baggage.
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