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My plan was first to revisit some known good country to the south of Hannan's, and, if unsuccessful, to travel from that point in a more or less north-north-west direction, and so follow, instead of crossing, the trend of the various formations; for in travelling from east to west, or VICE VERSA, one crosses a succession of parallel belts, first a sand-plain, then a ridge of granite, next a timbered flat, then a stretch of auriferous country, with possibly a belt of flat salt-lake country on either side.
Leaving Hannan's on our left, we continued our northerly course, over flat country timbered with the usual gum-forest, until we reached the auriferous country in which our camp had been robbed by the blacks; nothing of interest occurring until January 17th, when we found ourselves without water.
The advance of civilisation was marked by the appearance of a small herd of bullocks, evidently stragglers from "Hannan's," and had we been further from that place I do not doubt that our desire for fresh beef might have overcome our conscientious scruples.
A cool wind surged through the sparkling brown oak leaves of the oaks at Hannan's Landing. "They die as the old die," reflected Jethro Rackby, "gnarled, withered, still hanging on when they are all but sapless." Despite the melancholy thought, his vision was gladdened by a magic clarity extending over all the heavens, and even to the source of the reviving winds. The sea was blown clear of ships.
He chose the latter and lost . . . subsequently I saw him lying peacefully drunk under a tree! I doubt if his intention had been suicide, but had it been he could hardly have chosen a more deadly weapon than the whiskey of those days. The "rush to Hannan's" had depopulated Coolgardie and the next day saw Davies and myself amongst an eager train of travellers bound for the new site of fortune.
It was three days before he came up with Cad Sills again. Then he spied her at nightfall, reclining under the crab-apple tree at Hannan's Landing. The little man came close enough to tread on her shadow, cleared his throat, and almost shouted: "Did you mean what you said? Did you mean what you said, girl?" She laughed and threw the core of an apple in his direction. "I did when I said it, Mr.
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